Imatges de pàgina
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which every Muffulman is obliged, by the Mahometan Religion, to come once in his Life-time, or fend a Deputy. At Medina is alfo a ftately Mofque, fupported by two Pillars, and furnished with 300 Silver Lamps, and call'd by the Turks, Moft Holy, because in it is the Coffin of their Prophet Mahomet, cover'd over with Cloth of Gold, under a Canopy of Cloth of Silver, curiously embroider'd.

Of PERSIA.

CLIMATE.PERSIA extending from the 25th to the 45th Deg. of Latitude, it is very reasonable to fuppofe, that the Air and Seafons are very different. In the Middle of the Kingdom their Winter begins in November, and continues till March, with fevere Frofts, and Snow, which falls in great Abundance on their Mountains, but not so much in the Champain Country; from the Month of March till May, the Wind is ufually high; and from thence to September they have a calm ferene Heaven, without so much as a Cloud; and tho' it be pretty hot in the Day time, the refreshing Breezes, which blow conftantly Morning and Evening, as well as in the Night, make the Summer very tolerable, especially fince the Nights are ten Hours long. The Air is fo pure, and the Stars fhine with that Luftre, that People travel much more in the Night, than in the Day. In this Part of Perfia there are very feldom any Hurricanes or Tempest, and very little Thunder and Lightning; nor is it fubject to Earthquakes; and the Air is fo extremely dry in the fair Season, that there is not the leaft Dew, or Moisture, on any thing that is laid abroad all Night, or even on the Grafs; and it very seldom rains in the Winter. No Country is more healthful than the Heart of Perfia, as appears by the hale Complexion of the Natives. The Air in the Southern Part of Perfia, particularly about Gombron, is very unhealthful in the Spring and Fall: The European Factors fcarce ever pass a Year without a dangerous Fit of Illness, which frequently carries them off. The Months of June, July, and Auguft are healthful enough, but fo very hot, that both Natives and Foreigners get up into the Mountains at that Time.

GOVERNMENT.] The King of Perfia is an abfolute Monarch, and has the Lives and Eftates of his Subjects entirely at his Difpofal: There is no Prince in the World more implicity obey'd, let his Orders be never fo unjuf!; nothing can fave the greatest Subject, if he determines to deprive him of his Life, or Eftate. The Crown of Perfia is hereditary, but the

Females

Females are excluded: However, the Son of a Daughter may inherit, tho' his Mother could not. What feems most particular in the Laws of Succeffion in Perfia is, that a blind Man fhall not inherit; and as thofe Males who proceed from the Female Branches, are as capable of fucceeding as those who derive themselves from the Males, that cruel Policy of putting out the Eyes of all that are allied to the Crown, is executed upon every Male of the Royal Family, whether they proceed from Sons or Daughters. The Perfon the King pitches upon to execute this cruel Order, is not allowed to do it by holding a hot Iron to the unhappy Childrens Eyes, but the very Eyeballs are scoped clean out with the Point of a Knife, by which the poor Children are put to inexpreffible Torture, and sometimes lose their Lives under the Hand of thefe Butchers. The Perfians pretend to excufe this barbarous Practice of putting out the Eyes of the Royal Children, by telling us, that it prevents all Difputes about the Succeffion, and a great deal of Bloodshed; and that they are much more merciful than their Neighbours the Turks, who deftroy every Branch of the Royal Family.

TRADE.] The Staple Commodity of Perfia is Silk, raw and wrought, of which great Quantities are exported to India, Turky, and Mofcovy; and formerly the English and Dutch took a great deal off their Hands, but little or none at this Day.

REVENUFS.] What the Revenue of the Crown may amount to in the Whole, is very uncertain, it depending fo much upon Cafualties. Those who have attempted to calculate it fay, that, one Year with another, the Revenues amount to 4,000,000 Pounds Sterl. which, confidering that their Troops are most of them paid by other Means, is a very confiderable Sum; but then, as the Splendor and Magnificence of the Perfian Court is much beyond any thing we have in Europe, poffibly very little of it may remain in the Treasury at the Year's End.

FORCES.] The Army of Perfia dering the Extent of the Kingdom. made fuch confiderable Conquefts, 120,000 Men in his Service at once, his Kingdom.

was never large, confiAbbas the Great, who had never more than in all the Provinces of

RELIGION.] The Inhabitants in general are ftrict Followers of Mahomet's Doctrine, as explain'd and interpreted by Haly, the Nephew and Son-in-law of Mahomet, and one of his Succeffors in the Empire. But the Perfians and Turks differ as much about the Interpretation of the Alcoran, as they do about the Succeffors of Mahomet. There are many Nefio

Neftorian Chriftians in Perfia; as alfo feveral Jefuits, and many Jews. The Chriftian Religion was firft planted in this Country by St. Thomas.

CUSTOMS. The ufual Salute in Perfia is by bowing the Body a little, and clapping the Right-hand to their Breaft; but they never ftir their Cap or Turbant: Before the King, the great Men bow their Faces three times to the Ground, when they approach him. As to Europeans, if they are not clothed in the Perfian Drefs, they expect their Hats, and the fame Reverence they fhew to Men of Quality in their own Country. There are no Exercises which the Perfians endeavour more diligently to accomplish themselves in, than the Bow, and Horfemanfhip. Their greatest Kings have thought proper to be Witneffes of the Addrefs and Activity of their Subjects, and frequently themselves have contended for the Prize. They begin with teaching the young Pupils to bend the Bow; afterwards he is taught to fhoot forwards, backwards, fideways, and almoft in every Pofture; after this, they bring him to fhoot at a Mark, and to deliver his Arrows without fhaking. The next Thing they teach the Pupil is to mount a Horse cleverly, to have a good Seat, to gallop with a loose Rein, to ftop fhort, and turn fwiftly to the Right or Left, upon the leaft Signal, without being diforder'd in the Saddle.

CURIOSITIES.] About 30 Miles North Eaft of Gombren is a moft hideous Cave, which, for its fightful Appearance, is call'd The Gate of Hell. There are yet to be seen the noble Remains of the famous Palace of Perfepolis: Thofe Pillars now ftanding are of excellent Marble, and about 15 Feet high: Even Rome itself, as 'tis faid, has nothing comparable to these venerable Remains of Antiquity: This glorious Palace, or Temple, with the whole City of Persipo-lis, the nobleft and wealthieft City in the World, was burnt to the Ground by Alexander the Great.

CLIMATE. THE

Of INDIA.

HE Northern Part of India is temperate; but towards the South this Country is fubject to Heats, which would be intolerable, if it were not for the fet Seafons of Rain and Wind, with which the Countries lying in the Torrid Zone are cool'd and refresh'd. The regular Winds, which are call'd Monfoons, are obferv'd to blow conftantly fix Months one Way, and fix Months another; namely, from April to October, or thereabouts, they blow

from

from the South-weft; and from October to April, from the North-eaft, not exactly from thofe Points, but vary fometimes a Point or two on either Side. At the breaking up of either of these Monfoons, or a little before they thift, there are ufually prodigious Storms of Wind, fuch as we do not experience, in this Part of the World, once in a great many Years. This fifting of the Monfoons, and confequently the Storms, does not happen exactly at the fame Time every Year, but fometimes a Fortnight or three Weeks fooner, and, at other times, a Fornight or three Weeks later, than the ufual Time, which frequently occafions the Lofs of Shipping. Befides thefe Winds we call Monfoons, they have Land and Sea Breezes, which fhift once in twelve Hours, when the Monfoons are not violent; for then the Breezes give way to the Hurricane.

Siam, Malacca, Cambodia, and Laos.

GOVERNMENT.] Malacca, Cambodia, and Laos, lately became Provinces, and great Part of them tributary to the King of Siam; but the remote Provinces have lately thrown off their Allegiance, and are now fet up for petty Sovereigns. Siam has fuffer'd several Revolutions, according to Loubiere; the King's Father, who poffeffed the Throne when he was there, was an Ufurper, and not fo much as of the Royal Family, this Rebel having dragg'd his unfortunate Sovereign, out of the Temple, whither he was fled for Refuge, and afterwards ftrangled him. This Ufurper reign'd thirty Years, and was fucceeded by his Brother, to the Exclufion of the Ufurper's Son. The Kings of Siam fometimes ftarve their Relations, or put them to other Deaths: Indeed they are fometimes fo merciful, that they only burn their Eyes out, or cripple them, to prevent their afpiring to the Throne. The Government of Tonquin is one of the oddeft we have heard of; for the rightful Prince, it seems, enjoys little more than

the Title of King; the General, or Prime Mini-Tonquin. fter, is Mafter of all the Treafure and Forces of

the Kingdom, and to him the Subjects make their Court; and thus it has been for the last hundred Years. As to Pegu, Ava, Afem, and many inland Parts of India, we have very imperfect Accounts of them. In the Dominions belonging to the Great Mogul, fome Malefactors are hang'd, others beheaded, fome impaled on fharp Stakes, fome torn in Pieces by wild Beafts, or kill'd by Elephants, and others bitten by Snakes. If an Elephant be commanded to dispatch a Criminal immediately, he ftamps upon the Wretch, who lies trembling VOL. I.

S

Punishments in

the Great Mogul's Domini.

ens.

before

before him, with his broad round Foot, and crufhes him to Death in a Moment; if it be intended he should feel his Death, and die in Torture, the Elephant breaks first the Bones of his Legs, then his Thighs and Arms, and leaves him to die by the Wounds he has given him. Sir Thomas Roe relates, that, when he was at the Mogul's Court, a hundred Thieves were brought before that Monarch, who order'd the chief of them to be torn in Pieces by Dogs, and the reft to be put to Death in the ordinary Way: Accordingly the Prisoners were divided into feveral Quarters of the Town; and the chief of them was torn in Pieces by twelve Dogs ; and thirteen of his Gang, at the fame Place, had their Heads tied down to their Feet, and their Necks being chopped half off with a Sword, were left naked and bloody in the Street, where they became a

The Mogul's

Haram or
Seraglio.

great Annoyance to the Neighbourhood. The Women of the Haram or Seraglio, as it is ufually call'd, are either Wives or Concubines, Princefies of the Blood, Governantes, or Slaves. Thofe that are call'd Wives, and contracted with Ceremony, feldom exceed four; the Number of Concubines is very uncertain, but it is generally agreed they amount to about icoo. The firft Son the Great Mogul has by any of his Wives, is look'd upon to be Heir to the Empire; tho' the longest Sword usually carries it; and whoever poffeffes himself of the Throne, commonly deftroys all his Brothers, and their Male Iffue. Number of Jewels, and precious Stones, which, 'tis faid, the Ladies of the Seraglio wear, exceeds all Belief. The Governantes of the young Princeffes, and thofe who are Spies upon the Conduct of the King's Women, are a confiderable Body in the Seraglio; and, 'tis faid, have a great Share in the Government of the Empire. If this Monarch has any Council, it is compos'd of these Ladies; for it is by their Influence the Great Officers of State and Governments. are difpos'd of, and all Bufinefs of Confequence is effected; thefe Ladies having better Opportunities of reprefenting Things to the Emperor, than his Minifters have without Doors. This Prince is ferv'd altogether by Women in his Retirement, and has a Guard, 'tis faid, of Tartar Women, arm'd with Scymetars and Bows, who have the Care of his Perfon. The Government of the Great Mogul is very tyrannical, having both the Purfes and Perfons of his Subjects wholly at his Difpofal: His bare Will is the Law, and his Word a final Decifion of all Controverfies. His Letters and Orders are receiv'd with the utmoft Reverence; for the Governor, to whom they are fent, having Intelligence they

are

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