Near This City There Is A Hill Of
Salt, From Whence Every One May Take As Much As He Pleases, Without Paying
Any Thing Whatever To Any Person.
Many Christians from all parts of the
world are to be found in this place, over whom the Saracens have the
supreme authority.
From Tauris I travelled to the city called Soldania[4], where the Persian
emperor resides during the summer; but in winter he changes his residence
to another city upon the sea of Baku[5]. Soldania is a large city, but very
cold, from its situation in the mountains, and has considerable trade, and
abundance of good water. From thence I set out with a caravan of merchants,
for the Upper India, and in our way, after many days journey, we came to
Cassan or Casbin[6], the noble and renowned city of the three wise men,
which abounds in bread and wine, and many other good things, but the
Tartars have nearly destroyed it. From this city to Jerusalem, to which the
three wise men we're led by miracle, the distance is fifty days journey.
For the sake of brevity I omit many wonderful things which I saw in this
city. Going from thence, we came to the city of Geste[7], whence the sea of
sand, a most wonderful and dangerous track, is distant only one days
journey. In the city of Yezd there is abundance of all kinds of victuals,
especially of figs, grapes, and raisins, which are there more plentiful, in
my opinion, than in any other part of the world. It is one of the principal
cities in all Persia, and its Saracen inhabitants allege that no Christian
can live there above a year. Continuing our journey forwards for many days,
I came to a city named Comum[8], which was a great city in old times, near
fifty miles in circumference, and often did much damage to the Romans. In
this place there are stately palaces, now destitute of inhabitants, yet it
hath abundance of provisions. Travelling from thence through many
countries, I came at length into the land of Job, named Us[9], which
borders on the north of Chaldea. This land is full of all kinds of
provisions, and manna is here found in great abundance. Four partridges are
sold here for less than an Italian groat; and the mountains have excellent
pastures for cattle. In this country the men card and spin, and not the
women; and the old men are very comely.
[1] Perhaps the sea of Marmora; or it may indicate the Euxine or Black
Sea. - E.
[2] The holy traveller ought rather to have said, that the springs or
rivulet near Azaron flowed into the Euphrates. Azaron is obviously
Erzerum, on or near one of the higher branches of the Frat or
Euphrates. - E.
[3] Tebriz in Persia. - E.
[4] Sultania or Sultanie. - E.
[5] The Caspian; so called in this place, from Baku or Baccou, a city on
its banks, in the province of Shirvan. - E.
[6] Oderic must have made a mistake here, as Casbin is not above seventy or
eighty miles from Sultanie, and the journey of the caravans between
these cities, could not have exceeded four or five days. - E.
[7] Yezd, about 500 miles east from Ispahan. - E.
[8] This is obviously the city of Kom or Koom, above 400 miles to the
north-west of Yezd, and much nearer Sultanie. Our traveller,
therefore, must either have strangely forgotten his route or he came
back again from Yezd, instead of journeying forwards. - E.
[9] Khus or Khosistan, the south-western province of Persia. - E.
SECTION II
Of the Manners of the Chaldeans, and concerning India.
From thence I travelled into Chaldea, which is a great kingdom, having a
language peculiar to itself, and I passed beside the Tower of Babel. The
men of this country have their hair nicely braided and trimmed, like the
women of Italy, wearing turbans richly ornamented with gold and pearls, and
are a fine looking people: but the women are ugly and deformed, and are
clad in coarse shifts, only reaching to their knees, with long sleeves
hanging down to the ground, and breeches or trowsers which likewise reach
the ground, but their feet are bare. They wear no head-dresses, and their
hair hangs neglected and dishevelled about their ears. There are many other
strange things to be seen in this country.
From thence I travelled into the lower India, which was overrun and laid
waste by the Tartars[1]. In this country the people subsist chiefly on
dates, forty-two pound weight of which may be purchased for less than a
Venetian groat. Travelling on for many days, I arrived at Ormus on the main
ocean, which is a well fortified city, having great store of merchandize
and treasure. The heat of this country is excessive, and constrains the
people to make use of extraordinary expedients to preserve their lives[2].
In this place, their ships or barks are called jase, the planks of which
are sewed together with hemp. Embarking in one of these vessels, in which I
could find no iron whatever, I arrived in twenty-eight days sail at
Thana[3], in which place four of our friars suffered martyrdom for the
Christian faith. This country is well situated for trade, and has abundance
of bread and wine, and of all other articles necessary for the food of man.
The kingdom in ancient times was very large and populous, and was under the
dominion of King Porus, who fought a great battle with Alexander the
Macedonian conqueror. The inhabitants are idolaters, worshipping the fire,
and likewise paying divine honours to serpents, and even to trees. The
Saracens have conquered the whole of this land, and are themselves under
subjection to king Daldili[4]. In this country there are great numbers of
black lions; apes and monkies are also very numerous, and their bats are as
large as our pigeons.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 168 of 217
Words from 171175 to 172180
of 222093
