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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c66a5be --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #63894 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63894) diff --git a/old/63894-0.txt b/old/63894-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 904ce08..0000000 --- a/old/63894-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8430 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, Four Pilgrims, by William Boulting - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: Four Pilgrims - - -Author: William Boulting - - - -Release Date: November 27, 2020 [eBook #63894] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FOUR PILGRIMS*** - - -E-text prepared by Turgut Dincer and the Online Distributed Proofreading -Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by -Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/fourpilgrims00bouliala - - - - - -FOUR PILGRIMS - -by - -WILLIAM BOULTING - -Author of -_Giordano Bruno: his Life, Thought, and Martyrdom_; -_Woman in Italy, 1100–1600 A.D._, etc. - - - - - - -London: -Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd., -New York: E. P. Dutton & Co. - - - - -ERRATA. - - -Page 84, Line 2. For “a little before” read “some time after.” - - - - -CONTENTS - - - I: HIUEN-TSIANG - - _Master of the Law; and his Perilous Journey to the Sacred - Land of Buddha_, A.D. 627–643. - - CHAP. PAGE - - I. THE ISOLATION OF CHINA 1 - - II. BUDDHA AND BUDDHISM 5 - - III. AN ADVENTUROUS JOURNEY 9 - - IV. THROUGH INDIA IN THE SEVENTH CENTURY 27 - - V. INDIAN SOCIAL LIFE IN THE SEVENTH - CENTURY 47 - - VI. THE JOURNEY HOME BY A NEW AND - PERILOUS ROUTE 55 - - VII. PEACEFUL DAYS 61 - - - II: SÆWULF, AN ENGLISH PILGRIM TO - PALESTINE - - I. EARLY PILGRIMAGE TO PALESTINE 65 - - II. “DIEU LE VEULT” 68 - - III. SÆWULF’S RECORD 72 - - - III: MOHAMMED IBN ABD ALLAH, - - _Better known as Ibn Batûta, the Greatest of Moslem - Travellers_, A.D. 1304–77. - - I. THE WHIRLWIND FROM ARABIA AND WHAT - FOLLOWED 89 - - II. A RESOLUTE PILGRIM 96 - - III. A ROUNDABOUT PILGRIMAGE 104 - - IV. GLIMPSES OF ARABIA, PERSIA AND EAST - AFRICA IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY 109 - - V. TO INDIA BY WAY OF CONSTANTINOPLE AND - THE STEPPES 117 - - VI. AN EASTERN DESPOT 128 - - VII. PERILS BY LAND AND SEA 137 - - VIII. OFF TO MALAYSIA AND CATHAY 147 - - IX. MOORS OF SPAIN AND NEGROES OF TIMBUKTU 158 - - - IV: LUDOVICO VARTHEMA OF BOLOGNA, - - _Renegade Pilgrim to Mecca, Foremost of Italian Travellers_. - - I. THE GREAT AGE OF THE RENAISSANCE AND - OF DISCOVERY 163 - - II. FROM VENICE TO DAMASCUS 165 - - III. OVER THE DESERT TO MECCA 172 - - IV. THE ESCAPE FROM THE CARAVAN 186 - - V. CERTAIN ADVENTURES IN ARABIA THE HAPPY 190 - - VI. EASTWARD HO! 200 - - VII. THE PAGANS OF NARSINGA 208 - - VIII. FARTHER INDIA, MALAYSIA AND THE BANDA - ISLANDS 221 - - IX. SOME CUNNING MANOEUVRES 235 - - X. WAR BY LAND AND SEA 244 - - XI. THE NEW WAY ROUND THE CAPE 249 - - - - -PREFACE - - -Pilgrimage has been popular in all countries and at all times. For what -could be happier than an agreeable change which should contribute at -once to welfare of soul, refreshment of spirit, and vigour of body? -Adventures on the way gave zest to the enterprise. If the more timid -or feeble were content to visit neighbouring shrines, those of hardier -mould, like the Wife of Bath, took more formidable journeys. - - “Thries hadde she been at Jerusalem; - She hadde passed many a straunge strem; - At Rome she hadde been, and at Boloigne, - In Galice at Seint Jame, and at Coloigne, - She koude muchel of wandrynge by the weye.” - -Some of the boldest and bravest of ancient travellers were pilgrims, -and we have their records of wide wandering. But their style is -archaic, has at best little purely literary merit, and is usually -forbidding. They are little known, except to the special student. - -The footprints then are scanty, and all the worse for time, which -testify to ardent spirits that once inhabited the warm vesture of -flesh, but have long, long ago been laid to rest. I have tried to -set forth certain of these dead and half-forgotten worthies as with -“organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions,” even as we. Four -have been chosen. Three of these were shrewd, fearless, observant -men, who overcame surpassing obstacles and met with adventure almost -unparalleled. The first of my bundle of four was a Chinaman, a Buddhist -monk of the early Seventh Century, who started alone on an almost -impossible quest. My second was an Englishman of the earliest years -of the Twelfth Century, who gives us some notion of what the ordinary -palmer was like who got to Jerusalem, - - “e qui devoto - Il gran sepolchro adora e scioglie il voto” - -(“and venerates the Holy Sepulchre and discharges his vow”). My third -was a Mohammedan, who, in the first half of the Fourteenth Century, -made several pilgrimages to Mecca and ran over the world from Tangier -to Pekin and from Turkestan to Timbuktu. My fourth was a very son of -the glowing age of Julius II, the first European Christian on record -to reach Mecca, one who outstripped the Portuguese in reaching the -aromatic islands of the Banda Sea. In each case, there is a brief -historical foreword to give the pilgrim due introduction into his -proper setting. - - WILLIAM BOULTING. - - - - -I.—HIUEN-TSIANG. - -MASTER OF THE LAW; AND HIS PERILOUS JOURNEY TO THE SACRED LAND OF -BUDDHA, A.D. 627–643. - - - - -CHAPTER I. THE ISOLATION OF CHINA - - -For thousands of years China was a world to itself, cut off from the -races of men. The main causes of this singular seclusion are simple:— - -China was protected from serious invasion by her geographical position. -Northward, it was no easy business for the barbarous intruder to find a -way into China from the Manchurian plain, or for a Chinaman to find a -way out; and it was still more difficult to effect a passage by force. -To the North-West rose the forbidding walls of the Altai Mountains; -and, between them and China, a broad and demon-haunted waste of sand -blocked the way. Westward, huge interlocked ranges of Central Asia—the -Thian Shan and Pamirs—mountains which o’er top Alp or Caucasus, which -rival the loftiest Andes, and which are inferior only to Himalaya, -presented perils in abundance. These difficulties surmounted, the -vast, trackless sands of Gobi formed a second barrier; and the steep -rocks of Ala-Shan and In-Shan were a third. To the South-West rose the -plateau of Thibet, interlocking with the Pamirs—a plateau with a mean -level of more than 12,000 feet, terminating southward in Himalaya, that -highest and broadest of mountain-walls. To the South of China were the -dense forests, deep valleys, and rapid rivers of Burma and Tonquin. -Eastward the Celestial Empire was guarded by the sea: to reach China -from India was a long and perilous voyage; and the boldest navigator -might hesitate to entrust his clumsy craft to the caprice of the Indian -Ocean, to thread his way through the tortuous straits of Malaysia, and -to chance an encounter with the fierce islanders who lined them, only -in the end to reach a jealous shore. The unwieldly Chinese junk—a -town afloat—did, however, make a periodic and prolonged voyage—at -least in later days—to India; and a few bands of bold, hardy traders -were wont to cross over the formidable passes of Central Asia on -horses, mules, or asses, and to traverse vast, trackless wastes on -camels. They exchanged the products of India, Persia, and those States -which were watered by the classic streams of Oxus and Jaxartes, for the -silks and manufactures of Cathay. Chinese porcelain has been found in -Egyptian tombs. - -China enjoyed a soil so productive of every kind of wealth that she was -independent of commercial intercourse with other lands. Secure from all -invaders but the scattered hordes of Mongolia, she developed a high and -distinctive civilization, which became more and more fixed and rigid, -but was superior in many respects to that of other Eastern States. By -the Seventh Century of our Era, good roads, good inns, and an admirable -system of canals rendered internal communication easy; the heavens had -been surveyed by astronomical instruments of some precision; and the -art of printing, which had not then been discovered long, was in use; -although to this day the Chinese do without the valuable economy of an -alphabet. - -Moreover the Chinese People preferred to be undisturbed by stimulus -from without. Yet China transmitted her culture to her near and less -civilized neighbours—Japan and the Indo-Chinese peninsula—and claimed -a precarious overlordship of semi-barbarous Manchuria, Mongolia, -Eastern Turkestan and Thibet. During a long stretch of time, the -powerful and jealous Persian Empire was a bar to intercourse with the -far West; because it tried to preserve a monopoly of its own products. - -The records of early intercourse with other countries are few; and -those few are meagre. Thirteen centuries before the age in which -Hiuen-Tsiang lived, Embassies from distant nations would seem to -have reached China. Marcus Aurelius despatched a mission (A.D. 166) -to establish direct relations; it travelled by way of India; and -failed. Carus sent another (A.D. 284). At the close of the fourth -century, Ammianus Marcellinus knew of the Chinese as a people dwelling -on fertile plains enclosed by protecting mountains: “a frugal folk, -studying to live peacefully and shunning intercourse with the rest of -mankind.” Half a century later, Moses the Armenian spoke of them as -“dwelling in wealth and civility at the end of the earth; a people -worthy to be called not merely the friends of peace but of life.” -Until the Great Age of Discovery arrived as a novel development of the -Great Age of the Renaissance to derange and remodel the earth, Cathay -was little more than a name to European ears: before the Nineteenth -Century, the Celestial Empire remained undisturbed by the Modern World. - -Although the Chinese Government was always persistently obstructive to -foreign intercourse, it took an interest in foreign religions. This -seeming paradox was due to the fact that Confucianism, the official -Faith, was essentially a body of moral precepts, as was Taoism, (albeit -Taoism had stronger pretension to metaphysic), and both people and -rulers were eager to receive any moral doctrine which might strengthen -that love of peace and orderly conduct which would seem to be inborn -in the Chinese breast. There was no _odium theologicum_ in China. Now, -Buddhism was essentially an ethical system, and had much in common with -Taoism. On the whole, the Chinese were eager to adopt it; especially -as becoming a good Buddhist did not disallow of one’s remaining a good -Confucian, or of reconciling Buddhistic and Taoistic speculation. The -Chinese government naturally sanctioned a creed fitted to keep a people -quiet and submissive; and Buddhism proved to be peculiarly suited to -the Chinese mind: it touched the Chinese heart and left a profound -effect on Chinese character. - -It had to compete with other religions. For with the caravan of the -trader came many religious Zealots, such as the Fire-Worshippers of -Persia. At the very beginning of Mohammedanism, Wahd-Abi-Kabha, the -maternal uncle of the Prophet, reached China, bearing presents to the -Emperor; and Mohammedans were to be found there in the third decade -of Hiuen-Tsiang’s life; while, in the following decade, Nestorian -missionaries introduced Christianity, which, after due examination, an -Imperial Decree declared to be a satisfactory and permissible faith. -Buddhist missionaries carried the teaching of Gautama to China at a -period not yet ascertained; but it must have lost much of its early -purity by whatever time that may have been. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -BUDDHA AND BUDDHISM. - - -Gautama was the son of a petty chieftain, who exercised limited -authority in a district which lay north of Faîzâbâd. He lived about 600 -years before the beginning of the Christian era—about the time when -Jerusalem fell to Nebuchadnezzar and Assyria to the Medes. The evils of -disease, old age, and death weighed on the melancholy mind of the young -princelet: he sought for some way of escape from the curse of craving -flesh and the wild delirium of desire. He abandoned wife and family; -and dwelt, at first, in the solitude of a jungle. At this time, his -life was one of pure contemplation. Then a wave of love for humanity -and profound grief at human suffering swept over him. He resumed the -active life, preaching a pure religion of duty and affection along the -valley of the Ganges; for his soul, like the soul of Plato’s poet, “was -no longer within him.” He had learned and he taught that the misery of -Being is mitigated by strict obedience to the Law of human kindness and -duty. He made stirring appeals to heart and conscience, and supported -his mission by the ancient doctrine of Kharma, which Brâhmans had -taught him—the doctrine that the action of the evil will, barren as -its fruits invariably prove for the living agent, is delayed, but not -destroyed, by death, and builds up a new body and mind, which reap the -bitter harvest of former transgression and also the weal which results -from former well-doing. The heart achieves blessedness in proportion -to its purification; a good life acquires merit, by means of which -relative freedom is obtained from the mournful, malevolent turnings -of the “wheel of things.” Completely purified, Nirvâna (which is -sometimes interpreted as nescience, sometimes as the supra-conscious), -peace in the very heart of things, is obtained. All men may be touched -by love; but only rare intelligencies will seek Nirvâna. For the way -to the Blessed Life is steep and beset with thorns; but the resolute -spirit may achieve increasing and even perfect tranquillity by -uprooting every germ of ill-will and trampling down every one of those -passions of mind or body the results of which are as futile as their -origin is senseless. Gautama accepted the institution of the cloister -then, for such men of high intelligence as sought the truly spiritual. -In time Buddhistic monasticism became divided into the system of the -“Lesser Vehicle”—an ascetic scheme of discipline,—and that of the -“Greater Vehicle” for richer and more metaphysical minds. The first -aimed at restraint; the second, at contemplation. Buddha had no regard -for caste; and this brought his teaching into conflict with that of -the Brâhmans; he promised no endless personal life in heaven—only -progressive release from the evils of temporal existence; he did not -interfere with the popular worship of gods. His doctrine was an appeal -to our more spiritual nature, and closely resembles the Sermon on the -Mount. It awakened a people bound by a system of lifeless forms framed -by a priestly caste, yet who were all athirst for living waters. - -But Buddhism speedily became metaphysical in the metaphysical East. -Some of the convents grew into abodes of speculation and seminaries of -learning. It was held that Gautama was the latest of those Buddhas, -those “redeemers” of the world, into whose mother’s womb Bôdhisattva, -the spirit about to become a Buddha, descended spiritually. Yet the -purest teaching of the Spirit contains within itself the seeds of its -own decay: the germ of fulfilment is also the germ of dissolution. -The history of Buddhism strikingly illustrates the truth of this, its -own tenet. Before long the new Faith, like unto Brâhmanism, became -half-throttled by formalism and encrusted by all manner of ridiculous -legend and vulgar superstition. And Asôka, who usurped a throne and -established an Empire at Magadha, near Behar (in the 3rd century before -Christ?) embodied the ethics of Buddhism in formal ordinances. The -letter and not the spirit, of the Law prevailed. But Asôka sent forth -missionaries, East and West and North and South, and they reached far -distant lands. - -Probably imperfect and infrequent relations between Chinese Buddhists -and Indian priests were maintained through the medium of caravans -of trade. These have left no record; but in A.D. 65, the Chinese -Authorities sent envoys to Sind by the long, painful, and perilous -overland route. They returned with an Indian priest, sacred writings, -and sacred images of Buddha. After this, an occasional embassy from -India arrived; but such missions soon came to an end, although a -little intercourse was kept up with Ceylon by means of an arduous and -dangerous voyage. Not until the fourth century were Chinamen allowed -to become Buddhist priests. Then, at once, monasteries sprang up all -over the country. About the year 400 Fa-Hian and others with him were -sent on an embassy to secure religious writings. They made their -difficult way through Central Asia. Fa-Hian alone returned, after 14 -years absence, by way of Ceylon, bearing authentic scripture with him. -A hundred years later Sung-Yun became a pilgrim to the same end and -was successful in securing a hundred and seventy volumes. Gautama, -like Jesus, had taught by word of mouth only. His manner was to utter -some pithy precept, and then to develop it in a running commentary. -But his disciples recorded these precious words; and, from time to -time, expositions and doctrinal developments and marvellous fables -were added. Of these, the earlier were written in Pali; the later -in Sanskrit, even then a dead tongue, knowledge of which was the -privilege of a small learned class. These Buddhistic writings, made on -prepared palm-leaves, were regarded by the faithful with superstitious -reverence; and Chinese Buddhists were anxious to obtain complete and -accurate copies of them, as well as sacred images and relics of Buddha, -which might serve as the objects of deep veneration. - -At no period has the disordered tragedy of human history been more -cataclysmic than in the early part of the Seventh Century after Christ. -The whole world was then a theatre of wild unrest and stupendous -change, little as one fragment of the human race might know of aught -but its own disasters or triumphs. The shattered edifice of the -Roman Empire of the West was run over by Lombard, Frank and Goth and -races still more barbarous than these. From Cheviot to Illyricum, -all was confused, bloody, and unceasing riot. The exceptional vigour -of Heraclius alone saved the Roman Empire of the East from the -ever-watchful and now advancing hosts of Persia; while a new and -wholly unexpected menace arose in the Arabian desert: there a peril -burst forth as abrupt, fierce and overwhelming as a sandstorm of that -rocky waste. For Mohammed and his followers advanced thence with fiery -and resistless speed to offer the nations choice between the Koran, -tribute, and the sword. Even distant, tranquil China, the land cut off -from the rest of mankind was parturient: the Empire had broken up, and -was contended for by vulturine feudatories, who fought together for -sole possession of its bleeding carcase. A new and strong dynasty arose -amid slaughter and desolation. But, for a time, Central China was hell -let loose. The adolescence of Hiuen-Tsiang was passed amid scenes of -death and dismay. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -AN ADVENTUROUS JOURNEY. - - -This boldest of pilgrims, greatest of Chinese travellers came into the -world A.D. 603—nearly twelve hundred years after the founder of his -faith. He was the fourth son of a Chinese Professor in the Province -of Ho-nan, in Central China. Probably he shewed mental ability and a -devotional spirit early; for the second of his elder brethren took him -into his own monastery at Lo-Yang, the Eastern Capital, to supervise -his education. The boy is said to have evinced such brilliant parts and -such a spiritual mind that he became a novice at what would seem, at -that time, to have been the exceptionally early age of thirteen years; -although, two centuries before, Fa-Hian was a novice at three! It was -soon after this event that revolution shook the ancient Empire, and -came near to disrupt it. China became a slaughter-house, and Buddhist -priests were murdered as well as Government Officials. - -As certain saints bear witness, the passion that wings its flight -towards no earthly home is occasionally combined with bold and -efficient direction of mundane life. It was so combined in -Hiuen-Tsiang. The monk of perfervid faith gave early proof that he was -a lad of mettle as well as an enthusiast for the Greater Vehicle. In -resolution and spirit, he dominated his elder brother, and insisted on -their both setting off, in the teeth of peril, for a safer place in the -Eastern province of Sz-chuen; and here he ended his novitiate and was -fully ordained at the age of twenty. - -At last, chaos within the Chinese frontier and warfare along it began -to yield to the military genius and state-craft of T’ai-Tsung, the -greatest of Chinese warriors and rulers. Hiuen-Tsiang was not slow -to avail himself of the return of some measure of tranquillity to -the State. He disobeyed monastic authority, joined a band of nomadic -traders, and visited convent after convent of the wide Empire, with the -purpose of clearing his mind, in debate with their inmates, concerning -difficult problems in scriptural scholarship and the precise import -of certain tenets of his faith. There was full scope for speculative -discussion, since Chinese Buddhists did not yet possess a complete set -of the Sacred Writings or of the Buddhist Fathers and workers in that -kind of suggestive fiction which is so often taken to be veritable -history and which becomes the wardrobe of moral truth. Much was, as -yet, unsettled by authority and lay open to dispute. - -Dissatisfied by the indefinite results of controversy, and fired by -the records of previous pilgrims, the young monk resolved to make for -the cradle and sanctuary of Buddhism and to seek there for the books -which his countrymen lacked. He and a few ardent monks applied to -the newly-established Emperor for permission to do this. The monarch -was Kao-T’sou, first of the T’ang dynasty—that most famous of the -many Imperial lines of China—the glory of having founded which -rests with his son, the redoubtable T’ai-Tsung, whom, later on, we -shall find seated on his father’s throne. The request was made at -an inopportune time, and was refused. For monkdom did not stand in -court-favour just then; monks were ordered to marry; possibly, because -recent internecine strife had thinned the population; possibly, also, -because the new government was jealous, in a perilous time, of the -power of growing sacerdotalism. This prohibition put an end to the -hope of Hiuen-Tsiang’s coadjutors: it only increased his own ardour -and hardened his own resolve. He was now 24 years of age; therefore in -the full vigour of early manhood; he cared nothing for obedience to -constituted authority when constituted authority stood in the way of -spiritual enlightenment. And he was not merely filled with religious -enthusiasm: the restless force and curiosity of youth were his; there -were shrewd, observant eyes in his head as well as disciplined wits. -Here was a man anxious and fitted to observe the physical features, -governments, productions, and peculiarities of unknown countries and to -record them. Westward, beyond the setting sun, lay mysterious lands, -vague as a dream, yet to be found a reality in this so wondrous world. -There was a call from afar. When the spirit of one born for action is -all a fire with enthusiasm begotten of idea, let the world keep watch! - -It would appear from Tao-Sun, a Chinese author contemporary with -Hiuen-Tsiang, that there were three routes from China to India—the -one which our traveller took; the one by which he returned; and a -third from Lake Lob-nor, over the thousand miles of terrible plateau -in Thibet and the Himalayas to Nepal. Before long Hiuen Tsiang was -at Liang-chau, the capital of the province of Lan-su, far beyond the -upper reaches of the great Yellow River, and nearly at the extreme -north-western limit of China Proper. Here were gathered merchants -from Thibet and other far-distant lands; and these were so impressed -by Hiuen-Tsiang’s fervour and the grandeur of his project that they -are said to have cast themselves at his feet. They provided him with -ample means to go on. Now, Chinese administration in the province of -Lan-su had only been established recently, and remained insecure; no -inhabitant was allowed to cross the frontier; and the Governor was -a strong man who rigorously enforced his regulations. But what are -the strongest bonds of any mere narrow national group against the -conflicting obligation of Moral or Ideal impulse? How can usage and -prescription and enactment prevail against more spiritual forces? -Our would-be pilgrim secured the aid of a friendly monk, and stole -out of the city by night, accompanied by two young novices. The trio -stealthily, yet rapidly, pursued their course each night; they crept -furtively into some hiding place before each dawn. By the time this -evasive noctambulation had brought them to Kwa-chau, more than a -hundred miles north-east of Liang-chau, Hiuen-Tsiang’s horse was dead. -There was small comfort in learning that he would have to cross a river -so turbulent that no boat could live on it; that, beyond the river, -was an entrenchment which he must contrive to get over; and that, even -should he overcome this obstacle, the frontier was closed by rings of -forts; beyond the forts there was a vast stretch of herbless, waterless -waste; and beyond this desert lay the land of a Turkish people—those -Uïghurs, who appear in European folk-lore as the terrible Ogres. - -His heart sank within him; the melancholy which seized him lasted a -whole month, and his taciturnity made it apparent. The Imperial Veto -arrived at Kwa-chau; the Governor of the city sent him a summons to -appear. But this new blow roused his failing courage; he pulled himself -together; personality and enthusiasm prevailed at the interview; the -Governor was won over; Authority gave the pilgrim a hint to lose no -time in making off; and closed its official eye to his departure. - -Now, one of the novices was faint-hearted; the other sickly. -Hiuen-Tsiang sent them back. He was anxious to get on his solitary way -as fast as he could; so he bought a new horse; but he lacked a guide. -By a lucky accident he fell in with a “barbarian,” who expressed a -desire to become a monk, and who offered to guide him past the five -successive forts which lay ahead, and which he must somehow contrive to -dodge. The “barbarian” also took him to see an ancient trader who had -been to the land of the Uïghurs over thirty times. This old gentleman -made no attempt at reassuring him. “The routes of the West are rough -and dangerous,” he said, “now, one is stopped by shifting sands; now, -by demons and scorching winds. Even big caravans are liable to lose -their way and come to a miserable end. How, then, can you hope to -make the journey all by yourself? Be wise, I entreat you, and do not -play with your life.” But the monk answered that he held his life as -nothing when set against his holy quest. The old trader then dropped -vain arguments and proposed a deal which should be mutually profitable: -he would take the horse which Hiuen-Tsiang had bought, and would -give him his own Rosinante, which had made the journey so often, and -therefore must remember the road. The pilgrim, when he saw the beast, -recalled how one skilled in occult science had once spoken to him of an -ancient steed, reddish of colour, with a varnished saddle and an iron -framework to it; and lo! was not the very steed before him? He closed -the bargain; and he and the barbarian set forth together, each on his -“mount.” - -The twain came up to the river (the Bulunghir) and found a place where -there were narrows. The guide proved himself to be resourceful: he made -a sort of bridge of boughs, covered them with sand, and belaboured the -horses until they dashed across the frail structure. A strange way of -crossing an unfordable stream! but by no means so improbable as it -sounds. It is said to be still used in Central Asia. - -Night drew on. Both men were weary, and spread their mats for sleep. -But Hiuen-Tsiang placed small confidence in his guide. They lay fifty -paces apart. And, before long, our hero heard a stealthy footfall and -saw the dim outline of the half-savage stalking up to him. With drawn -sword, too! He sprang up, and breathed a prayer; whereupon the guide -returned to his own mat, stretched himself out, and straightway fell -asleep. Had he meant evil? or did he wish to make off if he found the -pilgrim asleep? or was his desire to frighten him from pursuing a -journey so perilous to them both? - -Next morning, being already within the verge of the desert, they ate -sparingly, but were lucky enough to find water. No more water would -be found until they reached close up to the first fort; and they must -steal this by night; for, once espied by the garrison, they might -count themselves dead men. The guide tried to work on our pilgrim to -give up such a mad enterprise. But Hiuen-Tsiang knew no shadow of -turning; so the twain, ears and eyes wide open, wormed they way over -the rough tackless waste. Suddenly the guide tightened his bow and bade -Hiuen-Tsiang go on in front. Our pilgrim was far too wary a person to -do anything of the kind; he was by no means satisfied as to the designs -of the half-civilized stranger. However, the barbarian quietly resumed -his duty as scout; but he displayed such a desire to be out of it all, -and his fears were so obviously growing, that Hiuen-Tsiang dismissed -him with a present of the horse he rode. - -Behold our traveller, then, solitary on the unending, pathless desert -of Gobi—one of the most immense of Earth’s waste places,—eagerly -on the look out for such heaps of bleached bones as might mark the -track of some caravan. After some time of slow, painful progress, -he beheld a band of men wearing glittering armour and bearing their -banners unfurled; they were making for him, but vanished as suddenly as -they appeared. It was the mirage come to perplex and delude him. One -illusion followed another in rapid succession; fleeting, dissolving -scenes which were the works of the Devil. But a voice said to him: -“Fear not.” This brought comfort, and his fear departed. He pushed on, -and in the end he sighted the watch-tower. He hid in a sand-hollow -until night closed round, and then he crept up to the wall of the fort -and found the hoped-for water. He was busy filling his leathern-bottle, -when an arrow whizzed by and very nearly hit him; and a second arrow -followed. He shouted out: “Stop your shooting. I am a monk from the -Capital.” Soldiers ran up, dragged him into the fort, and took him -before their captain. He produced papers which proved his identity, -and was treated with the respect due to a priest of Buddha; yet the -Captain urged him to return home. Finding the pilgrim to be a man of -heroic piety and inflexible will, he set out with him and guided him -some distance along the way to the next fort. He even gave Hiuen-Tsiang -a message to its captain, recommending the pilgrim to his favour and -assistance. But the message was a verbal one only. And Hiuen-Tsiang was -not sure that he might not find more rigour and less charity at the -next watch-tower; so, when he came up to it, he crept furtively towards -its base, in search of water as before. The dispatch of an arrow was -sufficient warning; he came into the open, and the scene at the first -fort was re-enacted. He repeated the message to its Captain; and this -second officer gave him hospitable entertainment and better advice. For -he urged him to avoid the third fort, which was held by rough soldiery, -who would not be nice in making delicate distinctions and might easily -become violent. And he directed him to take a route which avoided this -fort altogether, and along which, at ten leagues distance, he would -come across sweet water. - -He set off across the arid plain, where was neither beast nor bird to -be seen, nor blade of grass, nor any sign of moisture—only mirage. A -pandemonium of fantastic forms encircled him; forms begotten of the -Power of Evil. But he felt secure in the midst of devils; for did he -not bear, folded in his bosom, a sure talisman—none other than a -Sacred Manuscript, the gift of grateful leper to whom he had stood as a -friend? - -Illusory peril was followed by solid disaster: he dropped his -water-bottle and spilled its precious contents. Next, his horse lost -its way, and made the same long circuit again and again. For a moment, -he was tempted to assay a return to the fort: he brushed the thought -aside, turned his horse’s head to the North-West, and pushed on. - -Night came on. Evil spirits seized on the opportunity to close in on -him. Every demon bore a burning torch. They were more in multitude than -the stars of heaven. Four horrid nights, filled with hallucination, -wore away. Four days he struggled on, tortured by thirst, his body one -ache. At last horse and rider fell to the ground, worn out. Death was -close at hand when a refreshing night-breeze swept over the desert, -and horse and rider renewed the struggle. Suddenly, the horse insisted -on taking his own way: he had scented water; and soon a little oasis -was reached. It was uninhabited; but a day’s rest there refreshed man -and beast; and, on the third day, the traveller saw the last of the -shifting sands of Shamo and came to the pastures of the Uïghurs. - -In the capital, probably identical with the town now known as Hâmî, he -found a Buddhist monastery, wherein dwelt three Chinese monks. He had -already made fully 600 miles from Liang-chau; but that was as nothing -to the journey which lay before him; and from this he was compelled to -digress. For he was in a region tributary to the ruler of Kau-chang -(Turfan) and this monarch, having heard of his arrival, ordered that -he should be sent on to him. Six days of travel to the West, through -a desert, brought him to Turfan. The Lord-paramount of the Uïghurs -received him with all honour and much state-ceremony. He sat under -a “canopy of precious stuffs” pitched in the courtyard of a palace. -Soon after the pilgrim’s arrival, the queen, accompanied by her suite, -appeared; but Hiuen-Tsiang being fatigued, their Majesties retired to -the “palace,” and he was conducted to his chamber, where eunuchs served -and guarded him. Next day he was taken to a Buddhist convent, still in -the custody of the eunuchs. For the monarch had resolved to keep such a -holy person for the better instruction of his subjects. - -Hiuen-Tsiang incurred the royal displeasure by stoutly refusing to do -as he was bid and stay on. Then ensued, in that far away time and half -barbaric land, the ancient and ever recurrent struggle which history -so copiously illustrates—the contest between regnant authority and -the claims of religion. At one time the despot tried to brow-beat; at -another time, to cajole; he even put aside his dignity and offered -to serve the monk at table. Both men were equally resolute; and the -situation seemed hopeless, when Hiuen-Tsiang bethought him of an -expedient with which we moderns became familiar at no very recent -date. He started to hunger-strike. In four days the result of this -policy alarmed the King. The queen-mother declared herself for the holy -pilgrim, and the monarch gave in. He begged that Hiuen-Tsiang would at -least stay in the country during one short month. The monk accepted the -compromise; and in that single month his unaffected piety, passionate -singleness of aim and personal attraction did the work they never -failed to accomplish everywhere and on every occasion. Moral intensity -was the secret of his success. - -And so we see the poor wanderer who came to Uïghur-land alone, -famished, and half dead, leaving the land under the protection of an -armed escort, and provided, not merely with an ample supply of warm -clothing for the heights he must cross, but with 100 ounces of gold, -30,000 pieces of silver and 500 pieces of satin for the presents -which were necessary and to pay his way. He was also given letters of -recommendation to the Princes of the West. Monks and the population of -the city followed him beyond its gates; and the despot, having sent the -queen and people back, conducted him surrounded by his whole court, -some miles on his journey. - -The route lay westward, over a difficult, mountainous land. Southward -lay the Tarim, a considerable river, which discharges itself into -Lob-nor, one of the numerous inland salt-seas of Asia, for ever -rising and falling and shifting its boundaries. It was well that the -pilgrim had a military escort; for a band of brigands lurked among the -mountains. They were probably quite as strong as the Uïghur soldiery; -for negotiations were entered into, and ended in their being bought -off. A little farther on there was ghastly evidence that these -ruffians had recently attacked and destroyed a caravan of traders: a -few score corpses lay stretched out on the ground. - -When Kara-shahr (Karshâr) was reached, its King behaved courteously, -but refused to grant fresh horses, by reason of the frequent raiding of -his domain by the Uïghurs. He was disquieted by the presence of Uïghur -soldiery. Hiuen-Tsiang tells us, among much else that is interesting, -that the coinage here was of gold, silver and copper,—that there -were ten Buddhist monasteries of the Lesser Vehicle; that these were -properly kept, but that the country “had no annals” and that “the laws -were not settled. The people clothe themselves in cotton or wool, and -go about with their scalps shorn and uncovered.” - -The separate account of each country the pilgrim visited or concerning -which he believed he had credible information—his great monumental -work—the _Si-yu-ki_—begins with Kara-shahr which he calls Akni -or Agni. One is at once struck with the exactness of the author’s -observation, the orderliness of his mind, and the minute precision of -his statement. One is equally astounded at his oriental love of the -marvellous and his eager haste to record every grotesque and absurd -legend. There is before us a man as full as any modern explorer of -ardent zeal for travel, eager curiosity, keen eye, and quick interest -in all that is novel and peculiar. There is the same intellectual grasp -of the natural features, products and government of strange countries. -But Hiuen-Tsiang’s inmost, burning passion is revealed both in this -book and in the biography compiled from his documents and discourse -by two pupils and intimate friends Hwui-Lih and Yen-Tsong[1]: it was -for all that appertained to his religion, whether sacred writing or -Buddhist monuments or the relics of saints. When he deals with mundane -matters he rarely goes astray. And, from his earliest years, he bore a -sacred flame, a consuming fire in his breast, fed by the highest and -holiest emotions and aspirations of man. But, although he breathed the -breath of life, the purest atmosphere of the East in his century was -tainted by superstition. The mental disposition for the marvellous, -implanted in him at a tender age, and sustained by precept and example, -waxed with the years. The absurdest legends became credible if they -bore the name of his faith. This close observer, this clear minded -man became passionate for prodigies, had a Gargantuan swallow for the -superstitious-grotesque. Brought up on legend, he soon found himself in -a home of fable. He records every marvellous tale which is told him, -and worships at every shrine which guards any relic of wonder. And this -although he was not wanting in passion for orderly thinking. - -News from Kara-shahr that a holy pilgrim, bound for India, might be -expected reached the next Kingdom, and he found monks standing to greet -him at the gate of Kutchê, its capital. Feelings of simple grace and -beauty dwelt in those Eastern hearts; they welcomed him with a gift -of flowers. But the strict laws of his order did not permit of his -accepting these for himself. He placed them before an image of Buddha, -Teacher of the Law. Kutchê was a land of music, its people excelling -all others on the lute and pipe. They were a wholly honest folk, -with an incompetent ruler. “The King’s wisdom being small,” says our -Chinaman, “he is ruled by a private minister. The heads of children of -the humbler order are flattened by the pressure of a wooden board”; -which recalls the custom of certain North American Indians. The King -had ordered a banquet to honour his visitor; but the strictness of the -rule which Hiuen-Tsiang followed forbade him to be present. This cast -the potentate into a mighty rage; but once again the simplicity and -sincerity of the pilgrim’s character, which glowed in his countenance, -disarmed wrath. He was retained at Kutchê, an honoured guest, until -such time as the snows should melt. He spent two months there, chiefly -occupied in religious discussion with the monks. He tells us that the -monarch and his ministers met together once a month to discuss matters -of state, and consulted the priests before publishing their decrees. - -When the season ripened and the ways became open once more, he was sent -forth in magnificent pomp and protection; he was accompanied by an -armed escort and a staff of servants, all mounted on camels and horses. -The escort was very necessary; for a great horde of Turkish robbers -were passed on the way, quarrelling about the booty of a caravan which -they had stopped and plundered. A march of about 120 miles brought -our party to a small desert which they crossed over, and so entered -the domain of another Khân. A single night was spent at what is now -Bai, where he found Buddhist monasteries, and the party pushed across -another small desert. The towering and forbidding ranges of Thian-shan -were before them, “very dangerous and reaching up to the sky.” Indeed -Khân Tengri, the highest mountain of the range, has an elevation of -24,000 feet. The imposing features of the mountain-masses and the -horror of the passes across them left indelible marks on Hiuen-Tsiang’s -memory. “Since the creation of the world,” he says, “the snow has -gathered there and become frozen blocks, which spring and summer cannot -melt. Shining sheets of solid ice spread before one, and there is, as -it were, no end to them; they blend with the clouds. Frozen splinters -have become detached and have fallen; some of these are an hundred -feet high; others measure some dozens of feet athwart, and they bar -the way. You attempt to climb over the former kind at your peril; you -get across the latter with pain. And all the time tempest assails -you with gusts of wind and whirling drifts of snow; so that double -soles to your foot-gear and fur garments to your body fail to keep -out the cold. Of dry shelter there is none, either to feed or sleep -in. You have to sling up your cooking-pot and lay your sleeping mat -on the frozen ground.” Mountain-staves were used, and we learn from -the _Si-yu-ki_ (the “Record of Western Countries”) that mountaineers -were accustomed to cut steps in the ice. But to climb uncharted hills, -among the highest of the world, led by guides of no great experience; -to make one’s way over rock and glacier unroped and unprovided with -specially constructed boots; to sleep in the open in rarified and -arctic air; to live on poor food, and often to lack it, was to loathe -the mountain-pass. And this Hiuen-Tsiang did, heartily. - -It cost the caravan seven dolorous days to cross the higher ranges, -and, by the time the western uplands were reached, 13 or 14 strong men -had been lost through cold and hunger, and more than double that number -of beasts of burthen. - -Beyond the mountains, the uplands of Western Turkestan lie at a higher -level than that reached by Ben Nevis, and they embosom a great inland -sea—the Issyk-Kul, which lies nearly 5,000 feet up. Wending their -way along its southern shore, our travellers ran into a hunting party -of the Khân of the Turks. Only half a century had then passed since -nomadic Turkish tribes possessed themselves of the “thousand sources” -of those two great rivers which lose themselves in the Aral Sea, which -are known to modern geographers as Amu Daria and Syr Daria, and which -readers of the classics know as Oxus and Jaxartes. The Turks speedily -became masters of the fertile plains of Sogdiana and Bactria, subdued -the tribes that occupied the region we call Bokhâra, and extended their -sway into the very heart of the Hindû Kûsh, reaching as far south as -the Kapiśa of the Greeks—that is to say, within a few miles of Kâbul. - -We have an interesting account of how the Nomadic Ruler gave the -travellers a gracious reception within a great tent, resplendent with -cloth of gold. Two long rows of dignitaries, clad in figured silks -of many colours, squatted on mats before the Khân; behind him stood -the royal guard. He wore a cloak of green satin; his long hair was -bound over the forehead by several folds of silk, the ends whereof -fell over his back. When on horseback, two hundred captains, gay in -brocade and riding horses with plaited tails, and an army with banners, -spears and long bows accompanied him. This was not foot soldiery; -horses or camels were ridden, and the men were clad in furs and fine -wool. One could see no end to the army, it was such a multitude. Our -author tells us that the Turk of his day worshipped fire, and sat on -mats, since wooden chairs contain the quality of fire. Ten centuries -later Sir Thomas Browne, in his “Urn-Burial” refers to the Parsees -of India “which expose their bodies unto vultures and endure not so -much as _feretra_ or biers of wood, the proper fuel of fire.” A huge -arm-chair, made of iron and covered with a mat was brought in for -the use of Hiuen-Tsiang. The whole party was invited to sit, Turkish -fashion; wine was brought in, cups clinked, and everybody drank, turn -and turn about; while music, which to Chinese ears was barbaric yet -not unpleasing, came from strange instruments. After the wine, legs -and shoulders of boiled mutton and veal were brought in; but the -Buddhist was separately served with “pure food”—rice-cake, cream, -milk, crystallized sugar, honeycomb and grapes. Of course the divine -gadfly which pursued our hero stung him to testify on this occasion, as -on all other opportunities, whether in season or out of season. But his -personality stood him in good stead; moreover, to this day, a holy man -is respected throughout the pagan East, no matter what his faith may -be. The Khân was interested and attentive; even impressed. He raised -his hands towards heaven, cast himself on the ground, kept Hiuen-Tsiang -about his person for some days, and earnestly besought him to give up -his project. “You must not go,” he said. “The country is a very hot -one. You look too frail a man to give hope of your success. The natives -are black; they go about naked; they have no modesty; they are unworthy -of your presence among them.” “Whatever I may be,” replied the Master -of the Law, “I burn with longing to seek for the commands of Buddha, -to inspect the ancient monuments, and to follow lovingly the track of -our Lord’s footpath on earth.” What followed marks yet once more the -personal ascendency of our hero in every situation. This half-savage -head of wild Mongolian hordes sought straightway for some one who knew -Chinese and could also interpret the confusion of tongues in his own -subject-lands to the south. Such a man was speedily picked out of the -Khân’s army; for Chinese had been carried off by the Turkish Hiung-nu -(a people possibly, though by no means certainly, identical with the -terrible Huns whom Attila led to devastate Europe) and had settled down -in towns, deserted when Hiuen-Tsiang arrived in the district, but where -they had kept up their native tongue, although they had adopted Turkish -dress and ways. With true Eastern courtesy to a guest, the great Khân -accompanied our traveller some little way on his journey. - -At first the route lay westward towards the “Land of the Thousand -Sources”—a region of lakes and pools, great trees, much vegetation, -and a sweet and wooing air. Hither the Khân was wont to repair in -summer. Still travelling westward, Talas was reached, and then, by -bending round to the South-West and South, Samarkand, the “storehouse -of precious merchandise from many foreign countries.” Our traveller -found the ruler “full of courage, and controlling neighbouring -countries” with his fierce soldiery. He received the pilgrim with an -air of lofty disdain; but Hiuen-Tsiang was not a man to be daunted, -and, next day, when he boldly set forth his faith, contempt became -respect. Buddhism was practically dead in Samarkand. The monasteries -were empty. Two young monks who were with Hiuen-Tsiang sought to pass -the night in one of these vacant buildings; but the populace threw -burning brands at them and drove them out. The King condemned the -offenders to decapitation; but Hiuen-Tsiang pleaded for mercy; so -they were merely beaten and expelled from the city. His successful -intercession increased the fervour of his missionary zeal; nor did he -toil in vain; the monasteries were re-opened; and he ordained priests -to fill them. - -Leaving Samarkand, about 90 miles off, he entered a pass bordered by -mountains “of prodigious heighth, with a narrow road” to add “to the -difficulty and danger.” The pass was closed by double wooden doors, -studded with iron, and hung with bells. The pass owed its name—The -Iron Gates—to these strong defences. - -The Oxus was reached and crossed, and our pilgrim now deviates -considerably from the direct route to fulfil a promise which he had -made to the Khân of the Uïghurs to visit his son-in-law, the son of -the great Khân of the Turks, who ruled over a little Khânate, called -Hwo, and probably identical with the district which lies east of the -Surkh-âb. When he arrived, he found the monarch on his death-bed; and -was obliged to wait two months until the funeral ceremonies were done -with. During this time a tragedy took place which casts a lurid light -on court-life in Central Asia during the Seventh Century, and which -reminds us of the Italian tragedies during the High Renaissance. The -wife of the Khân had died, and the Khân replaced her by marrying her -young sister. At the instigation of a son by the first marriage, the -bride murders her husband. “The serpent that did sting his father’s -life now wears his crown,” and marries his aunt-step-mother. A similar -atrocity is recorded of the Chinese Imperial family in Hiuen-Tsiang’s -time. In A.D. 655 the Emperor, Kao-Tsung, deposed the Empress and -married one of his father’s widows, who wholly ruled him, cut off -the feet of the Empress, and of another queen, and then had these -unfortunate ladies drowned “like Clarence in his Malmsey-butt,” in a -vat of wine. - -Hiuen-Tsiang was fortunate in finding a monk who had dwelt in India and -had studied the Scriptures there; and the twain set forth for Balkh -in some sort of waggon. At Balkh, he found no fewer than a hundred -Buddhist monasteries, three thousand monks, and sacred memorials and -relics beyond count. He might have become very rich; for the Kinglets -around Balkh were eager to secure a visit from such a holy being, and -offered to load him with gold and jewels. But he was not the man to -depart from the straight and narrow path he had chosen. He refused them -one and all, and set forth for ways “even more difficult and dangerous -than the deserts of ice. Every moment one is at battle there with -frozen cloud or snow-whirlwind. Sometimes one is faced with worse than -this, even, namely, morasses of mud, dozens of feet wide. Ice, pile on -pile, rises into mountain masses, snow-blasts dash on for a hundred -leagues.” “The raging spirits and demons of the mountains send every -kind of calamity; and there are murderous robbers to be met with.” Thus -does Hiuen Tsiang describe the passage of the Hindû Kûsh. - -At Bâmiyân, in the heart of Afghanistan, a great centre of Buddhism -after the model of the Little Vehicle, he was honourably received by -its ruler and rested five days in his palace. He visited the great -Buddhist images, hewn out of the solid rock (which our soldiers saw -in the Afghan Campaign of 1843) and other remarkable monuments. On -the second day after leaving Bâmiyân, he was caught in a blinding -snowstorm, lost his way, and was like to perish, when mountaineers -who were out hunting came across him and put him on the right track. -A mountain pass brought him to the Kapiśa of Ptolemy and Pliny. It -was situated a little to the north of the present Kâbul. Here “the -people were fierce and cruel speaking a rude tongue, their marriage a -mere intermingling of the sexes.” The monarch, shrewd, brave, firm and -sagacious, had established a little empire by bringing ten neighbouring -States under his overlordship, and had won the love of his subjects. -Hearing of the approach of the pilgrim, this potentate set out to meet -him, accompanied by a procession of monks. These pietists of various -monasteries of the Great and Little Vehicle remained sufficiently -human to quarrel as to which house should shelter so rare a guest. Now -the King was an enthusiastic supporter of the more rigid Order; and -Hiuen-Tsiang would naturally have prepared to take up his abode in a -convent of the Great Vehicle. But the appeal of the monks of a convent -following the Little Vehicle, an appeal made on historic grounds, -touched him; yet one of the monks who had accompanied him showed strong -repugnance to sleep in a house of Hiuen-Tsiang’s rival and stricter -sect. Our Chinese was neither a Courtier nor a Pharisee; he could -“suffer fools gladly,” and took up his abode with the weaker brethren. -Then the rivals had but one voice in entreating him to uncover a -treasure, which had been set aside for the repair of some religious -house, and which lay buried beneath the foot of an image of Buddha. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -THROUGH INDIA IN THE SEVENTH CENTURY. - - -He passed the wet season at Kapiśa, and then, protected by the King’s -envoys, went along the North bank of the Kâbul river and through -districts memorable in the record of the Indian expedition of Alexander -the Great. Again and again do we come across the names of places -familiar to the reader of Arrian and Strabo. He visited Peshâwar and -Attock; he travelled through many a little Kingdom of what is now -North-Eastern Afghanistan and the North-West Provinces of India, by -zig-zag and perplexing routes. Here was the classic soil of ancient -Brâhmanism; here was to be found many a Buddhist record of the great -days of Aśôka. It was a land of monasteries and monuments, of countless -_stûpas_ (monuments containing relics) and sculptured stones, of -ancient tradition and extravagant myth. The recording carvings of ages -still stood thick on the ground or lay there in ruin. He saw every one -of them, traversing perilous ravines by the help of chains affixed to -the rocks; crossing frail swaying bridges made of rope. He got as far -north as Baltistân, or Little Thibet, “in the midst of the Great Snowy -Mountains.” More than six centuries later, Marco Polo refers to the -inhabitants as “an evil race of savage idolaters,” and Hiuen-Tsiang -found their forefathers “fierce, passionate folk, ill-mannered, and of -uncouth speech.” “Strictly speaking, they do not belong to India, but -are rude frontier-folk.” Sometimes the ways were deserted; for brigands -were abroad. Almost everywhere Brâhmanism was in the ascendent; -Buddhism in decay; but, as yet, the rivalry of the two creeds had -nowhere become acute; rival religionists behaved kindly and courteously -one to another; and Brâhmans received the traveller with generous -hospitality. Yet the careful student will not fail to observe that the -antagonism between Brâhman and Buddhist, which is evident in the pages -of Fa-Hien, had not decreased in the two centuries since his time. For -Exoteric Brâhmanism, with its clever adaptation of the ancient gods of -India; its appeal to the imagination of the vulgar, always concrete -in character and incapable of comprehending an abstract proposition; -its deities, embodying human passion and evoking human sympathies; its -support of human pride in the institution of caste; its intercessory -priesthood and vicarious sacrifice; and its supple manipulation of -men to obtain power, was on the high road to revival. But there is an -esoteric Brâhmanism, as Macaulay found out, always the lofty, pure -creed of the educated Hindu. - -Hiuen-Tsiang went up and down and to and fro in these frontier-states, -threading many a delicious valley which nestled among the mountains -and was overlooked by the snows of Himalaya; and returning from time -to time to the more enervating atmosphere of the valley of the Indus. -The King of Kaśmîr (Cashmir) visited him at a monastery where he was -staying, preceded by a brilliant procession. The roadway was covered -with umbrellas and banners; it was carpeted with flowers, and the -air was filled with sweet scents. The monarch was full of compliment -and shows of respect, and scattered a great quantity of flowers in -Hiuen-Tsiang’s honour. Then he begged him to take his seat on a great -elephant. And he walked behind him. The pilgrim remained two years -in Kasmîr, sitting at the feet of a sage, studying Sanskrit and the -Buddhist scriptures. Indeed, throughout all his travels, he was forever -studying or collecting or transcribing manuscripts, when he was not -visiting and venerating relics. - -Now near Nagarahâra, in the district of Jalâlâbâd, there was a certain -cavern, where, peradventure, the pious might behold the shadow which -Buddha had cast on its walls. It had been granted to Sung-Yun to see -it, when the Empress Dowager of a Tartar dynasty which ruled in -Northern China sent him and another on an embassy to obtain Buddhist -books (A.D. 518); and Hiuen-Tsiang was consumed by desire to see it -also. His escort from Kapiśa earnestly begged him not to make the -attempt; it was a rash and perilous project; brigands were abroad; and -few indeed were those who might see the holy vision. They could not -dissuade him; so they left him and went home, and he took an old man as -guide. When he got near the cavern five brigands pounced upon him. He -pointed to his monks’ robe and told them that, if they were brigands, -they were none the less men, and he had no fear of men, or even of wild -beasts, when sacred duty called him. He touched their hearts, and they -let him go. - -Although a man visited by visions and a dreamer of significant dreams, -he spent a long time in the cave and saw nothing. Prostrations and -convictions of sin were in vain. Then, quite suddenly, came a flash -of light; thereupon he vowed that he would not quit the spot until -he should behold the veritable shade. In the end the reward of such -persistent enthusiasm was bestowed: he beheld the Buddha, attended by -his sacred court, in all their heavenly splendour. But, just then, -torch-bearers came into the cave, intending to burn perfumes in the -holy place, and the glory disappeared. Hiuen-Tsiang ordered them to -put out their lights, and lo! there was the vision as before. Five -of the six torch-bearers declared that they beheld the shadow. It is -characteristic of our pilgrim that he is careful to tell us that the -sixth man saw nothing whatever. Never a shadow of doubt arises as to -his good faith. Sung-Yun the Chinese ambassador and pilgrim, writing -an account of his journey a hundred years before Hiuen-Tsiang, tells -us how, “Entering the mountain cavern fifteen feet and looking for a -long time (or, at a long distance?) at the western side of it, opposite -the entrance, at length, the figure, with its characteristic marks, -appears; on going nearer to look at it, it gradually grows fainter, -and then disappears. On touching the place where it was with the hand, -there is nothing but the bare wall. Gradually retreating, the figure -begins to come into view again, and foremost is conspicuous that -peculiar mark between the eyebrows, which is so rare among men.” And -Hiuen-Tsiang tells us, in his “Records of Western Lands,” that in later -days the shadow has faded to a feeble likeness, although, by fervent -prayer, it may be clearly seen, “though not for long.” - -Leaving the North-Western corner of India, he now proceeded through the -Punjâb. Many a city he names has perished, and not a stone thereof is -left; of others a few stones mark the seat of departed greatness; but -often the names recall the Embassy of Megasthenes and differ but little -from those by which they were known to the Greeks of a yet earlier age. - -He had left certain rude tribes behind him, yet he found particular -districts by no means free from murderous gangs; and he had to traverse -many a forest inhabited by wild elephants and great beasts of prey. In -one forest, he and fellow-monks who accompanied him found themselves at -the mercy of half a hundred armed brigands, who chased them into the -bed of a pond which had run dry. Hiuen-Tsiang and some others contrived -to hide among thorny bushes and coarse growth; but some of the company -were caught and bound. Happily a hollow, scooped out by escaping -waters, was hit upon; and our pilgrim and some who were in hiding -contrived to make their way out. About half a mile off they came across -a Brâhman ploughing with oxen; and he took them to a village hard -by. He blew a conch and beat a drum, and soon 80 men of the village -snatched up their arms and gathered together to attack the robbers. -These latter, seeing so many bounding towards them, made off with all -speed; the villagers found and released their captives, who lay bound, -stripped, and quite helpless, groaning and weeping many tears. The -good people of the village covered their nakedness and took them to -their homes for food and shelter. “Master,” said one of the monks, to -Hiuen-Tsiang, “all that we had has been taken by the thieves, and we -have barely got off with our lives. How is it you can smile and look so -cheerful!” “Because life is man’s greatest boon,” was the reply. “When -that has been saved, why vex one’s self over clothes and food?” - -Soon we are with Hiuen-Tsiang at a centre of Brâhmanism which was -probably Lâhôr (Lahore). Everywhere he is received with courtesy; -usually welcomed with procession and pageantry. Before very long, we -find him making a long détour to the cold upper valley of the Bujas -river, under the Himalayas, and among a rude, hard, fierce race, but -one that had a regard for justice as well as for courage. - -He returns to a warmer latitude, and reaches Mathurâ, or Muttra, on the -River Jumna; a place once famous for the relics stored in its _stûpas_. -Here, different convents followed different authorities; but once a -year they gathered together, and each sect made offering before the -relics of its chosen saint. A little later, after traversing several -small States, it would seem that he visited the source of the Ganges, -although, in spite of explicit statement, this has been doubted. He -speaks of the river as being 3/4 mile wide at its source! May he not -mean that the end of its parent glacier is of that width?[2] - -A little later on, we are told of the softness of Ganges water; of -how multitudes of bathers assemble on its sandy banks to cleanse them -of sin; and how a mere rinsing of the mouth with its water wall avert -every calamity and secure future blessedness. “But there is no truth in -this universal belief, which is wholly the invention of heresy,” adds -our traveller, critical of everything but the superstitions which had -encrusted his own faith. And he is of opinion that this special form of -false belief is on the wane among the Indian people! - -We find him before long in Western Rohilkand, and then again in an icy -Himalayan valley, where “for ages a woman has ruled; wherefore it is -called the Kingdom of the Eastern Women.” It corresponds to what is -now British Garwal and Kumain. As then, so is it to-day: relics of the -matriarchate and polyandry are to be found among the Himalayan ranges. - -He returns to the Ganges, and, passing through several small States, -arrives at Kanauj. He is for ever visiting scholars, and sits for -months at the feet of every famous sage. He does so at Kanauj, which he -tells us is a city measuring four miles in length and one in breadth. -He is now in an Empire recently established by Sîlâditya, a warrior -of the Vaiśya, or trading, class, who had forced a number of petty -Kinglets to become his tributaries. Sîlâditya would seem to have been -a devout Buddhist, favouring the Greater Vehicle, and, really devoting -himself to the prosperity of the Empire he ruled. - -He now enters Ayôdhyâ—Oude—the same name that, eleven centuries -later, rang so compellingly in the ears of Clive and Warren Hastings. -Here Brâhmanism was getting the upper hand. And there was not merely -much lawlessness but a terrible perversion of religious worship -abroad in this land, which reminds one of modern Thuggee. A boat with -Hiuen-Tsiang and eighty others on board was gliding peacefully down the -Ganges, when a whole little navy of pirates, which had lain concealed -under the dense foliage of the river-bank, shot out into mid-stream, -and surrounded the pilgrim’s vessel. Some of the passengers leaped -into the river; those who remained in the vessel were towed ashore and -robbed. Now these water-thieves were devotees of the goddess Durgâ, the -wife of Siva, and were wont to offer at her altar a yearly sacrifice -of some unblemished human victim, selected from their captives. They -carefully examined Hiuen-Tsiang, and pronounced him fit for this -purpose. Some of his companions generously offered to take his place; -but the pirates would have none of them—Hiuen-Tsiang and he alone was -the goddess’ chosen prey. He, of all the company, remained calm and -undismayed. “Let me enter Nirvâna tranquil and happy,” he said, his -mind wholly occupied with some future incarnation wherein he might turn -such cruel hearts as those of the pirates. These, amazed, and even -touched, by his meek and compassionate fortitude, granted him a few -more minutes of life. Just at this moment, a squall came on, so fierce -that it terrified the pirates, even. Hiuen-Tsiang’s companions were -loud in exclaiming that it was heaven’s warning of the awful vengeance -which would ensue on the murder of a saint. The hearts of the homicides -were stricken by fear. One of them took the pilgrim’s hand. He only -felt the pressure; for his eyes were closed and he was wrapt in some -celestial vision. He asked if the fatal moment had come; and when he -learned that the mind of the robbers was changed, he began to unfold -“the Law” to them with such persuasive power that they cast their -instruments of sacrifice into the river, restored what they had stolen, -and quietly went their way. - -He visited Prayâga (Allahabad), near the confluence of the Ganges and -Jumna, and then took a dangerous course, south-west, through a forest -infested with wild elephants and beasts of prey, to Kosâmbi-nagar, now -a mere village on the Jumna, only to find ten Buddhist monasteries -ruined and deserted and fifty temples of flourishing Brâhmanism, -frequented by an enormous number of “heretics.” Thence he travelled -northwards, and came to Gautama’s birth place, Kapila. It was a waste. -Almost everywhere Brâhmanism was quietly triumphing and Buddhism in -gentle decay; although it was not until the following century that this -shrivelling process became rapid, and four or five centuries had yet to -pass before new dynasties sacked monasteries and burned their inmates -or expelled them from India in such wise that Buddhism became extinct -throughout the Great Peninsula. - -At Bânâras (Benares) he saw Brâhman ascetics who shaved the head, or -went about naked, or covered themselves with ashes, and “by all manner -of austerity sought to escape from any more births and deaths.” He -tells us of the blueness of the sacred river and its rolling waves; of -the sweet taste of its waters and the fineness of its sands; of how -numbers of people, in order to wash away the pollution of sin, “would -abstain from eating for seven days, and then drown themselves in the -sacred stream. Daily, towards sunset, ascetics would climb up a pillar -set in the middle of the river, cling to it by one hand and one foot in -a marvellous manner, and gaze at the sun until he went down, when they -would descend. Thereby they hoped to escape from reincarnation.” “If -the body of a dead man be cast into the stream, he cannot fall into an -evil way. Swept on by its waters and forgotten by men, he is safe on -the other side.” - -It was at Bânâras that Gautama began his evangel, and the vast district -between Jumna and the mountains of Nepal was the main scene of his -labours. In the Kingdom of Magadha, which, like Kanduj, was under the -rule of Sîlâditya, he found an area of fourteen miles covered with the -ruins of a city which was flourishing when Fa-Hien visited India. The -stones of _stûpas_, monasteries, pagodas and hospitals for men and -beasts cumbered the ground. - -While Hiuen-Tsiang was staying at the place where Gautama “Sâkyamûni” -as he was called during the ascetic portion of his career—that is to -say, “the sage of the family of the Sâkyas”—became “Buddha,” or “the -Enlightener of men,” a deputation of four of the most distinguished -monks of the great Sarighârâma of Nâlanda—the greatest scholastic and -monastic institution in the world—came to him bearing an invitation -to stay there. When he arrived he was welcomed with much state and -ceremony. Two hundred monks and crowds of people greeted him, singing -songs in his praise, bearing standards and umbrellas, and scattering -flowers and scent. They raised him to a seat of honour, and then the -sub-director sounded a gong and repeated the invitation. Twenty grave -and reverend seniors of the monastery presented him to the Father -Superior, who was no other than the famous scholar Sîlabhadra, a -dignitary so exalted that no one dared name him except by his title -of “Treasury of the Righteous Law.” Hiuen-Tsiang had to drag himself -towards this sage on knees and elbows, clacking his heels together, -and striking the ground with his brow. This done, seats were brought -forward, compliments were interchanged, and the pilgrim was made free -of the institution. The best rooms were given up to him; ten servants -were allotted to him, and, daily he was furnished with an ample supply -of food at the cost of the monks and the Râja. A Buddhist monk and a -Brâhman, dwelling in peace together, took him abroad from time to time -and shewed him the holy sights of the neighbourhood, seated in state on -an elephant or carried in a palanquin; but when he was in the convent -the “Treasury of the Righteous Law” devoted no small measure of his -time to his instruction in the higher learning. - -In the Seventh Century there was not, in the whole world a seat of -learning which might compare with the splendid establishment at -Nâlanda. It had been magnificently endowed by a succession of monarchs -and still enjoyed the royal favour as much as ever. There were open -courts and secluded gardens; splendid trees, casting a grateful shade, -under which the monks and novices might meditate; cool fountains of -fresh water that gurgled delightfully in the hot season. Ten thousand -inmates dwelt in six blocks of buildings four stories high, which -looked out on large courts. There were a hundred rooms set apart for -lectures on religion and on all the science and literature of the time. -There were halls wherein disputations frequently took place; and in -these Hiuen-Tsiang took a distinguished part. The monks impressed him -favourably: he found them sincere, and living in the strict observance -of severe rules. He says: “from morning to night, young and old help -each other in discussions, for which they find the day too short.” The -mental power and learning of the monks were as renowned as the towers, -the pavilions, and the cool retreats of the convent-university in which -they dwelt. The study of medicine and natural history and useful and -useless branches of mundane research was by no means cast aside for -speculation. But the latter was of so subtle a character that, while -ten hundred might be found capable of expounding twenty books of the -Sâtras and Sâstras, only five hundred could deal with thirty books, and -only ten with fifty; although students were not admitted until they had -proved themselves men of parts, and well-read in books, old and new, -by hard public discussion; and of ten candidates for admission, seven -or eight were rejected. Altogether, Hiuen-Tsiang spent five years in -study here; and he became one of the ten who could expound fifty sacred -books. But Sîlabhadra, the Father Superior, who was his tutor, had left -no sacred book unstudied. - -From Nâlanda, our pilgrim proceeded to Patna, and crossing the Ganges, -visited Gayâ. He saw everything worth seeing in the country about -Bhagalpur, and found there a monastery of the first order, the origin -of which was a curious history. A “heretic” from South India had -marched into the country, staff in hand, with stately step and pompous -mien, beating “the drum of discussion.” On his head, he bore a lighted -torch, and his belly was encased in plates of shining copper. When -asked the reason for such strange attire, he replied that the torch -was to enlighten the ignorant multitude, who dwelt in darkness, and -the belt was for self-preservation, since he was so filled with wisdom -that he feared his belly would burst. In spite of this mummery, he -proved himself so well instructed and persuasive that all the learned -men in the Kingdom were unable to controvert his arguments. At last, a -Buddhist from Southern India was sent for and reduced him to silence. -The Râja was so impressed by the victory that he founded the monastery. - -Our traveller now came to the land of the sugar-cane. His account of -the Kingdoms he visited after leaving the chief scenes of Gautama’s -missionary zeal, and the history of his wanderings, put together from -his notes and conversations with his pupils, become less full than -before; but it is clear that he made his way to “the shore-country” of -the Bay of Bengal, which would seem to be the Sunderbans, between the -rivers Ganges and Hûgli—afterwards a name of horror, as the lair of -infamous Portuguese pirates. At all events, he crossed the great Delta -of the Ganges, intending to embark for Ceylon at Tamluk on the Selai, -just where that river joins the Hûgli. Fa-Hian had done so, and had -seen Ceylon and its monuments; but Hiuen-Tsiang was given such accounts -of the perils of the long voyage that anxiety for the safety of the -treasures he had collected induced him to travel by land to South -India, and he determined to sail thence across the narrow Palk Strait. -So he returned inland, nearly as far back as Bhagalpur again, and -proceeded thence to Orissa. Thence he travelled south-westward to the -district watered by the upper tributaries of the Mahanadi and Godavari -in Central India; penetrating many a pestiferous marsh and perilous -jungle, deep and dangerous forest and scorching desert-plain, before -he arrived at Congeveram, the Dravidian capital, a little south-west of -Madras and north-west of Pondicherri. Here he learned that Ceylon had -become the theatre of a bloody war and that it would be impossible to -reach it. So he turned his reluctant steps to the north. - -He tells of the courage, honesty and love of truth of the Dravidian -race, and of the heat and fruitfulness of the land they inhabited. He -speaks of his return-journey as being partly through “a wild forest -and many deserted villages where bands of brigands attack travellers.” -Then, going north-west, he came to the country of the Mahrattas—not -the modern race which goes by that name, but a people who apparently -were Rajpoots, the old military Aryan aristocracy of India, whose -widows, following a Scythian custom, cast themselves on the funeral -pyre of their husbands to be worthy of their chivalry and to rejoin -them in the next life. Hiuen-Tsiang describes the Mahrattas as being -tall of stature, honest and simple; grateful to friends, relentless to -enemies. They avenged an insult at the risk of life; they would forget -all about themselves in their haste to give aid. They always gave -due warning to a foe before attacking him, and spared the enemy who -should yield. A commander who lost a battle was not directly punished; -but he received a present of women’s clothes, and this was enough: -it drove him to suicide. The army was of several hundred chosen men, -who went into battle drunk, and made their elephants drunk also. Then -they would rush forward in close array, bearing everything before them -and trampling on the foe. Nothing could withstand such an onset. And -one man all alone, with his lance in hand, was always quite ready to -challenge and fight ten thousand. These champions had drums beaten -before them every time they went abroad; and should one of them come -across a man and slay him no notice of the offence was taken. - -Passing through Western India and States which bordered on the Arabian -Sea, we find our traveller in Southern Malwa and Rajputana and, later, -in Sind. Twice in his account of Southern and Western India and once -in the _Life and Journeyings of Hiuen-Tsiang_, we are told that he -heard of a “Land of Western Women.” While on the Coromandel Coast, -he heard of an island inhabited by women who bore female children -only to Persian demons. Of old time, they were wont to allure sailors -and traders by signals. If successful, they changed themselves into -beautiful women, holding flowers and dispersing sweet scents. They -went forth to meet voyagers to the sound of sweet music, and, having -inveigled them into their City, which was built of iron, and having -solaced them with their society, they would cast them into an iron -prison and devour them at leisure. On the Western Coast, he is told -that the island is rich in gems and lies to the south-west of the -Byzantine Empire, to which it is tributary, and where its precious -stones are exchanged. It is inhabited by women only. Once a year, the -Emperor of Byzantium sends them male partners; and, if boys are born -of the union, the laws forbid their being brought up on the island. -Marco Polo also speaks of a Kingdom of Western Women. Ferdusi, the -Persian Poet, makes Alexander the Great visit an island-city of women -where no man was allowed to dwell. In the early art and literature of -Buddhism the legend is to be found. It reached Malaya. It made its -way into Chinese literature, too, some generations before the time of -Hiuen-Tsiang. But the locality given to the island varies with the -legend. - -Here, surely, are our Homeric friends, the Sirens—the daughters of -Achelous, serpent and ox, and the Muse Calliope—whose “shrill music -reached Ulysses on the middle sea” from a little island off Sicily. Can -these Western and Eastern legends have come from a common source; or, -did they travel overland with trader or missionary; or was some faint -echo of the golden harp of Hellas wafted by the breezes which bore the -trader across the Arabian Sea to Sind and Southern India? Possibly -the latter; for our author speaks of the island as lying to the west, -beyond the great sea which laves the shores of Kutch. It is perplexing -to find what would seem to be the same story told by the natives of -Martinique to Columbus during his second voyage. - -From Sind beyond the Indus, Hiuen-Tsiang proceeded to Multân in the -Punjâb, and saw the majestic temple of the Sun-dêva, whose image was -cast in gold and set with rare gems. Crowds of worshippers flocked -hither from other Kingdoms; and women did honour to the god with music -and torches and offerings of blossoms and perfumes. The temple was -surrounded with water-tanks and flowery groves; and near it was a -“House of Happiness,” which was a hospital for the poor and sick. - -He visited this temple on his way back to the sacred land where Gautama -had assumed his mission of teacher of mankind; for he felt that he must -return thither. So he made a thousand miles eastward and arrived at -Magadha in time to see the grand procession of the ashes of Buddha. He -thought the remains too large to be genuine; so did an Indian sage of -great reputation, and it would seem that the crowd of spectators were -also in doubt. Some time afterwards, suddenly, the relics could not be -found; the _stûpa_ in which they were kept was a sheet of light, and -flames, in five different colours shot up to the sky. This brilliant -phenomenon was witnessed by a wondering multitude; it gradually passed -away; and so did incredulity. - -Hiuen-Tsiang passed his time in the monasteries of Magadha, partly in -study, partly in refuting Brâhmans and the followers of the Little -Vehicle. To refute the latter could not have been a difficult task: -simple monks, only instructed in practical ethics, would stand no -chance against an erudite monk trained in subtle speculation and -fine distinctions. As in European Universities of the Middle Ages, -the thesis to be disputed was hung up by its supporter; and whatever -wrangler chose to deny it would take it down. Then a contest ensued; -and, at Nâlanda, its learned Head, the “Treasury of the Law,” was wont -to preside at great discussions. In some of these, our Chinaman took a -triumphant part. - -On one occasion, a certain Brâhman had hung up a challenge to the -Buddhists, which consisted of 40 articles, and, according to custom, -he wagered his head to maintain them; possibly perfectly well aware -that, in the unexpected event of defeat, the forfeit would not be -exacted. For some days, no one would come forward to oppose him. Then -Hiuen-Tsiang sent a monk to take up the insolent challenge in his -name: it was torn into shreds, and trampled under foot. At the solemn -discussion which ensued, he held forth at portentous length, and -dumbfounded the Brâhman. Hiuen-Tsiang then told him he had suffered -humiliation enough: he was free to go. - -The defeated wrangler went to Kâmarûpa, a Kingdom which extended -from west of the Brahmaputra to Manipur, on the borders of Burmah. -The eloquence and learning of our Chinaman would appear to have -converted the Brâhman, who was generous enough to tell the Râja of his -defeat. The tale so impressed that monarch that he sent an invitation -to Hiuen-Tsiang to pay him a visit; but our pilgrim, having fully -accomplished the purpose for which he had travelled so far, was eager -to return to China. The Râja waxed wroth at his disobedience to a -royal command, and warned the “Treasury of the Law” that, little as -he cared for the religion of Buddha, he would come with a vast army -and level with the dust the famous building over which he presided if -Hiuen-Tsiang were not forwarded without delay. It was evident that the -Râja, a powerful ally or tributary of Sîlâditya, whose loyalty to that -great monarch was not too assured, might conceivably let loose the -hounds of uncertain war. Here, a gleam of enlightenment is thrown on -the attitude of Râjas tributary to Sîlâditya, who had won his empire -by the sword and who had made Kanouj and Allahabad his capital cities. -Hiuen-Tsiang was despatched by Sîlabhadra to far-off Kâmarûpa; He had -been at the Râja’s court a whole month, when Sîlâditya returned from -the chastisement of a rebellious feudatory and learned whither he had -gone. Sîlâditya had urged the pilgrim to visit him in vain; now he -finds him at the court of a rival. Here is the making of a very pretty -quarrel. Sîlâditya sends to the Râja, saying that he wants the Chinese. -“My head first!” replies that monarch. Then Sîlâditya waxed wrath; and -his wrath is terrible. “Since I have power to cut off your head, it may -be given straightway to my ambassador,” is the message he returns. The -Râja of Kâmarûpa now begins to reflect. He orders his court-barge and -sets off with Hiuen-Tsiang in it to make amends to Sîlâditya. - -But he took the precaution to be accompanied by a great army. The -Ganges was crowded with boats filled with troops, and, as these were -rowed up the stream, other soldiery mounted on war-elephants marched -slowly along the banks. On their arrival at the court of Sîlâditya -he commanded that Hiuen-Tsiang should be presented to him. The Râja -of Kâmarûpa saw at once that here was an opportunity of quietly -humiliating Sîlâditya in his turn—a monarch who, from conviction or -by policy, professed the deepest reverence for the Greater Vehicle -and was the munificent patron of Buddhist institutions. He suggested -to Sîlâditya that it would be unworthy of a monarch so renowned -for cherishing sages and saints to do otherwise than pay the holy -and learned Chinese pilgrim the compliment of visiting him first. -Sîlâditya fell in with the proposal; and the Râja at once went back to -Hiuen-Tsiang and persuaded him, “for the honour of the law of Buddha,” -to consent. Thus, should his enemy, or anyone, never be sensible of -so subtle a revenge, the secret of it was sweet in the heart of the -Eastern King; a psychological peculiarity by no means confined to the -ruler of Kâmarûpa. - -Next evening, shortly after sunset, the Ganges was ablaze with torches; -the air resounded with the noise of tom-toms, for Sîlâditya was about -to pay his visit with Generals and Ministers of State. It was the -distinction of the Lord-paramount that the beating of a hundred gongs -heralded his approach and gave step to his guards. The haughty despot, -who determined the fate of thousands by a gesture, cast himself on -the ground at the feet of the humble monk, and kissed them. Next day, -the Master of the Law returned the visit. Now, a sister of the great -monarch, an enthusiast for high doctrine, who was seated behind the -throne, entreated that a great assembly of all the sages of the Empire -should be convoked at Kanouj to give Hiuen-Tsiang an opportunity of -setting out the beauty of the Greater Vehicle. So, at the beginning of -the cold season, the sages assembled at Kanouj, mounted on elephants -or carried in palanquins, surrounded by banners and accompanied by an -immense multitude. An elephant bore a golden statue of Buddha on his -back, and this was solemnly erected on a daïs. To the right of the -elephant, marched Sîlâditya, dressed as Indra and carrying a white -fly-flap in his hand; to the left was Kumâra, monarch of Kâmarûpa, -in the garb of Brâhm, and carrying a parasol of precious silk. Both -monarchs wore magnificent tiaras, from which garlands of flowers and -ribbons set with jewels hung down. Following the golden image and the -two Râjas came our Master of the Law, seated on a big elephant, and -then the officials and monks of the two Kingdoms, also on elephants. -Eighteen tributary princes were drawn up on either side, also riding -elephants, and these fell into the procession as the great Râjas and -Hiuen-Tsiang passed on. - -Food was provided for everybody, without distinction of rank, and -rich gifts were bestowed on all the monks. Hiuen-Tsiang ordered his -thesis to be hung up; but eighteen days passed, and no one attempted -to controvert it. But the followers of the Little Vehicle were so -mortified that some of them conspired against Hiuen-Tsiang’s life. The -plot was detected, and a severe edict was issued that even the very -smallest slander against him would be punished by loss of tongue; while -any attempt to injure him bodily would be followed by decapitation. At -the end of the eighteen days, following ancient usage, the victorious -pilgrim was mounted on a richly-caparisoned elephant and taken a tour -round the crowd, in the company of the dignitaries of the Empire and -with full state-honours. Rich presents were offered him; but these he -refused; and then Sîlâditya dissolved the assembly; and the eighteen -kings, the monks, and the crowd returned every man to his own abode. - -Now, it was the custom of Sîlâditya, as it had been that of his -predecessors, to distribute all their accumulated wealth at the end of -every five years. But they were careful to keep their war-elephants, -war-horses and weapons of war; for on these their power rested. The -practice kept the people submissive and contented, while effective -force remained with the Râja. The distribution was made on a plain at -the confluence of Ganges and Jumna, three miles from Prayâga, and not -far from the existing city of Allahabad. When the time for it arrived, -Sîlâditya took the Master of the Law with him. He observed that gold -and silver, silk and cotton, and much else were stored up in temporary -buildings within an enclosure, and arrangements were made for seating -a thousand persons at a time. The eighteen tributary Kings and a vast -crowd of monks and laity were summoned to be present, and did not fail -to arrive. It is significant that each tributary prince brought his -army with him: it throws light on the character of Sîlâditya’s empire. - -On the first day, the statue of Buddha was installed in a temple and -adorned with jewels. A great feast followed on this ceremony; it was -accompanied by music and the scattering of blossoms; and then rich -gifts were distributed among the more important of the guests. On the -second day, the image of the Sun-god was honoured, and presents of -magnificence were made. The third day, the god Siva received honours, -and a similar distribution was made. The fourth day, every one of about -10,000 monks was given a hundred pieces of gold and a cotton garment. -The fifth day, distribution to the Brâhmans was begun; but it is worthy -of note that the awards to them took up three weeks all but a day. On -the sixth day, and for 9 days following, alms were given to “heretics”; -on the eighth, and for the next nine days, to naked mendicants from -distant Kingdoms. Lastly, it took a whole month to give to the poor, to -orphans, and to poor men who had no family to fall back upon. Finally -Sîlâditya took off and gave up his tiara and necklace, exclaiming that -he had exchanged them for incorruptible riches. And now, the tributary -Râjas surrendered their robes and jewels to their Lord-paramount. What -with this ordinance and the retention of the sinews of war, Sîlâditya -remained no less powerful than before. - -Our pilgrim now obtains permission to set forth on his return-journey. -He is offered an escort to China should he choose to return by sea; -but he has precious manuscripts to preserve, the rich harvest of his -labours, and he prefers to take the smaller risk of desert and icy -mountains to that of pirates and of frail, clumsy craft, breasting “the -feasted waters of the sea stretched out In lazy gluttony, expecting -prey.” Moreover, whether T’ai Tsung, now Emperor of China, would -welcome a foreign Embassy, may have been in his mind. He refused all -gifts from the Râja of Kâmarûpa, save a warm garment needful for the -high passes. - -Now, the Master of the Law had been wont, if he had no escort to -protect him, to send an attendant monk ahead, and, should his -fore-runner meet with wayside thieves, he would announce the character -of Hiuen-Tsiang’s mission. The explanation had been made more than -once, and prevailed. But many a Râja was now eager to give him a warm -welcome and send soldiery to see him safe in the next Kingdom. And, -Sîlâditya, not merely went with him some small part of the long way, -but charged a tributary prince of the North to accompany and protect -him through the Punjâb. He also presented the pilgrim with a big -elephant, horses and chariots to convey the manuscripts and images he -had collected, and 3000 pieces of gold and 10,000 pieces of silver to -defray the expenses of the journey. He also provided him with letters -to various princes whose territories he would have to cross, ordering -or recommending them to expedite his journey. These documents were -written on rolls of cotton and sealed with red wax. Sîlâditya and his -tributary Râjas even rode out again to catch the pilgrim up and bid him -a second farewell. - -Easy progress was made across North-West India; and native rulers vied -with each other in doing honour to the traveller from afar. Now, at the -best of times, to cross the Indus is perilous; and this time it was not -effected without mishap. The “Master of the Law” rode on the elephant; -but the manuscripts, images, relics, and a precious collection of -seeds, which he had made during his travels, and which he hoped might -grow in China, were placed in a boat under the care of a special -custodian. When the middle of the current was reached, a storm-gust -swept over the river, and the boat was well nigh sunk by tossing waves. -The custodian was rescued with great difficulty; but half a hundred -manuscripts and the valuable collection of seeds which might have done -so much service, were lost. Only by the very greatest exertion was -anything at all saved. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -INDIAN SOCIAL LIFE IN THE SEVENTH CENTURY. - - -Once more we find Hiuen-Tsiang by the Kâbul river. Many years had -passed since he rested on its banks and entered India. Since that -time he had made himself a finished Sanskrit scholar; he had visited -three and a half score of States; he had traversed the whole breadth -and well-nigh the whole length of the great Peninsula; he had debated -the subtlest questions with the profoundest scholars and acutest -minds in India; he had been entertained by powerful princes as their -venerated guest. In every corner of a vast territory, he had met with -large hospitality at the hands of men of differing creeds; he had seen -many new things, strange and wonderful; more than once, his life had -been in jeopardy, and narrow indeed had been his escape; he had visited -every spot connected with the life of Gautama, from the scene where -Bôdhisattva “descended spiritually into the womb of his mother” to the -place where he became Buddha, and to the place of his death. He had -visited every spot sacred to Asôka-râja, the great promulgator of the -faith. It had been granted him to see the shadow of Buddha. And, above -all, he had not failed in his quest. Written on prepared palm-leaves -and carefully packed, were the so much lacking sacred scriptures; much -of them tales of the absurdest fantasy and most extravagant romance, it -is true; but the sympathetic eye can still discover in the fable the -mild and sweet moral teaching of the Buddhist faith. - -In the _Si-yu-ki_ (Observations on Western Lands) there is a very full -account of India in the early Seventh Century. So long a residence in -that land, and such a wide knowledge of its various peoples as the -Master of the Law had acquired in personal intercourse with them makes -this invaluable. The work is preceded by a general description of the -Great Peninsula, which applies more particularly to that land, so -sacred to a Buddhist, which lies between the Jumna and the lower slopes -of the Himalayas. And, now that Hiuen-Tsiang is leaving India, it will -be well to know what he has to tell us concerning that vast region. - -He begins by discussing the various names given to In-tu (India); for -each district is differently called. He gives its shape, extent and -climate. “The north is a continuation of mountains and hills, the -ground being dry and salt. On the east, there are valleys and plains, -which, being well-watered and cultivated, are fruitful and productive. -The southern district is wooded and herbaceous; the western parts are -stony and barren.”[3] - -Indian measures of length and the Indian Calendar and seasons are next -described, and the author then goes on to treat of towns and buildings, -seats and clothing, dress and habits, ablutions, language and -literature, schools, castes, marriages, kings, troops, weapons, manners -and customs, administration of laws, ceremonial observances, revenues, -natural products, and commercial dealings—all in systematized order. -The lapse of thirteen centuries; conquest by Mohammedan and European -invaders; and Mohammedan and Brahmanistic oppression would appear to -have altered but little the ways and external appearance of Indian life -since Hiuen-Tsiang’s time. He tells us that “the walls of towns are -wide and high; the streets and lanes, tortuous; the roads, winding; the -thoroughfares, dirty; the stalls, arranged on both sides of the road -and furnished with appropriate signs. Butchers, fishermen, dancers, -executioners, scavengers and their like dwell outside the city. Coming -and going these people must keep to the left side of the road.” The -city-walls are of brick, but their towers are made of wood or bamboo; -the houses are plastered with cob, “mixed with cow-dung for purity”; -they are provided with wooden balconies, coated with mortar and shaded -by tiles. The roofs are of rushes, branches, tiles, or boards. It -is a habit to scatter flowers before the house. The _sarighârâmas_, -or monasteries, are very cleverly built in quadrangles, ornamented -with dome-shaped buildings of two or three stories at the corners of -each quadrangle, and joists and beams are adorned with carving; there -is much decoration and mural painting; the cells being plain on the -outside only. - -Everybody takes his rest on a mat of one uniform size, but of various -degrees of ornamentation; but the Râja has an imposing throne, studded -with gems, and nobles use painted and enriched seats. The garb is of -pure white silk or cotton or hemp or goat’s hair, uncut to fit the -body and wound round the waist, gathered up under the armpits, and -then slung across the body to the right. There is quaint humour in our -pilgrim’s observation that “some of the men shave their moustaches and -have other odd customs”: one thinks of the strange appearance of some -of our long-shore men. - -Women keep their shoulders covered, and their robes reach the ground. -Their hair is knotted up on the crown; otherwise it hangs loose. They -wear crowns and caps and flower-wreaths on the head, and necklaces of -jewels. - -In North India, where the climate is colder, close-fitting garments are -worn. Some non-believers wear peacock-feathers, or necklaces made of -the bones of the skull; some cover their nakedness with leaf or bark, -or go bare. Some pull out the hair; others wear their whiskers bushy -and braid their hair. - -The monks wear three different kinds of dress, either red or yellow in -colour. Merchants, for the most part, go bare-footed, stain the teeth -red or black, bind up the hair, and pierce the nose for the wearing of -ornaments there. Everybody is very cleanly, washing before eating, -never eating of a dish served twice over, never passing the dish on. -Wooden and stone vessels are destroyed after use; metal ones are -polished. The teeth are cleansed with a willow-stick after eating; the -hands and mouth are washed; and folk do not touch one another until -these duties are carried out. The body is washed after attending to -the calls of nature, and then perfumes are used. The bath is taken -before religious functions, and also at the time when the King washes -himself. Each province keeps its own record of events. Education is -begun early. Young Buddhists are put to the study of the five Vidyâs, -or treatises on grammar, progressively; first come the principles of -mechanics; then elements of medicine and drugs and the use of charms; -then the principles of right-doing and the distinction between the -true and the false; and, finally, the various “vehicles” of the faith. -Brâhmans are trained on similar lines by skilled teachers. Some “rise -above mundane rewards, and are as insensible to renown as to contempt -of the world.... Rulers value men of reputation highly; but are unable -to draw them to court.” But the thirst of others for honour leads them -on in the search for wisdom, and, if they finish their education at -thirty, they seek for occupation. Some Brâhmans are devoid of virtuous -principles, and waste their substance in riotous excess. Unhappily -the Buddhist schools are not without reproach: “they are constantly -at variance, and their contentious utterances swell like the waves of -an angry sea”; yet, “in various directions, they do aim at one end.” -Knowledge of sacred books and successful exegesis are rewarded by -successive grades of distinction, beginning with exemption from control -and leading up to the possession of “an elephant-carriage,” and even to -a “surrounding escort.” A successful disputant, like Hiuen-Tsiang, is -mounted on an elephant (as he was), the animal is completely covered -over with precious ornaments, and the rider is conducted by a numerous -suite to the gates of the convent. But woe betide the unhappy wretch -who proves himself a fool at these mental wrestling bouts; “his face -is painted red and white; he is bedaubed with dust and dirt, and then -borne off to some deserted spot, or cast into a ditch!” For slight -faults a monk is only reprimanded; for graver offences, silence is -enforced; for a great fault, he is cast out of the convent to find a -home for himself and take up some kind of work, or he may wander about -the roads. - -We are told next about the four great castes, The Brâhman, or -hereditary priest takes precedence of the Kshattriya or military -descendents of the Aryan conquerors, a caste which rules, and observes -human kindliness. Next come the traders (Vaiśyas); fourth is the Sûdra, -the caste of tillers of the soil. When one marries, he takes social -position according as he preserves or impairs purity of caste. Widows -may not marry again. - -“The succession of Râjas is confined to the Kshattriya caste, who have -from time to time achieved power by means of usurpation and bloodshed.” -The army of the Râja is one of the many separate hereditary castes of -India. In times of peace, it is garrisoned around the Râja’s palace. -In each Indian army are elephants, protected by strong armour, and the -tusks capped with sharp metal. A general issues his command from a car, -driven by two attendants, between whom he sits, and is drawn by four -horses abreast. The generals of the foot soldiers also ride in cars and -are protected by a guard. An attack is met by the cavalry, who also -carry orders. The infantry is very brave. It is armed with spear and -shield, bows and arrows, swords, axes, slings and many other weapons of -ancient usage. - -Hiuen-Tsiang speaks of the common people in the highest terms. As -Wheeler remarks they “would almost appear to have been a different race -from the modern Hindus. They had not yet been moulded into existing -forms by ages of Brahmanical repression and Musselman tyranny; and they -bore a stronger resemblance to the unsophisticated Buddhists of modern -Burma than to the worshippers of Vishnu and Siva.”[4] Our traveller -admits that they are volatile, but “gentle and sweet, straight-forward, -honourable, keeping their word, with no fraud, treachery or deceit -about them.” Criminals are rare, and these few are not even beaten, -and are never put to death, but cast into prison and left to live or -die, “not being counted among men.” A small payment is exacted for a -small offence; but those who seriously offend the moral sense of the -community are mutilated in various ways, or expelled from it. Frank -confession is followed by punishment proportioned to the offence; but -denial, or attempt to wriggle out, is met by trial by ordeal. Of this -there are four kinds:—1, The accused person is put into one sack and a -stone into another; both sacks are tied together and thrown into deep -water: If the man sinks lowest, he is deemed guilty. 2, The accused has -to stand or sit on red hot iron, or to handle it, or have it applied to -his tongue: If no scars result, he is deemed innocent. 3, He is weighed -against a stone: If he weighs it down, he is innocent. 4, An incision -is made in the right thigh of a ram, and all manner of poisons and some -food of the accused are put into the wound. Should the ram survive, the -man is innocent. “The way of crime is blocked by these four methods.” -It is obvious to us that the issue of every one of these ordeals could -be manipulated in the interests of justice, or against them. - -We are next told of etiquette, and are informed that no less than nine -ways of being polite are employed. Of these, the most respectful is to -cast one’s self on the ground, and then to kneel “and laud the virtues -of the one you address.” When one of inferior rank receives orders, he -lifts the skirt of his superior, and casts himself on the ground. The -“honourable person thus reverenced must speak gently to the inferior, -and touch his head, or pat him on the back, and give him kindly orders -or good advice, in order to show affection.” - -When ill, there is no rush to the physic-bottle. “Everyone who falls -sick, fasts for seven days. Should he not get well in the course of -this period, he takes medicine.” Hiuen-Tsiang causes us no surprise -when he informs us that “doctors differ in their modes of treatment.” - -At funerals there are weepings and lamentable cries, rending of -garments and beatings of head and breast. No one takes food in a house -where someone has died until after the funeral; and all who have been -at the death-bed are unclean until they have bathed outside the town. -Those who desire release from life “receive a farewell meal at the -hands of relatives or friends,” and then are put into a boat amid -strains of music; and this is shot into mid-Ganges, “where such persons -drown themselves.” Sometimes, but rarely, one of these may be seen on -the banks, not yet quite dead. - -Hiuen-Tsiang speaks of the civil administration as being mild and -benevolent. Officials have “a portion of land assigned to them for -their personal support.” There is neither registration of families nor -forced labour. Râjas possess their own private domains, divided into -four portions; whereof one provides for state-matters and the cost of -sacrifices; one, for salaries; one, for rewarding men of exceptional -talent; and the fourth affords charity to religious bodies. By this -arrangement taxation is light, and the personal service required is -moderate, labour at public works being paid for. “Everyone keeps his -own belongings in tranquillity; and all till the ground for food. -Those who cultivate the royal estate pay a sixth part of the produce -as tribute.” There is a light tax payable on travel by river and at -barriers across the roadways. - -Such people as smell of onion and garlic are thrust out of the -town. The usual food is simple, consisting of milk, cream, butter, -sugar-candy, corn cakes and mustard. Fish, mutton and venison are -eaten; other flesh is prohibited. Brâhmans and warriors drink -unfermented syrup of the grape; but the trading caste indulges in -strong drink. Rich and poor eat precisely the same food, but out of -very different vessels, both as to material and cost. They eat with the -fingers, and have no spoon, cup, or chopstick. - -Hiuen-Tsiang tells us that he found India divided into 70 Kingdoms. -Nine centuries before his time Megasthenes the Greek Ambassador, -found twice as many. In spite of the many political settlements which -have had their day and vanished, some of the territories described by -Hiuen-Tsiang are divisions corresponding to natural features, race, -language, and religious customs, and remain distinct districts, each -of them with its idiosyncrasies to-day. Consolidation by successive -conquests has taken place, it is true, but the village persists. -The village-settlements were there before the Aryan conquest; they -have survived the long passage of time; they carry on their ancient -tradition, and have maintained provincial characteristics against the -pressure of the Mohammedan, the Mahrattan, and all other attempts at -organic Empire. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -THE JOURNEY HOME BY A NEW AND PERILOUS ROUTE. - - -We left our hero on the Kâbul river, beyond the boundaries of India: -a royal reception awaited him at Kapiśa, and a hundred experienced -men were chosen to conduct and protect him in the passage across the -Hindû Kûsh. The shortest, but most difficult of the passes—probably -the Khawak, which reaches 13,000 feet, was selected. Seven days of -travel brought the party to those snow-mountains of which Hiuen-Tsiang -always speaks with mingled wonder, fear and dislike. Born and brought -up in a mild climate, and having now spent many years in a hot one, he -describes the discomforts and dangers of every high pass at length. -He tells us how wild and perilous are the precipices; how fearsome, -contorted, and difficult the path. Of the Hindû Kûsh he writes: “Now -the traveller is in a profound valley; now aloft on a high peak, with -its burthen of ice in full summertide. One gets along by cutting steps -in the ice, and, in three days one reaches the summit of the pass. -There, a furious icy blast, cold beyond measure, sweeps on; the valleys -are laden with accumulated snow. The traveller pushes on; for he dares -not pause. Soaring birds must needs alight; it is impossible for them -to fly; and they have to cross afoot. One gazes down on mountains that -look like hillocks.” The whole cavalcade had to dismount and clamber -up with the aid of mountain-staves. One wonders how the guides got -the elephant over such ridges; but they did. “Great men lived before -Agamemnon”; Hannibal solved the same problem two hundred years before -Christ. - -At the end of the second week a large village of a hundred families -was reached, the inhabitants of which lived by rearing a very big -variety of sheep, which is said still to be found in this district. -Here the “Master of the Law” secured the services of a local guide, and -took a whole day’s rest. His escort now returned; and he set forth in -the middle of the night, mounted on a camel accustomed to the hills, -and attended by seven priests, twenty servants, the elephant which -Sîlâditya had given him, six asses, and four horses. Next morning the -bottom of the pass was reached; but there still lay before them what, -in the distance, looked like a snow-peak. But when they had ascended -a long zig-zag path and come up to it, it turned out to be mere white -rock. None the less, it towered far above the clouds, and the icy wind -there blew so hard and cutting that headway could hardly be made. - -The descent of the range occupied five or six days. The route now -lay north westward to the Upper Oxus. Hiuen-Tsiang rested a month in -the camp of a petty Khân,—and then joined a caravan of traders who -were eastward bound. The caravan took a meandering course through -several little Khânates; and in one of them the Master of the Law -was struck by the singular head-gear of the women. They wore caps -three feet high, topped by two peaks of unequal length, if both -father-in-law and mother-in-law were living. The higher and lower -respectively represented these relatives. But, when one of them died, -the corresponding peak was removed; should both of them be dead, no -peaks were worn. This region was mountainous, and its inhabitants were -remarkable for their surpassing ugliness. They differed from all other -peoples in the peculiar blue-green of the iris. They were innocent of -all manners, and knew no law of justice; the horse was their study and -care, and they reared a breed of sturdy little ponies. - -The caravan now followed the narrowing stream of Oxus, and, after a -time, ascended to the great plateau of the Pamirs, no less lofty than -the topmost Pyrenees. “There even in summer” says the Pilgrim “one -suffers from squalls and eddies of snowstorm. Just a few wretched -plants manage to root in ground that is almost always frozen. No -grain will sprout and no trace of man is to be found in all this vast -solitude.” But he came across a species of ostrich, a bird “ten feet -high,” of which he had previously been shown the eggs which were “as -big as small pitchers.” - -The central valley of the Pamirs along which the caravan advanced, led -to difficult snow-passes of the Kizil Yart range, the highest peak of -which soars to 26,000 feet. Having forced a way over ice and through -snow, the long descent of the Eastern slopes was nearly at an end when -a band of brigands was observed to be on the look out for prey. The -traders fled, helter skelter, up the hill-side; and the robbers charged -furiously at their laden elephants, several of which they killed, -while others were drowned in trying to get across the torrents from -the mountains. It was probably at this time that Hiuen-Tsiang lost his -elephant. The thieves were soon fully occupied with their booty; the -traders seized the opportunity, drew together again, and proceeded, -with what goods they had been able to save, towards Kâshgar. - -At Kâshgar the same custom obtained as at Kutchê: “When a child is -born the head is compressed by a wooden board.” The people are “fierce -and impetuous and most of them are deceitful and indifferent to polite -manners and learning. They paint their bodies and eyelids.” But they -show real skill in the making of hair-cloth and finely woven carpets. -More than six hundred years later, Marco Polo travelled along the -caravan route through Kâshgar and by Lob-Nor to China. - -At Yârkand he was told that Arhats, (very purified and wise men), -“those who had obtained the holy fruit and were no longer bound by -worldly influences” “displaying their spiritual power, coming from afar -(that is, from India), abode here at rest.” - -Arrived at Khotan, he found it a land of song and dance. Fa-Hian also -describes the inhabitants as being, in his time, “lovers of religious -music.” - -It would seem that the caravan in which Hiuen-Tsiang travelled was -bound for Kau-chang, that land of the Uïghurs whose Khân-paramount had -tried to detain him “for the better instruction of his subjects.” Now -Khotan was tributary to this despot; and as the Master of the Law had -no desire to go out of his direct way home, or to be detained again, -not to speak of another hunger-strike, he wrote the Khân a politic -letter, wherein he recounted the perils he had undergone and the -successful issue of his sacred mission. Yet, an elephant which bore the -burthen of many scriptures had been drowned on the way home; but the -writings were saved. Would the Great Khân grant him a convoy? - -It took six or seven months for a reply to arrive; and Hiuen-Tsiang -filled up the time in expounding sacred writings to the Khân of -Khotan and his subjects. When the answer came from Kau-chang, it was -favourable; the Khân of Khotan was permitted to furnish the Master of -the Law with transport for his treasures. - -Fully a thousand miles still lay before him, and the painful desert -known to modern geographers as the Takla Makan must be crossed. The -route pursued was a very tortuous one, south of the great lake Lob-nor -(which lies between 2,000 and 3,000 feet above the sea-level), and -north of the Altyn-Tag mountains, which are the northern buttresses -of the great plateau of Thibet. He passed by ancient cities of -Eastern Khotan, once flourishing, now buried by drifting sands. Mere -mounds marked their sites.[5] Going East “we enter a great desert of -shifting sands, which are as a vast flood, driven hither and thither -by the wind. There is no track; and, without guide or indication, -travellers get bewildered and are lost. So the bones of beasts (which -have perished) are piled up to serve as beacons. Neither water nor -herb is to be found, and hot winds, which are frequent, befog the mind -and muddle the memory of man and beast, and make them ill and feeble. -Sometimes one hears plaintive notes and piteous lamentations, and men -get confused and know not whither they are going. Hence, many a life is -lost. And all is the work of demons and evil spirits.” All travellers -in deserts speak of the weird noises, which we now know to be due to -the shifting of the sand-ridges.[6] - -And now, after sixteen years of pilgrim travel, after visiting a -hundred and ten different States, and journeying some twenty thousand -miles, Hiuen-Tsiang is drawing near his native land. He bears with -him five hundred grains of relics, reputed to belong to the body of -Tathâgarta (Gautama Buddha); one hundred and twenty-four works of -the Great Vehicle; five hundred and twenty other volumes, borne by -twenty-two horses; and six images of Buddha, in gold or silver or -sandal-wood. In the appeal for transport sent to Kau-chang, he had -written: “Notwithstanding differences in climate and mode of life; -and notwithstanding perils beyond count which have menaced me in my -journeying, I thank Heaven that nowhere did I come to harm. Reverence, -beyond all limit, has been done to me; my body has suffered no ill; and -I have fulfilled all that I vowed to accomplish.” - -But his body _had_ suffered ill. The terrible ordeal of crossing -ice-bound ranges left its mark: it weakened his robust constitution and -shortened his life. - -At the Chinese frontier, waggons and men were obtained, and the escort -from Khotan returned. T’ai Tsung, the great warrior statesman, now sat -on the throne he had won for his father, and to him “The Master of the -Law” announced his return. Emperor, Mandarins, Priests, and People -made ready to receive the great pilgrim with plaudit and parade such as -Western reserve bestows only on the victor in some scene of slaughter, -or on the inheritor of some soiled circlet and blood-stained robe. - -The great day arrived. It was as if all China were present, so -crushing were the crowds. The Sacred Writings were taken in state to -the “Convent of the Great Bliss.” (Later they were transferred to a -“Convent of Beneficence,” specially constructed to contain them.) -High dignitaries led the way; marvellous wind-instruments discoursed -astounding music; priests in thousands chanted hymns; banners and -brilliantly-coloured rugs floated in the wind. A procession of the -most varied character, miles long, passed through the narrow, crowded -streets, which were lined by rows of flower-scatterers and less poetic, -but even more desirable, perfume burners. To the irreverent European -mind, the record of this Eastern parade in the Seventh Century suggests -a highly variegated travelling-circus; and the brow is involuntarily -raised when we come to the royal harem and its enthusiastic ladies -welcoming the return of the monk and the arrival of yet more ascetic -doctrine. The best of us is but human, and it is evident from the -narrative that, true saint as he was, the “Master of the Law” none the -less thoroughly enjoyed the recognition of his great merits, and made -little objection to the honours he received. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -PEACEFUL DAYS. - - -At intervals an order came from T’ai-Tsung and his successor to appear -within the green enclosure which surrounded the Imperial Throne. It -was by Imperial command that the world possesses Hiuen-Tsiang’s report -of the States he had visited and of eighteen other States of which he -believed himself to have gathered authentic information. The work, as -already stated, is full of the absurd, fantastic fables of corrupted -Buddhism, related at full length and with perfervid unction; but it is -also a record of observation so close, systematic, and even scientific, -and of a will so firm-set and bold, that it is surpassed in no age -by any record of travel whatsoever. But there is little of personal -narrative in it. Now, Hiuen-Tsiang had lost full command of his native -language during so many years of residence among alien peoples, and it -was found necessary to get a Chinese stylist to redact his “Account of -Western Countries” (“_Si-yu-ki_”). This was done, in the main, from -notes which the pilgrim had brought back with him. - -When the “Master of the Law” had finished this big undertaking, he -returned to work that had been interrupted by it—the collating, -translating and editing of the books he had brought with him. He was -accustomed to eat a slight breakfast at dawn, and to lecture to the -monks (_Sramans_) of his convent during the next four hours on some -canonical book or religious treatise. When this task was done, he would -go on with translation, marking out a certain portion for the day’s -task; but, if he had not finished this by night-fall, he usually sat on -until it was ended. He was scrupulous in his efforts to restore corrupt -text to its pristine purity; and one would always find him fully -occupied. Yet he always made time to discuss religious matters with -the sages who visited him. “When he had penetrated some profundity, -got light on some obscure passage, or amended some corrupt reading, it -seemed as if some divine being had come to his aid.... When expounding, -he was wont to become impassioned and his voice swelled out.” He had -the great gift of a convincing manner. - -One is glad that his biographers did not neglect to describe his -personal appearance and other details of a similar kind. “His face,” -they say, “had a little colour to it; it was radiant and gracious; his -bearing, grave and stately. His voice was clear and penetrating; and -one never got weary of listening to him; for his words were noble, -elegant, and congenial. Often a distinguished guest would listen to -him for half a day with rapt attention. He liked to wear a garment of -fine cotton, of a length suited to his height, which was 7 _tchi_.[7] -He walked with even steps, and as one at ease. He looked you straight -in the face; there was never a hint of side-glance. He kept strict rule -and was always the same man. Nobody could rival him for warmth and -kindness of heart and gentle pity, ardour, and inviolate observance of -the Law. He was slow in making friends, and reserved in intercourse -with those that he made. Once within the gates of his monastery, -nothing but an Imperial decree could make him budge.” - -Yet, on one occasion, he paid a visit to his native village. Only one -feeble old sister was left of all his family. He went with her to the -graves of their parents; it is said to clear them of weeds which had -overgrown them; but probably also to restore the few bones he had taken -with him on his pilgrimage. His parents perished during the time of -bloody civil strife, and their remains were hastily buried in a mean -grave; so he obtained Imperial permission to carry them to a better -resting-place. Thousands of monks and laity came to honour the father -and mother of the “Master of the Law.” - -When Hiuen-Tsiang was a little more than 60, the hardships of travel -and the intense application of his latter years told on him; health -rapidly failed him. “I have come to the end of my work on this sacred -book,” said he to a disciple, “and also I have come near to the end -of my life. Bury me in a simple, quiet way. Wrap my body in a mat and -bear it to some lonely, hushful valley, far from any palace (_sic_) or -convent; for so impure a carcass as mine should not be near either.” -His disciples were disturbed at his condition and wept bitterly; they -tried to persuade him that he was mistaken as to the approach of death. -“I know myself,” he replied; “How can you enter into my intuition?” The -weakness increased, “The moment of departure is at hand,” he told them. -“Already my soul gives way and seems to leave me. Sell my clothes and -belongings without delay, and turn the money into images (of Buddha), -and tell the monks to pray.” He lay stiff and still for days, taking -no food. At last, when asked if he felt sure of reaching the goal of -his desires, he answered “Yes” in a weak voice. In a few moments he -was dead; yet his face retained its rosy colour and suggested supreme -happiness. He was 65 years of age. - -He had begged for a simple funeral. He was buried in pomp; and there -was an immense giving of alms at his grave-side. His wish was so far -respected, however, that his remains were ultimately carried to a -reposeful spot in a tranquil valley. - -Hwui-Lih, one of Hiuen-Tsiang’s disciples, whom he had employed in -translation, had gone far in writing a biography of the Master from his -notes and conversation, when his labours were interrupted by death. -Yen-Tsong, another devoted disciple took up the uncompleted work; he -collected and put the manuscripts of Hiuen-Tsiang and Hwui-Lih in -order, corrected the blunders and imperfections of Hwui-Lih’s five -volumes, and expanded them into ten volumes; which Monsieur Julien -translated into French many years ago. M. Julien condensed the later -and less interesting part of the biography, for the complete work was -too voluminous and too full of flowery periods to be worth the labour -of full translation; and even with this abridgement, much of the work, -like the _Si-yu-ki_, remains tedious reading. There is also a much -abbreviated translation into English by Dr. Samuel Beal. - -Yet, the work is an imperishable monument to a great mind. When, here -and there, one suspects a little of that chastened self-inflation from -which few, if any, saints have been exempt; and when one has made due -allowance for the natural desire of two enthusiastic disciples to -offer innumerable flowers of Chinese rhetoric at the tomb of a beloved -Master, the fact remains that his lofty mind and gentle, yet ardent, -character, secured their deep reverence and commanded their devotion. -This affords further evidence of that personal attraction, the effects -of which we have so often observed in the record of his pilgrimage. -We may justly apply to this ancient Chinaman the happy phrase of John -Lyly, the Euphuist, and say of him that his soul was “stitched to the -starres.” - - - - -II.—SÆWULF, AN ENGLISH PILGRIM TO PALESTINE A.D. 1102 - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -EARLY PILGRIMAGE TO PALESTINE. - - -Very soon after Hiuen-Tsiang set forth on his arduous enterprise, -Jerusalem witnessed a remarkable scene (A.D. 629). Heraclius, Emperor -of New Rome, had overthrown the hosts of Chosroes II, the Persian, -and now he marched on foot through streets which that monarch had so -lately ravaged and shorn of half their population. A spirit of devout -and humble thankfulness possessed Heraclius and his chastened people. -The imperial feet were naked; the imperial shoulders bore the weight of -that True Cross which the aged Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, -had so significantly discovered, and which Chosroes had carried away -from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. - -Long before the True Cross was miraculously found, pious Christians -were wont to visit the sacred scenes of their Faith; but, after that -event, Pilgrimage became fashionable. Not the devout only thronged -to the Holy Land, and crowded all its many sanctified spots. The -inhabitants of Palestine were not slow to provide for the satisfaction -of the pilgrim; whether he were of the eager faithful, burning to -behold the burial places of Patriarchs and the very spot associated -with some scene of the Gospels; or were one moved by a love of novelty -and excitement. Tradition was revived, or legend invented; a vast -number of sacred relics was hit upon and produced; hostelries became -scenes of piety, and, alas! often of dissipation. - -Many, if not most, of the travellers were undoubtedly impelled by -a genuine spirit of reverence; but pilgrimages have always been -popular because, under the sanction of Religion, they afforded the -excitement of mild adventure and the physical and mental exhilaration -which accompanies change of scene. As is always the case when men -gather together from many lands and find themselves released from the -restraints of home and the specified conventions of country, many were -pliant to the allurements of pleasure. Indeed, Jerusalem was soon -turned into a theatre of the passions, a centre of wild dissipation, -and even of serious crime. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Jerome, and St. -Augustine, set themselves against the fashionable craze, and told -would-be pilgrims that they might do far better by remaining at home -and praising God in whatsoever station he had assigned to them. - -When Jerusalem fell to the onrush of the Arabs (A.D. 637), the -Moslem conquerors regarded it as a sacred city; for they believed -Mohammed to have been transported thence to visit Paradise. Christian -subjects and Christian pilgrims added to Mohammedan wealth; and -they were allowed, under restrictions, to dwell in or to visit the -Holy Land. Haroun-Al-Raschid, Caliph of Bagdad, and Charlemagne, -Emperor of the West, were drawn together by the political antagonism -of Constantinople alike to the Saracen and to an upstart Empire. -They exchanged gifts; and the traveller may still see some of those -sent by Haroun-Al-Raschid, as well as much else that is curious or -beautiful, in the Treasury of the great Church which Charlemagne -built at Aix-la-Chapelle. Bernard, one of three Benedictine monks who -visited the Holy Land A.D. 870, says that Christians there enjoyed such -security that if, by some accident, a traveller should lose a beast -of burden on the road, he might leave his belongings where they lay, -proceed to the nearest city for assistance, and find them untouched on -his return. - -When the great Empire of the Abassides crumbled and fell, the Fatimite -Caliphs of Cairo were usually tolerant of infidels, who increased -their wealth and power. Commercial relations with the Christian West -continued; and pilgrims flocked to the Holy Land. In the tenth century, -that darkest of the Dark Ages, John of Parma visited Palestine no fewer -than seven times; and even far-off Iceland sent its pilgrims. - -But in the eleventh century (A.D. 1074) the Seljuk Turk swept down -from the Oxus, and, aided by Emirs in revolt, took Jerusalem. The main -body of the Turkish army retained the barbarous habits of a nomadic -people; they lusted for battle; they were drunk with blood. Palestine -became the scene of exaction, of debauchery, and of every kind of -licence and excess. Churches were ransacked for spoil; the rich pilgrim -was subject to threat and compelled to disgorge much of his wealth -before he was allowed to see Jerusalem; the poor pilgrim, already worn -down by privation and suffering in some diminutive crazy craft, met, -on landing, with insult and outrage. Neither Mohammedan Cairo nor -Christian Constantinople were strong enough to deal with the Turk: -he exhibited Moslem fanaticism at its worst. The Scimitar had indeed -displaced the Cross. - - - - -CHAPTER II. “DIEU LE VEULT.” - - -One of the eye-witnesses of the wretchedness of Christians in Palestine -was a certain Peter, a man from Picardy; high-strung; one to whom -a very varied experience brought no satisfaction. His restless -disposition had driven him into the profession of arms; he had sought -for peace in study; he had tried the companionship of a wife, who had -borne him the boon of children; his spirit found no tranquility among -cloistered monks; he fled to the greater seclusion of a hermitage. -There visions left his soul still unsatisfied, and he went to the Holy -Land. The sufferings of Christians at the hands of the Turk filled him -with spiritual fury. He returned to Europe, and with inextinguishable -zeal, traversed its western half to urge in impassioned eloquence, -which made every heart throb and frenzied every mind, the union of all -Christendom for the destruction of the Turk and the re-establishment of -the True Faith in its first home. - -He set Europe ablaze. Fourteen generations of Christians had grieved -over the Moslem occupation of the Holy Land. John Zimiskes, the -ablest and most popular of Byzantine generals, had carried his arms -as far as Lebanon in the year 975, and had recovered what were said -to be the shoes of the Saviour and the hair of John the Baptist. But, -contrary to the vainglorious assertions of Byzantine historians, he -was unable to penetrate into Palestine. In 1073, Hildebrand, the great -Pope-Statesman, was anxious to deliver the Holy Places; but any project -that he may have formed came to naught; for the Head of the Holy Roman -Empire was bent on subordinating the Church to his Imperial Will; and -the Head of the Church was even more resolute in his resolve to make -the Papacy independent and supreme. About this time, German prelates -headed 7,000 pilgrims, of whom only 2,000 survived to see their home -once more. The conquest of Jerusalem remained a dream until Peter the -Hermit awoke the sleeper. - -But now Urban II responded to his call, and summoned and presided over -the famous Council of Clermont in Auvergne. “God wills it,” shouted -the assembly; “a truce of God” was declared; private war and princely -quarrels appeared to be forgotten; and all Western Europe prepared for -a Crusade. - -The barons were undoubtedly captive to a great idea, and their zeal -was sincere. But little of any human action is due to a single motive. -Remission of sin was promised to those who should assume the Cross; -and love of battle, the charm of novelty, and the desire of acquiring -large and lucrative fiefs in the Holy Land also played their part. -The imagination of the common people, so lively and virile, often -so spiritual and exalted in the Middle Ages, was no less fired than -that of the barons. The spirit which directed men to the cloister now -summoned them to the camp. A belief that God had decreed the expulsion -of the Turk, and would protect and direct them to the capture of the -Holy City, filled all men with fanatic fervour. The sound of clarion -and trumpet and the clash of arms mingled with the voice of the -preacher exhorting seigneur and serf. To men of the eleventh century, -the curtains of the Unseen were often withdrawn, and the splendour of -God shone forth, or devils appeared, comely to tempt, or distorted -to terrify. Guibert tells us that, while at Beauvais, he noticed, at -mid-day, a few clouds stretched a little obliquely athwart others, and -“All at once, thousands of voices from every quarter cried out that a -cross had appeared in the sky.” - -But, as with the barons, motives other than religious also moved the -populace and favoured the Crusade. Private war had been unceasing; -famine and pestilence, the attendants on war, had desolated Europe; -the serf lay prostrate under the heel of his exacting seigneur. There -would be release from these evils in that land which the Redeemer of -Mankind had chosen to be the scene of his birth and Sacrifice. - -The wave of enthusiasm struck our own shores, and passed beyond -them. William of Malmesbury says in his “Chronicles of the Kings of -England” that, “there was no nation so remote, no people so retired, -as not to contribute its portion.” This ardent love not only inspired -the continental provinces, but even all who had heard the name of -Christ, whether in the most distant islands, or savage countries. The -Welshman left his hunting; the Scot his fellowship with lice; the Dane -his drinking party; the Norwegian his raw fish. Lands were deserted -of their husbandmen; houses of their inhabitants; even whole cities -migrated. There was no regard to relationship; affection to their -country was held in little esteem; God alone was placed before their -eyes. Whatever was stored in granaries, or hoarded in chambers, to -answer the hopes of the avaricious husbandman, or the covetousness of -the miser, all, all was deserted; they hungered and thirsted after -Jerusalem alone. Joy attended such as proceeded; while grief oppressed -those who remained. But why do I say remained? You might see the -husband departing with his wife; indeed, with all his family; you -would smile to see the whole household laden on a carriage, about to -proceed on their journey. The road was too narrow for the passengers, -the path too confined for the travellers, so thickly were they thronged -with endless multitudes. A French eye-witness tells us that “thieves -and evil-doers of all kinds cast themselves at the feet of priests -to receive the cross.... The rustic shod his oxen like horses; the -children on approaching any large town or castle would ask: ‘is that -Jerusalem?’” - -These undisciplined hordes became turbulent; their march was marked -by famine, pillage and murder. The few who reached Asia Minor were -exterminated. - -Macaulay’s “schoolboy” knows the story of the disciplined army of the -First Crusade; how, after the Caliph of Cairo had wrested Jerusalem -from the weakened Turk and offered peace and security to Christians in -vain, the slow advance of the invaders, marked by incredible cruelty -on both sides, was so far successful that the crusading barons and -their followers hurled themselves against the Holy City and took -it (A.D. 1099). “Even civilization always bears a brute within its -bosom,” remarks Sainte-Beuve; and assuredly Mediæval Religion made -small attempt to caste out the devils that made the Cross their screen. -The loftiest passions are often unstable; the enthusiasm of the crowd -readily passes from mood to mood. The fervour of faith became the -frenzy of carnage. Raymond of Agiles, an eye-witness, declares that the -Mosque of Omar and its portals ran blood up to the knees and even so -far as to the reins of the horses. For seven days, Jerusalem was given -up to slaughter and pillage. - -Yet, in spite of a campaign tarnished with shame and dyed with guilt, -the Christian ideal had not wholly disappeared. The growing spirit of -Chivalry was not wanting, nor was the Norman genius for statesmanship -absent. At the famous “Assizes of Jerusalem,” a code of laws was drawn -up better than the Middle Ages had yet known. But after Baldwin was -crowned at Bethlehem (A.D. 1100), the new Kingdom remained unsettled. -Neither Christian nor Saracen was likely to forget the atrocities of -war; the whole of Palestine was far from being subdued; a few parts -were still held by the Infidel; the paths to Jerusalem were still -perilous for the pilgrim; but once again the Holy City and other sacred -places were under Christian rule. The enthusiasm and joy of Western -Europe ran high. The tide of pilgrimage at once set in, and an obscure -Englishman was one of the first pilgrims to reach Jerusalem. - - - - -CHAPTER III. SÆWULF’S RECORD. - - -There is preserved in the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, -a valuable collection of ancient manuscripts presented by an old pupil -of the College, who was no other than Matthew Parker, Archbishop of -Canterbury in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Among these manuscripts -is a mere fragment, written in Mediæval Latin, which tells of the -pilgrimage to Jerusalem of one Sæwulf, an Englishman, who must have -started from his native shores thirty-six years after the landing of -William the Conqueror, and less than two years after the coronation of -Baldwin.[8] The record of Sæwulf is the broken voice of an obscure, -unlettered palmer, which chance has preserved from common sepulture -with things more important in the Ancient Silences. It gives us little -more than a glimpse of a single year of adventurous pilgrimage in the -life of a plain Englishman who, like the Chinaman who undertook a -sacred journey nearly five centuries before him, having beheld “a gleam -upon the mountain, needs must arise and go thither.” - -The narrative begins with the statement: “I Sæwulf, an unworthy -person and an evil doer, made for Jerusalem that I might pray at the -tomb of our Lord.” Who Sæwulf was, is open to conjecture. It seems -probable that he was the man of that name of whom William, Librarian -of Malmesbury Abbey, speaks in his “Book of Bishops”; a merchant who -had recurring spasms of penitence, during which he was wont to repair -to Wulstan, Bishop of Worcester, a prelate of “pious, simple truth,” -who commanded the affection of the people and the confidence of the -King. This Sæwulf was probably a native of Worcester. Wulstan, we know, -was the last of the Saxon Bishops; for the hand of the Norman was -heavy on the prostrate land, and it was the policy of the Conqueror, -as William of Malmesbury tells us, in another of his works, to replace -the native bishops on their death “by diligent men of any nation except -English”—a policy which the Church supported; for religion had been in -a decaying state in England for some years before the arrival of the -Normans. Indeed, “the clergy, contented with a very slight degree of -learning, could scarcely stammer out the words of the sacraments; and a -person who understood grammar was an object of wonder and astonishment. -The monks mocked the rule of their order by fine vestments and the -use of every kind of food.” Wulstan implored Sæwulf to give up a -livelihood which was beset with all manner of temptation, and to take -the habit; for his conviction of sin was soon over, and he invariably -resumed his former vices. Wulstan told him that the time would come -when he would become a monk, “which” says the Chronicler, “I afterwards -saw fulfilled; for he was converted in our monastery in his old age, -being driven to it by disease.” There is nothing in Sæwulf’s narrative -to indicate that he was in holy orders; more than once he speaks of -himself as one oppressed by a sense of sin; and the record of his -pilgrimage may very well have been translated into the dry, terse Latin -of the monks by another hand, or, conceivably, may have been written by -himself in his last years at Malmesbury. - -Whoever he was, Sæwulf’s early manhood was spent in a disordered land -among a dejected people. During the reign of William Rufus, England -was visited by tempest and famine and even by severe earthquake; -rebellion was rife; the Welsh over-ran the county of Chester and part -of Shropshire, leaving them waste; Magnus, King of Norway, swooped down -the Irish Sea, occupied Anglesea, and threatened the mainland; the -common people were oppressed by their foreign masters and illegally -taxed; “the courtiers preyed upon the property of the country -people and consumed their substance,” says William of Malmesbury, -and Eadmer of Canterbury, our best authority on the period, confirms -his statement: “As to their cruelty towards their hosts,” he writes, -“or their unseemly conduct towards their wives and daughters, it is -shameful even to remember”; the royal progresses through England were a -travelling Sodom and Gomorrah. And we may judge of the tender mercies -of the time when we read that traitors to the King, or innocent men -deemed to be such, “were deprived of their sight and manhood.” These -inhumanities also disgraced the far more civilized Byzantine Empire. -No wonder that men’s hearts yearned for a “City of God,” or that their -hearts were set on the peace of the convent, or that they disdained the -mere perils of pilgrimage! - -The existing fragment of Sæwulf’s narrative begins with his departure -from Southern Italy; but we know, from other sources, what were the -conditions and prescribed forms of pilgrimage, and how an English -pilgrim would reach Apulia. - -First, he had to get the consent of near relatives, in order that the -interests of his family or dependents might be protected. To make sure -that the would-be pilgrim was moved by devotion or penitence, and -not by vain desire to see the world, he was also required to secure -the sanction of his bishop, who made investigation into his life -and character before granting it. The enquiry was a very searching -one in the case of a monk; for his real motive might be to escape -from conventual discipline. If satisfied, the Bishop or his delegate -solemnly presented him with a pilgrim’s staff and wallet, and bestowed -his benediction at Mass in the church of the parish in which the -pilgrim resided. He was furnished with a document which exhorted all -monasteries, priests, and faithful Christians to give him aid and -relief on his journey. He was now bound to set off without delay, -under penalty of being dealt with as a backslider and perjurer. When -the day of departure arrived, a procession of relatives, friends, and -pious people accompanied him some little distance, and then, having -been blessed by the clergy present, clad in white linen with the cross -marked on it, and duly sprinkled with holy water, he went on his way -alone. - -The long and hazardous sea-voyage to the Mediterranean was shunned. -Despite the perturbed state of the Continent, it was safer to make -for the heel of Italy by the overland route. All men who bore arms -were under the obligation to defend him; no robber-baron might demand -a toll from him—nay the castle welcomed him, and he was seated at -table beside the house-priest. The bishop of every town and the abbot -or prior of every monastery gave him shelter and hospitality; alms -were specially devoted to the relief of the poor pilgrim and the -support of monasteries along the pilgrim’s path. If he were ill, the -doors of whatever hospital might be near were open to him, or he was -cordially received into the Infirmary of every convent. A pilgrim’s -hospice, founded in the first half of the ninth century by Louis the -Pious, stood amid the snowy wastes of Mont Cénis to shelter him from -its bitter blasts. He would pass through Italy, little affected by the -unceasing and bloody conflict of noble with bishop, bishop with city, -city with noble, and every one of a thousand petty communes and fiefs -with its neighbours; for the charitable monastery would prove a ready -asylum. Arrived at a convenient port, a greatly reduced passage-money -was required of a pilgrim to the Holy Land; and there were some ports -where ships belonging to them were compelled to carry pilgrims free of -all charge. - -Mediterranean shipping was not notably different in build and badness -from that of Northern waters; but was often of larger size. Nearly all -that we know about it is derived from the uncouth paintings, coins, -and arms of maritime towns of a somewhat later period, which are -rather symbols than representations. The sailing-ship was shorter than -the galley, which was rowed as well as sailed; it was shaped somewhat -like a half-moon and was very broad in the beam. It could sail only -before the wind. There was rarely more than a single mast; the sails -were square; and the yards could be lowered to the deck like those -of a modern barge. These ships were not unlike the clumsy coasters -still to be met with off Norway. Passengers were very uncomfortably -crowded together, and must have had a terrible time. The outside -planks overlapped, and were held together by iron nails; and the seams -were stopped up with oakum. Mediæval vessels were crazy craft, and -frequently went to pieces when wind and wave ran high: he was a bold -traveller who tempted Neptune in those days, and especially bold if, -after a first experience, he braved the sea god a second time. - -Brindisi was the usual place of embarquation; but for some reason, -which Sæwulf does not state, he started from Monopoli, a little port -midway between Bari and Brindisi. Now there was a general belief in -certain days being unlucky; a belief which persisted in spite of the -condemnation of the Church. A Christian Calendar of the early part -of the 4th century indicates what days are of ill omen, according to -the Astrology of Egypt. Popular belief credited the feast-day of St. -Mildred the Virgin (a saint of Kent) with this disqualification; and it -was on St. Mildred’s day, July 13th, 1102, that Sæwulf set sail in a -craft rather crazier than most. A storm came on the very same day the -port was left behind, and the ship was wrecked a short distance from -the harbour; but, “by Divine Mercy,” all aboard got safely to shore. -The passengers went on to Brindisi; their ship, having been patched -up in some fashion, sailed thither, and the pilgrims got on board -again; but alas! it was another of those unlucky Egyptian days! Corfu -was reached in two days (July 24th); but a great storm arose after -leaving port and drove the rickety craft before it. However, shelter -was gained at another of the Ionian islands—Cephalonia—on August -1st. Here, the company was still further depressed by the death of -one of their number. Cephalonia is opposite the Gulf of Lepanto, and, -sailing up the gulf, they landed at Patras, which Sæwulf speaks of as a -“notable _island_”; not improperly, the word island being often applied -to a port in those days. The ship stopped at Patras for a special -purpose—that its passengers and mariners should go on shore and pray -to St. Andrew the Apostle at the site of his martyrdom. Corinth was -reached on Aug. 9th, and Sæwulf and fellow pilgrims left their wretched -craft to avoid the long, stormy passage by Cape Matapan. He finds a -resemblance between his experiences and those of St. Paul: both had -suffered shipwreck, and Paul met with misadventure at Corinth, where -“we suffered many hardships.” When a pilgrim to the Holy Land speaks of -hardship, it was probably of an unusually severe kind. Roman Catholics -neither loved nor were loved by members of the Greek Communion; and the -behaviour of Crusading hosts in Eastern Europe was too recent to be -forgotten. - -The pilgrims crossed the isthmus to Livadrostro, and, some riding -asses, the rest on foot, reached Thebes. They would find Thebes -inhabited chiefly by Jews, who were “the most skilled artificers in -silk and purple cloth of all Greece.” Sixty-four years later, a Spanish -Jew, Benjamin of Tudela on the Ebro, who visited the settlements of his -race in many lands and reported on their condition, found 300 Jews at -Corinth and no fewer than about 2,000 at Thebes, “many of them being -learned scholars, not to be equalled in the land of Greece, save in the -city of Constantinople.” Leaving Thebes the travellers arrived next day -at Negropont (Aug. 23rd). This land-journey had proved untoward; the -Greeks were so inhospitable and so suspicious of them that often they -had to pass the night in deserted huts and sheds. No wonder that they -do not go a little out of their way to visit Athens, in spite of the -fact that “in the Church of the Blessed Virgin there is a lamp which -is ever burning with miraculously replenished oil,” and that Scripture -records how St. Paul preached there and “certain men clave unto him and -believed.” Among these converts was Dionysius, the Areopagite. It may -be true that Dionysius “was born and got his learning there”: we are -indebted to Sæwulf for the information. - -At Negropont, the band of pilgrims took passage in a tramp-trader, -which first touched at one of the islands of Petali, hard by Marathon; -but what Englishman of the year of grace 1102, even if he were an -educated monk, knew aught of the “glory which was Greece?” The voyagers -now made for Naxos, touching at various islands on their way; their -mediæval minds sightless to the classic lustre of the Cyclades. Sæwulf -does indeed speak of Naxos as being “near to Crete, that memorable -island”; memorable because his own lively experience of what it means -to “go down to the sea in ships” recalls the “tempestuous wind” which -caught St. Paul off Crete; for certain, he had never heard of that -Epimenides of whom the Apostle makes such vigorous use. Patmos is -reached, where the Beloved Apostle, banished by Domitian, “entered his -tomb alive.” Other islands are touched at, among them Cos, and here our -author exhibits his learning: it is the birthplace of Galen, “the most -famous physician among the Greeks.” However, Hippocrates and Galen were -both physicians, and that is near enough. On the trader goes, changing -its course, now north, now south; and the pilgrim associates every -place visited with some pious legend. Rhodes is reached, and history -is again rescued from oblivion: the Colossus was “an idol, 125 feet -high; the Persians destroyed it together with almost the whole Roman -province on their way to Spain.” Sæwulf, or tradition, has confused -the first conquering onrush of the Arabs with the Persian advance; but -the Colossus was destroyed, not by Persians but by earthquake, nine -centuries before Sæwulf’s time. Yet there is a basis for his story; -its fragments were removed for building purposes about the time of the -first Arab conquests. Sæwulf falls into a widespread blunder of his -unlettered age when he assumes that the inhabitants of Rhodes drew -their name from the Colossus, and that the Epistles to the Colossians -were directed to them. - -Leaving Rhodes, a great storm drove the ship straight before it; but -the sailors got her into the harbour of Patara, “and, by next day, -the storm had abated, and we came to Long Island.” Here was a ruined -city which had been the refuge of exiles, escaped from the Turk. Myra, -on the mainland, was now reached; and Sæwulf states that it is “the -port of the Adriatic Sea; as Constantinople is of the Ægean”: either -his geography is not quite accurate, or he would imply that, in his -time, Myra received the main Eastern traffic from the Adriatic, and -Constantinople from the Ægean. At Myra, he worshipped at the empty tomb -of St. Nicholas. Favourable winds bore the ship thence to an island -called “Sixty oars,” on account of the force of the sea and the effort -required to overcome it. A discursion, out of sight of land, brought -the pilgrims to Paphos in Cyprus. We do not expect any reference to the -Cyprian Venus; but we are a trifle surprised to find that our author -now confuses two separate chapters of “Acts” in one jumbled statement. - -Leaving Cyprus “we were tossed about by violent storms seven days’ -space before we could reach our haven; and one night a fierce contrary -wind drove us back towards Cyprus; but Divine Mercy, Who is close at -hand to those who truly call on Him, vouchsafed no small pity for us -afflicted souls, and we resumed our proper course. Yet, during seven -nights, we were overwhelmed by such a tempest and were in such peril -that almost all hope left us. Nevertheless, at the rising of the -sun, behold! the coast of Joppa lay before our eyes; and even as the -turbulence of our peril had made our hearts to sink within us, so joy, -unexpected and unhoped for, lifted them up an hundredfold more. And so -it came to pass that, thirteen weeks after our departure from Monopoli, -the sea having been our home, or deserted hovels in the islands (the -Greeks not being hospitable), we made the harbour of Joppa, filled with -joy and thanksgiving.” Sæwulf gives no dates; but many have been fixed -by the industry of a French scholar, who compared feast days mentioned -in the narrative with the calendar, and its events with ascertained -dates. Sæwulf reached the Holy Land, Oct. 12th, 1102. - -God had interposed on behalf of “the meanest of His servants and the -company of pilgrims”; and Sæwulf renders praise, with the manner of -the Psalms of David in his mind. But yet another danger from wind and -wave awaits him. He got warning from some weather-wise friends who knew -the badness of the harbour. But he shall tell his own tale: “The same -day that we anchored, someone, directed by God, as I believe, said to -me, ‘Master, go ashore this very day, for it may hap that to-night, at -dawn, a storm shall come on and stop you from landing.’ When I heard -this, the desire to land seized me. I got a boat and wrent ashore with -all my party. Even whilst I was landing the sea was vexed; the waves -became more troubled, and a tempest came on; yet by Divine Mercy, I -landed unharmed. What happened then? We entered the city to find a -lodging. Weary and overdone by our long labours, we fed ourselves and -went to rest. And then? In the morning, when we came out of church, we -heard the roaring of the sea and the populace shouting, and everybody -was running in a crowd to the shore, marvelling at such sounds as -they had never heard aforetime. And, when we got there, we beheld the -waves higher than hills, a countless number of bodies of men and women -lying in wretched-wise on the beach; and ships were crashed against -each other and broken into small bits. Could anyone hear a sound save -that of roaring breakers and splintering ships? For this drowned the -outcry of the crowd and the shouting in the ships. Our ship, however, -being a big one and strongly built, and some others, laden with corn -and other goods and with pilgrims going or returning, held to their -anchors still. Yet how were they tossed about? Into what terror were -they plunged! How their ladings were cast into the sea! What onlooker -so hard and strong as to keep a dry eye! Not long did we gaze when, -through the violence of the waves and currents, the anchors parted, the -ropes were broken asunder, and the ships abandoned to the fierceness -of the billows. All hope of safety was gone. Now they were cast high; -now flung down, and hurled by degrees upon beach or rock. There were -they dashed against one another in wretched plight, and, little by -little, torn to bits by the tempest. Neither would the savage blasts -allow of their getting back to the sea whole, nor the steepness of the -shore admit of their gaining safety there. But what gain in telling -how dismally sailors and pilgrims hung on; every hope gone, some to -ships, some to masts, some to spars, some to cross-tenders? What more -shall I tell? Some, overwhelmed with fright, are drowned. It may seem -unbelievable to many, yet I beheld with my own eyes the heads of some -separated from their bodies by the timbers of their own ship. Some, -washed from the decks, are borne away again into the deep. Some, who -can swim, leap into the sea. So, very many find their end. But just a -very few, relying on their strength, gain the land. Thus, of 30 ships -of largest size, of which some were Dromonds” (that is to say, having -two tiers of double oars), “Gulafri” (a sort of galley) “and Catts” -(vessels narrowing to the stern, with overhanging quarters and a deep -waist)—“all full of pilgrims and goods—of all these barely seven were -still unwrecked when I left the shore. That day more than a thousand -folk, of both sexes, perished. Never did eye behold greater horrors in -a single day. But the Lord, to whom be honour and glory, world without -end, delivered me from all this of His grace. Amen.” - -The little company had escaped a great peril, but another lay ahead. -Two days later they set forth to Jerusalem, and found the way “hilly, -very rough, and very perilous. For the Saracens are constantly devising -traps for Christians; they lie hidden in the hollows of the hills -and in rocky holes, and by day and night remain ever sharply on the -look-out for those whom they may pounce upon, by reason of their being -few in numbers, or so jaded as to lag behind their band. Suddenly, the -Saracens are all round about; the next moment they are gone. Anyone -who does that journey, may make trial of this. How many human bodies, -torn by wild beasts, lie along the way and beside it! Perchance, some -one may marvel how the bodies of Christians should lie unburied. But -there is nothing to wonder at; for there is very little earth, and the -rocks are not easy to dig, and, even if there were soil, who would -be so unwise as to leave his band and dig his companion a grave all -by himself? He who should do so would dig his own grave rather than -one for his companion. On that wayside, not only the poor and weak, -but the rich and strong also, are in peril. If men are cut off by the -Saracens, yet more in number die from heat and thirst; many through -want of drink; more by drinking inordinately. Nonetheless we and all -our company came scatheless to the place we longed for.” Sæwulf’s -account of the dangers which beset the pilgrim is confirmed by that of -Daniel, Abbot of Kief, who made his pilgrimage four years later (1106, -A.D.) North of the pilgrim’s way lay Acre; south of it Ascalon, strong -fortresses, still held by the Saracen. - -The track from Jaffa led to the gate of David, and, entering the -city, Sæwulf visited its holiest place first—the Martyrium or Holy -Sepulchre. The tomb was under cover, because the Church above was so -built as to be open to the skies. He tells us that Titus and Vespasian -destroyed the whole of Jerusalem to fulfil the prophesy of Christ, and -that the city has undergone the same fate seven times since Titus. -He has for guides native Syrians, a people whom he confuses with -the Assyrians and calls by that name. The guides told him that the -Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built in the time of Constantine the -Great. Now, the existing Church was only about 80 years old, and there -had been two previous buildings, of which the earlier was destroyed -by Chosroes II, early in the Seventh Century, and the second by -Mohammedans, early in the Eleventh Century. - -He was then taken to see the place where Christ was imprisoned, the -spot where His Cross and the crosses of the two thieves were found, -the column to which Christ was bound (the thong with which He is said -to have been bound is still to be seen at Aix-la-Chapelle); all these -sacred objects of pilgrimage being near the Holy Sepulchre. He was -shown the “navel of the earth,” a spot which a contemporary of Sæwulf -tells us was in the outside wall of the Martyrium, beyond the altar. -Sæwulf assures us that Christ marked it out with His own hand, and -declared it to be the centre of the world. This tradition dates from -the Sixth Century. Readers of Dante will recall that the poet makes -Jerusalem and the Earthly Paradise the Antipodes of our globe; and, -indeed, the Holy City was at the middle of the circumscribed world -known to the Middle Ages. And had not David sung “God is my King of -old, working Salvation _in the midst of the earth_?” - -Thence to Calvary; “Which is the very same place where Abraham built -an altar to sacrifice Isaac.” Traces of the Earthquake which rent the -rock, “for that it could not endure the death of its Maker without -breaking asunder,” were pointed out to him. The guides also took him to -Golgotha, the very place where a stream of the Saviour’s blood reached -the bones of Adam, “and he and the bodies of many saints arose.” Again -readers of Dante will think of the passage where the shade of Virgil -tells him how, some time after the Roman poet’s own death, Christ took -from Hades the souls of Adam and Moses and other Scriptural personages -of distinction, with many others “_e fecegli beati_,” “and made them -blessed.” Sæwulf has perfect trust in any information conveyed to him -by his “Assyrian” guides. Indeed, who so likely to know the truth about -this wonderful land as its natives? - -Close by the Holy Sepulchre was a little monastery which merchants of -Amalfi had founded 54 years before Sæwulf saw it. It was the abode -of the Knights Hospitalers, who became so famous; but they had not -yet become that military order of which, after so singular a history, -England possesses traces in St. John’s Gate, Clerkenwell, and a -memorial in the beneficent work of which that building is the official -centre. - -He saw the “Gate Beautiful,” through which Heraclius, triumphant bearer -of the Cross, entered after his defeat of the Persians; and heard how -“the stones fell down and closed the way, until an angel reproved -him; and he descended from his horse, and a passage was opened up to -him.” The guides took the pilgrim to see that stone which was the -pillow of Jacob when angels ascended and descended a celestial ladder -“and the Lord stood above it” at Bethel. It was now at Jerusalem, -and, traditionally, is the very stone which was transported to Scone, -whereon the Kings of Scotland sat to be crowned, and is to be seen at -the present day, placed below the Coronation Chair at Westminster Abbey. - -He was taken to Bethlehem; and complains that there, as at every holy -place, the Saracen had destroyed everything. Yet the Convent of the -Virgin still stood, and within it he saw the very manger where the -infant Jesus lay; the very stone on which His head reposed in the -tomb, and which St. Jerome had brought hither from Jerusalem; the -marble table at which the Mother of our Lord sat at meat with the -Magi; a well which received their guiding star into its waters; and -the burial-place of the Innocents. The story of the Star falling into -a well is also told by that fraudulent Fleming who adopted the name of -Sir John Mandeville, in his “Voiage and travaile.” - -As much of Palestine as had been conquered was still the scene of -unceasing disorder, brigandage, revolt and warfare; so pilgrims were -conducted to the holy places under military escort. Sæwulf went to -Hebron, and tells us of the tombs of the Patriarchs, ornamented by the -men of old and emitting sweet odours. The tombs were inside a strong -protecting fortress. Here, at Hebron, he found, still standing, an -ancient Ilex tree, under the shadow of which the Lord had appeared -to Abraham and promised that Sara should bear him a son. Apparently, -his friends, the “Assyrians,” during many centuries of experience, -had found what profit accrued to them in tacking on some Biblical -association to every available object. - -Travelling Northward, he visited Nazareth and Cana of Galilee, whence -he beheld Mount Tabor, clad in refreshing green and sprinkled with -flowers. Still advancing to the North, he saw the glory of Lebanon -above him, and the springs which give birth to the milky waters of -Jordan. - -More than seven months had passed since our simple-minded, -whole-hearted pilgrim landed at Joppa, and now he turns his steps -towards home. “Having seen every one of the Holy Places of Jerusalem -and its territory, so far as we were able; and our devotions done, we -took ship at Joppa on the day of Pentecost” (May 17th, 1903). Each -pilgrim would take on board with him a palm branch as ensign of his -success, and a few portable _souvenirs_. - -Just as war with the Caliph of Cairo prevented our pilgrim from -reaching the Holy Land by way of Egypt (which was the ordinary route -from Western Lands), so its continuance compelled him to return -by an unusual journey. The ship turned from Joppa to the North. -Saracen ships were scouring the sea; and the returning pilgrims found -themselves hugging the shore, although they must pass by that one -fortified seaport which the Crusaders had not yet overcome. Four -days out from Joppa, and when a little to the south of Acre, “behold -twenty-six Saracen ships hove into sight. They were the squadron of -the Admiral of Tyre and Sidon, sailing for Babylonia with an army to -aid the Chaldeans in waging war with the King of Jerusalem” (_! sic_). -This statement is an example of how hearsay may germinate in the -uninstructed mind. It may not, however, be quite so wild as it seems. -Cairo is called Babylon in all Mediæval writings, but, as a matter of -fact, Arabs were, about this time, trying to turn Tancred out of his -fief at Edessa; and Edessa may, perhaps, be regarded as lying towards -the Babylon of Scripture. And a Saracen army was at sea, sent by the -Caliph of Cairo, the new “Babylon,” to raise the siege of Ascalon, -which Baldwin I. was conducting. Probably it was this expedition from -Cairo which Sæwulf came across. “Two vessels from Joppa, which were -with us, laden with pilgrims, left our ship to itself; for they were -lighter craft; and, by hard rowing, fled to Cæsarea. The Saracens -sailed all round our ship, and kept an arrow’s flight off, rejoicing -over so much plunder. However our men were ready to die for Christ; -they laid hold of their arms, and used up each moment in fortifying -the castle (at the stern) of our ship; for we had in our dromond 200 -fighting men. After the space of about an hour, the chief of the -expedition, having held a council-of-war, ordered one of his sailors -to climb up to the mast-head, so as to find out what it was exactly -that we were at. And, when he learned from this man how strong was our -defence, he hoisted his high yards and made for the main. Thus did Our -Lord, of His Grace, rescue us from the foe that day. Afterwards our -folk from Joppa took three of these same ships and made themselves -rich men with the spoil thereof.” - -Sæwulf’s dromond hugged the coast for eight days, and then crossed -the open sea to St. Andrews’, at the eastern extremity of Cyprus; -thence it made for Antiochetta on the mainland. “During this voyage -pirates often attacked us; but, under the protection of Divine Grace, -we suffered naught, whether from hostile attack or from tempestuous -tossing.” Rhodes was reached on June 23rd; and Sæwulf and some others, -who were weary of tacking east and west and of the slow progress made -by the heavy vessel, agreed to go a certain distance together, and -hired a smaller but swifter craft. Embarked in this, they returned -towards the Asian Coast. A contrary wind detained them a few days at -a place which Sæwulf calls Stromlo (Astypalæa), “once a fair city, -wholly made waste by the Turks.” At Scio, “we took leave of our (last) -ship and fellow-travellers, and began our journey to Constantinople, -in order that we might pray there.” While passing Tenedos, he heard -of the ruins of Troy, and “how many miles of ground they covered.” He -tells us of two fortresses facing one another from opposite sides of -the “Arm of St. George” (the Dardanelles), “which are so near as to -be only two or three bowshots apart, and which thus make the taking -of Constantinople an impossibility.” We have another reference to the -Trojan war: “The Greeks say that Helen was carried off (from Eregli) by -Paris Alexander.” And now the fragment ends, leaving our pilgrim landed -at Rodosto on the Sea of Marmora, Sept. 10th, 1103. It has taken him -more than four months’ voyage from Joppa to reach within fifty miles of -New Rome. Doubtless he found at St. Sophia, as Benjamin of Tudela did -towards the end of the same century, “a quantity of wealth beyond all -telling ... and the like of these riches is not to be seen in any other -Church in the world.” - -A long, weary journey, full of the excitement of peril, still lay -before him, whatever route he might take. All we know is that, arrived -at his native town (Worcester?), a procession would receive and -accompany him to his parish church. There he would render thanks to God -for his safe return, and deliver his palm branch into the hands of the -priest, who would lay it on the altar. - -Some chance has rescued this broken record of an obscure, unlettered -palmer from oblivion. He is as the hollow voice of a shade which has -burst its sepulture in the silences of oblivion. We catch but a glimpse -of some tenuous wraith; once warm and breathing flesh. It tells us -of a few months in the brief adventure of Life. Yet we recognize, as -in Hiuen-Tsiang, one who, having beheld “a gleam on the mountain,” -must “arise and go seek it.” Sæwulf the Englishman may be but “a poor -thing,” yet he is our own. There lies the excuse for “a poor humour of -mine, sir, to take that that no man else will.” - - - - -MOHAMMED IBN ABD ALLAH - -BETTER KNOWN AS IBN BATÛTA, THE GREATEST OF MOSLEM TRAVELLERS, A.D. -1304–77. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -THE WHIRLWIND FROM ARABIA AND WHAT FOLLOWED. - - -Marauder as he was, the Arab, like his half-brother the Hebrew, carried -an ethical spark in his bosom which could be readily fanned into a -consuming blaze. He was accustomed, in the silence of the stony waste -and of the stars, to plunge into the depths of his own spiritual being, -or to await, in patience, some portent from the unseen. Mohammed, a -mystic, like unto the ancient prophets of Israel, hating false gods and -illuminated by the “One All Merciful, Lord of Creation and Sultan of -Life,” in trance, in ecstasy, and in paroxysms of enthusiasm, strove -to purge his fellow countrymen of their vain worship of idols and -false gods, and to lead them to the feet of the Almighty. At first he -preached to closed ears; but persistence and enthusiasm prevailed: the -religious intoxication of the Prophet was shared by the unconquered -sons of the desert; the Arab took fire from the flaming words which -fell from these inspired lips, and was eager to carry the message to -the uttermost ends of the earth or to perish in the effort. Within ten -years of Mohammed’s flight from Mecca (A.D. 622) all Arabia was won to -the Monotheist by conviction or by conquest. - -The combination of spiritual fervour with a prospect of worldly -achievement is formidable. A year after the death of the Prophet, -Kalid, riding against the embattled hosts of Persia (A.D. 633), -broke into a chant which reveals a baser spring of action in the -Arabian mind. “Behold the wealth of the land,” he sang; “its paths -sweat fatness; food abounds as do stones in Arabia. It were a great -thing to fight here for worldly goods; but to battle in a holy war -is beyond praise. These fruitful fields and Paradise!!!” It was not -religious fanaticism alone, although it was religious fanaticism in the -main, which put an invincible scimitar into the hands of the tough, -tenacious, untamed Arab. He was impelled by religious fervour, without -doubt; but religious fervour had the strong support of a lusting after -possessions, all the more tempting in contrast with the stinted boons -of his desert home. And, should he fall in battle, was he not promised -an immediate admission into Paradise with those sensuous enjoyments, -which were most in contrast with the penury of the nomad tent, and -which were most alluring to the imagination of the average sensual man? - -When material greed supports spiritual fanaticism, there is no need -to wonder at success. The Arab advanced against exhausted, loosely -organised Empires, sprawling and decayed; he offered righteous -government, a pure simple faith, with tolerance of the unbeliever under -penalty of a light tribute. The requital of refusal was the sword. -Damascus fell three years after Mohammed’s death (A.D. 635); Jerusalem, -within two year; Egypt, six years later (A.D. 641), and Persia when the -Prophet had only lain a decade in his tomb (A.D. 642). Not many years -passed before Okba swept across North Africa, rode his steed far into -the Atlantic tide, and waved his scimitar over the waste of waters, -lamenting that it put a limit to victory. Thrice was the Mediterranean -coast of Africa conquered, and thrice was the Arab well-nigh expelled; -and then Greek and Roman and all civilized inhabitants of the coast, -preferring the rule of the Moslem to that of the barbarous Berbers -who had replaced him, welcomed the fourth invasion, and settled down -under Arab rule. By the close of the century which in its youth saw -the hurried night-flight of Mohammed from Mecca, the Moslem held sway -from the Oxus to the Western ports of Barbary. At the beginning of the -next century the great Iberian peninsula was added to the dominion -of the Caliph; and, although Ironic Destiny turned back the triumph -of the Prophet in the decisive battle of Tours (A.D. 732), a hundred -years after his death, the great Iberian Peninsula was held by the Arab -from sea to sea and as far north as the Cantabrian Mountains and the -southern spurs of the Pyrenees; while the Koran was preached, although -it did not everywhere prevail, east and west, over a broad belt more -than seven thousand miles in length. The muezzin called the Faithful to -prayers from the Atlantic to the Yellow Sea. - -When a race, endowed with natural gifts, subdues an enlightened people, -it becomes inseminated by the higher culture it encounters, and is -stimulated to evolve an art, a literature, and a polished civilization -of its own. So was it when Rome conquered Hellas; so was it when the -Northmen established themselves in France and Sicily; so was it when -the thundering steeds of the desert bore their wild riders north and -east and west, and the ancient Parthian monarchy and the fairest, the -wealthiest, and the most cultured of the Roman provinces fell before -the triumphant Arab. Like the Norman, like the Roman, he had the -natural gift of governing as well as a passionate wisdom. He steeped -himself in the lore of Hellas; it was through him that the philosophy -of Aristotle was transmitted to the Schoolmen; it was through him that -St. Thomas Aquinas was able to construct that venerable philosophical -system, based on the Peripatetic, which has received the sanction and -endorsement of the Church of Rome; it was through him, therefore, -that Dante beheld that “glorious philosopher,” that “guide of human -reason,” that “_Maestro di color che sanno_,” “Master of those who -know,” seated amid a philosophic family. The great names of Averrhoes, -Avicenna, Avempace, Algazel, and Avicebron attest the freedom of -Arab speculation in the tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries. -Mohammedans were the begetters of chemical science; they eagerly -pursued the study of botany; they contributed much to geography; they -carried medicine far beyond the ancient limits of Galen and Celsus; -they became bold, brilliant and successful operators, and introduced -new methods into surgery; they cultivated letters and left a noble -literature behind them; they were poets almost to a man: Princes wrote -verses to the stars in some interval between private plot and public -slaughter; water-carriers and camel-drivers vied with professional -poets in singing the praises of love in those delicious hours when -the refreshing breezes of the night might carry songs beyond the -lattice of the harem to be received with the light laughter of girls; -even the forbidden wine-flask became a theme for song. Much of Arabic -love poetry is immortal, and few are the literatures in which it is -surpassed. In Architecture and the Decorative Arts, the Arabs achieved -inimitable elegance and grace; as workers in metal they were supreme. -After a prolonged struggle, they subdued and civilized the wild Berber. -They regarded the Jew as a brother, less well informed in sacred things -than themselves; and they treated even the “tritheistic” Christian with -forbearance. Indeed they were not too anxious to proselytize; for the -unconverted were taxable, and they did not wish the sources of public -income to dry up. But taxation was light, and, in the main, the Arab -yoke was far from heavy. Slaves were treated with humanity, and might -earn their freedom at any moment by a simple profession of faith: the -Negro, the Spaniard, the Berber, the Turk, could acquire the full right -of a man by the repetition of a short formula. During the declining -years of the Byzantine Empire, and until Liberty and Literature arose -in the Italian Communes, the Mohammedan bore the torch of learning and -kept human justice enthroned. - -But Islam was another illustration of the profound truth already -recorded in this volume as one of the melancholy tenets of Buddhism: -Every human institution bears within it the seeds of its decay. Though -a sense of righteous dealing dwelt from of old in the bosom of the -Arab, in his native desert the sword which executed it was held by -his own right hand. The predatory tentsmen were divided into clans; -and between the clans there were blood-feuds. They were a democratic -people; but they had a deep reverence for men of noble blood; and their -feuds were taken up by the chief men of the cities of Arabia, and by -those leaders who, later, became the governors of new provinces. And -the conquered Berbers had precisely the same characteristics: they -also were predatory, democratic, and revered their noble families. -Moreover, both races were readily moved to the more violent of the -emotions of religion. Before long Moslem fought against Moslem, and -a thousand forms of religious dissent weakened, although they did -not destroy, the essential unity of Faith. Again, the extensive and -rapidly acquired Empire was too vast and too ill-organized to be ruled -by one, all-powerful Caliph. The centre of government was transferred, -during the revolutions of Islam at variance with itself, from Damascus -to Bagdad and from Bagdad to Cairo; but the Caliph of Cairo was -defended by, and therefore in the hands of Mamelukes—slaves, bought -in childhood and trained to arms. The Mameluke became the ruler; -and, by the middle of the Thirteenth Century, the Caliph was a mere -nominal Spiritual Head, far feebler than the Pope in Rome. For, distant -provinces were continually falling away from central authority; and it -was never long before the ally who came forward to support the Caliph -found it to his advantage to turn against him. The Mohammedan world was -divided, not merely between the Shiite and Sunnite sects, but between -many ambitious and rival States. Long before the Fourteenth Century, -Islam was past its prime. There was decay in matters political, in -literature, and in art. Yet the amity in Islam was greater than its -discord. The need of mutual protection against the Christian, and -the duty of every Mohammedan to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least -once in his lifetime, helped to preserve true brotherly feeling among -all followers of the Prophet, whatever their rank, their wealth, or -the colour of their skin. The study of the Koran implied a study of -Arabic: there was therefore a common language to serve the needs of -intercommunication. The Koran was carried into mysterious lands, known -before its arrival only in the distortion of legend and in fables -of romance. Passionate devotion to a Faith which antagonistic or -far-separated races came to hold in common swept away these obstacles -to commutual intimacy. Huge hosts of Pilgrims from many lands met at -Mecca, and different caravans and different sects united in prayer and -praise. Some had encountered peril by sea; all had baffled the craft -or repelled the attack of robber-bands; all had endured trials of the -desert; all had triumphed over those countless dangers which lurked -along difficult ways. Thus, disciplined in endurance and accustomed to -adventure, latent powers of mind and character were aroused. Strange -sights awakened the curiosity of the trader; novel wares excited his -cupidity and converted him into an explorer of the world. In spite -of the intertwining of religious zeal with commercial instinct, -Pagan princes saw their opportunity of enrichment, and welcomed the -Arab, Moorish, or Persian merchant. And, in days of peace, the whole -Mohammedan world was open to every Mohammedan traveller; rulers -received him with elaborate courtesy and sped him on his way, rejoicing -in gifts. It mattered not whether he entered the gateway of some -princely residence, or stood on the threshold of some peasant’s hut; he -was sure at least of welcome and refreshment. The trader might settle -anywhere and find amity awaiting him; an honest man was an honoured -guest in whatever land he might pursue his calling. A Christian, -Missionary to the East, who died in Ibn Batûta’s time, bears witness -to the brotherly love which obtained among Moslems of different races. -So we shall not marvel overmuch at Ibn Batûta accomplishing what even -to-day would be considered world-wide travel, or at his discovering -children of the same father, who in their childhood watched the sun -setting over Atlantic waters, prosperously dwelling in their maturity, -one, where the dawn breaks from the Yellow Sea; one, where the oasis -lies an incongruous and solitary blossom amid the sands of Sahara. - - - - -CHAPTER II. A RESOLUTE PILGRIM - - -Among Mohammedan pilgrims and travellers Ibn Batûta stands without -a peer. He was born in a city which was once an extreme outpost of -Roman rule in Africa, the Ancient Tingis, the modern Tangiers, in the -Sultanate of Fez, 24th February, 1304. He devoted his youth to the -study of the Koran and its exegesis; becoming thereby an expert in -theology and jurisprudence. For, throughout the Mohammedan world the -Koran is the living fountain of all law and of all piety: hence Moslem -theology and law are inextricably intertwined. - -“Life is a pure flame, and we live by an invisible sun within us,” -is one of the quaint metaphors of Sir Thomas Browne. The old Norwich -physician is writing of the body; but his remark is profoundly true of -the soul of men. By the time that Batûta had reached the age of 21, he -tells us that he was all aflame with “inner desire and determination -to visit the Holy Places; tearing himself away from those who were -dear to him, both male and female, and taking wing from home as a -bird doth from its nest.” He started from his native city when not -quite twenty-one years and four months old (14th June, 1325), making, -first, for Tlemçen, the capital of a Moslem State 300 miles distant -from Tangier. Tlemçen remains in the present writer’s memory as a gem -set among the Algerian Mountains, remarkable for the ruins of Mansûra, -which almost run up to its walls—a rival city built by a rival prince -during a siege which dragged on longer than the ten years’ assault -on Troy—remarkable also for a master-piece of decoration in that -Thirteenth Century which was the great period of Moslem Architecture -no less than of our own. In this beautiful city rested a Tunisian -Embassy which had completed its mission and was about to return; -and this he joined. When he arrived at Bougie, he became a prey to -fever; but the patient was a man of mettle and he pushed on. Fever was -not the only foe. All North Africa was more or less unsafe, by reason -of Nomadic Berbers and brigands; and hostilities were frequent between -the States into which the great Empire of the Undivided Caliphate had -broken up. The returning Embassy was exposed to danger on its journey -“from the perfidy of Arabs.” - -Arrived at Constantine, he received the first of those welcome -donatives which it was incumbent on the Rulers of Islam to bestow. It -was a scarf for head-gear; and tucked in its folds, with considerate -delicacy, were two gold coins. - -At Bona, the ancient Hippo, whereof once Augustine was bishop, fever -again preyed on him, and he became so ill that he could only keep his -saddle by taking his turban off and tying himself on with it; nor -could he stand at all during the whole long journey to Tunis. When the -Embassy arrived at its destination, the inhabitants came outside the -walls to welcome the cavalcade. Weak, weary, and worn down by illness, -unfriended and solitary, among strangers who were joyfully greeted -by relatives and friends and fellow-countrymen; remote from all that -was hallowed by family affection or endeared by early association, a -terrible tempest of longing swept the bosom of our pilgrim. He saw all -the others saluted: “there was no salutation for me” he says, “I knew -no soul there. I burst into a flood of tears. A pilgrim saw this; he -came forward and did me courtesy; nor did he cease to take me off my -thoughts by his conversation until I was housed in the city.” This is -the sole occasion on which we hear a word of home-sickness during a -journey which lasted more than a score of years. The born traveller, -like the born sailor, may feel the pang and have it renewed, but he -brushes it aside. Moreover, we shall shortly find Ibn Batûta setting up -a travelling-home of his own. - -The Caravan for Mecca was about to start from Tunis; and we find -our jurisconsult become its Cadi, or justiciary. A hundred bowmen -accompanied it through a district always perilous by reason of -marauding nomads, who lurk among its hills. It was the rainy season; -the weather turned so wet and cold that the caravan halted at Sfax, -and remained there some time, hoping for improvement. Ibn Batûta -seized the opportunity to marry the first wife of whom we are told. -She was a daughter of a syndic of Tunis; and probably this was his -first, but far from being his last, entrance into matrimony. For he -was a man of taste, and we shall find him, in the course of time, -become an experienced Benedict, and by no means indifferent to the -charms of his pretty slave-concubines. All delay was intolerable -to Batûta; so, accompanied by his bride, he set off at the head of -an armed band, bearing its standard. He soon entered a district -notorious for brigandage even to-day, when conquering France and Italy -hold the land and bestow sanguinary lessons on wild tribesmen and -robbers-in-blood. Fierce nomads hovered around the little company, -awaiting an opportunity to attack; but happily the caravan caught it -up at one of those tombs of saint or warrior which the Moslem holds in -such veneration. Probably Batûta’s father-in-law was in the caravan; -for we are now told of dissensions between the two men, although -there is silence as to the subject of dispute. If the Prophet granted -the doubtful privilege of a plurality of wives, he mitigated the -inconveniences of polygamy by extreme facility in divorce. Batûta -availed himself of this, and sent his bride back to her father. The -ill-luck, which so soon attended this first matrimonial venture, did -not deter him from a second experiment: he lost no time in marrying -a fellow-countrywoman, presumably also a fellow-pilgrim; she was -the daughter of a dignitary of Fez. The pilgrims halted a whole day -to indulge in wedding festivity. On the 3rd April, 1326, nearly ten -months after Batûta’s departure from Tangier, the caravan drew up at -Alexandria, and his long and not too safe journey along the southern -coast of the “mid sea, moaning with memories,” was at an end. - -Alexandria was, at that time, one of the great commercial centres of -the world. Shipping from all Christendom and North Africa were to be -found in its haven. Batûta tells us that it surpassed all ports he -ever saw, excepting Colon and Calicut in India, the Italian settlement -in the Crimea, and Zaitun (Thsiuan-Cheu) at that time the great -port of China. Alexandria was almost as remarkable for Moslem piety -as for trade. Batûta made a point of visiting a learned and pious -person there, who, like all Mohammedan saints, was reputed to possess -miraculous powers. The saint’s acuteness penetrated into the character -of his visitor: he perceived a born-wayfarer in the prescriptive -pilgrim, and told him that he had a taste for travel. “‘Yes,’ was my -reply,” says Batûta, “although at that time, I had formed no project of -distant travel. ... ‘You will see my brother in Sind, another brother -who is in India, and yet a third who is in China, and will bear my -salutations to them.’ I was astounded at what he said, and made up my -mind to visit these countries; nor did I give up my resolve until I had -beheld all three men.” “Only strongly impassioned men may achieve great -results,” says Mirabeau. We shall see what Batûta’s passion was and -what he accomplished. - -His keen eye noted the glories of Alexandria; the great lighthouse -of Ptolemy, in the last stage of decay, and that great column of -Diocletian, mis-called Pompey’s Pillar. Stung more than ever by a -divine gadfly, he must run all over Lower Egypt, visiting every living -saint of renown and every relic of the past, especially such relics as -were the tombs or dwellings of departed saints. The attention which -holy men paid to their dreams and the confidence with which they -interpreted them recall the Hebrew Scriptures. Batûta tells us that -he visited an unusually gifted and eminently holy seer; and from -that time “good fortune attended me throughout my travels.” But our -traveller was no mere inattentive dreamer: the minuteness and accuracy -of his observations are remarkable; and his statements are fully -confirmed in the literature of contemporary and later travel, and other -records of the age in which he lived. - -Among the places he visited, we find him at Damietta, where was -preserved the cell of the Chief of the Calenders. The very name -Calender recalls one’s youth and those fantastic fables of the “Arabian -Nights” which delighted it. A Calender was a Moslem under vow to -deliver himself from the allurements of earth and to consecrate his -life to things spiritual. It was the usage of all Calenders to shave -off beard and eyebrow; and Batûta supplies us with a story to account -for their disfigurement. The founder of the sect was a personable man, -and a certain lady fell in love with him and pursued him in every -conceivable way. But all her lures and devices coming to nought, she -contrived a still more ingenious stratagem. She got an old woman, -who, of course, could not read, to stop the beloved one, who was as -good-natured as he was devout, when on his way to the mosque, and ask -him to read a letter which she said she had received from her son. He -complied, and then quoth the old woman: “My son has a wife who dwells -in yonder house. Will you be so good as to read it in the passage so -that she may hear what her husband says?” He agreed to this also; but -no sooner had he crossed the threshold than the old woman clapped the -door to, and the love-sick lady appeared, attended by her slaves, who -forced him into an inner room. She cast herself at him, and began to -take liberties with him. So he made the excuse that it was necessary -for him to retire privately. No sooner was he alone, than he whipped -out a razor which he had with him, and divested himself of beard and -eyebrow. Then he presented himself before the enamoured woman, who -was so disgusted at the disfigurement that she had him chased from -the house. “Thus,” says Batûta, “by Divine Providence, his chastity -was preserved, and his sect shaved eyebrow and beard from that time -forward.” - -This is one of the many anecdotes which Batûta thrusts into his -narrative. It is much more amusing than most of them. All Orientals -(and Moors are essentially Orientals) dote on pointless fable and -wild romance. They are insatiate for marvel, and gulp down any -stretch of fancy coloured by religion. Batûta’s farrago of stories -is, for the most part, silly. Happily, these legends are short. He -wrought diligently in hagiology; he was a-gape for yarns, remembered -them all and carefully recorded them; for they suited his own taste -and that of his nation and time. They are the gatherings of a man -profoundly learned in the Koran and Mohammedan lore; one concerned, -like the Pharisees of old, with minor questions of the Law and minutiæ -of ceremonial observance; vexed, as it were, about tithes of small -herbs. His main interest was his religion, and in his religion he was -a meticulous pedant. He had a natural love of the miraculous, and -religious credulity case-hardened it. Every mosque was a magnet to -draw him from afar; he made a pilgrimage to every Mohammedan shrine -he heard of; he cannot away without its legend. He reports wonders as -dull as they are extravagant. They possess neither genius nor charm -nor authority. Sometimes Oriental taste for the tawdry is to blame: -sometimes he is flatly gulled. But, in mundane matters, restless -impulses converted the credulous pundit into a man of the world. He -records accurately what he actually saw and heard, or what he believed -he saw and heard. He was interested in all that life had to offer; but -supremely so in all that had to do with Islam. - -From the mouths of the Nile, Ibn Batûta approached that ancient land -where mournful memorials stand out, clear and awful, in the flood of -light; where every winding of the mysterious valley repeats the enigma -of the tomb. He came to Cairo, and saw the Pyramids, - - “Memphis, and Thebes, and whatso’er of strange - Dark Ethiopia on her desert hills conceals.” - -He tells us of all in architecture that struck him as worthy of -mention, of the products of the soil, of the habits of the people, -and of their government. He praises the emulation of the provincial -Emirs of Egypt in good works and the building of mosques. He watches -the gathering of great personages at the procession of the Mahmil, or -drapery woven to cover that sanctuary at Mecca wherein lay the object -of Arabian worship ages before Mohammed was born. For the Sacred Stone -fell from Paradise with Adam; and the Archangel Gabriel carried it to -him for the house which he built to God. - -Magistrates and juris consults, the great officials of the Sultan and -the Syndics of Corporations, some on horseback, some on foot, assemble -at Cairo and await the Holy Drapery. The Emir who, this year, is to -head the annual pilgrimage, arrives with attendant troops and camels -and water-carriers. A conical box encloses the sacred cloth. All the -nondescript population of the city follow it. By some trick of the -camel-drivers, their beasts are urged to strange screeching; and the -motley throng makes its slow progress round the city, a winding river -of vivid colour and odd effect; a procession not without dignity, but -which an ancient Athenian had perhaps found a tawdry show compared with -the simple grace of the procession of the _peplops_ in his City of the -Violet Crown. - -From Cairo, our pilgrim makes his way to Panopolis, then “a great town, -fine and well-built,” and so to Syene, partly following the river where -each new morning mocks the ruined temples, and partly taking short cuts -across the desert. - -A holy man told him that he would find it impossible to fulfil his -pilgrimage just then; but he pushed across the unpeopled sands which -lie between the Nile and the Red Sea, and, after a trying journey -of fifteen days, found himself among a “black” race, called Bodjas, -who were settled at Aidhab, at that time a port of considerable -trade. These people wore yellow garments and affected the smallest of -head-gear. They would seem to have preserved their independence by -martial spirit; and, as is so often the case among a warrior-people, -daughters were not allowed to succeed to property. At this moment, they -were at war with the Mamaluke soldiery of Egypt; and it was impossible -for pilgrims to get transport across the Red Sea. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -A ROUNDABOUT PILGRIMAGE - - -Now, besides the shrewd reading of Batûta’s character by the holy -man of Alexandria, who saw in him the born traveller, another Sheik -had also read his man aright and foretold that he should meet the -seer’s brothers in widely separated parts of the world. Oracles are -often suggestive and start the way to their own fulfilment. These -predictions actually came about. Batûta assures us that he had at the -time no intention of running over nearly all of the known earth; but by -now an inborn tendency to keep moving had developed into a veritable -_wanderlust_. “A brief space,” sings Pindar, “a brief space hath -opportunity for men; but of him it is known surely when it cometh, and -he waiteth thereon.” Batûta’s opportunity had come to him. Stopped from -reaching Mecca during the present pilgrimage, he resolved to retrace -his steps to Cairo, push on to Palestine, visit its sacred spots and -the renowned cities of Syria, join the Syrian Caravan, and take the -long, fearsome journey from Damascus over the Arabian waste. Here was -occasion to visit holy places only less interesting to the Moslem -than to the Christian, to wander at leisure in notable lands, and to -compare the amazing ways of the tribes of men. He sold all that might -encumber him, and returned to High Egypt. The Nile was in flood; he -sailed down it, spent a night at Cairo, and pushed on, (A.D. 1326). -There was a caravan-route to Palestine, north of Sinai, with stations -in the desert. Each station had its _Khân_, or inn, an institution -which afforded bed and stabling, but not food or fodder. But there -was a shop at each station, where all that might be wanted was sold; -and there was a water-cistern, free to all comers at the door of each -inn. At the frontier of Palestine, there was a custom-house, and a -passport must be produced before one was allowed to cross the boundary -in either direction. At Khalil, a town of Hebron, remarkable for its -beauty, and also for the unusual distinction of being well lit at -night, Batûta admired a mosque said to have been reared by those genii -whom the wisdom of Solomon had made his servants, and whom he evoked -by his mystic talisman. Passing through Palestine, our pilgrim visited -those very few places the sanctity of which could be established by -indisputable record and those very many places which owed their fame -to rank imagination or crafty legend begotten of sordid avarice. He -went to the birthplace of Jesus, because the Moslem regards Jesus as -a fore-runner of Mohammed: and from Bethlehem he came to Jerusalem. -He thought the Mosque there as fine a building as any on earth. It -occupied one side of a vast courtyard, and its fretted walls and roof -shone with gilding and vivid colours. In the middle of the Mosque was a -rock, so brilliant in hue that no idea of its glory could be given. And -this was the rock whence (so says tradition) Mohammed rode up to heaven -on the sacred winged ass. - -Tyre, “mother of cities fraught with pride,” Acre and Askalon -were in ruins—the result of the Crusades. Tiberias rejoiced in a -bathing-establishment. Having plenty of time to fill up before the -Syrian caravan should leave Damascus, the pilgrim wandered hither and -thither, backwards and forwards, and saw many famous cities, such as -Beyrout, Tripoli, Aleppo, Baalbec, Emessa and Antioch. He found all -the people who inhabited the district of Gabala sadly misguided; for -they believed Ali, son-in-law of the Prophet to be a god. They neither -purified themselves, nor prayed, nor fasted. They had turned mosques -into cattle-sheds; and, should any pious wanderer wish to pray in one -of the desecrated buildings, these heretics were wont to gibe at him -and shout: “Don’t pray, ass that thou art; fodder shall be given thee.” - -Nomads from Central Asia had penetrated Asia Minor and reached the -Mediterranean shore. Here and there they had settled; just as Scythian -and Hun, Goth and Vandal once forced their way into the Roman Empire -and effected lodgement within it before they rose and overthrew it. But -the Emirs, whatever their nationality, would seem to have maintained -decent government. Sometimes the despotisms of Islam surprise us by -such unexpected qualities as sagacity, prudence, and self-restraint. -At Latakia, Batûta found that, when anyone was condemned to die, the -official appointed to superintend the execution was expected to go up -to wherever the condemned man might be, return without apprehending -him, and ask the Emir to repeat the sentence. Not until three such -journeys had been made and the sentence thrice delivered was it carried -out. On the other hand, secret murder was a favourite political engine. -Our pilgrim beheld, on the heights of Lebanon, strongholds of that -military sect, the Hashashin, to which we owe the word assassin. “They -will admit no stranger among them, unless he be of their own body. The -Sultan, El Malik El Nasir, uses them as his arrows; and, through them, -he strikes down those of his foes that dwell afar from him; such, for -instance, as may dwell in Persia or anywhere else. Various duties are -allotted to different men among them; and when the Sultan wishes one of -them to waylay some foe, he bargains as to the price of blood. Should -the murderer accomplish his work, and return to safety, his reward is -paid to him; and should he fail, his heirs receive it. These folk carry -poisoned knives wherewithal to strike their prey.” - -Laodicea would seem to have been held by a ruler who, like the -robber-barons of Germany or the pirates of Dalmatia, was a terror to -the trader: “he is said to take by violence all the ships he can.” Like -all travellers, Batûta is enthusiastic about the glories of Lebanon. -He found it “the most fertile mountain on Earth, where are copious -springs of water and shady groves; and it is laden with many kinds of -fruit. And I beheld there very many of that host of hermits who have -left the world that they may devote themselves to God.” - -Two thousand feet above the sea-level lay Damascus, most ancient of -cities, with a delightful climate and a productive soil. “The chief -Mosque is the most splendid in the world, most tastefully built, -excelling in beauty and grace.” His interest in mosques and public -worship is inextinguishable; and he recounts the dramatic methods of a -certain preacher. There dwelt at Damascus an imam whose orthodoxy was -not above suspicion; indeed he had already suffered imprisonment on -that score. It so fell out that, one Friday, I was at his preaching. -He came down the stairway of the pulpit calling out: ‘God came down -to the Earthly Paradise in the very same way as I am coming down.’ A -theologian who was there denied this; and the congregation, set on the -preacher and beat him. A complaint was made against this too literal -expositor; he was cast into prison, and there he died. - -Islam has always been remarkable for charity. Damascus boasted many -benevolent institutions. “As I was passing along a street one day,” -says Batûta “I saw a slave-child who had dropped a porcelain dish, made -in China, which lay in pieces on the ground. A crowd gathered round the -little Mameluke, and one of them said, ‘Pick up the pieces and carry -them to the overseer of the Utensils Charity.’ This man took the little -slave with him to the overseer, who at once gave him what money was -necessary to buy such another dish. This is one of the best of these -endowments; for the owner of the slave would doubtless have beaten him -or scolded him severely. Moreover he would have been heart-broken. So -the endowment really relieves sorrowful bosoms.” Batûta gives more -than one little indication that children (and even his own wives -occasionally) could touch his heart. The Moslem can be very pitiful; -he usually treats his slaves kindly; and one does not wonder that our -pilgrim speaks warmly about the piety and high civilization of Damascus -in his time. He was licensed to teach in that beautiful city; but found -time to visit the cavern which is one of the places where Abraham is -said to have been born, and the grotto where Abel’s blood was still to -be seen; “for his brother dragged him thither.” - -Batûta started with the Pilgrim’s Caravan to the Holy Cities on -September 1st, 1326. Many hundreds of perilous miles lay before him. -The mere solitude of the desert always inspires insupportable dread, -and to secure a sufficient supply of water is a problem not always to -be solved. Batûta was told how, during one pilgrimage, water gave out, -and “a skin of it rose to a thousand _dinars_; yet both seller and -buyer perished.” Ancient travellers always speak with awe of the weird -noises which suddenly break the silence of the desert and inspire a -new dread. Shifting sands cause these sounds. Batûta tells us of one -huge sandhill called The Mount of Drums, because the Bedouins “say that -a sound as of drums is heard there every Thursday night.” But this -particular pilgrimage, although made along a difficult and dangerous -route, was comparatively uneventful, as were all the journeys Batûta -made to Mecca. He gives small space to it, and we shall find the record -of a much livelier and more interesting pilgrimage from Damascus in -the pages of Varthema. The journey was often one of perils, grave and -manifold. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -GLIMPSES OF ARABIA, PERSIA AND EAST AFRICA IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY - - -After duly visiting the tomb of the Prophet at Medina and performing -the prescribed rites at Mecca, Batûta, still insatiate of travel, -joined the Persian caravan on its homeward journey, and soon came to -the place where, to this day, the devil is lapidated. “It is a great -collection of stones. Everyone who comes to it hurls one. They say -there was once a heretic who was stoned to death there.” From Medina, -Central Arabia was crossed, and a journey of 600 miles brought the -caravan to a town in the Nedjd which was one of the claimants to the -possession of the bones of Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet. Where -Ali really was buried is unknown. But the excited mind worked a great -effect on the body here, for, on a certain night of the year devoted -to religious revival, “cripples were brought to the tomb, even from -far-away lands, and were laid on it soon after sunset. Then there was -praying and reciting of the Koran and prostrations; and, about midnight -the halt rose up, sound and hale.” - -At Bussora, the port so opulent and its trades so flourishing in the -days of Haroun-al-Raschid, one dared not venture to travel abroad -without the protection of a Bedouin escort: “There is no journeying -possible in these parts except with them.” Yet traces remained of the -former wealth of the city. “Bussora is richer in palm-trees than any -place in the world. Its people are generous and friendly to strangers. -One of the finest mosques is paved with red pebbles. And therein is -kept that beautiful copy of the Koran which Othman was reading when he -was murdered; and the stain of his blood is on it yet.” - -In this district he came across vestiges of the worship of Baal. -Certain of the fanatical sect called Haïderia lit a fire of wood, ate -of the burning embers, rolled in them, and then trampled them with bare -feet until all flame was put out. Later on, he saw the same strange -feat done by the same strange sect in India, when there came to a -place near Delhi, where he was encamped, men led by a very black man -and wearing collars and bracelets of iron. “They stayed all night with -us. Their chief asked me for wood to light a fire for them to dance -by, and I requested the deputy-ruler of that part to let them have it. -After the second evening prayer, the pile was lit, and, when the wood -had become burning charcoal, they struck up music and began to dance -into the fire; and they rolled themselves in it. Then their head-man -asked me for a tunic, and I gave him one of very fine make. He put it -on, rolled in the fire, and beat the embers so that the fire ceased to -flare, and it went out. He then brought the tunic to me, and I found -it to be undamaged. And thereat I marvelled greatly.” And between -these two experiences he came across Haïderia in Eastern Persia at -Turbet-Haïdarj: “They wore an iron collar, and, what is stranger still, -their _virilia_ are incarcerated to ensure their chastity.” - -He now sailed down the united Tigris and Euphrates and along the coast -of Persia in a small boat, and, landing at a port, travelled across -the plains of Southern Persia, with high mountains right and left. He -found the ways in mountainous Lâristân cut through the rocks. These -parts were governed by a tributary ruler. “In every one of the stations -in this country are cells made ready for those bent on religious -undertakings and for travellers. Every newcomer is provided with bread, -flesh, and sweetmeats.” After two months of travel, Batûta came to -Ispahan, in the heart of Persia. The Sultan had already provided him -with money to cover the cost of his wanderings in Persia. Eastern -rulers regarded munificence as a duty: Eastern travellers claimed it as -a right. From Ispahan he went southward to Shiraz, which he found a -large and well-built city, but inferior to Damascus. “The inhabitants -are honest, religious, and virtuous, especially the women. I went -thither in order to visit that paragon of saints and of those that -have the power to work miracles, Majd Oddîn. I put up therefore at the -College which he founded. He was judge of the City: but, being advanced -in years, his brother’s sons took on his duties for him.... He is much -venerated by the Emirs of that land, so that, when they are before him, -they lay hold of both their ears; which is the mark of devotion due to -the Sultan.” - -At El Hilla, on the banks of the Euphrates, he found a curious belief -that the last of the Imams was still alive and dwelt there; but that -he was invisible to mortal eye. “Every day, a hundred armed men come -to the portal of the mosque. They lead with them a beast saddled and -bridled; and a gathering of folk beat drums and blow trumpets. They cry -aloud: ‘Come forth, Lord of the Times; for the earth is filled with -evil doing and deeds of shame. Now is the hour for thee to appear, so -that, through thee, Allah may divide the truth from the lie.’ They wait -on until night, when needs must that they go home.” - -“It is an uncontrolled truth,” says Swift, “that no man ever made an -ill figure who understood his own talents.” Ibn Batûta, theologian, -jurist, and, by this time, experienced man of the world, knew his -powers; and one of his powers was knowing how to employ the rest. We -now find him accompanying the Tartar Ruler of Persia, the “Sultan of -the Two Iraks and Khôrasân, to Tabriz, whither the monarch marched with -his army.” Tabriz is not more than a hundred miles from Armenia and the -Caspian Sea. Batûta tells us how his eyes were dazzled by the lustre of -precious jewels which well-dressed slaves purchased to decorate their -Tartar mistresses. The Sultan gave him a fine dress and other handsome -presents; and he resolved to make a second pilgrimage to Mecca; -whereupon the Sultan ordered that he should be provided with all that -was necessary to further such a worthy end. But, before starting he had -time to travel along the banks of the Tigris as far north as Diarbekir; -for he wished to visit a saint and worker of miracles, reputed “not to -break his fast during forty days at a stretch, save with a crust of -barley bread.” On getting back to Bagdad he found the caravan ready to -start, and took his departure with it. - -Persia, exhausted by the long struggle with the Roman Empire, fell -an easy prey to the Arabs; and, although it enjoyed a second era of -power and prosperity under the Caliphs of Bagdad, first Seljuk Turks -conquered it, and then Mongolians, under Chinghiz Khân, which, being -interpreted, is the Great Khân, no other than the “Tartre Cambyuskan” -of Chaucer’s Squire’s Tale, the “Cambuscan” bold of Milton’s II -Penseroso. Mongolians had now possessed the land for little less than -a century, and they and the Sultans of Egypt held each other in dread. -Religious differences have always been convenient as a war-cry; and, -from of old, religious unity has been wont to fulfil some of the -functions of our modern patriotism. The Caliph at Cairo was the head of -the Orthodox Sunnites, Moslems who hold the Sunna, or body of tradition -which professes to preserve such teaching and laws as the Prophet gave -by word of mouth as of equal authority with the Koran; but the Tartar -Sultan of Persia was a Shiite, or one of those who reject the Sunna, -and hold that Ali, son-in-law of the Prophet, was Mohammed’s legitimate -successor. Hence Batûta found the Shiite Sultan putting pressure on the -Sunnites of the great cities of Bagdad, Shiraz, and Ispahan to make -them renounce the form of faith sacred to them because it was that of -their fathers and further endeared because the Caliphate at Bagdad had -brought such lustre to the Persian name. - -Our pilgrim arrived at Mecca, for the second time, without meeting with -any remarkable adventure in crossing Central Arabia. One is surprised -to find so restless a spirit content to remain three years in Mecca. -But Batûta was a theologian and jurist; one, moreover, who held the -outward observances of Islam in high respect; and he dwelt during the -whole of that time at a Mohammedan theological school. And now the old -passion for travel returns, and he is completely in its grip. He is -away to Jidda on the Red Sea, embarks on one of those Eastern ships -which were even more wretchedly built and worse navigated than those -of the Western nations, and is forced by tempest into a port between -Aidhab and Suakin. Nothing daunted, he puts to sea again and arrives in -Arabia the Happy. A Cadi welcomes the distinguished sage and traveller, -entertains him for three days, and, on the fourth, takes him to the -court of the Sultan at Zebid, one of the chief towns of Yemen. Batûta a -true Oriental delights in pomp and ceremony, and describes the audience -in full. - -“The Sultan is to be saluted by touching the ground with forefinger, -raising it to the head, and saying ‘May Allah give thee enduring rule.’ -This I did, copying the Cadi; who seated himself at the right hand of -the Sultan, and told me to be seated facing him. The monarch sat on a -daïs, which was covered with ornamental silk stuff; and right and left -of him stood his warriors. Around him are sword and buckler-bearers; -nearer are bowmen; and in front of these, on either side, the -chamberlain, the first men of the State, and the private scribe. -Djandar, the Emir, is also present before him and the officers of the -guard; but the latter keep their distance. When the Sultan takes his -seat, all cry aloud, ‘In the name of Allah!’ and they repeat this when -he rises; so that all who are in the Hall of Audience know precisely -when he sits down and when he rises. Directly the Monarch is seated, -all those who are wont to visit the Court and do him obeisance, come -in and salute him. This done, each takes his allotted place to right -or left, nor does he leave it or sit down unless commanded to do so. -In the latter case, the Sultan says to the Emir Djandar, who is Chief -Constable of the Palace, ‘Tell such an one to be seated.’ And the man -so commanded comes forward a little way and sits down on a carpet in -front of and between those who are grouped to right and left. Meats -are then brought forth; and these are of two kinds, one kind being for -the many, the other kind for people of importance, that is to say, the -Sultan, the Chief Justice, the principal Sheriffs, jurisconsults and -guests. The other sort of viands serves for the rest of the Sheriffs, -jurisconsults, judges, sheiks, emirs, and officers of the army. -Everyone takes the place allotted to him at the feast and everybody has -room enough. I found the same form observed at the Court of the Sultan -of India; and I know not which monarch hath copied it from the other.” - -After visiting several cities of Yemen, which were flourishing centres -of trade at that time, Batûta reached Aden, “a large city, but without -water, and nothing can grow there. Rain is caught and stored up in -tanks, and that is the only water to drink. But rich traders make their -abode in Aden, and hither vessels come from India.” - -Now the Arabs had sought for wealth in the products of Ethiopia; they -had advanced along the Eastern Coast of Africa, and had established -ports considerably south of Zanzibar. Batûta had a fancy to see these -tropical parts; so he sailed from Aden as far as Kiloa or Kilwa, which -is nine degrees south of the equator. The ship touched at various -ports where there were Arab settlements; some of them by no means -salubrious or agreeable. At Zeila, he experienced “an unbearable stench -from decaying fish and the blood of camels, which are slaughtered -in the streets:” At another station, Mogdishu, he was received with -much civility. “When a ship draws up, the young men of the place come -forth, and each accosts a trader, and becomes his host. Should there -be a theologian or a man of station on board, he is taken to dwell -with the Cadi. When it was known that I was there, the Cadi came to -the beach, and his students with him, and I took up my abode with him. -He led me to the Sultan who is styled the Sheik.... A servant brought -vegetables and fawfel-nut ... and rose-water to us ... and this is the -highest honour that can be done to a stranger.... The people are far -too fat, because they gorge. One of them will eat as much as a whole -congregation of worshippers ought to do.” From Mogdishu, the ship went -on to Mombasa and Kiloa for a cargo of ivory. Batûta tells us of the -productions of tropical East Africa, and how “the greatest gift to the -peoples here is ivory, which is the tooth of the elephant.” - -From Kiloa, he coasted back to the straits of Bab-el-Mandel, ran along -the Gulf of Aden, and landed at Zafar, in Oman. He tells us, as does -Marco Polo, how the natives feed their cattle on fish. Zafar “is a -filthy place, plagued with flies by reason of the markets for fish and -dates. Copper and tin pieces of money are used. The heat is so great -that those who dwell there must bathe several times a day; and they -suffer greatly from elephant’s leg (elephantiasis) and from ruptures. -It is indeed beyond a marvel that they will hurt no one unless it be to -return some hurt done to them. Many Sultans have tried to subdue them, -yet naught but bale have they gotten thereby.” - -Batûta travelled past the shores of Oman in a small coaster which -touched at many ports. He found the banana, the betel-tree, and the -cocoa-nut flourishing in this corner of Arabia, and describes them -and their uses. Wishing to see what the hinterland was like, he took -a seven-days’ journey from the coast, but found that it took six days -to cross a desert. The inland people would seem hardly to have emerged -from primitive promiscuity; for he tells us that “there wives are most -base and husbands shew no sign of jealousy.” Jealousy as to the harem -is an excellent masculine virtue to our good Moslem. - -Crossing the Persian Gulf, the island of Hormuz was reached, whither -traders had recently migrated from old Hormuz on the Persian mainland. -Vases and lamp-stands of rock-salt were among the manufactures of -this important mart and port of call; and hard by were the renowned -fisheries for “orient pearl.” He was told, and believed, that the -divers remained two hours under water, and was astounded to see people -amusing themselves by crawling from orbit to orbit of the battered -skull of a spermaceti whale which had been washed ashore. - -Crossing the narrow strait to Persia, he hired an escort of Turkoman -settlers, “a hardy and brave race, who occupy these parts and know -the roads. Without them, there is no travelling.” His object in -returning to Persia was to visit a man of saintly repute who dwelt -far away in Lâristân. It took four days to cross a waterless desert -where the Simoon blows in summer, “and kills everyone in its path; -and their limbs drop away from the trunk.” At Lar, the capital, he -found the saint in his cell, seated on the ground. He was clad in an -ancient garment made of wool. Yet he was in the habit of giving costly -presents, and had food and fresh clothing ready for all who visited -him. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -TO INDIA BY WAY OF CONSTANTINOPLE AND THE STEPPES - - -Batûta joined the Persian Caravan to Mecca, and once again journeyed -across the territory of the Wahabi in Central Arabia. This, his third -pilgrimage, over, he resolved to see India. But the wretched ship in -which he put forth was storm-tossed, and finally driven into a little -port on the Egyptian coast. So he made across the desert, seeing, now -and again, the tents of a few wandering Arabs or an ostrich or gazelle. -After much hardship, he reached Syene and travelled once more along the -banks of the Nile to Cairo. And now the fancy seized him to revisit -Asia Minor, see Southern Russia and Turkestan, and get to India over -the Hindu Kûsh. He retraced his old route through Palestine and Syria -as far as Latakia. There he embarked on a Genoese vessel for Alâia, on -the south coast of Asia Minor, which he calls “Rûm, because it belonged -of yore to the Romans; and, to this day many of them dwell here under -the protection of the Moslems.” He was now farther north than he had -been before. One of the petty Sultans gave him and those who were with -him the usual gracious greeting of the East, and furnished them with -provisions. On reaching Anatolia, he found the country broken up into a -multitude of contending States, many of these being held by Turkomans. -The secular efforts of the keepers of wandering herds on the Steppes -of Asia to settle in the rich, civilized countries of Europe and Asia -had established the nomad in Persia and Asia Minor. Successive waves of -conquest had swept over the fair lands south of the Oxus and Caspian, -and, one by one, the victorious tribes settled down and received a -higher civilization than their own from the subjugated tillers of the -soil. But now the Empire of the Seljuk Turks was broken into fragments. -Among the new rulers the Ottoman Turks, a small class of the tribe of -Oghuz, were gradually and with difficulty gaining territory and power -in Asia Minor. But there was as yet no hint that they were destined -to inherit the Roman Empire of the East and to rule from the Danube -to the Euphrates. Some of these little States were ancient provinces, -with splendid and busy cities that rivalled Cairo in wealth and beauty. -Some were carved out of the mouldering Byzantine Empire; some had -been torn from Persia. There were also solitary fortresses and towns -held by Turkomans who lived by rapine and piracy; and some States -only preserved their precarious existence by the aid of a force of -slaves who had been purchased or torn from their Christian parents in -childhood and rigidly trained to military life. These Mamelukes were -sent by their overlord, the Sultan of Egypt. - -Yet the tradition of good government was far from being lost. The new -rulers were vigorous and prudent. It would seem that one of the secrets -of Ottoman success lay in that close supervision of subordinates which -recent conquest requires. Consequently, on the whole, the country was -prosperous. Batûta found that the ruler of one province never remained -more than a month in one place. He moved about to inspect fortresses -and see the condition of various districts. This man had besieged a -city for twelve years. It is not without precedent in Moslem history -for a siege to last longer than that of Troy; a fact which shows how -little the husbandman was interfered with in these local wars. Even -in France at the close of the Dark Ages, the tiller of the soil was -safe from the invader of his field if he laid his hand on the plough. -Batûta wandered at large, and was received in all places with warm -hospitality. On landing, he took up his abode in the college of a -sheik; and, on the second day, a poorly-clad man came to invite him -and those who were with him to a feast. He wondered “how so poor a -man could bear the charges of feasting us, who were many.” The sheik -explained that the man was one of a society of silk-merchants who had -a “cell” of their own. The guests were received with much courtesy -and hospitality, and were liberally, supplied with money to cover -their travelling expenses. Batûta learned that, in every town of the -Turkomans, there was constituted a brotherhood of young men to supply -strangers with food and other necessaries. A president, styled The -Brother, was elected by those of the same trade, and even a foreigner -might occupy the post. Each guild built a “cell” for itself in which -food, a saddled steed, and all that might be wanted by travellers was -stored. One of the duties of a President was to call daily on the -members of his guild or brotherhood, and assist them in their diverse -needs. Every evening the brotherhood returned his call; and whatsoever -had not been needed was sold to support the “cell.” Should any -traveller have arrived during the day, he was entertained. Otherwise -“the brotherhood of youths” spent the evening in song, dance, and -feast. On one occasion, directly Batûta’s party arrived at the gate of -a city, two knots of men rushed to seize the bridles of their horses, -and there was a struggle between them. This proceeding greatly alarmed -the travellers, the more so that none of them was able to speak the -language. But a man who knew Arabic came forward to assure them that -there was no cause for fear. The rival parties were two brotherhoods -disputing as to which should entertain the travellers. The antagonists -cast lots, and the travellers went to the cell of one guild on the -first day and to that of the other guild the next day. At another time, -Batûta put up at the “cell” of one who was a member of a society of -youths and who had a great number of disciples distinguished by their -coarse ragged mantles and closely fitting hose. The petty Sultans, too, -would provide horses or provisions. - -The ruler of Bigni, a man proud of the possession of “a stone which had -fallen from heaven,” gave Batûta gold, clothes, two horses and a slave. -Although a severe Sunnite, our traveller shows no great religious -hatred to Shiites, Jews, or Christians; but he liked to keep heretics -and infidels in their place. He tells a story which is instructive as -to the medical attainments of the Jew and the relations between Jew and -Moslem. At Bigni an old man came and saluted the Sultan. All rose to -do him honour. “He sat himself on the daïs, opposite the Sultan, and -the readers of the Koran were below him. I asked the sage, ‘who is this -sheik?’ He smiled and kept silent; but when I asked again, he replied: -‘he is a Jewish physician of whom we all have need. That is why we rose -when he came in.’ Whereat I fumed, and said to him: ‘thou dog, son of a -dog, how darest thou, a mere Jew, to seat thyself above the readers of -the Koran?’ I had raised my voice, and this astonished the Sultan, who -asked why I had done so. The sage told him, and the Jew was humbled, -and went away very much cast down. When we returned, the sage said to -me: ‘well have you done! Allah bestow his blessing on thee! None other -but thou had dared to speak thus to the Jew. Thou hast taught him to -know his place.’” - -Language-difficulty caused some embarassment during this long journey -through Asia Minor; so an interpreter, who had done the pilgrimage to -Mecca and who spoke Arabic, was engaged by Batûta’s party. But the -Hadji cheated them abominably; so one day they asked him what he had -stolen from them that day. The thief, quite unabashed told them the -precise amount; “whereat we could but laugh and put up with it.” - -Batûta embarked from Sinope, on the southern shore of the Euxine, for -Sodaia, in the Crimea. Sodaia was one of the great ports of the world. -Venice had established a factory there a century back, but had been -ejected. The Crimea was chiefly in the hands of the Genoese, who -were established at Caffa; but the Italian cities were in pressing -danger of ejection and of losing their Levantine and Euxine trade. -After suffering much distress on the voyage and “only just escaping -from being drowned,” we find Batûta at Caffa; and for the first time -suffering from the annoyance of those Christian bells which have been -a nuisance, not merely to Moslems, but to the more sensitive among -European ears from the days when they were perhaps necessary, yet when -Rabelais objurgated them in his chapter on the “Island of bells,” to -these modern times of clocks and watches. In all these cosmopolitan -towns, each nation occupied a separate fortified quarter. The trade of -Southern Russia was great; and one is surprised to find that horses -were exported to India. - -Batûta made across a land where the quiet air was no longer annoyed by -the insistent clang which was an insult at once to his faith and his -ears. He found Southern Russia a plain without hill or tree. Waggons -might travel for six months through a green desert, the silence broken -only by lowing of cattle, hoarse voice of an occasional herdsman, -or languid stir of some collection of huts which passed for a town. -Cattle were protected by severe laws severely enforced. “Should a -beast be stolen, the thief must return it with nine more. If unable to -furnish these, his children are taken into slavery; and, if he have no -children, he is slaughtered like a sheep.... The only fuel is dung.” - -Batûta was bent on visiting Uzbek Khân, the powerful Tartar who now -represented the dynasty founded by Chinghiz Khân, the blacksmith. Uzbek -was one of the seven mightiest monarchs of the world, the others being -the Sultan of the West; the Sultan of Egypt and Syria, the Sultan -of the two Iraks (Persia and Mesopotamia), the Khân of Turkestan, -the Sultan of India, and the Emperor of China. Our traveller hired -a waggon, and, after many monotonous days, arrived at the camp of -the Khân. He was amazed to behold “a city in motion; complete in its -streets, mosques, and cooking houses.” Nor was he less bewildered at -the consideration given to women by all men, from the Khân downwards, -and at seeing them going about unveiled, yet “religious, charitable, -and given to good works.” The wife of an Emir would ride, magnificently -attired, in a coach. “Often she is accompanied by her husband; but one -would take him for a mere attendant.” Uzbek Khân was “wont to give -audience on Friday, his four wives, unveiled, sitting enthroned to -right and left of him, a son on either side, and a daughter in front. -Princes and Emirs are gathered around. People enter into the presence -in order of rank. When a wife comes in, he takes her by the hand and -leads her to her throne. Each wife has a separate abode; and not to -visit these ladies is looked upon as a breach of good manners.” It is -evident that the ancestral habits of a nomadic people were carefully -preserved under conditions which were rapidly changing. The Sultan sent -his visitor a horse, a sheep, and koumiss in a leathern bottle. - -Batûta wished to see for himself the great change in the length of day -and night which takes place as one travels northward. So Uzbek sent -him to far-distant Bulgar, on the Volga, a place in the latitude of -Newcastle. Here he was told of a “Land of Darkness,” which lay forty -days’ journey to the North. “Traders alone go there; and only in big -companies. Dogs draw them over the ice in sledges; and the travellers -must take all food and wood for fuel with them. The dogs are fed before -anyone, and experienced dogs, who have done the journey several times, -are chosen to lead the pack. On arriving at the proper place, each -trader puts down his goods and retires. Next day, he finds furs put -down as barter. Should he be content with these, he carries them off; -but should he not be satisfied, he leaves them where they are, and more -are added. But sometimes the natives will take back their own goods, -and leave those of the traders. The traders never see anyone, and know -not whether they deal with human beings or with demons.” Strange as -this practice seems, there is other evidence that exchange of goods was -made in this way in very high latitudes. Sledge-dogs were used very -much farther south than they are to-day. Batûta speaks of the Russians -as being “Christians with red hair, blue eyes, ugly, faithless, and -rich in silver shrines.” - -When Batûta returned to Uzbek, he went on to Astrakhan with him. “Here -the Sultan dwells in very cold weather.... The city is on one of the -great rivers of the world (the Volga), which is crossed by laying -thousands of bundles of hay on the ice.” - -Now, the third of Uzbek’s four wives was a daughter of the Christian -Emperor of Constantinople. History makes no mention of this lady; but -there is no reason to doubt the fact, however surprising; for, since -1265 A.D. the Byzantine Emperor had more than once given a natural -daughter or legitimate sister in marriage to powerful Mongolian -Sovereigns, in order to get their support against the encroaching Turks -of Asia Minor. - -This particular lady was expecting her confinement and desired to -return home for the event. She had requested the Khân to allow her to -do so, and he had sanctioned the journey. Batûta saw an opportunity of -seeing the famous Christian metropolis, if the Khân would allow him -to join the escort. Such a petition from a foreign stranger naturally -aroused suspicion as to his motives; but Batûta was skilful in allaying -this; and we find him setting forth with a parting gift from the Khân -of a fine dress, several horses, and cash. Even the Khân’s ladies and -his sons and daughters gave him presents. The princess was escorted -by 500 horse and 4,500 foot. The Khân, accompanied by his head-wife -and heir-apparent rode with her the first stage; the heir-apparent and -his suite went on the next stage of a journey that took two months. -For some reason or other a very round-about route was chosen; first a -waterless, uninhabited waste was crossed; then the Caucasus approached -to within a day’s march. When a border-fortress was reached, the escort -returned; and now the real motive of the lady becomes discernable. The -unhappy woman had been the victim of state-craft, a puppet danced off -to a semi-barbarian husband in the interests of Constantinople. In -spite of the respect paid to women in her new abode, she was heartily -sick of Tartar discomfort and Moslem ways. Accustomed to the luxurious -ease and refinements of the Byzantine Court, she loathed the uncouth -manners of a half-tamed people and their rough life. She sighed for the -amenities of her father’s palace and the high civilization of his city. -She left her travelling mosque at the fortress, drank wine, and is said -to have eaten swine’s flesh. From Batûta’s point of view, she relapsed -into infidelity; yet he has no bitter word to cast at her. When a -day’s journey from her native city, a younger brother came to meet her -with 5,000 cavalry, all in shining armour. Next day the heir-apparent -arrived with 10,000 cavalry, and when quite near to Constantinople, -the greater part of the population turned out, decked in their best, -and shouting so that it was difficult to decide whether they or the -drums made most noise. The parents came forth from the gate in full -royal state, and the poor released princess threw herself on the ground -before them, kissed it, and even kissed the hooves of their horses. All -the bells of Constantinople were a-ringing, and the royal party entered -the city with glittering pomp. - -Batûta was unwilling to enter “Istambûl” without the Emperor’s special -sanction; it was not too safe a place for a Moslem. Andronicus -Palæologus the Younger gave him a safe-conduct; but he was searched -for concealed arms at the fifth gate—a practice which, afterwards, he -found to obtain in India. As he passed through the gateways the guards -muttered: “Saracens! Saracens!” And Saracens they had indeed occasion -to hold in mortal horror and dread. - -Our pilgrim-traveller gets sadly muddled about names and dates just -here. Evidently, he derived the information he gives us from a Jew, -who acted as interpreter, and who either spoke Arabic imperfectly -or heartily enjoyed “pulling his leg.” And as to dates, just here, -Batûta’s memory fails him a little. He was told that the Pope of -Rome paid an annual visit to Santa Sophia, and was received with -the greatest veneration and ceremonial. And he calls the Emperor -Andronicus, “George.” Andronicus plied him with eager questions as to -Jerusalem and the Holy Places of Palestine. He only saw the outside of -Santa Sophia. - -Now, the Princess made open objection to return to her husband, and had -her will. She gave Batûta a money-present for his services; but the -Byzantine Empire was in decay, and, to his loss in exchange, the coins -debased. He returned Eastward with a small escort, and met Uzbek Khân -at Sara. We read in Dan Chaucer how - - “At Sarray, in the land of Tartarye - Ther dwelt a king that werreyed Russye.” - -Nothing will content him but to see those famous cities beyond the -Oxus, and Balk, with its great mosque of the precious pillars, before -he proceeds to India. He travels 40 days through a desert. The whole -district is one vast desolation; and he tells us how Chinghiz Khân, -the blood-stained blacksmith, a conquering hero, a strict Moslem, and -therefore “a man of liberal mind,” subdued district after district -until he was lord of China and the Middle East; how he carried off the -youth of Bokhâra and Samarkand, Khôrasân and Irak, and slaughtered and -pillaged so that he left nothing but ruin behind him. Batûta visited -the Great Khân of Turkestan and more than one camp of petty rulers. - -“The purple robe makes Emperors, not priests,” said Ambrose the Bishop -of Milan to the Emperor Theodosius; and the Emperor remarked how hard -it was for a ruler to meet with an outspoken and unfearing man. Batûta -tells us of an amusing incident which indicates, not merely how an -imam could be outspoken to a king, but also that, if Mohammedanism -had admitted of a sacerdotal hierarchy, the same exercise of priestly -authority which cast Theodosius prostrate and weeping before the Altar -at Milan and kept Heinrich shivering in the snows of Canossa, while -awaiting the condescension of Hildebrand, would have obtained in the -Moslem as in the Christian world. When Tirim Siri Khân wished prayers -to be delayed until he should come to the mosque, the imam bade the -messenger return to the Khân and ask him whether prayers were ordered -of God or of him, and commanded the muezzin to summon the faithful as -usual. After the second prostration the Khân arrived, meekly remained -at the doorway, and joined in the prayers. When worship was over, he -grasped the hand of the imam, who laughed heartily, and the twain -sat together afterwards, Batûta being with them. The Khân told the -traveller to declare to his countrymen how the Ruler of the Turkomans -had sat with a poor man of the poorest Persians. This worthy imam lived -by the labour of his hands, and refused all the gifts his sovereign -offered him. No wonder that warm friendship sprang up between these two -men, and that both were respected and obeyed. But greater regard was -paid to the statutes than to this monarch even; for, after Batûta left, -Tirim Siri broke a law laid down by his grandfather and therefore was -deposed. - -In one province he found “a laudable practice. A whip is hung up in -every mosque, and whoever stays away from worship is beaten by the imam -before all the congregation, and fined to boot, the fine going towards -the upkeep of the mosque.” The time came when Batûta, clothed with -authority, itched to exercise it in the same praiseworthy way. - -Batûta now visits Herat, turns north-westward to Meshed, the capital -of Khôrasân and holy city of the Shiites, thence travels to Jam, the -birthplace of Jami, the Persian poet, and at Tus finds the tomb of the -Caliph Haroun-al-Raschid, who died there when on a military expedition. -Now, Haroun-al-Raschid was a Sunnite; so the orthodox “place lighted -candles on his grave, but the followers of Ali (Shiites) are wont to -give it a kick.” One recalls the story of how, when the Indian Emperor -had his attention drawn to a dog defiling the grave of a heretic, he -remarked that “the beast resembles orthodoxy.” Heterodox or orthodox, -according to point of view, here were flourishing colleges filled with -students, and saintly men dwelling in secluded cells. To work miracles -has always been a distinction of the saint; but the Eastern saint was -also permitted to live on to an age incredibly ripe. Batûta is always -running across some man of the age attained by old Parr, and upwards. A -century and a half is a moderate number of years for these holy beings, -and Batûta accepts it as veridical; especially when corroborative -evidence is given. But three and a half centuries claimed by a man who -is no Struldbrug, but looks not more than fifty, staggers even him. The -impostor assures his visitor that every century he grows a fresh crop -of hair and cuts a new set of teeth, and that he had been a Râja who -was buried at Multân in the Punjâb. “I very much doubted as to what he -might really be; and I do so to this day.” - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -AN EASTERN DESPOT - - -He waited forty days for the snows to melt on the “Hindu Kûsh—the -Slayer of the Hindus, so called because most of the slaves brought from -India die here of the bitter cold thereof.” The Afghans were at that -time subjects of the Khân of Turkestan (Transoxiana); a turbulent, -violent race, impatient of the slightest curb. Bandits attacked the -party he joined in the Kâbul pass; but bow and arrow kept them at a -distance. Fierce invaders had poured down the mountain passes from -Afghanistan from the end of the twelfth century and established a -Mohammedan Empire at Delhi. - -Batûta passed into Sind. At the Indian border the usual written -description of his personal appearance and the object of his visit was -sent to the Sultan. There was a system of stations at a short distance -from each other, and couriers of the Sultan went to and fro, some on -horseback, some on foot. To secure rapid transit, each courier was -provided with bells attached to a whip, so as to announce his approach -to a station and to warn the courier there to be ready to go on with -the royal despatch. - -Now, the Mohammedan Sultan of Northern India was a striking -illustration of the fact that humanity is not necessarily coupled -with generosity. Mohammed Tughlak was renowned throughout the Moslem -world for his lavish munificence; but the cold-blooded cruelty of the -despot was not less great than his bounty. Batûta not merely wished to -see India; he hoped to achieve lucrative establishment at the Moslem -Court. At Multân he found a body of adventurers, who sought to place -their talents at the service of the Sultan, and awaited his invitation -to court. Any shipwrecked sailor, even, had only to make his way to -Mohammed Tughlak to be relieved. Batûta has tales of him which we may -believe at our pleasure. The Sultan told one of his courtiers to go -to the treasury and take away as much gold as he could carry. He took -so much that he fell under its weight. The Sultan ordered the coins to -be gathered together, weighed, and sent to him. Once he had one of his -Emirs put into a balance, and gave him his weight in gold, kissing him, -and telling him to bestow alms for his soul’s welfare. He kissed the -feet of a “theologian and gatherer of traditions,” and presented him -with a golden vase filled with gold coins. - -On the way, Batûta saw one of the three brothers whom the Sheik at -Alexandria had prophesied he should meet, and found him “a man very -much broken by temptations of the devil. He would not allow any one -to touch his hand or even to draw near him; and, should anyone’s garb -chance to touch his, he washed it immediately.” On the road from -Multân to Delhi, Batûta was most hospitably received by the Emirs. But -Northern India was no more reduced to order by the Mohammedan Sultan -than by the Emperor Sîlâditya in Hiuen-Tsiang’s time. Between Multân -and Delhi, while travelling with a party of twenty-two, Batûta found -two horse and twenty foot opposing their progress. Our pilgrim was -a many-sided man, quite capable of taking his share in a fight. The -robbers lost one of their horsemen and twelve of their foot, and then -fled from the field. - -When Ibn Batûta arrived at the Moslem capital, which was ten miles to -the south of the Delhi of our day, he found that the Sultan was not -there. But great honour was done to the man whose fame as theologian, -jurist, traveller and three-fold hadji had preceded him. He was -received and entertained by the Sultan’s Mother and the Vizier, and -received a welcome present of money in return for the presents he had -brought with him. - -A month and a half after his arrival a child of one of his numerous -marriages died. She was a little less than a year old. “The vizier -gave her funeral honours as if she had been a child of high rank in -that country, with incense, rose-water, readers of the Koran, and -panegyrists. And the vizier paid all the costs thereof, giving money to -the leaders and food to the poor. This was done by the Sultan’s orders. -And the Dowager Sultana sent for the mother of the child, and gave her -valuable dresses and ornaments; which was much to her solace.” - -News now came that the Sultan was drawing near; so the vizier and -others set forth to meet him. Everybody, the adventurers in search of -employment included, bore presents to the palace, of which the sentries -at the palace-gateway took note. When the Sultan arrived, these gifts -were spread out before him, and the travellers were presented to him in -order of rank. Batûta was received with special marks of approval. The -Sultan graciously condescended to take his hand, promised to see to his -interests, and gave him cloth of gold which had adorned his own person. -Each visitor had a horse and silver-saddle sent him, and was appointed -either judge or writer. Batûta was made Judge of Delhi, with a stipend -and the rents of three villages attached to his office. When the -messengers brought news of these appointments, the new functionaries -were expected to kiss the hooves of their horses, go to the palace, and -invest themselves with their robes of office. - -Batûta gives an account of the Sultan which is confirmed by Ferishta, -the Moslem historian. Mohammed was a typical Oriental sovereign of -the first order, that is to say, a man of letters and learning, -“approachable, one of the most bountiful of men, splendid in his gifts -(where he took a fancy).” But despotism breeds tyranny, and tyranny, -brutality. “Notwithstanding his humility, justice, kindness to the -poor, and marvellous open-handedness, he was swift to shed blood. -Hardly a day went by without someone being slaughtered before the gates -of his palace. Often have I seen people suffer there, and their bodies -left where they fell. Once, as I rode up, my horse plunged and quivered -with fear. I looked ahead, and saw something white lying on the ground. -I asked what it might be. One who was with me replied: ‘it is the -trunk of a man who has been dismembered.’ It made no difference whether -the offence were great or small; the punishment ordered by the Sultan -was the same. He spared none on account of his learning, his upright -character, or his position. Daily, hundreds of prisoners were brought -to the audience-chamber, arms chained to neck, and feet pinioned. -Some were killed, some tortured, some severely beaten. He sat in his -Audience Hall every day, Fridays excepted, and had everybody in prison -brought before him. But Friday was a day of respite for them; then they -kept calm and purified themselves. - -“The Sultan had a brother. Never have I seen a finer man. The monarch -suspected that he had plotted against him. He questioned him concerning -this; and, for fear of being put to the torture, the brother made -avowal. But, in fact, whoever should deny any charge of this kind which -the Sultan might choose to make would most assuredly be put to the -torture; and death is usually chosen. The Sultan had his brother’s head -cut off in the middle of the courtyard, and, as is the custom, there -it remained three days. This man’s mother had been stoned to death in -the same place two years before; for she had confessed to adultery or -some debauchery.... On one occasion, when I was present, some men were -brought forward and charged with having conspired to kill the vizier. -They were sentenced to be thrown to the elephants. These beasts are -trained to put an end to culprits, their feet being shod with steel -with a sharp edge to it. They are guided by riders, take up their -victim with their trunks, hurl him up into the air, thrust him between -their fore-feet, and do to him just what the riders bid them, and -that is whatever the Sultan has ordered. If the command be to cut the -victims to pieces, the elephant shall do this with his tools, and then -shall cast the pieces to the crowd gathered around; but if it be to -leave him, he is flayed before the monarch, his skin stuffed with hay, -and his flesh given to dogs.” - -This genial sovereign had craftily contrived to bring about the death -of his father and a brother by the collapse of a pavilion. But the -reign of every Sultan was polluted by parricide or fratricide in the -frantic struggle for the throne. And, even more than has been the case -throughout history, all the ostentation, luxury, and culture of the -Court, the powerful, and the wealthy, was as fine meal ground from the -ear which the humble had sown and reaped. The people were crushed, -enslaved, outraged and despoiled. - -A case was brought before our judge which reveals that the trial by -ordeal, of which Hiuen-Tsiang told us, was still employed. A woman -reputed to be a _Goftar_, that is to say, a witch who could kill -anyone by a glance, was brought before Batûta on the charge of having -murdered a child. Not knowing what to do, he sent her on to the vizier, -who ordered four large water-vessels to be tied to her, and the whole -bundle to be thrown into the Jumna. Had she sunk, she would have been -deemed innocent and pulled out. Alas! she floated; so she was taken -away to be burned. - -One day, two Yogis, master and disciple, arrived at the Sultan’s court. -Their heads and armpits were bare, the hair having been removed by -means of some kind of powder. They were received with much respect; and -Batûta was treated to an exhibition of that Eastern skill in jugglery -which astonished all ancient travellers. The disciple assumed the -shape of a cube, rose in the air, and floated over the heads of the -spectators. Our judge was so frightened at this uncanny trick that he -fainted. When he came to, the disciple was still up above his head. The -head-conjurer then cast a sandal to the ground. It rebounded, hit the -cube, which descended, and lo! there was the disciple again. Batûta’s -heart beat at such a rate that the Sultan ordered a powerful drug to be -given him, and told him that he should have been shewn more astounding -things, but that he feared for his wits. Probably, however the illusion -was produced, our traveller saw something very much like what he -describes. Marco Polo and other old travellers tell of the astounding -feats they saw, and Jehangir, fourth in succession of the Great Moguls, -devotes several pages of his diary to a careful record of many similar -marvels which he would seem to have observed closely.[9] We shall hear -of something stranger yet, which befel Batûta in China. - -Our new-made judge was not only a restless being, but one possessed -by an immoderate desire to do things on a big scale. His qualities -were exaggerate, and a virtue tended to swell into an iniquity. One -pious pilgrimage to the Holy Places did not suffice him: he must visit -them again and again. We shall see how fully he availed himself of -the liberty in marriage, divorce, and concubinage accorded by his -creed. Egoism was a strong element in his character. He could not set -bounds to his expenditure. In a word, he borders on megalomania. In a -short time, his debts are four and a half times his total income. His -excuse is that he was ordered to attend the Sultan in an expedition -to put down an insurrection. Many servants are required in India; but -his retinue was immense. He was ingenious enough to escape from his -difficulties. Mohammed Tughlak plumed himself on his real or supposed -proficiency in Persian and Arabic and on his patronage of letters. -Batûta went to him with a panegyric in Arabic so adroitly expressed -that he charmed His Majesty. Then Batûta laid bare his distress. -The Sultan paid his debts and dismissed him with the same warning -which Mr. Micawber gave David Copperfield. The judge was excused -from accompanying his Master, and was given charge of a tomb and the -theological college attached to it. - -Encouraged by the Sultan’s liberality, perhaps incited by his example -in prodigality, and untaught by his recent dilemma, he arranges -everything on a stupendous scale. “I set up 150 readers of the Koran, -80 students, 8 repeaters, a lecturer, 80 conventuals, an imam, -muezzins, reciters selected for their fine rendering, eulogists, -scribes to note down absentees, and ushers. All of these were men -of breeding. And I set up an establishment of menials; such as -footmen, cooks, messengers, water carriers, betel-servers, swordsmen, -javelin-men, umbrella-carriers, hand-washers, criers, and other -officials—460 of them, all told. The Sultan commanded me to supply -12 measures of meal and an equal quantity of meat daily at the tomb. -This seemed to me a pitifully small amount.... I made it 35 measures of -meal, and 35 of meat, and sugar, sugar-candy, butter, and fawfel-nut in -due proportion. Thereby I fed all comers.” - -There was some excuse for the expenditure on food. Famine is the -recurrent curse of countries with imperfect means of transport, and -“the land suffered from famine at this time. Thus suffering was -relieved; and fame of it borne afar.” But Batûta does not conceal his -having used money which his friends lent him during his stay at Delhi. -Indeed he vilifies them for expecting him to return any part of it. He -tells his tale in the tone of a man who believes himself to have been -treated ungenerously and unjustly. - -Later on in his narrative, he has occasion to refer to the fact that -at some time during the few years of his residence at Delhi he added -to the number of his wives by marrying the daughter of the Emir of -Mobar, in Southern India. “She was a religious woman, who would spend -the whole night in meditation and prayer. She could read, but not -write. She bore me a female child; but what is become of either of -them is beyond my ken.” The indelicacy of the dress of women in Delhi -shocked him: “they merely cover the face, and the body from the navel -downwards only.” He tried to get them to robe themselves completely, -and failed. - - “How wretched - Is that poor man who hangs on princes’ favours!” - -It seems that the capricious Sultan had placed much confidence in a -certain holy man; but suspicion of the sheik’s fidelity was aroused, -and spies were set to take note of his visitors. Among his friends and -visitors was Batûta. Everybody on the list was ordered to appear at the -fatal portal. Batûta thought his last hour had come and betook himself -to his prayers; he repeated “God is our succour and exceeding help” no -less than 33,000 times in a single day; he fasted for four days, taking -nothing but water and expecting the executioners every moment. He alone -escaped the fatal scimitar. - -He had seen enough of Imperial caprice to know that respite was not -security, or innocence a lasting defence. He resigned his office and -went to a worker of miracles, “the saint and phœnix of his time,” who -was one of his friends. He gave all that he possessed to holy men; put -on the robe of an ascetic, and ate nothing but rice. But the blindfold -goddess had him on her wheel, and was to give it many a turn yet. Five -months passed, and then the Sultan sent for him and gave him a gracious -reception. But he deemed it wise to return to his rigorous life, and -was more severe in it than before. Yet forty more days passed, and then -the Sultan again commanded his presence. - -There was now a much greater trade with China than in the time of -Hiuen-Tsiang. An Embassy, headed by a high mandarin, had come from -China (A.D. 1342) with presents of 100 male slaves, 50 slave-girls, -rich dresses, quivers of gold, and jewelled swords. In a certain -lower reach of the Himalaya was a plain which had been overrun by the -Moslem conquerors. Once a Buddhist temple stood there; and Chinese -pilgrims were wont to journey across Thibet to pray at the sacred spot. -Moreover the inhabitants of the district were cut off from their -wonted toil in Thibetan fields beyond the border. The place was secured -by Nature from any attack from the North; and the Great Khân of China -begged that restrictions should be removed and permission given for -the temple to be rebuilt. The Sultan was willing to grant the request -on certain pecuniary conditions, but he cast about for some one to -accompany the returning embassy and represent him at the Chinese Court. -Who so suitable as Batûta, a man of the world, experienced in travel, -highly educated, and sharp-witted? His innocence was established. Such -a degree of asceticism, so long endured, was proof of piety. The Sultan -ordered him to go. The garb of the ascetic was thrown off. He would -feel more secure in China than at Delhi. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -PERILS BY LAND AND SEA - - -Our ambassador sets off with the returning mission attended by two -favourites of the Sultan, and a guard of 1,000 horse. He has charge of -gifts which far surpass the Chinese presents—100 horses of the best -breed, richly caparisoned, 100 Hindu singing and dancing girls, robes -of rich brocade, jewelled arms, instruments of gold and silver, silks -and stuffs, and 1,700 rich dresses. - -He has not travelled 100 miles from Delhi when he finds a district in -revolt against the Mohammedan conquerors. The Hindus are besieging a -city; the cavalry attending the embassy rushes at the investing forces, -loses many men, but leaves not an enemy alive. The news is sent to -the Sultan, and a halt is made for his instructions to arrive. Batûta -is sitting in the grateful shade of a garden when word comes that a -fresh body of Hindus is attacking a village hard by. He rides off with -an escort to see how he may help. The insurgents are already fleeing -from a hot pursuit, and he finds himself left with only five others -and a few mounted men. His horse gets its fore-feet wedged between -some stones, and he has to dismount; his companions ride off, and he -finds himself alone. Suddenly, two score of the enemy’s horse appear -and ride at him. He is stripped to the skin, bound, and threatened -with death. He is unable to talk the language of his captors, is kept -a captive during two days, and then they ride away. He shuffles off -to a neighbouring jungle, and hides there. He cautiously tries every -foot-track to find that not one of them but leads to some enemy village -or to some village in ruins. He keeps himself alive by sucking wild -fruit and chewing leaves. Seven days have passed, and he is quite -exhausted, when he sees “a black man, carrying a small water-vessel -and walking by aid of an iron-tipped staff.” The man is a Mohammedan, -and gives him water and pulse, which he has with him. Batûta tries -to walk with him; but he is too weak and faint; his feet totter, -and he falls to the ground. The “black man” throws him across his -shoulders; all consciousness is lost, and he comes to himself at the -Imperial gateway one daybreak, the East aglow with the rising sun. That -good Samaritan, the “black man,” stands out in bright relief from a -background of crime and cruelty and shadows of feet swift to shed blood. - -Mohammed Tughlak received Batûta more kindly than ever, gave him -handsome compensation, and commanded him to return to the Embassy. On -his way to Cambay, we hear more of Yogi magicians and how they will -remain long time without food. “I have seen, in the city of Mangalore, -a Moslem who had learned of these folk. A sort of platform was set -up for him; and thereon he had stayed 25 days, neither eating nor -drinking. Thus did I leave him; and I know not how long he kept there -afterwards. It is said that they make up pills, and, after swallowing -one of them, can do without food or drink. They foretell hidden things. -The Sultan honours them and admits them to his society. Some among -them eat vegetable food only; and these are the greater number. There -are among them those who can slay a man by a glance at him. The common -people hold that, if the chest of the dead man be opened, no heart is -to be found within; for it has been consumed. Women do this in the -main, and such an one is called a hyæna.” - -Batûta’s chief interest was in Islam; but he noted natural products -carefully and was alive to the odd. North of the Hindu Kûsh he had seen -a woefully obese man; and now, on this 1,500 mile journey to Calicut, -he came across the ruler of a small State, “a black giant,” who thought -little of devouring a whole sheep at a sitting. - -He took ship near Goa, and the craft ran along the Malabar coast, “the -land of black pepper.” Twelve kinglets ruled as many states in Malabar -at that time, and each king had an army of from 5,000 to 50,000 men at -his command. Many ancient polyandric practices were retained; which -explains why each Râja was succeeded by a sisters’ son. No landing was -made until a king’s son had been handed over as a pledge of safety. -Many Arab traders had settled in the ports, and become wealthy. -Punishment, swift and severe, followed on the smallest infringement of -_meum_ and _tuum_. We are told how a Hindu noble, out riding with his -father-in-law, who was no less a personage than the Râja, picked up a -mango which had dropped from an overhanging tree. The Râja ordered that -both he and the mango should be cut into two halves, and half of the -mango and half of the culprit laid on either side of the public way -precisely where the enormity had been done. One may suspect that the -son-in-law was not wholly _persona grata_ to the despot. - -The Embassy had to tide over three months at Calicut awaiting the -season for the sailing of the fleet of junks from China. There were -thirteen of them at Calicut, and they also traded to Hili and Quilon. -He tells us that the biggest junks were as floating cities. They would -carry a crew of 1,000 men, whereof 400 were soldiers. The junk was -worked by oars and sails of bamboo-matting, slung from masts varying -in number from three to twelve, according to the size of the junk. Ten -to thirty men stood to pull at each oar. Garden-herbs and ginger were -grown on deck, and on it, too, were houses built for the chief officers -and their wives. The quarters of the junk were three-fold, fastened -together by spikes. Each junk of the biggest size was accompanied by -three tenders of progressively diminishing proportions. Needless to -say, the commander of a junk was a very important functionary. Often -more than one junk would be owned by a single Chinaman. But then, -“truly the Chinese are the wealthiest people on earth.” - -Our ambassador sent his servants, slave-girls and baggage on board; but -the cabin was too small to hold both concubines and luggage; so the -skipper advised him to hire a _kakam_ or junk of the third size. This -he did on a Thursday, the _kakam_ took in its cargo, and he remained on -shore the next day for public worship. - -During the night, the terror of the sea fell on them all. A violent -storm came on, and the waters shook the land. Some of the junks -contrived to get away from the perilous neighbourhood of the shore -to more open water; but one of them was wrecked, and only a few -swimmers managed to escape. The _kakam_, with all his worldly goods -and slave-concubines in it, had disappeared; but it had been seen -making for the open. The body of an envoy was washed ashore, with the -skull smashed in. A guardian Eunuch was also cast up, a nail driven -right through the brain from temple to temple. Down came the Zamorin -to the scene of disaster, Comedy attendant on Tragedy, for he braved -the tempest clad with a loin-cloth, the scantiest of head-gear, and -a necklace of jewels, but the insignium of royalty, the umbrella, -was somehow held up over his sacred head. Batûta cast himself on his -prostration-carpet, which was all that was left to him, excepting ten -pieces of gold and his servant, a freed slave, who immediately made -off. Some pious people gave him small coin, which he kept as treasure, -for it would bring blessing with it. - -We are told of the noble deed of a simple Moslem sailor during this -great storm. “There was a girl on board who was the favourite of a -merchant. The merchant offered ten pieces of gold to anyone who should -save her. A sailor, hailing from Hormuz, did save her; but he refused -the reward, saying, ‘I did it for the love of God.’” - -The junk which held the precious gifts for China was seen to go down -outside the port; and Batûta heard that the little boat which held all -his slave-concubines and worldly goods had contrived to gain the open -sea, and might conceivably put in at Quilon. He set off at once, and -arrived there after a ten days’ journey. He found the Chinese Embassy -there. They had suffered shipwreck, but their junk had not broken up -and was being refitted. - -It did not require the advice proferred him by his co-religionists to -deter him from returning to the capricious, passionate lord of Delhi. -He bethought him of Jamâl Oddîn, ruler of Honowar, a man of sense and -understanding, whom he had visited on his way to Calicut. It casts a -pleasant ray on the Mohammedan occupation of India, that there were -no fewer than 44 schools set up in the busy little capital of a small -State, and that of these no fewer than 11 were for girls. Now Jamâl -Oddîn knew the uncertain temper of the Lord of India quite as well -as Batûta, and did not give him too hearty a welcome. So to appease -offended Heaven, or to rehabilitate himself by an evidence of piety, -he repaired to a mosque and read the Koran from end to end once, and -ultimately twice, a day. Now, there were 52 ships being fitted out to -attack the island of Sindâbûr; and Jamâl evidently thought that Batûta -might prove useful, for he commanded him to accompany him on this -expedition. Batûta tried to read the future by a time-honoured method -of divination. He opened the Koran at random, and his eye fell on a -promise of Allah to aid his servant. This was satisfactory to Jamâl -Oddîn as well as to himself. - -After strenuous resistance Sindâbûr was carried by assault, and Batûta, -who was something of a warrior, received a slave-girl, clothing and -other presents from his patron. He remained on the island with Jamâl -Oddîn for some months, and then got permission to go to Calicut. For -the Chinese fleet would be returning to India by this time, and he -might get news of his little junk. At Calicut, he learned that his -_kakam_ had reached China, that his property had been divided up, and -that his pretty concubine had died on the voyage. “I felt very much -grief for her.” He went back to the island to find the city besieged -by Hindus. - -Now he had heard marvellous things concerning the Maldives, an -archipelago of small islands lying S.S.E. of India, near the equator. -The inhabitants, under British rule to-day, had accepted Islam. He -found that before he or anyone was allowed to land he must show himself -on deck; “for although the islands are multitudinous, each lies close -to its neighbour, and folk knew one another by sight.” He speaks of -the inhabitants as “pious, peaceable, and chaste. They never wage war. -Prayers are their only weapons. Indian pirates do not alarm them; nor -do they punish robbers; for they have learned that sudden and grievous -ill will come to evil-doers. When any of the pirate-ships of infidel -Hindus pass by these islands, whatsoever is found is taken, nor will -anyone stand out.” But, in spite of the moral reflection indulged in by -the islanders, Batûta traces their policy of non-resistance to physical -feebleness. And “there is one exception to it. Should a single lemon be -taken woe befals the offender. He is punished and forced to listen to -a homily. The natives delight in perfumes and in bathing twice a day, -which the heat forces them to do; yet trees give delicious shade. Their -trade is in ropes, which they make of hemp, and which are used for -sewing together the timbers of ships of India and Yemen; for if a ship -strike against a rock, the hemp allows of its yielding, and so saves it -from going to pieces, which is not the case when iron nails are used. -Shells are used for coin, and palm-leaves are used for all writing, -except for copying out the Koran; and the instrument used has a sharp -point.” - -Batûta sailed among these islands during ten days, and took up his -abode on one, the sovereign of which was a woman. For the lady’s -husband had died, leaving no male issue; so she married her vizier who, -in reality, ruled. Batûta took the full license accorded in Islam. -He married the four legal wives permitted, and took to himself some -concubines also, “all pleasant in conversation and of great beauty.” -He must have divorced his previous wives before being able to do this. -Marriage in the Maldive Islands was facile and cheap. Only a small -dowry was demanded for a handsome woman; but it was required that -the stranger should divorce the wife on leaving the land, and by no -means take her with him. But, should he not desire to marry, there -was no difficulty in getting a woman to cook for him at a very small -wage. Wives were less companionable here than in most parts of the -world, since women and men took their meals apart; nor could Batûta -get his women-folk to break the custom of their country—a custom -which Varthema speaks of, nearly two centuries later, as obtaining in -South West India. Batûta had been appointed judge, and another thing -that troubled him was the irregular attendance of the lax Moslems -of his island at the mosque. He was very eager that such flagrant -non-observance of religious duty should be duly punished; and he urged -that the best way would be literally to whip the recalcitrants to -attend on public worship. - -Now Batûta’s wives had powerful relatives. The sister of one of his -wives at Delhi was wife to the Emir of Mobar; to whom, therefore, -Batûta was doubly related. He had become a power in his island, and the -vizier grew jealous and suspicious. Might not the stranger conspire to -bring an army over from the coast of Coromandel? When Batûta saw what -was going on, he acted at once. “I divorced all my wives,” he says, -“save one, who had a young child, and I went on to other islands of -that great multitude of them.” From one of these, he shipped for Mobar; -but the wind changed, and he was driven to the coast of Ceylon and in -no small danger of drowning. The governor of the port came sailing -by, and refused a landing; for he was no friend to Moslem skippers. -Batûta won him over by telling him that he was on his way to visit -the Sovereign of Mobar, that he was related to him by marriage, and -that the whole cargo of the ship was intended as a present for that -potentate. The Ceylonese Râja of the district was on good terms with -his Moslem brother of Mobar, so Batûta was allowed to land. He found, -like Marco Polo, that Ceylon was divided among four kinglets. He of the -district soon sent for him, and gave him hospitality. He admired the -famous herds of elephants, the troups of chattering monkeys, the pool -of precious stones, and the luxuriant vegetation and glorious scenery -of Ceylon. He scaled that iron chain, which still exists, to reach the -top of Adam’s peak, and gives us the measure of the print of Adam’s -foot, on hard rock; for in Ceylon, as elsewhere, supernatural vestiges -are to be found. He visited Colombo and several other places in the -island, and then set sail for the coast of Coromandel. - -But, while crossing the strait, “the wind blew strong, and the ship -was nearly swamped. Our skipper was a lubber. We were driven near -perilous rocks, and barely escaped going to pieces; and then we got -into shallow water. Our ship grated against the bottom, and we were -face to face with death. Those on board threw all that they had into -the sea, and bade farewell to one another. We cut down the mast and -cast it onto the sea, and the sailors made a raft. The beach was eight -miles off. I wanted to get down to the raft. I had two concubines and -two friends with me. These latter exclaimed: ‘would you get down and -leave us?’ I had more regard to their safety than to my own; so I -answered: ‘Get down, both of you, and the young girl whom I love with -you.’ My other young girl said: ‘I can swim. I will fix ropes to the -raft and swim alongside these people.’ My two comrades got down, one of -the young girls being with them; and the other swam. The sailors tied -ropes to the raft, and so helped her to swim. I gave them whatever of -value I had in the way of jewels, amber, and other goods. They got to -shore safe and sound, for the wind was in their favour. But I stayed -aboard the ship. The skipper got to shore on a plank. The sailors took -the building of four rafts in hand; but night came on before they had -finished, and the ship was filling. I got up on the poop, and remained -there until morning. Then several idolaters came to us in their barque. -And we got safe to land.” - -His connexion, the Emir, received him warmly. This potentate was about -to attack a Hindu Power; and, while he was away on this expedition, -Batûta travelled about. He tells us that he came across a fakir with -long hair, who sat and ate in the society of seven foxes, and who -kept a “happy family”—a gazelle and a lion together. The Emir was -a ruthless tyrant, butchering women and children. Yet Batûta had no -scruple in proposing a scheme to him for the conquest of the Maldives, -where he had received so much kindness, and where he had left wives and -paramours. But pestilence came and swept away most of the inhabitants -of the district, including the Emir. The new ruler wanted to carry out -the scheme for occupying the Maldives; but Batûta got fever badly, and -very nearly died. When sufficiently recovered, he received permission -to recuperate his energies by taking the long voyage round Cape Comorin -to Honawar, where he wished to meet his old friend, Jamâl Oddîn, -again. But, from time immemorial, the sea had been a no-mans province, -infested by pirates; and the calling, continuous or accidental, of -sea-thief was then as honourable as it was ancient. His ship was -attacked by twelve Hindu craft, and taken after a severe battle. Batûta -was stripped of his jewels and all his belongings, and set on shore -with a pair of breeches on. He lost the notes of his travels with his -other belongings. Out of the way of direct business, the robbers could -be merciful, and there was no reason why they should take his life. He -made his painful way to Calicut, and put up at a mosque—always the -asylum of the indigent. Some of the lawyers and traders here had known -him at Delhi. They clothed, fed, and housed him. What was he to do? He -dared not return to Delhi. A son had been borne to him by a Maldive -wife. He had a desire to see the child. The vizier was dead; but the -queen had married again, and he wondered what sort of reception he -should get. Paternal tenderness prevailed: “I went there on account of -my little son; but when I had seen him, I left him with his mother, -out of kindness to her.” He was hospitably entertained, but stayed a -very few days. The new vizier furnished him with those provisions which -every traveller by sea must purchase for himself and carry with him in -the fourteenth century; and he set sail for Bengal, where he arrived -after 43 days at sea (A.D. 1341). - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -OFF TO MALAYSIA AND CATHAY - - -Batûta speaks of Bengal as the land of plenty. Everything was cheaper -there than anywhere else in the wide world. He picked up a very -beautiful slave-girl for a trifle. But the muggy climate made Bengal -“a hell full of good things.” The Sultan was in revolt against his -lord-paramount at Delhi; and as Batûta was a prudent person, held -Mohammed Tughlak in wholesome awe, and could not predict the issue of -the contest, he did not visit the Bengalese Court. He went up to the -hill-country, half-way to the Himalayan giants, instead; for he desired -to see an aged holy man who dwelt there, one who was reported to take -no food excepting a little milk, and that only every ten days, and to -sit upright all night. This old sheik was a seer, and foretold events -which should befall his guest and which he declares really happened. -Batûta was proud to be justly hailed as “the greatest traveller of all -the Arabs.” He returned from the hills to visit a city not far from -modern Dacca. - -We next find him on the Indian Ocean, standing off the Nicobar -Islands, probably because his ship needed a fresh supply of water. The -inhabitants were fearful of strangers, would not allow any ship to sail -in front of their houses, had the fresh water required brought down to -the shore by elephants, and traded by signs; for nobody could speak -their language. The men went about naked, and the women wore a girdle -of leaves only. All were remarkable for the ugliness of their dog-like -faces. Batûta was told that a man might be the husband of 30 or more of -these beauties. Adultery was severely punished, the male offender being -hanged, unless he could find a friend or a slave willing to suffer -in his place; the woman being trampled to death and her body cast -into the sea. The king came down to the beach with an escort of his -relatives, all mounted on elephants. He wore a coloured silk turban and -a goat-skin tunic, with the hair turned outwards, and he bore a short -silver spear in his hand. The usual gifts were presented in dumb-show. -“These folk work magic on any ship that withholds presents; and it is -wrecked.” - -Moslem traders called any part of the Malaysian Archipelago, Java; but -the port to which our traveller next came was really in Sumatra. The -Emir of the Mohammedan sovereign received the visitors with customary -Eastern munificence and gave them rich dresses. Our traveller speaks -highly of the Sultan as being a cultivated man who loved the society -of the learned and enjoyed discussion with them. A modern writer says -that the humblest man he ever knew was a duke, and Batûta might have -said the same of some rulers. The humility of the Sultan of Sumatra was -so great that he walked to prayers every Friday! Batûta took a long -journey inland, and tells us of frankincense, clove, nutmeg, mace, -and other products of Sumatra, and of how a man is sacrificed by the -natives at the foot of the camphor-tree to ensure its good bearing. - -He was eager to reach China—that land of strange ways and peculiar -civilization in Farthest East. The complaisant Sultan gave him passage -in one of his own junks, provided him with stores for the voyage, and -ordered a guide-interpreter to attend on him. In three and a half -weeks, he came to a place which he calls Kakula, and which may have -been on the mainland. Here he was well received by the pagan king, and -chanced to be present at a curious proof of devotion to royalty. “One -day, a man made a long speech, not one word of which I understood. He -held a knife in his hand, which he grasped firmly, and cut off his -own head, and it fell to the ground.” This sounds incredible; but it -is a fact. The feat was done by means of apparatus. A sickleshaped -knife was attached to a stirrup. The suicide placed his foot in the -latter, gave it a sharp jerk, and the knife shore off his head. Our -traveller was told that the deed was done to make manifest the great -loyalty of the victim, and that his father and grandfather had made the -same praiseworthy exit from life in honour of the king’s father and -grandfather. Their families received compensation from the kings. A -similar case of self-execution was authentically recorded in the last -century. - -The Eastern Ocean was so calm that the junk had to be towed by boats. -Marco Polo had the same experience in these seas. Batûta touched at -Kailiki, a port of Tawalisi, probably Tonquin; but no one is quite sure -where this land lay. Even the Sulu Islands have been suggested! The -king was as powerful as the Emperor of China. His people were idolaters -after the manner of the Turks, and Batûta reports a conversation with -his Amazonian daughter, introducing a few words of their language. This -princess could write, but not speak Arabic. Some discredit has been -thrown on this part of his narrative, mainly on the ground of language, -but also because what he has to say about her recalls very ancient -classical stories. But we must recollect that Batûta is relying on -his memory at a time when the events belonged to a far-distant past; -that his work was dictated; and that it was edited by the Secretary to -the Sultan of Fez. He confesses that he did not understand very well -what the princess said to him. And the language she spoke may have -struck him as like Turkish in sound, and hence is given in some sort of -imitation of that tongue. The more one studies ancient travellers and -pilgrims the more assured one becomes of their essential sincerity and -the general accuracy of their observation. We know very little indeed -about the Nomadic penetration of the Far East. That this princess -was able to write a little Arabic, would seem to show that there was -considerable Arab trade with Tawalisi. - -This lady was governor of the port, a post which her father had given -her as the reward of her powers in battle. For, once, when her father’s -army was on the point of defeat, she routed the enemy, and brought back -the head of their leader. She commanded an army, whereof one regiment -was of women. Neighbouring princes had wished to marry her, but had -withdrawn their pretensions; for she insisted that first they should -overcome her in the lists; and they were afraid of the ignominy of -being vanquished by a woman. She was amazed at the wealth of India, and -said to Batûta: “I must conquer it for myself.” - -Favourable winds and strenuous use of the oar brought the junk to -China. He found that he had to pass through a stringent customs-house; -and that a register was taken of all who left or arrived at a Chinese -port. The captain was held responsible for his crew and passengers, -and to this end an official list was essential. Should the traveller -elect to stay with some other trader, his host took care of his money -and goods, but was bound to return them at the close of the visit, with -a deduction for necessary expenditure. Any deficiency must be made -good. But the trader might, if he chose, put up at an inn. Batûta was -surprised to find paper-currency. He admired the big poultry; but not -the dirty cotton-clothes of the Chinese, nor their relish for the flesh -of dogs and swine. As in Hiuen-Tsiang’s time, they burned their dead. -A portrait of every traveller was taken without his knowing it, and -thus, should an evil-doer try to escape from justice from one province -to another, he was readily discovered. There were many Moslem traders -in China; most of these had settled there; and Jews had found a home in -China for eleven centuries. - -Travelling in China was “safer and more agreeable than in any other -land on earth. Although it takes nine months to cross this country, one -need have no fear on the journey, even though one should have wealth in -one’s care. There is an official with troops, both horse and foot, at -each hostelry to keep matters in order. This official, accompanied by -his scribe, comes to the hostelry every evening; and the scribe writes -down the name of every guest, seals up the list, and locks the door. -They come again in the morning and go over the list and the inmates; -and a man goes with the travellers to the next hostelry and returns to -the officer with proof that they have arrived.... The traveller can buy -all he needs at these inns.” - -Batûta visited the great port of Zaitun (Touen-chow), whence, among -other manufactures, “clothes of gold and _satyns_ riche of hewe”[10] -were shipped. Perhaps there was no port in the world with so big a -trade as Zaitun. Batûta thought so: “The harbour is one of the greatest -on the earth—I err—it is the greatest. There I have seen an hundred -junks of the biggest size at one time, and more smaller ones than could -be numbered.... Here, as in every Chinese city, every citizen has a -garden and a field, and his house stands in the middle of the land he -owns. For this reason, the cities of China are very much spread out.” -At Zaitun, he had the good fortune to meet, in the Moslem quarter, the -ambassador who had been sent to Delhi; and now great folk began to make -his acquaintance. Among his visitors was “one of the merchants to whom -I owed money when I ran into debt on my arrival in India, and who had -shown more breeding than the rest of my creditors.” The Head Mandarin -wrote to the Emperor to ask permission for the traveller to visit him -at his capital; and, while awaiting a reply, allowed him to travel by -water-way far inland from Canton, and provided him with an escort. At -Canton, he found temple-hospitals for widows and orphans, the blind, -crippled, and infirm. - -He tells how the sailors stood up amidship to row, and the passengers -sat fore and aft. He visited one of those wonderful saints who claimed -incredible years. The holy man told him that he was one of the saints -whom he had visited in India. This man had the reputation of being able -to induce visions. Possibly he united the qualifications of skilled -hypnotist and skilled liar. - -When our traveller returned to Canton he received permission to visit -the capital. He journeyed many days by land and along the Imperial -Canal. He speaks rapturously of the fertility and charm of the country -he passed through. Everywhere he was treated with the deepest respect. -But there was a drawback: everywhere Paganism was flourishing. He met -a fellow-believer, the brother of one of the seers of Egypt, a man -greatly esteemed by the Chinese, and later on one particular prophesy -was completely fulfilled, for he came across another brother, whom it -was also foretold he should meet, on the borders of Sahara. - -While attending the court of the viceroy at Hang-chow, he was -eye-witness to a remarkable feat, of which he gives as circumstantial -an account as one would expect to get from a man of the fourteenth -century. “It was in the hot season, and we were in the courtyard -outside the palace. A juggler, a slave of the Khân, came in, and the -Emir commanded him to show some of his marvels. Thereupon the juggler -took a wooden bowl with several holes made in it, and through these -holes long thongs were passed. He laid hold of these thongs, and threw -the bowl up into the air. It went so high that we could no longer -see it. There was only a little of the end of the thong left in the -juggler’s hand. He ordered one of his boy helpers to lay hold of it and -mount. The boy climbed up the thong, and he also went out of sight. -The juggler called him three times; but no reply came; so he seemed -to get into a great rage, snatched up a knife, and laid hold of the -thong; and he also was no longer to be seen. After a time, down came -one of the boy’s hands, then a foot, than the other hand, then the -other foot, then the trunk, and, lastly, the head. And now, down came -the juggler, panting, and his clothes in a bloody state. He kissed the -ground in front of the Emir and said something to him in Chinese. The -Emir gave him some order, and he then took up the severed parts, laid -them together properly, gave a kick, and behold! the boy got up and was -before us again. I was so astounded that my heart beat violently, as it -did when the Sultan of India had a similar trick done before me. A drug -was given me, which set me right again. The Khazi Alfkaouddîn was next -to me. ‘By Allah!’ said he, ‘as for me I believe there has been neither -going up nor coming down, nor cutting to pieces, nor making the boy -whole again. It is nothing but trickery.’” - -We must not forget that Batûta was more than inclined to superstition, -that he was very perturbed by what he saw, or thought he saw, that the -“magician” had boys with him, who probably assisted in this trick, -and that it is part of the conjurer’s art to divert the attention of -spectators while in the actual performance of his feats. And the event -was reduced to writing years after it was observed. Moreover, one of -the earlier investigations of the Society for Psychical Research shewed -that, on an occasion when a clever amateur conjurer, not known to be -such, invited highly educated and observant witnesses to a supposed -spiritualistic séance, and received their accounts of what they -believed themselves to have seen, written independently of each other -and immediately after the event, “not one of the detailed reports is -accurate throughout, and scarcely one of them is accurate in even all -the points of importance.”[11] But we have it on the authority of the -Professor of Chinese at Cambridge that P’u Sung-ling, the author of the -Liao Chai, relates having seen the complete trick, as Batûta describes -it, in the seventeenth century,[12] except that, in this case, the -boy came out of a box. These are, perhaps, the most remarkable of many -similar mystifications, some of them related by quite respectable -witnesses, from the 13th century down to our own time.[13] - -He tells us of the excellent workmanship of Chinese artisans, and -how they worked in chains for a period of ten years. At the end of -that time, they were free to go about in China, but not to leave the -frontiers. At 50, they became absolutely free men, and were maintained -at the public cost, old age pensioners, in fact, in this early -fourteenth century. And the pension was not merely given to these -slave-workers, but to nearly all Chinese. - -He admired the gay life on the canal, crowded with the boat-houses -of the people—a teeming happy population, dressed in bright colours, -and pelting one another in pure fun with oranges and lemons. Hang-chow -had within its great encircling wall six towns, each guarded by walls. -At Khaniku or Khanbalik (Pekin?) he was present at the obsequies of a -great dignitary, whom he believed to be the Tartar Emperor; but that -was not so, for the Emperor, who had ascended the throne 14 years -before Batûta’s arrival, reigned 21 years after his departure. But -he certainly was present at the funeral of some great Tartar; for -his account of the interment of the Tartar dignitaries of China is -confirmed by at least one other early traveller. He tells us of how the -dead man’s concubines and horses were buried with him, alive, in the -same grave. He relates, not very correctly, the ceremonies observed at -the court of the Emperor. Apparently his recollection becomes confused -with that of the court-usage at Delhi and Yemen. In any case, it is -possible that he only had an interview with some viceroy, concerning -whom he was misinformed or somehow mistook him for the supreme Khân. - -A revolt against Tartar rule took place about this time, so Batûta -thought it prudent to leave China. He embarked on a junk which belonged -to the King of Sumatra, whom he had visited on his way out, and “whose -servants are Mohammedans.” On the voyage the junk laboured through -a terrific storm. The mirage of a big mountain was also seen. The -sailors took this for the fabled roc, with which the _Arabian Nights -Entertainment_ made our Childhood acquainted. - -He remained in Sumatra three months, the guest of the monarch who had -before entertained him; and was fortunate in witnessing the nuptials -of the heir-apparent. First came dancers and merry minstrelsy; then -the bride, conducted from the apartments of the women by forty richly -adorned ladies, who carried her train. For this high occasion, they -had removed their veils. The bride went up on a platform; and the -bridegroom rode up, in all the pride of armour, of a stately elephant, -and of his own self-importance. One hundred youths of quality, -beardless like himself, attended him on horseback. They were clad in -white, their caps being a glitter of gold and jewels. Largess was -scattered among the crowd. The prince now went up to his father, kissed -his foot, and ascended the platform. Then the bride rose and kissed her -groom’s hand; he sat beside her, and he and she put betel and fawfel -into one another’s mouth. Then the covering of the platform was let -down, and the whole structure, with bride and bridegroom on it, was -carried into the palace. Finally, a feast was given to the crowd. - -From Sumatra, Batûta voyaged in a junk to the Malabar coast of -Southern India, and thence sailed to Arabian Zafar (A.D. 1347), both -well-remembered places, coasted to Hormuz, wandered over the Two Iraks -(Persia and Mesopotamia) once again; made across Asia Minor to Tadmor -and as far north as Aleppo. At Damascus he got the first news of home -he had received during his wanderings; his father had lain fourteen -years in his quiet grave at Tangier. The Black Death was raging at -Damascus. It slew twenty-four hundred of the inhabitants in a single -day. So Batûta made his way to Egypt through Syria and Palestine, and -went on to Mecca by way of the Red Sea and Jidda. This was the fourth -of his pilgrimages. On his return to Cairo, he found the Black Death -wasting the population. Mocking, lethal, invisible, this awful plague -was rapidly sweeping westward and destroying whole families. Agnolo -da Tura of Siena tells us that he had to bury five of his sons in the -same grave with his own hands, and that his was no exceptional case. -Batûta left Cairo for Jerusalem and returned from Palestine to Egypt by -sea. He now felt a desire to see his native land again. He took ship to -Sardinia, and, wishing to see the island, let the vessel he had voyaged -in go to Tunis. He was lucky, for it was taken by Christians. He -managed to reach Tunis in another ship, and got to Fez overland on Nov. -8th, 1349; having been on his travels nearly a quarter of a century. He -presented himself before the Sultan, and was received as was befitting -so pious a pilgrim and distinguished a traveller. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -MOORS OF SPAIN AND NEGROES OF TIMBUKTU - - -But Batûta’s travels were by no means at an end. He made a filial -visit to the place where earth that “makes all sweet” had closed on -his father’s history. Once at Tangier, the temptation was strong to -cross the Straits and visit the shrinking Moslem dominion in Spain. He -landed where his compatriots had landed to conquer the Peninsula—at -Gibraltar (Jabal Tarik, the Hill of Victory). He saw a cousin by his -mother’s side, who had settled here; ran all over Moorish Andalusia, -visiting renowned cities that still remained in Mohammedan hands; and -came to lordly Grenada, where the Alhambra must have been nearing its -completion. He returned to Fez by way of Ceuta. - -His energy was unabated; his thirst for travel unquenched; he could not -settle down. In February, 1352, he is off again; this time for Central -Africa. At Tafilelt, on the borders of Sahara, he meets another brother -of the Sheik at Alexandria; and so another prophecy is fulfilled. In -mid-Sahara, he finds an oasis with a “village on it where there is -nothing good. The mosque and the houses are built of blocks of salt and -are covered with camel hide. There is no tree, for the soil is pure -sand; but there are mines of salt.” He had dropped on those dwellings -of rock-salt of which Herodotus wrote seventeen hundred years before -him. But only the underlings of traders abode there; and dates and -camel’s flesh were their fare. Here was the salt-supply for the wild -tribes of Sahara. They cut the blocks of it into a certain shape and -used this as money. The caravan with which Batûta travelled suffered -severely here from the vileness of the water. - -When Tashala was reached, the caravan rested three days to make ready -for a vast and solitary tract of desert “where there is no water, nor -is bird or tree to be seen, only sand and hills of sand, blown about by -the wind in such wise that not the smallest vestige of a track remains. -Wherefore, no one can travel without guides from among the traders; -but of these there are many. The sunlight there is blinding.... Evil -spirits have their will of that man who shall travel by himself. They -enchant him, so that he wanders wide of his path, and there he comes to -his end.” - -A long journey across this great waste of sand brought the caravan to -another oasis, where pits had been dug to fill with water, and where -negroes took care of a store of goods out in the open. These negroes -did not show the deep respect due to the superior white race; but -Batûta had a fancy to learn all about them, so he stayed on, and put -up with their want of manners for two whole months. Traces, at least, -of polyandry were to be found here; for a sister’s son succeeded to -property, and everybody took the name of a maternal uncle. The women -were good looking, but, alas! they were far from shy; they did not even -wear a veil, notwithstanding their accompanying the men to the mosque. -Traders might take them for their wives; but must leave them behind on -their departure. Our zealous Moslem, experienced in matrimony as he was -and so excellent a judge of concubines—all of them sacred property -and his very own—was greatly shocked at yet another instance of the -freedom in manners of women and absence of jealousy in the husbands -among certain Mohammedan peoples. A man might have a woman visit him, -even with her husband there, and in the presence of his own wife; and -a man might go home to find one of his male friends sitting alone with -the wife of his bosom. But what would perturb an ordinary man causes -no flutter in this degenerate breast. “He quietly takes a seat apart -from them until the visitor goes away.” Batûta’s sense of delicacy was -much offended when, calling on a former host of his, who was a judge -moreover, he found that a handsome young woman had also made a call and -was still there. He upbraided his friend roundly, and the only reply he -got was that it was the custom of the country. This was too much: he -broke with the judge. - -A long, difficult, but quite safe journey brought him and three -companions to Malli. Here he was seriously ill, and the sickness lasted -many weeks; “but Allah brought me back to health.” A few white people -dwelt at Malli, of whom the judge was his host. “‘Arise,’” said the -judge to him one day when the Sultan had given a feast, “‘the Sultan -hath sent thee a gift.’ I fully looked for a rich dress, some horses -and other valuable gifts; and lo! there were but three crusts of bread, -a piece of dried fish, and a dish of sour milk. I smiled at people -so simple and the value they gave to such rubbish.” Experience of -spendthrift Oriental Courts and the lavish munificence of princes in -other parts of the Mohammedan world had spoiled him for the simplicity -of Central Africa. He often saw the Sultan after this incident; but -sorely as his self-love was wounded by such a contrast to the honour -always paid to him hitherto, he held himself in until his fury reached -fever-heat and it became impossible to keep a bridle on his tongue any -longer. Then he rose to his feet: “I have travelled the world over,” -said he; “I have visited the rulers thereof; I have stayed four months -in thy dominions; but no gift, no suitable food has come to me from -thee. What shall I say about thee when men shall question me concerning -thee?” A horse and good provisions, and a supply of gold now came from -this “greedy and worthless man”; before whom the negroes presented -themselves in the worst of their beggarly garments, probably as a sign -of their humility; for they “crawled to his presence, beating the -ground with their elbows and throwing dust on their heads.” However the -“greedy and worthless” Sultan is allowed at least one small virtue: he -kept the land in order; the traveller there had no fear of robbers, and -if any one chanced to die, his property was handed over to his lawful -successors. And the people had a great virtue also; they were constant -in their attendance at the mosque; and if a son did not learn the whole -of the Koran by heart, his father kept him shut up until he had done -so. Yet, in spite of such praiseworthy piety, they let their little -daughters and slaves whether male or female, go about quite naked. -Batûta remarks that here cowries were used as coin. Travellers in the -Niger District during the third decade of the last century found that -many of the habits and customs described by Batûta still obtained there. - -From Malli, our traveller journeyed on to the banks of the Niger, -and saw, with surprise, its great herds of hippopotami. He visited -Timbuktu, and believed he was journeying along the banks of the Nile; -a pardonable mistake; for the Niger takes a general direction towards -the North-East in this part of its course. He now returned to Fez by a -different and more easterly route (A.D. 1355). - -He had traversed the entire Mohammedan world, and beyond it to wherever -a Mohammedan was to be found. He had visited several far-separated -places several times, and had obeyed the obligation to visit Mecca -oftener than the most zealous Moslem was wont to do. The Sultan -commanded that an account of his travels should be recorded. The -Sultan’s Secretary edited the work, and thought to embellish a plain -tale by overloading it with literary pinchbeck and by dragging in -irrevelant quotations from the poets. The last words of the work are: -“Here ends what I have put into form of the words of Sheik Ibn Abdulla -Mohammed, whom may Allah honour! There is no reader of intelligence but -must grant that this Sheik is the greatest traveller of our days; and -should any one dub him the greatest traveller of all Islam, it were no -lie.”[14] - -Ibn Batûta was 51 at the end of his recorded journeyings. In spite of -the racket of thirty years, spent in unceasing travel, of shipwreck -and battle, of privation and fevers and much suffering of many kinds, -all of which he brushes lightly aside as matter of small moment, his -natural vigour remained such that he lived three years beyond the -allotted span. The “fitful fever” of his life ceased in the year 1377. - - - - -IV.—LUDOVICO VARTHEMA OF BOLOGNA, - -RENEGADE PILGRIM TO MECCA. FOREMOST OF ITALIAN TRAVELLERS. - - - - -CHAPTER I. THE GREAT AGE OF THE RENAISSANCE AND OF DISCOVERY. - - -By the close of the Fifteenth Century, the relative stability of -society and of its convictions during the Middle Ages was undone. -The Italian, at least, had cast off the restraints of that rigid and -traditional world, and was in reaction against it. For, social bonds -were loosened, and the corporate life of guild and city was in decay. -With the revival of letters, society became imbued once again with -the Greek and Roman conception of man as a progressive creature, and -was awakened to the richness of thought and feeling to be enjoyed in -vigorous passionate life. Self-sufficiency, self-assertion, and force -of will were admired above all other qualities, and it was the ambition -of most men to achieve them. Each man strove to fulfil his own nature -in his own way. Religion rapidly degenerated into an indispensable -observance of formalities, a traditional habit, a customary cloak. The -rigorous men of the Renaissance sought to live fully, freely, and with -diversity; they thirsted for new and refreshing springs; they quaffed -delightful and refreshing draughts; they boldly winged their way to -unfamiliar spheres, or gratified sense and passion to the full. The -age was aglow with all manner of ideality. On the whole its passions -were unrestrained, save by prudence; unchecked by any moral curb, which -it had counted foolishness. The religious rapture of Savonarola was -an ephemeral phenomenon, and almost unique. Even in the gentle grace -of Perugino’s Madonnas and the sweet innocence with which he invests -the Child, we may mark the substitution of religious affectation -for religious sincerity. The age loved pomp and magnificence; and -these appear in the frescoes of Pinturicchio. It was a field for the -development of a deep-seated, incalculable, yet persuasive force of -Will: the spirit is portrayed in the subtle eye and inscrutable smile -of Monna Lisa. - -It was when the Renaissance was in full flood, but before Ariosto, -“with his tongue in his cheek,” had achieved his cantoes of romantic -chivalry; before Raphael plied his brush with too perfect and serene -a finish; before Michael Angelo cast aside charm and beauty for the -expression of strength and power, that the energy of the age found a -new field for activity. The Turk swept the Ægean Sea and ruled the -Western Roman Empire. But the great drama of History unfolds tragic -irony surpassing the invention of poets. When the vast spaces of the -great Church of Justinian rang with the shout of the victors, the -knell of Moslem predominance sounded unheard. The Turk had captured -the gateways of the East only to force the European, in adventures -beyond the seas, to the domination of the world. Pioneers set out from -Portugal and Spain, and tried to cut out the Moslem middleman; they -steered to find a sea-way to the fabulous wealth of India. They coasted -along amazing lands, peopled by strange races, and entered novel and -unsuspected seas. Columbus found a new world beyond “wandering fields -of barren foam”; Vasco di Gama was forcing his way round Africa. Many -a narrow, ancient illusion was dispelled; and the minds of men were -excited to a rapture of expectation. The hearts of pious Portuguese and -Spaniards beat high at the hope of combining the salvation of heathen -souls with the profitable enslavement of heathen bodies. All men were -allured by the prospect of acquiring new markets, priceless gems, and -the gold dust of El Dorado. The modern world of aggressive commerce was -engendered in the very bosom of the High Renaissance. - - - - -CHAPTER II.—FROM VENICE TO DAMASCUS. - - -No commercial arithmetic called a certain Ludovico di Varthema to -adventure. Like Dante’s Ulysses, “nothing could quench his inward -burning to have full witness of the world.” “Ungifted,” so he tells -us, “with that far-casting wit for which the earth in not enough, and -which ranges through the loftiest regions of the firmament with careful -watch and survey; but possessed of slender parts merely,” he fixed his -mind on beholding with his own eyes some unknown part of the world and -on marking “where places are, what is curious in their peoples, their -different animals, and what fruit-bearing and scented trees grow there -... keeping before me that the thing which a single eye-witness may set -forth shall outweigh what ten may declare on hearsay.” It is as if a -cavalier of Boiardo or Ariosto had forsaken fairy land and sought novel -adventure in the kingdom of knowledge. Varthema set out to see and -know; and, although obviously a man of no great fortune, he would seem -to have neglected remarkable opportunities of trading and growing rich. - -That he was a Bolognese, we learn from the title-page of his -volume—the _Itinerario_. As a citizen of Bologna, the Pope was his -overlord; and we find him calling himself, by a pardonable license, -a Roman. Whether eager curiosity was the only motive which impelled -him to travel, we know not. He lets drop in the middle of his volume -that he left a wife and children at home. Marriage in Italy was a -matter of family arrangement, with a view to the increase of family -wealth and power; and children could readily be left under the care -of kinsmen. “The Italians make little difference between children -and nephews or near kinsfolk,” wrote Bacon, “but, so they be of the -lump, they care not, though they pass not through their own body.” -And the family council has parental force in Italy, even to-day. The -unsettled condition of every Italian State in the days of that “Most -holy Lord the Pope Alexander Borgia,” his crafty, treacherous son, -and hardly less crafty and treacherous native statesmen and foreign -invaders, often made swift change of residence highly desirable. Of -that affectation of the men of the Renaissance—excessive and trumpeted -desire of fame, which was a mere imitation of the classics,—there -is not a trace in Varthema: he cared as little for bubbles as for -baubles. Whatever other motives may have incited him, lust of travel -was his predominant passion. What his occupation had been is unknown. -On an occasion when it was helpful to him to pose as a physician he -did so; and his close observation of the structure and habits of -animals and the qualities of plants, suggests the kind of educative -discipline which a physician would receive. But since he confesses to -having ordered a cold astringent preparation when a warm laxative was -required, his knowledge of physic was limited or readily forgotten. -Again, since, on one occasion, he takes military service as a Mameluke; -professes himself, on another occasion, to be an adept in the -manufacture of mortars; and we find him fighting with the intrepidity -and skill of a proved warrior against Arabs in India, he may very well -have been a soldier before setting out on his travels. In that age -of confusion, when the successes of the French in Lombardy broke the -balance of power among the Italian States, there was ample opportunity -of martial employment. There is not a trace of the accomplished -haunter of courts, no love of literature or of art apparent in the -_Itinerario_. Varthema’s birth, upbringing, and “the fate of his bones” -are secrets which lie securely hidden in the ruins of time. But his -narrative endures—an imperishable monument. It reveals him as a true -man of his period. His skill in dissembling, and his insensitiveness -at the call of expediency to any obligation of truth or gratitude, -contrast with his scrupulous pursuit of truth for its own sake and the -accuracy of his observation. His record of travel is one which displays -the coolness of his courage no less than its intrepid dash; it reveals -a man constant of purpose, and endowed with ingenuity, resourcefulness, -self-restraint, prudence, sagacity, and a sense of humour. Here indeed -is a rare man! - -In the year 1502 there was peace in the Levant. Lucrative trade -between Venice and Egypt went on, unmolested by Turkish fleets. At -the close of that year, Varthema took sail for Alexandria; the wind -was favourable, and he reached the great port on one of the early -days of 1503. Alexandria was the chief mart for the interchange of -the wares of East and West, and therefore well known to Europeans; -“Wherefore,” says Varthema, “yearning after new things as a thirsty -man doth for fresh water, I entered the Nile and arrived at Cairo.” -“Babylon,” as Europeans called Cairo, was reputed to be one of the most -marvellous of cities; but our traveller was disappointed to find it -far smaller than he had thought. He declines to discuss the government -established there, or the arrogance of its Mameluke rulers; “for my -fellow-countrymen well wot of such matters.” Close upon two centuries -had passed since a Circassian slave clothed the Imam with a royal -robe, usurped his mundane powers, reduced him to a nonentity, founded -a dynasty, and ruled by military force from the Taurus and Euphrates -to the Nile. This dynasty delegated authority to Emirs and Sheiks. It -ruled by means of a soldiery, like itself, of slave origin, cruel, -insolent and unbending. Children of Christian descent, brought mainly -from the region which lies to the south of Caucasus, were instructed in -the faith of the Moslem and trained to physical endurance, boldness, -skill in warfare, and contempt of all men save their masters and -themselves. These Mamelukes, as they were called, received liberal -payment; they were allowed to keep a harem and to rear a family. The -land lay crushed and impotent beneath this military caste. Military -slaves, they exhibited the vices of slaves in office. As in the time -of Ibn Batûta, the Sultan of Cairo ruled; but now ruled over delegates -who were frequently rebellious to his authority; yet he and they and -all, even to the terrible ottoman Turk at Constantinople, who now held -Eastern Europe in bondage from the Danube to Cape Matapan, acknowledged -the headship of the Imam at Cairo as legitimate Caliph of the great -Abbaside line. - -Leaving Cairo, Varthema took ship for Beyrout. Here, he saw nothing -noteworthy, save the ruins of an ancient palace, “which, _so they -say_,” was once the residence of the princess whom St. George rescued -from the dragon. We find a novel scepticism in this man of the new age. -“So they say,” is a phrase of frequent recurrence in the _Itinerario_. -The sceptic’s ears are as open as his brain is active; he repeats all -the information given to him, however extravagant and however healthy -his doubt; but he is careful to let the reader know that it is mere -hearsay; he gives a hint of his own disbelief, and leaves the matter -open to sane judgment: the piping times of a merchant in marvels have -passed away. When Varthema has his own ends to serve, we shall find -him telling a lie with as little scruple as any diplomatist of his -generation; but he records faithfully and exactly what he went out -to see and the incidents which befell him. We have the testimony of -the precise Burton that “all things well considered, Ludovico[15] -Bartema, for correctness of observation and readiness of wit, stands -in the foremost rank of oriental travellers”; and that great authority -writes thus although he only quotes from Richard Eden’s imperfect and -interpolated translation of a Latin deformation of the _Itinerario_; -and probably knew of no other copy. - -Occasionally Varthema falls into a not uncommon blunder: he exaggerates -numbers; but he is always hard-headed, incredulous of tradition, and -not at all given to romancing. - -A short voyage of two days brought our Italian from Beyrout to -Tripoli, whence he took the caravan-route to Hamath, a large city on -the Orontes, once an outpost of Judah, retaken by Israel in the wars -between the two kingdoms. At Menin, a land of luscious fruits and the -serviceable cotton-plant, he found a population of Christian-subjects -of the Emir of Damascus and two beautiful churches, “said to have been -built by Helena, mother of Constantine.” He went on to Aleppo, and -thence eight days of easy travel brought him to a city so ancient that -its foundation is lost in unfathomed time. He writes of Damascus that -“to set it forth is beyond my power.” Here he remained some months, in -order to learn Arabic—a task quite indispensable for farther travel in -Mohammedan lands. He tells us of the fortress, built by a Florentine -renegade, a man skilled in physic, who cured a Sultan suffering -from the effects of poison, and is venerated as a holy man. This -transformation of the physician into the saint may have suggested some -serviceable play-acting in India, of which we shall become spectators -later on. - -The military Empire of Cairo was in decay, and had become very corrupt. -A vivid picture is set before us of delegated despotism and its -concomitants; greed, graft, outrage and squeeze. Whenever a new Sultan -succeeded to power, very large sums would be offered him for the rule -of such a wealthy city as Damascus. Of course the gold would have to -be wrung out of the resident merchants. If a good instalment of the -promised “present” were not speedily forthcoming, the Sultan would -find means to remove the dilatory Emir at the sword’s point, “or in -some other way; but, let him make the present aforesaid, and he shall -retain his rule.” “The traders of the city are not dealt with justly. -The rulers vie with each other in oppressing them, by robbery or by -dealing death.... The Moors are subject to the Mamelukes after the -fashion of the lamb to the wolf.... The Sultan will send two missives -to the governor of the citadel, one of which will command him to call -together there such lords or traders as he may choose. And when they -are gathered together in the citadel, the second letter is read to -them, whereof that which is its purpose, is gotten without delay. -Thus doth the lord aforesaid set about getting money.” We are told -of the curious way in which strict guard is enforced at the citadel: -throughout the night at intervals each sentinel signals to his next -neighbour by beating a drum; he who fails to pass on a responsive -rat-tat has to spend a twelvemonth in prison. - -Varthema found the houses dirty outside—(they are still built of a -sort of cob), but the interiors splendid, with fountains and mosaics -and carvings and columns of marble and porphyry. He visited the Great -Mosque “where, so it is said,” the head of St. Zechariah is kept; and -was shown the exact spot where, “so it is given out,” Saul, breathing -out threatenings and slaughter, saw a great light and heard the voice -of Jesus; also the house “where (so they say) Cain slew Abel, his -brother.” - -“But let us now return to the liberty which the Mamelukes aforesaid -enjoy in Damascus.... They go about in twos and threes, since it is -counted for dishonour to go alone. And, should they chance to meet two -or three ladies, license is granted to them, or they take it. They lie -in wait for these ladies in certain great hostelries, which are called -Khans; and, as ladies pass by the doorway each Mameluke will lay hold -of the hand of one of them, draw her inside, and abuse her. The lady -resists having her face seen; for women go about with face covered in -such wise that while they know us, we do not know who they are.... And -sometimes it chances that the Mamelukes, thinking to take some lord’s -daughter, take their own wives; a thing which happened whilst I was -there.... When Moor meeteth Mameluke, he must make obeisance and give -place, or he is bastinadoed, even should he be the chief merchant of -the city.” - -We are told that rich Christian traders in every kind of merchandise -dwelt in Damascus, but were “ill-treated.” Long-eared goats were -brought up three flights of stairs to be milked for your meal. A -detailed description is given of the productions of the city and the -dress and customs of its people. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -OVER THE DESERT TO MECCA - - -Now, the yearly caravan from Damascus to the Holy Cities of Arabia was -in preparation—a journey which the pious Moslem makes by rail to-day. -For, as has been truly remarked, “the unchanging East” is a venerable -catchword: the Orient moves on, but slowly. No “unbelieving dog” might -plant his foot on Arabian soil; no European Christian had ever seen -its sacred fanes. Here was a golden opportunity for one “longing for -novelty.” Varthema had learned to speak Arabic. That insinuating smile, -persuasive accent, and ingratiating address, so characteristically -Italian, were surely his, for we find that he never fails to secure the -firm friendship of utter strangers whenever he may require it—nay, he -exerts some exceptional fascination on all men, some dæmonic force, as -Goethe calls it. He says: “I formed a great friendship with the Captain -of the Mamelukes” who were to accompany and protect the caravan. -Doubtless, Varthema’s look and bearing were martial; and, as has been -said, he may have acquired experience in the Italian wars. To his -credentials he added the persuasive argument of a bribe. His new friend -accepted him as one of the escort. True, he must profess conversion -to the Mohammedan Faith. This was no great strain on the conscience -in days when Borgia and Julius della Rovere and the Medici sat in the -chair of St. Peter, and when most Christians contented themselves with -a half-sceptical observance of habitual forms. Like Henry of Navarre, -Varthema thought an apple off another tree than his own a matter -of small moment in the fulfilment of his purpose. He repeated the -necessary formula and became a Moslem. He had to take a new name. Might -it be because he was committed to an unparalleled adventure that he -took the name of the son of Amittei? He called himself Jonah. - -This bold step was worthy of the Italian Renaissance, when a man had -thought it shame not to fashion his own life to his own ends; when he -might brush weak scruples aside, and overcome obstacles as the oar -turns the wave, converting hindrance into help. Behold our unflinching -traveller mounted on a spirited steed, armed to the teeth; ready to -encounter all chances of battle, desert-thirst, and unknown peril—one -fulfilling old Malory’s test: “he that is gentle will draw him unto -gentle tatches.” - -The caravan, of pilgrims and merchants, women, children and slaves -(about 40,000 souls) and 30,000 camels, was guarded by only 60 -Mamelukes, 20 being in the van, 20 midmost, and 20 bringing up the -rear. Damascus was left on April 8th 1503, and on the third day El -Mezarib was reached, a place on the high land east of the Jordan and -about 30 or 40 miles from it. Here the caravan rested 3 days to give -the merchants time to buy Arabian steeds. Doughty, that intrepid -English traveller and writer of unique English, tells us that, not many -years ago, El Mezarib remained the appointed place for gathering up the -pilgrim multitude. In Varthema’s time the sheik of the district was -both powerful and predatory. He is said to have owned 300,000 camels -(50 times the number accorded to Job in the day of recompense), 40,000 -horses and 10,000 mares. The number may be exaggerated; but the sheik -was able to pounce down on the granaries of Egypt, Syria or Palestine -when he was least expected—even believed to be a hundred miles away. -“Truly, these folk do not run, but fly, swift as falcons; and they -keep close together like a flock of starlings,” Varthema tells us. -Their fleet spirited Arabian mares would run a whole day and night -without stopping, and be fresh again after a draught of camels’ milk. -He describes the marauding Arab very correctly as of dark complexion, -small make, effeminate voice, and with long, stiff, black hair. - -From El Mezarib, the caravan pursued its ancient course through Syrian -and Arabian deserts; but more to the east than in later days. The -scheme of travel was to march for about 20 hours; then to halt at a -given signal and unload the camels; after resting for a day and night, -a signal was again given, and, in a trice all was made ready, and -cavalcade and “ships of the desert” were off again over rocky wastes -and pathless seas of sand. Then as now, camels were fed on balls of -barley-meal and watered every three days. Every eighth day, if no well -was found, the ground was dug deeply for water, and the caravan halted -a day or two. But it was invariably attacked by Bedouins when this -happened. It was their amiable custom to lie in wait for the caravan -and carry off women, children or any other unconsidered trifle which -might fall within their grasp. Unhappy Joseph Pitts of Exeter (who -was captured by Algerine pirates, professed Mohammedanism to escape -cruelty, and accompanied his third master on a pilgrimage to Mecca in -1680) describes how, between Mecca and Medina, “the skulking thievish -Arabs do much mischief to some of the Hagges (pilgrims to Meccah). For -in the night-time they steal upon them ... loose a camel before and -behind, and one of the thieves leads away the camel with the Hagge upon -his back asleep.” And, thirty years ago, Charles Montagu Doughty told -us how the Bedouin youth would emulate Spartan boyhood and strain every -power to rob a Hadji, for the glory of the feat. - -There are many ruins to be found in Edom and Arabia Petrea. Like most -men of sceptical turn, Varthema tempered a spirit of free enquiry -with a little credulity. He saw distant rocks of red sandstone, -fantastically shaped; they were “like blood on red wax mingled with -soil.” He was told that these were the ruins of the cities of the -plain, and writes, probably from conviction, certainly with commendable -prudence, seeing that he had posed as an apostate: “Verily, Holy Writ -doth not lie, for one beholds how the cities perished by miracle of -God. Of a truth, I believe from the witness of my own eyes that these -men were evil; for all around the land is wholly dry and barren. The -earth may bear no single thing, and of water there is none ... and, by -a miracle the whole ruin is there to be seen even yet. That valley was -full twenty miles long; and thirty-three of our company died there from -thirst, and divers others, not being quite dead, were buried in the -sand, their faces being left uncovered.” - -One day, when traversing what the Bible calls “the wilderness of Edom,” -“we came to a little mountain, and near to it was a cistern; whereat we -were well pleased and encamped on the said hill. The next day, early in -the morning, 24,000 Arabs rode up to us and demanded payment for their -water”—a time-honoured exaction of the Bedouin Arab, which in our -own days is said to have supported one third of Arabia.—“We refused, -saying that the water was the gift of God. Thereupon they opened battle -with us, saying that we had robbed them of their water. We set the -camels as a protecting rampart all round us and put the merchants in -the midst thereof and we stood siege during two nights and two days; -and a constant skirmish went on. By that time both we and our foes had -come to an end of our water. The mountain was wholly encompassed by -Arabs, and they averred that they would break through our defence. Our -leader, finding himself unable to hold on, took counsel with the Moslem -traders; and we gave the Arabs 1,200 ducats of gold. But, when they had -gotten the money, they said that not even 10,000 ducats of gold should -be satisfaction for their water; whereby we perceived what they sought -more than money. So our sagacious leader agreed with the caravan that -all men capable of battle should not mount on their camels, but look -to their arms. In the morning we put the whole caravan forward, and -we Mamelukes stayed behind. We made a strength of 300 fighting men; -and we had not to wait long for the fray. We lost but one man and one -woman, and we killed 600 of them.” - -This statement evokes from a French author the ironic wit of his -race: he thinks that the two who were slain may be pitied for their -remarkably bad luck. Burton, who more than once accuses Varthema of -exaggerating numbers, thinks that his statement here may confirm -Strabo’s account of Ælius Gallus having lost two soldiers only in a -battle with 10,000 Arabs. We must not forget that the Arab’s body was -bare and wholly unprotected; he rode his steed bare-back, carried no -fire-arms, and his only weapons were lance and bow. He attacked in -dense formation. No wonder therefore that Arabs fell in masses as they -came on, and that the carnage was still more terrible when they fled, -helter-skelter “Come le rane innanzi alla nimica Biscia” as “frogs -before their enemy the snake.”[16] And the Mamelukes, few as they were, -rode saddled steeds, were disciplined, protected by armour, possessed -of fire-arms, and almost unerring of aim. Once Varthema saw one of the -Mamelukes perform a feat which recalls the legend of William Tell: At -a second attempt, he shot off from the bow a pomegranate poised on -the head of a slave at a distance of about twelve or fifteen paces. -And they were as expert horsemen as the Arabs. A Mameluke removed his -saddle, put it on his head and replaced it while at full gallop. - -Thirty days were spent in absolute desert, and the caravan was always -attacked when it encamped by a water supply; but the only loss which -the foe caused during about six weeks of journeying was in the big -battle in which the man and woman were killed. A little later on and up -to our own time, the water-cisterns were defended by fortifications. -Leaving arid and rocky hills, - - “Boundless and bare - The lone and level sands stretched far away.” - -“Through these,” says Varthema, “we travelled five days and five nights. -Now you should understand all about it. It is a great level stretch of -white sand, fine as flour, and if by mischance the wind blow from the -south, all may be reckoned as dead; even with the wind in our favour -we could not see each other ten paces off. Wherefore there are wooden -boxes set on the camels, and in these the travellers sleep and eat. The -guides go on in front with compasses, even as if they were at sea. Many -died here from thirst; and very many, having dug for water and found -it, drank it until they burst; and here are mummies made.” - -It is interesting to know that, up to 1908, when the railway for the -conveyance of pilgrims from Damascus to Mecca was completed, those -of the richer sort still used the wooden protection which our author -describes. Possibly the mummies of which he speaks were merely corpses -dried in the sun; but the preservation of the dead body by embalming -was a very ancient practice in these parts. Doughty found no actual -mummies in the Nabatean temples; but he collected and brought back, -from the funeral chambers at El Khreby, resinous matters of the same -character as those found in Egyptian sarcophagi. Presently, Varthema -shall see powders for the mummification of the dead sold outside the -Mosque at Mecca. Dried human flesh was an important part of the stock -in trade of an Arabian physician whom Burton came across. But faith -in the efficacy of pulverised mummy has been by no means confined to -Arabia. In the Seventeenth Century, Sir Thomas Browne, tells us in his -“Urn Burial” that: “Mummy is become merchandise, Miriam cures wounds -and Pharaoh is sold for Balsams”; and even within the last few years -Harry de Wint found the repulsive drug on sale as a cure for cancer at -Serajevo in Bosnia. - -It so happened that the usual discomposing sounds, made by the -movements of unstable sand-hills, broke the silence of the desert just -where the Prophet had once stopped to pray. The superstitious Moslems -must have been wholly dismayed and demoralized, for even the iron nerve -of Varthema was strained; he tells us that he “passed on with great -danger, and never thought to escape.” At last, a thorn bush or two -broke the monotony of this “sea of sand,” and the travellers knew that -Medina was now only three days off. Even more pleasing than the sight -of vegetation to those pilgrims, who had “seen neither beast, bird, -reptile, no, nor insect, for fifteen days,” was the pair of turtledoves -that lodged in the branches of the thorn bush. And, most delightful of -all was the well of water which gave being to this miniature oasis. The -water-skins were refilled; and, so copious was the supply that sixteen -thousand camels were re-laden with the precious burden. Hard by, on a -mountain, dwelt a curious colony, who depended on the well for their -water. Varthema could see them in the far distance, “leaping about the -rocks like wild goats.” And one does not wonder at their excitement; -for the cistern would not fill up again until the rains should come. -Varthema learned that these people were Jews, who burned with hatred -of all Mohammedans, probably not without very just cause. “If they -catch a Moor, they flay him alive.” They had the shrill voice of a -woman, were swarthy, and went about naked. Probably their “nakedness” -really amounted to their wearing a simple loose robe or a loin-cloth -only. That they lived on goats’ flesh is not remarkable; for it is the -staple food of the Bedouin Arab. Probably they were of small stature; -but Varthema dwarfs then into comicality: he gives them but five or six -spans of height. But he only saw them from afar. That they were Jews is -no fable. In spite of the general expulsion of Jews from Arabia with -the first successes of Islam, the existence of a remnant of the Chosen -People in this district has been well authenticated by Arabian writers; -they were to be found there nearly three centuries after Varthema saw -them, and towards the close of the past century Doughty heard tradition -of them. By some accident Varthema, or more likely, his printer, -places them between Medina and Mecca; but he came across them before -he reached Medina. It is hard to account for their presence in this -isolated and desolate district; and many are the explanations which -have been offered, and varied are the legends which have grown up. -Badger thought “that their immigration occurred after the devastation -of Judea by the armies of Nebuchadnezzar, and that the colony was -enlarged by successive bands of refugees down to the destruction of -Jerusalem by Titus and the persecutions to which they were subjected -under the Emperor Hadrian.” Here is one of the many problems of History -which are “beyond conjecture and hopeful expectation.” - -Two days after this event, the pilgrims came up to another cistern of -water; they were now only four miles from Medina. Everyone thoroughly -cleansed himself thereat from all the grime and sweat of the hot, dusty -desert, and put on fresh linen, in order that he might present himself -purified before the sepulchre of the Prophet on the morrow. All around, -the land “lay barren and under the curse of God”; but, two stones’ cast -from the city there was a grove of date-trees and a refreshing conduit. - -Our traveller found Medina to be but a poor place of about 300 hearths. -Food was brought thither from Arabia Felix, Cairo and Ethiopia; first, -to a port on the Red Sea, and thence overland by caravan—a journey -which occupied four days. He found the inhabitants “scum”; a character -which all travellers of all ages agree in giving them, and which they -shared with the people of Rome and of all places whither pilgrims -and the folk of many nations were wont to congregate. The Sunnites -and Shiites there, the two great sects which divide the Moslem world -“kill each other like beasts anent their heresies.” And Varthema, the -pretended proselyte, suddenly remembers that he is writing for a -Christian world, and is careful to assure it of his own conviction that -“these (beliefs) are false—all of them.” - -“One wished to see everything,” he says, so the pilgrims passed three -days at Medina, “Some guide took each pilgrim by the hand and led him -to the place where Mohammed was buried.” Varthema gives a description -of the Mosque, than which, says Burton, nothing could be more correct. -“It is surmounted,” writes the English traveller, “by a large gilt -crescent, springing from a series of globes. The glowing imagination of -the Moslems crown this gem of the building with a pillar of heavenly -light, which directs, from three days’ distance, the pilgrim’s -steps towards El Medinah.” Varthema avers that the marvellous light -had a real matter of fact basis, being due to a cunning deception. -Whether due to trickery, or to the suggestive efficacy of faith and -expectant attention, the miracle once had a rival in the more ancient -supernatural outburst, every Eastertide, of the holy fire at the altar -of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Neither Varthema nor his friend -the Captain of the Mamelukes was a man easy to dupe, or given to the -conjuring up of visions. “At the third hour of the night,” we read, -“ten or twelve greybeards came to our camp, which was pitched two -stones’ throw from the gate, crying, some here, some there, ‘There -is no God but God! Mohammed is the Prophet of God! O Prophet! Do -obeisance to God! Do obeisance to the Prophet! We implore forgiveness -of sin.’ Our captain and we ran out at this clamour; for we thought the -Arabs were on us to rob the caravan. We demanded why they were crying -out; for they made the same sort of din which may be heard among us -Christians when a saint works a miracle.” (Varthema cannot conceal his -sceptical temper!) “These elders answered: ‘Do ye not see the splendour -coming forth from the tomb of the Prophet?’ Our Captain replied that, -for his part, he could see nothing, and asked us if anyone had seen -anything; but we all said, ‘No.’ Then one of the old men demanded: ‘Are -you slaves?’ Which is to say, Mamelukes. Our Captain replied, ‘Yes, we -are slaves.’ To which the old man responded: ‘O, sirs, it is not given -to you to see these heavenly things; for you are not yet well grounded -in the faith.’” Now, in the morning of the same day, the Captain had -offered the Sherîf of the Mosque 3,000 ducats to see the body of the -Prophet, telling him that he had neither father nor mother, brothers -nor sisters, wife nor children, and had come thither to save his soul. -Whereupon the Sherîf had fallen into a rage and demanded how he dared -desire to behold him for whom God made the heavens and the earth. -Since the body was entombed within closed-up, solid walls, such an -audacious request marks the sceptical irreverence and haughty insolence -of the Mameluke, even before one of the most sacred temples of Islam. -The Mamaluke had declared himself ready to pluck out his own unholy -eyes for love of the Prophet, if only he might see his body first. -The Sherîf, probably in order to silence him, then said that Mohammed -had been translated to Heaven by angels. So now, the Captain shouted -contemptuously to the reverend greybeard who had told him that it was -denied him to see the vision by reason of imperfect faith: ‘You fool! -Shall I give thee three thousand ducats? By God, I will not. You dog, -son a dog!’.... The Captain thought that enough; and said so; and, -turning round to his comrades, exclaimed: ‘See where I wanted to throw -away 3,000 seraphim!’ And he mulcted the Mosque by forbidding any of -his men to visit it again. - -Varthema dispels the popular belief that Mohammed’s coffin was -suspended in mid-air by the attraction of a magnet. “I tell you -truth when I affirm that there is no coffin of iron or steel, or any -loadstone, or any loadstone mountain within four miles.” - -The journey from Medina to Mecca was at this particular time beset -with more than usual difficulty and peril. The Hejaz was nominally -a vassaldom of Cairo; really, it was under the almost absolute rule -of its own despot; and we learn from Arabian Chroniclers that the -despotism was being fought for by rival brethren. Indeed, throughout -Eastern lands, war between sons for succession to the throne rendered -vacant by the death of a father was the rule. And, in the long run, -this bloody business usually ended in the success of the most capable -competitor; so that, however horrible, it did not work out badly; -for what can be more fatal to a weak, subservient people than an -incompetent ruler? “There was a very great war,” says Varthema, “one -brother being against another; four brethren contended for the lordship -of Mecca; so that we travelled for the space of ten days; and twice -on our way we fought with 50,000 Arabs.” Probably Varthema habitually -over-estimated numbers; but there is no doubt that he had cause for -alarm before he reached the second of the two sacred goals. - -Our traveller descended one of the two passes cut through the hills -which girdle and defend Mecca, and found himself in a “very famous, -fair and well-peopled” city. The caravan from Cairo had arrived eight -days before. Joseph Pitts, the Exeter sailor, also tells us how the -“caravans do even jump all into Mecca together.” “Verily,” says -Varthema, “never did I see such a multitude gathered together in one -place as during the twenty days I stayed thereat.” He writes us at some -length, though not so minutely or correctly as Burckhardt, of the great -house of Allah and of the Ka’abah within it—a building which conserves -the form of the old heathen temple and which was a place of pilgrimage -for ages before Mohammed; but this he did not know. He speaks of the -sacred pigeons of the precincts; of the seven circuits made by the -pilgrims; of the sacred well Zemzem, in whose brackish waters the -Moslem cleanse themselves both spiritually and physically; for did not -Hagar quench the dying Ishmael’s thirst therewith? of the sacrifice of -sheep, and how the flesh was cooked over a fire made of camels’ dung; -of elaborate rituals; of the gift of what was superfluous in the feast -to the many famished poor among the pilgrims; of the ascent to Arafat, -where Gabriel taught Adam to erect an altar; and of that strange, -ancient relic of heathen times, the casting of stones at the devil. -But he says not one word of the “Black Stone” of the Ka’abah, once -the fetish of ancient Arabian worship, and kissed to-day by the Hadji -(pilgrim). We learn that Mecca, like Medina, was fed from Arabia Felix -and Africa. It was a mart as well as a place of pilgrimage. - -Now for a marvel. In an enclosure of the Mosque were two unicorns! They -were presents from an Ethiopian monarch to the Sultan of Mecca as the -finest thing that could be found in the world ... the richest treasure -ever sent. “Now, I will tell you of their make,” writes our author; -“the elder is shaped like a colt of 30 months, and he has a horn on his -forehead of about 3 arm lengths. The other is like a colt of one year, -and his horn is the length of 3 hands. The colour is dark bay; the -head like a hart’s, but no long neck; a thin short mane hangs over one -side; the legs are slender and lean, like a goat’s; the foot, a little -cloven, long, and much like a goat’s, with some hair at the back of the -legs. Truly, this monster must be a very fierce and rare animal.” - -Whatever our interpretation, this is no “traveller’s tale” of -Varthema’s making. His painstaking veracity, except in the “practical -politics” of life, has been confirmed a hundred times over. Later on -in his book, we come across a description of the structure and habits -of the elephant which is a triumph of sharp prose-vision and detailed -matter of fact. One cannot doubt that he saw a beast at Mecca which -resembled, not remotely, the Unicorn supporter of our Royal Coat of -Arms. It is remarkable that Pliny describes a similar animal, and -that Ctesias, Aristotle and Strabo speak of the Unicorn. The name -occurs nine times in the Bible; but it is commonly supposed to refer -to the Rhinoceros. Varthema’s strange beast was a very different -animal, apparently resembling the horse-like creature with a solitary -central horn which Niebuhr found repeatedly sculptured on the ruins -of Persepolis. Similar beasts have been reported from Abyssinia and -Cape Colony; and at one time the unicorn was believed in India to -inhabit that refuge of the rare, inaccessible Thibet. Yet a generation -that is still with us regarded the gorillas and pygmy men of Hanno as -Carthaginian fables, until Du Chaillu brought back carcasses of the one -and Stanley gave authentic word of the other. But scientists leave us -no hope that some happy traveller shall come across a unicorn dead or -alive. For the stumpy protuberance of the rhinoceros is an epidermal -tissue, and the true bony horns of the deer tribe are developments -which grow from, or correspond to, two frontal bones; and it would -be impossible for a bony outgrowth to proceed from the mesian line. -Varthema’s statement must be deemed by all who know anything of -comparative anatomy to be incorrect. The great Owen thought that one -of the two horns of the animal must have been broken off or remained -undeveloped. Mr. Dollman, of South Kensington Museum, whose opinion -the author sought through the kind agency of Mr. S. le Marchant Moore, -thinks the creature was an onyx, with one of its horns suppressed and -both gentlemen suggest “that Varthema saw the creature in profile, and -having ascertained as well as he could under the circumstances, the -existence of one horn, did not trouble himself much further about it: -possibly the horn might have become more or less incurved.” We must -leave the question there, until someone shall give us ocular evidence -that Varthema made not the slightest blunder: truly _his_ “horn shall -be exalted!” - -Varthema had now been signally successful in gratifying the passion to -penetrate unknown and mysterious regions which Spanish and Portuguese -discovery had aroused in him. So far as is known, he was the first -European Christian to reach the holy cities of Arabia; and since his -day no traveller ventured on the long and perilous route which he took. -At least six Europeans managed to visit Mecca in the last century; but -they all took the short route from the Red Sea. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -THE ESCAPE FROM THE CARAVAN - - -And now, in the spirit of Alexander sighing for new worlds to conquer, -he looked forward with dismay to the return-journey of the caravan. A -perilous surprise awaited him which, with wonted adroitness, he turned -to his purpose. “Having charge from my Captain to buy certain things, -a Moor looked me in the face, knew me and asked me ‘Where are you -from?’ I answered: ‘I am a Moslem.’ His reply was: ‘You lie.’ ‘By the -head of the Prophet,’ I said, ‘I am a Moslem’; whereto he answered: -‘Come to my house’; and I followed him thither. Then he spake to me in -Italian, telling me whence I had come that he knew me to be no Moslem; -and that he had been in Genoa and Venice; whereof he gave me proof. -When I understood this, I told him that I was a Roman, and had become a -Mameluke at Cairo (!) Whereat he rejoiced greatly, and treated me with -much honour.” Varthema now began to ask questions of his host; craftily -affecting ignorance of recent events and pretending to be very hostile -to Christians and greatly indignant at hearing of the appearance of the -Portuguese in Eastern Seas. “At this, he showed me yet greater honour, -and told me everything, point by point. So, when I was well instructed, -I said to him: ‘O friend, I beseech you in the name of the Prophet to -tell me of some way to escape from the Caravan; for I would go to those -who are the Christians’ bitterest foes. Take my word that, if they -knew what I can do, they would search me out, even as far as Mecca.’ -Then he: ‘By the faith of our Prophet, tell me, what can you do?’ I -replied that I was the most skilful artificer in large mortars in the -world. Hearing this, he exclaimed: ‘Mohammed be praised for ever, who -has sent such an one to the Moslem and God.’” Whereupon, a bargain was -struck. The Moor was ready to hide Varthema in his house, if Varthema -could induce the Captain of the Caravan to pass fifteen camels, laden -with spices, duty free. Varthema was so confident of having thoroughly -ingratiated himself with the Captain that he was ready to negotiate for -the free passage of a hundred camels, if the Moor owned so many. “And, -when he heard this, he was greatly pleased,” and gave full information -as to how to get to India. There was no difficulty about bribing the -Captain; and the day before the departure of the caravan, Varthema -stole to the Moor’s house and lay there in concealment. - -Next morning, two hours before daybreak, bands of men, as was the -usage, went through the city, sounding trumpets and other instruments, -and proclaiming death to all Mamelukes who should not mount for the -journey to Syria. “At this,” says Varthema, “my breast was mightily -troubled, and I pleaded with tears to the merchant’s wife, and I -besought God to save me.” Soon he had the relief of knowing that -the caravan was gone, and the Moorish merchant with it. He had left -instructions with his wife to send Varthema on to Jidda, on the Red -Sea, with the caravan returning to India. It was to start later than -the Syrian caravan. Varthema was a man of winning ways, and he found -no difficulty in fascinating man or woman. He was far from being as -vain as, say, Lord Herbert of Cherbury, but, like that ingenuous -gentleman, he does not neglect to inform us when he has pleased the -fair. “I cannot tell how much kindness I received from this lady, and, -in particular, from her niece of fifteen years. They promised to make -me rich if I would stay on. But I declined their offer by reason of the -pressing peril. I set out at noontide of the following day, with the -caravan, to the no small sorrow of these ladies, who made much lament.” - -In due time the caravan arrived at Jidda, which was then a very -important mart and harbour. Varthema immediately made for a mosque, -with thousands of indigent pilgrims, and stayed there a whole fortnight. - -“All day long, I lay on the ground, covered up in my garments, and -groaning as if I suffered great pain in my bowels and body. The -merchants would ask: ‘Who is that, groaning so?’ Whereto the poor -people about me would reply: ‘He is a poor Moslem who is dying.’ But -when night came I would leave the mosque to buy food. Judge of what my -appetite became when I could only get food (and that bad) once a day.” - -When the caravan had left the port, he contrived to see the master of -a ship bound for Persia who agreed to take him as a passenger; and on -the seventeenth day of hiding at Jidda, the ship put forth on the Red -Sea. To a true Moslem, the whole Eastern world as far as China was -barely more perilous than the Mediterranean was to a Christian. Those -were days when the seas teemed with pirates; but, on land, property -was better safeguarded by the despotic rulers of Asia than it was in -Europe. But the line between Eastern and Western traffic was rigidly -drawn at certain marts of exchange. Such were Aleppo and Beyrout for -commodities forwarded by way of the Persian Gulf; and still more -important were Cairo and Alexandria, the marts of Mediterranean and Red -Sea commerce. The Eastern trade was mainly in the hands of Arabs; but -it was pursued by certain Greeks, Albanians and Circassians also, who, -or their forefathers, had renounced Christianity for gain; and these -were not few. Jidda and other ports of the Red Sea, as well as those of -Somaliland, were crowded with ships, great and small, bearing spices, -drugs, dyes and other Eastern goods for the markets of Western Asia and -Europe. The Arabian coast of the Red Sea was hugged, and often, for -days together, no progress could be made at night; for the multitude -of rocks and sunken reefs rendered navigation perilous enough, even by -day, and a look-out was always kept at the mast-head. - -Varthema’s ship visited and made some stay at several ports which are -now decayed. At one place, “coming in sight of dwellings on the shore, -fourteen of us landed to buy victuals. But they were the folk called -Bedouin; there was more than a hundred of them to our fourteen; and -they greeted us with slings and stones. We fought for about an hour; -and then they fled, leaving twenty-four of their number lying slain -on the ground; for they were unclad, and the sling was their only -weapon. We took all we could find, that is to say fowls, calves, oxen -and other things for eating. But, in two or three hours time, the -turmoil increased, and so did the natives of the land—to more than six -hundred, in fact—and we were compelled to draw back to our ships.” - - - - -CHAPTER V. CERTAIN ADVENTURES IN ARABIA THE HAPPY. - - -On arriving at Aden; which was a place of call for every ship trading -with India, Persia, and Ethiopia, custom-house officers at once came on -board the ship, ascertained whence and when it had sailed, the nature -of its freight, and how many were on board. Then the masts, sails, -rudders and anchors were removed to ensure the payment of dues. On the -second day after Varthema’s arrival, a passenger or sailor on board -called him a “Christian dog, son of a dog,” the usual polished address -of the proud Moslem to one who, albeit a co-believer, had not the good -fortune to be born in the faith. This exclamation aroused a suspicion -that he was a spy; for, a year before, Portuguese had appeared for the -first time in the Arabian Sea, had captured certain vessels, and killed -many of their crews. He was seized at once and violently carried off -to the deputy of the Sultan of Yemen. Now this Sultan was an unusually -merciful man, who rarely (Varthema says never) put anyone to death; so -he was merely clapped into gaol, and his legs fettered with eighteen -pounds weight of iron. On the third day of imprisonment, some Moslem -sailors who had escaped in the warfare with the Portuguese, attacked -the prison with the intention of slaying him; and the inhabitants -were divided as to what they should do. The Emir’s deputy decided -to spare the prisoners (another suspected person would seem to have -been incarcerated with Varthema); and they languished sixty-five days -in gaol. Then a message came from the Sultan, demanding that they -should be brought before himself. So, instead of voyaging to Persia, -Varthema, still in irons, was put on a camel and taken an eight days’ -journey inland to Radâä. Ibn Abd-el Wahâb, Sultan of Yemen, was busy -marshalling a large army. In it, were three thousand horsemen, born of -Christian parents, but sold, while still children, by “Prester John,” -as the Portuguese called the King of Abyssinia. These slaves formed the -bodyguard of the Sultan. At this moment the rule of Yemen was disputed -among petty despots, and the Sultan was bent on reducing the turbulent, -rebellious tribes to his sole sway. - -Varthema is brought in to the Sultan’s presence; his life hangs on -a hair; it is as if the sharp edge of the scimitar were already at -his neck; yet he does not lose his presence of mind. “I am of the -country of Rûm, my lord,” he began; and he began with a “parliamentary -expression” for, to an Arab, Rûm meant Asia Minor, recently the -possession of _New_ Rome, _i.e._, of the Byzantine Empire. “I became a -Mohammedan at Cairo (another trifling inexactitude). I came to Medina -of the Prophet, to Mecca, and then to your country. Everyone says, sir, -that you are a sheik” (a Mohammedan priest). “Sir, I am your slave. -Sir, do you not know that I am a Moslem?” The Sultan called upon him -to repeat the formula: “‘There is no God but the God: Mohammed is the -Prophet of God.’ But, whether it was the will of God, or by reason of -fear which gat hold of me, I could not pronounce these words.” Our hero -was indeed lucky, for the merciful Sultan only ordered him to be taken -to prison and kept there under strict guard while he should be away. -For he was about to attack Sanäa, the ancient capital of Yemen. And so, -“they guarded me for three months, supplying me with a loaf of millet -each morning, and another in the evening; yet six such loaves had not -satisfied my hunger for a single day; nevertheless, if I might have had -my fill of water, I had thought myself happy.” - -In the East, the body of an insane person is believed to be occupied -by some spirit; and mad folk are therefore treated as irresponsible. -Varthema knew this, and he, two fellow-prisoners, one of whom he twice -speaks of as “my companion,” and yet another, “a Moor,” arranged -that one of the number should pretend to be mad in order to help the -others. The trick is time-honoured in the East; thereby David escaped -the hands of Achish, King of Gath. Lots were cast, and the lot fell -to Varthema. We can see him, like the Israelite King, “changing his -behaviour, scrabbling at the doors of the gate, and letting the spittle -fall down upon his beard”; he was allowed to go out, crowds of children -following him and shying stones at him. In self-defence he had to store -up a plentiful supply of like missiles in his garment and give a sharp -return. “Truly,” says he, “I never was so tired with labour and worn -out as during the first three days of my feigning.” - -Now, the prison adjoined the palace; and there remained in the palace -one of the Sultan’s three wives with her “twelve or thirteen very -comely maidens, rather more than inclining to black. This queen” (so -Varthema dubs her) “was very tender-hearted to me. She was for ever -at her lattice with her damsels, staying there throughout the day to -see me and to talk with me; and I, while many men and merchants were -jeering at me, went naked before the queen; for she took very great -pleasure in seeing me. I might not go from her sight; and she gave me -right good food to eat; so that I gained my point.” - -One of the most striking characteristics of the men of the Renaissance -is the combination of great intellectual power and lofty enthusiasm -with mediæval brutality. Now, the Sultana, in whose veins the warm -blood of the East flowed freely, suffered from the dull monotony of the -harem. She wanted excitement. She suggested to the supposed madman that -he should slay and spare not; for the fault would not be imputed to -him. He took the hint at once. He called on a fat sheep to declare its -religion, repeating the very words which the Sultan had addressed to -him: “Prove yourself a Moslem.” “The patient beast making no reply, I -took a staff and broke its legs. The queen looked on laughing, and fed -me with the flesh thereof during three days; nor do I remember to have -eaten better. Three days later, I killed an ass, which was bringing -water to the palace, in the same way; because that he would not become -a Moslem. And, in like manner, I cudgelled a Jew, so that I left him -for dead.” One of the gaolers, whom he declares to have been more mad -than he, called him “Christian dog, son of a dog.” This was enough: a -fierce battle by lapidation began—Varthema alone, on the one side; the -gaoler and children on the other. Varthema allowed himself to be badly -hit by two stones, “which I could have avoided easily; but I wanted to -give colour to my madness. So I went back to my prison, and blocked -the door up with large stones, and there I lived for the space of two -days without meat or drink. The queen and others thought I might be -dead, and caused the door to be broken open. Then these dogs brought -me pieces of marble saying, ‘eat; this is sugar;’ and others gave me -grapes filled with earth, and called it salt; but I ate the marble and -grapes and everything, all mixed up.” - -It was an enlightened custom in Mohammedan countries to examine into -the mental condition of insane people at regular intervals. Rabbi -Benjamin, of Tudela, the Spanish Jew, tells us that, in the sixth -decade of the Twelfth Century, he found Commissioners in lunacy at -Baghdad; although he also speaks of that barbarous practice of chaining -the madman which obtained in England until some centuries later. Two -Mohammedan Ascetics, who dwelt in the mountains as hermits, were -brought to the prison to determine whether Varthema might be a person -bereft of mere mundane reason through his exceptional sanctity, or -only ordinarily mad. The hermits took opposite views on this knotty -question, and spent an hour in violently contradicting one another. -The prisoner lost all patience and, anxious to be quit of them, put a -stop to the discussion by the simple device which Gulliver employed to -extinguish the conflagration at Lilliput. “Whereupon,” says he, “they -ran off crying ‘he is mad; he is no saint.’ The queen and her maidens -saw all this, for they were looking on from their casement, and burst -into laughter, vowing that ‘by God, by the head of the Prophet, there -is no one in the world like this man.’” - -Next day Varthema followed this up by laying hold of the gaoler by -those two horns or tufts of hair which were then, as now, fashionable -in Arabia, kneeling on his stomach, and so belabouring him that -he “left him for dead,” like the Jew. The queen was again vastly -entertained, and called out: “Kill those beasts.” - -But it was discovered that, all this time, Varthema’s fellow-prisoners -had been digging a hole through the prison wall, and, moreover, had -contrived to get free from their shackles. The Sultan’s deputy was -fully aware of the favour with which the Sultana regarded Varthema; and -the lady knew him to be ready to carry out her commands. She ordered -the prisoner to be kept in irons, but to be removed into a doorless -lower chamber of the palace, and to be provided with a good bed, good -food and perfumed baths. For, as the reader will guess, she had fallen -in love with the captive. Sexual love among Arabians is anything but -a refined or spiritual passion; and the harem has not been found -precisely a temple of chastity anywhere,—mainly, perhaps, because -it is a harem. And this lady possessed a temperament as sanguine -and scandalous as any Messalina or Faustina or Empress of all the -Russias. Alas! Fate doomed her to bloom unseen in Arabia, and waste her -sweetness on its desert air. At the end of a few days, she started by -bringing Varthema some dainty dish in the dead of night. He tells us -how, “coming into my chamber, she called ‘Jonah! Come. Are you hungry?’ -‘Yes, by Allah!’ I replied; and I rose to my feet and went to her in my -shirt. And she said: ‘No, no, not with your shirt on.’ I answered: ‘O -Lady, I am not mad now’; whereto she: ‘By Allah, I know you never were -mad. In the world there is no man like you.’ So, to please her, I took -off my shirt, holding it before me for the sake of decency; and thus -did she keep me for a space of two hours, gazing at me as if I had been -a nymph, and making her plaint to God in this wise: ‘O Allah! Thou hast -made this man white as the sun. Me, Thou hast made black. O Allah! O -Prophet! my husband is black; my son is black; this man is white. Would -that this man might become my husband! And while speaking thus, she -wept and sighed continuously, and kept passing her hands over me all -the time, and promising that she would make the Sultan remove my irons -when he returned.’ - -“Next night the queen came with two of her damsels, and said, ‘Come -hither, Jonah.’ I replied that I would come. ‘Would you like me to come -and stay a little while with you,’ she asked. I answered, ‘no, lady. I -am in chains; and that is enough.’ Then she said, ‘Have no fear. I take -it all on my own head. If you do not want me, I will call Gazelle, or -Tajiah, or Gulzerana to come instead.’ She spoke thus because she was -working to come herself. But I never gave way; for I had thought it all -out.” - -Varthema had no desire to remain in Yemen, even should he mount its -throne,—a far less likely event than discovery and a horrible death. -“I did not wish to lose both my soul and my body,” he writes. “I wept -all night, commending myself to God.” - -“Three days after this the Sultan returned, and straightway the queen -sent to tell me that, if I would stay with her, she would make me rich.” - -Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Varthema is the man to -mould circumstances to his will: no web, however cunningly woven shall -hold him prisoner; his keen wit is ready to comply with the Sultana’s -request, if she will have his fetters struck off. - -The lady fell into the trap. She manifests the clever, feminine guile -of the harem in her dealings with Ibn Abd-el-Wahâb, but she is no match -for Varthema. The Sultan is a strong man and a mighty man of valour; -but he is uxorious, and as wax in her hands. She ordered the prisoner -to be brought at once before the Sultan and herself. Ibn Abd-el-Wahâb, -good easy man, asked Varthema whither he desired to go if he should -choose to release him. The mendacious Italian replied: “‘O Lord, I -have neither father nor mother; wife nor child; brother nor sister; -only Allah, the Prophet, and you. You give me food, and I am your -slave.’ And I wept without ceasing.” Then the artful Sultana reminded -the Sultan that he would have to account to God, of whose anger he -should beware, for having kept an innocent man so long time in prison. -Abd-el-Wahâb proved as unsuspicious and benevolent as history declares -him to have been; yet he was as firm and able as a ruler as he was bold -and experienced in arms. His Sultana knew how to play on his merits -and convert them into defects. He at once granted Varthema liberty to -go whithersoever he chose. “And, immediately, he had my irons struck -off; and I knelt before him; and kissed his feet and the hands of the -queen. She took me by the hand, saying: ‘Come with me, poor wight, for -I know thou art dying of hunger.’ When I was with her in her chamber, -she kissed me more than a hundred times; and then she gave me excellent -food. But I had seen her speak privily to the Sultan, and I thought -she had begged me from him for a slave. Wherefore, I said: ‘I will -not eat, unless you promise me my freedom.’ She replied: ‘Be silent, -madman. You know not what Allah will bestow. If you are good, you shall -be an Emir.’ Now, I knew what kind of lordship she desired to bestow -on me; so I answered that she should let me get into fitter condition; -for fear filled me with other than amorous thoughts. She replied: ‘By -Allah, you say well. I will give you eggs, fowls, pigeons, pepper, -cinnamon, cloves and cocoa-nuts every day.’[17] So, at these good words -and promises, I plucked up heart a bit. To restore me to health, I -stayed fifteen or twenty days in the palace. One day, she sent for me -and asked if I would go a-hunting with her; which offer I refused not; -and, at our return, feigned me to fall sick by reason of weakness; and -so continued for the space of eight days; during which time she was -unceasing in sending persons to visit me. One day, I sent to tell her -that I had vowed to God and Mohammed to visit a holy man at Aden, who -was reputed to work miracles.” - -We may not count meanness among the _petits défauts_ of this lady of -spacious passions. She was “well pleased” with Varthema’s suggestion, -and provided him with a camel and twenty-five golden ducats—a sum -which would go a long way in Arabia. We shall see presently to what use -he applied it. Eight days’ journeying brought him to the holy man of -Aden; and the second day after his arrival, he professed that he was -cured. He wrote to the Sultana that, since Allah had been so merciful, -he wished to see the whole of her kingdom. “This I did because the -fleet which was there could not set sail again for a month. I spoke -with a skipper in secret, and told him I wished to go to India, and -would give him a handsome present if he would take me. He replied that -he wished to touch at Persia first.” Nothing better could have fallen -in with Varthema’s wishes. Meanwhile he would explore Arabia Felix. - -So, having adroitly contrived to reject the love of the Light of the -Harem without exciting her fury, and even coming by her purse, he turns -the opportune gift to account, and fills up the month of waiting by -a zig-zag camel-ride through Southern Yemen—the first and boldest -European traveller in the district, and the one who has penetrated -it must thoroughly. With the intention of doing this in his mind, he -ends his chapters on “How the women of Arabia Felix are partial to -White Men,” and on “The liberality of the Queen.” - -His record of Southern Yemen bears witness to a shrewd observant eye -and a tenacious memory. Probably he travelled mostly with caravans. -He gives an account of the natural features of the land, its curious -domesticated animals, its wild beasts, its vegetable productions, its -trade, the colour, manners and dress of its strange natives—all borne -out by a variety of independent testimony. He visited many cities. -One, he found barbarous and poor; another, renowned for its attar of -roses. Several of these towns were flourishing centres of trade. He -even got to Sanäa, the walls whereof were so wide that “eight horses -might go abreast on the top of them.” Apparently Abd-el-Wahâb had -not yet conquered the petty chieftain, El Mansûr, who reigned there; -so Varthema found himself in the domain of the Sultan’s bitter foe. -We hear that rumour gave this ruler a mad son who would bite, and -slay, and then feed on his human victims. Varthema again tells us of -other madmen, Shiites and Sunnites, the rival sects of the Mohammedan -world, who kill each other like dogs for Religion’s sake. At Yerim, -he talked with many who asserted that they had reached their hundred -and twenty-fifth year; but, since there was no registration of birth, -we may venture to entertain our doubts. He tells us how it was the -fashion throughout Arabia to twist the hair into horns, and how the -women wore loose trousers. He came to El-Makrana, where “the Sultan -keeps more gold than a hundred camels might bear; and I say this -because I have seen it.” What became of that mighty bulk of gold? The -Arabian chroniclers tell us the firm, merciful and increasing rule of -Abd-el-Wahâb in Yemen had a tragic end: Turkish invaders captured him -and put him to death, not in the heat of warfare, but in cold blood. - -Varthema “ran some risk from the multitude of apes” (of which Niebuhr -also speaks), and from “animals like lions (hyenas?). We passed on in -very great danger from the said animals, and with no little hunting of -them. However, we killed very many with bows and slings and dogs; and -thereby passed in safety.” - -On reaching Aden he repeated the trick which had proved so successful -at Jidda. “I took shelter in a mosque,” he says, “feigning to be sick, -and there I lurked all day long; but, at night, I went forth to find -the skipper of the ship; and he smuggled me aboard.” - - - - -CHAPTER VI. EASTWARD HO! - - -For six days the wind was favourable; but it was now December of the -year 1503; and on the seventh day out, the North Eastern monsoon drove -the vessel back “with 25 others, laden with madder for the dyeing of -clothes. By dint of very great labour, we made the port of Zeila” (on -the African Coast, opposite to Aden); “and tarried there five days both -to see it and to wait for better weather.” Zeila was a great place -for traffic in gold and ivory, the law was well administered; but the -cruel slave-trade prevailed there then as, in a different form, it did -up to our own times. The Christian dominions of Abyssinian “Prester -John” were raided by Arabs; his subjects captured; and sold in Egypt, -Arabia, Persia and India. The merchants here would seem to have found -a profitable trade in beasts left with but a single horn; for Varthema -saw some, which, however, were quite different from those wonderful -unicorns at Mecca. He gives a faithful description of the black and -white Berbera sheep of Zeila. - -The weather having improved, the ship touched at Berbera, and then -sailed up the Gulf of Aden and across the Arabian Sea. Twelve days saw -her at Diu, an island to the south of the Indian Peninsula of Kathiawar -and subject to the Sultan of Gujarat. Varthema calls it the “port of -the Turks”; but by Turks we must understand Mohammedan inhabitants of -the Levant who had settled at Diu. It was an important halt for ships -trading between India and Arabia and Persia. The vessel which bore -Varthema must have been a tramp, picking up what cargo offered, and -altering her course from time to time, to dispose of it; for, after -spending two days at Diu, we find her taking a three days run up the -Gulf of Cambay to Gogo, a place “of great traffic, fat, and rich; where -all are Mohammedans.” She now recrossed the ocean to Eastern Arabia, -and put in at Julfar, on the shores of Oman. Once again she reversed -her course; and a favourable wind bore her to Muscat, a port which is -still of some importance, and which, at that time, was one of the small -independent States of Arabia. Then she tacked back, and came to New -Ormuz, a port on the island of Jeruan. - -Old Ormuz was a city on the mainland, which Marco Polo visited in the -eighth decade of the Thirteenth Century, but, shortly after his time, -almost all the population deserted the old city for the island. As in -the days of Ibn Batûta it was famous for its pearl-fisheries. “Here,” -writes Varthema, “are found the largest pearls in the world”; and hence -it is that Milton couples the wealth of Ormuz with that of India.[18] -“At three days’ voyage from this island, fishers pay out ropes, one -from either end of their little boats. To each rope, a big stone is -tied, so as to keep the boat moored; and they pay out yet another rope -to the bottom, with a stone to it, from the middle of the boat, whereby -one of these fishermen, having hung two bags round his neck and tied -a big stone to his feet, goes down fifteen paces into the water, and -stays there as long as he is able, to find those oysters wherein are -pearls. These he puts into the bag, and gets quit of the stone at his -feet, and comes up by one of the ropes aforesaid.” The pearl-diver -is not given the wholly impossible time under water which Ibn Batûta -credited him with. With customary caution our Italian is content to say -that he “stays there as long as he is able.” - -This trade and the city of Ormuz were in the hands of Arabs, who paid -tribute to the King of Persia, and were dependent for food on the -mainland. Ormuz was one of the great centres along that trade-route -between the East and the Levant, which traversed the Persian Gulf, -and made its way by Bagdad, and the Euphrates Valley and Aleppo to -the Mediterranean; just as Aden was one of the great centres of the -other route through the Red Sea and Egypt to Cairo and Alexandria. Our -traveller would pass along streets crowded with men from many nations. - -From Ormuz comes a tale of cold-blooded parricide, fratricide, and -subtle perfidy very characteristic of the dynastic families of Asia. -“At the time when I visited this land, there happened that which you -shall hear.” The Sultan of Ormuz had eleven sons, of whom the youngest -was judged to lack half his wits, and the eldest was, beyond doubt, “a -devil unchained.” This Sultan had purchased two Abyssinian children, -and brought them up as carefully as if they had been his own sons; -for it was a practice in Arabia and India to rely on the valour and -sagacity of Abyssinian slaves, to entrust them with the most important -military commands, and to consult them as closest advisers. One of -these men was named Caim; the other Mohammed. One night, when, all was -dark and silent in the palace, that “devil unchained,” the eldest son -found an opportunity to put out the eyes of his father, his mother -and all his brethren excepting those of his youngest brother; for he -supposed him to be incapable of aspiring to the throne. Not satisfied -with blinding his victims, he caused them to be burned alive within -the palace-enclosure. Next morning he proclaimed himself Sultan; and -the supposed fool fled to a mosque; for the rights of sanctuary were -to be found there, if anywhere. At first, the city was in tumult; but -the bloody deed was over and done with; and a city of trade is soon -glad to quiet down and resume business. The problem now before the -new Sultan was: how to get rid of Caim and Mohammed. Both men were -in high position: that were a small matter; but they held command of -fortresses. Somehow, he managed to get Mohammed to venture into his -presence, and, after making much of him, breathed into his ear that, -if he would slay Caim, he should be rewarded with the command of five -fortresses. Mohammed protested: “‘O Sidi, I have shared bread with him -from our childhood; for thirty years. By Allah, I cannot bring my mind -to do this thing.’ Then said the Sultan: ‘Well, let it alone.’” Having -failed in the attempt to induce Mohammed to murder Caim, the Sultan now -tried to induce Caim to murder Mohammed. Caim made not the least demur, -and straightway sought out his old friend and companion. Mohammed at -once read what had happened written in the face of his false friend, -and charged him with the fact. Caim, guilt-stricken, cast his dagger at -the feet of Mohammed, fell on his knees, and implored forgiveness of -the meditated crime. Mohammed reproached Caim in the mildest way, and -then either from magnanimity or from policy, or from both, he passed -over his treachery; but made him vow to go to the Sultan and pretend -that he had done the deed. - -“When the Sultan saw him, he demanded: ‘Hast thou slain thy friend?’ -Caim answered: ‘I have, Sidi, by Allah!’ Then the Sultan: ‘Come here’; -and Caim went close up to him; whereupon, the Sultan seized him and did -him to death with his dagger.” Three days passed, and then Mohammed -stole stealthily into the Sultan’s chamber, who, when he saw him, was -greatly perturbed, and exclaimed: ‘O dog, son of a dog, are thou still -alive?’ Mohammed replied: ‘Yea, I live, in spite of thee, and thee -will I slay, thou worse than dog or devil!’ Both men being armed, they -fought together for a space of time; but in the end, Mohammed killed -the Sultan, and put the palace into a state of defence. But, because he -was much beloved, the populace ran thither with shouts of ‘Long live -Sultan Mohammed.’ - -Mohammed was a man as prudent and experienced as he was ready and -resolute: he saw a way to do the state good service and to preserve for -himself the reality of power while maintaining the shows of legality -and removing the occasions of envy. At the end of twenty days, he call -the chief citizens together, “and spake to them in this wise: That what -he had done had been of strong necessity; that he knew he had no right -to the throne; and that he begged them to allow him to transfer his -power to the son who was supposed to be crazy. And thus the son became -Sultan; but, nevertheless Mohammed rules. The whole city said, ‘of a -surety, this man is the friend of Allah.’ For which reason, he was made -Governor of the City and of the Sultan; the Sultan being in the state -aforesaid.” - -A very narrow little strait lies between Ormuz and the mainland of -Persia. Varthema left his “tramp,” and crossed over. His itinerary -through the ancient and renowned Empire is by no means clear; but we -find him at Herat, 600 miles in a bee-line from Ormuz, and at that time -the capital of Khôrasân and the residence of its able ruler—Sultan -Hosein Mirza, a man who boasted his descent from Timour the Tartar. -Varthema speaks of Herat as being a great market for stuffs, especially -silk stuffs, and for rhubarb. Badger, commenting on this statement, -suggests that Herat lay on the direct route along which rhubarb was -conveyed between Thibet, Mongolia, and the West. Certainly exports and -imports of Persia, India, Turkestan and Afghanistan passed through -Herat. - -It strikes one as singular that, although Varthema Would seem to have -journeyed some 1,500 miles in Persia, he says very little about the -country. This may be because the Venetians were directly acquainted -with that fascinating Empire; and consequent on this, a general -knowledge of it would spread throughout Italy. For, when the great blow -was struck at Venetian trade by the Turkish capture of Constantinople -and Negroponte, and the “Queen of the Adriatic” no longer held “the -gorgeous East in fee,” she sent three separate embassies on a bold and -perilous mission. She sought to secure the alliance of Persia against -their common foe, the Ottoman Turk. Few records of travel and adventure -are more animating or fuller of interest than those of the Venetian -Ambassadors, Barbaro and Contarini.[19] Varthema must have made a bold -journey. The “Adventures of Hadji Baba of Ispahan” probably furnish as -true and vivid a picture of what life and travel in Persia were like -in the early years of the sixteenth century as they do of that which -was to be experienced in the early years of the nineteenth century, -Persia has remained in the same case of what may be called immutable -instability from the days when she was won for Islam down to the days -of the immortal Morier and to our own times. - -From Herat, he took the caravan-route back to Shiraz in Persia, a -journey of fully 700 miles. Here was a great mart for the turquoises, -rubies and other jewels of Khôrasân and Badakshan, as well as for musk -and ultramarine; and he learned something of the business capacity of -the Persian; he complains that “our musk”—that delight, with other -overpowering scents of his nation and time—“is adulterated by these -folk, who are master-hands for intellect, and misleaders beyond all -other peoples.” - -It is a problem how Varthema contrived to cover such vast distances -on what was probably a lean purse. He is silent as to his financial -resources; as we have said it is unlikely that his private means were -considerable, and it would seem that he did not trade. As a Mameluke he -would receive payment which carried him to Aden; and the money which -the enamoured Sultana furnished him with would partly, if not wholly, -give him the means to reach Persia. But he employed his infinite -power to charm; he was burthened with no weak scruple as to blinding -a newly-captured friend and using him, with wise moderation, in the -service of that central purpose which was the heart of all his being. -And thus, as we shall presently see, like Iago, he made his fool his -purse. But he is capable of appreciating the good qualities of the -generous friend whom he made his dupe; and is careful to pay tribute -to him. If he must deceive in order to use him, it is to realize his -purpose of seeing the world at first-hand and recording its wonders. - -After remarking on the tricks of Persian traders, he adds: “Yet I must -also say they are the best companions and the most generous among -men. I speak thus with knowledge; having had experience of a Persian -merchant of Herat in Khôrasân, whom I met in this city of Shiraz. He -had known me at Mecca two years before, and spoke to me thus: ‘Jonah, -what is your business here? Are you not the same man who went to Mecca -some time back?’ I replied that I was, and that to find out about the -world was the quest I was on. Then said he: ‘Allah be praised! for I -shall have a companion to make discovery with me. Do not leave me.’ -We stayed on fifteen days in this same city of Shiraz.” Varthema’s -magnetic charm was at work; and luck stood his friend in bringing him -across this old acquaintance. - -The twain set off together from Shiraz, bound for Samarkand in -Turkestan; for the merchant, whose name Was Cazazionor, insisted on -keeping Varthema with him, and presumably payed all expenses. But they -travelled through a land in turmoil. The struggle between the Ottoman -Turks established in Europe and the Turcoman dynasty of the White -Sheep established in Persia was happy indeed for the Christian world, -since it diverted the forces of Constantinople to the East at a time -when Europe lay divided and helpless, but it was disastrous for Persia -and ended by throwing her into confusion. Just now Ismail-es-Sufi, a -descendant from the Prophet, who had overthrown the forces of Bayazid, -and laid the foundations of a great Persian dynasty, which endured more -than two centuries, was consolidating a country which had been torn -by internecine strife. As is so often the case, religious differences -afforded the trumpet-call to the struggles of peoples. As in the days -of Ibn Batûta the Sunnites of the West fought the Shiites of the East -for domination; but they fought in the name of Allah and under the -banners of sectarian difference. In order to seat himself firmly on the -throne, the Great Sofi, for so Europeans called the monarch of the new, -able and powerful dynasty roused the enthusiasm of the native Shiites, -and converted the less numerous native Sunnites to his own true faith -by blood and iron. Varthema tells us that the Sofi was passing through -the land with flame and slaughter. - -Cazazionor, finding the country so disturbed, thought it wise to return -towards Herat. So delighted was he with the personality and society -of “Jonah” that he offered to give him his niece to wife. She was a -beautiful girl named Sharus, a feminine noun in Persian as in other -languages, although it signifies The Sun. Cazazionor took Varthema with -him to his own home; which was probably at Shiraz; and presented the -young lady to him. She could not have attained womanhood; for he was -allowed to see her. He feigned delight at her beauty; but he says that -his mind was “bent to other things”—probably less on wife and children -at home than on his still insatiate desire for travel. After enjoying -Cazazionor’s hospitality for eight days, he returned with his host to -Ormuz, and took ship for Sind. They were landed at Joah, a port on -the delta of the Indus, and proceeded to Cambay, an important harbour -in Gujarat, whence fifty ships, laden with cotton, sailed yearly to -different lands. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -THE PAGANS OF NARSINGA. - - -Before Batûta reached India, and therefore long before Varthema’s time, -Afghan chiefs had swooped down on the fertile plains of India with -the war cry of “Allah and the Prophet,” and Northern India, with the -exception of its southern and western districts, where the Rajpoots -maintained their independence, was now under the rule of various -Moslem despots. The Deccan was under the sway of a powerful Moslem -dynasty—the Brahmany Sultans; but what is now the presidency of Madras -and Mysore was divided into a number of petty kingdoms, subject to -the Hindu Râja of Narsinga. A full century of conflict had resulted -in a partial triumph of the Moslem: the sovereigns of Narsinga paid a -certain tribute to be left at peace, although the western coast was, -in a measure, protected by a wall of mountains. But Portuguese traders -had just sailed into the Arabian Sea and had established themselves -here and there at trading stations on the Malabar coast; and these they -had fortified. On his outward journey, Varthema, for obvious reasons, -showed no disposition to cultivate the acquaintance of these Christian -Europeans. - -Gujarat was under the rule of Fath Khân, whom Varthema calls Sultan -Machamuth. “You shall now hear of the manner of his life. He and all -his people are Mohammedans; and he keeps twenty thousand horsemen -always with him. When he arises in the morning, fifty elephants, each -with a man atop, come to the palace and do him reverence; and this -is all the labour they are put to.... When he eats, fifty or sixty -different kinds of music discourse; such as trumpets, different sorts -of drums, recorders and fifes, and many others; and the elephants again -do him reverence.... The Sultan’s moustachios are so long that he -ties them up over his head, as a woman doth tie her tresses; and his -beard, which is white, comes down to his girdle.” Fath Khân was greatly -dreaded by his subjects; and they believed strange things concerning -him; stories which are worthy of the Arabian Nights. These Varthema -heard and set down, as did Barbosa, who travelled in the East a few -years after the Sultan’s death. Machamuth was reputed to eat poison -daily, so that, while he himself had become poison-proof, he had only -to spit at a foe and death followed within half an hour. “Every night -that he shall sleep with one of his three or four thousand women, they -shall take her up dead in the morning.” - -The Sultan was continually at war with a neighbouring Hindu Râja; and -his Kingdom of Gujarat had been taken from the Jains—“a race which -eats of nothing wherein courseth blood, and will kill nothing that hath -life. They are neither Moors nor heathens; and I believe that, if they -should be baptised, they would all be saved by their good works; for -they never do unto others what they would not that others should do -unto them. For dress, some wear a shirt; some, only a cloth round their -middle and a large red cloth on their head; and their colour is tawny. -And the aforesaid Sultan took their kingdom from them because of their -goodness.” - -These Jains, who at first, mainly differed from Buddhists in believing -that the purification of the soul resulted in a Heaven and not in -Nirvâna, and the relation of whose creed to Buddhism is far from being -clear, had built some of their remote and mysterious temples on the -heights of Gujarat, where through clouds of incense, female figures, -clothed in scarlet and gold might be seen, weaving strange figures and -chanting monotonous psalms. But these, Varthema, posing as a pious -Mohammedan, might not see; and he makes no reference to the famous -temples of Gujarat. - -From Cambay, the Persian and our Italian sailed along the coast to -Chaul; thence to a port which has disappeared but which was near -Ratnagiri, on the Concan coast; and thence to the island of Goa. “On -this island there is a fortress by the sea, kept by a Mameluke with -four hundred other Mamelukes. If the captain shall come across any -white man he gives him much wage; but first he sends for two jerkins, -made of leather, one for him and one for him that wishes to take -service; each puts on a jerkin, and they fall to. If he prove himself -a strong man, he is put among the able men; but if not, he is set to -other task than that of fighting. The captain wages great battle with -the Râja of Narsinga” (Bijayanagar the capital of the Carnatic). - -From Goa, seven days of land-travel brought the pair to “the city of -Decan” (Bîjapûr), a Mohammedan place where “the King lives in great -pride and pomp. Many of them that serve him have their very shoes -adorned with rubies, diamonds, and other jewels; so you may judge how -many garnish their fingers and ears. They wear robes or shirts of silk, -shoes and breeches after the style of sailors; and ladies go quite -veiled, as in Damascus.” - -Thence they returned to the coast, and visited ports, many of which -have decayed or disappeared. These were subject, but not always -friendly, to the Râja of Narsinga; and the Kinglet of Honawar was -friendly to the Portuguese. But in spite of incessant warfare, life and -property were respected. The journey now lies along the Malabar coast -to Cannanore: “the port to which steeds are brought from Persia, and -you must know that the levy for each horse is twenty-five ducats.... -Here we began to meet with spices.” Here, also, were Portuguese -established. - -They now turned their steps to Narsinga, where Heemrâj held his court. -Varthema calls him “King,” and indeed he ruled, for like the Frank -“Mayors of the palace,” he had gradually usurped the powers of the -real Râja, and held actual sway in the place of an ancient race which -boasted an uninterrupted succession lasting seven centuries. The city -was great and grand; the court, splendid; the revenue, enormous; the -army boasted 40,000 horsemen and 400 elephants, and was constantly -doing battle with the Moslem and neighbouring Pagan States. “The -elephant wears armour; in particular, head and trunk are armed. To -the trunk a sword of two arms’ length is fastened, and as broad as a -man’s hand.” “Seven armed men go upon the said elephant,” shielded by -a sort of castle, “And in that manner they fight.” “The King wears a -cap of cloth of gold; and a quilted garment of cotton when he goes to -the wars; over this a garment beset with gold coins; and all manner -of jewels are at the border thereof. His horse wears jewels which -are of more value than are some of our cities. When he journeys for -pleasure, three or four kings and five or six thousand horsemen attend -him. Wherefore, one may account him a most powerful prince. The common -people go naked save for a loin-cloth.... In this realm you may go -where you list in safety; but it behoves you to beware of lions on the -way.” - -Varthema was very much impressed by the singular structure and equally -singular habits of the elephant, and he speaks admiringly of its -sagacity and strength. He devotes a considerable space to this noble -beast; gives us the most accurate details; and recurs to the subject -over and over again. - -The Persian jewel-merchant and he left Narsinga after two days’ stay, -and visited places which were of much importance then, but which have -disappeared from the modern map. At last, they arrive at Calicut. - -“Having come to the place where the greatest fame of India is gathered -up” our traveller devotes the whole of his second book concerning India -to Calicut and the manners and customs of its people, as being those of -all the inhabitants of that part of the peninsula which lies between -the Malabar and Coromandel coasts. From time out of mind Calicut had -been a famous emporium; to it calico owes its name. When Islam arose, -the spread of the Mohammedan faith stimulated the enterprise of the -intrepid Arab sailor and merchant and of the renegade from Eastern -Europe and Western Asia. The activity of the hardy Arab found scope by -reason of the natural indolence of the Hindu and his dislike of the -sea. A rich and well organized traffic sprang up between Persia and -Arabia on the one side and China and the Spice Islands on the other. -Even in China, the Arab contrived to settle; and Calicut remained the -chief centre of the Eastern trade. Here, in the season of calm, might -be seen the leviathan junks of China; and, at all times, the ships -of every civilized Eastern people. But, by the time Varthema reached -Calicut, the Arab had found Malacca to be a more convenient mart for -the trade of the far-East; and Calicut, a little fallen from her high -estate, had become mainly a market for the products of Southern India -and Ceylon, and a port of call. And yet greater change was at hand. -One of those new routes had been opened up which from time to time, -abase the pride of commercial nations and transfer their wealth: the -Portuguese rounded the Cape, reached East Africa, broke across the -Ocean, and, in 1498, Vasco di Gama anchored off Calicut. The jealous -Arabs burned down the factory which the native ruler had allowed -the Portuguese to erect, and fierce seafights ensued, which were -accompanied by much brutality. The contest was between the best sailors -of Europe and the huge, but ill-built and ill-navigated fleets of the -Arab traders. The latter were unable to expel or even to discourage the -invaders, who, incensed at opposition, shewed no mercy, and suffered -from severe reprisal. While Varthema was at Calicut, the Zamorin (as -its ruler was called by those English travellers who arrived a little -later) “agreed that the Moors should slay forty-eight Portuguese, whom -I saw put to death. And for this reason the King of Portugal is always -at war, and daily kills very many; and thereby the city is ruined, for -in every way it is at war.” Our traveller arrived at Calicut at the -precise time when India, cast into a welter by Mohammedan aggression -in its lust for wealth and dominion, was confronted with the yet more -insatiate greed of European adventures for fabled gold and direct -markets. The competitors vied with one another in all the arts of -treachery, cruelty and fraud. - -Calicut was a city of mean appearance, occupying an area of about a -mile; but the “compounds” were spread over a space of six miles. It -was crowded with traders from Ethiopia, Arabia and Persia, Syria and -the Levant, Bengal and Sumatra. Varthema calculates that no less than -fifteen thousand Moors were domiciled there. He visited the palace of -the Zamorin, which was divided into chambers by wooden partitions, on -which supernatural beings were carved—beings named dêvas in the Indian -Scriptures, and taken by our Italian for devils. The flooring was a -preparation of cow-dung, used then, as it is to-day, for its antiseptic -properties. Ramna and Krishna and a demon-goddess called Mariamma were -the chief objects of worship; so we are not surprised when we read -that, in the “chapel” of the palace, the oil-lamps were set on tripods, -“on each side whereof are three devils, _in relievo_, very fearful to -behold. Such are the squires that bear lights to the King.” The chapel -was small, but its wooden door was elaborately “carven with devils. In -the middle of it is a devil seated, all in bronze; and the devil wears -a three-fold crown, like unto that of the Papacy. He has four horns and -four teeth, a huge mouth and nose, and his eyes strike terror into him -that looketh thereon. Devils are figured around the said chapel; and -on each side thereof a Satan is seated, in flaming fire, wherein are a -great number of souls. And, the said Satan has a soul to his mouth with -his right hand and with his left hand he grips a soul by its middle.” -Perchance the chapel recalled memories of pictured hells on the walls -of the Pisan Campo Santo, or of certain other mediæval frescoes at -Florence. - -He went to a great religious festival near Calicut. “Truly,” he -says, “never did I see so many gathered together save at Mecca. From -fifteen days’ journey round about came all the Nairs and Brâhmans to -sacrifice.” Passing through trees which bore lights innumerable, one -came to a tank, wherein the worshippers first bathed before entering -the temple, which stood up from the middle of the tank. It had “two -rows of columns, like San Giovanni in Fonte at Rome.” The head Brâhmans -first anointed the heads of the worshippers with oil, and then burned -incense, with elaborate ritual, and offered the sacrifice of a cock at -an altar laden with flowers. “At one end of the altar is a Satan, which -all go up to worship, and then depart, each on his own way.” - -Early in the morning, it is the duty of the Brâhman to bathe in a tank -of still water, and then to wash the idols with perfumed water; after -which he burns incense before them; nor does the Zamorin eat of food -that has not first been presented to the god. “Then the Brâhmans lie -flat on the ground, but in a secret manner, and they do roll their eyes -in a devilish way, and twist their mouths horribly for the space of a -quarter of an hour; and then the time to eat is come. And men eat of -food which has been cooked by men; but the women cook for themselves.” - -Varthema’s account of the manners and habits of Southern India -is neither so wholly accurate nor arranged with such lucidity as -Hiuen-Tsiang’s record of the region of Ganges and Jumna, written nine -centuries before. Nor does Southern India present us with such a high -civilization as does the empire of Sîlâditya. But Varthema makes few -statements that are not confirmed by other early travellers, and his -record bears ample witness to a shrewd, observant eye and honest -enquiry. He describes the Brâhmans; the Nairs, or warrior-caste; the -artizans and other castes of the Malabar Coast. We learn that no one -of the two lowest castes may approach a Brâhman within fifty paces -“unless he bid him do so”; wherefore they shout a warning as they pass -along, and take private paths through the marshes, for, should they not -cry aloud, and should any of the Nairs meet them, they may be killed by -him, and no punishment follow thereupon. - -The Nairs “eat no flesh without sanction from the Brâhmans; but other -castes eat all manner of flesh, saving that of the cow.” The lower -castes “eat mice and fish dried in the sun.” All sit on the ground at -meals; and the upper castes use the leaf of a tree to scoop up their -food from metal bowls; while the lower castes make balls of rice and -take it by the hand from a pipkin. All castes and both sexes wear a -cotton loin-cloth only. The lowest sort of people suckle their children -for three months only, and then feed them on milk night and morning. -“And when they have stuffed them therewith, they do not wash them, -but cast them into the sand, where they lie until evening. As they -are nearly black, one cannot tell whether they be little bears or -buffaloes; and they look as if they were fed by the Devil.” - -Justice was admirably administered—a characteristic of Hîndustân -noticed and praised by Greeks, Romans, Arabians, and all travellers. In -fact, life and property were fairly safe throughout all civilized Asia. -Creditors, on proof of claim, drew a circle round their debtor with a -green bough, and within this he must remain until he pay or perish. -Should he leave the circle, his life was forfeit to the Zamorin. Murder -was punished by impalement; wilful injury to another by fine. Traders -transacted business by secret negotiation under a coverlet, certain -signs being made with the fingers. - -When a man is sick, he is visited by a dozen men, “dressed like -devils,” who are accompanied by players on divers instruments. “These -physicians carry fire in their mouths,” and go about on stilts fixed -to their hands and feet; and so they go shouting and sounding the -music; so that truly they would make a hale man fall to the ground -for fear at the sight of these ugly beasts. They force ginger juice -on the sick; and, in three days, he is well again—cured in the main, -one may surmise, by workings of belief on his expectant imagination. -Abracadabra is a useful and time honoured ally to the learned -professions. The spirits which preside over the fertility of rice are -propitiated in a similar manner by the same men. “When the Nairs die, -their bodies are burned with much pomp, and some among them keep the -ashes; but common folk are buried within the house or garden.” - -Varthema tells us of certain social customs which persist to this -day in Southern India. The caste or tribe of Nairs who preponderate -there, maintain to-day the institutions of their ancestors before -history began. Marriage is acknowledged to be the least stable and -most diversified of all human institutions; but the Nairs retain -more than a trace of the matriarchate and of the polyandry which was -associated with the matriarchate. They count descent through the -children of sisters only; and marriage is with them the loosest of -ties; it involves no responsibility towards the woman or her child. -Again the worship of the snake, and, for obvious reasons, of the cobra -in particular, throughout India is a remnant of phallic worship. Let us -hear what Varthema has to tell us of a state of society which exhibits -a stage in the slow and fluctuating course of moral development from -primitive promiscuity to the high moral standard extolled, if not -completely attained, by the Christian West. There was a habit which -is still regarded in many parts of the world as the seal of amity and -the highest possible honour which a man can bestow on a friend. “The -Pagans exchange their wives.” Indeed, they bestowed them on a friend -with all the ready generosity of Cato the Censor to Hortensius. “And -when the King takes to himself a wife, he chooses among the most worthy -and honourable of the Brâhmans” him to whom shall be accorded the -_jus primae noctis_. The Brâhman affects unwillingness “and the king -must pay him four or five hundred ducats.” Here, almost for certain, -we have a vestige of old phallic worship. When the king is journeying, -he passes on his matrimonial privileges to a Brâhman. Among the -inferior castes, “one woman has five, six, and seven husbands, and even -eight.... The children go according to the word of the woman.” “The -son of one of the sisters of the late king follows him on the throne.” -As to serpent-worship, “you must know that, when the King of Calicut -has word as to the place where a nest of any of these vile animals is -to be found, he has a little house builded over it for water.[20] And, -if anyone should kill one of these animals or a cow, he would be put -to death. They say that these serpents are divine spirits; and that, -if they were not spirits, God would not have bestowed on them so great -power that, by biting a man but a little, he shall fall headlong and -straightway die.” “And when these Pagans go a journeying, it is held -for good luck to meet one of these creatures.... There are however, -great enchanters: we have seen them grasp deadly serpents.” - -The Zamorin “wore so many jewels in his ears and on his hands, arms, -legs and feet, that here was a marvel to behold.” His treasury held -the immense collection of many previous reigns, stored up for time of -need. But that recent scourge of mankind, which spread so rapidly over -the world, and which every nation called by the name of a neighbouring -nation, had already reached India; this magnificent monarch had “the -French disease in the throat.” - -When the King eats, Brâhmans, stand around him, at a space of three or -four steps distant, bending the back, and holding the hands before the -month. When the King speaks, there is silence, and much reverence is -paid to his words. - -In the warfare between the States of Southern India, an economy of -bloodshed was observed which would have done credit to those Italian -warriors of whom Machiavelli tells how the condottiere captain was -circumspect to save his men, and the foughten field remained almost as -bloodless as a chessboard. The Princes went forth to battle with great -armies of foot-soldiery and elephants (but no cavalry), armed with -swords, lances, bows and arrows, and furnished with shields. But when -battle was joined, and the armies were distant from one another as far -as two cross-bows’ shots might carry, Brâhmans were ordered by one King -to go to his royal foe, and ask that a hundred Nairs should fight on -either side. Then the selected Nairs would meet midway between the two -armies and fight by established rule—“two strokes to the head and one -at the legs; and this though they should fight for three days. And when -from four to six on either side are slain, the Brâhmans go straightway -into their midst, and make both sides return to their encampments.” -Then the kings were wont to employ the Brâhmans again to bear messages, -one to another, asking if that were enough, or more were wished for. -“The Brâhman says ‘no.’ And the enemy says the same. Thus do they do -battle together; an hundred set against an hundred.” - -Varthema tells us of the habit of betel-chewing and gives us many -other details of the life and manners of the people; of their skill as -workmen; of their wretched shipping and of their poor navigation. He -had the naturalist’s eye, and tells us much of the animals and plants -of the district. He describes the crocodile as a “kind of reptile, as -big as a boar, but with a greater head; it has four feet, and is four -cubits long. It is engendered in certain marshes. The natives say it is -without venom; but an evil beast; doing evil to folk by its bite.” - -The Persian merchant had avowed that his desire was to travel, and not -to trade, for he had enough; but all the same, he was sufficiently -eager to find good markets. “My comrade,” whose name is now spelled -somewhat differently—Cazazionor becomes Cogiazenor—“being unable to -sell his wares for that the trade of Calicut was ruined at the hands of -the King of Portugal; for the merchants that were wont to hie thither -were not there, nor did they come; we set forth, taking the way of a -river, which is the most beautiful I have ever seen, and came to a city -called Cacolon, fifty leagues distant.” This “river”-way was by the -Backwater of Cochin. - -Cacolon, like so many places visited by our traveller is not to be -found on a modern map, but was a mart of some importance in its day, -“because of pepper of the best which grows in these parts.” Here dwelt -a few native Christians “of St. Thomas, some of whom were merchants, -believing in Christ.” A little later on Varthema’s journey, he is -told of the tomb of the Apostle, “guarded by Christians.” That St. -Thomas was the first missionary to India, and that he was martyred -there is an ancient tradition. William of Malmesbury tells us in his -“Chronicles of the Kings of England” how “Alfred sent many presents -over sea to Rome and St. Thomas in India. Sighelm, bishop of Sherborne, -sent ambassadors for this purpose, who penetrated successfully into -India: a matter of astonishment even in the present time.” The legend -concerning St. Thomas is however not earlier than the Fourth Century. -Earlier tradition makes him the evangelist of Parthia; and St. Thomas -was probably confused with one Thomas, a bishop, who arrived on the -Malabar coast in the middle of the Fourth Century. The shrine of the -saint is in a suburb of Madras. Indian Christianity was an offshoot of -Syrian Gnosticism, and Indian Christians were subject to the authority -of the Nestorian Patriarch at Mesopotamia. “These Christians say,” -writes Varthema, “that a priest comes from Babylon every three years to -baptize them.” - -The next place reached by the travellers was Quilon in Travancore, the -port of a powerful little kingdom “for ever at war with others.... At -that time the king of this city was the friend of the King of Portugal, -but we did not think it well to remain there, for he was fighting -others.” The contentions of these petty sovereigns with each other gave -the Portuguese the opportunity which has always offered itself to the -invaders of India, and which they have never been slow to seize. - -From Quilon, they sailed to the south, touched at a place where there -was a pearl fishery, rounded the “head of India,” and arrived at a -port of the Carnatic, which Varthema calls Coromandel. The King of -Coromandel was also at war with a neighbour, so Cazazionor and other -merchants hired a “sampan,” or flat-bottomed boat, and, “at great -peril, by reason of many rocks and shoals,” sailed from the Coromandel -coast and reached Ceylon. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -FARTHER INDIA, MALAYSIA AND THE BANDA ISLANDS. - - -Alas! the visit was of little profit. As in Ibn Batûta’s time, nearly -two centuries before, the island was divided between four kings, and -“for that they were waging fierce war with each other, we could not -tarry long time there.” Another reason for the short stay made in -Ceylon was that Cazazionor got alarmed at false information concerning -the good faith of one of the Kings to whom he was to carry his corals -and saffron. This was given him by one of the Moorish traders who were -settled in the ports of the island. This gentleman had the same kind -of goods to dispose of as Cazazionor, and contrived to hoodwink the -Persian with a commercial astuteness and subtlety worthy of a later -age. Afraid that one of the kings would contrive to “convey” his -merchandise he departed in haste, and Varthema with him. - -The latter made marvellous use of eye and ear during his few days’ stay -in Ceylon. He draws an admirable picture of the people, the climate, -the cinnamon, the rich fruits and other vegetable produce, the roses -and other flowers, the immense herds of elephants and the big rubies -of the island. He was told of the impression of Adam’s foot on a -high peak, but had no time to visit it, even had the fighting then -going on allowed of it. It shows how feeble was the authority of an -Indian overlord, and how little supreme sovereignty was concerned with -matters other than tribute, that the warring Râjas were the subjects -of the Râja of Narsinga, “because of rice, which is brought from -the mainland.” “Some have lances of cane and swords, and they fight -together with these; but they do not slaughter each other over much; -for they are cowards.” - -Three days rowing brought them to Pulicat, a town a little north of -Madras. They abode with a Moorish trader, who eagerly bought the -large store of corals, saffron, figured velvet and knives Cazazionor -had with him. “As this land was waging fierce war with the King of -Tarnassari, we were not able to stay very long. After a few days we set -sail for the city of Tarnassari, which is at a thousand miles distance -from here. And we arrived there in fourteen days.” In fact, they sailed -across the Bay of Bengal to Tenasserim, a fertile province of the Malay -Peninsula, at that time tributary to Siam. We find that the Râja “is a -most powerful lord and is for ever at war with the King of Narsinga and -the King of Bengal. He has an hundred elephants in armour, which are -the largest I have ever seen. He keeps an army of 100,000 men, part on -foot, part on horse, ready for war. They are armed with small swords -and shields, some of which are made of the shell of the tortoise and -some are like those used in Calicut; and they have store of bows and -of lances, some of which are of cane and some of wood. When they go -to war they wear a garment much stuffed with cotton.... Much silk is -made there.” As usual, the domesticated and wild animals are described. -Varthema was much surprised at the size of the cocks and hens. “In this -land we took great pleasure from some of the things which we saw, and, -in particular, at the Moorish traders making some cocks fight every -day in the streets where they dwell; and the owners will wage even to -a hundred ducats as to which will prove to fight best. And we saw two -which fought five hours on end, so that, when it was over, both of them -lay dead.” - -Tenasserim retained traces of phallic worship to an even greater degree -than Calicut did. The extreme mark of friendship, so far as the _jus -primae noctis_ was concerned, was extended to every visitor, preference -being given to white men from all lands; “for,” says Varthema of the -natives, “they are a most liberal and agreeable people.” Yet, this -obligation fulfilled, the husbands were most jealous of their wives, -and whosoever should attempt to maintain relations with them would -“put his life in jeopardy.” - -At dead of night, the corpses “of every Brâhman and of the king are -burned, with solemn sacrifice to the devil. And they keep the ashes -in vessels of earth, baked into a kind of glass, with narrow mouths. -Such a vessel, with the ashes therein, is buried within the house. The -sacrifice is made under trees, as at Calicut. And the fire is fed with -all the perfumes that can be gotten ... together with coral. And while -the body is burning, all the music in the city is sounded; and fifteen -or twenty men, who are dressed as devils, stand there, with much -rejoicing. And the wife is there, making very great lamentation; but -no other woman.” Here Varthema saw the horrible practice of Suttee. He -tells us of another custom which strangely recalls the Romantic Service -of Love in the days of Provençal minstrelsy. A passionate youth will -burn his naked arm severely to prove to his mistress “that he loves her -and that he is ready to do any great deed for her.” - -“As to the manner of refection in this city, the Pagans eat all flesh, -saving that of the ox, and eat on the ground from very beautiful -vessels of wood, without a coverlet. They drink water, sweetened if it -may be. They sleep on high beds of good cotton, with coverlets of silk -or cotton. They wear a robe, with a quilt of cotton or silk.... Their -ears are full of jewels; but of these the fingers are bare.” - -We find that the son of the King succeeded to his father’s throne -here; and not the sister’s son, as in Southern India. Deeds conveying -property were written on paper instead of palm leaves. The bodies -of Moorish traders who were unhappy enough to die here were first -embalmed, and then buried, with the head turned towards Mecca. We are -told of the flat-bottomed boat, the double canoe, and the junk; the -latter carried small boats to Malacca, where they were unshipped and -sailed on to the Spice Islands. - -Cazazionor was able to dispose of some of his goods at Tenasserim; and -then he and Varthema took ship for Bengal. Eleven days of fair wind -bore them across the Bay of Bengal to a city which the ever whirling -wheel of change has borne away, and the very site of which is indicated -only on some ancient and imperfect map. Banghella was one of the first -ports and one of the first cities of the age, situate on one of the -mouths of the treacherous Ganges—a river of shifting currents and -disappearing shores. Its Sultan was a Mohammedan, for ever at war -with the Hindu Râja of Narsinga. “Here,” says our traveller, “are the -richest traders I have ever met with. Every year, fifty ships are -laden with stuffs of cotton or silk ... and these goods go throughout -Turkey, Syria, Persia, Arabia Felix, Ethiopia, and India. Here also are -many merchants of jewels from other lands.... The stuffs aforesaid are -woven, not by women, but by men.” Like Ibn Batûta, he found Bengal the -cheapest place to live in of the whole world. - -The records of old pilgrims and travellers are a riot of surprise. Not -one of the least unsuspected of Varthema’s adventures is his dropping -here on Christian traders, who came from a Chinese city, which probably -lay north of Pekin. “They had brought silken stuffs, aloes-wood, -benzoin, and musk; and said that in their land were many Christian -lords, subject to the great Khân of Cathay”—that is to say, to the -Emperor of China. The reader will remember that the Chinese Government -pronounced Christianity to be a satisfactory faith in Hiuen-Tsiang’s -time. Fra Oderico tells us of the considerable number of Christians -in China during the early years of the Fourteenth Century. Probably -the Christian Chinese whom Varthema came across were Nestorians; -strange products of the wasted subtlety of the Greek mind during its -theological degeneracy; followers of the heretic Nestorius, who upheld -that two natures, the human and divine, were in Christ’s body, but -separate from one another. We may hope that, after so many centuries, -such problems had ceased to perplex the good Christians of far-off -Cathay. They said that their home was at Sarnau, a place probably -identical with the Sanay or Sandoy of Fra Oderico. They wore their -native silken breeches and red-cloth caps studded with jewels—a proof -of the safety of the city-street and of the highways from land to land -under Eastern despotism. - -Men are not wont to carry the bitterness of religious prejudice into -the market, where mundane profit is at stake; and Cazazionor, the -Moslem; Varthema, the Catholic renegade; and the Nestorian heretics -seem to have hobnobbed together very amicably. The latter were on -their way to Burma, and told Cazazionor that there he might exchange -some very fine branches of coral he had for rubies which would sell in -Turkey for ten times as much. They proposed that our travellers should -go on with them. So Cazazionor sold off all his merchandise, with the -exception of “corals, saffron, and two pieces of cloth of Florence -of a rose colour.... We departed from that place with the aforesaid -Christians, and voyaged towards a city which is called Pego (Pegu), -distant from Banghella some thousand miles.” - -Now the King of Burma, being at war with the King of Ava, was away with -his army. The party chartered a long dug-out canoe, and followed him; -hoping to induce him to purchase. But they were forced to return, owing -to the war; and five days afterwards the King of Burma, having gained a -victory, returned to Pegu. - -The very next day, the Chinamen, who, it would seem, had had previous -dealings with the King, visited him, and were told to return two days -later, “for that, the next day, he must sacrifice to the devil for -having triumphed. When the time named had passed, directly the King had -eaten, he sent for the aforenamed Christians and for my companion to -bring the merchandise before him.” They found the Râja magnificently -set in jewels: his head, limbs, fingers, and even all his toes sparkled -with precious stones; jewelled ear-rings dragged down the lobes of his -ears to the length of half a palm, and the rubies on him “were more -than the value of a very great city.... At night-time he shone like the -sun.” Yet this resplendent monarch was “so entirely human and homely -that a child might speak to him.” - -Then Cazazionor and other merchants who would seem to have become his -partners in this business of the corals, uncovered them. The monarch -was so unbusinesslike, or allowed himself to behave so indiscretely, -as to show enthusiasm at the sight of such magnificent coral-branches; -“and truly there were two of these the like of which had never come to -India before.” Now begins an Oriental comedy, wherein the trader shall -simulate munificence, and extract tenfold from the monarch by craftily -working on his natural generosity or regal pride. - -The King asked if the corals were for sale. The reply was that they -were at his service. The King sighed that war had emptied his treasury; -but he was willing to barter rubies for the corals. “We made him learn -through these Christians that all we desired was his friendship: -let him take the goods and do as pleased him. He answered: ‘I know -that Persians are a free-handed people; yet did I never see one so -free-handed as this man’; and he swore by God and the Devil that he -would see which should excel in generosity, he or a Persian.” So he -ordered a casket of rubies to be brought in, and commanded Cazazionor -to choose those he would like to have. “My companion answered: ‘O -sire, you show me so much benevolence that, by my faith in Mohammed, -all these things are a present, which I offer you. And understand, -sire, that I journey about the world not to gather merchandise, but -merely to see the different races of men and their ways.’ The King -replied: ‘I cannot overcome you in generosity, but take this which I -give you.’ And so he took a large handful of rubies from each of the -(six) divisions of the casket aforesaid, and gave them, saying, ‘Take -these for the generosity which you have shown towards me.’ And in like -manner, he gave two rubies each to the Christians aforesaid ... which -were worth about 1,000 ducats; and those of my companion were given a -value of 100,000 ducats.” The Chinamen were apparently content with a -commission of one per cent., for nothing is said of the vendor paying -any. “Wherefore,” Varthema continues, “by this, the King may be judged -to be the most free-handed ruler in the world; and his income is of -about a million a year in gold,” derived from lac, cotton, silk, and -valuable woods; and this he spent on his army. - -The King gave the travellers free quarters which they occupied five -days; when there came news that war had again broken out with Ava. So, -having seen the burning of two widows, and other sights of Pegu, and -found the Burmese “very fleshly,” the Chinamen, Cazazionor and Varthema -embarked for Malacca. - -It is possible that Varthema was not the very first European to visit -the city which had become the most important port in Eastern waters; -but it is certain that he was the very first European to describe it. -It had taken the place of Calicut; it was nearer the sources of supply; -the enterprising Arab had settled there and ruled the city, subject to -the payment of a tribute to the King of Siam; and the recent descent of -the Portuguese on the coast of Malabar had increased its importance. -Here were to be found the huge, unwieldy junks of China—those floating -towns, with gardens blossoming on their decks—for there was no longer -need for them to creep through the straits and take the perils of the -Indian Ocean; and the most halcyon of summer seas is never to be quite -trusted. Malacca was a cheaper market than Calicut; and hither were -sent the drugs, dyes, perfumes, and spices, the precious woods and -other productions of China, Banda, the Phillipines, Siam, the Moluccas, -Borneo, Java, and Sumatra. “Verily,” writes Varthema, “I believe that -more ships sail hither than to any other port in the world.” He remarks -on the infertility of the soil; but speaks of the wealth of Malacca -in sandal-wood and tin. The travellers were presented to the Moorish -Sultan, who had appointed a Governor to do justice; but the inhabitants -at that time were Javanese. “They take the law into their own hands; -and are the vilest race ever created on earth. When the Sultan shall -hinder, they say that they will no longer dwell on land, for that they -are sea-farers”—that is to say they were quite able and ready to make -a new settlement. “One may not go about here when it grows dark; for -folk are killed as if they were so many dogs; and all the traders who -come here sleep in their ships.” There was no market for jewels here; -and the Chinamen, who still acted as guides to our travellers, advised -them to be off. So a junk was hired, and the whole party turned back -through the Straits for Pider, on the northern coast of Sumatra. - -We are told that the natives of Sumatra were far from being a bellicose -race. They were eager traders, very friendly to foreigners, excellent -swimmers, and skilful in filigree work. “There were three crowned Pagan -Kings; and their religion, way of life, dress, and habits are the same -as at Tenasserim; moreover, the wives also are burned alive.” The -houses were roofed with the shells of gigantic sea-turtles; and the -ships were three-masted, with a prow fore and aft. Here were huge herds -of elephants, finer than any he had seen; and the land was productive -of long-pepper, benzoin, different kinds of perfumed wood and the -silk-worm. - -The Chinamen now became anxious to return to their own country; but -Cazazionor wanted to see the land of nutmeg and clove: could they -get there in safety? The Christians replied that they need fear no -robbers; but there remained the chances of the sea; the island could -not be reached in a large ship; a sampan must be bought. Two sampans -were purchased, manned, and provisioned; and then the wily Persian who -wished to keep the Christians as guides, began to work on them. “‘O -dearest friends,’ said he, ‘although we be not of your race, we are all -sons of Adam. Will you leave me and this other man, my companion, one -who was born in your faith?’ ‘In our faith? Is not your companion a -Persian?’ ‘He is a Persian now, because he was bought at Jerusalem.’” -Whether this statement was a convenient lie, told by Varthema to -Cazazionor, or was the calculated fabrication of the latter is not -apparent; but it was effective; for “the Christians, hearing the -name of Jerusalem, at once lifted up their hands towards Heaven; and -kissed the ground thrice, and asked when I was sold at Jerusalem. We -answered: ‘When I was fifteen years old.’” The Chinamen thought that -Varthema must remember his native land, and Cazazionor at once saw his -opportunity and used it. Quoth he: “‘He does indeed remember it. For -months my sole delight has been in listening to the things he told me -thereof; and he has taught me the words for the parts of the body and -for different sorts of food.’” This settled the matter. The Christians -consented to go on with them; and if Varthema would return to China -with them, he might remain a Mohommedan, and they would make a rich -man of him. “‘Nay,’ said Cazazionor, ‘I am much pleased to have your -company; but he may not remain with you: for, out of the love I bear to -him, I have given my niece to be his wife.’” A money-bargain settled -the question; in two days, the Sampan was ready. “We put many kinds of -food on board; and, in particular, the most toothsome fruits I ever -tasted; and took our course to the island of Banda.” - -Not even Marco Polo or Fra Oderico had ventured so far towards the -rising sun. Varthema was the very first of European travellers to reach -the Spice Islands. One of those who “cannot rest from travel, but must -drink life to the lees,” he might, had he been a better lettered man, -have quoted the lines of his own great countryman: - - “Ma misi me per l’alto mare aperto - Sol con un legno e con quella compagna - Picciola dalla qual non fui deserto.” - -(“I put forth on the deep open sea, in but a single ship, and with that -little band that had not deserted me.”) But if Varthema is no scholar, -is he not for ever revealing himself as a single-minded, enthusiastic -traveller; an excellent actor, and quite able to live up to his part, a -man of sound judgment, native wit, sly humour, and pronouncedly brave; -direct and unflinching of purpose; a little vainglorious, yet discrete? - -The comrades traversed the landlocked straits of Malacca and the Java -and Banda seas, and after fifteen days found themselves on an ugly, -gloomy, and flat island, where dwelt “a beastly kind of men, without -king or even governor.... The administration of justice is not needed; -for the natives are so stupid that they could not do evil if they -would. They are pagans.” Such was this specimen of the Nutmeg Islands. -Two day spent here was more than enough for our travellers; so they set -sail for the Moluccas—the Clove Islands—and found “the people even -viler than those of Banda, but whiter; and the air is a little cooler.” -We have a full description of the clove tree and are told that cloves -were sold by measure, “for they understood not weights. We were now -wishful to change to another land, in order to learn new things and -all about them.” So Borneo was steered for; and, on the voyage, the -Chinamen took delight in questioning Varthema concerning Christians -and their faith. “And when I told them of the impress of our Saviour’s -face, which is in St. Peter’s, and of the heads of St. Peter and St. -Paul and many other saints, they advised me in secret that if I would -go with them, I should be a very great lord, because I had seen these -things. But I doubted if, after I had been led thither I should ever -come to my own land again; and therefore I kept me back from going.” -Varthema does not think of his indebtedness to his generous Persian -host; he has no use for the inconvenient fidelities of friendship or -the costly coercion of gratitude; such altruistic weakness did not -afflict the men of the Renaissance; “ma per sè foro”—“they were for -themselves.” - -The temptation to visit China must have been strong for a man of -Varthema’s spirit. A few missionary friars had reached Mongolia in the -thirteenth century, a very few bold spirits had penetrated Asia as far -as China at the end of that and the beginning of the next century; and -Tartars kept up some commercial intercourse between Europe and China a -little later. But when the great Tartar Empire fell into decay, and the -Moslem recovered his grip of Central Asia, intercourse between West and -Farthest East became impossible. The few missionaries who set forth for -the Celestial Empire never returned, and China became a shadow and a -name to Christian Europe. But it would be no easy matter for Varthema -to slip away from the Persian just here and now; the difficulty of ever -returning from China, even should he reach it, would indeed prove a -formidable problem; and we may suspect, too, that the hardships of the -voyage and the heat and discomforts of the climate were beginning to -tell on Varthema’s iron nerve. - -He found the natives of Borneo to be “Pagans, and good folk.... Every -year much camphor is shipped; which they say is the gum of a tree that -grows there. I have not seen it; and therefore I do not affirm it to -be so. Here my companion hired a ship.... We directed our course to -the very beautiful island called Java; and came there, always sailing -southward, in five days.” On the voyage, the skipper pointed out the -Southern Cross; and “told us that, to the south, beyond the island -aforesaid (Java) dwell sundry other sorts of men, who steer by these -stars which are set over against ours; and, further, they made known -to us that the daylight stays but four hours in those parts, and that -it is colder there than elsewhere in the world. Whereat we were much -solaced and gratified.” - -Now, there is no inhabited land to the south of Java where the shortest -day is of four hours only; but the assertion of the Malay captain reads -as if he had visited Australia, or had gotten some true information -concerning that continent; and bold navigators of Malaysia _may_ have -ventured or been driven much farther over the Southern Ocean to a very -high latitude; or, the statement as to shortened hours of sunlight and -cold _may_ have been a mere inference from the progressive diminution -of the day and of heat in sailing south. It is said that indications of -the discovery of Australia a very little after Varthema’s time are to -be found on manuscript maps of unknown authorship. It is interesting -to find that the skipper steered by means of a compass, which was not -of Chinese make, for the magnet pointed to the north; and that he was -provided with a chart intersected by perpendicular and horizontal lines. - -Java was under the rule of several kings: “some adore idols as at -Calicut; some worship the sun; others, the moon; many, an ox; very -many, the first thing they shall meet of a morning; yet others, the -devil.” Nonetheless, “I believe the natives to be the most true dealers -in the world.... Some use pipes, from which they blow poisoned arrows -from the mouth; which bear death however little blood they may draw.... -Some eat bread made of corn; and some eat flesh of sheep or deer or -wild pigs; and some eat fish and fruits. Among the flesh-eaters, when -their fathers become so old as to be past labour, their children or -relatives put them up for sale in the market-place; and those that buy -them kill and eat them cooked. Likewise if any young man shall fall -into any dire sickness; and if those that have knowledge deem that he -shall die thereof, the father or brother of the sick one shall slay -him; and they do not wait for him to die. And, having killed him, they -sell him to be eaten of others. We, marvelling at such a business, -some traders of this land, to us: ‘O you dull Persians, why do you -leave such toothsome flesh to the worms?’ Whereupon, my companion cried -out ‘Quick, quick, to the ship; for never again shall these folk come -near me on land.’” This is a strange statement; but there is abundant -evidence as to the prevalence of cannibalism throughout Malaysia at -this period to confirm it. Yet, says Varthema, “justice was well -administered”; the natives clothed themselves in silk, camelot and -cotton garments; and traded with the gold and copper which their island -furnished abundantly, as well as the finest emeralds in the world. They -were a maritime people and fought their battles at sea. - -Varthema had lost count of time. It was now the month of June. He was -south of the equator, and had crossed the ecliptic; and, directed by -the Chinamen, he found the sun casting a shadow in a direction the -reverse of that of northern latitudes. “And thereby we learned how far -we had come from our country, and stood amazed.... Having seen the -manners of the island, we saw no great reason for remaining there; -for we had to keep watch all night, lest some scoundrel should steal -up to us, and bear us away, and eat us. Wherefore, having called the -Christians, we told them that, as soon as they were ready, we would -return to our land. Before we set off, however, my comrade bought two -emeralds ... and two little male children with their private parts -wholly cut away; for in this island there is a sort of merchants who -follow no other calling than that of buying little children, from whom -they cut all away, so that they are left as if women.” - -It is obvious that different communities, at varying stages of -civilization, inhabited Java; from “the truest dealers in the world,” -and those who administered justice well, down to bestial savages. -Tales, and perhaps evidence, of the cruel brutality of the Aborigines, -affected the imagination of Cazazionor and Varthema strongly; they -were not sure that the cannibals, finding themselves in the close -neighbourhood of “Persians,” and therefore quite unusual visitors to -Java, might not be tempted to try the flavour of a novelty; their -Chinese guides, moreover, had taken them to most of the parts of -Malaysia with which they were acquainted; the softening effect of an -equatorial climate relaxed their desire to push on into that cold and -gloomy region to the south, of which the Malay skipper had told them; -and it would seem that, out of commercial jealousy or from rude humour, -“merchants of the country” took a pleasure or sought a profit in -playing upon their fears. So they hired a junk, and sailed boldly over -the more open water, along the south-east coast of Sumatra, rounded the -northern extremity of that great island, and saw Malacca again on the -fifteenth day of voyage. - -Here they stayed three days, while Cazazionor made up a cargo of spice, -perfumes and silk; and here “our Christian companions stayed on. It -were not possible to make a short history of how they wailed and -lamented; so that, verily, had I not had a wife and children, I had -gone with them” (this is the first and last time that Varthema mentions -the relatively unimportant fact of his being a yoke-mate and father off -the chain). “And likewise, they said they would have come with us, had -they known how to travel safely.... So they stayed behind, saying that -they would return to Sarnau; and we went on in our ship to Ciromandel” -(Negropotam). Probably the Chinese would take passage in some junk of -the fleet which came to Malacca every year. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -SOME CUNNING MANŒUVRES. - - -Having unloaded the junk, our travellers chartered a sampan and sailed -to Quilon. Now Varthema was very silent about the Portuguese at -Cochin and Cannanore when he was on his outward voyage, and indeed he -discreetly avoided them, lest discovery of his nationality should wreck -his purpose. They must have been at Quilon, too, when he was there -before; for the Râja of the district had welcomed Pedro Alvarez Cabal -in 1503, and permitted the building of a Portuguese factory. There -were now 22 Portuguese settlers in this factory, which was fortified, -of course; and a wave of home-sickness swept over the traveller: “I -greatly desired to escape,” he says; “but I held on, because they were -few in number, and I was afraid of the Moors; for there were merchants -with us who knew that I had been to Mecca and to the tomb of the -Prophet; and I feared lest they should take it into their heads that I -would uncover their deceits; so I held me back from running away.” The -gist of this statement is that Varthema feared the Portuguese garrison -was too feeble to undertake the protection of a false hadji from the -fierce resentment which Cazazionor and the Arab traders would evince. -The excuse as to the uncovering of Mohammedan frauds is but a poor sop -to whatever Christian prejudice might remain in Italy. His work done, -he was on the look out for a really favourable opportunity of returning -to Europe. He had small dread of failure. He had not lost his nerve in -the least, this son of the Renaissance of so infinite resource, of such -invincible self-confidence and of ability to match; unshakably resolute -when confronted with any peril that was unavoidable, and deterred by -no feeble scruple when by any means it was possible to evade it; one -wholly sincere in gaining his end—a man of “_virtu_,” a manful man, as -the Italians of his day termed it. - -After a stay of twelve days at Quilon, the pair voyaged along the -Backwater of Cochin to Calicut, and arrived there in ten days. There he -found two Milanese refugees who had deserted from the Portuguese ships -in which they had arrived at Cochin. It at once occurred to his quick -brain that he might use these fellow countrymen of his. “Never had I -more joy than in beholding these two Christians. They and I were going -about naked” (i.e. girt with a loin-cloth only) “after the manner of -the country. I asked them if they were Christians. Joan Maria answered: -‘Yea, verily.’ Then Piero Antonio asked me if I were a Christian. I -answered: ‘Yea, praise be to God.’ Then he took me by the hand and led -me to his house. And when we had come thither, we began to embrace and -to kiss each other and to shed tears. In sooth, I could not speak like -a Christian; my tongue seemed to be unwieldy and hampered; for I had -been four years without speaking to (European) Christians. I spent the -night following with them; and neither they nor I could eat or sleep, -because of our great joy. You may think how we wished the night were a -whole year, that we might talk together of diverse matters.” Varthema -ascertained that these Milanese were skilled in the making of ordnance, -and had instructed the natives in their art, which had brought them -the favour of the Zamorin. Hence they feared to return to a Portuguese -settlement and, indeed to attempt to escape by land. Experience had -sharpened Varthema’s inborn ability at stratagem; and when he returned -to Cazazionor in the morning and was asked where he had spent the -night, he replied: “at the mosque, rendering thanks to Allah and to -Mohammed for the blessing of a safe return; whereat he (Cazazionor) -was much pleased. And, so that I might learn what was going on in -the land, I told him I meant to keep on sleeping at the mosque, and -that I did not hanker after riches, and that I wished to remain poor. -And, wishing to make my escape, I saw no way but by deceit; for the -Mohammedans being the most stupid of all folk, he was satisfied. And -this I did to be able to talk often with the Christians; for they had -daily word of everything from the court of the King. I began to act -out my deceit, and put on the Moorish saint, and never would partake -of flesh, excepting at the house of Joan Maria; but there we eat two -brace of fowls together every night. And I would no longer mix with the -merchants; nor did any man see me to smile; and I kept in the mosque -all day, save when he (Cazazionor) sent for me that I should go eat -with him; and he rebuked me for not eating flesh. Quoth I: ‘Eating -overmuch leads man to sin greatly.’ And so I began to be a Moorish -saint; and the man was happy who might kiss my hand, and some my knees.” - -Luck was, as usual, on Varthema’s side. A merchant, a great friend -of the Persian, falls sick, and our new _Santon_ (holy man) is asked -to visit him. He and Cazazionor go to the sick man’s house together; -and Varthema assumes the air of a skilled physician, and puts various -medical questions in the most approved manner. “Then my companion -turned to me and asked: ‘O Jonah, knowest thou of any medicine for this -my friend?’ I answered: ‘My father was a physician in my land, and what -I know is by that practice which he taught me.’” Then the Persian asked -“Jonah” to do his utmost. “‘Then’ quoth I: ‘In the name of Allah, the -Pitiful, the Compassionate One!’ and felt his pulse, and found him to -be very feverish.’” Questioning the patient in true professional style -“Jonah” found that he was suffering from some intestinal obstruction. -So our physician administered a series of clysters “which did more harm -than good”; for by a singular blunder he had used astringent herbs in -their preparation, and forgot to warm the last clyster, which put the -patient into agony. Then a scene ensued which is told with Rabelaisan -directness and is as coarsely comical as that pursuit of Monsieur -de Porceaunac by the apothecaries, which delighted the court of the -_Grande Monarque_. Jonah is a man of resource and unconquerable force -of will; he has his man hoisted by the heels, and keeps him suspended, -hands and head only touching the ground. The unhappy patient roars -for mercy: “Stop, stop; I am killed, I am killed”; and Cazazionor -exclaims: “O Jonah, is it your practice to do thus in your land?” -Varthema preserves the assurance of the orthodox physician who cannot -err; he asserts that it is no error, and goes on when the sick man -is at the point of death. This last remedy is efficacious, however, -though it leaves the patient in a painful condition; and Jonah, who -was by no means without some grains of human compassion, ordered him -some excellent remedies and gave him still better advice. The story -which is told with a strong sense of humour, ends with a prescription -worthy of the famous Abernethy. The patient is restricted to two meals -a day; and is to take a mile of exercise before each of them; “for -these folk eat eight or ten times a day. This order seemed to him to -be without ruth. However, in the end he was wholly cured ; and thus my -hypocrisy gat me great reputation. They said that I was the friend of -Allah. This merchant would have me to take ten ducats; but I would take -nothing. I even gave three ducats which I had to the poor; and this I -did openly, so that they might know that I had no desire for gold or -gear. Henceforward, happy was the man who might give me to eat at his -house; happy he who kissed my hands and feet; and, when anyone kissed -my hands, I played my part, letting him know that, being a saint, he -gave me my desert. But my companion gat me most credit; for he also had -faith in me, and said that I eat no flesh, and that he had seen me at -Mecca and before the body of Mohammed, that I had always journeyed with -him, that he knew my ways, that I was in verity a saint, and that, -knowing me to be holy and devout, he had given me one of his nieces to -wife. Thus, all men were my well wishers; and every night I went in -secret to the Christians.” - -At last, the Milanese told Varthema that there was word of twelve -Portuguese vessels having arrived at Cannanore, and advised him to try -to get there by land. He confesses that his courage failed him for an -enterprise so hazardous; “for I might be killed by the Moors, I being -white and they black.” The news was confirmed by two Persian traders -who arrived from Cannanore, and who were immediately invited by the -hospitable Cazazionor to sit down and eat with him and Varthema, who -was with him at the time. The traders said that the Portuguese were -building a strong fort at Cannanore: “What kind of people may these -Portuguese be?” asked Cazazionor of Jonah. “I answered: ‘Do not speak -of such a people; for they are robbers and sea-thieves one and all. -Would I could see them all of our Mohammedan faith!’ Whereat he became -very filled with malice; and, privily, I rejoiced.” - -Next day, the Mohammedan traders, fully alive to the fact that the firm -establishment of the Portuguese in India meant the ruin of their trade, -flocked to prayers at the Mosque, and took Varthema with them. None but -so holy a man should be _imam_ and lead the prayers on such a grave -occasion. So we find him solemnly reciting the Koran. - -During the next few days, he pretended to be very ill, and, in answer -to Cazazionor’s anxious enquiries, said he thought that the air of -Calicut did not agree with him. The attachment of the Persian to -Varthema was sincere and deep, and he was not in the least suspicious. -He urged the new-found saint to go to Cannanore until they should be -able to return to Persia together; he had a friend there who would -give him hospitality. Varthema affected to hesitate “because of those -Christians.” Cazazionor replied that there was no need to fear; he -should remain within the city. “In the end, having paid good heed to -the fleet which was being made ready at Calicut, and the army which had -been mustered against the Christians, I set out to give them word of -it, and to save me from the hands of dogs.” - -But first he came to a final understanding with the Milanese. Then -there were two dozen Persian, Syrian, and Turkish merchants with -whom he was friendly at Calicut. Which would be the better course: -to take leave of them, and so, possibly, to set them talking, and -arouse suspicion; or to slip away, and so, if some ill-chance should -stop him, to condemn himself by having observed secrecy? He decided -to be off without speaking about it to any one except Cazazionor and -his two friends who were about to return to Cannanore. So, early one -morning, he set out in a boat with these two Persian merchants who -kept silence about their journey because they were trying to evade the -export-duties levied by the Zamorin. But their little bark had only -got a bow-shot from the shore, when Nairs shouted to the skipper to -return at once. They demanded by what right he was carrying Varthema -off without sanction. “The Persians answered: ‘this man is a Moorish -saint; and we are going to Cannanore.’ ‘We know full well that he is -a Moorish saint,’ replied the Nairs; ‘but he understands the tongue -of the Portuguese, and will tell them of all that we are doing; for a -great fleet is being made ready;’ and they laid strict command on the -captain of the ship that he should not give me passage; and he went -by it. We stayed on the beach; and the Nairs went back to the King’s -house. One of the Persians said: ‘Let us go to our lodging,’ that is, -to Calicut. I said ‘Do not go back; for you will lose these fine pieces -of cloth, seeing that you have not paid dues to the King.’ The other -Persian said, ‘O sir, what shall we do?’ I answered ‘Let us go along -the shore until we shall find a _prau_,’ which is to say, a small bark; -and they fell in with this; and we went twelve miles of march, laden -with the goods aforesaid. You can figure to yourself how my heart beat -at finding me in so great danger. At last, we found a _prau_, which -bore us to Cannanore.” - -He immediately went to Cazazionor’s friend with his letter of -introduction, wherein was a request that “Jonah,” who was a saint, and -about to become a relation, should be entertained as if he were the -writer, until such time as he should arrive. The merchant laid the -letter on his head, and vowed that he would answer for his guest with -that organ. A feast was prepared; but, alas! the ascetic saint, however -resourceful and however hungry after the journey and its perils, must -keep to his rôle, and could only look on—a Tantalus of the Sixteenth -Century. The repast finished, the company took a little walk by the -sea, and Varthema marked where the fortress of the Portuguese was a -building, and resolved to try for liberty the very next day. - -He was up early in the morning, and expressed a desire to stroll -about. The Persians said: “Go where you please”; but they went with -him. He contrived to lead them in the direction of the fort and to -get a little ahead of them. Happening to come across two Portuguese, -he declared himself to be an escaped Christian; and one of them -immediately hastened back to the fort, taking Varthema with him. -Lorenzo de Almeyda, son of the Viceroy and Commandant of the fort -was at breakfast. Varthema cast himself on his knees before him and -besought protection. Just at this instant, the hubbub at Cannanore, -which arose on the discovery of Varthema’s escape, dinned in their -ears. The artillerymen made ready; but everything quieted down; and -Varthema revealed the preparations for war which were being made at -Calicut. Lorenzo de Almeyda sent him to his father Don Francisco, -the Viceroy, who was at Cochin, where the Portuguese had supported a -revolting tributary, and made themselves masters of a little State. - -The Viceroy, delighted at getting accurate word of the designs in -progress at Calicut, gave a very favourable audience to the refugee. - -Varthema was quite sensible of the generous hospitality and sincere -affection which Cazazionor had bestowed on him. He not merely mentions, -but reiterates the fact. Yet he exhibits not the smallest compunction -at having tricked and deserted him. All moral obligation was as a -feather, when weighed against the achievement of personal freedom and -that self-fulfilment which was the goal of the Italian of his period. -One wonders what were the sentiments of that deluded and forsaken -friend. As for Varthema, once more among Europeans, and those Europeans -of a cognate race, he absorbs their prejudice against Orientals and -“Moslem dogs”; and one realizes how deeper even than to-day, and how -impassable, was the gulf which separated East from West. It is to his -credit that he faithfully fulfilled his promise to Joan Maria and -Piero Antonio; he obtained a pardon and safe-conduct for them from the -Viceroy, and a promise as to their safety from all officials who might -put an obstacle in the way. To induce the Viceroy to grant a pardon -was easy; for that dignitary was aware that he was likely to deprive -the foe of two artillerymen and add them to his own forces; moreover -he would learn much from the intermediary messengers who were to be -sent to them. On Varthema’s return to Cannanore, he found a serviceable -Hindu, whom he sent five times to the two Milanese, holding his wife -and children as a pledge of faithful service. The Milanese were -instructed to say not one single word to their wives, who were natives, -or to their slaves; but to leave these behind them, and steal off, at -dead of night, with what money and valuable jewels they could bring -with them. All was arranged; but a slave had been stealthily watching -his master’s doings; he went to the Zamorin, and told his tale. The -Zamorin refused to credit it; but put a guard over the Milanese. The -slave, who probably was filled with a spirit of revenge, for which he -may have had good cause, next went to the Moorish Cadi. The enraged -traders, when the secret doings of the Milanese were made known to -them, collected a hundred ducats and sent this to the “King of the -Yogis,” or ascetic Fakirs. Presently, the homes of the Christians were -surrounded by a mob of Hindu devotees, sounding horns, and yelling for -alms. “They want more than alms,” said the unhappy men. The fanatics -rushed the houses; and, although the two Europeans fought desperately -for their lives, they were slaughtered; yet not before six Yogis lay -dead at their feet, and forty were wounded. It was reported that the -infuriated Hindus cut their throats when they had overwhelmed them and -drank their blood. - -Somehow, the native wife of Joan Maria contrived to escape from -Calicut, and made her way to Cannanore, bringing her little son with -her. Varthema, although he had left his Persian benefactor without -a sigh, was touched at the condition of the little half-caste. He -remembered the aid which the Milanese had given him and the pleasant -nights they had spent together; and the tragedy which had ensued on -their intercourse pierced his feelings. He became the guardian of his -friend’s son, purchasing him for eight ducats in gold, and getting him -duly baptized. But the little fellow was fatally infected with the new -scourge, which it would seem the Portuguese had brought with them to -the East, and he died exactly a year after baptism. “I have seen this -scath three thousand miles beyond Calicut,” says Varthema; “and it is -said that it began about seventeen years aforetime; and that it is far -worse than ours.” - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -WAR BY LAND AND SEA - - -Albeit sheltered by a cognate Latin people, our traveller had by no -means found a haven of perfect safety. In a few days, we find him -taking his part in a great sea-fight between the Portuguese fleet -of eleven ships (of which two were galleons and one a brigantine), -commanded by Don Francisco de Almeyda, and the great Indian fleet -of two hundred and nine sail, which had gathered together from all -those parts of the Malabar coast which remained in the hands of the -Mohammedan traders. But only eighty-four ships of the Mohammedan fleet -were large sail; the rest being _praus_, mainly propelled by the oar. -Nor were they all meant to fight: many of them were traders under -convoy. As they approached, “it was as if one looked on a very big -wood.” Varthema, restored to western civilization and Christianity, -is borne away by the inexorable spirit of the Portuguese sea-dogs. -Never saw he braver men and he is with them in their prayers to God -“to confound the heathen faith.” He tells us how the Admiral incited -his men, by the passion of Christ, to thrust at these dogs; for this -is the day which shall cleanse them from their sins; and how the -Spiritual Father, crucifix in hand, exhorted them in language so -beautiful that the graceless men shed tears. All received absolution, -and then the Admiral sailed past two galleons of the foe, firing -broadsides into them to find out of what mettle they were. Nothing -further happened that day; and next morning, the Moorish Admiral made -certain overtures to be allowed to pass by in peace. “Sail by if you -can,” was the reply of the Portuguese Admiral; “but first learn what -manner of men we Christians be.” “Mohammed is our trust against you -Christians,” retorted the Moors, and then they crowded all sail and -plied the oar. Don Francisco de Almeyda let them come on until they -were immediately off Cannanore; “‘for he wished the ruler of the city -to see what stuff Christians were made of’.... And when the time to eat -had come, the wind freshened somewhat and our Captain said: ‘now, up, -my brothers; now is the time,’ and sailed for the two biggest ships.” -The Moorish fleet struck up all kinds of weird, inspiriting music while -the fleets met. Thrice did Almeyda’s men cast their grappling-irons on -the largest galleon, and thrice they failed; but the fourth attempt -was a success. The retaliatory cruelties of the Moors at Calicut -were remembered, and not one of the six hundred crew was suffered to -escape. Another Moorish vessel was boarded, and five hundred Moors -were slaughtered. But the enemy still fought desperately and well, and -managed to divide the Portuguese fleet. The galley commanded by João -Serrão, who had taken Varthema from Cannanore to Cochin was surrounded -by fifty vessels, great and small; and the brigantine was boarded by -fifteen Moors, who drove its crew to the poop. But the captain, one -Simon Martin, called aloud to Jesus Christ for victory, smote off -half a dozen Moorish heads with his own hands, and cast such fear -into the surviving boarders, that they threw themselves into the sea -for safety. Four other Moorish vessels now drew on; but Martin saved -the situation by seizing an empty barrel and making as if it were a -mortar; and seeing this, the attackers turned back. Don Francisco -de Almeyda then sailed into the very midst of the convoyed traders, -captured seven of them, laden with spice and other goods, and sank -nine or ten more by gun-fire, amongst which was one with a cargo of -elephants. The Moors fled, and the pursuit was kept up by ships’ boats, -to prevent any attempt at swimming ashore. About two hundred swam -twenty miles and escaped; but cross-bow and lance put an end to most. -Next morning all the corpses that could be recovered from the waves, or -the shore, or from captured ships, were counted: they numbered three -thousand six hundred; but, “by God’s grace, no Christian was killed -on galley or other ship; but many were wounded during the long day of -battle.” The Moors were a match for the Portuguese in battle, but not -in artillery, ships or seamanship. This sea-fight took place in March, -1506, and three months later the Viceroy rewarded Varthema’s services, -by making him head-factor of the Portuguese warehouses. A man with so -much knowledge of Mohammedan and Hindu customs and method, speaking -Arabic, and with some smattering of the native tongue; a man, withal, -with such experience of the ways of the world, so diplomatic, and so -masterful, would be invaluable. A little later, he was sent from Cochin -to Cannanore to get behind the curtain of certain frauds; for traders -from Calicut had got safe-conducts there by passing themselves off as -residents of Cannanore. About this time the Râja of Cannanore died; and -the new sovereign was no friend to the Portuguese. He got artillery -from the Zamorin, and, from the 27th April until the 17th August there -was open war, begun by Moorish traders, who attacked the Christians -when they were going to a well to draw water. The latter retired to -the fort, in good order; and Varthema and 200 men held it, under the -captaincy of a certain Lorenzo de Britto. They had nothing to eat but -nuts, rice and sugar. Water they had to draw from a well a bow-shot -off, after fighting for it all the way. The investing force had more -than 140 cannons; but, although it consisted of thousands of men, they -were mainly armed with bows and arrows, spears, swords and shields. -This host would rush on with fury, inspired by musical instruments of -many kinds and the splutter of fireworks; but they never got within two -stones’ cast of the fort; and every day half of a score of them were -killed and the rest fled. “They said we kept the devil with us for our -defence.” - -At last, up came the Portuguese fleet under Tristão da Cunha, of -unperished name, and his three hundred knights in shining steel, who -were dissuaded with difficulty from burning Cannanore to the ground. -The ocean, up to now the auxiliary and defence of the Peninsula and its -Moorish traders, had become a highway for the enterprise of the armed -fleets of Europe. On the arrival of this strong force, the Râja and the -Moorish traders sued for peace, which the Viceroy had the foresight to -grant. For, whatever victories the Portuguese might win, and at however -small a cost, their position in the East was precarious. The Mohammedan -world was weak as against Europe for the same reason that Europe was -weak as against Constantinople: it was divided. Should the spirit of -resistance once become so strong as to overcome local jealousies, with -the whole Mohammedan world set aflame in Europe, Africa and Asia, and -with the countless hosts of the Far East at the call of the Mohammedan -trader, where had the Portuguese—nay where had Europe been? - -Varthema, once again a devout Catholic, tells us how he spent leisure -hours when there was peace with the natives, in trying to convert some -of his old acquaintance among the traders of Cannanore to Christianity. -He professes great disdain for the simplicity and ignorance of these -Pagans! and the arguments he used were not precisely scrupulous, and -were far from skilful. - -In November, 1507, at the request of the Viceroy, Varthema accompanied -him and Tristão da Cunha to the assault on Ponani, a port to the south -of Calicut. He tells us how, after the customary prayers and spiritual -monitions, “a little before break of day, we opened war to the death -on these dogs, who were eight thousand; and we, about six hundred.” -Native troops have never had a chance against European arms and -discipline. The disproportion of the opposing troops was about the same -as at Plassey, two centuries and a half later; and if all De Almeyda’s -troops were Europeans, as Clive’s were not, the latter were all led by -European officers and trained in European methods. And if, opposed to -Clive and the famous Thirty-ninth _primus in Indis_ there were a few -French auxiliaries, opposed to De Almeyda and Da Cunha were 64 Moors -vowed to victory or death, “for each one of them was master of a ship.” -“But God gave us His help, so that none of our folk were slain here; -yet we killed 140; and of these, with my own eyes, I saw Don Lorenzo -slay six; and he got two wounds; and many others were wounded also. For -a little while the battle was most fiercely fought. But our galleys -neared the shore; and then these dogs began to give way: and for that -the water (of the river at Ponani) began to fall, we followed them no -farther. But these dogs began to swell their numbers; so we set fire to -their ships, burning thirteen thereof, most of them newly builded and -big. And then the Viceroy withdrew all his troops to the headland; and -here he made some knights; and of these, of his grace he made me one; -and that most valiant leader, Tristão da Cunha, was my sponsor.” And -then they all embarked for Cannanore. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -THE NEW WAY ROUND THE CAPE. - - -The home-bound fleet was now loading. Varthema had given the Portuguese -a year and a half of faithful service; he tells us that he was anxious -to return to Europe; he had had fully five years of perilous wanderings -through Moslem and Pagan lands to where no European foot hitherto had -pressed the soil; and he was urged “by the affection and kindly feeling -I bore my country, and my desire to carry thither and place upon record -news concerning a great part of the world.” The grace demanded was -freely given to one who had worked and fought so well; and on December -6th, 1506, a fortnight after the last great fight, he went on board, -and the San Vicenzo and other great ships set sail. - -A long voyage across the ocean brought the fleet to the coast of what -is British East Africa to-day. Malinda, Mombasa and the island of -Pemba were touched at during the voyage along the eastern coast; then, -Kiloa, the extreme limit of Ibn Batûta’s voyage, a German port not -so long ago; then, the Comoro islands, together with several other -trading-places which the Portuguese had seized and fortified. All this -part of the “Dark Continent” had been long peacefully penetrated by -Arab traders and had profited by commercial intercourse with them; -and the natives were incited to expel the intruder. The appearance -of a rival had infuriated the Moslem trader, and the natives caught -something of his spirit in resisting the new comers. They were now -beginning to experience the tender mercies of the Christian. The -Portuguese spread their faith among the palm groves of the South after -the fashion of the Teutonic knights over the heaths of Prussia. They -used the sword mercilessly; they burned towns and wrought every horror -that can be inflicted by the passions of men released from discipline -and from the restraints of a long voyage—men stimulating each other to -brutality by mutual example, and infected with that mad fury which is -apt to possess any excited gang. But Varthema tells us of the pleasure -he felt at the successes of the Portuguese and the spread of Catholic -truth. He found Pagans were baptized daily in Africa, as in India. -“From what I have seen of India and Ethiopia,” he writes, “methinks -the King of Portugal, should it please God, and his victories go on, -will become the richest King on earth ... he is the means whereby the -Christian faith is spread daily; wherefore it may be credited that God -hath given him victory and will continue to prosper him.” - -We must not accuse our whilom Mameluke of any grave insincerity in -writing thus. No doubt he had an eye to the good will of Julius II., -and the Catholic public; but every son of the church was expected to -express himself in this way, and every son of the Renaissance was ready -to do so. As has been said, the Italian of the age was not burthened by -any undue sense of sin or overvexed about religion. These high matters -were the care of a special profession—the clergy—and of an organized -institution—the Church. The direst lapses into iniquity were “bad -shots,” as sins were called by the Greeks—mere unfortunate glancings -aside from the bull’s eye—and absolution was easily obtained. The main -thing was to aim at making life a full, rich, and splendid success. -None the less, the Rock of St. Peter was at once the emblem of European -Civilization and the foundation on which in theory it rested: The -Church and European civilization must be spread, to put an end to -Mohammedanism, that enduring peril, and the Paganism from which it -drew its recruits and no small measure of its wealth and power. This -is what lies at the bottom of Varthema’s mind. The King of Portugal is -destined to become the wealthiest and most powerful of rulers; and the -possession of wealth and the unrestricted exercise of power of every -kind, mental and moral and physical was the ideal of the age and the -reward of its _virtu_. - -At Moçambique, an island off what is still Portuguese East Africa, -the fleet remained fifteen days to take in provisions, and Varthema -crossed to the mainland. He tells us of the blackness of the natives; -of their woolly hair, thick lips, and “teeth white as snow”; of how -the men wore bark and the women leaves as a loin-cloth; and of the -clicking of their speech, like the noises, made by tongue and palate, -with which the muleteers of Sicily urge on their steeds. (So probably -at some time Varthema had visited Sicily). Finding these negroes -“few and vile,” he and five or six others armed themselves, engaged -a guide, and went on an excursion. They saw great herds of elephants -roaming about; but by collecting dry wood, and setting fire to it, -they scared the great beasts away. Yet, in the end, they were chased -by three she-elephants who had their calves with them, and had to make -for a hill in all haste. They escaped with difficulty, and doubtless -had not done so but for the mothers of the herd being hampered by the -calves they found themselves called upon to protect. The party crossed -some ten miles over the ridge and came to cave-dwellers, of whom they -purchased fifteen cows for a little rubbish of European manufacture. -When on the way back to the ship, they heard a great uproar. It came -from the caves, and greatly alarmed them, until they understood from -the signs made by two negroes, who were driving the cows, that they -need have no fear; and their guide assured them that these people were -only quarrelling as to which of them should be the possessor of that -rare treasure, a little bell. - -Sailing from Moçambique between the mainland and San Lorenzo (as -Madagascar was then called), our traveller remarks that in his belief -“the King of Portugal will soon be lord thereof; for two places there -have already been seized and put to fire and flame.” After the Cape -was rounded the fleet encountered terrific storms. The ships were -dispersed by their violence, nor did they sight each other again during -the remainder of the voyage. - -Off St. Helena, the voyagers on Varthema’s ship were scared by the -appearance of whales. “We saw two fishes, each as great as a great -house, which, when on the surface, raise a kind of vizor, I should -say of the width of three strides, and let it down when they go under -again. We were so alarmed at the power of these fishes in swimming -that we let off all our artillery.” He next describes the boobies of -Ascension: birds “so simple and foolish that they let themselves be -caught by the hand ... and, before they Were caught, they looked on us -as at a miracle.... On this island are only water and fish and these -birds.” A few days later, they saw the North Star on the horizon. They -touched at the Azores, and at last reached the beautiful estuary of the -Tagus, and anchored off the “noble city of Lisbon.” - -And now we find our traveller, of whom it might, by the alteration -of a pronoun be said as of the Egyptian Queen: “Nought could excel -his infinite variety,” turned courtier. Don Emanuel, “the Fortunate,” -was staying at his palace opposite the city, and Varthema crossed the -Tagus to kiss the royal hand. So interesting a traveller with so much -to relate was most graciously received and kept at court for some -days. When he conceived himself to be sufficiently established there, -he seized an opportune moment, presented the patent of Knighthood -which the Viceroy had given him, and asked the monarch to confirm it. -It was his majesty’s pleasure to order a diploma of knighthood to be -drawn up on parchment, and then to sign it with his august hand. This -document was impressed with the royal seal, and Varthema having seen it -registered, took his leave, returned to Italy, and “came to the city of -Rome.” - -Julius II. sat on the throne of the Fisherman. That old warrior was -the very man to appreciate the resolution, the resourcefulness, and the -exploit of Varthema. _Papa plusquam Papa_, he had been a mighty man -of valour from his youth upwards; his will of iron was unbroken, and -he retained in full the ardour of earlier years. A man of _virtu_, he -aspired to control and guide the restive Powers of Europe to his own -ends; and to make Rome the centre of the Arts, as well as the political -Mistress of the Western World. If he was Head-bishop of the Western -Church, claiming supreme authority over the Christian world, he was -also a Temporal Prince, a patron of letters and enlightenment. At this -very time, Michael Angelo was busy, by Papal command, adorning the -Sistine Chapel with stupendous fresco and endowing sculpture with all -his own redundant energy and life. Raphael was employed in painting -delicate poems on the walls of the Papal _Stanze_. It was intended -that Rome should become the world’s magnificent capital—a temple to -strike awe and submission into the beholder; its only defect, that -perchance it might shelter an empty shrine. There was as yet little -hint of the terrific revolt of priest and scholar, _lanzknecht_ and -trader, which was preparing beyond the Alps; a revolt which tore away -half the Empire of the Papacy. Little did Theodosius dream of the -overthrow of the sacred city, “urbs æquæva polo,” as Claudian sings by -the barbarians of the North; and as little did Julius deem that it was -destined soon to be sacked by the same rude race. It was nothing to -Julius that Varthema had posed as a renegade: here was a man after his -own heart. Nor were most of the Cardinals indifferent to the discovery -of memorable matters. If an alien faith had been successfully professed -for a laudable purpose so full of commercial possibilities, a few -aves and paternosters, or a slight penance, made amends in that lax -age. Julius gave mandate by word of mouth that Varthema’s account of -his adventures should be duly licensed, and Raphael, Cardinal of St. -George, “Chamberlain of our Most Holy Lord the Pope of the Holy Roman -Church,” “being advised thereto by many other Most Reverend Cardinals -of the Apostolic See,” gave the necessary licence. “Holding the work -worthy, not only of commendation, but of ample reward,” he granted -that the author and his heirs should hold copyright for a space of ten -years. The Cardinal did this on the ground, as he explicitly states -that Varthema had, in his seven years of travel, corrected many of the -errors of ancient geographers, and that the “public use and study” of -his volume would be of service. Such a decision had been impossible -after the Reformation, the Counter-Reformation, and the Council of -Trent. It were hard, even in our days of more single purpose, severely -to censure the sanction to publish the work of a Christian who had -posed as a Mohammedan only to “promote,” as the cardinal says, “such -studies as have always been held in the highest honour.” Varthema had -fully described the products of the East and the localities whence -they came; and such information was not only to the advancement of -knowledge but to the commercial advantage of his time. Had the Papal -Court decided otherwise, the world had lost a priceless record of -virile purpose fulfilled and of remote regions hitherto hardly known or -wholly unknown. The world is indebted to Julius II. and his Cardinals -for their action, whether it be called broad-minded toleration or -latitudinarian indifference. Probably the copyright was no unimportant -matter to the returned wanderer. As has been remarked, we hear nothing -of his having made money by trade in the countries he visited. He was -no vulgar gainer of gold, but one who set out to behold the splendour -of God on the earth and the amazing manners of that prodigy, man. He -dedicated his _Itinerario_ to Agnesina Colonna, a daughter of the -illustrious house of Montefeltro, mother of that Vittoria Colonna whom -Michael Angelo and her own pen have made famous, and the fourth of five -distinguished women in whom learning and ability descended from mother -to daughter. It appeared in 1510.[21] The Dedication informs us that I, -Varthema, “having gone over some parts of the countries and islands of -the east, south and west, am of fixed mind, should it please God, to -make enquiry into those of the north. And so, since I do not perceive -that I am fitted for any other undertaking, to employ what remains to -me of my fleeting days in this honourable task.” Clearly, seven years -of peril by land and sea, the greater part of the time being spent in -tropical heat, had not satiated the curiosity or abated the audacity -of the born-traveller. But no new _Itinerario_ came to tell us of Laps -driving their teams of rein-deer, of the splendours of the Northern -Lights, or of the marvel of the Midnight Sun. - -The _Itinerario_ of 1510 was reprinted more than once in Rome, Venice -and Milan during the following fifty years. In 1515 it was translated -into German; in 1520, it appeared in Spanish; in 1556, in French; and -in 1563, in Dutch. In 1577, Richard Eden gave a truncated and corrupt -form of the work, which he had translated from a Latin version into -English. It was incorporated with his “History of Travayle in the -West and East Indies,” and reprinted for private circulation by the -Aungerville Society in 1884. But twenty-one years before this last -date, the Hakluyt Society had printed a translation from the original -Italian edition by the Rev. Geo. Percy Badger. The modern translation -is faithful and eminently readable; Mr. Badger’s annotations are -invaluable; and John Winter Jones supplied a preface which is a -bibliography. But Richard Eden’s imperfect work necessarily conveys -more of the vigorous diction and quaint archaicisms of the original -because the English style of Elizabeth’s time more closely resembled -that of ordinary Italian prose in the days of Julius II. Yet, readable -and delightful as Mr. Badger’s translation is, Varthema remains known -only to the specialized student; to the general reader, together with -many another ancient worthy of heroic mould, he is unknown, even by -name. - - - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] _Mémoires sur les contrées occidentales_, par Hiouen-Thoang, tr. du -chinois par S. Julien, 2 t., 1857–8. - -_Si-yu-ki._ Tr. from the Chinese of Hieuen Tsiang by S. Beal. 2 v. -(Trübners Oriental Series) 1884. - -_Hist. de la vie de Hiouen Thsang et de ses voyages dans l’Inde_ A.D. -629–45, par Hoei-Li et Yen-Thsong. Tr. du Chinois par S. Julien. -Imprim. Impér. 1853. - -_The Life of Hiuen-Tsiang._ Tr. by S. Beal. (Trübner’s Oriental Series) -1878. - -The spelling of Oriental names of persons and places varies widely -in English, as well as in other European languages, according to the -system of transliteration employed. - -[2] The Author possesses a picture of the source of the Ganges, painted -on panel, on the spot, by the late W. Simpson. Fakirs, at least in his -time, were wont, when the end of life drew near, to ascend the glacier, -and terminate the illusions of existence on the snow-mountains above -it. Simpson saw a Fakir climbing up a snow-slope for this purpose. Now, -as well as one can judge from this panel, the lower end of the glacier -from which the infant Ganges is seen flowing would be about as broad as -Hiuen-Tsiang states the source of the river to be. - -[3] Beal’s translation of _Si-yu-ki_ vol. i., p. 70. - -[4] J. Talboy Wheeler, “_History of India_,” London, 1874, vol. iii, p. -261. - -[5] W. H. Johnson, who was the first European to visit Khotan for 260 -years, heard of these cities buried in the sand (1865). - -[6] For recent travels in Eastern Turkestan, see Prjevalsky, N. _From -Kulja across the Thian Shan to Lob-Nor_, tr. E. D. Morgan, 1879. - -[7] A measure which varies in different provinces. It is the Chinese -foot-measure, always shorter than ours. - -[8] The Latin text is printed with a translation by Brownlow, by the -Palestine Pilgrims Text Society. 1892. - -[9] _Memoirs of the Emperor Johangueir_, by himself. Tr. from Persian -by D. Price. Oriental Translation Fund. 1829. pp. 96–104. - -[10] Chaucer, _Man of Lawe’s Tale. Part I., st. i, l. 4_. The -derivation of Satin is obvious. - -[11] Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. iv. p. 405. - -[12] P’u Sung-ling finished his work A.D. 1679, and saw the trick when -he was a boy. - -[13] Part of the illusion described by Ibn Batûta, known as the Indian -Rope Trick, was seen by the late Professor Middleton, of the South -Kensington Museum, in Morocco, and is fully described by Wilfred -Scawen Blount’s _Diaries_, 1888–1900, p. 86, sqq. The trick has been -much discussed during the last few years, and conjurers confess that -it perplexes them. (“_Baffled magicians_,” _Times_, Feb. 6th, 1919). -Mr. C. R. Sanderson, Librarian to the National Liberal Club, kindly -drew my attention to certain articles and correspondence in popular -journals (_Strand Magazine_, April, 1919; _Daily Mail_, Jan. 7th, 1913, -and a discussion in the same newspaper, beginning Jan. 8th, 1919, and -ending Feb. 19th, 1919). It is a common belief among English residents -in India that some of these illusions are due to hypnotism; but, as a -rule, only people who are capable of great concentration of mind, or -who are in the habit of obeying commands are readily hypnotized, and -then only by direct suggestion, and not, so say the best authorities, -by will-power. Cases of hypnosis at a distance have been recorded; but -the subjects had already been hypnotized by the operator; and, if these -accounts should be proved veridical, telepathy might possibly explain -them. The instance photographed by Lieut. F. W. Holmes, V.C., is a -degenerate form of the trick. If a cinematograph record of a really -fine exhibition of this illusion could be taken, probably the problem -would be solved conclusively. - -[14] A translation of an abbreviated copy of Batûta’s travels was made -by the Revd. S. Lee, and published by the Oriental Translation Fund -in 1829. Since that date the French advance in Algeria led to the -discovery of several copies of the unabridged work; and the “_Voyages -d’Ibn Batoutah_,” translated into French by C. Defrémery and Dr. B. -R. Sanguinette, with the original Arabic text under the translation, -appeared in Paris in 1853, at the hands of the _Société Asiatique_. -There are several examples of the original MS. extant, which slightly -vary from each other, and often differ considerably from the -abbreviation as to matter of fact. - -[15] B and V are to be found controvertible both in old Italian and in -old Spanish. Bartema instead of Varthema is on the title page of more -than one edition of the _Itinerario_. - -[16] Dante, Inferno, ix, 76, 77. - -[17] Varthema gives all the words of the queen in Arabic, phonetically -written, followed by a rendering in Italian. He had learned to speak -Arabic, none too perfectly, but not to write it. - -[18] - -“High on a throne of royal state, which far Outshone the wealth of -Ormuz and of Ind, Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand Showers -on her kings barbaric pearl and gold, Satan exalted sat.”—_Paradise -Lost_, ii. 1–5. - - -[19] Giosafat Barbaro & A. Contarini. Travels to Tana and Persia. Tr. -by W. Thomas, Clerk of the Council to Edward VI., and by S. A. Roy. -8vo. 1873. - -[20] Should not Varthema have written milk? - -[21] A copy, rebound in red velvet, is one of the treasures of the -Library in the British Museum. - - -THE END. - - -FOX, JONES & CO., High Street, Oxford, Great Britain. FOOTNOTES: - - - - - TRUBNER’S - - ORIENTAL SERIES - -_TRUBNER’S ORIENTAL SERIES_ - -POPULAR RE-ISSUE AT A UNIFORM PRICE - -_Demy 8vo, dark green cloth, gilt._ - - - ALBERUNI: =India=. An Account of the Religion, Philosophy, - Literature, Geography, Chronology, Astronomy, Customs, Laws, and - Astrology of India, about A.D. 1030. BY DR. EDWARD C. SACHAU. - - ARNOLD (Sir E.): =Indian Poetry and Indian Idylls=. Containing - ‘The Indian Song of Songs,’ from the Sanskrit of the Gita Govinda - of Jayadeva; Two Books from ‘The Iliad of India’ (Mahabharata): - ‘Proverbial Wisdom,’ from the Shlokas of the Hitopadesa, and other - Oriental Poems. - - BARTH (Dr. A.): =The Religions of India=. Authorised Translation by - Rev. J. WOOD. - - BIGANDET (B. P.): =Life or Legend of Guadama, the Buddha of the - Burmese=; With Annotations, the Ways to Neibban, and Notice on the - Phongyies or Burmese Monks. - - BEAL (Prof. S.): =Life of Hiuen-Tsiang=. By the Shamans HWUI LI and - YEN-TSUNG. With a Preface containing an Account of the Works of - I-Tsing. - - BEAL (Prof. S.): =Si-Yu-Ki=: Buddhist Records of the Western World. - Translated from the Chinese of Hiuen-Tsiang. - - COWELL (Prof. E. B.): =Sarva-Darsana-Samgraha=; or, Review of the - Different Systems of Hindu Philosophy. BY MADHAVA ACHARYA. Translated - by Prof. E. B. COWELL, M.A., and Prof. A. E. GOUGH, M.A. - - DOWSON (Prof. J.): =Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and - Religion, Geography, History, and Literature=. - - EDKINS (Dr. J.): =Chinese Buddhism=: A Volume of Sketches, Historical - and Critical. New and Revised Edition. - - ROCKHILL (W. W.): =The Life of the Buddha and the Early History - of his Order=. Derived from Tibetan works in the Bkah-hgyur and - Bstan-hgyur. Followed by notices on the early history of Tibet and - Khoten. - - HAUG (Dr. M.): =Essays on the Sacred Language, Writings, and Religion - of the Parsis=. - - WEBER (Dr. A.): =History of Indian Literature=. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at <a -href="http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you are not -located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this ebook.</p> -<p>Title: Four Pilgrims</p> -<p>Author: William Boulting</p> -<p>Release Date: November 27, 2020 [eBook #63894]</p> -<p>Language: English</p> -<p>Character set encoding: UTF-8</p> -<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FOUR PILGRIMS***</p> -<p> </p> -<h4 class="pgx" title="">E-text prepared by Turgut Dincer<br /> - and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> - (https://www.pgdp.net)<br /> - from page images generously made available by<br /> - Internet Archive<br /> - (https://archive.org)</h4> -<p> </p> -<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> - <tr> - <td valign="top"> - Note: - </td> - <td> - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/fourpilgrims00bouliala - </td> - </tr> -</table> -<p> </p> -<hr class="pgx" /> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> - - - -<h1>FOUR PILGRIMS</h1> - -<p class="center"><small>BY</small><br /><br /> - -<big>WILLIAM BOULTING</big><br /><br /> - -Author of<br /><br /> - -<i>Giordano Bruno: his Life, Thought, and Martyrdom</i>; -<i>Woman in Italy, 1100–1600 <span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span></i>, etc.<br /><br /><br /><br /> - -<span class="smcap"><small>London</small></span>:<br /> -KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER & CO., LTD.,<br /> -NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2><small>ERRATA.</small></h2> - - -<p>Page 84, Line 2. For “a little before” read “some -time after.”</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CONTENTS</h2> - - - -<table summary="contents" border="0"><tr> - -<td class="tdc padb1" colspan="3">I: HIUEN-TSIANG<br /> -<i>Master of the Law; and his Perilous Journey to the Sacred -Land of Buddha</i>, <span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span> 627–643.</td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">CHAP.</td><td class="tdr">PAGE</td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdr">I.</td><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Isolation of China</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdr">II.</td><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Buddha and Buddhism</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_5">5</a></td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdr">III.</td><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">An Adventurous Journey</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdr">IV.</td><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Through India in the Seventh Century</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdr">V.</td><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Indian Social Life in the Seventh -Century</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdr">VI.</td><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Journey Home by a New and -Perilous Route</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_55">55</a></td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdr">VII.</td><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Peaceful Days</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_61">61</a></td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdc padb1" colspan="3">II: SÆWULF, AN ENGLISH PILGRIM TO PALESTINE</td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdr">I.</td><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Early Pilgrimage to Palestine</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_65">65</a></td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdr">II.</td><td class="tdl">“<span class="smcap">Dieu le Veult</span>”</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_68">68</a></td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdr">III.</td><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Sæwulf’s Record</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_72">72</a></td> -</tr><tr> - -<td class="tdc padb1" colspan="3">III: MOHAMMED IBN ABD ALLAH,<br /> -<i>Better known as Ibn Batûta, the Greatest of Moslem -Travellers</i>, <span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span> 1304–77.</td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdr">I.</td><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Whirlwind from Arabia and What -Followed</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_89">89</a></td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdr">II.</td><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A Resolute Pilgrim</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_96">96</a></td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdr">III.</td><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A Roundabout Pilgrimage</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_104">104</a></td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdr">IV.</td><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Glimpses of Arabia, Persia and East -Africa in the Fourteenth Century</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_109">109</a></td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdr">V.</td><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">To India by Way of Constantinople and -the Steppes</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdr">VI.</td><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">An Eastern Despot</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_128">128</a></td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdr">VII.</td><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Perils by Land and Sea</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_137">137</a></td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdr">VIII.</td><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Off to Malaysia and Cathay</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_147">147</a></td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdr">IX.</td><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Moors of Spain and Negroes of Timbuktu</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_158">158</a></td> -</tr><tr> - -<td class="tdc padb1" colspan="3">IV: LUDOVICO VARTHEMA OF BOLOGNA,<br /> -<i>Renegade Pilgrim to Mecca, Foremost of Italian Travellers</i>.</td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdr">I.</td><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Great Age of the Renaissance and -of Discovery</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_163">163</a></td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdr">II.</td><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">From Venice to Damascus</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_165">165</a></td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdr">III.</td><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Over the Desert to Mecca</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_172">172</a></td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdr">IV.</td><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Escape from the Caravan</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_186">186</a></td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdr">V.</td><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Certain Adventures in Arabia the Happy</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_190">190</a></td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdr">VII.</td><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Pagans of Narsinga</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_208">208</a></td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdr">VIII.</td><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Farther India, Malaysia and the Banda -Islands</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_221">221</a></td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdr">IX.</td><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Some Cunning Manoeuvres</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_235">235</a></td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdr">X.</td><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">War by Land and Sea</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_244">244</a></td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="tdr">XI.</td><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The New Way Round the Cape</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_249">249</a></td> -</tr></table> - - -<hr /> - -<h3>PREFACE</h3> - - -<p>Pilgrimage has been popular in all countries and at all -times. For what could be happier than an agreeable -change which should contribute at once to welfare of soul, -refreshment of spirit, and vigour of body? Adventures -on the way gave zest to the enterprise. If the more -timid or feeble were content to visit neighbouring shrines, -those of hardier mould, like the Wife of Bath, took more -formidable journeys.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="line i05">“Thries hadde she been at Jerusalem;</div> -<div class="line">She hadde passed many a straunge strem;</div> -<div class="line">At Rome she hadde been, and at Boloigne,</div> -<div class="line">In Galice at Seint Jame, and at Coloigne,</div> -<div class="line">She koude muchel of wandrynge by the weye.”</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Some of the boldest and bravest of ancient travellers -were pilgrims, and we have their records of wide wandering. -But their style is archaic, has at best little purely literary -merit, and is usually forbidding. They are little known, -except to the special student.</p> - -<p>The footprints then are scanty, and all the worse for -time, which testify to ardent spirits that once inhabited -the warm vesture of flesh, but have long, long ago been -laid to rest. I have tried to set forth certain of these -dead and half-forgotten worthies as with “organs, dimensions, -senses, affections, passions,” even as we. Four -have been chosen. Three of these were shrewd, fearless, -observant men, who overcame surpassing obstacles and -met with adventure almost unparalleled. The first of -my bundle of four was a Chinaman, a Buddhist monk -of the early Seventh Century, who started alone on an -almost impossible quest. My second was an Englishman -of the earliest years of the Twelfth Century, who gives -us some notion of what the ordinary palmer was like -who got to Jerusalem,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="line i5">“e qui devoto</div> -<div class="line">Il gran sepolchro adora e scioglie il voto”</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>(“and venerates the Holy Sepulchre and discharges his -vow”). My third was a Mohammedan, who, in the first -half of the Fourteenth Century, made several pilgrimages -to Mecca and ran over the world from Tangier to Pekin -and from Turkestan to Timbuktu. My fourth was a very -son of the glowing age of Julius II, the first European -Christian on record to reach Mecca, one who outstripped -the Portuguese in reaching the aromatic islands of the -Banda Sea. In each case, there is a brief historical foreword -to give the pilgrim due introduction into his proper -setting.</p> - -<p class="right"> -<span class="smcap">William Boulting.</span> -</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">1</a></span></p> - -<h2>I.—HIUEN-TSIANG.</h2> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Master of the Law; and his Perilous Journey to -the Sacred Land of Buddha</span>, A.D. 627–643.</p> - - - - -<h3>CHAPTER I. THE ISOLATION OF CHINA</h3> - - -<p><span class="smcap">For</span> thousands of years China was a world to itself, cut -off from the races of men. The main causes of this singular -seclusion are simple:—</p> - -<p>China was protected from serious invasion by her geographical -position. Northward, it was no easy business -for the barbarous intruder to find a way into China from -the Manchurian plain, or for a Chinaman to find a way out; -and it was still more difficult to effect a passage by force. -To the North-West rose the forbidding walls of the Altai -Mountains; and, between them and China, a broad and -demon-haunted waste of sand blocked the way. Westward, -huge interlocked ranges of Central Asia—the Thian -Shan and Pamirs—mountains which o’er top Alp or -Caucasus, which rival the loftiest Andes, and which are -inferior only to Himalaya, presented perils in abundance. -These difficulties surmounted, the vast, trackless sands of -Gobi formed a second barrier; and the steep rocks of Ala-Shan -and In-Shan were a third. To the South-West rose the -plateau of Thibet, interlocking with the Pamirs—a plateau -with a mean level of more than 12,000 feet, terminating -southward in Himalaya, that highest and broadest of -mountain-walls. To the South of China were the dense -forests, deep valleys, and rapid rivers of Burma and -Tonquin. Eastward the Celestial Empire was guarded -by the sea: to reach China from India was a long and -perilous voyage; and the boldest navigator might hesitate -to entrust his clumsy craft to the caprice of the Indian -Ocean, to thread his way through the tortuous straits -of Malaysia, and to chance an encounter with the fierce -islanders who lined them, only in the end to reach a jealous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">2</a></span> -shore. The unwieldly Chinese junk—a town afloat—did, -however, make a periodic and prolonged voyage—at -least in later days—to India; and a few bands of bold, -hardy traders were wont to cross over the formidable -passes of Central Asia on horses, mules, or asses, and to -traverse vast, trackless wastes on camels. They exchanged -the products of India, Persia, and those States -which were watered by the classic streams of Oxus and -Jaxartes, for the silks and manufactures of Cathay. -Chinese porcelain has been found in Egyptian tombs.</p> - -<p>China enjoyed a soil so productive of every kind of -wealth that she was independent of commercial intercourse -with other lands. Secure from all invaders but the scattered -hordes of Mongolia, she developed a high and distinctive -civilization, which became more and more fixed -and rigid, but was superior in many respects to that of -other Eastern States. By the Seventh Century of our -Era, good roads, good inns, and an admirable system of -canals rendered internal communication easy; the heavens -had been surveyed by astronomical instruments of some -precision; and the art of printing, which had not then been -discovered long, was in use; although to this day the -Chinese do without the valuable economy of an alphabet.</p> - -<p>Moreover the Chinese People preferred to be undisturbed -by stimulus from without. Yet China transmitted her -culture to her near and less civilized neighbours—Japan -and the Indo-Chinese peninsula—and claimed a precarious -overlordship of semi-barbarous Manchuria, Mongolia, -Eastern Turkestan and Thibet. During a long stretch -of time, the powerful and jealous Persian Empire was a -bar to intercourse with the far West; because it tried -to preserve a monopoly of its own products.</p> - -<p>The records of early intercourse with other countries -are few; and those few are meagre. Thirteen centuries -before the age in which Hiuen-Tsiang lived, Embassies -from distant nations would seem to have reached China. -Marcus Aurelius despatched a mission (<span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span> 166) to es<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">3</a></span>tablish -direct relations; it travelled by way of India; -and failed. Carus sent another (A.D. 284). At the close -of the fourth century, Ammianus Marcellinus knew of -the Chinese as a people dwelling on fertile plains enclosed -by protecting mountains: “a frugal folk, studying to live -peacefully and shunning intercourse with the rest of -mankind.” Half a century later, Moses the Armenian -spoke of them as “dwelling in wealth and civility at the -end of the earth; a people worthy to be called not merely -the friends of peace but of life.” Until the Great Age of -Discovery arrived as a novel development of the Great -Age of the Renaissance to derange and remodel the earth, -Cathay was little more than a name to European ears: -before the Nineteenth Century, the Celestial Empire remained -undisturbed by the Modern World.</p> - -<p>Although the Chinese Government was always persistently -obstructive to foreign intercourse, it took an -interest in foreign religions. This seeming paradox was -due to the fact that Confucianism, the official Faith, -was essentially a body of moral precepts, as was Taoism, -(albeit Taoism had stronger pretension to metaphysic), -and both people and rulers were eager to receive any -moral doctrine which might strengthen that love of peace -and orderly conduct which would seem to be inborn -in the Chinese breast. There was no <i>odium theologicum</i> -in China. Now, Buddhism was essentially an ethical -system, and had much in common with Taoism. On -the whole, the Chinese were eager to adopt it; especially -as becoming a good Buddhist did not disallow of one’s -remaining a good Confucian, or of reconciling Buddhistic -and Taoistic speculation. The Chinese government -naturally sanctioned a creed fitted to keep a people quiet -and submissive; and Buddhism proved to be peculiarly -suited to the Chinese mind: it touched the Chinese heart -and left a profound effect on Chinese character.</p> - -<p>It had to compete with other religions. For with the -caravan of the trader came many religious Zealots, such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">4</a></span> -as the Fire-Worshippers of Persia. At the very beginning -of Mohammedanism, Wahd-Abi-Kabha, the maternal -uncle of the Prophet, reached China, bearing presents -to the Emperor; and Mohammedans were to be found -there in the third decade of Hiuen-Tsiang’s life; while, -in the following decade, Nestorian missionaries introduced -Christianity, which, after due examination, an Imperial -Decree declared to be a satisfactory and permissible -faith. Buddhist missionaries carried the teaching of -Gautama to China at a period not yet ascertained; but -it must have lost much of its early purity by whatever -time that may have been.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">5</a></span></p> - - - - -<h3>CHAPTER II.<br /><br /> - -<small>BUDDHA AND BUDDHISM.</small></h3> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Gautama</span> was the son of a petty chieftain, who exercised -limited authority in a district which lay north of Faîzâbâd. -He lived about 600 years before the beginning of the -Christian era—about the time when Jerusalem fell to -Nebuchadnezzar and Assyria to the Medes. The evils -of disease, old age, and death weighed on the melancholy -mind of the young princelet: he sought for some way of -escape from the curse of craving flesh and the wild delirium -of desire. He abandoned wife and family; and dwelt, -at first, in the solitude of a jungle. At this time, his -life was one of pure contemplation. Then a wave of -love for humanity and profound grief at human suffering -swept over him. He resumed the active life, preaching -a pure religion of duty and affection along the valley of -the Ganges; for his soul, like the soul of Plato’s poet, -“was no longer within him.” He had learned and he taught -that the misery of Being is mitigated by strict obedience -to the Law of human kindness and duty. He made -stirring appeals to heart and conscience, and supported -his mission by the ancient doctrine of Kharma, which -Brâhmans had taught him—the doctrine that the action -of the evil will, barren as its fruits invariably prove for -the living agent, is delayed, but not destroyed, by death, -and builds up a new body and mind, which reap the -bitter harvest of former transgression and also the weal -which results from former well-doing. The heart achieves -blessedness in proportion to its purification; a good life -acquires merit, by means of which relative freedom is -obtained from the mournful, malevolent turnings of the -“wheel of things.” Completely purified, Nirvâna (which is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">6</a></span> -sometimes interpreted as nescience, sometimes as the supra-conscious), -peace in the very heart of things, is obtained. -All men may be touched by love; but only rare intelligencies -will seek Nirvâna. For the way to the Blessed Life is -steep and beset with thorns; but the resolute spirit may -achieve increasing and even perfect tranquillity by uprooting -every germ of ill-will and trampling down every -one of those passions of mind or body the results of which -are as futile as their origin is senseless. Gautama -accepted the institution of the cloister then, for such men -of high intelligence as sought the truly spiritual. In -time Buddhistic monasticism became divided into the -system of the “Lesser Vehicle”—an ascetic scheme of -discipline,—and that of the “Greater Vehicle” for richer -and more metaphysical minds. The first aimed at -restraint; the second, at contemplation. Buddha had -no regard for caste; and this brought his teaching into -conflict with that of the Brâhmans; he promised no -endless personal life in heaven—only progressive release -from the evils of temporal existence; he did not interfere -with the popular worship of gods. His doctrine was an -appeal to our more spiritual nature, and closely resembles -the Sermon on the Mount. It awakened a people bound -by a system of lifeless forms framed by a priestly caste, -yet who were all athirst for living waters.</p> - -<p>But Buddhism speedily became metaphysical in the -metaphysical East. Some of the convents grew into -abodes of speculation and seminaries of learning. It -was held that Gautama was the latest of those Buddhas, -those “redeemers” of the world, into whose mother’s -womb Bôdhisattva, the spirit about to become a Buddha, -descended spiritually. Yet the purest teaching of the -Spirit contains within itself the seeds of its own decay: -the germ of fulfilment is also the germ of dissolution. -The history of Buddhism strikingly illustrates the truth -of this, its own tenet. Before long the new Faith, like -unto Brâhmanism, became half-throttled by formalism<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">7</a></span> -and encrusted by all manner of ridiculous legend and -vulgar superstition. And Asôka, who usurped a throne -and established an Empire at Magadha, near Behar (in -the 3rd century before Christ?) embodied the ethics -of Buddhism in formal ordinances. The letter and not -the spirit, of the Law prevailed. But Asôka sent forth -missionaries, East and West and North and South, and -they reached far distant lands.</p> - -<p>Probably imperfect and infrequent relations between -Chinese Buddhists and Indian priests were maintained -through the medium of caravans of trade. These have -left no record; but in <span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span> 65, the Chinese Authorities -sent envoys to Sind by the long, painful, and perilous -overland route. They returned with an Indian priest, -sacred writings, and sacred images of Buddha. After this, -an occasional embassy from India arrived; but such -missions soon came to an end, although a little intercourse -was kept up with Ceylon by means of an arduous and -dangerous voyage. Not until the fourth century were -Chinamen allowed to become Buddhist priests. Then, -at once, monasteries sprang up all over the country. -About the year 400 Fa-Hian and others with him were -sent on an embassy to secure religious writings. They -made their difficult way through Central Asia. Fa-Hian -alone returned, after 14 years absence, by way of Ceylon, -bearing authentic scripture with him. A hundred years -later Sung-Yun became a pilgrim to the same end and -was successful in securing a hundred and seventy volumes. -Gautama, like Jesus, had taught by word of mouth only. -His manner was to utter some pithy precept, and then to -develop it in a running commentary. But his disciples -recorded these precious words; and, from time to time, -expositions and doctrinal developments and marvellous -fables were added. Of these, the earlier were written -in Pali; the later in Sanskrit, even then a dead tongue, -knowledge of which was the privilege of a small learned -class. These Buddhistic writings, made on prepared<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">8</a></span> -palm-leaves, were regarded by the faithful with superstitious -reverence; and Chinese Buddhists were anxious -to obtain complete and accurate copies of them, as well -as sacred images and relics of Buddha, which might serve -as the objects of deep veneration.</p> - -<p>At no period has the disordered tragedy of human -history been more cataclysmic than in the early part -of the Seventh Century after Christ. The whole world -was then a theatre of wild unrest and stupendous change, -little as one fragment of the human race might know of -aught but its own disasters or triumphs. The shattered -edifice of the Roman Empire of the West was run over by -Lombard, Frank and Goth and races still more barbarous -than these. From Cheviot to Illyricum, all was confused, -bloody, and unceasing riot. The exceptional vigour of -Heraclius alone saved the Roman Empire of the East -from the ever-watchful and now advancing hosts of Persia; -while a new and wholly unexpected menace arose in the -Arabian desert: there a peril burst forth as abrupt, fierce -and overwhelming as a sandstorm of that rocky waste. -For Mohammed and his followers advanced thence with -fiery and resistless speed to offer the nations choice between -the Koran, tribute, and the sword. Even distant, -tranquil China, the land cut off from the rest of mankind -was parturient: the Empire had broken up, and was -contended for by vulturine feudatories, who fought together -for sole possession of its bleeding carcase. A new -and strong dynasty arose amid slaughter and desolation. -But, for a time, Central China was hell let loose. The -adolescence of Hiuen-Tsiang was passed amid scenes of -death and dismay.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">9</a></span></p> - - -<h3>CHAPTER III.<br /><br /> - -<small>AN ADVENTUROUS JOURNEY.</small></h3> - - -<p><span class="smcap">This</span> boldest of pilgrims, greatest of Chinese travellers -came into the world <span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span> 603—nearly twelve hundred -years after the founder of his faith. He was the fourth -son of a Chinese Professor in the Province of Ho-nan, in -Central China. Probably he shewed mental ability -and a devotional spirit early; for the second of his elder -brethren took him into his own monastery at Lo-Yang, -the Eastern Capital, to supervise his education. The -boy is said to have evinced such brilliant parts and such -a spiritual mind that he became a novice at what would -seem, at that time, to have been the exceptionally early -age of thirteen years; although, two centuries before, -Fa-Hian was a novice at three! It was soon after this -event that revolution shook the ancient Empire, and came -near to disrupt it. China became a slaughter-house, -and Buddhist priests were murdered as well as Government -Officials.</p> - -<p>As certain saints bear witness, the passion that wings -its flight towards no earthly home is occasionally combined -with bold and efficient direction of mundane life. It -was so combined in Hiuen-Tsiang. The monk of perfervid -faith gave early proof that he was a lad of mettle -as well as an enthusiast for the Greater Vehicle. In resolution -and spirit, he dominated his elder brother, and -insisted on their both setting off, in the teeth of peril, -for a safer place in the Eastern province of Sz-chuen; -and here he ended his novitiate and was fully ordained -at the age of twenty.</p> - -<p>At last, chaos within the Chinese frontier and warfare -along it began to yield to the military genius and state-craft -of T’ai-Tsung, the greatest of Chinese warriors and -rulers. Hiuen-Tsiang was not slow to avail himself of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">10</a></span> -return of some measure of tranquillity to the State. He disobeyed -monastic authority, joined a band of nomadic -traders, and visited convent after convent of the wide -Empire, with the purpose of clearing his mind, in -debate with their inmates, concerning difficult problems -in scriptural scholarship and the precise import of certain -tenets of his faith. There was full scope for speculative -discussion, since Chinese Buddhists did not yet possess -a complete set of the Sacred Writings or of the Buddhist -Fathers and workers in that kind of suggestive fiction -which is so often taken to be veritable history and which -becomes the wardrobe of moral truth. Much was, as -yet, unsettled by authority and lay open to dispute.</p> - -<p>Dissatisfied by the indefinite results of controversy, -and fired by the records of previous pilgrims, the young -monk resolved to make for the cradle and sanctuary of -Buddhism and to seek there for the books which his -countrymen lacked. He and a few ardent monks applied -to the newly-established Emperor for permission to do this. -The monarch was Kao-T’sou, first of the T’ang dynasty—that -most famous of the many Imperial lines of China—the -glory of having founded which rests with his son, -the redoubtable T’ai-Tsung, whom, later on, we shall -find seated on his father’s throne. The request was made -at an inopportune time, and was refused. For monkdom -did not stand in court-favour just then; monks -were ordered to marry; possibly, because recent internecine -strife had thinned the population; possibly, also, because -the new government was jealous, in a perilous time, of the -power of growing sacerdotalism. This prohibition put an -end to the hope of Hiuen-Tsiang’s coadjutors: it only increased -his own ardour and hardened his own resolve. -He was now 24 years of age; therefore in the full vigour -of early manhood; he cared nothing for obedience to constituted -authority when constituted authority stood in the -way of spiritual enlightenment. And he was not merely filled -with religious enthusiasm: the restless force and curiosity<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">11</a></span> -of youth were his; there were shrewd, observant eyes in -his head as well as disciplined wits. Here was a man -anxious and fitted to observe the physical features, governments, -productions, and peculiarities of unknown countries -and to record them. Westward, beyond the setting sun, -lay mysterious lands, vague as a dream, yet to be found -a reality in this so wondrous world. There was a call -from afar. When the spirit of one born for action is -all a fire with enthusiasm begotten of idea, let the world -keep watch!</p> - -<p>It would appear from Tao-Sun, a Chinese author contemporary -with Hiuen-Tsiang, that there were three -routes from China to India—the one which our traveller -took; the one by which he returned; and a third from -Lake Lob-nor, over the thousand miles of terrible plateau -in Thibet and the Himalayas to Nepal. Before long -Hiuen Tsiang was at Liang-chau, the capital of the province -of Lan-su, far beyond the upper reaches of the great -Yellow River, and nearly at the extreme north-western -limit of China Proper. Here were gathered merchants -from Thibet and other far-distant lands; and these were -so impressed by Hiuen-Tsiang’s fervour and the grandeur -of his project that they are said to have cast themselves -at his feet. They provided him with ample means to -go on. Now, Chinese administration in the province of -Lan-su had only been established recently, and remained -insecure; no inhabitant was allowed to cross the frontier; -and the Governor was a strong man who rigorously enforced -his regulations. But what are the strongest bonds -of any mere narrow national group against the conflicting -obligation of Moral or Ideal impulse? How can usage -and prescription and enactment prevail against more -spiritual forces? Our would-be pilgrim secured the aid -of a friendly monk, and stole out of the city by night, -accompanied by two young novices. The trio stealthily, -yet rapidly, pursued their course each night; they crept -furtively into some hiding place before each dawn. By<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">12</a></span> -the time this evasive noctambulation had brought them -to Kwa-chau, more than a hundred miles north-east of -Liang-chau, Hiuen-Tsiang’s horse was dead. There was -small comfort in learning that he would have to cross a -river so turbulent that no boat could live on it; that, -beyond the river, was an entrenchment which he must -contrive to get over; and that, even should he overcome -this obstacle, the frontier was closed by rings of forts; -beyond the forts there was a vast stretch of herbless, -waterless waste; and beyond this desert lay the land of -a Turkish people—those Uïghurs, who appear in European -folk-lore as the terrible Ogres.</p> - -<p>His heart sank within him; the melancholy which seized -him lasted a whole month, and his taciturnity made it -apparent. The Imperial Veto arrived at Kwa-chau; -the Governor of the city sent him a summons to appear. -But this new blow roused his failing courage; he pulled -himself together; personality and enthusiasm prevailed -at the interview; the Governor was won over; Authority -gave the pilgrim a hint to lose no time in making off; -and closed its official eye to his departure.</p> - -<p>Now, one of the novices was faint-hearted; the other -sickly. Hiuen-Tsiang sent them back. He was anxious -to get on his solitary way as fast as he could; so he bought -a new horse; but he lacked a guide. By a lucky accident -he fell in with a “barbarian,” who expressed a desire -to become a monk, and who offered to guide him past -the five successive forts which lay ahead, and which he -must somehow contrive to dodge. The “barbarian” -also took him to see an ancient trader who had been to -the land of the Uïghurs over thirty times. This old -gentleman made no attempt at reassuring him. “The -routes of the West are rough and dangerous,” he said, -“now, one is stopped by shifting sands; now, by demons -and scorching winds. Even big caravans are liable -to lose their way and come to a miserable end. How, -then, can you hope to make the journey all by yourself?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">13</a></span> -Be wise, I entreat you, and do not play with your life.” -But the monk answered that he held his life as nothing -when set against his holy quest. The old trader then -dropped vain arguments and proposed a deal which -should be mutually profitable: he would take the horse -which Hiuen-Tsiang had bought, and would give him -his own Rosinante, which had made the journey so often, -and therefore must remember the road. The pilgrim, -when he saw the beast, recalled how one skilled in occult -science had once spoken to him of an ancient steed, -reddish of colour, with a varnished saddle and an iron -framework to it; and lo! was not the very steed before -him? He closed the bargain; and he and the barbarian -set forth together, each on his “mount.”</p> - -<p>The twain came up to the river (the Bulunghir) and -found a place where there were narrows. The guide -proved himself to be resourceful: he made a sort of bridge -of boughs, covered them with sand, and belaboured the -horses until they dashed across the frail structure. A -strange way of crossing an unfordable stream! but by -no means so improbable as it sounds. It is said to be -still used in Central Asia.</p> - -<p>Night drew on. Both men were weary, and spread -their mats for sleep. But Hiuen-Tsiang placed small -confidence in his guide. They lay fifty paces apart. -And, before long, our hero heard a stealthy footfall and -saw the dim outline of the half-savage stalking up to him. -With drawn sword, too! He sprang up, and breathed -a prayer; whereupon the guide returned to his own mat, -stretched himself out, and straightway fell asleep. Had -he meant evil? or did he wish to make off if he found -the pilgrim asleep? or was his desire to frighten him from -pursuing a journey so perilous to them both?</p> - -<p>Next morning, being already within the verge of the -desert, they ate sparingly, but were lucky enough to find -water. No more water would be found until they reached -close up to the first fort; and they must steal this by night;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">14</a></span> -for, once espied by the garrison, they might count themselves -dead men. The guide tried to work on our pilgrim -to give up such a mad enterprise. But Hiuen-Tsiang -knew no shadow of turning; so the twain, ears and eyes -wide open, wormed they way over the rough tackless -waste. Suddenly the guide tightened his bow and bade -Hiuen-Tsiang go on in front. Our pilgrim was far too -wary a person to do anything of the kind; he was by no -means satisfied as to the designs of the half-civilized -stranger. However, the barbarian quietly resumed his -duty as scout; but he displayed such a desire to be out -of it all, and his fears were so obviously growing, that -Hiuen-Tsiang dismissed him with a present of the horse -he rode.</p> - -<p>Behold our traveller, then, solitary on the unending, -pathless desert of Gobi—one of the most immense of -Earth’s waste places,—eagerly on the look out for such -heaps of bleached bones as might mark the track of some -caravan. After some time of slow, painful progress, he -beheld a band of men wearing glittering armour and -bearing their banners unfurled; they were making for -him, but vanished as suddenly as they appeared. It -was the mirage come to perplex and delude him. One -illusion followed another in rapid succession; fleeting, -dissolving scenes which were the works of the Devil. -But a voice said to him: “Fear not.” This brought -comfort, and his fear departed. He pushed on, and in -the end he sighted the watch-tower. He hid in a sand-hollow -until night closed round, and then he crept up to the -wall of the fort and found the hoped-for water. He was -busy filling his leathern-bottle, when an arrow whizzed -by and very nearly hit him; and a second arrow followed. -He shouted out: “Stop your shooting. I am a monk -from the Capital.” Soldiers ran up, dragged him into -the fort, and took him before their captain. He produced -papers which proved his identity, and was treated with -the respect due to a priest of Buddha; yet the Captain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">15</a></span> -urged him to return home. Finding the pilgrim to be a -man of heroic piety and inflexible will, he set out with him -and guided him some distance along the way to the next -fort. He even gave Hiuen-Tsiang a message to its captain, -recommending the pilgrim to his favour and assistance. -But the message was a verbal one only. And Hiuen-Tsiang -was not sure that he might not find more rigour -and less charity at the next watch-tower; so, when he -came up to it, he crept furtively towards its base, in search -of water as before. The dispatch of an arrow was -sufficient warning; he came into the open, and the scene -at the first fort was re-enacted. He repeated the message -to its Captain; and this second officer gave him hospitable -entertainment and better advice. For he urged him to -avoid the third fort, which was held by rough soldiery, -who would not be nice in making delicate distinctions -and might easily become violent. And he directed him -to take a route which avoided this fort altogether, and -along which, at ten leagues distance, he would come across -sweet water.</p> - -<p>He set off across the arid plain, where was neither -beast nor bird to be seen, nor blade of grass, nor any -sign of moisture—only mirage. A pandemonium of -fantastic forms encircled him; forms begotten of the -Power of Evil. But he felt secure in the midst of devils; -for did he not bear, folded in his bosom, a sure talisman—none -other than a Sacred Manuscript, the gift of -grateful leper to whom he had stood as a friend?</p> - -<p>Illusory peril was followed by solid disaster: he dropped -his water-bottle and spilled its precious contents. Next, -his horse lost its way, and made the same long circuit -again and again. For a moment, he was tempted to -assay a return to the fort: he brushed the thought aside, -turned his horse’s head to the North-West, and pushed on.</p> - -<p>Night came on. Evil spirits seized on the opportunity -to close in on him. Every demon bore a burning torch. -They were more in multitude than the stars of heaven.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">16</a></span> -Four horrid nights, filled with hallucination, wore away. -Four days he struggled on, tortured by thirst, his body -one ache. At last horse and rider fell to the ground, -worn out. Death was close at hand when a refreshing -night-breeze swept over the desert, and horse and rider -renewed the struggle. Suddenly, the horse insisted on -taking his own way: he had scented water; and soon -a little oasis was reached. It was uninhabited; but a -day’s rest there refreshed man and beast; and, on the third -day, the traveller saw the last of the shifting sands of -Shamo and came to the pastures of the Uïghurs.</p> - -<p>In the capital, probably identical with the town now -known as Hâmî, he found a Buddhist monastery, wherein -dwelt three Chinese monks. He had already made fully -600 miles from Liang-chau; but that was as nothing to -the journey which lay before him; and from this he was -compelled to digress. For he was in a region tributary -to the ruler of Kau-chang (Turfan) and this monarch, -having heard of his arrival, ordered that he should be -sent on to him. Six days of travel to the West, through -a desert, brought him to Turfan. The Lord-paramount -of the Uïghurs received him with all honour and much -state-ceremony. He sat under a “canopy of precious -stuffs” pitched in the courtyard of a palace. Soon -after the pilgrim’s arrival, the queen, accompanied by -her suite, appeared; but Hiuen-Tsiang being fatigued, -their Majesties retired to the “palace,” and he was conducted -to his chamber, where eunuchs served and guarded -him. Next day he was taken to a Buddhist convent, -still in the custody of the eunuchs. For the monarch -had resolved to keep such a holy person for the better -instruction of his subjects.</p> - -<p>Hiuen-Tsiang incurred the royal displeasure by stoutly -refusing to do as he was bid and stay on. Then ensued, -in that far away time and half barbaric land, the ancient -and ever recurrent struggle which history so copiously -illustrates—the contest between regnant authority and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">17</a></span> -the claims of religion. At one time the despot tried to -brow-beat; at another time, to cajole; he even put aside -his dignity and offered to serve the monk at table. Both -men were equally resolute; and the situation seemed -hopeless, when Hiuen-Tsiang bethought him of an expedient -with which we moderns became familiar at no very -recent date. He started to hunger-strike. In four days -the result of this policy alarmed the King. The queen-mother -declared herself for the holy pilgrim, and the -monarch gave in. He begged that Hiuen-Tsiang would -at least stay in the country during one short month. -The monk accepted the compromise; and in that single -month his unaffected piety, passionate singleness of -aim and personal attraction did the work they never -failed to accomplish everywhere and on every occasion. -Moral intensity was the secret of his success.</p> - -<p>And so we see the poor wanderer who came to Uïghur-land -alone, famished, and half dead, leaving the land -under the protection of an armed escort, and provided, -not merely with an ample supply of warm clothing for -the heights he must cross, but with 100 ounces of gold, -30,000 pieces of silver and 500 pieces of satin for the -presents which were necessary and to pay his way. He -was also given letters of recommendation to the Princes -of the West. Monks and the population of the city -followed him beyond its gates; and the despot, having -sent the queen and people back, conducted him surrounded -by his whole court, some miles on his journey.</p> - -<p>The route lay westward, over a difficult, mountainous -land. Southward lay the Tarim, a considerable river, -which discharges itself into Lob-nor, one of the numerous -inland salt-seas of Asia, for ever rising and falling -and shifting its boundaries. It was well that -the pilgrim had a military escort; for a band of brigands -lurked among the mountains. They were probably -quite as strong as the Uïghur soldiery; for negotiations -were entered into, and ended in their being bought off.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">18</a></span> -A little farther on there was ghastly evidence that these -ruffians had recently attacked and destroyed a caravan -of traders: a few score corpses lay stretched out on the -ground.</p> - -<p>When Kara-shahr (Karshâr) was reached, its King -behaved courteously, but refused to grant fresh horses, -by reason of the frequent raiding of his domain by the -Uïghurs. He was disquieted by the presence of Uïghur -soldiery. Hiuen-Tsiang tells us, among much else that -is interesting, that the coinage here was of gold, silver -and copper,—that there were ten Buddhist monasteries -of the Lesser Vehicle; that these were properly kept, -but that the country “had no annals” and that “the -laws were not settled. The people clothe themselves in -cotton or wool, and go about with their scalps shorn and -uncovered.”</p> - -<p>The separate account of each country the pilgrim -visited or concerning which he believed he had credible -information—his great monumental work—the <i>Si-yu-ki</i>—begins -with Kara-shahr which he calls Akni or Agni. -One is at once struck with the exactness of the author’s -observation, the orderliness of his mind, and the minute -precision of his statement. One is equally astounded -at his oriental love of the marvellous and his eager haste -to record every grotesque and absurd legend. There is -before us a man as full as any modern explorer of ardent -zeal for travel, eager curiosity, keen eye, and quick interest -in all that is novel and peculiar. There is the same intellectual -grasp of the natural features, products and -government of strange countries. But Hiuen-Tsiang’s -inmost, burning passion is revealed both in this book and -in the biography compiled from his documents and discourse -by two pupils and intimate friends Hwui-Lih -and Yen-Tsong<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">1</a>: it was for all that appertained to his -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">19</a></span>religion, whether sacred writing or Buddhist monuments -or the relics of saints. When he deals with mundane -matters he rarely goes astray. And, from his earliest -years, he bore a sacred flame, a consuming fire in his -breast, fed by the highest and holiest emotions and aspirations -of man. But, although he breathed the breath of -life, the purest atmosphere of the East in his century was -tainted by superstition. The mental disposition for the -marvellous, implanted in him at a tender age, and sustained -by precept and example, waxed with the years. -The absurdest legends became credible if they bore the -name of his faith. This close observer, this clear minded -man became passionate for prodigies, had a Gargantuan -swallow for the superstitious-grotesque. Brought up -on legend, he soon found himself in a home of fable. He -records every marvellous tale which is told him, and -worships at every shrine which guards any relic of wonder. -And this although he was not wanting in passion for -orderly thinking.</p> - -<p>News from Kara-shahr that a holy pilgrim, bound for -India, might be expected reached the next Kingdom, -and he found monks standing to greet him at the gate -of Kutchê, its capital. Feelings of simple grace and -beauty dwelt in those Eastern hearts; they welcomed -him with a gift of flowers. But the strict laws of his -order did not permit of his accepting these for himself. -He placed them before an image of Buddha, Teacher -of the Law. Kutchê was a land of music, its people<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">20</a></span> -excelling all others on the lute and pipe. They were a -wholly honest folk, with an incompetent ruler. “The -King’s wisdom being small,” says our Chinaman, “he -is ruled by a private minister. The heads of children -of the humbler order are flattened by the pressure of a -wooden board”; which recalls the custom of certain -North American Indians. The King had ordered a -banquet to honour his visitor; but the strictness of the -rule which Hiuen-Tsiang followed forbade him to be -present. This cast the potentate into a mighty rage; -but once again the simplicity and sincerity of the pilgrim’s -character, which glowed in his countenance, disarmed -wrath. He was retained at Kutchê, an honoured guest, -until such time as the snows should melt. He spent two -months there, chiefly occupied in religious discussion -with the monks. He tells us that the monarch and his -ministers met together once a month to discuss matters -of state, and consulted the priests before publishing -their decrees.</p> - -<p>When the season ripened and the ways became open -once more, he was sent forth in magnificent pomp and -protection; he was accompanied by an armed escort and -a staff of servants, all mounted on camels and horses. -The escort was very necessary; for a great horde of Turkish -robbers were passed on the way, quarrelling about the -booty of a caravan which they had stopped and plundered. -A march of about 120 miles brought our party to a small -desert which they crossed over, and so entered the domain -of another Khân. A single night was spent at what -is now Bai, where he found Buddhist monasteries, and the -party pushed across another small desert. The towering -and forbidding ranges of Thian-shan were before them, -“very dangerous and reaching up to the sky.” Indeed -Khân Tengri, the highest mountain of the range, has an -elevation of 24,000 feet. The imposing features of the -mountain-masses and the horror of the passes across them -left indelible marks on Hiuen-Tsiang’s memory. “Since<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">21</a></span> -the creation of the world,” he says, “the snow has gathered -there and become frozen blocks, which spring and summer -cannot melt. Shining sheets of solid ice spread before -one, and there is, as it were, no end to them; they blend -with the clouds. Frozen splinters have become detached -and have fallen; some of these are an hundred feet high; -others measure some dozens of feet athwart, and they -bar the way. You attempt to climb over the former -kind at your peril; you get across the latter with pain. -And all the time tempest assails you with gusts of wind -and whirling drifts of snow; so that double soles to your -foot-gear and fur garments to your body fail to keep out -the cold. Of dry shelter there is none, either to feed or -sleep in. You have to sling up your cooking-pot and lay -your sleeping mat on the frozen ground.” Mountain-staves -were used, and we learn from the <i>Si-yu-ki</i> (the -“Record of Western Countries”) that mountaineers -were accustomed to cut steps in the ice. But to climb -uncharted hills, among the highest of the world, led by -guides of no great experience; to make one’s way over -rock and glacier unroped and unprovided with specially -constructed boots; to sleep in the open in rarified and -arctic air; to live on poor food, and often to lack it, was to -loathe the mountain-pass. And this Hiuen-Tsiang did, -heartily.</p> - -<p>It cost the caravan seven dolorous days to cross the -higher ranges, and, by the time the western uplands were -reached, 13 or 14 strong men had been lost through cold -and hunger, and more than double that number of beasts -of burthen.</p> - -<p>Beyond the mountains, the uplands of Western -Turkestan lie at a higher level than that reached by Ben -Nevis, and they embosom a great inland sea—the Issyk-Kul, -which lies nearly 5,000 feet up. Wending their -way along its southern shore, our travellers ran into a -hunting party of the Khân of the Turks. Only half -a century had then passed since nomadic Turkish tribes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">22</a></span> -possessed themselves of the “thousand sources” of those -two great rivers which lose themselves in the Aral Sea, -which are known to modern geographers as Amu Daria -and Syr Daria, and which readers of the classics know -as Oxus and Jaxartes. The Turks speedily became -masters of the fertile plains of Sogdiana and Bactria, -subdued the tribes that occupied the region we call -Bokhâra, and extended their sway into the very heart -of the Hindû Kûsh, reaching as far south as the Kapiśa -of the Greeks—that is to say, within a few miles of Kâbul.</p> - -<p>We have an interesting account of how the Nomadic -Ruler gave the travellers a gracious reception within a -great tent, resplendent with cloth of gold. Two long -rows of dignitaries, clad in figured silks of many colours, -squatted on mats before the Khân; behind him stood -the royal guard. He wore a cloak of green satin; his -long hair was bound over the forehead by several folds -of silk, the ends whereof fell over his back. When on -horseback, two hundred captains, gay in brocade and riding -horses with plaited tails, and an army with banners, -spears and long bows accompanied him. This was not -foot soldiery; horses or camels were ridden, and the men -were clad in furs and fine wool. One could see no end -to the army, it was such a multitude. Our author tells -us that the Turk of his day worshipped fire, and sat on -mats, since wooden chairs contain the quality of fire. -Ten centuries later Sir Thomas Browne, in his “Urn-Burial” -refers to the Parsees of India “which expose -their bodies unto vultures and endure not so much as -<i>feretra</i> or biers of wood, the proper fuel of fire.” A huge -arm-chair, made of iron and covered with a mat was -brought in for the use of Hiuen-Tsiang. The whole party -was invited to sit, Turkish fashion; wine was brought in, -cups clinked, and everybody drank, turn and turn about; -while music, which to Chinese ears was barbaric yet not -unpleasing, came from strange instruments. After the -wine, legs and shoulders of boiled mutton and veal were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">23</a></span> -brought in; but the Buddhist was separately served with -“pure food”—rice-cake, cream, milk, crystallized sugar, -honeycomb and grapes. Of course the divine gadfly -which pursued our hero stung him to testify on this -occasion, as on all other opportunities, whether in season -or out of season. But his personality stood him in good -stead; moreover, to this day, a holy man is respected -throughout the pagan East, no matter what his faith -may be. The Khân was interested and attentive; even -impressed. He raised his hands towards heaven, cast -himself on the ground, kept Hiuen-Tsiang about his person -for some days, and earnestly besought him to give up his -project. “You must not go,” he said. “The country -is a very hot one. You look too frail a man to give hope -of your success. The natives are black; they go about -naked; they have no modesty; they are unworthy of -your presence among them.” “Whatever I may be,” -replied the Master of the Law, “I burn with longing to -seek for the commands of Buddha, to inspect the ancient -monuments, and to follow lovingly the track of our Lord’s -footpath on earth.” What followed marks yet once more -the personal ascendency of our hero in every situation. -This half-savage head of wild Mongolian hordes sought -straightway for some one who knew Chinese and could -also interpret the confusion of tongues in his own subject-lands -to the south. Such a man was speedily picked -out of the Khân’s army; for Chinese had been carried -off by the Turkish Hiung-nu (a people possibly, though -by no means certainly, identical with the terrible Huns -whom Attila led to devastate Europe) and had settled -down in towns, deserted when Hiuen-Tsiang arrived -in the district, but where they had kept up their native -tongue, although they had adopted Turkish dress and -ways. With true Eastern courtesy to a guest, the great -Khân accompanied our traveller some little way on his -journey.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">24</a></span></p> - -<p>At first the route lay westward towards the “Land of -the Thousand Sources”—a region of lakes and pools, -great trees, much vegetation, and a sweet and wooing air. -Hither the Khân was wont to repair in summer. Still -travelling westward, Talas was reached, and then, by -bending round to the South-West and South, Samarkand, -the “storehouse of precious merchandise from many -foreign countries.” Our traveller found the ruler “full -of courage, and controlling neighbouring countries” with -his fierce soldiery. He received the pilgrim with an air -of lofty disdain; but Hiuen-Tsiang was not a man to be -daunted, and, next day, when he boldly set forth his -faith, contempt became respect. Buddhism was practically -dead in Samarkand. The monasteries were empty. -Two young monks who were with Hiuen-Tsiang sought -to pass the night in one of these vacant buildings; but -the populace threw burning brands at them and drove -them out. The King condemned the offenders to decapitation; -but Hiuen-Tsiang pleaded for mercy; so they -were merely beaten and expelled from the city. His -successful intercession increased the fervour of his missionary -zeal; nor did he toil in vain; the monasteries -were re-opened; and he ordained priests to fill them.</p> - -<p>Leaving Samarkand, about 90 miles off, he entered -a pass bordered by mountains “of prodigious heighth, -with a narrow road” to add “to the difficulty and danger.” -The pass was closed by double wooden doors, studded -with iron, and hung with bells. The pass owed its name—The -Iron Gates—to these strong defences.</p> - -<p>The Oxus was reached and crossed, and our pilgrim -now deviates considerably from the direct route to fulfil -a promise which he had made to the Khân of the Uïghurs -to visit his son-in-law, the son of the great Khân of the -Turks, who ruled over a little Khânate, called Hwo, -and probably identical with the district which lies east -of the Surkh-âb. When he arrived, he found the monarch -on his death-bed; and was obliged to wait two months<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">25</a></span> -until the funeral ceremonies were done with. During this -time a tragedy took place which casts a lurid light on -court-life in Central Asia during the Seventh Century, -and which reminds us of the Italian tragedies during the -High Renaissance. The wife of the Khân had died, -and the Khân replaced her by marrying her young sister. -At the instigation of a son by the first marriage, the bride -murders her husband. “The serpent that did sting -his father’s life now wears his crown,” and marries his -aunt-step-mother. A similar atrocity is recorded of -the Chinese Imperial family in Hiuen-Tsiang’s time. -In <span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span> 655 the Emperor, Kao-Tsung, deposed the Empress -and married one of his father’s widows, who wholly ruled -him, cut off the feet of the Empress, and of another queen, -and then had these unfortunate ladies drowned “like -Clarence in his Malmsey-butt,” in a vat of wine.</p> - -<p>Hiuen-Tsiang was fortunate in finding a monk who had -dwelt in India and had studied the Scriptures there; -and the twain set forth for Balkh in some sort of waggon. -At Balkh, he found no fewer than a hundred Buddhist -monasteries, three thousand monks, and sacred memorials -and relics beyond count. He might have become very -rich; for the Kinglets around Balkh were eager to secure -a visit from such a holy being, and offered to load him -with gold and jewels. But he was not the man to depart -from the straight and narrow path he had chosen. He -refused them one and all, and set forth for ways “even -more difficult and dangerous than the deserts of ice. -Every moment one is at battle there with frozen cloud or -snow-whirlwind. Sometimes one is faced with worse -than this, even, namely, morasses of mud, dozens of -feet wide. Ice, pile on pile, rises into mountain masses, -snow-blasts dash on for a hundred leagues.” “The -raging spirits and demons of the mountains send -every kind of calamity; and there are murderous robbers -to be met with.” Thus does Hiuen Tsiang describe -the passage of the Hindû Kûsh.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">26</a></span></p> - -<p>At Bâmiyân, in the heart of Afghanistan, a great -centre of Buddhism after the model of the Little Vehicle, -he was honourably received by its ruler and rested -five days in his palace. He visited the great Buddhist -images, hewn out of the solid rock (which our soldiers -saw in the Afghan Campaign of 1843) and other remarkable -monuments. On the second day after leaving Bâmiyân, -he was caught in a blinding snowstorm, lost his way, -and was like to perish, when mountaineers who were out -hunting came across him and put him on the right track. -A mountain pass brought him to the Kapiśa of Ptolemy -and Pliny. It was situated a little to the north of the -present Kâbul. Here “the people were fierce and cruel -speaking a rude tongue, their marriage a mere intermingling -of the sexes.” The monarch, shrewd, brave, -firm and sagacious, had established a little empire by -bringing ten neighbouring States under his overlordship, -and had won the love of his subjects. Hearing of the -approach of the pilgrim, this potentate set out to meet him, -accompanied by a procession of monks. These pietists -of various monasteries of the Great and Little Vehicle -remained sufficiently human to quarrel as to which house -should shelter so rare a guest. Now the King was an -enthusiastic supporter of the more rigid Order; and Hiuen-Tsiang -would naturally have prepared to take up his -abode in a convent of the Great Vehicle. But the appeal -of the monks of a convent following the Little Vehicle, -an appeal made on historic grounds, touched him; yet -one of the monks who had accompanied him showed -strong repugnance to sleep in a house of Hiuen-Tsiang’s -rival and stricter sect. Our Chinese was neither a Courtier -nor a Pharisee; he could “suffer fools gladly,” and took -up his abode with the weaker brethren. Then the rivals -had but one voice in entreating him to uncover a treasure, -which had been set aside for the repair of some religious -house, and which lay buried beneath the foot of an image -of Buddha.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">27</a></span></p> - - - - -<h3>CHAPTER IV.<br /><br /> - -<small>THROUGH INDIA IN THE SEVENTH CENTURY.</small></h3> - - -<p><span class="smcap">He</span> passed the wet season at Kapiśa, and then, protected -by the King’s envoys, went along the North bank of the -Kâbul river and through districts memorable in the record -of the Indian expedition of Alexander the Great. Again -and again do we come across the names of places familiar -to the reader of Arrian and Strabo. He visited Peshâwar -and Attock; he travelled through many a little Kingdom -of what is now North-Eastern Afghanistan and the North-West -Provinces of India, by zig-zag and perplexing routes. -Here was the classic soil of ancient Brâhmanism; here -was to be found many a Buddhist record of the great days -of Aśôka. It was a land of monasteries and monuments, -of countless <i>stûpas</i> (monuments containing relics) and -sculptured stones, of ancient tradition and extravagant -myth. The recording carvings of ages still stood thick -on the ground or lay there in ruin. He saw every one of -them, traversing perilous ravines by the help of chains -affixed to the rocks; crossing frail swaying bridges made -of rope. He got as far north as Baltistân, or Little Thibet, -“in the midst of the Great Snowy Mountains.” More -than six centuries later, Marco Polo refers to the inhabitants -as “an evil race of savage idolaters,” and Hiuen-Tsiang -found their forefathers “fierce, passionate folk, ill-mannered, -and of uncouth speech.” “Strictly speaking, -they do not belong to India, but are rude frontier-folk.” -Sometimes the ways were deserted; for brigands were -abroad. Almost everywhere Brâhmanism was in the -ascendent; Buddhism in decay; but, as yet, the rivalry -of the two creeds had nowhere become acute; rival -religionists behaved kindly and courteously one to another; -and Brâhmans received the traveller with generous hospitality. -Yet the careful student will not fail to observe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">28</a></span> -that the antagonism between Brâhman and Buddhist, -which is evident in the pages of Fa-Hien, had not decreased -in the two centuries since his time. For Exoteric Brâhmanism, -with its clever adaptation of the ancient gods -of India; its appeal to the imagination of the vulgar, -always concrete in character and incapable of comprehending -an abstract proposition; its deities, embodying -human passion and evoking human sympathies; its support -of human pride in the institution of caste; its intercessory -priesthood and vicarious sacrifice; and its supple manipulation -of men to obtain power, was on the high road -to revival. But there is an esoteric Brâhmanism, as -Macaulay found out, always the lofty, pure creed of the -educated Hindu.</p> - -<p>Hiuen-Tsiang went up and down and to and fro in these -frontier-states, threading many a delicious valley which -nestled among the mountains and was overlooked by -the snows of Himalaya; and returning from time to time -to the more enervating atmosphere of the valley of the -Indus. The King of Kaśmîr (Cashmir) visited him at -a monastery where he was staying, preceded by a brilliant -procession. The roadway was covered with umbrellas -and banners; it was carpeted with flowers, and the air -was filled with sweet scents. The monarch was full of -compliment and shows of respect, and scattered a great -quantity of flowers in Hiuen-Tsiang’s honour. Then he -begged him to take his seat on a great elephant. And he -walked behind him. The pilgrim remained two years -in Kasmîr, sitting at the feet of a sage, studying Sanskrit -and the Buddhist scriptures. Indeed, throughout all -his travels, he was forever studying or collecting or transcribing -manuscripts, when he was not visiting and venerating -relics.</p> - -<p>Now near Nagarahâra, in the district of Jalâlâbâd, -there was a certain cavern, where, peradventure, the -pious might behold the shadow which Buddha had cast -on its walls. It had been granted to Sung-Yun to see it,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">29</a></span> -when the Empress Dowager of a Tartar dynasty which -ruled in Northern China sent him and another on an -embassy to obtain Buddhist books (<span class="smcap lowerase">A.D.</span> 518); and Hiuen-Tsiang -was consumed by desire to see it also. His escort -from Kapiśa earnestly begged him not to make the attempt; -it was a rash and perilous project; brigands were abroad; -and few indeed were those who might see the holy vision. -They could not dissuade him; so they left him and went -home, and he took an old man as guide. When he got -near the cavern five brigands pounced upon him. He -pointed to his monks’ robe and told them that, if they -were brigands, they were none the less men, and he had -no fear of men, or even of wild beasts, when sacred duty -called him. He touched their hearts, and they let him go.</p> - -<p>Although a man visited by visions and a dreamer of -significant dreams, he spent a long time in the cave and -saw nothing. Prostrations and convictions of sin were -in vain. Then, quite suddenly, came a flash of light; -thereupon he vowed that he would not quit the spot -until he should behold the veritable shade. In the end -the reward of such persistent enthusiasm was bestowed: -he beheld the Buddha, attended by his sacred court, in -all their heavenly splendour. But, just then, torch-bearers -came into the cave, intending to burn perfumes -in the holy place, and the glory disappeared. Hiuen-Tsiang -ordered them to put out their lights, and lo! -there was the vision as before. Five of the six torch-bearers -declared that they beheld the shadow. It is -characteristic of our pilgrim that he is careful to tell -us that the sixth man saw nothing whatever. Never -a shadow of doubt arises as to his good faith. Sung-Yun -the Chinese ambassador and pilgrim, writing an account -of his journey a hundred years before Hiuen-Tsiang, -tells us how, “Entering the mountain cavern fifteen feet -and looking for a long time (or, at a long distance?) -at the western side of it, opposite the entrance, at length, -the figure, with its characteristic marks, appears; on going<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">30</a></span> -nearer to look at it, it gradually grows fainter, and then -disappears. On touching the place where it was with the -hand, there is nothing but the bare wall. Gradually -retreating, the figure begins to come into view again, -and foremost is conspicuous that peculiar mark between -the eyebrows, which is so rare among men.” And Hiuen-Tsiang -tells us, in his “Records of Western Lands,” that -in later days the shadow has faded to a feeble likeness, -although, by fervent prayer, it may be clearly seen, -“though not for long.”</p> - -<p>Leaving the North-Western corner of India, he now -proceeded through the Punjâb. Many a city he names -has perished, and not a stone thereof is left; of others -a few stones mark the seat of departed greatness; but -often the names recall the Embassy of Megasthenes and -differ but little from those by which they were known -to the Greeks of a yet earlier age.</p> - -<p>He had left certain rude tribes behind him, yet he found -particular districts by no means free from murderous -gangs; and he had to traverse many a forest inhabited -by wild elephants and great beasts of prey. In one forest, -he and fellow-monks who accompanied him found themselves -at the mercy of half a hundred armed brigands, -who chased them into the bed of a pond which had run -dry. Hiuen-Tsiang and some others contrived to hide -among thorny bushes and coarse growth; but some of -the company were caught and bound. Happily a hollow, -scooped out by escaping waters, was hit upon; and our -pilgrim and some who were in hiding contrived to make -their way out. About half a mile off they came across -a Brâhman ploughing with oxen; and he took them to -a village hard by. He blew a conch and beat a drum, -and soon 80 men of the village snatched up their arms -and gathered together to attack the robbers. These -latter, seeing so many bounding towards them, made off -with all speed; the villagers found and released their -captives, who lay bound, stripped, and quite helpless,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">31</a></span> -groaning and weeping many tears. The good people -of the village covered their nakedness and took them to -their homes for food and shelter. “Master,” said one -of the monks, to Hiuen-Tsiang, “all that we had has been -taken by the thieves, and we have barely got off with our -lives. How is it you can smile and look so cheerful!” -“Because life is man’s greatest boon,” was the reply. -“When that has been saved, why vex one’s self over -clothes and food?”</p> - -<p>Soon we are with Hiuen-Tsiang at a centre of Brâhmanism -which was probably Lâhôr (Lahore). Everywhere -he is received with courtesy; usually welcomed with -procession and pageantry. Before very long, we find -him making a long détour to the cold upper valley of the -Bujas river, under the Himalayas, and among a rude, -hard, fierce race, but one that had a regard for justice -as well as for courage.</p> - -<p>He returns to a warmer latitude, and reaches Mathurâ, -or Muttra, on the River Jumna; a place once famous -for the relics stored in its <i>stûpas</i>. Here, different convents -followed different authorities; but once a year they -gathered together, and each sect made offering before -the relics of its chosen saint. A little later, after traversing -several small States, it would seem that he visited the -source of the Ganges, although, in spite of explicit statement, -this has been doubted. He speaks of the river as -being 3/4 mile wide at its source! May he not mean that -the end of its parent glacier is of that width?<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">2</a></p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">32</a></span></p> -<p>A little later on, we are told of the softness of Ganges -water; of how multitudes of bathers assemble on its -sandy banks to cleanse them of sin; and how a mere -rinsing of the mouth with its water wall avert every calamity -and secure future blessedness. “But there is no truth -in this universal belief, which is wholly the invention -of heresy,” adds our traveller, critical of everything -but the superstitions which had encrusted his own -faith. And he is of opinion that this special form of false -belief is on the wane among the Indian people!</p> - -<p>We find him before long in Western Rohilkand, and -then again in an icy Himalayan valley, where “for ages -a woman has ruled; wherefore it is called the Kingdom -of the Eastern Women.” It corresponds to what is now -British Garwal and Kumain. As then, so is it to-day: -relics of the matriarchate and polyandry are to be found -among the Himalayan ranges.</p> - -<p>He returns to the Ganges, and, passing through several -small States, arrives at Kanauj. He is for ever visiting -scholars, and sits for months at the feet of every famous -sage. He does so at Kanauj, which he tells us is a city -measuring four miles in length and one in breadth. He -is now in an Empire recently established by Sîlâditya, -a warrior of the Vaiśya, or trading, class, who had forced -a number of petty Kinglets to become his tributaries. -Sîlâditya would seem to have been a devout Buddhist, -favouring the Greater Vehicle, and, really devoting himself -to the prosperity of the Empire he ruled.</p> - -<p>He now enters Ayôdhyâ—Oude—the same name that, -eleven centuries later, rang so compellingly in the ears -of Clive and Warren Hastings. Here Brâhmanism was -getting the upper hand. And there was not merely -much lawlessness but a terrible perversion of religious -worship abroad in this land, which reminds one of modern -Thuggee. A boat with Hiuen-Tsiang and eighty others -on board was gliding peacefully down the Ganges, when -a whole little navy of pirates, which had lain concealed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">33</a></span> -under the dense foliage of the river-bank, shot out into -mid-stream, and surrounded the pilgrim’s vessel. Some -of the passengers leaped into the river; those who remained -in the vessel were towed ashore and robbed. Now these -water-thieves were devotees of the goddess Durgâ, the -wife of Siva, and were wont to offer at her altar a yearly -sacrifice of some unblemished human victim, selected -from their captives. They carefully examined Hiuen-Tsiang, -and pronounced him fit for this purpose. Some -of his companions generously offered to take his place; -but the pirates would have none of them—Hiuen-Tsiang -and he alone was the goddess’ chosen prey. He, of all -the company, remained calm and undismayed. “Let -me enter Nirvâna tranquil and happy,” he said, his mind -wholly occupied with some future incarnation wherein -he might turn such cruel hearts as those of the pirates. -These, amazed, and even touched, by his meek and compassionate -fortitude, granted him a few more minutes -of life. Just at this moment, a squall came on, so fierce -that it terrified the pirates, even. Hiuen-Tsiang’s companions -were loud in exclaiming that it was heaven’s -warning of the awful vengeance which would ensue on -the murder of a saint. The hearts of the homicides were -stricken by fear. One of them took the pilgrim’s hand. -He only felt the pressure; for his eyes were closed and -he was wrapt in some celestial vision. He asked if the -fatal moment had come; and when he learned that the -mind of the robbers was changed, he began to unfold -“the Law” to them with such persuasive power that they -cast their instruments of sacrifice into the river, restored -what they had stolen, and quietly went their way.</p> - -<p>He visited Prayâga (Allahabad), near the confluence -of the Ganges and Jumna, and then took a dangerous -course, south-west, through a forest infested with wild -elephants and beasts of prey, to Kosâmbi-nagar, now a -mere village on the Jumna, only to find ten Buddhist -monasteries ruined and deserted and fifty temples of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">34</a></span> -flourishing Brâhmanism, frequented by an enormous -number of “heretics.” Thence he travelled northwards, -and came to Gautama’s birth place, Kapila. It was a -waste. Almost everywhere Brâhmanism was quietly -triumphing and Buddhism in gentle decay; although it -was not until the following century that this shrivelling -process became rapid, and four or five centuries had yet -to pass before new dynasties sacked monasteries and -burned their inmates or expelled them from India in such -wise that Buddhism became extinct throughout the Great -Peninsula.</p> - -<p>At Bânâras (Benares) he saw Brâhman ascetics who -shaved the head, or went about naked, or covered themselves -with ashes, and “by all manner of austerity sought -to escape from any more births and deaths.” He tells -us of the blueness of the sacred river and its rolling waves; -of the sweet taste of its waters and the fineness of its -sands; of how numbers of people, in order to wash away -the pollution of sin, “would abstain from eating for seven -days, and then drown themselves in the sacred stream. -Daily, towards sunset, ascetics would climb up a pillar -set in the middle of the river, cling to it by one hand -and one foot in a marvellous manner, and gaze at the sun -until he went down, when they would descend. Thereby -they hoped to escape from reincarnation.” “If the -body of a dead man be cast into the stream, he cannot -fall into an evil way. Swept on by its waters and forgotten -by men, he is safe on the other side.”</p> - -<p>It was at Bânâras that Gautama began his evangel, -and the vast district between Jumna and the mountains -of Nepal was the main scene of his labours. In the Kingdom -of Magadha, which, like Kanduj, was under the rule -of Sîlâditya, he found an area of fourteen miles covered -with the ruins of a city which was flourishing when Fa-Hien -visited India. The stones of <i>stûpas</i>, monasteries, -pagodas and hospitals for men and beasts cumbered the -ground.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">35</a></span></p> - -<p>While Hiuen-Tsiang was staying at the place where -Gautama “Sâkyamûni” as he was called during the -ascetic portion of his career—that is to say, “the sage -of the family of the Sâkyas”—became “Buddha,” or “the -Enlightener of men,” a deputation of four of the most -distinguished monks of the great Sarighârâma of Nâlanda—the -greatest scholastic and monastic institution in -the world—came to him bearing an invitation to stay there. -When he arrived he was welcomed with much state and -ceremony. Two hundred monks and crowds of people -greeted him, singing songs in his praise, bearing standards -and umbrellas, and scattering flowers and scent. They -raised him to a seat of honour, and then the sub-director -sounded a gong and repeated the invitation. Twenty -grave and reverend seniors of the monastery presented -him to the Father Superior, who was no other than the -famous scholar Sîlabhadra, a dignitary so exalted that -no one dared name him except by his title of “Treasury -of the Righteous Law.” Hiuen-Tsiang had to drag -himself towards this sage on knees and elbows, clacking -his heels together, and striking the ground with his brow. -This done, seats were brought forward, compliments -were interchanged, and the pilgrim was made free of the -institution. The best rooms were given up to him; ten -servants were allotted to him, and, daily he was furnished -with an ample supply of food at the cost of the monks -and the Râja. A Buddhist monk and a Brâhman, -dwelling in peace together, took him abroad from time -to time and shewed him the holy sights of the neighbourhood, -seated in state on an elephant or carried in a -palanquin; but when he was in the convent the “Treasury -of the Righteous Law” devoted no small measure of his -time to his instruction in the higher learning.</p> - -<p>In the Seventh Century there was not, in the whole -world a seat of learning which might compare with the -splendid establishment at Nâlanda. It had been magnificently -endowed by a succession of monarchs and still<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">36</a></span> -enjoyed the royal favour as much as ever. There were -open courts and secluded gardens; splendid trees, casting -a grateful shade, under which the monks and novices -might meditate; cool fountains of fresh water that gurgled -delightfully in the hot season. Ten thousand inmates -dwelt in six blocks of buildings four stories high, which -looked out on large courts. There were a hundred rooms -set apart for lectures on religion and on all the science -and literature of the time. There were halls wherein -disputations frequently took place; and in these Hiuen-Tsiang -took a distinguished part. The monks impressed -him favourably: he found them sincere, and living in the -strict observance of severe rules. He says: “from -morning to night, young and old help each other in discussions, -for which they find the day too short.” The -mental power and learning of the monks were as renowned -as the towers, the pavilions, and the cool retreats of -the convent-university in which they dwelt. The study -of medicine and natural history and useful and useless -branches of mundane research was by no means cast aside -for speculation. But the latter was of so subtle a character -that, while ten hundred might be found capable of expounding -twenty books of the Sâtras and Sâstras, only -five hundred could deal with thirty books, and only -ten with fifty; although students were not admitted until -they had proved themselves men of parts, and well-read -in books, old and new, by hard public discussion; and of -ten candidates for admission, seven or eight were rejected. -Altogether, Hiuen-Tsiang spent five years in study here; -and he became one of the ten who could expound fifty -sacred books. But Sîlabhadra, the Father Superior, -who was his tutor, had left no sacred book unstudied.</p> - -<p>From Nâlanda, our pilgrim proceeded to Patna, and -crossing the Ganges, visited Gayâ. He saw everything -worth seeing in the country about Bhagalpur, and found -there a monastery of the first order, the origin of which -was a curious history. A “heretic” from South India<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">37</a></span> -had marched into the country, staff in hand, with stately -step and pompous mien, beating “the drum of discussion.” -On his head, he bore a lighted torch, and his belly was -encased in plates of shining copper. When asked the -reason for such strange attire, he replied that the torch -was to enlighten the ignorant multitude, who dwelt in -darkness, and the belt was for self-preservation, since -he was so filled with wisdom that he feared his belly -would burst. In spite of this mummery, he proved himself -so well instructed and persuasive that all the learned men -in the Kingdom were unable to controvert his arguments. -At last, a Buddhist from Southern India was sent for -and reduced him to silence. The Râja was so impressed -by the victory that he founded the monastery.</p> - -<p>Our traveller now came to the land of the sugar-cane. -His account of the Kingdoms he visited after leaving -the chief scenes of Gautama’s missionary zeal, and the -history of his wanderings, put together from his notes -and conversations with his pupils, become less full than -before; but it is clear that he made his way to “the -shore-country” of the Bay of Bengal, which would seem -to be the Sunderbans, between the rivers Ganges and -Hûgli—afterwards a name of horror, as the lair of infamous -Portuguese pirates. At all events, he crossed the great -Delta of the Ganges, intending to embark for Ceylon -at Tamluk on the Selai, just where that river joins the -Hûgli. Fa-Hian had done so, and had seen Ceylon and -its monuments; but Hiuen-Tsiang was given such accounts -of the perils of the long voyage that anxiety for the safety -of the treasures he had collected induced him to travel -by land to South India, and he determined to sail thence -across the narrow Palk Strait. So he returned inland, -nearly as far back as Bhagalpur again, and proceeded -thence to Orissa. Thence he travelled south-westward -to the district watered by the upper tributaries of the -Mahanadi and Godavari in Central India; penetrating -many a pestiferous marsh and perilous jungle, deep and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">38</a></span> -dangerous forest and scorching desert-plain, before he -arrived at Congeveram, the Dravidian capital, a little -south-west of Madras and north-west of Pondicherri. -Here he learned that Ceylon had become the theatre -of a bloody war and that it would be impossible to reach -it. So he turned his reluctant steps to the north.</p> - -<p>He tells of the courage, honesty and love of truth of -the Dravidian race, and of the heat and fruitfulness of the -land they inhabited. He speaks of his return-journey -as being partly through “a wild forest and many deserted -villages where bands of brigands attack travellers.” -Then, going north-west, he came to the country of the -Mahrattas—not the modern race which goes by that -name, but a people who apparently were Rajpoots, the -old military Aryan aristocracy of India, whose widows, -following a Scythian custom, cast themselves on the -funeral pyre of their husbands to be worthy of their -chivalry and to rejoin them in the next life. Hiuen-Tsiang -describes the Mahrattas as being tall of stature, -honest and simple; grateful to friends, relentless to -enemies. They avenged an insult at the risk of life; -they would forget all about themselves in their haste -to give aid. They always gave due warning to a foe -before attacking him, and spared the enemy who should -yield. A commander who lost a battle was not directly -punished; but he received a present of women’s clothes, -and this was enough: it drove him to suicide. The army -was of several hundred chosen men, who went into battle -drunk, and made their elephants drunk also. Then they -would rush forward in close array, bearing everything -before them and trampling on the foe. Nothing could -withstand such an onset. And one man all alone, -with his lance in hand, was always quite ready to challenge -and fight ten thousand. These champions had drums -beaten before them every time they went abroad; and -should one of them come across a man and slay him no -notice of the offence was taken.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">39</a></span></p> - -<p>Passing through Western India and States which bordered -on the Arabian Sea, we find our traveller in Southern -Malwa and Rajputana and, later, in Sind. Twice in his -account of Southern and Western India and once in the -<i>Life and Journeyings of Hiuen-Tsiang</i>, we are told that -he heard of a “Land of Western Women.” While on the -Coromandel Coast, he heard of an island inhabited by -women who bore female children only to Persian demons. -Of old time, they were wont to allure sailors and traders -by signals. If successful, they changed themselves into -beautiful women, holding flowers and dispersing sweet -scents. They went forth to meet voyagers to the sound -of sweet music, and, having inveigled them into their -City, which was built of iron, and having solaced them -with their society, they would cast them into an iron -prison and devour them at leisure. On the Western -Coast, he is told that the island is rich in gems and lies -to the south-west of the Byzantine Empire, to which -it is tributary, and where its precious stones are exchanged. -It is inhabited by women only. Once a year, -the Emperor of Byzantium sends them male partners; -and, if boys are born of the union, the laws forbid their -being brought up on the island. Marco Polo also speaks -of a Kingdom of Western Women. Ferdusi, the Persian -Poet, makes Alexander the Great visit an island-city -of women where no man was allowed to dwell. In the -early art and literature of Buddhism the legend is to be -found. It reached Malaya. It made its way into Chinese -literature, too, some generations before the time of Hiuen-Tsiang. -But the locality given to the island varies with -the legend.</p> - -<p>Here, surely, are our Homeric friends, the Sirens—the -daughters of Achelous, serpent and ox, and the Muse Calliope—whose -“shrill music reached Ulysses on the middle -sea” from a little island off Sicily. Can these Western -and Eastern legends have come from a common source; -or, did they travel overland with trader or missionary;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">40</a></span> -or was some faint echo of the golden harp of Hellas wafted -by the breezes which bore the trader across the Arabian -Sea to Sind and Southern India? Possibly the latter; -for our author speaks of the island as lying to the west, -beyond the great sea which laves the shores of Kutch. -It is perplexing to find what would seem to be the same -story told by the natives of Martinique to Columbus -during his second voyage.</p> - -<p>From Sind beyond the Indus, Hiuen-Tsiang proceeded -to Multân in the Punjâb, and saw the majestic temple -of the Sun-dêva, whose image was cast in gold and set -with rare gems. Crowds of worshippers flocked hither -from other Kingdoms; and women did honour to the god -with music and torches and offerings of blossoms and perfumes. -The temple was surrounded with water-tanks -and flowery groves; and near it was a “House of Happiness,” -which was a hospital for the poor and sick.</p> - -<p>He visited this temple on his way back to the sacred -land where Gautama had assumed his mission of teacher -of mankind; for he felt that he must return thither. -So he made a thousand miles eastward and arrived at -Magadha in time to see the grand procession of the ashes -of Buddha. He thought the remains too large to be -genuine; so did an Indian sage of great reputation, and -it would seem that the crowd of spectators were also in -doubt. Some time afterwards, suddenly, the relics -could not be found; the <i>stûpa</i> in which they were kept -was a sheet of light, and flames, in five different colours -shot up to the sky. This brilliant phenomenon was -witnessed by a wondering multitude; it gradually passed -away; and so did incredulity.</p> - -<p>Hiuen-Tsiang passed his time in the monasteries of -Magadha, partly in study, partly in refuting Brâhmans -and the followers of the Little Vehicle. To refute the -latter could not have been a difficult task: simple monks, -only instructed in practical ethics, would stand no chance -against an erudite monk trained in subtle speculation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">41</a></span> -and fine distinctions. As in European Universities of -the Middle Ages, the thesis to be disputed was hung up -by its supporter; and whatever wrangler chose to deny -it would take it down. Then a contest ensued; and, at -Nâlanda, its learned Head, the “Treasury of the Law,” -was wont to preside at great discussions. In some of -these, our Chinaman took a triumphant part.</p> - -<p>On one occasion, a certain Brâhman had hung up a -challenge to the Buddhists, which consisted of 40 articles, -and, according to custom, he wagered his head to maintain -them; possibly perfectly well aware that, in the unexpected -event of defeat, the forfeit would not be exacted. -For some days, no one would come forward to oppose -him. Then Hiuen-Tsiang sent a monk to take up the -insolent challenge in his name: it was torn into shreds, -and trampled under foot. At the solemn discussion which -ensued, he held forth at portentous length, and dumbfounded -the Brâhman. Hiuen-Tsiang then told him he -had suffered humiliation enough: he was free to go.</p> - -<p>The defeated wrangler went to Kâmarûpa, a Kingdom -which extended from west of the Brahmaputra to Manipur, -on the borders of Burmah. The eloquence and learning -of our Chinaman would appear to have converted the -Brâhman, who was generous enough to tell the Râja of -his defeat. The tale so impressed that monarch that he -sent an invitation to Hiuen-Tsiang to pay him a visit; -but our pilgrim, having fully accomplished the purpose -for which he had travelled so far, was eager to return -to China. The Râja waxed wroth at his disobedience -to a royal command, and warned the “Treasury of the -Law” that, little as he cared for the religion of Buddha, -he would come with a vast army and level with the dust -the famous building over which he presided if Hiuen-Tsiang -were not forwarded without delay. It was evident -that the Râja, a powerful ally or tributary of Sîlâditya, -whose loyalty to that great monarch was not too assured, -might conceivably let loose the hounds of uncertain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">42</a></span> -war. Here, a gleam of enlightenment is thrown on the -attitude of Râjas tributary to Sîlâditya, who had won -his empire by the sword and who had made Kanouj and -Allahabad his capital cities. Hiuen-Tsiang was despatched -by Sîlabhadra to far-off Kâmarûpa; He had -been at the Râja’s court a whole month, when Sîlâditya -returned from the chastisement of a rebellious feudatory -and learned whither he had gone. Sîlâditya had urged -the pilgrim to visit him in vain; now he finds him at the -court of a rival. Here is the making of a very pretty -quarrel. Sîlâditya sends to the Râja, saying that he -wants the Chinese. “My head first!” replies that -monarch. Then Sîlâditya waxed wrath; and his wrath -is terrible. “Since I have power to cut off your head, -it may be given straightway to my ambassador,” is the -message he returns. The Râja of Kâmarûpa now begins -to reflect. He orders his court-barge and sets off with -Hiuen-Tsiang in it to make amends to Sîlâditya.</p> - -<p>But he took the precaution to be accompanied by a great -army. The Ganges was crowded with boats filled with -troops, and, as these were rowed up the stream, other -soldiery mounted on war-elephants marched slowly -along the banks. On their arrival at the court of -Sîlâditya he commanded that Hiuen-Tsiang should be -presented to him. The Râja of Kâmarûpa saw at once -that here was an opportunity of quietly humiliating -Sîlâditya in his turn—a monarch who, from conviction -or by policy, professed the deepest reverence for the -Greater Vehicle and was the munificent patron of -Buddhist institutions. He suggested to Sîlâditya that -it would be unworthy of a monarch so renowned for -cherishing sages and saints to do otherwise than pay -the holy and learned Chinese pilgrim the compliment of -visiting him first. Sîlâditya fell in with the proposal; -and the Râja at once went back to Hiuen-Tsiang and -persuaded him, “for the honour of the law of Buddha,” -to consent. Thus, should his enemy, or anyone, never<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">43</a></span> -be sensible of so subtle a revenge, the secret of it was -sweet in the heart of the Eastern King; a psychological -peculiarity by no means confined to the ruler of Kâmarûpa.</p> - -<p>Next evening, shortly after sunset, the Ganges was ablaze -with torches; the air resounded with the noise of tom-toms, -for Sîlâditya was about to pay his visit with Generals -and Ministers of State. It was the distinction of the -Lord-paramount that the beating of a hundred gongs -heralded his approach and gave step to his guards. The -haughty despot, who determined the fate of thousands -by a gesture, cast himself on the ground at the feet of -the humble monk, and kissed them. Next day, the -Master of the Law returned the visit. Now, a sister of -the great monarch, an enthusiast for high doctrine, who -was seated behind the throne, entreated that a great -assembly of all the sages of the Empire should be convoked -at Kanouj to give Hiuen-Tsiang an opportunity of setting -out the beauty of the Greater Vehicle. So, at the beginning -of the cold season, the sages assembled at Kanouj, -mounted on elephants or carried in palanquins, surrounded -by banners and accompanied by an immense multitude. -An elephant bore a golden statue of Buddha on his back, -and this was solemnly erected on a daïs. To the right of the -elephant, marched Sîlâditya, dressed as Indra and carrying -a white fly-flap in his hand; to the left was Kumâra, -monarch of Kâmarûpa, in the garb of Brâhm, and carrying -a parasol of precious silk. Both monarchs wore magnificent -tiaras, from which garlands of flowers and ribbons -set with jewels hung down. Following the golden image -and the two Râjas came our Master of the Law, seated -on a big elephant, and then the officials and monks of -the two Kingdoms, also on elephants. Eighteen tributary -princes were drawn up on either side, also riding elephants, -and these fell into the procession as the great Râjas and -Hiuen-Tsiang passed on.</p> - -<p>Food was provided for everybody, without distinction -of rank, and rich gifts were bestowed on all the monks. -Hiuen-Tsiang ordered his thesis to be hung up; but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">44</a></span> -eighteen days passed, and no one attempted to controvert -it. But the followers of the Little Vehicle were so mortified -that some of them conspired against Hiuen-Tsiang’s -life. The plot was detected, and a severe edict was issued -that even the very smallest slander against him would -be punished by loss of tongue; while any attempt to -injure him bodily would be followed by decapitation. At -the end of the eighteen days, following ancient usage, the -victorious pilgrim was mounted on a richly-caparisoned -elephant and taken a tour round the crowd, in the company -of the dignitaries of the Empire and with full state-honours. -Rich presents were offered him; but these he -refused; and then Sîlâditya dissolved the assembly; -and the eighteen kings, the monks, and the crowd returned -every man to his own abode.</p> - -<p>Now, it was the custom of Sîlâditya, as it had been -that of his predecessors, to distribute all their accumulated -wealth at the end of every five years. But they were -careful to keep their war-elephants, war-horses and weapons -of war; for on these their power rested. The practice -kept the people submissive and contented, while effective -force remained with the Râja. The distribution was made -on a plain at the confluence of Ganges and Jumna, three -miles from Prayâga, and not far from the existing city -of Allahabad. When the time for it arrived, Sîlâditya -took the Master of the Law with him. He observed that -gold and silver, silk and cotton, and much else were stored -up in temporary buildings within an enclosure, and -arrangements were made for seating a thousand persons -at a time. The eighteen tributary Kings and a vast -crowd of monks and laity were summoned to be present, -and did not fail to arrive. It is significant that each -tributary prince brought his army with him: it throws -light on the character of Sîlâditya’s empire.</p> - -<p>On the first day, the statue of Buddha was installed -in a temple and adorned with jewels. A great feast -followed on this ceremony; it was accompanied by music<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">45</a></span> -and the scattering of blossoms; and then rich gifts were -distributed among the more important of the guests. -On the second day, the image of the Sun-god was honoured, -and presents of magnificence were made. The third day, -the god Siva received honours, and a similar distribution -was made. The fourth day, every one of about 10,000 -monks was given a hundred pieces of gold and a cotton -garment. The fifth day, distribution to the Brâhmans -was begun; but it is worthy of note that the awards to -them took up three weeks all but a day. On the sixth -day, and for 9 days following, alms were given to -“heretics”; on the eighth, and for the next nine days, -to naked mendicants from distant Kingdoms. Lastly, -it took a whole month to give to the poor, to orphans, -and to poor men who had no family to fall back upon. -Finally Sîlâditya took off and gave up his tiara and necklace, -exclaiming that he had exchanged them for -incorruptible riches. And now, the tributary Râjas -surrendered their robes and jewels to their Lord-paramount. -What with this ordinance and the retention of the sinews of -war, Sîlâditya remained no less powerful than before.</p> - -<p>Our pilgrim now obtains permission to set forth on his -return-journey. He is offered an escort to China should -he choose to return by sea; but he has precious manuscripts -to preserve, the rich harvest of his labours, and he -prefers to take the smaller risk of desert and icy mountains -to that of pirates and of frail, clumsy craft, breasting -“the feasted waters of the sea stretched out In lazy -gluttony, expecting prey.” Moreover, whether T’ai Tsung, -now Emperor of China, would welcome a foreign Embassy, -may have been in his mind. He refused all gifts from the -Râja of Kâmarûpa, save a warm garment needful for -the high passes.</p> - -<p>Now, the Master of the Law had been wont, if he had -no escort to protect him, to send an attendant monk ahead, -and, should his fore-runner meet with wayside thieves, -he would announce the character of Hiuen-Tsiang’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">46</a></span> -mission. The explanation had been made more than once, -and prevailed. But many a Râja was now eager to give -him a warm welcome and send soldiery to see him safe -in the next Kingdom. And, Sîlâditya, not merely went -with him some small part of the long way, but charged -a tributary prince of the North to accompany and protect -him through the Punjâb. He also presented the pilgrim -with a big elephant, horses and chariots to convey the -manuscripts and images he had collected, and 3000 pieces -of gold and 10,000 pieces of silver to defray the expenses -of the journey. He also provided him with letters to -various princes whose territories he would have to cross, -ordering or recommending them to expedite his journey. -These documents were written on rolls of cotton and sealed -with red wax. Sîlâditya and his tributary Râjas even -rode out again to catch the pilgrim up and bid him a -second farewell.</p> - -<p>Easy progress was made across North-West India; -and native rulers vied with each other in doing honour -to the traveller from afar. Now, at the best of times, -to cross the Indus is perilous; and this time it was not -effected without mishap. The “Master of the Law” -rode on the elephant; but the manuscripts, images, -relics, and a precious collection of seeds, which he had -made during his travels, and which he hoped might -grow in China, were placed in a boat under -the care of a special custodian. When the middle of the -current was reached, a storm-gust swept over the river, -and the boat was well nigh sunk by tossing waves. The -custodian was rescued with great difficulty; but half a -hundred manuscripts and the valuable collection of seeds -which might have done so much service, were lost. Only -by the very greatest exertion was anything at all saved.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">47</a></span></p> - - - - -<h3>CHAPTER V.<br /><br /> - -<small>INDIAN SOCIAL LIFE IN THE SEVENTH CENTURY.</small></h3> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Once</span> more we find Hiuen-Tsiang by the Kâbul river. -Many years had passed since he rested on its banks and -and entered India. Since that time he had made himself -a finished Sanskrit scholar; he had visited three -and a half score of States; he had traversed the whole -breadth and well-nigh the whole length of the great -Peninsula; he had debated the subtlest questions with the -profoundest scholars and acutest minds in India; he had -been entertained by powerful princes as their venerated -guest. In every corner of a vast territory, he had met -with large hospitality at the hands of men of differing -creeds; he had seen many new things, strange and wonderful; -more than once, his life had been in jeopardy, -and narrow indeed had been his escape; he had visited -every spot connected with the life of Gautama, from the -scene where Bôdhisattva “descended spiritually into -the womb of his mother” to the place where he became -Buddha, and to the place of his death. He had visited -every spot sacred to Asôka-râja, the great promulgator -of the faith. It had been granted him to see the shadow -of Buddha. And, above all, he had not failed in his -quest. Written on prepared palm-leaves and carefully -packed, were the so much lacking sacred scriptures; -much of them tales of the absurdest fantasy and most -extravagant romance, it is true; but the sympathetic -eye can still discover in the fable the mild and sweet -moral teaching of the Buddhist faith.</p> - -<p>In the <i>Si-yu-ki</i> (Observations on Western Lands) there -is a very full account of India in the early Seventh Century. -So long a residence in that land, and such a wide -knowledge of its various peoples as the Master of the Law<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">48</a></span> -had acquired in personal intercourse with them makes -this invaluable. The work is preceded by a general -description of the Great Peninsula, which applies more -particularly to that land, so sacred to a Buddhist, which -lies between the Jumna and the lower slopes of the -Himalayas. And, now that Hiuen-Tsiang is leaving -India, it will be well to know what he has to tell us concerning -that vast region.</p> - -<p>He begins by discussing the various names given to -In-tu (India); for each district is differently called. He -gives its shape, extent and climate. “The north is a -continuation of mountains and hills, the ground being -dry and salt. On the east, there are valleys and plains, -which, being well-watered and cultivated, are fruitful -and productive. The southern district is wooded and -herbaceous; the western parts are stony and barren.”<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">3</a></p> - -<p>Indian measures of length and the Indian Calendar -and seasons are next described, and the author then goes -on to treat of towns and buildings, seats and clothing, -dress and habits, ablutions, language and literature, -schools, castes, marriages, kings, troops, weapons, manners -and customs, administration of laws, ceremonial observances, -revenues, natural products, and commercial -dealings—all in systematized order. The lapse of thirteen -centuries; conquest by Mohammedan and European -invaders; and Mohammedan and Brahmanistic oppression -would appear to have altered but little the ways and -external appearance of Indian life since Hiuen-Tsiang’s -time. He tells us that “the walls of towns are wide -and high; the streets and lanes, tortuous; the roads, -winding; the thoroughfares, dirty; the stalls, arranged -on both sides of the road and furnished with appropriate -signs. Butchers, fishermen, dancers, executioners, scavengers -and their like dwell outside the city. Coming -and going these people must keep to the left side of the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">49</a></span>road.” The city-walls are of brick, but their towers -are made of wood or bamboo; the houses are plastered -with cob, “mixed with cow-dung for purity”; they -are provided with wooden balconies, coated with mortar -and shaded by tiles. The roofs are of rushes, branches, -tiles, or boards. It is a habit to scatter flowers before -the house. The <i>sarighârâmas</i>, or monasteries, are very -cleverly built in quadrangles, ornamented with dome-shaped -buildings of two or three stories at the corners of -each quadrangle, and joists and beams are adorned with -carving; there is much decoration and mural painting; -the cells being plain on the outside only.</p> - -<p>Everybody takes his rest on a mat of one uniform size, -but of various degrees of ornamentation; but the Râja -has an imposing throne, studded with gems, and nobles -use painted and enriched seats. The garb is of pure white -silk or cotton or hemp or goat’s hair, uncut to fit the -body and wound round the waist, gathered up under the -armpits, and then slung across the body to the right. -There is quaint humour in our pilgrim’s observation that -“some of the men shave their moustaches and have -other odd customs”: one thinks of the strange appearance -of some of our long-shore men.</p> - -<p>Women keep their shoulders covered, and their robes -reach the ground. Their hair is knotted up on the crown; -otherwise it hangs loose. They wear crowns and caps -and flower-wreaths on the head, and necklaces of jewels.</p> - -<p>In North India, where the climate is colder, close-fitting -garments are worn. Some non-believers wear -peacock-feathers, or necklaces made of the bones of the -skull; some cover their nakedness with leaf or bark, or -go bare. Some pull out the hair; others wear their whiskers -bushy and braid their hair.</p> - -<p>The monks wear three different kinds of dress, either -red or yellow in colour. Merchants, for the most part, -go bare-footed, stain the teeth red or black, bind up the -hair, and pierce the nose for the wearing of ornaments<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">50</a></span> -there. Everybody is very cleanly, washing before eating, -never eating of a dish served twice over, never passing -the dish on. Wooden and stone vessels are destroyed -after use; metal ones are polished. The teeth are cleansed -with a willow-stick after eating; the hands and mouth are -washed; and folk do not touch one another until these -duties are carried out. The body is washed after attending -to the calls of nature, and then perfumes are used. -The bath is taken before religious functions, and also -at the time when the King washes himself. Each province -keeps its own record of events. Education is begun early. -Young Buddhists are put to the study of the five Vidyâs, -or treatises on grammar, progressively; first come the -principles of mechanics; then elements of medicine and -drugs and the use of charms; then the principles of right-doing -and the distinction between the true and the false; -and, finally, the various “vehicles” of the faith. Brâhmans -are trained on similar lines by skilled teachers. -Some “rise above mundane rewards, and are as insensible -to renown as to contempt of the world.... -Rulers value men of reputation highly; but are unable -to draw them to court.” But the thirst of others for -honour leads them on in the search for wisdom, and, -if they finish their education at thirty, they seek for -occupation. Some Brâhmans are devoid of virtuous -principles, and waste their substance in riotous excess. -Unhappily the Buddhist schools are not without reproach: -“they are constantly at variance, and their contentious -utterances swell like the waves of an angry sea”; yet, -“in various directions, they do aim at one end.” Knowledge -of sacred books and successful exegesis are rewarded -by successive grades of distinction, beginning with -exemption from control and leading up to the possession -of “an elephant-carriage,” and even to a “surrounding -escort.” A successful disputant, like Hiuen-Tsiang, -is mounted on an elephant (as he was), the animal -is completely covered over with precious ornaments,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">51</a></span> -and the rider is conducted by a numerous suite to the gates -of the convent. But woe betide the unhappy wretch -who proves himself a fool at these mental wrestling -bouts; “his face is painted red and white; he is bedaubed -with dust and dirt, and then borne off to some deserted -spot, or cast into a ditch!” For slight faults a monk -is only reprimanded; for graver offences, silence is enforced; -for a great fault, he is cast out of the convent to -find a home for himself and take up some kind of work, -or he may wander about the roads.</p> - -<p>We are told next about the four great castes, The Brâhman, -or hereditary priest takes precedence of the Kshattriya -or military descendents of the Aryan conquerors, a caste -which rules, and observes human kindliness. Next -come the traders (Vaiśyas); fourth is the Sûdra, the caste -of tillers of the soil. When one marries, he takes social -position according as he preserves or impairs purity of -caste. Widows may not marry again.</p> - -<p>“The succession of Râjas is confined to the Kshattriya -caste, who have from time to time achieved power by -means of usurpation and bloodshed.” The army of the -Râja is one of the many separate hereditary castes of -India. In times of peace, it is garrisoned around the -Râja’s palace. In each Indian army are elephants, -protected by strong armour, and the tusks capped -with sharp metal. A general issues his command from -a car, driven by two attendants, between whom he sits, -and is drawn by four horses abreast. The generals of -the foot soldiers also ride in cars and are protected by a -guard. An attack is met by the cavalry, who also carry -orders. The infantry is very brave. It is armed with -spear and shield, bows and arrows, swords, axes, slings -and many other weapons of ancient usage.</p> - -<p>Hiuen-Tsiang speaks of the common people in the -highest terms. As Wheeler remarks they “would almost -appear to have been a different race from the modern -Hindus. They had not yet been moulded into existing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">52</a></span> -forms by ages of Brahmanical repression and Musselman -tyranny; and they bore a stronger resemblance to the -unsophisticated Buddhists of modern Burma than to the -worshippers of Vishnu and Siva.”<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">4</a> Our traveller admits -that they are volatile, but “gentle and sweet, straight-forward, -honourable, keeping their word, with no fraud, -treachery or deceit about them.” Criminals are rare, -and these few are not even beaten, and are never put to -death, but cast into prison and left to live or die, “not -being counted among men.” A small payment is exacted -for a small offence; but those who seriously offend the -moral sense of the community are mutilated in various -ways, or expelled from it. Frank confession is followed -by punishment proportioned to the offence; but denial, -or attempt to wriggle out, is met by trial by ordeal. Of -this there are four kinds:—1, The accused person is put -into one sack and a stone into another; both sacks -are tied together and thrown into deep water: If the man -sinks lowest, he is deemed guilty. 2, The accused has -to stand or sit on red hot iron, or to handle it, or have it -applied to his tongue: If no scars result, he is deemed -innocent. 3, He is weighed against a stone: If he weighs -it down, he is innocent. 4, An incision is made in the -right thigh of a ram, and all manner of poisons and some -food of the accused are put into the wound. Should -the ram survive, the man is innocent. “The way of -crime is blocked by these four methods.” It is obvious -to us that the issue of every one of these ordeals could be -manipulated in the interests of justice, or against them.</p> - -<p>We are next told of etiquette, and are informed that -no less than nine ways of being polite are employed. Of -these, the most respectful is to cast one’s self on the ground, -and then to kneel “and laud the virtues of the one you -address.” When one of inferior rank receives orders, -he lifts the skirt of his superior, and casts himself on the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">53</a></span>ground. The “honourable person thus reverenced must -speak gently to the inferior, and touch his head, or pat -him on the back, and give him kindly orders or good advice, -in order to show affection.”</p> - -<p>When ill, there is no rush to the physic-bottle. “Everyone -who falls sick, fasts for seven days. Should he not -get well in the course of this period, he takes medicine.” -Hiuen-Tsiang causes us no surprise when he informs -us that “doctors differ in their modes of treatment.”</p> - -<p>At funerals there are weepings and lamentable cries, -rending of garments and beatings of head and breast. -No one takes food in a house where someone has died -until after the funeral; and all who have been at the -death-bed are unclean until they have bathed outside -the town. Those who desire release from life “receive -a farewell meal at the hands of relatives or friends,” and -then are put into a boat amid strains of music; and this -is shot into mid-Ganges, “where such persons drown -themselves.” Sometimes, but rarely, one of these may -be seen on the banks, not yet quite dead.</p> - -<p>Hiuen-Tsiang speaks of the civil administration as -being mild and benevolent. Officials have “a portion -of land assigned to them for their personal support.” -There is neither registration of families nor forced labour. -Râjas possess their own private domains, divided into -four portions; whereof one provides for state-matters -and the cost of sacrifices; one, for salaries; one, for rewarding -men of exceptional talent; and the fourth affords -charity to religious bodies. By this arrangement taxation -is light, and the personal service required is moderate, -labour at public works being paid for. “Everyone keeps -his own belongings in tranquillity; and all till the ground -for food. Those who cultivate the royal estate pay a -sixth part of the produce as tribute.” There is a light -tax payable on travel by river and at barriers across the -roadways.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">54</a></span></p> - -<p>Such people as smell of onion and garlic are thrust -out of the town. The usual food is simple, consisting -of milk, cream, butter, sugar-candy, corn cakes and -mustard. Fish, mutton and venison are eaten; other -flesh is prohibited. Brâhmans and warriors drink unfermented -syrup of the grape; but the trading caste -indulges in strong drink. Rich and poor eat precisely -the same food, but out of very different vessels, both as -to material and cost. They eat with the fingers, and have -no spoon, cup, or chopstick.</p> - -<p>Hiuen-Tsiang tells us that he found India divided into -70 Kingdoms. Nine centuries before his time Megasthenes -the Greek Ambassador, found twice as many. In spite -of the many political settlements which have had their -day and vanished, some of the territories described by -Hiuen-Tsiang are divisions corresponding to natural -features, race, language, and religious customs, and remain -distinct districts, each of them with its idiosyncrasies -to-day. Consolidation by successive conquests has taken -place, it is true, but the village persists. The village-settlements -were there before the Aryan conquest; they -have survived the long passage of time; they carry on their -ancient tradition, and have maintained provincial -characteristics against the pressure of the Mohammedan, -the Mahrattan, and all other attempts at organic Empire.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">55</a></span></p> - - - - -<h3>CHAPTER VI.<br /><br /> - -<small>THE JOURNEY HOME BY A NEW AND -PERILOUS ROUTE.</small></h3> - - -<p><span class="smcap">We</span> left our hero on the Kâbul river, beyond the boundaries -of India: a royal reception awaited him at Kapiśa, -and a hundred experienced men were chosen to conduct -and protect him in the passage across the Hindû Kûsh. -The shortest, but most difficult of the passes—probably -the Khawak, which reaches 13,000 feet, was selected. -Seven days of travel brought the party to those snow-mountains -of which Hiuen-Tsiang always speaks with -mingled wonder, fear and dislike. Born and brought up -in a mild climate, and having now spent many years in -a hot one, he describes the discomforts and dangers of -every high pass at length. He tells us how wild and perilous -are the precipices; how fearsome, contorted, and difficult -the path. Of the Hindû Kûsh he writes: “Now the -traveller is in a profound valley; now aloft on a high -peak, with its burthen of ice in full summertide. One -gets along by cutting steps in the ice, and, in three days -one reaches the summit of the pass. There, a furious -icy blast, cold beyond measure, sweeps on; the valleys -are laden with accumulated snow. The traveller pushes -on; for he dares not pause. Soaring birds must needs -alight; it is impossible for them to fly; and they have -to cross afoot. One gazes down on mountains that look -like hillocks.” The whole cavalcade had to dismount -and clamber up with the aid of mountain-staves. One -wonders how the guides got the elephant over such ridges; -but they did. “Great men lived before Agamemnon”; -Hannibal solved the same problem two hundred years -before Christ.</p> - -<p>At the end of the second week a large village of a hundred -families was reached, the inhabitants of which lived by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">56</a></span> -rearing a very big variety of sheep, which is said still to -be found in this district. Here the “Master of the Law” -secured the services of a local guide, and took a whole -day’s rest. His escort now returned; and he set forth -in the middle of the night, mounted on a camel accustomed -to the hills, and attended by seven priests, twenty servants, -the elephant which Sîlâditya had given him, six -asses, and four horses. Next morning the bottom of -the pass was reached; but there still lay before them what, -in the distance, looked like a snow-peak. But when they -had ascended a long zig-zag path and come up to it, -it turned out to be mere white rock. None the less, it -towered far above the clouds, and the icy wind there -blew so hard and cutting that headway could hardly -be made.</p> - -<p>The descent of the range occupied five or six days. -The route now lay north westward to the Upper Oxus. -Hiuen-Tsiang rested a month in the camp of a petty -Khân,—and then joined a caravan of traders who were -eastward bound. The caravan took a meandering course -through several little Khânates; and in one of them the -Master of the Law was struck by the singular head-gear -of the women. They wore caps three feet high, topped -by two peaks of unequal length, if both father-in-law -and mother-in-law were living. The higher and lower -respectively represented these relatives. But, when one -of them died, the corresponding peak was removed; -should both of them be dead, no peaks were worn. This -region was mountainous, and its inhabitants were remarkable -for their surpassing ugliness. They differed from -all other peoples in the peculiar blue-green of the iris. -They were innocent of all manners, and knew no law of -justice; the horse was their study and care, and they -reared a breed of sturdy little ponies.</p> - -<p>The caravan now followed the narrowing stream of -Oxus, and, after a time, ascended to the great plateau -of the Pamirs, no less lofty than the topmost Pyrenees.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">57</a></span> -“There even in summer” says the Pilgrim “one suffers -from squalls and eddies of snowstorm. Just a few -wretched plants manage to root in ground that is almost -always frozen. No grain will sprout and no trace of -man is to be found in all this vast solitude.” But he came -across a species of ostrich, a bird “ten feet high,” of -which he had previously been shown the eggs which were -“as big as small pitchers.”</p> - -<p>The central valley of the Pamirs along which the -caravan advanced, led to difficult snow-passes of the -Kizil Yart range, the highest peak of which soars to 26,000 -feet. Having forced a way over ice and through snow, -the long descent of the Eastern slopes was nearly at an -end when a band of brigands was observed to be on the -look out for prey. The traders fled, helter skelter, up the -hill-side; and the robbers charged furiously at their laden -elephants, several of which they killed, while others were -drowned in trying to get across the torrents from the -mountains. It was probably at this time that Hiuen-Tsiang -lost his elephant. The thieves were soon fully -occupied with their booty; the traders seized the opportunity, -drew together again, and proceeded, with what -goods they had been able to save, towards Kâshgar.</p> - -<p>At Kâshgar the same custom obtained as at Kutchê: -“When a child is born the head is compressed by a wooden -board.” The people are “fierce and impetuous and most -of them are deceitful and indifferent to polite manners -and learning. They paint their bodies and eyelids.” -But they show real skill in the making of hair-cloth -and finely woven carpets. More than six hundred years -later, Marco Polo travelled along the caravan route -through Kâshgar and by Lob-Nor to China.</p> - -<p>At Yârkand he was told that Arhats, (very purified and -wise men), “those who had obtained the holy fruit -and were no longer bound by worldly influences” “displaying -their spiritual power, coming from afar (that is, -from India), abode here at rest.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">58</a></span></p> - -<p>Arrived at Khotan, he found it a land of song and dance. -Fa-Hian also describes the inhabitants as being, in his -time, “lovers of religious music.”</p> - -<p>It would seem that the caravan in which Hiuen-Tsiang -travelled was bound for Kau-chang, that land of the -Uïghurs whose Khân-paramount had tried to detain him -“for the better instruction of his subjects.” Now Khotan -was tributary to this despot; and as the Master of the Law -had no desire to go out of his direct way home, or to be -detained again, not to speak of another hunger-strike, -he wrote the Khân a politic letter, wherein he recounted -the perils he had undergone and the successful issue of -his sacred mission. Yet, an elephant which bore the -burthen of many scriptures had been drowned on the -way home; but the writings were saved. Would the -Great Khân grant him a convoy?</p> - -<p>It took six or seven months for a reply to arrive; and -Hiuen-Tsiang filled up the time in expounding sacred -writings to the Khân of Khotan and his subjects. When -the answer came from Kau-chang, it was favourable; -the Khân of Khotan was permitted to furnish the Master -of the Law with transport for his treasures.</p> - -<p>Fully a thousand miles still lay before him, and the -painful desert known to modern geographers as the Takla -Makan must be crossed. The route pursued was a very -tortuous one, south of the great lake Lob-nor (which lies -between 2,000 and 3,000 feet above the sea-level), and -north of the Altyn-Tag mountains, which are the northern -buttresses of the great plateau of Thibet. He passed by -ancient cities of Eastern Khotan, once flourishing, now -buried by drifting sands. Mere mounds marked their -sites.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">5</a> Going East “we enter a great desert of shifting -sands, which are as a vast flood, driven hither and thither -by the wind. There is no track; and, without guide -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">59</a></span>or indication, travellers get bewildered and are lost. -So the bones of beasts (which have perished) are piled -up to serve as beacons. Neither water nor herb is to be -found, and hot winds, which are frequent, befog the mind -and muddle the memory of man and beast, and make -them ill and feeble. Sometimes one hears plaintive notes -and piteous lamentations, and men get confused and know -not whither they are going. Hence, many a life is lost. -And all is the work of demons and evil spirits.” All travellers -in deserts speak of the weird noises, which we now -know to be due to the shifting of the sand-ridges.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">6</a></p> - -<p>And now, after sixteen years of pilgrim travel, after -visiting a hundred and ten different States, and journeying -some twenty thousand miles, Hiuen-Tsiang is drawing -near his native land. He bears with him five hundred -grains of relics, reputed to belong to the body of -Tathâgarta (Gautama Buddha); one hundred and twenty-four -works of the Great Vehicle; five hundred and twenty -other volumes, borne by twenty-two horses; and six -images of Buddha, in gold or silver or sandal-wood. In -the appeal for transport sent to Kau-chang, he had -written: “Notwithstanding differences in climate and -mode of life; and notwithstanding perils beyond count -which have menaced me in my journeying, I thank Heaven -that nowhere did I come to harm. Reverence, beyond -all limit, has been done to me; my body has suffered no -ill; and I have fulfilled all that I vowed to accomplish.”</p> - -<p>But his body <i>had</i> suffered ill. The terrible ordeal of -crossing ice-bound ranges left its mark: it weakened his -robust constitution and shortened his life.</p> - -<p>At the Chinese frontier, waggons and men were obtained, -and the escort from Khotan returned. T’ai Tsung, the -great warrior statesman, now sat on the throne he had -won for his father, and to him “The Master of the Law<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">60</a></span>” -announced his return. Emperor, Mandarins, Priests, -and People made ready to receive the great pilgrim with -plaudit and parade such as Western reserve bestows only -on the victor in some scene of slaughter, or on the inheritor -of some soiled circlet and blood-stained robe.</p> - -<p>The great day arrived. It was as if all China were -present, so crushing were the crowds. The Sacred Writings -were taken in state to the “Convent of the Great Bliss.” -(Later they were transferred to a “Convent of Beneficence,” -specially constructed to contain them.) High -dignitaries led the way; marvellous wind-instruments -discoursed astounding music; priests in thousands chanted -hymns; banners and brilliantly-coloured rugs floated -in the wind. A procession of the most varied character, -miles long, passed through the narrow, crowded streets, -which were lined by rows of flower-scatterers and less poetic, -but even more desirable, perfume burners. To the -irreverent European mind, the record of this Eastern -parade in the Seventh Century suggests a highly variegated -travelling-circus; and the brow is involuntarily raised -when we come to the royal harem and its enthusiastic -ladies welcoming the return of the monk and the arrival -of yet more ascetic doctrine. The best of us is but human, -and it is evident from the narrative that, true saint as -he was, the “Master of the Law” none the less thoroughly -enjoyed the recognition of his great merits, and made little -objection to the honours he received.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">61</a></span></p> - - - - -<h3>CHAPTER VII.<br /><br /> - -<small>PEACEFUL DAYS.</small></h3> - - -<p><span class="smcap">At</span> intervals an order came from T’ai-Tsung and his -successor to appear within the green enclosure which -surrounded the Imperial Throne. It was by Imperial -command that the world possesses Hiuen-Tsiang’s report -of the States he had visited and of eighteen other States -of which he believed himself to have gathered authentic -information. The work, as already stated, is full of the -absurd, fantastic fables of corrupted Buddhism, related -at full length and with perfervid unction; but it is also -a record of observation so close, systematic, and even -scientific, and of a will so firm-set and bold, that it is -surpassed in no age by any record of travel whatsoever. -But there is little of personal narrative in it. Now, -Hiuen-Tsiang had lost full command of his native language -during so many years of residence among alien -peoples, and it was found necessary to get a Chinese -stylist to redact his “Account of Western Countries” -(“<i>Si-yu-ki</i>”). This was done, in the main, from notes -which the pilgrim had brought back with him.</p> - -<p>When the “Master of the Law” had finished this big -undertaking, he returned to work that had been interrupted -by it—the collating, translating and editing of -the books he had brought with him. He was accustomed -to eat a slight breakfast at dawn, and to lecture to the -monks (<i>Sramans</i>) of his convent during the next four -hours on some canonical book or religious treatise. When -this task was done, he would go on with translation, -marking out a certain portion for the day’s task; but, -if he had not finished this by night-fall, he usually sat -on until it was ended. He was scrupulous in his efforts -to restore corrupt text to its pristine purity; and one would -always find him fully occupied. Yet he always made time -to discuss religious matters with the sages who visited<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">62</a></span> -him. “When he had penetrated some profundity, got -light on some obscure passage, or amended some corrupt -reading, it seemed as if some divine being had come to -his aid.... When expounding, he was wont to become -impassioned and his voice swelled out.” He had the great -gift of a convincing manner.</p> - -<p>One is glad that his biographers did not neglect to -describe his personal appearance and other details of a -similar kind. “His face,” they say, “had a little colour -to it; it was radiant and gracious; his bearing, grave -and stately. His voice was clear and penetrating; and -one never got weary of listening to him; for his words -were noble, elegant, and congenial. Often a distinguished -guest would listen to him for half a day with rapt attention. -He liked to wear a garment of fine cotton, of a length -suited to his height, which was 7 <i>tchi</i>.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">7</a> He walked with -even steps, and as one at ease. He looked you straight -in the face; there was never a hint of side-glance. He -kept strict rule and was always the same man. Nobody -could rival him for warmth and kindness of heart and -gentle pity, ardour, and inviolate observance of the -Law. He was slow in making friends, and reserved -in intercourse with those that he made. Once within -the gates of his monastery, nothing but an Imperial -decree could make him budge.”</p> - -<p>Yet, on one occasion, he paid a visit to his native village. -Only one feeble old sister was left of all his family. He -went with her to the graves of their parents; it is said -to clear them of weeds which had overgrown them; but -probably also to restore the few bones he had taken with -him on his pilgrimage. His parents perished during the -time of bloody civil strife, and their remains were hastily -buried in a mean grave; so he obtained Imperial permission -to carry them to a better resting-place. Thousands -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">63</a></span>of monks and laity came to honour the father and mother -of the “Master of the Law.”</p> - -<p>When Hiuen-Tsiang was a little more than 60, the -hardships of travel and the intense application of his -latter years told on him; health rapidly failed him. “I -have come to the end of my work on this sacred book,” -said he to a disciple, “and also I have come near to the -end of my life. Bury me in a simple, quiet way. Wrap -my body in a mat and bear it to some lonely, hushful -valley, far from any palace (<i>sic</i>) or convent; for so impure -a carcass as mine should not be near either.” His disciples -were disturbed at his condition and wept bitterly; -they tried to persuade him that he was mistaken as to -the approach of death. “I know myself,” he replied; -“How can you enter into my intuition?” The weakness -increased, “The moment of departure is at hand,” -he told them. “Already my soul gives way and seems -to leave me. Sell my clothes and belongings without -delay, and turn the money into images (of Buddha), -and tell the monks to pray.” He lay stiff and still for -days, taking no food. At last, when asked if he felt sure -of reaching the goal of his desires, he answered “Yes” -in a weak voice. In a few moments he was dead; -yet his face retained its rosy colour and suggested supreme -happiness. He was 65 years of age.</p> - -<p>He had begged for a simple funeral. He was buried -in pomp; and there was an immense giving of alms at -his grave-side. His wish was so far respected, however, -that his remains were ultimately carried to a reposeful -spot in a tranquil valley.</p> - -<p>Hwui-Lih, one of Hiuen-Tsiang’s disciples, whom he -had employed in translation, had gone far in writing -a biography of the Master from his notes and conversation, -when his labours were interrupted by death. Yen-Tsong, -another devoted disciple took up the uncompleted work; -he collected and put the manuscripts of Hiuen-Tsiang -and Hwui-Lih in order, corrected the blunders and im<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">64</a></span>perfections -of Hwui-Lih’s five volumes, and expanded -them into ten volumes; which Monsieur Julien translated -into French many years ago. M. Julien condensed the -later and less interesting part of the biography, for the -complete work was too voluminous and too full of flowery -periods to be worth the labour of full translation; and -even with this abridgement, much of the work, like the -<i>Si-yu-ki</i>, remains tedious reading. There is also a much -abbreviated translation into English by Dr. Samuel Beal.</p> - -<p>Yet, the work is an imperishable monument to a great -mind. When, here and there, one suspects a little of -that chastened self-inflation from which few, if any, -saints have been exempt; and when one has made due -allowance for the natural desire of two enthusiastic disciples -to offer innumerable flowers of Chinese rhetoric -at the tomb of a beloved Master, the fact remains that his -lofty mind and gentle, yet ardent, character, secured -their deep reverence and commanded their devotion. -This affords further evidence of that personal attraction, -the effects of which we have so often observed in the -record of his pilgrimage. We may justly apply to this -ancient Chinaman the happy phrase of John Lyly, the -Euphuist, and say of him that his soul was “stitched -to the starres.”</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">65</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>II.—SÆWULF, AN ENGLISH PILGRIM TO PALESTINE.<br /> - -<small>A.D. 1102</small></h2> - - - -<hr /> -<h3>CHAPTER I.<br /><br /> - -<small>EARLY PILGRIMAGE TO PALESTINE.</small></h3> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Very</span> soon after Hiuen-Tsiang set forth on his arduous -enterprise, Jerusalem witnessed a remarkable scene -(<span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span> 629). Heraclius, Emperor of New Rome, had overthrown -the hosts of Chosroes II, the Persian, and now he -marched on foot through streets which that monarch -had so lately ravaged and shorn of half their population. -A spirit of devout and humble thankfulness possessed -Heraclius and his chastened people. The imperial feet -were naked; the imperial shoulders bore the weight of -that True Cross which the aged Helena, mother of -Constantine the Great, had so significantly discovered, -and which Chosroes had carried away from the Church -of the Holy Sepulchre.</p> - -<p>Long before the True Cross was miraculously found, -pious Christians were wont to visit the sacred scenes of -their Faith; but, after that event, Pilgrimage became -fashionable. Not the devout only thronged to the Holy -Land, and crowded all its many sanctified spots. The -inhabitants of Palestine were not slow to provide for the -satisfaction of the pilgrim; whether he were of the eager -faithful, burning to behold the burial places of Patriarchs -and the very spot associated with some scene of the Gospels; -or were one moved by a love of novelty and excitement. -Tradition was revived, or legend invented; a vast number -of sacred relics was hit upon and produced; hostelries -became scenes of piety, and, alas! often of dissipation.</p> - -<p>Many, if not most, of the travellers were undoubtedly -impelled by a genuine spirit of reverence; but pilgrimages<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">66</a></span> -have always been popular because, under the sanction -of Religion, they afforded the excitement of mild adventure -and the physical and mental exhilaration which accompanies -change of scene. As is always the case when -men gather together from many lands and find themselves -released from the restraints of home and the specified -conventions of country, many were pliant to the allurements -of pleasure. Indeed, Jerusalem was soon turned -into a theatre of the passions, a centre of wild dissipation, -and even of serious crime. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Jerome, -and St. Augustine, set themselves against the fashionable -craze, and told would-be pilgrims that they might do far -better by remaining at home and praising God in whatsoever -station he had assigned to them.</p> - -<p>When Jerusalem fell to the onrush of the Arabs (<span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span> 637), -the Moslem conquerors regarded it as a sacred city; for -they believed Mohammed to have been transported -thence to visit Paradise. Christian subjects and Christian -pilgrims added to Mohammedan wealth; and they were -allowed, under restrictions, to dwell in or to visit the Holy -Land. Haroun-Al-Raschid, Caliph of Bagdad, and -Charlemagne, Emperor of the West, were drawn together -by the political antagonism of Constantinople -alike to the Saracen and to an upstart Empire. They -exchanged gifts; and the traveller may still see some -of those sent by Haroun-Al-Raschid, as well as much -else that is curious or beautiful, in the Treasury of the -great Church which Charlemagne built at Aix-la-Chapelle. -Bernard, one of three Benedictine monks who visited -the Holy Land <span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span> 870, says that Christians there enjoyed -such security that if, by some accident, a traveller should -lose a beast of burden on the road, he might leave his -belongings where they lay, proceed to the nearest city -for assistance, and find them untouched on his return.</p> - -<p>When the great Empire of the Abassides crumbled -and fell, the Fatimite Caliphs of Cairo were usually tolerant -of infidels, who increased their wealth and power. Com<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">67</a></span>mercial -relations with the Christian West continued; -and pilgrims flocked to the Holy Land. In the tenth -century, that darkest of the Dark Ages, John of Parma -visited Palestine no fewer than seven times; and even -far-off Iceland sent its pilgrims.</p> - -<p>But in the eleventh century (<span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span> 1074) the Seljuk -Turk swept down from the Oxus, and, aided by Emirs -in revolt, took Jerusalem. The main body of the Turkish -army retained the barbarous habits of a nomadic people; -they lusted for battle; they were drunk with blood. -Palestine became the scene of exaction, of debauchery, -and of every kind of licence and excess. Churches were -ransacked for spoil; the rich pilgrim was subject to threat -and compelled to disgorge much of his wealth before he -was allowed to see Jerusalem; the poor pilgrim, already -worn down by privation and suffering in some diminutive -crazy craft, met, on landing, with insult and outrage. -Neither Mohammedan Cairo nor Christian Constantinople -were strong enough to deal with the Turk: he exhibited -Moslem fanaticism at its worst. The Scimitar had indeed -displaced the Cross.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">68</a></span></p> - - - - -<h3>CHAPTER II. “DIEU LE VEULT.”</h3> - - -<p><span class="smcap">One</span> of the eye-witnesses of the wretchedness of Christians -in Palestine was a certain Peter, a man from Picardy; -high-strung; one to whom a very varied experience -brought no satisfaction. His restless disposition had -driven him into the profession of arms; he had sought -for peace in study; he had tried the companionship of -a wife, who had borne him the boon of children; his -spirit found no tranquility among cloistered monks; -he fled to the greater seclusion of a hermitage. There -visions left his soul still unsatisfied, and he went to the -Holy Land. The sufferings of Christians at the hands of -the Turk filled him with spiritual fury. He returned -to Europe, and with inextinguishable zeal, traversed its -western half to urge in impassioned eloquence, which -made every heart throb and frenzied every mind, the union -of all Christendom for the destruction of the Turk and -the re-establishment of the True Faith in its first home.</p> - -<p>He set Europe ablaze. Fourteen generations of -Christians had grieved over the Moslem occupation of -the Holy Land. John Zimiskes, the ablest and most -popular of Byzantine generals, had carried his arms as -far as Lebanon in the year 975, and had recovered what were -said to be the shoes of the Saviour and the hair of John -the Baptist. But, contrary to the vainglorious assertions -of Byzantine historians, he was unable to penetrate into -Palestine. In 1073, Hildebrand, the great Pope-Statesman, -was anxious to deliver the Holy Places; but -any project that he may have formed came to naught; -for the Head of the Holy Roman Empire was bent on -subordinating the Church to his Imperial Will; and -the Head of the Church was even more resolute in his -resolve to make the Papacy independent and supreme. -About this time, German prelates headed 7,000 pilgrims,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">69</a></span> -of whom only 2,000 survived to see their home once -more. The conquest of Jerusalem remained a dream -until Peter the Hermit awoke the sleeper.</p> - -<p>But now Urban II responded to his call, and summoned -and presided over the famous Council of Clermont in -Auvergne. “God wills it,” shouted the assembly; “a -truce of God” was declared; private war and princely -quarrels appeared to be forgotten; and all Western Europe -prepared for a Crusade.</p> - -<p>The barons were undoubtedly captive to a great idea, -and their zeal was sincere. But little of any human action -is due to a single motive. Remission of sin was promised -to those who should assume the Cross; and love of battle, -the charm of novelty, and the desire of acquiring large -and lucrative fiefs in the Holy Land also played their -part. The imagination of the common people, so lively -and virile, often so spiritual and exalted in the Middle -Ages, was no less fired than that of the barons. The spirit -which directed men to the cloister now summoned them -to the camp. A belief that God had decreed the expulsion -of the Turk, and would protect and direct them to the -capture of the Holy City, filled all men with fanatic fervour. -The sound of clarion and trumpet and the clash of arms -mingled with the voice of the preacher exhorting seigneur -and serf. To men of the eleventh century, the curtains of -the Unseen were often withdrawn, and the splendour of -God shone forth, or devils appeared, comely to tempt, -or distorted to terrify. Guibert tells us that, while at -Beauvais, he noticed, at mid-day, a few clouds stretched -a little obliquely athwart others, and “All at once, -thousands of voices from every quarter cried out that -a cross had appeared in the sky.”</p> - -<p>But, as with the barons, motives other than religious -also moved the populace and favoured the Crusade. -Private war had been unceasing; famine and pestilence, -the attendants on war, had desolated Europe; the serf -lay prostrate under the heel of his exacting seigneur.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">70</a></span> -There would be release from these evils in that land which -the Redeemer of Mankind had chosen to be the scene -of his birth and Sacrifice.</p> - -<p>The wave of enthusiasm struck our own shores, and -passed beyond them. William of Malmesbury says in -his “Chronicles of the Kings of England” that, “there -was no nation so remote, no people so retired, as not to -contribute its portion.” This ardent love not only inspired -the continental provinces, but even all who had heard -the name of Christ, whether in the most distant islands, -or savage countries. The Welshman left his hunting; -the Scot his fellowship with lice; the Dane his drinking -party; the Norwegian his raw fish. Lands were deserted -of their husbandmen; houses of their inhabitants; even -whole cities migrated. There was no regard to relationship; -affection to their country was held in little esteem; -God alone was placed before their eyes. Whatever -was stored in granaries, or hoarded in chambers, to -answer the hopes of the avaricious husbandman, or the -covetousness of the miser, all, all was deserted; they -hungered and thirsted after Jerusalem alone. Joy attended -such as proceeded; while grief oppressed those -who remained. But why do I say remained? You -might see the husband departing with his wife; indeed, -with all his family; you would smile to see the whole -household laden on a carriage, about to proceed on their -journey. The road was too narrow for the passengers, -the path too confined for the travellers, so thickly were -they thronged with endless multitudes. A French eye-witness -tells us that “thieves and evil-doers of all kinds -cast themselves at the feet of priests to receive the cross.... -The rustic shod his oxen like horses; the children -on approaching any large town or castle would ask: -‘is that Jerusalem?’”</p> - -<p>These undisciplined hordes became turbulent; their -march was marked by famine, pillage and murder. The -few who reached Asia Minor were exterminated.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">71</a></span></p> - -<p>Macaulay’s “schoolboy” knows the story of the -disciplined army of the First Crusade; how, after the -Caliph of Cairo had wrested Jerusalem from the weakened -Turk and offered peace and security to Christians in vain, -the slow advance of the invaders, marked by incredible -cruelty on both sides, was so far successful that the -crusading barons and their followers hurled themselves -against the Holy City and took it (<span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span> 1099). “Even -civilization always bears a brute within its bosom,” -remarks Sainte-Beuve; and assuredly Mediæval Religion -made small attempt to caste out the devils that made -the Cross their screen. The loftiest passions are often -unstable; the enthusiasm of the crowd readily passes -from mood to mood. The fervour of faith became the -frenzy of carnage. Raymond of Agiles, an eye-witness, -declares that the Mosque of Omar and its portals ran blood -up to the knees and even so far as to the reins of the horses. -For seven days, Jerusalem was given up to slaughter -and pillage.</p> - -<p>Yet, in spite of a campaign tarnished with shame and -dyed with guilt, the Christian ideal had not wholly disappeared. -The growing spirit of Chivalry was not wanting, -nor was the Norman genius for statesmanship absent. -At the famous “Assizes of Jerusalem,” a code of laws -was drawn up better than the Middle Ages had yet -known. But after Baldwin was crowned at Bethlehem -(<span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span> 1100), the new Kingdom remained unsettled. -Neither Christian nor Saracen was likely to forget the -atrocities of war; the whole of Palestine was far from -being subdued; a few parts were still held by the Infidel; -the paths to Jerusalem were still perilous for the pilgrim; -but once again the Holy City and other sacred places -were under Christian rule. The enthusiasm and joy -of Western Europe ran high. The tide of pilgrimage -at once set in, and an obscure Englishman was one of the -first pilgrims to reach Jerusalem.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">72</a></span></p> - - - - -<h3>CHAPTER III. SÆWULF’S RECORD.</h3> - - -<p><span class="smcap">There</span> is preserved in the library of Corpus Christi College, -Cambridge, a valuable collection of ancient manuscripts -presented by an old pupil of the College, who was no other -than Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury in the -reign of Queen Elizabeth. Among these manuscripts -is a mere fragment, written in Mediæval Latin, which -tells of the pilgrimage to Jerusalem of one Sæwulf, an -Englishman, who must have started from his native -shores thirty-six years after the landing of William the -Conqueror, and less than two years after the coronation -of Baldwin.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">8</a> The record of Sæwulf is the broken voice -of an obscure, unlettered palmer, which chance has preserved -from common sepulture with things more important -in the Ancient Silences. It gives us little more than a -glimpse of a single year of adventurous pilgrimage in -the life of a plain Englishman who, like the Chinaman who -undertook a sacred journey nearly five centuries before -him, having beheld “a gleam upon the mountain, needs -must arise and go thither.”</p> - -<p>The narrative begins with the statement: “I Sæwulf, -an unworthy person and an evil doer, made for Jerusalem -that I might pray at the tomb of our Lord.” Who Sæwulf -was, is open to conjecture. It seems probable that he -was the man of that name of whom William, Librarian -of Malmesbury Abbey, speaks in his “Book of Bishops”; -a merchant who had recurring spasms of penitence, -during which he was wont to repair to Wulstan, Bishop -of Worcester, a prelate of “pious, simple truth,” who -commanded the affection of the people and the confidence -of the King. This Sæwulf was probably a native of Worcester. -Wulstan, we know, was the last of the Saxon -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">73</a></span>Bishops; for the hand of the Norman was heavy on the -prostrate land, and it was the policy of the Conqueror, -as William of Malmesbury tells us, in another of his works, -to replace the native bishops on their death “by diligent -men of any nation except English”—a policy which the -Church supported; for religion had been in a decaying -state in England for some years before the arrival of the -Normans. Indeed, “the clergy, contented with a very -slight degree of learning, could scarcely stammer out the -words of the sacraments; and a person who understood -grammar was an object of wonder and astonishment. -The monks mocked the rule of their order by fine vestments -and the use of every kind of food.” Wulstan implored -Sæwulf to give up a livelihood which was beset with all -manner of temptation, and to take the habit; for his conviction -of sin was soon over, and he invariably resumed -his former vices. Wulstan told him that the time would -come when he would become a monk, “which” says -the Chronicler, “I afterwards saw fulfilled; for he was -converted in our monastery in his old age, being driven -to it by disease.” There is nothing in Sæwulf’s narrative -to indicate that he was in holy orders; more than once -he speaks of himself as one oppressed by a sense of sin; -and the record of his pilgrimage may very well have been -translated into the dry, terse Latin of the monks by another -hand, or, conceivably, may have been written by himself -in his last years at Malmesbury.</p> - -<p>Whoever he was, Sæwulf’s early manhood was spent -in a disordered land among a dejected people. During -the reign of William Rufus, England was visited by tempest -and famine and even by severe earthquake; rebellion was -rife; the Welsh over-ran the county of Chester and part -of Shropshire, leaving them waste; Magnus, King of -Norway, swooped down the Irish Sea, occupied Anglesea, -and threatened the mainland; the common people were -oppressed by their foreign masters and illegally taxed; -“the courtiers preyed upon the property of the country<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">74</a></span> -people and consumed their substance,” says William of -Malmesbury, and Eadmer of Canterbury, our best -authority on the period, confirms his statement: “As to -their cruelty towards their hosts,” he writes, “or their -unseemly conduct towards their wives and daughters, -it is shameful even to remember”; the royal progresses -through England were a travelling Sodom and Gomorrah. -And we may judge of the tender mercies of the time when -we read that traitors to the King, or innocent men deemed -to be such, “were deprived of their sight and manhood.” -These inhumanities also disgraced the far more civilized -Byzantine Empire. No wonder that men’s hearts yearned -for a “City of God,” or that their hearts were set on the -peace of the convent, or that they disdained the mere -perils of pilgrimage!</p> - -<p>The existing fragment of Sæwulf’s narrative begins -with his departure from Southern Italy; but we know, -from other sources, what were the conditions and prescribed -forms of pilgrimage, and how an English pilgrim -would reach Apulia.</p> - -<p>First, he had to get the consent of near relatives, in -order that the interests of his family or dependents might -be protected. To make sure that the would-be pilgrim -was moved by devotion or penitence, and not by vain -desire to see the world, he was also required to secure -the sanction of his bishop, who made investigation into -his life and character before granting it. The enquiry -was a very searching one in the case of a monk; for his -real motive might be to escape from conventual discipline. -If satisfied, the Bishop or his delegate solemnly presented -him with a pilgrim’s staff and wallet, and bestowed his -benediction at Mass in the church of the parish in which -the pilgrim resided. He was furnished with a document -which exhorted all monasteries, priests, and faithful -Christians to give him aid and relief on his journey. He -was now bound to set off without delay, under penalty -of being dealt with as a backslider and perjurer. When<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">75</a></span> -the day of departure arrived, a procession of relatives, -friends, and pious people accompanied him some little -distance, and then, having been blessed by the clergy -present, clad in white linen with the cross marked on it, -and duly sprinkled with holy water, he went on his way -alone.</p> - -<p>The long and hazardous sea-voyage to the Mediterranean -was shunned. Despite the perturbed state of the Continent, -it was safer to make for the heel of Italy by the -overland route. All men who bore arms were under the -obligation to defend him; no robber-baron might demand -a toll from him—nay the castle welcomed him, and he was -seated at table beside the house-priest. The bishop of -every town and the abbot or prior of every monastery -gave him shelter and hospitality; alms were specially -devoted to the relief of the poor pilgrim and the support -of monasteries along the pilgrim’s path. If he were ill, -the doors of whatever hospital might be near were open -to him, or he was cordially received into the Infirmary -of every convent. A pilgrim’s hospice, founded in the -first half of the ninth century by Louis the Pious, stood -amid the snowy wastes of Mont Cénis to shelter him -from its bitter blasts. He would pass through Italy, -little affected by the unceasing and bloody conflict of noble -with bishop, bishop with city, city with noble, and every -one of a thousand petty communes and fiefs with its -neighbours; for the charitable monastery would prove -a ready asylum. Arrived at a convenient port, a greatly -reduced passage-money was required of a pilgrim to the -Holy Land; and there were some ports where ships belonging -to them were compelled to carry pilgrims free -of all charge.</p> - -<p>Mediterranean shipping was not notably different -in build and badness from that of Northern waters; but -was often of larger size. Nearly all that we know about -it is derived from the uncouth paintings, coins, and arms -of maritime towns of a somewhat later period, which are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">76</a></span> -rather symbols than representations. The sailing-ship -was shorter than the galley, which was rowed as well as -sailed; it was shaped somewhat like a half-moon and was -very broad in the beam. It could sail only before the -wind. There was rarely more than a single mast; the -sails were square; and the yards could be lowered to the -deck like those of a modern barge. These ships were not -unlike the clumsy coasters still to be met with off Norway. -Passengers were very uncomfortably crowded together, -and must have had a terrible time. The outside planks -overlapped, and were held together by iron nails; and the -seams were stopped up with oakum. Mediæval vessels -were crazy craft, and frequently went to pieces when -wind and wave ran high: he was a bold traveller who -tempted Neptune in those days, and especially bold if, -after a first experience, he braved the sea god a second -time.</p> - -<p>Brindisi was the usual place of embarquation; but for -some reason, which Sæwulf does not state, he started from -Monopoli, a little port midway between Bari and Brindisi. -Now there was a general belief in certain days being unlucky; -a belief which persisted in spite of the condemnation -of the Church. A Christian Calendar of the early part of -the 4th century indicates what days are of ill omen, according -to the Astrology of Egypt. Popular belief credited the -feast-day of St. Mildred the Virgin (a saint of Kent) -with this disqualification; and it was on St. Mildred’s day, -July 13th, 1102, that Sæwulf set sail in a craft rather -crazier than most. A storm came on the very same day -the port was left behind, and the ship was wrecked a short -distance from the harbour; but, “by Divine Mercy,” -all aboard got safely to shore. The passengers went on -to Brindisi; their ship, having been patched up in some -fashion, sailed thither, and the pilgrims got on board -again; but alas! it was another of those unlucky Egyptian -days! Corfu was reached in two days (July 24th); -but a great storm arose after leaving port and drove the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">77</a></span> -rickety craft before it. However, shelter was gained -at another of the Ionian islands—Cephalonia—on August -1st. Here, the company was still further depressed by -the death of one of their number. Cephalonia is opposite -the Gulf of Lepanto, and, sailing up the gulf, they landed -at Patras, which Sæwulf speaks of as a “notable <i>island</i>”; -not improperly, the word island being often applied -to a port in those days. The ship stopped at Patras -for a special purpose—that its passengers and mariners -should go on shore and pray to St. Andrew the Apostle -at the site of his martyrdom. Corinth was reached on -Aug. 9th, and Sæwulf and fellow pilgrims left their wretched -craft to avoid the long, stormy passage by Cape Matapan. -He finds a resemblance between his experiences and those -of St. Paul: both had suffered shipwreck, and Paul met -with misadventure at Corinth, where “we suffered many -hardships.” When a pilgrim to the Holy Land speaks -of hardship, it was probably of an unusually severe kind. -Roman Catholics neither loved nor were loved by members -of the Greek Communion; and the behaviour of Crusading -hosts in Eastern Europe was too recent to be forgotten.</p> - -<p>The pilgrims crossed the isthmus to Livadrostro, and, -some riding asses, the rest on foot, reached Thebes. They -would find Thebes inhabited chiefly by Jews, who were -“the most skilled artificers in silk and purple cloth of -all Greece.” Sixty-four years later, a Spanish Jew, -Benjamin of Tudela on the Ebro, who visited the settlements -of his race in many lands and reported on their -condition, found 300 Jews at Corinth and no fewer than -about 2,000 at Thebes, “many of them being learned -scholars, not to be equalled in the land of Greece, save -in the city of Constantinople.” Leaving Thebes the -travellers arrived next day at Negropont (Aug. 23rd). -This land-journey had proved untoward; the Greeks -were so inhospitable and so suspicious of them that often -they had to pass the night in deserted huts and sheds. -No wonder that they do not go a little out of their way<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">78</a></span> -to visit Athens, in spite of the fact that “in the Church -of the Blessed Virgin there is a lamp which is ever burning -with miraculously replenished oil,” and that Scripture -records how St. Paul preached there and “certain men -clave unto him and believed.” Among these converts -was Dionysius, the Areopagite. It may be true that -Dionysius “was born and got his learning there”: we -are indebted to Sæwulf for the information.</p> - -<p>At Negropont, the band of pilgrims took passage in a -tramp-trader, which first touched at one of the islands -of Petali, hard by Marathon; but what Englishman of -the year of grace 1102, even if he were an educated monk, -knew aught of the “glory which was Greece?” The -voyagers now made for Naxos, touching at various islands -on their way; their mediæval minds sightless to the -classic lustre of the Cyclades. Sæwulf does indeed speak -of Naxos as being “near to Crete, that memorable island”; -memorable because his own lively experience of what it -means to “go down to the sea in ships” recalls the -“tempestuous wind” which caught St. Paul off Crete; -for certain, he had never heard of that Epimenides of whom -the Apostle makes such vigorous use. Patmos is reached, -where the Beloved Apostle, banished by Domitian, “entered -his tomb alive.” Other islands are touched at, -among them Cos, and here our author exhibits his learning: -it is the birthplace of Galen, “the most famous physician -among the Greeks.” However, Hippocrates and Galen -were both physicians, and that is near enough. On the -trader goes, changing its course, now north, now south; -and the pilgrim associates every place visited with some -pious legend. Rhodes is reached, and history is again -rescued from oblivion: the Colossus was “an idol, 125 -feet high; the Persians destroyed it together with almost -the whole Roman province on their way to Spain.” -Sæwulf, or tradition, has confused the first conquering -onrush of the Arabs with the Persian advance; but the -Colossus was destroyed, not by Persians but by earth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">79</a></span>quake, -nine centuries before Sæwulf’s time. Yet there -is a basis for his story; its fragments were removed for -building purposes about the time of the first Arab conquests. -Sæwulf falls into a widespread blunder of his -unlettered age when he assumes that the inhabitants -of Rhodes drew their name from the Colossus, and that -the Epistles to the Colossians were directed to them.</p> - -<p>Leaving Rhodes, a great storm drove the ship straight -before it; but the sailors got her into the harbour of -Patara, “and, by next day, the storm had abated, -and we came to Long Island.” Here was a ruined city -which had been the refuge of exiles, escaped from the -Turk. Myra, on the mainland, was now reached; and -Sæwulf states that it is “the port of the Adriatic Sea; -as Constantinople is of the Ægean”: either his geography -is not quite accurate, or he would imply that, in his time, -Myra received the main Eastern traffic from the Adriatic, -and Constantinople from the Ægean. At Myra, he -worshipped at the empty tomb of St. Nicholas. Favourable -winds bore the ship thence to an island called “Sixty -oars,” on account of the force of the sea and the effort -required to overcome it. A discursion, out of sight of -land, brought the pilgrims to Paphos in Cyprus. We do -not expect any reference to the Cyprian Venus; but we -are a trifle surprised to find that our author now confuses -two separate chapters of “Acts” in one jumbled statement.</p> - -<p>Leaving Cyprus “we were tossed about by violent -storms seven days’ space before we could reach our haven; -and one night a fierce contrary wind drove us back towards -Cyprus; but Divine Mercy, Who is close at hand to those -who truly call on Him, vouchsafed no small pity for us -afflicted souls, and we resumed our proper course. Yet, -during seven nights, we were overwhelmed by such a -tempest and were in such peril that almost all hope left -us. Nevertheless, at the rising of the sun, behold! the -coast of Joppa lay before our eyes; and even as the -turbulence of our peril had made our hearts to sink within<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">80</a></span> -us, so joy, unexpected and unhoped for, lifted them up -an hundredfold more. And so it came to pass that, thirteen -weeks after our departure from Monopoli, the sea having -been our home, or deserted hovels in the islands (the -Greeks not being hospitable), we made the harbour of -Joppa, filled with joy and thanksgiving.” Sæwulf gives -no dates; but many have been fixed by the industry of -a French scholar, who compared feast days mentioned -in the narrative with the calendar, and its events with -ascertained dates. Sæwulf reached the Holy Land, -Oct. 12th, 1102.</p> - -<p>God had interposed on behalf of “the meanest of His -servants and the company of pilgrims”; and Sæwulf -renders praise, with the manner of the Psalms of David -in his mind. But yet another danger from wind and wave -awaits him. He got warning from some weather-wise -friends who knew the badness of the harbour. But he -shall tell his own tale: “The same day that we anchored, -someone, directed by God, as I believe, said to me, ‘Master, -go ashore this very day, for it may hap that to-night, -at dawn, a storm shall come on and stop you from landing.’ -When I heard this, the desire to land seized me. I got -a boat and wrent ashore with all my party. Even whilst -I was landing the sea was vexed; the waves became more -troubled, and a tempest came on; yet by Divine Mercy, -I landed unharmed. What happened then? We entered -the city to find a lodging. Weary and overdone by our -long labours, we fed ourselves and went to rest. And -then? In the morning, when we came out of church, -we heard the roaring of the sea and the populace shouting, -and everybody was running in a crowd to the shore, marvelling -at such sounds as they had never heard aforetime. -And, when we got there, we beheld the waves higher -than hills, a countless number of bodies of men and women -lying in wretched-wise on the beach; and ships were -crashed against each other and broken into small bits. -Could anyone hear a sound save that of roaring breakers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">81</a></span> -and splintering ships? For this drowned the outcry -of the crowd and the shouting in the ships. Our ship, -however, being a big one and strongly built, and some -others, laden with corn and other goods and with pilgrims -going or returning, held to their anchors still. Yet how -were they tossed about? Into what terror were they -plunged! How their ladings were cast into the sea! -What onlooker so hard and strong as to keep a dry eye! -Not long did we gaze when, through the violence of the -waves and currents, the anchors parted, the ropes were -broken asunder, and the ships abandoned to the fierceness -of the billows. All hope of safety was gone. Now they -were cast high; now flung down, and hurled by degrees -upon beach or rock. There were they dashed against -one another in wretched plight, and, little by little, torn -to bits by the tempest. Neither would the savage blasts -allow of their getting back to the sea whole, nor the steepness -of the shore admit of their gaining safety there. -But what gain in telling how dismally sailors and pilgrims -hung on; every hope gone, some to ships, some to masts, -some to spars, some to cross-tenders? What more shall -I tell? Some, overwhelmed with fright, are drowned. -It may seem unbelievable to many, yet I beheld with my -own eyes the heads of some separated from their bodies -by the timbers of their own ship. Some, washed from -the decks, are borne away again into the deep. Some, -who can swim, leap into the sea. So, very many find their -end. But just a very few, relying on their strength, -gain the land. Thus, of 30 ships of largest size, of which -some were Dromonds” (that is to say, having two tiers -of double oars), “Gulafri” (a sort of galley) “and Catts” -(vessels narrowing to the stern, with overhanging quarters -and a deep waist)—“all full of pilgrims and goods—of -all these barely seven were still unwrecked when I left -the shore. That day more than a thousand folk, of both -sexes, perished. Never did eye behold greater horrors -in a single day. But the Lord, to whom be honour and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">82</a></span> -glory, world without end, delivered me from all this of -His grace. Amen.”</p> - -<p>The little company had escaped a great peril, but another -lay ahead. Two days later they set forth to Jerusalem, -and found the way “hilly, very rough, and very perilous. -For the Saracens are constantly devising traps for -Christians; they lie hidden in the hollows of the hills -and in rocky holes, and by day and night remain ever -sharply on the look-out for those whom they may pounce -upon, by reason of their being few in numbers, or so jaded -as to lag behind their band. Suddenly, the Saracens -are all round about; the next moment they are gone. -Anyone who does that journey, may make trial of this. -How many human bodies, torn by wild beasts, lie along -the way and beside it! Perchance, some one may marvel -how the bodies of Christians should lie unburied. But -there is nothing to wonder at; for there is very little earth, -and the rocks are not easy to dig, and, even if there were -soil, who would be so unwise as to leave his band and dig -his companion a grave all by himself? He who should -do so would dig his own grave rather than one for his -companion. On that wayside, not only the poor and weak, -but the rich and strong also, are in peril. If men are cut -off by the Saracens, yet more in number die from heat -and thirst; many through want of drink; more by drinking -inordinately. Nonetheless we and all our company came -scatheless to the place we longed for.” Sæwulf’s account -of the dangers which beset the pilgrim is confirmed by -that of Daniel, Abbot of Kief, who made his pilgrimage -four years later (1106, <span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span>) North of the pilgrim’s way -lay Acre; south of it Ascalon, strong fortresses, still held -by the Saracen.</p> - -<p>The track from Jaffa led to the gate of David, and, -entering the city, Sæwulf visited its holiest place first—the -Martyrium or Holy Sepulchre. The tomb was under -cover, because the Church above was so built as to be -open to the skies. He tells us that Titus and Vespasian<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">83</a></span> -destroyed the whole of Jerusalem to fulfil the prophesy -of Christ, and that the city has undergone the same fate -seven times since Titus. He has for guides native Syrians, -a people whom he confuses with the Assyrians and calls -by that name. The guides told him that the Church -of the Holy Sepulchre was built in the time of Constantine -the Great. Now, the existing Church was only about -80 years old, and there had been two previous buildings, -of which the earlier was destroyed by Chosroes II, early -in the Seventh Century, and the second by Mohammedans, -early in the Eleventh Century.</p> - -<p>He was then taken to see the place where Christ was -imprisoned, the spot where His Cross and the crosses -of the two thieves were found, the column to which Christ -was bound (the thong with which He is said to have been -bound is still to be seen at Aix-la-Chapelle); all these -sacred objects of pilgrimage being near the Holy Sepulchre. -He was shown the “navel of the earth,” a spot which a -contemporary of Sæwulf tells us was in the outside wall -of the Martyrium, beyond the altar. Sæwulf assures -us that Christ marked it out with His own hand, and -declared it to be the centre of the world. This tradition -dates from the Sixth Century. Readers of Dante will -recall that the poet makes Jerusalem and the Earthly -Paradise the Antipodes of our globe; and, indeed, the -Holy City was at the middle of the circumscribed world -known to the Middle Ages. And had not David sung -“God is my King of old, working Salvation <i>in the midst -of the earth</i>?”</p> - -<p>Thence to Calvary; “Which is the very same place -where Abraham built an altar to sacrifice Isaac.” Traces -of the Earthquake which rent the rock, “for that it could -not endure the death of its Maker without breaking -asunder,” were pointed out to him. The guides also -took him to Golgotha, the very place where a stream of -the Saviour’s blood reached the bones of Adam, “and -he and the bodies of many saints arose.” Again readers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">84</a></span> -of Dante will think of the passage where the shade of -Virgil tells him how, some time after the Roman poet’s -own death, Christ took from Hades the souls of Adam -and Moses and other Scriptural personages of distinction, -with many others “<i>e fecegli beati</i>,” “and made them -blessed.” Sæwulf has perfect trust in any information -conveyed to him by his “Assyrian” guides. Indeed, -who so likely to know the truth about this wonderful -land as its natives?</p> - -<p>Close by the Holy Sepulchre was a little monastery -which merchants of Amalfi had founded 54 years before -Sæwulf saw it. It was the abode of the Knights Hospitalers, -who became so famous; but they had not yet -become that military order of which, after so singular -a history, England possesses traces in St. John’s Gate, -Clerkenwell, and a memorial in the beneficent work of -which that building is the official centre.</p> - -<p>He saw the “Gate Beautiful,” through which Heraclius, -triumphant bearer of the Cross, entered after his defeat -of the Persians; and heard how “the stones fell down -and closed the way, until an angel reproved him; and he -descended from his horse, and a passage was opened -up to him.” The guides took the pilgrim to see that -stone which was the pillow of Jacob when angels ascended -and descended a celestial ladder “and the Lord stood -above it” at Bethel. It was now at Jerusalem, and, -traditionally, is the very stone which was transported -to Scone, whereon the Kings of Scotland sat to be crowned, -and is to be seen at the present day, placed below -the Coronation Chair at Westminster Abbey.</p> - -<p>He was taken to Bethlehem; and complains that there, -as at every holy place, the Saracen had destroyed everything. -Yet the Convent of the Virgin still stood, and -within it he saw the very manger where the infant Jesus -lay; the very stone on which His head reposed in the -tomb, and which St. Jerome had brought hither from -Jerusalem; the marble table at which the Mother of our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">85</a></span> -Lord sat at meat with the Magi; a well which received -their guiding star into its waters; and the burial-place -of the Innocents. The story of the Star falling into a well -is also told by that fraudulent Fleming who adopted -the name of Sir John Mandeville, in his “Voiage and -travaile.”</p> - -<p>As much of Palestine as had been conquered was still the -scene of unceasing disorder, brigandage, revolt and warfare; -so pilgrims were conducted to the holy places under -military escort. Sæwulf went to Hebron, and tells us -of the tombs of the Patriarchs, ornamented by the men -of old and emitting sweet odours. The tombs were inside -a strong protecting fortress. Here, at Hebron, he found, -still standing, an ancient Ilex tree, under the shadow of -which the Lord had appeared to Abraham and promised -that Sara should bear him a son. Apparently, his friends, -the “Assyrians,” during many centuries of experience, -had found what profit accrued to them in tacking on some -Biblical association to every available object.</p> - -<p>Travelling Northward, he visited Nazareth and Cana -of Galilee, whence he beheld Mount Tabor, clad in refreshing -green and sprinkled with flowers. Still advancing -to the North, he saw the glory of Lebanon above him, -and the springs which give birth to the milky waters of -Jordan.</p> - -<p>More than seven months had passed since our simple-minded, -whole-hearted pilgrim landed at Joppa, and now -he turns his steps towards home. “Having seen every -one of the Holy Places of Jerusalem and its territory, -so far as we were able; and our devotions done, we took -ship at Joppa on the day of Pentecost” (May 17th, 1903). -Each pilgrim would take on board with him a palm branch -as ensign of his success, and a few portable <i>souvenirs</i>.</p> - -<p>Just as war with the Caliph of Cairo prevented our -pilgrim from reaching the Holy Land by way of Egypt -(which was the ordinary route from Western Lands), -so its continuance compelled him to return by an unusual<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">86</a></span> -journey. The ship turned from Joppa to the North. -Saracen ships were scouring the sea; and the returning -pilgrims found themselves hugging the shore, although -they must pass by that one fortified seaport which the -Crusaders had not yet overcome. Four days out from -Joppa, and when a little to the south of Acre, “behold -twenty-six Saracen ships hove into sight. They were the -squadron of the Admiral of Tyre and Sidon, sailing for -Babylonia with an army to aid the Chaldeans in waging -war with the King of Jerusalem” (<i>! sic</i>). This statement -is an example of how hearsay may germinate in the uninstructed -mind. It may not, however, be quite so wild -as it seems. Cairo is called Babylon in all Mediæval -writings, but, as a matter of fact, Arabs were, about -this time, trying to turn Tancred out of his fief at Edessa; -and Edessa may, perhaps, be regarded as lying towards -the Babylon of Scripture. And a Saracen army was -at sea, sent by the Caliph of Cairo, the new “Babylon,” -to raise the siege of Ascalon, which Baldwin I. was conducting. -Probably it was this expedition from Cairo -which Sæwulf came across. “Two vessels from Joppa, -which were with us, laden with pilgrims, left our ship -to itself; for they were lighter craft; and, by hard rowing, -fled to Cæsarea. The Saracens sailed all round our ship, -and kept an arrow’s flight off, rejoicing over so much -plunder. However our men were ready to die for Christ; -they laid hold of their arms, and used up each moment -in fortifying the castle (at the stern) of our ship; for we had -in our dromond 200 fighting men. After the space of -about an hour, the chief of the expedition, having held -a council-of-war, ordered one of his sailors to climb up -to the mast-head, so as to find out what it was exactly -that we were at. And, when he learned from this man -how strong was our defence, he hoisted his high yards -and made for the main. Thus did Our Lord, of His Grace, -rescue us from the foe that day. Afterwards our folk<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">87</a></span> -from Joppa took three of these same ships and made -themselves rich men with the spoil thereof.”</p> - -<p>Sæwulf’s dromond hugged the coast for eight days, -and then crossed the open sea to St. Andrews’, at the eastern -extremity of Cyprus; thence it made for Antiochetta -on the mainland. “During this voyage pirates often -attacked us; but, under the protection of Divine Grace, -we suffered naught, whether from hostile attack or from -tempestuous tossing.” Rhodes was reached on June -23rd; and Sæwulf and some others, who were weary -of tacking east and west and of the slow progress made -by the heavy vessel, agreed to go a certain distance together, -and hired a smaller but swifter craft. Embarked -in this, they returned towards the Asian Coast. A contrary -wind detained them a few days at a place which -Sæwulf calls Stromlo (Astypalæa), “once a fair city, -wholly made waste by the Turks.” At Scio, “we took -leave of our (last) ship and fellow-travellers, and began -our journey to Constantinople, in order that we might -pray there.” While passing Tenedos, he heard of the ruins -of Troy, and “how many miles of ground they covered.” -He tells us of two fortresses facing one another from opposite -sides of the “Arm of St. George” (the Dardanelles), -“which are so near as to be only two or three bowshots -apart, and which thus make the taking of Constantinople -an impossibility.” We have another reference to the -Trojan war: “The Greeks say that Helen was carried -off (from Eregli) by Paris Alexander.” And now the -fragment ends, leaving our pilgrim landed at Rodosto -on the Sea of Marmora, Sept. 10th, 1103. It has taken -him more than four months’ voyage from Joppa to reach -within fifty miles of New Rome. Doubtless he found -at St. Sophia, as Benjamin of Tudela did towards the end -of the same century, “a quantity of wealth beyond all -telling ... and the like of these riches is not -to be seen in any other Church in the world.”</p> - -<p>A long, weary journey, full of the excitement of peril,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">88</a></span> -still lay before him, whatever route he might take. All -we know is that, arrived at his native town (Worcester?), -a procession would receive and accompany him to his -parish church. There he would render thanks to God -for his safe return, and deliver his palm branch into the -hands of the priest, who would lay it on the altar.</p> - -<p>Some chance has rescued this broken record of an -obscure, unlettered palmer from oblivion. He is as the -hollow voice of a shade which has burst its sepulture -in the silences of oblivion. We catch but a glimpse -of some tenuous wraith; once warm and breathing flesh. -It tells us of a few months in the brief adventure of Life. -Yet we recognize, as in Hiuen-Tsiang, one who, having -beheld “a gleam on the mountain,” must “arise and go -seek it.” Sæwulf the Englishman may be but “a poor -thing,” yet he is our own. There lies the excuse for “a -poor humour of mine, sir, to take that that no man else -will.”</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">89</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="MOHAMMED_IBN_ABD_ALLAH" id="MOHAMMED_IBN_ABD_ALLAH">MOHAMMED IBN ABD ALLAH</a></h2> - -<p class="center"><big><span class="smcap">Better known as Ibn Batûta,<br /> -The Greatest of Moslem Travellers, A.D. 1304–77.</span></big></p> - - - -<hr /> -<h3>CHAPTER I.<br /><br /> - -<small>THE WHIRLWIND FROM ARABIA AND WHAT FOLLOWED.</small></h3> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Marauder</span> as he was, the Arab, like his half-brother -the Hebrew, carried an ethical spark in his bosom which -could be readily fanned into a consuming blaze. He -was accustomed, in the silence of the stony waste and of -the stars, to plunge into the depths of his own spiritual -being, or to await, in patience, some portent from the -unseen. Mohammed, a mystic, like unto the ancient -prophets of Israel, hating false gods and illuminated -by the “One All Merciful, Lord of Creation and Sultan -of Life,” in trance, in ecstasy, and in paroxysms of -enthusiasm, strove to purge his fellow countrymen of their -vain worship of idols and false gods, and to lead them -to the feet of the Almighty. At first he preached to -closed ears; but persistence and enthusiasm prevailed: -the religious intoxication of the Prophet was shared by the -unconquered sons of the desert; the Arab took fire from -the flaming words which fell from these inspired lips, -and was eager to carry the message to the uttermost ends -of the earth or to perish in the effort. Within ten years -of Mohammed’s flight from Mecca (<span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span> 622) all Arabia -was won to the Monotheist by conviction or by conquest.</p> - -<p>The combination of spiritual fervour with a prospect -of worldly achievement is formidable. A year after -the death of the Prophet, Kalid, riding against the -embattled hosts of Persia (<span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span> 633), broke into a chant -which reveals a baser spring of action in the Arabian<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">90</a></span> -mind. “Behold the wealth of the land,” he sang; “its -paths sweat fatness; food abounds as do stones in Arabia. -It were a great thing to fight here for worldly goods; -but to battle in a holy war is beyond praise. These -fruitful fields and Paradise!!!” It was not religious -fanaticism alone, although it was religious fanaticism -in the main, which put an invincible scimitar into the hands -of the tough, tenacious, untamed Arab. He was impelled -by religious fervour, without doubt; but religious fervour -had the strong support of a lusting after possessions, all -the more tempting in contrast with the stinted boons -of his desert home. And, should he fall in battle, was -he not promised an immediate admission into Paradise -with those sensuous enjoyments, which were most in -contrast with the penury of the nomad tent, and which -were most alluring to the imagination of the average -sensual man?</p> - -<p>When material greed supports spiritual fanaticism, -there is no need to wonder at success. The Arab advanced -against exhausted, loosely organised Empires, sprawling -and decayed; he offered righteous government, a pure -simple faith, with tolerance of the unbeliever under -penalty of a light tribute. The requital of refusal was -the sword. Damascus fell three years after Mohammed’s -death (<span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span> 635); Jerusalem, within two year; Egypt, -six years later (<span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span> 641), and Persia when the Prophet had -only lain a decade in his tomb (<span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span> 642). Not many -years passed before Okba swept across North Africa, -rode his steed far into the Atlantic tide, and waved his -scimitar over the waste of waters, lamenting that it put -a limit to victory. Thrice was the Mediterranean coast -of Africa conquered, and thrice was the Arab well-nigh -expelled; and then Greek and Roman and all civilized -inhabitants of the coast, preferring the rule of the Moslem -to that of the barbarous Berbers who had replaced him, -welcomed the fourth invasion, and settled down under -Arab rule. By the close of the century which in its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">91</a></span> -youth saw the hurried night-flight of Mohammed from -Mecca, the Moslem held sway from the Oxus to the Western -ports of Barbary. At the beginning of the next century -the great Iberian peninsula was added to the dominion -of the Caliph; and, although Ironic Destiny turned back -the triumph of the Prophet in the decisive battle of Tours -(<span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span> 732), a hundred years after his death, the great -Iberian Peninsula was held by the Arab from sea to sea -and as far north as the Cantabrian Mountains and the -southern spurs of the Pyrenees; while the Koran was -preached, although it did not everywhere prevail, east -and west, over a broad belt more than seven thousand -miles in length. The muezzin called the Faithful to prayers -from the Atlantic to the Yellow Sea.</p> - -<p>When a race, endowed with natural gifts, subdues -an enlightened people, it becomes inseminated by the higher -culture it encounters, and is stimulated to evolve an art, -a literature, and a polished civilization of its own. So -was it when Rome conquered Hellas; so was it when the -Northmen established themselves in France and Sicily; -so was it when the thundering steeds of the desert bore -their wild riders north and east and west, and the ancient -Parthian monarchy and the fairest, the wealthiest, and -the most cultured of the Roman provinces fell before -the triumphant Arab. Like the Norman, like the Roman, -he had the natural gift of governing as well as a passionate -wisdom. He steeped himself in the lore of Hellas; it -was through him that the philosophy of Aristotle was -transmitted to the Schoolmen; it was through him that -St. Thomas Aquinas was able to construct that venerable -philosophical system, based on the Peripatetic, which -has received the sanction and endorsement of the Church -of Rome; it was through him, therefore, that Dante -beheld that “glorious philosopher,” that “guide of human -reason,” that “<i>Maestro di color che sanno</i>,” “Master of -those who know,” seated amid a philosophic family. -The great names of Averrhoes, Avicenna, Avempace,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">92</a></span> -Algazel, and Avicebron attest the freedom of Arab -speculation in the tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries. -Mohammedans were the begetters of chemical science; they -eagerly pursued the study of botany; they contributed -much to geography; they carried medicine far beyond -the ancient limits of Galen and Celsus; they became -bold, brilliant and successful operators, and introduced -new methods into surgery; they cultivated letters and -left a noble literature behind them; they were poets -almost to a man: Princes wrote verses to the stars in some -interval between private plot and public slaughter; -water-carriers and camel-drivers vied with professional -poets in singing the praises of love in those delicious -hours when the refreshing breezes of the night might -carry songs beyond the lattice of the harem to be received -with the light laughter of girls; even the forbidden wine-flask -became a theme for song. Much of Arabic love -poetry is immortal, and few are the literatures in which -it is surpassed. In Architecture and the Decorative Arts, -the Arabs achieved inimitable elegance and grace; as -workers in metal they were supreme. After a prolonged -struggle, they subdued and civilized the wild Berber. -They regarded the Jew as a brother, less well informed -in sacred things than themselves; and they treated even -the “tritheistic” Christian with forbearance. Indeed -they were not too anxious to proselytize; for the unconverted -were taxable, and they did not wish the sources -of public income to dry up. But taxation was light, -and, in the main, the Arab yoke was far from heavy. -Slaves were treated with humanity, and might earn their -freedom at any moment by a simple profession of faith: -the Negro, the Spaniard, the Berber, the Turk, could -acquire the full right of a man by the repetition of a -short formula. During the declining years of the -Byzantine Empire, and until Liberty and Literature -arose in the Italian Communes, the Mohammedan bore -the torch of learning and kept human justice enthroned.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">93</a></span></p> - -<p>But Islam was another illustration of the profound -truth already recorded in this volume as one of the -melancholy tenets of Buddhism: Every human institution -bears within it the seeds of its decay. Though a -sense of righteous dealing dwelt from of old in the bosom -of the Arab, in his native desert the sword which executed -it was held by his own right hand. The predatory tentsmen -were divided into clans; and between the clans there were -blood-feuds. They were a democratic people; but they -had a deep reverence for men of noble blood; and their feuds -were taken up by the chief men of the cities of Arabia, and -by those leaders who, later, became the governors of -new provinces. And the conquered Berbers had precisely -the same characteristics: they also were predatory, -democratic, and revered their noble families. Moreover, -both races were readily moved to the more violent of the -emotions of religion. Before long Moslem fought against -Moslem, and a thousand forms of religious dissent weakened, -although they did not destroy, the essential unity of -Faith. Again, the extensive and rapidly acquired Empire -was too vast and too ill-organized to be ruled by one, -all-powerful Caliph. The centre of government was transferred, -during the revolutions of Islam at variance with -itself, from Damascus to Bagdad and from Bagdad to -Cairo; but the Caliph of Cairo was defended by, and therefore -in the hands of Mamelukes—slaves, bought in childhood -and trained to arms. The Mameluke became the ruler; -and, by the middle of the Thirteenth Century, the Caliph -was a mere nominal Spiritual Head, far feebler than the -Pope in Rome. For, distant provinces were continually -falling away from central authority; and it was never -long before the ally who came forward to support the -Caliph found it to his advantage to turn against him. -The Mohammedan world was divided, not merely between -the Shiite and Sunnite sects, but between many ambitious -and rival States. Long before the Fourteenth Century, -Islam was past its prime. There was decay in matters<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">94</a></span> -political, in literature, and in art. Yet the amity in Islam -was greater than its discord. The need of mutual -protection against the Christian, and the duty of every -Mohammedan to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least -once in his lifetime, helped to preserve true brotherly -feeling among all followers of the Prophet, whatever -their rank, their wealth, or the colour of their skin. The -study of the Koran implied a study of Arabic: there was -therefore a common language to serve the needs of -intercommunication. The Koran was carried into -mysterious lands, known before its arrival only in the -distortion of legend and in fables of romance. Passionate -devotion to a Faith which antagonistic or far-separated -races came to hold in common swept away these obstacles -to commutual intimacy. Huge hosts of Pilgrims from -many lands met at Mecca, and different caravans and -different sects united in prayer and praise. Some had -encountered peril by sea; all had baffled the craft or repelled -the attack of robber-bands; all had endured trials of the -desert; all had triumphed over those countless dangers -which lurked along difficult ways. Thus, disciplined -in endurance and accustomed to adventure, latent powers -of mind and character were aroused. Strange sights -awakened the curiosity of the trader; novel wares excited -his cupidity and converted him into an explorer of the -world. In spite of the intertwining of religious zeal -with commercial instinct, Pagan princes saw their -opportunity of enrichment, and welcomed the Arab, -Moorish, or Persian merchant. And, in days of peace, -the whole Mohammedan world was open to every -Mohammedan traveller; rulers received him with elaborate -courtesy and sped him on his way, rejoicing in gifts. -It mattered not whether he entered the gateway of some -princely residence, or stood on the threshold of some -peasant’s hut; he was sure at least of welcome and refreshment. -The trader might settle anywhere and find amity -awaiting him; an honest man was an honoured guest in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">95</a></span> -whatever land he might pursue his calling. A Christian, -Missionary to the East, who died in Ibn Batûta’s time, -bears witness to the brotherly love which obtained among -Moslems of different races. So we shall not marvel overmuch -at Ibn Batûta accomplishing what even to-day -would be considered world-wide travel, or at his discovering -children of the same father, who in their childhood watched -the sun setting over Atlantic waters, prosperously dwelling -in their maturity, one, where the dawn breaks from the -Yellow Sea; one, where the oasis lies an incongruous -and solitary blossom amid the sands of Sahara.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">96</a></span></p> - - - - -<h3>CHAPTER II. A RESOLUTE PILGRIM</h3> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Among</span> Mohammedan pilgrims and travellers Ibn Batûta -stands without a peer. He was born in a city which was -once an extreme outpost of Roman rule in Africa, the -Ancient Tingis, the modern Tangiers, in the Sultanate -of Fez, 24th February, 1304. He devoted his youth to -the study of the Koran and its exegesis; becoming thereby -an expert in theology and jurisprudence. For, throughout -the Mohammedan world the Koran is the living fountain -of all law and of all piety: hence Moslem theology and -law are inextricably intertwined.</p> - -<p>“Life is a pure flame, and we live by an invisible sun -within us,” is one of the quaint metaphors of Sir Thomas -Browne. The old Norwich physician is writing of the -body; but his remark is profoundly true of the soul of -men. By the time that Batûta had reached the age of -21, he tells us that he was all aflame with “inner desire -and determination to visit the Holy Places; tearing -himself away from those who were dear to him, both male -and female, and taking wing from home as a bird doth from -its nest.” He started from his native city when not quite -twenty-one years and four months old (14th June, 1325), -making, first, for Tlemçen, the capital of a Moslem State -300 miles distant from Tangier. Tlemçen remains in -the present writer’s memory as a gem set among the -Algerian Mountains, remarkable for the ruins of Mansûra, -which almost run up to its walls—a rival city built by -a rival prince during a siege which dragged on longer -than the ten years’ assault on Troy—remarkable also for -a master-piece of decoration in that Thirteenth Century -which was the great period of Moslem Architecture no -less than of our own. In this beautiful city rested a -Tunisian Embassy which had completed its mission and -and was about to return; and this he joined. When he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">97</a></span> -arrived at Bougie, he became a prey to fever; but the -patient was a man of mettle and he pushed on. Fever -was not the only foe. All North Africa was more or -less unsafe, by reason of Nomadic Berbers and brigands; -and hostilities were frequent between the States into -which the great Empire of the Undivided Caliphate had -broken up. The returning Embassy was exposed to danger -on its journey “from the perfidy of Arabs.”</p> - -<p>Arrived at Constantine, he received the first of those -welcome donatives which it was incumbent on the Rulers -of Islam to bestow. It was a scarf for head-gear; and -tucked in its folds, with considerate delicacy, were two -gold coins.</p> - -<p>At Bona, the ancient Hippo, whereof once Augustine -was bishop, fever again preyed on him, and he became -so ill that he could only keep his saddle by taking his -turban off and tying himself on with it; nor could he -stand at all during the whole long journey to Tunis. When -the Embassy arrived at its destination, the inhabitants -came outside the walls to welcome the cavalcade. Weak, -weary, and worn down by illness, unfriended and solitary, -among strangers who were joyfully greeted by relatives -and friends and fellow-countrymen; remote from all that -was hallowed by family affection or endeared by early -association, a terrible tempest of longing swept the bosom -of our pilgrim. He saw all the others saluted: “there -was no salutation for me” he says, “I knew no soul -there. I burst into a flood of tears. A pilgrim saw this; -he came forward and did me courtesy; nor did he cease -to take me off my thoughts by his conversation until -I was housed in the city.” This is the sole occasion on -which we hear a word of home-sickness during a journey -which lasted more than a score of years. The born -traveller, like the born sailor, may feel the pang and have -it renewed, but he brushes it aside. Moreover, we shall -shortly find Ibn Batûta setting up a travelling-home -of his own.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">98</a></span></p> - -<p>The Caravan for Mecca was about to start from Tunis; -and we find our jurisconsult become its Cadi, or justiciary. -A hundred bowmen accompanied it through a district -always perilous by reason of marauding nomads, who lurk -among its hills. It was the rainy season; the weather -turned so wet and cold that the caravan halted at Sfax, -and remained there some time, hoping for improvement. -Ibn Batûta seized the opportunity to marry the first -wife of whom we are told. She was a daughter of a -syndic of Tunis; and probably this was his first, but far -from being his last, entrance into matrimony. For he -was a man of taste, and we shall find him, in the course -of time, become an experienced Benedict, and by no means -indifferent to the charms of his pretty slave-concubines. -All delay was intolerable to Batûta; so, accompanied -by his bride, he set off at the head of an armed band, -bearing its standard. He soon entered a district notorious -for brigandage even to-day, when conquering France -and Italy hold the land and bestow sanguinary lessons -on wild tribesmen and robbers-in-blood. Fierce nomads -hovered around the little company, awaiting an opportunity -to attack; but happily the caravan caught it up -at one of those tombs of saint or warrior which the Moslem -holds in such veneration. Probably Batûta’s father-in-law -was in the caravan; for we are now told of dissensions -between the two men, although there is silence as to -the subject of dispute. If the Prophet granted the doubtful -privilege of a plurality of wives, he mitigated the -inconveniences of polygamy by extreme facility in divorce. -Batûta availed himself of this, and sent his bride back -to her father. The ill-luck, which so soon attended -this first matrimonial venture, did not deter him from a -second experiment: he lost no time in marrying a fellow-countrywoman, -presumably also a fellow-pilgrim; she -was the daughter of a dignitary of Fez. The pilgrims -halted a whole day to indulge in wedding festivity. On -the 3rd April, 1326, nearly ten months after Batûta’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">99</a></span> -departure from Tangier, the caravan drew up at Alexandria, -and his long and not too safe journey along the southern -coast of the “mid sea, moaning with memories,” was -at an end.</p> - -<p>Alexandria was, at that time, one of the great commercial -centres of the world. Shipping from all Christendom -and North Africa were to be found in its haven. Batûta -tells us that it surpassed all ports he ever saw, excepting -Colon and Calicut in India, the Italian settlement in -the Crimea, and Zaitun (Thsiuan-Cheu) at that time the -great port of China. Alexandria was almost as remarkable -for Moslem piety as for trade. Batûta made a point -of visiting a learned and pious person there, who, like -all Mohammedan saints, was reputed to possess miraculous -powers. The saint’s acuteness penetrated into the -character of his visitor: he perceived a born-wayfarer -in the prescriptive pilgrim, and told him that he had a -taste for travel. “‘Yes,’ was my reply,” says Batûta, -“although at that time, I had formed no project of distant -travel. ... ‘You will see my brother in Sind, another -brother who is in India, and yet a third who is in China, -and will bear my salutations to them.’ I was astounded -at what he said, and made up my mind to visit these -countries; nor did I give up my resolve until I had beheld -all three men.” “Only strongly impassioned men may -achieve great results,” says Mirabeau. We shall see -what Batûta’s passion was and what he accomplished.</p> - -<p>His keen eye noted the glories of Alexandria; the great -lighthouse of Ptolemy, in the last stage of decay, and that -great column of Diocletian, mis-called Pompey’s Pillar. -Stung more than ever by a divine gadfly, he must run -all over Lower Egypt, visiting every living saint of renown -and every relic of the past, especially such relics as were -the tombs or dwellings of departed saints. The attention -which holy men paid to their dreams and the confidence -with which they interpreted them recall the Hebrew -Scriptures. Batûta tells us that he visited an unusually<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">100</a></span> -gifted and eminently holy seer; and from that time “good -fortune attended me throughout my travels.” But our -traveller was no mere inattentive dreamer: the minuteness -and accuracy of his observations are remarkable; and his -statements are fully confirmed in the literature of contemporary -and later travel, and other records of the age -in which he lived.</p> - -<p>Among the places he visited, we find him at Damietta, -where was preserved the cell of the Chief of the Calenders. -The very name Calender recalls one’s youth and those -fantastic fables of the “Arabian Nights” which delighted -it. A Calender was a Moslem under vow to deliver himself -from the allurements of earth and to consecrate his life -to things spiritual. It was the usage of all Calenders -to shave off beard and eyebrow; and Batûta supplies -us with a story to account for their disfigurement. The -founder of the sect was a personable man, and a certain -lady fell in love with him and pursued him in every conceivable -way. But all her lures and devices coming to -nought, she contrived a still more ingenious stratagem. -She got an old woman, who, of course, could not read, -to stop the beloved one, who was as good-natured as he -was devout, when on his way to the mosque, and ask -him to read a letter which she said she had received from -her son. He complied, and then quoth the old woman: -“My son has a wife who dwells in yonder house. Will -you be so good as to read it in the passage so that she may -hear what her husband says?” He agreed to this also; -but no sooner had he crossed the threshold than the old -woman clapped the door to, and the love-sick lady -appeared, attended by her slaves, who forced him into an -inner room. She cast herself at him, and began to take -liberties with him. So he made the excuse that it was -necessary for him to retire privately. No sooner was -he alone, than he whipped out a razor which he had with -him, and divested himself of beard and eyebrow. Then -he presented himself before the enamoured woman, who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">101</a></span> -was so disgusted at the disfigurement that she had him -chased from the house. “Thus,” says Batûta, “by -Divine Providence, his chastity was preserved, and his -sect shaved eyebrow and beard from that time forward.”</p> - -<p>This is one of the many anecdotes which Batûta thrusts -into his narrative. It is much more amusing than most -of them. All Orientals (and Moors are essentially -Orientals) dote on pointless fable and wild romance. -They are insatiate for marvel, and gulp down any stretch -of fancy coloured by religion. Batûta’s farrago of stories -is, for the most part, silly. Happily, these legends are -short. He wrought diligently in hagiology; he was -a-gape for yarns, remembered them all and carefully -recorded them; for they suited his own taste and that -of his nation and time. They are the gatherings of a -man profoundly learned in the Koran and Mohammedan -lore; one concerned, like the Pharisees of old, with minor -questions of the Law and minutiæ of ceremonial observance; -vexed, as it were, about tithes of small herbs. His main -interest was his religion, and in his religion he was a -meticulous pedant. He had a natural love of the -miraculous, and religious credulity case-hardened it. -Every mosque was a magnet to draw him from afar; -he made a pilgrimage to every Mohammedan shrine he -heard of; he cannot away without its legend. He reports -wonders as dull as they are extravagant. They -possess neither genius nor charm nor authority. Sometimes -Oriental taste for the tawdry is to blame: sometimes -he is flatly gulled. But, in mundane matters, restless -impulses converted the credulous pundit into a man of -the world. He records accurately what he actually -saw and heard, or what he believed he saw and heard. -He was interested in all that life had to offer; but supremely -so in all that had to do with Islam.</p> - -<p>From the mouths of the Nile, Ibn Batûta approached -that ancient land where mournful memorials stand out, -clear and awful, in the flood of light; where every winding<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">102</a></span> -of the mysterious valley repeats the enigma of the tomb. -He came to Cairo, and saw the Pyramids,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="line i05">“Memphis, and Thebes, and whatso’er of strange</div> -<div class="line">Dark Ethiopia on her desert hills conceals.”</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>He tells us of all in architecture that struck him as -worthy of mention, of the products of the soil, of the -habits of the people, and of their government. He praises -the emulation of the provincial Emirs of Egypt in good -works and the building of mosques. He watches the -gathering of great personages at the procession of the -Mahmil, or drapery woven to cover that sanctuary at -Mecca wherein lay the object of Arabian worship ages -before Mohammed was born. For the Sacred Stone -fell from Paradise with Adam; and the Archangel Gabriel -carried it to him for the house which he built to God.</p> - -<p>Magistrates and juris consults, the great officials of -the Sultan and the Syndics of Corporations, some on horseback, -some on foot, assemble at Cairo and await the -Holy Drapery. The Emir who, this year, is to head -the annual pilgrimage, arrives with attendant troops -and camels and water-carriers. A conical box encloses -the sacred cloth. All the nondescript population of the -city follow it. By some trick of the camel-drivers, their -beasts are urged to strange screeching; and the motley -throng makes its slow progress round the city, a winding -river of vivid colour and odd effect; a procession not -without dignity, but which an ancient Athenian had -perhaps found a tawdry show compared with the simple -grace of the procession of the <i>peplops</i> in his City of the -Violet Crown.</p> - -<p>From Cairo, our pilgrim makes his way to Panopolis, -then “a great town, fine and well-built,” and so to Syene, -partly following the river where each new morning mocks -the ruined temples, and partly taking short cuts across -the desert.</p> - -<p>A holy man told him that he would find it impossible -to fulfil his pilgrimage just then; but he pushed across<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">103</a></span> -the unpeopled sands which lie between the Nile and the -Red Sea, and, after a trying journey of fifteen days, found -himself among a “black” race, called Bodjas, who were -settled at Aidhab, at that time a port of considerable -trade. These people wore yellow garments and affected -the smallest of head-gear. They would seem to have -preserved their independence by martial spirit; and, -as is so often the case among a warrior-people, daughters -were not allowed to succeed to property. At this moment, -they were at war with the Mamaluke soldiery of Egypt; and -it was impossible for pilgrims to get transport across -the Red Sea.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">104</a></span></p> - - - - -<h3>CHAPTER III<br /><br /> - -<small>A ROUNDABOUT PILGRIMAGE</small></h3> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Now</span>, besides the shrewd reading of Batûta’s character -by the holy man of Alexandria, who saw in him the born -traveller, another Sheik had also read his man aright -and foretold that he should meet the seer’s brothers in -widely separated parts of the world. Oracles are often -suggestive and start the way to their own fulfilment. -These predictions actually came about. Batûta assures -us that he had at the time no intention of running over -nearly all of the known earth; but by now an inborn -tendency to keep moving had developed into a veritable -<i>wanderlust</i>. “A brief space,” sings Pindar, “a brief -space hath opportunity for men; but of him it is known -surely when it cometh, and he waiteth thereon.” Batûta’s -opportunity had come to him. Stopped from reaching -Mecca during the present pilgrimage, he resolved to retrace -his steps to Cairo, push on to Palestine, visit its sacred -spots and the renowned cities of Syria, join the Syrian -Caravan, and take the long, fearsome journey from -Damascus over the Arabian waste. Here was occasion -to visit holy places only less interesting to the Moslem -than to the Christian, to wander at leisure in notable -lands, and to compare the amazing ways of the tribes -of men. He sold all that might encumber him, and -returned to High Egypt. The Nile was in flood; he -sailed down it, spent a night at Cairo, and pushed on, -(<span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span> 1326). There was a caravan-route to Palestine, -north of Sinai, with stations in the desert. Each station -had its <i>Khân</i>, or inn, an institution which afforded bed -and stabling, but not food or fodder. But there was -a shop at each station, where all that might be wanted -was sold; and there was a water-cistern, free to all comers -at the door of each inn. At the frontier of Palestine, -there was a custom-house, and a passport must be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">105</a></span> -produced before one was allowed to cross the boundary -in either direction. At Khalil, a town of Hebron, remarkable -for its beauty, and also for the unusual distinction -of being well lit at night, Batûta admired a mosque said -to have been reared by those genii whom the wisdom of -Solomon had made his servants, and whom he evoked by -his mystic talisman. Passing through Palestine, our -pilgrim visited those very few places the sanctity of which -could be established by indisputable record and those -very many places which owed their fame to rank imagination -or crafty legend begotten of sordid avarice. He went -to the birthplace of Jesus, because the Moslem regards -Jesus as a fore-runner of Mohammed: and from Bethlehem -he came to Jerusalem. He thought the Mosque there as -fine a building as any on earth. It occupied one side of -a vast courtyard, and its fretted walls and roof shone -with gilding and vivid colours. In the middle of the -Mosque was a rock, so brilliant in hue that no idea of its -glory could be given. And this was the rock whence -(so says tradition) Mohammed rode up to heaven on the -sacred winged ass.</p> - -<p>Tyre, “mother of cities fraught with pride,” Acre and -Askalon were in ruins—the result of the Crusades. -Tiberias rejoiced in a bathing-establishment. Having -plenty of time to fill up before the Syrian caravan should -leave Damascus, the pilgrim wandered hither and thither, -backwards and forwards, and saw many famous cities, -such as Beyrout, Tripoli, Aleppo, Baalbec, Emessa and -Antioch. He found all the people who inhabited the -district of Gabala sadly misguided; for they believed -Ali, son-in-law of the Prophet to be a god. They neither -purified themselves, nor prayed, nor fasted. They had -turned mosques into cattle-sheds; and, should any pious -wanderer wish to pray in one of the desecrated buildings, -these heretics were wont to gibe at him and shout: -“Don’t pray, ass that thou art; fodder shall be given -thee.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">106</a></span></p> - -<p>Nomads from Central Asia had penetrated Asia Minor -and reached the Mediterranean shore. Here and there -they had settled; just as Scythian and Hun, Goth and -Vandal once forced their way into the Roman Empire -and effected lodgement within it before they rose and -overthrew it. But the Emirs, whatever their nationality, -would seem to have maintained decent government. -Sometimes the despotisms of Islam surprise us by such -unexpected qualities as sagacity, prudence, and self-restraint. -At Latakia, Batûta found that, when anyone -was condemned to die, the official appointed to superintend -the execution was expected to go up to wherever the -condemned man might be, return without apprehending -him, and ask the Emir to repeat the sentence. Not until -three such journeys had been made and the sentence -thrice delivered was it carried out. On the other hand, -secret murder was a favourite political engine. Our -pilgrim beheld, on the heights of Lebanon, strongholds -of that military sect, the Hashashin, to which we owe the -word assassin. “They will admit no stranger among -them, unless he be of their own body. The Sultan, El -Malik El Nasir, uses them as his arrows; and, through -them, he strikes down those of his foes that dwell afar -from him; such, for instance, as may dwell in Persia or -anywhere else. Various duties are allotted to different -men among them; and when the Sultan wishes one of -them to waylay some foe, he bargains as to the price of -blood. Should the murderer accomplish his work, and -return to safety, his reward is paid to him; and should -he fail, his heirs receive it. These folk carry poisoned -knives wherewithal to strike their prey.”</p> - -<p>Laodicea would seem to have been held by a ruler who, -like the robber-barons of Germany or the pirates of -Dalmatia, was a terror to the trader: “he is said to take -by violence all the ships he can.” Like all travellers, -Batûta is enthusiastic about the glories of Lebanon. He -found it “the most fertile mountain on Earth, where are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">107</a></span> -copious springs of water and shady groves; and it is -laden with many kinds of fruit. And I beheld there -very many of that host of hermits who have left the world -that they may devote themselves to God.”</p> - -<p>Two thousand feet above the sea-level lay Damascus, -most ancient of cities, with a delightful climate and a -productive soil. “The chief Mosque is the most splendid -in the world, most tastefully built, excelling in beauty and -grace.” His interest in mosques and public worship is inextinguishable; -and he recounts the dramatic methods of -a certain preacher. There dwelt at Damascus an imam -whose orthodoxy was not above suspicion; indeed he -had already suffered imprisonment on that score. It -so fell out that, one Friday, I was at his preaching. He -came down the stairway of the pulpit calling out: ‘God -came down to the Earthly Paradise in the very same way -as I am coming down.’ A theologian who was there -denied this; and the congregation, set on the preacher -and beat him. A complaint was made against this too -literal expositor; he was cast into prison, and there he -died.</p> - -<p>Islam has always been remarkable for charity. Damascus -boasted many benevolent institutions. “As I was passing -along a street one day,” says Batûta “I saw a slave-child -who had dropped a porcelain dish, made in China, -which lay in pieces on the ground. A crowd gathered -round the little Mameluke, and one of them said, ‘Pick -up the pieces and carry them to the overseer of the Utensils -Charity.’ This man took the little slave with him to -the overseer, who at once gave him what money was -necessary to buy such another dish. This is one of the -best of these endowments; for the owner of the slave -would doubtless have beaten him or scolded him severely. -Moreover he would have been heart-broken. So the -endowment really relieves sorrowful bosoms.” Batûta -gives more than one little indication that children (and -even his own wives occasionally) could touch his heart.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">108</a></span> -The Moslem can be very pitiful; he usually treats his -slaves kindly; and one does not wonder that our pilgrim -speaks warmly about the piety and high civilization of -Damascus in his time. He was licensed to teach in that -beautiful city; but found time to visit the cavern which -is one of the places where Abraham is said to have been -born, and the grotto where Abel’s blood was still to be -seen; “for his brother dragged him thither.”</p> - -<p>Batûta started with the Pilgrim’s Caravan to the Holy -Cities on September 1st, 1326. Many hundreds of perilous -miles lay before him. The mere solitude of the desert -always inspires insupportable dread, and to secure a -sufficient supply of water is a problem not always to be -solved. Batûta was told how, during one pilgrimage, -water gave out, and “a skin of it rose to a thousand <i>dinars</i>; -yet both seller and buyer perished.” Ancient travellers -always speak with awe of the weird noises which suddenly -break the silence of the desert and inspire a new dread. -Shifting sands cause these sounds. Batûta tells us of one -huge sandhill called The Mount of Drums, because the -Bedouins “say that a sound as of drums is heard there -every Thursday night.” But this particular pilgrimage, -although made along a difficult and dangerous route, was -comparatively uneventful, as were all the journeys Batûta -made to Mecca. He gives small space to it, and we shall -find the record of a much livelier and more interesting -pilgrimage from Damascus in the pages of Varthema. -The journey was often one of perils, grave and manifold.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">109</a></span></p> - - - - -<h3>CHAPTER IV<br /><br /> - -<small>GLIMPSES OF ARABIA, PERSIA AND EAST AFRICA -IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY</small></h3> - - -<p><span class="smcap">After</span> duly visiting the tomb of the Prophet at Medina -and performing the prescribed rites at Mecca, Batûta, -still insatiate of travel, joined the Persian caravan on its -homeward journey, and soon came to the place where, to -this day, the devil is lapidated. “It is a great collection -of stones. Everyone who comes to it hurls one. They -say there was once a heretic who was stoned to death -there.” From Medina, Central Arabia was crossed, and -a journey of 600 miles brought the caravan to a town in -the Nedjd which was one of the claimants to the possession -of the bones of Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet. Where -Ali really was buried is unknown. But the excited mind -worked a great effect on the body here, for, on a certain -night of the year devoted to religious revival, “cripples -were brought to the tomb, even from far-away lands, and -were laid on it soon after sunset. Then there was praying -and reciting of the Koran and prostrations; and, about -midnight the halt rose up, sound and hale.”</p> - -<p>At Bussora, the port so opulent and its trades so flourishing -in the days of Haroun-al-Raschid, one dared not -venture to travel abroad without the protection of a -Bedouin escort: “There is no journeying possible in -these parts except with them.” Yet traces remained of -the former wealth of the city. “Bussora is richer in -palm-trees than any place in the world. Its people are -generous and friendly to strangers. One of the finest -mosques is paved with red pebbles. And therein is kept -that beautiful copy of the Koran which Othman was -reading when he was murdered; and the stain of his -blood is on it yet.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">110</a></span></p> - -<p>In this district he came across vestiges of the worship -of Baal. Certain of the fanatical sect called Haïderia -lit a fire of wood, ate of the burning embers, rolled in them, -and then trampled them with bare feet until all flame was -put out. Later on, he saw the same strange feat done by -the same strange sect in India, when there came to a place -near Delhi, where he was encamped, men led by a very black -man and wearing collars and bracelets of iron. “They -stayed all night with us. Their chief asked me for wood -to light a fire for them to dance by, and I requested the -deputy-ruler of that part to let them have it. After the -second evening prayer, the pile was lit, and, when the wood -had become burning charcoal, they struck up music and -began to dance into the fire; and they rolled themselves -in it. Then their head-man asked me for a tunic, and I -gave him one of very fine make. He put it on, rolled in -the fire, and beat the embers so that the fire ceased to -flare, and it went out. He then brought the tunic to me, -and I found it to be undamaged. And thereat I marvelled -greatly.” And between these two experiences he came -across Haïderia in Eastern Persia at Turbet-Haïdarj: -“They wore an iron collar, and, what is stranger still, -their <i>virilia</i> are incarcerated to ensure their chastity.”</p> - -<p>He now sailed down the united Tigris and Euphrates -and along the coast of Persia in a small boat, and, landing -at a port, travelled across the plains of Southern Persia, -with high mountains right and left. He found the ways -in mountainous Lâristân cut through the rocks. These -parts were governed by a tributary ruler. “In every -one of the stations in this country are cells made ready -for those bent on religious undertakings and for travellers. -Every newcomer is provided with bread, flesh, and sweetmeats.” -After two months of travel, Batûta came to -Ispahan, in the heart of Persia. The Sultan had already -provided him with money to cover the cost of his wanderings -in Persia. Eastern rulers regarded munificence as -a duty: Eastern travellers claimed it as a right. From<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">111</a></span> -Ispahan he went southward to Shiraz, which he found a -large and well-built city, but inferior to Damascus. “The -inhabitants are honest, religious, and virtuous, especially -the women. I went thither in order to visit that paragon -of saints and of those that have the power to work miracles, -Majd Oddîn. I put up therefore at the College which he -founded. He was judge of the City: but, being advanced -in years, his brother’s sons took on his duties for him.... -He is much venerated by the Emirs of that land, so that, -when they are before him, they lay hold of both their -ears; which is the mark of devotion due to the Sultan.”</p> - -<p>At El Hilla, on the banks of the Euphrates, he found a -curious belief that the last of the Imams was still alive and -dwelt there; but that he was invisible to mortal eye. -“Every day, a hundred armed men come to the portal -of the mosque. They lead with them a beast saddled and -bridled; and a gathering of folk beat drums and blow -trumpets. They cry aloud: ‘Come forth, Lord of the -Times; for the earth is filled with evil doing and deeds -of shame. Now is the hour for thee to appear, so that, -through thee, Allah may divide the truth from the lie.’ -They wait on until night, when needs must that they go -home.”</p> - -<p>“It is an uncontrolled truth,” says Swift, “that no -man ever made an ill figure who understood his own -talents.” Ibn Batûta, theologian, jurist, and, by this -time, experienced man of the world, knew his powers; -and one of his powers was knowing how to employ the -rest. We now find him accompanying the Tartar Ruler -of Persia, the “Sultan of the Two Iraks and Khôrasân, -to Tabriz, whither the monarch marched with his army.” -Tabriz is not more than a hundred miles from Armenia -and the Caspian Sea. Batûta tells us how his eyes were -dazzled by the lustre of precious jewels which well-dressed -slaves purchased to decorate their Tartar mistresses. -The Sultan gave him a fine dress and other handsome -presents; and he resolved to make a second pilgrimage<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">112</a></span> -to Mecca; whereupon the Sultan ordered that he should -be provided with all that was necessary to further such a -worthy end. But, before starting he had time to travel -along the banks of the Tigris as far north as Diarbekir; -for he wished to visit a saint and worker of miracles, -reputed “not to break his fast during forty days at a -stretch, save with a crust of barley bread.” On getting -back to Bagdad he found the caravan ready to start, and -took his departure with it.</p> - -<p>Persia, exhausted by the long struggle with the Roman -Empire, fell an easy prey to the Arabs; and, although it -enjoyed a second era of power and prosperity under the -Caliphs of Bagdad, first Seljuk Turks conquered it, and -then Mongolians, under Chinghiz Khân, which, being -interpreted, is the Great Khân, no other than the “Tartre -Cambyuskan” of Chaucer’s Squire’s Tale, the “Cambuscan” -bold of Milton’s II Penseroso. Mongolians had now -possessed the land for little less than a century, and they -and the Sultans of Egypt held each other in dread. -Religious differences have always been convenient as a -war-cry; and, from of old, religious unity has been wont -to fulfil some of the functions of our modern patriotism. -The Caliph at Cairo was the head of the Orthodox Sunnites, -Moslems who hold the Sunna, or body of tradition which -professes to preserve such teaching and laws as the Prophet -gave by word of mouth as of equal authority with the -Koran; but the Tartar Sultan of Persia was a Shiite, -or one of those who reject the Sunna, and hold that Ali, -son-in-law of the Prophet, was Mohammed’s legitimate -successor. Hence Batûta found the Shiite Sultan putting -pressure on the Sunnites of the great cities of Bagdad, -Shiraz, and Ispahan to make them renounce the form of -faith sacred to them because it was that of their fathers -and further endeared because the Caliphate at Bagdad -had brought such lustre to the Persian name.</p> - -<p>Our pilgrim arrived at Mecca, for the second time, -without meeting with any remarkable adventure in crossing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">113</a></span> -Central Arabia. One is surprised to find so restless a -spirit content to remain three years in Mecca. But -Batûta was a theologian and jurist; one, moreover, who -held the outward observances of Islam in high respect; -and he dwelt during the whole of that time at a Mohammedan -theological school. And now the old passion for -travel returns, and he is completely in its grip. He is -away to Jidda on the Red Sea, embarks on one of those -Eastern ships which were even more wretchedly built and -worse navigated than those of the Western nations, and is -forced by tempest into a port between Aidhab and Suakin. -Nothing daunted, he puts to sea again and arrives in -Arabia the Happy. A Cadi welcomes the distinguished -sage and traveller, entertains him for three days, and, on -the fourth, takes him to the court of the Sultan at -Zebid, one of the chief towns of Yemen. Batûta a true -Oriental delights in pomp and ceremony, and describes -the audience in full.</p> - -<p>“The Sultan is to be saluted by touching the ground -with forefinger, raising it to the head, and saying ‘May -Allah give thee enduring rule.’ This I did, copying the -Cadi; who seated himself at the right hand of the Sultan, -and told me to be seated facing him. The monarch sat -on a daïs, which was covered with ornamental silk stuff; -and right and left of him stood his warriors. Around -him are sword and buckler-bearers; nearer are bowmen; -and in front of these, on either side, the chamberlain, the -first men of the State, and the private scribe. Djandar, -the Emir, is also present before him and the officers of -the guard; but the latter keep their distance. When the -Sultan takes his seat, all cry aloud, ‘In the name of Allah!’ -and they repeat this when he rises; so that all who are -in the Hall of Audience know precisely when he sits down -and when he rises. Directly the Monarch is seated, all -those who are wont to visit the Court and do him -obeisance, come in and salute him. This done, each takes -his allotted place to right or left, nor does he leave it or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">114</a></span> -sit down unless commanded to do so. In the latter case, -the Sultan says to the Emir Djandar, who is Chief Constable -of the Palace, ‘Tell such an one to be seated.’ And the man -so commanded comes forward a little way and sits down -on a carpet in front of and between those who are grouped -to right and left. Meats are then brought forth; and -these are of two kinds, one kind being for the many, the -other kind for people of importance, that is to say, the -Sultan, the Chief Justice, the principal Sheriffs, jurisconsults -and guests. The other sort of viands serves -for the rest of the Sheriffs, jurisconsults, judges, sheiks, -emirs, and officers of the army. Everyone takes the -place allotted to him at the feast and everybody has room -enough. I found the same form observed at the Court -of the Sultan of India; and I know not which monarch -hath copied it from the other.”</p> - -<p>After visiting several cities of Yemen, which were -flourishing centres of trade at that time, Batûta reached -Aden, “a large city, but without water, and nothing -can grow there. Rain is caught and stored up in tanks, -and that is the only water to drink. But rich traders -make their abode in Aden, and hither vessels come from -India.”</p> - -<p>Now the Arabs had sought for wealth in the products -of Ethiopia; they had advanced along the Eastern Coast -of Africa, and had established ports considerably south -of Zanzibar. Batûta had a fancy to see these tropical -parts; so he sailed from Aden as far as Kiloa or Kilwa, -which is nine degrees south of the equator. The ship -touched at various ports where there were Arab settlements; -some of them by no means salubrious or agreeable. -At Zeila, he experienced “an unbearable stench from -decaying fish and the blood of camels, which are -slaughtered in the streets:” At another station, Mogdishu, -he was received with much civility. “When a ship draws -up, the young men of the place come forth, and each -accosts a trader, and becomes his host. Should there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">115</a></span> -be a theologian or a man of station on board, he is taken -to dwell with the Cadi. When it was known that I was -there, the Cadi came to the beach, and his students with -him, and I took up my abode with him. He led me to -the Sultan who is styled the Sheik.... A servant brought -vegetables and fawfel-nut ... and rose-water to us ... -and this is the highest honour that can be done to a -stranger.... The people are far too fat, because they gorge. -One of them will eat as much as a whole congregation of -worshippers ought to do.” From Mogdishu, the ship -went on to Mombasa and Kiloa for a cargo of ivory. -Batûta tells us of the productions of tropical East Africa, -and how “the greatest gift to the peoples here is ivory, -which is the tooth of the elephant.”</p> - -<p>From Kiloa, he coasted back to the straits of Bab-el-Mandel, -ran along the Gulf of Aden, and landed at Zafar, -in Oman. He tells us, as does Marco Polo, how the natives -feed their cattle on fish. Zafar “is a filthy place, plagued -with flies by reason of the markets for fish and dates. -Copper and tin pieces of money are used. The heat is -so great that those who dwell there must bathe several -times a day; and they suffer greatly from elephant’s -leg (elephantiasis) and from ruptures. It is indeed beyond -a marvel that they will hurt no one unless it be to return -some hurt done to them. Many Sultans have tried to -subdue them, yet naught but bale have they gotten -thereby.”</p> - -<p>Batûta travelled past the shores of Oman in a small -coaster which touched at many ports. He found the -banana, the betel-tree, and the cocoa-nut flourishing in -this corner of Arabia, and describes them and their uses. -Wishing to see what the hinterland was like, he took a -seven-days’ journey from the coast, but found that it -took six days to cross a desert. The inland people would -seem hardly to have emerged from primitive promiscuity; -for he tells us that “there wives are most base and husbands<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">116</a></span> -shew no sign of jealousy.” Jealousy as to the harem is -an excellent masculine virtue to our good Moslem.</p> - -<p>Crossing the Persian Gulf, the island of Hormuz was -reached, whither traders had recently migrated from old -Hormuz on the Persian mainland. Vases and lamp-stands -of rock-salt were among the manufactures of this -important mart and port of call; and hard by were the -renowned fisheries for “orient pearl.” He was told, and -believed, that the divers remained two hours under water, -and was astounded to see people amusing themselves by -crawling from orbit to orbit of the battered skull of a -spermaceti whale which had been washed ashore.</p> - -<p>Crossing the narrow strait to Persia, he hired an escort -of Turkoman settlers, “a hardy and brave race, who -occupy these parts and know the roads. Without them, -there is no travelling.” His object in returning to Persia -was to visit a man of saintly repute who dwelt far away -in Lâristân. It took four days to cross a waterless desert -where the Simoon blows in summer, “and kills everyone -in its path; and their limbs drop away from the trunk.” -At Lar, the capital, he found the saint in his cell, seated -on the ground. He was clad in an ancient garment made -of wool. Yet he was in the habit of giving costly presents, -and had food and fresh clothing ready for all who visited -him.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">117</a></span></p> - - - - -<h3>CHAPTER V<br /><br /> - -<small>TO INDIA BY WAY OF CONSTANTINOPLE AND -THE STEPPES</small></h3> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Batûta</span> joined the Persian Caravan to Mecca, and once -again journeyed across the territory of the Wahabi in -Central Arabia. This, his third pilgrimage, over, he -resolved to see India. But the wretched ship in which -he put forth was storm-tossed, and finally driven into a -little port on the Egyptian coast. So he made across -the desert, seeing, now and again, the tents of a few -wandering Arabs or an ostrich or gazelle. After much -hardship, he reached Syene and travelled once more along -the banks of the Nile to Cairo. And now the fancy -seized him to revisit Asia Minor, see Southern Russia and -Turkestan, and get to India over the Hindu Kûsh. He -retraced his old route through Palestine and Syria as far -as Latakia. There he embarked on a Genoese vessel for -Alâia, on the south coast of Asia Minor, which he calls -“Rûm, because it belonged of yore to the Romans; and, -to this day many of them dwell here under the protection -of the Moslems.” He was now farther north than he had -been before. One of the petty Sultans gave him and those -who were with him the usual gracious greeting of the -East, and furnished them with provisions. On reaching -Anatolia, he found the country broken up into a multitude -of contending States, many of these being held by -Turkomans. The secular efforts of the keepers of -wandering herds on the Steppes of Asia to settle in the -rich, civilized countries of Europe and Asia had established -the nomad in Persia and Asia Minor. Successive waves -of conquest had swept over the fair lands south of the -Oxus and Caspian, and, one by one, the victorious tribes -settled down and received a higher civilization than their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">118</a></span> -own from the subjugated tillers of the soil. But now -the Empire of the Seljuk Turks was broken into fragments. -Among the new rulers the Ottoman Turks, a small class -of the tribe of Oghuz, were gradually and with difficulty -gaining territory and power in Asia Minor. But there -was as yet no hint that they were destined to inherit the -Roman Empire of the East and to rule from the Danube -to the Euphrates. Some of these little States were ancient -provinces, with splendid and busy cities that rivalled -Cairo in wealth and beauty. Some were carved out of -the mouldering Byzantine Empire; some had been torn -from Persia. There were also solitary fortresses and -towns held by Turkomans who lived by rapine and -piracy; and some States only preserved their precarious -existence by the aid of a force of slaves who had been -purchased or torn from their Christian parents in childhood -and rigidly trained to military life. These -Mamelukes were sent by their overlord, the Sultan of -Egypt.</p> - -<p>Yet the tradition of good government was far from -being lost. The new rulers were vigorous and prudent. -It would seem that one of the secrets of Ottoman success -lay in that close supervision of subordinates which recent -conquest requires. Consequently, on the whole, the -country was prosperous. Batûta found that the ruler -of one province never remained more than a month in -one place. He moved about to inspect fortresses and -see the condition of various districts. This man had -besieged a city for twelve years. It is not without -precedent in Moslem history for a siege to last longer -than that of Troy; a fact which shows how little the -husbandman was interfered with in these local wars. -Even in France at the close of the Dark Ages, the tiller of -the soil was safe from the invader of his field if he laid -his hand on the plough. Batûta wandered at large, and -was received in all places with warm hospitality. On -landing, he took up his abode in the college of a sheik;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">119</a></span> -and, on the second day, a poorly-clad man came to invite -him and those who were with him to a feast. He wondered -“how so poor a man could bear the charges of feasting -us, who were many.” The sheik explained that the man -was one of a society of silk-merchants who had a “cell” -of their own. The guests were received with much courtesy -and hospitality, and were liberally, supplied with money -to cover their travelling expenses. Batûta learned that, -in every town of the Turkomans, there was constituted -a brotherhood of young men to supply strangers with food -and other necessaries. A president, styled The Brother, -was elected by those of the same trade, and even a foreigner -might occupy the post. Each guild built a “cell” for -itself in which food, a saddled steed, and all that might -be wanted by travellers was stored. One of the duties -of a President was to call daily on the members -of his guild or brotherhood, and assist them in their diverse -needs. Every evening the brotherhood returned his -call; and whatsoever had not been needed was sold to -support the “cell.” Should any traveller have arrived -during the day, he was entertained. Otherwise “the -brotherhood of youths” spent the evening in song, dance, -and feast. On one occasion, directly Batûta’s party -arrived at the gate of a city, two knots of men rushed -to seize the bridles of their horses, and there was a struggle -between them. This proceeding greatly alarmed the -travellers, the more so that none of them was able to -speak the language. But a man who knew Arabic came -forward to assure them that there was no cause for fear. -The rival parties were two brotherhoods disputing as to -which should entertain the travellers. The antagonists -cast lots, and the travellers went to the cell of one guild -on the first day and to that of the other guild the next -day. At another time, Batûta put up at the “cell” of -one who was a member of a society of youths and who -had a great number of disciples distinguished by their -coarse ragged mantles and closely fitting hose. The -petty Sultans, too, would provide horses or provisions.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">120</a></span></p> - -<p>The ruler of Bigni, a man proud of the possession of -“a stone which had fallen from heaven,” gave Batûta -gold, clothes, two horses and a slave. Although a severe -Sunnite, our traveller shows no great religious hatred to -Shiites, Jews, or Christians; but he liked to keep heretics -and infidels in their place. He tells a story which is -instructive as to the medical attainments of the Jew and -the relations between Jew and Moslem. At Bigni an old -man came and saluted the Sultan. All rose to do him -honour. “He sat himself on the daïs, opposite the Sultan, -and the readers of the Koran were below him. I asked -the sage, ‘who is this sheik?’ He smiled and kept silent; -but when I asked again, he replied: ‘he is a Jewish -physician of whom we all have need. That is why we -rose when he came in.’ Whereat I fumed, and said to -him: ‘thou dog, son of a dog, how darest thou, a mere -Jew, to seat thyself above the readers of the Koran?’ -I had raised my voice, and this astonished the Sultan, -who asked why I had done so. The sage told him, and -the Jew was humbled, and went away very much cast -down. When we returned, the sage said to me: ‘well -have you done! Allah bestow his blessing on thee! -None other but thou had dared to speak thus to the Jew. -Thou hast taught him to know his place.’”</p> - -<p>Language-difficulty caused some embarassment during -this long journey through Asia Minor; so an interpreter, -who had done the pilgrimage to Mecca and who spoke -Arabic, was engaged by Batûta’s party. But the Hadji -cheated them abominably; so one day they asked him -what he had stolen from them that day. The thief, quite -unabashed told them the precise amount; “whereat we -could but laugh and put up with it.”</p> - -<p>Batûta embarked from Sinope, on the southern shore -of the Euxine, for Sodaia, in the Crimea. Sodaia was -one of the great ports of the world. Venice had established -a factory there a century back, but had been ejected. -The Crimea was chiefly in the hands of the Genoese, who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">121</a></span> -were established at Caffa; but the Italian cities were in -pressing danger of ejection and of losing their Levantine -and Euxine trade. After suffering much distress on the -voyage and “only just escaping from being drowned,” -we find Batûta at Caffa; and for the first time suffering -from the annoyance of those Christian bells which have -been a nuisance, not merely to Moslems, but to the more -sensitive among European ears from the days when they -were perhaps necessary, yet when Rabelais objurgated -them in his chapter on the “Island of bells,” to these -modern times of clocks and watches. In all these -cosmopolitan towns, each nation occupied a separate -fortified quarter. The trade of Southern Russia was great; -and one is surprised to find that horses were exported -to India.</p> - -<p>Batûta made across a land where the quiet air was no -longer annoyed by the insistent clang which was an insult -at once to his faith and his ears. He found Southern -Russia a plain without hill or tree. Waggons might -travel for six months through a green desert, the silence -broken only by lowing of cattle, hoarse voice of an -occasional herdsman, or languid stir of some collection of -huts which passed for a town. Cattle were protected by -severe laws severely enforced. “Should a beast be stolen, -the thief must return it with nine more. If unable to -furnish these, his children are taken into slavery; and, -if he have no children, he is slaughtered like a sheep.... -The only fuel is dung.”</p> - -<p>Batûta was bent on visiting Uzbek Khân, the powerful -Tartar who now represented the dynasty founded by -Chinghiz Khân, the blacksmith. Uzbek was one of -the seven mightiest monarchs of the world, the others -being the Sultan of the West; the Sultan of Egypt and -Syria, the Sultan of the two Iraks (Persia and Mesopotamia), -the Khân of Turkestan, the Sultan of India, and -the Emperor of China. Our traveller hired a waggon, -and, after many monotonous days, arrived at the camp<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">122</a></span> -of the Khân. He was amazed to behold “a city in motion; -complete in its streets, mosques, and cooking houses.” -Nor was he less bewildered at the consideration given -to women by all men, from the Khân downwards, and -at seeing them going about unveiled, yet “religious, -charitable, and given to good works.” The wife of an -Emir would ride, magnificently attired, in a coach. “Often -she is accompanied by her husband; but one would take -him for a mere attendant.” Uzbek Khân was “wont to -give audience on Friday, his four wives, unveiled, sitting -enthroned to right and left of him, a son on either side, -and a daughter in front. Princes and Emirs are gathered -around. People enter into the presence in order of rank. -When a wife comes in, he takes her by the hand and leads -her to her throne. Each wife has a separate abode; and -not to visit these ladies is looked upon as a breach of -good manners.” It is evident that the ancestral habits -of a nomadic people were carefully preserved under conditions -which were rapidly changing. The Sultan sent -his visitor a horse, a sheep, and koumiss in a leathern -bottle.</p> - -<p>Batûta wished to see for himself the great change in -the length of day and night which takes place as one travels -northward. So Uzbek sent him to far-distant Bulgar, -on the Volga, a place in the latitude of Newcastle. Here -he was told of a “Land of Darkness,” which lay forty -days’ journey to the North. “Traders alone go there; -and only in big companies. Dogs draw them over the ice -in sledges; and the travellers must take all food and wood -for fuel with them. The dogs are fed before anyone, -and experienced dogs, who have done the journey several -times, are chosen to lead the pack. On arriving at the -proper place, each trader puts down his goods and retires. -Next day, he finds furs put down as barter. Should he -be content with these, he carries them off; but should -he not be satisfied, he leaves them where they are, and -more are added. But sometimes the natives will take<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">123</a></span> -back their own goods, and leave those of the traders. -The traders never see anyone, and know not whether -they deal with human beings or with demons.” Strange -as this practice seems, there is other evidence that exchange -of goods was made in this way in very high latitudes. -Sledge-dogs were used very much farther south than -they are to-day. Batûta speaks of the Russians as being -“Christians with red hair, blue eyes, ugly, faithless, and -rich in silver shrines.”</p> - -<p>When Batûta returned to Uzbek, he went on to -Astrakhan with him. “Here the Sultan dwells in very -cold weather.... The city is on one of the great rivers -of the world (the Volga), which is crossed by laying -thousands of bundles of hay on the ice.”</p> - -<p>Now, the third of Uzbek’s four wives was a daughter -of the Christian Emperor of Constantinople. History -makes no mention of this lady; but there is no reason to -doubt the fact, however surprising; for, since 1265 <span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span> -the Byzantine Emperor had more than once given a -natural daughter or legitimate sister in marriage to powerful -Mongolian Sovereigns, in order to get their support against -the encroaching Turks of Asia Minor.</p> - -<p>This particular lady was expecting her confinement -and desired to return home for the event. She had -requested the Khân to allow her to do so, and he had -sanctioned the journey. Batûta saw an opportunity of -seeing the famous Christian metropolis, if the Khân -would allow him to join the escort. Such a petition from -a foreign stranger naturally aroused suspicion as to his -motives; but Batûta was skilful in allaying this; and we -find him setting forth with a parting gift from the Khân -of a fine dress, several horses, and cash. Even the Khân’s -ladies and his sons and daughters gave him presents. -The princess was escorted by 500 horse and 4,500 foot. -The Khân, accompanied by his head-wife and heir-apparent -rode with her the first stage; the heir-apparent and his -suite went on the next stage of a journey that took two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">124</a></span> -months. For some reason or other a very round-about -route was chosen; first a waterless, uninhabited waste was -crossed; then the Caucasus approached to within a day’s -march. When a border-fortress was reached, the escort -returned; and now the real motive of the lady becomes -discernable. The unhappy woman had been the victim of -state-craft, a puppet danced off to a semi-barbarian -husband in the interests of Constantinople. In spite of -the respect paid to women in her new abode, she was -heartily sick of Tartar discomfort and Moslem ways. -Accustomed to the luxurious ease and refinements -of the Byzantine Court, she loathed the uncouth -manners of a half-tamed people and their rough life. -She sighed for the amenities of her father’s -palace and the high civilization of his city. She -left her travelling mosque at the fortress, drank wine, -and is said to have eaten swine’s flesh. From Batûta’s -point of view, she relapsed into infidelity; yet he has -no bitter word to cast at her. When a day’s journey -from her native city, a younger brother came to meet -her with 5,000 cavalry, all in shining armour. Next day -the heir-apparent arrived with 10,000 cavalry, and when -quite near to Constantinople, the greater part of the -population turned out, decked in their best, and shouting -so that it was difficult to decide whether they or the -drums made most noise. The parents came forth from -the gate in full royal state, and the poor released princess -threw herself on the ground before them, kissed it, and -even kissed the hooves of their horses. All the bells of -Constantinople were a-ringing, and the royal party entered -the city with glittering pomp.</p> - -<p>Batûta was unwilling to enter “Istambûl” without -the Emperor’s special sanction; it was not too safe a -place for a Moslem. Andronicus Palæologus the Younger -gave him a safe-conduct; but he was searched for concealed -arms at the fifth gate—a practice which, afterwards, -he found to obtain in India. As he passed through the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">125</a></span> -gateways the guards muttered: “Saracens! Saracens!” -And Saracens they had indeed occasion to hold in mortal -horror and dread.</p> - -<p>Our pilgrim-traveller gets sadly muddled about names -and dates just here. Evidently, he derived the information -he gives us from a Jew, who acted as interpreter, and who -either spoke Arabic imperfectly or heartily enjoyed “pulling -his leg.” And as to dates, just here, Batûta’s memory -fails him a little. He was told that the Pope of Rome -paid an annual visit to Santa Sophia, and was received -with the greatest veneration and ceremonial. And he -calls the Emperor Andronicus, “George.” Andronicus -plied him with eager questions as to Jerusalem and the -Holy Places of Palestine. He only saw the outside of -Santa Sophia.</p> - -<p>Now, the Princess made open objection to return to -her husband, and had her will. She gave Batûta a money-present -for his services; but the Byzantine Empire was -in decay, and, to his loss in exchange, the coins debased. -He returned Eastward with a small escort, and met -Uzbek Khân at Sara. We read in Dan Chaucer how</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="line i05">“At Sarray, in the land of Tartarye</div> -<div class="line">Ther dwelt a king that werreyed Russye.”</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Nothing will content him but to see those famous cities -beyond the Oxus, and Balk, with its great mosque of the -precious pillars, before he proceeds to India. He travels -40 days through a desert. The whole district is one vast -desolation; and he tells us how Chinghiz Khân, the blood-stained -blacksmith, a conquering hero, a strict Moslem, -and therefore “a man of liberal mind,” subdued district -after district until he was lord of China and the Middle -East; how he carried off the youth of Bokhâra and Samarkand, -Khôrasân and Irak, and slaughtered and pillaged -so that he left nothing but ruin behind him. Batûta -visited the Great Khân of Turkestan and more than one -camp of petty rulers.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">126</a></span></p> - -<p>“The purple robe makes Emperors, not priests,” said -Ambrose the Bishop of Milan to the Emperor Theodosius; -and the Emperor remarked how hard it was for a ruler -to meet with an outspoken and unfearing man. Batûta -tells us of an amusing incident which indicates, not merely -how an imam could be outspoken to a king, but also -that, if Mohammedanism had admitted of a sacerdotal -hierarchy, the same exercise of priestly authority which -cast Theodosius prostrate and weeping before the Altar -at Milan and kept Heinrich shivering in the snows of -Canossa, while awaiting the condescension of Hildebrand, -would have obtained in the Moslem as in the Christian -world. When Tirim Siri Khân wished prayers to be -delayed until he should come to the mosque, the imam -bade the messenger return to the Khân and ask him -whether prayers were ordered of God or of him, and -commanded the muezzin to summon the faithful as usual. -After the second prostration the Khân arrived, meekly -remained at the doorway, and joined in the prayers. -When worship was over, he grasped the hand of the imam, -who laughed heartily, and the twain sat together afterwards, -Batûta being with them. The Khân told the -traveller to declare to his countrymen how the Ruler of -the Turkomans had sat with a poor man of the poorest -Persians. This worthy imam lived by the labour of his -hands, and refused all the gifts his sovereign offered him. -No wonder that warm friendship sprang up between these -two men, and that both were respected and obeyed. But -greater regard was paid to the statutes than to this monarch -even; for, after Batûta left, Tirim Siri broke a law laid -down by his grandfather and therefore was deposed.</p> - -<p>In one province he found “a laudable practice. A -whip is hung up in every mosque, and whoever stays -away from worship is beaten by the imam before all the -congregation, and fined to boot, the fine going towards -the upkeep of the mosque.” The time came when Batûta,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">127</a></span> -clothed with authority, itched to exercise it in the same -praiseworthy way.</p> - -<p>Batûta now visits Herat, turns north-westward to -Meshed, the capital of Khôrasân and holy city of the Shiites, -thence travels to Jam, the birthplace of Jami, the Persian -poet, and at Tus finds the tomb of the Caliph Haroun-al-Raschid, -who died there when on a military expedition. -Now, Haroun-al-Raschid was a Sunnite; so the orthodox -“place lighted candles on his grave, but the followers -of Ali (Shiites) are wont to give it a kick.” One recalls the -story of how, when the Indian Emperor had his attention -drawn to a dog defiling the grave of a heretic, he remarked -that “the beast resembles orthodoxy.” Heterodox or -orthodox, according to point of view, here were flourishing -colleges filled with students, and saintly men dwelling -in secluded cells. To work miracles has always been a -distinction of the saint; but the Eastern saint was also -permitted to live on to an age incredibly ripe. Batûta is -always running across some man of the age attained by -old Parr, and upwards. A century and a half is a moderate -number of years for these holy beings, and Batûta accepts -it as veridical; especially when corroborative evidence -is given. But three and a half centuries claimed by a -man who is no Struldbrug, but looks not more than fifty, -staggers even him. The impostor assures his visitor -that every century he grows a fresh crop of hair and cuts -a new set of teeth, and that he had been a Râja who was -buried at Multân in the Punjâb. “I very much doubted -as to what he might really be; and I do so to this day.”</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">128</a></span></p> - - - - -<h3>CHAPTER VI<br /><br /> - -<small>AN EASTERN DESPOT</small></h3> - - -<p><span class="smcap">He</span> waited forty days for the snows to melt on the -“Hindu Kûsh—the Slayer of the Hindus, so called because -most of the slaves brought from India die here of the -bitter cold thereof.” The Afghans were at that time -subjects of the Khân of Turkestan (Transoxiana); a -turbulent, violent race, impatient of the slightest curb. -Bandits attacked the party he joined in the Kâbul pass; -but bow and arrow kept them at a distance. Fierce -invaders had poured down the mountain passes from -Afghanistan from the end of the twelfth century and -established a Mohammedan Empire at Delhi.</p> - -<p>Batûta passed into Sind. At the Indian border the -usual written description of his personal appearance -and the object of his visit was sent to the Sultan. There -was a system of stations at a short distance from each -other, and couriers of the Sultan went to and fro, some -on horseback, some on foot. To secure rapid transit, -each courier was provided with bells attached to a whip, -so as to announce his approach to a station and to warn -the courier there to be ready to go on with the royal -despatch.</p> - -<p>Now, the Mohammedan Sultan of Northern India was -a striking illustration of the fact that humanity is not -necessarily coupled with generosity. Mohammed Tughlak -was renowned throughout the Moslem world for his lavish -munificence; but the cold-blooded cruelty of the despot -was not less great than his bounty. Batûta not merely -wished to see India; he hoped to achieve lucrative establishment -at the Moslem Court. At Multân he found a -body of adventurers, who sought to place their talents -at the service of the Sultan, and awaited his invitation -to court. Any shipwrecked sailor, even, had only to make -his way to Mohammed Tughlak to be relieved. Batûta -has tales of him which we may believe at our pleasure.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">129</a></span> -The Sultan told one of his courtiers to go to the treasury -and take away as much gold as he could carry. He took -so much that he fell under its weight. The Sultan ordered -the coins to be gathered together, weighed, and sent -to him. Once he had one of his Emirs put into a balance, -and gave him his weight in gold, kissing him, and telling -him to bestow alms for his soul’s welfare. He kissed the -feet of a “theologian and gatherer of traditions,” and -presented him with a golden vase filled with gold coins.</p> - -<p>On the way, Batûta saw one of the three brothers whom -the Sheik at Alexandria had prophesied he should meet, -and found him “a man very much broken by temptations -of the devil. He would not allow any one to touch his -hand or even to draw near him; and, should anyone’s -garb chance to touch his, he washed it immediately.” -On the road from Multân to Delhi, Batûta was most hospitably -received by the Emirs. But Northern India was -no more reduced to order by the Mohammedan Sultan -than by the Emperor Sîlâditya in Hiuen-Tsiang’s time. -Between Multân and Delhi, while travelling with a party -of twenty-two, Batûta found two horse and twenty foot -opposing their progress. Our pilgrim was a many-sided -man, quite capable of taking his share in a fight. The -robbers lost one of their horsemen and twelve of their -foot, and then fled from the field.</p> - -<p>When Ibn Batûta arrived at the Moslem capital, which -was ten miles to the south of the Delhi of our day, he -found that the Sultan was not there. But great honour -was done to the man whose fame as theologian, jurist, -traveller and three-fold hadji had preceded him. He -was received and entertained by the Sultan’s Mother and -the Vizier, and received a welcome present of money in -return for the presents he had brought with him.</p> - -<p>A month and a half after his arrival a child of one of his -numerous marriages died. She was a little less than a -year old. “The vizier gave her funeral honours as if -she had been a child of high rank in that country, with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">130</a></span> -incense, rose-water, readers of the Koran, and panegyrists. -And the vizier paid all the costs thereof, giving money to -the leaders and food to the poor. This was done by the -Sultan’s orders. And the Dowager Sultana sent for the -mother of the child, and gave her valuable dresses and -ornaments; which was much to her solace.”</p> - -<p>News now came that the Sultan was drawing near; -so the vizier and others set forth to meet him. Everybody, -the adventurers in search of employment included, bore -presents to the palace, of which the sentries at the palace-gateway -took note. When the Sultan arrived, these gifts -were spread out before him, and the travellers were presented -to him in order of rank. Batûta was received -with special marks of approval. The Sultan graciously -condescended to take his hand, promised to see to his -interests, and gave him cloth of gold which had adorned -his own person. Each visitor had a horse and silver-saddle -sent him, and was appointed either judge or writer. -Batûta was made Judge of Delhi, with a stipend and the -rents of three villages attached to his office. When the -messengers brought news of these appointments, the new -functionaries were expected to kiss the hooves of their -horses, go to the palace, and invest themselves with their -robes of office.</p> - -<p>Batûta gives an account of the Sultan which is confirmed -by Ferishta, the Moslem historian. Mohammed -was a typical Oriental sovereign of the first order, that is -to say, a man of letters and learning, “approachable, -one of the most bountiful of men, splendid in his gifts -(where he took a fancy).” But despotism breeds tyranny, -and tyranny, brutality. “Notwithstanding his humility, -justice, kindness to the poor, and marvellous open-handedness, -he was swift to shed blood. Hardly a day went by without -someone being slaughtered before the gates of his palace. -Often have I seen people suffer there, and their bodies -left where they fell. Once, as I rode up, my horse plunged -and quivered with fear. I looked ahead, and saw something -white lying on the ground. I asked what it might<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">131</a></span> -be. One who was with me replied: ‘it is the trunk of -a man who has been dismembered.’ It made no difference -whether the offence were great or small; the punishment -ordered by the Sultan was the same. He spared none on -account of his learning, his upright character, or his -position. Daily, hundreds of prisoners were brought -to the audience-chamber, arms chained to neck, and feet -pinioned. Some were killed, some tortured, some severely -beaten. He sat in his Audience Hall every day, Fridays -excepted, and had everybody in prison brought before -him. But Friday was a day of respite for them; then they -kept calm and purified themselves.</p> - -<p>“The Sultan had a brother. Never have I seen a finer -man. The monarch suspected that he had plotted against -him. He questioned him concerning this; and, for fear -of being put to the torture, the brother made avowal. But, -in fact, whoever should deny any charge of this kind which -the Sultan might choose to make would most assuredly be -put to the torture; and death is usually chosen. The Sultan -had his brother’s head cut off in the middle of the courtyard, -and, as is the custom, there it remained three days. -This man’s mother had been stoned to death in the same -place two years before; for she had confessed to adultery -or some debauchery.... On one occasion, when I was -present, some men were brought forward and charged -with having conspired to kill the vizier. They were -sentenced to be thrown to the elephants. These beasts -are trained to put an end to culprits, their feet being shod -with steel with a sharp edge to it. They are guided by -riders, take up their victim with their trunks, hurl him -up into the air, thrust him between their fore-feet, and -do to him just what the riders bid them, and that is whatever -the Sultan has ordered. If the command be to cut -the victims to pieces, the elephant shall do this with his -tools, and then shall cast the pieces to the crowd gathered -around; but if it be to leave him, he is flayed before the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">132</a></span> -monarch, his skin stuffed with hay, and his flesh given -to dogs.”</p> - -<p>This genial sovereign had craftily contrived to bring -about the death of his father and a brother by the collapse -of a pavilion. But the reign of every Sultan was polluted -by parricide or fratricide in the frantic struggle for the -throne. And, even more than has been the case throughout -history, all the ostentation, luxury, and culture of the -Court, the powerful, and the wealthy, was as fine meal -ground from the ear which the humble had sown and reaped. -The people were crushed, enslaved, outraged and despoiled.</p> - -<p>A case was brought before our judge which reveals -that the trial by ordeal, of which Hiuen-Tsiang told us, -was still employed. A woman reputed to be a <i>Goftar</i>, -that is to say, a witch who could kill anyone by a glance, -was brought before Batûta on the charge of having murdered -a child. Not knowing what to do, he sent her on -to the vizier, who ordered four large water-vessels to be -tied to her, and the whole bundle to be thrown into the -Jumna. Had she sunk, she would have been deemed -innocent and pulled out. Alas! she floated; so she was -taken away to be burned.</p> - -<p>One day, two Yogis, master and disciple, arrived at the -Sultan’s court. Their heads and armpits were bare, -the hair having been removed by means of some kind -of powder. They were received with much respect; -and Batûta was treated to an exhibition of that Eastern -skill in jugglery which astonished all ancient travellers. -The disciple assumed the shape of a cube, rose in the air, -and floated over the heads of the spectators. Our judge -was so frightened at this uncanny trick that he fainted. -When he came to, the disciple was still up above his head. -The head-conjurer then cast a sandal to the ground. It -rebounded, hit the cube, which descended, and lo! there -was the disciple again. Batûta’s heart beat at such a -rate that the Sultan ordered a powerful drug to be given -him, and told him that he should have been shewn more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">133</a></span> -astounding things, but that he feared for his wits. -Probably, however the illusion was produced, our traveller -saw something very much like what he describes. Marco -Polo and other old travellers tell of the astounding feats -they saw, and Jehangir, fourth in succession of the Great -Moguls, devotes several pages of his diary to a careful -record of many similar marvels which he would seem to -have observed closely.<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">9</a> We shall hear of something -stranger yet, which befel Batûta in China.</p> - -<p>Our new-made judge was not only a restless being, -but one possessed by an immoderate desire to do things -on a big scale. His qualities were exaggerate, and a -virtue tended to swell into an iniquity. One pious pilgrimage -to the Holy Places did not suffice him: he must visit -them again and again. We shall see how fully he availed -himself of the liberty in marriage, divorce, and concubinage -accorded by his creed. Egoism was a strong element in -his character. He could not set bounds to his expenditure. -In a word, he borders on megalomania. In a short time, -his debts are four and a half times his total income. His -excuse is that he was ordered to attend the Sultan in an -expedition to put down an insurrection. Many servants -are required in India; but his retinue was immense. He -was ingenious enough to escape from his difficulties. -Mohammed Tughlak plumed himself on his real or supposed -proficiency in Persian and Arabic and on his patronage -of letters. Batûta went to him with a panegyric in Arabic -so adroitly expressed that he charmed His Majesty. Then -Batûta laid bare his distress. The Sultan paid his debts -and dismissed him with the same warning which Mr. -Micawber gave David Copperfield. The judge was excused -from accompanying his Master, and was given charge -of a tomb and the theological college attached to it.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">134</a></span></p> -<p>Encouraged by the Sultan’s liberality, perhaps incited -by his example in prodigality, and untaught by his recent -dilemma, he arranges everything on a stupendous scale. -“I set up 150 readers of the Koran, 80 students, 8 repeaters, -a lecturer, 80 conventuals, an imam, muezzins, reciters -selected for their fine rendering, eulogists, scribes to note -down absentees, and ushers. All of these were men of -breeding. And I set up an establishment of menials; such -as footmen, cooks, messengers, water carriers, betel-servers, -swordsmen, javelin-men, umbrella-carriers, hand-washers, -criers, and other officials—460 of them, all told. The Sultan -commanded me to supply 12 measures of meal and an equal -quantity of meat daily at the tomb. This seemed to me -a pitifully small amount.... I made it 35 measures -of meal, and 35 of meat, and sugar, sugar-candy, butter, -and fawfel-nut in due proportion. Thereby I fed all -comers.”</p> - -<p>There was some excuse for the expenditure on food. -Famine is the recurrent curse of countries with imperfect -means of transport, and “the land suffered from famine -at this time. Thus suffering was relieved; and fame of -it borne afar.” But Batûta does not conceal his having -used money which his friends lent him during his stay at -Delhi. Indeed he vilifies them for expecting him to return -any part of it. He tells his tale in the tone of a man who -believes himself to have been treated ungenerously and -unjustly.</p> - -<p>Later on in his narrative, he has occasion to refer to -the fact that at some time during the few years of his -residence at Delhi he added to the number of his wives -by marrying the daughter of the Emir of Mobar, in Southern -India. “She was a religious woman, who would spend -the whole night in meditation and prayer. She could -read, but not write. She bore me a female child; but what -is become of either of them is beyond my ken.” The -indelicacy of the dress of women in Delhi shocked him: -“they merely cover the face, and the body from the navel<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">135</a></span> -downwards only.” He tried to get them to robe themselves -completely, and failed.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="line i12">“How wretched</div> -<div class="line">Is that poor man who hangs on princes’ favours!”</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>It seems that the capricious Sultan had placed -much confidence in a certain holy man; but suspicion -of the sheik’s fidelity was aroused, and spies were set -to take note of his visitors. Among his friends and visitors -was Batûta. Everybody on the list was ordered to appear -at the fatal portal. Batûta thought his last hour had come -and betook himself to his prayers; he repeated “God -is our succour and exceeding help” no less than 33,000 -times in a single day; he fasted for four days, taking -nothing but water and expecting the executioners every -moment. He alone escaped the fatal scimitar.</p> - -<p>He had seen enough of Imperial caprice to know that -respite was not security, or innocence a lasting defence. -He resigned his office and went to a worker of miracles, -“the saint and phœnix of his time,” who was one of his -friends. He gave all that he possessed to holy men; -put on the robe of an ascetic, and ate nothing but rice. -But the blindfold goddess had him on her wheel, and was -to give it many a turn yet. Five months passed, and -then the Sultan sent for him and gave him a gracious -reception. But he deemed it wise to return to his rigorous -life, and was more severe in it than before. Yet forty -more days passed, and then the Sultan again commanded -his presence.</p> - -<p>There was now a much greater trade with China than -in the time of Hiuen-Tsiang. An Embassy, headed -by a high mandarin, had come from China (<span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span> 1342) -with presents of 100 male slaves, 50 slave-girls, rich dresses, -quivers of gold, and jewelled swords. In a certain lower -reach of the Himalaya was a plain which had been overrun -by the Moslem conquerors. Once a Buddhist temple -stood there; and Chinese pilgrims were wont to journey -across Thibet to pray at the sacred spot. Moreover<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">136</a></span> -the inhabitants of the district were cut off from their -wonted toil in Thibetan fields beyond the border. The -place was secured by Nature from any attack from the -North; and the Great Khân of China begged that restrictions -should be removed and permission given for the -temple to be rebuilt. The Sultan was willing to grant -the request on certain pecuniary conditions, but he cast -about for some one to accompany the returning embassy -and represent him at the Chinese Court. Who so suitable -as Batûta, a man of the world, experienced in travel, -highly educated, and sharp-witted? His innocence was -established. Such a degree of asceticism, so long -endured, was proof of piety. The Sultan ordered him -to go. The garb of the ascetic was thrown off. He -would feel more secure in China than at Delhi.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">137</a></span></p> - - - - -<h3>CHAPTER VII<br /><br /> - -<small>PERILS BY LAND AND SEA</small></h3> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Our</span> ambassador sets off with the returning mission -attended by two favourites of the Sultan, and a guard of -1,000 horse. He has charge of gifts which far surpass -the Chinese presents—100 horses of the best breed, richly -caparisoned, 100 Hindu singing and dancing girls, robes -of rich brocade, jewelled arms, instruments of gold and -silver, silks and stuffs, and 1,700 rich dresses.</p> - -<p>He has not travelled 100 miles from Delhi when he -finds a district in revolt against the Mohammedan conquerors. -The Hindus are besieging a city; the cavalry -attending the embassy rushes at the investing forces, -loses many men, but leaves not an enemy alive. The -news is sent to the Sultan, and a halt is made for his -instructions to arrive. Batûta is sitting in the grateful -shade of a garden when word comes that a fresh body of -Hindus is attacking a village hard by. He rides off with -an escort to see how he may help. The insurgents are -already fleeing from a hot pursuit, and he finds himself -left with only five others and a few mounted men. His -horse gets its fore-feet wedged between some stones, and -he has to dismount; his companions ride off, and he finds -himself alone. Suddenly, two score of the enemy’s horse -appear and ride at him. He is stripped to the skin, bound, -and threatened with death. He is unable to talk the -language of his captors, is kept a captive during two days, -and then they ride away. He shuffles off to a neighbouring -jungle, and hides there. He cautiously tries every foot-track -to find that not one of them but leads to some enemy -village or to some village in ruins. He keeps himself -alive by sucking wild fruit and chewing leaves. Seven -days have passed, and he is quite exhausted, when he -sees “a black man, carrying a small water-vessel and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">138</a></span> -walking by aid of an iron-tipped staff.” The man is a -Mohammedan, and gives him water and pulse, which he -has with him. Batûta tries to walk with him; but he is -too weak and faint; his feet totter, and he falls to the -ground. The “black man” throws him across his -shoulders; all consciousness is lost, and he comes to himself -at the Imperial gateway one daybreak, the East aglow -with the rising sun. That good Samaritan, the “black -man,” stands out in bright relief from a background -of crime and cruelty and shadows of feet swift to shed -blood.</p> - -<p>Mohammed Tughlak received Batûta more kindly -than ever, gave him handsome compensation, and commanded -him to return to the Embassy. On his way to -Cambay, we hear more of Yogi magicians and how they -will remain long time without food. “I have seen, in -the city of Mangalore, a Moslem who had learned of these -folk. A sort of platform was set up for him; and thereon -he had stayed 25 days, neither eating nor drinking. Thus -did I leave him; and I know not how long he kept there -afterwards. It is said that they make up pills, and, -after swallowing one of them, can do without food or -drink. They foretell hidden things. The Sultan honours -them and admits them to his society. Some among them -eat vegetable food only; and these are the greater number. -There are among them those who can slay a man by a -glance at him. The common people hold that, if the chest -of the dead man be opened, no heart is to be found within; -for it has been consumed. Women do this in the main, -and such an one is called a hyæna.”</p> - -<p>Batûta’s chief interest was in Islam; but he noted -natural products carefully and was alive to the odd. -North of the Hindu Kûsh he had seen a woefully obese -man; and now, on this 1,500 mile journey to Calicut, -he came across the ruler of a small State, “a black giant,” -who thought little of devouring a whole sheep at a sitting.</p> - -<p>He took ship near Goa, and the craft ran along the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">139</a></span> -Malabar coast, “the land of black pepper.” Twelve -kinglets ruled as many states in Malabar at that time, -and each king had an army of from 5,000 to 50,000 men -at his command. Many ancient polyandric practices -were retained; which explains why each Râja was succeeded -by a sisters’ son. No landing was made until a king’s -son had been handed over as a pledge of safety. Many -Arab traders had settled in the ports, and become wealthy. -Punishment, swift and severe, followed on the smallest -infringement of <i>meum</i> and <i>tuum</i>. We are told how a -Hindu noble, out riding with his father-in-law, who was -no less a personage than the Râja, picked up a mango -which had dropped from an overhanging tree. The Râja -ordered that both he and the mango should be cut into -two halves, and half of the mango and half of the culprit -laid on either side of the public way precisely where the -enormity had been done. One may suspect that the -son-in-law was not wholly <i>persona grata</i> to the despot.</p> - -<p>The Embassy had to tide over three months at Calicut -awaiting the season for the sailing of the fleet of junks -from China. There were thirteen of them at Calicut, -and they also traded to Hili and Quilon. He tells us that -the biggest junks were as floating cities. They would -carry a crew of 1,000 men, whereof 400 were soldiers. -The junk was worked by oars and sails of bamboo-matting, -slung from masts varying in number from three to twelve, -according to the size of the junk. Ten to thirty men -stood to pull at each oar. Garden-herbs and ginger were -grown on deck, and on it, too, were houses built for the -chief officers and their wives. The quarters of the junk -were three-fold, fastened together by spikes. Each junk -of the biggest size was accompanied by three tenders -of progressively diminishing proportions. Needless to -say, the commander of a junk was a very important -functionary. Often more than one junk would be owned -by a single Chinaman. But then, “truly the Chinese are -the wealthiest people on earth.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">140</a></span></p> - -<p>Our ambassador sent his servants, slave-girls and -baggage on board; but the cabin was too small to hold -both concubines and luggage; so the skipper advised him -to hire a <i>kakam</i> or junk of the third size. This he did on -a Thursday, the <i>kakam</i> took in its cargo, and he remained -on shore the next day for public worship.</p> - -<p>During the night, the terror of the sea fell on them all. -A violent storm came on, and the waters shook the land. -Some of the junks contrived to get away from the perilous -neighbourhood of the shore to more open water; but one -of them was wrecked, and only a few swimmers managed -to escape. The <i>kakam</i>, with all his worldly goods and -slave-concubines in it, had disappeared; but it had been -seen making for the open. The body of an envoy was -washed ashore, with the skull smashed in. A guardian -Eunuch was also cast up, a nail driven right through -the brain from temple to temple. Down came the Zamorin -to the scene of disaster, Comedy attendant on Tragedy, -for he braved the tempest clad with a loin-cloth, the -scantiest of head-gear, and a necklace of jewels, but the -insignium of royalty, the umbrella, was somehow held -up over his sacred head. Batûta cast himself on his -prostration-carpet, which was all that was left to him, -excepting ten pieces of gold and his servant, a freed slave, -who immediately made off. Some pious people gave him -small coin, which he kept as treasure, for it would bring -blessing with it.</p> - -<p>We are told of the noble deed of a simple Moslem sailor -during this great storm. “There was a girl on board who -was the favourite of a merchant. The merchant offered -ten pieces of gold to anyone who should save her. A sailor, -hailing from Hormuz, did save her; but he refused the -reward, saying, ‘I did it for the love of God.’”</p> - -<p>The junk which held the precious gifts for China was -seen to go down outside the port; and Batûta heard that -the little boat which held all his slave-concubines and -worldly goods had contrived to gain the open sea, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">141</a></span> -might conceivably put in at Quilon. He set off at once, -and arrived there after a ten days’ journey. He found -the Chinese Embassy there. They had suffered shipwreck, -but their junk had not broken up and was being -refitted.</p> - -<p>It did not require the advice proferred him by his -co-religionists to deter him from returning to the capricious, -passionate lord of Delhi. He bethought him of Jamâl -Oddîn, ruler of Honowar, a man of sense and understanding, -whom he had visited on his way to Calicut. It casts -a pleasant ray on the Mohammedan occupation of India, -that there were no fewer than 44 schools set up in the -busy little capital of a small State, and that of these no -fewer than 11 were for girls. Now Jamâl Oddîn knew -the uncertain temper of the Lord of India quite as well as -Batûta, and did not give him too hearty a welcome. So -to appease offended Heaven, or to rehabilitate himself -by an evidence of piety, he repaired to a mosque and read -the Koran from end to end once, and ultimately twice, a -day. Now, there were 52 ships being fitted out to attack -the island of Sindâbûr; and Jamâl evidently thought -that Batûta might prove useful, for he commanded him -to accompany him on this expedition. Batûta tried -to read the future by a time-honoured method of divination. -He opened the Koran at random, and his eye fell on a -promise of Allah to aid his servant. This was satisfactory -to Jamâl Oddîn as well as to himself.</p> - -<p>After strenuous resistance Sindâbûr was carried by -assault, and Batûta, who was something of a warrior, -received a slave-girl, clothing and other presents from his -patron. He remained on the island with Jamâl Oddîn -for some months, and then got permission to go to Calicut. -For the Chinese fleet would be returning to India by this -time, and he might get news of his little junk. At Calicut, -he learned that his <i>kakam</i> had reached China, that his -property had been divided up, and that his pretty concubine -had died on the voyage. “I felt very much grief<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">142</a></span> -for her.” He went back to the island to find the city -besieged by Hindus.</p> - -<p>Now he had heard marvellous things concerning the -Maldives, an archipelago of small islands lying S.S.E. -of India, near the equator. The inhabitants, under -British rule to-day, had accepted Islam. He found that -before he or anyone was allowed to land he must show himself -on deck; “for although the islands are multitudinous, -each lies close to its neighbour, and folk knew one another -by sight.” He speaks of the inhabitants as “pious, -peaceable, and chaste. They never wage war. Prayers -are their only weapons. Indian pirates do not alarm -them; nor do they punish robbers; for they have learned -that sudden and grievous ill will come to evil-doers. When -any of the pirate-ships of infidel Hindus pass by -these islands, whatsoever is found is taken, nor will anyone -stand out.” But, in spite of the moral reflection indulged -in by the islanders, Batûta traces their policy of non-resistance -to physical feebleness. And “there is one -exception to it. Should a single lemon be taken woe -befals the offender. He is punished and forced to listen -to a homily. The natives delight in perfumes and in -bathing twice a day, which the heat forces them to do; -yet trees give delicious shade. Their trade is in ropes, -which they make of hemp, and which are used for sewing -together the timbers of ships of India and Yemen; for -if a ship strike against a rock, the hemp allows of its -yielding, and so saves it from going to pieces, which is -not the case when iron nails are used. Shells are used -for coin, and palm-leaves are used for all writing, except -for copying out the Koran; and the instrument used -has a sharp point.”</p> - -<p>Batûta sailed among these islands during ten days, -and took up his abode on one, the sovereign of which was -a woman. For the lady’s husband had died, leaving -no male issue; so she married her vizier who, in reality, -ruled. Batûta took the full license accorded in Islam.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">143</a></span> -He married the four legal wives permitted, and took to -himself some concubines also, “all pleasant in conversation -and of great beauty.” He must have divorced his previous -wives before being able to do this. Marriage in the Maldive -Islands was facile and cheap. Only a small dowry was -demanded for a handsome woman; but it was required -that the stranger should divorce the wife on leaving the -land, and by no means take her with him. But, should -he not desire to marry, there was no difficulty in getting -a woman to cook for him at a very small wage. Wives were -less companionable here than in most parts of the world, -since women and men took their meals apart; nor could -Batûta get his women-folk to break the custom of their -country—a custom which Varthema speaks of, nearly -two centuries later, as obtaining in South West India. -Batûta had been appointed judge, and another thing -that troubled him was the irregular attendance of the lax -Moslems of his island at the mosque. He was very eager -that such flagrant non-observance of religious duty should -be duly punished; and he urged that the best way would -be literally to whip the recalcitrants to attend on public -worship.</p> - -<p>Now Batûta’s wives had powerful relatives. The -sister of one of his wives at Delhi was wife to the Emir of -Mobar; to whom, therefore, Batûta was doubly related. -He had become a power in his island, and the vizier grew -jealous and suspicious. Might not the stranger conspire -to bring an army over from the coast of Coromandel? -When Batûta saw what was going on, he acted at once. -“I divorced all my wives,” he says, “save one, who had -a young child, and I went on to other islands of that great -multitude of them.” From one of these, he shipped for -Mobar; but the wind changed, and he was driven to the -coast of Ceylon and in no small danger of drowning. -The governor of the port came sailing by, and refused a -landing; for he was no friend to Moslem skippers. Batûta -won him over by telling him that he was on his way to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">144</a></span> -visit the Sovereign of Mobar, that he was related to him -by marriage, and that the whole cargo of the ship was -intended as a present for that potentate. The Ceylonese -Râja of the district was on good terms with his Moslem -brother of Mobar, so Batûta was allowed to land. He -found, like Marco Polo, that Ceylon was divided among -four kinglets. He of the district soon sent for him, and -gave him hospitality. He admired the famous herds of -elephants, the troups of chattering monkeys, the pool -of precious stones, and the luxuriant vegetation and glorious -scenery of Ceylon. He scaled that iron chain, which still -exists, to reach the top of Adam’s peak, and gives us the -measure of the print of Adam’s foot, on hard rock; for in -Ceylon, as elsewhere, supernatural vestiges are to be found. -He visited Colombo and several other places in the island, -and then set sail for the coast of Coromandel.</p> - -<p>But, while crossing the strait, “the wind blew strong, -and the ship was nearly swamped. Our skipper was -a lubber. We were driven near perilous rocks, and barely -escaped going to pieces; and then we got into shallow -water. Our ship grated against the bottom, and we were -face to face with death. Those on board threw all that -they had into the sea, and bade farewell to one another. -We cut down the mast and cast it onto the sea, and the -sailors made a raft. The beach was eight miles off. I -wanted to get down to the raft. I had two concubines -and two friends with me. These latter exclaimed: -‘would you get down and leave us?’ I had more regard -to their safety than to my own; so I answered: ‘Get -down, both of you, and the young girl whom I love with -you.’ My other young girl said: ‘I can swim. I will -fix ropes to the raft and swim alongside these people.’ -My two comrades got down, one of the young girls being -with them; and the other swam. The sailors tied ropes -to the raft, and so helped her to swim. I gave them whatever -of value I had in the way of jewels, amber, and other -goods. They got to shore safe and sound, for the wind<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">145</a></span> -was in their favour. But I stayed aboard the ship. The -skipper got to shore on a plank. The sailors took the -building of four rafts in hand; but night came on before -they had finished, and the ship was filling. I got up on -the poop, and remained there until morning. Then several -idolaters came to us in their barque. And we got safe -to land.”</p> - -<p>His connexion, the Emir, received him warmly. This -potentate was about to attack a Hindu Power; and, -while he was away on this expedition, Batûta travelled -about. He tells us that he came across a fakir with -long hair, who sat and ate in the society of seven foxes, -and who kept a “happy family”—a gazelle and a lion -together. The Emir was a ruthless tyrant, butchering -women and children. Yet Batûta had no scruple in -proposing a scheme to him for the conquest of the Maldives, -where he had received so much kindness, and where he had -left wives and paramours. But pestilence came and swept -away most of the inhabitants of the district, including -the Emir. The new ruler wanted to carry out the scheme -for occupying the Maldives; but Batûta got fever badly, -and very nearly died. When sufficiently recovered, -he received permission to recuperate his energies by -taking the long voyage round Cape Comorin to Honawar, -where he wished to meet his old friend, Jamâl Oddîn, -again. But, from time immemorial, the sea had been a -no-mans province, infested by pirates; and the calling, -continuous or accidental, of sea-thief was then as honourable -as it was ancient. His ship was attacked by twelve -Hindu craft, and taken after a severe battle. Batûta -was stripped of his jewels and all his belongings, and set -on shore with a pair of breeches on. He lost the notes -of his travels with his other belongings. Out of the way -of direct business, the robbers could be merciful, and there -was no reason why they should take his life. He made -his painful way to Calicut, and put up at a mosque—always -the asylum of the indigent. Some of the lawyers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">146</a></span> -and traders here had known him at Delhi. They clothed, -fed, and housed him. What was he to do? He dared -not return to Delhi. A son had been borne to him by -a Maldive wife. He had a desire to see the child. The -vizier was dead; but the queen had married again, and -he wondered what sort of reception he should get. Paternal -tenderness prevailed: “I went there on account of my -little son; but when I had seen him, I left him with his -mother, out of kindness to her.” He was hospitably -entertained, but stayed a very few days. The new vizier -furnished him with those provisions which every traveller -by sea must purchase for himself and carry with him -in the fourteenth century; and he set sail for Bengal, -where he arrived after 43 days at sea (<span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span> 1341).</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">147</a></span></p> - - - - -<h3>CHAPTER VIII<br /><br /> - -<small>OFF TO MALAYSIA AND CATHAY</small></h3> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Batûta</span> speaks of Bengal as the land of plenty. Everything -was cheaper there than anywhere else in the wide -world. He picked up a very beautiful slave-girl for a -trifle. But the muggy climate made Bengal “a hell -full of good things.” The Sultan was in revolt against his -lord-paramount at Delhi; and as Batûta was a prudent -person, held Mohammed Tughlak in wholesome awe, -and could not predict the issue of the contest, he did not -visit the Bengalese Court. He went up to the hill-country, -half-way to the Himalayan giants, instead; for he desired -to see an aged holy man who dwelt there, one who was -reported to take no food excepting a little milk, and that -only every ten days, and to sit upright all night. This old -sheik was a seer, and foretold events which should befall -his guest and which he declares really happened. Batûta -was proud to be justly hailed as “the greatest traveller -of all the Arabs.” He returned from the hills to visit -a city not far from modern Dacca.</p> - -<p>We next find him on the Indian Ocean, standing off the -Nicobar Islands, probably because his ship needed a fresh -supply of water. The inhabitants were fearful of strangers, -would not allow any ship to sail in front of their houses, -had the fresh water required brought down to the shore -by elephants, and traded by signs; for nobody could speak -their language. The men went about naked, and the -women wore a girdle of leaves only. All were remarkable -for the ugliness of their dog-like faces. Batûta was told -that a man might be the husband of 30 or more of these -beauties. Adultery was severely punished, the male -offender being hanged, unless he could find a friend or a -slave willing to suffer in his place; the woman being -trampled to death and her body cast into the sea. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">148</a></span> -king came down to the beach with an escort of his relatives, -all mounted on elephants. He wore a coloured silk turban -and a goat-skin tunic, with the hair turned outwards, -and he bore a short silver spear in his hand. The usual -gifts were presented in dumb-show. “These folk work -magic on any ship that withholds presents; and it is -wrecked.”</p> - -<p>Moslem traders called any part of the Malaysian Archipelago, -Java; but the port to which our traveller next -came was really in Sumatra. The Emir of the Mohammedan -sovereign received the visitors with customary Eastern -munificence and gave them rich dresses. Our -traveller speaks highly of the Sultan as being a cultivated -man who loved the society of the learned and enjoyed -discussion with them. A modern writer says that the -humblest man he ever knew was a duke, and Batûta might -have said the same of some rulers. The humility of the -Sultan of Sumatra was so great that he walked to prayers -every Friday! Batûta took a long journey inland, and -tells us of frankincense, clove, nutmeg, mace, and other -products of Sumatra, and of how a man is sacrificed by -the natives at the foot of the camphor-tree to ensure its -good bearing.</p> - -<p>He was eager to reach China—that land of strange -ways and peculiar civilization in Farthest East. The -complaisant Sultan gave him passage in one of his own -junks, provided him with stores for the voyage, and -ordered a guide-interpreter to attend on him. In three -and a half weeks, he came to a place which he calls Kakula, -and which may have been on the mainland. Here he -was well received by the pagan king, and chanced to be -present at a curious proof of devotion to royalty. “One -day, a man made a long speech, not one word of which -I understood. He held a knife in his hand, which he -grasped firmly, and cut off his own head, and it fell to -the ground.” This sounds incredible; but it is a fact. -The feat was done by means of apparatus. A sickle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">149</a></span>shaped -knife was attached to a stirrup. The suicide -placed his foot in the latter, gave it a sharp jerk, and the -knife shore off his head. Our traveller was told that the -deed was done to make manifest the great loyalty of the -victim, and that his father and grandfather had made -the same praiseworthy exit from life in honour of the king’s -father and grandfather. Their families received compensation -from the kings. A similar case of self-execution -was authentically recorded in the last century.</p> - -<p>The Eastern Ocean was so calm that the junk had to -be towed by boats. Marco Polo had the same experience -in these seas. Batûta touched at Kailiki, a port of Tawalisi, -probably Tonquin; but no one is quite sure where -this land lay. Even the Sulu Islands have been suggested! -The king was as powerful as the Emperor of China. His -people were idolaters after the manner of the Turks, -and Batûta reports a conversation with his Amazonian -daughter, introducing a few words of their language. -This princess could write, but not speak Arabic. Some -discredit has been thrown on this part of his narrative, -mainly on the ground of language, but also because -what he has to say about her recalls very ancient classical -stories. But we must recollect that Batûta is relying -on his memory at a time when the events belonged to -a far-distant past; that his work was dictated; and that -it was edited by the Secretary to the Sultan of Fez. He -confesses that he did not understand very well what the -princess said to him. And the language she spoke may -have struck him as like Turkish in sound, and hence -is given in some sort of imitation of that tongue. The -more one studies ancient travellers and pilgrims the more -assured one becomes of their essential sincerity and the -general accuracy of their observation. We know very -little indeed about the Nomadic penetration of the Far -East. That this princess was able to write a little Arabic, -would seem to show that there was considerable Arab -trade with Tawalisi.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">150</a></span></p> - -<p>This lady was governor of the port, a post which her -father had given her as the reward of her powers in battle. -For, once, when her father’s army was on the point of -defeat, she routed the enemy, and brought back the head -of their leader. She commanded an army, whereof one -regiment was of women. Neighbouring princes had wished -to marry her, but had withdrawn their pretensions; for -she insisted that first they should overcome her in the -lists; and they were afraid of the ignominy of being vanquished -by a woman. She was amazed at the wealth -of India, and said to Batûta: “I must conquer it for -myself.”</p> - -<p>Favourable winds and strenuous use of the oar brought -the junk to China. He found that he had to pass through -a stringent customs-house; and that a register was taken -of all who left or arrived at a Chinese port. The captain -was held responsible for his crew and passengers, and -to this end an official list was essential. Should the traveller -elect to stay with some other trader, his host took care -of his money and goods, but was bound to return them -at the close of the visit, with a deduction for necessary -expenditure. Any deficiency must be made good. But -the trader might, if he chose, put up at an inn. Batûta -was surprised to find paper-currency. He admired the -big poultry; but not the dirty cotton-clothes of the Chinese, -nor their relish for the flesh of dogs and swine. As in -Hiuen-Tsiang’s time, they burned their dead. A portrait -of every traveller was taken without his knowing it, and -thus, should an evil-doer try to escape from justice from -one province to another, he was readily discovered. There -were many Moslem traders in China; most of these had -settled there; and Jews had found a home in China for -eleven centuries.</p> - -<p>Travelling in China was “safer and more agreeable -than in any other land on earth. Although it takes nine -months to cross this country, one need have no fear on -the journey, even though one should have wealth in one’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">151</a></span> -care. There is an official with troops, both horse and foot, -at each hostelry to keep matters in order. This official, -accompanied by his scribe, comes to the hostelry every -evening; and the scribe writes down the name of every -guest, seals up the list, and locks the door. They come -again in the morning and go over the list and the inmates; -and a man goes with the travellers to the next hostelry -and returns to the officer with proof that they have arrived.... -The traveller can buy all he needs at these inns.”</p> - -<p>Batûta visited the great port of Zaitun (Touen-chow), -whence, among other manufactures, “clothes of gold -and <i>satyns</i> riche of hewe”<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">10</a> were shipped. Perhaps -there was no port in the world with so big a trade as -Zaitun. Batûta thought so: “The harbour is one of the -greatest on the earth—I err—it is the greatest. There -I have seen an hundred junks of the biggest size at one -time, and more smaller ones than could be numbered.... -Here, as in every Chinese city, every citizen has a -garden and a field, and his house stands in the middle -of the land he owns. For this reason, the cities of China -are very much spread out.” At Zaitun, he had the good -fortune to meet, in the Moslem quarter, the ambassador -who had been sent to Delhi; and now great folk began to -make his acquaintance. Among his visitors was “one -of the merchants to whom I owed money when I ran into -debt on my arrival in India, and who had shown more -breeding than the rest of my creditors.” The Head -Mandarin wrote to the Emperor to ask permission for -the traveller to visit him at his capital; and, while awaiting -a reply, allowed him to travel by water-way far inland -from Canton, and provided him with an escort. At -Canton, he found temple-hospitals for widows and orphans, -the blind, crippled, and infirm.</p> - -<p>He tells how the sailors stood up amidship to row, and -the passengers sat fore and aft. He visited one of those -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">152</a></span>wonderful saints who claimed incredible years. The -holy man told him that he was one of the saints whom -he had visited in India. This man had the reputation -of being able to induce visions. Possibly he united the -qualifications of skilled hypnotist and skilled liar.</p> - -<p>When our traveller returned to Canton he received -permission to visit the capital. He journeyed many -days by land and along the Imperial Canal. He speaks -rapturously of the fertility and charm of the country he -passed through. Everywhere he was treated with the -deepest respect. But there was a drawback: everywhere -Paganism was flourishing. He met a fellow-believer, -the brother of one of the seers of Egypt, a man greatly -esteemed by the Chinese, and later on one particular -prophesy was completely fulfilled, for he came across -another brother, whom it was also foretold he should -meet, on the borders of Sahara.</p> - -<p>While attending the court of the viceroy at Hang-chow, -he was eye-witness to a remarkable feat, of which he gives -as circumstantial an account as one would expect to get -from a man of the fourteenth century. “It was in the -hot season, and we were in the courtyard outside the -palace. A juggler, a slave of the Khân, came in, and the -Emir commanded him to show some of his marvels. Thereupon -the juggler took a wooden bowl with several holes -made in it, and through these holes long thongs were -passed. He laid hold of these thongs, and threw the bowl -up into the air. It went so high that we could no longer -see it. There was only a little of the end of the thong -left in the juggler’s hand. He ordered one of his boy -helpers to lay hold of it and mount. The boy climbed -up the thong, and he also went out of sight. The juggler -called him three times; but no reply came; so he seemed -to get into a great rage, snatched up a knife, and laid -hold of the thong; and he also was no longer to be seen. -After a time, down came one of the boy’s hands, then a -foot, than the other hand, then the other foot, then the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">153</a></span> -trunk, and, lastly, the head. And now, down came the -juggler, panting, and his clothes in a bloody state. He -kissed the ground in front of the Emir and said something -to him in Chinese. The Emir gave him some order, -and he then took up the severed parts, laid them together -properly, gave a kick, and behold! the boy got up and -was before us again. I was so astounded that my heart -beat violently, as it did when the Sultan of India had a -similar trick done before me. A drug was given me, -which set me right again. The Khazi Alfkaouddîn was -next to me. ‘By Allah!’ said he, ‘as for me I believe -there has been neither going up nor coming down, nor -cutting to pieces, nor making the boy whole again. It -is nothing but trickery.’”</p> - -<p>We must not forget that Batûta was more than inclined -to superstition, that he was very perturbed by what -he saw, or thought he saw, that the “magician” had boys -with him, who probably assisted in this trick, and that -it is part of the conjurer’s art to divert the attention -of spectators while in the actual performance of his feats. -And the event was reduced to writing years after it was -observed. Moreover, one of the earlier investigations -of the Society for Psychical Research shewed that, on -an occasion when a clever amateur conjurer, not known -to be such, invited highly educated and observant witnesses -to a supposed spiritualistic séance, and received their -accounts of what they believed themselves to have seen, -written independently of each other and immediately -after the event, “not one of the detailed reports is accurate -throughout, and scarcely one of them is accurate in even -all the points of importance.”<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">11</a> But we have it on -the authority of the Professor of Chinese at Cambridge -that P’u Sung-ling, the author of the Liao Chai, relates -having seen the complete trick, as Batûta describes it, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">154</a></span>in the seventeenth century,<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">12</a> except that, in this case, -the boy came out of a box. These are, perhaps, the most -remarkable of many similar mystifications, some of them -related by quite respectable witnesses, from the 13th -century down to our own time.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">13</a></p> - -<p>He tells us of the excellent workmanship of Chinese -artisans, and how they worked in chains for a period -of ten years. At the end of that time, they were free -to go about in China, but not to leave the frontiers. At -50, they became absolutely free men, and were maintained -at the public cost, old age pensioners, in fact, in this -early fourteenth century. And the pension was not -merely given to these slave-workers, but to nearly all -Chinese.</p> - -<p>He admired the gay life on the canal, crowded with -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">155</a></span>the boat-houses of the people—a teeming happy population, -dressed in bright colours, and pelting one another -in pure fun with oranges and lemons. Hang-chow had -within its great encircling wall six towns, each guarded -by walls. At Khaniku or Khanbalik (Pekin?) he was -present at the obsequies of a great dignitary, whom he -believed to be the Tartar Emperor; but that was not so, for -the Emperor, who had ascended the throne 14 years before -Batûta’s arrival, reigned 21 years after his departure. -But he certainly was present at the funeral of some great -Tartar; for his account of the interment of the Tartar -dignitaries of China is confirmed by at least one other -early traveller. He tells us of how the dead man’s concubines -and horses were buried with him, alive, in the -same grave. He relates, not very correctly, the ceremonies -observed at the court of the Emperor. Apparently -his recollection becomes confused with that of the court-usage -at Delhi and Yemen. In any case, it is possible -that he only had an interview with some viceroy, concerning -whom he was misinformed or somehow mistook -him for the supreme Khân.</p> - -<p>A revolt against Tartar rule took place about this time, -so Batûta thought it prudent to leave China. He embarked -on a junk which belonged to the King of Sumatra, -whom he had visited on his way out, and “whose servants -are Mohammedans.” On the voyage the junk laboured -through a terrific storm. The mirage of a big mountain -was also seen. The sailors took this for the fabled roc, -with which the <i>Arabian Nights Entertainment</i> made our -Childhood acquainted.</p> - -<p>He remained in Sumatra three months, the guest of -the monarch who had before entertained him; and was -fortunate in witnessing the nuptials of the heir-apparent. -First came dancers and merry minstrelsy; then the bride, -conducted from the apartments of the women by forty -richly adorned ladies, who carried her train. For this -high occasion, they had removed their veils. The bride<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">156</a></span> -went up on a platform; and the bridegroom rode up, -in all the pride of armour, of a stately elephant, and of -his own self-importance. One hundred youths of quality, -beardless like himself, attended him on horseback. They -were clad in white, their caps being a glitter of gold and -jewels. Largess was scattered among the crowd. The -prince now went up to his father, kissed his foot, and -ascended the platform. Then the bride rose and kissed -her groom’s hand; he sat beside her, and he and she -put betel and fawfel into one another’s mouth. Then -the covering of the platform was let down, and the whole -structure, with bride and bridegroom on it, was carried -into the palace. Finally, a feast was given to the crowd.</p> - -<p>From Sumatra, Batûta voyaged in a junk to the Malabar -coast of Southern India, and thence sailed to Arabian -Zafar (<span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span> 1347), both well-remembered places, coasted -to Hormuz, wandered over the Two Iraks (Persia and -Mesopotamia) once again; made across Asia Minor to -Tadmor and as far north as Aleppo. At Damascus he -got the first news of home he had received during his -wanderings; his father had lain fourteen years in his -quiet grave at Tangier. The Black Death was raging -at Damascus. It slew twenty-four hundred of the inhabitants -in a single day. So Batûta made his way to -Egypt through Syria and Palestine, and went on to Mecca -by way of the Red Sea and Jidda. This was the fourth -of his pilgrimages. On his return to Cairo, he found the -Black Death wasting the population. Mocking, lethal, -invisible, this awful plague was rapidly sweeping westward -and destroying whole families. Agnolo da Tura of Siena -tells us that he had to bury five of his sons in the same -grave with his own hands, and that his was no exceptional -case. Batûta left Cairo for Jerusalem and returned from -Palestine to Egypt by sea. He now felt a desire to see -his native land again. He took ship to Sardinia, and, -wishing to see the island, let the vessel he had voyaged -in go to Tunis. He was lucky, for it was taken by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">157</a></span> -Christians. He managed to reach Tunis in another -ship, and got to Fez overland on Nov. 8th, 1349; having -been on his travels nearly a quarter of a century. He -presented himself before the Sultan, and was received -as was befitting so pious a pilgrim and distinguished a -traveller.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">158</a></span></p> - - - - -<h3>CHAPTER IX<br /><br /> - -<small>MOORS OF SPAIN AND NEGROES OF TIMBUKTU</small></h3> - - -<p><span class="smcap">But</span> Batûta’s travels were by no means at an end. He -made a filial visit to the place where earth that “makes -all sweet” had closed on his father’s history. Once at -Tangier, the temptation was strong to cross the Straits -and visit the shrinking Moslem dominion in Spain. He -landed where his compatriots had landed to conquer -the Peninsula—at Gibraltar (Jabal Tarik, the Hill of -Victory). He saw a cousin by his mother’s side, who had -settled here; ran all over Moorish Andalusia, visiting -renowned cities that still remained in Mohammedan -hands; and came to lordly Grenada, where the Alhambra -must have been nearing its completion. He returned to -Fez by way of Ceuta.</p> - -<p>His energy was unabated; his thirst for travel unquenched; -he could not settle down. In February, 1352, -he is off again; this time for Central Africa. At Tafilelt, -on the borders of Sahara, he meets another brother of -the Sheik at Alexandria; and so another prophecy is -fulfilled. In mid-Sahara, he finds an oasis with a “village -on it where there is nothing good. The mosque and the -houses are built of blocks of salt and are covered with -camel hide. There is no tree, for the soil is pure sand; -but there are mines of salt.” He had dropped on those -dwellings of rock-salt of which Herodotus wrote seventeen -hundred years before him. But only the underlings -of traders abode there; and dates and camel’s flesh were -their fare. Here was the salt-supply for the wild tribes -of Sahara. They cut the blocks of it into a certain shape -and used this as money. The caravan with which Batûta -travelled suffered severely here from the vileness of the -water.</p> - -<p>When Tashala was reached, the caravan rested three<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">159</a></span> -days to make ready for a vast and solitary tract of desert -“where there is no water, nor is bird or tree to be seen, -only sand and hills of sand, blown about by the wind -in such wise that not the smallest vestige of a track remains. -Wherefore, no one can travel without guides from among -the traders; but of these there are many. The sunlight -there is blinding.... Evil spirits have their will of that -man who shall travel by himself. They enchant him, -so that he wanders wide of his path, and there he comes -to his end.”</p> - -<p>A long journey across this great waste of sand brought -the caravan to another oasis, where pits had been dug -to fill with water, and where negroes took care of a store -of goods out in the open. These negroes did not show -the deep respect due to the superior white race; but -Batûta had a fancy to learn all about them, so he stayed -on, and put up with their want of manners for two whole -months. Traces, at least, of polyandry were to be found -here; for a sister’s son succeeded to property, and everybody -took the name of a maternal uncle. The women -were good looking, but, alas! they were far from shy; -they did not even wear a veil, notwithstanding their -accompanying the men to the mosque. Traders might -take them for their wives; but must leave them behind -on their departure. Our zealous Moslem, experienced -in matrimony as he was and so excellent a judge of concubines—all -of them sacred property and his very own—was -greatly shocked at yet another instance of the freedom -in manners of women and absence of jealousy in the -husbands among certain Mohammedan peoples. A man -might have a woman visit him, even with her husband -there, and in the presence of his own wife; and a man -might go home to find one of his male friends sitting -alone with the wife of his bosom. But what would perturb -an ordinary man causes no flutter in this degenerate -breast. “He quietly takes a seat apart from them until -the visitor goes away.” Batûta’s sense of delicacy was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">160</a></span> -much offended when, calling on a former host of his, -who was a judge moreover, he found that a handsome -young woman had also made a call and was still there. -He upbraided his friend roundly, and the only reply -he got was that it was the custom of the country. This -was too much: he broke with the judge.</p> - -<p>A long, difficult, but quite safe journey brought him -and three companions to Malli. Here he was seriously -ill, and the sickness lasted many weeks; “but Allah -brought me back to health.” A few white people dwelt -at Malli, of whom the judge was his host. “‘Arise,’” said -the judge to him one day when the Sultan had given a -feast, “‘the Sultan hath sent thee a gift.’ I fully looked -for a rich dress, some horses and other valuable gifts; -and lo! there were but three crusts of bread, a piece of -dried fish, and a dish of sour milk. I smiled at people -so simple and the value they gave to such rubbish.” -Experience of spendthrift Oriental Courts and the lavish -munificence of princes in other parts of the Mohammedan -world had spoiled him for the simplicity of Central Africa. -He often saw the Sultan after this incident; but sorely -as his self-love was wounded by such a contrast to the -honour always paid to him hitherto, he held himself in -until his fury reached fever-heat and it became impossible -to keep a bridle on his tongue any longer. Then he rose -to his feet: “I have travelled the world over,” said he; -“I have visited the rulers thereof; I have stayed four -months in thy dominions; but no gift, no suitable food -has come to me from thee. What shall I say about thee -when men shall question me concerning thee?” A -horse and good provisions, and a supply of gold now came -from this “greedy and worthless man”; before whom the -negroes presented themselves in the worst of their beggarly -garments, probably as a sign of their humility; for they -“crawled to his presence, beating the ground with their -elbows and throwing dust on their heads.” However -the “greedy and worthless” Sultan is allowed at least<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">161</a></span> -one small virtue: he kept the land in order; the traveller -there had no fear of robbers, and if any one chanced -to die, his property was handed over to his lawful successors. -And the people had a great virtue also; they were constant -in their attendance at the mosque; and if a son did not -learn the whole of the Koran by heart, his father kept him -shut up until he had done so. Yet, in spite of such praiseworthy -piety, they let their little daughters and slaves -whether male or female, go about quite naked. Batûta -remarks that here cowries were used as coin. Travellers -in the Niger District during the third decade of the last -century found that many of the habits and customs -described by Batûta still obtained there.</p> - -<p>From Malli, our traveller journeyed on to the banks -of the Niger, and saw, with surprise, its great herds of -hippopotami. He visited Timbuktu, and believed he -was journeying along the banks of the Nile; a pardonable -mistake; for the Niger takes a general direction towards -the North-East in this part of its course. He now returned -to Fez by a different and more easterly route (<span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span> 1355).</p> - -<p>He had traversed the entire Mohammedan world, and -beyond it to wherever a Mohammedan was to be found. -He had visited several far-separated places several times, -and had obeyed the obligation to visit Mecca oftener -than the most zealous Moslem was wont to do. The Sultan -commanded that an account of his travels should be -recorded. The Sultan’s Secretary edited the work, and -thought to embellish a plain tale by overloading it with -literary pinchbeck and by dragging in irrevelant quotations -from the poets. The last words of the work are: “Here -ends what I have put into form of the words of Sheik -Ibn Abdulla Mohammed, whom may Allah honour! -There is no reader of intelligence but must grant that -this Sheik is the greatest traveller of our days; and should -any one dub him the greatest traveller of all Islam, it -were no lie.”<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">14</a></p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">162</a></span></p> -<p>Ibn Batûta was 51 at the end of his recorded journeyings. -In spite of the racket of thirty years, spent in unceasing -travel, of shipwreck and battle, of privation and fevers -and much suffering of many kinds, all of which he brushes -lightly aside as matter of small moment, his natural vigour -remained such that he lived three years beyond the allotted -span. The “fitful fever” of his life ceased in the year -1377.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">163</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>IV.—LUDOVICO VARTHEMA OF -BOLOGNA,</h2> - -<p class="center"><small>RENEGADE PILGRIM TO MECCA. FOREMOST OF ITALIAN -TRAVELLERS.</small></p> - - -<hr /> - -<h3>CHAPTER I. THE GREAT AGE OF THE -RENAISSANCE AND OF DISCOVERY.</h3> - - -<p><span class="smcap">By</span> the close of the Fifteenth Century, the relative stability -of society and of its convictions during the Middle Ages -was undone. The Italian, at least, had cast off the -restraints of that rigid and traditional world, and was -in reaction against it. For, social bonds were loosened, -and the corporate life of guild and city was in decay. -With the revival of letters, society became imbued once -again with the Greek and Roman conception of man -as a progressive creature, and was awakened to the richness -of thought and feeling to be enjoyed in vigorous passionate -life. Self-sufficiency, self-assertion, and force of will -were admired above all other qualities, and it was the -ambition of most men to achieve them. Each man strove -to fulfil his own nature in his own way. Religion rapidly -degenerated into an indispensable observance of formalities, -a traditional habit, a customary cloak. The rigorous -men of the Renaissance sought to live fully, freely, and -with diversity; they thirsted for new and refreshing -springs; they quaffed delightful and refreshing draughts; -they boldly winged their way to unfamiliar spheres, or -gratified sense and passion to the full. The age was -aglow with all manner of ideality. On the whole its -passions were unrestrained, save by prudence; unchecked -by any moral curb, which it had counted foolishness. The -religious rapture of Savonarola was an ephemeral phenomenon, -and almost unique. Even in the gentle grace -of Perugino’s Madonnas and the sweet innocence with -which he invests the Child, we may mark the substitution<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">164</a></span> -of religious affectation for religious sincerity. The age -loved pomp and magnificence; and these appear in the -frescoes of Pinturicchio. It was a field for the development -of a deep-seated, incalculable, yet persuasive force of -Will: the spirit is portrayed in the subtle eye and inscrutable -smile of Monna Lisa.</p> - -<p>It was when the Renaissance was in full flood, but -before Ariosto, “with his tongue in his cheek,” had achieved -his cantoes of romantic chivalry; before Raphael plied -his brush with too perfect and serene a finish; before -Michael Angelo cast aside charm and beauty for the -expression of strength and power, that the energy of the -age found a new field for activity. The Turk swept -the Ægean Sea and ruled the Western Roman Empire. -But the great drama of History unfolds tragic irony -surpassing the invention of poets. When the vast spaces -of the great Church of Justinian rang with the shout -of the victors, the knell of Moslem predominance sounded -unheard. The Turk had captured the gateways of the -East only to force the European, in adventures beyond -the seas, to the domination of the world. Pioneers set -out from Portugal and Spain, and tried to cut out the -Moslem middleman; they steered to find a sea-way to -the fabulous wealth of India. They coasted along amazing -lands, peopled by strange races, and entered novel and -unsuspected seas. Columbus found a new world beyond -“wandering fields of barren foam”; Vasco di Gama -was forcing his way round Africa. Many a narrow, -ancient illusion was dispelled; and the minds of men were -excited to a rapture of expectation. The hearts of pious -Portuguese and Spaniards beat high at the hope of combining -the salvation of heathen souls with the profitable -enslavement of heathen bodies. All men were allured -by the prospect of acquiring new markets, priceless gems, -and the gold dust of El Dorado. The modern world -of aggressive commerce was engendered in the very -bosom of the High Renaissance.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">165</a></span></p> - - - - -<h3>CHAPTER II.—FROM VENICE TO DAMASCUS.</h3> - - -<p><span class="smcap">No</span> commercial arithmetic called a certain Ludovico -di Varthema to adventure. Like Dante’s Ulysses, -“nothing could quench his inward burning to have full -witness of the world.” “Ungifted,” so he tells us, “with -that far-casting wit for which the earth in not enough, -and which ranges through the loftiest regions of the firmament -with careful watch and survey; but possessed of -slender parts merely,” he fixed his mind on beholding -with his own eyes some unknown part of the world and -on marking “where places are, what is curious in their -peoples, their different animals, and what fruit-bearing -and scented trees grow there ... keeping before me -that the thing which a single eye-witness may set forth -shall outweigh what ten may declare on hearsay.” It -is as if a cavalier of Boiardo or Ariosto had forsaken fairy -land and sought novel adventure in the kingdom of knowledge. -Varthema set out to see and know; and, although -obviously a man of no great fortune, he would seem to have -neglected remarkable opportunities of trading and growing -rich.</p> - -<p>That he was a Bolognese, we learn from the title-page -of his volume—the <i>Itinerario</i>. As a citizen of Bologna, -the Pope was his overlord; and we find him calling himself, -by a pardonable license, a Roman. Whether eager -curiosity was the only motive which impelled him to -travel, we know not. He lets drop in the middle of his -volume that he left a wife and children at home. Marriage -in Italy was a matter of family arrangement, with a view -to the increase of family wealth and power; and children -could readily be left under the care of kinsmen. “The -Italians make little difference between children and -nephews or near kinsfolk,” wrote Bacon, “but, so they be -of the lump, they care not, though they pass not through<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">166</a></span> -their own body.” And the family council has parental -force in Italy, even to-day. The unsettled condition -of every Italian State in the days of that “Most holy -Lord the Pope Alexander Borgia,” his crafty, treacherous -son, and hardly less crafty and treacherous native statesmen -and foreign invaders, often made swift change of -residence highly desirable. Of that affectation of the men -of the Renaissance—excessive and trumpeted desire of -fame, which was a mere imitation of the classics,—there -is not a trace in Varthema: he cared as little for bubbles -as for baubles. Whatever other motives may have -incited him, lust of travel was his predominant passion. -What his occupation had been is unknown. On an -occasion when it was helpful to him to pose as a physician -he did so; and his close observation of the structure -and habits of animals and the qualities of plants, suggests -the kind of educative discipline which a physician would -receive. But since he confesses to having ordered a -cold astringent preparation when a warm laxative was -required, his knowledge of physic was limited or readily -forgotten. Again, since, on one occasion, he takes military -service as a Mameluke; professes himself, on another -occasion, to be an adept in the manufacture of mortars; -and we find him fighting with the intrepidity and skill -of a proved warrior against Arabs in India, he may very -well have been a soldier before setting out on his travels. -In that age of confusion, when the successes of the French -in Lombardy broke the balance of power among the -Italian States, there was ample opportunity of martial -employment. There is not a trace of the accomplished -haunter of courts, no love of literature or of art apparent -in the <i>Itinerario</i>. Varthema’s birth, upbringing, and -“the fate of his bones” are secrets which lie securely -hidden in the ruins of time. But his narrative endures—an -imperishable monument. It reveals him as a true -man of his period. His skill in dissembling, and his -insensitiveness at the call of expediency to any obligation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">167</a></span> -of truth or gratitude, contrast with his scrupulous pursuit -of truth for its own sake and the accuracy of his observation. -His record of travel is one which displays the -coolness of his courage no less than its intrepid dash; -it reveals a man constant of purpose, and endowed -with ingenuity, resourcefulness, self-restraint, prudence, -sagacity, and a sense of humour. Here indeed is a rare -man!</p> - -<p>In the year 1502 there was peace in the Levant. Lucrative -trade between Venice and Egypt went on, unmolested -by Turkish fleets. At the close of that year, Varthema -took sail for Alexandria; the wind was favourable, and he -reached the great port on one of the early days of 1503. -Alexandria was the chief mart for the interchange of the -wares of East and West, and therefore well known to -Europeans; “Wherefore,” says Varthema, “yearning -after new things as a thirsty man doth for fresh water, -I entered the Nile and arrived at Cairo.” “Babylon,” -as Europeans called Cairo, was reputed to be one of the -most marvellous of cities; but our traveller was disappointed -to find it far smaller than he had thought. -He declines to discuss the government established there, -or the arrogance of its Mameluke rulers; “for my fellow-countrymen -well wot of such matters.” Close upon two -centuries had passed since a Circassian slave clothed -the Imam with a royal robe, usurped his mundane powers, -reduced him to a nonentity, founded a dynasty, and ruled -by military force from the Taurus and Euphrates to the -Nile. This dynasty delegated authority to Emirs and -Sheiks. It ruled by means of a soldiery, like itself, of -slave origin, cruel, insolent and unbending. Children -of Christian descent, brought mainly from the region -which lies to the south of Caucasus, were instructed in -the faith of the Moslem and trained to physical endurance, -boldness, skill in warfare, and contempt of all men save -their masters and themselves. These Mamelukes, as -they were called, received liberal payment; they were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">168</a></span> -allowed to keep a harem and to rear a family. The land -lay crushed and impotent beneath this military caste. -Military slaves, they exhibited the vices of slaves in office. -As in the time of Ibn Batûta, the Sultan of Cairo ruled; -but now ruled over delegates who were frequently rebellious -to his authority; yet he and they and all, even to the -terrible ottoman Turk at Constantinople, who now held -Eastern Europe in bondage from the Danube to Cape -Matapan, acknowledged the headship of the Imam at -Cairo as legitimate Caliph of the great Abbaside line.</p> - -<p>Leaving Cairo, Varthema took ship for Beyrout. Here, -he saw nothing noteworthy, save the ruins of an ancient -palace, “which, <i>so they say</i>,” was once the residence of -the princess whom St. George rescued from the dragon. -We find a novel scepticism in this man of the new age. -“So they say,” is a phrase of frequent recurrence in the -<i>Itinerario</i>. The sceptic’s ears are as open as his brain -is active; he repeats all the information given to him, -however extravagant and however healthy his doubt; -but he is careful to let the reader know that it is mere -hearsay; he gives a hint of his own disbelief, and leaves the -matter open to sane judgment: the piping times of a -merchant in marvels have passed away. When Varthema -has his own ends to serve, we shall find him telling a lie -with as little scruple as any diplomatist of his generation; -but he records faithfully and exactly what he went out -to see and the incidents which befell him. We have the -testimony of the precise Burton that “all things well -considered, Ludovico<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">15</a> Bartema, for correctness of observation -and readiness of wit, stands in the foremost rank -of oriental travellers”; and that great authority writes -thus although he only quotes from Richard Eden’s imperfect -and interpolated translation of a Latin deformation of -the <i>Itinerario</i>; and probably knew of no other copy.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">169</a></span></p> -<p>Occasionally Varthema falls into a not uncommon blunder: -he exaggerates numbers; but he is always hard-headed, -incredulous of tradition, and not at all given to romancing.</p> - -<p>A short voyage of two days brought our Italian from -Beyrout to Tripoli, whence he took the caravan-route -to Hamath, a large city on the Orontes, once an outpost -of Judah, retaken by Israel in the wars between the two -kingdoms. At Menin, a land of luscious fruits and the -serviceable cotton-plant, he found a population of -Christian-subjects of the Emir of Damascus and two -beautiful churches, “said to have been built by Helena, -mother of Constantine.” He went on to Aleppo, and -thence eight days of easy travel brought him to a city -so ancient that its foundation is lost in unfathomed time. -He writes of Damascus that “to set it forth is beyond -my power.” Here he remained some months, in order -to learn Arabic—a task quite indispensable for farther -travel in Mohammedan lands. He tells us of the fortress, -built by a Florentine renegade, a man skilled in physic, -who cured a Sultan suffering from the effects of poison, -and is venerated as a holy man. This transformation -of the physician into the saint may have suggested some -serviceable play-acting in India, of which we shall become -spectators later on.</p> - -<p>The military Empire of Cairo was in decay, and had -become very corrupt. A vivid picture is set before us -of delegated despotism and its concomitants; greed, -graft, outrage and squeeze. Whenever a new Sultan -succeeded to power, very large sums would be offered him -for the rule of such a wealthy city as Damascus. Of -course the gold would have to be wrung out of the resident -merchants. If a good instalment of the promised “present” -were not speedily forthcoming, the Sultan would -find means to remove the dilatory Emir at the sword’s -point, “or in some other way; but, let him make the present -aforesaid, and he shall retain his rule.” “The traders -of the city are not dealt with justly. The rulers vie with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">170</a></span> -each other in oppressing them, by robbery or by dealing -death.... The Moors are subject to the Mamelukes -after the fashion of the lamb to the wolf.... The Sultan -will send two missives to the governor of the citadel, -one of which will command him to call together there such -lords or traders as he may choose. And when they are -gathered together in the citadel, the second letter is read -to them, whereof that which is its purpose, is gotten without -delay. Thus doth the lord aforesaid set about getting -money.” We are told of the curious way in which strict -guard is enforced at the citadel: throughout the night -at intervals each sentinel signals to his next neighbour -by beating a drum; he who fails to pass on a responsive -rat-tat has to spend a twelvemonth in prison.</p> - -<p>Varthema found the houses dirty outside—(they are -still built of a sort of cob), but the interiors splendid, -with fountains and mosaics and carvings and columns -of marble and porphyry. He visited the Great Mosque -“where, so it is said,” the head of St. Zechariah is kept; -and was shown the exact spot where, “so it is given out,” -Saul, breathing out threatenings and slaughter, saw a -great light and heard the voice of Jesus; also the house -“where (so they say) Cain slew Abel, his brother.”</p> - -<p>“But let us now return to the liberty which the Mamelukes -aforesaid enjoy in Damascus.... They go about -in twos and threes, since it is counted for dishonour to go -alone. And, should they chance to meet two or three -ladies, license is granted to them, or they take it. They -lie in wait for these ladies in certain great hostelries, which -are called Khans; and, as ladies pass by the doorway -each Mameluke will lay hold of the hand of one of them, -draw her inside, and abuse her. The lady resists having -her face seen; for women go about with face covered in -such wise that while they know us, we do not know who -they are.... And sometimes it chances that the Mamelukes, -thinking to take some lord’s daughter, take their -own wives; a thing which happened whilst I was there....<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">171</a></span> -When Moor meeteth Mameluke, he must make obeisance -and give place, or he is bastinadoed, even should he be the -chief merchant of the city.”</p> - -<p>We are told that rich Christian traders in every kind -of merchandise dwelt in Damascus, but were “ill-treated.” -Long-eared goats were brought up three flights of stairs -to be milked for your meal. A detailed description is -given of the productions of the city and the dress and -customs of its people.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">172</a></span></p> - - - - -<h3>CHAPTER III<br /><br /> - -<small>OVER THE DESERT TO MECCA</small></h3> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Now</span>, the yearly caravan from Damascus to the Holy -Cities of Arabia was in preparation—a journey which -the pious Moslem makes by rail to-day. For, as has been -truly remarked, “the unchanging East” is a venerable -catchword: the Orient moves on, but slowly. No -“unbelieving dog” might plant his foot on Arabian soil; -no European Christian had ever seen its sacred fanes. -Here was a golden opportunity for one “longing for -novelty.” Varthema had learned to speak Arabic. That -insinuating smile, persuasive accent, and ingratiating -address, so characteristically Italian, were surely his, -for we find that he never fails to secure the firm friendship -of utter strangers whenever he may require it—nay, he -exerts some exceptional fascination on all men, some -dæmonic force, as Goethe calls it. He says: “I formed -a great friendship with the Captain of the Mamelukes” -who were to accompany and protect the caravan. Doubtless, -Varthema’s look and bearing were martial; and, -as has been said, he may have acquired experience in the -Italian wars. To his credentials he added the persuasive -argument of a bribe. His new friend accepted him as -one of the escort. True, he must profess conversion -to the Mohammedan Faith. This was no great strain -on the conscience in days when Borgia and Julius della -Rovere and the Medici sat in the chair of St. Peter, and -when most Christians contented themselves with a half-sceptical -observance of habitual forms. Like Henry of -Navarre, Varthema thought an apple off another tree -than his own a matter of small moment in the fulfilment -of his purpose. He repeated the necessary formula and -became a Moslem. He had to take a new name. Might -it be because he was committed to an unparalleled adventure -that he took the name of the son of Amittei? He -called himself Jonah.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">173</a></span></p> - -<p>This bold step was worthy of the Italian Renaissance, -when a man had thought it shame not to fashion his -own life to his own ends; when he might brush weak -scruples aside, and overcome obstacles as the oar turns -the wave, converting hindrance into help. Behold our -unflinching traveller mounted on a spirited steed, armed -to the teeth; ready to encounter all chances of battle, -desert-thirst, and unknown peril—one fulfilling old -Malory’s test: “he that is gentle will draw him unto gentle -tatches.”</p> - -<p>The caravan, of pilgrims and merchants, women, children -and slaves (about 40,000 souls) and 30,000 camels, was -guarded by only 60 Mamelukes, 20 being in the van, -20 midmost, and 20 bringing up the rear. Damascus was -left on April 8th 1503, and on the third day El Mezarib -was reached, a place on the high land east of the Jordan -and about 30 or 40 miles from it. Here the caravan -rested 3 days to give the merchants time to buy Arabian -steeds. Doughty, that intrepid English traveller and -writer of unique English, tells us that, not many years -ago, El Mezarib remained the appointed place for gathering -up the pilgrim multitude. In Varthema’s time the -sheik of the district was both powerful and predatory. -He is said to have owned 300,000 camels (50 times the -number accorded to Job in the day of recompense), -40,000 horses and 10,000 mares. The number may be -exaggerated; but the sheik was able to pounce down on -the granaries of Egypt, Syria or Palestine when he was -least expected—even believed to be a hundred miles away. -“Truly, these folk do not run, but fly, swift as falcons; -and they keep close together like a flock of starlings,” -Varthema tells us. Their fleet spirited Arabian mares -would run a whole day and night without stopping, and -be fresh again after a draught of camels’ milk. He describes -the marauding Arab very correctly as of dark complexion, -small make, effeminate voice, and with long, stiff, black -hair.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">174</a></span></p> - -<p>From El Mezarib, the caravan pursued its ancient -course through Syrian and Arabian deserts; but more -to the east than in later days. The scheme of travel -was to march for about 20 hours; then to halt at a given -signal and unload the camels; after resting for a day -and night, a signal was again given, and, in a trice all -was made ready, and cavalcade and “ships of the desert” -were off again over rocky wastes and pathless seas of sand. -Then as now, camels were fed on balls of barley-meal -and watered every three days. Every eighth day, if no -well was found, the ground was dug deeply for water, -and the caravan halted a day or two. But it was invariably -attacked by Bedouins when this happened. It was their -amiable custom to lie in wait for the caravan and carry -off women, children or any other unconsidered trifle -which might fall within their grasp. Unhappy Joseph -Pitts of Exeter (who was captured by Algerine pirates, -professed Mohammedanism to escape cruelty, and accompanied -his third master on a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1680) -describes how, between Mecca and Medina, “the skulking -thievish Arabs do much mischief to some of the Hagges -(pilgrims to Meccah). For in the night-time they steal -upon them ... loose a camel before and behind, and -one of the thieves leads away the camel with the Hagge -upon his back asleep.” And, thirty years ago, Charles -Montagu Doughty told us how the Bedouin youth would -emulate Spartan boyhood and strain every power to rob -a Hadji, for the glory of the feat.</p> - -<p>There are many ruins to be found in Edom and Arabia -Petrea. Like most men of sceptical turn, Varthema -tempered a spirit of free enquiry with a little credulity. -He saw distant rocks of red sandstone, fantastically -shaped; they were “like blood on red wax mingled with -soil.” He was told that these were the ruins of the cities -of the plain, and writes, probably from conviction, certainly -with commendable prudence, seeing that he had -posed as an apostate: “Verily, Holy Writ doth not lie,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">175</a></span> -for one beholds how the cities perished by miracle of God. -Of a truth, I believe from the witness of my own eyes -that these men were evil; for all around the land is wholly -dry and barren. The earth may bear no single thing, -and of water there is none ... and, by a miracle the -whole ruin is there to be seen even yet. That valley was -full twenty miles long; and thirty-three of our company -died there from thirst, and divers others, not being quite -dead, were buried in the sand, their faces being left -uncovered.”</p> - -<p>One day, when traversing what the Bible calls “the -wilderness of Edom,” “we came to a little mountain, -and near to it was a cistern; whereat we were well pleased -and encamped on the said hill. The next day, early in -the morning, 24,000 Arabs rode up to us and demanded -payment for their water”—a time-honoured exaction -of the Bedouin Arab, which in our own days is said to -have supported one third of Arabia.—“We refused, saying -that the water was the gift of God. Thereupon they -opened battle with us, saying that we had robbed them -of their water. We set the camels as a protecting rampart -all round us and put the merchants in the midst thereof -and we stood siege during two nights and two days; -and a constant skirmish went on. By that time both -we and our foes had come to an end of our water. The -mountain was wholly encompassed by Arabs, and they -averred that they would break through our defence. Our -leader, finding himself unable to hold on, took counsel -with the Moslem traders; and we gave the Arabs 1,200 -ducats of gold. But, when they had gotten the money, -they said that not even 10,000 ducats of gold should be -satisfaction for their water; whereby we perceived what -they sought more than money. So our sagacious leader -agreed with the caravan that all men capable of battle -should not mount on their camels, but look to their arms. -In the morning we put the whole caravan forward, and -we Mamelukes stayed behind. We made a strength<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">176</a></span> -of 300 fighting men; and we had not to wait long for the -fray. We lost but one man and one woman, and we killed -600 of them.”</p> - -<p>This statement evokes from a French author the ironic -wit of his race: he thinks that the two who were slain -may be pitied for their remarkably bad luck. Burton, -who more than once accuses Varthema of exaggerating -numbers, thinks that his statement here may confirm -Strabo’s account of Ælius Gallus having lost two soldiers -only in a battle with 10,000 Arabs. We must not forget -that the Arab’s body was bare and wholly unprotected; -he rode his steed bare-back, carried no fire-arms, and his -only weapons were lance and bow. He attacked in dense -formation. No wonder therefore that Arabs fell in masses -as they came on, and that the carnage was still more -terrible when they fled, helter-skelter “Come le rane -innanzi alla nimica Biscia” as “frogs before their enemy -the snake.”<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">16</a> And the Mamelukes, few as they were, -rode saddled steeds, were disciplined, protected by armour, -possessed of fire-arms, and almost unerring of aim. Once -Varthema saw one of the Mamelukes perform a feat which -recalls the legend of William Tell: At a second attempt, -he shot off from the bow a pomegranate poised on the head -of a slave at a distance of about twelve or fifteen paces. -And they were as expert horsemen as the Arabs. A -Mameluke removed his saddle, put it on his head and replaced -it while at full gallop.</p> - -<p>Thirty days were spent in absolute desert, and the -caravan was always attacked when it encamped by a -water supply; but the only loss which the foe caused -during about six weeks of journeying was in the big battle -in which the man and woman were killed. A little later -on and up to our own time, the water-cisterns were defended -by fortifications. Leaving arid and rocky hills,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="line i05">“Boundless and bare</div> -<div class="line">The lone and level sands stretched far away.”</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">177</a></span></p> -<p>“Through these,” says Varthema, “we travelled -five days and five nights. Now you should understand -all about it. It is a great level stretch of white sand, -fine as flour, and if by mischance the wind blow from -the south, all may be reckoned as dead; even with the -wind in our favour we could not see each other ten paces -off. Wherefore there are wooden boxes set on the camels, -and in these the travellers sleep and eat. The guides -go on in front with compasses, even as if they were at -sea. Many died here from thirst; and very many, having -dug for water and found it, drank it until they burst; -and here are mummies made.”</p> - -<p>It is interesting to know that, up to 1908, when the -railway for the conveyance of pilgrims from Damascus -to Mecca was completed, those of the richer sort still used -the wooden protection which our author describes. -Possibly the mummies of which he speaks were merely -corpses dried in the sun; but the preservation of the dead -body by embalming was a very ancient practice in these -parts. Doughty found no actual mummies in the Nabatean -temples; but he collected and brought back, from -the funeral chambers at El Khreby, resinous matters -of the same character as those found in Egyptian sarcophagi. -Presently, Varthema shall see powders for the -mummification of the dead sold outside the Mosque at -Mecca. Dried human flesh was an important part -of the stock in trade of an Arabian physician whom Burton -came across. But faith in the efficacy of pulverised -mummy has been by no means confined to Arabia. In -the Seventeenth Century, Sir Thomas Browne, tells us -in his “Urn Burial” that: “Mummy is become merchandise, -Miriam cures wounds and Pharaoh is sold for -Balsams”; and even within the last few years Harry de -Wint found the repulsive drug on sale as a cure for cancer -at Serajevo in Bosnia.</p> - -<p>It so happened that the usual discomposing sounds, -made by the movements of unstable sand-hills, broke<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">178</a></span> -the silence of the desert just where the Prophet had once -stopped to pray. The superstitious Moslems must have been -wholly dismayed and demoralized, for even the iron nerve -of Varthema was strained; he tells us that he “passed -on with great danger, and never thought to escape.” -At last, a thorn bush or two broke the monotony of this -“sea of sand,” and the travellers knew that Medina was -now only three days off. Even more pleasing than the -sight of vegetation to those pilgrims, who had “seen neither -beast, bird, reptile, no, nor insect, for fifteen days,” was -the pair of turtledoves that lodged in the branches of the -thorn bush. And, most delightful of all was the well -of water which gave being to this miniature oasis. The -water-skins were refilled; and, so copious was the supply -that sixteen thousand camels were re-laden with the -precious burden. Hard by, on a mountain, dwelt a -curious colony, who depended on the well for their water. -Varthema could see them in the far distance, “leaping -about the rocks like wild goats.” And one does not wonder -at their excitement; for the cistern would not fill up -again until the rains should come. Varthema learned -that these people were Jews, who burned with hatred -of all Mohammedans, probably not without very just -cause. “If they catch a Moor, they flay him alive.” -They had the shrill voice of a woman, were swarthy, and -went about naked. Probably their “nakedness” really -amounted to their wearing a simple loose robe or a loin-cloth -only. That they lived on goats’ flesh is not remarkable; -for it is the staple food of the Bedouin Arab. -Probably they were of small stature; but Varthema dwarfs -then into comicality: he gives them but five or six spans -of height. But he only saw them from afar. That they -were Jews is no fable. In spite of the general expulsion -of Jews from Arabia with the first successes of Islam, the -existence of a remnant of the Chosen People in this district -has been well authenticated by Arabian writers; they were -to be found there nearly three centuries after Varthema<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">179</a></span> -saw them, and towards the close of the past century -Doughty heard tradition of them. By some accident -Varthema, or more likely, his printer, places them between -Medina and Mecca; but he came across them before he -reached Medina. It is hard to account for their presence -in this isolated and desolate district; and many are the -explanations which have been offered, and varied are the -legends which have grown up. Badger thought “that -their immigration occurred after the devastation of Judea -by the armies of Nebuchadnezzar, and that the colony -was enlarged by successive bands of refugees down to -the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus and the persecutions -to which they were subjected under the Emperor Hadrian.” -Here is one of the many problems of History which are -“beyond conjecture and hopeful expectation.”</p> - -<p>Two days after this event, the pilgrims came up to -another cistern of water; they were now only four miles -from Medina. Everyone thoroughly cleansed himself -thereat from all the grime and sweat of the hot, dusty -desert, and put on fresh linen, in order that he might -present himself purified before the sepulchre of the Prophet -on the morrow. All around, the land “lay barren and -under the curse of God”; but, two stones’ cast from the -city there was a grove of date-trees and a refreshing -conduit.</p> - -<p>Our traveller found Medina to be but a poor place -of about 300 hearths. Food was brought thither from -Arabia Felix, Cairo and Ethiopia; first, to a port on the -Red Sea, and thence overland by caravan—a journey -which occupied four days. He found the inhabitants -“scum”; a character which all travellers of all ages -agree in giving them, and which they shared with the -people of Rome and of all places whither pilgrims and the -folk of many nations were wont to congregate. The -Sunnites and Shiites there, the two great sects which -divide the Moslem world “kill each other like beasts -anent their heresies.” And Varthema, the pretended<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">180</a></span> -proselyte, suddenly remembers that he is writing for a -Christian world, and is careful to assure it of his own -conviction that “these (beliefs) are false—all of them.”</p> - -<p>“One wished to see everything,” he says, so the pilgrims -passed three days at Medina, “Some guide took each -pilgrim by the hand and led him to the place where -Mohammed was buried.” Varthema gives a description -of the Mosque, than which, says Burton, nothing could -be more correct. “It is surmounted,” writes the English -traveller, “by a large gilt crescent, springing from a series -of globes. The glowing imagination of the Moslems -crown this gem of the building with a pillar of heavenly -light, which directs, from three days’ distance, the pilgrim’s -steps towards El Medinah.” Varthema avers that the -marvellous light had a real matter of fact basis, being -due to a cunning deception. Whether due to trickery, -or to the suggestive efficacy of faith and expectant attention, -the miracle once had a rival in the more ancient -supernatural outburst, every Eastertide, of the holy -fire at the altar of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. -Neither Varthema nor his friend the Captain of the Mamelukes -was a man easy to dupe, or given to the conjuring -up of visions. “At the third hour of the night,” we read, -“ten or twelve greybeards came to our camp, which was -pitched two stones’ throw from the gate, crying, some -here, some there, ‘There is no God but God! Mohammed -is the Prophet of God! O Prophet! Do obeisance -to God! Do obeisance to the Prophet! We implore -forgiveness of sin.’ Our captain and we ran out at this -clamour; for we thought the Arabs were on us to rob the -caravan. We demanded why they were crying out; -for they made the same sort of din which may be heard -among us Christians when a saint works a miracle.” -(Varthema cannot conceal his sceptical temper!) “These -elders answered: ‘Do ye not see the splendour coming forth -from the tomb of the Prophet?’ Our Captain replied -that, for his part, he could see nothing, and asked us if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">181</a></span> -anyone had seen anything; but we all said, ‘No.’ Then -one of the old men demanded: ‘Are you slaves?’ Which -is to say, Mamelukes. Our Captain replied, ‘Yes, we -are slaves.’ To which the old man responded: ‘O, sirs, -it is not given to you to see these heavenly things; for -you are not yet well grounded in the faith.’” Now, in the -morning of the same day, the Captain had offered the -Sherîf of the Mosque 3,000 ducats to see the body of the -Prophet, telling him that he had neither father nor mother, -brothers nor sisters, wife nor children, and had come -thither to save his soul. Whereupon the Sherîf had -fallen into a rage and demanded how he dared desire -to behold him for whom God made the heavens and the -earth. Since the body was entombed within closed-up, -solid walls, such an audacious request marks the -sceptical irreverence and haughty insolence of the Mameluke, -even before one of the most sacred temples of Islam. -The Mamaluke had declared himself ready to pluck out -his own unholy eyes for love of the Prophet, if only he -might see his body first. The Sherîf, probably in order -to silence him, then said that Mohammed had been translated -to Heaven by angels. So now, the Captain shouted -contemptuously to the reverend greybeard who had -told him that it was denied him to see the vision by reason -of imperfect faith: ‘You fool! Shall I give thee three -thousand ducats? By God, I will not. You dog, son -a dog!’.... The Captain thought that enough; -and said so; and, turning round to his comrades, exclaimed: -‘See where I wanted to throw away 3,000 -seraphim!’ And he mulcted the Mosque by forbidding -any of his men to visit it again.</p> - -<p>Varthema dispels the popular belief that Mohammed’s -coffin was suspended in mid-air by the attraction of a -magnet. “I tell you truth when I affirm that there is -no coffin of iron or steel, or any loadstone, or any loadstone -mountain within four miles.”</p> - -<p>The journey from Medina to Mecca was at this particular<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">182</a></span> -time beset with more than usual difficulty and peril. -The Hejaz was nominally a vassaldom of Cairo; really, -it was under the almost absolute rule of its own despot; -and we learn from Arabian Chroniclers that the despotism -was being fought for by rival brethren. Indeed, throughout -Eastern lands, war between sons for succession to the -throne rendered vacant by the death of a father was the -rule. And, in the long run, this bloody business usually -ended in the success of the most capable competitor; -so that, however horrible, it did not work out badly; -for what can be more fatal to a weak, subservient people -than an incompetent ruler? “There was a very great -war,” says Varthema, “one brother being against another; -four brethren contended for the lordship of Mecca; so -that we travelled for the space of ten days; and twice -on our way we fought with 50,000 Arabs.” Probably -Varthema habitually over-estimated numbers; but there -is no doubt that he had cause for alarm before he reached -the second of the two sacred goals.</p> - -<p>Our traveller descended one of the two passes cut through -the hills which girdle and defend Mecca, and found himself -in a “very famous, fair and well-peopled” city. The -caravan from Cairo had arrived eight days before. Joseph -Pitts, the Exeter sailor, also tells us how the “caravans -do even jump all into Mecca together.” “Verily,” -says Varthema, “never did I see such a multitude gathered -together in one place as during the twenty days I stayed -thereat.” He writes us at some length, though not so -minutely or correctly as Burckhardt, of the great house -of Allah and of the Ka’abah within it—a building which -conserves the form of the old heathen temple and which -was a place of pilgrimage for ages before Mohammed; -but this he did not know. He speaks of the sacred -pigeons of the precincts; of the seven circuits made by -the pilgrims; of the sacred well Zemzem, in whose brackish -waters the Moslem cleanse themselves both spiritually -and physically; for did not Hagar quench the dying<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">183</a></span> -Ishmael’s thirst therewith? of the sacrifice of sheep, -and how the flesh was cooked over a fire made of camels’ -dung; of elaborate rituals; of the gift of what was superfluous -in the feast to the many famished poor among the -pilgrims; of the ascent to Arafat, where Gabriel taught -Adam to erect an altar; and of that strange, ancient -relic of heathen times, the casting of stones at the devil. -But he says not one word of the “Black Stone” of the -Ka’abah, once the fetish of ancient Arabian worship, -and kissed to-day by the Hadji (pilgrim). We learn -that Mecca, like Medina, was fed from Arabia Felix and -Africa. It was a mart as well as a place of pilgrimage.</p> - -<p>Now for a marvel. In an enclosure of the Mosque -were two unicorns! They were presents from an Ethiopian -monarch to the Sultan of Mecca as the finest thing -that could be found in the world ... the richest treasure -ever sent. “Now, I will tell you of their make,” writes -our author; “the elder is shaped like a colt of 30 months, -and he has a horn on his forehead of about 3 arm lengths. -The other is like a colt of one year, and his horn is the -length of 3 hands. The colour is dark bay; the head -like a hart’s, but no long neck; a thin short mane hangs -over one side; the legs are slender and lean, like a goat’s; -the foot, a little cloven, long, and much like a goat’s, -with some hair at the back of the legs. Truly, this monster -must be a very fierce and rare animal.”</p> - -<p>Whatever our interpretation, this is no “traveller’s -tale” of Varthema’s making. His painstaking veracity, -except in the “practical politics” of life, has been confirmed -a hundred times over. Later on in his book, we -come across a description of the structure and habits -of the elephant which is a triumph of sharp prose-vision -and detailed matter of fact. One cannot doubt that he -saw a beast at Mecca which resembled, not remotely, -the Unicorn supporter of our Royal Coat of Arms. It is -remarkable that Pliny describes a similar animal, and that -Ctesias, Aristotle and Strabo speak of the Unicorn. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">184</a></span> -name occurs nine times in the Bible; but it is commonly -supposed to refer to the Rhinoceros. Varthema’s strange -beast was a very different animal, apparently resembling -the horse-like creature with a solitary central horn which -Niebuhr found repeatedly sculptured on the ruins of -Persepolis. Similar beasts have been reported from -Abyssinia and Cape Colony; and at one time the unicorn -was believed in India to inhabit that refuge of the rare, -inaccessible Thibet. Yet a generation that is still with us -regarded the gorillas and pygmy men of Hanno as Carthaginian -fables, until Du Chaillu brought back carcasses -of the one and Stanley gave authentic word of the other. -But scientists leave us no hope that some happy traveller -shall come across a unicorn dead or alive. For the stumpy -protuberance of the rhinoceros is an epidermal tissue, -and the true bony horns of the deer tribe are developments -which grow from, or correspond to, two frontal bones; -and it would be impossible for a bony outgrowth to proceed -from the mesian line. Varthema’s statement must be -deemed by all who know anything of comparative anatomy -to be incorrect. The great Owen thought that one of -the two horns of the animal must have been broken off -or remained undeveloped. Mr. Dollman, of South Kensington -Museum, whose opinion the author sought through -the kind agency of Mr. S. le Marchant Moore, thinks the -creature was an onyx, with one of its horns suppressed -and both gentlemen suggest “that Varthema saw the -creature in profile, and having ascertained as well as he -could under the circumstances, the existence of one horn, -did not trouble himself much further about it: possibly -the horn might have become more or less incurved.” -We must leave the question there, until someone shall -give us ocular evidence that Varthema made not the -slightest blunder: truly <i>his</i> “horn shall be exalted!”</p> - -<p>Varthema had now been signally successful in gratifying -the passion to penetrate unknown and mysterious regions -which Spanish and Portuguese discovery had aroused<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">185</a></span> -in him. So far as is known, he was the first European -Christian to reach the holy cities of Arabia; and since -his day no traveller ventured on the long and perilous -route which he took. At least six Europeans managed -to visit Mecca in the last century; but they all took the -short route from the Red Sea.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">186</a></span></p> - - - - -<h3>CHAPTER IV.<br /><br /> - -<small>THE ESCAPE FROM THE CARAVAN</small></h3> - - -<p><span class="smcap">And</span> now, in the spirit of Alexander sighing for new worlds -to conquer, he looked forward with dismay to the return-journey -of the caravan. A perilous surprise awaited him -which, with wonted adroitness, he turned to his purpose. -“Having charge from my Captain to buy certain things, -a Moor looked me in the face, knew me and asked me -‘Where are you from?’ I answered: ‘I am a Moslem.’ -His reply was: ‘You lie.’ ‘By the head of the Prophet,’ -I said, ‘I am a Moslem’; whereto he answered: ‘Come -to my house’; and I followed him thither. Then he -spake to me in Italian, telling me whence I had come -that he knew me to be no Moslem; and that he had been -in Genoa and Venice; whereof he gave me proof. When -I understood this, I told him that I was a Roman, and -had become a Mameluke at Cairo (!) Whereat he rejoiced -greatly, and treated me with much honour.” Varthema -now began to ask questions of his host; craftily affecting -ignorance of recent events and pretending to be very -hostile to Christians and greatly indignant at hearing -of the appearance of the Portuguese in Eastern Seas. -“At this, he showed me yet greater honour, and told -me everything, point by point. So, when I was well -instructed, I said to him: ‘O friend, I beseech you in -the name of the Prophet to tell me of some way to escape -from the Caravan; for I would go to those who are the -Christians’ bitterest foes. Take my word that, if they -knew what I can do, they would search me out, even -as far as Mecca.’ Then he: ‘By the faith of our Prophet, -tell me, what can you do?’ I replied that I was the most -skilful artificer in large mortars in the world. Hearing -this, he exclaimed: ‘Mohammed be praised for ever, -who has sent such an one to the Moslem and God.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">187</a></span>’” -Whereupon, a bargain was struck. The Moor was ready to -hide Varthema in his house, if Varthema could induce -the Captain of the Caravan to pass fifteen camels, laden -with spices, duty free. Varthema was so confident of -having thoroughly ingratiated himself with the Captain -that he was ready to negotiate for the free passage of a -hundred camels, if the Moor owned so many. “And, -when he heard this, he was greatly pleased,” and gave -full information as to how to get to India. There was no -difficulty about bribing the Captain; and the day before -the departure of the caravan, Varthema stole to the Moor’s -house and lay there in concealment.</p> - -<p>Next morning, two hours before daybreak, bands of men, -as was the usage, went through the city, sounding trumpets -and other instruments, and proclaiming death to all -Mamelukes who should not mount for the journey to -Syria. “At this,” says Varthema, “my breast was -mightily troubled, and I pleaded with tears to the merchant’s -wife, and I besought God to save me.” Soon -he had the relief of knowing that the caravan was gone, -and the Moorish merchant with it. He had left instructions -with his wife to send Varthema on to Jidda, on the Red -Sea, with the caravan returning to India. It was to start -later than the Syrian caravan. Varthema was a man of -winning ways, and he found no difficulty in fascinating -man or woman. He was far from being as vain as, say, -Lord Herbert of Cherbury, but, like that ingenuous gentleman, -he does not neglect to inform us when he has pleased -the fair. “I cannot tell how much kindness I received -from this lady, and, in particular, from her niece of fifteen -years. They promised to make me rich if I would stay -on. But I declined their offer by reason of the pressing -peril. I set out at noontide of the following day, with the -caravan, to the no small sorrow of these ladies, who made -much lament.”</p> - -<p>In due time the caravan arrived at Jidda, which was -then a very important mart and harbour. Varthema<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">188</a></span> -immediately made for a mosque, with thousands of indigent -pilgrims, and stayed there a whole fortnight.</p> - -<p>“All day long, I lay on the ground, covered up in my -garments, and groaning as if I suffered great pain in my -bowels and body. The merchants would ask: ‘Who is -that, groaning so?’ Whereto the poor people about me -would reply: ‘He is a poor Moslem who is dying.’ But -when night came I would leave the mosque to buy food. -Judge of what my appetite became when I could only -get food (and that bad) once a day.”</p> - -<p>When the caravan had left the port, he contrived -to see the master of a ship bound for Persia who agreed -to take him as a passenger; and on the seventeenth day -of hiding at Jidda, the ship put forth on the Red Sea. -To a true Moslem, the whole Eastern world as far as China -was barely more perilous than the Mediterranean was to a -Christian. Those were days when the seas teemed with -pirates; but, on land, property was better safeguarded -by the despotic rulers of Asia than it was in Europe. -But the line between Eastern and Western traffic was -rigidly drawn at certain marts of exchange. Such were -Aleppo and Beyrout for commodities forwarded by way -of the Persian Gulf; and still more important were Cairo -and Alexandria, the marts of Mediterranean and Red Sea -commerce. The Eastern trade was mainly in the hands -of Arabs; but it was pursued by certain Greeks, Albanians -and Circassians also, who, or their forefathers, had renounced -Christianity for gain; and these were not few. -Jidda and other ports of the Red Sea, as well as those of -Somaliland, were crowded with ships, great and small, -bearing spices, drugs, dyes and other Eastern goods for -the markets of Western Asia and Europe. The Arabian -coast of the Red Sea was hugged, and often, for days -together, no progress could be made at night; for the -multitude of rocks and sunken reefs rendered navigation -perilous enough, even by day, and a look-out was always -kept at the mast-head.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">189</a></span></p> - -<p>Varthema’s ship visited and made some stay at several -ports which are now decayed. At one place, “coming -in sight of dwellings on the shore, fourteen of us landed -to buy victuals. But they were the folk called Bedouin; -there was more than a hundred of them to our fourteen; -and they greeted us with slings and stones. We fought -for about an hour; and then they fled, leaving twenty-four -of their number lying slain on the ground; for they were -unclad, and the sling was their only weapon. We took -all we could find, that is to say fowls, calves, oxen and other -things for eating. But, in two or three hours time, the -turmoil increased, and so did the natives of the land—to -more than six hundred, in fact—and we were compelled -to draw back to our ships.”</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">190</a></span></p> - - - - -<h3>CHAPTER V. CERTAIN ADVENTURES IN<br /> -ARABIA THE HAPPY.</h3> - - -<p><span class="smcap">On</span> arriving at Aden; which was a place of call for every ship -trading with India, Persia, and Ethiopia, custom-house -officers at once came on board the ship, ascertained whence -and when it had sailed, the nature of its freight, and how -many were on board. Then the masts, sails, rudders -and anchors were removed to ensure the payment of -dues. On the second day after Varthema’s arrival, a -passenger or sailor on board called him a “Christian dog, -son of a dog,” the usual polished address of the proud -Moslem to one who, albeit a co-believer, had not the good -fortune to be born in the faith. This exclamation aroused -a suspicion that he was a spy; for, a year before, Portuguese -had appeared for the first time in the Arabian Sea, had -captured certain vessels, and killed many of their crews. -He was seized at once and violently carried off to the deputy -of the Sultan of Yemen. Now this Sultan was an unusually -merciful man, who rarely (Varthema says never) put -anyone to death; so he was merely clapped into gaol, -and his legs fettered with eighteen pounds weight of iron. -On the third day of imprisonment, some Moslem sailors -who had escaped in the warfare with the Portuguese, -attacked the prison with the intention of slaying him; -and the inhabitants were divided as to what they should -do. The Emir’s deputy decided to spare the prisoners -(another suspected person would seem to have been -incarcerated with Varthema); and they languished sixty-five -days in gaol. Then a message came from the Sultan, -demanding that they should be brought before himself. -So, instead of voyaging to Persia, Varthema, still in irons, -was put on a camel and taken an eight days’ journey inland -to Radâä. Ibn Abd-el Wahâb, Sultan of Yemen, was -busy marshalling a large army. In it, were three thousand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">191</a></span> -horsemen, born of Christian parents, but sold, while still -children, by “Prester John,” as the Portuguese called -the King of Abyssinia. These slaves formed the bodyguard -of the Sultan. At this moment the rule of Yemen -was disputed among petty despots, and the Sultan -was bent on reducing the turbulent, rebellious tribes -to his sole sway.</p> - -<p>Varthema is brought in to the Sultan’s presence; his -life hangs on a hair; it is as if the sharp edge of the scimitar -were already at his neck; yet he does not lose his presence -of mind. “I am of the country of Rûm, my lord,” he -began; and he began with a “parliamentary expression” -for, to an Arab, Rûm meant Asia Minor, recently the possession -of <i>New</i> Rome, <i>i.e.</i>, of the Byzantine Empire. -“I became a Mohammedan at Cairo (another trifling -inexactitude). I came to Medina of the Prophet, to Mecca, -and then to your country. Everyone says, sir, that you -are a sheik” (a Mohammedan priest). “Sir, I am your -slave. Sir, do you not know that I am a Moslem?” The -Sultan called upon him to repeat the formula: “‘There -is no God but the God: Mohammed is the Prophet of -God.’ But, whether it was the will of God, or by reason -of fear which gat hold of me, I could not pronounce these -words.” Our hero was indeed lucky, for the merciful -Sultan only ordered him to be taken to prison and kept -there under strict guard while he should be away. For -he was about to attack Sanäa, the ancient capital of Yemen. -And so, “they guarded me for three months, supplying -me with a loaf of millet each morning, and another in -the evening; yet six such loaves had not satisfied my -hunger for a single day; nevertheless, if I might have -had my fill of water, I had thought myself happy.”</p> - -<p>In the East, the body of an insane person is believed -to be occupied by some spirit; and mad folk are therefore -treated as irresponsible. Varthema knew this, and he, -two fellow-prisoners, one of whom he twice speaks of as -“my companion,” and yet another, “a Moor,” arranged<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">192</a></span> -that one of the number should pretend to be mad in order -to help the others. The trick is time-honoured in the -East; thereby David escaped the hands of Achish, King -of Gath. Lots were cast, and the lot fell to Varthema. -We can see him, like the Israelite King, “changing his -behaviour, scrabbling at the doors of the gate, and letting -the spittle fall down upon his beard”; he was allowed -to go out, crowds of children following him and shying -stones at him. In self-defence he had to store up a plentiful -supply of like missiles in his garment and give a sharp -return. “Truly,” says he, “I never was so tired with -labour and worn out as during the first three days of my -feigning.”</p> - -<p>Now, the prison adjoined the palace; and there remained -in the palace one of the Sultan’s three wives with her -“twelve or thirteen very comely maidens, rather more -than inclining to black. This queen” (so Varthema -dubs her) “was very tender-hearted to me. She was -for ever at her lattice with her damsels, staying there -throughout the day to see me and to talk with me; and -I, while many men and merchants were jeering at me, -went naked before the queen; for she took very great -pleasure in seeing me. I might not go from her sight; -and she gave me right good food to eat; so that I gained -my point.”</p> - -<p>One of the most striking characteristics of the men -of the Renaissance is the combination of great intellectual -power and lofty enthusiasm with mediæval brutality. -Now, the Sultana, in whose veins the warm blood of the -East flowed freely, suffered from the dull monotony of -the harem. She wanted excitement. She suggested -to the supposed madman that he should slay and spare -not; for the fault would not be imputed to him. He -took the hint at once. He called on a fat sheep to declare -its religion, repeating the very words which the Sultan -had addressed to him: “Prove yourself a Moslem.” -“The patient beast making no reply, I took a staff and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">193</a></span> -broke its legs. The queen looked on laughing, and fed -me with the flesh thereof during three days; nor do I -remember to have eaten better. Three days later, I -killed an ass, which was bringing water to the palace, -in the same way; because that he would not become a -Moslem. And, in like manner, I cudgelled a Jew, so -that I left him for dead.” One of the gaolers, whom -he declares to have been more mad than he, called him -“Christian dog, son of a dog.” This was enough: a -fierce battle by lapidation began—Varthema alone, on -the one side; the gaoler and children on the other. Varthema -allowed himself to be badly hit by two stones, -“which I could have avoided easily; but I wanted to -give colour to my madness. So I went back to my prison, -and blocked the door up with large stones, and there I -lived for the space of two days without meat or drink. -The queen and others thought I might be dead, and caused -the door to be broken open. Then these dogs brought -me pieces of marble saying, ‘eat; this is sugar;’ and -others gave me grapes filled with earth, and called it salt; -but I ate the marble and grapes and everything, all mixed -up.”</p> - -<p>It was an enlightened custom in Mohammedan countries -to examine into the mental condition of insane people -at regular intervals. Rabbi Benjamin, of Tudela, the -Spanish Jew, tells us that, in the sixth decade of the -Twelfth Century, he found Commissioners in lunacy at -Baghdad; although he also speaks of that barbarous -practice of chaining the madman which obtained in -England until some centuries later. Two Mohammedan -Ascetics, who dwelt in the mountains as hermits, were -brought to the prison to determine whether Varthema -might be a person bereft of mere mundane reason through -his exceptional sanctity, or only ordinarily mad. The -hermits took opposite views on this knotty question, -and spent an hour in violently contradicting one another. -The prisoner lost all patience and, anxious to be quit<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">194</a></span> -of them, put a stop to the discussion by the simple device -which Gulliver employed to extinguish the conflagration -at Lilliput. “Whereupon,” says he, “they ran off crying -‘he is mad; he is no saint.’ The queen and her maidens -saw all this, for they were looking on from their casement, -and burst into laughter, vowing that ‘by God, by the head -of the Prophet, there is no one in the world like this man.’”</p> - -<p>Next day Varthema followed this up by laying hold -of the gaoler by those two horns or tufts of hair which -were then, as now, fashionable in Arabia, kneeling on his -stomach, and so belabouring him that he “left him for -dead,” like the Jew. The queen was again vastly entertained, -and called out: “Kill those beasts.”</p> - -<p>But it was discovered that, all this time, Varthema’s -fellow-prisoners had been digging a hole through the prison wall, -and, moreover, had contrived to get free from their -shackles. The Sultan’s deputy was fully aware of the -favour with which the Sultana regarded Varthema; -and the lady knew him to be ready to carry out her commands. -She ordered the prisoner to be kept in irons, but -to be removed into a doorless lower chamber of the palace, -and to be provided with a good bed, good food and perfumed -baths. For, as the reader will guess, she had -fallen in love with the captive. Sexual love among -Arabians is anything but a refined or spiritual passion; -and the harem has not been found precisely a temple -of chastity anywhere,—mainly, perhaps, because it is a -harem. And this lady possessed a temperament as -sanguine and scandalous as any Messalina or Faustina -or Empress of all the Russias. Alas! Fate doomed her -to bloom unseen in Arabia, and waste her sweetness on -its desert air. At the end of a few days, she started by -bringing Varthema some dainty dish in the dead of night. -He tells us how, “coming into my chamber, she called -‘Jonah! Come. Are you hungry?’ ‘Yes, by Allah!’ -I replied; and I rose to my feet and went to her in my -shirt. And she said: ‘No, no, not with your shirt on.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">195</a></span>’ -I answered: ‘O Lady, I am not mad now’; whereto she: -‘By Allah, I know you never were mad. In the world -there is no man like you.’ So, to please her, I took off -my shirt, holding it before me for the sake of decency; -and thus did she keep me for a space of two hours, gazing -at me as if I had been a nymph, and making her plaint -to God in this wise: ‘O Allah! Thou hast made this -man white as the sun. Me, Thou hast made black. O -Allah! O Prophet! my husband is black; my son is -black; this man is white. Would that this man might -become my husband! And while speaking thus, she wept -and sighed continuously, and kept passing her hands -over me all the time, and promising that she would make -the Sultan remove my irons when he returned.’</p> - -<p>“Next night the queen came with two of her damsels, -and said, ‘Come hither, Jonah.’ I replied that I would -come. ‘Would you like me to come and stay a little -while with you,’ she asked. I answered, ‘no, lady. I -am in chains; and that is enough.’ Then she said, ‘Have -no fear. I take it all on my own head. If you do not -want me, I will call Gazelle, or Tajiah, or Gulzerana -to come instead.’ She spoke thus because she was working -to come herself. But I never gave way; for I had thought -it all out.”</p> - -<p>Varthema had no desire to remain in Yemen, even -should he mount its throne,—a far less likely event than -discovery and a horrible death. “I did not wish to lose -both my soul and my body,” he writes. “I wept all -night, commending myself to God.”</p> - -<p>“Three days after this the Sultan returned, and straightway -the queen sent to tell me that, if I would stay with her, -she would make me rich.”</p> - -<p>Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Varthema -is the man to mould circumstances to his will: no web, -however cunningly woven shall hold him prisoner; his -keen wit is ready to comply with the Sultana’s request, -if she will have his fetters struck off.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">196</a></span></p> - -<p>The lady fell into the trap. She manifests the clever, -feminine guile of the harem in her dealings with Ibn -Abd-el-Wahâb, but she is no match for Varthema. The -Sultan is a strong man and a mighty man of valour; but -he is uxorious, and as wax in her hands. She ordered -the prisoner to be brought at once before the Sultan and -herself. Ibn Abd-el-Wahâb, good easy man, asked -Varthema whither he desired to go if he should choose -to release him. The mendacious Italian replied: “‘O -Lord, I have neither father nor mother; wife nor child; -brother nor sister; only Allah, the Prophet, and you. -You give me food, and I am your slave.’ And I wept -without ceasing.” Then the artful Sultana reminded -the Sultan that he would have to account to God, of whose -anger he should beware, for having kept an innocent -man so long time in prison. Abd-el-Wahâb proved as -unsuspicious and benevolent as history declares him to -have been; yet he was as firm and able as a ruler as he was -bold and experienced in arms. His Sultana knew how -to play on his merits and convert them into defects. He -at once granted Varthema liberty to go whithersoever he -chose. “And, immediately, he had my irons struck off; -and I knelt before him; and kissed his feet and the hands -of the queen. She took me by the hand, saying: ‘Come -with me, poor wight, for I know thou art dying of hunger.’ -When I was with her in her chamber, she kissed me more -than a hundred times; and then she gave me excellent -food. But I had seen her speak privily to the Sultan, -and I thought she had begged me from him for a slave. -Wherefore, I said: ‘I will not eat, unless you promise -me my freedom.’ She replied: ‘Be silent, madman. -You know not what Allah will bestow. If you are good, -you shall be an Emir.’ Now, I knew what kind of lordship -she desired to bestow on me; so I answered that she should -let me get into fitter condition; for fear filled me with -other than amorous thoughts. She replied: ‘By Allah, -you say well. I will give you eggs, fowls, pigeons, pepper,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">197</a></span> -cinnamon, cloves and cocoa-nuts every day.’<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">17</a> So, at -these good words and promises, I plucked up heart a bit. -To restore me to health, I stayed fifteen or twenty days -in the palace. One day, she sent for me and asked if -I would go a-hunting with her; which offer I refused not; -and, at our return, feigned me to fall sick by reason of -weakness; and so continued for the space of eight days; -during which time she was unceasing in sending persons -to visit me. One day, I sent to tell her that I had vowed -to God and Mohammed to visit a holy man at Aden, -who was reputed to work miracles.”</p> - -<p>We may not count meanness among the <i>petits défauts</i> -of this lady of spacious passions. She was “well pleased” -with Varthema’s suggestion, and provided him with a -camel and twenty-five golden ducats—a sum which would -go a long way in Arabia. We shall see presently to what -use he applied it. Eight days’ journeying brought him -to the holy man of Aden; and the second day after his -arrival, he professed that he was cured. He wrote to -the Sultana that, since Allah had been so merciful, he -wished to see the whole of her kingdom. “This I did -because the fleet which was there could not set sail again -for a month. I spoke with a skipper in secret, and told -him I wished to go to India, and would give him a handsome -present if he would take me. He replied that he -wished to touch at Persia first.” Nothing better could -have fallen in with Varthema’s wishes. Meanwhile he -would explore Arabia Felix.</p> - -<p>So, having adroitly contrived to reject the love of the -Light of the Harem without exciting her fury, and even -coming by her purse, he turns the opportune gift to account, -and fills up the month of waiting by a zig-zag camel-ride -through Southern Yemen—the first and boldest European -traveller in the district, and the one who has penetrated</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">198</a></span></p> -<p>it must thoroughly. With the intention of doing this -in his mind, he ends his chapters on “How the women of -Arabia Felix are partial to White Men,” and on “The -liberality of the Queen.”</p> - -<p>His record of Southern Yemen bears witness to a shrewd -observant eye and a tenacious memory. Probably he -travelled mostly with caravans. He gives an account -of the natural features of the land, its curious domesticated -animals, its wild beasts, its vegetable productions, its -trade, the colour, manners and dress of its strange natives—all -borne out by a variety of independent testimony. -He visited many cities. One, he found barbarous and -poor; another, renowned for its attar of roses. Several -of these towns were flourishing centres of trade. He even -got to Sanäa, the walls whereof were so wide that “eight -horses might go abreast on the top of them.” Apparently -Abd-el-Wahâb had not yet conquered the petty chieftain, -El Mansûr, who reigned there; so Varthema found -himself in the domain of the Sultan’s bitter foe. We hear -that rumour gave this ruler a mad son who would bite, -and slay, and then feed on his human victims. Varthema -again tells us of other madmen, Shiites and Sunnites, -the rival sects of the Mohammedan world, who kill each -other like dogs for Religion’s sake. At Yerim, he talked -with many who asserted that they had reached their -hundred and twenty-fifth year; but, since there was no -registration of birth, we may venture to entertain our -doubts. He tells us how it was the fashion throughout -Arabia to twist the hair into horns, and how the women -wore loose trousers. He came to El-Makrana, where -“the Sultan keeps more gold than a hundred camels -might bear; and I say this because I have seen it.” What -became of that mighty bulk of gold? The Arabian -chroniclers tell us the firm, merciful and increasing rule -of Abd-el-Wahâb in Yemen had a tragic end: Turkish -invaders captured him and put him to death, not in the -heat of warfare, but in cold blood.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">199</a></span></p> - -<p>Varthema “ran some risk from the multitude of apes” -(of which Niebuhr also speaks), and from “animals like -lions (hyenas?). We passed on in very great danger -from the said animals, and with no little hunting of them. -However, we killed very many with bows and slings and -dogs; and thereby passed in safety.”</p> - -<p>On reaching Aden he repeated the trick which had -proved so successful at Jidda. “I took shelter in a -mosque,” he says, “feigning to be sick, and there I lurked -all day long; but, at night, I went forth to find the skipper -of the ship; and he smuggled me aboard.”</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">200</a></span></p> - - - - -<h3>CHAPTER VI. EASTWARD HO!</h3> - - -<p><span class="smcap">For</span> six days the wind was favourable; but it was now -December of the year 1503; and on the seventh day out, -the North Eastern monsoon drove the vessel back “with -25 others, laden with madder for the dyeing of clothes. -By dint of very great labour, we made the port of Zeila” -(on the African Coast, opposite to Aden); “and tarried -there five days both to see it and to wait for better weather.” -Zeila was a great place for traffic in gold and ivory, the -law was well administered; but the cruel slave-trade -prevailed there then as, in a different form, it did up to -our own times. The Christian dominions of Abyssinian -“Prester John” were raided by Arabs; his subjects -captured; and sold in Egypt, Arabia, Persia and India. -The merchants here would seem to have found a profitable -trade in beasts left with but a single horn; for Varthema -saw some, which, however, were quite different from those -wonderful unicorns at Mecca. He gives a faithful description -of the black and white Berbera sheep of Zeila.</p> - -<p>The weather having improved, the ship touched at -Berbera, and then sailed up the Gulf of Aden and across -the Arabian Sea. Twelve days saw her at Diu, an island -to the south of the Indian Peninsula of Kathiawar and -subject to the Sultan of Gujarat. Varthema calls it the -“port of the Turks”; but by Turks we must understand -Mohammedan inhabitants of the Levant who had settled -at Diu. It was an important halt for ships trading between -India and Arabia and Persia. The vessel which bore -Varthema must have been a tramp, picking up what -cargo offered, and altering her course from time to time, -to dispose of it; for, after spending two days at Diu, -we find her taking a three days run up the Gulf of Cambay -to Gogo, a place “of great traffic, fat, and rich; where -all are Mohammedans.” She now recrossed the ocean -to Eastern Arabia, and put in at Julfar, on the shores of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">201</a></span> -Oman. Once again she reversed her course; and a favourable -wind bore her to Muscat, a port which is still of some -importance, and which, at that time, was one of the small -independent States of Arabia. Then she tacked back, -and came to New Ormuz, a port on the island of Jeruan.</p> - -<p>Old Ormuz was a city on the mainland, which Marco -Polo visited in the eighth decade of the Thirteenth Century, -but, shortly after his time, almost all the population -deserted the old city for the island. As in the days of -Ibn Batûta it was famous for its pearl-fisheries. -“Here,” writes Varthema, “are found the largest pearls -in the world”; and hence it is that Milton couples the -wealth of Ormuz with that of India.<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">18</a> “At three days’ -voyage from this island, fishers pay out ropes, one from -either end of their little boats. To each rope, a big stone -is tied, so as to keep the boat moored; and they pay out -yet another rope to the bottom, with a stone to it, from -the middle of the boat, whereby one of these fishermen, -having hung two bags round his neck and tied a big stone -to his feet, goes down fifteen paces into the water, and -stays there as long as he is able, to find those oysters -wherein are pearls. These he puts into the bag, and gets -quit of the stone at his feet, and comes up by one of the -ropes aforesaid.” The pearl-diver is not given the wholly -impossible time under water which Ibn Batûta credited -him with. With customary caution our Italian is content -to say that he “stays there as long as he is able.”</p> - -<p>This trade and the city of Ormuz were in the hands -of Arabs, who paid tribute to the King of Persia, and were -dependent for food on the mainland. Ormuz was one -of the great centres along that trade-route between the -East and the Levant, which traversed the Persian Gulf, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">202</a></span>and made its way by Bagdad, and the Euphrates Valley -and Aleppo to the Mediterranean; just as Aden was one -of the great centres of the other route through the Red -Sea and Egypt to Cairo and Alexandria. Our traveller -would pass along streets crowded with men from many -nations.</p> - -<p>From Ormuz comes a tale of cold-blooded parricide, -fratricide, and subtle perfidy very characteristic of the -dynastic families of Asia. “At the time when I visited -this land, there happened that which you shall hear.” -The Sultan of Ormuz had eleven sons, of whom the -youngest was judged to lack half his wits, and the eldest -was, beyond doubt, “a devil unchained.” This Sultan -had purchased two Abyssinian children, and brought -them up as carefully as if they had been his own sons; for -it was a practice in Arabia and India to rely on the valour -and sagacity of Abyssinian slaves, to entrust them with -the most important military commands, and to consult -them as closest advisers. One of these men was named -Caim; the other Mohammed. One night, when, all was -dark and silent in the palace, that “devil unchained,” -the eldest son found an opportunity to put out the eyes -of his father, his mother and all his brethren excepting -those of his youngest brother; for he supposed him to be -incapable of aspiring to the throne. Not satisfied with -blinding his victims, he caused them to be burned alive -within the palace-enclosure. Next morning he proclaimed -himself Sultan; and the supposed fool fled to a mosque; -for the rights of sanctuary were to be found there, if -anywhere. At first, the city was in tumult; but the bloody -deed was over and done with; and a city of trade is soon -glad to quiet down and resume business. The problem -now before the new Sultan was: how to get rid of Caim -and Mohammed. Both men were in high position: -that were a small matter; but they held command of -fortresses. Somehow, he managed to get Mohammed -to venture into his presence, and, after making much of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">203</a></span> -him, breathed into his ear that, if he would slay Caim, -he should be rewarded with the command of five fortresses. -Mohammed protested: “‘O Sidi, I have shared bread -with him from our childhood; for thirty years. By -Allah, I cannot bring my mind to do this thing.’ Then -said the Sultan: ‘Well, let it alone.’” Having failed -in the attempt to induce Mohammed to murder Caim, -the Sultan now tried to induce Caim to murder Mohammed. -Caim made not the least demur, and straightway sought -out his old friend and companion. Mohammed at once -read what had happened written in the face of his false -friend, and charged him with the fact. Caim, guilt-stricken, -cast his dagger at the feet of Mohammed, fell -on his knees, and implored forgiveness of the meditated -crime. Mohammed reproached Caim in the mildest -way, and then either from magnanimity or from policy, -or from both, he passed over his treachery; but made him -vow to go to the Sultan and pretend that he had done -the deed.</p> - -<p>“When the Sultan saw him, he demanded: ‘Hast -thou slain thy friend?’ Caim answered: ‘I have, Sidi, -by Allah!’ Then the Sultan: ‘Come here’; and Caim -went close up to him; whereupon, the Sultan seized him -and did him to death with his dagger.” Three days -passed, and then Mohammed stole stealthily into the -Sultan’s chamber, who, when he saw him, was greatly -perturbed, and exclaimed: ‘O dog, son of a dog, are thou -still alive?’ Mohammed replied: ‘Yea, I live, in spite -of thee, and thee will I slay, thou worse than dog or devil!’ -Both men being armed, they fought together for a space -of time; but in the end, Mohammed killed the Sultan, -and put the palace into a state of defence. But, because -he was much beloved, the populace ran thither with shouts -of ‘Long live Sultan Mohammed.’</p> - -<p>Mohammed was a man as prudent and experienced -as he was ready and resolute: he saw a way to do the state -good service and to preserve for himself the reality of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">204</a></span> -power while maintaining the shows of legality and removing -the occasions of envy. At the end of twenty -days, he call the chief citizens together, “and spake to -them in this wise: That what he had done had been of -strong necessity; that he knew he had no right to the -throne; and that he begged them to allow him to transfer -his power to the son who was supposed to be crazy. And -thus the son became Sultan; but, nevertheless Mohammed -rules. The whole city said, ‘of a surety, this man is -the friend of Allah.’ For which reason, he was made -Governor of the City and of the Sultan; the Sultan being -in the state aforesaid.”</p> - -<p>A very narrow little strait lies between Ormuz and -the mainland of Persia. Varthema left his “tramp,” -and crossed over. His itinerary through the ancient -and renowned Empire is by no means clear; but we find -him at Herat, 600 miles in a bee-line from Ormuz, and -at that time the capital of Khôrasân and the residence -of its able ruler—Sultan Hosein Mirza, a man who boasted -his descent from Timour the Tartar. Varthema speaks -of Herat as being a great market for stuffs, especially -silk stuffs, and for rhubarb. Badger, commenting on this -statement, suggests that Herat lay on the direct route -along which rhubarb was conveyed between Thibet, -Mongolia, and the West. Certainly exports and imports of -Persia, India, Turkestan and Afghanistan passed through -Herat.</p> - -<p>It strikes one as singular that, although Varthema -Would seem to have journeyed some 1,500 miles in Persia, -he says very little about the country. This may be because -the Venetians were directly acquainted with that fascinating -Empire; and consequent on this, a general knowledge -of it would spread throughout Italy. For, when the great -blow was struck at Venetian trade by the Turkish capture -of Constantinople and Negroponte, and the “Queen of the -Adriatic” no longer held “the gorgeous East in fee,” -she sent three separate embassies on a bold and perilous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">205</a></span> -mission. She sought to secure the alliance of Persia -against their common foe, the Ottoman Turk. Few records -of travel and adventure are more animating or fuller of -interest than those of the Venetian Ambassadors, Barbaro -and Contarini.<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">19</a> Varthema must have made a bold -journey. The “Adventures of Hadji Baba of Ispahan” -probably furnish as true and vivid a picture of what life -and travel in Persia were like in the early years of the -sixteenth century as they do of that which was to be -experienced in the early years of the nineteenth century, -Persia has remained in the same case of what may be called -immutable instability from the days when she was won -for Islam down to the days of the immortal Morier and -to our own times.</p> - -<p>From Herat, he took the caravan-route back to Shiraz -in Persia, a journey of fully 700 miles. Here was a great -mart for the turquoises, rubies and other jewels of Khôrasân -and Badakshan, as well as for musk and ultramarine; -and he learned something of the business capacity of the -Persian; he complains that “our musk”—that delight, -with other overpowering scents of his nation and time—“is -adulterated by these folk, who are master-hands for -intellect, and misleaders beyond all other peoples.”</p> - -<p>It is a problem how Varthema contrived to cover such -vast distances on what was probably a lean purse. He is -silent as to his financial resources; as we have said it is -unlikely that his private means were considerable, and -it would seem that he did not trade. As a Mameluke -he would receive payment which carried him to Aden; -and the money which the enamoured Sultana furnished him -with would partly, if not wholly, give him the means -to reach Persia. But he employed his infinite power -to charm; he was burthened with no weak scruple as to -blinding a newly-captured friend and using him, with -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">206</a></span>wise moderation, in the service of that central purpose -which was the heart of all his being. And thus, as we shall -presently see, like Iago, he made his fool his purse. But -he is capable of appreciating the good qualities of the -generous friend whom he made his dupe; and is careful -to pay tribute to him. If he must deceive in order to -use him, it is to realize his purpose of seeing the world -at first-hand and recording its wonders.</p> - -<p>After remarking on the tricks of Persian traders, he -adds: “Yet I must also say they are the best companions -and the most generous among men. I speak thus with -knowledge; having had experience of a Persian merchant -of Herat in Khôrasân, whom I met in this city of Shiraz. -He had known me at Mecca two years before, and spoke -to me thus: ‘Jonah, what is your business here? Are -you not the same man who went to Mecca some time -back?’ I replied that I was, and that to find out about -the world was the quest I was on. Then said he: ‘Allah -be praised! for I shall have a companion to make discovery -with me. Do not leave me.’ We stayed on fifteen days -in this same city of Shiraz.” Varthema’s magnetic -charm was at work; and luck stood his friend in bringing -him across this old acquaintance.</p> - -<p>The twain set off together from Shiraz, bound for -Samarkand in Turkestan; for the merchant, whose name -Was Cazazionor, insisted on keeping Varthema with him, -and presumably payed all expenses. But they travelled -through a land in turmoil. The struggle between the -Ottoman Turks established in Europe and the Turcoman -dynasty of the White Sheep established in Persia was happy -indeed for the Christian world, since it diverted the forces -of Constantinople to the East at a time when Europe -lay divided and helpless, but it was disastrous for Persia -and ended by throwing her into confusion. Just now -Ismail-es-Sufi, a descendant from the Prophet, who had -overthrown the forces of Bayazid, and laid the foundations -of a great Persian dynasty, which endured more than two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">207</a></span> -centuries, was consolidating a country which had been -torn by internecine strife. As is so often the case, religious -differences afforded the trumpet-call to the struggles -of peoples. As in the days of Ibn Batûta the -Sunnites of the West fought the Shiites of the East for -domination; but they fought in the name of Allah and under -the banners of sectarian difference. In order to seat -himself firmly on the throne, the Great Sofi, for so Europeans -called the monarch of the new, able and powerful dynasty -roused the enthusiasm of the native Shiites, and converted -the less numerous native Sunnites to his own true -faith by blood and iron. Varthema tells us that the -Sofi was passing through the land with flame and slaughter.</p> - -<p>Cazazionor, finding the country so disturbed, thought -it wise to return towards Herat. So delighted was he -with the personality and society of “Jonah” that he -offered to give him his niece to wife. She was a beautiful -girl named Sharus, a feminine noun in Persian as in other -languages, although it signifies The Sun. Cazazionor -took Varthema with him to his own home; which was -probably at Shiraz; and presented the young lady to him. -She could not have attained womanhood; for he was -allowed to see her. He feigned delight at her beauty; -but he says that his mind was “bent to other things”—probably -less on wife and children at home than on his -still insatiate desire for travel. After enjoying Cazazionor’s -hospitality for eight days, he returned with his host to -Ormuz, and took ship for Sind. They were landed -at Joah, a port on the delta of the Indus, and proceeded -to Cambay, an important harbour in Gujarat, whence -fifty ships, laden with cotton, sailed yearly to different -lands.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">208</a></span></p> - - - - -<h3>CHAPTER VII.<br /><br /> - -<small>THE PAGANS OF NARSINGA.</small></h3> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Before</span> Batûta reached India, and therefore long before -Varthema’s time, Afghan chiefs had swooped down on -the fertile plains of India with the war cry of “Allah -and the Prophet,” and Northern India, with the exception -of its southern and western districts, where the Rajpoots -maintained their independence, was now under the rule -of various Moslem despots. The Deccan was under the -sway of a powerful Moslem dynasty—the Brahmany -Sultans; but what is now the presidency of Madras -and Mysore was divided into a number of petty kingdoms, -subject to the Hindu Râja of Narsinga. A full century -of conflict had resulted in a partial triumph of the Moslem: -the sovereigns of Narsinga paid a certain tribute to be -left at peace, although the western coast was, in a measure, -protected by a wall of mountains. But Portuguese -traders had just sailed into the Arabian Sea and had -established themselves here and there at trading stations -on the Malabar coast; and these they had fortified. On -his outward journey, Varthema, for obvious reasons, -showed no disposition to cultivate the acquaintance -of these Christian Europeans.</p> - -<p>Gujarat was under the rule of Fath Khân, whom -Varthema calls Sultan Machamuth. “You shall now -hear of the manner of his life. He and all his people are -Mohammedans; and he keeps twenty thousand horsemen -always with him. When he arises in the morning, fifty -elephants, each with a man atop, come to the palace -and do him reverence; and this is all the labour they are put -to.... When he eats, fifty or sixty different kinds of -music discourse; such as trumpets, different sorts of -drums, recorders and fifes, and many others; and the -elephants again do him reverence.... The Sultan’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">209</a></span> -moustachios are so long that he ties them up over his -head, as a woman doth tie her tresses; and his beard, -which is white, comes down to his girdle.” Fath Khân -was greatly dreaded by his subjects; and they believed -strange things concerning him; stories which are worthy -of the Arabian Nights. These Varthema heard and set -down, as did Barbosa, who travelled in the East a few -years after the Sultan’s death. Machamuth was reputed -to eat poison daily, so that, while he himself had become -poison-proof, he had only to spit at a foe and death followed -within half an hour. “Every night that he shall -sleep with one of his three or four thousand women, they -shall take her up dead in the morning.”</p> - -<p>The Sultan was continually at war with a neighbouring -Hindu Râja; and his Kingdom of Gujarat had been taken -from the Jains—“a race which eats of nothing wherein -courseth blood, and will kill nothing that hath life. They -are neither Moors nor heathens; and I believe that, if -they should be baptised, they would all be saved by their -good works; for they never do unto others what they -would not that others should do unto them. For dress, -some wear a shirt; some, only a cloth round their middle -and a large red cloth on their head; and their colour -is tawny. And the aforesaid Sultan took their kingdom -from them because of their goodness.”</p> - -<p>These Jains, who at first, mainly differed from Buddhists -in believing that the purification of the soul resulted -in a Heaven and not in Nirvâna, and the relation of whose -creed to Buddhism is far from being clear, had built some -of their remote and mysterious temples on the heights -of Gujarat, where through clouds of incense, female -figures, clothed in scarlet and gold might be seen, weaving -strange figures and chanting monotonous psalms. But -these, Varthema, posing as a pious Mohammedan, might -not see; and he makes no reference to the famous temples -of Gujarat.</p> - -<p>From Cambay, the Persian and our Italian sailed along<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">210</a></span> -the coast to Chaul; thence to a port which has disappeared -but which was near Ratnagiri, on the Concan coast; -and thence to the island of Goa. “On this island there -is a fortress by the sea, kept by a Mameluke with four -hundred other Mamelukes. If the captain shall come -across any white man he gives him much wage; but -first he sends for two jerkins, made of leather, one for him -and one for him that wishes to take service; each puts -on a jerkin, and they fall to. If he prove himself a strong -man, he is put among the able men; but if not, he is -set to other task than that of fighting. The captain -wages great battle with the Râja of Narsinga” (Bijayanagar -the capital of the Carnatic).</p> - -<p>From Goa, seven days of land-travel brought the pair -to “the city of Decan” (Bîjapûr), a Mohammedan place -where “the King lives in great pride and pomp. Many -of them that serve him have their very shoes adorned -with rubies, diamonds, and other jewels; so you may -judge how many garnish their fingers and ears. They -wear robes or shirts of silk, shoes and breeches after the -style of sailors; and ladies go quite veiled, as in Damascus.”</p> - -<p>Thence they returned to the coast, and visited ports, -many of which have decayed or disappeared. These were -subject, but not always friendly, to the Râja of Narsinga; -and the Kinglet of Honawar was friendly to the Portuguese. -But in spite of incessant warfare, life and property -were respected. The journey now lies along the Malabar -coast to Cannanore: “the port to which steeds are brought -from Persia, and you must know that the levy for each -horse is twenty-five ducats.... Here we began to meet -with spices.” Here, also, were Portuguese established.</p> - -<p>They now turned their steps to Narsinga, where Heemrâj -held his court. Varthema calls him “King,” and indeed -he ruled, for like the Frank “Mayors of the palace,” -he had gradually usurped the powers of the real Râja, -and held actual sway in the place of an ancient race which -boasted an uninterrupted succession lasting seven centuries.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">211</a></span> -The city was great and grand; the court, splendid; the -revenue, enormous; the army boasted 40,000 horsemen -and 400 elephants, and was constantly doing battle with -the Moslem and neighbouring Pagan States. “The -elephant wears armour; in particular, head and trunk -are armed. To the trunk a sword of two arms’ length -is fastened, and as broad as a man’s hand.” “Seven -armed men go upon the said elephant,” shielded by a sort -of castle, “And in that manner they fight.” “The -King wears a cap of cloth of gold; and a quilted garment -of cotton when he goes to the wars; over this a garment -beset with gold coins; and all manner of jewels are at -the border thereof. His horse wears jewels which are -of more value than are some of our cities. When he -journeys for pleasure, three or four kings and five or six -thousand horsemen attend him. Wherefore, one may -account him a most powerful prince. The common people -go naked save for a loin-cloth.... In this realm you -may go where you list in safety; but it behoves you to -beware of lions on the way.”</p> - -<p>Varthema was very much impressed by the singular -structure and equally singular habits of the elephant, -and he speaks admiringly of its sagacity and strength. -He devotes a considerable space to this noble beast; -gives us the most accurate details; and recurs to the -subject over and over again.</p> - -<p>The Persian jewel-merchant and he left Narsinga after -two days’ stay, and visited places which were of much -importance then, but which have disappeared from the -modern map. At last, they arrive at Calicut.</p> - -<p>“Having come to the place where the greatest fame of -India is gathered up” our traveller devotes the whole -of his second book concerning India to Calicut and the -manners and customs of its people, as being those of all -the inhabitants of that part of the peninsula which lies -between the Malabar and Coromandel coasts. From -time out of mind Calicut had been a famous emporium;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">212</a></span> -to it calico owes its name. When Islam arose, the -spread of the Mohammedan faith stimulated the enterprise -of the intrepid Arab sailor and merchant and of the renegade -from Eastern Europe and Western Asia. The activity -of the hardy Arab found scope by reason of the natural -indolence of the Hindu and his dislike of the sea. A rich -and well organized traffic sprang up between Persia and -Arabia on the one side and China and the Spice Islands -on the other. Even in China, the Arab contrived to settle; -and Calicut remained the chief centre of the Eastern -trade. Here, in the season of calm, might be seen the -leviathan junks of China; and, at all times, the ships of -every civilized Eastern people. But, by the time Varthema -reached Calicut, the Arab had found Malacca to be a -more convenient mart for the trade of the far-East; and -Calicut, a little fallen from her high estate, had become -mainly a market for the products of Southern India and -Ceylon, and a port of call. And yet greater change was at -hand. One of those new routes had been opened up which -from time to time, abase the pride of commercial nations -and transfer their wealth: the Portuguese rounded the -Cape, reached East Africa, broke across the Ocean, and, -in 1498, Vasco di Gama anchored off Calicut. The jealous -Arabs burned down the factory which the native ruler -had allowed the Portuguese to erect, and fierce seafights -ensued, which were accompanied by much brutality. -The contest was between the best sailors of Europe and the -huge, but ill-built and ill-navigated fleets of the Arab -traders. The latter were unable to expel or even to discourage -the invaders, who, incensed at opposition, shewed -no mercy, and suffered from severe reprisal. While -Varthema was at Calicut, the Zamorin (as its ruler was -called by those English travellers who arrived a little -later) “agreed that the Moors should slay forty-eight -Portuguese, whom I saw put to death. And for this -reason the King of Portugal is always at war, and daily -kills very many; and thereby the city is ruined, for in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">213</a></span> -every way it is at war.” Our traveller arrived at Calicut -at the precise time when India, cast into a welter by -Mohammedan aggression in its lust for wealth and dominion, -was confronted with the yet more insatiate greed of -European adventures for fabled gold and direct markets. -The competitors vied with one another in all the arts of -treachery, cruelty and fraud.</p> - -<p>Calicut was a city of mean appearance, occupying -an area of about a mile; but the “compounds” were -spread over a space of six miles. It was crowded with -traders from Ethiopia, Arabia and Persia, Syria and the -Levant, Bengal and Sumatra. Varthema calculates that -no less than fifteen thousand Moors were domiciled there. -He visited the palace of the Zamorin, which was divided -into chambers by wooden partitions, on which supernatural -beings were carved—beings named dêvas in the Indian -Scriptures, and taken by our Italian for devils. The -flooring was a preparation of cow-dung, used then, -as it is to-day, for its antiseptic properties. Ramna and -Krishna and a demon-goddess called Mariamma were -the chief objects of worship; so we are not surprised -when we read that, in the “chapel” of the palace, the -oil-lamps were set on tripods, “on each side whereof -are three devils, <i>in relievo</i>, very fearful to behold. Such -are the squires that bear lights to the King.” The chapel -was small, but its wooden door was elaborately “carven -with devils. In the middle of it is a devil seated, all in -bronze; and the devil wears a three-fold crown, like unto -that of the Papacy. He has four horns and four teeth, -a huge mouth and nose, and his eyes strike terror into -him that looketh thereon. Devils are figured around the -said chapel; and on each side thereof a Satan is seated, -in flaming fire, wherein are a great number of souls. And, -the said Satan has a soul to his mouth with his right hand -and with his left hand he grips a soul by its middle.” -Perchance the chapel recalled memories of pictured hells<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">214</a></span> -on the walls of the Pisan Campo Santo, or of certain -other mediæval frescoes at Florence.</p> - -<p>He went to a great religious festival near Calicut. -“Truly,” he says, “never did I see so many gathered -together save at Mecca. From fifteen days’ journey -round about came all the Nairs and Brâhmans to sacrifice.” -Passing through trees which bore lights innumerable, -one came to a tank, wherein the worshippers first bathed -before entering the temple, which stood up from the middle -of the tank. It had “two rows of columns, like San -Giovanni in Fonte at Rome.” The head Brâhmans first -anointed the heads of the worshippers with oil, and then -burned incense, with elaborate ritual, and offered the -sacrifice of a cock at an altar laden with flowers. “At -one end of the altar is a Satan, which all go up to worship, -and then depart, each on his own way.”</p> - -<p>Early in the morning, it is the duty of the Brâhman to -bathe in a tank of still water, and then to wash the idols -with perfumed water; after which he burns incense before -them; nor does the Zamorin eat of food that has not -first been presented to the god. “Then the Brâhmans -lie flat on the ground, but in a secret manner, and they -do roll their eyes in a devilish way, and twist their mouths -horribly for the space of a quarter of an hour; and then -the time to eat is come. And men eat of food which has -been cooked by men; but the women cook for themselves.”</p> - -<p>Varthema’s account of the manners and habits of -Southern India is neither so wholly accurate nor arranged -with such lucidity as Hiuen-Tsiang’s record of the region -of Ganges and Jumna, written nine centuries before. -Nor does Southern India present us with such a high -civilization as does the empire of Sîlâditya. But Varthema -makes few statements that are not confirmed by other -early travellers, and his record bears ample witness to a -shrewd, observant eye and honest enquiry. He describes -the Brâhmans; the Nairs, or warrior-caste; the artizans -and other castes of the Malabar Coast. We learn that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">215</a></span> -no one of the two lowest castes may approach a Brâhman -within fifty paces “unless he bid him do so”; wherefore -they shout a warning as they pass along, and take private -paths through the marshes, for, should they not cry -aloud, and should any of the Nairs meet them, they may -be killed by him, and no punishment follow thereupon.</p> - -<p>The Nairs “eat no flesh without sanction from the -Brâhmans; but other castes eat all manner of flesh, saving -that of the cow.” The lower castes “eat mice and fish -dried in the sun.” All sit on the ground at meals; and -the upper castes use the leaf of a tree to scoop up their -food from metal bowls; while the lower castes make balls -of rice and take it by the hand from a pipkin. All castes -and both sexes wear a cotton loin-cloth only. The lowest -sort of people suckle their children for three months only, -and then feed them on milk night and morning. “And -when they have stuffed them therewith, they do not -wash them, but cast them into the sand, where they lie -until evening. As they are nearly black, one cannot -tell whether they be little bears or buffaloes; and they look -as if they were fed by the Devil.”</p> - -<p>Justice was admirably administered—a characteristic -of Hîndustân noticed and praised by Greeks, Romans, -Arabians, and all travellers. In fact, life and property -were fairly safe throughout all civilized Asia. Creditors, -on proof of claim, drew a circle round their debtor with -a green bough, and within this he must remain until he -pay or perish. Should he leave the circle, his life was -forfeit to the Zamorin. Murder was punished by impalement; -wilful injury to another by fine. Traders -transacted business by secret negotiation under a coverlet, -certain signs being made with the fingers.</p> - -<p>When a man is sick, he is visited by a dozen men, -“dressed like devils,” who are accompanied by players -on divers instruments. “These physicians carry fire in -their mouths,” and go about on stilts fixed to their hands -and feet; and so they go shouting and sounding the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">216</a></span> -music; so that truly they would make a hale man fall -to the ground for fear at the sight of these ugly beasts. -They force ginger juice on the sick; and, in three days, -he is well again—cured in the main, one may surmise, -by workings of belief on his expectant imagination. -Abracadabra is a useful and time honoured ally to the -learned professions. The spirits which preside over the -fertility of rice are propitiated in a similar manner by -the same men. “When the Nairs die, their bodies are -burned with much pomp, and some among them keep the -ashes; but common folk are buried within the house or -garden.”</p> - -<p>Varthema tells us of certain social customs which persist -to this day in Southern India. The caste or tribe of Nairs -who preponderate there, maintain to-day the institutions -of their ancestors before history began. Marriage is -acknowledged to be the least stable and most diversified -of all human institutions; but the Nairs retain more than -a trace of the matriarchate and of the polyandry which -was associated with the matriarchate. They count descent -through the children of sisters only; and marriage is with -them the loosest of ties; it involves no responsibility -towards the woman or her child. Again the worship -of the snake, and, for obvious reasons, of the cobra in -particular, throughout India is a remnant of phallic worship. -Let us hear what Varthema has to tell us of a state of -society which exhibits a stage in the slow and fluctuating -course of moral development from primitive promiscuity -to the high moral standard extolled, if not completely -attained, by the Christian West. There was a habit -which is still regarded in many parts of the world as the -seal of amity and the highest possible honour which a -man can bestow on a friend. “The Pagans exchange -their wives.” Indeed, they bestowed them on a friend -with all the ready generosity of Cato the Censor to -Hortensius. “And when the King takes to himself a -wife, he chooses among the most worthy and honourable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">217</a></span> -of the Brâhmans” him to whom shall be accorded the -<i>jus primae noctis</i>. The Brâhman affects unwillingness -“and the king must pay him four or five hundred ducats.” -Here, almost for certain, we have a vestige of old phallic -worship. When the king is journeying, he passes on his -matrimonial privileges to a Brâhman. Among the inferior -castes, “one woman has five, six, and seven husbands, -and even eight.... The children go according to the word -of the woman.” “The son of one of the sisters of the late -king follows him on the throne.” As to serpent-worship, -“you must know that, when the King of Calicut has word -as to the place where a nest of any of these vile animals -is to be found, he has a little house builded over it for -water.<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">20</a> And, if anyone should kill one of these animals -or a cow, he would be put to death. They say that these -serpents are divine spirits; and that, if they were not -spirits, God would not have bestowed on them so great -power that, by biting a man but a little, he shall fall -headlong and straightway die.” “And when these -Pagans go a journeying, it is held for good luck to meet -one of these creatures.... There are however, great -enchanters: we have seen them grasp deadly serpents.”</p> - -<p>The Zamorin “wore so many jewels in his ears and on -his hands, arms, legs and feet, that here was a marvel -to behold.” His treasury held the immense collection -of many previous reigns, stored up for time of need. But -that recent scourge of mankind, which spread so rapidly -over the world, and which every nation called by the -name of a neighbouring nation, had already reached India; -this magnificent monarch had “the French disease in -the throat.”</p> - -<p>When the King eats, Brâhmans, stand around him, -at a space of three or four steps distant, bending the back, -and holding the hands before the month. When the -King speaks, there is silence, and much reverence is paid -to his words.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">218</a></span></p> - -<p>In the warfare between the States of Southern India, -an economy of bloodshed was observed which would have -done credit to those Italian warriors of whom Machiavelli -tells how the condottiere captain was circumspect to -save his men, and the foughten field remained almost -as bloodless as a chessboard. The Princes went forth to -battle with great armies of foot-soldiery and elephants -(but no cavalry), armed with swords, lances, bows and -arrows, and furnished with shields. But when battle -was joined, and the armies were distant from one another -as far as two cross-bows’ shots might carry, Brâhmans -were ordered by one King to go to his royal foe, and ask -that a hundred Nairs should fight on either side. Then -the selected Nairs would meet midway between the two -armies and fight by established rule—“two strokes to -the head and one at the legs; and this though they should -fight for three days. And when from four to six on either -side are slain, the Brâhmans go straightway into their -midst, and make both sides return to their encampments.” -Then the kings were wont to employ the Brâhmans again -to bear messages, one to another, asking if that were enough, -or more were wished for. “The Brâhman says ‘no.’ -And the enemy says the same. Thus do they do battle -together; an hundred set against an hundred.”</p> - -<p>Varthema tells us of the habit of betel-chewing and gives -us many other details of the life and manners of the people; -of their skill as workmen; of their wretched shipping -and of their poor navigation. He had the naturalist’s -eye, and tells us much of the animals and plants of the -district. He describes the crocodile as a “kind of reptile, -as big as a boar, but with a greater head; it has four feet, -and is four cubits long. It is engendered in certain -marshes. The natives say it is without venom; but an -evil beast; doing evil to folk by its bite.”</p> - -<p>The Persian merchant had avowed that his desire -was to travel, and not to trade, for he had enough; but -all the same, he was sufficiently eager to find good markets.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">219</a></span> -“My comrade,” whose name is now spelled somewhat -differently—Cazazionor becomes Cogiazenor—“being unable -to sell his wares for that the trade of Calicut was -ruined at the hands of the King of Portugal; for the -merchants that were wont to hie thither were not there, -nor did they come; we set forth, taking the way of a river, -which is the most beautiful I have ever seen, and came -to a city called Cacolon, fifty leagues distant.” This -“river”-way was by the Backwater of Cochin.</p> - -<p>Cacolon, like so many places visited by our traveller -is not to be found on a modern map, but was a mart of -some importance in its day, “because of pepper of the best -which grows in these parts.” Here dwelt a few native -Christians “of St. Thomas, some of whom were merchants, -believing in Christ.” A little later on Varthema’s journey, -he is told of the tomb of the Apostle, “guarded by -Christians.” That St. Thomas was the first missionary -to India, and that he was martyred there is an ancient -tradition. William of Malmesbury tells us in his -“Chronicles of the Kings of England” how “Alfred sent -many presents over sea to Rome and St. Thomas in India. -Sighelm, bishop of Sherborne, sent ambassadors for this -purpose, who penetrated successfully into India: a matter -of astonishment even in the present time.” The legend -concerning St. Thomas is however not earlier than the -Fourth Century. Earlier tradition makes him the evangelist -of Parthia; and St. Thomas was probably confused with -one Thomas, a bishop, who arrived on the Malabar coast -in the middle of the Fourth Century. The shrine of the -saint is in a suburb of Madras. Indian Christianity was -an offshoot of Syrian Gnosticism, and Indian Christians -were subject to the authority of the Nestorian Patriarch -at Mesopotamia. “These Christians say,” writes Varthema, -“that a priest comes from Babylon every three years to -baptize them.”</p> - -<p>The next place reached by the travellers was Quilon -in Travancore, the port of a powerful little kingdom<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">220</a></span> -“for ever at war with others.... At that time the king -of this city was the friend of the King of Portugal, but -we did not think it well to remain there, for he was fighting -others.” The contentions of these petty sovereigns with -each other gave the Portuguese the opportunity which has -always offered itself to the invaders of India, and which -they have never been slow to seize.</p> - -<p>From Quilon, they sailed to the south, touched at a -place where there was a pearl fishery, rounded the “head -of India,” and arrived at a port of the Carnatic, which -Varthema calls Coromandel. The King of Coromandel -was also at war with a neighbour, so Cazazionor and other -merchants hired a “sampan,” or flat-bottomed boat, -and, “at great peril, by reason of many rocks and shoals,” -sailed from the Coromandel coast and reached Ceylon.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">221</a></span></p> - - - - -<h3>CHAPTER VIII.<br /><br /> - -<small>FARTHER INDIA, MALAYSIA AND THE BANDA -ISLANDS.</small></h3> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Alas!</span> the visit was of little profit. As in Ibn Batûta’s -time, nearly two centuries before, the island was divided -between four kings, and “for that they were waging fierce -war with each other, we could not tarry long time there.” -Another reason for the short stay made in Ceylon was that -Cazazionor got alarmed at false information concerning -the good faith of one of the Kings to whom he was to -carry his corals and saffron. This was given him by one -of the Moorish traders who were settled in the ports -of the island. This gentleman had the same kind of goods -to dispose of as Cazazionor, and contrived to hoodwink -the Persian with a commercial astuteness and subtlety -worthy of a later age. Afraid that one of the kings would -contrive to “convey” his merchandise he departed in -haste, and Varthema with him.</p> - -<p>The latter made marvellous use of eye and ear during -his few days’ stay in Ceylon. He draws an admirable -picture of the people, the climate, the cinnamon, the rich -fruits and other vegetable produce, the roses and other -flowers, the immense herds of elephants and the big rubies -of the island. He was told of the impression of Adam’s -foot on a high peak, but had no time to visit it, even -had the fighting then going on allowed of it. It shows -how feeble was the authority of an Indian overlord, and how -little supreme sovereignty was concerned with matters other -than tribute, that the warring Râjas were the subjects -of the Râja of Narsinga, “because of rice, which is brought -from the mainland.” “Some have lances of cane and swords, -and they fight together with these; but they do not -slaughter each other over much; for they are cowards.”</p> - -<p>Three days rowing brought them to Pulicat, a town a -little north of Madras. They abode with a Moorish -trader, who eagerly bought the large store of corals, saffron,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">222</a></span> -figured velvet and knives Cazazionor had with him. -“As this land was waging fierce war with the King of -Tarnassari, we were not able to stay very long. After -a few days we set sail for the city of Tarnassari, which -is at a thousand miles distance from here. And we arrived -there in fourteen days.” In fact, they sailed across the -Bay of Bengal to Tenasserim, a fertile province of the -Malay Peninsula, at that time tributary to Siam. We -find that the Râja “is a most powerful lord and is for ever -at war with the King of Narsinga and the King of Bengal. -He has an hundred elephants in armour, which are the -largest I have ever seen. He keeps an army of 100,000 -men, part on foot, part on horse, ready for war. They -are armed with small swords and shields, some of which -are made of the shell of the tortoise and some are like -those used in Calicut; and they have store of bows and of -lances, some of which are of cane and some of wood. -When they go to war they wear a garment much stuffed -with cotton.... Much silk is made there.” As usual, -the domesticated and wild animals are described. Varthema -was much surprised at the size of the cocks and hens. -“In this land we took great pleasure from some of the things -which we saw, and, in particular, at the Moorish traders -making some cocks fight every day in the streets where -they dwell; and the owners will wage even to a hundred -ducats as to which will prove to fight best. And we saw -two which fought five hours on end, so that, when it was -over, both of them lay dead.”</p> - -<p>Tenasserim retained traces of phallic worship to an -even greater degree than Calicut did. The extreme mark -of friendship, so far as the <i>jus primae noctis</i> was concerned, -was extended to every visitor, preference being given to -white men from all lands; “for,” says Varthema of the -natives, “they are a most liberal and agreeable people.” -Yet, this obligation fulfilled, the husbands were most -jealous of their wives, and whosoever should attempt to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">223</a></span> -maintain relations with them would “put his life in -jeopardy.”</p> - -<p>At dead of night, the corpses “of every Brâhman and -of the king are burned, with solemn sacrifice to the devil. -And they keep the ashes in vessels of earth, baked into -a kind of glass, with narrow mouths. Such a vessel, -with the ashes therein, is buried within the house. The -sacrifice is made under trees, as at Calicut. And the fire -is fed with all the perfumes that can be gotten ... together -with coral. And while the body is burning, all -the music in the city is sounded; and fifteen or twenty -men, who are dressed as devils, stand there, with much -rejoicing. And the wife is there, making very great -lamentation; but no other woman.” Here Varthema -saw the horrible practice of Suttee. He tells us of another -custom which strangely recalls the Romantic Service -of Love in the days of Provençal minstrelsy. A passionate -youth will burn his naked arm severely to prove to his -mistress “that he loves her and that he is ready to do -any great deed for her.”</p> - -<p>“As to the manner of refection in this city, the Pagans -eat all flesh, saving that of the ox, and eat on the ground -from very beautiful vessels of wood, without a coverlet. -They drink water, sweetened if it may be. They sleep -on high beds of good cotton, with coverlets of silk or -cotton. They wear a robe, with a quilt of cotton or -silk.... Their ears are full of jewels; but of these the -fingers are bare.”</p> - -<p>We find that the son of the King succeeded to his father’s -throne here; and not the sister’s son, as in Southern -India. Deeds conveying property were written on paper -instead of palm leaves. The bodies of Moorish traders -who were unhappy enough to die here were first embalmed, -and then buried, with the head turned towards Mecca. -We are told of the flat-bottomed boat, the double canoe, -and the junk; the latter carried small boats to Malacca,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">224</a></span> -where they were unshipped and sailed on to the Spice -Islands.</p> - -<p>Cazazionor was able to dispose of some of his goods -at Tenasserim; and then he and Varthema took ship -for Bengal. Eleven days of fair wind bore them across -the Bay of Bengal to a city which the ever whirling wheel -of change has borne away, and the very site of which -is indicated only on some ancient and imperfect map. -Banghella was one of the first ports and one of the first -cities of the age, situate on one of the mouths of the treacherous -Ganges—a river of shifting currents and disappearing -shores. Its Sultan was a Mohammedan, for ever at war -with the Hindu Râja of Narsinga. “Here,” says our -traveller, “are the richest traders I have ever met with. -Every year, fifty ships are laden with stuffs of cotton or -silk ... and these goods go throughout Turkey, Syria, -Persia, Arabia Felix, Ethiopia, and India. Here also -are many merchants of jewels from other lands.... The -stuffs aforesaid are woven, not by women, but by men.” -Like Ibn Batûta, he found Bengal the cheapest place -to live in of the whole world.</p> - -<p>The records of old pilgrims and travellers are a riot of -surprise. Not one of the least unsuspected of Varthema’s -adventures is his dropping here on Christian traders, who -came from a Chinese city, which probably lay north of -Pekin. “They had brought silken stuffs, aloes-wood, -benzoin, and musk; and said that in their land were many -Christian lords, subject to the great Khân of Cathay”—that -is to say, to the Emperor of China. The reader will -remember that the Chinese Government pronounced -Christianity to be a satisfactory faith in Hiuen-Tsiang’s -time. Fra Oderico tells us of the considerable number -of Christians in China during the early years of the Fourteenth -Century. Probably the Christian Chinese whom -Varthema came across were Nestorians; strange products -of the wasted subtlety of the Greek mind during its -theological degeneracy; followers of the heretic Nestorius,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">225</a></span> -who upheld that two natures, the human and divine, -were in Christ’s body, but separate from one another. -We may hope that, after so many centuries, such problems -had ceased to perplex the good Christians of far-off Cathay. -They said that their home was at Sarnau, a place probably -identical with the Sanay or Sandoy of Fra Oderico. They -wore their native silken breeches and red-cloth caps -studded with jewels—a proof of the safety of the city-street -and of the highways from land to land under Eastern -despotism.</p> - -<p>Men are not wont to carry the bitterness of religious -prejudice into the market, where mundane profit is at -stake; and Cazazionor, the Moslem; Varthema, the -Catholic renegade; and the Nestorian heretics seem to have -hobnobbed together very amicably. The latter were on -their way to Burma, and told Cazazionor that there he -might exchange some very fine branches of coral he had -for rubies which would sell in Turkey for ten times as much. -They proposed that our travellers should go on with them. -So Cazazionor sold off all his merchandise, with the -exception of “corals, saffron, and two pieces of cloth of -Florence of a rose colour.... We departed from that -place with the aforesaid Christians, and voyaged towards -a city which is called Pego (Pegu), distant from Banghella -some thousand miles.”</p> - -<p>Now the King of Burma, being at war with the King -of Ava, was away with his army. The party chartered a -long dug-out canoe, and followed him; hoping to induce -him to purchase. But they were forced to return, owing -to the war; and five days afterwards the King of Burma, -having gained a victory, returned to Pegu.</p> - -<p>The very next day, the Chinamen, who, it would seem, -had had previous dealings with the King, visited him, -and were told to return two days later, “for that, the next -day, he must sacrifice to the devil for having triumphed. -When the time named had passed, directly the King had -eaten, he sent for the aforenamed Christians and for my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">226</a></span> -companion to bring the merchandise before him.” They -found the Râja magnificently set in jewels: his head, -limbs, fingers, and even all his toes sparkled with precious -stones; jewelled ear-rings dragged down the lobes of his -ears to the length of half a palm, and the rubies on him -“were more than the value of a very great city.... At -night-time he shone like the sun.” Yet this resplendent -monarch was “so entirely human and homely that a child -might speak to him.”</p> - -<p>Then Cazazionor and other merchants who would seem -to have become his partners in this business of the corals, -uncovered them. The monarch was so unbusinesslike, -or allowed himself to behave so indiscretely, as to show -enthusiasm at the sight of such magnificent coral-branches; -“and truly there were two of these the like of which had -never come to India before.” Now begins an Oriental -comedy, wherein the trader shall simulate munificence, -and extract tenfold from the monarch by craftily working -on his natural generosity or regal pride.</p> - -<p>The King asked if the corals were for sale. The reply -was that they were at his service. The King sighed that -war had emptied his treasury; but he was willing to barter -rubies for the corals. “We made him learn through these -Christians that all we desired was his friendship: let him -take the goods and do as pleased him. He answered: -‘I know that Persians are a free-handed people; yet did -I never see one so free-handed as this man’; and he swore -by God and the Devil that he would see which should -excel in generosity, he or a Persian.” So he ordered a -casket of rubies to be brought in, and commanded -Cazazionor to choose those he would like to have. “My -companion answered: ‘O sire, you show me so much -benevolence that, by my faith in Mohammed, all these -things are a present, which I offer you. And understand, -sire, that I journey about the world not to gather merchandise, -but merely to see the different races of men and their -ways.’ The King replied: ‘I cannot overcome you in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">227</a></span> -generosity, but take this which I give you.’ And so he -took a large handful of rubies from each of the (six) -divisions of the casket aforesaid, and gave them, saying, -‘Take these for the generosity which you have shown -towards me.’ And in like manner, he gave two rubies -each to the Christians aforesaid ... which were worth -about 1,000 ducats; and those of my companion were -given a value of 100,000 ducats.” The Chinamen were -apparently content with a commission of one per cent., -for nothing is said of the vendor paying any. “Wherefore,” -Varthema continues, “by this, the King may be judged -to be the most free-handed ruler in the world; and his -income is of about a million a year in gold,” derived from -lac, cotton, silk, and valuable woods; and this he spent -on his army.</p> - -<p>The King gave the travellers free quarters which they -occupied five days; when there came news that war had -again broken out with Ava. So, having seen the burning -of two widows, and other sights of Pegu, and found the -Burmese “very fleshly,” the Chinamen, Cazazionor and -Varthema embarked for Malacca.</p> - -<p>It is possible that Varthema was not the very first -European to visit the city which had become the most -important port in Eastern waters; but it is certain that -he was the very first European to describe it. It had -taken the place of Calicut; it was nearer the sources of -supply; the enterprising Arab had settled there and ruled -the city, subject to the payment of a tribute to the King -of Siam; and the recent descent of the Portuguese on -the coast of Malabar had increased its importance. Here -were to be found the huge, unwieldy junks of China—those -floating towns, with gardens blossoming on their -decks—for there was no longer need for them to creep -through the straits and take the perils of the Indian -Ocean; and the most halcyon of summer seas is never to be -quite trusted. Malacca was a cheaper market than -Calicut; and hither were sent the drugs, dyes, perfumes,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">228</a></span> -and spices, the precious woods and other productions -of China, Banda, the Phillipines, Siam, the Moluccas, -Borneo, Java, and Sumatra. “Verily,” writes Varthema, -“I believe that more ships sail hither than to any other -port in the world.” He remarks on the infertility of the -soil; but speaks of the wealth of Malacca in sandal-wood -and tin. The travellers were presented to the Moorish -Sultan, who had appointed a Governor to do justice; -but the inhabitants at that time were Javanese. “They -take the law into their own hands; and are the vilest -race ever created on earth. When the Sultan shall hinder, -they say that they will no longer dwell on land, for that they -are sea-farers”—that is to say they were quite able and -ready to make a new settlement. “One may not go about -here when it grows dark; for folk are killed as if they -were so many dogs; and all the traders who come here -sleep in their ships.” There was no market for jewels here; -and the Chinamen, who still acted as guides to our travellers, -advised them to be off. So a junk was hired, and the whole -party turned back through the Straits for Pider, on the -northern coast of Sumatra.</p> - -<p>We are told that the natives of Sumatra were far from -being a bellicose race. They were eager traders, very -friendly to foreigners, excellent swimmers, and skilful -in filigree work. “There were three crowned Pagan -Kings; and their religion, way of life, dress, and habits -are the same as at Tenasserim; moreover, the wives also -are burned alive.” The houses were roofed with the -shells of gigantic sea-turtles; and the ships were three-masted, -with a prow fore and aft. Here were huge herds -of elephants, finer than any he had seen; and the land -was productive of long-pepper, benzoin, different kinds -of perfumed wood and the silk-worm.</p> - -<p>The Chinamen now became anxious to return to their -own country; but Cazazionor wanted to see the land of -nutmeg and clove: could they get there in safety? The -Christians replied that they need fear no robbers; but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">229</a></span> -there remained the chances of the sea; the island could -not be reached in a large ship; a sampan must be bought. -Two sampans were purchased, manned, and provisioned; -and then the wily Persian who wished to keep the Christians -as guides, began to work on them. “‘O dearest friends,’ -said he, ‘although we be not of your race, we are all -sons of Adam. Will you leave me and this other man, -my companion, one who was born in your faith?’ ‘In -our faith? Is not your companion a Persian?’ ‘He -is a Persian now, because he was bought at Jerusalem.’” -Whether this statement was a convenient lie, told by -Varthema to Cazazionor, or was the calculated fabrication -of the latter is not apparent; but it was effective; for -“the Christians, hearing the name of Jerusalem, at once -lifted up their hands towards Heaven; and kissed the -ground thrice, and asked when I was sold at Jerusalem. -We answered: ‘When I was fifteen years old.’” The -Chinamen thought that Varthema must remember his -native land, and Cazazionor at once saw his opportunity -and used it. Quoth he: “‘He does indeed remember it. -For months my sole delight has been in listening to the -things he told me thereof; and he has taught me the -words for the parts of the body and for different sorts of -food.’” This settled the matter. The Christians consented -to go on with them; and if Varthema would return to -China with them, he might remain a Mohommedan, and -they would make a rich man of him. “‘Nay,’ said -Cazazionor, ‘I am much pleased to have your company; -but he may not remain with you: for, out of the love -I bear to him, I have given my niece to be his wife.’” -A money-bargain settled the question; in two days, the -Sampan was ready. “We put many kinds of food on -board; and, in particular, the most toothsome fruits I -ever tasted; and took our course to the island of Banda.”</p> - -<p>Not even Marco Polo or Fra Oderico had ventured -so far towards the rising sun. Varthema was the very -first of European travellers to reach the Spice Islands.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">230</a></span> -One of those who “cannot rest from travel, but must -drink life to the lees,” he might, had he been a better -lettered man, have quoted the lines of his own great -countryman:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="line i05">“Ma misi me per l’alto mare aperto</div> -<div class="line">Sol con un legno e con quella compagna</div> -<div class="line">Picciola dalla qual non fui deserto.”</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>(“I put forth on the deep open sea, in but a single -ship, and with that little band that had not deserted me.”) -But if Varthema is no scholar, is he not for ever revealing -himself as a single-minded, enthusiastic traveller; an -excellent actor, and quite able to live up to his part, a -man of sound judgment, native wit, sly humour, and -pronouncedly brave; direct and unflinching of purpose; -a little vainglorious, yet discrete?</p> - -<p>The comrades traversed the landlocked straits of -Malacca and the Java and Banda seas, and after fifteen -days found themselves on an ugly, gloomy, and flat island, -where dwelt “a beastly kind of men, without king or -even governor.... The administration of justice is -not needed; for the natives are so stupid that they could -not do evil if they would. They are pagans.” Such was -this specimen of the Nutmeg Islands. Two day spent -here was more than enough for our travellers; so they -set sail for the Moluccas—the Clove Islands—and found -“the people even viler than those of Banda, but whiter; -and the air is a little cooler.” We have a full description -of the clove tree and are told that cloves were sold by -measure, “for they understood not weights. We were -now wishful to change to another land, in order to learn -new things and all about them.” So Borneo was steered -for; and, on the voyage, the Chinamen took delight in -questioning Varthema concerning Christians and their -faith. “And when I told them of the impress of our -Saviour’s face, which is in St. Peter’s, and of the heads -of St. Peter and St. Paul and many other saints, they -advised me in secret that if I would go with them, I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">231</a></span> -should be a very great lord, because I had seen these -things. But I doubted if, after I had been led thither -I should ever come to my own land again; and therefore -I kept me back from going.” Varthema does not think -of his indebtedness to his generous Persian host; he has -no use for the inconvenient fidelities of friendship or the -costly coercion of gratitude; such altruistic weakness -did not afflict the men of the Renaissance; “ma per sè -foro”—“they were for themselves.”</p> - -<p>The temptation to visit China must have been strong -for a man of Varthema’s spirit. A few missionary friars -had reached Mongolia in the thirteenth century, a very -few bold spirits had penetrated Asia as far as China at -the end of that and the beginning of the next century; -and Tartars kept up some commercial intercourse between -Europe and China a little later. But when the great -Tartar Empire fell into decay, and the Moslem recovered -his grip of Central Asia, intercourse between West and -Farthest East became impossible. The few missionaries -who set forth for the Celestial Empire never returned, -and China became a shadow and a name to Christian -Europe. But it would be no easy matter for Varthema -to slip away from the Persian just here and now; the -difficulty of ever returning from China, even should he -reach it, would indeed prove a formidable problem; and -we may suspect, too, that the hardships of the voyage -and the heat and discomforts of the climate were beginning -to tell on Varthema’s iron nerve.</p> - -<p>He found the natives of Borneo to be “Pagans, and good -folk.... Every year much camphor is shipped; which -they say is the gum of a tree that grows there. I have -not seen it; and therefore I do not affirm it to be so. Here -my companion hired a ship.... We directed our -course to the very beautiful island called Java; and came -there, always sailing southward, in five days.” On the -voyage, the skipper pointed out the Southern Cross; and -“told us that, to the south, beyond the island aforesaid<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">232</a></span> -(Java) dwell sundry other sorts of men, who steer by these -stars which are set over against ours; and, further, they -made known to us that the daylight stays but four hours -in those parts, and that it is colder there than elsewhere -in the world. Whereat we were much solaced and -gratified.”</p> - -<p>Now, there is no inhabited land to the south of Java -where the shortest day is of four hours only; but the -assertion of the Malay captain reads as if he had visited -Australia, or had gotten some true information concerning -that continent; and bold navigators of Malaysia <i>may</i> have -ventured or been driven much farther over the Southern -Ocean to a very high latitude; or, the statement as to -shortened hours of sunlight and cold <i>may</i> have been a -mere inference from the progressive diminution of the day -and of heat in sailing south. It is said that indications -of the discovery of Australia a very little after Varthema’s -time are to be found on manuscript maps of unknown -authorship. It is interesting to find that the skipper -steered by means of a compass, which was not of Chinese -make, for the magnet pointed to the north; and that he -was provided with a chart intersected by perpendicular -and horizontal lines.</p> - -<p>Java was under the rule of several kings: “some adore -idols as at Calicut; some worship the sun; others, the -moon; many, an ox; very many, the first thing they shall -meet of a morning; yet others, the devil.” Nonetheless, -“I believe the natives to be the most true dealers in the -world.... Some use pipes, from which they blow poisoned -arrows from the mouth; which bear death however little -blood they may draw.... Some eat bread made of corn; -and some eat flesh of sheep or deer or wild pigs; and some -eat fish and fruits. Among the flesh-eaters, when their -fathers become so old as to be past labour, their children -or relatives put them up for sale in the market-place; -and those that buy them kill and eat them cooked. Likewise -if any young man shall fall into any dire sickness; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">233</a></span> -if those that have knowledge deem that he shall die thereof, -the father or brother of the sick one shall slay him; and -they do not wait for him to die. And, having killed him, -they sell him to be eaten of others. We, marvelling at -such a business, some traders of this land, to us: ‘O you -dull Persians, why do you leave such toothsome flesh to -the worms?’ Whereupon, my companion cried out -‘Quick, quick, to the ship; for never again shall these folk -come near me on land.’” This is a strange statement; but -there is abundant evidence as to the prevalence of cannibalism -throughout Malaysia at this period to confirm it. -Yet, says Varthema, “justice was well administered”; -the natives clothed themselves in silk, camelot and cotton -garments; and traded with the gold and copper which their -island furnished abundantly, as well as the finest emeralds -in the world. They were a maritime people and fought -their battles at sea.</p> - -<p>Varthema had lost count of time. It was now the month -of June. He was south of the equator, and had crossed -the ecliptic; and, directed by the Chinamen, he found the -sun casting a shadow in a direction the reverse of that of -northern latitudes. “And thereby we learned how far -we had come from our country, and stood amazed.... -Having seen the manners of the island, we saw no great -reason for remaining there; for we had to keep watch -all night, lest some scoundrel should steal up to us, and -bear us away, and eat us. Wherefore, having called the -Christians, we told them that, as soon as they were ready, -we would return to our land. Before we set off, however, -my comrade bought two emeralds ... and two little -male children with their private parts wholly cut away; -for in this island there is a sort of merchants who follow -no other calling than that of buying little children, from -whom they cut all away, so that they are left as if women.”</p> - -<p>It is obvious that different communities, at varying -stages of civilization, inhabited Java; from “the truest -dealers in the world,” and those who administered justice<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">234</a></span> -well, down to bestial savages. Tales, and perhaps evidence, -of the cruel brutality of the Aborigines, affected the imagination -of Cazazionor and Varthema strongly; they were -not sure that the cannibals, finding themselves in the -close neighbourhood of “Persians,” and therefore quite -unusual visitors to Java, might not be tempted to try -the flavour of a novelty; their Chinese guides, moreover, -had taken them to most of the parts of Malaysia with -which they were acquainted; the softening effect of an -equatorial climate relaxed their desire to push on into -that cold and gloomy region to the south, of which the -Malay skipper had told them; and it would seem that, -out of commercial jealousy or from rude humour, “merchants -of the country” took a pleasure or sought a profit -in playing upon their fears. So they hired a junk, and -sailed boldly over the more open water, along the south-east -coast of Sumatra, rounded the northern extremity -of that great island, and saw Malacca again on the fifteenth -day of voyage.</p> - -<p>Here they stayed three days, while Cazazionor made up -a cargo of spice, perfumes and silk; and here “our Christian -companions stayed on. It were not possible to make -a short history of how they wailed and lamented; so that, -verily, had I not had a wife and children, I had gone -with them” (this is the first and last time that Varthema -mentions the relatively unimportant fact of his being -a yoke-mate and father off the chain). “And likewise, -they said they would have come with us, had they known -how to travel safely.... So they stayed behind, -saying that they would return to Sarnau; and we went -on in our ship to Ciromandel” (Negropotam). Probably -the Chinese would take passage in some junk of the fleet -which came to Malacca every year.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">235</a></span></p> - - - - -<h3>CHAPTER IX.<br /><br /> - -<small>SOME CUNNING MANŒUVRES.</small></h3> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Having</span> unloaded the junk, our travellers chartered a -sampan and sailed to Quilon. Now Varthema was very -silent about the Portuguese at Cochin and Cannanore -when he was on his outward voyage, and indeed he discreetly -avoided them, lest discovery of his nationality -should wreck his purpose. They must have been at -Quilon, too, when he was there before; for the Râja of -the district had welcomed Pedro Alvarez Cabal in 1503, -and permitted the building of a Portuguese factory. -There were now 22 Portuguese settlers in this factory, -which was fortified, of course; and a wave of home-sickness -swept over the traveller: “I greatly desired to escape,” -he says; “but I held on, because they were few in number, -and I was afraid of the Moors; for there were merchants -with us who knew that I had been to Mecca and to the -tomb of the Prophet; and I feared lest they should take -it into their heads that I would uncover their deceits; -so I held me back from running away.” The gist of this -statement is that Varthema feared the Portuguese garrison -was too feeble to undertake the protection of a false -hadji from the fierce resentment which Cazazionor and the -Arab traders would evince. The excuse as to the uncovering -of Mohammedan frauds is but a poor sop to -whatever Christian prejudice might remain in Italy. His -work done, he was on the look out for a really favourable -opportunity of returning to Europe. He had small -dread of failure. He had not lost his nerve in the least, -this son of the Renaissance of so infinite resource, of -such invincible self-confidence and of ability to match; -unshakably resolute when confronted with any peril -that was unavoidable, and deterred by no feeble scruple<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">236</a></span> -when by any means it was possible to evade it; one wholly -sincere in gaining his end—a man of “<i>virtu</i>,” a manful -man, as the Italians of his day termed it.</p> - -<p>After a stay of twelve days at Quilon, the pair voyaged -along the Backwater of Cochin to Calicut, and arrived -there in ten days. There he found two Milanese refugees -who had deserted from the Portuguese ships in which -they had arrived at Cochin. It at once occurred to his -quick brain that he might use these fellow countrymen -of his. “Never had I more joy than in beholding these -two Christians. They and I were going about naked” -(i.e. girt with a loin-cloth only) “after the manner of the -country. I asked them if they were Christians. Joan -Maria answered: ‘Yea, verily.’ Then Piero Antonio -asked me if I were a Christian. I answered: ‘Yea, -praise be to God.’ Then he took me by the hand -and led me to his house. And when we had come thither, -we began to embrace and to kiss each other and to shed -tears. In sooth, I could not speak like a Christian; -my tongue seemed to be unwieldy and hampered; for -I had been four years without speaking to (European) -Christians. I spent the night following with them; -and neither they nor I could eat or sleep, because of our -great joy. You may think how we wished the night -were a whole year, that we might talk together of diverse -matters.” Varthema ascertained that these Milanese -were skilled in the making of ordnance, and had instructed -the natives in their art, which had brought them the -favour of the Zamorin. Hence they feared to return -to a Portuguese settlement and, indeed to attempt to -escape by land. Experience had sharpened Varthema’s -inborn ability at stratagem; and when he returned to -Cazazionor in the morning and was asked where he had -spent the night, he replied: “at the mosque, rendering -thanks to Allah and to Mohammed for the blessing of a -safe return; whereat he (Cazazionor) was much pleased. -And, so that I might learn what was going on in the land,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">237</a></span> -I told him I meant to keep on sleeping at the mosque, -and that I did not hanker after riches, and that I wished -to remain poor. And, wishing to make my escape, I -saw no way but by deceit; for the Mohammedans being -the most stupid of all folk, he was satisfied. And this -I did to be able to talk often with the Christians; for they -had daily word of everything from the court of the King. -I began to act out my deceit, and put on the Moorish saint, -and never would partake of flesh, excepting at the house -of Joan Maria; but there we eat two brace of fowls together -every night. And I would no longer mix with the merchants; -nor did any man see me to smile; and I kept -in the mosque all day, save when he (Cazazionor) sent -for me that I should go eat with him; and he rebuked -me for not eating flesh. Quoth I: ‘Eating overmuch -leads man to sin greatly.’ And so I began to be a Moorish -saint; and the man was happy who might kiss my hand, -and some my knees.”</p> - -<p>Luck was, as usual, on Varthema’s side. A merchant, a -great friend of the Persian, falls sick, and our new <i>Santon</i> -(holy man) is asked to visit him. He and Cazazionor go -to the sick man’s house together; and Varthema assumes -the air of a skilled physician, and puts various medical -questions in the most approved manner. “Then my -companion turned to me and asked: ‘O Jonah, knowest -thou of any medicine for this my friend?’ I answered: -‘My father was a physician in my land, and what I -know is by that practice which he taught me.’” Then -the Persian asked “Jonah” to do his utmost. “‘Then’ -quoth I: ‘In the name of Allah, the Pitiful, the Compassionate -One!’ and felt his pulse, and found him -to be very feverish.’” Questioning the patient in true -professional style “Jonah” found that he was suffering -from some intestinal obstruction. So our physician -administered a series of clysters “which did more harm -than good”; for by a singular blunder he had used -astringent herbs in their preparation, and forgot to warm -the last clyster, which put the patient into agony. Then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">238</a></span> -a scene ensued which is told with Rabelaisan directness -and is as coarsely comical as that pursuit of Monsieur -de Porceaunac by the apothecaries, which delighted the -court of the <i>Grande Monarque</i>. Jonah is a man of resource -and unconquerable force of will; he has his man hoisted -by the heels, and keeps him suspended, hands and head -only touching the ground. The unhappy patient roars -for mercy: “Stop, stop; I am killed, I am killed”; and -Cazazionor exclaims: “O Jonah, is it your practice to -do thus in your land?” Varthema preserves the assurance -of the orthodox physician who cannot err; he asserts -that it is no error, and goes on when the sick man is at -the point of death. This last remedy is efficacious, however, -though it leaves the patient in a painful condition; and -Jonah, who was by no means without some grains of human -compassion, ordered him some excellent remedies and -gave him still better advice. The story which is told -with a strong sense of humour, ends with a prescription -worthy of the famous Abernethy. The patient is restricted -to two meals a day; and is to take a mile of exercise -before each of them; “for these folk eat eight or ten -times a day. This order seemed to him to be without -ruth. However, in the end he was wholly cured ; and -thus my hypocrisy gat me great reputation. They said -that I was the friend of Allah. This merchant would -have me to take ten ducats; but I would take nothing. -I even gave three ducats which I had to the poor; and this -I did openly, so that they might know that I had no desire -for gold or gear. Henceforward, happy was the man -who might give me to eat at his house; happy he who -kissed my hands and feet; and, when anyone kissed my -hands, I played my part, letting him know that, being -a saint, he gave me my desert. But my companion gat me -most credit; for he also had faith in me, and said that -I eat no flesh, and that he had seen me at Mecca and before -the body of Mohammed, that I had always journeyed -with him, that he knew my ways, that I was in verity<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">239</a></span> -a saint, and that, knowing me to be holy and devout, he had -given me one of his nieces to wife. Thus, all men were my well -wishers; and every night I went in secret to the Christians.”</p> - -<p>At last, the Milanese told Varthema that there was -word of twelve Portuguese vessels having arrived at -Cannanore, and advised him to try to get there by land. -He confesses that his courage failed him for an enterprise -so hazardous; “for I might be killed by the Moors, I -being white and they black.” The news was confirmed -by two Persian traders who arrived from Cannanore, and -who were immediately invited by the hospitable Cazazionor -to sit down and eat with him and Varthema, who was -with him at the time. The traders said that the Portuguese -were building a strong fort at Cannanore: “What -kind of people may these Portuguese be?” asked Cazazionor -of Jonah. “I answered: ‘Do not speak of such a people; -for they are robbers and sea-thieves one and all. Would -I could see them all of our Mohammedan faith!’ Whereat -he became very filled with malice; and, privily, I rejoiced.”</p> - -<p>Next day, the Mohammedan traders, fully alive to the -fact that the firm establishment of the Portuguese in -India meant the ruin of their trade, flocked to prayers -at the Mosque, and took Varthema with them. None -but so holy a man should be <i>imam</i> and lead the prayers -on such a grave occasion. So we find him solemnly -reciting the Koran.</p> - -<p>During the next few days, he pretended to be very ill, -and, in answer to Cazazionor’s anxious enquiries, said -he thought that the air of Calicut did not agree with him. -The attachment of the Persian to Varthema was sincere -and deep, and he was not in the least suspicious. He -urged the new-found saint to go to Cannanore until they -should be able to return to Persia together; he had a -friend there who would give him hospitality. Varthema -affected to hesitate “because of those Christians.” -Cazazionor replied that there was no need to fear; he -should remain within the city. “In the end, having<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">240</a></span> -paid good heed to the fleet which was being made -ready at Calicut, and the army which had been mustered -against the Christians, I set out to give them word of -it, and to save me from the hands of dogs.”</p> - -<p>But first he came to a final understanding with the -Milanese. Then there were two dozen Persian, Syrian, -and Turkish merchants with whom he was friendly at -Calicut. Which would be the better course: to take -leave of them, and so, possibly, to set them talking, and -arouse suspicion; or to slip away, and so, if some ill-chance -should stop him, to condemn himself by having observed -secrecy? He decided to be off without speaking about -it to any one except Cazazionor and his two friends who -were about to return to Cannanore. So, early one morning, -he set out in a boat with these two Persian merchants -who kept silence about their journey because they were -trying to evade the export-duties levied by the Zamorin. -But their little bark had only got a bow-shot from the -shore, when Nairs shouted to the skipper to return at -once. They demanded by what right he was carrying -Varthema off without sanction. “The Persians answered: -‘this man is a Moorish saint; and we are going to Cannanore.’ -‘We know full well that he is a Moorish saint,’ -replied the Nairs; ‘but he understands the tongue of the -Portuguese, and will tell them of all that we are doing; -for a great fleet is being made ready;’ and they laid strict -command on the captain of the ship that he should not -give me passage; and he went by it. We stayed on the -beach; and the Nairs went back to the King’s house. -One of the Persians said: ‘Let us go to our lodging,’ -that is, to Calicut. I said ‘Do not go back; for you -will lose these fine pieces of cloth, seeing that you have -not paid dues to the King.’ The other Persian said, -‘O sir, what shall we do?’ I answered ‘Let us go along -the shore until we shall find a <i>prau</i>,’ which is to say, a -small bark; and they fell in with this; and we went twelve -miles of march, laden with the goods aforesaid. You<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">241</a></span> -can figure to yourself how my heart beat at finding me in -so great danger. At last, we found a <i>prau</i>, which bore us -to Cannanore.”</p> - -<p>He immediately went to Cazazionor’s friend with his -letter of introduction, wherein was a request that “Jonah,” -who was a saint, and about to become a relation, should -be entertained as if he were the writer, until such time -as he should arrive. The merchant laid the letter on his -head, and vowed that he would answer for his guest with -that organ. A feast was prepared; but, alas! the ascetic -saint, however resourceful and however hungry after -the journey and its perils, must keep to his rôle, and could -only look on—a Tantalus of the Sixteenth Century. -The repast finished, the company took a little walk by -the sea, and Varthema marked where the fortress of the -Portuguese was a building, and resolved to try for liberty -the very next day.</p> - -<p>He was up early in the morning, and expressed a desire -to stroll about. The Persians said: “Go where you -please”; but they went with him. He contrived to lead -them in the direction of the fort and to get a little ahead -of them. Happening to come across two Portuguese, -he declared himself to be an escaped Christian; and one -of them immediately hastened back to the fort, taking -Varthema with him. Lorenzo de Almeyda, son of the -Viceroy and Commandant of the fort was at breakfast. -Varthema cast himself on his knees before him and besought -protection. Just at this instant, the hubbub at -Cannanore, which arose on the discovery of Varthema’s -escape, dinned in their ears. The artillerymen made -ready; but everything quieted down; and Varthema -revealed the preparations for war which were being made -at Calicut. Lorenzo de Almeyda sent him to his father -Don Francisco, the Viceroy, who was at Cochin, where the -Portuguese had supported a revolting tributary, and made -themselves masters of a little State.</p> - -<p>The Viceroy, delighted at getting accurate word of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">242</a></span> -the designs in progress at Calicut, gave a very favourable -audience to the refugee.</p> - -<p>Varthema was quite sensible of the generous hospitality -and sincere affection which Cazazionor had bestowed -on him. He not merely mentions, but reiterates the fact. -Yet he exhibits not the smallest compunction at having -tricked and deserted him. All moral obligation was -as a feather, when weighed against the achievement of -personal freedom and that self-fulfilment which was the -goal of the Italian of his period. One wonders what were -the sentiments of that deluded and forsaken friend. As -for Varthema, once more among Europeans, and those -Europeans of a cognate race, he absorbs their prejudice -against Orientals and “Moslem dogs”; and one realizes -how deeper even than to-day, and how impassable, was -the gulf which separated East from West. It is to his -credit that he faithfully fulfilled his promise to Joan Maria -and Piero Antonio; he obtained a pardon and safe-conduct -for them from the Viceroy, and a promise as to their -safety from all officials who might put an obstacle in the -way. To induce the Viceroy to grant a pardon was easy; -for that dignitary was aware that he was likely to deprive -the foe of two artillerymen and add them to his own forces; -moreover he would learn much from the intermediary -messengers who were to be sent to them. On Varthema’s -return to Cannanore, he found a serviceable Hindu, whom -he sent five times to the two Milanese, holding his wife -and children as a pledge of faithful service. The Milanese -were instructed to say not one single word to their wives, -who were natives, or to their slaves; but to leave these -behind them, and steal off, at dead of night, with what -money and valuable jewels they could bring with them. -All was arranged; but a slave had been stealthily watching -his master’s doings; he went to the Zamorin, and told his -tale. The Zamorin refused to credit it; but put a guard -over the Milanese. The slave, who probably was filled -with a spirit of revenge, for which he may have had good<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">243</a></span> -cause, next went to the Moorish Cadi. The enraged -traders, when the secret doings of the Milanese were -made known to them, collected a hundred ducats and sent -this to the “King of the Yogis,” or ascetic Fakirs. Presently, -the homes of the Christians were surrounded by -a mob of Hindu devotees, sounding horns, and yelling -for alms. “They want more than alms,” said the unhappy -men. The fanatics rushed the houses; and, although the -two Europeans fought desperately for their lives, they were -slaughtered; yet not before six Yogis lay dead at their -feet, and forty were wounded. It was reported that the -infuriated Hindus cut their throats when they had overwhelmed -them and drank their blood.</p> - -<p>Somehow, the native wife of Joan Maria contrived -to escape from Calicut, and made her way to Cannanore, -bringing her little son with her. Varthema, although -he had left his Persian benefactor without a sigh, was -touched at the condition of the little half-caste. He -remembered the aid which the Milanese had given him -and the pleasant nights they had spent together; and -the tragedy which had ensued on their intercourse pierced -his feelings. He became the guardian of his friend’s son, -purchasing him for eight ducats in gold, and getting him -duly baptized. But the little fellow was fatally infected -with the new scourge, which it would seem the Portuguese -had brought with them to the East, and he died exactly -a year after baptism. “I have seen this scath three -thousand miles beyond Calicut,” says Varthema; “and -it is said that it began about seventeen years aforetime; -and that it is far worse than ours.”</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">244</a></span></p> - - - - -<h3>CHAPTER X.<br /><br /> - -<small>WAR BY LAND AND SEA</small></h3> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Albeit</span> sheltered by a cognate Latin people, our traveller -had by no means found a haven of perfect safety. In -a few days, we find him taking his part in a great sea-fight -between the Portuguese fleet of eleven ships (of -which two were galleons and one a brigantine), commanded -by Don Francisco de Almeyda, and the great Indian fleet -of two hundred and nine sail, which had gathered together -from all those parts of the Malabar coast which remained -in the hands of the Mohammedan traders. But only -eighty-four ships of the Mohammedan fleet were large -sail; the rest being <i>praus</i>, mainly propelled by the oar. -Nor were they all meant to fight: many of them were -traders under convoy. As they approached, “it was -as if one looked on a very big wood.” Varthema, restored -to western civilization and Christianity, is borne away -by the inexorable spirit of the Portuguese sea-dogs. -Never saw he braver men and he is with them in their -prayers to God “to confound the heathen faith.” He -tells us how the Admiral incited his men, by the passion -of Christ, to thrust at these dogs; for this is the day which -shall cleanse them from their sins; and how the Spiritual -Father, crucifix in hand, exhorted them in language -so beautiful that the graceless men shed tears. All received -absolution, and then the Admiral sailed past two galleons -of the foe, firing broadsides into them to find out of what -mettle they were. Nothing further happened that day; -and next morning, the Moorish Admiral made certain -overtures to be allowed to pass by in peace. “Sail by if -you can,” was the reply of the Portuguese Admiral; “but -first learn what manner of men we Christians be.” -“Mohammed is our trust against you Christians,” retorted -the Moors, and then they crowded all sail and plied the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">245</a></span> -oar. Don Francisco de Almeyda let them come on until -they were immediately off Cannanore; “‘for he wished -the ruler of the city to see what stuff Christians were -made of’.... And when the time to eat had come, -the wind freshened somewhat and our Captain said: -‘now, up, my brothers; now is the time,’ and sailed for -the two biggest ships.” The Moorish fleet struck up all -kinds of weird, inspiriting music while the fleets met. -Thrice did Almeyda’s men cast their grappling-irons -on the largest galleon, and thrice they failed; but the -fourth attempt was a success. The retaliatory cruelties -of the Moors at Calicut were remembered, and not one -of the six hundred crew was suffered to escape. Another -Moorish vessel was boarded, and five hundred Moors -were slaughtered. But the enemy still fought desperately -and well, and managed to divide the Portuguese fleet. -The galley commanded by João Serrão, who had taken -Varthema from Cannanore to Cochin was surrounded -by fifty vessels, great and small; and the brigantine was -boarded by fifteen Moors, who drove its crew to the poop. -But the captain, one Simon Martin, called aloud to Jesus -Christ for victory, smote off half a dozen Moorish heads -with his own hands, and cast such fear into the surviving -boarders, that they threw themselves into the sea for -safety. Four other Moorish vessels now drew on; but -Martin saved the situation by seizing an empty barrel -and making as if it were a mortar; and seeing this, the -attackers turned back. Don Francisco de Almeyda -then sailed into the very midst of the convoyed traders, -captured seven of them, laden with spice and other goods, -and sank nine or ten more by gun-fire, amongst which -was one with a cargo of elephants. The Moors fled, -and the pursuit was kept up by ships’ boats, to prevent -any attempt at swimming ashore. About two hundred -swam twenty miles and escaped; but cross-bow and -lance put an end to most. Next morning all the corpses -that could be recovered from the waves, or the shore,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">246</a></span> -or from captured ships, were counted: they numbered -three thousand six hundred; but, “by God’s grace, no -Christian was killed on galley or other ship; but many -were wounded during the long day of battle.” The Moors -were a match for the Portuguese in battle, but not in -artillery, ships or seamanship. This sea-fight took place -in March, 1506, and three months later the Viceroy -rewarded Varthema’s services, by making him head-factor -of the Portuguese warehouses. A man with so much -knowledge of Mohammedan and Hindu customs and -method, speaking Arabic, and with some smattering -of the native tongue; a man, withal, with such experience -of the ways of the world, so diplomatic, and so masterful, -would be invaluable. A little later, he was sent from -Cochin to Cannanore to get behind the curtain of certain -frauds; for traders from Calicut had got safe-conducts -there by passing themselves off as residents of Cannanore. -About this time the Râja of Cannanore died; and the -new sovereign was no friend to the Portuguese. He got -artillery from the Zamorin, and, from the 27th April -until the 17th August there was open war, begun by -Moorish traders, who attacked the Christians when they -were going to a well to draw water. The latter retired -to the fort, in good order; and Varthema and 200 men -held it, under the captaincy of a certain Lorenzo de Britto. -They had nothing to eat but nuts, rice and sugar. Water -they had to draw from a well a bow-shot off, after fighting -for it all the way. The investing force had more than -140 cannons; but, although it consisted of thousands of -men, they were mainly armed with bows and arrows, -spears, swords and shields. This host would rush on with -fury, inspired by musical instruments of many kinds -and the splutter of fireworks; but they never got within -two stones’ cast of the fort; and every day half of a score -of them were killed and the rest fled. “They said we -kept the devil with us for our defence.”</p> - -<p>At last, up came the Portuguese fleet under Tristão<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">247</a></span> -da Cunha, of unperished name, and his three hundred -knights in shining steel, who were dissuaded with difficulty -from burning Cannanore to the ground. The ocean, up -to now the auxiliary and defence of the Peninsula and its -Moorish traders, had become a highway for the enterprise -of the armed fleets of Europe. On the arrival of this strong -force, the Râja and the Moorish traders sued for peace, -which the Viceroy had the foresight to grant. For, whatever -victories the Portuguese might win, and at however -small a cost, their position in the East was precarious. -The Mohammedan world was weak as against Europe for -the same reason that Europe was weak as against Constantinople: -it was divided. Should the spirit of resistance -once become so strong as to overcome local jealousies, -with the whole Mohammedan world set aflame in Europe, -Africa and Asia, and with the countless hosts of the -Far East at the call of the Mohammedan trader, where had -the Portuguese—nay where had Europe been?</p> - -<p>Varthema, once again a devout Catholic, tells us how -he spent leisure hours when there was peace with the -natives, in trying to convert some of his old acquaintance -among the traders of Cannanore to Christianity. He -professes great disdain for the simplicity and ignorance -of these Pagans! and the arguments he used were not -precisely scrupulous, and were far from skilful.</p> - -<p>In November, 1507, at the request of the Viceroy, -Varthema accompanied him and Tristão da Cunha to -the assault on Ponani, a port to the south of Calicut. -He tells us how, after the customary prayers and spiritual -monitions, “a little before break of day, we opened war -to the death on these dogs, who were eight thousand; -and we, about six hundred.” Native troops have never -had a chance against European arms and discipline. The -disproportion of the opposing troops was about the same -as at Plassey, two centuries and a half later; and if all -De Almeyda’s troops were Europeans, as Clive’s were not, -the latter were all led by European officers and trained<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">248</a></span> -in European methods. And if, opposed to Clive and the -famous Thirty-ninth <i>primus in Indis</i> there were a few -French auxiliaries, opposed to De Almeyda and Da Cunha -were 64 Moors vowed to victory or death, “for each one -of them was master of a ship.” “But God gave us His -help, so that none of our folk were slain here; yet we killed -140; and of these, with my own eyes, I saw Don Lorenzo -slay six; and he got two wounds; and many others were -wounded also. For a little while the battle was most -fiercely fought. But our galleys neared the shore; and -then these dogs began to give way: and for that the water -(of the river at Ponani) began to fall, we followed them -no farther. But these dogs began to swell their numbers; -so we set fire to their ships, burning thirteen thereof, -most of them newly builded and big. And then the Viceroy -withdrew all his troops to the headland; and here he made -some knights; and of these, of his grace he made me one; -and that most valiant leader, Tristão da Cunha, was my -sponsor.” And then they all embarked for Cannanore.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">249</a></span></p> - - - - -<h3>CHAPTER XI.<br /><br /> - -<small>THE NEW WAY ROUND THE CAPE.</small></h3> - - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> home-bound fleet was now loading. Varthema had -given the Portuguese a year and a half of faithful service; -he tells us that he was anxious to return to Europe; -he had had fully five years of perilous wanderings through -Moslem and Pagan lands to where no European foot -hitherto had pressed the soil; and he was urged “by the -affection and kindly feeling I bore my country, and my -desire to carry thither and place upon record news concerning -a great part of the world.” The grace demanded -was freely given to one who had worked and fought so -well; and on December 6th, 1506, a fortnight after the -last great fight, he went on board, and the San Vicenzo -and other great ships set sail.</p> - -<p>A long voyage across the ocean brought the fleet to the -coast of what is British East Africa to-day. Malinda, -Mombasa and the island of Pemba were touched at during -the voyage along the eastern coast; then, Kiloa, the extreme -limit of Ibn Batûta’s voyage, a German port not so long -ago; then, the Comoro islands, together with several -other trading-places which the Portuguese had seized -and fortified. All this part of the “Dark Continent” -had been long peacefully penetrated by Arab traders -and had profited by commercial intercourse with them; -and the natives were incited to expel the intruder. The -appearance of a rival had infuriated the Moslem trader, -and the natives caught something of his spirit in resisting -the new comers. They were now beginning to experience -the tender mercies of the Christian. The Portuguese -spread their faith among the palm groves of the South -after the fashion of the Teutonic knights over the heaths -of Prussia. They used the sword mercilessly; they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">250</a></span> -burned towns and wrought every horror that can be -inflicted by the passions of men released from discipline -and from the restraints of a long voyage—men stimulating -each other to brutality by mutual example, and infected -with that mad fury which is apt to possess any excited -gang. But Varthema tells us of the pleasure he felt at -the successes of the Portuguese and the spread of Catholic -truth. He found Pagans were baptized daily in Africa, -as in India. “From what I have seen of India and -Ethiopia,” he writes, “methinks the King of Portugal, -should it please God, and his victories go on, will become -the richest King on earth ... he is the means whereby -the Christian faith is spread daily; wherefore it may be -credited that God hath given him victory and will continue -to prosper him.”</p> - -<p>We must not accuse our whilom Mameluke of any -grave insincerity in writing thus. No doubt he had an -eye to the good will of Julius II., and the Catholic public; -but every son of the church was expected to express -himself in this way, and every son of the Renaissance -was ready to do so. As has been said, the Italian of the -age was not burthened by any undue sense of sin or overvexed -about religion. These high matters were the -care of a special profession—the clergy—and of an -organized institution—the Church. The direst lapses -into iniquity were “bad shots,” as sins were called by -the Greeks—mere unfortunate glancings aside from the -bull’s eye—and absolution was easily obtained. The -main thing was to aim at making life a full, rich, and -splendid success. None the less, the Rock of St. Peter -was at once the emblem of European Civilization and the -foundation on which in theory it rested: The Church -and European civilization must be spread, to put an end -to Mohammedanism, that enduring peril, and the Paganism -from which it drew its recruits and no small measure -of its wealth and power. This is what lies at the bottom -of Varthema’s mind. The King of Portugal is destined<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">251</a></span> -to become the wealthiest and most powerful of rulers; -and the possession of wealth and the unrestricted exercise -of power of every kind, mental and moral and physical -was the ideal of the age and the reward of its <i>virtu</i>.</p> - -<p>At Moçambique, an island off what is still Portuguese -East Africa, the fleet remained fifteen days to take in -provisions, and Varthema crossed to the mainland. He -tells us of the blackness of the natives; of their woolly -hair, thick lips, and “teeth white as snow”; of how -the men wore bark and the women leaves as a loin-cloth; -and of the clicking of their speech, like the noises, made by -tongue and palate, with which the muleteers of Sicily -urge on their steeds. (So probably at some time Varthema -had visited Sicily). Finding these negroes “few and vile,” -he and five or six others armed themselves, engaged a -guide, and went on an excursion. They saw great herds -of elephants roaming about; but by collecting dry wood, -and setting fire to it, they scared the great beasts away. -Yet, in the end, they were chased by three she-elephants -who had their calves with them, and had to make for a -hill in all haste. They escaped with difficulty, and doubtless -had not done so but for the mothers of the herd being -hampered by the calves they found themselves called -upon to protect. The party crossed some ten miles over -the ridge and came to cave-dwellers, of whom they -purchased fifteen cows for a little rubbish of European -manufacture. When on the way back to the ship, they -heard a great uproar. It came from the caves, and greatly -alarmed them, until they understood from the signs made -by two negroes, who were driving the cows, that they -need have no fear; and their guide assured them that -these people were only quarrelling as to which of them -should be the possessor of that rare treasure, a little bell.</p> - -<p>Sailing from Moçambique between the mainland and -San Lorenzo (as Madagascar was then called), our traveller -remarks that in his belief “the King of Portugal will -soon be lord thereof; for two places there have already<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">252</a></span> -been seized and put to fire and flame.” After the Cape -was rounded the fleet encountered terrific storms. -The ships were dispersed by their violence, nor did they -sight each other again during the remainder of the voyage.</p> - -<p>Off St. Helena, the voyagers on Varthema’s ship were -scared by the appearance of whales. “We saw two fishes, -each as great as a great house, which, when on the surface, -raise a kind of vizor, I should say of the width of three -strides, and let it down when they go under again. We -were so alarmed at the power of these fishes in swimming -that we let off all our artillery.” He next describes the -boobies of Ascension: birds “so simple and foolish that -they let themselves be caught by the hand ... and, -before they Were caught, they looked on us as at a miracle.... -On this island are only water and fish and these -birds.” A few days later, they saw the North Star on -the horizon. They touched at the Azores, and at last -reached the beautiful estuary of the Tagus, and anchored -off the “noble city of Lisbon.”</p> - -<p>And now we find our traveller, of whom it might, by -the alteration of a pronoun be said as of the Egyptian Queen: -“Nought could excel his infinite variety,” turned courtier. -Don Emanuel, “the Fortunate,” was staying at his palace -opposite the city, and Varthema crossed the Tagus to kiss -the royal hand. So interesting a traveller with so much -to relate was most graciously received and kept at court -for some days. When he conceived himself to be sufficiently -established there, he seized an opportune moment, -presented the patent of Knighthood which the Viceroy -had given him, and asked the monarch to confirm it. -It was his majesty’s pleasure to order a diploma of knighthood -to be drawn up on parchment, and then to sign -it with his august hand. This document was impressed -with the royal seal, and Varthema having seen it registered, -took his leave, returned to Italy, and “came to the city -of Rome.”</p> - -<p>Julius II. sat on the throne of the Fisherman. That<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">253</a></span> -old warrior was the very man to appreciate the resolution, -the resourcefulness, and the exploit of Varthema. <i>Papa -plusquam Papa</i>, he had been a mighty man of valour -from his youth upwards; his will of iron was unbroken, -and he retained in full the ardour of earlier years. A man -of <i>virtu</i>, he aspired to control and guide the restive Powers -of Europe to his own ends; and to make Rome the centre -of the Arts, as well as the political Mistress of the Western -World. If he was Head-bishop of the Western Church, -claiming supreme authority over the Christian world, -he was also a Temporal Prince, a patron of letters and -enlightenment. At this very time, Michael Angelo was -busy, by Papal command, adorning the Sistine Chapel -with stupendous fresco and endowing sculpture with all -his own redundant energy and life. Raphael was employed -in painting delicate poems on the walls of the -Papal <i>Stanze</i>. It was intended that Rome should become -the world’s magnificent capital—a temple to strike awe -and submission into the beholder; its only defect, that -perchance it might shelter an empty shrine. There was -as yet little hint of the terrific revolt of priest and scholar, -<i>lanzknecht</i> and trader, which was preparing beyond the -Alps; a revolt which tore away half the Empire of the -Papacy. Little did Theodosius dream of the overthrow of -the sacred city, “urbs æquæva polo,” as Claudian sings -by the barbarians of the North; and as little did -Julius deem that it was destined soon to be sacked by -the same rude race. It was nothing to Julius that -Varthema had posed as a renegade: here was a man after -his own heart. Nor were most of the Cardinals indifferent -to the discovery of memorable matters. If an alien faith -had been successfully professed for a laudable purpose -so full of commercial possibilities, a few aves and paternosters, -or a slight penance, made amends in that lax age. -Julius gave mandate by word of mouth that Varthema’s -account of his adventures should be duly licensed, and -Raphael, Cardinal of St. George, “Chamberlain of our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">254</a></span> -Most Holy Lord the Pope of the Holy Roman Church,” -“being advised thereto by many other Most Reverend -Cardinals of the Apostolic See,” gave the necessary licence. -“Holding the work worthy, not only of commendation, -but of ample reward,” he granted that the author and his -heirs should hold copyright for a space of ten years. The -Cardinal did this on the ground, as he explicitly states -that Varthema had, in his seven years of travel, corrected -many of the errors of ancient geographers, and that the -“public use and study” of his volume would be of service. -Such a decision had been impossible after the Reformation, -the Counter-Reformation, and the Council of Trent. -It were hard, even in our days of more single purpose, -severely to censure the sanction to publish the work of -a Christian who had posed as a Mohammedan only to -“promote,” as the cardinal says, “such studies as have -always been held in the highest honour.” Varthema -had fully described the products of the East and the localities -whence they came; and such information was not only -to the advancement of knowledge but to the commercial -advantage of his time. Had the Papal Court decided -otherwise, the world had lost a priceless record of virile -purpose fulfilled and of remote regions hitherto hardly -known or wholly unknown. The world is indebted to -Julius II. and his Cardinals for their action, whether it -be called broad-minded toleration or latitudinarian indifference. -Probably the copyright was no unimportant -matter to the returned wanderer. As has been remarked, -we hear nothing of his having made money by trade in -the countries he visited. He was no vulgar gainer of -gold, but one who set out to behold the splendour of God -on the earth and the amazing manners of that prodigy, man. -He dedicated his <i>Itinerario</i> to Agnesina Colonna, a daughter -of the illustrious house of Montefeltro, mother of that -Vittoria Colonna whom Michael Angelo and her own pen -have made famous, and the fourth of five distinguished -women in whom learning and ability descended from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">255</a></span> -mother to daughter. It appeared in 1510.<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">21</a> The Dedication -informs us that I, Varthema, “having gone over some -parts of the countries and islands of the east, south and -west, am of fixed mind, should it please God, to make -enquiry into those of the north. And so, since I do not -perceive that I am fitted for any other undertaking, to -employ what remains to me of my fleeting days in this -honourable task.” Clearly, seven years of peril by land -and sea, the greater part of the time being spent in tropical -heat, had not satiated the curiosity or abated the audacity -of the born-traveller. But no new <i>Itinerario</i> came to -tell us of Laps driving their teams of rein-deer, of the -splendours of the Northern Lights, or of the marvel of the -Midnight Sun.</p> - -<p>The <i>Itinerario</i> of 1510 was reprinted more than once -in Rome, Venice and Milan during the following fifty -years. In 1515 it was translated into German; in 1520, -it appeared in Spanish; in 1556, in French; and in 1563, -in Dutch. In 1577, Richard Eden gave a truncated and -corrupt form of the work, which he had translated from -a Latin version into English. It was incorporated with his -“History of Travayle in the West and East Indies,” -and reprinted for private circulation by the Aungerville -Society in 1884. But twenty-one years before this last -date, the Hakluyt Society had printed a translation from -the original Italian edition by the Rev. Geo. Percy Badger. -The modern translation is faithful and eminently readable; -Mr. Badger’s annotations are invaluable; and John Winter -Jones supplied a preface which is a bibliography. But -Richard Eden’s imperfect work necessarily conveys more of -the vigorous diction and quaint archaicisms of the original -because the English style of Elizabeth’s time more closely -resembled that of ordinary Italian prose in the days of -Julius II. Yet, readable and delightful as Mr. Badger’s -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">256</a></span> -translation is, Varthema remains known only to the -specialized student; to the general reader, together with -many another ancient worthy of heroic mould, he is unknown, -even by name.</p> - - - -<hr /> -<h2>FOOTNOTES:</h2> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">1</span></a> <i>Mémoires sur les contrées occidentales</i>, par Hiouen-Thoang, tr. -du chinois par S. Julien, 2 t., 1857–8. -</p> -<p> -<i>Si-yu-ki.</i> Tr. from the Chinese of Hieuen Tsiang by S. -Beal. 2 v. (Trübners Oriental Series) 1884. -</p> -<p> -<i>Hist. de la vie de Hiouen Thsang et de ses voyages dans l’Inde</i> <span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span> -629–45, par Hoei-Li et Yen-Thsong. Tr. du Chinois par S. Julien. -Imprim. Impér. 1853. -</p> -<p> -<i>The Life of Hiuen-Tsiang.</i> Tr. by S. Beal. (Trübner’s Oriental -Series) 1878. -</p> -<p> -The spelling of Oriental names of persons and places varies -widely in English, as well as in other European languages, according -to the system of transliteration employed.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">2</span></a> The Author possesses a picture of the source of the Ganges, -painted on panel, on the spot, by the late W. Simpson. Fakirs, -at least in his time, were wont, when the end of life drew near, to -ascend the glacier, and terminate the illusions of existence on the -snow-mountains above it. Simpson saw a Fakir climbing up a -snow-slope for this purpose. Now, as well as one can judge from -this panel, the lower end of the glacier from which the infant Ganges -is seen flowing would be about as broad as Hiuen-Tsiang states -the source of the river to be.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">3</span></a> Beal’s translation of <i>Si-yu-ki</i> vol. i., p. 70.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">4</span></a> J. Talboy Wheeler, “<i>History of India</i>,” London, 1874, vol. iii, -p. 261.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">5</span></a> W. H. Johnson, who was the first European to visit Khotan for -260 years, heard of these cities buried in the sand (1865).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">6</span></a> For recent travels in Eastern Turkestan, see Prjevalsky, N. -<i>From Kulja across the Thian Shan to Lob-Nor</i>, tr. E. D. Morgan, -1879.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">7</span></a> A measure which varies in different provinces. It is the Chinese -foot-measure, always shorter than ours.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">8</span></a> The Latin text is printed with a translation by Brownlow, by -the Palestine Pilgrims Text Society. 1892.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">9</span></a> <i>Memoirs of the Emperor Johangueir</i>, by himself. Tr. from -Persian by D. Price. Oriental Translation Fund. 1829. pp. -96–104.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">10</span></a> Chaucer, <i>Man of Lawe’s Tale. Part I., st. i, l. 4</i>. The derivation -of Satin is obvious.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">11</span></a> Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. iv. -p. 405.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">12</span></a> P’u Sung-ling finished his work <span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span> 1679, and saw the trick -when he was a boy.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">13</span></a> Part of the illusion described by Ibn Batûta, known as the -Indian Rope Trick, was seen by the late Professor Middleton, of -the South Kensington Museum, in Morocco, and is fully described -by Wilfred Scawen Blount’s <i>Diaries</i>, 1888–1900, p. 86, sqq. -The trick has been much discussed during the last few years, and -conjurers confess that it perplexes them. (“<i>Baffled magicians</i>,” -<i>Times</i>, Feb. 6th, 1919). Mr. C. R. Sanderson, Librarian to the -National Liberal Club, kindly drew my attention to certain articles -and correspondence in popular journals (<i>Strand Magazine</i>, April, -1919; <i>Daily Mail</i>, Jan. 7th, 1913, and a discussion in the same -newspaper, beginning Jan. 8th, 1919, and ending Feb. 19th, 1919). -It is a common belief among English residents in India that some -of these illusions are due to hypnotism; but, as a rule, only people -who are capable of great concentration of mind, or who are in the -habit of obeying commands are readily hypnotized, and then only -by direct suggestion, and not, so say the best authorities, by will-power. -Cases of hypnosis at a distance have been recorded; -but the subjects had already been hypnotized by the operator; -and, if these accounts should be proved veridical, telepathy might -possibly explain them. The instance photographed by Lieut. -F. W. Holmes, V.C., is a degenerate form of the trick. If a cinematograph -record of a really fine exhibition of this illusion could -be taken, probably the problem would be solved conclusively.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">14</span></a> A translation of an abbreviated copy of Batûta’s travels was -made by the Revd. S. Lee, and published by the Oriental Translation -Fund in 1829. Since that date the French advance in -Algeria led to the discovery of several copies of the unabridged -work; and the “<i>Voyages d’Ibn Batoutah</i>,” translated into French -by C. Defrémery and Dr. B. R. Sanguinette, with the original -Arabic text under the translation, appeared in Paris in 1853, at -the hands of the <i>Société Asiatique</i>. There are several examples of -the original MS. extant, which slightly vary from each other, and -often differ considerably from the abbreviation as to matter of fact.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">15</span></a> B and V are to be found controvertible both in old Italian and -in old Spanish. Bartema instead of Varthema is on the title page -of more than one edition of the <i>Itinerario</i>.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">16</span></a> Dante, Inferno, ix, 76, 77.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">17</span></a> Varthema gives all the words of the queen in Arabic, phonetically -written, followed by a rendering in Italian. He had learned -to speak Arabic, none too perfectly, but not to write it.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">18</span></a> -</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="line i05">“High on a throne of royal state, which far</div> -<div class="line">Outshone the wealth of Ormuz and of Ind,</div> -<div class="line">Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand</div> -<div class="line">Showers on her kings barbaric pearl and gold,</div> -<div class="line">Satan exalted sat.”—<i>Paradise Lost</i>, ii. 1–5.</div> -</div></div></div> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">19</span></a> Giosafat Barbaro & A. Contarini. Travels to Tana and Persia. -Tr. by W. Thomas, Clerk of the Council to Edward VI., and by -S. A. Roy. 8vo. 1873.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">20</span></a> Should not Varthema have written milk?</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">21</span></a> A copy, rebound in red velvet, is one of the treasures of the -Library in the British Museum.</p></div> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">The End.</span><br /><br /><br /> - - -<span class="smcap">Fox, Jones & Co.</span>, High Street, Oxford, Great Britain. -</p> -<hr /> -<p class="center"> -TRUBNER’S<br /> -<br /> -ORIENTAL SERIES<br /> -</p> -<hr /> -<p class="center"><i>TRUBNER’S ORIENTAL SERIES</i><br /> - -POPULAR RE-ISSUE AT A UNIFORM PRICE<br /> - -<i>Demy 8vo, dark green cloth, gilt.</i></p> - - - - -<p class="indent">ALBERUNI: <b>India</b>. 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