A collection of curious travels & voyages in two tomes ... / by John Ray ...

CHAP. VII.

Of the high Places and Authority of Ba∣shaws, what great Courts they keep, and how they administer their Offices; as also of their way of living, of their Privi∣ledges, of their Manners and Conver∣sation.

THE City of Halepo (which some conside∣ring the Name and Situation believe to be the Town Chalibon of Ptolomaeus situated in Chalibonitis) is subject unto the Turkish Emperor, together with all the adjacent places, where∣fore he keepeth a Bashaw in it, which is to rule it, and the whole Province according to his Will and Pleasure. Now as the Bashaws are almost the chiefest and highest under the Em∣peror, so they keep according to their Station and Dignity, their Courts as great as the Princes do in our Country (according as they have great or small Provinces. So they have under them their chief Commanders, as Sangiacks, Bolucs-bashaws and others, which are continually with them go with them to their Temples, or any other place where-ever they have a mind to go, in great

flocks, both on Foot, and on Horse-back, which by their several Habits are to be distinguished, but chiefly the Bolucsbashaw, which as Captains have an Hundred Janisaries under them, which in costly Cloaths, and high Heads with Feathers, run on Foot like Lacqueys by their Master. They have also besides their Court, as well as the Emperour himself, peculiar Lodgings for their Concubines, which they either have pick'd up here and there out of Towns and Countries, or else taken in time of War by Sea and Land from Christians and other Nations; wherefore they keep many Eunuchs to attend them con∣stantly. They take great delight in Hunting, and go often several Days Journeys after it: If they take Wild Boars, they give them (because they are by their Laws forbid to eat them) to the Christians, which maketh the Turks often to mock them in the Streets, crying out and calling them Chansir quibir, that is, great Boars or Hog-eaters. Although the Bashaws are great Persons, that Command over Cities and Coun∣tries, yet they are rckoned to be, like others, but Slaves to their Master, that have nothing of their own, that they can bequeath to their Heirs or Posterity after their decease, as our Princes can, because the Emperour after their decease taketh Possession of all their visible Estates, and allows only to their Children an Annuity: Nay, if their Sultan Commands them to go from one place to an Inferiour one, or to leave their Dig∣nity quite and clean, they must obey immedi∣ately, if they will not run themselves into greater Inconveniencies or Dangers. This is the Reason that such Persons, although Rich, seldom build great Buildings, so that you see none in all the Country, except it be a Chap∣pel,

or a Champ, which they build to be re∣membred by: They rather keep their Riches in Gold and Silver, which can be hid, and so secretly given to their Posterity. They bestow but very little upon Jacks, for they are too Covetous, neither have they many Work-men that are able to set them. These Bashaws being altogether for their own Advantage, that strive to get Wealth, their Subjects must needs suffer very much under them, but chiefly Stran∣gers, that live there to Traffick, as Italians, French∣men, &c. whereby between them and the Ba∣shaws (that mind their own and not the Pub∣lick Good) arise often great Differences, and they must have suffered great damage, if their Soveraigns, to prevent these things, and that their Subjects may deal securely, had not ta∣ken care to send them discreet and prudent Men, which are called Consuls, endued with great Priviledges from the Grand Signior, to hear their Complaints, and to protect them against any Assaulters. It happened in my time, while I staid there, that great Differences arose be∣tween the Consul of Venice, and the new Bashaw, who was sent thither, instead of the deceased one, in the Year 75. the 6th. day of March, who came in to take Possession with a great number of Horse and Foot. At his Arrival the Consul of Venice went (accompanied with a great number of Merchants in great State) to meet him, to bid him Welcom, and presented him with Fourteen Cloaths Richly wrought of Silk, desiring him to take his Country-men into his Protection, that they might Trade and deal safely under him. The Bashaw looking upon the Cloaths, behaved himself very unkindly, and looking upon them to be very inconside∣rable,

he not only refused them, but answered the Consul very scornfully. So it often happens that these great Persons come to differ, and pur∣sue their Differences so far, that at last it must be brought before the Emperour and his Court. If they find that the Bashaw is in the wrong, he is immediately punished (not regarding his great Authority) according to the default, ei∣ther in Money, or else, if it be a great Crime, he must lose his Life for it; which is the oftner done, because they depend very much upon Traffick, which bringeth the Emperour in year∣ly a very great Revenue. Yet notwithstand∣ing they are punished so severely sometimes, the Pride and Ambition of the Bashaws is so great, that to uphold their Greatness, they will not cease to strive by any means after Riches and great Wealth, which their Subjects (not to speak of Strangers) find daily, whom they squeeze and press, chiefly if they find them Rich, to that degree, that they cannot come to any thing, nor thrive under them: More∣over they draw, after the decease of their Rich Subjects, for the most part, the greatest share of what they leave, into their own Purses; so that such Persons do not take Pains, nor bestow any great Cost to build their Houses, or to till their Grounds, as we do in our Country. They have commonly in Market-Towns and Villages, low Houses or Halls, whereof many are so covered with Hills, that you cannot see them, before you are quite at them. When you come into them, you find neither Chairs, nor Stools, nor Tables, only a couple of pieces of Tapestry spread, whereon they sit after their fashion; and instead of Feather-Beds (whereof they make no use at all) they have Mats and Quilts,

which they fold together in the Day, and hang them up in a corner, at Night they spread them out again to sleep on them: They have no oc∣casion for Sheets, to cover themselves as we do, nor for any Towels neither, for instead of them they use long pieces of Rags, which they hang about their naked Necks, or hang them at their Girdles. We see sometimes in their Houses, above all in the Country, several strange-shaped Earthen Vessels, which cover whole sides of the Wall in their Rooms, which their Relations use to Present them with at their Wedding, which to please them, they use to put up, and to keep there, rather for their Remembrance, than to make any other use of them. In their Kitchen they have very few Utensils, perhaps a few Pipkins, Pans, and Trenchers, for they boyl all their Victuals in one Pot together, that their Maids may not have many to cleanse, or to put up.

Concerning their Cloaths, they bestow not very much upon them, although they be well to pass, for they love Money so well, that they will rather spend a whole day in contending for a Penny, than pay it willingly: Wherefore a Man that will Travel through these Countries, must have his Purse well stored, and keep it very close, that no body may know its worth, but chiefly he must have a care of the Jews, which are not to be trusted, if you will escape great danger: They will not only do nothing for you without Reward, but if they suspect you to have any Money, they will endeavour to get it from you. Wherefore those that take a Pilgrimage into the Holy Land, and go in pitiful Cloaths, are not much troubled by them. The Courtiers of the Bashaws, and amongst the

rest chiefly the Eunuchs and Dwarfs, &c. where∣of they have several, go in their Taffety and Sattin Cloaths, which are long, and very well trimmed, wherewith their Master furnisheth them, being Gifts from others, which he distri∣buteth among them. The Souldiers, Spahees, Janisaries, &c. commonly have blew woollen Cloaths from the Court, and they live of their Pay, that is, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 Medins, (which are abut three Farthings apiece) more or less (ac∣cording as their Places are) which are paid them daily, as well in Peace as in War-time: If they can get any thing else, by Excursions and Fighting, from their Enemies, it is well for them. The Souldiers commonly wear white Turbants on their Heads, and so do all Turks, and put painted Paper underneath them, chiefly when they go into the War, believing if they wear them they cannot be hurt nor wounded. On their Turbants they commonly wear Cranes Feathers, that others may believe them to be Valiant Souldiers, and that by their Number People may guess that either they have been in so many Campagnes, or else killed so many Christians. Besides these Turbants the Janisa∣ries have also Hats with high Crowns, called Zarcellas, made of white Felt, which they wear instead of Helmets, when they are in waiting, or go out to the War, these have before on the fore-head a gilded Sheath, set without with Gra∣nats Rubies, Turkey-stones, and other Jewels, (yet of no great value) wherein they put their Feathers. They (and also other Turks and Moors) let no Hair grow upon their Heads, but as soon as it grows they shave it again, only behind they keep a lock, which hangs down a pretty way: They let their Beards grow now,

which they used formerly to cut off, so that now for some Years they have worn huge great Mustachies. In War time they carry Musquets, and in Peace (chiefly when they are in waiting) their long Poles. They are also allowed to Marry, and besides their Wives, to keep any they take Prisoners in the War, or else to sell them to any body. When they are at home they are great lovers of Wine, and when they can come at it, that no body sees them, they will drink more without mixture than any other Nation: But in time of War, when they are in Expedition, they can live very sparingly, and will March all day long before they will Refresh themselves. Yet to speak the truth, these, and almost all Souldiers (because they are as well paid in Peace as in War) are no more so ready to take the Field, and to change a quiet Life for a troublesome one, or a secure one for a dangerous, as they they have been in former Ages, being used to Laziness for a great while together. Besides the Power and Strength of the Turks is reckoned much inferiour to that of the Christians, for we are better armed with Musquets and Pikes, to keep them off at a di∣stance, that they may not be able to come in with us to Club-Law, and so over-power us; for if their Enemy doth not give way at the first On-set, they turn their backs and run a∣way. But that notwithstanding all this, we gain nothing from the Turks, but they rather from us; the reason is (not to mention our manifold Transgressions) rather our great Di∣visions and Contentions, which hinder us from going out with such an Army as is necessary, and we might otherways do. Wherefore the Turks come out the bolder, to frighten and to

plague us, and make use of all sorts of Strata∣gems, to amuse us, or to draw us into an Am∣bush, by pursuing them, and when they think we are almost tired, they fall upon us with a multitude of fresh Men, to surround and to beat us. Nor do they value it, if they lose one Regiment or another, because there is enough of them, and they know how to have in the room of the Slain others again that will be ve∣ry glad (because of their Pay that they receive daily of their Prince out of his Provinces) to accept of it. It being then so that he doth not only maintain his own Provinces, but rather gains others, and enlarges his Dominions daily, we ought to be very careful; for the more he increaseth, the more we are in danger. Thus he taketh one Town, Country, or Kingdom after another with his Sword, as we have seen hitherto in Europe (not to mention any thing of Asia) not without great detriment and damage to all Christians. So he cometh daily the longer the nearer to us, that at length we must expect no better Success than Greece, Thra∣cia, Servia, Bosnia, Hungary, and Wallachia, &c. which are brought into Slavery, under which some Persons of Quality still groan to this day. So I found at Aleppo an Ancient Queen of Wal∣lachia with her Sons, whereof the Youngest was born after the King his Father's Death, who is maintained by a very small Allowance from the Turkish Emperour. She is a very discreet Woman, and well skill'd in the Turkish and Arabian Lan∣guages. Her Subjects still hope for her, that God Almighty will restore her to them again, that so their Slavery may have an end.

After the Turks have obtained a great Victo∣ry, they lift up their Hands, thank and praise God, and the Prophet Mahomet, God Almighty's dearly beloved Messenger, and pray further, that God may send Differences and Quarrels among us (that are against the Book Jugilis, as they call it, that is, the Book of the Gospel) that the Magistrates may quarrel with the Subjects, and the Clergy with the Seculars, that from thence may arise such Disorders, that we may go on to transgress the Laws of God still more and more; that our Belief in Messias may be ex∣tinguished, and that all good Orders and Poli∣cies may be dissolved: So that God may take from thence occasion to make them further our Punishers to afflict us. And when they see that the Rich Men Oppress the Poor, that the Ma∣gistrates do not Protect the Just and Innocent, but that the Chief and Heads do strive to ruin one another, then they rejoyce at our Misfor∣tune and Misery, and do not fear us in the least to do them any Mischief (which might easily be done if we were unanimous) but rather threaten what Mischief they will do us.

When the Turks have taken a strong Town, or a whole Country by the Sword, that they may keep them the easier in Subjection without a great Garrison, Pains, or Danger, they Demo∣lish the places that are not very strong, and send away the Nobility and Chief Persons, which otherwise might do them a great deal of Mis∣chief; and in the room of these they bring in Sangiacks, with their Souldiers, to keep the strong places, and to take care of the Empe∣rour's Revenue. So that in these places there is no Nobility, that come from any Ancient Races, and have their own Estates Hereditary and De∣scending

from Heir to Heir: Which one may also suppose when he considereth that the Law of Mahomet alloweth to those that adhere to it, to have four Wives at a time, besides Concu∣bines, or Slaves as many as they please: I will say nothing of the Liberty they have to Divorce them upon any small Occasion, and to take others in their room; from whence flow such Disorders and Uncertainties, that very few Chil∣dren know who are their Parents, and so there is but little Love shewn between them as one may easily suppose. And this is no Disgrace to them, but rather reputed to be an Honour, be∣cause they conclude from thence that those that keep many Wives, behave themselves diligently according to their Laws: Wherefore they sooner trust them, prefer them before others, in Places and Salaries, and esteem them to be true Tsche∣lebiis, that is, Noble-men. Although these and other Turks have several Wives, that are not all equal in their Birth and Extraction, yet they all have in Family Affairs their equal share and power, and they all are equally provided for, with Meat, Drink, Cloaths, &c. and they have also their Work and Business equally among them: And that because they bring their Hus∣band no Portion, but he must rather buy them from their Parents, sometimes for a considerable Sum of ready Money, and give them Cloaths and other Necessaries to boot: Wherefore the Matrimonial tye (which they call Chebia) is more in the power of the Husband than the Wife, so that he may Marry one three times and reject her again; but further he must not go, except he will be accounted a scandalous base Fellow: As you may perceive by the words of the Turkish Emperour Bajazet, which he

did send to Temyry, who is also called Tamerlan, saying, that he had better to take a Wife again after he was three times divorced from her, than to go to War with him; which scornful Lan∣guage he might well have forborn: For Tamer∣lan did not only beat him in a cruel and bloody Battle, but took him Prisoner, and carried him about in an Iron Cage like a Wild Beast of the Forest.

But that I may return from whence I digres∣sed, the Marriages of the Turks are never look'd upon to be ratified before they are married by one of their Priests. Their Wives must agree together, and live peaceably and amicably, and must not resist their Husbands, except he ma∣keth inequality among them: If any should ap∣pear (which happens very often) they do not forbear to complain of their Husband to the Cadi or Judge. So that daily very strange Tran∣sactions (which are not strange to him) come before him: If so be that the Husband is con∣victed, and the Wife absolved, they are divor∣ced immediately in the same hour.

The Turkish Women are pretty handsom, and well shaped, very Civil in their Discourses, and other Behaviour: When any of them is mar∣ried, and carried to her Bridegroom's House, their Relations go along with her, that are in∣vited, to the Wedding, and begin to make a noise immediately in the Streets, and extol their Voices more and more as they go along, that you may hear them a great way off.

The Turks that are of some Condition, and rich and able Men, have at their Weddings se∣veral Diverting Shews; in the Day-time they have Dancing, Running, Actings, Singing; Jump∣ing, and Leaping, and Dancing on the Ropes, &c.

After Sun-set, and at Night, they let off Rockets, and Fire-works of several sorts, made artifici∣ally. These are let off in publick and open places, that every one may see them, and they last often till break of Day. The Rope-dancers have three Ropes one above the other, whereof the uppermost is the longest; upon every one of them they have their peculiar Lessons, which they perform exactly and dexterously, with Dancing, Jumping, Running, Gesticulating, go∣ing upon Stilts, &c. which is pleasant to look upon. Their Children when they are married, soon forget their Parents, they dare not see them again in a great while, nor do they desire to do it.

When they have Children born, they do not justly Circumcise them on the Eighth Day, but let them be 8, 9, or 10 Years old, until they can make their Confession: There are some, chiefly among the Arabians, that imitate their Patriarch Ishmael, who was not circumcised un∣til the Thirteenth Year of his Age. It is com∣monly performed in the House of their Parents. If Rich Mens Sons are circumcised, they make a Feast, and roast a whole entire Bullock, into his Belly they put a Wether, and into his Belly a Pullet, into the Pullet's Belly an Egg, and so they roast them all together, what remaineth they give to the Poor. When the Children grow up, and begin to go, they cloath them in loose flying Coats, of fine Stuff, woven of several colours, which are pleasant to look upon; and they put upon the Heads of those that are not yet circumcised, coloured Caps, which are wrought with Flowers, and very common to be sold in their Batzars. After they are circum∣cised, they begin to wear white Turbants, which

are made of Cotton, and rolled about their Caps after a peculiar manner, and are common∣ly Twenty Yards long.

They have still another strange Custom, which Young and Old, Men and Women use in these Countries, viz. They make a thin Paste of Galls and calcined Copperas, (to beautifie themselves, and to keep their Eyes from Rheums) with it they blacken their Lips, and make a Ring round about their Eyes, in the same man∣ner as our Ring-doves have about their Necks. These Paintings they have had Anciently, and some of them they have prepared of Stibium or Antimony: Of these Paintings of the Eye we read in several places, chiefly (that I may not mention others) in the 23d. Chap. of Ezekiel, the 40 Verse, where the Lord says, by the Pro∣phet, And lo, they came, for whom thou didst wash thy self, paintedst thy Eyes, and deckedst thy self with Ornaments.

Concerning the Education of their Youth, they only learn in Schools to Read, and to write the Arabian Alphabet, the Characters or Letters whereof are common both to the Turks and Arabians, although their Languages are very differing: Besides these, there are other Schools, wherein the Young Men are Instructed in the Emperour's Laws, and those that go on in their Learning, and take it well, are soon called to high Offices, (as Cadi's and Cadileschiers.) But in Liberal Arts and Sciences, such as we teach in our Countries, they are not Instructed, for they have not only none of these Learned Men, but esteem learning of these Sciences a Super∣fluity, and loss of Time; they rather love old Rhimes, and Ballads that speak of and com∣mend the Mighty Deeds of their Ancient Em∣perours,

and other Champions; or other Fan∣cies that make Foreign Nations, or any of their Enemies ridiculous: And such things they put either themselves into Rhimes, or else hear those that have been put into Rhimes by others al∣ready, which they say daily with peculiar Actions, out of Town in pleasant Greens, (where also other Divertisements are performed with Singing, Dancing, Leaping, &c.) So that they are rather pleased with the Reading of these frivolous silly Writings, than to learn Arts and Sciences: Which you may evidently see, in that they do not esteem, nor will admit of that Noble Art of Printing Books, that might inform them in any thing: Which the Clerks, whereof there is a great number up and down in the Cities, like very well, because they daily take a great deal of Money for the Writings of their Pro∣phet Mahomet and others, which maketh them generally very Rich, and wear greater Turbants than the rest, that they may be distinguished from others. Their Paper is generally smoothed and glazed, and they comprehend their Letters in very few Words: When they will make them up, they fold them up until they come to be no broader than an Inch, the outward crevise of the Paper they fill all along with Wax with∣in, and so glue it as it were to the other, or else they take any other Paste made for that purpose, and so imprint their Name upon it with their Seal that is done over with Ink, so that nothing remaineth white but the Letters: These Seals are generally made at Damasco, where the best Artists live that cut in Steel, and they put no∣thing more in it but their Name. They do not make any use of Paper that is writ on, although they have great quantity thereof, neither to put

things up in, nor for any other use, and yet if they find any of it in the Street, they do not let it lye, but take it up carefully, fold it toge∣ther, and put it into the next crevise they meet with, for they are afraid that the Name of God may be written on it: Instead thereof the Gro∣cers make use of great Leaves of Colocasia, where∣of they have great store.