ben Arabyenes or Men of Greece: and alle thei ben as Herrenytes; and thei drynken no Wyn, but zif it be on principalle Festcs; and thei ben fulle devoute Men, and lyven porely and sympely with Joutes and Dates; and they don gret Abstynence and Penaunce. There is the Chirche of Seynte Kateryne, in the whiche ben manye Lampes brennynge. For thei han of Oyle of Olyves y now, bothe for to brenne in here lamps and to ete also. And that plentee have thei be the Myracle of God. For the Ravenes and the Crowes and the Choughes and othere Foules of the Contree assemble hem there every Zeer ones, and fleen thidere as in pilgrimage; and everyche of hem bryngethe a Braunche of the Bayes or of Olyve in here Bekes in stede of Offryng and leven hem there; of the whyche the Monkes maken gret plentee of Oyle, and this is a gret Marvaylle. And sithe that Foules that have no kyndely Wytt ne Resoun gon thidre to seche that gloriouse Virgyne, wel more oughten Men than to seche hire and to worschipen hire. Also behynde the Awtier of that Chirche is the place where Moyses saughe oure Lord God in a brennynge Bussche; and whanne the Monkes entren into that place thei don of bothe Hosen and Schoon or Botes alweys, because that oure Lord seyde to Moyses, Do of thin Hosen and thi Schoon, for the place that thou stondest on is Lond holy and blessed-"

Having descanted largely on the merveylles and maneres of Palestine, Syria, and the adjacent countries-as the deserte betwene the chirche of Seynt Kateryne and Jerusalem, the dri Tre and how roses came first in the worlde; the pilgrimages in Jerusalem and the holy places thereaboute; the temple of oure Lord, the crueltee of Heroud, the Mount Syon, the Probatica Piscina, and the Natatorium Siloe; the dede See and the flom Jordan; the hed of Seynt John and the usages of the Samaritanes; the province of Galilee, and where antichrist schalle be borne; the cytee of Nazarethe, the age of our Ladie, the day of doom, and the customes of the Jacobites, Surryenes, and Georgyenes; the cytee of Damasce and the thre weyes to Jerusalem-Sir John endeavours to depict the usages of the Sarasines; tells how the Soudan arresond the auctor of this book; and then relates the "begynnynge of Machomete, who was first a pore knave that kept cameles, and wenten with marchantes for merchandize.” The "Londes of Albanye and Libye" are next brought under observation, and the topographer diversifies his picture with a tale of the "Wisshinges for Wacchinge of the Sperhauk," and a tradition respecting" Noes Schippe," as an element in the system of popish mystification. Thus, you are told that

"Fro the cytee of Artyzoun go men to an hille that is clept Sabissocolle, and there besyde is another hille that men clepen Ararat, but the Jews clepen it Taneez, where Noes Schippe rested and zit is upon that montayne, and men may seen it a ferr in cleer wedre. And that montayne is wel a 7 myle highe. And sum men seyn that thei have seen and touched the Schippe, and put here fyngres in the parties where the feend went out, when that Noe seyde Benedicite. But thei, that seyne such wordes, seyn here wille, for a man may not gon up the montayne for gret plentee of snow that is alle weyes on that montayne, nouther somer ne wynter; so that no man may gon up there, ne nevere man dide sithe the tyme of Noe, saf a monk that, by tho grace of God, brought on of the plankes down, that zit is in the Mynstre at the foote of the montayne. Upon that montayne to gon up, this monk had gret desir, and so upon a day he wente up, and whan he was upward the 3

part of the montayne he was so wery that he might go no furthere; and so he rested him and felle o slepe; and whan he awook he founde him self liggynge at the foot of the montayne. And than he preyede devoutlye to God that he wolde vouche safe to suffre him gon up. And an Angelle cam to him and seyde that he scholde gon up, and so he dide. And sithe that tyme nevere non; wherfore men scholde not beleeve suche woordes."*

There

With his chorography of the "Londe of Job" and the "Yle of Amazoyne," our communicative wanderer furnishes his readers with a note on Manna, and a disquisition on the verray Dyamant, its knowleche and vertues. He eulogizes the Lond of Job as a fulle fair contree and a plentyous of alle godes. In that Lond, he says, "there ys no defaute of no thing that is nedefulle to mannes body. ben hilles where men geten gret plentee of Manna, in gretter habundance than in ony other contree. This Manna is clept Bred of Aungeles, and it is a white thing that is full swete and righte delicyous, and more swete than hony or sugre; and it comethe of the dew of heaven that fallethe upon the herbes in that countree, and it congelethe and becomethe all white and swete; and thei putten it in Medicynes for riche men to purge evylle blode, for it puttethe out malencolye." With his "loose notes" on Ethiopia, he introduces Pliny's fable of the Monoscelli or sciopods, "the whiche ben folk that han but o foot, and thei gon so fast that it is marvaylle; and the foot is

*An improved version of this legendary adventure has a place in Chardin's Travels-Voyages en Perse et autres lieux de l'Orient; 4to, four volumes, Amsterdam, 1735.

so large that it schadewethe alle the bodye azen the sonne whanne thei wole lye and reste them :" and here is a joyous gentleman reposing in that comfortable position.

Following our guide on his eastward "travaile," we find him describing the customes of the Yles abouten Ynde, the difference betwixt Ydoles and Symulacres, the 3 maner growing of Peper on o tree, and the Welle that chaungethe his odour every hour of the day.

''

"Symulacres," he affirms, "ben ymages made aftre lykenesse of men or women, or of the sonne or of the mone, or of ony best, or of ony kyndely thing; and Ydoles is an ymage made of lewed wille of man, that man may not fynden among kyndely things, as an ymage that hathe 4 heds, on of a man, another of an hors, or of an ox, or of some other best that no man hathe seyn aftre kyndely disposicioun." Regarding the vegetation and culture of Pepper, "zee schulle undirstonde that the peper growethe in maner as dothe a wylde Vyne that is planted fast by the trees of that wode for to susteynen it by. And the fruyt thereof hangethe in manere as reysynges, and the tre is so thikke charged that it semethe that it wolde breke; and whan it is ripe it is alle grene as it were Ivy Beryes; and than men kytten hem as men don the vynes, and than thei putten it upon an ovven, and there it waxethe blak and crisp. And there is 3 maner of peper alle upon o tre; long peper, blakpeper, and white peper. The long peper men clepen Sorbotyn, and the blak peper is clept Fulfulle, and the white peper is clept Bano. The long peper comethe first, whan the lef begynnethe to come, and it is lyche the chattes of haselle that comethe before the lef, and it hangethe lowe. And aftre comethe the blak with the lef in manere of clusteres of resynges alle grene; and whan men han gadred it than comethe the white that is somdelle lasse than the blak; and of that, men bryngen but litille in to this contree."

Like the "Holy Wells" of the West, our traveller's "Welle of Zouthe" was marvellously salubrious. He thus defines its virtues :

"Near the cytee of Polombe is a grete montayne, and at the foot of that mount is a fayr Welle and a gret, that hathe odour and savour of alle spices. And at every hour of the day, he chaungethe his odour and his savour dyversely; and whoso drynkethe 3 tymes fasting of that watre of that Welle he is hool of alle maner sykenesse that he hathe. And thei that duellen there and drynken often of that Welle, thei nevere han sykenesse and thei semen alle weys zonge. I have dronken there of 3 or 4 sithes, and zit methinkethe I fare the better. Sum men clepen it the Welle of Zouthe, for thei that often drynken there of semen alle weys zongly and leven with outen sykenesse. And men seyn that that Welle comethe out of Paradys, and therfore it is so vertuous."

Sir John next enters on an interesting account of the Domes made be Seynt Thomas in the cytee of Calamye, of the Devocyoun and Sacrifice made to Ydoles there, and of the Procession of the Ydole's Chare aboute the cytee: then he describes the evylle customes used in the Yle of Lamary: and then he engages in an astronomical disquisition to prove how the Erthe and the See ben of round forme and schapp, be pref of the sterre that is clept Antartyk, that is fix in the southe.

Passing with our conductor into the Yle of Java, we accompany him over the Palays of the kyng of that gret contree, the whiche is

nyghe 2000 myle in circuyt. With something of the bearing of a botanist, he speaks of the trees that beren mele, hony, wyn, and venym, and of othere mervayilles and customes used in the yles marchinge thereabouten. This yle, he tells you, is fulle wel inhabyted: there growen alle maner of spicerie, more plentyfous liche than in ony other contree; as of gyngevere, clowegylofres, canelle, zedewalle, notemuges, and maces. And wytethe wel that the notemuge berethe the maces; for righte as the note of the haselle hathe an husk with outen, that the note is closed intil it be ripe and aftre fallethe out, righte so it is of the notemuge and of the maces. Manye other spices and manye other godes growen in that yle. As Pliny the naturalist had done before him, Sir John avouches the existence of certain extraordinary lacustrine canes found in this island, and he concludes his summary of their uses, with the asseveration-and deme no man that I seye it but for a truffule, for I have seen of the cannes, with myn owne eyzen fulle manye times, lyggynge upon the ryvere of that lake, of the whiche 20 of oure felowes ne myghten not liften up ne beren on to the erthe. Among the yles in the See Occean, he continues, there is a gret yle and good and fayr, and men clepen it Nacumera, and it is in kompass aboute more than a 1000 myle. And alle the men and women han Houndes Hedes, and thei ben clept Cynocephali, and thei ben fulle resonable and of gode undirstondynge, saf that thei worschipen an Ox for here god. And also everyche of hem berethe an ox of gold or of sylver in his forhed, in token that thei loven wel here god. And thei gon alle naked saf a lityelle clout that thei coveren with here knees and hire members. Thei ben grete folke and wel fyghtynge, and thei han a gret targe that coverethe alle the bodye, and a spere in here hond to fighte with. And zif thei taken ony man in bataylle, anon thei eten him. Here stands the cy

nocephalous portraiture, exhibiting a marked resemblance to Anubis, with symbols of the Egyptian mythology.

Marvels and satyres, cyclopes and hermaphrodites, panotes and hippopodes, monkes and babewynes, dwerghes and geauntes, with folk of dyverse schap and merveylously disfigured, are main topics in the nineteenth chapter of our knyghte's lucubrations. He depicts the "Lond of Pigmaus" with much vivacity.

66 There," ," he says, "the folk ben of lityelle stature that ben but 3 span long, and thei ben ryghte faire and gentylle aftre here quanty tees, both the men and the women. And thei maryen hem whan thei ben half zere of age and geten children; and thei lyven not but 6 zeer or 7 at the moste. And he that lyvethe 8 zeer, men holden him there ryghte passynge old. Theise men ben the beste worcheres of gold, sylver, cotoun, sylk, and of alle suche thinges, of ony other, that be in the world. And they han often times werre

with the briddes of the contree that thei taken and eten. This litylle folk nouther labouren in londes ne in vynes; but thei han grete men amonges hem, of oure stature, that tylen the lond and labouren amonges the vynes for hem; and of tho men of our stature have thei als grete skorne and wondre as we wolde have amonges us of geauntes, zif thei weren amonges us. There is a gode cytee amonges othere where is duellynge gret plentee of tho lityelle folk; and it is a gret cytee and a faire, and the men ben grete that duellen amonges hem; but whan thei geten ony children thei ben als litylle as the pygmeyes, and therfore thei ben alle, for the most part, alle pigmeyes, for the nature of the lond is suche. And alle be it that the pigmeyes ben litylle, zit thei ben fulle resonable aftre here age, and connen bothen wytt and gode and malice y now."