I . s . :x. ■v* — - * * * - J ! . • . i MODERN HISTORY: OR, THE PRESENT STATE O F all nations. describing Their refpective Situations, Perfons, Habits, Buildings, Manners, Laws and Cuftoms, Religion and Policy, Arts and Sciences, Trades, Manufactures and Husbandry, Plants, Animals and Minerals. BEING The moft complete and correct System of GEOGRAPHY and MODERN HISTORY extant in any Language. By Mr. SALMON. Illuflrated with Cuts and Maps accurately drawn according to the Geographical Part of this Work, By H E R M A N MOL L. V O L. III. LONDON: Printed forMefs rs . Bettesworth and Hitch in Pater-nofter-Row \ J. Clarke, under the Royal Exchange in Cornhills S. Btrt in Ave- Mary- Lane \ Tho. Wotton over againft St. Dunjlan’s Church, and J. Shuckburgh next the Inner-Lempk Gate, both in Fleet-Jlreet and T. Qsbqrne in Gray' s~ Inn. M. DCC. XXXIX. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 with funding from Getty Research Institute https://archive.org/details/modernhistoryorp03salm_0 THE E F A C T jhe ancients were not very confident with themfelves when they related that the Torrid Zone was not habitable, and at the fame tune affirmed that Africa had been furrounded fe- ver al times by Jhips which mujl have paffied the Torrid 'Zone twice in every fuch voyage. That they were deceived in their notion , that the Torrid Zone was not habitable, is now fufficiently evident ; and I am apt to think they were in an error alfo , as to the circumnavigation of Africa in thofe eat ly ages. _ | It is true fame of the moderns as well as the ancients are of this opinion ; to f upper t which they quote the fol- lowing paffiages out of Herodotus. Herod, lib. 4. cap. 41, 42. Africa maria eft manifefte circumflua, excepto duntaxat ubi Afire contermina eft ; Neco ./EgyptorumRege hoc primo demonftrante, is enim mi (it navibus Phenicis quof- dam, prrecipiens ut tranfve&i columnas Herculeas penetrarent ad feptentrionale ufque mare atque ita ad iTgyptum remearent. Phenices igitur a rubro mari folventes abierunt in mare auffrale, qui cum autumnus adveniffet, applicatis ad terram navibus, fementem faciebant in quameunque Africre partem navigantes pervenif- fent ac mefTem expeHabant. Deinde mefio fru- mento navigabant. Ita biennio confumpto anno tertio ad Herculeas columnas declinantes in Hsgyp- tum remearunt, referentes qure apud me fidem non habent, fed forte apud alios : In prretereundo Afri- cans fe habuifle (olem ad dextram. “ This is the faff, as related by Herodotus ** ( f a y thefe gentlemen) and the quejlion is. How thefe “ men, thus fent out by Nec us, Jhould really know “ that Africa was furrounded by water ; that it might “ be failed round within the [pace of three years ; that “ in autumn they mujl be obliged to go on fore, and “ ft ay there long enough to few corn and reap if, and " Ul the voyage, * all along have the fun to the right “ hand, unlefs they had really performed this voyage. *' It will not be enough to fay, that you can't il f ee how fuch a voyage could be performed, or to tell 1

niard, the following year r 49 ^ 5 an< L failing to the queft of Cuba, and found it to be an ifland ; then Biifeoa. fouth-weft, pafs’d the Equator, and came to a coun- he fail’d to the river of.Darien, on the ifthmus of A- try in five degrees of north latitude ; which, in all merica, where Co L um b us had attempted to make likelihood, was Surinam, in the province of Gui- a fettlement, but was driven from it. Here Vasco ana. Here he traded with the natives for pearls, built a fort and town, which he named SanHa Ma- and fome gold, which they exchanged for glafs and ria del Antigua, or Old St. Mary’s ; and cultivating toys, and returned home by Antegoa. one of the a correfpondence with the Caciques, or petty Kings Leeward iflands. . thereabouts, they Ihew’d him the way to the South- Emanuel, King of Portugal, afterwards en- fea, over thole vaft mountains that run along the tertain’d Americus Vesputius in his fervice ; middle of the ifthmus, parallel to the North and and, in May 1501, he fail d from Lifbon with three South-feas; and tho’ it was not more than three or ftups ; and, coming again upon the continent of fourlcore miles from the one lea to the other, yet South- America, in 5 degrees of fouth latitude, he their way lay over fuch craggy precipices, and was fail d afterwards along that coaft to the fouthward, incumber’d with luch thick woods, that they tra- ^ till he came into 52 degrees of fouth latitude, when veil’d 25 days before they came in fight of theSouth- the cold and tempeftuous weather obliged him to re- fea : And there Vasco, upon the higheft moun- turn home. Thus having difcovered a continent tain, ereefted crofTes, and took pofteffion of the coun- in the new world, little inferior, in dimenfions, to try for their Catholick Majefties ; as he did foon that of the old, he was fo happy as to give his name after of the South-fea itfelf, and of all its coafts and to the whole, which, horn him, has ever fince bays for the Crown of Caftileand Leon, in the year gone under the name of America, tho’ he never at- 1513. He afterwards erefted the fortrefsof Panama tempted to make one fettlement in it, either for the on the South-fea, and fitted out a fleet to make fur- King of Spain, or the King of Portugal, who em- ther difcoveries on that ocean ; for which fervices ployed him in theie difcoveries ; while Co lu m bus, the Court of Spain made him Governor of Cuba who firft went in fearch of this continent, and made and Panama, and Admiral of the South-feas. But, fuch acquifitions in it for the Spaniard, did not give the King of Spain fending over Pedr arias, his name to one fingle place. But ’tis obfervable, Vice -roy of Darien and the continent, with a fupe- « that both thefeenterprizing gentlemen were Italians; rior command to that of Vasco Nunez, the and, as their anceftors had formerly the honour of Vice-roy took an opportunity to pick a quarrel with fubduing the greateft part of the old world; fo Vasco, and caus’d him to be put to death under thefe traced out the way to the new, and gave the a colour of law. Spaniards an opportunity of conquering the greateft The next great Dilcoverer and Conqueror, Was Fernando part of this new world. Fernando Cortez, who began the conqueft d Of and comjuertfj XXIV Magellan's eSifcoveries. ff f THE INTRODUCTION. of Mexico in the year 1518; of which I ftiall give a particular account in this work. The famous Magellan, in 1520, difcovered the ftraights (to which he gave his name) in South- A- merica ; from whence he fail’d thro’ the South-fea to the Eaft-Indies, being the firib Commander that attempted that paflage: His fhip furrounded the globe, and returned fafe heme, tho’ he had the misfortune to be kill’d in an ifland of the Eaft-In- dies. But I refer the Reader to the former volumes of Modern Hftory for a full account of this firfl voyage round the globe. The laft dilcoverers I (hall mention in this Intro- Pizarro and du&ion, are Francis Pizarro, Don Diego de Almagro, and r ernando de Luqjue, veries and who, in confederacy or partnerlhip, undertook the conquefts. difeovery of Peru, from Panama by fea, in the year 1 5 25, and afterwards made aconqueft of great part of that extenfive empire. Of all which difeoveries and conquefts, the Reader will meet with a particu- lar account in the hiftory of America. C O N T^E N T S Of the Third VOLUME. The Prefent State of Africa in general. C 'l H A P. I. Of Africa in general. Page 1 j Chap. II. Tbe prefent /late of Ethiopia fupe- rior, 2 Chap. III. The prefent fate of Zanguebar, 9 Chap. IV. The prefent Jlate of Caffraria : particu- larly the fouth part of it, the country of the Hot- tentots, 1 0 Chap. V. The prefent fate of Congo : Containing the prefent fate of the kingdoms of Congo, for the mo ft part fubjeft to the Portuguefe ; under which are included the countries of Angola, Congo Pro- per, and Loango, 4 2 Chap, VI. The prefent fate of Guinea : Compre- hending the countries of Benin and the Slave Coaft, the Gold Coaft, the Ivory Coaft, and the Grain Coaft, 4 3 Chap. VII. The Prefent fate of Nigritia, Zaara and Biledulgerid : Containing the prefent fate of Nigritia or Negroe-land, Zaara or the Defart, and of Biledulgerid olim Numidia, 67 Chap. VIII. The prefent fate of the Empire of Mo- rocco : In which are comprehended the kingdoms or provinces of Fez, Morocco and Suz, 70 Chap. IX. The prefent fate of Algiers : Contain- ing the prefent fate of the kingdom of Algiers, 8 2 Chap. X. The prefent fate ofTu n is and Tripoli. 98 Chap. XI. The prefent fate of the African funds, 103 Chap. XII. The ancient hiftory of Africa. 1 1 5 The Prefent State of America in general. Chap. I. Of the name , and fever al grand divifons of America, Page 129 Chap. II. The prefent fate of Mexico : Deferring the fttuation and extent of Mexico, or New Spain ; and the face of the country, p. 13° Chap. III. Of the feas, gulphs or bays, capes, lakes, rivers, and fprings, in Mexico, 1 3 1 Chap. IV. Of the winds and tides , the temperature of the air, and feafons of Mexico, 1 3 2 Chap. V. Of the provinces Mexico is divided into , its fubdivifons, and chief towns , with their publick and private buildings and furniture, 133 Chap. VI. Of the perfons and habits of /^Mexicans ; of their genius and temper, arts, manufactures , diet, exercifes, and diverfons, 144 Chap. VII. Of the conquef of Mexico by the Spani- ards, 1 5 0 Chap. VIII. Of the Mexican animals, 185 Chap. IX. Of the Mexican vegetables, viz. their foreft and fruit-trees, corn, herbage, roots , and flowers', and alfo of their huftandry, 194 Chap. X. Of the Mexican minerals ; their coin ; their precious fones and pearls ; and of their weights and meafures, 200 Chap. XI. Of the trajftck of Mexico', their carriages, inns, and way of travelling, 204 Chap. XII. Of the hiftory and government of the an- cient Mexicans, z 1 3 Chap. XIII. Of the modern government of Mexico, of the forces and revenues of that viceroyalty , p. 2 1 8 Chap. XIV. Of the religion of the Mexicans, anci- ent and modern, 221 Chap. XV. Of the jnarriages of /A 1 Mexicans; of the education of their children, and of their fu- nerals, 226 Chap. XVI. Of the province u/New-Mexico, 229 The XXV THE The Prefent State of Terra- Fir ma. Chap. I. Of the province of Terra-Firma, p. 233 CONTENTS. Chap. I. Of the ifand of Cuba, Chap. II. Of the ifand of Hifpaniola, Chap. II. Of the name , fituation , extent of Chap.^ III. Of the ifand of Porto Rico, Peru; and of the face of the country, 261 The Conclufion of Spanifh- America, Chap. III. Of the feas, rivers , lakes, fprings, zvinds, tides, air , and feafons of Peru 264 Chap. IV. The provinces the kingdom of Peru is di- vided into ; its fub-diviflons, and chief towns ; and their publick and private buildings , 268 Chap. V. Of the perfons and habits of the Peruvi- ans ; of their genius and temper ; arts, manufac- tures, food, exercifes and diverfions ; difeafes and phyftcians , 227 Chap. VI. Of the Peruvian annuals, 284 Chap. VII. Of the Mexican vegetables, viz. of their foref and fruit-trees, corn , herbage , roots, flowers, balm, gums, and drugs, 288 Chap. VIII. Of their minerals and precious Jlones, 290 Chap. IX. The hflory, religion, and government of the Peruvians, before rfe? Spanifh conquefl , 293 Chap. X. Of the invafion and conquefl of Peru by the Spaniards, 306 Chap. XI . Of their women , marriages, children, flaves and funerals-, and of the navigation and f hipping of the Peruvians, 352 The Prefent State of Chili. Chap. I. Of the name, fituation, and extent of Chili, and of the face of the country , their mountains, & c. 35 7 Chap. II. Of the fprings, lakes, baths, rivers, ports, feas, winds, tides, and feafons of Chili, 359 Chap. III. Of the provinces and fubdivifions f/'Chili, and of their chief towns, buildings,and fortreffes, 3 6 1 Chap. IV. Of the perfons and habits of the Chile fl- ans ; their genius, temper, arts, manufactures, food, exercifes, and diverfions, 364 Chap. V. Of the animals of Chili, 367 Chap. VI. Of their forejl and fruit-trees, grain, plants, herbs , roots , flowers , and minerals, ibid. Chap. VII. The hiftory of Chili, containing the an- cient and prefent fate of that country, 369 The Prefent State of La Plata, or Paragua. Chap. I. Of the name, fituation, and extent of La Plata, and of the face of the country, 393 Chap. II. Of the feas, lakes, fprings, rivers, and feafons of La Plata, ibid. Chap. III. Of the provinces, chief towns, and build- ings of La Plata, 395 Chap. IV. Of the perfons and habits of the inhabi- tants of La Plata ; their genius and temper, food , exercifes , and diverfions', and of their mechanick arts, _ _ 397 Chap. V. Of their hufbandry, plants, animals, and minerals , 398 The Prefent State of the Amazons, 402 1 he Prefent State of die Spanijh Iflands, 3 p. 407 41 o 41 2 415 The Prefent State of Brazil. Chap. I. Of the fituation and extent of Brazil ; of its name % the face of the country , Jprings, rivers, lakes, feas, air, winds, and feafons, 418 Chap. II. Of the provinces and chief towns of Bra- zil, and the buildings of the natives, 419 Chap. III. Of the perfons and habits of the Brazi- lians, their genius and temper, arts and fciences, food, exercifes , and diverfions, 424 Chap. IV. Of the animals of Brazil, *42; Chap. V. Of their plants and vegetables, *426 Chap. VI. Of their hflory, government, arms, forces, wars, marriages, women, children , flaves, and funerals , *428 The Prefent State of the Britijh Plantations. Chap. I. Of the name, fituation, extent, and fub- divifions of the Britifh plantations in the continent of America; and more particularly of the province of Virginia, 425 Chap. II. Of the face of the country, its mountains, feas, capes , bays, rivers, fprings, lakes, winds , tides and feafons , 426 Chap. III. Of the provinces and chief towns of Vir- ginia, and of the buildings of ^Indians, 428 Chap. IV. Of the perfons and habits of ^Virgini- ans, their genius and temper, arts , manufactures , food, exercifes and diverfions, difeafes , and reme- dies, 430 Chap. V. Of the Virginian animals, 432 Chap. VI. Of the Virginian foil and vegetables, viz. of their forejl and fruit trees, plants , corn, herbage , roots , and hufbandry ; and of their Jlones, earth, and minerals , - 342 Chap. VII. The hiflory of Virginia, 347 Chap. VIII. Of the civil government of Virginia, both Indian and Englifh, 484 Chap. IX. Of the religion both of the Indians and Englifh ; and of their marriages, women, children , flaves, and funeral rites, 49 2 Chap. X. Of their fortifications, wars , and forces j and of their flipping, foreign trade , and coin ; as a Ifo of their roads and way of travelling-, and of their Jlones, earths, and minerals, 499 The Prefent State of Maryland. Chap. I. Of the name, fituation, and extent of Ma- ryland ; and of the face of the country, its moun- tains, for efts, feas, bays, rivers and fprings, p. 504 Chap. II. Of the air, feafons, winds and tides, 505 Chap. III. Of the provinces and chief towns of Ma- ryland ; and of the buildings of the Indians, ibid. Chap. IV. Of the perfons and habits of the Indians j their genius and temper, manufactures , food, exer- cifes XXVI T H E CON 1' E N T S. ci/es and diverfwns the dijeafcs they are fubjett to, and their remedies, p. 5°^ Chap. V. Of their bijlory, government, and religion, 510 The Prefent State of New- England. Chap. I. Of the name, fituation , extent and face of the country. Of its feas, bays, capes, lakes, fprings , and rivers ; and of the tides, winds, air and fca- fons , 5 1 6 Chap. II. Of the provinces and fubdivifions of this country, generally known by the name of New-Eng- Iand ; and of its chief towns , and publick and pri- vate buildings, 5 1 7 Chap. III. Of the perfons and habits of the New- England Indians ; their genius and temper, arts, manufactures, food, exercifes and diverfions, 5 20 Chap. IV. Of their animals and vegetables, 521 Chap. V. Of the bijlory o/'New-England, 532 The Prefent State of Nova-Scotia. Chap. VI. Of Nova-Scotia, or New-Scotland, and Acadia, 569 The Prefent State of New- Britain. Chap. VII. Of New-Britain, or Terra de Laba- rador, and Hudfon’s-Bay, p. 570 The Prefent State of New-York, New-ferfey, &c. Chap, VIII. Of New-York, New-jerfey, and the Indian nations under their protection, 573 The Prefent State of Penfylvania. Chap. I. Of Penlylvania, 582 The Prefent Stale of Carolina. Chap. X. Of Nci a ad South-Carolina, and Georgia, 5 8 9' The Prefent State of the Britifh and American Blands. Chap. I. Of the ijland of Jamaica, 606 Chap. II. Of the if and of Barbados, 618 Chap. III. Of the ifands of St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Dominca, Tobago, Barbuda, and Anguilla, 622 Chap. IV. Of the ifands of Antego, St. Chriftopher’r, Nevis, and AIontferrat : 623 Chap. II. Of the French funds in the Atlantic- ocean, p. 636 The Conclufion of the Prefent State of America, 646 Ehe continuation of Modern Hiftory, 649 A Continuation of the Prefent State of Afa. A continuation of the prefent fate of China, 65 1 A continuation of the prefent fate of Perfia, 659 ui continuation of the prefent Jlate of Arabia, ibid. A continuation of the prefent fate of Paleftine, 657 A Continuation of the Prefent State of Europe. A continuation of the prefent fate of W alachia, and Moldavia, 658 A continuation of the prefent fate of T urky, 659 A continuation of the prefent fate of Mufcovy, 663 • of Scandinavia, 670 * . of Poland, 672 ■ of Bohemia, 676 — of German)', 678 The prefent EleCtory of the Empire, 683 Eke cafe of the Duke of Mecklenburgh, 699 Ehe fate of the controverfy concerning Bergues and Juliers, ibid. A continuation of the prefent fate of the United Pro- vinces, 7 00 A continuation of the prefent fate of Italy, 704 A continuation of the prefent fate of France, 7 1 8 A continuation of the prefent fate of Spain and Por- tugal, 7 2 4 A Continuation of the Prefent State of Africa. A continuation of the prefent fate of Egypt, 730 A continuation of the prefent fate of Guinea, 732 A Continuation of the Prefent State of America. A continuation of the prefent fate <9/ r New-England,7 6 8 A continuation of the prefent fate of Carolina, 770 An account of the Logwood countries , 773 A defcription of Jamaica, 775 Chap. V. Of the Lucayo, or Bahama ifands ; of An acccount of Barbados, 77 7 Bermudas, or the Summer funds', and of the E"he enterprize to the ifands of St. Lucia and St. Vin if and of Newfoundland, 632 Chap. I. The Prefent State of the French Colo- nies on the continent of America, p. 636 cent, Ehe prefent fate of Lapland, 778 782 The Order of placing the Cuts and Maps of the Third Volume. 10, The Indians marching on a vifit, or to a feaft, p. 145 The map of Terra-firma, Peru, &c. 233 if I ‘'HE map of Africa, pag. 1. 2 a JL The apparel of the Hottentot men, P; 13 3. The apparel of the Hottentot women, ibid. 4. A Negroe man and woman on the Guinea- coaft, p. 45 5 . A Moorifh man and woman on the Barbary - coaft, p. 76 6. The general Trade-winds, p. 129 7. The map of America, ibid. 8. The map of the Weft-Indies, &c„ p. 1 3 1 9. Vitzliputsli, p. 142 1 1 . 1 2. The map of Chili, and the fouth part of Bra- zil, P -357 13. The map of the Britifh plantations, p. 4 2 5 14. The map of Virginia and Maryland, ibid. 15. The map of New-England, New-York, &c. p. 516 1 6. The map of Carolina, P- 5 8 9 17. The map of the ifland of Jamaica, p. 606 18. The map of the ifland of Barbados, p. 618 THE 40 H.JMoll G-eojraph*. •At An SI1 THE STATE PRESENT O F AFRICA in general. CHAP. I. The fitua- tion. The figure of it. The lati- tude, longi- tude and ex- tent. Africa an- ciently con- tain’d feve- ral celebra- ted king- doms and flates. CHAP. I, A FRICA is bounded by the Mediterra- nean fea, which feparates it from Europe, on the north ; by the ifthmus of Suez, the Red fea and the Eaftern ocean, which fe- perate it from Afia, on the eaft ; by the Southern ocean on the fouth ; and by the Atlantick, or great W eftern ocean, which divides it from America, on the weft. It is of a pyramidal or triangular figure, the bafe whereof is the northern part of it, which runs along the fhores of the Mediterranean, and the point or top of the pyramid the Cape of Good Hope. Africa is a peninfula join’d by the narrow ifthmus of Suez to Afia, and fituated between the 37 th degree of north latitude, and the 35 th of fouth la- titude, the moft weftern part of it lying 1 8 de- grees weft of London, and the moft eafterly 5 1 de- grees to the eaftward of London : fo that it takes up 72 degrees of latitude, and confequently is 4320 miles in length from north to fouth, if we reckon 60 miles to a degree as ufual; and 5040 miles in length, if we reckon 70 miles to a degree, which comes much nearer the truth ; and, as it extends 69 degrees in breadth, viz. from Cape Verd in the weft to Cape Gardefoy in the eaft, we may reckon the breadth of it to be about 4830 miles, computing 70 miles to a degree. This quarter of the world once contain’d feveral kingdoms and ftates, eminent for the liberal arts, for wealth and power, and the moft extenftve com- merce; tho’, at this day, there is fcarce one fingle nation left upon that continent that deferves our no- tice. There were fituated the celebrated kingdoms of Egypt and Ethiopia, with the rich and power- ful ftate of Carthage, to which the kingdoms of Nu- midia and Mauritania were lubjedt. Then almoft all the northern parts of Africa were full of people, from the R.ed fea to the Atlantick ocean, and Carthage extended her commerce to every Vol. Ill part of the then known world : even the Britifh CHAP, fhores were vifited by her fleets, ’till J u B a, King I. of Mauritania and tributary to Cartilage, unhappily call’d in the Romans, who, by the affiftance of the Mauritanians, fubdued Carthage, and made all the kingdoms and ftates in Africa fubjedf to them ; after which, the natives neglected their trade, and even the cultivation of the foil ; they were become pro- vinces of Rome, liable to be plunder’d and impove- rifh’d by rapacious Viceroys and Governors fent from that capital: whereupon their traffick, in a {hort time, dwindled to nothing, and they cultivated no more of their lands, than what might ferve for their fubftftence. Upon the decline of the Roman empire, in the fifth century, the north of Africa was over- run by the Vandals, a barbarous northern people, who contributed ftill more to the deftrudfion of arts and fciences there; and, to add to their misfortune, the Saracens made a fudden conqueft of all the coafts of Egypt and Barbary in the feventh century : Thefe were afterwards fucceeded by the Turks; and both being of the Mahometan religion, whofe difciples carry ruin and devaftation along with them where* ever they come, the ruin of that once flourifhing part of the world was thereby compleated. The foil of the northern fhoreof Africa is ftill the fame, capable of producing almoft every thing de- firable in life, but poflefs’d by a wretched abandon’d people, that have given themfelves up to robbery and rapine ; who, negledling to cultivate their foil, or make any improvements, fubfift chiefly by their piracies at "fea, and what they can ravifh from the honeft and induftrious part of mankind, who, being obliged to fail by their coafts, are fo unhappy as to fall fometimes into their hands. From the difcoveries that have been made in The foil Africa of late years, we find, that it is not that barren defart country it has been reprefented ; _ for “ not only the north part of it is generally fruitful B ' where THE PRESENT STATE CHAP, where it is cultivated, but the fcuth alfo produces I. corn and wine. And here we meet with herds of the fined cattle in the world ; and even between the Tropics there are multitudes of people, fine rivers, and a rich foil capable of the greateft improvements. The cinamon tree actually grows there ; and it is thought, that the reft of the fine fpices might be rai- fed in thofe latitudes, which would make thofe fpices more plentiful, and we (hould no longer be obliged to purchafe them of the Dutch (who barbaroufly dif- poilefs’d us of them in the Indies) with treafure. However, here it is that we meet with plenty of the beft gold and ivory ; and from hence the Europeans export two hundred thouland Negroe (laves, and up- wards, annually to America; which (hews, that Africa, between the Tropics, muft be vaftly popu- lous, tho’ the ancients held, that the Torrid Zone was not habitable. i he d:ffe- Three different people inhabit this continent, viz. who inhabit Pagans, Mahometans, and Chriftians : the firft are the Africa. moft numerous, poffefling the greateft part of the country from the Tropic of Cancer to the Cape of Good Hope, and thefe are generally black: the Ma- hometans, who are of a tawny complexion, poflefs almoft all the northern (bores cf Africa. The peo- ple of Abyfflnia, or the upper Ethiopia, are denomi- nated Chriftians, but retain abundance of Pagan and Jewifh rites ; and there are fome Chriftians upon the fea-coafts on almoft every fide of Africa ; but thefe are a fmall number, compared either with the Pa- gans or Mahometans. There are alfo fome Jews in the north of Africa, who manage all the little trade that part of the country is yet pofiefs’d of : but it is remarkable, that tho’ the Carthaginians, who in- habited this very country of Barbary, had greater fleets, and a more extended commerce, than any other nation, or than all the people upon the face of the earth, when that ftate flourifh’d ; and that Africa is better feated for a foreign trade, than any other They have quarter of the world ; the natives have fcarce a (ingle neither fliips merchant-(hip belonging to them, and no other (hips 01 commerce ' 0 f force, than what Sallee, Algiers, Tunis and Tri- poli, fet out for piracy; and thefe are but very few and fmall, their whole ftrength not being able to re- fill a (quadron of five European men of war. But it is time now to defcend to particulars, and defcribe the refpedlive countries contained in Africa. The feveral grand divifions of Africa at this day, are thefe ten : The grand i. Egypt, z. Ethiopia fuperior; and 3. Zan- divif.ons of quebar, all which lie on the eaft of Africa. 4. Mo- noemugi, Monomotapa and Caffraria, called by fome the lower Ethiopia, which lie on the fouth. 5. Congo and Guinea on the fouth-weft. 6. Nigritia or Ne- groeland in the middle of Africa, extending almoft quite through the country from eaft to weft, on both fides of the great river Niger. 7. Zaara, or the defart to the northward of Nigritia. 8. Biledulge- rid, the ancient Numidia to the northward of Zaara, 2 9. The empire of Fez and Morocco, containing the C H A P. north-weft part of Africa. 10. and laftly, The coaft J. of Barbary on the north, containing the countries of Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli and Barca. There are fcarce any two nations, or indeed any Great difa- two of the learned, that agree in the modern divifion f^uTthe of Alrica ; for this very good reafon, that fcarce any divifion of traveller has penetrated into the heart of the country, Africa, and confequently we muft be content to acknow- ledge our ignorance of the bounds, and even the names of feveral of the midland nations. Thefe may well be reckon’d dill among the unknown and undifcover’d parts of the world; but the beft accounts and conjectures that have been made concerning them, I (hall endeavour to prefent the reader with. Egypt has been already fully defcrib’d, with the reft of theTurkifh dominions, in the firft volume of Modern Hiftory ; I proceed, therefore, in the next place, to give the prefent ftate of Ethiopia, which lies contiguous to it, comprehending under that name Abyffmia, Nubia, Abex and Aian. CHAP. II. The prefent Jlate ^/’ETHIOPIA Superior. T HE ancients, it is pretty evident, called all C H A P. that they knew of Africa, to the fouthward of [J. Egypt, Ethiopia, and the people Ethiops, from their dark complexions: but the country I now defcribe, ancient including only Abyffinia, Nubia, Abex and Aian, tll0pi ‘ u is bounded by Egypt and the defort of Barca on the The boun- north ; by the Red fea and the Eaftern ocean on the clarie - °/ eaft ; by Zanquebar and Nigritia, on the fouth ; and superior 3 and by Nigritia and Zaara, on the weft: fo that I in- the countries elude all that country, that lies between the 5 th and QTTundcj the 20th degrees of north-latitude, and between the t h at name , Eaftern fea and Nigritia, under the general name of Ethiopia. This is that country, which moft of the learned conjeclure was anciently govern’d by the ce- Suppo/ed to lebrated Queen of Sheba, ftyl’d the Queen of the ^ to fcuth; and afterwards by Queen Candace, whofe sheba and° prime minifter, the eunuch, was converted and bap- Queen Can- tized by St. Philip : and laftly, this was thatcoun- try, whereof it is fuppofed the real or imaginary . Prefter John, or Prcfbyter John, was fovereign. I come now to give a more particular defeription of the countries I have reduced under the general name of Ethiopia. And 1 ft of Abyffinia, a country of a thoufand Abyffinia, miles extent, that has fcarce any communication with the reft of the world at this day. The Turks having made themfelves mailers of that part of Ethio- pia that lies upon the Red fea, and the reft of it be- ing furrounded by mountains or unpaftable defarts ; within thefe it appears to be an exceeding fine level country, diverfify’d with woods and fruitful plains, well planted with palm-trees, dates and cedars, and water’d by feveral noble rivers. The OF ETHIOPIA SUPERIOR. CHAP. The river Nile rifes in the middle of Abyffinia ; II. and, having firft taken a circuit almoft round its fource, runs an hundred miles to the northward, and Rivers. afterwards two hundred miles towards the eaft ; and then, turning to the fouth and fouth-eaft, continues its courfe two hundred and fifty miles further ; in which eaftern courfe it forms the lake of Dambea, which is an hundred and twenty miles over : after which, it takes a femicircular fweep ; in which courfe it continues to run five hundred miles, and then turn- ing diredlly north, enters the kingdom of Egypt ; which winding courfe does not only render the foil extremely fruitful, but is of great advantage to their inland commerce; tho’ after its entring Egypt, there are lb many fteep-falls and cataracts, that they can neither export or import any goods or merchandize upon this river. There are alfo two other great rivers, call’d the Moraba and Albara, which run through the country from louth to north, and fall into the Nile, in the province of Sennar ; and there is ftill a fourth great river, call’d the Haouache ; which, after a courfe of fix hundred miles to the fouth-eaft, falls into the Red fea or Arabian gulph. P-od-uce of This country, thus happily water’d, produces the foil. plenty of corn, rice, millet, dates, grapes, flax, cotton, fugar, fait and fulphur : Their flax isefteem’d the fineft in the world; and from hence, ’tis faid, the Egyptians had theirs, of which they made the fine linen of Egypt mentioned in fcripture: And had they, at this day, an opportunity of exporting the produce of their foil, ’tis faid this country alone might raife rice, fugar, &c. fufficient to fupply all the neighbouring countries. The Turks, who are matters of the coafts of the Red fea, tho’ they will fuffer no other nation to trade with Abyffinia, annu- ally fetch great quantities of rice from thence, par- ticularly at the times of the great pilgrimages to Mecca, Arabia not affording provifion fufficient for their fubfiftence. Gold is alfo very plentiful here, of which the Turks get feme ; and, had the Ethiopians an oppor- tunity of bartering it for the merchandize of Eu- t rope, ’tis thought we might meet with as great plenty of it here, as any where, tho’ there are no gold mines wrought : They have alfo mines of filver and copper, the latter of which they work, and have a good deal of that metal ; and, ’tis faid, they have the largeft emeralds in the world. Animals. As to their animals, they have camels, oxen, ttieep, and other cattle, in great plenty, and very large; as alfo wild beads, crocodiles, &c. common to the reff of Africa ; but what they are moft famous for, is an excellent breed of horfes, equal to thofe of Arabia ; or, as fome conjecture, thofe of Arabia are, in reality, bred in Abyffinia, where they abound in rich paftures. It may be objected here, that, if Ethiopia be thus cut off from any communication with other coun- tries, how could the Queen of Sheba, cr Queen CHAP. Candace’s eunuch, travel into Judaea? To which H. it may be anfwer’d, that the coaft of the Red fea was '✓yV then a part of Ethiopia, by which it was very eafy to vifit either Egypt, Arabia, or Paleftine. Ethiopia was then a mighty empire, fubjecl to one fovereign, who commanded "the fea coaft as well as the inland country ; but now the King, or Emperor of Ethiopia, is a Prince of fmall power, his territo- ries being divided into abundance of little principali- ties like Germany, the Princes whereof fcarce ac- knowledge a foperior ; and, as they are leldom united* are by no means a match for their powerful neigh- bours, the Turks, who therefore keep them fhut up within the bounds of Abyffinia, and will not fuffer them to correfpond or traffick with the reff of the world. Travellers reckon up nine principalities or provin- Provinces ces in Abyffinia; every one whereof has a diftinctt andchie £ fovereign, that acknowledges, however, the King Atyffuiia. of Abyffinia for his chief Lord. i. The province of Ambara; the chief towns whereof are, Ambara the capital of Abyffinia, and fituated in the middle of it, and Lalibela. 2. Bega- medri; the chief towns whereof are, Amador a, Alata and Maket. 3 . Dambea ; the chief towns whereof are, Amba-Marjan, Dancas and Jenda. 4. Shoa ; the chief towns whereof are, Debra, Li- banos and Wenthit. 5. Gojam; the chief towns whereof are, Ledanegus, Debra, Semona and Se- lah. 6. Bugna; the chief towns whereof are, E- gala and Arguan. 7 . Samen ; the chief towns whereof are, Waldeba and Toraf. 8. Gonga ; and 9. W alaka, in the two laft whereof no towns are men- tion’d ; and indeed, the people in general live more in tents, than houfos, the King keeping his court, The Ring like the Great Mogul, for the moft part in his camp, generally which looks like a city laid out into ftreets ; and, as in lil ® he is followed by his nobility, officers, tradefmen, fubtlers, &c. the camp is always well fupplied with proviftons and neceflaries of all kinds. The King’s tent is pitch’d in the centre of the camp, and his nobility and the reft of his fubjecfls encamp round about him, thofe of the loweft rank being at the greateft diftance from the royal pavilion. The air of this country in the valleys is excefllve The air of hot during the fummer months, but on the raoun- llle count| y* tains cold; and, as fome affirm, the cold there is more troublefome than the heat, during that fealbn they call their winter, which is about the vernal equinox. They have terrible thunder, and three Seafons. months of almoft continual rain; which, falling from the mountains that furround Abyffinia in tor- rents, occafions the overflowing of the Nile in E- gypt the fucceeding months, of which a full account has been given in the defcription of that country : all the reft of the year almoft they enjoy ferene fettled weather in Abyffinia; the people being generally healthful, and living to a good old age. ' B 2 As A. THE PRESENT STATE C H A P. As to the perfons of the Ethiopians, they are ge- II, nerally of a good ftature ; their complexion a deep black ; their features much more agreeable th^Ethio^ t ^ ian t ' 10 ^ e ^ ie Negroes, having neither fuch p ; m ,. thick lips or flat nofes : They are faid to have a great Their ge- deal of vivacity and natural wit ; to be of a teach- nius " able difpofuion, and fond of learning, tho’ they have but few opportunities of improving themfelves. Their ha- The better fort of them are cloathed in veils, blis • made of fdk fluffs or cotton, after the manner of the Franks in Turkey ; but their poor people go al- mofl naked, having only a fmall piece of (kin or coarfe fluff wrapped about their waifts. Their diet. They have no other bread than thin cakes bak’d upon the hearth as they want them : They eat all manner of flefh almoft as the Europeans do, except fwine’s flefli, and fuch other meats as were prohi- bited to the Jews ; they alfo ftill abftain from things ffrangled, and from blood, killing their meat in the fame^manner the Jews do : As to the poor people, they live chiefly upon milk, butter, cheefe, roots, herbs, and what their flocks and herds produce. The meat is brought to the tables of people of condition in earthen difhes, and they have no other plates or trenchers than the thin cakes, that ferve them for bread ; and, according to fome, they ufe nei- ther knife, fork, or fpoon ; but this can’t be entire- ly true, if what they tell us of another circumftance in their eating be fo : viz. That their Princes and Great men are above feeding themfelves, and are fed by boys with fpoons ; and this latter is the more probable, becaufe, in adminiftring the facrament of the Lord’s fupper, the Prieft gives the communicants the liquor they ufe inftead of wine in fpoons. They feldom roaft their meat; it is generally boil’d or ftew’d, and they are very fond of the broth or loup that is made ot it. T. heir ufual drink is mead or metheglin, the country abounding in ho- ney. They have alfo liquors made of wheat and rice, and their Princes drink fome wine ; but they don’t feem to be well {kill’d in making this liquor, tho’ they hive the fineft grapes in the world : You cannot make their Princes a more acceptable prefent, than fome bottles of European wine. Linen, I find, they have very little, tho’ their country is found to be the moft proper for flax of any in Africa ; and indeed they do not feem to fland much in need of any, for they ufe no table linen, or {beets ; they lie on carpets or mats, as in other hot countries, and not in beds : And this leads me to fpeak of their manufadlures, which are very Their ma- mean. The Jews are faid to be the only Weavers nufaflures. anc J Smiths arnongft them ; and, as for other han- dicrafts, fuch as Carpenters, Taylors and Shoemakers, every man breeds up his children to the trade or pro- feflion he ufes himfelf. There are particular fami- lies, whofe bufinefs it is to make trumpets, horns, he. and thefe feveral trades, like the calls or tribes in, the Eaff Indies, live feparately, and do not inter- mix with any other trade or tribe, either by mar- CHAP, riage or otherwife. II. Their buildings are exceeding mean, the genera- lity of their houfes being but poor huts, made with buibi * clay and fpli liters. Some travellers tell us of the ' nS * ruins of magnificent palaces and temples ; but, when the Portuguefe Miflionaries came amongfl them, a- bout two hundred years ago, after that people had found the way to the eaftern coafts of Africa, by the Cape of Good Hope, there were neither palaces, temples, fortifications, or even a wall’d town to be found in the country. The Popifh Miflionaries in- deed, after they had infinuated themfelves into the favour of their Princes, taught them to build temples, palaces and fortreffes ; but of thefe there are very few at this day : for the King, as has been obferv’d, lives generally in the field, where he is attended by the petty princes, nobility, artificers, he. the chief of them lying in pavilions and tents ; but, as thefe are not eafily purchafed by the common people, they make them little huts of clay and green boughs ; and the towns they talk of, are compofed of houfes of the like fort : The filks, fluff's, calicoes, linen and TIie!r traf-f carpets, they ufe for furniture or cloathing, they re- fick " ceive chiefly from the Turks, by the way of the Red fea, who take the gold and emeralds of Abyfll- nia in return for this merchandize, with fome fine horfes : The Brokers, or Merchants, between the Turks and Abyflines, are Jews, Arabians, or Ar- menian Chriftians ; few or none of the natives trade or travel abroad ; and it is very probable, that the Turks would not fuffer them, if they {hould at- tempt it, left a communication {hould be opened again between them and other nations, who might alfo exchange their manufactures for the gold and precious ftones found in this country. When the Portuguefe firft found the way to Abyflinia, the fhores of the Red fea were open ; but now the Turks keep fo ftridt a guard there, that it is diffi- cult for any other people to have aecefe to them. In Their way- travelling, they ride upon mules or camels, mules o{ trave llin S being the bell of all animals to clamber their moun- tains, and camels for their fandy plains : but, in war, horfes only are ufed to charge the enemy. Their Troopers, ’tis faid, ride on mules, when they march- and lead their horfes ; which are referved purely for the day of battle. Their arms are chiefly launces, a rms and bows, arrows and fwords ; and they have fome fire- wars, arms, which they purchafe of the Turks. The wars of the King of Abyflinia are principally with the Ethiopian princes ; who, being encourag’d and aflifted by the Turks at firft, mightily reduced that Prince’s power ; and, while the Ethiopians were engag’d in civil wars at home, it was, that the Turks poflefs’d themfelves of that part of their coun- try, that lay upon the Red fea. Thus the Ethio- pians, by their infurre&ions and encroachments on their Prince, difabled him to defend or recover that part of his dominions, by which only he could have any OF ETHIOPIA SUPERIOR. CRAP any commerce with the reft of mankind. He is H ' now reduc’d as low as the Turks can wiih, having V^-y-v^ no trade or intercourfe with any other nation, but what they are pleafed to allow him ; and has loft much of his power and authority at home, by the Princes and Governors of provinces fetting up for themfelves ; which leads me to enquire into the King’s titles, prerogatives, government, &c. ThePrince’s This Prince, according to the Portuguese, who titles and v ffitedhis country, foon after their palling the Cape prerogatives. ^ q 0(x j Hope, in the 1 6th century, was ftyl’d Prefter John, or Prefbyter John; which, fome imagine, was given him becaufe he feemed to be the High prieft of his religion as well as King, hav- ing a crofs always carried before him, and adting as tupreme Governor in ecclefiaftical affairs, as well as civil, in all cafes except that of ordination : Others fay, the Turks and Arabians gave him the title of Prefter Chan, or Cham, that is, King of Slaves ; they receiving moft of their black flaves from Ethio- pia, of which he was fovereign. But, however that be, travellers generally agree, that his own fubjedls ftyle him Negus, or King ; and oftener, Negafcba, Negafcht ; which, in their language, fignifies King of Kings, to diftinguifh him from the Princes and Governors of provinces, who are ftyl’d alfo Negus : And, for this reafon, the Europeans give this Ethio- pian fovereign the title of Emperor : The Perfians alfo give him the title of Pat-Sha, the Difpofer of kingdoms, which is the higheft title known in Afia, and°equal to that of Emperor in Europe. But every one of thefe Princes, at his acceffion to the throne, aftumes a particular name, or rather motto ; one ftyles himfelf the Pillar of Faith ; another, the Virgin’s Incenfe ; and, a third, the Beloved ot God, fprung from the ftock ot Judah, the foil of David, the foil of Solomon, &c. for they have a tradition, that their Princes are defcended from Solomon by the Queen of Sheba. His arms alfo are faid to be a lyon rampant, hold- ing a crols, with this motto, The lyon ot the tribe of Judah has won. This Prince is, or rather was abfolute, and his . throne hereditary ; but, as he has loft much ot his power and prerogatives, which the Great men of the country have ufurp’d ; he is now frequently con- troll’d by his Lords : the eldeft fon alfo is fometimes paft’d by, and a younger, or an illegitimate fon, advanc’d by the Nobility to the imperial dignity : Govern- The civil power, however, ftill feems to be fubjedt to ment ‘ the military. The King is moft of the year in tiie held, attended by great armies of horfe and foot ; and conlequently their laws, if they have any, are filent, when the Prince pleafes to control! them ; but what laws they have, feem chiefly to relate to their religion. Thus far indeed the Abyffinian i Princes and Nobility are in a better condition than they were formerly ; that tho’ they have few or no laws to fkreen them from the arbitrary dominion of their Emperor ; yet they are become fo powerful, CHAP, that he is cautious hove he oppreffes them, or en- JR ters upon any thing of confequence without their concurrence; however, the common people, ftill remain in a manner fiaves to the Emperor, or their The com- refpedtive Lords. They have gain’d little by the en- JL" s pe0EI ' e croachments the Great men have made on the au- thority of their fovereign : they have no inheritance in their lands ; but they themfelves, their lands and goods are in a manner their Lord’s property : they labour but to maintain the grandeur of their fupe- riors, and make a poor provifion for their own wretched families. The Emperor’s revenues are paid in kind, not in ThePrince’s money, of which I can’t find they have any in their ievenues » country ; but then, pure gold is one of the articles (which is found in the finds of their rivers, or un- der the roots of trees, on the tops and Tides of moun- tains, for they have not yet wrought one gold mine, tho’ it is evident, there are many in the country). Part of his revenues arile by the duties that he lays on merchandize brought from Turkey by the way of the Red lea : the Farmers alfo pay him a thirtieth part of all their grain, cattle, fruit and produce of their farms every year, by which his table, court and guards are maintain’d in plenty : and every Weaver, and other artificer, prefents him with part of his manufadture ; whereby his fervants and offi- cers are furnifh’d with cloathing and other neceffa- l ies ; the King’s revenues alfo arife, by his creating Knights of St. Anthony; every one of whom, Knights of pays him a fine on being knighted : Thefe are an or- 1 3c. Anthony,' der, partly ecclefiaftical, and partly military, and very numerous ; every Man of quality being oblig d to make one of his younger fons a Knight of this or- der ; and fome authors relate, that he has no left than twelve thoufand of thefe Knights in his army. The Emperor is crown’d in one of their principal Coronation churches, with a kind of coronet fet with glittering oftheEmje* ftones, which is plac’d upon his head by their me- i0i> tropolitan, in the prefence of the Nobility and Cler- gy ; when there are hymns fung, guns fir’d, and other demonftrations of joy fuitable to the folemni- ty, as in Europe. The Prince no fooner afeends the throne, ’tis faid, but he orders all his brothers, children and relations to be fecur’d in a fortrefs, fitu- ated on an almoft inacceffible rock, that his Nobili- ty may not fet up any of them to rival him, which they frequently do, when they have an opportunity ; and the fucceffor is kept in the profoundeft igno- rance, till he is fent for out of priton, and advanc d to the imperial dignity. If the Abyffinians have no written laws, they The taws have however certain immemorial cuftoms, by which- offenders are punifh’d according to their rdpedtivejL^ >‘ crimes ; unlefs the Prince, or fome great Lord inter- pofes his authority to prevent it : For capital crimes, criminals are beheaded, hang’d, fton’d or drubb d to death with clubs; except" murderers, and thefe. are . 6 THE PRESENT STATE C MAP. are put into the hands of the relations of the mur- a difh, a cup and a fpoon, call’d the fpoon of the II. der’d perfons, who may kill, torture him, or make Croft ; with which they diftribute the liquor they him their Have as they fee fit ; but prifoners of qua- ufe inftead of wine, which is made of the bruis’d lity, guilty of notorious crimes, ’tis faid, are only fiones of raifins infus’d in water ; and this, after the banifh’d to a certain rock, fituated in the lake of bread, the Deacon delivers with the fpoon both to Tzane. For theft, the offender is whipp’d, and the Clergy and Laity. They have alfo confecrated urns oblig’d to make reftitution ; but adultery is punilh’d and cenfers, in which they burn perfumes at thefe with death : Civil caufes the parties plead themfelves times. Every perfon receives the facrament once a ( I can’t learn, there are any Lawyers in the coun- month, or as often as he thinks fit ; but never out try, any more than written laws) before their re- of a church. They acknowledge the fame books of fpedlive Lords ; and they may appeal from thefe tri- holy fcripture, as we do, for their rule of faith ; bunals to the Emperor, ’tis laid ; but this is feldom and, ’tis faid, have a more corred copy of the Sep- done, left it fhould be relented by their immediate tuagint, than is to be met with in Europe. Governors. 1 hey admit the councils of Nice, Conftantino- Tlieir rejig!- I proceed in the next place to treat of their reli- pie and Ephefus, with other provincial councils re- gion, which feems to be a mixture of Chriftianity ceiv’d till the council of Chalcedon ; and, befides and Judaifm ; but in their Chriftianity, they ap- the Nicene canons, have eighty-four other canons proach much nearer the Greek than the Latin in the Arabic language, which their Emperor Co n- church: ft 'hey keep both the Jewilh and Chriftian stantine fent to Jerufalem, anno 440, and fabbath, and keep each of them more like a faft were carried from thence to Rome, anno 1646. This than a feftival : They circumcife their children, both book contains the fynod of the Apoftles, faid to be males and females, the eighth day, and baptize them written by St. Clem e nt ; the councils of Ancy- a fortnight after : formerly they baptiz’d none, till ra, Caefarea, Nice, Gangra, Antiochia, Laodicea they were thirty years of age. The circumcifion and Sardis, with the ads of 318 fathers ; a treatife of their females founds a little odd to us ; but, ’tis of the fabbath, with a decree and canon of penance ; faid, they have an excrefcence, or fuperlluous fkin, to which is annex’d their general liturgy, prayers and that falls over the Pudenda, apiece whereof is offices for the communion, a particular ferv ice for ho- cut off on this occafion : Certain it is, other na- lidays, with books containing the lives of Martyrs and tions of Africk have fuch an excrefcence, and tra- Saints, and hymns in praile of the bleffed Virgin, vellers report that the Ethiopians have it : but of They ufe the Nicene creed, but have not the this I cannot be fo pofitive, as that the females of Apoftles creed : They hold, according to Ludol- fome other nations have. ph us, that the three perfons in the Trinity are one Circumcifion is perform’d by any old woman ; God : that there are not two natures and wills in but baptifin only by a Prieft. If it be an adult per- Christ; andyetaffirm heis perfed God and perfed fon, the Prieft anoints him with oil, and then going Man, without confufion of the two natures ; which, with him into fome river or pond, by the affiftance I muft acknowledge, I do not comprehend. They of two Deacons, plunges him three times under wa- have but two facraments (viz.) Baptifm and the ter ; Lying, I baptize thee in the name of the Fa- Eucharift, and give the bread and the cup both to ther, Son and Holy Ghoft. Then the Deacons bring Clergy and Laity, as has been related already : They the. perfon out, and he is anointed again ; after believe the real prefence in the facrament, but not which he is cloathed with a white garment, fignify- tranfubftantiation ; and therefore do not fay at the ing purity or innocence ; and over it they put a red confecration, this is my body ; which words, ac- veft, to fignify he was redeem’d and regenerated by cording to the Roman catholicks, produce the change; the blood of Christ: after which, he is introduc’d but this bread is my body, and this cup is my into the church and receives the holy communion, blood ; neither do they give thofe divine honours to . and at his departure is prefented with milk and ho- the confecrated elements, which the difciples of tran- ney, and receives the Prieft’s benedidlion. fubftantiation do. An infant that is baptiz’d, is only gently dipp’d They make general confeffions of their fins, and and fprinkled with water ; but to thefe alfo they receive as general abfolutions ; but make no parti- give fome of the confecrated bread and cup : and cular confeffions : They feern to believe the foul to annually they celebrate the 6th of January as a be produc’d from matter, and yet, that it is im- feftival, going into the water and dipping them- mortal, and that, after death, the fouls of good felves, in commemoration of our Saviour’s baptifm, men remain in fome intermediate ftate, and have which they fuppofe happen’d on that day ; from not the vifion of God, till the refurreeftion ; for they whence fome have conjedfur’d, that they renew’d have in their divine fervice, the following petition their baptifm once a year. for their dead (viz.) Remember, Lord, the fouls of At the facrament of the Lord’s fupper, the con- thy fervants ; and, O Lord, releafe our fathers : fecrated elements are placed on a great, fquare, woo- Irorn whence the Roman Miffionaries infer, that den cheft, inftead of a table ; the holy utenfils are they believe a purgatory : They keep holidays in ho- nour CHAP II. OF ETHIOPI CHAP. nour Saints ; and invoke them, begging their II. interceiTion, efpecially the virgin M a r y’s, whofe pi^ure they have, but no image of her, or any other Saint : They alfo invoke the holy Angels, as they have fometimes appear’d to good men, and brought them anfwers of tbeir prayers ; and reckon up nine or- ders of thofe celeftial beings : They fall the forty days in Lent, and at fome other times, keeping their falls fo ftridtly, that they eat nothing within the fpace of four and twenty hours, and fometimes fall two whole days together (which is done much eafier in hot, than in cold countries) : They alfo ob- ferve Chrillmas, Ealler and Whitfuntide, and all other feftivals of the ancient church, tho’ at differ- ent times from the Latins. The Emperor, as has been obferv’d, is fupreme in all ecclefiallical, as well as civil caufes ; and the Clergy, as well as Laity, are under the jurifdidtion of the King’s Judges : they have, however, a Metro- politan, confecrated by the Patriarch of Alexan- dria, who confers orders on the Clergy, who are chiefly Monks : They have neither Archbilhop or Bi- fhops, or any order fuperior to Pr i efts ; only the Ab- bot of every fociety of Monks is their fuperior, and has fome authority over them. Thefe Monks do not live in cloyllers or convents, but every one in his own hut, forming a kind of village near fome church, where they perform di- vine fervice in their turns : Their inferior orders be- low the Prieft or Frefbyter are, the Sub-prefbyter, jt Deacon and Sub-deacon : The Monks never marry ; but one would imagine they had fome Clergy that were not Monks ; becaufe travellers relate, that Cler- gymen, who are not Monks, may marry once ; poffibly this may be meant of the inferior orders, who are not Monks : Thefe Monks manure fmall parcels of ground, and live by their labour. Their principal churches were built at firft, after the model of the temple of Jerufalem, with a fandtuary and outward court ; but they have built them fince in the form of a crofs, like the cathedrals in other Chriftian nations : the Princes of the royal family and chief Nobility all receive the order of f Deacon ; and are thereupon admitted into the choir and chancel, and every Prince has a crols carried before him, even after his acceffion to the throne ; from whence, and the fupreme ecclefiaftical autho- rity he exercifes, this Prince is held to partake of the facred function ; and, according to fome, from hence it was, their Emperors were ftyl’d Prefbyter Chan, or Cham (not Prefbyter John) King of Priefts, or the Briefly King. The people ufe lighted tapers at divine fervice Lke the Greek church : They neither fit or kneel in their churches, but ftand ; tho’ the fervice, on fome holidays, lafts whole days and nights ; but they have » crutches, on which they are permitted to lean : They keep their churches exceeding neat, and put off their (hoes when they enter them, which Ihews their re- A SUPERIOR. 7 gard for them, as uncovering the head does with C H A P. us : And fuch is their veneration for thefe facred JJ ftruclures, that they will not fpit on the pavement for the world ; and, when they are travelling, ’tis faid, they will light when they come near a church, and walk pall; it : They have pictures of the Saints in their churches, but no images ; and, tho’ their Clergy carry a crofs in their hands, which is kifs’d by all they meet, and they often fign themfelves with the fign of the crofs, yet they are not buffered to carry about them either an image or picture of Christ crucified. According to Ludulphus, they formerly Their Em- acknowledg d the Bifhop of Rome to be the lirfl peror fubmits- Patriarch ; but denied his fupremacy over the whole tot ^ e church : But the Portuguefe Miffionaries, reforting to Ethiopia at the latter end of the fifteenth century, when their countrymen found the way thither round the Cape of Good Plope, had almoft: made good Ca- tholicks of the Ethiopians, and perfuaded their Em- peror, not only to acknowledge the Pope’s fupre- macy, but to admit a Patriarch amongft them, fent thither from Rome. The government alfo con- fented to abolifh their ancient rites and ceremonies,, and conform entirely to the ritual of the Roman church ; but many of the Nobility and Governors of the provinces, with a majority of the Common peo- ple, having the greateft abhorrence of the Popifh re- ligion, rofe in arms again!! their Emperor, which occafion’d civil wars in Ethiopia, that lafted upwards Which oe- of an hundred years, wherein many thoufands were cafions 3 kiiled ; but the Court, with the afliftance of the Je- Vl1 war ’ fuits, European engineers, and fome Portuguefe troops, were generally victorious over thofe of the ancient religion, but could never fubdue their obfti- nate perfeverance in it ; and feveral provinces re- voked entirely from the Emperor : however, their Several Emperors continued ftill to profefs the Popifh religi- P^j” ces on, and fubmit to the dictates of Rome ; till at length the Jefuits, under pretence of maintaining the Pope’s ecclefiaftical fupremacy, took upon them to Tfie ufur- direCt almoft all fecular affairs, treating the Prince theTefuiw rather as Viceroy to his Holinefs, than Sovereign of e - c the country ; and, having ereCted and garrifon’d fe- veral fortreffes, were fending for European forces to maintain their ufurped power ; which gave fuch an alarm to the Emperor, as well as to the Nobility, that it was agreed at once to abolifh Popery, and reftore their ancient religion. The Romifh Priefts were here- The Fa- upon generally facrificed to the fury of the people, piftsaremaf* and their Patriarch very norrowly efcaped out of the racrcd * country with his life : and when three Capuchins afterwards came as far as Squaquena, upon the Red The o'i- fea, from whence they fent letters to the Emperor of religion re~ Ethiopia to obtain leave to come into his territories ftored ’ again, that Prince requefted the T urkifh Baffaw, who commanded on that coaft, fo fuffer no Franks to come that way into his territories, and to fend him the heads of thofe Capuchins 5 which the Baflaw did not 8 THE PRESENT STATE The Jefuits every where do more mifchief than good to Chriltianity, by preaching up the Pope's fupremacy. not only oblige him in, but fent him their fkins flea’d off, and fluff’d, that he might know them to be Franks by their colour, and Priefts by their fhaved crowns. Thus have the Jefuits and Fathers of the Romifh church procured their fuperftition to be ba- nifh’d out of almoft every country where they have planted it : They have indeed, by their fkill in phyfick and mathematicks, and an artiul addrefs, infinuated themfelves into the courts of many great Princes ; but then their advancing the Pope’s fupremacy to fucb an extravagant height, and pretending to con- troil the government in civil, as well as ecclefiaftical matters, has ever occafion’d their expulfion. Thus it was in Japan, where that Emperor, finding them ufurping upon his civil authority, order’d every Chri- ftian in his dominions to be maffacred ; and that no Chriftian fhould ever fet his foot on fhore there again. This alfo has put a flop to their progrefs in China, and occafion’d very fevere perfecutions of the Chri- ftians there ; but ftill they perfift in their encroach- ments on Princes where they have an opportunity ; and probably will never be Satisfied, till they have made his Holinefs univerfal monarch in temporals as well as fpirituals ; or procured their own extirpation by the general confent of Chriftian Princes, as the Knights-Templars did by their infolence in the four- teenth century. But to return to Ethiopia : Their marriages are no more than contrails before friends, which are, however, bleffed afterwards by the Prieft ; bur this is, I prefume, where a perfon confines himielf to one wife, for their religion pro- hibits polygamy, and they are fometimes excommu- nicated for taking more wives than one; and yet their Emperor has an hundred at leaft,and their Great men as many wives as they pleafe : it is only the com- mon people that are forced to keep to one wife ; and poffibly they need but little reftraint in this particu- lar, not being able to maintain more. The fons of the Emperor fucceed according to their feniority, as do thofe of the Nobility, who have obtained an inde- Inheritances. pendency: but the reft of the people have no inhe- ritance in their lands, nor can difpofe of their eftates or effedls, but by the permiffion of the King, or their refpedlive Lords. They feem aftonifti’d, and make great howlings and lamentations, on hearing of the death of their friends, or any great man. The corpfe, after it is wafh’d and perfum’d, is wrapped up in a cloth ; and, being laid on a bier, is carried to the burying-place by fome of the Clergy, who read over feme paflages out of the Pfalmsonthe cccafiorr: after which, the corpfe is laid into the grave without a coffin ; but they have no particular funeral fervice : the relations and friends of the deceafed mourn for fome time after- wards in rags or tatter’d cloaths, imagining a poor negledted drefs beft expreffes their borrow for their de- ceafed friends ; and this feems to have been the gene- ral opinion of the ancients, who, upon any melan- choly occafion, rent their cloaths, or at ieall: put on Marriages of the Abyfli- nians. Polygamy praftif d by their Great Their fune- rals. fuch as were fo ; and did not ftudy drefs while they CHAP, were in mourning, as fome of the moderns do. n. As to the learning of the Ethiopians, it appears to be very mean at prefent ; reading and writing the Learning and languages, in ufe amongft them, feems to be their higheft attainments ; fcarce any of their Clergy pre- n ians. 1 tend to more. The Arabick language, is that wherein the fcriptures, their liturgy and divine offices, as well as all a£ts' of ftate, are written: The Court and Nobility ufe a language, call’d the Amarick, from its being fpoken chiefly in the province of Amara ; and the Common people the Ethiopick, of which there are abundance of different dialers ; one pro- vince fcarce underftanding another. Both the Ame- rick and Ethiopick are a mixture of languages ; and, according to fome, compounded of the Arabick, He- brew and Chaldee. Nubia is one of thofe countries I have compre- Nubia, the hended under the general name of Ethiopia, becaufe fta£e it is contiguous to Abyffinia, and was certainly part of the ancient Ethiopia, if it be not of the modern ; and becaufe the N ubians, according to the beft ac- counts we can get of them, refemble the Ethiopians more than any other people. Nubia is ufually bounded by the defarts of Barca, its fituation and Egypt towards the north ; by Abyffinia, on the and extenU eaft ; by the lower Ethiopia, on the fouth ; and Zaa- ra, on the weft; and is faid to be four hundred leagues in length, and two hundred in breadth ; but fcarce any two Hiftorians or Geographers agree in thefe mat- ters; and, in truth, they feem to guefs at almoft every thing they relate of Nubia, and this is the cafe of almoft every other inland country of Africa. Some tell us of a river that riles in this country, and falls into the Nile ; that it abounds in gold, mufk, landal, wood and ivory ; having elephants, horfes, camels, lyons, and fuch other animals, wild and tame, as are to be found in the neighbouring country of Abyffinia ; but they don’t fo much as know, whether it be a monarchy or commonwealth ; or whether it is divided into many little kingdoms and ftates; the laft of which is moft probable, be- caufe we hear fo little of them. The fame uncer- tainty we meet with in relation to their religion : it is fuppos’d they were once Chriftians, there being the ruins of feme Chriftian churches there, ’tis laid : They relate alfo, that their religion is a mixture of Paganifm, Chriftianity, Judaifm and Mahometa- nifm, and it is highly probable, every one of thefe religions is profels’d by one or other of the natives, people of all thofe various religions bordering upon them. Dangala is laid to be their capital city, and fitua- Chief towm. ted in 1 7 degrees of north latitude ; and Geographers pretend to give us the names of feveral other towns, which perhaps never had any exiftence ; and there- fore I (hall not trouble the reader with them. I be- lieve we may conclude, that their towns are not better than thofe in Abyffinia, which we find are compos’d O P 2ANGUEBA R. 9 CHAP, compos’d of very mean huts and cottages. Thus IT. much however, I believe, we may conclude, that the people are black, as in Ethiopia, and partake of Perfons of many of their cuftoms ; but as for any thing elfe, the natives. re g arc [ j s to be given to what Hiftorians or Geo- graphers have written of them, and therefore I (hall take leave of this terra incognita , and not tire the reader with fuch accounts of it, as are not to be de- pended on. A hex and That part of Ethiopia, which I comprehend under Anian. t ] ie names Q f Abex and Anian, or Aian, is bounded by Egypt and Abyffinia towards the north and weft ; by the Red fea, and the Eaftern ocean, on the eaft ; and by Zanguebar on the fouth, extending from the 5 th degree of north latitude to the 20th. The ftate of Anian lies upon, or near, the Eaftern ocean, and Anian. fea • c f which the Portuguefe and other Europeans, who have vifited it of late years, allure Us, it is a perfedt defart, from latitude 5, to the ftraits of Babelmandel, or the entrance into the Red lea, and even within thofe ftraits for feveral miles ; the country being cover’d with fand and weeds, and pro- ducing fcarce any iuftenance either for man or beaft ; neither inhabited or habitable; no harbour for {Trip- ping, or river that waters any part of it, fays my au- thor : Tho’ there are others, who pretend, that the country is populous, and abounds with plenty of all things; but this can be underftood only of the coaft Of Abex. of Abex, to the northward of Aian, and lying on the weftern (Lore of the Red fea, fome degrees within the ftraits of Babelmandel, of w’hich the Turks are mafters. This province is indeed very fruitful ; the Chief towns, principal ports whereof are, Suaquem or Suaquee, and Arquico or Ercoco, about 150 miles di- ftant from each other; and in thefe the Turks keep ftrong garrifons, which command the country, and colledl great quantities of rice and other provifi- ons, which they fend over to Jeddo in Arabia, the port town to Medina and Mecca, for the fervice of the Pilgrims that refort thither, both from Africa and the north and eaftern parts of Afia, in vaft mul- titudes ; but I do not meet with any other ports or great towns on the coafts of Abex, ’till we come as ^ high as Egypt. Inhabitants. The people here are chiefly Turks and Arabians, and their manners and cuftoms the Cimc with thofe already defcrib’d in the firft volume of Modern Hi- Jtory , that treat of Arabia and Turkey. C II A P. III. T’bc prefent Jiate «/"ZANG U E BAR. CHAP. 11 NDER the name of Zanguebar I include HI. (L'i. all the eaft coaft of Africa, extending from 5 degrees north to 28 fouth, bounded by Aian or 1 c Anian on the north, the Eaftern ocean on the eaft, Caftraria on the fouth, and the inland unknown Comprehend- C0!inrr ' es °f Africa, fometimes call’d Ethiopia Infe- ! edm it. VOL. Ill, rior, on the weft ; comprehending, under the gene- Q H A F. ral name of Zanguebar, the countries of Magadoxa, HI. Melinda, Quiloa, Mozambique and Zofala. The country of Magadoxa lies a little to the north- Magadoxa, ward of the Equator ; the chief town, of the fame name, fituated at the mouth of a river, in 3 degrees fome odd minutes north latitude. The people here are in alliance, or, rather, fubjecl to the Portuguefe ; as are all the people almoft upon this coaft. Their country is very barren, affording fcarce any merchan- dize, or cattle, unlefs a good breed of Horfes, which, ’tis laid, they fell to the Portuguefe, who difpofe of them again to the Arabs. The people are a mixture of Pagans, Mahometans and Chriftians: Their com- plexions, generally, a deep black, with flat nofes and thick lips, like the reft of the Negroes. The country of Melinda lies to the fouthward of Melinin the Line ; the chief town, of the fame name, being fituated in 2 degrees and a half fouth. latitude, on an ifland at the mouth of the river Melinda, and is the capital of the Portuguefe dominions in this part of the world. Notwithftanding this country lies fo neartheEqua- Air. tor, it is exceeding pleafant, fruitful, and healthful ; being frequently refrefh’d with fhowers and fine fea- breezes. The city of Melinda is a large populous Buildings, place, well built, confidering where it (lands ; has a good harbour, commanded by a ftrong citadel. And here the Portuguefe have 1 7 churches, and 9 religi- ous houfes : They have alfo warehouies flock’d with all forts of European goods, with which they trade with the natives for the produce of the country, viz. Produce of gold, Elephants teeth, {laves, Oftrich-feathers, wax, 1 e countl > and drugs ; fuch as fenna, aloes, Guinea grains, civet, ambergreale, and frankincenfe. The country pro- duces alfo rice, millet, fugar and fruits ; and the Portuguefe export great quantities of rice to their other fettlements, befides what they ufe. Some cal- culate, that the inhabitants of the city of Melinda, and the little ifland on which it {lands, do not amount to lefs than 200000 fouls, great part of them Chri- ftians. The natives have a King of their own, who is a Religion. Mahometan ; but many of his people are Hill Pagans ; and all of them in fome fubjedlion to the Portuguefe. The publick buildingsin Melinda, befides the churches and monafteries already mention’d, are the Governor’s palace, the publick magazine and town-hall ; all which are faidtobe magnificently built ; at lead, they exceed any thing of the kind that is to be found in Africa. The country of Quiloa lies to the fouth-ward of Quiloa. Melinda; the capital city, of the fame name, being in 8 degrees odd minutes fouth latitude. The Per- te tuguefe" poffefc’d themfelves of this place on their firft difeovery of this coaft ; but it being an unhealth- ful fituation, they quitted it again : However, the King of the country is tributary to them (as the reft of the Princes on this coaft are;) and pays them, ’tis faid, a tribute in gold, amounting to the value ol an C hundred 10 THE PRESENT STATE Mozam- bique. Mongals Mombaza. Zofola. , hundred thoufand crufacloes annually. Thispartof the country produces excellent fugar-canes ; but the Por- tuguefe do not improve them, receiving great quan- tities of fugar every year from their countrymen at Brazil, who come hither annually for {laves. The country of Mozambique lies fouth of Qui- 3 oa ; the chief town, fituate on an ifland on the mouth of a river, of the lame name, in i 5 degrees louth latitude. Here is a good harbour, defended by a citadel ; the town it felf regularly fortify ’J ; and the ifland, on which it {lands, is thirty miles in circum- ference, and extremely populous. Here are fix churches, and feveral monafteries ; the Monks whereof make abundance of profelytes in the neighbouring country. Here the Portuguefe alfo barter European goods with the natives (whom they have taught to cloath themfelves) for their gold. Elephants teeth, and {laves ; and here there {hipping to and from In- dia calls for refrefnments : And, as this country pro- duces great herds of cattle, the Portuguefe kill Beef, and fait it up, fending it to the Brazils, or felling it to European {hipping. Mongale, an ifland-town in this country, alfo is garrifon’d by the Portuguefe: And here is their chief ftaple for European goods. The gold they receive for them of the natives, is found near the furface of the earth, or in the fands of rivers ; there being no gold mines wrought in Africa. The city of Mombaza, in the country of Mo- zambique, lies in 7 degrees 4 minutes fouth lati- tude, which the Portuguefe poff'efs’d themfelves of when they firft vifited the eaft coaft of Africa ; and, being beaten out of it afterwards, recover’d it again ; and have at prefent a confiderable trade here. In Zofala, to the fouthward of Mozambique, the Portuguefe have alfo fome little fettlements; and, indeed, they have the trade of the whole coaft al- moft to themfelves as far as the Tropic of Capricorn. C H A P. IV. The prefent Jlate of C A F F R A R I A , Particularly the fouth part of it , the country of the Hottentots. CHAP.. IV Situation ini t/tent. DVifion. Hottentots country. Sf.t«ati.on, C AFFRARIAis the mod fouthern part of Africa, lying in the form of a crefcent about the inland country of Monomotapa, and bounded by the ocean on the eaft, fouth and weft, extending it felf from the Tropic of Capricorn on the eaft, to the moft foutherly point of Africa, call’d Cape d’Agui- las, latitude 35, running up from thence to the northward as high as the fame Tropic, on the weft fide of Africa ;, and by fome is carried to latitude 1 5 fouth. This country is divided into two parts, viz. the country of the Hottentots, and Caffraria Proper. The country of the Hottentots is the moft fouthern part of Caffraria, lying between lat. 2 S and 3 5 ,and be- C FI A P. tween the eaftern and weftern ocean, being about 300 jy. miles from eaft to weft, and about 400 from north to fouth. The Dutch town, which has obtain’d the name of the Cape, lying in lat. 34 degrees 1 3 minutes, lon- gitude 1 8 degrees to the eaftward of London. This country was firft difoover’d by the Portuguefe Firft difeo- Admiral Diaz, in his attempt to find a way to the ver y of it: ‘ Eaft-Indies round Africa, about two hundred and forty years ago. The Portuguefe, fome years after, attempted to make a fettlement there ; but the inha- bitants falling upon them, and cutting in pieces feve- ral of their people; and there being no harbours for the fecurity of their {hipping againft the violent ftorms upon that coaft, they laid afide their defign. The Englifh afterwards vifited the Cape, and were dif- courag’d from fettling there, for much the fame rea- fons the Portuguefe quitted it ; namely, the tempeft- uous feas, and the want of harbours, together with the untraHablenefs of the people : However, the Dutch obferving the fruitfulnels of the country, and judging that it would be of great ufe in fupplying them with provifions in their voyages to and from the In- dies, fixed a colony at the Cape about the year 1651, The Dutch eredfed a fort,, and enter’d into a treaty with the na- fettle at the tives, who, for a very moderate confiderationEtranf- Cape ’ ferr’d a good part of their country to them ; and here the Dutch have remain’d ever fince, enlarging their territories to that degree, that they have now fettle- ments upwards of 200 miles to the north and eaft, well planted and cultivated, of which I Ihall give a more particular account hereafter. The country of the Hottentots is mountainous ; The face of but the tops of the hills, as well as the valleys, are the Hot,en - generally fruitful: It is alfo adorn’d with groves Q f tot countr y- trees, and a great variety of plants and flowers, that are water’d by little rivulets, and render it exceeding pleafant during the fine feafon ; but in the time of the rains or munfoons, they fwell into unpayable tor- rents. The winds alfo rage great part of the year, and do not only make the coafts very unfa fe for {hips, but do a great deal of mifohief by land to the grain and fruits, as well as to their buildings. Thefe Winds, while the fun is in the fouthern figns, blow from the fouth-eaft, and are then very dangerous to fliips co- ming into the Cape. When the fun is in the nor- thern figns, they blow from the north- weft, and then are no lefs dangerous to the {hips at anchor in the bay. However, ’tis obferv’d, that the inhabitants are ne- ver more healthful than during this ftormy weather : If the wind ceafes for a week or ten days, they are fubjecl to the head-ach and other diftempers, which go ofF again whenever the wind rifes. On approaching the Cape of Good Hope, three remarkable mountains are difcover’d, viz. the Ta- ble-hill, the Lion’s-hill, and the Wind, or Devil’s- hill, which may be feen 40 or 50 miles out at fea. The Table-hill was firft nam’d fo by the Portu- The Table- guefe, as refembling, at a diftance, a fquare table; lami ” the OF C A F F R A R I A. 1 1 Tibie-valley The Lion’s- hill. The Devil’s- hill. The feveral Hottentot nations. The Gonge- jnan nation. Their treaty With the Dutch, the perpendicular height is upwards of 1850 feet. On the top of it are Teveral good fprings, the water whereof is exceeding clear and well -tailed. Between this hill and the bay where the (hips ride, is a valley, where Hands the Dutch town, the fort, and their fine garden, the admiration of all travellers ; but thefe will be more particularly deicrib'd hereafter. In the fummer-fealon, viz. from September to March, a cap of clouds conftantly covers the top of this hill before a Horm, and gives notice to the Sailors to prepare for it. The Lion’s-hill is not fo high as the former : It lies contiguous to the fea, and bears welt from the the Table mountain, being feparated from it by a narrow valley. It is fuppos’d to have obtain’d its name from the refemblance it bears to a Lion cou- chant, with his head eredff ; or, according to others, from its being infefled with Lions when the Dutch firlt fettled there. On this hill Hands a flag, guard- ed by fome Soldiers, who give notice of the approach of (hipping, from what quarter they come, and their number, by hoifling and lowering the flag. The Devil’s-hill, fuppofed to be fo call’d from the furious ’ winds that iflue from thence when the top is cover’d with a white cloud, is not fo high as either of the former : It lies alfo along the fhore, being feparated from the Lion’s-hill by a fmall valley or cleft. Thefe three hills lie in the form of a crefcent, about the Table-valley. The Hottentot nations, who inhabit this fouth- ern promontory of Africa, are 1 6 in number ; at leaH, the Dutch are acquainted with fo many ; but that there are more to the northward of the'e, feems pretty certain. The 16 nations enumerated by travellers, and particularly by Kolben, are, 1. The Gongeman nation ; 2. The Kochaqua ; 3. The Suflaqua ; 4. The Adiqua ; 5. Chirigriqua ; 6. The greater and Idler Namaqua ; 7. The Attaqua ; 8. The Koop- man ; 9. The Heflaqua ; 10. The Sonqua ; 11. The Dunqua ; 12. The Damaqua f 13. The G-auros, or Gauriqua ; 1 4. The Hauteniqua 3 15. The Chamtouer ; 1 6. The Heykom. The Gongeman nation firfl traffick’d with the Dutch ; and, in confideration of fome brais rings, beads, and other trifles, admitted them into that fine country where the Gape-Town now Hands ; but when they faw the Dutch erecting a fortrels and enclofing the lands, from whence they exclud- ed the cattle of the Hottentots, the natives repre- fented, that they meant no more in their treaty with the Dutch, than that they fhould be at liberty to dwell with them, and have paflure for their cattle ; they were not fo flupid as to exclude themfelves from their own country, or to fufFer forts to be built that would bring them under the fubjedfion of foreigners ; and, when the Dutch refus’d to throw open their enclofures, afiembled in arms to drive them out of their country. But the Hollanders were become fo Hrong, that they engag’d the natives, C H A P. and defeated them, compelling them to fubmit to IV. fuch terms as the vidfors were pleas’d to impofe ; which were, in fhort, no other, but that the Hot- tentots might Hill remain in their own country, and graze their cattle upon fuch lands as were not en- clos’d by the Dutch ; and accordingly the Gonge- man nation are intermix’d with the Dutch at this day, but enjoy no more of their lands than the Hollanders have not thought fit to appropriate to themfelves (which indeed is all die befi part of it.) The Gongeman nation are barely permitted to feed their cattle upon the common or wafle grounds that are not enclos’d. The Hollanders are now Lords of the country, and the natives little better than their vaflals, or tenants at will.; tho’ the Dutch are oblig’d to ufe them with fome tendernefs, lefl the other nations, their brethren, fhould diflurb their difiant colonies. 2. The Kochoqua nations lie to the northward Kochoqua. of the Gongemans, in whofe limits is a great deal natl0n • of good paflure, part of which is enclos’d by the Dutch ; but the natives Hill pofleis more than half the lands : In this country are feveral falt-pits ; but, as there are few fprings, not many of the Dutch refide here. 3. The Suflaqua’s lie to the northward of the Suflaqua’*. Kochoqua’s. The country is mountainous, and there are but few villages in this territory, and no great herds of cattle ; the people deferting the country for want of water, tho’ there is good pafi ture on the hills as well as in the valleys. 4. The Odiqua’s country lies contiguous to that CMiqua's. of the Suflaqua’s ; and thefe two nations are al- ways in a confederacy againfl their neighbours the Chirigriqua’s. 5. The Chirigriqua’s are a numerous people ce- Chiflgri- lebrated for their flrength and dexterity, in throw- <3ua s “ ing the Hafiagaye or Launce : Their country is mountainous, and extends along the fea-coafl ; the foil, however, generally good, there being rich paf- tures on the tops of their hills, as well as in the valleys ; and through the middle of it runs one of the largefl of their rivers, call’d the Elephant river, from the Elephants reforting in great numbers to it. Here are alfo woods of large, tall trees, different from any we meet with in Europe ; and theie are infeffed with Lions, Tigers, and almoff all man- ner of wild beaffs. 6. The greater and lefier Namaqua ; the lefler Namaqua’j. extending along the coaff, and the other contigu- ous to it, on the eaff. This people, ’tis faid, are able to bring an army of twenty thoufand men in- to the field, and are the moll fenfible of all the Hottentot nations : Their country, however, is mountainous and baiffen, deftitute of wood, and hath but one fpring in the whole territory ; only the Elephant river, running thro’ their country, fupplies fome part of it with water. Here are alfo great C 2 num- ; 2 THE PRESENT STATE Attaqua’s. Koopmans. Hefliqua’s, Sonqua’s, bers of wild beads and fmall, fpotted Deer, of which fell to the Europeans, not being fond of it them- CHAP, hundreds and thoufands are fometimes feen in a herd, Selves. jy\ The venifon, generally, is fat and good. 1 1 . The Dunqua’s nation borders upon the Son- , 7. The Attaqua’s lie to the northward of the qua’s. This people enjoy a more level country than Dun l ua ' 8 >- Namaqua’s, poffeffing a very barren country, with the former : It is alfo well water’d with rivulets, very little water in it, and is neither populous, nor that fall into the Palamite river r The hills as well well flock’d with cattle, the natives difperfing them- as vales are good pufture, and they abound in cattle felves in fmall parties, that they may the better find and game. a fubfiftence. This is the moft northern nation, 12. The Damaqua’s, who lie next them, alfo Dimaqua's. deferib’d by Kolben on the weftern coaft, though enjoy a fruitful level country, abounding in cattle he mentions another nation ftill to the northward of and game, and the Palamite runs in a winding or the Attaqua’s, call’d the Chorogauqua’s, poffeffing a ferpentine courfe thro’ it ; but here is a great fcar- vaft extent of country, and fuppofes there may be city of wood : They have fome Salt-pits ; which, ftill feveral other nations, to the northward of them, being at a great diftance from the Dutch, no ufe is before we come to Augola. Then, returning fouth- made of them, the Hottentots eating no fait. ward, he brings us to 13. The Gauro’s, or Gauriqua’s, lie next to the Gauro’s . 8. The Koopmans, who lie to the eaftward of Damaqua’s. They poffefs a fmall country, but are, the Gongemans, and the Cape Town : Here the however, a numerous people, the foil being rich, Dutch have a great many fettlements and planta- and every where well fupply’d with wood and wa- tions, and a rich trail of land enclofed ; but the ter : The country abounds alfo in cattle, and no natives, however, are fufPer’d to dwell among them, Ids in wild beafts ; which the natives are fo far and graze their cattle on the uncultivated grounds, from regretting, that it is faid they look upon it as This country is well wooded and water’d : There a happinefs they have fomany opportunities of fhew- runs a rapid ftream through the valleys into the fea, ing their dexterity and courage in engaging them, call’d Palamit river, whofe fource is in the Draken- and they are moft of them cloathed in the fkins of ftein mountains, on the Dutch frontiers, receiving Tygersor other wild beafts they have killed. feveral leffer rivulets in its courfe ; the largeft where- 1 4. The Houteniqua’slieon the fea-coaft, north- Houteni- of is called the Black river. In this territory alfo eaft of the Gauro’s, in whofe country is a great s * is a hot bath, and feveral falt-pits. deal of good pafture ; and they have woods replen- 9. The country of the HelTaqua’s joins alfo to ifh’d with timber, with great variety of herbs and the Gongemans. They abound in Cattle, Sheep, flowers. and Oxen (the only riches of the natives) more than 15. The nation of the Chamtouers, who lie con- Chamtou- any other Hottentot nation, and traffick more with tiguous to the Houteniqua’s, poffefs a very fruitful ers - the Dutch for brandy, tobacco, corral, brafs beads, country, well wooded and water’d ; their ftreams and other trifles ; for which they give their cattle affording variety of fifh. Here are alfo abundance in exchange. They are faid to be the moft effemi- of wild beafts, and plenty of game. nate of the Hottentots, and leaft addicted to war; 16. The Ileykoms lie to the north-eaft of the Heykoms. and when they are attack’d therefore by an enemy, Chamtouers ; their country mountainous and defti- beg the protection of the Hollanders. Their Kraals tute of water, but has, however, fome fruitful oftVillages are larger than thofeof any other nation ; valleys : This is faid to be the moft northerly coun- and thefr country 1 does not only abound with cattle, try of the Hottentots, on the eaft coaft of Africa, but o-reat plenty of game, and every thing defirable and to lie contiguous to the Terra de Natal, inha- in life : The Heffaqua’s who have no ftock, fre- bited by the Caffries, properly fo call’d, who are a quently ferve the Dutch ; but when they have got very different people from the Hottentots, a little money to buy cattle, they ufually leave their mafters, and, returning to their Kraal, fet up for As to the derivation of the name of Hottentot, of their themfelves. I could never meet with any fatisfaClory account : name > 1 o. The Sonqua’s, who lie to the eaftward of They had given themfelves this name, it feems, be- the Koopman nation, are faid to be a fmall, but fore any European nation arriv’d on their coaft ; brave people, and dexterous in the management of and this is all we know certainly of the matter, their arms. Their country is rocky and mountain- Their original is no lefs obfeure ; but from fome of and original ous, and the barreneft of all thofe about the Cape, their cuftoms, that refemble thofe of the Jews and As 5 they are reckon’d good Soldiers, they are fre- the ancient Troglodites, it is imagin’d they defeend- quently hired by their "neighbour nations, as the ed from one or other of thofe nations. Mr. Kolben Swifs are in Europe, to affift them in their wars, tells us, they have a tradition amongft them, that j and ferve purely for bread ; having very little food their firft parents came into their country through a of their own but roots and herbs, and what they window or door (the word for both in the Hottentot can get in hunting, at which they are very expert : language being the fame ) : 1 hat the name of their They alfo plunder" the woods for honey, which they male anceftor was N’oh, and his wife’s, Hingn’oM. t ■■■■■■■•>• ; ' N ’’ I p > i »■ OF CAFF C FI AP That they were fent thither by God himfelf; and jy that they taught their descendants hufhandry. I his tradition, he feys, prevails in all the Hottentot na- tions ; which he looks upon as a certain evidence of their being delcended from Noah. He adds, that they refemble the Jews in their offerings, and regulating their feftivals by the new and full moon, and in their feparation from their wives at certain times, as well as in abftaining from certain forts of food, efpecially Swines-flefh, and undergoing a kind of circumcifion at a ceitam age . But ftill he thinks they are rather defcended from the Troglodites, who inhabited the fouth part of Egypt, or Ethiopia, in this very quarter of the world, and had thefe and feveral other cuftoms which the Hottentots obferve ; as, the giving their children the name of a favourite animal, and their expofing their fuperannuated parents without any food, and thereby putting an end to their lives. He obferves alfo, that the manner of hunting of the Flottentots refembles that of the Troglodites ; and that their funeral ceremonies are much the fame. But, to proceed to fomething more certain, namely a de- Theperfons feription of their perfons. As to the ftature of the of the Hot- m en, they are rather low than tall ; for though there tintotr ' may be fome 6 foot high, there are more about 5 foot. Their bodies are proportionable, and well made : They are feldom either too fat or lean, and fcarce ever any crooked or deform’d perfons amongft them, any farther than they disfigure their children themfelves, by flatting and breaking the griftles of their nofos ; looking on a flat nofe as a beauty. Their heads, as well as their eyes, are rather of the largeft ; Their lips are naturally thick ; their hair black and fnort, like the Negroes, and they have exceeding white teeth ; and after they have taken a great deal of pains, with greafe and loot to darken their natural tawny complexions, refemble the Ne- groes pretty much in colour. I he women are much Ids than the men ; and what is moft remarkable in them, is a callous flap or fkin that falls over the Pudenda, and in a manner conceals it : The report » of which ufually excites the curiofity of the Euro- pean Sailors, to vifit the Hottentot village near the Cape, where a great many of thofe ladies, on fee- ing a ftranger, will offer to fitisfy his curiofity lor a halfpenny, before a croud of people ; which per- fectly fpoils the character the pious Mr. Kolben has given of their modefty. The:r habits. The men cover their heads with handfuls _ of greafe and foot mix’d together ; and, going with- out any thing elfs on their heads in fummer-time, the duff flicks to it, and makes them a very filthy cap ; which, they fav, cools them, and preferves ’ their heads from the fcorching heat of the fun ; and in winter they wear flat caps of Cat-fkin or Lamb- fkin, half dry’d, which they tie with a thong of the fame leather under their chins. T he men alfo wear a krofie or mantle, made of a Sheep-fkin or R A R I A. 3 3 other (kins, over their {boulders, whicn reaches to C H A P. the middle ; and, being fatten’d with a thong about IV. their neck, is open before. In winter they turn the woolly or hairy fides next their backs, and in (um- mer the other : This forves the man for his bed at night ; and this is all the winding-ftieet or coffin he lias when he dies. If he be a Captain of a village, or Chief of his nation, inftead of a Sheep-fkin, his mantle is made of Tyger-fkins, wild Cat-fkins, or fome other {kins they fet a value upon : But, tho” thefe mantles reach no lower, generally, than their waifts, yet there are fome nations who wear them as low as their legs, and others that have them touch the ground. They conceal or cover thofe parts alfo which eve- ry other people do, with a fquare piece of fkin a- bout two hands-breadth, generally with a Cat-fsin, the hairy fide outwards, which is fatten’d to a firing or girdle about their bodies. The man alfo hangs about his neck a greafy pouch, in which he keeps his knife, his pipe and tobacco, and fome dacha (which intoxicates like to- bacco) and a little piece of wood, burnt at both ends, as a charm againft witchcraft. He wears al- fo three large ivory rings on his left arm, to which he fattens a bag of provisions when he travels. He carries in his right hand two flicks, the fiift call d his kirri, which is about three loot long, and an inch thick, but blunt at both ends ; the other, call’d his rackum-ftick, about a foot long, and ot the fame thicknefs, but has a {harp point, and is ufed as a dart, to throw at an enemy or wild beaft ; which he feldom mifies, if he be within diftance. In his left hand he has another flick, about a foot long, to which is fatten’d a tail of a Fox or wild Cat and this ferves him as a handkerchief to wipe oft the fweat. They wear a kind of fan dais, alfo made of the raw 7 hide of an Ox or Elephant, when they are oblig’d to travel through ftony countries; and fometimes have bufkins, to preferve theii legs from bufhes and briars ; but ordinarily their legs and thighs have no covering. The women wear caps, the crowns whereof are a little raifed ; and thefe are made alfo of half-dry’d fkins, and tied under their chins. They fcarce put them off night or day, winter or fummer. They ufually wear two kroftes or mantles, one upon ano- ther, made of Sheep-fkins, or other fkins, which are fometimes border’d wdth a fringe of raw lea- ther ; and, as thefe are only faftned with a thong about their necks, they appear naked down to tire middle : But they have an apron, larger than that of the mens to cover them before, and another of ftill larger dimenfions that covers their back-fides. About their legs they wrap thongs of half-dry’d fkins, to the thicknefs of a jack-boot, which are fuch a load to them, that they lift up their legs with difficulty, and walk very much like a Trooper in iack-boots : This ferves both for a difhncuon o J tneir H THE PRES] GTIAP, their (ex, and for ornament. But this is not all IV. their finery : If they are people of any figure, in- {lead of Sheep-fkin they wear a Tyger-fkin, or a mantle of wild Cat-fkins. They have alfo a pouch hangs about their necks* in which they always car- ry fomething to eat, whether they are at home or abroad, with their dacha, tobacco, and pipe. Ornaments. But the principal ornaments both of men and wo- men are brafs or glafs beads, with little thin plates of glittering brafs and mother of pearl, which they wear in their hair, or about their ears. Of thefe brafs and glafs beads lining they alfo make necklaces, bracelets for the arms, and girdles ; wearing feveral firings of them about their necks, waifts and arms, chufing the fmalleft beads for their necks: Thofeare fined that have the mod firings of them ; and their arms are lometimes cover’d with bracelets from the wrid to the elbow ; the larged beads are on the firings about the middle ; in tbefe they affedt a va- riety of colours, all of which the Dutch furnilh them with, and take their cattle in return. There is another kind of ornament peculiar to the men ; and that is, the bladder of any' wild bead they have kill’d, which is blown up and fallcn’d to the hair, as a trophy of their valour. Both men and women powder themfelves with a dud they call bachu ; and the women fpot their fa- ces with a red earth or done (as ours do with black patches) which is thought to add to their beauty, by the natives ; but, in the eyes of Europeans, ren- ders them more frightful andlhocking than they are naturally. But, as part of their drels, I ought to have men- tion’d, in the fird place, the cudom of daubing their bodies, and the infide of their caps and mantles, with greafe and foot. Soon after their children are born, they lay them in the fun, or by the fire, and rub them over with fat or butter, mix’d with foot, to render them of a deeper black, ’tis faid ; for they are naturally tawny : And this they continue to do almod every day of their lives, after they are grown up, not only to increafe their beauty poffibly, but to render their limbs fupple and pliable. As fome other nations pour oil upon their heads and bodies ; fo thefe people make ufe of melted fat. You can’t make them a more acceptable prefent than the fat or feum of a pot that meat is boil’d in to anoint themfelves. Several of thefe Hottentots coming on board our fhip as foon as we arriv’d at the Cape, ad- drefs’d themfelves in the firft place to the Cook for fome of the fat he had fkimm’d off' his boiling cop- pers ; which being gratify ’d in, they immediately clapp’d it on their heads by handfuls ; which con- firm’d us in the opinion of their naflinefs, of which we had heard fo much. Nor are they more clean- ly in their diet than in their drefs ; for they chufe the guts and entrails of cattle, and of fome wild beads (with very little cleanfing) rather than the reft of the flefh, and eat their meat half- boil’d or broil’d ; i NT STATE but their principal food confifts of roots, herbs, fruits CHAP or milk : They feldom kill any of thofe cattle, un- IV, lefs at a feftival ; they only feed of fuch as die of themfelves, either of diieafes or old age, or on what they take in hunting ; and, when they are hard put to it, they will eat the raw leather that is wound about die womens legs, and even foies of fihoes : And, as their mantles are always well flock’d with lice of an unufual fize, they are not afham’d to fit down in the publick ftreets at the Cape, pull off the lice, and eat them. And I ought to have remem- ber’d, that they boil their meat in the blood of beafts when they have any of it. They rather devour their meat than eat it, pulling it to pieces with their teeth and hands, difeovering a canine appetite and fiercenefs : T hey abftain, however, from Swine’s- flefh, and fome other kinds of meat, and from fifh that have no feales, as religioufly as ever the Jews did. And here it may not be improper to fay fome- thing of the management of their milk and butter: They never ftrain their milk, but drink it with all the hairs and naftinefs with which it is mix’d in the milking by the Hottentot women. When they make butter of it, they put it into fome fkin made in the form of a Soldier’s knapfack, the hairy fide in- wards ; and then two of them taking hold of it, one at each end, they whirl and turn it round till it is converted into butter, which they pot up for a- nointing themfelves, their caps and mantles with, for they eat no butter ; and the reft they fell to the Dutch, without clearing it from the hairs and dirt it contradls in the knapfack. The Hollanders, when they have it indeed, endeavour to feparate the nafti- nefs from it, and fell it to the {hipping, that arrives there, frequently for butter of their own making ; and fome they eat themfelves (but furely none but a Dutchman could eat Hottentot butter) and the dregs and dirt that is left they give to their Haves ; which having been found to create difeafes, the Governor of the Cape fometimes prohibits their giving their Haves this fluff by publick edicl ; which is not, how- ever, much regarded. The butter-milk, without any manner of cleaning or {training, the Hottentots drink themfelves ; giving what they have to fpare, to their Lambs and Calves. The ufual drink of the Hottentots is Cow’s milk, or water* and the women fometimes drink Ewes milk ; but this the men never touch : and ’tis oh- ferv’d, that the women are never fufter’d to eat with the men, or come near them, during the time of their menfes. Since the arrival of the Dutch among them, it appears that the Hottentots are very fond of wine, brandy, and other fpirituous liquors : Thefe, and the baubles already mention’d, the Hollanders truck for their cattle ; and tho’a Hottentot will turn fpit for a Dutchman half a day for a draught or two of four w;ne, yet do they never attempt to plant vineyards (as they fee the Dutch do every day) or think of 2 making OF CAFFRARIA. CHAP, making wine themfelves. I proceed, in the next IV. place, to give an account of their towns and houles, or rather, their camps and tents. Their towns The Hottentots, like the Tartars and Arabs, re- or camps. m ove their dwellings frequently for the conveniency of water and frefn pafture : They encamp in a circle form’d by twenty or thirty tents, and fometimes twice the number, contiguous to each other ; with- in the area whereof they keep their lefl'er cattle in the night, and the larger on the outfide of their camp : Their tents, or, as feme call them, houfes, are made with {lender poles, bent like an arch, and cover’d with mats or (kins, and fometimes both : They are of an oval figure, the middle of the tent being about the height of a man, and decreafing gradually (the poles being fhorter) towards each end, the lowed arch, which is the door or entrance, being about 3 foot high, as is the oppofite arch at the other end ; the longed: diameter of the tent being about 1 2 or 1 4 feet, and the fhorteft 1 o ; and in the middle of the tent is a (hallow hole about a yard diameter, in which they make their fire, and round which the whole family, confiding of nine or ten people of all ages and fexes, fit or lie night and day in fuch a fmoak (when it is cold, or they are dreffing of victuals) that ft is impofiible for an European to bear it, there being ufually no vent for the fmoak but the door, tho’ I think I have feen a hole in the top of (bmeof their huts to let out the fmoak, and give them light. Such a circle of tents or huts as has been defcrib’d, is call’d by the Hottentots a Kraal, and fometimes by the Eu- ropeans a town or village ; but feems to be more pro- perly a camp : for a town confids of more fubdantial buildings, and is feldom capable of being removed from one place to another ; whereas thefe dwellings confid of nothing more than finall tent-poles, co- vered with (kins or mats, which are moveable, and carried away upon their baggage-Oxen whenever they remove with their herds to adidant padure. Furniture. As to the furniture of their tents ; this confids of little more than their mantles which they lie on, fome other (kins of wild beads they have kill’d or pur- chas’d, an earthen pot they boil their meat in, their t arms, and perhaps fome other trivial utenfils. The only domedick animals they keep, are Dogs, as ugly in their kind as their maders, but exceeding uleful to them in driving and defending their cattle. Their genii s The Hottentots are agreed by all to be the lazieft and temper, generation under the fun : they will rather darve, or eat dry’d (kins, or fhoe-foles at home, than hunt for their food ; and yet, when they do apply themfelves to the chafe, or any other exercife, no people are to be found more adtive and dexterous than the Hotten- tots ; and they ferve the Europeans often with the greated fidelity and application, when they contract to ferve them for wages : They are alfo exceeding generous and hofpitable ; they will fcarce eat a piece of venifon, or a difh of fidi they have catch’d, or drink their beloved drams alone, but call in their neighbours to partake with them as far as it will go. The next thing I (hall enquire into, is the govern- CHAP, ment of the Hottentots ; and I find all people agree, IV. that every nation has its King or Chief, call’d Ron- v — quer, wnofe authority devolves upon him by heredi- tary fucceffion ; and that they do not pretend to eledt tentpts . their refpedtive fovereigns. That this Chief has the Their Kings, power of making peace and war, and prefides in all their councils and courts of iuftice : but then his au- thority is faid to be limited ; and that he can deter- mine nothing without the confent of the Captains of the feveral Kraals, who l'eem to be the Hottentot fe- nate. The Captain of everv Kraal, whofe office is hereditary alfo, is their Leader in timet>f war, and Chief rriagiftrate of his Kraal in time of peace ; and, with the head of every family, determines all civil and criminal caufes within the Kraal ; only fuch dif- ferences as happen between one Kraal and another, and matters of (late, are determined by the King and Senate. The Dutch, fince their arrival at the Cape, have prefented the King, or Chief of every nation of the Hottentots in alliance with them, with a brafs crown ; and the Captains of each Kraal with a brafs- headed cane, which are now the badges of their re- lpedfive offices ; formerly they were diftinguifh’d only by finer fkins, and a greater variety of beads and. glittering trifles. In their councils their King fits on his heels in the centre, and the Captains of the Kraals fit in like manner round about him. At his acceffion, ’tis faid, he promifes to obferve their national cuftoms ; and gives them an entertainment, killing an Ox, and two or three Sheep, upon the occafion ; on which he feafts his Captains, but their Wives are only entertain’d with the broth : But then the next day, ’tis faid, her Hot- tentot Majefty treats the Ladies, and their Hufbands are put oft' in like manner with the foup. The Captain of each Kraal alfo, at his acceffion, Magnates, ’tis faid, engages to obferve the cuftoms of his Kraal, and makes an entertainment for the Men, as his Lady does the next day for the Women ; and, though tints people fhew their Chiefs great refpedf, ’tis faid, they allow neither their King or inferior Magiftrates any revenue ; they fubfift, as other families do, upon their (lock of cattle, and what they take in hunting. As they have no notion of writing or letters, they Juftke ad- can have no written laws ; but there are fome ancient mnlfter cuftoms, from which they fcarce ever deviate. Mur- der, adultery and robbery, they conftantly puniift with death ; and, if a perfon is fufpedted of any of thefe crimes, the whole Kraal join in feizing and fe- curing him ; but the guilty perfon fometimes makes his efcape to the mountains, where robbers and cri- minals, like himfelf, fecure themfelves from juftice, and frequently plunder the neighbouring country , for no other Kraal or nation of Hottentots will en- tertain a ftranger, unlefs he is known to them, and can give a good reafon for leaving his own Kraal. If the offender is apprehended, the Captain aftem- bles the people of his Kiaal in a day or two ; who, making I HE PRESENT STATE 16 CHAP, making a ring, .and fitting down upon their heels, jy_ the criminal is placed in the centre of them ; the witneffes on both fides are heard, and the party fufFer’d to make his defence : After which, the cafe being confider’d, the Captain colleifts the fuff rages of his judges ; and, if a majority condemn him, the prifoner is executed on the fpot : The Captain firft ftrikes him with a truncheon he carries in his hand, and then the reft of the Judges fall upon him, and drub him to death : Then wrapping up the corpfe in his krofle or mantle, it is carried fome diftance from the Kraal, and buried. In civil cafes alfo the caufe is determin’d by a ma- jority of voices, and fatisfadtion immediately order’d the injur’d party out of the goods of the perfon that appears to be in the wrong, ft 'here is no appeal to any other Court ; the King and his Council, con- lifting of the Captains of the Kraals, never inter- pofe, unlefs in matters that concern the Publick, or where the Kraals are at variance. It may be proper here to add, that the Hottentots cattle and perlonal eftate defcend to his eldeft fon : he cannot dillnherit him, or give his effects to his other children ; but, as for a property in lands, or any certain real eftate, no man has any : the whole country is but one com- mon, where they feed their cattle promifcuoufly, moving from place to place to find water or frefh pa- fture as neceffity requires. Even the feveral nations have no ftated bounds ; but ufe fuch tracts of land as their anceftors did be- fore them : ’Tis true, their refpetftive limits fome- times create differences between the feveral nations, and occafion bloody wars ; which brings me to treat of their arms, and the arts and ftratagems they ufe in war. Their arm'. The arms of a Hottentot are, i. His launce, which refembles a half-pike, fometimes thrown and ufed as a miftive weapon ; and, at others, ferves to pufh within clofe light, the head or fpear whereof is poifon’d. 2. His bow and arrows, the arrows bearded and poifon’d likewife, when they engage an enemy, or a wild beaft they do not intend for food : Their bows are made of iron or olive wood ; the firing, of the finews or guts of fome animal : The quiver is a long narrow cafe, made of the fkinof an Elephant, Elk or Ox, and flung at their backs, as Sol- diers fling their knapfacks. 3. A dart of a foot long, which they throw exceeding true, fcarce ever miffing the mark they aim at, tho’ it be not above the breadth of a half-crown ; thefe al'b are poifon’d, when they engage an enemy, or a wild beaft that is not to be eaten : And, laftly, when they have fpent the reft of their miffive weapons, they have recourfe to ftones, feldom making a difcharge in vain : and what is moft remarkable in their fhooting, or throw- ing arrows, darts, or ftones, they never ftand ftill, but are all the while (kipping and jumping from one fide to the other, poffibly to avoid the darts and ftones of the enemy. They are all Foot, they never engage on Horfe- CHAP, back ; but have difciplin’d Bulls or Oxen taught to iy > run upon the enemy, and to tofs arid diforder them ; which thefe creatures will do, with the utmoft fury, T*? e y never on the word of command, not regarding the weapons horfe-°batk. that are thrown at them : for, tho’ the Hottentots have numbers of large Elephants in their country, they have not yet learnt the art of taming them, or training them up to the war, as the military men In the Eaft-Indies do. Every able-bodied man is a Soldier, and poflefs’d Ej'JT man 3 of a fet of fuch arms as has been deferib’d ; and, on °‘ wr * the fummons of his Prince, appears at the rendezvous with all imaginable alacrity and contempt of danger, and every man maintains himfelf while the expedition lafts. As their Officers, civil and military, have no pay ; fo neither do the Private men expect any : a fenfe of honour, and the publick good, are the foie motives for hazarding their lives in their country’s fervice. The principal inducement to their entring into a Thecaufesof war at anytime, is the prefervation of their territo- ^ a J m amongft ries : As they have no land-marks or written treaties to adjuft the exact bounds of every nation, they fre- quently difagree about the limits of their refpedtive countries ; and, whenever any neighbouring nation grazes their cattle upon a fpot of ground another claims, fatisfaftion is immediately demanded ; and, if it be not given, they make reprifals, and have re- courfe to arms. But this is not the only occafion of wars among the Hottentots : They are not always that chafte and virtuous people Mr. Kolben has reprefented them, fome tempting Helen (for Hot- tentots poffibly may appear amiable in one another’s eyes with all the greafe and carrion they are cloathed with) has fmitten a neighbouring Chief perhaps, who prevails on his people to affift him in the rape of the defired female ; and this frequently fets their tribes together by the ears. The dealing each other’s cattle is another caufe of deadly ftrife ; for tho’ each Kraal punifhes theft among themfelves with death, yet it is looked upon as an heroick aift to rob thofe of another nation ; at lead the body of the people are fo backward in giving up the offender, that they frequently come to blows upon it. When they march into the field, every man fol- Their way lows his particular Captain, the Chief of his Kraal : of figining4 They obferve little order ; neither do they take the precaution of throwing up trenches to defend them- felves, and, what is ftill more furprifing, have no fhields to defend themfelves againft miffive weapons, tho’ fome lay they will ward off a launce or dart, and even a done, with a little truncheon about a foot long, which they carry in their hands. The feveral companies advance to the charge, at the command of their Chief ; and, when thofe in the front have (hot one flight of arrows, they re- treat, and make room for thofe in the rear ; and, when thefe have difeharg’d, the former advance again ; and thus alternately they continue the fight. OF C A F F R A R I A. C H A P. till they have Spent all their miffive weapons, and IV. then they have recourfe to Hones, unlefs they are fird broken "and dispers’d by a troop of Bulls ; for the wife Chiefs and Generals of each fide, according to the European practice, remaining on an eminence in the rear, to obferve the fortune of the day, when they obferve their people are hard prefs’d, give the word of command to their Corps de Referve of Bulls, who break into tire body of the enemy, and gene- rally bring all into confufion ; and that fide that prelerves their order bed, on this furious attack of thefe Bulls of Bafan, are lure to be victorious. The fkill of the General leems to lie chiefly in managing his Bulls ; who never charge each other, but fpend their whole rage upon the men, who have, it feems, no Dogs of Englifh breed to play againd them, or this dratagem would be of little fervice : But I fhould have obferv’d, that as the battel always begins with horrid cries and ncife, which perhaps funplies the place of drums and trumpets ; fo the viCtors in- fult with no lets noife over the conquer’d enemy, killing all that fall into their hands : but they feldom fight more than one battel, fome neighbouring pow- er ufually interpofing to make up the quarrel ; and of late the Dutch perform this good office, between fuch nations as lie near their fettlements. from their wars with each other, I naturally proceed to their wars with wild beads, with which their country a- bounds more than any other : Thefe people, it feems, efteem it a much greater honour to have kill’d one of thefe foes to mankind, than an enemy of their own fpecies. Their way of There are indances, of a Hottentot’s engaging attacking a fingly with the fierce!!: wild beads, and killing them ; wild heart, u f ua ]]y t he whole Kraal or village afl'emble, when a wild bead: is difeover’d in their neighbour- hood, and, dividing themfelves in fmall parties, en- deavour to lurround him. Having found their ene- my, they ufually fet up a great cry, at which the frighted animal endeavours to break thro’ and efcape them : if it prove to be a Rhinoceros, an Elk, or Elephant, they throw their launces at him, darts and f arrows being too weak to pierce thro’ their thick hides : if the bead be not kill’d at the fird difeharge, they repeat the attack, and load him with their fpears ; and, as he runs with all his rage at the per- fons who wound him, thofe in his rear follow him clofe, and ply him with their fpears, on whom he turns again, but is overpower’d by his numerous ene- mies, who condantly return to the charge, when his back is towards them, and fcarce ever fail, of bring- ing the creature down, before he has taken his re- venge on any of them. How hazardous foever fuch an engagement may appear to an European, thefe people make it their fport ; and have this advantage, it that they are exceeding fwift of foot, and fcarce ever mils the mark they aim at with their fpears : If one of them is hard prefs’d by the brute, he is fure to be reliev’d by his companions, who never quit the Vol. III. 1 7 field till the bead is kill’d, or makes his efcape : tho’ C H A P, they fometimes dexteroufly avoid the adverfary, they IV. immediately return to the charge, fubduing the fier- ced either by dratagem or force. In the attacking a Lion, a Leopard or a Tyger, their darts and arrows are of fervice to them ; and there- fore they begin the engagement at a greater didance, than when they charge an Elephant or Rhinoceros ; and the creature has a wood of darts and arrows up- on his back, before he can approach his enemies, which make him fret and rage and fly at them with the greated fury ; but thofe he attacks, nimbly avoid his paws, while others purfue him, and finidi the conqued with their fpears. Sometimes a Lion takes to his heels, with abundance of poifon’d darts and arrows in his flefh : but, the pc-ifon beginning to operate, he foon falls, and becomes a prey to thofe he woidd have prey’d upon. The Elephant, the Rhinoceros and the Elk, are fre- quently taken in traps and pitfalls, without any man- ner of hazard. The Elephants are obferv’d to go in great companies to water, following in a file one af- ter another, and ufually take the fame road till they are didurb’d : The Plottentots therefore dig pits in their paths, about 8 feet deep, and 4 or 5 over ; in which they fix {harp dakes pointed with iron, and then cover the pit with fmall dicks and turf, fo as it is not difcernible : and as thefe animals ufually keep in one track, frequently one or other of them falls with his fore-feet into the pit, and the dake pierces his body ; the more he druggies, the deeper the weight of his mondrous body fixes him on the dake. When the red of the herd obferve the misfortune of their companion, and find he can’t difengage him- felf, they immediately abandom him : whereupon the Hottentots, who lie conceal’d, in expectation of the fuccels of their dratagem, approach the wounded head, dab him with their fpears, and cut his larged veins, fo that he foon expires ; whereupon they cut him to pieces, and, carrying the flefli home, feads upon it as long as it lads. His teeth they make into rings for their arms, and, when they have any ivory to fpare, difpofe of it to the Europeans. The Rhi- noceros and Elk are frequently taken in pitfalls, as Elephants are. The Hottentot, who kills any of thefe, or a Lion, Honours Leopard, or Tyger, fingly, has the highed honour confcrr'd ore conferr’d upon him, and feveral privileges, which jJXVwiM belong only to fuch intrepid heroes. At his return beaft. from this hazardous and important lervice, the men of Kraal depute one of the leniors to congratulate him on his viedory, and defire that he will honour them with his prefence ; whereupon he follows the old Deputy to the adembly, whom he finds, ac- cording to cudom, fitting upon their heels in a cir- cle ; and, a mat of didinerfion being laid for him in the centre, he lets himfelf down upon it : After which, the old Deputy pifles plentifully upon him, which the hero rubs in with great eagernefe, having D ~ fird 1 8 THE PRESENT STATE CHAP, fh'ft Scratch’d the greafe off his fkin with his nails ; IV. the Deputy all the while pronouncing fome words unintelligible to any but themfelves. After this they light a pipe of tobacco, which they fmoak, and hand one to another till there remains nothing but afhes in the pipe ; and thefe the old Deputy ftrews over the gallant man, who rubs them in as they fall upon him, not buffering theleaft duff to be loft. After which, his neighbours having feverally congratulated him on his advancement to this high honour, they difperfe, and go to their refpeclive tents. The conqueror, af- terwards, fattens the bladder of the furious beaft he has kill’d to his hair ; and is from that time, by every one, efteem’d a brave man, and a benefactor to his country. Being retired to his tent, his neighbours feem to vie which of them {hall oblige him moft, and are, for the next three days, continually fending him one delicious morfel or other ; nor do they call upon him to perform duty during that time, but fuffer him to indulge his eafe : But, what is Till more unaccountable, his wife or wives (for he may have more than one) are not allow’d to come near him for three days af- ter this honour isconferr’d upon him ; but they are forc’d to ramble about the fields, and keep to a fpare diet, left they fhould, as Mr. Kolben furmifes, ijempt the hufband to their embraces : but on the third day, in the evening, we are told, the women re- turn to the tent; are receiv’d with the utmoftjoy and tendernefs ; mutual congratulations pafs between them ; a fat Sheep is kill’d, and their neighbours in- vited to the feaft ; where the prowefs of the hero, and the honour he has obtain’d, are the chief fub- 'ecf of the converlation. There is fcarce any wild beaft, but the flefti is good eating, if it be not kill’d with poifon’d wea- pons ; but theTygeris the moft delicious morfel, and, as the whole Kraal partake of the feaft, the perfbn who kills him meets with a double {hare of praife, as he both rids the country of an enemy, and pleafes their palates. Mr. Kolben relates, that he has himfelf eaten of the flefh of a Tyger, and that it exceeds any veal in the world. But to return to the field-fports of the Hottentots : When they hunt a Deer, a wild Goat, or a Hare, they go fingly, or but two or three in company, arm’d only with a dart or two, and feldom mils the game they throw at ; yet, as has been obferv’d already, lb long as they have any manner of food left, if it be but the raw hides of cattle, or Ihoe-foles, they will hardly be perfwaded to ftir to get more ; tho’, it is true, when they apprehend their cattle in danger from wild beafts, no people are more adtive, or purfue the chafe of them with greater alacrity and bra- very. The Hotter.. From hunting, I proceed to treat of their fifhing ; io£ fiihlng. at w h; c h 5 according to Ko lben, they are very ex- pert ; taking filh with angles, nets, and fpears ; and, by groping, they get a certain fifh, call’d Rock-fifh, particularly by groping the holes of the rocks near the C H A P. fhore when the tide is out: thefe are mightily admi- IV. red by the Europeans ; but, having no feales, the Hottentots will noteat them. When they throw their lines into the fea, Kol- ben pretends, they allure the fifh towards the bait by whittling and other noifes ; which I {hall not en- courage my readers to have much faith in, our fifher- men imagining that a noife frights away the fifh : however, both feem to be of opinion, that filh can hear in the water ; and, if this may be depended on, I can’t fee why fifh, as well as ferpents, may not be charm’d with mufick, or fomething like it. Certain it is, the fnakes in the Eaft-Indies will rife up and dance to the voice of a girl, and the mufick of a very ill inftrument : but ftill, I muff confefs, I am in doubt, whether fifh can hear in the water ; and, if they can, whether they may be charm’d with founds of any kind. But the manner of the Hottentot’s fwimming is Their way as particular as his fifhing ; for he ftands upright in of . fwim * the fea, and rather walks and treads the water, than minB ' fwims upon it, his head, neck and fhoulders being quite above the waves, as well as his arms ; and yet they move fafter in the water than any European can : even in a ftorm, when the waves run high, they will venture into the fea,rifing and falling with the waves like a cork, in my author’s phrafo: however, he ob- ferves, that before they venture either into the fea or a river, they mutter fomething to themfelves, which he fuppofes to be afhort prayer; adding, that when they have put up their fifh in fkins, they will fwim, or rather walk, with a great load of them on their heads thro’ the waves to the fhore. The next thing I fhall confider, is the marriage The marri- of the Hottentots ; and, it feems, every young fel- a s es of the low has fuch a regard to the advice of his father (or rather the laws and cuftoms of the country require it) that he always confults the old man before he en- ters into a treaty with his miftrefs ; and, if he ap- proves the match, the father and fon, in the firft place, pay a vifit to the father of the damfel ; with whom having fmoak’d, and talk’d of indifferent things for fome time, the father of the lover opens the matter to the virgin’s father; who, having con- fulted his wife, returns an anfwer immediately to the propofal : if it be rejected, the lover and his father retire without more words; but, if the offer be ap- proved by the old folks, the damfel is called, and acquainted, that they have provided a hufband for her; and fhe muff fubmit to their determination, unlefs fhe can hold her lover at arms-end, after a night’s ftruggling : For Kolben tells us, where the parents are agreed, the two young people are put to- gether ; and, if the virgin lofes her maidenhead, fhe muft have the young fellow, tho’ fhe be never fo a- verfe to the match ; but then fhe is permitted to pinch and fcratch, and defend herfelf as well as fhe can, and, if fhe holds out till morning, the lover returns OF CAFF CHAP, returns without his miftrefs, and makes no farther IV. attempts : but, if he fubdues her, (he is his wite to all intents and purpofes, without farther ceremony ; and the next day the man kills a fat Ox, or more, according to his circumftances, for ^ the wedding- dinner, and the entertainment of their friends, who refort to them upon the occafion, bringing abun- dance of good withes for the happinefs of the mar- ried couple, as is ufual among politer people. i he Ox is no fooner kill’d, but all the company get fome of the fat, and greafe themfelves with it from head to foot, powdering themfelves afterwards with Buchu ; and the women, to add to their charms, make red fpots on their black faces with red oker. The entertainment being ready, the men form a circle in the area of the Kraal (for a large company cannot fit within doors) and the women form ano- ther ; the bridegroom fitting in the middle of the men’s circle, and the bride in the center of her own fex : then the Prieft, as Kolben calls him, enteis the men’s circle, and pities upon the bridegroom, which the young man rubs in very joyfully : 1 hen this Prieft, as he is call’d, goes to the ladies circle, where he does the bride the fame favour, and the nabs in the urine in like manner : and thus the old man goes from the bride to the bridegroom, and back a- gain, ’till he has exhaufted all his ftore ; which is another inftance of the modefty of the Hottentots, that Kolben cries up fo much. But, to pro- ceed : He affords them a great many good withes all the time ; as, “ That they may live long and hap- « pily together ; that they may have a fon before the « end of the year, and that he may prove a brave « fellow, and an expert huntfman, and the like.” After which, the meat is ferv’d up in earthen pots glaz’d with greafe; and, fome of them having knives fince the Europeans came amongft them, they divide their meat pretty decently ; but more of them make ufe of their teeth and claws, pulling it to pieces, and eating as voracioufly as fo many Dogs ; having no other plates or napkins than the (linking corners of the mantles they wear ; and fea-thells without t handles ufually ferve them inftead of fpoons. And here it may be proper to defcribe their manner of roafting meat, which, in fpeaking of their diet, was Their way forgot. They take a broad flat ftone, and, having of roafting fixed it in the ground, they make a fire upon it, till OTeat . it is thoroughly heated : then taking off the coals, they lay the meat upon the ftone, which they cover with another flat ftone of the fame dimenfions. Then they make a fire on the uppermoft ftone, and kindle another round about them both ; and thus the meat is foon roafted,at leaft as much as they defire it fhould ; for, if it be a little more than hot through, it is enough b for them. What they leave the firft meal, is fet by for the next ; and, the pots and pans being taken away, each circle lights a pipe of tobacco, which is handed round ; and, when that is out, another : 1 hus they R A R I A. u ) continue fmoaking, and talking merrily on the oc- C H AP. cafion, till morning. They drink fcarce any thing IV. but water and milk ; and that very larely, but at their meals. They have no ftrong liquors at their weddings, nor do they dance at the entertainment ; but, towards break of day, the bride fteals off, and the bridegroom after her ; and then the company difperfe. "There is no throwing the (locking. The next day all the guefts return again, and feaft upon what was left, fmoak and chat as the day be- fore ; and this is repeated as long as the provifion lads : after which, they take their leaves of the new married couple, and return home. The Hottentots TheHotten- allow of polygamy ; but feldom have more than three ^ s ra a lit '’" oS - wives at a time ; and, it feems, tis death to marry w ive6« or lie with a firft or fecond coufin, or any nearer re- lation. A father feldom gives his fon more than two or three Cows, and as many Sheep, upon his marriage , and with thefe he muft make his way in the world ; and I don’t find they give any more with their daugh- ters, than a Cow or a couple of Sheep : nor do they leave them, or their younger fons, any thing when they die; but all the children depend upon the eldeft brother, and are his fervants, or rather (laves, when the father is dead, uniefs the eldeft brother enfran- chife them : nor has the mother any thing to fubfift on, but what her eldeft ton allows her. As there are no great fortunes among them, they match purely for love ; an agreeable companion is all their greateft men aim at : their Chiefs intermarry frequently with the pooreft men’s daughters ; and a brave fellow, who has no fortune, does not defpair of matching with the daughter of a Prince. Merit, according to Kolben, is more regarded here, than among the politer nations. _ . A widow, who marries a fecond time, is obliged to cut off a joint of one of her fingers ; and fo for every hufband (he marries after the fiiit . Either man J^^ cesa " or woman may be divorc d, on fhewing fufficient caufe before the Captain and the reft of the Kraal ; the woman, however, muft not marry again, tho the man is allowed to marry, and have as many wives as he pleafes at the fame time. A young Hottentot never is matter of a hut or tent till he° marries, uniefs his father dies and leaves him one : Therefore the firft bufinefs the bride an bridegroom apply themfelves to after their marriage-* feaft, is to ere& a tent or hut of all new materials, in which work the woman has as great a thare as the man; and, this taking them up about a week’s time, the new-married couple are entertain’d in the mean time in the tents of fome of their relations. When they refort to their new apartment, and The women come to keep houfe together, the wife feems to have much the greateft thare of the trouble of it : the their huf- fodders the "cattle, milks them, cuts out the firing, ^^ sinidle ' fearches every morning for roots for their food, brings them home, and boils or broils them, while the drone D 2 ot 20 THE PRESENT STATE LHAP. of a hufband l.es indolently at home, and will fcarce 1 V. give himfelf the trouble of getting up to eat, when his food is provided for him by the drudges his wives : The more of them he has, ftill the lazier life he leads, the care of making provifion for the family being thrown upon them. He will, ’tis laid, in his turn attend his cattle in the field ; but expe£ls every one of his wives fhould do at leaft as much towards taking care of them, as he does: he will alfo fometimes, but very rarely, go a hunting with the men of his Kraal, and bring home a piece of venifon, oradifhof filh ; but this is not often : and, if he is of any handicraft trade, he may work at it two or three hours in a week, and inftrudt his children in the art. He alfo takes upon him to fell his cattle, and purchase tobacco and ffrong liquors ot the Dutch, with neccTiary tools, beads, and other ornaments, for which the Hottentots barter away their cattle. Their wives are not permitted to inter- meddle in the bufinefs of buying and felling ; this be- ing the foie prerogative of the man. iTarc- an 1V£ Ko L b e N is pleafed to take all occafions to cry up foifeof n> the chaftity of thefo poor wretches : You never fee Hume. them, he lays, killing and toying, or even looking amoroufly at one another ; the woman, he adds, never prefumes to enter her hufband’s apartment, tho’ he fometimes Ideals to hers. One would think by this del’cription, every Hottentot took as much fhte upon him as an Eafdern Monarch ; and that the poor hut or tent he lies in, had as many fpacious rooms in it as a palace : whereas, in another place, Ko l b E N himfelf informs us, that the dimenfions of a hut are exceeding fmall, about 6 foot high and i 2 foot diameter ; that the man has frequently two or three wives ; that his Ions and daughters lie in the fame hut, when they are men and women grown ; and for all this company how is it poffible there can be diftindf apartments ? For my part, I have looked into thefo huts, where I have feen a fire-hearth of about 3 foot diameter in the middle of it, and the whole family, men, women and children, of all ages and fexes, lying round about the fire-place like fo many brutes, no partitions between them, nor in- deed room for any. It is merry enough alfo to hear this grave gentleman talk of feparate beds, when they have nothing like a bed ; but every one lies down upon his Sheep-fkin mantle, and has no other covering in cold weather but another fkin ; and when it is warm, none of them have any covering at all : Nor is it at all improbable, that the Hotten- tot lies with his wives before all this company ; for they have no back rooms to retire into when they have a call. What makes this alfo the more proba- ble is, that we foe nothing like modefty among them ; for, when the Europeans came out of curiofity to foe the Hottentot villages, the women, old and 3’oung, will take off their greafy modefdy-bit, and fh ew you all they have for the value of a half-penny ; and that before their own family and the whole vil- lage : They will cry their ware as you pafs by their CHAP, tents, and invite you to foe it; but the carrion they IV. wear about them on their backs and legs, and the fhocking and frightful countenances they take pains to make themfolves, are enough to drive any man from them : Indeed, if they happen to be to the windward, no European nofe can bear the fragrant odours, ravifhingly fweet to them, but enough to poifon any thing elfe that walks upon two legs. But it is time now to give fome account of their manage- ment of lying-in women. When the wife finds herfelf near her time, the The lying-in midwife (who is chofon by the whole Kraal, anden- women - joys that office for life) is called with the good women her neighbours, and the hufband is obliged to leave the tent, on pain of forfeiting a couple of Sheep for the entertainment of the Kraal: When the woman has a bad time, they boil milk and tobacco together, and make her drink it ; which, ’tis faid, is generallv of great fervice to her, and haftens the birth. If the child be ftill-born, it is immediately buried, and the whole Kraal are forced to remove to another camp, as they do whenever any perfon dies. If the woman brings a live fon into the world, there is great rejoy- cing : But the firft thing they do with the child, is to daub it all over with Cow-dung ; then they lay it be- fore the fire, or in the fun, till the dung is dried ; af- ter which, they rub it off', and wafh the child with thejuice of certain herbs, laying it in the fun, or be- fore the fire again, till this liquor is dried in ; after which, they anoint the child from head to foot with butter, or Sheep’s fat melted, which is dried in as the juice was : And this cuftom of anointing their bo- dies with fat they retain afterwards as long as they live. If the woman has twins, and they are girls, the Theyexpofe man propofos it to the Kraal, that he may expofe one th f ir fema,e of them, either upon pretence of poverty, or that his the^hTve^ wife has not milk for them both ; and this they ufu- twins. ^ ally indulge one another in : They do the fame when they have a boy and a girl ; but always preferve the boys, tho’ they happen to have two at a birth. The expofed child is carried to a diftance from the Kraal ; and, if they can find a cave or hole in the earth, that fome wild beaff has made, they put the child alive in- to it ; and then, having flopped up the mouth of the den with ftones or earth, leave it there to ftarve : If they cannot meet with fuch a cavity, they tie the in- fant to the lower bough of a tree, or leave it in fome thicket of bufhes, where it is frequently deftroyed by wild beafts. They do not deal thus however, as has been ob- forv’d, by their male children. On the birth of a boy, they kill a Bullock ; and, if thc-y have twins, two Bullocks ; and make an entertainment for all the neighbourhood, who congratulate the parents on their good fortune ; and, as with us, the greateft rejoy- cings are on the birth of the firft fon. Their OF C A F ] CHAP Their expofed females are fometimes found by the IY ’ Dutch, and taken care of, and all imaginable pains taken, as they grow up, to make Chriftians of them, and bring them off from the Hottentot cuftoms : But they no fooner underftand of what extraction they are, than they renounce their Chriftianity, throw oft the European habit, and, running away to fome Hottentot camp, take the Sheep-fkin mantle, and conform themfelves to all the cuftoms of the people, from whence they are defcended. But, notwithftanding thefe people are fo inhuman to expofe their children, they have an unaccountable abhorrence of their being cut in pieces and differed, as they are fometimes ferved by European Surgeons, if the children have not been dead long when they are found. The Hottentots imagine, that this is done with a defign to ufe their flefh in witchcraft or ma- gick ; and, it feems, they watch the corpfe of a re- lation that is buried, for fome time, left their own pretended conjurers fhould take them up again, and apply them to the like purpofes ; even the Sheep-fkin mantle the woman is brought to bed upon, and that after the birth, are carefully buried together, left fome wizard fhould make ufe of them to enchant the mother, or fome of the family. The mother The fame day a Hottentot child is born, it is names the named by the mother, and generally has the name ihiR of fome animal given it, that the mother moll: ad- mires, as that of the Lion, the Elephant, the Horfe, the Hart, &c. The man is not allowed to come near his wife in the month, or at fuch times as the Jews were prohibited approaching theirs, on pain ot treat- ing his neighbours with an Ox or Sheep, or forfeiting a pair of gloves, as our nurfes call it ; but whether there beany religion in the matter, as Kolben in- ftnuates, I much queftion, any more than in the wo- man’s purification, or daubing herfeli with greafe and dull before they meet again : But, if I under- ftand Mr Kolben right, the Hottentots imitate brutes more than rnen, in the act of generation. When the woman goes abroad again, after her lying in, fhe ties the infant between two Sheep-fkin t mantles at her back, never taking the child into her arms to fuckle it ; but throws her breaft over her fhoulder as fhe walks, and lets the child take its fill of it, while fhe perhaps is fmoaking a fhort pipe of tobacco, which the wind frequently blows into the child’s face ; but they are fo ufed to it from the tune they are born, they don’t much regard the fmoak. They are weaned at about fix months old ; and then the mother puts a pipe into the child’s mouth, and teaches it to fmoak itfelf, which ferves fometimes in- ftead of more fubftantial diet. As loon as they can go alone, which is very early, they follow the mo- s ther abroad wherever fhe goes, unlels it be bad wea- ther ; and then they remain at home with the indo- lent father, who never ftirs out, unlefs neceflity for- ces him abroad : The women and their daughters, as they grow up, do all the laborious work, cut the ? R A R 1 A. 2i wood, drag it home, dig roots, and drefs them for CHAP, the father and the fons, who fcarce ever give them IV. any aftiftance, as has been related already : Tho’ the fons, ’tis faid, are perfectly under the government of the mother, and dangle after her wherever fhe goes, till they are formally admitted into the fociety of the men by a certain ceremony, that will be de- fcrib’d hereafter ; but this is not perform’d till the fons are 17 or 18 years of age : And this leads me to treat of the religion of the Hottentots. On the firft difcovery of this people, and even The religion' till within thirty or forty years part, it was much R n , t ^ s Hot; " r doubted, whether the Hottentots had any religion ; nay, it was fo confidently affirmed by thofe who had vifited the Cape, that they had none, that moft of our learned Divines knew not how to deny it ; and only anfwered, that they were monfters in nature : That, as every other people appeared to have fome fenfe of God and religion ftamped upon them by na- ture, this one exception ought not to affecft that ge- neral maxim : “ That God had imprinted the “ knowledge of himfelf in the hearts of all man- “ kind.” But now we have the fulleft evidence, that the Hottentots are not an exception to this ge- neral rule. Saar relates, that the Hottentots acknowledge, they believe there is a God, who made heaven and earth. Father T ac hart affirms, that the moft fenfi- ble of the Hottentots declared, in a conference he had with them on their religion, that they believed there was a God that made heaven and earth, and caufed it to thunder and rain, and who provided them food and cloathing. Boeving fays, they profefted to believe, that, as the Chief of a’ Hottentot nation prefided over the Captains of the feveral Kraals, fo God was the fu- preme Being, and Commander of all inferior deities. But Kolben, who has taken moft indefatigable pains to be acquainted with their principles, travelled from nation to nation, and continued many years among the Plottentots, with a view of making dif- coveries, and particularly to underftand what religi- on the people had, aftures us, that they believe a lu- preme Being, Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things therein ; the Governor of the world, through whofe omnipotence all things live and move : And that this Being is endow’d with incomprehenfi- ble attributes and perfedlions ; ftyling him, Gounja Gounja, or Gounja Ficquoa, God of Gods : 'l hat he is good, and does no-body any hurt, and dwells far above the moon. And yet it feems agreed, that they pay no divine worfhip to this lupreme God, tho’ they worfhip feveral fubordmate deities which Kolben demanding the reafon of, they anfwer’d, that their firft parents grievoufly offended the fupreme God ; and he thereupon curfed them, and all their pofterity with hardnefs of heart ; fo that tney now know little of him, and have lefs inclination to ferve him ; 22 T II E P R E S E N T S T A T E C H AP. Him : This tradition he again and again allures us IV. the Hottentots have ; and that he has given it us without the leaft addition or improvement of his own. But, however they have difufed the worfhip l* Zr - of the fupreme God, it feems they adore the moon. hjjoiI' 6 Father 1 ac hart fays, that, on the appearance of the moon, they aflemble in great numbers, and dance in circles, clapping their hands, crying and raving (as the Europeans at firft term’d it) all night long. They throw themfelves into furprizing dis- tortions of body, flare wildly towards heaven, ex- tend every feature, and crofs their foreheads with a red ftone : And thefe, fays Kolben, are certainly adls of religion, tho’ he acknowledges the Hotten- tots have frequently denied it ; which, he fays, pro- ceeded from the Europeans laughing at them, when they faw them in thefe ecftafies. They denied it to Boe ving, and often to himfelf ; but they have fe- rioufly acknowledged at other times, that thefe danc- ings and bowlings are religious honours and invoca- tions of the moon, whom they call Gounia ; where- as they call the fupreme Being Gounja Gounja, or GounjaTicquoa, the God of Gods. The moon, they hold, is an inferior vifible god, and the reprefentative ■of the high and invifible : That the moon has the direction of the weather ; and therefore they pray to her when it is unfeafonable. They never fail to aflemble and worfhip this planet at the new and full moon, let the weather be never fo bad ; and tho’ they diftort their bodies, grin, and put on very fright- ful looks, crying and howling in a terrible manner, yet they have fome expreffions that fhew their vene- ration and dependance on this inferior deity ; as, “ Mutfchi Atze, I falute you ; you are welcome : “ Cheraqua kaka chori Ounqua, grant us pafture “ for our cattle and plenty of milk.” Thefe and other prayers to the moon they repeat, frequently dancing and clapping their hands all the while ; and, and at the end of every dance, crying, Ho, ho, ho, ho ! railing and falling their voices, and ufing abun- dance of odd geftures, that appear ridiculous to Eu- ropean fpedfators ; and which, no doubt, made them at firft, before they knew any thing of their lan- guage, conclude, that this could not be the effedl of devotion, efpecially when the people themfelves told them, it was not an aft of religion, but only intend- ed for their diverfion. But to return : They continue thus fhouting, finging and danc- ing, with proftrations on the earth, the whole night, and even part of the next day, with fome fhort in- tervals, never refting, unlefs they are quite fpent with the violence of the aftion ; and then they fquat down upon their heels, holding their heads between their hands, and refting their elbows on their knees ; and, after a little time, they ftart up again, and fall to finging and dancing in a circle as before, with all their might. They wor- The Hottentots alfo adore a Fly about thebignefs taw a Fly. of a Hornet : Whenever they fee this infeft ap- proach their Kraal, they all aflemble about it, and CHAP fing and dance round it while it remains there, ftrew- jy ing over it the powder of Buchu, by Botanifts call’d Spiraam ; which, when it is dried and pulveriz’d, they always powder themfelves with it at feftivals. They ftrew the fame powder alfo over the tops of their tents, and over the whole area of the Kraal, as a teftimony of their veneration for the ador’d Fly. They facrifice alfo two Sheep as a thankfgiving for the favour fhewn their Kraal, believing they {hall certainly profper after fuch a vifit : And, if this in- feft happens to light upon a tent, they look upon the owner of it for the future as a Saint, and pay him more than ufual refpeft. The beft Ox of the Kraal alfo is immediately facrificed, to teftify their gratitude to the little winged deity, and to honour the Saint he has been pleafed thus to diftinguifh : To whom the entrails of the beaft, the choiceft morfel in their opinion, with the fat and the caul is pre- fented ; and the caul being twifted like a rope, the Saint ever after wears it like a collar about his neck day and night, till it putrifies and rots oft'; and the Saint only feafts upon the entrails of the beaft, while the reft of the Kraal feed upon the joints, that are not in fo high efteem among them : With the fat of the facrifice alfo the Saint anoints his body from time to time, till it is all fpent ; and, if the Fly lights upon a woman, fhe is no lefs reverenced by the neighbourhood, and entitled to the like privi- leges. It is fcarce pofixble to exprefs the agonies the Hot- tentots are in, if any European attempts to take or kill one of thefe infefts, as the Dutch will fo me- times feem to attempt, to put them in a fright : They will beg and pray, and fall proftrate on the ground, to procure the liberty of this little creature, if it falls in a Dutchman’s hands : They are, on fuch an occafion, in no lefs confternation than the Indians near Fort St. George, when the Kite, with a white head, which they worfhip, is in danger. If a Soldier takes one of thefe alive, and threatens to wring the neck of it off, the Indians will gather in crowds about him, and immediately colled the value of a (hilling or two, to purchafe the liberty of the captive bird they adore. But to return to the Hottentots : They imagine, if this little deity fhould be killed, all their cattle would die of dif- eafes, or be deftroy’d by wild beafts ; and they them- felves fhould be the mod miferable of men, and look upon thatKraal to be doom’d to fome imminent misfortune, where this animal feldom appears. The Hottentots alfo pav a fort of religious wor- They wor- fhip to the fouls of departed Saints and Heroes : fWp departed They confecrate fields, mountains, woods, and '„ mts and rivers to their memory ; and when, at any time, they happen to pafs by fuch confecrated ground, they put a fhort prayer to the fubordinate deity of the place, and fometimes dance round, and clap their hands, as they do in their adorations of the moon : Anti, OF CAFF CHAP. And, being afked the reafon of it, they will fome- IV times anfwer ferioufly, that this is done in honour certain Heroes among their anceftors ; who, when they were upon the earth, were eminent for their valour, beneficence, or other confpicuous vir- tues : But, as the Europeans ufually laugh at them for their ridiculous geftures on thefe occasions, they will very feldom anfwer ferioufly ; and only reply, this is the Hottentot cuftom. And from thefe dif- ferent accounts it is, that we find authors, who have written of the Hottentots, frequently differ in their hiftory ; fome affuring us, that thefe are a£ls of devotion and religion ; and others, that they have not any thing like religion amongft them, and that thefe antick poftures and geftures are only the efte other reilraints : And there are a multitude of others, to whom the Dutch and other Europeans have given the name of Kings, whofe dominions do not exceed the bounds of an ordinary parilh, and whofe power and revenues are proportionably mean. But the lat- ter feem to me, to be no more than particular Clans or I rtbes, whofe Chiefs are permitted to bear fome refemblance to Princes ; to adminifter juftice in their refpedtive diftridls, and make war upon one another, when they apprehend themfelves injur’d by any neigh- bour. But thefe are, in reality, all fubjedl to fome of the fuperior Monarchs firft mention’d, and no bet- ter than their vaflals ; obliged to attend them in their v/ars, to quarter their Soldiers, and to fubmit to fuch duties and impofitions as are impofed upon them. We find, indeed, the Dutch Fadlors on this coaft boafting, that they are fometimes ferved by the fons of Kings, and retain them in their pay, in the qua- lity of Footmen : But they might as well be proud of being ferved by the fon of a petty Conftable. The vanity of the Dutch may eafily be perceived, when they give themfelves thefe airs, as well as the hatred and THE PRESENT $ T A T E C H A P. and contempt they have for all Kings. One reafon VI. of their denominating every little officer a King, is to fhew, that the high and mighty brutes have Kings fubject to them. They formerly brought fome fuch petty Princes from the Eaft-Indies, and confined them in a barren ifland near the Cape, where they were forc’d to work, and make lime for the Dutck- India company, who, in derifion of Kings, gave this wretched place the name of King-Ifland ; and I don’t doubt, but they would ferve all the Monarchs upon earth in the fame manner, if they had them in their power ; tho’ if it be true, that the fame word in the Negroe language fignifies a King, and the Governor of a village of twenty huts, they have the more colour for giving the title of King to both : But the Dutch relate farther, that there are fome republicks on the Guinea coaft like theirs in Hol- land, and particularly two near their capital fort of Las Minas, or D’Elmina : But of thefe I (hall treat, after I have {hewn in what ftate the great Monarchs on this coaft live ; and particularly the King of Fi- dah or Whidah. This Prince, in the words of one of the Dutch Factors, is feared and reverenced by his Tubjedls as a demi-god, who always appear in his pre- fence, either kneeling, or proftrate on the ground : When they attend him in the morning, they pro- ftrate themfelves before the gate of his palace, kifs the earth three times, and, clapping their hands together, ufe fome expreffions that look more like the adora- tion of fome deity, than complements paid to an earthly Prince ; and they even tremble at the fight of him : Fie has his Viceroys, Governors, Gene- rals, and other officers, as European Princes have, ■of whom he conftantly maintains four or five thou- fand with meat and drink ; fome of whom frequent- ly are permitted to eat in his prefence : But no per- fon whatever is permitted to fee his Majefty eat, or to know in what part of the palace he fleeps, unleft his wives, of whom the King feldom has lefs than a ihoulaod. Thefe continually furround him : Thefe are his life-guards, and frequently fent on embafties, and employed in executing fuch commands and fen- tences as feem much more proper for men ; as to punifb criminals, pull down their houfes, and the like. Bosman relates, that, a little before his arri- vall at Whidah, a Negroe officer of his acquaintance having been unjuftly accufed to the King, orders were iffued to demoliftt his houfe, and deftroy all that he had : Of which the man having received fome notice, when a detachment of two or three hundred of the King’s wives came to execute the fentence, they found him placed near a heap of Gun- powder, with a lighted match in his hand, profef- fmg his innocence ; but threatening to blow both diem, and himfelf up, if they did not give him time to reprefent his cafe to the King ; which being a- greed to, he had the good fortune to convince his Eidaian majefty of his innocence, and to get the fen- •tenpe reyers’d. When the King goes abroad al!o, five or fix hun- CHAP, dred of his wives run before him, or attend him : VI. He has not, ’tis faid, a Angle man in his train ; but he fpends the greateli part of his time at home in his palace, adminiftring juftice to his fubjedts, andtranf- aifting affairs of ftate ; or converfing with the Eu- ropean Factors and Merchants, who find him Dual- ly in a ftate ly hall of audience, richly habited in Gold and Silver fluffs : His wives alfo, when they attend him, are richly cloathed and adorned with Gold, Coral and glittering trifles, efpecially their hair ; and tho* the King never eats before company, ’tis faid, he will drink very plentifully both with the Europeans and his own fubjedts. The chief Magiftrates under the King are: The Their Nobi- Cabicero’s, whom he confults in ftate affairs, and ’V- concerning peace and war ; and, by thefe, he ufual- !y adminifters jut lice to the people. Travellers make two claffes of Nobility in every government in Gui- 1 nea : i . The Cabicero’s laft mention’d, who are the G randees of every kingdom or ftate. 2 . Their in- ferior nobility, an order of Knights ; who, being poffeft’d of confiderable fortunes, either by defcent or purchafe, and, having obtained fome reputation in their refpetftive countries, are allowed to have feven trumpets, or hollow Elephants teeth, founded before them when they go abroad. Every one, who is ini- tiated into this order, gives a grand entertainment, and makes prefents to the principal men of the coun- try, in order to obtain this honour : After which, he purchafesa fhield and arms, and performs the ce- remony of lying in arms all night, with his family, in the open field ; intimating, I prefume, his rea- dinefs to defend his country: After which, feveral days are fpent in fealfing and martial exercifes ; and the new Knight is afterwards allowed to carry two fhieldsboth in peace and war. But to return to the King: I don’t find he wears a crown, or that there is any The defcent other ceremony at his acceffion, than the {hewing him of thecrowa. publickly to the people, and facrificing fome animals to his gods. The eldeft fon is always entitled to his father’s throne ; the females never fucceed, unleft in one kingdom upon this coaft : And there have been inftances of a younger brother’s ufurping tire throne, when the eldeft has been at a aiftance from court, by the favour of the people, and taking pofleffion of the palace, and the King’s wives ; for this, it feems, goes a great way in fixing a Prince upon the throne, where die fucceffion is contefted : And the fucceffor makes no fcruple of enjoying the fame wives his fa- ther did, unlefs his own mother be amongft them ; and then fire has a feparate houfe and revenue fettled on her : And, to his father’s wives, the fon, foon j after his acceffion, adds many more, being ufually j prefents made him by his Viceroys and Governors, of the moft beautiful black virgins in his dominions. On the death of a King, the government feems to be diffolved till the fucceffor is proclaim’d ; for the populace OF GUINEA, 57 CHAP, populace are fuffered fo plunder their wealthy neigh- VI. hours, and commit all manner of extravagancies with impunity, till the new King affumes his authority ; and therefore the Great men ufe all imaginable dili- gence to invert him with the regal power. Revenues. This country of Fida is fo rich, and of fo large an extent, that the King’s revenues are very confi- derable. Bos man fays, there are not lefs than i ooo officers employed in colledling the feveral du- ties and taxes, who are difpers’d through every part of his dominions, there being fcarce any thing that is not taxed. There are three Receivers-General purely upon the account of the Slave trade, the King having a Rixdollar (about a Crown) for every flavethat is fold: And of the fhipping, which comes upon the coaft to trade, he receives, one with ano- ther, not lefs than four hundred pounds fterling each ; and there fometimes does not come lefs than fifty in a-feafon. But, as it is in other kingdoms, his offi- cers find means, ’tis faid, to defraud their Prince of the beft part of his revenues. Caws. Tho’ there be no written laws in Guinea, they have particular punifhments appropriated to certain crimes by cuftom. Murder is ufually punifhed with death, if the perfon killed was a free-man; but, for the murder of a Have, a fine only is exa&ed. Adultery alfo is punifhed with death, where it is committed with any of the King’s wives, or the wife of a Great man. Bos man relates, that two Negroes having been guilty of murder at Whidah, they were, in purfuance of their fentence, ripped open alive, their bowels taken out and burnt, and afterwards their bodies fluff’d with fait, and fixed upon two flakes in the market-place, where he faw them : That another Negroe, having been familiar with one of the King’s wives, was fixed to a flake, and there flood as a mark, for the Courtiers to throw their darts and launces at, in the prefence of the la- dy, the partner of his crime, who alfo faw the of- fending member cut off and burnt : After which, they were both tied hand and foot, thrown into a deep pit, and, after a pot of boiling water was lei- furely poured on them, the pit was filled up, and they were buried alive. Another young Negroe, who had drefs’d himfelf in the habit of a woman, and lived fome time a- mong the King’s wives, contriv’d to run away with one of them, and a rich parcel of goods ; but they were taken in the attempt : Whereupon the young fellow was tortur’d, to make him confefs if he had been familiar with any more of them ; but not be- ing able to extort a confeffion from him, they were both burnt in the fame fire. Thievery is ufually punifhed by a heavy fine and | reftitution of the ftolen goods ; and, if the offender has nothing to pay, he is either punifhed with death, or becomes a have to the injur’d perfon: And fo in debt, where the party is infolvent, himfelf, his wife Vol. III. and children are liable to be fold for Haves, accord- CHAP 0 ing to the fentence in the Gofpel. VI. Bosman, giving an account of the two little commonwealths of Axim and Ante, near their fort Republicks. of d’Elmina, fays, that the Cabicero’s are their So- vereigns, and take the adminiflration of the govern- ment upon them in times of peace ; but the reft of the people are confulted in making war : That the Cabicero's are guilty of great corruption in the ad- miniftration of juftice ; and that the party that bribes higheft, ufually carries his caufe ; and it is not uncommon, when a caufe is delay’d or given againft a man, for him to attempt to do himfelf juftice, by feizing the goods of his enemy or debtor ; and this fometimes occafions a war between the tribes or great families, who frequently efpoufe the intereft of their refpeftive friends. In this republick, the ftealing of men, as well as The Dutch the ftealing of cattle, is punifh’d with death ; and I thorfty^ver find the Dutch have ufurp’d fome fort of authority the natives, or dominion over the natives fubjedl to thefe com- monwealths : Whereas no other European nation pretends to bring the people of this coaft into fub- jetftion to them (the Dutch attempt it not only here, but in every part of the world where they get foot- ing). Their countryman relates, that two Cabice- ro’s of Axim, men of fome figure in this ftate, ha- ving been long engaged in an odd dilute, viz. which of them was Have to the other, the caufe came by way of appeal before the Dutch Factor at fort d’Elmina, who took upon him to decide the caufe ; however, he did it in an amicable manner, by perfwading them to lay afide their animofities, and own each other for a free-man ; which they agreed to, embrac’d, and feem’d perfectly reconcil’d before they went out of the fort, making the Dutch Judge handfome prefents for putting an end to the ftrife ; but, before two months were elaps’d, one of the parties hir’d two aflaffins to murder the other, which they effected by {hooting him through the head. This the Hollanders looking upon as a contempt of their jurifdidtion, in order to aflert their authority, fent fome of their officers to demand the murderers, that juftice might be executed upon them ; and, the na- tives refufing to deliver them up, the Hollanders march’d with an arm’d force into their country, threatening deftnuftion to their ftate : At which the Negroes were fo terrify ’d, that they deliver'd the criminals into the hands of the Dutch ; who were contented however with a large fine, at the entreaty of the Negroes. This ftory, related by the chief Faftor of their capital fort of Elmina, {hews fuffi- ciently the dominion the Hollanders have ufurp’d over the natives : And were not the Englilh and other Europeans poflefs’d of forts in their neigh- bourhood, whereby they protect the people and themfelves from their infults, the Hollanders would tyrannize as much on the coaft of Guinea, as they I d® 5 b the presents T A 'T £ CHAP, do in the Eaft-Indies, and in a (Port time not only VI. make {laves of the natives, but drive the reft of the Europeans out of the country, as they have done from the Spice iflands and Java ; where the Spaniards, Portuguefe, and Englifh had fettlements, till they were treacheroufly and barbaroufly driven from thence by the Dutch, which the Englifh never can forget, fb long as there is fuch an ifland as 3 imbOJ?na in being, and fo long as we, and all the other nati- ons of Europe, remain depriv’d of the fine fpices by the ufurpations of the Dutch. It is amazing to me, that all the Princes of the world fhould tamely fit down, and fuft’er the Dutch to monopolize fo valua- ble a branch of trade, and never attempt to recover their rights, or fo much as to put in for a (hare of the fine fpices ! I proceed in the next place to en- quire what arms are uled by the Negroes, their mi- litary difcipline, and way of making war. The Arnnsof Before the arrival of the Europeans upon their •the Negroes - coaft, the Negroes knew nothing of fire-arms , bows and arrows, launces, fwords, darts and ihields conftituted a complete fet of arms ; which were all made by the natives themfelves, with no better tools than a ftone for their hammer, and another for their anvil : Their fwords were very broad, turn’d back like a hanger, had a wooden guard, and were not a- bove a yard in length ; and, ’tis faid, the inland Ne- groes us’d to poifon their darts and arrows ; but this was never done by thofe we meet with on the Gui- nea coaft. They cover and defend themfelves very dexteroufly with their fhields, againft fwords, laun- ces and darts ; but thefe are of no ufe againft muf- ket-bullets. Their fhields are of an oval figure, a- bove 4 foot long and 3 broad, made of light bafket- work, cover’d with the firin of a Tyger or fome o~ ther animal, fometimes with thick leather gilt ; and they have copper plates or boifes on them, which contribute to their defence, and adorn the fhield. The Dutch have been much cenfur'd for furnifhing the Negroes with fire-arms and gun-powder ; but they will fell any thing for money to friend or foe : and this is now one of the beft articles in the com- merce of the Europeans with Guinea ; for, fince the Dutch began to fell them guns and ammunition, they have been imitated in it by other nations ; and the Negroes are obferv’d now to be very good markf- men, having learnt to {hoot {landing, fitting, lying or running ; but they generally attack the enemy under cover, if they can, creeping upon the ground, and firing as they lie upon their bellies, or getting Their way behind fome tree. Every Chief of a tribe or fa- of making mily leads on his own people, flaves and dependants ; but with very little order : They look like fo many crowds or heaps of men, rather than Soldiers ; tho 5 fometimes their heroes fingle out each other, and fight hand to hand with their country weapons. But, jf any of the crowd fires a mufket, he runs out of the fight to load, and then returns again, if his par- ty is not routed in the mean time. And here give tne leave to obferve, how the Soldier is habited when he marches to the wars : He flicks his broad fword C H A P. in the cloth he wraps about him, and has a belt of VI. bandaleers to load his mufket with, and a pouch for his bullets, a cap on his head made of the fkin of a a Crocodile, or fome wild animal, which is adorn’d with red fhells, a bunch of Horfe-hair, and a bright chain bound like a coronet about his head, and his body ufualy painted white, which makes him a very Ihocking figure. Every able-bodied man is oblig’d to march into the field for the defence of his country, or at the command of his Prince ; fo that there are as many Soldiers as men : But there are, however, fome who make arms their only profeffion, and let themfelves out to the neighbouring nations when their own are at peace. Their Princes alfo form alliances here, as ours do in Europe ; and, when any power becomes formidable to the reft, unite in confederacies to reduce him within bounds. But the moft frequent occafl- ons of wars are, the depredations of their Great men upon fome neighbouring nation : Thefe make excurfions frequently into each others territories in- time of peace, and carry off a booty ; and, if fa.- tisfadtion is not given upon demand, the injur’d party makes reprifals, and their refpedtive tribes or nations engage in the quarrel : Nay, if a Great man in one country has a debt owing to him in another, and payment is delay’d, he falls upon any of the tribe the debtor belongs to, and carries off at leaft as much as will fatisfy his debt ; and if the debtor reprefents to the Prince or State he is fubjedt to, that he does not owe any fuch debt, or that he has been hardly and unjuftly dealt with by the creditor, the matter be- comes a national quarrel, arid they fight it out ; and the fide that apprehends it felf weakeft, hires foreign troops, and fometimes whole nations, to affift them ; infomuch, that in one of thefe private quarrels four or five tribes, or nations, perhaps engage on each fide ; and tho’ feveral of the lefler kingdoms and ftates can’t raife more than 2 or 3 thoufand men, there are others that can bring 40 or 5 o thoufand men into the field ; and in the inland country, their Kings can raife as many more : But ’tis obferv’d, they are all forc’d to . quit the field during the rainy feafon. Plunder and prifoners, on whom they fet excefftve high ranfoms, or the extending their territories, are their principal views in thefe wars, as well as thofe of Europe. Before I difmifs this head, it may be proper to take notice of fome wars, in which the Dutch and En- glifh have been concern’d on this coaft, and the oc~ cafion of them ; which will further evince the de- fign of the Dutch to make a conqueft of Guinea, and feize the Gold mines there to the exclufion of other nations ; and that they had probably effected it, if they had not been oppos’d in this project by the Englifh African Company. B osman, the chief Fadtor for the Hollanders An attempt at the capital fort of St. George d’Elmina in Gui- nea, relates, That the Dutch fent Miners thither, m ; nes in the year 1.694. who actually attempted to open a defeated. Gold OF GUINEA. 39 CHAP. Gold mine, in a certain mountain near the Dutch VI. ' fort of Vredenburgh, in the kingdom of Commany. But the Negroes, obferving what the Miners were about, let them know, that this hill was dedicated to one of their gods, and mufl not be touch’d. They reprefented alfo, no doubt, that they had only given the Dutch leave to erect forts there, for the fecurity of their effeas ; but never intended to transfer their country to them, and fuller foreigners to dig and carry away their Gold : And, when the Dutch ftill perfifted in their defign, the natives rofe, and fell upon the workmen, wounding fome, and making prifoners of others. Whereupon the Hollanders complained to the King of Commany of the hofti- lity ; and, receiving no (atisfadtion from him, mar- ched a party of Soldiers into his country, in order to compel the Commanians to relinquilh their mines, and acquiefce in their being wrought by the Dutch ; but they were fo warmly received by the natives, that they were glad to retreat to their fort : And the Commanians, "juftly relenting this attack of the Hollanders, enter’d into a confederacy with the En- glifh, in order to defend their country, and particu- larly their Gold mines, againft any future invafion : For, it feems, the Commanians had given the En- glilh leave to eredt a fort in their country, about a mile from the Dutch fort (which the Hollanders complain was a great hindrance to the projedls they had formed) : And, as the Englilh had reafon to be- lieve their good allies would take the firft opportunity of depriving them of this fortrefs, in order to pof- fefs themfelves of the Gold mines, they very readily confented to come into an alliance with the Com- manians for their mutual defence. However, I per- ceive the Englifh concern’d themfelves no otherwife in the v/ar, than by influencing fome other Negroe powers to join the King of Commany. The Dutch alfo advanced five thoufand pounds, as appears from their own relation ; with which they hired two Ne- groe nations to aflift them in fubduing the Comma- nians, not doubting but they fhould meet with the fame fuccefs their countrymen had done in the year 1687, when they gained feveral victories over the Commanians, and obliged them to fubmit to fuch terms as the Hollanders were pleafed to impofe upon them ; but, the Dutch Governor very imprudently threatening feveral other nations at the fame time, they united againft the Hollanders and their allies, and gave them one of the greateft defeats that ever was known in that country ; fcarce any of the allies of the Dutch efcaping alive out of the field : Howe- ver, the Hollanders did not yet defift from their pro- led! ; but, finding means to corrupt fome other Ne- groe powers, and prevail on them to join them, they engaged in a fecond battle, and received a fecor.d memorable overthrow. And new, finding that it was not poflible to fubdue the Commanians, and difpoflefs the Englifh of their fort, they thought fit to drop their defign of monopolizing thofe golden mountains, and ftrike up a peace with the natives. The Religion of the Guinea Negroes {hall be eon- fider’d in the next place : And, it feems, they gene- rally acknowledge one fupreme almighty Being, that created the univerfe ; and yet pay him no manner of worfhip or adoration, never praying to him, or gi- ving him thanks for any thing they enjoy. They believe he is too far exalted above them, to take any notice of poor mortals ; and therefore pray and fa- crince to a multitude of inferior deities ; of which they have fome in common to whole nations : And yet every man has a god or more of his ov/n chufing. Next to the being of God, no principle feems to be more generally entertain’d in this and other nations of the world," than that God is too great to be ap- proach’d and addrefs’d to by men, and has left the government of the world to inferior deities, that are ready to hear and anfwer their prayers. The chief deity of the Fidaians, a confiderable kingdom of Guinea, is a ferpent of a particular fpecies, whole bite is not mortal , and is fo well ufed by his vota- ries, that he fcarce ever attempts to hurt them. 1 hey addrefs themfelves to this animal on the moft impor- tant occafions ; as for feafonable weather, the pre- fervation of their ftate, or whatever elfe concerns the publick welfare. They have alfo a grand temple eredfed inFida, dedicated to this ferpent; and a Id- ler in almoft every village, with Priefts and Prieft- efles to officiate in them. The King annually makes prefents and offerings to the great temple, confifting of gold, cattle, pieces of filk, and all manner of meat, drink, fruits, and European merchandize, to obtain a plentiful harveft, and the profperity of his kingdom; and, if they apprehend any calamity like to befal them, thefe offerings are frequently re- peated. In this temple, ’tis faid, they always keep a fer- pent, of a monftrous fize, worfhipping the creature in perfon, and not in effigy : And formerly, the King ufed to go on pilgrimage with his whole Court, annually, to adore this ferpent ; but, of late, de- putes a certain number of his wives to perform this ad of devotion in his ftead. Once every year it is pretended, that the virgins, and young women of the country, are feized by this fpecies of ferpents, and worked up to a kind of religious frenzy : Where- upon they are carried to the ferpents temples in the refpedive villages, and obliged to remain there for a certain time, till they return to their fenfes. Thefe are ufually the wives and daughters of the principal men of the place, who thereupon make prefents to the Priefts and Priefteftes ; but my author looks upon the whole to be a pious fraud to get a little money out of the people : And, it feems, if any one refu les his wife or daughft C H A P, VI. G'WJ Religion of Whidah. A Serpent worihipped. The Sen- pent’s teir.” p!e. r to go to this idol temple, when they pretend to be thus infpir’d, he does not only incur the reputation of a prophane perion, and an enemy to their religion, hut is in danger of being ruined by the infii ius ig e n; 3 nr of the Priefts; And that they mat be iupported by the J 2 Government THE PRESENT STATE 60 C H A P. Government in their pretenfions, the King, it Teems, VI, is allowed to fhare the profits which the Priefts gain by this pretended infpiration of the females, who, when they are difmis’d from the ferpents temple, are required not to divulge what has happened to them there, under the fevered penalties ; but this feetns to be needlefs, becaufe the women are fond of going to thefe temples on fuch occafions, being al- lowed to take greater liberties there, than they could at home. To confirm which. Bos man relates, that one of the natives of his acquaintance, having a wife that pretended to be feized with this religious frenzy, humour’d her in it, and offered to conduct her to the ferpent’s temple; but, infteadof it, con- vey’d her to the houfe of a European Fadtor, and gave her to underftand, that he would certainly fell her for a Have, if the did not immediately lay afide her mafk, and return to her wits : Whereupon fhe fell upon her knees, and begged his pardon, promi- fing never to trouble him with thefe humours any more, if he would forgive her ; which he readily granted, on her promifing fhe would never divulge what had happened to her Prieft; and thus (fays my author) he faved the trouble and expence of fending her to that religious mad-houfe : But, had the mat- ter been difcoverkl, the man would infallibly have been ruin’d. Another Negroe, of the Gold coaft, who married a wife at Whidah, laying her in irons for pretending to counterfeit a religious frenzy, was adfually poifon’d by the Priefts, when our author was there, according to his apprehenfions at leaft ; the man vifibly declining in his health thereupon, of which he could give no other account. But this feems to be only a conjecture of Bosman’s, who appears to have been an enemy to Priefts of all re- ligions, and to every thing that had any relation to religion ; for his inference is, “ From hence you may obferve, that, throughout the world, it is very “ dangerous to difoblige Ecclefiafticks” ; not ex- cepting the Priefts of his own church : And, indeed, few Dutchmen have any other god, but their gain; at leaft they generally make their fpiritual concerns fubfervient to their fecular interefts, witnefs their re- nouncing their Chriftianity at Japan, for a liberty to trade there, exclufive of all other Chriftian nations. Certain it is, the Japanefe will fuffer no other Chri- ftian, Proteftant, or Papift, to trade with them at this day : And, as the Dutch know themfelves to have been charged with this fcandalous piece of hy- pocrify for many years, and have never endeavour’d to clear themfelves of it, the world now take it for granted that they cannot : I wifh they would, if .they are innocent, take an opportunity of refuting the charge, that I might do them juftice ; for I would not be inftrumental in conveying down fuch an afperfion on a whole nation to pofterity, if I did not think there were too good grounds to believe it. But to return to the Fidaians : Such is the reverence they bear to theft ador’d ferpents, that, fhould any perfon hurt one of them, or but touch him with a CHAP, ftick, our author affures us, he would be condemn’d VI, to the flames : He fays, the Englilh, when they firft traded thither, being ignorant that thefe ferpents were worfhipp’d by the natives, kill’d one of them they found in their houfe ; and that the whole coun- try rofe in arms thereupon, pull’d them in pieces, and burnt their merchandize and all their effeCts ; but I muft confefs I do not give entire credit to the fad, fince our author informs us, it was an old ftory; and I do not find it mention’d by any other writer. But Bos man relates, that, when he was at Fida,. a Negroe, who was a f rreigner, only took one of thefe brakes gently on a ftick, and carried the crea- ture out ot his houfe without hurting it : Where- upon the natives of Fida fet up their great howl, as they ufually do in cafe of a fire, immediately alarm’d the whole city ; and it was with great difficulty that the King of f ida, being made fenfible of the ftran • ger’s ignorance, faved his life. The fame writer affures us, that, in hot weather, thefe ferpents creep out of their holes, into their houfes, by half dozens, laying themfelves upon their chairs, benches and tables, and even getting into their beds when they are afleep ; and they have no way of getting rid of the vermin, but by calling the natives to then affiftance, who will gently take them up in their hands, and carry them out of doors. The more venomous ferpents, it feems, frequently attack thefe deified fnakes, and would be too hard for them, on account of their ftrength and fuperior venom ; but, the whole country ufually rifing when they fee the adored animal attack’d by man or beaft,he never fails to conquer, if the battle happens in view of any of his votaries. Fhe largeft fize of thefe adored ferpents are about two yards long, of the bignets of a man s arm, anti adorn’d with white, brown and yellow ftreaks. They are great devourers of Rats ; but, if a fnake of this fize feizes one, his throat is lb narrow, that it is an hour before he gets the Rat through into his belly. Such is the veneration of this people for thefe crawling, and to us terrible animals, that they will not hear any thing fpoken in derifion of them, flop- ping their ears, and running away, if any European pretends to laugh at their fuperftitious reverence for them. B osman relates, that a Hog happening to devour one of thefe fnakes, a proclamation was im- mediately iflued for deftroying all the Hogs in the country, and abundance of them were flaughter’d on the occafion ; but, at the inftance ot feme of their rich owners, and feme prefents made to the King, the fevere decree was revok’d : But Bos m a n affures us, that fo many were flaughter’d, that Hogs- fleth became very dear while he was there. 1 he next things the fidaians pay divine honours Lofty tress to, are fine lofty trees and groves. To thefe they ador, - d< apply in their ficknefs, or on any private misfortune; and I ought to have taken notice, that all the fer- pents OF GUINEA. I or under fome CHAP, pents temples are in feme grove VI. fpreading tree. The Sea is another of their principal gods, to And the Sea. w h om they facrifice when the winds and waves are fo tempeftuous, that no foreign Merchants can vifit their coaft ; which ufually happens in July and Au- guft, and fometimes in other months : Then they throw in all manner of goods, meat, drink and cloathing, to appeafe the enraged element. But, befides thefe publick objects of adoration, every man has a numerous fet of gods, of his own chufing, at Fida. Every thing they meet with on going abroad, animate or inanimate, they introduce fnto the number, after it has undergone the follow- ing trial : They pray to it for fomething they (land in & need of ; and, if they obtain their defire by any means, they afcribe their fuccefs to the influence of this new god ; but if they are diiappointed, they conclude that it cannot or will not help them, and treat it with contempt, addrefling to it no more : Which puts me in mind of the Portuguefe, who are faid to pray very zealoufly to the image ol St. An- thony, which they carry about them ; but, if he does not anfwer their expectations, they beat the image unmercifully, and drag it through every ken- nel by way of revenge. But to return : Both Prieft and Prieftefles have an uncommon re- fpedt fhewn them in the kingdom of Fida or Whi- dah : Their perfons, and all that belong to them, are held facred and inviolable ; and tho’ the wives ot other men are little better than flaves to their huf- bands, the hufband of a Prieftefs is obliged to be all obedience at his peril : Both the ecclefiaftical and ci- vil Government would refent his afluming any au- thority over fuch a wife ; which makes the natives very cautious of marrying- a Prieftefs. Nor would they ever confent, that their wives fhould be ad- mitted into the order of priefthood, if they could help it. For, as I apprehend it, there is a certain tribe amongft them, who are Priefts and Prieftefles by inheritance ; but then there are others admitted by that tribe into this order upon fpecial occaftons. They have imperfect and confus’d notions of Hear ven and a future State ; and fome of them mention a local Hell for the punifhment of the wicked, but feem to regard it as little as Chriftians do. Thus, having enquir’d into the religion of the t idaians, I proceed to treat of the opinions of the people ol the Gold coaft in this article, where our author reftded many years. Here the people alfo believe in one fupreme, al- mighty Being ; but look upon him to be too much above them, to regard their affairs ; and therefore addrefs their prayers upon all occaftons to fome inferi- or deities or demi-gods, as the Greeks ufually did of old : Some of them believe, that both black and white men were created by the fupreme God at the fame time ; while others afcribe the creation to a great fpider they call Ananfte, Every thing rda- Religion of the Negroes on the Gold coaft. ting to religion they denominate Fetiche, as has been CHAP, obferv’d already ; but to the idol of their hearts, or favourite god, they give the title of Boflam, and to this god the beloved wife is always dedicated. Every Prieft, or Feticheer, have a different god, to whom the people under his care apply on publick occaftons or common calamities. When they are de- bating on war and peace, they bring facrifices, and confult the god by their Prieft, who fometimes per- forms the ceremony alone, and returns an anfwer to thofe who come to enquire of him ; at other times he cofults the idol in their prefence; from whom however they expedl no vocal anfwer ; but the Prieft throws up fome nuts or fmall pieces of leather, and, as they fall nearer or further from each other, he foretels good or bad fuccefs to the undertaking. They take every folemn oath alfo before an idol, drinking a draught after it, and praying that their god may ftrike them dead, or the liquor may burft them, if they do not perform their engagements, or if the thing be not true which they atteft : However, it feems, the Prieft has power to abfolve them from thefe oaths: To prevent which, upon great occaft- ons they make the Prieft fwear, that he will not ab- folve the party, or difpenfe with his oath, requiring the moft dreadful imprecations from the Prieft to con- firm it : And the Negroes believe that whoever drinks the dreadful cup with fuch imprecations, and after- wards breaks it, will infallibly burft or die (bon after. When the weather is unfeafonable, either exceflive wet or dry, the whole town, or country, confult their Prieft how the vengeance of Heaven may be appeas’d ; and he generally advifes them to ofter cer- tain facrifices, which is readily comply ’d with : And every village has a facred grove let apart, where the facrifices are kill’d, and divine worlhip perform’d; and thefe they will not fuffer to be profaned or cut down upon any occafton. But, befides the idol that belongs to the Piieft, every perfon has his particular houftrold-god, before whicli he conftantly performs his devotions on the day of the week he- was born : This they call their Boflam, as they do the day itfelf, and drink no wine or ftrong liquor on that day be- fore fun-fet : They are alio then habited in white, or their (kins colour’d with a whitilh earth or paint. There is another day of the week alfo fet apart for divine worfhip ; when the Poor facrifice Poultry, and the Rich a Sheep, to their god, without the aflift- ance of a Prieft, which is eaten by the man and his friends; but the guts and inwards, boil’d in the blood, is reckon’d the moft dilicious morfel here, as well as in Caffraria : And there are few families in Guinea, but what are obliged, by ancient cuftom ( which drey think themfelves religioufly bound to perform ) to ab- ftain from certain kinds of meat ; fome from the flefh of Goats, others from that of Hogs, and a third perhaps from tame white Fowls ; and their reipeebve children and pofterity never deviate from the rules preferib’d by their anccftors : Among which, at Acra 62 THE PRES: CHAP. Acra on the Gold doaft, circumcifion is one ; but, VI. from whence they received it, Or how long they have ufed this rite, none amongft them know ; nor is it ufed by any other nation of Guinea. What notion they have of the deities they wor- fhip is uncertain, any further than that they look up- on them as beings veiled with great power, and that carefully obferve their behaviour, and reward and punifh them in this life according to their deme- rits : They have not any great expeditions, or dread of futurity, his faid ; the rewards they expeCt, are a multitude of wives and Haves, health and wealth, and other profperous circumftances in this world : And the punifhments they apprehend, are a deprivation of thefe. The greateft calamity that can befal them, and what they dread moil, is death : Murder, adul- tery and theft, according to my author, are ve- nial crimes, and may be attoned for with Gold, &c. But their eating forbidden meats, and drinking pro- hibited liquors, and a negleCt of their holidays, they think can never be pardon’d, but will ( with delibe- rate and wilful perjury) be punifh ’d with death. Moil of them, as has been hinted already, believe little of future rewards and punifhments ; tho 5 they feem generally to agree, that the fouls of good men furvive after death ; and fome few of them talk of a Paradife not unlike the Elyfian fields, whither good fpirits are fent ; that is, fuch as have kept their ho- lidays, inviolably abftain'd from forbidden meats, and obferved their oaths : And thofe that have been deficient in any of thefe particulars are drown’d in a certain river, and a period put to their exiftence ; but fcarce any of them feem to have any notion of a wicked man’s being punifhed eternally. Thofe that have, are fuppofed to have learnt it from the Chrifti- ans, with whom they have converfed upwards of ■200 years: And there are thofe, that imagine their fouls, after death, pals into the bodies of white men, and undergo an almoft unlimited tranfmigration. Tho’ all the Negroes worfhip fome creature or other, yet they have not all idols or images in their houfes ; and fome of the natives of the mountainous inland country, ’tis faid, worfhip a living man, as the Tartars near China do ; of whom they relate ten thoufand miracles, and believe he dooms them to happinefs or mifery after death, according to their deferts : They are charged alfo with worfhipping the Devil, and keeping a folemn feftival, of eight days continuance, annually to his honour. But Bosman is of opinion this is a miftake ; he acknowledges in- deed they hold fuch a feftival ; but, he lays, it is in order to drive the Devil out of their country. Seven days are fpent in feafting, finging and danc- ing, and great liberties are taken with impunity at that time : They lampoon their fuperiors, and make ballads on them, committing all manner of extra- vagancies ; and, on the eighth day in the morning, they hunt the Devil out of every town and village with horrid cries and howling, throwing dirt and 2 iNT STATE ftones after him ; and, when they have continued CHAR the frolick as long as they fee fit, they return home, VI. where they find the good woman employ’d in dean- ing and fcouring all their pots, pans and utenfils, and purifying them from all uncleannefs they might have contracted by Satan’s refiding amongft them. They have no other annual feftivals but this, and another after harveft, when they facrifice to their gods for affording them the fruits of the earth : AsTo their weekly fabbath, fome keep it on a Tuefday, and others on a Friday, when no perfon is permitted to go a fifhing ; but they don’t feem very fcrupulous as to other kinds of work. However, they all abftain from Wine on their refpeCtive fabbaths, and facrifice fomething to their gods on that day. They certainly believe, that their fouls furvive af- ter death ; not only becaule fome of the gods they worfhip are thought to have been once great and virtuous perfons upon earth, but by the numerous ftones they entertain the Europeans with of appari- tions or fpirits : Nay, they feem to believe fpeCtres and apparitions more firmly than any article of their religion, terrifying themfelves and others with an apprehenfion of being difturbed by them. Never any perfon dies, especially if he be a man of figure, but they believe he appears for feveral nights about the place where he died ; which does not confift at all with the notion fome have given us of them, that they believe the foul dies with the body : Nay, they aferibe a great power to fuch unimbodied fpi- rits ; of which Bosman gives the following in- ftance. He fays, one of their Kings happening to be kill’d, who was a profefs’d enemy to the Dutch, and the chief Factor of the Hollanders fort dying fome few days after, they concluded he had been fnatch’d away by their deceas’d King, who had a power of punifhing him in the other world, tho 5 he could not fubdue the Dutch while he was in this mortal ftate. They feem to have a great deal of faith in magick or witchcraft, or fomething like it, endeavouring to revenge themfelves on their ene- mies by charms and fpells, which they hire a Prieft to ufe, believing his curfes will have the defir’d effect : They apply to him alfo for the difeovery of ftolen goods, which he pretends to help them to by the aid of good or bad fpirits, but which of them our author don’t inform us 5 only obferves, that their Pritfts aCt in a triple capacity, viz. as Prophets, Conjurers and Phyficians ; and, when medicine does not anfwer their expectations, they have recourfe to facrifices and charms ; and the people have fo good an opinion of them, that, if the Prieft does not re- cover the patient, or fucceed in what he undertakes, they impute it to fome defect in the facrifice or them- felves, or to any thing, rather than the unfkilfulnefs or inability of the Prieft. I he next particular I fhail enquire into, is the The Diet of Diet of the Negroes : And, it feems, they eat but Negroes, poorly upon the Gold coaft (at ieaft in the opinion of the OF GUINEA. 63 r H A P th» Europeans). Millet, boil’d to the confiftence of their ftomachs and bowels, out a fpecies that are CHAP CHAF. r "V q me frmnrl between the tkin and the flefti, and give the VI. VI. vyv Difeafes of the Negroes bread, is their comman food, or Potatoes, Yams, and other roots in the room of it, well drench d in Palm oil ; and, if to this they add a few bod’d herbs and {linking fifh (for they always let them lie upon the ground till they ftink) the common people think they live luxurioufly that day : Nor do their fuperiors eat better, only they allow themfelves a greater quan- tity of fifh and herbs than the poor can afford. They have a difh alfo much admir’d by them, which is a mixture of corn, pafte and Palm oil bod’d toge- ther, to which they give the name of Malaget, and is in fome efteem with the Dutch, poffibly becaufe it may refemble their own Grout. They have alfo variety of Garden-beans and Pulfe, with Banana s and other fruits that ferve them for food. At Benin and the Slave coaft the better fort of people eat Beef, Mutton and Fowls ; and are fo good to their poor, ’tis faid, that they are always welcome to their tables when they want employment, and cannot provide for themfelves. They are alfo ex- tremely hofpitable to ftrangers, being proud of no- thing: more than the character of generous free-heart- ed people. Dried fifh and roots are the principal food of the common people at Benin : But, how meanly foever the Negroes live as to eating, thofe near the coaft make it up with liquor, ft here is no part of the Guinea coaft where they don t drink drams in the morning, and Palm wine in the after- noon ; and their Chiefs of the towns, or petty Kings, as the Dutch call them, will meet the meaneft of their fubjeefs in the market-place of an evening, and, forming a circle upon the ground, drink to a very great excefs, being attended by their women at the fame time, who are no lefsaddified to drink- ing than the men, and their converfation is ufually as fmutty as that of a drunken crew of Sailors, which does not at all offend the modefty of the Negroe females, who maintain their ground, and fit drink- ing and fmoaking with the men frequently till morn- ing. But, I’m apt to think, the Negroes of the inland country are not fo diftolute a people as thofe upon the coaft : If foreigners were to make an efti- mate of the Englifh, from the people of both fixes they meet with in the fea-port towns, it would not be much to our advantage. But, befides Wine, they have a fort of Beer made of Millet, fome ot it very ftrong ; few of them drink Water, it being efteem’d very unwholefome here : And they have alfo the milk of young Cocoa-nuts, which is an exceeding cooling and refrefhing liquor ; but, as foi Cow’s milk, I perceive they never drink of it. Notwithftanding this country is found fo unhealth- ful for European conftitutions, the natives have but very few diftempsrs : The Small-pox is the mod fatal to them of any. This, indeed, fweeps them away like the Plague, as it generally does all other people in warm climates : And Worms are an epi- demical diftemper 5 net fuch as afflict our people in found between the fkin and the flefti, and give the VI. patient inexpreffible torment till they are drawn out ; and this is an operation that lafts a month, and more fometimes. As foon as the head of the Worm has broken through the tumour, and is come a little way of it- felf, they draw it further, winding it about a ftick a little at a time ; and, when they find it come hard, they defift, for fear of breaking it ; and then try at it again another day, and fo on till they have got it quite out, and then the patient is at eafe : But, if the Worm breaks, he endures a great deal of pain ; for the Worm either rots in the flefti, or breaks out at another place : Some of the Negroes have 9 or 10 of thefe Worms in them at once, and the Europeans are not entirely free from them. Thefe Worms are a yard long, and fometimes as much more : Nor is this the diftemper of Guinea only, our people, as well as the natives, are afflidled with it in the Eaft-Indies. A greedy ravenous Appetite is alfo reckon’d among the difeafes of the Guinea Negroes, which proceeds, as fome imagine, from drinking Palm wine to excefs. The Venereal diftemper is alfo fatal to many of them, having yet no methods of cure ; and few of them efcape it amidft fuch num- bers of common women, who make a trade of let- ting themfelves out. Wounds in the wars of Mars are no lefs dangerous than thofe of Venus, efpecially if there be any {batter’d bones ; for they can cure nothing but ordinary flefti- wounds, which they do by applying pultefies of fome falutary herbs to them,. But tho’ the Negroes are generally healthful, they l'eldom live to a great age ; one of fifty is efteemed an old man in this country. As to the remedies for thefe, and other difeafes, travellers relate, that they ule green herbs in moft cafes : But what herbs thofe are, they have not yet inform’d us, poffibly few Botanifts have made the voyage, it being generally fo fatal to Europeans. I proceed therefore to enquire Difeafes of into the diftempers Europeans are principally affliefted ^ with on the Guinea coaft, and the reafons ufually given for their ill ftate of health here. The diftem- pers Europeans are moft fubjeFt to, are Fevers, Dy- fenteries, and the Colick. Bos man aferibes them to the exceffive heat of the day, and the coldnefs or the night, the Europeans not being ufed to fuch Hid- den changes. Another reafon he affigns, is the thick {linking fogs, that arife from the valleys between the hills, and from the falt-marfhes near the fea, and at the mouths of the rivers where their factories are ufually fituated : Nor does the {linking fifh, which the natives lay to rot upon the fltoie, contribute a little to infedf the air, he thinks : And it is- a matter of fact not to be contefted, that few arrive here, but are immediately feiz d with a fit of ficknefs, Oi which abundance die. But he aferibes this, in a great meafure, to the want of good kitchen phyfick and good medicines .; and tho’ a great many haften their 6 a the present state C H A P. their own deaths by Intemperate living, yet the moft VL regular men are frequently carried off : Indeed the Portuguefe, who come from a warmer climate, and are ufed to another fort of diet than the Englifh and Dutch, have their healths on all the coaft of Africa a! molt as well as the natives ; and therefore difcove- ries in thofe warm latitudes feem much properer for them, than for the more northern nations. But, among other caufes that B os m an affigns for the ill health of the Europeans, is the plague of Flies ; fuch fwarms of Gnats or Mufkeeto’s are perpetually buzzing about and flinging them, fo that they can get no reft night or day : And this is the cafe of all countries that are hot and moift. Thefe and a thou- fand other infers are perpetually feafting upon the blood and flefh of thofe that come amongft them ; and, as they feem to delight moft in that of foreign- ers, fo their flings are attended with worfe confe- quences, than when they attack a native : For the firft are fo fwell’d up at their arrival, that they can fcarce be known by their friends ; whereas the na- tives, and thofe who have been ufed to the country, feel no fuch effects from their bite or fling. It is obferved alfo, that warm woody countries, that are not clear’d, and where the winds have not a free paffage, are much the worft. Marriages. I fhall, in the next place, enquire into their Mar- riage-ceremonies, and the condition of their women and children : And, I find, the lover or his friends contrail with the father of the virgin, and that fre- quently before the girl is capable of making any choice ; fo that if matrimony confifts in the mutual confentof the parties, there is no fuel) thing here. The parents of the bride and bridegroom make the bargain when they are children, and no fon or daugh- ter ever pretends to difpute the authority of the fa- ther in this matter, when they grow up. As foon as the bride is deemed capable of man iage-joys, fne is taken home by the hufband, without any other fortune to recommend her, than her native charms : For the hufband, it feems, prefer.ts her with her very cioaths and ornaments, of which he takes a particu- lar account, becaufe, if fhe mifbehaves herfelf, fhe is ftripp’d of them, and return’d naked to her friends ; but, if the man divorces her without any fault of hers, Ihe carries off her wedding cioaths and jewels. There is an entertainment for the friends and rela- tions when the wife is taken home, and (he is buf- fered to drefs and live at her eafe for fome few days ; but then fhe is forced to work amongft the reft of his wives, to dig, plant, and fow the ground ; for the men leave the hufbandry, as well as the bufinefs of the houfe, entirely to the women ; and there feems to be very little difference between their wives and flaves in this refpect : Therefore no man ftands upon quality in the choice of a wife ; for, as he de- hgns to ufe her as a drudge, he will as foon take the daughter of the meaneft man, as of one of their chiefs. I hole that live the eafieft amongft them, are the wives of the Merchants, the dealers in Wine, and CHAP, the Fifhermen, who have no lands to manure ; for VI, thefe do fomething towards bringing in a livelihood, and providing for their families : Whereas the men of eftates make their wives manure and cultivate them ; and the more wives they have, the greater is their flock of Corn, Rice and Plants, which makes them multiply their wives as faft as they can ; tho’ thofe on the Gold coaft, my author fays, are limited to twenty ; yet, in the kingdom of Whidah, they take fome hundreds, and the King feveral thoufands, who are no more exempted from hufbandry and other drudgeries, than thofe of private men, except fome few of his favourites. They have alfo one wife they call their Boffum, dedicated to their houf- hold-god, who is exempted from working, and en- joys many other privileges in the life-time of her hufband ; but fome fay, it is expedled fhe fhould fol- low her lord into the other world, when he makes his exit, as is expected alfo from fome Indian wives ■, but this does not feem to be much pradlifed of late : The Boftiim is ufually fome young beautiful Have, purchafed with a defign of dedicating her to his god, and with whom he feems under fome obligation of fpending his time on the night of his birth-day, and of the other day of the week appropriated to the fer- vice of their gods. There is alfo another wife, to whom the affairs of the houfe are entrufted, and the government of the reft is committed, who is ex- empted from labour : And thefe two the Negroes are very jealous of, and endeavour to keep to them- felves ; but, for the reft, they are not fo much con- cern’d : The common people will wink at their be- llowing their favours on other men ; and, indeed, promote their own dilhonour, provided they can get money by it : They will, ’tis laid, contrive with their wives how to draw young fellows into the fnare, for the fake of the damages they are entitled to, when another invades their property ; for the meaneft man does not recover lefs than five or fix pounds fter- ling, if he can prove the offence ; and they generally find means to have fome evidence of the fadt, be- fides the wife’s : For, if the man will take a folemn oath that he is innocent, and there can be no wit- nels againft him but the wife (as I underftand Bos man) he cannot be conv idled. Upon the Gold coaft, the man and his wife have Defctnt of not a community of goods, ’tis faid ; but thofe the eftates. men leaves go to his eldeft brother and his children ; and thofe of the women to her eldeft brother and his ifiue : Their refpedlive children do not inherit the goods of either father or mother. However, if the father be a fovereign Prince, or Lord of any town or country, the eldeft lbn fucceeds his father in thefe commands, tho’ he has nothing of his ef- fedls, but his arms ; and at Whidah, and other parts of Guinea, the eldeft fon fucceeds to his father’s effate and c ft eels, as well as in the governments and lordlhips he held ; And tho’ the Negroes ufe their concubines o F G U 1 N E A. 65 CHAP concubines and female-Haves frequently, as well as girl ; and, as they grow up, they gain a third by CHAR VI ’ their wives bv contraa ; yet are their children illegi- their employment, or fome great aftion they per- Vi. timate, and Haves to the heir, if he does not en- form ; as the killing a wild bead, fignalizing them- franchife them before his death. The multitude of felves in the wars, and the like, in fome places wives, concubines and Haves thefe people keep, is they circumcife their children ; but this is not per- for the date and grandeur of the matter, as well as form’d ’till they are five or fix years of age, or more, on account of the profit of them : Here, as well as They alfo imitate the Jews, in obliging their wo- in India, a man is edeem’d according to the number men to live feparately from them at certain times; of women and Haves he keeps to run before him, and are fo fevere upon them in fome parts of Gui- and to fin? and dance, and divert him when he ap- nea, that they make it a forfeiture of their liberties pears in publick. But there is one inconvenience in to come into any man’s houfe in luch circumdances. a man’s having a large family, and numerous de- The women that are unmarried, ’tis faid, take pendants, in Guinea; that he is anfwerable for all very great liberties, which is no reproach to them the mifchief and damage they do any one, and obli- upon this coad, neither does it hinder their getting ged to make it good : Nor do the people here wait, hufbands ; but this is to be underdood .only of the till they can have judice done them in courts of law ; inferior people : And, as thefe fell their favours as but, where a man’s Have has done them any injury, dear as they can, Bosman relates, there are others they immediately make reprilals on the mader ; and purchaied by every townlhip almod, to lupply the this is frequently the occafion of wars among the neceffities of unmarried men ; and that thefe are o« different tribes, who ufually efpoufe the caufe of their bliged to admit of the men’s company, whether feveral friends and relations, as has been hinted already. Haves or others, for the value of a farthing : That The Negroes of the inland country are much thefe women have huts by the way-fides, where more jealous of their honour, than thofe upon the they entertain thofe that are difpofed to become their coad : If any one is familiar with their wives, no- gallants : That they generally get an ill diieafe by thing lefs than his ruin will fatisfy them : If the of- their converfing with fuch numbers of men, and fender be a Have, his death mud attone for the crime, become the mod miferable objects in the world ; in which he ufually undergoes the mod exquifite tor- none thinking it worth while to take any care of ture ; apd his mader is obliged to pay a confidera- their cure, or to relieve their wants, tho’ thefe crea- ble fine befides. The woman alfo pays for her wan- tures are mightily carefs’d while they are in their tonnefs with the forfeit of her life, unlefs her rela- bloom : And the Dutch tell us, that, when they tions will redeem her with a fwinging fine ; and would bring any of the neighbouring towns to their where {he has committed the crime with a Have, terms, they (eize thefe ladies of pleafure, and carry no money will purchafe her peace : She is put to them to their forts, being aflured the natives will death without mercy, and the mader of the Have fubmit to any thing to obtain their liberty. B os- obliged to pay the hufband very confiderable dama- man adds, that people here look upon it as an aft of ges : There have been indances of thofe, who have charity to purchafe fuch young female-fiaves, to re- been obliged to pay two or three thoufand pounds lieve the neceffities of the publick; and that the for the offence of a Have, where a Prince or Great rich Negroe women frequently leave fome legacies man is injur’d ; and thefe ufually affemble their of this kind when they die ; which brings me to fubjefts and dependants, and do themfelves judice, treat of the behaviour of the Guinea Negroes, on as in other cafes, engaging the whole country in the the death of their relations, and the folemnity of quarrel. But, if the man goes adray, the wife has their funerals. no redrefs, die mud not murmur whenever he When a perfon of any figure dies, his wives, Their fone- ranges; which feems a little unjud, becaufe the cu- his relations. Haves and dependants, immediately fet rals ‘ dom of the country allows a man women in abun- up a difmal howl : His wives diave their heads, dance of his own : Whereas twenty or thirty fe- cloath fuch parts of their bodies with rags, as are males, perhaps a great many more, fliare but one ufually cloathed, and, for the red, colour their black man amoned them. fkins with a white paint or clay, running about the They feern to have a great regard to their wo- dreets, and bewailing themfelves like fo many di-- men when they are with child, and make lacrifices drafted creatures ; and this they repeat feveral days and offerings to their gods when a woman is fird fuccefiively : And, it teems, the people ot Guinea found pregnant. At the birth of the child the Pried Icarce look upon death to be natural ; but that it is al- l's fent for, who binds up the head, puts on fome ways a punidnnent inflifted on them by their gods, for rings and fpells to proteft the infant againd enchant- fome notorious offences. The Pried therefore being V men-ts, and performs fome religious ceremonies upon fent for, a very drift enquiry is made into the life the occafion, as our Europeans apprehend at lead : ot the deceas'd ; as, Whether he was ever perjur d ? And there are two names bedowed upon it, viz. Whether Ire was guilty ot eating prohibited meats ? the day of the week on which it is born, the grand- Whether he obleiv’d their iabbaths and holidays, or •father’s name if a bov, and the grandmother’s if a the like ? Bosman lays, the deceas’d is carried Vol. III. ' K ’ about 66 . T H E PRE CHAP, about upon men’s {boulders, while the Prieft puts VI. thefe queftions to him ; and, by fome circumftances in the pofition of the body, or its inclining one way or other when the Prieft puts the queftion to him, he conjectures the caufe of his death, and communicates it to his relations. There is ftill another way they ufually imagine he may have been taken off ; and that is, by the charms or {pells of his enemies : And accordingly, if any of his enemies have been fufpec- ted of pracftifing magick, they make no fcruple of charging him with the death of their friend, and perhaps endeavour to revenge it. While the corpfe remains unburied, all the relati- ons, friends and neighbours, attend it, and join in the lamentions of the family : It is cuftomary alfo to bring prefents with them of gold, linnen, good li- quors, fruits, and other eatables, which feerns the more reafonable, fmce they are entertaind by the heir all the time of their ftay. At length the corpfe, be- ing richly habited, is put into a coffin, with a con- fiderabie quantity of gold, coral, and other valuable effects, fuitable to the circumftances of the deceas’d : He is carried to the burying-place, preceded by great numbers of Mufketeers, who fire their guns all the way, and the reft of the people follow the corpfe, making the air ring with their lamentations, but obferve no manner of order in the proceffion. So foon as the corpfe is interr’d, moll of the com- pany return to the houfe of the deceas’d, which is now no longer a place of mourning ; for here they drink and feaft for feveral days fucceffively, congra- tulating the heir probably on his coming to the pof- feffion of his eftate. ficVdo/the* ^ ien a King is buried. Bos man afilires us, fe- death°ofV veralof his Haves are facrificed, in order to ferve him Tiing. in the other world ; as are his Boffums, or wives, dedicated to his gods ; which is another manifeft proof, that the Negroes believe the foul furvives the body, and that men have much the fame neceffities, and enjoy the like ftations in the other world, as they did in this ; tho’ the latter part of this notion is very different from the Chriftian’s belief, who make the virtuous only to be entitled to a place in Paradife: But what is ftill more to be lamented, than the put- ting thefe miferable wretches to death, is the pain they endure in the execution. They pierce and cut them, as in fport, for feveral hours : Bosman fiys, he faw eleven put to death in this manner ; and, a- mongft them, one who had endured themoft exqui- fite torture, was deliver’d to a little child to cut off his head, which he was an hour in doing with a hea- vy broad fword he could hardly lift. Inftead of a tomb, the Negroes ufually build a houfe, or plant a garden over the grave ; and, at Axim, they fet images of clay upon it, which they walh and clean every year on the anniverfary of the funeral, when the expence is as great, as at the time the perfon was buried. SENT STATE They are not lefs defirous of being interr’d among CHAP, their anceftors, than the people of Europe ; and, VI. when they die at too great a diftance from home to be removed thither, their relations, however, will bring home their friend’s head, and fome of his limbs, particularly if he is kill’d in a foreign war. There are fome other articles that ftill remain to Language be fpoke to, fuch as their languages, learning, mu- fick and diverfions ; but I meet with little on thefe heads. Bosman tells us, that their language is a very difagreeable brutal found: That, tho’ the Eu- ropeans have often endeavour’d to expreft their words in writing, they have never been able to do it : From whence I am apt to infer, it is not very different from that of the Hottentots, who exprets themfelves, in many inftances, by inarticulate founds, which travellers compare to the noife of Turkey-cocks: However, of this fort of language, it feems, there are many different dialedls, fo different from each o- ther, that, in the fpace of fixty miles, there are fix or feven feveral people upon the Gold coaft that don’t understand one another, according to the fame writer: And, as for learning, where there is neither reading or writing, and they know nothing of the dead languages, or even of the modern of any coun- try but their own ; nothing of that kind can be ex- pected from them : They are perfectly igvorant when their country was firft peopled, and from what na- tion they derive their original ; but feem to have a pretty general tradition, that both Black and White men were created lb at firft by God, and do not af- cribe their dark complexions to the heat of the Sun, or to any accident or circumftance in their Situation. To which fome add another tradition (viz.) that God, foon after the creation, gave them their choice ofwifdom or wealth; and that their anceftors chofe the latter : Whereupon God placed them in Africa ; but was fo angry with the option they made, that he doomed them to be fiaves to the White men, on whom he bellowed wifdom, learning, arts and (ciences, and gave the Blacks the treafures of Gold ; for, ac- cording to their notion, learning is appropriated to the White men, and Gold to the Blacks : That there is • no Gold to be had out of their country, nor any learning amongft thofe who inhabit it. Bosman mentions a Popifh Prieft, that ufed great endeavours to fet thefe people right in their notions, and make profelytes of them to Chriftianity ; and, when all his arguments proved ineffectual, threatened them with the flames of hell for perfifting in their fuperftitions : To which they only anfwer’d, that they Ihould be in as good a condition as their anceftors, who had, for time immemorial, worlhip’d the fame gods, and obferved the fame cuftoms. Their mufical inftruments at Axim, Bosman Mufick. informs us, are trumpets, made of Elephants teeth, bor’d through, with which they make a loud, but difagreeable noife ; and, it feems, it is more for the honour of the matter, than the mufick, that their Great . OF NIGRITIA, ZAARA CHAP. Great men have thefe inftruments founded before VI ' them. They have alfo a kind of drum, made of a wooden bowl, with a Sheep s-fkin ftretch d over it in the form of a kettle-drum, having two wooden ham- mers for drum-flicks ; tho’ fometimes they play up- on them with their bare hands m confort with their trumpets, which afford no great harmony neither in the opinion of any but Negroes ; nor is the hollow iron bell they beat upon at the fame time much more agreeable : The leaft fhocking of any part of their mufick, is an inftrument made in the flaape of a harp, which makes a noife that may be borne with patience. They have alfo a great variety of other drums and mu ileal inftruments, very entertaining in their opi- nion ; but travellers don’t think them worth a de- feription. They ftng and dance, however, to their mufick, fuch as it is ; and feem to be as much charm- ed with it, as Europeans are with the beft voices and inftruments, and the fineft compofitions of the Italians. Some tribes of the Negroes are mightily given to gaming, and will flake all they have upon the event ,pf the game ; but I don’t find, that they play d at a- ny other game, than that of Draughts, or fomething like it, in which they ufed large Beans, till the Eu- ropeans taught them to play with Cards and Dice : Their rural fports are either hunting, fliooting or fifhing ; and game is fo plentiful at Whidah, and fome other parts of Guinea, that a man may load himfelf with it in a few hours, ’tis faid ; but they have no Dogs to hunt or fpring the game for them, or Horfes to"ride after it, as with us ; Guns, Nets and Snares, are what they ule on thefe occafions : But, in fifhing, they want no tackle that the Euro- peans ufe, as has been related already : And, indeed, fifhing is the principal employment, as well as di- verfion, of thofe tribes that lie near the coaft. C El A P. VII. fhe Prefent State of Nigritia, Zaara and Biledulgerid. T Containing the Prefent State of Nigritia or Negroe- land, Zaara or the Defart, and of Biledulgerid olim Numidia. C H A P. JVT 1 G R IT I A, or Negroeland, fuppofed to re- VII. JJN ceive its name from the dark complexion of the natives, or from the river Niger, that runs through the middle of it, according to the beft information I can get of the country, extends from i o degrees to 20 north; and, in longitude, about 3000 miles, as Geographers conjecture ; bounding it with Cape f Verd, 1 3 degrees weft of London, and carrying it to the confines of the Upper Ethiopia, or Abyiftnia, 30 degrees to the eaftward of London : But, fhould it be admitted, that fome Europeans have gone up the river Niger, and difeover’d the country for 300 AND BILEDULGERID. 67 mile, to the eaftward of Cape Verd, as they pre- C H A P„ tend ; certain it is, that all the remainder of the 3 000 VII. miles to the eaftward of that, is perfectly unknown to the European nations, unlefs what they have ga- thered from the report of the natives, who are but poorly qualified to give a defeription of their country : Neither is the language of feveral of the Negroe na- tions, who come down to the mouths of the river Niger to trade with the Europeans, underftood by them, or even by the natives on the coaft ; and con- fcquently all the deferiptions we have of the Negroe- land, above 300 miles to the weftward of Cape Verd and the Atlantick Ocean, muft be imperfeCt ; I doubt they can lcarce be reiv’d on in any one particular : There may be fortv kingdoms and nations of diffe- rent people, for ought we know, comprehended in that vaft tradl aflign’d to Negroeland, which our Geographers continue under that name, for no other reafon, than that they are very much in the dark, as to all beyond the mouths of the Niger. This mighty river empties itfelf into the Atlantick The river Ocean by feveral mouths ; of which the three largeft Nl £ er< are, i . The Rio Grande, or Great River ; 2. The Gambia ; and, The 3 . Senegal : And, as the mouth of the river Grande lies in 1 1 degrees north latitude, and the Senegal in 1 6, confequently it is upwards of 300 miles between the two moft diftant mouths of this river ; and all the country between, except the rifing grounds, are annually overflow’d, as the Delta in Egypt is by the Nile, and much about the fame time," the heads of the Nile and the Niger not being very far diftant, and the rains that fwell them falling at the fame time. The Portuguefe, on the European firft difeovery of Cape Verd, fixed feveral colonies fettlements and fettlements on the river Niger ; of which they Uuthsof ftill retain thofe of Catheco and B:ffeo, on the river the Niger. Grande : The Englifb have, at this day, two fettle- ments, one on Charles ifland, and another on James ifland, in the mouth of the river Gambia, and too miles farther north: The French have two fettle- ments, one on the louth, and the other on the north of Cape Verd, near the mouth of the Senega or Se- negal, and to the northward of them, on the river of St. John : The Dutch alfo have fome fettlements ; all which formerly belong’d to the Portuguefe. The chief Negroe town, which Hiftorians and Chief towa Geographers frequently make the capital of a migh- ,°/ n( f eg ^ m ty empire, isTombut, fituate in 15 degrees north t> ut J latitude, 6 degrees and a half weftward of London : But I can’t learn, that this, or anv of their towns, confiftofany other or better buildings than oui or- dinarv cottages, having clay walls and thatch J roots. Such towns or villages as thofe, ’tis faid, ftand pret- ty thick in that part of the country which the Euro- peans are acquainted with : And, ’tis thought, if Fruitful their lands were as well cultivated, they would yield cuuntry " as good crops of grain, as thofe of Egypt do, which have the like advantage of being overflow’d annual- ly by the Nile, as thefe are by the Niger. How- K. 2 ever, 68 THE P R E S E N T S T ATE ^ ^ ^ ever ’ as . lt; G foil of Negroeland yields great plen- lbme time in it. It has been reported, indeed, that CHAP NHi. ty of Rice and Millet, Palm-trees, Cocoa-nuts, and there are no Blacks out of Africa ; but probably thofe VII otlier Iruits, herbs and roots, with flefh, filh writers, who allotted this, had their information p . anc l f° w l S fo that the natives live very plentifully, from fuch Merchants, or Seamen, as had vifited on- the natives. to tllc ' r perfons, they are generally of a good fta- ly the coaft of India ; where, ’tis true, there is a ture, and of hail, robuft conftitutions ; their com- tawny mingled breed ; but even there the greateft plexionsjhe deepeft black; their hair black, Ihort, numbers of the natives are black, who lie within and curl’d like wool ; their nofes flat ; their lips thick; the Tropic of Cancer : Indeed the Indian Blacks and fcarce differing in any thing from thofe of their have not the flat nofes, and thick lips, or the Ihort neighbours in Guinea; only, as they are much Ids frizled hair of the Negroes: But thefe, I think vers’d in traffick, it is obferved, they are a plainer have never been reckon’d part of Noah’s curfe. honefter people. There are fome Mahometans, Another realbn aflign’d for the blacknels of the and a few Chriftians, which the Portuguese have Negroes, is the heat of the climate; their country made profelytes of, ’tis faid, upon the coaft, and being fituated within the Torrid Zone. But neither near the mouths of the rivers : But all the inland Ne- can this be admitted as the foie reafon of it ; for great groes are ftill Pagans, as thofe of Guinea are ; and part of the continent of America alfo lies within the probably their cuftoms, rites and ceremonies not ve- Torrid Zone ; and yet there never was a black man ry different from theirs. The European nations, there, till the Europeans tranfported them thither that are fettled on this coaft, deal with the natives from Africa. chiefly for flaves ; tho’ they may Ibmetimes meet with Gold, Elephants teeth and Drugs, but in no Cape Verd, great quantities. Cape Verd, which lies in 15 de- grees of north latitude, near the river Senega, is the moft wefterly promontory of Africa, as has been ob- ferved already, and obtained the name of Verd, from the verdure of the groves of Palm-trees, and other ever-greens the Portuguefe found upon it at their arrival on this coaft. Before I take leave of this land of the Blacks ( for the nations to the northward are of an olive colour ) it may be proper to take notice of the different opini- ons of the learned, concerning the reafon of this dark complexion of the Negroes, into the^eT- ^ was lon § tlie °P> n i°n of the Chriftians in gene- fon of diffe- ral, and perhaps of the Jews before them, that all TxionTand nien were whlte 1:511 after tlie Flood 5 but that Ham, features. 30 tlie Second fon of Noah, was converted from a white man, to a black man, by his father’s curling him ; and that Africa, filling to the lot of this fon, all his pofterity, who poflefs’d this part of the world, have remained black ever fince. But that this curfe of Noah’s was not tlie occafi- on of fuch a change of complexion is pretty evident : For firft, the pofterity of Cham, or Ham, if they poffefs’d Africa, are not all black : The entire no- thern coaft, from Egypt to the empire of Fez inclu- five, and for feveral hundred miles to the fouthward, even as far as tlie Tropic of Cancer, if not further, are not black, any more than thofe who inhabit to the fouthward of the Tropic of Capricorn. 2 . The people, in fome parts of Afia, particu- larly in the peninfula of India, on this fide the river Ganges, and who are foppofed to be the pofterity of Seth, the favourite fon, are full as black within the Tropic of Cancer, as any of the Negroes in Africa: Nor is there, in the inland country of India, at a cl-iftance from the coaft, a fingle perfon to be found, 'fiat is not black ; at leaft I never met with one, tho’ I travelled ioo miles in that country, and refided Others have fuggefted, that the people of Africa, being of a tawny complexion, between black and white originally, and not able to make themfelves as white as their northern neighbours, took great pains to make themfelves black, as a more defirable colour than the olive : That they accordingly rub- bed over their bodies with oil or greafe, mixed with foot, or fome other black ingredients; and thereby contributed to render their complexions darker than they were originally ; and that the women afterwards,, feeing nothing elfe but black men, brought black children into the world : And thefe ftreng'chen their opinions by fome very notable facts. It is obferved by all travellers, that the Negroes greafe or anoint themfelves, and their children, continually from the hour they are born ; and that many of them mix black ingredients with the oinment : That the Caffries and Hottentots, beyond the Tropic of Cancer, who are not naturally of fo dark a complexion as the Negroes nearer the Line, do adfually darken their Ikins pretty much, by rubbing them with fat and foot. Others obferve, that not only the complexions, but the very features, hair, make and ftature of people differ, as the country and climate differs, wherein they were feverally born : And as to the Negroes in particular, their hair, their lips and nofes, are not at all like thofe of Afia or Europe, or even thofe who live in the north of Africa. The Scythians, of old, and the Tartars and Laplanders, at prefent, are of a very different make from the people of the fouthern parts of Europe or Afia : The Tartars are remark- able for their olive complexions, Iquat make, flat faces, and little eyes fet deep in their heads. In fome countries the people are tall, in others fhort ; and not only the perfons, but the very genius and temper of men differ, as the foil and climate differ where they were born. The Spaniard isgraveand fedate, migh- ty flow and circumfpeel in his actions ; while the French, are gay and airy, perpetually dancing and ringing : And this difference, no doubt, proceeds from OF NIGRITIA, ZAARA AND BILEDULGERID. 69 iC H A P. from the foil and fituation of the refpe&ive countries ; VII. for, tranfplant any people from one country to ano- ther, they will alter or degenerate into the fame kind of men, in a few generations, as the former inhabi- tants were. If the Spaniards and French were to change countries, they would, in a few generations, alter their perfons and humours; the French would be Spaniards, and the Spaniards French. Does not every body fee a remarkable difference between the French and the Englifh, when the French ftrft came over hither? And yet, in two or three ge- nerations, ’tis impofible to diftinguifh the one from the other. And fo I take it to be in complexion, as well as in features and humours : Blacks, in a few generations, would become white, if brought over hither ; and poffibly White men might become black, or very near it, if they were planted a few generations in the heart of Africa, efpecially if pains were taken to make them fo, by rubbing their chil- dren with greafe and foot from the time they were born, as the Africans do. To fum up all : The Sun, no doubt, goes a great way towards the darkening the complexion of the people that inhabit the Torrid Zone ; but then the foil they live upon, the pains they take to make their chil- dren ftill blacker, and their women converfing alto- gether, or chiefly with Black men, every one of thefe may contribute fomething towards making them fo exceeding black ; for the Sun alone, it is certain, will not do it; or the people, who live within the Torrid Zone in America, would be equally black. And, as to Noah’s curling his fon Ham, it is evident, this can be of no weight ; for, as I have obferv’d already, great part of the people of Africa ( the country his pofterity are fuppofed to inherit) are not black : And the people of the Fall- Indies, who are fuppofed to be the defendants of Seth, the favourite fon, are as black as any of the Negroes of Africk; tho , tis true, their hair is long, aud their features much more engaging than thole of the African Negroes. If it be ftill doubted, whether the alteration of cli- mate or foil will have any effect upon the features as well as complexion, we may remember, that the Turks, Perfians, Indians and Chinefe, all come o- riginally from Tartary ( at leaft the fovereigns and go- verning parts of thofe empires ) ; and yet they do not at all refemble the Tartars, from whence they de- fended, at this day, but the people of thofe countries they refpecftively poftefs’d to the fouthwrd of them ; which, I believe, will be admitted to amount to a de- monftration of what has been advanc’d on this head. Zaara and I proceed, in the next place, to the difcription of Eted'uJgerid. Zaara ant } Biledulgerid, which are fuppofed to extend L 1 from the Atlantick Ocean to the eaft, as far as Ethi- opia Superior ; to run all along parallel to Nigritia ; and to lie between the 20th and 28th degrees of north latitude ; being bounded by the territories of the Emperor of Morocco and Barbary, on the north ; by Ethiopia, on the eaft; by Nigritia, onthefouth; and by the Atlantick ocean, on the weft. The north CHAP, divifion of this country, call’d Biledulgerid in our VII. maps, the Sailors charts denominate the country of Gualata ; and to the fouth-divifton, which in our maps has the name of Zaara, our Mariners give the name of Arguin, from a town that lies near the mouth of the river of St. John’s: However, it is a- greed, that both Biledulgerid and Zaara are barren, defart countries at this day, with farce any towns in them ; for which reafon I have thrown them together. The principal river is that which the Portuguefe have given the name of Dorada to. There are fome few lefler ftreams here, but none of them navigable; and the country is fo very far from being well wa- ter’d, that, when the caravans crofs it from Moroc- co to Nigritia, they do not meet with water in feve- ral days, and are forced to load one half of their Ca- mels with water and provifions for their fubfiftance. What is mod remarkable in the people of this The natives country is, that they are moft of them tawny : Tho’ ot a J ff 5 ren:; Nigritia lies contiguous to them, there are few Ne- f° 0 ^ the" groes in it ; neither do the inhabitants agree with the Negroes, Negroes in their religion, manners or cuftoms. The inhabitants of this vaft defart, like the Arabs, live in tents, moving from place to place, as they can meet with pafture and water for their cattle; and, like the Arabs, they live chiefly, ’tis faid, by plun- der and rapine: They are generally Mahometans; OfadifFe- and probably the defendants of thofe Arabs, or Sa- ^ re,| g loa » racens, who over-ran all the north of Africa in the * 7th century. Biledulgerid, that now lies wafte, and almoft uninhabited, was once the celebrated king- dom of Numidia, then well peopled and fruitful ; and there are ftill the ruins of ancient palaces and temples to be met with here ; but every country is the worfe for being poflefs’d by the Mahometans ; they neither regard building, or the cultivation of the foil. Thus we find it in Perfia ; a great part of which country, by the induftry of the former inha- bitants, in collecting the little rivulets, and flowing of their grounds, render’d them as fruitful as ether foils ; whereas now great part of the fame lands yield nothing but weeds and briars: And even that fruit- ful country of Natolia, or the Lefler Afia, where were fo many flourifhing towns and provinces anci- ently, is now become a defart. It is true, all foils are not alike fruitful ; but good hufbands will make almoft any thing produce a crop by their labour and induftry ; whereas the carelefsflothful Turk can fcarce fubftft upon the richeft foil ; nor will he trouble him- felf to improve his country by trade, how advanta- gioufly foever it is fituated ; but this is left in a man- ner entirely to the Chriftians and Jews under their dominion. As we know very little more of Zaara and Biledulgerid, than that the country is a defort ; and that the few people in it live in tents, ranging per- petually from place to place, and have no fettled ha- bitation ; I proceed to the difcription of the empire. of Morocco, C H A P, / THE PRESENT STA T E C H A P. VIII. The Prefent State of the Empire of Morocco : In which are comprehended the Kingdoms or Pro- vinces of Fez, Morocco and Suz. C H A p. VIII. Situation and extent of the empire of Morocco. Anciently Mauritania Tir.gitana. Face of the country. Rivers and port towns. T H E empire of Morocco lies between 2 3 and 36 degrees of north latitude; and between 4 and 9 degrees of weftern longitude, reckoning fiom the meridian of London ; being bounded by the Mediterranean, on the north ; by the river Ful- via, which feparates it from Algiers, on the eaft ; by Biledulgerid, on the fouth ; and by the Atlan- tic^ Ocean, on the weft; being upwards of 500 miles in length from the north-eaft to the fouth- weft, and about 200 miles in breadth. Some ex- tend this Empire as far fouth as the river Niger, al- moft making it upwards of 1200 miles from north to fouth ; but all that tracft of land, from the pro- vince of Suz to Nigritia, being only a barren defart inhabited by Arabs, who wander from place to place, and are under no manner of government, is very improperly comprehended in the empire of Mo- rocco. This empire, now call d IVIorocco from a citv of that name (on the north part of it at leaft) was the Mauritania Tingitana of the Romans, and fo deno- minated from the city of Tingis, now Tangier, lying on the fouth-fide of the Streights of Gibratter! I he country is finely diverfified with mountains and vaft extended plains, moft of them very fruitful, and pretty well inhabited. 1 he principal mountains are thole ot Atlas, which lie almoft in the form of a crelcent between the kingdoms of Morocco and Suz, and extend from the kingdom of Algier to the Atlantick ocean. I here are not many woods in it and thofe there are deftitute of timber. The chief rivers are, the river Suz, in the king- dom of Suz, at the mouth whereof ftands the city Santa Cruz ; the river Rabata, at the mouth where- of is the piratical town of Sallee ; the river Ceba, at the mouth whereof lies the piratical towm of Mamora ; the river Lecus, on which ftands the port- town ot Lairach : None of thefe rivers are navi- gable for fhips ; nor will the ports at the mouths of them admit of large veftels. Arzilla, to the north- wards of Larrach, is another inconfiderable port- town ; and the Portuguefe are yet in pofteftion of Mafignan on the fame coaft to the fouthward : , he Pc a [. e a ^° tbe ba y s °f Tangier and Tetuan in me Mediterranean, where fhips may ride during tome winds, but are very unfafe in others; and the Spaniards are yet in poffeffion of Ceuta over-againft Gibralter, and of Penon de Veloz further to the eaftward : But in none of thefe is there any fafe harbour. J Sallee, on the weft coaft of the kingdom of Fez, CHAR is efteemed the beft port the Emperor of Morocco VIII. hath : And, tho’ this appears to be a pretty good harbour when a fliip is got into it ; yet, at a full Sal . Iee > a P'* tide, there is not above 1 2 foot of water ; and the ratlCaJ P ° n ° bar, at the mouth of it, is feldom to be pafs’d by any thing but boats and very fmall veftels : And yet from this place, and Mamora, a little to the northward of it, do the Pirates of this country per- petually infeft thefe feas, taking abundance of Chri- ftims fhips, with their row-boats and fmall craft, with which they board and overpower merchant- men that have but few hands : And even our Eaft- India-men and ftouteft fhips are under great appre- henfions when they pafs near this coaft ; for, tho’ they have no quarrel with us, they will feize and cariy in our fhips upon very frivolous pretences, particularly if they find pafTengers on board of any other nation they are at war with. J Ihe air of this country is generally temperate, The a j r of efpecially on the mountains, and near the fea-coafts, the country, where they oftener complain of cold than heat : It freezes fometimes in the winter very hard, and the tops of the mountains are cover’d with fnow great Part of the year. However, in the valleys, "their seafons. v\ inter is but fhort ; and, when it freezes in the morning, the middle of the day is generally warm. It freezes haideft in January, as with us ; February is more moderate, and the weather variable, chang- ing feveral times the fame day. In March the north and weft winds blow furi- oufly ; in which month their trees begin to blofTom ; I o wards the end of April they have ripe Cherries ; in May, Figs ; and, in the latter end of June, all manner of fruit is ripe, except their latter Figs, which are not ripe till September, ft he fpring (when the weather is very temperate) is reckon’d to begin the latter end of February, and end the latter end of May : Then their fummer begins, and lafts to the middle of Auguft. This is a pretty hot fealbn, the air all the while wonderful clear and ferene ; and it is ufually very unhealthfu], if it happens to rain in the fummer ; the fun then is parching hot, , and occaftons malignant fevers. Their harveft be- gins in the middle of Auguft, and lafts till the mid- dle of November ; when their winter begins, and continues to the middle of February. During this time, and the beginning of the fpring, they’Tiave hard gales of wind and ftorms, with fnow, hail and thunder ; and the eaft and fouth-eaft winds frequent- ly blaft their fruits in the fpring. Their rainy weather begins in Ocftober, when they fow their lands upon the hills ; but, in their valleys, their feed-time does not begin till February. I he empire of Morocco being divided into the Pivifion 0 f three grand provinces or kingdoms of Fez, Morocco the empire, and Suz ; 1 fhall give a brief defeription of each, and of the principal towns contained in them. The OF THE EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. CHAP. The kingdom of Fez is bounded by the Medi- VIII. terranean, on the north ; by the territories of Tan- gier, on the eaft ; by Morocco, on the fouth ; and Province of ^j e Atlantick Ocean, on the weft : The chief towns Fe2 ' whereof are, i. Fez, the metropolis of the empire, fituated in a plain on a branch of the river Cebu or Fez, latitude 33, longitude 4 weft of London. City of Fez. yhis city is rather two cities join’d, the one call’d Old Fez, and the other New Fez. Old Fez is fi- tuated the loweft, and has a fmall river running through it : The town is of a round figure, and about three miles in circumference : There are be- tween 50 and 60 mofques, or Mahometan tem- ples, in it : The houfes of their Great men here, as in other places, contain feveral fquares : Thofe of the common people are very mean, and the (hops like fo many pedlars ftalls : The ftreets narrow and unpav’d, miferably dirty in winter, and dufty in fummer : Their inns, that have been fo much cry’d up, are built in form of a fquare alfo, with lodg- ing-rooms on the infide : The traveller buys his own provifion, and drefles it, and has the conveni- ency of feeding his horfes and cattle before the door of his lodging in the fquare. So that I find they pretty much refemble the caravanfera’s, or places of refrefhment, on the roads in Perfia and T urkey. The town of Old Fez is defended by a double wall, and a caftle on each fide of it, fituated upon an eminence ; but lies very much expofed, being commanding by fome rifing grounds in the neigh- bourhood : Their beft defence lies in their num- bers, being able, ’tis faid, to arm forty thoufand men. The new town is feparated from the other only by a fmall river, and has a double wall round it, with fquare towers, like thofe ot Old Fez : There is alfo one tolerable baftion on the walls of the new town, faid to have been built by an Enghfli Rene- gado. This town was defign’d as a citadel to command the old town ; and here the King always keeps a good body of horfe for that end, whole principal bufinels it is to coiled!: the corn of the neighbouring country, and lay it up in the maga- zines for grinding; of which they have feveral wa- ter-mills on the rivers that run by the town : Here are fome palaces of the Kings and Great men, but run to ruin fince the Court removed to Mequinez ; and the houfes of the common people have only clay, or mud walls and thatch’d roofs. The new town is about a mile and a half in circumference, and very populous : The gates magnificent, and make a grand appearance at a diftance ; but a tra- veller is miferably difappointed when he comes in- to it, to find little elfe but thatch’d cottages, befides t the mofques, the magazines, and fome few ruinous palaces. However, Old Fez is a town of the great- eft trade of any town in the empire. !fe}uinez. Mequinez, the prelent refidence of the empire of Morocco, is fituated in a delightful plain, about 71 a day’s journey to the we ft ward of Fez, and two CHAP, to the eaftward of Sallee, on the fame river that VIII. Sallee ftands : The palace and the olive parks about k/"V r ^J it make a very beautiful appearance at a diftance ; but neither does Mequinez anfwer the expectations of the traveller when he comes into it. It is of an irregular form, about two miles in circumference, and faid to contain three hundred thoufand fouls : The ftreets, like thofe of Fez, are dirty in winter, and dufty in fummer, meanly built, and their tradef- men have ftalls on fome of the higheft ground in the town, where they fell their goods : Mequinez is furrounded by an ordinary wall, and parted by a road from the Negroe town, which is inhabited by the King’s black troops (the cavalry, on which he principally relies) with their families. The palace lies on the fouth-fide of the city, and indeed is another city interfpers’d with parks, fields, canals and gardens : In one quarter whereof is the Haram, affign’d folely to the ufe of the King’s women and their guard of Eunuchs : A fecond con- tains the rooms of ftate and audience ; In a third quarter are the King’s handicrafts, workmen and armoury : In a fourth his guards are lodg’d, where are the artillery and magazines : And in a fifth the ftables : Every part divided into large fquares ; be- ing in the whole about three miles in circumference. And here the walks and pavements are kept exceed- ing neat, and the galleries frequently adorn’d with mofaic work. Mr. B L ait h wait, who attend- ed Mr. Russel, the Englifh Ambaftador to the Court of Morocco in the year 1727, gives us an account of that Minifter’s audience at the palace of Mequinez, which affords us a tolerable idea of the place and people, as well as of their prince. He fays, on the day appointed for the audience. The reeqjtfe a Spaniard, Alcaide (Governor) of the Chriftians, ^ and leveral officers of the palace, came to conduct baflador at the Ambaftador to Court : That about twelve of Mequinez-, them mounted, and rode in the following manner : AnnoI 7 2 u‘ The Ambaftador, between the Baflaw who con- ducted him to Mequinez, and the Baftaw’s brother, preceded by twenty Muftieteers : The reft of the Englifh gentlemen accompanied by another of the Baflaw’s brothers, and fome officers of the Court : Two of the Arnbaftador’s fervants in liveries on horfeback ; and after them, the captives and the Moorifh and Jewifh fervants, who walk’d on foot: The whole doled with a guard of horfe belonging to the Baffiaw : However, a drunken Moor of qua- lity, in the abundance of his zeal, rode in amcngll them, calling them Chriftian dogs and rogues, pre- fenting his piece at the Englifh, and it was with fome difficulty he was perfuaded to go about his bufinefs : Nor was this infult taken any notice of ; for, it feems, a flaming zeal for their fuperftition is an atonement for almoft any crime. Being enter’d the firft gate of the palace, they all alighted, and in the fquare within it were found thirteen * 7 *> / ~ CHAP. VIII. "The prefent made the Emperor of Morocco by the Britifh (Court. T H E P R E S E N T STATE thirteen fine Horfes of the Emperor’s, richly capa- rifon’d and accoutred, and held by fo many Negroe grooms for flute. Thefe the Baflaw led them to take a view of. After which, having pafs’d through two or three fquares more, they came to the Emperor’s a- partment ; but in fuch a crowd, that it was with a great deal of difficulty they arrived there. After fome time they were conducted into a long gallery ; the floor and fides whereof were cover’d with fmall tiles, an inch fquare, of various colours. Blither his Britirh Majefty’s prefent was brought, and fet out to the beft advantage ; confiding of a large chry- ftal fconce with twelve branches 5 eleven bales of coarfe cloth, each bale containing three pieces 5 three boxes of fuperfine cloth, containing fifteen pieces ; one box of French linen, call’d Brittanies ; two boxes, containing each fourteen loaves of double- refin’d fugar ; one box of China ware ; one box, containing eighteen pound of tea ; one box, contain- ing three large China jars of fweet-meats ; one box of toys ; one box, with brocades, filver tabbies, thread fattins, and gold lace ; one cafe, containing a gun and a pair of piftols; four chefts of Florence ; and one box, containing hollands and cambricks. Having waited here about an hour, they were conduced to an open gallery, which gave them the profpecfl of a fine meadow within the palace 3 over the middle of which there was a terrace walk from one end to the other, thick fhaded with Vines fuppor- ted by an arch’d frame. Having pais’d in a conti- tinual crowd ftill a great way farther, they were at length flopp’d, and given to underftand the Emperor was in the next room. Whereupon the Baflaw, his brothers, and feveral other great officers immedi- ately pull’d off their Alhagues ( their outward vefts ) or habits of diftinction, as well as their flippers, and each of the Baffaw’s brothers, took a China jar of fweet-meats, part of the prefent, to carry in to the Emperor ; and all the reft of the prefent was carried in, and placed in the Emperor’s fight, before the Ambaffador was admitted : Then two great doors were flung open, and they faw his Majefty fitting under a canopy in an open gallery ; and, at his feet, his favourite brother Mule y Amsteddy, with his Prime Minifter Baflaw Empsael, a great fat Negroe. The Ambaffador, being led up to the throne, pull’d oft his hat, and made three bows ; and, ha- ving deliver’d the King of Great-Britain’s letter, tied up in a handkerchief, into the Emperor’s own hand, and a gold watch in another, he put on his hat, and made a Ipeech, expreffing the great efteem his Mafter had for his Imperial Majefty, condoling his father’s death, and congratulating the Emperor’s acceffion, which was interpreted (my author obferves) to very little purpofe ; for the Emperor was fo drunk, he could fcarce hold up his head : However, it feems, fie underftood fo much by the fpeech and the prefent, as to be very well pleas’d 3 and anfwer’d buono. buono , ordering the Alcaide of the Chriftians to fee CHAP, they did not want Wine and roaft Pigs every day, VIII, charging his Prime Minifter to let the Chriftian Adi- nifter (the Ambaflador) have whatever he demanded. Then the Courtiers proftrated themfelves on their faces, and crawl’d upon their hands and knees to kifs his feet : Soon after which, his Majefty’s Eu- nuchs, finding him much out of order, carried him away, and the Court retir’d. Ady author fays, while the Ambaflador waited to be admitted, there was fuch a noife and difturbance among the drunken Courtiers, that he could compare it to nothing elfe, but the common fide of a Jail ; tho’, at their au- dience, things were a little compofed. He adds, this Emperor, APuley Hamet Du- hebby, was upwards of 6 foot high, about 50 years of age, of a fierce countenance, and much pitted with the fmall-pox ; his face bloated, and his fore teeth out ; and, being a Malatta of a tawny complexion, made a very indifferent figure : It be- ing cold weather, he had a black cloak over a white Alhague or veft ; his turbant was a green filk fafh, which hung carelefly about his head, and fhewed he was drunk. All he had about him worth admiring was a fine fcimiter in a gold fcabbard, richly fet with precious ftones. The Emperor being carried away, the confufion The Am- among his drunken Courtiers was as great as before ; baff ’ d d or ( ^‘ n<3s neither was there any care taken to conduH the Am- fuity in get- J baflador back again to his houfe : They werepuftr’d ting out of and fhov’d about, and in danger of being trodden the P aIace - under foot 3 and, inftead of being affifted by the Of- ficers of the Court, the gates were flrut again!! them, and extravagant fums demanded for permiffion to go through them. In the mean time the throng was very great, and their very buttons were cut oft' their cloaths before they could get away, and they expected every minute to be ftripp’d by the mob : However, by bribing the Porters pretty handfomely, they were fo fortunate at length to efcape out of the palace, and get to their houfe. But to return to the Emperor : It was ufual with him, it feems, to drink Somecha- with his Minifters, till he fell down dead drunk 3 rafter of the and then he was carried to bed by his Eunuchs : And, Em P eror ‘ when he waked again, he was fure to give fome ex- amples of his cruel and fierce difpofition ; infomuch, that his fervants fled, and dreaded to come near him 3 and happy was the Minifter who could make an excufe to be abfent. While the Englifh Ambaflador was at Mequinez, He murders he Ihot two men that waited on him, and he en- feveral peo- deavour’d to kill his Prime Minifter with his own p!e ‘ hand : but this Courtier, keeping out of the way ’till his fury was over, was then taken into favour again : He commanded two young Jewifh women to be brought to his bed ; and, when he fent them home again, hearing that their hufbands had prefu- med to go to bed them, he order’d their hufbands to be put to death : Another of his miftreffes difobli- ging OF THE EMPIRE OF MOROCCO, 73 CHAP, ging him, he order’d all her teeth to be drawn out ; VIII. and, enquiring for her afterwards, and being told (be was not recover’d from the illnefs that operation had occafion’d, he order’d the man’s teeth, who drew them, to be pull’d out, and fent her by way of fatisfa&ion. For any trifling offence, or for his humour, would he order a man to be tofs’d, that is, thrown up into the air by four luftv flaves, as high as they could, and then let fall ' again; whereby fometimes the perfon was kill’d, and others made cripples of : And fuch feafts as thefe, it feems, were his fport and diverfion. From fuch a Court as this no wonder, therefore, if the Englifh Ambaffador haften’d to be difmifs’d. Thede- The demands Mr. Russel was inftrudled to mandsof the make at t h e Court of Morocco were, To get all Bnti ourt. ca p t j ves re ]eas’d, as had been taken under Bri- tifh colours: To get reftitution made to fuch Mer- chants, whofe (hips had been robb’d by the Sallee pirates fince the laft peace ; and to confirm that peace with the prelent Emperor. But he was loon given to underhand, that there was no reftitution to be expected from this Court ; and for the captives, they did confent to releafe about a dozen of them, of which four were Englifti : And for thefe the Am- baftador paid a great deal more than their ranfom could have been valued at. The Prime Minifter, the favourite Women, and every Officer concern’d in his difpatches, were brib’d again and again ; nor was there a lervant about the Court, but was per- petually begging fomething of him, under pretence of fome good offices they had done him : However, at a vaft expence, and with abundance of difficulty, the following Articles of Peace were agreed on ; and thofe made by Admiral Stewart with the fame Court, in the reign of King George I. were confirm’d. Additional Articles of Peace and Commerce, Be TWEEN the mojl high , and moft renown’ d Prince George II. by the Grace of God , King of ) Great-Britain, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith , &c. and the mojl high and glorious, mighty and right noble Prince , Mule Y II a m e t I)a- hebby, B en Mule y Ism a el, Ben Mu- le y Ze r i p H, BenMui.ey Aly, King and Emperor of the kingdoms of Fez, Morocco, Taffi- let, Suz, and all the Algarbe, and its territories in Africa, &c. Concluded , agreed , and acljujled by John Russel, Efq ; on the behalf of his Bri- tan nick Majefly ; and by his Excellency Bajfaw Ha met, Ben Aly, Ben Abdalla, and his Imperial Majejlys Admiral of Sallee, Hadge, f, Abdelcader, Perez, on the behalf of the Emperor of Fez and Morocco, The Articles « ARTICLE! That all Moors and Jews, Corr merce™ 1 U k\- fubjetft to the Emperor of Morocco, ftiall “be allowed a free traffick, viz. to buy or fell for Voi. III. “ thirty days in the city of Gibralter, or ifland of C H AP» “ Minorca, and not to refide in either place, but VIII. “ to depart with their effedfs, without lett or mo- “ leftation, to any part of the faid Emperor of Mo- “ rocco’s dominions. “ Article II. That the King of Great- Bn- “ tain’s fubjedfe, refiding in Barbary, {hall not be “ oblig’d to appear before the Cadi, or Juftices of “ the country ; but only the Governor of die place, w ' not very ftrong : There is but one Tingle mofque in the town, and another in the caftle ; however, it makes a tolerable appearance from the Tea, the hou- fes being white, and all in view ; but they have fcarce any trade. T his, as has been obferv’d, was the Tingis of the ancients ; and from it this part of Africa was call’d Mauritania Tingitana. Alphon- sus the fifth King of Portugal, took it from the Moors in the year 1463 ; and, in i66z, the Court of Portugal transferr’d it to Charles II. King ot England, on his marriage with thePrincefs Ca- tharine, Infanta of Portugal. The Englifh kept it twenty-two years, and laid out a great deal of money on the mole and fortifications ; but the Par- liament refufing to let tire King have money to maintain the garrifon, he found himfelf obliged to quit the place ; though, ’tis agreed, it would have been of very great fervice to the nation, if we had been mailers of it in the Lift: wars with France and Spain. 'Morocco. The kingdom of Morocco, the next divifion of this empire, is bounded by the kingdom of Fez towards the north ; by the mountains of Atlas, on the eaft ; and by the fame mountains, which feparate it from the province of Suz, on the fouth : The chief town whereof is Morocco, a large old city, fituated in a fine plain about the centre of the kingdom, latitude 3 1 and a half, well longitude 7 degrees. This, in lome of our old writers, is laid to be one of the greatell cities in the world ; to contain an hundred thoufand families ; to be ele- gantly built, efpecially their mofques and palaces : But all thefe matters appear to have been wonder- fully magnified ; and, fince the feat of the empire has been removed from thence, the town is ex- tremely declin’d ; and as to the fortifications lb much talk d of, they would not be able to hold out twen- ty-four hours again!! an army prepared for a fiege. The reft of the towns mention’d by Geographers in this province are, Elgiamba, Imegiagen, Imiz- imzi, Delgumba, Agmet, Teneffa, which have little in them that deferve a particular delcription, and are moll of them, indeed, no better than open villages ; tho lome writers have dignified them with the name of cities. Suz. The province of Suz, in which I comprehend that of Tafilet, is bounded by Morocco, on the north ; by Biledulgerid, on the eaft and fouth ; and by the Atlantick ocean, on the weft : The chief towns whereof are, Taradant and Tafilet ; tire former the capital of Suz, and the other of the province of Tafilet : The reft of the towns men- tion’d In the province of Suz are, MelTa Guargefen, Tejeat, Garet, Tagovoft, Tedfi, Santa Cruz (a fea-port) and Illec i But the only town travellers mention in Eafilet, is the capital of the lame name, Situated in latitude zt< and a half, longitude 2 de- grees weft of London. The prefent imperial fa- CHAP mily came from the province of Tafilet ; M u- VIII ley Ismael, the late Emperor, was of that country ; which, lying the fartheft fouth of any of the territories belonging to this empire, and his mother being a Negroe, the complexion of the Thecom- royal family is exceeding dark ; for the inhabi- plex'°nof tants of this empire differ much in their complex- thenatIves> ions according to their fituation ; thofe to the fouth- ward are very tawny, as are alfo the Arabs, who range about the plains, and live in tents like the Arabs of Afia ; the Moors and Jews, who live in towns and on the fea-coaft, are many of them fair 3 and thofe that inhabit the villages on the mountains, are not of fo dark a complexion as the Arabs : As to the Blacks, that of late years have had the ad- minillration of the Government, and compofe their bell cavalry, thefe being brought from Negroe- land, or defcended from parents who came from thence, differ very little from the Guinea Ne- groes. I he habit of a Moor is a linen fliirt or frock Habiu, next his (kin, a pair of drawers, a fifth, and over all a loofie coat, or veil, of filk or cloth, with fmall buttons of gold, filver or other metal : Their arms are bare to the elbow, as well as their legs ; but people of diftindtion fometimes wear Turkey leather bufkins, and moll of them fandals or flip- pers : They {have their heads all but one fingle lock upon the middle of the crown, and wear a turbant, which is never pull’d off before their fu- periors or in their temples ; they exprefs their re- verence, both to God and Man, by putting off their flippers, which they leave at the door of the mofque or palace, when they enter either ; and, when they attend their Prince in the city, they run bare-foot after him, if the ftreets are never fo dirty : Their turbants are of filk or fine linen, feme of them five or fix ells long, and in their fifth or girdle, un- der their outward garment, they ufually carry three fine knives in a filver ficabbard about a foot long, adorn’d with precious Hones : Their handkerchiefs, and fuch things as we carry in our pockets, they . have in their bofoms : They never fhave their beards, but clip them into form, and keep them very neat. The habit of a woman is not very different from that of a man, except that fhe wears a fine linen cloth, or caul, on her head inftead of a turbant, and her drawers are much larger and longer than the mens : The women alfo, when they go abroad, have a linen cloth over their faces, with holes in it for their eyes like a malk : Thofe of quality wear pendants in their ears, and bracelets on their arms 3 but wrap themfelves up in a white cloth, feveral ells in length, when they walk in the ftreets ; fo that little of them is feen : They paint and colour their hair and eye-brows with burnt Antimony, endeavouring to make them look as black as pof- fible. OF THE EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. CHAP, fible, and the ends of their fingers are painted blue. VIII. I have already defcribed the houfes of the Moors, but not their furniture, which is but mean : They Furniture. ^ ave ne ither wainfcot nor hangings, neither beds, chairs, flools, tables or pictures ; they deep upon a mattrefs on the floor, which, in the houfes of per- fons of quality is cover’d with carpets, and the mea- ner people have mats : On thefe they fit crofs-legg d alfo at their meals, having pillows and cufhions to lean on. They wafh always before and alter they eat, wiping on their handkerchief ; but have nei- Diet. ther table-cloth or napkin. Rice feems to be a great part of their food here, as well as in the eaft ; tho’ they eat alfo bread, beef, mutton, veal, fifh and fowls : Their favourite difh is Cufcufou, which is fine flour grain’d as large as hemp-feed, and flew’d with mutton, fowls and roots : When it is enough, they put the flour thus grain’d into a large difh, leaving a vacant fpace for the meat and fowls in the middle, and then pour in the broth. This difh is very high feafon’d with Garlick, Onions and fpices, and garnifh'd with whites of eggs. Their meat is all boil’d and roalled to rags, fo that they can pull it to pieces with their fingers ; and this is very neceffary, becaufe they ufe neither knives nor forks ; but, having wafh’d their hands, every man tucks up his fleeves, and, putting his hand into the difh, takes up and fqueezes together a good handful of all the ingredients, as much as his mouth with hold ; and confequently their food is neither very hot when it is brought before them. '1 heir cups and difhes are of brafs, pewter, earth or tin, the law prohibiting their ufing gold or filver vef- fels ; and, as wine alfo is forbidden, they drink no- thing but water, fometimes mixing it with honey : If they have a difh of foup or other liquids, they eat it with a great wooden fpoon, which is handed round the company. At an entertainment the de- fert ufually confifts of the fruits of the country, fuch as Grapes, Oranges, Figs, Pomegranates and Melons. Diverfions. They fmoke pretty much, and play at draughts and chefs ; but never for money ; this being ano- ther prohibition of their law : And I fhould have remember’d, that they are as fcrupulous of eating blood as the Jews ; and therefore cut the throat quite through of every beafl they kill, and drain all the blood from it. The company are fometimes entertain’d with mufick and dancing ; but people of any fafhion never dance themfelves ; and tho’ their mufick is not very agreeable to an European ear, they feem extremely pleas’d with it themfelves. Genius and The Moors are faid to be a covetous, unhofpita- temper of ble people, intent upon nothing but heaping up ,the Moors. r j c j ies . to 0 b ta j n w hich they will be guilty of the meaneft things, and flick at no manner of fraud ; and, as they know themfelves to be fuch treacher- ous, deceitful wretches, they are very fufpicious of The Arabs, foreigners. The Arabs alfo have always had the 77 character of a thievifh pilfering generation; and, CHAP r ’tis faid, will even rob and deftroy one another, VIII. when they have no body elfe to prey upon ; and, as they perpetually lead a rambling life, are obferv’d to be of a more tawny complexion, and much thin- ner and leaner than the Moors. The people, who inhabit the hills, and who have the leaft to do with the Court or with traffick, are much the plaineft, honeflefl people amongfl them, and flill retain a good fhare of liberty and freedom, the Government ufing them rather as allies than fubjedts, left they fhould entirely difown their authority. But to pro- ceed in the character of the Moors : They are ob- ferv’d with all their bad qualities to be very dutiful and obedient to their parents, their princes and every fuperior ; but, under an arbitrary govern- ment, where none dares refift on peril of his life, this may rather be the effect of their fear, than their virtue. Another thing however they are certainly to be commended for ; and that is, their reverence for God and Religion, and whatever is efteem’d fa- cred amongfl them : They will not fufter thefe to be burlefqu’d, and made a jeft of by prophane fools, which is too often conniv’d at among Chriflians, and fometime encourag’d by thofe who ought to give a better example ; neither do they imitate us in fafhionable murder, deflroying each other, like fools of honour, in duels. ’Tis acknowledg’d they do not want courage ; and yet their quarrels rare- ly proceed to blows, and fcarce ever to the taking away each others lives : Tho’, ’tis obferv’d, they- have not the fame tendernefs for Jews and Cirri- ftians, and the enemies of their religion . It feems to be an univerfal opinion among them, that the cheating, robbing, and even killing of thefe is me- ritorious ; and did not the Government, for poli- tical reafons, rellrain their fubjedls from thefe out- rages, there would be no living amongfl them for- one of a different faith. And this leads me to confider their Laws and the Conftitution of their Government. Here, as in all other Mahometan countries, the Laws and Alchoran, and their comments upon it, are their Government, only written laws ; and their Cadi’s, and other Ecclefiaflicks, their only civil magillrates : And tho’ thefe feem to be, in fome inflances, controll’d by the arbitrary determinations of their Princes, Bal- faws. Generals and Military officers ; yet the lat- ter have a very great deference and regard for their law : And indeed, if their Princes or Governors are found to defpife and flight their law in any no- torious inflances, how loyal foever the Moors may be in all cafes where their religion is not concern’d, this would be look’d upon as a fufficient ground for renouncing their authority. The prefent Em- peror, by his drunkennefs, which their law forbids, has loft the hearts of the heft part of his fubjecls, and is maintain’d on the throne purely by the power ot his Negroe troops, who probably profefs themfelves ^ Mahometans, 1 / 7 § THE PRESENTS T A T E CH A P. Mahometan?, only becaufe it is the Court religion, VIII. and are as great lovers of wine as the Prince they ferve. Succeffion of The late Emperor Mule y Ismael fat upon the crov.n. ^ throne f ix ty years; his mother, as has been al- ready obferv’d, was a Negroe, which poffibly might make him lets acceptable to his Moorifn fubjedts, and put him upon eftablifhing the Blacks, and gi- ving them in a manner the dominion of the coun- try for his own fecurity. As the crown feems to be in the difpofal of the reigning Prince, Mule y Ismael appointed the prefent Emperor Mule y Ha met, his fon by his favourite wife, to fucceed him, tho’ he had an elder fon by a former wife, named Abdelmeleck, who, being Governor of the province of Suz at the death of Mule y Ismael, difputed the title of Mule y Hamet, and, obtaining a vidtory over an army of his Ne- groes, poflefs’d himfelf of the kingdom, or pro- vince of Morocco, as well as that of Suz ; but impolitickly declaring, that he would extirpate all the Blacks, when he came to the throne, they united againft him as one man, and the country has been in a ftate of civil war ever fince ; the Blacks adhering to Muley Hamet, and the Moors, that dare declare themfelves, to Abdel- meleck. As to the more ancient hiftory of this country, I {hall defer it till I have defcrib’d the reft of Barbary, and then give it entire. Their Magiftrates, as has been obferv’d, are ei- ther Ecclefiafticks, orMilitary officers : Their Cadi’s are judges of all religious and civil affairs ; and their Baflaws, Governors, Alcaides, and Military officers, of what concerns the State or the Army. If a Moor fhould turn Chriftian, or a Renegado, after he has profefs’d Mahometanifm, apoftatize from it, he is burnt without mercy. Murder, theft and adultery, alfo are generally pun i fif'd with death ; and their puniftrments for other crimes, particularly thofe againft the State, are very cruel : As impaling ; dragging the prifoner through the ftreets at a Mule’s heels, till all his flcfh is torn off ; throwing him from a high tower upon iron hooks ; hanging him upon hooks till he dies ; crucifying him againft a wall ; and indeed the punifhment, as well as condemnation of criminals, is in a man- ner arbitrary. The Emperor, or his Bafiaws, fre- quently furn executioners, fhoot the offender, or cut him to pieces with their own hands, or com- mand others to do it in their prefence. Hand-forces. As to their military forces, were they affembled in one place, they would certainly conftitute a ve- ry numerous and formidable army. It is computed, that the Black cavalry and infantry do not amount to lefs than forty thoufand men, and the Moorifh horfe and foot may be as many ; but, being dif- pers’d in feveral parts of this large empire, are not feen in fuch numerous bodies as the Negroes, who live at Mequinez, and have the guard of the Em- peror’s perfon : The Blacks are efteemed their beft CHAP, horfe, and the Europeans have been fenfible of their VIH. bravery and military fkill, both at Oran and Ceuta : They have fire-arms, as well as fwords and laun- ces : Their T roopers ride very ftiort, and their fad- dies have long peaks before and behind ; Their ftir- rup-irons are fhap’d to the foot, fo that they can ftand up and ftrike when they make their blow ; and no men fhew more dexterity in riding, wheel- ing or firing : Their Horfes are very fwift, and beautifully made ; but not fo heavy and ftrong as ours. It is their cavalry they chiefly rely upon, both in their civil wars, and thofe with foreigners. Their infantry indeed are numerous, and carry fire-arms ; but are not difeiplin’d, and obferve no manner of order ; and, as their country is generally open, know not how to defend themfelves againft a body of horfe ; five hundred of their foot will fly before a troop of fifty horfe ; Nor do they underftand how to attack, or defend a town, which may be the reafon they have fcarce one place of any ftrength in the country, and but few guns mounted on the walls of their towns. They feem very ignorant in the management of great guns and bombs. Thefe are altogether left to the fkill of renegado Chri- ftians, of whom there are feme thoufands in their armies. They have a train of an hundred and fif- ty brafs guns in the palace of Mequinez, beiides feveral mortars, which are fometimes drawn out in times of danger ; but I don’t find there are any mounted upon the walls. As to their {hipping: Captain B L AIT Hw AIT strength at relates, that, when he was there in the year 1727, fca - their whole naval force confifted hut of two twenty gun {hips, the biggeft not above 200 tuns, and a French brigantine they had taken, with feme few row- boats ; and yet with thefe, being full of men, do they iffue out from Sallee and Mamora, which lie on the Atlantick ocean, near the Streights mouth, and make prizes of great numbers of Chriftian mer- chant-fhips, carrying their miferable crews into cap- tivity. Tho’ they are at peace with Britain, they make no fcruple of feizing and carrying their {hips into Sallee, if they find a paffenger on board belong- ing to a nation at war with them ; however, they are ufually fo good as to difmifs the {hips, and their crews, after they have robb’d them of feme of their merchandize. The charge of thefe piratical cruifers is borne entirely by private adventurers ; tho’ the Emperor has a tenth of all the prizes they make, and all the captives that are taken ; which leads me to enquire into the Revenues of this Prince. Thefe arife either from the labour of the huft>and- Revenues of men, and the fruits of the earth ; or by duties upon the empire, goods imported and exported : The Emperor has a tenth of all corn, cattle, fruits and produce of the foil, as well as the captives ; and a tenth of all the prizes that are taken. The port-charges ol {hips, that OF THE EMPIR CHAP, that trade to the dominions of the Emperor of Mo- VIII. rocco, are one barrel of powder for entrance, twelve ounces for loading and anchorage, and twelve to the Captain of the port : Veffels, trading to and from Gibralter, pay but half this duty for loadiug and dif- charging. Cuttoms. The duties on goods exported are, on Wax, per hundredweight, twenty-five ounces ; Tangoult, fix ditto ; old Copper, twelve ; red Morocco fkins per half dozen, one ; ditto other colours, two blanquils; Hides tanned or raw, each two ditto ; Wool, Dates, Almonds, Gums, Soap, great quintal, three oun- ces; Tallow, per final! quintal, fix ounces; Mats, per bale, fix ; Goat-fkins in hair, per bale, fix ; Calves-fkins drefs’d or raw, one blanquil ; Sheep- fkins, per half dozen, two : His whole revenue be- ing eftimated at 500 quintals of filver, each quin- tal worth three hundred and thirty pounds fterling. Coin The Coins of this empire are, r . A Fluce, a fmall copper coin, twenty whereof make a blanquil of the value of two-pence fterling. A Blanquil is a lit- tle filver coin, which is made ftill lefs by the Jews clipping and filing it. The Moors therefore, who have always fcales in their pockets, never fail to weigh them ; and, when they are found to be much diminifh’d in their weight, they are re-coin’d by the Jews, who are matters of the Mint, by which they gain a confiderable profit, as they do alfo by ex- changing the light pieces forthofe that are full weight. Their Gold coin is a Ducat, refembling the ducat of Hungary, worth about nine (hillings fterling, and they ufually give three of them for a moidore. Mer- chants accompts are kept in ounces, an imaginary coin, ten of which make a ducat in Merchants ac- compts ; but, in payments to the Government, ’tis faid, they will reckon feventeen ounces and a half for a ducat. When Gibralter was befieg’d by the Spaniards, the Moors and Jews, at Tetuan and Tangier, low- er’d the price of the moidores and other gold coins the Englifh paid them for provifions, and raifed their y own filver. They alfo frequently put light money on the feamen, and then got money of them for exchanging it again : And, tho’ they will give but thirty-feven ounces for a moidore upon the fea-coaft, when foreigners come to traffick with them, they will give forty-five ounces for a a moidore at Mequi- nez and the inland towns. Four blankquils, or two- penny pieces, when full weight, pals for an ounce ; but their blanquils, being fo very thin, clipp’d and crack’d, make payments very troublelbme ; for fcarce any other money paffes, their gold being generally hoarded up. Annuls. The Animals of this part of Africa, whether wild or tame, are much the fame we meet with to the fouthward, except the Elk, the Elephant, and Rhi- noceros, which no travellers pretend to meet with in the empire of Morocco ; and, as they want thefe, fo they have fome others, that are not to be found in E OF MOROCCO. 79 the fouth of Africa, particularly Camels, Drome- CHAP, daries, and that fine breed of horfes call’d Barbs ; VIII. which, for their beauty and fwiftnels, can fcarce be parallel’d in the world : As to Buffaloes, Cows, Oxen, Sheep, Goats, Deer and Hares, they have great plenty of them : Their delarts alfo are very much infefted with Lions, Tygers, Leopards, and Serpents of a prodigious magnitude. But, as to their Dragons and flying Serpents, that travellers and voyage-writers of the laft age talk’d i'o much of, thefe may be put into the lift of their monfters that never had any exiftence in nature. They have alfo great numbers of Oftriches, Phealants, Partridges, Turkeys, and other fowls wild and tame ; and their feas and rivers abound with fifti. As for domeftick animals, they keep the greateft number of Dogs of any people, which make fuch a barking in their towns all night, that there is no retting for them : And as thefe are their favourites ; fo Hogs are the a- verfton of Moors, Arabs and Jews, being prohi- bited by their refpetftive laws to eat fwine’s fiefh : Thefe therefore are left entirely to the Chriftians. On the other hand, ’tis faid, the Moors and Arabs, will eat the flefh of Camels, and of many other ani- mals which we refufe. The mod ufeful creature they have, is the Ca- Camels, thdr mel, which ferves them not only for meat and drink, u fe fulnefs ' but will carry a burthen of a thou (and weight, and travel eight or nine days without water, and with ve- ry little food : Some few balls, made up of barley pafte, is all they give them on a journey. Thefe animals are extreamely proper for their landy plains, feveral of which are many days journey over, and not a drop of water to be met with ; infomuch, that they are forced to load one half of the Camels with water, for the ufe of the merchants and people be- longing to the caravans they fend into the eaft and fouth : But, tho’ the Camel carries his burthen with eafe over a level fandy plain, he is very ill made for going up hill or down ; nor does ftony or flippeiy ways fuit with his foft tender feet ; a mile in fuch a road wearies him more than ten upon the dry fand j and fometimes after rain, when the ways are flip- pery, their caravans are forced to lie ftill till they are dried again, left their Camels (hould flip down and lame themfelves : Nor are their Horfes to be ad- Horfbe mir’d only for their beauty and fpeed, but their ufe in the wars ; being extreamly ready to obey their riders upon the leaft ftgn in charging, wheeling or retiring ; fo that the Trooper has his hands very much at liber- ty, and can make the beft ufe of his arms. The Roman hiftorians relate, that the Numidians and Mauritanians, who poflefs’d the coaft of Barbary for- merly,. made no ufe of bridles, even in an engage- ment ; but that their cavalry were manag’d altoge- ther by ftgns, or the voice of their matters : But I don’t find they ever put their Horfes to drawing, or carrying burthens. In their hufbandry they plow with Oxen, and the Camels and Mules are the bead's / 8o THE PRESENT STATE C H A P. of burthen ; and they have Mules to draw their car- VIII. riages : The Arabs alfo live pretty much upon the milk of their Camels, as well as tliat of Cows and Goats. Produce of As to the produce of the foil, they have or might che foil. have vaft quantities of corn, wine and oil: No country affords better Wheat, Barley or Rice ; both the French and Spaniards fetch thefe from the Barbary coaft when they have a fcarcity at home : And our garrifons of Gibralter and Port-Mahon have been fupplied with provifions from the African coaft, tho’ I think the natives of Fez and Morocco make fome fcruple of fending corn out of their coun- try, it being prohibited by their law ; buttheTurk- ifh ports to the eaftward are not fo fqueamifh, it be- ing one of the beft articles in their trade. The plains of Fez and Morocco are well planted with the fin- eft Olives, that yield delicious oil ; and there are no better Grapes for making wine in the world, as the Jews at Tetuan experience ; tho’ the cultivation of Vines is not encourag’d, wine being prohibited them : However fome of their Great men, who do not ftand in awe of their Priefts, will drink wine when they can get it, and that pretty openly. The Jews alfo diftil fpirits in Barbary, for which they meet with a quick market, even among the Maho- metans, who do not, poffibly, look upon this as wine. However, I find fobriety to be ftill a very advantagious character among the Turks : The left a man drinks, the more he is efteem’d ; and there- fore moft of them chufe to confine themfelves to Sherbet, Coffee and fmall liquors ; and, when they have a mind to intoxicate themfelves, do it with O- pium. But to return to the produce of the foil : Befides the fruits already mention’d, they have Dates, Figs, Raifins, Almonds, Apples, Pears, Cherries, Plums, Citrons, Lemons, Oranges, Pomegranates, with plenty of roots and herbs, in their kitchen- gardens ; and their plains produce excellent Hemp and Flax : As to foreft-trees, I find they have but few, and fcarce any good timber; poffibly their foil is not proper for timber, or they take no care to pre- fcrve it, having very little ufe for any. Here are fome mines of very fine Copper, but it is not very plentiful ; and, as for the Gold and Silver mines mention’d by fome writers, I cannot learn that any fuch have ever been open’d in this country. They have no {hipping to carry on a foreign trade by fea: But the Europeans bring them whatever they want from abroad ; as Linen and Woollen cloth, Stuffs, Iron wrought and unwrought, Arms, Gunpowder, Lead, and the like ; for which they take in return. Copper, Wax, Hides, Morocco Leather, Wool (which is very fine) Gums, Soap, Dates, Almonds and other fruits. Trade by Their trade by land, is either with Arabia or Ne- Siai. groeland: To Mecca they fend caravans, confift- ing of feveral thoufand Camels, Horfes and Mules, twice every year, partly for traffick, and partly up- on a religious account ; great numbers of Pilgrims CHAP' taking that opportunity of paying their devotions to VIII. their great Prophet. The goods they carry to the Eaft, are woollen manufactures very fine, Morocco fkins, Indigo, Cochineal and Oftrich feathers : And they bring back from thence, Silks, Mullins and Drugs. By their caravans to Negroeland, they Caravans, fend Salt, Silk and Woollen manufactures; and bring back Gold and Ivory in return, but chiefly Negroes ; for from hence it is, that their Emperor chiefly recruits his Black cavalry, tho’ there are alfo great numbers born in the country, for they bring thofe of both fexes very young from Negroeland ; the females for breeders, and the males for foldiers as they grow up : They firft carry a mufket and ferve on foot, and after fome time are preferr’d to be Cavaliers. And as thefe have no other hopes or dependance but the favour of the Emperor, they prove much the moft dutiful and obfequious of all his fubjeCts ; and indeed fupport the Prince in his ty- ranny over the reft, who would not probably have borne the barbarous cruelties of the two laft reigns, if they had not been govern’d with a rod of iron in the hands of thefe Negroes ; who, like other foreign mercenaries, never enquire into the reafonableneft of their Prince’s commands, but execute his moft inhuman decrees without remorfe. But to return to their caravans : They always go ftrong enough to defend themfelves againft the wild Arabs of the defarts in Africa or Afia ; tho’, notwithstanding all their vigilance, fome of the ftragglers and baggage of- ten fall into their hands : They are' alfo forc’d to load one half of their Camels with water, to prevent perifhing with drought and thirft over thefe exten- five defarts ; and there is ftill a more dangerous ene- my, and that is, the fand itfelf: When the winds rife, the caravan is perfectly blinded with the duft ; and there have been inftances, both in Africa and Afia, where whole caravans, and even armies have been buried alive in the fands. There is no doubt * alfo, but both men and cattle are fometimes fur- priz’d by wild beafts, as well as robbers in thofe vaft defarts. But what I had almoft forgot to mention, tho’ I have frequently fuffer’d by them myfeif, are the hot winds : Thefe, blowing over a long trad of burning fand, are equal almoft to the heat of an o- ven, and have deftroy’d abundance of Merchants and Pilgrims : In fhort, if it was not for devotion, or in expectation of very great gains, no man would undertake a journey in thefe defarts ; fo great are the hazards and fatigues they muft of neceffity un- dergo, and many of them frequently die in the ' voyage. However, as thofe that go to Mecca affure themfelves of paradife if they die, and have uncom- mon honours paid them at home if they furvive, people croud to be taken in to the eaftern caravans : And the Gold that is found in the fouth, makes them no lefs eager of undertaking that journey. As OF THE EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. Bi CHAP, VIII. Religion. As to the religion of this country : Having gi- were depriv’d of all they had in the world, and tranf- CHAP, ven a very full account of the Mahometan fuperfti- ported to Africa, on account of religion, or rather VIII. tion, in treating of Perfia, Arabia and Turkey, through the avarice of the Spaniards to pofiefs their in the fir ft volume of Modern Hijiory ; I fhall take eftates. I fay, confidering all thefe things, we can- but a ftiort view of it here. They are of a differ- not but admire the moderation of thofe Mahome- ent feel from the Mahometans of Turkey and Al- tans, in fuftering the Spaniards, and other Chriftians piers, and have alfo a Mufti or High-prieft of their that fall into their hands, to profefs the Chriftian re- own, who refides at Meauinez : And under him ligion in that country, when nothing lefs than a are Priefts and Ecclefiafticks in every city and town, who determine civil as well as ecclefiaftical caufes, and officiate in their mofques. But, befides thefe, they have their Saints, or Marabouts, that live retir’d in the mountains and unfrequented places, for whom they have fuch a veneration, that, if a criminal can efcape to their abodes, the Officers of Juftice dare not feize him, and the Saint frequently procures the offender’s pardon : Thefe have a very great influ- ence on all degrees of men ; and fome of them, I perceive, are temporal as well as fpiritual Lords, hav- ing whole towns and countries that are their vaffals; indulging themfelves in a reafbnable number of wives and concubines, and all the pleafures that the world affords. But then there are others that live the life of Hermits, anft ufe great aufterities, going about in rags and a neglected drefs ; who are, however, no lefs reverenc’d and ador’d than the others. The peo- ple proftrate themfelves before thefe Marabouts, ef- teeming it a great favour to kifs their feet, or but the hem of their garments ; tho’ Captain Blaith- wait, who attended the Englifh Ambaffador to the Court of Morocco, in the year 1727, fays, he could obferve nothing extraordinary in thefe Mara- bouts, but an affecSIed gravity and refervednefs, with fome uncommon agitations, diftorting their coun- tenances, and rolling their eyes, that people might imagine they were infpir’d ; which fsems to be pret- ty near the charafter we have of the firft Quakers, and their fucceffors in hypocrify the French Pro- phets : However, the people adore them, and never prefume to fufpecl the pious fraud ; which is the bet- ter to be borne, fince thefe pretended Saints make ufe of their influence to do good offices, and not to oppofe their weak brethren, or to fleece them of their money : And it is much eafier for a Proteftant to live under the government of Morocco, in one ref- peef, than in any popifti kingdom or ftate ; and that is, that they compel no man to be of their religion, but allow every one the free and open excercife of divine fervice, according to their refpeSlive forms of worfhip : Nay, they fuft’er their very Haves to have their priefts and their chappel in the capital city of the empire ; whereas it is reported, that the Spani- ards, and fome other Roman catholick kingdoms and ftates, where the inquifition is eftabliih’d, have been very fevere upon fuch Moors as have happen’d to fall into their power, in order to force them to turn Chriftians: Nor is it poffible for the people of Barbary to forget how their anceftors were ufed in Spain, and hew many hundred thouland of them total extirpation of Mahometans would fatisfy the Cathclicks of Spain ; and, as fome have obferv’d, the cruelties of the Turks on the Barbary coaft, which are lb much complain’d of, are not more to be dreaded than thofe of the Inquifition : Nor are there near fo many inftances of the former, as of the latter. As the religion of this empire is the feme with Marriage., that of other Mahometan countries, fo are their mar- riages celebrated in the feme manner. The parties and their friends having agreed upon terms, they come before the Cadi, or Civil magiftrate, who re- cords the con tract ; after which, an entertainment is made, and the bride carried home in great ftate to her hufband’s houfe, which is the whole of the ce- remony : And we may be fure it is no part of the contrail, “ That the man fhall keep no other wo- man, ” as v/ith us ; becaufe he is allowed four wives, and as many concubines as he pleafes ; and the greater the hufband’s quality is, the greater num- ber of women he keeps ; more for oftentation, and the ftate of the matter, than for any thing elfe. But whether it be part of the contrail, that the man fhall let every wife take her turn in his bed, or whe- ther the law requires this of him, I can’t tell ; but it is held a great piece of injuftice to defraud any of his wives of their due : Hov/ever, I find they make no great feruple of keeping boys, as well as concu- bines, and often deal unnaturally by their wives : But the latter is held to be a fufficient ground for a divorce; and, ’tis laid, a divorce is not difficult to obtain on either fide : Only, if the fault be in the man, the wife is fuffer’d to go off with her cloaths and jewels ; and, if the woman goes affray, (he is turned out naked, and indeed feldom efcapes with her life ; for death is the punifhment of adultery, if the man will be fetisfied with nothing lefs than the rigour of the law ; while fodomy with boys is fcarce deem'd a crime amongft them. Their funerals alfo are folemniz.’d here, as in o- Funerals, ther Mahometan countries : Women are hir’d to la- ment and howl over the corpfe, who tear off their hair, and cut themfelves till the blood follows. Aff- ter fome time, the corpfe is carried to the burying- place, with the head firft, in the ufual drefs, the Priefts finging as they go, Lailla illalah Mahomet ref- foul Allah ; “ God is a great God and Mahomet his Prophet ” ; and, having fet the corpfe upright in the tomb, with the face towards Mecca, they leave it in that pofture. M As THE PRESENT STATE 82 CHAP. As to their burying-places : Every perfon, accord- VIII. ing to his quality, purchafes a piece of ground, a lit- tie out of town near the highway-fide, which they enclofe with a wall, and make a kind of flower- garden of it, erecting a dome, or a fpire, fometimes over the graves of their deceas’d friends ; and thofe, who can do no more, place a ftone at the head, and another at the feet, as in our church-yards ; but they never bury in their mofques, or within the walls of a town. 'J he women piouflv vifit the tombs of their hufbands, or other relations, every Friday ( their fabbath) carrying thither meat and fruits, which the poor eat when they are gone : And here, or at home, the women perform their devotions on that day, for they are never fuffer’d to enter into a mofque; nor are they vifited by their Priefts. Pof- fibly the men don’t trouble themfelves much what religion they are of, or whether they have any ; for they expert a feraglio of virgins in paradife, form’d on purpofe for them, whofe charms will never de- cay, or fatiate the appetite. CHAP. IX. The prefent ft ate of Algiers. Containing the prefent ftate of the kingdom of Algiers. CHAP. I H E kingdom of Algiers is bounded by the IX. JL Mediterranean fea, on the north ; by Tunis on the eaft ; by the mountains of Atlas, which fe- In^fxTm'of 1 P erate ft fr° m Biledulgerid, on the fouth ; and by the kingdom liver Zea, or Mulvia, which divides it from the of Algiers, kingdom of Fez, on the weft ; extending along the coafl: of the Mediterranean about 600 miles from weft to eaft, the breadth various, and very uncer- tain ; tho’ our beft Geographers place it between the 30th and 37 th degrees of north latitude. Rivers. 7 'he principal rivers, which rife in mount Atlas, and run northward into the Mediterranean, ar 1 . 1 he river Arefgola, or Hartegol, which falls into the Mediterranean, about feven leagues to the weft- ward of Oran. 2. Afiafran, which diicharges it- felf into the fea, five leagues to the weftward of Al- giers. 3. Chilef, which falls into the fea, near Moftagan. ^4. Sofaya, which runs into the fea, to the eaft ward of the city of Algiers. 3. Sef Gomar, which runs by Conftantina, into the Mediterranean. 6. Zinganor, or Major, which falls into the fea, near Bugia. And, 7. Mira, which difcharges itfelf into the Mediterranean, near Arzea. None of thefe have a very long courfe, rifing but in the mountains of Atlas, or other hills in this kingdom : nor do I find that any of them are navigable, at leaft that there is any navigation upon them ; tho’ there are fome of them large enough, and would probably be made navigable, if any other people but the Turks were pofiefi’d ot them ; and indeed they appear fo very mdolent here, that they have not one bridge or fer- ry over any river in the country, but go about fre- CHAP, quently fome miles to find a ford ; and, if there hap- IX. pens to fall heavy rains, travellers are forced to wait, till the waters are down again, before they can pais them. This kingdom is ufually divided into five provin- Provinces, ces, viz. 1. Tremefen, or Telenfin ; 2. Tenez; 3. Algiers; 4. Bugia; and, 5. Conftantina. The province of Tremefen is bounded by the Tremefea. Mediterranean, on the north ; by Tenez, on the eaft ; by Biledulgerid, on the fouth ; and by the kingdom of Fez, on the weft : The chief towns Towns, whereof are, Tremefen, Marfalquivir, or Almar- fa, and Oran. 1. Tremefen is fituated in 34 degrees north lati- tude, under the fame meridian that London lies, and is about fixty miles to the fouthward of the Me- diterranean fea, formerly the capital of a kingdom of the fame name ; but has been under the domini- on of the Turks of Algiers thefe hundred years and more: Hiftorians deferibe it to have been a moll magnificent city, large, rich and populous, while it was in its glory, and govern’d by its native prin- ces. But there feems to be fcarce any thing in it re- markable at prefent. 2. Marlalquivir, or Almarfa, lies on a bay of MarfalquU the Mediterranean fea, three or four miles fouth- vir " weft of Oran, and is efteemedoneof the fafeft roads on thiscoaft. It was pofefs’d by the Spaniards, till the Algerines took Oran from them ; but furrender’d to the Spaniards again, immediately after their re- taking Oran, in the year 1 73 2. Oran is fituated on another bay of the Mediter- Oran, ranean fea, latitude 36 degrees, eaft longitude 1, about 250 miles weft of Algiers. It lies partly in a plain, and partly upon the afeent of a hill, and is about a mile and a half in circumference, as well for- tified as the ground about it will permit ; but, it being commanded by fome of the neighbouring bills, if there be not a garrifon of ten or twelve thoufand men to defend the avenues, diftant caftles, and re- doubts, as well as the town itfelf, it cannot fuftain a long fiege. The Spanifh coafts and merchant-fhips fufFering' much from the Corfairs or Rovers of this town, Fer- dinand, King of Spain, fent over an army, under the command of his Prime minifter. Cardinal Xi- menes, in the year 1509, to befiege it; who, hav- ing a correfpondence with fome of the inhabitants, when the Moors fallied out with the beft part of the garrifon againft the Chriftian army, their friends in the town {hut the gates againft them, and the Car- dinal obtain’d an eafy conqueft, killing above 4000 Moors, and delivering at the fame time 20000 Chrifi- tian flaves out of captivity : The Turks of Algiers made feveral attempts to recover this town from time to time for near 200 years ; but were always repuls’d till the year 1708, when they made themfelves mafters of it, by the treachery or cowardice of the Governor, OF ALGIERS. CHAP. Governor, as the Spaniards give out, and remained IX. in poffefiion of Oran till the year 1732. But King Philip, having at this time no other enemy to contend with, and a fine army of veteran troops, that had no other employment, embark’d a good body of them at Alicant, about the middle of June 1732, under the command of the Conde de Mon- ternar, who landed near Oran, on the 29th of the fame month, with very little oppofition ; and, ha- ving afterwards gained the height of the mountains above Oran, the garrifon abandon’d the place, with- out waiting to be befieg’d in form : Of which tranf- adlion we receiv’d repeated advice in our common news-papers ; but the account the Turks give of this enterprize affords fome further particulars. Oran taken They fay, that the Dey of Algiers, believing by the Spa- t j iat armament of the Spaniards was intended ' againft his capital, did not fend lltch reinforcements to Oran as he would have done, if he had expected they would have attempted that city : However, the Bey or Viceroy of Oran had affembled an army of twenty thoufand men, for the defence of the place, moll of them horfe ; with which he did en- deavour to hinder the defcent of the Spaniards ; but his troops were diforder’d by the continual fire of the cannon of the enemy from their men of war and gallics. Pie attack’d them alio after they were landed ; but, the ground being unfit for cavalry, and his horfe (fill galled by the Spanifh artillery, he was obliged to retire ; and thereupon determined to wait for a reinforcement of four thoufand Turks, and fix thoufand Moors, which he daily expedled from Algiers, before he engaged the Chriftians again : And, in the mean time, for fear of the worft, removed all his effects, his treafure, and his women, out of Oran to a place of fecurity : Where- upon the garrifon and inhabitants were in the great- eft confternation ; imagining they Ihould be foon abandon’d by the Governor, and facrificed to the Chriftians ; and thereupon pack’d up all that they had, after the Baffaw’s example, and kindly quit- ted the town to the Chriftians without a blow ; leaving in it an hundred and forty-fix pieces of can- non, befides mortars, and at leaft fifty (hip-loads of proviftons, which contributed very much towards the prefervation of the conqueft ; for the fea was fo tempeftuous they could receive nothing from their fleet for feveral days. However, the Baffaw attack’d the Spanifh army as they were marching into the place ; and, tho’ he found it impoffible then to fave the town, fb obftinate was the engagement, that the Spaniards loft near five thoufand men ; and were afterwards fo harrafs’d by the Turks, before they could put b the place in a pofture of defence, that great part of their army was cut off’, and amongft them their new Governor the Marquis of Santa Cruz, and feveral of their beft Generals* But to proceed : 83 The next province to the eaftward of Tremefen CHAP, is that of Tenez, bounded on the north, by the IX. Mediterranean ; on the eaft, by the province of Algiers Proper ; on the fouth, by the mountains of Atlas ; and on the weft, by Tremefen ; extend- ing about an hundred miles from weft to eaft, along the coaft of the Mediterranean ; but the breadth from north to fouth is very uncertain : The chief towns are Muftagan, Tenez, and Townsi Sercelli. Muftagan is fituated at the mouth of a river that Muftagaa. falls into the Mediterranean, in the mid-way between Oran and Tenez ; of which I meet with no particular defeription. Tenez, the capital of the province, is fituated Tenez. alfo on the fea-coaft, in 36 degrees odd minutes north latitude, about 100 miles to the eaftward of Oran ; and is fuppofed to be the Julia Caefarea of the antients. Sercelli, or Serfela, (lands near the fea, latitude Serfda. 37 degrees, between Tenez and Algiers ; ancient- ly a large populous city, but not very confiderable at prefent. The province of Algiers Proper is bounded by Algiers Pro- file Mediterranean, on the north ; by the province per ‘ of Bugia, on the eaft ; by Biledulgerid, on the fouth ; and by Tenez, on the weft ; extending, from weft to eaft, along the coaft of the Mediterranean, up- wards of two hundred miles, and about four hun- dred miles from the fame fea to the fouthward : The chief towns whereof are Algiers the capital, Towns, and Metafuz, or Temendfaft. The town of Algiers is fituated in latitude 37, AJgiers. weft longitude three and a half, on a bay of the Mediterranean fea, a little to the eaftward of the river Safran : It is built on the fide of a mountain ; the houfes flat-roof’d, terrafs’d, and white-walh’d ; and, fifing gradually from the fea-fhore up the hill, forms a kind of amphitheatre, and appears very beautifully on the approaching it by fea ; but this, like moft other Turkilh towns, looks better at a diftance than when we are in it : The mofques, the domes, the fpires, the caftles, and palace (land- ing in full view, give us a great idea of the place ; but, as the ftrects are extremely narrow, and the private houfes but mean, our expedlations are not anfwer’d when we come to examine it clofely : However, there is this convenience, that the inha- bitants can vifit each other from the tops of the houfes almoft all over the town, without going into the ftrects. The walls are about a league in circumference, defended by fome baftions and fquare towers between them : The port is fecured by a pier or mole, in length about five hundred paces, extended from the continent to a fmall rocky ifland, where (lands a caftle, call’d the Lantern, with three tier of brals cannon, befides other fortifications, lately erecled lor its defence, fince the French bom- bardment : The town has five gates ; and in it: M 2 ate Province of Teaee. / /, *4 THE PRESENT STATE CHAP. are ten great mofques, or Mahometan temples ; fif- IX. ty leffer mofques, three colleges, and abundance of fchools, where the children are brought up with the utmoft prejudice to Chriftianity. It is compu- ted, there are about an hundred thoufand fouls in the town. On the fide of the bay, oppofite to the mole, is a fort defended by about twenty great guns, call’d Fort Metafuz, from the cape near which it is fitu- ated 3 built to command that part of the bay where the French gallies lay when they bombarded it : There are alfo two other forts on that fide, where the Engiifh lay when they bombarded the town, well furnifh’d with cannon : So that' Algiers is much better prepared to defend itfelf againft a bom- bardment, than it was formerly. On the land fide there is a fortrefs at the very top of the hill, above the town, call’d A 1 Cafabba ; and without Bebalweyd- gate are three other forts ; and a little farther a fourth, called the Emperor’s- caftle, being fituated upon the hill, where the Em- peror Charles the Vth had his head-quarters when he befieged Algiers : But the greateft ftrength is the numbers and refolution of the natives, brought up and enur’d to daring and hazardous enterprizes ; being in a manner in perpetual war with all man- kind. The houfes are very clofe throng’d together in the town, no gardens or vacant fpaces, and many families in one houfe 3 but their gardens extend a great way beyond the walls, both on the hills and in the valleys, affording a moft agreeable profpecl 3 the foil extremely fruitful, and well planted, by the labour of the Chriftian flaves, who have the cultivation and management of them for their high and mighty lords the Janizaries and Burghers of Algiers. Metafuz. The town of Metafuz lies upon the lea, about four leagues to the eaftward of Algiers, and is not remarkable for any thing that I can meet with, but being the place where the Emperor Charles V. embark’d, when he was forced to raife the Siege of Algiers, and the giving name to a certain cape or promontory on that coaft. The next province to the eaftward of Algiers is Bogia, extending from weft to eaft about thirty miles along the Mediterranean, and upwards of an hundred to the fouthward of that fea 3 the chief towns whereof are, Gigeri, or Gergel, and Bugia. Gigeri is fituated 14 or 15 leagues north-eaft of Algiers, upon the Mediterranean fea, remark- able for little but an old caftle, that Hands upon a mountain of very difficult accels. Here the French were fortifying themfelves in the year 1666 3 hut were driven from thence by the Algerines, and compell’d to leave their cannon and moft of their effedls behind them. Bugia, now the capital of the province, and for- merly of a kingdom of the fame name, is fitu- Frovince of Bogia. Towns. Gigeri. ated at the mouth of the river Major, about twenty CHAP, leagues to the eaftward of Algiers. The town lies IX, upon the fide of a hill, and is defended by a caftle that ftands above it, but not able to protect Hiips in the river ; for I find, the Engiifh Admiral, Sir Edward Sprague, in the year 1671, took or deftroyec} nine Algerine men of war here. Near the mouth of the river Major, lies the little ifland of Tabaria, in the pofTeffion of the Genoefe 5 and which they have fo well fortified, as to bid defiance to all the power of the Alge- rines. The province of Conftantina is the moft eaftern Content™ province of the kingdom of Algiers, being bound- P rovince - ed by the Mediterranean, on the north ; by the river Guadilbar, which divides it from Tunis, on the eaft ; by Biledulgerid, on the fouth ; and by the province of Bugia on the weft : The chief Towns, towns whereof are, Conftantina, and Bona. Conftantina is fituated on a river, about ninety Conftantina. miles fouth-eaft of Bugia, latitude 3 5 . There are feme noble ruins found in and about this town 3 but it is remarkable for very little elie at prelent. Bona, or Hippon, lies on the Mediterranean, Bona, latitude 37, about ninety miles north-eaft of Ccn- ftantina ; and near it is a coral fifhery. This town, among others, was taken by Charles V. in his expedition againft Tunis, but recover’d by the Turks not long afterwards. It is faid to be the place where the famous St. Austin died. Having given a defcription of the fituation of Face cf the the provinces and great towns of the kingdom of COJntr F- Algiers, I proceed to confider the face of the coun- try ; and I find, that mount Atlas runs through the fouth part of it, from eaft to weft, from the kingdom of Tunis to the kingdom of Morocco : It is alfo very mountainous towards the Mediter- ranean lea 3 but both hills and valleys are exceeding fruitful where they are cultivated, abounding in corn and fruits 3 fuch as Dates, Olives, Figs, Grapes and Almonds : They have allb good ftore of Wax and Honey, and their coafts afford great quantities of Salt. The Government of Algiers is in reality an ab- Government folute monarchy at this day, tho’ it has fome ap- A! s ier3 - pearunce of a mixt Government 3 becaufe the Dey, or Sovereign, fometimes affembles a Divan, confift- ing of the chief officers of the State and the Jani- zaries, and demands their advice in matters of im- portance 3 but this, it feems, is only to fkreen him againft popular difcontents 5 for he adds, by his foie authority, whenever he pleafes. The Dey is in- deed elective ; his fon never inherits by defcent, and this eledbion is by the Turkifti army: Thole, who have no relation to the fword, have nothing to do in the eledtion. There are frequently feveral can- didates nam’d upon a vacancy 3 and, when they have fixed upon one, they all cry out, “ Allah “ Baric k, God profper you, and {bower down his “ biddings OF ALGIERS. CHAP. “ bleffings upon you ” ; and, whether the perfon IX. is willing to accept the honour, or not, he is im- mediately inverted with the Caftan or robe of fo- vereignty : Then the Cadi is call’d, who declares, that God has vouchlafed to call him to the govern- ment of that kingdom ; and that he is to maintain his fubjecls in their liberties and properties, and duely adminifter juftice to them ; and exhorts him to employ his utmoft care for the profperity of his country : And, ’tis faid, he fits daily, adminifter- ing juftice from five in the morning till noon, and from one till four, hearing and determining all cau- fes that are brought before him, without any affb- ciates or aftiftants but four fecretaries. However, matters relating to lands of inheritance, to religion, or the breaches of their ecclefiaftical and civil laws (which are the fame among the Turks) are deter- min’d by the Cadi’s, or Ecclefiaftical judges ; fo that thefe caufes, determin’d by the Dey, feem to relate chiefly to the government of the State and the Militia, or to perfonal debts, and other controvert- ed matters ; for which the Alchoran has made no provifion : His judgments are arbitrary, not regu- lated by laws ; nor is there any appeal from his tribunal. But, as the military men do not only elect their Sovereign, but depofe, or put him to death, whenever they apprehend he does not con- fult their interert, he is oblig’d to be very cautious in the decree he makes. Of the fix Deys that have reign’d fince the year 1700, four have been murder’d, and a fifth re- fign ’d his government to fave his life. The want of foccefs in any inftance, almoft infallibly occaficns a rebellion 5 and ’tis well if the Dey is net lacrific’d to the fury of the Janizaries, and another eleefted, in whofe hands they hope their affairs will preiper better. Land-forces. The Militia who elec! their Dey, are all natural Turks or renegado Chriftians, admitted into thofe troops generally denominated Janizaries, and amount to about twelve thoufand men : Thefe are, by fome, ftyl’d the nobility of Algiers ; and certain it is, that the frequent revolutions that happen at Algiers, are brought about by this clefs of people chiefly : They are but few in number indeed, compar’d with the native Moors ; and yet do they tyrannize over the natives in a moft infolent manner. On the contrary, in the empire of Morocco, the Moors govern every thing, and will not fuffer the Turks to have any ftiare in the Government. The Moors here are faid to be a cov/ardly 2nd mean-fpirited people, in comparifon of the Turks ; who have defeated armies of them, both in Morocco and Tu- nis, of irx times their number, and ftorrn’d and plunder’d both their capitals within a very few years, compelling their refpeccive Princes to accept of fuch terms as the Deys of Algiers were [leafed to impofe on them. The reafon of which fuperi- ority is fjppos’J to proceed either from that fob- 8 5 million the Turks have always exacted from the C H A P, Moors, whereby the latter are. in a manner difpi- IX. rited ; or that the Algerine Turks, being all men '^'/~*** of fword, engag’d perpetually in the moft delperate fervices by fea and land, and, dreading no dangers, are an over-match for all their neighbours, who endeavour to live in peace : But, from what caufe foever this fuperiority proceeds, it is furprizing to obferve, that lefs than ten thouland of the Algerine Turks fliould dare to march through great part of the empire of Morocco, and make themfelves ma- fters of the capital city of Fez one year, and after- wards of Tunis the next. But, ’tis certain, the native Moors have as great a dread of thefe Pirates by land, as our defencelels Merchants have of them at fea, and tremble at the very name of an Algier Turk : And, tho’ this kingdom confifted at firft of little more than the lands within view of the city, by what they have taken from the Kings of Tunis and Bogia on the eaft, and the Emperor of Morocco on the weft, we fee it extended, at this day, 600 miles and upwards in length, and 3 or 4 hundred in breadth, to the fouthward, except fome few inacceffible hills, where live a wretched fort of people, that are not worth their conqueft. But to proceed : In thefe extenfive territories the Dey has three Three Beys Viceroys, or Beys ; one in the eaft, another in the or Viceroys,, weft, and a third in the fouth ; who, in the latter end of the furrtmer, affemble each of them a fmall army, with which they make the tour of their re- fpeclive Governments, to gather in fuch taxes, as the Dey is pleafed to impofe upon the people ; and, in cafe any of them refufo payment, the Bey feizes or deftroys their whole crops of grain and fruits. In collecting thefe taxes, the refpective Beys are em- ployed three or four months every year ; and what^ ever the whole country can raife, is brought to Al- giers for the fupport of the Government, and par- ticularly the payment of the Janizaries, which muft be preferr’d to all other fervices, it being very dan- gerous difobliging that body : But, as money is pretty fcarce in this country, I find great part of the taxes are taken in kind, that is, in com, cattle, and fuch other goods as may be moft ufeful to the Turks at Algiers ; and the prizes they make at fea, fome years, equal the revenues they exacPc from the na- tives at land. Thefe Pirates feem to look upon the whole world as their tributaries ; or rather, that the reft of mankind were only made to be Haves to their pleafures, and ought not to expedf juftice, or com- mon humanity, at their hands. They agree with our Fanaticks, that dominion is founded in grace : That true believers have a right to every thing this world affords, and, according to Csom WEt’s noti- on, ought not to be fubjeeft to laws, human or divine, at leaft in their commerce v/ith reprobates, and in- fidels, as they efteem all men but themfelves. But, as Ms been obforvAi, the Turks here do not only treat 86 THE PRESENT STATE C H A P. treat the Chriftians and Jews with infolence, but IX, even the Moors, who are of the fame faith : The meaneft Turkifh foldier will make the wealthieft Moor give him the way : They are ufed more like men of quality, than common foldiers : They have their quartets in fpacious fquares, where they are maintain’d, and ferv’d by flaves, at the publick ex- pence : They are duely paid every other moon, and have the privilege of buying their provifions one third cheaper than any other of the inhabitants. Befides thefe, tire Dey of Algiers has feveral thoufand Moors in his fervice, horfe and foot, and every one of his Beys commands an army of the fame people, as has been obferv’d already ; but thefe have no (hare in the election, or depofmg their Princes ; or are en- titled to any of the privileges the Turkifh foldiers enjoy. Force of the The Algerines are more formidable at fea, than Ajgermes at any ot her powcr on t ; ie co;i ft 0 f Barbary ; and the fea-faring people are in great efteem, on account of the prizes they frequently bring in ; but ftill they have no fhare in the eledtion of a Dey : The fathers of the Trinity allure us, that the Algerines have no Ids than five and twenty fnips of war, from eigh- teen to fixty guns, befides a multitude of fmaller cruifing vefiels ; and, as they have very little timber in the country, nor any naval ftores whatever, their Ihips are either thofe they take as prize, or built, and rigg’d out of the materials of fuch fhips as are taken : However, they never fuffer the num- ber of their fhips of war to be diminifh’d ; but, if any of them are loll, or decay’d, they immediately add as many more. The Englifh have been at peace with the Alge- rines ever fince the year 1682: But the Dutch could not obtain a fettled peace ’till very lately ; in nego- tiating which, their good friends (the Englifh) aflifted them, or they would probably have been in a Hate of war with Algiers at this day : And furely this muft be afcrib’d to an excefs of goodnefs in the Englilh nation on many accounts : For firft, the Dutch are every-where their rivals in trade ; there is fcarce any part of the world where the Hollander has not en- deavour’d to fupplant them, and in too many fuc- ceeded. In the next place, while the Dutch were at war with Algiers, they were forced to fend ftrong convoys with their merchant-fhips into the Levant ; nor could thefe always protect their fhips : They found it necefi’ary to employ the Englifh in carrying their goods thither, and confequently the Englifh were gainers by this war between Holland and Al- giers ; and yet w>ere we fo very kind and difinte- rdled, as to make their peace for them, and let them into the trade again. Whether the Dutch will ever make any returns for fo fignal a favour, we (hall fee, if we live long enough ; but their u- » fual way of requiting a Britifh kindnefs, is by ails of treachery and injuftice. I queftion whether the Hollander has not done the trade of England more mifchief, than ever the Algerines have, particularly CHAP- in depriving us by violence of the Spice Iflands, which IX. they keep pofleflion of to this day : Nor were their cruelties at all fhort of thofe the Turks exercife on their Chriftian flaves ; for, to deter the Englifh Merchants from ever coming to the Spice Iflands a- gain, they burnt off their flefh by inches, and ex- ercis’d all the tortures upon them they could invent. Let them never therefore cry out of the piracies of the Algerines, when they themfelves took not only our fhips, but our lands (the invaluable Spice Iflands) from us, and have never made reftitution to this day ; tho’ they have often promifed it by folemn treaties : And what aggravates the injury is, that this was done at a time of full peace, and in the very next reign after the Queen of England had refcued them from the oppreffions of the Spaniards. But to return to the Government of Algiers : It has been already obferv’d, that the Dey is an abfolute Sovereign, and in reality knows no fuperior ; however, the Grand Signior ftill ftyles him Lieute- nant, and the people, under his jurifdiiftion, fubje&s to the Porte, as appears by the letter written to the Dey by the Grand Signior in behalf of the Dutch, in the year 1719 3 a tranfiation whereof follows. To the Dey and BaJJa of Algiers , Me HE MED Baffa , a Prince chofen to enjoy the dignity whereof he is poffejfor , who has been preferv d by the help of the mojl High ; and to the mojl learned Mufti , and you Cadis and Judges abounding with eloquence and equity ; as likewife to all others among you , who are replete ' with knowledge ; and to all the Chiefs of your Militia fighting for the faith ; and alfo to all our faithful Algerine fubjefts , Health. E give you to underftand by the tenor A letter of this noble and fublime Order, that tfie . “ the Holland Ambaflador, who is now at our nSor""!. the u High Porte, having reprefented to us, that you Dey of ai- “ have declared war w’ith Holland without any of the “ caufe, and that the lame was unjuft, and contrary Dutch. “ to the articles of thofe treaties which have been “ granted them by our Porte, with which they are “ in peace. All which, having been examin’d “ with attention, we have been inform’d, that the “ unjuft war, by you declar’d again ft the Hollan- “ ders, is repugnant to thofe articles the faid Dutch “ Ambaflador has exhibited ; by which articles it is “ fpecified, I hat, while they fhall be in peace with “ our Pligh Porte, no injury fhall be done to their “ perfons, or their efteSfs, by our fubjeHs of Al- “ giers, B unis or Tripoli : Neverthelels, you have “ tranfgrefs’d the treaties, taken from them to the “ value of fifty thoufand dollars, and their Conful “ has been oblig’d to retire into France. “ Having a regard to thole refpefifful remonftran- “ ces, made by the Holland Ambaflador at the M threfhold O F A L CHAP. “ threfhold of our happy Porte, we have hereto- IX. “ fore difpatch’d to you our order and intentions « upon this matter and the effect, not having an- “ fwer’d what we ought to have expected from loyal “ and obedient fubjeds, we now fend this prefent “ order, whereto you are to conform ; which or- “ der will be deliver’d you by Hassan Aga, one “ of our Capiji Baftiis. Our intention is, that “ you fend to Conftantinople two officers, who be- “ ing commiffion’d to negotiate a peace with the “ laid Hollanders, (hall exhibit their allegations ; “ yoi; knowing that fuch fubjeds as difobey their “ Emperor are criminals, and frequently expos’d to “ chaftilements fent them down from the moil “ High, as it is expreffed in the noble Koran : “ Wherefore, it is better that you preferve to your- “ felves love and applaufe, than that you incur ha- “ tred and reproach. For which reafon you are to “ put in execution what is enjoin’d you by the pre- “ fent order, at the top whereof is the noble fig- “ net, to which it behoves you to give credit.” While this was reading in the Divan, the whole audience kept a moft refpedful filence ; and, being ended, the Bafh-Chiaus crisd out, fatha, fatha, expreffing thereby the refped and fubmiffion where- with the Emperor’s Firman, or Order, ought to be They have receiv’d : And it appears, that the Algerines have little depen- indeed a great veneration for the Grand Signior, as theGra P nd thc h eac * ot ^ ie ‘ r religion ; but have a dill greater Signior. for their own intereft, and are not to be moved by any threats of the Porte, when it pretends to debar them from exercifing that piratical war with the European nations, which is the foundation of all their wealth and grandeur ; for it was not till feme years afterwards they made peace with Holland ; and that, at the inftance of the Englilh, as has been ob- ferv’d already, as well as in confideration of very rich prefents diftributed among their leading men ; and indeed, the Algerines, like other people, are govern’d chiefly by intereft, nothing elfe inclines them either to peace or war ; if they think they (hall get moft by peace, they prefer that ; and, it they propofe greater advantages by war, they will never liften to a peace. The Grand Signior had, ’till very lately, a Bafha always refiding at Algiers, to whom he expeded the Dey and his fubjeds fhould pay a great regard ; hut, finding his authority flighted, and that they would not permit his Bafha to intermeddle in their affairs, or even allow him a vote in their Divan, he was pleafed to conftitute the Dev hirnfelf his Baftta, that he might feem ftill to retain fome authority over the Algerines : And accordingly we find the prece- ding letter directed, To the Dey and Bafha of Al- giers, Mehemed Baffa, who indeed are the fame The Aga of perfon with two different titles, ries tlhe ' 23 " The next temporal officer to the Dey, and who < fficer to the has the gteateft influence in the Algerine Govcrn- She Dey. G I E R S. 87 ment, is the Aga, or General of theTurkifh Mi- C H AP. litia. This is the oldeft officer in the army, who IX. continues in this port but two months, and then is fucceeded by the next fenior officer. While he re- mains Aga of the Militia, the keys of the city are in his cuftody, all military orders are given out in his name, and in his palace only, the Turks are pu- nch'd (according to the decrees of the Dey) whe- ther by baftanade, imprifonment, or death. The three chief Ecclefiafticks are extremely re- The Mufti’, verenc’d by all ; and thefe are the Mufti, the Cadi, Cadl * &s ’ and the Grand Marabout : The firft, the High Prieft, of their religion : The fecond, the fupreme Judge in ecclefiaftical caufes, and luch civil matters, as the military power does not interpofe in ; and the Grand Marabout, their great living Saint, or Her- mit, or rather the General of that Order, who pro- fefs themfelves Hermits or Marabouts ; the laft have an inconceivable influence both on the Government, and the affairs of every private man in the kingdom of Algiers: The three Ecclehafticks may be diftin- guifh’d by the largenefs of their turbants : They lit in the Divan, a little below the Dey, on his right hand ; and, when they enter the afi'embly, he riles up, and embraces them ; but, tho’ they are advis’d with on important occafions, they have no vote here: The Divan, I perceive, conlifts of near two The Dey thoufand officers and foldiers, and of none but the Turkifh foldiery. In the electing the Dey, if I am not miftaken, every man of the Turkifh Militia has a vote : As to the depofing him, that is done generally by tumults of the populace : They are not govern’d by laws, or precedents, in thefe revoluti- ons ; but by intereft, revenge, ambition, or per- haps mere caprice ; fo that the reign of the Dey is generally Ihort, and always precarious, notwith- ftanding all the arts they ufe to fecure their domi- nion : And, what is ftill more unfortunate, there is no defeending from that dignity, without running an apparent hazard of his life : There is fcarce any medium between the throne and grave. The Dey, as has been related already, fits on his Adminiftsa* tribunal feveral hours every day, to hear the com- 01 iUT plaints of his fubjeds, and adminifter juftice : The plaintiff, it feems, always makes his complaint in perfon (there are no Council, Proctors, Attornics, or Sollicitors, to manage their caufes lor them) ; and the defendant or wrong-doer is immediately lum- mon’d to anfwer the complaint. Upon his appear- ance, both parties are examin’d upon oath, as well as the witneffes ; and, it either of the parties appear to have been guilty of perjury, he immediately re- ceives 300 baftinadoes with a cudgel, and is oblig d to make the injur’d perfon fatisfadion forthwith. If a perfon appears to be indebted to another, he is de- creed to pay the debt in fuch time as the Dey awards.: In which if he fails, an officer is order'd to fell his effeds by audion, and make the creditor fatisfadion ; and this is done without any manner of charges. / THE PRESENT S T A T E 88 CHAP. It" the creditor have no effedfs, or real eftate, IX. he is imprifon’d ; and, if he have a real eftate, and fatisfacftion is to be made out of it, the matter is referred to the Cadi, or ecclefiaftical Judge, who on- ly can determine matters in relation to lands and in- Defcent of heritances. And, fince I have mention’d lands, thefe eftttes. always defcend to the eldeft fon ; and where a perfon leaves no heirs, all his lands and effedh, or, in other words, his whole real and perfcnal eftate, are feiz’d and poftefs’d by the Government. Punishments. The ufual puniihment at Algiers for offences not capital, is the baftinado, which confifts often of fome hundreds of blows over the foies of the feet, the calves of the legs, the buttocks or belly, with an unmerciful cudgel. In capital cafes the Turks are ftrangled with a bow-ftring, which two people pull different ways with all their ftrength : But the vari- ous deaths the poor Chriftian Haves, are put to, that offend thefe barbarous Pirates, are almoft innumera- ble ; impaling, and burning, or rather roafting, the unhappy fufferers alive, are but too frequent on their attempting to make an efcape, efpecially if any Turk is kill’d in the fcuffle ; but the worft of all deaths, is the throwing them oft" the walls of the town upon iron hooks, on which they are catch’d by the jaws, by the ribs, or fome other part ofi the body, and hang in the moft exquifite torture for fe- veral days before they expire ; but this, ’tis laid, has not been executed for many years : However, I find there have been inftances of the crucifying Chri- ftians, and nailing their hands and feet to the walls within thefe few years ; to which they have been provok’d by reports that were Ipread of fome of their Chriftian neighbours having been equally cruel to the Turks they had taken. And this leads me to give fome account of the condition of the Chriftian Haves at Algiers. Condition of The Corfair, or Pirate, it feems, no fooner takes f^vesat Al- a p r ; ze? but- h e examines into the quality and cir- cumftances of all his prifoners ; and, if he imagines they do not give him a juft account of themfelves and their comrades, he orders them to be baftinado’d on the foies of their feet till they do. Having got what information he can, he brings them on fhore after he has ftripp’d them almoft naked, and carries them to the Dey’s houfe, whither the European Confuls immediately repair, to fee if there be any of the prifoners who belong to their refpedfive nata- tions, who are at peace with Algiers ; for, in that cafe, they re-claim them, provided they were only paffengers : But, if it be proved the prifoners ferv’d for pay on board the fhips of any nation at war with this Government, there is no way to get them re- leas’d, but by paying the full ranfom. The matter being fettled between tire Dey and the Confuls, which of the prifoners (hail be fet at liberty, and which of them deem’d Haves, the Dey has his choice of every eighth Have, and generally takes the Mailers, Surgeons, Carpenters, and moft uleful men belonging to the rcfpc<5five prizes : And, CHAP, befides his eighth, he lays claim to all fuch prifoners IX. as are of any quality, for whom a fwinging ran- fom may be expected : The reft are left to the Cap- tor and their Owners, and ufually carried to theBe- fiftan, or Slave-market, where the Crier proclaims the quality, the profeffion and circumftances of each of the unhappy captives, and the refpedlive prices fet upon them. They are led afterwards to the court before the Dey’s palace, and fold by auftion in his prefence to the beft bidder ; but whatever is given beyond the firft price fet upon them belongs, to the Government : The Captors and Owners have no more titan the firft price, which is divided equally between them. Thofe Haves, which belong to tire Dey and the publick, who have no particular profeffion, and can- not be ferviceable to the State in the building and rig- gmg of (hips, or in any art or manufacture on fhore, are put to the moft laborious employments ; as in drawing carriages with materials for building, re- moving Hones or rubbifh, cleaning the ftreets and houfes, carrying the Soldiers baggage, and the like, and are lock’d up at night in the prifons belonging to the State ; of which there are three that have ob- tain’d the name of Bagnio’s : They have each of them a ring of iron on one ancle, and thofe they apprehend inclin’d to make their efcape, are fome- times loaden with chains, in which they are forced to work all day. However, there are others, it Taverns feems, when they have got a little money from ke P^7 their friends, or byway of charity, or can borrow any of the Jews upon an extravagant intereft, are permitted to keep taverns, paying a certain duty to the Dey, in proportion to the wine they vend : And thefe, it feems, are oblig’d to contribute to- wards the maintenance of their brethren in fervi- tude, and to the Chriftian chappels that are allow’d in thefe prifons : And yet, with all the duties and intereft they are forced to pay, the flaves that keep thefe taverns ufually get money : There have been inftances of fome that have got enough to purchafe their liberties, and carry money away with them ; for the Government allow their flaves a property in what they get, and proteCf them in it. Thefe ta- verns are no better than cellats, and dark ware- houfes, that have no other light than what they re- ceive from the door ; and in the fame room ftand thebuts ct wine, the beds and the tables^ where the company fit ; but people will make a fhift, with very poor accommodations, for the fake of a little good wine 5 and hither Turks, Moors and Chrifti- The Turks ans refort promifeuoufiy. Very little regard is paid of Algiers to their great Prophet’s prohibition in Algiers ; only nn ' vvine ° the good Muffulman has fo much refpedl for the Al- choran even here, that he will not keep a tavern and diftribute the forbidden liquor to others for the world, tho’ he makes little fcruple in drinking it. The ma- nagement of thefe houfes therefore is left entirely .to the CHAP. IX. Slaves to pri- vate men. Female Oaves, The ftory ( a virtuous Spanilh (lavf as related b the Fathers OF ALGIERS. 89 the Chriftians, or Jews ; and the man that keeps a (bowers of tears, invocated the powerful aid of our C HA P< tavern, tho’ a flave, is empower’d, to ftrip any of his blefled Lady. The pay being over for that day, this IX. guefls,’ even the Turks themfelves, if they refufe to poor viaim was prefented to the Dey, who made pay their reckoning ; and in this he is proteaed by her go up into his apartment : There he endeavour’d the Dev . Every flave belonging to the Govern- to bring her into temper by great promifes, exagge* ment alfo is allowed three loaves “a day, about the rating the happinefs (he might hope for, in cafe (he bwnefs of a penny loaf, befides what he earns him- fubmitted to his pleafure ; and as, amidft thefe pro- felf, or is given him in charity ; for, when the Go- teftations, he attempted to carefs her, this young Either the vernment have no other employment for them, they creature generoufly repell’d all his cardies, and all Dey under- are allowed to work in any manufadture they are his violences, telling him, that Ihe would not pur- 5 mailers of, and take the profit of it. Every Fri- chafe his protedion, nor the advantage he offer’d have an in- day particularly (the Mahometan Sabbath) they are her, at the price of her foul : That Ihe was hi§ teeter, allowed to work for themfelves, or to reft from Have, and he might condemn her to hard labour, their labour as they fee fit. which Ihe was ready to undergo ; but that fhe could The condition of thofe, who are Haves to private not confent to any criminal adions, becaufe (he was men, depends very much upon the temper of the a Chriftian. She ftill perfever’d in refilling with a mailer, and their own behaviour. They are em- conftancy equal to the violence Ali Dey continued ploy’d ’in the bufinefs of the houfe, in trade, huf- offering her, ’till, afliam’d to find himfelf thus baf- bandry, or gardening, according to their qualificati- fled, after having given her feveral kicks and buffets, ons, and the bufinefs the mailer has for them to do: he retir’d much incens’d. This was but the prelude. Ship and Houfe-Carpenters, Sail-makers, Smiths, to what other trials he made her undergo. That and the like, are very ufeful, and much encou- very evening he return’d to the charge, and found rao-’d ; and a European Surgeon is a notable Phyfi- her no lefs inflexible than before : Her cries, which cian among them. * Notwithftanding the dread our refounded even without the palace, made fuch as people are in of being taken by Turkilh Rovers, heard them, judge what violence was offering her; many of them live better in their mailers houfes at and it evidently appear’d, that her conftancy was Algiers, than ever they did in their own countries, not vanquilh’d, when the Dey was feen all in a rage, being entertain’d rather as companions than fervants, drawing her by the hair from the top to the bottom where they happen to be good for any thing : Tho’, of his ftair-cafe. ’tis true, fome barbarous mailers ufe their Haves ill, Finding himfelf unable to fucceed in this firftaf- giving them ill language, and beating them unmer- fault, he changed his battery : He lodg’d her in a cifully, that they may oblige them to redeem them- handfome chamber, with a Negroe flave to attend felves at an extravagant price, efpecially where they her, and went often to fee her, making her abun- are inform’d they are people of fubftance. As to dance of fruitlefs proteftations ; to which hejoynd female Haves, unlefs their mailers expect a confide- what is moll capable of dazzling young perfons of rable ranfom for them, they make them their con- that fex, magnificent apparel, coftly jewels, &c. cubines, or fell them to thofe who want to purchafe But this virtuous maid, more curious to preferve her fuch conveniences, if they are young. The Popilh nuptial garment without a ftain, retufed them all, Priefts, who are employ’d for the redemption of Ipite of the Dey’s intreaties, earneft remonftrances captives, entertain their readers with abundance of and commands, daily repeated for more than a month, tragical ftories upon this head; of which I lhall To remove her fcruples, he caufed a Chriftian girl, prefent the reader with one, in the very drefs the fa- of her own country and acquaintance, to be brought thers have introduc’d it ; which, tho’ it may be true her as a companion ; and who, in her prefence, in the main, I will not be anfwerable for every cir- made no difficulty of taking from the Dey s hands cumftance thefe good men are pleas’d to tranfmit to fuch things as he offer’d to our virgin, and there- us. They relate, that Anna Maria Fern an- with adorn’d herfelf. But this generous maid made dez, a native of Toledo, aged fixteen, being taken her blufh with confufion, bitterly reproaching her captive with her mother, and a filler named Flora, bafe compliance, and criminal forgetlulnefs of her was brought by a Chiaus to the palace, September baptifmal vows. Ali Dey could not but admire the ill, 1715, while Ali Dey was fuperintending the one, and heartily contemn’d the other, who >f the pay of his Militia. This young maid being in yielded fo eafily : But that admiration did but add the court-yard, prepoflels’d with fentiments of her fuel to his paffion ; he imagin d, that the country ’ holy religion, and forefeeing that her youth and air might work fome efted on her, and that amidft: . beauty were on the point of expofing to very great thofe rural pleafures, Ore might lofe fome of her au- perils both her faith and her innocency, took advan- fterity, and become more tradable: Spite of all tage of the confufion, occafion’d by thofe multitudes her refiftance, he forced her to put on a fuit of fins of Janizaries, and daub’d her face all over with dirt, cloatns, and mount on a Mule, after that counti} fa- beginning withal to lacerate her cheeks and arms, fhion, in a Racabia, a fort of cage, moll lurnpoi- having firft recommended herfelf to God, and. with oufly cover’d after their manner ; and therein the Vol III. ' N was / 90 THEPRES CHAR Was condu&ed to his uncle’s garden feat. As fhe IX. was perfuaded, that the amorous Dey would not fail following her, and that abroad in the country her cries would not be heard, fhe made loud lamen- tations as fhe pafs’d the ftreets of Algiers, that all people might be witnefles of the violences fhe un- derwent ; and that fuch Chriftians, as were within hearing, might be excited to fuccour her, at leaft with their fervent prayers to the Almighty ; which fhe ceas’d not calling on them to do for her, implo- ring with great outcries for God’s afliftance, and our Hefted Lady’s interceflion. The Dey’s uncle could not, with all his efforts and artifices, make any impreflion on the heart of this young virgin ; all this was much lefs dange- rous to her, than the prefence of her perfecutor : Nor had menaces and promifes much force to flagger her, after the attacks fhe had ablually fuflain’d. She there found herfelf, as it were, under fhelter ; nor did fhe begin to tremble, till the Dey, after a three weeks interval, fent for her home, where he had already got her mother and filler, in order to try if he could not, through their means, bring her to a compliance. He flatter’d them with hopes of their liberty, in cafe they could engage her to be more condefcending : But all was in vain ; and this bringing them together ferved only to make all three firmer in their fentiments of virtue and religion. Our apoflolic Vicar, and the Father adminiflrator of the Gofpel, touch’d at this maiden’s fituation, went to our Conful, M. Clair am-bault, to con- fer on the means to put a flop to fo cruel and fo dangerous a perfecution, and in what terms to at- tack Am Dey on the affair : They knew what an- fwer he had return’d to the complaint brought him Ugainfl a certain patron, who ufed the like com- pulficn to a Chriflian female Have of his ; he faid, fhe was his own proper goods, which he might ufe juft as he pleafed. M. Cl air a m-b ault how- ever undertook fpeaking to him, and did it with his ufual difcretion : The Dey reply ’d, that he did not offer to force his flave to change her religion. Our Conful return’d very forrowful, as judging from this anfwer, that Bobba Ali defign’d not to quit his pretenfions ; and, in effebt, he purfued her with more artifices and greater violence than ever. This continued ’till fuch time as the Omnipotent, vouch- fafing to put a period to the combats of his fervant, fuddenly changing the Dey’s fury into admiration ; and that, touch’d with the conftancy of his flave, he frankly fet her, together with her mother and filler, at liberty. May the ioth, 1717, they were all three embark’d on a veffel, wherein ourSpanifh fathers of the redemption carried off two hundred and thirty captives whom they had ranfom’d. Of fuch eftimation is perfevering virtue, fince it cafts a luftre, which makes it admir’d and recompens’d even by a paflionate enamour’d Barbarian. ENT STATE But to enlarge a little further on the adminiftra- CHAP, tion of juftice among the Algerines ; for pirates IX. and ufurpers muft obferve forms of juftice for the prefervation of their Iawlefs governments, whatever Adminiftra. rapine and injuftice they are guilty of towards the ^further reft of mankind. The Moors, Jews and Chrifti- confider’d. ans, who are freemen, have their refpeblive Judges of their feveral nations aflign’d them, who are per- mitted to adminifter juftice among their people (ur- lefs the crime affe<£ts the State) and thefe are judged by their feveral laws. Traytors, Houfe-breakers and Highway-men, are put the moft cruel deaths here, tho’ their State is fupported by robbery : And a Moor, who has been guilty of theft, has his right hand cut off ; which, being hung about his neck, he is fet upon an Afs, with his face to the beaft’s tail, and led about the ftreets, a cryer going before him and proclaiming his offence. Adultery and robbery are always punifh’d with death ; apoftates from the eftablifh’d religion are burnt here, as in other Mahometan countries : And tho’ the Popifh Popift Priefts, that are flaves at Algiers, are ufed better Pr jefts, how than other captives generally, their brethren taking us d ‘ care conftantly to remit money to their feveral ma- ilers, to excufe them from labour ; yet, if any Chriflian nation is at war with Algiers, the Priefts are always made the firft facrifice. When the French bombarded the city in the year 1688, the Turks fir’d no lefs than forty Frenchmen at the Fleet, from the mouths of their great guns or mor- tars ; among whom were the French Conful, and French Core- the apoftolical Vicar, who had the management of fa! and apo- the Chriftian-hofpital at Algiers ; but, ’tis faid, the French Admiral fet them an example, by firing fe- mortars, veral Turkifh flaves from his mortars into the town : However, thefe are extraordinary cafes ; generally Chriflian flaves are treated very well at Algiers, they neither tempt, or force them to change their religion ; it is not for their intereft : Their mailers Turk, had rather they would not turn Mahometans, for do not force then they lofe the benefit of their ranfom ; neither their can they fell them to others. Indeed, when a hometaiis/* Chriflian flave has committed fbme crime that de- . ferves death, the Dey will fometimes offer him his life, if he turns Mahometan ; and, if they have any flaves under twelve years of age, fome rich Muff fulman will endeavour to bring them up in their fuperftiiion, cloath them handfomely, and even adopt them for their children ; but, as for thole that are grown up, they never attempt to make them change their religion. ’Tis true, fbme pur- chafe young girls, on purpofe to make concubines of them ; and there are others that buy up young boys for their unnatural luffs : But for the moft part, it is obferv’d, Chriflian flaves are ufed better than thofe Chriftians that are at liberty : The latter are infulted and abufed frequently both by Turks and Moors ; but they take care how they meddle with flaves, as their mailers will refejit the affront, and OF ALGIERS. CHAP, and they are forced to make fatis faction if they do IX. them any injury. There is much more danger of falling into the hands of the mountaineers on the coaft, than of the Algerines ; for the former are not content with making Chriftian flaves, but make them ferve with rigour, frequently taking away the life of a Chri- ftian prifoner, which thofe barbarians look upon as a meritorious action. But even here I find the peo- ple much more inclined to preferve their prifoners, where a good ranfom may be expected, than to de- ftroy them ; as may be collected from the relation Laugier de Tassy has given us of the cap- tivity of young Mifs de Bourk, daughter of the Count de Bourk, which I chufe to recite, be- caufe it gives us ibme notion of the mountaineers of the kingdom of Algiers, and how very little authority the Dey has over them. Thecapti- Monfieur De Tassy relates, that the Countefs vity of Mifs DE Bourk embarked at Cette in Languedoc, on mongThe 3 " the 23d of October, 1719, in a Genoefe bark, with (mountaineers. her fon, her daughter, M. L’Abbe de Bourk her brother-in-law, another Irifh gentleman, with fix domefticks, two of them men, and four of the other fex : She was going for Spain to her hufband Chevalier Tobias, Count de Bourk, a gal- lant Irifh officer, then in his Catholick Majefty’s fervice, and who had followed King J ames into France. On the fecond day of their voyage, being on the Catalan coaft near Barcelona, the bark was made prize of by a fmall Algerine : But the Coun- tefs having a pals from the French court, the Cap- tain treated her with the utmoft civility and diftinc- tion, recovering her from the fright file was in, by afiuring her, that no injury fhould be offer’d either to herfelf, or any of her retinue. She defined to be left with her family on board the Genoefe bark ; which requeft the Corfiair readily granted. He took into his own fhip the Genoefe equipage, and put in their ftead a few Turks and Moors to condudl the bark, which he took in tow, fleering away for Algiers. But, on the 30th of that month, being ^ near the Barbary coaft, and attack’d by a moft fu- rious tempeft at N. W. the Corfiair was oblig’d to cut away the bark, in order to govern his own vefi- fiel ; that prize not able to keep up with the Alge- rine, and the wind forcing her towards land, fhe run a-ground between Bujeya and Jejil, where fhe was dafh’d in pieces. The Cabails, who, whenever the northerly winds blow tempeftuoufty, are ex- tremely attentive to obferve from the tops of their mountains what paftes. upon the coaft, having fieen the approach of this velfiel, ran down to the fea- fide in great numbers to wait for and pillage her : The Algerines, who fiaved themfelves by fiwim- » nting, acquainted the chief of thofe Moors, that there was in the bark a French Princefis. Immedi- ately fieveral Cabails threw themfelves into the wa- ter, to fiuve her at leaft , but could only fiave Mifs 9 1 de Bourk, her uncle L’Abbe de Bourk, a CHAP, chamber-maid, with the two men-fervants ; the IX. Countefs, with her fon, three women-fiervants, and w r V'-v> f M. Arthur, her gentleman, were all drown’d : They made L’Abbe carry the child on his fhoul- ders, and conduced them all to a place the leaft acceftible in certain mountains, fiome days journey from tire fiea. Being arrived there, Mifs deBourk, her uncle, and one domeftick, were carried to one tent ; the chamber-maid and fecond domeftick to another. Next day the Shieks, or Chiefs of the Adouars or villages, aftembied to confiult on what was to be done with the prifoners, whether they fhould write to the Aga of Jejil, to fend informa- tion to the French Conful at Algiers, that he migh§ ranfom the lady and her retinue ? or whether it would not be better they fhould wait till the faid Conful claimed them, and fo get a fum more con- fiderable ? It was determined to ftay ’till they were claimed, which obliged Mifs de Bourk (then on- ly in her tenth year) to write a very moving letter (November 4.) to the Conful at Algiers ; wherein fhe acquainted him with her misfortunes and con- dition : She conjur’d him to redeem her at any price whatever, and deliver her from the horrors fhe underwent. The Moors fent this letter to a certain Marabout near Bujeya, who paftes for a great faint, and is held in fuch veneration, that when any one of that country afks a favour, he does it in the name of God and of the faid Marabout. This faint immediately difpatch’d away to Algiers a cou- rier, who deliver’d her letter to the Conful, by whom it was communicated to M. Dusault, lately ar- rived there from France, in quality of his moft Chriftian Majefty’s Envoy-extraordinary. During this interval, the fon of one of the moft confiderable Shieks demanded Mifs de Bourk in marriage of his father, who propofed it to the other Shieks. Thefe imagin’d he might thereby acquire vaft riches ; and therefore feveral others of the moft powerful difputed her with him ; but none obtain- ed her : And it was finally refolved in their council, that fhe fhould be ranfom’d. His moft Chriftian Majefty’s Envoy went inftant- ly to Mehemet, Dey of Algiers, of whom, in the ftrongeft and moft prefting terms, he demanded the liberty of Mifs de Bourk and her retinue; The Dey anfwer’d, that the Cabails acknowledg’d not his fovereignty, by reafon he could not reduce them to obedience in a mountainous cou ntry, which was inacceffible to all but its inhabitants ; and, when any Algerine forces were fent thither, in order to their reduction, they always laid ambufcades, into which the Turks could not poftibly avoid falling. He added, that all he could do, was ftridlly and pre- cifely to enjoyn his Aga’s of Jejil and Bujeya, to ufe all praHicable means to get thofe Chriftians re- leas’d, and then ranfom them on the eafieft terms they were able to obtain. Pie immediately fent N 2 away P THE PRESENT STATE 92 C H A P. aw’ay his orders to that putpofe, joyning therewith IX. letters for the Marabouts of thofe places, requiring them to acl in concert with his faid officers. On the 24th ditto, M. Dusault order’d to fea a French veflel then in the port of Algiers ; whereon embark’d Ibrahim Hoja, our nation’s Inter- preter, to carry thofe difpatches to the Aga’s and Marabouts : On their receipt thereof they inftant- 3 y took horfe, and rode to that Adouar where Mifs de Bourk was detain’d : There they negotiated the ranfom of her, and thofe with her, and procu- red the releafe of all five for 1300 Algiers current dollars. But to return to the Chriftian Haves at Algiers. LaugierdeTassy obferves, that the F rench and Spanifh Haves have each of them their Priefts and chappels at Algiers, where divine fervice is perform’d after the mode of their refpedlive coun- tries : That the Jews alfo, who are computed to be five thoufand families in the town,, have their lynagogues and their Priefts ; but that Britain, and the feveral Proteftant nations of Europe, have nei- No Prote- ther chappels or ecclefiafticks to perform divine Eafticifa Cle * Ihrvice, tho’ they have Confuls here to take care ■Algiers. of the interefts of their respective nations, and t ran fact their affairs : But one reafon the Englifh have no chappel or Prieft here may be, that there are not many Englifh Haves in the place. We have been at peace with Algiers thefe fifty or threelcore years, and no Englifhman can be made a Have, un- lels he ferves in the fleets of foreigners, who are at war with the Algerines, for pay ; of which indeed there are fome, but they are redeemed from time to time, either by the Government, or by private cha- Inglift rities. Queen Anne redeem’d feveral in her reign ; flavesje- King George I. redeem’d 37 ; and his prefent late years. Majefty i 5 o, and upwards. Trade of Something fhould be faid of the trade of the Al- 4 Jgters, gerines ; but in truth their trade, by which they principally fubfift, is piracy and man-ftealing. In their prizes they find all the merchandize of Europe; and this, as well as the prifoners, the Captain of the pirate and his crew divide equally with the owners, after the Dey has taken the eighth fhare he claims in every prize. The Jews are the principal Merchants at Algiers, as they are in every town upon the Bar- bary coaft, tho’ there are in fome Moorifh Mer- chants alfo ; but, as to the Turks, they trouble themfelves with no kind of merchandize but Haves, arms and ammunition ; They are all of them men of the fword, and look upon traffick to be beneath them. The Jews buy the goods found in the prizes, and retail them at home, or export them again to foreign markets ; and there are fome few European fhips that come to Algiers on account of trade, but meet with little encouragement, unlefs there have been no prizes made in a great while ; for the Pi- rates, who come by their goods without paying any thing for them, mull certainly be able to afford better penny-worths than the Merchant, who buys his C H A P. goods. _ IX.. Turkifh veffels, and thofe of the Moors, pay twenty Piafters, in the port of Algiers, for anclio- Port Cities* rage, whatever burthen the ftiip is of ; and thofe of Chriftians, at peace with that nation, pay forty Pi- afters ; while thofe, who are at war with Algiers, pay fourfeore Piafters for anchorage : For they take all foreign ihips into their protection, when they have enter’d any of their ports, whether they are at peace with them, or not ; but, if they meet with the Erne ftiips at fea, even in their return from Algiers, they look upon them as lawful prize. The duties on all merchandize imported by Turks, Moors or jews, are twelve and a half per Cent. ; and the duties on exportation, two and a half per Cent. The Englifh, by their treaty in the year 1703, are to pay but five per Cent, on goods imported, and two per Cent, on thofe they export ; and, ’tis faid, the French have had the fame favour fhewn them : They make even money pay five per Cent, on importation, except that which is fent for the redemption of captives, and this. pays but three per Cent. Wine, Brandy and Spirits pay four Pi- afters the piece on importation ; and the company of the Baftion de France (a little ifland the French are poffefs’d of on the coaft of Algiers) are allowed to fend two veffels to Algiers every year, without pay- ing any duties, ’tis faid. The merchandizes imported, are wrought Silks, Goods im- Gold and Silver Stuffs, Damafks, Linnen and Wool- pol- len Cloths, Spices, Copper, Brafs and Tin-ware, Quick-filver, Arms, Powder and other ammuniti- on ; Sails and naval ftores, Cochineal, Copperas, Sugar, Cotton, Galls,Brazil-wood, Red- wood, Alums, Vermillion, Wine, Brandy, Spirits, Opium, Gums, Paper, dried Fruit, and other lefs confiderable arti- cles. In return for which, the Europeans receive Wax, Goods ex- fine Wool, Oftrich- feathers, lions of wild Beads, ported ‘ Dates and Chriftian Hayes : Nor is there any kind of merchandize, but what may be met. with here fometimes, when they bring in rich prizes. The Englifh Conful, fays Laugier d eTass y, The Engliffi is the only Merchant of that nation at Algiers, and frynifli'them carries on a more advantagious trade than any other n ; tion an a perfon ; for he furnifhes the Dey with powder, bul- naval ftores. lets, bombs, arms, anchors, cordage, and all man- ner of naval ftores, and takes in return corn and oil, which are of great fervice fometimes to the Bri- tifh garrifons of Port-Mahon and Gibralter ; and, ’tis faid, no other nation is fuffer’d to carry any corn out of the country : But there is more than one reafon for this indulgence, and for keeping fair with the Englifh 3 for they do not only furnifti the Go- vernment of Algiers with fuch things as are moft wanted there ; but, if there {hould happen to be a- nother rupture with England, the Algerines would not be able to ftir out of their ports for our Crullers from OF ALGIERS. 93 rhe founda- :ion the Furkifli go- icrnment at Algiers. from Port-Mahon and Gibralter : They will there- fore ever have as much refpecf for Britain, as for a- ny power in Europe, while we retain thofc two places. That famous, or rather infamous, Pirate Bar- barossa, laid the foundation of the Turkifh do- minion at Algiers, and was the firft that ftyl’d him- felf King of it : Of which ufurpation I meet with the following account. The Moors of Spain, having been driven from that country in the year 1 492, and tranfported to the coaft of Barbary, took all oppor- tunities of retaliating the injury that was done them, and revenging themfelves on the Spaniards, by tak- ing their merchant-lhips, and plundering the towns on the coa’fts ; which they very fuccelsful in for fome years, being well acquainted with the country ; and they found means, in thefe excurfions, to fur- prize and carry multitudes of people into captivity : Whereupon Cardinal Ximenes, prime Minifter to Ferdinand V. King of Arragon, in order to reftrain thefe outrages, fitted out a fleet in the year 1505 ; on which having embark’d a body of land- forces, under the command of Peter, Count of Navarre, he befieg’d and took the town of Oran on the coaft of Barbary, then inhabited by Moors who had been driven from Grenada and Valentia. The Count afterwards rrtadehimfelf mafter of Bugia, and feveral other towns upon the fame coaft, together with the little ifland that lies before the bay of Al- giers ; whereby he prevented the Moors (hipping go- ing in or out of that port, and gave the town ap- prehenfions of falling fuddenly under the dominion of the Spaniards. In this diftrefs Prince Selim, then Sovereign of Algiers, having heard of the fame of Barbaros- sa, the fuccefsful Turkifh Corfair, fent to defire his affiftance againft the Spaniards : 1 he Pirate was cruif- ing in the Mediterranean, when he received the in- vitation ; and, glad of the opportunity, fent away 18 gallies, and 30 fmall barks to Algiers, march- ing thither by land himfelf with fuch forces as he could aflemble on a hidden. The Algerines, recei- ving advice of his approach, march’d out of town, with Prince Selim at their head, to welcome their Deliverer ; and, having conduced him to Algiers, amidft the loud acclamations of the people, he was lodg’d in the Prince’s palace. But their joy was not long-liv’d ; for the Pirate, who, for many years had made no fcruple of feizing whatever came in his way, immediately form’d a defign of making him- felf Sovereign of Algiers ; and, having found means to aflaffmate Prince Selim privately, caufed him- felf to be proclaim’d King, maffacring all thofe he imagin’d might oppofe his defigns Whereupon moft of the natives abandon'd the place, and left the ufurper in the peaceable pofleflion of the city ; but, upon his promifing them his protection, and the en- joyment of their ancient laws and liberties, they re- turned to their habitation, and acknowledged him their Sovereign. They (bon found themfelves how- CHAP ever under the dominion of a barbarous tyrant, IX. . who, after he had fortified the place, and fecur’d ■*> his pofleflion, treated them no better than (laves. This revolution happen’d at Algiers in the year 1516; and the fon of Prince Selim, flying to Oran for protection, prevail’d on the Spaniards the year following to fit out a ftrong fleet, with an ar- my of 10000 landmen on board, to affift him to re- cover his right, promifing to acknowledge the King of Spain for his Sovereign, if he fucceeded : But the Spanifh fleet, being arrived near Algiers, was dis- pers’d or (hipwreck’d in a violent (form, and moft of their forces drown’d, cut in pieces, or made (laves by the Turks. Barbarossa, puff’d up with this fuccefs, continued to treat the Moors, both in town and country, with greater infolence than ever, which induced the reft of theMoorifti Princes to en- ter into a confederacy againft the ufurper ; and, hav- ing chofen the King of Tenez their General, and affembled 10000 horfe, and a good body of foot, they took the field, in order to lay fiege to Algiers. Barbarossa, having intelligence of their mo- tions, march’d out to meet them with no more than 1000 Turkifh mufketeers, and 500 Moors he could confide in, and had the good fortune to defeat the numerous forces of his enemies; who, being with- out fire-arms, were foon diibrderd by his mufketeers, efpecially their horfe, on whom they moft relied After which, the Conqueror enter’d the city of Te- nez, the King being fled to mount Atlas, and cauf- ed the inhabitants to proclaim him their King. There happen’d, about the fame time, an infur- redfion in the kingdom of Tremefen, which lies ftill more to the weftward ; and the rebels, hearing of the furprizing fucceffes of Barbarossa, invited him to come and deliver them from the oppreflions they pretended to have fuffer’d under their native Sovereign, a meftage extremely acceptable to the am- bitious Turk, who, having fent for a reinforcement of troops, and his artillery from Algiers, immediately advanced towards Tremefen ; and, engaging that King in the plain of Aghad, obtained a compleat victory, to which his artillery and fmall arms very much contributed, the Moors having neither the one or the other, but ftill fought with their old weapons , launces, bows and ('words. The King of Treme- fen, it feerns, efcaped out of the battle, but his trai- terous fubjedts afterwards murder’d him, and fent his head to the Conqueror ; who thereupon enter’d the city of Tremefen in triumph, and was proclaim’d King. The citizens acknowledg’d hirn their Sove- reign, and took the oath of allegiance to Barba- rossa, who now' faw himfelf mafter of three king- doms within the fpacecf a year, which he had acqui- red with the affiftance of a handful of men ; only but as Tremefen was in the neighbourhood of Oran, he juftly apprehended the Spaniards would not long per- mit him to enjoy his conquefts in quiet. He enter’d therefore r THE PRESENT STATE CH AP. therefore into an alliance with Muley Hamet, IX. Kino; of Fez, the moft powerful of the African Prin- ceS) w ho was no lefs an enemy to Spain than himfelf ; and, thus fupported, he did not doubt but he fhould be able to defend the extenfive territories he had con- quer’d againft all the pow'er of the Cbriflians : And he might have judged right, poffibly, if his ally, tire King of Fez, had been as ready to oppofe the efforts of the Spaniards, as he was. But Charles the Vth, coming to take poffeffion of the throne of Spain about this time, and being implor’d by the Prince of Tremefen, to affift him in the recovery of his father’s kingdom out of the hands of Barbaros- sa, he fent over ioooo men from Spain, under the command of the Governor of Oran ; who im- mediately took tire field, and, being joyn’d by a good body of Moors and Arabs, march’d towards Tremefen. Whereupon Barbarossa imme- diately fent to his ally, the King of Fez, to lraften to his affiftance, and march’d in perfon, with 1500 Turkifh mufketeers, and 5000 Moorifh horfe, to attend the motions of the Governor of Oran, ’till he fhould be joyn’d by the King of Fez ; but, being hemm’d in by the Spaniards, and endeavouring to break through them in the night-time, lie was cut in pieces with all his Turkifh infantry. Where- upon the Governor of Oran continued his march to Tremefen, and, the citizens opening their gates to him, the young Prince was reftored to his throne. Some days after the battle, the King of Fez arriv’d in the neighbourhood of Tremefen, with an army of 20000 men; but, hearing of the fuccefs of the Spaniards, he return’d with more hafte into his coun- try than he came : Whereby the Spaniards had an opportunity of recovering both Tenez and Algiers, if they had followed their blow, and might with eafe have expell’d the Turks from the coaft of Bar- bary at that time ; but the Governor of Oran con- tented himfelf with what he had done, and fent back the forces to Spain that had been employ’d in this ex- pedition, at a time when the Turks of Algiers had given themfelves over for loft. But, finding the Spaniards made no preparations to attack them, they proclaim’d Cheredin, the brother of Barba- rossa, their King, who met with no difturbance ’till the year 1619, when he underftood there was a general confpiracy of the Moors and Arabs, to free themfelves from the Turkifh yoke, and recover their ancient liberties : And, as he was confcious he was too weak to refift their united forces, efpecially if they fhou’d be joyn’d by the Spaniards, whom he appre- hended to be at the bottom of this confpiracy, he difpatch’d an exprefs to Se lim, the then Grand Sig- nior ; reprefenting, that all Africa wou’d foon fall ‘under the dominion of the Spaniards, if the Turks fhou’d be driven from Algiers ; and defiring he wou’d fend him a ftrong reinforcement of troops, promi- fing to refign his kingdoms to the Porte, and that he would for the future, as Bafha, or Viceroy, C H A P. to the Grand Signior. JX. The Ottoman Emperor accepted Cheredin ’s '^y^j offer, and fent zooo Janizaries to his affiftance; publifhing a proclamation at the fame time, that all Turks who fhould refort to Algiers, fhould enjoy the fame privileges there, as the Janizaries did at Conftantinople ; whereupon all people of defperate fortunes, and whofe crimes had render’d them ob- noxious to the Government, immediately enter’d themfelves in the fervice of Cheredin Barba- rossa; and, with thefe reinforcements, he was foon in a condition to defeat all the confpiracies of the Moors, and render himfelf abfolute mafter of that part of Barbary : He alfo fubdu’d the ifland the Spaniards had poffefs’d themfelves of at the mouth of the bay of Algiers, and by a mole joyn’d it to the continent ; and having ere&ed a ftrong fortrefs on the ifland, he enlarg’d his piratical fleet, and fo in- fefted the coafts of Spain and Italy, that a merchant- fhip could not ftir out of any port without falling in- to the hands of his Corfairs. He alfo made frequent defcents upon the coafts, carrying multitudes of Chriftians into flavery ; and this at the time when Charles the Vth, then Emperor of Germany and King of Spain, was at the height of his glory. This Prince, now Sovereign of the beft part of Europe, incens’d to fee his dominions infulted, and his fubjcxfts daily carried into flavery by thefe rafcal- ly Pirates, and being incited to extirpate them by Pope Paul III. as enemies not only to the Chrift- ian faith, but to all mankind ; the Emperor, in the year 1541, having affembled a fleet of 500 fail, including tranfports and gallies, embark’d with an army of 20000 men and upwards, in Spain ; and arriving before the bay of Algiers the latter end of October, landed about two thirds of his army, and fummon’d the place ; which was upon the point of furrendring to him, when a fudden ftorm happen’d, in which great part of his fleet was fhipwreck’d, his provifions all deftroy’d, and fuch heavy rains at the fame time fell on the ftiore, that his forces could no longer keep the field ; whereupon he found himfelf oblig’d to abandon the enterprize, and reimbark ' what forces he had left, having loft, at leaft, one third of them, either by fhipwreck or the fword of the enemy, in his retreat ; tho’, had this enterprize been undertaken fooner in the year, in all probabi- lity it had fucceeded, and Charles the Vth had added Africa to his empire, which was already ex- tended over the beft part of Europe and America. But I fhould have taken notice, that fome little time before this memorable enterprize of Charles the Vth, the Grand Signior had preferr’d Chere- din Barbarossa to the honourable poft of Cap- tain Bafha, and Commander in chief of all the ter- ritories of Algiers ; but thought fit to appoint Has- san Aga, the Eunuch, Bafha of the town of Al- giers, probably to be a check upon Cheredin, 1 and 0 F A L CHAP, and prevertt his Getting- up again for himfelf. And, IX. after the death of BarbarossaII. the Porte go- v-^'Y'w vern’d the kingdom of Algiers by their Balha’s ( as other provinces of that empire are govern’d) till the 1 7th century, when the Janizaries, or militia of Algiers, ’tis laid, reprefented to the Grand Signior, that his Balha’s tyranniz’d over the country, fquan- der’d away the foldiers pay, and render’d the Govern- ment of the Turks fo odious there, that the Spani- ards and Moors were about to unite againft them, and would infallibly drive the Turks from the coaft of Barbary, if that Government was not better re- gulated: They defired therefore, that they might elefl one of their officers, with the title of Dey, to be their Governor ; prom ifing thereupon, to raife fup- plies fufficient to maintain their forces, which would lave the Porte an immenfe charge ; and that they would however always acknowledge the Grand Sig- nior for their Sovereign ; in which propofal, it feems, the Porte acquiefc’d. They elected a Dey, and un- der the government of fuch magiftrates of their own electing they remain at prefent ; but in no part of the world there are fuch frequent inftances of the peo- ple’s depofing and murdering their Princes, fcarce any of them dying a natural death. They reign with ab- folute authority for a few years, months, or weeks, and fometimes a few hours puts an end to their do- minion and their lives ; nor are the Algerines, at prefent, any otherwife fubjedt to the dominion of the Grand Signior, than as they acknowledge him the head of their religion : His orders are very little re- garded in their territories. It is amazing that this large kingdom of Algiers fhould be kept under the mod flavilh fubjedtion by a body of 12000 Turks only, compofed of the vi- leftand mod abandon’d wretches on the face of the eaith ; being chiefly fuch who, to avoid the punish- ment due to their crimes, have fled from Conftan- tinople, and other Turk ifh towns and provinces in the Levant; none of the better fort of Turks ever retorting hither. And when the ufual number of ^ their militia happens to be leffened by mortality, or the being made flaves to the Chriftians, they fend to the Levant, to pick up all the Banditti and Defpe- radoes they can meet with to recruit their piratical troops ; taking alfo the renegado Chriftians, and the Tons of the foldiery, which they have by Moorifh or Arabian wives, into that body ; for noTurkilh women ever come to Algiers, looking upon it, as it really is, a neft of Pirates and Robbers, infolent daring villains, who are only fit for the converfation of people like themfelves. Neither Moors or Arabs are ever admitted into this militia, left they fhou’d endeavour to free their country from this infupporta- ble tyranny of the Turks, and drive out their domi- neering mafters. And tho’ the fon of a Turk and a Moorifh an,d Arabian wife is admitted into their militia, thefe are never fuffer’d to enjoy any prefer- ment or poll in the Government; it being fufpedted g 1 e R S. 95 they may entertain too great a regard for their friends CHAP* and relations by the mother’s fide. IX. To every private foldier of this body, it feems, they give the title of Effendi, or lord ; and indeed thefe lordains demand a Pefpedl from the natives e- qual to that of Princes 5 and out of them are elected their Deys or Kings, their Aga’s, their Beys or Viceroys. The Governors of towns, and all officers of ftate, and this militia, are exempted from all taxes and duties whatever, feldom punifh’d for any crimes unlefs thofe againft the State : Nor is any jus- tice to be obtain’d againft them, where the native Moors, Arabs, Chriftians or Jews, are parties : Thefe are forced to fubmit to all manner of injuries and affronts from the foldiery. They fly the ftreets, if they fee a Janizary coming, or ftand clofe up t© the wall in the moil refpedlful pofture, till thqfe high and mighty robbers pals by them. While the Dey is fuccefsful, pays the foldiers due- ly, and does not attempt to invade their privileges, no Prince is obey’d with more alacrity by his troops; they refufe no hazards in his fervice : But if things go never fo little amifs, the fault is immediately charg’d upon the Dey, and it is well if he be not fa- crificed to their fury ; which makes molt of their Princes fo cautious, as not to enter upon any thing of conlequence, without the concurrence of the Di- van, or great Council of the foldiery. Thofe Janizaries, who are unmarried, have much the greateft privileges : They are lodg’d in fpacious houles provided by the Government, attended by flaves, and have the privilege of buying their provi- fions one third under the market-price, and a great allowance of bread every day, befides their pay ; but the married men are excluded from all thefe advan- tages, being oblig’d to find their own houfes, and their own provifion for their families out of their pay : One reafon for difcouraging the foldiers mar- rying is fuppofed to be, becaufe the Government is intitled to all the eftate and effects of all thole that die or are carried into flavery without children : But the principal is, that the married men are fuppofed to have more regard to the natives with whom they intermarry, than the unmarried foidiers; and for the fame reafon, the fons of the married Janizaries are not allow’d the privileges of natural Turks, or ever preferr’d to any poll in the Government, as has been obferv’d already ; which are fuch difeourage- ments to their taking wives, that fcarce any Jani- zaries marry, unlefs the renegadoes that are admit- ted into that body, who are nor very numerous : However, all of them are allow’d to purchafe female flaves, and keep as many concubines as they pleafe, without any reftraint. The greateft crime here, next to treafon, if it be not held a branch of it, is the expreffing any com- panion or tendernefs for the natives : However, they employ armies of Moors in feveral parts of the coun- try, who affift in oppreffing their fellow-fubjedfs. 9 6 C PI A P. ix. The e'ett’on of the Dev, further treated of. The warbe» tween the Englifli and the Alge* fines. T H E- PRESENT STATE and levying the tributes the Dey impofes. And not- withftanding the tyranny the Turks exercife over the Moors 'and Arabs ; yet if any Chriftian power rfrakes an attempt againft their country, they now feem ready to unite their forces againft fuch inva- ders, as dreading the government of Chriftians more than the ufurpations of thofe of the fame, faith. But to be a little more particular as to the election of the Dey : He ought, by their conftitution, to be chofen by the Turkifti militia, without one diffent- ing voice. "When the throne is vacant, they aftem- ble at the palace, and the Aga of the foldiery de- mands who (hall be their Dey ; whereupon every one calls out for the perfon he is beft affected to; but till all agree in the choice, they are directed to name others, till they pitch upon one who is univerfally approv’d ; and it is not uncommon for them to draw their fabres, and for the ftrongeft to force the reft to agree with them : In which contentions, many are kill’d or wounded. And there are inftances of a powerful faction electing another Dey, while the former has been living, and murdering the reign- ing Dey as he fat upon his tribunal : And in this cafe, the ufurper feldoni fails to murder all the great officers and members of the Divan that oppofe him. Hal y Dey, who was plac’d upon the throne on the murder of Ibrahim Dey, furnam’d The Fool, ann. 1710, caus’d no lefs than feventeen hundred perfons to be murder’d the firft month of his reign, whom he apprehended to be in a different intereft. When the Dey happens to be kill’d, his women are plunder’d of all they have, and reduced to their primitive ftate, and his children have no- thing more allow’d them than the pay of a private foldier, and excluded from all preferment in the State : But if the Dey dies a natural death (which rarely happens) they fuffer his women to remain poffefs’d of what he leaves them. Haly Dey had the good fortune to reign eight years, viz. from 1710 to 1718, and died in his bed at laft : How- ever, he was no fooner given over by the Pbyfici- ans, but a powerful fadion made choice privately of a fucceflor before he was dead ; and the moment Haly expired, proclaim’d Mahomet Dey, who was before High-Treafurer, and he was immedi- ately inverted with the royal robes : And thereupon, all the officers of State and the foldiery kifs’d his hand, and congratulated him on his acceffion, know- ing it would have been fatal to them to have in- filled on another election ; though it has happen’d, that a Dey has been no fooner chofen and placed up- on the throne, but he has been murder’d there by the oppofite party. There were, it feems, fome few years fince, no lefs than fix Deys affaffinated in four and twenty hours, whofe tomb ftill form a cir- cle without one of the gates of Algiers. The Englifli Merchants, as well as thofe of other nations, have fuffer’d very much by the depredati- ons of the Algerines. Sir William Mqnson, in the reign of - King James I-. burnt fome few of C H A P. their {hips ; Admiral Blake more in the year IX 1655 ; and Sir Tho.mas Allen, in 1668, lay L/’V'NJ before their town, ’till he compell’d them to make peace ; but they broke it again in the following year. In 1670, Captain Beach forced feven of their frigates on fliore, and burnt them. Sir Ed- ward Spragge, in 1671, took and deftroy’d nine of their fliips of war ; and at feveral times, ’tis computed, the Englifli may have deftroy’d forty or fifty of thefe rovers; hut one fhip is no fooner loft, than they fit out another ; and, ’tis faid, not lefs than three or four hundred Englifh veffels fell into their hands in a few years. The Englifli and Dutch had agreed, a little after the reftoration of King Charles II. to fall upon the Algerines with their united fleets ; and a fquadron of each nation failed to the Streights for that pur pole : But, when they arrived there, the Dutch Admiral treacheroufly fe- parated from the Englifh, and went and deftroyed their fettlements on the coaft of Guinea and in the Weft-Indies, without any provocation ; whereby the Hollanders appear’d to be a more dangerous kind of Pirates than the Turks of Algiers, inafmuch as the Dutch robb’d us, while the two nations were at peace, and at a time when they had juft enter’d into a confederacy with us ; while the Algerines were fo fair, as to declare themfelves our enemies, giving us an opportunity to prepare for our defence. In 1 68 z, the Algerines were lb harrafs’d by the fquadrons the Englifh fent from time to time into the Mediterra- nean, that they thought fit to make peace with us, which they have kept pretty well ever fince : While the treacherous Hollander fuffer’d lufficiently many years after, by the depredations of the Algerines, who never kept any peace they made with the Dutch two years together, ’till very lately, and that they obtain’d by the mediation of the good-natured for- giving Englifh, as has been obferv’d already, or they had been in a ftate of war with thofe rovers to this day, and perhaps would have been forced to have relinquifh’d their Turky trade ; which, in that cafe, muff have devolved upon us. The fubftance of the principal articles of peace, Articles of made by Admiral Herbert in the reign of King P«ceconclu» Charles II. anno 1682, with the Bafha and Dey Algers', ann. of Algiers, were : 1682. That the {hips, belonging to Great-Britain, might come to any port in the kingdom of Algiers, and traffick there, paying the ufual cuftom of ten per Cent. ; and for powder, arms, ammunition, iron, timber and planks for (hipping, cordage, and all other naval (lores, no duty was to be paid. That as well the (hips belonging to Great- Britain, as thofe of Algiers, might freely pals the leas, and traffick, without any fearch, hindrance or moleftation from each other ; and that all perfons and paffengers, of what country foever, with their money, goods and moveables, to what people or nation O F A L CHAP, nation foever belonging, on board the faid fhips, IX. fhould be wholly free, and not be flopp’d, taken, or plunder’d, or receive any damage whatever from either party. That the Algier (hips of war, meeting any Britifh merchant-fhips out of the feas belonging to his Majefty’s dominions, might fend on board one Angle boat, with two fitters only, befides the ordi- nary crew of rovers : And that only the two fitters fhould enter fuch fhip without leave from the Com- mander thereof ; who, upon producing a pafs under the feal of the Admiralty of England or Scotland, fhould be permitted to proceed freely on his voyage, and the faid boat fhould immediately depart : And, in cafe any Britifh man of war fhould meet with any fhip of Algiers, if the Commander of fuch fhip fhould produce a pafs firm’d by the Governors of Algiers, and a certificate from the Englifh Conful refiding there, fuch fhip of Algiers fhould be fuf- fer’d to pafs freely. That no Algerine Commander fhould take out of any Britifh fhip any pcrfons whatever, to carry them to be examin’d, or on any other pretence ; or fhould ufe torture or violence to any perfons that fhould be on board a Britifh fhip. That no Britifh fhip, wreck’d on the coaft of the kingdom of Algiers, fhould be feiz d, or its crew made flaves ; but the Algerines fhould ufe their beft endeavour to fave both men and goods. That no fhip of Algiers fhould ferve the Corfairs of Sallee, or any other power at war with Great Britain, and be made ufe of againft his Ma- jefty’s fubjects. That no fhip of Algiers fhould cruife in fight of Tangier, or any other country or place be- longing to his Majefty, or difturb the peace or com- merce of the fame. That if any fhip of Tunis, Tripoli, or Sal- lee, or of any oth place, fhould bring any fhips, or goods, belonging to his Majefty’s fubjedls, into the territories of Algiers, they fhould not be per- mitted to be fold there. ^ That if a Britifh man of war fhould bring a prize to any place on the coaft of Alg'Crs, it might be freely fold or difpofed of there, without paying any cuftom ; and, if the Commander wanted any prov ikons, or other things, he might buy them at the market-price. When any Britifh man of war fhould appear before Algiers, proclamation fhould be made to fecure all Chriftian captives ; after which, if any Chriftian whatever fhould efcape to fuch fhip of war, they fhould not be requir’d: Nor the Britifh Conful, or the Commander of fuch fhip, or any other fubiecl of Britain, be oblig’d to pay any thing < for fuch Chriftians. After the ratification of the faid treaty, no Bri- tifh fubjedt fhould be bought or fold, or made a Have in Algiers, on any pretence i and the King ot Voj.. Tie G I E R S. _ 97 England, or his fubje&s, might, at any time, re- C H A P. deem fuch as were flaves at Algiers at the time of IX. this treaty. If any fubjedt of Britain dies at Algiers^ the Government fhall not feize his money or eftedts, but fufFer his heirs or executors to enjoy them ; and, if he die without will, the Englifh Conful fhall pofTefs himfelf of the goods and money of the deceas’d, for the ufe of his heirs and kindred. That no Britifh Merchants, trading to, or refiding at Algiers, fhall be oblig’d to buy any mer- chandize againft their wills ; nor fhall any of their fhips be obliged to carry goods, or make a voyage to. any place, againft their confent : Nor fhall the En- glifh Conful, or any other Britifh fubjedt, be oblig’d to pay the debts of any other ot his Majefty s tub- jedts, unlefs bound for them by a publick a dt. That no Britifh fubjedt, in the territories of Algiers, fhall be liable to any other jurildidtion, but that of the Dey, or Divan, except differences be- tween themfelves, which fhall be determin’d by the Conful only. That ifanyBritifh fubjedt happen to kill, wound or ftrike a Turk or Moor, he fhall be punifh’d in the fame manner, and with no greater feve- rity, than a Turk ought to be (guilty of the fame offence) ; and, if he efcape, neither the Britifh Con- ful, or any of his Majefty’s fubjedts, fhall he quefti- on’d or troubled for it. That the Englifh Conful fhall enjoy entire freedom and fafety in his perfcn and eftate ; fhall be permitted tc choofe his ownTerjiman (Interpreter) and Broker ; to go on board fhips in the road ; to have the liberty of the country, and be allow’d a place to pray in : And that no man lhall do him any injury by word or deed. That if any war fhould happen between the King of Great Britain, and the kingdom of Al- giers, the Englifh Conful, and all his Majefty’s fub- jecls refiding there, fhall, at all times, both in peace and war, have liberty to depart to their own coun- try, or to any other, in any fhip or veil'd of what nation foever, with their eftedts, families and fervants. That no fubjedt of Britain, being a paflenger, and coming or going with his baggage to or from any port, fhall be molefted, tho’ he be on board a fhip or veflel in enmity with Algiers : Nor fhall any Algerine paflenger, on hoard any fhip in enmity with Great Britain, be molefted in his perfon or goods he may have on board fuch fhip. That when any Britifh man of war, with hfs Majefty’s flag at the main-top-maft-head, fhall come to an anchor in the road of Algiers, the Dey and Regency fhall caufe a falute of twenty-one can- non, and fuch fhip fhall anfwer it with the fame, number. That, after the figning thefe articles, all inju- ries and damages, fuftain’d on either part, fhall be forgotten, and this peace fhall continue in force O for 9» THE PRESENT STATE CHAP, for ever ; and, for all damages committed on either IX. fide, before notice of this peace, fatisfadlion (hall be made, and whatever remains in kind fhall be in- ftantly reftor’d. In cafe any thing fhall be committed here- after, contrary to this treaty, it fhall fubftft notwith- ftanding, and fuch contraventions fhall not occafion a breach of the peace ; and, if the fault was com- mitted by private men, they alone fhall be punifh’d as breakers of the peace, and difturbers of the pub- lick quiet : And our faith Jhall be our faith , and our word our word. Confirm’d and Seal’d, in the prefence of Almighty God, April the ioth; of Jesus, 1682; of the Heigira, 1093; A brir, 1 1 . This treaty has been renew’d feveral times ; in April 1686, by Sir Willi am Soame, Bart, in his voyage to Conftantinople, whither he went Am- bafiador, from King James II. to the Grand Sig- nior. It was renew’d again, in 1691, by Thom as Bake r, Eiq; and, in 1700, by Captain Munden, and Robert Cole, Efq; then Conful of Algiers, jointly with fome additional articles (viz.) I. The peace, made in 1682, is confirm’d, and more particularly the eighth article ; wherein it is sxprefs’d, That no fhip, belonging to Algiers, fhould cruife in fight of any port or place belonging to Great Britain, or any way difturb the peace or com- merce of the fame : Nor fhall any Algerine veffel enter the Englilh channel. II. No paifes fhall be requir’d from any Englifh fhip Till the laft of September 1701 : But, after that time, if any Englifh fhip fhall be feiz’d, not having a pafs, the goods in fuch fhip fhall be prize : But the mafter, men and fhip fhall be reftor’d, and the freight immediately paid to the mafter. III. Whereas Captain Munden has complain’d, that he was affronted fome years paft by fome rude failors at the Mole : It is promifed, that at all times hereafter, when any Britifh man of war fhall come to Algiers, order fhall be given to an officer to attend at the Mole all day during their ftay, to prevent any inch diforder ; and, it any diforder fhall happen, the offender fhall be punifh’d with the utmoft fe- verity. In the reign of Queen Anne, anno 1703, Ad- miral By ng, the late Lord Vifcount Torrington, renew’d the faid peace with Mustafa Dey, and the two following articles were added (viz.) I. That whereas the fubjedls of England, by the faid articles, were to pay ten per Cent, cuftom for fiich goods as they fhould fell at Algiers : That from thence-forwards they fhould pay but five per Cent, 3 and for powder, arms, ammunition and naval ftores, they fhould pay nothing (as was ftipulated by the firft treaty). II. All prizes taken by any fubjeo- 7 A P.' and all {hips built and fitted out in her May f ’ ’ 1 1 , ; - ) T tations in America, that have not been in Engl. d, fhall not be molefted, tho’ they hav' no paff s : F ut a certificate, under the hand of the commanding Of- ficer, that fhall take fuch prizes ; and a certificate, under the hands of the Governors or Chiefs of fuch American colonies or places where fuch fhips were built or fitted out, fhall be f. fficient paffes. In the year 1716, Admiral Baker, being or- der’d to renew the treaties with Tunis, Tripoli and Algiers, vifited the two former in perfon ; but de- puted Captain Coningsby Norbury, Com- mander of the Argyll ; and Captain Nicholas Eaton, Commander of the Chefter, in conjunfli- on with Mr. Thom as Thompson (who then added as Conful in the abfence of his brother Samuel Thompson, Eiq;) to ratify the former treaties with Algiers, and conclude the following articles (viz.) I. If any demands or pretenfions fhall be depend- ing between the fubjedds of either party, they fhall be amicably redrefs’d, and full fatisfaddion made. II. That as the ifiand of Minorca and city of Gibralterbavebeenyielded and annex’d to theCrown of Great Britain ; from th’s time the faid ifiand and city fhall be deem’d, by the Government of Algiers, part of the Britifh dominions, and the inhabitants thereof look’d upon as his Majefty’s natural fubjedds ; and with their fhips and veffels, wearing Britifh co- lours, and furnifh’d with proper pafi'es, fhall be per- mitted to trade freely in any part of the dominions of Algiers, and have the fame liberties and privile- ges as any other fubjedds of the Britifh nation : Nor fhall any of the cruifers of Algiers, cruife within fight of the ifiand of Minorca and city of Gibralter, III. That if any Englifh fhip fhall receive paf- fengers and goods on board belonging to the king- dom of Algiers, the Englifh fhall defend fuch paf- fengers and goods, as far as lies in their power, and not deliver them to their enemies, the faid paffen- gers and goods being regifter’d in the books of the Britifh Conful. CHAP. X. The prefent fate of Tunis and Tripoli. T H E kingdom of Tunis is bounded by the Me- CHAP, diterranean fea, on the north ; by the fame X. fea and Tripoli, on the eaft ; by mount Atlas, on • — ' the fouth ; and by the river Guadilbarbar, which of feparates it from the kingdom of Algiers, on the weft: ; lying between 3 o and 3 7 degrees and a half north latitude, and extending about 200 miles from weft to eaft. The chief rivers are, 1. The Guadilbarbar, al- River*, ready mention’d, which riling in mount Atlas, runs northwards, and difeharges itfelf into the Mediter- ranean OF TUNIS AND TRIPOLI. 99 CHAP, ranean near the ifland of Tabarca, feparating the X. kingdom of Tunis from that of Algiers. z. The Capes, or Capitla, which rifes alfo in the mountains of Atlas, and runs north- eaft, falling into the fea near the town of Capes. 3 . Megerada, which riles in mount Atlas, and running northwards, divides the kingdom of Tunis alinoft in two equal parts, difcharging itfelf into the Mediterranean near the town and iiland of Goletta. (Tv f, wns The chief towns are » *• Cairoan, fituated on “ 16 ° V the river Megerada, latitude 3 2, faid to be the firft town the Saracens built in this country, and mod remarkable at prefent for being the burying-place of the Mahometan Princes and Great men. 2. Urbs, fituated in a fine plain, on a river that falls into the Guadilbarbar, latitude 3 5, about 150 miles fouth-weft of Tunis ; chiefly remarkable at prefent for the marble pillars, images, and other Ro- man antiquities found here. 3 . Africa, or El Melidia, fituated on the Mediter- ranean, in latitude 35, 90 miles fouth-eaft of Tunis, faid to be the Adrumetum of the Romans. 4. Sufa, or Rufpina, fituated partly on a flat, and partly upon the afcent of a rock on the Mediterra- nean, 25 miles to the eaftward of Tunis: It lies in ruins at prefent, and is faid to contain more antiqui- ties than any town in the kingdom : Here is a fmall harbour, where the gallies and fmall fliips belong- ing to Tunis frequently lie. Tunis city. 5- The city of Tunis, the capital of the king- dom, fituated on a fine plain near a fpacious lake, in 36 degrees and a half north latitude, almoftover- againft the ifland of Sicily, and but a few miles from the place where the famous city of Carthage flood. It is about three or four leagues diftant from the Mediterranean, a large, populous city, and a place of fome trade ; the walls about a league in circum- ference,but of no great ftrength. The Bafha’s palace, the mofques and bagnio’s are the moft remarkable things in it. The houfes of the better fort of peo- ple are built about little fquares, adorn’d with pil- lars, galleries and fountains; but have no other light than what they receive from the doors that open intd the fquares ; and the roofs of the houfes are flat and terrafs’d, as in other Mahometan countries. When Charles V. took it in the year 1535, it Is faid to have contain’d an hundred thoufand men, befides women and children ; hut this, I prefume, muft comprehend all fuch Moors as fled thither for protection on this invafion of the Chriftians : Cer- tain it is, the numbers are not near fo great at pre- fent. 6. Goletta, fituate on a little ifland of the fame name, three or four leagues to the eaftward of Tunis, and may be look’d upon as the port-town to that ca- pital. It is defended by two caftles ; one of them built by Charles V. who took Goletta before he advanced to Tunis. It was held by the Chriftians ’till 1574, and was ot great tile for reftraining the CHAP, excurfions of the Turkifh Corfairs or Rovers, after X. they made themfelves matters of Tunis again. 7. Carthage, now a fmall village, fituate near Cape Carthage (a promontory in the Mediterranean) fuppofed to have obtain’d its name from being fitua- ted near, or on part of the ground whereon the city of Carthage flood, latitude 36 degrees 40 minutes, three or four leagues north-eaft of Tunis. Here are ftill lome ruins of marble and other ftones, and feveral arches of the Aqueduct Handing that con- vey’d water to Old Carthage from a hill 30 miles diftant : But I (hall enlarge further on the deferip- tion of Ancient Carthage, when I come to give the hiftory of that empire. 8. Byferta, faid to be the Utica of the Antients, is fituated in 37 degrees north latitude, on a fine lake near the fea, about 30 miles to the northward of Carthage ; laid to be one of the beft harbours the Tunifeens have for their gallies ; but not capable, at prefent, of receiving fbips ol any great burthen. 9. Porto Farino, fituated on the Mediterranean, about the midway between Byferta and Carthage ; latitude 37. The kingdom of Tripoli, in which I fhall include Tripoli. Barca (for tf Barca be not fubjeH to the Balha of Tripoli, it is fubjedl to no body) is bounded by the Mediterranean on the north, by Egypt on the eaft, by Nubia and Biledulgerid on the fouth, and by the kingdom of Tunis on the weft ; extending along the Mediterranean from the north-weft to the fouth-eaft (that is, from Tunis to Egypt) at leaft 1000 miles, and is about 200 miles broad where broadeft, but in others fcarce 100, lying between latitude 30 and 33 and a half. There are no rivers in this country worth men- tioning. That part of it contiguous to Tunis is tolerably fruitful ; but all the reft to the eaftward, as far as Egypt, is only a parch’d barren defart. The chief towns taken notice of by Geographers, are, 1. Old Tripoli ; 2. New Tripoli; 3 . Zaara ; Chief towns. 4. Tachore; 5. Mecellat ; 6. Elhama ; and 7. Mahara. New Tripoli, however, is the only town of any Tripoli city, note ; which is fituated in a fandy plain near the Me- diterranean fea, latitude 33, about 60 leagues fouth- eaft of Tunis. It is a populous town, and fur- rounded with a wall and outworks ; but the fortifi- cations very mean. Its greateft ftrength are in the defperate Pirates that inhabit it ; confifting of the fame fort of people as inhabit Algiers and ft unis, very formidable to the honeft trader by fea and land. The Government of the country refembles that of Tunis ; the Dey being very much under the influ- ence of the Balha the Grand Signioi fends thither, who levies annually a very confiderable tribute on the natives of this country (as the Balha of Tunis does on the natives of that kingdom) which is re- mitted to the Porte : However, in all cafes where O 2 rh « 100 THE PRES CHAP, the Bafha does not interpofe, the Dey may be look’d X. upon as Sovereign of Tripoli. And as the Government of Tunis and Tripoli is the fame with that of Algiers (only in that one in- ftance, that the Dey in the two former, is under fome fubjeCtion to the Bafha ; whereas the Dey of Algiers acknowledges no fuperior) : So are the reli- gion, laws, and cuftoms of the people of T unis and Tripoli the fame with thofe of Algiers. The go- verning part are Turks, natives of the Levant, and Renegadoes, cloatb’d like other Turks, in vefts and turbants ; their vefts frequently made of Englifh cloth, and their turbants of filk or linnen : Nor is the cloathing of the Moors, who live in towns, very different from theirs. But the Arabs have fcarce any cloathing, more than a cloth about their waifts, and ramble from place to place perpetually, to find her- bage and water for their cattle : And therefore, not to trouble my readers with a repetition of thefe ar- ticles, I (hall confine mvfelf in treating of Tunis and Tripoli, to the three following particulars. 'JSagnio’s. I;. Their bagnio’s, which were not mention’d in treating of Algiers; 2. The produce of their foil and their trade ; and 3 . The modern biftory of thefe countries. 1 . As to their baths, there are in Tunis, Algiers, and Tripoli, a great number of bagnio’s, mightily frequented by the Turks, as well upon a religious account, as for health and pleafure : Their religion obliging them to wafh before they enter their tem- ples,, or perform their devotions. And to thefe bagnio’s foreigners alfo refort, where they are well accommodated, fweated and rubb’d for a very mo- derate confideration. Thefe bagnio’s differ in their dimenfions and the beauty of the building, according as they are frequented by the better or lower rank of people ; but their form and management are much the fame in all. A gentleman is firft brought into a handfome large room, where he is undrefs'd, and a towel f -’’d about him ; from thence, he is led into another room, , moderately warm, and, after fome little time, into the grand hall (cover’d with a cu- pola) in the middle whereof is the bath. The floor is, pav’d with white marble, as are the little rooms or clofets in the fides of it, where people are wafh’d and rubb’d : The perfon who comes to be bath’d, is firft fet down upon a marble bench that runs round the hall, and is foon fenfible of an extraordinary heat, which makes him fweat plentifully; then he is carried into one of the fide rooms or clofets of a moderate heat, where a linnen cloth being fpread upon the floor, and his towel taken off, he lies down at his full length, perfectly naked; then two lufty Haves, as naked as the patient, come in, and kneel- ing down, wafh and rub his arms, legs, and every part of him with a flefn-brufh, taking off all the, fcurf and roughnefs of the (kin ; then they wafh him all over again, and after that dry him with clean towels.. They alfo rub the hairy parts (if they are ENT STATE not directed otherwife) with the powder of a certain C IT A P" earth, which immediately fetches off all tJ e hair; X. and this ferves inftead of (having: Then they wafh '/yv and dry the party again, pair his nails, fqueeze and mould his flefh, and ftretch and pull his limbs with that violence, that his bones crack again, and thofe who are not us’d to it, would be apt to think them all diflocated. This is look’d upon to be exceeding wholefome ; but if a gentleman don’t like this rough management, he may he more gently dealt with. The women have their feveral baths, where they are attended by fhe-flaves, and no man is permitted to enter thefe, under the fevereft penalties, upon any pretence whatever : And indeed perfons of diftindf- ion always have bagnio’s for themfeives and their women, in their own houfes. As to the produce and traffick of Tunis and Tri- Produce and ' poli : Thefe countries breed abundance of Camels traffick of and fine Horfes, and produce Corn and Olives plen- tlle count 'y'■' , - ti fully. In Tripoli they have exceeding fine Wool, and in Tunis a good manufacture of Soap ; and as Mulberry-trees thrive prodigioufly in both kingdoms, no country is more proper for filk, tho’ very little cultivated ; the reafon whereof may he, that the Turks encourage fcarce any manu failures, andean come by thefe a much eafier way than by breeding Silk-worms ; namely, by robbing honeft Merchants that traffick in thofe feas. However, the Europe- ans do trade with the people of Tunis and Tripoli for Corn, Oil, Wool, Soap, Dates, Gftrich feathers, , fkins of wild and tame Beafts ; but one of the heft branches of their commerce here, is Slaves ; the Eu- ropeon Chriftians, taken by their piratical (hips, they fet very high ranfoms upon, or force them to ferve at fea and land in all mauner of employments and drudgery. They have alfo fome traffick for Negroe (laves to the fouthward. Their Camels they ufually (ell in Egypt, and their fine Horfes to the French ; But they get much more by their piracies, than by trade ; and indeed this furnifhes them with every manufacture of Europe, as has been obferv’d already,^ which the Jews, who are very numerous here as well as in the reft of the towns of Barbary, know how to make their advantages of, by trafficking with fuch goods in the country, or exporting them again to places where there is a demand for them. The Turks have been rnafters of Tunis ever fince PJodem M-- the year 1532, when He y rad in Barb aross a, ft . my °J ,T U ' Dey of Algiers, a brother and fucceflor of Bar- poi^” B aross A I. obtain’d the dominion of this king- dom in much the lame manner as his brother acquir’d . that of Algiers.. The people of Tunis, it feems,, invited him thither to deliver them from the op~ preffion they fuffer’d (or pretended to fuffer) under the administration of their lawful Prince : Where- upon Hey rad in having made a voyage to the Porte, and procur’d a large fleet and a ftrpng rein- fore ment of Janizaries, from thence made a de- feent near Goletta, the port-town to Tunis, and advancing IOI OF TUNIS AND TRIPOLI. CHAP, advancing towards the city, Muley Hassan, X. their King, thought fit to quit his capital without t w r-y-'« w linking a ftroke, and fuffer Barb ar os sa to take poffeffion of it. The ufurper remain’d pretty quiet in his new acquir’d dominion for about three years . But the depofed Prince applying himfelf to the Em- peror Charles V. imploring his afliftance to re- ftore him to his throne, and reprefenting alfo of what dangerous confequence it would be, to fuffer the Turks to fettle at Tunis, which lays fo near Italy and Sicily ; his imperial Majefty embark’d in perfon, in the year 1535, with a confiderable army, and made a defcent on the coaft of T unis, where he took the caftle of Goletta by ftorm, and the city of Tunis thereupon open’d her gates to him, Bar- bar ossa abandoning the town when he found himfelf too weak to refill: the numerous forces of the Chriftians. Before the ufurper left 1 unis, he had order’d lome renegadoes to let fire to the gun- powder, and blow up all the Chriftian Haves which were lodg’d near that magazine; but in this he was not obey’d, and the Emperor, ’tis laid, on taking of the city, fet at liberty no lefs than twenty thoufand Chriftian Haves, which thefe pirates had carried into captivity during the three years they were mailers of the place. His imperial Majefty having reftor’d Muley Hass an to his throne, reimbark’d his troops, lea- vin 0- only a ftrong garrifon of Chriftians in the eaftde of Goletta : But Muley, it feems, was a- gain depofed by his rebellious fubjedts the Moors, and forced to take refuge a fecond time in the Emperor’s court. Some few years after, the Turks retook both Goletta and Tunis, and ftill remain poffefs’d of them, the Tunifeens being always in a ftate of war with Spain and Italy : Thofe coafts have ever fince been miferably infefted by them, and multi- tudes of the natives carried into captivity. They are alfo frequently at war with the reft of the nations of Europe, and make prize of all they meet with ; but the Englifh had the good fortune to clap up a t peace with them in the year 1682, which has been renew’d from time to time ; and, in the year 1716, the following Articles were agreed on, which are ftill in force. Articles of peace and commerce between his moji fa creel Majeffy George, by the grace , &c. and the moji excellent Lords Ali Bajha , Hass an Ben Ali Bey, Car a Must af a Dey, the Aga and the Divan of the moft noble city of Tunis, and the whole body of the Militia of the faid kingdom, re- new'd and concluded anno Domini 1716, by John t Baker, EJq\ Lice- Admiral, tsc. JVaee with I, T-urna. HAT all former grievances and Ioffes, and other pretenfions between both parties, fhall be void and of no effedi, and from hence- forward a firm peace for ever ; free trade and com- merce fhall be, and continue between the fubje&s C H A P„ of his moft facred Majefty George, King of X. Great Britain, &c. and the people of the kingdom -''Y’V of Tunis, and the dominions thereunto belonging : But that this article fhall not cancel, or make void any juft debt, either in commerce, or otherwife, that may be due, from any perfon or perfons, to others of either party ; but that the fame fhall be liable to be demanded, and be recoverable as before,, II. That the fhips of either party fhall have free liberty to enter into any port or river belonging to the dominions of either party, paying the duties only for what they fhall fell, tranfporting the reft without any trouble or moleftation, and freely en- joy any other privileges accuftom’d ; and the late exaction, that has been upon the lading and unla- ding of goods at Goletta, and the Marine, fhall be reduced to the ancient cuftoms in thofe cafes. III. That there fhall not be any feizure of any fhips of either party at fea, or in port ; but that they fhall quietly pafs, without any moleftation or interruption, they displaying their colours : And 9 for prevention of all inconveniences that may hap- 1 - pen, the fhips of Tunis are to have a certificate, under the hand and feal of the Britifh Conful, that they belong to Tunis ; which, being produc’d, the Englifh fhip fhall admit two men to come on board them, peaceably to fatisfy themfelves they are En- glifh ; and, altho’ they have paffengers of other na- tions on board, they fhall be free, both they and their effedfs. IV. That if an Englifh fhip fhall receive on board any goods or paffengers, belonging to the king- dom of Tunis, they fhall be bound to defend them and their goods, fo far as lies in their power, and not deliver them unto their enemies : And the better to prevent any unjuft demands being made upon the Crown of Great Britain, and to avoid difputes and differences which may arife, all goods and merchan- dizes, that fhall from henceforward be fhipp’d by the fubjedts of this Government, either in this port, or any other whatfoever, on board the fhips or vef- fels belonging to Great Britain, fhall be firft enter’d in the office of Cancellaria, before the Britifh Con- ful refiding at the refpeeftive ports, expreffing the quantity, quality and value of the goods fo flapp’d, which "the faid Conful is to certify in the clearance given to the faid fhip, or veffel, before fhe departs j to the end, that, if any caufe of complaint lhould happen hereafter, there may be no greater claim made on the Britifh nation, than by this method fhall be proved to be juft and equitable. V. That if any of the fhips of either party fhall, by accident of foul weather or otherwife, be caft away upon any coaft belonging to either party, the perfons fhall be free, and the goods faved, and de- liver’d to their lawful proprietors. VI. That the Engbfh, which do at prefent, or fhall at - any time hereafter, .inhabit in the city, or 102 THE PRE CHAP, kingdom of Tunis, fhall have free liberty, when X. they pleafe, to tranfport themfelves with their fami- lies and children, tiro’ born in the country. VII. That the people, belonging to the domini- ons of either party, fhall not be abufed with iil lan- guage, or otherwife ill-treated ; but that the parties, fo offending, fhall be punifh’d feverely according to their deferts. VIII. That the Conful, or any other of the Englifh nation refiding in Tunis, fhall not be forced to make their addreffes, in any difference, unto any court of juftice, but to the Bey himfelf, from whom only they fhall receive judgment ; this. In cafe the difference fhould happen between a fubjedt of Great Britain, and another of this Government, or any other foreign nation : But, if it fhould be between any two of his Britannick Majefty’s fubjedh, then it is to be decided by the Britifh Conful only. IX. That the Conful, or any other of the Britifh nation, fhall not be liable to pay the debts of any particular perfon of the nation, unlefs obliged there- unto under his hand. X. That as the ifland of Minorca in the Medi- terranean lea, and the city of Gibralter in Spain, have been yielded and annex’d to the crown of Great Britain, as well by the King of Spain, as by all the feveral Powers of Europe engag’d in the late war : Now it is hereby agreed, and fully concluded, that, from this time forward for ever, the faid ifland of Minorca, and city of Gibralter, fhall be efteem’d, in every refpedt, by the Government of Tunis to be part of his Britannick Majefty’s own dominions, and the inhabitants thereof to be look’d upon as his Ma- jefty’s natural fubjedls, in the fame manner, as if they had been born in any part of Great Britain ; and they, with their fhips and veffels, wearing the Britifh colours, fhall be permitted freely to trade and traffick in any part of the kingdom of Tunis, and fhall pafs without any moleftation whatfover, either on the leas, or elfewhere, in the fame manner, and with the fame freedom and privileges as have been fti- pulated in this and all former treaties, in behalf of the Britifh nation and fubjedts. XI. And the better and more firmly to maintain the good correfpondence and friendfhip, that hath been fo long and happily eftablifh’d between the Crown of Great Britain, and the Government of T unis ; it is hereby agreed and concluded by the par- ties before mention’d, that none of the fhips or vef- fels belonging to Tunis, or the dominions thereof, 'fhall be permitted to cruife, or look for prizes of any nation whatfoever, before or in fight of the afore- said city of Gibralter, or any of the ports of the Ifland of Minorca, to hinder or moleft any veffels, bringing provifions and refreftiments for his Britan- nick Majefty’s troops and garrifons in thofe places, or give any difturbance to the trade or commerce thereof ; and, if any prize fhall be taken by the fhips o r veffels of T unis, within the fpace of ten miles 5 E N T STATE of the aforefaid places, it fhall be reftored without CHAP any difpute. x XII. I hat all the fhips of war belonging to either party’s dominions fhall have free liberty to ufe each other’s ports for wafhing, cleaning or repairing any of their defeats, and to buy and to fhip off' any lort of victuals alive or dead, or any other neceffa- ries, at the price the natives buy at in the market, without paying cuftom to any officer : And where- as his Britannick Majefty’s fhips of war do frequent- ly affemble and harbour in the port of Mahon in the ifland of Minorca ; if at any time they, or his Ma- jefty’s troops in garrifon there, fhould be in want of provifions, and fhould fend from thence to purchale fupplies in any part of the dominions belonging to Tunis, they fhall be permitted to buy cattle alive or dead, and all other kind of provifion, at the prices they are fold at in the market, and fhall be fuffer’d to carry them off without paying duty to any officer, in the fame manner as if his Majefty’s fhips were themfelves in the port. XIII. That in cafe any fhips of war, belonging to the kingdom of Tunis, fhall take, in any of their enemy’s fhips, any Englifhmen ferving for wa- ges, they are to be made flaves ; but, if Merchants or Paffengers, they are to enjoy their liberty and effedls unmolefted. XIV. That in cafe any flave in the kingdom of Tunis, of any nation whatfoever, fhall make his ef- cape, and get on board any fhip belonging to the dominions of his facred Majefty the King of Great Britain, &c. the Conful fhall not be liable to pay the ranfom, unlefs timely notice be given him to order that none fuch be entertain’d ; and then, if it appears that any flave has fo got away, the faid Con- fid is to pay to his patron the price for which he was fold in the market ; and, if no price be fet, then to pay 3 oo dolars, and no more. XV. And, the better to prevent any difpute, that may hereafter arife between tire two parties, about falutes and publick ceremonies, it is hereby agreed and concluded, that whenever any Flag-officer of Great Britain fhall arrive in the bay of Tunis, in . any of his Majefty’s fhips of war, immediately upon notice given thereof, there fhall be five and twenty cannon fir’d from the caftles of Goletta, or other the neareft fortification belonging to Tunis, accord- ing to cuftom, as a royal falute to his Britannick; Majefty’s colours, and the fame number fhall be re- turn’d in anfwer thereto by his Majefty’s fhips ; and it is hereby ftipulated and agreed, that all ceremo- nies of honour fhall be allow’d to the Britifh Con- ful, who refides here, toreprefent, - in every refpedf, his Majefty’s perfon, equal to any other nation what- foever, and no other Conful in the kingdom to be admitted before him in precedency. XVI. That the fubjedts of his facred Majefty of Great Britain, & c. either refiding in or trading to the dominions of Tunis, fhall not, for the time to come, OF THE AFRIC CHAP. come, pay any more than three per Cent, cuftoni, on X. the value of goods or merchandize, vvh ich they fhall either bring into, or carry out of this faid kingdom of Tunis. XVII. It it moreover agreed, concluded and efta- blifh’d, that, at whatfoever time it fhall pleafe the Government of Tunis to reduce the cuftoms of the French nation to left than they pay at prefent, it fhall always be obferv’d, that the Britifh cuftoms fhall be two per Cent, lefs than any agreement that {hall for the future be made with the faid French, or than fhall be paid by the fubjebts of France. XVIII. It is moreover agreed, concluded and ef- tablifh’d, that in cafe any Britifh fhip or lhips, or any of the fubjedls of his Majefty of Great Britain, fhall import, at the port of Tunis, or any other port of this kingdom, any warlike ftores ; as Can- nons, Mufkets, Piftols, Cannon-powder o Fine-pow- der, Bullets, Mails, Anchors, Cables, Pitch, Tar, or the like; as alfo provifions (viz) Wheat, Barley, Beans, Oats, Oil, or the like ; for the faid kinds of merchandize, they fhall not pay any fort of duty or cuftom whatever. We, the Parties before-mention’d, having foen and perufed the preceding Articles, do hereby ap- prove, ratify and confirm the feveral particulars there- in mention’d, and they are to remain firm for ever, without any alteration : In teftimony of which, we do hereunto fet our hands and feals, in the prefence of Almighty God, in the noble city of Tunis, the 30th day of Auguft, O. S. and in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ 1716, being the 26th day of the moon Ramadam, and the year of the Hejira 1128. (L.S.) J. Baker (L.S.)(L.S.) ( L.S .) C H A P. XI. “The prefent Jiate of the African ifands. CHAP HT"' ^ E i Hands of Africa ftill remain to be de- * ' A fcrib’d ; of which the principal are, 1 . Bad- mar.del ; 2. Zocotara ; 3. T he iflands of Co- Iflands eaft morro ; 4. Prince Maurice’s ifland, or the Mauri- of Africa, tius ; 5. The ifland of Bourbon ; and, 6. Mada- gafcar ; all which lie in the Indian ocean, eaftward of the continent of Africa. irtanj 5 On the fouth-weft part of Africa lie, 1. The fouth-weft ifland of St. Helena ; 2. Afcenfion ; 3. St. Mat- of Africa, thew ; 4. Annaboa ; 5. St. Thomas ; 6. Princes ifland ; and, 7. The ifland of Fernando Po. Ifiandson the On the north- weft part of Africa lie, 1 . The iflands part of ' aw- Oape Verd ; 2. The Canary iflands; 3. The ca. iflands of Madera ; and, 4. The A.zores. 1 Babmandel. I he ifland of Bab, or Babel rnandd,elim Diodorus, lies at the entrance into the Red fea, and forms one fide of the famous {freight of Babel, or Babmandel : It is fituated in 1 3 degrees north latitude, and is a- A N ISLANDS. bout five miles in circumference. The Ethiopians CHAP, and Arabians formerly contended with great fury XL for the pofleflion of it, being a place of the laft im- •**?~\/~**J portance, as it commanded the entrance into the Red fea, and preferv’d a communication between Ethiopia and Arabia ; but fince the Turks have pof- fefs’d themfelves of both fhores, the ifland is in a manner deferted, being a fandy barren foil, and af- fording fcarce any fuftenance for man or beaft. The ifland of Zocotora, or Socotra, is fituated Zocotora. in the eaftern ocean in 1 2 degrees north latitude, 3 o leagues to the eaftward of cape Gardefoy, being about 25 leagues long, and 18 broad. There is but one town in the ifland, where the Shiek, or Sovereign, refides ; the reft of the inhabitants live in cottages difpers’d about the country. There are two pretty good harbours on the coaft, where Eu- ropean fhips formerly ufed to put in, when they were difappointed of their paflage to India by the monfons : but this feldoms happens now, our Mari- ners are fo well acquainted, with the winds and fea- fons in this part of the world. The people of this ifland are a mixture of Pagans and Mahometans, and have fcarce any foreign traffick. Their ufual food is milk, dates, roots, and feme flefh : The country affords fcarce any merchandize fit for ex- portation, unlefs it be Frankincenfe, Aloes, and the gum call’d Dragons-blood. The iflands of Comorro are five in number, and Comoro lie between the coaft of Zanguebar, and the north- lllands ' end of the ifland of Madagafoar, from 1 o to 15 de- grees of fouth latitude: That which is moil fre- quented, and confequently beft known to the Eu- ropeans, is the ifland of Johanna, where fhips touch Johanna for refrefhments in their paflage to Bombay, and the defcrib ’ d * Malabar coafts of India. This ifland lies in 1 2 de- grees and an half north latitude, and is 30 miles long, and 1 5 broad. The people are Negroes of the Ma- hometan religion, extremely hofpitable, efpecially to the Englifh. They live under a monarchical form of government ; from which, it feems, the females are not excluded. They have great plenty of black Cattle and Goats ; of Fowls, Rice, Po- tatoes, Yams, Honey, Wax, Bananoes, Tama- rinds, Lemons, Oranges, Pine-apples, Cocoa-nuts, and other fruits. And I find the women, as in other parts of Africa, are employ’d in hufbandry, and other laborious works, while the men indulge their eafe. They are a very plain, inoffenfive peo- ple ; but do not abound in wealth, and fcarce know the ufe of arms, or what war means. Neither do their Kings take ftate upon them, but converfe fa- miliarly both with their fubjecls, and foreigners. They have but two towns ; to one whereof our Mariners have given the name of King’s-Town, from its being the refidence of their Kings ; and to the other Queen’s-Town, fome of their Queens having made it the feat of their Government. Thefe towns are built with ftone and timber ; but the reft of '^3 3 04 e h a p. XI. The Tfland of Prince Maurice : or, the Mauritius. Bourtoa Ifland, THE PRESENT STATE of their houfes are only mean cottages difpers’d all 30 leagues in circumference ; finely deverfify’d with C Iff A P. over the country: Their ufual food is Rice boil’d, mountains and plains, foretts, and champain- fields ; XL Meat, Milk, Roots, and Cocoa-nuts ; and the Milk has plenty of wood and water, and a fruitful foil, of the young Cocoa-nuts ferves them for drink, as except one part of the ifland, which has been burnt the fhells do for cups. They are under ftrange ap- up and render’d barren by a vulcano, or fubterrane- prehenfions of mifchief from the Devil, and burn ous fires. The Portuguefe firft difcover’d it, anno him in effigy once a year, ’tis laid : They feem alfo 1 545, and (lock’d it with Hogsand Goats, as if they to abhor the place where any one happens to die ; intended to have made a fettlement heie ; but after- either out of a dread of departed fpirits, the uni- wards deferred it again. Captain Cattle ton, venal foible of the common people , or, as others an Engliih Commander, touch’d here in the year fuggeft, becaufe they look upon the place where any 1613, and was fo taken with the beauty of the man dies to be polluted ; but, after fome time, they ifland, that he gave it the name of the Englidi Fo- return to the place again, and inhabit the rooms red : But our Ead-India Company did not think it where their friends happen’d to draw their lad worth while to fix a colony here. 1 he f rench ai- breath. terwards took poffeffion of it in the year 1654, and The red of the iflands of Comorro are much a- gave it the name of Bourbon, and left fome few bout the fame dimenfions, inhabited by the fame people and (laves there, who afterwards came away kind of people, and produce the like plants and fruits ; in an Englidi (hip ; however, the h rench dill lay and therefore it is perfectly unneceffary to enter upon claim to the ifland, tho’ they make little or no u(e a particular defcription of them. of it, there being no harbour upon the coaft, or The next ifland I am to defcribe, is that of Prince any thing to induce them to vifit it, but the rrefh Maurice, or the Mauritius, belonging to the Dutch, provifions they meet with here, on their voyage to who gave it this name in honour of their Stadtholder and from India ; inch as black Cattle, Hogs, Goats, Prince Maurice, under whofe adminidration they Tortoifes, tame and wild Fowls, Oranges, Lemons, made themfelves maders of it. This ifland is fitu- and other fruits, roots and herbs. ated in 20 degrees fouth latitude, 100 leagues ead The larged of the African iflands, and indeed of Madagafcar. of Madagafcar ; being of an oval form, and about the whole world, except that of Borneo, is that of 50 leagues in circumference, abounding in woods Madagafcar, call’d by the Portuguefe St. Laurence, of various kinds, particularly Ebony. There are from its being difcover’d on St. Laurence s day, alfo abundance of very high mountains, from whence anno 1506; tho’ others fay, it obtain d this name their rivers fall in torrents. The Dutch have a from Laurence Alm Eid a ((on of Almeida, fort, and a garrifon of 50 men in the ifland ; be- the Portuguefe Viceroy of the Ead-Indies)^ whodil- fides which, there may be three or fourfoore families cover’d it : But however that be, Madagafc, orMa- of Hollanders, who keep abundance of Negroe dagafcar, is the name the natives give it, and by Haves that are employ’d in hufbandry, and other la- which it is mod commonly known at this day. borious work. The Dutch found this ifland unin- The ifland of Madagafcar is Situated between the habited, and confequently uncultivated j nor was 1 2th and 26th degrees of forth latitude, 40 leagues there any other cattle upon it but Deer and Goats ; ead of the continent or Africa, being about 1000 the Dutch have now introduc’d almod all the plants miles in length from north to fouth, and generally of Afia and Europe, and well dock’d the ifland with between 2 and 300 miles broad ; only towards the cattle and poultry : Rice and Pulfe, Sugar-canes and north it grows much narrower, and terminates in a Tobacco alfo are rais’d here, but in no great quail- point: It is a fruitful country, abounding in cattle, titles ; nor does the foil feem proper for corn or corn, fifh, fowl, herbs, roots and flowers ; and al- wine. The Hollanders touch here in their paffage mod all manner of animals and vegetables, that from the Cape to Batavia ; and, as neither of thefe are to be found on the neighbouring continent of colonies abound in good timber, it is probable they Africa, may be met with here ; and there are fcarce are fupplied with it from the Mauritius ; for, ’tis any plants of Afia or Europe, except the fine fpices, (aid, they have a great many (aw-mills eroded on but Will flourilh here, as the French inform us, who the rivers in this ifland ; but the reafon the Dutch made the experiment at their fettlement of Fort firft poffefs’d themfelves of the Mauritius, was for Dauphin. As to the face of the country ; it isuni- a baiting-place between Europe and India, having verfolly agreed, that it affords a pleafing variety of no other place to touch at in that long voyage, hills and valleys, woods and champain, and is well before they were matters of the Cape of Good water’d with fprings and rivers ; and that there are feveral good harbours upon the coaft : But (fill it is I come, in the next place, to treat of the ifland found not to produce any kind of merchandize } of Bourbon, call’d England’s Foreft by the Engli(h, which, for quantity and quality, can induce any who firtt difcover’d it. This ifland is fituated in 21 one European nation to attempt the conqueft of it, degrees fouth latitude, about 40 leagues fouth-weft or fix any confiderable colonies here. The Portu- of Mauritius, It is of an oval figure, and about guefc, Engliih, Dutch and F rench, have fucceffively endeavour d OF THE AFRICAN ISLANDS, 105 A P. endeavour’d to difcover fomething that might turn I. to account : They were long amufed with hopes, that there were gold and filver mines in the ifland ; but there feems now to be little hopes of finding thefe tempting minerals, or the precious ftones that our voyage-writers talk fo much of, in any quantity. We purchafe fcarceany thing here but Negroe Haves, which the natives barter with the European na- tions for cloathing, hard-ware, tools or toys ; and here che dripping, bound to and from India, fome- times furnifh themfelves with water, frefh provifions and fruits : The natives, efpecially in the inland country, are generally Negroes, like thofe on the neighbouring continent ; but there are both White men and Mulatto's upon the coaft, who fpeak Ara- bick, and therefore are fuppofed to come from Ara- bia, as well as becaufe their religion is a mixture of Mahometifm, Judaifm and Paganifm : But, tho’ they retain circumcifion, and fome other Mahome- tan rites, thofe who have vifited the ifland, relate, they have no mofques or temples, or any regular publick worlhip, tho’ they acknowledge a deity, and perform fome a£Is of adoration. The country is Hill divided among!! feveral pet- ty princes or monarchs, which would make it an eafy conqueff, did their foil produce any thing to in- cite the avarice or ambition of the European powers to attempt it ; and here, as on the continent, the feveral tribes being frequently at war with each other, make flaves of their prifoners, whom they barter a- way, and exchange, with luch merchants as vifit their coafts, for cloathing, ftrong liquors, and fuch utenfils and neceffaries as they want : But I don’t find they wear any other cloathing, than a piece of Cot- ton, Calicoe, or Linnen cloth about their waiffs, adorning their arms with bracelets, their necks with necklaces, and their hair with fome glittering trifles. Their arms are ftill bows and arrows, darts and laun- ces, with a fhield for their defence : They feem ter- ribly afraid of fire-arms: Their houfes are only round little huts, o or 40 of which form a village: There is not any thing that can be call’d a town in t the whole country. They go a fifhing in their feas and rivers in canoos, made of the bodies of large trees hollow’d ; and they have alfo larger boats, ’tis faid, of boards few’d together with cordage made of the Cocoa-nut-tree, but no ihips. The places where the Europeans have attempt- ed to eftablifti fettlements in Madagafcar, are either at the bay of St. Auftins, on the fouth-weft part of the ifland ; or at Fort Dauphin, on the fouth eafl part of the ifland. The Portuguefe, Engliflr and Dutch, have fucceflively fent detatchments to the bay of St. Auftins, to explore the country, and then abandon’d it again; and the French, on the other fide of the ifland, built Fort Dauphin, placed a garrifon there, and penetrated far into the country, propofing not only to make themfelves mafters of this ifland, but of the navigation of the Indian feas ; but they feem VOL. III. at length to be convinc’d, that their project was im* CHAP, practicable, and only make ufe of fort Dauphin at XI. prefent, as a place of refrelhment, in their voyages to and from India. It was once expeCled, that the Pirates would have Some ac- made a fettlement in this ifland, and ufurp’d the do- th " minion of it, having fix or feven lad of {hips, with plates at which they ufed to infeft the Indian feas, and carry Madagafcar, their prizes into a place of fecurity, on the north-eaft part of Madagafcar, where they poftefs’d themfelves of a harbour of difficult accefs, and defended from ftorms by the little ifland of St. Mary s, which lies before it in 17 degrees fouth latitude. The Court of England, about the year 1700, fent a fquadron of four men of war, commanded by Commadore Warren, to drive the Pirates from thence ; but he, finding it impoflible to come at them, publifh’d a proclamation, in purfuance of his inftruClions, offering a pardon to all that would come in (except Avery their leader) ; but not a man came over to him. The Commadore after- wards proceeded to Fort St. George in the Eaft-In- dies, where the writer of thefe papers faw him. This gentleman ufed his utmoft diligence to meet with the Pirates in the feas of India, but to no purpofe ; and, having left one or two of his fhips on the fhoals near Malacca, return’d with the reft to England : However, his expedition had this good effeCI, that the Pirates durft not ftir out from Madagafcar ; and, finding they were fo narrowly watch’d, they agreed to divide what they had got, and difperfe themfelves. Two of them were afterwards taken by the Dutch at Malacca ; and, being fent to Fort St. George, were brought over to England in the Fowland, be- ing the fame fifip the author came home in the year 1701 : What became of Avery himfelf I could never learn ; but ’tis probable he is dead, or remains conceal’d in the ifland of Madagafcar to this time ; for he can expefit no mercy from any of the Powers of Europe, if he ftiould fall into their hands; bur, as for his being in fuch circumftances, as to lay the foundation of a new Hate or kingdom in this ifland, this report poffibly deferves but little credit : We ftiould have heard more of him after fo many years elaps’d, if he had made any figure there. I {hall now repafs the Cape of Good Hope, and ^ take a view of the i (lands on the fouth-weft part of ot - Africa, Africa ; and the firft we meet with in the Atlantick ocean, in failing from the Cape, is St. Helena, fo St. Helena, named by the Portuguefe, who difeover’d it on St. Helen’s day, in the year f 502. 1 his ifland is fitu- ated in 16 degeees fouth latitude, about 600 leagues north- weft of the Cape of Good Hope, almoft in the mid-way between the continents of Africa and A- merica, but nearer to that of Africa, from whence it is diftant about 1 200 miles: The winds blowing always from the fouth eaft a moderate gale, ft is an exeeding pleafant voyage from the Cape to St. He- lena, and perform’d in lefs than three weeks, with- p out 100 THE PRESENT STATE CHAP, out handing a tail, or giving the leaf!: trouble to the teamen. But there is no tailing to this ifland direct - 1 y from the north-ward, the winds always blowing from the fouth-eaft in thefe teas. When a (hip there- fore is fent from England to St. Helena, it nrft fails as far f uthward as the Cape of Good Hope, and then returns to St. Helena : I queftion whether three fhips ever made the ifland in going directly from Eu- rope, fince it has been difcover’d. The ifland is a- bout 2 1 miles in circumference, and hi weftward of the continent of Africa, and 30 north- eaft of Annabon, being of a round figure, and a- bout 40 leagues in circumference ; difcover’d by the Portuguefe the fame year 157 1, on St. Thomas’s- day. This is the moft confiderable ifland in the Gulph of Guinea : It is well fupplied with wood and water, and there is a high mountain in the middle of it, almoft always cover’d with a cap of clouds. I he heat and moifture of the air render it ex- tremely unhealthful to northern conftitutions ; but the Portuguefe Negroes and Malottos who inhabit it, tis (aid, live to a good old age : They have plenty of Indian Corn, Rice and Fruits, and make a good deal of Sugar. And among other exotick plants the Portuguefe have introduced here, is that of the Cinnamon-tree ; but, tis laid, they are afraid of planting this and the other fine fpices in any quan- tity in thefe i {lands, left the Dutch fttould come and take their country from them ; for the Hollanders, it feems, would make the world believe, that no nation can have a right to the fine fpices but them- felves ; tho they acquir’d them by treachery and vi- olence, driving the Spaniards, Portuguefe and Eng- lifh from them by the moft unjuft and barbarous practices that ever any people were guilty of. TheSpa- niards, it feems, claim d all the difooveries in the "Weft, by virtue of a grant from the Pope ; and the Portuguefe thofe of the Eaft, by the like authority : ' But the Dutch, by an uncommon ftrain of mfolence, piratically feiz’d the Spice-iflands ; and to this day, by high and mighty violence, a&ually exclude all otnei nations fiom them, to the everlafting re- proach of the Engliftr, and the reft of the Euro- pean nations, who tamely fuffer’d themfelves to be expell’d by that encroaching people. The chief town upon the ifland, is call’d St. Thomas, and {ometimes Pavofan ; containing five or fix hundred houfes, and is the See of a Bifhop. Princes ifland is fituated in 2 degrees of north Princes latitude, about 40 leagues north-eaft of St. Thomas, mandl and as much to the weftward of the continent of Africa, and is faid to be the leaft of the iflands in the Gulph of Guinea. It affords Rice, Indian- corn, plenty ot fruits, roots and herbs; they have OF THE AFRICAN ISLANDS. ioo CHAP. XL Fernando ifland. The Dutch twice at- tempted to drive the Portuguefe from thefe iflands. Cape Verd sflands. St. Jago, the chief of the Cape Veld iflands. have no want of Cattle, Hogs or Goats; but what they abound in moft is Sugar-canes. The ifland of Fernando Po, is fituated in three and a half degrees of north latitude, i o leagues to the weftward of the continent, being about 30 miles long and 20 broad ; and as it is inhabited by the fame f or t° of people, fo the foil produces much the fame kind of plants, corn and fruits as the reft of the iflands in the Gulph of Guinea do. The Portuguese ufually call at fome of them for refrefhments in their voyages to and from India, and in their paffage from Brazil to Africa. The Dutch finding them conve- niently fituated for trade, and affording plenty of provifions, twice attempted to drive the Portuguefe from St. Thomas, and eafily made themfelves ma- tters of the ifland ; but lofing almoft all their Offi- cers, Seamen and Soldiers, engag’d in thofe expediti- ons, by malignant fevers, were oblig’d to abandon it again, and the Portuguefe ftill remain in the peaceable poffeffion of thefe iflands ; the unhealth- fulnefs of the climate being their belt prote&ion againfe the avarice and ambition of the greedy mo- nopolizing Hollanders. . The iilands of Cape Verd, fo named from their being fituated over-againft that Cape in Negroe- land, tho’ they lie upwards of 120 leagues to the weftward of it, were difcover’d by Antony Noel, a Genoefe, in the ferviceof Portugal, anno 1460, and are about twenty in number ; but fome of them only barren recks uninhabited : The chief of them are Bravo, Fogo, St. Jago, Mago, Bona- viffa, Sal, St. Nicholas, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, St. Cruz, and St. Antonio, fituated between 14 and 1 9 degrees of north latitude. T he largeft of them, St. Jago, is of a triangular figure, 50 or 60 leagues in circumference, rocky and mountainous ; but the valleys produce Indian-corn, Cocoa-nuts, Oranges, and fuch other fruits, plants and roots as are common to hot countries : and here we are fup- plied, in our voyage to India, with Hcgs,^ Goats and Poultry in- great abundance. Their feas alfo fo abound with fifh, that I have feen as many dragg’d to fhore at one haul, as would fill two boats. Hither the Englifh Flipping ufua'ily refort for water and frefh provifions, in their voyages outward bound to the Eaft Indies : They come to an anchor in a bay be- neath a ruinous fort, fituate on a high rock, near which there is a pretty large village of Portuguefe Malottos and Negroes ; but the chief town, which is a Bifhop’s fee, and the refider.ee of the Governor, or Viceroy, as fome title him, is three or four leaugues from thence. None of their towns or forts are of any great ftrength : And tho’ there are men enough opon the ifland, and particularly abundance of Negroes of a good ftature, arm’d with fwords, dag- gers, and launces, who look upon themfelves to be no ordinary Cavaliers ; I queftion if an hundred Gre- nadiers would not be a force fufficient to fubdue the whole ifland, if it was thought worth the wdnle. The Portuguefe, who refide here, are fuch as need- CHAP, fity or poverty has driven hither, and live a lazy in- XL dolent life, fubfiftingon the fruits and other produce of the country. Some have reprefented them as a treacherous and thievifti generation; but from the ufage I met with amongft them, I muft fay they do not feera to deferve that character in general : for my part, I look’d upon the Portuguefe here, to be a harmlefs inoffenfive people, and, without any ap- prehenfion of danger, went aftrore at St. Jago with two or three friends, and lay in one of their villages all night, where we were entertain’d with all the good humour and hofpitality imaginable, at a pri- vate houfe. After we had fupp’d, a carpet was fpread for us to fleep on : They fung and play’d upon their country mufick, and in all things fhew’d themfelves fo ready to oblige us, that I could not help retaining the good opinion I at firft conceiv’d of them ; tho Governor Pitts, and the Officers of the fhip, re- prov’d us very fharply for lying on fhore, telling us, it was a thoufand to one, but our throats had been cut before morning ; and indeed, as to the Negroes, we had fome inftances afterwards of their being giv- en to thieving and pilfering what they- could get : but I look upon it, we were pretty fafe under the prote&ion of their mzfters, the Portuguefe. ’Tis true, our Seamen too often get drunk, and Great caut?.. abufe the inhabitants where they land ; and then the next Europeans that come on fhore are ill-treated, on ihore in and perhaps made prifoners, or murder’d by way of retaliation. A friend of mine, Mr. Alex ander, and a dozen more, were cut in pieces on going a- fhore in another Eaft India voyage, without giving any offence to the people ; but this was certainly to revenge fome outrages that had been committed by others, or to defend themfelves againft fome mif- chief they might apprehend from the boat’s crew. I was myfelf in the extreameft danger from the Ne- groes here, upon a difference that arofe concerning a little matter we were trafficking for ; twenty of them, at leaft, drew their penyards, and were a- bout to ftrike, when one, who teem’d to have fome authority amongft them, perfwaded them to delift, and accommodated the matter, otherwife I had re- ceiv’d as many wounds asCiESAR in the fenate : But this made me very cautious ever after, of giving the natives, where we came, any provocation, or trufting myfelf too much in their power : And, in- deed, it behoves every man to be very much upon his guard, that viftts diftant countries : We may efcape nineteen times, and mifearry the twentieth : And there is no concluding, that people may be tra- iled in afecond voyage, becaufe we have met with good ufage from them in a former. We don’t know what provocations they may have had from o- ther travellers in the mean time; or in what light their Priefts, or other defigning people, may have reprefented us : We know there are Mahometans, that think they do honour to their Prophet, by in- fill ting. I 10 THE PRESEN T S T A T E C H A P. fulting and murdering of Chriftians: And there are XI, Roman crtholick Priefts that teach their votaries we are infidels, and deferve to be extirpated from off the face of the earth. At thefe very iflands of Cape Verd, the people were furpriz’d to find we believed in Jesus Christ; their Priefts having affured them, we were as great enemies to Chriftianity, as Turks or Jews : and, under fuch prejudices, we mull not wonder at any ill ufage we meet with from the natives. Wed India J have obferv’d already, that our outward bound Salt 5 at Sal" ^aft India fhips touch at the ifland of St. Jago for a'nd Mago. water and frefh provihons : It may may be proper to obferve alfo, that abundance of Englifh fliips call at the iflands of Sal mdMigo, in their way to our plantations in America for Salt ; but I don’t know any thing elfe thefe iflands are remarkable for, unlefs it be a vulcano in one of them ; which from thence has obtain’d the name of Hogo : And I mull not Grampus, or forget the great number of Grampus’s, a Ipecies of about Cape w hales, we met with here, 70 or 8 o root m length. Verd iflands. Thefe lay very quietly clofe by our fhipswhile we were at anchor under St. Jago, and might eafily have been taken, if we had been prepared for fuch fport. Give me leave to mention another particular in this voy- age to the Cape V erd iflands, and that is, the fudden The fuddcn alteration of the weather we experienc’d here. We the weather out theThames the 3 oth of January, 1 698-9, and feafons being an extreme cold winter, the river full of ice ; h e e r e Fe ' CeiV d an d within the fpace of a month arriv’d at St. Jago, voyage to^ * n G degrees of north latitude, where we found it fo India. warm, that the men all lay naked upon their chefts, not being able to endure any cloaths on : And when we came a-fhore, we found groves and gardens of ever-green and ripe fruits ; a ferene air ; and every thing almoft that could afford delight to people juft arriv’d from a frozen region. The fudden change from a cold to a warm country, from winter to fummer, from naked trees deftitute of leaves and fruit, and a land cover’d with fnow and ice, to a place where Oranges and all the fruits of the earth dilplay’d their beauties, and were ready for gathe- ring, was fuch an agreeable change in a little more than the compafs of three weeks, that it exceeded any metamorphofis that is to be met with in the moll romantick relations. xA.n unufual gaiety feem’d to poftels all the Chip’s company ; nothing but mirth and good-humour reign’d amongft us ; even our furlv Tars feem’d transform’d into fociable creatures. The Canary I come in the next place to defcribe the Canaries, anciently call’d the Fortunate Iflands, being feven in number, and iituated between the 27th and 29th degrees of northern latitude, and between the 1 2th and the 21ft degrees of weftern longitude, reckon- ing from the meridian of London ; the mod eaft- erly of thefe iflands lying about 50 leagues weft of Cape Non, in the empire of Morocco. They are faid, by feme, to be call’d Canes, or Canaries, from the great number of Dogs found here iflands. when they were difcover’d : Others derive the name CHAP ftom the Canaanites, the anceftorsof the Carthagi- jgj mans, who are fuppofed to have firft planted them, .H, and given them the name of their mother country ; V but whether eitherof thefe ought to be accepted, is much to be doubted : I look upon them to be uncer- tain guefles, that we have very little foundation for ; and therefore proceed to the defcription of the par- ticular iflands. And firft of Ferro, the moft weft- p erro erly ifland of the Canaries, fituate in 27 degrees odd m mutes north latitude, and, till lately, made the firft meridian by moft nations. It is about feven or eight leagues in circumference and high land, but has fome fruitful valleys that afford plenty of corn, good pafture, fugar-canes and fruits, but there are no fp rings or rivers ; all the frefh water the natives have, is preferv’d in citterns, or fetch’d from the neighbou- ring iflands: The romantick ftory of a tree here, that fheds incredible quantities of water, has been long exploded. 2. 1 he ifland of Palma, fituated 1 o or 1 2 leagues p 3 | m i noi tn-eaft of Ferro, and about the fame dimenfions, but remarkable for affording large quantities of the heft wine of all the Canaries, ufuallv call’d Palm- Sack. 3 • Gomera, another final] ifland, about r o leagues Corners, to the eaftward of Ferro, faid to abound in corn and delicious fruits, but affords very little wine. 4. I eneriffe, fituate in 28 degrees north latitude, Teneriffe. about 20 leagues to the eaftward of Ferro, and is a- bout 40 leagues in circumference. This ifland af- fords corn, wine and fruits, in great abundance, tbo’ ’tis pretty much encumber’d with rocks and moun- tains ; of which the moft remarkable is, the fa- mous Pico of Teneriffe, fuppofed to be one of the higheft mountains in the world : Some writers have The height made it 1 5 miles, others 5 miles high perpendicular ; of the Peak, but thofe, who make it about 2 miles in perpendi- cular height, feem to come neareft the truth. Cer- tain it is, that the uppm part of it, which is in the form of a fugar-loaf, and white, may be feen plainly above the clouds, at 1 20 miles diftance. I think I can affirm, I have feen it thus far at leaft, as di- ftinffly as if I had been at the top of it. When the lhip lay clofe to the ifland, indeed, the clouds in- tercepted our fight of the top; but after more than four and twenty hours fail from it, with a brifk gale of wind, whether it was from the purity of the air, or other caufes, we all faw it with the naked eye, as plainly as if it had lain within half a mile of us. Some Englifh gentlemen, that had the curiofity to vifit this amazing mountain, relate, that they fet out from Oratavia, one of the principal towns in the ifland ; and that, having pafs’d over feveral rugged hills and fandy plains, they came at length to the foot of the Peak, where they found vaft pieces of rocks and ftones, that feemed to have tumbled down from the upper part of it : That having afcended the mountain about a mile, they were obliged to quit 1 1 1 OF THE AFRICAN ISLANDS. :hap. xi. The Peak liuppofed to :>» rais'd by aft earth- quake. quit their horfes, and climb up the hill on foot : and, having travers’d a fleep black rock about a mile, they found the top of the rock as flat as a pavement ; and here the air was fo cold, that they were forced to keep great fires all night. The next morning they travelled from the black rocks up that part of the mountain call’d the Sugar-loaf, which is ex- ceeding fleep, and the foil a deep white land, which made it very difficult travelling : That when they came near the top of the Peak, the wind was very high, and a continual breathing of a hot fulphureous vapour i fiued from the hill, which fcorch’d their fa- ces, and made them fore : That on the top of the Peak was a large bafon or caldron, as ’tis ufually call’d, about a mufket-fhot over, and four yards deep; the brim whereof, on which they flood, not above a yard broad : That within this vafe were fmall loofe flones, mix’d with fulphur and fand, thatfentouta hot fuffccating fleam : That from the Peak, they had a dear view of the Grand Canary, Palma, Gomera, and even of Ferro, which is 20 leagues diflant from the Peak. They relate, that there was a great deal of fnow and ice about two thirds of the way up, but at the very top none at all, which is afcrib’d to the heat that iffues from the caldron and the adjacent earth. They met with no trees, fhrubs or bufhes, in their pafiage, only feme few Pines. Others, who have had the curiofity to view the Peak, tell us, that in the firfl day’s journey, they came to 2 lodge about two thirds up the hill, and refled there all night : That the fecond day, they went up to the top of the Peak, and return’d to the fame lodge ; and that the third day, they came back to the city of Oratavia, from whence they fet out, making the whole journey an adventure of three days fpent in continual labour and fatigue, and no fmall hazard, in palling fo fuddenly from excef- five heat, at the bottom of the hill, to extreme cold on the black rock ; and then again into the hot fleams that ifTued from the top of the mountain. In Dr. Sprat’s hiflory of the Royal Society , he gives us an account of a Merchant, who was alfo a Phyfician, and had lived upon this ifland twenty years, who declared it as his opinion, that the whole ifland, being mightily impregnated with brimflone, did formerly take fire, and blow up mofl part of it, there appearing feveral mountains of huge flones, calcin’d and burnt about the ifland, efpecially in the fouth-wefl part of it ; and thefe, he thinks, were railed out of the bowels of the earth, at the time of that conflagration. He adds, that the greatefl quantity of fulphur, lying about the centre of the ifland, occafion’d the raifing of the Peak to the pre- fent height ; for thefe calcin’d rocks lie 3 or 4 miles round the bottom of it : That from the Peak, to the fouth-wefl, almofl as far as the fhore, are flill the trails of the rivers of Brimflone and melted oar that ran that way, and have lb ruined the foil where they flow’d, that it will produce nothing but Broom : That fomeof the calcin’d rocks refemble Iron oar, CHAP, fome Silver, and others Copper oar : That in the XL fouth-wefl part of the ifland are high mountains of ^ ~Y~ ^ a bluifh earth, and flones which have a yellow rufl on them, like that of Copper and Vitriol; and that there are feveral fprings of vitriolate water here. This Phyfician relates alfo, that while he was at Te- neriffe, a vulcano broke out in the ifland of Palma, which occafion’d a violent earthquake in Teneriffe, where they heard the noife of flaming Brimflone, and that it refembled thunder : That they faw the fire very plainly in the night-time for fix weeks to- gether. Certain it is, that about Chriftmas 1704, feveral vulcano’s burfl out in this ifland of Tene- riffe, which did not only occafion a mofl terrible earthquake, but whole towns were fwallowed up, or overturn’d, with many thoufands of people in them, by thofe torrents of fulphur and metallick oar that iffued from thofe vulcano’s, and the fineft country in the world, great part of it by that means converted into a barren defart. The chief towns in Teneriffe are, i.St. Chri- Chief towns, flooal de la Laguna, or St. Chriflopher’s of the Lake ; 2 . Oratavia, already mention’d ; and, 3 . Santa Cruz. St. Chriflopher’s is, by fome, flyl’d the capital of St. Chrilto* the Canary iflands, and the feat of the Viceroy. P hers “ It flands partly on the fide of a hill, and partly on a plain, and is a pretty large compacl town, having two parifh-churches, and feveral convents, hofpi- tals and chappels : The houfes of people of condition have large gardens and orchards of Palms, Oranges, and Citrons, and other fruits belonging to them, and the whole country about it abounds with vineyards : On one fide of the town is a fine plain of 3 or 4 leagues in length ; and on the eaft a lake, from, whence it receives its name, and it is conflantly re- frefhed with fine cooling breezes from the fea. Oratavia is a port-town on the north- weft part of OratavIaG the ifland, faid to be a place of the greatefl trade ; and, on that account, the refidenceof the foreign Con- fuls and Merchants : It has one parifh-church, and feveral convents and chappels, and is a town of the belt trade in the ifland. Santa Cruz is a little town, fituated in a bay on Santa Crus, the eafl-fide of the ifland, defended by two forts, and feveral batteries of great guns; which could not, however, prevent Admiral Brake’s deflroying 16 Spanifh galleons, lying here in the year 1657, then look’d upon to be one of the mofl hardy enterpri- zes that ever was executed, no Sea-officer before him having attempted to attack a fleet under the pro- tection of cattles and batteries on fhore, tho’ no- thing was more frequent in the late wars with France . and Spain. 5. The ifland, call’d the Grand Canary, lies a- The Grand bout 13 or 14 leagues fouth-eaft of Teneriffe, be- Canary, tween 27 and 28 degrees of north latitude, and is about 50 leagues in circumference, being a more level 1 12 THE P R E S E N T S T A T E CHAP, level and a more fruitful country than that of Te- XI. neriffe. The chief town is call’d Palma, and by fome Canaria, and is fituated a little diftance from PaliM t0Wli ‘* ^ ie *" ea ’ in the north part of the ifland, faid to be a large clean pleafant town, and to enjoy a ferene temperate air : It is the refidence of the Governor, the fee of a Bifhop, and has a beautiful cathedral, richly adorn’d, befides feveral other churches and convents ; the country about it abounding in corn, wine, fruits, cattle, game, fine paftures, fifh and fowl. Their fields alfo afford a great variety of flowers, and their groves echo with the mufick of thofe birds we fo much admire here, and from this ifland call’d Canary-birds, being preferable to thofe of the fame kind in Germany, tho’ the latter are more likely to live in England, as they come from a climate not fo warm as that of the Canaries. Forte Ven- 6. Forte Ventura, or the ifland of Good For- tura. tune, fituated between the Grand Canary and the -continent of Africa, a long ifland, ftretching from weft to eaft, but very narrow. It abounds in corn, fruits, cattle, fifh and fowl, but chiefly in Goats, which ferve them for food, and they drive a great trade with their fkins ; but I find this ifland affords little or no wine. IiMcerota, 7- Lancerota lies a little to the northward of Forte Ventura, and is faid to produce plenty of all things but wine : It is one of the leaft of the Canaries, and has no town of any note in it : That which is the molt confiderable, bears the fame name with the ifland. Befides thefe, there are fome other ftnall iflands in thefe feas, particularly one call’d the Salva- ges, in 30 degrees; but travellers have not thought them worth a particular defcription. Thefe Thefe iflands were very properly call’d, The iflands a per- Fortunate iflands, by the antients ; for, by the fcc.paradife. concurrent teftimony of travellers, there never was a richer foil, or a more agreeable fituation : There is nothing definable in life, but what is to be met with in this terreftrial paradife ; corn, wine and oil, flefh, fifh and fowl, abound in them, and that the moft exquifite in every kind. As to the rich- nefs of their wines, they are not to be parallel’d, as every one can teftify, who has ever tafted of the genuine Canary and Palm-fack; and of thefe, ’tis computed, they do not fend lefs than ten thou- fand hogfheads annually to Great Britain. But this is not all : The natives of thefe iflands generally enjoy a clear ferene fky and temperate air ; for, tho’ they lie in a warm climate, they are fo conftantly refrelhed with breezes from the fea, that the noon-day heat? are very tolerable, and their evenings and mornings inexpreflibly pleafant. They are never fenfibleof pinching cold, or rigorous fea- fons. The pooreft people here know no want of cloathing, firing, fruits or wine : And if fields, co- ver’d with a variety of beautiful and fragrant flow- ers, and the mufical notes of thofe birds, which all the world admire, afford an agreeable pleaiure; thefe are what every native of the Canaries enjoy, CHAP, and without any expence or trouble to procure XL them. But ftill it muft be eonfefs’d, there are fome things • to be met with even here, that are a great alloy to this feeming happinefs. They that have feen or heard of thofe terrible vulcano’s and earthquakes, thofe rivers of brimftone, and melted oar, that have fvvallow’d fo many towns and villages, muft e- ver live in dread of the direful cataftrophe : The more pleafant and delightful the prefent fcene ap- pears, the quicker muft their apprehenfions be of the terrible deftrudfion thefe iflands are ever fubjedt to : And, perhaps, there is no part of the earth that ap- pears very definable, but has fomething to balance the pleafure it affords, and put us in mind that we are not to expedf unmix’d or durable pleafures on this fide the grave. The beauties of the creation are fuf- ficient indeed to convince every man, that God can make us exquiiitely happy. But the uncertain te- nure, by which we hold all we enjoy in this world, is alfo fufficient to inform us, we muft look for hap- pinefs fomewhere elfe. Thefe iflands, it is generally believ’d, were firfl: The firft difcover’d and planted by the Carthaginians ; and it i fc r 0Ve ( P °1 is held by fome, that the Romans alfo were well acquainted with them : But of this I make feme doubt; for certain it is, the people of thefe iflands had no manner of communication with the continent for many hundred years ; and it is evident the Ro- mans, who never minded navigation or foreing com- merce, neglected many of the Carthaginian plan- tations and fettlements, even upon the continent of Africa, and much more thofe in diftant iflands. The Romans either defpifed traffick, or had no genius for it. The diftant parts of the world had not fo long remain’d ftraogers to each other, if the Romans had not unfortunately deftroy’d the Carthaginian ftate, and difcouraged all remote difcoveries. We are taught, indeed, to look upon the Romans as a great people ; but what did their greatnefs confift in? Was it not in carrying war and devaluation into every country? in putting fetters upon the reft of man- kind, and deftroying all manner of commerce ? In- ftead of applying themfelves to the improvement of trade and manufacture, they enrich’d themfelves by rapine and robbery, plundering the induftrious part of mankind of what they had acquir’d by their la- bour and ingenuity. But to return. It is a further argument, that the Romans were never acquainted with the Canary iflands ; that they lay conceal’d or unknown to the reft of the world for feveral centu- ries after the decline of the Roman empire; and, on their being difcover’d again in the 15 th cen- tury, there were found no Roman antiquities : Nor had the cuftoms and manners, or language of the in- habitants, any refemblance to thofe of the Romans. Their cufiom of preferving their dead friends in caves, and keeping them from generation to generation entire OF THE AFRICAN ISLANDS. S H A P. entire and uncorrupted, would much rather incline us ~ XI. to believe they defcended from the Egyptians, or fome other people of Africk : But however that be, John, King of Caftile, having intelligence that there were fuch iflands, it feems, employed John de Betancour, a French gentleman in his fer- vice, to take poffeflion of them, about the year 1405, who fucceeding in this expedition, the propriety of three of them was conferr’d onBETANCOURby that King, and he refided there all his life-time as Sove- reign of the Canaries ; but the pofterity of Bf. t a n- c 0 u R afterwards reconvey’d them to the Crown of Caftile ; and, when they were found to be of con- fequence, the King of Caftile procur’d a grant from the Pope of them, and the Spaniards remain in pof- feffion of them to this day. The Madera The Madera iflands are fituated between 3 2 and iflands. ^ degrees of north latitude, and in 16 degrees of weftern longitude, about 100 leagues north of the Canaries, and as many to the weftward of Sallee, in the kindgom of Fez. The largeft of them, call’d Madera by the Por- tuguefe, from its being cover’d with wood when it was difcover’d, is about 40 leagues in circumference, confifting of fine rifing hills and fruitful valleys, well watered by the rivulets that fall from the moun- tains ; tho’ abounding much more in wine than corn ; for of wine, they annually export to the Weft-Indies, or Europe, feveral thoufand hogfheads; but of corn, they have frequently a very great fcar- citv : They make feveral forts of wine, one call’d Malmfey, a very rich wine ; a white fort ; and a a third like Tent, not fit to be drank unmix’d ; but of thefe they have no great quantities. The Ma- dera wine we uiually drink, and which this ifland yields mod of, is a pale wine of the colour of Cham- paign, or good Small-beer, and is not very ftrong. The climate here is more temperate than that of the Canaries ; but they do not enjoy fo clear a fky, or that plenty of corn and fruits : However, in one re- fpeCc they are to be preferr’d to the Canaries, that they are not fo fubjedt to vulcanos and earthquakes; and, ’tis faid, no venomous animal will live here. Chief towns. The chief towns are Funchal, Santa Cruz, and Funchal. Manchico. Funchal, the capital, is fituated in a bay, at the fouth-eaft part of the ifland : It is the jeat of the Governor, a bifhoprick, and has a cathe- dral and three parifh-churches in it, be ides feveral convents and chappels, of which the Jefuits (who feem to influence all affairs in thefe iflands) is much the moil beautiful and magnificent : So bigotted are the Roman Cathohcks here, that they will not allow a Proteftant any burial, without paying very dear for the per million, as our Merchants and Fadlors, who refide here, have experienc’d : And however pleafant the Canary iflands and Madera may be, the Inquifition, that reigns in both, mull make them no very defirable refidence for any, but thofe who can refign their consciences and underftandings entirely VOL. III. to the diredlion of the Jefuits. The vulcano’s of the C PI A P Canaries are not more terrible to the natives, than XI. thefe Fathers, arm’d with the authority of the Inqui- fition, are to theProteftants that refide amongft them. ’Tis certain, we meet with better quarter among Turks and Pagans, than we do amongft bigotted Roman Catholicks : And ’tis obferv’d, that the fur- ther they are removed from Rome, the more zea- lous and cruel they are. In Rome, and the great towns of Italy, we converfe with all manner of li- berty and freedom, and are fcarce in any danger of the Inquifition ; but where the Jefuits find themfelves remote from the feat of the Government, and in a manner out of the eye of the world, there is not a more infupportable tyranny upon the face of the earth than thofe are fubjeff to that refufe to fubmit to their ufurp’d dominion over the coniciences of men. But to return from this digreffion. The town Santa Cwz. of Santa Cruz is fituated on the north-eaft part of the ifland, and that of Manchico on the fouth-weft ; but I meet with no further defcription of them : The reft of the natives live at their plantations and vineyards, that are difpers’d all over the country, and make it look like one continued garden. This defirable ifland, according to the moft of our Madera faii Englifh writers, was difcover’d by one Robert £y C ° Manchin, or Masham, a native of Briftol, Captain Ma- and Captain of a merchant-fhip of that port, in the ^am of Bn- year 1344; but the ftory is told fo many different 0 ° ways, and has fo much the air of a romance, that I cannot give much credit to it ; tho’ I could not avoid mentioning the talc, becaufe it is found in every author almoft that has written of this country. Some relate that this Captain had a beautiful miftrefs at Briftol, whofe relations being againft his marry- ing of her, they agreed to go over to France toge- ther ; but were driven by ftrefs of weather to this ifland, where the Captain and his Miftrefs being on fhore, their (hip was forc’d to fea in a ftorm, and taken by the Moors of Morocco, who made the crew flaves ; and that fome of the Englifh Seamen giving an account of the adventures to aPortuguefe Pilot, who was then alfo a Have in Morocco, and afterwards redeem’d. I he Court of Portugal, upon information, fitted out fome (hips, and took poffeflion of the ifland, where they found a tomb or monu- ment that Captain Masham had erefted to the memory of his Miftref;, who died before him : Others relate, that the Lady was the Captain’s wife, that fhe fell fick and was buried here, and that af- terwards the Captain himfelf, being taken prifoner by the Moors, acquainted a Portuguefe Pilot with the difeovery he had made himfelf; who, upon his return home, put the Court of Portugal upon fit- ting out a fleet to take poffeflion of the ifland. But however that was, it feems to be agreed, that the Portuguefe did not plant this ifland, or fend any co- lonies 0 thi.her till the year 1 pre (which was above fourfeore years after the pretended difeovery of it by Captain THE PRESENT STATE 1 14 CHAP. Captain Mas ham) and that when they came thi- XI. ther, they found the ifland cover’d with thick woods, and without inhabitants ; but burning down the woods, the a fnes render’d the foil exceeding fruitful and proper for vineyards, which have been cultiva- ted with great care and induftry ever fince : Corn alfo, ’tis laid, yielded at firft an encreafe of fixty or feventy bufneis for one ; but after the virtue of the afhes, with which the ground was at firft fo well improv’d, was fpent, it yielded but indifferent crops of grain, and of late years there is often a fcarcity of it in the ifland. PortoSanao. The next in magnitude, of the Madera iflands, is that of Porto Sancto, fituate 6 or 8 leagues N.E. of Madera Proper. It is about 5 or 6 leagues in circum- ference, abounds in the fame kind of wine and fruits as the former. There are feveral other fmall rocks or iflands lie about it, which go under the name of the Maderas ; but I don’t find they are ei- ther inhabited or cultivated. The Madera’s ftill re- main under the dominion of the Portuguefe. The Azores. The laft iflands I fhall deferibe here, are the Azo- res, or Weftern Iflands ; not that they are properly African, but rather European iflands ; but, lying in the fame fea with the Madera’s, and belonging to the Portuguefe as the former, they may very properly be defcrib’d here, efpecially fince they were omitted in the fecond volume of Modern Hifiory , which treats of the prefent ftate of Spain and Portugal. Situation of The Azores, fometimes call'd the Tercera’s, and the Azores. at ot h ers the Weftern Iflands, are nine in number, fituated between the 36th and the 40th degrees of latitude, and between the 23d and 3 2d decrees of weft longitude, 300 leagues to the weftward of Por- tugal, and upwards of 3 00 leagues to the eaft ward of Newfoundland ; and, confequently, lie almoft in the mid- way between Europe and America : They ftretch from eaft to weft, St. Michael’s and St. Ma- StMichael’s. ry’s lying the mod eafterly. St. Michael’s is the lar- geftofall the Azores, being about 30 leagues in cir- cumference. This ifland, like the reft, is pretty mountainous, but produces plenty of corn, fruits, cattel, fifti and fowl, and they have a thin fort of wine : Their greateft wants are Oil and Salt. This ifland was plunder’d, and feveral Spanifti and Por- tuguefe fhips taken here, in the wars between En- gland and Spain, in the reign of QueenELizABETH, particularly by the Earl of Cumberland, and afterwards by the Earl of Esse x, in the year 1 5 89, when the latter plunder’d the enemy of four thoufand dollars, befides a great deal of rich merchandize ; and Sir Walter Ralegh alfo brought home a con- fiderable booty from hence in the fame war. St. Ma- 3t. Mary’s, ry’s is a fmall ifland to the fouthward of St. Michael’s, and produces much the fame animals and vegetables. Twcera, Tercera, faid to be fo named from its being the third ifland in the paflage from Portugal to America, is efteemed the chief of all the iflands, on account of its having a tolerable good harbour, and being the feat of the Governor, tho’ it is not fo large as C FI A P. that of St. Michael’s, being not more than 1 8 or XI. 20 leagues in circumference : It is pretty much en- Vyv cumber’d with rocks and mountains ; but affords, however, plenty of good corn, pafture, and an ex- cellent breed of cattel ; and has alfo pretty many vineyards. The chief town, the capital of all the Chief town, iflands, is call’d Angra, and fituated on a hay of Angra. the fea, that forms the harbour on the fouth-fide of the ifland, being defended by a caftle fituated on a rock at the entrance of the bay. This is faid to be the only tolerable harbour in thefe iflands ; and here the Portuguefe fleets conftantly call, in their paflage to ana from their plantations in Brazil, Africa and India, and meet with plentiful fupplies of provifi- ons, which is the only reafon of their keeping them ; for I don’t find they have any kind of merchandize to export, but corn or cattel, which they barter with their countrymen, that call here for cloathing and other neceflaries. Angra is a Bifliop’s fee, as well as the feat of the Viceroy or Governor. The iflands of Gratiofa, St. George, Pico and Fayall, lie Grat’ofa, fcuth-weft of Tercera ; but have nothing in them St Geor S e s that deferves a particular defcription, unlels it be, that Pico received its name from fuch another peak or pyramidal mountain as has been defcrib’d in Te- neriffe, and is fuppofed to have been rais’d by the like means, namely by earthquakes, to which thefe iflands are fubject, as well as the Canaries. The mod weflerly of all the Azores, and theleaft, are the two iflands of Flores and Corvo, which were Flores and long uninhabited after the reft were planted : Nor Corvo. would the Portuguefe ever have poflefs’d them, but to prevent other nations getting them into their pow- er, and difturbing their enjoyment of the reft ; for there is very little upon thefe iflands to invite any nation to fettle there, unlefs a fine furface, adorn’d with a variety of beautiful flowers, from whence the mod foutherly of them obtained the name of Flores. The air of thefe iflands is faid to be very warm by feme, and by others very fharp. If I may judge of it, from what it feemed to be the latter end of April, in our return from the Eaft-Indies, it is ex- ceeding cool. The cold blafts, that came off of them, Thofe wh« had a very extraordinary effect upon our fh ip’s com- corr ‘ e from pany : They fhiver’d, and wrapp’d themfelves up, as in the depth of winter; and, tho’ a little before cold in the our Seamen appeared to have frefh hale complexi- htitudeof4 °* ons, they loft them on a hidden, and appeared of a dead yellowifh eaft, as if they had the jaundice: But poffibly the having failed fo long in the Torrid Zone, made us the more fenfible of the alteration of the air ; and indeed we were fo foftened by li- ving in a hot climate, that we never enjoyed our felves after we came into the latitude 40. It was j the middle of May, when we arrived in England ; and tho’ every body had left off fires, and began to complain of heat, we v/ere ready to ftarve with cold : Nor did this extreme tendernefs wear off for feveral OF THE AFRICAN ISLANDS. ”5 The mif- takes i f the moft fkilful Seamen in feveral years. Give me leave to make another ob- fervation on my voyage to and from India ; and that is on the uncertainty our beft Seamen are un- der in long voyages : We had feme of the moft jfkilful artifts on board, and thofe that had gone the fame voyage feveral times ; and yet it was common long voyages. wjth t j iem to be miftaken ico miles and more in their accounts. We had not been out much above a fortnight, when one morning, to our great fur- prize, we found ourfelves between the Grand Ca- nary’and Teneriffe; and we might as well have been caft away on one of thofe lfiands, for no-body dreamt we had been within 40 leagues of them : Indeed, we had been driven ever the Eay of Bifcay in a ftorm, and it continued dark weather, with hard rales of wind afterward?, fo that we could take no obfervation by the fun ; and nothing is fo deceit- ful, as the log, in ftormy weather ; for the wind drives it after thefl-iip, and there is no gueffing what way fhe makes. But we were ftill more miftaken, when we came near the coaft of India : Thofe, who pretended to moft (kill in navigation, affined us, we were not within ) 00 leagues of the ifiand of Cey- lon, when we plainly fmelt the Cinnamon-groves upon it in the night-time, and the next morning f aw the ifland with the naked eye ; but this alfo happened at a time when we had cloudy weather, and could have no obfervation, and we had feen no land after we pafs’d the Cape of Good Hope, from whence we took our departure for India. This the reader, I hope, will not look upon as a ufelefs di- greffion in treating of the African iflands, which lie fo much in our way to and from the Eaft- Indies. CHAP. XII. fhe ancient hiftory of Africa. CHAP T Proceed, in the next place, to give an abftraft XII J- of the ancient hiftory of Africa, according to my method in treating of other parts of the world. The ancient hiftory of Egypt has been already given in the fir ft volume of Modern Hiftory. The next people that made a figure in Africa, were the Egypt firft Phenicians or Canaanites : ft here is no doubt but all planted, and t j, e nort y, coaft of the Mediterranean, as fur as the thTrefuT Atlantick ocean, was firft peopled from Egypt, to Africa, which it lay contiguous ; for it is agreed by all, that when the Phenicians arriv’d on the African coaft, af- ter they were driven out of their country by Joshua and the Ifraelites, they found inhabitants there be- fore them, and enter’d into treaties with that peo- ple, obtaining leave of them to traffick and fettle in that part of the country where Carthage afterwards l flood, now call’d the kingdom of Tunis, and by the Romans Africa Proper. blither the Tyrians or Phenicians firft fent a co- lony, that built the town ot Utica. Ehe founda- tion of Carthage, by another colony of Tyrians or Phenicians, is fuppofed to be much later (viz.) CHAP, about the year of the world 3 1 20 ; 13 5 years be- XII. fore the building of Rome, and 883 before Christ, Carthage is generally held to have been built by Carthage Dido, or Elisha, a Tyrian Princefs, who fled built by the from her brother Pygmalion, King of Tyrus, to Africa, on the following occafton : She had mar- The ftory of ried a near relation, call’d Acerb as, and fome- Dido, times Sic h;e us, who was very rich ; and Pyg- malion, as the ftory goes, caufed him to be af- faffinated, in order to poflefs himfelf of his great wealth: But his After Dido defeated his principal defign ; for, having provided feveral (hips to carry her ofF, fhe fled, with all her late hufband’s effefts, to Africa, before Pygmalion had an opportunity of getting them into his hands ; and very probably made choice of this part of Africa to refide in, be- caufe there was a colony of Tyrians fettled at Utica already. But, however that was, fhe purchafed lands here of the natives, on which fhe built a city, calling it Carthada, Carthage, or the New town (as the word fignifies in the Phenician or Hebrew lan- guages) in oppoiition to Utica, wbicn had been built feme time before by her countrymen, and in this refpedl might be call’d, the Old town. The remain- ing part of the ftory ( in which I doubt there is a mixture of romance) informs us, that Jar b as. King of Getulia, afterwards made love to Dido, and threaten’d war in cafe fhe refufed to marry him ; But fhe, having made a vow to Sich^eus, her firft hufband, never to marry again, prepared her funeral pile; and afeending it, when J areas came again to make his addrefles to her, fhe drey/ a ponyard, and gave herfelf a mortal wound, as the only means fine had left to put an end to his dedefted courtfhip. But whatever of novel there may be in this, there is no doubt to be made, that Virgil excercis’d his poetical vein, when he made his hero FEneas cotemporary with Dido ; the deftn diion of Troy being generally held to have happen’d three hundred years before the building of Carthage. The firft wars Carthage was engaged in, ’tisfaid, The firft were occafion’d by their refufiug the annual tribute ^ a " e ° f ^ they had agreed to pay the Prince of the country, when they obtained leave to build their city ; but in with the this they had fuch ill fuccefs, that the Africans ob- Aficans. liged them to enter into new engagements to pay it: However, upon receiving frefh fupplies and rein- forcements from Tyre, their mother-country, they were not only enabled to difpute the tribute again with the Africans, but to carry their arms ftill far- ther. Their next wars were with the city of Cyrene, with the which flood between Carthage and Egypt, in that Cyrenians. part of the country now call’d Barca. Carthage and Cyrene, it feems, were at a variance about the li- mits of their refpedtive territories, which occafion’d a war between the twoftates; ’till at length both fides agreed, that their bounds fliould be afeertain’d O 2 in i j6 C H A P. XII. v ^ r Y'*-' THE ANCIENT HISTORY Their wars with the Mauritani- ans and Nu midians. They con- quer Sardi- nia, and the iflands of Baleares, They carry their arms into Spain. Their wars in Siciiy. in the following manner; viz. That two men fhould fet out at the fame hour from either city, and wherever they happen’d to meet, that Ihould be the boundary ot their feveral States : The two Carthaginians, pitch’d upon for this fervice, were brothers, named Phil zeni, who being fwifter of foot than their adverfaries, the Cyrenians pretended there was foul play, and would not {land to the a- greemer.t, unlefs the two brothers, as an evidence ot their fair dealing, would be content to be buried alive in the place where they met; which, ’t is faid they confented to, and the Carthaginians e red ted a pillar upon the fpot, and two altars, on which they facrific’d and paid divine honours to the heroick bro- thers : But whether we are to give entire credit to this ftory or not, certain it is, two altars were erec- ted and remain’d many years on the borders of the two ftates, which were call’d “ The altars of the Phil^eni And we may obferve, both from fa- cred and prophane hiftory, that nothing was more common among the antients than the erecting al- tars, and facrificing upon them at the conclufion of a treaty, or on any memorable event ; and there- fore ’tis probable the fubftance of the ftory is true, whatever foundation there may be for that part of it relating to the burying the two brothers alive near thefe altars. This war being ended, the Carthagi- nians carry ’d their arms to the weftward, and fub- du’d all the nations as far as the Atlantick ocean, or made them tributary to their ftate; fo that they were in reality Sovereigns of all the northern coaft of Africa, to the weftward of Cyrene or Barca; and, in the opinion of fome writers, of the weft coaft of Africa, as far as Cape Verd, which lies in 15 degrees north latitude: Nor were the conquefts of the Carthaginians confin’d to the continent of Africa; they made themfolves mafters of Sardinia, and the Baleares, or the lflands of Majorca, Minor- ca, and Ivica, from whence they found an eafy pafiage into Spain, whither they were firft invited by the city of Cadiz, an ancient colony of the Tyrians their countrymen. This city, it leans, was at war with the Spaniards, and, being hard prefs’d, call’d in the Carthaginians to their affiftance, who not on- ly defended their allies, but carried on an offenfive war in the Spanifh territories; and that people, be- ing divided into feveral little kingdoms and ftates, became an eafy conqueft to their enemies ; great part of South Spain became fubjedt to the Carthaginians, and even the city of Cadiz, that call’d them in, was oblig’d to fubmit to their dominion; the ufual fate of thofe who introduce armies of foreigners into their country. The time when the Carthaginians firft attempt- ed to make conquefts in Sicily, is not exadtly known : But it appears from a treaty they made with the Ro- mans, the fame year Kings were excluded from that Government, and Confuls inftituted, that the Cartha- ginians were then in polMion of part of Sicily, as of Africa and Sardinia; and, by this treaty, CHAP. XII. G"V\J well as the Romans agreed not to fail further weftward than the fair promontory near Carthage, which the Car- thaginians, even then, infilled on, as being under an apprehenfion the Romans might one day encroach upon their territories, and give them fome diftur- bance. About 264 years after the building of Rome, and Their confe. 484 years before Christ, the Carthaginians enter’d with into an alliance with Xerxes, K ing of Perfia, a- fZT gainft Greece. And while Xerxes march’d with Greece. a prodigious army to attack the Greeks upon the con- tinent, the Carthaginians tranfported an army of three hundred thoufand men into Sicily ( if the num- bers bent enlarg d ) in expectation of reducing the remainder of the Grecian cities in that illand under their dominion : But this great army was defeated and cut to pieces, ’tis find, on the fame day that me- morable aCtion happen’d at Thermopylae, where three hundred Spartans difputed the pafiage into Greece, with that numerous army of Pcrfians com- manded by Xerxes, and put a ftop to his progrefs, tho’ moft of them loft their lives in the defence of that pals. The Carthaginians made another attempt to fub- due the Grecian cities in Sicily, in the 356th year °f Rome, and met with great fuccefs, being upon the point of taking Syracufe, the capital of the Gre- cian cities in Sicily, when the plague broke into their army, and deftroying the greateft part of them, the remainder perifh’d by the fwords of the Syracufians ; which occafton’d an infurreClion in Africa ; no lefs A . than two hundred thoufand of the male-contents laid reffi"n of liege to Carthage itfolf ; but the rebels being defti- Africans tute of provifions, and difagreeing about the com- rupprefs ’ d - mand of this body, foon difperfed, and deliver’d the Government from the ruin that threatened them. In the year 400, after the foundation of Rome, c . we meet with another treaty between that city and Rome In the Carthaginians, for their mutual defence : And aliiance - about the fame time the Carthaginians made fur- ther attempts to reduce the Grecian cities in Sicily • A further but Timoleon coming with a body of Corinthians StVe to t "leir a nuance, obtain d a vidtory over them, and Grecian cities again defeated their defign : After which, A g a - in Sici]y> thocles, the Syracufian General, carried the war into Africa, and, in confederacy with fome of the Aliican Princes, laid fiege to Carthage, and bid fair for the total fubverfion of their State. While the Carthaginians were in this diftrefs, it was that The Creek* an Ambaflador arnv d from Tyre, to negotiate for carr y the a reinforcement of troops, to enable them ‘to defend 7 " int0 themfolves againft Alexander the Great, who not long after laid that city in afhes, and deftroy’d Tyrede- every man in the place ; and all that the Carthagi- ftroy ’ d b y mans was to do for their mother city, was to remove £cnZ the women and children, font them from Tyre, and afford them a refuge in their country. In the mean time, the Carthaginians looking upon the calamities that I 17 OF AFRICA. -HAP. that befel them to proceed from the wrath of hea- in feveral engagements there by the Romans, and CH AP. " XII ven for fome omiffions in their religious worfhip, oblig’d to quit that country alfo. . . and particularly in not facrificing a certain number And now the Romans, having no enemies in I- rhe Cartha- of ch ‘; ldren of the be ft quality annually to Satur n, taly, began to think of enlarging their empire by fo- L n eXir aCn ' as their fuperftition requir’d, and fubftituting the reign conquefts It ,s very probable they had for :hndren to children of flaves and poor people, purchafed tor that fome time carl: then eyes on the fruitful nland oi 01- 5at . ur ” in en d in their (lead : To appeafe the anger of that cily, feparated from the continent by a narrow ftrait, the ‘ eoJ ’ therefore, they facrificed two hundred children and only waited for a pretence to invade it ; when of the beft rank ; and three hundred perfons more, fome Sicilian rebels feizmg on the important city of ’tis faid offer’d themfelves voluntarily to be facri- Meffina, and offering to deliver it up to the Romans, fired to atone for the nretended negkA. This is a that people, notwitbftandmg their mighty pretences The Ro- farther evidence, that the Carthaginians were def- to honour and juft, ce, did not fcruple _ to break cended from the Canaanites or Phemcians, who ufed through their alliance witn the Carthaginians, and re b e is againft to facrifice their children to Moloch, particularly fend over a reinforcement of troops to fupport thofe the Cartha- in their diftrefs ; facred hiftory taking notice of a rebels which occafion’d that war between the Ro- 6 tmans * Kino- that facrificed his eldeft fon upon the walls, mans and Carthaginians, uffually call’d “ The firft when the city he was Sovereign of, was in danger of “ Punick war,” begun Ann. M . 3 / 3 ? 5 after the being taken. But to return to the hiftory. Not- building of Rome, and before Christ, withftanding this bloody facrifice of fo many children 266 years. and innocent men, the affairs of the Carthaginians As the Roman people made arms their profeflion, grew ftill more defperate ; Bom XL car their Gene- and, from the infancy of their State, had been ext- ra], taking advantage of the diftrefs of the State, in gaged in warlike contefts with their neighbours, they ord’er to raife himfelf to the Sovereign power, fomen- are univerfally acknowledg’d to have been excellent ted an infurreeftion within the city while their ene- Soldiers. We find, in the Sicilian war, the Car- mie< prefs’d them from without : But they had, at thaginians were not able to keep the field againft length, the good fortune to difperfe the rebels by of- them, but retir’d into fuch ftrong towns as were ferirw a parefon to all that would return to their du- fituated near the fea, which they could relieve from ty; °and Bomilcar being thereupon deferred, time to time with their fleets, the Romans having was crucified, and put to the moil exquifite torture : yet no Chipping to oppofe them ; and thus the war A rebellion And, while he hung upon the crofi, ’tis find, he re- was like to prove endlefs. Phe Carthaginians a- in Carthage * h , d the Government with breach of faith, in bounded in wealth as well as Chipping, and were a- UPPr£S ’ punching him after they had proclaim’d an indem- hie to defend the maratime places againft the whole nity ; and with ingratitude, in putting to death ma- power of the Romans, who found themfelves ex- ny of their braveft Generals, after a long feries of haufted both of men and money by the continuance eminent fe: vices ; which, it feems, was frequently of the war, while Carthage rather grew rich by traf- done, if f.iccefs did not attend their arms, unlefs the ficking with every nation. Genera] prevented the difgrace by being his own The Romans, therefore, faw it abfolutely necef- executioner ; of which there are alfo feveral inftan- fary to difpute the dominion of the fea with Carthage ; ces in the hiftory of Carthage. without which, they found their foreign conquefts The Greeks This rebellion being fortunately iuppreis’d, a mif- muft remain at a ftand ; and, collecting naval ftores abandon A- u nt | er fif- an d i n g happen’d about the fame time, be- from every quarter, offer’d the higheft rewards and rKa * tween Agathocles the Grecian General, and encouragements to fuch Ship-builders as would afford his African allies: Whereupon he rais’d the fiege them their affiftance: And, as they were at that of Carthage, and tranfported himfelf to Sicily ; af- time poffefs’d of feveral cities and port-towns in Si- te r which^ the Carthaginians recover’d all the pla- cily, and in alliance with many Grecian States, ces they had loft, and eftabliih’d their empire again fuch crowds of workmen offer’d their fervice, and over the African Princes. And now Sicily, as well their own people ufed fuch application and diligence, as Italy, being threaten’d with an invafion by Py R- that within a very few months, they built or hired a The Ro „ rhus, King of Epirus, the Carthaginians renew’d fleet almoft as numerous as that of the Carthagi- mans build a An alliance their confederacy with the Romans for the preferva- nians, and engaged abundance of foreign Mariners Let * CanhT-e tion of their territories in that ifland. Pyrrhus, in their fervice : But, ftill confcious that the Cartha- and Rome, however, made a defeent with his forces in Sicily, ginians muft have a confiderable advantage of them, againft Pyr- ant ] reduc’d all the towns belonging to the Cartha- by their fkill and dexterity in failing whenever they rhu3 ' ginians, except Lilybseum ; but this place making came to an engagement, they contriv’d a machine Their ma~ > Pyrrhus ob- a vigorous defence, and the Romans gaining fome or engine, by which they might grapple with the lig’dtoa- advantages over the force of Pyrrhus in Ttaly, enemy’s fhips, and deprive tnem of all advantages w ; t h the both°lra' v he was forced to abandon all his conquefts in Sicily, of their fails. This, it feems, was a great piece of "emy’s and Sicily, and return thither : Nor was he able to reftore his timber, arm’d with hooks and chains, which they affairs on the continent, being afterwards defeated let-down with puliies into the enemy’s fhips on ap- proaching t 1 8 THE ANCIENT HISTORY CHAP, preaching diem, and which it was impoflfible for a XII. veil'd to difengage itfelf from, without mattering W—'v/'w the 111 ip’s crew that attack’d her. Thus prepar’d, the Romans, under the command of Duillus, puttofea with an hundred and twen- ty gallies (the only {hipping of thofe days) and be- ing met by the Carthaginian fleet, confiding of an hundred and thirty veffels, commanded by Han- nibal their Admiral, near Myla, they foon came to a clofe engagement ; for the Carthaginians look- ing upon the Romans as a very contemptible enemy at fea, advanc’d towards them with an affurance of "viiSfory : And the Romans, on the other hand, hav- ing no hopes but in their new invented grapples, made equal hafte to join battle. The Carthaginians were a little furpriz’d to fee the Romans advance fo refolutely, and flill more when they began to play their engines ; but when they found themfelves fo fattened to the enemy’s fhips, that they could make no ufe either of oars or fails, but were forc'd to fight as upon firm land ; Their firft they were confounded and difpirited, and the Ro- na.alv.Aory mans gain’d an eafy victory over them, taking no t h 3 ginians. lets than fourfcore fail, and among them the Admi- ral’s galley, Han nib a.l himfelf narrowly efcaping in his boat. This v ictcry was the more acceptable to the. Ro- mans, as it was in a manner unexpected. They were overjoy’d at the fuccefs of their fleet, and im- mediately decreed their Admiral Duillus a naval triumph ; which W2S the firft of that kind that had been feen in Rome. They alfo erected a Roftral pillar to his honour, with an infcription containing the particulars of the engagement. (Thefe pillars were ftyl’d Roftratae, from the heads or beaks of fhips that adorn’d them.) But to return to our hiftory. The Carthaginians were fo difcourag’d by this defeat, that they fuffer’d the Romans to lord it in theMediterranean for two yearswithout controul : But being informed, that their enemies were about to bring the war home to their own doors, and make a defcent on the coaft of Africa., they exerted themfelves once more, and equip’d a fleet confifting of an hundred and fifty gallies, mann’d by an hun- dred and fifty thoufand men, with which they put to fea in order to recover the dominion of the Me- diterranean : But being met by the Romans, who, according to their accounts, had not fo many gal- The Ro- lies by twenty, they receiv’d another memorable mans obtain q e f eat 5 no ] e r s than fixty of their veffels being taken vafoaoiy by the Romans, who, on their fide, had twenty- over the Car- four gallies deftroy’d ; which ftiews, that this victory thagmians. wag not obtain’d fo eafily as the former ; tho’ the Romans had now more experience in maritime af- fairs, and probably had more Grecian Mariners in their fervice. The Carthaginians were better provided againft the grappling-irons of the enemy in this fight than in the laft, which made their lofs the lefs ; for no ftraiagem in war, has that eftocl the fecond time as it has the firft : The novelty and furprize the CHAP, engine gave on the firft trial, contributed, no doubt, XII. in a great meafure, to the defeat of the Carthaginians. ^ ■ Before I proceed further in this hiftory, give me Remarks on leave to take notice of the partiality of the Roman this fuccefi Hiftorians, and of iuch Grecians romaniz’d, as have Ro " wrote the hiftory of thefe wars ; who infinuate, that the Romans themfelves, without foreign affiftance, in the fpace of a few months, built and mann’d that fleet with which they obtain’d the firft vidfory over the Carthaginians ; when it is evident, from their own writings, that the Romans were then in pof- feflion of the beft part of the ifland of Sicily, and in alliance with feveral Grecian States, that would, no doubt did, furnifh them with great part of the Ships and Mariners in their fervice. It is pretended, indeed, to ferve a turn, and reflect the greater ho- nour on the Roman State, that there was at that i time no other naval power but that of Carthage : But the very fame writers, in other parts of their works, take notice, that the Greeks in Sicily, aftift- ed by their countrymen on the continent, had often engaged the Carthaginians at lea with fuccefs, before the wars happen’d between them and Rome. It does not feem fo ftrange and miraculous, therefore, that the Romans, in confederacy with the Syracu- fians and other Grecian cities (who were alone a match for the Carthaginians) fihould, when united with them, gain an advantage of the Carthaginian fleet. But to proceed. The Romans, after their The Romans fecond naval vkftory, embark’d a numerous army 111 vade Af * under the command of M. Atilius Regulus, nca ’ and L. Manlius their Confuls, who had com- manded as Admirals in the laft fea engagement, and made a defeent on the coaft of Africa : Whereupon the Carthaginians quitting the field, and retiring into their ftrong towns, the Romans laid fiege to Clypea, one of their fea-ports, and took it ; after which, they ravag’d all the open country, and took twenty thoufand prifoners, befides vaft flocks and herds of cattle ; of which, advice being fent to Rome, the Senate order’d, that Regulus ftiould remain in Africa with a body of fifteen thoufand foot, and five hundred horfe, with forty gallies to attend his mo- tions, and that the reft of the fleet and army, with the other Conflil, fhould return to Italy : Such a con- tempt did the Romans entertain for the Carthagi- nians at this time, that they thought an army of fifteen thoufand men fufficient to make head againft all the forces of that State : And with thefe, did TheRomans Regulus venture to form the fiege of Adis, one over ‘ runtiut of the ftrongeft fortreftes in Africa, and actually de- country ‘ feated an army fent to the relief of the place. He afterwards made himfelf matter of near two hundred towns, and among the reft, of Tunis, fttuated with- in 2 or 3 leagues of Carthage ; and the Numidians invading the Carthaginian territories at the fame time, they were reduc’d to the laft extremity, and Carthage de- offer’d the Roman General very advantageous terms fltes P eate “ of OF AFRICA. 1 19 CHAP. XII. Regulus re- jefts their offers. The fable of a monftrous Serpent. Regulus de- feated and madeprifoner by the Car- thaginians. of peace '. But ho, puff’d up with his fuccels, tis laid, would hear of no other conditions than their being made a province of Rome ; infolently telling their Ambaffadors (as ’tis faid) That they « ought either « to conquer like brave men, or learn to lubmit to “ the vidtor.” _ During this treaty, according to Livy, the Ko- man army encountered a monfter of a Serpent in paffing a river, which terrified them more than all the forces of the Carthaginians ; feveral Soldiers being devour’d by this terrible animal, whofe (kin, ’tis faid, no dart could penetrate ; and it was long before they could deftroy him with ftones thrown from their military engines ; adding, that the river was dy’d with the blood of this Serpent when he was kill’d ; and that the flench of his dead carcafe fo in- fected the air, that the army was oblig’d to remove their camp ; and that the fkm or the creature being fent to Rome, was i 20 toot long : A relation which it is impoffible for any man to give entire credit to ; and yet, perhaps, we ought not to reject: every part of the ftory. It is very probable from the creature’s being found on the banks of a river, and having an impenetrable fkm, that, inftead of being a Ser- pent, it was a Crocodile ; which is an amphibious animal, and his fcales impenetrable by darts or ar- rows : But, inftead of being 120 foot in length, I muft beg leave to reduce it to 20 foot, the ufual length of a full-grown Crocodile, and omit the Figure of 1 , which was very probably inferted by miftake : beftdes, there are feveral undeniable in- fiances of a Crocodile’s devouring a peifon whole, but not one of a man’s being fwallow d by a Snake ; which has the lead: throat, in proportion, of any animal whatever, except a Whale. To return to our hiftory. Regulus refufing to grant Carthage any other terms than thofe of an abfolute fubmiffion to Rome ; they prepared for a vigorous defence, and, having received a imall re- inforcement of troops from Greece, under the com- mand of Xant ip pus, a celebrated Spartan Gene- ral, they took the field, and, giving battle to the Romans, entirely defeated them : Regulus, with five hundred more, were made prifoners ; about two thoufand efcaped to Clypea, and all the reft were kill’d on the fpot ; the greateft execution be- ing done by the Elephants, of which the Carthagi- nians had an hundred in their army. The Romans, having receiv’d this defeat in Africa, lent no more forces thither, notwitbftanding they ob- tain’d a third vidlory over the Carthaginians at fea, and took an hundred!, and fourteen of their fbips : They contented themfelves with bringing off the two thoufand Romans that had retired out of the battle to Clypea. In the mean time the Carthagi- nians permitted Regulus to go to Rome and pro- pofe an exchange of prifoners, upon his taking an oath to return and furrender himfelf again it he did not meet with fuccets. And here the Roman hifto- rians take an opportunity of applauding the courage C H A P , and fincerity of Regulus beyond meafure ; and, Xil, from him, would have us make an eftimate of the refolution and veracity of his countrymen. They tell us, that notwitbftanding Regulus knew he muft undergo the greateft torments on his return to Carthage, if he did not fucceed in this negotiation, and muft never fee his family or his country more ; he advifed the Senate not to confent to an exchange of prifoners ; for that it would be an ill example to fhew fo much favour to their troops, who had cow- ardly furrenaer’d themfelves pr foners to the enemy ? that thev were unworthy the compaffion of their country : And for himfelf, who was in the decline of life, his lofs was nothing, if compar’d wdth the number of the Carthaginian Generals and Officers, in the flower of their age, who were in their hands, and might be capable of doing Rome abundance of mifchief if they were permitted to return home. And the Senate agreeing with him in that opinion, Regulus return’d to Carthage, where he was ciu-^ cified, and underwent the moft exquifite tortures, if we may credit fome writers. But I find it is very much doubted, whether the The ftory o§ . . . . ~ J 1 .1 . _n the cruelties facfts on which the Roman hiftorians lay the greateft ^ercifed on ftrefs in this relation are true ; for that Polybius, Regulus very efteemed the heft author that writes of thefe wars, doubtful, fays not one word of the fufferings of Regulus after his return to Carthage : And Diodorus Siculus, another hiftorian, fpeaking of the cap- tivity and death of Regulus, only fays, that his wife was incens’d when (he heard of his death, be- caufe fire thought it might be occafion’d by ill ufage, and therefore incited her fons to revenge their fa- ther’s fate on two noble Carthaginian captives the Senate had put into her hands to exchange againft her hufband : And that one of them was actually kill’d hy the feverities exercis’d upon him ; which the Senate expiefs’d their abhorrence of, and took the furvivor out of her cuftody, which, it is pre- fumed, they would not have done, if Regulus had fuffer’d thofe tortures which their hiftorians and poets feign : And, indeed, ’tis conjeftnr d by fome, that the wife of Regulus invented thefe ftories, to excufe her cruelty to the captives under her power 5 and that they obtain’d credit on very {lender evi- dence, frnce they tended to afperfe the Carthaginians, with whom the Romans had a perpetual national quarrel Another thing that weighs with me, is, that Regulus is made to fay in his fpeech to the Senate, That “ the Roman captives did rot deferve “ their compaffion, becaufe they had flirrender’d “ cowardly to their enemies” ; whereas it appears, that the Romans fought it out to the laft, and did not furrender ’till all but five hundred of them were cut in pieces, and thefe in the company, and very probably ^ by the command, of that very General, when he found all further refiftance vain, and to no purpofe. Beftdes, it muft be the moft impolitick thing in the world. 1 120 THE ANCIENT HISTORY L'-y^w Articles of arid Cartha ginians, The wars of CHAP, world, to torture their prifoners, while fb many XII. prifoners of the firft quality of their own people re- main’d in the hands of the Romans, on whom their enemies might have gratified their revenge. But this is not the only partial relation we meet with in the Roman hiftorians, framed to calumniate their enemies, and refledt honour on their nation. The war in Sicily was ftill carried on with great vigour on both Tides ; notwithftanding the Romans obtain’d a great vidlory there, and took above an hundred and twenty Elephants from the Carthagi- nians in one engagement. TheydefendedLilybaeum, and Tome other port-towns for feveral years ; but finding themfelves at length over-power’d, Amil- c ar, furnamed Barcas, the Carthaginian Gene- ral in that ifland, was order’d to make the beft t^Romlns" terms h . e could ’ accordingly he concluded a peace with Rome, A. M. 3762, upon the following terms, (viz.) “ That the Carthaginians fhould eva- “ cuate Sicily, and no more make war upon the “ Syracufians, or their allies : That they fhould re- “ leafe all the Roman prifoners that they had taken, “ without ranfom, and pay them three thoufand “ two hundred Euboic talents of filver (fomething “ more than half a million fielding) within the fpace “ of ten years.” And thus ended the firft Punick or Carthaginian war, which had lafled four and twenty years. thp Cartha The Carthaginians treafure being pretty much ginianswith exhaufted by To many years expence, and the vafl their mer- Ioffes they had fuflain’d, and being ftill oblig’d to S AfJicj rCeS ^ prodigious fums to the Romans, they were very backward in paying and difbanding the mercenary troops in their fervice ; but, putting them into quar- ters of refrefhment on their return from Sicily, de- ftred they would be content with a bare fubfiftence, ’till the State was in a condition to difcharge them ; and even propofed, ’tis faid, their accepting a part of their pay inftead of the whole ; which incenfed the Soldiery to that degree, who expedted to have been difmifs’d with honour, and to have return’d to their refpedlive countries after To many years of hard fer- vice, that it occafion’d a general mutiny amongft them : They afiembled to the number of twenty thoufand men, and, having taken poffeffion of Tunis, invited the reft of their brethren to join them. The States of Carthage, now too late feeing their error, deputed Gisgo, one of their moll popular Gene- rals, to offer the male-contents any manner of fitif- fadlion ; and, tho’ their demands appear’d very high, he was upon the point of concluding a treaty with them, when Spendius and Matho, two of the moft adlive mutineers, defpairing of a pardon, re- prefented to the multitude, that there was no mill- ing to their Governors on thefe occafions : If they once laid down their arms, they mull expedt to be call’d to a fevere account : There was no medium between death and victory, as the cafe flood. Which feditious harangue, had fuch an effect upon the mul- titude, that they immediately broke off the treaty, CHAP. chofe Spendius and Matho their Generals, and, having feiz’d the treafure that Cisco brought with him to pay off the army, made him and his atten- dants prifoners : And, not long after, all the towns in Africa, except Utica and Hippacra, declared for the rebels ; to which they were provok’d by the heavy taxes they had long borne, and of which they could not hope to fee an end, while the State was oblig’d to make fuch large payments to foreigners as well as other domeftick creditors. XI I. The Carthaginians, on the other hand, having ftill a referve of treafure, armed all their citizens, and took other mercenaries into their pay ; and, conftituting the celebrated Amilcar (Barcas) their Genera], compell’d the rebels to raife the ftege of Utica, which they had in veiled : Amilcar, afterwards, defeated a confiderable body of the rebels forces, making great numbers of them prifoners ; but, inftead of exercifing the feverity that was ex- pedted upon the captives, he endeavour’d to reclaim them by an unexampled clemency, lifting many of them in his own troops, and fuff'ering the reft to return to their dwellings. The Chiefs of the rebels, fearing this gentle ufige might occafion a general defortion of their forces, incited them to commit fuch barbarous adtions as might make them defpair of ever being reconciled to the State ; and particularly upon torturing Gisgo the General, and the reft of the prifoners they had in their hands, whom they put to the moft cruel deaths, under pretence of their holding a correfpondence with Carthage. Utica and Hippacra alfo revolted at the fame time, and fieri- ficed their Governors to their fury, which encourag’d the rebels to lay fiege to Carthage ; but they were forced to raife it by Amilcar, who alfo defeated a great body of their forces, and, cutting off their provifions, reduc’d them to the fatal neceffity of eat- ing one another : 'Whereupon the multitude com- pelled theirChiefs to enter into a treaty with Am il- car, who agreed. That upon furrendering their arms, they fhould be fuffer’d to return heme, except ten of them, who were to be left to the mercy of the State. But the Carthaginians refufing to confirm the treaty, the rebels refolved to fell their lives as dear as they could, and a battle enfuing, moft of them were cut in pieces, or trodden under foot by the Ele- phants : Part of the rebels, however, made good their retreat to Tunis, which they determin’d to de- fend to the laft extremity. Whereupon Amilcar invefting the place, caufed Spendius, one of their Chiefs, and feveral other prifoners he had taken, to be crucified in fight of the town : On the other hand, Matho, the other Rebel Chief, who com- manded in Tunis, having in a filly furpriz’d Han- -j nibal, one of the Carthaginian Generals, and feveral of his men, order’d them to be crucified on the walls, by way of retalliation, in the fight of Amilcar and his army. But Matho himfelf being 121 OF AFRICA. CHAP. XII. TheRomans feize' Sar- dinia, And compel the Cartha- ginians to confirm it to them ; Who medi- tate revenge. Amilcar makes great additions to the Cartha- ginian ter- ritories in Spain. He is kill’d, itnd fucceed- ed by Afdru- bal. being foon after taken, together with the town of Tunis, he paid dear for all the treachery and bar- barity he had been the occafion of, fuffering the moft exquifite torments before he was put to death. Thus an end was put to the African war, one of the cruelleft that ever was known in any age, after it had lafted three years and upwards : This war was not fimfh’d, when the Carthaginian mercenaries in Sardinia mutinied alfo for their pay, and calling in the Romans to their affiftance, a&ually expell’d their matters from that ifland. And when the Car- thaginians fent forces thither to recover it again, the Romans declar’d, they fhould look upon fuch adds of hoftility as a declaration of war againft their State ; and, taking advantage of the low circumftances the Carthaginians were then in, compell’d them not only to make a ceftion of that ittand to Rome, but to pay them two hundred talents for a confirmation of the peace, which the Carthaginians, on their part, had never violated. This is another notorious inftance^that the Roman faith was no more to be re- lied on than Punick honour, when intereft prompt- ed them to break through their treaties.. Nor were the Carthaginians infenfible of the outrage that was done them by the Romans, in pro- tecting their rebel troops, and taking their country from them : From this time, therefore, they made preparations to recover the Ioffes they had fuftain’d, and revenge the repeated affronts they had receiv’d from that haughty nation. And, as it was neceffary in the firft place to fe- cure their territories in Spain, and form alliances with the Princes of Gaul as well as Spain, before they could think of attacking the Romans, Amil- car, father of the celebrated Hannibal, was conftituted Viceroy of their European dominions, who fubdu’d feveral Princes that had enter’d into an alliance with the Romans, and brought over others to the fide of Carthage by his infinuating addrefs : But while he was thus employ’d in promoting the intereft of Carthage, he was unfortunately kill’d in an engagement with the enemy. T o him fiicceed- ed Asudrubal, his fon-in-law, who was no lefs fuccefiful in enlarging the Carthaginian territories in Spain than his predeceffor ; and built the town of New Carthage, or Carthagena, in Spain, almoft over-againft Old Carthage : Nor were the Romans idle all this time, but endeavour’d to draw over the Gauls and the Spaniards to their party ; and, in a manner, fecur’d all that part of Spain to the eaft- ward of the river Ebro in their intereft. At length tire two States of Rome and Carthage came to the following agreement, (viz.) That the river Iberus, or Ebro, in Catalonia, fliould be the boundary be- tween the Carthaginians and Romans, and their re- fpeftiye allies ; only the city of Saguntum, on the weft fide of the Ebro, being in alliance with the Romans, was included in this treaty. VOL. III. Asdrubal, having adfted as General in opainCH AP, with great honour eight years, was affaffmated by XIE one of the Gauls, who had receiv’d fome affront from him. Whereupon Hannibal, the fon ofHannM Amilcar, now about three and twenty years of ™ a ra j in ' age, having ferv’d in Spain fome years under As dru- Spain. bal, was conftituted General on that fide. This great man, for fome time, kept his army in per- Succefsful i.i petual adfion by invading and reducing fuch of the t h 7 sp”ntfh Spaniih Princes as were not in alliance with Rome : Princes. But having form’d a defign of humbling that proud State, he afterwards laid fiege to Saguntum, on pre- Befieges Sa- tence of their encroaching on the Carthaginian allies. guntum ‘ The Saguntines, apprehenfive of their danger, immediately difpatch’d an exprefs to Rome, im- ploring fpeedy fuccour ; but the Romans contented themlelves with fending a deputation to Hanni- bal, requiring him to raife the fiege, and, in cafe he refufed, order’d their Ambafiadors to go to Car- thage and complain of this hoftility : But while they fpent their time in fruidefs negotiations, Han- nibal took the city by ftorm, and gave the plun- Saguncum der of it to his foldiers, which was very confiderable : 5 However, fome writers relate, that the principal inhabitants, before the enemy enter’d the town, burnt themfelves, their wives and children, together with all their rich effects, in one common fire, rather than fall into the hands of the Carthaginians. But however that was, the R.omans immediately de- manded, that Hannibal might be deliver’d up to them, for having violated the peace between the two nations. And when the Senate of Carthage juftified the condudl of their General, the Romans declar’d war againft them : And thus began the fe- The lecond cond Punick war, in the year of Rome 535, being Pumck viar ° 201 years before Christ. Hannibal affembled an army of an hundred thoufand men the following fpring, and declar’d his intentions of marching through Gaul diredfty to Italy; and accordingly, leaving his brother Asdru- bal with fiteen thoufand men in Spain, he began Hannibd begins his march for his march from Carthagena ; but fpent moft part ^ of this fummer, in making alliances with the Princes Italy" of Gaul, or fubduing fuch of them as oppofed the enterprize, and did not arrive at the foot of the Alps, which divide France from Italy, ’till the mid- dle of October, when his army appears to have been fo leffen’d by the detachments he had made, or the Ioffes he had fuftain’d, that it fcarce amounted to forty thoufand men ; tho’ it does not appear that He pafib® the Romans once attempted to obftrueft his march, the Alps * no not at the paffage of the Alps, which took him up fifteen days. Perhaps they imagin’d, that H a n- nibal had no further view than to enlarge the Carthaginian empire, by adding to it that part of Spain to the eaftward of the Ebro, or perhaps fome part of Gaul. And this feerns the more pro- bable, becaufe they made great preparations to dif- R pute 122 CHAP. XII. THE ANCIENT HISTORY His army mightily diminiih’d. He takes Turin by ftorm. The Gauls join him. Hannibal defeats P. Scipio. He gains another vidtory over Sempronius. pute Eaft-Spain with him ; and were ibrpriz’d when they heard he had pa s d the Rhone. It is Rid alio, that the marching an army over the Alps was, ’till that time, hell to be impracticable ; which might be a further realbn for their making no provifion to receive him on that hde. But to return to the hiftory. Hannibal, having pals’d the Alps, and mufter d his army in the plains of Piedmont, found it ftill more diminifh’d. He had here but twelve thouland Alrican foot, eight thoufand Spaniards, and ire thouland horfe, moll of them Numidians, in all, hx and twenty thouland men ; a fmall army to invade the moft pov/erful nation then in being. Having given his army fome refrefhment after their fatigues in palling the Alps, lie popofed an alliance with the Gauls, who then inhabited Piedmont, which being flighted, he laid liege to their captital city (7 urin) and took it by llorm in three days, giving the plunder of it to his foldiers. Whereupon all the neighbouring Gauls came in and made their fubmiffion, and feveral of their Princes enter’d into a confederacy with the State of Carthage, which gave him an opportunity of recruiting and encreafing his army to forty thoufand men and upwards, and provifions were afterwards brought to his camp in great plenty. T’heRomans, finding the Carthaginian army daily encreafed by the addition of frefh forces from Gaul, order’d P. Scipio the Conful to ad- vance with all diligence, and give the enemy battle ; and the other Conful, Sempronius, was com- manded to return from Sicily, whither he had tranfported his army with an intention to have made a defeent in Africa from thence. P. Scipio hereupon pafs’d the Po, and advanc’d within fight of the Carthaginian army, which lay encamp’d on the banks of the Tefin : And as both Tides had their reafons for coming to a Ipeedy en- gagement ; the Carthaginians, to encourage their new allies, and confirm them in their intereft ; and the Romans, to prevent the enemy’s penetrating into their country, and making it the leat of war ; a battle loon after was fought, wherein P. Scipio receiv’d a dangerous wound, and his army was de- feated ; which the Romans imputed chiefly to the fuperiority and dexterity of the Numidian horfe, which furrounded their troop;, and fell upon them in flank and rear. Scipio, however, made good his retreat over the Po, and, by breaking down the bridges on that river, put a flop to the purfuit of the enemy for fome time. Scipio, it feems, was once taken prifoner in this battle, but releafed by the bravery of his foil Scipio, afterwards fur- named Afrxcanus, then feventeen years of age. And now Se M p r o N i us, the other Conful, hav- ing join’d Scipio, and their united army amount- ing to about forty thoufand men, another battle was fought in the middle of winter near Placentia, in which the Romans were again defeated by falling into an ambufeade which the enemy had prepar’d for them, and the Confuls, with their broken troops, conlifling of about ten thoufand men, retreated into Placentia ; but, by the hardfhips of this winter’s campaign, Hannibal, ’tis laid, loft great num- bers of h s Horfes, and all his Elephants but one, on which he himfelf ufually rode. Hannibal alfo loft one of his eyes about this time, occafion’d, as tis faid, by the conftant fatigue and hardfhips he underwent night and day in this rigorous feafon. Early the next fpring, Hannibal attempted to pafs the Appennine mountains, with a defign to have penetrated as far as Rome, before his enemies were recover'd from their confternation ; but the fnows were yet fo deep, and the weather fo tempeftuous on thofe mountains, that he v/as compell’d to return with his army to Placentia, where he fought ano- ther battle with Sempronius, in which neither fide gain’d any great advantage ; tho’, ’tis proba- ble, the Carthaginians had the advantage ; for Cn.Servilius and C. Flaminius being chofen Confuls, Hannibal loon after advanced into I ufcany, and having drawn the Conful Flami- nius into an ambufeade near the lake of Thrafy- mene, obtain’d another victory over the enemy, the Conful, Flaminius, being kill’d upon the fpot with the greateft part of his forces ; only fix thou- land of them made their retreat in a body, and thefe were oblig’d to furrender prifoners the next day. In this battle fixteen thoufand Romans were flain, and only ten thoufand run-aways made a fhift to efcape by different ways to Rome. As to the Latins, who were made prifoners in this battle, Hannibal gave them their liberty, and was fo happy in cultivating a friendfhip with this people, and the reft of the allies of Rome, that he was enabled to fupport himfelf many years in Italy, when fcarce any fupplies or reinforcements were fent him from Carthage. Hannibal, after the viflory of Tbrafymene, march’d his troops into that fine country, call’d the Campania of Rome, which he plunder’d from one end to the ether, and laid in a good ftock of provi- fions againft the enfuing winter 5 but, as he was retiring with his booty, the celebrated Fabius, now conftituted Di&ator (a General of tlie moft confummate prudence and conduct, who would never engage an enemy, but where he had a manifeft ad- vantage) furrounded the Carthaginians in an en- clofed country, and poflefs’d himfelf of all the paftes, fo that it appear’d almoft impoffible for them to ex- tricate themfelves. But Hannibal furmounted this difficulty, ’tis laid, by the following ftratagem : Fie caufed torches and firebrands to be faftened to the horns of two hundred Oxen, 'and ordering them to be driven up the adjacent mountains in the night- time : The Romans imagin’d, that the enemy’s army was making their retreat that way ; and, quitting the pafies to follow them, Hannibal gain’d an opportunity of getting out of thofe defiles. CHAP, XII. Hannibal lofes his Elephant! and fome Horfes. He is pre- vented paf- iing the Appennine by ftorrns. A third battle. Hannibal obtains ano- ther vidtory. He courts the Latins. Hannibal furrounded by Fabius. Extricates himfelf by a ftratagem. The OF AFRICA, 12 ' rhe Romans ■aife great "orces to jrive Hanni- bal out of Italy. The battle ®f Cannae. The great lofs of the Romans. Hannibal cenfur’d for not purfuing his victory. The next year, being the third campaign after Hannibal’s entering Italy, the Romans determin’d to make one grand effort to drive the enemy out of their country ; when ( Ferentius VaRRO and L. ASmilius Paulus being Confuls) they raifed eight legions inftead of four, their ufual num- ber, confifting of five thoufand foot and four hun- dred horfe each : To which were added about ten thoufand horfe, and forty thoufand foot of their al- lies, making in all near an hundred thoufand men ; whereas the Carthaginians were not computed to amount to more than forty thoufand men : Which fuperiority, ’tis laid, gave Varro, one of the Confuls, fuch an affurance of vidfory, that he de- clared, before he left Rome, he would fall upon the enemy wherever he found him, and put an end to the war at once. Accordingly, on a day when it was his turn to command (for the Confuls com- manded alternately) coming up with Hannibal’s army, which he found drawn up in battalia, on a fine plain near Cannae, he gave the fignal of battle, and a very fierce encounter followed, in which the Romans received a memorable defeat ; which is generally afcrib’d to two caufes, the goodnefs of the Carthaginian horfe, and the duft: that drove in clouds in the faces of the Romans : For the fagacious Hannibal, ’tis faid, obferving that the wind Vulturnus rofe from the fouth-eaft ccnftantly at a certain hour every day, and that the plain, on which the engagement happen’d, was a deep fand, he drew up his forces in fuch a manner, as to have the wind in his back, and confequently in the faces of his ene- mies, who were blinded and diforder’d by the duft, not being able to difcern friends from foes. But to whatever caufe this important victory is to be afcrib’d, Rome never received fo great an overthrow : For iEMiLius, one of the Confuls, was kill’d on the fpot ; as were two Quaeftors, one and twenty Mili- tary Tribunes, feveral others that had been Confuls or Praetors, tourfcore Senators, and between forty and fifty thoufand Officers and Soldiers beftdes, ac- cording to thofe who fpeak moft modeftly of the lofs ; and above ten thoufand more, that had been left to guard the camp, furrender’d themfelves pri- soners immediately alter the battle. Tis related, that Hannibal lent to Carthage a bufhel (fome fay three bufhels) of gold rings, which v/ere taken off the fingers of the Roman Nobility and Knights that fell in this engagement : Nor was this vidtory obtained without lofs, there being kill’d of Hanni- bal’s infantry fix thoufand five hundred, of which four thoufand were Gauls, and fifteen hundred Spa- niards and Africans ; but he did not lofe above tv/o hundred horfe. Varro, the furviving Conful, fled with feventy horfe only to V enufia, and about four thoufand more efcaped to other towns. PIannib al is cenfur’d by fome writers, for not advancing immediately to Rome on the obtaining this victory, it being iuggefted that that city would probably have furrender’d in the confternation they C H A P. were in on the lofs of this battle. But Han ni- XII. b a L was certainly a better judge of the matter, than any of thofe that take upon them to cenlare him : Nor is it to be conceived how any man, who was not upon the lpot, ana acquainted with the circumftances of the cafe, fhould be able to pafs judgment on his conduct, efpecially u it— he confider’d, that few Generals (much lefs Hiftorians) are qualified to corredx lo great a pioficient in the art of war. And indeed, at this diftance of time, a man o. ordinary fenfe may fuggeft a great many things, But his con* that will Efficiently juftify the conduft of that J“ 4 h ™ s General in this particular : As that his army re- deferve ap- quired fome reft and refrethment after fo obftinate phufe. an engagement : That, as between ux and ieven thoufand of his men were kill’d in the battle, ac- cording to the ufual way of computation, there muft be twice as many wounded ; and confequently he had not above twenty thoufand effective men re- maining, with which it was fcarce practicable to invert a city of that magnitude, and fo compleatly fortified as Rome then was, efpecially if we reflect, that its inhabitants are fuppofed to amount to above a million of fouls : ft hat their Nobility, Gentiy and Citizens, were all bred to arms from their in- fancy, and moft of them had no other pioieffion. If we confider Rome in this light, it is not to be fuppofed, that they would have been lo teriified at the approach of twenty thoufand men, as to have furrender’d immediately ; and, if they had not, it is ftill more abfurd to fuppofe, that twenty thoufand men could have reduced fuch a city. Hannibal therefore, inftead of attempting Hannto^ what he knew to be impracticable, made ufe of his t j ie towns 0 f prefent good fortune to influence the allies of Rome Naples and to join him ; and marching to the fouthward, Slcl T Capua, and moft part of what is now called Naples, with feveral towns of Sicily, declared for him, and renounced their alliance with the Romans ; which gave him an opportunity of importing corn, and other proviftons from Sicily, for the uie of his army during the winter, which would otherwife have been reduced to great diftrefs, all the country about Fome having been deftroyed : Hannibal aifo difpatch’d h\s brother Mago to Carthage with the news of his victory, and to defire a further reinforce- ment of troops to compleat the conqueft of Italy. In the mean time, he fent his army into winter- quarters in the Campania of Rome and Naples, theCampa- taking up his own refidence in the city of Capua ; .of Rome which is feverely cenfur’d alfo by fome writers, who p tell us, that his army was fo foften’d and enervated, by living luxurioufly this winter in that charming country, 0 that they had no longer the air otyrefo- lution of foldiers, but became perfectly effeminate, and unfit for the fatigues of war ; which is finely [ e r . s w ™ h the moft ridiculous charge that ever was brought mi j ufljy cen- R 2 againft lur’d. 124 . CHAP. XII. the ancient history again# a General, and fhews how unqualified ftu- dious men fometimes are to pafs a judgment on military affairs. Can any man believe, that a Soldier’s lying in a Hoth the Scipios de- feated, and till'd in Spain. Afdrubal marches in- to Italy, Afdrubal defeated, and till’d in Italy, 1 i • . . ci ill warm lodging, and eating and drinking well two ed or three months in the winter feafon, fhould make him lefs fit for fervice, than he was before ? Did not the Officers and Soldiers of the Allies, as well as thole of France, do the fame thing every winter during the two laftlong wars ? And yet I believe no man will pretend they were the lefs fit for a&ion the enfuing campaign : Want and hardfliip fre- quently deftroys the Soldiers in a rigorous winter ; but ’tis very feldom they are hurt by too great plenty’. Befides, we find Hannibal had a double rea- fon to quarter his army in the Campania of Rome and Naples ; firft, to keep both Naples and Sicily firm to his intereft ; and, fecondly, that he might receive fupplies from thole countries, which were not ex- haufted by the marches and counter- marches of the refpedftive armies, as the more northern parts of I- taly had been. The reader will forgive my dwelling on thefe particulars, when he refledfs how gentlemen are taught to declaim again# this great man Nor quar- tering his army in a plentiful country, and not ftorm- mg Rome immediately after the battle of Cannte. I fhall not relate every action between the Ro- mans and the Carthaginians ; only oblerve, that as Hannibal expedled his brother Asdrubal vyith a great reinforcement from Spain, to enable him to finifh the conqueft of Italy ; fo the Romans fent large detachments thither under the command of Cn e i us and Publius Scipio, to put a flop to Asdrubal’s march; which they did for fome years, but were afterwards both defeated by the Carthaginians, and loft their lives in that lervice : ^Thereupon Asdrubal, in the eleventh year of tne war, march d with an army of feventy thouland men and upwards, through France into Italy, pafs’d the Alps, and advanced as far as Placentia, in order to join Hannibal; but, while he was engaged in the fiege of that city, the Remans intercepted "an exprefs he had fent to that General ; and being there- by fully acquainted with the number and condition of Asdrubal’s troops, the two Confuls fudden- ly united their forces, and fell upon him before Hannibal had any notice of their motions. As- drubal was kill’d in the battle, with upwards of fifty thouiand of his men, according to the Ro- mans account of the afilion ; and Hannibal, who juft before expeded to have finifh’d the con- queft of Italy this campaign, now found it difficult to maintain his ground in that country : However, he did not yet defpair ; but, fending for frefh rein- forcements from Spain and Africa, fo difpofed of his Doops, that he might be able to wait their ar- rival : And, it feems, he took care to poft his ar- my in^luch a manner, and was fo much fupenor to any ot the Roman Generals in point of military ikdl, that, tho their forces were double the number CHAP of the Carthaginians, they found the driving him out XII of. Italy impradticable. Whereupon they deter- miffd to encreafe their army in Spain, and appoint- TheRoN' Publius Cornelius - Scipio (the fon of 1 ublius Scipio, who loft his life there a little forces in before) General of their forces on that fide, propof- s P ain < mg by that means to put a flop to the Carthagini- ans making any further levies there, and recruiting Hannibal’s army from thence. rJV H r A , X ^ a ? A ^ rican Priftce, apprehending him- Syp baxen- el ill ufed by the Carthaginians, about this time, ters into ai- ofter d to enter into an alliance with the Romans ; Jiance wit!l whereupon Scipio went over to Africa, and fign’d a treaty with him, and he proved very ufeful to this. General in the Spanifti war for fome time : But the Detects Carthaginians finding means to reconcile Syphax them again, to them, he afterwards became one of the moft for- midable enemies the Romans had ; however, this lofs was amply made up by the revolt of Masinis- , sa (a much more potent Numidian Prince) to the eXs'il Romans, by whofe affiftance Scipio reduced a j] alliance with the places belonging to the Carthaginians in Spain. the Romans - That which gave Scipio the greateft advantage „ ■ • . m Spain, I perceive, was Mago’s marching from ces Spain. U * tnence to Italy, in the i yth year of the war, with Ma S° mar * a great reinforcement of troops, to join Hanni- bal; for that General forefaw, if he fubdued ^ Rome, that Spain, and all other places the Romans poffefs d than (elves of, muft return again to the obedience of Carthage. Scipio, on the other hand, Scipiocarries 3e ieving, that the readieft way to relieve his coun- the war into try, was to make Africa the feat of war, tranfpor- AfHca ; an< b ted his army thither; and, being join’d by Masi- rlatlel} nissa and his Numidians, gained a memorable ^fofiniiTa, v iefory over the Carthaginians, and Syphax their S r asrea£ confederate, who was made priioner in the engage- Syphax ta- ment. Sc i pio afterwards took the important town ken by ths of Utica : Whereupon the Carthaginians thought Romans * fit to make the Roman General fome overtures of peace. ButociPio, elated with his (ucceffes, would grant them no other terms, but thofe of withdraw- ing tneir foices out of Italy ; never mtermedling a- gain in the aftans of Spain ; delivering up all their Ripping, except twenty veft'els, to the Romans ; paying down fifteen thoufand talents, with fome lefs material articles. And the Carthaginians foemed to A truce he- acquiefoe in them, only defiring they might have a tween Rome truce, ’till they could fend to Rome, and ftry to get £ Car ' fome alteration of the terms in their favour; andln Se ' the mean time fent orders to Hannibal to eva- Hannibal cuate Italy, and return homei VFlnch, it feems, cornm anded he received with the utmoft regret ; for, being join’d by Mago, he look’d -upon himfelf, at this time, to have been in a condition to have compleated the conqueft of Italy, and probably had effe&ed it, if the Carthaginian army in Africa had flood upon the defenfive, and not received that terrible defeat, when Syphax was mad e prifoner . H a n n i b a l , how- ever. CHAP. XII. The Cartha- ginians break the truce. Scipio ob- tains a vi- ftory over Hannibai. The Car- thaginians make freih overtures of peace. The morti- fying terms impofed on them. The Car thaginian Beet burnt, The end of the fecond Punick war. J I Hannibal re- j forms the j civil govern- ment of Car- tage, OF AFRICA. 125 ever, thought fit to obey his matters, and return, quitting that fine country he had been contending for near fixteen years, and abandoning his allies, the Gauls, as well as the Italians who had join’d him, to the mercy of the Romans, which gave him a moft fenfible mortification ; infomuch that, ’tis faid, he was Icarce mailer of himfelf when he embark’d his troops. During the ceffation of arms ( as the Romans re- late) a great fleet of theirs happening to be driven on the coaft of Carthage, many of their fhips were taken by the enemy, and carried into that port ; which being reclaim’d by Scipio (after the arrival of Hannibal) that State refufed to reftore them. Whereupon hoftilities were again renew’d ; and a battle being fought not long after, Scipio obtain d a complete victory by the afliftance ofMASiNis- sa : Hannibal, however, made good his re- treat to Carthage, having loft twenty thoufand men in the engagement. The Romans afterwards con- tinued their march to inveft that capital, and in their way were met by Deputies from Carthage with frefh overtures of peace ; and v/ere content, after fome debate, to fubmit to the following mortifying terms. That they fhould deliver up all their fhips to the Romans, except ten : That they fhould deliver up all their allies that were in Carthage, as well as all deferters and prifoners : That they fnould deliver up their Elephants, and tame no more : That they fhould not make war out of Africa, nor in it, with- out the leave of the Romans : That they fhould re- ftore to Masinissa all that he, or his anceftors had been poflefs’d of : That they fhould pay ten thoufand Euboic talents of filver at fifty annual pay- ments, and give an hundred hoftages for performance of thefe conditions ; in conftderation whereof, the Romans granted they fhould remain a free people, govern’d by their own laws, and enjoy all the towns and territories they poffefs’d in Africa before the war. Upon the conclufion of this treaty, the Cartha- ginians deliver’d up five hundred fhips to Scipio, which he burnt in view of the town. He alfo ftruck oft' the heads of the Chiefs of their Italian al- lies, and hang’d up all the deferters : After which, he return’d to Rome with his army, where a moft magnificent triumph was decreed him, together with the furname of Africanus. And thus ended the fecond Punick war, after it had lafted feventeen years. On the conclufion of this peace, Hanni- bal was employ’d in reducing fome parts of Afri- ca that had revolted from Carthage : But the Ro- mans, ftill jealous of his being at the head of an ar- my, requir’d he fhould be recall’d, and not inter- meddle with military affairs. Whereupon return- ing to Carthage, he was conftituted Praetor ; and the reformation of the civil government, and of . the treafury, was committed to his care : In which charges he acquitted himfelf with no lefs honour than He is charg’d with cor- refponding with the enemies of he had obtain’d in the field. But his enemies charg- C PI A P r ing him with holding a correfpondence with Anti- XII. ochus, King of Syria, againft the Romans, the Senate of Rome fent a deputation to Carthage, re- quiring that General fhould be deliver’d up to them : Whereupon he embark’d fuddenly for Phaenicia, from thence he went to the Court of Antiochus, and prevented his being feiz’d ; for the Carthagini- Takes re- ans would have delivered up Hannibal and half the their Nobility, rather than have hazarded another Antiochus. war with the Romans. Hannibal was at firft receiv’d with great marks of efteem by Antio- chus, who was then entering into a war with the Romans ; but he afterwards entertain’d a jealoufy of this great man, and meeting with ill fuccefs in that war, in order to procure the better peace of Rome, he ftipulated to deliver up his gueft to the g ; ng Romans ; which Hannibal receiving timely no- liver him up tice of, retir’d to the ifland of Crete; and carrying toRome » hc a confiderahle treafure with him, was in danger Crete, there of being murder’d for it by thofe unhofpitable Where he iflanders, from whom he made his efcape by an in- ls f ’ n . nger genious llratagem. derU He afterwards fled for refuge to the Court of He refhrts to Prusias, King of Bithynia, who being then en- gag’d in a war with Eumenes, King of Perga- mos, PIannibal was exceeding ufeful to him: Plowever, upon the application of the Romans, who promt'- Prusias promifed to deliver up PIannibal to lingtode- them ; which, when the old General underftood, he put an end to his life by drinking aglafs of poi- he takes 1 fon, being then feventy years of age. The fame s Ia(s of P°y- year alfo died his great rival Scipio, in a kind of s ° c " pio d!es fn voluntary banifhment ; being oblig’d to fly his banilhmenc country, to avoid malicious impeachments, not- the fame year. withftanding the important fer vices he had done the Roman State. But to return to Carthage: TheTbewarsof Romans not only oblig’d that State to reftore to Carthage Masinissa all the ’territories he poffefs’d before the war, but conferrd on him alfo thofe of Sy- P h ax, with which, however, his ambition was not fatisfy’d, but he feiz’d feveral cities belonging to the Carthaginians : Whereupon they appeal'd to the He is fup- Romans, who promifed to redrefs the injury ; but ported by the under-hand encourag’d Masinissa in his encroach- Romans “ ments, in order to keep the Carthaginians low, and prevent that State’s riling to its former grandeur ; and obferving, at length, that notwithftanding all op- preffions and difeouragements, Carthage ftill en- Carthage be-- creas’d in wealth and power, it was .determin'd by £ms £0 revlve the Romans, abfolutely to deftroy their State, and raze the city, they lo much dreaded, to the ground : They remember’d, with horror, how Hannibal, TheRomans for fixteen years, had ravag’d their country, and bf r ° lv h t0 . d ” < ’ brought them to the brmx of ruin, and could not state. - be eafy while Carthage was in being. For many years were fpeeches made in the Roman Senate a- gainft the imprudence of luffering that State to rife again.; and it is obfeiv’dof Cato, that he fcarce ended 126 C H A P XII. T H E A N CIENT H I STORY .Make a de- feat in Afri- ca with a great army. Perfuade the Carthagini- ans to deliver up all their arms, then declare they would deftroy their citv. Which oc- cafions the third Punicl war. Scipio takes Carthage by ftorm, and burns it. Rebuilt by Julius, or Augulius Csfar. ended a Speech In relation to that debate for many years, without thefe memorable words, Delenda eft Carthago : Carthage mull be deftroy’d. Nor was that State ignorant of what was intended againft them. They endeavour’d, therefore, by the moil abjedt fubmiffions to avert their ruin ; but all to no purpofe : The Romans affembled a numerous army, which was tranfported to Africa, under the com- mand of L. Martius and M. Manlius Nje- pos, their Confuls ; who having wheadled them to deliver up all their arms and engines of war, under pretence of granting them the peace they demanded, the Roman Generals then inform’d them, That it was the pleafure of the Senate they fhould evacuate Carthage, and remove to feme other part of their territories, at a diftance from the fea, for they were commanded to deftroy their city ; which throwing the Carthaginian Ambafiadors into the utmoft conifer nation, they only defir’d they might return to the city and confult their principals, be- fore they gave a peremptory anfwer. This requeft the Roman Generals thought fit to indulge them in, not imagining, after they had parted with their arms, they would think of defending them- felves : But the Carthaginians, being now reduced to defpair, and refolving to hazard their lives, and all that v/as dear to them, rather than fee their city deftroy’d, fell immediately to forging of new arms, and providing all manner of inftruments of war ; infomuch, that when the Romans approach’d the city, they found it would be a work of feme time to reduce it : And indeed, the firft year very little was done towards taking the town, feveral brifk fallies being made, in which the Romans buf- fer'd much. The following year Scipio, grandfon, by adop- tion, of the celebrated Scipio Africa nus, who put an end to the fecond Punick war, being elected Conful, and commanding the Roman army before Carthage, batter’d the town with great fury, and gave the befieged little reft. However, they held out two years more againft all the power of the Romans, and the ftratagems of their ableft Ge- nerals ; but the third year, the city was taken by ftorm, when S cipio refign’d every thing to the plunder of the Soldiers, except the plate and orna- ments of the temples ; and afterwards commanding it to be fet on fire in feveral places, it continued burn- ing for feventeen days, and orders were given by the Senate of Rome, that it fhould never be built or inha- bited again ; and that the cities alfo fhould be razed that had continued in the intereft of Carthage during this war. Dreadful imprecations alfo were made a- gainft thofe who fhould rebuild Carthage ; to avoid which, ’tis faid, when Augustus Coesar erect- ed the new town, to which was given the name of Carthage, it was built upon another fpot of ground near the former ; and this afterwards arriv’d to be a noble populous city, die capital of Africa, and fo remained for 700 years, ’till deftroy’d by the Sara- CHAP cens ; but not comparable either in dimenfions, XII ftrength or beauty, to the old town ; of which we meet with the following particulars relating to the defcription of it. I hat it was fituated on three hills in a peninfula, Somedefcrip- almoft furrounded by the fea, and was in reality tI ' on of Old three towns united in one ; the whole 22 miles in Se town circumference, and contained two harbours within in one. WnS its works ; one for their men of war, and another for the merchant-fhips and that it was on all Tides furrounded by rocks: That on the ifthmus, towards the continent, flood the citadel, call’d Byrfa, de- Byrfa. fended by a triple wall, and towers at proper di- ftances : I hat the walls were two ftories high, built upon arches , and that in the lower arches were kept three hundred Elephants, with their provifions and warlike accoutrements : In the upper arches were ftore-houfcs and ftables for four thoufand horfe, and barracks for twenty thoufand foot : That the city, properly fo call’d, lay almoft round the citadel, and was named Megara ; and the harbour, which was a Megara. double one, as has been obferv’d already, being di- vided by a little ifland, call’d Cotbon, was inhabited Cothon. chiefly by Seamen : That the whole town contained feven hundred thoufand louls, when the Romans in- veftedit ; and that there was found in the place, when it was taken, four hundred and feventy thoufand pound weight of filver, belides what was plunder’d by private foldiers, and confumed in the fire. Car- Carthage de- thage was deftroy’d 60 j years after the building of ftr °y' d about Rome, and before Christ 146 years. A 6 And now, before I difmffs the hiftory of the Carthaginians, it may be proper to enquire into the The genius genius and temper, the religion and policy, of that and temper of once famous nation. theCartha- The character which the Romans, their ene- mks, give of them, is not to their advantage ; nor can it be exported it fhould : They charge them with craft, covetoufnefs and treachery ; infomuch, that Punick faith was become a proverbial phrafe at Rome : They will not allow this people one good quality, except induftry. But it appears, however, that they had a mighty genius for navigation and roreign countries, made more difcoveries, and fet- tled more colonies, than all the nations in the world befides ; and one would think the Romans might have allow’d them courage in military fkill, when they buffered fo much from thefe talents, and could never think themfelves fafe, ’till Carthage was de- ftroy’d : As they were a trading people, they might put up many affronts, rather than engage in war, which muff interrupt their commerce ; but, when they found themfelves opprefs’d, and did ex- ert themfelves, Spain, Italy, and Sicily, as well as Africa, were witneffes of the bravery and condudl of their Generals ; and the noble defence of their capital for three years after the Romans had treacheroufly feiz’d their arms, fufficiently rna- nifefts ginians» CHAP. XII. U'N'V Religion of the Cartha- ginians They facri- fice their children to Saturn. F O F A nifefls, that they were not fo difpirited upon every misfortune, as to negledt their defence, as the Ro- man authors infmuate : And indeed they appear to me to have been a brave, wife, frugal and diligent people. ’Tis true, their great commerce, and adtive genius, render’d them the moft powerful na- tion in Africa ; and they had an ambition of keep- ing the neighbouring powers under their fubjepiion 5 but this is no more than what all other people in the like circumftances have done,efpecially the Romans : And this may be obferv’d in favour of the Cartha- ginians, which cannot be laid of the former, that they improved the trade and manufactures of every country where they came, and fupplied one part of the world with what the other wanted ; whereas the Romans deftroy’a all trade and commerce, and fubfifted chiefly on the fpoilsof others. The religion of the Carthaginians appears to have been the fame with that of the Canaanites or Phoe- nicians, from whom they defcended : They wor- Ihip’d a multitude of deities, as Monfieur Rollin obferves from the preamble of a treaty they conclu- ded with Philip of Macedon ; wherein it is recited tobemade. In theprefenceof Jupiter, Juno and Apollo : In the prefence of the Demon or Genius of Carthage: In the prefence of Hercules,Mars, Triton and Neptune, and all the confederate gods of Carthage : In the prefence of the fun, moon, and earth, rivers, meadows, waters, &c. But the gods chiefly invoked by them, were the Moon (call’d Caeleftis,and fometimes Urania) and Saturn, call’d Molock in facred hiftory ; to which laft they facrificed their children, fometimes burning them in fires, and at others in a brazen flatue of Saturn, heated for that pur t :ofe, founding at the fame time drums and trumpets, that they might not hear their cries ; and it was look’d upon as a piece of heroifm in their mothers to affift at thefe facrifices with dry eyes, and even without a groan or figh, the facrifice not being thought acceptable to Saturn, if offer’d with any reludfance. But, as the longed: cuftcm could not perfectly eradicate the horror thefe unna- tural rites created, they were ufually contented with making their children pafs through the fire ; in which, however, they fometimes perifh’d : And ft ill, in any great diftrefs, they actually burnt them, making choice of the fined: and nobleft youths their nation bred. In a dubious battle, or in expectation of a city’s being taken and ftorm’d, they have lacrificed chil- dren, to this infernal fury, from morning ’till even- ing ; a cruelty fo detefted by the reft of mankind, that we find Princes, in their treaties with this nati- on, infilling, they ftiould offer no more human fa- crifices : And this was probably one of thofe horrid crimes for which the Canaanites, their anceftors, were extirpated ; and which brought down that ter- rible ruin on the Carthaginian State. F R I C A. The chief Magiftrates in this common-wealth, were the two Suffetes, laid to refemble the Roman Confuls, and fometimes ftyl’d Kings : They were eledled annually, it feems ; but it does not appear by whom. Thefe aflembled the Senate, and prefi- ded in it, and had fometimes the fupreme command in military, as well as civil affairs ; and, when they refign’d that office, they were Prretors of courfe, and thereby retain’d a very great authority, even that of calling both the Judges and Officers of the publick revenues to an account, and of propofing new laws. The Senate confifted of men of the firft quality ; but whether they fat there by election or inheritance, or what their numbers were, does not appear any further, than that feveral hundreds en- joy’d this dignity. The Senate was the laft refort in all appeals ; here laws were framed ; Ambafla- dors had their audience, and refolutions taken as to peace and war: But, when the Senate could not agree, the matter was brought before the People, or rather a reprefentative of the people ; but by whom appointed or elected does not appear. T here was alfo another member of this State, call’d the tribunal of one hundred, tho’ it confifted of an hundred and four perfons defied out of the Senate. Thefe were empower’d to call their Ge- nerals to account, whofe power for a great while was almoft unlimited ; and of thefe hundred, were five that form’d a kind of fecret committee, and added very arbitrarily. They had alfo a power to fill up all vacancies that happen’d in the council of an hundred, or in their own number. No perfon was admitted to any poft in this Go- vernment, who had not an eftate that might be fuppofed fufficient to fet him above all temptations to do a mean thing, or betray his truft : Nor was any one buffer’d to purchafe a place, it being pre- fum’d, that thofe that bought would fell again, and reimburfe themfelves pethaps by fome failure in their duty. As to the reft of the Powers of Africa, who had been tributaries to Caivhage, namely Masi- nissa, Syphax, and their fucceftors, Kings of Numidia, and Juba, and the reft of the Princes of Mauritania, who had call’d in, and affifted the Ro- mans in deftroying Carthage; thefe were for fome time buffer'd to enjoy a kind of independency ; but at length, with the reft of the then known parts of Africa, became fubjeff to Rome, and received the Chnftian religion very early. There were feveral hundred bilhopricks in Africa in the 3d and 4th cen- turies, of which the Archbifhop of Carthage was Primate; the celebrated St. Austin, Tertul- lian and St. Cyprian, with many other Pre- lates renown’d in ecclefiaftical hiftory, adorn’d this church : But the Vandals, a barbarous northern peo- ple, with their neighbours the Suevi and Alans, ha- ving forc’d their way into France and Spain, and be- ing afterwards driven from thence by the Goths, another The govern- ment of Car- thage. The Suffe- tes. The Senate, The People, The council of one hun- dred. Of five. Qualificati- ons for pofts. The reft of the Powers of Africa made fubjeft to Rome. Cbr’ftianity ftairiihes here. TheVandalj fubdue the Roman ter- ritories in Africa, I .28 THE ANGIEN CHAP, nother northern nation* tranfported themfelves from XII, Spain into Africa, about the year of our Lord 427 (Genserir as being their King) and fubdued great part of the country poffefs’d by the Romans. The Vandals appear to have been Chriffians indeed, but of the Arrian feci ; and therefore expell'd all theor- The Romans rhodox Chriffians. They had the dominion of this part of Africa '’till the year 534, when Belisa- r 1 us, the Emperor Justinian’s General, ob- tain’d a compleat vibtory overGiLiMAR their laft King, and thereby recover’d ail the Roman provin- ces. Whereupon Justinian made Africa a Prae- febture ; whereas formerly it ufed to be fubjebl to the PraAebtus Pnetono of Italy, and it remain’d united to the Roman empire, Othman, the third Ca- liph of the Saracens, in the year 1647, fubdued all Of the iefi of the Arri- PnS. recover Africa from the Vandals, T HISTOR Y, &c. the north of Africa from the Red fea to the Atlan- CHAP tick ocean. I he Saracens afterwards conquer’d al- XII moft all Spain; and both there, and in Africa, erebled abundance of petty kingdoms. Thofe in TheSarace ns Africa were at length aimofl all reduced under the Saand dominion of the Emperor of Morocco, the moftpo- tent of all the Saracen Sovereigns in Africa : But ™L n ? rtil fince the erebling the kingdom of Algiers by the now under l urks, in the manner already related, the empire t}ie dornini °n of Morocco is reduced into very narrow bounds, ex- plro^of tending no farther along the Mediterranean, than Morocco, from the {freights of Gibralter, to the river Mul- the P eyof yia . All the left of tne Barbary coafl, from thence th^Beysof* to Egypt, is fubjecT to the Turks of Algiers, Tunis Tunis and or Tripoli, w Tripoli Ccur/e of Hie Hl/ondJ, and Hu CUHrrennufumj, Jefii 0 ^fonfoons ^flonrem Hu Coafts of India ,Chma,&c. CA.NAJ) A. or Ne~W j?RAlsrc N O R T JHoXje.HuH Hu Arrows H/urv Hu t JhMvHu'Htmu of if l/tarflvhen i / kNew Pound. Lend A fuw of Ale General TradeAvind S.Monfoons ^Shifting- Winds.^fCoafting-Wincls, Airouc^t ij WORLD, h crwlfc, nean art/i< ratuuama i Bahama I Bilcdulgerid |Ladrone iuconia Iflands Jamaica •Arabi > SjMs fx ■ The mdanao UlCO tart a & unadi i(£) tticom JHcrLd) ■rui/'/e HHhutt ^ ‘ ‘/I f •-f'&'.'rri'. WsstIVA, cfland Variatia ■latioi lot . 3 I THE PRESENT STATE O F CHAP. I. Of the name , and feveral grand divifions of America. CHAP. I. The name. America fubjeft to four Euro- pean Princes. The Spani/h dominions in America. T H E natives of this new world had no gene- ral name for their country when the Spa- niards arriv’d amongft them in the 15 th century ; but the mod confiderable empire in North America, went under the name of Mex- ico, and that in the fouth, under the name of Peru. Americus Vespusius, who difcover’d the eaft- ern coaft of South America, had the honour firft of communicating his name to the whole continent, which it retains to this day. As the greateft and bell part of America is now under the dominion of four European Monarchs ; namely, of the Kings of Spain, Portugal, Great Britain and France, I fhall throw the whole into four grand divifions, and treat of them as fubjedl to one or other of thefe four Princes ; tho’ it muft be confefs’d, many nations of the inland Indians ftill re- tain their original freedom, and own no fiibjedlion to any foreign power: And there are fome fmall fettle- ments in America belonging to the Dutch, the Dane, and other European powers ; but thefe will be taken notice of, and defcrib’d in treating of thofe countries that liecontiguous to one or the other of the abovefaid four grand divifions refpedlively. And firft, I {hall defcribe the Spanifh dominions in Ame- rica, which comprehend, 1. Old Mexico, or New Spain; 2s New Mexico ; and 3. Florida (in North America); 4. Terra Firma ; 3. Peru; 6. Chili; 7. Patagonia, or, the Terra Magellenica ; 8, Pa- ragua, or La Plata ; 9. the country of the Ama- zons; and, 10. the iflands belonging to Spain, both in North and South America. I he Span iili territories upon the continent liecon- tiguous, and, according to their accounts, extend from 45 degrees north latitude to the Streights of Vol. III. Magellan, which lie in 54 degrees of fouth latitude) CHAP, and, confequently, take up 99 degrees of latitudes I, which, allowing 70 miles to a degree, makes the — length near 7000 miles ; but the breadth is very un- equal, and, in many places, very uncertain : How- ever, thus much is certain, that in fome parts, the Spanifh America is near 1 500 miles broad, and in others, not 100 miles broad. 2. The fecond grand divifion of America is that The dann-^ under the dominion of Portugal, which confifts of ° ° r the country of Brafil, extending from the mouth of the river Amazon, under the Equator, to the mouth of the river La Plata, which lies in 35 degrees of fouth latitude; being 2400 miles and upwards, if we meafure in a diredl line, from north to fouth ; but if we take in the winding of the fhores, Brafil will be found to have a fea-coaft of near 4000 miles, tho’ it is not 200 miles broad in many places. Nei- ther the Spanifh or Portuguefe America extend to any great difiance from the fea-coaft ; tho’ thefe Powers lay claim to the whole continent of South Ame- rica. The natives, who live 2 or 300 miles from the fea-coaft, fcarce own any fubjedtion to either of them. 2. The third grand divifion of America is that The Britiffe under the dominion of the King of Great Britain; dominion which lies along the eaftern coaft of North Ame- e * rica, from 3 1 degrees to 5 1 north latitude, com- prehending, 1 . Carolina (in which Georgia is inclu- ded) ; 2. Virginia; 3. Maryland; 4. Penfilvania; 5. New Jerfey ; 6. New York ; 7. New England; 8. New Scotland and New Britain ; 9. the iflands belonging to Great Britain ; and, laftly, Hudfon’s Bay, which lies moft to the northward of any of our fettlements, and is detach’d from the re ft. 130 CHAP. I. The territo- ries claim’d s>y France. THE PRESENT STATE ‘TheSparmrds and English more right to Florida than the ■French. The maps of tbefe countries ■ought to be corre&ed. The Britifh dominions, that lie contiguous on the continent, run from the fouth-weft to the north- eaft, and are upwards of 1500 miles in length, but in breadth fcarce 200 in many places. 4. The fourth grand divifion of America is that which the French pretend is fubjedl to them ; and, according to their maps, extends from the north fide of the Gulph of Mexico or Florida, to the north of Canada, that is from the latitude of 28 to 52 de- grees and upwards of northern latitude ; fo that they would have us believe, their territories extend near 1700 miles in length from north to fouth, and are little lefs in breadth from eaft to weft, for their maps lay them down between the Britifh dominions on the eaft, and New Mexico on the weft, compre- hending mod part of Florida and Canada, to which their Geographers have given the name of Louifiana and New France. But Florida and Canada may with much more propriety be affigned to the Spaniards and the En- glifh, than to the French ; for the Spaniards firft difcovered and made fettlements in South Florida, fome of which they poftefs at this dav, as they do the entire weft fide of Florida and Canada : The Englifh, on the other hand, have been long poflefs’d of Virginia and Carolina, which were originally part of Florida, and of feveral places in Canada ; while the French have only two or three little fet- tlements on the Gulph of Florida or Mexico, near the mouth of the river Mifliftippi, to entitle them to Florida ; and a man may travel fome hundreds of miles, both in Florida and Canada, without meet- ing with a French fettlement, or even with a fingle Frenchman. To lay the truth, very few of die Indians of Florida or Canada are yet fubjedf to any European power ; and a very fmall part of their country the property of any foreigner. The only juft and legal way of becoming proprietors of any part of either, is by treaty with the natives, and giving them what they efteem a valuable confidera- tion for it ; as our adventurers in Georgia actually do for whatever they intend to plant or cultivate. W e are extremely weak, in aftigning this fine country, containing a fquareof 1 900 miles of a fide, to France, which lies on the back of all the Britifh fettlements ; and that for no other reafon, than that the French have aflurance enough to lay claim to it, efpecially fince this claim, if it be allow’d, muft for ever exclude us from extending our fettlements to the weftward : I hope, therefore, our Britifh Geo- graphers will be commanded by their fuperiors, to blot Louifiana and New France out of their maps, and reftore the primitive names of Florida and Ca- nada to thofe countries ; and that they {hall not be fuffer’d ftupidly to follow the French geography, and give that people a colour for their encroachments on the Britifh plantations. France already looks upon the great rivers of Mifliftippi and St. Laurence as her own, and will, no doubt, if ever it is in her power, fwallow up all C H A P, thofe countries that border upon them, or which lie I between the mouths of thofe two rivers, in which fpace lie moft of the Britifh dominions on the conti- nent of America. But I (hall further explain the dangerous confequences of permitting fuch an alte- ration in our maps, when I come to treat of Flo- rida and Canada, and the Englifh dominions that lie contiguous to thofe countries": In the mean time, I fhall apply myfelf to enquire into the prefent ftate of the Spanifn territories in America, deferibing the feveral fubdivifions of that empire ; and firft treat of that of Mexico, or New Spain. CHAP. II. The prefent fate of Mexico : Deferibing the ftuation and extent of Mexico, or New Spain ; and the face of the country. E X I C O is bounded by New Mexico or (p 1 tt a p Granada, and Florida, on the north ; by the t-t Gulph of Mexico, and the North fea, on the north- eait ; by f erra I* irma Proper, in South America, on The fitua- the fouth-eaft; and by the Pacific!: Ocean, or South- tion a " d ex ' fea, on the fouth-weft ; and lies between 7 degrees iro. t0 and 2 8 degrees of north-latitude; and between the 83d and 1 1 6th degrees of weftern longitude from the meridian of London, ftretebing along the South- fea 2000 miles and upwards ; and on the Nortb-fea, and the Gulph of Mexico, more than 1500 miles; but the breadth is very unequal ; for upon the con- fines of New Mexico, where it extends from the Gulph of California on the weft, to Florida on the eaft, it is upwards of 600 miles broad ; and in the province of Veragua, from the North-fea on the north-eaft, to the South-fea on the fouth-weft, be- ing the narroweft part of the iftbmus, it is very little more than 60 miles broad ; and the form is fo irregular, that it can only be comprehended by a view of the following map of Mexico. Mexico is very much encumber’d with moun- The face of tains, which are, for the moft part, cover’d with the country, woods; but there are a chain of hills higher thanufual, Mountains, that run almoft the whole length of it, from the fouth-eaft to the north-weft : From thefe we de- feend to other hills, on either fide confiderably low- er ; and between the hills, are many fine fruitful valleys, but fcarce any plains of a confiderable ex- Valleys, tent. Which way foever we turn our eyes, the profpedl is bounded by hills and woods, ’till we come near the North, or South-feas: But the lands, near the fea-coaft, efpecialiy on the North-fea, are fo fiat Flat country, and low, that they lie under water great part of the rainy feafon ; and upon thefe morafles and bogs, are thickets of Bambou canes, mangroves, thorns and briars, fo clofely mix’d and interwoven, that it is almoft I ' ^ /| fC. Charlcj c htJnpeaK 'i-marUJirun d <- /** C.Jdataraj M^^CLock. out X. Jsor Tartar rt A3IAP of the WE S T-INDIE S &c MEXICO or :NiTW £^>JLIlSr Slav J/ Trade "Wandi , and y s^verttlTr- ■ietj made by j/ G-alconj andFltrta -from. J?l.x£t -to JPlaee . J$y BL JMlolL C takfrxiftfur llfot*. j£. Stkndj YZnjtuh .Tj -farJ 1 J). a£r J>utch £hx . r^rJ>anej Cftick-t Barirmtiai IH. ft Xnrliilt juxtin | -pVJlJl \tul -Vcm JX or* tW*d J - j& £*-%k ■■utnit >H UeS jdonAoV' ojf ruojjjy-n \jHGrutn&Jd> .J'nui-r* 1 ^ 1 3 fqatJCf at uyz W-I A^fiaJttmuttrr} .Not*. Tktjt JLtrtrj almost meet-, n jf them art Cfamyablt . and all Cannon and Sturt J -fitradcapuleo ’ Carry td from the jfortb to the i nth St a Inf thtm j . ijracor">- ^ jHanto Xnyltsh IftAjjuts Zo -to one 3>*jjre> Vd. s .p.i 3 i OF MEXICO. 131 CHAP, almoft impoffible to penetrate them, without cut- II. ting a way through with a hatchet. There are, in- deed, home Tandy bays, where it is tolerable land- ing ; but there is much more of the mangrove land, where a man muft wade up to the middle in mud, before he can get to the dry ground. Beyond the mangroves, indeed, we meet with fine favannahs or meadows, lying between little rifing hills ; and on the north- weft coaft of the South-fea, near the Gulph of California, the mountains come almoft clofe to the {bore ; and there is none of thefe moraftes or mangrove lands, that we find in other places. And it is very remarkable, that the mountains on the weft fide of Mexico, are moft of them vulca- no’s, from whence fire and fmoke are perpetually if- iuing ; and this is fuppofed to be the occafion of thofe frequent earthquakes that happen on this coaft, in which, whole towns are fometimes buried. Woods. Upon thefe mountains, there is a great variety of fine, large timber, and little or no underwood : A man may ride through them without any difficulty ; whereas the woods upon the coaft in the flat coun- try, are fo full of bufhes and underwood, that there is fcarce any breaking through them, as has been ob- ferv’d already. Vulcano’s and earth- quakes. CH AP. III. The feas of Mexico. The chief bays and gulphs on the north- lide. Cape Con- decedo. Cape Catorh. Cape Hondu- ras. Cape Came- ron. Cape Gratia Dios. Gulphs on the fouth- fide. Cape Blanco Cape Cori- entes. Lake of Ni- caragua. Lake of Mexico. C H A P. III. Of the feas , gulphs , or hays , capes , lakes , rivers and fprings , in Mexico. H E feas of Mexico are, either the Gulph of Mexico, and the North-fea, on the north- eaft, or the Pacific Ocean, on the fouth-weft. In the Gulph of Mexico, lies the famous Bay of Campeachy, between 18 and 20 degrees north lati- tude, where the greateft quantities of Logwcod.are cut. And between Jucatan and Honduras, is ano- ther great bay, call'd the Gulph of Honduras, lying between the 15 th and 18th degree of north latitude. The chief capes in thefe feas, are, 1 . Cape Con- decedo; and 2. Cape Catorh : The firft the north- weft, and the other the north-eaft point of Juca- tan ; 3. Cape Honduras; 4. Cape Cameron, on the north of the province of Honduras; and, 5. Cape Gratia Dios, being the north-eaft point, a promon- tory of the fame province. In the Pacific Ocean, are the Gulph of Salinas, or Nicoya, in 1 o degrees north latitude ; and the Gulph of Amapalla, in 1 2 degrees north latitude : and the Capes are, Cape Blanco, in 9 degrees north latitude, and Cape Co- rientes, in 20 degrees north latitude. The chief lakes are, that of Nicaragua, in the province of the fame name, which has a communi- cation with the North-fea by the river of Nicara- gua ; and the other way extends almoft to the South- fea : And, 2. the Lake of Mexico, in which the Me- tropolis ftands. Thefe, and the reft of the lakes with which this country abounds, will be more particu- larly deferib’d in treating of the refpeefive provinces. CHAP, The principal rivers in Mexico are, 1 . the North III. river, which rifes in New Mexico ; and, after run- ning a very long courfe to the fouth-eaft, falls into ^^North- the Gulph of Mexico, in 26 degrees north latitude. r i ver . 2. The river of Panuco, or Tompeque, which Pancuo river rifes very far within the land, and running eaft- ward, falls into the Gulph of Mexico, in 2 3 de- grees, 50 minutes, north latitude. 3 . The river Alvarado, compofed of three rivers, Alwad® which, rifing in different parts of the country, unite nver ° their ftreams, and fall into the Gulph of Mexico, in 1 9 degrees north-latitude, 6 leagues to the eaftward of Vera Cruz. 4. Tobafco river, which rifing not far from the Tobafco T South-fea, runs to the north-eaft, and falls into the ver “ Bay of Campeachy, in 1 9 degrees north latitude to the eaftward of Tobafco river. 5. The river Xagua, which rifes in the province Xagua, of Honduras, and, taking its courfe to the north- eaft, falls into the North-fea, near Cape Gratia Dios, in 1 4 degrees, odd minutes, north latitude. And, 6. The river Yara, which rifing in theprovince Yararlver.- of Nicaragua, to the northward of the lake of that name, runs eaft, and falls into the North-fea, in 1 3 degrees north latitude. Thefe rivers are mode- rately large, and would be navigable fome of them s for great fhips, if they were not choak’d up with bars of fand at their entrance. However, boats and final 1 veftels may enter them, and frequently do fail up them many miles. There are a multitude of other rivers, which ri- fing in the neighbouring hills, fall into the Gulph oi Mexico, and the North-fea, efpecially during the rainy feafon : Thefe over-flow all the low lands ; but when fair weather returns, they are dried up, and fcarce any frefh water is to be met with, in many places. The chief rivers of Mexico, which falls into the Rofario «=* South-fea, are, 1 . Rofario, which runs from eaft to ver ° weft, and falls into the South-fea, in 22 degrees, 51 minutes fouth latitude : Some gold mines lying within two or three leagues of this river, the fands of it are rich in gold. 2. The river Teguantipique, which rifes not far Teguanti» from the North-fea, and running weftward, falls PN ue< into the South-fea in 1 5 degrees, odd minutes, north latitude, near a town of the fame name. 3 . The river Lempa, faid to be the largeft in this Lempa rivet, country, runs from north to fouth, and falls into the South-fea in 13 degrees, odd minutes, north la- titude, near the town of Trinidad. As to hot baths and medicinal fprings, Mexico a- bounds with them ; efpecially thofe places which lie near the burning mountains : And, in the dry fea- fon, the waters of many of their lakes and rivers are fait or brackifh ; but their waters will be treated of more particularly in the refpeAive provinces where they lie. S a C H A P. J32 THE P R E CHAP. IV. Of the winds and tides , the temperature of the air 3 and feafons of Mexico. |N every ocean, whether the Indian, Atlantic, or Pacific Ocean, the wind continually blows Winds of fr orn e aft to weft, between the latitudes of 30 north Mexico. and fouth (a little diftance from land) ; only to the Trade winds, northward of the Equator it inclines north-eaft, and to the fouthward of the Equator, fouth-eaft ; to which rule there is only this exception, that under the tYe^uator 1 " ^ Ine ’ ant ^ f° r two or three degrees on each fide, the e l 3 uator - winds are variable, and perpetually changing ; and fometimes there is fo little wind, and fuch calms, under the Line, that a fhip fhall not fail a league In a month’s time. However, upon every coaft, almoft, within the la- titude of 30 north or fouth, there are other periodical winds and ftorms that return at certain feafons of ^anTland ^ y ear ’ Munfoons ; and there are, during ireezes, * ^ le f air feafon, land and fea breezes, which con- ftantly take their turns at ftated hours every day, and particularly upon the north and fouth coaft of Mexi- co, the country I am now deferibing. The land breezes begin here late in the evening, and blow ’till fix or feven the next morning, when they die away infenfibly ; and from that time ’till near noon, it is generally calm. About noon the fea breeze rifes, and refrefhes the inhabitants, who would, otherwife, faint with heat ; the forenoon, therefore, is much the hotteft time of the day with- in the Tropics. But the land winds are not hot in Mexico, as they are in the Eaft-Indies, where they blow over a long trail of burning fund : On the contrary, ’tis obferv’d, that the winds, which blow from the mountains in the middle of this country, are colder than thofe that come from the fea. There are fome hours difference on different coafts, as to the rifing of the fea and land breezes. In fome p.'ases the fea breezes begin at nine or ten o’clock, or at eleven at fartheft ; but at others, they do not fet in ’till one in the afternoon : In like manner, the land breezes begin fome hours before midnight on fome coafts, and not ’till after midnight on others. And it is obferv’d, that thefe fea and land breezes very feldom blow direifly on or off the ftiore, but ob- liquely ; as where the coaft runs north and fouth, thefe winds blow from the north-weft, or north- eaft ; and in fouth latitude, from the fouth-weft or fouth-eaft : And Mr. Dampier, I perceive, takes the fea breezes to be nothing elfe but the true trade- wind, which always blows from the north-eaft or the fouth-eaft, or pretty near thofe points ; and that thefe winds only ceafe blowing upon the coaft for about twelve hours every night, when the land wind prevails : For he obferves, that fuch promon- SENT STATE tories and head-lands as run far out into the fea, CHAP, have much more of the fea breeze than bays and IV. creeks, which are almoft furrounded by the land ; and, confequently, fuch parts of the coaft are much hotter than thofe that lie open to the ocean. The rainy feafon, which begins ufually in May, Storm?, and lafts ’till September, is introduced with thun- der and lightening, tornadoes and hurricanes, when the wind blows almoft from every point of the com- pals ; but the worft weather is in June and July. Dampier informs us alfo, that there are ftrong north winds that blow in the Gulph of Mexico, and in the Bays of Campeachy and Honduras, between the months of Odober and March, about the full and change of the Moon, and are moft violent in December and January, As to tides, Dampier obferves, there are no Tides, places in the ocean without them ; but that they rife higheft, and run ftrongeft, in narrow channels, bays and creeks, or up the mouths of rivers ; and that on fuch coafts as have no bays or rivers, the tides are but weak, and fcarce perceptible : That in the Bay of Campeachy, in the Gulph of Mexico, the tide runs very ftrong, but does not rife more than fix or feven toot : On the other hand, in the Gulph of St. Michael’s, on the coaft of the South- fea, he obferv’d the tides rofe eighteen or twenty foot, while, in (mall iflands at a diftance from the continent, it fearce rifes a foot and a half. It is obferv’d, that as the tun approaches either of Wet and dry the Tropics, it carries wet weather fo far with it; feafons< and when it is fartheft from either Tropic, then the weather is fair under that Tropic. On the contrary, thofe people who live without the T ropics,have their fair weather when the fun is neareft them, and wet weather when it is at the greateft diftance from them. In Mexico, their rainy feafon begins in April or May, and lafts ’till September, and fometimes lon- ger. It begins, as has been obferv’d, with torna- does, or tempefts, firft one in a day, afterwards more, encreafing ’till the month of June, and then it rains for two months every day, great part of the four and twenty hours; but lets in the morning, and in the day-time, than in the night : Thofe, therefore, that are oblig’d to travel during this feafon, fet out early in the morning, that they may come to an end of their journey before the rain begins. And it is ob- ferv’d, that the rains continue much longer in bays upon the fea-coafts, and particularly in the Bays of Campeachy and Honduras, than on capes and head- lands, and higher up the country. In fome bays, ’tis faid, the rainy feafon continues near two thirds of the year. Thefe rains, which overflow all the flat coun- Temperature try, the land and fea breezes that blow alternately, tll<: air “ and their numerous lakes, render the air cool, and make even the Torrid Zone habitable and pleafant ; the heats whereof would otherwife have been as in- fupportable CHAP. IV. Seed time and harveft. C H A P. V. /"x_y Provinces. Guadalajara Audience. * Subdivifions of it. Guadalajara Proper. Guadalajara City. OF MEXICO, J 33 fupportable as the antients imagined them. The cooleft part of the year is in the months of July and Auguft, when the low lands lie under water : Then the natives really complain of cold, morning and evening, as they do in the fucceeding months ’till February ; though the weather then feems very moderate to an European conftitution. The tops of the higheft mountains are indeed fometimes very cold, being cover’d with fnow even in 1 6 or r 8 degrees of north latitude ; but here are very few towns. The people chufe to rehde on thofe emi- nences between the mountains and the flat country, where the air is moil agreeable, and the earth mod fruitful. The hotteft time of the year is in Febru- ary, March, and the beginning of April ; for then the fun is feldom obfcur’d by clouds, the waters are every where dried up, and it is very difficult then to meet with frefh water in fome places. The chief feafon for lowing, or rather planting their Indian-corn, tho’ it will grow and come to maturity at any time almoft, is in May and June (the beginning of the rainy feafon) and they reap it in Odlober, when the rains are over ; their trees are ever green, and their fruits bloflom and ripen almoft all the year round : But I fhall enlarge on this article, when I come to treat of their plants, corn and hufbandry. CHAP. V. Of the provinces Mexico is divided into , its fubdi- vifons , and chief towns , tvith their publick and private buildings and furniture . ]\ EX I CO, or New Spain, is divided into JlVjL three Audiences ; viz. i . The Audience of Guadalajara, or New Galicia ; 2. The Audience of Mexico; and, 3. The Audience of Gua- timala. The Audience of Guadalajara, or Galicia, is bounded by New Mexico on the north-weft, by the Gulph of Mexico on the eaft, by the Audience of Mexico on the louth-eaft, and by the South-fea and the Gulph of California on the fouth-weft, being 800 miles in length, and generally 500 or 600 milt# broad, and is fubdivided into the following feven provinces; viz. 1. Guadalajara Proper; 2. Za- catecas; 3. New Bifcay ; 4. Cinoloa ; 5. Culia- can ; 6. Chametlan ; and, 7. Xalifco. 1 . The province of Guadalajara Proper is bound- ed by New Mexico towards the north, by Mexico Audience on the fouth-eaft, and by the Pacific Ocean on the weft. It is a plentiful country, and hath fevera! filver mines in it. The chief town is Guadalajara, fituated on a river of the fame name, in 20 degrees, odd minutes, north latitude, 108 de- grees weft of London. It is the capital of the whole Audience, the feat of their courts of Juftice, and a Biihop’s fee. There are feveral churches in it, befides the cathedral, and fome monafteries and CHAP, nunneries ; but I meet with no further defcription V. of this place. 2. The province of Zacatecas, bounded by New Zacatecas Bifcay on the north, by Mexico Proper and Panuco P rovince * on the eaft, by Guadalajara on the fouth, and by Chametlan and Culiacan on the weft. The chief towns whereof are, 1 . Zacatecas, fituated 40 leagues Zacatecas north of Guadalajara, and about 80 north- weft of town ' the city of Mexico. The town confifts of five or fix hundred houfes, and the Spaniards keep a good garrifon in it to defend their filver mines. 2. Nom- Nombre bre de Dios, a large, populous town, fituated in Dios town. 25 degrees north latitude, and 109 degrees weft of London ; and, 3 . Durango, fituated at the conflux Durango, of feveral rivers, 8 leagues north- weft of Nombre de Dios. The eaft part of this province has plenty of corn and fruit, and the weft is no lefs famous for its filver mines 3. The province of New Bifcay, bounded by New Bifcay New Mexico on the north, by part of Florida and P' ov,inc,; ” Panuco on the eaft, by Zacatecas on the fouth, and by Culiacan on the weft. The chief towns where- of are, 1. St. Barbara, fituated in 26 degrees north St. Barbara latitude, 1 08 degrees weft of London ; and, 2. St. st W J..h n ’s John’s, fituated 70 miles north of St. Barbara. town. This province alfo is rich in filver mines. 4. The province of Cinoloa, bounded by New Cinoloa pro- Mexico on the north-eaft and the north-weft, by ' ,ince ' Culiacan on the fouth-eaft, and by the Gulph of Ca- lifornia on the fouth-weft : The chief town whereof Cinoloa is Cinoloa, fituated in 26 degrees, odd minutes, town * north latitude, and 1 1 2 degrees weft longitude : In this province are rich pafture grounds well wa- ter’d with the rivulets that fall from the mountains ; and here is great plenty of Cotton. 5. ft he province of Culiacan, bounded by New Culiacan Bifcay and Zacatecas on the north-eaft ; by Cino- P rovince ’ loa on the north-weft ; by Chametlan on the fouth- eaft ; and by the Gulph of California on the fouth- weft : The chief town whereof is Culiacan, fitua- Culiacan ted in 24 degrees, odd minutes, north latitude, and town> in 1 1 2 degrees of weft longitude. 6. The province of Chametlan, bounded by Za- Chametlan catecas on the north-eaft ; by Culiacan on the P rovin «. north-weft ; by Xalifco and Guadalajara on the fouth-eaft ; and the South-fea on the fouth-weft : The chief town whereof is St. Sebaftian, fituated St. Sebaftian on a river of the fame name, about 40 miles to the town - eaftward of the South-fea, in 2 3 degrees of north- latitude. This province hath both gold and filver mines in if. 7. The province of Xalifco is bounded by Gua- Xalifco pro- dalajara and Chametlan on the north ; by Mech O- vince. acan on the eaft; and by the South-fea on the fouth and weft : The chief towns whereof are, 1 . Xa- Xalifco town, lifco, fituated near the South-fea, in 20 degrees fouth latitude, weft longitude 1 1 r ; 2. Compo- -? -i A 1 oft CPI A P V. Compoltella t'iwn. Santa Peca- gue town. T H E P R E8ENT STATE ■Mexico Au lienee. Its fubdivifi- ons. Mexico Pro per. •Mexico city ftelh, fituated alio near the South-fea, about 20 leagues to the northward of Xalifco, a rich town lying in the neighbourhood of feyeral hirer mines ; 1. Santa Pecaque, wdtere the Spaniards of Compo- - ftella keep a great many hundred of haves, that work in their hi ver mines. This town, Dampier re- lates, the Buccaneers (among whom he lerved) plun- der’d in the year 1686; but being attack’d by a great body of Spamfh horle, they loft fifty of their men. The Audience of Mexico is bounded by that of Guadalajara on the north-weft; by the Gulph of Mexico on the eaft ; by the Audience of Guati- mala on the fouth-eaft ; and by the South-fea on the fouth-weft ; and contains nine provinces; viz. 1. Mexico Proper ; 2. Mechoacan; 3. Panuco- 4. Tlafcala ; 5 . Guaxaca; 6. Tabafco ; 7. J u _ catan ; 8. whiapa ; and, 9. Soconufco. The pro- vince of Mexico P roper is bounded by Panuco on the north, ^ 1 lafcala on the eaft, by Mechoacan to- wards the fouth, and Xalifco on the weft. 1 his province is faid to exceed all the provinces of America, in fpacious extenfive vallies, in the richnefs of its arable lands, pafturage and variety of fruits . The great lakes and rivers, and the neigh- bourhood of the fea, alfo furnifh them with plenty of excellent fifh ; and give them great advantages in trade, both foreign and domeftick. The chief towns of Mexico Proper are, r. Mexico, the me- tropolis of the whole viceroyalty now, and ancient- ly of the empire of Mexico, fituated in 20 degrees of north latitude, 103 degrees weft of London ; in a fpacious lake, that lies on the eaft fide of a val- ley, about 1 4 Spanifh leagues in length, 7 in breadth, and upwards of 40 in compafs ;°the valley being furrounded by mountains on all fides, which in the loweft part are 42500 yards above the lake, according toGEMELLi Careri, who was upon the fpot ; but lurely there muft be a cypher too much in this account : For, if he means" perpendi- cular height, the loweft mountains cannot be more than 4250 yards above tire level of the lake. The town is a perfed fquare, each fide half a league ; and,confequently, the circumference of the whole about two leagues. There is a great fquare, or parade, in the middle of it, from whence the ftreets run quite through the town in a direef line, either north and fouth, or eaft and weft, crofting’ each other at right angles ; fo that the length and breadth of the place may be difcern’d at the corner of any ftreet. ft hey are all wide, and well paved, but generally dirty. The town ftands, great part of it, upon a bog or morafs, which occafions the roundations of fome of them to fink ; and, what is ftill worfe, there are fo many rivers that fall from the mountains into the lake, that the town is often in danger of being overflowed ; many of the houfes and inhabitants have been aftually fwept away by floods, tho they have been at a vaft expence in making canals, dikes and fiuices to carry off the waters. CHAP 1 hey have fometimes found the hazard and mcon- vemencies of their fituation fo great, that it has been debated, whether they fhould not abandon the city and build another upon better ground. But they have hitherto been diverted from that refolution by feve- ral coriiiderations : 1 . By the vaft expence it would be, to build fuch another city : 2. By the coolnefs 7 th< - fituation, occafioned by the "lake, which they fhould want on higher ground : And, laftly, by the natural ftrength of the city, there being no approaching it but by the five caufeys that have been made between the city and the main land. This the ancient Mexicans, as well as the Spaniards, Jookd upon to be fo great a fecurity, that they ne- ver erected walls or gates about it. The churches and houfes are built of ftone or brick, three ftories high, where the ground will bear it : but they cannot lay their foundations very deep, for the rea- fons already mention’d. Mexico is an archbifhop- rick ; and there are in it, befides the cathedra] and pa- lochial churches, twenty-nine monafteries, and two and twenty nunneries, and contains, as is com- puted, about one hundred thoufand inhabitants. But, as moft of the lands in the neighbourhood be- long to the churches and religious houfes, whicli are all vaftly rich, there are not many Spanifh noble- men and gentlemen in the place ; and among the meaner fort of people, the Spaniards do not feem to make a tenth part of the inhabitants. The bulk of the people are Blacks or Mulattoes ; there having been abundance of Black flaves brought thither^ who by one means or other obtain’d their freedom’ and married with the natives : Their defendants are very numerous. There is alfo a ftrange mix- tuie of Spanifli and Indian blood. The pure Spa- niards, and thole that are defeended from Spanifh anceftors on both fides, are a very fmall number, both here and in other towns of Mexico. But I fhall not enlarge on this head here, having referv’d a chapter on purpofe to treat of the prefent inhabi- tants of Mexico. Neither fhall I dwell upon their trade and manu- factures, having aftxgned a particular chapter to treat of thefe : 1 fhall only obferve, that the value of their merchandize is not to be computed ; this being the great mart for all goods brought from the Eaft- Indies or Europe. Thofe of the Eaft-Indies they receive from Acapulco, a fea-port on the South-fea ; and thofe of Europe from La Vera Cruz, fituated on the North-fea : And their own native treafures. Gold, Silver, precious Stones, &c. added to the former, make the fhops and markets of Mexico the ricbeft that are to be found in any town in the world. Their churches and monafteries are proportiona- bly rich and fplendid, and their revenues furprifingly great. The cathedral, like moft others, is built°in fonn of a crofs, lofty and fpacious ; the painting. V. OF ME ) H A P. gilding and carving exquifite ; and it contains abun- V. dance of fline altars and chapels on each fide, the high altar ftanding in the middle of the choir. The revenues belonging to the Archbifhop, Dean and Chapter, and other Ecclefiafticks of this cathedral, are equal to the beauty and magnificence of the buildings. There are belonging to it nine Canons, five dignified Priefts, viz. the Dean, Arch-deacon, School-mafter, Chanter and Treafurer ; fix Demi- canons,and fixHalf-Demi-canons,one head Sacriftan, four Curates chofen by the Viceroy, twelve roy- al Chaplains elected by the Chapter, and eight o- thers. The Archbifhop’s conftant annual revenue (befides cafual fines, &c. which amount to near as much) is fixty thoufand pieces of eight, near fifteen thoufand pounds fterling per annum. The Dean’s revenue is eleven thoufand pieces of eight per annum, and the other four dignified Priefts have eight thou- fand per annum each ; the Canons fix thoufand 5 the Demi-canons five thoufand ; the Half Demi-ca- nons three thoufand ; each Curate four thoufand ; every Chaplain three hundred, and the inferior officers and attendants in proportion. All the Ecclefiafticks belonging to this church are three hundred in num- ber ; and it is computed, the entire annual revenue of the cathedral of Mexico, amounts to three hun- dred thoufand pieces of eight (each piece four dril- lings and fix pence englifh) ; at leaft, this was the ftate of it in the year 1698, about forty years fince, as Gemelli Cap. eri relates, who was then up- on the fpot, and is efteemed one of the moft judi- cious and faithful writers that ever travell’d. What is moft remarkable befides in Mexico, is the vaft fpacious market-place, or fquare, in the middle of the town ; on one fide whereof runs a cloifter, under which are fome of the richeft fhops in the world ; and on the other, ftands the magnifi- cent palace of the Viceroy, built about a large fquare ; the principal front to the market-place not inferior to that of Naples, in which the courts of Juftice are held. The palace of the Marquis De Valle, the fuc- cefi’or of the celebrated Cortez, who conquer’d Mexico, is built on the ground where one of the pa- laces of the Emperor Montezum a flood, and ad- mir’d for its dimenftons and ftrucbure. Befide the churches and monafteries in this city, there are feveral hofpitals richly endow’d ; among the reft, there is one for young maids that are orphans, who are maintain’d handfomely while they live fingle, and allowed five hundred pieces of eight each when they marry. There is another hofpital eredled for thofe who have been unfortunate i’ in venereal encounters, which has a revenue of thirty- fix thoufand pieces of eight per annum, and is a royal foundation ; and there is a third hofpital only for fick Priefts : And Gemelli relates, that when he was in this city, the Archbifhop, Dr. Francis D’Aguar, gave that year all his revenues to the poor, and an hundred thoufand pieces of eight more : XICO, 135 For, I find, in this rich city, there are a multitude of C H A P. wretched objedts ; but none poorer than the Spani- V. ards themfelves, who are above working, tho’ not above thieving, it feems : For the fame writer re- lates, that he faw the Viceroy fitting on his tribunal, affifted by five other Judges, and that there were brought before him no lefs than four hundred Spani- ards for theft ; adding, that tho’ a ftranger be never fo much upon his guard, it is difficult for him to get out of the city without lofing either bis money or eff'edts : That, as thefe idle Spaniards apply themfelves to no other bufinefs but lying, fharping, and cheating, they are fuch mailers of thefe arts, that no honeil man can defend himfelf againft them : They chufe this way of life rather than bufinefs ; tho’ all that will work are better paid for their labour here than in any place in the world. The feveral trades, I perceive, have their re- spective flreets or quarters. There is a fpacious fireet, which runs from the market, where the Gold- fmiths expofe their rich goods to fale ; and here are to be feen, ’tis faid, the value of many millions of Gold, Silver and Jewels. The fireet of St. Auflin, where the Mercers expofe their rich Silks to fale, has a very grand and beautiful appearance ; and the fireet called Tacu’oa, where thofe tradefmen refide that deal in Brafs, Steel, and Iron ware, is very long and fpacious : But the fireet called Eagle-ftreet, in- habited by the Nobility, Gentry, and great Law- yers, is laid to excel all the reft in magnificence. Plere are no ordinary houfes or tradefmens fhops- in- termix’d with them ; and in this fireet ftands the Marquis d’ Valle’s fine palace, already men- tion’d. There is alfo a pleafant Park, well planted, and adorn’d with fountains and water-works ; whither, the quality of both fexes, and the gay part of the town refort every evening, fome in coaches, and others on horfeback : And here the young Cavaliers endeavour to recommend themfelves to the Ladies, by feats of activity and horfemanfhip. Several hun- dreds of coaches are frequently feen here, with nu- merous retinues of Black flaves, in the richeft li- veries, moving gently along, backwards and for- wards, as at the Ring in Hyde-Park. Another diverfion of the citizens is fifhing in boats upon the lake, whither they carry wine and cold provifions to regale themfelves with upon the water : And this brings me to give fome deferip- tion of the Lake, on the wefl-fide whereof Mexico The Jakes of is fituated. This lake is about five leagues in length, MexlC0 * from north to South ; but the breadth is very un- equal ; the greateft breadth is Something more than four leagues ; but the north-end of it is Scarce half fo broad. North of this lake, there are three others, which have a communication with it by rivers or canals ; and on the South there are two other lakes, divided from it only by a caufey. There are feveral rivers that rife in the adjacent mountains, and fall into thefe lakes, on the eall and weft ; which 136 THE PRES C H A P. are the occafion of thofe terrible inundations fome V. years in the rainy feafon. The waters of thefe lakes are not fit for all ufes ; one of them is fo fait, that they make Salt of the waters : And tho’ fome tra- vellers relate, that in feveral places they are fweet and wholefome ; yet, I perceive, the water they drink is brought from a mountain that lies a good diftance from the town, by a fpacious aqueduct, fup- ported by arches. The neighbourhood of Mexico is render’d ex- tremely pleafant, by the numerous palaces, country- feats, monafteries, and villages, either on the ifiands in the lakes, or on the banks of the feveral lakes within view of the city ; to which the citizens re- fort in boats, when they are difpofed to retire from the hurry of the town. Acapulco T he fecond town I (hall defcribe in Mexico Pro- per is Acapulco, a celebrated port on the South-fea, in 17 degrees north latitude, and in 102 degrees of weftern longitude ; about two hundred and forty miles to the fouthward of the city of Mexico. At this port all the merchandize of Europe and America is (hipp’d for China and the Philippine ifiands in the Eaft-Indies 3 and here the (hips annually arrive in January from China, the Eaft-Indies, and Peru, with the merchandize of thofe countries ; which makes the Fair that is held here at that time one of the greateft in the world. Gemelli, who v/as upon the fpot, fays, that fome millions of pieces of eight are return’d here during the Fair. But tho’ it is then crowded with wealthy Merchants, it has at other times the appearance of a mean village. Except the caftle and the harbour, there is little worth notice ; the town confiding only of two or three hundred thatch’d houfes, inhabited by Blacks and Mulattoes, a religious cloifter or two, and an hofpital. The town lies at the foot of fome high mountains, which cover it on the eaft, and render it very unhealthful. The Spaniards therefore, and even the Governor himfelf, defert the place as foon as the Fair is over. The harbour indeed, is an excellent one, very fecure and fpacious ; it has a narrow winding entrance, defended by platforms of great guns ; and within is inclofed by high moun- tains, that furround it like a wall, and fo deep, that the (hipping may come up clofe to the fhore, and be faften’d to the trees on the beach. The Go- vernor of the caftle, who is alfo the chiefoCivil Magiftrate in this part of the country, makes his poft worth twenty thoufand pieces of eight per an- num, arifing chiefly from the profits of the Fair. The Comptroller of the Cuftoms makes little left ; and the Curate (the Parfon of the place) whofe ftated revenue is no more than one hundred and eighty pieces of eight per annum, makes fourteen thoufand frequently ; for he extorts moft extravagant fees from the friends of fuch rich Merchants as die there, or on board the drips that arrive at Acapulco, and are buried there. Gemelli relates, that this Fried E N T STATE will not be fatisfied fometimes with lefs than a thou- CHAP band pieces of eight for his burial-fees. It is ex- V, ceffive dear living in this place during the Fair ; the Negroe Porters expecft three pieces of eight a day for carrying goods, and people pay a dollar a day for their ordinary : Inns, it feems, there are none in the place ; or rather, all the houfes in the town are inns during the Fair ; the people making it their bufinefs to accommodate ftrangers with lodg- ings ; but there are multitudes that lie in huts and tents for want of room in the town. Two leagues to the fouthward of this place is Port Mar- another port, called Port Marquis, where (hipping quis town, fometimes puts in ; but the town confifts only of a few f ifbermens huts, and the harbour is neither fo commodious or fecure as the former. The laft town I (hall mention in the province p ac huca of Mexico is Pachuca, which having feveral rich town, filver mines near it, the (liver is refined here, and caft into pigs or bars, fit for tranfportation. The town is fituated about 60 miles north of the city of Mexico. The province of Mechoacan is bounded by Pa- Mechoacan nuco on the north, by Mexico Proper on the eaft, P rovince * by the South-fea toward the fouth, and by Guada- lajara on the weft. In this province alfo are mines of Gold, Silver, and Copper ; and the country produces Cotton and Cocao Nuts, of which Cho- colate is made : It affords good corn and pafturage alfo ; and, being v/ell water’d with rivers and fprings, is efteem’d one of the moft pleafant and healthful provinces in the Audience of Mexico. The chief towns are, 1 . Mechoacan the capital, fituate in 20 degrees north latitude, and in 105 degrees weft longitude, upon the fide of a lake ; and is a- bout 150 miles to the weftward of the city of Mexico : It is a Bifhop’s fee, Suffragan to the Archfnifhop of Mexico ; but I meet with no farther defcription of it. 2 . Colima, fituate in 1 8 degrees Colima north latitude, not far from the coaft of the South- town * fea : The town is faid to be rich and fpacious, and to (land upon a river in one of the moft pleafant and fruitful vallies of this province, near which is a vulcano, the flames whereof are feen at fea. 7. Navidad, or the Port of Nativity, fituate on the Navidad South-fea, a little to the weftward of Colima, in town. 1 8 degrees nortli latitude. This is a good harbour ; and, the neighbouring country affording timber, the Spaniards build fome of the iargeft (lfips here they have in the South-fea. The province of Panuco is hounded by part of Pa nuco Florida on the north ; by the Gulph of Mexico on P rovlnce * j the eaft ; by Tlafcala and Mexico Proper on the fouth 5 and by Mechoacan and Guadalajara on the weft. This province lias fome Silver mines 3 is ( tolerably fertile on the fouth next to Mexico ; and the Spaniards ufed to make a great deal of Salt in that part of it which lies on the Gulph of Mexico. The chief towns are, 1 . St. Lewis de Tampice, ^ampicT * ; which town. CHAP. V. St. Eltevan, or Panuco town. St. Jrgo town. Potofi town. Tlafcala pro' vince. 'Tlafcala town. ilLos Angelos town. t OF M E X I C O. J 37 which lies juft under the Tropic of Cancer, in ioi degrees of weft longitude, and on the north fide of the river of Panuco, near its mouth. 2. St. Eftevan Puerto, formerly call’d Panuco, the capital of the province, fituated on the fouth-ftde of the river Panuco. 3, St. J ago de los Valles, fituated 5 leagues fouth-weft of St. Eftevan. This town is moft taken notice of for the falt-works near it, and the garrifon the Spaniards have here to awe the natives. 4. The laft town I {hall men- tion is St Lewis de Potofi, an inland place to the north- weft of St. Jago de los Valles, probably na- med Potofi, from a Silver mine near it, refembling that of Potofi in Peru. The province of Tlafcala, or Los Angelos, is bounded by Panuco on the north ; by the Gulph of Mexico on the eaft ; by Guaxaca and the South- fea on the fouth ; and by Mechoacan and Mexico Proper on the weft. This province is faid to be the beft peopled by Indians of any in Mexico ; the na- tives having been exempted from tribute, and well ufed by the Spaniards, on account of their joining Cortez, and afiifting him in his conqueft of Mexico. It is a plentiful country, abounding in fugar, corn, cattle and rich paftures ; nor is there any want of venilon or wild-fowl : Here are alfo fome Silver mines. Copperas, Allum, liquid Amber, and fra- grant Gums ; with abundance of Cochineel. T he province is alfo well water’d with rivers, the chief whereof is that of Zahnah, or Zacadula, which runs almoft the whole length of the province, fre- quently overflows the flat country, and falls into the South-fea to the weftward of Acapulco. The chief towns are, 1 . Tlafcala, fi'cuate in 1 9 degrees, odd minutes, north latitude, in a fruitful plain, 20 leagues to the eaft ward of the city of Mexico ; once a large populous place, capital of the province ; but now dwindled to a village, having little remarkable in it but a monaftery of Francifcans. 2. Puelba de los Angelos, or the city of Angels, fituate in 1 9 degrees .of north latitude, on the banks of the ■river Zacatula, in a fine valley, 25 leagues to the eaftward of Mexico. The buildings are chiefly of ftone, and the form of it like that of other Spanifh towns.: A fpacious fquare in the middle, from whence run the principal ltreets in a diredl line, which are crofs’d by others at right angles. The great fquare is encompafs’d on three fides with a ftately uniform piazza, under which are the (hops of the principal tradeim.cn and on the fourth fide of the fquare is the cathedral, with a moft beautiful front : This is, in every refpetft, a finer fquare than that of Mexico, according to Gemelli, who view’d both of them. The ftreets alfo are much cleaner ; and there are a great many beautiful and magnificent parochial and conventual churches, with feveral rich monafteries and nunneries : But fome parts of this fine town, I perceive, are fubjedl to jnundations, as well as Mexico. It is the fce of a VOL. III. Biihop, Suffragan to the Archbifhop of Mexico, CHAP, whofe annual revenue is fourfcore thoufand pieces V. of eight per annum ; and there are two hundred thoufand more paid annually to the Canons and Officers of tire church ; the whole revenues whereof amount to three hundred thoufand pieces of eight per annum. The people of this city in general are exceeding wealthy ; tho’ the Laity, in this part of the world, cannot pretend to vie with the Clergy, either in eftates or influence. 3. VeraCruz, or VeraCruz, Ulva, fituate in the Gulph of Mexico, in 1 8 degrees, or ulva odd minutes, north latitude, and in 1 00 degrees of ‘ weftern longitude, lying about flxty-five or feventy leagues Ibuth-eaft of the city of Mexico, in a bar- ren Tandy plain ; but confiderable upon account of an excellent harbour, defended by its natural fitua- tion within the rocks, and by a caftie and forts at the entrance : It is alfo of importance, on account of the Flotilla’s retorting hither to receive the Gold and Silver found in the mines of Mexico ; and its being a mart for all manner of merchandize and rich goods that are brought hither to the Fair from China, Eaft-Indies, Peru, and Europe. The town extends itfelf from eaft to weft, being much longer than broad ; but it is not more than half a league in circumference. The walls are of very little ufe, the fands being level with the tops of them in many places ; but the caftie and forts are fo fituated, as to be a defence to the (hips in the har- bour. The air is very unhealthful, efpecially du- ring the north-winds, which blow frequently on this coaft. The place is alfo very poor, being in- habited by Blacks and Mulattoes, and fome few Spa- niards ; unlefs when the Flota is there, and then vaft multitudes refort to Vera Cruz from all parts, living in little huts or tents while the fleet remains there ; but, upon the departure of the fleet, all peo- ple of fubftance retire into the country, as well on account of their healths, as becaufe their effects are not in any fecurity there, the town having been fe- veral times plunder’d by Buccaneers or Pirates. I don’t find there is more than one parifh-church in the place, but there are fome convents and an hof- pita! that have churches belonging to them. The houfcs are, for the moft part, thatch’d cottages; the owners moft of them fifhermen. The ordinary garrifon the Spaniards have here, confifts of a troop of fixty horfe, and two companies of foot ; which are fcarce fufficient to defend the town again!! the Buccaneers. It was near this place, viz. at Ulva, Vha, or or old Vera Cruz, that Cortez landed, when he ^, Vers enter’d on the conqueft of Mexico ; but the old town, not having fo commodious an harbour, was deferted ; and there are now fcarce any remains of it. The province of Guaxaca, or Guaxata, is Guaxaca bounded by the North-lea on the north ; by Tabalco province, on the eaft ; by the South-fea on the fouth ; and by Tlafcala, or Los Angelos, towards the welt The chief towns are, 1 . Spirito Sandto, fituate SpiritoSanft® 'I’ In town. i 3 8 THE PRESENT STATE CHAP, in 17 degrees, odd minutes, north latitude, and in V. 97 degrees of weftern longitude, at the foot of cer- ta ’ n mounta * ns near the South-fea. 2. Guax- Mvva ata, the capital, fituate in a fine valley on the banks of the river Alvarado, about twenty leagues to the louthward of La Vera Cruz : It is a Bifhop’s fee. Suffragan of Mexico, and faid to be a rich, well built town, and the country about it full of Guatulco villages. 3. Guatulco, or Aquatu'lco, fituate on jaioDur, the South-fea, in 1 5 degrees and a half north lati- tude, and 9 8 degrees of wefiern longitude, once a good Spanifh town ; but, having been frequently plunder’d by Enemies and Pirates, was totally de- ferted ; and there is now fcarce any remains of the town but a fmall chappel, and is only mention’d here for its excellent harbour, which, our Seamen relate, is one of the moft commodious on the TecoantI- coaft of Mexico. 4. Tecoantipeque,. fituated to the eaftward of Guatulco, on a river that falls into the South-fea, faid to be a well built town ; but has been plunder’d, I perceive, more ' than once by the Buckaneers. The air of this province is good, and the lands fruitful : They have great numbers of Horfes, Mules, Sheep and Oxen 3 and, abounding in Mul- berry - trees, make more Silk than any part of Mexico. Here are alfo rich mines of Gold and Silver, and Gold Sands in feveral of their rivers. It produces Caffia, Cochineel, Corn, Cotton, Sugar, Cocoa-nuts, Plantains, and a variety of other fruits. The province is mountainous, like the reft of Mex- ico 3 but has feveral fine vallies in it, particularly that of Guaxaca, which is 1 6 leagues in length, and full of villages ; and, the country extending both to the North and the South-feas, is extremely well fituated for trade. Tabafco pro- The province of Tabafco is bounded by the Bay of Campeachy on the north ; by Jucatan on the eaft ; by Chiapa on the fouth ; and by Guaxaca on the weft ; and was heretofore deem’d a part of Jucatan. As moft part of this province lies on the Bay of Campeachy, where the Logwood grows which our Dyers ufe, the land is generally fo flat and low, that it remains under water great part of the year. Dam pier relates, that it rains nine months in the year here ; and that the Logwood-cutters work in the water ufually up to their knees, when they fell thofe trees ; and they can fcarce find a dry piece of ground to build their huts on ; that there are woods and thickets of Mangrooves, Bambow-canes and Briars on the coaft, that grow in the water a yard deep, and are almoft impenetrable : However, farther up in the country, are fine favannahs, or meadow-grounds, and gentle rifing hills on the fides of them, planted with Guava’s, Cocoa-nut-trees, and other fruits 3 and hills beyond them, on which grow - - — j 7 - - Cedar, Brazil-wood, and other good timber, in the vallies between the hills, they have Indian- corn, Rice, Barley, and ail manner of garden fluff j and the Spaniards have introduced Grapes, Figs, CHA Lemons, Oranges, and other European fruits : Here V. are alfo found Deer, and a fpecies of wild Hoes, vys proper to America, and almoft all forts of Euro- pean cattle. But, tho’ the fea-coafis of this pro- vince are overflow’d fix or feven months of the year, it is fo hot and dry there for three months, viz. in February, March, and April, that there is’ fcarce any enduring it, or any frefh water to be found ; which makes the country very unhealthful, and is the reafon, poffibly, that there are no towns near the coaft ; for, as for Tabafco, fo much talk’d of, I find fcarce any traces of it, only a large river ol that name ; on the banks whereof are fome ftraggling Indian houfes, and Fifhermens huts ; but nothing that has the appearance of a town. Dam pier, who lived among the Jamaica Log- wood-cutters a great while, in the Bay of Cam- peachy, allures us, there is not fo much as an Indian village, much left a Spanifh town, within four or fi ve leagues oi the coaft, in the Bay of Campeachy, lor feveral hundred miles. He adds, that it is very plealant failing up the river Tabafco, the banks being planted with tall Cabbage-trees an hundred loot high, and with the largeft Cotton and other rimber-trees, that are to be met with any where : That, eight leagues up the river, the Spaniards have a breaft-work and a fmall guard to watch the Buc- caneers, who fometimes venture up, and have a£Iu- ally plunder’d the town call’d Villa de Mole, which lies four leagues higher than the breaft-work ; and this feenis to me to be the chief town in the coun- try 3 for he tells us, here is a fort and a church in it, and that it is inhabited by Spaniards and In- dians : That thus far the fhips come up with Euro- pean goods in the months of November or De- cember, and ftay here till June or July, taking Cocoa and other native commodities in return^ That all the Merchants and Tradefmen in the country refort hither at Chriftmas, which very much enriches the place. He mentions alfo the town of Eftape, lying on the fame river, four leagues be- yond Villa de Mole ; laid to be a town of pretty good trade, and of fuch force, that it repulfod Cap- tain He wet, when he attack’d it with two hun- dred defperate Buccaneers. He mentions a flourilh- ing town, call’d Halpo, dfo higher up the river of Tabafco. The province of Jucatan, or Yucatan, is a pe- Jucatan pre=. ninfula, fituated in the Gulph oi JMexico, between the Bays of Campeachy and Honduras : The ifth- mus whereof has the provinces of Tabafco and Chiapa on the weft. This peninfula extends from 1 6 to z 1 degrees, odd minutes, north latitude, and lies between the 89th and 94th degrees of weft lon- gitude : It is generally flat, low land, foarce any hills, unlefs in the weftern part of it, near the ifthmus : It is now thinly inhabited, efpeciallv near the coafts 3 tho’ it was very full of people before the CHAP. V. ■Campeachy town. Merida town. Valladolid town. Cozumel ifland. Chiapa pro- vince. ■Chiapa town. Soconufco -province. 'Swonufco : 'town, OF MEXICO, *39 the Spaniards deftroy’d the natives. This country is not agreeable to European conftitutions, the air being exceffive hot, and the lands near the coaft frequently under water. The chief produce of the country is Cotton, Salt, and Logwood ; and the Indians employ themfelves pretty much in hilling. The onlv Spanifh town on this extenhve coaft is Campeachy, fituate on the weft-hde of the penin- fula, in 19 degrees odd minutes north latitude : It hands in a bending of the land, but open to the fea ; and, being built of ftone, and furrounded with a good wall, makes a fine appearance : It has a citadel for its defence ; notwithstanding which, it has been twice taken by the Buccaneers, viz. in the years 1650, and 1678 ; the laft time by fur- prize, the Buccaneers enter’d the gates in the day- time without oppofttion, the Spaniards looking up- on them to be a party of their own garrifon, re- turn’d from an expedition out of the country. There are two inland Spanifh towns of fome note in Jucatan, viz. Merida and Valladolid. The town of Merida is fituated in 20 degrees, odd minutes, north latitude, between thirty and forty miles from the North-fea, and is a Bifhop’s fee ; but I meet with no farther defcription of it. The town of Valladolid is fituated on the eaft-fide of the penin- fula, in 19 degrees, odd minutes, north latitude, about thirty miles within land, and forty to the weftward of the ifland of Cozumel. The province of Chiapa is an inland country, bounded by Tabaico on the north ; by Jucatan on the eaft ; and by Soconufco on the fouth : It is mountainous, but well wooded and water’d, and has feveral fruitful vallies, where they feed great herds of cattel ; and they have a pretty brifk trade with the neighbouring provinces. The chief town is Chiapa, or Cividad Real, fituate in 1 6 degrees, odd minutes, of north latitude, in a plain furrounded by mountains, at an equal diftance almoft from the North and South-fea : It is a Bifhop’s fee, and the feat of their courts of Juftice ; and there are fome monafteries in the town ; but I don’t find it is cither rich or populous. There is another tov/n call’d Chiapa de los Indos, becaufe it is inhabited by the natives, the largeft Indian town in the country, and fituate about 1 2 leagues from Spanifh Chiapa. The province of Soconufco is bounded by Chiapa on the north ; by Guatimala towards the eaft ; and by the South-fea on the fouth and weft : It lies along the coaft of the South-fea for above an hun- dred miles, and is not a very fruitful country ; neither do they feem to have much trade : Our Seamen obferve, that it is very mountainous ; and that the higheft mountain, which is a vulcaxio, goes by the name of Soconufco : That to the fouth- eaft of this vulcano runs a river, on the banks whereof is fituated a large Indian town ; and that both the town and the river take their names from the vulcano. The Audience of Guatimala is bounded by that CHAR, of Mexico on the north- weft ; by the North-fea on the north-eaft ; by the province of Darien, or Terra-ftrrna Proper, in South- America, on the fouth-eaft ; and by the South-fea on the fouth-weft 1 being about 1000 miles in length from the north- weft to the fouth-eaft ; but fcarce half fo broad in any part, and in fome not 1 00 miles broad. This Audience is fubdivided into fix provinces ; viz. 1 .V era Subdivifioa Paz ; 2. Guatimala Proper ; 3. Honduras ; 4. Ni- ot il: ’ caragua ; 5. Cofta Rica ; and 6. Veragua. The province of Vera Paz is bounded by the Vera Par Gulph of Honduras and Jucatan on the north; by province, the province of Honduras on the eaft ; by Guatimala Proper on the fouth ; and by Chiapa towards the weft. It is faid to have had the name of Vera Paz, or T rue Peace, given it by the Spaniards ; becaufe the natives fubmitted, and made peace with them volun- tarily. It is a woody mountainous country, fubjedf to earthquakes, and neither fruitful or populous. The Spaniards mention two towns; viz. Vera Paz, Vera Paz s or Co ban town, and or Coban, and St. Peter’s, both of them fituated a little to the fouthward of the Bay of Honduras ; St. Peter's, but travellers have not thought them worth a par- ticular defcription. Coban, or Vera Paz, is found in our maps, in 1 5 degrees north latitude, and St. Peter’s a little to the fouth-eaft of it. The province of Guatimala Proper is bounded Guay' mate by Vera Paz towards the north ; by Nicaragua and P rovinc? * Honduras on the eaft ; and by the South-fea on the fouth-weft. It is a mountainous country, every mountain almoft a vulcano, and fubjeCt to earth- quakes and fiery eruptions ; asDAMPiER, Captain Rogers, and others relate, who were very well acquainted with the coaft. There are, however, many fruitful valleys, abounding in corn and pa- fturage, and rich drugs for dying ; viz, Indico, Otta, Silvefter, and Cochineel ; and great herds of cattle ; feveral Sugar plantations, and fome Silver mines ; and, as it lies along the coaft of the South- fea, is well fupplied with fifh. It is agreed, by all, to be an exceeding fruitful country ; nor are the heats fo intolerable as might be expected between the Tropics, the earth being refrefhed by the annual rains, and the land and fea-breezes, which fucceed each other every day at ftated hours. The chief towns are, 1 . Guatimala, or St. Jago de Guati- Guatimala mala, the capital, fituate in 1 4 degrees north lati- town - tude, 8 or 9 leagues from the South-fea. There is a Guatimala famous mountain, with two tops, 2 or 3 leagues from this city ; out of one of which blues water, and out of the other, fire. At the bottom of this mountain flood the old town of Guatimala, once deftroy’d by a fiery eruption, and a fecond time by water iffuing from the other head ; which induced the Spaniards to build the new city 3 leagues from, thence : .However, at this diftance, the town is fometimes cover’d with sihes from the fiery vulcano, which throws out Hones and pieces of rocks as big T z as vulcano. 140 THE PRESENT STATE CHAP. V. v>/V Trinidad town, St. Mi- chael’s, a fort-town. Amapalla town* Honduras province. "Valladolid sown, Truxillo town. Gracias a Dios, as a houfe, and is obferved to burn moil fiercely du- ring the rainy feafon. The new town lies on a ri- ver in a fine valley, and is one of the largeft cities in Spanifh America, containing upwards of eight thoufand families : It is the feat of the Prefident, and of the courts of Juftice of this Audience; a Bi- lhop’s fee. Suffragan of Mexico; a univerfity ; and has feveral fine monafteries : The cathedral and pa- rochial churches alfo are exceeding rich. 2. Tri- nidad, or Sonfonate, a port-team, fituate on the Bay of the Souch-fea, 100 miles fouth-eaft of Gua- timala, in 1 3 degrees north latitude: It confifts of four or five hundred Spanifh families, befides Mu- latto® and Indians, and has five churches. 3. St. Michael’s, another port-town to the eaftward of Sonfonate, having feven or eight hundred houfes, and feveral fine churches ; and near it is a great vul- cano, call’d The vulcano of St. Michael’s ; beyond which is a large lake, the banks whereof are Well inhabited by Spaniards, Mulattoes, and Indians. 4. Amapalla, fituate on a fine bay to the eaftward of St. Michael s ; in which are above an hundred Spanifh families, who have a brifk trade for their Coch ineel, Cocoa, Hides, Indico, Nc. The province of Honduras, or Comaiagua, is bounded by the Gulph of Honduras and the North- fea on the north and eaft ; by Guatimala Proper and Nicaragua on the fouth ; and by Vera Paz on the weft. T he air of this country is faid to be general- ly good, and the foil rich in corn and pafturage, oc- cafioned by the annual floods of their numerous ri- vers, and was exceedingly populous, ’till the natives were deftroy’d by the Spaniards, who tortured and put many of them to death, ’tis faid, to make them difeover their Gold and Silver, and kill’d many more, by obliging them to work in the mines, and carry burthens beyond their ftrength. It is even laid, in a letter to Charles V. written by the Bifhop of Chiapa, that the Spaniards murder’d two millions of people in this province ; but this account muft cer- tainly be very extravagant, there being fcarce fo ma- ny people in it, it it be true, as moft writers agree, that America was not fo well peopled as Europe, when the Spaniards came thither. The chief towns are, 1. Valladolid, or Comaiagua, fituate in ^de- grees of north latitude, and 91 degrees of weftern longitude, in a pleafant valley, on the weft-fide of a river, which falls into the Gulph of Honduras, 80 miles north of the town. Here the Silver is refined, which is dug in the adjacent mountains. It is the rei id cnee of the Governor of the province, and a Bi (hop’s fee, Suffragan of Mexico. 2. Truxillo, fituate in i 5 degrees, odd minutes, north latitude, cn a bay or the fea, on tire north-fide of the province : in ftands on an eminence between two rivers, the mouths whereof, and fome illands that lie before it, rorrn the harbour, which is defended by a caftle ; but the place has however been plunder’d feveral : times by the Buccaneers. 3. Gracias a Dios, fitu- ated at the mouth of a river near the north-eaft C H A P, Cape, or Promontory of Honduras. It ftands on a y, mountain near a fine fruitful valley, and hath fome Gold mines in tire neighbourhood" of it. The province of Nicaragua is bounded by Hon- Nicaragua d uras on the north, by the North-fea on the eaft, by P rsvince - Cofta Rica towards the fouth-eaft, and by the South- iea on the fouth-weft : 7 his country confifts of mountains, vallies, and fpacious lakes, with fine favannahs or meadows, in which feed numerous herds of cattle : They have alfo Sugar plantations, and a variety of pleafant fruits : And their conftant fea and land-breezes, with that extenfive lake, that' runs quite crofs it, renders this province cool and healthful ; infomuch, that fome of our countrymen, that have refided here, call it the paradife of the In- dies : But the vulcano’s in their mountains, and the earthquakes occafion’d by them, too often dif- tutb their repole. I he weft end of the great lake Nicaragua? j I have mentioned, lies within a few leagues of the lake- South-fea, and ftretching to the weftward, falls into the North-fea by a narrow channel, ufually call’d the river ot Nicaragua ; but this channel, it feems, is fo obftrufited by rocks, and the river falls down fuch precipices frequently, that the navigation is fcarce practicable : Nor do the Spaniards care to move thefe obftruCtions, left fome other nations Ihould find a way through this lake to their fettlements on the South-fea ; for the head of the lake is not more than four or five leagues diftant from the South-fea. It is of a good depth after palling the narrow channel from the North-fea, and upwards of an 1 00 miles in length, and thirty or forty in breadth : It ebbs and flows like the fea, and the banks of it are pretty well inhabited, on account of the plenty of good fifh in it, and other conveniencies ; but it is pretty much infefted by Crocodiles and Alligators. The chief towns in this province are, r . The Leon town, city of Leon, fituate towards the weft end of the laid lake, in 1 1 degrees and a half of north latitude, about 20 miles to the eaftward of cbe Soutb-lea : It ftands in a plain at the foot of a piqued mountain, call’d. The vulcano of Leon. It is a Bifbop’s fee; • and, befides the cathedral, has feveral churches and monafteries, and about a thoufand houfes, whereof the Governor’s and fome of the principal inhabitants make a grand appearance ; but they are moft of them low built on account of earthquakes. The riches of the place has tempted the Buccaneers to plunder it feveral times, and particularly the crew that Dam- pier fail’d with in the year 16 84, who fet fire to the place, on the Governor’s refilling them a fum of money : And, perhaps, the eafinels of accefs to this city, was one great inducement to their attempting it ; for Dam pier relates, that the way to it lay through fine level favannahs or meadows : Nor does he mention any fortifications about it, only fome breaft-works in the way thither. 2. Ria Lexa, or Ria Lexa Rea Lejoj fituate on the South-fea, being the port- town< town OF MEXICO. 141 t H A P. town to the city of Leon, and fituate 20 miles V. weft of it. The town ftands in a plain on a fmall river, is pretty large, and, according to Dam- pier, has three churches and an hofpital ; but is a very fickly place, on account of the creeks and falt-marfhes that lie about it, and occafion a very Grenada naufeous fmell. 3. Granada, fituate on the fouth- town. f !C ] e D f th e Jake Q f Nicaragua, about 60 miles fouth - eaft of Leon, a good trading town, with forne for- tifications about it ; and yet it was taken and plun- St. John’s, der’d by the Buccaneers in the year 1686. 4. St. John’s, fituate on the north-fide of the river of Ni- caragua, about 100 miles to the weftward of the North- fea ; but I meet with no farther difcription of it. Cofta Rica The province of Cofta Rica, or the Rich coaft, province. j s hounded by Nicaragua on the north ; by the North-fea on the eaft ; by Veragua on the fouth- eaft ; and by the South-fea on the fouth-weft ; ex- tending 200 miles along the South-fea coaft, and about 60 miles along the coaft of the North-fea. This is a mountainous barren country ; but inex- preffibly rich in Gold and Silver mines, from whence its (Lores obtain’d the name of the rich coaft. The Nicoya chief towns are, 1. Nicoya, fituated 30 miles to the eaftward of a bay of the South-fea, to which, how- ever, it gives its name, and lies in 1 o degrees, odd minutes, north latitude, confiding of about fourfcore houfes. The bay is much frequented by the Spa- nifti (hipping, being a commodious harbour, and feveral rivers falling into it; but what is moft con- fiderable, is a Pearl fiftiery the Spaniards have here, which yields them a confiderable profit : This may well be called the rich coaft, therefore, when the fea and the land yield fuch valuable treafures. All our Seamen take notice of the mountains near this coaft, both on account of their vaft height, and the figure they make at fea : They are called The crown The crown mountains, and are five or fix ridges of hills, gra- jnountains. f Lir mounting each other, and refembling a crown at a diftance. But to return to the town of Nicoya : This alfo was taken and plunder’d by the Buccaneers in the year 1687, who extorted a con- fiderable fum from the Governor, for not fetting it on fire ; fo exceeding weak do the Spaniards appear to be in thefe parts. 2. The fecond town I (hall Carthage mention, is Carthage, the capital, which is fituated town. a lf Q or m j] es w ithin the land to the eaftward of Nicoya ; but I meet with no farther defcription of it : As it is a barren country, there are few towns in it, and thofe are not very confiderable. Veragua The province of Veragua is bounded by the province. North-fea on the north ; by the province of Da- rien, or Terra-firma Proper in fouth America, and • by the Gulph of Panama on the eaft ; by the South- fea on the fouth, and by Cofta Rica on the weft. This is a mountainous barren country ; but then their mountains are well cloath’d with timber, and near the coaft of the North and South-feas, the land is low and incumber’d wirh thickets of Mangroves CHAP, and Bamboa-canes, and generally very unhealthful ; V. but they have mines of Gold and Silver, not inferior to thofe of Cofta Rica ; and in their rivers, which fall from the mountains, is frequently found Gold- duft : But the courfe of their rivers is very fhort and rapid, efpecially thofe that fall into the North-fea, the mountains lying very near that fhore; nor are they far from the coaft of the South-fea. The chief towns are, 1 . Santa Fe, or St. Faith’s, fituate in the Santa Fe middle of the province, in 9 degrees of north lati- town, tude, and 83 degrees of weftern longitude; where, ’tis faid, the Spaniards melt their Gold into bars ; but their capital is faid to be, 2. The town of Concep- Conception tion, fituate on a bay of the North-fea, 40 miles town, north of Santa Fe ; but I meet with no farther de- feription of either of thefe towns. 3. Puebla Nova, p ue bla No- or New Town, fituate at the mouth of a river, va. which runs into the South-fea, encompafl’ed with bogs and morafies ; faid to be a large place, but of no force, being taken by a crew of Buccaneers, with whom Dampier fail’d in the year 1685. 4. Cbi- Chiriquj riqui, fituate on a river, that falls into the South- town - fea, about 3 miles from its mouth, and upwards of 40 miles to the weftward of Puebla Nova. This town alio was taken by the Buccaneers in 1686. As was, 5.LaVillia, on the feme coaft, where the La Villi* Buccaneers fur priz'd three hundred Spaniards in the t0 ' vn * church at high-mafs, and poflels’d themfelves of a vaft treafure in bullion and rich merchandize ; but falling into an ambufcade afterwards, loft moft part of their plunder ; however, they carried off their prifoners, and had upwards of ten thoufend pieces of eight paid them for their ranfom. Having given a defcription of modern Mexico, and feme of the chief Spaniih towns; I proceed to defcribe the towns and villages of the Indians, both ancient and modern, with the form of their houfes,. and the materials, of which they were, or are built, with their furniture, as far as we can learn thefe particulars from the firft difcoverers, or from tra- vellers that have lately vifited thofe countries ; and firft J fhall treat of the city of Old Mexico. What the form of the old city was, no author, OH Mexico that I have met with, attempts to defcribe, any defcrib’d. more than the dimenfions: But, as it flood on the fame ground the prefent city ftands on, there is rea- fon to believe it was fquare, as modern Mexico is, or pretty near that figure ; and the dimenfions may be gather’d from the number of families that refided in it, which the hiftories of that conqueft make to be about fixty thoufend. Thefe hiftories inform us alfo, that there was a vaft fquare in the middle of the city, which, in the time of their great Fair, con- tain’d an hundred thoufand people, that refortecl thither with their goods and merchandizes, and lodged in the booths and tents they erected in that fquare : That the town was divided into two parts 3 the one inhabited by the Court, the Nobility, and per fens A 2 T H E PRESENT STATE CHAP, perfons of diftinclion ; and the other by Tradefmen V. and people of inferior rank : That the former was much the largeft part ; where the ftreets were fpa- Eul ' dinss ' cions, the houfes of white hewn ftone, one ftory high ; and that they had flat roofs adorn’d with bat- Purnitiire. tlements : That their cielings were of Cedar, Cy- preis, or other odoriferous wood ; and their hangings were either of furs and beautiful feathers, or painted cotton linen, with a variety of figures of birds, beafts, or plants. The only furniture mention’d befides, are their beds and chairs, which do not feem fuitable to the reft ; for their beds were no better than mats, and their chairs of wood; nor were any of the No- bility ferved in plate ; This was the prerogative on- ly of the Emperor, the reft eat out of earthen difhes. The only publick buildings writers give us any Pinceji defcription of, are the Emperor’s palaces, and their temples; and thefe deferiptions are not fo full as could be wifh’d. The palace where Mont k zu m a, thelaft Em- peror refided, f jfficiently fhew’d the magnificence of that Prince, fays the Hiflory of the Conquejl : The pile was fo very large, that it open’d with thirty gates, into as many different ftreets ; the principal front making one fide of the great fquare above - mention’d. The materials of this building were polifh’d Jafper, black, red and white; and over each gate, in a large ftiield, were the arms of Monte- zuma, being a Griffin, half Eagle and half Lion, with the wings extended, and a Tiger in his talons. T his palace confifted of feveral fquare courts, fo vaftly extenfive, that here were apartments for three thoufand of his women, and a proportionable num- ber of other domefticks; and might rather he ftyled a feparate city, than a palace. The palace affign’d to C o r t e z and his army was vaftly large, containing commodious rooms and a- partments for his five hundred Spaniards, and for fe- veral thoufand Tlafcalans, his Indian allies ; the whole being furrounded with a thick ftone-wall, and flank’d with ftately towers, at convenient diftances. In feveral of the ftreets of Mexico were canals, with bridges over them, and many thoufand boats ply’d upon the water to bring in provihons, and for the fervice or pleafure of the inhabitants. There were two vaft aqueduefts alfo made by the Emperor Mon- tezuma, which brought in frefti water from a mountain 3 miles diftance, fupplying the palaces and the numerous fountains in the high ftreets with water. Befides the two palaces already mention’d, Mon- tezuma had feveral pleafure-houfes in and about the city : In one of which were great galleries, fbp- ported by pillars of jafper, in which were kept every fpecies of land-fowls and birds that Mexico produ- ced : The fea- fowls were preferved and fed in refer- voirs of fait water ; and thofe that were bred in lakes and rivers, in others of frefti water; and fo numerous were the feather’d race of all kinds, that it is faid to be the bufinefs of three hundred men to C H A p feed and look after them. y In another fquare, of the lame palace, were kept all manner of wild beafts, in their refpetlive dens and cages, in a moft regular order ; and in another part of this palace were apartments for dwarfs and monfters, fools and naturals, of the human fpecies, kept for the fport or fervice of the Court. Here were alfo armories, well replenifh’d with armour, and all manner of Indian weapons; of wdiichl final! give a particular account under another head : And in the fame quarter were feen the artifi- cers at work that form’d and clean’d thefe arms. All thefe palaces had fpacious and elegant gardens, not planted with fruic, but laid out in fine fhady walks, beds of fragrant and medicinal herbs, and parterres of beautiful flowers ; with magnificent fummer-houfes, bagnio’s, arbours, and fountains, that might have vied with any thing of that kind in Europe in thofe days. But there was a building, in the moft folitary part of thefe gardens, which furprized the Spaniards, tis faid, more than any thing they met with ; and that was an edifice, call’d The Houfe of Sorrow ; to which the Emperor ufed to retire on the death of lu's near relations, or on any calamity, publick or pri- vate : It was fo contrived, as to infpire thofe that approached it with gloomy melancholy thoughts ; the roof, the ceiling, and Hues were black ; and only light enough let in to difeover the difmal obfeurity. Elere he ufed to remain till the time of mourning and humiliation were over ; and here, if we may credit thofe authors who writ the Conqucji of Mex- ico, Montezuma ufed to converfe familiarly with the Prince of darknefs: But thofe who read thefe gentlemen, are at liberty to believe as much or as little as they pleafe of fj.ch relations. I come, in the next place, to the defcription of Temples, the Mexican temples, the principal whereof was dedicated to 2i2lt3tipUfii!, the God of War; I his flood on a fpacious fquare, furrounded by a wall of hewn ftone, wrought on the ouefide with various knots of twifted ferpents : At a little diftance • from the principal gate was a place of worfhip, built of ftone, and afeended on the outfide by thirty fteps, on the top whereof was a long flat roof, and the front of it adorn d with the fculls of men that had been facrificed, placed in rows one above ano- ther, which half cover’d this edifice. On each fide of the grand fquare was a magnifi- cent gate, and over every one of them four ftatues, fuppofed to reprefent feme fubordinate deities ; for all that enter’d the gates feem’u to adore them. Un- der the wall, on the infide, were the apartments of the Priefts, and of their officers and fervants ; and yet the fquare was fo very extenfive, that there was room lei t for eight or ten thoufand perfons to dance on their folemn feftivals. -In PTTZZIPUTSZI $//K/fr/tAss>* * "• 'I CHAP. V. ij Some other ancient towns de- j.Jcribed, l O F M E X I C O. 143 In the middle of the fquare was an edifice of a pyramidal form; three fides whereof were fmooth, and the fourth contain’d an hundred and twenty ftone fteps, by which they afcended to the top, that was a flat of 40 foot fquare, laid with Jaiper of all colours. The rails, or balluftrade, that furrounded this, were of a ferpentine form, cover’d with a ftone as black as jet, and join d with a red and white cement, that was very ornamental. On each fide, within the rails, was a marble fta- tue, fupporting a vaft candleftick, and between them a green ftone, five fpans high from the floor, which terminated in a point ; and on this they extended the human victims they facrificed, throwing them on their backs, and ripping them open with knives made of flint ; after which, they tore out their hearts, and offer’d them to their idols : For, on the farther fide, oppofite to the flairs, flood a chappel of exquifite materials and architecture, where the idol was placed on an altar. This image v/as of human form, and fat on a throne, fuftained by an azure globe, which they called heaven; from the fides whereof iffued four rods, their ends refembling the heads of ferpents : On the head of the image was a helmet, adorn’d with plumes of various colours ; its countenance was fevere and terrible, and much de- formed by two blue bands, which bound the fore- head and the nofe ; in the right hand it held a twi- ning ferpent, that ferved for a ftaff ; and in the left four arrows, which were revered as the gift of hea- ven : It bore a fhield alfo, adorn’d with fine white plumes in the form of a crofs. On the left hand was another chappel of the fame form, in which was 'the image of SElalOffe, another of their gods ; refembling the former however in every refpedt : They were efteemed friends, or rather fo intimately united, that they afcribed to them the fame attri- butes, and paid them the fame honours. The walls and altars of thefe chappels were immenfely rich, cover’d with jewels and precious (tones, fet on fea- thers of various colours. There were eight of thefe temples in Mexico, of the like architecture and equal wealth, befides two thoufand fmall ones, dedicated to as many different gods; every ftreet having its tutelary deity ; every diftrefs or calamity its particular altar, to which they had recourfe for a remedy of their feveral fufferings : But, having referved a chapter on purpole to treat of their religion, I forbear enlarging on that fubject here. Thofe, who have written the Conquejl of Mex- ico, have given us an account of feveral other no- ble cities and towns in that empire, whole buildings were little inferior to the capital ; particularly Iz- tacpalapa, fituate on an ifland in the lake about two leagues from Mexico, and with which it had a com- munication by a fpacious ftone caufey. The Spani- ards, who pafi’d through this city in their firft march to. Mexico, relate, that it confifted of ten thoufand houfes, many of which were built like thofe of Mex- CHAP. ico, with flat roofs, battlements, and cedar cielings; V, and that the rooms of the Cacique’s palace were hung with cotton linen finely painted : That, among other curiofities in his garden, he had a fquare refer- voir of ftone, with flairs on every fide going down to the bottom, each fide containing four hundred paces. Another city they pafs’d through, call’d Cho- lula, which for beauty they compared to Valladolid in Spain, and affure us, that it contained twenty thoufand fouls, and had fuburbs of equal dimenfions. 1 he city of Tlalcala alfo, they inform us, was built with ftone and brick, and the houfes had flat roofs, with battlements of terrafles, like thofe of Mexico : That it was fituated on four eminencies, which were united and defended by a ftone wall : So well were thefe people verfed in architecture in thofe days; and yet I do not find that there are any towns in the country now built of brick or ftone, except thofe in poftelfion of the Spaniards. I pro- ceed therefore, in the laft place, to deferibe the towns there are in Mexico at this day, inhabited by fuch Indians as are not come into the Spanifh modes of building, with the form of their houfes and their furniture. Even thofe Indians, that have fubmitted to the Indian Spaniards, and embraced their religion (if they have townSl not intermarried with them, and are not inhabitants of their great towns) live in thatch’d cottages, and obferve very little regularity in laying out their ftreets ; their houfes neither Hand contiguous, or in any order, but are difperfed here and there, as in our villages, every one having his feparate planta- tion ; only they have one common guard-houfe, or fort, fituate on an eminence, whither they refort on the approach of an enemy, or when they affemble in council. They never lay any deep foundations ; their hou- fes Hand in a manner upon the furface of the ground : They fet up fmall ports, feven or eight foot high, two or three foot afunder ; and, having fplinter’d up the intervals, cover them with clay : The roof is made like that of an ordinary barn, and cover’d ufually with Palmeto leaves : The length of the building is about 24 foot, and half as broad as it is long: The fire-hearth is in the middle of the houfe, and they have a hole over it to let out the (moke, but no chimneys: They build but one floor, and have no partitions; all the houfe is but one room : Inftead of beds they ufe hammocks, which are hung up on the principal beam, from one end to the other of the houfe ; nor have they any other feats or tables, but blocks of wood: Their furniture confifts of pots and pans, and other kitchen utenfils, with Gala- bafhes or Gourds of an uncommon fize to hold their liquor ; and their arms, bows, arrows, launces, darts, and quivers, with their tools, are hung round the cottage as ornaments, Their 144 T II E PRESENT STATE 1 heir guard-houfe is about i 30 foot long, and 25 broad ; the walls 9 or 1 o foot high, and the top of the roof about 20 foot in height, and thatch’d with Palmeto leaves, as the private houfes are ; but they have narrow loop-holes on the fides, from whence they can annoy an enemy with their arrows. Thefe houfes, as has been obferved, are generally fituated on an eminence ; and the ground is cleared of wood and fhrubs for a good fpace about them, that an enemy may find no (belter from their arrows, or any place to lie concealed. They have ftrong doors to defend the entrance to thefe houfes ; but the Spa- niards, it feems, eafilv burn down thefe little for- treffes, by (hooting flaming arrows into the thatch. C H A P. VI. Of the perfons and habits of the Mexicans; of their genius and temper , arts , manufactures , diet , ex- ert ifes, and diverfions. Negroe common- wealths. The per Tons of the In- dians. T HERE is at prefent a great variety of inha- bitants in Mexico ; viz. 1 . The native In- dians ; 2. The Spaniards, and other Europeans; 3. The defendants of the Spaniards unmix’d, who are called Crioli ; 4. The Mefti ces, or Mefties, the i flue of a Spaniard and an American ; 5. The Fine Mefties, the iffue of fuch iffue ; 6. The Terceroons dez Indies, the children of the laft, intermarried with pure Spaniards ; 7. The Quarteroons dez Indies, whole pofterity are allow’d the fame pri- vileges as pure Spaniards. The Blacks alfo are pretty numerous, having been carried over to the Indies from Africa, and by one means or other obtained their freedom. The iffue of a Spaniard (or other European) by one of thefe female Negroes, is call’d a Mulattoe : The defendants of thefe alfo are call’d Mulattoes, tho’ again intermarried v/ith Spaniards, and as white as the Spaniards themfelves ; and can never enjoy the privileges of Spaniards, unlefs they can conceal their defcent, which they frequently do, by removing from the place of their nativity. And there is alfo a mingled breed of Negroes and Indi- ans, whole defeendants are ever excluded from the privileges of Spaniards ’till their anceftors are for- gotten: But, befide thefe, there are feme common- wealths of Blacks, in feveral parts of Mexico, that own no fubjedlion to the Spaniards : Thefe were con- ftituted out ol the Negroes that run away from their mafters into the woodsand mountains; and, at length, became fo formidable, that the Spaniards were forced to enter into treaties with them, and grant them their liberties, and permit them to be govern’d by their own Magiftrates, on condition they would put a flop to their depredations. I proceed, in the next place, to ddcribe the per- lons and habits of the native Mexicans. The Indians, I find, are generally of a middle ftature, and their complexions a deep olive, darker than that of the Portuguefe : The men have ftreight CHAP VI. W'V'vl clean limbs, are big-boned, and well-fhaped, icarce a crooked or deformed perion is to be found among them : They are nimble and adlive, and run very fwiftly : The women are moderately fat, and well- fhaped; and the faces, both of men and women (who have not taken pains to alter the natural Ihape) are round : Their eyes large, either black or grey, lively and fparkling : Their foreheads are high ; their nofes (hort; the mouth of a moderate fiy.e ; their bps thin ; their chins and cheeks well propor- tion’d ; and all of them have fine fets of teeth : The features both of men and women generally good. In the wearing their hair, which is always black, they differ very much ; in feme places the men wear it Ihort, and the women long ; and in others it is juft the reverfe : Some are proud of having long hair hang down their backs; others wear it ftiort, juft below their ears, anj home tie it up behind ; but all agree in buffering no hair to remain upon them, unlefs the hair of their heads, and over their eyes; the reft is pull’d off by tweazers as loon as ever it appears, which is the bufinefs of the old wo- men, it feems ; infomuch, that the Spaniards did .not find a beard in the country, or any hair below the waift, when they arrived among them. There are fome nations of Indians that take abundance of pains to render their countenances deform’d ; they do not only flat the nofes of their new born infants, but fo prefs and fqueeze their heads between two boards, that they make them perfectly flat ; while others endeavour to mould their tender fkulls into the fhape of a fugar-loaf: And there are fcarceanyof them but disfigure their faces and bodies with paint, and rub themfelves over with oil or fat : They be- gin to anoint and pamt their children very young, and the women are the operators : The colours they chiefly affeft are a lively red, blue or yellow ; and fometimes they make the figures of men, beafts, birds, or plants, on every part of the body, but chiefly on the face: They draw thefe figures on the (kin with wooden pencils, gnaw’d at the end to the foftnefs of a brulh ; renewing the paint from time to time, ’till the colours are fix’d : 'But the way they often take to render the figures laftingand indelible, is by pricking the (It in with a thorn ’till the blood follows, and then rubbing the paint in with their hands : Some nations of Mexicans, when they go to the wars, paint their faces red, and their bodies with other colours, according to their feveral fan- cies ; but this is uiually wafti’d oft’ at night, and re- new’d every morning. As to their habits, moft of the Mexican nations The habits wear fome habit or other ; but there are Indians that go perfectly naked. Gim e lli relates, that he fa w UnS ' fome of the Chicbimecas, when he was at Mexico, who had no part of their bodies covered, but their nudities ; all the reft of the body was naked, and ftuin’d with feveral colours : That their faces were ftreak’d t i 1 * O F M E : CHAP, {freak'd with black lines, made by pricking the {kin, ■VI. and rubbing in the black liquor : That fome of thefe wore Stags fkulls on their heads with the horns on ; others had a Lion’s, a Tyger’s, or a Wolf s head upon their own, fatten’d about their necks with part of the beaft’s {kin : Thefe are worn as triumphs of their victories over thofe animals. But they aie ambitious of nothing fo much as of killing a Spani- ard, that they may fix his head on their own, and triumph in the deftru£tion of their moil dreaded enemy. There is another nation in Veragua, where the men cloath nothing but the Penis, which the infe- rior people wrap up in a leaf, and thofe of better quality inclofe in a cafe of gold and filver, of the faflnon of a cone or extinguifher, and adorn it with jewels, letting the Scrotum hang over in full view : But even thefe people, on feftivals, and other fo- Jemn occafions, have a white or black cotton gar- ment, like a Plowman’s frock, that reaches down to their heels ; and if an European gives them a fliirt, or any other cloathing, they immediately put it on, and reckon themfelves very fine. But if they Ornaments, have no cloaths, they feldom want ornaments for the face, ears, and neck, befides the painting of their fkins, already mentioned. The men have always a thin plate of gold or filver, hanging over their" lips, of an oval figure, and a piece being cut out of the upper fide, it is almott of the form ot a crefcent, the points whereof gently pinch the bridle of the nofe, and fatten it on ; the middle of this plate is about the thicknefs of a guinea, and grows gradually thinner towards the edges. This is the fize of the plate they wear when they afiemble in council, or at a feftival ; but they have one much lefs, that does not reach their lips, which they wear at other times. The women, inftead of a plate, wear a ring of the like fize, which goes through the bridle of the nofe, and by its weight fometimes draws it down to the mouth. Both men and women lay the larger j. ornaments afide while they are eating at an enter- tainment, and then put them on again, and the lef- fer fort do not hinder their eating. Their Great men alfo wear two gold plates, of the (hape ot an heart, a fpan long, at each ear, being faftend to it by a gold ring, which ftretches the ear to an immo- derate fize, and occafion’d Columbus to give this province the name of The country of Ears. They alfo wear a kind of coronet or bandage of gold or filver about their heads, eight or nine inches broad, and indented on the upper fide ; others have only a bandage of cane painted red, ftuck round with beau- tiful feathers {landing upright : And almott all the 1 Indians of both fexes wear firings or chains of beads, teeth, {hells, and other toys, hanging from the neck down to their breafts : Every perfon almott has three or four hundred of thefe chains on, and the larger and heavier they are, the more ornamental $ V o L. III. u c o. us the meaneft woman, when five is drefi’d, has fifteen cr C H A P> twenty pound weight of thefe firings, fome carry VI. thirty, and the men as much more : But thefe are worn only at fettivals, and on lolemn occafions. The women carry the men’s ornaments in bafkets on their {boulders to their attemblies, where they put them on, and will dance with that weight about them : The women, befides their ear-rings and necklaces, have fome of them bracelets of the fame materials on their arms. As to the Mexicans, that liv’d in towns when Habits of the the Spaniards arriv’d there, they had moft of them ^^dcans. fome cloathing, altho’ thofe that inhabited the coun- try, had little or no cloathing, any more than they have at this day. What the general habit of the Mexicans was, when the Spaniards firft came among them, I don’t find any where particularly deferib’d. They tell us, indeed, that Montezuma the Emperor, when he met Cortez at his entrance into Mexico, had on a robe of fine painted cotton linnen, that trail’d upon the ground, and was co- ver’d in a manner with glittering jewels, and preci- ous ftones ; that he wore a crown of gold, in form of a mitre, had fhoes of hammer’d gold, and a kind of Roman bufkin about his legs. The Spaniards alfo relate, that the High-prieft wore on his head a crown of beautiful feathers of various colours, with golden pendants, enrich’d with emeralds at his ears, and that he was cloath’d in a veft, and a fine fcarlet robe over it ; and in the pictures thev have given us of the Priefts, it appears, they had fandals on their feet, but their legs were bare, which makes it reafonable to believe, that the generality of the people, even in their capital city, wore neither {lockings or {hoes, if the reft ot their bodies were cloath’d ; and in other pictures they have given us the upper part of the body naked. I proceed in the next place to {hew how the In- dians are cloath’d, that live in the Spanifh tov/ns, or a „s t ' are under their government ; and thefe Gemelli Careri informs us, wear a ftiort waiftcoat and wide breeches, with a Ihort cloak of various colours over all ; and fome of them have fendals on their feet, but go bare-legg’d ; that the women wear a waiftcoat of cotton linnen, over which they have a frock or fhift, and a ftrait petticoat of various co- lours ; and when they go abroad, have another cloth wrapped about them. That the Meftige, Mulatto and Black women, ofthiBhck? who make the greateft part of the Mexican women, ^ Mulat " not being allow’d to wear veils, or cloath them- felves after the Spanlfti fafhion, and defpifing the Indian habit, go in an extravagant drefs, wearing a kind of petticoat about their fhoulders, like a cloak. Mr. Dam pier relates, that the country Indians, who are civiliz’d, in fome provinces wear a ftiort waiftcoat and breeches, and have a Palm-leaf for a hat, which is their holiday-drefs ; that they have no ftioes or {lockings, nor do they wear fo much as a U waiftcoat, 146 THE PRE! C Ii A P. waiftcoat on working-days ; that the women have VI. a cotton linnen petticoat, and a kind of frock, that readies down to their knees, the bofom whereof is open and finely work’d ; that they tie their hair up in a knot behind, and in this drefs they think them- felves very fine. He does not inform us, whether they have any other covering for their heads, be- fides their hair. The fenius As to the genius and temper of the Mexicans, it odheMexi- f 2£rnSj there is a wide difference between what they were when the Spaniards arrived amongft them, and what we find them to be at this day : They are far from being improv’d either in arts or morals. The firft adventurers inform us, that they were a wonderful ingenious people, inoffenfive and hofpita- ble; and, except in the matter of human facrifices, and their idolatrous worfhip, which their fuperftition requir’d, there was very little reformation wanting; nay, we are affured, that the generality of the people detefted thefe facrifices, and were weary of their _ , fuperftition. Good artifi* tv .1 . - ?ers , it appears, they were no mean artificers in paint- ing, ftatuary and building: That they ufed both the pencil, and the beautiful feathers of birds, in drawing and forming of pictures ; and without any manner of iron tool, hew’d out vaft pillars and flabs of marble out of the rock, and polifh’d them, as they did feveral precious ftones and jewels ; that they made arms, defenfive and offenfive ; wrought mines of gold, filver and copper, melted and fepa- rated thefe metals, and afterwards wrought them into plates and veflels ; and all this, as has been ob- ferv’d, without being acquainted with iron. We find alfo, that they built great towns, removed ftones of prodigious fize from place to place ; and yet had no horfes, oxen or other cattle for draught, but all their carriages were drawn by men. They had alfo images of gold and filver, wood and ftone, and yet not an iron tool to work with. And how did they carve and engrave, paint and build, remains very much a fecret to us. The Spaniards were fo intent upon plundering their gold and filver, that they neg- lected to make proper obfervations on thefe articles ; at leaft, they did not think fit to tranfmit thefe matters to pofterity : We have only lame and im- perfect accounts of the arts and manufactures of the Indians ; we only know, that there were magnifi- cent buildings, images, pictures, vefiels, and uten- fils of gold, filver, earth and wood ; but how they form’d them without the help of iron tools, is, in a great meafure, a myftery to us. We know, in- deed, that fharp flints ferved them inftead of axes, knives and fwords : That with thefe they form’d the edges of thefe tools ; but how they could grave or carve their hardeft ftones with fuch inftruments, is paft my apprehenfion ; and, tho’ I don’t fuppofe they excelled, or even equalled the Europeans in building, carving, or painting, yet it (hews a vaft genius and uncommon application, that they were SENT STATE able, in fuch circumftances, and with no better in- CHAP, ftruments, to perform any thing of this kind. yj It may be objected here, perhaps, that if the In- dians were fuch ingenious artifts two or three hun- dred years ago, it is ftrange that there is now none of them left. To which I anfwer, as to the mat- ter of fad, that they had fuch buildings, images, pidures, and utenfils, is averred and confirmed by the concurrent teftimony of many thoufands of eye- witneftes, and was never controverted or denied by any adventurer or traveller that has vifited thofe countries. And there are fufficient reafons to be gi- ven for the negled and difufe of thefe arts at this day : In the firft place, the Spaniards, under pretence of zeal for deftroying the temples and idols of the Mexicans, but, in reality, that none of the gold and filver, and other treafures of the Mexicans might be concealed from them, pull’d down and de- molifh’d every town where thefe arts flourifh’d, and moft of the people of thofe towns, leaving fcarce any remains of their antiquities. Secondly, they reduc’d the natives to the rnoft abject flavery, com- pelling thofe they left alive, to work in the mines, and fupply the place of hearts of burthen ; by which means they deftroy’d more of them than they had done by the fword, and entirely difeourag’d the reft from attempting to preferve or improve any art or fcience among them : And, thirdly, fince the Eu- ropeans poflefs’d themfelves of thofe countries, and have been provided with all manner of tools and in- ftruments to perform thefe things in a better man- ner than the Indians could be fuppofed to do under fo many difadvantages, it is no wonder, that the natives neglected the working in that manner they were ufed to before, and threw away their country tools and implements, for thofe which were fo much better adapted to the purpofes above-men- tioned. As to the virtues of the ancient Mexicans, they do not feem to have been defective either in point of temperance, fortitude, or military fkill : Both their policy and ftratagems were admirable, confi- dering the difadvantages under which they labour’d ; . and that they had an enemy to oppofe, verfed in the modern art of war ; poffefs’d of gun-powder, ar- tillery, arms, armour and horfes, which the Indians had never feen or heard of ’till then. The principal manufacture of the ancient Mexi- Manufae- cans was cotton linnen, which they fpun and wove, tureSl and afterwards painted with the figures of men, animals, trees, flowers, &c. Thefe they always made fit and proportionable for the ufes they de- fign’d them, and never cut any of their linnen. They ufed the finews of animals inftead of thread, and bones inftead of needles. The feather manu- facture alfo was very great : They ftripp’d and plun- der’d every feather’d animal, to make their pictures, and adorn their houfes or their perfons. Architecture alfo muft be deem’d another of their arts in towns, and CHAP. VI. Ur'Y's-/ The Mexi- cans degene- rated* OF MEXICO. 147 and almoft every man made his own arms. They had no other veflels upon the water in their Teas, lakes or rivers, but canoes or periagoes, which only dif- fer in their dimenftons : They are both of them made out of the body of a tree, and carry from three men to threefcore. They firft hew d one fide of the tree fiat with their flint hatchets, and then burnt it hollow with coals, fmooth d it, and formed the ends fomething like a boat, which they pufh d along with fmall flat ftaves, but knew nothing of either fails or oars. Thefe kind of veflels are found very ufeful to this day, and they have now a much eafier way of framing them by the help of Europe- an tools. Their (kill in phyfick, their diicaies, and methods of pure, will be treated of under ano- ther head. I proceed, in the next place, to fhew how the • modern Mexicans are degenerated from their an- ceftors. Gemelli Careri relates, that the prefent Mexicans are cowardly and cruel That they have no fenfe of honour, are drown’d in vice, and die without any concern or apprehenfions of fu- turity ; but feems to intimate, that the hard ufage of the Spaniards is the occafon of this change : For he fays, they make them work in their mines, and treat them worfe than flaves ; nay, that they fuffer the Negroe flaves to abufe and infult them ; and, if they happen to get any thing by their labour, the rapacious Spanifh Governors and Officers take it from them : And it is no wonder that this ufage has made them perfectly carelefs ; for to what pur- pofe fhould a man labour for what he can never pof- fefs fecurely ? Or why fhould he be concern’d at dy- ing, when it relieves him from fomething worfe than death ? But Gemelli adds, that the Mu- lattoes in Mexico, which are the mod numerous body of people in that city, are ftill worfe than the Indians, greater cheats and thieves than the former ; and, in fhort, that there is not one honeft, fair- dealing man in an hundred amongft them : Nor does Gemelli give the Spaniards themfelves, that refide in that city, a better charadfer : For he fays, he faw four hundred Spaniards brought before a court of Juftice there for theft, at one time : That they are many of them idle, flothful vagabonds, and turn (harpers to get a livelihood ; and that it is almoft impoflible for a ftranger to efcape being robb’d by them. Whether the Meftizes, or mixed breed, have better morals, he does not inform us ; but furely there muft be fome of better principles amongft them, or it would be impoflible for the Government to fubfift long. Thus much, how- ever, may be concluded from the relations of all Mexi ICO, t j travellers, that the prefent inhabitants of what nation, tribe, or denomination foever, are more vicious and effeminate than the Indians which the Spaniards found there, and might be beaten out ©f that country with as much eafe almoft as the ancient Spaniards made that conqueft, if they weie C H A 1 . not 'to be fupported or reinforced from Europe. \ 1 . I come, in the next place, to enquire into the character of the Indians in the open country, that the Indians do not live in towns, and have ftill preferved their that have liberties, of which there are yet great numbers ; P^ed^ and many more that only obey them occafionally, t - eSu when they happen to refide in the neighbourhood of the Spanifh towns, or are oblig’d to yield a forced obedience when the Spanifh troops are amongft them. Thefe, Dam pier and other late adven- turers inform us, are people of great humanity, ftill brave, generous, adfive, and unacquainted with the fordid vices of thofe that live in towns, whom the Europeans have corrupted. Dam pier, in his Second Volume, Part II. p. 115, fays of the In- dians, they are an inoffenflve people, kind to {(ran- gers, and even to the Spaniards, who ufe them worfe than flaves, when they get them into their power ; thofe of the open country (pending great part of their time in hunting, (hooting, or fifhing, as the ancients did : Every man builds his own houfe, and makes his own arms, tools, and implements of hufbandry. They cultivate but little ground, plant- ing juft enough Indian-corn, roots and fruit, to ferve the neceffities of the family ; and thefe plantations are the bufinefs of the women altogether, after the men have cleared the ground. The women alfo fpin, and weave their cotton linnen. They do all the houfhold bufinefs ; and, what is ftill harder upon them, they carry the baggage upon a march, and ferve their hufbands inftead of porters and pack- horfes ; and that with all imaginable chearfulnefs and alacrity. They are never known to murmur or fpeak difrefpedffully to their hufbands ; nor is a man ever heard to give his wife any hard ill-natur’d language : On the contrary, they are admir’d by our people for the mutual love and kindnefs that feems to reign in their families : But more of this under the head of marriage. I proceed, in the next place, to treat of their The diet diet, exercife, feftivals and diverfions, which willed «er-^ difeover more of the temper and difpofition of thefe Indian6a Indians, who ftill enjoy their liberties. Their prin- cipal food is either Indian-corn, parch’d and ground into flour, and made into thin cakes ; fruit, particularly Plantains, roots, and fometimes fifli, wild Hogs, Deer, or other venifon. T 'hey go out a hunting and fhooting frequently in companies a week or a fortnight for food, every man carrying with him his bow and arrows, or a gun, if he can procure one, a fpear, a hatchet, and a long knife. Each man alfo takes a dog or two with him to beat for game. Some women alio go with them to carry their proviflons, namely, roafled Plantains, Bona- noes, Yams, Potatoes, and the flour of Caflavi roots ; which will be deferib’d hereafter : 1 hey carry alfo in their bafkets parch’d Indian-corn ground U z to *4$ T HE PRES C H A P. to flour, with Calabafhes or Gourds for their drink. VI. and pipkins to drefs their food. The beads tficyl hunt, are chiefly Pecary or Warree (two forts of wild Flogs peculiar to America) and they meet with great variety of fowls. They lodge at night where- ever they happen to be at fun-fet, chufing to be near fome river and on the brow of a hill, if they can find ft ch a fituation. They hang up their ham- mocks between the trees, and have fcarce any other covering, but a Plantain-leaf, only they make a fire near their hammocks ; they begin their hunt- ing again at fun-rife the next morning ; their game, the Pecary and Warree, are not fwift of foot, and ufually go together in droves of two or three hun- dred ; but fometimes they hunt a whole day with- out meeting any : When the beaft is tired or wound- ed, he will dand at bay with the dogs, ’till the mafcer comes up ana (hoots him ; after which, the Indian ftrikes his fpear into the creature,, to let out the blood, embowels it, and cuts the bead in two pieces, carrying them on a dick laid crofs his fhoul- der, to the place where they have appointed their women to meet them ; here they cut off the head of the Hog, quarter and flee it. What they in- tend to preferve, they dry upon a wooden grate (which is call’d a Barbacue) making a fire of wood- coals under it ; this they renew for three or four days, or a week, ’till the meat is as dry as a chip, and the pieces will keep a great while. The men are fo good as to aflid the women to carry the veni- fon home, when they have a great deal of it ; and when their dock of provifions is almod fpent, they go out again to look for more. As to their cookery, whether their fledi is dried or frefh killed, they cut it into fmall pieces, and throw it into a pipkin, adding fome roots, green Plantains, or other fruits, with a great deal of Pep- per, dewing them together feven or eight hours, and not fuffering them to boil ; this reduces all the ingredients to a pulp or hotch-potch, and is for their fet-meal at noon. When it is poured out into an earthen-difh or calabafh, and being fet upon a wooden-block, that ferves them for a table, they fit round it on lefier blocks, every one having a calabafh of water Handing by him on the ground, into which they frequently dip their fingers while they are eating (thefe calabafhes, or gourds, ferve them for bottles, and, when they are cut in half, for bowls, bafons, or drinking-cups.) They have feldom more than one fet-meal, but they eat Plan- tains and other fruit, raw or roaded, almod all day long. They have alfo the flour of Indian-wheat, or of the Callavi-root, with which they fometimes make a kind of gruel, or elfe make into pade, and bake as hard as bifcuit ; and either the flour or bifcuits made of it, they have always by them, efpecially when they are on a journey, or in hunt- ing 3 thefe ferving them both for meat and drink, ENT STATE mix’d with water and fruit, when they want more CH A p a fubdantial food. yy There is fcarce any fledi, fifh, or fowl, but what the natives of Mexico eat either dew’d or barbacued, that is, broil’d over a wooden grate, or upon the coals ; and I don’t perceive they ufe either knives, forks, or fpoons in eating ; but take up the dew’d hotch-potch with their right-hand, and fill their mouths with it ; and the broil’d fledi they tear oft' the bones with their teeth, unlefs thofe,. that have learn’d better of the Europeans, and con- form themfelves to Spanidi cudoms. Every thing they eat is high-feafon’d with Pepper, and Salt too, if they can get it ; but, as fait is fcarce in many places, they are content with droaking their meat upon a lump of Salt, before they put it into their mouths. As to Chocolate, this ferves both for meat and drink, in almod every province of Mexico, both among the civiliz’d and barbarous Indians, if they can get it ; but this is fo much ufed by the Spaniards, and fo much of it exported to Europe, that it is pretty fcarce among the Fored Indians. They have a great vatiety of liquors : The rea- died and mod ordinary drink is water, with the flour of Indian-corn infufed in it, and drunk off prefently : This, Dam pier fays, the natives call Pofole, and the Englidi, Poor foul, becaufe it juft ferves to keep them alive on a march, when they can get no other provifion. Againd an entertainment, they frequently deep twenty or thirty bafkets of Indian-corn, and after the water is impregnated, the women chew more of the fame corn and (pit into it, which ferments and works the liquor like yead ; and when it has done working, they draw the liquor clear off, and it proves very intoxicating, but taftes pretty much like four fmall-beer. Miflaw is another liquor, and of this they have two forts ; one made of Plantains frefh gather’d, and the other of dried ones ; the fird they road, and pilling off the rind, mafb them in a bowl of water ’till they are diffolved, and then drink the’ mixt liquor ; the other is made of cakes, or lumps of Plantains dry’d over a flow fire ; this they carry with them on journeys, and drink it, diffolv’d in water. Green and half-ripe Plantains they alfo eat indead of bread, boiling or reading them fird, as they do alfo Yams and Potatoes. The Caffavi-root, already mention’d, of which the Indians make bread, is fird boil’d and fqueez’d, then dried, ground : and made into pade or bifcuit ; and tho’ this kind of bread is very wholefome, when it is thus cook’d, yet if it be eaten before it is boil’d, and the juice, fqueez’d from it, it is rank poifon. As for greeji herbs and fallads, I don’t find the Indians of the. open country eat any. As their Pine-apples are one of the mod delicious fruits of America, an infufion of thefe CHAP. VI. Their feaifo. * OF MEXICO. H9 tbefe is one of their beloved liquors ; and indeed they make drink of all manner of fruits almoft, as well as grain, adding honey to them at their entertain- ments. But as to wine, their country affords none ; for tlrir Grapes will not ripen kindly in the rainy feafon, and the heats at other times make the liquor four 5 and this is the reafon, that fcarce any coun- tries between the Tropics afford good wine. The Indians fcarce undertake any bufmefs of con- fequence, without making an entertainment. If they propofe entering into a war, either with the Spaniards, or any Indian nation ; their Chiefs are fummon’d to a confultation, where they eat and drink plentifully, before they enter on their debates. A hunting-match, winch faffs ufually feme weeks, is preceded alfo by a drunken-bout. At weddings, and other joyful occafions, they have their feafts, where they continue drinking two or three days, ’till all the liquor is out : And, as they are very quar- relfome in their drink, the mafter of tne houfe al- ways fecures their arms before they begin to be merry ; for they never go without their arms, if it be but to next door : They ufually get exceeding drunk, infomuch that they can neither Hand nor go ; and, having flept ’till they have recover’d their fenfes, they move off. The men, it feems, drink to one another at meals, as the Europeans do j but never to the wo- men ; the women always (land by, and wait upon their hufbands, while they are eating and drinking, ferving them with liquor ; and, even when they are at home, the wife does not eat ’till the hufband has done : But tire females feaft, and are as merry as the men among themfelves : They are not afraid of being very drunk neither, ’tis faid. However, ’till their hufbands are recovered, they take care to keep fober, and, when they perceive the men overcome with liquor, they will take them up, and put them into hammocks, waiting on them, and fprinkling them with water, ’till they are in a condition to return home. Nothing is more univerfally drank in the city of Mexico" itfelf, and in fuch towns as are under the dominion of the Spaniards, . than Chocolate. Ge- melli informs us, that to every pound of the Cocoa-nut the Europeans add a pound of Sugar, and an ounce of Cinnamon ; but that neither the Spa- niards there, nor the Indians, ufe any Venellain it, looking upon them as unwholefome : But to every pound of Cocoa they add two ounces of the flour of Indian-corn, to make it froth. I his drink was not ufed by the Indians before the Spaniards arrived there. They diftil a fpirit alfo from a plant called Magey, which is very intoxicating, and fo generally drank, that Gemelli tells us, the excile of it came to eleven hundred thoufand pieces of eight per annum in Mexico ; that the Indians commit- ted fuch outrages, when they were intoxicated with this liquor, that it was prohibited Era time ; but, while he was at Mexico orders came from the King C HA P, of Spain to take off the prohibition ; and both Euro- VL peans and Indians now drink it again. I mud not forget, that the Indians fmoak as well as drink, fince it was from them we firf! learnt the ufe of Tobacco about two hundred years ago ; but what the natives plant is not fo good as that the Englifh plant and cure in Virginia : They neither ur.derftand, nor will take the pains to cultivate it as our people do ; and, if they taught us to take. Tobacco, "we taught them to improve it, and the ufe of pipes ; for the way they fmoak d it, was by lighting one end of a roll they made with the leaf, and holding the other end of the roll in their mouths ; and, when it was half burnt out, they threw the remainder away : Others contented themfelves with the fmell of the Tobacco. A boy,, having lighted one end of the roll, went round the company, and. blew it in their faces ; and this is done, in fome of the provinces of Mexico by the natives to this day. Their principal exercifes, or rather employments, as has been touch’d already, are hunting, (hooting, " and fifhing ; for thefe they are in a manner forced into, in order to make provifion for their families. Every man breeds up his ion to thefe exerciies ; and they are fo dexterous at them while they are chil- dren, that a boy of eight years of age, ’tis faid, will fplit a cane let up at 20 yards diftance with his bow and arrow, and hit a bird flying. But the rnoft dextrous people are the Mofqueto Indians, Muiqaeta*: natives of the province of Honduras, as all tra- Indian ~ vellers relate. Dam pier fays, thefe people are tall, well-made, flrong and nimble : That they are long viiaged, have lank black hair, a ilern look, are hard-favour’d, and of a dark copper complexion . That they are bred to throw the lance, harpoon, and dart, and draw the bow, from their infancy ; and that they will put by and parry any of thefe miiflve weapons thrown at them, with a (mail cane, not bigger than a gun-flick, tho’ the arrows and darts fly very thick. Thefe people inhabit, on the. fea-fhore, or the banks of rivers ; and their prin- cipal employment is to (trike fifh, particularly the Manatee and Tortoife : The Manatee is what the ancients called the Sea-horfe, an amphibious animal, that lives in the. fait- water, but eats weeds and grafs on Ihore like a Cow ; and from thence, and from its fize and figure, is frequently called the Sea-cow. The Englifh Privateers and Buccaneers, that cruife on the Mexican coaft, have ufually one or two of thefe Mofqueto men on board, to ftrike Manatee, . Tortoife, and other fiih ; and they will take and kill fifh enough to maintain a (hip’s crew of an hundred men. When they ferve the Englifh, ,. they learn the ufe of guns, and are exceeding good markfmen : They are found alfo very brave and daring in fight, arid will never flinch or give back, . while they are fupported by the party that enter- tains them. They / THE PRESENT STATE 150 CHAP. They have converfed fo long with the Englifh, TI. who frequently bring them to Jamaica that they ^“V"^ will not acknowledge the dominion of the Spaniard, and frequently declare, they will have no other So- vereign, but the King of England ; nor have the Spaniards ever been able to fubdue thefe, and many other nations, that inhabit Mexico. While they are at Jamaica, and among the Englifh, they wear the fame kind of cloaths, and delight to be neat and clean ; but when they return to their own country, they put off all their cloaths, and conform to their country fafhion again, wearing only a fmall piece of linnen tied round their waifts. But to re- turn to the exercifes and diverfions of the Indians, from whence the dexterity of the Mofqueto men has led me. They have their dances, and their mufick too, fuch as it is, wooden drums of the form of a ket- tle-drum, and a kind of pipes or flagelets, made of a cane or reed, but very grating to an European ear. ’Tis obferv’d, they love every thing that makes a noife, how difagreeable foever the found is ; they will alfo hum over fomething like a tune, when they dance ; but I don’t find they delight in fongs and ballads, as fome other unpol idl’d people do. They dance thirty or forty in a circle, ftretch- ing out their hands, and laying them on each other’s fhoulders : They ftamp and jump, and ufe the moft antick geftures for feveral hours, ’till they are heartily v/eary ; and one or two of the com- pany fometimes ftep out of the ring to make fport for the reft, fhewing tricks, and feats of aftivity, throwing up their lances into the air, catching them again, bending backwards and Springing for- wards with great agility ; and, when they are in a moft violent Sweat, will frequently jump into the water, without taking any manner of cold. And I fliould have remember’d among their exercifes, that no men fwim or dive better than the native Indians. The women have their dances and mu- fick too, by themfelves ; but never with the men. As to their religious feftivals, mufick and dancing, thefe will be taken notice of in the chapter of religion. C H A P. VII. Of the conquejl of Mexico by the Spaniards. C HAP. T Have already given an account of the difcoveries VII. and conquefts, made by Columbus, and his •'rOorTmi ^ JCCe ^' ors 5 ,n Hifpaniola, St. John de Porto Rico, p f Mexico! J ama ica, Cuba, and fome other American iflands ; as alfo of the Settlements made by Vos co Nunes de Balboa, on the ifthmus of Darien on the continent, and his difcovery of the South-fea in the year 1513. I Shall proceed in this chapter to give as juft an account of the conqueft of Mexico, as can be collected from that variety of authors, that have written on this fubjeift, wbofe relations CHAP, differing in many material fails and circum fiances, VII. it will demand a pretty deal of attention to difcover what may be relied on, and what ought to be treated as fiction. In the year 1515, or 1316, Francis Fer- TheSpa- nandez de Cordoua, embarking at the ifland niardsfirft of Cuba with an hundred and twenty men, fet jucatan de-. fail for Jucatan, a province of Mexico, where he feted, made a defcent, and was about to have ereiled a fort, in order to fettle a colony of Spaniards there : But he buffered himfelf to be furpriz’d by the In- dians ; and, having twenty men kill’d, thirty more wounded, among whom was Fernandez him- felf, and two made prifbners, the reft retired with fome difficulty to their fhips, and returned to Cuba. However, thofe that efcaped reporting that they faw great plenty of Gold among the natives, and imputing their misfortune more to accident, or the unfkilfulnefs of their Commander, than to the courage of their enemies ; and offering to make a farther attempt on the continent of Mexico, where they gave out, that inconceivable treafures were to be found ; the Spaniards of Cuba appeared impatient to make another experiment, and inform themfelves whether there were really thofe riches to be met with as had been reported. Diego Grijalva fent Velas qjj e z was at this time Governor of the ^ rom 9 ub f a ifland of Cuba, by the appointment of Don Diego tLTdifcoT Columbus, or Colon, the fecond Admiral of ver * es on ^ the Indies, and fon of the celebrated Columbus who ft rid difcover d that new world ; and, obfcrving the ardour his Soldiers exprefi’d to engage in a frefh enterprize againft the continent, he fitted out three fhips and a brigantine, to make farther difcoveries, giving the command of them to John de Gri- jalva, his near relation, who fct fail from Cuba on the 8th of April, 1518; and arriving at Poton- chan, or Champoton, in Jucatan, where Fer- nandez de Cordoua had been defeated, took a fevere revenge on the natives, and then flood far- ther weftward, ’till lie came to the mouth of the river Tobufco, in the Gulpb of Mexico. Here Grijalva landed, and formerly took poffeffion Takes pnf- of the country for the Emperor Charles V. then feflion of the King of Caftile ; letting the Indians know, by his th^Ktng^of Interpreters, that he and his people were the fubjedls Spain, of a powerful Monarch, Lord of that part of the world where the fun rifes, from whom he came to offer them peace, if they would fubmit to his do- minion. T o this one of the Chiefs of the Indians anfwer’d, that they would confult their fuperiors on the offer of peace, and return an anfwer in a ftiort time ; but as to their becoming vaffals to a Prince they had never before heard of, it was not in their power, as they were already fubjeft to a Sovereign of their own ; concluding, that they looked upon it as a very ftrange demand, and then took their leaves. z Some OF MEXICO. 151 CHAP. Some little time after, the fame Indians returned, VII. and acquainted the Spaniards, that their Caciques L/'V'XJ accepted their offers of peace ; and that they had Offers the ^ hea.rd of the defeat of their neighbours of Jucatan, wh^acTepT ’ which had render’d the Chriftians very formidable, k. One of their principal Caciques alfo brought Gri- jalva a cor.fiderable prefent, confiding of plumes of feathers of various colours, robes of cotton linnen, adorn’d with the figures of animals of beaten gold : For which Grijalva returned them fuch European toys and utenfils as were mod acceptable to them ; and, having taken his leave in a friendly manner, went on board his fhips again, continuing his courfe dill farther wedward, ’till he came to the the river of Flags, where the natives inviting the Spaniards to land, brought them as much Gold as amounted to fifteen thoufand Pefo’s ; for which they took knives, hatchets, combs, beads, and glafs, in return. Grijalva afterwards vifited the port greatnefs of Q f g t . J 0 h n J e Ulva ; and from thence failed as empk*-* 103 " high as Panuco, the mod northern province of Mexico on that fide, trading with the people as he went, and underdood from them that they were fubjeCl to a Monarch called Montezuma, a Prince pofiefs’d of a vad empire, abounding in gold, Grijalva re- filver, and rich merchandize ; with which acceptable Cuba W inteligence lie returned to Cuba, having fent Pedro de Alvarado before him, with the treafure he had aquired on the coad of Mexico. Diego Velasqjjf.z was infinitely rejoiced at the difcoveries that had been made by Gri j alv a, and immediately fent over to the Admiral at His- paniola, and to the Court of Spain, to acquaint them with the fuccefs of the expedition ; defiring that he might be made Viceroy of all the countries he fhould conquer on the continent. But, not- withstanding the great fervice John de Gri- jalva had done, Velasquez was fo exafpe- rated that he had not made a fettlement in Mexico, that he laid him abide as an improper inftrument to be concerned in the reducing fo mighty an Empire, f as that of Mexico had been reprefented to him, and look’d out for a perfon to command the forces he was about to fend thither, who had a genius and courage equal to fo important an enterprize ; Cortez made and, after much deliberation, pitch’d upon the cele- Captain Ge- brated Hernando, or Fernando, Cortez, Mexico!"" 0 ^ to command the fmall army, with which he pro- pofed to make an entire conqueft of that continent. Some ac- Hernando Cortez was born at Medellin in tountof him. Eftramadura, and was fon of Martin Cortez and Donna Catalina Pizarro, a lady of noble extraction. He was bred a Scholar, and two years a Student in the Univerfity of Salamanca ; • but affeCting a more aCtive way of life, and parti- cularly fome military employment, he embarked, in the year 1504, for the ifland of Hifpaniola ; and went from thence to Cuba, where he was very inftrumental in the conqueft of that ifland, and ob- Trafficks with them for their Gold. Learns the tained a mighty reputation for military fkill ; and C FI A P, was, for his lervices, made Alcaide, or chief Ma- VII. giftrate of St. Jago, the principal town in the ifland ; wb ich poft he poflefs’d when Diego Velas qjj e z fixed upon him to command in the Mexican expe- dition ; Cortez having a little before married Donna Cat alin a Suarez, a young lady of a noble family in Cuba. The relations of Diego Velas qjj ez envying His rivals, - Cortez the honour of commanding in an ex- pedition that was like to be attended with a vaft ac- quifition of wealth, as well as glory, fuggefted to the Governor, that he could not have fixed upon a more ambitious or popular man, who would foon have it in his power, as he had it already in his in- tentions, to renounce his dependance on the perfon that raifed him, and fet up for himfelf ; which, at firft, made but little impreftion ohVelas qjj ez; but, obferving at length with what eagernefs all the military men of the ifland crouded to he enrolled un- der the ftandard of Cortez, he began to alter his mind ; and, tho’ he had attended that General to the fea-fide, when he embarked, with all the marks of refpetft and aftcCfion (on the 1 8th of No- vember 1518) the fleet was no fooner failed, but he repented himfelf, and fent orders to the Flavanna, where they were to touch and take in provifions and a farther reinforcement of troops, that the fleet fhould not proceed in the voyage ’till farther orders ; and that Cortez fhould return to him to St. Jago. But the Governor’s orders were not obey’d : . The Governor! * foldiers were fo tranfported with the expectation of acquiring mountains of gold, and had fuch an opi- nion of the valour and conduCt of their General, that they would not confent to the changing of him, or to the delay of the enterprize, left their hopes ILould be defeated ; but agreed immediately to fet But proceed fail, contrary to the pofitive orders of their Gover- nor Diego Velasqjuez. The General and withftand*. his Officers, ’tis laid, urged, in their juftification, ing» that they had, by the encouragement of the Gover- nor, laid out their whole eftates in making provifion for this expedition ; and that if it fhould be now - laid afide, or others employ’d in it, they fhould in- fallibly be ruined : Even Diego de Ordaz, and Joan Velasqjjez de Leon, the Go- vernor’s own relations, declared agair.ft his injuftice in difappointing them, after they had embarked all their friends and fortunes, by his command, in the enterprize. It being agreed by all of them therefore to proceed in the defign forthwith, Cor- tez, with a fleet of ten fhips, and between five and fix hundred foldiers, fet fail from the Havanna the 1 oth of February 1518-19, and arrived at the He arrives- ifland of Cozumel, near the eaftern coaft of Jucatan ; where his troops having plunder’d fome towns of the Indians, and even their temples, and taken fever? 1 prifoners, Cortez fhew’d his dife pleafure at thefe ravages, and order’d every tiling 152 THE PRESENT S T ATE C H A P. they had taken to be reftorecl, endeavouring to cul- VII. tivate a good correfpondence with the people of the ifland. It is related, that the Spaniards found in the temples on this ifland abundance of rich jewels, that were employ’d in adorning the images of their gods ; and forne inftruments for facrifice, made of a mix- ture of gold and copper : But, as it appeared after- wards, that all tire knives and edg’d-tools of tire Mexicans were made of flint, we cannot give en- tire credit to this part of the relation. Th» mim- Cortez, muttering his forces in the ifland of forces. h>S Cozumel, found them to confift of five hundred and eight Foot-fbldiers, fixteen Horfe, and one hundred and nine Seamen and Mechanics ; befides his two Chaplains, John Diaz the Licentiate, and Father Bartholomew d e O l m e d o, who ac- companied him in the expedition. The writers of of this hittory tell us, that the General made a fpeech to his forces at this mutter ; wherein he faid, S-Iis^fpeech “ When he confidered the good fortune that had u ta.m. tt brought them to this ifland, the obftacles they “ had furmounted, and the difficulties that oppofed “ the enterprize ; he acknowledged tire hand of “ God in the work they had undertaken, and pro- “ mifed himfelf fuccefs from beginnings fo remark- ably favoured by Divine providence, in their zeal “ for the fervice of God and their King : That “ he fliould not leffen the danger of the undertak- “ ing ; they mutt expecf bloody engagements, a “ multitude of enemies, and incredible fatigues ; “ and they mutt proportion their refolution to the “ difficulty and importance of the enterprize : That “ they were but few in number, but union added “ ftrength to armies, and in a manner multiplied “ their forces ; exhorting them to be all of one “ mind, and refolve, as one hand, to execute the “ commands of their Leaders : As for his part, he “ fhould be ready to hazard his life for the meapeft “ foldier, and would lead them, by his example, to “ the execution of his orders ; alluring them, that t£ he found in himfelf a fnirit fufficient to undertake <{ the conqueft of the world ; and that this hope t£ infpired him with an extraordinary impulfe, the moft promifing of all prefages.” Which fpeech was received with the loud acclamations of his troops, who defired he would immediately lead them on to adlion, and make an experiment of their affection and zeal for the glorious caufe they were engaged in. A Spaniard ranfom 'd who was psifoner in Jucatan. 1 While Cortez remained in the ifland of Co- zumel, he was inform’d, by the principal Cacique, or Prince of the country, that there were fotne men in the neighbouring province of Jucatan who had been prifoners there feveral years, and much refem- bled the Spaniards he had with him : Whereupon Cortez defired the Cacique to fend fome of his people with a letter to thofe prifoners, and a pre- fent to the Prince in whofe power they were, for their ranfom ; which was done, and the Indians re- turned to Cozumel, bringing with them Jeronimo CHAP. de Aguilar, a native of Spain, in Deacon’s VII. orders. This Ecclehaftic related, that he had been near eight years in Jucatan, whither he efcaped in a boat with feveral more, after they had been fhip- wreck’d in their paffage from Darien to Hifpaniola : 1 hat it was his fortune to fall into the hands of a certain Cacique, who ufed him hardly for fome time ; but afterwards advanced him to one of the beft pofts in his army ; and, by his (kill in military affairs, the Cacique gained feveral victories over his enemies ; which had given Jeronimo a great reputation in Jucatan ; infomuch, that when the prelent came for his ranfom, the Cacique, in whofe fervice he was, very readily difmifs’d him. He ad- ded, that the Indians, he believed, had facrificed the reft of his company to their gods ; for he did not know that any of them were living at that time, except Gonzalo Guerrero, to whom he had communicated the General’s letter, and endea- voured to bring him with him ; but Gonzalo had married a rich Indian wife, by whom he had three or four children, and chofe to remain with them in Jucatan, rather than leave them : Which, if true, is a fufficient confutation of thofe writers, who relate, that the Indians facrificed the reft of the Spaniards, who were Ihipwreck’d on the coaft of Jucatan, to their gods : For can it be believ’d, that the only remaining Spaniard, if this had been true, would have chofen to remain in fo barbarous a country ? Or that both he and Jerom de Agui- lar fliould meet with fucb good ufage there ? But to return to the hittory : This Spaniard Jerom was of infinite fervice to Cortez in this expedition ; for, having refided fo long in the country, he was perfectly acquainted with their ftrength, their way of making war, and with their language ; which enabled Cortez to make fuch enquiries as were neceffary to the profecution of the conqueft when he arrived at the continent. He had two or three flaves alfo prefented to him by the Cacique of Cozumel, whom he order’d to be inftrucled in the Spanifti tongue. Before he left the He demo- ifland, he exprefs’d his zeal againft the idolatry of j*^ es the f the natives, by breaking down their idols ; which the Indians, does not feem very complaifant, after the hofpitable reception he met with from the iflanders, efpecially when the Mexican Priefts protefted and exclaimed againft the outrage, as the greateftc that could be done to their people : And, after all, Cortez ap- pears to have had no averfion to images in general ; for the hiftory relates, he eredted a temple to the Virgin Mary, in which he left her image and a crofs, and required the natives of Cozumel to adore them : So that this great Conqueror and Re- former only required they fliould exchange their idols for thofe of his own country. But to proceed : The forces being reimbarked, Cortez took Sets fall fronra leave of the ifland of Cozumel on the 4 th of March, Cozuniel » 1518-19 5 OF MEXICO. >53 CHAP. 1518-19; and, having doubled Cape Catoch, the VII, moft eafterly promontory of Jucatan, continued his WY*^ voyage to the mouth of the river Tobafco (or Gri- jalva) in the Bay of Campeachy ; where he found the Indians in great numbers on the fhore, threatening to oppofe his defcent : Whereupon he fent Jerom de Aguilar to them in a boat, with a flag of truce; acquainting them, that he was come to con- firm the peace made with them the year before by Grijalva; and that if they refufed him a peaceable entrance into their country, he fhould land by force. And, when they Hill perfifted to oppofe his defcent, he fired upon them with his artillery and fmall arms: Whereupon they turn’d their backs, and fled ; feme of them to the woods, and others to the town of To- Cortez lands bafco. After which, he landed his men without anJalnfa’ oppofition ; but, being obliged to pafs through fome vidtory over woods and defiles, a body of the enemy, who had the natives, conceal’d theml'elves therein, furprized and wounded fome of the Spaniards with their arrows; and Co r- tez, continuing his march ’till he came to the town of Tobafco, found it fortified with a kind of wooden wall, formed with the bodies of trees fixed like paliladoes, through the intervals whereof they He takes the fhot their darts and arrows : But his men no fooner CIty ' came up to the works, and fired their mufkets through the palliladoes, than the enemy retired to a large fquare in the middle of the town, where they made fome Ihew of defending themfelves ; but, upon the approach of the Spaniards, they retired from thence alfo, and fled to their friends in the woods. And in all thefe encounters, which the Spaniards reprefent as very bloody and obftinate, there were only four- teen or fifteen of them wounded, and no more than two of thefe died of their wounds. I don’t doubt that part of the relation, which informs us that great numbers of the natives were killed; for it feems to have been a maxim with Cortez to render him- felf as terrible to the Mexicans as poflible, in order to facilitate the conqueft of their country : But it cannot be fuppofed that the Spaniards met with any great oppofition, when in a battle, wherein they en- gaged many thoufands, and {formed the capital city of the province, only two of their men were killed; and indeed the fire-arms of the Chriftians were fo very terrible to the Indians, who had never feen any thing of that kind ’till the arrival of the Spaniards, that they could very feldom be brought to make a ft and within the reach of them. He obtains a But to return to the hiftory : My author, Don Hftorv. Antonio de Solis, relates, that the day after the taking of Tobafco, the Mexicans afiembled an army of forty thoufand men, with which they attack’d the Spaniards ; and that the battle feem’d doubtful, ’till Cortez {allied out of a wood, and charged them in flank with his horfe; by which he obtained another complete victory. The Indians are repre- sented in this batde as a very formidable enemy, and to have attack’d the Spaniards with that bravery, Vol, III, that they were fcarce able with their fire-arms to re- C H A P. pulfe them: And this is related with a view, no VII, doubt, to magnify the courage and condudf of Cor- tez and the Chriftians. They relate alfo, that St. James theApoftle appeared in the battle, on a white Horfe, and fought for the Spaniards ; infinua- ting, that nothing left than a miracle could have gi- ven them the victory over the Indians : Whereas every one knows, and the Spanifh writers themfelves confefs in other places, that the Indians durft never ftand a regular body of Europeans ; but were in the utmoft confirmation when they were attack’d with fire-arms or horfe, and efpecially when the artillery thunder’d upon them, believing that the people they engaged were rather gods than men ; and confe- quently there was very little occafion for a miracle, or indeed for much military {kill or courage, to de- feat an enemy, when they had fuch advantages on their fide. Even at this day, now fire-arms are fo well known, and ufed by every nation almoft, 1 don’t doubt but a thoufand veteran fbldiers of Eu- rope, attended by a train of artillery, would defeat an army of an hundred thoufand men either in the Eaft or Weft-Indies ; the writer of thefe fheets ha- ving feen three hundred Europeans rout twenty thou- fand Indians, intrench’d up to the teeth, who wanted neither horfe, artillery or fmall arms to defend them- felves, and had the courage to ftand ’till they came to pufh of pike and bayonet. What then might we fuppofe a body of veteran foldiers capable of effedl- ing againft a naked people, that had never feen a horfe, or heard of gun-powder or artillery, ’till they faw their forces flaughter’d and tumbled upon heape by thofe murdering pieces, a mile almoft before they approach’d them ? The fuccefs of Co rtez and his Spaniards therefore is not to be wonder’d at ; it was no more than might reafonably be expected, all circumftances conlider’d. The day after the battle, de Solis relates, that The Indians the Cacique or Prince of Tobafco fent a folemn em- bafly to Cortez, to implore peace, attended with lue r a a prefent of fuch fruits and provifions as his country afforded, together with jewels, plumes, and painted cotton linnen,and whatever he thought moft accep- table to the conquerors : That the AmbafLdors ap- proach’d Cortez as they ufed to do their gods* with golden pans or cenfers, in which they burnt aromatic gums, and other incenfe : That the Ca- cique afterwards came in perfbn, and made his fub- million, bringing with him twenty beautiful Indian virgins, which he made Cortez a prefent of: And one of thefe, whom the General afterwards caufed to be baptized by the name of Donna Ma- rina, ferved him, it feems, during the whole ex- pedition, in the double capacity of concubine and interpreter ; for fhe was a native of Mexico, a fe- male of ready wit, and underftood the cuftoms of the country and the language perfeHly well ; and indeed to hei merit and addrefs the Spaniards afcribe X ■ the i 54 CHAP. VII. THE PRESENT STATE ■Cortez em- barks his forces again iHe arrives a the port of St. John de jJlva. Some ac- count of Donna Ma- rina, concu- bine and in terpreter to Eor tez , the fuccefs of their arms in a great meafure. The hiftorian, however, takes an opportunity, in this place, to admire the virtue and piety of his hero, Cortez following in this the precedent fet him by the antients. But to proceed : When the Cacique of Tobafco came to-makeJiis fubmiffion, Cortez let him know, that he came from a powerful Prince ; and that his principal view was to make them all happy in this world and the next, by making them the fubje&s of the fame Sovereign, and converting them to the true religion. To, which the frighted Cacique anlwer’d, as the Spaniards tell us, that he and his people fhould think themfelves happy i-n obey- ing a King, whofe power and greatnefs appeared with fuch advantage in the valour of his fubjedfs : But as to the point of religion, ’tis faid, they gave little hopes of their converfion. Cortez, being about to advance ftill farther with his fleet on the Mexican coaft, was under the greateft concern, we are told, that he muft leave that people before he had fully inftrudfed them in the Catholick religion ; and on Palm-Sunday, the day he had appointed to embark his troops, he firft caufed an altar to be e- re£led in the open field ; where he celebrated high mafs in the prefence of the Indians, and all his troops march’d in their ranks to the altar, with boughs or palms in their hands, to celebrate that feftival : The proceffion Teeming to excite in the natives the utmoft awe and reverence ; infomuch, that fome of them, 5 tis faid, cried out, “ This muft be a great God that fuch brave men adore.” Cortez, having concluded a peace with the natives of Tobafco, or rather compelled them to acknowledge the King of Spain for their Sovereign, embarked his forces, and failed to the weftward ’till t fie arrived at the port of St. John de Ulva. When the Spaniards were coming into this port, two pe- riaguaes, or large canoes, full of Indians, came into the fleet, and addrefs’d themfelves to the Ge- neral in a flibmiffive manner; but were not under- ftood by his interpreter ; which the celebrated Don- na Marina, the General’s concubine, obferving, offer’d to become interpreter between the Chriftians and her country-men the Mexicans. And here the Spanifh wri ers entertain us with the character and familv of this Indian damfel ; who, being miftrefs - to their hero Cortez, and fo inftrumental in the following conqueft, we muft not wonder that they derive her pedigree from anceftors of quality and di- ftindlion. They acknowledge, indeed, that fhe was flave to the Prince of Tobafco, who pre- fented her, with fe venal more, to Cortez; but then they tell us, this happen’d by accident ; fhe was really the daughter of a Cacique, or Mexican Prince, tho’ fhe had the misfortune to be taken cap- tive in the wars, and made a flave : That fhe had a ready wit, and feveral natural endowments,, which well agreed with the nobility of her birth : That •Cort ez took her to his bed for political reafbns ; and had a fon by her, to whom he gave his own name, making him a Knight of St. Jago, in con- fideration of the nobility of bis mother’s birth. But to return to the hiftory ; Donna Marina fup- plying the place of Interpreter, the General was in- formed by the Mexicans, that their Emperor Mon- tezuma had fent two of his Minifters, viz. Pil- potoe, Governor of that prov i nee, and Te n t i l e , one of his Generals, to know with what intention the Spaniards vifited his dominions, and to offer them fuch provifions and accommodations as his country afforded. To which the General anfwer’d, that he came as a friend, and to treat of matters of great importance; defiring a conference with the Officers Mo ntezuma had fent to receive his pro- pofals : And, landing with his troops on Good-Fri- day, he laid out a camp on an advantageous fitua- tion, fortifying it with trenches and redoubts, and planting his artillery in fuch a manner as to com- mand the country round him ; being affifted in this, work, and in erecting huts and tents to preferve his- foldiers from the weather, by great numbers of. Mexicans that the Governor of the province fent to affift him : For the hiftorian obferves, that the Mexicans, having heard of the defeat of their coun- trymen at Tobafco, made a virtue of neceffity, and thought it prudence to make friends with a people they durftnot oppole. Nor does de Solis forget, in this place, to obferve again the great veneration his hero had for religion ; telling us, that he imme- diately eredted a chappel, fetting the image of the blefled Virgin on the altar, and a great crofs at the entrance, in order to celebrate the approaching fe- ftival of Eafter ; for “ Religion (fays he) was always “ his principal care.” On Eafter-day 1519, Montezuma’s Am- bafladors came to the camp of the Spaniards, and were admitted to the prefence of Cortez, who received them in great ftate: But, before he would enter upon any bufinefs, the hiftorian relates, he- went to chappel, and heard divine fervice ; being attended thither by the Ambafladors, and a croud of Mexicans, who appeared extremely delighted with their pompous ceremonies. Being returned to the General’s tent, he enter- tained the Ambafladors at dinner in a very fplendid manner : After which, he informed them, that he. was come from Don Car l os of Auftria, the great Monarch of the eaft, to propofe matters of great importance to their Emperor Mon t ez u m a, and his fubjedls ; but that it was abfolutely necefiary ho fhould deliver his meflage perfonally to the Empe- ror, according to the ufage of all nations; and ho- ped he fhould be received with the refpeft due to ha character. To this the Mexican Minifters anfwered, that they had orders from their Sovereign, the great Montezuma, hofpitably to receive and entertain all ftrangers that arrived on their coafts, and had 1 brought C HAP, VIE He lands, and fortifies his oanap. An em- bafiy from Montezuma* OF MEXICO. C HAP. brought him a prefent of fuch things as their country VII. afforded, confiding of fine painted cotton linnen, beautiful feathers, and plates of wrought gold, which their fervants were order’d to bring in, and place in the General’s view : But they gave him to underftand, at the fame time, that their Emperor never admitted foreigners to his prefence ; and there- fore he mud not think of approaching his Court. Cortez replied, that never any Ambaffadors were refufed an audience, unlefs it were with a de- fign to affront the Prince they came from ; and that he was determined not to leave the country ’till he had delivered the contents of his embafly to their Emperor himfelf. Whereupon the Mexican Mi- niders defired, that he would, however, remain in his camp ’till they had acquainted their Emperor with the propofal, and received his commands ; and they would, in the mean time, fupply his people with providons, and every thing they wanted. During this conference, the Spaniards obferved feme of the Mexicans were very bufy in drawing, upon cotton cloth, the pictures of the principal Spa- niards, and whatever they thought remarkable, as their (hips, arms, artillery, and horfes ; which were dedgned, they underdood, to be fent to Monte- zuma, to acquaint him what kind of people, and of what force the Spaniards were. Of which Cor- tez being inform’d, defired they would not finifh their piece ’till he had given thematade of his mi- litary operations : Whereupon he ordered his forces to be drawn up in order of battle, and to exhibit a mock engagement: He ordered alfo his horfe to mount, and drew their activity and horfemanfhip in charging, wheeling, and retiring, as in a battle : Then the fmall arms were order’d to fire, and af- The Mexi- terwards the artillery. At which the Mexicans Sft’dat°the were a ftonifh’d ; fome of them actually fled, and artillery and others fell down with the fright, apprehending they fmall arms, fhould be dedroy’d by this artificial thunder ; but, being a little recovered from their condensation, by a cefiation of the fire, they made feveral additions to the t pieces they were painting ; wherein they endeavour- ed to reprefent the amazing fcene they had been witnedesof: And, having finifh’d it, the Ambaf- fadors carried the picture, with a prefent Co rthz had provided for the Emperor, to the Court of Mex- ico. They returned to Cortez again feven days after, and brought another magnificent prefent from Montezuma for the General ; which, they faid, their Emperor had fent as a tedimony of his refnecd for the King he came from ; but could not admit of the Spaniards reforting to his Court. To which Cortez anfwer’d, hedurff not re- turn to his Prince ’till he had delivered the meffage he was fent upon to the Emperor Mo ntezum a ; giving them to underdand, that he was determined to profecute his journey to Mexico at all hazards. Here the hidorian takes an opportunity of giving us an account of the date of the Mexican Empire at that time, and of the chara&er of Monte 1 tt- CHAP. ma. He fays, that the empire was in the mod VII. flouridling condition it had ever been in : That Mont e z u m a was then poflels’d of almod all the The ftate of habitable parts of North America, his dominions w ^nthe extending above 500 leagues in length, and lying Spaniards ar- upon the North and South-feas : That Monte- rived z u m a was the eleventh Emperor, and the fecond of that name, elected to the throne in confideration of his great merit, particularly on account of his courage and military virtues ; and tho’ he affedled to appear extremely moded and affable before he arrived at the imperial dignity, he was no fooner in- veded with it, but he became intolerably proud and infblent, and would be ferved in his Court only by his vaflal Princes and Nobility, and was guilty of great cruelty and oppreffion ; which render’d him generally hated by his fubjefils, and occafion’d in- furredtions in feveral parts of the empire. He had Prodigies ani reign’d fourteen years when Cortez arrived there; prefagesof the lad of which, they tell us, was full of prefages the Stexlcas and wonderful portents, which Ihew’d that the de- empire, ffrudfion of that empire was approaching : That, when Grijalva and the Spaniards were upon the Mexican coad the year before, a comet appeared for feveral nights, of a pyramidal form; and another was feen at noon-day, refembling a fiery ferpent with three heads, which ran fwiftly towards the eafl till it vanifh’d : The lakes of Mexico overflow’d in an unufual manner, carrying away both houfes and people; one of their principal temples was burnt down to the ground, without their knowing from whence the fire proceeded ; nor was it polfible to extinguifh the flames : Horrid voices were heard in the air, and drange oracles pionounced by their idols, intimating their fudden fall : Monflers of horrible deformity were taken and brought toM o N- tezuma, particularly a fowl of a prodigious fize and make, which had on its head a Ihining plate like looking-glafs, in which the Emperor faw an army ot men coming from the ead, and making terrible havock of his fubje&s : That a country- man, who had feen a vifion, came to Court, and boldly told the Emperor, he was commanded by the gods to warn him of his approaching ruin ; for an enemy was coming from the farther part of the world to deflroy both his empire and religion. I fhall leave the world to give what credit they pleafe to thefe prodigies and portents ; and only obferve, that there fearce ever was a revolution in any nation, but fome fuch intimations of it have been pretended. The Spaniards feern to give fome countenance to them ; and affure us, that thefe prodigies induced the Emperor Monte zum a to deny Cort ez and his Spaniards leave to approach Mexico ; be- lieving that thefe were the people, from whom that deflrudfion was to proceed that had been threaten’d. While Cor t E z remained in his camp, he or- der’d his fleet to fail along the Mexican coaft, and X 2 fent 1 56 THE PRESE CHAP, fent out parties by land to gain farther intelli- VII. gence of the ftate of the Mexican empire ; and, in the mean time, received a meffage from Mo N T E- zuma, requiring him to depart his dominions, or he fhould look upon the Spaniards as his enemies, and treat them as fuch : Which, ’tis faid, occafion’d a mutiny among his men ; feme of them represent- ing, that it was the higheft rafhnefs to attempt the conqueft of fo great an empire with fo fmall a force ; and intimating, that they expedted to be facrificed to the avarice and ambition of their General. Whereupon Cortez pretended he would return to Cuba, and get a farther reinforcement of troops ; but finding, on this declaration, a majority of his foldiers defire- ; of profecuting immediately what they had lb fort f elv L ’gun, and to be of opinion they had forces fufficient to deal with the Mexicans already ; he determined to continue his march to- The Cac'que wards the capital city of the empire : In which re- ef Zempoala p 0 ] ut j 0n ] ie W as confirm’d by the Cacique of Zem- poala, a Prince in the neighbourhood ot Ulva, who offered to enter into an alliance with the Spaniards againfi Montezuma, complaining loudly of his tyranny and oppreffions. But, before Cortez proceeded farther in this grand enterprize, he thought it proper to get his authority eftablifh’d in a better manner than it was at prefent : He reprefented to his foldiers, that he had no other commiffion than that which he recei- ved from Diego Velas qjjez. Governor of Cuba, which had been recalled ; and therefore pro- pofed their electing fome one of their Officers to be General in this expedition, whom they would wil- lingly obey and fubmit to : For it could not be fup- pofed, he fhould be able to tranfafl any thing of confequence, fo long as his title to command them was precarious, and every one was at liberty whe- ther they would obey his orders or not. He refigned the commiffion therefore he had received from Diego Velas qjj e z, and delivered up his General’s fluff", defiring they would proceed to an election, and then withdrew : And, after a very thort fpace, a majority of the Officers and Soldiers made choice of Cortez to be their General again; fome few of the relations of Diego Velas qjj e z only protefeing againft it, and thele lie obliged to fubmit to the fuffrages of the reft. The Spani- The General, being thus eftablifh’d in his com- tozTTb mand > began his march to the city of Zempoala, ^ the capital of his new ally ; where, arriving in two or three days, he was received by the Cacique with the oreateft marks of efteem and affedtion : He in- formed Cortez, that all the Caciques on that fide the country were in a manner enflaved by Mon- tezuma, and fo opprefs’d by his tyranny, that they were ready to throw off their fubjedlion to that Prince, and would infallibly join the Spaniards as foon as they durft declare themfelves : And the Ca- cique order’d the Spaniards to be quarter’d in the beft NT STATE part of the city of Zempoala, fupplying them with CHAP, plenty of provifions. VII. The General continuing his march the next dav for the town of Quibiflan, fituated on the coaft where he had order’d his fleet to meet him, the Cacique of Zempoala commanded four hundred In- dians to carry his baggage, and affift in drawing the artillery ; for there were neither beafts of bur- den or draught to be found in the country ; every thing was done by the ftrength of men. When the army arrived at Quibiflan, they found They arrive the town deferted by the inhabitants, who were fled v~ r b a lllani ’ in the utmoft confternation ; but the General fend- Cruz, ing fome of their countrymen after them, and ac- quainting them that he intended them no hurt, they foon returned to their dwellings : And, while Cor- tez remained in this town, above thirty Caciques of the mountains came and defired his alliance, of- fering to reinforce his troops with an hundred thou- land men, if he would take them under his pro- tedlion, and affift them in throwing oft that yoke which Mont ezum a would impofe upon them. This Cortez readily confented to ; and, as the. Indians feemed to believe the Spaniards invincible, and to he rather gods than men, Cortez was not backward to encourage the notion, looking upon it as a very likely means to facilitate the redudlion of that empire ; of which he feemed to have fuch an affurance at this time, that he took upon him to decide the differences of the Caciques, or Indian Princes, as their Sovereign ; and even ventured to demolifh the temples and images of the Zempoalans, Cortez de- who facrificed fome of their prifoners ; telling them, that the God of the Chriftians abominated fuch fa- zempoala. crifices : Which feems to have been a very bold and impolitic ftep, if he had not thought himfelf able to fubdue the Mexicans by pure force ; and was no doubt afterwards remember’d to his difadvantage. Nor was he content with this; but he converted Converts one one of their temples into a Chriftian church, and ° f c ^ e r ^ mt0 eredled an altar in it, on which he placed an image of the Bleffed Virgin, and celebrated mafs with great folemnity : And tho’ the Indians did notfeem inclinable to renounce their own fuperftition, yet the Catholick hiftorian informs us, they were not averfe to the admitting the image of the Virgin^ Mary into the number of their idols; and even defired fhe would be their advocate, that the God of the Chriftians might protedl them ; of whofe power they feem’d extremely fenlible. After this execution on the Mexican idols at New adven- Zempoala, Cortez returned to Quibiflan, to turers arrrve, ‘ which he gave the name of Vera Cruz, where his fleet lay at anchor, and found a veffel juft arrived there from Cuba, with a fmall reinforcement of ten foldiers and two horfes ; for fuch v/as the opinion the Spaniards had of the fuccefs of the enterprize againft Mexico, that they went by Health after Cortez in fmall parties) and were ready to run :ha p. VII. Eortez fends :o Spain for i cc-mmUTion OF ME all hazards to join him, hoping to (hare the wealth of the continent with that Captain. By thefe the General underftood, that Diego Velasquez, Governor of Cuba, continued to threaten him ; and had fent to the Court of Spain to obtain the King’s com million (for he had only a ccmmiffion from Don Diego Columbus before) to be Viceroy of that ifiand, and Captain-General on the continent, in order to defeat the ambitious projects of Cortez, and that he might reap the glory and advantage of the conqueft the Spaniards were about to make of the empire of Montezuma. Upon this intelligence, Cortez drew up a let- ter to the Court of Spain, in the name of his prin- cipal Officers ; giving an account of the fuccefs of their expedition, the wealth and fertility of the country, the town they had fortified, and the feve- ral Princes and provinces that had from their Emperor, and enter’d with the Spaniards : They were complain of the injuftice of whofe encouragement they h; A mutiny among the Spaniards. already revolted into an alliance diredfed alfo to Velas qjj e z, by 1 embarked all their fortunes in the enterprize, and yet endeavoured to defeat it, to the irreparable damage of the Crown of Spain, and of the Chriftian religion, which would probably be fpread and propagated over this new world, if they were not prevented profecuting their defign by the unreafonable oppofition of the Go- vernor of Cuba. This letter, with all the gold, jewels, and va- luable curiofities they had obtained by prefents from Montezuma, or by traffick with his fubjedh, were lent to Spain, as a fpecimen of the wealth of the country, and to fhcw of what importance it was to fupport Cortez and his fellow-adventu- rers. In this difpatch alfo was enclofed a petition, that Cortez might dill continue to be the Ge- neral and Conductor of the enterprize, inafmuch as he had already fhewn himfelf extremely well qua- lified for fuch an undertaking. But, notwithftanding a majority of the foldiers appeared to be in the intereft of Cortez; and others, out of fear of his power, confented to fign thefe difpatches for Europe ; there was ftill a conii- derable party in the intereft of Don Diego Ve- l a sqjjez, and amongft them fome of the principal Officers, his near relations. John Diaz, one of the Chaplains of this little army, alfo was found to favour the Governor of Cuba ; and was for trans- acting every thing therefore in his name, and by his authority, who firft formed the defign of invading Mexico, and largely contributed to it. And when the difaflre£fced party found they were not able to carry their point, they enter’d into a confpiracy to feize one of the (hips, and return to Cuba ; which was difcover’d the night before it was to have been executed ; and Corte z, to eftabliftt his authority, and deter his people from fuch attempts, caufed two of the conspirators to be put' to death, two more of X I C O. 157 them were whipped, and one of the principal mari- CHAP, nets had his foot cut off. The General and Officers VII. of his party alfo agreed to fetfire to the fleet, after they had brought the tackling, iron-work and planks hi ° s on fhore, that might be ufeful to them ; whereby they render’d it impoffible for any of their people to defect them for the future, and added an hundred fearnen to their army. Thus action Antonio de Solis magnifies to the Ikies, comparing Cortez to the greateft Cap- tains of antiquity ; tho’ there does not feem to be a- ny thing more in it, than this : The General found he had very little to apprehend from the Mexicans, who were not only extremely terrified by the fire of his artillery and final! arms, but fo divided amongft themfelves, or rather generally difaffected to their Prince, that there could be little difficulty in fub- duing the country, if he was not interrupted by the Governor of Cuba ; for the prevention whereof he did indeed a very prudent thing in burning his (hips, that Velasqjiez might have no intelligence of no his motions ; and that his people, having now poffibility of retreating to Cuba, might join unani- moufly in profecuting the conqueft, which nothing but their own divifions could defeat. He found he was in more danger from the attacks of the Gover- nor cf Cuba, and the murmurs of the Spaniards, than from the naked defenceleis Indians ; and de- ftroy’d his fleet, becaufe the keeping of it was the on- ly thing that could undo him, and fruftrate his am- bitious views ; which, tho’ it dilccver’d a good (hare of cunning, yet I don’t fee any great reafon to cry up the courage of Cortez upon this occafion ; fox he knew he fhould have been expofed to much great- er hazards by having a fleet, than by having none , and that the deftruction of it would contribute to his fecurity more than any ftep he could take. Soon after the burning of the fleet, appear'd three The Cover- Spanifh fhips upon the coaft, that came from Don nor of J a ~ Francisco de Gar ay, Governor or Jamaica; c!aim to who landed a Notary, attended by three witnef- Mfxico, fes, that were fent to declare and teftify, that the Governor of Jamaica laid claim to that part of the coaft where Cortez was, and intended to fettle a colony there ; requiring him to remove from thencQ: But Cortez, inftead of complying with the de- mand, made the Notary, and fix Spaniards more, prifoners ; and the fhip that brought them thereupon flood off to fea again. After which, the General, having finifh’d the fortifications of Vera Cruz, and left in it a garrifon of an hundred and fifty Spanifti Mexico= foot, two troopers with their horfes, and a good number of confederate Indians ; began his march towards the city of Mexico, with the reft of his for- ces, confifting of five hundred 'Span ifh foot, fifteen horfe, and fix field-pieces, which were drawn by the natives. He was attended alfo in this march by his allies the neighbouring Caciques, and a nume- rous army of Indians ; and, having pafs’d fome high barren Cortez he» gins his march for 1 5 6 T ME PRESENT STATE CHA P, barren mountains, where he complains his men fuf- VII. fered a great deal by the cold, the heavy rains they v -’’"V met with, and the want of provifions, they arrived '/owtblan at C * ie c ‘ t y of ' Zocothlan ; the Cacique whereof com- manded a great extent of the country, and received the Spaniards, ’tis laid, with a great fliew of refcect ; but did not leem fincere in the friendfhip he pro- fefs’d : And when the General demanded, if he was A fubjeCt to the Emperor of Mexico ? He anfwer’d Cortez and Wlth anot her queftion, viz. “ Is there a man up- the Cacique, “ on earth, that is not a vafla! and flave to Mon- “ tezuma ? ” To which, ’tisfaid, Cortez as haughtily reply ’d, That the Cacique knew very lit- tle of tire world ; for that he, and the Spaniards with him, were the fubjeCts of a Prince that command- ed greater Kings than Montezuma. Still the Cacique infilled, as the Spanifh hiftorians relate, that Montezuma was the greateft Prince in the world : That the Provinces he commanded were innumerable : That he kept his Court in a city that was impregnable, founded in the waters, and which there was no approaching but by caufeys, fortified with bulwarks and draw-bridges : That his wealth and the number of his forces were inconceivably great ; and, laftly, that he facrificed twenty thou- fand of his enemies, or of his rebellious fubjeCts, annually to his god;. But, as the laft part of this pretended fpeech was certainly falfe ; fo the firft part of it feems exceeding jejune and vain ; and rather relembles the difputes of fchool-boys contending for the preference of their refpeCtive fchools, than a con- ference between two great Generals. As to the falfity of the Mexicans facrificing fo many thoufands every year to their gods, we find the Spanifh Bifhop of Chiapa, who refided in Mexico foon after this conqueft, declaring, that tho’ there had been hu- man facrifices in that country, they never facrificed fifty perfons within the fpace of a year : And, if this part of the fpeech was falfe, we can have no great regard to the reft. Indeed, I ant ready to aferibe this, and moft of the fpeeches we meet with in this hiftory, to the invention of their hiftorians, who in this imitate the practice of fome of the antients ; and, provided their difeourfes are juft, adapted to the quality and circumftances of the perfons that fpeak, and the lit bj eel in debate, there may be no great oc- cafion to cenfure them. But to return to the hifto- ry : Cortez being advifed to march through the territories of Tlafcala, an Indian rebublic, that was ever at war with Montezuma, fent four of the An embaTy Chiefs of the Zempoalans, his allies, as Ambafla- to ria.cala, f] orSj to 0 ff cr them peace, and to demand a paflage through their country : And here the Spanifh hifto- rians have given us another fpeech, which, they tell us, the principal Am baflador made to that com- monwealth, of the following tenor : ^ f P eec {j° f “ Noble, valiant, and potent Tlafcalans, our fador’s? Jl " “ Sovereign, the Prince of Zempoala, and the “ Caciques of the mountains, your friends, vvifii “ you health, a plentiful harveft, and victory over CHAP. “ your enemies ; and, by us, fend to acquaint you, VIL that certain invincible men are arrived trom the “ eaft, who feem a kind of gods : They fail in pa- laces upon the ocean ; their weapons are thunder and lightening, the peculiar arms of heaven ; they profefs themfelves fervants of a God fuperior to “ ours, that is offended with tyranny and human “ facrifices ; their Captain ftyles himfelf the Ambaf- “ fador of a powerful Prince, who fends him to re- “ form the manners of our country, and deliver the “ Mexicans from the oppreftions of Montezu- “ m a, the great enemy of yours and all the neigh- bouring States ; and only defires a paflage through “ your country to the Court of that Monarch : 4 ‘ Which the Ambafladors advifed them to admit “of; alluring them, that thefe foreigners had no “ other views than the common good of their coun- “ try, and made no other ufe of the terrible arms “ they carried, but to promote the welfare of man- “ kind.” Whether this fpeech be genuine or no, is not ma- terial : The reafon of my giving this abftraCt of it is, to Ihew the glorious pretenfions of the Spaniards to gain over the Indian natives to their party ; tho’, after they were fubdued by the affiftance of their own arms, the conduit of the Spaniards appear’d the ve- ry reverfe of their declarations. I his pacific propofal, the fame hiftorians relate. Debates in being debated in the fenate of Tlafcala, one of the f ena te of graveft of them, by name Maciscatzin, ob- ferves, that it had not long fince been declared bv ^ ^ 3 their Priefts, and was generally believed by their people, that an invincible race of men fliould one day come from the eaft, who fliould have power over the elements, be able to live upon the ocean, and with fire and air fubdue the earth : Men of a celeftial race ; fo valiant and powerful, that one fliould be able to vanquilh a thoufand ; and fo good, as to promote nothing but what was juft, reafonable and beneficent : ft hat thefe ftrangers refembled the people their oracles had deferibed, in almoft every inftance : Their valour thofe of Tobafco had al- ready experienced, and their goodnefs their allies de- clared, amongft whom they had refided. That the comets they had lately feen, foretold this great event ; and it would be madnefs to op- pofe a people arm’d with the thunder of the gods, and whofe lightning pointed out their fu bmiflion. There was a party, however, in the fenate, led byXiccNTAL, the Tlafcalan General, who were of another mind, according to de Solis: They faid, it was true thefe pretenders to reformation did come from the eaft ; but it was much to be quefti- on’d whether thefe were the fame their oracles fore- told fliould come from thence ; for thofe they ex- pected were to be of a celeftial race : Their fire- arms and floating-caftles, which fome called pala- ces, might be the effeCt of human induftry and in- vention ; OF MEXICO, HAP. vention ; or, perhaps, they might be the illufions VII. of fome enchantment : Their fuccefs at Tobafco might be afcribed to furprize, or a panic fear that poffefs’d that people ; but was by no means to be looked upon as miraculous : And they fufpected, that the good ulage the Zempoalans had experienced, was only the effect of artifice, and in order to draw in that people to their party ; for they did not want inftances of the coveteoufnefs, pride and ambition of thefe foreigners : They had plunder’d leveral towns on the coafts, and exprefs’d an in- fatiable third: after the Gold and Silver their country produced : They contemned and derided their re- ligion, deftroyed their temples, pulled down their altars, and blafphemed their gods ; which diffident- ly evinced, they v/ere far from being of heavenly extraction : That thofe portents and figns in the air, which had been fo much infilled on, were the conftant forerunners of fome dreadful calamity, and fent as warnings by the gods, that they might pro- vide againft them : They ought therefore to oppofe thefe invaders with all their forces, and, by their fupplications to the gods, endeavour to avert thofe miferies they were threaten’d with. I have given an abllradt of thefe fpeeches, to fhew what the Mexicans thought of the Spaniards on their arrival among them ; or rather, what the Spaniards would have us believe the Indians thought of them : Not that I fuppofe fuch fpeeches were ever made ; for it was impoffible the Spaniards could have come to the knowledge of them if they had, there being no fuch thing as writing among that people, and the Spaniards at that time perfectly ig- norant of their language. But whatever were the debates in the fenate of Tlafcala, it is evident, they determined to oppofe the palfage of the Spaniards through their country, ’till they had made an experiment of their ftrength. Indeed, they durft not meet this terrible enemy, whofe arms they refembled to thunder and light- ning, in a fair field ; but they frequently laid am- bufcades in the woods and mountains, and, fur- rounding the ftragglers, killed and wounded fome of the Spaniards 5 by which they learnt they were neither invulnerable nor immortal, as they had been reprelented. However, fuch was the advantage the Spaniards had in their artillery and horfes, that the Tlafcalans, finding it in vain to continue the war, were contented, at length, to accept of peace, and become mod faithful allies to Cor tez. The Spaniards, ’tis true, mention feveral great battles fought with the Tlafcalans, and a variety of ftratagems ufed on both fides in this war ; and fug- geft, that the fucceis of the Chriftians was to be afcribed to a fupernatural power : But there is very little regard to be given to fuch infinuations ; for the terror the natives were in at the approach of the horfe and artillery, was fuch, that they conftantly ikd when they faw the Chriftians in motion. Be- The Tlafca- lans refolve io oppofe the Spaniards. fides, the forces of the Caciques and Indian Princes, that join’d Cortez, were more numerous than thofe of Tlafcala, and able to have maintained the war perhaps againft that people alone ; and we find few of the Spaniards were hurt in this war : It is highly probable, therefore, the oppofition Cortez met with was inconfiderable ; and that a very mo- derate degree of courage and military conduit wa3 fufficient to drive the frighted defenceiefs Indians before them. That the flaughter of the Indians of Tlafcala was great, I fhall not conteft ; for the ex- ecution of a flying enemy is generally very terrible ; and the allies of Cortez, no doubt, when they faw their enemies turn’d their backs, might do much more execution than the Spaniards themfelves ; in- afmuch as they were more numerous, and not in- cumber’d with the heavy arms and armour of the Chriftians. When Montezuma received advice, that the Spaniards had fubdued the Tlafcalans, and were about to incorporate them in the number of their allies, he was under the utmoft confternation ; for he knew them to be the braveft of the Indian na- tions, and the molt inveterate enemies to his em- pire : A people, who had long refilled his enemies alone, and, join’d with thefe invincible ftrangers, he apprehended would fhake the foundations of bis throne : He fent another embaffy therefore to Cortez, to reprefent the Tlafcalans as a treache- rous and barbarous people, who had no regard to their treaties, and who would take the firft oppor- tunity that prefented itfelf of deftroying thofe that confided in them : But the Spaniards eafily faw through the defign of Montezuma, in offering them this advice, and concluded their treaty with Tlafcala the fooner, hecaufe they found that Prince fo much dreaded the confederacy they were nego- ciating. Montezuma made ftill another effort to di- vide the Spaniards and the Tlafcalans : He even offered to pay a yearly tribute to the Spaniards, confiding of half his revenues, provided they would break with their new allies, and lay afide their de- fign of marching to Mexico : But Cortez would not confent to either of thefe propofitions ; and, re- ceiving an invitation from the fenate of Tlafcala, to take up his quarters in their capital, he enter’d that city in triumph, on the 23d of September, 1519; and had a palace affign’d him, confifting of leveral courts, large enough to accommodate his whole army ; and was entertain’d here at the ex- pence of that republick, who readily confented to become fellow-fuhjefts of the fame mighty Prince the Spaniards were. But, when Cortez prefs’d them to abandon their idols, and embrace the Chri- ftian religion, they defired to be excufed from fuch compliances ; and the General could prevail no farther, than that they fhould fufpend their human fecrifices. He would, the hiftcrian relates, have pro- 159 CHAP. VIL An alliance between the Tlafcalans and Spa- niards, Cortez marches ttj- Tlafcala, 1 60 C H A P VII. The vulcano of Popocate- pec furvey’d. Montezu- ma invites Cortez to -Mexico. THE PRESENT STATE proceeded to demolift their temples and images by every thing by pure force, pretended tnat this fud- C HAP. force, as be had done at Zemnoala ; but that Father den change in Mont ezuma could ante from no VII. Bartholomew de Olmedo diffuaced him other motive than treachery ; and, as he had in- from that raft refolution, which, he reprefented, vited him to continue his march, and take up his would infallibly unite all the Indian nations againft quarters in Cholula, one of the frontier cities of his him, and put a flop to the progrefs of their arms. dominions, lie had reafon to fufpeft, that this was While the Spaniards remained at Tlafcala, the done with a view of furprizing and cutting off the burning mountain of Popocatepec, which lies about Spaniards, when he ftould have enclofed them in eight leagues from that city, burnt with great vio- that fortrefs ; and therefoieCoR i hz pretended he lence, throwing out ftones and aftes that cover’d would take this opportunity to chaftife his treachery the neighbouring country : And this the Mexicans and infolence 5 that is, he would cut in pieces fome alfo looked upon as the forerunner of fbme calamity, thoufands of the Mexicans, at his entrance into But the Spaniards informed them, that this eruption their country, in order to keep up and increafe the proceeded from natural caufes ; and Diego de dread they had of his arms : And in this projedl, Ordaz, to (hew his contempt of what the na- they tell us, the Tlafcalans concurred, or rather tives fo much dreaded, took two of his foldiers along advifed him to, that they might take a full revenge with him, and climbed up this dreadful vulcano, of their antient enemies the Mexicans, now they ’till he came to the mouth of it, where they faw were reinforced by the invincible Spaniards, agreatmafs of boiling fulphur, and, haying fatif- Cortez, his own hiftorian relates, (tho’ he fied their curiofity, returned again to Tlafcala, where knew ot this plot of Montezuma and the they were given over for loft : And, tho’ it was in Mexicans to cut off the Spaniards at Cholula) con- reality a very rafh and foolift attempt, yet the Spa- tinned his march thither ; which was certainly very niards obferve, it was attended with very fortunate imprudent, it he really believed there was fuen a confequences ; for firft, it raifed in the Indians a confpiracy formed againft him, as he pretended . vaft opinion of the Spaniards, who were not afraid But, as a precaution, they tell us, he took fix or to march up to the mouth of this vulcano, which feven thoufand of the 1 lafealans with him, befides Cortez ad- their own people durft never approach ; and, fe- the Zempoalans, and the forces of his other con- condly, the Spaniards by this means difeover’d a federates j and, being arrived at the city of Cho- vaft quantity of fulphur,’ which was of great ufe to lula, he was received with all imaginable marks them afterwards in making gun-powder, when of efteem and affedhon ; only they defired the the powder they brought with them was almoft Tlafcalans might quarter without the city, as they exhaufted. were of a different fe£t in point of religion, and Cortez, having remained at Tlafcala about their antient enemies : Which Cortez thought 20 days, received another embafiy (rom Monte- fit to confent to ; but diredfed the Tlafcalans to en- zuma, inviting him to advance to the capital camp fo near the town, that they might join their city of Mexico ; for, finding the Spaniards were forces with the Spaniards, if there ftould be oc- now become fo powerful, by their alliance with the cafion. I he fame hiftorians relate, that fuch were Tlafcalans and other dates, that it was in vain to the joyful acclamations of the Mexicans, on the oppofc their march, he thought it the leaft evil ot Spaniards entering into this City, that they them- the two to receive them as friends : He found, if fclves, tho they had entertained a jealouty of a he perfifted any longer to deny the Spaniards coming confpiracy before, were inclined to thinktfhem fin- to his capital, they would force their way thither, cere : That the quarters the inagiftrates affign’d which would occafion a war that might end in the the Spaniards, were four large houfes, contiguous definition of himfelf and his empire ; whereas, by to each other, fpacious enough to contain the Chri- entering into an alliance with them, he might not ftians, and all their allies, except the Tlafcalans, only preferve himfelf, but ftill continue to govern who were fo ported as to have a communication his dominions, on making feme formal acknow- with their friends ; and that the Spaniards, hav- led°ments of his dependance on the King of Spain ; ing fortified their quarters, were in no danger of and that the Spaniards, in this cafe, would rather being forprized. But ftill, they proceed to give us fupport and protedt him againft the Tlafcalans, a farther relation of this pretended plot of the and his rebellious fubje£b, than endeavour to weaken Mexicans, to deftroy the Chriftians in this town, his authority. And there is no doubt, but at this by a general maflacre ; affirming, that a Mexican time Montezuma and the Mexicans were fo lady difeover’d it to Donna Marina, Cortez s terrified with the artillery of the Chriftians, and miftrefs, in compaffion to her; and that fome the formidable alliances they had enter’d into with Priefts of the Mexicans, being examined thereupon, the natives, that they might have made that Em- confirm’d the truth of it. But, wnatever there CoUez^rnu, peror tributary to Spain, and put almoft any terms was in the confpiracy of the Indians again t the thoufand upon him : But Cortez, who ever effedled to Spaniards, all agree, that Cortez and the 1 laica- Mexicans make himfelf rather feared than loved, and to eftedt Ians fell upon the poor detencelefe citizens of Cio- ate ou .1 -lula* 1 6 1 C H A P. VII. A pretended >lflracle. OF MEXICO. lula, and cut the throats of many thoufands of them, without the lofs of any of their own people : That he even fet fire to their temples, which he burnt with great numbers of Priefts and others, who had retired thither, either to invoke the protedion of their gods, or as to fanduaries, which they thought none would be fo barbarous as to violate. Thus, fays Antonio de Solis, did Cortez chaftife the treachery of Mont e z u m a and the Mexicans. He acknowledges, indeed, that one of their own hiftorians charges this General with barbarous cruelty in this and many other maflacres of the like nature ; fuggefting, that his avarice for the plunder of that rich city, and his ambition to render himfelf ter- rible, were the real motives to this butchery : And we can’t eafily avoid being of that opinion, after the good Bifhop of Chiapa, who lived upon the fpot a little after the conqueft, has confirm’d the truth of it. Certain it is, this terrible execution had fuch an -effeft on Montezum a, that he immediately fent another rich prefent to Cortez, with farther of- fers of fubmiffion and refignation to his pleafure : And, I think, there is little room to doubt, but Cortez expeHed this mafi'acre would be attended with fome fuch confequences ; and that the profped of them were the principal motives to that bloody adion. It is evident, great part of the hiftory of de Solis is mere fidion : That he has formed councils, made fpeeches, and contrived ftratagems for his hero ; for which there was no manner of occafion, againft fo weak and defenfelefs a people, frighted out of their fenfes at the difeharge of his artillery : Nay, he has wrought feveral unneceflary miracles for the Spaniards ; at which every reafon- able man muft laugh. And, if thefe relations are evidently falfe, what regard ought we to have to other improbable fads he relates, where they are not confirm’d by the concurrent teftimony of other writers ? To add another inftanceof a falfe miracle to thofe I have related already from de Solis : He tells us, that the Spaniards having eroded a Crofe on an eminence in the city of Tlafcala, when they march’d out of that town, a prodigious bright cloud defended, in form of a pillar, and fettled perpen- dicularly upon the Crofs, where it remained for three or four years : That there proceeded from the cloud fuch a fplendor, as (truck the Indians with a vene- ration for the Crofs, fhining out in the darkeft nights, and compelling them to acknowledge, that the Crofs contained fome Deity ; and that it was with reafon the Spaniards worfhipped it, and imita- ted them, by bending the knee before it, and ap- plying to it for relief in their diftrefles, negleding their own idols : Which devotion encreafed to that degree, that the Indian Priefts grew jealous of their religion, and endeavoured to pull down that mi- raculous Crofs, and break it in pieces ; but they always returned extremely terrified, not daring to VoL„ Ill, declare the reafon, left they fhould lofe their repu- tation among the people. Thefe, and a multitude more of fuch feign’d miracles in the Spanffh hifto- rians, oblige us to read them with caution ; tho’ de Solis is frequently fo good as to fare us the trouble of a ftrid examination, and confute him- felf, by relating impoffible or inconfiftent facts, as will appear in the courfe of this hiftory. And, after all, if that conqueft was attended with miracles that were wrought for the conviction of the Indians, there had been little occafion for thofe numerous ftratagems, and that inimitable bravery they aferibe to their hero Cortez ; much lefs for thofe cruel maflacres that w’ere exercifed by the Spaniards, un- der pretence of forcing the Indians into the Chri- ftian fold. There was finely very little of heavers in that cruel war, if it may be called a war, which ravenous Wolves make upon defencelels Sheep : And if ever religion, or rather fuperitition, was propagated and eftablifhed by the fword, that of the Papifts was in America ; their artillery were their Apoftles, and fire and faggot their Evangelifts, if we may believe their own hiftorian, the Bifhop of Chiapa, who refided in Mexico foon after the con- queft, and came to Spain again to lc licit a ceflation of thefe barbarities, in compaffion to thofe miierable people, whom he law deftroy’d by thoufands ; and was fo happy as to obtain orders from Court to the Spanifh Governors to treat the Indians with more humanity. Cortez, having remained fome days at Cho- lula after this maffacre, and made the neceflary preparations for his march, advanced, by eafy ftages, towards the Court of Mexico, in order to gain far- ther intelligence, and ftrengthen himfelf by alliances with the Caciques, or Mexican Princes, great num- bers of them reforting to him, and complaining of the tyranny and oppreffion of Montezuma, their Emperor. Nor was Cortez forry, fays his hiftorian, to fee thefe humours prevail in the heart of the country ; “ perfuading himfelf, that a Prince “ could not be very powerful with fo many marks “ of a Tyrant, who, by lofing the love of his vaffals, “ was deftitute of the fureft defence of a King.” Here we may obferve the force of truth : The very advocates of Cortez, and the firft adventurers, acknowledge, that the difaffedion of the Mexicans was fo univerfal, that Montezum a could not, without difficulty, have prevented the revolt of his fubjeds, and a confederacy of the Indian Caciques againft him, if the Spaniards had not come to their affiftance : And, confequently, the mighty adions pretended to be done by thefe adventurers, had very little to be admired in them ; at leaft, they could never deferve thofe applaufes that have been bellow- ed on them ; fince Montezuma’s empire muft have fallen of itfelf, by their own relation, without foreign affiftance. Can we think it ft range then, that it fhould be overturn’d, when the opprefled Y .Indians C H A P. VII Cortez en» ters into nevs> alliances, and advances to- wards Mesh co. 162 CHAP. VII. The Ma- gicians em- ploy’d by .Montezuma to diftrefs the Spa- niards. A pretended r/ifion. THE PRESENT STATE Indians were a /lifted in their revolt by a people verfed in the European arts of war, and armed with artil- lery and other advantages, which mull have terrified and confounded any people, how brave foever, that had never feen any thing of this kind. They frequently infinuate, indeed, that nothing left than miracles and fupernatural aids could have enabled fuch a handful of men to reduce fo vaft an empire ; but they forget, on thofe occafions, that they have inform’d us, that the armies of Indians that join’d Cortez were equal to thole of Mon- T E z u M a ; and that his fubjedls were opprefTed, and prepared for a general revolt. From whence it appears, that neither miracles, or any great fhare of courage or conduct, were necellary to bring a- bout that revolution, which is reprefented as fo aftoniftiing, that the actions of Alexander, Czesar, and the greatefc heroes of antiquity, are not to be compared to it. The hiftorian proceeds to tell us, that Mon te- •z u M a had laid another plot to deftroy the Spa- niards, by leading them into a defart country, full of defiles and difficult pafies, where he propofed either to cut them off, or ftarve them ; hut their Indian allies, it feems, advifed Corte z to take a different road, whereby he prelerved his army : That this ftratagem failing, Montezuma com- manded his Magicians, Necromancers, and all that were verfed in the black art, to affemble, and diftrefs his enemies by their enchantments, on pain of death : That thereupon the Magicians, relying on the fupport and affiftance of thofe infernal powers that ufed to favour them, took their poft on a mountain, in view of the Spanifh army ; where, beginning to draw circles, and invoke the Devil (like our European Necromancers) the Prince of Darknefs appeared to them, in the form of one of their idols, of a mod terrible countenance ; and from whom they fuppofed plague and famine, and other calamities, to proceed ; and, with an angry look, exceeding the fiercenels of the idol, feem’d to threaten them. Whereupon they proftrated themfelves before the infernal fpirit ; but he, re- gardlels of their devotion, in a diimal tone and voice, fpoke to them in this manner : “ Unhappy “ Mexicans, the time is come wherein your en- iC chantments have loft their force ; and the league “ between us is diflolved. Tell Montezuma, “ that, for his tyranny and cruelty, heaven has “ decreed his ruin : And, that you may in a more “ lively manner reprefent to him the defolation of “ his empire, turn your eyes upon that miferable “ city, already forfaken of her gods.” Having laid this, the apparition difappear’d, and they beheld their capital city in flames ; which they found, however, untouch’d on their return thither. When this vifion was related to Mont e zu m a, ’tis faid, he was aftonilh’d, and for fome time re- mained fpeechlefs 1 but, at length, broke out in the following exclamation : “ What can we do, C H A P» “ if our gods forfake us ? Let the ftrangers ad- VII. “ vance, and the heavens fall on us : To hide our- J “ felves, or turn our backs on the vengeance that “ threatens, would be diftionourable. I only la- “ ment the fate of the women and the children, “ that cannot defend themfelves.” And, when he had faid this, feem’d ready to diflblve in tears : And now, finding it in vain to oppofe the march of the Spaniards any longer, he began to make prepara- tions for their reception. Thus, we find, the Spanifti hiftorians have in- terallied both heaven and hell in the deftruclion of this unfortunate Emperor, againft whom they had already arm’d his own fubjedts, and all the neigh- bouring powers ; which mull render their (hare in the fubverfion of this empire exceeding final! : A Prince, terrified by vifions and prodigies, by his own oracles, by a general infurreclion and con- federacy againft him, fcarce wanted the artificial, thunder and military (kill of the Spaniards to com- plete his ruin. But to proceed : The Spaniards, continuing their march, were at- tended by leveral other Caciques and Lords of the country, who complained of the intolerable op~ prefficns of Montezuma ; telling Cortez, that they look’d upon him as their Deliverer, lent from heaven to reftrain and punilh the in- juftice and cruelty of tyrants: To whom he pro- mifed his protection ; and, drawing near to Mexico, in order to ftrike the greater terror into the natives, he order’d his artillery and fmall arms to be dis- charged ; and caufed leveral Indians to be fhot, that approached too near his quarters while he lay in- camp’d at Amemeca, on the borders of the Mexi- can Lake. Here Prince Cacumatzin, the nephew of Montezuma, attended by the Mexican nobili- ty, came to the General, and bid him welcome ; alluring him, that he would meet with a very kind and honourable reception from the Emperor ; but intimated, that there having lately been a great fcarcity of provifions in the city of Mexico, occa- ' fion’d by unfeafonable weather, they could not ac- commodate him as they defired ; and therefore en- treated he would defer his entrance into that capi- tal, if he did not think fit entirely to decline going thither : But, Cortez appearing determined to advance, the Prince feemed to acquiefce ; and the preparations for the reception of the Spaniards were continued. Cortez, being arrived at Quitlavaca, a city fituated on an ifland in the great Lake, 5 or 6 leagues from Mexico ; is faid to have had. fome apprehenfions,. that the Mexicans Ihould break down the caufey, and remove the bridges on it ; which would have very much embarrafs’d him, becaule he could neither have advanced or retired in that cafe, efpecially with his horfe and artillery. But O F M E 3 HAP. the Cacique of Quitlavaca, who appeared to be a VII. friend of the Spaniards, very much encouraged the General; telling him, he had nothing to fear ; that the prodigies in the heavens, the anfwers of the oracles, and the fame of the great actions and fur- prizing arms of the Spaniards, had perfectly difpi- rited their Emperor, and difpofed him to fubmit to whatever the General would impofe on him ; and that he was fo far from meditating to impede their march, that he had given his commands to all the places, through which the army was to pafs, to iupply them with provifions, and all other accom- modations ; and that he would find the people every-where infinitely rejoiced on his approach, looking upon him in a manner as their good angel, and in expectation the Spaniards would anfwer the character they had conceived of them, and refcue them from oppreffion. This is acknowledg’d by all the Spanifh hifto- rians. How is it poffible then, to form a more favourable conjuncture, for the Spaniards to have eftabli fil’d their dominion in Mexico, even with- out the leaft bloodfhed, if the General, who con- ducted them, had been equal to the enterprize, or had had lefs avarice and cruelty in his compofition. The laft town the Spaniards came to, before they arrived at Mexico, was Iztacpalapa, which Hands upon the great caufey leading to that captital, and is about 2 leagues from thence ; where he was re- ceived, with all imaginable honours, by the Cacique and the neighbouring Princes, who prefented him with a great variety of plumes and fruits, and with plates of gold, to the value of two thoufand Pefo’s. The Prince affign’d Cortez his own elegant Palace alfo for his quarters, and entertained him in the gardens of it, which, the Spaniards inform us, were equal in beauty and magnificence to any thing of that kind in Europe. Cortez en- The General, having remained here one night, ters Mexico. £, e aan h[ s march early the next morning, being the 1 9th of November, 1519, in order to make his f entry into the metropolis of the empire ; and, as they drew near it, fays de So Lis in his lofty ftyle, they faw, with admiration, that great city elevated vaftly above the reft of the cities of the lake, and carrying an air of dominion in the pride of her buildings. Being come within a league of the city, they were met by four thoufand of the Nobility and great Officers of State, who, having paid their complements, advanced before them to the gates of Mexico, and then made a lane for the army to march through ; the reft of the people appearing at the windows and battlements on the tops of the houfes, which were crowded with them ; but they were not fuffer’d to ftand in the ftreets, that the march of the Spaniards and their auxiliaries might not be impeded or diforder’d. The army confifted at this time of four hundred and fifty Spaniards, and fix thoufand Tlafcalans and X I C O. 163 Indians, who had no fooner enter’d the ftreets of C H A P» Mexico, but they w'ere met by two hundred Noble- VII. men of the Emperor’s houfhold, cloathed in one livery, wdth large plumes of feathers on their heads, all of the fame fafhion and colour. Thefe, after meeting and complimenting the General, fell back alfo, and, dividing themfelves, made a lane for the Spaniards : ! hen came ano- ther body of the Nobility, of a fuperior dignity, who made a more fplendid appearance ; and, in the midft of them, was the Emperor Mont e zu m a, carried in a chair of beaten gold, on the {boulders of his favourite Courtiers, four more of them fu- ftaining a canopy over his head ; the whole adorned with beautiful feathers, through which the glitter- ing gold appeared : He was preceded by three Of- ficers, with rods of gold, the harbingers of the Emperor’s approach, on whofe appearance the peo- ple proftrated themfelves, none daring to look up. Cortez difmounting when the Emperor drew near, the Mexican Monarch alighted from his chair, Montezuma, and carpets were fpread in the ftreet for him to tread on ; He advanced, according to the Spanifh hiftorians (who feem to have taken many of the ceremonies they relate from their own Court) wdth a flow folemn pace, leaning on the arms of two Princes, his relations ; and was met bv Cortez with a becoming hafte, and a moft profound reve- rence ; which Montezuma anfwer’d, by touch- ing the ground with his hand, and afterwards railing it to his lips ; a new and unheard-of condefcenfion, my author obferves, from Montezuma, who would fcarce bend a knee to his gods ; and added to the efteem and veneration his fubje£fs already had of the Spaniards. The conference between the Emperor and the General was fhcrt, the hiftorian relates, at this interview ; neither has he made a fpeech for either of them on this occafion ; only tells us, that their fpeeches were fuitable to the oc- cafion ; and that the Emperor commanded one of the Princes, his relation, to conduit the General to the palace affign’d for his refidence ; and then returned to his own palace. It was about noon the Spaniards were brought to the royal houfe appointed for their reception, which was fo fpacious as to contain all the Europeans and their auxiliaries : It had thick ftone-walls, they tell us, flank’d with towers : The roof of the palace flat, and defended by battlements and breaft-works ; infomuch, that when the General had planted his artillery, and placed his guards, it had very much the appearance of a fortrefs. Hither Montezuma came the fame evening, and was received by Cortez in the principal vn s or 610 fquare of the palace ; and that Monarch, having enter’d the room of ftate, and feated himfelf, or- der’d a chair for Cort e z ; and a fignal was made for his Courtiers to retire to the v/all : Whereupon the Spanifh Officers did the fame ; and Cortez, Y 2 being 1 64 THE PRES C HAP. being about to begin a lpeech by his interpreters, VII. the hiftorian relates, Montezuma prevented him, and fpake as follows : His Leech. 44 Illuftrious and valiant Stranger, before you 44 difclofe the important meffage the great Monarch 44 you come from has given you in command, it 44 is necefl'ary fome allowances be made for what 41 fame Ins reported of us on either fide. You 44 may have been inform’d, by fome, that I am “ one of the immortal gods ; that my wealth is “ immenfely great, and my palaces cover’d with 44 gold : And, on the other hand, you may have 44 heard, that I am tyrannical, proud and cruel. 14 But both the one and the other have equally im- 44 pofed on you : You fee that I am a mortal of 44 the fame ipecies of other men ; and, tho’ my 44 riches are confiderable, my vaftab make them “ much more than they are ; and you find, that 44 the walls of my palaces are nothing more than 44 plain lime and ftone. In like manner, no doubt, 44 has the feverity of my government been magni- 44 fied : But fufpend your judgment of the whole, 44 ’till you have had an- opportunity of informing 44 yourfelf concerning it ; and you will find, that 44 what my rebellious fubjedts call oppreffion, is no- 44 thing more than the necefl’ary execution of 44 juftice. 64 After the fame manner have your adfions been 44 reprefented to us. Some fpeak of you as gods ■, 44 affirming, that the wild beafts obey you : That 44 you grafp the thunder in your hands, and com- 44 nrand the elements : While others allure me, 44 you are wicked, revengeful, proud, and tran- 44 fported with an inlatiable thirft after the gold 44 our country produces. 44 I am now fenfible, ye are of the fame com- 44 pofition and form as other men, and diftin- 44 guifh’d from us only by accidents, which the 44 - difference of countries occafions. 44 Thefc beads (Horfes) that obey you, are pro- r ‘ : - bablv a large fpecies of Deer, that you have ■ 4 tarn and bred up in fuch im perfect knowledge 44 as may be attained by animals : Your arms are made of a metal indeed unknown to us, and tine 44 -fife you difeharge from them, with iuch an afto- 44 nifhing found, may be fome fecret taught by your 4 Magicians. As to your actions, my ambaffa- 44 dors and fervants inform me, that you are pious, 44 courteous, and govern’d by reafon : That you bear 44 hardfhips with patience and chearfulneis ; and 44 are rattier liberal than covetous: So that we 4 -muff, on both lides, lay afide our prejudices and ” - prepoffeffions, and rely only on-, what our eyes • 4 and experience teach. Nor need you take any 44 pains to perfuade us, that the great Prince you ,4 ferve is dsfeended from our ancedor Quezal- 44 coal, Lord of the Seven Caves of the Navat- ■ 4 laques, and K ing of the Seven Nations, that gave 4 -beginning to the Mexican empire. We know, ENT STATE 44 that he departed from this land to conquer new CHAP, 44 regions in the Ead, promifing to return again, VII. 44 and reform our government and manners : 44 And, becaufe you come from the Ead, and your 44 actions manifed you are delcended from this our 44 illudrious progenitor, we have already determin’d 44 to pay you all imaginable honours.” To this the General anfwer’d, That it was true, Theanfwer- various were the reports they had heard : Some en- 01 Cortez ' deavour’d to defame and afperfe him, while others adored him- as a god : But the Spaniards, who were endued with a penetrating fpirit, eafily law through the different colours of difeourfe, .and the. deceit of the heart : That they neither gave credit to his rebellious fubjedts, or thofe that flatter’d him ; but came into his prefence affured, that he was a great Pri nee, and a friend to reafon ; but very well fa- tisfied, however, that he was mortal, as they them- felves were : That the beafts which obey’d him were not Deer, but fierce and generous animals, inclined to war, and feemed to afpire, with ambition, after . the fame glory their mafters did. Their fire-arms were indeed the effedt of human induftry, and ow’d nothing to the fkill of the Ma- gician, whole arts were abominated by the Spaniards t. And thus, having given fome anfwer to the Em- peror's difeourfe, Cortez proceeded to let him. know, That he came Ambaffador from the moft . potent Monarch under the fun, to defire his friend- fhip and alliance : That there might be a commu- nication and intercourfe between their refpedtive do- minions ; and, by that means, the Chriftians might have an opportunity of convincing them of their errors : And though, according to their own tradi- tions, he might claim , a more ablolute power over: this part of the world, their King only defired to make ufe of his authority, to inftrudt them in mat- ters infinitely to their advantage ; to drew the Mexi- cans that they lived in darknels and error, adoring in fenfible blocks of wood, the works of mens hands- and fancies ; whereas there was but one true God, „ the eternal caufe of all things, without beginning or ending whole infinite power created, out of • nothing, the wonderful fabrick of the- heavens, the fun which gave them light, the earth that fuftained them, and the firft man from whom they proceed- ed : And this God they were , all under equal obli- gation to acknowledge and adore ; an obligation im- printed on their fouls, and of which even the Mexi- cans could not be wholly ignorant, tho’ they diff honour’d that almighty Being, by worlhipping de- vils and impure fpirits, creatures of the fame God, who, for their ingratitude and rebellion, were doom’d to. fubterranean fires ; of which their vul- canoes had an. imperfedt relemblance : That thefe infernal fpirits, whofe malice and envy render’d them moft inveterate enemies of mankind, endeavoured, their perdition, by caufing themfelves to be adored in their abominable idols : That it was their voice they CHAP. VII. Montezu- ma's reply. Remarks on thefe fpseches. OF MEXICO. 165 they fometimes heard in the anfwers of their oracles, temples and idols by force, before gentle means, and C HA I , and their illufions that impofed on their reafon. the arts of perfuafion, had been made ufe of to con- VII. That thefe myfteries could not be explained at a fin- vert them from their errors, and give them an opi- G'AGVl gle interview; but the King, whofe fuperiority n ion of the religion propofed to be introduced ; when they acknowledged, admonifhed them to hear thofe they faw thofe they at firft looked upon as gods or Fathers whofe bufinefs it was to preach the heavenly angels, rather than men, rapacious and cruel, intent do&rine : This was the firft and principal thing the upon amaffing gold and treafure, and murdering the King his mafter commanded him to infift on, as the natives Dy thoufands and ten thoufands, under pietence moff likely means of eftablilhing a lafting amity ; of plots and confpiracies againft them ; when they that, being united in principles of religion, their found, by experience, that the Spaniards weie but alliance might become indiftbluble. men, and were render d defperate by the cruel treat- The reply Montezuma made to this ha- ment they met with from them; no wonder they rangue, ’tis ’faid, was, That he accepted the alliance held fail their errors, and endeavoured to free them- propofed by the King of Spain, the defcendant of felves from a yoke they found intoleiable. his great anceftor Quezalcoal; but as to the Cortez, and the Spaniards fecm to have pro- overture that had been made concerning religion, ceeded upon very impolitic and bloody maxims : he held, that all gods were good, and the God of 1 hey expended, in the firft place, that the Indians the Spaniards might be what they reprefented. ; but fnoukl immediately entertain and embrace their re- he faw no reafon to withdraw that veneration the ligion, before they knew any thing of it ; and be- Mexicans paid to theirs : And, having made Co r- lieved it lawful, if the Indians refufed this, to de- tez a prefent of gold, jewels, and other valuable ftroy them by all ways imaginable : And according- curiofities, and diftributed more among his Officers, ly we fhall find, in the courfe of this hiftory, that that Prince returned to his palace. " they ufed them worfe than they would have ufed In the firft of thefe fpeeches, the Spanifin hifto- any fpecies of animals ; firft making them their rians. have made Montezuma fpeak what they flaves, and then deftroying them without mercy ; thought it was proper for him to fay on fuch an oc- which was not only barbarous, but extremely im- cafion ; and have fufficiently difcover’d that fub- politic. Fhe Romans, we find, whenever they ex- miffion Montezuma was then difpofed to pay tended their arms, made even the Princes of the them: They drew, that the Spaniards were then fo conquer’d nations fubfervient to their defigns, and high in the opinion of the Mexicans, that they might affift them in eftablilhing their dominion, by con- have impofed what terms they pleafed upon them, ftituting them Viceroys and Governors under them; if they had not ftruck upon the only firing that and, by that means, reconciled the people they fub- could have prevented it ; namely, the demanding a dued to their empire: But the Spaniards rejected, or hidden and total change in their religion, even at neglected all fuch politic arts ; and feemed to know this firft conference. Whether the anfwer faid to no other way of fubduing that new world, than by be made by Co rte z be genuine, or net, is not maflacring and murdering the antient inhabitants ; very material; but it is evident, from this firft fpeech infomuch, that large provinces and_ iflands were their writers have put into his mouth, and many perfectly depopulated, and many millions of people other paflages, as alfo from his demolifhing their deftroy'd, within the fpace of twelve years after tire temples and images at Cozumel and Zempoala, invafion of Cort ez, as the Spanifh Biinop of Chi— that he began foolifhly to prejudice the Indians a- apa informs us, who was fo fuccefsful in his appli- gainft the Spaniards, by infilling on a change of re- cation to the Spanifh Court, as to procure a flop to be ligion before he had eftablifh’d his authority. Had put to thefe unparallel’d outrages and devaluations, he once poftefs’d himfelf of the government, which in fbme meafure. But to proceed in our hiftory, the Emperor Montezuma, and his fubjefts the which will abundantly manifeft the truth or what Mexicans, in a manner courted him to accept ; he I have here advanced. might, probably, by reafon, by encouragements and T he Span ilh General, attended by fome of his Thejrft a\i rewanft, have wrought upon many of the Indians officers and fold iers, went the next day to the palace £ orUZ , to have relinquifh’d their fuperftition ; for, tho’ he of Montezuma, and was admitted to an audi- had not the power of working miracles, the adfions ence. And here again, their hiftorians relate, that of the Europeans were looked upon as miraculous, Cortez entertained that Prince chiefly on the fub- and their power invincible : And il to this had jeeft of religion : 1 bat he endeavour d to give him been added fome examples of that humanity and an opinion of the rites and ceremonies of the Chri- benevolence which Chriftianity infpires ; bad the In- ftians ; exclaimed againft human facrifices, and how dians feen them a£t like Chriftians, and manifefted unnatural it was to devour their own Ipecies thus a real concern for their temporal as well as eternal facrmced : And they tell us, that they prevailed fo happinefs, the Chriftian religion had, in all probabi- far on him, as to induce him to banifh human flefh licy, been foon eftablifh’d in that part of the world, from his own table ; tho’ he durft not prohibit Its But when they faw the Spaniards deftroying their fubjeefts eating of it, or his Priefts the continuing to 1 66 T H E PRESENT STATE CHAP. VII. Montezurru thews Cortez the great temple; The impoli tic zeal of Cortez, Remarks up- on it. offer Fuch facrifices. On the contrary, he main- tained, That it was no cruelty to offer to his gods prifoners already condemned to die ; tho’ Cort ez, and Father Olmedo the Prieft, frequently endea- vour’d to convince him of the barbarity of the practice, and of the excellency of the Chriftian re- ligon : That he ftill infilled, “ That his gods were “ as good in his country, as the God of the Chri- 4< Ilians was in theirs Nor could he diffemblehis refentment, when he was prels’d fo clofely on this fubjeCl, At another time, Montezuma carried Cor- tez, Father Olmedo the Prieft, and fomeof the principal Spanilh Officers, to take a view of the great temple ; explained to them their rites and ce- remonies, the deities the images reprefented, and the ufe of the facred veffels and utenfils, and this with great reverence and ferioufnels : At which the Spaniards, their hiftorians inform us, were fo rude and impolitic, as to laugh and make a jeft of them ; and that Montezuma thereupon admonifn’d them to keep within the bounds of decency. But Cortez, tranfported with great zeal, laid to the Emperor, “ Permit me, Sir, to fix the Crofs of “ Christ before thefe images of the devil, and “ you will fee whether they deferve adoration or “ contempt.” At which the Priefts were enraged, and Montezuma himfelf in confufion ; and faid to the Spaniards, “ You might, at leaft, have “ fhewn this place the refpeCt you owe to my per- “ fon And immediately led them out of the temple ; but returned thither again himfelf, telling them, he mull alk pardon of his gods for having fuffer’d them to proceed fo far. And now, it feems, Cortez and his Priefts were themfelves convinced, they had taken a wrong ftep in preffing the Empe- ror fo ftrenucully to change his religion, which only tended to provoke him, and fix him in his errors ; and contented themfelves with erecting a chappel, by his leave, for the exercife of the Chriftian reli- gion publickly ; in which they placed the image of our Lady and a Crofs, and celebrated mafs every day. They add, that Mon t e z u m a and his Court were frequently prefent at divine fervice, and ad- mired the humanity of the Chriftian facrifice ; tho’ they could not be brought to abolilh their own. Give me leave juft to remark, in this place, that the Mexicans did not eat the flelh of thofe that were facrinced, or ever fed on human flelh ; nor were human facrifices frequent in Mexico ; tho’, upon fome feftivals, and extraordinary occafions, it be admitted, men were fometimes facrificed. The defign of the Spaniards, in reprefenting thefe people to be fo very barbarous, was evidently to juftify their own cruel butcheries on thefe unfortunate Indians, as will be fhewn under the head of religion. And, in- deed, with what face could the Spaniards declaim a- gainlt the worlhip of images, while they wonhip- ped images themfelves ? Or how could they pretend CHAP, fuch a deteftation of human facrifices, when they la- VII. crificed fo many thoufands to their ambition and avarice ? And, as fome have obferved, might not the Indians have juftly retorted upon them, That if they facrificed prifoners taken in war, the Spaniards every day almoft facrificed and eat their very God, as they themfelves acknowledg’d. To return to the hiftory. Still there continued a great intimacy between Montezuma and Cortez. If we may cre- dit the Spanilh hiftorians, Cortez frequently re- forted to the Mexican Court, and Montezuma as often viftted the Spanilh quarters, making pre- fents to the General, and to his Officers and Soldiers, and exhibiting fhews and entertainments for their diverfion. The Mexicans ftill treated the Spaniards with a refpeCl that favour’d of fubmiffion, accord- ing to my author. Montezuma fpoke of their King with the fame veneration he mentioned his own gods ; his Nobility paid a profound refpect to the Spanilh Officers, and the people bow’d the knee to the meaneft Spanilh Soldier : But an accident happen’d, which very much leffen’d the efteem, or rather dread, the Mexicans at firft entertain’d of thefe foreigners. One of that Emperor’s Generals, levying the an- nual tax impofed on the vaffal Princes in that part of the country which lay in the neighbourhood of the Spanilh garrifon of Vera Cruz ; thefe Caciques, who had thrown off their fubjeClion to the Mexican empire, and enter’d into an alliance with the Spa- niards, applied themfelves to John d e Es c a l an- An aaion TE, Governor of Vera Cruz, for protection ; who between the thereupon march’d out of that fortrefs, with forty an d Spaniards Spaniards and three or four thoufand confederate In- near Vera dians, to their affiftance ; and, tho’ he had the good Cruz * fortune to defeat the Mexican General, yet one of the -Spaniards was killed, and his head fent up to Court ; and the Governor, with five or fix more of his garrifon, were mortally wounded. Which news being brought to Cortez, gave him great uneafi- nefs ; and the more, becaufe he was inform’d, by ' the confederate Indians, that the Mexicans were confuiting how to drive him out of their territories ; which they did not apprehend impracticable fince the engagement near Vera Cruz. The Spanifh General therefore finding it impoffi- ble to maintain his authority among the Indians any longer, without entring on fome addon that might give them frelh caufe of aftonilhment, fays my au- thor, and recover that reputation they feemed to have loft by that unfortunate accident,refolved to feize the perfonof Montezuma, and bring him prifoner to his quarters : And, accordingly, at an hour when the Spaniards were ufed to pay their court to that Prince, Cortez, having given orders to his men to arm themfelves without noife, and poffefs themfelves of all the avenues leading to the palace. OF MEXICO. 167 CHAP, in fmall parties, that no notice might be taken of VII. it ; went to the Mexican Court, attended by feve- ralof his Officers and thirty Soldiers, whofe refolu- tion he could rely on ; and, being admitted to the Emperor’s prelence, he complained of the violation of the peace between them, by one of the Mexican Generals falling upon his confederates, and after- wards killing a Spaniard he had taken, in cold blood. To which Monte zuma anfwer’d, That if any thing of that nature had been done, it was without his orders ; and he was ready to make la- tisfadfion for any injury that might have been done undefignedly, either to the Spaniards, or their allies. But Corte z gave him to underftand, that nothing would fatisfy them but his furrendering himfelf into their hands, and refiding with them in the palace affign’d to the Spaniards for their quarters. Monteuzma, at firft, feem’d aftonifh’d at the infolent demand, and remain’d for fome time filent : But, recovering from his furprize, he faid, That Princes of his rank were not accuftomed to yield themfelves up to a prifon ; nor would his fub- jedfs permit this, if he fhould forget his dignity fo far. Cortez anfwer’d, If he would go along with them voluntarily, they were not afraid of any oppofition his fu'jecfs fhould make ; and they would treat him with all the regard due to his dignity : He might continue to exercife his authority as for- merly, and no reftraint fhould be put upon his acti- ons ; only, for their fecurity, he infilled, that the Emperor fhould refide amongft them. Monte- zuma ftill refufingto put himfelf into their hands, was given to underhand, that if he would not, they would carry him off by force, or murder him fnthe perfon t ^' e 7 were & PP 0S ’J : Whereupon he fubmitted to of Montezu- do, what he found it was impoffible to avoid , and tm - gave orders to his Officers to prepare for his removal to the Spanifh quarters, whither he went in the ufual ftate, and in all appearance voluntarily, unlefs that he was attended by a company of Spaniards, that furrounded his chair, under pretence of doing t him the greater honour : The Spaniards alfo obliged him to take with him fome of his children, -with the principal Lords and great Officers of ftate, whom they detain’d as hoftages for their farther fecurity ; all w hich could not be effected without a fufpicion, that they were in reality all captives to the Spani- ards, and had very near caus’d a general infurredfti- on to obtain their liberty. But Cortez oblig’d Montezuma to declare, that his removal was voluntary, and to give bis orders, that the people fhould difperfe, which was fubmitted to, poffibly r left the Spaniards fhould murder their Emperor, and , ail the Great men they had in their power : And, ftis faid, that Prince was allow’d to live in the fame ftate he had done in his own palace for fome time, attended by his officers and fervants ; and that he iffued his orders, as if lie had been under no manner of reftraint ; only the Spaniards ufed that precaution, as not to admit too many of the Mexicans to enter CHAP, their quarters at a time, and kept a very ftrief guard VII. at all the avenues. And here I cannot but obferve a little inconfi- Fart f ier rev marks* ftency in the Spanifh hiftorians, particularly in An- tonio de Solis, who tells us, “ That Mont r- “ zuma, neither in his expreffions, or his beha- “ viour, difeovered the leaft weaknefs under his “ confinement, or ceafed to maintain the grandeur “ of an Emperor.” And within twenty lines he fays, “ The want of fpirit in Monte zu m a, v/as “ not lefs remarkable, than the boldneft of the “ Spaniards was furprifing ;” adding, that the hand of God was upon the hearts of the Mexicans, as well as their Emperor ; or fo haughty a Prince, and a warlike nation, exceffively zealous in fupporting the dignity of their Sovereign, would never have fubmitted fo tamely, and without attempting his refeue. The Spaniards relate alfo, that Montezuma’s table, during his confinement, was ferv’d with greater plenty than ufual, and that what was left, was di~ ftributed among the Spanilh foldiers ; that fome of the heft difhes were font to the General and his Captains, who were now perfectly known to Mon- tezuma, and that he would converfe freely and pleafantly with them; but in fuch a manner, as was not inconfiftent with majefty : That he {pent moft of his time, when he was difengag’d from affairs of ftate, among the Spaniards ; and ufed to fay, he was not himfelf without them ; and the refpedt they paid him in return, gave him great fat if- faction. That he would fometimes play with Cor- tez at a Mexican game, call’d Toloque, wherein they bowl’d at certain golden pins, and that he ufed to diftribute his winnings amongft the Spaniards, and that he preferv’d the fentiments of a Prince, even at play. But fometimes they tell us, that Cort £ z entertained this Prince with more ferious fubjedfs ; particularly, that his zeal would not per- mit him to lofe fo fair an opportunity of making the Emperor his convert : But that all the arguments, that he, and Father Bartholomew de Ol- medo, the Prieft, could ufe, had no effedf upon him ; infomuch, that they were in doubt, whether he had not ftill fome intercourfe with the Devil 5 the’ it was the general opinion, that after the ap- pearance of the Crols of Christ in Mexico, all their infernal invocations loft their force, and the oracles became filent. Nor did the Spaniards only teaze this unhappy Prince, on the point of religion; but they com- pelled him to iiliie out his orders for apprehending his General Qualpopoca, who had engaged the Spaniards near Vera Cruz; and this Gentleman being brought prifoner to Court, the Spanifh Officers at a Court-martial condemn’d him to be burnt be- fore the gates of the palace, with the reft of the Captains, that were concern’d in that enterprize ; 1 68 THE PRESENT STATE CHAP, and left this {hould occafion an infurreflion, and an which they would have us afcribe purely to choice, CH AF 5 . VII. Cortez lays Montezuma in irons. attempt be made to refcue Montezuma, Cor- tez caufed him to be laid in irons that morning the execution was to be perform’d. But fuch was Montezuma’s aftonifhment, when he faw himfelf treated in this ignominious manner, fays de Solis, that he wanted force to refill or complain ; and his fervants lamenting their Emperor’s hard fate, threw themfelves at his feet, endeavouring to eafe him of the weight of his fet- ters : And tho’, when he recovered from his firft a- mazement, he began to exprefs fome impatience ; yet correcling himfelf, he acquiefced in his misfor- tunes; acknowledging, they proceeded from the will of his gods, and waited the event, not without apprehenfions that there was a defign againfc his life. But Cortez having feen the execution perform’d, by which he found, he had ftruck fuch a terror into the Mexicans, that little was to be fear’d from them, he returned to Monte zu ma’s appartment, and order’d his fetters to be taken off; and, as fome wri- ters relate, fell on his knees, and took them off with his own hands, for which favour the Emperor embrac’d and thank’d him. But, what is ftill more difficult to be believ’d, they allure us, that Cor- tez gave the Emperor leave to return to his pa- lace, and that he refufed the offer, out of regard to the Spaniards ; telling them, he knew very well, that as foon as he was out of their power, his fub- jefts would prefs him to take up arms againft them, to revenge the wrongs he had fuller’d : Nay, the Spanilh hiftorians positively affirm, that notwith- ftanding all the injuries and indignities they had of- fer’d to M ON TEZUM a, he expreffed a more than ordinary friendihip and regard for them, preferring their intereft to that of his own fubjedls ; which I mull take the liberty to fufpend my belief of, ’till they produce better proofs of it, and ceafe to fpeak lefs inconfiftently than they do in their accounts of this enterprize. And now de Solis relates, that Cortez gave Montezuma leave to go whither he pleas’d ; which he feems to contradidl within a very few lines afterwards; For, he tells us, when that Prince on- ly defired to perform his devotions in one ot his temples, it was granted upon certain conditions ; namely, that he fhould give his royal word to return to the Spanilh quarters again, and from that day abolilh human facrifices : And, I make no doubt, but they infilled on a third, viz. That he fhould take a guard of Spaniards with him; for they ac- knowledge, that a body of Spaniards actually at- tended him to the temple, which they could do with no other view than fecuring their prifoner ; tho’ PE Solis fays, indeed, it was at the requeft of Montezuma they went with him ; Nor did he ever go abroad without a Spanilh guard, or without afking leave of Cortez, or ever lay one night out of their quarters, by their own confeffion ; and his affection to the Spaniards, who had put fuch indignities upon him. They add, that Cortez ^ was now become his Prime Minifter : That all polls of honour or profit were difpofed of by him and his principal Officers, who were courted by the Mexi- can Nobility, when they faw that no places or pre- ferments could be had but by their intereft ; which might be true poffibly : But, furely, it is much more probable, that Montezuma was influenced more by his fears, than his affecftion for the Spaniards. And we may obferve, from hence, that, with all thefe advantages, C ortez and his Spaniards might have eftablilh’d their power upon fuch a foundation, a? could not eafily have been overthrown, without fuch a deluge of blood as they Ipilt afterwards, if Cortez had been as able a Politician as he was a Soldier ; or, if his benevolence and humanity had exceeded his cruelty and avarice. He feems to have left fcarce any means untried for his fecurity and eftablilhment, but the principal ; namely, the gaining the affections of the Indians, and the winning them over to his party, as well as to the Chriftian religion, by a£ls of generofity and be- neficence. He was fo careful of himfelf, that he caufod fome brigantines to be built on the Lake of Mexico; whereby he entirely commanded the lake and the caufeys leading to the city : And, at the fame time, he increafed his reputation with the Mexicans, by the artful management of thofe vef- fels. The Indians were at this time ignorant of the ufe of fails and rudders ; and, when they faw the Spaniards failing not only before the wind, but upon a wind, and fometimes almcft direClly againft it ; and that the veflels were fleered this way and that way with only the turn of a hand, they began to return to their firft opinion, that the Spaniards had in reality the command of the elements : And, indeed, fuch was the opinion the Indians now en- tertained of the fkfll and power of the Spaniards, that it was purely their own fault the Mexicans ever attempted to regain their freedom. Themoft fatal of all the errors Corte z com- • mitted, were his repeated attempts, from the very time he landed, to deftroy the temples and images of the Mexicans, and force them to receive a new religion before they knew any thing of it, and be- fore he was in a condition to force their compliance. Indeed, religion ought never to be forced upon a people, how potent Soever their Governors may be : But to attempt the fubverfion of religion, and the introducing another by force, in the infancy of a revolution, was furely the mod impolitic thing in the world. And, if the attempt was not to be a- fcribed to weakness in Cortez and his Officers, it muft be imputed to a much worfe caufe ; namely, to their avarice and cruelty, who, looking upon themfelves to be armed with the Pope’s authority, as well as the King of Spain’s, imagined, that all the VII. OF MEXICO. CHAP, the wealth of that rich country would be forfeited to VII, them, if the Mexicans refilled an immediate fub- million to their demand of becoming Chriftians ; and that, in fuch a cafe, it was lav/ful to plunder, enflave and murder them without mercy, and make all the wealth of Mexico their own. This they looked upon as the fhorteft way to arrive at what they principally aimed at ; namely, the acquiring unbounded treafures. This their futute aftions evi- dently demonftrate, if any credit is to be given to their own hiftorians. Even now, when the Emperor Montezuma and his fubje&s appeared to be all fubmiffion, and had in a manner given the reins of government into the hands of the Spaniards, did they offer them fuch unneceflary provocations, in the capital city of the empire, as no people would ever have borne. They attempted at once, without demanding leave, or giving any reafon for it, to demolifh all the ima- ges of their gods, and convert the principal tem- ples in Mexico into Chriftian churches ; which oc- cafion’d, as might reafonably be expedited, a gene- ral infurredtion. The Priefts took up arms, and the whole city rofe, fays my Spanifh author, in de- fence of their gods ; and the Spaniards were at length convinced, by the oppofition they met with, that it was expedient to admit their idols to remain, for the prefent, where they flood. However, they perfifted in crediting a Chriftian chappel in one of the temples, and placing in it the crofs, and an i- mage of the bleffed Virgin ; and aditually fung mals in it with great folemnity: Which the Indian Priefts agreed not to oppofe, provided their own idols might be permitted to remain in their temples : And thus the matter was accommodated between them, and the tumult appealed. Some of the Spa- nifla hiftorians defcribe a folemn proceflion alfo, that was made to the new-eredited chappel when the Po- pifh images were carried into it ; and give us a fpeech, faid to be made by Cortez on that occa- fion, before the crucifix. They tell us alfo of that General’s working a very great miracle, a little af- terwards, for the proof of the Chriftian dodtrine : They fay, that the Mexicans came to him in a tu- multuous manner, complaining that their gods re- fufed to fend them rain, becaufe he had introduced ftrange deities into their temples : And that, to ap- peafe the people, he told them the God of the Chri- fti ans would fend them plenty of rain in a very few hours ; which prediction heaven was pleafed to fulfil, to the great admiration of Monte z um a and his fubjedts. However, thefe pretended miracles were but of final! fervice to the Spaniards, it feems ; and, had they been real, the falle politicks or bigotry of Cortez, in endeavouring to deftroy the Indian fuperftition, and introduce his own thus precipitately, prejudiced that people againft him to fuch a degree, that we hear of nothing but plots and confpiracies VOL. III. I69 on the one fide, and cruel butcheries and opprefficmC H VP. on the other, ’till the Spaniards eftablifhed them- VIE felves by pure force, and had in a manner extirpated ^ the natives, inftead of converting them to the Chri- ftian faith. Their hiftorians relate, that Ca cum Azin, A plot a- King or Cacique of Tezcuco, and nephew to M 0 N- | ain! * t!e tezuma, affembling many more of the vaflal pan ‘ iU ' 1 " J Princes of that empire, reprefen ted to them the ty- ranny of the Spaniards, who in a manner govern’d the ftate in the name of their unfortunate Prince, whom they had made their prifoner, and even loaded with irons, like a common malefadtor : Nor did he forget to refledt on the outrages that had been done to their religion, by deriding and vilifying their gods, and attempting to demolifti their temples and images ; concluding, that it was the greateft re- proach their country could fuffer, tamely to fubmit to thefe outrages from a handful of foreigners, who appeared, now they were better acquainted with them, to be but mortals of the fame fpecies, and who had no other advantage over them than what their fire-arms and enchanting magick gave them ; inciting them to behave themfelves like men, and deliver their country from this fhameful and intole- rable flavery : With whom mod of the Caciques concurr’d; but fome falfe brethren amongft them, ’tis faid, betray’d the confpiracy to Cortez: WEereupon Cacumazin was made prifoner, and his brother, a creature of the Spaniards, was made Cacique of Tezcuco in his ftead; and the reft of the confpirators were difpers’d, tbo’ not entirely dilEearten’d ; for this plot, to free themfelves from the tyranny of the Spaniards, became in alhorttime more general: And Montezuma, receiving advice, that his fubjedts were unanimous in their refolution of reftoring him to his liberty and empire, and to difmils their haughty guefts the Spaniards, fummoned the vaflal Princes to Mexico, who came thither attended with formidable bodies of their troops; and, in this fituation, he had the courage to let C ortez know. That, having acknowledged Montezuma his Mafter the King of Spain the heir of his empire, requires Cor- and that he held his dominions of him, as defeended toVain 10 ™ from their great anceftor Quiz al coal ; and ° having prepared a rich prefent for that King, to teftify his fubmiffion and dependence on him ; he expedted Cortez fhould withdraw from Mexico, and return to the Prince that lent him, to give him an account of the fuccefs of his embaffy : And at the fame time delivered to C 0 R t e z an immenfe treafure, which he and his fubjedts bad contributed, in hopes that the avarice of the Spaniards would have been entirely latisfy’d with it, and that they fhould enjoy the poffeffion of their country, and what they had left, in quiet, freed from any farther outrages or infults. And the Spaniards themfelves intro- duce Montezuma making the following ftiort fpeech on this occafion , viz, Z “ That f 7 o THE PRESE C H A P. “ That it was reafonable, Cortez fhould now VII. “ beo-in to think of his departure, fince he was “ thus fully difpatch’d : And that the motives or “ pretences for his flay being ceafed, and he having this overture. “ received, for the ferviceof the King his Matter, “ fo favourable an anfwer to his embafty, the vafial “ Princes would not fail to furmife, that he had “ ftill farther views, if they faw him perfift in re- “ maining longer at that Court ; nor would it be « in his power to fupport and protect the Spaniards “ againft them.” And Cortez, it feems, was under fuch ap- prehenfions, that lie fhould fuddenly be attack’d by the forces of the whole empire, ii Ire refufed to comply with this reafonable demand, that he did not think fit to object any thing againft it ; only dehred time to build a fleet to tranfport his troops to Spain, the fleet whichbrought him thither being deftroy’d : To 'which the Mexicans agreed, and immediately aftlgn’d him timber, workmen, and labourers, tore- build h js fhips ; which furnifh’d him with a pre- tence to ftay fome time longer; and he gave di- rections to the workmen not to make too much hafte in equipping the fleet, expecting that a rein- forcement of troops might in a fhort time arrive from Spain, and enable him to maintain his ground againft all the powers of Mexico. Narvaez " But, while Cortez lived in expectation of a fent from th friendly fquadron coming to his afliitance, advice fbodyof 1 was brought, that eleven tall fhips, and feven Spaniards, to fmaller veflels, with eight hundred Spanifh foot, reduce Cor- f our £ ore horfe, and twelve pieces of artillery on board, were arrived on the Mexican coaft, near VeraCruz; and that they were fent by Diego Velasquez, Governor of Cuba, to profecute the conqueft of Mexico, and to make Cortez and all his men prifoners, that refufed to fubmit to his authority, and obey Pa m philio de Nar- vaez, who had the command of the fleet and ar- my employed in this expedition. To underftand the reafon whereof, it will be neceffary to look back a little, and call to mind, that Diego de Velas- quez, Governor of Cuba, firft formed the defign of reducing Mexico, and provided a fleet and army, giving the command thereof to Hernando Cor- tez,' in order to attempt that conqueft : But being inform’d, that Cortez had a defign to deprive him of the glory and advantage of the enterprize, and fet up for an independancy, Diego Velas- quez revoked his com miftion, and, beforeCoR- tez left the ifland of Cuba, required him to re- linquifh that command, and return. But Cor- tez and his friends, having embark’d all their for- tunes in the defign, in hopes of mighty advantages that would accrue to them in the purfuance of it, and both foldiersand Teamen having a high opinion of the valour and conduct of Cor T F. z, they agreed to fet fail, and proceed in the enterprize ; not- withftanding the exprefs command of the Governor NT STATE of Cuba to the contrary. Whereupon the Gover- C FI A P„ nor fent complaints to Spain, that Co RT E z had VII. mutiny ’d, and run away with the fhips and forces defign’d for the reduction of Mexico ; and defired he might have his commiffion of Lieutenant-Ge- neral renew’d and confirm’d by that Court; and that he might be conftituted Lieutenant-General of all the countries conquer’d, or to be conquer’d, on. the continent of Mexico (for his former commiffion was given him by Don Diego Columbus, tire, fucceflbrof the celebrated Columbus that difco- vered this new world). And fo good was the inte- reft of Diego Vel asqjjez in the Court of Spain, that he received the commiffion he defired : And, being inform’d of the fuccefs of the Spaniards under Cortez, and fupported by the commiffion he had obtained, propofed, by this fecond embarka- tion, to reap all the glory and advantages he at firft propofed to himfelf by that conqueft. On the other hand, Hernando Cortez, meeting with that incredible fuccefs, that has been related, and being furnifh’d with a large flhare of treafure, by the prefents made him by Monte- zuma and the vaflal Princes, fent the whole, by two or three of his Officers, in a fhip to the King of Spain, who was juft embarking for Germany as they arrived, in order to take upon him the impe- rial dignity, as he did foon afterwards, by the name of Charles theVth. The new Emperor was mightily pleafed with the rich prefent fent him by Cortez, efpecially as he look’d upon it to be an earneft of much greater treafures ; and, tho’ he was not at leifure to attend the bufinefs of the Indies be- fore he embarked, left orders with his Council to take the fupporting of Cortez into their confi- deration. But fuch, it feems, was the intereft of Diego Velasquez at the Court of Spain, who had reprefented C ortez as a traitor and deferter, that nothing was done towards the affifting of him ’till two years afterwards; and the Governor of Cuba was left topurfue his revenge, which had ve- ry near loft the Spaniards all they had poflefs’d themfelves of on the continent of Mexico, as I {hall, in the next place, proceed to relate. The royal chamber of Audience at Hifpaniola law the mifchievous confequences of a diflention among themfelves, at fo critical a juncture; and repre- fented to D i e g o V e l a s qu e z, when they heard he was making preparations to fall upon Cortez, that this would probably be of pernicious confe- quence, and deprive them of thofe valuable acquifi- tions they had already made, and perhaps end in the ruin of them all : And, when they found Die- go Velasquez was not to be prevailed on to •lay a fide the expedition, they fent fome Ecclefiafticks and Officers with Narvaez, who was conftituted General of the forces on board the fleet, to medi- ate an accommodation between him and Cort e z ; and, if that could not be effefted, to difpofe the Spaniards OF M E CHAP. Spaniards of both armies to a reconciliation, and to VII. unite in the caufe of their country and their com- mon Sovereign. Narvaez and Pamphilio de Narvaez arriving with the Spaniards his fleet near VeraCruz, fummoned Gonzalo h r°r\» C a- b3 de Sandoval, who had been appointed Gcrver- Vera Cruz, norof that fortrefs by Cortez, to furrender: But Gonzalo was fo far from complying with the fummons, that he fent thole that came on that er- rand prifoners to Corte z at Mexico. However, Narvaez landed Iris forces, and march’d diredtty to Zempoala; of which Cortez receiving ad- vice, at firft feem’d thunder-ftruck ; but, recover- ing from his furprize, relblved to make Narvaez offers of peace, and propofe the uniting their forces in the fervice of their Prince. At the fame time he reprelented to Montezuma, who was al- ready acquainted with the arrival of Narvaf. z, that the Spaniards under the command of that Ge- neral were fubje&s to the King his Matter, and were come upon a fecond embaffy to induce him to com- ply with the overtures he had already made ; but that he fnould difpofe them to return to Spain with him, fince he had already obtain’d the end of his embafly. Cortez pro- To his own men Cortez fuggefted, that he vides to op- did not doubt to bring the Spaniards Narva e z pole them. j iac j brought with him over to his party ; and that they would, in the end, probably prove fuch a re- inforcement, as would enable him to finitti his con- queft of that empire: And immediately applied himfelf to his confederate Indians, to provide him with fuch forces as might be neceflary, in cafe he fhould not be able to accommodate matters with N arvaez. In the mean time, the Spanifh pri- foners arriving, which Gonsalo de Sando- val had fent up from Vera Cruz, among whom were an Eccleilaftick and a Notary, who had been fent by Narvaez to funrmon that town ; Cor- tez received them with great civility, and allured them, the Governor of Vera Cruz had exceeded his orders in making them prifoners: And, having fhewn them the great power he exercifed in the Court of Mexico, he made them very rich pre- fents ; telling them, that he relied on their good offices in difpofmg Narvaez to accept the peace he had offer’d him: After which, he difmifs’d them, and order’d them to be conducted to that General with all imaginable refpedt. After thefe, he lent Father Bartholomew de Olmedo, anEc- clefiaftick of great reputation, to propofe a treaty v/ith Narvaez; and, if that did not fucceed, to found the difpofition of his officers and foldiers, and incline them to pacific meafures. He furnifh’d the father alfo with jewels and rich prefents to the prin- cipal officers, in order to render his negotiation the more fuccefsful. Father Bartholomew, on his arrival in the camp of Narvaez, gave him to underftand, of XI CO. T7I what advantage it would he to their Sovereign and CHAP, their Country to unite their arms ; acquainting him VII. with the ftate of the conqueff, and the numerous alliances Corte z had made with the Indian Prin- ces : But infinuated, that they Ihould, however, have occatton for their united ftrength, to bring the Mexicans under their fubjedlion, who were na- turally brave, and did not want military (kill ; and r fhould they find there was a mifunderftanding among the Spaniards, they might probably make their ad- vantages of it, and deftroy them both, in order to free themfelves from a foreign yoke. To which Narvaez, ’tis faid, haughtily re- ply’d, that Diego deVe lasqjjez had order'd him to enter into no treaty with the rebels, as he termed Cortez and his party ; but that his firft and principal bufinefs was to compel them to return to their duty ; telling him, that he fhould immedi- ately proclaim them all traytors, who adhered to Cortez, having brought fufficient forces with him to compel their obedience, and finitti the con- queft of that country. The Father finding no good to be done upon Narvaez, apply’d himfelf privately to feveral of the officers and foldiers, and especially to thofe gen- Cortez cor- tlemen, who came on purpofe from Hilpanioia, to 'j 16 0i " mediate a peace, as moil conducive to their Prince’s Narvaez» intereft ; and dittributed the prefents, he had brought, with great judgment. The prifoners allb, whom Cortez had releafed, were very lavifh in his prai- fes : They deferibed the grandeur and magnificence of the Mexican Court ; the fway that Cortez bore in it, and the humanity and courtefy with which he treated all mankind ; which had fuch an eftedt on the foldiery, that mod of them appear’d ready to join Cortez, who had already obtain’d fo high a character for his valour and conduct, and given fuch fenfible proofs of his affection for them. In the mean time it appears, that Montezu- A treaty be- ma, was carrying on a private negotiation with Narvaez the Spanifh General, who had given Narvaez, him to underftand, that he came with a commiffion from the King of Spain, to call Cortez to an account for all the violence and extortion he had committed ; that he and his adherents were fugi- tives and rebels ; and that he would immediately advance and reftore his Mexican Majefty to his li- berty, and the peaceable poflettlon of his dominions, which, it was evident, Cortez was endeavour- ing to ufurp. Whereupon M ontezuma made Narvaez feme very coni iderable prefents, and fhew’d a difpofition to enter into an alliance with him for their common defence. In the mean time, Cortez was not idle ; but Corte? ?n- as he was much more apprehenfive of the niiichief^Ap”^ he might fuffer from the forces fent againfc him by the Spam-, the Governor of Cuba, than of the power of the arth ferc . Mexicans, he apply’d himfelf chiefly to gain the Of- ftcers of the troops lately arrived,’ by prefents and ca- Z 2 rettesj 'i 7 2 CHAP. VII. He prepares to take the field. Montezu- ma’s fpeech to him thereupon. The anfwer of Cortez, THE PRESENT STATE relies, which was his principal view, in fending Fa- ther O l m e d o with offers of peace to N arvaez. That Father therefore was no fooner return’d to him, with an account of the fuccefs of his negotiati- ons ; but he refolv’d to take the field againft his ri- val, before he had an opportunity of concerting meafures with Montezuma and the Mexican Princes, and drawing them over to his party. Ha- ving affign’d fourfcore Spaniards, therefore, under the command of Pedro de Alvarado, to keep garrifon in Mexico, and fecure Montezuma from making his efcape ; the reft were order’d to be ready to march at an hour’s warning : But going to take his leave of his royal prifoner, before he fet out, De Solis relates, that that Prince fpoke to him in this manner. He faid, he had for fome time ob- ferv’d the General to be thoughtful, for which no doubt he had reafon ; for he had receiv’d repeated advice, thatNARVAEZ, who commanded the Spa- niards lately arriv’d, was come with a defign to fup- plant him; and tho’ his Mexican Majefty did not much wonder, that there Ihould be private piques and quarrels between the fubjedts of the fame Prince ; yet it was ftrange, they Ihould be buffer’d to com- mand two different armies, and clafh when the in- tereft of their Prince, and the publick fervice requi- red a union in their councils and actions: He con- cluded therefore, that one of them muft be a rebel to his King. To which Cortez anfwer’d, as ’tis faid, that it was true, they were both the fubjedls of the fame Prince, and they both intended the fervice of their King and Country ; but were not indeed agreed in the methods of doing it ; he had refolv’d therefore to march to Zempoala with the beft part of his for- ces, in order to cultivate a good underftanding with Narvaez and his troops; and did not doubt, either to difpofe tbofe Spaniards to return to their Ihips, or to treat the fubjetfts of the Mexican em- pire, as a people, whom the King of Spain had taken under his protection. Montezuma commended his defign ; but ob- ferv’d, that as Narvaez had given out threat- ening fpeeches, and feem’d to intend his ruin, and commanded a body of forces of twice his ftrength ; it would be prudent for Cortez to reinforce his little army with thirty or forty thoufand Mexicans, which he would order to affemble forthwith for this fervice, and direcft his Generals to obey the com- mands of Cortez : But he wifely refufed the in- fidious offer, placing but (lender confidence in the Mexicans, fays the hiftorian. He was cautious of entertaining auxiliaries, that might command him, knowing how he Ihould be embar rafted in the day of battle with a known enemy in front, and preten- ded friends in flank and rear. Cortez, having given his orders therefore to Alvarado, to have a ftriCt eye over Monte- zuma, and not to fuffer too great numbers of the Mexicans to refort to him, or any long conferences CHAP, between them ; and extorted a promife from the VII. royal prifoner, that he would not attempt an efcape w'-v'W in his abfence ; telling him, he Ihould foon return to Mexico, in much better circumftances ; began his march towards Zempoala ; and taking Tlafcala in his way, he was received with the higheft honours by that republick : However, they gave him to underftand, that they could not affift him with their troops againft the new-arriv’d Spaniards, whofe hor- fes and artillery they were not able to refill. Where- upon he proceeded in his march for Zempoala, tak- ing an advantageous poft in the neighbourhood of that city, where he could either treat, or defend himfelf againft Narvaez, if he Ihould be attack'd. And firft, he made frefh overtures to that General, Cortez for accommodating the differences between them, mjkcs ° ver * and uniting their forces in the fervice of their coun- p “ a 7 e ° t0 try ; and even offer’d, ’tis faid, to relinquifh the Narvaez, advantages of that conqueft, and go upon fome other enterprize with his adherents, rather than the King’s fervice Ihould fuffer. And tho’ Narvaez refuf- ed to give him any other terms than thofe of furren- dering at diferetion ; yet the conceffions Cortez made, had fuch an effedl on the Officers and Sol- diers, which Narvaez commanded, that Cor- tez was fenfible, he Ihould meet with but a faint refiftance from them : And underftanding by fome deferters, that Narvaez trufted fo much to the fuperiority of his forces, that he kept but a very neg- ligent guard, he refolv’d to attempt to furprize his enemy in the night-time. Accordingly, in a very dark tempeftuous night, Cortez fur- when Narvaez leaft expected fuch a vifit, Cor- ^eT/ancT te z fell upon his quarters, and made him and his makes him principal Officers prifoners, before they were well P r ‘foner. awake : Whereupon the reft of his troops flung down Tfie troo P s t their arms, and moft of them enter’d into the fer- ferve^ndez vice of Cortez. And here it muft be admitted, Cortez, that Cortez, by his artful treaties and negotiations in the firft place, and by his courage and conduit in defeating an enemy fo much fuperior to him in num- bers, and efpecially in horfe and artillery, Ihew’d. himfelf to be a good Soldier ; tho’ he can never be allow’d to be a very great Statefman, that, with all his fuccefs and advantages, knew no other way of eftablilhing himfelf, but by the extirpation of the defencelefs Indians. While Cortez was engaged in this expedition Tii e info- • n r> ° ° A lence of the againft Narvaez, Pedro de Alvarado, Spaniards who was left to command the Spaniards in Mexico, left in Mex- and fecure the perfon of Montezuma, behaved 1C0< himfelf with that infolence and cruelty, and difeo- ver’d fuch an infatiable avaritious temper, as united the whole city againft him : The people became def- perate, when they found there was no end of his ex- tortions, and that they were daily plunder’d and murder’d for their wealth ; their religion derided, and their very gods defaced and demolifh’d. But OF MEXICO. 173, CHAP. VII. Alvarado ma fiacres and plunders the Mexi- can Nobility, The Mexi- cans unite their forces againft the Spaniards. the principal occafion of this infurretfUon at Mexico was Alvarado’s falling upon the Mexican Nobi- lity at a religious feftival, when they were mod of them affcmbled on that occafion, and engaged with the common people in that folemn dance, call’d Mi- totes ; wherein all diftindfion is laid abide, and the whole city, Noblemen, and Plebeians, great and fmall, join annually in celebrating the day. The Bilhop of Chiapa relates, that Alvarado, ob- ferving they had put on their jewels and richeft or- naments on this occafion, alfembled his Soldiers, and fell upon them, putting above two thoufand of the Mexican Nobility to the fword, and plunder’d what- ever was valuable about them. Nor are the facts { either the (laughter or the robbery ) denied by any of the Spanith hiftorians ; only they endeavour to juftify the atftion in their ufual way ; that is, by pretending there was a plot of the Mexicans to de- ftroy the Spaniards on that day. Some pretend, that they were incited by Narvaez to fall upon the Spaniards of Cortez’s party ; and that Monte- zuma himfelf encourag’d the infurredlion, in the abfence of that General, to obtain his liberty : While others affirm, that Montezuma had no (hare in the confpiracy ; but that his fubjedfs, encouraged by the declarations of Na RVAEz againft Cortez, and the abfence of molt of the Spaniards, agreed to fall upon their quarters, give their Emperor his li- berty, and free themfelves from the tyranny of the Spanith garrifon. Others fay, that the Indian Priefts were at the bottom of the confpiracy, feeing their religion in danger, and another about to be introdu- ced ; and all agree, they were very adtive in anima- ting their people to defend themfelves againft the at- tacks of the Spaniards. It is alfo agreed, that the day before this folemn feftival, fome of the Mexi- can Nobility and Priefts attended Alvarado, ap- prized him of the affembling of the multitude the next day, to celebrate the feftival, that he might not be alarm’d on that occafion ; and actually ob- tain’d his permiffion before they would refolve on the folemnization of it : But then fome of them pre- tend, that arms were difeover’d concealed in the temples afterwards ; and that the Mexicans only took the opportunity of this feftival to put the plot againft the Spaniards in execution. However, thofe that (peak moft favourably of this aft ion, acknowledge that Alvarado fell upon the Mexicans while they were difarm’d ; and that they did not fall upon the Spaniards : That all the jewels and rich ornaments of the murder’d No- bility were carried off by the Spaniards ; and that Al vara do never made any excufe or apology for the outrage. Whereupon the Mexicans, expedhng they (hould all be maffacred if Cortez returned with a reinforcement of troops, afl'embled from all parts, and attack’d the Spanifh quarters on every fide, chufing rather to die with their arms in their hands, than to be murder’d in cold blood. And, altho’ they were beaten off by the artillery and fire- CHAP- arms of the befieged ; yet, as they had cut off all VII. their provifions, the Mexicans would probably have ftarved Alvarado, if Cortez had not returned fuddenly to his relief : He fent therefore exprefs af- ter exprefs to Cortez, to haften his march ; let- ting him know, that he {hould be obliged to furren- der, if he was not fpeedily fupplied and reinforced. Cortez had juft finifh’d the defeat of Nar- ^mtrT” vaez, when he received advice of the diftrefs his Mexico, people were in at Mexico; and, having incorpora- ted all the troops Nar vae z brought over with his own, began his march towards Mexico, with a thoufand Spanifh foot, an hundred horfe, and fe- veral thoufand confederate Indians; leaving at the fame time garrifons in the towns of Zempoala and Vera Cruz. Nor did the Mexicans offer to inter- rupt his march : They retired, upon his approach, from the Spanifh quarters, and left that part of the town deftitute of inhabitants. Montezuma, ’tis (aid, met the General at his His nfagp oE return, and congratulated his fuccefs : But he, hav- lv ‘ ontl - zumi ' ing been inform’d of that Emperor’s negotiations with Narvaez and his own fubjedfs, in his ab- fence, in order to procure his liberty, turned from Montezuma with all the contempt imaginable; not fo much as vouclftafing to fpeak to him. Ber- nal Diaz, who accompanied Co R T ez in this expedition, fays, that he now looked upon himfelf to be powerful enough to fubdue the Mexican em- pire, without courting Montezu m a or his fub- jedfs ; and therefore carried every thing with a high hand, or to that effedt : Which, other hiftorians obferve, was a very great error ; for, if the Gene- ral had, on his returning in triumph with fuel: an addition of forces, enter’d into a treaty with that Emperorand his Nobility, they would have yielded to almoft any terms ; and he might have gained the dominion of that Empire, for the King of Spain his mafter, without any bloodfhed. But he was too much elated with his fuccefs, to think of pacific mea- fures. On the contrary, he refolved to give them Cortez all manner of provocations, and even to render them j^ 3 * 3 defperate, that he might have a colour to deftroy a CO nquer’d them, and feize all their pofteffions, whether lands people, or treafure. He had found a garrifon of fourfeore Spaniards able to repel the whole force of Mexico ; and he did not doubt, now he (aw himfelf at the head of eleven hundred Spanifh horfe and foot, with a multitude of confederate Indians, he fhould be a- ble, by force, to reduce the Mexicans, and make them (laves ; But he was near paying very dear for Revives the.- his prefumption ; for, fending out a detachment Q f h i fl f ll V es , r four hundred Spaniards and Tlafealans, in fearch of ' Vlt *’ the enemy, who were retired to the fartheft part of the city, they were furrounded, and in danger of having their retreat cut off; and he himfelf, with the reft of his troops, efcaped very narrowly being ftarved, or cut in pieces, as will appear in the en- fuing; 1 74 THE P R E S E N T S T ATE "They attack his quarters. C H A P. fuing relation : For the Mexicans, render’d brave VII. by their defpair, were not afraid to attack Cortez in his quarters, tho’ defended by a numerous garri- fon and a train of artillery : And, when at any time he made a fally, he found intrenchments in the ftreets, and the bridges broken down, which ren- der’d his cavalry in a manner ufelefs ; and, tho’ he ufually came off victorious, he found he had com- mitted a very great error, in fhutting himfelf up in Mexico, from w hence it was almoft: impoffible to make his retreat, and where he found it impracti- cable to fetch in prov ifions, the enemy being mafters of all the caufeys that led to the town, and of all the boats upon the lake : So that, if his people were not deftroy’d by the continual attacks of the enemy, they mufl certainly in time be reduced by famine. ■ He propofes In this diftrefs Cortez thought fit to endeavour to treat with a reconciliation with Montezuma, and make ufe of the authority he ftill retained among his fubjedls to induce them to lay down their arms, and permit the Spaniards to march out of Mexico ; which, it was prefumed, they would readily come into, that they might get rid of a people fo much dreaded, as well as hated, by them. Accordingly, a parley be- ing propofed and agreed to, Montezuma appear- ed on the battlements of the palace ; and, fome of the Mexican Nobility advancing to hear what over- tures he would make them, the Spaniards tell us, their Emperor made a fpeech to his fubjedfs ; where- in he gently reprimanded them for taking up arms without his leave, tho’ it was with an intention to obtain the liberty of their Prince ; declaring, that he was in reality under no manner of reftraint, but re- main’d with the Spaniards upon choice : That he thought himfelf obliged to fhew the Spaniards this favour, on account of the refpedt they had always paid him, and out of duty to the Prince that fent them : That their embafly being difpatch’d, he was about to difmifs thefe foreigners from his Court ; and defired his fubjedts would lay down their arms, and not interrupt their march, and he fhould readily par- don their having taking up arms, or to that effetSh and their Indian allies, but they mull engage them to great difadvantage in the open country, having nothing to oppofe their horfe and artillery. The Mexicans refolved therefore not to confent to a ceffation ot arms ; but readied the overture with difdain, as being framed only to give their mortal enemies an opportunity of efcaping out of their hands, and reinforcing themfelves, to the deftrudlion of their country : And fome hiftorians lay, they were fir enraged at the overture, that they Ihot at their Emperor for making it, and mortally wound- ed him. Others fay, he was wounded by accident. On the other hand, the Mexicans gave out, that the Spaniards murder’d him afterwards in their re- treat, when they found they could not carry him oft ; which laft feems to me much the moll proba- ble opinion. Cortez, finding the Mexicans wera not to be amufed with infidious propofals, from what hand foever they came ; that his provifions were almoft fpent, and that it would be impracticable to make his retreat in tire dav-time, refolved to attempt it in a dark night. Having divided the treafure there- fore amongft his men, with which they were pretty well loaded, for it amounted to the value of a mil- lion of crowns, he ift’ued out of his quarters at midnight, the weather being extremely tempeftuous, whereby his march was for fome time concealed ; but he had not advanced a mile upon the caufey, before he found himfelf attack’d on every fide by the Mexicans, both by land and water, the lake being filled with their canoes, or boats ; and, as they had broke down the bridges, and cut the caufey through in feveral places, the Spaniards were in great danger of being entirely cut off". Cortez indeed had foreleen this, and provided a portable bridge to pafs the breaches in the caufey, which was of great ufe to him in feveral places : But the In- dians found means to deftroy this bridge before they were all pafs’d over, and their rear-guard, confift- ing of two or three hundred Spaniards, and a thou- fand Tlafcalans, was cut in pieces : They loft alfo Whether this fpeech is genuine or not, it is evi- their artillery, prifoners, baggage, and treafure. CHAP. VIE He marches away in the night. He is at- tack’d by the Mexi- cans, and his rear cut off. dent, the Mexicans had little regard to it : What- ever their Emperor’s words were, they knew they were put into his mouth by the Spaniards, whole prifoner he was, and tended only to procure them a fafe retreat ; and they were fenfible, if they loft the advantage they had, they mull never expedl fuch another opportunity of getting rid of thefe unwel- come guefts. They had them now coop’d up in this fortrefs, where no relief could be brought them, and from whence it was fcarce poffible for them to retreat, if the Mexicans broke down the bridges and caufeys upon the lake, and made fuch ditches and trenches in the ftreets as the Spaniards them- ielves had taught them : But forefaw, that if their enemies ever got over the lake again, they might ftot only receive frelh reinforcements from Spain with fix and forty horfes. However, Cortez, with the beft part of his forces, broke through the Indians, and efcaped to the other fide of the lake. Some impute this lofs to the avarice of his foldiers, who were fo loaded with gold and filver, that they could fcarce make ufe of their arms ; and pof- fibly there may be fome truth in it : But, I be- lieve, every one, who confiders his circumftances, mull be of opinion, that he was very fortunate in efcaping fo well. Had the enemy provided a body of forces to oppofe him on the farther fide of the lake, he mull inevitably have perifh’d ; but they did not expedf his dallying out fo fuddenly, efpe- cially in that tempeftuous feafon ; and therefore were not provided to attack them. Recovers the farther fide of the lake. De Solis, :hap. vii. Vfontezuma tnd his fms aid to be nurder’d in his retreat- The Mexi- :ans folem- nize their funeral. They con- tinue the purfuit. r> ' OF MEXICO. 1 75 De Solis, the hiftorian, endeavours to give us a very particular account of this action ; admires the valour and conduct of Cortez and his Offi- cers, and informs us how every one diftinguifh d himfelf in this memorable retreat : But, as he fays juft before, that it was performed in a dark tem- peftuous night, and in the utmoft hurry and con- fufion, no great regard is to be given to the particu- lars he has given us. He proceeds to inform us, that they arrived, juft as it was day-light, on the firm land ; and thought themfelves very happy that there was no army to oppofe them there, and that they were purfued no farther, ’till they had time to form and recover themfelves from their confter- nation. This good fortune, it feems, was owing to the campaffion the Mexicans exprefs’d for the two fons ofMoNTEZUM a, and feveral Princes of the royal blood, whom they found flaughter’d among the Spaniards, when the day-light appear’d. The Mexi- cans relate, that Montezuma himfelf was of this number ; and that the Spaniards murder’d both him and his fons, when they found they could not carry them off. The Spaniards, on the other hand, fay, that M o N T ftz~u M a was killed before, by the arrows of the Mexicans ; and that the Princes alfo were accidentally killed in this engagement, while it was dark, and they could not diftinguifh friends from foes. But however that was, it is agreed, the Princes were found dead, pierced through with many wounds ; and the Mexicans deferr’d the purfuit ot the Spaniards, to folemnize the exequies of thofe two Princes, or of Montezuma himfelf. To which piece of piety, Cortez, and the Spaniards who were left alive, in a great meafure, ow’d their fafety. The Spaniards, having halted fome time to re- frefh themfelves, and take care of their wounded men, continued their march towards ft lalcala, the country of their faithful allies and confederates : But they had not advanced many leagues before they were again overtaken and attack’d by the Mexicans, at a time when they were fo fatigued and harrafs’d, that had not Cortez taken poffeffion of a tem- ple, furrounded by a wall of a large extent, that very fortunately lay in his way, he would have found it difficult to have repulfed the enemy. But the Mexicans, finding they could make no impreffion on the Spaniards, as they lay entrench’d within thofe walls, thought fit to found a retreat. How- ever, Corte z, apprehending hefhould be diftrefs’d here for want of provifions, began his march again at midnight, with great filence, in hopes to have got the ftart of the enemy fo far, that he fhould have reached the Tlalcalan territories before they could have overtaken him : But, to his great fur- prize, being arrived on the top of a very high mountain, he difcovePd the whole forces of the Mexicans, confifting (according to their hiftorians) of two hundred thoufand men, drawn up in battalia, CHAP, in the valley of Otumba, through which it was VII. neceftary to pafs, in his way to Tlaicala. Whereupon Df. Solis relates, Cortez made only this fhort fpeech to his Officers : “ We must either die, or conqjjer : The cause of our God fight for us. And, finding The battle an uncommon ardour in his foldiers to engage, im- of Otumba. mediately led them on. The fight, they pretend, was for (bme time bloody and obftinate ; and that Cortez, apprehending his men would be wearied out by the continual fupplies of frefti forces which the Indians poured in upon him, gave a furprizing turn to the battle, by attacking the imperial ftan- dard carried by the Mexican General, who was furrounded by their Nobility : For, having routed them, killed the General, and taken the ftandard, the reft of the troops turned their backs, and fled ; and were purfued with incredible flaughter by the The Spa- Tlafcalans, as well as the Spaniards, who made niards V1,a °’ themfelves ample amends, with the fpoils of the enemy, for the treafure they loft on retiring from the city of Mexico. They tell us, indeed, as ufual, that their Pro- They afcrifce te£Ior, St. James, vifibly fought for them ; and that mi “ they were obliged to a miracle, at laft, ror their viiffory. But, as they relate, at the fame time, that the Mexicans durft never oppofe their horfe or fire-arms, a General of an ordinary capacity might, one would think, have obtained a victory, armed with fuch advantages, over the naked defenceldk Indians, without the help of miracles. And, how- ever great and decifive this victory is reprefented to Rather a be, it appears, that Cortez continued his retreat g°“p" at t e h , n from Mexico, and did not think himfelf fafe ’till a viftory. he arrived at the country of his friends and con- federates the Tlafcalans : Nor had he remained Anembafly Ions here, before an embaffy came to that republick, the from the new-elected Fmperor Qu e t l av a c a, t ^ lS Tlafca* to neeotiate a peace between the two nations of Ians. Mexico andTlafcala, and propofe the uniting their forces againft their common enemy the Spaniard : And, tho’ a majority of the Senate agreed to re- main firm to their alliance with Cortez ; yet there were thofe amongft them that reprefented it was no left the intereft of the Tlafcalcans than of the Mexicans, to drive thefe foreigners out of their country ; for that they plainly intended the fubverfion of their religion, as well as government, and to bring them under the power of an unknown- arbitrary dominion ; whereas they had hitherto maintained their freedom, and were never fubjedt to the will of any Prince whatever. But, it feems, the Mexicans were more dread- The Tlafc a-: ed by this republick than the Spaniards ; and the generality of that people ftiil looked upon the Spa- par H ty 0 f niards to be lent from heaven to their affiftance Cortez, againft that ancient enemy of their ftate. The Ambaffadors from Mexico therefore were difmifc’d, with 176 CHAP. VII. A confede- racy between Mexico and Tepeaca. Tepeaca fub' dued by Cortez. Veffeis built for the fiege of Mexico, THE PRESENT S T A T E with Tome marks of contempt, and preparations made to carry on the war againft that empire, in confederacy with the Spaniards. The Mexicans were more fucceftful in their ne- gotiations with the city and territory of Tepeaca, a country that lay between Tlafcala and the Spanifh fort of V era Cruz. They incited this people to take up arms againfc the Spaniards ; and the Tepeacans, having concluded an alliance with Mexico, actually cut off fome fmall parties that Cortez fent from Tlafcala to Vera Cruz ; inlomuch, that the Gene- ral found it abfolutely neceffary to reduce Tepeaca, in order to keep open his communication with the fea : And, accordingly, both the Spaniards and the Tlafcalans made preparations to invade Tepeaca. The Mexicans, on the other hand, fent them a reinforcement of troops ; and a general battle en- fued ; wherein Cortez was fo fortunate as to defeat their united forces. After which, the city and territory of Tepeaca fubmitted to the Con- queror, who took a fevere revenge on that unhap- py people, murdering great numbers of them in cold blood, and felling the reft for Haves. And a Spanifh fortrefs v/as creeled at Tepeaca, to which they gave the name of Segura de la Frontera, or The Security of the Frontier ; which was the fe- cond colony the Spaniards fix’d in that part of the continent. Cortez alfo reduced the city of Gua- cachula, and feveral other towns, by the affiftance of his Indian confederates, of whom he had not left than one hundred thousand in his army at this time : For Cortez had learnt, from his misfor- tunes at Mexico, to regulate his conduct. He found it neceffary now to cultivate a good corre- fpondence with the Caciques and Princes of the country, and to take their troops into his fervice, tho’ he had formerly flighted their affiftance pretty much. He faw his error alfo in neglecting to pof- fefs himfelf of fuch towns and pafles as might keep open his communication with the fea, with his own people at Vera Cruz, and with his allies. Having taken a particular furvey therefore of the country, he made himfelf rnafter of all fuch polls as might be of advantage to him in reducing the city of Mexico, which was ever his principal view : And, as he was fenfible there was no approaching that city by land, but on the caufeys, which might be broken down, he order’d thirteen brigantines and Hoops to be built, which would make him mailer of the navigation of the lake, and enable him to attack the town on every fide by water, as well as land. The timbers and planks of thefe he caufed to be prepared by the Spanifh Carpenters, affifted by feveral thoufand Indians, at Vera Cruz ; and afterwards made the poor natives carry them on their ihoulders over the mountains to the lake of Mexico, a journey of near 300 miles ; and here the brigantines were put together, and launch’d. While tlyffe veffeis were building, Cortez aftem- CHAP, bled an army of two hundred thoufand confederate VII. Indians, and made himfelf rnafter of Tezcuco, and feveral other confiderable towns upon the lake ; cTe^him-" where he laid up magazines of ammunition and felf of the j provifion, to carry on the intended fiege of theP oftsabGut | capital. He was fo fortunate alfo, before he enter’d Receives a upon this grand enterprize, to be joined by near reinforce- three hundred Spaniards from Cuba and Jamaica, ™ ent . °j. who chofe to follow his fortunes, tho’ they were P fent out by thofe who were no friends to Cortez, and with a view of depriving him of the advan- tage of this conqueft ; and with thefe he received a fupply of arms and ammunition, and fome re- cruits of horfes. Thus prepared and reinforced, Cortez com- manded a Captain, five and twenty Spaniards, and twelve Rowers, to go on board each of the thirteen brigantines : He alfo placed one of his field-pieces on board every one of the veffeis ; and, while his fleet failed to take a view of the city, he poffefs’d himfelf of the three principal caufeys leading thither, in order to carry on as many attacks by land. All the Europeans Cortez had in his army at this time amounted to no more than nine hundred, of which about two hundred were mufketeers and croft-bows, eighty-fix were horfe, and the reft pike-men ; and his train of artillery confifted of eighteen field-pieces, fifteen whereof were brafs. The find engagement with the Mexicans happen’d The fiege upon the water ; for, when the Spaniards approach’d of Mexic0 i the city with their brigantines, an innumerable commencea ’ fwarm of canoes and periaguoes (Indian boats) came out of the canals of the city to oppofe them ; whofe feathers and arms, fays De Solis the bifto- rian, afforded a profpect both beautiful and terrible. They feem’d to cover the lake : But the brigantines, having the advantage of the wind, run in among the canoes, funk and overfet them at pleafure, hav- ing fcarce any occafion to make ufe of their arms. Whereupon thofe canoes that efeaped the firft fhock, fled, with the utmoft precipitation, back to the city, whither they were followed by the brigantines, and feveral great fhot fired into the town, to terrify the inhabitants. After which, the brigantines retired ; and the next day fome progreft was made at the three attacks by land ; but the enemy had made fuch breaches and intrenchments on the caufeys, as render’d the approaches very difficult : And, when- ever the Spaniards advanced to attack them, canoes full of armed Indians iffued from the town, and charged them in the flank ; which obliged Cortez to order fome of the brigantines to fupport his land forces on the feveral caufeys, and beat off the ca- noes : He alfo caufed fome thoufand canoes to be made, and managed by his confederates, that might follow the Mexicans into the {hallows and creeks, where his brigantines could not purfue them. But, notwith- OF MEXICO. l 77 CHAP. VII. vyv Cortez re- puls’d in one of his at- tacks, and taken. Anotherpre- tended mira- cle. A general affault. Mexico ta- ken. The Empe- ror taken. notwithftanding all thefe precautions, the Spanifh hiftorians relate, that the Mexicans, by their ftra- tagems, gained feveral advantages of Cortez. At one time, they laid an ambufcade of canoes among the reeds of the lake, and were very near carrying off fome of his brigantines : At another, they broke down one of the caufeys, cut off’ his retreat, and took him prifoner : But he was refcued out of their hands as they were carrying him away. However, there were about fixty Spaniards and a thoufand Tlafcalans killed or taken in this addion, and many more wounded ; and he was forced to leave one of his great guns behind him. This mif- fortune obliged the Spaniards to carry on their at- tacks with more caution and circumfpecftion for the future. It is related, that they were forced to be upon the defenfive after this accident, ’till their wounded men were recover'd, and they had rein- forced their army with fome bodies of confederate Indians. And here again they have recourfe to miracles ; and tell us, that their wounded men were healed in a few days, only by applying oil to their wounds, and repeating fome paffages cut of the Pfalms over them, which operated bv way of charm. But their writers are not agreed, whether thefe cures were to be aferibed to a good or an evil fpirit : And, I perceive, thefe were oh flefh- wounds that were thus healed : Ti jpons m the Indians feldom broke a - bones ■ md ■ y e knows, that ordinary fielb-woin ds, ey are kept clean, will heal of thernfelv os trequen-iy, with- out the affiftance of medicines or miraci s. And now, the wounded men being recover’d, and the army of the confederate Indians recruited, fo that it amounted again to two hundred thoufand men, Cortez refolved to give a general affault to the city ; and accordingly, having order’d his forces to advance at all the three attacks, they filled up the breeches and trenches that had been made in the caufeys, and drove the enemy back into the town : Each body made a lodgment within the city, and fortified it ; but could not advance far that night, the enemy having cut trenches, and barricado’d all tire ftreets. The next day the Spaniards got more ground ; and, on the third, repulfed the enemy on every fide, and advanced to the great fquare in the middle of the town, where Cortez drew up his united forces ; the enemy retiring to the farther part of the town, and fortifying themfelves there. Whereup- on Cortez thought fit to offer them terms; and they agreed to treat, with a view of amufing him, as their hiftorians relate, ’till the Emperor and his Nobility made their efcape, in their canoes, to the farther fide of the lake : Of which Cortez being appriz’d, renew’d the hoftilities, and Gua- timozin, the Emperor, with the principal Mexican Nobility, were taken by the brigantines in the lake, as they were endeavouring to get away. VOL. III. Whereupon all the reft of their forces fiung down CHAP, their arms, anerfubmitted to mercy ; and Cor- VII. tez took poffe .lion of that capital on the 13th of Auguft, >521, being the day of St. Hypolito, who was thereupon made the patron of Mexico. The Spanifh hiftorians relate, that no lefs than The flaugh- one hundred thoufand Mexicans fell by the fword in t P of tllc . the defence of this city, beiides great numbers that this liege, perifhed by famine, and other calamities : And that this conqueft was attended with the fubmiffion of rnoft of the neighbouring provinces, who confented to acknowledge themfelves fuhjedfs of the King of Spain (the then Emperor Charles V.) The city of Mexico being thus reduced, Cor- The fpoils tez diftributed the plunder among his Soldiers, re- dmded ’ ferving only a fifth, with the moft remarkable cu- P2rt fent t9 riofities, for the King ; which he lent to Spain by theEmperor. fome of his principal Officers, together with an ac- count of his conqueft, and the ftate of that coun- try ; defiring his Ma’efty would confirm the Magi- ftrates he had appointed to govern that country, with the grants of the conquer’d lands, andlndian .{fives he had made, to his Soldiers. Among the rich jewels Co : tez fan to the Emperor, ’tis laid, there was a find Emerald of a pyramidal form, as large as the paim of a man's hand at the biggeft end; a noble ■■ f I., gold and filver vefiels; feveral things call in gold and filver, viz. beafts, birds, fifties, fruits and flowers ; bracelets, rings, pendants, and other ornamental pieces of plate and jewels ; fome of their idols, Pi ieils veftments of cotton, furs, and feathers of various colours. The General requefted his Imperial Majefty to fend over perfons qualified to furvey the country, that it might be improved to the beft advantage ; with Priefts and Miffionaries, for the converfion of the people ; as alfo cattle, feeds and plants, to im- prove the lands : But, ’tis faid, he provided particu- larly againfl the fending over Phyficians or Lawyers. What could be his reafon againfl fending Phyficians, is not eafy to be conceived ; but he had certainly all the reafon in the world to defire that neither Lav’s nor Lawyers fhould be admitted there, having de- termined to treat the natives as flaves,and feize both their perfons and poffeffions, and indeed to ufurp an arbitrary dominion over both Spaniards and Indians in that new world. The provinces that depended on Mexico having fubmitted to the Spaniards, as has been related al- ready, Co R t e z fummon’d the more diftant Indian Princes to come and acknowledge the King of Spain for their Sovereign ; of whom one of the chief was the King of Mechoacan, a territory which lies to the weftward of Mexico, upon the coaft of the South-fea. To this Prince Cortez fent Montano, and Mechoaca* three other Spaniards, attended by twenty Mexican fab,r ‘ lts ‘ Chiefs, with a prefent of European utenfils and toys ; and, when they came within half a league of A a Mechoacan i 7 8 THE PRES CHAP. Mechoacan, they were met by fourfcore Lords of VII. the country, each of them attended by ten thoufand of their vaffals (according to the Spanifh hiftorians) who let the Spaniards know, that they were come from their King, to welcome them into their coun- try : And, when they arrived in the city, a houfe was appointed for the reception of thefe Ambaffa- dors ; all manner of provifions and refrefhments, that the country afforded, were lent in ; and they were entertained in a very fplendid manner ; which agrees but ill with the following part of the ftory : For they tell us, the King himfelf came to the Spanifh quarters, foon after their arrival, demanded who they were ? Whence they came ? And what brought them from fo remote a country ? Whether they had nothing to eat at home, that they prey’d upon Arrangers ? And what the Mexicans had done, that they had deftroy’d their city? Demanding if they defign’d to do the like by him ? If they did, he faid, he fhould not tamely fubmit to it, but op- pofe force to force. To which the Spaniards anfwer’d. They came from the Emperor of the Chriftians, to cultivate a friendfhip with him, to traffick with his people, and to inftrudf them in the worfhip of the true God. (Thefe were ever the glorious pretences of the Spa- niards, tho’ their actions fufficiently fhew they had bafer views.) The King of Mechoacan, Here r a relates, was at this time determined to have facrificed the Spanifh AmbafTadors ; but that the Mexicans, who accompanied them, affured that Prince, if he of- fer’d any violence to their perfons, their General would infallibly take a fevere revenge on him and his kingdom ; giving an account of the wonders he had done in their country with his fire-arms, horfes, ar- tillery, dec. At which the King was fo aftonifhed, that he ordered the Spaniards to be treated with the utmoft refpedl : and, admitting them to an audiencs, he told them, that he had heard of the fame of their General, and defired to become fubjefl to the migh- ty Monarch from whence he came, who com- manded fuch god-like men : That, in return to this, embaffy, he fhould fend forne of his principal Nobility to attend on the General ; and defired they would take a prefent with them, which he fent as a teftimony of his efleem and afredfion for that Great man; and, foon after, as much gold and fil- ver was fent in as amounted to an hundred thoufand dollars, befides a great quantity of cloathing, jewels and ornaments, and a prefent for each of the Am- baffadors ; with which they returned to Mexico, attended by the Mechoacan Noblemen who were fent AmbafTadors to Co r t e z . The General, to confirm thefe Indians in the great opinion they had conceived of him, after he had complimented and entertained the AmbafTadors in a very fplendid manner, ordered his troops to be drawn up, and to exercife and fkirmifli before them. ENT STATE making feveral difeharges of his artillery and fmall CHAP, arms, to their great amazement. VII. The AmbafTadors returning, and making their report to their Prince of what they had been wit- neffes of at Mexico, he refolved to pay Cortez a vifit in perfon ; and, being arrived in that city, ’tis faid, he made a fpeech to the General ; wherein he acquainted him, he was come to make his fub- miffion perfonally, and acknowledge his fubjedlion to the King of Spain, now his and their Sovereign; and fhould, from that day, he ready to receive his commands ; defiring they would accept the treafure he brought with him, as a tribute and earned: of his future obedience. Whereupon Co rt e z acquaint- ed him, bow happy be would be in becoming fub- jcH to fo great an Emperor, who defired nothing more than his converfion, and to have him inftrudt- ed in the religion of the Chriftians , and, having entertained his royal guefl for feveral days, differed him to return to his own country. But Cortez focn let the King of Mechoacan Mechoacan know, that he had a farther view than to make him treated as acknowledge the King of Spain for his Sovereign ; d for he commanded Christopher Olid t0 provmce " march into Mechoacan, with an hundred Spanifh foot, forty horfe, and feveral thoufand confede- rate Indians, who were kindly received by that Prince at firft ; but, when he found they proceeded to take poffeffion of his chief towns, and treat his fubjedts as a conquer’d people, he began to ftand up- on his defence ; for which he was, in the Spanifh phrafe, feverely chaftifed ; that is, great numbers of his people were maffacred and murder’d in cold blood ; And Cortez, having, through this coun- try, penetrated to the South-fea, erected forts, and built fhips there, for farther diicoveries on that fide. Gonzalode Sandoval alfo was fent Other coun- to fubdue the countries near Tobafco and Tecoan- pies treated tepee, on theNorth-fea : And Pedro de Alve- rado, another Commander, was detach’d, with a body of Spaniards and confederate Indians, to take poffeffion of the countries bordering upon the vale of Guaxaca, to the eaftward of Mexico ; who all fubmitted to the Conqueror. While Cortez was thus employ’d in reducing all the country to his obedience, in the name of the Emperor Ch ar les the Vtb, Chistcher de Tapia arrived at Vera Cruz, with ji com- m ill 10 n from that Prince to command all The new conquefts : But the garrifon Cortez had left at Vera Cruz fo threaten’d and terrified De Tapia, that he wes glad to make his efcape, and leave the General in poffeffion of Mexico. Having got rid of this rival, Cortez march’d in perfon Panucoiub- to the province of Panuco, which he obliged to dued * fubmit to him. Whereupon he divided the coun- try, and all the Indian inhabitants, among his Offi- cers and Soldiers, who treated them as flaves. And this was his pra&icc in every province, whether the. OF MEXICO. *79 C HAP. VII. Cortez con- firm'd in his government. He rebuilds Mexico. His own palace. The tyranny and cruelty of the con- querors, par- ticularly of Alvarado. people voluntarily fubmitted to him, or were com- pelled to it by force. But, notwithftanding this barbarous ufageof the natives, and his refuting to refign his government to thofe who were fent to fucceed him in his com- mand ; fo powerful were the rich prefents he from time to time fent to the Emperor, and fuch were the reprefentations made to that Prince in his fa- vour, that Cortez was declared Captain-Gene- ral and Governor of New Spain by the Emperor. The Governors of Hifpaniola and Cuba were com- manded to reinforce that General, and give him all polTible affiftance. Whereupon, finding himfelf now eftablifhed in his command, he let about re- building the city of Mexico, which he had burnt and demolifh’d : He affigned places for building churches, and other publick edifices ; laid out mar- ket-places, divided the beft part of the ground a- mong the Spaniards, and the reft among the natives, giving them encouragement to build and people the place again : He affign’d one quarter part particu- larly to Montezuma, a fon of the late Empe- ror’s, and another to one of the moft popular In- dian Generals ; and they foon creeled a much finer town than that which had been deftroy’d, having now the advantage of iron tools, carriages and en- gines, which they wanted before. But nothing could be more magnificent than the palace Cor- tez erected for himfelf, upon the ground where Montezuma’s palace formerly flood; about which, ’tis faid, he ufed feven thoufand beams of Cedars, fome of them i 20 foot in length : He alfo provided himfelf with a numerous train of artillery, confifting of thirty-five pieces of brafs cannon, and feventy of iron ; which gave the Indians a vaft opi- nion of his power. But that which was his real ftrength, and did him moft fervice, both in Mexico and Europe, was the prodigious wealth he acquired, by the plunder of all the provinces he became ma- iler of, and the rich mines of Gold and Silver he every day dilcovered, or violently took from the owners. The provinces of Guatimala, Chiapa, Soconuf- co, and feveral others bordering upon the South-fea, had already fubmitted to Cortez, and fent him prefents by way of tribute. However, under pre- tence that they were not fincere, and allifted the enemies of the Spaniards, Alvarado was fent to chaftife them ; that is, to feize on the country and inhabitants, maflacre fome, and enilave the reft ; which he executed with great cruelty, as will ap- pear hereafter ; and was, for this fervice, made Go- vernor, or rather Proprietor, of all Guatimala, and the natives in it, who were treated by this mon- fter of a man worfe than brutes, fold for Oaves to work in the mines, and compell’d to carry burdens beyond their ftrength, ’till they were worn out in i'uch lervices. Corte z was generally fortunate in the choice C HAP. he made of the Commanders he lent to reduce the Mil. feveral provinces ; but he appears to have been mil- taken in Christo eherO lid ; for this officer, elated with fuccefs, threw off his dependance on Cortez, and was about to fet up for himfelf: However, he was foon after aftalfinated by fome of the General’s creatures, and his foldiers thereupon laid down their arms. In the mean time, Commillioners came over Commiffio- from Spain, to enquire into the condudt of Cor- ners appoint - te z and his lellow-conquerors, as they called them- i nt0 his 0 p- felves ; repeated complaints having been fent to preffions. Europe of their cruelties and oppreffions, which were found to be fo many, and lo manifeft, that Cortez was removed from his government for a time, his palace and effects feiz’d, and he was threaten’d with capital punilhment : To avoid Honduras which, he affembled his army, and march’d againft J uC f* a £ the large provinces of Honduras and Jucatan ; of Cortez. ^ which he made an entire conqueft, and, in the end, fo cunningly managed his affairs, by his a- gents in the Court of Spain, that they agreeing to pay the Emperor (who wanted money extremely at that time) two hundred thoufand pieces of eight, he He purcha- was reftored to the government of Mexico, with ^^Court the titles of Don and Adelentado, or Lord-Lieute- of Spain, nant ; had feveral new privileges conferred upon him, and was allowed to bear the fame arms as the Emperor of Mexico had borne. Such is the al- mighty power of gold ; and thus are the greateft Princes frequently compelled to countenance the greateft villanies, when they become neceffitous. And now Cortez adled more defpotically than He hangs ever ; but, to fhew himfelf impartially cruel, he the Mexican hanged the Emperor Quatemoc, who was e- mi>ei0! ‘ lefted after the death of Montezuma, with two other tributary Kings, under pretence they were forming a confpiracy againft him, tho’ he had kept them always prifoners, in his own quarters, from the time that Mexico was taken. In the year 15Z7, the complaints againft Cor- tez being revived, the Emperor fent over Lev/ is Ponce de Leon, as fupreme Judge of New Spain, to examine the conduct of Cortez : But this Judge died foon after his arrival, fufpedled to be poifoned by Corte z, or his creatures. How- ever, before his death, he appointed Mure de Aguilar to fucceed him ; but he alfo died foon after, appointing Alonzo de Estrada his fucceffor : But Cortez refufed to fubmit to his judgment ; alledging, that his predeceffor had no power to appoint a fucceffor. Orders afterwards arriving from Spain, to confirm Df. Aguilar in the poll of fupreme Judge, he commanded Cor- t e z to remove from the city of Mexico, and took the adminiftration out of his hands; and, fending over a juft reprefentation of the outrages committed by that General and his Officers, three other Com- A a z miffioners iSo THE PRESENT STATE CHAP. miflioners were fent to Mexico, to brine; Cortez VII. to a trial, and it was generally expected he would have loft his head. But he found means, in fome ^ meafure, to pacify the Court of Spain, and obtained to Spfn,°and Cave t0 g° over thither, and make his defence be- buys his peace fore the Emperor : He carried with him fuch a pro- sgain. digious treafure, that all his faults teem’d to be en- tirely forgot ; his Majefty countenanced him, teem’d delighted with his converfation, and to give credit to every thing he faid ; rewarding and ho- nouring this barbarous tyrant, inftead of punithing him ; particularly, his Imperial Majefty made him a grant of the whole valley of Arifto in Mexico, with all the towns and villages belonging to it ; in which he had twenty-four thoufand vaflals : He created him Marquis of the valley of Guaxaca, and conftituted him Generaliffimo of all the forces in New Spain ; tho’ it was thought fit to exclude him Orders in fa- abfolutely from the civil government: And feveral -♦our of the orc j e rs were made for the better ufage of the natives for the future; particularly, that they fhould not be obliged to carry burdens like pack- horfes on the road ; and that every Spaniard, who fnould fo load an Indian, fhould, for the firft of- fence, forfeit an hundred pieces of eight ; for the fecond offence, three hundred ; and for the third, fnould forfeit all his goods : That the Indians fhould not be compelled to work in the mines, or in their fortifications or buildings, unlefs for wages, and that voluntarily : ■ That no Indians fhould be carried out of their refpedfive countries, tho’ really {laves : That the Magiftrates fhould have power to deter- mine who were flaves, and who were not : And that the Spaniards fhould detain no Indian women in their houfes, on any pretence whatever. And, that thefe orders might he the better obfcrved, the Bifhop of Mexico, and the Superiors of the Domi- nicans and Francifcans, &c. were made Protecftors of the Indians ; among whom was the celebrated Father Bartholomew de Casas, after- wards Bifhop of Chiapa, who laid the grievances of the Indians before the Court of Spain, and procured a redrefs of them in lorne meafure ; tho’, he com- plains, the Emperor’s orders were very ill obferved at that diftance. But, from thefe intended regu- lations, we may gather what the grievances of the Indians were ; namely, their being obliged to carry burdens beyond their ftrength ; to work in the mines, fortifications, and buildings, with fuch ri- gour, that they perifh’d in the fervice ; that their women, wives and daughters were taken from them, and abufed by the luftful Spaniard ; that they made flaves of the natives without diftinfifion, and tranfported them to the mines in diftant countries, where they perifh’d : And it was many years be- fore thefe abufes were fully redrefs’d, even in thofe countries that peaceably fubmitted to their domini- on. As to the natives who fled to the woods and mountains, they were always very cruelly ufed, Thrir grie- 7iiJlCC5t when they fell into the hands of the Spaniards, as their pofterity are at this day. And it is not very ftrange, if the Indians have fcmetimes retaliated the injuries they received from a people that fo violently and unjuftly expelled them from their country, and treated them as flaves. But to return to the hi- ftory. Before Cortez left Old Spain, he procured all the grants of the lands and territories of the Indians, -which he had given to his foldiers, to be confirm’d ; and, that he might not want employment now the civil government of Mexico was taken from him, he was conftituted Governor of all the continent and iflands he fhould difcover in the South-fea ; and a twelfth part of fuch difcoveries was granted to him and his heirs. The General, having taken his leave of the Emperor, embarked foon after for N ew Spain, and arrived at VeraCruz in July 1530; and, not being foffer’d to go to the city of Mexico, took up his refidence at Tezcuco, fome few leagues diftant from it, where he had a very great Court, confifting of his Indian confederates and of his offi- cers and foldiers, amongft whom he had diftributed the lands of the fubdued provinces. The General, before his going to Old Spain, had fent three fhips through the South-fea to the Moluccoes, or Spice Iflands, in the Eaft-Indies ; where, his people en- countering the Portuguefe, who had already got pofteffion of thofe iflands, his (hips and moft of the men were deftroy’d, fome few only returning to Old Spain, with an account of their misfortune. Before Cortez received advice of this accident, he fitted out two other fhips on the South-fea, to make difcoverics towards California and the north- weft ; but thefe met with no better foccefs than the fleet lie had fent to the Eaft-Indies, moft of the men peri'fhing in the attempt. He again fitted out two fhips more, in the year 1531, to make difcoveries to the north- weft; hut thefe alfo were as unfortu- nate as the former. Whereupon Cortez em- barked on the South-fea himfelf, but did not meet with better foccefs than thofe he had fent upon dif- coveries before him: He was obliged to return, af- ter he had fuftained innumerable hazards and fa- tigues, without meeting with any thing anfwerable to the pains and expence he had been at. In the year 1539, however, Cortez fitted out three fhips more in the South-fea, which failed to the north ward ’till they arrived in 50 degrees and _ up- wards, and his people landed in California and the oppofite continent, but made no-fettlements : And the General, having been at a vaft expence in thefe feveral naval expeditions, went over to Old Spain again, in the year 1539, in hopes of prevailing on that Court to reimburfe him his charges : But the Miniftry, expeffing to have received an increafe, rather than a diminution of their treafure, from thefe expeditions, Cortez did not meet with fo favourable a reception as formerly: The Court be- gaa CHAP. VIE Cortez at- tempts new difcoveries. He is un- fuccefsful. He goes to Spain, and is not fufter’d to return to Mexico. OF M E X I C O. i»i CHAP. VIT. Kis death. The Bifliop of Chiapa’s narrative of the Spanilh cruelties, de> dicated to PrincePhilip gan to give credit to the repeated complaints that had been made againft him ; and tho’ it was not thought fit to proceed rigoroufly againft the Gene- ral, fince he had been inftru mental in adding fo large and wealthy a country to the Crown of Spain, yet he was never fuffer’d to return to Mexico again ; and he remained a kind of prifoner at large in the Emperor’s Court, where he died on the 2d day of December 1545, in the 6zd year of his age ; and his body was afterwards tranfported to Mexico^ and interr’d in the cathedral of that city. How the Spaniards behaved themfelves towards the natives on the conqueft (as it was called) of this new world, will beft appear from the Bilhop of Chi- apa, abcve-cited, who refided there at the time of the conqueft, and, during the life of Co RTEZ, ap- plied himfelf to the Court of Spain, to put a flop to the barbarous ufage of that people, after he had been an eye-witnefs of their unparallel’d bufferings. This Prelate drew up a narrative of thefe tranf- adfions in the year 1532, which he republifh’d in the year 1542, when Cortez was at the Court of • Spain; which he dedicated to Prince Philip, fon of the Emperor Charles the Vth, and afterwards " his fuccefior in that kingdom : In which dedication he puts that Prince in mind, that God, for the be- nefit of Mankind, had appointed Kings and Princes to be the Fathers and Protectors of their people ; and it was to be prefumed, he obferved, if any violences or injuries were committed in their dominions, and not redrefs’d, that the Frince had no notice of them ; it being his intereft to promote the good and wel- fare of his fubjetfts. That, confidering the intolerable mifchiefs the Crown of Spain fuftained in the new world, by the tyrranny, oppreffion, and unheard-of cruelties of the Generals and Adventurers, to whom thofe countries had been granted in propriety refpeftively, by the name of conquefts ; he fhould think himfelf, he laid, in fome meafure, guilty of them, if he con- cealed the lofs of that infinite number of fouls and bodies he had feen deftroy’d there : That God and the holy church had committed the government of that people to the King of Caftile, to the end they might be converted, and their temporal as well as fpiritual happinels promoted. That his Majefty therefore might be truly apprized of the ftate of thofe countries fince the conqueft, and redrefs their grie- vances, he had (elected fome few inftances of the conduit and behaviour of the Great men who had begg’d thofe conquefts of the Crown ; which he had caufed to be printed fome years before, and humbly intreated that Prince to ufe his intereft that none of thofe countries or iflands might be granted for the future to any private perfons as their conquefts ; for that thofe poor innocent people were daily murder’d and deftroy’d, through the avarice and ambition of the abovefaid adventurers. Spaniards ar= rived there, and the ge- nius of thag: people. Proceeding in his narrative, the Bifhop obferves, C H A P, that Hifpaniola and the neighbouring iflands were VII. full of people, as well as the continent, when the Spaniards firft difcover’d America: That, as to the how populous genius and temper of the natives, they had very America was quick parts, were capable of learning any thing ; and yet were very meek, inoffenfive, and hofpita- ble ; void of malice, covetoufnefs, or ambition very obedient to their fuperiors ; patient and tempe- rate ; and as their food was plain and fimple, fo they eat and drank fparingly ; but that they were of a tender conftitution, not able to endure labour or hardfhips ; and if they were tranfported to diftant countries, did not long furvive it. Upon thefe harmlefs Sheep (in my author’s phrafe) How cruelly the Spaniards fell, like fo many ravenous Wolves or ’ Tygers, as foon as they arrived amongft them ; and did not ceafe for forty years ( viz. from the year 1492, when America was firft difcover’d, to the time our author wrote, anno 1532) to torture, murder and deftroy them, by a variety of ftrange and unaccoun- table cruelties, fuch as were never heard of before ; infomuch, that of three millions of fouls they found The ifland* in the ifland of Hifpaniola, there were not, at the dc P°P ulatetJ time the Bilhop wrote, two hundred native Indians upon that ifland ; and the neighbouring ifland of Cuba, equally populous, and almoft of equal extent, was in a manner depopulated : That thofe of Porto Rico and Jamaica, fruitful flouriftiing iflands, and abounding with people when the Spaniards came thither, were become perfect defarts : T he Bahama iflands, which contain’d five hundred thoufand fouls, had not, when the Bilhop wrote, one human crea- ture left upon them ; and the Antilles, or Caribbee iflands, hadmoftof them been deftroy’d in like man- ner. Then he proceeds to give an account of the con- On the sob® tinent ; where, he fays, it was certain, that the tincnt - Spaniards, by their cruelties, had depopulated ten realms larger than Spain, and extendingas far as from Seville to Jerufalem, which was 1000 leagues and upwards, tho’ they were before as well peopled, as any countries whatever : That he was able to give a certain and particular account of twelve millions of fouls, men, women and children, that, with- in the faid fpace of forty years, had been unjuftly and tyrannically put to death by the Spaniards ; and, he verily believed, more than fifteen millions or fouls Fifteen mil® had perifli’d by their hands within that time ; the caufe whereof, he (ays, was the infatiable avarice and ambition of the Spaniards. That he himfelf faw four or five of the Indian Variety of . Princes, or great Lords, broil’d atone time on grid- t,jrt “ re3i irons, over a flow fire, and others roafted ; many more he few tom in pieces with dogs : That they maflared whole towns, (paring neither women not children ; ripped up women with child, beat out the brains of fome infants, and drowned ct-x ys 3 and that they would, in fport, lay wagers which . ftiouloB 102 T H E P R E S CHAP, fhould kill the poor Indians fooneft, by cutting off VII. their heads, or piercing their breafts : That the Sol- diers being about to burn one of the Indian Princes, whofe name was Hat hw ay, a Prieft was fent to him, to perfuade him to turn Chriftian before he died ; and the Prieft telling him he would go to hea- ven, a place of happinefi, if he embraced Chrifti- anity ; otherwife he muft expedl eternal torments in hell ; Hath way demanded, if the Spaniards went to heaven ? And being anfwer’d, yes ; the Indian Prince replv’d, “ Then let me go to hell, “ where there will be no Spaniards.” The Bifhop relates, that marching with fome Spanifh troops towards a great town, confiding of three thoufand Indians, the people came out to meet them, bringing along with them all manner of pro- vifions and refrefhments for the Spaniards, who, notwith {landing, fell upon them, and put all thefe defencelefs people to the fword, men, women and children ; and that without any manner of caufe or provocation, that he could difcover. That at another time he faw fix thoufand infants deftroy’d within the fpace of three or four months, for want of people to look after them, their fathers and mothers being fent away to work in the mines, or to fome other laborious employments, at a great diftance from them : That it being the ufual way for the Officers and Soldiers to divide the natives amongfl them, he knew an Officer, that, having three hundred Indians affign’d him for his fhare, kil- led two hundred and fixty of them, within three months, by hard fervice in the mines ; and that they afterwards affign’d him as many more, of whom he made the like havock. That, in the year 1514, a Spanifh Adventurer deftroy’d all the country from the river Darien to the province of Nicaragua, extending upwards of 500 miles ; and that one of his Officers, in one ex- curfion, murder’d more than twenty thoufand peo- ple, fome of whom he burnt, others he caufed to be torn in pieces by dogs, or tortured ’till they ex- pired in exquifite pain. If the Spaniards had intelligence that any town was rich in gold, or other treafure, it was an or- dinary thing to fend a party of men to fummon them to turn Chriftians, and acknowledge them- felves fubjedls of Spain ; which if they refufed, they thought they had fufficient authority to plunder the place, and maftacre the inhabitants : But many of their parties went farther; they would make procla- mation, a mile or two before they came at the town they had deftined to deftrudlion. That the in- habitants fhould immediately come and dcr-homage to the King of Spain ; which the poor people know- ing nothing of, were attack’d without any notice, and put to the fword. If thefe Spanifh adventurers could prove that proclamation was made, this was held fufficient, whether the people heard anything of it or not ; and if they fpared the lives of any, it ENT STATE was only in order to torture them, and compel them C H A P. thereby to difcover fuch treafure as might be con- VII. cealed, or to make flaves of them : And that, in fuch expeditions, the Governor of the province of Terra-firma only deftroy’d eight hundred thoufand fouls between the years 1514 and 1522. That one of the Indian Princes, having given this fame Go- vornor the value of nine thoufand ducats in gold, was tortured by him ’till he difcovered the value of three thoufand caftillans (pieces of eight) more; and not being able or willing to make any farther difcoveries, die Governor caufed his feet to be burnt oft by inches, ’till the marrow dropt out of his bones, and he expired in torments : And it was a common thing with the Spanifh Officers to torture the Indian Princes and great Lords, to make them difcover their riches, and put them to death when they did not anfwer their expeditions. In the Province of Nicaragua, the Bifhop relates, the Spaniards made flaves of the people they did not otherwife deftroy, and tranfported great numbers of them to the mines of Peru, where they all died in a very little time: For, he obferves, that when the Indians are removed from their native place, they feldom live long ; and that many of them perifh’d for want of proper food, or by being; compelled to labour beyond their ftrength : And that there had not been lefs than five hundred thoufand fouls de- ftroy’d by thefe means, in that province only, within the fpace of ten years, viz. between the years 1523 and 1533; infomuch, that there were not, at the time of drawing up this narrative, five thoufand of the natives left alive in the province. Then the Bifhop proceeds to give fame account of the conduct of the Spaniards in Mexico, or New Spain, where He rn an do Co r tez commanded their forces in perfon, and had the diredlion of all affairs : And here he affirms, that within the fpace of twelve years, viz. between the year 1518 and the year 1530, four millions of fouls were put to the fword, befides infinite numbers that were made flaves of, and perifh’d by famine and oppreffion ; there being no part of Europe fo populous asMexi- . co, when the Spaniards arrived there, according to this author, who was Bifhop of Chiapa in Mexico during the adminiftration of Cortez, Defcending to particulars, the Bifhop mentions, in the firft place, the maflacre of Choiula, a city confiftingof thirty thoufand houfes; where Cor- tez, having fummoned the principal inhabitants, and the Lords of the neighbouring country to attend him with their vaffals, he commanded the inferior people to be cut in pieces by the Spaniards and his confederates the Tlafcalans, and thofe of better qua- lity he burnt alive : Adding, that this was their pradlice in every province they invaded, to execute fome fuch notable butchery, that the people might tremble at their approach, and fubmit to their ty- ranny. That O F M E X I C O. 183 3 HAP, That this Captain-tyrant (as the Bilhops calls VII. Cortez) fent out two other tyrants more cruel than himfelf ; the one to the country of Guatimala (viz. Pedro de Alvarado) and the other to Mvarado’s that of Honduras : And that the firft, in a letter to raeltyin Cortez, inform’d him, that he had kill’d, plun- jiuum ( ] er vj 5 burnt, and deftroy’d all the realm of Gua- timala for the fpace of 400 miles; and the other Captain, that was fent to reduce the province of Honduras (a country which the Bifhop reprefents as a paradifo of pleafure, and then exceeding populous) deffroy’d more than two millions of fouls. That the firft Captain, on his entering the fron- tiers of Guatimala, being met by fome Caciques, or Lords of the country, with their vaffals, who brought him previfions, and came to make their fubmiffion ; he caufed thofe Caciques to be burnt alive, becaufe they told him they could not produce the quant ty of gold he demanded ; and the reft of the Caciques fled to the mountainous and inacceflible part of the country, ordering their fubjedts to fub- mit to the Spaniards, which they accordingly did, without making any oppofition. But this would not fatisfy thefe unmerciful adventurers, or con- querors, as they called themfelves ; they burnt the houfes of thefe poor people, putting to death man, woman and child, becaufe they could not, or would not difeover what was become of their Lords : Whereupon the reft of the Indians flood upon their defence ; and, among other ftratagems, they dug pits in the highways, in which they fet fharp flakes, covering them with turf, in order to pre- vent their being attack’d by theSpanilh horfe; and fome of the Spaniards fell into then ; which fo en- raged this Captain, that he order’d fome of the na- tives, of all fexes and ages, to be thrown into thefe pits, and buried alive ; the reft were either deftroy’d with fire and fword, or made flaves of, many of whom were tranfported to the mines, and perifh’d there ; while others were worn out in carrying bur- dens, and fuch like drudgeries. The women met with the bed quarter, the Spaniards referving them either for their lulls or domeftick employments, as well as for the cultivation of their lands ; this being chiefly the bufinefs of the Indian females : Nor is it to be fuppofed they deftroy’d all the male flaves, when they were fo ufeful, and even neceffary to them, in building houfes, (hips, carrying burdens, &c. And, no doubt, many of the inferior people efcaped after their former mafters to the woods and mountains, whofe pofterity are found there to this day, having hitherto preferved their freedom, tho’ they have loft the bell and richeft part of their country. But how 7 many foever efcaped, the Bi- Ihop allures us, that this Captain put to death be- tween four and five millions of people in the coun- try of Guatimala, within the fpace of fifteen or fixteen years : And fo very little account did the Spaniards make of thefe unhappy people, the fame author relates, that he had known eight hundred CHAP. Indian flaves given for one Mare : and that another VII. of thefe adventurers, having employ’d eight thou- fand Indians in his buildings and gardens, obliged them to ferve him without pay, and gave them fo given fur a little food, that they fell down under their burdens Marei and died ; at which their hard-hearted mailer fhew’d no manner of concern. He knew the fame Captain, who was afterwards made Prefident of Mexico, employ between fifteen and twenty thoufand Indians in carrying the Spaniards baggage in an expedition; and fays, all of them perifh’d in that fervice except two hundred. The fame barbarous wretch, in the province of Mechoacan, about 40 leagues from Mexico, being met by the Cacique or Lord of the province, who brought him prefents, and offer'd to become fob- je£l to the Spaniards, put the unhappy Prince to the' torture, burning his feet off by inches, to make him difeover his treafure ; infomuch, that he ex- pired in moil exquifite torments : And abundance of other Lords were ufed in like manner, to make them produce the gold and filver they imagined them poffefs’d of. He relates, that one of thefe adventurers, who w 7 as made Governor of Jucatan in the year 1526, finding there was no gold or filver in that province, after he had ravaged the country, and killed great numbers of the natives, fold the reft for flaves ; but fet fo final! a value on them, that he fold the fon of one of their Princes for an ordinary Cheefe, and an A Prince hundred men for an Horfe : That the fon of a cer- ^ tain Lord, refufing to leave his country, and go with a Spaniard into fluvery, he cut off his ears, nofe, and lips : And fo wantonly cruel was another Spaniard, that he chopp’d a living infant to pieces, and gave it to his dogs. But I am weary with re- lating thefe barbarities, as I believe the reader mull be with the relation of them ; and therefore for- bear to mention any more of them here ; but fhall have occalWr to refume the fubjebl again, when I come to the conqueft of South-America. Thefe fadls, I mull confefs, are fo flocking, Thefe faar that it cannot be fuppofed they fhould eafily gain well attefted, credit : But if we confider, that they are given us by Father Bartholom ew de Casas, Bifhop of Chiapa, during the adminiftraticn of Cortez; that he came over to Spain to obtain a redrels of thefe grievances of theEmperorCH a R les theVth; that lie met with a very great oppofition from Cortez and his friends, and yet that he procured' that General to be difplaced, and obtained an order that the Indians fhould be no more treated as a con- quer’d people, or made flaves of; that Cortez was atSfually profecuted for thefe outrages, and not fuffer’d to return to Mexico to his dying day, not- withftanding the pretended fervices he had done, in adding the Mexican empire to the dominions of Charles the Vth; we rauft believe, that the charge 1 184 THE PRES CHAP, charge was in a great meafure true ; efipecially when VIL V.o'-y-w Part cf the •Bi/hop’s apology f'r the poor ln- -jmmbers as was preten- ded. we find feme greatSpahifn Ecclefiafticks pleading and endeavouring to maintain, before that Emperor, “ That it was lawful to maflacre and enfiave any “ people who refufed, upon their fummons, to “ turn Chriftians, and fubmit to the Pope in Spi- “ rituals, and to the Emperor in Temporals.” Give me leave to add a paragraph or two out of . the Bifhop of Chiapa’s apology for the poor Indians. It is not true (lavs that great Prelate) that the In- dians did annually lacrifice twenty thoufand perfons, or one hundred, or even fifty ; but the Tyrants (the cams They Adventurers) have invented fuch flories to juftify their fic- n the Cabbage. This is a tall (lender tree, frequent- Cabbage, ly 90 or 100 foot in height. Da m pier fays, he meafured one after it was cut down, in the Bav of Campeachy, that was 1 20 foot long ; and there arc fome much longer. rhere are no houghs on ir, but at the head ; and there the branches are of the C c bignefs THE PRESENT STATE 196 CHAP, bignefs of a man’s arm, and 12 or 14 foot long. IX. About 2 foot from the trunk, thefe branches (hoot ''■“■''"V"’'*''’’ out long narrow leaves, about an inch broad, which grow fo regularly on each fide, that the whole branch feems but one leaf. The fruit is found at the top of the tree, amidft the branches. It is about a foot long, and fix inches round ; of the form of an ordinary Cabbage, and furrounded with young leaves. Ac- cording to Dam pier’s description, it is as white as milk, and as fweet as a nut, if eaten raw ; and is very good boil’d. There hangs down alfo from the top of the tree great bunches of red berries, of about fix pound weight, like bunches of Grapes ; but thefe are only food for their hogs, not being at all palatable. The body of the tree is mark'd with rings or ftreaks, from the top to the bottom, at half a foot diftance the one from the other. The bark is thin and brittle, the wood black and hard, and the heart or middle of the tree is a white pith. They ufually cut down the tree for the cabbage ; for the gathering the fruit kills it, if they let it {land ; and the climbing this lofty plant is as much trouble as the felling of it. 1 he wood is ufod, in fbme places, for boarding the fides of their houfes ; the body be- ing eafily fplit into four parts for thatpurpofe. Thefe trees appear extreamly beautiful in the forefis, fpread- ing their fine branches above the heads of all other trees. The Gala* The Calabafh-tree is fhort and thick, and the baft. fruit grows among the boughs as Apples do ; the fhell is hard and thin, of a globular figure, and will hold from two to five quarts. There are two forts of them ; of the one, the fruit is fweet ; of the o- ther, bitter : The fubftance of both fpungy and jui- cy. The Indians eat the fweet Calabafh frequently on a journey ; but it is not very palatable : The bitter is medicinal, and efteem’d a remedy for Agues. But what this fruit is mod valued for, is its fhell, of which the Indians make bottles, bowls, drink- ing-cups, and all kind of veffels for their meat and drink. The Cacao- The Cacao fhall be deferibed next. This tree, ueeand full grown, and of the largeft fort, according to D a M p 1 e r, is feven or eight foot high to the bran- ches, and a foot and a half thick : The boughs fpread horizontally, like the Oak ; and have dark green leaves, like thofe of the Plum-tree, but larger; and the nuts are encloled in cods, which hang down by a tough ftalk from the body of the tree, and from the larger branches ; and there are ufually about twen- ty or thirty of thefe cods upon a well-bearing tree. 'I he cod, or fhell, is almofl half an inch thick, nei- tner fpungy nor woody, but of a fubfiance between both, brittle and harder than the rind of a Lemon, and, like that, the furface is grained or knotted, but more coarle and unequal. The cods are, at find, of a dark green ; but the fide next the fun of a muddy red. As they ripen, the green turns to a nne might yellow, and the muddy to a more beauti- ful red. 7 . hey neither ripen, nor are gather’d at once ; but, for three weeks or a month, while the C H A ?• feafon lafts, the Overfeers of the plantations go e- IX. very day to fee which are turn’d yellow, not cutting more than one or two from a tree in a day. When the cods are gather’d, they are laid in heaps to fweat ; after which, they break the rind or fhell, and take out the nuts, which flick clofe together in regular rows, like the grain in an ear of Maiz. There are fourfeore or an hundred nuts in a cod, according to Dam pier (thirty or forty, according to Fun- nel ; but ten or fifteen, fays Gemelli Care- Ri) about the bignefs of an Almond. The youn<* trees are raifed from nuts, and bear in four or five years ; and they have from five hundred to two thoufand trees in a plantation, or Cacao- walk, as it is called. The young trees are flidter’d from the fun at firft by Plantain-trees let about them ; but, when they are grown to any bignefs, the Plantains are cut down, Gemelli Careri gives us this account of the tree and fruit. Pie fays, the nut is planted in a hot and dry foil : That it fprings up within a fortnight, but does not grow above three fpans in two years, at which height it muff be tranf- planted ; and then the Spaniards let them in rows, eighteen fpans from each other. A flake is fet up to fupport them, and Plantains and other trees plant- ed about them, becaufe they thrive heft in the fhade : However, the root mufl be kept warm, and defend- ed from too much wet, and from a fpecies of worms that are very prejudicial to them. W ithin the Ipace of five years, it is as thick as a man’s wrift, and ieven (pans in height ; and then it bears. Its leaves are like the Cnefnut, and it blofloms all over like the Jeflamin : From the blofiom fhoots out an ear, or cod, like that of Indian-wheat, which is at firft green, and of a chefnut colour when ripe ; but fome- times yellow, white, or purple. Within the ear (or fhell) are found the Cacao-nuts, with a white down upon them ; being from ten to fifteen in num- ber. Thefe ears are gather’d about the full of the moon ; and the nuts, being taken out, are kept drying in the houfe, in the fhade ; then laid three days in the fun, and afterwards in the houfe, ’till they are well dried. The Venella, or Bainilla, call’d by the Spaniards veneila* Bexuco, which is ufually mix’d with the Cocao- nut to make Chocolate, is a fort of cane, which twines about the Orange-tree, or any other, like Ivy : It produces a long green cod, which, when gather d and dry’d in the fun, is hard and blackifh. lie obferves, that the Europeans to every pound of Cocao add a pound of Sugar, and an ounce of Cinna- mon : But neither the Indians, or the Spaniards of America, u fo any Venella’s, efreeming them un- wholefome. 7 he heft Chocolate, according to the Indians, is made witn Cinnamon, adding to every pound of Cacao two ounces of Indian-wheat. This liquor was drank by the Indians (without Cin- namon) O F M CHAP, namon) before the Spaniards arrived there ; but IX. they have improved it, and it is fo common now at Mexico, that there is fcarce a Negroe or a com- mon Porter but drinks it every day, and the better fort of people four times a day. Gemelli ob- ierves, that Cacao-nuts go in the markets of Mexi- co inftead of fmall money, twelve or fifteen of them being about the value of a penny ; but they rife and fall in their value, according to the plenty or foarcity of this fruit. Plantains Plantains and Bananoes are fruits very common no« BaM ' here, as well as * n Africa and the Eaft-Indies. The Plantain fruit is of the fize and fhape of a Bologna laulage ; the rind yellow, and very tender, which being ffripped off, we find a foft lufcious pulp, very agreeable to fome palates : It has the largeft leaf of any plant. The Bananoe is much the fame kind of fruit, but lefs ; and both of them are eaten raw, or roafted, by the natives all day long. They fteep them alfo in water, and, adding fome honey to them, make a liquor tolerably ftrong and pleafant. The Pine- The Pine-apple alfo is common to the Eaft and apple- Weft-Indies. It is of the fhape of one of our Pine-apples, but much larger ; the rind full as rough, but eafily pared off : T he fruit is yellow, and as firm as a Peach ; and is generally faid to have the tafte of every delicious fruit. Nothing can excel thofe I met with in the Eaft-Indies ; but they were held to be hot and feverifh. The Spa- niards, who preferve all manner of fruits, efteem this the beft. The reader will find a full defcription of the tree and fruit, as alfo of the Plantain and Bananoe, in the Firft Volume of Modern Hiftory, which treats of the Eaft-Indies. Sapadillo. The Sapadillo refembles the Pear-tree in its fize and figure, and the fruit appears to the view like that of the Bergamot-pear. When firft gather’d, the juice is white and clammy, and the pulp hard ; but, after it has lain two or three days, it becomes foft and very fweet. In the middle of it are two or three black ftones or feeds ; and it is generally efteem’d an excellent cooling fruit. Avngato The Avogato Pear-tree is of the fize of the for- Pear. m er, anc j not un }jk e | t fhape ; the fruit green, and as large as a Lemon, and, when ripe, turns yellow : It has a foft thin rind, which is peeled off ; and the pulp is as foft as butter, but a little infipid ; and therefore they ufually mix it with fugar and lime-juice ; and thus order’d, the Spaniards efteem it an excellent difh, eating often of it : And it is the more efteemed by that people, according to Dam pier, as it infpires them with frefh vigour' for venereal encounters. L 1 Mammee- The Mammee-tree is a large, tall, ftreight-bodied tree> tree, without knots or branches for fixty or feventy foot in height : The head fpreads its branches pretty wide ; the fruit is round, and of the fize of a French Pippin ; the rind yellow, and tough when it is ripe \ the pulp yellow, and has in it two large E X I C O. 197 ftones as big as Almonds : It has a fine fragrant C HAP. fmell, and the tafte is anfwerable. IX. The Mammee-Sappota-tree is not fo large or tall ^^7^° as the former ; the rind of the fruit thin and brit- sap^ta” tie, and the pulp a deep red, with a rough flat ftone tree, in it : This fruit is extremely well relifh’d, and wholefome ; and as generally eaten as any fruit in the Weft-Indies. There is alfo the wild Mammee- tree, which bears no fruit ; but the timber, being very ftreight and tall, ferves for mails for Ihips. The Grape-tree is 7 or 8 foot high, and 2 or 3 Grape- trejj in circumference ; the fruit about the bignels of a common Grape, and grows in clufters, but has a great ftone in the middle of it ; the pulp is reddifh, wholefome, and well tailed ; tho’ there is but lit- tle of it. The Guava is common to the Eaft and Weft- Guava, Indies ; grows upon a fhrub ; the fruit green on the outfide, perfectly round, and of the fize of a Crab-apple ; the rind is foft, and, being taken off, we find a yellow or reddilh pulp, full of feeds : It has both a tart and fvveetilh flavour, very agreeable to the palate ; but mold valuable for being of fuch an aftringent nature, that it will either prevent or cure a Dyfentary or Bloody-flux (the diftemper that the Europeans are mold liable to in all hot coun- tries) if the patient has not negledded himfelf too long : And the Pomegranate has much the lame effeiSd. If our people were acquainted with the virtues of thefe, and fome other fruits, when they firft arrive in the Eaft or Weft-Indies, we Ihould not lofe half the men we ufually do ; for they are to be had at any time of the year almoft. The G uava is efteem’d more wholefome when it is green, than when it is ripe ; for fome have obferved, when it is over-ripe, it has a laxative quality. The Prickle-pear is a fhrub about 5 foot high, Prickr«»- that delights in a barren fandy foil, elpecially if it P ear ’ be near the fea, where the fand is brackilh. It is fo full of large ftrong thorns (from whence it takes its name) that nothing makes a fecurer fence. The fruit is as big as a large Plum, and opens when ripe like a Medlar, difcovering a red pulp full of feeds j; pleafant to the tafte, and very cooling and refrelh- ing ; but colours the urine like blood, which has. frighten’d ftrangers that were not acquainted with it : However, this is attended with no ill confe- quences. The Bibby-tree has a ftreight {lender body, naked Bibby-tree* of leaves, but full of thorns ; ftxty or feventy foot high : At the top it is full of branches, among which grows the fruit, being white berries, of the bignefs of a Nutmeg : They are very oily : The Indians beat them in a mortar, and boil the liquor that comes from them, which produces a bitter oil, that they anoint themfelves with, and mix it withb the colours they ufe in painting their bodies,. They alfo tap the Bibby-tree, and it affords them a tart liquor, of the colour of Whey,, which is fit to drink. T HE PRESENT STATE European fruits here. No wine. drink, after they have kept it two or three days. Befides the fruits proper to Mexico, the Spaniards have introduced Oranges, Lemons, Grapes, Figs, and almoft all manner of European fruits, except Nuts and Cherries : But the Grapes of this coun- try will not make wine 3 nor do I remember any country between the Tropics, where wine is made of Grapes, unlels in Peru, where they have not thofe exceffive rains annually as they have in every other country that lies within the Tropics people to deep. 3 . The Sapote Boraehio, or Drunken Sapote, fo called from its inebriating quality : A pleafant tart fruit. 4. The Little Sapote, whofe fruit is of a purple colour, and pleafant tailed 3 CHAR IX. Gourds. Melons, &c Silk-grafs. Manchinel- tree. Tamarinds, Locu/l, Baf- tard Cinna- mon. Sapotes, a farther ac- count of them. As to their Sugar, Indico, Otta, Silvefler, and other dyes 5 Tobacco, Pepper, Ginger, and fuch plants as they have in common with the reft of America ; I fhall defcribe them hereafter, when I come to treat of the Britifn plantations. But I muft not forget their Gourds, which grow to a very large ftze, and either run upon the ground, or up the trees ; the meat or pulp of fome of them ferving for food, and others for medicine : But they are valued moft by the natives for their {hells, which ferve them for pails, bowls, and buckets. * As to Melons, Cucumbers, and Onions, they have them in much greater perfedlion here, and in all hot countries, than in colder climates. There is alio a very ufeful plant here, to which the Englilh have given the name of Silk-grafs. It pretty much refembles Flags or Sedge, and grows on the hides of hills. The leaves are as thick as a man’s hand in the middle, and thin at the edges 3 a yard or two in length, and indented like a law. The Indians cut them at a proper growth ; then dry and beat them, and no Flax affords a better thread 3 and of thefe they make cordage and filhing-nets, ftockings and hammocks : They alfo make a yel- lawifti lace of the thread, which is worn by the Meftife women. There are ftiil fome other trees I have omitted, which deferve a particular notice, as the Manchinel- tree, whofe fruit is in fmell, tafte and colour like a lovely Apple, but lefs, and of a poifonous nature 3 Infomuch, that if any animal has been feeding on it, the flelh of the creature will poifon the man that eats it. Thefe trees have large bodies, fine fpread heads, full of leaves 5 but are very low : The wood has a curious grain 3 and therefore is fometimes ufed in carving and cabinet-work ; but the very lap, ’tis faid, will raife biifters where it falls, as will the rain-water which runs from it, according to Wafer. They have alfo Tamarinds, Locuft- trees, and a Ballard Cinnamon, in Mexico : And Gemelli Careri gives us this farther account of the Sapotes. Fie obferves, there are four forts of them : 1 . The Black Sapotes, as big as a Walnut-tree, but the leaves fmaller 3 the fruit round, and has a thin green rind ; the pulp of the colour and tafte of Caflia, with four fmall kernels in it. 2. The White Sapotes, as tall as a Pear-tree, and the fruit as large as a Pear 3 green without, and white with- in 3 and has four white kernels : This fruit inclines Granadilk. The feafoa of fruit. Maghey- tree and ’ liquor. and as much valued as any fruit that grows in Mexico. The Granadilla de China grows like Ivy, wind ing about fome neighbouring tree ’till it perfedly covers it : T he fruit is as big as a Hen’s egg, white and yellow without, and white within ; and has feeds like the Grape : There is a pretty mixture of fweet and four in the tafte. Moft of thefe fruits are to be had, in the markets of Mexico, from March to September ; and the Mammees and Black Sapote grow on the mountains all the year round. According toGEMELU, there is not a plant of more general ufe than the Maghey 3 for the leaves, he fays, fu-rnilh the natives with thread for linnen aiH cordage : It alfo yields Bajlam, and a liquor as Iweet as Floney 3 into which the Indians infufe a a root that makes it ferment like wine, and it is of equal ftrength, making people very drunk. They diftil a fpirit from it alfo as ftrong as Brandy : This was fo univerfally drank in the city of Mexico, Gemelli relates, that the excife of it came to eleven hundred thoufand pieces of eight (about two hundred and fifty thoufand pounds fterling) per an- num : But the Indians frequently getting drunk and mad with this liquor, and making an infurredhon in the year 1 692, when they fet fire to the Viceroy’s palace, and committed many other outrages, it was prohibited for fome time : However, the duty being fo confiderable, Gemelli lays, there came orders from Spain to permit the making and drink- ing this liquor again, when he was at Alexico in the year 1698. I proceed, in the next place, to enquire into the moft remarkable balms, gums, and drugs, that are found in Mexico 5 among which are the Copal and Anime 3 both of them a kind of rofin, and not much unlike. 1 he Copal is very white and clear, and has a pretty Gum Copal good fcent : Of this the Indians made incenfe and perfumes for their facrifices in their temples 5 and, when the Spaniards firft arrived, their Pnefts went out to meet them with little fire-pans, or cenfers, in which they burnt this Copal : And theSpanilli Phy- ficians now burn it under their patients nofes, for difeafes arifing from ths coldnefs of the head. 1 he Anime alfo is a white gum, or rofin, diftilling from a great tree, and more oily than Copal : It has an exceeding pleafant fmell, when burnt. This alfo is ufed by Phyficians for pains in the head, and in plaifters and fear-cloths applied to the ftomach. The gum Tacamahaca is got by making incifion in a tree like a Willow : It has a very fine fcent, and is of great ufe to diftblve fwellings, remove pains in the limbs, and in many other cafes : And the gum Coranna hath much the fame effects Gums and drugs. Anime. Tacamaha- ca. Coranna. The O F M E CHAP. IX. 'w'"' Liquid Am- ber. Oil of Am^ ber. Balfam. Gu‘?cum. China-root. The liquid Amber is obtained by making inci- fions in a fine fair tree that grows in Mexico. The bark of this tree, as well as the liquor diftilling from it, has an exceeding fweet fmell, but more when it is burnt ; a little of it being fijfficient to perfume whole houfes, and even ftreets : It is mighty re- frelhing to the head, and, ufed in plaifters, diflblves fwellings, and eafes pains in the ftomach or limbs. The oil of Amber is drawn from liquid Amber, and is efteemed an excellent medicine for pains in the limbs, or dead palfies, the patient being rubbed with it. The Balm, or Balfam, ufually called the Balfam of Peru, is alfo found in Mexico. The tree that yields it, is of the fize and figure of the Pomegranate- tree : It is got by making incifions in the bark, and is almoft of all colours, viz. white, red, green, and blackilh : It is ufed both in medicine and as a per- fume ; and the Indians applied it to the healing of wounds before the Spaniards arrived there. Taken inwardly, it is good for coughs and fhortneft of breath; for difeales in the bladder, and for obftrudt- ions : It ftrengtnens the ftomach, and removes pains in it ; and is faid to have many other virtues. When the Spaniards firft made ufe of it to cure their wound- ed men, at the fiege of Mexico, as they had been taught by their Indian allies, the cures were per- form’d fo fuddenly, that they imagined there was fomething miraculous in it. The beft fort of this balfam, which is obtained by incifion, is called Opo- balfamum. There is another fort they get by boil- ing the wood of the tree cut into fmall pieces, there arifing a kind of oil on the top of the liquor, which, when cool, grows thick, and is called Xylobalfamum. There are three forts of wood alfo found inMexi- co, of great ufe in medicine, viz. Guiacum, China Root, and Sarfiparilla. The Guiacum is a tree as large as an Oak ; the bark dry, but full of gum ; the heart of the tree al- moft black, very hard, and ponderous : It as a fmall leaf, and yields a yellow flower, out of which proceeds a round fruit, of the fize of a Crab-apple, with fmall kernels. The Phyficians make a decodt- ion of the wood and bark, cut into thin flices, for their patients ; and it is held to be an excellent re- medy for the French difeafe. It is faid alfo to cure the Dropfy, and many other diftempers. The China-root we received firft from China ; But this is alfo a Mexican plant, and is faid to have much the lame virtues as the former, and to give relief in the Gout and Sciatica. Sarfiparilla. The Sarfiparilla alfo is chiefly remarkable for its roots, which are very long and large. It is found in the province of Honduras. They fometimes make a fyrup of it ; but it is taken feveral ways, for the lame diftempers, as the China- root is taken. Mechcacan, The root Mechoacan, which takes its name from a province of Mexico, where it is found, is another excellent medicine in the Dropfy, Jaundice, and many other diftempers. X I c o. The roots which lerve the Indians chiefly for food, CHAP, are the Caflava, or Caflabi -root, Yams, and IX. Potatoes. The Caflava- root fomething refembles a Parlhip. Caffav*- There are two forts of them ; the one fweet and in- r00t ‘ nocent, the other poifonous : The fweet fort they roaft, and eat as they do Potatoes and other roots : Ol the poifonous fort they firft boil and prefs out all the juice, then dry and grind it to powder, and make bifeuit of it ; and this is the only bread or flour they have in moll parts of South America, and in feme provinces of North America. But the natives, for the mod part, in North America, make bread and flour of Maiz, or Indian-corn, as they did before the Spaniards came thither. As to Yams, Potatoes, Rhadifties, &c. they need no defcription : I (hall only obferve, that all manner of European roots and fruits grow much larger, and come to much greater perfection there than here ; and that the Spaniards have tranfported thither almoft every Ipecies of herbs and fallads. I come now to fpeak of their hufbandry. The Corn ami Spaniards have carried over Wheat and Barley, Peas kuftandiy. and Beans, and other European grain, which thrive very well in fome places ; but their principal grain is ftill (as it was before the conqueft) Maiz, or In- dian-corn, which is the food of Men, of Horfes, Mules and Oxen. This they plant in little hillocks, like thofe in our Hop-grounds, at the beginning of the rainy feafon, in May or June ; and reap in October, when the fair weather returns. They may, and fome of them do, plant this grain at other times, and it grows pretty well ; but the Spring is the general feed-time ; and their principal harveft falls in our Autumn. This Maiz, or Indian-corn, we fee frequently brought to England : The ftem is as big as a fmall cane, and ufually bears two or three heads or ears, in each of which are feveral hundred grains, fet as clofe as poffiblc ; being of a yellow colour, and tail- ing much like ourdry’d Peas, pretty ftrong ; and the bread or cakes made of the flour is harfh and unpa- latable, if it is not eat the fame day it is made. This grain they alfo fteep in water, and make ftrong drink of it, as has been obferved already. They fow Eu- ropean Wheat, Barley, Peas and Beans almoft at any time, only contriving that the harveft may be in the fair feafon. The Spaniards of Mexico, lefides their arable, Crazing, have large grazing-farms, in which one Grazier fhall have feveral hundred head of Black cattle, and a great many fhoufand Sheep. During the rainy feafon, which lafts near half the year, and for fome months after, they never want good pafture. When the meadows and low grounds are overflow’d, their hills produce plenty of graft. They are moft put to it for fodder in February, March and April, when their grounds are burnt up ; and there is very little grafs to be met with, except on the banks of their 200 THE PRESENT STATE CHAP. IX. Plantations of the In- dians. Rice. Sugar-farms plantations of Tobacco, Indico, &c. Logwood, Cochineel plantations, Silvefter, Otta, Cotton, Salt, Fiiheries. Mexican ■flowers. their lakes and rivers, and in the woods ; then they have little elfe to feed them with, but Bariev and Indian-corn, ftraw, and the blades that fhoot trom the Indian-corn, which is not much better than ftraw ; for they make no hay in any hot countries. As to the Indians, who have hitherto preferved their liberties, and are not yet under the tyranny of the Spaniards, they have only fmall plantations a- mong the woods, at a diftance from the Spanifh towns ; where they plant a little Maiz, Yams and Potatoes, with fome few Plaintains, and other fruits. The men cut down the timber, and clear the ground at firft ; but both the planting and ga- thering in the grain and fruits are left entirely to the women, as well as the bufinefs within doors: And as the unconquer’d Indians fubfift chiefly by hunting and filhing, many of them, ’tis laid, plant little or nothing, but rob the Spanifh plantations, of which they look upon themfelves the true proprietors, and furnifh themfelves that way with Corn, Cocao, and other provifions. The Spaniards, befide their Maiz, Wheat, and other European grain, fow fome Rice ; for which this country (being flooded every year) is extremely proper, that grain growing in water : They plant Rice therefore foon after the rainy feafon begins, and it is fit to be moved by that time the fair wea- ther returns. They have alfo large farms or plan- tations of Sugar, T obacco, and Indico ; but of the cultivation and hufbandry of thefe I fhall enlarge in the defcription of the Britifti plantations, where they are brought to as great perfection as any- where. They are pretty much employ’d alfo in cutting Logwood in their Cochineel plantations, and look- ing after the Silvefter, Otta, and other dying plants •and herbs ; in cultivating and drefling their Cotton ; in the making of Salt, and in their fifheries, which are very confiderable on their fea-coafts, and in their numerous lakes and rivers. As to flowers, Acosta obferves, that the In- dians are extremely fond of them, and have great variety, which they make up into nofegays, and prefent to their fuperiors, when they have any fa- vour to afk, or would teftify their efteem and af- fection for them : That their Great men are feldom feen without a nofegay in their hands ; and they al- ways prefent them to their guefts at entertainments, expreiling a great deal of art in the matching and difpofing of the flowers : That they now ufe Spa- nifh flowers, as well as thofe of the country; and that European flowers come to great perfection there ; namely, Rofes, Jafmine, Violets, Gilliflowers, and feveral others that have been tranfported from Spain. As to the names of the Indian flowers, Acosta does not mention them ; only fays, they have blue, red, violet, yellow and white, and a tbouland different colours ; which the Indians ufed to wear on their heads, as they did feathers, for or- nament : But he acknowledges, their flowers do CHAP, not fmell very fweet, unlefs they be the bloffoms or IX. flowers that grow upon trees ; one of which he calls the Floripondro, which bears no fruit, but the flow- ers are larger than a Lilly, and ramain upon the tree all the year round ; the fcent whereof is ^exceeding fweet and agreeable, morning and even- ing. Another tree bears a flower of thefhape of a heart, whofe fcent is too ftrong and fweet to be borne with pleafure: And the tree Granadilla, the fuper- ftitious imagine, has the portraiture of the inftru- ments of our Saviour’s paflion ; as the nails, the pillar to which he was faften’d, the fcourge and crown of thorns, and the five wounds : But Acosta acknowledges, it requires a very lively imagination, and a great deal of faith, to difeover thefe things. But how beautiful foever the Indian flowers may Flowers be to the eye, every one, who has refided in hot Jl™' countries, muft know they have little or or no ^ hot toun- feent (except thofe on their trees.) The fun appears tries, to be a great enemy to fragrant flowers, where it fhines with an intenfe heat. We may obferve, even in this cool climate, that no flowers fmell fo fweetly in the heat of the day, as they do morning and e- vening. Therefore thofe who recommend Mexico for its odoriferous herbs and flowers, are certainly under a miftake ; tho’ it is true, they abound in fweet woods and aromatic gums, which make fome amends for this defe£h And thus having gone through their vegetables, as far as is conhftent with a workof this general nature, I proceed to enquire into their minerals. C H A P. X. Of the Mexican minerals ; their coin ; their precious Jlones and pearls ; and of their weights and mea- fures. T was an infatiable thirft after thefe rich trea- CHAP, fores, that chiefly incited the Spaniards to vifit y the Mexican ftiores, and plant colonies in that new world. A zeal for the propagation of Chriftianity, Minerals, which they pretended, was certainly a very lauda- ble motive for their paffing the Atlantick ocean ; but had there been no Gold, Silver, or Precious ftones to be found there, poflibly the Adventurers had not been very numerous. The Gold and Silver mines of Mexico are in the rocky, mountainous, and barren parts of the coun- try ; and, indeed, neither thefe or any other me- tals are found in a fruitful foil. Gold is found here either in grains, in duft, in the Gold nvnes. fands of rivers, or in ftone in the mines. The grains are fmall pieces of Gold, like the feeds or kernels of fruit, which are found without the mix- ture of any other metal, and have no need of mel- ting or refining : And Acost a affures us, he has feen thefe fo large as to weigh many pounds ; and fometirnes OF MEXICO, CHAP. fometimes they find pieces very fine and pure, like X. fmall round roots. But much the greateft quantity of gold is found in duft in the fands of rivers and torrents, after the rains have fallen ; and it is the bufinefs of many thoufand Indians and Negroes to take up and wa(h fuch fands, in bowls and balons, ’till they have feparated the gold from thefand. As to the gold which is found in the mines, it is inter- mix’d, and in a manner incorporated, with great hard ftones ; fome of which, the fame writer re- lates, he has feen, that were half gold and half ftone : That it runs in veins like fdver, and is ex- ceeding hard to dig and feparate : That this gold is ufuaily mix’d with filver or copper ; and that which is incorporated with copper is the beft. The gold feems to lie much nearer the furface than filver, it being found in large pieces at the roots of trees on the mountains, and wafh’d into the rivers by the rainsr and, as far as I can learn, if they do not find it pretty near the furface in the mines, they never dig fo deep for it as they do for filver. Ano- ther obfervation they make is, that gold is ufuaily found in very hot countries, and feldom in a cold climate ; from whence lbme imagine, the fun has a great (hare in producing it. The pureft gold in Mexico is found in the province of Veragua. The reafon that gold is more efteem’d than any other metal, Acosta obferves, is, becaufe it is the molt durable and incorruptible ; for fire, which confomes and diminifhes other metals, amends this, and brings it to perfection. Gold keeps its colour alfo, tho’ it have often pafs’d through the fire ; and, notwithftanding the body is fo firm and folid, yet is it the mod foft and malleable, and the molt eafily wrought, of any other metal. But I take it, that the chief reafon gold is more valued than other metals is, the fcarcity of it, and the difficulty of coming at it; for iron, no doubt, is much more ufeful and ferviceable than gold ; and, were it as fcarce, would be much more valued, all manner of tools, arms, and inftruments of hufbandry, being made of this metal, and no other fo proper for thefe ufes. Silver mines. Acosta begins his description of Silver with the following paftage out of the book of Job, viz. “ Silver hath certain beginnings and roots in its “ veins ; and gold hath a fettled place where it en- “ genders and thickens; iron, with digging, is “ drawn out of the earth ; and ftone, molten with “ heat, is turn’d into copper.” Thus, fays that writer, Job wifely fhews, in few words, the na- ture of filver, gold, iron, and copper : But, me- thinks, very little of the nature of thefe metals is to be learnt from this pafliige. Thus much, how- ever, may be obferved from hence. That the anti- ents, in thofe very early ages, ufed to work fuch mines, and underftood how to feparate and purify fiich metals. Vol III. 201 The feme writer proceeds to obferve, that the CHAP, reafon the fecond place among thefe metals is given X. to filver, is that it approaches nearer gold than any W’y'W other ; is more durable, lets endamaged by fire, and more malleable; and even furpafles gold in its brightnds, beauty, and found : For the colour* fays he, more refembles light, and the found is more lively, than the other. But I muft ol crve, as on the laft head, that the principal reafon 1 Jver has the fe- cond place in our efteem is, that it is more difficult to come at than any metal but gold; for iron is certainly much more ufeful than filver. But Acoe- T A very juftly obferves farther, that there has been more filver found in America than in all parts of the world befides ; tho’ China and Guinea feem to have a greater plenty of gold. T he filver mines, as has been hinted already, are ufuaily found in barren rocks and mountains ; tho' they are fometimes met with in plain and champain fields. There are two feveral forts of them; the one ftraggling here and there in (pots, the other more continuous and fix’d. It is the fix’d mine that has the greateft depth and length ; and thefe are feid to refemble the branches and ramifications of trees and plants ; and where they find one, they ufuaily meet with a great many in the fame place. The Indians, it feems, knew how to purify filver by fire, and to feparate it from lead and other me- tals, before the Spaniards came amongft them ; but they knew nothing of the art of refining it by quick- filver, which the Spaniards ufe at this day. There are fome forts of filver-oar, which cannot be puri- fied and refined by fire alone without quickfilver; This kind of oar they call poor, from its yielding but little filver, and great quantity of bafer metals. The veins where they find filver run between two rocks ; the one commonly hard as flint, and the other fofter and eafy to break. The oar is very unequal ; for in the feme vein they find that which is very rich, and that which is very poor : The richeft oar is of an amber colour, and the fecond fort that which inclines to black ; a third is red, and a fourth of an afh-colour ; and fome of the oar is fcarce to be diftinguifti’d from common ftone, unlefs by thofe who are well (kill’d in minerals. It is ufual to draw from one quintal (or five hundred weight) of oar, thirty, forty, and fifty pefo’s of filver, of the value of thirteen ryals (fix (hillings and fix-pence) : And Acosta relates, that he few fome from whence was extracted two hundred and fifty pefo’s out of every quintal ; but this is a very great rarity. The pooreft. oar yields from two to fix pefo’s the quintal, or very little more : This the Indians look’d upon as rubbifh before the Spaniards came, not being able to refine it by fire ; but this is found to be much eafier refined by quickfilver than the richeft oar ; ond they ufe quickfilver now both in Mexico and Peru, which is found to extract D d more 202 THE PRES CHAP, more Elver out of any oar than the fire will : But, X. as they have no mines of quickfilver in Mexico, as they have in Peru, the filver is refin’d at a much eafier expence in Peru than it is in the country I am defcribing. As the rich oar yields much filver, fo it con- fumes a great deal of quickfilver ; and that which yields but little filver, waftes but little quickfilver. fiver The manner of refining filver, according to Acosta, is thus: They firfl grind or beat the oar to powder, and then fift it through a fine fieve: After which, they put the powder into vefiels, and fet it over furnaces, putting to every fifty quintals of oar five quintals of fait, the fait feparating the earth and drofs from the filver, and making way for the quickfilver to operate more effectually : Then they ffrain the quickfilver through a piece of fine linnen into the oar, ftirring it about, fo that it may the better incorporate with the oar. Before they ufed furnaces, they mingled the oar with the quickfilver in great troughs, letting it remain fome days, and then mixed and ftirred it ’till they thought the quickfilver was well incorporated with the fil- ver, which was about twenty days; but when they found that fire incorporated them much fooner, they let their vefiels over furnaces, and, in five or fix days, the quickfilver is incorporated with the filver. When the mercury has done its part, and aftembled all the filver, leaving nothing behind, but is filled as a fpunge with water, and has fepa- xated the filver from the lead and copper, with which it was engender’d ; they put the oar into coppers and vefiels full of water, turning it about with wheels, and wafhing of it : Whereupon the earth and drofs goes off with the water that runs away, and the filver and quickfilver, being more ponderous, remains at bottom. Then they take it out, and wafh it again in other tubs and vefiels, until they have well cleanfed the filver and quick- filver from all the drofs : After which, they ftrain it through cloths, and make it into the form of fugar- loaves, of about an hundred pound weight each ; on which they put earthen vefiels or caps of the fame fhape ; and, fetting thefe over a violent fire, the quickfilver exhales in fmoak, which, finking againft rhe earthen cap, thickens and difiils like the fmoak of a pot cover’d ; and by a pipe, like that of a limbeck, they receive the quickfilver, which difiils from it, the filver remaining with- out changing its form ; but its weight is di- minifh’d five parts in fix, and is light and porous like a fpunge. 7 hus the quickfilver is feparated from the iilver ; and of two of thefe loaves they make one bar of filver, of fixty-five or fixty-fix marks weight, eight ounces in every mark, and then carry 'them to be touch’d and mark’d. Gem ell i Careri relates, that when he was at Mexico, in the year 1698, he went to fee the filver mines of Pachuca; one of which., call’d San- E N T STATE taCruz, was 224 englifh yards deep; and the o- CHAP, ther, call’d Navarro, was 195 yards deep: That X. out of the firfi, the oar was drawn up by wheels, which were kept in perpetual motion by four mules, and as one bucket came up another went down ; and that they drein’d the mine of water the fame way : 1 hat out of the mine, call’d Navarro, the Indians brought up the oar on their backs with imminent danger, climbing up many ladders, or rather upright ports with notches in them: for which they were paid four ryals (two {hillings) a day, and at night were allowed to carry up as much oar as they could at once, and {hare it with the owner of the mine. The fame writer relates, that he went to fee the mines on a neighbouring mountain, where he found a little city of thatch'd houfes, not lefs than twelve thoufand Indians getting a livelihood by digging in thofe mines ; adding, that there are, within fix leagues of that mountain, no lefs than a thoufand mines ; and that out of one of thofe, called the Trinity, nine hundred or a thoufand men were employ’d every day, and, within the fpace of ten years, had drawn forty millions of filver (I prefume he means pieces of eight or crowns) : And that it had cofi them two millions to prop up thofe mines with timber, and throw out the water ; and it was then become fo dangerous, that there was no working of it : And, indeed, nothing isfo common with the Spaniards of Mexico and Peru, as to dig mountains perfectly hollow, in fearch of filver, and leave nothing but a cruft of earth and rocks, which it requires no fmall {kill and labour to fupport, ’till they have exhaufted the treafure. But tho’ the Trinity-mine was become impracti- cable, our author fays they funk another near it, no lefs rich ; into which he had the curiofity to go and fee the veins of filver; and, having gone down five ladders or ftages, he was aftonifh’d to fee how likely the mine was to tumble in, and would have gone up again, but the Miner, his guide, who carried a light in his hand, perfuaded him to go down the reft; which he did, in great fear, becaufe he found it difficult fometimes to clafp the port in his arms, in which the fteps were cut, and fix his feet in the notches : But having, at length, gone down three times as far as the Miner told him it was, he came at laft to the place where the workmen, with iron v/edges, w’ere fplitting the hard oar, and made it fly about ; but they inform’d him, thatitwasfofterinfomeplaces,andof various colours. When he was at the bottom of the mine, he began to reflect: on the danger he run, not only of falling, but of the peftilential damps that frequent- ly arife in thefe difmal caverns: After he had ftaid there about two hours, therefore, he went up a- gain in the utmoft terror, the afeent being exceed- ing difficult : and, when he got up into the open air again, he feem’d newly born into the world,- and condemn’d the rafhnefsof the attempt, wherein foe CHAP. X. Any one may open a mine. Four milli- ons rterling produced an- nually. Silver coin. V Gold coin. Officers of the mint at Mexico. OF MEXICO. 20 } he thought he ran more hazards than he had done in travelling round the globe. From this mine Gemelli went to fee the oar feparated at the filver-works in Pachuca ; where he obferved the workmen, when the oar was brought to them, firfl: broke it in pieces with hammers, to feparate the metal from the tepate, or Hone, that had no filver in it : After which, they fent the good oar to the mills to be reduced to powder, where they beat it as gun-powder is beaten in our mills. He afterwards proceeds to {hew how it is refined ; but, having taken this from Acosta, I omit that part of his relation, and obferve, that quickfilver being fcarce at Mexico, the owners of the mines have much lels profit than in Peru : Whereupon the King, inftead of a fifth he receives there, takes but a tenth part of the filver here. Any perfon, who difcovers a mine of gold or filver in Mexico, may work it, paying the King’s tenth of the produfl ; and the King’s officers af- fign the difcoverer fixty yards round about the place hechoofes to dig ; beyond which {pace another may open a mine, leaving five yards between them for a partition : And, as they link under ground, one may work into another’s diviiion, ’till he meets with his workmen ; but then he muft defift, and retire into his own part. All the filver dug in the mines of Mexico, or New Spain, is brought to the King’s exchequer in the capital city, and enter’d chere ; except what is run and concealed, which amounts to a great deal: And it is related, that there are two millions of marks, of eight ounces each, enter’d in one year ; out of which they coin annually, in that mint, feven hundred thoufand marks into pieces of eight. There are five forts ot money coin’d in the mint of Mexico, viz. pieces of eight (of the value of four {hillings and fix-pence each) half pieces of eight, quarter pieces, fingle ryais (about the value of fix-pence englifn) and half ryais. There being fome gold frequently mixed with the filver, they are feparated in this manner ; viz. The metal being run and converted into little balls, thefe are put into vefiels, with aqua-fortis, to dif- fblve, and the gold remains at the bottom of the vefiel like black powder : Then the aqua-fortis, containing the filver, is put into two glafles, their mouths fix’d together, and, fire being put to them, the filver remains in one of the glaftes. The gold is afterwards run in a furnace, and caft firfl Into round pieces, and then into bars; as is alfo the fil- ver feparated from it : And the gold is coined into pieces of fixteen, eight, four, or two pieces of eight, which are call’d crowns of gold. All the chief Officers of the mint at Mexico, fuch as the Treafurer, the Allayer, Cutter, Clerk, "Weigher, two Guards, and two Alcaids, are ap- pointed by the King; and all the inferior Officers by the Treafurer. The principal Officers purchafe their places, and have the privilege of making them CHAP* over, or aligning them to whom they pieafe ; but X, then the Officer that refigns muft live twenty days after his refignation, to make it valid ; and he, to whom the refignation is made, muft acquaint the Viceroy with it within fixty days, and pay a third part of the value of his place to the King, and the other to his predecefihr or his heirs. The Treafurer’s place is worth between fifty and Their fa In- fix ty thoufand pieces of eight (four {hillings and nes ‘ fix-pence each) per annum ; thofe of Aflayer and Founder, fettled for ever on the monaftery and hermitage of the Barefooted Carmelites of Mexi- co, fifteen or fixteen thoufand pieces of eight per annum. The reft of the chief Officers have three thoufand five hundred, and none of them lefs than eight hundred, pieces of eight per an- num. The Matters of the eight furnaces and twenty Coiners have each of them eight hundred or a thoufand pieces of eight per annum, and the meaneft fervant earns a piece of eight a day, a great number of which being the Treafurer’s {laves, he has the profit of their places. As to the Indians, they had no coin of any fort No coin when the Spaniards came amongft them ; gold and mo ! 1 s the filver ferved them only for ornament: Their traf- Induns ’ fick confifted in bartering and exchanging one thing for another ; only the Cacao-nuts ferved them to purchase herbs and flowers, and things of fmall va- lue ; as they do ftill in the markets of Mexico, nei- ther the Spaniards or Indians having any copper- coin. As to weights, the Indians had none ; but they had both dry and liquid meafures, made either of Calabafhes, Bamboe-canes, or wood, by which they dillinguifh’d quantity: And they had their numbers and characters, by which they adjufted the value of goods and the taxes impofed on them. As to Tones for building, there are in Mexico Stonts f<* quarries of Jafper, Porphyry, and all kinds of ex- buildings cellent Marble ; for of fuch ftones, the Spanifta hi- ftorians relate, the palaces and temples of Mexico were built before the conqueft. They mention alfo a great many precious ftones Precious and jewels in the ornaments of Montezuma; ftones and but have not fpecified what they were, unlefs Erne- j ewelSl raids and Pearls, and of thefe the world is furnilh’d with great quantities from Mexico. The Emerald is a green ftone, and, according, Emeralds, to Acosta, grows in a ftone like Cryftal ; and he fays, they feem by little and little to harden and refine : Some he had feen that were half white and half green ; others all white, and fome perfectly green, which were mod efteemed: Me had feen fome of them as big as a nut ; and there were o- thers larger : But as to the Emeralds, mentioned by the antients in the temples of Jupiter and Her- cules, feveral cubits long, of which pillars were form’d, he fays, there might be green ftones called D d z Emeralds } 204 T H E P R E S CHAP. Emeralds ; but they were certainly falfe Emeralds, X. and not comparable to the true. With their jewels and precious ftones I may very Pearls. well ran g e their Pearls ; of which there are great quantities found on the coafts of Mexico, as well as in the feas of South America. Multitudes of Ind ians and other Haves have been deftroy’d by the Spaniards in this part of the world, in fifhing up the Oyfters that contain them. Thefe Haves, Acosta relates, were forced to dive into fix, nine, and even twelve fathoms water, in fearch of thefe Oyfters, which are faften’d to rocks and gravel in the fea ; and that they Continue above a quarter of an hour under water, as he himfelf had feen, being dieted in fuch a man- ner as might beft enable them to hold their breath. The fame writer obferves, that Pearls differ much in their fize, figure, colour, and luftre ; and that it is very rare to find two of the fame fize, form and colour ; and, when they do find two alike in all refpefls, it much increases the value of both, efpe- cially for ear-rings : He had feen feveral pair valued at a thouland ducats each ; which, however, fell fhort of Cleopatra’s two Pearls, oneof which was valued at an hundred thoufand ducats ; and yet that Queen had the vanity, it feems, to beat oneof them to powder, and fwallow it at a draught, at a fupper fhe made for Mark Anthony: And the other, ’tis laid, was cut in two, and hung in the ears of the image of Venus in the Pantheon at Rome. But, as they are more plentiful now, efpe- cially fince the difcovery of America, there are none of near that value at prefent ; tho’ they are not in- ferior to thofe the antients mention, in any refpeef but the price. CHAP. XI. Of the traffick of Alexico ; their carriages , inns and way of travelling. CHAP. * 5 A H E people of Mexico, and the reft of the Spa- XI. JL nifn Weft-Indies, are prohibited trading with any but the fubjedls of Spain ; nor are foreigners wktffo^eJon- ^^Al to vifit their coafts, unlefs the Affientifts, ers prohibf- who furnifti them with Haves, and that under fe- t6d, veral reftri&ions, as will be related hereafter. Notwithftanding which, the traffick of Mexico is one of the richeft and moll extenfive in the world ; for they trade with the Philippine iflands near the coaft of China, through the South-fea, or Pacific- ocean ; with Peru and Chili, through the fame fea ; and with Old Spain and the Spanilh iflands, through the North-fea and Atlantic-ocean. They carry on alio a trade with our Affientifts, or South-fea company, under certain limitations : All which trades are held lawful. There is allb a very confiderable fmuggling or clandeftine trade, carried on between the Mexicans and Indians on the one fide, and the Englilh, French and Dutch on die ENT STATE other ; which five branches of their trade I lhall en- C H A P„ deavour to give fome light into. XI. I lhall firft treat of their traffick with the Philip- '-/“Wl pine iflands, which are under the dominion of Spain, ^'^trade and lie between the loth and the 20th degrees of Philippine north latitude, a little to the louth-eaft of the pro- n^r China, vince of Canton in China, lying 140 degrees of longitude from Mexico ; which, reckoning fixty miles to a degree, makes it eight thoufand four hun- dred miles from Mexico to Manila, the capital of the Philippine iflands ; and thefe the Spaniards (ail in ten weeks, or three months, in going from Mexico Fine failin S to Manila, having a conftant trade-wind from the tblther - north-eaft, and ferene weather in 1 o or 1 2 degrees of north latitude, which they get into as foon as they can ; and have fcarce any occafion to alter their fails ’till they arrive at the Ladrone iflands, about four hundred leagues Ihort of the Philippines, where they touch, and take in water and frefh provifions : And in this latitude the South-fea may well be ftiled Pa- cific ; for they fcarce ever meet with any ftorms or bad weather all the way : But it is not fo in their return from Manila, in the Philippine iflands, to the port of Acapulco in Mexico : This is a voyage of incredible hazards and hardfhips, which no gain or advantages would induce a wife man to undertake twice ; for, when they leave the Philippines, they are forced to abandon the pacific part of this ocean, and ftand away to the north, ’till they come into 3 5, or perhaps 40 degrees, before they can meet with wefterly, or even variable winds : And here they A tedious are tofs’d with frequent ftorms, and their patience ? or ™ y P a< - try’d by unconftant weather. Dampier obferves, Philippines * that this fea is very far from deferving the name of t0 Mexico, the Pacific-ocean, after we have pafs’d the latitude of 30 ; and Gemelli Careri allures us, it is the moft tempeftuous of all feas. And yet this wide and tempeftuous ocean muft have been pafs’d by the Chinefe and the Afiatics, if we fuppofe they fent fleets and colonies from thence to people Mexico, as fome have fondly imagined. If the Europeans, Which it now the art of Ihip-building and navigation is lb much improved, and they have the compafs to guide before thT them, are fix orfeven months paffing from Afia to compafs wa» America, and that with infinite labour and hazard ; kn0Wl) » can any one, that has ever feen the China junks and Afiatic (hipping, and knows what poor feamen they are even at this day, fuppofe that ever any fleets were fent from thence to America, in the early ages, fufficient to people that part of the world ? Let anyone but read Gemelli’s defeription of his voyage on board the Spanifh galeon from Manila, in the Philippine iflands, to Acapulco in Mexico, and he will need no arguments to convince him, that America was never peopled by the Chinefe, or any Afiatic nation, by fea : Some particulars whereof I fhall take the liberty to recite. This voyage, fays Gemelli, from the Phi- Gemelli’s lippine iflands to America, may be looked upon as f co f 3 o1 , ;> CHAP. XL. The fouth monfoon fets t) e-n to the noithward. The hard- ships they Suffer’d in this voyage. OF MEXICO. 20 the longed and mod dreadful of any in the world ; as well becaufe of the vad ocean to be crofs’d, be- ing a third (almod half, according to my author) of the terraqueous globs, with the wind always a- head ; as for the terrible tempsds that happen there one upon the back of another ; and for the defpe- rate difeafes that feize people, who are fometimes fo exceeding cold, and then fo exceffive hot, that it is enough to dedroy a man made of deel, much more fiefh and blood, where they have fuch indifferent food as fea-faring people feed on in long voyages. For this tedious voyage, Gem el lx allures us, they were forced to lay in a thoufand jars of water : And, at their fird fetting out, which was the latter end of June, the winds were fo contrary, that they fcarce (ailed three leagues in dve days ; and the hea- vy rains that fell at the fame time, with the excellive heat of the climate, made the beginning of the voy- age very uncomfortable. Before they got clear of the Philippines, he fays, fearch was made to difco- ver whether any of the feamen or padengers had filled their jars with merchandize indead of water ; and feveral being found filled with pepper, China ware, and other goods, they were thrown into the fea ; and the Captain took in two hundred jars of water more ; under fuch apprehenfions they were of being didrefs’d for water in this tedious voyage, where there is no land in the way to touch at. The Spaniards, in failing from the Philippine ifiands to America, always take advantage of the foutherly monfoon, which fets in in May or June, on the coad of China, and blows ’till September or Oflobei ; this carrying them as high as the latitude of 3 o north, where they begin to meet with variable winds ; it being very difficult for them to fail eail, as the trade-wind is always in their teeth under the latitude of 30. Gem el li relates, that when they had failed into this latitude, the weather became very tem- peduous and cold ; and that feveral galeons have been cad away in that vad ocean, between the 30th and 40th degrees of north latitude : That, in this voyage he made from Manila to Mexico, the wind was oftner contrary than fair, and they were very feldom free from dorms ; befides which, they were forced to endure hunger, third, cold, ficknels, and continual watchings : That they werealmodeat up with the fcurvy ; their bifcuit was full of little in- feeds, and their allowance of water was fcarce a pint in a day’s time : That, at length, all their provi- fions grew naught, except their chocolate and iweet- meats ; whereupon many of the feamen, that wan- ted thefe, fell lick, and the red differ’d fuch hard- fhips, that they vow’d never to undertake the voy- age again : And yet the feamen, when they arrived at the port of Acapulco in Mexico, for the fake of getting three hundred feventy-dve pieces of eight {four (hillings and fix-pence englidx each) which the King allows them for returning to Manila, fee m’d to flight their pad: fufferings, and went to CHAP* the Philippines again, in the very fame (hip. He XI. adds, that it was the latter end of January before they arrived at their defired port of Acapulco in months Mexico, being about feven months after they fet without fight fail from Manila. land * Thus much I thought was neceffary to obferve from Gemelli, who made this voyage in the year 1697, to fliew the length and difficulty of the paffage from Ada to America at this day : From whence we may infer, how impracticable, and even impoffible, it was for the Chinefe, or any other Afi- atic nation, to fend colonies to America by fea ; when navigation was in its infancy, and the ufe of the compafs was not known. Nor do the difficul- The paflige ties of their palling to America by land, appear to by land from me much lefs than thofe of their going thither by merVa^im- fea : For, in the fird place, there has been no land prafticable. yet difeover’d between Japan and California, which are at lead 80 degrees afunder ; and, if there be any land within that fpace, it lies probably fo far north, that it is neither habitable or paffable, or we diould have beard of the inhabitants by this time. Befides, if it might be pafs’d at one time, it would have been fo at another ; and feme people would have return’d from America to Ada, by the fame way, in fo long a tract of time as it is fuppofed that part of the world has been peopled. But, farther, I believe it will' be admitted, by all that are converfant in hidory, that the extremities of the north and fouth were peopled after that part of the world that lies in the more temperate cli- mates ; and that thofe countries which lie neared the Poles are, at this day, and have ever been, more thinly inhabited than the temperate part of the earth. As to the Scythians of old, or the Goths and Van- dals of later days, thefe none of them dwelt fo far to the north as the natives of Lapland, Samoieda, and their brethren of the north-ead Tartary (which fo me men will have contiguous to America) do. And, if America was planted by colonies that went by land from the north-wed or north-ead part of our continent, it mud be by a people that dwelt as far to the northward as Lapland extends : Againd: which I have dill more objections than were men- tion’d in the introduction ; and, fird, if America had been planted by people from the extremity of the north, this mud have happen’d fo lately, and by fuch frnall colonies, that thofe countries could never have been fo populous as the Spaniards found them. Every one knows, that Lapland, and all countries in thofe cold latitudes, are extremely thin of people : For one man they have there, we have an hundred at lead here. Flow then can it be fuppofed, that they diould plant one half of the globe ? A farther reafon againd the Laplanders, or any people dwelling fo far north, planting America, is, that they were, and mud be all cloathed ; even their very faces and hands, m the winter-feafon, mud be cloathed. 2o6 C H A P. XI. The trade managed by two great fhips. The courle they fteer. The eargo of tlicfe /hips. T H E PRES E’N T STATE cloathed, or their nofes and fingers would perifh : For which reafon the Laplanders are actually wrap- ped up in Furs from head to foot ; whereas moft of the Americans went naked almoft when the Spa- niards arrived there ; and, I believe, there is fcarce any inftance of a nation, that had once worn cloaths, leaving them quite off again. If they had not oc- cafion for warm furs to cover them all over, when they defcended to warmer regions ; yet it is not to be fuppofed they would have left oft' every rag of cloaths, and appeared without any, as many of the Indians did when the Spaniards arrived there. Thirdly, Thofe northern people are the leaf! polifh’d, and have the meaneft capacities, of any thing in human fhape (the Hottentots not excepted) ; whereas the Americans were famous for their ex- cellent parts and genius, and feveral pretty manu- factures, as thofe of feathers, painting, &c. but, above all, for carving and architecture, which they perform’d to admiration, without the help of iron tools ; far excelling any thing that was ever feen among the Laplanders ; which makes it highly im- probable they fhould derive their origin from them. And why fhould we endeavour to break through fo many difficulties at laft to people America from Afia, when there was fo eafy a way of doing it from Africa by fea, from whence the winds always fit fair for America, and the voyage is fo fhort, that, confider- ing the great fleets the Carthaginians had on thofe feas, it mud have been a miracle if feveral of their fhips had not been driven to America ? Thus much I thought proper to add to my former argument, T That America was peopled from Africa, and not u from Afia ; ” which the reader will excufe, when I had fo fair an opportunity of introducing it again, in fpeaking of the commerce of the Spaniards be- tween the Philippine iflands and Mexico. I pro- ceed, in the next place, to give a farther account of that traffick. It feems, the Spaniards employ but two fhips annually in this rich trade ; but then they are {hips of good force, and ufually eight hundred or a thou- fand tons burden. Thefe fhips, according to Dam- pier, do not go together in company, but make the voyage alternately : One of them fets out from Acapulco in Mexico the latter end of March, or the beginning of April, and arrives at Manila in the Philippine iflands fome time in June ; when the other is ready to fail from Manilo to Acapulco in Mexico. This laPc fhip, fays the fame writer, ftretches away to the north, as far as 3 6, and fome- times into 40 degrees of north latitude, before fhe gets a wind to America ; and fills in firft with the coaft of California, and then ccafts along the fhore to the fouth again, never miffing a wind to bring her away from thence to Acapulco, where fhe ufually arrives about Chrifhnas. The cargo of this fhip confifls of Diamonds, Ru- bies, Saphires, and other precious {tones, found in the Eaft-Indies; of Cinnamon, Cloves, Mace, C FI A P. Nutmegs, and Pepper ; of the rich Carpets of XI. Perfia ; the Camphire of Borneo ; the Benjamin and Ivory of Pegu and Cambadia ; the Silks, Muflins and Calicoes of Eaft-India ; the Gold-duft, Tea, China-ware, Silk, Cabinets, &c. of China and Japan. All which amount to a prodigious value ; this one fhip having more riches in it than fome whole fleets. 1 'he Merchants, Gemelli relates, get an hun- The gains of dred and fifty or two hundred per cent, by this the Mer * voyage. It was computed, the Pilot of the fhip he chants " failed in would make twenty thoufand pieces of eight ; his Mates nine thoufand each ; the Captain of the galeon forty thoufand ; the Boatfwain, who has the privilege of taking feveral bales of goods on board, gets an eftate in one voyage ; the wages of every Sailor, is three hundred and feventy pieces of eight ; and the King’s duties of this one fhip a- mounted to fourfcore thoufand pieces of eight. At the time this fhip arrives at Acapulco from Trade be- Manila, there comes in two or three fhips from twecnMexi- Lima in Peru, very little inferior to the former in co and Peru ‘ valuej^teing laden with Silver, Quick-filver, Cacao- nuts, and other rich merchandize of South America ; with which they purchafe the merchandize of Europe and the Eaft-Indies : For, in the months of Janu- ary and February, a. great fair is held at Acapulco ; and a vaft concourfeof Merchants come from Mexi- co to vend the goods of Europe, and buy thofe of China, the Eaft-Indies, and Peru. There are fuch crowds of people at Acapulco at this time, that all proviiions are exceffive dear, and a Negroe Porter will earn fourteen of fifteen fnillings a day. The galeon from Manila, having fold all her Silver car- eftedfs, takes in a new cargo, chiefly of Silver, and from returns in April, arriving at Manila again in the ^“phbbp- 0 month of June, where fhe finds the other galeon, pines and ready to fail to Acapulco. In the mean time, the china> fhips of Peru, having furnifh’d themfelves with the merchandize of China, the Eaft-Indies, and Europe, return to Lima. There is very little traffick carried on by fea on Littlecoaft- the coaft of Mexico ; all goods are carried from in g trade ia Acapulco to the city of Mexico by mules and pack- MexlCQ " horfes ; and from thence to Vera Cruz on the North-fea, in like manner, in order to be fhipped for Europe ; which brings me to {peak of the trade between Old Spain and Mexico, or New Spain. Thirty or forty fhips carry on all the trade be- The trade tween Old Spain and the Spanilh dominions in bct * een Old America ; and thefe are alinoft all of them their Mexko!' d own veftels, no trade being fuffer’d to be carried on in foreign bottoms, except that of the Affientifts, already mentioned. _ The veftels ufed by the Spa- Cargoes of niards, in tranfporting merchandize from Old Spain thegaleor.s. to America, are generally large and of good force, and called galeons : They fail in fleets annually from Cadiz, laden with the goods of almoft every country OF MEXICO. CHAP XI. Belongs to ftrangers. TbeOovern ment con- nive at it. The courfe of the ga- leons to An.euca. country on this fide the Atlantic ; the woollen Cloth and Stuffs of England, the Linnen and Lace of Hol- t land and Flanders, the Silks of Italy and France, the Muflins, Silks and Calicoes of the Faff-Indies, with the Merchandize of China, Turkey and Perfia, make up their cargoes, which belong indeed to almoft as many different nations : At leaf! the Englifh, Dutch, Italians, and French, are proprietors of great part of their cargo, and the Spaniards in a great meafure their Factors ; for when the galeons return from America, with the treafure for which thefe effedfs have been fold, it is moff of it diffributed a- mongft the Merchants and Fadhors of the four na- ' tions laft mention’d. But fo true are the Spaniards to their truth, ’tis faid, that thofe in whofe names the effedfs are fent over, and the returns made, fcarce ever abufe the confidence that is placed in them, or betray their principals : For the reader will pleafe to remember, that, by the laws of Spain, no ftranger can, diredfly or indiredlly, trade to the Spanifh Weft-Indies, but he forfeits his goods. However, it cannot be fuppofed but the Govern- ment of Spain is very well apprized that this trade is in a manner carried on by foreigners, and, for very good reafons, connive at it : They know their own people are not able to freight thefe fleets ; and, if they were not enabled to do it by foreigners, their American dominions muft want all manner of ne- ceffaries almoft for cloathing and furniture. Befides, there is doubt, but the Spanifh Merchants, Fadfors and Seafaring people have greater advantages from thefe effedfs pafling through their hands, as well as by exporting them ; and the revenues of the Crown muft be vaftly increafed by the importation and ex- portation of them, which alone is a fufficient rea- fon for their conniving at this traffick, and encou- raging of it : Tho* it muft be confefs’d, it would be much more for the advantage of the kingdom of Spam, to encourage manufadfures at home, and traffick a little more with the produdt of their own country. But, fince they are not eafily to be brought to this, the next beft thing they can do is, to turn Fadfors and Carriers for their neighbours, and fup- ply their American colonies with the goods of foreigners. The greateft part of the galeons fail to Cartha- gena and Porto Bello, and are called the Flota ; the other part, called the Flotilla, or Little Fleet, fail to Vera Cruz in Mexico. The former fell their merchandize chieflyat the fairof Porto Bello, where they take on board the gold and filver, and other rich treafures, of Peru and Chili, in return for their merchandize. The latter fell their cargoes at the fair of Vera Cruz ; to which place is brought the gold and filver of Mexico, with the gold-dull, precious-ftones, and other treafures of China and the Eaft-Indies ; and with thefe the Flotilla is freighted, on its return to Europe. The Galeons, on their going out, fail to the fouth-v/eft, and get into the way of the trade-wind 207 CHAP. as loon as they can, which carries them into r 1 or 1 2 degrees of north attitude ; then, bending their courfe XI. directly weft, they leave the Caribbee Iflands on their right, or ftarboard-quarter, and continue their courle to the weftward, ’till they arrive atRio de la Hacha, where they come to an anchor, and exprelPes are immediately difpatched to Carthagena, Panama, Porto Bello, VeraCruz, dec. to prepare the King’s treafure for the galeons to take on board at their return. After which, the greateft part of the fleet fails to Carthagena and Porto Bello, and the reft to Vera Cruz ; the whole joining together ufually, in their return, at the Havanna, in the ifland of Cuba ; and, failing from thence to Spain in company, take From a very different courfe from that by which they came from Europe ; for in their return they fail north through the Gulph of Florida, and continu- ing their courfe to the north-eaft ’till they come into the latitude of 36 or 40, where they meet with va- riable winds : They then Ihape their courfe as near to the eaft as the winds will permit them, ’till they come upon the coaft of Spain ; and are ufually fix or eight weeks in their paftage. Thefe fleets, ’tis faid, have fometimes brought home near the value of fixty millions of pieces of eight (amounting to twelve or fifteen millions fterling) in gold and filver only ; of which the King has a fifth, and great s P a ‘ n J^s part of the remainder is diftributed among the Fac- tors of the feveral trading nations above-mention’d ; treafure! 2 the leaft fhare perhaps coming to the fubjedts of Spain. There is a trade carried on alfo between Mexico Trade be- and the Spanifh iflands of Cuba, Hifpaniola, and tween tfrc Porto Rico ; as alfo between Mexico and Terra- and^'fknds firma in South-America, by the Barlavento fleet, fo b y th e Bar * called from its furrounding the Barlavento, or Lee- iavent0 fleet ward iflands, annually. This fleet comes to Vera Cruz in Odlober or November, and remains there ’till March. It con- fifts of fix or feven fail of fhips, of good burden and force, that ferve both as men of war and mer- chant-men ; for they are order’d to vifit all the Spa- mfh foa-ports in theNorth-fca every year, as well to fupp'iyone place with what another wants, as to pre- vent foreigners trading in their ports, and to clear the fea of Buckaneers or Pirates. From Vera Cruz this fleet fails to the Havanna, where they difpofe of the merchandize they bring from Mexico : After which, they ftand to the northward, through the Gulph of f lorida, ’till they come into the latitude of 30 or 40 ; then they ftretch av/ay to the fouth-eaft, ’till they make the ifland of Porto Rico ; and, having difpatch’d their bufinefs there, they continue their courfe to the fouthward, ’till they arrive at the ifland of the Trinity, near the mouth of the river Oroo- noko, being the moll eafteriy fettlement the Spa- niards have in the North-foa : From thence the fleet fails to Margarita, another confiderable ifland near the main, coafting along toComana, and fo to Caracos 3 then they double Ca.pe la Vela, and coaft along ?o8 CHAP. XI. A clandeftine snd Smug- gling trade. The Spa- niards take our fair Tra^ ders as well as Smug- glers. Logwood trade. THE PRESENT STATE along by Rio de la Hacha, St. Martha, and Car- thagena ; on which coaft they frequently meet with Englifh and Dutch trading-floops, and make prize of them : And, having ftaid fome time at Cartha- gena, they proceed to Porto Bello ; and, having viiit- ed the Bay of Campeachy, they return at length to Vera Cruz again. And this is the annual naviga- tion of the Barlavento fleet about the coaft of the Spanifh Weft-Indies in the North-fea, as well on account of their trade, as to drive all foreigners from their coafts ; which, however, they are not able to effedl entirely. And this brings me to fay fomething of the fmuggling or clandeftine trade that is carried on between the Englifh, French and Dutch, and the Spanilh Weft-Indies. I have already taken notice, that the Spaniards do not fend more than thirty or forty fhips annually from Old Spain to their territories in America, with the produce and merchandize of Europe ; which is far from being fufficient to fupply their extenfive dominions in that new world. Indeed, moft part of the merchandize carried over in the galeons is fold at the fair of Porto Bello, and bought up at ex- travagant rates, to be tranfported again by the South- fea to Peru ; fo that many of the Spanilh provinces upon the North-fea would be deftitute of necefiary doathing and furniture, and even provifions for their tables, if they were not fupplied with them by foreigners. The Englifh therefore from New- England, New-York, Jamaica, &c. the French from Hifpaniola, and the Dutch from Curaflaw, fit out Hoops, with all manner of provifions and necef- faries, which they know are wanting on the coaft of Mexico, in order to trade with the Mexican Spaniards, who are no lefs ready to receive the goods of tbefe foreigners, than they are to fell them, giving pieces of eight for what they buy ; which makes this a very beneficial trade to the Englifh, French, and Dutch. But then, if the Barlavento fleet, or the Spanifh Guarda de Cofta’s, meet with fuch trading-floops and veftels, they never fail to make them all prize ; and fometimes feize on fhips that have never been concerned in this clandeftine trade, on fufpicion ; and, finding pieces of eight on board, have frequently procured them to be con- demned ; which has been the occafion of thole many complaints our Merchants have made of the Spanifn Guarda de Cofta’s, to the Parliament and Board of Trade ; and which it is high time was fettled, that our trade and navigation in the Weft- Indies may not he interrupted, and the fair Trader brought under fuch hardfhips as may difeourage him from carrying on a trade to our plantations, which is, of all others, the moft advantageous to Britain. There has been another trade or bufinefs carried on by the Englilh in North America, which has occafion’d many difputes between the two nations of Britain and Spain, and is not yet adjufted ; and that is, the bufinefs of Logwood-cutting in the Bay of Campeachy. This the Englifh had follow’d, in a part of the country deftitute of Spanifh or Indian CHAP, inhabitants, for a great many years ; and look’d upon it, that their long pofleflion had given them at leaf! as good a right to that part of the country, as the Spaniards had to any of the reft : And in fome treaties the Spaniards feem to have yielded this bufi- nefs to the Englifh. However, they have thought fit, of late years, to fall upon our Logwood-cutters, killed many of them, and carried the reft into per- petual imprifonment, not fuffering them to be ex- changed or ranfomed. And thus have we been driven violently and unjuftly from a very valuable branch of bufinels, under pretence that becaufe the Spaniards had forcibly fettled themfelves in one part of the continent, no other nation had any right to fettle in another part ot it : A rule, that we find the French are too wife and too brave to fubmit to. The Spaniards, indeed, the firft of all Europeans, difeover’d and fent colonies to America, and par- ticularly to Florida ; and yet we find the French make no fcruple of fettling in the heart of that country, and even in the neighbourhood of the Spanifh fettlements of New Mexico : Nay, after the Spaniards had been two hundred years in pofief- fion of the ifland of Hifpaniola, the French took the liberty of making very coiifiderable fettlements in it ; for this very good reafon, That the Spa- niards were not able to cultivate or people a tenth part of what they claimed in America ; and it was highly unreafonable, that countries of a vaft extent Ihould remain uninhabited and uncultivated, only becaufe the Spaniards were pleafed to fet up a title to them. And this fort of reafoning the Spaniards feem to allow of, by their negledfing to drive the French either from Florida or Hifpaniola. While, on the other hand, our tame Britons are fo extreme- ly condefcending, as to fufter the Spaniards to drive them from the Logwood trade in the Bay of Cam- peachy, which has been yielded to them by feveral treaties ; and would frighten us alto from extending our plantations in Carolina, Virginia, &c. farther to the weftward, tho’ we do it with the content of the natives, only becaufe they (the Spaniards) have the little Forts of St. Auguftin and St. Matthew a little to the fouthward of us. But, furely, if the French arc permitted to fettle TheBritift in Florida, much more ought the Englifh, who have fo long been in pefteffion of Virginia and t0 extend Carolina (parts of Florida) and made fuch confidera- their fettle- ble improvements there, with the approbation Q f 'fj' 118 in Fio " the natives who alone have a right of transferring their country to foreigners. And, I hope, neither French or Spanifn afturance will ever prevail on our Governors to difeourage the Britifh fubje£h extend- ing their trade or fettlements to the weftward, even through that part of Florida which the French have denominated Louifiana, and to the very banks of the famons river Miffiffippi ; fince we are at prefent at peace and in alliance with moft of the nations that lie between Virginia and Carolina and that river ; and OF MEXICO, C H A P. and actually traffick with them more than either the XL French or Spaniards yet do. J proceed now to another branch of trade ; name- oVthe^ng- that which the Englifh are entitled to carry on Mi by vir" with the Spanifh dominions in America, by virtue tue of ths D f t ' ne Affiento cotitradl made between the two na- The tide, tions in the year 1713, and entitled, “ The Assi- “ ento adjufted between their Britannick and “ Catholick Majefties, for the Englifh Company’s 45 obliging: itfelf to fupply the Spanifh Weft-Indies “ with Black flaves for the term of thirty years, to “ commence on the ift day of May, 1713, and “ to end the ift of May 1 743 Pieamble. The preamble of this contrail recites, That the French Guinea Company had formerly enjoy’d the benefit of the Affiento ; and that their term being expired, his Catholick Majefty had determined to grant the fame to the Englifh Company. Art. I. By the firft article, her Britifh Majef- ty undertakes, for the perfons whom {he fhould ap- point Affientifts, that they {hall export to the Spa- ni{h Weft-Indies, within the faid fpace of thirty years, one hundred forty-four thoufand Negroes, viz. four thoufand eight hundred Negroes in each of the faid thirty years. II. That for each Negroe, of the regular ftandard of feven quarters, neither old or defeilive, the Af- fientifts {hall pay to the Crown of Spain thirty- three pieces of eight (Efcudo’s) and one third of a piece of eight ; in which fum fhall be comprehend- ed all manner of duties. III. That the Affientifts fhall advance to his Catholick Majefty two hundred thoufand pieces of eight, which {hall not be reimburfed before the end of twenty years ; and then it may be dedudled, by equal portions, in the ten laft remaining years, after the rate of twenty thoufand pieces of eight yearly, out of the produce of the duty on Negroes, which they are to pay in thofe years. IV. The Affientifts {hall pay the faid duties half- yearly. V. It is declared, that the Affientifts fhall not be obliged to pay the faid duties for more than four thoufand Negroes yearly ; the duties payable for the remaining eight hundred being given to the Affientifts, in confideration of the intereft that ought to be paid them for the money to be advanced as aforefaid. V I. That the Affientifts, if they find a demand for more Negroes, may import a greater number than four thoufand eight hundred during the firft twenty-five years ; for which fupernumerary Ne- groes they {hall pay no more than fixteen pieces of eight, arid two thirds of a piece of eight for each Negroe. VII. That the Affientifts may employ either Britifh or Spanifh fhips in this commerce, provided that neither the Commanders or Seamen give any VOL. III. 209 offence or fcanda! to the Roman Catholick religion, C H A F on pain of being punifh’d, as they would have been XI. in Spain for the like mifdemeanors. VIII. That the Affientifts may import and vend the faid Negroes in all the ports of the North-fea, and that of Buenos Ayres, at their choice, provided they do not import or land any Negroe, except in ports where there are royal Officers to fearch the fhips and their cargoes, and certify the numbers of Ne- groes imported. And it is farther provided, that the Negroes which are carried to the windward coaft, viz. Sandta Martha, Cumana, and Mara- caybo, fhall not be fold by the Affientifts for more than three hundred pieces of eight each, to en- courage the inhabitants of thofe places to buy them. But as to the other ports of New Spain, its iflands and Terra-firma, the Affientifts are at liberty to fell their Negroes there for the beft prices they can get. IX. That the Affientifts fhall be at liberty to import into the river Plata, or Buenos Ayres, in four fhips, twelve hundred of the faid Negroes an- nually, and to fell them at fuch prices there as they can get ; eight hundred of which {hall be difpofed of at Buenos Ayres, and the remaining four hun- dred ferve in the provinces higher up the river, and in the kingdom of Chili. And it is declared, that her Britifh Majefty, and the Affientifts in her name, may bold fome parcels of land, to be affign’d them by his Catholick Majefty, in the river Plata, from the commencement of this Affiento, fufficient to plant, cultivate, and breed cattle upon, for the fubfiftence of the perfons belonging to the Affiento and their Negroes ; and may build houfes of tim- ber only, but fhall not throw up the earth, or make the flighted: fortification : And his Catholick Ma- jefty fhall appoint an Officer to refide there, who {hall have the command of all things relating to fuch lands ; and all other matters, concerning the Affiento, fhall be determined by the Governor and royal Officers at Buenos Ayres : But the Affientifts {hall not be obliged to pay any duties on account of the faid lands. X. In order to the carrying of Black flaves into the provinces of the South-fea, liberty is granted to the Affientifts to freight, either at Panama, or any other port of the South-fea, {hips of about four hundred tons each, to be navigated by fuch Officers and Seamen as the Affientifts fhall appoint ; on board of which they may {hip Negroes to all the other ports of Peru (and no others on that fide) and .to bring back the produce of their file to the faid port of Panama, as well in the fruits of the coun- try, as in money, bars of filver, or ingots of gold, without being obliged to pay any duties for fuch filver or gold, it being ftamp’d, and appearing to be the produce of their Negroes. And the laid Affientifts are at liberty to fend from Europe to E e Porto THE PRESENT STATE 210 CHAP, Porto Bello, and from Porto Bello to Panama, by XI. the river Cbagre, or by land-carriage, cables, fails, timber, and all other nival {lores and provifions, neceffary for the faid (hips ; provided they do not fell the faid {lores, on any pretence whatfoever, on pain of confifcation, and farther punifhments to be inflidled both on the buyers and fellers ; and the Affientifts, from that time, to be deprived of the privilege of fending fuch {lores to the South-fea : Nor fhall the Affientifts, at the end of the faid term of thirty years, be allow’d to carry the faid {hips to Europe. XI. The Affientifts are at liberty to employ Englifh or Spaniards for the management of this Affiento, as well in the ports of America, as in the inland country and the Englifh fhall be regarded and treated 2s the fubjedfs of Spain, provided there do not refide in any one port more than four or fix Englifhmen, of whom they may fend lbme into the countries where Negroes are allow’d to be car- ried, for the management and recovery of their eft'ecls. XII. By this article two Englifh Blips of war, and another veffel, are permitted to carry over the Company’s Factors to America, XIII. The Affientills are allow’d, by this article, to nominate Judges-Confervators of the Affiento, in all the ports and chief places of America, provided they nominate feme of his Catholick Majefty ’s Minders ; which (aid Judges are to have cognizance of all caufes relating to the Affiento, exclufive of all Audiences, Tribunals, Governors, or Viceroys, who are prohibited to intermeddle therein 3 and no ap- peal to lie from the Judges of the Affiento, but to the fupreme Council of the Indies 3 and the Pre- fident, Governor, or Dean of the faid Council, is to be ProteMor of this Affiento. XIV. No embargo fhall be laid on the fhips of the Affientifts by the Viceroys, or other Spamfh Governors in America, for any caufe or pretence whatever ; but, on the contrary, they fhall afford the faid Affientifts all the favour, affiftance and fuc- cour they or their Factors fhall defire, for the more fpeedy fitting out, lading and difpatching their {hips 3 affording them fuch provifions as they fhall. want for their voyages, at the current prices, on pain of being obliged, at their own cofts, to make good all fuch damages as the Affientifts {hall 1'uftain by fuch impediment or detention. XV. Nor {hall any embargo be laid on the ftock, goods or effects of the Affientifts, or any of them feiz’d or detain’d by any Viceroy, Governor, Judge, or Officer, on any caufe or motive whatever, on pain of their being punifh’d, and paying, out of their own eftates, the damages and Ioffes the Affien- tifts fhall fuftain ; nor are the houfes or warehoufes of their Factors to be fearch’d, unleft it is proved there has been lome fraudulent importation 3 and then they are not to be fearch’d but by the affiftance CHAP; of the Judge- Confervator : And tho’ prohibited XI, goods may be feiz’d, the flock and effects of die Affientifts are to remain free. XVI. The Affientifts are empower’d to employ fuch Mariners, Carriers, and Workmen, in lading and unlading their fhips, as they think fit. XVII. They are permitted to bring their goods from America, either in the galeons or their own fhips, without paying any duties ; but they are not allow’d to bring over Spanifh pafl'engers, or the ef- fects of the Spaniards. XVIII. During this Affiento, neither the French’ Guinea Company, nor any other perfons, fhall trans- port Negroes to Spanifh America, but the Affien- tifts, on pain of forfeiting fuch Negroes to the Affientifts, who are empower’d to fearch fuch {hips as they fufpecSf are freighted with Negroes, and make prize of them, if any contraband Negroes are found on board ; provided they firft obtain leave of the Governor of the port. XIX. The Affientifts ftiall have power to na- vigate and import Negroes to all the northern ports of the Spanifh Weft-Indies, and all others are pro- hibited to import them 3 his Catholick Majefty obli- ging himfelf, by his faith and royal word, to main- tain the Affientifts in the entire and full poft'effion thereof. XX. And if the Affientifts {hall be molefted or difturbed by fuits of law, or in any other manner, his Majefty will inhibit all other Courts to proceed therein, and take cognizance of fuch caufes folely himfelf. XXI. When the fhips of the Affientifts arrive at any port of the Indies with Negroes, the Captains thereof ftiall certify, that there is not any contagious d iftemper amongft them, before they fhall be per- mitted to land. XXII. Their fhips ftiall be vifited and fearched on their arrival 3 and if any merchandize be found, befides the Negroes, and provifions for them, it fhall be confifcated, and the Officers importing it {hall be difabled to ferve in the Affiento 3 and the Captain or Mafter of the ftiip, that fuffers fuch goods to be brought on board, fhall forfeit the value of them ; and if he appear an accomplice, he fiiall be con- demn’d to pay a. forfeiture, be feverely punifh’d, and difabled to hold any employment in the fer- vice of the Affiento : But the (hips, on board which fuch Negroes fhall be, or the provifions brought for their fubfiftence, ftiall not be forfeited 3 and the perfons who have the charge of them may go on with their traffick. And if it appears the Captain or Mafter was not an accomplice, he {hall be obliged to deliver up the guilty perfon, but be free himfelf. XXIII, The provifions put on fhore for the fub» fiftence of the Negroes fhall pay no duties. XXIV. The OF MEXICO. CHAP. XXIV. The Affientifts are obliged to pay the XI. duties for all the Negroes landed, tho’ they die be- fore they are fold : But where the Factor defires a Negroe may be fet on fhore, only for the reco- very of his health, and not for fale, they fhall not be obliged to pay the duty for him, unlefs he live more than fifteen days on fhore. XXV. After the Aifien tiffs, or their Factors, have fettled the duties, and fold part of their Negroes in one port, they may carry the remainder of their Negroes to any other port, together with their mer- chandize and treafure for which they have fold the firft, without being obliged to pay any duties, ex- cept the common duties for the fruits and merchan- dize of the country, which they are permitted to receive in exchange for their flaves, where money is wanting ; and they may fell fuch fruits and effects at the ports they go to, paying the accuftom’d du- ties for them. XXVI. The fhips of the Affientifts may fail ei- ther from the ports of Great Britain or Spain ; but an account fhall be given to his Catholick Majefty of what fhips they difpatch yearly for the Negroe- trade, and the ports for which they are defign’d : After which, they are at liberty to return, either with money, bars of filver, gold, fruits, or the merchandize of the country, being the produce of the fale of their Negroes. But if they return to the ports of Spain, the Commander of the fhip fhall give that Court an authentick regifier, by which it may appear what he hath on board : And if the fhip return to Britain, an exadt account fhall be lent to Spain of their lading, that his Catholick Majefty may be fully inform’d thereof ; provided that the Affientifts fhall not bring over any other filver, gold, or effects, but what fhall be the pro- duce of the fale of the Negroes. XXVII. By this article, all prizes taken in time of war by the Affientifts, on the coafts of Spanifh America, are to be carried to Carthagena, or Porto Bello, and the goods fold by the King’s Officers at the Fair of Porto Bello ; thret fourths of the pro- duce whereof, after duties paid, to be enjoy’d by the Captors (together with the fhip, tackle, guns, and furniture) ; and the other fourth by his Catholick Majefty. XXVIII. Their Britifh and Catholick Majefties are each of them to have a fourth part of the profits ariiing by this contract. And, as his Catholick Ma- jefty ought to advance one million of pieces of eight, or a quarter of the fum adjudged neceftary to carry on this trade, it is agreed, That if his Catholick Majefty fhall not think fit to advance the faid fum, the Affientifts fhall do it out of their own money, on condition his Majefty fhall difeharge the intereft (out of what they fhall be accountable to him for) after the rate of eight per cent, per annum, ’till they are reimburfed : And his Catholick Majefty rs to name two Directors or Factors to refide at 2 1 r London, two more in the Indies, and one at Cadiz ; C H A P, who may be concerned, on his part, in all the di- XL retftions, purchafes, and accounts of this Affiento. XXIX. The Affientifts fhall give in an account of their profits and gain, upon oath, at the end of the firft five years ; and, by legal inftruments, cer- tify the charge of the purchafe, fubfiftence, trans- portation, and fale of the Negroes, and all other expences on their account ; and alfo certificates of the produce of the fale in all the ports and parts of Spanifh America : Which accounts fhall be exa- mined in the refpetftive Courts of Great Britain and Spain. And the faid Affientifts fhall pay his Catho- lick Majefty ’s fhare of the faid profits regularly and pundtually. XXX. If the amount of the gain made the firft five years exceed the fum the Affientifts are to ad- vance, together with the faid intereft of eight per cent, they may reimburfe themfelves in the firft place, and then pay his Catholick Majefty the re- mainder of the profits of his fhare : And this they fhall do every five years during the term. XXXI. The Affientifls, after five years, alfo may reimburfe themfelves the quarter part and the intereft, if they appear then to be gainers. XXXII. The Affientifts fhall be allow’d three years, after the expiration of their term of thirty years, to adjuft their accompts, and gather in their effects in the Spanifh Weft-Indies. XXXIII. The debtors to the Affientifts fhall be compelled to i >ay their debts, and the faid debts be coniider’d on the fame foot as thofe due to his Ca- tholick Majeft }. XXXIV . The Affientifts fhall be allow’d, from time to time, to bring from Europe, or the Britifh plantations in America, to the ports of Spanifh A- merica, where there fhall be royalOfficers, cloathing, medicines, provifions, and naval ftores, for the ufe only of the Affientifts, their Negroes, Fadlors, Ser- vants, Mariners, and Ships, in veflcls of about one hundred and fifty tons ; giving a particular account of their cargoes, and the difpofal thereof, to the Council of the Indies. XXXV. For preferving the health of the Ne- groes, the Factors of the Affiento are allowed to hire parcels of land in the neighbourhood of their Factories, and to cultivate and plant the fame, for railing frefh provifions ; provided fuch cultivation be perform’d by the inhabitants, or by the Negroes. XXXVI. I he Affientifts are allow’d to load a fhip of three hundred tons, at the Canary iflanJs, with fuch fruits as are ufually taken on hoard there for America, once only during the faid term. XXXVII. This has nothing material in it that is not contain’d in the former articles. XXXVIII. A Junta of three Spanifh Minifters, the Fifcal, and Secretary of the Council of the In- dies, fhall take cognizance of all caufes relating to the Affiento. E e z XXXIX. The 212 THE PRESENT STATE CHAP, XXXIX. The conceffions in former Affiento’s XI. to Portugal or F ranee An annual not contrary to the contents of this, (hall be confirmed in favour of the prefent, as if literally inferted. XL. In cafe of a war between Britain and Spain, the Affiento {hall be fufpended : However, the Affi- en tiffs {hall be allow’d a year and half to remove their effedls. XLI. All laws in the Spanifh Weft-Indies, pro- hibiting traffick with foreigners, &c. to be fu- fpended, in favour of the Affientifts, for thirty years. XLII. His Catholick Majefty grants to the A (Ti- en tills all favours, privileges, and exemptions, that were ever granted to former Aftientills, not con- trary to thefe articles. His Catholick Majefty alfo, on condition that [oAT/Mlf ^ ie Affientifts (hall not carry on any unlawful or sntilit, 1 clandeftine trade, on any pretence whatfoever, grants them the privilege of fending out a {hip of five hun- dred tons annually, to trade to the Indies, provided they give his Majefty a fourth part of the gain, and five per cent, out of the gain of the other three parts : And it is farther provided, that the Affien- tifts {hall not fell their merchandize, but at the Fair of Porto Bello only, when the galeons arrive there ; and then the merchandize or cargo of the faid {hip {hall be free from all duties in the Indies. was compofed of the fix Electors of the empire, and ufually held in the prefence of the Emperor ; four of the members always refiding in the royal palace^ without confulting whom the Emperor fcarce ever, determined any thing of confequence : They were the laft refort in all cafes, and without their advice, were no laws made or alter’d... CHAP. XIII. Of the modern government of Mexico, and of the forces and revenues of that viceroyalty. EXICO, like the Spanifh provinces in C H A P, the old world, is govern’d by a Viceroy, XIII. and each of the larger divifions of that viceroyalty has its Court of audience, to which all the leffer ^Todem^ provinces and diftriCIs are fubje'''V"N 7 abufes were in feme meafure redrels’d, and Miffion- aries fent over, they perfectly dragoon’d the Indians that were left alive into Chriftianity, driving ’em by hundreds and thoufands into the rivers to be baptized, on pain of having their threats cut. One of thefe Miftionaries boafted, to Charles the Vth, that lie had baptized above thirty thoufand Indians him- felf : And Gage relates, that it was frequent, in his time, to baptize the Mexican Indians before they were at all inftrufted in the doctrines of Chri- ftianity. See Gage’s Survey of the IVeJI- Indies, p. 1557, Sic. Dignities in The fame writer relates, that there are Miffion- conferred on anes i ent over from Spain to every province in native Spa- Mexico, from all the religious orders, annually ; mards. and t ] iat j t j s yer y that any confiderable dig- nity in the church of Mexico is conferred on a native of that country, tho’ born of Spanifh anceftors ; which has created an implacable enmity between the Clergy that are natives of Mexico, and called Crioli, and thofe that are natives of Old Spain. The fame policy is ufed in relation to pofts in the Civil Go- vernment, as has been obferved already : Moft of Differences the fuperior Governments and Offices are filled Old V Spa- the wirh the natives Old Spain, who treat the Crioli, niards and or Mexican Spaniards, with great contempt ; from the Mexi- whence, fome have been inclined to think, the lat- hs'*" ter would be ready to revolt, and join any foreign Power that fhould appear in the Weft-Indies, to free themfelves from the Spanifh yoke. But as that of France would be ftill more infupportable to the Spa- nifh Indians, and they are too much bigotted to their fuperftition to fubmit to Hereticks, it is highly pro- bable, notwithftanding their averfion to "the Spa- nifh Adminiftration, they would all unite againft a foreign invader ; and whatever European fhall attack them, ought to depend on his own force, and not rely much on the difaffechon of the natives. Gage’s other obfervation, however, in relation to the Miftionaries fent from Spain, “ That they “ ate frequently Monks of very little merit, and 44 of lewd lives, ” may be true enough ; for, fo we find it in other countries, men of worth and character are feldom fond of travelling and under- going fuch hazards and fatigues as are to be met with in paffing the feas, and changing the climate ; and therefore leave thefe millions to thofe whofe neceffities or flender reputation at home induces them to go abroad : Not but that there have been men of very great worth found fometimes among thefe Miftionaries. Gac-e infinuates, that the principal motives that draw the Spanifh Clergy over to America, are a view of gaining great riches, to free themfelves from tne connnement of their cloifters, and enjoy an_ unreftrained liberty ; for it is frequent for a Prieft to lay up ten or twelve thoufand crowns in ENT STATE ten years time, who has but an ordinary cure in CHAP. Mexico, and to live plentifully and luxurioufly all XIV. the time, and be in a manner adored by the com- mon people there. He was amazed, he faid, to find the Monks in The loofe the Mexican cloifters and the parochial Clergy rival- ,ives of the ling the quality in their drefs and luxurious way of MUEoMries. life : They drank, they gamed, they fwore, they wench’d, and made a jeft of their vows of poverty ; getting money enough, many of them, to return to Old Spain, and purchafe bifhopricks. And as to the Laity, he fays, there is not a more The Laity bigotted or a lewder people upon the face of the P ropor nona- earth : A prefent to the church wipes off the odium Y ™ ' of the greateft crimes ; and that the way the people are inftrudfed in their religion here, as in Old Spain, is by plays and theatrical entertainments in their churches. There is fcarce any part of the biftory Pious plays* of the Gofpel but is the fubje£l of a play, which the loweft of the people are taught to a£I ; one perfo- nates our S AV IOUR, another Pilate, a third He rod, and fo on : And as their churches are ex- quifitely fine, fo is their mufick, both vocal and inftrumental. The Clergy colled the moft harmo- nious voices, and have them taught not only to fing anthems, but merry fongs ; and in their cloifters they have mafques, dances, and all manner of enter- tainments the Laity in this part of the world indulge themfelves in : And yet have they their feafbns for Seatons of penance and mortification, particularly in Lent, mortifica " when the people do not only keep a ftrid faft, but tIon ‘ lafh and cut themfelves unmercifully in their pro- ceffions. This is the exercife of the Holy-week be- fore Eafter, and in cafe of an earthquake, famine, or other general calamity, when they endeavour to appeafe the wrath of Heaven by fuch aufterities. C H A P. XV. Of the marriages of the Mexicans ; of the education of their children , and of their funerals. A Ccording to Acosta, the Mexicans were C I! A P, married by their Priefts in the temple : The XV bride and bridegroom Handing before him, he took each of them by the hand, and demanded, if they Marriages, were agreed to marry ; and, on their anfwering in the affirmative, he tied a corner of the woman’s veil to a corner of the man’s mantle ; and, leading them in this manner from the temple to the bride- groom’s houfe, he made the bride furround the fire (that was kindled in the middle of the houfe for that purpofe) feven times : After which, the man and woman fat down by the fire ; and thus the marriage was concluded without farther ceremony, and confummated the fame night. But if the man did not find his bride a virgin, ihe was returned the next day to her friends, which was no fmall reproach to the family. On the contrary, if he had CHAP. XV. Divorces. Polygamy and concu- binage al- lowed. OF MEXICO. 227 had no objections to her virtue, the bridegroom gave a handfome entertainment to the wife’s friends the next day, made them conliderable prefents, and fa- crifices were offered to the gods on the joyful occa- fion. A fchedule was afterwards made of all the jewels, cloaths and goods the wife brought with her, which her father kept ; and, in cafe of a divorce, which happen’d frequently where they could not agree, all the effects mention’d in the fchedule were return’d, with the wife, to her friends : And, it feems, people once divorced were prohibited coming together again, by the Mexican laws, on pain of death. Acosta, in fpeaking of their marriages, does not inform us, whether poligamy was allowed a- mongft them ; but, in other parts of his hiftory, he confirms the relations of other writers, who unanimoufly obferve, that their Kings and Great men had a great variety of women, both wives and concubines. Adultery (that is, the enjoying another man’s wife) was capital ; but neither po- ligamy or concubinage were deemed any offence againft their law : Even the common people had probably more wives than one, becaufe they were fo far from being a charge to a man, that they might well be reckon’d part of his flock, as well as his Haves ; for the wives of the common people cultivated the grounds, carried the hufband’s bag- gage and provifion in every expedition, whether in war, in hunting, or upon a journey : They alfo fpun and wove their cloaths, and did all the buhnels of the houfe befides ; confequently, the more wives a man had, the richer he muft be : Whether they brought fortunes with them or not, they improved and increafed his eftate every day. Wafer, who refided a great while among the Indians of Darien, adjoining to Mexico, relates, that the fathers of the bride and bridegroom only were concerned in tying the matrimonial knot. He does not mention any Priefts being concerned in it ; adding, that, feven days after the contract was made, the bride’s father deliver’d her to her hufband ; when all the Indians for feveral miles round were in- vited to an entertainment, and every one of them brought the married couple a prefent, confifting of provifions and fruits. The men alfo brought their tools, to clear a fpot of ground for a plantation for the married couple, and aflift in building them a houfe ; which being finilh’d in feven or eight days, the men fat down to drinking, continuing at it night and day ’till all the liquor was fpent ; the women waiting upon them, and taking a great deal of care of their drunken hufbands when they found them diforder’d. And, notwithftanding the wives are put to all manner of drudgery in their plantations and houfes, and carry the baggage on journeys, Wafer obferves, they do all this readily and chearfully : That they have no quarrels with their hufbands, or with one another, and are extremely good and courteous to flrangers : That their huf- CHAP, bands alfo are very kind to them : He never knew XV, an Indian beat his wife, or give her a hard word, all the while he was amongft them ; and, indeed, it would be very hard if they fhould abufe their wives, when they are contented to be their Haves. A woman is no fooner deliver’d of a child, but Child- bed fhe and the infant are immediately waffl’d in fome women ' river : After which, the child is fwathed or tied to a board, and the mother dickies it with the board at its back : It alfo Heeps in a hammock thus fatten’d to a board. And, when they grow up, the Education, boys are bred to their father’s exercifes, namely, (hooting, fifhing, or hunting ; while the girls are taught hufbandry as well as houfewifery, and to fpin and weave. He adds, that the Prince of that coun- try (who was a Pagan, and not at all fubjedl to the Spaniards) had feven wives ; and 2 whenever he went a long journey, fo contrived matters, that he had always a wife at the end of every ftage. The Mufqueto Indians, who inhabit the province Marriages of Honduras, allow of poligamy alfo, or a plurality Mu *' of wives, as we are informed by one of our own dians, countrymen, who refided amongft them about the year 1699 : Nor do they marry ’till they have co- habited fome time together, and try’d whether their humours and every thing elfe are agreeable; and then the man, to makefureof his wife, gives her father a prefent, enters into a contract with him for his daughter, and the bargain is ratified at a notable drinking-bout, where the friends on both Tides are made as merry as heart can wilh. And as thefe Muf- queto men frequently make long journeys, or go abroad in the fervice of the Englifh and other foreigners, they do not take it amife if a friend co- habits with their wives in their abfence, provided they take care of them and their children. As to the Indians that are fiibjeift to the Spaniards, Df Indians and obliged to profefs themfelves Chriftians, Dam- [h^spani- pier informs us, their Priefts oblige them to marry ards. when the lads are fourteen, and the girls twelve : And if they are not then provided with a fpoufe, the Priefts find one for them. And in this, it feems, the Civil Government concur, looking upon it that married people make the beft fubjeefts ; A wife and children are the fureft pledges of a man’s fidelity. An Indian feldom leaves his family, and retires to his untamed countrymen in the mountains, after he is married ; but becomes an induftrious and pro- fitable member of the commonwealth, paying du- ties both to the Church and his Civil Governors. The marrying them fo young alfo renders the coun- try the more populous, which was impolitickly de- prived of its inhabitants by the firft Adventurers. Nor do the Spaniards only take care to fee the young Indians married to each other, but they encourage, or at leaft fuller, the native Spaniards, and the Crioli their defeendants, to marry with the Indians ; where- by the Americans are fo incorporated and allied to G g 2 many / 228 CHAP. XV. Impolitic in us not to marry with tjpe. Indians. Mexican sdstatim. THE PRESENT STATE many Spanifh families, that they are in a manner become the fame people in fevera! towns and pro- vinces. The like policy the French obferve in their American plantations ; while the Englifti ftupidly prohibit their people marrying with the Indians, and confequently lofe many advantages in planting and eftablifhing themfelves, which other European na- tions have. The Spaniards* French and Portuguefe alfo en- deavour to make the natives profelytes to their reli- gion, wherever they come ; reprefenting, at the lame time, all Proteftants as impious and barbarous monfters of men, and fo far from being Chriftians, that they are perfedt Infidels, and ftrangers to all virtue and morality : Which the poor Indians, who are incorporated with them by marriage, and now bigotted to their fuperftition, are too apt to believe^ They entertain in fuperable prejudices therefore againft our nation, and have fcarce any opportunities of be- ing undeceived. Thus the nations above-mention’d daily fecuring their intereft in the natives, by the two ftrongeft ties of blood and religion, our frontier fettlements muft ever remain expoied to the invafi- ons of their Indians. It w'ill be very difficult to de- fend and eftablifh them where the French or Spani- ards lie in our neighbourhood, and continually in- cite the Indians in alliance with them to fall upon our colonies ; especially as we ufe no arts to coun- termine our rivals, and ingratiate ourfelves with the Indians, as other nations do. This is the true rea- fon we have yet penetrated no farther into the conti- nent ; nor (hall we ever be able to bring over many Indian nations to our intereft, unlels we employ more Miffionaries to inftrudx them in our faith, and encou- rage our people to intermarry with them. Our co- lonies, indeed, are yet more powerful in North America than either thofe of France or Spain, and we can fupply the natives with what they ftand in need of on eafier terms than either of thofe nations can ; but ftill they are Ihy of us, and do not appear hearty friends. The French and Spaniards frequently diftrefs our fettlements, only by ftirring up the In- dians againft them, tho’ they have fcarce any forces of their own to back them ; but were our people fuffer’d to intermarry and incorporate with the Indi- ans, and forne pains were taken to bring them over to our religion, Florida, and rrroft part of North America, would, in a few years, become entirely Eritifh ; and our plantations might enjoy perfedt tran- quillity, without a rival in that part of the workL The ancient Mexicans, Acosta oblerves, were exceeding careful of the education of their children : They had almoft publick fcools and academies belong- ing to every great temple, where their matters Hu- died the genius of the children under their care, and qualified them for the church, the ftate, or the army, according as they were inclined : They fuffer’d them to take but little fleep-, obliged them to live abfte- miouftyj. to carry burdens, and perform the roughed! exercifes ; and thofe defign’d for the army were CHAP, obliged to attend the camp, and give proofs of their XV. courage, before they were admitted to be enrolled among the foldiery, which was efteemed the moft honourable employment of all others. The young ladies alfo were educated in convents, inftrudled in the principles of religion and virtue, taught to paint and match beautiful feathers, and fuch other works as might render them ufeful and agreeable when they enter’d on the married ftate. Both fexes were taught to fing and dance, and to repeat the heroick actions of their anceftors, and other remarkable occurrences in their hiftory ; which, in fome meafure, fupplied the want of books and records ; for, tho’ they had fome char adders and hieroglyphicks amongft them, thefe were far from enabling them to form a tolerable hiftory : They could give but a very dark and confufed ac- count of what had happen’d two or three hundred years before the arrival of the Spaniards, whatever fome writers may have fuggefted to the contrary. The author of the Conquejt of Mexico , written Funerals, about an hundred and forty years fince, as well as Antonio de Herera, informs us, that the Mexicans fometimes burnt, and at others, buried their dead : That their Princes and Great men were generally burnt, and their afhes, being afterwards colledded, and put into an urn, were then buried : That the funeral folemnity was perform’d by their Priefts, and the places of interment were ufually their gardens or court-yards, tho’ fome were buried within the walls of their temples, and others in the fields or woods ; the Mexican Emperors had burying- places appropriated to their family fome diftancefrom Mexico. Soon after the party died, the corpfe was walh’d ; and, being drefs’d in the mantles the deceafed ufually wore in his life-time, and fet upright, all his friends and relations came and took a folemn leave of him. The corpfe was carried to the place of interment,, attended by the Priefts, who fung mournful funeral fongs, and play’d upon their wind-mufick. And where a Prince was to be interr’d, the Nobility and Officers of ftate attended the proceffion : They were buried with their arms, and in their habits. In fome places, abundance of treafure and precious- moveables were thrown into the grave with them, and a great number of Haves and officers killed to bear their Great men company. But this feems to have been practifed more in Peru than Mexico. I queftion whether any ilaves were put to death aT the burial of a Great man in Mexico. But the Spa™ nifti writers have very confufedly intermixed the rites of foveral countries, which makes it difficult to diftinguifh what were their refpedtive cuftoms. The fame writers affure us, that the Mexicans The ftate believed that the foul was immortal, and that there of de P«te makes the foldiers give twenty pieces of eight for that which is not worth two ; and, by fuch means, makes his poft worth three hundred thouland nieces of eight per annum. The Spanilh foldiers in this country are arm’d with a fhield, mufket, and half- pike, or fpear 3 not to fight (fays our author) but to ■ t 230 THE PRESENT STATE C H A P. to hunt them out like wild hearts : They are order’d XVI. by the Government not to kill this favage people, but to bring them in, that they may be inftrudted in their religion, and civilized. Thus an hundred and fifty leagues have been conquer’d to the weft- ward, tho’ the people endeavour’d to defend them- felves with their bows and arrows. The worft is ((ays Geme i. li) that, being five hundred leagues from the city of Mexico, thofe barbarians quickly revolt, knowing there cannot be fupplies of foldiers fent againft them fuddenly. The country is plain, and convenient for carriages for fome months eve- ry year ; but the King’s forces are obliged to pafs fuch wide defarts, that they ufually intrench every night, and keep guard, for fear of being furpriz’d by the favages. The Francifcans have the charge of the converfion of tbefe wild people, called Chi- chimeca’s, who are rather atheifts than idolaters, and have brought a great number of them to live like men ; but their wild nature always inclines them to folitude. The country is fo thinly peopled, that they travel feveral days journey without meeting with a village ; for which reafon the Viceroy has fent feveral families thither of late years to people it, the foil plentifully producing all things that are fowed or planted in it, even of the fruits of Europe: And there are, befides, rich mines of goM and fil- ver. The length of the way not allowing travellers to carry their quilts to lie on, the Jefuits that go to their millions in this country have learnt of the In- dians to carry before them, on their (addles, mattreftes and pillows made of leather, which at night they blow full of wind, and they are as foft as a feather- bed. The enter- The Spaniards formerly over-ran great part of the Spaniards carter n as well as weftern Florida, but made few Florida. fettlements in it. The gold and filver mines of Mexico were fo attractive, that they in a manner abandon’d this fruitful country again, retaining only the forts of St. Auguftine, St. Matthew, and fome other inconfiderable places on the confines of Caro- lina : None of which I fhould envy them, if they would unite with Britain againft France. There is room enough in Florida for the Spaniards, the En- glifh, and the natives ; and, indeed, more than they can cultivate : But it is impoffible they fhould enjoy any part of it in quiet, if the French are fuffer’d to eftablifn themfelves in what they call The French Louifiana. There is no medium: The French muft *en 1 from 44 mes, of a better tafle than thofe of Mexico. So CHAP. 44 that we may conclude California to be a very XVI. fruiti ul country. On the mountains there are, all the year long, Mefcales, a fruit peculiar to 44 this country ; and, in molt leafons, large Pifla- ^ chio s of feveral forts, and Figs of different co- 44 lours. The trees are very beautiful; and, a- mongft others, that which the Chinos (who are natives of the country) call Palo Santo, bears a great deal of fruit : From this they draw excel- 44 Frankincenfe. As this country abounds in fruits, it does no lefs in grain, of which there are fourteen forts, 44 that the people feed on. They ufe the fruits of 44 trees and plants, and among others thofe of the ^ uca (or Caffavi) to make bread of. There are excellent Skirrets, a fort of red Strawberries, of 44 which they eat plentifully: Citrons and Water- 44 melons of an extraordinary fize. The land is 44 fo good, that moft plants bear fruit three times 4< a year ; fo that, with fome labour in cultivating it, andfkill in managing the water, they render ^ the country extremely fertile. Nor is there any fort of fruit or grain, but what they gather in great abundance, which we experienced our- 44 felves ; for bringing with us from New Spain, Indian - wheat, Peas, Lentils, &c. we lowed them, and had a very plentiful increafe, tho’ we had not any cattle or proper inftruments to till 44 the ground. 44 Befides feveral forts of animals that we knew, which are here in plenty, and are good to eat, as 44 Deer, Hares, Rabbets, we found two forts of “ Deer that we knew nothing of ; we call them Sheep, becaufe they fomewhat refembled ours in make. 1 he firft fort is as large as a Calf of one 44 or two years old : Its head is much like that of a Stag, and its horns, which are very large, like thofe of a Ram : Its tail and hair are fpeckled, and fhorter than a Stag’s ; but its hoof is large, round, and cleft like that of an Ox. I have ^ eaten of thefo beafts ; their flefh is very tender 44 and delicious. The other fort of Sheep, fome 44 of which are white, and ethers black, differ lefs 44 from ours : They are larger, and have a great 44 deal more wool, which is very good, andealyto be Ipun and wrought. Befide thefo animals, that ferve for food, there are Lions, wild Cats, and 44 many others, like thofe in New Spain. We 44 brought to California fome Cows, and ftore of 44 fmall cattle, as Sheep and Goats, which would have encreafed very much, had not the neceffity we were once in obliged us to kill the greatelt 44 part of them. We alfo brought with us Horfes and Colts, to flock the country, and began 44 to breed up Hogs ; but, as thefo do a great deal of damage to the villages, ,and the women are 44 afraid of them, we have refolved toextirpate ’em. 44 As for fowls, there are in California all that 44 are in Mexico and New Spain, as Pigeons, Tur- 44 tie-doves. 232 r u AP dudl, in preferving what he had fo bravely won, burnt and as t ^ e mo ^ confummate General could have done ; entirely when, on a fudderi, the whole city appeared in demoli/h’d. flames, having been fet on fire in feveral places at the fame inllant ; which fome charge upon Mor- gan, tho’ ’tis admitted he gave orders for extin- guilhing it ; others fay, that it was fet on fire by 239 the inhabitants, to deprive the Buccaneers of the C H A P, rich treafures and plunder they expelled, which leems I. much the moll propable ; for why Morgan fhould burn the town, before he had plunder’d it, and dellroy the prize he had in his hands, is not eafy to conceive. But however it happened, all agree the fire con- tinued feveral days, infomuch that fcarce a houfe was left Handing in the place, which a little before contained two thoufand houles magnificently built, all the beams whereof were cedar, and the furni- ture anfwerably rich ; befides which, were five thou- fand houfes more of the inferior tradefmen, and fe- ral beautiful churches and monalleries ; for this, as has been obferved, was the repofitory of all the trea- fures of Peru annually brought hither to be fent to Europe. While the fire continued, the Buccaneers en- camped without the walls ; but after it ceafed, they returned, and quartered in the ruins, making a very Uriel fearch for the plate and money that was not confumed, of which they found great quanti- ties melted down : They alfo difeovered abundance of treafure hid in wells, and refervoirs of water, and out of a Ihip in the harbour they took two hundred thoufand pieces of eight ; and not content with this, ’tis laid they tortur’d the milerable in- habitants various ways, to make them dilcover more, or offer large ranfoms for their liberty ; and, ac- cording to my author, they were more fevere upon the Priefls and Monks than any other people, knowing them to be poffeffed of very great treafures, either of their own, or belonging to their feveral churches and convents. My Dutch author exclaims loudly allb againft the Buccaneers, for the innumerable rapes they com- mitted, charging Morgan their Commander, with being as guilty of thefe outrages, as his men : Particularly, he relates, that a beautiful young la- dy, wife to a rich Spanifh merchant of Panama, re- fufing to fubmit to his embraces, he fhut her up in a dungeon, and ufed her very hardly ; but he ac- knowledges, the Captain afterwards, pleafed to have found a woman that was not to be tempted to be falfe to her hufband’s bed, generoufly gave her her liberty. But to return from this digreffion ; Mor- gan having remained near a month in Panama, and colledled the ranfoms he required for his prifon- ers, loaded near two hundred beafls with the trea- fure he had got, and returned to Venta de Cruz, where he put it into boats, and conveyed it down the river to the callle of Chagre ; but the Bucca- neers finding there did not come more than two hundred pieces of eight to the fhare of every private man, began to threaten the Captain for concealing the moll valuable part of the plunder ; at leafl the French, and fome other foreigners, among whom was our author, pretended to be highly difguffed : Whereupon Mo rgan, having blown up the for- tifications of tire callle of Chagre, went on board his. 240 THEP RESENT STATE • CHAP. I. l/VNJ Morgan "brings 400,000 pie es of iight to Jamaica. Kn ghted for his bravery in taking Panama. Some ac- count of the reafon of thefe attempts of the Bucca- .aeers. his (hip, and with only four fail of Englifti, whom the foreigners fufpedted were in the fecret, and (ha- red with him the heft of the plunder, returned to Jamaica: After which, the French joined their countrymen in the iflands of Tortuga andHifpanio- la, and the reft of the Buccaneers went in fearch of new adventures. Captain Morgan, and the Buccaneers that re- turned to Jamaica, brought with them four hun- dred thoufand pieces of eight, and the Captain was not only knighted by King Charles II. for his bravery and conduct in takingPanama, but he was made one of the Commiffioners of the Admiralty in thatifland; and the Earl of Car lis l e, Governor of Jamaica, returning to England for the recovery of his health, in the year 1680, left Sir Harry Morgan Deputy-governor there. However, up- on the repeated complaints of the Spanifti Ambaf- iador, of the depredations of the Buccaneers in the Spanifti (ettlements in the Weft-Indies, Sir Harry was fent for over to England, and committed to the Tower, where he lay three years ; and then his health being pretty much impaired, he obtained his liberty, but did not long furvive his imprifon- ment, according to the beft information I can get. It may be thought Arrange, that the Govern- ment of England fhould encourage, or even con- nive at the depredations of the Buccaneers in the Spanifti Weft-Indies, at a time when the two na- tions were at peace in Europe. But nothing ap- pears more frequent, than for the nations of Europe to commit a£Is of hoftility on each other, in the Eaft and Weft- Indies, without any regard to trea- ties or alliances concluded in Europe. The Spaniards, by virtue of the Pope’s grant to them of that new world, did for a great while make no fcruple to fall upon the Englifti, French and Dutch, and every other nation that attempted to make fettlements in America : As they had dif- covered the country, they held that no other nation had a right to plant or inhabit it, tho’ it was impof- fible they could ufe or cultivate a third part of the country, and had not obtained the leave of the na- tives to poflefs any part of it. This was a claim and pretenfion that the reft of the nations of Europe would by no means fubmit to, but in time planted great part of the iflands and continent, which the Spaniards called their property ; and as the Spaniards endeavoured to difturb thefe new fettlements, took their (hipping, and fometimes maflacred their men. Tho’ the Englifti, for political realbns, did not think fit to declare open war againft them in Europe, yet they differed private Adventurers (who afterwards obtained the name of Buccaneers) to retaliate the injury, in order to bring the Spaniards to reafon, and that they might be induced to fuffer our (hip- ping to trade with our own plantations and fettle- ments without difturbance : Thofe therefore, that have given Sir Harry Morgan and his men the denomination of Pirates, have done them a great deal of injury ; if it be confidered, in the firft place, that the Spaniards had no other title to America, than what was founded in force and ulurpation ; and that they at this very time opprefled and tyran- nized over the Indian Princes, who alone had a right to this country ; and would not fuffer any other European nation to have any commerce with them, but fell in a hoftile manner on all European (hip- ping that appeared in tliofe feas, whether they were at peace with Spain in Europe or not ; which fuf- ficiently juftifies the Buccaneers in attacking their fettlements, tho’ the cruelties they are laid to have exercifed upon the people of Panama, and fome other towns, are not to be excufed : But thefe have poilibly been greatly exaggerated by their enemies ; for the perfon who wrote the hiftory of the Bucca- neers, acknowledges himfelf an enemy toMoRG an, and to have been highly difobliged by him, and therefore cannot be looked upon as very impartial in his relation. But admitting thofe dories of their barbarities are true ; with what face can the Spa- niards complain of cruelty, who tortured and maf- facred fo many millions of Indians, but threefcore years before, and difpofleffed them of this very country, without the lead (hadow of title to it ? unlefs the Pope’s grant, which all mankind (Papifts as well as Proteftants) laugh at at this day, being fenfible, that neither they, nor any other Euro- pean nation, can have a juft right to any part of America that was inhabited, but what they gained by treaty with the inhabitants. And if the Spa- niards fall upon the Englifti, or any other nation, for trafficking with the Indians, and entring into alliances with them, we may juftly repel force with force, and retaliate the injuries they do us. Sir Harry Morgan was indeed imprifoned at the inftance of the Spanifti Ambaffador, after he had performed the greateft actions, perhaps, that ever man did, with fuch a handful of men, and in fuch circumftances, and had been in fome meafure re- warded for them by the Government, tho’ they quarrelled with him afterwards. But he is not the only brave man that has been facrificed to Spain for reafons of ftate, when he ought to have had a ftatue erected to his memory : for he it is, has (hewn us the way, if ever we (hould be compelled to fall out with Spain, to make our felves mafters of the gold and fflver mines, He has (hewn us, that if we pof- fefs the Iftbmus with a good force, and eredt for- treffes on the North and South-feas, we may with eafe render ourfelves mafters of the treafures of North and South America : If a thoufand men could effedl fuch great things againft their principal fettlements there, what might not a royal fleet and army do ? Tho’ I am ftill of opinion this ought never to be attempted, unlefs the Spaniards compel us to fall out with them. The nation will get more by trafficking with Spain and the Spanifti Weft-Indies, and improving our own plantations in Florida, than by polleffing their mines. Gold and filver poffibly iray CHAP. I. OF TERR CHAP, may have the fame effect upon us it has had upon X. them, renders us indolent, and enervate our people, and Britain might become as defpicable a nation in time, as Spain has been almoft ever iince they po fie fled Potofi. Porto Bello 2. Porto Bello is fituated on a bay of the North- defcribed. f ea? j n t 0 degrees of north latitude, and 8 2 degrees of weftern longitude, about 70 miles north of Pa- nama, and had this name given it by Columbus, on account of the fecurity of its harbour. Wafer gives the following defcription of the harbour and town : Portobel, favs this writer, is a very fair, large and commodious harbour, af- fording go^d anchorage and fhelter for (hips, having a narrow entrance, and fpreading wider within : The galleons from Spain find good riding here, while they take in the treafures of Peru, that are brought thither from Panama. The entrance is fecured by a fort on the left hand going in, and by a blockhoufe on the other fide, oppofite to it. At the bottom of the harbour lies the town, bending with the {hore like a half-moon : In the middle of which, upon the fea, is another fmall low fort ; and at the weft-end of the town, upon an eminence, lies another ftrong fort, yet commanded by a neigh- bouring hill ; and in all thefe forts, there are ufually about two or three hundred men in garrifon. The town lies open towards the country without wall or works ; and at the eaft end is a long ftable for the King’s Mules. The Governor’s houfe (lands upon the eminence near the great fort at the weft end of the town. It is an unhealthful place, the eaft end being fituated in a low fwampy ground, and the foa at low-water leaving the Ihore within the harbour bare, a great way from the houfes, which having a black filthy mud or ouze, occafions very noifome vapours in this hot climate. From the fouth and eaft part of it, the country riles gradually in hills, which are partly wood-lands, and partly (avannah or pafture ; but there are few fruit-trees or plan- tations near the town. Much the greateft part of the inhabitants are Indians, Mulattoes and Negroes, no Spaniard of any fubftance caring to refide in fo unhealthful a place, tho’ at the time of the Fair, it is fo crowded with rich Merchants, that above an hundred crowns are given for a poor lodging, and a thoufand crowns for a {hop, during die fhort time that the galleons flay there, and all provifions are proportionably dear, tho’ they are cheap enough at other times ; and fo fobjedl is the place to peftilential Fevers, that five hundred people have died there during the time of The Engliih the Fair only. No people ever experienced the un- ftips'and healthfulnefs of this climate more than the Engl ifii, men hete when the Iquadron under the command of Admiral without Hosier lay before it, without being fullered to fighting. enter upon adlion, in the year 1727 : For here we did not only lofe Admiral Hosier, but the fea- men twice over ; and what added to the misfortune was, that all the {hips were fo damaged by the VOL. III. A-FIRMA, 241 worms, that it was with difficulty they were brought CHAP, back to England again. We might have fixed our I. felves on the ifthmus, with lefs expence of men, {hips and treafure, than it coft us to lie here, and render the Spaniards our irreconcileable enemies, without acquiring the leaft advantage to our felves. 3. Venta de Cruz is fituated on the banks of the Venta de river Chagre, where it begins to be navigable, about Cruz ' thirty miles to the northward of Panama : And here the merchandize brought is imbark’d for Porto Bello, in order to be fent to Europe ; but I don’t find this place to be confiderable upon any other account. 4. The town of Cheapo is fituated on a river Cheapo* of the fame name, about twenty-five miles north- eaft of Panama, and eighteen or twenty from the fea, and is but a fmall place. 5 . Nata is a port-town on the weft fide of the Nat*» bay of Panama, about feventy miles fouth- weft of the city of Panama. Their chief dependance is on cattle, hogs and poultry, with which they ferve the markets of Panama ; for the country about that city is fo very barren, that they would frequent- ly be in danger of familhing, if they were not fup- plied by {hipping with provifions from the towns that lie at a diftance from it. 6. The town of Conception is fituated near the Conception* mouth of the river Conception, which falls into the North-fea, over-againft La Sounds Key, one of the Sambalas ifiands ; but I meet with no parti- cular defcription of this place. 7. Santa Maria is fituated 6 leagues from the Santa Mark; fea, on the fouth bank of the river to which it communicates its name, in 7 degrees 40 minutes north latitude, about 30 leagues fouth-eaft of Pana- ma, and is confiderable on account of the gold mines in the neighbourhood of it, but does not feem to be of any great ftrength, the Buccaneers and Pri- vateers having plundered it feveral times. The country about it is low and woody, and the ouz and mud on the banks of the river, occafions a noifome {linking fmell, which makes the air very unwhole- fome. 1 . Scuchadero, a fmall town fituated on the Scuchader*. north fide of the fame river nearer its mouth, but {landing on a good dry foil, and open to the Gulph of St. Michael, from whence it is refrefh’d by the fea- breezes. This is eileemed a healthful place j and what contributes to render it more fo, is a fine rivulet of frefh water that runs by it^ for the waters of this province are frequently brackilh 2 The Spaniards therefore, who refort with their Haves to the gold mines and rivulets at the proper feafons, frequently come hither for their health and refrefhments. The laft place I {hail mention in this province, New Edln- is New Edinburgh, or the place which the Scots bur “ h ’ gave this name to, when they attempted to make a fettlement on the coaft of Darien, or Terra- Firma Proper, and denominated the country about it New Calidonia. This fortrcfs was fituated on its fituatlcm r i die THE PRESENT STATE 242 CHAP, the continent, near the north-weft point of the I, Gulph of Darien, in 9 degrees odd minutes north latitude, on a moft excellent harbour (according to Dr. Wall are) being about a league in length from the north-weft to the fouth-eaft, half a mile broad at the entrance, and upwards of a mile broad within, and large enough to contain five hundred fail of fhips untouch’d from any wind that can blow : The ftrength The forts flood upon a peninfula, almoft fur- & ltt rounded by the harbour and the North-fea, and the accefs to the peninfula fo defended by rocks and pre- cipices, that a very little art would have render’d The health- it impregnable; and' there was as much land fuJnefs and contained in it, as would have produced ten thou- the* country of fugar annually, if it had been about it,a c - cultivated ( according to Wallare ) the foil be- cording to ; n .g rich, the air temperate, and the water fweet ; WalIa; famous for a convent and chappel dedicated to the Virgin Mary, fo vaftly rich, that it is only ex- ceeded by that of Loretto. Innumerable miracles are laid to be wrought at this Ihrine ; and pious Pilgrims from all parts of Spanifh- America continu- OF TERR CHAP, l Cenu. Tolu. The face of this pro- vince, and produce. River Mag, 4 a!ena» St. Martha province, fituation and extent. Face of the countiy mountain- ous. ally refort hither with their richeft offerings : Ail their bleflings, and all the misfortunes of their ene- mies, the Spaniards afcribe to the image of the Bleffed Virgin, which is worfhipped here, accord- ing to Dam pier. When the Oxford man of war was blown up near Hifpaniola, the Spaniards reported, that the Bleffed Virgin, or rather her image, was abroad all night, and came home very Wet ; and often returns with her cloaths rent and dirty, when (he has been out upon any expedition againft the Buccaneers or Privateers that infeft their coafts ; thus being deem’d the grand patronefs and protestor of the maritime places. Merchants and fea-faring people. Her devotees, that inhabit the coafts of this and the adjacent provinces, are ex- ceeding bountiful when they come in pilgrimage to this celebrated Ihrine ; and particularly take care to furnifh her with new cloaths and ornaments, inftead of thofe they are taught to believe (he has worn out or fpoil’d in their fervice. 3. Zenu, or Cenu, ; fituated upon a river of the fame name, 1 o leagued from the North-fea, and about 23 leagues fouth of Carthagena, moft re- markable for the Salt that is made here, and its filh- eries. 4. Tolu, fituated on the North-fea, about 25 leagues fouth-weft of Carthagena, celebrated for the excellent Balm or Bullam found in the neighbour- hood of this town, from whence it derives its name. The province of Carthagena is a mountainous woody country, the valleys tolerably fruitful ; but I don’t find there are any mines of gold or filver in it : Some emeralds, ’tis faid, are found here ; and the balm, gums and drugs it produces are in great efteem. The principal river of this province is that of Rio Grande de Magdalena, which, riling to the fouthward of Granada, runs diredily north, and afterwards divides the province of Carthagena from that of St. Martha ; falling into the North-fea, in 12 degrees north latitude, about 24 leagues north-eaft of the city of Carthagena. This river is 2 leagues broad at the the mouth, but large fhips cannot enter it, on account of the rocks and funds that lie before ; and the ftream is fo rapid, that they are forced to drag their boats up the river with men or horfes. There is an ifland at the entrance ot the river, which divides it into two channels. 3. The province of St. Martha is bounded by the North-fea on the north ; by the province of Rio de la Hacha on the eaft ; by New Granada on the fouth, and by Carthagena on the weft ; being about three hundred miles in length, from eaft to weft ; and two hundred in breadth, from north to fouth. This is a very mountainous coun- try, and, according to Dam pier, higher land than the Pike of Teneriff, or any other land in the known world, being leen at lea near two hundred miles. From thefe mountains run a chain of hills, almoft dire<% fouth, quite through 8014th- America, A-F I R M A. 247 to the Straits of Magellan. Thofe which bound C H A P. Peru on the eaft, and are ufoally call’d The Andes, J. are a part of them. ' The foil produces Indian-corn and fruits ; and Soil and almoft all manner of fruits and plants come to great P roduce * perfection, which are carried thither from Old Spain : They have alfo mines of Gold and Copper in their mountains, Emeralds, Sapphires, and many other precious-ftones. _ The fea-coafts are exceftive Air. hot, but their mountains cool, being cover’d with fnow, even in this warm climate. The chief towns of this province are, 1 . St. Mar- Chief tha j 2. Ramada 5 3- Buranca Cividad de los towns* Reyes ; and 5. Tamalameque. 1. St. Martha, the capital, which gives name to St. Martha, the province, is fituated on a bay of the North-fea, in 1 1 degrees odd minutes north latitude, and 74 degrees of weftern longitude : It has a large harbour form’d by the continent, and two ifiands that lie be- fore it. This town is a Bifhop’s fee, and the feat of the Governor and Courts of juftice. 2. Ramada, fituated alfo on the North- foa, to Ramadn. the eaft ward of St. Martha ; it ftands at the footof a mountain, and is remarkable for its copper mines. 3. Baranca, fituated on the eaft fide of the river Earanca. Grande, fouth-weft of St Martha ; a place of great traftick, the merchandize of New Granda bein^ brought down thither by the river. 4. Cividad de los Reyes, fituated at the conflux L09 Reyes, of two fma.ll rivers, about a hundred miles to the fouthward of St Martha ; of which I meet with no farther ddcription. 5. Tamalameque, fituated on the eaft hank of Tamalame- the river Grande, two hundred miles to the fouth- Se- ward of St. Martha, fometimes call’d the City of I alms, from the Palm-trees in the neighbourhood. 4. The province of Rio de la Hacha, bounded r; 0 de la by the North-lea on the north ; by the province of Hacha Venezuela, on the eaft ; by Granada, on the fouth ; provincp = and by that of St. Martha, on the weft : It is a fmall extend" province, and frequently reckon’d a part of that of St. Martha : It abounds in corn and cattle, and has p , a pearl-fifhery upon the coaft, and fome falt-works. * <,Ce ' The chief towns are, 1. Rio de la Hacha ; and, chief 2 » Ranchena. towns. 1 The town of Rio do la Placha, fituated near r; 0 de j a the lNorth-iea, on a river of the lame name, in 1 1 Hacha degrees odd minutes northern latitude, to the eaft- town " ward of the town of St. Martha. This place has been fo often plunder d by enemies and Buccaneers, that the Spaniards abandon’d it for a time ; but have taken pofteffion of it again. 2. Runcheria, fituated on the fame coaft, about Ranchcria. 20 leagues north-eaft of Rio de la Hacha, and in- habited chiefly by the Pearl- fifhermen, that fiiliery lying about 4 or 5 leagues from the town. 5- ihe province of Venezuela, in which I in- vawnrf, elude the diftridt of Caracos, is bounded by the province. North-fea on the north ; by New Andaluzia on the eaft ; by Granada on the fouth, a^d Rio de la Ha- cha THE PRESENT STATE Face of the country. Produce. Chief towns. Venezuela. Caracos. Maracaibo. New Oi- Iralter. cha on the weft ; being about four hundred miles in length, from eaft to weft ; and three hundred in breadth, from north to fouth. This is the moft northerly province of South- America, the Capes of La Vela and Conquibacoa lying in i 2 degrees odd minutes north latitude. In this province we find abundance of exceeding high mountains and deep valleys, efpecially in the did riel of Caracos, which ftretches along the North-fea for twenty leagues. This part of the country. Dam pier obferves, is a continued tract of high ridges of hills, intermix’d with final! valleys, pointing upon the fnore from fouth to north ; the valleys not half a mile wide : And farther within land, the mountains are ftill higher, and the valleys fo narrow, that the land appears like one great mountain at a diftance. The tops of thefe hills are barren ; but the lower part of them, and the valleys between, have a rich mould ; fo that here is plenty of fugar, tobacco, corn, cat- tle, and rich paftures, and good ftore of venifon, filh, fowl, and fruits. Their plantations of Cacao- nuts are efteem’d the bell: in the Spanifh Weft-In- dies, of which they export great quantities, as they do of corn and falted flefh. There are alfo feveral gold mines in this province. Thefe advantages have drawn great numbers of Spaniards and Indians hither; and it has as many populous towns as any part of . South- America •, the chief whereof are, 1. Vene- zuela ; 2. Caracos; 3. Maracaibo ; 4. Gibralter ; 5. St. Jago de Leon ; 6. New Segovia ; 7. Tu- cuyo ; 8" Trugillo ; 9. Laguna"; and, 10. Ma- ricapano. 1 . Venezuela, or Little Venice, fo called from its fituation in the waters, {lands upon a peninfula near a gulph, to which it communicates its name, in 1 1 degrees of north latitude, and 69 degrees of weftern longitude, and has frequently the name of Coro in our" maps : It is the capital of the province, the refidence of the Governor and the Courts of ] uft ice, and a Bifhop’s fee, Suffragan to the Arch- bifhop of St. Domingo in Hifpaniola. 2. * Caracos, the capital of a diftrieft on the coafl of the North-fea, to which it gives its name, is fituated in ro degrees north latitude, and 68 degrees of weftern longitude : The country about it is re- markable for the beft Cocao-nuts to make Cho- colate. 3. Maracaibo, pleafantly fituated on the weft fide of a great lake, to which it gives its name, in 10 degrees odd minutes north latitude, and 70 de- grees of weftern longitude. The neighbouring lake is frefh water, 60 leagues in length, and 30 in breadth, and difc’narges itfelf into the North-fea. Upon the coafts of this lake the towns and villages ftand very thick ; among which is, 4. New Gibralter, a large town, fituated 40 leagues within the lake, in a pleafant country, a- bounding in Cocao, Sugar and Tobacco, and af- fording abundance of Cedar-trees, and other valu- able timber, fit for building Chips or houfes. Both thefe towns of Maracaibo and Gibralter were CHAP, taken and plunder’d by Lolonois, Captain of the I. French Buccaneers, in the year ; and after- wards by Captain Morgan, in the year 1669 ; Both the an enterprize that deferves to be recorded, being one ta i CPn by of the boldeft attempts that ever was made on the Sir Harry Spanifh fettlements in America ; of which we have Morean ‘ the following relation from a perfon engaged in it ; viz. Captain Morgan, having affembled a fleet of fifteen veffels, of all forts, mann’d with nine hun- dred and fixty men, appointed them to rendezvous at the port of Occa, a little to the weftward of St. Domingo in Hifpaniola ; where he propofed to take in cattle, and vidlual his fleet. The Gover- nor of Jamaica alfo order’d an Englifh Chip of thirty- fix guns to join him, which Morgan defign’d for his Admiral : But as he was feafting his Officers, drinking of healths, and firing guns, on board this Chip, it blew up, and three hundred and fifty of the men perifh’d in her ; but Morgan and his Offi- cers, who were drinking in the great cabbin, with about thirty more, which happen’d to be at fome diftance from the powder-room, efcaped with their lives. The lofs of this great fhip, with fo many men, one would have thought fhould have difeou- raged Morgan from profecuting his intended en- terprize, efpecially when feven more of his fleet were, by fome accident, feparated from the reft, and never join’d him afterwards. But the Captain, with eight fmall vefTels only, of which the largeft carried fourteen guns, and five hundred men, re- folved ftill to fland over to the continent, and attempt the town of Maracaibo. Setting fail therefore from Hifpaniola, he arrived at the ifland of Araba, fitu- ated about 1 2 leagues to the weftward of the Dutch ifland of CurafTow ; and here having furnifh’d him- felf with wood and frefh provifions, he fet fail again, and arrived the next day at the mouth of the gulph of Maracaibo, the entrance whereof he found de- fended by two forts, which he attack’d with great vigour, and the Spaniards defended them with no lefs bravery the whole day, but in the night abandon d them ; and Morgan took pofTeffion of the forts, in which he had another very narrow efcape ; for the Spaniards left behind them a kindled match near a train of gun-powder, which would have blown up all the Buccaneers in a few minutes, if it had not been difeovered by Captain Morgan himfelf, who, fnatching up the match haftily, faved his own and the lives of all his people. In thefe forts they found great quantities of fmall arms, ammunition and provifion, and fixteen pieces of cannon, between twelve and twenty-four poun- ders : The next day, the Captain, having difir ihu- ted the fmall arms and powder among his men, nailed up the cannon, and demolifhed part of the walls ; ordered his fleet to get over the bar at the entrance of the lake, and advanced to the town of Maracaibo, which he found abandon’d by the inha- bitants : .CHAP. bit ants : Whereupon he polled his mam -guard in J, the principal church, and fent out parties every way in fearch of the Spaniards ; and, having taken a- bout an hundred of them, he put feveral to the tor- ture (as my author fays) to make them difeover their wealth : And having continued thefe practices for three weeks, he marched to Gibralter, fituated a- bout 40 leagues further on the fame lake ; where being arrived, he was very warmly faluted, both by great and fmall fhot, from the walls ; but, after fome refiftance, this town alfo was abandon’d to the Buccaneers. Morgan thereupon order’d out fome parties in purfuit of the Spaniards, and two or three hundred were taken, and tortur’d by various ways ( if we may credit our author) to make them dif- eover their treafure and effects ; and the Governor of Gibralter, who had retired to an bland in a ri- ver that falls into the lake, very narrowly efcaped their hands, being removed further to an inacceffible rock but a little before the Buccaneers came to fearch for him. Morgan, having fpent twelve days in purfuit of the Governor, through woods and bogs, and con- tinual rains, returned to Gibralter, with his men, fo harraffed and fatigued, that fifty Spaniards, ’tis faid, might have defeated and cut them to pieces in their march, if they durft have attack’d them ; but fo much were thefe Adventurers dreaded by the Spa- niards, that they fled if they heard a leaf flir. The Buccaneers, having remain’d full five weeks in poflelfion of Gibralter, and extorted five thou- fand pieces of eight from the inhabitants for ranfom- ing the town from fire, began their marcli towards the mouth of the lake, taking along with them fome of the principal Spaniards, as a fecurity for the mo- ney the people had promifed for their liberty : Being arrived at Maracaibo, they underftood, that three large Spanifh men of war waited at the entrance of the lake to cut off their retreat, which occafioned fome confternation amongft the Buccaneers: How- ever, Captain Morgan put a good face upon the matter, and fentoneof hisprifbners to the Comman- der of that Squadron, demanding of him a confide- rable fum of money to redeem Maracaibo from the flames : To which the grave Spaniard fent the fol- lowing anfwer, viz. Don Alonzo del Campo et Espinosa, Admiral of the Spanifh fleet, to Captain Mor- gan, Commander of the Pirates. e ‘ Underftanding that you have dared to attempt ■ c and commit hoftilities in the countries, cities and towns belonging to the dominions of his Catho- ;c lick Majefty, my fovereign Lord ; I let you know, by thefe lines, that I am come, accorb- ing to my duty, to that cafile which you took ‘ c out of the hands of a parcel of cowards, and have u repaired the fortifications, and remounted the ar- U tillery you nail’J up. My intent is to difpute your paffage out of the lake, and purfue you CHAP <£ wherever you go: However, if you will fukmit I. “ to furrender the plunder you have taken, toee- 44 ther witli the {laves and priioners, I will let you 44 pafs to fea vrithout moleftation ; but if you rc’fufe 44 this offer, I will fend for forces to Caracos, and 44 put every man of you to tl 1C fword. Be prudent 44 therefore, and do not abufe my bounty : My fol- - 44 diers defire nothing more ardently than to revenge 44 on you the cruelties and outrages you have com- 44 mitted on the Spanifh nation in America. Da- 44 ted on hoard the Royal Magdalen, lying at an- 44 chor at the entrance of the lake of Maracaibo, 44 April 24. 1669.” Upon the receipt of this letter, Captain Mor- can affembled his men in the market-place of Ma- racaibo ; and, having acquainted them with the contents of it, he demanded if they chofe to furren- der their plunder, or fight their way through the e- nemy ? And they anfwered unanimoufly, they would fpend the laft drop of blood in defence of their boo- ty ; and one of them pvopofed the fitting up a great veffel they had taken in the gulph for a fire-fhip, with which he engaged to fet fire to the Admiral : How- ever, the difficulties of getting out of the lake by force appeared fo infuperable, that it was thought proper to make fome further overtures to the Spa- niards, in order to obtain a paffage without fight- ing : And, 1. They offered to quit Maracaibo, without requiring any ranfom for the town ; 2. They offered to releafe their prifoners and one half of the flaves ; 3. To releafe the hoftages they had taken for the contributions required. But Don A- lonzo rejected thefe propofals with fcorn, and would grant no other terms than thofe he firft of- fer’d them : Whereupon the Buccaneers prepared to force their way through ; and having fitted up their fire-fhip with coinbuftible matter, and difguifed her like a man of war, they failed to the entrance of the lake, and came to an anchor in fight of the enemy, on the 30th of April, in the evening. The next morning early, being May-day, Captain Mor- gan, weighed anchor again, and failed diredtly towards the enemy, with the fire-fhip at the head of his little fleet ; which the Spanifh Admiral looking upon as the {hip of the heft force, was preparing to engage her, when he was fuddcnly clapped aboard, and grappled by the fire-fhip ; and tho’ the Admiral made great efforts to difengage himfelf, he had the mortification to fee his fh ip confumed in the flames with moft part of his men. At which another of the Spanifh (hips was fo terrified, that the Captain run her aground near the cafile, and fet fire to her himfelf j and the third was taken by the Buccaneers. After this victory. Captain Morgan made ft defeent, and attack’d the cafile; for, without be- ing mafter of this fortrefs, he found it would fiill be very difficult to get out to fea, the channel for {hips to pafs lying juft under it : But Don Alonzo, the Spanifh Admiral, having thrown himfelf into the K k cafile. OF TERRA-flRM A. u 2 5 ° THE PRESENT STATE C H A P. caftle, with a numerous garrifon, repaired the works, I. and mounted abundance of artillery on the walls ; fir’d on the Buccaneers fo brifkly, that they were forced to retire to their (hips, having had thirty of their men kill’d, and as many wounded. Morgan, after this repulfe, enquir’d of his, prifoners what forces the Spaniards had fent againft him, and whether any more fliips were expedted to oppofe his paffage out of the lake. To which a Pilot, that belonged to one of the Spanifb men of war that was burnt, anfwer’d, That their fleet at iarft confifted of fix men of war ; whereof the largeft carried eight and forty guns, and another forty- four,, which were equipped out in Old Spain, to cruife on the Englifh Pirates, who infefted their American plantations ; but, being arrived at Carthagena, the two largeft fhips received orders to return to Spain, being judg’d too big to cruife upon thefe coafts ; and Don Alonzo, the Vice-admiral, failed with the other four to Campeachv, in queft of the Englifh, and loft one of the four in a violent ftorm that blew from the north in that bay. From Campeachy, Don Alonzo fail’d with the three remaining men of war to Hifpaniola, and from thence to Caracos on the continent ; where he underftood. Captain Morgan had plunder’d Maracaibo and Gihralter ; and therefore determin’d to lie with his fquadron at the mouth of the lake, to prevent the Buccaneers returning home with their plunder : And, tho’ the Admiral received advice they were preparing a fire-fhip, he flighted the intelligence, believing they had neither (kill nor materials to fit out a fire- fhip ; and fuffering himfelf to be furprized. Cap- tain Mo r can had obtain’d that eafy and unex- pected viCtory. The Pilot alfo informed the Captain, that one of the fhips that was burnt had forty thoufand pieces of eight on board : Whereupon he order’d one of his lhips to fifh up as much of the treafure as they could, and returned with the man of war he had taken, and the reft of his fleet, to Maracaibo ; and fent a meflage to the Admiral, that he would entirely deftroy that town, unlefs he gave him thirty thoufand pieces of eight to redeem it from the flames, and five hundred oxen to viClual his fleet ; which tire Governor refufing to comply with, the inhabi- tants, however, agreed among themfelves to raife twenty thoufand pieces of eight, and furnifh him with the oxen he requir’d ; which the Captain ac- cepted, and received advice, about the fame time, that the fhip he left to fifh up the treafure, had got fifteen thoufand pieces of eight more. But ftill the great difficulty remain’d, how they fhould pafs the caftle, and get out of the lake : Whereupon Cap- tain Morgan lent another meflage to Don Alonzo, the Admiral, to let him know, he would hang up all his prifoners if he attempted, to Interrupt his pafTage.. The Admiral, however, was not moved with this threat ; hut prepared to oppofe £be paffage. of the Buccaneers, with all his force,, Whereupon Captain Morgan had rccourfe to CHAP.' another ftratagem : He landed great part of his If men, as if he intended to attack the caftle a fecond time, which induced the Governor to remove mod of his great guns to the land fide, and place the beft part of his forces there : But it was no fooner dark, than Morgan reimbark’d his men again; and,, fuffering his fhips to fall down with the tide, with- out one fail {landing, pafled the caftle with his fleet before he was well perceived ; and then fpreadirig his fails, in an inftant got out of the reach of their guns before they could do him any confiderable da- mage ; and the Euccaneers, not long after, arrived fafely at Jamaica, with their plunder, which a- mounted to two hundred and fifty thoufand pieces of eight, befides a vaft quantity of rich merchandize. 6. The fixth province of Terra-Firma I (hail New Anda= defenbe, is New Andalufia ; in which I fhall com- prehend the dillridls of Comana and Paria,. and Park faus,- bound it by the North-fea on the north ; By the tion. river Oronoque, which divides it from Caribiana, or Guiana, on the eaft ; by the country of the Ama - zons on the fouth ; and by the provinces of Gra- nada and Venezuela on the weft ; extending in length, from north to fouth, five hundred miles and upwards ; and in breadth, from eaft to weft, be- tween two and three hundred miles. The principal The ri?er- river which waters this country, and into which Oronc< l ce ‘ fall many other confiderable ftreams, is that of Oronoque, or Paria, which rifes in the mountains of Andes, in the kingdom of Peru, not far from the South-fea, and running diruftly eaft for near two thoufand miles ; then turns to the north, and, con- tinuing that courfe above a thoufand miles more, falls into the North-fea by feveral channels, between 8 and 9 degrees of north latitude. The inland part of this country is mountainous. The face of ■- and covered with woods, intermixed with valleys ^ and meadows that yield com and pafturage ; but it is not near fo fruitful as that of Venezuela, or 16 full of towns and inhabitants : It is the moft eafter- ly province the Spaniards have in South-America for tho’ Caribiana, or Guiana, is ufually included in their Terra-Firma, the Spaniards have very few fettlements there. The produce of New Andalufia is chiefly Sugar and Tobacco, Brazil-wood, and fbme other valuable timber and woods for dying, with fome gums and drugs. The Spaniards alfo have introduced moft of the fruits of Europe here and there was formerly a valuable Pearl-fifhery on this coaft. The chief towns are, 1 ., Comana, or Chief town^ New Cordaba ; 2. Verina ; and 3.. St. Thomas.. 1 . Comana is fituated on a bay of the North- Comana. lea, in 10 degrees north latitude, and 65 degrees of weftern longitude ; faid to have a good harbour, and furrounded with hills and woods ; fo that the town cannot be difeerned ’till a fhip enters the har- bour : And it is a place of that ftrength, that we find they repulfed the Buccaneers who attack’d it in the- year i6yo 0 . a,-.. Verio*. 'CHAP. •Verina. St. Thomas. The province of Guiana, or Caribiana. ■European fettlements in this pro- vince. Rivers. The face of the country and air. o F T-E R R A-F I R M A. 251 2. Verina is fituated on the fame coaft, a little the {alt-marfhcs and {linking ouze, for the conve- CHAR to the eaftward of -Comana ; being a fmall town, niency of importation and exportation ; and ftich I. but remarkable for the excellent Tobacco that grows fituations are unhealthful in all countries ; but if in the neighbouring fields. they advance never fo little up into the country, 3. St. Thomas is fituated on the eaft fide of the make choice of an elevated fituation, and a hard river Faria, or Oronoque, near its mouth in 8 firm foil, they find a very fenfible difference, even degrees north latitude, and is the only confiderable in countries mod dreaded by foreigners ; of which fettlement the Spaniards have to the eaftward of that we made a very happy experiment at Bencouli in river, as far as I can learn : The forces Sir Wal- Sumatra, which retted all the Soldiers and Factors ter Ral e g h carried over to plant a colony in we fent thither for many years : But, upon remov- this country, attack’d and took this town, which ing the town to an eminence three miles diftant proved fatal to him ; for he loft his fon in the en~ from the former fort, we found the country as health- terprize, and afterwards his own head, on the com- ful as any other. From whence it is evident, that plaint of the Spanifh Ambaffador to the Court of ifwechufe a fituation for health, we can fcarcemifs England ; the Spaniards being more apprehenfive of it in any country ; but if our view is folely to than ordinary of our fixing a fettlement here, as trade, and the convenience of navigation, we muft it lay in the neighbourhood of fome of their gold be content to want that health we never fought mines, which they were then beginning to work : after. But I don’t find thefe mines have anfwered their ex- As for towns in this country, I find no other a- Indian peftations, or that any others have been difeovered mong the natives, who poflefs all the inland part 0 f towr!S ‘ of any confequence in this province. it, but ftraggling villages, confifting of poor huts, 7. The province of Guiana, or Caribiana, of the form of ordinary barns, which they frequent- bounded by the Northern or Atlantic ocean on the ly remove alfo, living a kind of vagrant life. Their north and eaft ; by the country of the Amazons furniture confifts of little more than tire hammocks on the fouth ; and by the provinces of Granada they fleep in (which are fometimes faftened to the and New Andalufia on the weft : It extends from ridge-poles of their houfes, and as often to the the Equator to the 8th degree of north latitude, and trees without doors) bafkets, earthern-pots and pans, lies between 50 and 63 degrees of weftern longi- gourds and calabafhes, that ferve them for bowls, tude, extending twelve hundred miles and upwards bottles, pails, and all manner of ufes : Thefe make along the Atlantic ocean, viz. from the mouth of up the reft of their houfhold equipage. the river Oronoque, to the mouth of the river of The Englifti had formerly feveral fettlements on TheEnglift Amazons. Some divide it into two parts, calling this coaft, which were yielded to the Dutch, by the that on the fea-coaft Caribiana, and the inland coun- treaty of Breda, in the year 1667; and the Dutch the Dutcho try Guiana. and French have ftill a great many forts and fettle- Several European Powers have fettlements on or ments here, with a good extent of country near the near the foa-coafts of this country, particularly the mouths of the rivers, which furnifh them with fu- Spaniards,the French and Dutch; but the natives are gar, tobacco, cotton, flax, fkins or paltry drugs, yet pofiefled of much the greateft part of it, and dying-woods, and feveral other confiderable articles : are not in fubje&ion to any of them, unlefs upon But I don’t find they have met with any mines of the fea-coaft. There are abundance of confiderable gold or filver, which our fir ft Adventurers expected, rivers (befides thofe of Oronoque, and the river The chief Dutch fettlement is that of Surinam, Surinam tne Amazon, already mention’d); and thefe, having fituated 5 leagues within the river of the fame name, their fources in the mountains on the fouth-weft, in 6 degrees odd minutes north latitude. They have generally run towards the north-eaft, and fall into given the name of Surinam to all the country about the Atlantic ocean : The principal whereof are, this fortrefs for feveral hundred miles ; and look 1. Efqueba ; 2. Brebue ; 3. Coratine ; 4. Suri- upon themfelves as Sovereigns of it ; and, indeed, nam ; 5. Marwyen, or Maroni ; 6. Cayenne; thefe are the only confiderable acquifitions the Dutch 3. Wia ; 8. Cauwo, or Courwo ; 9. Aperwacca, have had in America fince the Portuguefe drove or Aprouaque ; 10. Wiapoco ; 1 1 . Aracawo ; and them from Brazil, and the Englifh from New 12. Arabony. York. The fea-coaft of this country is generally low, The chief French fettlement is that of Cayenne, Cayenne the and fubjeeft to inundations, fuch a multitude of rivers fituated on an ifland at the mouth of a river of the running precipitately from the mountains in the in- fame name, in 5 degrees of north latitude, above land country during the rainy feafon. The air is 100 leagues to the northward of the river of Ama- excefllve hot and unhealthful, efpeciaily in fuch parts zons. The ifland is about 7 leagues long, and 3 of the country as are not cleared of the woods ; but broad ; well wooded and watered with rivulets ; there are even here fome elevated fituations tolera- and has feveral good French towns upon it, befides bly cool and healthful, where the air hath a free villages of Indians, producing fugar, tobacco, In- paflage. Indeed the Europeans generally choofe to dian-corn, and other grain and plants, like the fix their colonies near the mouths of rivers, among neighbouring continent ; and is held to be more K k 2 healthful 2 5 2 THE PRESENT STATE The perfons ©f the Ca- jibbeei. Cloathing and orna- ments. deputed 'Canibals by the firft Difcoverers j the truth whereof is enquired into. healthful, as it lies open to the fea-breezes. The Dutch Admiral Binks took it from the French in the year 1676 ; and the Count D’Estrees,. the French Admiral, recovered it the fame year ; and it was long contended for by France and Holland, but the French are now in poftefllon of this ifland ; and, as their fettlements extend to the fouthward, as far as the Equinodf ial, ’tis faid, they have given the name of Equinoctial France to all the fea-coafts between the river of Cayenne and the river of Amazons. As to the perfons of the Indians of Guiana and Caribiana, their complexion is a dark copper-colour, as all thofe are that lie fo near the Equator ; but they refemble their more northern neighbours of Terra-Firma in fize and features. Here are no nations or tribes of a gigantic or diminutive ftature, as the firft Difcoverers pretended. Thole who live in the neighbourhood of the Europeans wear fome little cloathing, for decency fake ; but the reft fcarce any, either men or women : Tho’ in ornaments moft of the Americans feem to agree, as in plates and rings for their lips and nofes ; heavy firings of heads and fhells about their necks, that reach almoft down to their bellies ; and in anointing and paint- ing their faces and bodies : And, inftead of beds, they ufe hammocks in moft places, both of North and South- America. And as Giants, Dwarfs and Monfters feem at prefent to be expelled from this continent, tho’ our firft Difcoverers met with fcarce any thing elfe, the cafe feems much the fame as to Canibals. There was not a province in America, where we were not allured there were tribes of thefe ; but in Caribiana, the country I am now defcribing, we were told there was nothing elfe but devourers of their own fpecies : That it was danger- ous for a man to fleep near his beft friend, left he fhould take that opportunity of murdering him, in order to feaft upon his carcafe ; and yet, for thefe laft hundred years, we meet with no Canibals here, or any where elfe. That people have eaten one another, driven to it by famine, I make no manner of doubt ; and an inftance or two of this nature has been thought fufficient to denominate the whole country Canibals. Men may fometimes alfo have facrificed their own fpecies to their gods ; of which others have had fuch an abhorrence, that they made no difficulty to believe they eat the facrifice, efpecially when it was ufual to feaft upon other ani- mals facrificed to idols by almoft all people. But further, every nation, in countries where ignorance prevails, looks upon other nations, efpecially their enemies, as barbarous ; and are perpetually making or telling ftories to create in their acquaintance an abhorrence of them : And, as nothing is more de- teftable than the killing and eating our own fpecies, all-people almoftfeem to have agreed in charging this piece of barbarity upon their enemies, and thofe they have little acquaintance with. I make no dcubt, but many of the American rations, as other's had done in Afia and Europe, charged their enemies CHAP, with this inftance of harbarifm ; and, when the I. Europeans came amongft them, were full of thefe ftories, which our credulous feamen took upon truft ; and fome of them, poffibly, went fo far, as to fay they had feen the Americans kill, drefs, and make a meal of their enemies : After which, no man was thought to have made any difcoveries in that part ot the world, who could not fay he was converfant with thofe fuppofed devourers of human flefh. And this was the reafon every traveller almoft brought home fome account of the Canibals he had feen in every other part of America, as well as this. But can we fuppofe that the Pop i Hr Miffionaries, and others, would fo often have ventured themfelves in the inland and unfubdued parts of America, and efpecially in Caribiana, without a guard, as we are allured they have done, if they had not been fatif- fied thefe relations were fabulous ? A very credible traveller informs us, indeed, that being about to pals through Caribiana, the many relations he had met with of their devouring their enemies and ftrangers, had made fuch an impreftion on him, that he com- municated his fears to one of their Caciques, who could not help exprefting his indignation, that he fhould entertain fuch thoughts of their people ; de- claring, that a foreigner might pafs through their country with as much fecurity as he could propofe in travelling through any other. To this give me leave to add what I have obferved before in treating of Afia : That it appears feveral nations, who have been charged with eating human flefh, have been fo far from it, that they have eat no flefh at all , but lived upon roots, herbs, fruits, or pulfe ; fcarce eating any thing that had life, lome of them making confcience of eating any animal. Our Buccaneers, who have traverfed the moft barbarous and uncultivated parts of America, and' feem to be very ready to give into thefe ftories of Canibals, have not, as I remember, been able to give us one inftance of their having feen any one man eaten ; only they tell us, that one of their comrades being taken by the Indians, they fuppofed he was roafted and eaten ; hecaufe, the next day, they came to a place where a great fire had been made, and difeovered human bones in the afhes : Which they might have done, if the Indians had only burnt their friend in terrcrc?n , as well as if they had broiled and eaten him : Nor is it at all improbable, the man was burnt ; for the Buccaneers have frequently committed fuch outrages, both upon the Spaniards and Indians, as to induce them to retaliate the injuries they have received, by putting them to the crueleft deaths. I fhall conclude this, topic with Mr. Dam pier’s opinion of the mat- ter, who had vifited as many parts of the world as any Englishman ever did, and efpecially feveral places of America, faid to be inhabited by Canibals, hav- ing been himfclf a Buccaneer, “ As f OF TERRA- CHAP. “As for the common opinion of Man-eaters, I. “ (fays that gentleman) I did never meet with any “ fuch people ; all nations and families in the world, 5STJ “ that I have foen or heard of, having fome fort Canibals. “ of food to live on ; either fruit, grain, pulfe, or “ roots, which grow naturally, or elfe are planted “ by them ; if not fifh and land-animals befides : “ Yea, even the people of New Holland had fifh “ admidft all their penury, and would fcarce kill a 44 man purpofely to eat him. I know not what “ barbarous cuftoms may have formerly been in the “ world : To facrifice their enemies to their gods, “ is a thing that is much talked of, with relation 44 to the Savages of America. I am a ftranger to “ that alfo, if it be, or have been, cuftomary in any “ nation there : And yet, if they facrifice their “ enemies, it is not neceftary they fhould eat them “ too. After all, I will not be peremptory in “ the negative ; but I fpeak as to the compafs of “ my own knowledge, and know fome of thefe 44 Canibal ftories to be falfe ; and many of them 44 have been difproved fince I went to the Weft- “ Indies. At that time how barbarous were the “ poor Florida Indians accounted, whom now we “ find to be civil enough ! What ftrange ftories 44 have we heard of the Indians ! Whole iflands “ were called The Ifies of Canibals (Caribbees ) ; “ yet we find they trade very civilly with the French 44 and Spaniards, and have done fo with us. I do 44 own, that they have formerly endeavour’d tc de- 44 ftroy our plantations at Barbados, and have hin- “ dered us from fettling in the ifland of St. Lucia, by “ deftroying two or three colonies fuceffively ; and “ even the ifland of Tabago has been often annoyed “ and ravaged by them, when fettled by the Dutch, 44 and ftill lies wafte (tho’ a delicate fruitful ifland) “ as being too near the Caribbees on the continent, “ who vifit it every year. But this was to preferve 44 their own right, by endeavouring to keep out any “ that fhould fettle themfelves on thofe iflands , 44 where they had planted themfelves ; yet, even 44 thefe would not hurt a fingle perfon, as I have 44 been told by fome that have been prifoners a- u mongft them. I could inftance alfo in the In- “ dians of Boca Toro and Boca Drago, and many 44 other places where they do live, as the Spaniards 44 call it, wild and lavage ; yet there they have 44 been familiar with Privateers, but by abufes have 44 withdrawn their friendfhip again. And as for 44 the Nicobar people (an ifland in the Gulph of 44 Bengal, reported to be inhabited by Canibals) 44 I found them affable enough ; and therefore did Ig 44 not fear them.” • Enquiries The relations of there being nations of Giants, and ries°orGbnts ^ war ^ s * n South- America, feems to have no better and Duarff. authority than their ftories of Canibals. There may have been men feen above the common hze there, as we find fome tall people in Ireland andGermany ; but thefe are not common any where any more than a race of Dwarfs ; tho’ fome travellers relate, they FIRM A. 253 have feen nations, where a perfon 3 foot high was CHAP, looked upon as a tall man amongft them. I, But there is nothing the common people in every country feem to have been more univerfally agreed cra f t and in, than in their notions of magic, witchcraft, and magic, a vifible and familiar converfation that fome preten- ders to the black-art have with the Spirit of darknefs ; by whofe affiftance they gratify their revenge upon their enemies, foretel future events, and know things t ran fiufted at the greateft diftance the very moment they are done. Every nation of the Americans, and efpecially the Caribbees, pretend to have fome fuch adepts a- mongft them ; and this office of Conjurer or Divi- ner is generally affign’d to their Priefts, poffibly for no other reafon, but becaufo they are fomething fu- perior to the common people in their experience and knowledge of nature ; which has made many a man looked upon as a Conjurer in this part of the world, particularly the celebratedFriarBACON » and it is not unlikely, that the Prieft or Conjurer endeavours fometimes to contribute to the cheat, to keep up or advance his reputation among igno- rant people. Mr. Wafer (Surgeon to a company of Bucca- Wafer’s at-- neers) who refided a confiderable time among the ^dilnPawlT Darien Indians in the year 168 f, gives the follow- W ersorCoa- ing account of thefe Pawawers, or pretended Con- jurera. jurers, of Terra-Firma: He fays, enquiring of the- Indians when they expected any fhips, they lent for fome of their Conjurers, who immediately went to work to raife the Devil, and enquire at what time a fhip would arrive ; and firft, they made a parti- tion in the houfe with hammocks, that the Pawa- wers might be by themfelves; they continued fome time at their exercife, and Wafer and his com- rades heard them making moft hideous yellings and fhrieks, imitating the voices of all manner of ani- mals ; they beat alfo on their wooden-drums, founded their court-fhells, and had fome ftring-inftruments they play’d upon ; making altogether a horrible noife : Then they broke out into loud exclamations, which were followed with a profound filence ; and receiving no anfwer, after they had waited a confi- derable time, they came and turned all the Chrifti- ans out of the houfe, and then went to work again j but ftill receiving no anfwer, after an hour or more, they made a new fearch, and finding fome of the Chriftians cloaths hanging up in a bafket, they threw them out of doors, and then fell to pawawing again : - After a little time, they came out in a muck-fweat, and going down the river and wafhing themfelves, they returned and delivered their oracle to this ef- fect : 44 That the tenth day, from that time, there 44 would arrive two fhips ; and in the morning of 44 that day they fhould hear the firft gun, and fome 44 time after another : That one of the Chriftians 44 fhould die foon after ; and that going on board 44 they fhould lofe one of their mufkets.” They were fo particular alfo to tell them, that the Demon informed THEP RESENT STATE £ 54 CHAP, informed them, one of them would be an Englifh I. fhip ; of the other they were doubtful, but faid they were afraid it would prove a Spanifh fhip ; which prediction, Wafer affuresus, was exadily fulfilled, even as to that circumffance that one of the fhips was Spanifh, and under the command of . a Spaniard at the time of the pawawing ; but was afterwards taken by the Englifh Privateer, which .arrived with her upon thecoaft; and W afer and his comrades were no fooner on board the Englifh 'Privateer, hut Go psoy one of their number died, having been overfet and half-drown’d in going on board, and loft his mulket, as the Pawawers had foretold. As thefe things are no part of our creed, people are at liberty to give what credit to them they pleafe ; but W afer’s taking notice, that thefe Pawawers could do nothing as long as the Chriftians, or any thing that belong’d to them, was in the houfe, puts me in mind of the pretenfions of the Eaft-Indians to the like commerce with Satan, to whom (if we may be- lieve them) he appears perfonally, and entertains fre- quent converfation with them in the night ; but when any of our foldiers have offered to go with them, and be witneffes of their conferences with the Spirit of darknefs, they always refufed them this favour, alledging, he would not appear if any Chri- ftian was prefent, which fmells ftrongly of a cheat ; for many of our people, who refort to thefe coun- tries, have not more Chriftlanity than the Indians themfelves, if we may judge by their morals : Satan need not be afraid to appear before them on account of their fanclity ; and even W afer tells us, in an other place, that he gave very little credit to thefe appearances of the Devil; for, when one of thefe Pawawers told the company he appeared, and pre- tended to entertain a. converfation with him, they faw nothing, nor heard any voice but their own. Religion of As to religion, we are told, that thefe people ueCariboees y, ave a g reat veneration for the Sun and Moon, as the Mexicans have ; but pay them no divine ho- nours, or apply to them in their diftreffes, but to inferior demons, to which our travellers have given the appellation of devils ; though ’tis very poffible, that the Indians, as well as the Pagans of old, look upon them as a kind of mediators to the fupreme Deity, and worfhip them as fuch. They may alfb be apprehenfive of mifchief from an evil fpirit, as the Eaft-Indians are, and endeavour to appeafe him, by paying him divine honours ; but moll of the ac- counts we have yet received of thefe things, have very much the air of a fable. "New Grana- 8. New Granada, the next province I am to de- The fituati- ^ cr '^ e 5 * s hounded by the provinces of St. Martha, ©n and ex- Venezuela, and New Andalufia, on the north; by tent. Guiana, or Caribiana, on the eaft ; by the country of the Amazons on the fouth ; and by Popayan on the weft ; being about fix hundred miles in length, from the north-eaft to the fouth-weft ; and five hun- Taee of the dred in breadth. This large inland country affords «ouatry. J vaft variety of hills and fruitful valleys ; .is well wa- CHAP, tered with navigable rivers, and efteem’d as health- I. ful as any part of Terra-Firma. The chief rivers '-/•VNJ are, i. The river Grande, or Magdalena, which, ? r lve , rs '. rifing in the fouth, runs diretly crofs ft ; falling in- 3S 3 to the North-fea, to the northward of Carthagena. 2. The river Oronoque, which rifing in Popayan, Oronoque. runs diretly eaft the whole length of this province; and then turning to the northward, falls into the North-fea againft the ifland of Trinadad. Their mountains have mines of gold and filver Gold mines, in them : They have Cedar-trees, and a great deal Timber., of other good timber; and no want of Horfes, Oxen, Cattle. Hogs, Goats, Venifon, Filh and Fowl ; but the country is not proper for Sheep. Here is afto great plenty of corn and fruits, both Spanifh and Ameri- Corn, can, Guiacum, Balm, and feveral other valuable Fruits, gums and drugs. The chief towns are, i. Santa-Fe de Bagota ; chief towns. 2. Tocama; 3. Pampeluna ; 4. Velez; 3. Tri- nidad; 6. Palma; 7. Tunia; and 8. St. .John de Lanos. Santa-Fe de Bagota, is fituated in the Lake Gua- Santa-Fe. tavita, a little to the eaftward of the river Magda- lena, in 4 degrees odd minutes north latitude, and 74 degrees of weftern longitude, in a plentiful coun- try, that abounds in corn and cattle : This is the mod confiderable town in all the Terra-Firma ; the feat of the Governor and the Courts of juftice, and an Archbifhop’s fee, to whom the Bifhops of St. Mar- tha, Carthagena, and Popayan are Suffragans. 2. Tocama, fituated at the conflux of the rivers Tocams. Magdalena and Pati, a little to the northward of Santa-Fe ; remarkable for the falt-fprings in the neighbourhood of it. 3. Pampeluna, fituated at the foot of the moun- Pampeluna. tains, 60 leagues north of Santa-Fe, has fome gold mines near it. 4. Velez, fituated almoft in the midway between Vele*. Pampeluna and Santa-Fe, near a remarkable vul- cano, by whofe eruptions this and the adjacent towns are fometimes damaged and endangered. 5. Trinidad, fituated on the river Magdalena, Trinidad 20 leagues to the northward of Santa-Fe, near which, ’tis faid, are found quarries of fine Marble, rocks of Cryftal, Emeralds, and other precious ftones. 6. Palma, fituated thirty miles fouth-eaft of Tri- Palma, nidad. 7. Tunia, a fortrefs fituated on a mountain four- Tunia. /core miles fouth-eaft of Trinidad, erected by the Spaniards to keep the Indians in awe, and received its name from the Indian nation that inhabits this part of the country. 8. St. Juan de los Lanos, or St. John of the Plains, St - J oh . n ^ fituated on the river Baraguan, an hundred and the plaui!j thirty miles fouth-eaft of Santa-Fe, near which, ’tis faid, there are gold mines ; but as this is an in- land country, feldom vifited by foreigners, and the Spaniards induftrioufly conceal the produce of it from OF TERRA- FIRM A. Popayan province. Pace of the country. ©old intheii mountains and rivers. Rivers. Bona-entura river and bay. Tomaco ri- ver. St- Jago ri- ver. ^anglares point. Chief towns. Popayan. St. John de Baflo, Madrigal. from the reft of the world, left they fhould be tempted to difturb them in the enjoyment of thefe valuable acquifitions ; it muft be confeiled, the accounts we have received of thefe places are very imperfetft. The laft province I am to defcribe in Terra-Fir- ma, is that of Popayan, bounded by the province of Terra-Firma Proper on the north ; by New Granada on the eaft ; by the Audience of Quitto in Peru on the fouth ; and by the Pacific ocean on the weft ; extending in length from north to fouth four hundred miles, and in breadth three hundred. A chain of barren mountains, almoft impaflable, runs through the country from north to fouth ; fome of which are vulcano’s, and in one of them the load- ftone is found. Towards the fhores of the South- fea the land is low and flat ; and, as it rains near three quarters of the year, innumerable rivers and torrents fall from the mountains into the South-lea, in the far.ds whereof is found a great deal of gold- duft ; and there are mines of the fame metal in the mountains, which induces the Spaniards to build towns and refide in fome parts of it, how uncom- fortable foever it may be to live juft under or near the Equator, where the heat and rains are extremely troublelome, as well as unwholelome. The chief rivers are, r. Bonaventura, which ri- ling in the mountains, runs to the weftward, and fails into a bay of the fea of the fame name, in 4 de- grees, odd minutes north latitude. 2. The river Tomaco, which rifes in the fame mountains, and running parallel to the former, falls into the South- fea, to the fouthward of it, in 2 degrees, odd mi- nutes north latitude. 3. The river of St. Jago, which takes its courfe in like manner to the weft- ward, and falls into the fame fea, near the point or promontory of Manglares, about 20 leagues to the lbuthward of Tomaco. . The chief towns of the province of Popayan are, 1. Popayan; 2. Agreda, or St.John de Pafto ; and 3. Madrigal. The city of Popayan is fituated at the foot of the mountains, on a fruitful plain, in 3 degrees of north- latitude, and 76 degrees of weftern longitude. It is aBilhop’s fee, Suffragan of Santa- Fe ; the- feat of the Governor and of the Courts of juftice ; and is laid to be a large town, and a place of good trade. St. John de Pafto is fituated upwards of an hun- dred miles louth-weft of Popayan, in a pleafant plain, well watered with rivers ; in the neighbour- hood whereof are many fugar-farms ; and they feed great herds of cattle in their favannahs, or mea- dows. Madrigal lies an hundred and forty miles to the fouthward of the city of Popayan, in a barren coun- try, but rich in gold mines. I fhall, in the next place, give fome deferiptien of the remaining iflands that lie on the coaft of Terra-Firma (thofe near Terra-Firma Proper, both ,:n the North and South-feas, having been already deferibed.) Thofe that lie in the South-lea, on the coaft of C H A Popayan, are, 1 . Gorgona, a pretty high woody II ifland, producing large tall trees, and feveral fprings of good water, lies in 3 degrees north latitude, and 4 leagues weft of the continent : The anchoring- Orreonad place in a deep Tandy bay at the weft end of the ifland. It is about fix miles in length, and four in breadth, but uninhabited ; and at the eaft end is a final! ifland that looks white with the dung of fowls; and another like it at the weft end. The coaft on the continent over-againft it is low land ; but there are exceeding high mountains beyond in the inland country. Between the ifland Gorgona and the ri- ver Bonaventura, 2; leagues north-eaft of it, are feveral fmall rivers, in the lands whereof the Spanifh Indians find gold-duft, that' it wafted down from the neighbouring mountains. The ifland of Gallo lies 2 7 leagues to the fouth- Gallos ward of Gorgona, in a deep bay, on the north-eaft part whereof is good riding for {hips. Thisalfo is pretty high land, well furnifhed with good timber, and has feveral fprings of frefti water in it : There are alfo feveral fine fandy bays in the ifland, where a fhip may be cleaned. The water is fhallow all round the ifland ; and both at the north and fouth points are feveral rocks, fome whereof look like barns, and others like fhips under fail. To th® - north-eaft, on the main land, 3 leagues diftance, is the large river Tomaco ; and a league and half within the river an Indian village of the fame name, where {hipping frequently touches to take in refrelh- ments. From this river, a wood of fine timber- trees extends 1 o or 12 leagues to the fouthwards, whither the Buccaneers and Privateers refort, when they want marts and other fhip-timber ; for neither the iflands nor the neighbouring coaft on the conti- nent are inhabited by Spaniards, only they come hi- ther in the dry feafon to fearch the far.ds of the nu^ merous rivulets on this coaft for gold. The iflands of Gorgona and Gallo have been Thefe frequently vifited by the Buccaneers and other Ad- 1 j ands . ref T” venturers, who take in wood and water, careen their venturers, fhips, and wait for Spanifh prizes here ; thefe iflands lying in tire road from Peru to Panama. Near Cape CapeFTan- Francifco, about 2 5 leagues to the fouthward of tooJ& Gallo, Sir Francis Drake took that rich prise, gaileom from the Spaniards, call’d the Cacafogo, in which herc ’ he found eighty pounds weight of refined gold, twenty-fix tons of filver. and a confiderable quantity of precious-ftones and pearls : And, near the fame cape, our countryman Dam tier took two prizes from the Spaniards in the year 1704; but thefe were laden only with provifions, viz. Wine, Brandy, Sugar, Marmalet, Flour, Bacon, Chocolate, &c„ that the Spaniards were carrying from Peru to fupply the city of Panama. This Cape Francifco lies in 1 degree north latitude, and in 3 t degrees, odd minutes weftern longitude. To the fouthward of Cape Francifco lies Cape Pafteo, juft under the Equator, or rather 8 minutes Cape fouth- T HE PRESENT STATE 256 CHAP, fouth of it; which is another* nation where our Pri- I. vateers ufe to wait for the Spanifh plate-fleets going from- Peru -to Panama. The land near this cape is mountainous and woody. I proceed in the next place, to defcribe the reA of the iflands on the coaA of Terra-Firma in the North- fea, which lie between the mouth of the river Oro- vr.oque on the eafl, and the entrance of the gulph of V enezuela or Maricaibo on the weA. Trinity The principal of thefe iflands, and the mofleaA- erly, is that of the Trinity, fubjeiA to the Spaniards; fo named by Columbus, who difcover’d it in his third voyage, ann. 1498. It is fituated near the mouth of the river Oronoque, three miles from the continent of Paria, or New Andulufia ; between 9 and 10 degrees of north latitude, and 60 and 64 degrees of weAern longitude ; and is about 30 leagues in length, and 20 in breadth. The air is deem’d unhealthful, but the foil tolerable fertile, producing •Sugar, Cotton, Indian-corn and fruits, and the beA Tobacco the Spaniards are maAers of. The chief town is named St. Jofeph, fituated on a bay of the fea, over-againA the continent. It was taken by Sir Walter Ralegh in the year 1595, and by the French in 1676, who, befides their plunder, extorted eighty thoufand pieces of eight from the Spaniards, to ranfom it from the flames. Tat>ago Tabago lies a little to the north-eaA of Trinity ; ifland. but this belonging to Great Britain, will be defcribed among the reA of the Britifh iflands in America. Margaretta, The moA confiderable Spaniflr ifland on thiscoaA, next to Trinity, is that of Margaretta, fituate in i 2 degrees north-latitude, about 49 leagues to the wefhvard of Trinity, and 7 or 8 leagues from the continent. It is about 1 6 leagues in length, and eight in breadth, high land ; and had the name gi- ven it by the Spaniards, on acccfunt of the fine pearl-fifhery they found there, which feems to be exhaufled at prefent. The foil affords Indian-corn and fruits, and the Spaniards have introduced many of the plants and fruits of Spain ; but they are forced to import all the water they drink from the conti- nent ; and there is very little wood or paAure to be met with on the ifland. The chief town is that of Monpater, at the eaA end of the ifland, defended by a good fort, where the Governor refides. SaftTortuga. Salt Tortuga, i 4 leagues to the weAward of Mar- garetta, fo named from its falt-pits, and to diAin- guifn it from French Tortuga, on the north coaA of Hifpaniola and Tortuga, near the fouth cape of Florida ; every one of which received their names from the numbers of Tortoifes that refort thither at the feafon to lay their eggs. This Tortuga is a bar- ren defart ifland, yielding neither corn or grafs, and is not more than ten or twelve miles in circumfe- rence ; only valuable to the Spaniards, on account of the fait they fell to foreigners, particularly to the inhabitants of the Caribbee iflands. Orchilia Ro- The iflands of Orchilla, Roca and Aves, are fmall Av&s. in confiderable iflands, fituated to the weAward of Tortuga, and fearce deferves mentioning, except CHAP, for a good harbour in the middle of that of Aves, on I, the north fide, whither the Buccaneers frequently refort to careen their fhips, and take in frefh water. A French fquadron of men of war, commanded by Count D’Estrees, wascaA away on the rocks that lie before this ifland, in the year 1678, and not two of their fliips faved. A little to the weAward of Aves, lies the ifland of Bonayre, in form of a crefcent, about 1 6 leagues Bonayre. in compafs, and fituated about z o leagues north of the coaA of Caracos : The middle of the ifland in 1 2 degrees, 1 6 minutes north latitude. This belongs to the Dutch, who have feven or eight foldiers here, and five or fix families of Indians, who plant Maize, Guinea-corn, Yams and Potatoes for their maAers ; but their chief employment is the looking after their Goats, of which the Dutch fait up great numbers every year : They have alfo fome Horfes, Cows and Oxen upon the ifland, and the Dutch make Salt at the eaA end of the ifland. Nine or ten leagues farther to the weAward, and about as many from the continent, lies the ifland of Curaffow, or Querifao ; the moA northerly point of Curaffow, it in 1 2 degrees, 40 minutes north latitude. There is a good harbour on the fouth-eaA part of the ifland, where the Dutch have a confiderable town, defended by a Arong fort. The country is level, and feeds abundance of cattle ; they have alfo fome fugar-farms, and final! plantations of fruits and roots ; but Dam- pier obferves, it is not fo much eAeemed for its produce, as its fituation for a trade with the Spanifli WeA-Indies : Formerly the harbour was never with- out fhips from Carthagena and Porto-Bello ; the Spaniards purchafing a thoufand or fifteen hundred Negroes at a time of them, befides great quantities of European commodities ; but part of thistrade has of late fallen into the hands of the Engl ifh : However, the Dutch have Aill a very extenfive trade in the Spanifh WeA-Indies, fending fliips of good force from Holland, freighted with European goods to this coaA, from whence they make very profitable returns. Let the Spanifh Governors prohibit this fmuggling trade never fo feverely, the Spaniards Aand fo much in need of European commodities, that they will run any hazards to deal with the Dutch ] and as it is their common interefi to con- nive at this kind of traffick, the people cannot be very hearty in their endeavours to prevent it. The ifland of Araba, or Oraba, lies 7 or 8 leagues Arabs, to the weAward of Curaffow, at the entrance of the gulph of Venezuela, or Maricaibo, being about 5 or 6 leagues in compafs. It is a level country, ex- cept only one hill, that riles like a fugar-loaf in the middle of it : This ifland alfo belongs to the Dutch, and furnifhes Curafiow with goats and flieep ; and there are fome few fugar-plantations in it. Thefe are all the iflands the Dutch are maAers of in Ame- rica ; nor have they any thing upon the continent, unlefs Surinam in Guiana, or Caribiana, Before OF TERRA- CHAP. Before Idifmiis the defoription of Terra-Firma, I. ^ may be proper to take notice of the difcovery and conqueft of it by the Spaniards; of which we have not fo large and particular an account as we have of the conqueft of Mexico and Peru ; this being re- duced under the Spanish yoke by abundance of inferi- or Adventurers, who bought or begg’d the refpecftive provinces, comprehended under the general name of Terr a-Fir m a, of the King of Spain ; or ufurped upon thofe that had obtained patents or grants from that Prince. Thefe, after a milerable daughter of the naked and defencelefs Indians, fell out among themfelves, and cut one anothers throats, fcarce any of the Adventurers dying natural deaths, or by the (words of the Indians, but generally by each others hands. ™ e J* fc °- Columbus barely difcovered this north-coaft Terra Fir- Sot'th- America, from the mouth of the river Oro- ma. noquein the eaft, to Porto- Bello in the weft; and tho’ he went on fhore infeveral parts of it, with an intent to eredt forts, and plant colonies, in proper places, he was diverted from it, and did not fix one fettlement upon that coaft. The fir ft co- VascoNunez de Balboa, who attended i^Lrien General Enciso in an expedition from Cuba to or Terra- Darien, or T. erra-Firma Proper, firft fettled a co- Firma Pro- lony, and built a fort on the weft fide of the Gulph of Darien, about the year 1510, to which he gave the name of Santa Maria el Antigua, or Old St Mary’s. Enciso, it feems, was very unfortunate in this enterprize, loft a great many men in feveral engage- ments with the Indians, and more by the hardfhips his people underwent for want of provifions ; where- upon thofe that efcaped, having a great opinion of the bravery and conduH of Vasco'’, to whofe pru- dence they ow’d their prefervation in a great mea- lure, refufed to obey E n c 1 s o any longer, and eleded Vasco Nunez their Commander, a man every- way qualified for great undertakings : And Enciso thereupon returned to Spain, to complain of the de- fection of his people, and get his commiftion con- firmed and enlarged. In the mean time, Vasco applied himlelf to make farther difcoveries ; and, in order to it, en- deavoured to cultivate a friendfhip with Car eta the Cacique, who commanded that part of the coun- try, which lies to the weftward of the Gulph of Da- rien ; and when he found he was not difpofed to en- ter into a treaty with the Spaniards, he furprifed the Clique in the night-time, making him prifoner, and killing lome of his people : But Vasco offer- ing to give the Cacique his liberty, on condition he would, furnifh him with provifions, they made an alliance ; and, to cement it the ciofer, the Cacique gave V a sco one of his daughters, a beautiful young Indian, for his wife; or, as the Spaniard underftood •r, for a concubine ; and he ufed her with great ten- dernefs, tho he afterwards married a Spanifti lady. a sco alfo found two Spaniards in the territories of VOL, III, FIRMA. 257 Caret a, that efcaped thither out of a (hip, and CHAP- hved almoft two years among the Indians, who were I. very ferviceable to him, as interpreters, in his fuc- V'V'X? deeding enterprizes. Caret a being engaged in war with Ponca, a neighbouring Cacique, at the arrival of the Spa- niards, put them upon invading his territories ; and Ponca finding himfelf unable to refill his old ene- my, fupported by thefe ftrangers, abandoned his country, where the Spaniards found confiderable quantities of gold. Comagre, another Cacique, a friend of Careta, voluntarily fubmitted to Vasco, and furnifhed him with gold to a confide- rable value ; and the fbn of this Cacique, obferving the Spaniards ready to fight about dividing their trea- intimation* lure, having handfomely reproved their covetous for- given the did temper, told them, he would direct them to a S , pani3rds of country where they would find as much gold and Loan'd the 1 ver as their hearts could wifh, if they thought it trea fares of worth the while to undergo the fatigues, and run the Peru ‘ hazards, that were neceftary to obtain it ; for the country lay beyond high mountains of difficult ac- cefs, and they muft afterwards traverfe another ocean beyond thofe hills, before they came at it ; and as they were to pafs through the territories of feveral powerful Princes before they arrived at that fea, the Indian Prince advifed, they fhould increafe their forces to a thoufand men, before they entered upon fo great an undertaking. Vasco Nunez de B a l b 0 a was overjoy’d to hear of countries thus abounding with treafure, and of another ocean ; and upon this intelligence return- ed to Darien again, in order to make’ fuitable pre- parations for the difcovery of them. He alfo dif- patch’d expreffes to Hifpaniola, and to Spain, with the joyful news ; defiring fuch a reinforcement, as might enable him to reduce thofe countries under the obedience of his Catholick Majefty. He alfo fent over to Spain the value of fifteen thoufand pieces °f ei S ht in g°U, as a fpecimen of what thofe coun- tnes P ro( luced ; and every man font fbme prefont to his friends of the fame metal : Upon feeing whereof, and hearing the reprefentations that were made of the country, by thofe that were fent over, it was named Caftilla del Oro, or Golden Caftile ; tho’ it afterwards recovered the name, firft given it by Columbus, of Terra-Firma. " But thefe fortunate beginnings met with a confi- derable check from the divifions among the Adventu- rers; for Vasco, having no other authority than what the troops had conferred upon him, every one expected to have his advice attended to, and if he was not confidered as he expected, became a male- content : So ftrong was the party form’d againft him, that he was once compelled to quit the town of Da- rien to the mutineers ; but a fuppiy of an hundred and fifty men being font him from Hifpaniola, with a commiftion to be Captain-General of Terra-Firma, his enemies all fubrnitted to him, and he continned his preparations for the difcovery of the South- fea ; E S tho? 2 5 S THE PRESENT STATE CHAP, tho’ he received intelligence from Spain, that En- I. ciso had fo far prevailed in his complaints againft ^yV him, that he would he foon fent for over, and ano- ther Governor appointed for that fervice. He con- fidered, ’tis (aid, that if he prov’d fuccefsful in this expedition, it would probably obliterate all his faults; and if he did not, death would put an end to his cares. He made choice therefore of two hundred Spani- ards and a thoufand Indians, whom he embarked on board a brigantine, and fome canoes, the beginning of September 1713; and went by water to the ter- ritories of the Cacique Caret a, who had given him his daughter; and being join’d by the forces of that Cacique, advanced towards the mountains, through the dominions of the Cacique Ponca, who fled at firft at the approach of the Spaniards ; but, upon an aflurance that Vasco intended no hurt to him, or his people, Ponca returned, and furnifhed the Spaniards with fuch provifions as the country af- forded; for which the Indians were paid in axes, knives, and fuch other tools and implements as they valued moll. This Cacique alfo furnifhed them with guides to pals the mountains, and with porters to car- ry their baggage. Vas co continued his march up the mountains ’till he came to the territories of another Cacique, nam’d Qu are tvu A, who aflembled his forces, and made fome Ihew of oppofing their pafTage : This Prince, the hiftorian relates, was cloath’d in a quilted cotton coat, which he wore as armour, and was fufficient to break the force of their country weapons ( but his fubjedts were moll of them naked ) their arms being bows and arrows, flings, fpears and darts, pointed and hardned in the fire, and clubs ; but, upon the firing two or three mufkets, thefe warriors all turn- ed their backs and fled, imagining, fays my author, that their enemies had the command of thunder and lightning, as they faw their men drop down dead at the time the guns were fired, and they heard the report : While the Spaniards, to increafe their ter- ror, and that the Indians might no more dare to op- Several hun* pofe them, killed upwards of fix hundred of thefe dred Indians p 00r defencelefs people as they fled, among whom was the Cacique Qu are qjj a himfelf. The Spa- niards had no horfe with them at this time, and as the Indians were naked, and much fwifter of foot, they would probably have efcaped this {laughter, had not the Spaniards carried packs of great dogs with them, which ovetook and worried thefe miferable people, ’till their cruel mailers came up, and flaugh- tered them at pleafure. This was the way the Spa- niards made war upon the Indians in almoft every part of America ; neither woods or mountains could fave the natives from their rage ; they hunted them out, and tore in pieces men, women and children ; which made the Americans, who at firft took the Spaniards to be gods, change their minds, and look upon them as devils. After this vidfory, as the Spaniards call it, they plunder’d the homes of the Indians, where they found tut in pieces by the Spa- niards . great quantities of gold ; and, what was Hill more CHAP, barbarous, caus’d many of the people they found in I. them to be torn to pieces by dogs, under pretence they were Sodomites, tho’ they had no manner of proof ot it, as their own hiftorian Anton 10 de IIerera acknowledges. From the place where the Spaniards landed, to the tops ot the mountains, was reckoned about fix days journey; but the want of provifions, and other interruptions, occafioned their fpending five and twenty days in their march, before they arrived at the hills where the South-fea might Ire difcerned : The South- And now Vasco Nunez having notice, that *" ea difcove- they fhould have a view of that fea, on advancing a little farther, ordered all his forces to halt ; and go- ing up to the top of the hill alone, faw that vaft o- cean ; whereupon he fell upon his knees, and with hands lifted up, gave thanks to heaven, that he was the firft European who had feen it : Then calling up his men after him, great rejoicings were made upon theoccafion ; and an inftrument was drawn up, im- porting, 'I hat here Vasco Nunez took poflef- fion ot the South-fea, and all the countries bordering upon it, for the Crown of Caftile. Crofles were erected, and great heaps of ftones railed, and the King ot Spain’s name engraved on feveral trees’ Th is was performed on the 25 th of September 1513. The Indians flood amazed at all this formality, not being yet acquainted with the ambition and avarice of the Spaniards, who came to take their country from them, and had already fwallowed this new world, and all its treafures, in their imaginations. From this mountain, the Spaniards defeending into the country of the Cacique Chi a pa, found that Prince and his forces aflembled to oppofe their march ; but thefe alfo fled, on the firing two or three mufkets ; and many of them were flaughtered by the Spaniards, or torn in pieces by their dogs ; which execution fo terrified Chiapa and his fubjeds, that they immediately fubmitted, and made the General a prefent of all the gold they had, in order to appeafe him ; and the Spaniards took up their quarters in Chiapa’s chief town ; from whence V a s c 0 af- terwards marched to the South-fea, and going into it up to his knees, again took pofleflion of this fea, and all that belonged to it, for the King of Caflile and Leon, and then returned to his quarters. Pie afterwards crofs’d a great river, and made an incur- fion into the territories of the Cacique Co car a ; and having deftroyed fome of his people, this Prince alfo fubmitted, and defired the Spaniards friendfhip, making them a prefent of his gold, for which he re- ceived European tools and toys in exchange. Vasco Nunez arriving at a fine bay of the fea, on the 29th of September, gave it the name of St. Michael’s, which it ftill retains : And the Caciques informing him, that there were fome Hands not far off, where great quantities of pearls were to be had, he defired them to bear him company thither ; but they reprefented it was dangerous going thither OF TERRA-FIRM A. CHAP. in canoes at that time of the year : However, fince I. he would not be difl'uaded from the enterprize, they went off with him in their canoes, but were foon driven back again, and the Spaniards very narrowly efcaped being drowned. He afterwards invaded the territories of a Ca- cique, namedTuMACo, which lay upon this bay, who being terrified into a fubmiffion, as his neigh- bours had been, prefented the General with gold to a very great value, but much more in large pearls, which had received fome damage by the fire the In- dians ’till then ufed in opening the pearl-oyfters : Tumaco alfo informed Vasco, that the coaft extended without end to the fouthward, pointing towards Peru, where he faid there were prodigious fxeafures of gold and filver to be found. Vasco Nunez, having made thefe di (cover ies, refolved to return to Darien not diredlly, but took a circuit through the territories of feveral other Ca- ciques, fome of whom he fubdued by force, and others voluntarily entered into alliances with him : But the conditions on which the Spaniards generally afforded them their friendfhip, were, that the In- dians Ihould deliver up the gold they were poffeffed of, and afterwards procure what they could more of the fame precious metal, and fend after them. Upon thefe terms the Spaniards engaged to remain for ever their good allies and protectors. The General, being arrived at Darien, the 1 9th of January, 1514, was received by his people with tranfports of joy, when they underftood the difco- veries he had made, and the vaft quantities of gold and pearls he had acquired ; for he divided the trea- fure equally, as well among thofe that remained be- hind in the fortrefs of Darien, as among the troops he took with him ; firft deducting the King’s fifth, which he immediately fent over to Spain ; together "with a full account of the fituation of his affairs, defiring a reinforcement of a thoufand men, to profecute and improve the difcoveries he had already made. This news was very acceptable to the Court of Spain, and twelve or fifteen hundred men were em- barked immediately for Darien, under the com- Pedrarias mand of PETER DE ArXAS, Or PeDR ARIAS, made Go- , as p e j s u f ua ]jy call’d, to whom the government of vernor or •' , . 0 Terra- that province alfo was committed ; and with him Firma, were fent over Father John Quevedo, a Fran- cifcan Friar, as Bifhop of the place, with feveral other Monks of that order, to inftrucft the natives in the Chriffian religion. But a more covetous and barbarous wretch was never fent abroad with a command, than this Pe dr arias. Fie arrived at Darien the latter end of July, 1514, and was received by Vasco with all the refpect due to his commiffion ; but the government was no fooner furrendered to him, than he began a profecution againft the man who had made all thofe important difcoveries, that he might engrofs die wealth of thofe countries to him- 259 felf, and have no rival or check upon his favage CHAP, difpofition. Then he ordered his troops out every L way, and without any regard to the treaties and alliances that Vasco had made with the neigh- bouring Caciques, plundered their countries, and maffacred their fubjedts without mercy ; and, above all, he endeavoured to eftablifh a communication with the South-fea, in order to make himfelf mafter of the gold and pearls he underftood were to be found on that fide ; but the Indians finding them- felves thus flaughtered and abufed, notwithftandirig their former fubmiffion, affembled their forces, and laying ambufcades, cut off a great many of his par- ties, and he was not for fome time able to fix colo- nies in any part of the ifthmus. In the mean time, the friends of Vas co having reprefented the hardfhip of his cafe to the Court of Spain, and the important fervices he had done or might do the Crown, a commiffion was fent him to be Adelantado, or Lord-lieutenant of the coaft of the South-fea, that he might profecute the difco- veries he had begun on that fide ; with orders to Pedrarias, to furnifh him with fuch forces as were neceffary for fuch an expedition ; but Vasco however remained as a prifoner at Darien for fome time : At length Bifhop Quevedo interpofed his good offices, and procured a reconciliation between the two Generals ; and, in order to cement their friendfhip the ftronger, Vasco married the daugh- ter of Pedrarias. Soon after which he applied himfelf to the building of brigantines and vefi’els ; the timber whereof he caufed to be carried crofs the mountains of the ifthmus to the South-fea, and put together there ; and thefe being deftroyed by the worms in a fhort time, he built more on the other fide, with which he failed to the Pearl-ifiands in the Bay of Panama, and afterwards as far as Port- Pinas in Peru ; but fome malicious Officer inform- Vafco ditto* ing Pe dr arias, or rather the Governor pre- vers Peru “ tending to be informed, that Vasco was about to renounce all dependance on the Crown of Spain, and to fet up for himfelf, commanded him to re- turn to Darien, and anfwer the accufation 3 which fummons Vasco readily obeyed, being confcious of his innocence ; but Pedrarias fo managed the matter, that he got him conv idled, by the forms of law at leaft, and caufed him to be beheaded, to Is beheaded the great furprife of all men who were acquainted by 1>edr ‘ iria5 » with the fervices he had done the Crown of Spain. And now Pe dr arias, being without a rival, or who reduces any one to check his fury, ravaged the country in ^ a terrible manner from lea to fea, and even as far Veragua* as the province of Veragua, planting a colony at Nata, and another at Panama, on the South-fea. Nata, it feems, took its name from the Cacique, Nata an<£ who was Governor of that part of the country when the Spaniards fubdued it 3 and Panama, which was then only a fmall village, inhabited by Indian Fifher- men, received its name from the employment of its inhabitants 3 Panama, in their language, figni- L 1 z fying 260 T H E PRES CHAP, fying a Flfhing-town. Pe dr arias alfo found- I. ed another town on the North-fea, which was na- medNombrede Dios, between which and Panama Dios, and the trade was carried on from the North to the Porto Bello South-feas, for lome time ; but the Spaniards, not founded. liking the fituation of Nombre de Dios, abandoned it afterwards, and built the. town of Porto-Bello, removing the trade thither ; and this ftill continues the moft confiderable port on the North-fea. Pedrarias alfo reduced the provinces of Ve- iragua and Nicaragua, by the forces he fent thither under the command of Francis Hernandez.; but entertaining fome fufpicion that Hernandez bad too great a regard to his own intereft, he ferved him as he had done Vasco Nunez., and cut off his head, under pretence he was about to throw off his dependance on the Crown of Spain, and let up for himfelf 3 and expending to be called to an ac- count for the many outrages he had committed, both on the Spaniards and Indians, he quitted Darien, before his fucceffor arrived there, and removed to his acquifitions in V eragua, where he looked upon himfelf to be out of the reach of juftice ; but what became of him afterwards, hiftory does not inform us, only Father Bartholomew de Casas, Bifhop of Chiapa,. has given us a very melancholy Thee ruckles relation of the numerous cruelties and ravages com- sl Pedrarias. by this Commander, in reducing thefe pro- vinces under the dominion of the Crown of Spain. There landed (lays the Bifhop) in Terra-Firma, in the year 1514, a mifehievous Governor, who not only wafted and difpeopled the fea-coaft, but plundered and ravaged large realms and countries, murdering infinite numbers of people from Darien to the province of Nicaragua, being upwards of fifteen hundred miles, full of people, governed by feveral Princes and great Lords in their refpective ter- ritories, who were pofleffed of more gold than any Princes upon the face of the earth at that time. This Governor and his Officers every day in- vented new torments, to make the Indians difeover their gold ; fome they racked, others they burnt by inches ’till they expired in torments ; and inftances in a great Lord or Cacique, who having given Pedrarias the weight of nine thoufand ducats to obtain his favour, ordered him to be fet on the ground, with his legs ffretched out, and then fatten- ed to a flake : After which, he ordered fire to be applied to his feet, ’till he fent for three thoufand Caftellans more, and ftill continued to burn him till the marrow dropped from his bones, and he died in the moft,' exquifite torment ; all which was in- flicted on this unhappy Prince, without any other provocation given the mercilefs Pedr arias, than that he could not, or would not difeover fuch a quantity of gold as he expected ; and many other great Lords were ufed in the fame barbarous man- ner, when they could not produce as much gold as was demanded of them : That another great Ca- cique, named Paris, making his fubmiinon, and ENT STATE prefenting the Spaniards with gold to the value of C H A P. fifty thoufand pieces of eight, they pretended to be I. fatisfied with it, and agreed, to march out of his territories ; but returning again at midnight, they fet fire to the town, maffacred the inhabitants, and carried ofF the value of fifty or threefcore thoufand pieces of eight more : The Cacique himfelf how- ever efcaping, afTemblcd feveral thoufands of his fubjeds, overtook the Spaniards, of whom he killed fifty, and recovered moft part of the plunder ; which Pedrarias and his Officers feverely re- venged a little afterwards ; for they lent another body of forces into the territories of the Cacique Paris, and maffacred or made flaves of all his people, infomuch that the Bifhop allures us, when he wrote this relation, there was not of the natives one man, woman or child to be found in that country for 30 leagues, though it was before very populous. That Pedrarias and his fucceflors did not deftroy lefs (in that Government only) than, eight hundred thoufand people, and plundered the country of feveral millions of gold, of which they did not fend the King more than the value of three thou- fand crowns. The reft of Terra-Firma, or the north part of Tke reft 0 f South- America, from Darien to the river Oro- Terra-Firma noque, was fubdued by private Adventurers, at their pHvate Ad- own charges ; every one begged a certain extent of venturers, country of the Court of Spain, and ufed the na- tives as they thought fit, ravaging and plundering the feveral countries, and murdering or enflaving the miferable inhabitants, who were able to make but little refiftance to thefe tyrants, as the Bifhop of Chiapa calls them. Gracia de Lerma brought the Indians of Santa-Mar- Santa-Martha under the Spanifh yoke, about the tha d ‘fcover- year 1529: Ambrose Alfringer got the ed ' grant of Venezuela, and carried over eight Venezuela, hundred or a thoufand Germans thither about the fame time, with whom he harraffed the country in a terrible manner for fome hundreds of miles to the fouthward, fpendiog upwards of three years in this expedition. The province of Carthagina was begged by Don Cmhagena. Peter de Heredia, who enflaved the natives, and fettled Spanifh colonies there in the year 1532. Gonsalo Ximines de Quesada, and George Fe derm an the Dutchman, with the reft of the Governors of thefe three northern pro- vinces laft mentioned, penetrated far within the land to the fouthward, and fubdued that large pro- vince which now bears the name of New Granada, Granada, about the year 1535. A.lonzo de Herf.ra, and Anthony Se- dony, made large difeoveries and planted colonies in Guiana, Paria and Caribiana, now called New Cukna and Andalufia, about the year 1333. The province of Caribiana. Popayan was difeovered and fubdued by Se bastian Popayais de Bel alcazar, Governor of Quitto, in the year UF TERR CHAP, year 1536; and if we may credit the relation of I. the Bifhop of Chiapa, whofe bufinefs it was to en- quire into the ufage of the oppreffed Indians, the conduit of all thefe Adventurers was rather more barbarous than that of Cortez in Mexico, or of Pe dr arias in Darien and Veragua. Thole who reduced Santa-Martha, he lays, per- fectly depopulated a country which was before crow- ded with people for the fpace of 400 leagues ; nor were they content with barely maftacring thefe mi- ferable people, but fo tortured and oppreffed thofe that furvived, that they chofe death rather than to live under the tyranny of thefe barbarous Spaniards. That they had carried into flavery two millions of people, from the coaft of Guiana, or New An- dalufia, many of whom perifhed at fea for want of provifions, and the reft in the mines ; and that in the pearl-fifheries on this coaft they deftroyed many thoufands more, by compelling them to dive for pearls beyond their ftrength. In the province of Venezuela (tho’ the people rea- dily fubmitted to the Dutch and German Adventu- rers fent thither, and treated them with all thegood- nefs and holpitality imaginable) they deftroyed four millions of fouls and upwards ; and moft of their Princes and Great men were racked and tortured ’till they expired, to make them difcover the gold thefe fivage Chriftians fufpetfted they had concealed. That they fometimes drove the Indians into barns, and threatned them with death, unlefs they re- deemed themfelves with gold ; and when they had procured as much as was required for their liberties, then they ufed to imprifon them again, and demand as much more ; which, if they could not produce, they were fhut up fometimes ’till they were ftarved ; and others were cut to pieces, or burnt by hundreds, for not anfwering the expectations of their conque- rors, as they called themfelves. Father Bartholomew de Casas adds, that thofe who had been eye-witnefles of theSpanifh cru- elties in New Granada, depofed on their oaths be- fore the Court of Spain, that the Indian Caciques or Princes in that province quietly fubmitted to theSpa- niards and Germans, with all their people, and were contented to become their vaffais ; and the fe- veral lordfhips and diftriCts were divided among the Spanifh and German officers and foldiers, with ail the natives upon them, as their refpeCtive properties. That the Indians did not only cultivate the grounds for their new mafters, and furnifhed them with pro- vifions, but prefented them with gold and precious ftones to a very great value ; which was fo far from fatisfying their avarice, that thefe new Lords proceeded to exercife all manner of cruelties on the miferable natives, to extort more, gold from them. That the greateft Prince of this country, named Bog AT A (from whom the capital city was after- wards called Santa-Fe de Bogata) was tortured by the General for feveral months, to make him dif- cover his gold and emeralds ; who, in hopes of be- A-FI R M A. 261 ing releafed from his tormenters, promifed them at CH A P, length to furnilh them with a houfe full of gold ; I. and difpatching expreffes to every part of his dorri- nions, brought in a prodigious quantity : But the houfe being not quite filled, he was ftill racked and tortured to make him produce more; which being impoffible, he expired in torments under the hands of his mercilefs perfecutors. And as this great Prince had been ufed by the Spanifh General, fo his Officers and Soldiers ufed thofe of an inferior rank, torturing and burning them to pieces by inches, to make them difcover their treafures : That it was a common thing to cut off the hands and nofes of men and women in fport, and give them to their dogs : That when the poor natives fled to the woods and mountains, to fhelter themfelves from their rage, this was call’d a rebel- lion, and they were hunted out by dogs, torn in pieces, fiaughtered, and thrown from the tops of the rocks by hundreds : And when any of them had fecured themfelves in inacceflible places, the Spaniards would treacheroufly offer them their lives and liberties, to induce them to furrender, and then cut them in pieces as foon as they had them in their power : That it was impoffible to defcribe the mifchiefs and cruelties of thefe monfters of mankind j and if they were buffered to go on, the inhabitants muff be totally extirpated, and thefe populous and fertile countries become a wildernefs (as in reality it happened not long afterwards, for upwards of 60 a leagues) the Emperor’s commands for redreffing thefe outrages being very ill obferved. That thefe Adventurers here, as well as thofe in other parts of America, kept packs of great maftiffs on purpofe to hunt and tear in pieces the Indians : It was an ordinary thing to kill an Indian, without any offence given them ; and to lend a brother Spa- niard a quarter of a man, as they would lend a neighbour a quarter of Pork or Mutton to feed their dogs ; promifing to return it in kind when they killed a Have. That others would go out a hunting for Indians with their dogs as they would hunt wild beafts, and boaft of their having killed twenty or thirty in a day : Which fatft, how monftrous foever, appeared to be true, by the teftimony of numbers of witnef- fe s, on the trials of caufes in the Courts of Spain, be- tween the feveral Adventurers, who frequently fell out about the limits of their refpedfive provinces, the diftributkm of the natives, and the reft of their plunder ; and in thefe contefts, the truth frequently came out, C H A P. II. Of the name , fituatkn , and extent of Peru ; and of the face of the country , . I DO not find that the natives had any general C HA P, name for this country, only it was looked upon IJ. a the dominion of the Great King, or Emperor of 262 THE PRESENT STATE Peru de- fcribed. Its name. CHAP, of South- America, who was called The Inca, and II. fo it might be Riled the empire of the Inca’s, as v *- die Eaft-Indies is called The empire of the Great Mogul. As to the modern nameof Peru, Garciliasso de la Vega gives us this account of its obtain- ing that appellation : He fays, that Vasco Nu- nez de Balbao having firft difcovered the South- lea, the King of Spain, as a reward or that fervice, conftituted him Admiral of that fea, in the year 1514, and Governor of all the kingdoms and coun- tries he fhould difcover in it. Whereupon Vasco built three or four fhips, to go upon difcoveries in that ocean, one whereof fixetching to the fouthward beyond theEquinoftial-line, and failing dofe by the fhore, difcovered an Indian Fifherman in the mouth of a river ; who, while he flood flaring at the fhip as fhe was under fail (a moll amazing fight to a man that had never feen one) they lent out their boat and furprifed the Indian, making him their prifoner ; and demanding of him by the Indians they carried with them (or by figns, according toDE la Vega) what country it was ? He miilaking them, and fup- pofing they had afked him his own name, anfwered Beru ; and the Spaniards Rill feeming importunate to know fomething more, he anfwered, Pelu ; which was the name of the river ; or, according to fome, is a common name in the language of thofe people for any river ; however, from both thefe words the Spaniards formed another, and called the country Peru ; and fome of their writers, Piru ; but however that was, the dominions of the Inca’s, of which this was the mofl northerly province, have ever fmce gone under the name of Peru. When the Spaniards arrived here, the country was divided by the Inca’s into four grand aivifions, the limits on the north being the river Paflao, or the Azure river, juft under the Equinoctial ; the fouthern limits were the Aranco’s, in 40 degrees of foutb latitude (now part of 'Chili) the eaftern limits were the Cor- delero’s, or mountains of the Andes ; and the weft- ern boundary the South-fea, or Pacific-ocean. The limits of modern Peru are much the fame now, except on the fouth ; for the Spaniards Hill bound it by the province of Popayan (which ex- tends to the Equator) on the north, by the moun- tains of the Andes on the eaft, by Chili on the fouth, and the Pacific-Ocean on the weft ; extending it from the Equator to 25 degrees of fouth latitude only ; fo that as the land extends, or runs from the north-weft to the fouth-eaft, Peru muft be near two thoufand miles in length, and in breadth it is generally about two hundred ; but in the fouth, it may be four or five hundred miles broad. The face of the country, according to Acosta, is very different, as it is diftant from, or approaches near the fea. He divides the country into three long narrow flips, viz. 1 . The Lanos, which are fandy plains that run along the fea-coaft. 2. The Sierras, which are hills beyond thofe plains, inter- The limits of the do- minions of the Inca’s. The limits Peru. The face of the country. mixed with valleys. 3 . The Andes, or Cordelero’s, C FI A P. Hill further within the land, which are fteep craggy II. mountains, far furpaffing all the reft in height. The Lanos, which lie along the coaft, are about 10 leagues in breadth ; in fome places more, in others lefs. The Sierras 25 leagues in breadth, and the Andes fomething more than 2 5 leagues over. The Andes and Sierras are two ridges of moun- tains that run from north to fouth, parallel to each other for above a thoufand leagues : Nor are the Lanos that lie between the Sierras and the fea-fhore low land. Both Dam pier, and Wafer in- form us, that Peru has generally a high bold fhorei and that there is no landing on it, but at the ports, or in fome particular bays : Flowever, thefe plains may be called low in comparifon of the Sierras that furmount them, and of the Andes that far furpafs both, and are efteemed the higheft land in the known world. Beyond the city of Cafto, which lies in 14 degrees, odd minutes fouth latitude, the two ridges of mountains feparate themfelves to a greater diftance, inclofing a fruitful plain of a vaft extent, which is called the province of Callao, watered by many ri- vers, and by the great lake Titiaca, which is four- fcore leagues in compafs ; moft of thefe rivers fall- ing into the lake. The Lanos, or fandy plains near the fea, are per- The Lanos. fedlly barren, except fome few valleys, into which they turn fmall winding ftreams, and that part of the coaft which lies within 3 or 4 degrees of the Equator, where they have very heavy rains great part of the year. The Sierras alfo are barren hills ; but then there The Sierras, are fine fruitful valleys between them, that yield all manner of grain and fruits ; and thefe being tempe- rate between the extreams of heat and cold, are beft inhabited ; for the Lanos by the fea are for the moft part exceflive hot : The Andes, on the contrary, are The Andes, cold barren mountains, the fnow lying upon them great part of the year. Timber and wood in ge- neral feems to be very fcarce, here, and in all parts of Peru, unlefs near the Line, and there they meet , with enough. Acosta, fpeaking of the unparallel’d height of the Andes, and of the diforders the air occafioned in all that palPed them, fays, he once refolved to make the experiment himfelf, and mounted one of the higheft tops of thefe hills, called Pariacaca ; that he went prepared for the adventure according to the beft inftruRions he could get with feveral more who had the like curiofity ; but notwithftanding all his precaution, when he came to mount the flairs or ladders near the top, he was fieized with fuch pains, that he thought he fhould have fallen to the ground ; and the reft of the company being under the like dif- order, they all made hafte to get down the mountain as foil as they could, none flaying for his companion : That they were all taken with fuch Teachings to vo- mit, that he thought they fhould have brought up their hearts ; for not only green phlegm and choler came O F P CHAP. came up, but a great deal of blood ; and that this II. lafted for three or four hours, ’till they had defcen- V/yv ded to the lower pa'rt of the hill ; and feme of them purged violently: But generally this fickneft goes oft" as they come down the hill, and is attended with no ill confequences. And not only this paflage of Pariacaca has thefe pro- perties, but the whole ridge of mountains, called the Andes, for upwards of five hundred leagues ; in what place loever people pals it they meet with ftrange dis- orders, but more in fome parts than others ; and thofe are morefenfible of the ill effects who afcended from the fea, than thofe that afcend from the neighbouring plains ; for he had palled the Andes, in lour other different places, and always felt the like diforder, but not fo violently as at Pariacaca ; and the bell: remedy they found againff it was to flop their mouths, nofes, and ears, as much as poflible, and to cover their breafts ; for the air was lb fubtile and piercing, that it penetrated the entrails, not only of men, but beafts ; and he had known horfes lo affected by it, thatnofpurs could make them move. And llich is the height of the Andes, that the Pyrenees and the Alps were but as ordinary hills in comparifonof them ; from whence lie concluded, that the air here was too pure and fubtile for animals to breath in (they requiring a grofter medium) and this he fuppofed occafioned that diforder in the ftomach. He obferved farther, that the high mountains he had palled in Europe were only exceftive cold, and made him cloath himfelf the warmer when he palled them; but the ftomach and appetite for meat was ftill ftronger, and they had no Teachings to vomit there, as here ; the outward parts only were af- fedled : On the contrary, on the Andes, they were not affected with cold at the time of the year they palled them, either in their hands or feet, or any part of their bodies; only their entrails were affected, and that molt when the fun was hotted: ; which con- firmed him in the opinion, that the diforder pro- ceeded from the purenefs and fubtilty of the air. He adds, that this ridge of mountains is for the moll: part defart, without villages or habitations for men, not fo much as to lodge a night in : Nor are there any beafts upon them, wild or tame, except their country flieep, whofe great excellency lies in their climbing rocks and precipices, with burthens on their backs, where neither man nor beaft can follow them. But to return to the mountains ; he relates, that the graft upon them is frequently burnt up and black, and that thefe defarts are 25 or 30 leagues over, and 500 leagues long, tho’ in other places he makes them but 20 leagues broad. Peftilential The fame writer informs us, that there are other bU^noth.,- mountainous uninhabited defarts in Peru, where a par 1 0 uu. [j( a fj- 0 f a j r fometimes ftrikes a traveller dead in an inftant : That the Spaniards formerly palled thefe mountains in their way to Chili, but now either go by fea, or by the fide of thefe mountains, to avoid the danger, fo many having perilhed in going over E R U. 263 them ; and others, that have elcaped with their lives, CHAP, have loft their fingers and toes, and been lamed. II. Acosta lays, he was informed by General Cos- till a, who loft three or four toes in palling this delart to Chili, that they fell off without any pain ; and that the lame General marching over it once be- fore with an army, great part of his men fuddenly fell down dead, and their bodies remained there with- out ftench or corruption : That he had relations of the lame kind from others ; and conjectured that thefe people were killed by the exceffive coldnefs of the air, which preferved their bodies alfo from pu- trefaction after they were dead. But as he lays in other places, that they met with thefe peftilential blafts in the valleys between the hills, I am apt to think they were rather hot than cold winds, and that it was the hot lands that preferved their bodies from corruption ; for near the fame latitude, viz. between 20 and ;o degrees north, in the deforts of Eaft-India, Perfia and Africa, we frequently meet with the Samiel, or hot winds, which have the like effeCIs : And fome Englilh feamen, who have been alhore in this very country of Peru, allure us, that they have feen great numbers of bodies lying dead upon the fands there ; particularly, our countryman W^afer relates, that landing with thirty more at Verneio, in 1 o degrees fouth latitude, in fearch of water, and marching four miles up a fandy bay, they found the ground covered with men, women and children, which lay fo thick, that a man might have walked on them half a mile. That thefe bodies to appearance feemed as if they had not been dead a week ; but when he handled them, they proved as dry and light as a fpunge or a piece of cork ; That he carried on board the body of a boy of about nine or ten years of age, defigning to have brought it to England ; but the feamen had a fooiifh conceit that the compafs would not traverle aright folong as a dead body was on board, and compelled him to throw it into the fea. Thefe people were very probably de- stroyed by fuch hot winds as we meet with in Perfia, and the Eaft-Indies, there appearing no figns of wounds or violence upon them; tho’ Wafer faid he was informed by an old man, that they buried themfelves in the fends, to avoid the cruelties of the Spaniards in the preceding age (which is (carce cre- dible.) However, thus much will be agreed on all hands, that the heat of the fands and the drynefe of the Peruvian air preferved thefe bodies from putre- faction, whatever was the caufe of their deaths. If it be objected, that the defart, Acosta mentions, was in a much cooler climate, viz. between 25 and 30 degrees of latitude, and therefore it could not be fuppofed the foldiers he fpeaks of v/ere killed by the hot winds ; it may be anfwered, that the defarts of Perfia, Africa, and Arabia, where the like hot winds are met with, lie between the Tropic and 30 de- grees of latitude ; and that the heat is frequently as great in this climate as within 10 degrees of the Line ; for the fituation of the country, the length of the days. 204 C H A P. II. T HE PRESENT STATE € H A P III. Winds in this ocean. days, and the nature of the foil, contr.b ite almoft as much to extreme heat as the fun itfelf : Sandy vallevs between hills are ufually exceffive hot, and the hot winds are occafioned bv their blowing over a long trail of burning land tor lome hundreds of miles ; the fun alfo continuing longer about either Tropic, and the days being longer there than under the Equinoctial, that luminary gives more intenfe heat ufually in countries feated near either Tropic, than it does in thofe about the Equator. C H A P. III. Of the feas , rivers, lakes , fprings, winds , tides, air, and feajonsof Peru . T H E only fea that borders upon Peru is the Pacific-ocean, which obtained its name from the conftant ferene weather that reigns here from 4 degrees to 30 or 35 degrees fouth latitude, in which is comprehended part of Chili. If we go farther fouthward, this fea, tho’ it ftill retains the name of the Pacific-ocean, is as tempeftuous as any other ; and within 3 or 4 degrees of the Line they have the like variable winds and heavy rains, moll part of the year, as we meet with in other feas in the fame climate: And to the northward of the Tropic of Cancer (and fometimes within it) Dam pier and other feamen relate, they frequently meet with ftorms and hurricanes, tho’ this part of that fea alfo bears the name of the Pacific-ocean. When I Ipeak therefore of that which is properly the Pacific- fea, in this defcription of Peru and Chili, I would be underftood to mean only that part of it between the 4th and the 3 5 th degrees of fouth latitude; and from the American fhore weflward, indefinitely : Here we have no rain or dark clouds, fays Dam- pier, tho’ ’tis often fo thick and hazy as to hinder an obfervation of the fun with a quadrant ; and in the morning there is hazy weather frequently, and thick mills that wet a little ; but there are not in this fea, fays the fame writer, any tempefls, tornadoes, or hurricanes : Tho’, north of the Equator, they are met with in this fea as well as in the Atlantic-ocean : This Pacific-fea, hov/ever, at the new and full moon fvvells and runs with high long furges, or waves ; but fuch as never break at fea, and fo are fafe enough. On the contrary, where they fall in and break upon the fhore, they make it very dan- gerous landing. At Guiaquil, on the Peruvian Coaft, fituated in 3 degrees fouth latitude, the tide runs very ftrong, and rifes 1 6 or 18 feet perpendi- cular ; but it does not rife fo high on any part of the coaft to the fouthward, where there are not fuch bays, or fo many rivers, as there are here ; for, ac- cording to Dam pier’s obfervation, the tides al- ways run ftrongeft and rife higheft in gulphs or bays of the fea, and up the mouths of rivers. Funnel obferves, that the winds in the Peruvian-feas, and ©n all the weftern fide of America, from 3 8 degrees fouth, to 7 degrees north, are always foutberly two points upon the fnore ; fo that where the coaft runs due north and fouth, the wind is at fouth-fouth-weft; and where the coaft runs fouth-fouth-eaft, the wind is due fouth (except it be in the night, when the fea- wind generally ceafes, and there comes a fine mo- derate gale from the land, which they call the land- breeze; but Dam pier obferves, that on promon- tories and head-lands, and fuch places as lie open to die fea, they have fcarce any of thefe land-breezes, it being in creeks and bays chiefly that they have the advantage of land-breezes. Dam pier alfo obferves, that the foutherly winds on the coaft of Peru continue to blow 1 40 or 150 leagues from the fhore before they alter ; but then they may be perceived to come about more eafterly ; and about 200 leagues to the weflward of that fhore the true trade-wind lets in at eaft-fouth- eaft, which never alters ’till they have pafled the Pa- cific-ocean, and arrive at the Eaft- Indies. But both Dam pier and Funnel relate, that at Arica, which lies on the coaft of Peru, in 1 8 de- grees, odd minutes fouth latitude, for near 100 leagues to the fouthward, this fea is very fubjedl to calms, within 35 or 40 leagues of the fhore ; but that thefe calms are not ufual on any other part of this coaft : It is obferved alfo, that when the fun is in the northern figns, viz. from March to Septem- ber, the fky is generally bright and clear : But when the fun retorts back to the fouthern figns, then the weather is frequently fo thick and hazy, that they cannot take an obfervation, tho’ they have no rain even then, either at fea or on the coaft. As to the weather on fhore it is various, accord- ing to the fituation of the land ; the Lanos, or fandy plains by the fea- fide, never have a drop of rain upon them ; but frequently thick mills rife here. On the Sierras, or hills beyond, the rains fall when the fun is in the fouthern figns, as they do in other countries that lie between the Equator and the Tropic of Capricorn. And on the Cor- delero’s, or Andes, the high mountains that are fi- tuated fartheft from the fea, it rains or fnows two thirds of the year, and is exceffive cold ; and as the valleys between the hills, called Sierras, are the moft fruitful parts of the country, their feafon for plant- ing and fowing there is at the beginning of the rains, and their barveft at the return of the dry weather: Their vintage alfo is in the fair feafon, and their vines thrives beft in thofe valleys near the fea, where there is little or no rain, and which are watered by rivu- lets that fall from the hills in the rainy feafon ; ' but moft part of the Lanos, or fandy plains by the fea? fide, are barren defarts, bearing neither trees nor herbs ; and are very little inhabited, except fume few port-towns fituated at the mouths of rivers, Acosta, and other writers, have endeavoured to account for this everlafting draught on the fea- coaft of Peru and Chili : They fupppfe, in the firft place, that the country being a dry fandy foil affords no CHAP. III. Weather at fea. Weather at land. The reafons for the ge- neral draught on the Pe- ruvian coaft enquired into O F CHAP. no vapours, or not enough to furnifh them with III. rain, tho’ mifts arife here. And, fecondly, That the mountains called the Andes or Cordelero’s are fo ex- ceeding high, that the clouds are flopped there, and can come no farther weftward : But to this it may be anfwered, if the land affords but few vapours, one would think that the South- fea that adjoins to it might afford as many vapours as any other fea ; *nd the wind conflantly blows obliquely from that fea upon the coaft. And as to the mountains of An- des intercepting the clouds that come from the eaft- ward, this is not true in fail ; for the Sierras or hills which lie between the Andes, and the Lanos or plains on the fea-coaft, have their periodical rains, as all other countries have that lie between the Tro- pics; tho’ the plains on the fea-fhore have no rain; and this is the more ftrange, inafmuch as the fea- coafls in other countries are ufually more fubjecEl to rain and cloudy weather, than either the ocean at a great diftance from land, or the middle of any continent ; as the low countries in Holland and Flanders, that lie on the fea, have more wet and cloudy weather than either the middle of Germany or France ; and in like manner, when we are at fea four or five hundred miles from land, efpecially be- tween the Tropics, we have ufually ferene fettled weather, and judge ourfelves near land when we fee thick clouds, which ufually hang over it : Sea-men alfo obferve, that tornadoes and hurricanes are more frequent and violent near land, than they are an hun - dred leagues out at fea, tho’ in this peaceful ocean, and on the coaft, they know not what ftorms or hurri- canes mean; infomuch that this fea is navigated by B^rk logs. barklogs ; and in thefe aukward floats they carry on great part of their coafting-trade from port to port, as they did before the Spaniards arrived there : Thefe barklogs are only rough timber logs laid in fquares a-crofs each other, and built up two or three ftories high ; of which I fhall give a more particular de- fcription, when I come to treat of their navigation. The capes, I proceed in the next place to give fome defcrip- port-to'wns tion of the confiderable capes, iflands, and or the coaft ports on the coaft of Peru and Chili, from the Equa- of p et-u. tor to 30 degrees of fouth latitude; and, 1. Of Cape Paffao. Cape Paffao, which lies in 8 minutes fouth lati- tude, and 8 2 degrees of weftern longitude. It is an high round cape, with fome few trees upon it ; and Ca L further up in the country the land is mountainous go?' oren ' and very woody. 2. Cape Lorenzo, in one degree fouth latitude ; near which, fhipping may furnifh tbemfelves with frefh water. This cape alfo is high land, and has fome trees and bufhes upon it : Five leagues weft-fouth-weft of Cape Lorenzo, is a fmall La Plata barren ifland, called La Plata, from its being the ftland. p]ace w here Sir Fr an c i s D r a k e {hared the’plate with his company which he took out of the Spanifh Cape St. galeon, called the Calefogo. 3. Cape St. Helena, 2 degrees, 20 minutes fouth latitude ; near which is a fmall town of Spaniards and Indians, that keep ftore-houfes of flour, falted flefh, fifh, bifcuit, VOL. HI. P E R U. 26^ and other provifions, with which they fupply the C H A P. fhipping that touches there in their pafftge to and HI. from Panama. The point itfelf is high land, and level on the top ; but the land about it is low. 4. The ifland of St. Clara, in 3 degrees fouth lati- St. ciar* tude ; it is pretty high land, covered with fmall fHand. trees. 5. Cape Blanco, in 3 degrees, 45 minutes Cape fouth latitude (pointing St. Helena) makes the north Blanco* point ot the bay of Guiaquil, as Cape Blanco doesGuiaquii the fouth point. The town of Guiaquil, which ifland " will be defer i bed hereafter, and gives name to the bay, is fituated about 6 leagues up a navigable river, and is the port toQuitto. 6. The port" of Payta, Payta port, in 5 degrees, 13 minutes fouth latitude, a fine large bay, capable of containing an hundred fail of fliips ; the town confifts of about fourfeore houfes, moft of them Spaniards ; and the bay is feldom with- out fhips, it lying very convenient for the fhips of Peru, in going to and from Panama, who put in here for refrefhments that are brought down hither from Colon ; for the town of Payta itfelf does not fo much as afford frefh water. In this bay, the fea The Tea and and land-winds fucceed each other very regularly ; ^-breeze* the fea-winds blowing in the day-time fouth-and-by- ^ weft, and the land winds in the night-time, from the eaft. 7. I he ifland of Lobos, in 6 degrees, Lobos ifland, 20 minutes fouth latitude, in which is an har- bour on the north-eaft, but no frefh water : The ifland is about two leagues in compafs, but produces neither trees, bufhes, or herbage. 8. The port of Malabng© Malabrigo, in 8 degrees fouth latitude, which is pon * known by a mountain near it of the fame name. The beft place to anchor in is, to leeward of the mountain, bringing it to bear due fouth : Here is five fathom water good faft anchor-ground. 9. Guanchaco, in 8 degrees, 1 3 minutes fouth lati- tude, being but an indifferent harbour, as it liesal- moft expofed to all winds ; and there ufually runs fo great a fea upon the fhore, that boats cannot go or come on board fometimes for three or four days; notwithftandmg which, Guanchaco is a place of Guanchacp pretty bn ft: trade, being the port-town to the city ^ f rt *jj °f Truxillo, which lies fix miles up the river ; from mXl ° whence, flour, wine, brandy, fugar, and mar- malet are exported to Panama every year, in great quantities. 1 o. Cofma, a very good port, in 9 Cofma port, degrees, 50 minutes fouth latitude, and 78 degrees of weftern longitude; the common anchoring- place being at the mouth of a frefh water river. 1 1 . Vermeio is a very good port, a little to the fouth- Vcrmeio ward of Cofma ; but here is no town or inhabitants, harbour, or any frefh water within a mile of the fea. The mountain Mongou, which lies about 7 leagues to the northward of this port, is faid to be one of the high- eft mountains on the coaft. 12. The port of Gua- Guara port, ra lies in x 1 degrees fouth latitude, and 77 degrees of weftern longitude, near which is a mountain, with feveral pyramids on the top of it; and a little to the northward is the fmall port of Salinas, from Safina, port whence they export great quantities of fait beef, both M m to 266 CHAP. III. Callao the port to Lima. THE PRESENT STATE Ifiojort. ^ricaport. Copiapo port Coquimbo. Lakes of Peru. The lake Titicaca. to Lima and Panama. 13- The i Hand of Callao, a high barren ifland, 2 leagues in length, that has neither frcfh water, wood, or any green thing upon it ; and yet, on this barren fpot, ftands the town of Callao, the port-town to Lima, the capital of Peru. The port is defended by a ftrong cattle, that has feventy brafs guns mounted on the walls, clofe under which is the ufual place of anchoring; and here the fhips ride in fix fathom water, good faft ground ; tho” in all the bay and port of Callao, it is very fe- eure riding ; it growing {hallow gradually from twelve to four fathom water ; and the drips are de- fended from the foutherly winds, which reign on this coaft, by a fmall ifland. This port of Callao lies in iz degrees, 20 mi- nutes fouth latitude, and is about 2 leagues cliftant from Lima- The Armadilla, or little Armada, fails annually from hence to Arica, where moft of the diver and gold of Peru is imbarked on board this fleet ; and returning to Callao the latter end of March, the fame treafure is tranfported in the month of May to Panama, and from thence by land-carriage conveyed to Porto-Bello, as has been intimated already. 1 4. The Port Ylo lies in 1 8 degrees fouth latitude, and is a good barbour; and near it is a ftream of freflr water called the river Ylo, which is very rapid from the beginning of Ja- nuary ’till the latter end of June, when it begins to decreafe, and in September it is quite dried up; which is the cafe of moft of the rivers on the coaft of Peru. 25. The port of Arica, fituate in 18 degrees, 20 minutes fouth latitude, and in 72 de- grees weftern longitude : Here the treafure brought from the mines of Potoft is conftantly embarked every year for Lima It is a good harbour, the beft anchoring-place clofe under mount Arica, in eight fathom water, where (hips ride fecure from the fouth winds. It is a large town, inhabited by Spaniards, Indians, and Malottoes. 1 6. The port of Copiapo, a good harbour, defended from all winds, lies in 2 1 degrees fouth latitude ; the inhabitants moft of them Indians, who make good wine here, and have plenty of corn, flefti, fruits, and other provifions. 17. Coquimbo, fituated in 30 degrees fouth lati- tude, at the foot of a mountain, in the form of a fugar-loaf ; a rich city, driving a great trade with Lima and Panama, and is a very good harbour. Altho’ there is no other fea borders upon Peru but the Pacific- ocean, yet have they fome lakes that may be called feas, if we regard the greatnefs of their extent. The lake Titicaca (already mentioned to be 80 leagues in circumference) is fituated in the province and valley of Callao, the middle of it being in 13 degrees fouth latitude, and 67 degress of weftern longitude* reckoning from the meridian of Lon- don : Upon this lake they fail in (hips, and other veflels, as upon the ocean ; but fubjedt to ftorms sometimes 3 for. the iirft {hip th&Spaniards built up- on it was broken to pieces by a tempeft that drove it CHAP, on {hore. The water of it is not fo fait as the fea, III. but too thick and foul to be drank. There are a- ^ ~V bundance of large fifli in the lake not efteemed wholefome food : There are alfo great fhoals of fmall ftfh, very bony, but better eating than the former ; and there are prodigious flocks of wild ducks, and other water-fowls, in it. The towns This the and villages bordering upon the lake are efteemed p^ u part 0i the moft agreeable dwellings in Peru : From this lake ifiiies a large ftream to the fouthward, which forms another lake called Paria, not much inferior Lake of to the former in its dimenfions, and has feveral l,aria * iflands in it. On the banks of thefe lakes are rich lavannahs, or meadows, that feed great herds of cattle. There are alfo many lakes upon the mourn- Lakes on tains, which are the fources of feveral large rivers. ^ J-Tf ° f Acosta mentions two lakes, particularly on the high mountains, one on each fide of the great road leading from Arequippa to Callao; from one of One of them which ifliies a river that falls into the Pacific-ocean, l ^ e f ? urce °- r and from the other the river Aporima, fa id to be Amazon,, tiie principal ftream that forms the celebrated river Amazon, which falls into the Atlantic-ocean, efteemed the largeft river in the world. The fame writer obferves, that it is very ftrange there ftiould lie fo many lakes on the tops of the mountains into which no rivers enter, and from whence many ftreams iflue, and yet thefe lakes do not appear to be much diminifhed at any feafon of the- year. Some conjecture, that thefe lakes pro- ceed from melted fnow, or rain ; but this does not entirely fatisfy him, he fays, becaufe there are feve- ral of thefe mountains on which there does not fall much fnow or raim He is of opinion, therefore,, that they are fprings which rife naturally ; tho' he admits it probable, that they may fometimes be increafed by fnow and rain. He adds, that thefe lakes are fo common in the higheft tops of the Peru- vian mountains, that there is fcarce a conflderable river but has its {burce in one of them : Their wa- ters are ufually very clear, but breed few fifh, and thole very fmall, the water being generally extreme , cold. However, the waters of fome lakes in thevalleys A lakeo-3 are extremely hot, particularly one in the valley of hot water " Tarpaya near Potofi, the waters whereof in the middle are fo hot, that they perfectly boil up for more than twenty foot fquare, which is the fpring but the heat is fo moderate near the {bore, that the inhabitants frequently bathe in it. The waters of this lake, Acosta obferves, are never known to increafe or decreafe, tho’ they have drawn a ftream from it that turns feveral, mills for grinding their metals. As to the Peruvian fprings, they have great va- T riety of them in that part of the country which is ofp « ru<> ' remote from the fea, but very few on the fandy plains near the fnore : Acosta mentions one of a. very extraordinary nature near, the quickfilwer- mines- CHAP III. /—>s . Water that forms rocks Pitchy foun- tains. Hot fprings, A fait fpring. Salutary wa ters. Hot fmoak- ing waters. Waters as ired as blood. Rivers that rife in the mountains of Peru, and fall into the North- fea. O F mines in Guancaviliea. This Fountain, he fays, throws out hot water, which, in running a little way, turns into ftone, and forms a rock ; of which ftone ( the inhabitants build their houfes, it being foft, light, and eafily wrought, and yet very durable : As this water turns into ftone after running a little way, the pafiages are frequently flopped up, and the ftream alters its courfe as the rock increafes, and is branched out into many (mall channels : There are alfo at Cape St. Helena, and many other parts of Peru, fountains of liquid matter called Coppey, very much refembling tar, or pitch, and put to the fame ufes by fea- faring men, to preferve their ropes, planks and tackle ; as we learn not only from Acosta, but from Dampier, Funnel, and feveral other Englifh Buccaneers. At the Inca’s-baths, as they are called, is a fpring of water that iflues out hot and boiling, and near it another as cold as ice, which thofe Princes ufed to temper and mingle together in their courfe to bathe in; and in the province of Charcas, the moft feuth- ern province of Peru, are abundance of fprings fo hot, that a man cannot bear his hand in their wa- ters. At a farm near the city of Cufco is a fountain, the waters whereof in a Abort courfe turn into fait ; which, Acosta obferves, would be an eftate to a man in any other country, but is not valued in this, where fait is plentiful. The waters near Guiaquil are famous for curing the French-difeafe ; which is the reafon why multi- tudes of people refort thither continually ; for no dif- eafe prevails more in Peru than this. Thefe waters are fuppofed to receive their virtue from the roots of Saffiparella, which abound in this country, and com- municate this healing quality to the waters that run by them. From the top of the mountain Balconotta, efteern- ed the higheft in Peru, which in fome places looks black, as if it was burnt, Acosta relates, there rife two fountains, which run different ways, and foon form two large ftreams : Thefe fprings, when they firft ifiue from their refpedfive rocks, are of an afh-colour, hot and fmoaking, and firtell of burning coals ; and thus they run a great way, ’till, mixing with other ftreams, they become cool, and lofe that burning fmell. The fame writer fays, he has feen another fountain in Peru, from whence there runs a ftream as red as blood, and has from thence obtained the name of the Red River. Moft of the rivers of South-America rife in the Peruvian mountains, that go under the name of the Cordelero’s, or Andes, which run from north to fouth, from io degrees north latitude, to 50 fouth, alnroft parallel to the coaft of the South-fea, and for the moft part 40 or 50 leagues to the eaftward of it. Thofe rivers which rife on the eaftward of the Andes, and fall into the North or Atlantic-ocean, have a very long courfe, and are fome of them the PERU. 267 'largeft rivers in the known world. Thofe that rife CHAP, on the weft fide of the Andes, are rather torrents HL than rivers, made by the annual rains, which fall on the mountains, for the moft part, between May and September, and before January are perfectly dry’d up ; but as the mountains they fall from are exceed- ing high, and their courfe fcarce ever more than 50 leagues, before they fall into the South-fea, their ftreams are fo (hallow and rapid, that fcarce any of them are navigable. The four principal rivers, that rife on the eaft fide of the Andes, are, 1 . The river Magdalena, or MagSaler.* Grande ; which rifing in the province of Quitto, nver * near the Equator, runs above a thoufand miles diredh- ly northward, falling into the North-fea between Carthagena and St. Martha. 2. The river of Oronoque; whofe fource is near Orono^as that of Magdalena, almoft under the Line, and takes river » its courfe firft to the eaftward for fifteen hundred miles, and upwards ; and then turning diredily north,, runs almoft as far to the northward, falling into the North-fea, againft the ifland of Trinity, in 8 de- grees of north latitude. 3 . The river of Amazons, generally held to be Amazon li- the largeft river in the world, is formed at firft by two ftreams, that rife near 1 1 degrees afunder ; each of which, by different travellers, is (aid to be the true river Amazon. The firft of thefe rifes near Quitto, a little fouth of the Equator, and runs fouth-eaft 5 the other rifes from the lake of Lauricoeha, in 1 s degrees fouth latitude ; and running firft northward 5 degrees, then turns about to the eaftward, and unites its waters with the former: From thence the united ftreams run between three and four thoufand miles farther eaftward, being enlarged by a multi- tude of other confiderable rivers, that fall into this ftream, both on the north and fouth fide, and dis- charges itfelf into the Atlantic-ocean under the Equa- tor, being 50 leagues wide, at leaft, at the mouth ; of which I (hall fpeak more particularly, when I come to deferibe the country of the Amazons. 4. The fourth river, which rifes on the eaft fide pj ata rrvm of the Andes, and is very little inferior to the laft, is the river of Plata ; which rifes near the town of Plata in Peru, in 20 degrees of fouth latitude ; and running firft to the eaftward, ’till joined and enlarged by many other ftreams, then bends its courfe diredt- ly fouth, ’till it come into 34 degrees fouth ; then ftretches away to the eaftward, falling into the At- lantic-ocean, in 3 5 degrees of fouth latitude, near the town of Buenos- Aires, in the province of La Plata, being 30 leagues broad at the mouth of it; but this river will be further deferibed alfo, in treat- ing of the province of La Plata. As to the rivers that rife on the weft-fide of the Rivers tia: mountains of Andes, and fall into the Pacific-ocean ; ^ £ ^ l | a the the chief of them mentioned by the Buccaneers, who ' have vifited that coaft, are, 1. The river Colanche, O&ncfce. in 2 degrees fouth latitude; 2. The river of Guia- Ouisqaih, quil, in 3 degrees; 3. The river Payta, in 5 de- Payt*, M nr 2 grees 268 THE PRESENT STATE CHAP, grees, 1 5 minutes ; 4, The river YIo, which dif- III. charges itfelf into the Tea, in 1 8 degrees ; 5. The river of Arica, which falls into the fame fea, near the town of Arica, in 18 degrees, 20 minutes; be- fides which, there are a great many other fmall ri- vers, that fall into the fea, within 18 or 20 degrees of fouth latitude ; but farther fouthward, Dam- PIER informs us, they did not meet with a river on the coaftof Peru or Chili, once in 100, or 1 50 leagues. Acosta indeed mentions abundance of rivers he had crofted ; but this muft be either near the Equator, or in the province of Callao ; where a great lakes, great many rivers difcharge themfelves into the lakes of Titicaca, Paria, &c. and never reach the fea. CHAP. IV. fhe provinces the kingdom of Peru is divided into ; its fuh-divifions , and chief towns ; and their pub- lick and private buildings Ylo, and Arica,. Rivers that difcharge themfelves into the CHAP. IV. Sub-divifions sf it, Quitto Proper. Chief towns Quitto city. T H E kingdom of Peru, like that of Mexico, is divided into three audiences, viz. 1. The audience of Quitto ; 2. The audience of Lima ; and, 3. The audience of Los Charcas. The audience of Quitto, the moft northerly of the three, is bounded by Popayan on the north ; by the country of the Amazons on the eaft ; by the audience of Lima on the fouth ; and by the Pacific-ocean on the weft ; being about four hun- dred miles in length, from north to fouth ; and two hundred in breadth, from eaft to weft ; and is fub-divided into three provinces, viz. 1 . Quitto Proper ; 2. Quixos ; and 3. Pacamores. The province of Quitto Proper lies upon the fea- eoaft, being bounded by Popayan on the north ; by the provinces of Quixos and Pacamores on the eaft ; by the audience of Lima on the fouth ; and by the Pacific-ocean on the weft ; and is about two hundred miles in length, from north to fouth ; and upwards of an hundred miles in breadth, from eaft to weft. The chief towns of Quitto Proper are, 1 . Quitto-; 2. St. Jago de Puerto Veijo ; 3. Guiaquil ; 4. Tom- bes ; 5. Thomebamba ; 6. Loxa ; 7. Zamora; 8. St. Michael’s ; and, 9. Payta. The city of Quitto, the capital of this province, and of the whole audience, is fituated in 30 minutes fouth latitude, and in 7 8 degrees of weftern longi- tude, at the foot of the mountains, which almoft furround it. It is a rich populous city, built after the Spanifh model, with a great fquare in the mid- dle, and fpacious ftreets running from it on every fide ; and a canal runs through the middle of it, over which are feveral bridges. It is the feat of the Go- vernor, and of the Courts of juftice ; a Univerfity, and a Bifhop’s fee, Suffragan to the Archbifhop of Lima. They have a good trade in woollen-cloths, fugar, fait, and cattle ; but their greateft riches proceed from the gold that is found in the adjacent mines and rivers : This, as all other countries near CH AP„ the Equator, is fubjecft to annual periodical rains and IV. floods, which make the town unhealthful. . The Peruvian Emperor had made a conqueft of Quitto, which was the refidence of the former Kings of this country, but a very few years before the Spaniards arrived there ; and there are ftill to be feen the ruins of fome of their palaces, and of the temple of the Sun, the chief objedt of their adoration. There is a volcano in one of the mountains near this town, whofe eruptions have, more than once, endangered to the ruin of it. St. Jago de Puerto Veijo is fituated on the coaft, Puerto Veijo. in i degree fouth latitude, a little to the eaftward of Cape Lorenzo, in an unhealthful part of the coun- try ; near which, there was formerly a quarry of Emeralds, that made it much reforted to ; but the quarry being exhaufted, the town declined with it. Guiaquil is fituated upon a navigable river, 6 or Guiaquil, 7 leagues from the mouth of it, in 3 degrees fouth latitude, about two hundred miles to the fouthward of Quitto ; part of it lying on the afcent of a fteep hill, and the other part in a bottom on a bog ; it is divided into the new and old town, by the river that runs through it, andconfifts chiefly of one long ftreet, about a mile and half in length ; there are four or five hundred houfes in the place, whereof fome are built of brick, and others of timber ; but the common people have only huts of Bamboe- canes : It contains alfo five churches, and feveral convents, fome of which are built of ftone ; and it is defended by three forts, two whereof are upon the river, and the third and largeft upon the hill. There being plenty of timber in the neighbourhood of this place, a great many (hips are built here for the King of Spain ; and it has a pretty brifk trade, efpecially in timber, and cacao-nuts, for chocolate ; they export alfo a great deal of fait, falt-fifh, dried beef, nee and cotton ; but there is no gold or filver mines near it, nor have they any corn, but Indian- corn : They are fupplied with wheat-flour from Truxillo, and other fouthern parts, and with foveral forts of good Woollen-cloth, and ftrong bays, from Quitto, where they are made ; they receive wine, brandy, oil, olives, and fugar, from Pifca, La Nafta, and other towns farther fouth ; and a mar- ket is held daily in boats and barklogs on the river, where flefh, filh, fruits, and other provifions, in which the country abound, are fold very cheap. Governor Rogers relates, that the river is fo wide at the mouth, that a man can fcarce fee crofe the channel ; that the country on the fides of it, is low, marfhy ground, incumber’d with mangrove- trees and fhrubs ; that the tide flows above 1 8 feet perpendicular, and is quicker and ftronger than that in theThames ; that the river is navigable 1 4 leagues beyond Guiaquil, for large veffels ; and the tide flows 20 leagues above it. Both the civil and military government of this town, and the territory belonging to it, according to O F P E R tr. 269 CHAP, to the fame writer, is lodg’d in the Corregitlore, and IV. his Lieutenant, tho’ they have a Council for ma- naging the affairs of the Government, and deter- mining caufes of confequence, which confifts of the Lieutenant, two Alcaids, or Judges, who are Law- yers ; the Alguizil, Major, a Sheriff, and eight Re- gidors, or Aldermen ; from whom, however, there lies an appeal to the Court of Lima. The Officers of the Inquifftion a£l more arbitrarily here, ’tis (aid, than in Spain itfelf. Their Magiftrates and Officers, all, affecft pompous titles ; the Corregidore ftileshim- felf General ; and his Deputy, Lieutenat-General ; befides whom, they have a Camp-Mafter-General, a Serjeant-Major, a Commiffary of Horfe ; four Dons, Captains of large companies of foot ; and another Don, that commands two hundred horfe j and yet have all thefe great Officers, with a pro- portionable number of troops under their command, fuffered this important town of Guiaquil to be taken and plunder’d, by a handful of men, feveral times ; which has given fome occafion to think, that the American Spaniards are fo much degenerated from their anceftors of Old Spain, that they might be driven from the Weft-Indies, as eafily as they drove out the Indians two hundred years ago. Molt of the towns within the jurifdidtion of Guiaquil lie upon the river, and are governed by Lieutenants, appointed by the Corregidore, and can join him with their whole forces within two tides 3 which makes it the more to be admir’d, that they fhould fo often fuffer themfelves to be furprifed, as it ap- pears they have been. Guiaquil In the year 1687, the French Buccaneers came taken by t 0 an anc h or j n the mouth of the river Guiaquil, Buccaneers. ar| d fent a detachment of two hundred and iixty men up the river, in the night-time, who landed within cannon-fhot of the town, about two hours before day ; but the garrilon was alarm’d by the firing of a mufket accidentally 3 however, they advanced, and attacked the town at break of day 3 and after a very little oppofition, drove the Spa- niards out of their forts, and took poffeffion of the place, with no other Jofs, than nine men kill’d, and twelve wounded ; however, they put to the fword nine hundred Spaniards, and took feven hun- dred prifoners of both fexes, among whom were the Governor and his family. Here they found abundance of pearls and precious ftones, a great quantity of filver plate, and near an hundred tbou- fand pieces of eight in money, befides a great deal of rich merchandize, particularly, they took a Ver- milion Eagle, that had two large Emeralds for its eyes, faid to belong to one of their churches 5 and nothing could be richer than the furniture of the Governour’s houfe ; they found alfo two of the King’s (hips upon the flocks, feveral galleys, and fourteen or fifteen barks ; and the Governor agreed to ranfom himfelf and family, the city, cannon, forts, and Chips, at a million of pieces of eight ; hut the town being fet on fire, either by defign, or accident, the Governor refufed to pay the ranfom : C H A P„ Whereupon the Buccaneers cut oft' the heads of four IV. of the prifoners, and threatened the reft, if the ranfom was not immediately paid ; however, they contented themfelves, at length, with two hundred and fixty thoufand pieces of eight ; upon the re- ceipt whereof, they releafed their prifoners, and re- tired to their Chips. The French relate, that the SpaniCh Friars had reprefented the Buccaneers as monfters and canibals ; and that fome of the women, that were taken pri- foners, were ready to grant them any favours, on condition they Chould not be devoured ; efpecially, when they obferved nothing Chocking in their figure. Dampier, and the Englifh Buccaneers, at- tempted this town in the year 1685, and very nar- rowly milled furprifing it : And Captain Rogers, Guiaquil oh. who had the Queen’s Comrniffion during the lad: ken by Cap- war between the confederates and the French, took tain Ro S ers - Guiaquil by florin, with very little lols, in the year 1703 3 and plunder’d it of fome treafure, and rich effcdls 3 making the Spaniards pay thirty thou- fand pieces of eight, to ranfom the town, and Chips in the harbour : But mod: of the treafure was carried away, before the Captain made himfelf mafter of the place. Tombes, or Tumbez, is fituated at the foot of Tumbe^. the mountains, about 20 leagues fouth of Guiaquil, upon a good frelh-water river : Here the Spaniards, at their arrival, found a temple dedicated to the Sun, and abundance of Silverfmiths in the place, who made veflels of gold and filver for the temple, and the palace the Inca had here ; and they relate, that the walls of the temple were lined or covered with filver plate. Thomebamba is fituated on the great road of the Thome- Inca’s, one hundred and fixty miles fouth of Quitto, bamba. in a plain, at the conflux of two rivers : Here alio was a royal palace of the Inca’s, and a temple dedi- cated to the Sun ; both of them adorned with gold, and images made of Touch-ftone and Jafper, of a very great value. In the year 1 544, there were difeovered gold mines near this place, incredibly rich. Loxa alfo is fituated at the conflux of two rivers, l ox3i on the great road of the Inca’s, in 5 degrees fouth latitude. It is a pretty large town, and has feveral monafteries in it. Zamora is fituated an hundred miles to the eaft- Z] mora ward of Loxa, well built with Clone, and hath very rich gold mines in the neighbouring mountains of the Andes ; and their rivers repleniChed with gold lands. The town of St. Michael’s is fituated in 5 degrees St. Mi- fouth latitude, on the river Shuquimayo, 2 leagues chael ’ Ss eaft of the ocean, and as many from the port of Payta ; a large town, chiefly inhabited by fifher- men, and fuch as carry on a coafting-trade in barklogs, as far as Panama 3 by which many of them grow very rich. Pavta 2J0 THE PRESENT STATE c r-i a p. Payta. Quixos pro- vince. Quixos town. Pacamores province. Loyola. Valladolid. St. Jago. St. Francis Borgia. Lima audi- ence. Chief towns. i-ima city. Payta is fituated in 5 degrees, feme odd minutes fouth latitude, being one ol the bell harbours upon the coaft, and the town pretty well fortified : But this has been deferib’d already among the port-towns. The province of Quixos is bounded by Popayan on the north, the country of the Amazons on the eaft, the province of Pacamores on the fouth, and by Quitto Proper on the weft. The only town I met with of any note in this province is that of Qtuxos, fituate about fixty miles fouth-eaft of Quitto, at the head ol a river laid to be one of the fources of the river Amazon. The province of Pacamores is bounded by that of Quixos on the north, by the country of the Ama- zons on the eaft, by the audience of Lima on the fouth, and by Quitto on the weft. The chief towns whereof are, 1. Loyola ; 2. Valladolid ; 3. St. Ja- go ; 4. St. Francifco de Borgia. Loyola is fituated in 6 degrees fouth latitude, and 74 degrees of weftern longitude. Valladolid is fituated leventy miles north- weft of Loyola. St. Jago de Montanas lies in 5 degrees fouth latitude, and 7 1 degrees ol weftern longitude. St. f rancis de Borgia Hands about fixty miles north of St. Jago de Montanas, on one of the branches of the river Amazon ; but I meet with no other defeription of thefe four towns than their fituation. The audience of Lima, or Los Reyes, is bound- ed by that of Quitto on the north, by the country of the Amazons on the eaft ; by the audience of Los Charcas on the fouth, and by the ocean on the weft ; being about eight hundred miles in length from north to fouth, but the breadth very unequal, and uncertain, not four hundred miles in any part, except on the fouth. The chief towns are, 1 . Lima ; 2. Caxamalca ; 3. Guanuco ; 4. Truxillo ; 5. Pifca ; 6. Gua- manga ; 7. Cufoo ; 8. Arequipa. Lima, the capital of this audience, and of the whole kingdom of Peru, is fituated in 1 2 degrees and an half of fouth latitude, and 76 degrees of weft- ern longitude, on the banks of a river of the fame name, about fix miles from the fea, and as many from the ifland and port of Callao, lying in one of the moft fpacious and fruitful plains of Peru : It is built like other Spanifh cities, having a large fquare or parade in the centre, with piazza’s on every fide ; all the principal ftreets terminating in the fquare ; on the tides whereof ftand the cathedral, the Arch- bifhop’s palace, the Viceroy’s palace, the treafury, the town-hall, the armory, or publick magazine, and a fchcol or college of the Jefuits, where the Indian languages, and arts and fciences are taught. There are, befides the cathedral, a great many parochial and conventual churches, a univerfity, abundance of monafteries and nunneries of every order, and five or fix large hofpitals. The whole city being about four miles in length, and two in breadth ; the air moderately temperate and health- CH A P, ful, confidering the climate ; predigioufiy wealthy, IV. and plentifully fupply’d with provifions, and Indian and European fruits ; and well watered with canals, that are fupply’d from the river. The outfides of their houfes make but a mean appearance, being built with bricks dry’d in the fun ; many of them have only clay walls, and lcarce any of them are more than one ftory high ; the roofs exceeding light, cover’d with reeds and matts, and fometimes only a cloth, for which they give two very good reafons ; one is, that they are fuhject to earth- quakes ; and the other, that the fun does not heat thefe roofs as it does tiles or flate : And they have no occafion to provide againft wet or ftormy weather, for it never rains on this coaft, and thev are never difturb’d by ftorms or tempefts, but en- joy conftant ferene weather ; and the heats are much abated by the fea and land-breezes. But this great city, thus happily fituated, is not without its allays : The earthquakes they are frequently fubjetft to, muft neceftarily eaft a damp on all their enjoyments ; efpecially when great part of their town has been feveral times laid in ruins by them ; particularly in the years 1586 and 1687 ; in the laft of which years, the fea ebb’d fo far from the ftiore, that there was no water to be feen ; and after the fea had dis- appeared a confiderable time, it return’d in rowling mountains of water, which carried the drips in the harbour of Callao (the port to Lima) a league up into the country ; overflow’d the town of Callao, tho’ fituated on a hill, together with the fort, and drown'd both men and cattle for 50 leagues along the fhore. The ftiips, 130 leagues at fea, to the weft ward of Lima, were fenfible of it, as Wafer allures us, who was then in thofe feas : The fir ip he was in felt fo violent a {hock, he relates, that they thought they had ftruck upon a rock ; but after their confternation was a little over, they eaft the lead and founded, but could find no ground ; tho’ the fea, which ufually looks green, was then of a whitiftr colour, and the water they took up mixed with fand ; which made them conclude the {hock was occafion’d by an earthquake ; and a little after, they were informed there had been a terrible earth- quake at Lima, at the fame time. But to return to the town : The city is furrounded by a wall fortified with baftions, but of no great ftrength, if compared with European fortifications. However, as it is very populous, it may be ftrong enough to refill any force that can be brought againft it in that part of the world. The plain of Lima, in which it Hands, produces plenty of corn, wine, oil, fugar, flax and fruits. Caxamalca is fituated at the foot of a mountain, Caxamak*. in 7 degrees, odd minutes fouth latitude, on the great road of the Inca’s, 3 o leagues eaft of the Pacific- ocean. This was an ancient town when the Spaniards arrived there, and, if we may credit their writers, well-built, furrounded with a ftoue wall, and O F P CHAP, and defended by a caflle : On one fide of the city IV. flood the temple of the Sun, and on the other a magnificent palace of the Inca At ab a lip a, who was taken here in the year 1533, by Pizarro, and afterwards murdered by him. Guanuco. Guanuco is fituated near the lake of Bombon, an hundred and fifty miles north of Lim2, a well built town, and Handing in a good air. Here alfo was a fine palace of the Inca’s, and a temple dedi- cated to the Sun, when the Spaniards arriv’d. T ruxillo. Truxillo is fituated on the banks of a pleafant river in the valley of Chinca, fix miles from the r.iuncacho port of Guancacho and the ocean, in 8 degrees, P 011, odd minutes fouth latitude. It is a handfome Spa- nifh town, confiding of five hundred houfes ; the air healthful ; the country fruitful ; abounding in corn, wine, figs, oranges, and- other merchandize and provifions, of which they export a great deal to Panama, and the more northern fettlements. The fea beats with that violence on the coafl, that it is bad landing frequently at the port of Guancacho, that lies expofed to almofl every wind. Plfca. Pifca, or Pifco, is a port-town fituated in 14 de- grees fouth latitude, in a mountainous country ; but the valleys produce good wine, and they export more of it than any town on the coafl of Peru, ©uamanga, Guamanga is fituated on the great road of the Inca’s, in a fine plain, an hundred and eighty miles eafl of Lima. It is a well built Spanifh town, and Hands in a healthful air. The country about it abounds in corn and cattle ; and it is con- fiderable for the mines of gold, filver, copper, Sul- phur,. and loadflone, in the neighbouring hills. Sufco- Cufco (the metropolis of Peru, during the reigns of the Inca’s) is fituated in 1 3 degrees, odd minutes fouth latitude, and in 70 degrees of weflern longi- tude, 350 miles to the eaHward of Lima. It is built on the fide of a hill, in the midfi of a fpacious plain furrounded by mountains, from whence there fall four fmall rivers that water the- country, and altogether afford a mofl agreeable profpedl from the town, which proudly overlooks the vale. The eity itfelf alfo is watered by one of thefe rivers that runs through it, and fupplies feveral canals that are cut through the principal Hreets. The climate, here, is faid to be exceeding tempe- rate and healthful,, and there is very little difference between- fummer and winter 5 the air rather dry than moiff ; infomuch that meat hung up will keep without corrupting, and grow as dry as mummy if it hangs long ; and this drynefs of the air preferves the natives from Mufketo’s, Gnats, Flies, and all other noxious infers, which are icarce ever found here, tho’ they are the plague of other hot countries. Buildings, The chief Hreets of the old town pointed to the four winds ; and the houfes were generally built with Hone, cover’d with reeds, or thatch’d. The prin- cipal buildings in it were, the temple of the Sun, the palace of the Inca, and the-caftle. The temple What- the form or dimenfions of the temple of of ths Sun, E R U. 271 the Sun were, neither De l a Ve g a or any other CHAP, writers pretend todeferibe ; but relate, that amongfl IV. all their buildings, none was comparable to this tern- pie : That it was enrich’d with thegreatefl treafures that ever the world beheld. Every one of their In- ca’s, or Emperors, adding fomething to it, and im- proving and perfecting what his predeceffor had omitted. It was built of freeze-flone, and lined or wain- fcotted (if I may ufe the expreflion) with gold plate, the cieling being of the fame metal ; however, the roof was no better than common thatch, that people not knowing the ufe of tiles or fiate : It was divided into feveral chapels, cloiflers or apartments ; in the principal whereof, which Hood towards the eafl, was placed the image of the fun, confiding of one gold plate that cover’d the whole breadth of the cha- pel, almofl from the top to the bottom, and was twice as thick as the plates that cover’d the other walls. This image, reprelenting the fun, was of a round form, with all his rays and emiflions of fire and light proceeding from him, much in the fame man- ner as the European Painters draw him : On each fide of this image were placed the feveral bodies of thedeceafed Inca’s, fo embalm’d, ’tisfaid, that they feemed to be alive. Thefe were feated on thrones of gold, fupported by pedeflals of the fame metal, all of them looking to the Wefl, except the Inca Ha an a Capac, the eldefl of the Sun’s children, whofatdireiftly oppofite to if. Upon thearrival of the Spaniards, the Indians carried off and concealed thefe- embalmed bodies, with mofl of the treafures of the temple 5 only the image of the fun was not removed,, which falling to the (hare of a Spanilh Nobleman, named Macio Serr a de Le qjjic ano, known to our author De laVega, he play’d it away be- J fore fun-rife the next morning. The temple had feveral gates cover’d with gold, the principal whereof open’d towards the north and' round the top of the temple, on the outfide, was a kind of cornice a yard deep, confining of gold plate. Befides the chapel of the Sun, there were fi ve others TVcbapd- of a pyramidical form. The firfl being dedicated to "hhcMwA the Moon, deem’d the filler and wife of the Sun* The doors and walls whereof were cover’d with Sil- ver : And here was the image of the moon, of a round form, with a woman’s face in the middle of it. She was called Mama Quilca, or Mother Moon, be- ing efleemed the mother of their Inca’s ; but no Sa- crifices were offered to her as to the fun. On each ; fide of this image, were placed the bodies of their de- cealed Empreffes, ranged in order ; only that o£' Mama 0'ELLO,-the mother of HuaykaCa- pac, fate with her face towards the moon. Next to this chapel was that of Venus, called Tbec.-.sps* Chafca, the Pleiades, and all the other flars. Venus of “ t " was much efteem’d, as an attendant on the Sun, and the- red were deem’d Maids of honour to the Moon. 1 his chapel had iis^-walls-and doorsqflated with -lit- very 2 J2 THE PRESENT STATE CHAP. IV. Of thunder. Of the rain* bow. The Priefts chapel or apartment. The royal palace. Their way of building. ver, like that of the moon ; the ceiling reprefenting the fky, adorned with ftars of different magnitude. The third chapel was dedicated to thunder and lightning ; which they did not efteem gods, but as fervants of the fun ; and they were not reprefented by any image or pifture. The chapel, however, was ceiled and wainfcotted with gold plates like that of the fun. The fourth chapel was dedicated to Iris, or the rainbow, as owing its original to the fun. This chapel alfo was cover’d with gold, and a reprefenta- tion of the rainbow on one fide of it. They had a great veneration for this Phenomenon, and when- ever it appeared in the air, clapped their hands be- fore their mouths, asateftimony of their regard for it, I prefume ; and not, as my author furmifes, left their teeth fhould drop out. The fifth apartment was for the ufe of the High Prieft, and of the reft of the Priefts, who were all of the royal blood ; not intended for eating or fleeping in, but was the place where they gave au- dience to the Sun’s votaries, and confulted concerning their facrifices : This alfo was adorn’d with gold, from the top to the bottom, like the chapel of the Sun. And tho’ there was no other image worfhipped in this temple but that of the fun, yet had they the figures of men, women and children, and of all manner of birds, beafts, and other animals, of wrought gold, placed in it for ornament, as big as life ; and having many more than were fufficient for this purpofe, the reft were laid up in chambers and magazines, piled one upon another ; and ftill every year the people, at their great feftivals, prefented more gold and ftlver, which the Goldfmitbs, who refided near the temple, and were dedicated to the fun, form’d into one figure or other, as the offerer defired ; forbefides the figures of animals, they made all forts of veflels and utenfils, as pots, pans, bowls, fire-fhovels, and even fpades and rakes for their gardens, of the fame precious metal. De la Vega does not givefo particular a de- fcription of the palaces of the Inca’s in Cufco, as could be wifh’d. He only relates, they were vaftly large and magnificent, and mentions fome parti- cular rooms, and the manner of their building them : He fays, there were galleries, or rather halls, two hundred paces in length, and fifty or fixty in breadth : One of which, in his time, was left undemolifhed, and converted into the cathedral-church. He adds, that the Indians of Peru never raifed one ftory above another in their buildings ; nor did they join one room to another, but always left fome fpace between the rooms, and perhaps a whole court or quadran- gle, unlefs fometimes in the largeft halls they built clofets or withdrawing-rooms at the corners. He obforves alfo, that when they had built the four walls of ftone or brick, they erecfted pillars in the middle of the room, to fupport the roof ; for they knew not how to crofs their beams, or fallen them with nails or wooden pins, but laid their timbers upon the CHAP, walls, and faftened them with withs or cords. IV, Thefe main beams they croft’d with rafters, and faften’d in like manner, and thereon laid a covering ol thatch or ltraw a yard deep, extending the eves a yard beyond the walls, which ferv’d for a pent- houfe. Befides their walls of ftone, they had thofe of fun-dry’d bricks, which they formed in moulds, mixing the clay with ftraw ; theleaft of their moulds being a yard long, a fixth part of a yard broad, and a fixth in thickneft. Thefe being dry’d in the fun, were laid upon each other in the fhade ; and after they had lain out of the fun and weather three years more, were ufed in building, cemented with the fame clay, mix’d with ftraw ; but they never at- tempted to make common clay or mud-walls. Whenever one of the Inca’s died, they lock’d up the room where he ufually dept, with all the furni- ture, ornaments, gold and filver in it, and none were ever fufFer’d to enter it afterwards, the place being looked upon as facred ; but they kept it in re- pair on the outfide as long as it would ftand. The like ceremony was obferv’d as to all other rooms where the deceafed Inca had flept, tho’ it was but one night on a journey, or by accident : Therefore on the death of the Inca, they immediately fell to building a new aparment for the fucceflor. The ftones of thefe buildings were generally fo well laid and join’d, ’tis faid, that they needed no cement ; and if any were ufod, it was a fiimy liquor, like cream, which fo united and clofed the ftones toge- ther, that no foam or crevice appear’d : And in many of the royal palaces and temples, for the greater magnificence, fays Pedro de Sieca, they clofed up the foams of their buildings with melted gold and filver ; which afterwards occafioned the total de- ftrudlion of mod of them, the Spaniards fubverting the very foundations, in hopes of finding treafure. The furniture, or rather ornaments, of thefe palaces, Furniture like that of their temples, were the figures of men, andorna ' beafts, birds and other animals, caft in gold ; and on the walls, inftead of tapeftry, were plants and flowers irritated, of the fame metal, intermixed • with ferpents, butter-flies, and other infedts, that appear’d extremely natural. I don’t find they had any chairs ; but the Inca himfelf fat on a ftool made of gold, without arms or back 1 , having a pedeftal of the fame metal : And they had no other bedding but blankets, or rather Beds, carpets, made of the wool of their country fheep, fpread on the floor ; which ferv’d both to lie on, and cover themfelves with ; and in fome parts of the country they lay in hammocks. They had bagnios, and cifterns of gold alfo in Bagnios, their palaces ; and all the utenfils of their kitchens, Utenfils of and in the meaneft offices about the palace, were of gold ' that metal. Infomuch that Pedro de Sieca avers, that if all the treafures in their temples and palaces, which were then loft, fhould be recovered, they would be found fo great* that all the riches the Spaniard* OFFER U. CHAP. Spaniards had poflefled themfelves of, Would be no 2 73 IV. them. Their gar dens. The caftle of Cufco. more, in companion of them, than a drop of water to a bulhel. However, the Indians neither pur- chafed lands or houfes with it, or efteemed it the finews of War, as the Europeans do ; but only adorned themfelves, their houfes and temples with They buried [ t w jy| e a liye, and buried it with them when they their trc3* y ^ ~ , y f ures w i t h died : And the Indians, obferving how the Spani- ards thirfted after gold, and tranfported into Spain all they could feize or lay their hands on, buried and concealed whatever they could from them. De la Vega alfo informs us, that the royal gardens of the palace were not only planted with a great variety of trees, fruits and flowers ; but the figures of thefe, and all manner of animals, were made of gold, and placed in the walks and fquares to adorn them. The fame writer, fpeaking of the cafile of Cufco, lays, its works are incredible to thofe who have not fee n it ; and thofe that have, are apt to look upon it as erected by enchantment, feeming to furpals the art or power of man. This fortrefs flood upon the top of the hill on which the city was built, and to- wards the town was defended by a high rock, per- fectly perpendicular ; lo that there was no approach- ing it on this fide, and towards the country it was defended by triple femicircular walls, of fuch thick- nels and height, that they were proof againlt all the force that could be brought againlt it, the innermolt wall riling above, and commanding the other two. The ftones of thefe walls were fo very large, efpeci- ally the three firft rounds, that they appeared to be entire rocks ; and it was paft man’s underftanding to conceive, how they were hewn out of the quarry, or brought thither, the Indians having no iron took, or inltruments to fallen them, or beafts to draw them thither ; or any pullies or engines to lift them into the places where they were fixed ; fuch was their bulk and weight, that they mull; have broken down any carriages they could be laid upon. Acos- T a relates, that he meafured a Hone in the walls of an Indian caftle, that was thirty-eight foot long, eighteen broad, and fix in thicknels ; and yet the ftones in the fortrefs of Cufco were ftill larger ; and thefe were dragg’d by the ftrength of men, ten, twelve and fifteen leagues over hills and valleys, and the molt difficult ways to that place : There is one Hone to which the Indians give the name of Syacufa, that is, the tired or weary, becaufe it never arrived at' the place it was defign’d for, but remains ftill on the road. This rock was drawn by twenty thoufand Indians, 1 5 leagues over very rugged and uneven ways ; one half of them drew before, the reft came alter it, and on each fide, to poife its weight, and keep it in a direCt courfe, left jt ftiould fall into a precipice, or be wedg’d into any place from whence it could not be recover’d ; but notwithftanding all their care, it got the better of them ; and tumbling down a ftee p hill, kill’d feveral hundred of the Indians, who were VOL. III. Vaft ftones in the walls. endeavouring to poife the weight : However, they CHAP* rais’d it once again, and with incredible pains drag- IV. ged it to the plain in the neighbourhood of Cufco, and there they were forced to leave it, never being able to get it up the hill ; here, according to their way of expreffion, it tired, fainted and wept, and was able to travel no further, but bled with the fa- tigue and labour it underwent in the paflage. Which the reader will have the lagacity to difeern, no doubt-,, is to be apply’d to the poor wretches who drew it, and perifhed in the enterprize ; and feems to me, to refemble another expreffion that has been fre- quently made ufe of in this part of the world, where abundance of people have been deftroyed by the la- bour and hardships impofed on them by tyrannical Princes, in eredling cities and magnificent works, to eternize their memories. In thefe cafes, it is frequently laid, “ that the walls or the foundations “ were laid in blood, or cemented with the blood “ of fo many thoufand men : ” Which metaphori- cal expreffions have, indeed, by fome unthinking readers been interpreted literally, or rejected as fa- bulous, when a very moderate fhare of reflection might have fet them right. To return to the caftle : In the outward wall wer<5 found the ftones of the largeft fize, which, De la Veg a was of opinion, were never dug out of any quarry, but loofe rocks found in the mountains, anc! piled one upon another in a ruftick manner, with- out polifhing ; but fo well fitted, however, to each other, ’tis faid, that there were no chafms or feams' left open : A work fo prodigious, that had they beers mafters of all our modern engines, it would have been thought beyond all human force to erecl fuch another fortrefs. Between each wall, there was a fpace of 2 5 or 3 a> foot, which was fill’d up with earth, and every wall had a breaft-work on the top of it : Beyond thefe three walls, were three Ipacious towers, ftanding in a triangle, anfvverable to the bending of the walls, which were in the form of a crefcent on this fide, as has been obferved already. The principal of thefe towers, which flood in the middle, and was called Mayoc Marca, or the round fortrefs, had a fountain ot excellent water in it, brought a great way by a fubterraneous aqueduct ; but from whence, De la Vega lays, the natives themfelves did not know ; for thefe were fecrets communicated to none but the Inca or his Council, poffibly leaf! an enemy ftiould dilcover the ftream, and cut it oft’, in cafe of a fiege. In this fortrefs, the Inca’s had an apart- ment, which was adorned and furniftied with gold plate, vefiels, and images of all kinds, of the fame metal, like their other palaces. The other two towers on the right and left were both fquare, and contained rooms for the lodging and quartering the garrifon, who were all of the blood of the Inca’s, no others being admitted into any of th m ; the whole fortrefs being confecrated to the Sun fer the exercife of arms, as the temple was for prayers and fa rifices. N n Under THE PRESENT STATE 2 74 CHAP. Under the foundation of thefe towers was as IV. much room as above ; and they had a communica- tion with each other by a fubterraneous labyrinth, A labyrjith. j;^ cu i £ to p a f s? that no ftranger could find his way through without a guide, or a line fattened at the entrance, by which he might difcover the turn- ings and windings in his return. This labyrinth, De la Vega allures us, was remaining in his time, and he had been often in it ; but the upper rooms were all ruin’d. In the framing thefe vaults, as they were ignorant of arching, they laid over great flabs of ftone, which ferved inftead of beams ; and in thefe, and many of their works, the Inca’s teem’d to have a view rather to their glory, than to the ufe or convenience of the building, as was the cafe of thofe Princes that erected the walls of Baby- lon, the pyramids of Egypt, and other ftrudfures that obtain’d the name of the world’s wonders : Mott of the new city of Cufco was built with the ftones found in the ruins of this fortrels. JTou!' greit From the grand market-place in old Cufco, if- th« e Eied four high- ways to the four quarters of the em- tquare pire. Thofe to the north and fouth running upwards ©£: Cufco. of 500 leagues each, and were carried over moun- tains and valleys pitch’d with ttone ; in fome places rais’d, in others funk, to render it commodious tra- velling, and to facilitate the march of their armies from one province to another ; but thefe will be more largely defcribed hereafter, in treating of their roads. Tha city of Every nation of this extenfive empire had quarters € %°ofan' for then - refidence in the royal city of Cufco. aatlons in The vafial Princes of every province, arid efpecial- sae empire. Jy the Caraca’s, or conquered Princes, were obliged to lend their eideft Tons to Court, and build them a palace ; about which all the natives of the fame pro- vince, refiding in Cufco, had their houfes ; and eve- ry people where obliged to retain the habits or their refpedfive provinces, being chiefly diftinguifhed by their head-drefies, Thefe inftiutions added to the fpendor of the In- ca’s Court, the fons of the Caraca’s, or vaflal Princes, being obliged to wait at the Inca’s palace in their turns, contributed much to the fecurity of the Government ; thefe young Lords remaining in a manner pledges of their fathers loyalty ; tho’ the rea- fons ufiually given for their attendance were, that they might be the better educated and inftrudled in the laws of the empire, and prepared for pofts in the Admi.nittration : Bat whatever was the reafonof the inttitution, by this means the Court language, and the manners and cuftoms of the capital city, were communicated to the mod diftant provinces ; and the Court, on the other hand, were juftly informed of the ttate of their remote!! territories. Cufco com- De la Vega, in defending Cufco, compares par’d to it to ancient Rome ; for, 1. like Rome, he obferves, ®ld Rome. . - i 1 c . v 1 jt was founded by its own tv mgs ; and 2. was tne metropolis of many nations fubjeef to its empire : 3 . It might be compar’d to Rome for the excellency of its laws ; and 4. for tlse admirable virtues and C H AF, endowments of its citizens, who were famous for IV,. their politicks, as well as military difcipline ; civi- liz’d, and freed from all barbarous cuftoms: How- ever, it mutt be confefs r d, he fays, that Rome had one great advantage, and that was in the knowledge of letters, whereby the fame of that city was ren- der’d immortal : Whereas poor Cufco had nothing but memory, and tradition, to deliver its grea.t adtions topofterity. Rome, heinfimn-tes, might be as much indebted to the pens of its hiftorians, who had re- corded their wife inftitutions, their victories and fuc- ceffes, and fet them in an advantageous light, as to the heroes fhe had bred : Peru had abounded in men famous in arms and arts, but wanting the know- ledge of letters, had left no other memory of their actions than what, tradition had prefcrved, and tranf- mitted to pofterity in fome few abrupt and flattered fentences deliver’d from father to fon, which were alfo in a great meafure loft by the entrance and in- vaiion of a new people ; for where an empire has had its period, being over-whelm’clby the power of a ttronger nation, there, of courfe, the memory of ac- tions and cuftoms are loft ; efpecially where letters are wanting to record them. As for the city of Cufco flnee it has been rebuilt. The nevr ’tis fufficient to fay, that it is purely Spanifh.. They “V* have thrown it into large (quarts with their piazza’s, from whence the principal ftreets, which are very long and broad, run in diredl lines, and thefe again are crofs’d by other ftreets at right angles ; and as it is divided into the upper and lower town by the ri- ver which runs through it, they have built feveral arch’d ftone bridges on the river, for the more eafy communication, inftead of planks, which the Indians ufed in the old town, not underftandrng how to make arch’d bridges. Befides the cathedral, there are feveral parochial and conventual churches, monaftaries and nunneries of every order, and fome noble hofpitals, as well for Indians as Spaniards. And it muft be faid, for the honour of the Spaniards, that none take more care of their hofpitals, and of fick and infirm people than they do in every part of the world. The Biftrop of Cufco is Suffragan to the Archbifhop of Lima,, which the Spaniards have thought fit,, fince their conqueft, to make the capital of Peru. I Ihall on- ly add, that the gentlemen and citizens of Cufco (as the Indians had formerly ) have moft of them their country-houfes in the pleafant and healthful valley of Yuca, through which there runs a fine river, that makes it one of the moft fruitful valleys in Pe- ru, and is now planted" with almoft all manner of In- dian and European corn and fruits. Arequipa, the laft of the great towns I Ihall men- Arquipa, tion in the audience of Lima, is fituated on a river that falls into the Pacific-ocean, about forty miles fouth-weftof the town, lying in 1 6 degrees, odd mi- nutes fouth latitude, 1 00 leagues and upwards fouth- eall of Lima, and 80 leagues foutb-weft of Cufco. O P P C H A P. It confifts of about three or four hundred houfes, and IV, Hands in a country abounding in corn and wine; but is moft confiderable for the gold and filver mines in the neighbourhood of it This town was founded by the Marquis Pizarro, one of the firft conque- rors, and over-turned by an earthquake forty years afterwards ; but the Spaniards liked the fituation of the place fo well, that it was foon after rebuilt ; and it is now a Bifhop’s fee, Suffragan to the Archbiftiop of Lima. Los Charcas The audience of Los Charcas is bounded by the audience. audience of Lima on the north, by the province of Paraguay, or La Plata, on the eaft, by Chili on the fouth, and by the Pacific-ocean on the weft ; being about feven hundred miles in length, from eaft to weft, in the broadeft part, and about the fame breadth from north to fouth ; but both the length Chief towns, and breadth very unequal. The chief towns in this audience are, r. Potofi ; i . Porco ; 8. La Plata ; 4. Santa Cruz ; 5. La Paz ; 6. Chinquita ; 7. Ti- agunaco ; 8. Arica ; and 9. Hillo, or Ykx Potofi. Potofi, which takes its name from the mountain at the bottom of which it ftands, is fituated in 2 2 de- grees fouth latitude, 67 degrees weft of London, in one of the moft barren countries of America ; there being neither trees or grafs to be found near it, but the richeft filver mines that ever were difcovered ; which has brought multitudes of people hither, in- fomuch that it is faid to be one of the largeft and moft populous towns of Peru : Nor is it ill fupply’d with provifions ; all the countries round about, for 30 or 40 leagues, fupplying their markets, where they are fare to be well paid for what they bring. As to the mines, which have rendered this town fa- mous through the world, I fhall defcribe them under another head ; and only obferve here, that there are feveral thoufand people conftantly employed in dig- ging and refining the filver. So diligent have the Spaniards been fince they difcovered this mountain, that tho* it be 3 or 4 leagues in circumference, and one thoufand fix hundred and twenty-four rods ( I prefume it ftrould be yards) high ; it is now little more than a cruft or {hell, out of which they have taken moft of its internal riches, and are daily in fearch of new mines. The Spaniards have erected a chapel on the top of the hill, to which they afcend by a narrow winding path ; but the mountain is fb exceeding cold, that it is fcarce habitable ; poffibly, the chapel therefore was erefted more for oftentation than devotion. There are alfo a great number of churches, chapels, and convents in the town ; for however the Religious feem to have renounced the world, it isobferv’d, they are ufually moft numerous, where filver moft abounds. Force. Porco is fituated 1 o leagues north-weft of Potofi, confiderable on account of its filver mines, before thofe of Potofi were difcover’d ; but the latter being richer, and notfo much incommoded by water, Por- co was in a manner deferted : However, ’tis proba- ble, the mines of Porco will be reforted to again, E R U. 275 fince thofe of Potofi are in a manner exhaufted, ac- C HAP. cording to the relations of fome travellers. IV. La Plata, capital of the province, receiv’d its name from the filver mines in the neighbourhood ; which were the firft the Spaniards wrought. It is fituated on one of the fources of the great river La Plata, in 21 degrees, odd minutes fouth latitude, and 66 degrees of weftern longitude. The town ftands in a fine plain, and in a much more fruitful foil than either Potofi or Porco ; and is the fee of an Archbi- fhop, and the refidence of the Governor and Courts of juftice of this province ; the inhabitants whereof are exceeding rich. The cathedral, with the reft of the churches and convents, are very magnificent ; and the revenues of the Archbifhoprick are faid to a- mount to eighty thoufand crowns per annum. St. Croix, or Santa Cruz, of the mountains, is Santa Crus} fituated on another branch of the great river La Pla- ta, 50 leagues to the eaftwardof the city of La Pla- ta ; but I meet with no particular defcription of the place. La Paz, or City of Peace, ftands on the great La Pai, road of the Inca’s, 1 00 leagues to the northward of La Plata. It is a finall town, plealantly fituated in a fruitful plain on the river Cajana, and has feveral gold mines in the adjacent mountains. Chinquita is fituated on the great lake Titicaca, Chinqmta,. in an exceeding plentiful country ; and is a very wealthy town. Tiguianuca is fituated on the fouth end of the Tiguianu«f» lake ; befides which, there are abundance of fine towns and villages bordering on the lake, this being the pleafanteft and moft fruitful part of Peru, as well as the moft temperate, Arica lies in i8degrees, 20 minutes fouth latitude, Arks, on theSouth-fea, 100 leagues north-weft of Potofi, and is the port-town, where moft of the treafure is embarked for Lima ; but this has been already de- ferred among the ports. Ylo, or Hillo, is another finall port, fituated on Yfo. the South-fea, about 20 miles north of Arica, in a fine valley, abounding in Indian and European fruits; and has been frequently plundered by the Bucca- neers. In treating of the Peruvian towns, it is neceffary Of the Pe« to inform the reader, that before the arrival of the ruvi3n . n , , . towns in ■Spaniards, there was only one great town in every general, province ; all the reft were villages, confiding of little huts or cottages, that did not deferve the name of towns : But in the capital of every province was a palace belonging to the Governor, or vaflal Prince; a temple dedicated to the Sun, and a convent of fe- left Virgins, refembling thofe in the imperial city of Cufco ; there were alfo four royal high-ways run- ning through the whole empire, that center’d in the grand fquare, or market-place, of Cufco : And upon thefe high-ways were magazines and ftore-houfes of the Inca’s, fufficient to fupply all the forces of the provinces in which they flood ; the Indians had alio noble aqued u£ts, by which they brought water into N n 2 their THE PRESET T, S TATE Convents of 1'elect 'Virgins. Their royal iiigh-ways dsisrib’d. their great towns and corn-fields many miles, which render’d the moil barren lands fruitful ; as was the ulage of the ancient Perfians, and many other peo- ple, where the foil was dry and fandy, like that of Peru. I have already defcribed the palaces of the Inca’s, and the temple of the Sun at Cufco, by which mo- del thofe in the other provinces were built. As to the convents of feledf Virgins, thofe feem to have been built like cloiders, with cells for the Virgins on the fides of them, without any upper rooms. In the nunnery of Cufco, his Paid, there were no leis than fifteen hundred Virgins, all of the blood of the Inca’s or Emperors : And in the convents of overy province, the Nuns were the kindred of the vafial Princes, or of the Lords of the refpedtive pro- vinces. But, according to D E la Vic A, thefe Nuns were not intended for the fervice of the temple of the Sun. On the contrary, no female was ever fuffer’d to enter into thefe temples : Nor was any man admitted to come within the walls of thefe nunneries. But I fhall treat further of their inditu- tion under the head of religion, and proceed to the defcription of their royal high-ways, of which Au- gusttn Carete gives the following relation: He fays, that the Inca Guayhacava, marching with his army from Cufco, to fubdue the province of Quitto, diftant 500 leagues from that capital, met with great difficulties in his march over almod inacceffible rocks and. mountains. Whereupon re- turning victorious, he cauled a fpacious way to be hewn out through the rocks ; levelling the rough and uneven ground, by railing it in fome places fifteen or twenty fathoms, and in others finking it as much ; and in this manner carried on the work for fifteen hundred miles (and future Inca’s continued it as tar to the fouth ward.) He afterwards caufed another way, of equal extent, to be carried through the plain country forty foot wide, which was defended by walls on each fide : And along thefe ways were boufes at certain didances, ffady groves, and rivulets or refervoirs of water, introduced for the refreffment of his troops, or weary travellers, upon a march. At the houfes e reeled by the Inca’s on the great roads, fays De la Vega, travellers were fupplied gratis with victuals, and other provifions for their journeys: And in cafe any traveller fell fick, he was attended and taken care of as well as he could be at his own houfe : But the truth is, fays the. fame wri- ter, no perfon was fuffer’d to travel for curiofity, pleafure, or private bufinefs, but only in the ferviee of the Inca, or the Lord of the province ; all who had not orders, or licences at leaft, for travelling, were taken up as vagrants, and punifii’d : But De la Vega does not inform us within what limits the natives were confin’d : As I apprehend, they were at liberty to travel any where within the dif- triiff of the particular Lord under whofe government they liv’d, without a licence. The Inca’s alfo had their palaces and houfes of pleafure on the tops of tha mountains in thefe roads, froln whence they had the C H A ??, fined profpedts in the world. But to proceed to their IV. magazines. In every province, faysDE la Vega, there were always two magazines, or dore-houfes ; Ma g azine! * in one of which they laid up corn and provifions for the fupport of the natives in years of fcarcity ; and in the other, the provifions belonging to the temple of the Sun, and the Inca ; befides which, they had fmaller dore-houfes, built upon the high-ways, 3 or 4 leagues didant from each other ; which the Spa- niards make ufe of at this day, as inns, when they ■ travel. All the edate of the Sun and of the Inca, within 50 leagues of the city of Cufco, was brought thither for the maintenance and fupport of the Court} die overplus whereof the Inca’s didributed among the vafial Princes, and great Officers civil and mili- tary, that attended at Cufco in their turns ; only a certain portion of the revenue of the Sun, within thofe limits, was laid up in magazines for the ufe of. the people of the refpedfive didrkds. The revenues arifing in the provinces above 50 leagues from Cufco, were laid up in- the King’s dore-houfes, and from thence carried to the led'er dore-houfes, danding on the common road, confid- - ing of ammunition and provision, arms, cloaths, fhoes, and whatever elfe was neceffary for an army in the field ; from whence the forces were readily- fupply’d wherever they march’d, and the foldiery was never quartered upon the people, or in the lead burthenfome to them. There were magazines and dore-houfes alfo ereeded in the mountains and plains out of the road, at the didance of a day’s march or two, near fome rivulet ; where an army might, at any time, be fupply’d with arms and provifions of all kinds, and thefe were called Tombo’s. From their roads, we very naturally come to their bridges, by which they pafs over rivers ; and thefe fee m to have been the msaned of all their works : They neither knew how to eredf arches, or to fix piles in the middle of a dream to fupport a bridge ; and therefore, whenever the dream was too wide to lay planks over from one bank to the other, they had a kind of floating-bridges faden’d to each fide, made or flags or rufiies : And indead of ferry-boats, they had floats of calabaffes, or ruffes, to convey over travellers. It is related alfo, that they fome- times fadened ropes crofs. their rivers, and drew themfelves-over in bafkets. Aiding along the ropes. As to their carriages, and way of travelling, it Their w appears that they had no cattle fit for draught; eve- rages, -mA ry tiling was drawn by men, hove weighty foever ; ^ ° nor had they any beafis of burthen, but a kind of fheep,. one of which would fcarce, carry an hundred weight, and will be particularly aeferib’d hereafter, under the head of animals : Mod of their baggage, therefore, was carried by Porters. Their Great men alfo were carried on chairs or couches, on the ffoul- ders of men, or in hammocks ; which lad was the ufi ual way of carrying fick people, and is dill ufed in many parts of America. C H A P. OF PE C H A P. V. Of the perfons and habits of the Peruvians ; of their genius and temper ; arts, manufactures , food , ex~ ercifes and diverfions ; difeafes and Phyftcians. CHAP. >-r-' {-f ]? Peruvians are generally of a middle ftature. V • X There are no nations of Giants or Pigmies, in PerfonTof^ &at part of the world, as our firft Adventurers re- the Peruvi- lated : Nor can I find any of thofe deform’d mon- ? ns - . fters in South- Ameiica, that Sir Walter Ra- or°Monfters. Legh and his people were pleafed to amufe us with. The Inca, or royal hiftorian, Garcisiasso de la Vega, indeed, informs us, that there was a tradition in his time, that a race of Giants, feme ages paft, invaded that country, landing at Cape St. He- lena, on the South-fea, in 2 degrees offouth latitude; and refers us to the account Pedro de Sieca, the moft circumftantial of the Spanifh writers, gives of them ; which, with the readers leave, I {hall iranfcribe the fubftance of. “ There were, fays De S 1 e c a, many ages fince, c ‘ men of an extraordinary fize arrived in this coun- 44 try in great (hips : Such was their ftature, that an 44 ordinary man reached but to their knees: Their 44 heads were proportionably large, cover’d with 44 long hair hanging down their fhoulders, and they 44 had great faucer eyes, but no beards. Some of 44 them were cloathed with the fkins of beafts, o- 44 thers naked, without any other covering than the 44 long hair which nature had given them. There 44 were, near Point St. Helena, fome ruins of vaft 44 wells and citterns, hewn out of the rocks, when 44 De Sieca wrote, which he fuppofed muft be 44 made by thefe Giants, to preferve frefh water in 44 the dry feafon. 44 They were no lefs put to if, he relates, for 44 victuals than they were for drink; for one of thefe 44 Giants eating as much as fifty of the natives, they 44 foon wafted the country, and made a famine in 44 the place, ’till they found means to take great 44 quantities of fifh,- with which they fatisfied their 44 voracious appetites. 44 They liv’d but in ill terms with the natives ; 44 not only becaufe they plunder’d them of their pro- 44 vifions, but took their women from them, who 44 died in their rude embraces, or at leaft in child- 44 birth : Thus thefe Giants having no women by 44 whom they could propagate their fpecies, were 44 guilty of fodomy openly with each other ; and 44 were all deftroyed by thunder and lightning, and 44 an avenging Angel, in the very a dare not efteem them fabulous, only fufpend my be- lief, ’till fome eye-witnefs of our own {hall teftify the truth. But as fuch monfters have never been feen fince in South-America, Sir Walter, had he liv’d in our time, probably would have made no fcruple to have rejected thefe ftories as fabulous. But ■ to proceed in the defcription of their perfons. The Peruvians, as has been obferved already, like other Indians, were of a middle ftature, and of an olive complexion generally ; but near the Equator of a perfcbt copper-colour ; their hair, as that of all other people between the T ropics, always- black ; moft of them had their heads fhav'd ; and the hair of their beards and other parts of the body was pull’d oft' from time to time with tweezers whenever any appear’d , 1 except on their eye-brows and eye-lids. The feve- ral nations were diftinguifh’d chiefly by their head- dreftes : Some wore whole pieces of cotton-linnen, wrapp’d about their heads like turbants ; others had only a fingle piece of linnen tied about their heads : Some wore a kind of hats ; others, caps in the form of a fugar-loaf ; and a multitude of other different fafhions there were of their head-attire, and thefe they never alter’d, but continued the fame in their refpecftive nations and tribes from generation to ge- neration. But this is to be underftood of the better fort of people ; for the reft, as far as I can perceive, w 7 ent bare-headed ; at leaft, the Spaniards have re- prefented them fo, in the pictures they have given us of the Peruvians at the time of their conquefh The head -d refs, cap, or turbant, feems to have been granted to their Chiefs as a mark of diftincftion : Their heads and bodies alfo were anointed with oil, or greafe ; and fome of them ufed paint, like the reft of the Americans. Their holiday-drefs was a fort of ftiirt, and a veft without fieeves, and a mantle : They had alfo ihoes, 2 77 CHAP. V. Sir Ralegh’s monfters. The real ftature and complexion of the Peruvians., Habits,, 27S THE PRESENT STATE C H A P.Hioes, or rather fandals, on their feet, made of the V. (kins of beafts untanned ; but the common people ufually went naked, except a fmall piece of linnen about their waifts : They had fcarce any cloaths on when they were at work, when they went a hunt- ing, or travell’d the road. De la Vega, fpeaking of the ancient Indians, andoffome nations of them in his days, fays, their manner of cloathing, or covering their bodies, was, in fome countries, as immodeft as ridiculous : That fome had no other covering but what nature gave them ; tho’ others, perhaps for oftentation, girt a piece of cotton-li.nnen about their waifts. He had feen fome nations of South- America that went per- fectly naked, in the year 1570. That the women went naked as well as the men ; only thofe who were married tied a firing round their bodies, to which they faften’d a cotton-clout about a yard fquare, which look’d like an apron ; and where they had no linnen, they made ufe of broad leaves. So barbarons, fays he, were the In- dians in the hot countries, who were not under the dominion of the Inca’s. And the people in the colder countries were cloathed only with the (kins of beafts, or matts, and that rather to defend them from the weather, than out of regard to modefty or de- cency ; concluding, that in his time there were fome nations of Americans, both men and women, under the dominion of the Spaniards, and even their menial fervants, that no arguments but force could prevail on to wear cloaths. But wherever the Inca’s had any power or influ- ence, fays De la Vega, the people (he muft mean the better fort of people) were decently cloath’d ; in hot countries, their cloaths being made of cotton- linnen, and in colder of wool ; but every garment was wove fit for the ufe it was defign’d, without cutting, whether it were a {hirt, a veil, or a man- tle ; they were all of a-piece, as they came from the loom, only dy’d into various colours that never faded. In another place De la Vega obferves, that it was one of the eftablifh’d laws of the Inca’s, that no man fhould change the habit and fafhion of his country, tho’ he chang’d his habitation. ©utameiits. The principal ornaments of -the Peruvians were their rings and jewels in their ears, which they ftretch’d to a monftrous five, and occafion’d the Spaniards to give fome of them the appellation of the People with great Ears. They had alfo chains of jewels and (hells about their necks ; but I don’t find the Peruvians wore gold plates, or rings in their nofes, like the Indians fituate to the northward of the Equator. Antonio de Berera relates, that when the Spaniards firfl invaded the north part of Peru, they were oppos’d by a people that were ftark naked, but painted, fome red, and others yellow : But among thefe he informs us, there were fome (probably their Chiefs) that had mantles, and other garments made of cot ten 5 or of Wool, and adorned with jewels. 1 The habits of the Peruvian women were not very CHAP, different from thofe of the men, for thefe alfo are V. faid to have worn vefts and mantles ; only as the men (hav’d their heads, and wore caps or turbants, ^ h t h e ha jjj M the women drefs’d in their hair, which reached down men/ W °* to the middle of their backs, fometimes loofe and flowing, and at others braided and twilled in feveral braids : And as the fun frequently changed their hair from black to a ruflet-brown, or red, they were at great pains to reftore it to its original colour, dipping their hair into a black hot liquor, over which they would lie feveral hours in great uneafinefs, ’till it was fufficiently tinged ; nothing being efteem’d a greater beauty among the women than long (hining black hair : And both men and women, at feftivals, and other folemn times, frequently adorn’d their heads with flowers and beautiful feathers ; but the Peru- vians now follow the Spanilh modes in every thing. The Americans were no lefs furpriz’d at the com- plexion and drefs of the Spaniards, than the Spaniards were at theirs ; but admir’d nothing fo much as their long beards, having never feen a beard in their country ; and their glittering fwords and fire-arms perfectly amaz’d them. However, as the Spaniards did not at firfl: treat them in a hoftile manner, they adored thefe white ftrangers as fo many gods, and made them rich prefents ; but of this hereafter, when I come to their hiftory : I fhall only add, under this head of complexion and drefs, that nothing amaz’d the Indians more than the blacknefs of the Negroe flaves the Spaniards carried with them. They could not believe this to be natural, having never feen a Black in America. They defired the Spaniards, there- fore, to let them make the experiment, and try if they could not wa(hofF the black paint (as they took it to be) which made the Negroe and his Mafters ex- ceeding merry. As to the genius artd temper of this people, if we Thegeniue were to credit the firft accounts we received of them ®" d t ^ em p er . from the Spaniards, they were little better than brutes viansf e "*' in human fhape. They relate, that they facrificed men, and even their own children, fed on human , flefli, were guilty of fodomy, and all manner of vice. And this has been the general condufl of man- The reasons kind (as has been obferv’d already) to reprefent di- P eo P le r fP re * ftant nations, and thofe they are enemies to, as bar- ////// barians. The great conquerors and heroes of anti- barbarous, quity among the Greeks and Romans always repre- fented their enemies, and thofe they were pleafed to make fuch, as ftrange unpolifh’d animals ; and one reafon of invading and fubduing them they pretended was, to civilize and inftruiSt them in better morals, .as well as in arts and fciences : And fuch, it feems, were the pretences of our modern conquerors of Peru and Mexico ; namely, to reform that new world, deftroy idolatry, and eftablifti the Chriftian religion there ; tho’ in the end it appears, they made them, in the feripture phrafe, tenfold more {lie children of hell than they found them. It OF PERU. C H A P. It is remarkable a Ifo, that the Inca’s, or Empe- V. rors of Peru, gave much the lame reafons the an- dents did, for making war upon their weaker neigh- bours, and fubjeding all the nations in that part of the world under their dominion. Gar ciliasso de la Ve ga, the royal hiPo- rian, in the 7th chapter of his PrP book, relates, that he received the following account of the anci- ent inhabitants of this country, from one of his relations, a dependant of their Inca’s, or Kings, as he himfelf was, (viz.) that they were like fo many brute beaPcs, without religion or government; they neither ploughed or fowed, or cloathed themfelves ; they dwelt lolitanly in caves or holes of the rocks ; fed on herbs, roots, and wild fruits, and on man’s flefh; enjoyed their women, as well as lands, in common, and underpood nothing of property: But that their father the Sun (as the Inca’s and royal fa- mily call'd him) beholding the favage difpofiticn of thefe people, fentalon and daughter from heaven to inPrud them in the vrorlhip of himfelf (the Sun) to give them laws and precepts, to teach them to live in focieties, cloath themfelves, and cultivate their lands, and reform their barbarous cuPoms ; “ con- “ Pituting them (the Inca’s) Lords and Princes over 44 that people.” From whence it appears, that the Inca’s of Peru, like the ancient law-givers, pretended to be depend- ed from lo me god, who had conferr’d the dominion of thole nations upon them ; or at leap, had dicta- ted thofe laws and rules they promulg’J and requir’d the people to obferve. And De la Vega tells us, chap. 12. of his 5th book, that the two principal motives or reafons the Inca’s gave for making war upon their neighbours, and fubduing them where they refufed to fubmit tamely to their dominion, were, “ the barbarity and ignorance of the people, “ and the violence and oppreffion they exercifed over 4 4 their fubjeds.” And thefe have been thepretended motives of moP of our heroes and conquerors on this fide the globe ; tho’ ’tis evident, ambition is gene- rally at the bottom of thefe Ipecious pretences : We can never therefore make a jup cPimate of the cha- racters of any people from the accounts we receive from thofe who have enflaved them, or ufurp’d the dominion over them. They ufually reprefent the •Conquer’d in the moP fhocking and frightful forms, in order to juPify or excufe their own cruel ravages and oppreilions. To proceed in the charaCter De la Vega gives or the ancient Peruvians. He fays, they lacrificed men, to their gods ; were canibals; had lhambles of mans flePi, and made faufages ol their guts; but iity ofhu- 5 " re fleCts feverely upon thofe Spanifh writers who man facrifi- “ relate, that there were any fuch facrihces, or any cesorcam- 44 canibals in Peru, lince the Inca’s reign’d there;” in cru ‘ which was four or five hundred years before the in- vafion of the Spaniards ; from whence vve may very well conclude, that all the modern accounts we have of human lacrifices and canibals in South-America from the Spanifh writers are falfe. There were no fuch people when they arrived there, nor for four hundred years before, if we may credit De la Vega, a native of Peru, who was better acquainted with their language, hifiory, and cuPoms, than any of the Spanifh writers, and generally epeem’d the beP hiPorian that ever wrote of that country. Acosta de Sieca, and the reP of their hiPori- ans are infinitely to blame therefore, in flandering that people, and abufing the world with fuch fabu- lous relations. If it be admitted then, that there were no fuch barbarous people in Peru, no canibals, or any hu- man lacrifices there for four hundred years before the Spanifh conquep, we may take it for granted, there were none there before that time ; at leap there could be no certainty of any fuch, the Peruvians having no poflible way of recording their hiPory, as they were dePituteof letters ; and" for a tradition of four hundred years Panding, it is not to be much valued, especially when it is evident, that the Inca’s invented or encourag’d fuch Pories of the barbarity of the conquer’d nations, as other pretended heroes have done in our part of the world, to excufe or juPify their own ravages and invafions, and to make the world believe they have been fuch mighty bene- factors to mankind, by reducing them to a civiliz’d life, and abolifhing fuch brutifh cuPoms as they found in the conquer’d provinces. I proceed now to enquire into the real charader of the Peruvians when the Spaniards arrived there. Blas Valera (to whom De la Vega feemsto give entire cre- dit, in this particular, lib. 2. cap. 33. of the Royal Company of Peru ) fays, that the people of Peru ex- ceed moP nations in the world in quicknefs of wit and Prength of judgment ; which appears in that, without the help of letters, they have attain’d the knowledge of many things which the learning of the Egyptians, Chaldeans, and Greeks, could never reach. If they had any thing that feem’d fhocking to the Europeans, it did not proceed from the want or natural parts, or endowments of mind, but from, their being unpradifed in the falhions and cuPoms of Europe, and their want of maPers to inPrud them in the liberal feiences ; for fuch of them as had the advantage of maPers, Pnce the arrival of the Spaniards, became greater proficients than the Spaniards themfelves, and would imitate any thing they faw fo exadly, without being taught, that it furprized the European artiPs ; and as to their me- mories, they generally exceeded the Spaniards, and would cap up their accounts, by knots, with more expedition than a European could by the help of cy- phers. As to their military fkill and condud, making al- lowance forcircumPances, they appear’d alfo fuperior to the Spaniards. Let me fee, fays my author, the braveP Captains of France or Spain on foot, without horfes, without armour, without fpears, fwords, or Pre-arms ; with no other cloaths than their fhirts, no 279 CHAP. V. t ✓VNJ The true character c! the Peruvi- ans, Courage and military ikili THE PRESENT STATE *So CHAP, no other head-piece than a cap-of feathers, or gar- V. land of flowers; afhieki made of a piece of a mat; V»yn; and “ let their diet be only herbs and roots of the tc field ; ” then let us fee how they will be able to oppofe fwords, (pears, guns, &c. On the contrary, were the Indians arm’d, as the Europeans are, train’d up in the fame military difci- pline, and inftructed in the art of war by fea and land, they would be more invincible than the Turks, as experience has fhewn ; for whenever the Spani- ards and Indians were equally arm’d, the Spaniards were defeated. No eftimate can be made of the mi- litary (kill or bravery of the Indians of Mexico and Peru, therefore, from the Spanifh conquefts in thofe empires, on account of the inequality of their arms, .and above all, the invention of fire-arms, which was more terrible to them than all the red, and feem’d .to them fomething more than what was human and natural. “ And in fact we find, that the Indians of “ Chili, having furnifh’d themfelves with Euro- •“ pean arms, are at this day a match for the Spa- “ niards, and have driven them out of many places “ they poffefs’d themfelves of in that country.” To return to the Peruvians. It is obferv’d, that as they defended their country, as well as could be expected, with fuch arms as they had, yet when any province was conquer’d, and had fubmitted to the Spaniards, they remain’d faithful to them, how- ever hardly they were ufed ; and readily aflifted them in the conqueft of the reft of their country ; being perfuaded, that they ought to remain faithful fub- jects to thofe they had fubmitted to, how unjuftly foever they were invaded, and might not attempt the recovery of their liberties afterwards. JSfofpitality. Friar Mark, who went with fome of the firft invaders from Panama to Peru, fays, they found the Peruvians extremely hofpitable and kind ; courteous in converfation, and friendly to the Spaniards, gi- ving them gold and precious ftones, male and female flaves, and all manner of provifions : Nor did they offer to commit any hoftilities, ’till the Spaniards, by their outrages and cruelties, compelled them to ftand upon their defence. It muft be confefs’d, that the Americans had made but little proficiency in the Xciences, or indeed in mechanick arts, having never convers’d either with Europeans or Afiaticks, and being deftitute of inftruments, and even of proper materials for forming them. There were, fays De la Vega, certain among them call’d Amanta’s, who were fubtle in their ar- gumentation, and laid down certain phaenomena of natural things ; but in regard they were unacquaint- ed with letters, they could leave none of thofe con- ceptions they had form’d to pofterity, unlefs fome few principles difcover’d by the light of nature, which they reprefented by glyphicks, or fome rude Morality. figures ; however, in Moral Philofophy, they at- tained to a greater degree of perfection ; for their lav/s and cuftoms were their daily leflons, and the doctrine of good-manners being the Itudy and bufi- nefs of the Magiftrate, an eafy and aonftant im- CHAP, provement was made therein. y In Natural Philofophy they had ftudied little, and only knew things by their effects ; as, that fire £j a l ural , would warm them, and the like ; and thus they 00l> learn’d fomething of medicine, and the virtues of plants and herbs, which experience and neceffity taught them. As to their Aftronomy, they had obferv’d the Aftronomy, various motions of the planet Venus ; the increafe and decreafe of the Moon. The Inca’s alfo obferv’d, that the Sun perform’d his courfe in tire fpace of a year ; tho’ the common people divided it only by the feafons ; and the end of their harveft, with them, was die end of the year ; While the Inca’s mark’d out the fummer and winter folftices by high towers, which they e reefed on the eaft and weft of the city of Cufco. When the Sun came to rife di- rectly oppofite to four of thefe towers erected on the eaft fide of the city, and to fet juft againft thofe of the weft, it was then the fummer folftice ; and in like manner, when it came to rife and fet a- gainft four other towers, it was the winter folftice : Which towers, De la Veca fays, were ftand - ing in his time. They had alfo erected marble pillars in the great court before the temple- of the Sun, by which they obferv’d the Equinoctials ; and when the fun came near the Equator, the Priefts attended, and waited to fee what fhadow the pillars call ; and when the Sun at its rifing came to dart a fhadow directly from it, and at mid-day the pillars eaft no fliade, but were enlighten’d on all fides, they then concluded the fun to be in the Equinoct ial, and crown’d the pillars with garlands of flowers and odoriferous herbs ; and as they held the Sun then appear’d in its greateft luftre, this was one of their chief feftivals, wherein they oft'er’d to this deity rich prefents of gold and precious ftones. And as they deferib’d their year by the courfe of the Sun, fo their months were diftinguifh’d by the Moon, and their weeks were call’d quarters of the Moon ; but they had no names for the days of the week but the order they flood in, as the firft, fe- cond, third, &c. They were aftonifh’d at the eclipfes of the Sun and Moon ; and when the Sun hid his face, believ’d it was for their fins ; imagin- ing it nrognofticated famine, war and peftilence, or fome other terrible calamity. When the Moon was entering into the eclipfe, and it began to grow dark, they imagin’d (he was fick ; and when totally obfeur’d, that fhe was dy- ing ; and founded their trumpets, kettles and pans, and every thing that would make a noife, to roufe her from this lethargy ; and taught their children to cry out and call upon Mama QuHle, or Mother Moon, that fire would not die, and leave them to perifh. They made no predictions from the Sun or Moon, or the conjunction of the ftars, but chiefly from their dreams, or the entrails of beafts they offer’d in facrifice ; and when they faw the Sun fet in OF P E R U. CHAP. in the fea, as they might every night to the wcft- V. ward, they imagin’d the waters were divided by the force of the fire, and that the fun plunged himfelf into the deep, diving quite through the fea to ap- pear next morning in the eaft. Phvfick. They had fo much fkill in Phyfick, according to De la Vega, as to know, that bleeding and purging were two neceflary evacuations, and ufually open’d that vein which was neareft to the pain ; their lancet being a {harp-pointed flint fet at the end of a fmall cane, which with a gentle fillip cut it with lefs pain than one of our lancets. They ufually purg’d when the patient was but a little indifpos’d, and before the difeafe had prevail’d, but afterwards left him to nature and a regular diet ; and their principal ingredient was a white root re- fembling a turnip, which being dry’d and powder’d, they took in water or their ordinary drink, and then tire patient fet himfelf in the fun, that his heat and bleffmg might contribute to the operation ; and in an hour’s time it began to work upwards and down- wards in a violent manner, bringing away worms and all indigefted matter, and yet left the bodyftrong and vigorous, and with a very good appetite, which the fame author fays he twice experienc’d by him- felf. Their phyfick was adminiftred to the Inca’s and Great men by Botaniffs, that ftudied the virtues of their herbs and plants. Thefe tranfmitted their fecrets of this kind to their children, and were, in a manner, hereditary Phyficians to the Royal fami- ly, and the Great Lords ; but the Common people cured one another by fuch prefcriptions as they Jearn’d by tradition. They had feveral herbs and roots which they ap- ply’d to wounds with great fuccefs ; but ufed neither plaifters nor -ointments, and had no compound, only llmple medicines. The Spaniards much improved their phyfick, having difcover’d the virtues of many herbs and plants that grew in that hot climate, which the Indians were ignorant of ; and particu- larly, that their Maize or Indian-corn was an ex- cellent remedy againft the Cholick and Stone, ob- ferving that the Indians, who eat this food chiefly, were never troubled with thofe diftempers. Geometry. They had only Geometry enough to meafure their lands, and defcribe the bounds and limits of their provinces ; but this, our author fays, he has feen well perform’d, particularly the city of Cufco, and the country about it, with the buildings, ftreets, hills, valleys, rivers, roads, &c. as well laid down and diftinguifh’d by lines and colours, as any of our modern Cofmographers could have done it. Poetry. Their Amanta’s, or Philofophers, were Poets alfb, and invented Comedies and Tragedies, which were adled on their feftivals before the King and the Royal family ; the Acfors being the Great Lords of the Court, and principal Officers of the army ; every one acting the part that was agree- able to his quality or poft, and bad no confhuU fets Vol. III. 281 of Actors to perfonate others : The fubjedt of their C H A P. Tragedies were the victories and great addons of V. their anceftors, which feerns to have been the belt w'~y‘W means they had of preferving the memory of what was pafs’d ; and yet in thefe it feems fidtion had fo great a fhare, that it was difficult to diftinguifh what was real from what was fabulous. In their Comedies, their hufbandry, their houfhold affairs, and their commerce with the world were reprefented, and the moft remarkable follies in life expofed. Thefe Amanta’s alfo compofed fongs and ballads ; Muikk. for they had both vocal and inftrumental mufick ; fome refembling our trumpets, flutes, and other wind- mufick, but intolerably harfli and difagreeable to an ear ufed to fofter founds. They had alfo their ftring- mufick, but not a whit better than the former. They feem to have been more perfect in Arith- Arithme- metick than any fcience, and would caff up an accompt, fubftradt, multiply and divide by certain lines or threads of various colours tied in knots, which they call’d Quippo’s, with more expedition than a European by the help of figures : And by thefe Quippo’s they had the art of imprinting many things in their memories, and communicating their thoughts to others with the afiiftance of ill-drawn pictures or images ; for they knew fomething of painting and ftatuary, as appears by the furniture and ornaments of their temples and palaces ; every plant and animal almoft being reprefented in gold or filver plate ; and this brings me to treat of their mechanick arts. And firft of their Gold and Silver- Mechanick fmiths, of whom, fays the royal hiftorian De la atts ° Vega, tho’ there were great numbers that labour’d conftantly at their trade, yet were they not fo fkil- ful as to make an anvil of iron or any other metal, but made ufe of a certain hard ffone of a yellowifh colour, which they fmooth’d and polifh’d ; nor had they learn’d to put handles to their hammers, but beat their plate with certain round pieces of copper or brafs ; neither had they any files or graving tools, or bellows for melting down their metals ; but in- ftead of bellows, had copper-pipes of a yard long, and fmall at one end, almoft in the form of a trumpet, with which they blow’d up their fires. They had no tongs to take their heated metal out of the fire, but drew it out with a ftick or a copper bar, and caft it into a heap of wet earth to cool ; and as they had learn’d that the fleam or effluvia arifing from hot or melted metals were prejudicial to their health, all their founderies were in the open air without any covering. Their Carpenters had no other tools than hatchets made of copper or flint no laws, augers or planes, not having learn’d the ufe of iron, tho’ they did not want mines of that metal ; and inftead of nails, as has been obferv’d already, they fattened their timber together with cords or withs : Nor had their Stone-cutters any tools but fharp flints or pebbles, with which they wore out the ftone in a manner with perpetual rub- bing ; pullies and other engines alfo were wanting O o for 282 THE PRESENT STATE for lifting and placing Hones in their buildings ; all was done by ftrength of hand, and multitudes were employ’d to remove a piece of ftone or timber, which an ordinary team of horfes would have drawn upon proper carriages : And yet under the want of all thefe things they railed ftrong and magnificent edi- fices, as appears by their buildings, already defcrib’d, the ruins whereof are feen at this day. They ufed a thorn or a fine bone for a needle, and their threads were the finews of animals, or the fibres of fome plant, or of the bark of a cer- tain tree. Sciflars they had none, and their knives were flint or copper ; and under fuch difadvantages (as my author oblerves) their needle-work was very indifferent. Combs were made of the long thorns already mention’d, fet on each fide a piece of cane, which lerv’d for the back of the comb ; and the rafbrs they fhav’d their heads with were no better than {harp flints ; in which operation the patient under- went fo much, that there was nothing the Spaniards carried over, was more acceptable to them, than Heel rafors and fciffars r They had no loooking- glaffes, but inftead of them, the Peruvian Ladies made ufe of a round plate of polifh’d brafs or cop- per ; and in this, the natives of the Eaft-Indies a- gree with them, having no other mirrors at this day, but what they get of the Europeans. As to ordinary working trades, there were no fraternities or particular men that applied themfelves to thefe ; but every man was his own Carpenter, Shoemaker, Weaver, Taylor, and Mafon : Every man knew how to weave, make his cloaths, build Mis houfe, and cultivate his lands ; and the women affifted in the mod laborious employments. Btifc there were focieties of Poets, Painters, Mu- ficians, Goldfmiths, Engravers, Founders, and Ac- comptants, who were employ'd in the fervice of their temples, and of their Princes and Great men ; but ordinary and neceffary works,., as has been faid, were done by the family : The common people in- ffruefted their children in them, and never hir’d fer- vants, or call’d in foreign aftiftance ; and for the polite arts, as they were not neceftary to their fob- fiftence,. fo they never troubled themfelves about them. Their woollen and cotton cloths, which they wove and dy’d into all manner of colours, were their principal manufactures ; but no man was fuf- fer’d to wear a garment, cap, or turbant, of diffe- rent colours, but thofe of the royal blood. Their carpets and blankets, on which they lay,, were made of the wool of their country Sheep, or the fine hair of their Goats ; and their hammocks of cotton, or other net-work. In the hot coun- tries, as has been obferv’d, their garments were of cotton ; and in the colder countries, of wool, wove exactly fit for the ufes they defign’d, and the pieces never cut. They had Jittle or no trads, either with foreigners, or with one-another ; every family having its plan- C H A Fj tation, and all necefiaries almoft within itfelf ; only V. theyfometimes truck’d or barter’d fruits and eatables with their neighbours, fome grounds producing what others wanted. The general food of the Peruvians, before the Food. Spaniards arriv’d amongft them, was Maize, or Indian-corn (which has been already defcrib’d, in treating of Mexico). This they ground between two ftones, and made thin cakes and bifeuits of the flour, which they baked on their hearths or ftoves : They alfo boil’d it, and made a fort of hafty-pudding of the Maize ; and in fome countries that did not produce Maize, they had a very fmall grain or feed, that was produced from a plant like Spinage ; and' this they converted to the Erne ufes. In other parts, they hail the Caffavy-root, which they boil’d, dry’d, and ground to powder ; of which alfo they made thin cakes that ferv’d them inftead of bread : They eat alfo Patatoes, and other roots, and almoft all manner of fruits raw, roafted and boil’d, which their country produc’d : Nor was there fcarce an herb that grew, but what ferv’d them for food, not as fauce or fallads, as we ufe them, but as fubftantial difhes : As to flefh, they eat very little, for their Inca’s and Great Lords were mafters of all the cattle, wild and tame, and of all the game of the country, which the common people were not fuffer’d to take or kill under the fevereft penalties. But there was a gene- ral hunting-bout appointed by their Princes once a year ; wherein a great deal of venifon and game was taken, and diftributed to the people, who cut it in thin dices and dry’d it ; and this, with the flefh of the tame cattle, which was alfo given them an- nually, ferv’d for the whole year : They never eat joints of meat, or indeed any quantity of it as the Europeans do, but having cut their dry’d flefh in pieces, ftew’d, and feafon’d it high with Axi or Pepper ; they eat it as fauce to their other food, and as we eat Anchovies, or pickles, to relifli our flefh. I don’t know any country between the Tro- pics where the people eat great meals of flefh : In many places they eat none at all (much lefs hu- man flefh). 1 he Spanifh hiftorians obferve, that one of their men eat ten times as much as an In- dian, Their ufual way of drafting their food was in pans or difhes over their ftoves, on which they ftew’d or bak’d it, and they roafted their roots and fruits in the embers frequently. The ufual times for eating, according to De la Vega, were between eight and nine in the morn- ing, and about fun-fet in the evening ; for they made but two meals a-day. However, they were not altogether fo abftemicus in drinking as eating. Their Gentry and Great men, who had little elfe to do, fate drinking great part of the day ; and of the fame Indian-corn that ferv’d them for bread, they made a kind of malt, and brew’d good ftrong drink of it. The Maghey-tree alfo affords them a very ftrong intoxicating liquor 5 and they make a kind Traffic, O F P E R U. 283 CHAP, of wine of almoft all manner of fruits, by boiling V. or fteeping them in water ; but the common people, I find, very feldom drank any ftrong liquors. The common beverage here, as well as in Mexico, was water with a little of the flour of Maize infufed in- to it, being the fame that our Buccaneers call Pofole, or Poor Soul. But as they have both Palm and Cocao-trees, there is no doubt but the Spaniards have taught them to draw Palm-wine, and drink the liquor of the Cocao-nut, as they have taught them to eat and drink all manner of meat and drink that Spain affords ; which, by the way, the Spaniards obferve, has been no advantage to them ; for fuch fort of meat and drink, they tell us, is by no means fit for people that live between the Tropics ; and has in- troduc’d many difeafes the Peruvians knew nothing of before, infomuch that they give this as one rea- fon the natives of America do not multiply fo faft as they did formerly, but rather decreafe in their numbers at prefent ; but whether this is not a mere pretence to conceal their own barbarity, who de- populated thefe countries by their cruelties and op- preffions, and would now have us believe that the natives have been diminifh’d by this alteration in their diet, I very much queftion : For ’tis certain, the wines the Spaniards have taught them to make of Grapes, will rather preferve their health than de- flroy them in that hot climate ; and as people have no inclination to eat great quantities of meat there, they very feldom hurt themfelves that way. Neither can I think, but that milk, butter and cheefe, which the natives knew nothing of before the arrival of the Spaniards, muff be a good whole- fome kind of diet in that warm latitude ; and of thele they have a great deal at this day, now Euro- pean cattle are multiply ’d fo prodigioufly, as all wri- ters agree they are ; and I'm apt to think, one rea- fon of that increafe is, that neither Spaniards or In- dians in that warm country are very fond of flelh of any kind. Teafh. While I am treating of their food, it is very natu- ral to fpeak of their feafts, of which they had many within the compafs of a year ; particularly four in honour of the Sun, and one at every new Moon, which I fhall enlarge on under the head of Religion. T hey had alfo their feafts at the acceffion of their Princes, and upon every victory, or conqueft, as with us : Feafts at their weddings and the birth or weaning of their children, and almoft upon every joyful occafion, as in other countries. And at thefe the guefts were entertain’d with vocal and inftru- mental mufick, and dancing, and the men drank hard ; but, according to De la Vega, they always left off early in the evening, and went home, and rifing betimes in die morning, return’d to the feaft again ; fome of thefe entertainments lafting feveral days. Their Princes and Great men alfo at Plays. fuch times were entertain’d with tragedies and co- medies, in which the Nobility and Great Officers a£Ied the principal parts. Nor were there any conftant fetts of mercenary aclors. However, ac- C H A P„ cording to De la Vega, they did not fpeak their V. own fenfe, but their Poets compos’d the play, and put words in their mouths ; which might be a pro- per and very eafy way of inftrudfing the young No- bility and Gentry in principles of morality and poli- ticks, and of forming their afiion, and giving them an agreeable addrels. ^ The exercifing their arms, the lance or fpear, Ewrcife of the throwing darts, and fhooting arrows, were arms » other parts of their recreations and diverfions ; to which all the better fort of people were bred ; and indeed we find part of the royal family of the Inca’s addicted to war and warlike exercifes (as others were to the fervice of their temples) and train’d up to hardfhips from their infancy, in order to make them good foldiers, and qualify them for polls in the army. Hunting was another of their exercifes and di- Hunting, verfions ; but this was not permitted to the com- mon people : They were not to meddle with the beafts of chace or game, under the fevereft penal- ties ; only once a year the Prince appointed a general hunting-match in fome part of his dominions, con- triving it fo, that every place enjoy’d four years reft during which fpace the game never were di- fturb’d, but had time to increafe. Of thefe hunting expeditions, De la Vega gives the following account. He fays, after the breeding-time was over every year, the Inca or Prince affign’d a certain part of the country for this diverfion, appointing twenty or thirty thoufand In- dians to encompafs a certain fpace of land, and beat 20 or 30 leagues round by the Aides of rivers, and through -woods and mountains ; and they march’d along hooping and hollowing ’till the game came to be fo ftraiten’d on all Aides, that they could not get away, and were eafily taken. As to wild beafts, fuch as Lions, Bears, Foxes, Mountain-cats, Ser- pents, and all venomous creatures, thefe they kill’d as they went along, and did not drive them into the circle with the game ; which confifted chiefly of red and fallowDeer, and of the wildHuanacu, orLama’s, andVicuna’s, that is, the country Sheep and Goats, of which there was fuch plenty, before the Spaniards arriv’d there, that they frequently took thirty or forty thoufand of thefe fort of deer and cattle at one hunting-match. The female Deer they fuller’d to efcape, except the old barren Does, which were kill’d. They re- leas’d alfo as many of the males as were thought ne- ceffary to propogate the fpecies ; and the refT being kill’d, their flelh was divided among the common people ; they alfo fhore the Sheep, and divided the wool in like manner. But the fine hair of the Vi- cuna’s, or Goats, was referv’d for the Inca and the royal family ; for no other people might prefume to wear garments made of it. But befides thefe annual huntings, if I underftand Dfi LA Vega right, the Garaca’s, or Great Lords, O o z had 2§4 CHAP. V. l/V> J Every No- bleman learned fome trade. Vi fits and «e*«no»ies. jpofts and exprefl’es. THE PRESENT STATE had every one the privilege of hunting and taking their memories very much, and prevented miftakes. CHAP game within their refpeftive territories or lordfhips; And fo fwiftly did thefe expreffes (or Chaquis) run, V * tho’ the common people were not fuffer’d to meddle that the Court received the intelligence in twenty- with them at any time. tour hours, tho’ the Governor who tent it was at Before I conclude this head of their exercifes and an hundred and fifty miles diftance : And in cafe diverfions, it may be proper to obferve, that every of a rebellion or invafion, they had beacons on hfoh Nobleman and Gentleman learn’d fome mechanick hills at proper difiances, which they fired, and there- art, fuch as the making of their arms, utenfils of by gave notice from one to another ; fo that the hufbandry, cloathing, and the like, in which they bufied themfelves when they had nothing elfe to do ; an idle flothful man being univerfally detefted, and feverely punifh’d by the laws of Peru : Even their Women of quality carried their reels, fpindles, and needle-work with them wherever they vifited ; nor was the Lady of the family ever found unemploy’d. They were, according to De la Vega, like the Chinefe, courteous and ceremonious even to a fault in their vifits and commerce with each other, birds, and fifhes are, for the moft part, of the fame always addrefling their fuperiors, and even their fpecies. I (hall not therefore defcribe thofe again Animals, equals and inferiors, in the molt obliging and com- that have been treated of already in Mexico, but plaifant language ; and yet thefe were the people fpeak chiefly of fuch as feem peculiar to Peru, that the firft Spanifh Adventurers reprefented as bru- And firft of thole animals to which the Europeans tifh and barbarous, and made this the pretence for have given the names of Sheep and Goats, becaule taking away their country, and enflaving them ; they refemble thofe animals more than any other many of the Indians they charge even with fieri fi- we have in this part of the world. cing their own fpecies and eating them ; particularly The Peruvian Sheep I find in different authors are Paco’s, or here in Peru, Acosta, a celebrated writer, has call’d by different names, as Paco’s, Lama’s, Hua- Peruvia » the affurance to lay, they lacrificed children at their nacu, andGuanacu ; and thefe are diftinguifh’d again Shee P'*~ grand feftfvals. Whereas, De la Vega, who by the tame and the wild, the large and the fmall was a native of Peru, and better acquainted with kind. The large tame Huanacu, De la Vega their cuftoms than any man that ever wrote, is po- informs us, is of the bignels of a Stag, and refem- fitive there were no human facrifices or canibals in bles a Camel the moft of any other beaft, only it the dominions of the Inca’s, which extended three hath no bunch on its back : He hath a long fmooth thoufand miles, while they govern’d Peru, which neck, his body is covered with a coarfe wool, and was four or five hundred years ; and what there was the hide makes excellent leather. They are of a before that time no man can pretend to lay, there difpofition, fays Blos Valera, as gentle and. being no foch thing as letters amongft them to re- tractable as the Indians themfelves, being fo tame, cord their actions. But to return to the exercifes of that a child may govern them, and were the only the Peruvians, The being fwift of foot was efteem’d beafts ufed in carrying of burdens when the Spa- a very great accomplifhment, and prizes given to niards arriv’d there. The tame ones differ as muclv thofe that excell’d at their foot-races by publick au- in colour as Horfes do in Europe ; but the wild arc thority ; for as there was no writing, every tiling always of a chefnut-colour : The flefh of this crea- of importance was committed to memory : And if ture is tender, and exceeding fine eating, and fo a diftant Viceroy, or Governor, had any thing to wholefome and inoffenfive, that it is the food of communicate to the Emperor at Cufco, it was done fick people, and preferred before Chickens ; but bv word of mouth, and that not by one exprels, what they were moft valued for before Horfes and but perhaps by forty or an hundred : For at every Mules were imported was, their carrying burdens ; quarter of a league on the great roads were little all kind of merchandize being tranfported from, houfes or guard-rooms, where feven or eight of the one part of the country to the other, on- the backs Emperor’sMeffengers, or Purfoivants, always attend- of thefe creatures. De la Veg a fays, it was ed, who were of the better fort of people, and ca- common to fee eight hundred or a thouland of pable of receiving and telling a meflage very exa£lly, them in a caravan ; and being very fore-footed, their heads being as well furnilh’d as their heels : they would carry their burdens over rocks and pre- One or more of thefe were difpatch’d upon all af- cipices, where a man could hardly travel on foot : fairs of ftate ; and having deliver’d their meflage at Their ufoal burden was about three or fourfeore the next ftage, fome of thofe ran and deliver’d the pound weight,, with which they travelled nine or meflage to the next, and fo on ’till they reach’d the ten miles a-day ; but were not to be driven be- Court ; but they all carried their Quiopo’s, or co- yond their ufoal pace; for if they were, they tired lour’d firings and knots with them, which as to and lay down, and there was no getting them up numbers, and the qualities of many firings, affifted again, though their burdens were taken off their backs foourt had intelligence of it in a few hours from the remoteft part of their dominions. A CHAP. VI, Of the Peruvian animals •. S Peru and Mexico both lie for the moft part CHAP between the Tropics, their animals, beafts. VT O F P CHAP, backs ; for which reafon they had always forty or VI. fifty of them unladen in their caravans ; and when they obferved any one of the laden Sheep began to tire, they eas’d him of his burden, and laid it upon one that was frefh. They were no charge to their matters, who on- ly took off their packs and turn’d them up to graze in the common fields at the end of every ftage ; tho’ they would eat corn if it was given them: Nor was there any need of pack-faddles, the wool on their backs ferving inftead of them : And as they were cloven- footed, and had a callous fpungy matter at the bottom of their feet, the needed no {hoeing. The letter fort of Sheep, or Paco’s, carry ’d no burdens, but their fleih was almoft as good meat as the former, and their wool long and much efteem’d, of which they made feveral forts of fluffs for cloath- ing, dying it of various colours that never chang’d or faded. But the Peruvians neither milked the one or the other, or indeed any animal. The wild Sheep, to which the name of Huanacu fometimes feems to be appropriated, afforded them wool, but not fo fine as the tame ones ; nor was their ffefh fo good meat. De la Vega relates, that the males ufually kept a watch on the hills while the females fed in the valleys ; and when they difco- ver’d any people coming towards them neigh’d like horfes ; whereupon the females fled to their cover, and the males always brought up the rear ’till they were out of danger. Vicugnes, or The Peruvian Goats ( call’d Vicugnes orVicuna’s ) Goatt * had that name given them by the Spaniards, becaufe they refembled a European Goat more than any o- ther animal. It is a long- legg’d creature, bigger than the largeft Goat, without horns, and fo fwift of foot, that no Greyhound can take it, and therefore they are ufually {hot or fnar’d. Their fleffi is lean, tough and ill tatted, and yet in much efteem with the In- dians on account of fome medicinal and healing qua- lities it is faid to have : And its wool, or rather fine loft fur, is much more efteem’d than the wool of f their Sheep ; for of this they make the fineft gar- ments and carpets, which were permitted to be worn and ufed only by the Inca’s and the royal family. And as this wool is of a light chefnut-colour, they never dy’d it. Thefe creatures commonly herd together in the higheft parts of the mountains near the fnows. Beioar-ftone. Acosta relates, that in thefe and moil of the wild cattle of Peru, the Bezoar-ftone is found in their ftomachs and bellies, and that there are fometimes two, three, or four together of different flhapes, fize, and colour, fome as big as Filberts, others of the fize of Pidgeons eggs, or Walnuts, and fome as large as Hens eggs ; and he had feen of them as big as Oran- ges, and they were alfo of feveral colours ; fome black, others white, dark, grey, green, and fome look’d as if they were gilded, and were cover’d with many coats and fkins. The Bezoar-ftone is found both in the male and female, and all beafts that en- gender it, chew the cud, and ufually feed upon the E R U. 285 rocks in the fnow. And as there are many herbs CHAP, and venomous reptiles that poifon the waters and paf- VI. tures in this country, fo there is one herb, which the Vicuna’s and other beads which engender the Bezoar-ftone, run to by inftindf when they find them- felves poifon’d, and by that means expel it : And the Indians are of opinion, that of this herb the ftcne in the ftomach of thefe animals is compounded ; from whence it receives that virtue againft poifons, and produces many other wonderful effedls; and this, our author obferves, agrees with Pliny’s relation of the Mountain-goats, which fed upon poifonous herbs without buffering any damage : But thefe feem to be very uncertain conjectures. Our author adds, that thefe ftones are frequently form’d in the ftomach, upon little pieces of wood, {hells, or iron, which are found in the centre of the ball. Since thefe ftones have been fomuch in efteem, the Indians have counterfeited them ; and thefe counterfeits not pro- ducing the like effedls as thofe that are real, have made fome people queftion their good qualities ; but Acosta affures us, he has feen many notable cures done by them. There are red and fallow Deer in Peru, but much Deejs Jeff than thofe of Europe ; they were fo numerous before the arrival of the Spaniards, that they came in droves into the villages, the common people ne- ver attempting to kill or take them, as they were royal game. They had alfo tame and wild Rabbits, and thefe every man was at liberty to keep or take, and fearcea houfewas without them. As to wild beafts, they had fame few Lions, but Wild neither fo large or fo fierce as thofe of Africa. They had ftill fewer Bears, and not anyTygers, unlefs up- on fome of the higheft mountains of the Andes. Nor do I find they had any Wolves, fo that people travell’d in great fecurity, and their tame cattle were in no danger of being deftroy’d by them as in Eu- rope ; which was very happy, efpecially as they had no Dogs capable of defending their flocks ; and indeed they had no other Dogs but a kind of mongrels or lur- chers that never bark’d. Del a Vega "mentions a beaft that is found on the mountains of the Andes in fhape like a Cow, but left, and without horns ; of whole hides they make buff and very ftrong leather : But he fays, there are fcarce any of the Pecoree or Warree (a kind of American Hogdefcrib’d in Mexi- co) in Peru, or any-where to the weftward of the mountains of the Andes. There are great numbers of Monkeys in this Monkeys, country of various kinds and colours, fome with tails, others without, and fome four times as large as the ordinary Monkeys. The account Acost a gives of their tricks and dexterity is fcarce credible, and yet we find De la Vega afferts he has been an eye-witnefs of the like. Some of thefe Monkeys, fays A c o s T a , are black, others grey, and a third fort are fpotted. Their a&ivity and motion is fuch, that they feem to have reafon and difcourfe : They would leap from one tree *86 THE PRES CHAP, tree to another, and when the diftance was fuch, VI. that one could not reach the place, they would hang themfelves from the bough of a tree, one at the tad of another, and fetching a long fwing, the lower - molt with the help of the other would throw him-’ tell to the bough they aim’d at, and when ire was there help’d his companions after him. Thefe Mon- keys, when they were tamed and taught, feem’d to equal Men in underftanding. He faw one of Car- thagena that was often fent to the tavern for wine, his matter giving him money in one hand and a bot- tle in the other : And when the creature came to the tavern, he wotdd not deliver his money ’till he had receiv’d his wine ; and if the boys met him by the way, and play’d the rogue with him, he would fet down his bottle, and throw ftones at them ’till he had clear'd his way, and then take up his bottle, and run home. And tho’ he loved wine exceffively, would never touch a drop without his mailer’s leave: If he met with a woman well drefs’d he would feize upon her cloaths, and be more familiar with her than Ihe defired ; concluding, that he thought there was no animal in the world fo fagacious and fo de- lighted with human lociety as this fpecies of Mon- keys. It has been obferv’d already, that there were not to be found either in Peru, or any other part of Ame- rica, when the Spaniards arrived there, any Horfes, Cows, Elephants, Camels, Affes, Mules, Sheep, or Hogs. Cattle im- I he firft Horfes and Mares were carried over a- Euiopef r0m bout the y ear I +9S? from Andaluzia in Spain, to the ifland of Hifpaniola and Cuba, where they mul- tiplied prodigioufly, and were from thence transported to Mexico and Peru, being of great fervice to the Spaniards in thofe conquefts : They were fo valuable that no man knew what price to fet upon his horfe, or indeed would part with him on any terms, only in cafe the mafter died, or return’d to Spain, his horfe was fet to file, and the price was ufually four or five thoufand crowns ; and my author relates that he was acquainted with a certain Spanifh Gentleman, who feeing aNegroe boy leading a fine manag’d horfe in the year 1554, offer’d ten thoufand crowns for the horfe and boy, which was refus’d by the Officer that own’d them ; and a few days after, the horfe was kill’d in a battle, and the mafter mortally wounded ; but the price of horfes foon abated, being turn’d loofe into the fields, v/here they multiplied a-pace, and prov’d abetter race than their Spanifh fizes, be- ing broke and made fit for fervice at three years of age. The Indians were a great while exceeding fear- ful of iiorfes, and never thought themfelves" fafe if they faw one loofe in the ftreets, expecting to be trampled under foot ; nor would any of them for a great while be perfuaded to take up the trade of a Blackfmith (tho’ they prov’d excellent artifts in form- ing any kind of metal) left they fhould be put upon ENT STATE Ihoeing of horfes : And the Indian boys that were C H A P, taught to drefs their horfes, could hardly ever be per- VI. fuaded to mount them. The Spaniards at firft found fome difficulty in breaking thofe wild colts that were bred in the moun- tains, but when they had once broke them, they became the mod tradable animals in the world. Cows and Oxen alfo were highly valued when they were firft imported. De la Vega relate' that he knew the firft man that was mafter of a cow in Peru ; and that the firft oxen he ever faw at plow was in the valley of Cufco, in the year 1550, when a great many thoufand Indians were affembled to fee the novelty of the Spanifh hufbandry. The firft cows were only preferved for breeding; and when they had multiplied a little, and were brought into the market for fale, they were ufually fold at two hundred crowns a-head; but in 1554 they were fallen to one hundred crowns a-piece, and in the year 1590 they were fo mightily increafed, that they were fold for twenty or thirty (hillings a-head : And being fuffer’d to run wild in the mountains, they were within a little time hunted in the manner dcfcnbed in Miexico, and kill d for their hides, which inade part of the cargoes of fuch fhips as failed to Old Spain : Their flefh it feems was little valued ei- ther by the Spaniards or Indians, which fhews how abfurd it is to reprefent the people who inhabit thofe hot countries between the Tropics as devourers of man’s flefti, where they eat little or no flefti, and could not digeft what we call a belly-full of meat if they did : I have feen cuts indeed in fome hiftories of thofe countries where the natives are reprefented roafting of legs and arms of men upon fpits ; but fuch writers furely were little acquainted with the cookery of the Peruvians, who never faw a joint of any meat roafted ’till the Europeans came amongft them, I he little flefh they had, as has been ob- ferv’d already, was cut into thin flices, and dried over a flow fire, fo that it would keep feveral months; and when they drefs’d it they ftew’d a little of it with a good quantity of herbs, roots, fruits and pepper, in a pot, fix or feven hours, and I don’t find they had any other way of dreffing their meat: So far were they from roafting whole joints either of men or animals upon fpits. A Jark-Afs it feems was in much efteem alfo in Peru at firft, the Spaniards buying them to get mules out of their Mares : DelaVega fays, he knew one fold for near eight hundred crowns, and a Goat for an hundred, but thefe alfo multiplied fo faft that they were become of little value in his time. Hogs were much dearer than Goats. Pe d r o d e Si e c a relates, that he faw a Sow and Pigs fold for near four hundred pounds, and that young Pigs were fold for a hundred crowns a-piece ; but then we are to con- fider how plentiful filver was in thofe countries at that time ; and that the Spaniards would give any price for their own country food : Thefe animals alfo O F CHAP, alfo multiplied in Peru to a prodigious degree ; for VI. De la Vega relates, that he faw two Sows in ''-''"V"''-' 1558 that had two and thirty Pigs each. There have alfo been fome Camels carried over, but thefe have not increafed much. The firft European Sheep De la Vega faw in Peru was in the year 1556, when they were valued at forty and fifty crowns a-head, but they were tn- creafed fo much in ten years time, that a Sheep might be had for a trifle ; one reafon of which may be, that there are no Wolves, or fcarce any wild beafts to deftroy them. And as they have great numbers of Sheep, fo they have a proportionable quantity of wool, but not fine ; all the wool I have feen in countries between the Tropics has been coarfe, and more like hair than wool ; and indeed the Spa- nifli writers tell us, the wool of Peru ferv’d only for the cloathing of the common people ; the gar- ments the Indian Princes wore were made of the fine hair or furr of the Vicugnes, or Mountain- goats. There were not it feems either Houfe-cats or Rats in Peru ’till the Spaniards imported them, and the Rats probably were carried thither in fhipping a- gainft their wills ; hut they multiplied fo fall, and grew fo large on the coaft of Peru, that in the year 15-72 and 1573, they almoft occafion’d a famine, by eating up the corn as foon as it was fown, and by peeling the bark of the fruit-trees, and gnawing the roots ; infornuch that they were forc’d to publifli a proclamation, or aft of date, that every houfe fhould lay Ratfbane to deftroy them, and in the mean time that they fhould cover their meat and drink from the Rats, to prevent people’s being poifon’d : De la Vega fays, as he walk’d one evening by the water-fide, he faw the ground cover’d with Rats that had been poifon’d, and came thither to drink for above an hundred paces ; and by this and fome other means their numbers were confiderably lefien’d for a time. Fowls. The Peruvians, according to De la Vega, had no tame fowls or poultry ’till the Spaniards im- ported them, unlefs it were a fowl that fomething refembled a Duck, and was between the fize of a Goofe and a Duck : Thefe the Indians called Nuu- ma, deriving the name from Nuna, to fuck, be- caufe they drew in their meat as if they were fitck- ing. But as to wild fowl and birds they had great va- riety both on the land and on the water : They had Eagles, but not fo large as thofe of Europe ; Hawks of feveral kinds, and fome forts that were never feen on this fide the Atlantic; but the Spaniards could never bring any of them to fly at game, and there- fore imported Spanifh Hawks for that fport : The moft remarkable bird of prey was that which the Indians call’d the Conder, or Guntur, many of which with the wings. extended measured fifteen or fixteen foot from the extremity of one wing to the other ; they are a very fierce voracious fowl, and 1 PER V, 287 have feet like a Hen (not talons like the Eagle ;) C H A P however, they are fo ftrong that two of them ’tis VI. laid will fet upon a Bull or a Cow if they find them lying down, and rip up their bowels ; and fome of them have kill’d boys of ten or twelve years of age, and devoured them ; they are black and white like a Magpie, and have combs on their heads ; and when they rife, or light, their wings make fuch a humming noife that it aftonifhes a man ; there arer but very few of thefe terrible animals, but it feems they make no fmall havock among the cattle where they haunt. The fame writer mentions a kind of large carrion Crows, which devour flefh to that degree, that they can’t fly ’till they have difgorg’d it, and fays it is one of the diveilions of the country to purfue them on horfeback, when they fpue up the flefh all the way they run ’till they are light enough to fly ; but are fometimes taken before they can mount. Upon the coaft of the Pacific-ocean there are fuch numbers of birds and fowls which prey upon the Ihoals of fifh, that they fometimes darken the iky for two or three leagues, in De laVega’s phrafe ; their rivers and lakes alfo abound in water-fowl, fuch as Herons, wild Ducks, wild Geefe, Swans, and ma- ny other kinds that we never faw in Europe. They have two forts of Partridges, and a pretty great plenty of them ; one fort as large as Hens, and the other lels than European Partridges, both of them of a greyifh colour, and delicious food ; they have alfo good ftore of Wood-pidgeons, but had no Dove- houfe Pidgeons ’till they were imported from Spain j there are Turtle-doves of the fize and colour of thofe of Europe, and others no bigger than Larks, that build in the eves of houfes, and a great variety of fmall birds ; but they abound more in Parrots than any other, and thefe are of various fizes and colours, the leaft of the bignels of Larks, and the largeft as big as Pullets ; they are green, yellow, blue, and red, and fome of them have fine long feathers in their tails, with which the Indians adorn their heads on feftival-days. Thefe Parrots, at the feafon of the year when the corn is ripe, come from the mountains into the plains in fuch numbers, that they fpoil great quantities of Maize, or Indian-corn. The South-fea is well replenifh’d with all manner Fifli. of fifh (particularly Pilchards) which are a great part of the fubfiftence of the people upon the Peruvian coaft, but their rivers afford fcarce any fifh, which is afcrib’d to their rapidity, falling with great violence from the high mountains of the Andes, and the fhal- lownefs of their channels; and there may be this further reafor, for it, that moft of them are dry at one feafon of the year, when the fifh rnuft perifh if there were any in them ; at other times they have fome fifh in their lakes, but fcarce any that are good . 7 J p for much, moft of. them a fmall long fry not bigger than Sprats and without fcales ; there is one kind indeed De la Vega mentions, that has a broad head THE PRESENT STATE C H A P. head like a Toad, which he fays are pretty good VI. eating. CHAP. VII. Of the Mexican vegetables , viz. of their forejl and fruit-trees , corn , herbage , roots , / lowers , balm, gums , and drugs . ^ y POOREST or timber-trees are very fcarce in Jl Peru, unlefs in the prov ince of Quitto near the Vegetables. Equator, and here they have cedars, cotton-trees, Foreft-trees. cocao-trees, palms, mangroves, bamboes, the maho- tree, light-wood, and many other kinds of wood which have been defcrib’d in treating of Mexico ; but none are more valuable than the tree which fur- Peruvbn- ° r n ^) es us w hh the Kinquina, or Peruvian-bark, bark. which grows in the province of Quitto, upon the mountains near the city of Loxa (fituated in 5 de- grees fouth latitude). Mr. Bernard informs us, that it is of the fize of a cherry-tree, the leaves round and indented, and bears a long reddifh flower, from whence arifes a kind of pod, in which is found a kernel like an almond, cloath’d w r ith a flight rind : That bark which comes from the trees at the bottom of the mountains is thicked, becaufe it re- ceives moil nounfhment from the earth. It is finooth, of a whitifh yellow without, and of a pale brown within ; that which comes from the trees at the top of the mountains is abundantly more deli- cate; but the trees which grow in the middle of the mountains have a bark dill browner than the other, and more rugged ; all thefe barks are bitter, but that from the trees at the bottom of the mountains lels than the others. It follows from hence, that the bark of the leaf! virtue, is that which grows in the lowed places; becaufe it abounds more with earthly and watry parts, than that which grows high, which for the contrary reafon is better; but the bed is, that which grows in the middle of the mountains, becaufe it has not too much or too little nourifhment : There is another kind of this bark which comes from the mountains of Potofi (in 2 r degrees and a half fouth latitude) that is browner, more aromatick, and bit- terer than the former, but much fcarcer than any of the red. The qualities we ought to obferve in the bark aie, that it be heavy, of a firm fubdance, found and dry ; we ought to reject fuch as is rotten, and will fuck in water prefently, and fuch as flies into dud on breaking, or is dirty and unclean; but we Ihould make choice of little thin pieces, dark and blackifh without, with a little white mofs dicking to it, and reddifh within, and it ihould be of a bit- ter difagreeable tade : That which is of a ruflet-co- lour ought to be rejedfed ; and care Ihould be taken there be no other wood mix’d with it, there being fometimes more of that than of the bark itfelf. 3 E m £ r y deferibes the Kinquina, or Fever-bark, in the following manner; he fays, the tree from CHAP whence it is taken is of the fize of an ordinary cher- yjj ry-tree, and that there are two forts of it, the one cultivated, and the other wild, and that the culti- vated is much preferr’d to the other ; that the bed; bark is of the mod lively colour, refembling dark cinnamon, mod curl’d up, as coming from the fmaller branches ; of a bitter tade, very adringent, or rough and diptick upon the tongue, and whitifh outwardly : The thick flat dark-coloured is not fo good, and if it wants the bitter tade and dipticity, is good for nothing. Phyficians obferve, that it is a fpecifick for al] forts of intermitting fevers and agues, and that it dops catarrhs and fluxes of all forts ; but that it ought not to be given in continued burning fevers, or when the fit is upon the patient : It is prohibited alfo in obdrudlions, or where people are codive, and in many other cafes ; and in fhort, they would never have it adminidred without the advice of the learned ; but to me itfeems to be the mod innocent medicine that ever was taken, efpecially if the bark be chew’d : This way I believe it may be taken almod in any cafe, and at any time, without any danger, and is not near fb naufeous as in the powder ; and if I may judge by experience, has more effedl this way than any other, and a lels quantity of it will do than when it is taken in powder ; one reafon whereof may be, that perfons who chew it, ufually make choice of the bed ; whereas the Apothecary crams wood or any thing down the patient’s throat, and fuch rubbifh cannot be expeded to have the fame fuccefs as real bark. Maize, or Indian-corn, which has been defcrib’d Indi , n for . already, may be call’d the flaff of life in this coun- try, being as generally eaten as wheat in Europe. They alfo made their dronged drink of it after they had deep d and dry’d it, as we do barley ; and as the country is for the mod part hot and dry as well as mountainous, they were at great pains in colled- ing the waters and introducing rivulets into their corn-fields, without which this kind of grain will not grow in that hot climate. They throw their fields Their huf- therefore into level fquares, that they may retain the bandry. water ; and where they meet with a mountain of a tolerable good foil, they cut it into Iquares, one above another, from the bottom to the top, fupporting them with little done walls ; fo that they look like hanging-gardens or dairs : And if they can meet with a fountain on the top of the hill, from thence they water all the fquares beneath : They ufed alfo to make aquedudts and canals, foveral hundred miles in length, into which they brought all the dreams and rivulets they could meet with, and from thefe every man was allow’d to let water into his grounds, in his turn, to improve both his corn and grals. So diligent and indudrious were the ancient Peruvians in their hufbandry. But the Spaniards, we are told, have let mod of thefe aquedudls run to ruin ; one reafon whereof may be, that the Spaniards have now introduc’d OF PERU. 289 CHAP, introduc’d Wheat and other European grain, which VII. rnay not require fo much moifture : And another 'WVN*’ reafon for this negiedt may be, that thefe countries are not half fo populous as when the Spaniards arriv’d there, and confequently lefs grain is wanting. I can’t avoid taking notice here, that the Chinefe and the Peruvians feem to agree pretty much in their agri- culture, and to have been equally induftrious in im- proving their grounds, cutting their hills into fquare fpots, fo as to make them fruitful to the top. Both thefe diftant nations alfo agreed in this, that human dung was the belt comport for fome grounds. By thefea-coaft, below Arequipa, for 200 leagues, they ufe no other dung but that of fea-fowls, of which there are incredible numbers breed on the iflands near the coaft, and lay fuch heaps of dung, that at a diftance they appear like hills of fnow. On other parts of the coaft, more to the fouthward, they dung their lands with a fmall fifh like Pilchards ; and it is with infinite labour here, for fix or feven hundred leagues along the coaft of Peru and Chili, that the natives find a fubfiftence ; for they have no fprings or rivers ; nor does a drop of rain ever fall on thofe parch’d fands : The natives therefore near the fea, according to De la Vega, dig through the fand 8 or 1 z foot deep, and there meeting with earth which has fome moifture in it, plant grains of Maize in holes, at equal diftances, and in the fame holes put fome Pilchards heads, which, without any other dunging or watering, brings the corn to perfection ; by which means they get bread enough to fuftain the few inhabitants that dwell on that barren part of the coaft. European grain (ow'd in Peru. Vines plant- ed there. Their vine- yards wa- ter’d. Scarce any difference of feafons. Wheat and Barley, my author fays, were firft imported into Peru about the year r 540, by a noble Lady, who had a plantation beftow’d on her by the Spanifh Viceroy, for being fo great a benefactor to the country ; both thefe kinds of s;rain thriving well, and yielding a great increafe in feveral parts of Peru. Francis de Caravantes, aNoblemanof Toledo, had the honour of planting the firft Vines in Peru, which he imported from the Canaries about the fame time. The Spaniards, in a very few years afterwards, made wine there; but it feems the In- dians preterr’d their own liquor, made of Indian- corn, to any wine made of Grapes, and liked bread made of Maize better thanwheaten bread ; fuch un- genteel palates had my country-men, fays LaVega. They water their vineyards in all parts of Peru chiefly by turning rivulets through them, or letting in the water from fome adjacent river or refervoir ; for the country is fo hot and dry, that their Vines will yield no grapes if they are not water’d : When they would have them bear fruit therefore, they water the Vines, and they have ripe grapes at what time of the year they pleafe. T he fame thing isobferv’d of their Maize, or Indian- corn, one man is fowing of it, while his neighbour has it grown up a good height, and perhaps is ready for harveft ; that it may truly be faid, in great VOL. III. part of the country, they know no difference of fea- CHAP, fons. VII. Olives have been carried over alfo into Peru, but they do not thrive there fo well as other European ° live3 - plants ; tho’ they are found very agreeable to the foil of Chili. However, Peru, at this day, abounds in Sugar-canes, Oranges, Lemons, Figs, Cherries, Su s» f Or’n* Apples, Pears, Quinces, Nectarines, Peaches, Apri- ^ cots, Plumbs, and Pomgranates ; none of which fruits were in Peru before the Spaniards arrived there : But they had Coco-nuts, Cacao-nuts, Pine- p . nf apples, Guava’s, Plantains, and moft of the fruits apples’ &c. enumerated in Mexico. As to the kitchen-garden, they had neither Let- Kitchen-gar- tice, Radifhes, Turnips, Garlick, Onions, Beets, dens ” Spinage, Afparagus, Melons, Cucumbers, Peafe, Beans or Rice ; of all which there are now great plenty, as there are alloofRofes, Jeflamin, and ma- ny odoriferous flowers they never faw before the Spa- niards imported them. But then they had feveral forts of herbs, flowers, fallading and roots that we want, particularly the Caftavi-root, which ferv’d great Caffavi-root, part of North and South-America inftead of bread, as has been obferv’d in the defeription of Mexico : And ’tis obferv’d of the fruits and plants that have Fruits of been carried thither from Europe, that they thrive E uropevaft ' i better, and grow much larger there than they do y 6 ” here. De la Vega relates, that he had feen bunches of Grapes from eight or ten pound weight. Quinces as big as his head, and other fruits proporti- onably large. I muft not pafs over the plants that produce thofe Balms, excellent balms and gums for which this country is celebrated, and particularly that call’d the Balfam Balfam of of Peru, of which we meet with the following ac- brib’d ^ e ° count in the Hiftory of Drugs. It proceeds from the trunks and branches of a little tree. There are three forts of it. T he firft is call’d the balfam by in- cifion, and is a white liquor ; the fecond is call’d balfam of the fhell, which drops from the ends of the branches that are cut, to which they hang fmall flafks or bafkets, to receive it ; and thus they draw it off ’till the tree will yield no more. They expofe it fome days in the hotteft places, where it congeals, and changes to a reddifh colour. The third is a black balfam, which is made by boiling the bark- branches and leaves of thefe little trees in water ; and after they have boil’d fome time, they take off" the fat or feum thatfwims on the top, which is of a black brown colour, and call’d (as well as the for- mer) Balfam of Peru. In the fecond defeription of this balfam in the Hiftory of Drugs, it is faid there are three forts alfo ; but that the firft is call’d dry balfam, being a fort of hard, reddifh, fragrant rofin, the fecond a liquid white rofin, and the third a black odoriferous balfam, which is moft common, and generally ufed as well in phyfick as for perfumes : It ought to be vifeous, and of a turpentine confiftence ; of a blackifh-brown colour; a fweet agreeable tafte, having fome refem- p p blance THE PRESENT STATE blancc of Storax. Thefe balfams are proper for the brain and domach, drive malignant humours off by perfpiration, deterge and heat wounds, drengthen the nerves, and refolve cold tumors : The dofe from a drop to four or five. Bafides this balm, the country produces Anami, Caranna, Storax, Caffia-fedata, Guaiacum, Sarla- parilla, Saffifras, Copal, Liquid-amber, and feve- ral other gums and drugs, mention’d already in the defcription of Mexico. CHAP. VIII. Of their minerals ancl precious Jh ones. CHAP. VIII. Minerals. Cold. G OLD and Silver were fo plentiful in Peru in the fixteenth century, when De la Vega flourifh’d, that he relates, there had been exported from thence to Spin every year, for twenty-five years fucceffively, the value of twelve or thirteen millions (of crowns, or pieces of eight, I prefume he means) each year, befides what had pafs-’d without account. And obferves, that Gold was found in every province of Peru, more or lefs ; ibme found on the fur face of the earth, and wafh’d down by torrents, which the Indians gather’d up in bafkets and feparated from the fand, being ufually as fmall as the filings of fteel ; tho’ fometimes pieces are found of the fize and form of Melon-feeds, and feme are round, and others oval : And that the gold of Peru is generally about eighteen or twenty quillats (I fuppofe it Ihould be carats) in goodnefs ; only the gold that comes from the mines of Callavia or Ca- savana, lie fays, he has been inform’d is of the fine- nefs of twenty-four carats or better. “ And here “ it may be proper to inform fuch as are not con- “ verlant in thefe matters, that a carat of gold is “ of the weight of a fcruple, or twenty-four grains, 44 and cQnfequentlv twenty-four carats make an “ ounce : And gold that is entirely fine, is call’d of “ twenty-four carats, becaufe, if you put an ounce tc of fuch gold to the proof, it will not be diminilh- “ ed; but if an ounce of gold wade a fcmple in the “ proof, it is gold ef twenty-three carats. If it 44 wade two fcruples, it is gold of twenty-two ca- 44 rats, and !o on. But leveral Refiners are of opi- 4 ‘ nion, there is no gold of twenty-four carats ; for let it be refined never fo well, there will remain *' 4 fome light portion of filver in it. Our author proceeds, and relates, that in the year 1556, there was dug out of the veins of a rock in die mines of Callavia (of the fined fort of gold, be- ing of twenty-four carats) a piece of gold ore as big as a. man’s head, fomething refembling a man’s lungs tn colour and Ihape, having certain perforations in it from one end to the other ; and in all the holes were little kernels of gold, as if melted and dropp’d into them. And feme who underdood the nature of this mineral were of opinion, that had it remain’d w the rock, it would all have turn’d into perfect gold in time.. CHAP. VIII. 1 he owner of this valuable piece of ore was car- rying it over to Spain, in order to make a prefent of it to King Philip II. but the Ihip was call: a- way in the voyage, and he perifh’d with his treafure. Gobi, fays a certain writer, is the moil: folid, weighty, compafl metal, generated in mines in fe- veral parts oi the world ; but the greated quantity is brought in bars or ingots from Peru. That which is found in a mafs or lump in the mines,, is call’d virgin gold, becaufe it comes pure out of the mine* and needs no farther preparation, and is foft enough to receive the i mpreflicn of a feal. The fecond fort is in grains, not fo fine as the firft. The third is gold mix’d with other metals ; and the marcafite or mineral done, the gold and- the done being form’d and incorporated together : This is call’d gold-ore. And the fourth is gold-dud, mix’d with fand at the bottoms of rivulets ; and there is ten times more gold found in fuch fands than is acquir’d all other ways. All hones, which contain any metal, are call’d marcafite. But the three principal dones that are Marcafite?. call’d marcafite are, thofe that contain gold, filver, or copper. The two fird are in little balls, of the bignefs of a nut, almod round, weighty, and brown- ith without, but of different colours within ; for the fii d is of the colour of gold, the other of filver, but both bright and fhining. Gold is often found mix’d with filver or copper.. That which is mix’d with filver, is of fewer carats than that mix’d with copper. Father Feuillee relates, that he was at Lima in Peru in the year 1709? and faw in the cabinet of Don Antonio Portoc ARORO, a piece of gold-ore as it came out of the mines, that weigh’d thirty-three pounds, lome odd ounces, which was found by an Indian in a brook. The upper part of it was gold of twenty- two carats, and the lowed of feventeen carats and an half, decreafing gradually in its finenefs to the bottom. I here are a great many filver mines in leveral Silver of parts of Peru ; but thofe of Potofi, in the province Potof, ‘ of Charcas, in a 2 degrees of fouthern latitude, are the riched. Thefe were difeover’d in the year 1545, about fourteen years after the Spaniards invaded that country. I he mountain, in which the mines are, is now entirely undermin’d, fuch vad quantities of filver having been drawn from it. It is of the form of a fugar-loaf, of a dark red colour, a league in circumfererre at bottom, and a quarter of a league towards the top, and dands in the middle of a plain, being forne mornings cover’d with a cap of fnow, for it is exceeding cold here, confidering it lies with- in the Tropics, and never was a more barren country feen for feveral leagues round ; but ’tis ob- ferv’d, wherever the earth is enrich’d with this kind of treafure, there are no fruitful fields or pas- tures to be met with : At the foot of this mountain, rifos another little hill, in which are fome mines, and the Spaniards have given it the name of Young Potoli. O F CHAP. Potofi. Thefe mines were never difcover’d, or VIII. wrought by the Indians, before the arrival of the Spaniards, tho’ they had dug thole of Porco about 6 leagues diftant from Potofi. Acosta relates, that they were difcover’d by mere accident. He fays, an Indian, purfuing his game up the mountain of Potofi, and being like to fall, laid hold of a flirub, that grew upon a vein of filver, to fave himfelf ; and happening to pull it up by the roots, thereby difcover’d the rich metal un- derneath. He kept the thing fecret, it feems, ’till he had drawm from it filver enough to enrich him- felf and his family ; but at length it was difcover’d to the Spaniards, who thereupon parcel’d it out a- mong fuch adventures, as would undertake the dig- ging and refining the filver, on fuch terms as the Government impofed on them. That which made the mines of Potofi the more valuable, was, that they were never hinder’d work- ing by water, as they are in other mines, though they had funk them two hundred fathom deep. Acosta informs us, that the firft forty years thefe mines of Potofi were wrought, there were regiftered * one hundred two thoufand millions of pieces of eight (or crowns) befides a great deal that had been carried off without paying cuftom ; but according to feme late travellers, thefe mines begin to be exbaufted. To proceed : T he fame writer gives the following account of the ftate of the mines of Potofi. In his time, he fays, this rock of Potofi then contained four prin- cipal veins, all which lay on the eaft fide of the mountain, towards the rifing fun ; and on the weft part there was not any one vein : That the veins run from north to fouth, the largeft of them being fix foot over, and the narroweft about a fpan broad ; and there are other ramifications, which branch’d out like the boughs of trees : That in the richeft of thefe veins, there were feventy-eight mines, eighty or an hundred fathom deep, and feme two hundred. But at length, inftead of digging down- wards, they opened the rock at the bottom, and fo proceeded horizontally, ’till they met with the filver-veins ; but he obferves, that the nearer the vein is to the furface of the earth, the richer it is. Thefe vaults, by which they pierc’d into the moun- tain, were call’d Soccabous, being eight foot in breadth, and a fathom in height, and by thefe they eafily drew out the metal as they found it ; but he fays, the rock was fo hard, that they work’d be- tween twenty and thirty years in tire principal of thefe Soccabous, before they came at the metal : And as they labour in thefe fubterraneous paflages, without receiving either light or heat from the fun, the air is fo cold and unwholfome, that a per- lon, at his firft entrance into them, is feiz’d with a diforder not unlike that of fea-ficknefs ; as our au- thor himfelf, who vifitedthem, experienced. The labourers in thefe mines take it by turns, working * This muit furely be a miftake ; the 1 PERU. a 9 f alternately night and day, which to them are CHAP, alike, as they always work by candle-light. The VIII, ore is commonly fo hard, that they are forced to break it with hammers, and it fplits, as if it were flint Another part of the riches of Peru confifts in their Quickfilver Quickfilver, of which they have feveral mines in mme3, the audience of Lima, particularly in the moun- tains of Oropeza and Guancavilca, near the city of Guamanga. It is found, according to Acosta, in a kind of ftone call’d Cinabar, which likewife yields Vermilion. He obferves, that the native Indians had long wrought thefe mines, before the Spaniards arrived, without knowing what quick- filver was. They fought only for the cinabar, or vermilion, which they call’d Limpi, efteeming it for the fame reafon the Romans and Ethiopians did anciently ; namely, to paint their faces and bodies on feftivals and rejoicing times, and to beautify and adorn the images of their gods. Nor did the Spaniards difcover there was quick- filver in thefe mines, ’till the year 1567, when Henri qjjes Ga r c i as, a native of Portugal, hap- pening to meet with a piece of that ore, which the Indians call’d Limpi, and with which they painted their faces, confider’d that this muft be the fame which they call’d vermilion in Spain ; and knowing that vermilion was extracted out of the fame ore as quickfilver was, he went to the mines to make the experiment, and found it to be according as he had conjectur’d ; and great numbers of labourers were immediately employ’d to draw the quickfilver out of thefe mines, of which there are many in the above- faid mountains; one whereof Acosta deferibes to be a rock of hard ftone, intermix’d with quick- filver, extending above fourfeore yards in length, and forty in breadth, and threefcore and ten fa- thom deep ; fo capacious, that three hundred men might work in it at a time. They did not begin to refine their filver with mercury, at Potofi, ’till the year 1571, when Fernandez deValesco came thither from Mexico, and put them into this way : Whereupon they convey’d their quickfilver to the port of Arica by fea, and from thence by land-carriage to the mines of Potofi, and by this means they extracted a great deal more filver from their ore, than ever they could do before by fire alone. Father Acosta proceeds to give us this farther account of the manner of refining, or feparating quickfilver from the ore. He fays, they take the ftone, or hard ore in which it is found, and beat- ing it to powder, put it into the fire in earthen pots well luted and clofed, and the ftone being melted by the heat of the fire, the quickfilver feparates it- fclf, and afeends ’till it encounters the top of the pot, and their congeals ; and if it was fuffer’d to pals out, without meeting any hard fubftance, it would mount ’till it became cold, and then con- P p 2 gealing, inched at leaft, ought to have been left out. 292 THE PRESENTSTATE (Quick filver, both fix'd and running, found in the mines t CHAP, gealing, would fall down again ; but as they melt VIII. the ore in earthen pots, it congeals at the top of the pots, which they unftop, and draw out the metal when it is cold ; for if there remain any fume or vapour, it endangers the lives of the workmen, at leaf! they will lofe their teeth, or the ufe of their limbs. They put the quickfilver, when it is melted, into fkins, for it keeps befl in leather ; and thus they fend it from the quickfilver mines to Potofi, where they fpend above feven thoufand quintals (an hundred weight) in refining filver, every year, befides what is fpent at other mines. The rrcheft ore, ’tis obferv’d, confumes moft quickfilver, and the pooreft much lefs : They firft beat, or grind the ore very fmall, and fift it through fine fieves : Then they put it into vefTels upon the furnaces, al- lowing to every fifty quintals of powder’d ore, five quintals of fait, for the fait feparates the earth and filth from the metal, and thereupon the filver is the more eafily extracted by the quickfilver. “ As “ to the reft, I refer to the defcription of Mexico, “ where I have already inferted A cos t a’s account “ of refining filver by quickfilver.” In the Hiftory of Drugs it is {aid, that quickfilver is found in the mines after different manners, fome- times inclofed in its own mineral, and fometimes fluid, and of as changeable a figure as we fee it : It is found fometimes among earth and ftones, and very often embodied in natural cinabar : Thofe who take quickfilver from its mine, or, more pro- perly, from the places it lies in, make ufe of great iron retorts to feparate it from its mineral, or other hard bodies with which it is joined ; and by means of fire, and the frefn water into which it fells, they render it fluid, as we commonly have it : When it is found running, or liquid, in the ground, the flaves, who gather it, have nothing to do but to ftrain it through fhamois-leather to cleanfe it from its impurities ; and, according to this author, there are but two places in Europe where quick- filver is found, viz. in Hungary and Spain ; and though fome have aflerted it has been found in France, they are miftaken ; he admits indeed there was a mine of cinabar lately found in Normandy, but the great charges of working it obliged them to flop it up again, Lemery obferves, that quickfilver is found on the tops of mountains, co- ver’d with white ftones as brittle as chalk, and that the plants which grow upon fuch mountains are greener and larger than in any other places ; but the trees that are near the quickfilver mines rarely produce fruits or flowers, and that they ufually find a great deal of water about thefe mines, which is neceffary to draw oft' at the foot of the mountain before they can be wrought. Quickfilver is fo very weighty, that Mr. De Euretiere affirms, a folid foot of mercury weighs nine hundred forty-feven pounds, and that a cubical foot of the Seine-water weighs hut feventy CHAP, pounds ; fo that a veflel that will hold thirty-five VIII. pints of that water, will contain nine hundred forty- feven pounds of quickfilver , and ir is fo exceeding ftrong as well as weighty, that an hundred and fourfcore pounds of quickfilver will bear up an iron weight of fifty pounds, as this writer avers- he had feen and experienced. The properties of quickfilver, fays that Gentle- man, are fo great, that they exceed imagination 1 ; into whatever fbape you metamorphofe mercury, you may make it return to its firft ftate, and that with a very little diminution. Borrichins, a Danifli Chymift fays, that having operated upon mercury for a year together, and reduc’d it into fe- veral forms, it took its own fhape at Iaft by means of a little fait of tartar : I (hall not, fay the fame writers, pretend to decide the controverfy, whe- ther it be cold or hot ; but can affirm, it is fo cold externally, that it is impoffible to hold one’s hand in a quantity of quickfilver a quarter of an hour : He adds, that when the Dutch have a mind to make quickfilver portable, they fix it very eafily, and put it into all forts of veffels, even into paper, and fend it to their correfpondents, who have the fecret to make it run again without any charge. As mercury ( fays Lemery ) is a very fluid body, fo it is more difficult to he found than other metals ; for it infinuates itfelf into earth, and into the clefts of ftones, fo that you often lofe the fight of it, when you think you are juft going to take it up; and men cannot work at it many years- with- out having the Palfy ; fo that few are employ’d in it but criminals (in Europe he means). He adds, that quickfilver is not always taken out of the mine neat and running, but generally mix’d with earth,, or reduc’d into a natural cinabar, by fome portion* of fulpnur it has met withal : That which has but a little earth with it, may be feparated, by ftrain- ing it through leather; but when it has a great deal of earth, or other impurities, it muft be put into iron retorts, to be purified in the manner above- mentioned. The beft way of purifying quickfilver, fays the fame author, is to mix together two equal parts of powder of cinabar, and filings of iron, and fill about half, or two thirds of a retort with them ; then place it on a reverberating furnace, and fit to- it a glafs recipient full of water, without luting the joints : Increafe the fire to the fourth degree, you will find the quickfilver diftill, and fell to the bot- tom of the recipient : Keep on the fire ’till no more will rife, and you will have thirteen ounces of running mercury from one pound of cinabar, which muft afterwards be wafh’d, and dry’d with linnen cloths, and ftrain’d through a leather, and we may depend upon its purity. Cinabar, according to Le m e r y, is of two forts ; the one natural, call’d Mineral Cinabar, the other artificial, O F P C H A P. artificial, call’d Simple Cinabar : The natural is VIII. found form’d in ftones that are red, fhining, and weighty, in the quickfilver mines. The natural cinabar hath been fublimated by the fubterraneous fires, almoft in the lame manner as the artificial cinabar ; but as in its fublimation it is mix’d with earth, it is not fo weighty, pure, or beautiful as the artificial cinabar, and contains lefs mercury. The artificial cinabar is made with three parts crude mercury, and one part fulphur mixed, and put into fubliming veflels over a gradual fire. It ought to be made choice of in fair ftones, very weighty and bright, with long, clear, and fine points, of a brownifli red : Each pound of cina- bar has fourteen ounces of mercury to two ounces of fulphur. Vermilion. Vermilion, fays the lame writer, is cinabar in ftone, ground with urine, or aqua vitae ; it is a moft beautiful red, made ufe of by Painters, Sec. As to the medicinal virtues of quickfilver, or mercury and cinabar, I muft refer the reader to the Hiftory of Drugs for his fatisfaXion, or rather to ad- vife him never to meddle with them without the directions of the learned ; for though they are excel- lent medicines, a very fmall miftake in the applicati- on of them, I perceive, may be fatal to the patient. Precious As to the precious ftones of Peru, I find they have great plenty of Emeralds here as well as in Mexico ; but thofe having been treated of there, it is needlefs to deferibe them again. They have alfo Turquoifes, which are of a blue, or azure colour, as the Emeralds are of green, but not fo much efteem’d ; Cryftal alfo is found here : Pearls. And Pearls they had in greater plenty in South than in North-America, particularly on the coaft of Terra-Firma in the North-fea, and in the Bay of Panama in the South-fea ; but thofe fifheries feem to be almoft exhaufted. C H A P. IX. The hiftory, religion , and government , of the ancient Peruvians , before the Spanijh conqueji. CHAP. IX. Ancient foiftoiy, re' Jigion, go- vernment, &c. N OTHING is more uncertain than the ori- ginal of nations, even inthispartof the world, where we have the advantage ot letters ; perhaps there is not any one country in Europe that can tell from what particular people they are deriv’d, and coniequently neither know how, or when it was planted ; much lefs what were the religion, cuftoms, or manners of the firft inhabitants ; how then can we depend on the accounts they give us of Peru for any number of years before the Spanifh conqueft, when they had neither letters or charadters to record the tranfadfions of preceding ages ? Garctliasso de la Vega has indeed at- tempted to give us the hiftory of Peru, even before E R U. 2 9 3 the Inca’s founded that empire, that is, four or five CHAP- hundred years before the arrival of the Spaniards, IX. and was as well qualified for fuel) an undertaking, as any man could be in fuch circumftances, being de- fended, by his mother’s fide, from the royal family of the Inca’s, and bred up among his mother’s rela- tions before they were converted to Chriftianity, or had received the Spanifh cuftoms: And by the fa- ther’s fide was defended from a Spaniard of quality, and had the advantage of a liberal education : This Gentleman it feems made it his bufinefs for feveral years to inform himfelf, from his Indian relations and acquaintance, of the hiftory and cuftoms of their anceftors ; and afterwards came over to Spain, where that Court put him upon digefting and metho- dizing his obfervations, and making them publick ; which he did, under the title of The Royal Commen- taries of Peru , and wanted no aftiftance which the Peruvians, or Spaniards could give him in compi- ling of them ; but the Spaniards took care that this hiftory fhould be fo modeH’d, as to caft as little re- flexion on their conduX in fubduingPeru aspoflible ; and the hiftorian himfelf feems to have had a ftrong biafs towards the family of the Inca’s, or Peruvian Emperors, from whom he was defended, aferi- bing the civilizing of that people, and the inftruX- ing them in every thing that was ufeful or excel- lent, to them. And that he may refleX the greater honour on the Inca’s, he reprefen ts the people of Peru, before the foundation of that empire, as bar- barous as any people on the face of the earth ; nay, more favage than the brutes themfelves : And he might have this farther view in thofe horrid accounts he gives us of the ancient Peruvians ; namely, to juftify the Inca’s invafions of their neighbours, and reducing them under their obedience by force, and compelling them to abandon their former way of life, and fubmit to the laws and government of the Inca’s ; affl-Xing to give them the title rather of benefaXors, than deftroyers of mankind, as we find has ever been the praXice of both ancient and mo- dern conquerors, in order to palliate the injufticeof their invafions on the liberties and properties of their peaceable neighbours. De la Vega tells us, that the ancient Peruvi- j Th J^’ s t ?e ms were at heft but tamed hearts, and fome of them anc ; ent Pe . worfe than the moft favage creatures ; and begin- rm-ians, ac- ning with their religion, he fays, every tribe and D^laVegi. family had its particular god ; that they adored trees, mountains, and rivers, and worfhipp’d Lions, and Tygers, and all manner of animals ; others made flocks and ftones the objeXs of their adoration ; and facrificed not only their enemies, but their chil- dren to them, and eat them in great joy and feltivity when they had done. He confirms even that horrid and improbable tale of Blos Valeras, who relates, that the in- habitants of the mountains of Andes eat man’s flefh, and vvorfhipp’d the Devil, who appear’d to them in the 2 9 *. THE PRESENT STATE CHAP, the form of a ferpent, or feme other animal : - That IX. when they took an ordinary prifoner in war, they quarter’d him, and divided him among their wives, children, and fervants, to be eaten ; or perhaps fold his flefh in the fhambles : If it was a noble captive, they ftripp’d him of his garments, and ty’d him to a flake, and, alive as he was, cut him with knives and fharp hones, paring oft' dices from the more fiefhy parts, as from the buttocks, calves of his legs, and the brawny parts of his arms, and fprinkling tire principal men and women with part of the blood, drank the remainder, and eat his flefh in hafte, be- fore it was half boil’d, left the miferable wretch fhould die before he had feen his flefh devour’d, and hitomb’d in their bowels ; all this was perform’d by way of a religious offering, ’till the man expir’d; and then they compleated the feaft, by devouring all the remainder of his flefti and bowels, eating them with filence and reverence, as facred, and partaking of a deity. “ Such, fays De laVega, “ was the manner of thefe brutes, becaufe the go- “ vernment of the Inca’s was not received into “ their country inftnuating, that all Peru was peopled with fuch favages, ’till the Inca’s civiliz’d them : But fure fuch monftrous relations need no confutation, the very repeating them is fufflcient to dilcredit them ; human nature could never be thus depraved and degenerated ; and thus much we are No founda- fure of, that De la Vega could have no certainty non for thefe of thefe fadts, for they are either related of fuch peo- ple as liv’d five hundred years before he wrote ; or of thofe who inhabited diftant and inacceffible coun- tries, which the Inca’s never penetrated, or had any commerce with. However, from fuch ftories as thefe, which the Pe- ruvians feem to have been very fullof,I make no man- ner of doubt but the Spaniards firft took the hint, and reprefented the Peruvians themfelves to be add idled to the fame barbarous cuftoms, and made this a pre- tence for opprefling and enflaving them : And when both Spaniards and Indians contributed to fupport the truth of fuch relations, no wonder they were foon propagated all over Europe ; and we find it extreme- ly difficult to undeceive the prefent generation, es- pecially as mankind are frequently delighted with fuch relations as are mod monftrous and unnatural, and feem to wifti they might be true. De la Vega proceeds to reprefent the ancient Peruvians, as living under no government, and in no focieties, but difpers’d over the country in dens and caves, like wild Seafts ; neither building, plant- ing, or cloathing themfelves, but feeding upon fuch roots and fruits of the earth as grow fpontaneoufly, or upon man’s flefh. That others lived by robbery, or fpoil, tyranni- zing over their weaker neighbours, and treating them as flaves: That men’s carcafies were common- ly fold in their fhambles, and faufages made of their guts : That they eat their own children, and the women they had them by, if they were captives ta- ken in the wars, fatting fuch children when they CHAP, came to be ten or twelve years of age, as we do IX calves or lambs (fays De la Vega, and feme o- her Spanifh writers) and referving them as moil delicious difhes for their own tables. For all which, however, they have no better authority than tradi- tion, as has been obferv’d already, which, with the improbability of the thing, is abundantly fufflcient to make any one fufpend his belief of fuch relations, efpecially, if it be confider’d that there are no fuch people upon the face of the earth ; and many of thofe nations, that have been reprefented as barba- rous, have proved more humane, gentle, and tracea- ble than their enemies, who found it their intereft to drefs them up in fuch fhocking colours, particu- larly the people of Florida, and thofe who inhabit feme mountains and iflands in the Eaft-Indfes and Africa ; daily experience now difcovering they have been grofly abufed by fuch mifreprefentations. In the next chapter, De ia Vega charges the ancient Indians with fodomy, and with having their women in common, without any regard to kin- dred or relation ; and with pradftfing the arts of poi- foning and witchcraft. But then he comes and relates in his 7th chapter, The refer- that all thefe barbarous cuftoms were abolifh’d by mationof the Inca’s, when they laid the foundation of their ^ b Per “”* monarchy, and the people reduc’d to a more regular inL's , 1 and decent way of living; of which they had in their family the following tradition. That their father, the Sun (the Inca’s giving out that they were the offspring of that glorious planet) beholding mankind in that deprav’d andfavage ftate above related, took companion on them, and fent a fon and daughter of his own from heaven to earth, to inftrudt them to worfhip and adore him as their god, and to give them laws and precepts to govern themfelves by, to form them into focieties, and in- ftrudl them in building, planting, and hufbandry, that they might live like men, and enjoy the fruits of the earth. With fuch inftrudtions, their father (the Sun) plac’d his two children in the great lake of "Titicaca, from whence they were to begin their labours for the reformation of mankind, giving them a little wedge of gold, which they were to ftrike into the ground at every place they flept or refted ; and wherever this wedge fhould fink into the earth, and vanifh out of their fight, in that place they were to make their refidence, and the people fhould refort to them to be inftrudted, their father (the Sun) confti- tuting them Lords and Sovereigns over all men, that ftrould be reduc’d from their favage way of life by their means. That travelling northward from the lake of Titicaca, and ftriking the golden wedge into the earth in the valley of Cuico, there it difap- pear’d, as had been foretold ; and thereupon they agreed to aflemble the people there, in order to in- ftrudt them in the dodtrines committed to them : Ac- 1 cordingly O F G H A P cordingly the man and the woman feparated, the IX. one going to the north, and the other to the fouth, C^'y-'w declaring to all they met in thofe wild and uncultivated defarts, that their father (the Sun) had fent them to be their teachers and benefactors, to draw them from that rude and favage way of life, form them into fo- cieties, and inftruCt them in all fuch arts as might render their lives eafy and comfortable. That the favages, obferving thefe two perfbns cloath’d and adorn’d, as their father (the Sun) had equipp’d them, and that by the gentleness of their words, and the gracefulnefsof their countenances, they mani felled themfelves to be the children of the Sun, they were ftruck with admiration, and gave them entire credit, adored them as children of the Sun, and obey’d them as their Princes. Great multitudes being affembled, they led them to thatfpotof ground where Cufco now hands, laid out the plan of the city, and inftrucfcd the people how to prepare materials for building it. In the next place, the Inca fhew’d the men how to cultivate their lands, and bring the ftreams of water into them, while his Queen taught the women to fpin, and weave their cotton into garments, to drefe their meat, and other parts of houfewifery. This colony flourifhing extremely, drew in the neighbouring tribes to join- them, and be partakers of their happi- nefs : And now the Inca, finding himfelf in a con- dition not only to defend himfelf again ft the reft of the favages, but able to enlarge his territories by force, taught the people the ufe of arms ; and thofe, who refufed to fubmit themfelves voluntarily, were compeU’d, lays my author, by force,, to relinquifh their former vagrant life, and be obedient to the laws ©f fociety, the Inca extending his conquefts every day, and planting colonies in all parts of the country. This firft Inca was named M an c o C a- PA£, and his Queen Co y a Mama ; and, accor- ding to De la Vega’s computation, they flou- rifh’d about four hundred years before the arrival of the Spaniards. Manco Capac did not only teach all hisfub- jects to adore his father (the Sun) but inflructed them alfo in the rules of morality and civility, directing them to lay afide their prejudices to each other, and to do as they would be done by. He ordain’d, that murder, adultery, and robbery, fhoukl be punifh’d with death : That no man fhould have but onewife ; and that in marriages they fhoukl confine themfelves to their refpcdfive tribes : And over every colony, he plac’d a Caracas, or Prince ; or, as they call fuch a Chief in other parts of America, a Cacique,, who po- vern’d the people under them, as their fubje&si He alfo built a temple to the Sun, taught the people to offer facrilices, and other religious rites, and e redi- ed a cloifter for a certain number of feledt virgins, who were all to be of die blood, royal, and dedica- ted to the Sun. Among other inftitutions, this Inca commanded , that all the males of his family. fhould. have, their head# Manco Ca- pac, firft Inca. Hts laws, 'Religious rites. PERU. fhav’d, which they fubtnitfed to, tho’ nothing could C H A P. be more troublefome in their circumftances, having IX. no better inftruments than fharp flints to fcrape off the hair; infomuch that De e a Vega fays, it was an obfervation of one of his Indian friends, “ That had the Spaniards introduc’d no other inven- “ tions amongff them, than Sciffars, Looking- “ glaffes, and Combs, they had deferv’d all the “ gold and filver their country produc’d.” Pie alfo order’d them to bore their ears, which they did with a thorn, and afterwards llretch’d the orifice to fuch a degree, that it would hold the wheel of a fmall " pulley ; and their ear-rings were of that form, which occafion’d the Spaniards to call them Large Ears : They were alfo order’d to wrap a wreath, or cloth of various colours, four or five times about their heads, in form of a turbant ; which three things were to diftinguifh the royal family of the Inca’s from other people ; tho’ the reft of the people were afterwards indulged Co far, as to have their crowns fhav’d, to wear a black wreath about their heads, and to bore their ears, but not fo wide as the family of the Inca’s. Lallly, having reign’d many years, he fummon’d a general affembly of the Chiefs of his fubjetfts, at the city of Cufco, acquainting them, that he intended fhortly to return to heaven, and take his repofe with his father the Sun ; and being now to leave them r as the laft teftimony of his affection for thofe who had been his chief minifters, and inftruments of re- forming that people, he adopted them for his chil- dren, conferring on them his own title of Inca, which they and their pofterity retain’d ever afterwards. The Inca being dead, was fucceeded by his eldeft S!nchi fen Sinchi Roc a, whom he had by his wife fecond Inca ’ Coy a Mama his filler ; he alfo, after the example of his father, married his eldeft lifter by the fame mother, and this was the praHice of all fucceeding Inca’s in their marriages, to marry their eldeft fillers of the whole blood, tho’ they did not fuffer their fubjedls to marry their lifters, or near relations : 1 he Inca’s alio had many wives and concubines that were not of the royal blood, but thofe never inheri- ted the crown. The corple of the firft Inca, Manco Capac, was afterwards embalm’d, and placed in the temple of the Sun, where he was worfhipp’d by his fubjecis as a god, as wereall the fucceeding Inca’s : But both the Sun and the Inca’s feem to have been worfbipp’d as inferior deities, according to De ea Vega j for he affures us, the Peruvians acknowledg’d one almighty God, maker of Heaven and Earth, whom The Peru- they call’d Pacha Camac, Pacha in their vians not;on language fignifying, the Univerfe, and Ca ma c,- of God ‘ the Soul : Pa c ha Ca mac therefore fignified him who animated the world : And here he takes notice, that Pedro df. Sieca fuppofes, in his 6ad chap- ter, that the Peruvians called the Devil by this name ; but that he, who was an Indian horn, and better acquainted with their language, could allure ut, that- they, never took this name into their mouths, but 296 THE PRESENT STATE CHAP, but with the greateft veneration, and figns of devo- IX. tion ; much more than when they mentioned the Sun or their Inca’s : And being afk’d who Pacha Camac was, they anfwer’d, it was he who gave life to theuniverfe, fuilain’d and nourifh’d all things ; but becaufe they did not fee him, they could not know him, and therefore feldom erected temples, or offer’d facrifices to him, but worfhipp’d him in their hearts as the Unknown God, tho’ there was one temple it feerns in the valley, call’d from thence, the valley of Pacha Camac, dedicated to the Unknown God ; which was flanding when the Spaniards arriv’d in Peru : De la Vega adds, that the name by which the Peruvians call’d the De- vil, was Capap, which they never pronounced but they fpit, and fhew’d other figns of deteftation. He proceeds to inform us, that their facrifices, and religious rites and ceremonies, were all taught them by the firft Inca : That their principal facrifi- ces to the Sun were lambs, but they offer'd alfo all forts of cattle, fowls, and corn, and even their heft and fineft cloaths, all which they burnt in the place of incenfe, rendring their thanks and praifes to the Sun, for having fuftain’d and nourifh’d all thole filings, for the ufe and fupport of mankind ; they had alfo their drink-offerings, made of their Maize, or Indian-corn, fteep’d in water ; and when they firft drank after their meals (for they never drank while they were eating) they clipp’d the tip of their finger into the cup ; and lifting up their eyes with great reverence to heaven, gave the Sun thanks for their liquor, before they prefum’d to take a draught of it ; and here he takes an opportunity to affure us, that the Inca’s always detefted human facrifices, and would not fuller any fuch in the countries under their dominion, as they had heard the Mexicans, and fome other countries did. Their Priefts All the Priefts of the Sun that officiated in the Mwd! r >J ot y oi: C u fo) were of the royal blood, tho’ the in- feriour Officers were taken out of thole who had been adopted into the privileges of the Inca’s ; the High Prieft was either the brother, or uncle of the King, or one of his neareft relations ; but the Priefts had no veftments to diftinguilh them from others of the royal family ; in other provinces, perfons of diftincHon among the natives were made Priefts, but the High Prieft was always an Inca ; and each province had its cloyfter of leledt virgins, that vow’d perpetual virginity. All the laws and religious rites their firft Inca inftituted, were pretended to be the commands of his father the Sun, to give them, the greater autho- rity, tho’ future Inca’s, it feeras, frequently took an opportunity of making fuch improvements and alterations as they law requilite for the times they liv’d in. Befides the worfhip of the Sun, De la Vega informs us, they paid fome kind of adoration to the images ot feveral animals and vegetables, that had a place in their temples ; and that the Devil enter’d into fuch images, and {poke to them from thence, CHAP, their Priefts and Conjurers entertaining a familiar IX. converfation with fuch fpirits : Of which kind of idolatry, De la Vega fays, he can bear tefti- mony, becaufe he has feen it with his own eyes ( “ I prefume he means he had feen images wor- “ {hipp’d in the temple of the Sun, but he does not “ pretend to fay, he heard any voice. This part “ ot the ftory probably he had from hear-fay or “ tradition” ) ; and thefe were the images brought The Peru- from the conquer’d countries, where the people a- viansbrought dor’d all manner of creatures, animate or inani- aiTnations^ mate ; for whenever a province was fubdu’d, their into the gods were immediately remov’d to the temple of ^ m ^ Ie n ° f the Sun at Cufco, where the conquer’d people were permitted to pay their devotions to them, for fome time at leaft, for which there might be feveral poli- tical reafons affign’d. He proceeds to give fome account of the Civil The C!v!l Government, inftituted by the firft Inca’s : He fays, ^“helnca's! the people were divided into Decurions, or Tyth- ings, of which an exadt regifter was kept : That over every Decurion, or ten families, the mafter of one of the ten was appointed to prefide ; that over every five of thefe divifions was another Decurion, who had the command of fifty families, another Of- ficer was placed over an hundred, another command- ed five hundred, and the chief Officer a thoufand ; but no man was fuffer’d to govern more than a thoufand families : The loweft Decurion of ten was to fee that thofe under his command wanted none of the neceffaries of life, and was to deliver out to them corn to fow their lands, wool for their cloath- ing, and materials to build their houfes, and to take care of fuch as were fick and infirm : He was alfo to be the Cenfor of their adlions, and inform his fuperiors of any crimes, or immoralities, committed by thofe under his care, which were to he punilh’d by him ; but as for trivial offences, the loweft Offi- cer had the correction of them, and the decifion of fuits and controverfies of fmall moment ; and where differences arofe between two provinces, thefe were decided by Commiffioners appointed bv the Inca himfelf ; and there was ■£ general Cenfor appointed to infpedt the condudl of the chief Officers, and Minifters of State, who were punifti’d capitally, if ever they opprefs’d the fubjedts, or betray’d their trufts. The conduct of parents and mailers of families a profm-iui was nicely infpedted, and the Decurion, as well as lubmiffiai to the Father, was anfwerable for the faults of the rt ‘ children of thofe under their care : Like the Chi- nefe, they inculcated nothing more than a mod refign’d fubmiffion and obedience of children to their parents, encouraging a model! behaviour, and the utmoft civility and refpedl, in fpeaking to and ad- dreffing their fuperiors ; and as the Indians were naturally of a gentle and tractable temper, never was more peace and order feen in families, accord- ing to De la Vega. As O F P E C H A F. As every family was regifter’d, fo the Decurions IX. took care, from time to time, to intimate fuch alte- v-o'-v'"*-'' rations as happen’d on them by births, marriages. Other com- deaths ; fo that the Inca’s were always apprized ftitutions. of the Irate and condition ot their provinces, the numbers of their fubjedis, and the forces and re- venues proper to be required of them upon all oc- cafions, and were inform’d alfo of fuch calamities and misfortunes as befel them, whether from floods, fires, unkind feafons, peftilence, and the like ; and the Inca’s thereupon immediately fupplied them with whatever was wanting ; fo that the Spanifh writers themfelves obferve, they might juftly be Ailed, Fa- thers and Guardians of their people ; and it fecms one of the Inca’s titles was, “ A Lover of the Poor ” ; and fo dutiful were their fubjedts, and obedient to the laws, that in this vaft empire, which extended upwards of a thoufand leagues, it was rare to find one perfon convicted of a crime within the fpace of a year, if we may credit De la Vega. The hiftorian in the next place proceeds to give Second Inca, us fome account of the reign of Sinchi Roca, the fecond Inca, who anfwer’d the name that had been given him of a prudent and brave Prince ; the word Sinchi fignifying Wife, and that of Roca, Valiant. This Prince having folemnized his father’s funeral In a magnificent manner, inftead of being crown’d, had a wreath, or coronet, of various colours bound about his temples, fuch as the fupreme Inca’s wear.; and was no fooner eftablifhed on his throne, but he propofed to the Caraca’s, or Vaflal Princes, the making an expedition in perfon to the South, to fummon the neighbouring nations to come in, and acknowledge the Sun for their god, and the Inca for their Sovereign, and to require them to abandon their former fuperftition, and lavage courfe of life : The Caraca’s exprefllng their readinefs to attend their Prince, he fet forward at the head of a nume- rous army, employing Heralds to march before him, and declare the intent of his approach : And the people were fo farm’d with the gentlenels of his adminiftration, and the happinefs they law his fub- jedls enjoy beyond the reft of mankind, fays De la Vega, that they immediately fubmitted to him, without compulfion ; and during his whole reign, which was a long one, he never engag’d in war, or compell’d any people to fubrnit to him by force, tho 5 he confiderably enlarg’d his Empire ; ’tis very poffible, however, that the appearance of fo formi- dable a power was the ftrongeft argument to induce thefe Indians to refign their liberties, and change their religion for that of the Inca’s ; for few men part either with their religion, or ancient form of go- vernment, how abfurd or inconvenient foever, up- on choice. Sinchi Roca having reign’d many years, in imitation of his predeceflor, declared he was going to repofe himfelf with his father the Sun ; and dying Vol. III. R U. 297 foon after, was fucceeded by Lo qjj e Yu p a n Qjtr f , CHAP, his fon by his wife and filler Mama Cora ; ha- IX. ving other children by her, but many more by his l -^yv/ other wives and concubines, of the blood of the Inca’s, all of which were held legitimate ; but thole he had by other women were look’d upon as bafe born : The Inca’s were allow’d to multiply and increafe their children by any means, it being re- quifite, fays De la Vega, that the pofterity of the Sun Ihould be numerous : But the vulgar were confin’d to one wife a-piece. The Inca, Loqjje Yupanqjji, receiv’d his Third Inw. firft name from his being left-handed, and the other from his exalted ftation, that of Yupanqjji be- ing given only to the Sovereign Inca. He was not altogether fo peaceable as his prede- ceflor ; for thofe nations that refufed to obey him on his firft fummons, were invaded, and treated in a hoftile manner, ’till they made their fubmiflion ; and were contented to forfake their former laws and cuftoms, to adore the Sun as their god, and be- come fubjedls of the Inca. He extended his conquefts to the fouthward of the Lake Titicaca, and taught the fubdu’d people how to cultivate their grounds, to introduce rivulets into them, to make aquedudls, to build, to plant, and cloath themfelves decently ; in all which the Peruvians were defective, according to De la V ega, ’till they were inftrudted by the Inca’s ; fo that he would have us look upon thefe invafions and conquefts to be infinitely to the advantage of the conquer’d people, and an ample equivalent for all the ravages and devaluations of war, tho’ there is not much doubt, but the unhappy people, who felt the force of thofe arms they could not refill, would have been very well contented with their native fimplicity and ignorance, rather than have been beaten into better manners : But to proceed ; the Inca Loqjje Yupanqjji, having finifhed a glo- rious reign, and left a numerous iflue of Tons and daughters, died in a good old age, and was fuc- ceeded by his fon Mayta Capac, whom he had by his After and wife Mama Coy a. Mayta Capac, the fourth Inca, enlarg’d his Fourth dominions by the conqueft of feveral other nations lying to the fouthward of the Lake of Titicaca : In one of which, ’tis related, they found fevera! ancient magnificent ftrudtures of hewn ftone, with variety of ftatues of human form, excellently well carv’d ; but this, I nruft confefs, I can fcarce credit 5 for if it be true, it confutes what De la Vega fo often affirms, that the Inca’s firft taught the Mexicans to build, carve, &c. There is little elfe remarkable in tiris reign, unlefs it be the Inca's making a great bridge or rather float of Oziers, on which he tranfported his army over great rivers, and invaded his enemies, who thought themfelves fecur’d by thofe waters from all invafions ; And that this fo aftonilh’d thofe people, that they fubmitted to the Inca without linking a ftroke. He died, () q according THE PRESENT STATE 298 CHAP, according to D e la Vega, after a triumphant IX. reign of thirty years, wherein he acquir’d a great name both in peace and war. But tho’ this author acknowledges, it was very uncertain how many years lie reign’d, becaufe they had no regifters or letters to record their actions ; yet he afterwards lays, it is certain he died full of honour. Sic. Now if their quippo’s or firings were of fo little ufe to them, that they knew not how to mark the num- ber of years a Prince reign’d, much lefs could they convey down his character, or the hiftory of his actions to pofterity. As I look upon the hiftory of the Inca’s therefore to be in a great meafure fabu- lous, I {hall give but a fhort abftraCt of it, ’till I come down to thofe who reign’d about the time of the Spanifh conqueft. Fifth Inca. Ca p ac Yu pan qjji, the eldeft fon of Ma y t a Cap ac, fucceeded his father, who feems to have been an una&ive Prince, there being little laid of him. Sixth i n ca. Inca Roc A, eldeft Ion of the former Emperor, fucceeded him. The Spanifh writers make this Inca one of the principal Peruvian Law-givers, and have given us fome of his moft celebrated fayings : As, that upon his viewing and conhdering the heavens, he would fay, “ If the heavens be fo glorious, “ which is the throne of the Pacha Camac 44 (or great God) how much more refplendent mufti “ his perlon and majefty be who was the Creator 44 of all things. Again, If I was to adore any ter- reftnal thing, it fhould be a wife and good man, 44 whofe excellency tranfcends all other creatures.” Another faying they afcribe to him is this : “ That w he that cannot make himfelf immortal, nor re- ‘ 4 cover life after death, is not worthy of adora- 44 tion.” But thefe were probably made by feme of the Spanifh Miffionaries ; for how they fhould be informed of the layings of a Prince who lived two or three hundred years before the Spaniards ar- rived there, is not eafy to conceive. 3e7enthlnta. I nca Roc a was fucceeded by his eldeft fon Yahncor Huacac ; in whofe reign there was a great rebellion of the Chanca’s, infomuch that the Inca abandon’d the capital city of Cufco, leav- ing it to be defended againft the enemy by his Ion Vi r a co c HA, who gave the Chanca’s a great- defeat ; being miraculoufly aftifted by the Sun, as was pretended, who turn’d the very ftones into men, and form’d them into troops in favour of the Inca Viracocha. After this victory, Viracocha became ex- tremely popular ; and his father lo loft the efteern of his fubjedfs by abandoning his capital city, that it was agreed to depofe the old Inca, and advance bghtn Inca, h's fon Viracocha to the imperial dignity r which, ’tis faid, the fon very readily accepted, and the father was afterwards content to lead a private life in one of his palaces, fituated a fmall diftance from Cufco. This Vxra c 0 c ha is reprefented as one of their moft victorious Princes, and faid to be worfhipp’d CHAP, as a god. And the Indians afterwards, as a tefti- IX, mony of the veneration they had for the Spaniards, gave them the title Vi racocha’s, or gods, which this Inca afliimed on pretence that he had feen a vifion of angelick form, that commanded him to take that title. It is reported alfo by the Indians, that tire Inca Viracocha pretending to the fpirit of prophecy, foretold that, after the fucceftion of a certain num- ber of Kings, a people fhould arrive from far di- ftant countries, never feen in thofe regions before, and cloath’d like the angel in the vifion he had feen, who fhould fubvert their religion and empire : Which they held to be fulfill’d at the Spanifh con- queft. Viraco cha is laid to have reign’d fifty years,, which De i.aVega thinks not improbable % for that he faw his body, which was preferv’d ’till his time, and the hairs of his head were as white as fnow : He was alfo fhewn the bodies of feveral other Inca’s, which he obferves were more entire than the mummies of Egypt, wanting neither the hair of the head or eye-brows, or even the eye- lafhes, which were ftill vifible. But I do not de~ fign to impofe thefe things on any readers as articles of faith. De la Vega adds, that the ftefh of thefe bo- dies appeared plump and full, and yet were fo light that an Indian would eafily carry one of them in his arms ; and that in his time they ufed to carry them about to the houfes of the Spanifh Gentle- men in Cufco, who had the curiofity to fee them. The Inca Viracocha dying, was fucceeded Ninth Incui by his eldeft foil Pachacutec, who is repre- fented alfo as a victorious Prince, and faid to have fubdu’d many nations by the conduct of his Bro- ther and General Capac Yupanqui ; for this Emperor feldom took the field in perlon, but fpent his time chiefly in ereCling magnificent temples and palaces, regulating his Civil government, planting colonics, and making improvements in feveral parts of his empire ; and having reign’d, as ’tis faid, fifty years with great glory, left this world to dwell with his father the Sun. Yu pan qjji his eldeft fon fucceeded him, and Tenth In«u is faid to have extended his empire to the eaftward beyond the mountains of the Andes 200 leagues and upwards ; but it was more by perfuafton than force that this people were induced to fubmit to him, and might be look’d upon as allies and con- federates at laft, rather than fubjeCfs ; for as their fituation was upon or beyond thofe vaft mountains, the Inca’s found it impracticable to lead numerous armies thither. This Inca was unfortunate in an expedition againft the nation of the Chirihuana’s, which inhabited another branch of the mountains of Andes ; and we are told were fo barbarous, that they eat both friends and foes, and chofe the flefli of men rather than that of any other animal 5- O F C HAP. but tills Teems to have been a calumny fram’d by IX. the Inca’s, becaufe that people refufed to fubmit to their dominion ; and were (ofituated the Inca could not conquer them : But however that was, the Inca Yu p a n q_u i being repuls’d in his attacks on the Chirihuana’s, turn’d his arms to the fouthward, and reduced feveral nations in the country of Chili ; in- fomuch that in his time the Peruvian empire is laid to have been of a thoufand leagues extent from north to fouth. This Prince alfo carried on his conquefts by his Generals, and feldom took the field in per- fon. He erected feveral (lately edifices, and among the reft the celebrated caftle of Cufco, already de- fcribed, and died at length much beloved and la- mented bv his fubjedls, being fucceeded by his eldeft fon Tupac Yupanqjji the eleventh Inca : He left alfo between two and three hundred children, more legitimate than illegitimate ; and mod of the Inca’s had as many, looking upon it as a duty in- cumbent on them to increafe the blood- royal, and render them as numerous as poflible : It being for the honour of their god and father the Sun to have a nu- merous progeny, as they pretended. But this pri- vilege of a plurality of women was never indulg’d to the vulgar. Eleventh As the former Inca made conquefts to the South, Inca. the prefent Inca Tupac Yupanqjji carried his arms to the North, as far as the Equator, and fub- dued part of the kingdom of Quitto, one of the richeft and mod powerful in South- America ; and having (pent two years in this war, fent for his (on Huana CapaC, to whom he committed the care of fin idling that conqueft, and return’d to Cufco. It is obfervable, that thefe people defending their country very obftinately, and not fubmitting to the Inca ’till they were fubdu’d by pure force, had the misfortune alfo of having the name of canibals given them by their conquerors, and to be repre- fented as the moft barbarous of mankind. Twelfth Tupac Yupan qjlt i dying, was fucceeded by his eldeft fon Huana Capac, who fpent the firft year of his reign in mourning and folemnizing his father’s funeral, as their laws requir’d, and then vifited the feveral provinces of his empire. It is related, that at a feftival, when his eldeft fon was to receive his name, he caufed a chain of gold to be made of two hundred yards in length, and of the thicknefs of a man’s wrift, which was carried by thole that danc’d at that folemnity ; for the cuftom was, for an hundred men, and fometimes two hun- dred or more, to take hands and dance in a ring together, and inftead of joining hands the Inca or- der’d, that every one of the company fhould take a link of this chain in his hands and dance as ufual, with mufick of all kinds : The Spaniards arriving not many years after, made ftruft enquiry after this invaluable chain, but it was conceal’d from them by the Mexicans, which might be one occafion of the Spaniards ufing them fo cruelly. But however that was, the young Prince receiv’d the name of PERU. 295 Huascar, or The Chain, from this rich utenfil. CHAP, Huana Capac proceeded like his predecefiors to IX. enlarge his territories bv his arms, and conquer’d the famous valleys of Tumpez and Pachacamac, with the ifland of Puna, at the mouth of the river Guiaquil : The inhabitants of which ifiand, cut- ting off fome of his troops by treachery, after they had fubmitted, he took a fevere revenge of them, putting them to all kinds of deaths. In the mean time, another rebellion broke out in the great pro- vince of Chachapayas, on the fide of the Andes, but he was fo fortunate as to fupprefs this alfo with very little lofs : After which, he turn’d his arms towards the country of Manta, on the fea-coaft, in which lies that port to which the Spaniards after- wards gave the name of Porto Veio, or the Old Harbour, in z degrees of fouth latitude : Here De la Vega fays, the natives ador’d Lions, Tygers, and Serpents, and an Emerald that was as big as an Oftrich’s egg ; to which the people, at their fefti- vals, offer’d, among other things, fmaller Emeralds of lefs value ; which was the occafion of the Spa- niards finding fuch a vaft quantity of Emeralds 2- mafs’d together when they invaded this country, and made them imagine Emeralds had been as com- mon almoft as ordinary (tones here. From Porto Veio, the Inca advanc’d as far as Cape Paffao, which lies juft under the Equator, re- ducing all the nations on that coaft to his obedience ; which was not very difficult, the country being di- vided into fmall tribes or families, that had no com- mon Chief or any dependance on each other, and confequently were in no condition to refift (b for- midable a power as that of the Inca’s. De la Vega charges thefe people with having their wo- men in common, with fodomy, and all manner of vice : In which date he would have us believe all Peru remain’d, ’till reform’d by his anceftors the Inca’s : And on this account juftifies all their inva- fions and oppreffions of that defencelefs people in the fame manner as the Spaniards afterwards did their invafions and barbarous ufage of the inhabi- tants of the Inca’s dominions. Huana Capac having conquer’d the province of Paflao, which lies under the Equator, determin’d to make this the limits of his empire towards the North : Having new-modell’d the government therefore, and conftituted the fame laws and cuftoms that were obferv’d in other parts of his dominions, he left garrifons behind him to preferve his con- quefts, and return’d to his capital city of Cufco. It is reported of this Prince, that being reprov’d by the High Prieft for looking ftcdfaftly on the Sun, which was deem’d a high profanation by that people, anfwer’d, “ There muft be fome Being whom our “ father the Sun efteems fuperior to him, and more “ powerful than himfelf ; by whofe commands he “■ every day meafures the compafs of the heavens “ without intermiffion, or allowing himfelf an “ hour’s repofe. If he were fupreme, and at his Q,q 2 “ own THE PRESENT STATE 300 CHAP. “ own difpofal, he would certainly allot himfelf IX. “ fome time for reft, tho’ it were but to pleafe his “ humour, and for the fake of variety ” : But I have obferv’d fo many Payings put into the mouths of the Indians by the SpaniftiMifllonaries, and then reported as coming originally from thofe Pagans, that I give the lefs attention to this, efpecially fince the fame authors that report this, allow that the Peru- vians acknowledg’d there was one almighty Being, that fuftain’d and govern'd the univerfe, whom they call’d P a c a A C H a M A c , and that a temple was de- dicated to this Pacha Ch a m a c, or the unknown God ; tho’ he was feldom worfhipp’d, becaufe they knew fo little of him, or in what manner he ought to be ador’d. Thefe hiftorians therefore muft for- get themfelves, when they make Hu an a Capac, the twelfth Inca, the firft of the Mexican Princes that made this reflexion. But to return to the hi- florv. Huana Capac, after the completion of the conqueft of Quitto, having taken the daughter of that King to his bed, had by her a fon, whom he named Atahnalpa, or Atabilipa, and is faid to have been fonder of him than any of his children : But as none of the Ions or daughters of the Inca’s were held legitimate, but thofe who were born of their fillers, or fome near relation, and Huascar was the eldeft legitimate fon of this Inca, to whom all his dominions, by the laws of the empire, were to defeend on his death ; he appeared much dilquieted that his beloved fon A» tahnalpa, or Atabilipa, Ihould become a vaflal to his eldeft brother, and that he could not leave him the dominion of any one province : But his fon Huascar being acquainted with the rea- fon of his father’s uneafinefs, generoufly confented lie Ihould fettle what part of his territories he pleas’d, upon his beloved fon. Whereupon Huana Ca- pac conftituted Atahnalpa King of Quitto (the inheritance of his mother) in his lite-time. It was in the reign of Hu an a Capac, name- ly, in the year 1515, that the Spaniards firft ap- pear’d with their Chips upon the coaft of Paftao in Peru, which is fituated under the Equator. They were commanded by the celebrated Vasco Nu- nez de Balbao, who firft difeover’d the South- fea, and would probably at this time have fixed co- lonies on that coaft, had he not been recall’d by Pedrarias, then V iceroy of Darien, or Ter ra- Firma, who, envying his good fortune, Veck£» led Vasco, and caufed him to be put to'dfedtfiy under pretence that he was about to fet up for him- lelf, and throw off his dependance on the King of Spain his Sovereign : But the true reafon was, that the Crown of Spain had made Vasco Adelentado, or Viceroy, of all the lands and territories he ihould difeover in the South-lea ; in purfuance of which cornmiflion, he had, with indefatigable la- pour, found out the rich empire of Peru, and was about to reap the fruits of his induftry. Pedra- rias, the Vice-roy of Terra-Firma, therefore, en-C HAP* ving his good fortune, recall’d him, and put him IX. to death, as has been related, and afterwards em- s ^ r V"^ ploy’d a great many fkilful Sailors and Adventurers to follow Vasco’s Heps, and got pofleflion of the treafures he underftood were to be found in thofe re- gions ; but as the winds are always contrary to thole who come to the coafts of Peru directly from the northward, all the Adventurers Pedrarias fent out upon this expedition, return'd with an account that the voyage was impracticable. Whereupon that difeovery was entirely laid afide, and abandon- ed for fifteen or fixteen years, ’till Francis Pi- zarro and Almagro, fired with the repeat- ed advices they receiv’d of the riches of Peru, ob- tained leave from Pedrarias, the Viceroy, to purfue that difeovery Vasco Nunez had be- gun, at their own expence : Of which enter- prize I (hall treat, when I have finilhed the hiftory of the Inca’s. And here, whatever credit is to be given to- things of this nature, I cannot avoid taking fome notice of the portents and omens the Spanilh hifto- rians, as well as the Inca De la Vega, entertain us with, which are faid to have preceded the fall of the Peruvian empire. Three years before the Spaniards, under the com-4 mand of Vasco Nunez de Balboa, appear’d on the coaft of Peru, ’tis faid a prodigy happen’d, which alarmed and aftonifhed the Court and all the Empire-: At their grand annual feftival of the Sun, a royal Eagle, call’d in their language Anca, ap- pear’d foaring in the air, and purfued by Hawks of all fizes, which attack’d the royal bird with that fury, that he fell down among the Inca’s, or royal family, as they march’d in proceffion to the temple of the Sun, through the great market-place of Culco ; and that he feem’d to beg their protection, having loft moft of his fmall feathers in the encounter : That they nourilh’d this Eagle with all the tender- nefs imaginable, but notwithftanding their care, the bird died in a few days, which the Inca, his Priefts and Diviners interpreted to prefage the total ruin of the empire, and of their religion, efpeci- ally as it was follow’d by violent earthquakes, that over-turn’d fome of the neighbouring mountains. Upon the fea-coaft alfo, the Indians obferv’d the tides, in their ebbings and flowings, did not keep their ufual courfe ; and comets and apparitions were feen in the air. The Mood, in the midft of a bright night, was obferv’d to be encompals’d with three large haloes, or circles, the firft of the. colour of blood, the fecond black, and the third like a fog or fmoak ; which one of their adepts in magick ob-. ferving, ’tis faid, came weeping into the prefence of the Emperor Huana Capac, and declared, ^ that his mother the Moon, like a tender parent, by this phaenomena made known to him, that Pachai Cam ac, the creator and fuftainer of all things, threaten’d his royal family, and empire, with grie- vous OF PERU. CHAP, vous judgments ; That the firft bloody circle prog^ IX. nofticated, that after he ftiould be gone to reft with his father the Sun, terrible wars fhould arife among thofe of his own family, in which there ftiould be fuch effufion of blood, that his whole race ftiould be extinguifh’d in a few years : That the fecond black circle threatened his fobjccls with total deftru&ion, and a fubverfion- of their religion and government, occafion’d chiefly by the difientions in his own fa- mily : That his empire ftiould be tranflated to ano- ther people, and all his greatnefs vanifh into fmoke ; which was fignified by the third circle, that feem’d to be compofed of vapours. The Inca, ’tis faid, was aftonifh’d at thefe pre- dictions ; but endeavour’d, however, to hide his fears, and bid the Magician be gone, telling him, thefe were his laft night’s dreams, which he declar’d to him as revelations and advices from his mother the Moon. Whereupon the Diviner defired him to go out of his palace and behold the three circles with his eyes, which he did, and thereupon aflem- bled all the Magicians and Aftrologers of his Court, who confirm’d the interpretation their brother had made of thefe figns in the heavens, Hu ana Capac, however, that his people might not be difeouraged;, endeavour’d ftill to con- ceal his fears, and putting the beft face he could up- on the matter, told the Magicians-, that unlefs Pa- cha Camac himfelf reveal’d this to him, he would not believe it. “ Is it poflible, faid he, my u father the Sun fhould abhor his own blood, and “ deliver them up to total deftru&ion !” and then dif- mifled them . from his prefence. Reflecting, however, on* what had been faid, and confidering how it agreed with the predictions of an ancient oracle, that after the reign of twelve Inca’s, the empire fhould be dilTolved ; and being inform’d at the fame time, that a prodigious wooden float, with tall marts and fails (Vasco’s fit ip ) from whence ifiued terrible thunders, fire and fmoke, was feen upon the coaft ; and that the people on board differ’d in their perfons and habits from all that had hitherto appear’d in that part of the world, he was, in a manner, confounded, expecting that the difTo- lution of his empire was approaching. However, he did not entirely defpair, and negle& the defence of his people, but aftembled an army, and march’d them to the fea-coaft, making the beft provifion he could againft the dangers that threaten’d him ; but the Chip difappearing, and nothing of that kind being feen again in feveral years, their apprehenfions be- gan to wear ofr. Every thing remain’d quiet, and Huana Capac died in peace, and in a good old age, about feven or eight years after Vas- co Nunez appear’d on the coaft of Peru, having reigned forty years in great fplendor, and made large additions to his empire by many fuccefsful wars. Their fears, however, began to revive, when *he Emperor,' upon his death-bed, put his fltbje&s in^ mind of the old prophecy, already mention’d, CHAP. That after the reign of twelve Inca’s, a new nation IX. fhould arrive, that had never been known in thofe V s^‘v~v^ parts, and fubdue that empire ; which he conjectur’d would happen not many years after his death, he being the twelfth Inca : And advifed his fubjc&s ter fubmit and ferve that people, who were in every refpe& fuperior to them ; their laws better, and their forces and military fkill rendring them in- vincible. And De la Vega obferves, that this laft advice of their dying Inca w r as not the leaft in- ducement to the Peruvians to fubmit to the Spaniards aftewards. They held, he fays, that Heaven had decreed the Spaniards the dominion of thofe coun- tries, and that all refiftance would be in vain ; but I am apt to think, the thunder of the Spanifh ar-*' tillery was a much ftronger motive for their fub~ miflion. The relation of thefe omens, prodigies, and pro- phecies, Garciliasso de la Vega, the In- ca, or royal hiftorian, tells us, he receiv’d from two Mexican Officers that had ferv’d the Emperor Huana Capac, and were, at the time he had this from them, fourfeore years of age, being bap- tized and initiated in the Chriftian religion by the* Spanifh lathers at Cufco: However, as we meet* with the like omens recorded by hirtorians before, every confiderable revolution almoft that has hap- pened in Europe, whether ancient or modern, Iarrr far from requiring mv readers to give entire credit to fuch relations, but leave every one to pafs what judgment he pleafes on them. Huana Capac being dead, his body was em- balmed, and carried to the temple of the Sun at Cufco ; but his heart, according to his directions, was buried at Quitto ? the refidence of his favourite fon Atahnalpa. Huascar, the eldeft legitimate fon of Hu an a Thirteenth Capac, reign’d in peace at Cufoo four or five Inca * years, after his father’s death, without giving his brother, the King of Quitto, any moleftation ; but then confidering the lofs he had fuftained by difmembring and yielding up one of the richeft pro- vinces of the empire to Atahnalpa, by which he was prevented extending his dominions further northward ; and reflecting alfo, that his brother was a Prince remarkable for his ambitious and tur- bulent fpirit, and might one day rival him in the reft of his territories, iie determin’d to be before- hand with him, and to refume what he had too eafily parted from : He fent an Ambaftador there- fore, or rather a Herald, to his brother the King of Quitto, to inform him, that by the laws of the empire, the territories of the Inca's could not be di- vided ; and though lie had been obliged by his fa- ther to refign Quitto to him, this was what his fa- ther could neither legally command, nor he per- form : However, fince it was the will of his fa- ther, he was ready to confirm the ceffion upon two conditions 5 i. I hat he fhould not endeavour to TP.<.\k.C T H E PRESENT STATE HAP. make any addition to his territories ; and, 2. That IX. he fhould hold them as a vaffal and feudatory of his empire, and actually do him homage for them. To both which demands Atahnalpa feem’d readily to content, and promifed in a fhort time to attend on him at Cufco, with all the Caraca’s and Lords of his kingdom, to do him homage in per- fon ; with which anfwer Huascar was entirely fatisfied, and difmifs’d the troops be had rais’d to re- cover Quitto by force ; while the fubtle Atah- nalpa increafed his forces under pretence of doing his homage with greater lplendor, and celebrating the exequies of his deceafed father at Cufco. Huascar being inform’d, when it was too late, that his brother, inftead of fummoning his vaflals to attend him, had levied an army of thirty thoufand regular troops, which were advanced with- in forty leagues of Cufco, found he had been de- ceiv’d, and immediately ilTued his orders to the Go- vernors of the feveral provinces to rendezvous with their refpcdtive forces at Cufco, and form an ar- my for the defence of that capital: But Atah- nalpa having corrupted feveral of the Caraca’s, who join’d his forces in their march; and the reft that obey’d the fummons of Huascar being new un- difciplin’d troops, were not much to be depended on. However, being attack’d by At ah n alp a’s army, they behaved in defence of their Inca, as bravely as could be expedited, and the battle lafteda whole day ; but in the evening Hu asc ar’s army was forced to yield to the veteran troops of Atah- nalpa, and a very great daughter follow’d, par- ticularly among the Emperor’s guards, confifting of a thouiand men, who defended their Prince ’till they were almoft all cut in pieces, and at length Huascar was taken prifoner, and car- ried in triumph to his brother, who did not march with his army in perfon, but continued at a di- ftance, ’till he faw what fuccefs his Generals would have, who were old Officers, that had ferv’d his fa- ther in the wars of Quitto, and much fuperior to Thole who commanded Huascar ’s army. Huascar being thus unhappily made prifoner, Atahnalpa gave out, that he had no intention do depofe his brother, but to defend his own domi- nions, which his father had conferr’d on him, againft Hu asc ar’s incroachments ; and to limit his pre- rogative, lb as to make the condition of his fubjedts eafy&and happy : And thereupon fummon’d all the Inca’s of the empire to appear at Cufco, that all things might be fettled to the mutual advantage of Prince and People. And having, on fuch pretences, got moft of them into his power, he caufed a body of his forces to furround them and cut them in pie- ces, confcious that the people would never willingly .obey him, as long as there were any of the legiti- mate iilue of their Inca left. Nor did his rage flop here ; he murder’d all the Caraca’s and Officers that appear’d faithful to Hu- ascar ; and afterwards the women and children CHAP, of the family of the Inca’s, whom he put to death IX. by various tortures, according to De la Vega, who makes this Atabilipa, or Atahnalpa, a monfter of cruelty. However, between five and fix hundred of the blood of the Inca’s did efcape, it feems, by one means or other, and particularly the mother of our author, De la Vega, who was, as he tells us, a daughter of Hu an A Capac’s brother. Two Tons of Hu an a Capac alfo fled from the rage of their brother, and afterwards married Spanifh Ladies; as did feveral of the daughters and near relations of that Prince. The firft Spanifh Adventurers, or Con- querors, as they call’d themfelves, feem’d to be am- bitious of intermarrying with the royal blood of Peru ; which was not only an honour to thole Gen- tlemen, but might be thought to give them a better right to the country they had invaded, than they could acquire by the fword. I fhould now proceed to the hiftory of the Spa- niards conqueft of Peru, but beg leave to defer that a little ’till I have given fome further account of the religion of the ancient Peruvians. It is generally faid, that the Inca’s of Peru ac- a further knowledg’d no other god but their father the Sun, lonT whofe offspring they pretended to be: And this ofNe Peru- poffibly may be true of the firft Inca’s ; but fome of vians. them afterwards invading that part of the country where Lima (now the capital of Peru) ftands, and meeting with a notable oppofition, they were oblig’d to indulge that people in the profeffion of their an- cient religion, and the worfhip of the almighty in- vifible God, and to promife not to demolifh their temples, before they would fubmit to their dominion (however, they oblig’d them afterwards to eredt a temple to the Sun, and adore that planet alfo). This temple ftood in a fine valley, a little diftance The temple from Lima, and was dedicated to Pacha Camac, of Pdcha the invifible or unknown God, who created and fuftains all things, and was ftanding when the Spa- niards arriv’d in Peru; and here they found an in- conceiveable treafure of gold, filver, and precious ftones, that had been dedicated to the God Pacha Camac, whofe name was communicated to the valley wherein the temple ftood, and is ftill call’d the valley of Pacha Camac. Roy. Com. “ Peru, p. 234.” The Inca’s did not only permit this people ftill to adore their God Pacha Camac, but feem to have been convinc’d, from the time of this conqueft at leaft, that there was one almighty invifible Being that created heaven and earth ; and that the Sun was his Viceroy or Lieutenant. Others made two gods of them ; the one vifible, and the other invi- fible. And lome of the Inca’s, particularly PIuana Capac (Roy. Com. p. 365.) manifeftly look’d upon the Sun as a mere creature, diredted and go- vern’d in all his motions by the fupreme God ; for 2 OF PERU. CHAP, had he (fays the Inca) any will of his own, and IX. were not under a neceffity of performing his annual courfe, he would fometimes reft or vary, and not always move in one fphere, if it was but to fhew liberty of adtion . From whence it is natural to infer, that the In- ca’s, notwithftanding the reformation they pretend- ed to have effected in the provinces they conquer’d, by abolifhing the worfhip of animals and vegetables, and of ftocks and ftones, and bringing the natives to adore only the Sun, did in fome parts of their conquefts introduce their own idolatry in the room of the worfhip of the one only God, or at leaft, obliged the people to worfhip the Sun as well as God, and confequently adulterated rather than re- form’d their religion. And ’tis very poffible, that many of the people they fubdued might equal, if not furpafs, them in their manners, and the innocence and regularity of their lives, as well as in the purity of their religion, and might not be thofe barbarians the Inca De la Vega has reprefen ted them ; for I cannot help thinking but people were at leaft as juft, as innocent, and humane, while they were led and govern’d by the Heads of their refpedtive tribes, before large empires or kingdoms were form’d by conqucft or compact, as they were afterwards ; for however we may have improved in arts and fcitnces, the world does not feem to improve much in its morals: For my part, I have found much more innocence and humanity among the unpolifh’d in- habitants of unfrequented defarts and mountains, that feem to have been excluded all commerce and mtercourfe with the reft of mankind, than in the pohteft nations, who ufually look upon fuch people as barbarians. Moft of the Spanifh writers-, either out of preju- dice, ignorance, or defign, have as much mifrepre- fented the religion and morals of the Inca’s, as the Inca’s did thofe of the nations they fubdu’d. Acos- ta, tho’ in other refpects a good writer, when he comes to treat of the religion of Mexico or Peru, is very little to be credited : He charges the Peruvians with facrificing hundreds of their children at fome of their feftivals. Antonio de Ferera, and o- ther Spanifh writers do the fame, while the royal hiftorian, De la Vega, who wrote after wardg, and makes it his bufinefs to review and corredf the errors of thofe authors that preceded him, allures us, that the Inca’s never fufter’d. any human facrifices while they reign’d in Peru, but had the greateft ab- horrence of them ; and no man was better acquaint- ed with their rites than De la Vega was. He alfo corrects the Spanifh writers for givino- out, that by Pacha Camac was meant the De- vil : And that the Devil was worfhipp’d in that temple (and indeed this the Spaniards made one pre- tence for invading and enflaving that unhappy peo- ple). Whereas, fays.DE la Vega, had thev un- derftood the Indian language, the very name of Pa- cha Camac would have taught them, other wife 3 the two words of which it is compoled figmfying, the almighty God, who created and fuftains all things, and animates the univerfe. I proceed, in the next place, to defcribe the prin- cipal rites and ceremonies in the religion of the In- ca’s. The royal hiftorian informs us, they had four gland feftivals annually, fefides thofe they celebrat- ed every moon. The firft of their great feafts, call’d Raymi, was held in the month of June, im- mediately after the fummer folftice, which they did not only keep in honour of the Sun, that blefs’d all creatures with its heat and light, but in commemo- ration of their firft Inca, Manca Capac, and Coya Mama Oclo, his wife and filler, whom the Inca’s look’d upon as their firft parents, defend- ed immediately from the Sun, and fent by him into the world to reform and polifh mankind. At this feftival all the Viceroys, Generals, Go- vernors, Caracas, and Nobility, were aft’embled at the capital city of Cufco: And if any of them were prevented coming thither by ficknefs or the infirmi- ties of old age, he fent his fon, his brother, or fome near relation to fupply his place. The Emperor, or Inca, officiated at this feftival as High Pricft ; for tho’ there was another High Prieft of the blood-royal, either uncle or brother of the Inca, to whom it belong’d at other times to offi- ciate, yet this being the chief feaft, the Inca him- felf perform’d that office. The Nobility, at this time, were crown’d with garlands 01 coronets of gold, adorn’d with flowers and beautiful feathers, and their garments were in 31 manner plated with gold. Some appear’d in the fkins of Lions, others in vizards and ridiculous habits, playing upon their country mufick 3 fome afted the buffoons and madmen, while others fhew’d teats of activity, and lerew d themfelves into all manner of poftures : Fhe Governors of provinces carried the enfigns and colours of their feveral countries, and march’d at the head of their refpeefive people. I hey faffed three days, as a preparative to- this feaft, eating nothing but unbaked Maize and herbs, and drinking water. The faft being ended, on the eve of the feaft, the Priefts prepar’d the Sheep.,. Lambs, and drink-offerings, which were to be offer'd the next day to the Sun, while the virgins or wives of the Sun were employ’d in kneading dough, and making bread of Maize or Indian- corn, for the Inca’s. They alfo drefs’d the reft of the provifion for the royal family at this folemnity ; other women being employ’d to make bread, and drefs flefh for the multitude. 'Fhe morning being come, the Inca, accompa- ny’d by his brethren and near relations, drawn up in order, according to their fenicrity, went in pro* ceffion at break of day to the market-place bare- foot, where they remain’d looking attentively to- wards the Eaft in expedition of the rifing Sun, which no fooner appear’d hut they fell down and ador’d the glorious planet with the moft profound veneration, The princi- pal feftivals of the Inca’sj The ceremo- ny of adoring- the rifog Sun. THE PRESENT STATE CHAP, veneration, acknowledging him to be their god IX. and father. The Caraca’s, vafl'al Princes, and Nobility, that were not of the blood-royal, affembled feparately in another fquare, and perform’d the like ceremony ; after which, the King rifing upon his feet (while the reft remain’d in a pofture of devotion) took two great gold cups in his hands, fill’d with their common beverage made of Indian-corn, and in- vited all the Inca’s, his relations, to partake with him, and pledge him in that liquor. Then he pour’d the drink out of the bowl in his right-hand into a fmall ftone channel, which con- vey’d it to the temple ; after which, having drank of the bowl in his left-hand, he diftributed the re- mainder to his kindred Inca’s, who waited with little gold and filver cups to receive the liquor. The Caraca’s and Nobility drank of another cup of the fame kind of liquor, prepared by the wives of the Sun ; but this was not efteem’d lb facred as that confecrated by the Inca. T his ceremony being ended, the whole company advanc’d bare-foot to the gate of the temple, being about two hundred paces diftant from the place where they flood ; and the Inca and his relations entering the doors, adored the image of the Sun at the eaft end of the temple, while the Caraca’s, who were not indulg’d that privilege, worfhipp’d in the great court before the gate of the temple. The Inca here offer’d the vafes or golden bowls, with which he perform’d the ceremony of drinking, and the reft of the royal family deliver’d theirs into the hands of the Priefts. Then the Priefts went out into the court, and receiv’d from the Caraca’s and Governors of the refpedlive provinces their offerings, confifting of gold and filver veffels, and the figures of all manner of animals call: of the fame metals. Sacrifices. Thefe offerings being made, great droves of Sheep and Lambs were brought ; out of which the Priefts chofe a black Lamb, and having kill’d and open’d it, made their prognofticks and divinations thereupon relating to peace and war, and other events, from the entrails of the beaft ; always turning the head of the animal towards the Eaft when they kill’d it. After the firft Lam.b, the reft of the cattle pro- vided were facrificed, and their hearts offer’d to the Sun ; and their carcafes were Head and burnt, with fire lighted by, the Sun’s ravs, contracted by a piece of Chryftal, or fomething like a burning-glafs, they never making ufe of common fire on thefe occafions, unlefs the Sun was obfcur’d. Some of this fire was carried to the temple of the Sun, and to the cloifter of the lelect Virgins, to be prelerv’d the following year without extinction. The facrifices being over, they return’d to the ■market-place, where the reft of the cattle and pro- vifions were drefs’d and eaten by the guefts ; the Priefts diftributing them firft to the Inca’s, and then to the Caraca’s and their people in their order ; and after they had done eating, great quantities of liquor weie brought in. Then the Emperor, being {bated on a golden CHAP, throne, railed on a pedeftal of the fame metal, or- IX. der’d his relations, the Inca’s, to drink in his name with the moft celebrated Generals, Governors, and Nobility of the refpedfive provinces, whole adlions had render’d them famous in the empire. The Inca’s thereupon carry’d bowls of liquor from the Emperor to the perfons thus diftinguifh’d, telling them the Capa, or fupreme Inca, invited them to drink with him, and they were come to drink with them in his name ; whereupon the Ge- nerals and Caraca’s, each of them taking a cup from the Inca’s hands, lift up their eyes to the Sun, as returning thanks for the great favour done them by his offspring, and having drank, return’d the bowls back to the Inca’s with the profoundeft ado- ration. Bowls of liquor alfo were carried by the Inca’s to the reft of the Lords, Caraca’s, and great Officers ; but to thefe they drank in their own names, and not in the name of the Emperor. In return of this compliment, the principal Lords and Caraca’s, filling their own bowls, approach’d the throne with the greateft reverence, and in their order drank to the Emperor, who received it of them, and having drank what he law fit, gave the reft to the fervants and officers that attended him ; but it was reckon’d a peculiar mark of refpeef where the Emperor drank deep, and pledg’d any one of them heartily. The reft of the Caraca’s and Noblemen drank to the royal family of the Inca’s, who firft drank to them in their own names, and then retiring to their refpedfive ftations, the mufick play’d, and their dances, mafquerades, and every other diverfi- on was p radii fed, which were in ufe among the fe- veral nations of Peru. There were frequent paufes and intervals, however, in which they drank very freely, and then return’d to their fports again. This feftival was continued in the fame manner nine days fucceffvely, only there were no offer- ings or facrifices after the firft. The folemnity be- ing ended, the Governors, Generals, and Caraca’s took their leave of the Emperor, and return’d with their people to their refpedtive countries. A fecond feftival was kept every year on the con- Second feffi- ferring military honours ( or knighthood, as the va! ‘ Spanifh writers term it) great regard being had to thofe who behav’d well in their country’s fervice. The principal marks or enfigns thofe Knights were diftinguifh’d by, were large ear-rings, the Em- peror himfelf boring their ears with golden nails. Their third feftival was in the Spring, when their Third fefti- corn firft appear’d, on which occafion Sheep and val ' Lambs were facrificed, and they pray’d for feafon- able weather to bring tire fruits of the earth to per- fedlion, concluding the feftival with drinking, Ting- ing, dancing, and other diverfions. The fourth was celebrated on the new Moon Fourth fefii* after the Equinox in September, when they ador’d va1, the O F P C H A P, the Sun as it arofe, as at their grand feftival ; and IX, pray’d him to avert all calamities, whether of war, plague, or famine; and armed men running through the ftreets, were faid to drive away thefe calamities out of the city : Fires alfo were made in the ftreets the fucceeding nights, in order to purify them from all nocturnal evils ; after which they fpent the time in facrificing, feafting, and dancing, every day du- ring the firft quarter of the Moon. Monthly Their monthly feafts were celebrated by the feafts. Priefts within the temple, at which times facri- fices of fheep, lambs, fowls, and other animals, were made to the Sun, but no publick proceffions : And as for human facrifices, the royal hiftorian allures us, there were never any inch offer’d in the dominions of the Inca’s; though Acosta, He- re r a, and other Span ifh writers have charged them with facrificing hundreds of children at their grand feftivals. The pofiure I fhould have obferv’d, that the people fell clown of adoration. on their knees and elbows when they ador’d the Sun, covering ther faces with their hands ; and it is remarkable, that the Peruvians exprefs’d their ve- neration for the temple, and other holy places, by putting oft their fhces, as the Chinele, the people of the Eaft-Indies, and other Afiaticks do, though at the greateft diftance from them, and not by un- covering their heads, as the Europeans do at divine fervice. Convents of I have already mentioned their convents of feledf Virgins, or Nuns, of which there were two kinds, viz. thofe in the convent of the capital city of Cufco, and thofe belonging to the convents in the chief cities of thy refpective provinces. The Nuns of Cufco were all of the whole blood of the Inca’s, dedicated to the Sun, and call’d the Wives of the Sun. They were admitted into the convent at eight years of age, and taught by the elder Nuns to work with their needles, to fpin, and weave the garments offer’d to the Sun, and prepare meat and drink for the Inca. They alfo wove all the garments the Emperor and Emprefs wore at their folemn feftivals. ThefeVirgins were fufter’d to have no interview or intercourfe with man or woman, after they enter’d this houfe, and none but the Emprefs was allow’d to vifit them. If they were engag’d in a love- intrigue, it was punished with death ; and if any man violated the chaftity of one Of them, he and his whole family, father, mo- ther, wife, children, and even his flocks, herds, houfes, and lands, were utterly deftroy’d : But thefe Nuns were never fuffer’d to enter the temple of the Sun, or perform any manner of devotions to that planet, or any other god, as I can learn ; much lefs did they aflift, or ferve the Priefts in tire tem- ple,^ as feme writers relate ; their near relation to the Sun feems to have exempted them from any fer- vices of tliis kind. I he feledt Virgins in other provinces were either taken out of foch families as the Inca’s had adopt- VoL. III. ^ ■ E R U. 3 q 5 ed, and given the privilege to hear the name of In- C H A P, ca’s, or out of the families of the Caraca’s and No- IX. bility refiding in the refpedtive provinces ; or fuch as were eminent for their beauty and accomplifh- ments : Ehele were dedicated to the Inca, and call’d his wives, and he took them to his bed when- ever he law fit ; fo that thefe provincial nunneries were, in effedt, but fo many foraglio’s, appropriated to the ufe of this grand Monarch, to which no other man might approach on pain of death, the lofs of his relations, and all that was dear to him ; the penalty of violating one of thefe being the fame as was inflidted on thofe who debauched a virgin dedi- cated to the Sun himfelf. As to the notions the Peruvians had of a future Their notions ftate, it is evident that they bc-liev’d the foul fur- of a futurs viv’d the body, by the Inca’s conftantly declaring ftAte ' they fhould go to reft, or into a ftate of happinefs, provided for them by their god and father the Sun, when they left this world. And ’tis probable their fubjedts had the like notion, that their fouls were immortal, and capable of happinefs or mifery after death : But when the Spanifh MiUionaries add, that they believed a refurredfton of the very fame bodies, I doubt they impofe upon us ; for I queftion whether any people ever believed the refurredtion of the body, ’till it was reveal’d by the Gofpel. They might, and did believe there was another ftate, in which the foul fhould exift ; but the refurredUon of the fame body is furely a dodfiine peculiar to Chri- ftians. I fhould as foon believe, that the Peruvians held the dodfrine of the Trinity, and every other article of the Catholick faith; as Acosta, ant? fome other Spanifh writers, aver (telling us, that the Devil had taught them to mimick every the minuteft ceremony in the Chriftian religion, and even all their Popifh fuperftitions) as believe they had an a durance that the fame body their fouls anima- ted in this world fhould be railed again to life eter- nal : And what view the Spanifh Miflionaries had in fuggefting, that there was not a dodhine, rite or ceremony held or pradtifed by the Romifh church, but were found among the Peruvians, is not eafy to conceive. I muft not difmifs the head of religion without Oracles, taking fome notice of the Peruvian oracles, menti- on d by De la Vega, Acosta, and other Spanifh writers, and particularly the oracle of Ri- mac (now Lima, or King’s-town). The valley of Rimac, fays De la Vega, lies Rimac, four leagues to the northward of Pacha Camac, and receiv’d its name from a certain idol of the figure of a man, that fpoke, and anfwer’d queftions like the oracle of Apollo at Delphos. This idol was feated in a magnificent temple, ta which the great Lords of Peru either went in per- fon, or enquir’d by their Ambaffadors, of all the im- portant affairs relating to their provinces. And the Inca’s themfelves held this image in high ve- neration, and confulted it after they conquer’d R r that 3° 6 THE PRESE N T STATE HAP. that part of the country. Roy. Comp. p. 234. In IX. the fame chapter De la Vega makes a remarka- ble conceffion in relation to the Peruvians worfhip- ping Pacha Camac, the almighty invifible God, before the Inca’s introduc’d the idolatrous worfhip of the Sun. \ tc Phe Kings of Peru, fays that hiftorian, did, “ by the mere light of natural reafon, attain the “ knowledge of one God, the maker of all things, *' who fuftain’d the univerfe, whom they call’d Pa- cha Camac: Which dodtrine was more anci- “ ent than the time of the Inca’s, and difpers’d thro’ “ all their kingdoms, both before and after the w conqueft. They believ’d that he was invifible, “ and therefore built no temples to him (except “ that one in the valley of Pacha Camac) or of- “ fet’d him any facrifices, as they did to the Sun ; “ but Chew’d, however, the profound veneration “ they had for him in their hearts, by bowing their “ heads, lifting up their eyes, and by other out- “ ward ge flu res, whenever his facred name was “ mention’d.” And as to what he charges them with in other places, namely, the worfhipping all manner of animals, and even inanimate creatures, if the truth of this may be depended on, yet may we offer the fame excufe for the Peruvians as has been made for the Egyptians, and other ancient pagans, viz. “ That they only ador’d the infinite 81 wifdom of God, manifefted in the works of his “ creation.” c I I A P. X. Of the invafion and conqueft of Peru by the Spaniards. CHAP. TT has been related already, that Vasco Nu- X. JL nez de Balboa firft difeover’d the South- ' fea in 1313, for which he v/as, by the Court of TT C fp” Spain, conflituted Adelantado, or Lord-Lieutenant ** "“ r ‘ CK1 ‘ of the lands and iflands he fhould difeover in thofe fe as ; and that having fitted out fome fhips, he was fo fortunate in the two following years to pafs the Equator, and come upon the coaft of Paffao, the northern limits of Peru, where he was fully inform- ed of the vaft riches of that country ; but being recall’d, and put to death by Pe dr arias, then Governor of Terra-Firma, who had a view to- wards reaping the benefit of the difeoveries Vas- c o had made : he afterwards employ’d feveral Pi- lots and Adventurers to purfue the fame track Vas- co had gone, and plant colonies in Peru ; but fo extremely difficult and hazardous was that coafting voyage, from the Bay of Panama (from whence they fee out) to Peru, before they were acquainted with the w.nds and currents, that all the people he employ’d were difeourag’d from profecuting the dis- covery of that country, reporting that the voyage v/as impracticable, or rather impofiible, bccaufe the winds and currents fat in the very teeth of thofe that fail’d from North to South- America. Where- upon Fed r arias defifted from that enterprize, defpairing to overcome the difficulties that had been reprefented to him ; and leaving the town of Old St. Mary’s, on the Gulph of Darien, he built ano- ther town on the Bay of Panama, which bears the fame name, and from thence he purfu’d his conquefis to the north and weft in the provinces of Vera°iia and Cofta Rica. Pedrarias having thus entirely abandon’d the enterprize on Peru, three bold Adventurers, viz. Pizarro, Almagro, and De Lucne, who then refided in his new town of Panama, defired his leave to attempt the further difeovery and con- queft of Peru at their own charges, which he rea- dilv granted, being of opinion it would come to no- t' ing; and all that were acquainted with the former attempts that had been made, look’d upon thefe Adventurers to be no better than fools ar.d madmen : And though fome have related that Pedrarias Populated to have a (hare in the profit of this ad- venture, if they made any, it does not appear that he ever claim’d any part of their booty afterwards, or that any part of it was referv’d for him ; only the King’s fifth was laid by, the reft the Adventu- rers fhar’d amongft themfelves ; but of this hereafter. I now proceed to relate the beginnings and progrefs made by Pizarro, Almacro, and De Lug- ne, in the conqueft of that vaft empire of Peru, which they liv’d to accomplifh in a great meafure, but never enjoy’d the fruits of their labours. Pi- zarro, Almagro, and moil of the Officers that were employ’d in this fervice, perifhing by their own inteftine divifions, each of them being infpir’d with an ambition of acquiring the foie dominion of thofe countries, to the exclufion of their Fellow- adventurers. Francis Pizarro, who makes the greateft figure in this triumvirate of Adventurers, was a na- tive of Truxillo in Spain, and the Spaniards will have him to be of a noble family ; but if he was, he feems to have been pretty much reduc’d, and to have gone to the Weft-Indies to recruit his broken fortunes. He ferved firft in the wars in the iflands of Hifpaniola and Cuba, and afterwards accompa- nied Alonzo de Oyeda to the Gulph of Ura- ba, or Darien, in Terra-Firma Proper, to fettle a Spanifh colony there. Oyeda returning to Hi- fpaniola for Recruits, left Francis Pizarro his Lieutenant in Darien ; and not coming back with- in the time he appointed, the colony fuffer’d incre- dible hardfhips ; but by the conduct of Pizarro they were moil of them preferv’d ’till Drips arriv’d to their relief, which very much rais’d the reputa- tion of this Captain. He afterwards attended Vasco Nunez de Balboa, when he difeover’d the South-fea, feiv’J under Pedrarias, when he fix’d a colony at Panama; and v/as employ’d by that General in the CHAP, X. Only two months in the year tha winds are fa- vourable on this coaft, which the firft adven-" turers did not know. The three principal ad- venturers in this conqueft, Seme ac- count of Francis Pi a zairo. CHAP, X. O F P the fubduing the province of Veragua, in which expeditions he acquir’d the reputation of a good Offi- cer, and a fortune fufficient to have fatisfied any reafonable man ; but this increafe of wealth did but increafe his thirft after more : And when he might have fpent the remainder of his days in peace and plenty, he chofe, in the decline of life, being upwards of fifty, to enter upon the difcovery of unknown regions; the difficulty whereof had baf- fled the attempts of feveral Adventurers, rather than fit down and enjoy what he had already acquir’d. Diego de Almagro, the fecond of this tri- umvirate, was born at Almagro in Spain, a man of a mean and obfeure original, but of a genius equally enterprizing as the former, and who, in feveral ex- peditions in the Weft-Indies, had amafs’d a great deal of wealth. Thefe two, refiding at Panama, Of de Lugac. aftbciated themfelves with Ferdinand de Lug- ne, an Ecclefiaftick of that town, richer than ei- ther of them, and who was Proprietor of the ifland of I abago, in that bay. ft his Gentleman had been acquainted with Vasco Nunez, as well as the o- ther two, and was pretty well aftur’d that the voy- age would anfwer their expectations, if they could overcome thofe difficulties of contrary winds and Some ac- count of AI magro. The contra fi of the Ad- venturers. currents that had difcouraged others : And though people generally loie their enterprizing genius as they grow into years, yet had avarice, ambition or curiofity fuch an afcendant over thefe three Gentle- men, that though they were all of them between fifty and threefcore years of age, yet did they em- bark their fortunes, and two of them their perfons, in fearch of thofe mountains of gold they had re- ceiv’d intelligence of. They enter’d into articles, ’tis faid, never to a- bandon each other for any hazards or difappoint- ments they might meet with in the enterprize, ’till they had made a conqueft of Peru : And folemnly took their oaths in publick, for the confirmation of thefe articles, each of them being affign’d a parti- cular part in conducting and executing the fcheme. Prancis Pizarro was to command the firft party that went upon the difcovery; Almagro was to carry him Recruits, and reinforce him from tune to time, and Ferdinand de Lugne was to remain at Panama, and lay in ammunition and provifions to fupport the enterprize ; and whatever gold, filver, precious ftones, or other effecfts (hould be acquir’d, after the charges, and the Emperor’s fifths were paid, were to be divided equally amon^ft them. 'I be royal biftorian having proceeded thus far in his relation, makes fotne refledions on the great ad- vantages that have refulted from this confederacy of thefe three Spanifh Gentlemen ; as that theChriftian religion was firft introduc’d into that great empire of .Peril by their means : I hat arts and fcicnces were hrftintioducd there by them, in return for which, Spain, and the reft of Europe, became poffefs’d of an immenie treafure in gold, filver, and precious ftones. E R U. 20*7 Rut if the numberlefs deVaftaflons and oppreffionsCH A P„ the miferable Indians fufter’d by the ufurpations and X. tyrannies of the Spaniards, are confider’d, how ma- ny millions were cut off and entirely extirpated, and how many more enflav’d ; if it be confider’d, that with the Chriftian religion they introduc’d the In- quifition, with all its terrors ; and have fo adulte- rated and corrupted the Chriftian doffirines, faith and practice, and with them the morals of the In- ians, that people poffibly have loft more than they have gain’d by the change. And as to the benefits we receive by the importa- tion of gold and filver from Peru, this, De la ega himfelf feems to be of opinion, does not countervail the mifehiefs they bring with them; as appears from his commentaries on that part of the hiftory, p. 4.25. Such, fays this hiftorian, as look on the riches of Peru with more than common eves, are of opi- nion, that they have rather been hurtful than bene- ficial to mankind : Por riches have been the caufe of vice, and not of virtue, having inclin’d men to piide, ambition, gluttony and luxury; for enjoy- ing an affluence of fortune, they have given them- felves up to floth and effeminacy, becoming nei- thei ufeful members of fociety in time of peace, nor fit for hardfhip and labour in time of war ; but em- ploying their whole thoughts and time in contriving new difhes and liquors to gratify their appetites, and fantaftical fafliions for their cloathing. And as the rents of the poor have been rais’d to maintain the lufts and riotous livings of great perfons, fo have the P oor been opprefs d and reduc d to rags and famine, to fupport the pride and luxury of their landlords. F e truth is, fays De la Vega, the poor are become much more poor than formerly ; for the quantity of money being increafed, which is heap’d up in the coffers of the rich, hath enhanc’d the price ot provilions to that degree, that the poor ftarve by the abundance of the rich ; and tho’ the rich have plenty or money, and might, out of their threat ftoies, enlarge their charities and benevolence to their poorer neighbours, yet their alms, and the wages they allow the labouring men, do not an- fwer the price of provifions, which the plenty of money hath rais’d. From whence it is concluded, that the riches of the new world not having increafed the provifions neceflary for the fupport of human nie, but ratner ferv d to make them dear, to make men effeminate, and to enfeeble their conftitutions and undei {landings, and introduce vicious habits and cuftoms : The generality of mankind is become much worfe, and mere difeontented ; and nations heretofore formidable, and dreaded by all the world, are now rendered mean, defpicable, and effeminate’ by tue corruption of riches, “which is moreappli- “ cable to Spain than any other country, that peo- ple having declined ever fince they have been m afters 01 the treafures of Mexico and Peru • “ and no doubt De la Vega Rr 2 had his eye princi 3°S CHAP. X. Pizarro em- barks for Peru, O to the ifland of Gallo. T HE PRESENT STATE tc pally upon the Spaniards when he made this re- “ fieffion.” To return to our hiftory. The three Partners having bought a {hip, vitftuall’d and equipp’d her (or as fome fay, two Chips) Pizarro embark’d about the middle of November, 1525, with fourfcore men and four horfes (De la Vega makes them 1 1 4 men) and fetting fail from Panama, fail’d to the Pearl- iflanus, in the middle of that bay, where he took in wood, water, and grabs for his horfes, and fail’d to Port Pinas, or Pineapple, upon the conti- nent, on the fouth-eaft fide of the bay of Panama. Here Pizarro went on fcore with his foldiers, and endeavour’d to penetrate into the country; but meeting with nothing but bogs, or mountains, over-run with wood and deluges of rain, as they approach’d the Equator ; and the people having fled from their habitations, fo that no provifions were to be had : Pizarro ran farther down the coaft to the fouthward, and then landing again, found the country no better, and loft a great many of his men by fick net's, want of provifions, or the hardfhips they buffer’d in their marches and counter-marches. Whereupon he bent the Chip to the ifles of Pearls for provifions, and in the mean time was follow’d by Almagro with two other (hips, and a recruit of ftxty men and upwards. Thefe two Captains meeting upon this wretched, rainy, and unwnole- fome coaft, and landing their united forces, had fome fkirmifhes with the natives, in which Almagro loir an eye ; but happening, in fome of their excur- fions, to meet with a parcel of gold of the value of fourteen or fifteen thoufand crowns, they refolved, notwithstanding ail the difficulties and hazards they underwent, to perfift in the enterprize ; in which they w’ere the more encourag’d by the Pilot De Ruyz, who (while Pizarro remain’d with the foldiers on fhore) ran down as far as Cape Paflao, under the Equator, and taking fome prifoners, was affured by them, that the treafures of Peru were much beyond anv tiling that had hitherto been re- ported of them. Whereupon lie return’d to Pi - zarro with the agreeable news: In the mean time, that General buffer'd incredible hardfhips in the abfenceof Almagro, who was gone to Panama with the gold they had got, to procure another re- inforcement of troops and provifions. Almagro, at his return to Panama, found Pedrarias re- mov’d from Ids Government, and fucceeded by Peter de los P, i os, who permitted him to raile what men he could to reinforce Pizarro. Where- upon he embark’d again with forty foldiers more, fome horfes, and arms, cloaths, {hoes, provifions, and medicines, and return’d to Pizarro, whom lie found in a very miferable condition, great part of his men being lick or dead. They remov’d therefore from that unhealthful part of the continent, and put their men on fhore in the ifland of Gallo, where they remain’d fifteen days, and then return’d towards the continent again, running along the coaft further to the fouthward ; however, they ftill met with i'uch a drowned country, and bad weather, that it was once propos’d to return back to Panama: Even Pizarro’s heart fail’d him; and the two Commanders, it feems, were upon the point of drawing their fwords, fo hot was the conteft for and againft proceeding in the enterprize ; but at length it was agreed, that they fhould go to the ifland of Gallo again, where Pizarro fhould remain with the men ’till Ai.m agro went to Panama for re- cruits: And great care was taken, that none of the men fhouid write home, and difeover their wretched condition ; for mofl of them had fnewn an inclina- tion to defert the fervice whenever they had an op- portunity, and threaten’d to apply to the Governor of Panama to be recall’d from an expedition which had confumed fuch numbers of them ; and, if pro- fecuted, would probably deftroy the reft. And not- withftanding all the care their Commanders took,, one of them found means to fend a paper, fubferibed by inoft of the men, defiring to be recall’d, which was inclofed in a bottom of cotton-yarn, and thereby conceal’d from the notice of their Officers. This paper coming to the hands of the Governor of Pa- nama, he was fo far from buffering Almagro to levy any more recruits, that he fent a (hip, with a Commifiary on board, to the ifland of Gallo, on purpofe to bring back all the men that furviv’d. The Commifiary arriving, Pizarro begg’d of him that he would however buffer as many of the men to remain with him as were willing to proceed in the enterprize ; which the Commifiary confenting to, Pizarro drew a line with the point of his fword, and haranguing his men, told them they were at liberty to return to 'Panama, if they thought fit ; but it griev’d him that they fhould now aban- don the enterprize, when they were upon the point: of reaping the reward of all their bufferings. As for his part, he would perifh in the glorious undertaking, rather than defert it; and thofe that voluntarily re- main’d with him fhould {hare with him the treafures of which they had fo near a profpeit, defiring thofe that were willing to proceed in the enterprize to come over the line he had drawn : But luch were the bufferings of thefe poor wretches, that much the greateft part of them forfook him; only thirteen men and a Mulatto came over the line, the reft: embark’d and return’d to Panama with the Commiffary. Pizarro being thus left on the ifland of Gallo with only fourteen men, befides fome Peruvian men and women they had taken- prifoners, remov’d to the neighbouring ifland of Gorgona, for the benefit of frefh water, and remain’d there ’till Alm agro and Ruyez the Pilot came to him with refrefh- ments and fome few volunteers that were ftill wil- ling to fhare their fortunes ; on whole arrival it was agreed to fail further fouthward ; and having pafs’d the Equator, they came to an anchor in the bay of Guiaquil, near the illands of Puna and St. Clara, which lie in 3 degrees fouth latitude, and going on fliore CHAP. X. Their di- ftrefs. The Com- manders fait oat. Pizarro de- ferred by all his men, but" thirteen and a Have. He remain? on the ifland of Gorgona. Sails toGuia- quil. OF PERU. Finds place there. Two years fpent in this voyage. Tumbez town and province. They are hofpitab'y receiv’d by the Peru- fhore in the ifland of St. Clara, they found feveral veffels and utenfils of filver plate, with garments made of cotton and fine wool, which were offer- ings made to fome idols in this ifland, where the natives of Puna came at certain feafons to worfhip them ; but there were no conffant inhabitants on the ifland. It was with infinite labour and diffi- culty, that our Adventurers proceeded thus far to the fouth ward ; they were forced to bear up both a- gainft winds and currents, that continually almoft fat again!! them on thefe fhores, infomucb that they fpent two whole years in this voyage from the ifland of Gorgona, in 3 degrees of north latitude, to the bay of Guiaquil in 3 degrees of fouthern latitude ; a voyage that may be perform’d in lefs than a month, now we are acquainted with the currents, winds and feafons upon the coafts of Popayan and Peru. While Pizarro and Almagro lay in the bay of Guiaquil, they took feveral great floats, or barklogs, with arm’d Indians on board, that were going from Tumbez, on the neighbouring continent, to invade the ifland of Puna, with which they were at war. From thefe Indians they learn’d that there was a great town and caftle at Tumbez, a magnifi- cent temple, a convent of feledt Virgins, and abun- dance of gold and filver veffels, and that the coun- try abounded with corn and fruits. Whereupon Pizarro treated the Indians with great civility, and gave them their liberty to return to the conti- nent with their floats ; and let them know, by his Interpreters, that they came as friends, and did not defign any manner of hurt or damage to the natives. Thefe Indians acquainting their Lord, the Cacique of Tumbez, with the wonders they had feen, viz. thefhip, the guns, the habit and complexion of thofe on board ; and informing him, that the Spaniards came to vifit that coafl in a friendly manner, the Cacique fent a Nobleman, or Orejon, on board, with feveral barklogs loaden with provifion; and to in- vite the Spaniards to come on fhore, telling them they were welcome to whatever the country afforded. Whereupon one of the faiiors was fent on fhore with the Indians, and brought twenty butts of water on board with their floats : The Orejon, ’tis faid, en- quir’d of Pi zarr.o in the mean time, what it was he went in fiearch of,, and what was the reafon they had for forne years been roving about the fea near the Peruvian coafl? Pizarro anfwer’d, They came from the mol! potent King of Spain, to require them to fubmit to his dominion, and be in- firudled in the true religion, by which alone they could attain the joys of heaven. At which anfwer, ’tis laid, the Peruvian appear’d a little aftonifh’d, as he might well, to find the Spaniards making fuch demands upon fb fhort an acquaintance, and when they were in no condition to compel the Indians to fubmit to them; and indeed Pizarro feems to have been a man of more difcretion than to have requir’d the Peruvians to obey him when he was in fuch low circum fiances ; this could only infpire them 309 with a contempt of his perfon, and provoke them CHAP, to ufe him ill. It is much more probable, that he X. continued to allure them of his friendfhip, fince the 1 ^V~ W fame writers inform us, he fent one of his company and a Negroeon fhore with the Peruvian Nobleman, and a prefent of European animals, an ax, and fore glittering trifles, with which the Cacique was extremely pleas’d : And as the Indians were furpriz’d to fee fo ffrange a people, and fuch animals and in- flruments as they brought with them, the Spaniard, that went on fhore, was no lefs furpriz’d to find a fine palace, and a magnificent temple, and all man- ner of veffels and utenfils form’d of gold or filver ; and when the man return’d on board to P 1 zarro, he feem’d unable to declare the vaft treafures he had feen, and the ftrength and beauty of the caftle where the Cacique refided. Pizarro, defirous to he better acquainted with Petei ; de the truth of what the failor related, Peter de ^ n ^ r f° es Can d 1 a, a man of good judgment, offer’d to go alone, and on fhore and take a particular view of the place: take? a view And as he was of a flature beyond the common fize, it was thought that his perfon would be the more admir’d, and give the Indians the greater opinion of the people that were come to vifit them : And to add to the aftonifhment of the natives, Pizarro made him put on a complete fait of fhining armour, a fhield on his left-arm, a broad fword by his fide, and take a fuzee in his hand ; and thus equipp’d, he was fet on fhore with a Negroe to attend him. The Indians, as it was expended, were amazed to fee a man fo tall and cf proportionable bulk, his body cover’d with glittering fteel, and a long beard on his chin, and immediately fled from the fhore to the caftle on his landing. Peter, thereupon, with a grave countenance, and true Spanifh pace, advanc’d towards the gates, and giving them to un- derftand by figns that he had no hoftile intentions, was conducted to the prefence of the Cacique, and receiv’d with great civility. The Spaniards, indeed, entertain us with an idle ftory, endeavouring to make a miracle of the matter, and tell us, that the Indians not daring to engage this gigantick Cham- pion themfelves, let out a Lion and a Tyger upon him ; and that thefe animals lofing their natural fiercenefs, fawn’d upon him, which the Spaniards afcribe to the findtityof theCrofs that Peter car- ried in one of his hands : But they all agree, that: the Cacique entertain’d him with great hofpitality, fhew’J him the Inca’s palace, the temple of the Sun, and the.houfe of confecrated Virgins; and after- wards fent him on board with a handfome prefent of Indian-corn, fheep, and fruits. Peter de Candia, at his return, related that every thing exceeded what the failor had re- ported ; that he faw Silver-fmiths at work, in form - ing all manner of gold and filver utenfils ; that the walls of the temple were wainfcotted with gold, and that the Virgins dedicated to the Sun were extreme- ly beautiful, at which the Spaniards were tranfported with s 10 THE PRESENT STATE H A P. with joy ; but not being prepared to make tliem- X. felves matters of the treafures they underftood were to met with on fltore at this time, Pizarro to degrees ^ et ^ a g a ' n 5 an< i run further down the coaft to the fouth lad- latitude of 7 degrees fouth, where Truxillo was af- tude, and terwards founded, and difcover’d a verv fruitful returns to , . , . r Panama for country ; but then at the importunity or his men he more forces, return’d back to Panama, being the latter end of the year 1527, in order to make preparations for the entire conqueft of Peru. Pizarro, having fpent three years in fearch of thefe happy countries, and after numberlefs hazards and hardships fucceeded at laft, and brought from thence fpecimens of the wealth that abounded there, with fome of the natives, Peruvian cattle, and fine cloth, the people were over-joy’d to fee him, and very ready to lift in his fervice ; but the Governor of Panama oppofed it. Whereupon the three prin- cipal Adventurers, Pizarro, Almagro and Lugne, came to a refolution, that Piza.rro fhould go over to Spain and procure an authority and recruits equal to fo great an undertaking ; par- ticularly, that he fhould iollicit for himfelf the title of Governor, for Almagro that of Adelantado, or the King’s Lieutenant, and for Lugne the Pro- tedforfhip of the Peruvians, and the firft bifhoprick Pizarro goes i n that country. Pizarro accordingly fet fail, ammmiffion an d arr *ving * n Spain, relbrted to the Court of the and recruits. Emperor Charles V. which was then at Toledo: Here he met with a very gracious reception on his prefenting his imperial Majefty with fome Peruvians in their proper habits, two or three Peruvian flieep, and feveral gold and filver veftels and utenfils of the fiafhion of that country. The Emperor was pleas’d to hear him relate the hardihips and difficulties he and his comrades had met with in this three years voyage, and in the end recommended the overtures he made to the Council of the Indies, who, having made their report, Pizarro was authoriz’d to proceed in the conqueft of Peru, for the fpace of two hundred leagues to the fouthward of Tuunbez, which lies at the bottom of the bay of Guiaquil, in 3 de- grees fouth latitude. He procur’d alfo the title of Governor and Captain-General to be conferred on him for life, with the offices of Adelantado, or Lord-Lieutenant, and of Alguazil Major, or Chief- Juftice. He was alfo empower’d to ere£t four caftles in Peru, where he thought proper, and retain the government and inheritance of them to him and his pofterity : He obtain’d for Ferdin ando de Lugne, that he fhould be recommended to the Pope to be made Bifhop of T umbez ; and in the mean time, conftituted Protecfor-General of the Peruvians. Almagro was conftituted Governor of Fumbez, and a twentieth part of all the profits and revenues of the country, when conquer’d, were to go to Pizarro and Almagro, two thirds thereof to the former, and one third to the latter ; and Almagro was made a Gentleman, and his feaftard Ion legitimate ; The thirteen men that re- main’d with Pizarro in his diftiefs, on the ifiand CHAP, of Gallo, were made Gentlemen, if they were not X, fo before, and thofe that were Gentlemen then were order’d to be knighted. Thefe commiffions and powers were executed at Toledo on the 26th of July, 1528 ; and fix Domi- nican Friars were order’d to go over with Pizar- ro, as Miffionaries to affift in the converfion of the Peruvians. Pizarro, repairing to his native town of Trux- illo, fpent fome months in railing men, and mak- ing provifions for his voyage, which having effected, he embark’d at Seville with his four brothers, viz. Ferdina nd, John, Gonzalo and Francis, in the month of January, 1330, and arriv’d at Nombre de Dios, on the coaft of Terra-Firma, from whence he march’d with his people to the city of Panama ; but his ingroffing all the honours and pizarro and commands to himfelf fo difgufted Almagro, that Almagro fall he refus’d to affift in the intended expedition ’till Pizarro promifed to relinquifh the title of Ade- million Pf- lantado, and to give him an equal fhare in what- gain’d' 1 ever they fhould acquire ; and upon thefe conceffions Almagro promifed to affift him as formerly, and fmother’d his refentment for the prefent, that the fervice might not fuft'er ; hut they were never hear- tily reconcil’d, as will appear hereafter. At length Pizarro embark’d at Panama in p; za rro erru three {hips, taking with him one hundred and eigh- barks a s ain ty five foldiers, thirty feven horfes, and fuch quan- jj 0 n r n * e ,Tjo. tities of arms, ammunition and ftores as might ena- ble him to fix colonies on the Peruvian coaft ; but meeting with the like contrary winds he had done in the firft voyage, and finding it very inconvenient, and indeed impracticable, to keep his horfes longer on board, he was oblig’d to land above an hundred He lands leagues to the northward ofTumbez: And now north of the thinking himfelf ftrong enough to drive the naked ^J^irches Indians before him, he fell upon them, plunder’d to Tumbez. their towns, and made many of them prifoners, without any manner of provocation ; whereupon the reft fled from the fea-coafts up into the country ; and Pizarro was afterwards fo diftreffed for want of provifions, and loft fo many men by ficknefs, Lofes moll and hardihips, and the fatiguing marches through ^ f t hlS | ) IIlen ’ bogs and thickets of mangroves in this exceffive hot ^dhns of 'a climate, that his forces were exceedingly diminifh- great deal ed, and he now, too late, perceiv’d his error, in of treafure * not courting the natives, being in no condition to make a conqueft of Peru with the forces he had left. He took moft of the treafure therefore he had plunder’d the Indians of, and fent his fhips back fends 1 . . , .... tor recruits* with it to Panama to raife more recruits, inviting at the fame time forne Adventurers from Nicaragua, and other parts of North- America, to come and join him, promifing them a fhare of the vaft trea- fures he was now allur’d of finding in Peru : And having, with infinite labour, march’d as far as Tumbez, in the bay of Guiaquil, otter the mouths of abundance of rapid ftreams, that fall into the South- O F P E R U. 3n Finds the Peruvians engag’d in civil war. CHAP. South-Sea, under the Equator, he very fortunately X. found the Peruvians engag’d in a civil war, one part of them adhering to their lawful Prince Ku- ascar, and the other to At ah n a l p a, or Ata- eilipa, the baftard fon of the preceding Emperor Hu ana Capac, who had made Atabilipa King of Quitto and the northern provinces of Peru in his life-time. This young Prince finding him- felf at the head of a great body of veteran Troops and experienc’d Officers, who had been engag’d in that conqueft, was not infenfible of his ftrength, and in a fhort time after his father’s death difcover’d views of ufurping the whole empire ; this occahon’d mifunderftandings between him and his brother Hu as car, the prefent Emperor, which at length ended in an open rupture, as has been already re- lated. In this war, the inhabitants of the vale of Tumbez adher’d to their lawful Prince Huascar; and thofe of the ifle of Puna, a large ifland in the bay of Guiaquil, confifting of twelve thou (and in- habitants and upwards, took part with the baftard Atabilipa, as their intereft led them, carrying on at all times a very gainful trade for their fait and other productions of that ifland with the kingdom of Quitto, from whom they receiv’d woollen and cotton, cloathing, and other merchandize in return. Pi z arro, as has been intimated already, find- TumW^nd ’ n S ^imfelf not a b!e, at this time, to attempt the reduces the conqueft of the whole Empire, took part with the Tumbezenes, and joining their forces, invaded the ifland of Puna, which became an eaiy conqueft ; and having taken all the Caciques of the ifland prifoners, he deliver’d them into the hands of the Tumbez Generals, who immediately cut off their heads. He alfo releas’d feven or eight hundred Tumbezene prifoners, and fent them home, by which he ima- gin’d he had fo oblig’d his new allies, that they would not fail tc affift him in his future conquefts. In the mean time. A t macro having fent Pizarro a confiderable re-inforcement from Panama, and Ferdinando de Soto and other Adventurers arriving with their troops from Nica- ragua, he thought himfelf in a condition to carry on the war upon the continent, efpecially as he had Ibme reafon to expert to be fupported by the Tumbezenes. Accordingly, having provided a ftif- ficient number of floats, or barklogs, he trans- ported his troops to Tumbez, in which he loft fome men in going on fnore by the furf of the lea, which runs very high upon that coaft, and fome of his people were attack’d and cut off by the natives, which was a furprize to him, as he took them to be his friends. The Spanifh writers give various reafons for this alteration in the conduit of the na- tives of Tumbez, who but a very little before pro- fefs’d themfelves their good allies and confederates. Some relate, that obferving the Spaniards had en- fiav’d the natives of the ifland of Puna, and perfedfy Subverted their Religion and Government, demolifh- ing their temples and every thing they held facrcd. Pizarro foin ifland of Puna they expected to be treated in the fame manner CHAP, by the Spaniards, and therefore thought fit to op- X. pofe their landing in their country. k/'V'V* Others inform us, that while the Spaniards were engaged in the reduction of Puna, a very great alteration happened in the face of affairs upon the continent : Atabilipa, the baftard, had de- feated the forces of his brother Huascar the' Emperor ; cut in pieces mod of the inhabitants of Tumbez, and the neighbouring provinces, for ad- hering to him ; and the troops that oppofed Pi- zarro’s landing in Tumbez, were thofe detach’d by Atabili pa to that province, on purpofe to oppofe the invaflon of the Spaniards. But whatever was the reafon of the Peruvians p; zarrn re- oppofing the defcent of the Spaniards, it is evident, duces Turn- that they were put in fuch confufion by the Spanifh horfe and artillery, that they fled as the Spaniards felf of aval"; advanc’d, and after the daughter of fome thoufands feature, of them, were forced to abandon the town and caftle, and even the whole valley of Tumbez, leaving behind them all the gold and filver Plate, Emeraids, Pearls, and other rich fpoils, which lay heap’d up in the temple of the Sun, and the Inca’s palace ; being fo vaft a treafure, that the Spaniards could fcarce believe their eyes, when they found themfelves fo fuddenly pofiefs’d of it : And fuch was _ the confirmation of Atabilipa, and his whole Court, when the fugitives related what {laughter the thunderers ordnance made amongft them, and how impoflible it was to efcape the Spanifh horfes, to which animals their fears had added wings, that they concluded, if the Spaniards were not gods, they at firft conjedtured they were certainly devils, and that it was not pofflble for any human force to defend their country againft them. Of which Pizarro receiving intelligence, refolv’d to take advantage of the terror they were in, and march immediately to find out Atabilipa, while he remain’d under that delufion ; but he found it ne- ceffary to defer his march, ’till he had eredted a flight fortrefs on the fea-coaft (to which he gave the st. Mi- name of St. Michael’s) for receiving the recruits that chad’s, the he expedfed, and to ferve him for a place of retreat and fecurity,. in cafe, any unforefeen accident fhould colony in happen. This was the firft Spanifh colony planted in Peru, and here the firft Chriftian church was erected in the year 1531 ; and Father Reginald dh Pedraga was conftituted Protedfor of the Indi- ans, Ferdinand de Luqjue. being unable to execute that employment on account of his indif- pofition. Pizarro, whofe bufinefs it was to foment the civil wars, and prevent the Peruvians uniting their forces againft him, gave out that he was come in the name of the great King of Spain (like a true Spanifh Knight Errant) to relieve the epprefled, and do juftice to thofe that were injured, which he foon. found had the effect he expected , for the Em- peror 'IT'} THE PRESENT STATE C H A P. peror Hu ascar, having been depofed and im- t X. prifoned by the baftard Atabilipa, and all his friends and faithful fubjedts that had adhered to him, cruelly opprefl’ed, they immediately lent an embafly to Pizarro, that he would affift them in deliver- ing their Prince from his captivity, and reftore him to the throne of his anceflors ; to whom the Spanifli General returned a favourable anfwer. And At a- bilipa, who was yet fcarce fettled in the throne he had ufurped, apprehending he fhould foon be driven from it again, if the Spaniards joined with the loyal party, endeavoured by all poffible ways to gain the favour of Pizarro, fending a meflenger to excufe the hoftilities his forces had committed at his landing ; and not only promiling what fatisfa- dtion he (hould demand, but a (Turing him he was ready to fubmit to the commands of that great Prince from whom he came. The Spanifh Generals finding they were like to meet with little oppofition from either fide, but that both parties were ready to make them arbitra- tors of their differences, concluded they fhould now loon be maftersof thole immenfe treafures they un- dei ftood were heaped up in the capital city of Cufco, and of the gold and idver mines from whence they p; zarra were drawn. They began their march therefore to marches to Caxamalca, where they underftood the Inca then Caxamalca. was ^ j n t | ie y ear i^ 2y as foon as they had 'put the town of St. Michael into a pofture of defence ; and carrying with them a train of artillery, which was drawn by the Indians prefs’d into their fervice (there being no horfes or oxen, or any other cattle for draught, either in Mexico or Peru, when the Spa- niards firft arrived there) advanced by flow marches, fending out parties to difeover the country, and get intelligence as they went along. The conffernation increafing among the Peruvi- ans, and the Spaniards approaching Caxamalca, Atabilipa, who look’d upon the artificial thun- der of the Spaniards as fupernatural, and their wing’d horfes, as well as themfelves, to be of infernal, if not of heavenly, extraction, apprehended there was no fafety for him but in his fubmiffion ; and there- fore fent a (blemn embafly to Pizarro, by his brother Autachy ; together with rich prefents of gold and filver plate, and emeralds, corn, fruit, Peruvian fheep and goats, ftrong liquor, venifon, tame and wild fowl, fine cotton and woollen gar- ments of various colours, and whatever his coun- try afforded. Autachy being admitted to the prefence of Piz ARR.O, told him, he was fent by the Inca Atabilipa to welcome him and the reft of the fens of their common god and father, the Sun, into that empire, defiring he would accept the fmall prefent he brought with him for the refreftiment of his troops in their march ; telling him, that Inca was impatient to fee his kindred, whom he under- ftood to be of the like heavenly extraction, and to whom fie promifed all obedience. After which, the royal hiftorian relates, that Autachy made CHAP, the following formal fpeech to Pizarro (which X. was put into Spanifh by Philip, a young Peruvian w"y~n*/ he carried with him to Panama in the former voy- age, on purpofe to he inftrudfed in that language) viz. “ Inca V i R a c o c h B , thou progeny of the Sun, “ fince it hath been my fortune to be put on this “ remarkable embafly, I prefume to entreat, you “ would be gracioufly pleafed to take my Sovereign, “ the Inca Atahnalpa, into the number of “ your friends, and contract a perpetual peace and “ alliance with him ; and that you would pardon “ the injuries the Peruvians may, through igno- “ ranee of your divine original, have committed “ againft you, moderating that juft vengeance, “ your great god and father Viracoche might “ juftly have infl idled on our people : Anu having “ laid this, he caufed the prefent to be brought in ‘ ‘ and fet before the Spanifh General.” The fubftance of Pizarro’s anfwer to that fpeech, ’tis faid was, that the Spaniards were au- thoriz’d by their High Prieft, the Pope, to convert the Peruvians from their idolatry to the Chriftian religion ; and that the great Emperor of the Chri- ftians, Charles V. had empower’d them to en- ter into a league of friendfhip and perpetual peace with the Inca, and were order’d to offer no man- ner of violence to him, or his fubjedts, if thefe overtures were accepted. The Peruvian Ambaflador being difmifled, Pi- zarro, to return the compliment, difpatch’d his brother Hernando Pizarro, and Hirnan- do de Soto, attended by about thirty horfe, and Philip the Interpeter, as Ambafladors to the Inca Atabilipa, who was then at one of his palaces in the neighbourhood of Caxamalca : The Inca be- ing inform’d of their approach, order’d a detach- ment of his army to advance and meet the Spaniards on the way, and conduct them to his prefence. This holy of Peruvians being come within a little diftance of the Ambafladors, fell down and adored them ; and having acquainted them, that the Inca . waited their arrival with impatience, attended the Ambafladors to the palace ; where, upon their alight- ing, they v/ere conduced to the Inca, whom they found fitting on a chair of gold, in the midft of his Officers and Courtiers. The Emperor arofe from his feat to receive them, and faid they were wel- come to his dominions, and golden chairs were brought for the Ambafladors. After they were feated, the Inca looking ftedfaftly on them, faid to his Courtiers, Behold the very face, countenance, and habit, of our god (fhtaOJClje, in the fame manner and form as our anceffor the Inca Vira- coche deferib’d him in his vifion ; and immedi- ately two royal Virgins brought in each of them two golden cups, fill’d with the liquor ufually drank by the Inca, and bowing, deliver’d one of the cups into the hand of A.tabilipa, and another to Her nando Pizarro 3 and the Interpreter ac- quainted OF PERU, 30 C HA P. quainted them, that the Inca defir’d to drink with X. them, which, according to the cuftom of their W"Y" , w' country, teftified the refped he had for the Chrifti- -ans, and did defire to live in perpetual peace and friendrhip with them : Whereupon the Inca and Herna ndo drank, and gave away their cups ; then the other Virgin deliver’d one of her cups into the hands of the Inca, and the other to Hernando S ox o, who had tire honour alfo to drink in like manner with the Emperor. Then fix boys and as many girls brought in green and dry fruits ; and one of the Virgins, addreffing herfelf to the AmbalTadors, faid. Ye fons of Ca- pac Inca Viracocha, tafte of thefe things we offer, and it will extremely oblige us : Whereupon the Spaniards tailing of their fruits, were amaz’d, fays the royal hiftorian, to find fo much civility and politenefs among a people they had been taught to look upon as barbarous. The collation being over, Hernando de Soto, according to the fame author, made the fol- lowing fpeech to the Emperor. U 4C Moft ferene Inca, Y ou are to underftand, that in this world there are two fupreme Princes ; one is the Pope, who is High Prielt, and fits in the place and tribunal of God ; the other is the Emperor of the Romans, called Char i.es V. King of Spain, who having been inform’d of the blind ignorance in which the natives of thefe your king- doms live, defpifing the true God, who is the Maker of heaven and earth, bellowing the wor- fhip due unto him upon his creatures, and upon the Devil himfelf, who deceives and deludes them, have fent their Governour and Captain-General, Don Francisco Pizarro, with his Compa- nions, and feme Priefts, who are the Minifters of God, to teach your Highnels, and your fub- jecls, the divine Truth, and his holy Law ; and for this reafon it is, that they have undertaken this long journey to your country ; where having received inftances of your bounty from your libe- “ ral hand, they entered yefterday into Caxamalca, lt and this day they have fent us to your Highnels,