Early Travels in Palestine Part 25

Misse, situated four days' journey from Antioch, belonged to the Christians, and was a considerable city. Many churches, half destroyed, still remain[455]; the choir of the great church is yet entire, but converted into a mosque. The bridge is of wood, the former stone one having been carried away by the floods[456]. One half of the town is completely in ruins; the other half has preserved its walls, and about three hundred houses, filled with Turcomans.

From Misse to Adena[457] the country continues level and good, inhabited by Turcomans. Adena is two days' journey from Misse, and I there proposed to wait for the caravan. It arrived; I went with the mameluke, together with some others, many of whom were great merchants, to lodge near the bridge, between the river and the walls of the town; and it was there I observed the manner of the Turks saying their prayers and offering sacrifice. They no way hid themselves from my notice, but on the contrary seemed well pleased when I said my paternoster, which seemed to them wonderful. I sometimes heard them chaunt their prayers at the beginning of the night, when they seat themselves in a circle, and shake their bodies and heads while they sing in a very uncouth manner.

One day they carried me with them to the stoves and baths of the town; and as I refused to bathe, for I must have undressed myself, and was afraid of showing my money, they gave me their clothes to keep. From this moment we were much connected. The bath-house is very high, and terminated by a dome, in which a circular opening is contrived to light the whole interior. The stoves and baths are handsome, and very clean.

When the bathers come out of the water, they seat themselves on small hurdles of thin osiers, dry themselves, and comb their beards. It was at Adena I first saw the two young men who had got their eyes thrust out at Mecca, after having seen the tomb of Mohammed.

The Turks bear well fatigue and a hard life; they are not incommoded, as I have witnessed, during the whole journey, by sleeping on the ground like animals. They are of a gay, cheerful humour, and willingly sing songs of the heroic deeds of their ancestors. Any one, therefore, who wishes to live with them must not be grave or melancholy, but always have a smiling countenance. They are also men of probity, and charitable toward each other. I have often observed, that should a poor person pa.s.s by when they are eating, they would invite him to partake of their meal, which is a thing we never do.

In many places I found they did not bake their bread half as much as ours. It is soft, and, unless a person be accustomed to it, is difficult to be chewed. In regard to meat, they eat it raw, dried in the sun. When any of their beasts, horse or camel, is so dangerously ill that no hopes remain of saving its life, they cut its throat, and eat it, not raw, but a little dressed. They are very clean in dressing their meat, but eat it dirtily. They in like manner keep their beards very neat and clean, but never wash their hands but when they bathe, when they are about to say their prayers, or when they wash their beards and hinder parts.

Adena is a tolerably good commercial town, well inclosed with walls, situated in a fine country, and sufficiently near the sea. The river of Adena[458], which is wide, and rises among the high mountains of Armenia, flows beneath its walls. It has over it a long bridge, and the broadest I ever saw. Its inhabitants and prince are Turcomans; the prince is brother to the brave Ramedan, whom the sultan had murdered. I was told the sultan had his son in his power, but dared not suffer him to return into Turcomania.

From Adena I went to Thuro[459], which we call Tharsis. The country continues good, though near the mountains, and is inhabited by Turcomans, who live in villages or in tents. The district around Tharsis abounds in corn, wine, wood, and water. It was a famous town, and very ancient buildings are still seen in it. I believe this was the town[460]

besieged by Baldwin, brother to G.o.dfrey of Bouillon. At present it has a governor appointed by the sultan, and many Moors live within it. It is defended by a castle with ditches _a glacis_, and by a double wall, which in some parts is triple. A small river[461] runs through it, and there is another at a short distance. I found there a Cypriot merchant, named Antony, who had resided in this country a long time, and knew the language well. He talked to me very pertinently about it; but he did me another favour, that of giving me some good wine, for I had not tasted any for several days. Tharsis is but sixty miles from Curco[462], a castle built on the sea-sh.o.r.e, belonging to the king of Cyprus. In this whole country they speak the Turkish tongue, which begins even to be spoken at Antioch, the capital, as I have before said, of Turcomania. It is a very fine language, laconic, and easily learned.

As we had to cross the high mountains of Armenia, Hoyarbarach, the chief of our caravan, would have it all a.s.sembled; and for this purpose he waited some days, for those in the rear to come up. At last we departed, on the eve of All-Souls'-Day. The mameluke advised me to lay in provision for four days. I consequently purchased a sufficiency of bread and cheese for myself, and of oats and barley for my horse. On quitting Tharsis, we travelled three French leagues over a fine champaign country, peopled with Turcomans; and then we entered on the mountains, which are the highest I have ever seen. They skirt on three sides the country I had travelled over from Antioch; the sea bounds the other on the south. We first pa.s.sed through woods during a whole day, but the road is not bad. We lodged in the evening at a narrow pa.s.s, where there seemed to have been formerly a castle. The second day's journey was not at all disagreeable, and we pa.s.sed the night at a caravansera. The third, we followed the banks of a small river, and saw on the mountains an innumerable quant.i.ty of speckled partridges. In the evening, we halted on a plain, about a league in length and a quarter wide, where four great valleys meet: the one by which we had come; another that runs northward, towards the country of the lord called Turcgadirony, and towards Persia; the third runs eastward, and I know not whether this also does not lead to Persia; the last extends to the westward, and it is that which I followed, and which conducted me to the country of the karman. Each of these four has a river, and the four rivers run to this last country.

It snowed much during the night. To save my horse from the weather, I covered him with my capinat, the felt robe which I used for a cloak; but I myself caught cold, and got that disagreeable disorder a dysentery.

Had it not been for my mameluke, I should have been in great danger; but he a.s.sisted me, and made me instantly quit the place in which I was. We both, therefore, set off very early, and ascended the high mountains where the castle of Cublech[463] is situated, and is the highest I am acquainted with. It is seen two days' journey off; but sometimes we turned our backs to it, by reason of the windings of the mountains, sometimes also we lost sight of it, as it was hidden by their height. No one can penetrate into the country of the karman but on foot over the mountain on which this castle is built. The pa.s.s is narrow, and in some places has been perforated by the chisel, but it is every where commanded by Cublech. This castle, the last which the Armenians lost, belongs at this day to the karman, who had it in his division after the death of Ramedan. These mountains are covered with perpetual snow, having only a road for horses, although there are some plains scattered among them. They are dangerous on account of the Turcomans who inhabit them; but during the four days I was travelling among them I never perceived a single dwelling.

On leaving the mountains of Armenia, to enter the country of the karman, there are still others to be crossed. On one of them is a pa.s.s, having a castle called Leve, where a toll is paid to the karman. This toll was farmed to a Greek, who, on seeing me, judged from my features that I was a Christian, and stopped me. If I had been forced to return I should have been a dead man, for I was afterwards a.s.sured, that before I had gone half a league my throat would have been cut, for the caravan was at a great distance. Fortunately my mameluke bribed the Greek, and, in consideration of two ducats that I gave him, he opened the pa.s.sage.

Further on is the castle of Asers, and beyond that the castle of a town called Araclie (Eregli).

On descending the mountain, we entered a plain as level as the sea; then are seen some heights towards the north, which, scattered here and there, appear like so many islands in the midst of the waves. It is on this plain that Eregli is situated, a town formerly inclosed, but now in the greatest state of ruin. I found there, however, some provision; for my last four days' journey from Tharsis had afforded me nothing but water. The environs of the town are covered with villages, inhabited chiefly by Turcomans.

On quitting Eregli, we met two gentlemen of the country, who appeared to be men of distinction; they showed great friends.h.i.+p to the mameluke, and carried him to regale at an adjoining village, the dwellings of which are cut out of the rock. We pa.s.sed the night there, but I was forced to stay the remainder of the time in a cavern, to take care of our horses.

When the mameluke returned, he told me that these two men had asked who I was, and that in his answer he had misled them, by saying I was a Circa.s.sian, who could not speak Arabic.

From Eregli to Larande[464], whither our route lay, is two days'

journey. This town, though not inclosed, is large, commercial, and well situated. There was, in ancient times, a great and strong castle in the centre of the town, the gates of which are now visible; they are of iron, and very handsome, but the walls are destroyed. There is a fine plain between these two towns; and after I left Leve I did not notice a single tree in the open country. There were in Larande two Cypriot gentlemen, the one named Lyachin Castrico, the other Leon Maschero, who both spoke very tolerable French[465]. They inquired of me my country, and what had brought me thither: I replied that I was a servant of my lord of Burgundy, that I came from Jerusalem to Damascus, and was following the caravan. They appeared astonished that I had been suffered to pa.s.s; but when they had asked whither I was going, and I had answered that I was on my return overland through France to my aforesaid lord, they told me it was impossible to be done, and that if I had a thousand lives I should lose them all; they therefore proposed that I should return to Cyprus with them; for there were at that island two galleys that had come thither to convey back the daughter of the king, who had been betrothed in marriage to the son of my lord of Savoy[466]; and they doubted not but the king, from the love and respect he bore to the duke of Burgundy, would grant me a pa.s.sage on board one of them. I replied, that, since G.o.d had graciously permitted that I should arrive at Larande, he would probably allow me to go further; but that, at all events, I was determined to finish my journey as I had begun it, or die in the attempt. I asked them, in my turn, whither they were going. They said their king was just dead; that during his life there had always been a truce with the grand karman, and that the young king and his council had sent them to renew this alliance. Being curious to make acquaintance with this great prince, whom his nation reverences as we do our king, I entreated permission to accompany them, to which they consented. I met likewise with another Cypriot at Larande, called Perrin Pa.s.serot, a merchant, who had resided some time in the country. He was from Famagusta, and had been banished from that town, because he and one of his brothers had attempted to deliver it up to the king, as it was then in the hands of the Genoese.

My mameluke also met with five or six of his countrymen, young Circa.s.sian slaves, who were on their way to the residence of the sultan.

He was desirous to regale them on their meeting; and, as he had heard there were Christians at Larande, he guessed they would not be without wine, and begged of me to procure him some. By dint of inquiry, and for half a ducat, I was enabled to purchase the half of a goatskin full, of which I made him a present. He showed great joy on receiving it, and instantly went to his companions, with whom he pa.s.sed the whole night drinking. He himself swallowed so much, that on the morrow he was near dying on the road, but he cured himself by a method which is peculiar to them. In such cases, they have a very large bottle full of water, and as their stomach becomes empty, they drink water as long as they are able, as if they would rinse a bottle, which they throw up, and then drink of it again. He was thus employed on the road until mid-day, when he was perfectly recovered.

From Larande we went to Qulongue, called by the Greeks Quhonguopoly[467]. These places are two days' journey distant from each other. The country is fine, and well furnished with villages, but wants water, and has no trees but such as have been planted near houses for their fruit, nor any other river but that which runs near the town. This town is considerable and commercial, defended by ditches _en glacis_, and good walls strengthened with towers, and is the best the karman possesses. There remains a small castle: formerly there was a very strong one in the centre of the town, but it has been pulled down to furnish materials to build the prince's palace.

I staid there four days, that the amba.s.sador from Cyprus and the caravan might have time to arrive. When the amba.s.sador came, I asked him when he intended to wait on the karman, and repeated my request to be present, which he promised to grant. There were, however, among his slaves four Greek renegadoes, one of whom was his usher-at-arms, who united in their efforts to dissuade him from it; but he replied that he saw no inconvenience, and besides, that I had shown such eagerness to witness the ceremony, that he should take pleasure in obliging me. He was apprized of the hour when he might make his obeisance to the prince, inform him of the object of his mission, and offer his presents; for it is an established custom in the east never to appear before a superior without bringing presents. His were six pieces of camlet of Cyprus, I know not how many ells of scarlet, forty sugar loaves, a peregrine falcon, two cross-bows, and a dozen of bolts. Some genets were sent him to carry the presents; and he and his attendants were mounted on horses, which the great lords, who had come to the palace to attend the prince during this ceremony, had left at the gate. The amba.s.sador made use of one of them, but dismounted at the entrance of the palace, when we were ushered into a large hall where there might be about three hundred persons. The prince occupied the adjoining apartment, around which were arranged thirty slaves, standing; he was himself in a corner, seated on a carpet on the ground, according to the custom of the country, clad in a crimson and gold cloth, with his elbow leaning on a cus.h.i.+on of another sort of cloth of gold. Near him was his sword, his chancellor standing in front, and, at a little distance, three men seated.

The presents were first laid before him, which he scarcely deigned to look at; then the amba.s.sador entered, attended by an interpreter, because he did not understand the Turkish language. After the usual reverences, the chancellor demanded his credential letters, which he read aloud. The amba.s.sador then addressed the king by means of his interpreter, and said that the king of Cyprus had sent him to salute him, and to request that he would accept the presents now before him, as a mark of his friends.h.i.+p. The prince made no answer, but caused him to be seated on the ground after their manner, below the three persons before mentioned, and at some distance from the prince. He now inquired after the health of his brother the king of Cyprus, and was told that he had lost his father, and had commissioned him to renew the alliance that had subsisted between the two countries during the lifetime of the deceased, for which he was very anxious. The prince answered that he desired it as earnestly. He then questioned the amba.s.sador when the late king died, the age of his successor, if he were prudent, if his country was obedient; and, as the answer to these last questions was 'Yes,' he seemed well pleased.

After these words, the amba.s.sador was told to rise, which he did, and took leave of the prince, who did not move more at his departure than at his entrance. On leaving the palace, he found the same horses which had carried him thither; and, having mounted one of them, he was reconducted to his lodgings: but he was scarcely entered, when the ushers of arms presented themselves, for in these ceremonies it is customary to give them money, and the amba.s.sador did not neglect it. He next went to pay his compliments to the son of the prince, to offer him presents and deliver his letters. He was seated like his father, with three persons near him; but when the amba.s.sador made his reverence, he rose up, then reseated himself, and placed the amba.s.sador above these three personages. As for us, who accompanied him, they placed us far behind.

Having noticed a bench, I was about to seat myself on it without any ceremony; but I was pulled off, and made to bend my knees and crouch on the ground like the rest. On our return home, an usher of arms to the son visited us, as those of the father had done, who also received some money. These people, however, are satisfied with a little. The prince and his son, in their turn, sent the amba.s.sador a present for his expenses, which is likewise one of their customs. The first sent fifty aspres, the second thirty. An aspre is the money of the country, and fifty are equal in value to a Venetian ducat.

I saw the prince go through the town in procession on a Friday, which is a holiday with them, when he was going to say his prayers. His guards were about fifty hors.e.m.e.n, the greater part his slaves, and about thirty infantry, who surrounded him. He bore a sword in his belt, and had a tabolcan at the pommel of his saddle, according to the custom of the country. He and his son have been baptized in the Greek manner, to take off _the bad smell_; and I was told that the son's mother was a Christian. It is thus all the grandees get themselves baptized, that they may not stink. His territories are considerable: they begin one day's journey on this side Tharsis, and extend to the country of Amurath Bey[468], the other karman I spoke of, and whom we call the Grand Turk.

In this line they are, as it is said, twenty leagues in breadth; but they are sixteen days' journey in length, as I know well from having travelled them. They extend, as they a.s.sured me, on the north-east, as far as the frontiers of Persia. The karman possesses also a maritime coast, called the Farsats. It extends from Tharsis to Courco, which belongs to the king of Cyprus, and to a port called Zabari. This district produces the most expert sailors known, but they have revolted against him.

The karman is a handsome prince, about thirty-two years old, and married to a sister of Amurath Bey. He is well obeyed by his subjects, although I have heard people say he was very cruel, and that few days pa.s.sed without some noses, feet, or hands being cut off, or some one put to death. Should any man be rich, he condemns him to die, that he may seize his fortune; and it is said that the greater part of his n.o.bles have thus perished. Eight days before my arrival he had caused one to be torn to pieces by dogs. Two days after this execution he had caused one of his wives to be put to death, even the mother of his eldest son, who, when I saw him, knew nothing of this murder. The inhabitants of the country are a bad race-thieves, cheats, and great a.s.sa.s.sins; they kill each other, and justice is so relaxed that they are never arrested for it.

I found at Couhongue Antoine Pa.s.serot, brother to Perrin Pa.s.serot, whom I had seen at Larande. They had both been accused of attempting to deliver Famagusta to the king of Cyprus, and had been banished. They had retired to the states of the karman; the one to Larande, the other to Couhongue. Antony had been unfortunate. Vice sometimes blinds people; and he had been caught with a Mohammedan woman, and the king had forced him to deny his religion to escape death; but he appeared to be still a stanch Catholic. In our conversations, he told me many particulars of the country, of the character and government of the prince, and especially as to the manner in which he had taken and delivered up Ramedan. The karman, he said, had a brother whom he banished from the country, and who took refuge at the court of the sultan, where he found an asylum. The sultan did not dare to declare war against him, but gave him to understand, that, unless he delivered Ramedan into his hands, he would send his brother with troops so to do. The karman made no hesitation, and rather than fight with him committed an infamous treason in regard to his brother-in-law. Antony added, that he was weak and cowardly, although his people are the bravest in all Turkey. His real name is Imbreymbas; but he is called karman, from his being the lord of the country. Although he is allied to the Grand Turk, having married his sister, he detests him for having taken from him a portion of the karman. He is, however, afraid to make war on him, as he is the stronger; but I am persuaded that if he saw him successfully attacked by the Europeans he would not leave him in peace.

In traversing his country, I pa.s.sed near the frontiers of another, called Ga.s.serie[469], which is bounded on one side by the karman, and on the other by the high mountains of Turcomania that extend towards Tharsis and Persia. Its lord is a valiant warrior, called Gadiroly[470], who has under his command thirty thousand Turcoman men-at-arms, and about one hundred thousand women, as brave and as fit for combat as men[471]. There are four lords continually at war with each other-Gadiroly, Quharaynich, Quarachust, and the son of Tamerlane, who is said to govern Persia.

Antony told me, that when I quitted the mountains on the other side of Eregli, I had pa.s.sed within half a day's journey of a celebrated town[472] where the body of St. Basil is interred, and spoke of it in such a manner that I had a wish to see it; but he so strongly represented that I should lose more by separating myself from the caravan, and expose myself to great risks when travelling alone, that I renounced all thoughts of it. He owned to me that his intentions were to accompany me to my lord the duke; for that he had no desire to become a Saracen, and that if he had entered into any engagements on this head it was solely to escape death. It had been ordered that he should be circ.u.mcised, and he was expecting the execution of it daily, which gave him many fears. He was a very handsome man, about thirty-six years old.

He told me also that the natives offer up public prayers in their mosques, like as we do in our churches on Sundays, in behalf of Christian princes, and for other objects which we ask from G.o.d. Now one of the things they pray to G.o.d for is, to deliver them from the coming of such a man as G.o.dfrey de Bouillon.

The chief of the caravan making preparations to depart, I went to take leave of the Cypriot amba.s.sadors. They had flattered themselves that I would return with them, and renewed their entreaties, a.s.suring me that I should never complete my journey; but I persisted. It was at Couhongue that the caravan broke up. Hoyarbarach took with him only his own people, his wife, two of his children, whom he had carried with him to Mecca, one or two foreign women, and myself. I bade adieu to my mameluke. This good man, whose name was Mohammed, had done me innumerable services. He was very charitable, and never refused alms when asked in the name of G.o.d. It was through charity he had been so kind to me, and I must confess that without his a.s.sistance I could not have performed my journey without incurring the greatest danger; and that, had it not been for his kindness, I should often have been exposed to cold and hunger, and much embarra.s.sed with my horse. On taking leave of him, I was desirous of showing my grat.i.tude; but he would never accept of any thing except a piece of our fine European cloth to cover his head, which seemed to please him much. He told me all the occasions that had come to his knowledge, on which, if it had not been for him, I should have run risks of being a.s.sa.s.sinated, and warned me to be very circ.u.mspect in my connections with the Saracens, for that there were among them some as wicked as the Franks. I write this to recall to my reader's memory that the person who, from his love to G.o.d, did me so many and essential kindnesses, was a man not of our faith.

The country we travelled through, on leaving Couhongue, is handsome, with tolerably good villages, but the inhabitants are wicked.

Hoyarbarach forbade me to go out of my quarters when we halted, even in villages, lest I should be a.s.sa.s.sinated. There is near this place a celebrated bath, to which sick persons come for a cure of their several disorders. There are the remains of many houses that formerly belonged to the Knights Hospitallers of Jerusalem, with the cross of Jerusalem on them.

After three days' march, we came to a small town, called Achsaray[473], situated at the foot of a high mountain that shelters it from the south.

The country is level, but not populous, and the natives have a bad character; I was consequently forbidden to leave my house in the evening. I travelled the ensuing day between two high mountains, whose tops were crowned with wood. The district is well peopled, partly by the Turcomans, and consists of pasture and marsh land. I there crossed a little brook that divides this country of karman from that of the other karman possessed by Amurath Bey, called by us the Grand Turk. This division resembles the former, in being a flat country, with mountains here and there.

On our road we pa.s.sed a town with a castle, called Achanay, and further on we came to a caravansera, where we intended to pa.s.s the night, but we found there twenty-five a.s.ses. Our commander refused to enter, and preferred returning a league further back to a large village, where we lodged, and found bread, cheese, and milk.

From this place we went to Cara.s.sar[474], which took two days. Cara.s.sar, in the Turkish language, signifies "black stone." It is the capital of the country that Amurath Bey took by force of arms. Although uninclosed, it is a place of considerable trade, and has one of the finest castles I have seen, but without any other water than what is collected in cisterns. It is seated on the summit of a high rock, so round that it might be thought to be worked with a chisel. Below is the town, surrounding it on three sides; but both are commanded by a mountain, from the north-east to the north-west. The other side opens to a plain, through which runs a river. Not long ago, the Greeks had gained possession of this place, but afterwards lost it by their cowardice.

They dress sheeps' feet here with a cleanliness I have nowhere seen. I regaled myself with them the more eagerly, as I had not eaten any dressed meat since I had left Couhongue. They cook also a nice dish with green walnuts. Their manner is to peel them, cut them into two, and put them on a string; then they are besprinkled with boiled wine, which attaches itself to them, and forms a jelly like paste all around them.

It is a very agreeable food, especially when a person is hungry. We were obliged to lay in a stock of bread and cheese for two days, as I was disgusted with raw meat.

Two days were employed in journeying from Cara.s.sar to Cotthay[475]. The country is good, well watered, having no very high mountains. We traversed one end of a forest, which seemed to me only remarkable for consisting entirely of oak, taller and larger than any I had hitherto met with, having besides, like fir-trees, branches only at the top. We took up our quarters for the night at a caravansera, distant from any habitations. We found there barley and straw in plenty, and we could the more easily have supplied our wants, as there was but a single servant to take care of them; but the owners never have any thing to fear of this kind, for at such places there is no man so bold as to take the smallest article without paying for it. On our road was a small river renowned for its water. Hoyarbarach went to drink of it with his women, and wished me to do the same, he himself offering me some in his leathern cup. This was the first time on the journey that he had done me this favour.

Cotthay, although pretty considerable, is without walls; but it has a handsome and large castle, composed of three forts rising one above the other, on the declivity of a hill, which has a double inclosure. This place was the residence of the son of the Grand Turk. There was a caravansera in the town, whither we went to lodge. It was already occupied by a party of Turks, and we were obliged, according to custom, to turn our horses pell-mell. On the next morning, when making ready to depart, I perceived that one of my straps had been taken, which served to fasten on my horse's crupper, my carpets and other things I carried behind me. At first I began to cry out with much noise and anger; but there was a Turkish slave present, one belonging to the sultan's son, a man of weight and about fifty years old, who, hearing me speak the language very incorrectly, took me by the hand, and conducted me to the gate of the caravansera, when he asked me in Italian who I was? I was stupified to hear him thus speak, and replied that I was a Frank.

"Whence do you come?" "From Damascus, in company with Hoyarbarach, and I am going to Bursa to meet one of my brothers." "Indeed! but you are a spy, and come to make your remarks on this country. If you were not, would you not have embarked, and returned home by sea?" This unexpected accusation confounded me. I answered, however, that the Venetians and Genoese were carrying on so bitter a war that I was afraid to venture by sea. He asked whence I came? "From the kingdom of France," was my answer. "Are you from the neighbourhood of Paris?" I replied I was not, and, in my turn, asked if he were acquainted with Paris? He said he had formerly been there with a captain, named Bernabo. "Take my advice,"

continued he; "return to the caravansera, seek your horse, and bring him hither to me, for there are some Albanian slaves, who will steal from you every thing he carries. While I am taking care of him, do you go and breakfast, and procure for yourself and your horse provision for five days, for so long will you be on the road without meeting with any." I followed his advice, and went to purchase provision. I breakfasted also the more heartily as I had not tasted meat for two days, and was told that I must not expect to meet with any for five days more.

When I quitted the caravansera, I took the road to Bursa[476], leaving that leading to Troy on my left, between the south and west points.

There were many high mountains, several of which I had to pa.s.s over. I had also two days' journey through forests, after which I traversed a handsome plain, in which are some villages good enough for the country.

Half a day's journey from Bursa, we came to one that supplied us with meat and grapes, which last were as fresh as in the time of vintage; this mode of preserving them is a secret they have. The Turks offered me some roast meat; but it was not half dressed, and as the meat was roasting on the spit we cut off slices. We had also some kaymack, or buffalo cream; and it was so good and sweet that I ate of it till I almost burst.

Before we entered this last village, we noticed the arrival of a Turk from Bursa, who had been sent to the wife of Hoyarbarach, to announce to her the death of her father. She showed great grief on the occasion, and I had then, for the first time, an opportunity of seeing her face uncovered. She was a most beautiful woman. There was at this place a renegado slave, a native of Bulgaria, who through affectation of zeal, and to show himself a good Saracen, reproached the Turks of the caravan for having allowed me to be in their company, saying it was sinful in them to do so, who were returning from the holy pilgrimage to Mecca. In consequence, they notified to me that we must separate, and I was obliged to set off for Bursa. I departed, therefore, on the morrow, an hour before day, with the aid of G.o.d, who had hitherto conducted me. He now guided me so well, that I never asked my road more than once on the whole way.

On entering the town, I met numbers of people coming out to meet the caravan, for such is the custom. The most considerable look on it as a duty, and it const.i.tutes the festival. Several of them, supposing I was one of the pilgrims, kissed my hands and robe. When I had entered the town, I was greatly embarra.s.sed, for I had come to a square that had four streets opening from it, and I knew not which to take. G.o.d again pointed out to me the right one, that which leads to the bazaar, where the merchants reside with their merchandise. I addressed myself to the first Christian I saw, and fortunately he happened to be one of the Espinolis of Genoa, the very person to whom Parvesin of Baruth had given me letters. He was much surprised to see me, and conducted me to the house of a Florentine, where I was lodged, as well as my horse. I remained there ten days, and employed that time in examining the town, being conducted by the merchants, who took great pleasure in so doing.

Of all the towns in the possession of the Turks this is the most considerable. It is of great extent, carries on considerable trade, and is situated at the foot of the north side of Mount Olympus, whence flows a river which, pa.s.sing through the town, divides itself into several branches, forming, as it were, a number of small towns that make it look larger than it is. It is at Bursa that the Turkish sultans are buried.

There are many handsome buildings, and particularly a great number of hospitals, among which there are four, where bread, wine, and meat are frequently distributed to the poor who will accept of them for the sake of G.o.d. At one of the extremities of the town, towards the west, is a handsome and vast castle, built on an eminence that may well contain a thousand houses. There is also the place of the sultan, which they told me was a very delightful place within side, having a garden and pretty pond. The prince had at that time fifty wives; and he often, as they said, amuses himself in a boat with some of them on this piece of water.

Bursa was also the residence of Camurat, bashaw, or, as we should say, governor or lieutenant of Turkey. He is a very brave man, the most active the Turk has, and the most able to conduct any enterprise, which qualities have been the princ.i.p.al cause of his elevation to this lieutenancy. I asked if he governed the country well, and if he knew how to make himself obeyed. I was told that he was obeyed and respected like Amurath himself, and had for his salary fifty thousand ducats a year; and that, when the Turk went to war, he brought him, at his own expense, twenty thousand men; but that he had likewise his pensioners, who in this case were bound to supply him at their charges, one with a thousand men, another with two, another with three thousand, and so on with the rest.

There are in Bursa two bazaars; one where all sorts of silken stuffs, and rich and brilliant diamonds, are sold, great quant.i.ties of pearls, and cheap cotton cloths, and a variety of other merchandise, the enumeration of which would be tiresome. In the other bazaar, cotton and white soap are sold, and const.i.tute a great article of commerce. I saw also, in a market-house, a lamentable sight-a public sale of Christians for slaves, both men and women. The custom is to make them sit down on benches, and he who comes to buy sees only the face, the hands, and a little of the arm of the females. I witnessed at Damascus the sale of a young black girl, of not more than fifteen or sixteen years of age; she was led along the streets quite naked, excepting the belly, the hinder parts, and a little below them.

It was at Bursa that I ate, for the first time, caviare and olive oil.

This food is only fit for Greeks, and when nothing better can be had.

Some days after the return of Hoyarbarach, I went to take leave of him, and to thank him for the means he had procured me of continuing my journey to this place. I found him in the bazaar, seated on an elevated stone bench, with many of the princ.i.p.al inhabitants of the town. The merchants had accompanied me in this visit: some of them, Florentines by nation, interested themselves on behalf of a Spaniard, who, having been a slave to the sultan, found means to escape from Egypt and come to Bursa. They begged I would take him with me. I carried him at my expense as far as Constantinople, where I left him; but I am persuaded he was a renegade, and I have never heard any thing of him since.

Three Genoese had bought spices from the merchants of the caravan, and intended carrying them for sale to Pera, near Constantinople, and on the other side of the straits, which we call the Straits of St. George.

Wis.h.i.+ng to take the advantage of their company, I waited for their departure, and for this reason stayed at Bursa, for no one can pa.s.s this strait unless he be known. With this view, they procured me a letter from the governor, which I carried with me; but it was useless, for I found means to cross with them. We set out together; but they made me, for greater security, buy a high red hat, with a huvette of iron wire[477], which I wore as far as Constantinople.

On leaving Bursa, we travelled northward over a plain watered by a deep river, which, about four leagues lower down, falls into the gulf between Constantinople and Gallipoli. We had a day's journey among mountains, which wood and a clayey soil made very disagreeable. There was on the road a small tree bearing a fruit somewhat bigger than our largest cherries, and of the shape and taste of strawberries, but a little acid.

It is pleasant to eat; but, if a great quant.i.ty be eaten, it mounts to the head, and intoxicates. It is ripe in November and December[478].