CAP. XIIII.

Of the manners and customes of the Thracians. Of the places and peoples of Thrace. Of Cranes and Swallowes. Of Hellespont. Of the Ilande Clarob, and of the Aegaeum Sea.

NOw it is time to take our iourneye into*Thrace, and to sette sayle toward the puissantest Na∣tions of Europe:* which whosoeuer will looke vpon aduisedlie, shall easily finde that there is a contempt of life in the barbarous Thra∣cians, through a certaine discipline of moother wytt. They agrée all to die willingly: some of them belée∣uing that the soules of them that decease returne a∣gaine, and othersome thinking that they die not, but are in a more happie and blisful state. Among most of them, the birth daies are sorrowfull, and contrariwise the burialls are ioyfull. In somuch that the Fathers and Mothers fall a wéeping when they Children are newe borne, and reioyce when theyr are deade. The Menne doo glorie in the number of theyr Wiues, and count it an honour to haue manie bedfellowes. Such Women as are chare of their chastitie, doo leape into the fires where their dead Husbandes are burned, and (which they thinke to be the greatest token of chastity that may bee) runne headlong into the flame. When Women come to the time of marriage, they take not Page  [unnumbered] Husbands at the appointment of their Parents: but such of them as excel others in beautie, set themselues foorth to sale, and making Proclamation who wyll giue moste, they marrie not to him that is of best con∣ditions, but to him that is best Chapman. Those that are foule or deformed, bring dowries with them to bie Husbandes withall. When they feast, bothe sexes of them goe about the harthes, and cast the séede of cer∣taine Hearbs growing among them into the fire. The fume of which Hearbes so striketh vp into their heads that it woundeth theyr sences, and maketh them like drunken folke, whereat they haue a good sporte. Thus much concerning their customes. Nowe shall ensue of their places and peoples. Along the Ryuer Strymo on the right hande thereof, inhabite the Denselats. There are also manie kinreds of the Besses, euen vn∣to the Ryuer Nestus, which runneth about the foote of the Mountaine Pangaeus. The soyle of the Odryses sendeth foorth the Ryuer Hebrus which runneth amōg the Briants,*Dolonks, Thynes, Corpills, and other barba∣rous nations, & toucheth also y^e Cycones. Then is there Mount Haemus,* sixe myles high, the back part wher∣of is inhabited by the Maesians, Gets, Sarmats, Scythi∣ans, and manie other Nations.

On the sea coast of Pontus dwelleth the people of Sythony, the renowne whereof is augmented by Or∣pheu• the Poet and Prophette that was borne there, who is reported to haue practised the secrets (whither it were of his Musicke or of his Ceremonies,) in the Promontorie Sperchius. Afterwarde is the Poole of Biston, and not farre from thence the Country of Ma∣rony, wherein was the Towne of Tyrada sometime the stable of Diomeds horses. But nowe it hath giuen place to time, and there remaineth no more but the foundation of the Towre. Not farre from thence is Page  [unnumbered] the Citty Abdera which Diomeds sister builded,* & cal∣led so after her owne name. Anon after, it became the house of Democritus y^e natural Philosopher,* & therfore to (say the truth) it is the more renowmed. This Ab∣dera béeing by time decaied, was restored to a greater countenaunce by the Clazomenians comming out of Asia, the hundreth and one and thirty Olympiad, who abolishing the things that had passed before, restored it to the olde name againe. The comming of Xerxes made the place of Doriscon famous, because he mu∣stered hys Armie there. Mount Haemus hath y^e tombe of Polydore to shewe, on that side which the Scythians Ar•teres doo inhabit, and it hath the Cittie which in olde time was called Gerania, and is now called of the barbarous people Cattruza, from whence the reporte goeth that the Pygmaeans were dryuen by Cranes.

Surely it is manifest that Cranes in the wynter time doo flye in great heards towards the North,* and it shall not gréeue me to declare whither, and in what sort they direct their sight. They march in araye as it were an Armie vnder an Ensigne. And least the vio∣lence of the windes should driue them from the coaste to which they direct theyr course, they gorge thēselues wyth Sande, and balace themselues by taking vppe stones of a measurable waight. Then they mount as high as they can, to the intent •rom thence (as from a hygh watchtowre) to aime the Landes which they would goe vnto. He that is surest of wyng goeth be∣fore the Hearde, and with his clarying rebuketh their slothfulnesse, and causeth the trayne behinde to make haste after. When he wexeth hoarce, another takes his roome. When they shall passe the Sea of Pontus, they séeke for the narrowest places, which they may easilie finde by eye sight, and they are betwéene Tauri∣ca and Paphlagonia, that is to say betwéene CarambisPage  [unnumbered] and the Rammes head. As soone as they knowe them∣selues to be past the mid channell, they disburden thē∣selues of the stones in theyr féete. So the Shipmenne report, who by suddaine aduenture haue oftentymes béene rayned vppon wyth theyr stonie showers. As for theyr Sande, they put it not vp againe before they be well assured of theyr abyding. They are all alike rarefull for such as are weary. Insomuch that if any of them tyre, the rest flocke altogether and beare them vppe that faint, vntil they may recouer their strength by resting. Neyther are they lesse circumspecte vppon the Land. For they kéepe watch a nights, in such wise that euery tenth of them waketh. Those that watche, holde little weyghts in their clawes, which reprooue them of sléepe if they happen to let them fall. If aught be to be auoyded, they giue warning thereof by clary∣ing. Theyr colour bewrayeth their age, for the elder they growe, the blacker they wexe.

Let vs come to the Promontorie*Chrysokeras, renowmed with the Cittie*Byzance héeretofore cal¦led Lygos, which is distaunt from*Dyrrachium sea∣uen hundred and eleuen miles. For so much is y^e space betwéene the Adriatish Sea, and*•ropontis. In the Country of Cenik not far from Flauiople a Towne builded and peopled with Romaines, is the Towne of Byzia in tymes past the Palace of King Tereus, now hated and vnhaunted of Swallowes,* and so foorth of other byrds: although it bee so that Swallowes doo shunne to come within Thebae also, because the wals thereof haue béene so often taken. For among other thinges: that they haue a kinde of foreknowledge, it is knowne héereby, that they wyll not come neere a house that is like to fall, nor come vnder the roofe that by any means shal perish. Surely they are not chaced by rauening foules, neither are they a pray to any, but are as holy birds.

Page  [unnumbered]There is an other*Isthmos in Thrace of lyke straightnesse, and hauing a narrow Sea of like wyde∣nesse to that of Peloponnesus, vpon the shores wherof stande two Citties, on either side one. The shore to∣ward the Sea of Constantinople is beautified wyth the Towne of Pactie, and Melane bay with the Cittie *Cardy: which hath that name because the platt of it is in fashion like a hart. All the great Sea of Helle∣spont is streightned into seauē furlonges, which space disseuereth the coast of Asia from Europe. Héere also stande two Citties, Abidos in Asia, and Sestos in Eu∣rope. And harde by are two Promontories one ouer against the other: Mastusia of Chersonesus, where en∣deth the thirde coast of Europe, and Sygeum of Asia, where is a little Hill called*Cynossema the Tombe of Hecuba, and the Tower of Protesilaus, put to y^• vse of a Chappell.

On the Northmarches of Thrace, beateth the Ri∣uer *Ister, on the Easte Pontus and Propontis: and on the South, the Aegaean Sea. Betwéene Tenedos and Chius, is the Iland Cla•os situate at such place as the Aegaean Sea wydneth. On the ryght hand, as men sayle to Antandros, there is a Rock (for so it deserues to be called rather then an Ile) which (to them that beholde it a farre of) séemeth to haue the shape of a Goate, which the Greekes call Aega, that is to saye a Goate. Of this Rocke the Aegaean Gulfe taketh hys name. From Phalarion a Promontorie of*Corcyra, hangeth out a Rock of the likenesse of a Ship, into the which Vlysses bys Shyppe was beléeued to haue béen• trans-formed. Cythera which is •lue myles from Ma∣lea, was héeretofore named Porphyris.