Between Bir And Feluchia, There Are Certain Places On The
Euphrates Where You Have To Pay Custom, Being So Many
_Medins_ for a
_some_ or camels load, together with certain quantities of raisins and
soap, which are for the sons
Of _Aborise_, who is lord of the Arabs and
of that great desert, and hath some villages on the river. Feluchia,
where the goods coming from Bir are unladed, is a small village, from
whence you go to Bagdat in one day.
Babylon, or Bagdat, is not a very large town, but is very populous, and
much frequented by strangers, being the centre of intercourse between
Persia, Turkey, and Arabia, caravans going frequently from it to these
and other countries. It is well supplied with provisions, which are
brought from Armenia down the river Tigris, upon rafts made of goat skin
bags blown full of wind, over which boards are laid, on which the goods
are loaded. When these are discharged, the skin bags are opened and
emptied of air, and are then carried back to Armenia on camels to serve
again. Bagdat belonged formerly to Persia, but is now subject to the
Turks. Over against Bagdat, on the other side of the Tigris, is a very
fair village, to which there is a passage across from Bagdat by a long
bridge of boats, connected by a vast iron chain made fast at each side
of the river. When any boats have to pass up or down the river, a
passage is made for them by removing some of the boats of this bridge.
The Tower of Babel is on this side of the Tigris towards Arabia, about
seven or eight miles from Bagdat, being now ruined on all sides, and
with the ruins thereof hath made a little mountain, so that no shape or
form of a tower remains. It was built of bricks dried in the sun, having
canes and leaves of the palm-tree laid between the courses of bricks. It
stands in a great plain between the Tigris and Euphrates, and no
entrance can be any where seen for going into it.
Near the river Euphrates, two days journey from Bagdat, in a field near
a place called _Ait_, there is a hole in the ground which continually
throws out boiling pitch accompanied by a filthy smoke, the pitch
flowing into a great field which is always full of it. The _Moors_ call
this opening the mouth of hell; and on account of the great abundance
of the pitch, the people of the country daub all their boats two or
three inches thick with it on the outside, so that no water can enter
them. These boats are called _danec_. When there is plenty of water in
the Tigris, the boats may go down from Bagdat to Basora in eight or nine
days; but when the water is low it requires a longer time.
In times past, Basora belonged to the Arabs, but is now subject to the
Turks. Yet there are some Arabs that the Turks cannot subdue, as they
occupy certain islands in the great river Euphrates, which the Turks
have never been able to conquer. These Arabs are all thieves, and have
no settled dwelling, but remove from place to place with their camels,
horses, goats, wives, children, and household goods. They wear large
blue gowns; their wives having their ears and noses full of copper and
silver rings, and wear copper rings on their legs. Basora is near the
head of the gulf of Persia, and drives a great trade in spiceries and
drugs, which come from Ormus. The country round produces abundance of
white rice and dates, with which they supply Bagdat and all the country,
sending likewise to Ormus and India. I went from Basora to Ormus, down
the gulf of Persia, in a ship made of boards sewed together with
_cayro_, which is a thread made of the husks of coco-nuts, and having
certain canes, or leaves, or straw, sewed upon the seams between the
boards, so that these vessels leak very much. Having Persia on our left
hand, and Arabia on our right, we passed many islands, and among others
the famous isle of Baharin, or Bahrain, from which come the best and
roundest orient pearls.
Ormus is an island about 25 or 30 miles in circuit, which is perhaps the
most arid and barren island in the world, as it produces nothing but
salt, all its water, wood, provisions, and every other necessary, coming
from Persia, which is about 12 miles distant; but all the other islands
thereabout are very fertile, and from them provisions are sent to Ormus.
The Portuguese have here a castle near the sea, with a captain and a
competent garrison, part of which dwell in the castle and part In the
town; in which likewise dwell merchants from all nations, together with
many Moors and Gentiles. This place has a great trade in spices, drugs,
silk, cloth of silk, fine tapestry of Persia, great store of pearls from
Bahrain, which are the best of all pearls, and many horses from Persia
which supply all India. Their king is a Moor, or Mahomedan, who is
chosen by the Portuguese, and is entirely under subjection to them.
Their women are very strangely attired, wearing many rings set with
jewels on their ears, noses, necks, arms, and legs, and locks of gold
and silver in their ears, and a long bar of gold upon the sides of their
noses. The holes in their ears are worn so wide with the weight of their
jewels, that one may thrust three fingers into them.
Very shortly after our arrival at Ormus we were put into prison, by
order of Don Mathias de Albuquerque, the governor of the castle, and had
part of our goods taken from us; and on the 11th October, he shipped us
from thence, sending us to the viceroy at Goa, who at that time was Don
Francisco de Mascarenhas.
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