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Sir John concludes this chapter of his pilgrimage, with a sight of the Geeek "A B C, what Lettres thei ben, with the names that thei clepen them;" and he observes apologetically for his details, "alle be it that theise touchen not to o way, nevertheless thei touchen to that that I have hight zou, to schewe zou a partie of Custumes and Maneres, and dyversitees of Contrees. For many Men have gret lykyne to here speke of straunge thinges of dyverse contreyes."

Our communicative journeyer enlivens "the Weye fro Costantynoble to Jerusalem" with a view of the "Tombe of Seynt John, in the whiche is noughte but Manna that is clept Aungeles Mete," and the the episode of "the Doughtre of Ypocras," with a due portion of topographical speculation. We transcribe this episode for the gratification of our kind friends, who promise a reasonable share of advantage to the ANALYST, from the occasional introduction of an essay in "Light Reading:" and here it follows.

From Crete" passen Men thorghe_the Ile of Colos, of the whiche Iles Ypocras was Lord offe. And some Men seyn that in this Ile is zit the Doughtre of Ypocras in forme and lykenesse of a gret Dragoun that is an hundred Fadme of lengthe, as Men seyn, for I have not seen hire. And thei of the Iles callen hire the Lady of the Lond. And sche lyethe in an old Castelle in a Cave, and scheweth twyes or thryes in the Zeer. And sche dothe non harm to no Man, but zif Men don hire harm. And sche was thus chaunged and transformed from a fair Damysele into lykenesse of a Dragoun be a goddesse that was clept Deane. And Men seyn that sche schalle so endure in that forme of a Dragoun unto the tyme that a knyghte come that is so hardy that dar come to hire and kisse hire on the Mouthe: And then schalle sche turne azen to hire owne Kynde, and ben a Woman azen; But aftre that sche schalle not liven longe. And it is not longe sith then that a kynghte of the Rodes that was hardy and doughty in Armes, seyde that he wolde kyssen hire. And whan he was upon his Coursere, and wente to the Castelle, and entred in to the Cave, the Dragoun lifte up hire Hed azenst him. And whan the knyghte saw hire in that forme so hidous and so horrible, he fleyghe awey. And the Dragoun bare tho knyghte upon a Roche, mawgre his Hede; and from that Roche sche caste him in to the See; and so was lost bothe Hors and Man. And also a zonge Man, that wiste not of the Dragoun, wente out of a Schipp, and wente thorghe the Ile till that he come to the Castelle and cam into the Cave, and wente so longe til that he fond a Chambre, and there he saughe a Damysele that kembed hire Hede and lokede in a Myrour; and sche hadde meche Tresoure abouten hire: and he trowed that sche hadde ben a comoun Woman that dwelled there to resceyve Men to Folye. And he abode till the Damysele saughe the Schadewe of him in the Myrour. And sche turned hire toward him, and asked him what he wolde. And he seyde, he wolde ben hire Limman or Paramour. And sche asked him zif that he were a knyghte. And he seyde nay. And then sche seyde that he myghte not ben hire Lemman. But sche bad him gon azen unto his Felowes and make him knyghte, and come azen on the Morwe, and sche scholde come out of the Cave before him, and thanne come and kysse hire on the Mowthe, and have no Drede; for I schalle do the no maner harm, alle be it that thou see me in Lykenesse of a Dragoun. For thoughe thou see me hidouse and horrible to loken onne, I do the to wytene that it is made be enchantment. For withouten doute I am non other than that thou seest now, a Woman; and therfore drede the noughte. And zif thou kysse me, thou schalt have alle this Tresoure and be my Lord, and Lord also of alle that Ile. And he departed fro hire and wente to his VOL. X., NO. XXVIII. 20

Felowes, and cam azen upon the Morwe for to kisse this Damysele. And whan he saughe hire comen out of the Cave, in forme of a Dragoun, so hi

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douse and so horrible, he hadde so gret drede that he fleyghe azen to the schippe; and sche folewed him. And whan sche saughe that he turned not azen, sche began to crye as a thing that hadde meche Sorwe: and thanne sche turned azen in to hire Cave; and anon the knyghte dyede. And sith then hidrewards myghte no knyghte se hire but that he dyede anon. But whan a knyghte comethe that is so hardy to kisse hire, he schalle not dye, but he schalle turne the Damysele in to hire righte Forme and kyndely Schapp, and he schalle be Lord of alle the Contreyes and Iles aboveseyd."

Pilgrims journeying to Jerusalem would find a useful "guide-book" in the Knyghte's Voiage to the Londe bezond the See, for he carefully directs" Men," by miles and land-marks and marvels, how to visit and view the "cytees of Rodes, Cipre, Thire, Sarphen, Sydon, Akoun, Gaza, Cesaire, Ascolonge, Jaffe," and thence to the holy city. For the generous purpose of creating amusement by the way, he describes a 66 Fosse, the which is 100 Cubytes of largenesse, and alle fulle of Gravelle schynynge brighte, of the whiche men maken fair Verres and clere: and men comen fro fer for to fetten of that Gravelle; and thoughe there be nevere so moche taken awey there of on the day at Morwe it is as fulle azen as evere it was. There is everemore gret Wynd in that Fosse that stereth everemore the Gravelle, and makethe it trouble: and zif ony Man do thereinne ony maner Metalle it turneth anon to Glasse; and the Glasse that is made of that Gravelle, zif it be don azen in to the Gravelle, it turnethe anon in to Gravelle as it was first, and therfore somme Men seyn

that it is a sweloghe of the gravely See." Now truly, as Sir John says, this "is a gret mervaille," and may have proved e good inducement with our generous Bibliopole to represent the process in a bold graphic illustration. This is accompanied by another in which Sampson appears exerting his strength to make a great halle falle upon the Philistienes the whiche had put out his Eyen, and schaven his Hed, enprisound him be Tresoun of Dalida his paramour.

Our "Travailere's" account of Cyprus would be duly appreciated in the days of his pilgrimage. He delineates the geography and ecclesiastical institutions of this island, without omitting notes on "Dismas the gode Theef," and on some of the earlier "seynts" who, it seems, were either born or buried in this happy country. They of this "Londe" have a rather singular domestic custom: at meals, "they had lever sythen in the erthe than setten formes and tables." We are informed that here it is the manere of Lordis and alle othere men to eten on the erthe; for they make dyches in the erthe alle aboute in the halle depe to the knee and thei do pave hem, and whan thei wil ete thei gou there in and sytten here; and the skylle is, for thei may ben the more fressche, for that londe is meche more hotter than it is here." Field-sports, in Sir John's time, were not neglected by the Cyprian squires: for they, he relates, hunten with Papyonns that ben lyche Lepardes, and they taken wylde bestes righte welle, and thei ben somdelle more than Lyouns, and thei taken more scharpely the bestes and more delyverly than don Houndes. While the fancier of word-lore may be exercising his ingenuity on the Papyann, we submit a figure of this clever animal to the attention of practical zoologists.

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In his introduction to the "Voiage," the editor justly estimates the suggestion "that Maundeville may never have gone to the east at all, but compiled his book out of previous journals"—a suggestion alike flimsy and unjustifiable. It is refuted by the knightly journalist's own declaration. At page 35 we find him stating explicitly that

"At Babyloyne, there dwelleth the Soudan in his Calahelyke, in a fair Castelle strong and gret and wel sett upon a Roche. In that Castelle duellen, alle wey to kepe it and to serve the Sowdan, mo than 6000 persones that taken alle here Necessaries of the Sowdanes Court. I oughte righte wel to knowen it, for I duelled with him as Soudyour in his Werres a gret while azen the Bedoynes. And he wolde have maryed me full highely to a gret Princes Daughtre zif I wolde han forsaken my Lawe and my Beleve. But I thank God I had no will to don it for no thing that he behighten me."

Again, in noticing him the whiche leet sle his brother previly for to have the Lordschipe, and made him to ben clept Melechmadabron, Sir John says, at p. 39, " and he was Soudan what I departed fro the Contrees." Several other places of our pilgrim's "Travaile" (as pp. 4, 130, 137, 167, 169, 180-1, 190, 219, 220-1, 235, 264, and 314-15-16) retain distinct evidences of his actually having visited the far distant east, and ben dwellyng amonges many a dyverse folk of dyverse secte and beleeve, and of his having made his Tretys aftre information of men that knewen of thinges that he hadde not seen himself, and also of marveyles and customes that he hadde seen himself as fer as God wolde zeve him grace. His good faith is manifest in this passage. After having told yow som of the Wayes, by the Londe and eke by Water, how that Men mowen goon unto Jerusalem, he adds a description of another waye, alle by Londe un to Jerusalem and passe noön See from Fraunce or Flaundres, comprizing an account of Batho, the foulest Contree and the most cursed and the poorest that men knowen. At page 130, he remarks, distinctly and candidly, "I have not ben in that Contree ne be tho Weyes, but I have ben at other Londes that marchen to tho Contrees, and in the Lond of Russye and in the Lond of Nyflan and in the Reme of Crako and of Letto and in the Reme of Daresten and in manye other places that marchen to the Costes; but I wente never by that weye to Jerusalem; wherfore I may not wel telle zou the manere." In fine, after depicting the wealth and splendour of the "Grete Chane of Chatay," our spirited topographer proceeds to say, at page 220,

And

"And zee schulle undirstonde that my Felowes and I, with oure Zomen, we serveden this Emperour and weren his Soudyoures, 15 monethes, azenst the kyng of Mancy, that held Werre azenst him. And the cause was, for we hadden gret lust to see his Noblesse and the Estat of his Court, and alle his Governance to wite zif it were suche, as wee herde seye that it was. treuly we fond it more noble and more excellent and ricchere and more marveyllous than ever we herde speke offe, in so moche that we wolde never han leved it, had wee not seen it. For I trowe that no Man wolde beleve the noblesse, the ricchesse, ne the multytude of folk that ben in his Court, but he had seen it. For it is not there as it is here; for the Lordes here han

folk of certain nombre als they may suffise, but the gret Chane hath every day folke at his Costages and Expenses as withouten nombre. But the Ordynance, ne the expenses in mete and drynk, ne the honestee ne the clennesse, is not so arrayed there as it is here; for alle the Comouns there eten withouten Clothe upon here knees, and thei eten alle maner of Flessche and litylle of Bred. And after Mete thei wypen here Hondes upon here Skyrtes, and thei eten not but ones a day. But the Estat of Lordes is fulle gret and riche and noble. And alle be it that sum men wil not trow me, but holden it for Fable to tell him the Noblesse of his persone and of his Estate and of his Court, and of the gret multytude of folk that he holt, natheless I schalle seye zou a partye of him and of his folk, aftre that I have seen, the manere and the ordynance, fulle many a tyme. And whoso that wol may leve me zif he wille; and whoso wille not may chuse; for I wot wel zif ony man hathe ben in tho Contrees bezonde, thoughe he have not ben in the place where the grete Chane duellythe, he schalle here speak of him so meche merveylouse thing that he schalle not trowe it lightly: and treuly no more did I my self til I saughe it. And those that han ben in tho Contrees, and in the great Chane's Houshold, knowen wel that I seye sothe."

Now, in these extracts and references, there is full and fair reason for concluding that "Sir John Maundeville's Voiage and Travaile" was a true pilgrimage, and that "he departed from oure contrees and passed the See, the Zeer of Grace 1322, and passed manye Londes and manye Yles and Contrees, and cerched manye fulle straunge places, and have ben in manye a fulle gode honourable Companye, and at many a faire Dede of Armes."

In the section where Sir John treats of many Soudans and of the "Tour of Babiloyn," he inserts a diversity of historical sketches, and adorns them with the pageantry of monkish or legendary inventions and disfigured notes of events recorded in the sacred writings Here follows a saintly tale, with a lively representation.

"The Mount of Synay is clept the Desert of Syne, that is to seyne, the Bussche brennynge. There is an Abbeye of Monkes, wel bylded and wel closed with Zates of Iren, for drede of the wylde Bestes. And the Monkes

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