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' ' ' - .^iaaafea • Or t»j-I HISTORY O F T H B VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES MADE IN THE N O H. TBANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN OF %f JOHN REINHOLD FORSTEH, I. U. D. Uf AND ELUCIDATED BY A NEW AND ORIGINAL MAP or the Couk. TRIES SITUATED ABOUT THE NoRTH POLE. '.'41 Uiv Orbis fitum dicere , . . impeditum opus et facundiae niinime capax . . . Tcrum afpici tamen cognofcique dingifTimuni. Po M P o K I u s Me L A in Prooemh, DUBLIN: 'tfinted for LuKE White, Dame-ftreet, and Pat. Bitrne, Grafton -ftreet. MDCCLXXXVI, \ i: F16 \ t t C 'O N T E N T S. ,* Book 1. Oi 'F THE MOST ANCIENT DISCOVERIES — Chap. I. The voyages and difcoverles of the Phcenicians Chap. II. The voyages and difcoveries of the Grecians Chap. III. The voyages and difcoveries of the Romans Page I ibid. 12 13 o K II. Discoveries MADE IN THE MIDDLE Aces -— 31 Chap. I. Difcoveries of the Arabians ■- ibid. Chap. II. Difcoveries of the Sa*ons, Franks, and Normans 44. Chap. Ill, Difcoveries of the Itah'ajisand fotne other nations 89 Sec. 1. Travels of Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela Sec. II. Sec. III. Sec. IV. Sec. V. Sec. VI. Sec. vir. Sec. VIII. Sec. IX. Sec. X. Sec. XI. Sec. XII. Sec. xiir. Sec. XIV. of Johatines de Piano Carpini 92 of Andreas Luciura^l — 9^ of William of Ruyfbroek 96 ofHaitho, King of Armenia 113 of Marco Polo of Venice 1 1 7 of Odericof Portenau 147 of Sir John Mandeville 148 of Francifco Balducci of John Schildtberger of the ambalTadbrs Rokh — : of Jofaphat Barbaro to Tanna of the Chevalier Nicolo Zeni of Pletro Q^n'rini A z Pegoietti 150 • S3 of Mil za Shah •58 165 '78 - 209 ClVSRAL I CONTENTS. CfCNCRAL VIEW of the ilate of affairs at this period it: iftnrcs and Remarks ■ ' ■■ ■ Page a4s t Book III. DlSCOVfeHlBS MADE IN TUB NORTH IN MODERN TIMB9 252 Gbnbkal OBSBRVATIONS " ibid. 26$ 266 268 271 a74 Chap. 1. Difcoveriesof thcEngllfli in the North Sec. I. 1497. John Cabot and his three fons Sec. 11. i<;53. Sir Hugh Willoughb/ Sec. 1 1 1, i 5 5 5 . Richard Chancellor — Sec. IV. 1556. Stephen Burrough — . Sec. V. 1 567. Martin Frobiflier — Sec. VI. 1 577. Frobiflier's fecond voyage Sec. VII, 1578. Frobiiher'i third voyage aSo Sec. VIII. 1580. Arthur Pet and Charles Jack man 287 Sec. IX. 1583 Sir Humphry Gilbert Sec. X. 1585. John Davis 289 298 302 308 3'« 317 320 3*7 Sec. XI. 1 586. Davis's fecond voyage Sec. XII. 1587. Davis's third voyage Sec. XIII. 1 591. George Weymouth Sec. X(V. 1605. John Knight — Sec. XV. 1607. James Hall ■ Sec. XVI. 1607. Henry Hudfon — — Sec. XVII. 1608. Hudfon's fecond voyage Sec. XVIII. 1603,1611. Divers voyages made to Cherry or Bear Ifland — 328 Sec. XIX. 1610. Hudfon's third voyage 332 Sec. XX. i6i2. Thomas Button > ■ ■• . 344 Sec. XXI. 1614, Capt. Gibbons ■ ■ » 347 Sec. XXII. 1614. Fotherby and Baffin 348 Sec. XXIII. 1615. Fotherby - — 349 Sec. XXIV. 161 5. Robert Bylot — 350 Sec. XXV. 1616. Robert Bylot and William Baffin 35a Sec. XXVI. 1616, 163 1. William Hawkbridge 357 Sec. XXVII. 1631. Lucas Fox ^— 359 Sec.XXVlII. 1631. Thomas James — 367 Sec. XXIX. t668. Zachary Gillam and De Grc- feiller — 376 Sec. XXX. CONTENTS. iMBa 252 ibid. 26$ 266 268 271 272 a74 280 :knian 287 289 298 302 308 3«i 317 320 3*4 de to 328 33* 344 347 348 349 -^350 Zaffire 35a 357 359 367 Grc 376 :xx. Pa Re Sec. XXX. 1676. John Wood and WntintnFlawes 383 Sec. XXXI. 17 19. Knight and Birlowr 386 Sec. XXXII. 1722. Capt.Scroggs — 387 Sec. XXXIll. 1737. Ihe Hudfon't Bay Company fends out two iltips 390 Sec. XXXIV. 1741, Chriftopher Middleton and William Moor — 390 Sec. XXXV. 1746. William Moor and Francit Smith 392 . Sec. XXXVI. 1773. Captain Conilantine Joha Phipps, now Lord Mulgrave 397 Sec. XXXVlI. 1776. James Cook — 309 Sec. XXXVIII. 1776. Richard PickciTgiJl 407 Sec. XXXIX. 1777. Michael Lane — 409 Chap. II. Difcoveries of the Dqtch in the North — 410 Sec. I. 1593. Cornelis CorneliiTon Nay and William Barentz 411 Sec. II. 1 595. Seven iKips from Amfterdam, Zealand, Enkhuyfen, and Rotterdam 416 Sec. III. I $96. Jacob van Heeniflcerk, William Barentz, and Cornelia Ryp 4 r 7 Sec, IV. 1609. Henry Hudfon — • 421 Sec. V. 1611. Jan Mayen 422 Sec. VI. 161 1, 1614. Voyage of a fhip fitted out by Dutch merchants 423 Sec. VII. 1614. Dutch Greenland Company 423 Sec. Vlll. 1633. Wintering of certain failors at Spiilbergen — — 423 Sec. IX. 1640 or 1645. RykeYfe's voyage 424 Sec. X. 1643. Voyage of the ibips Caftiicom and Breflces ■ 424 Sec. XI. 16 J4, 1641. Voyage round the North Pole at the diftance of two de- grees from it — 426 Sec. XII. 1 654—1 707. Various difcoveries made ar different times — 428 Chap. III. Difcoveries of the French in the North — 4 ^o Sec. I. 1 504. Voyage* of the Bifcayans, Ncrmans, Bretons, and others — 431 Sec. II. 1524. JvianVeraazani — — 4^2 Sec. 111. i r Cb CONTENTS. I'agc Sec. III. 1534. Jaques Cariier . — , 437 Sec. IV. 1535. His fecond voyage — 438 Sec. V. 1540. His third voyage — 441 Sec. VI. 1 542. Francois de la Roque de Roberva^ 44« Sec VII j I $98. Marquis de la Roche . Sec VIII. 1709 Captain Frondad np. IV. Difcoveries of the Spaniards in the North Sec. 1. 1 5 24. Eftevan Gomez . — — 1537. Francifco Ulloa- and others Sec. 11. 1542. Juan Rodriguez deCabrillo Sec, 111. 1556. Andrea Urdanietta — Sec, IV. 1582. Fiancifro Gualle -— Sec. V. 1592. Juan de Fuca, alias Apoftolos lerianos ' ■ ■ 443 444 445 447 ibid. 448 448 448 Va- 450 45 z 453 pre- 454 Sec. VI. 1596. Sebaftiano Vizcaino — - Sec. VII. 1 602. His I'econd voyage ■ Sec. VIII. 1640. fiartholomeo de Fuente's tended vdyage — — Sec. IX. 1775. Don Bruno Heceta, Don Juan de Ayala, and J. Francifco de la Bodega y (^adra — 455 C^ap. V. Difcoveries of the Portuguefe in the North 458 Sec. 1. 1500. CafpardeCprtereal — 460 Sec. II. 1578. Fifty Portuguefe veflels fi(h off New- foundland Bank — 461 Sec. III. 1555. Martin Chaque ' ■ ■ 462 Sec. IV. 1620, 1621. Father de Angelis and Jacob /* Caravalho Sec. V, 1 62 1, 1649. Jo^o ^^ Gama Sec. VI. 1660. David Melguer — Chap. VI. Difcoveries of the Danes in the . Jorlh Sec. I. 1 564- Dithmar Blefkens Sec. II. 1605. Gotlke Lindenau and 463 464. ibid. 466 Sec. III. aSo6- Their fecond voyage Sec. IV. 1607. Karften Richardt Sec. V. 1,619. Jens Munlc Sec. VI. i636. The Danifh Greenland Sec. VII. 1769. Baron voyage von James Hall 467 ~ 468 — 469 47» Company 47' Uhlefeld's pretended Ciiap. VII. CONTENTS. Chap. VII. Difcoveries of the Rufllans in the Noith — 473 General obskrvations on the difcoveries made in the North, together with Phyf J, Anthropolgicai, Zoological, Rotanicai, and Mineralogical refledions on the obje^s oc- curring in thofe regions ■ ■ ■ ■ 483 P R E F A C v.. I f ;o(VjJ fig- :. I. 8e Juflin. vigation, DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH 5 vigation, they made ufe of longjhips^ and arrived at fuch an acquaintance with nations and countries, as at that period, in the infancy of the world, nuturally aftoniftied the reft of mankind. For about 600 years after Noah's flood, the navigations of the Sidoniam in the Mediter- ranean, their trade, and the flouriftiing circumftanccs they were in in confequence of thefe, were fo famous, as to be made mention of by the dying patriarch Ja- cob, {h) . Very early we find mention made of Tarjhijh, the Spa- nifli Tartejfus (/), as of a European people. Forfo far, atleaft, is true, that Moses muft have heard from the Pho&rAcians, that there adually exifted fuch a people ; which people, confequently, muft have been vifited by them. But this fa6t he learned in the flower of his age, when he was lefs than 40 years old, at the time when he accompanied the Egyptian King Seftoris in his grand expedition through />.fia and Europe ; confequently about 730 years after the deluge*. According to this calculation the Phoenicians Jiad at that period extended their navigation as far as Spain, and even as far as to the other lidc of the Straits of Gibraltar ; and by confe- quence they were acquainted with all the coafts of the Mediterranean : for in thofe days, in all their voyages, navigators followed the coafts, and went to as little dif- tance from it as polTible. This diftant navigation was continually extending j and, beyond the Straits, they went as well to the left hand and fouthwards along the coaft of Africa, as likewife to the right hand and north- wards along the coafts of Spain and Gaul, 'till they at laft reached the Britifh fhore, and there found both lead and t'lity both which metals were known fo early as in the time of Moles [k). And thefe metals were, ac- cording to the univerfal teftimony of the ancients, no where to be found but in the Britifh iflands (/). Ac- (h) Gcnef. chap. 49. v. 13. » (i) Genef. chap. 10. v. 4. • ViHe J R. Forfteri Epiftols ad Jo. Dav. Michaelem, hnjus fpicilegi «m geographige Htbrxorum exterc jam confirtnantes, jam caftigantci, p. 1—7, 6c p. 19—44. ( k) Numbers, chap. 31. v. 14. (/) Herodotus^ Lib. iii. cap. 1 1 g. where he confelTes, that it was brought aloog with amber from the farthed exueiaity of Europe. cordingly 'm .•ill i VOYAGES AND cordingly they were calleJ the Sorling or Siil/y iflands s likcwife the Cajftterides, or 77«-iflands ; and in the lan- guage of the country, this land is CTiWt^ Bro -or Brte- tain, viz. the land or tin : an appellation which it pre- ferved in the times of the Romans, and indeed has pre- ferved it even to this day. Nay, as Pliny exprefsly fays * ♦ that a certain Midacritus firft brought lead and tin from the Cafliterian iflands, we have reafon to fuppofe that the nam? of this perfon was corrupted, and we can almoft take upon us pofitively to affert, that it is a Phoe- nician name. Befides tin and lead, which the Phoeni- cians, and no other nation whatever, fetched from Bri- tain (w), they likewife brought amber from the -noft remote regions of Europe. To the Greeks amber was known fo early as in the times of Herodotus, and perhaps of Homer ; and yet we are well aflured, that it was only to be had from the countries bordering on the German Ocean ; but no Greeks ever went to thole parts : for the utmoft extent of their commerce was to the Phoenician colony of 'Cadiz \ confequently, the trade of the Phoenicians muft have extended as far as Pruflla, which is one of the moft aftonifliing voyages that ever was undertaken \y any people in the infancy of the world. This early acquaintance of the ancients with the north of Europe cannot be denied under the pretext, that af- terwards, in the times of the Greeks and Romans, ra- ther lefs, if any thing, was known of thefe regions than is fuppofed to have been known to the Phoenicians : for it is the very fame cafe with refpeit to the circumnavi- gation of Africa. It is at prefent proved almoft to a Jemonftration *, that the Phoenicians and Egyptians *• Plinil Hlft. Nat. L, vii. ftp. t,6. Indeed the name of mhaakpi- TOS appears originally to have been MEAKAPTOI, which wai propcrl/ one of ihe appellations of the Phoenician or Tyrian Hercules. And the word Hercules or Harokel in the Phoenician language fignified a mer- chant. (m) Strabonis Geograph. Lib. iii. fub fvnem. * Vid. ^oh Matth. Gefneri PraltSlionet de Pbaenicum extra Columnm Kerculis Navigalionibus, at the end of his edition ot theOrphici ; likcwitc jtug. Lud, Scblozer''s Sketch of a General Hiftory of Commerce and Kavigajion in the remoted antiquity; and the Chevalier Joh. Dav. Michaelii'iSpicilegtum Geographic Hebrzornro eztcrs pod Bochaitum. I'ars prima, p. 8i-— lOJj. have "iw Illy iflands 3 in the lan- lich it pre- eed has pre- xprefsly fays ead and tin 1 to fuppofe and we can t is a Phce- the Phoeni- l from Bri- n the •. 110ft eeks amber odotus, and red, that it ring on the nt to thole Tce was to lently, the ;d as far as ng voyages s infancy of th the north ct, that af- omans, ra- egions than icians : for ircumnavi- almoft to a Egyptians of MHAAKPI- was properl/ es. And the niiied a mtr- vtra Cdumnns lici ; likcwile ommerce and er Joh. Dav. I Bochaiturn. DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 7 liave more than once undertaken and happily accom- plifhed the circumnavigation of this quarter c^ the globe. Even the celebrated voyages to Ophir of the Phceniclans and Hebrews in Solomon's time, were nothing elfe ttun circumnavigations of Africa f, and vet thev were all forgotten ; and when K*ifco Gama in the years 1497 and 1498 failed round Africa to the Indies, it was conhdercd as an abfolutely novel undertaking, and a voyage that had never been attempted before. In order the better to fecure to themfelves the very im- portant commerce of thcfe countries, the Phoenicians founded ct(t, and, with the addition of the word xa^, which fignifiea a countrjy Ou-o fled from 'Tyre in order to avoid the felicitations and perfecutions pf her brother, who was king of that place. She landed firft in Cyprus, an ifland on which at "mat time there Had long been Phoenician trading towns "nd colonics, uid which her father had very lately brought more unde; 1 ib- je6lion than ever. {0). Here {he was accompanied by a prieft, and her followers took wives along with them : and fo {he failed with her younger brother Barcas and her fiffer Anna to Africa, As foon as fhe arrived, (he bought a piece of ground of the Africans, for the pur- pofe of building on it a fortification i to this, from the oxes hide, on which when {he made the negotiation, {he fat by way of carpet after the eaftern manner, {he gave the name of Byrfa. About 25 years after this, juft up- ^er the fort which was f.tuated on an eminence, and whither more and more Phoenicians continually reforted, {he laid the foundation of a new city^ which accordingly was called Cdrtha-chadta or New-town : or as it was ab- breviated by the Greeks, Karchedon^ and according fo the Latin pronunciation, Carthago, The fertility of the adjacent foil, the excellence of the harbour, the happy fcite of the town, in the center of fo many (f) Virgilis i£naeis, L. I. v. (21, 6ti. rich DISCOVERIES IK THE NORTH. ^ rich iflands and countries conveniently fituated fcr car- rying on a lucrative commerce, together with the in- d'ullry of the inhabitants, all contributed greatly to the rapid increafc and improvement ofthe colony. It was not long before, in confcquencc of the enlargement of its territory, it became a feparate State ; and this m- confiderable State foon increafcd to a kingdom, which, from the firft building of the city to its dtftruaion, in all 70D years, extended its dominion over a confiderable portion of Africa, and over a great part of Spain, Si- cily, Corfica, and Sardinia, as likcwife over the Bale- i.ric Iflands. 'i'hc internal regulation of the State, the moft perfect and refined policy often (hewn and pra«Slifed by it, the numerous wars carried on for the prote«Slion and exten- iion of its commerce ; the emoluments ariftng to if jVom this coijimerce (which was extended to the moft icaiote countries) as well as from the filver mines of Spain, and from the adlive diligence and unwearied iiiduftry of its inhabitants, contributed very much to the rapid increafe of their power, of their riches, and of their profperity in general. The great variety of profeflions and arts, which fub^ fiflcd at Carthage in the moft flouriftiing ftate j the fpi- rit of emulation, the (kill arifm^ from experience, and the great art exhibited by them m the conftrudion and navigation of their Ihips ; the fpirit of enterprize and the courage rfegulated by prudence which manifefted itfelf in au their undertakings, foon put them in a con- dii:ioi\ to extend their commerce to thofe nations with which the Phoenicians had, till then, carried on an ex- clulive trade.— r-Soon after the State of Carthage had acquired a fufficient degree of firmnefs and confiftence,, the power of the Phoenicians decayed. For about 120 years after the building of Carthage, Salmanajfar^ king of Ajjyria^ made war on the united States of Phoenicia » and the cities in Cyprus, as well as the cities of Akra, Sidon and old Tyre, revolted from the kingdom of Tyre. Thefe internal troubles and infurre<£lions among the Phoenicians themfelves, joined to the vidories of the Aliyrians, confiderably weakened their power. In the fpace of 150 years more the States of Tyre, after hav- ing fqltained a' 13 years fie^e, became fubjeiSlto Nebu- "^ ^hadnexar^ la V O Y AGES AND !' m ih\ tbadnezar^ king of Chaldtsa, The reft of the Phoeni- cian States had like wile fallen into the hands of the ChaldxanS) and the whok commerce of this nation was now entirely annihilated. This event ferved greatly to throw the trade of the Phcenicians entirely into the hands of the Carthaginians. In confequence of this, the |)ower and credit of this /latter people, as well as their riches, encreafed greatly j on which account it was, that about this period, or ratker later, they form- ed the defign of getting into ft ill more branches of the trade of the moft remote countries, by means of voyages of difcovery made for the purpofe. Being therefore at that time in the height of their profperity, g) they fent out two fquadrons of ftiips with this view, ne of thefe was under the command of Hanno, and went out of the Straits of Gibraltar to the fouthward. sJong the African coaft. The other wa^conrniaaded by Imilco or Himilco, and failed out of the Straits northwards along the coafts of Spain and Gaul to 6ri> tain *. Accurate accounts of both thefe voyages were drawn up and were preferved in the archives of Car- thage. The fouthern voyage is defcribed in a Greek fragment. And on the fubje^t of that of the northern Admiral, there are extant fome obfcure, mutilated Latin verfes. In Ihort, it appears that the voyages which had been relinquished by the Phoenicians in confequence of (^) Pliaii H'dor. ntt. Lib. ii. Cup. 67, & L> v> c. t. • Rufus FeJIuj AvieMM^ Orte marititH^, vtrfn 17 — 41$. Avit»Mt ftyt cxprefsj : that tti which he there relates, is taken out of the Punic himilco^ which he had feen himfelf ( and that he had extraded from the very iomoft of the Punic Annals, and had made it public to pletfe hit fiieod Probut, Kotwithftanding this affertion, thiii geographical frag- ment appears to be very much mutilated, and very incoherent. In it he fpeaks much of lead and tin, and of (hips cafed with leather, (which in ^amtfLhatka wouJd ^e galled MaiJeiny and in "W^htCoraeles) and men- tions that in thoie parts the Et{fl-rymni lived, to yvhom the people of Tar* tefTos and Carthage went, for the purpofe of trading with them. ■ Yet 1 will not deny, but that it (bmeiimet appears, as if thefe tin countrit s f iigrecably to what Avienus fayi) all lay in Spain ; on which account I confider iris fragment of Avienus as very imperfe£t and much mutilated. . ., ■ Thus much, however, is certain v that at the very fame time (h^t Hanno failed to the fouthward, Himtko made a voyage towards the Korlh, to the tin countries) and that an accurate account of this voyage 'was preferved in the annals of Carthage, which were Aili extant in the middle of the ;th century, at the time when Avienus wrote (viz. about the year 4;?). Perhaps the Etift'rjmni wcie iituttcd at the promontory of Qtriuun in Prit4in. DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. if the deftru(^ion of their towns and of the ftate of flavery to which they were reduced after the couqiieft made of them by the Aflyrians and Chaldaeans, gave occafion to the Carthaginians to make themfelves better acquainted with the countries whence their kinfmen and allies the Phoenicians, had derived fuch confiderable advantages, and being once in pofleffion of thofe advantages, they ufed every means in their power to exclude odiers from participating with them. It is therefore not to be won- dered at, that although fome few reports got abroad, that Braetain was the tin-country, or tiiat Baltia on the river Rhodun, where the Aefti lived, not far from the Gutioni, was the country that produced amber, nevcr- thelefs their pofterity in later times had not the leaft knowledge left of the true fituation of thefe countries, it being the intereft as well of the Phoenicians as of the Carthaginians after them, to conceal as much as poffible the real fituation of thefe countries from others. In a fubfequent period the Romans, being as defirous to dif- cover thefe fources of the wealth ot" the Carthaginians as they were to conceal them> fent a veflej out for that purpofe, with orders for it to fail in the wake of a Phoe- nician ihip bound for Britain. This was fcon obferved by the wary Carthaginian, in confequence of which he ran his veflel purpofely among the rocks and fand-banks, fo that it was loft together with that of the inquifitive Roman. The patriotic commarjder of the former was indemnified for his lofs by his country ; and thus the way to the Britifh tin mines was for a confiderable time longer (q) concealed from the Romans. Bijt now the North lilcewife, together with all the nations and regions in that quarter, continued to be unknown ; and an ac- quaintance with it was rendered ftill more difficult by this felfifh concealment ; and in all probability the civili- sation and refinement of the manners of njankifid was ilill farther retarded by this circumftance, (^) Straha Lib. iii. Tub Gactq. CHAP. tt VOYAGES AND k CHAP. II. Of the Voyages and Difcoveries made by thi Grecians. TH E Grecians were originally a people, that had at an early period of time pafled from AJia Minor to the peninfula which they inhabited. In procefs of time they were civilized by new-tomers from Afia Mi- nor, Phoenicia and Egypt, From Jfta they received many arts and profeffions, together with agriculture and the cultivation of the vine. The Egyptians feem to have introduced among them the regulations of civil eftablifh- ment, matrimony, laws, and many of their religious do6lrines. From the Phcenicians they learned naviga- tion, commerce, aftronomy and the ufe of letters. As foon as they had got fome kind of eftablifhment, which was merely in the form of little independent States, they began to pradlife navigation : and their rude, unfettled way of life, their internal commotions and mu- tual diflentions, together with their warlike turn of mind, difpofed them to piracy. But when they arrived at a higher degree of civilization, they were infenfibly k 1 to commerce. At an early period they undertook an expedition towards the North, through the Straits whidi feparate Afia from Europe, into the Black Sea as far as the river Phafis, celebrated for its golden fands. They returned by fome rivers, which they failed up, and after a confiderable time and going a great way about, at length arrived again in their native country. As ro- mantic as this expedition appears, it is neverthelefs founded upon truth. The Argonauts, without doubt, vifited a great many countries in the North. Only we cannot at this period of time determine what circuit they took in their way back. They went, no doubt, to the Hyperboreans^ a nation, the fituation of which v/as, ac- cording to circumftances, frequently varied by the Gre- cians. Indeed, every tradt of country that lay towards the North, or that was (heltered by its fituation from the violence of the north wind, might lay claim to .;his appellatioi). Thu5 ecians. DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. i$ Thus they at firft met with the Hyperboreans beyond riiofe trads of Thrace, which lie to the north of Greece j for Boreas, the ravilher of Orythia, hved in the land of the Cicones. (s) Afterwards, when the world had ac- quired a more extenfive acquaintance with the northern regions, they removed this people to the other fide of the Black Sea, the Danube and the Adriatic Sea, where lived the Sauromates, the Arimafpians and the Celts. ($^ At a ftill later period they placed them beyond the Riphaean mountains, where they had fix months day an4 fix months night, and where, without contentions and quarrels, in a warm and extraordinarily fertile country, they pafled their days in repofe and hr.ppinefs, till fatiated with life, their heads adorned with flowers, they preci- pitated themfelves from a certain rock into the fea. (u) It is eafy to perceive that thefe accounts are formed out of various others aukwardly put together. In the infancy of navigation th^re went a report among the Grecians con- cerning certain Fortunatt IJlands (as they were termed) lying at a great diftance to the weft ward (probably the Canary Iflands and the Ifland of Madeira) which vverc warm and fertile, and peopled with a race of men living to a great age, in a calm, delightful ftate of repofe and hap- pinefs. (x) On the other hand, the account of days and nights of fix months long belongs to the d^fcription of Thule, as indeed we (hall have occafion in the fequel to mention. Were thefe northern regions where the nights and days were imagined to be oi fuch an extraordinary length, aftually the fame with the Fortunate IJlandi^ they might in this cafe be the Hyperborei of the Grecians. But unfortunately they have nothing in common with thele odiers, but their being fituated beyond the Straits of Gibraltar. The Fortunate IJlands lie to the fouthwcft of the Straits, and Tljule almolt dircdly to the northward of them. Probably at an earlier period, and before the Fortunate Iflands were pitched upon as the feat of the Hyperbore- ans, the refidence of thefe people was tiansferred to Spain, (/) Hymnus Orphicus (79) in Boream. v. 1, 8e Ovid. Metam. vi, 709. (t) Stiabo, Lib, ii. ^ («) Mela, Lib, iii. 5. Plia. Hift. Nat. Lib. iv. u, & Lib. vi. 13. Sc- lin, xxi. {x) MaKajaf* yiitrof Strabo, Lib. i. & Flin. Lib. vi. c. 35, 6c Plutarch ia Sertorio. For, H VOYAGED ANd For, according to fome accounts, the prefents wfjicff this nation fent to Delos for Apollo, came through thtf hands of the Scythians (or Celtae) to the Hadriatic -Gulf, from thence to the Dodonaeans, then by the Sinus Maliacus to Caryttus and Tenos, and fo at laft to De- los. (y) One fees very plainly from the track by which thefe prefents came, that they came from the weftward : and as beyond the Adriatic Celts, there lay only the Spa-* niards farther on towards that quarter, the HyperboA- ans and thefe people, according to the foregoing accounts, muft have been one and the fame nation. There it is likewife probable that they might have offered up affes in facrifice, which are uncommonly beautiful in this country, (z) where the laurel, with which they were wont to encircle their templps, ^rew in abundance, and whence Hercules brought the olive which he planted in Pifa. (n) The different fituations of the country of the Hyperboreans here mentioned, fhew very evidently the progrcfs of human affairs and opinions. At firft tlie Greeks were very near the extremities of the North. But in proportion as their knowledge of different coun- tries and nations increafed, the extremity of the North was carried farther back ; indeed in the infancy of navi- gation they had no jufl idea of the fituation of countries with refpe£t to the Heavens. They therefore continually carried their North farther on to the weftward, viz. to Poland and Bohemia on the other fide of the Riphaei, to Gaul, to Spain, and at laft to the Canary I/lands. The firft celebrated Grecian writer, who had any knowledge of the North, though that was but very im- perfeft, was Homer. He fpeaks of the Cimmerians, who live in conftant darknefs. (b) This is undoubtedly an error, for the Cimmerians did not live in Italy ; but in the Crim, and beyond that in Rufllia, where the nights in winter are very long, which gave rife to this fable- But Homer, in his travels to Phoenicia and Egypt, had coUefted many accounts from travellers who had uiuler- taken long and diftant voyages ; and he made a point fjr) Heredot T.ib. iv. 31. (S) Pindar, Pyth. Ode x. 46, & feq. I^a) PitiiLir Olymp iii. 5;;. {b) itom«;ri Oiyd, A. 14 — 19. tQ nts w^icb trough thtf Haariatic the Sinus ift to De- by which iveftward : ly tlie Spa-» lyperboA- ; accounts, ^here it is i up afles id in this they were lance, and planted in ntry of the idently the t firft die lie North. !f DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. is to interweave evcrv thing he had heard into the body of his poems. Conlequently, it is not (o much to be won- dered at, if he was fometimes miftaicen in the fituation of countries with which he was acquainted onlybyhear- fay : but, on the other hand, thofe which he had a6hi- ally feen himfelf, were fo much the more prefent to his imagination. His defcriptions of Greece appeared fo iiriking to the Greeks, and fo decifive on account of their exaftnefs, that in every difpute concerning their refpeilive boundaries, they applied to the poems of Homer, and the authority of thefe records was refpe£led and acknowledged by all parties. In defcribing what Telemachus taw at die houfe of Menelaus, Homer makes mention of Ele£frum or Amber i and in two places more he defer ibes *' golden collars fet with amber," which makt?. it probable either that thefe materials had been brought to Greece by the Phoenici- ans i or elfe that Menelaus had received them by way of prefent from the JCing of Sidon. This mineral, which was fo much efteemed by the ancients, was brought to them from Pruflia ; confequently, neither it, nor the country it came fr* , could be totally unknown to the Greeks, any more than tin, a metal with which Homer was likewife acquainted, and which probably was in thofe days brcught from Britain. Thefe meager accounts, however, are not calculated to give us much information. Herodotus, who lived 408 years before Chrift was born, even at that early pe- riod was acquainted with the Cafpian and Black §cas, with the Wolga, the Don, a great part of RufTta and Poland, together with the Crim and Beflarabia, and the Rivers MoTdau and Danube. His knowledge of thefe places was undoubtedly very exaft, as he had convcrfed. much with the Scythians, and from them had learned the fituation of thefe countries, feas, and rivers, and the manners and cuftom& of the refpedive inhabitants of thefe regions. With the country of the Celtx, how- ever, he was npt at all acquainted, for he affirmed that (0 Homer! OdyfT. A. 73. O. At^, & 2. jjj. (i. cap. 75. iv. c. 16. vi.34. hpwever,, Chinf/eznd :e tin was n like man- ced amber, le true fitu- er. s, the Pho- ed the de- Phoenicians lerce. The /ery where try, and to own to all. e, fent oUt Hanno had outh I and ack of Hi- i. Of Eu- anded down 1. DISCOVERIES It? tHE NORTH. 17 however, v»^a» (o inconfiderable, that none of the ancients took notice of it, but as foort as they had got through the Straits of Gibraltar into the great Ocean, the tide became (o new and fo ftriking a phe- nomenon to them, that they then for the firft time Jooked on it as a fubjeft of wonder and aftonifhment. Such, in fail, it appeared to Laelius, when he bore up againft the Carthaginian fleet, commanded by Adherbal in thefe Straits., The light Carthaginian veiTcls were obliged to give way more to the tide, and two of them were funk by one Roman fliip (g)» Alexander's fleet fufFered greatly at the mouth of the Indus {h)i and Julius Caefar was likewife very little acquainted with the currents caufed by the tide, when he arrived in the Britifti Ocean (i)^ on which occaiion he lofl; a good many (hips. This phenome- non, as may be fuppofed, excited all the ftudious men of antiquity to give their opinions concerning it. Cicero, Strabo, Seneca, and Pliny, have all made inention of it, and attributed the caufe of it to the moon (Jt). But thefe writers lived three hundred years after the deceafe of Pytheas, of whom it is re- corded, that he aflirmed '* that the flood- tide de- pended on the increafe of the moon, but the tide of ebb on its decrease (I)." Were we at prefent in pofleflion of the works of Pytheas, which, in fa<9t, were fliill extant in the fifth century, we might then know, whether the author, who has handed down to us this faying of Pytheas, has reported it precifely in the terms in which it was delivered j for I have fome reafon to doubt whether his meaning has been rightly underftood. It is not the tide of flood, but the encreafed height of the tide of flood that depends on the new and full moon, in like manner as the leflfer height of it is obfervable in the firft and laft quarters. This could not poflibly efcape the obferva- tion of Pytheas, who had failed fo far upon this fea, and (e) Livii Hill. Lib. xxvili. c, 30. (») Qi CuKii, Lib. it. c. 9. Arrian. Exped. ^ !ex. Lib. vl, c. 1 8. (i) C«rar de Bcllo Gall. Lib. iv. parag. 85. 86. Edit, Elzev. (i) Cicero de Naiura Dfeor. Lib. ii. c. 7. Strabo, Lib, iii. Seneca de l>rovidentii, c. i. Plin. Hid, Nat. Lib ii. c. 97. (/} Plutir<;kus de Phciiis S>t Diftis Philofoph. Lib. iii. art. 1 7. C (agreeably i8 VOYAGES AND (agreeably to the method pradlifed at that time) con* ilantly along the coaft. But it is not at all unlike^ ly that fomc Philofopher, who without having ever a£lually feen the Ocean, had contented himfelf with navigating it in his own chamber, ihould have not been able to comprehend this paflage of Pytheas, and have mifreprefented it accordingly. Pytheas, even before he fet out on his journey, appears to have occupied himfelf in obferving the Heavens. Before his time, it was believed, that the •Polar Star, or the outermoft ftar in the Bear's Tail, was next to the Pole : but he pointed out three more ftars, with which the North Star formed a fquare, and in this fquare was the true place of the Pole, (m) He likewife erected at Marfeilles, his birth place, a pillar or gnomon, and from the proportion which the height of this gnomon bore to the length of the Shadow caft by it at the fummer foldice, he found, with great exadnefs and precifion, the north latitude of the City of Marfeilles, or its diftance from the Equator. Hence Eratofthenes, and Hipparchus, in- ferred very juftly, that this latitude amounted to 34. deg. 17 min. a precifion, which in the theii infant ftate ot* Aftronomy, one could hardly fuppofe any per- son capable of. in faiSt, WendElin prevailed upon Gassendi to correal this obfervation ; who accord- ingly found that it hardly differed a minute from thef real latitude («). It muft be confeffed, that Pytheas, with fach ex- tenfive as Well as folid acquifitions in fcience, was' perfectly well qualified for the great enterprife ta which l^e was appointed. He failed out of the Straits alorvg the coafts of Portugal, Spain, and Gaul, till he defcribed that of Britain, along which he like- wife coafted till he came to the very norther nmoft point of it, and from thence failed fix days longer till he difcovered Thule (0), where at the fummer fol- ftice, the fun did not fet for 24 hours. From this deteription of Thule, fome have im^agiried it to be ' (m) HSpparchi Comment, in Arat. Lib. ii. c. ;. (n) Galfencii Proporiio Gnomonis ad Solftitidlem Umbram Obfervatft ..MafliliT, Anno 163^. Oper. Tomo iv. p. 565 & I'eq. {») Plin. Hill. Nat. Lib. it> c. 75, 3c iv. c »5. Icclaiid. a DISCOVERIES lU fri.> NORTH. 19 time) corf* all unlike' laving ever mfelf with 1 have not rtheas, and s journey, ferving the :d, that the ear's Tail, three more 1 a fquare, 5 Pole, (m) th place, a ;ion which igth of the he found, rth latitude e from the irchus, in- jnted to 34, len infant fe any per- illed upon »o accord - ' from the ex- fach ience, was* erprife to ut of the and Gaul, :h he like- thernmoft longer till nmer fol- From this it to be iin ObfervftU Iceland. Icda'nd. But if we confider, that in the martner of failing ufed at that time, it was impoflible to get from the northernmoft point in Britain, to Ictland^ in the fpaceof fix days, we (hall rather be Inclined to fup- pofe that it was the Shetland Iflands that he reached* For though, in fa6l, it is only within the Ar6lic Circle, or in lat. 66? deg. that the day is 24 hour* long at the fummer folftice, yet it cannot be denied* but that by means of the refraiSlion of "*'« atmofphere it is ftill fo light at this period) even t.i ihe 60th de- gree of latitude, that one may read, Write, and tranf- a6t any bufinefs whatever without any othei' light than that of the fun. And indeed, this great man's knowledge of Aftronomy enabled him to inf^r with- great certainty the total elevation of the fun above the , horizon ; for at every place he came to« he afked the inhabitants in what part of the heavens the fun rofe and fet. Now, thefe points he found approached each other in proportion as he went farther to the J^Jorth- ward; whence he might eafily conclude, thatatabout the 66th deg. the fun never fet at the time of the fummer folftice* Pliny fays likewife that Pytheas had feen the tide on the Britifli Coaft rife to the heighth of 80 cubits, or 120 feet. But we know, that it is only in narrow feas, fuch as the Britifh Channel, that the tide rifes to any great heighth. The greateft heighth to which it rifes at Breft, is 23 feet. In Briftol tooj it mounts as high as to 42 ; and in St. Malo, to 48 feet. The text, therefore, in Pliny, is certainly corrupted *. A day's journey on the other fide of Thulo, ac- cording to rytheas, the fea was coagulated, whence it is called Ctunium **. 1 he fadt is^ that he knew from * Plin Hid Nat. Lib. li. c. ,97. Oiitgenii culitis fupra hrUonnlam intumefcere d-J}us, Pytheas Mnjiiitnfis auiior eji. Perhaps the fyl'atlc vi has been r.irittoci atier OSo by the copylfts, io that the paffige fliould bt te^d, 0^: •vicenis cubitis, &c which mAesit 41 feet, i. e. equal to the greateft htighih of the tide at Briftol. ** Plin. HiU. Nat Lib iv. c. 16. A Thale '•anius diei navigaiione ware coHcrttum^ a nonnulli* C'r«»/«m appcllatum. And in c. 13. Sej>- ^emtrionalis Occiinus ; atneiUkium cum Hcciteus adpellat, a Paropamilb amne, qua Scythiam a luit, quod nomen ejus gtntis lingua fignlficat r#«. gelalKtn- Philemon Mciimcruftm a Cimbris vocari, hoc eft, moriuum inare, ufque ad promonioiium Rubeas : ul'.ra deinde Crtnium. — i— Taci- tut dc Moiibus Ctirm.'C. 45. Trans Suionis. aliud piarr pigtum ac prnpe C X imaiotutQ 20 VOYAGES AND til from the relations made him by the inhabitants^ tha part of the North Sea in fevere winters was covered with ice ; which part indeed at times, in cafe of a, hard frofl, was concreted in fuch a manner, and, as it were, coagulated in the fpace of one night, as to be entirely converted into ice. Pytheas, however, not content with having made the(e difcoveries, was deflroas likewife of becoming acquainted with the region whence the Phoenicians ufed to fetch their amber. He muft certainly have had fome directions, either oral or written, which he followed in his enquiries: otherwife it muft ap«> pear abfolutely impoflible for him to have penetrated quite to the farthermoft part of the Baltic, and there hit cx'd&\y on the very fpot of the Southern Coafl: where it is foond in the greateft abundance. And yet, we have great reafon to fuppofe him to have been perfectly well acquainted with the fpot ; as we may very plainly perceive even from the fragments of Py- theas preferved in the writings of the later Geogra- phers, that he knew the fituation of the whole place, and that he was likewife acquainted with the neigh- bouring nations, and the adiilcent rivers; and that he was even no ftranger to the names given to thefe places by the inhabitants themfelves. immotnm— «><][Wl extrftmus cidentis jam folis fuigor in ortils edortt, adeo slarus, ut fidera hebeXet> Dionyf. Periegeles. v. 3s, 33* norlw juiv axMtfc-i HEnHrOTA Ti ICPONION rt AXXof i'av xAi NEKPON t^nfxtrat, iimk u<^iffn Ht\tu And Orphens Argonautk, v. 1079,10(0. EfAirtn J' A*ciav«, KPONION is ixjKX»a-xar Difcovcries ir power and uite difFerenc )mans in the ubfequent to rmfelves very ing of any principal oc- es fet Gene- a few days own hands, ittle of fuch • next ncigh- ad long be- , when the avigated the hardly any navigation. ito Hetrucia, and ■ DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. A3 and who fometimcsftrayed as far as Rome itfelf, had, however, difFufed in Rome fo much information con- cerning Greece, that they had in this city fome know- ledge of the famous oracle of Delphi, and had heard of the laws of Draco and Solon. Moreover, when commerce had brought the Carthaginians to the 'toafts of Italy, the Romans, foon after they had expelled the royal family of the Tarquins, made a treaty with this people. For 364 years after the foundation of their ftale, they had not yet heard of that great and numerous people the Gauls, who at that time lived not fourfcorc miles from the gates of their citv; and, ind?ed, at that very juncture likewife toolc it, but were not able to keep pcfltflion of their conqueft. About 107 years after this event, the Romans were continually employed in fighting thefe Gauls in the neighbourhood of the city of Rome. About 64 years after this, the Romans muft have already been in fome meafure acquainted with Spain, as they had nt this period made a league with the Sagunti ; and vvo years after this, the firrt Ro- man army that ever was in Spain, marched thither under the (;lommand of theScipios; and in about ten years fubfequent to this, they had entirely driven the Cartliaginians out of the country, and remained fole pofleflors of that very wealthy region. AM Italy had by this time been over-ran and conquered by the Romans. The Gauls, who refided in the upper part of it, were already fubjc6t to them. And they now, in the 156th year antecedent to the Chriftian aera, for the firft time waged war on the other fide of the Alps. In 33 years after this, that part of Gaul, which is bounded by the fea to the fouthward, by the Alps to the eaftward, and by the Pyrennaean Mountains to the weft, and extends northwards from Geneva, along the river Rhone, to tha Cevcnnian Mountains, and along thefe, weftward, to tl e Ga- ronne and the Pyrennees, was a Roman Province. But of the remaining part of Gaul, the Romans had but very confufed ideas. Their merchai^ts, indeed, carried their wines to the thirfty Gauls all over the country ; juft as the Britons, "at this time do run to the North Americans, and the Europeans trad- Mig to the Weftern Coaft of Africa and to Gui, nea, u VOYAGES AN» nea. do btandy to the Negroes. This occafioned tk9 internal part of Gaul to be better known to the Ro- irtans than it had been before. Scarcely eight years had paffed fince the fubje6tion of the Provincia Nar- boneiilis, when they had the news at Rome of the ap- proach of two northern nationst which were called Cimbri and Teutones. The former of thefe probably had that appellation forn l^ampfeny to fight, viz. Ksm- petij or combatants ; for long after the period here alluded to, therorthern heroes continued to diflingufb thsmfelves by this name. The latter apparently got their title from being the allies, or Theodaiti, i. e. com^ faniom of the fCsempers *. According to the .accounts given * Some may perhaps chufe to derive thi« namfc rather from ThioJ^ s f'lk or people, than from TheoJan^ a companion \ but I confefs I do not fee why the name ot ptople fliouir' be given to the Teutones ia preference t<^ the rett of the nations of Germany, as it is notorious, tn?t all th* ancienc Germans, when there were fevenl of them together, and thcf were a(kcd, who they were ? ufed to call themfelves Thiod, i. e. peo- ple, an appellitiin which the Romans miOonk for (he proper name of this nation. Befides, they are not called, Tbiod 'Thiaady or Tbiud^ i. e, TeutftI.e, butch, or Germans; \i\xlThe»dau., or TeQtona. Finally, the word Thiod may perhaps itl'elf be derived from Thetdan, A folk, or peo- ple, is a focicty of men conneOed together by fome band or tie, either that of their common orrgin, or that of their mutual intereft. Befides thi.<, many denominations of feveral of the German tribes, as handed the .accounts given er from TihJ^ a I confefs I do not ones in preference rious, tn?t all the gether, and thef Thiod, i. e. peo- e proper name of /, Of ThiuJ^ i, e, iat. Finally, the A folk, or peo- and or tie, either intered. Befides ;ribe(, at handed lellation or othtr r, that tht diffie- (ler the command he Romans, thac warriors) tn Mp- as Jong as ihcy :onFcderacy Ger- bfidet] about the h, every man fit hem to be called ower Germany, in the defence of led Freakt, or whether the at they dwelled 8 afterwards !n- 7. they wer« hey fwbfifted in and had then large and {lout rmans of thole tts, it was the ;h as made war e. combatants, oths and Saxons Elbe, on occa- them were in- duced, DISCOVERIES IN THB NORTH. 15 g!ven of this people, the^ made their firft appearance at Noricum, viz. in the (outhern part of what is now called Auftria, Stiria, Carinthia, and the Ukrain. It was there that they beat Papirius Carbo. A few years after this, we find them already in Gaul, in the courttryof the Allobrogi, and in the year after, near Touloufc ; then, after having conquered Mallius and CsBpio, they advanced as far as Spain, where thejr remained near two years, and at length, in the courHp of the third year, returned towards the £afl, but di- vided and left the Teutones and Ambrones (a people from Helvetia) to oppofe Marius ; while the Cimbri, on the other hand, retired through the upper part of Germa- ny, as far as Trent, and to the banks of the Etfchr, where Catulushad taken hispoft. The Teutones and Am- brones were the firft that were routed by Marius ; and the fame fate befel alfo the Cimbri after the two armies had made a junction near Vercelli, about loi years before Chrift. This a^lion, however, gave the Romans a high idea of the valour of the Germans } and they now. learned that they were a numerous nation, inhabiting a tra.i ')y the flood, to quit their country and turn robbers. They beciiine tiiereforc Ksempers, in like rranner as the defcendants of their northern neighbours became Wicki ingers. The route their army tcok, as well as that of their companions, the Teutones, who were likewife Germans, (Iretched along the Elbe as far as Bohemia, where they were repulled by the Boii. Upon this ther turned about to the ealt, going along the Carpathian mountains, till they came to the Black-Sea apd the Danube j here, turning about again to the weft, they marched to the Skordiflcers and Tauriflcers, two nations from Gaul, and direaiy upon this they met with the Roman Conful near Nereja for (he firft time. We may therefore fafely conclude, that as in fucceed- ing ages, in confequence of their being better informed, the Germans and their name have been loft and totally vaniflied ; in like manner the deno- tninationof Kemners and Kimbers, or Cimbri, has likewife lunk into obliwon, thefe people havjng beeo found to be Saxons and iohabilaus of Ju^i.ind. 7hc s« VOYAGES AMD 1 m The opportunity which had before offered to the Romans by the conqueft of MithridateSj as well as at his deathy of getting acquainted with the Bofphorus and the environs of Crimea, prefented itfelf to them again, when, about ^7 years before Chrift, Afander, vrho had made h*mfeh mafter of the Bofphorus at the death of Pharnaces, was nominated king by AuguftusI Cxfar. During the life of this fame Auguftus Caefar; the Romans got alfo better acquainted with the weftern (hores of the Black-Sea or Thrace : and in like manner the whole range of Caucafup together with the numerous petty nations dwelling in thofe parts, were laid open to them by the vidtorious arms of Pompey. So early as ten years before the birth of Chrift, Drufus advanced with an army as far as the Elbe, and it feems probable, that Domitius, the grandfather of Nero, crolTed it fix years after. Eight years after this, Tiberius was feen on the banks of this river. Next Varus and his whole army were flain by the Germans between the Ems and the Lippe ; and Ger- tnanicus went thither alfo in order to explore thofc countries which had been fo fatal to Varus. In the year 17, he went to the Wefer by the North Sea, or vverman Ocean ; and on that occafion difcovered, near the mouth of the Wefer and that of the Elbe, many iflands ; fome of thefe were rich in amber, which the Germans called glafs, and the iflands themfelves, the Glafs-iflands. Here the Romans got better acquainted with amber, which was dill held in great efteem among them. A. D, 41, Claudius made an expedition to Britain, and from this period the Romans continued to fpread all over Biitain ; and though the Britons now and then ufed all poflible means to defend their liber- ties, and (Iruggled hard to ihake off the yoke, the Romans nevertbelefs went on, advancing gradually with vi^orious arms towards the north, til! at hil the whole of Britain, quite to the Grampian moun- tains, fubmittcd to their empire. Agricola fent the Roman fleet to the Orkneys, and fubdued them alfo. Thule, however, was only feen at a diftance j and the Roman fleet havin? in very calm weather circum- jii^ylj^z^cd ^11 pritain, afcertaincd this cxtcnuve coun- ty I fered^ to she IS well as at e fiofphorus elf to them [1;, Afander, iiorus at the by Auguftusi kiftus Caefar^ d with the ice : and in "uF together ng in thofe korious arms 1 of Chrift, le Elbe, and and father of years after f this river, [lain by the ; ; and Ger- 'xplore thofe us. In the >rth Sea, or dlfcovered, f the Elbe, in amber, the Iflands Romans was ilill to Britain, ed to fpread s now and their liber- yoke, the gradually ti!! at lall ian moun- a fent the them alfo. » DISCOVERIES iM THE NORTH. ijr try to be an ifland. Agricola took this opportunity to procure, by means of the merchants trading to Hi- bernia or Ireland, an exad account of the fituation, extent, and population of this country, as well as of the manners and cuftoms of its inhabitants. From what he could coiledl from thefe accounts, he was of opinion, that one Roman legion, with their atten- dants and fliips, would be fufficient to fubmit this ifland to the dominion of the Romans, arid to prevent any infurredion therein. This is therefore a frefli proof of the truth of the aflertion, that the ancients did not make their difcoveries merely by their militanr expeditions, but that, very frequently, navigation af- fifted in enlarging their knowledge of different coun- tries and people. In faft, it was not their conquefts which merely ferved to enlarge the circle of their in- formation ; but their merchants were alfo very eager to pufh ftill further forward than their vi6torious armies. For in general men are capable of the greateft and moft difficult undertakings, when their defigns and anions are aduated by ambition, avarice, and other paffions ; and they execute them with judgment and refolution ; and the beneficent Creator of mankind makes ufe even of the paffions of men, to accomplKh his inf<4iitel)r great and benevolent defigns of introducing into all parts of the world civilization and refinement of man- ners, together with the ktiowledge of the true and only God. The victories as well as the defeats of the Romans in the wedern and noi^h-eaftern parts of Germany, ferved likewife to this purpofe, that it gave them at lead fome idea of the vaft extent of this brave and ne- ver perfedly fubdued nation, whofe affiitance in war they courted on account of its known valour. The Romans and Italians had been enervated by luxury and defpotifm, fo that they were become unfit for military fervice ; particularly, as the manner of carry- ing on war at that time required ftrength of body, pevfonal valour, ftfift difcipline, great fkill in tactics, and great prefence of mind. The finews of the young Romans had been debilitated, and the growth of thetr jimbs had been checked by early enjoyment and ex- ec fs of voluptuoufnefs. In fadt, a delicate fmooth- jfaced youttj, vain of his perfon, which it is his chief '.,/,, fS VOYAGES AND chief ftudy to fet ofF to advantage, and whoTe whole care is to recommenci himfelf to the great, by wit, (dri^is, and flattery, has feldom the courage to face death and dangers without (hrinking. The fpirit of iiiiiipation and licentioufnefs, which at this time reign- ed in Rome, rendered the youth of that ftate unfit to live under the conftraint of fubprdination ; and, indeed, how is it to be fuppofed that they could pof- fibly exhibit any marks of fpirit in away of life which tbe^y detefted ; or that they (hould have prefencc of mind, or be fit for forming qui : and fadden refolves in circumftances and occurrence to which they were abfolutc ftrangers ? Whole armies, therefore, were xaifed amongft the Batavians, Germans, Pannonians, and other nations on whom luxury had not as yet 0ied its baneful influence. But the fidelity and valour of the Germans made them deferve the honour of beit.g chofen in pre . '•ence to others tp be the body-guards of ^ the Emperors, (n) This circumftance gave occafion to the Romans to become better acquainted with the lituation and nature of the country, and the manners andcuftomsof a people which had found means to ac- quire fuch honorable diftinciions by its intrepidity and valour. . The defire of getting amber in great quantities de- termined Nero to fend Julianqs, a Roman Knight, to the amber coaft. He landed fafely in Prufl&a, and leckons it almoft 600 miles from Carnuntum in Pan* nonia to (he coail. He brought home an immer.fe quantity of amber, which was all to ferve for the pomp and decoration of one day, on which the Em- peror gave an entertainment of gladiators. How much locver like a merchant Julianus may have carried on this amber-trade, yet ftil! he could not have avoided learning a great deal concerning the country and its inhabitants, by being amongft them. But Pliny, who relates this event to us (i>), feems himfelf to have Jknown but imperfe*51ly where this coaft was. For in- ilance, amber had been found in great abundance, in his days, along thecoait of Friefland, near the mouth \ft) Tacit. Annat. I. i. piragr. 17. Edit. Elievif,'i640. t/'jriin.Iia. Nat.Ub.x^x.ii. c. 3. I I of whoTe whole eat, by wit, rage to face ^he fpirit of is time reign- it ftate unfit nation ; and, ;y could pof- of life which 3 prefencc of dden refolves ich they were jrefore, were Pannonians, ot as yet Ihed n6 valour of our of beit.g )dy-guards of gave occafion nted with the 1 the manners means to ac- trepidity and uan<:ities de* Knight, to PruiEa, and turn in Pan- an immer.fe erve for the ch the Em- How much e carried on lave avoided ntry and its But Pliny, pfelf to have as. For in- undance, in ar the mouth ;o. • > ■A/ DISCOVERIES IN TH« NORTH. 19 of the Ems. The ifland on which the fea ha4 caft it, was called Burchana \ in our days, Borkum. Now Pliny feemt to have miftaken this amber ifland for the real native country of amber, and confequentiy it fcem' evident, that the conceptions the Romans had of the North, were not altogether clear and accurate j for in general, Pliny fuppofed, that the Baltic was conneable to me, that the appellations of Dumna and Bergos belonged to (he iflands Dumneey or Dumntjy near Helgoland, and Foeroe^ near MaU firom, for the continued feries in which thele countries are difpoled, feems to render this fuppofition i|i a manner necefTary. For the fame reei'on, I fltouid never think of looking for Thule in Iceland, but rather in Shetland. BOOK rs, togethef imes known r Northern :re, or pre- the Gothsi the names^ mney * and lying near hey ufed to lorthernmoft 5 of the Ro- lern nations, of no man- DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 51 BO o K n. OF THE DISCOVERIES MADE IN THE NORTH IN THE MIDDLE AGES. C H A P. I. 0/ the Voyages and Di/coveries of the Arabians in tbt North. ROME had been fo much weakened and enervated by its riches and luxury ; by the neg;le<% of dif- cipline among the military ; by the diviflon of its power into an eaftern and a weftern empire ; by the ambition of a great number of private then, who all pretended to the imperial crown ; by the abfolute cor- ruption of manners among the people, and by the fcho- laftic diflentions of its biSiops j that the neighbouring nations foon perceived this weaknefs, and began to attack the Empire with united force. Even before thedividonof the empire had taken place, the Mar- comannt and their allies from 166 to 180, had driven the great Emperor Marcus Aurelius to fuch ftraits, that he had been compelled to difpofe of the fumptuous imperial wardrobe and furniture by public au£lion, in order to provide the fupplies necenary for carrying on the war; a ftep which (hews very plainly the defperate iltuation of the empire. At fo early a period as the year 240, the Franks conftituted a confederacy of un- daunted nations in Lower Germany, which at length, in the fifth century, A. D. 486, laid the foundation of the Frankifh, or French kingdom. The Goths like- wife, fo early as in 244, were in motion in Dacia, and foon after we find Rome plundered by king Ala- •ric, and his IVeJlern or Vift-Goths^ and a new empire founded by his hiccefforsin the fouthern parts of Gaul and Spain. The EaJ}, or OJiro-Goths, under Dietrick of Bern, went to Italy and re -took this empire from the Heruli, who had bora the fovereign fway about 20 years p^ VOYAGES Asro Ir! Vears after the termination of the weftern empire ; thid failed about 60 years, viz. till 554. In the fouth- vreftern part of Germany, fo early as in the year 268, arofe the confederacy of the AUemanni, which exifted for a long while after. Soon after this, viz. in the year 286, we find the Anglo-Saxons and Franks making their predatory incurfions into Britain, till the Britons^ on account of the oppreffions they fufFered from the Pi£ii and Scots^ found it neceiTary to clall in the Saxons to their affiftance, who in 449, arrived under their Kings Hengiji and Horfa^ but kept pofleiHon of the country themfelves, aVid eftablilhed feveral fmall ftates, which in procefs of time were united into one. The Vandals^ Suevi and Alani,, ravaged the Ro- man dominions in 407, as far as Spain, and the Ibr- merof thefe people at length even went over to Africa in order to eftabliih a new dominion there. So early as in the beginning of the fifth century, the Burgundi had advanced from their ancient abodes on the fliores of the Baltic, to the river Maine ; and for the affiftance they had afforded the Romans againft the Weftro- Goths, took a part of Gaul to themfelves. In the land of Rugen on the Baltic, and in that part of Germany which is now called Brandenburg, were the Longobardi^ or Lombards, who in the year 548 were received by the, Emperor Juftinian in Pannonia, where, in concert with the Awari, they fubverted the empire of the Gfpides, and A. D. 568, eftabliihted a new fovereignty in the upper part of Italy, which laft- ed upwards of 200 years. Thus was the Roman Em- pire difmembercd and parcelled out by Qumerous ar- mies compofed of the different nations of Germany, and the v/hole weflern part of it was now in the hands of princes defcended from Germans. The £aft was ravaged by the SchaJavotuans, Huns, Awari, Bulgari, and a variety of other nations ; and the great power of the Perfians had even forced its way to the fliores of the Heilefpont, whilff the Chriftians in the Roman Em- pire, forgetful of the principles of their great founder, who preached as well as pradifed univerfal love and benevolence, were continually quarrelling, profecut- ing, and killing each other on the fcore of difference of opinion in matters of religion. To .■I? npire ; thift I the fouth- e year z68, bich exifted viz. in the nks making Lhe Britons* :d from the I the Saxons under their ilfion of the \reral fmall united into ged the Ro- md theibr- er to Africa e. So jearl.y he BurguneU 41 the &ores the affiftance he Weftro- res. In the < hat part of •g, were the w 548 w«re Pannonia, ibverted the ;ftabli(hed a which laft- Ionian Em- kmerous ar- Germany, the hands £aft was IV, Bulgiiriy It power of lores of the Loinan Em- kt founder, lal love and profecut- diiference To ii'M. biSCOVERIES IN tttK WORTfl. 35 To fuch a ftate of moral corruption and political debility, the great Roman Empire, in thofe days th« feat of all knowledge, civilization, and refinement, Was now tiebafcd. At this period there ftarted up in Arabia, an illiterate man, of the name of Moham* m«dy endowed with a good underftanding, and lively imagination; and of a dark and melancholic difpofi- tion, yet not infenfible to the phyfical influence of love. At his firft fetting out' in life he was poor, though he belonged to the noble family of the Ko- reifchites ; but tailing in love with Chadidfcha, the widow of an opulent merchant, he married her, by which means he became rich, and in confequence of this, led a more inactive life than he had formerly done, and had leifure to give himfelf up entirely to the eccentric reveries and projeds with which in hit younger years he had often indulged himfelf in th« iblitary defart. iliph, at the Turafiy and fed over Ray the dark fea hich, whilft order to buy lefcribes the the idand of (or Ireland). dandy RuJJiay ia) Befegert^ dea he had of my of thofe able to re- ^nown to us, >w again the ics. in the north Turks, A- i. e. Jpulia^ ajilicatay the lart of which lart to a na- Catalonians, jfmalfi) and Ihe defcribes >ws the land \nSi or Vol- ►rovince 0/- fgaty Sudacj IS and Con- orth appcr- ipire of the Tatar liich are CTCn »t It far from the llleU Madfchiar. ^ TkU I i DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 37 Tatar Borkab, which lies in the middle between the Iron Port (Derbtnd) and J%ok^ or Afoph. Next to this lie the Lokzi^ or Lefgi. In the habitable part of the North, arc alfo the Ruffian countries, which are fttii- atcd towards the north of the town Balar (or Bulga- ria). Then follows Barthanyah (i. c, Britania) in the feaj Bfrdil, (Burdegalay Bourd^nux) Scbont Jahth, a town in Ga/likljah, i. e. Calliday and their capital Samurahy perhaps Santa Maria , or San Maria. Fiz/t^ or P//f/>7, i. c. Pifa. On the oppofue fide is the illand SarJaniJah (i. c. Sardinia) Lombardia (Lombardy) Ga- nawah (Genoa) Bandakijah (Venice). One of tht citizens here is their Prince, and is called Duk. They are in pofleflion of the ifland Nakrapanty i. e. Neero- ponte. Rumijah el Kobroy i. Cv Home the Great, ntu- ated on both fidcS the river T>/r/ (viz. the TiWer) the feat of the Caliph of the Chrifti ips, who is called Al-Pap, Borfchany or Borgany the capital of the Bur- gansy i. c. Burgundians, who have been conquered by the Allemanni. Jtfchanijahy i. e. Athens, the city of the wife Greeks : Konjianthinijahy or Buxanthijahy 1. e. Conftantinople, or Byzantium. Makdunijaby the city of Alexander the Great. Sakgi {Jzaky or Jfapb) a town at the mouth of the Thana ( Tanais, or Don) wh';rc it empties itfelf into the fea Nithnfch (thePalus Maeotis and the Black Sea). Ahzuy a town fituatcd eaftwards on the Bofphorus, or Straits of Conftanti- nople. This is probably Jbydus. Jkga Karmany on the fea Nithafchy is Akierman. Thernau is lituated at three days journey from Sakgiy or Afaph, and is there- fore in all probability Taganrok. Sari Karman (proba- bly a place called Inkermany in the peninfula of Cri- mea) is five days journey from Kirrrty or Solgaty i. e. EJki Crinua* Kerkri is a Turkifh word, fignifying 40 men, and by this name is called a certain y^ry ilrong caftle on the top of an inacceflibic mountaioi This is the town which Prince Abulfeda means, «nd, from the fitustinn oa the Kmma, it m«y perhap* formerly have been called Kamagtr, juft •8 ti part of the Hungarians, or Mad;chariy fiom the c'rcumftar qe of (k^r dvtUini ottr ihii river, were called JTuMMr, or Komaui. Clofc 5l VOYAGES AND Clofe by it is the higheft mountain of all, GhaterTheg (at prefent called ITchettirda). Sudac is a fortified harbour, (and ftill bears the fame name.) Sulgatwzs formerly called il Kerm^ but at prefent the province is called by this name. (In our times EJkri-Krim). jfCaf that the BUck and Cafpian Sgzi were formerly connected with each other by thefe parts, and both together made but one fea. •* Sarai was an ancient refidence of the people who formerly Inha- bited this country ; but by which of them it has been built, is as diffi- cult to afcerrain as; the true fituation of it. On the banks of the /^eb- tubuy or the ea(lwaid arm of the Vfolgn^ from which it ieparated near ZarisBin, feveral lemains of very ancient buildings have been found, feme to the nonh-eall of Zarifin, k jatu. When, in the year 1490, Tinnur prepared to make war againil this country of Gete^ his army marched from Tafikent near the Sibon^ to Lakt IJfikoU not far from Barkct^ or Bankf then they came to GheuktopUy from thence to the mount called Jrjatu^ and fo to the town Aimalig. They then crofTed the river Ab-EiUy came to Itfcbna-Butfchna, and UJier Keptadfchij and, finally, arrived on the banks of the Jrtijhi v/here they learned that Prince Kamareddin was gone into the martcn-and-fable forefts of Dau*- las. Hence it follows that this place is fituated be- tween Tafchkent and the Irtifch^ and, indeed, on this fide the river Ab-EiU^ which at this day empties itfelf into the Sihon. And as the armies of Timur return- ed over lake Eutrakgheul^ fituated near Harafckar^ and haftened by the way of Akfu to Samarkand on ac- count of the winter approaching ; this Aimalig murt not be confounded with Kaballg^ Bifchhalig^ ami ItiJI ^efs with Karacctrumt the feat of the Moguls on tht jiv*r ♦» VOYAGES ANi> fiver and lake Onghln. A Florentine named Francifco Balducci Pegoletti^ (whofe travels till lately lay buried in oblivion, when they were firft drawn out of it by the references made to them by Profeffor Sprengel) dcfcribed at fo early a period as the year 1335* the route from Jxof to Pekingy and in this route, at a diftance of 45 days journey (travelling on aflcs) be- yond Otrart he places the town of Jrmalecco^ which undoubtedly is Almalig in the land of Gete^ to the north-ead of Tafcbkent^ and on this fide of the Irtifch. — I'hc two geographers next lay down Kabalig, a place not known to modern times, more to the caft- wards of Almalig, Then Autan Keluran (like wife unknown) ftill more to the eaft than Karakum — Farther they have Bifchbalik-t a place probably the fame with that which the Chinefecall Ilibaliky which confequently is fituated on the banks of the river ///. Then comes Karakum^ i. e. the black j'andy a place which was alfo called Karakorutn, and ufed to be the refidence of the Mogul Emperors, of the race of Zinghis Khan. Finally, they fpeakof Chanbalik^ or Ca/nbalik, which is what is now called Peking. The Florentine continues the route from Mmalig by the way of Camexuy which mud certainly be Cami^ or Hamily with the addition of Tfcheu^ which means a town, and is a word which the Chinefe ufe to add to the name of every place of the lead conftderation, and which the Florentine has endeavoured to exprefs by the fyllable xu. This town was known to the famous traveller, Marco Polo of Venice. From the former of thefe places to the latter it is 70 days jour- ney. Pegoletti next reckons 65 days jo'urney to a river, of which he has not given us the name, but in- forms us, that from this river it is eafy to come to Kajfai. I'his Kojfaiy is Kijjen^ a place on the great river Kara-Muren^ or Hoang'ho. From hence it is 30 days journey to Gamalecco, the capital of the land Gattffi^ 1. e. Kambalig^ in the land of Kat/jay, by which is meant the northern part of China. 'J'hefe countries, though they have been frequently laid walte by various great revolutions and the hollile attacks of barbarous and uncivilized nations, have nt'veithelefs retained, better than could have been ex- pe«^cd, the names of their towns, rivers, lakes, &c. through DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 43 through fo many centuries : for the want of good and drinkable water in thofe countries, is an obftrudioii to the building of towns or cities in every part of them. The cities therefore are fuffered to remain, and their names are prefervcd, even after conquefts i and for a fimilar reafon the names of the rivers and lakes are preferved with equal care, viz. on account of thcfe fubjeds being fo rare, and fo feldom to be met with. The people too of thofe countries have almoft always fpoken the fame, or at lead a kindred language,' a cir- cum{^ance which has likewife contributed to prefervc fo well the names of the rivers and lakes. By what has been faid above, it appears, that thcfe fragments of the knowledge poiTefled by the Oriental Nations with refpetH: to our northern parts of the globe, are very imperfe}n (or Japanjy for tWc purpole of cori.)Uering thai couniry The fliips campofiDg ihis (Icti, *fie very mut-h Tnattered by the llorm, and it is probable that i'omr cf ihcm vcnf not have been able to get back lo Japan and t hina. About tbi^ pt riod there fpru;:j up in America, alraoil at one and the lame time, two >>reat empires (thofe of Mexico and Peru) whi.h had regular inftitutcs cf re- ligion ; notions of rark and fubordinaii:>n, weie ia Tome meafuie civiliz- ed, were conneAed with each othrr by variooii kindi of affcciation, prac- tilcd agriculture, and inihe mainmoniil ftate did not allow ol polygamy. In M.xico, indeed, they even bad a kind of hieroglyvhic vi,titm(j, to- gether with many other maiksof cultirniouj notwitbfUfiding ihai boi\» ihtit #f VOYAGES ASB CHAP. ir. Of the Voyagei and THfcoveries made In tbe North, by the baxons, Franks, and Normaqs. TH E Roman empire having been' ravaged and through t low by many foreign nations, and par- ticularly by thofe which were of German origin, in- fomuch that the Romans were unable to oppofe them in all parts of the empire; (bme provinces fufFered exceedingly from thefe ravages. Britain had to the northward very troublefome enemies in the PiSls and Scots^ while the fouthern part of it fufFered by the de- predations: of the Franks and Saxons, 1 he Britifli nation implored the affiftance of the Roman Chief, /Etius, which he however refufed them. In this fitu- •ation nothing more was left for them, than forthwith to call the. Saxons to their fuccour. Accordingly, A. D. 449, thefe latter went to Britain ; not however to deliver Britain from opprellion, but rather to con- quer it, and to take pofTeffion of it in form for them- felves. The firft party was foon followed by others, and, in a 0iort time after, Britain was parcelled out, under the Anglo-^Sgxons, into feven fmall kingdoms. As to the unfortunate Britains, fome of them Were brought under the yoke, and road« flaves of, or, (as they were then called) Villains: others retired into the mountains of Galloway^ Cumberland^ IVales^ and Corn' tuall, in the weftern part of the ifland ; while others crofled the fea, and took refuge in the country called after them Britany. But it leems that theft: people had for a long time before been ufed to infefl thecoafts thefe rmpircA «re furroanded OD all fides by favage and rqde nationa Very inconfidcrlble in point of extent, and are befides at a dlllance from each other. Now all thii favourR the fuppofition, that thefe two colo- niei came thither by Tea, m (he twelfih and thirteenth centuries} jier- hap» iliey «:« Tome of the people that were loft in the expei^ition to Jar fill, thtu ihipi (living beea driven by il^e Clorn to America. 0f ;h, by the gcd and and par- gin, in- jfe them fufFered I to tho *i£is and ' the de- Britiih \ Chief, liis fitu- rthwith -dingly, lowcver to con- r them- others, ed out, gdoms. n Were or, (as nto the others called people z coails 'f DISCOVERIES in i-hi NORTH* 45 of France and Britain by Tea with their depredations, jnfomuch that the Romans give to.a certain tx^Gt of the French and Britifh coafts the appellation of the Saxon Boundaries \ and placed them under the protecti- on of a Count [Comes littoris Saxonici,] Neither did the Franisy who had been conquered by the Emperor Probus, and whom he had tranfplanted t6 Pontus^ forget that they formerly bad lived on the fea coaft^ and had made piracy their profeffion and livelihood ^ for as foon as a favourable opportunity offered, ther fcized upon what ihips they met with, and ravaged all the lands lying along the coafts of Afia minor and Greece, and then, fetting fail for Sicily, furprifed the city of Syracufe, famous for its navigations, where they killed a great number of people. After they ha4 plundered the whole African coaft, from which how- ever they were at length repulfed by fome troops fent againft them from Carthage, they proceeHed to the Straits of Gibraltar, in the Great Ocean, and arrived at laft, enriched with fpoils, amongft their country- men, between the Rhine and the Wefer(tf). Such a naval expedition as the above-mentioned certainly refiedb great honour on this enterpriiing people, par- ticularly when we confider the (hips of thofe days and the miferable Cvindition of thefe vefiels ; as alfo, how few they had of thofe aids which are requifite to navi- gation, being pofTefTed neither of charts nor com-* pafles, and (as being in (o rude and uncultivated a ftate) having but a very imperfe(^ knowledge of aftro- liomy. It ihould feem, nevcrthelefs, that thefe Franks^ thus tranfplanted to the interior part of the Pontus, on the Black Sea, muft have had fome conception of the fituation of the countries they.vifited, and of the ancient place of their refidcncc ; for it is contrary to every dictate of common-fenfe, to imagine, that they Ihould by mere accident have got juft into the tradt which led to their native country. This and other fuch enterprifes gave the Frankiih tribes courage, to- gether with (kill in naval matters, and at the fame time infpired yet more of them with a difpofition to piracy and navigation. Accordingly they went with («) ZoHm. Lib. i. paragr. €6. edit. QyoQ, J^iimca ia ptnegyr. C(U|> ftiatii C«r«rii, Cap. i8^— tad Vopifcut is proU. numurous 46 VOYAGES AND numerous fleets and armies over to England, whertf the city of London, which even at that early period iva*. grown rich by commerce, fell into their hands. Jjut Condantiuii Csefar beat them foon after, and de- livered England froin thefe cruel marauders. • Betides the Franics and Saxons, who feem to have acquired confiderabic knowledge of the maritime af- fairs and countries of t;he North ; we alfo find, that about the year 753 of the Chriftian aera, the Danes ventured with their fhips as far as Thanet on the Kentiflj cc aft, and ravaged the country. Thefe were fo ^J ' V three other Danifh fhips, which came froi; 'iera'ande^ and the crews of which even land- ed A. D^ 78; ; : JVeJifexy that part of the illand which fell to the (hare of king Brithrkk (or Beorhtric), In the. year 793, the Convent called Lindisfarne, on the ifland which is now called Holy-IJUmdy was plun- dered of every thing in it by the Danes j who having acquired additional courage in confequence of the confiderable booty they had made there, the year im- mediately following, viz. 794, plundered likewife the Convent on the mouth of the Tyncy which had been built there by King Egfrid, It was no unpleafing circumftance to thefe Heathens to find that the good monks had preferved in their convents fuch immenfe riches, which it was cuftomary for the Chriftians of thofe days, in confequence of the opinion they enter- tained of the merit of good works, to heap up with bountiful hands in thefe repofitories. The ftill more remote country of Ireland was not fe- cure from the predatory invafions of the Danes. So early as in the year 795, they appeared on the coafts of that ifland, and, after having ravaged the Orkneys and the Wejiern IJlands, they made their appearance again fo early as in 798 in Uljiery which province f'ufFered greatly from their ravage?. But long before this period the Normans had made fome predatory in- curfions into Ireland, as appears from the life of St. Findanus, who was of a noble family in that coun- try, and had been carried ofF from thence by theni, Thefe pirates afterwards landed on the Orkney ■■i.- (h) Scriptorct rtrutt Altma^aictmin C^ldi^ni, Tom, i. p. aot. Iflands, DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 47 IHands, when Findanus ran away from them, and, after having undergone various fortunes, having wan- dered through France and Lombard/, and remained four years in Alemania, he finally, in the year 700, embraced a monaftic life. In general, we may obferve, as an acknowledged faft, that all the different nations and people, which afterwards were known to the world under the deno- minations of Swedes, Danes, and Norwegians, were not diftinguiflied by thefe names in the earlieft agcsj as the countries they inhabited were not at that time divided, fo as to admit of it. Every petty diftriift, fometimcs even a fmall ifland, had its peculiar fove- reign. No general name confequently could be be- llowed on the whole country taken coUt£liv* /♦. The petty fovereigns in thefe countries feem to ua\ been mere feudatory lords, of lords of manori>. who undertook expeditions by fea as well as by land with their vallals. Their mother-country, as well c; ac- count of the fmall quantity of cattle on it, aoi in con- fequence of the negle^jaife. 4B VOYAGES ANd fize, were called Chiule, Cyule, Ceol (an appetlationi whence the German and f-^nglifh term " Jhip^s keeli* is derived, as well as the Englifh word Ktelman^ \. e* people who work in the veflcls belonging to the col- liers. With thcfe two kinds of veflels, neither of which were of any tonfiderable fize, the latter of them carrying 200 men at the moft, thefe northern na- tions undertook their piratical expeditions. But the fmallnefs of the number of men on board each veflel was amply compenfated by the multitude of the vefTels themfelves. Infomuch that £ven Tacitus, in thofe early ages, makes mention of the fleets of the Suionx* This people appears to have fprcad at firft within the boundaries of the Baltic to Finland, Efthonia, and Courland, whither it was very eafy for them to pafs over from Gothland. The Normans^ or rather the Horwtgiaru, followed their own coaft, according to Uhther*s defcription ) confequently they circumnavi- gated the extreme point of their peninfula, and of Eu- rope, viz. the North Cape, and coming at laft to the Cwen Sea, arrived at the Dwina and among the Biar- nians that lived on its banks. The Dams failed along the coaft as far as the Britifh Channel, and at length went to Britain itfelf. At the end of the 8th century the Dana and Norwegians, who, taken collectively, bore the name of Normans, ventured to go to England, Scot- land, the Orkney and Shetland lilands, the Weftern »v «ik1 Severn ; in Ireland they tre termed Curach. Czfar, Co early a* in his time, found them in Britain, and made afe of thetn himl'elf. CUiftir d* belle eivili paragr. 259. Ed. Elzev. 1(35. Lntami Ph^rful. Lib, w. 131. /*//». Hift.Nat, Lib. iv. cap. 16. vii. tap. 57. Min. Ptbfhift. cap. 2$. The Efquimaux tnd Greenlandert, and Hkewife the Kamc* ichtdalles have (hips made of fi(h bones, with a few wooden cluinpK and benda, and covered over with the ikina of Marine animals. The peopi* iaft«mentioned call them Baidars. Even the Greeks made.ufe of boat* of wicker, covered with leather, which they took with them on board of their large (hips, calling them XMfaCiM, and in Latin Carabi. Pron» this kind of craft the Ruflianc have in all probability taken their trrin for a (hip, which they call a Korabt\ It is certain, that the vctTcls belong- ing to the Saxon pirates were made of leather. For in the poem upoA wtfvi/n/, this circumftance i* mentioned exprsfsly : Quio et armoriciit piratam Saxona tradlut Spirabat, cai pelle iaiuro fulcareBritaaliunn iU«>dHf> est itToio glaucum naie fiodctc jitim)K», Iflands, DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH 49 Iflands, and even to Ireland i all \^ich places they made the fubjeortherii nations. Accordingly, it appears to me, that thefc very piratical expeditions laid in fome meafure the foundaticii of the political changes that happened almoft at one and the fame time in the northern kingdoms. In the courfe of their expeditions, the people of thefe kingdoms became acquainted wii*;h the different ftates of Chriftendom in the South. On this occadon it was, that the moft zealous among the monks, as well as many others, whcfe fole view was the acquifition of riches, and to lead a voluptuous life, refolved at length to get fent out to thefe countries as bifhops. Confe- qucntIy,Chrift and his pretended vicegerent, the pope, were foon preached among thefe people. The fcrip- lures were introduced every where j codes of law were compiled and committed to writing ; and the rude and wild way of life of thefe people was confiderably huma- nized. Commerce and various arts, as well as im- provements in agriculture, gained ground j and thefe barbarous regions became in fome meafure enlightened, and the manners of their inhabitants refined. In the mean time the Danes had again invad- ed England, and that with fo much fuccefs, that King Alfred, in the beginning of his reign was obliged to reliuquilh it entirely to the ravages of thefc DISCOVERIES IN THE NOHTH. ss thcfc plunderers. In Ireland they ereiSlcd a fovcreignty at Dublin^ which fell to the (hare of Ainlav, or Olap» as that at Waterford ^idi to Sitrik, and that at Limt' rick to YwAR. In the year 868, the Ferroy or Bhe^ Iflands were difcovered, and afterwards peopled, no in- habitants having been found oh them. In like manner the Orkneys too were peopled with Normans, as alfo the Shetlan(!i Iflands. The fame advantages attended the Hfbridesy or Weftern Iflands, as they are now called, though by the Normans, who came to them from the Njrtti and the Orkneys, they were denominated the Southern Iflands *. But foon after this, Alfred emerging from his retire- ment, on a fudden made his appearance, and his iub- jc£ts by his appointment likewife coming forward at a certain fixed time, immediately fell on the Danes quits imawares, and made great havock amongfl them. Al- fred did not chufe to difpatch the remainder of his van- quifhed foes } but gave them their lives, and permitted them to live in Northumberland, a province which had been laid wafle and depopulated by their countrymen. By this humane conduct he gained the heart even of many of the Danes. Among others, there was a Nor- man at his court, by name Ohther, who had made hirafelf famous by his travels. There was another too, a Jutlander, of the name of Wulfs'^an, who in like manner gave the king an account of his travels into RufliH. All thefe accounts the learned Prince collefted with great care j and having purpofed to give a tranfla- tion of the Hormejia of Orosius, in the Anglo-Saxon, his mother-tongue, he interwove in this tranflation the relations of Ohther and Wulfftan, with the refult of the information he had got clfewhere concerning the flate of * It wt» only by the Scotch thm (on «ccount of their weftern fituatioa with re'pcft to them) ihey were teimed the Weftem Iflam'i ; but tli* Danes, who went to thetT> from the North, gtve them the name of So- deroe ; hence originates the ti^le of the biftsop, in whofe diocefe thefe iilands were, together with the Ifle ot Man ; \\ he (lill is cilied, though the reafori of it be not rightly >auwn, Bifliop of Sndir and Man. But it is eafy to perceive that ihia St,dtr can be no other than the Sedarof of the Panes, [Or rather the Sadiar^ by contradion from the Swedifli Stder^ Aotfth and C/«r ifltod-^] Npit vf the traaflaior. the 54 VOYAGES AND the three parts of the world known at that period. It J8 very evident, from comparing then together, that Alfred's account of Europe is not that of OroHus, but rather that the Englifh Prince has principally fet before us the ftate of Europe as it was in his own time. In fa£^ we are poiTefled of fuch flender information concern? ing the Geography of the middle ages, that fuch an ex- hibition as this is of Europe and uie northern regions conformable to the ideas of that age, and that from fo refpedable a fource, muft be extremely valuable. I fhaU therefore in this place infert that part of it, which re- fpedls the North of Europe, The Geography of the Northern patis of Europe, ac" cording to King Alfred^ almoji literally tranflated from the Anglo-Saxon, Now will I alfo ftate thofe (i. e. the boundaries) of Europe, as much as we are informed concerning them. From the river Danals (Tanais) weft ward to the river Rhine (which takes its rife in the Alps, whence it runs northward to the arm of the Ocean (i), that furrounds Britannia, and fouth to the river Donua (or Danube) (2), whofe fource is near that of the Rhine, and runs eauward in the north of Greece, till it empties itfelf into the Wendel Sea (or Mediterranean) (3) and north even unto the oceanic which men call Cwen bea, (or the White (i) Alfred calls the Great Sei,, or Ocean, Garfecg, t word of which I cftonot (iod the origin, cither in the German langunge or any of ita ikioiircd dialed^. A little narrow fca he conQantiy calls Sae, er Sta. (i) In the orir;inal the Danul * conft'inily calif d the De»i«i. (3) As diicftly at the comn.orcemetit of the Mediterrtoetn Sea, where it joins tne Atlantic Ocean, is fitiiatet! tne province of Andalufia, in Spain, which province derives iiB iiane from the Wandals or Vandals, who inhabited it ; and as thefc Vandals afterwards lived in ATrica, oo thecoads of tbe Mediterranean, it is not at all to he wondered at, that Alfred, a prince delct ndcd from German aacellors, fiiould call this part of the Mediteriaoean by ihe name of fftnJtl-Saa, a name of Gernnan «(igiu. Sea), DISCOVERIES IK TH« NORTH. 55 Sea) (4). Within this arc many nations, and the whole of this traftof country is called Germany (5). Hence to the north of the fource of the Danube* anJ to the eaft of the Rhine, .are the £^ Frtftuan (6), and to the fouth of them arc the Swaefas, or buevac,(7); on the oppofite bank of the Danube,' and to the fouth and eaft are the Baeztfnvare (8), in that part which is called Regnejburgb {()). Due eaft (4) It h well kn )wn, that the indent inhabitints of tli(» north mide • ciiflinAion between the Cntnai tnd (he Lapkndtrs^ hy the former uq- derfttnding the Finlinders, fo thit Cwenland, according to them, wt« Finland. Hence it i^ eafy to perceive, that Adam of Bremen* when he i'peakt of the Amaztnt and of the land of Ftmalu, a* being Cwm- /««J^ totally milUkes the (ignification of the word Cwenland. Cvten^ in the nortnern languages, means a viaman \ in that of Icelaud it <• Kninna. Uphilaa calls a woman S^uenSy Sf^ino ; in the Anglo-Saxon dialed^ it U Kwen ; in the Alemannic, Quena. Hence the Englilh have got the word ^een. Now, as previous to this period die Fintanders ioo habited all this tra£l as far as Kalfin^eland ; Cwenlmnd conlequcntlf reached as far as this fpot ; in procels of time, the Swtons and Gtthtf coniinaally advancing fnrther and farther towards the noith, the Finlan- ders at lall had nothing left but what is dill called Finland, and confe- quentlji Cund in that part of Germany, which reached from the Rhine to the Ssalc; in the North, to the Ruhre and CalTcl -, ind in the Soutli, nlmoft to the Necker ; or, according; to EgtM- iiitJ, from Sa:fony to the Danube. They were called Eaft Franks, ia order to diftinguilh ihem from the Franks that inhabited ancicitt Gaul.' (7) The Suorfas of the Roysl Ge«ifr«plier make pirt «>f the Aieroan- ric Contrderacy, v.hich howtvcr, po(ieri<'r to this, gave to the whole no- lien and pn vince the name oi'S-u-ahs. Par' * nodexn Swtbia is com- jui:>d in this leeion, which, even in thf '»f Alfred and Jordan, w.s called hy the iiame it now bear';. (R) Bnegihivnn. That by this wo d is meant Bavarians, there it i.a>r the leail doubt ; but whence are ihcy fo called, is the queftion ? It his teen obferved, th it all names of reople or uatinns, that end in ware or wari«n% as e. g. ihs Arn/:Jl"^ttriai>s, ^•fHfrrivariam^ BarnSluariant^ Chat- tuatiani, ^c indicate th' remains of fuch tribe or people. Thus alTo ilt remaiudtr ot the t' j that were exterminated by the Suevi, and who toitlU 5« VOYAGES AK eaft from hence are the Beme (lo), and to th r.;>fo» jaft the T/jyringas (il) ; to the north of tUcfV ace the Old-Saxon (12), to the north-weft are the Fry/an (i3)» and to the weft of OU Seaxum is the mouth of the yfelfa (or Elbe) (14), as alio Fr)faH (or Friefeland). Hence to the north- weft is that land which is called Jftgle (15), Sillende {ib)i and fone part of Dena[i'j). To lettled tt Noricnm, were called Sejnvariant. Bv the incient* tht7 were termed Btieariiy or Bajaarii^ fo tntt the Batgtbvmrei were the Boij or BatghttH remaining after the flaughier made of them by the Suevi. Ftd. Thunman^i ffttdifihe FtUer. P. 40, 41. (9) ^fgiffi^fS wtB, as we may gather from this exprcflion of Alfred's, « province ai well a* a city. Perhaps the diltriA of Rtgtnfiurg^ or ^a- tijben, (10) The Btme are without difpute the prefent Bohemiaiir, whom Alfred farther on mention* under the denomination of Btttmas. This appellation they had fiom the word BoitrheiWy or Dwelling-pif cc < f the Bmj, who were exteim nated by the Suevi. (1 1) We cannot eafily miftake the Thyringai ; end the liiustion < f their eruntry is ftill the fame as it was in ihot'e t^^^ : though the Thuringen «f that pericd muO aeceflarily have taken in a greater circuit than our pu)dern Thuringeo doesj as the k'ng of that country was at. that tinae powerful enough to be able to wage war w ith ihe king of the Franks. (it) By the words AUStcxaji %n<^ Alt'Ser.xum^ is meant t!v country that lies on the eaOern fide of ihe Elbe. It dill preferves in, ar.cient Bflme, vis. Old SaJJem (CM SaxQoy) or JL-lfat •« in Lutin, which bv dt- Ul^rees has degenerated to it (13) Without difputc the Pin! *r .• lived f^ the north-.wcft of Thurin- g'n,between the PJbe and the P . \ t'.ong rho fea coaft ; confcquentiy t^ey lay to the wellwRrdot Old c o^j^ as Alfred afterwards indicates. (14} This pionunciation of ihe word Elh- {/^>-lft] is ftill retained in the Sweruntry ■cient b\ dt- Thi. It wat lurln- ently tet. fled ia Aill Old •eafl, if the were land, jf'ore and ark, pin. 'eft. the toq in progreflion ; fo th« firft to the northwenwird «re the Angles, and then Denmark, to %vhich alfo belongs the lalUmentioned ifland, Zee- land. 1( cannot, however, be denied, l>ut that fome of the Angles may have likewife rcMed on the Danifli iflanda, as Krtig Alfred bimfelf tciU U!i at much in Ohihcr*!> relation. (16) SilUnde^ and (17) Dena^ are doubllefs Zealand and Denmark. (iP) That the Apirtit are the ObitriUiy no rtalbnahle ptrfon will deny i though the pun-loving and pedantic writers of the Chionictes of the middle age* have gone fo far as to make thenn out to be the Ahdf rites. A little farther on, thefc people are likewife termed Afirede, They are not, however, to the north of Old Snxony, but rather to the eaftward of it Perhaps the copyift inferted the word Ntrtb inAead of Baft. Or clle we ihruld read as follows : " To the Northtaft u Ap- dredc, and to ihe North the Wolds.'' (19) (10) To the north-eaft of the Obntritei dwelled the Wihti^ the Kamt, &c. But thef* it wa« not AUred's intention to indicate, but merely the Wendt, who lived on the Havely and were termed Htvtlli^ or Httvtldi^ ind f-^metimes HrvelJuns. This happy obfervaiioo of the reviewer before alluded to is ciowbMefs better than mine > only en that cafe, iodcad of north ead we muA read foath>eall-i for thi» ia the ficu- ation of Havelland with reipe£b to old Saxony. (i\) (ai) IVtntdmland, fays Alfred, lies to the eaft of Old Saxony, and thi^ is precifely the fits t.i'>n of Mecklenburg, where the WeniiiKn Sclavi lived. They wire called tVtndt^ ar Vandals, from the fituation of their country near the lea; iot iVtda, or fVanda^ fi^niiies watei, or jta \ hence too they were i!enominat€<< Famerani'ims, i. e. people wii» lived by the h% fide— ./n mcnm. TW.t i* right alio on another acconn', via. becaufe Waliflan, in the leqnef, exprelsly fays, that H^emedlani Vfas always to the right bapd of him in his journey fiom H<ian or Prufii.in langi.agc, and therefore were different from the other Sclav i. They were, however, conne£\ed with the other branches nf the S» iavi j and to were the Lettovian? and Prufliins, the words Burgeuduland, Blain^ay Aieo' t, Eiviiand, and (jfiiiimi- st'-r tlliib > w $H VOYAGES AN* which men call Syfyle (22). To the South ^eaft at feme diftance is Maroaro[2^)i and thefe Marfforo have to the weft the Thyringas and Behemas^ z^ z\(o part of the Batgthware -^ and to the ibuth, on the other fide of the Donua^ is the country called Co" undra{2^). Southwards towards and along the mountains which are called the Jlpis^t lie the boundaries of Baegthwarty as alfo Swaeva (25) } and then tbis he memions IVttntdlmndy which At ether time* he ciIU ft^inodland^ aad wa» elwajs to the nght-hand of him. To me nothinif: tppeert phia- that-of Siu/Httj of which Dithmar, ot Merfebarg mxkes mcntioo. It lies not far from ihe Mulda^ below Ealenburg, in Saxony; •iidat thia piefeat time there i* in that diOriA a paiiih called SeJelttSf JM Se«ieii's> or Seuiediiti. A* this p!ace was likcwife inhabited b/ Wcods, Aiu-*-'. ifoflfibJy might have heard jf both thefe place*, and mif- taken the one for the other. For immediately alter the U^'tudt and Syfyie-, he fpeaks of the Moravians. This, in fa£l, is too great a t;a|». But (his Sylylt conneAs the We.ids on the Baltic, who have likcwife ^ A/V/ in their country, with the Moravianf, or rather with their acigh" iMiiart the Delamenfam, o( whom mention is made farther eo. (13) By the /Vt«r«f;r« are meant the people of Moravia, fo ealled from the river A^ara-liai and (he fitustion triat is given them here, ia likewife right. They lie to the fouth-caft of oU Saxony, ^t feme dif- tonce frotn it. Oftr fummt dal. Mr. Barri/iRiOL's trsnflatioa of this pafTsire ii very crioneous. When I wrote my remarks on JElfted't Ort' Jim$y I hiu not the Anglo Sayr^n original before me ; as it was then in the hands of the printer*, ' .<:fore ufed Mr. Harrington's tranflation only, which I then fuppoted to be accotrate; and was oonleqaently now and! then led into minak?;: by it, IV- aflertion that Moravia (which at that time was & very pow^rfnl kt<'Vfdom, ander the aufpices of Swato/nuk, and confequently wa« of a mt:ch greater extent than it Is at prefent) was bounded by Thuringia and Boheti^iA to the weft, as well as b; part of Bavaria, it pcifeAly agree> able lO ' n.ib. f ^*^} €xv;-ndra mart certainly be Ca.inihlj, or the country of the Ctf rtniaxi, cr ^arendirt, and this Csrinthia includes Aultria and Styria. Ihe r«feiv>'ij h;c5 their own peculiar princct, of fome ot which the Bsmev, are inown to us; as for exarrile, Bcritth, who put himfelf iBn(5er the proteflior of the Franks in 731, and fVtntmir, who aflifled in takitig the Hring of the Awari with Duke Henry of Forii in 796. (45) The louedaritt (01 Gematrct) for the boundaries of Bavaria an4 S««bia i^o the Somh ««re the Alj)s. to DISGOVERIKS IN THE NORTH. s^ to the caftward of the Carmdrt Country^ and beyond thcWafte (26), -in PulgaraloKd (z-j) (or Bulgaria) ; to the eaft is Grtcahnd (28) (or Greece), to the eait of Maroara is Wifleland (29), and to the eaft of th;:t is Datia (30)* tfiough it formerly belonged to the (;»«r word thus : And thnnt be lajian CarendranUndt htgttndan tham v>*/-- M\ this very cii- cumftance (hews, that the accounts here given us by jl^lfred coincides evaCVIy with what pafTed in his time; ibr fo foon after as in R93, the Msdfchiari (or Hungarians, as they are now called) came and took pot'- fcfllon of this tra^ of country. The geograpiiy of this par: therefore w very accurate and exaA, and not fo full of chafms and ccotradiAions as the reviewer above-mentioned would make us believe. (17) By Pulgaraland is meant the extenfive kingdom of Bulgaria of thofe times, wh^ch extended to both fidea uf the Danube, and comnrirf d the modern Bulgaria ami Wallachia, with part of Moldavia tnd mf[»- rabia. The Bulgarians were probably a tribe of TurkiOi origitr, whsch dwelt on the other fide of the Wolga in Cafan, where they had t\\t\r metropolis called Btlgar^ but i^fierwards, together with the Huos w.An the command of Atiila, made nearer approaches to the domains of the (Ireek emperors in F.urope, where they eic^led a new (late onihe Kor;k fide of Mnunt Htcmus. (i8) Grecalattd (or Griekenland, as the people of the northern couu^ tries called it) is the domains of the Greek Byzantinian Emperor*. (zp) H^ijltland is the trafl of cour.iry that lies on the Wifie^ or Vif- tula (in modern Gerroao IVtiJlel) coofcquenily it is principally great ani little Poland. (30) Datia therefore, in all probability, i^ not Moldavia and Tranfy lv.tr pia, as has been fuppofed ; for thefe countries arc fomewhat mare to the f lUfhward. But, indet-d, the bearings here laid down, may likcwife, ia fuch diftant regions, very well be fuppofed to difftfr a point or uvo from the real fituaiion. (31) The Gottan are the Goths, who for fume time inhabited Daci*. Ai there were a famous nation in hiftory. King Allied was willing, at leaft, to point out one of their dwelling places. (3j)The Delat/ienjan, or DeUmenjan^ are a people frequently, bv tf • \»riiers of the mfddic ages, termed Dalfminr,er- This to llicvr ihi.-.r erudition, they ^omttime^ wioie Dalmatiant. The pe(.ple ami i*ct- lute a'luded to, weie fnuated in the environs of Lopipialjchy or a« the Sclavv- pians called it, Hlommatfch^ Glopimatfch, Confequenlly it was roui.J •bout MeilTco on both ijiks of the Elbe, that the Daieiriozeo reiiJed. are e« VOYAGES AN» are the Hmthi (^3)* and North of the Delamenfan arc the Surpe (34), to the Weft a!fo are the SyJiU* To the North of the Horithi Is Maegthaland (35)» and North of Maegtbaland is Strmtndi (36) quite to the Rtffin (37) (orKiphaean) Mountains. To the bouth-weftef Dtna is that arm of the ocean that furrow nds Brytannia^ and to the North is that arm of the fea Which is Oft Sea, to the £aft and to the North are the Narth Dent^ either on the con- tinent or on the ifland, to the £a(l are the Alfrtde ; to the South is the mouth of the Kibe, and fome part of Old Saxony (38). The North Dene have, to the northward,, that lame arm of the Tea which is (33) "^^^ Votithiy or H»riti\ irt a Scltvenian people, with whom wt arc unacquaioUd ; though I (houltl be apt to conje£(ure that the part of Ccrmany in which ihey refhied was fomewheie abuut GorlUx, or el c ■car Quarlitif not far from great Glogau ^ for to the North of the Df Jaminziank lay the Strhy of Lower Lufaiia. (34) The Surfiet, or Surjts are eafilf didinguillted ; in fa£V, they art the S^riimn Sclavonians, or the Sorii^ Srrbi^ and Siriii of the old writet t «f chrooiclea. The nnodem Wenda of Lufatia call themt'eives Sferbs, or Sforbs. A a the Daleminziana lived on both fidtfa of the Elbe, to tht Korth-ecft of Moravia, and towards the £a(l were bounded by the Ho^ ritbi in Upper Lulatia, the Sorbt nnud necetTarily be the fame with th« Wends of Lower Lufatia i, and the Sy/tliam ab ut Seufelif^ are, accord* ing to /Elfrcd'b account, only to the weftward of the Soiba of Lower Lufatia. (3^) It ?< not poflible that Maegthaland (tk^fxM be the terra fatminarum •!>f Adam von Bremen, as the reviewer in the GottiHgen Pbihkgical Li» irary aflfert.* it to be. For, i. if the word Maegthaland be fuppofed t* be a cranflatioo or terra rceminarum, or Knutnlana^ it i« evidently a mil* take ; for thia in the Anglo Saxon dialed would be ff^/mannalanJ, i. But fuppofing it to mean Maidenland, Hill it is wrong; for in this cafis it would he written MadtmhnJf and not Maegthatani. 3. We are to lok for thia fame Maegthaland direAly to the northwards of Ujiper Lu« I'tia and Lower Sileiia, and confcquentiy in Gieat Poland, and not near tI.c Eflland of Adam von Bremen. Perhaps, indeed, the name of this t.-ouniry is Wrong fpctt, and it (hould be IVartalandy as it is fituated on tl»e bunks of the Wartt. But this is mere conjecture I (36} (37) SermeuJe is the mutilated and difguiled name of Sarmatia^ a mere falvo and difguife for ignorance, like the RiJ/iii Mountains} or &iphatan Mouniains of the ancient geographers. (3K) In order to undcrAind the following paiTages clearly, it will b« nrceffary to be pr^vioufly acquainted with the [idint of view from which iSlfied makes his fuivey. Here it leems to be on the Eider* To the S >tt h-eart is the Brittiih Channel. To the Eaft and North are the North- Danes. To the Eall are the Obotritet, and to the South it the mouth of ti.rElbcaadOUSaxoo;. called DISCOVERIES in the NORTH. 6i lelled Oft Sm. To the Eaft is the nation of the Ofti % and Jfdrede to the South. (The Ofti have, to the' North of them, that fame arm of the fea) fo arc the ^neJasaM the Burgendas (36). And ((till more) to the South is Haefeldan (40). The Burgendan have this fame arm of the fea to the Weft, and the Sveon to the North } to the Eaft are the Strmende, to the South the Sur/e (41 ). The Sveons have to the South the arm of the fea called OJii, and to the North, over the vtraftes, is Cwenlandy to the North- vircft are the Scridi-F'tnnas (42), and to the weft the Northmen (43). OkbiTf (ij) Burinda$ ii without doubt the Ifland of Btrnbtlm ; for rrom 801^ geudabtlm (or Borgenda Ifland) ii baa been gradually a,ltcrcd to Bcrrtti' h}lm^ Bergen^ and at length 10 Btrnbtlm. Pliny reiers the Surgundiimes to the yindili in the Norih of Germany. Lib. iv. c. 14. Mamertiou* fays in Genathliaco, c. 1 7, (hat both there nations were netrlj exterm^ Dated by the Gotha. Aaimiaaui.Marcdllnus lib xxviii. cap.^ $. bform* m, that they had often been at variance with the AliemaDni on iccouoc of the fah fprings at Halle on the Sale. After the havock made of iheia by the Ootht, they feem to have betaken themielvei to this iAand for re- fuge, which therefore took iu name from them. They were governed bjr ■ king of their own. Farther on, Wulfitaa very plainly al'cribes IM fame btuatirn to this country. ( (40) Here we mud again remind therctder, that it it occeflary tokaow King i€lfred*s point of view in order to underftand hik defcription. H« muA now be fuppofed to ftand in the ifle of Zealand. In the north \% ih« arm of the Tea* by him called the 0(1 Sea ; to the e«(l are the Ofti^ wb* confeqncntly lived in Pruilia, m wi 1 be (hewn ftill plainer t little iarther on. He does not mention Sconen ; for this belonging to Denmark, 19 natarally inclnded in it. There ii nothing, therelore, nearer to the eaft- ward than Enhonia. 'To (he Souib of Zealand i» the country oftb* Obotrites. Now comet a parcnthefit, in which the king faya, that tfaie fame arm of the fea is likfwife to the north of the OJii ; and then proceed* to menUon the Wends and inhabitana of Bernholm, as being fittiated td the fooib of the Danes, at lead of thofe that refided in Sconen ; and * food didance farther to the fouihward is HaemtUany which in ibis place it very properly fpelled with an H. (41) Now JElfrti takes a new point of view. Bornholm has to the wed of it the fea, to the northward the Sueones, to the ead behind Edho- nia are the Samiatiant, and behind the Wends above-mentioned and the Haveilandert are Sorbian Sclavooians. (4») 57/r StriJffiimaj. The Geographer of Ravenna, fo early as in hia time, makes mention, in book iv. chap. Hand 46, of iht Pairia Xtrt/tm- ntrum aiid Sirdiftunirumy which latter he rttvewife calls SerJtfenni. trt- t»pius in Hifl. Citb, L. ii. p. 161, calls them Scritifioi, and places them (o far didant as TbuU, Jordanas de rebus Ceticis, cap. 3. fpeaks of the Cr(/>iiiiir, of whom there are three different iaations ; and VauLs Diact- imf, m bi* Niji. Lengtb. U i. cap. 5, term* th^m Sthttwiui tai Scriu- bijtit (a VOYAGES AND i Ohthere (44) told his lord (King iElfrcd) that he fivcd to the North of all the Northmen. He quoths that he dwelt in that land to the norths ard, oppofite to the U^ejl Sta \ he faid, how-ever, that the land ot' the North- nnicn is due North from that fea, and it is all a wafte, except in a few phtces, where the Finnas (45) for the moft part dwell, fgr hunting in the winter, and in the fummer for fifhing in that fea. He faid that he was de* termined to fird out once on a time, how far this coun- tnr extejided du: North, or whether any one lived to the North of the wafles. before mentioned. "With this intent he proceeds J due North from this country, leaving all the way the wafte land on the (larboard, or right hand, and the widfc fea: to the Baecbord, or left. He was within three days as far North as the whale*' W»/ .• Adtm von Brfmen Serite/!n*i. Conreqo'enlly King ff.VttA\ or- thography \* arpirenily jt'.ft. Accordihg to Adam von Uremen ihey liivcd, In cenfintt Sufcium vel Narlmannorum antra Stream, They iherrfbre bordered both on Sweden and Norminnaland. They were ex- t^mely fwift, and indeed more fo than the wild animalu of the counirt. I^ml fr-aritffrUJ 9^tm*^ that they took theirnarftc from he word which, in this barbarou!" language, fi^oiBed tjiffring or leap ; as by means of 4 chrve pt^ce of wood, formed with great art, ihey leaped forwards with ihch fwiftneft, (hat they ovcrto(>k animals in theii flight. One cannot here help^ immediately recognizing the large y«««>yKc^/, ot ftkrit'Jhoei, 1ft tfle at prefent in many of the moft aoitiierty regions of Europe. Hence |oo it wa^that ihefe people were called Sckrtit'Finlandert : according to tfte univetfai teftimony of authorn, they lived by bunting and fowito«. '(43) Here again h another point of view for the dctermiuation o? (he fihiation of the Sueones, or Swedes. To the fouth they have the Ofl'Sea^ of Baltic; towards the eaft the Sarmatians In Livonia, and the country fihce called Efthonia ; to the north, beyond the Defert, is CtvenlanJy fh« ntodem Finland, and to the north-well are tiiei'e FinlanJers who \ivi eu tiVely by hunting, or the ScriJfinlonJirs ; and U(tly, tu the north arc the JftrtbmiB. (44) Ohthere was a great roan from Norway, and, a« fome affirm, front 29u»mmJalen^ or, at is reported by others, from Nordland, which com- prifes the extremity of Morway toward* the Nbrih ; he undertook a voy a^e oFdifc«»very towards bermien^ and another to Sweden ; both of which Alfred here defcribes from Ohtherp'i own mouth. This is (Extremely a«- cnrate and s'tthentic, and entirely in the Rile' of thofe times^ when fo many of the Normans went abroad in fcarch of adventures, ^uth thee voyagei, together with that of WulfTlan, are the belt accounts we have of the middle ages in the north of Europe, and throw a great light on geographical fcience. (4;) Ohthere calls the inhabitants of this Defert Finnasy and in fa^ if appears, that the modern Laplandera are really Pinlanders ; and thit the nsrme of Laplanders was not bellowed on ibcm till ot late years \ the Danes RiU v«lUug ibis ^n^otry Fiotn^rk. DISCOVERIES iH THE NORTrt. €) whale-hunters ever go, and then proceeded in his courCe due North, as far as he coul'd fail within ano- ther three days, whilft the land lay from thence due £aft« Whether the Tea there lies within the land, ha Jcnows not j he only knows, that he waited there for a iM'cft wind, or a point to the North, and failed near that land eaftward as far as he could in four days, where he watted for a due north wind, becaufe the land there lies due South. Whether the fea lies within the land he knows not. Upon this he failed along this country due South as far as he could in five days. Upon this land there lies a great river, at the mouth of which they lay to, becaufe th^y could not proceed far further on account of the inhabitants being hoftile, and all that country was inhabited on one fide of this river, nor had Ohthrre met before with any land thac was inhabited fince he rame from his own. All the land to his right, during bis whole voyage, was a defert, and without inhabitants (except fiihermen, fowlers, and hunters), all of whom were Finnas, an4 he had a wide fea to his left (4b). The Beormas (47), indeed, had well-peopled their country, for whith reafon Ohthere did not dare enter upon it ; on the other hand, the Terfenna (48) land was all a defert, except when it was thus inhabited by fifliers and fowlers. (4$) The track of Ohthere** vovage n traced out in the map, wher* the figures Ihew the nunaber of days he was ip faili'xg from place to place. (47) The Betrmat are ih^ Biarnniett of the northern writers, and ih* Country of t'ermia it ftill mentioned in the title of the Emperors ofRafl^t. After this expedition of Ohtbcrc, many more Normans went to Biarmis in fearch of adventores. (48) TtrfenniUand is mentioned at being difFerent from the country of the Strut Fmmat. We have already (cen ja(l above (41) that Gaido of Ravenna had fo early as in his time diflinguiOied them into ktrtjir,mi and 6criufinni\ the latter lived entirely by hunting, for which purpofe iit winter they made ufe of Scbrit or fnow-(hoe« \ while the former fubHlleJ oa their rein-deer. The word RirtfiHnat m Ravenna, (hould therefor* certainly be written Rtntfinnas ; and in 'he text here Rhanejinnaty or perhaps (from the circumllance of thefe ^-rapie reitding and journey/ng la fledges). Ftr-fi»nas (from the word Faroy m German Fahreu, figiii;vii,g to go in a carriage of any kind, to travel). For Ohthere tells us, in tad, that the Finnas had r«in-d«er, aiul made «fe of decoy-devr, in order ta catcb the wild oats. The V IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // €o h / 4. % /a 1.0 fl^ IIM 1^ 12.2 1.1 l.-^Ki^ 1.8 1.25 1.4 16 ^ 6" ► % <^ '^A /a 7 '%!% '/ Hiotographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14S80 (716) 872-4503 \ ro% iP \ \ ^ V ^ the Finlanders. The identity of their language likewile (according to the teflimony of Ohthere) with thefe latter j^ple, is % proof of tl^eir Finlandiih origin. ($0 The hide of the fca-horfe is even at this day ma> one dweit to the North of him } there is like- (60) To the Eaftviard\ fo in ft ft It ftaods in the origfnal : but it is very pkin that it Ihould be to the ituth\ and particolarly if one has the ttiap of Norway before one, one fee* at a glance, from the form ot the country, that no other word can be ufed here than Stuth : befuies this, it ia ju(i afterwards oppofed to ntrthake of the copyift. (£1) This paiTage is very obfcure. Thus much however is evident, viz. that between Ohthere''8 dwelling-place in Halgoland and Sweoland, which lay over againft it in the fouth, there were large, extenfive moors; and farther, that oppofit* the moft northerly part of Sweoland, was Cmnnlandy I. e. Finland. Thefe Cwenas, or Finlanders did not join immediately to Northmanna-land ; but the tnoorv of the defert tra£k were inter^fed between theft rwo cotiatries. {6t) A lake^ or large colleftion of frefh water, is ftili called 'Mere in the north of EngUnd ^ and the fame word is here ufcd io the lame fcnfe by ifElfred. (£3) Thefe portable (hips, which were fo fraalj «6d light, muA doubt-. Ufi have been mere boats, (£4) In the origioal. Stir. wife DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 67 wife a part of this fouthern land which is called SciringeS'heal (65}, which no one could reach in x month) ibl* ifc [dt,) Thfc name of this place his given i great deal of trouble to for* mer commentators oniSlfrcd, viz. Sir John Spelman, Bulfieusi Surtiner, John Phil. Murray, and Lanijcbeck, who have all chofen Ijiots totally different to place Scirifigti-beal in. Spelman and others look for thii place near Dintzic, where, in iheir opinion, the Scyres formerly rcfided. But firll, the fpot where the CScjres lived, is by no means determined v an^ next, it is evjdent that Ohthere went continually along the coiil from Halgoland to SciriHjrei-heaty and that this latter was to the lei't of him during (he whole pafTage thither. The latie Mr» Murray places it at Ska- nor ; but I cannot think this to haVe been 6ve days voyage from Hzthumf in jHtland, as Ohthere fays it was, Langcbeck is for carrying it to Kan' gahelht on the Giutelf, near Marllrand ; and aflerts, that the namt of this place is written wrong, and that for Sciringe$-htal wfe (hould read Cyninges-heal. If this word occurred indeed but once, I would aU low Langcbeck to be in the right ; but, in fa£t, we meet with it five times in the fpace of a few lines ; and each time it is written, without the lead variation, Sciringet-beal ; on which account it does not appear to me at ail probable, that it ihotild be fpelt in any other manner. zdly« The voyage from Halgoland to KtHgabtHe is not fufficiently entenfive to take up a month to accohiplifh it. 3dly, Kgngahtlle is too near Jutland^ to require five days for making the trip, as Ohthere fays it does. Having demondrated the inlufhriency of thefe conjectures, it is ndw incumbent ■V)n us, in our turn, to point out where Si inngts-heal tS^MiWy is fituated. Paul Warenfried, in his Hiji. Lcngebard^ lib. i. cap. 7 and 10, makes mention of a dithidt, called Sctrunga, in which the fVinili^ or Lombardt^ refidcd for fome time, ere they removed to A/auringa, and from ihenc* ilill further on to GetljnJ, jintkabet^ Bethaiby and PurgunJaib. Now :his Scorunga fecms to have been the diltrift in which the port of 5fi>/»i« ges- heal was. This Scorunga was nut far from Gttland ; confequently It was fomewhere in Sweden. Add to this, that Ohthere, having ex- prefsiy defcribed Sueoland as being to the fouihward of the place of his habitation; immediately afterwaids fays, ** There is a part in this fouih* ern land v/hich is called Sdnnges-beai.'^ By this he I'eems to indicate very plainly, that this place is no where to beibught tor but in Sweden. Bui ail this will appear llill more evident, if we take the pains to follovr tiie irackof his voynge. FirO, he has Iraland, i. c. Scotland to the right ofl.tn; as likewii'e the iflands which lie between Scotland and Halgo- land, viz. the Shetland and Orkney iflauds i but the continent is con- llantly to the left of him, quite till he comes 10 Sciringes-htal. But far* ther, a large bay (Iretches to the norihwardt deep in that country, along thecoad of whiih he kept continually failing; and this bay commences (juice to the fouthwaid 61 Scifingn-htal. It is fo broad that a man can- not fee acrofs it, and Gttland lies dire«an Jutland, as Langebeck affirms it doet. (£9) ilvlfred calls the fea which reaches from Zealand to nctlnnd the iiUtnde Sta^ and after huving made mi-ntion of that arm of i: which runs out to the northward deep into that land, along the coall oF which lu: had hitherto failed, farther fays, this fe» extends yet many hundred miles farther in the fame direction in which he had failed from Zealand to it, via. from well to eail. (70) This port of Hitthum has given -iBtfred's Commentators a great deal of trouble. Hcwrvcr, they are all agreed in affirminR. the place thst is here meant, to be .?/./«.•->, as this lattrr is called Haiti ahy by the Anjlo-Saxon tth^twcid. A Norwegian poet gives it ihe .umt ol //.y- thabi't^ DISCOVERIES IN THE NORT if. 69 the ler- ich ('en jrc ihe ins |1m kd Ind cat the <»• When Ohthere failed to this place from Sciringes* heaU Denmark was on his left, and on the right wa4 a wide fea for three days, as were alfo two days hc- ibre he came to Haetbum, Gotland^ Sillende, and many iflands (thefe lands were inhabited by the Angles be- fore they came hither) ; and for two days the iflands which belong to Dene were on the left. Wulfjian (73) faid, that he went from Haetbumta Trujo (74) in ky^n days and nights ^the ihip being under thabat, tsd others write it Htydahtt^ sad by Adam of Bemen, it i» call* cd {Jcidaba ; this in their opiwon i;* Hitihum : yet it appear* to me that (he difference between ti. (8i) flfi"/: ii indilpmabiy the name of the river Blhing^ which flows from Lake DranftM or Trufo, (vid. 74.) and by one of its aims jo'ni< with tlut arm of the Vifluia c^led Ntngai, or Nogat, .ind both thus united, i-mpiy themfelves into the Haf^ whjle the other arm runs Into the Haf by itftjf. (83) Everything (hat J£AhtA here mentions concerning the fituatioa of that part of the world, incomeftibly ihews, (hat he had his intelligence immediately from the mouth of one who was perfe£tly well acquainted with the place. The llfing comes out at Efthonia, yet not from the Kaft, as iEl red fays it does, but ixotn \kt SoAth. Excqiting, indeed, that he means that arm cf the Elbtng which runs into the Viftula or N07 gat. But the Vidula comes out of Wendenland from the South ; and, the tVro rivers having ^ifembogucd tiheml'elves into tt-c Haf, this latter flretchet, no doubt, from WcU 10 North, that is in a Norih-eaft direc-r tion, and at Pillau goes into the Tea. Jt is poflible, that thit« as v/ell as the wedern arm, mayjbave formerly born the name oifViJtemuMJy or th« mouth of the Vidula. (84) This account ef the ftateof Pruflia at that tim«, ,w^ile under tht Enhonkns, who had already built many cities there, each of which had » chief (or as he terns iti a kingj is perfe£lly confonant to the conditio^ in which ijt was {pundby the adventuters in the crufades many centuries afterwards. (85) This piece of intelligence, that the richeft pe^rfons of the country were content with mare's milk, at the fame time ibat the poorer Tort of the (hives drank mead, is extrcrnely (ingular. If> however, we confidcr^ that this mare's milk was not barely milk, but milk which had undergone a kind of fermentation, and vat tranfmuted into a fpecics of brandy, fuch tf the inhabitants of the defert plains of Afia Media drink in great .quantities, calling it Kamyfs, while they ditlinguifli their double-diltillcd brandy by the name o^ Arrack \ if, I fay, we take this into confideration, wc (hall find it eafier to conceive why (he principal people of the land only had the prerogative to get drunk with brandy, while their fubjedVj drank nothing but mead. For we know that it has been, and is ftill, J;e cooftant praelice with all rude oacultivtied aation;, to leave to their fupcriors ■1 4 y ;iiii, ' ^hn 1 1|l; <* > 'i '!:i 7» VOYAGES AN They have many contefts amongft thcmfelvcs, and the people of EJium brew no ale (87), as tlwry have mead in profufton. There is alfo a particular cuftom amongft this na- tion, that when any one dies, the corpCe continues unburnt with the relations and friends (89) for 4 month or two, and the bodies of kings and nobles lie longer (according to their refpe<^ivc wealth) fome« times for half a year, before the corpfc is thus deftroy^ ed ; and it continues above ground in the houfe, during which time drinking and fports laft, till the day on which the body is confumed* Then, when it is carried to the funeral pile, the fubftance of the dcccafed (which remains after their drinking-bouts and| fports) is divided into five or fix heaps (fometimes into more) according to what he happens to be worth. fiiperiors the excluftve privilege of intoxictting themfelvci whenever they rlc«re, I( is cnly the iren of rank among (he Turk's, Perfian , and Ma> hy% that make ufe of opium; it is only the people of quality among th^ Ptabeiicars who intoxicate iheml'elves with the juice of the root ot the A-wa^ a fpecies of pepper ; and it is only the piiacipal Tfhuktfchis that ran get drunk with the infutlon of the inebriating fungui, purrhaftd from the Rofliana. AJan of Bremen {[>nr*^r. i3R.)fayi, that the ancient Pruf- fians ate horfe-flefh, and drank riie milk t>t their mares to intoxication ; and Ftter »/ Dui/hurg (paragr. So.) relates of thefe people, that at their feaftti, they drank water, meaii, and mare's milk. ' (H6) Afeaif, even fo early as in tbel'e times, had the name of Aft/la in Angio-Sayon ; in the Littuianian tongue it it called Mid Jus i in Polifh, Mied\ in RuiTian, .\7ed ; in German, Mffh. Hence it!ippea,rs probably to me, that mead i<; a beverage of great antiquity, as the name by which it is known Is exactly the fame in languages ot fo different an origin. With thele it is perhaps worth while to compai? the Greek verb fnflu** Iintexicale. 1 rriuft once moie repeat the general remark I made bet'ore, vis. that WolftUn murt have been very well acquainted with the country. Abounding, as it did, in forefls of lime-trees and in lakes, Pruflia had a protufion of the iintft honey and fi(h ; and the towns, horfes, cloaths, weapons, drinking-bouts, and games of its inhabitantR evince, that they were not ignorant of agriculture, and thati they w^re in a tolerably flourifhing ftaie, and had ariived at no contemptible decree ot cul- tivation. (87) King/Elfrcd obfcrves, that thefe drinking bouts occafioned many fiays He alfo gives a rcafon, why the Efthonians brewtd no ale, \\hich i', that they had fuch a vaft abundance of honey, that it was cafier lor them to make rnead than to brew beer. (88) That theantitni Pnifiians burned their dead and buried them to- gether with their horfe.% weapon?, cloaths, and valuable p. (IclTiuns, ap- pears from a treaty concluded thior.gh the mediation of the An It',' aeon o Liege, in »]uality of the Pope's Legatf, between tht Ceini.i: Knights and the newly-cunverted Prufliaus, wherein the Prufiiiiis t: p: c: ly I'lO- mife never in future to burn their dead, nor buiy them with tl.eii luirfes^ arm, cloaths, and valuables. , ' I'hcre DISCOVERIES m the NORTH, 73 There heaps are difpofcd at a mile's diftance from each other, the largoll he;ip at the gwattit dillance from the town, and fo gradually the fmallcr at ledcr inter- vals, till all the wealth is divided, fo that the lead heap fhall be nearelt the town where the corpfc lies. Then all thofc are to be fummoncd who have the flcctcft horfes in that country, within the diftancc of five or fix miles from thefc heaps, and they all ftrivc for the fubftancc of the decraled ; he who hath the fwiftcft horfe obtaUis the moft diftantand largeft heap, and fo the others, in proportion, till the whole is iViz.'d upon. He procures, however, the leaft, who takes that which is neareft the town ; and then every <'ne rides away with his (hare, and keeps the whole of it ; on account of this cuftom, fleet horfes are extremely dear. When the wealth of the deccafcd hath been thus exhaufted, then they carry the corpfe from the houfe to burn it, together with the dead man's weapons and cloaths; and generally they fpcnd the whole wealih pf the deceafed, by the body'^ continuing fo long in the houfe before il is buried j and by what h laid in heaps on the road, and is taken away by the Grangers (89). It is alfo a cuftom with the Efiuniy that the ]bo- dies of all the inhabitants (hall be b|jrncd ; and if any one can find a fingle bone unconfumed, it is a caufe of anger. Thefe people alfo have the meanj oi producing very fevere cold, by which the dead Vody continues fo long above ground without putre- fying •, and if any one fets a veflcl full of ale or water, they contrive that the liquors (hall be frozem, be it fummcr or winter. The part of King Alfred's Geography, of whlck we have here given a tranflation as literal as could be don? confiftently with the different gvnius of both languages, without difputc conftitptes, with relation to the ftate of the North of Europe in the 9th ctn- (89) !t is eafy to perceive, that ihi« power, fo much admired by ^mg y^ilfred, ot producing told either in fi^mmer or v/inter, by whiiii the puir«'fa(f.i n of dead bodies was prevented, and beer and water wfic frozen, was u.e efTei5l of agood ice-celhr, and this cveiy Prufflan oi a:v confequence had in, ot elft hard k)y his hoiite, tury, 'i lii 'i i,:J ■ 'm :-m 74 VOYAGES AN» tury, a record of the utmoO importance. As >EI- frcd in his youth had been in Rome, whither, even at that early period, zeal for the Chriftian religion carried people from every country, he might in all probability have colledcd in that city the materials tor his Geography, and his other hidorioil acquifiti- ons, which in thofe times of deplorable ignorance and darl^nefs, give him a very high rank among, writers. This fragment likewife is a confirmation of what we have before advanced, viz. that the voyages and predatory expeditions of (he northern pirates have very much contributed to the illuflration of Geography and of the Hiftory of Nations. The art of navigation too was in thofe days heI4 in great eftcem by the people of the North. Amongi): them it was even confidered as peculiarly praise- worthy, to understand the flrudure of a Lhip, and the beft method of condrucfting it fo as to be ftrong and firm, and at the fame time a quick failer ; and as fmith was an appellation peculiarly appropriated to every one that wrought in metals, all artizans and bandicraftfmen went likewife under tl>^ fame general denomination ; and accordingly a m;in of the name of Torjieriy was, on account of hi? great (kill in (hip- building, called the fiip-fmith. 7 he direction of a lhip by means of oars, and dexterity and perfe- verance in rowing, were in thofe days considered in fo advantageous a light, that King tfarold Hardrade^ and Earl RogmuaUy lord of the Orkneys, prided themfelves greatly on their fuperior (kill it> handling the qar. Howing, however, was not the only me- thod they had in thofe ages of getting a velfcl forwar4 \r\ its courfe. They had likewife fails withal ; and their manner of ufing them makes them defervedly ce- lebrated. Moll of the people pf antiquity, wl>o were famous for navigation, made ufe of fails ^wK. feldom, and that only when the wind blew dire£lly at their backs, fo that they could fail with a full wind, or right before the wind. If the wind blew hard, an4 fomewhat fideways, they were obliged to run im- mediately into a harbour, which indeed in a fea like the Mediterranean, is very Cfifily done. But the |iumerovt$ DISCOVERIES IN THi NORTH. 75 numerous and cxtcnfivc voyages of the Normans on the Great Ocean, particularly to England, the Ork- iiry<, Ireland, ^jaiil, and even into the Meditrrrancan^ fufticicntly indicate, that they knew how to nfe their iaijs, even when they had only a fide-wind. It dots not appear, however, that this great art of fctting the failsof afhip according to the wind was generally known in thofe times ; as, of fiich as did poflefs it it was affirmed, that as fonn as their veflels had their lading, they had only to fet their fails, and fct off di- rectly, without troubling chemfclves in the lead from what quarter the wind blew. This propcity was attributed to the fhip called the Drache Ufanatit^ and to Frcycr's fhip the SkySladner^ in the Edda, and in Tor/iens Vikingfons Saga. It wasfuppofed, that this was efFedted by lorcery i though, in radl, it pro- ceeded from nothing more than a certain degree of fkill and dexterity in fetting and ihifting the fail?, founded on exf>erience and mechanical fcience. This way of failing with the wind half, or almoft quit« contrary, or, as it is called by the mariners, near the wind, is in reality one of the greateft and moft inge- nious inventions made by man. As the mariner's compafs has 32 points from which the wind may blow, which have been diftinguiihed by pcculiai names ; and from which foever of thefe the wind Wows it is in the power of the mariner tn avail himfclf of one and the fame wind, to carj-y him to twenty different points or quarters of the globe; fo that, the fix points excepted which are on caci^ fide of the line of direction in which the wind blows, he is able (o fail with this wind on any other courfe. • The compar? ib a magnetic piece of fled, v.hlrh Ir moveabU \n t •i'Cular direftion, on the ix)int of a very fharp reciDc, wiiliin a conuiil cap : to this piece of ftcc;l, in order to make it Mill more ulVful, is af- fixed a circular palleboard, on which are delineated the 31 tJiiTtrfoi winds or point of the compaft. Now the magnetic needle, conflantl/ pointing to the North Pole, the compafs, fallened to it, retains it* |>i>- iition, notwiihflanding ihe a'terations that may be made in the fnin't courfe; and as the l)ox, containing the compafs, is placed dircc'lty be. foie the mail at the helin, who flands with his face turncdf tow•a^us tt.e prow Nil i 9 K ' '...' 76 VOYAGES AN0 S'l" IMIi! This important fciencc, with refpeft to ordering the fails, mud either not have been very genera), at leaft not known in Ohther's time; for we read in jiis voyage to Biarmieny that he was obliged to lay fo long at two different places exprefsly for the fake of waiting for a better wind ; and he names in ex- prefs terms the wind, which would ferve him for failing with full fails. On the other hand, the opi* liion that was then harboured concerning magical ihips fccms to prove the fkill of their pilots, or con* du6lors, in relation to managing the fails, fo as to hj\ iikewife near the wind. The conftrudl on too of the northern vefTels was ptaHy different from that which was followed by the Greeks and Romans in theirs. The fhips of the porthern nations were built of the floutefl oak that could be procured, and were made with high forct^ rallies a^id poops \ thofe of the Mediterranean, on the contrary, were low and flat, and were chiefly impelled by means of oars j the whole of their i^ruclure too, feemed much /lighter than that of the veiFels ufcd by the northern nations* The ihips of the northern people, appointed for Jong expeditions, were like- wife covered at the top; while thofe ufed in the Mediterranean were covered at top in a few particular cafes only. For which reafon the Roman writers, whencfver there were any covered ibtps in a fleer, ntvKt fail to inform us of this circumftance, and to prow of the {hip, he has it i« his power to fee, witN the greateft precN lion, towards which point of the compal's the ecD> .^ of the (hip is div jrAed. Now every circle, ••■q in fa£t the coropafs is dothiog elfe, being divided bjr mathcmaitcians into 3^0 degrees, 11 < foch degrees are com. extent. Beiftg condemned to banifliment for the fpacc of three years, he determined upon making a voyage of difcovcry to this country. Soon after he had fet fail, he faw the point of land called HeVjolfi Nefs^ and after failing a little longer to the South-weft, entered a large inlet, which he called Ericas Sounds and pafled tile winter on a pleafant ifland in the vicinity of it. The following year he explored the continent, and the third year returned to Iceland, where, with the view that a confiderable number of people might be induced by his reprefentation of matters, to refolve upon going to thb newly-difcovered country, to which he gave the name of Greenland, he beftowed the moft lavifli praifes on its rich meadows, its wood, and its fifheries. Accord- ingly, there fet out for this place 25 veflels, laden with people of both fexes, houfehold furniture, and cattle for breeding, of which veflels 14 only arrived fafc. Thcfe firft colonifts were foon followed by more, as well from Norway as I eland ; and in ttie^ fpace of a few years their number encreafed fo much, that they occupied not only the eaftern, but likewife the w^ern part of Green- land ; and, indeed, they were fo nutnerous, that it was ftippofed there were almoft enough of them to form the third part of a Danifli Bifliop's diocefe. This is the commoii account of the firft fettlino of* Greenland, ^nd it refts on the credit of the NorAern Hiftorian and Icelandic Judge, Snorro Sturlefon^ who wrote this account in the year 1215. But others aflert^ that Greenland was known long before this time, and;, for confirmation of what they advance, appeal dircdly to a Bull of Pope Gregory I V . and to the Letters Pa- tent of the Emperor Lewis the Pious, the latter 0/ which is dated in the year 834, but the former in 835. In this Patent, as well as in the Bull, permiffion is granted to the Archbiftiop Anfgarius, to convert the Sueones, Danes, and Sclavcmians ; and it is added, the Norwahen^ the Farriers^ the Greenlanden^ the Haljing" alandcn, th« Julanders^ and the Scridevinds. Now this neccfTarily DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 8i iTCceflarily implies, that all the countries here mentioned muil have been already known previous to the years 834 and 835 ; and what is yet more, that Iceland was at that period known by the name it yet bears, though it is univerfally allowed, that it was at firft called Smwland by Nadodd, its difcoverer. (Vide pag. 50). Herci then, there appears an evident contradidion. We fee very plainly, however, that, fuppofmg both the Charter 'and Bull to be genuine, the words Gronlandon and IJlandon fhould in all probability be read differently, and perhaps ^enlandon and Hitlandon. By the former is meant Finland ; and Hittand^ or Hialtaland, is the name of the Shetland Iflands. By adopting this alteration the whole difficulty is unravelled j but it may likewife, not without reafon, be doubted, whether pofTibly all the names of nations inferted after the ** Sucones, Danes, and Sclavonians," have not been interpolated at a later period: as St* Rembert, the immediate fuccefTor of Anfgarius, and who wrote his life, mentions only the names of the Sueoncs, Danes, and Sclavonians, whom Aufgarius was allowed to convert ; together with other nations fttuated in the North*. It is therefore not im- probable, that fome conceited copylft^ at a later period, was defirous of making particular mention of the people^ who might appear to him to be comprifed under the de- fcription of other nations Jituate in the Norths and there- fore very fagacioufly adds^ the Norwahers^ Farriers ^ Greenlanders, Haljingaianders, Icelanders, and Scride- vinders ; without once refleding, that in St. Angarfus'd time the Greenlanders and Icelanders had not been dif- covered. So that, the authorities of St. Rembert and Snorro Sturlefon, remain firm and unihaken, maugre thefe falfified copies of the Papal Bull and Imperial Letters Patent i and we may relt aiTured, that Iceland ' --rm * Conftliutum ttgatum, in omnibus circbmquaqne gentibus SnennOm, fiveDanorum, nee non etiam Slavorum, aliarumq; in Aquilonit paiti- bus, t;entium conftitutarum. t^ita S. Anfchani apud Langebeck SeripU Htji. Dan. Tom. i. p. 4151, 45*. Even Adam of Bremen> Hifl. EccUi tiS. I. cap. 17, mt-ntioBs by name thefe three nations only, to which he adds, ct aliikconjiiceniibut in circuitu populis." G was 82 VOYAGES AN» was not difcovered before the year 86 1, nor inhabited before 874 ; and that Greenland was hardly difco- vered previous to the year 888, or 889, or inhabited before 892. The former of thefe countries appears at that time to have had wood upon it. Nay, a com- paratively modern writer even fpealcs of an orchard, which the Monks of St. Thomas endeavoured to keep in good order and increafe its fertility by means of a warm fpring which they carried through it. The paflion which the Normans had always mani- fefted for making difcoveries, ftill prevailed among them even in the cold regions of Iceland and Green- land. An Icelander, of the name of Heriolf, was ac- cuftomed, together with his fon Biron, to make a trip every year to different countries, for the fake of trading. About the year looi their (hips were fepa- rated by a ftorm. Bifon being arrived at Norway, heard that his father Herjolf, was gone to Greenland. Upon this he refolved upon following his father thither j but another ftorm drove him a great way to the louth-weft of his track. In eonfequence of this, he defcried a flat country, covered all over with thick woods ; and juft as he fet out on his return, he dif- covered an ifland likewife. He made no ftay at either of thefe places, but haftened as much as the wind would allow him to do, which had nbw fallen great- ly, by a north-eafterly courfe to Greenland. Here this event was no fooner known, than Leif the fon of Eric Redhead^ who had an inordinate defire to ac- quire glory, like his father, by making difcoveries and founding colonies, fitted out a veflel, carrying 35 men, and taking Biron with him, fet out for this newly-difcovered country. Having fet fail, the firft land he faw was rocky and barren. Accordingly, he called it Helleland, or Rockland. Upon this he came to a low land, with a fandy bottom, which, howe- ver, was over-grown with wood j on which account he named it Marklandy or Woody land. Two days after this he faw land again, and an ifland lying be- fore th*^ northern coafl: of it. Here was a river, up which tney failed. The bufties on the banks of it bore DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 83 bore fweet berries ; the temperature of the air was mild, the foil fertile, and the river well ftored with fifh, and particularly with very fine falmon. At laft they came to a lake, from which the river took its rife. Here they determined to pafs the winter, which they accordingly did j and in the fhorteft winter day, faw the fun eight hours above the horizon : this there- fore fuppofes that the longeft day (exclufive of the dawn and twilight) muft have been i6 hours long. Hence again it follows, that this place being in the 49th degree of north latitude, in a fouth-wefterly di> reftion from Old Greenland, muft either be the river Gander.^ or the Bay of Exphits in Newfoundland^ or elfe fome place on the northern coaft of the Gulf of St. Lawrencei Here they erected feveral huts ; and they one day found in the thickets a German of the name of Tyrker^ who had been miffing, making him- felf very happy at having found grapes, from' which, he told them, in his country they ufed to make wine. Leif having tafted them, from this circumftance, which appeared to him very remarkable, called the country Wiulanddat Code ; i. t. the Good Wine-country ♦. In the following fpring they returned to Green-' Jand. This occafioned Thorwald, Leif*s brother, ta take a trip thither with the fame fuite as he had done^ in order to make farther advances in this new difco-^ very. Having explored thk land that lay to the weft*- wards, the . next fuihmer he inveftigated that which lay to the eaftwards. The coaft was covered with Wood,. and befet With iilands j but they could neither perceive a human creature, nor indeed atiimals of any kind upon it. The third fummer after they examined the ifl^s, where, on a point 61" land they damaged their (hip t6 fuch a degree, that they found it necefiary to build a new one, and the old veiTel was laid up on th<^ * It 11 Irue that gr«p«t grow wild in Canada ; Injt, thongh they art good to eat, yet nobody has «er been able to ipake any tolerable wioe o." their juice. But wJiether thefe wild grapes aie to be found ai far to the eaftward as Newfoundlanc'. I cannot fay. The fpecies of vines which grow in North-America, are called by Linnxus, A0//> lahujcay vul- fina et arbtrea. G 2 promontory, $4 VOYAGES AND promontory, which for that reafon they called Ktaler Nefs. Then they once more examined the eaftern fhore, and now they diicovered three boats covered with leather, in each of which there were three men ; thefe they feized : but one man found means to get ofF, the others were all wantonly aind cruelly murder- ed by the Normans. Soon after this, however, thev were attacked by a great number of thefe people with bows and arrows. A fence made of planks fcreened them in their (hips againfl them, and they defended themfelves with fo much fpirit, that their enemies hav- ing given them battle for the fpace of an hour, were obliged to decamp again. I'o thefe original inhabi- tants oi the country, on account of their being very ihort in ftature, they gave the name of Skroellinger, i. e. cuttings, or dwarfs. Thorwald, who in the fkir- mi(h had been dangeroufly wounded by an arrow* died* and over his ton^b on the promontory were placed two croiTes, agreeable to hi$ requeil:, which promontory obtained from this circumflance the name of Krojfa-nefs. His companions pafled the winter in fFinland, and in the beginning of the fpring return- ed to Greenland. ^^ ,In the fame year, Thor^ein, the third fon of Eric Raude, fet fail for fVinland^ with his wife Gudrid^, the daughter of "Jhoabern^ his children and fervants, a- mounting in all to 25,foft]s; but they were by a ftorm caft on the weftcrn fliore of Greenland. Being pbliged to fpend the winter there, he, as well as many more of his retinue, died^ probably of the fcurvy. In the fpring, Gudrid topk the corpfe of her deceafed huf- band home. TIjorftHy an Icelander of fome confequence, furnamed Kallfefner, and a defcendant of King Regner-Lodbroky married the widow Gudrid^ and thereby thought him- ifelf intitled to the poiTeiTion of the newly-difcovered country. Accordingly, he fet out for Winland with a vaft quantity of houfhold furniture and cattle, and vith 65 men, and 5 women, who begun to eflabliih a re- DISCOVERIES iM THE NORTH. 85 a regular colony there. They were immediately vi- fited by the Skraliingersy who began to barter with them. From the circumftance we have mentioned before, viz. that thcfe people were of a low ftature, and had boats covered with leather, it feems probable that they were the anccftors of the prefent hjkinauxj who arc the fame people as the Greenlanders, and in the language of the jbenaki are called Ejkimantfik^ on account of their eating raw fifli j in like manner as the Ruflians in their official papers of flr.tc called the Samojedes Sirojg{P ^/ , becaufe they alfo eat raw frozen ii(h and flefli, The natives gave the Normans in exchange, the moft coflly furs for other wares. They would alfo willingly have bartered for their weapons, but this Thorfm had exprefsly forbidden. One of them, how- ever, found an opportunity to fteal a battle-axe, and having made trial of it immediately on one of his countrymen, whom hp killed with it on the fpot, a third perfon feized this mifchievous inftrument, and threw it into the fea. In three years time, the Nor- mans having got a large ftock of very rich furs anij other articles of merchandife, Thorjin returned to Greenland. The riches he brought home, created in a great many of his countrymen a defire to try their fortunes in IVinland, At length Thorjin went back to Iceland^ where he built himfelf a very elegant houfe on an eflate of his, called Glaumha^ which he had purchafed in the northern part of Syjfel, After his deceafe, Gudrid his fpoufe made a voyage to Rome, and ended her days in Iceland, in a nunnery, which her fon Srtorro, who was born in Winland, had found- ed for her. * * The defdendants of Snorrty Thorfin^i fon, were people of f'^mt eminence in Iceland, for Thorlak, the Ion of Runulf\ a nephew -jf Sntr- ro, wts in the year 1119 made Bifhop of Sialhc/It. Thorlik'fi fon, Brander, was Biftiop of the fame place in 1163. A defcendam of Snor- roy by name biorns, was alfo a Bifhop in Iceland, and to the fame digni< ty wa« promoted Hatuko,, an Icelandic judge, who lived in '■?o8t aqd wrote a Topography and Chronicle cf Iceland, which ii ckllcd Haukjlok^ i. e. H,iuku's book, after the name cf the author. After 86 VOYAGES AN i> After this Finhog and Helgo^ two Icelanders, fitted out each of ' n a Ihip, carrying 30 men, with which they made a gc to Winland. They took along witn them Freiai.^ a daughter of Erie Raude\ but by her turbulent difpofition Ihe occafioned manifold divi- fions and quarrels in the colony, in one of which^ Helgo and Finbog were killed, together with thirty men. Upon this Freidii returned to Greenland, where fhc lived univerfally dcfpifed and detelled, and died in the greateft mifery. The remaining Normans were dif- perfed i and it is probable, that their defcendants were ftill in being for a long time after, though nothii^ farther pofitive was heard concerning them v for it is faid, that A. D. iiai, about 100 years after the dif- covery and f^rft cultivation of the land, Biihop Eric went from Greenland to Winland, in order to con- vert his countrymen who were ftill heathens. From this period we have no more intelligence with refpe£l to Winland, and it is highly probable, that the tribe ftill exifting in the interior parts of Newfoundland, which difFers remarkably from all the American Sa- vages as well in (hape as in their manner of living, and lives in a ftate of conftant enmity with the EJki- maux refiding on the oppofite northern coall:, are de- fcended from thofe ancient Normans. Now it appears from hence, that the ancient Nor- man people were, ftridly fpeaking, the firft difcover- crs of America^ and that, in faft, nearly 500 years be- fore the difcovery of it by Chrtjiopher Columbus in the year 1493, and before the difcovery of Newfoundland by Sebajiian Cabot in 1496. And, as it has long been a conteftcd point, who were in reality the firft dif- coverers of Jimerica^ it is to be hoped, that this cir- cumftantial detail of the difcovery of the ancient Win- land will meet with the readier excufe. The fa£ts themfcives have been colle6led from a great number of ancient Icelandic manufcripts, and have been hand- ed down to us by Thormond Thorftsus in his two works intitled, Vetoii Groenlandia Defcriptioy Hafnitgy 1706, m DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. $y in Rvo, and Hifteria Vinland'ite Antiqua^ Hafntee^ 1 705^ in 8vo. Wc alfo find cnrly mention made of the coun- try called Wtnland^ in Adam von Bremen's Church liijlory^ p. 151 i in like manner, very exadt relations of thcfe difcoveries have been prefcrvcd in Arngrim yonas's Specimen Ijlandlte Hijioricum^ and in many other writmgs ; fo that it is hardly poflible to harbour the Icafl doubt concerning the authenticity of this relation. The only intelligence we meet with pofterior to thefe firft difcoveries, is, that when about the year 009, Leif^ the fon of Eric Raude, made a voyage to Norway, and was by Kin^ Ohf Tryggefon perfuadcd to take upon him the Chriftian faith, he took Chrif- tian Priefts over with him to Greenland, for the con- verfion of the remainging part of his countrymen. He landed there A. £). 1000, and his father, iiV/V, tojgether with many people, v.ent over to the Chriilian faith. About 100 years after this, the Chriftian religion was difFufed all over the country ; upwards of 190 farms had already been laid out, with many fmall tenements on them ; on the eaftern fide more than 12 churches and two convents had been erected j ana on the wefterrj coaft were built four churches. Tiiis great increafe appeared to the inhabitants fo confider«blc, that Sok, the nephew of Leif^ having alfembled the whole peo- ple at Brettahlidy where the Judge, or Lagmann, al- ways ufed to refide, they were unanimoufly of opinion, that they might, with great propriety, have a bifhop of their own j and, in fadt, one Eric was pitched upon for this office ; but it is fuppofcd that, inftead of going to Greenland, he went (Irait on to W inland, in order to convert the Normans, who were ftill hea- thens : however, nothing farther was ever heard con- cerning him. A learned pricft, of the name of Arnold, was therefore, at the requeft of the Greenlanders, no- minated their Bifhop by Si^utdy King of Norway; and, having been confccrated by the Archbifhop of Lunden, in Schonm^ went to Greenland. We have an account of about 1 7 of thcfc Bifhops j but the SkraU lingers^ 88 VOYAGES AND hi lingers^ or prcfent EJkimauxy bcg.m to (hew thcm- fclvcs about the year 1376, and it is probable, that thefc people have at length extirpated the whole Nor- man race, particularly, as in the beginning of the 1 5th century, an entire ftop was put to the navigation from Denmark and Norway to thofe |)arts. Neither was it poflible. to go thitner from Iceland; for it is re- markable, that the whole caftcrn coaft of Greenland is furroundcd by icc-ficlds, which have lain there from time immemorial, and increafc every year, and occafion- ing fuch cold weather, even in Iceland, that it is found to be at prefent far colder there than it was fome centuries ago, when it was ftill poflible to fow corn, and when forefts were to be met with in many parts of the country. Even in Gr<:enland there was a grove near the Bifliop's refidenc*^, for the feeding of cattle, of which there are now no traces left in the whole weftern part of Greenland, which, how- ever, is poflelTcd of a milder climate than the other parts. 1 hofe circumftances have been the caule that nobody has been able to approach, even from Ice- land, the inhabitantF, thus cooped up and imprifoned. To this muft be added, that in the beginning of the 15th century, an innumerable multitude ot people were carried ofF from the year 1402 to 1404, by the hinck death, as it was called, or the peftilehce : fo that, what with the diminution of their numbers, the want of afllftance from Norway and Iceland, and the increafing cold, the Norman ' inhabitants were weakened to fuch a degree, that at laft it became an eafy matter for the SkralHngen to make war upon them, and to extirpate them. In this fituation thofe countries remained till the beginning of the i6th century, when a new fpirit for invettigating the earth, and for geographical refearches, burft forth in Eu- rope, and was continually kept alive by the accounts of the great difcovcrics made by the rortuguefe and Spaniards. CHAP, DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 89 ' "I CHAP. in. 0/ the Difcovertet made by the Italians In the North, at well by Land as by Sea. IN general there were but two motives, which in thcfe dark middle ages could induce people to undertake voyages to diilant countries. In tad, it was a fpi- rit of commerce and zeal for the diffufion of the Roman Catholic religion which imparted the cou- rage and mental vigour neccflary for great enterpii- zes, to men whofe fpirits had been dcbafed, and the energy of whofe minds had been dtllroyed by fuper- ftition, aided by the preflure of dcfpotifm, and of the feudal fyftem. Confequently it was fclf-intereft and enthufiafm alone, that operated on the torpid and uncultivated minds of mankind in thofc ages. In the north of Europe and Afia, barbarifm pre- dominated, and that not unfrequenHy combined with the moft favage abule of that authority, which fupc- rior force and power hud thrown into the hands of the niofV rude and uncultivated nations. From the north-ead; of Afia numbers of favage hordes iiTued forth, one after another, and diftufed incxpre/Iible mifery over the whole human race in all thofe coun-* tries, which had the misfortune to lie in their way. The bad form of government of the dates in thofc times } wlchout fortified towns, without any good military arrangements, without funds in the treafury, for fupplying the expences of their wars ; together with the difmemberment of the fmall itates, which were fubjeft to petty Princes, unable to defend them, and the enfeebled condition of the greater, rendered their conquefts but too eafy to thefe encroaching ^eftroyers of the univerfe. From the fea, which in the remoteft eaft ferves for a boundary to the coaft of m ■ ■ i iii !#S'JiS :®"^>f:ii 90 VQYAGES AND ;l ; I of China, as far as the Oder an^ Danube, every thing was expofed to the ravages of thefe people, who, like a whirlwind, lay every thing wafte before them ; and from India and its mountains, quite to the Icy-Sea, the Moguls (for fo thefe barbarians were called) were the univerfal anr! uncontrouled mailers. The terror which thofe Moguls had fpread every where, determined the Pope to endeavour to (lop the progrefs of their, ^rrefiftible power by ambafTadors j and at the fame time to inflame their minds againfb the InHdels, or Mahometans, in Palefline and in Egypt. The Emperor Frederic II, . invited all thc- European Princes to oppofe this torren:, which, in a manner, overwhelmed every country by the con- jun(Slion f their collective forces. But what ferved to protedl the European dates againft the farther de- predations of thefe favage conquerors, was on one ifide the difunion fubfifling among the Chiefs of the Mogul tribes, and on the other, the following cir- cumftapce, viz. that the valour as well as the rapa- cious difpoHtionof the great, was diminiihed byrich- €s and voluptuoufnefs. The ambafTadors that were fent to the Mogul Princes, were all of them mere Monks, becaufe they alone were able to bear the terrible humiliationi, when fucb kind of mefTengers were made to fufFer. The Moguls then believed, as, the Chinefe do at this prefent time, that all the am- bafTadors from other Princes, who, according to the caftern cuflonra, brought them prefents, were come merely to acknowledge their fupremacy, and to fub- mit themfelves to their Emperor and Khan ; and therefore they Very frequently obliged thofe ambafTa- dors to make fubmifTions of a very extraordinary na- ture, and to go through a ceremonial, which was, fometimcs highly degrading to humanity. Belides tholie ^lonks, fomc noble Venetians like- wife, who however were carried thither merely by the defire of gain went to thb country of the Mor guls as far as to the refidence of the Khans. Fi- nally, we have alfo fome accounts of a tew mili- tary men, who have penetrated a good way into the north-eaftern parts of Afia, which are eyen as yet un-, kaown. m DISCOVERIES jM THE NORTH. 91 . known. All thefe relations are of very great importance for the purpofe of bringing us acquaihted with the north, ^nd with refpeft to the hiitory of the manners and cha- radlers of the northern nations. But our aim being merely to give a general (ketch of the whole of the hiftory of thefe people and countries, it is impofliblc for us to be fo full and copious as the variety of obje£ts prefented miy indeed require, but which would by no means correfpond with our prefent plan. Previous to mentioning the voyages of the monks in the North-eaft parts of Afia, we will make a few fliort remarks on the narrative of the travels of a SpanifK Jew. He was called Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela^ a fmall tov.'n in Navarre. His father was Rabbi Jonds ; and probably lived alfo at Tudela. On the ftrength of the teftimony of Rabbi Abraham ZuJtut, a celebrated aflrono- mer, and profeflbr at Salamanca, who lived in the hf- teenth century, it is fuppofed, that this Rabbi Benjamin travelled from 1160 to 1173, or thereabout, and wrote his travels afterwards. Young Barratier^ that early literary genius, aflens, that Benjamin never made the journey in reality, but patched up the whole work from the writings of his cotemporaries. It is true, many of the incredible tales which he mentions, ap- pear to be very Itrong proofs of this affertion : there are other circumftances which militate againft it. For example j where' he fays, that he has heard himfelf from a certain Rabbi Mojes^ in Ifpahan, a hif- tory of the unbelieving Turks. (Chap, xviii. &c.). The anomalies to be met with in ,his work, are to be attributed to the miftakes of the copyift, to his own want of memory, and to many other circumftances *. * But thefe incredible tales tre til in the tafle of thofe times; and the other travellers of ihol'e ages, who are neverthelefs believed to have travelled in reality, are fjuitc as full of incitdible relations. The whole difference If, that the tales which ihey relile arc Chiiftian tales, whil«» thele are )cwi(h. The others frequently take notice of the miracles of praeaded Claiiliaa riicts, and be, et thoie of Jewifh Rabbiea. At / 92 VOYAGES AND At the ienJ of his travels he fays, that Prague in Bohe-^ mia is the beginning of Hclavonia. Then he fpeaks of the Ruffian Linpire, which extends from the gates of Prague to the gates of Phin ]>s a large town at the beginning of the kingdom. In that country are the animals called IVai-regres w^"ia*i>>n and Neblinatz ynvhli* On the meaning of thefe words the interpreters are not agreed ; but it appears clearly, that Phih is no other than Kiow, the capital of the Ruffian Empire at that time. We fhould therefore here read pa and indeed the interpreters, from the final nun being wanting, might ealily have fuppoftd, that this name ought to have been written differently. Now follow the names of the animals ; Ruffia has ever been famous for its grey foxes, or grey fquirrels ; thefe in the Ruffian language are called Pyjeworka j in the Hebrew text therefore, we (liould read \y^:t*iVNi IVaiwerges^ which is as nearly rcfembling the Ruffian as a Spanifli Jew could poffibly write it: and by the animals called i>K3^bai ZeblinatZy are meant Sables, the fkins of which, Jordanis had be- fore him called Sapphi/ifias pdks. For they have ever been a rare and choice fur. Excepting this little. Rabbi Benjamin has nothing at all relating to this our northern part of the globe. II. l^he news of the victories of the Moguls, who on one fide of the Gafpian Sea, under the command of Tufchi-Khan, the fon of the great Zinghis'Khan, and under that of the fon of Tufchi, Batu-Khan, advancing through Kiptfchaky Rujfta^ Poland and Hungary had pe- netrated into Sile/M } while the fame people on the other fide of the Cafpian Sea, had, under the command of Zagathai Khan, another fon of Zinghis- Khan's and of his nephew Holaghu-Khan, made their appearance en the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. This news having reached the ears of Pope Innocent IV. he thought it ad- vifeable in the convocation held at Lyons, A. D. 124.5, that fome of the clergy fliould go as ambaffiidors to thefe formidable conquerors, partly in oroer to pacify them, jujd to tur;i their conquefts to fome other objed, and partly DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH* 9^ partly to endeavour if poflible to convert them to the Chriftian faith, and to diredt their arms againft the Turks and Saracens. For this purpofe fix monks were pitched upon, fome of whom were Minorites^ and others Dominicans^ John de Plano^ or Palatia Carpini^ an Italian minorite, with friar Benedict like- wile of the fame order, as alfo brother Afcelin or Anfetnty brother Alexander^ brother Albert^ and brother Sim»n of 5/* ^intin^ all Dominicans. Out of thefe, yohn de Piano Carpini^ and brother Benedict went to the North of the Cafpian Sea, to Batu-Khan^ and to the chief of all the Moguls, the Emperor Kajui' Khan ; but brother Afcelin^ with his afTidants, brothers Alexander Albert ^ and Simon of St. ^intin^ went to the South of the Cafpian Sea, through Syria^ Perfia-t and Khorafany to Baiju-Nojon^ or as the monks called him Bajothnoy, This latter expedition contains no- thing inftrudtive with refpeft to the northern regions; we will therefore keep to the expedition of John de Piano Carpini, who travelled through Bohemia and Poland as far as Kiow, and from thence to the mouth of the Dnieper to Korrenfa, a general of the Moguls. Finally, they croffed this river in winter when it was frozen, and fet out to go eaft wards over the Don and PVolga, to Batu-Khan. Having waited upon him, they were Informed by him, that they muft go to the Cuyne (as they called him) or rather to the Kajuk- Khan, They travelled therefore on horfeback in the coldeft weather, and many days without food, through the land of the Comaniansy to the northward of which are, Rujjjiay Bolgarioy and the Morduines, as alfo the Baftarks (or rather Bafchkir*s) who are in pofleffion of Upper Hungary, and behind thefe are the Parofttes* and the Samojades, who are faid to have faces like thofe of dogs. To the South of the Comanians are * Meaning, perhaps, the Parmtfittiy or Ftrmicrt, or, as the Ruffiana call them, ttrmiakt. the ^ VOYAGES A NO the Alan'tans^ the Clrcaffians^ and the Chazars *, the Grecians, the city of (Jonftantinople, together with the Iberians, Chathions **, and Brutakh f ; then the Jands of the Cythians X^ Georgians^ yfrmenians, and Turks. Continuing now their Journey, they came into the country of the Kangitta\\y who were all fhepherds like the Comanians, and did not pradtife agriculture. From the land of the Kangltla, they came to that of the Bifermini (i. e. BuTurmeriy Mufurmen, or Ma- hometan inhabitants of Turkejian) who in faft fpoke the fame language as the Comanians^ but profcfled the religion of Mahomet. To the South of it were, Jerufalem, and Baldachy {Bagdad) and the whole country of the Saracens. To the North of it is Black'Kathaya (or Karakithai) §, in which the Em- peror has built himfclf a palace. From thence they tra- velled for fome days along a lake which was all the while on their left hand, and in which there were many iflands. The Emperor being not yet formally eledted and eftablifhed on the throne^ they could not yet go into * The ./^/dwf tnd C/Vrd^ffj are (liil the inhibitants of Caucafuc, but whtt ptrt of it they inhabit, and whether the Chatmri, dill inhabit thoie regions, I tm eatirely ignorant. In the time of the Emperpr Ctnjiantin Perphjrogenala, A. D. 949, the Chazars lived jn Ciimea, near the month of the Kubany and to the North of the Sta ef A&cf. ** This name it probably Kakiti^ a province of Gurgijlany or Ctttiioj which is called I.ere Iberia. "f The Brutaks, or Brutachsy are probably (\II1 exiting, for we find in the range of the Caucafus, inaamerable remnants of irnal) nations. la the origioal map of Caucafus, by Major Genrra! Frantndorf^ we iind, to the South of the Alanians, % people called Brutani; but as it is eafy in the RuHian language to confound the n with the ^, it is very probable, that the name of this people tliould be Brutackt. In a note, it is added,' that they are an independent people, and have * language of their own, as alio filver and copper coin. % CytHant. \n all probability this (hould be the Cycbiant^ or, as the word is generally written, Zichians. |] Kanghita\ thefe people are alfo frequently called Kanglii^ or Koni' lis. They extend from the Jaii, or, as it i» now called, Utal, to the Slrr, or Sirdaria ; and iheir habitation!! extended even to the river Tatasy or Talajb^ and Iffikul. The country they lived in was an uncuU tivated defert plain, ^ Oktaikhatiy or U^aJai Kbatiy built in Katakithai the town Owy/, or C ha my I, his DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 9^ his Hordt. They went therefore to the land of the Naymansn who are heathens, and inhabit a very high, mountainous, and cold country, for in fa<^, it fnow- ed there on the 29th of June. I'hen travelling on for three weeks longer, they arrived at length at the Cuynis^ or Kajuk-Kban^s, who was then juft going to be elected Emperor ; where they were well receiv- ed, and treated better than other ambaflfadors. Hav- ing had an audience of the Emperor, they were dif- mifled, and went back the fame road by which they had come. The count / of the Tartars is. in that part of the eaft which borders on the north ; towards the eaft they have Kathay and the Solangians ** ; To the fouth the Saracens^ to the fouth-weil the Huirs (or Uigurs) to the weft the Naymam and to the north the Great Ocean. The place where they waited on the Emperor was called Syr a Horda. They acknowledge but one God, the Creator of all things, vifibleand invifible ; v/ho diftributes to all mankind rewards and punifhments, according to their deferts. But they do not pay any particular worfhip to him. On the other hand, they have many idols made of felt (called in the Ruffian tongue JVoelocks) which they fix up in their houfes ; fome are even made of filk, and are more honoured than the others. To thefe they facrifice fome part of what they eat and drink, as alfo the hearts of the beafh they kill. In (hort, they feem to have profefied the Scbaman religi- on, which is an elder branch of that of the Bramins and of Dalai Lama, They were accuidomed to leave thofe that were dangcroufly Tick to themfelves, and afterwards, when they died, to return and bury them, which the Calmucks ftill do at this time. They were polygamifts, and had many virtues, but were not without their failings. III. The views of the Moguls were merely to put the Chriftians off with fair words, and then, on the firft opportunity that offered, to carry the war into their countries when they leaft expefted it, and agreeably •* The Sslangts are, without doubt, the very Time nation wilh the AlatiJjhutianSy who are (lill to this diy c*lled Suliinians. to 96 V O Y A G fe S ANri I to their coriftant cuftom, to ravage and dcftroy ever^ thing they came near.' In the years 1246 and 1247* another ambaflador arrived from the Pope, who was aifo a Monk, and was named Andrew Luciumeh But, notwithflanding this, the preparations for war againft the Chriftians went on without interruption^ The Emperor fent feveral troops againft the people that had rebelled againft him in Korea, and died foon after, having removed from Karakoruniy more weft- ward to Kamfatkit by which means this defign of his was entirely fruftrated, IV. To the new-ele<5led Emperor Mangu Khan, who was chofen in the year 1251, and of whom ic was reported in the weft, that he had been converted to the Chriftian religion. King Lewis IX. of France, fent, in the quality of Ambaftador, a Brabantine Friar, of the minorite order, by name lUlliam Ruyjbroek, otherwiie called Ru/brock, Rubruckf and Rubruquis, Ruyjbroeck went from Conftantinople by fea, to thcf Black Sea, to Gafaria (Crimea) to that part of Sol- deya, which is otherwife called Sogdat, or Scldadiai and at this prefent time Sudak, to the weftward of which is the town called Kerfona (Cherfone, or Cherfon) which according to Inkermahy is the modern Schurzi, or Gurzi, or Scherfon* But to the eaft, at the mouth of the Tanais, is Maricandis, and the tovfn Matriga, or Materca*-, for the Don, before it falls into the fea, forms yet another lake towards the north, the depth of which is not aboye fix paces, while in length it is 700 Italian miles. To this Materca merchants go from Conftantinople to buy dried fiih, viz. Sturgeons^ Thofes, or Tunnies^ and Barbels. Be- * Maricandis and Matriga, or Materia^ rouft be (ought for on the fhores of (he Straiis. The (irfl name appertains to a village or iflami, \vhich lies oppofiie to (he Straits, and is ai this prefent time called Ta- wtnda. At the mouth of one of the branches of the river Kuban is the town of Temruci, which was formerly called by the Ruflians Tmuttak- ban^ an.i by the Greeks, Tamatarcba; that is Va-wrt/frca, ox Afaten/iy and Matriia. Some Kuflian Piinces even had their refidenccs in Ttnw trakhan'-, Prince Mjlijlaf, for inltance the Ion of fVladimir the Gre the Tartars, and the Suevi (or Suani) and the Iberians* The whole country, from the mouth of the Tanais as far as the Danube. weftward, all is fubjeft to the Tartars, and even beyond the Danube cowards Conftantinople. The whole of Walachiay which is the country belonging to j([fan *, and the whole of Bulgaria^ quite to Solinia, (or Solonoma**,) pay them tribute. Along thefe ftiores, between Karfona, Soldeya^ and the mouth of the Don ia fai.'^, as Ruyjbroeck calls it, the greaieft river in Euiope. f The Cergis^ or Kergis, are the fame as the Tfcherktefchians^ or Cir- taffiaiii, X The Alanians are called by Ruyftroeck Akaf, prol>ably from 0:UgaJ (Atlgai^ AJkat and Akas.) But it is the -Tjchfrk^fcbians v/ho call thcm- tflves AJigat, and not the A'anians. I find in the manulcript lemarks of »he late profelTbr Tbunman oa Bergcron''s coW^Siwa cf travels, which are ■ • ; ■ to DISCOVERIES IN THi NORTH. 99 ans and make war upon the Tartars. Towards the jgreat Tea, viz. the Cafpian, are fome Mahometans called Lefghif who are tributary to the Tartars. Be- yond thele is the iron gate, (Derbend*,) built by Alexander the Great, to hinder the irruption of the Barbarians into JPerfia. Having travelled for feven days to the caftwards from the Don^ they came at length to the camp of Sartach the Ton of Batu^ and having had an audi- ence of him, they went to the Wolga, three days journey, and in boats five days Journey, down to the camp of BatU'Khan, on the Eaft fide of the river. They had an audience of him alfo; and foon after, having followed his camp for fome time, they went with a ^/«a/(Mogol) of diftin^tion to the eaflward, through the land of the Cangla, who are defcendants of the ancient Romani (Komani), being previoufly provided with pelifles and boots of felt. Having travelled for the fpacc of twelve days from the Wolga eaftwards, they came to the river yagag (Jaik-t or Aral)-, which runs from the North out of the land of the Pafcatir ** into the fea above-men- tioned. The language of the Pafcatirs is the fame as that of the Hungarians. To the weftward of them CO be round in the libriry of the Univerfity %\. Halle, that againft the word Alat he has written in the margin Adiga ; but this vas reverted by the mark made by profeffor Guldenjiadt, in BuJcHng^i IVetkiy Intel- Itt^eneer for the year 1773* according to which the Tfcheriafcbians all themfelvet Adiga. But the Alanians^ next neighbours in the monntains are the Diketiy or Adikcti, whrnce Adktti, Adkefi, and finally, Aias. And as the Ruflun princec in Tmutrakan had a Lordfhip in this neighbour* hood, it is very poflible that they may have cor.veried fome of the nati- «n» (iwelltng in the Caucafus to the Chridian religion, of which indeed ihr Kullians have lately difcovered many traces. * Ot this pafs and of the ancient wall, which rnns from Derbent to the wedward, Bayer treats in hia Dlfliertatton De Murt Caucajeo^ in the Commentar. Petiopolii. torn, i, pag.4ie, to 436. *♦ Pafcatir is alio written Bafckart^ or Bafcart. This country wss the feat of the ancient Hungarianrj or Madfchars {Magyar). The B is often u fed for My and viceverfa; fo that Bafckart and Madjihart feem to be abfoiuteiy the fame. The KuiHaat call the people that inha^ fticthisiincient i3fl/fif'tfr/, Bafehiirs^ W ? is 100 VOYAGES AND 1% Bulgaria^ but their country has neither towns nor villages of which none are to be met with fron» thence- forward, neither to the Eaft, nor to the North ; fo that the LeJJer Bulgaria is the laft coun- ity in which there are any. From this land of Pafcatir^ {Bafcharty or Bafcart)y came by the Jium^ who are now called Hungarians, and confequently this is Great Bulgaria. It is reported of the Hum^ that they penetrated through the Pafs of Alexander in the Caucafus, and mounted on their fwift horfes, laid wade every country as far as Egypt, and on the other fide as far as France. They were ftill more powerful than the Modern Tartars (or Mogols), and were oppofed by t\\& Blacs {IVlachs), Bulgarians^ and Vandals. For thefc Bulgarians 'came from Qreat Bulgaria, and thofc beyond the Danube near Con- ftantinople, as well as thofc near the Pafcatir, arc the JlatSi which is the fame as Blacs ; for the Tar-r tars cannot pronounce the B. Now from thefe are defcended thofe who are in the country of JJ/an, For they are both called Ilac [both thcfe and the other) in the language of the Ruffians, Poles, an4 Bohemians. The language of the Sclavonians is the fame with that of the Vandals. All the Sclavoni- ans were connefled with the Huns, and now they are alfo united with the Tartars. What I, viz, Ruyjhroeck^ have related of the land of Pafcatir^ I have learned from the monks Predicant, who went thither before ever the Tartars came abroad ; and from that time they were fubjugated by the neighbouring Mahometan Bulgarians, and many of them became Mahometans*. Having travelled on to the eaftward from • Tlii^ Important pafTage feettis not to nave been perfeflly well con\- prchended by many people, nor made all the advantages of which it i^ capable of aiYoiding. As well the ancient .'nd piimitive Bulgarians^ as al!b the Bofchnrtiaus, or Madfchars^ I'eem to be either a nation which is delccndiall rnly add, that probably in Ceimany and France, th« cultom of cadiating horfes was fiift learned fmm thefe eaftcrn nation*; for in French, a callrated horle or gelding is called un hengn, probably frpm the Hungarians ; the German name for it ii, ff'alhch, taktn, a if (houjd fetm, from thofe fi'aU/.iant ; and ev^n in th« Po!i(h langua^p * gelding is called a fP'tsltah. met 102 V OYAGES AND i I met with wild alTes, called Kolan ♦, which refemblcJ mules. At the end of fcvcn days, they faw fome very high mountains at a diflance. Here they came into a plain which was well watered, and found the land cultivated. And foon after this they arrived at a town called Kenkat, The guides could not even tell Ruyf- broeck the name of the country. It was watered by a large river proceeding from the mountains : this river, however, did not difcharge itfelf into any fea, but lofl itfelf in the ground, and produced large marihes there. Here he faw vines growing, and pro- cured wine to drink. 1'he next day they came to another dwelling, nearer to that chain of mountains, which beyond the Cafpian Sea, forms the Caucafus, and runs on to the eaftward of it. He found here, that they had entirely pafTed by the Cafpian Sea. Here too, Ruyjbroeck enquired after a town called Ta/asy in which lived fome Germans, fubjedls of B.^ryy according to what he had heard from Friar An- drew. But he obtained no information concerning them till he arrived at the court of Mfinghu-Khan j, and all he learned there was, that the tov» n calle 1 Tal<>^ lay about fix days journey farther in the mountair:'. At the court of Manghu-Khan he was told, that the Khariy with the confent of Batu^ had placed thefe. people at the diflance of more than a month's journe/ to the Eafl, where they wrought in the gold mines, and forged arms ; fo that he could not get to fee them. , It is true, in his road, he had got fo near, as to be within three days journey of them, but he did not know it, nor, indeed, if he had, would he have « ventured to go fo far out of his road on this ac- count f. From this laft place, they went to the Eaftward • The wild afles in thefe parts are ftill called Kuhn ; this therefore is a confirmation of /f«);/J/-«fil's veracity. Farther particulars concern- ing theVe wild afles are to be found in the ad vol. of M. Palias's North' em Colle&iant^ [Nordifche Beitrage] page la, &c. •f* It is evident, that the author went through the whol« defart, frAm the fVelga lo the Jaik, or Ural, the Jenba^ and the nonh of Jake 44ral, as far as the boid«rt of Tiirketian. The town of Kinkat \% about DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 103 Eaftward along the mountains before-mentioned, and came to the fubjcdls of Manghu-Khan, who paid great honours to the ambafladors of BatUy for Bntus ipeople aflume more confcquence than the others, and •do not obey fo willingly. A few days after, they came into the mountains where the Kara-Kothaidns ♦ had formerly dwelled j here they met with a large river, which they were obliged to crofs in a (hip. They then dcfcended into a valley, in which they found the ruins of a caflle, though the walls of it were only of clay ; the country round about it was cultivatccf. Thence they came to a good town, call- ed Equiust the inhabitants fpoke the Pcrfian tongue\ and profcfled the Mahometan religion. The next day, having croifed the high hills which communi- cated with the great mountains to the fouthward, they arrived on a large and very beautiful plain, on the right of which was a ridge of high mountains^ and on the left a lake 15 days journey in circumfer- ence. This country is watered at pleafuro by the dreams coming from the mountains, which at lail JHow altogether into this lake. When they returned in the fummer, they went along the north fide of the lake, vvhere there were alfo very high mourttairts. In the above-mentioned plains there had formerly been many toWns^ but they had almoft all been demolifhed^ that the Tartars (i. e. Moguls) might graze, theif herds there j for about this fpot there are the fineft paAures for cattle* They found a large town called about the fpot where now Kafchknnat i« iltnit( d. The rivers Tfchui snd lalat, both of vhich are in that neighbourhood, lofe themlelret both in marrtiy lake*. The country thereabouts is fertile tnd pleai'ant , 4nd it is not unlikely that there was formerly o" the river Taldt a town of the fume name. In fa£l, there is to the callward, at this pret'ent time, the town called Bslak, or Hitn/ai^ or Baulak, though not at fo great diClance fronn thence as Ruyfbioectt had been informed it Was. Thefe parts alfo protluce good wines. • The weftern Khitans conquered the countries round Turfan and Kaffhkar, frbhi the Ob and Irtijch to the Amudaria (Oxut Gihon, Dlaihun) : znd Si rJtri a (Jaxarut^ Sirt, Sihon) and the country wa;. called KhitAr^ after the conquerors of it; the Khitdians, and, becaufe the inhabitants were obliged to pay tribute to the Khitaiant^ Kara- Khitai i in the eafl, all fmall, iniigniiicant nations that pay tribute, be* inp called /Cirfl, O'- black; while the free nations, on the contrary* aie tfsllcd vhich the owners of the beafis are obliged to faw 6fF*# After the Tangutians come the people of Tebet, v^o ufed to eat thieir dead parents ; but they have left off this cuftom, on account of their being held in univerial deteftation for itj neverthelefs^ they ftill make large drinking veffels of the IkuUs of their parents. There is much gold in this country. Thcfe people arc very ugly^; but the Jugurs are of a middle fize like us. The language ot the Jugurs is the root and fource of the Turkiih and Komanian languages. Behind Tehet are the people of Langa and Solanga *♦, whofe ambaf-* iadors Kuy{broeck faw at court, each of whom had brought along with him more th'n ten waggons drawn by fix oxen. Behind thefe, are the people -called Mucj Avho dwell in towns, and whofe cattle are h tame, that riiey come entirely of their own accord when called, and allow themfelves to be handled at pleafurc, though they ri'n about wild. Then comes Great Kathaya^ the inhabitants of which, according to Ruyjbroeck^ are the Ser^s of old, for from this country come the beft filken fluffs, (Serica). The Seres zre {o called, from a town in that region, and in this country is a town which has walls of filver and ramparts or towers * The Buffalo, here defcribed ty Ruyfbroeck, is the Colmack Buf- falo, which ui'ed to be called Sarluci^ and, in the language of Tiiet^ Jak. Since /ielian^s lime, no one of the ancients, befiues Ruyfl>roeck, has given a defcription cf thcfe Buifaloei with long-haired coats and thick tails, which latter are ufed in the Indies as Ry-flaps. Aftervrard* thefe animals were feen by Marco Poloy and now lately by BagUy an EnglifluTian, in this very country of Tibet. Vid. Philojophital ttn^ 1777, Part ii. vcl. 67, pmg, 484. Finally, the beft account we iia\» of tliem, has been given by Pallas^ in hiii Nonhern GvileBiens^ vol. i. pag. I. to z8> plate i. ** The Country and people of Tangut are by fome authors, particu- larly the Arabians and Perfians, miOaken for Tihet the feat of Dalai Lama ; but Marco Polo fays, th.it Sachictt, or Soijcheu^ is fituated in Taguth, or Tengutb ; in like manner, Kkamil, or Khami, belonged alf<» to Tanguth ; and fo did Kampitton^ or Kf-anlJ'cheu. it appears proba- ble, therefore, that the Tanguth of Ruyibroeck is the lame with this. The land oiTtbtt is duubtleis the modern T/ir/, or, as it ftiould in ftiitit f>ropriety be called, Bulau. But of the countries of Langa and ScIaagA. ying beyond Tebety i have not the fmalleft knowledge, but am apt t<» think that in RuyfbroeckU original manufcript the words were n»)i ♦' beyond Ti-Af/," but " bcycnd Tanttut i" and in this cafe the coun- tries here meniioned muO be tliofe of the Lamulti^ and Solemamt, the parent (locks of the p«o[))e now known by the name of the Manijl/.m, • 0r Mmndfihuriant. Qi toS VOYAGES AN» of gold ♦. And many provinces of Great Katbay arc not as yet brought into fubjedlion by the Mogols. Between the great fea and them lies India. The Ka- thayans are of a low ftature, and (peak through the nofe, and, like all the eaftern nations, have fmall eyesi They perform works of great art and ingenuity, and have ikilful phyficians, who judge of difeafes by the pulfe. Ruyftroeck faw many of them at Karakarum* Each father teaches his fon his own trade. The Neftorians ahd Mahometans are alfo in Kathay, and are looked upon as foreigners, come Arorn foreign parts. The . Neftorians inhabit fifteen towns of the country of Kathay. Their Bifhop refides in the city of Segin **. Here Ruyjbroeck takes an opportunity of • The fuppofition that the Katlayans^ or Inhabitants of north China, •re the fame with the Seres of the ancients. Teems to be without foun« tfetion. The Seres lived in '^turkeftan^ Celt, and Uigur. They were the people, who at that time ruled over a great tra£l of Afia, and pro- bably hud alio extended their dominion over the northern part of China. The nation that bore the fway had always the denomination of Golden given to it. Hence the golden horde of the Moguls on the Wolga :, and hence the powerful Prince to whom the Moguls were fub- jcft, even befoic Zinghis Khan, was called jiltyn Khan^ cr the Golderi Khan. Hence, tooj the Chinefe call themlelves Kiny i. e. the Goldca or Sovereign Nation. In the language of Tibet, Scr means gold. Vid. ^nt. Geer^ti Jl^iatet. Tibet. Roma, fjfiz. pag. 654. And hence per- haps Set kind was called the Golden India. The Seres were confe- quently at that time the ibvereign, dominating, or golden reople. Their capital bore the fame name, according to Ruyfbrocck ; p.-bably this ^flW^B town is that part oi Peking which is called Tjekitty and contains the palace of the Emperor; and, as fabulous a found as thefe wall* of filver and ramparts of gold may earry with them, it ib nevcr- rhelefs evident enough, that it is the appellation of A'/'n, or the Golden- Town, which hus given rife to thefe exaggerated repot ts of the fable. Non ejl de nihiliy qu:d puhlica fatna fufutfatj £1 fertcm vtri fabula Jtmper hahtt. •♦ This town of Segin is undoubtedly Sigaw, the capital of SdenJ^^^ n province in the nonh-caftctn part of Chin*. Here, in the year i6i5, % ftone was found with Chinele writing on it, but with S)rlan Uticr.i round the «dge, which mentioned, in txprei's terms, that the Syrian INedorians had already, in the year 636, fent Olopuen to China, to pi each the gofpel ihere \ that the Emperor, Tai-J'um-ven, had approved of this fiep, and had ilTued an edIO, ordering that it (hould be preached all over China } that in the royal town of liiitifati, a church had been built ; that A. D. 651. th« Cbii/Uaa religion AiKas known in all the provinces of China J-" DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH, fo^ of relating miiny things concerning the Neftonaii piiefts, their bigamy, ignorance, avarice, fimony, drunkennefs, &c. i'o that the morals and condudl of the Moguls and Tuinians*, though they are idolaters, ajc far more regular and exemplary than ihofe found amongft thefe Chriftians, Having quitted the town of Kailac^ they came the third day after to the great fea or lake, which jippeared to be as boifterous as the ocean itfelf j in the middle of it was a large ifland. The water was rather brackifli, though potable. On the other fide, between high mountains, was a large valley^ and to the South-eaft another great lake or • fea, connected with the firft by ^ fiver **. The win^ all the time was very violent, infomuch that they were in danger of being blown into the fea. At the farther end of the yaV; there are feen, to the north- ward, mountains ^uite covered with fnow. Hav« jng gone through thefe mountains, and through a dreadful pafs, betw.3en rocks, they at lall canie (o the country of the Naymans, who had formerly been fubje£t to Prefter John. They continued their fo«te ta •Thina ; th^t in 6$^ and 713 the Bonz.es had ra!i\ of the wh/lc Chrillian dcf^rine The ]n that erected thii> tlone Dyles himfclf a Choir-Bur inouein literati, . * The Oriental Chriltians give to Mani, or Mnnet^ ihe name oiTht' naoui^ and to his feci that oi ytl-Thena-jUih, "'hich word flgnifies the doc- tii'ic of the two Piincijilcs. Vid. H:rbeln. Biblhtheque Orientule. The 'Tuinians of Ruyfbrocck are therefore no oth^r than Mamchsani. ** The above-mentioned fecund fea, or lake, fituattd to the fouth- eift of the lake PaUaJi, or BaUhaJih^ is likewife to be found in-tlin Kieat ginival niaiiofthc Kuilian empire, pub!i(l»cd by the AcaJcmy oK Sciences in 1776; together with another lake; of ihtfe, the ftcond am', (bird lakes are joined to ea^h other by rneane of a river, »nd it is pm likle that the fecond and H:[f alfo, agreeably to what Kuy/bfytck biIm« abjyc, may be united in the fame manqer. '110 " J V O Y A G E S Aiftt the North, and after travelling fome time, entered 4 large plain, which at a diilance looked lilce a fea, for there were neither hills nor mountains to be feen, and the next day they came to the court of the great Khan *. But the trad^ of country which they had now palled over in five days, would, had they been guided by their landlord, have taken them up a whole fortnight, for he had propofed to take them round about by Onam and Cherule **, the firft diftrids in the poffeflion of Zinghis-Khan \ but their conduc- tor prevented this fcheme being put ifi execution. Manghu Khan, followed by his camp, went twice to the fouthward, and afterwards began to turn back again to the northward, that is to fay, to Karako' rum* From this f:rfl; camp of the Khan, to Kathay^ it is about twenty days journey to the fouth-weft, and frorn thence directly Eafl^, is the real country of the Mog;i!3, where (at the diftance of about ten days journey) Zingis Khan's court-camp, or head- quarters, ufed to be, viz. in O^i^nand Cherule, or on the banks of the Onon and Cher Ion. In thefe countries there are no towns. Towards the North too, there are neither towns nor villages, but only poor fliepherds called Kerkis (or Kirgifes). There are alfo the Orangey or Orengay, who wear fmall fmooth bones on their feet, on which they run with fuch fwiftnefs over the ice and fnow, that they can even overtake the game; they are in purfuit of. There are in the North yet more nations, who are poor and of Ao account, an4 who live in ancient Hungary, as far as to the Paf" tatirs, ** The refiiencc of the Great Klun was not far from Karakarum^ and M Danville places it on the river On^hin. But we have already •bfcrvtd, thai A'j;<»/^jr«m muft be looked for on the eall fide of the iiver Orevcn, at ihe entraiKe o?' 3 l.ngj plain, which at prtfent feparates the R\uT)an icrriinrje? from iWe of tlie Chinefe within the great wall, (In the hanks of the Oichcn are the ruins of a place called ErJeni-tfckao, Thrs fignifics the icble i^ix^, and proLabiy the word Balga^ or Ba/guJ/nn^ is for brevity's lake oiuiiiid. This tcWM ef the ntble Ktn» is Ka- ratorum. *•* TheHe countries of Onam and Chfrulr, are the counties lying «i<>ng ft 'e of the rivers OniH and Kkcrhn, where Zinghii Khan was born, jutci which were the firil ever T.hich ht bort the fovercign fway. Ruyfbrocck DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. «r Ruylbrocck having now had fcvcral audiences of the Emperor, and having been there for many months, was at laft difmiired v^ith handfome prefents. He wait two months and fix days travelling from Karahrum to the Wolga, where hentetvirith Batu\ with him he travelled about for the fpace of a month. At lail, in the middle of Odlober, they began to go to the fouth- ward along the Wolga to Sarey j here the Wolga di- vides into three difFerent branches, each of which is twice as wide as the river Nile is near Damiatt. Lower down, the river divides into four other fmailer branches. On the banks of the middle one, is the tov/n of Sum/rient*y which has no walls, and when- ever the river overflows, is entirely furroundcd with water like an ifland. The Tartars had befieged this place, which is inhabited by Alanians and Ma- hometans, for eight years, before they could take it. The Tartars never went farther to the fouthward than. this place in winter. In thefc parts there is pailure, herbage, and cattle in abundance, and a great quantity of reeds, in which the Tartars hide thcmfelves in winter till the ice thaws again. After this Ruyfbroeck travelled through the above- mentioned uncultivated defart, in which fometimes there was no water to be met with till he came to the mountains inhabited by the Alanians, who make head againft the Tartars. It is on this account that the Tartars are obliged to fend every tenth man hither, under the con)mand oi Sartag^ in order to check the de- predations of thefe people. At the end of the plain' which lies between the Moguls and thefe Alanians, is the pafs called the Iron-Gate. This part of the * The town of Sarey iVfms to hive been built not Tar from the mode 'n Ziritz.in, on the eaftern brar.ch of the Wolga, or the Achtuha^ it no great dlftance from Zarfwfcd, where many traces arc ftill to be met with of the former exirtence of a lirge town But the t')\vn oi Sumcrkeni h *. place entirely unknown. Neverthelefs it fecms as if the fpoi v^hcre ths town had been, and where tht Woiga beg'ns to divide info feveral branches, was not far from /^flrachan (which lormerly tvab called Uaiilchi Anlur Khan); for there are alfo on both fiiles. of the Wolga ruins ot fome towns exiting, which ruins have been chiefly ufed for the purpofe of mak- ing raitp;t:e. country tis VOYAGjES Ati9 country is inhabited hy Mahometan*, <:allcd tej^hu who alfo defend themfelves againft the Tartars. The Tartars, who efcorted Ruylbroeck, wore breaft-pUtes and curiafTcs, which they had taken from the Ala-* nians in war*; thefe people excelling greatly in all kinds of iron-work. Near the Iron-gate is a fortifi- cation taken from thefe Alanians : here they already found vines, and got wine to drink. The next day they reached Derbend^ or the Iron Gate. The town occupies the whole plain lying between the Cafpian fea and the high mountains. Its length from the mountains to the fea is half an hour's, walk, but the breadth only about a ftone's throw. At the higheft part of ii there is a ftrong caftle. After two days jour- ney, they met with another town called Samaron (Scbabran^ Schabiran) in which lived a great number of Jews. Two days after this they came to Samacb (SchatMkie), Here a level champain opened to their view, called Moan (or Mahan^ and at prefent Mok" ian). Through this runs the river Kur^ whence the Kurgtans (or Georgians) whofe capital is Ttphlis, take their name. -In this fame campaign runs likewife the river Araxesy whic|i, coming out of Armenia Major, takes its courfe to the fouth-weilward, in this beauti-> fUl plain, to the weftward of which lies Georgia^ lived formerly the Krofmiam^ or Korajtnians \ (thefe arc the anceilorsof the prefent Turks, who laid the foun- dation of the 0/whis children, and grand-children, and ordered them to be taken down in writing. 3. The Monk Haitho knew from his own proper experience all that had happened in Afia (ince the reign of Ahaka Khan, {ox rather Abaga Khan) from the year 1265 to 1283, and might juftly have faid, quorum pars magna fui. Haitho's Oriental Hiftory contains, befides the hif-* torical part, a geographical one likewife, of which I fhall briefly mention thofe particulars only which re- late to the northern parts of Afia. The Empire of Kathay is one of the moft exten- five, opulent, and populous empires of the univcrfe j it is entirely fituated along the fea coaft. The inhabi- tants believe themfelves to be the only people on earth tliat have two eyes i to the Latins thev allow one, and 1 ' to 114 VOYAGES AND to all other nations none at all ; they have fmall eyes and no beards. Their money confifts of fquare pieces of paper, ftamped with the king's feal. To the Weft this Empire is bounded by the Empire of TarftSy to the North by the defart of Belgian^ and to the South are innumerable iflands in the fea. They are flcilled in works of ingenuity and art, but are very timorous. From thefe traits one immediately recognizes the Em** pire of China. The Empire of Tarfa has three provinces, the fo- vereign rulers of which call themfelves kings } the in- habitants are called Jogur, (J^g^^'i Uigur), Ten tribes of them are Chriftians, the reft are Heathens. They abftain from meat and wine, and eat nothing that has ever had life in it. They raife a great quantity of corn, but no wine. Their towns are very pleafant, and contain a great number of temples in which idols are worftiipped. They are not inclined to war, have their own peculiar manner of writing, which, indeed, is adopted by all the neighbouring nations, and they learn all arts and fciences with great facility. To the Eaft this Empire is bounded by Kathayy to the Weft by Turkejian^ to the North by a certain defart, and to the South by a very rich province fituated be- tween India znd Kathayt called Sym (or rather Peim)^ and in which diamonds are to be found. — By what is here faid, it appears that Haitho is defcribing in this place the country of Uigur ^ in conjundtion with that of Gete \ but how it comes to be called Tarfts, I really do not know. The Empire of Turkejian is bounded on the Eaft by the Empire of Tarfa,, and to the Weft by Khoraf- min ; to the South it extends as far as to the defart which lies juft in the front of India. There are but few good towns in it ; the large plains afford good pafturage for the cattle, confequently the inhabitants are almoft all of them graziers and fhepherds, and their dwelling is in tents and huts which are capable of being tranlported at pleafure. Their capital is Ocerra (or Otrar), The inhabitants raife but a fmall quantity of corn. DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 115 torUf and no wine ; their drink is beer and milk, and their food rice, millet, and meat. They are known by the name of Turks, are of the Mahometan re- ligion, and fuch of them as live in the towns, make u^ of the Arabian letters. The Empire of Khorafmin (or Khuarejm) is popu- lous, fertile, and pleafant j in it they raife a great quan- tity of corn, but little wine j it contains many good and ftrong towns j the capital of it is Korafma (or ra- ther Korkang), This Empire borders on a defart of a hundrisd days journey in extent ; to the W^ft is the Cafpian fea ; to the North the Empire of Ku/nania ; to the South (here we fhould read Eaft), the Empire of Turkejian* The inhabitants are Heathens without either letters or laws. The Soldinians (or Sogdidns) are the moft intrepid of warrriors, have a peculiar language of their own, ufe the Greek characters in writing, fol- low the ufages and rites of the Greek Church, and arc fubjcdl to the Patriarch of Antioch; The capital of the empire of Khuarefm, is, ac- cording to the Prince Ulug Beg, the city of Korkangy neither has any author ever mentioned a place called Khorafme* Haitho having faid before, that Turke/ian was bounded on the welt by Khorafmia, it is clear, that here we muft read eaji inftead oi fouth. The Soldini, mentioned above, who were Chriftians of the Greek Church, are entirely unknown. The empire of Kumania is undoubtedly of vaft extent, but, on account of the inclemency of the climate, thinly inhabited. In winter the cold is fo intenfe in fome parts, that neither man nor Dealt can remain there ; and in others, the "^ extreme heats and fwarms of flies in fummer are equally infupportable. Kumania is quite level and flat, and without any wood, except fome orchards near the 1 >wns. The inhabitants live in tents, and their fuel is the dung of their cattle. It is bounded on the eaft: towards Korafm'ia by a de- fart ; to the weft is the great fea, viz. the Black Sea, and the fea of Tcnue {Tanna, or Jzof) ; to the north, jt is bounded by tJK empire of Knjf:a (Kiozv) ; I 2 and )i6 VOYAGES Avo If ii and to the fouth it extends to a large river callei^ £tilt (i. e. the jyolga) which partes by the capita! Thi» river is frozen over every year, and men and beafls walk on it as on dry land ; along the banks of this river there are fmall trees ; on the other fide of the river there are people, who, though they are not Kumanians* yet are *fubje(Sl to the Khan. Some live alfo towards the high mountains Cocas (i.e. Cau- cafus). In the mountains are white kites. This range of mountains runs between the two feas ; to the weft is the great (i. e. the Black) Sea } and to the eaft, the Cafpiah Sea, which has no connection with the ocean^ but is like a lake, though it is called a fea on account of its fize, it being the largeft lake in the univerfe. It divides Afia into two parts ; that part towards the eaft is called Lower Afia^ and the weftera part, Qreai Afia: this lake contains a great quantity of good fifh. In the Cafpian mountains there are found buffiJoes, and many other wild beads. In this Tea- there are alfo many iflands on which the birds build their nefts, and particularly the falcon, commonly known by the name of Pegrim (Faucon Peierhi, the Pilgrim-Falcon) and Efmetliones (or EfmerUoneSy Merlins) and Bonfacci (or the Bondree and Sacre^ the Honey Buzzard, and the Sacre) and many other birds not to be found in any other part of the world. The largeft town of the empire of Cumania, is Sara (or Saray). This town was large and of great renown; but it has been ravaged and almoft entirely deftroyed by the Tartars, who took it by ftorm» It is obvious y that Haitho defcribes here that part of the empire of the Moguls, which was fubje6t to Batu Khan, The Black-Sea he calls the Great Sea, becaufe it is connected with the Mediterranean and the ocean ; and the lea de Tenue, is the fea oiTanna^ or of Azof^ for fo the town at the end of the Don was called at diiterent times. The empire of Kaffia cannot well be fuppofed to be any other place than Kiow^ or Kiavioi the capital of the Ruffian empire and refidencc of the Grand Duke. The DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 117 The reading, too, which we have propofcd with re- fpedl to the names of the birds, is probably the bcft. As worthy of notice as arc the particulars above- mentioned, which are the contents of the firft five Chapters, the fixtcenth Chapter is no leis I'oy on ac- count of fome geographical information it contains refpeiSling the ancient feats of the Tartars (i. e. the Moguls). Beyond the large mountain of Belgian, or Bilkhatiy the Tartars lived at firft, without religion and with- out the ufe of letters. Their chief occupation con- fided in tending their flocks ; and fo far were they from being of a warlike difpofition, that they readily paid tribute to any one that demanded it. All the tribes of the Tartar race were known by the name of Mogies. They increafed to that degree, as to com- pofe feven capital independent nations. The firft was called Tatar, after a province of the fame name, in which they at firft had lived ; the fecond was called Tangot (i. e. Tangut); the third, Kuntit \ the fourth, Jalair (or Tholair) ; the fifth, Sonich ; the fixth, Monghii and .he feventh, Tabeth. The Chiefs of thefe nations, prorppted by a vifion, and by a com« mand from God, had chofen Changie (i. e. Zinghis) for their fovereign Lord and Ruler. After this we are told, how he came through the mountains, when the fea withdrew nine feet, and made a way for him where there was none before. This feems to be the fame hiftory with that of Irgone Kon, which is alfo related by Abulgaji, The mountain Belgian, can hardly be looked for anywhere elfe than in the environs of lake Balchas in the country of Organum, or Irganekon, According to the Nighiarijian, a colleftion of Orien- tal Hiftory, the Turkotnanni likewife came from a place called Belgian, or Bilihan. VI. Marco Polo, a noble Venetian, whofe father, Nicolo Polo, had before been in the eaft with his bro- ther Mattheo Polo, on commercial affairs, in 1260, and had returned with him in 1269, was by his fa- ther taken alpng with them on this voyage A. D. 1271, when he was but 11 years old. Marco learned iJt the court of Kublai Khan to fpeak and write four languages nS VOYAGES AND languages wh'ch were in ufe in the country; and the Emperor made ufe of him in weighty matters, and on embaiTies in which it took htm up a journey of fix months to reach the place of his deftination. He wa$ in the fery'ice of the Emperor 17 years, and at laft, V/ith his father at.d uncle, returned in the year 12959 fafe to Yenice. It is prefumed he wrote his remarks in Latin, and in prifrn, as on his return he was taken prifor T by the Genuefe, who were at that time at war v/ith the Venetians. He was a man of grea( fenfc, probity, and piety, whofe domeftics unani- moufly gave him a good character, and confcquently his narrative is every way deferving of our confidence. His father, Nicolo^ who was the honefteft man in the whole country, conftantly certified the truth of the narrative contained in his fon's book ; and his uncle MauheOy who was a piou? as well as very wife man, fiven on his death-bed told his Confeflbr, that thefe ireiations were true in every refpeft. A Monk tran- (lated his book into the Italian language, and from the Italian it was again tranflated by another JVIonk into Latin. Thefe multiplied tranflations are the raufe of the names of the countries and towns appear- ing fo much disfigured as they do. |t is therefore to be wifted, that fome man of great erudition would compare thefe various tranflations with the manu- fcript to be found in the library of Wolfenbuttcl, and publifh a new and correct edition of this ufcful book, which is of the greateft importance with refpedt to the geography of the middle ages. This book has moreover been tranflated into a great many modern languages, e, g. into German, French, Dutch, and Portuguefe *. We fhall extradl from it fome very ihort obfervations only relative to tac north. A. D. 1260, the two brothers having embarki:d at Venice, with a cargo confiding of a great many va- luable articles of commerce, went by the way of the • There was llkewife a trandation publidird in Tnglini, in 1579, un- der the title oif The moji nabte and famous Travels cj Aiunus ia-im, |/>ndon, 6vo. Mcdi- DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 1x9 Mediterranean, and To through the Dardanelles to Conftantinople. After a ftay of a few days, they failed acrofs the great fea. Mar Magghre (i. e. the Black-Sea) to a harbour called Soldadia (or Sudak), From whence they went by land to the refidence of a great Tartarian Lord, named Barcha (properly Bereke Kban, who reigned from 1256 to 1266) who lived in the towns of Bolgara and AJfara*, He received them very kindly, and they made him confiderable prefents in jewels, for which he made them returns by other prefents of double the value. Having re- mained there for the fpace of a year, they were de- firous of returning to Venice ; but a war breaking out fuddenly between Alau {Holaghu^ probably the Iranian, or Perfian Khan, Holaghu Khan, to whom the whole of Perfia belonged quite to Syria) and Barcha i the armies approached each other, and the battle turned out in favour of Holaghu, The roads were now unfafe j fo that they could not return by the fame road as they came, and they were advifed to travel by a large circuit round about the Empire of Berekekhan ; following this counfel they came to a town called Ukakah (alias Guthakha, Grikhata, Khor' iangy Urghen%)y and a little farther on they crofled the Tigris (or Gihon), one of the four rivers of Pa- radife j after this they travelled for the fpace of fcven- teen days in a defart, in which they faw neither town, caftle, nor village, but only a few Tartars living in huts. Having left the defart, they came to a very good town called Bokhara (Bochara), in the province of Bokhara in Perfia, the fovereign of which was called Barach j (Berrak Khan). Here they ftayed for three whole years, being unable to advance any far- ther on account of the great war that fubfifted be- tween the Tartars. At this time there came from * Bolgara is without doubt Bolgari^ ihe capital of Bulgaria, t Jown, which according to monuments (li II extant, a£lu.illy exillcd from 1161 to 1578, and was inhabited; io that it is very poflible, th»t Bereif Kban may have fometimes refided there. But ^JJsra is the town of Al-Stray^ which was ne\v buHt by Baatn Khan oq the /Idulia^ a bianch of the Holaghu 120 VOYAGES AND Holaghu to Bokhara f a man of great talents and un<« derftanding, who was going as ambaflador to the great Kublai-Khan* Meeting with thefe brothers, who had now become well acquainted with the Tartarian tongue, and having converfed with them for many days, he; perfuaded them to take a trip with him to the great king of Tartary, and promifed them great honors and advantages. They, on their parts, being perfeftly aware that it was impoffible for them to re- turn home without imminent danger, went along with the anibafTador, together with a number of Chriftian fervants which they had brought with them from Ve- nice, ftiaping their qourfe at hrft towards the N'^rth- eaft. it being winter, they were a whole year on the road, and they were often obliged to wait on account of the fnow, or of the waters having overflowed the roads, till the fnow was melted, and the waters had retired. At length they arrived at the refidence of the great Khan Kullai, who gave orders for them to be brought before him, received them very gracioufly, and treated them with great di{lin6tion i he alfo in- terrogated them much concerning the Roman Em- peror, the K'ngs and Princes of Europe, their differ- ent governments, their military force, their jurifpru- dence, the manners and cuftoms of the different na- tions, their religion, and finally, concerning the Pope ; to all which queries they made proper and fuitable replies. After fome time, Kublai- Khan czWed them before him, and told them, tjiat he would fend ihem as ambaffadors to the Pope at Rome, with let- ters to defire his holinefs to let him have ipo wife and judicious men,, well (killed in the Chriftian doftrinc. He ordered a man of diftinflion, named Chogatal (Gcgaka^ Gcgataly Cogatal) to accompany them, and gave them thefe letters, as alfo a golden table, on which the imperial feal was engraved, and in virtu? of which, the bearer or bearers thereof are intitled (free of all expence) to relay horfes, provifions, con- voy, and any thing elfe they may defire or Ihnd ir^ need of. " ' Having DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. iii Having travelled on for the fpace of twenty days, the zmbzttkdot Chogatal fell fickj they therefore left him behind, and went on without him. Their gold- en table procured them every where the beft reception. The fnow, the ice, and the overflowing rivers, re- tarded them, fo as to occafion them to be three whole years on this journey : at length they arrived in an Armenian harbour, called la Giazza ^otherwife Glaza^ Galza, and more properly ftill, al yJjqjfa), and went immediately to Jcre {or jfncona, properly Mko), where they were informed of the death of Pope Clement IV, by the Pope's 'Legate, Theobald Vifcount of Flacenzia, Upon this they took (hipping, audi going by the way of Negroponte, arrived at Venice among their rela- tions anu filciids, where they refolved to ftay till the election of a new Pope. Here Nicole Polo found, that his wife, whom he had left big with child, was dead ; but Marco, the fon he had by her, was alive, and nine years old *. Having waited for the election of a {*ope * The dates in Andrew Mullcr's edition are ralfe throughout; thofe however in the Italian tranflaiioo, piinicd in Ramujit'i CoUeiStion, are more accurate. They fei out A. D. iz6o, and Aayed one year with Berckt Kbany ii6i. Then they flayed three years in Bekbara, vii. till I Z64. One year they fpent on the road to Kublaihan, which brings it to 1 165. They were three years ip returning ; but then they Ipenc iome time with the Khan, (or the puipoi'e of con verting with him, and receiving their dif^afhes, for which we may reckon at leaft on? year. So that it amounts to four years in all, and conl'equently they did not re- turn till the year* 1169, and Marcoy the A n ot liiccloy could be but nine years old, though I^amHfio has made him 19, and 4II the others i§. But the chronology of the other Piinces and Kings mentioned in this ^ook do not allow us to adopt thefe dates of Ramufio and Andrew Mnl- ler. For firft, it is certain, that Kublai-Khan was Itill alive, though advanced in year , when they took their departuie: and they were on their way home, 'vhea they firtl received the news of his death. They wrre intormed of his deaih, on ihtir way home. Now Kublai Khan reigned fiom I2>;9 to 1294, and died al the age of 80 years, liui if A';c»/» and Mattheo had let out on their firft journey in 1150, they would have ariived there in 1155, before Kublai-Khan had afcendrd the throne; they muft therefore have let out on their firft journey in 1260, and have CDme back in 1169, foon after the death of Popt Clement ly. Faiiber, they mull have ftt out again in izyi, for at that time Pope Gregory A', vvas elefled, from whom ihty had letters to take to Kublai- Klian. Their fird journty happened at the time thai liaidwin 11. who jeigned from iZ34 to ii6i, was Hill Emperor of Byzantium. The Khan ti KhiptiLh^ik wa!> Beiekc, who reigned fioin I2j6 to n6t, lo thnt ^hiy ii 12S VOYAGES Av» pope two years in vain, they fet out with young Marco Polo., who was now i '' years of age, for Jcre» The Legate gave them letters for Kublai Khan, and they fet out for the harbour of Giazza. In the mean while news arrived from Italy, that this fame Legate had been eledled Pope, on which occadon he took the name of Gregory X. He immediately difpatched mef- fengers with letters to the King of Armenia, to give him notice of his e\e6kion, and to requeft, that in cafe the AmbafTador to the Khan had not yet left his territories, they ihould return. Thefe letters found the Pff//ftill in Armenia ; they returned '^erefore in a galley to Akko, where the Pope gave them his letters to the Khan, befides a great many prefents, and fenC along with them two learned Monks Predicant, viz. Friar Nicholas, of Vicenza, and Friar William, of 7r#- poli. Immediately upon this they returned by fea to ftl Ajajfa, and fet out on their journey from that place by land to Armenia. There tl'ey learned, that the Sultan of Babylon (in x^^gypt or of Kahirah CBibars) tl Bendokdari (or Benhokdare) had made an incurfion with a great army into Armenia, where he committed the moft cruel ravages. This news alarmed the two Monks to fuch a degree, that t^ ^y remained with the Grand-mafter of the Knights-Templars, and after^ wards likewife returned with him ; but the three Poli proceeded boldly through many dangers, and, by perfeverance and labour, got over every difficulty j To that at laft, in the fpace of three years and a half, they arrived at the Khan's, who, while they were flill at the diflance of 40 days journey from him^ fcnt to meet them, and took care that at every place they could not have commenced their travels for the firfl time before iii;6. Nay they coud m.t well have fet out on their journey before iZi^S, for, Holaglni, who was at war with Bereke i^iian, did not befin his rtign before ix$8, and he reigned till the year 126$. it is evident, therefore, that the fird time, they could not have lUid out above 1 1 yr arc, and confetiuentiy Marco, the fon of Nicolo, could not at the tim« of his faiher'» rtiurn be more than 11 years ©Id, nor left than 9} which^ letter conjerture is very prpbable. they DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. xij ihey came to, they fhould be provided with every thing neceffary, till at length they arrived fafe at his court. Kublai Khan received them with great kind-r nefs, and with many marks of diftindion, in the inidft of all his illuftrious Barons (Taifchisj Nojones^ and Saijans). They were afked concerning the health of the Fope; when they gave a circumrtantial ac- count to the Emperor of every objedl of his enquiry, ^s well as of what had befallen them in their jour- ney. The Khan then enquired, who Marco was ? and being informed, that he was the fon of Nicolo, he received him very gracioufly, and had him imme- diately regiftered among the moft diftinguilhed of his officers. In confequence of this, Marco was very much refpe6led l)y every one at Court, and not only .*ii a flhort time acquired the manners of the Tartars, but learned likewife four difFerent languages, each of which he was able to read and write. On this account the Khan, willing to make a trial of his ca- pacity for bufineis, difpatched him on an affair of importance relative to the empire, to a town called Karazan, the journey to which place took him up fix intire months. He executed the whole bufmefs with judgment and discretion, and perfedly to the fatis- fu6tion of the Khan ; and knowing, that the Khan was very fond of hearing of uncommon phenomena, Arap-'e occurrences, and other novelties, and that he was very defirpus of getting information refpcflin^ the manners and cudoms of the people, he made mi- nute enquiries every where after whatever was re- markable, and taking it down in writing, drew up an account of the whole, which he prefented to the Khan. By this means he got fo much into the Khan's good graces, that in the twenty fix years he ftaid with the Khan, the latter was continually fending him through all his kingdoms, and made vie of him as his ambaffador. Now it is princi- pally from this caufe, that this fame Marco faw and heard fo many new things relative to the Eaii, of ail S24 VOYAGES AND all which he has given a defcription in the books he" has written on this fubjedl. After the two brothers, Nicolo, and Mattheo, as alfo the young man Marco Polo, had lived many years at the court of the Khan, and had amailed great quantities of jewels and gold ; confldering that the Khan grew old, and that after his deceafe it might have become difficult for him to return home, Nicolo one day begged of the Khan to permit him and his family to fet out on their tra- vels homeward. At this, however, the Khan was very much hurt, and offered them additional riches and honors, but refufed their requeft. Juft at this time died Bolgana^ the confort of king Argon in the Eaft Indies ; who, on her death-bed, had defired Ar- gon, after her dcceaft, to chufe a wife from amongft her relations in Kathay, where the great Khan reign- ed. Accordingly, he fent three ambafTadors to Kublai Khan^ to whom the Khan granted Kogatin (Gogatin, Gogonyn), one of his near female relations ^ upon this the ambaifadors fet out with her, but returned after having been eight months on the road, the paf- fage all the way to the Eaft Indies bejn^ obftrudlied by a war which had juft broke out, In the mean time Marco Polo had been by fea to India, and had juft returned from his voyage. The ambafTadors be- ing now apprifed of the conveniency and fafcty of ^ pafTage by fea, by the perfuafions of the Polj, re- quefted of the Khan to fend them by fea to India, and to grant them the Poli, as being good and ex- perienced feamen, for their conductors, and to per-» mit thefe latter to return home, However unpleafing this requeft was to the Khan, he djd not, however, refufe j when, together v/ith the queen and the am- bafladors, they fet fail with I4 four-maft fhips, four or five of which Cfirried froui 250 to 260 perfons. After lofing a great many men, they pafl'ed by the liland of Java, and at length arrived m the coun- try of Argon. He, they found, was dead, but one Chiac/itq (Akata), governed in the name of young Knjan, the fon of Argon, a minor, to whom Chia- catQ DISCOVERIES lit the NORTH. 125 cato had alfo deflin^d the princefs Gogailn for a con- fort J he, however, was at that time with the army making a campaigii on the frontiers of Perfia. Chia- cato, by the recommendatien and at the defire of Kublai Khan, furnifhed the Poli with 200 horfes and money for their journey, and, after a tedious journey by land, they at length reached Trebifandt (i. e. Tre- bizond) from whence they proceeded by the way of ConJiantinopU and Negroponte to Venice, where they arrived fafe, A. D. 1205. On their way they learn- ed the death of Kublai Kharty and deemed themfelves very happy in getting to their native country, after having furmounted (o many difficulties, andf having been abfent from it in the eaft, for the fpace of 26 years (viz. from 1269 to 1295.) Marco Polo having dei'cribed the fouthern provinces belonging to Perfia, comes at length to the unknown northern regions, and fetting out from the country of the AJfajfmes in Dilem^ and from a town belonging to them called Mulete (or Alamut) not far from Kaf" vin, arrives at the town of S^purgan (Esferain) and immediately ^fter, at Balach (balkh) a city of great celebrity, though its marble palaces are now deftroy- ed by the Tartars. At two days iourney from thence to the eaft we find the caftle of 'Thakan (Thalkan) in the neighbourhood of which a great quantity of corn is grown. But to the fouth of it there are moun- tains of fait, which is fetched from them to the diftance of 30 days journey. The inhabitants, though Mahometans, make a common practice of drinking wine, which indeed they have perfectly mature, of a very full body, and excellent in its kind. As to other particulars, they are of an extremely mifchiev- ous and wicked difpofition ; they are, however, good huntfmen, and their cloaths are made of the fkins of the beafts which they kill. At the diftance of three days journey farther on, is the lo^n o{ Scajfem (ScafTe, al-Schafch); through the town runs a very large ftream fthe Sirr Daria, or Dfaihum). In this country there arc many 126 VOYAGES AND e many porcupines. The inhabitants have a languagfe of their own. At the diftance of three days journey more, is the province of Balaxiam (Balafcia, Bala- fagan), the inhabitants of which are Mahometans^ and fpeak a language peculiar to themfelves : the ex- tent of the country is about twelve days journey. In the mountains there are found beautiful uones of great value, called Balajfe^ particularly in the moun- tain of SUhtam, where the king alone has the privi- lege of digging. There are alfo mountains with veins of Lapis Lazuli ^ which is reckoned the fined in the world; as alfo veins of filver, copper, and lead in great quantity j but the weather there is in- tenfely cold. Jn this country they have very fwift borfcs, whofe hoofs are fo hard that they want no ihoeing. In the mountains are caught the Sacre fal- con (Falco Sacer) j the Lannar (Falco lanarius cinereui Brifs,) the Gofs-hawk (Falco ajiur Brifs.), and the Sparrow-hawk (Falco nifus), which are all, in their kind, very excellent, and, by the inhabitants, who are all very keen fportfmen, are made ufe of for the chace. They grow much wheat and Indian corn j they have no olive oil, but make this article of food of nuts and the feeds of the Sefamum, which of all oils is the moft palatable. The great number of nar- row pafles and ftrong holds they nave in this country render the inhabitants perfectly fecure againft any in- vafion from an enemy. The air on the mountains is fo falubrious, that the fick almoft always recover their health on taking a journey to them, as indeed Marco Polo experienced in his own cafe. On thefe mountains there are flocks of from 400 to 600 wild Iheep, of which but few are to be caught. The wo- men of rank make themfelves a drefs of muflin, con- taining from 60 to 80, or even 100 ells, and, (in or- der that they may appear the more bulky below the waiftjj crumpled up from the waill downwards, like trowlers, and (lie who appears the biggeft, is confi- dcred by the men as the greatt-ft beauty. At DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. ny At the diftance of about lo days journey is the province of Bafcia, (alias Vafch, on the river Vafch, which falls into the Gihon). The inhabitants are Idolaters, and very much addicted to forcery and witchcraft ; live upon flefh and rice, and have a lan- guage of their own. They are of a very tawny com- plexion, and are accounted very malicious, faithlefs^ and cruel. They wear golden ear-rings fet with dia- monds and pearls. The province of Chefmur (Khefimur, Khafchimir) is at about feven days journey from Bafchia, The in* habitants have a language of their own, and are of a brown complexion ; neverthelefs, the women are very handfome. Their principal food is flefh and rice. Their country is covered with towns and caf- tles, and being furrounded by defarts and mountains^ they have nothing to fear from any enemy. Their king is not tributary to any one. There are many and large bodies of hermits among them, who live in a very frugal and abftemious manner, and are in great efteem among the people. The natives never Vied blood, nor kill any animal ; therefore, the/ make ufe of the Mahometans for flaughtering the beafts of which they eat the flefh. Corals are held in great efteem among them, and fell at a very high price. From Balaxima one comes to a number of caflles and dwellings on the banks of a river, and at length jnto the province called Vochan (alias Vocham or Vak- ham, on the river Vafch). The inhabitants are ho- nefl and valiant, and have a language of their own» but follow the law of Mahomet. Their Lord is fubje£l to the King of Balaxiam, In going out of this province to the eaftward, one travels for three days continually upon the afcent, till at lafl one comes to fo elevated a fpot, that one is apt to take it for the higheft in the whole world. On this fame fpot, between two mountains, one finds a large lake, from whence a very beautiful river flo^^-s through a plain, containing the bed and richefl paftures in the world, for if cattle arrive there ever fo lean, they re- turn 128 VOYAGES AN» I turn home in lo days quite fa*: and in good condition.* In this diftridt, too, there are a great number of wil(i beads, and particularly of ^"^y large wild fheep^ fome of which have horns of the length of fix palms, or about i8 inches ; and others of two or three palms at leaft : of thefe the fhepherds make fmall porrin- gers, and large diihes for their victuals ; and even the folds in which they keep their flocks are made of thefe horns. The numberlefs wolves that are in thefe parts devour fuch immenfe quantities of thefe goats, or fhccp, that their horns and fkeletons are to be found piled up in heaps, in order to point out the way in the fnow*. One travels' for the fpace of 12 whole days on this plain, which is called Pamer, Confequently one muft carry all one's provifions along with one. On account of the great height of the mountains, there are no birds to be feen here, and even the fires do not burn fo clear, by reafon of the cold, as it does in other places, fo that one can hardly drefs any victuals by it**. Having accom- plilhcd this 12 days journey, one muft travel 40 days longer to the eaftward, and that continually ct moun- tains and through vallies, croffing many rivers, and pafling through defarts, in which there are neither dwel- lings nor even a blade of grafs ; fothat one muft carry all the provifions one ftands in need of along with one j * It U remarkable, that fo many centuries ago Marco Polo has taken notice of the extraordinary height of ihefe inland Afiatic campaigas, and at the lame time made accurate and juft obfervations on thefe wild (heep, which by the ancient nations were called Mufmmesy and by the French and Italian!! are termed Mouflons, Mufloni^ and of which the horns have bcLD alfo defcribcd by modern writers to be fo large, that >4he Korfake^ or fmall foxes ot thed lart, can hide their.felves in them. •* This truth, difcovered by M. De Luc^ one of the mod attentive natural Philofophers of the prefent age, on the mountains of Savoy and Switzerland, viz. that on the highett muuntaiiis fire burns more flug« gi!hly, and the e(Fe£ts it produces are more inconfiderable than at the level of the fea, we find here very carefully n iticed by Maico Polo, above foo years ago. Vid. J. A, dt Luc^ Rtcktrshts Jur la medificationt Je i'a:mejfitrt. i^*< 903, 919. and DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 129 and this country is called Beloro (alias Belor, or Be- ]ur). The fummits of thefc mountains arc inhabited by an idolatrous, favage, and cruel race of men, who live merely by hunting, and are cloathed in the (kins of beafts. From thence one comes to the kingdom of Cafcar (alias Chafcar, CalTar, Kafchgar, and Haficar) which at prefcnt belongs to the great Khan, and is five days journey in length. The inhabitants are Mahometans, and get their livelihood by commerce and manufac- tures, and particularly by the working of cotton. The face of the country is covered with towns and cadles i they have fine gardens and lands, which produce grapes for making wine, and other fruits in abundance. They cultivate cotton, flax, and hemp, in great quantities ; and the land yields plentifully all the necefl'aries of life. From this province numbers of traders go to all parts of the globe j but they are fo extremely covetous, that they do not even allow them> fdves to eat, and much iefs to drink any thing that is good. Bcildes the Mahometans, there live alfo fome Neflorians in thefe parts, who have a public church here, in which they worfhip the Deity after their own manner. Samarchan (or Samarkand) is an excellent town and a plain, which produces abundance of all kind of fruits that man can pofTibly wifh for. The inha- bitants are part of them Chriflians and part of them Mahometans, and are fubje(5l to a nephew of the greac Khan. From hence, in five days journey, one comes to the province of Cardan (alias Carcham, Carcam, Hiar- kand, Jarkim, Jerket, Jerken, and Urkend.. The inhabitants are of the Mahometan perfuafion, and there are alfo fome Neftorian Chriftians here; but all are fubjed to the nephew of the great Khan. They have all the neceffaries of life in great plenty, but chiefly cotton. The inhabitants are good artizans, and have, the greateft part of them, thick legs, and goitres or tumors in their necks, which proceed from the quality of the water which they drink. K Goinj 130 VOYAG ES AND Going from hence to the caft wards one corrics to the province of Cetan (otherwifc Cotam, Hotunif Khoten, and Khotan), which is fubjcdl to the ne- phew of the great Khan. This country is eicht days journey in length, and is full of towns andcadles. The inhabitants are Mahometans. The country ubounds in all the neceflarics of life ; here they culti- vate cotton, flax, hemp, wheat, wines, and other produdlions of the vegetable kingdom. The inhabi- tants live by trade and manufadturcs, and are unfit for war. Purfuing this track, one comes to the province cal- led Peym (Peim, or Peym), which contains many towns and caftles. Through the capital of the fame name there runs a river, in which many precious ftoncs are to be fnund, viz. Chalcedonians and Jafper. In this province are to be had all necefla- rics of life, and a great quantity of filk is produced. The inhabitants arc Mahometans, and immediately fubjed^ to the great Khan ; they live by trade and manufactures. In this country they have a very par- ticular cuflom, which is, that if a man goes on a journey, and (lays away from his wife above twenty days, fhe may, if flie pleafes, marry another man, and when the man returns, he may, in like manner, marry another woman. All thefe laft mentioned countries, viz. Kafchgar^ 'Jerkin^ Kboten^ Peytriy and Stgrtanty to the town called Lop^ are reckoned among the frontiers of Great Turkey. The province called Ciarcian (Ciartiam, Sartem), was formerly very beautiful and fertile, but it has fmce been deftroyed by the Tartars. The inhabi- tants are Mahometans. In this country there are a great number of caftles and towns, the chief of which is likewife called Ciarcifin. There are many rivers containing precious ftones, chiefly Chalcedo- nians and Jafper, which are carried for fale to Ouchah (Kathay), and of which, by r^wfon of the great quan- tity there is of them, they make great profit. From Peym to the end of this province there are many bitter and fait waters in the ftrata of fand which are to be DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 131 met with every where in thefe parts i but frefli wa- ter fit for drinking is very rare. And if it happens that an army of Tartars, either friends or enemies, marches through} if of the latter, they plunder the inhabitants of their goods; and if friends, they kill their cattle and cat it up ; whence it happens, thac the inhabitants, on perceiving the approach of an army, retire with their wives, children and cattle, to the diftancc of feveral days journey into the Tandy defart, near a fpring of good water, where in thaC cafe they live. For it is to be obfcrved, that after the wheat harveflj every one of the inhabitants hides his corn in caverns under the fand, unknown to any one but himfelf, as the place is immediately covered over with fand by the wind j and they car- ry home at one time only jud as much as will i'erve them for the I'pace of a month. Going fromi Cidrcian backward, five days journey in the fand, one comes to nothing but bitccr waters, except thac at the entrance of the great defart, one meets with the town called Lop. From the town oi' Lop you enter immediately into the great defart. The inha- bitants of Lop are Mahometans, and fubjctSls of the great Khan. In this town, thofe that intend to tra- vel through the defart, reft for many days, and pre- pare all that is necefTary for the journey, and load many ftrong afles and camels witn food, proviflons, and merchandife. But if their provifions are fpent before they are quite through the defart, they kill the afTes and camels and eat them. They muft lay in a ftock of provifions fuiHcient to laft a whole month, and if it does not, they eat the afTes rather than the camels, becaufe thefe latter can carry heavier bur- thens, and are fatisfied with lefs food. During the whole thirty days the road goes through fandy plains, and over barren mountains, but at the end of each day's journey they meet with water, though not in fufHcient quantity, but only for about 50 or lOO men : in three or four of thefe places the water is even bitter, but in all the other noclurnal baiting- K 2 places, i3» VOYAGES AND places, which are twenty-eight in number, the vrZ" tcr is freih. In the delart neither birds nor beads are to be found, there being nothing for them to live upon. It is alfo very eafy, in cafe one loiters be- hind, to lofe one's company, and confequently pe- riih miferably. Having travelled through the defart in this man- ner for the fpace of thirty days, you come to a town called Sachion (Schatfcheu, Tfchatfcheu, on the riv'sr Sirgentfchi, which runs into the Poionghir^ and in the Kara-nory or Hara-nor, or perhaps itfhould be SchotfcheUy or Sotfcheu^ on the river Ezina, which difcharges its waters into two lakes) : this town is irt the dominions of the great Khan, and in the pro- vince of Tanguth. In it there are fome few Nefto- rian Chriftians, as alfo Mahometans, and finally^ Idolaters, who have their own peculiar language. They do not live by commerce, but by agriculture, and the produce of their own country. They have many convents full of idols, which they worlhip with the greateft devotion ; and if they beget a fon, they recommend him to one of thefe idols, in horK>ur of whom they feed a ram at home, which, at the expiration of the firft year, they carry to the temple, together with the child, on the day which is confecrated to the above idol, and after xilling the ram, boil the fleih of it, and fet it before the idol, while they fay their prayers, in which they recommended the Ton to the idol, and beg of him to keep their fon in health ; and they aflert^ that during this, the idol has extracted all the vir> tues and tafte of the meat; Ltpon this they take the meat home, and eat it in company of their friends and relations invited for that purpofe, but the bones they preferve very carefully in a hand fome veffel. The priells of the idol have for their (hare the head, the feet, the entrails, the (kin, an in which the Governor ufually refides. In going to the northward from Carachoran (Kara- koran) and from mount yiltay, where the Emperors are buried, one comes to a large plain called Bergu (Bargu-fm is the nzrrt of a. river on the eaft fide of lake Baikal). The inhabitants are called Metrites (alias Medites, Meclites, Markaets) they are quite favage, and live on the fleih of wild beafts, (the largeft of which are like flags, which moreover they ride, of rather harnefs to their carriages) as alfo on the birds and fifli which they catch. In travelling from the province of Campion to the eaft (fouth-weft) for five (fifty) days, one comes to the empire called Ergimul (Erigimul, Eriginijl) which is fubjeft to the Great Khan, and belongs to the province of Tanguth. In it there are fome Neftorian Chriftians, and Mahometans, as alfo Pagans. The capital of the coun< try bears the fame name, Erginul (Erdfchi-nur), witl^ the country itfelf. In going from thence to the fouth- Weftward to Kathav (North-China) you come to the town of Singui (Sigan in Schenfi) fituated in a diftridt of the fame name, which is alfo in the province of Tanguthy and is fubjeft to the Great Khan. The inhabitants are fome of them Neftorians, fome of the religion of Mahomet, and others Idolaters. In this country there are great numbers of wild oxen, black anti white, which are nearly as large as elephants, and have a way fine appearance. The hairs all over PISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. J39 their bodies are fliort, excepting on the flioultlers, where they are nine inches long, and as fine and white as poffible, fo as even to furpafs fillc j and Marco Polo brought fome of thefe hairs to Venice, where every one admired them as great curiofities. Many of thefe wild oxen have been tamed, and made to cover common cows. The race engendered by thefe is fit for the hardett labour, and capable of bearing the grcateft fatigue. Their owners make them carry the moft heavy burthens, and plough twice as much ground with them as v/ith oxen. In this fame coun- try, too, one meets with the finelt mufk. It is pro- duced by a little animal of the (hape of a gazel or antilope, and of the fize of a goat. The form of it is as follows : The hair is coarfer than that of a ftag ; the feet and tail are like thofe of a gazel, but it has no horns, as the gazel has. It has four teeth, two in the upper jaw, and two in the lower, which are above three inches long j tv/o of them point up-: wards, and two downwards. Thefe teeth are as white as ivory j and the animal has a beautiful ihape •. About the time of the full moon it has an abfcefs in the region of the navel, which yields the finelt rnufiC The flefb of this creature is good to eat. Marco Polo brought the head and feet of one of them to Venice. The inhabitants of tiiis country live by commerce and handicraft profeffions, and the country itfelf produces a great quantity of corn. It is a journey of twenty- iive days to travel tlirough this province. There are pheafants in this country, twiqe as large asi ours. I • It is but a very little while fince there was 4 live niulk-jr''at at Fer- fatlUs ; to whicli the defcription here given anlwers perfedVy wcl), except in this one particular, that it hath only two fuch leeth of three iuchcs long in tl.cuppei j 'W, "lit in the under jaw there are eight cutting teeth, bc:- fidesfiv grir.ders in each jaw bone. There muft tlicrerote be t. mnVikc either in Marco Polo's dclciiption, or in the tranflation of it, or ellc h\n mu/k yoat mult have been different from that which was kept alive at Verlaillts, as ail'o ;r6ni ihat, ot which I have itcn the fkin (lufled, in Si.* Afliton Lever's Mufeum. Th^tthic animal (lum d fetrett its mulk attlie time of the !ull moon only, aiui that it is an abrcefs, is one of the prt-jii- dices appertaining to the childhood of Natural Hiftury. and 140 VOYAGES AND and but very little iefs than peacocks. Their tails are from 24 to 30 inches long *. There are alfo other pheafants, in d'/.e and appearance like ours ; as alio many other forts of birds, with the moft beautiful plumage. The in* habitants arc idolaters, rather fat, have fmall nofes, black hair, and no beard, except here and there a fmgle b;\ir on the chin. The women of rank have beautiful hair, are ve^y fair, perfectly well formed in all their limbs, but extremely lafcivious. The men marrying, according to cuftom, as many wives as they are able "^o maintain, they do not feek rich but bandfc v/omen, and confequently make great pre- sents tG /^ L.ciicr and relations, in order to obtain their wiv :. If now you tra>fd for eight days from^r^/w«/ (Erdf- chi-nur) to the eaft (to the weftward) you come to the diftridt of Erigaia (alias Eggaya, Organum, and Irganekon), in which there are many towns and cities. It is in the great province of Tanguth ; its capital is Calacia (alias Cailac, Gailac, Golka). The inhabitants are idolaters, and the Neftorian Chriftians have three elegant churches here. They are all fubjed to the Great Khan. In the town of Calacia they make of white wool and the Anefl hair of camels (perhaps Chamoii) a great quantity of Zambelottes (Schamlotte, Kamlotte) i. e. Camlets, which are the moft beauti- ful in the world, and which are exported by the mer- chants to all parts of the globe, and particularly to Kathay (or North China). Tenduc (Tenduch, Teuduch) is a province to the eailward which formerly belonged to Prefter John, but at prefent is fubjedl to the Great * Thcfe Urge pheafants belong '.indoubtcdijr to the extraordinarily beautiful genus which Lsnmeui (alls Vtafianus Arguiy of which in Eu- rope there are to be found fome featheri only of the wings and laiia, in the collfflions of the curious ; but as for the entire animal, |>erha|'a no European, befides our traveller, has ever feen it. This is the more re- maikable, at it is now alreidy ^00 years that this beaut'ful bird has beiq known, and yet we have never had a compleat defcripticu of it. Khan. DISCOVERIES in the NORTH. 141 Khan. It contains various towns and cities, and the capital of it is Tenduc. This province has a king of the family of Prefter John, whofc name is Gtorgef and to whom the Great Khan has ceded it, on condi- tion, however, of the King's acicnowledging his fu- periorityi and thcfe Kings generally, marry the daughters of the Great Khan. King George is a Prieft and a Chriftian ; the greater part of his fubje6ls alfo are Chriftians. In this province they find ftonef, from which they prepare very fine Ultramarine Blue, and that in great quantity. They alfo manufacture here Zambellottes or Camlets, of camels hair. The inhabitants live by agriculture, commerce, and han- dicraft profeffions. There are, however, ^efides the Chriftians, many Idolaters and Mahor> Jta r here. There is alfo a fort of people called jfryn, :>ecaufe they have been begotten by two difFercn; races, viz. by the Idolaters at Tenduc and the Mahometans* Thefe are without difpute the handfomeft Men of any in thefe parts, as well as the moft ingenious and the moft fubtle in commerce. This province was the principal refidcnce of Prefter John, in the North, whilft he reigned over the Tar- tars, and King George is the fourth from him ; and there are two kingdoms here, over which this fame Prefter John formerly reigned, and which in our part of the world (viz. Europe) are known by the names of Gog and Magog \ but by the inhabitants of thefe countries are called Vng and Mongul*, The inhabitants * The celebrtted Prefter John it, at wat fald before, in the note to page 610, the Uni'Cban^ or UnkcbaH,, an appellation derived from the Chinefe Uang^ or IVang^ bat by others tranihrated to Aunsk^ or Ave- ■ umk Khan. He reigned over the Karaites, a tribe refidiog near the river Kallajfui (Karafibi) which difcharges itfelf into the Abakan, and afterwards into the Jenifea \ and here at this very day live the Kirgijes^ who have a tribe among then>, which they call Karaites, Vid. Fifthtr*$ Sibirifcbe Gejchicbtey or Hijiory of Siberia, pag. 698, 709, and 710. Bat, after the manner of the Chriftians of thofe times, who conftantlf foaght to introduce their Bible by hook or by crook on every occafion^ the Oriental Chriftians no fooner had heard the leaft mention made of UngkbuHy than the name immediate!jf brought to thtir remembrance that 142 VOYAGES AND inhabitants of Ung are Gog, and thofc of Mongul are Tiirtars. Travelling for lieven days eaftward through this province to Kathay, one meets with many towns and cities, the inhabitants of which worfhip idols ; others are Mahometans, and others again are Nefto- rian Chriftians. They live by commerce nnd manu- factures ; for they make ftufFs wrought v.itli gold and flowers, and other fillccn ftufFs o^ all kinds and colours, like thofe made amongft us } alfo woollen ftufrs of various forts* Thefe people are fubjeCl to the Great Khan. There is alfo a town here called Sindicin (alias Sindacui) where all the arts and occu- pations are carried on, which furnifh the various kinds of weapons, arms, and warlike inftruments, requifite for the ufe of an army : in the mountainous part of this province, is a place called Idifa (Ydifu) ■where there is an excellent filver mine, from which this metal is extracted in great quantities. Going three days journey farther on, one arrives at the town of Cianganor * (Cianganior, Cyangamor, or Tfahan-nor) which fignifies the White Lake : in this place the Great Khan has a palace, which he is very fond of inhabiting, there being many lakes and rivers thereabouts, in which there is a great number of fwans, as alfo many plains, with cranes, phea- iants, partridges, and birds of various kinds, in that of John; and as perl aps this UngkhoM had fuffercd himfelf to be converted to the Chrillian religon by the Netlorians, and had even bet-n perTuadcd to take Priell'ii orders, they, without any more ado, transformed the Piiell Ungkhan^ into thePrieft ^ohanit^ or Preller Johnj snd tarlher, as in the Prophet Ezekiel, rnention is made of (?»^ and Mc fo^, by the fame fpjiitual alchemy they turned Un^ into Go^^ aud the AJog^uls inio Magtg. * TI\is Cionranor is even according to Marco Polo's explication, the fVhite Sea, i. e. that lake on the banks of which the fovereipn ufiially refides, and th's is prointed by the Emperor for this purpofe, makes a ftamp upon it with red cinnabar, from which ilamp it receives its currency and value. The counterfeiting of this coin is puniihed with death, nor dar^s any body refufe to receive it on pain of death ; and all payments are made in this money. It is pretty evident, that as well the bark of the morus papyrifera, or paper-mulberry tree, as of that with which the filkworms are raifed in China, and perhaps alfo that of the white and black, and of the Tartarian mulberry-tree, is fit for the manitrfa£luring of paper ; and as ftill all tlie paper in China and Nipon (Japan) is made of the bark of the mulberry-tree, it v.'ould be certainly worth while, in the prefent prevailing fcarcity of rags, to culti- vate that very hard fort, the Tartarian mulberry- tree, as not only the leaves of it will produce good food Nahon probad lymita| Itage, quentll The Thefe I BtUanX Tom, nabiceJ DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 147 fbod for niic-worras, but alfo its bark may be ufcd with great advantage for the purpofe of making paper. Vll. Oderic of Portenau *, a mmorite Friar, in the year 131 8, travelled to the eafiern countries, and went, in company with other Monks, as far as Chi* na ; after his return, he didtated the whole Recount of his journey, but without any order or arrange- ment, and juft as it occurred to his memory, to Friar William de Solona (or Solangna) at Padua, A. D. 1330. From this relation we learn, that Oderic failed from Conftantinople acrofs the great (i. e. the Black) Sea to Trebizond, where he (aw a man travelling along with a flock of more than 4000 partridges, which had been made (o tame, that whenever he fat down to reft himfelf, they all gathered round about him, like tame fowls, and in this manner he tranf- ported them to Trebizond, where the Emperor took as many of them as he wanted, the remainder being taken back by the man to place whence he had brought them. After this, Oderic went to Armeniar Major, and A%aron ('Erz-el-Rum) from thence to Tauris (Tebrig) Soldania (or Sollania) CaJJan (alias Kaffibin, or Kafvin) and Geji (or Yezd) which is fi- tuated where the Sandy Sea [Alare Arenofum) begins, and at length to Konnum (alias Kom, Komru, Ohomrun, or Gombron) ;md finally to Ormes (or Ormus). From this laft place he went to India, then to Manxi (South China) and after pailing through WM^. * This OJerlr is likewifr ftyled Je Fon JuHi de Poftu V'dhonis (reaJ Kahonis): he is alfo called Olderuus nnd Oderifius. "Wm^ Portenau \% probably the Mutatit ad Ncnum mentioned in the Iiinerarium Hierofo- lymitacum, being derived from Arr, in the Kymerian tongue, a lUtion, tiage, or baiting-place, and Nav^ or NatUy nine ; Portus Naenis confe- quenily it Portenau. In Friuli this place is at prefent called P:rdanone. The account of his travels he has intiiied De jVliialHihus MunJi. Thefe travels, together with the Hilloiy o! his Life, are lo he found in B$llandi A&ii S. S. m. Jan. d. I u, as ally in IVaJdimgii Annates Minor, Tom. iii. He diei' at Vdme^ A. D. 1:131. BafdU Ajqumi^ an Italian Bar- nabite, publifhed at UMut in 1737, La Vila t Viaigi del beatt Oderic » da Udine^ in Svo. L 3t many •» * 148 VOYAGES AND many difficulties, at length arrived at the capital of tile empire, Kambaleth (otherwife called Kambalklc, or Khan-Balga) which is fituated beyond the river Khara-moran (Kara-morin, or Hoang-Ho). Having feen many ftrange and marvellous things in Kathau he proceeded 50 days journey to the wcftward, to the country of Prcfter tohn, and to the c&pi: il cal- led Tozan otherwife Kofan, Tfahan, or Tiahan- Nor). Upon this, after a long journey, he came to the province of Kajfan (Kafan, or Turkeftan) which is upwards of 50 days journey in breadth, and 60 in length, and is full of populous towns, and likewife produces abundance of excellent provifions, particularly chefnuts. At length he came quite to Tibek (Tibet, or Tebet) in the capital of which re- fides an jibaffi, the Pope and Chief of the Idolaters. The women in this country wear their hair plaited in more than 100 braids. If anyone dies, and the Ton of the deceafed wifhes to do his father honour^ he calls together a number of eccleHaftics, who, fol- lowed by all the friends and relations of the defun(5^, carry the body in great pomp into the fields ; there th«^ cut off the head, and give it to the fon ; the flelh they cut off ^piecemeal from the bones, praying all the while devoutly. As foon as ever they depart, come the vultures, which are qui*^- ufed to this bu- fmefs, and carry off all the flefh. In confequence of this, the deceafed is acounted a good man, and ft faint, the angles being fuppofed to carry his corpfe to Paradife. The fon in the mean time takes the head home, and eats the fleih of ii. Of the fkuU a cup is made, out of which he and all the relations of the defunct drink with feftal folemnity. As we have only a few imperfed fragments left of the journey of Friar Oderic, it is hardly worth while to make any farther extracts from the re- mainder. VIII. John de MandevUle was defcended from an ancient and very noble family in England, He was born at St. Al ban's. His inquifitive turn of mind, DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 149 an He of mind, and his undaunted refolation prompted him to Lnquire into all the fciences, and that with equal fuc- ceis. He had ftudied phyfic as well as n>«.thematics, with diligence and attention ; and likewil'e, following the fafhion of thofe times, had made great progrefs in divinity, und written l^ks in all thefe fciences. He was equally expert in the exercifes proper for a gentleman ; and thus, in fearch of new adventures, he fet out .\. D. 1332 (1322) on a journey to the Holy Land, by the way of France j and, after an abfence of 33 years, returned to his native country, having travelled nearly over all Afia, and having ferved in the army of the Sultan of Egypt, Mandy- bron (Malek el Nafer Mohammed, who reigned from 1310 to 1341) and in that of the Great Khan in China (Schun Hoamti, or Tokatmur). He died at laft on the 17th of November, 1371, at Liege, where healfo lies interred. He drew up an account of his Travels in Latin, French, and Englifh. The beft of thefe works feems to be that publimed in Lon- don in iarge 8vo, 1727, in the old Englifh dialed):, for all the others are merely extracts However, it is with this journey, as it ufed to be with the writ- ers of Chronicles in the middle ages. One always •copied from the other. The Travels of Friar Oderic contain many things which are likewife to be found in the Travels of Sir John Mandevillc. The copy- iils feem to have had the intention of compieating their copy from another author who had written on a (imilar fubjedl, and this is probably the reafon of the exa<^ ':orrefpo.idence obferved between them. Beildes the Latin, French, and Englilh editions, already mentioned, there are alfo tran/lations of thef; travels into the Italian, Spaniih, and German languages. The accounts of the fouthrrn parts of Afia do not concern us; we Ihall therefore content oiirfelves with obfcrving,, that in Mandeville's e, the war was al- ready begun with the revolted l:'nnce of Manzi^ or South China, who entirely drove the defcendants of '/Anghis Khan out of Kathay, or North-China. Cam- balu however wa? ilil] the refidence of the Great Khan, where he refidcd for the fpace of three years. The f50 VOYAGES AKB The province of Kathai (by which probably h meant Kara-Kathay) has the kingdom of Thdrftr to the eaft, and to the weft the empire of Turquefan (Turkeftan). It contains many beautiful towns, the principal of which is OSiofar (or Otrar). The empire of Turquefcen'xs bounded on the weft (fouth- weft) by Perfia, and on the north ion the weft) by Co- rafine (Khuarefm). This empire is very large, and to the eaft ward (to the northward) is contiguous to the defart. It abounds in all kind of provifions} the ca- pital is alfo called Cora/me (alias Khuarefm, or, ac- cording to Abulfeda, ko^kang), It is bounded on the weft (north-weft) by the empire of Kommania, which is very extenfivc, but not fo well inhabited; for in fomc places there is an infupportable iieat, and in others as intolerable a degree of cold j the fwarms of flies, too, vyhich infeft this country, render it un- inhabitable. IX. Francifco Balducci Pofglettt^ an Italian, wrote in the ye?ir 1335, a fyftem of commercial geo;^!.:phy, of great importance, confidering the period in which it was Written : the title is ; Di divifament't di paejiy ( di Mefure, di mercatanziet cd altre cofe hifognevoli di fapere a mer^aiantii di diverji parti . del morido*. No hiftorian has hitherto profited by this treatii'o. Pro- feflbr Sprengel has been the firft to make ufe of it in his Extent aiid Imrafe of Geographical Knowledge, We (hall therefore :r""rt here a tranflation of that part of it which rel; .<> ko qur prefeiit Mndertaking, entire, and without any abridgment j he calls it, Avifamento del viaggio del Gatiap per lo Cammino della Tana ad andam etornare con mercatanzia^ i. e. an indi- cation of the route that may be taken with merchan- dife from Tana (or Azof), to Gattay, (Kathay, of North China) and from thence |?ack again. * This Commercial Geography has been reprinteil entire in a book v/hcre one would hnrilly think of looking foi it, viz. in the 31! vol. ot the work intitled Della Dedma t J'.lla mitre gravezze. Lijbona e Lucca, cc cc C( «( cc <( «* In In DISCOVERIES m the NORTH. 151 ** In the firft place from Tana (ov Azof ) tc Gi«- tarchan (i^ (or AltiAhan) it is twenty-five nays journey with waggons drawn by oxen ; but with waggons drawn by horfes it is only ten or twelve days journey. On the road one meets with a great number of armed MoccoU (Mogols.) From Gintarchan to Sara (2), by the river, it is but one day's fail j but from Sara to Saracanca (3), it is eight days journey by water j one may, however, travel either by land or water, whichever is moft agreeable; yet, with merchandife, it is cheapefl to go by water. From Saracanco to Organci (4) it is twenty days journey travelling with camels. Whoever travels with merchandife will do well to go to Organci-, it being a convenient country for the expeditious fale of goods. And from Organci to Oltrarra (5) it is thirty-five or forty days jour- ney with camels. But in going from Saracanco flraight on to Oltrarra, it takes up fifty days (1) Gintarchany or Zintarchan^ is by Jofaf>hat Barbart tllb ra|le4 Citarchan ; and fViijen fays, in his Noord en Otji TartaryCy pa. 709, jtflracatt vtas van euds genaenit Citracan, i.e. Adrakan was anci« ently call«d Cttracan, By the Caimucks it is called Hadfcht A.dar Kbam Balgajfun^ or the city of Ha'ifchi Aidi^r Khan; whence all thole uamek are derived, of Ziiarkhan^ Sfttraihatiy and jljlrakhan. {i) Sara is undoubtedly the town of •'^aray^ fo often fpoken of abovcj and fituaied carel'm. This place i« called likewife by Abulfeda, DJchordfchanta, and by the Perfuns, Ktriang. But there were two towns of this name, viz. the Great and the Leffer (frgena. The one v/as very near the place where the Giknn difcharj^es itlelf into lake Aral, this was culled Old Urghenz'- another of this name, called Nenu UrgheH%^ U to be found near Cbiiva, on the Gikun. (5) Oltrarre is properly called Otrary and alfo Farah^ which latter name is to be found in fo early a writer as Abulfeda. It is fituated oa the ri^er Sihon^ or Sirr. The Chincfe, who cantiot pronounce the letter r, mH it Uitala, ** journey j 1 ■■ K v^'. "^: m Mr i I ?^ 1S« VOYAGES AND ** journejr ; and if one has no merchandife, it is z ** better way than that by Organci. From Oltram ** to ArmaUcco (6), it is forty -five days journey tra- <' veiling with afies, and in the road one meets every « day with Moccols (Mogols). From ArmaUeco to '* Canuxu (7) it is feventy days journey on aflfes, and ** from Canuxu to a river called Kara Morin (8) it ** is fifty days journey on horfes. From this river ** the traveller may go to Cajfai (9), to difpofe of ** his loading of filver there, this being a very good ** country for the expeditious fale of merchandize^ *' and from Cajfai he goes, through the whole land *' of Gattay with the money he has received at •• CafTai for his fdver ; this money is paper money* ** called Babtfihiy four of which Babifchies make a •* filver Sotnno, From Cajfai to Gamaiecco (10), *' which is the capital of the land of Cattail it is 30 ♦* days journey." If the reader has any idea of the difficulty attend- ant on making out fo many names of places difguifed by ? vicious orthography, a difficulty which is ftill more ir.':reaftd by the neceffity there is for determin- ing with accuracy the fituaticn of thefe places, and thuir probable diftarice fiom each other, he will per- haps be ready to allow, that the tafk is certainly not very trifling, nor to be accompliihed without much labour. («) ^Irmaleut it the name of a town called Almalig^ which, accord- iXMf to ^Ja^r Eftufi^ and Ulugbbeghy ii in Turke/ian. From Scberfeddin yi..y (he author of thfiiifeof TV'Mvr, itappesrt, that this^/ma/^; isfitu- l^ted between the town of Tafchkent and the river Irtiich, in the country of GeU^ on the banks of the river Ab'Eile^ which at this very day dif- cbargeii itfelf into the 5/fl«, or Sirr-Darim. (7) Came-xu i* probably nothing more than the name of Khame, or JfChfimi, with the addition of xu^ inftead of TfcttUy which in the Chi- nefi I in^uage rignit>8 a town. (3) '.'he river nbt. 'e-memir..ied is don''tJcfs the ICara Morin^ i. e. }'l,ire Jlj.Tan, but which the Chinefe call Hiang-ht, (9) Kir^Vii feems to be the place called Kijen^ on the northernnnoft wiiioing o' the Htcng "'u (10) Gamaiecco is without doubt Camialigf or Peking) in like mano ne; Zi Caltajf b y ut for Kataj, Balducc'i •fHV DISCOVERIES IK THE NORTH. 153 Balducci Pegtltiti certifies alfo the exigence of tlie paper money in China, previoufly mentioned by Huyfiroick^ JHaitho, Marco Polo^ and Oderic of Por- tifiaUf which fome of the above au'hors 'iefcribc as being made of cotton paper ; others, on the contra- jfv, remark very juftly, that it is made of the baric of the mulberry-trre. Oderic of Portcnau calls it Balht Balducci Fcgokti Bali/ch* ; Mandevllle fays it is made of leather. A Jefiiit named Gabriel de Magaillans^ pretends, that: Marco PoU was miftalcen with regard to the paper-money : but it is pretty clear, by the teftimonies of about fix travellers, eyc-witnefles to the fa£l, that fuch paper-money adlually did exifl in the times of the Emperors of the Mogul race, or of the regal tribe of Yuy and then only, having been aboliihed afterwards. X. John Schildtbergeri from Munich in Bavaria, went from Hungary, A. D. 1394, with the army of king Sigifmund, againft the 1 urks, but in 1395 was taken prifoner by them, and by Bajazet I, or, as he conftantly writes it, IVeyafit, who reigned from 1389 1402, was fent into Alia. On Bajazet's being jfeated and made captive by Timur, i>child:berger wa« taken prifoner likewife, and accompanied the Emperor Timur in his expeditions ; and even in the Jail, during which he died, in the year 1405, at Otrar, or Farah, though Schildtberger fays, that he died in his capital of Samarkant. He- was afterwards with Scharoch (SchahRokh), and remained with the auxiliaries which Schahrokh left with his brother Miranfchah to fight again ft Kara-yofeph, a Turkoman- nian Emir, of the black-weather tribe. Miranfchah having been beheaded by order of Kara-Jofeph, Schildtberger followed Jbubachir (Abubekr), Mi- ranfchah's fon. With Abubekr there lived a Ton of a king of Great Tartary, of the name of Zegra. This Zegra received a mellage from Edigi '^- (Aideku, Ideku, or Yedighey-Khan), purporting that he would * About thU time many abufes had got footing amongfl the gohL-n tribe on the Wolga. Mamay and 7tdighei^ had not, il is true, the title nf flic Great J54 VOYAGES AKD I vrould give up to him the fovereignty over Kaptfcbak, Zegra (etting out on this occafion for Great Tartary, Schildtberger and four others went along with him. Their route carried them through Stranat which pro- duces |ood filk ; then through Gurfty (Gurghia, or Georgia), where there arc Chriftians } after this into the country of Lahinfchamt where ftlk isalfo cultivat- ed } and then through another called Schurban (Schir- wan), where the fulc is produced, from which ftlk ftuffs are made at Damafcut and Kaffer, Next they paffed through a town called Bur fa (the mountain of ^/M >^ Photographic Sciences Corporation V iV ■^ <> f'. iS % 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ^> C/j IS8 VOYAGES ANO This narrative of SchiKItberger's furniflies tisf with many particulars which afcertain the fituation of Tartary at that time. The fucceffion of the Khans of Khaptfchak is very deferving of our atten- tion ; as is alfo the following circumilance, y\x* that we no longer find any mention made of Saray and AJirakhan ; for if I am not miftaken, his Origens is Agrachan, As to his faying that it ftands in the middle of the EdtU or Wolga^ this is probably a miftake, for Edil fignifies any river whatever; in fa6l, AJirakhan^ as well as Sarayy has already been demolilhed by the Emperor Timur, about the year 1595. He fpeaks of the wild afles in the moun- tainous defarts, and the dogs which were harneffed to fledges. The town IfTtbur, or Bijftbur, is the an- cient Ruffian town of Ijoorjk. In ihort, he muft be allowed to be a fenfible writer, and «#man of ve- racity, XI. The ambafTadors of the Emperor Timur*s fon, Schah Rokhy in the year 1420, went from Herat, the refidence of Schah Rokhy to Kathai, to the court of the Emperor Tonglo, and had audience of him* This journey has been defcribed by the famous Perfian hiftorian. Emir Khond (or Emik-'Khovandy or Mirchond), in his book " of the wonders of the ** world.'* The worthy Burgomafter of Amfterdam, Nicholas Witjen *, has inferted this journey, tranflated from the Perfian language into the Dutch, in the fe- * This remarkable work o^ Nichclat Witfen is very rare, either of the two editions of it being extremely feidom to be met with; iox JVitJ'en fuppreflTed this work from motives with which we are not acquainted. This is the realbn why it is fo teidom to be found even in large collec- tions of books. The library of our Uniwerfity is in polTeflion of a copy of it) which formerly belonged to the Emprefs of Rufiia*s library, and was purchafedfbr the faid libiary, at the fale of the late M. Thunman's el- ie£ts, for eighty rixd.. liars. I have now the pleafure to inform the pubiick, that Schaahcamp the bookfeUer at Arafterdam, has at length procured from the heirs of fVitfen the remaining copies of this book, together witn the plates ; and according to the advices I have received from Amfterdam, he imcnds to accornmodate the pubiick with it in the month of May ; but at the fame time I am informed " that it will not *' appear in fo com(>Icat a ftaie as that of the genuine imprcffion," though it will be fet off with a new preface, and " with as many plates as iho ** editors have b«ca able to find.'* cond DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. i^f cond edition of his excellent woric, intitled Nord en Ooji Tartarye., from page 435 to 452. We will herd give an extract of the moit interefting part of it. And though this journey was not undertaken by Italians, yet as, like all the other travels inferted above, it throws fome light on the interior parts of the North of Afia, with which we have hardly the leaft acquaintance, we think ourfelves juftined in prefenting it to our readers, as an important addition to the common ftock of knowledge with refpe withftanding that it rained and fnowcd continually, infomuch that, by the 12th of May, they reached the town of Turfan (Turkhan, Tarfaan, or Tark- haan). The greateft part of the inhabitants here were Idolaters, and worfhiped a large idol called Schamku, which they kept in a temple. Two days after this the ambaiTadors made their departure, and in three days more came to Kharadziah ( Harafchar, or Jfaraliif or rather Haracoja)^ Here they had fcarcdv .'5 ' '4 si m i i6a V O Y AG E S AND fcarcely been five days, before there arrived foma Kathayan fecretaries, who took down in writing the names of the ambafTadors, and the number of their retinue. Nine days after this they came to a town called Naax (or Naar), where there are feveral Zeijids, or defcendants of Mahomed, who are fettled thereabouts at a certain place called Termed, In two days more they came to the town of Kabul (Kamjl, or Khamil), where the Mahometans have a fine mofque, built by their fuperintendant Emir Fakhra Eddien. From thence they travelled for the fpacp of twenty' five days through a defart, during all which time they came every fcCond day only to a watering place. They alfo faw lions ther6, contra- ry to the opinion of fome who pretend there are no lions in Kathay ; they obferved likewife, a very particular kind of wild bulls, called Gau Khottahs^ which were endued with fuch ftreiigth, as to be able to , lift a man from oflF his horfe, and had very hairy tails, which, are in great eftimation over all Afia i they being by fome carried about on long poles by way of ornament, and by others hung round their horfes necks ; while on other occafions they are made ufe of for fly-flaps. Next they came to a fmall Kathayan town called Katafekt-Jcheu (Sektfcheu, Schatfcheu) ; and the latter part o[ the journey hav- ing been through the defart, where they were for the fpace of ten days without water, they were met by the order of the Emperor, in a pleafant green field, by fome Kathayans. Thefe latter erefted tents for them, and entertained them with roafted geefe, fowls, and other forts c^f flefh-meats, as alfo with dif- ferent kinds of fruits, dried and frefh, which were ferved up to them in china difhes; ^fter their re- paft they were regaled likewife with all forts of inebriating liquors. The huts in which thefe en- tertainments were given, were ornamented ■ with green boughs of all kinds ; the entertainments, however, were not fo elegant and expenfive as thofe with which they were ufually welcomed in large DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH* i6i large towns. At this place very exaft lifts were made of all the fervants belonging to the embafly, the ambaflaciors being at the fame time very earneftly requefted to ftate the exa£t number and no more, and the merchants having been ftated in the num- ber of fervants, were on that account obliged to perform the fervices falling to their lot. The lift of the fervants belonging to the Emir Khod/chaf and to the amhalTador Kukfchah, amounted to two hundred people j and that of Ardewahn to fifty. The ambaffadors of Mlrza Ulug Beky the fon of Schah Rokhy had fet out before; but thofe of Mtrza Ibrahim Sultan *, were not as yet arrived. It is re- markable, that amongft the many viands, fruits, and liquors, that were fet before them, there was alfo a pot of Chinefe tea, a potation which the jefuic Trigault imagined had come into ufe of late years only in China **. Irom this place their route lay again through a dcfart, in which, after fome days, they met with a Karaivul***, or out-poft, which was not only very * Mirza Ibrahim Sultan was alfo a fon of Schah Rokh, and his domi- nions extended over the province ol Farsy the capital of which was Schiras. ** Tea is called by the Chinefe Tfria, and its ufe is very ancient. We have two Arabian authors, the one of which *viote A. D. 851, and the other 867. The molt ancient of thefe mentions, that even at that early period, the Chinele made frequent ufe of a 1 infufion of the leaves of a (hrub, ^alled by them Sah^ or 7fc/:a ; and the ui'e of this herb muft by this time have become abfolutely neceffary to the Chinefe, for th« Emperor had a i;reat income from a tax he had laid upon tea *, a fai![Y, which involves the fuppofition, that by long ufe, this |/lant was become fo unavoidably nt'effary, that they might confidtntly venture to lay a lax on it. Eufebius Kenaudot has publifhed a French tranflation of thefe two Arabian writers of travels, the title of which is, j4ncievnet RJatimt Jet Indet et Je la dine, traduilet de /' yJrabe far /' jibbs Rinaudot a tar is. 1718. 8vo. *** This Perfian word is alfo introduced into the Tartarian language, and from thenc« the Ruflians have tranfplantcd it into theirs; for a guard, or watch, is called in the RuiTun language, a karaul. M ftrongly , 4 f«. .14.! I'ivJ • ♦ i. 1 ifl l62 VOYAGES AND ftrongly fortified, but alfo very full of pcopltr. Now this was a pafs in the mountains through which all travelleis muft unavoidably go. Here their retinue was examined again. From this pafs they came to the town of Natfchiu (Nang-tfieu, Naatfieu), which is very large, and encompafled by a flrong wall, and has many markets for all kinds of merchandife and meat. The markets are very clean fwept, and are laid with a ftrong cement of ilucco. The four principal ftreets crofs each other at right angles. From Nang-tfieu they came to another town called Kamtfchu. After fome time they came to the Abi Daraan (or the water of Daraariy which immediately after is called Khararaan, and probably ought to be Kcira-Moran), which they crofled on a pont volant, or flying boat-bridge, and came to a very fine town with magnificent tem- ples } here they alfo found three houfes, with fome elegantly dreffed and very beautiful public women in them, moft of whom were natives. The Per- fians called this town in their language [Rhofnabadd) the habitation of beauty. After this they pafled through fome more towns, and came to a river which was twice as large as the Oxus (or Gihon), and then they met with feveral more rivers, which they crofled by means of bridges and ferry-boats, till they arrived at Chiendienpuhr, a very large and populous town ; there they faw a cafl: image of yellow metal gilded, a hundred feet high, which had a great number of hands, each of which held an eye ; this image was placed on a pedeftal of po- Jiftied ftone, and furrounded by fix tiers of baluf- trades. At length, in December 1420, they reach- ed the city Chaan-Balug (Khanbaligh). The work- men here v/erc ftill occupied in building the walls of the town, which is fquare ; and of which the external wall meafures four miles on each fide. The ambafl'adors being arrived at the imperial pa- lace, which was very magnificent, were, after fome tiine, prefented to the Emperor, and having taken rcfrelhments, were difmifl'ed. Some days after, the Emperor ver. DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 163 Emperor gave them an elegant entertainment, and they were daily well received at court, where they remained five months. The Emperor then made prefents to the ambafTadors, and gave them alfo fome other prefents for their mafters, which latter pre- fents chiefly confifted of falcons. It is farther to be ©bferved, that each of the principal ambaflTadors was prefentcd with feveral Balifch of filver ; hence it ap- pears that a Balifch is either a coin or a weight ; and as we have feen before, that the paper money of the Zinghijkanides was alfo called Balifch, it feems evident that thefe Balifch were pieces of filver of a certain value; we know, however, that the amount could not be very confiderable, as filver has al- ways been fcarce in China, and the principal am- baflador had only ten Balifch given him, while the others received no more than feven or eighth Fi- nally, I find alfo amongft the prefents many things of which we have not the leaft knowledge ; and laft of all, 2000 or 5000 Dzjau, or Tzjau, which Witffh interprets to be an unknown fpecies of coin. It is poffible, however, that Witfen may have been mif- taken in this, juft as he was in the Balifches of fil- ver, which he makes out to be head-pillows ; and indeed to me it appears probable, that it was Tfcha^ or tea, of which we Ihould perhaps underltand here, 2000, or 5000 Kafch, or Kanderins, i. e. cer- tain very fmall Chinefe weights. But what is no lefs remarkable, is that tin appears alfo here amongft the prefents, in feventy> and twenty-four fmall pieces. Juft before the departure of the ambafTadors, one «f the Emperor's favourite conforts happening to die, great preparations were made for her funeral, when the palace, which was quite new-built, and ja- panned and gilded all over, was ftruck by lightning, and, together with many out-buildings, burnt dow.n to the ground. Thefe events aff"e<^ted the Emperor fo n)uch, that he fell fick, and died of mere grief and i'oi row ; and for the remainder of the time that the Ambafladors ftaid there, his fon conducted the af- fairs of the empire. M 2 About i64 VOYAGES AND About the middle of May, 1421, the ambafladora fet out again from Cbanbaligh., accompanied by fome of the chief officers of the Empire, and were again regaled in all the towns in the fame manner as they had been in their way thither. In about a fortnight they arrived at Sckaatty or Segaan (Sigan-fu) ; they were likewife permitted to purfue their journey un- interrupted, and without having their baggage fearch- ed, as was otherwife ufually done. Thirty-five days after this, they came to the river Kharamuran ; and in nineteen days more they reached Khamtfm (Khant- fcheu) ; here every thing was reftored to them, that liad been taken from them by the Kathayans, when they were on their road to the capital, as well as what they had left there to be taken care of till their return. In this town they ftaid feventy-five days, and foon after came to Nangtfchiu. They did not fet out again on their journey before the month of January, 1412, when they came to Karaul, the out poft before- mentioned, near the pafs in the mountains. From the middle of January, to the tenth of March, in order to avoid the bad roads, they travelled with great difficulty and labour through the defart, and reached, in fifty-five days, Chotan (Khotcn, Hotum) about the beginning of May. In the beginning of Auguft they came to Kha» figf (Kafchar, or Hafiker). In fifteen days from this, they arrived at Andegan (Andifchdan, or Dedf- chan) i and In about twenty days more, reached Herat, the refidence of ^chahrokh, in the firft part of September, 1422. This expedition is alfo remarkable, inafmuch as the ambafl'adors returned by a road very different from that by which they came; for the tracks of thefe routes are in fome places nearly five degrees of latitude diftant from each other. We find tea al- A'ady in ufe here. We fee that at this period the paper balil'ches are no longer ufed, filver balifches, which however feem to be very fcarce, being made ufe of in their (lead. Tin muft have been a commodity of peculiar rum died DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 165 ^/Ccullar value even amongft the Chinefc. We cannot here avoid remarking with pleafure, the honorable re- ception given by the Chinefe to the AmbaUkdors j the particular attention with which they regiftered tJie num- ber of their retinue ; and the exadt probity with which they prefer ved, and reftored the things cntrufted to their care. Finally, I muft obfervc farther, that gilt and japanned dwelling-houfes, like the before-menti- oned, muft necefllirily be very much expofed to thun- der, as the gold afis as a condu6lor, and draws the fire of the lightning flraight into the inner rooms, which are compofed of wood, and varniflied with fo combuf- tible a fubftance as lac, and where, confequently, it mult hardly be poflible to extinguifh it." Xn. yofophat Barbara^ a Venetian, was, by the republic of Venice, in the year 1436, fent ambalfador to Tana^ a town now called j^zof, which at that time belonged to the Gemefe\ and alfo afterwards, viz. in 1 47 1, to Perfia, to VJfum Hajfan (alias Aflambei), at that time a Turkomannian prince, of the tribe of the white weather. He was fixteen years among the Tar- tars, and on his return to his native country, gave an account of both thefe his expeditions. This relation has been printed in a fmall and fcarce colleftion, publifhed by Antonio Minutio, at Jldus's prefs, at Ve- nice, in 1543, and was afterwards inferted, by Gic-r nianne Baptijld Ramufto^ in his large colle(ftion of tra- vels, coniifting of three volumes in folio. It is to be alfo found tranflated into Latin in the Scriptores re- rum perficarum^ publifhed at Frankfort in 1607. He died at a very advanced age in his native country, in 1494. The journey to Perfia to VJfun Hajfan containing but few accounts of thofe parts which are the pecu- liar objedls of our refearches, I fliall communicate only fome fliort extradts from the firft journey to Tantti or Azof. \i I 1 Jofaphat l6a VOYAGES AN m'M yofaphat Barbara began his journey to Tana in 1 436* and explored that country with great a/fiduity, and fpirit of enquiry that does him honour, partly by land, and partly by water, for the fpace of fixteen years. The plain of Tartary is bounded on the Eaft by the great river Ledil^ (vVolga) on the Weft by Poland, on the North by Ruflia, and on the South by the Great (or Black) Sea, Alania, Kumania, and Gazaria^ which altogether border on the fea of Tabacke (Zaba- chi from 'lYchaback-Denghifli, i. c. the Brachfen Sea), Alan'ia has its name from the people called Alaniy who in their own language call themfelves As>. They were Chriftians, and their country had been ravaged and laid wafte by the Tartars (i. e. the Mogols). This province contains mountains, rivers, and plains, in which latter are found many hills made by the hands of men, and ferving for fepulchral monuments ; on the top of each of them is a large ftone with a hole in it, in which they fix a crofs, which is likcwife made of a piece of llone. Thefe fepulchral monuments are innumerable ; and it is faid, that fometimes there are great treafures buried in them. But it is no years iince the religion of Mahomet was introduced amongft the Tartars (or rather Mogols) ; before that period, indeed, there were forae Mahometans here, but, at the iame time, every one was permitted to follow what- ever religion he pleafed. In confequence of this fome worshipped wooden images, and idols of fir, which they carried about with them on their carts ; but the compulfion to the Mahometan religion take its date from the time of Hcdighi (alias Edigi, and Jedighei), v/ho was a general of the 1'artarian Emperor Sida- hametb Khan. '^I'his Hcdighi was the father of Nau- rus, of whom Jofapbat relates, that in his days Ulu- Adahwneth (i.e. the great Mahomet) was Khan. But this Nauriis happening to have fome milunderftanding with the Emperor, went with the Tartars that adhered to him, to the river Ledil (i. e. the Wolga), where triere was one cf tliC Emperor's relations called Kbezk DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 167 J^hezi MahametJ i. e. little Mahomet. Thefc two refolved to wage war againft Ulu Mahameth: Accord- ingly they marched by Giterchan (or Aftrakhaii) and through the plains ofTumen (i. e. the great Defart ex- tending between the Wolga and the Don, quite to the Caucafus), clofe to Circirffia, and turned off to the river Tana (or Don)- and to the fea Tabache (Tfchabaki), which was frozen over, as was the river Tana> They marched in different parties, and at a confiderable diftance from each other, in order to Hnd food for their cattle ; fo that fome of them eroded the Don at a place called Palajira^ while others croflcd this river where it was covered with ice, near Bofagaz^ which two places arc at the diftance of J 20 miles from each other. They came upon JJlu- Mahumeth fo uncxpc6lcdly, that he fled with his wife and children, and left every thing in confufion behind him } when Khezi-Mahomed became Emperor in his flcad, and in the month of June croflcd the Don again. Going from Tana weft-wards, along the coaft of the fea of Tabache to the left, and then for fome dif- tance along the- Great (or Black) Sea,* quite to the province of Mengleria (or Mingrelia) ; one arrives after three days journey along the fea, at" the province of Chremuch (otherwife Kremuk, and Kromuk), the fovereign of which is called Biperdiy i. e. Deodati, Etven by God y and his fon is called Chertibei (or Khertibey), i. c. the true and real Lord. He is in pofleffion of a ♦beautiful country, adorned with fertile fields, a great number of fine woods, and confiderable rivers. He can raife about a thoufand horfe. The great people of this country live on plundering the caravans. Their horfes are good, the people thcm- felves valiant, and very artful ; they have nothing ftrange in their appearance. This country abounds in corn, as alfo in meat and honey ; but produces no wine. Beyond this province are others, which have a different language, and are not far from each other, viz. 2. Elipehs (Chippichc, Kippike) 'X, Tatar- kofia *»! )■ ■. M i68 VOYAGES AND kofia (otherwife Tatakofia, TitarcofTa, Tatartofia, Ta- tartupia), 4. ^ohai^ 5, Chenerthei othcrwife Chcucrthci, Khewcrthci, Kha^batei, Khabarthei, Khabarda), 6, As^ i. c. the Alani. Thefe provinces extend for the fpace of twelve days journey quite to MengUria (Mingre- Ua). This Mingrelia borders on the Kaitacchi (or Chaitaki) who live about the Cafpian mountains, partly alfo near Giorpanioy and on the fhorcs of the i3Iack Sea, and on the range of mountains which ex- tends into Circaflia. On one fide it is encompaflcd alfo by the river Phafu!^ which empties itfelf into the Black Sea. The fovereign of this province is called Bendian (Dadiau), and is in pofTeflion of two fortifi- cations near the fea, the one of which is called Fathi (Badias), and the other Savn/hpoU^ (otherwife Sabafto- poli, alfo Ifguriah, or Dioflcurias) j and befides thefc^ he has fcvsral other caftles and fortified rocks. The whole country is ftony and barren, and produces no other kind of corn than millet. They get their fait from Kaffe, They manufa.i^iav, and is the haibour of Bulukm iawa qf the mP^ernb. 1 'It in 170 VOYAGES AM or Limen), Sarfina*, (orCherfon) and Kalamiia**i All thefe places are at this prefent time fubjeft to the Turks. — Farther on from Kaffa, in the Ifland ^^cre it is encompafled by the Black Sea, lies Gothia, and Hill farther Alania^ which is fituated without the Ifland, towards Moncaftro ***. The Goths fpeak. Ger- man : I know it from this circumftance, that when the fervant whom I had with me, and who was a GeiTnan. fpoke with them, they imderftcxi him to- lerably well, juft as a native . of Ftirli in th6 Pope's dominions might underftand a Florentine f , From this * SarfoH (otherwlfe 5jr/awa, Scherfon^ and Sthurfchi) was formerly cnlled CherjoH Trachea^ and the foundations of it were laid almoll 6oe jears before the birth of Chrift, by the inhabitants of Heraciea in PontuS' It was alfo called Ctcrfonejus^ i. e, the Peninfula, for thereby was meant the whole of the P'-iinfula between this harbour of Chcrfon, and that of Symboton, which was entir'iiy inhabited by Greeits. The Ruffians took Ihe town in the reign of W.adimir tie Great, and in their ancient an- m!s cal! it KorfuH. *♦ Kalamita appears to me to be an adulteration of the word Kli- inatft. For all thofe towns which 'jnfaphat Barbare names, from Kaffa to Cherfcit, belonged formerly to the fortified cadles and towns called •*• Moncaftro is a place at the mouth of the Dniefter, which the Tnrks at this prefent time call Ak-kiennan ; the Wallachians, I'fchetat Mha\ the Ruffians, Belgortdt, the Greeks, Aff>ri> Kafir o \ and the Genoefc, 350 years ago, called it Moncaftro, Now all thefe different •ppellations htve their origin in the name given lo this place by the Ro- mans, who called it y^/ia yji/'tf. •f* This circumftance is worthy of obfervation. Kuyjhroecl had before lemarLed it, (our Author remarks it too) and fo does Bufieck. Father AlobnJorf met with many of the (laves in the galleys at Conftantinople, who were defccnded from the Goihs, and fpoke a lanj"^ge very like theCernian. Now, at this time, v.hen Ruffia is in pc.offion of tl\e Crimei, it is to be witTitd, that the few remaining traces of the Gothic language may be inquired after, and particularly, that ftrift fearch may b<; made amorsg the relic's of this Gothic people, which muftftill dwell loirrwhere in the Crimea. This language would ferve to explain and jiiullrnie the few remains Wv poffefs oi" Bilhop C/^/<7r's tranflation of the wiolpel into Gothic ; while the names and curtoms of this peopl?, ifigether with miny of their f hrafes, and peculiar turns of exprcffion, would throw great 1 ght on the manners and ciiftoms of the auciept 'Jerrsans. Nay, it is poffibU^, that fome famiiies of the flift raiik nmon^; them m ly have preferved to this day feveral bookR, the findinsj of f'liich would pruvc a very important diftovery indeed, Ou» ingenious travelleir DISCOVERIES m the NORTH. 171 \hi$ vicinity between the Goths and Alanians, originates, as I imagine, the name of Gotitalani, The Alanians were the firft inhabitants j the Goths came at a later period, and conquered tlipfe countries, and, as the two nations mingled with eac other, this mixed name like- wife came into ufe. All thefe profefs the Greek reli- gion, as do likewife the Tfcher kaftans. And as I have before made mention of Tumen and Githercan (which latter is otherwife called Citracan and Aftrakhan) I will relate fome remarkable circumftances concerning them. Going from TtimeK eaftwards, and to the fouth-weft, feven days joi--ney, one arrives at the river of l,edil (otherwife the Erdir, Erdil, Atel, Athol, and Wolga) on the banks of which is fituated Githercan^ a little, infignificant town (terrazuola, ter- rlciola) laid wafte, as it were, and in ruins. Formerly it was very confiderable and celebrated ; a^ before the devaftation of it by Tamerlane, the fpices and filks, which go to Syria, were carried by Githercan, and fo to Tana, from whence they were fetched, by fix or feven large gailies to Venice j for at that time no other nation befides Venice traded to Syria. The Edil is a large and very broad river, which difcharges itfelf into the fea of Baku^ 25 Italian miles below Gither- Both in this fea and in the river, innumerable £an. fifh are taken. In this fea (which is likewife tolera- bly fait) there is a great number of fifti, like Tunnies (Morone) and fturgcons (Schenali). One may fail up this river to within three days journey from Mufco (Mofcow, or Mofkwa) mRuJJia. The inhabitants of Mufco go with their Ihips every year to Githercan to fetch fait : and down to this place the pafiage is traveller here compares the difference between the language of a Goth nt Crimea, and that of a German, to the difference between the dialcft of the inhabiunts of Furli in the Pipe's dominions, who train out their vi Lithuania } for Warjaio is not la this province, but in Majurea, or Mafoyia. *** By Farjonich in ail probability is meant the city o^ fVarfaiv. ■\- Of pAcrfar.a it is not eafy 10 dttermine the fitaation ; though I am apt to conclu(?e, from its fituation on the borders of Poland towards the Brandenburgh territories and the neighbourhood of Frankfort on the Oder, that by it Mfjeriz, or MieJz.jnuyez, muft be meant. In the mean time, with rtffeiiT: to ihefe thre-: lalf-mentioned names of places in Poland, the fituation of which I have endeavoured to invtlligate in the notet, I have been icveral times Itruck vath the rdleclion, that in the explication of the .-imes of ihefe places, which, as Jofaphat Barbaro fays, are fituattd in Cwaatrits with which we are v^oil acquainted, theie appears Itl's ci.rtainfy and lersdifnee of probabiliif, than in the txpli- cation ot tii'j namts of thole pl.iccs that lie in much more tinknown legions 1 and indeed I myl'elf have icceivcd leis luticfaftion from them. May DISCOVERIES IN THE NOkTH. 177 Kow we muft fay fomewhat concerning Giorgiania, which lies directly oppofire to the laft-mciitioned places, and bordeh upon Mongrelia [yixugx^W^) . Tha ICing of the province is called Pancratius. He is the Sovereigh of a delightful country^ which produces bread, wine, fleifa, corn, and other fruits of the earth in great abundance. They make a great quantity of wine on the trees, as in Trehifonde, The people are very handfome and well made \ but they have tnoft horrid manners and the worft cuftoms of any people I ever (tiet with. Their heads are fhaved^ excepting fome few hairs, all round, which they fulfer to remain, in the fame manner as it is pra6ti- fed by our Abbots, who have a good income. They wear whifkers about fix inches long. On their headft they wear a cap of various different colours, with ^ feariier at topi They cover their bodies with a tolerably long, though ftrait jacket, which is cloven behind quite up to the loins, for otherwife they could not moUnt their horfesV in which refped I do not {>lame them,' as I fee. that the French wear the fame. On their feet and ancles they wear boots, the foles of which artf made iii fuch a manner that when the wearers (land Upi^ight on their feet, the toes and heels touch the ground. Bu: in the middle they are fa high from the ground, that one may truft one's fift under the fole, without hurting one's felf, and thenccj when they walk, they do it with difH- culty. I fhoiild blame them for this, did I not know that they wear the fame in Perfid. At their meals thefe people have the following cuftom, agree- able to what I faw in the houfe of one of their ■great men. They have a quadrangular table, half an ell over, with a rim to it. In the middle oi it they fet a heap of boiled millet without fait, and without any fat or other addition to it ^ this they May not the greater progreff made in point of cultivation in fuch coun* (riet asare more knuwn and occupied by civiiited and Chiidian nations be the caufe, that we arc not abk tX prefent lu ie(;ugnize thelc pitcet inent'oncti 400 y Gori (Gonieh) which lies towards the Black Sea. This is what I have to relate concerning my Journey to Tarmaf the countries in that part of the world, and the events that are worth mentioning. § XIII. The family of the Zinof, in Venice, i» very^ ancient, and is not only 6{ the higheft Tank of nobility, but is likewife celebrated for the perfor- mance of great anions, ais alio by reafon that the higheft offices and dignities in the ftate had been fil- kd from time immemorial, by men of merit belong- ing to this family. About the year 1200, Marin Ztno ai&fted in making the conqueft of Conftantino- ple, and he was Podlfta^ or Governor of that place sbout the year 1105. He had a fon named Pietr9 Zenoy who was the father of Rinieri Zem, who, in 1282, was Duke or Doge of Venice, and governed it for the fpace of 17 years,- and carried on a war aeainft the Genoefe with great fuccefs. He adopted bis brother Marco'^s fon Andna^ who was afterwards • U is not the Ttgrit ^vhich rum by' the Cde T//7/J, or T*;7j^, fcot rather the Kur^ or the Kjrus of the ancients, and the Mrknari of the Georgians. •f Nor far from Tifiuy and to the weftwan^ af It there is a place cal- led Gori\ but (his i* (liH ft a confiderable di'.nnce from the Black Setf. Gtnith lies on the (horet of this fea. There is likewife the provinc* of Quria^ fituate^ betweea the PhmJKb aad the Batlun (or Bathys). Captain- fca, aga jfath i-aJ. (he the threi Anto Capi from o^aj fecon great with in ore ners i:ende^ acquix view j 9 /hip ilraits (entipr Oprm length part o< neverth againft weath^i But, f< rorldnd that tin ^ame w ivhich i «eed. Latin, i^ nava Admiral ever, at |^ot the DISCOVERIES ifi the NORTH. 179 Vapuin-General of the Venetian, fleet, fitted ou( againft the. Qenoefe. His Ton, Rinieri il. was the father of Pittro, who, in 1362, ,wa.s Captain-Gene^ l-al of the ftate in the league pf tHeChciftians, againft %he TMrks, arid had the.firhame of bracoruj froni the dragon which he l)ore in. his .ihifld. Hi^ ha4 three fons, viz*. Carl^^ Leone ^Uoto il , Gayffiiere^ an4 Antonio* .Of. x\\%(e, Curio Leone^ was Pcociirator and Captain-Qeneral of the Repu()li(;, and refcued her from irptninfnt danger in war, in which .the power of almbft jill. E.urppe was joined againft her. The iecond fon, Nicolo^ w<«s,a Knight, ,and having (hewn great valour in t,he , i«(l-ment;ioned wi^r of Chipggia with the Genoefe, he had a ftrong defire to travel, in orde.r th^t, by getting a^quaintji^d with the man- ners and ian.guag«s of foreign nations he might irendeir hiinf<;lf ft^U naqr^ ufeful tc, his country, and acquijre^. to himfelf ci;edit f|nd l^onou^. tVith this view (being a man of great property), he iitted out s^ fliip at his owq expence, a^d failed througji the ftraits of Gibraltair to the tiorthjnrards, with aa in^ tentipn to viiit England aqd Flanders )., but, by 4 ilorm that . lafted /fev.e'.al days, ,the Veilel w^ at ]^ngth caft away on the coaft of Friejlani (Friilan-: da) i the. crew, howtver, were faved^ with great part of the qargo. This happened in the year 1380 ^ neverthelefs they. were. fpon Attacked by the natives* againft whonr) they, virere hardly able, weary and weather-beaten as they, were, to defend themielves* But, fprtunately for them., the reigning Prince of Borland (Porlanda) by name Zichmni, who was at that time, in Friefland, hearing of their misfortune^ tame with all fpecd to give them his afliftance, of ivhich iuieed thjey ftood at that juncture in great ^eed. ^ter difcourrme (pme time with them in Latin, finding that Nicoio Zeno was very expert both JjP naval and martial affairs^ he gave him the poftof Admiral of his whole fleet, which the latter, how- ever, at firft refufed. >{icolo not long afterwards N 2 virrotd r I I I*! Bi; ■ r H I: I , iiji lin- i8o VOYAGES AND i 1 1 ''' if ''I wrote to his brother Antonio, inviting him to come to Friefland, who accord ingljr Toon arrived there j and Hved four years wit. 'ni, and afterwards ten more with Prince Zichmnt ne. The whole of this re- lation was written by Francifco MarcoHni^ having b^n extra:ppeais to be TV//, or Zeal^ Brtai is firajjoy IJcant it Unfly Trans is prwiably Trondra, and ftill more fimiii« tndes of this kind affording yet greater foundation For thefe conjectures. Nay, the amftzing qusntity or fifh (h^'was caught yearly off the Orkneys, or, according to ZenuV account, off Friefland, and with which Flanders, Britania, England, Scotland, Norway, and Denmark were fupplicd, and the inhabitants of Friefland greatly tnrichcd, relates doubtlefa to the herrings that are caught here every year in great abundance. Iceland was too powerful for Sinclair (or Zichmni) to conquer. Nicib Zent vifited likewife Eajl Greenland.. But Ellotiland and Drogio, which were difcovered afterwards, appear to be fome country that lies to the foulh« ward of Old Greenland. Perhaps Nev^iundiand^ or Winland^ where Ibroe Normans had fettled previous to this, who likewife, in all probabi* l«ty, had brought with them from Europe the Uatin books which were at this tim« in the K.iqg*s library there. fmall 1" A \ " 1^ VOYAGES ANp IM • i j ■ Im PTM i m \ ) m ^ 1 Biil ■Hl3 fmall barks, and only one of them was a fh}(\. With all thcfe they failed to the uredwards, and^ without much difficulty, made themfelves maflers o( Xedovo and llofi*^ and divers other fmaller ifland^ : and turning into a bay called Sudero^ in the haven of- the town named Santjiolt they topic feyeral fmnll barks laden with fi(h**; and here they found Zichmniy Who came by land with his army, conquering all the country as ne went, X**^y ^ayed nere but a fhort ^ime, and {baped their courfe to the weftwards till they came to the other cape of il^e gulph or bay, and here turning again, they found certain iflands and broken lands, all which they brought under fubjec- ^ion to Zichmnt, Thefe feas were in a manner no- thing but (hoal$ and rocks, infomuch, that if Nicoh )Leno, and the Venetian marinei's, had not been their pilots, the whole fliet, in the opinion of all that were in it, had been caft away, fo (mail was the fkill of Zichmni's men, in refpedl of ours, who had been trained up in the art and pra£lice of navigation from ^heir childhood. Now the fleet having done as we have juft beforfe nrie^tion^d, the Admiral, by the ad- vice of Nicolo Tfenoy determined tp go afiiore, at a town called Bondendany with a view to get intelligence ^hat fuccefs Zichmm hzd ill his wars; where they t It ic hirdly poflible to mention all the little !fl,4nds, tnd the places fituVted on the Itrgcft of the Orcadian if^andt; whith by ihe ancients wai called /'out t)ie hill on every fide, of a round form, and zS frajst for good workmen, and ingenious artizins s lor they give great wages, and to thofe that carry them fruits and feeds they are bountiful beyond ineafure ; fo that there is a great refort of work* men and artifts of every denomination, as there are great profits to be made, and provifion is very cheap. Mod of th^fe Monks fpeak Latin, and particularly the fuperiors and principals of the mo* naftery. And this is as much as is known of £ns;reveland (En^roneland, Groenland, or Greenland) from the Klation of Nicolo Zeno, who gives likewife a parti- £utar defcription of a river that he difcovered, as is to be feen in the chart that I (viz. Antonio Zeno) have drawn.- Nicolo, not being able to bear the fe« vere cold of thefe northern climates, fell fick, and « )ittle while after returned to Friefland, where he died. He left behind him two fons, one of whom was nam* ed 7«^», and the other Thomasy which latter likewife l>aa two fons, Nicola, the father of the celebrated Cardinal Zeno, and Peter, from whom are defcended ihe reft of the Zenos, who are now living. After the death of Nicolo, his fortune, as well as his dignity and honours, devolved upon Antonio -, and though he made great fupplications and entreaties for the purpofe, ye^ he was not permitted to return to his native country : for Zichmnii being a man of a high fpirit and great valour, had refolved to make himfelf mafter of the Tea. For this end he made ufe of the talents and advice of Antonio, and ordered him to go with a few b^rks to the weftward ; as in the fum- mer feveral iflands had been difcoyered in thofe feas by fome of his fiihermen. Of this difcovery jfntonia gives a defcription in a Letter to his brother Cat \ which we here give juft as it was written, having made no other alteration in it than tha( of a few an- tiquated (Italian) words. (Letter III.) '* Six and twenty years ago four fiftiing-boats, which had been overtaken by a violent ftorm, were toffed to and fro in a terrible manner on the fea, for the fpace of a great many days \ whcp, at length, the tem^ieft DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. i8f tempeft ceafing, and the weather growing fair, thejr difcovered an ifland called E/t»tUami, which lay above a thoufand miles to the westward of Friefland. One of the boats, with fix men in it, was caft away of» this ifland, and the men were immediately taken hf- the inhabitants, and condu<5ted to a fine and popu- lous city, where the King of the place was, who lent for various interpreters, but none could be found, who underAood the fifhermens language, excepting one, that fpoke Latin. This man, who bad in lik«r manner been cafl by accident on the fame ifland,' aiked them, on the part of the King, of whtt coun- try they were} and, having been made acquainted with their cafe, informed the King of it, who, upon this, ordered that they ihould flay in the country : thefe orders they obeyed, as indeed they could not d<| otherwife, and flayed in that country five years, and learned the language of it ; one of tnem indeed was in various different parts of the ifland, and affirms, thtit it is a very rich country, abounding With everi' commodity and convenience of life ; that it is Httw lefs than Iceland, but much more fertile, havihg in the middle of it a very high mountain, from whicli fprung four rivers, that pafs through the whole country. ** The inhabitants are a very ingenious and fenii* ble people, and have arts of every kind, and handi* crafts, as we have ; and it is highly probable that for- merly they have had feme traffic with our Europeansj for he fays, that he faw fome Latin books in the King's library, which at prefent they do not under- hand; fot they have a language of their own, and letters and characters peculiar to themfelves*. They trade l-'-"'^ "' m i . ft. 1 M i- t*i t 'l mMm * In H«klay(*« ColjcdioiT of Voyages, Vol. III. p. 1*4, it it iddcd, ** Tbey have mioek of all mann«r of meial's, but efpccially they abouoJ with gold.'* This paflage, however, is slot to be found in the Italia* •'i^inal of Ramufiu. [Piom many circumftances it appears that Haktuyt*fi Co!le£lIon waa inade principally with a view to excite bi$ countrymen to prufecutc new ^licoverici io Aioeiica, aaJ 10 prcmoie the trade to that quarter of the globe. ,p 1 « nqp V OV A 6 E S AKb trade with Engroneland^ and get from thence fufs^ brimflone, and pitch. To the foUth of them there lies a very large and populous country, which abounds greatly in gold. They fow corn, and make beer (cervofa) a liquor whicn is drank by the people of the North, as wine is by us. They have large and cxtenfive woods j they make their buildings with walls, and have a great number of towns ana caftles. They build (hips and navigate the Tea 9 but they have, not the load done, and know nothing of the ufe of the compafs: on which account the^ fifhermen were held in high eftimation, infomuch that the King fenC them with twelve ftiips to the fouthward^ to a coun- try called Drogio, In their voyage thither they had fuch contrary wdathef, that they thought they mufl; have periihed in the fea ; but, efcaping that dreadful kind of death, they met with another dill, more ter^ rible} for they were taken prifoners in the country,' and were moft of them devoured by the favages, who. feed on mens fleih, eifeeming it the moft delicious of all food. But this fifherman, with his comrades,, (hewing them the way to take fifli with nets, faved their lives } and would go everyday t6 the fea and the freih rivers, and catch great quantities of fifli^ and give it to the principal people of the country ; by which means he got into fo great favour, that he was beloved and highly refpeiade' repeated voyifges thither in com- pany with theirf, infomuch tBat he became very rich ; and fo,' equipping a bark of his own^ he returned tor FrieJIandy where he made a report to his Lord of ihtf difco^ry t>f this wealthy country; and his iirange and marvellous account was credited, as every thing he faid Was confirmed by the teftimbny of the fail'' ors. •* Accordingly this Lord (i. e. Zichmni) is deteN mined to fend me out with a ilecft to thefe parts, and there are io many that defire to rfiake the voyage with us, on account of the novelty and uncOmmonnefs of the thing *Hat I believe wc (hall be very well m^n-^ ned and u .ed out, without any expence to the pub" lie in general.** — ^And this is the tenor of the Letter before mentioned, which I have here fet down,' in order to give an account of another voyage made by Antonio Zeno, who fet fail with a great number of fhips and men, though at that time he was not Com'' mandcr in Chief, as he at Hrft thought to have been, for Zichmni went in perfon ; and upon this fubjedt I have a letter to the following purport : *« Our DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 193 " Our great preparation for the voyage to EJiotiland was begun in an unlucky hour ; for, three days before our departure, the fifhcrman died, wlio was to have been our guide : notwithftanding which, this Lord would not give up the enterprize j but, inftead of the fifherman, took with him for his guides fcveral failors who had returned with him from the ifland. And fo, ihaping our courfe to the weftwards, we difcovered feveral iflands, fubjc6l to Friefland ; and, after pafling by a flioal or two, we arrived at Ledovo^ where we ftaid a week to refrefli ourfclves, and to provide the fleet with neceftaries. Departing from hence, we arrived on the firft of July off" the ifland of Ihp ; when, the wind being in our favour, we did not ftop there, but went farther on. Shortly after, being on the main fea, we were overtaken by fo dreadful a tem- peft, that for the fpace of eight days we were tofTed to and fro by the winds and the waves, without know- ing whereabouts we v/ere. By the violence of this ftorm we loft a great part of our (hips ; afterwards the weather proving fair, we collected together the wrecks and fhivers of our {battered veflels ; and, hav- ing got a good wind, failed till we defcried land to the weftward, to which directing our courfe, we ar- rived in a good and fafe harbour. Here we faw an infinite number of armed men come running furioufly to the fea-fide, as it were, for the defence of the ifland. Upon this, Zichmni commanding his men to make figns of peace to them, they fent ten men to us, who could (peak ten different languages, none of which, however, we underftood, excepting one that was an Icelander. This man being brought before our Prince, and afked, what was the name of the ifland, by what people it was inhabited, and who go- verned it, anfwered, that the land was called Icaria^ and that all the Kings of it were named Icari^ after the name of its firft King, who^ according to them, was the fon of Dtvdalusy King of Scotland, who con- O qu&red 3il y ■■ ti i '94 VOYAGES ANO fluered this Ifland, and left them his Ton to be therr King, together with thofe laws by which they ftillr were governed. After this, he . faUed farther on , but, being overtaken by a violent ftorm was drown- ed ; in memory of which fatal accident they called that fca th« Icurian Sen^ and the Kings of the ifland Icari t and forafmuch as tliey were contented with the ftate which God had given them, and did not chulis to make the Icaft alteration in their manners and cuftoms, they would not receive any ft ranger ; and therefore reqiiefted of our Prince, that he would not feck to violate thofe laws which they had received from this their King of glorious memory, and had hitherto duly obferved ; which, however, (hould he attempt, it would turn out to his manifeft deftru£li- on, as they were abfolutely refolved rather to lofe their lives than give up their laws. Neverthelcfs, that we might not imagine they (hunned all manner of intercourfe with other people, they told us, by way of conclufion, that they were very willing to receive one of our men, and advance him to be one of the chief amongft them, and that merely with a view to learn my language, and to gain information concern- ing our manners and cuftoms, in the fame manner as they had already received amongft them thofe other ten men who had come into their country from ten other different nations. To all this Zuhmni re- turned not the leaft reply j but, ordering his men to look out for fome good harbour, made as though he was going to depart j when, failing round the illand^ he efpied at length a harbour on the eaftern fide of the ifland, where he put in with all his fleet. The mariners now went on (hore to take in wood and water, which tliey did with all poflible fpeed, for fear of being attacked by the natives. Neither indeed was this precaution taken in vain, for fuch of them as refidcd near that fpot, made lignals to the others by means of fire and fmoke, and immediately took to their arms, and the others going to them, they all came running down together to the fea-fide upon our men, with bows and arrows, and other weapons, Co that as by to all K>ur Co DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. iqi that many of them were killed, and others dangeroufly wounded. And though we made fignnls of peace to them, it was to no purpofe, for they were only the more enraged, and fought as though their all was at ftake. We were therefore obligea to depart, and to ^ail on in a large circuit round the idand^ being all the while accompanied on the tops of the hills amd on the fea coaft by an infinite number of armed men ; and juft where the point of the ifland bends to the northward, we met with many large fhoals, on which we were in continual danger, for the fpace of ten days, of lofing our whole fleet j but that very fortu- nately for us, the weather was fair during the whole time. We failed on, however, till we came to the caftern cape ; and faw the inhabitants ftill keeping up with us on the tops of the hills and on the fea fliorc, and by loud cries and {hooting at us from afar, giving us the moft manifeft token of their unconquer- able natred and averfion to us. We therefore re- folved to ftay in fome fafe harbour, and endeavour, if pofTible, to Ipeak again with the Icelander j but all in vain ; for thefe people, fcarcely a degree above the brute creation, ftood continually under arms with the intent to attack us, if we once attempted to land* Upon this Zichmni, feeing that he could do nothing with them, and that if he perfcvered and obftinately adhered to his firft intentions, the fleet would have been in want of provifion, weighed anchor, and failed with a fair wind, for the fpace of fix days, to th« weftward ; but the wind fliifting to the fouth-weft, and the fea growing rough, we failed four days with the wind in the poop, and at length difcovercd land,, to which, however, we were afraid of approaching too jiear, as well on account of the fea being extremely rough, as of our being unacquainted with the coaft. But, by the providence of God, the wind ceafed and the fea became calm. Upon which fome of our com- pany rowed to land with oars, and returned with the agreeable tidings that they had found a very good- country and an excellent harbour. On the receipt oi this piece of intelligence wc towed cur fhips and fmall O 2 b-rks I mi M '■•% u.m % ill 196 VOYAGES AND barks into the harbour, which when v/c entered, we defcried at a fmall dillance a huge mountain that emit- ted rmolce, which gave us great hopes that we (hould find fome inhabitants in the illand : and though the place where the fmokc appeared to ifl'ue was at a great diflance from us, Zichmni would not reft till he had fent 100 foldicrs to explore the country, and bring back word what people they were that inhabited it. In the mean while they took in wood and water for the ufe of tlic fleet, and caugiit vaft quantities of filh and Tea fowl ; and at the fame time found fo great a number of birds eggs, that our men, who bcff)re were half familhcd, had more ihan they could eat. While we rode in this harbour the month of Jime * commenced, at which time the air in the ifland was as mild and temperate as one could wifti ; but feeing nobody, we began to fuf- pucct that this delightful place was defolate and unin- habited. To the haven we gave the name of TV/«, ?id the point that ftretched out into the fea, we called Cape Trin. The hundred foldiers that had been fent out, in the fpace of eight days returned, and informr! us, that they had been all through th( idand quite to the mountain, and that the fmoke we faw proccx:.!;d from a fire at the bottom of it, and that at the lame place there was a fpring, from which iflUcd a liquid of the nat..re of pitch, which ran into the fea. Li'ce- wife that the interior part of the country was inhabited by wild people, who hid themfelves in caves j were (hort of ftature, and very timid ; for as foon as they faw our people they fled to their holes : moreover, that in that part of the ifland there was a large river and fafe harbour. 5Cichmni, after receiving this piece of long • So long before as when (lie fleet was arrived ofF the Ifleof Ilofe, 'it was ihe ilt of July ; and now we ate loK), " commenced the month of Junt;'^ which iTiews very evidently, th.it there rputl be an error in one of thcfe pafTages; and as Zcno foon after this tells in, that the people under hii command complained that " the winter was coming on/* there can be no duubt but that in this place, inftead of yew, we (houlJ read Augujl. intelligence, DISCOVERIES IN' THR NORTH. 197 intelligence, confidering that the ifiand was bleft with a pure and healthy air, a good foil, fine rivers, and many other advantages, rctolvcd to people it, and build a town on it. But his people, quite wivricd out with fo long and tedious a voyav,c, began to niui - mur, faying, that they chofc to return to their own country ; for the winter approached very fall, and were that once come, they fhould not be al le* to get away again before the enluing funimer. On which account, retaining only the barks with oars, and fuch of the men as were willing to Iby with him, fcnt all the rclt, with the Ihips, back again, and chofe that I, though fore againft my will, fhould command them. ** Taking therefore my departure (as indeed I wa«j obliged to do) I failed for the ipacc of 20 days to the eaftward, without having fight of any land ; then, fhifting my courfe towards the fbuth-ealt, in five days I difcovcrcd land, and perceived that 1 was near the ifiand of Neone *, and knowing the country, found that I had already palled by Iceland 'y fo that taking in refrefhmcnts of the inhabitants, who were fubjecl: to Zichmni, we failed in three days, with a fair wind, to Fr'ujland\ where the people, who by reafbn of our long abfence, thought they had lolt their Prince, re- ceived us with demonftrations of the greateft joy." Beiides what is contained in this Letter, I knowr nothing more, than what I gather by conje(Sture from part of another Letter, which I will here fet down, viz. " That Zichmni built a fmall town f in the- harbour of the ifiand he had difcovered, and that he took great pains to explore the country, and difco- vered the whole of it, together with the rivers on both iidcs of Engroneland (Greenland) forafmuch as I fee * Neome feenjs to be the idanil of Sircmtg, one of the Faro IHands, as it is, in fa£V, to the I'outhward of lceland> and only three days lail from the Oikneys, or Farat IJlanJs, i. e- Friefland. •^ Hakluyt tranflatts it thus, *' built a town," The original fays, fece una terra. w i^^f^- »' it a r98 VOYAGES ANB it particularly defcriy>,.J in the map, but the narrattv^ of it is loft. The paflage aiJuded to of the Letter runs thus : *' As to the particulars you are defirous to know of me concerning the cuftoms of the people, the animals, and the adjacent countries, of all thefe I have written a feparate book, which, God willing, I intend to bring with me: in this book I have given a defcription of the country, the wonderful fiflies, the laws and cuf- toms of Frtejland^ Iceland^ Ejiland, the kingdom of Norway^ E/iotiland, Drogio, and, finally, the life of the Chevalier Nicolo Zeno, our brother ; with the difcoveries made by him, and the ftate of Greenland (Grolanda), I have alfo written the life and afts of Zichmni, a prince as worthy of immortal fame as any that ever lived, on account of his great valour and humanity ; therein, too, I have defcribed the difcovery of Engroveland (Engroneland, or Greenland) on both its fides, and the town that he built. I fliall therefore fay no more on the fubjedt in this Letter, as I hope foon to be with you and fatisfy you concerning many other things, in perfon." All thefe Letters were written by Mefler Antonio to his brother Carlo. This is the whole of the account of the voyages made in the North by the two Zenos. Many have been inclined to rejed: the whole of this narrative, as being falfe and fabul©us, becaufe the names of the countries, Friefland, Eftland, Porland, Sorani, Elloti- land, Drogio, and Engroveland, are no longer any where to be met with. But after I had narrowly in- fpe£led it, and tranflated it myfelf from the Italian of Francefco Marcolini, preferved in Ramufio's collection, it was in the higheft degree evident to me, that the whole of this relation is true, as, in fa£l, it contains within itfelf the ftrongeft proofs of its pwn authen- ticity^ Th? DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 199 The author of this relation, MarcoUni^ has extradted Jt from the original letters of the two Zemsy one of the moft confiderable families in Venice .; 1 family on which no one would have the boldnefs to palm ftories of this kind, fuppofing them to be abfolutely falfe. It muft doubtlefs be well known, and be de- monflrable from accounts to be found in original re- cords and archives at Venice, that there were fuch people actually in being as thefe brothers. Carlo, Ni- colo, and Antonio Zeno ; that tlie Chevalier undertook a voyage to the North, and his brother Antonio fol- lowed him thither j that this fame Antonio laid down all thefe voyages and countries on a map, which he brought with him to Venice, and which hung up in his houfe in Marcolini's time (where it was in the power of every one to fee and examine it) as a fure pledge and an inconteftible proof of the truth of this narrative. This being then the cafe, how is it poflible for any one to harbour the leaft doubt concerning the truth of thefe relations, much more abfolutely to rejedt them as fabulous ? Should, however, any one perfift in fuch incredulity, nothing farther can be oppofed to him ; as in this cafe there muft be an end to all faith in hiftory ; and it would be but labour in vain to en- deavour to convince one who purpofely ftiuts his eyes againft the truth. But it is alledged likcwife, that the whole narrative has the appearance of a mere fable. In what part of the North is Friejlandy and the other countries mentioned in the narrative ? Who has ever heard of a Zichmniy that in 1379, or 1380, vanquiftied the King of Norway, who at that time was called Ha- kon f It muft be confelled that there is feme degree of plaufibility in all this. Yet we think we can do a great deal towards clearing the whole of this hiftory from the difficulties which attend it. J" And 200 VOYAGES AND Ar\A firji I, I ''51 '\\m ft04 VOYAGES Ai^d more than looo miles to the weftward of Friefland ; that the inhabitants were civilized, had arts and han- dicraft trades, carried on a trade in furs with Green- Jand, and brought back from thence brimftone and pitch J that they were in poflelfion of Latin books which they no longer underftood, but had a peculiar language, as well as letters and a written charadter of their own. To the fouthwards there were coun- tries abounding with gold : here they had walled cities, and built ihips i they likewife pra<^ifed agriculture and brewed beer. All thefe particular delignations are ftrong indications of a people that had its origin from the northern nations of Europe. Nay,'^ it is evident, that this Ejioilland cannot pofiibly be any other coun- try than that of IFinland^ which was difcovered in. the year looi, and which we have fhewri at page 83, with r tolerable degree of certainty, to be the Nnvfoundland of the moderns. It is beyond all dpubf. that feveral Normans fettled in this country ; thefe carried thither with them the arts and handicraft trader then known, and traded to Greenland, from whence they originally came. It is very poffible indeed that their language might have been altered by their mix- ture with the natives J and a fiflierman- from the Orkneys might be very well fuppofed to have been ignorant of the Runic. That Latin books were found in the collecSlion belonging to the King, or Chief, is not furprizing, as it is well known, and indeed has been obferved at page 87 of this Hiftory, that Eric^ Biihop of Greenland, went in the year 1 121 to Win-^ iand, in ofder to convert his countrymen in thofe parts, who were fVill heathens. But it is not to be fuppofed that this Bifhop would have been at the pains to make a voyage to IVinland above a hundred years after the firft difcovery of it, if he had not known with certainty, that there were at that time many of the defcendants of his countrymen in that region. Now, as this prelate was never known to have returned to Greenland, it is not improbable that he died in Win- Jand i and confequently the Ladn books found in this lattejT DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 205 latter country might have been carried thither by him. The Normans had alfo introduced into it the art of brewing beer, and agriculture. The people of this country underftood navigation too, and vv^ent back- wards and forwards to Greenland ; but at the time when the Normans firft fettled in Winland, the ufe of the compafs was not known. For the commonly re- ceived opinion is, that Flavio Gioia^ of Amalfl, in the kingdom of Naples, made the difcovery of it in 1302; though others maintain, that Marco Polo, who was in China and the Eaft from 127 1 to 1295, brought home with him the ufe of the compafs from China, where it is faid to have been known long before. On the other hand, Fauchet^ from a palfage in Guyot de Provence, a Provencal poet, who flourilhed about the year 1 206, and mentions the compafs by the name of la marinette^ concludes, that this inftrument was then in ufe among mariners. In fhort, it is evident, that the Orkney fifliermen at this time made ufe of the compafs in their navigations, an inftrument at that period not known to the inhabitants of EJlotiland. The land of Drogto lay mcyc to the fouthward than EJlotiland^ as did all the other countries through which the fiflierman wandered during the fpace of 13 years, and among which he at laft found nations, who lived in a very temperate climate ; and had cities and temples, wherein they offered up human beings by way of facri- fice, and devoured their flefli. Thei'e people, too, were riot totally without information, and were poflefled of gold and filver. Nearly thus were the firft inhabitants of Florida defcribed, who were in pofTeflion of cities and temples as well as of gold and filver, at the time when their country was firft re-difcovcred by the Eu- ropeans. Antonio Zeno now proceeds to relate the hiftory of the laft voyage of difcovery which he made with Zichmni, in cr-^er to explore the country that had been feen, and thus circumftantially defcribed by the fifherman. t: — From Fnejlandy i. e. Faira, in the Orkneys, the fleet » i.i ^^^! ■m ao6 VOYAGES AND fleet goes to Ledovoy or Lewis^ one, of the wcftcnf idands, and then to Jlofe, viz. Hay, or, as it was probably called, lU-oe. When they had failed a little way to the weftwards, they were toffed to and fro by a tempeft, for the Ipace of eight days, and as foon as the wind be- came fair^ defcried land. Here the inhabitants would not fuffer them to make a landing, but fpoke to them by an interpreter, who was a native of Iceland. The country was called Icaria : after this follows a ftrange ilor)k of one Dadalus, Kin2 of Scotland, and his fon Icarus, who became their King and Legiflator. This country, which had been newly peopled, was no other than Ireland, where they had the recoil e£lion of the piracies of the Normans deeply imprefled on their memories, and therefore would not permit thefc warriors, who were quite unknown to them, to land. It was perhaps from the county of Kerry that this name of Icaria took its origin j and the name of Icarus's father muft of courfe be Dadalusy who, in all proba- bility, was fome Scottifli Prince, with a name founding fomewhat like this word. From this place they failed fix da3rs to the we ft ward, with a fair wind ; but in four days a ftorm from me fouth-weft drove them to the northwards, when they defcried land, with a burn- ing mountain, whence ilfued fmoke and fire, and a river which flowed with afphaltus. A half- wild, dimi- nutive race of men, lived here in caverns. In the; fequel, Zeno himfelf tells us, that Zichmni had ex- plored the whole country, and together with it had dif- covered the rivers on both fidei of Engroncland^ i. e. Greenland, and built a town there. So that it is beyond all doubt, that the country difcovered by Zichmni was Greenland. At the fame time it is remarkable, that he met with no Europeans, nor any of their defcendants, nor even with the Monks found a few years before by Nicholo Zeno in the cloifter of St. Thomas. The inhabitants are, according to the defcription here given, real Greenlanders, ihort of ftature and half wild, but live in caverns, which, in fa£l, arc at this jundture .the winter habitations of the DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 107 Ae natives of Greenland. This fecms to intinutte, that the natives of this country, or the anceftors of the prcfcnt race of Greenlandcrs, between 1380 aiul 1384, or thereabouts, had extirpated *:he new comers from Europe, together with the Monies. Farther, it is evident, frr»m this narrative, that the eaftern as the weftern coaft of Greenland, not only was known to the Europeans, but they were both laid down in a map by Antonio Zeno. This fame perfon, in returning to FrUJIantfy faW the ifland of Neome, which I t, ' ' to be Strom^ey one of the Faro iflcs ; a circumftance which feems to point out with ftill greater certainty the courfe of his navigation. I take the liberty or obferving here, en paflknt, that Portland likewife belonged to tiie domains of Zichmni, and that by this name in all probability are meant the Faroery or Faro Jjlandsc the great number of (heep which were fed there having furnifhed thefe iflands both with weapons and a name ; for Far^ in Dani(h, figniBcs a ram, Now« Far-Qiy or Far-land'^ is eafily tranfmuted into Por- land. In confequence of the preceding elucidations, I flat^ ter myfelf that the unprejudiced part of my readers will not be difpofed, from any confiderations refpc^V- ing the geography of it, to harbour the leaft doubt concerning the truth of this relation, having endea- voured to make it appear, with as much probability as the fubje6t is capable of, that the countries vifited and defcribed by the two Zenos, are of the number of thofe which are already known, that Greenland was vifited by them, and that thefe illuftrious adven- turers were even not unacquainted with America. We will now turn to the hiftorical proofs. It i« true, among the Princes or Sovereigns of the Ork- neys, between the years 1370 and 1394, we find no fuch name as Zichmni^ and confequently no Orca- dian King or Prince, who about this time vanquilh-- ed the King of Norway in a pitched battle. The Hiftory of the Orkneys at this period will probably I'erve to throw fome light upon this fubjet'i. The ii m 9o8 VOYAGES AND The ancient Earls of Orkney, the dcfcendants of the Jarl E'lnar-Torfy were extindl ; in confequcnce pf which the King of Norway, Magnus Smaky about the year 1343, nominated Erngifel Sunafon Bot^ a Swedi(h nobleman, Jarl^ or Earl of Orkney^ and the treafure of the earldom was feized upon for the Crown. In the year 1357, Malic Conda, or Mollis Sperre, by his guardian, Duncan Anderfon^ made known to the ftates of the Orkneys his pretenfions to the earldom, as being rightful heir to it in the female line j which pretfenfions the ftates laid before the King. After- wards (in 1369) Henry Sinclair (de Santa Clara) like- wife put in his claim as rightful heir in the female line, and in 1370, was nominated to this earldom by King Hakon. Now, as befides this, Alexander of Ardy or Le-ard, claimed the Orkneys as a defcen- dant in the female line, and there were many that, under this pretence, harrafl'ed the iflands by repeated adls of piracy, Hakon rcqucftcd of David, King of Scotland, to put a flop to this growing evil j in con- fequcnce of which requcft, King David forbad, on pain of death, any of his fubjecls to go to the Ork- neys, except with a view to trade. In 1375, Ha- kon appointed Alexander Le-ard, for a year, to the earldom. Thefe frequent changes feem to fliew, that the Kings of Norway, on account of the troubles at that time exifting in Sweden and Norway, were not very well able to defend the Orkneys, which, there- fore, continued to be expofed to the depredations of the pretenders to the earldom. Want of money, too, oblio-ed the Norwc";ian monarchs to favour all thefe claimants, and grant them letters of inveltment, ac- cordingly as the latter furni(hed them with money. In confequence of this the degraded and malcontent Earls had continual bickerings with the newly-inveft- ed Lords, and even fometimes regularly waged war with them. Now Henry Sinclair appears to have fairly vanquiflied Le-ard^ and taken poiieflion of the Ork- neys, and upon this to have made fuit to the King to be invefted with the earldom, which fuit the King, after Sinclair's victory over Le-ard^ granted. At DISCOVERIES IS' THE NORTH. 209 Al the fame time, however, Henry Sinclair was oblig- ed to pay him lOOO golden nobles, and promife to accommodate matters with Maltis Sprrrty and the other claimant, Alexander Le-Ard^ fo that they fhould make no farther pretenftons to the Orkneys, but en- tirely give up their right and title to thtfe iflands ; and liiice the year 1379 there are veftiges to be met with in hiltory, that Henry Sinclair was ftill £arl of the Orkneys In the year 1406, and like- wife in the poilejnon af Hialtalandy (or the Shetland Iflands). With thefe few hiilorical anecdotes we are now able to elucidate m<:ny particulars which before feemcd involved in obfcurity. The name of Sinclair^ or Siclaif, is eafily taken for Zichmni by an Italian who only hears the word pronounced ; and as this Sinclair vanquished Alexander Le-Ard^ who reprefent-^ ed the King of Norway in the Orkneys, and as he made himfclf mafter of thofe iflands, of which h^ then, and not till then, applied for the invcftiture, and obtained it in 1739; '^ might with no grea^ impropriety be affirmed, that ho had beat the King of Norway, viz. in the perfon of his vaflal. The thoufand golden nobles, too, doubtlefs contributed fomewhat towards King Hakon*^ making no great difficulty of the matter. So that after thefe clucida- reafon left to doubt of the of the Zenos, which yet, to the geography of the tions there can be no truth of this narrative confidercd with refpeft North at that period, is of great importance. XIV, Pietro ^irini^ a Venetian nobleman, was a merchant and maiter of a fliip in the ifland of Can-* dia^ which at that time was in the pofleflion of the Venetians. With a view to acquire fame as well as profit, in the year 1431, he undertook a voyage from Candia to Flanders, and ti wards the end of autumn fufFered (hipwreck on the coaft of Norway, not far from Roji Ifland. Here he wintered, and the fol- '!■ 11* *•': it P lowing 210 VOYAGES AND lowing fummer travelled through Dronthelm to //W- Jienoy in Sweden, and arrived again in 1432 at Ve- nice. He has himfulf given an account of the voy- age, and two of his fellow-travellers, Chrijlopho Fi" cravante^ and Nicolo di Michiel^ did the fame. Both thefe works are to be found in RaTnufto\ ColleSiion^ publifhcd at Venice, in two volumes, A. D. 1583, page 200 — 211. They have likewife been published in the German language, by way of extradt, from Ramufio, by Hieronymus Megiferus, in a work called Septentrio Novantiqiius, Printed in 8vo at Leipfic, 1613. Sluirini informs us, that on the 25th of April, I431, he fet fail from Candia, on a wcflward courfe, but, meeting with contrary winds, he was obliged to keep near theeoaft of Africa. On the 2d of June he pafled the Straits of Gibraltar, and through the ignorance of his pilot ran upon the (hoals of St. Pc- tro, in confequence of which the rudder was thrown off the hinges, and the fea entered the (hip at three places. In fa£l, it was with great difficulty that they could favc the vell'el from going to the bottom, land run into Cadizy where they unloaded her, and in 25 days, havmg put her into perfedt repair, took her Jading in a?ain. In the mean time, having heard that the Kepublic of Venice was at war with that of Qc- noa, he augmented the number of his crew, fo that in the whole it amounted to 68 men. On the 14th of July he fet fail again, and bore up for the Cape of St. Vin- cent ; but, by reafon of a contrary wind, which blew from off the land in a north-eaft dircdlion, and on that road is called Jgioney they v/ere obliged to traverf© for the fpace of 45 days at a great dillance from the land, and indeed near the Canary Iflands, in tracks which were very dangerous, and with which they were entirely unacquainted. But at length, jud as their ftoek of provifions began to fail, they had a fair wind from the fouth-weft, and Jire6ted their courfe to the north-eaft : fome of the iron -work, however, gave way, on which the rudder was hung. In the mean time they mended them as well as they could, and on the 25th of Augufl, arived fafe at Lijhon, Here DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. ait Here having carefully repaired the iron-work of t )cir rudder, and taken in a frefti (Vock of provifi- CMis, they let fail again on the 14th of Sept. They were now a fecond time tolled to and fro by contra- ry winds, till the 26th of 0(5toberi when they reach- ed the port bf Muresy whence Qj^iirini, with 13 of the crew, went to San Jago di Comp$Jiella^ in order to perform their devotions. They returned with all polllble fpeed, and fetting fail with a fair fouth-weft wind, kept, in hopes that the wind would conti- Due, at the dillance of 200 miles from the land, and Cape Finijierty till the 5th of November, when the \yind ftiifting to the eart and fouth-eaft, preventc4 them from entering the Britifti Channel, and carried them beyond the Sorlingiany (or Scilly) Iflands. The wind now encreafed in violence, and on the loth of November^ carried the rudder a fecond time from off its hinges. They flung it indeed by ropes to the quarters of the (hip, but it fooh gotloofe again, and was dragged after the (hip for the fpace of three days, when the ufed their uthiofl efforts, and made it fall again. But their veifel now drove continu- ally farther from the lartd ; and as the crew con- fumed the visuals and drink without limits or mO" deration, at length tVvo or three of them were fet to guard the provihons, who twite a day di((ributed to each man his (hare^ Quirini himfelf not> excepted. In this condition, by the advice of the carpenter^ they conflrudted, out of the mainmaft and the fpare yards, two rudders with triangular boarded ends, in order to prevent the veflel from going unfteady. Thefe new rudders were properly faftened^ and proved very ferviceable^ a circumflance which infpired them all with fre(h hopes } but, by the violence of the winds^ likewife this their laft refuge was torn away from the (hip. On the 26th of Novemberj the f^orm encreafed to fuch a degree, that they had no doui)t but that that day would be their la(l. The llorm indeed, by degrees, became fomewhat lefs vr- uJeni ; but they were driven out to fea, W. N. W< P 2 and I r' I'm, I I ■fi ' ! ' ■ ;| 212 VOYAGES AND and the fails, which had been perpetually fatigued by the rain and wind, were now torn to ihivers; and though they clapt on new ones, yet thefc did not laft long. Now the fliip drove without either fails or rudder, and was Ailed with water by the waves which continually beat over it, infomuch that the crev; , debilitated jy labour and anxiety, were fcarcely 2:ble to keep thi water under. Having heav- ed the lead, and found ground at 80 fathoms, they; fpliced &1I the four cables together, and rode at anchor for the fpace of 40 hours. One of the crew» terrified at the dreadful working of the Ihip hi con-' fequence of the tempefl; and the fwell of the fca, cut the cable at the forecaftle of the ihip, which now tiiove about as before. On the 4th of Decem- ber, fuur large waves breaking over the ill-fated vuiiel, filled it fo full that it was almuft ready to fmk. The crew, however, fun;moning up all their refoiution and fpirits, baled the water out, though it reached up to their waiHs, and in the end quite emptied the veflel of it. On the 7th the tempeft ericreafed to fuch a degree, that the fea flowed into the veflel on the windward fide, and their deftruc- tion feemed to them invitable. But now they were of opinion, that if the mainmaft were cut away, it would lighten the (hip. They therefere fet about this bufinefs immediately, and a large wave fortu- nately carried away the maft, together with the yard, which made the (hip work lefs. The wind, too, and the v^aves, became fomewhat more calm, and they again bailed out the water. But now the maft was gone, the vefl'el would no longer keep upright, aiid lying quite on one fide, the water ran into it in torrents, when, bein^ exhauded with labour and want of food, and finding that they had not ihength left iufficient for clearing the vefi*el of the water, they re- folved at length to fave themfelvcs in the boats, of which the DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH, 213 the larger held 47, and the fmaller 21 men. ^irini^ who had the choice which boat he would go in, at lad went with his fervants into the great boat, into which he faw the officers enter. They took with them a ftocic of provifions, and as Toon as the winds fend the waves were become fomewhat more calm, which was on the 17th of December, they quitted the (hip, which, among other coilly articles of com- merce, was laden with 8co cailcs of Malmfey wine, 9nd a great, quantity of fweet-fcented Cyprus wood, ginger, and pepper. On the following night the imall-boat, with the 21 men in her, was feparated ^rpm them by the violence of the ftorm, and they never heard of her more. Indeed they were them- felves obliged, in order to lighten their boat a little, to throw over-board their flock of wine and provifi- ons, together with all their clothes, excepting what they carried on their backs. The weather proving fair for a time, they fleered to the eadward, with a view to get, as they fuppofed, to Iceland ; but the wind chopping about, drove them to and fro again. Their liquor beginning to fail, and befides many of them being exhaufled in confequence of the precede ing fcarcity of provifions, as well as of the inceflant labour, long watchings, and other hardfhips they had undergone, a great number of them died : the fcarcity of drink in particular was fo great, that each man had no more than the fourth part of a cup (and that not a large one) every 24 hours. Witn falted meat, cheefe, and bifcuit, they were better provided : but this fait and dry food excited in them a thirfl which they were not able r:> quench. In confequence of this, fome of them died fuddenly, and without having previoufly exhibited the leafl fymptoms of any complaint ^ and in particular it was obferved, that thofe were firfl carried off who had before this period lived in the mofl riotous manner, who had drank great quantities of wine, or entirely given themfelves up to drunkennefs, and had hovered con- tinually IF I 214 VOYAGES AND i^ tinually over the fire, without ftirring at all but t<^ fhift from one fide of the fire to the other. Thcfe. though they had externally the appearance of being ilrong ^and healthy, were yet leaft of all capable of Rearing the hardfliips they were obliged to undergo* in confequence of which they died two, three, and four in a day. This mortality prevailed among the crew from the 19th of December to the igth, the corpfes being thrown into the fea. On the loth the ]aft remainder of the wine was ferved out, and every one prepared for death. Some of them drank fca- water, which hallened their deaths, while others '.lad recourfe to their own urine, and this latter beverage, joined with the precaution of eating as little fait pro- vifion as poilible, contributed moil of all to the pre- fervation of their lives. For the fpace of five days they continued in this dreadful fituation, failing all the time to the north-eaftward. On the 4th of Ja- nuary, one of them, who fat at the fore part of the boat, defcried, fomcwhat to the leeward, as it were, the (hadow of land, and immediately informed the crew of it in an auxious tone of voice. Their eyes vf€te now all turned to the objeft, and continued itedfaftly fixed upon it, and by break of day they faw, with extreme joy, that it was really land. The fight of this infpired them with frefh vigour, fo that they now took to their oars, in order to ar- rive the fooner at the ihore ; but this, on account of its great diftance, as well as of the (hortnefs of the day, which was only two hours long, they could not compafs. Befides, they could not long make ufe of their oars, as they were fo weak, and as the night foon overtook them, which, long, as it was, feemed ftill longer to them from the impatience na- tural to men in their condition. The next morning, by day-break, they loft fight of the land however, to the leeward, they difcovered another mountain- ous country very near them. That they might not, on the following night, lofe fight of this, they took the bearings of it with the compafs, and then imme- diately DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 215 Hiatcly fet fail for it with a fair wind, and arrived at It about four o'clock in the evening. When they ?pproached near to it they obferved that it was fur- rounded by a great number of (hallow places, for they beard very diftindly the fea breaking upon them. They gave themfelves up, however, to the guidance of the Almighty; and once their boat being brought upon a fhoal, a vad wave came and carried it off again, at the fame time fetting them entirely out of danger, and upon a rock which now was their great fecurity and prefervation. This was the only place where they could land, as the rock was encompafled on every other Me by other projecting rocks. They therefore ran their boat on to the land, when thole that were in the fore part of the boat, leaped diredly on (hore, and finding it entirely covered with fnow, they fwallowed the fnow in immenfe quantities, fill, ing with it their parched and burning Homachs and bowels. They likewife filled a .kettle and water- pitcher for us, that from weaknefs (laid in the boat. I muft confefs, fays Quirini, that I fwallowed as much fnow as Lfbould find it very difficult to carry- on my back. It feemed to me as though all my weir fare and happinefs depended on my fwallowing it. However, this extravagant quantity of fnow agreed fo ill with five of our men, that they died that fame night, though, indeed, we conHdered the fea-water they had fwallowed as the caufe of their death. Having no ropes to fallen the boat with, and thus prevent it from being dafhcd in pieces, they remained in it the whole night. The next day, at dawn, thefe 16 poor wretches, the only remains of 46, went a-fhure and laid themfelves down in the fnow. Hunger, however,, foon obliged them to examine whether (here was not fome provifion ftill remain- ing of their ftcrk; but they found nothing more than a few crumbs of bifcuit in a bag, mixed with the dung of mice, a very fmail ham, and an incon- fiderable quantity of cheefe. Thefe they warmed by means of a fmall fire, which they had made of the feats .of the boat, and this, in fome mcafure, ap- pealed m m 2l6 VOYAGES AN© peafed their hunger. The Hay after, having convinc- ed themfelves, beyond a c.»ubt, that the rock they Avcre on was uninhabited and quite deferted, they were going to quit it, and accordingly, after filling five fmall cafks with ,fnowp on the (horc. Thirteen of the company were in v.-e tent, and three in the other. The fmoke of the wet wood occafioned their faces and eyes to fwell up to fo great a degree, that they were afraid of lofing their eye-fight ; and what ftill added to their fufFerings, was that they were almoft devoured by lice and maggots, which they threw by handfuls into the fire. Quirini's fecretary had the ilefti on his neck eaten bare to the finews by thefe vermin, which, indeed, occafioned his death. There died alio three Spaniards befides, who were of a Tcry robuft frame of body, but probably loil their lives in confequenee of the fea-water they had drunk *. The 13 Itill remaining alive were fo weak that they were * U. is hip*ily probable that ihi« ohfervation is founded on fafl:, at well 9s that meiiU»iic(l a Utile before, vh. thai |.he hardeft drinkeis, who at the lame lime were thf moft ioadiv* ptopie, were the firft viftim.- of deaih : for ev»-n now we find that in long voyage*, (uch as are idle and in.tdive, and drink a greai quantity of tlrong liquors of any kind, ar^ tlways the tirll to be attacked with ih* I'curvy and are carried nff )ud- »ff nly by it. In the mean time I cann t refrain from relating an incident which a4\ually happened, !- li'jns and ).(|uoi', tliey loon b«gan to be affli^ed with hunger as well Ai ■ third in a high degree, when 'he Captain adviled them by no meant ta diink the fea-water, as the cfle£ts of it would be extremely noxiouis; but rather to toliow his example, and, thinly cladi dip in the (ea. He himtelf pradifed this conlUnily, and mt only he, but all thofe who fol- lowed his example, found thai, when tht y came out cf the water* both thtir hunger and thirll were perfeflly appeai'ed for a lon^ time. Maiiy ot^ the crew laughed at him and at thole that followed his initruiHionR, but at length grew weak, exhaufted, and died oi hunger and thii A ; njy, fame I'f them, urged by dcipair, threw themlelves ttitn ihe lea : but the Captain, and fuch as feveral times a day dipped inio tl^efcs, prtferv- ed iheir lives for the fpaceof 19 da)s, and at ihe end oh that period were taken up by a velTel which was falling that way. It (hould fecm that rhey absorbed, by the pores of iheir bodie.*!* as much pure water as wr.s fuffi- citni for iheir nourifhment, all the lalt being at the lame time Iffi be- hind. In faft, I was told that the lalt was depofited on the exerior !ur- taie o'" their bodies in t'".e lorin of a tUiu |>cilicle, whi^h i.hey '.'.ere obliged repeatedly to rub yjff. m iH! 'e I .HI 1 -'m liS ^•- VOYAGES AND was cut into fmall flices, ?»nd carried to their dwell- ing, where they diredtly fet about boiling and broiU ing it. But the Onell of it was (o extremely tempt- ing, that they had not patience to wjait till it wa^ thoroughly drefled, and eat it half raw. They conti- ni the year a great num-< ber of (hips, from 300 to -^^c tons burthens, carry ail the produce of Germany, Kngland, Scotland, and Pruffia; together with every thing ncceflary in regard to food, drink, and cloathing; and thefe Afh they barter for thofe commodities and neceflaries, b^cauit; their country being entirely barren and unfruitful, they confequently hive no ufe for money, imme- diately as the exchange is made, they return home, landing in one place only, whence they carry wood for the whole year for burning, and for other exigen- cies.' . ;i.-.- The inhabitants of thefe rocks are a well-locking people, and of pure morals. They are not ,in the leafi afraid of being robbed. Accordingly they ne- ver lock up any thing, but leave their doors and every thing open. Their women alfo are not watched ia the fmalleft degree; for their guefts lay in thi: fame room with the hufbands and their wives and daugh- ters, who, when they went to bed, ftripped quite naked in their prefence. The beds of tin, foreigners^ who were faved from the wreck, flood clofe to thofe in which flept the grown-up fons and daughters of their landlords. Every other day the father and fons went a fifhing by break of day, and were abfent for eight hours together, without being under any con-"^ cern with refpedt to the honour and chaftity of their wives'ind daughters. In the beginning of the nwnth of May their women ufually begin to frequent the baths. Cuflom and purity of morals have made it a law amongft therh, that they fhould firft ftrip themfelves quite naked at home, and then go to the bath, at the diftance of bow-ftjot from the houfe. in their right-hand they carry a bundle of herbs to wipe the fweat from off their backs ; at the fame time laying their left-hand fomewhat extended on their middle, as if they thereby wifhed to cover the parts of fhame, though, in fa6t, they did not feem to take much pains about it. in the bath they were DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 223 were feen promifcuoufly wifh the men *. They had nol the leaft rtotion of fornication or adultery, an4 did not marry from fcnfual motives, but merely in order to conform to the divine commandSi They alfo abf^ained from fwearing and curfmt^* At ths death of their relations they (hewed the greateft re-' fignation to the will of God, and even returned thanks to the Almighty in th^ir churches for having fpared their friends fo long a time, and for having' fuffered them to live fo long with them, and in thaC he now called them to himfelf to be partakers of his heavenly bounty. They alfo (hewed fo little of ex- travagant lamentations and grief, that it appeared * I'he calVom of men and women frequrnting the baths at one and the fame time is vtry ancient, for it exilled among the Romans, and u£ them the Grecians Learned it, according to the teilimony of Plutarch^ in the Life of Cato ine elder, p. 348, edit. Aubriamt Francoj. \6th f$l. But in the courl'e oi time this raftom gave rife to fuch fhameful lewd practices, that the Empcri>rs 4drianut ttid Marcut AnUninni found it necefTaiy to prohibit it by law. Sfiartian in yila Adriani tt Jul. Capi- tilin. lit Marco. HeUogabalut^ on the contrary, bathed himleif along with the-women, and as it was coontenanced by the Emp«ror*s example, ^ia practice mull again have become univeifal. jEl, Lamprid. im Helti' gabala and AUxandro Severe: for his fuccciTor, v^^rx/io^fr, prohibited it dfie(h. The'e laws, h«wever, leem to hsiv« fallen into oblivi n, fince even the Chriflians retained ihii immoral praAice, alFording occafion (a many fynedk to compofe decrees for the prohibition cf it. The Count il of Laudicca, in the 30th citnon, forbids the bathing of men with wo- men. But this decree, though often rigoroufly iniifted on, was conti- nually ttantgretTed agarni), and even Pricfts and Friars bathed in cnm- mon with the wonijEu, *iili the Council, held at Trulln, agnio prohibited it by the 77tb cano/i. And the Empecor Judinian, in his 1 17th Ncvell^ among the lawfiil caufes of divorce mentions like wife that of a inariied woman's having bathed at the fame time with men, without the pcr- mifllou of her huftand. Rufila very probably recti ved the cultom of bathing, together with the Chriftian religion, from Condantinople, and irom thence the immoral practice abovc-rncntioned, whicf>, however, principally fubfiUs in the country, feems to have been introduced amun)^ tliem. People of dillinflion, indeed, have always their own bathj^ which no one ule» but themfelves. The rubber here mentioned, toa- fifliag of herbs or tods is alio uled in RulTia. The RnfTians, indeed, always I un immediately out of their hot baths into fonte neighbuuiio^ pond, and iai.he winter time roll theaJielves in the linow. ' I^; Tuft I ;l w\ 114 VOYAGES AND ju(l as If the deceafed had laid himfelf down anJ fallen into a fweet flccp. If the perfun who died was married, thu widow, on the day of burial, prepared a fumptuous banquet for the neighbours j wh^n Ihc herfelf as well as her gucfls, appeared in their bed cloihes i. and on this occafion ihe intreatcd the gueds to eat and, diinlc heartily in memory pf the deceafed^ and to his eternal repofe and happinefs. They went conftantly to church, praying there very devoutly on iheif knees, and kept the faft-days very (Iri^lly. Theii houfes were made of wood, and were of a round form, with a hole in the middle of the roof for the admiillon of the light, which hole in winter they covered with a tranfparent Hfti-ncin, on account of the feverity of the cold. Their clothes were made of coarle cloth, manufatflured ^t London and clfewhere. As to fui s, they wore them but fcldom ; but, in order to ufe themfelves the better to the cold, they v/ould lay their new-born infants, the fourth day after their birth, naked, under the (ky-light, ivnich they then opened in order to let the fnow fall upon then; i for it fnowcd almoil continually durin;; the whole winter that Quirini's people were tiiere, from the 5th of February to the 14th of May. la confequence of this treatment the boys are fo inured to the cold, and become fo hardy, that they do not mind it in the leaft. The Ifle of Roil is furrounded by a great number of fea-fowi, which the inhabitants in their language call Muxi*. They are fond of living near man- kind. ♦ The Norwegians call tWt TpecSes of Tca-mew or gull, Maaft. It is tfaereibre, io all probability, the Latut Caniidut^ a new fpccirs, and 1|uite white, of the gull kind, which, in the Voyage of Capt. Phippt (now Lord Mulgiave} /owari/f tht North Pote^ Ltndin, 1774, p. 187, 188, iR called Ldrut ehurntus-, and in J»/ni Miller* t Plateit Piatt Xlh l,mrmt Alknt\ but in Otho FobriciasH Fauna Groenlandica, p. 103, and In MHUtr*! Prodrom. Ztol. Dan. p. VIM ; it is deoominated the La^ rut CandiJuif and Teems to be the tame bird with that whicU in Frederic Garten' t y»jagt ta Spitjhergtm^ p. 56, Tab. I. a. is called the Paths k4rr\ tad w Letwl't Dtfcriftien cf Laplandy (he n'atd Maaj'f, The C'jean- t)ISCOVEkIES iM THB NORTH. 125 kind, and are as tame as the common pigeons. They make an inceflant noife, excepting in the fum* mer, when it is one continued day, and then they are filent for about four hours, and this filence fervcs to point out to the inhabitants the proper time for them to retire to reft. In the early part of the fpring arrived alfo an amazing number of wild- geefe, that made their nefls upon the i/land, and that fometimes againfl the walls of the houles. They likewife were very tame, infomuch that when the miilrefs of the houfe went to take fome eggs out of their nefls;, the female would walk flowly fron> the neft, and ftay away till the houfewife had taken as many eggs as (he wanted for baking. As foon as the good woman was gone^ the goofe would immedi^ ately fet herfelf on the neft again. In the month of May the inhabitants began to prepare for their voyage to Bergen^ and were willing alfo to take the Grangers along with them. Some days before their departure the intelligence of their being at Rojioe reached the wife of the Governor over all theic iflands ; and her hufband being at that time abfent, (he lent her Chaplain to Quirini with a pre- fcnt of ho fiockiiih, three large flat loaves of rye bread, and a cake: and at the fame time let him know that £he had been informed their hods had not uled them well, and defired them to mention in what point they had been wronged, and that they (hould receive inftant fatisfacSlion \ it was alfo recommended to the inhai>itants to treat them well) and to take them over to Bergen along wirh them. They thank* ed the Lady, and giving their teftimony to the in* nocence of their hods, fpoke of the reception they had met with in the higheft terms; and as Quirini bad dill remaining a firing of amber beads, which Crecnlandcr*!* however, gi e It ihe name of Va^avnrfui. It is a vrry bold bird, aiul it found only a great v.ay to the nurihwaid, in I^inmark, Norway, Ifland, Crrenlaii'l, and Spitibergen. This maafc^ or I'ta-gull, '•piobibly ihe white lea I'ovvl .l/sAri/ deltribcJ abjvc by Quirini^ ai6 VOYAGES AND he had brought from St. Jago in Galllcia, he tooJc the liberty of fending them to the Lady, and defired her to pray to God with them for their fafe return to their own country. When the time of their departure was come, the people, by the advice of the Dominican Friar, forced them to pay two crowns for each month, that is, feven crowns a-piece; and as they had' not ca(h enough about them, they gave, bclides money, fix filver cups, fix forks, and fix fpoons, together with fome other articles of fmall value, fuch as girdles and rings. The greater part of thefe things fell into the hands of the rafcally Prieft, who, that nothing might be left to them of this unfortunate voyage, did not fcruple to take them, under pretence that it was due to him for having afted as their interpreter. On the day of their departure all the inhabitants of Roft made them prefents of fr^, and, at taking leave, the women and children (bed tears, as did alfo the Grang- ers themfelves. The Prieft, however, accompanied them, in order to pay a vifit to his Archbifliop, and give him part of his booty. At their departure from Roft, the feafon was fo far advanced, that, at the end of the month of May, during their run, they faw the image of the fun 48 hours above the horizon ; but, as they continued failing farther on towards the fouth, they loft the fun for a fhort time, though but for one hour, it being all the while broad day-light. They failed conftantly between the rocks, and they perceived here and there, near the projecting points of the land, marks of deep and na\ igable water. Many of thefe rocks were inhabited j and they were kindly re- ceived by the inhabitants, who gave them meat and drink without accepting any recompence. The fca- fowl, that when awake were always fo loud and noify, they found had bunt their nefts upon all thefe rocks, and the ftillnei's and filence of thefe birds was a fignal for them alfo to retire to flcep. In t)ISCOVEJlIES IN THE NORTH. 227 In the courfe of their voyage they met the Biihop bf Trondon (prQiitheimj who, with two gallics, was. making the tour of his diocefe, which extended all over thefe countries md iflands, attended by above 200 people. To XY is Prelate -they were now prefent- e^, who, whep he w^s infortped of their misfortunes, their r^nk, ai)d family, expreiTed great compafTion for thein. He g^ve them ;i letter of recommendation for Trondqn, his archiepifcopal fee, where St. Olave, one of the icings of Norway, was buried, which procured theip a kind reception ; and a horfe was given to Q^irinif But a^ the lv>ng Qf Norway happened at that time to be at yvar with the Germans, their hoft, iffho W4S likewife nia^er of the veHel, refufed to fail ^ny farther^ l" landed at a little inhabited ill? near Drontheiniy and, after recommending them to the in- habitants, returned direidlly. The nejjt day, being Afcenfipn-I)^y» they were conduced to Orontheim, into the chiirch of St. Qlave^ which w*is very hand- fomely ornamented, and where they found the Lord Lieutenant with all the inhabitants. There they heard mafs, {ifter which they were conduced before, the Lord Lieutenant, who immediately aflied Q^irini if he fpoke Latin ? and being informed by him thal( he did, invited him, together wijth all his attendants, to his table, whither they were ,condu(^ed by a Canon. They were afterwards take.i, by this fame Canon, to good comfortable lodgings, and amply provided with all kinds of neceflaries. Quirini wiflied for nothing nnore than to return to his own country ; and he therefore defired advice and aififtance to enable him to return home by the way of Qermany or England. That they might avoid tra- velling too much by fea, which was not fafe on ac- count of the war, they were advifed to apply to their countryman, Giovanne Franco^ whom the King of Denmark had knighted, and who refided at his caftle of Stichimborg (Stegeborg, in Eaft Gothland) in thq 0^2 kingdom '' Mh 228 VOYAGES AND kingdom of Sweden, 50 days journey from Drort- theim. Eight days after their arrival, the Lord Lieutenant gave them two horfes and a guide, to take them to Stichimborg : but as Quirini had p^efented the Lord Lieutenant with his (bare of the ftockAih, a filver feal, and a filver girdle, he received frcm the latter a hat, a pair of boots, fpurs, and leathern cloak-bags, and a fmall axe, with the image of St. Clave, and the Lord Lieutenant's coat of arms on it, together with a packet of herrings, fome bread, and four guilders Rhenifh. They had befides this, a third horfe from the Archbiftiop of Drontheim ; and now, being twelve in number, they all fet out toge- ther on their journey, with their guide and three horfes, 7'hey travelled on for the fpace of 53 days, chiefly to the fouthward (fouth-eaft) and frequently met with fuch miferable inns on the road, that they could not even procure bread at them. In fome places they ground the bark of trees, and, with milk and butter, made cakes of it, which they eat inftead of bread. Befides this, they had milk, butter, and cheefe, given them, and whey for drink. They ftill proceeded on their journey, and fometimes met with better inns, where they could have meat and beer. One thing, however, they every where found in great aibundance ; and this was a kind and friendly recep- tion, fo that they were extremely welcome wherever they went. There are but few dwellings in Norway, and they often arrived in the night, at the hour of repofe, though it was not dark, but broad day-light. Their guide, who knew the cuitom of the country, opened the door of the houfe, in which they found a table, furrounded by benches, covered with leathern cufhi- ons, fiufFed with feathers, which ierved inilead of matrafles. As nothing was kept locked up, they took fome of the victuals they found ready there, and then went to rei\. Sometimes the niauers of the houfe happened to come ia, and fee them afleep, and were muc)i amazed, 'till the guide, who heard them, acquainted DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 229 acquainted them with all the particulars, upon which their aftonifhment was mingled with compaflion, and they gave the travellers every neceffary without taking any rccompence, by which means thefe 12 people and three horfes did not fpend, on a journey of 53 days, more than the four guilders they had received at Drontheim. , On the road they met with horrid barren moun- tains and vallies, and with a great number of ani- mals, like roes (reindeers^ Cervus tarandus) bcfides fowls, as hafel-hens, and heath-cocks, which were as white as fnow (probably ptarmigans, tetrao lagopus) and pheafants of the fize of a goofe (probably the tetrao urogallus). In St. Olavc's church they faw the (kin of a white bear, which was 14 feet and a half long. Other birds, fuch as gerfalcons (Falco Gyrfakus) gofs-hawks (falco ajlur Brife.) and various other forts pf hawks are whiter here than common, f)n account of the great cold of the country. Four days before they reached St'tchimhrg (Stege- borg) they came to a place cAXtd. Vejihena (Wedftena) where St. Bridget was born, and had founded a r.o- naftery of Nuns, together with Chaplains of the Lt..^ order. At this place the northern Kings and Princes have built a moft magnificent church, covered with copper, in which thry counted 62 altars. The Nuns and Chaplains received the ft rangers very kindly, who, after two days ftay there, at length let out in order to wait on the Chevalier John Franco^ who did all he could to comfort them in their diftrefs, and re- lieved them in a manner that did honour to his ge- nerofity. A fortnight after, there was given at St, Brigitta's church in Wanfiena^ a plenary indulgence, of which the people of Denmark, Norway, and Swe- den, as well as thofe of Germany, Holland, and Scotland, came to partake. Some of them came from the diftance of 600 miles. They went to the indulgence at Wnclftena with the Chevalier fohyi Franco^ in order to ice wheiher they could not procure fomc intelligence there of any (liips bound for Germany or Engh'nd, there b< ing al'A^avs '\M tio VOYAGES AND dways at that time a great concourfe of people^ The Chevalier was Ave days on the road, and had more than loo horfes in his train. Hert they took leave of their beneficent countryman^ who had fiir-ii ni(hed them plentifully with clothes and tnoney tor their journey, and had ordered his f6n Mdthew, a vcrjr aniable young man, to accompany them to the dif- tartce of eight days journey to Lod^fe (otl th^ Gbtha Elf) where they were lodged at his own houTe, the! ihip not fetting fail diredly. He had lent them his own horfes all the way from Stichi;nborg ; and, as Quirini was ill of a fever, he mounted him on a horfe, which had an eafier pace than ever he had ttiet with in one of thefe animals beforr. From Lodefd three of his crew went home in a veflel bound for RoJIocif and eight of them accompanied him to Eng- land, where they came to their friends in London^ by way of Ely and Cambridge ; andj after a two months re-* fidence there, continued their route through Germany and Bafu^ and at length, in the fpace of 24 days, arrived fafe and in good health at Venice, We fee in this moft unfortunate voyage of Quirini) in the firft place, a concourfe of misfortunes, which one would hardly fuppofe human nature able to fup- port: but great fpirit, vigorous efforts, perf'^verance, and the employ of the moft rational means that can be devifed, often make things pofTible, which, in other circumflances, would be abfolutely impoffible j and thus ferve to (hew, in an eminent manner, of what ji,reat advantage the ul*e of reafon and refolution is in difficulties and dangers. One obfervatlon of Quirini, having been fo often conhrmed fince, dcferves attention. '1 hofe who, when the fhip was in great difhels, had given all up for loft, and, witliout moderation, had drunk the fine Malvafia wine, which they had on board, when the want of provifions began to be felt, and the fcurvy commenced ;ts ravages, foon died, and that fuddenly j v.'hile DISCOVERIES IN THB NORTH. 231 while thofe lyho had lived temperately held out longer, and, in4eed, for the moft part, faved their Jives. In like inanner thofe who had approached too near the lire, in order to warm themfelves, paid for this rafli action with their lives ; while, on the other hand, fudji as had recourfe to the unnatural expedient of drjnking their own urine, an expedient which is like- wife to moft people highly difgufting, even when urged to it by the moft intolerable thirft, efcaped the jaws of death. We may obferve farther, that the drink- ing of fea-water proved very beneficial to thefe ad- venturers, and that the great quantity of fnow they had fwallowed on their landing did not hurt them in the leaft. The different Vinds of ftiell-fifh and the flefh of a dolphin,, upon which they fed, undoubtedly ferved to keep them all alive. I'he Pefcription of the ftate of Norway, and of its commerce, together with the picture of the man- ners and cuftoms of its inhabitants, are extremely fine fragments of the hiftory of mankind. The three north- ern kingdoms were at that time governed by King Erich, of Pomerania, and, confidcring the times, the ftate of them was not abfolutely bad. We fee that the cattle made the principal food of the in- habitants, that corn was very fcarce, and that, juft as it does now in the mountains and in barren years, the bark of trees, mixed with a certain quantity of flower, milk, and butter, ferved them for food. Mo- ney, on the other hand, was fcarce ; and a little filvcr plate, and a few trinkets, were very acceptable pre- sents. To Quirini, as a Venetian, the length of the days in fummer *, and that of the nights in winter, the • Though the day-light Infled very long, or rather, ihoagh it was but one continued day, when Quiriiii went trom the i^e of Rofloe to Dron- •heim, his guides uled neverthelel\ to go to lleep, when the reft and the Itillnefs of the hird:- gave them the figiial for ib doing. This circum- (lance, therefore, explains in a new ytt decifive manner the pafTage ia, Ohiber'a dc.cription of hi*; voyiye to Sciringet-hfal (Vid. fupra p. 67) vhfiic he fays, ** No one lould tail u it. iua nm fubfidtd fo eaily as in the time of Ohther, and was ohfcrved alio in Quirini'* time, 533 years aficrwaids. It is tvidem, thcrefope, that this feemingly-lufpicious txjireflion was not uied \vithout defign or ineaaing, but bad iu origin aad foundation in the m^inncrs of the couur try. • kep^ DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 233 kept within due bounds by banks and dylces, now broke through thcfe limits that had been fet them ly the iiiduftry of man, and overflowing the meads whicn bad before been refcued from their ravages, remained on them fo long, 'till thefe latter were converted into putrid marfties, replete with noxious vapours. In iine, the earth, embcllilhcd in confequcncc of a high degree of population, of cultivation, and of a luxu- ry, carried perhaps too great a height, funk again into a wild and dreary dewrt, alnioft unprofitable and iifclefs to man. Cities, once the feats of induftry, arts, and commerce, were pillaged and deflroyed by fire, and the few remaining inhabitants, bewailing iiL the fad ruins the lofs of their former profperity, wirh dejected minds and deprefled fpirits, became the vaflals oi their inlblent vi«Sl:ors. As for law and }uflice they were at this time utterly baniftied out of Europe. Every man of courage, ftrengtn of body, dexterity in wielding weapons, and in the management of thehorfe ; who had influence enough to aflcmble a train of dif- orderly banditti, became their leader, and gloried in impoimg, far and near, the iron yoke of flavery and oppreflion. Thefe petty tyrants (of which there were many) fat in their caftles, and paid cafual homage to a fovereign almoft without power or authority, while each of this lawlefs train committed fuch outrages as he was able upon the reft of the people, whom toil and tyramiy had now nearly exhaufted. Popcrv, and its fuperftitious rites, effedually baniflicd religion and its facred influences. For the worfhip of God in fpirit and in truth, was fubftituted tliat of faints ; for virtue, probity, and purity of life, were introduced penanco, corporal chartifements, works of fupcrcrogatioi. and the power of indulgencies. All freedom of thought wns totally fupprefled by the influence of legions of Monks, ^nd the frowns of a haughty and jealous Hierarchy. Numberlcfs pretended miracles, and cndlcfs fcholaftic fontroverfies, completed this mifcrable fyftcm of bar- barilin a3* VOYAGES AND barifm and idolatry. In fliort, the corruption of man- ners pervaded all ranks and clafles of men, proceeding (rom the Prince on his throne to the Monk in his cell, and [to the Pried attendant on the altar ; and thence ariftng again to the Abbots and Bifliops, up to the very head of the Church, who founded and fuftained his papal authority, by perfecution, treachery, and mur- der. There was no longer the leaft fparlc of know- ledge or information to be found in all Chriftendoni. The great vafTals could feldom read, and hardly ever write. 1 afle, the arts, decency, and decorum, were not .r: ?xpe«Sled in the defoiation, the gloomy ob- fcuri an. he depth of barbarity in which the whole of £ui :>pe w; ' -nvolved. The poor oppreflpd flave in the country bewailing his wretched ftate, led merely aix animal or rather a vegetable life. In the few towns that remained, die iiyiabitants, in like manner, lived deprived of liberty, ahd expofed to all the oppreflion? of the great feudatory tenants of the crown and their vafTals, which the caprice, infolence, and pride of a barbarian could at any time fuggeft. All the dreadful efFedls of the wildeft and moft unbridled paflion, nur- tured and- fupported by lafcivioufnefs, drunkennefs, avarice, revenge, and iuperilition, are to be found pourtrayed in the few rude annals and memoirs pro- duced in thefe unfortunate ages. The Philofopher— the Philanthropift — is ftruck with horror, in contemp- lating the depth of niifery and humiliation to which, from the want of information, and in confequcnce o^ moral as well as political corruption, mankind is capa- ble of linking. But, in contemplating this pi£lure, he will naturally be led, on the other hand, to confide^ the means which an all- wife Providence has, with more than paternal kindnefs, made ufe of to bring men back to that happinefs in fecial life, for which they were originally deftined. In fa6t, it is thpfe inordinate de- iires, thefe infutiable paflions, this wild enthufiafm, and this faiutical I'uperflition, by which tb.e Authoi; of our ex- iftcnqe DISCOVERIES In the NORTH. 135 iftcnce condu^Sh us again into the paths of virtue afid knowledge, and to a ftate of exalted felicity. -D«us ille fuit- <^i princeps vitx rationem inveoit «am que Nunc appellatur fapienfia ; qu ppe per artettt Fludibus e laniis Titam, lantirqlie tentbrifc In tam iranquillo, &c tam clara lues locavit. Lucret. Lib. V. v. 7—12. In the caft, at Conftantinople, the altercations of the clergy, and the ambition of thofe who grafped af- ter the Imperial dignity, had introduced the fame grofs ignorance and immorality into every rank nd condi. tion of life ; and in the other parts of Alii > t" Ara- bian Caliphs, or fucceflbrs of Mahome*, iij^ rronfe- qucnce of their voluptuoufnefs, their inadlivity, and of their impolitic reception of a number of Generals of the Turkifti race into their kingdoms, Ciul at their courts, had dwindled away into infignit'nant Mahome- tan Priefis. Syria and Paleftine had iong been fub- je6l to Arabian Princes, who, in the ftate of refine- ment to which they had arrived at that period, be- haved to the Chriltians of thofc provinces with great moderation j and from motives of policy and love of lucre, the pilgrims from the weft, whom fuperftition and idle conceits had brought in crouds into thofe parts, to vifit the holv fepulchre, were received very favour- ably. But the Seldl(:hukidian Turks, as well from fu- perftition as from a miftruft of thefe pilgrimages, which, indeed, v/crc too frequently repeated, and with roc* numerous trains, began to opprefs the Chriftians and ufe the pilgrims very ill. Thefe grievances, which were continually encreafing, appeared to Hildebrand, Biftiop of Rome, important enough to induce him to fummons all Chriftendom to make war againft the opprellbrs of Chriftianity. But the difputes in which Gregory VII. by his pride and ambition, had involved hiraiclf in Europe, prevented him from heading him- felf 236 VOYAGES AND fclf the army thus raifcd. Soon after, it happened that an enthufiaftic Prieil, who is known to pouerity by the name of Peter the Hermit, was eye-witnefs to the injuries and opprefTions under which the Chriilians in the eafl, as well as the pilgrims, groaned. His cwn heated i^iaginatlpn, the perfuafions of the Patri- arch of Jerufalem, and the approbation of Pope Urban, incited him to travel through all the countries of Eu- rope, with tears in his eyes, ftirring up the fuper- ilitious people to wreak their vengeance on the ene- mies, as they were termed, of Chriftianity. Every individual now, even to the very children, was filled with holy rage, and people ran in flocks to take part in this meritorious expedition. Thoufands of them pe- rifhed miferably ; and, having undergone many hard- fhip9, the Chriftians at lad got poflefTion of a wild, Avalle country, without either cultivation or inhabitants, in which, however, lay Jerufalem, Bethlehem, Naza-t reth, and other places of facre'd fame ; and Conflan- tinople itfelf, together with Cyprus and Greece, fell into the hands of the European Chriflians, Thefe great peregrinations, however, of Chriftians, frantic with fuperflitious zeal, who frequently marked the whole courfe of their expedition by tlie mofl atroci-: ous crimes, and the mofl infamous actions, and were, for the greater part, the very fcum of the earth ; thele peregrinations were the caufe of a revolution through- out all Europe, which, in fa£^, was attended with too great confequences to pafs unnoticed by an inquifi- tive mind. ' The landed nobility, and the Princes their Sovei reigns, wanted money to equip them as well as to maintain them on thefe long expeditions j in confe- quence of which they fold the privileges which they had hitherto made fo bad ufe of, over their poor fub- je<5ls. To thoufands of people they gave liberty in exchange for money ; and beftowed on innumera- ble cities great privileges ; and among others the power of chufing their own magiflrates from among thcmfelves, that of governing ^hemfelves by their ow(i laws, aiid according to tlicir own free eleflion, tl^at DISCOVERIES IN THE NOftTH. 237 that of levying their taxes among themfelves, at their own difcretion, and the privilege of defending them- felves. Every burgher now might bequeath the for- tune he had acquired to whomfoever he would, after bis death ; he tnight marry without firft aflcing leave for that purpofe of his liege Lord } he might appoint whomfoever he pleafed to be guardians to his chil- dren { and, after having commenced a legal procefs, might accommodate matters with his adverfary, without paying the fees in his Liege's court for an adjudication which had not been made ; and mer- chants and artizans were relieved from the intolerable opprefHon of gifts and other extortions, with which they had before been harrafled. Previous to this pe- riod the great feoffees only appeared in the aifemblies of the nation, as reprefenting the (late, but now this privilege was beftowed on many towns and cities, in order tomakeacounterpoife to the too-preponderating powers of the great feudatory tenants and nobles i and, indeed, it was foon obferved that thefe inno^ vations were attended with the moil defirable con- fequences with rcfpeCt to the general good of man- kind. The citizen, who was now aflured that the fruits of his induilry would be reaped by himfelf and his children, was thereby excited to work with re- doubled ardour, as well as to the invention of new arts and trades. The merchant was kcu to bra^'e dangers with frefh courage, and, infpired by the hope of gain, to trud his life and property to the mercy of the winds and waves : and every one, of what profeilion foever he was, turned all his thoughts to the procuring of an honefl livelihood by induf- try, talents, and perfeverance. Finally, for the greater fecurity of the fubjed^, the perpetual frays and fkirmifhes of the great vaflals with each other were put an end to, and the civil peace was every where eilablifhed. It was therefore found neceffary to apply to judges for the diftribution of juftice. For this purpofe new laws were introduced for cafes that had never before been determined ; and recoufle ;^i !ll^-> 'ir'M 2fi VOYAGES Awo recourfe was had to the long-forgottcn Homan coA6 of laws, in order to learn from it the principles of equity and juilice, which had been fo long ne- ^Icd^cd : from the ecclcfiadical law were borrowed in part the regulations and forms of law fuits, bcfidcs 4 great inany rules and cuftoms, as the clergy were in ^hp excluftve pofleifion of the little know- ledge and learning that yfM left in tl)e world at that period* The mameful pra6lice of judiciary duels, V^hich were commonly thojugh blafphemoufly railed tb* yu(i£fffent of Qtd, was aboliflied, and the practice was introduced of making appels to the higher Courts^ Europe now began, by little and little, (o enjoy the blefled fruits of thefe yoking (hoots of liberty whjch h^d been fo lately planted. From the eaft, she prifline nurfery pf the ^rts and fciences, a fe- ^ond time were brought, by ipeans pf the very cru- fades themfclves, new lights for the information of the hum^n underftanding, new arts and manufac- tures for the employment of the towns and cities, and new plants ana animals for the improvement of rural oeconomy. In Italy, the Qenoefe, toge- ther with the Venetians and the people of Pifa, ))y Iqnding their ihips to the crtifaders, as well as \>y their Iharc of the bopty, had greatly enriched themfclves, and confcquently had not only a fair oc- caflon cpnfiderably to augment the number of their yelTels, but likewife to learn the places whence they could import filk, cotton, fpices, and all the pre- cious comipodities of India, eafier than by the way of Conflantinople ; and in a fhort time they, with the reft of the free ftates of Italy, were in the fole pofleflion of the whole trade not only of the Mediter- ranean, but alfo of the Black Sea. Even ths Qcr- man towns that lay fcattered up s^nd down all along the coafts of the Baltic and the German Ocean, l>egan to unite in a confederacy, for the purpofe of promoting and extending their trade, a confederacy, which they didinguifhed by the title of the Hanfe^ a word of like import in the old German language. The Greeks too, and the Arabians, afforded the Europeans manv t'. DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 439 hiany opportunities of acquiring new fcience anJ frefli information } and though this ingrafted wifdom wa<( principally ennploycd by the ChrilHans on religion f.nd fpccufative philofophy, yet from this period learn- ing began to be a regular occupation among the people of the Weft. Public fchools were founded, and the learned had riink and precedence beftoxred on them, befides enjoying other advantages j fo that bf degrees the dawn of fcience diffufed iifclf every where, by which means the rude and unpoliihed weftern world was prepared for a long time before- hand for the Reformation, for the ftate in which learning fubfifts at prefcnt, for the ftill cncreafmj^ fpirit of Toleration, and for the tree fpirit of en- quiry by which thefe our times are diftinguiflied. In Paleftine and Spain the rude warriors among fhfr Chriftians had frequently occafion to experience the magnanimity, courage, ind gallantry of the Saracen Knights. All thefe qualities imparted fomc- thitig fo peculiarly great and fplendid to the cha- racters of the Knights above-mentioned, that the Chriftians confidered it as an honour not only f imitate them in every article, but even to furpafs them, and particularly in their attachment to religion, in their defence of opprefled innocence, in their re- fpedt for truth, and in the gentlencfs of their man- ners. The foundations of real honour, the greater humanity with which war is now carried on, and the politeilefs and reciprocal generofity fubfifting even between foes, of which we have frequently in thefe times the happy experience amidft the horrors ne- ceft*arily atk:endant on war, are the pure and genuine fruits of the knight-errantry of that period. All this, taken colled^ively, without doubt con- tributed to liberate the human mind from thofe fetters •of fuperftition, ignorance, and Oothful indolence, by vvhich it had hitherto been fhackled. Individuals nil ":ht now venture to acquire knowledge and infor- mation, without dreading either fire or fword, as ihe pujiilhnu'nt of their audacity. A thirft after know- led j^c i?l :|!lr#. 240 VOYAGES AN» ledge was dlfTufed over all Europe, and the publitf difcovered a particular avidity for accounts and re-> lations concerning foreign and remote countries^ and long, extenfive voyages and travels into diilant parts. The sftablifliment of the more quiet |)of- feffion of private property, encouraged the merchant to ftill greater undertakings, exciting him, from a de* fire of gain, to navigate unknown feas, and to brave every danger. On the other hand, the enthufiaftic defire of difFuflng the doArines of Chriftianity, and of fubjef^ing whole nations and countries to Chfiiw and the Roman Pontificate, ftill continued to be a great motive for undertaking new travels into dif- tant regions. The fpirit of Kight- errantry, too, and the de/ire of atcbieving heroic actions in the wars, fuch as might aflure everlafting glory and renown to the performers o^ them, contributed their ibare towards inducing many perfons to range up and down the moft remote countries.* The encreafing trade of the Italians, together with the great pi'o- ^refs they made in the arts, as well as the great pro- hts made by the northern merchants who were united in the Hanfoy or Hanfeatic league, excited from time to time feveral entcrprifing minds to un- dertake voyages, which, confidering the ignorance which ftill prevailed in refpedt to foreign nations and countries, were then much more dangerous than they are at prefent. The important difcovery of the magnetic needle for the purpofes of navigation gave new advantages to this art, and made a great addition to the knowledge poftefled by thofe times in relation to different people and countries: and where- as before this, people had fcarcely ventured to go out of fight of the ihore, they now boldly failed acrofs the greateft feas. Now, if we even put the date uf this invention fo early as the year 1200, yet then we find the compafs fo commonly known about this period, that the fifhermen in the Ork- neys made ufe of the compafs (o early as i^Q years afterwards, viz. about the year l3l>o. The Discoveries it* the north. 141 The immenfe riches which the Venetians had ac- quired by th6 monopoly of the Eafterti and Indian trade, the (kill and experience they had attained in navigation, as well as the information they had ob- tained relative to the diflant nations and climates, prepared the world for thofe great and important difcoveries, and the revolutions confequent thereon, which have given to Europe and the weilern world a quite different form to what they had before. By the taking of Conflantinople, in which the Turks at length fucceeded under Mahomet the IId» the Greeks were difperfed into different parts of the world. Some of thefe fled to Italy^ whither they carried their learning, arts, and handicraft pro- feilions. This incident ferved in fome meature to add to the knowledge of the people among whom the/ fojourncd, to refine their tafte, and to give greater perfe(5tion to theiif manufai^ures, and conifcquently likewife to their navigation. I'o the people of tl^e Weft, who, by means of their conquefts as well as their commerce, were continually extending them- fclves over the globe, the vaft and encreafing power of the Turks ferved, by way of barrier, which lay in their way invincible obftacles to their penetrating any farther to theeaftward. Confequently they were now obliged to turn the courfe of their navigation, trade, and difcoveries in the wefl towards the northern and fouthern regions, where they did not meet with any fuch obdacles ; an undertaking which at W.1S likewife crowned with the greateft fucceft* laft M K STRICTVBtS 'M 242 V OYAGES AM» Strictures and Remarks on BOOK IL I. Of Andanicum, or Steel. PAGE 135: According to the account given here by Marco Polo, of the province of ChinchtntalaSy there is in this diftridt a mountain which produces fteel ore and Andanicum. At the time that I tranf- cribed this paflage, I was not able to give any inteU ligence concerning the meaning of the word. But RamuHo, to the ad Part of his Collection of Voyages, has prefixed a Dichiarazicne d* aUnni luo^hi ne libri de Marco Pole ^ in which (page 14) he affirms that the word Andanicum * fignifies the bed fteel ; and farther, that when any of the Orientals had a fpear or fabre of Andanicum^ he valued it fts highly as though ij^had been the moft precious jewel. • The origin of the vjord Andanicum hat canfcd me a gfctt deal oF trouMe -, tor at Ramufio fays, ihac he had Icarnrd the meaning of thit wbrd oi Mf£er Miihelt mambre^ the Turkifh Interpreter to the Repub- lic of Venice, and as likewife Chinchiotalas is not at a great (lifidnce irom the aacient TurkeDan, 1 thought my elf juflified in looking into the Turkifh language fur its origin; but finding in this tongue only the word ^j^ dfcheok, which roi^ana war, I con^cdiired thai a nation a» warlike as the Turks have been for many _,«;ars |'afl, mi^ht have called the beft kind of Heel, which they ultd for thoir fpeais and l?bres, Dfchenkfeku i «• 'A'' varritVy afireeably ro the figurative mode of ex- preflion not unufaal v/ith the £aftern Nations ; conceivincr at the fame time, that an l.alian might have pronounced "his word Damko, fit At- DanUt, or, by elifion of ihe /, ytJ-Daniii, which comes pretty near ru Andanicum, or AnJanict. Still, however, 1 had my doubts with rtlpta to this e./mology. Therefore I had recuurlc to the Perfian l«nguage, and found iheie, together with two more words which figniiy Jleei, the word jjjTl^, dfchenk^ or dj'thanck^ which apparently makes the neareft approache* of any to the word ad-danck and al-danck^ and thus may have gi\en rife to that ol andanikt. Our ini-eniou^ ProfelTor, Di. Knapp^ fuppefes, that this Andanicum might have been alio called Andatuum, anti this been deriveJ fiom ihc Aratiic jjl)^ J lo unjbenth the fmsord^ or from ^jjj^ of which many f^bllantives are i'ormcd, which (i^n\i'j Jbarpneji^ point, P«l'Jbf &c. ob- ferving, at the fame tim ;, thai ihe wor^* |,J(Jlj^ or £'i''w| «f ««'*'»/«'> mutrnnatus, fiiltlut, bear a great refembUnce to each other. I am net capable of deciding thin point, and therefore iesve it to be determined hy others, who, having caore ikiil ia thit deparlrocnt of fcieuce, are better ifliitlcd to jud){e of the matter. II. Of Discoveries in the nortiI. 243 II. Of Rhubarb, and the Place colled Suckuk. AT page 135, Marco Polo informs us, that, upba the mountain.^, in the country of 5«cZ»ar, grows the beft Rhubarb^ in great quantities, from whence th« merchants carry it ail over the world. Accordingly Ramufio enquired ot one Hadfchi Mehemet^ a Perfiaii itierchant from Tabas in Ghilan^ concerning the Rawerdy or Rewend Tfchin^ ii e. Rhubarb^ and where it grows, ^s well as concerning the whole commerce of this commodity ; this merchant having fome months bft- fore brought a great quantity of Rhubarb to Ve- nice. Hadfchi Mehcmet (called here Chaggi Memet) had been himfelf to Succuir and Campioriy in the country of the Great Khan; and, indeed, excepting Ambai- fadors to the Khan, no merchants are fuffered to penetrate farther into Kathai than to Succuir and Campion. Both thefe towns are built of brick and frceitone. The Great Khan fends his Viceroy thither to govern them. They are merely inhabited by Idolaters, and there are no Mahometans to be met with till one comes to Camul. The name of the Great Khan at the time when Hadfchi Mehemei was in Kathai, was Daimir Can*k Wt * Daim'tr-khan would feem to be the fame as Timur-iChan^ the im- mediate ',' tcelTor to Kuhlai-Khaii i but ttie former bore the fovereign Iway in China and Kathay from the year 1194 to 1307^ and, is Ramufii* Nvrote about the yiar i$;3, this Khan could not ue meant here-, tnJ iiv.ieed had a Mogul Emperor at that tirrie filled the Throne, the Ferfiaa &.11I Bukhailan merchnntK would n< t Itave been hndcred from penetiating Ittithir into Kaihay ; for ihls reftritSlion tcmmcnced only wiih the reign rf the new lace of tne family of Miw, which had expelled the Mogut t.ut of Ch na P/o'iably at that time T^Jthi tjsng^ or Kiat Si ig was Em- peror, who reigned fuil 41^ years, Jroir »'•«• year 1511 10 i5'>6, and un- ticr whole aufpiLfS the Jeiuit'. tttablifi emfclves in China. But why HuJjchi iVUhtLitt call* him D imi; Kuun^ 1 conlefs 1 tanui^t :a the ieiJt V'ln^icluuii. i R 2 The I 244 VOYAGES ANO The town of Succuir^ in the province of '^ap^uf.fv is large and populous, and is fituated «>n z plaiii) through which run a great number of fmall rivulets. It has abundance of provifions of eveiy kind, and a great quantity of filk is raifed there on the leaves of the black mulberry- tree. It produces np wine, but the inhabitants brew a kind of drink from honey, in imitation of beer. On account of the cold of the climate no fruits grow there except pear?^ app!es, apricot*!, peaches, melons, and water-melons. The Rhubarb plant grows all over this province, but no where better than on fome neighbouring rocky mountains (q^fe Montagne,) on which there are a great many fprings, and forefts confiiting of different kinds of high trees. The foil, however^ is of a red (roflb) colour, and almoft always boggy, on account of the great quantity of rain that falls, and of a vad number of brooks by which the country is interfoft- cd. The leaves of this plant arc commonly two fpans in length, are narrower at bottom, an i wider at top. The margin of the leaf is furrounded by a woolly matter. The ftalks on which the leaves grow are green, and about a fpan and four inches lung ; the leaves themfelves at firfl are green, bt.t in time become yellow, and fpread vaftly on the iurface of the earth. In the middle grows a flem, which bears flowers round nbout, of the ibape of a clove gilliflower, (viole p:f -"'^ole) and are of a milk white and light-blue col Ji The fcent of them is flrong and naufeous, fo th.u thefe flowers are both unplea* fant to the fniell and to the fight. The root is one, two, and fometimes three fpans long •, the colour of the bark is a chefnut-brown. It is as thick as the lower part of a man's leg j fome, indeed, are as thick as a man's loins. Out of the great root pro- ceeds a confiderable number of very fmall radicles, which fpread greatly in the earth. I'hefe are taken ^' '\VA> .,it -^ 1'^^ DISCOVERIES iM THE NORTH. 245 taken away, when the great root is to be cut in pieces, which is yellow internally, with many l>cau< tiful red veins full of a clammy yellow juice that ftains the fing»'rs and hands of a yellow colour. Were the root hung up immediately, all the juice would run out of it, and the root itfelf would be- come light and unfervic^able. The pieces, there- fore, are Hrfl laid upon long tables, and turned three or four times a day, in order that the juice may in- corporate with, and, as it were, coagulate in, the fubHance of the root. Four, five, or fix days after this, holes are made through them, and they are hung up on firings, expofed to the air and the wind, care being taken at the fame time, that the fun- beams (hould not come to them ; and in this manner the roots become dry, and arrive at their full per- fection in the fpace of two months. The roots are dug up in winter, before they put forth their leavef, becaufe at this time the juice and the whole virtue of the plant is confined to the root. The fpring, how- ever, does not commence in the provinces of Campion and Suauir before the end of May. Thofc roots which are taken up in fummer, when they have pvt forth their leaves, continue to be light, fpungy, full of holes, and without fubftancej neither have they the yellow colour of thofc that have been dug in the winter, but, notwithftanding that they are red, they' are not equally good with thofe which were takers out of the ground before the fpring. Thofe who dig the roots on the mountains, carry them, either on carts or upon horfes barks, down into the plain, and to Succuir ; v/hen they fell them at the rate of 16 fmall weights of filver (Saggio, each being of the value of 20 Venetian foldi) for a cart-load. To make up one fmall horfe-load of perfidly dry Rhubarb, it will take fevcn loads of green roots, newly dug out of the ground. The Rhubarb, when green, is fo very bitter, that one cannot venture cvca ^/r :«j|U^ mr- \' i \ < i ^^Wl 'i^t'i i ' ff- ^" m Wmw ; i 'M 1'. '■ill '**■••?. mm 146 VOYAGES AND even to taftc it. If the roots are not cleaned an4 cut immediately within the fpace of five or fix Jays after they have been taken out of the ground, they grow foft and rotten. In Kathay the root is in nq cftimation, and in fome places they ufe it for fuel, or clfe in the difeufcs of hoifcsj and indeed no more of them are dug up than what arc befpoke. But there is another f:nall root far more efteemed, which growi^ on the Rhubarb mountains o( Succuir : this root is called Mambroni Tfchin, and is very dear withal. They ufe to grind this root on a ftone with rofc- water, and anoint the eyes with it, bv which means they find attonifhing relief. All over Kathay« they make ufe alfo of the leaves of another plant, called Tfchiai Tfcbin (Chincfe tea) which grows chiefly in the province called Katfchianfu. The dried leaves of this plant are boiled in water, and of this dccodliori they take fafting a cup or two as hot as poffible ; when it is looked upon to be very fcrviccable in head- ati^f^ fevers, complaints of the ftomach, rheuma- tifm, and feveral pther difeufcs i but particularly in the gout. With regard to th? road which leads from Succuir and Kampicn to Conftantinoplc, Hadfchi Mehemet rc- lates.> that going thither with the caravan, he had taken a road quite difFerent from that by which he returned ; for juft as he was ready to fet out with the CMivan, on his way homewards, the Tartars with t^„ green caps (who thence are called Jefchil-Bafch)'"^ had refolved to fend an ambafl'-idor with a nunx-rous retinue to Conftantinopie to the Grand Turk, through the defart part 6f Tartary to the northward of the Cafpian fea, for the purpofe of concluding a treaty pf alliance with the Turks againft the Sophi, their mutual enem?. Foiefeeing now many advantages ^T .' Ufljfcks »•< caHed Jtfclilhafch (i. e. GieenheaHs) on account of the gieen vsps which they wear in their turbans, in like manner a» t\,^ Pe finns on ti count of the led bonnets in their turbans, are callelt(' tiiff-tc> V V ;\ »5» VOYAGES Afcb der of things which return in conftant rota- tion : /8<«>j therefore is wike, or week. The Latin correfponding with this, has only Xi*?. or probably ht? ; and, in my opinion, Z (hould be prefixed to this latter word j fo that wi^e is tranflated by feptem dies. «y<«Y«u^tii?£; fhould be lead thus, etiyw/»uttv rty or T«y, and fignifies /fecial good days, sAwtji €a»* Jiw. pMfTVi. In the Gothic language, as well as in the Englifh and modern German, the fyllable un^ prehxed to a word, imparts to it a fignifica- tion contrary to that which it otherwife bears r e. g. unable, unfeeling in our own language, and in the Gothic we have unagein, without fear ; unbairands, unfruitful i unbarnahs, child- lefs J uttbruija, ufelefs ; ungalauhjands, unbe- lieving, &c. and, in the prefent cafe, unkau- ytdas, evxtf^TK^, without trouble or Jhrroiv, hap" pily, in good time. €ov« et^x, bona hora. N. B. The ctyicc put here after »yxe§lt<5 is not to be found in the firft interpreter, and is probably redundant. »*T» C«vT85 fhould perhaps be rOAA BANSTANS, Goda banjiansy or ban/lins^ good crops, or barns j bona horrea, jiovec v^^tx inftead of Qtm ec/M^t. ivifKvxnti. The Latin words immediately following this, viz. t^t (r«PL/3«Ttt5, which Profeflbr Semm- ler very properly reads, vide Salvatos, muft be ufed here for the pi!»'pofe of afcertaining the Gothic ; and though it requires a confiderable change in the letters, we can- not read otherwife in the Gothic than «-«^xv(nrtt, behold the faved, fitti ^«»«» viavr Dominutn vivum (fc. Deus ferva). ^iM yvt$Xvi. The Latin following this fhould be ywCt nued to exift even to thefe our days ; a circumflancft which naturally excites in us an ardent wifli that, under the protection and aufpices of Catherine II. the learned may be enabled to fearch in the Crimea for the remnants of this celebrated nation and language* I I' BOOK SISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 255 BOOK III. «F THE DISCOVERIES MADE IN THE NORTH IN MODERN TIMES. ^'r-l GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. TH E ftate of improvement in which Europe was with refpeit to knowledge and general informa- tion, the extenfion of commerce, the liberty beftowed on bondfmen and flaves, the progrefs of induftry in the towns and cities, the almoft-independency of their internal government j the riches, power, and confe- quence which thefe towns in Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands, had acquired chiefly by commerce and navigation ; the improvements made in the adminiftra- tion of juftice, and the confequent decreafe of the right claimed and exercifed by every individual of avenging his own wrongs ; the gradually encreafing power of the Kings and Princes, and their endeavours to annihilate the influence of the higher order ofvaflale;, and of the Nobility, in matters of Government ; the eftabli{hment of (landing armies in France and Italy, and the neceflity arifing from thence to augment the revenues of the ftate by all polfible means ; all thefe circ-^mftances had produced a great alteration in all the forms of Government in Europe. The thougl\ts of all the European Princes were entirely bent on thtir own aggrandizement, and that either by new con- quefts or by the augmentation of their power in their own ftatcs. Portugal had fo early as in 1250 driven the Arabian Princes out of their native countries ; and, in order to prevent the MAuritanl;4n Arabs from en- tfnnii "'( s : 25^ VOYAGES Ariij tering Into any confederacy with thofe that ^ill rdJ mained in Spain, and thus caufing frefh difturbancesj the Portuguefe went over to the coaft of Mauritania^, where now Fez and Morocco are, and there endeavour- ed to do as much injury as poflible to the enemies (as they were called) of the Chriftian religion; and having conquered Ceuta in the year 141 5, fortified feveral harbours fituated in the vicinity of it on the fhores of the great Weftern Ocean. A. D. 1418, Jobn Gonjalez Zarco, and TriJIan Vaz^ after having weathered a violent Itorm, difcovered an ifland which, on account of the afylum it fo happily afforded them, they called Porto Santo. It was impoffible to be in Porto Santo without feeing Madeira, in cafe the wea- ther was fair i and, failing to the ifland which had the ap- pearance of a cloud, they called it, after the faint of the day on which it was difcovered, St. Lawrence, and Ihortly after, on account of the great number of foreft» that were upon it, Madeira. 1 o thefe forefts they fet fire in 1420, and cultivated fugar with great fuccefs on the fpot. 1 he Infant of Portugal, Don Henry thirfting after ftill greater difcoveries, and at the fame time very well verfed in geographical knowledge, as far as it extended in thofe times, fent out Gonfah Velho Cabral for the purpofe of making new difcoveries to the weftward. "J he firft difcovery he made in this voyage, which he undertook in 1431, was that of a few barren rocks, which from the continual motion of the fea by which they were furrounded, he took oc- cafion to call las Formigas (the Ants) and foon after he defcried the ifland of St. Maria, which in the year 1432, having had a grant of it from the Infant Don Henry, he peopled and ftocked with cattle. At this period it was that Antonio Gonfalez was fent out with two caravels, a kind of fmall fhip, to the~ coaid of Africa, on new difcoveries. Hitherto it had been the practice to feize upon the tawny Moori(h Mahometans that were caught wandering up and down DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTI 257 dering up and down in that quarter of the globe, and to fell them for flaves, as being enemies of the Chridlan faith ; but in the year 1442 fome of thefe prifoners were redeemed by their relations, who gave in exchange for them, not only other negroes who were of a quite black complexion, and had woolly hair, but alfo a certain quantity of gold duft. From this time forward, the defire of difcovering the gold country, and that from whence the negroes caroc, encreafed daily. In 1443, Nunno Trijian difcoveied Cape Arguin^ or Akaget^ and the Jlland of Cranes {llha de Garzas). The next year was feen the ifland of St. Miguitl (or St. Michael) one of the Azores. Lanzorote took a great great number of prifoners on the coaft of Africa, and Cadamo/io made the difco- very of the river Gamhra. A. \j. 1445, another of the Azores, or (Hawk-Iflands) was difcovered, which, from the circumftance of its being the third ifland difcovered, was called Terceira, In the fame year Denys Fernandes difcovered a promontory covered with frelh verdure, thence called by him Capo Verde, and alfo the Capo Verde IJlands, which lay over- againll it. Between that period and the year 1449, the reft of the Azores, St. George, Graciofa, Fayat, and Pico, had alfo been difcovered j for thefe four iflands being partly feen from Terceira in fair weather, it was impofHble for them to have .remained much longer undifcovered. After the death of the Infant Don Henry, the ifland of Fayal, which was named fo, not after the beech-trees which grew on it, but after a new fpecies of myrica (myrica Faya) was made a prefent of by Ifabella, Duchefs of Burgundy, to Jobji Von Hurter, by the Portuguefe called Jos: de Utra, and Hura, a native of Nuremberg ; King Alphonfo V. having before made a prefent of this ifland to the above-mentioned Duchefs, who was his After. Hurter, who had become connefted, by marriage, with the illuftrious Portuguefe family de AlacedOf Wfcnr, in 1466, with a colony of more S than r . f niHt -•' ?■ ^m a; Wl^'t' 258 VOYAGES AND than 2000 Flemings of botli fexes, to his property, the ifle of Fayal. The J^uchcTs, though at a time when the nation was afflitStcd both with a burdcn- fome war, and a great deaith, had provided the Fle- mifh emigrants with all neccflaries for two years, and the colony very foon encreafed there. In the year 1472 fome attempts were made liitewife to peo- ple the Capo' Verde iflunds ; and the year before the iflands of San Tomajfo, llha do Principe^ and Anho-boriy had been difcovercd, together with the coaft of Gut- neoy and particularly the Gold Coajl, Guinea, on Martin Beha'trri% globes, was alfo denominated Genea ; and, according to Leo Africanui *, it was called by the Arabians Gheneoa^ and bv the negroes, Genni. 1 he fituation of this golden country was kept fecret by the Portuguefe with as much care as that of the tin-country had formerly been by the Carthaginians ; notwithftandii.g which, the French, contrary to all probability, pretend to have been io early as in 1346, or at Icuft in 1364, from Dieppe^ along the weftera coafl of Africa, quite to Delia Adina^ on the coaft of Guinea, The great profits accruing to Portugal from the bees-wax, ivory, oftrich feathers, negro Haves, and particularly from the gold of this coun- try, determined King John II. to fend, in 148 1, twelve (hips to this coaft, under the coiimnnd of Don Diego d^ Azetnbuya, and to build a fort there for the protection of commerce, which fort was called St. George del la Mina. A. D. 1483, Diego Caniy or jfaiob de Cano, and Martin Behaim, from Nurem- burg, fet fail with two caraurls for the purpofe of making new difcoveries. (This Martin Bebaim mar-' ried afterwards at Fayal, about the year i486, 'Johan- na dc Macedo, daughter of the Chevalier ycvji von Hurter, and in 1479 had a fon by her named Martin). Firft, they found the country of Benin., where there grows a kind of fpice, which was pretended to be pepper, and which was tranfportcd in great quanti- * Let Afrii. p. 3^5. Ed. Elzevir, i5o. ties i-' DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 259 tits to Europe. This fpice^ however, it muft be obferved, was no other than the grains of Paradife (amomum grana Paradift). They are alfo called Graines de maniguettej or malaguette. After this, in 1484, they lighted on the coaft of Congo. The Portugucfe continued exploring the whole of this coaft with great diligence and attention. Bartholo' meo Diaz, with three (hips, failed farther to the fouthward than any of his predeccfTors, and at length got fo far that, in i486, he defcribed the fouthern- moft promontory of Africa, which, on account of the violent ftorms that prevailed therfe, he called Cabd de tados los Tormientos', but which the King cf Portu- gal, who was now in hopes of foon making a much greater difcovery, viz. of finding a new route to India, called Cabo di bona Efperanzd, The re- nown and advantages which the Portuguefe had ac- quired by the above-mentioned voyages induced ma- ny perfoiis, well verfed in mathematics and naviga- tion, to endeavour to participate in thefe difcoveries. German?, in particular, Netherlanders, and Italiansj were intent on acquiring by this means fkill, fame, and opulence. A Jacob van Brugge, and a IVilJjelni von Dagora^ which latter afTumed the name of Sihei^ ra, both Netherlanders^ peopled fome of the Azores iflands. Job/} von Hurter, and Martin Behdim, both natives of Nuremberg, were Lords of Fayal and Pico, Antonio de Nolle, an Italian, difcovered St. JagOi one of the Capo Verde iflands^ of which he alfo afterwards was Governor ; and, in like hianner, Jean Baptijle, a Frenchman, became proprietor of Mayo, another of thefe iflands. Bethencourt, a French gentleman, was the firft who took pofleffion of the Canary Ifles j and foreigners of all nations, confpi- cuous for their rank in lifei knowledge, arid entcr- prizing fpirit, mixed with the Portuguefe adventurers in every undertaking. Now, although the Portuguefe did not permic other nations to take pofleffion of the lands they had difcovered by their unwearied zeal^ At a vaft expence, and by undergoing fo many dan^ gers, yet they were in no ways averfe to allow fuch foreigners as chofe to enter into their fcrvice, and to S 2 incorporate 1^ mc , V y ■ ■■B|.|J ^M ^^^B'l ■ ^Hl|l 1 ^■hI 1 ^^^K' H>4 I B^l^iji » 1! 2^0 VOYAGES AND incorporate with them by manying into Portugucfc fatnilics, to fljarc with them the profits of their ex- tenJive difcoverics. All the (hips which the immortal Don Henry fent on thefe voyages were in part provided with good pilots, who underAood Geography, Aftronomy, and Navigation, to the full extent of that degree of perfection to which thefe fciences had been brought at that time. He had alfo taken care to have all the young nobility in his fervice inftru6ted at Ter- naubel-i near Sagre^ in Algarva , in geography, navi- gation, and in the art of laying down charts and maps, by a very fkilful mathematician of Maljorca^ for whom he had fent for this purpofe. In confe- qucnce of this, all the difcoveries were laid down on maps ; and accordingly we find, that when Pedro di Coviliam^ and Jlonfo de Payva^ fct out for the pur- pofe of making new difcoveries, A. D. 1487, they took with them a map of the globe which had been drawn by Galfadilla^ Bifhop of Vifeii^ an extraordi- narily fkilful mathematician. John II. King of Portugal, ordered his two body-Phyficians, Roderic and Jofeph^ together with Martin Behaim^ who were all three excellent mathematicians for thofe times, to invent fomething by which the courfe of a ihip, and the particular place ihe is in at fea, might be determined with greater certainty than before. In compliance with this charge they made improvements in the aflrolabe, which till that time had been ufed only with a view to aftronomy, fo that it could be likewife ufed for the purpofe of navigation. It is alfo a well-known fadt, that when Martin Behaim went to Nuremberg in 1492, in order to vifit his relations, he made a globe, upon which l.e laid down all the regions and countries known at that period : from this globe we learn, amongft other things, that he was of opinion that, in failing farther to the weft- ward, one might at length come to Kathayy or North China, and to Ciparigu, or Japan ; hence, too, we find drawn upon this globe the Greater and DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 261 and Lejjer Java, and the iflands of Ku^.'lyn aivl Jn^ gama, defcribcd by Marco Polo. Now, agiceaMy to this opinion, which was farther confirm' d by the circumftance of exotic fruits having been oftrn calt on (hore at the Azores by the currents and wcftc "i winds, even a boat with the corples of people of a ftrange and unknown country having been once brought thither by them, it feemed more than barely probable that there mu(l be an inhabited country tu the weftward, which, however, was all along fup- pofed to be India. A Genoefe, Chnjiopho Colom by name, who to a confiderable (hare of mathematical and cofmographical knowledge, joined great ikiil in navigation, had been a long time in Portugal, and had married Philippina Afnia Perejlrella^ the daughter of Bartholomeo Perejirelloy who had been one of the firft that contributed to fettle Porto Santa and Madei- ra, It was impoflible for him to have been igno- rant of the important difcovcrics which the Portu- guefe had made vi^ith fuch envied fuccefs. He rnuft alfo necflarily have been acquainted with the pre- vailing notion of thofe times, viz. that in failing to the weftward a (hip muft inevitably at length arrive at the Indies. He therefore requefted King John II. of Portugal, to let him have fome (hips to carry him to the ifland of Cipangu (or Japan) of which there was fome account in the writings of Marco Polo. The King referred him to Diego Ortiz, Bi- (hop of Ceuta, and to his two Phyhcians Rodcric and yofephy all of whom looked upon the opinion commonly entertained concerning the fituation of Marco Polo's Ifland of Cipangu, to be vifionary, and confequently, feeing but little plaulibility in Co- Jom's pUn, abfolutely rejected his petition. Colom, who was a man of a determined difpofition, and not eafy to be (haken 111 his refolves by fuch refufals as thefe, quitting Portugal, where they did not chufe to accept his propofals, went himfelf, in 1484, to Spain, and fent his brother Bartholomeo to England, in order to make the fanie propofals to King Heii- X^ Vn. Puring the f^ace of feven years Cbrijiopber Colom K ) M«il ^63 VOYAGES AND Colom follicitcd the Court of Spain for afliftance in the execution of his great plan, and met with no- thing but tedious delays. His brother had in the mean time been plundered by pirates, and was de- tained in prifon. In 1488 he made King Henry a prefent of a map of the world, drawn up by him- fclf. Henry VII. a Prince of unbounded avarice, and by no means fit for great enterprizes, fufFercd Barthohmto to depart the kingdom without doing any thing for him, when this latter immediately went to Charles VlII. at Paris, who gave him the firft intelligence of his brother Chrijhpber's important difcovery. In the mran time, Chrtjiopher Cohni, wearied out with fruitlefs attendance and deluded expectations, was juft on the point of leaving Spain. He (bid, however to make one more trial, and not receiving expeditioufly enough the wifhed-for anfwer, fct fail in order to go to his brother in England. In con- fequcnce of the conquell lately made of Grenada, and of the earneft follicitations of two of her cour- tiers, men of enlarged views and unprejudied minds. Queen Ifabella was at length determined to grant a iupply of thefcanty fum of ao,ooo" guilders for the fervice of this expedition. A boat was now fent after Colom ; accordingly h^ went afliore again, and ^n agreement was concluded with him in dye form. Colom fet fail from Palos, in Spain, on the 3d of Auguft, A. D. 1492, and the next fpring, on the 15th of March, returned to Palos^ with important news of forhe iflands having been difcovered by him. Gold, cotion, and pimento pepper, together with a great number of parrots of variegated plumage, and Tome rare and uncommon animals ; as alfo feveial in- habitants of the ifland Haiti (or St. Domingo) which he brought with him, exhibited inconteHible proofs of his difcovery. The attention of all Europe was no\v turned to this great event. There were many who were likewlfedeftrous ofiharing in the honours of having difcovered new countries ; among thefe was Amerigo Vcfpucciy whp had feen the mainland of the rew-lound countries, if not btfore, at leuft foon after Cbrijiopher DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 263 Chn/iopber Colonic anJ, by fomc fmgular effi^ft of cliaiice, the whole of this extcnfivt.' quarter of the globe has been called, after him, America, Finally, about the fame time, viz. in the year 1496, Vofco Gama^ failinc; round the Cape de todos los 'Tormientos (or rather de bona E [per DISCOVERIES IK THE NORTH. 465 tracks, or clfc merely with a general view to difcover new countries. The limits we have prefcribed to ourfelvcs in this work, confine us folely to the dif- coveries made in th North ; notwithftanding which, we found it necei.ary to connedl; the thread of our narration by the above introduction ; and fhall only obferve, in addition to what we have juH: flated, that the attempts made to arrive at the Indies by a new and fhorter route, have given rife to many voyages in the North. But many of thefe voyages of difco- vcty have alfo originated in other caufes, which we fhall take occafion gradually ij unfold one after the other. It wUl be neceflary, however, for the fake of or- der, in treating of thefe difcoveries, to arrange them under the heads of the different nations which have participated in them; we Ihall therefore here give a brief account of the Difcoveries made by the Eng- liih, Dutch, French, Danes, RuCans, Spaniards, and Portuguefe ; and conclude the whole with fomc general phyfical, zoological, botanical, mineralogi- cal, and anthropological Obfervations, and with a few words concerning the probability there is of get- ting through the Northern Seas into the great Pa- cific Ocean. * ;;:i;J '"W I < I* Major rerum mihi naftitur ordo.- -VlRCII.. CHAP. I. Of the Difcoveries made hy the Enp;Iifh in the North. ENGLAND, in the reign of Henry VII. after the lofs of all the countries which the Kings of England had poffeffed in France, and the long civil war that lubfifted between the Houfes of Tork and Lancajiert was ftill in a very weak (late. The timo- rous. L IB f I (> \( 266 VOYAGES AND ill rous, miftruftful, and (Economical difpofition of Henry, contributed in a fpecial manner to the pre-* fervation of tranquillity at home and peace abroad. In confequcnce of this, commerce and manufadures incrcafcd greatly, and London contained merchants from all parts of Europe. The Lombards and the Venetians in particular were remarkably numerous, fo that even a ftreet in London was named after the former of thcfe people. The Eafterlings from the Hanfe-towns likewife did a great deal of bufincfs there. Thedifcovcry of the Weft-Indies by Chrijio^ pher Colom in 1492, made a great rumour, and firft created a wifh for a voyage, by which fimilar difco- veries might be made, I. At that time there lived in London a Venetian, by name yoJ^n Cabota^ or Cabot, who had three fons with him, Lewis, Sebajiian, and Snnches. Sebajiian was but young, but had neverthelefs made great pro- grefs in the Belies Lettres, and efpecially in the doc- trine of the fpherc, that is to ii.'^, in every fcienco fubfervient to the rrathematical knowledge of the earth and to navigation, ^ebajlian, hearing of the fuccefs of Colom, was infpired with a defire of like- wife acquiring renown by fimilar enterprizes ; and King Henry VIL in 1495, or 1496, impowered tho. father and his three fons to fail, under the royal flag, with five fhips to the Eaftern, Wefterri, and North- ern Seas, and there find out fuch countries and iflands belonging to the Heathen, as had not before been difcovered by any Chrifti^n power. In the 13th year of this King's reign, "John Cabot obtained permiffion to fail with fix fliips, of 2C0 tons burthen and under, on new difcovcrics. He did not fail, however, till the beginning of May, 1497, and then, by his own . account, had but two Ihips fitted out and flocked with provifions at the King's cxpcnce; but the mer- chants of Briftol ftnt with him three or four fmall veflels laden with coarfe cloth, caps, and other trifling wares. He failed for fome time without feeing any land at all. His crew was k-ginning to murmur, when at length, for fear of a mutiny, he lleered more to the fouth-wcft, and, after fome time longer failing. DISCOVERIES m the NORTH. 267 jOn the 24th of June, dcfcried fome land, to which, alluding to this circumftance, he gave the name of Prima Vijid', and which the tnglifh, making ufe of a word of fimilar import, called Newfoundland. Other authors remark, that he met with many large moun- tains of ice, that he found the days lengthened, and the countries he vifited free from froft. Some fay he went to 67 deg. 30 min. N. lat. ; others reckon his moft northerly track to have been to 58 deg. N. lat. He himfclf informs us, that he reached only to 56 deg. N. lat. and that the coaft in that part tended to the eaft. This fecms hardly probable, for the coaft of Labrador trends neither at 56 deg. noc at 58 to the eaft, and at 67^ deg. is the coaft of Greenland. I fhould therefore fuppofe that Sehajiian Cabot had the firft fight of Newfoundland^ off Cape Bona V'ljla. Pe- ier Adartyr's account fays, that Cabot called the ncw- difcovered land alfo Baccalaos, from the circumftance of his having found there an immciife quantity of large fifties, which the inhabitants called Baccalaos. This word Baccalaos is by the inhabitants pronounced with the Spanifti double //, Baccaljaos, whence the Germans and Dutch have taken their term of Kab' liljau, bearing the fame fignification. This inclines me to fuppofe, that Prima Vijla^ the firft land difco- vered by Cabot, was thf headland in Newfoundland, which is ftill called Cape Bonavi/la^ and this conjec- ture is ftill farther confirmed by the fituation of the. ifland of Baccalao^ which lies not far from thence. The inhabitants that Cabot met wiih here vveredrcflcd in the fkins of animals j he likewife faw fcveral flags and white bears, which ufcd to catch the Baccalaos fifti in the fea. He alfo found at this place black hawks, with partridges and eagl s of the fame co- lour ; and remarks, that the inhabitants there had a great quantity of copper. Having refreflied himfclf and his crew here, he failed to the fouth-weftward, till he was nearly in the fame latitude as the Straits of Gibraltar, and in the fame longitude as the Ifland of Cuba. Accord- ing to this remark of Peter Martyr^ Stbajlian Cabot (nuft have been about as far as Chefapeak Bay in Fir- ^iiiia. I ( k ' ft68 VOYAGES AND ginia. He was now obliged, through want of pro* vifions, to fet out on his return, when he took along with him three inhabitants of Baccalao, or New- foundland. But great preparations being made at that time for a war with Scotland, it did not appear at all probable to him that any ufe would be made of his difcovery j he therefore went into the fervice of Spain, where he was made Piiote Mayovy and ex- plored the coaft of Brafil, and the river Plata; after which he undertook fome other voyages in the fer- vice of Spain. In a writ of King Edward VI. iflueti out in I549» one Scbajiian Cabot was alfo promoteci to be Grand Pilot of England, With a falary of l661. 13s. 4d, per ann. fterling : but if it be the fame perfon, he muft at that time have been very old. II-. We do not find, that fince this, during the reign of Henry VII. and in that of Henry VIII, any great c.;terprifes and voyages to the North were undertaken. The avaricious difpofition of the former prevented him from any new undertakings after the firft expedition of Sebaftian Cabot, who, in fadt, although he had difcovered a great extent of land, reaching from the 56th to the 36th degree of north* crn latitude, had brought home no treafures in gold and filver, which alone were coveted in thofe days ; neither was the turbulent, voluptuous, proud, and cruel difpofition of Henry VIII. any great encourage* ment to men of abilities and enterprize to undertake voyages of difcovery, and thereby expofe themfelves to the King's fickle and tyrannical temper in cafe of inifcarriage, as fuch expeditions depend merely on wind and weather, and may eafily turn out unfortu- nately. After his deceafe, came, in 1548, a Sebaf- tian Cabot, who was not only appointed Grand Pilot of England, but was allowed befides, a falary for life of 1 661. 13s. 4d. in conjideraticn of the good and acceptable fervice done and to be done by him. This exprefiion feems to indicate, that this Sebajiian Ca- hi was the fame pcrfoi^ as, fo long ago as in 1497, h56, the fame two fhips, under the command of Richard Chancellor^ returned from the Dwina and the Bay of St. Nicholas, to England. In the mean time intelligence had been received con- cerning the two fhips loit on the firft voyage, and the Botia Efperanza^ as well as the Bona ConfidenUa^ fet out alio on their return home with rich cargoes. The Grand Duke, Ivan Waflielewitfch, had dif- patched by thefe (hips an Ambaflador, with his reti- nue, to England. But of all thefe fhips only ore got back to England j all the others were loft. Ri- chard Chancellor peri(hed, and the Ambaflador Ofep (Jofeph) Nepea, with the greatcll difficulty faved his life on the coaft of Scotland, where, however, he fuftained a very confiderable lofs in clothes, articles of merchandize, and prefents. As foon as this be- came known in England, the AmbafTador was fent for to London, where he was received with great magnificence ; the Company made him feveral rich preients, and fent him back to Ruffia in 1557, in their own fljips. On his audience, he was very po- litely received by the King and Queen, and their Majcfties gave him fome prefents to take over with him to the Grand Duke. 1 hus fhips continued to go every year toRuffia, where they carried on a very extenfive and proHtable trade, which Dantzick and the other Hanfe-towns endeavoured to obftru6l as much as poffible. IV. A. D. 1556, the Company fent out a pinnace under command of Stephen Burroughs or Burrow^ who had been, with Richard Chancellor^ in the capa- city of Matter, in his firft voyage in the year 1553. This veffel, merely dcftined for difcoveries, was nam- ed the Searchthrift. At their departure the Go- vernor of the Company, Scba/lian Cahta, paid them a vifit, and is called, in the relation publiftied of the voyages, the good old Gentleman, This feems to be a very evident proof that this Sebajlian Cabot is the fame with him whi had difcovered New- foundland, and who, if at that time he was 22 years old, at this latter period muft have been 81. Burroitgh went to the coaft of Norway, faw Lafot and the North Cape, which latter he had named thus on his firft DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. ^n firft voyage in the year 1553* ^"^ ^' length came to Cola, From thei^.ce he went, in company with fome fmall Ruflian veflels, or lodjes, as far as Kanyn-Nofs^ or Kanda'Nofu Immediately after one is paft the cape of this ifland, one finds the caft, north-eaft, and north winds prevail more and more. After this he arrived at 30 leagues E. N. E. from thence, at the harbour of Morfchiowez (Morzowets) in 68 deg. 20 min. N. lat. From thence he failed 25 miles to the eaftward, and at the diftancc of eight leagues in the N. by W. found the ifland of Colgoive (Kolgow ojhow). After this he came ?^ Swetimtz (Swjaetoi Nofs) ; from whence he foon arrived in the dangerous mouth of the Petfchora. The whole land here confifted of low fandy hills. At length he reached Nova Zembla (New- land) and the iflands of Waigats *. But Burrough, finding it impoflible to advance any farther on ac- count of the north-eafterly winds, and the great quantity of ice, and moreover the nights beginning already on the 22d of Auguft to be very dark, determined to return, and to fpend the winter in Colmogori 'i though the Ruffians laid much to him in favour of the mouth of the river Ob^ and concerning the great quantities of morfes, (or fea-horfes), to be met with there. Jn Nova Zembla they faw not a kll' * JVaygatty according to the opinion of fome learned men, takes its name from the Dutch wjaiVn, i. e. to hloio, to be windy ^ andjja/, i. e. a hole or ilrait, and is c:\\\*:d'wa4iagaty becaafe in thefe Units the wind blows with great violence. But as thefe ftraits were already called fVaigats by Burroughs before the Dutch had feen them -, and moreover, as the Englilh had already heard the nameS of Nova Zembla and ff^aigats^ from one Lojbak^ a native of Ruflia, this name mull be rather of Ruflian than of Dutch origin. Barent% found afterwards on N-.nja Zembla fome carved images on a hrad-Und near the ftiaits, in confequente of which he called it Afgoeienhuek^ the Cape of Idols. Now, in the Sclavonian tongue, /#^<^ be the true origin of the word JVaigatSy which proptriy ftiould be csUcd Wa» jaidjlwoi Proliviy the Image Straits. * T human A t jti 'sill 274 VOYAGES AND human being, but caught a creat number of birds^ and faw foi white foxes and white bears. On the main land we. he Samojedesy a heathen nation, who, living in the neighbourhood of the river Petfchora, were even at that early period fubjcdl to Ruffia, and were tolerably peaceable and friendly j but thofe of this nation, who lived on the river Ob^ were of a hoftile, cruel, and ferocious difpofition. Having wintered in Ruflla, he returned to England in the year 1557, and was afterwards made Comptroller of the King's navy. V. The attempt to difcover a north-caft paflage to India having mifcarricd, people began again to enter- tain the hopes of fucceeding by a north-weft pallage. Accordingly, Queen Elizabeth fent Martin Forbijher out with three fmall (hips in 1567. On the nth of July he faw land in 61 deg. N. lat. which land he fuppofcd to be the Friejland of Zeno \ and here he found a great quantity of ice. On the 28th of the fame month he faw land again, which he took for the coaft of Labrador. On the ift of Auguft land again ap- peared, and a large ifland of ice, which the next day fell to pieces with a dreadful noife. On the nth he was in a ftrait, though perhaps it was merely a found. After he had made them fome prefents, the inhabitants came on board the (hip, and the next day one of them went on board in the ftiip's boat, and was taken a-fhore again j but the five failors who were with him, went to the natives contrary to orders, and neither they, nor the boat, were ever feen again. Upon this, they feized on a native and took him along with them j but he died foon after his arrival in England. Amongft other things which they carried home with them was a black, fhining, and very heavy ftonc, which was gold marcafite, (Pyrites aureus) as it contained a confidera- ble quantity of gold. VI. The gold found in this ftone encouraged the members of the Society to fend the next year (1577) three other fhips. Martin Frobijher was again Com- mander DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 275 mander in Chief. When he had got to the diftance of fix days fail from the Orkneys, he met with a great quantity of drift-wood, which was continually driven forwards with a current fctting from the b. W. to the N. E. After 26 days failing in a welt and north- weft dire6lion, he went from the Orkneys to the country which was by them taken for Friefland. Soon after, he came to FrobiJher\ Streight^ where, even fo late as the 4th of July, all was Itill covered with fnow and ice. Neverthelefs he could not per- fuade himfclf that the cold was fo intenfe as to freeze the fea-water, and fo much the lefs, as the diffcrejice between the tides of ebb and flood was above ten fa- thoms ; indeed, Frohijher found ice at the diftancc of upwards of 1000 miles from any land wliatever, and tliis ice confiflcd of frefh, and not of fait water. At the fame time it is inconceivable how this ice ihould break off from the entire mafs, the air being fo (harp here, and the rays of the fun falling fo obliquely, as never to be elevated, even when it is at the higheft, more than 23 degrees 30 min. above the horizon. It muft therefore have been either very rapid llreams and torrents of frefh water, or elfe a high flood, which can have had force fufficient to detach thcfe enormous maflles of ice, and carry them into the fea. Fro- bi(her, not daring to approach nearer with his ihips on account of the ice, went on fnore with boats, and having examined every thing, and alfo feized on a native of the country, he returned again on board, and brought word, that in the bowels of the bare and barren mountains, probably great riches were hidden. He landed on feveral other fpots, and at ^\zxy place attempted to lay hold on fome of the natives j but they fometimes defending themfelves bravely with their bows and arrows, fome of which were armed with iron points, but moft of them with fliarp ftones or bones, the Englifti fired, too, on theii-'-part, and wounded fome of them, who then, in order to avoid T 2 bt-ing I* :i s .[ ; \ m ik' { ^-mR 1 ^^ '■/■■'■ III )^H Igm^i. ' :\ 3^ H Hj /; i^^ i 176 VOYAGES ANU b^eing taken, leaped into the fea and drowned them- felves, an adion which appeared very extraordinary to the Englifh, who intended to cure their wounds, and carry them over to England. The Grecnlanders ufcd every art poflible to be pradlifed in order to entice the Englim to land, inlbmuch that one of them feigned himfelf lame, and got another to carry him ; however, they could not lay hold on the Englilh : thefe latter, on the contrary, frightened the Green- landers away by firing off their olunderbullcs, when the pretended cripple ran away with the reft very fwiftly, and without limping in the leaft. The Eng- li(h examined their huts (made of the fKins of rein- deer and the hides of other animals) and found fome of the clothes of the five Englifhmen who had been mi/Tmg the year before. They found alio fome other miferable habitations of the natives, made of ftones heaped up together. After this follows a defcription of their boats for one man, as alfo of thofe for the women, their darts, clothes, and furniture. Of two women whom they found there, they took one along with them, together with her wounded child ; the other was .left on the fpot, on account of her ex- treme uglinefs. The failors, moreover, fufpeded this woman to have a cloven foot j but her bulkins being taken off her legs, her feet were found to be ex- a6Uy like thofe of other human beings. They then took fome more of the glittering ftones along with them, and fet fail again for England. During the voyage the Greenland captives, both man and wo- man, behaved with great decorum, and exhibited a degree of chaftity and modefty which was not ex- pected from vhcm. The Admiral's ftiip was fepa- rated from the two fmaller ones in a ftorm, both of which, however, got fafe, the one into Briftol, and the other into Scotland, as did the Admiral's ftiip in Milford Haven. The DISCOVERIES XN the NORTH. 277 The remark of the author of Frobifticr's voyage* on the current which carried the great quantity oif drift-wood they met with, in a direction from fouth- weft to north-cull, has llncc been frequently confirmed. ,For it is by this current that I'o many Wclt-lndian woods and fruits arc cait on Ihore in Irchuul, Scot- Jand, the Faro Iflands, the Wcllcrn Ilhind?;, the Ork- neys, the Shetland Ifi.mds, Icchuid, and Norway * : and it is probable that the black and red beans or peafc, which were afterwards, in the third voy?.jd;e, found in the huts of the Grecnlanders, and which it is to be prefumcd, came from the ahrus precaiorius, but were fiippofcJ to be fruits from Guinea, had been brought by the fame current. In the fame manner the Icelanders are furnilhed with wood for firinti, and re- ccive other great advantages, by means of this current; and other Icafaring people have, in Nova Zcmbla and Spitzbergen, as alfo in Greenland, and even on the northern ;rnd eaftcrn coalls of Siberia, every where found great quantities of this drift-wood, which was of great ufe to them in building their dwellings, as ^ifo for Hrc-wo(Kl. That this part of Greenland difcovcrcd by Frobi- iher, which is iituated more to the fouthward than aijy part of Iceland, or than Drontheim, in Norway, is neverthelefs far colder and more furroundcd with ice than thefe latter places, feems chiefly to proceed from tlie following circumftanre, viz. that the couniry of Greenland Itretches very far to the northwards, and is full of inlets, running deep into the country, and founds, where, in hard winters, mafles of ice of an afloniftiing (ize are generated by the mountains of fnow which are blown down from oft' the high rocks, and in the fpring, in confequence of the thaws, of heavy rains, and of the fea-water dafhing upon them, are converted into ice. Thefe mountains of ice are torn off" by the tides and torrents of rain-water, and at length carried out to fea. But frequently they arc * Works of the Society at Droatheim, Vol, III. page 13, a8. »ifl|:(P (• ■if" '■; t 27^ VOYAGES AMD fo numerous, that in the ftraits between Iceland and Greenland they are preffed together by ftorms, and without previoufly melting, freeze into one mafs fo as to form large fields of ice ; particularly if they happen to be formed on fand-banks or (hallows, and cannot go any farther; for they extend to fuch an aftoniihing depth in the water, that hardly one fif- teenth part of them is above the furface of it, and fometimes many thoufand feet of fuch a mafs are un- der water. Now, as by thefe enormous mountains and fields of ice, large tracls of the ocean are en- tirely covered with ice, and cbnfequently no vapours from the fea, which are ufually mild and damp, can reach the land in Greenland, or at leaft but in very fmall Miantities, the cold muft be thereby prodigioufly augmented, when in addition to this, the north winds, already of themfelves fufficiently cold, blow over thefe immenfe fields of ice, and in their courfe are con- tinually cooled more and more, till at laft they arc rendered fo cold as to be abfolutely infupportable. Here again we meet with an inftance of that cruelty which has ever marked the difcoveries of the Europe- ans. It was concluded to make captures of thefe poor people at all events, and pretended that it was defigned for the'r good. It is not furprifing that the innocent inhabitants could not form any favourable conception of the benevolent views of their conquer- ors, who brought devaftation into their country, and deftru! ,; t' ; Hi 2»8 VOYAGES AND Cape and IVardhoufe-t but the caft, north-eaft, and fouth-eaft winds prevailed for a long time, and hindered them from purfumg their voyage: at length, having worked through great quantities of ice, and been often deceived by falfe appearances of land, on the i8th of July they arrived off ff^aigatz. They then failed through the Straits, and foon met with a large quantity of folid ice ; fo that, after feveral fruitlefs attempts to get through it, thev were obliged to return. It is remark- able, that in the fca extending between Nova Zembla and the continent, wherever they founded, they foon came to ground j that is to fay, they had from 4 to 33» 68, 70, and 95 fathoms. Not far from Kotcoyeve^ or Kolgewy they ran upon a fand-bank. They law the land Hugri (or Jugria on the banks of the retfchora) and the Bay of Morzowetz. At length they made the North Cape, and on the 26th of November arrived fafely at Ratcllff. The other (hip, the William., com- manded by CharUi Jackman,, having been feparated from them in a very thick fog, was obliged to winter in a harbour in Norway ; from whence fhe fet fail in the month of February, in company with a Danifli fhip bound for Iceland j fmce which time there was never any farther intelligence to be obtained concerning her. This attempt at a north-eaft paflage, which, like the former ones, proved abortive, chiefly ferves to corrobo- rate two phyfical remarks mentioned above. The firft is, that in thefe high northern latitudes we meet with frequent eafterly, north-eafterly, and fouth-eafterly winds. The fecond regards the great Ihallownefs of the water of the northern or Icy-Sea, which has been noticed not only then, but alfo llnce, by more modern navigators. We find alfo in this voyage the ufual complaints with refpe£l: to the enormous quantities of ice and the terribly dangerous fogs with which they were annoyed, and which every where occur, as well in the northern as in the fouthern hemifphere, in the cold re- gions near the Poles, and both of which greatly con- tribute to hinder any progrefs from being made in thefe dreadful feas. IX. Though DISCOVERIES IK THE NORTH. aS^ IX. Though none of the former voyages to the North had turned out to any advajitas^c, yet there were always others who endeavoured to n\i.k.c new difcoverics, partly in hopes of ; diually finding coun- tries abounding in gold, filver, and fji.ccs, and partly from a notion that in the puifuit of tat'ir dilcoveric^, they might hit upon a -new way to India. Q^iecn Elizabeth, therefore, in 1578, made a grant to air Humphry Gilbert, of all the lands which he fliould difcovcr and take poflefTion of; in confcqucnce of which, he made preparations for his voyage. How- ever, I cannot deny but that there are ftlH fomc obfcurc accounts extant of voyages of difcovery un- dertaken long before this. We find that fo eaily as 1502, Hugh Elliot and Thomas AJhhurjl, merchants of Briftol, obtained letters patent from Henry W.{, for the eftablifliment of colonies in the countries newly tjifcovered by Cabot. But whether they ever made V)fe of this permiiiion, and fet on foot any voyages thither, we find no traces to inform us, either in the writers who were their cotcmporaries, or in thofe that immediately fucceeded them. But likewife, in the reign of King Henry ViH. A. D. 1527, two fhips, the one of which was called Dominus vcbifatm, were by the advice of Robert Tborne^ of Briftol, fent to make di/coveries to the norih-weftward. The on« of thefe veflels was loft in a dangerous gujph, be- tween the fiorthcf n parts of Newfonndland, and the country afterwards c.tlled, by Qiieen Elizibcih, Meta Incognita, The fecond fliip, after the lols of the firil, £hapcd its courfe ti^wards Cape Breton^ and the coall of Arambec, In their way thither theTe navigators often went on (hore, and explored thefc unknown re- gions, and arrived again fafe in England in the be- ginning of Otiobcr. But the precedin.;^ very imper- f^'£t account is all that m known oi thia expedition. However, from hence it appears, that Cape Britoriy which is here at fo early a period called by tnis name, mull have been named thus by Sthnjliun Cabct, when, \i\ company with his father, hi; dilcoverctl Neivfound- l^nd^ or BaccallaoSj and afterwards failed along the cpalt of An;crica ;is far as Chfapsak Bay, With re- U gard named thus after a kind of fea-fowl, which the Spa- niards and Portuguefc called Penguins, on account of their being fo very fat, and which ufed to build their nefts and to live in aftoniftiing quantities on this little rock. After this they went to Newfoundland* Here they faw fome of the inhabitants, who came to look at their (hip; but, being purfued, fled to an ifland^ where a piece of roafted bear's flefli was found on a tvooden fpit. They alfo afterwards frequently ufed to (hoot white and black bears ''hemfelvcs, and found the fle(h of them very palatable. But ;it length their ftock of provifion dccrcafcd, fo that they were neceiTitatcd to eat fome Afb which an ofprcy had csj-ried to her neft for the purpofc of feeding her young } and beiides that, were obliged to feed uport perbs and roots of all kinds ; nay more, when the fcarcity of food increafed, it was pbferved, that fome of the failors were mi(fing one after another, who were at length difcovered to have been killed and eaten in the woods by their own comrades. The Captain reproached his people very feyercly for this piece of cruelty ; at length, however, they were again reduced to fuch extremities as to be ready to. ^aft lots whofe turn it (liould be to be devoured next \ when the following day a French ihip arrived there, of which they made thcmfelves mafters, and left theirs to the French, after having diftributed to them a fuf- ficient quantity of provifions. They arrived fafe in^ England, where, foon after, a complaint was prefer- red agaiaft them by the Fiench, for the forcible fcizure made DISCOVERIHj in the north. 291 made of their vefTcI ; but the King being; informed of the dire neccflity which had compelled them to com- mit this adl of violence, indcmniAed the French out of his own purfc, and did not punifli this a6l of piracy as it would otherwifc have richly defcrved to have been punifhed. It is pretty evident that thefe adventurers knew very little of the immenl'c ftore of fi{h to be found on all the banks round aboul the ifland of Newfound- land, or elfe they would have made a better ufe of it for their maintenance. For there arc many ac- counts extnnt which mention that, fmce the year J 504, the French from. Normandy and Bretagne, and the Spaniards from Bifcay, as alfo the Portuguefe, ufed to carry on the cod fifhery on thefe banks, with a great number of (hips. This fifhery muft there- fore have been carried on at ]ea(l 32 years without the Engliflimen having the leaft knowledge of it j nei- ther, indeed, did they feem to have any conception in what manner people in diftrefs muft endeavour to live, even without bread or other provifions in common ufeamongfl the Europeans. It is in fa6l in- conceivable how any men, at a time when want and famine flared them as it were in the face, could be fo ina(Stive and infcnfible as thofc people have been de- scribed to us. Humanity ftartles at the high degree of calloufncfs and the forgetfulnefs of every duty ex- hibited by thefe people, when we reiid that one of them came behind another who was digging up fome roots out of the earth, and killed him, with a view to prepare himfelf a meal from his fellow-creature's fle£hi and that a third, fmelling the delicious bdour of broiled meat, went up to the murderer, and, by threats and menaces, extorter* from him a fhare in this {hocking meal *, li' MM^^: I Si • This faft is here mifrepreffnttd. The man who quarrelled with the murderer did not know on what kind of flefli the Utter was feaDing ^ and when he was informed of it, \\ent, it feemi, and divulged the mat- ter to (he red of his cQOipanioni. Vide Hakiuyt's Vojagee, Vol. III. P- '30. _^ _ 291 • VOYAGES AND 1 It appears alfo, by an a£l of Parliament, paflfcd Iri the reign cf King Edward VI. A. D. T584, that for the better promotion of the fifhery in Iceland and Newfoundland^ the exad^ion of money, fifh, or ocher rewards, under any pretext whatfoever, from the Englifh fifhermen and mariners going on this fervice, was prohibited. This ferves at leaft to prove, that the Englifh, even at that time, were accultomed to fifh on the banks of Newfoundland ; as alfo, that many other nations at the fame time ufed to carry on a lucrative filhery, which it was intended to wreft out of their hands by thefe means. The Captain of a vefiel from Briftol, by name jintony Parkhurjl^ in 1578, gave the learned jR;V/j«r<^ Hakluyt a very authentic and good account of the great cod-fiftiery which was then annually carried on in the vicinity o^ Newfoundland j by which it ap- pears, that at that- time about 50 Englilh (hips were employed on this fifhery. For the lame purpofe there ufed alfo to come about ico Spr lie clofc to the fhorc. This piece of intelligence t had from my late friend, the great circumnavigator, Capt. Cooky who for feve«*al years fuccefllvely, had explored the fhores of this ifland, taken their bear- ings and refpeiStive diftances, and laid them down on charts. X. Some tnerchants, and gentlemen of landed pro-* perty, as alfo fome noblemen belonging to the Courts m 1585 formed an afTociation for the purpofe of fend- ing out two (hips on difcoveries, under the command 6f yohn Davis, a very experienced navigator. They fet fail from Dartmouth on the 7th of June, and, on the 13th of the fume month, left Falmouth. Firft they failed to the wcftward, and then to the north- weft. They met with a great number of whales and dolphins, one of which latter they killed with a ^ear, took it on board, and eat it, when the flefh fcemed' to them as well tafted as muttoni On the igth of July they heard a great noife in the fea dur- ing a thick fog. The current fet to the northward ; with a line of 300 fathoms they found no ground j and they difcovercd that the noife they had heard pro- ceeded from the waves daihing againft the ice. They loaded their boat quite full with this ice, which, wheA melted, produced good palatable water. The next day, viz. the 20th of July, they (aw land, which eonfifted entirely of fummits of mountains in the form of fugar-loaves, quite covered with fnovv, fome of them indeed reaching above the clouds. They named tliis horrid land the Land of Dcfolation. The v.'holc of this land was io farroimded with ice, that they could not come near it. They imagined they favv foreils upon it, and in the fea ibund fome drift-wood, out of which they took up one entire tree, with the roots upon it, which was 60 feet long, ^nd 14 fpans in circumference. On the 25th they ihaped their courfe to the north-weft in hopes to find the wiftied-for pafiage. After four days iailing^ they agaia liwlandon the 29th of July, in 64 deg. 15 min. N. kt* DISCOVERIES IN THB NORTH. 299 lat. in which land they found many convenient har- bours and deep founds, one of which they named Gilbert* s Sound. I'hey went on fhore, and faw fome of the inhabitants, cloathed in feal (kins, with whom they foon became friends, and obtained almoft any thing for which they fhewed but the fmalleft inclina- tion i for the natives gave away their clothes, boats, and arms, and in lieu of them, accepted any thing that was offered them. The Engliftiexprefling their wiihes for more furs, the inhabitants promifed to return thtf next day. They did not, however, venture to comfi near the Englifh, till both parties had repeatedly pointed tjo the fun, and then ftruck their breafts. Here they found again Afufcovy glafs (Mica metnhrc- nacea Linnai) as alloths fame kind of ore as had been found by Sir Martin Frobifher. Next morning the wind being favourable, Davis would not wait for the clufler of iflands there, and which was contrary to that by which he went, mull undoubtedly have appeared very ftrange to him, and perhaps he might talce it as a proof that this tide came from fome other ocean, perhaps from the ■yveilern one : but if we only caft an eve on the map of the North Pole, v/e fhall cauly conceive, that the fame tide which had forced itfelf through Dai-is's Straits into Cumberland Straits, may alio have cow.r through thofe of Hudfofi, round the liland r>f Gc'.d Fcrtuyie^ as far as to the end of Cumberland Straif-, ** . near I * . V 1 f-1 p ;^i:. 302 VOYAGES ANt near the group of ifiands where the two tides muft ot courfe have inct, and tlie one have retarded the other. We fee, then, how cautious we ought to be in form- ing and adopting conclulions of this kind, and more ef- pecially ^hen, upon the strength of them, we are about to enter upon an expcnfive undertaking. It is the fame thing with regard to the increafmg depth of the fi:a, the tranfparcncy of th^ fea- water, and to the abundance of whales which were fecund at the end of Cumberland Straits j they ceafe to be proofs of the cxiftence of a paflage here, as foon as we are acquainted with the real lituation of the neighbouring countries, which was not difcovcred till fome time afterwards. Davis faw here Mufcovy glafs, and fuch ores as Frobifher had brought home from the coaft. I am myfelf in pof- fcflion of fome Mica and Mufcovy glafs from Green- land ; and thcncc it becomes probable that the foil of almoft all the mountains in eaft and weft Greenland, and on the illands beyond Davis's Straits, are of the fame nature and contam the fame kind of ftones. XL On the 7th of May, 1586, Captain Jdm Davis fet out from Dartmouth, with four fhips, on his fecond voyage. Two of thefe (hips went into the Straits between Greenland and Iceland, to feek for a pafiage there. Nearly where Statenhoek is now, Davis faw land, but the ice hindered him from proceeding farther. He was therefore obliged to fail to 57 dcg. N. lat. in order to avoid the ice. Hav- ing weathered many florms, he came in 64 deg. N. lat. to a land lying to the eaftward of him, entered into a harbour, then known by the name of Gilbert's Sound ; but which is at prefcnt called, in the Danifti language, God Haah (or Good Hope). Here they found many inhabitants, with whom they entered in- to a friendly intercourfe, and who, in return for fome trifling prelents, rendered their vifitors many friendly fervices, but neverthelefs could not reftft the tempta- ^on of ftcding from ^he Europeans, even before their DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 303 their fuces, all the Iron and iron utcnfils tlicy could ^ct at. And though Davis always endeavoured us Ofiuch as poHiblc to put the bcli conibu£^icn on «vcry thing, yet they carried the boldnefs of their thefts rather too far. The tnglilh attempted to frighten them with their fire-arms, which had fome «fte6V, but they foon returned and made their peac* again j which they, however, broke afrcfh by throw- ing larg« ftoncs, of half a pound weight, into the Ihips, by one of which the boatfwain of one of the (hip« was felled to the ground. At length Davis yieldt;*! fo the preffing entreaties of his crew, and they feized the ringleader of thefe ailailants, and foon after, get- ting a fair wind, the (hips fct fail on the nth cf July. The great quantity of ice they nov/ met with, and the intenfe cold which froze all the rir^rinq; COO i>( the {hips, difheartencd the crew and made tnctn iickly ; infomuch, that though Davis was already far advanced to the northward, yet the danger of the voyage, and the murmurings of his crew, determined him to fleer to the eafk foulh-eaft, when, on the jik of Auguft, he difcovered land in 66 dog. 33 min. N. Jat. and 70 deg. W. long, from London. Here he took fomc provifions out of the larger Ihip, and endea- voured to encreafe the burthen cf his, by taking \n additional ballaft. He purchafed from the inhabitants fome fcal-lkins, quitted the large fliip and failed with the fmaller one to the wefl", and again in 66 deg. 19 min. N. lat. found land, which was at the diitance of 70 leagues from that which they had left laft. On the 15th he departed from this land to the fouthward, and on the , i8th faw land in the N. W. On the fame day faw land again in the S. W. by S. On the i7th of Auguft he was in 64 deg. 20 min. N. lat. Here he met with a (Ironi^ current, fetting U the wcftward. He explored the land, and found that it confifted almcft entirely cf iflands. Till the 28th of Auguft he fliaped his ccurfc jconftantly to the fouthward, iVom the 67th to the 57th deg. N. lat. coafting all the while. Here they (aw aflonifhing quantities of mews and other fea-fowL i hey r '; i ) \ m 304 VOYAGES AND They alfo caught with a very indifferent apparatus, upwards of 100 large cods. At length on tht 28th of Auguft they arrived in 56 dcij. N. lat. in a har-^ bour two leagues in breadth, and failed up above 10 leagues into it. The (hores on both fides of it were covered with fine forefts. Here they lay at anchor till the I ft of Sept. and in the mean time had two heavy ftorms. The forefts were compofed of fir, pine, alder, vew, ofier, and birch. Here, too, they faw a black bear j and of the fowl kind they faw phcalants (Tetrao PhtifiantUui^ or long-tailed grous) IJarbary hens (meaning the Tetrao Canadenfn, or fpottcd grous) Par- tridges (viz. the Tetrao togatin, or ftiouldcrknot grous) Wild-gcefe, ducks, blackbirds, jays, (meaning the Cor- vus Canadenfis^ or cinereous grDus) Thruilics (viz. the Turdus mtgratoriuSf or rcd-breafted thruih) and many other fmall birds. Of the pheafants and partridges they killed a conftderable number, ai)d likewife caught a great quantity of cod. Having fet fail on the ift of September, they ranged along the coaft till the 3d, when a calm afforded tliem leifure again for hilling. On this coaft, which was in 54 deg. 30 iiiin. N. lat. they caught a great many excellent cod ; and fome very experienced filhers on board the fliip afRired the Captain, that they had never fecn larger fhoals of thefe fifti. They went on till the 4th, when thev came to an anchor, being quite furrounded with woody iflands. At about eight leagues from this fpot, they had fecn a ftrong current palling between two lands, and taking its diretSlion to the weftward, which gave them hopes of finding a paflage there, and particularly, as towards the fouth there lay a great number of iflands. At this place they had left a quantity of fifh on an illand, and lent five young failors to bring it aihorc ; but the inhabitants, who lay fecrctly lurking in tlic v/oodr., ft;ot at them on a fudden v/ith their arrows, fo that tv/o of them died, two were dange- roufly wounded, and but one efcaped, which he did by fvv'imming, though his arm too was pierced with an arrow. The people on board, it is true, llipt their ca- bles, and bqre up tq the IhoiCi but the mifchief was aU ready biSCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 305 teady done ; however, they fent two difchargcs of a double mufket atnon^fl thcfe cruel and treacherous ravages, and thereby forced them to fly. Immediately after this, too, they met with a violent ftorm, which had nearly driven them on fhore, though they had p. ly taken in their yards and booms. At length, wind abating, they found their anchor again^ and, ing new moored their fliip, weathered out another rtor.'i, and at length fet fail on the nth of September, and, in the beginning of Odlober, landed fafely in Eng- land. The two fhips which were to feck for a palfage be- tween £afl Greenland and Iceland, left the Captain on the yth of June in aboiit 60 degrees N. lat. and had orders to feek for a paflage as far as 80 deg. N. lAt. if not prevented by the land. So early as on the 9th they faw large .fields of ice, till the nth, when they defcried land, which on the 12th they found to be Ice~ land, in 66 deg. The inhabitants here had ftockfifli, ling, and fkatcs (Rata Bath) in abundance, alfo horfes, toxen^ aui' Ihecp, and hay to feed their cattle with. Their houfes were built of ftonej and covered with wood, over which was laid another covering of turf. Their tools and utenfils wei-e like thofe in England, of wood, brafs, copper, &c. On the 16th of June they left Iceland, and failed flrait on to thb north-weft. On the 3d of July they were between two firm fields of ice, and neverthclefs failed on between them, till late in the night ; when they tacked abbut and made for Greenland, On the 7th they Taw Greenland. The land was high and of a blue colour ; but they were prevented from landing by the firm and folid ice which lay before it : they therefore continued ranging along the coaft. On the 17th they faw the Land of Defolation, fo called by Davis the year before. But the ice hindered them from landing there. On the 3d of Auguft they anchored in Gilberts Sound, their place of rendezvous j but Davis had fet fail from thence X on ft'^il^h^ •' l;.)"';: Wd m 3o6 VOYAGES AND on the nth of July. They traded peaceably with the Greenlanders till the 30th of Auguft, when a quirrel happened about a boat that had been bought of the latter, and which they would not deliver up. Several men were killed on both fides, and others wounded. On the 31ft of Auguft the\' fet fail, and came into the I'names, as high as Ratcliffy on the 6th of Oftober. This voyage of Capt. John Davis is in every refpedl of the highelt importance. The great fault of it is, that in confequence of his not having named the coun- tries he faw, it is very unintelligible. Thus much, however, we are able to collect from it ; that he a fe- cond time put into Gilbert's, Sounds which had been dif- covered the year before, and was fituated on the weft fide of Greenland. After this, Davis went again, in foggy weather, into Cumher/and Straits^ as far as the group of iflands there, and it was entirely owing to the nmrmurings of his crew that he at length ran into a harbour ca the fouth fide of Cumberland btraits, or in the ifland of 6V// Fortune^ in 66 deg. 30 min. N. lat. and 70 deg. \V. long, from London. He again met with land, fituated ' on the north fide of Cumberland Straits, or in Cumberland IJland. Thferi he tacked about to the fouth, and faw land continually to the weftward. On the 19th ot Auguft he was in 64 deg. 20 min. N. Idt. fomewhere about the Bay of Good Fortune. In 57 deg. he faw land again, and confequently he was al- ready on the coaft of Labrador, On the 28th of Auguft he put into a deep inlet in lat. 56. The former of thefe is nearly v/here the iflands are fituated which lie directly before the colony of the Moravian brethren, called Nain. The latter is probably the in- let that lies to the weft of Nantucktuht. In like man- ner the place fituated in 54. deg. 30 min. N. L. near the large inlet, where they found the great fea running to the weft, is the inlet of Eyivncktohc. From whence they fo<^n- haftened eaftward for England. • I'he voyage of tiie other ft^ips is full as indeterminate. H-jwever DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 307 HolVevcr the firft part of Iceland they met with (hould feem to have been fomewhere about BardeJirandfyJTely in the Wefifildinga Fiordung^ perhaps in Patrickpord Harbour* To the north-weft of this place is that part of Eaft Greenland, through which probably the ftrait goes, which conies from Chrijiiari's Haab^ and which is at prefent entirely blocked up with ice, whence it is that there is annually fo inuch ice likewife at this fpot> as to prevent the (hips from advancing any farther* This was alfo now the cafe with the bold and enter- prizing EngUIh, and they were obliged to range along the coaft to the fouth-weft, till they came at length round by Cape Farewell to the Land of Defolation and Gilbert's' Sound. Coiifequently they hardly went as far as 67 deg. though they were to have gone to 80. The inhabitants of the different countries where Davis touched were treated by him with great ten- dernefs ; and yet thofe of Greenland at length gave flagrant proofs of their perfidy, and were guilty of continual infractions of the peace ; but it fhould fecrti as if Davis's people had not always told him by what means the Greenlanders had been provoked to thefe violations of the peace j their attacking the Englifh with flings and flones feems to indicate a great ani- moiity on the part of thefe people, and confequently their having received fome previous offence. But on the coaft of Labrador the inhabitants appear to have had lefs humanity, and to have been more unpolifhed in their manners than thofe of Greenland ; though in- deed it is not improbable but that thefe people may have been, previous to this period, ill-treated, and ex- cited to vengeance by the Europeans that ufed to fifh on the coaft of Newfoundland, and towards the north. Iron, being fo folid and indeftru(5tible a metal, had at all times fuch a ftrong attraction for thefe poor wretches, that they could not pofTibly refift the great temptation it lay them under of ftealing. The Europeans, too, were always fo remifs in their care of this article, as to make it very eafy for them to commit this theft, and thus provoke the vengeance of thefe latter. X 2 The u 111 . 11 ^i^ f; \ '■" 1 1 i 3o8 VOYAGES ANl> The defcription of Labrador^ here prefented to u«, feems alfo to ^gree pertedtly with that given of this coalt by Lieutenant Curtis^ in the Philofbphical Tran»a6tions : forefts, birds, and game in abundance, together with an aftonifhing quantity of fifh. XII . Finally, we come to the third and moft impor- tant of Davis's voyages of difcovery, which was made in the year 1587. There were three fhips fitted out, one of which only was deflined to the purpofe of making difcoveries, the two others being intended for fifhing. Leaving Dartmouth on the i th of May, they failed ftrait on to the coaft of Weji Greenland, and landed on the i6th of June on one of the iflands in 64 deg. N. lat. Here Davis parted with the two other (hips, ordering them to follow the fifliery to 55 or 54 deg. N. lat. and to wait for him till the end of Auguft. He fhaped his own courfe N, W. and fome- times N. as alfo N. W. by N. and even N. by E. Being come to 67 deg. 40. min. N. lat. i. e. oppofite to Di/ka Road, he faw a great number of whales, and of thofe fowls which the failors call Cortinous. Here fome inhabitants came in their fmall boats, and bartered their darts armed with pointed bones, for a knife. The next day upwards of 30 boats came 10 leagues diftance from the land, ana brought young falmons, fea-birds, and caplin (Gadus minutus Linnaei) which they exchanged for needles, bracelets, nails, knives, fmall bells, looking-glafl'es, and other trifles j but they brought only 20 feal-fkins. On the 30th of June they weie in 72 deg. 12 min. N. lat. and as the fun during the whole time, and even at midnight, remain- ed above the horizon, the variation of- the needle was found to be 28 degrees weft, the image of the fun be- ing 5 degrees above the horizon. The whole of this coalf was called London Coajl. The fea had for the whole time been open to the weft and north, and the land on the ftarboard fide had all along been to the eaft. But, the wind ftiiftinj^ to the north, they could not fail any farther to that point of the compal'si however, Davis called tliis point of land Hope Sander/on, after DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 309 after Mr. William Sandcrfon^ who contributed the largeft fhare in fitting out the Ihip for the difcovery, and then fhaped his courfe to the weft. After failing 40 leagues, he found a very large field of ice. Here he would willingly have failed again to the northward along the ice J but the north wind would not permit it. He tried once more to force his way through it, having perceived a fmall opening, but was foon obliged to re- turn after having fpent two days between the ice. The weather being fair and calm, they coafted along the ice to the fouthward. Finding that the fun had great power, Davis thought it would be better to wait a few days, and then, when the ice fhould be wafted away by the wind, the fea, and the fun, to make another ef- fort to the weftward; he therefore ftood over to the eaftern coaft. But his people were too timorous to anchor here, and he ftood out to fea again to the weft- ward. The poor inhabitants, notwithftanding that the waves ran high, followed them out to fea, and bartered for fome. trifles. D^wj having tarried feme time longer in this fea, near the ice, furrounded with fogs, at length difcovered Mount Raleigh^ in Cumberland ijland. On the 20th of July he arrived at the entrance of Cum- herland Straits. By the 23d he had failed 60 leagues up thefc ftraits, and anchored among a great number of Iflands, fit^ated in a clufter at the end oi the bay, and which he called after the Earl of Cumberland, Whilft they were at anchor here, a whale palled them, and went weftward in among the ifles. The variation, of the needle here was 30 degrees weft. When they returned to fea by the fame way by which they were come, they were overtaken by a calm, and it was ex- ceflivc hot. Bruton, the mafter of the thip, going on fhore with fome of the failors for the purpofe of hu.nt- ing, faw fr^veral graves, and alfo found train-oil ipil- Jed on the ground. 1 he dogs of the mitives which they faw were fo fat that they v/erc fcarccly able to run. Davis having left CiimberUind Straits^ and being ag;iin in the open fea, difcovered, between b2 and 63 J<.^ N, lat. an opening which, after my Lord LumU)^ hi. cal- led Lumley\ Inlet, Here he found ftrong and boiiierou$ currciits, ■i il f^s, I 310 VOYAGES AND currents, like catar. As, which alfo hurried away the ihip very fwiftly along with them. On the 31ft of Ju- ly he faw a headland, which he named IVarwick^s Fore- land, The direiftion of the Current was to the weft- ward, and the water formed a whirlpool, with a loud roaring noife. On the ift of Auguft he faw in 6r deg. 10 min. N. lat. a promontory on the fouth- weft fide of the inlet, which he called Chidley's Cape» Having had nothing but fogs and calms for feveral days,, they came at length to an id . id, which Davis, after Lord Darcy-t named Darcfs Ij. y/>d. On the top of it they found fome animals of the flag kind j but having landed to flioot them, and having chafed them two or three times round the ifland, the deer fwam over to another ifland at three leagues diftance. One of them was very fat, as large as a cow, and had very broad f^et, as large as ")fe of an ox. While they were looking about for thv^ (hips, which Davis had ordered to fim here, and to wait for him till the end of Auguft, their vefiei ftruck upon a rock and fprang a leak ; which, however, they were afterwards fo fortunate as to ftop, even during a ftorm. On the 15th of Auguft he came to 52 deg. 1 2 min. N. lat, where he faw a great number of whales : but not being able to find any trace of the two (hips, they having fintft»ed their fifhery in 16 days, and failed home, he refolved to (hape his courfe for England. On the i6th of Auguft therefore he quitted this coaft, and on the 15th of September arrived at Dartmouth. Davis feems to have poflefted a confiderable fhare of humanity, induftry, and refolution. He went farther to the north than any of his predeceflbrs ; and if the ice had not prevented him, he wOuld certainly then have made the difcovery which was afterwards happily cfFe6ted in 1616, by Baffin. The northern regions, notwithftanding all the fogs that are to be met with there, feem in general to enjoy a dearer fky than the fouthern countries fituated under tliO DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 311 the fame parallel of latitude. Neither at 66 deg. 30 min. S. lat. (where, however, we were three times) nor even when we had got as far as to 7 1 deg. 1 2 min. S. latitude, did we ever fee the fun above die horizon -, and when it did fhine out in the day time, ilill fo many fogs were colledled towards evening, that we could never fee the image of it, though it continued to be broad day-light, and that even at midnight. During all the three warm feafons which we fpent in the fouthern hemifphere, at a great diftance from the Equator, though not fo far fouthward as Davis was to the north, we met, it is true, with mild days, yet never faw ^e thermometer rife more than a few degrees above the freezing point ; it appears, therefore, very remarkable, that Davis (hould mention more than once the weather;^ being extremely hot in 72 and 66 ^eg. N. lat. The caufe of this great heat can there- fore only be attributed to the great (j^uantity of land by which they were furroundea. The want of knd in the fouthern hemifphere is, on the contrary, the caufe of the more intenfe cold there, as I have proved in a more ample manner in my Obfervations *. The animals of the Aag kind, found on the coaft of Labrador^ may have been either the American flag or the reindeer, or elfe the elk, or what is called the moofe deer. I am rather inclined to think that it y. o this latter which Davis faw here. XIII. The Englifh at length found it advifeable to fend a fquadron, conlifting of four brge fhips, to the Eaft-Indies. The execution of this great entcrprizc was entrufted to Capt. George Raymond^ and after his death to Capt. James Lancajier^ The fquadron fet fail in the year 1591, and Lancafter returned in 1593^^ Having encountered a heavy ftorm near the Cape, and being in danger of finking with his (hip, his own crew endeavoured to perfuade him to go on board one • Qhfcniatitnt madt during a Fcjfaie rtuni the Wtrld^ of k ■^ !-i:.(K*i m i ■ W m\m .i"» ilH ■"i;. 1 t^4 t 3" V OYAGES AND of the other vefTcls ; but he with great magnanimity re- ' fufed it, and refolved at all events to keep his poft. However he took this opportunity of writing by the other fhips to England. In his letter he alfured the Company, that he would ftill try every means to favcf his (nip and cargo ; and in the mean time could in- form them, that the pafiage to the Indies vvas in the north-weft of America, v in t2 dcg. 30 min. N. lat. This declaration from a man of fuch extenfive know- ledge in navigation, and who had fo fair an opportu- nity of collecting many different relations and accounts from the Portuguefe in the Indies, could not fail of' having great w-eight in England. To the information colledted, tiiere may alfo be added that given by fome Portuguefe, taken prifoners by the Englilh, viz. that a fhip of their nation had fome time before failed upwards along the coaft of China to the northward, and had found an open fea to 55 deg. N. lat. The two Com- panies of Ruflia and Tnrky Merchants refolved, there- fore, to have this paflage fought for at their joint ex- pence ; and accordingly they fitted out two mips, the command of which was entruHed to Captain George Weymouth or JVaymouth. Weymouth fet fail from England in the Difcovery^ on the 2d of May. He went round Scotland to the northward, by the Orkneys. On tlie i8th of June he faw ice, and the fouthenimoft part of Greenland. Soon after, viz. on the 28th, he went to the weftward, and in 62 deg. N. lat. difcovered Warwick's Forelandy which he found to be nothing more than an ifland. Fle next came to Lumlefs Inlet, where there was a ftrong current to the weft ward, in 61 deg. N. lat. at the diftance of 12 leagues from the coaft of the American' continent. On the ift of June the •• ir was cold, with fogs and fnow. On the 2d he dcfcricd a large mafs of ice ; he hoifted out his boat, and took on board two loads of ice, which made very good frefli water. He met with many cur- . rents DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 313 C^jrrents along the coaft of America, which appeared to him not like ^ continent, but as if it conliUed of nothing but iflands. On the ^d-jind 8th he faw the land of America, which was nigh, and covered with fnow, in 60 deg. 53 min. N. lat. On the 17th the weather was very glooitiy, foggy, and cold, fo that all his rigging and fails were covered with ice. The next day it was dill very cold, iiiforr.uch that his rigging ftrll conti- nued to be frozen, and he could m)t get forward in the leaft with his fhip. His crew had confpircd to mutiny againft him, and intended to return llrait to England. But, being informed of tiiis plot in time, he prevented its being put into execution. Oi^ the 22d, being al- ready in 68 deg. 55 min. N. lat. (or rather 63 deg, 53 min.) he feiit for the moft refradlory among them, and punifhed them fevercly ; he alfo had the boatff hoillwi out in order to take up fome ice, to make into" frefli v/ater. This large iflaiKlofice burft afundertwo pr three times, with a noife like that of thunder, by which means nearly one of the boats, that had al- ready got in half its lading, was very much damaged. On the 25th he favv^ the entrance of an inlet, in 61 deg. 40 min, N. lat. O^ the 30th the weft and north-weft winds blew very hard, and the fea- fon being aU'eady far advanced, many of the crew were fick in both fhips. He determined tliereforc to return, though he had already failed near 100 leagues- up the inlet, which was 40 leagues broad. The va- riation of the needle was 35 degrees to the weft. By the 5th of July he had got quite' clear of the bay. '- He then failed along the ccaft of America, involved in' al- moft continual fogs, and between numerous iflands of ice. In 55 deg. 30 min. N. lat. he faw an illand. He continued ranging along this coaft till the 14th, in foul weather, and between mnny illands. In 56 deg. he en- tered an inlpt, and, by nir.ny probable reafons, was in- duced to hope for a in 55 deg. 50 .min. the needle to he v/cftvvards. ever comes p.ifihge. N. hit. deg. 17 d in 55 he found the eg. 15 min. and 18 de 20 min. and the ice variation of 5. 12 min. to The couft was clear of ice. If any here, it comes from the north. lie obferved ■Si. •IVJ ...-^-t^ 3«4 VOYAGES AND obferved that a whirlwind carried the fta-watcr to an extraordinary height in the air. He had failed 30 leagues up an inlet, in 56 deg. N. lat. a circum-^ itance which undoubtedly muft have proved his dc- ilru6tion, if the wind but for one day only had blown from the north, fouth, or eaft. On the 4th of Auguft he defcried the Scilly Iflands, and the next day arrived at Dartmouth. The account given by Lancajier^ as he returned to England, and thus was able to prove the truth and auSicnticity of it by entering into minute de- tails, and anfwering particular objections, muft have had great weight with the Ruflia and Turkey Com- panies j for it induced them to give orders for a new expedition for the purpofe of making the difco- vcry. 'X'he £aft-Indies, the very profitable trade to thofe parts, and the immenfe wealth arifing from this trade, were the objeds of the defires of all the ma- ritime powers of i^uropc. The Portuguefe and the Spaniards, at that time united under the fame mafter, were in pofleffion of all the detenfible places where :iny refrefhments were to be had on the voyage. "W ithout places of tliis kind for the fupplying of velltls with provifions and water on fo long and tedious a paflage, it was then, and indeed is partly ftill, impofll- bk to undertake a voyage to the Eaft-Indies which took up at leaft fix months in going, and as long a time in returning. All nations were therefore bufy in feeking a new route to India, in the courfe of which they might cftablifh for their own ufe fimilar floro-houfes and places of refrcfhment. This deter- mined the Fngiilh, and afterwards alfo the Dutch^ to feck for fuch a route, as well in the north-eaft as likewife in the north-weft. Now as it appears by^ Lancafttr'% account, that the Portuguefe had advanced with their (hips as far as to 55 deg. N. lat. to the northwards of China, and had tound a iizt and opei» fea without any land at all j as alfo that, according to Ibme probable arguments, the pafiage to the Indies muft be fought for fomewhere in 62 deg. 30 min.. >J. lat. to the north-weft of America, it would fetni that the Portuguefe fhips went cither into the vici- nlt;^ unanimous DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 315 nity of the ifland of Sagalin Angahata^ of the river ^mur^ and fo on as far as the neighbourhood of the river Uda^ where at prefent is the RuHian lettlement Vdjkoiy (fuppofing they failed along the coall of the continent to the northward of China) : or elfe, in cafe they failed by the iflands cf Lekiu^ "Japan^ or l^'tfon (which had been difcovered by the Portuguefe in 1542) Matfmai^ and the Kurilesj they murt nc- celfarily have reached Kamtfchaka^ in 55 diig. N. lat. and Lantajler muft have founded his account of the, cxiftence of a paffage in 62 deg. 30 min. N. lat. merely on a conjeaure taken from the voyages of Davis, The tide which flows into the capacious opening called Hudfon's Bay, caufes in it, according to the unanimous teftimony of the different navigators who have been there, at 66 deg. in Cumberland-Straits^ from 60 to 62 deg. in Hud/on' sStraiis, and at 59 deg. where probably another Itrait divides the land of Labrador, a ftrong current ; and perhaps there are more entrances into the fame ftrait, at 56 deg. 15 min, N. lat. at 55 deg. f min. and at 54 deg. 40 min. which have not as yet been explored enough, and yet have a ftrong current. It is probable that the tide, which preffes by fo many different ways into Hudfon's and Buffings Bay, may run out again through Bavis's Straits *. , , This voyage affords again two inftances of ice hav- ing been taken up out of the fea in boats, and con- verted into frelh water fit for drinking. Ihis there- fore is already the third confirmation we have of this matter, which confequently can no longer be (aid to be unknown j much lefs is it in our days to be extolled as a great and new invention, fince by fo doing, a man would only difcover bis ignorance in nautical hiftory, * This is partly afccrta'ncd by what fVrymauth himfelf \mA alKaily remarked. Speaking ot" the Coall of Labrador, he fays, il is fiee from ;ie, bm if any ice comes, it comes from the North. Confecjueiiily it muH he brought through Oavii,'s Stitit. When i- •♦. m 4oubtedly have been daihed to pieces, or at lead very materially damaged. I muft confefs that this tremendous fcene is ftill prefent to my imagination in all its horror, and will, I believe, never be erafed from my memory. For furely a more dreadful fitu- ation cannot be conceived than to range about, im- prifoned, as it were, in a folitary Ihip, between dreary mafTes of ice, on an immenfe ocean, many hundred miles diilant from any land, and remote from all human afliftance ; and in this ftate, confliantly fur- rounded by gloomy fogs, to be under continual ap- prehenfions pither of running foul of one of thefe gla- fical mountains, whilft under a prefs of fail, in confe> quence of which the Ihip muft be inevitably dafhed to pieces ; or elfe, in cale this enormous niafs fhould burft, to behold its fragments (Which however are larger than Peter's mountain in the Saal diftridl) rolling about m the fea with unwieldly turbulence, approach the vefTel with a tremendous nrife, and per- haps fuddenly plunge both it and the unfortunate crew to the bottom of the vaft abyfs. With a fair wind, clear weather, and an open fea, it is tolerable failing in thefe icy feas ; but when once fogs, and cold freezing vapours attach themfelves every where to the fails and rigging, fometimes forming lumps of ice 8 or 12 ounces in weight, which are detached DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 317 detached by the leaft pufF of wind, and fall on the heads of the Tailors ; when the fails and tackling be- come fo ft iff and brittle by the froft, as to break on the application of the fmalleft force ; then the navi- gation in thefe parts becomes extremely difagreeable and dangerous. Thefe were the circumftances which extorted complaints even from the intrepid JVeymoutb^ and obftruded his prorrrefs in unknown feas covered with ice. In thofe cold climates, too, Weytnoutb faw a water- fpout, a phenomenon which Davis alfo had remarked before. This obfervation feems to be a confirmation of the remark which I formerly made in the obfer- vations on my voyage round the world, viz. that \vater-fpouts are chiefly feen in narrow feas, where there is land at no great diftance from each iide of it. XIV. The King of Denmark had been induced^ by the fame of the difcoveries made in the north by other powers, to f^ive orders likewife for a voyage to be undertaken. The Engliih being already at that time looked upon as the moft experienced and by far the moft ikilful mariners in Europe, he had ap- pointed in the year 1605 the Englifh Captains John Knight and James Hali, to command the ihips fent out upon this expedition. But in 1606, Knight was appointed in his own native country to condu£b a fimilar voyage of difcovery, by the Ruflia and Eaft- India Companies. He fet fail from Grave/end, and reached the Orkneys on the 26th of the fame month, where he was obliged, by contrary winds, to lie for a fortnight. On the 12th of May he put to fea again. Onthei6th he was in 58 deg. igmin. N. lat. The variation of the compafs was 8 deg. On the 21ft he "found himfelf in 57 deg. 50 min. N. lat. The weather was foggy, and there was a ftrong current that fet to the northward. On the 22d he faw a great quantity of gulls, and rock-weed. On the 23d he obferved an owl. On the 28th he was in 57 deg. 57 min. lat. and the variation of the needle was 14 deg. 30 min. to the weft. There were black ftreaks in the fea- water, and alfo currentSj fonic of which fet to ,!iii m - m 3»« VOYAGES AND to the north, others to the weft. On the 29th he fournl the iatitude to be 58 degrees, and the current now fet to the fouthward He faw a confiderable number of white fowls, that made a chirping noiiie lilce fparrows. He alfo obferved many dead cows (or rather crows) floating on the water. On the I3ch of June he faw ]and, which appeared to him like iflands, in 57 deg. 25 min. but there was a great quantity of ice driving to the fouthward. In fai5l, he proceeded as far into the ice as it was pofTible to do ; but, in a ftorm which arofe foon after, the (hip fuftcred fo much from the ice with which fhc was encompafled, that (he had nearly been cru/hed to pieces. On the 1 9th he faw land agam at 15 leagues diftance, in 56 deg. 48 min. N. lat. where the needle varied 25 degrees to the weft. The tide came from the northward. On the 24th a very high north wind fnapped the rope in t\v'o by which the (hip had been made faft to the land ; and by the great quantity of large mafl'es of ice that was colle(5led here, the rudder was torn away. Capt. Knight therefore found himfelf obliged to enter an inlet, and run his (liip a-ground, in hopes of faving at leaft their clothes, provifions, and furniture ; but before {he could be brought afhore (he was half full of water. He then had the water pumped out, that they might be able at leaft to ftop the leak. They begun alfo to fet up the (loop, and to take their boat over the ice into the water, in order to feek for a more convenient fpot for repairing the (hip. They could not, however, meet with any fuch fpot, as every thing was ftill covered with ice ; neverthelefs they found that there was wood grow- ing on the land. — Thus far had Knight proceeded in the relation. — On the 26th he himfelf, with his pilot's mate, and three failors, all well armed, went in the boat over to alargeifland, tofeekfoi.- a convenient harbour, to re- pair the (liip in. He left two men in the boat, and went himfelf with three others, one of whom was his brother, to the upper part of the illand. The two men that had 'fe- DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 319 had been left in the boat, waited, but all in vain, from ten in the morning till eleven at night. One of them fpunded the trumpet two or three times, and the other as often fired off his piece ; but, hearing nothing of the Captain and his companions, they re- turned to the fhip. The whole crew was feized with the utmod confternation, and they pafl'ed the night in anxiety and grief. The next day 7 men, well arm- ed, went with an intent to fearch for their Captain and his companions, but they could not get to the iOand with their boat on account of the ice. They then cleared the (hip, as they alfo did on the 28th, and at the fame time kept the pump going brifkly, with a view to find out the leak and ftop it. 1 he natives, however, came over the rocks to their boat and Hoop, when the centinel gave the alarm, and, though very nu- merous, the lavages were fortunately repulfed. The crew now carried the flores again on board, made hafte to Rni(h the iloop, and at length, with their leaky fhip and the floop, which was neither caulktd nor payed, went away from that fpot, rowing the fhip along b*?- tween the ice, though Ihe had no rudder. After. /ards, out of two pickaxes they made two pintles to hang their rudder on. They kept the pump continually going, and taking their main bonnet, and, bafting it with cakum, applied it on the outlide of the ibip under the keel, where the great leak was, which efleftually prevented the water from rufhing in as faft as it did at firfl ; ne- verthelefs they were obliged ft ill to keep the pump going, and in this manner proceeded to Newfoundland, where they at length ran into a bay near Fogo on the 23d of July, repaired their fhip, and refted themfelves . From thence they fet fail on the 22d of Auguft, and landed on the 24th of September at Dartmouth. This voyage took fuch an unfortunate turn, that though much was expected from Knight' % profeliional abi- lities, as well as from his accuracy in making obferva- tions i yet all was fruftrated by tlie unhappy death of tbi$ , .■'•11 ti 3io VOYAGES Auri I this defcrving man. It was probable the former tirxieU ties of the Europeans to the EJkimaux, together with the great greedinefs of the latter after iron, that occafion- ed the death of the good Captain Knight, and animated the favages to attack the reft likewife. There is nothing elfe in this voyage worth remarking, but that the fame current which had been feen before by fo many, but which fet to the northward, was alfo obferved by Knight. The owl which he faw probably came from the Faro ifles, as his courfe went pretty near them^ though, on account of the fo?s, he was not able to difcern them. XV. James Hall had already been out three years fucceflively, viz. from 1605 to 1607, in the Daniih fervice, on voyages of difcovery in the northern parts^ and in this laft voyage, in confequencfe of the crew mutinying againft him, was obliged to. go to Iceland, without having fee* any. thing more than the coaft of Greenland. This may perhaps have deterred him fromi going any more to the north m the Danifh fervice. We hnd but very little related of this voyage, except that he fet fail from King/ion upon Hally with two fhips, the one of which was calleii the Patience, and the other thei Hiari's Eafe. The firft thing mentioned is the obfer- vation he made, on the 19th of July, on the longitude of a place which he calls Cocking SoUnd^ but which is iil 65 deg. 23 min. N. lat; and is otherwife called Raali Reviery and, according to his rfeckoning, is 60 deg. 30^ min. weft long, from London. The next remark made is, that Hall was killed by a Grcenlander with a fpear an the 22d of July. Before this event happened, they never had any difputo; with the natives, neither had they any afterwards ; only thefe latter had been ob- ferved now and tlien to point at Hall, and mention him by the name of Captain, from which circumftance they tonje6lured, that the murderer muft have been a brother or fome relucion of the five Greenlanders, who in the year 1606 had been carried ofF by the Dunes. Before Hall's death tliey made a diligent fearch after minerals, DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 321 minerals, arvi on this occafion had difcovered feveral rivers and k/j hours, and had like wife I'een the traces of a large ft? ^; or elk, as large as thofe of an ox. Af- ter his deceale they refumed their fearch in the bowels of the earth, and found many places where tlie Danes had already, dug before them : they found alfo ftones with bright (hining colours ; but thefe, when they were brought to the teft, yielded nothing but mere flags ; for they contained no metal, but refembled Glacies Maris, or Mofcovy talk. As they could neither find any minerals, nor induce the inhabitants to carry on any further trade, they left RummelFord (Rommels- Fiord) in 67 deg. N. lat, where lu*. needle varied ^4 deg. 16 min. and arrived the fame day at Kinp's Foord (Kongs-Fiord.) They now (haped their courfe to the fouth, as another of the iailors had been killec by a Greenlander, in confequence of an attempt the failor had made to pull him by force out of his boat. On the 18th of Auguft they were in 58 deg. 50. min. N. lat. till the 6th of September they had continual ftorms. They were in 61 deg. 18 min. N. lafc. the variation of the compafs was 6 degrees eaftward, and they had ground at 68 fathoms. On the 8th of September they reached the Orkneys, where they anchored, and procured from the inhabitaiits fowls, geefe, and fheep, in exchange for old clothes and Sioes : and on tlie iith they made Kingjhn upon Hull. William Baffin, who was but very young at the time, and who has written the account of this voyage, adds to it, that probably thofe glittering Itoaes, oi cUfFerent colours, did not contain any metal. From this it Ihould feem, that thefe ftones were Labrador — or glim- mering fpar. Perhaps they are found here alio j and nobody can give a better account of the matter than the Moravian brethren, who are refident in thofe partn. That there are mountains of white alabafler here wc ^re allured by Baffin. At a place about 40 miles up faid to be fome trees j for near little grove of trees not more Y than the country there are Maals Rivier they faw I '^' '0m ~'^: ..;'^Pi 322 VOYAGFS AN» than fix or feven feet high, confifting of willows, jum- per and other trees of this kind. They found alfo a great quantity of angelica ; this perhaps was the Hera^ cleum Sphondylium, or cow's parfnep j and it wjls fup- pofed that the people ufed to eat the roo>3 of it, as they were found in their boats. A great number of foxes was feen here, fomc of which were quite white. ITiere were alfo large anrtnab of the ftag kind here, (viz. reindeer) which had very large hoofs. The Grecnlanders fifh during the whole fummer, and dry their fifh and feal's flelh on the rocks for their winter provifion. They have little boats, two feet broad, and fometimcs 20 feet long, clofely covered ever virith feal-flcins, with a round hole in them, where the owner of the boat gets in, and envelops himfelf with fkins, fo that no water can get into the boat. Their oars have two blades, one on each end of them. They take hold of the oar in the middle, and work al- ternately with it on each fide. They row fo fwiftly that no (hip can keep pace with them. In thefe boats they catch fcals, fea-horfes, falmons, and other fifh, which they pierce with a dart or harpoon. The point is made of bone, the line of whalebone. In fummer they live in tents, in winter in houfes, which are half under ground. They do not live conflantly on the fame fpot, but wander from place to place, jufl as it happens to be convenient for their fifhing. They ufu- ally worfhip the fun. When any flranger comes to- wards them, they point up to the fun, and call aloud, Jlyout ; and, if you extend your hand in the fame man- ner to the fun, and pronounce the fame word, they approach towards you, but otherwife they will not venture to come near. They bury their dead in a pit encompaffed with floncs, to prevent the foxes from eating them, aiid in another pit next to this they inter die bow, dart, arrows, and other utenfils of the dc- ceafed. They eat raw flefh and drink fea-water, yet they are not cannibals. They are very defirous, how- ever, to obtain iron by any means whatever. From * Dtvid CranU*a Hlftory of Greealaac', P«rt (. Stole IV. Cbap. .S- i 35* mn DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 313^ From this account vrt have another inftance to what lengths this people will carry their vengeance, as we find that they made a point of revenging the capture of their five countarymen on the Captain. Notwith- ll4nding which another of the Tailors Was tempted to try to carry ofF another Greenlander, who, however, had courage and adroitneflt enough to punifh with im- mediate 7 death the man that attempted to deprive him qf his liberty. . All the preceding obfervations of Baffin are excellent. There is one, ho»/ever, upon which, with Crantz ♦, we find ourfelves obliged to malce fome ftridures ; this is, that they'worlhip the fun. The mariner fees the Grecjilander, newly rifen from his bed, go im- mediately oiit of his hut, and look ftedfaftly at the heavens and the rifing fun, in order to know from them what weather he is to exped in the courfe of the day. Now this a6t is confidered by the failors as an adoration of the fun, a thing of which tlie Greenlander never had the leaft thought. XVI. The idea of finding a paffage to the Indies^ fomewhere in thd north, was, notwithf^mding the fruitlefs attempts that had repeatedly beei. r^ade, not yet given upj on the contrary it Was fuppofed to be an eafy matter to difcover it under the direction of a man of (kill and refolution. T*he former enterprizes had been backed partly by Government, partly by the fird people in the country, and partly likcwife by merchants. But then, after a fimilar attempt, their zeal had foon abated again. It is true, the voyage of Capt. jfMmet Lanca/ter, in the years 1591, 1592, and 1593) ^^ India, by the Cipe of Good Hope, had indicated the poiftbllity of the paftage ; but then it had likewife (hewn the difficulties attending it. He failed, too, a ^cond time, in 1601, to the £af^-Indies, as Commander of a fleet belonging to the nevvly-eAa- .K I'l, iifit I ' ^1 M"! i Hi 'Mi m •i r Y z IMM 3H VOYAGES AVD I n 1 1 ' I bliihed Eaft-India Company, and returned in 1603 to England with great riches. Sir Henry Middleton, as alfo Sir Edward Michelbeurn, returned fafe in 1606 from the Indies to England, each of them with a. very richly-laden fleet, t rom hence one would be apt to imagine that thefe fuccefsful expeditions to the Indies had entirely ilifled the paflton for making new attempts tp find out a paflage by the north. There was never- thclefs a fociety of relolute and wealthy . men found, who not only believed in the probability of the paflage, but alfo were aware of the advantages that would rc- fult from it, and who, therefore, with a refolution, perfeverance, and noble liberality, almoft unexampled, furnifhed the money neceflary for three expeditions. To the command of thefe expeditions they appointed Henry HudfoHy a great and experienced feaman, whofe knowledge, capacity, and intrepidity, are fcarcely to be equalled, and who certainly, in unwearied aflidujty, and unremitting labour, was furpafled by no one in thofe times. Hudfon^s Journals, and the names of the Gentlemen who employed him in thefe expeditions, have not been tranfmitted down to us ; and upon the whole, what is come to our knowledge concerning his navigation, are only fragments. It was reiolved to fearch for this paflage by three diff^erent routes, either ftrait on by the north, or by the north-eaft, or by the north-weft : and all thefe three voyages were actually performed by Hudfon. Hudjon begun his firft voyage in 1 607, and fet (ail from Gravefend on the ift of May. On the 13th of June, in 73 deg. N. lat. he law land, which he called Hold with Hope. This land is fltuated between 6 and 7 degrees to the north of Iceland, on the eaft fide of Greenland. He had found the weather far colder in 63 deg. tlian he did here ; for here it was quite mild and agreeable. On the 27th they were in lat. 78 deg. and ftill had mild or rather quite warm weather. On the 2d of July it was very cold, thougti they had not altered their latitude* On the 8th of July they were ftill in the fame latitude of 78 deg. when DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 325 when they had calm weather, and an open fea, in which there was a great quantity of drift-wood floating. Whenever the fea appeared green, it was. always a free and open fea ; but when it looked blue, it was gene- rally covered with ice. On the 14th of July Hudfon fent the mate of his fhip and the boatfwain on fhorc in 80 deg. 23 min, N. lat. They found the veftiges of reindeer, and faw fome water-fowls, and alfo found two ftreams of very frefh water, of which, the weather being hot, they drank with great fatisfaclion. The fun remained even at midnight 10 deg, 40 min. above the horizon. Hudfon failed as fer as 82 deg. N. lat. and would have proceeded ft ill farther if he had not been prevented by the great quaii|ity of mountains and fields of ice by which he was encompafl'cd. This, however, did not ceter him from making yet another trial, whe^ ther he could not find about tl»e part where he had feen Hold with Hope^ a wuy quite round Greenland^ which he confidered an ifland ; and then return home by Davis's Straits, But this pallagc was likewife ob-r ftru6led by the ice, and he was obliged to fail back to England, where he arrived on the 1 5th of Septem- ber ao. Gravefend. By this voyage more of the eaftcrn coaft of Green- Jand was discovered to the northward than had beeif done in any former voyage. The great degree of warmth felt in the high northern latitudes appears to me to be owing merely to the lands fituated fo high up towards the north j for in the fouthern hemifphere, in which in 30, 40, and 54 deg, S. lat. there is no- thing to be feen but fea, the fea abforbs all the rays of the fun, which confequently are not able to pro : I f II iiii yi 'm ^ \ 1 1 - -J 1 '1 \ [J '1^^ 1L M ■ml^. , 326 VOYAGES ANB from the vicinity or prefence of land alone, that w^ are able to form a conclufion refpe£Hng the warmth of the weather ; for winds blowing over the ice, and through very cold regions, contratSl in their courfc a degree of cold, of which, without having experienced it, it is hardly poflible to form any idea. Even be- yond 73 dee. N. lat. between Greenland and SpitZ" terpen^ he ftill met with drift-wood, which probably had been carried thither from out of the mouths of fome Siberian or American rivers i a circumfVance, however, of which we have not obferved the leaft veftiges all over the fea fituated near the South Pole, becaufe there IS no land in thofe parts, and nothing is to be feen but fea. The honour of the <^fcovery of Stitzbergen con- fequently belongs to Hudfon, The firft who afterwards failed thither on the whale fifhery, were Englifhmen. It was a long time ere the Dutch refolved upon going thither ; however, they found fo much profit arife from . this expedition, that in the beginning of this century the Dutch and the Hamburgh people were almoib the only whale-fifhers in the Spitzbergen fcas. For at Jengrii the Englifh fent no more than one fhip thither every year, till the attention of Government was di- re^ed to it, when Failiament found it neceffary to grant confiderable premiums to the Spitzbergen (or, as they are improperly called, the Greenland) naviga- tors and whale-fifhers, by way of encouraging the Eng- lifh to purfue this bufinefs, which premiums are Itill continued in part every year. In the firft years the Englifh were fo inexperienced in the whale-fifhery, that though they fitted the fhips out in England, yet they were obliged to let half of the refpeStive crews be Dutchmen. Spitzbergen, cold as it is, neverthelefs affords food for fome reindeer, wliich, as this country is furrounded on all fides by tlie fea, muft come to it over the frozen fea from Greenlend, where thefe ani- mals are alfo met with in very high latitudes. In thefe high northern latitudes the image of the fun continues, as is well known, from the Ardic Polar Circle on- wards, during the whole of the a4 hours above th« lioriionj and the nearer we come to the Pole, the higher DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. ^ij higher the irrutge of the ^iun appears above the horizon at midjiight, and the lower it finks at noon, till at lail, jufl under the Pole, it continues the whole 24 hours at an almoft equal height above the horizon. Hudfon, with great intrepidity, endeavoured to ap- proach the Pole, and indeed went as far as 82 deg. N. l^t. and is without doubt the firft who has advanced beyond 80 deg. to the northward. It is true the ice prevented him from failing .^y farther, notwithftand- ing he fh^ped his courfe once more towards Greenland, where he was in hopes to find a paffage, and return by Davis's Straits ; but the ice again obftru In the . a^e of 7 hpurs they killed more than 900 fea-horfes, ^hich yielded them 31 tuns of train-oil. 1 hey took two yo^ng fea-ihorfes alive along with them, the fe- Xtale divhcre he met with a friendly reception from the in- habitants, but alfo at the fame time had the misfor- tune to find great difTcntions amongft his crew, which he could not appeafe without great diiHculty. On the ifl of June Hudfon failed farther to the weft, in 66 deg. 34. min. N. lat. On the 4th he faw Green- land very clearly over the ice that lay before it. He now kept along the coafly which was^ every where fur- rounder i ^..11 ' A J)^lEl,*J I! 334 VOYAGES AND rounded v/ith ice. On the 9th he was off Frobiflier*«f Straits* On the 15th he deCcribed the Land of De^ fulat'ion in 5(5 deg. 27 min. N. lat. He failed to the jjorth-weft, to 60 deg. 42 min. The current fct to the N. W. On the 23d he came in fight of a great quantity of ice, in 62 deg. 19 min. On the 25th he faw land to the northward, and kept ftill failin? to the weftward in 62 deg. 19 min. But now he plyed to the fouthward, in hopes of finding the coaft on that fide. In 62 deg. 16 min. he had fti>l a great quantity of ice before him. On the 8th of July h^ left the (hore again, and faw extending from theN. W, by W. quite to the S. W. by W. a champaign laiju covered with fnow, and named \t Dejire-pra- voked. He continued ftill plying to the weftward, and, on the irith, being apprehenfive of a ftorm, an- chored behiiid three very rocky ifldnds, in a very uneven ground, and found it but an indiiferent har- bour at high water ; he had palled over rocks, one of which was the next morning two fathoms above wa- ter ; for the tide rofe here above four fatliom;^. It came from the north. The latitude was 62 drg. 9 min. and this harbour^ in which were the illiinds called by him the IJlamls of' God's Metcy^ fcems to lay clofe by the large illand of Good Fortune^ to the north of MudJon\ Straits^ in 308, or 309 deg. E. long, from Firro, On the igth he found that he was in 61 deg. 24 min. and faw in the land to the fouth- ward a bay, to which in a former voyage he had given the name of Hoid with Hope, Till the 21ft he plycd to the northward, and found the fea more grown than he had feen it fince his departure from England. On the 23d the height cf the Pole was 61 deg, 33 min. On the 25th he faw land to the fouth (viz. the Coaft of Labrador) which he named Magna Bri- tannia, On the 26th he found the latitude to be 6a deg. 44 min. On the 2d of Auguft he difcovercd a high promontory to which he gave the name of Sa- iifhurys Foreland. He then failed 14 leagues farther VV. S. VV. and at about midway found the fea full of wbirlpools and cuirents. Having failed feven leagues more. '«! DISCOVERIES IN THi NORTH. 335 more, he found himfelf at the entrance of a ftrait^ not above two leagues broad, and which was at the diftance of 250 leagues from the northernmoft fide of Davis's Straits. On the 3d he paiFed through thefe ftraits, and named the cape on the right hand* or (larboard fide. Cape Diggs^ and that on the left, or larboard fide. Cape lydjlenbolm. Some of hi3 people having been fent on fhore, obferved the tide to rife to 5 fathoms, and that it came from the north. Hav- ing failed through the ilraits, he obferved, that the land trended to the fouthward, and that there was a wide fea to the weftward. This is all that is to be found of Hudfon's narra- tive ; the reft muft be fought in the Harrative of a fcaman, named Habakuk Prickeit who was in the fer- vice of Sir Dudley Diggu Amongft other things he mentions, that when Hud Ton was ncir the Land of DefolatioKy they met with a great number of whales, fome of which fwam along-iide the fliip> while others paiTed under her without touching her. After this, while Hudfon was ftiil in Davis's Straits, between a great quantity of ice, he faw a large mountain of ice overturn, which ferved them as a warning not to go near thcfc high maflcs of ice. It feems Pricket was ignorant of the real caufe of this overturning of the ice-mountain, which, in fadt, lies in their burfting afunder. Near Dejtrc'provoked they faw mountains of ice a-ground in fix or (even fcore fathom water. On the ifland of God*s Mercy Pricket fprung a covey of partridges, but killed only the old one. The whole country was barren and gloomy, having nothing on it but plaflies of watc;r and riven rocks, as if it were fubjeft to earthquakes. They alfo found fome drift- wood lying afhore here. Then they came again a- mongft a great quantity of ice, and feeing at length on the fouth fide of the ftraits, land, with high pro- montories, he called the firft Prince Henry's Cape, that with two hills, which was farther to the weft, liut on the fouth fide, was named King James^i Cape ; but 336 VOYAGES AWD ) but towards the north were Tome iflands whic' he called ^een Amis Foreland. All thefe lay to the northward in a bay, in which there appeared to be a great deal of broicen land, lying quite clofe to ths main land. At length, after a ftorm, they faw anc - ther mountainous part fo the northward, which they named Mount Charles, oi Cape Charles. To the weft- ward was more broken land, forming a bay, in which poifibly a good road might be found for (hips, and the promontory here was named Cape Salt/bury. Be- tween the main land to the fouthward and an ifland was a ftrait with a ilrong current ; the two promon" tories enclofmg it were called Capf Diggs and Cape Waljienholm. On Diggs's ifland they found a herd of animals of the ftag kind (viz* reindeer) but could not get within a muiket-fliot of them. From this part forward we have only Prkket\ relation to guide us. They failed fouthward, and had the land to the eaft- ward of them. After a run of about 20 or 30 leagues, the fea grev/ fliallow, and they got among rocks and broken land, and the fea grew ftill (hallower and (hallower, fo that they were obliged to anchor in 15 fathoms. Not long after, they weighed, ?»nd ftood to the fouth-eaft along the land, till they had land on both fides. They then ftood again into h large fea, but at length round it to be only a bay, and here they took in water and ballaft. In 53 ^t^, N. las. v^as an ifland. Various remarks having been made by the crew on occafion of Hudfon's entering the bay and goin^ out of it again, he difplaced the mate of the (hip, Robert Ivet, as well as the boatfwain, and 'Appointed Robert Bylot to be mate, and fVilliam JVilfon to be boatfwain. At length, on Michaelmas- J_)a 7, they ftood in among a clufter of iflands, and called the place Michaelmas Bay. They anchored in very (hallow water; but in weigh- ing again, they loft the anchor, but fortunately faved the cable. In the dark they ran a-ground upon a rock. Discoveries iw tHE KoktH. 337 a. rock. The tide carried them however ofF from it again without their having received any damage ; and after failing to and fro for a long time, Hudfon re- folved to anchor in the bay where he then was, and fpenJ the winter there, it being already the latter end of OiStober^ Having found at a fit place, they fe- curcd the (hip by running her aground, and here flic was frozen in, ten days afterwards. Hudfon no>^ thought of huibanding their provifions, for he had only taken with him victuals for fix months, though he might have taken more. He fought however only to ftretch out their provifions till the fpring, when he might go to Ctipc Diggt^ where the fea-foWl bred* In the mean time he propofcd regards to thofe thai: killed either beafl^ fifli, or fowl. In the middle of November died the gunner^ in confequence, as it is here infinuated, of the hard and unkind treatment ht had met with from Hudfon. Hudfon had in London taken into his houfe a young man, named ttenry GreiHi of a refpedable family, but who had lofl the afFedtion of all his friends and relations by his ill behaviour and extravagance^ and had fpent all that he had. By the affiflance of a friend, Hudfon had procured him four guineas from his mother, to buy clothes Withk This voung man he had taken along with him, without the knowledge of his owners . and he had already been guilty of feveral mifdemean- ors I for at Harwich he had attempted to defert with a failor, and in Iceland he had fevercly beat the ihip's fo'^eon. Hudfon had, however^ always taker, his part. Now the feafon being far advanced, and the ground Covered with ice and fnow, Hudfon requefl- ed the carpenter to build the houfe for them to win^' ter in j but the carpenter refufed to do it, on the pretence that he was not a houfe-carpenter, but -m ihip'-carpenter, and that Hudfon had not given or- ders for the building < £owls, as alfo their entrails. At firft they attempted ro go to Newfoundland, but were prevented by a S. W. wind, and Hiaped their courfe for Ireland. Their diftrefs encreaftng, they took the bones of the birds which they had eaten, fried them in tallow, poured fome vinegar on them, and eat them as a great dainty. Juft at the time when they had loft all hopes of reaching Ireland, Robert Jvet died. They had put their laft fowl in the fteeprng-tub, and were at the end of their proviAons, when they defcried Ireland. Here they with great difficulty obtained fome provi- Aons, and arrived at laft, by the way of Plymouth and Gravefend^ in London. This voyage notwithftandlng all the important dif- coverieK made in the courfe of it, coft poor Hudfon and the few people whd were with him, their lives. Never perhaps was the heart of man pofTefled by in- gratitude of a blacker die, than that of the infamous villain Green. Hudfon had faved this wretch from perdition, had cherifhed him with the utmoft kind- nt'is in his own honfe, and had but with too t.^uch wc-aknefs taken his part, even then when he had been guilty of the greateft mifdemeanors ; notwith- ftanding which, this outcaft of fociety had the wick- cdnefs to ftlr up the reft of the crew againft their commander, and to cxpofe his benefa in fome part of the weftern coaft of Hudfon's Bay, there muft be a ftrait, through which this tide could come from the wed } for if this part of the fea difcovered by Hudfon w^s a mere bay, the tide muft needs come into it from the caft or the enr trance: now, fuppofing the tide to come from the eaft,^ it muft needs diminifh ^n height in proportion as it advanced father into the bay ; bu,t here it was exz&- ly the contrary, for it happened to be lower at the entrance than farther into it^ and therefore it was H'gWy probable, that this weft'^rly ^nd higher tide a^ually proceeded from a (ea which had noi. connexion with the mouth of Hudfon's ftraits, Befides, h,umaQity feemed to demand, that in cafe the unfortunate Captain Hudfon and his com- panions lhouI<;l happen to be ftill ; alive, they ihould be refcued from the dreadful ftate of mi- fcry into which they had been plunged by the moft hardened of villains. Accordingly they fitted^ om ;WQ Ibips for this expedition, the one of v v>* '/ ///. Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 T< rO^ :\ \ ^9)' # ^ p 34^ VOYAGES Axn V on this account was called Hopes checked by Euttorii Here they were overtaken by a terrible ftorm, fo that they were obliged, on the 13th of Auguft> to put into a harbour, to repair the^ damages done to the (hips. But immediately after, the dreadful win-, ter fet in, and Button was obliged to winter there in 57 deg. 10 min. N. lat. in a fmall creek on the north fide of a river, which he named Port Nei- foTty after his deceafed Aril mate. He fecured both the (hips, as well as he cpuld, againfl ftorms,, ice and the tides, with piles Qf deal driven into the ground, and a mound of earth. They wintered in the ihips, keeping three fires conftantly ; notv/itb- iianding which many of his people died, though be took the greateft car-s.' of them ; and they con fumed x8oo dozen =: 21,600 ptarmigans and wood-grous. Button himfelf was indifpofed during the firfV three or four months of the winter. The river Nelfon was not frozen over till the j6th of February^ al- though a,t times it had been very cold ; yet the mild winds immediately following upon the cold weather, had brought un a thaw. Button had obferved, that in former voyages, inactivity and the want of em- ployment had but too often been the occafion of dif- content, murmurings, and fecret confederacies in the crew againil their fuperiors in command ; he refolved, therefore, to prevent this by allotting to every one his tafk, and even to the beft of them he gave employ- ments fuitable to their ftations and capacities; for of feme he enquired, what was to done in cafe \.\\t wa- ter fhould happen to be fpent in their prefent place of abode ? and in what manner they had bed proceed in the difcovery, which was the end of their prefent voyage ? Others he enjoined to give him in writing an cxacl calculation of their voyage till then, with the mutual diftances of each place, the (hip's courfe, the latitude and longitude, the variation of the com- pafs, the different foundings, together with other ob- fcrvations on the wind and we;^ther, the tides, &c. fo that nobody could find leifure from idlenefs and want of employment for fuch dangerous affociatinns. The DISCOVERIES IN THE NOUTH. 347 The ice began to clear out of Nelfpn^s River fo early as on the 21ft of April, but it was not till two months after, that they fet out again with a view of exploring the whole wcftern coaft of the bay, which he called, after his own name. Button's Bay. The neighbour- ing land was hamed New IP^ales, In the 60th degree they found a ftrong current, fctting fometimes to the eaft, and at other times to the weft. This circum- flance induced Hubbart to name this part in his map, Jiubbarfs Hope, The higheft latitude to which But' ion*s refcarches extended, was about 65 deg. The obfervations which he had an opportunity to make there on the tide-flux were fuch as not to leave him the lead doubt of the poiHbility of a northern paf- iage. Some iflands, lying to the fotith-eaft from Carey* s Sivan*s Nejl^ he named ManfeTs (Mansfield's) Iflands. On the weft fide of the land called Carey^ Swan's Nejl, he came to a kind of a bay, which he called Nonplus ultra. The fouthernmoft poi/it of the land was Cape Southampton ; and on the caft fide of the land was a promontory to which he gave f he name of Cape Pembroke. He reckoned 10 lea<^ues from this cape to iWiz«/^/'s (Mansfield's) Iflands. Between Cape Chidley and the coaft of Labrador they found another flrait, through which they failed, and from thence, in 16 days, arrived in England, in the autumn of 1613. It is a great pity that Button never publifhed his Journal ; for, from all the difperfed and unconnefled accounts now remaining, we leurn no more than that this Journal really contained fome very impor- tant obfervations on the tides, and other objedts of natural philofophy. The great quantity of ptar- migans and grous there is in thofe regions is very evident, from the circumftance of Button and his people having eaten 1800 dozen of them. XXI. The fame Society which had promoted But- ton's and fo many former voyages, in the year 1614, fent on the fame errand Capt. Gibbons^ the kinfman and friend of Button; in the Difcovery^ the very fame ihip in which Button had made his voyage of dif- covery. 'I*. ■r :r UJ i It; I Si I i 348 VOYAGES AND covcry. But he was fcarccly arrived at the mouth- of HudforC% Strmts, when a large quantity of ice quite encompaiTed him, and carried him by means of the current and the winds, into a bay on the coaft of Labrador^ in 58! deg. N. lat. which his people on this account named Gibhns's Hole. Here he was obliged to lie for the fpace of 10 weeks, in the greateft^ danger all the time of loHng his (hip and his life. Bein^ at length freed from this danger, he immedi- ately fet fail for England, partly bccaufe the Ihip had been very much damaged by the ice j and partly alfo, becaufe the feafon was too far advanced for going upon any fVefli enterprizes in thofe cold regions, Fox calls the land where the bay lay, Stinenia, an appellation for which I can give no reafon *♦ It was, without doubt, the coaft of Labrador; and Gibbons^s Hole is nearly on the fame fpot with the colony of the Mo- ravian brethren, to which they have given the name of Naift. XXII. The fame year, 16 14, fotherby and Baffin were fent out with a fingle (hip on a voyage of dif- covery in the north, and that probably by the Ruilia Company. With great difficulty, and after feveral fruitlefs eifays made with the fliip, they fucceeded, however, at length, in getting with their boats to the firm ice, which enclofed iJ^^/5^tffA. This forms the north-eaft point of Spit/bergen, and is fituated on what is called the Deer Field (or Rennen Felde). The Mof- pn Jjland lies to the north-eaft of Ked "^taQh. To this Red Beach they went on foot over the ice, in hopes of being lucky enough to find fome whale- bones there; they were, however3^ foJC o^nce deceived in their expeftation. Fotherby adds, <* Thus, as we could not nnd that which we defire:' to fee, fo did we behold that which we wiflied had, not been there to be feen, viz. a great abundance of ice, which lay clofe to the ihore, and ftretched out in the fea as far * In the Table of Errata annexed to Fox'« bonk, the word Stinenia is changed for America : but (his ahd leveral other errors (whidi are here cune£led) fucceeding writers, and with ihem Dr. Forfter, have been ied into by Fox's having at^furdly placed that table in the middle cf hi^i Book, JIS DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 34^ as we could difcern." On the ift of Auguft they failed from Fair Haven (a place fnuated between Hakluyt^s Headlandy which is 1 ike wife called ^/»/?*r* darner Ijland^ and the ifland of Vogelfang^ ly»"g off the north weft point of Spitxbergen)^ with a view to try whether the ice would admit them to pafs towards the north or north-eaft. They failed from Capt Barreuy or Vogelfangy N. eaft by eaft, eight leagues, when they met with ice, lying eaft by fouth, and weft by north. On the 15th of Auguft they found ice in the fea, which was frozen as thick as a half crown piece. . ' This very (hort account of another attempt to feek for a pafTage in the north, by Spitzbergen, is a frefli proof of the great exertions made to difco- ver this pafTage to India. Thofe alfo who have hi- therto believed, with M. de Buffon and Mr. Dairies BarringtoTiy that fea- water could not freeze, will here find a frefh proof to the contrary : for if even in the fummer feafon, fix weeks after the fummer fol- ftice, it freezes in one night as thick as a half crown piece, how hard muft not the fea be frozen during; the fevere cold of the long winters in thefe parts? XXIII. In 1615 Fotherby was again fent out to the north, in the pinnace Riihard^ by the Ruftia Company. He could not get farther this than in the preceding year, on account of the ice. On this oc- cafion he refers to a chart, in which he had laid down what was already known and difcovered in the fpace comprifed bet'veen 80 and 71 deg.N. iat. and within 26 deg. W. long '"rom Hakluyfs Headland {reckoning weft- Ward). For hi^ part, he fays, he could have wilhed to have beeri' able to advance farther tharl he did, but the ice always prevented him from fo doing; however there was iiill a large fpace of fea between Green^ land and King yames's Newland (which is alfo called Spitzbergen) where perhaps a pafTage might be pol- fible, though this fea be much ob(Tru<9;ed with ice. Since this attempt the Englifh RuiTia Company feems not .'.y i|ip 5,1 VOYAGES AMD not to have concerned itfelf any farther with making cifcovcries in the north. XXIV. The fame merchants who had fupported^ the former enterprizes with fo much ardour, and at fo great an expence, were ftill buoyed up with the hope that at length they fliould fucceed in difco- veririg this paflage. Accordingly, in 1615, they fent out the Difcovery, which had already been on the voy- ages of discovery made under therefpc^ive commands of Httdfon^ Button^ and Gibbons^ now, for the 4th time, and for the fame purpofe, under the command of Robert Bylot or, (as Purchas calls him) Byleth, Bylot^ too, had been each time in the (hip now en- trufted to his care, with Hudfon^ Button, and Gibbons, He had with him in the capacity of mate, IfilUam Baffin^ who had made the voyage with Hall in 1608, and had been oiit afterwards with Hudfon, Button, and Fotherby, and confequently had acquired great expe- rience, aJ5 well as veryjuft conceptions of the nature of thofe regions, and of the voyages that might be undertaken to thofe parts. Bylot fet fail on the i8th of April J on the 6th of May he faw Greenland on the eaft fide of Cape FarewelL Shortly after he fell in with a great quantity of ice, Baffin faw a mafs of ice, which meafured 140 fathoms, i. e. 840 feet above the level of the fea^ and fome aflert, that there is never more than i-yth part of the ice above the wa- ter. But by referring to my Obfervations, page 60, it will appear, that as, according to Matron fur la Glace, p. 264, ice is only i-i4th part of its height above the furface in frefh water, or, according to Dr, Irving^ in Capt. Phipp's voyage towards the North Pole, Appendix^* 141, no more than i-i5th of its height It, tl * ThU calcoUtion might well have been fpared. It is founded on Fox's afrertion. (Vid. Ax'/ Ncrtk-Koefl FoXy p. 137.) that Baffin ftw ice 1^0 fathom above water. But this is evidently a blunder of Fox, proceeding from his having miflakcn Baffin's account publiflied by Pur- chas. Baffin himfelf fays, it was 240 feet \ and thence infers, that it wat i4o/rt/^«w/, or 1680 fttt frm tht bttttm, Vid,. Purcha»'$ Pilgrims, Part HI p. 837. in DISCOVERIES iM THE NORTH, 351 in fnow-water ; therefore jce in fea- water mav pro- bably he only i-ioth of its height above the furfacc, and that confequently 840 feet inftpad of 7 ought to be multiplied by 10 to meafure the whole height; lb that this mafs of ice was 8400 feet high, which is indeed a mod tremendous height) ! In 6i deg. i6min. N. lat. he came to the firm ice, and put in amongil; it, in hopes that every tide it would open more and more. Having paiTed fome days apiong the ice, on the 27th of May he defcried the Refolution Ifiands. On the I ft of June Ire difcovered a good harbour on the weflr iide of tWc Refolution IJlands. At the change of the moon the water rofe and fell nearly 5 fa- thoms. The variation of the compafs was 24 deg. 6 min. The northern channel, or LumU/i Inletj was 8 miles in the narrowett places. On the 8th of July he came to the Salvage IJles (Savage Iflands) which form a confidcrable group : here he found a great number of natives, with whom he traded. Their dogs were moft of them muzzled, and wore collars and harnefles for the purpofe of drawing their mafters furniture when they remove from one place to another. They arc of a black-brown colour, and have very much the appearance of wolves. Their fledges are (hod or lined with large filh-bones. This lAand lies in 62 deg. 32 min. N. lat. about 60 leagues from the mouth of the ftrait. The variation of the compafs is 27 deg. 30 min. a fouth-eafterly moon makes a full tide, which rifcs almoft as high as at the Refolution Iflands, and comes from the eaft. On the 29th of June, the weather being cleared up, he at length faw Sat/bury Ijhnd, On the ift of July he difcovered a group of iflands, which he named Mill- Ijles^ becaufc of the grinding of the ice among thefe iflands. The latitude of them is 64 deg. As he was ftandinp- along thefe iflands the lea came with the tide from the fouth-eaft, and drove his Ihip with great force into the eddy of the iflands. On the nth he difcovered land to the weftward, which being a head- land he named Capt Comfort. The latitude of it is 65 degrees N. The farther he proceeded in the inlet* A t'i''i In , n , > I' ' \Y t". I 352 VOYAGES AMD inlet, the fliallowcr it grew. This cape was on the land of Carty's Stvan's Neji. Bylot went only to 65 deg. 25 min. N. lat. and to about 86 deg* 10 min* ivefl long, from London. Having tacked about to return, becaufe the land trended to the north eaft, he found. on the i6th, near a point of land, a great number of fea-horfes lying on the ice, and from this circumftance named it Boint Sea-horfe, Here he ob* ierved that the flood came from the fouth-eaft, and the ebb from the north-weft. On the 26th he paiTed between the iflands Sail/bury and Nottingham, He came to an anchor at Diggs's IJJandy where his peo- pie killed a great quantity of fea-fowl Oii the rocks for their food, and at laft arrived again at Plymouth, XXV, The public-fpirited gentlemen who had had the former voyages on difcoveries made at their own expence, were willing to fet on foot one more« The gentlemen alluded to were Sir Thomas Smithy Sir Dudley Diggty Mr. John tVolJhnholme^ and Mr. Alder- man yonesy together with fome others. They again chofe Robert Bylot for the Captain, and JVtlliam Baffin to be pilot. I'he fhip Difcovery went out now for the fifth time on a voyage of difcovery. They fet fail from Grave/end on the 26th of March, i6i6« The firft land they faw, being the 14th of May, was within Davis*s Straits in 65 deg. 20 min. N. lat. Se- veral Greenlanders came to. their ihip, and received feme fmall pieces of iron from them. 3ut feeing that he was failing away, they appeared much difTatisfied* Bylot did not come to an anchor till he was in 70 deg. 20 min. near Davis's London coajl^ where the in- habitants fled before them in their boats. In this found, which was a very good one, the tide did not rife above 8 or 9 feet. Two days after, he failed farther to the northward. On. the 30th he reached Hope Sanderfon (the farthefl land that Davis had been at) in ^2 deg. 20 min. Continuing his courfe, he came in 72 deg. 45 min. to fome iflands, where he found nothing but women, whom he treated with kindnefs, making them prefents of iron. To thefe iflands he gave the name of Women s JJlts, Here the tide DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 353 tide did not rife above 6 or 7 feet. The women had black ftrcaks on their faces, which were raifed above the furface of the fkin. Bylot now failed farther on to the northward, but met with a great deal of ice. He therefore looked about for a harbour, till the ice Ihould be wafted and gone, and ilood into one in Jat. 73 deg. 45 min. Here tlie inhabitants came im- mediately to them, and brought them feal-fkins and unicorns * horns, in exchange for iron. Hence he named the found Horn Sound. He flayed here a few days longer, and then fet fail again. The wind was ftill contrary, but the ice was almoft all diflblved, infomuch that he bad it in his power to go again to JVomen^s IJlandst ffom which he failed 20 leagues to the weft ward, without finding any more ice. On Midfummer-Day all the ftiip's tackling was covered with froft, neverihelefs the cold was by no means intolerable. The fea was free and open, but the wind was contrary. He therefore flood off from the ihore, and flood in for it again. He then let fall an anchor to meafure the tide, which afforded him however but little hope. The weather now grew very foggy, he therefore failed along the coaft, rhe next day he came to a fair cape or headland, which he named after Sir Dudley Diggs, It was in 76 deg. 35 min. N. lat. and clofe adjoining to it lay a fmall ifland. A* t^^ diftance of 12 leagues from the cape he faw a confiderable inlet, in the middle of which was a fmall ifland, which caufed a double current. Here he anchored, but the fliip drove with the cur- rent though ftie had two anchors out. He was there- fore obliged to weigh and ftand out to fea. This • Thefe horns *re very improperly called by the name they bear ; for it is well known that the iiarhti;' Aa inlet S54 VOYAGES AHB inlet he nzmed fVol/Ienhelme*s Sound \ it fpreads out m feveral fmall inlets, and is very convenient for the whale-fifhery. Another ftorm now arofe, which obliged him to lie a Hull ; and when the weather cleared up again, he found himfelf in a large bay. He then fet fail again, and flood over to the fouth-weft fide, where he anchored in an inlet, but loft both anchor and cable, the wind blowing with great violence from the tops of the mountains. He was therefore obliged to ftand off and on, the bottom of the bay being ftill en- tirely covered with ice. This bay contained a great many whales, on which account he alfo named it JVhale Sound. The latitude of it is 77 deg. 30 min. The weather being very fair, he kept along by the land, till he came to a large bank of ice, behind'which lay the land. On feeing this he flood back about eight leagues to an ifland to which he gave the name of Hakluyt's IJland. This ifland lies between two inlets, riz. JVhale Sound and Sir Thomas Smith's Sound; which latter runs to the north of 78 deg. and is alfo extremely remarkable in one refpe£l, viz. becaufe in it there is the greateft variation of the compafs of any part of the known world. For, by divers very exact obfervations, he found it to be above five points *, or 56 degrees varied to the weftward. This inlet feems to be very conveniently fituated for the whale-fifhery, it being the largefl in the whole bay. That which induced him to fail over to the ifland was that he intended to fearch for whale-bone there. But the weather was fo bad, that he could not land with the boat. The next day the wind came more outward. The fea was grown fo high, that he weighed anchor, and it was tvfo days before he could find a good anchoring place. This day the weather cleared up, and he dif- covered a group of iflands at the diftance of about 10 or 12 leagues from the land. He could have wifhed * The mariner's compafs is divided into 31 different points, or winds. Now the whole com pals comprizing 360 degrees, each of thefe 31 point! or winds mult amouot to iii. degree* ; confequently (ive points are cqu«l to j6^ degrtf?. indeed indeed permit thefe i Gary's a flifF accomp entranc Jones's out fine the fhij again, lated, tl lying 01 eafy ga] coafl, ^ and beg 1 2th da named it ing a pa this inlet . the fljon came to land as furround to the ( , .the ice, it till he in again quite coi to run ab faft lockc He kept he founc could not 41 min. great qua leagues. DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 355 indeed to ftand over to them, but the wind would not permit it, nor would he fpend any more time after thefe iflands, which he diftinguiflied by the name of Cary*s IJlands. He then Hood to the weftward with a ftifF gale of wind, which was fucceeded by a calm, accompanied by a fog, when he found himfelf at the entrance of a large inlet, which he called Alderman yones's Sound. In the afternoon the weather turned out fine and clear ; and he fent a boat on (horc, whilft the fhip kept on her courfe j but the wind getting up again, the boat returned on board, and the men re- lated, that they had fcen a great number of fea-horfes lying on the ice along the coaft. Then having an eafy gale of wind at h. N. E. they failed along by the coaft, which began to trend more to tlie fouthward, and began to have the appearance of a bay. On the 1 2th day he opened another great found, or inlet, and named it James Lancajier^s Sound. Their hopes of find- ing a paflage began now to decreafe every day. From this inlet to the fouthward a ledge of ice ran all along . the fliore j he therefore kept clofe by the ice till he came to 71 deg. 16 min. where he could fee the land as far as 70 deg. 30 min. Being now almoft furrounded by the ice, he was obliged to ftand more to the eaftward j for he expelled to be foon clear of , .the ice, and defigned to have kept on the off'-fide of it till he came to 70 deg. when he intended to ftand in again to the fouthward ; but matters turned out quite contrary to his expectation, for he was obliged to run above 60 leagues through d)e ice, and was often faft locked in it, thoijgh he kept his courfe due eaft. He kept conftantly fo near the ice, that many times he found it diiiicult to get clear of it j and yet he could not get near the land till he came to 68 deg. 41 min. i when he faw the fhore, but by reafon of the great quantity of ice could not come to it by 7 or 8 leagues. This was on the 24th of July, flere he A a 2 continued *n:]i 356 VOYAGES AND continued for three days more, endeavouring ib come to an anchor, in order to try tlic tide ; but the ice carried him at length into the latitude of 65 deg. 40 min. upon which he left the weftern coaft entirely, being now diredtly oppofite Cumberland StraitSy where he had no hopes of a pafTage. He therefore found himfclf under the neceflity of putting an end to his voyage of difcovery, as the proper feafon for it was already clap!cd, and his crew but weakly j fome of ththi, indeed, being abfolutcly fick, and his cook even dead. He now flood over to the coaft of Greenland^ aiid camt to an anchor in the harbour of Cocking Sound, in lat, 65 deg. 45 min. Going on fhore on an ifland there, they immediately found fome Greenland fcurvy-grafs (Cochlearia officinalis varietas Groenlandica) forrel (Ru- nt ex acetofa) and orpine (Sedum acre) in great quanti- ty. They boiled the fcurvy-grafs in beer, and in a week all the fick were perfedtly recovered, and con- tinued well till their arrival in England. Soon after their landing the inhabitants came and brought them fome younj^ falmons and other fifh, which they barter- ed for glais beads, counters, and pieces of iron ; and which contributed very much to the recovery of the crew. It was quite altonifliing to fee the great fhoals of falmon that were fwimming to and fro in this har- bour. The tide rifes in it about 18 feet. The crew being perfedly refreflied, he fet fail again, and, in 19 days, faw land on tfie coaft of Ireland. On the 30th of Auguft he anchored in Dover Road. This voyage likewife, though in the higheft degree worthy of attention, is but very imperfeftly known to us from Baffin^s relation j and all the charts of the newly-difcovered Baffin's bay have been merely laid down from the obfervations made in his journal ; for Purchas, who has publiflied fo many wretched, paltry maps, was afraid of the expence attending the publi- cation of Baffin's important chart, and it is therefore probable DISCOVERIES m the NORTH. 357 probable that it is entirely lod. The ftiDalc Grcen- hindcrs on IVojnen^s IJlands had black. Ihcaks on their tiices, raifcd above the lurt'ace of the fkin, and the fame kind of decoration has been oblcrved to be ufed among the Tungufts in Siberia, as alio on fome y^- kutcs *. I'he gradually dccrcalc of the tide to the north- ward feems to me to be a pretty llrong proof of its coming from Davis's Straits, and that confequently this liaiHn's \\.\y has no connection either to the north- ward or the weftward v/ith the great ocean ; in which cafe no p.iliage can be expelled to be found in the whole bay. It is, however, aftonifhing, that Ba^n Ihould haVc been the only perfon hitiierto that has ex- plored this bay, and that after him no one has ever ventured upon this fca. The whales, which are found iicre in great abundance, may perhaps have purpofely fcleiSled t'lis bay, which no mortal belldcs Baffin has ever ni'vigated, for their refidencc, on account of the fccurity ic affords them. The whale is a fubtlc ani- m.il, and very capable of diftinguilliing the places v/here frequcr.t chafe is made after him. — It is altonifhing that all thofc who were afflidled with the fcurvy on board of Bylot's fhip, (liould have been rertored with- in eight or nine days by the ufe of frelh herbs and Tifh. This proves that nothing contributes more to caufe this kind of putrid fever than the want of fweet air and of frefli provifion. It is pofllble, without doubt, to retard, in fome meafure, the progrefs of this difcafe, by the infufion of malt or fwcet-wort ; but as to curing it radically, that can only be effeclcd on fliore, by means of frefh provifions, and a diet conilfting chiefly of vegetables. XXVI. This lad unfuccefsful voyage of Bylct and Bajin feems to have put almoft an entire liop to tiie inclination of the enterprizing focietv above-mentioned to promote any farther voyages to the north j neither indeed do we find any one recorded for a long fpac? I > t''s Trivzh to Sibeiia, Part I. ea^c 79. Pan II. page ao8, Georgi'i Travels, Vol. I, page 254. ol 358 VOYAGES Avtfl of time. Something, however, is mentioned of a voy- age made by Capt. JVilliam Hawkbridge, or Hawk" ridge. This is the fame perfon who, in 1612 and 1613, had accompanied Sir Thomas Button in his voyage of difcovery. But the account is very imper- fea: : for firft, it is entirely unknown in what year this voyage took place : 2dly, neither is «t known at whofe expence or at whofe inftigation it was under- taken : nor, laflly, is it poflible to difcover the name of the fhip in which Hawkbridge failed, nor from what port he went, nor where he landed on his re- turn to England ; it feems probable, however, that this expedition took place after that of Bylot in 1616 ; be- caufe Fox defcribes it quite at the end, after Bylofs ; and that it was before that of Fox and Jamesy which took place in 1631 ; becaufe the fame writer places it exprefsly before his own. Hawkbridge failed to the weftward, and, on the 29th of June, found himfelf in the great entrance to Lum- lefs Inlet \ and in fa6t: was the firft that ever was in this inlet, for all his predeceflbrs had only imagined that they were in it, but had at length found it prove otherwife. He did not leave this inlet till the 8th of July ; on the 9th, he found the pirmace again, which had failed out with him. He was retarded for a long time by ftrong currents and contrary winds. Near Cape Charles he found a fmall ifland, and the ground thereabouts feemed to promife a great quanti- ty of fifii ; neverthelefs he caught none, "^he latitude of the ifland was 62 deg. 19 min. The variation of the compafs 3 deg. 9 min. The tide rofe 21 feet, and fet to the fouth-eaft. On the 27th he failed farther after making many efforts to this purpofe, he on faw liind on the 7th of Auguft, which appeared to him to be Salijbury IJland. Towards the bottom of the bay the latitude was 64 ^f^^. 30 min. j the variation 23 deg. 10 min. At length, on the 10th of Augufl, ke came to Scahorfe Point. On the nth he went deeper into tiie bay, till he at lafl found the lat. to be 65 deg. N. He therefore tacked about, and ftood for Diggs's Ijlar.d^ in order to try the tide there. After concern ■4 DISCOVERIES iM THE NORTH. 359 After this, he ftaid a few days off the King^s Foreland and Mansfield Ijland. A little farther on, feeing firm ice, he returned. On the yth of September he was again near the Refolution Ifio 'U, On the loth the pninace loft i.er boat, and pr< ably he haftened home, for here the account breaks off. This attempt of Hawkhridgis has difcovered no- thing new, but that between Carey's Swans Ne/i and the eaflern iflands he went as far s 65 dcg. where Bylot, however, had already, in 1615, been before him. XXVII. After a long paufe, the fpirit v f enterprize and invefti^ation again burft forth. Lucas Fox, a man who from his earlieft years had ufed the fea, and who was to have gone out with John Knight, in the capacity of mate, in 1606, and fmce that time had collected all the information he pofTibly could arrive at concerning the progrefs that had been made in the voyages of difcovery undertaken to the North, form- ed an intimacy with feveral fkilful mathematicians of his time, amongft whom he particularly cites Thomas Sterne, who had carefully coUefted all the journals and charis of the former voyages, with a view to his profeffion, viz. the making of globes. After this he renewed his former acquaintance with the famous ma- thematician Henry Brigges, who made him acquainted with Sir yohn Brooke, when feveral rcfpedlable peo- ple formed an aflbciation for fetting on foot another voyage of difcovery, which was, hov/ever, put a ftop to by Henry Brigges's death. In the mean time Capt, Thomas yames had perfuaded many merchants in Bril- tol to fet on foot a voyage of difcovery in the north, and thefe folicited Mr^. Brigges and Sir John Brooke, to allow both fhips to go out together on this expe- dition, a requeft which was willingly granted. Sir Thomas Roe, who was returned from his embafly to the Court of Sweden, and old Sir John Woljlenholmc^ were appointed by the King, to procure every thing that might ferve to promote this voyage. The bre- thren of the Trinity Houje were alio to give their affiftance, and young Mr. Wdftenholme, afterwards Sir John 360 VOYAGES AND yohn Woljienholme^ was to be Treafurer to the whole enterprize. The King {Charles I.) gave alfo one fhip to it, and ordered it to be fitted out with all necefla- ries in the moll complete manner, and to be vidualled for 18 months. When Capt. Fox was prefented to the King, his Majefty gave him a map, contrining all the dil'coveries made by his predeceiTors, with in- ftruclions and a letter to the Eniperor of Japan, in cafe he fhould get into the South Sea, and reach Ja- pan by the pafTage he went out to difcover. Capt. Lucas Fox fet fail from Deptford on the 5th of May, 1 631, in his Majefty's fliip CZ^tfr/^j, of 80 tuns burden. Oh the 15th he broke his main-yard in two. He went to the Orkneys j but not being able to procure a new main-yard there, failed on. After pafling Cape Farewell in a fog, he fhaped his courfc towards Hudfon's Straits. When he came near the ice, he found that to the leeward of every lar^^e ifland of ice, there floated a great many fmall pieces, form- ed by the continual beating of the fea upon thefe illands, and undermining them fo that they fell to pie- ces by their own weight. At. length, on the 20th of June, Fox faw land on the north fide of Lumley's Jnlct. He was then in 62 deg. 25 min. N. lat. Find- ing ice in this inlet, he was defirous of getting into Hudfon's Straits ; but here like wife there was floating a great deal of ice. He ftood over from Cape War- wick on Refolution IJland, to Cape Chidley, or Button's Ifiandi^ of which he diftinftly faw four. On the 23d the morning was foggy, but later in the day the fun fhone fo hot, that the ice as well as the pitch on the fides of the fliip began to melt. In the ftrait was ftill a great quantity of ice,' of which he obferves two forts : firft, mountainous ice, of a very confiderable fize and height, fome of which reached from 20 to 40 yards above the furface of the water \ and next, jiaked Ice^ fome of which was above a rood, and fome two acres fquare, but mod of it about one or two feet above the v.atcr, and eight or ten under ; he water. On the 30th they pafl'ed by a piece fomcthing higher than the reft 5 on this lay I; n DISCOVERIES IV the NORTH. 361 lay a large ftone, weighing at leaft 5 or 6 tuns; beAdes which there were other ftones on it, and Tome mud. Thefe mountains of ice are formed on fliore by the fnow, which the wind blows on to the fteep brow of fomc high mountain, to which it adheres, and is compacted into a firm and folid piece of ice, which in the fpring becomes loofe at the approach of a thaw, and rolls into the fea, carrying with it the earth, flones, mud, and trees, which it before enveloped. One night a mountain of ice came driving ilrait on towards the Hiip j as it was deeper under water than the jiaked ice^ the current confequently made it drive fafter over than the latter, fome of which was be- tween the {hip and the mountain, elfe this huge mafs being already perforated by the action of the water upon it, in confequence of its percuilion againft the {hip might have burft ; when the broken pieces fall- ing into the vefTel, might eafily have funk it, as this mountain was 9 or jo fathoms (i. e. from 54 to 60 feet) above water, and who can fay how many under it ? (perhaps 9 or 10 times as much, and confequently the whole height of the mountain of ice was about 540, or even 600 feet). On the firft of July Fox was oppofite to a fecond ifland, feparated from the Refolu- iion IJlands, which in fome maps is called Terra I^ivea, The weather was hot and clofe, but calm, fo that they could not ftir for want of wind. On the 4th he fent a boat to the north land, where they found feveral huts deferted by the natives, as alfo a piece of drift-wood, and the footing and dung of an animal of the flag kind. On the 14th he faw a fea-unicorn, about 9 feet long. The back, of it was black, with a fmall lin upon it j the tail lay flat, tranfverfe with refpedt to the ridge, and between the two peaked ends was, as it were, indented. The fides were dappled, black and white; the belly was all over of a milk white ; the body, from the gills to the tail, was fhaped like a mackerel's; but the head refemblcd that of a lobfter, and on the fore part of it grew a wreath- ed horn, fix feet long and of a black colour all over, excepting jufl at the tip. The fame evening he faw 20 more 562 VOYAGES ANU If I more fea-unicorns. On the 15th, feeing the iflands of Saltjbury and Nottingham at 7 leagues diftancc, he went fomewhat to the fouthward, out of the way of the ice, and had ground in 160 fathoms. The ftones brought up by the lead were of the fame kind with thofe that ufuaily lay upon the ice, and are carried by it from the main land ; thefe ftones confequently be- ing by degrees detached from the ice, fall to the bot- tom ; fo that in the fpace of fo many years it is not to be fuppofed that any fpot on the bottom of the fca hereabouts can be free of them. Here he obferved that the needle had loft its powers, and gives his con- jectures on this phenomenon, and on the caufe of it, which he was inclined partly to deduce from want of motion in the fliip, in confequence of its being be- calmed, or from the action of the neighbouring mountains, which perhaps might contain fuch mi- nerals as had an inf uence on its magnetic powers j or elfe from the cold benumbing it, and operating upon it in the fame manner as it does upon us, or rather from the fliarpnefs of the air interpofed between the needle and its attra6live point, weakening the force of its direction *. He was now near Nottingham IJlandy whither he intended to fend his boat. He had ground, with mufcle-fliells and ftones, at 35 fathoms. The ebb came from the N. W. Their latitude was 63 deg. 12 min. On the 15th Fox made a very import- ant obfervation : the ifiands Refolution^ Salijbury^ and Nottingham^ were all three of them high on the call * The celebrated Mr. Henry Ellisy who in 174(7 and 1747 made a voy* *ge in the Dobbs galley to HuJfon\ Bay, obferved between the iflanda and the higher latitudes, that the magnetic needle had loft its power. As the probable caufes of this phenomenon, he afligned, ift, the mine- ral!", by which poPibly the needle was ftrongly attrafted (as for inftance, it is in the ifle of Elba) id, the proximity oF the magnetic Pole, and finally, the cold vf the climate, which latter he confideied a* the tru* caule; finding that the compaffes, as foon as they were removed into a •warmer place, immediately recovered their ufual power and diretlion. We fee, however, that Fox had obferved this fadt before hiro, and af- igned nearly the fame caufes for it. After this can we refrain from ex« claiming with tti* wiff maa, Then is ntthing new under the fun f fide. DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 365 ^de, and low on the weft *. Here hq alfo faw a great many Tea- horfcs. He faw the fame day, at a diftance. Cape Pembroke on the main land of Gary's Swans Nejiy where likewife were many fea^horfes. On the i8th he was pretty near this 1 aft'- mentioned land, and on the 19th, on a flake of ice, faw a white bear, which after fome time they killed. It yielded 48 gallons of oil i they ate the flefh of it boiled, and found it to be good ; but when roafted, it tafted fiftiy and rank. The fame night they faw a dark ftreak in the horizon, and in the iky to the northward the meteors, known by the name of Henbanes, or petty Dancers, which were confidered by Fox as the fore- runners of a ftorm to follow within 24 hours ; an event which did not, however, happen. On the 21ft they were not advanced much farther. They came to Carey's Swans i^eji^ where they chaced many fwans, but caught none, on account of the marflies, brooks, and pools of ftanding water, fo frequent on this fliore. On the 24th they faw feveral feals in 62 deg. 20 min. N. lat. but as for fowl there were but few of any kind. On the 27th it was warm, even at night. There he faw abundance of rock-weed and tangle (or Tang). Near the main land on the weft-fide of Hudfon's Bay, he difcovered an ifland in 64 deg. 10 min. N. lat. which he named Sir Thomas Roe*s Welcome. They found feme burial places of the natives, but not one human creature alive. The fpears left behind in thefe fe- pulchres were headed, fome with iron and fome with copper. On the 28th he obferved a great num- ber of filh leaping in the water, together with many feals, and alfo a whale. He came at length to a white ifland, to which he gave the name of Brook Cob- I r , i.u obkrvin^ any particular method tinplo)ed by Naiun* in her (/peiaiions, immtdiafciy c includes, that is the only way in which (he o[Kr*iei>. Nature policfles a vaft variety of means for the atcomjliflimenl and the nearer will the refledling niiud approach to the i^t eat I'ourcc of Being, Qui mare ic terras vaiiifque mundura tempcrat hoiis. Hon. " Snow and hail, fire and vapour, wind and (lorm, fulfiiiini^ hii wurd !" David. Some, but by far not ail of ihsi'e means I liave memiincd in my Oh;er- •vatiois The diily auRm«.'utati -n oi ihe co'diiels of thi; iea in winter, is a^ certain as the greater inctf-ale of' the ict; there at that !'< afoii ; ytt ihc circumftance here lelated of the ftiip's criw havii g bttu moie Icnfibli; of cold in the'raonth of June than in Dicenibt;r, miy iiut be ultupcih.r vtith. uc DISCOVERIES IN TUB NORTH. 371 horrible difeafe, the fcurvy, made its appearance. They bled at the mouth, their gums were fvvohi, and foinc- timcs black and putrid, and all their teeth were loofe. Their mouths were fo fore, that they could no longer eat their ufual food. Some complained of (hooting pains in the head, others in the bread, others felt j. weaknefs in their reins, others had pains in their thighs and knees, and others again had fwollen legs. Two thirds of the crew were under the hands of the fur- gcon, and neverthelefs were obliged to work hard, though they had no (hoes to their feet, but indead of fhoes faitened clouts about them. In the open air the cold was quite infupportable, no clothes bcin<^ proof againft it^ nor any motion fufficient to keep up their natural warmth. It froze the hair on their eye- lids, fo that they could not fee, and it was with diffi- culty that they could fetch their breath. In the woods the cold was fomewhat lefs fevere, yet here they were StfHided with chilblains on their faces, hands, and feet. The leaft degree of cold was within doors. On the outfide, the houfe was covered with fnow two thirds of its height, and withinfide, every thing was frozen and hung full of icicles. Their bedding was quite ftifr', and covered with hoar fro(^-, though their beds were al- mo(t clofe to the fire in their finall dwelling. The water in which the cook foaked the fait meat froze within doors, though it ftood but three feet from the fire. But, during the night, when the fire was not fo well kept up, whilft the cook flept only for four hours, all was frozen in the tub into one lump. When af- I' without roQndation. Heat and cold, at long as we do not judge of them by a certain unalierable ttandard, are, witlirerpedt lo ihe huo.uu body, mere relatire idea*. Now the external air in the month of June being much warmer than it it in December, the coidnel's of the fea- water muit ■aiurally have afFid\ed the bodies of the failors more fenfibiy in June thaa in December ; to this we may add, that in the Ipring Capt. jame»'> peopi* were almofl: eniiitly debilitated by cold, fatigues, and icorbu. c- c>.m- jilaints, which was notyet the cafe ia Deceir.bei, jult in the beginning of the winter. Bb2 terwards aV':r 372 VOYAGES ANi!» tcrwards tlie cook foaked the meat In a copper kettle^ clofe to the fire, to prevent it from freezing, the fide near the fire was found to be quite warm, while the oppofite fide was frozen an inch thick. All their axes and hatchets had been fpoiled and rendered unfit for ufe, by cutting the frozen wood, fo that Capt. James fcund it neceJfary to lock up the carpenter's axe, in order to prevent it from being fpoiled alfo. The green wood that they burned in their dwelling almoft fufFo- cated them with fmoak ; that which was dry, on the contrary, was full of turpentine, and produced fo much foot, tliat they themfelvcs, all their beds, clothes, and utenfils, v/ere covered with it ; and, in Ihort, they looked like -I'imney-fweepers. The timber, knees, beams, and bent pieces, wanted for the con{lru»5tion of their pinnace, caufed the greateft difficulty, as the trees, before they could fell them, were obliged to be thawed by the fire. After this, the pieces were firil hewn out in the rough, then dried again, and at leji2:th worked into the laft form that was to be given them, and fitted into- each other j for which purpofe they were obliged conftantly to keep up a lar^c fi.ic near the flocks, as otherwife it would have been impofiible for thc^.i to have wprked there. Many of thtin were dlfubled by the fcurvy, or had frozen limbs, boil^, and fores j others, were every morning fo contracted in their joints by the rheumatifm, tliat it was ncceilary x.o reftore the fijpplenefs and pliancy of their Hmbs by fomenting them every morning with warm water and a decodion of the fir-tree, before they were able to go a ftcp forward, or to make ufe of their h;=nds. In the month of March the cold was as fcvere as in the rnidd of winter ; in April the fnow fell in preater quantities than it had done duiing the whole winter, but the flakes were large and rather moiil, while in the winter, the fiiow was dry, like dull ; even on the 5th of April, the fpring which we men- tioned, tliat they hp.d ibund, was frozen. An ifland v.'hich vs'as iiiiiute at the dillaiicc of four lergiies from thuni. DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 373 them, they could never fee from a fmall hill in fine weather, and when the air was clear j but, on the contrary, when the air was thick and full of vapours, the ifland was vifible, even from plain, level ground. They now began once more to clear away the ice in the fhip's hold, and to feeic for the rudder, which the ice had beat off the year before ; they wifhed lilce^ wife to fee whether poiiibly the iliip was not tight enough to carry them fafe home. With this view they all worked very hard, and were fortunate enough to clear the ice away by degrees, to get the anchors on board, to find the rudder again, and to bring it on deck, and likewife to find the Ihip tighter than they had expected. Having cleared away fome of the ice, they found water in her hold. At low water they flopped up the holes which they had bored in her then^lelves the preceding autumn with a view to fill the hold, and thus to render her heavier than be- fore, and keep her Iteady, fo that the fea miglit not lift her up from the bottom, and in letting her down again, dafli her to pieces. They found both the pumps, thav^cd the water which was frozen in them, and fet about pumping the water out of the hold. On the laft day of April it began to rain, which to them was a fign-of the fpring's approach. On the 2d of May it fnowed again, and was excefTively cold. This made the ficic very low-fpirited, and their dif- orders ihcreafcd to fuch a degree, that they fainted away whenever they were lifted out of bed. Geefe and cranes came now flying in great numbers, but they were extremely fhy. Even 01; the 8th, the froft was fo intcnfe, that the ice would beaf a man, On the 24th the ice broke in the bay, with a very great noife : in the day time the fun (hone very hot, but at night it froze. On the laft day of May they /aw here and there fome vetches fpring up, which were carefully gathered, and drefled for the fick, During the whole month of May the north winds ciiiefly pre- vailed. On the four firft days of June they had much fnow, fleet, and hail ; and it was fo cold that the pools were covered with ice, and even the water in tiieir pitchers was rro?,en within doo^s, and their newly-waPned M ■ 5' ta 374 V O YAGES AND linen continued frozen the whole day. They now hove up the anchor, and found the cable in good condi- tion. On the 9th, all the ficlc were fo far recovered by the eating of the green leaves of the vetches, that they could make fhift to creep about in the houfe, and were even able to bear the air ; and thofe who had been leaft enfeebled were grown tolerably ftrong. Tl^e green vetch-leaves were dreff^d twice a day, and eaten with oil and vinegar. They likewife bruifed the leaves and mixed the juice with their drink. They alfo ate them raw with bread. On the nth they hung on their rudder, which, for many days before, they had not been able to accomplilh, on account of their weaknefs. They alfo lightened the (hip, by heaving out her ballaft. On the 15th all the fick v/cre (o far recovered, that they could walk about ; their pa- lates and gums were quite found and well, and their teeth were no longer loofe, fo that they could now eat their green vetches with beef. The fea was ftill frozen and full of ice. On the i6th the weather was vej-y hot, and they had thunder and lightning : it was- fo ftot indeed, that they were obliged to bathe in order to cool themfelves. But now an incredible quantity of mufquitoes (Clucx pipiens) made their appearance^ which tormented them extremely j at the fame time there was feen a great number of ants and frogs : but the bears, foxes, and fowl, had totally withdrawn themfelves. On the 20th they got the fhip into deep water, though there was ftill abMrnd;jnce of ice lying about. 1 hey alfo began to rjg thp (hip again, and to carry their provifjons on boarq, tbgether with their fail*, clothes, and other neceflafies. On the 2d of July they fet fail again. At Cape Henrietta Maria they met vvith feme flags, but their dogs could not overtake them ; James, therefore, put thele latter animals on Ihore, they being a dog and a bitch, and left them there. They got, however, half a dozen of young geefe. After working with infinite labour and difficulty through great quantities of ice, till the 22d of Auguft, he came to Careys Swans Nejl, and at }en;;th to Nottingham IJIancl. Upon this, confidering thiit DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 375 that the feafon for making difcoveries was now elapfed, that he had but a fmall flock of provifions left, and that his {hip was very crazy and leaky, he refolved to make for England with all pofllble fpeed. He was of opinion, that there was no paflage to be found, and that for the following reafons: ift, Becaufe the tide in every part of this fea comes from the eaft through Hudfon's Straits, and the farther it goes, the later it arrives at every place within the ftrait and bay. 2dly — Becaufe thefe feas contain no fmall fifn, fuch as cod, ftockfifli, &c. and few large ones, which likewife are feldom feen. Neither are there any whalebones, nor any fca-horfes or other large fifh found on the fhore i nor is there any drift-wood here. 3dly — Be- caufe the ice in 65 deg. 30 min. N. lat. lies in large fields or flakes on the tea, becaufe it is generated in the flat bays, but if there was a great ocean farther on, nothing but large mountains of ice would be found, fuch as are at the entrance of Hudfon's Straits, and farther on to the eaftward. 4thly and laftly, Becaufe the ice drives eaftward through die flraits into the great ocean, by reafon that it comes from the north, and has no other way to go out by. — Having clear- ed the ftrajts, they crofied the Atlantic, and cam^ to anchor in Brijiol Road on the 22d of 0£lobe/, It cannot be denied, that Jameses voyage contains fome remarkable phyfical obfervations with regard to the intenfenefs of the cold, and the great quantity of ice in thefe climates ; but relative to the difcovery of new regions, countries, and feas, we do not find the fmalleft hjnt. His arguments to prove the non- exiftence of a paflage in thefe feas, are by no means fatisfadlory. Por, ift, his firft pofition is true only in part : in the fouthern recefs of the bay the tide dc- creafes in height greedy, and alfo arrives there far later than at the mouth of the (traits ; but it does not fol- low from thence that this is every where the cafe, par- ticularly it is not fo in Sir Thomas Roif JVelcome^ where the tide is even higher than it is at the mouth of Hudfon's Jitraits j and yet even there it does not come from the wtlh ;il 376 VOYAGES ANjii weft. 2d, Fox found many whales near Brook Cobka^n Ifland (Marble Ifle) and 2i\(o mdny fea unicorns i con- fequentiy this argument holds good only with refpei^i to the other parts of the bay. The 3d and 4th argu- ments are, in fadl, one and the fame ; and as there is always rtuch water coming from the northward, v^hich breaks the ice there in pieces, and drives it out of Hud- fon's Straits to the ealtward, this would rather induce one to draw an inference in favour of an influx from fbine other fea. XXIX. After the enterprizes of Fcx and James^ there feemed to be no farther difpofition in the public to give its fupport to fimilar undertakings. But in the mean -time a burgher of Canada, named De Grofelie^ or De Grojfeliers^ an enterprizing man, and who had travelled very much in thofe parts, had happened to come with the Canadian favages into the land of Outaucas (Utawas, fituate on the river of the fame name) and at lenjith penetrated fo far into the country, that he got inteliigence concerning Hudfon's Bay, and its fituation. When he was returned to ^ebec, he joined with fome of his countrymen in fitting out a bark for the purpofe of ac- complijhing this difcovery by fea. Soon alter he fet fail, And landed within the mouth of a river, which tlie favages call PinaJJiwet fchieivar.^ i. e. the tearing Jiream^ which is fituated bi!t one league from the river Pa-juiriuiwagau^ or Port Nelfon River. He fixed his refidence on the fouth fide, on an ifland three leagues up the river The Canadians, as being good fportfinen, arrived at length, in tlie midft of winter, 2.1 Port Nelfon River (which the VxtnchcdWcd Riviere de Bourbon) and there difcovereda fcttlement of Europeans. He therefore went thither with his people, in order to attack them, but found only a miferable hut, covered with turf, and cor/aining fix half-ftarved people. A fhip from Bo/ion, in New- Engknd, had put them on fhore, on purpofe to look out for a place where they, together with the whole crew, might pafs the winter. The ice had in the mean time driven the fhip, with the reft of the crew, out to fea again, nor divl they ever hear any thiiig fai-tlia DISCOVERIES iw the NORTH. 371 f^irthcr of either. But that very fame winter Crt^ feillier received intelligence that at 7 leagues from the place of his refidence, there fubfifted another fettle- nxent of Englilhmen on the banks of Port Nel/on** River. He intended to attack thefe alfo •, but learn- ing that they lived in a fortified place, he chofe a day for this undertaking on which the £ngli(h are ac- cuftomed to make merry. Accordingly he went on Twelfth-Day to put his defign in execution ; and found them all fo drunk, that though there were So men of them, tl ..y could not defend themfelves ia the leaft; fo that he made them all prifoners, though he had no more than 14 Frenchmen with him. In. confequence of thin, he remained mafter of the coun- try. GrafeilUer afterwards explored the whole diftrift, and returned with his brother-in law, Ratiffon^ to Quebec, loaded with abundance of rich furs and Eng- liJh merchandize. He left, however, his nephew, Cbouartf and five men in poffcffion of the conquered port. Inftead of being well received in Canada for his good conduct, he had a difpute with his employ- ers on account of Tome plunder, for which Grofeillier and his people had not accounted. He therefore fent his brotjSer-in-law, RatrJ/on^ to France, to complaia of the injuftice he had fuftered, who, however, wat |iot liftened to. He then went himfclf to France, and reprefented to the Minifters the importance of his difcovery in the moft favourable light he could^ but neither he nor his reprcfentations met with the leall attention. The Englifti Ambafl'ador at Paris, Mr. Montaguey who was afterwards created Duke of Adontague (and to whom the prelent Britifh Mufeura formerly belonged, the Englifh nation having bought it of his heirs) having heard of Grofdllier's offers, and of the unjuft treatment he had met with from the Miniflers, fpoke with him, and gave him and his brother-in-law letters to the Count Palatine Rupert^ in London. This Prince was a great patron and en- courager of all laudable and ufeful enicrprizes, and law perfcdly well, that great advantages would re- fult to England from fuch a feuljcmeiu. Accord- IE i'i ;iM I? m 37l VOYAGES akd ingly a King's (hip was fitted out in 1668, under the command of Capt. Zacharias Gillam, and the two Frenchmen went with him. Capt. Gillam went as far as to 75 deg. N. lat. in Baffin's Bay, and then flood into Hudfon's Bay, in the moft foutherly end of which, on the 29th of Sept. he entered Rupert's River; where he pafled the winter. This Rupert*s River comes out of the great lake MiJlaJJie^ and dif- charges itfelf into the fouth-eaftern corner of Hud- fon's Bay. On the 9th of December they were fro- zen in, in the river, and went on foot over the ice to a fmall ifland overgrown with poplars and Ame- rican firs. In April the cold was almofl entirely gone, and the natives draggling in thofe regions, who are pofleflcd of greater fimplicity as well as goodnefs of heart than the Canadian favages, came to vifit them. On the other hand, the Noclways, or EJkimatix (who probably bad their name from the rtver Nodway, or indeed may have given their name to the river) are far more uncivilized and cruel. It was here that the Englifli built the firft ftonc fort, which they called Fort Charles, and to the country round it they gave the name of Rupert's Land. At length, after having completely performed his com- miiHon, Capt. Gillam returned and left (he fortification garrifoned with a fufficiert number of men. But K. Charles 11. even before Capt. Gil'am had fct out on his voyage homewards, had granted to Prince Rupert, and to divers Lords, Knights, and mer- chants, afTociated with him, a charter, dated the 2d of May, 1669; by which his Majcfly rtiled them the Governor and Company of Adventurers trading from England to Hudfon's Bay; and in confidcration of their having, at their own coils and charges, " under- taken an expedition to Hudfon's Bay, in the north- wefl parts of America, for the difcovery of a new pafTage into the South-fea, and for the finding of fome trade for furs, minerals and other confiderable commodities, and of their having already made, by fuch fuch DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH. 379 fuch their undertakings, fuch difcoveries as did en- .courage them to proceed farther in purfuance of the (aid defign ; by means whereof there might probably arife great advantages to the King and his kingdom," abfolutely ceded and gave up to the faid undertakers the whole trade and commerce of all thofe creeks, feas, ftraits, bays, rivers, lakes, and founds, in what latitude foever they might be, which are fituated within the entrance of Hudfon's Straits ; together with all the countries, lands, and territories upon the coafts and confines of the faid feas, ftraits, bays, Jakes, rivers, creeks, and founds ; fo that they alone, and to the exclufion of all others, fhould have the right of trading thither; and whoever (hould infringe this right, and be found felling or buying within the f^id boundaries, fhould be arrefled, and all his or their merchandizes (hould become forfeit and confif- rated, fo that one half thereof (hould belong to the King, and the other half to the Hudfon's Bay Com- pany. Such was the beginning of a commercial compa- ny, which has fubfifled without interruption ever ilnce the year 1669, and (lill fubfifls the fame, ex- cepting that from the year 1697 to 17 14, the French have been in pofTeflion of Fort Bourbon^ or Tork Fort^ on the river Nelfon, They have at prefent only four fettlements in the whole extent, vaft as it is, of this bay. The ftrft. Fort Prince ef ffales, on the river Churchilly is alfo called Fort Churchill^ on account of its being ere£ted on the river of this name, and is the moft northern of thefe factories. It is in 58 dec;. 55 min. N. lat. and 95 deg. 18 min. weft o{ Greenwich, 'l\\t fecond is Tork Forty on the River Ntlfony where the French formerly had their Fort Bourbon. The third is farther from thence to the fouth-eaft, and hears the name of New Severn. The laft and moft Ibuthern one is fituated entirely within Jafnes's Bay^ and is called Albany Fcrtj on the river Albany. I'ormerly there were alfo fomc fadlories at Moofe Fort^ 38« VOYAGES AND at Fort Rupert^ and on the eaft lide of James's Bay in Slude River ; but it feems that at prefent they arc no Ipnger either occupied or vifitcd by the Hudfon*s Bay Company. The entire fum which conftitutes the original funds of this Company, amounts to 10,500!. fterling ; every holder of lool. ftock has the right of voting, and every one who is poflefled of more than lOol. of the faid original ftock, has as many votes as he has (hares or hundreds of pounds. But if a (hare be divided among feveral pcrfons, they are intitled all together to no more than one vote. By degrees this iociety has railed the price of their wares, and lowered that of the commodities of the natives of America and of the E/kimaux to fuch a degree, that the commodities exported from England to Hud- fon's Bay, will only freight four fmall (hips, which fcarcely require 130 failors to man them, and amount to about 4C00I. reckoning tht m at prime coft. Thcfc exports confift of mufkets, piftols, powder, (hot, brafs and iron kettles, axes, hatchets, knives, cloth, blankets, baize, flannels, ftcels and flints, gun-worms, hats, looking-glafl'es, fi(h-hooks, rings, bells, needles, thimbles, glafs beads, vermilion, thread, brandy, kc. &c. With thefe commodities they buy (kins, furs, caftor, beaver furs, whalebone, train-oil, and eider down, to the amount of more than i2C,oool. fter- ling. Now this would be at the rate of 25,500!. for every loocl. difburfed by them, or 5250I. per cent. But from this wc muft deduct the duties, the cxpence of ^ ' iig out the (hips, the pay of the of- ficers and faii.^is, the maintenance of the fortifications and fadpries, and of the people belonging to them ; and yet, even then, there remains to them a very great profit. The general opinion is that the proprietors of this ftock, who are at prefent not 90 in number, gain about 20CO per cent. As for certainty with refpe«^ to this matter, there is none j for the Company tranf- acts all its afFairs with the greateft fecrecy. Thus inuch, however, is certain, that no trade in the world is fo proritubl