The voyage of M. John Eldred to Trypolis in Syria
by sea, and from thence by land and river to Babylon and Balsara. 1583.
I DEPARTED out of London in the ship called the Tiger,
in the company of M. John Newbery, M. Ralph Fitch,
and sixe or seven other honest marchants upon Shrove
munday 1583, and arrived in Tripolis of Syria the first
day of May next insuing: at our landing we went on
Maying upon
S. Georges Iland, a place where Christians
dying aboord the ships, are woont to be buried. In this
city our English marchants have a Consull, and our
nation abide together in one house with him, called
Fondeghi Ingles, builded of stone, square, in maner like
a Closter, & every man hath his severall chamber, as it
is the use of all other Christians of severall nations.
This towne standeth under a part of the mountaine of
Libanus two English miles distant from the port: on the
side of which port, trending in forme of an halfe Moone,
stand five blocke houses or small forts, wherein is some
very good artillery, and the forts are kept with about
an hundred Janisaries. Right before this towne from the
seaward is a banke of moving sand, which gathereth and
increaseth with the Westerne winds, in such sort, that,
according to an olde prophesie among them, this banke
is like to swallow up & overwhelme the towne: for every
yere it increaseth and eateth up many gardens, although
they use all policy to diminish the same, and to make
it firme ground. The city is about the bignesse of
Bristow, and walled about, though the walles be of no
great force. The chiefe strength of the place is in a
Citadell, which standeth on the South side within the
walles, and overlooketh the whole towne, and is strongly
kept with two hundred Janisaries and good artillery. A
river passeth thorow the midst of the city, wherewith they
water their gardens and mulbery trees, on which there
grow abundance of silke wormes, wherewith they make
great quantity of very white silke, which is the chiefest
naturall commodity to be found in and about this place.
This rode is more frequented with Christian marchants,
to wit, Venetians, Genouois, Florentines, Marsilians,
Sicilians, Raguses, and lately with English men, then
any other port of the Turks dominions. From Tripolis
I departed the 14 of May with a caravan, passing three
dayes over the ridge of mount Libanus, at the end whereof
we arrived in a city called Hammah, which standeth on
a goodly plaine replenished with corne & cotton wooll.
On these mountaines which we passed grow great
quantity of gall trees, which are somewhat like our okes,
but lesser and more crooked: on the best tree a man
shall not finde above a pound of galles. This towne
of Hammah is fallen and falleth more and more to decay,
and at this day there is scarse one halfe of the wall
standing, which hath bene very strong and faire: but
because it cost many mens lives to win it, the Turke will
not have it repaired; and hath written in the Arabian
tongue over the castle gate, which standeth in the midst
of the towne, these words: Cursed be the father and
the sonne that shall lay their hands to the repairing
hereof. Refreshing our selves one day here, we passed
forward with camels three dayes more untill we came
to Aleppo, where we arrived the 21 of May. This is the
greatest place of traffique for a dry towne that is in all
those parts : for hither resort Jewes, Tartarians, Persians,
Armenians, Egyptians, Indians, and many sorts of
Christians, and injoy freedome of their consciences, and
bring thither many kinds of rich marchandises. In the
middest of this towne also standeth a goodly castle raised
on high, with a garison of foure or five hundred Janisaries. Within foure miles round about are goodly
gardens and vineyards and trees, which beare goodly
fruit neere unto the rivers side, which is but small; the
walles are about three English miles in compasse, but
the suburbs are almost as much more. The towne is
greatly peopled. We departed from thence with our
camels the last of May with M. John Newbery and his
company, and came to Birrah in three dayes, being a
small towne situated upon the river Euphrates
, where it
beginneth first to take his name, being here gathered into
one chanell, whereas before it commeth downe in manifolde branches, and therefore is called by the people of
the countrey by a name which signifieth a thousand heads.
Here is plenty of victuals, wherof we all furnished our
selves for a long journey downe the aforesayd river.
And according to the maner of those that travell downe
by water, we prepared a small barke for the conveyance
of our selves and of our goods. These boats are flat
bottomed, because the river is shallow in many places:
and when men travell in the moneth of July, August,
and September, the water being then at the lowest, they
are constrained to cary with them a spare boat or two
to lighten their owne boats, if they chance to fall on the
sholds. We were eight and twenty dayes upon the water
betweene Birrah and Felugia, where we disimbarked our
selves and our goods. Every night after the Sun setteth,
we tie our barke to a stake, go on land to gather sticks,
and set on our pot with rice or brused wheat, and having
supped, the marchants lie aboord the barke, and the
mariners upon the shores side as nere as they can unto
the same. In many places upon the rivers side we met
with troops of Arabians, of whom we bought milke,
butter, egges, and lambs, and gave them in barter, (for
they care not for money) glasses, combes, corall, amber,
to hang about their armes and necks, and for churned
milke we gave them bread and pomgranat peeles, wherewith they use to tanne their goats skinnes which they
churne withall. Their haire, apparell, and colour are
altogether like to those vagabond Egyptians, which heretofore have gone about in England. Their women all
without exception weare a great round ring in one of
their nostrels, of golde, silver, or yron, according to their
ability, and about their armes and smalles of their legs
they have hoops of golde, silver or yron. All of them
aswel women and children as men, are very great swimmers, and often times swimming they brought us milke
to our barke in vessels upon their heads. These people
are very theevish, which I proved to my cost: for they
stole a casket of mine, with things of good value in the
same, from under my mans head as he was asleepe: and
therefore travellers keepe good watch as they passe downe
the river. Euphrates
at
Birrah is about the breadth of
the Thames
at Lambeth
, and in some places narrower,
in some broader: it runneth very swiftly, almost as fast
as the river of Trent
: it hath divers sorts of fish in it,
but all are scaled, some as bigge as salmons, like barbils.
We landed at
Felugia the eight and twentieth of June,
where we made our abode seven dayes, for lacke of camels
to cary our goods to Babylon: the heat at that time of
the yere is such in those parts, that men are loth to let
out their camels to travell. This Felugia is a village of
some hundred houses, and a place appointed for discharging of such goods as come downe the river: the inhabitants are Arabians. Not finding camels here, we were
constrained to unlade our goods, and hired an hundred
asses to cary our English marchandises onely to New
Babylon over a short desert, in crossing whereof we
spent eighteene houres travelling by night, and part of
the morning, to avoid the great heat.
In this place which we crossed over, stood the olde
mighty city of Babylon, many olde ruines wherof are
easily to be seene by day-light, which I John Eldred have
often beheld at my good leasure, having made three
voyages betweene the new city of Babylon and Aleppo
over this desert. Here also are yet standing the ruines
of the olde tower of Babel, which being upon a plaine
ground seemeth a farre off very great, but the nerer you
come to it, the lesser and lesser it appeareth; sundry
times I have gone thither to see it, and found the
remnants yet standing above a quarter of a mile in compasse, and almost as high as the stoneworke of Pauls
steeple in London, but it sheweth much bigger. The
bricks remaining in this most ancient monument be halfe
a yard thicke, and three quarters of a yard long, being
dried in the Sunne onely, and betweene every course of
bricks there lieth a course of mattes made of canes, which
remaine sound and not perished, as though they had bene
layed within one yeere. The city of New Babylon joyneth
upon the aforsayd small desert where the Olde city was,
and the river of Tigris
runneth close under the wall, and
they may if they will open a sluce, and let the water of
the same runne round about the towne. It is above two
English miles in compasse, and the inhabitants generally
speake three languages, to wit, the Persian, Arabian and
Turkish tongues: the people are of the Spaniards complexion: and the women generally weare in one of the
gristles of their noses a ring like a wedding ring, but
somewhat greater, with a pearle and a Turkish stone set
therein: and this they do be they never so poore.
This is a place of very great traffique, and a very great
thorowfare from the East Indies to Aleppo. The towne
is very well furnished with victuals which come downe
the river of Tigris
from Mosul which was called Ninive
in olde time. They bring these victuals and divers sorts
of marchandises upon rafts borne upon goats skins blower
up ful of wind in maner of bladders. And when they
have discharged their goods, they sel the rafts for fire,
and let the wind out of their goats skins, and cary them
home againe upon their asses by land, to make other
voyages downe the river. The building here is most of
bricke dried in the Sun, and very litle or no stone is to
be found: their houses are all flat-roofed and low. They
have no raine for eight moneths together, nor almost any
clouds in the skie, night nor day. Their Winter is in
November, December, January and February, which is as
warme as our Summer in England in a maner. This I
know by good experience, because my abode at severall
times in this city of Babylon hath bene at the least the
space of two yeres. As we come to the city, we passe
over the river of Tigris
on a great bridge made with boats
chained together with two mighty chaines of yron. From
thence we departed in flat bottomed barks more strong
& greater then those of Euphrates
, and were eight and
twenty dayes also in passing downe this river to Balsara,
but we might have done it in eighteene or lesse, if the
water had bene higher. Upon the waters side stand by
the way divers townes resembling much the names of
the olde prophets: the first towne they call Ozeah, &
another Zecchiah. Before we come to Balsara by one
dayes journey, the two rivers of Tigris
and Euphrates
meet, and there standeth a castle called Gurna, kept by
the Turks, where all marchants pay a small custome.
Here the two rivers joyned together begin to be eight
or nine miles broad: here also it beginneth to ebbe and
flow, and the water overflowing maketh the countrey all
about very fertile of corne, rice, pulse, and dates. The
towne of Balsara is a mile and a halfe in circuit: all the
buildings, castle and wals, are made of bricke dried in
the Sun. The Turke hath here five hundred Janisaries,
besides other souldiers continually in garison and pay,
but his chiefe strength is of gallies which are about five
and twenty or thirty very faire and furnished with goodly
ordinance. To this port of Balsara come monethly divers
ships from Ormuz
, laden with all sorts of Indian marchandise, as spices, drugs, Indico and Calecut cloth. These
ships are usually from forty to threescore tunnes, having
their planks sowed together with corde made of the barke
of Date trees, and in stead of Occam they use the shiverings of the barke of the sayd trees, and of the same they
also make their tackling. They have no kinde of yron
worke belonging to these vessels, save only their ankers.
From this place six dayes sailing downe the gulfe, they
go to a place called Baharem in the mid way to Ormus:
there they fish for pearles foure moneths in the yere, to
wit, in June, July, August, and September. My abode
in
Balsara was just sixe moneths, during which time I
received divers letters from M. John Newbery from
Ormus, who as he passed that way with her Majesties
letters to Zelabdim Echebar king of Cambaia, & unto
the mighty emperour of China, was traiterously there
arrested, and all his company, by the Portugals, and
afterward sent prisoner to Goa : where after a long and
cruell imprisonment he and his companions were delivered
upon sureties, not to depart the towne without leave, at
the sute of one father Thomas Stevens an English religious
man, which they found there: but shortly after three of
them escaped, whereof one, to wit, M. Ralph Fitch, is
since come into England. The fourth, which was a
painter called John Story, became religious in the college
of S. Paul in Goa, as we understood by their letters.
I and my companion William Shales having dispatched
our businesse at
Balsara, imbarked our selves in company
of seventy barks all laden with marchandise, having every
barke 14 men to draw them, like our Westerne bargemen
on the Thames
, and we were forty foure dayes comming
up against the streame to Babylon, where arriving and
paying our custome, we with all other sorts of marchants
bought us camels, hired us men to lade and drive them,
furnished our selves with rice, butter, bisket, hony made
of dates, onions and dates: and every marchant bought
a proportion of live muttons, and hired certaine shepheards to drive them with us: we also bought us tents
to lie in, and to put our goods under: and in this our
caravan were foure thousand camels laden with spices and
other rich marchandises. These camels will live very well
two or three dayes without water: their feeding is on
thistles, wormewood, magdalene, and other strong weeds
which they finde upon the way. The government and
deciding of all quarels and dueties to be payed, the whole
caravan committeth to one speciall rich marchant of the
company, of whose honesty they conceive best. In passing from Babylon to Aleppo, we spent forty dayes,
travelling twenty, or foure and twenty miles a day, resting
ourselves commonly from two of the clocke in the afternoone, until three in the morning, at which time we begin
to take our journey. Eight dayes journey from Babylon
toward Aleppo, neere unto a towne called Heit, as we
crosse the river Euphrates
by boates, about 3. miles from
the town there is a valley wherein are many springs
throwing out abundantly at great mouths, a kind of blacke
substance like unto tarre, which serveth all the countrey
to make stanch their barkes and boates: every one of
these springs maketh a noise like unto a Smiths forge in
the blowing & puffing out of this matter, which never
ceaseth night nor day, and the noise may be heard a
mile off continually. This vale swaloweth up all heavie
things that come upon it. The people of the countrey
cal it in their language Babil gehenham, that is to say,
Hell doore. As we passed through these deserts, we saw
certaine wild beasts, as wild asses all white, Roebucks,
wolfes, leopards, foxes, and many hares, whereof we
chased and killed many. Aborise the king of the wandring Arabians in these deserts, hath a dutie of 40.s.
sterling, upon every Camels lode, which he sendeth his
officers to receive of the Caravans, and in consideration
hereof, he taketh upon him to conduct the sayd Caravans
if they need his helpe, and to defend them against certaine
prowling thieves. I and my companion William Shales
came to Aleppo with the Caravan the eleventh of June,
1584. where we were joyfully received 20. miles distant
from the towne by M. William Barret our Consull, accompanied with his people and Janissaries, who fell sicke
immediately and departed this life within 8. dayes after,
and elected before his death M. Anthonie Bate Consul of
our English nation in his place, who laudably supplied
the same roome 3. yeeres. In which meane time, I made
two voyages more unto Babylon, and returned by the way
aforesayd, over the deserts of Arabia
. And afterwards,
as one desirous to see other parts of the countrey, I went
from Aleppo to Antioch
, which is thence 60. English
miles, and from thence went downe to Tripolis, where
going aboord a small vessell, I arrived at
Joppe, and
travelled to Rama, Lycia
, Gaza
, Jerusalem, Bethleem
, to
the river of Jordan
, and the sea or lake of Zodome, and
returned backe to Joppe, & from thence by sea to Tripolis,
of which places because many others have published large
discourses, I surcease to write. Within few dayes after
imbarking my selfe at Tripolis the 22. of December, I
arrived (God be thanked) in safety here in the
river of
Thames with divers English marchants, the 26. of March,
1588, in the Hercules of London, which was the richest
ship of English marchants goods that ever was knowen to
come into this realme.
