where blacks are, and fometimes leaving their own there, and taking blacks in the room of them. The King of Arabia is always encamped in the fields, and never cometh into a place that is fhut up or enclosed; and this the lefs now, after the mifchance of lofing his fon that retired into one, happened; fo he goeth from place to place like unto the Tartars, fo that often it is not known where he is. In the fummer-time he goeth farther to the north, and in winter to the fouth, to avoid both the heat and cold, and to have better fubfiftance and provifion for himfelf, his men, and cattle. So it hath happened feveral times, that the Arabians in their march have come too near the Turks dominions, and the Turks again to his, from whence arose between these two great Princes fuch differences, that they are come to great and bloody wars. And yet for all this, as I am credibly informed, they have now both made a peculiar league and contract between them, wherein it is agreed that if the Grand Turk fhould go to a war with his neighbours, then the Arabian King will affift and defend him, wherefore the Grand Signior writes to him as his coufin and good friend, and is to pay him the fum of 60000 ducats yearly as his certain falary or retaining fee. And befides all this, the Sultan fends to the new King of Arabia after the decease of the old one, a ftandard with his coat of arms in it, which together with other prefents he fends him with ufual ceremonies, to congratulate him on his happy coming to the throne, and to renew and confirm their alliances. Their religion doth contribute not a small matter to this, which (together with all their ceremonies, and all other points) is the fame almoft they profefs in both nations: And they take as many wives as the Turks do, neither do they extol or magnify one before the other, because they come from better parents, being they buy them all from them. And therefore none of them are excufed, because she cometh from a greater extraction, from doing the family-bufinefs, nor hath a poor one more put upon her becaufe fhe came from mean extraction. So one of the King of Arabia's wives is a daughter of a man that keeps a fawing mill at Racka, which by him (although of mean extraction) is as much refpected as any of the reft. Her

father

father and brothers are very good people; they came very often to us, and fhewed great compaffion, for that we were so abused by the Publican. His mill is not drawn by horses as ours are, nor by water (for they know nothing of that) but two of them cut the wood with great hand-labour. During our ftaying there a young Arabian gentleman, nearly related to the King of Arabia, came very often to us to the water-fide, who was always accompanied with twenty fervants with bows and darts; he had a delicate white turbant on, and a long violet coloured caban made of wool, but his fer-vants went pretty bare, for fome of them wore black caps and long indico coloured fhirts with wide fleeves, which they girt up with broad leathern girdles, wherein ftuck bended daggers or bayonets, as it is their usual custom. It once happened, that fome of us being upon the high town-walls together, from whence we had a pleafant profpect down into the valley to the great river Euphrates, this fame gentleman came to us again, and feated himself with his retinue overagainst us, and presented us with fome dried Cicer Peafe (whereof I have made mention before) and fome Cibebs mixed together, which we thankfully received; and to fhew our thankfulness, we prefented him again with fome Almonds, Figs, Nuts, and fome very good fweat-meats we had brought with us from Aleppo, which he alfo received very kindly. So we all began to eat each of us part of his present, and drunk with it fome water of the Euphrates. After we had eat them all, and we thought the time to be long, he beckon'd to one of his Musicians, and bid him to divert us with his inftrument, which he pulled out presently (which about the neck looked very like unto a cittern) and we expected to hear fome rarity, but when I looked upon it, and faw it had but one ftring that was as big as a cord of their bows, he began to play fome of their tunes, but with what art and dexterity you may eafily fancy. He did this for almoft two hours, and according to his opinion very harmoniously, but we thought the time fo long, that we were very glad when he had done.

About the river I found that fort of Acacia that beareth roundish and brown-coloured pods, called Schock

I 2

and

and Scamuth by the Arabians: Some thorns called Algul, whereon the Manna falleth, chiefly in the county of Corafcen, as Avicenna tells us. Chamefyces, fome ftrange kinds of moffes, which are very much differing in bignefs: Among the reft I faw the low prickly herb, by fome esteemed to be the Tragun of Diofcorides. Below, close to the river, I found the Herba Sacra of Diofcorides, which the learned Carolus Clufius hath accurately described in his History of Outlandish Plants, book ii. chap. 45. and juft by thefe, more ftrange ones, chiefly a delicate one growing plentifully there in the fand, which had from five to eight tender ftalks, which spread themselves into others that were very full of joints, fo that it crept rather on the ground than grew up; by each of them stood three or four roundifh Marjoram or Origanum leaves together, and above between them fome ftar like white flowers, with fix pointed leaves like unto our Ornithogalum, each of them on a peculiar foot-ftalk, the feeds thereof I have not feen, but the roots are small and fibrous, which together with their small bitterness have a pretty exficcating quality; and fo in this respect are very like unto the Polycemon of Diofcorides, but whether it be the fame or no, I leave the learned to decide. Befides thofe before as we came down the river, I faw a great many large Tamarisk trees, and abundance of a certain kind of Agnus Caftus, almost like unto the other, only a great deal lefs, and it had no more but three strong Claver leaves; but above all the Galega, called Goats-rue in our language, which in these parts groweth very high, and in fo great plenty, that on the river-fide I could fee nothing but this for feveral miles together.

СНАР.

CHAP IV.

Of the Inbabitants of the mountains, and the great wilderness we came through to Deer: Of their ancient origination, and miferable and laborious livelibood.

u

PON this good and fevere command of the Bashaw, fon of Mahomet Bashaw, we were acquitted of our long arreft, and went away about noon on the 27th of September; we went again from thence through fuch great defarts, that for fome days we faw nothing worth relating, but here and there little huts made of fome erected boughs, and covered with some bushes, wherein the Moors with their families live, to fecure themselves from the great heat, rain and dews that are in these parts moft violent, fo that I admired how these miserable people could maintain themselves and fo many children in these dry and fandy places where nothing was to be had. Wherefore these poor people are very naked, and fo hungry that many of them if they faw us afar off, would fling themselves into the great river, and swim to us to fetch a piece of bread. And when we flung at them whole handfulls, they would fnap at it just like hungry fish or ducks, and eat it: Others did gather it and put it into the crown which they make neatly of their sheets on the top of their herds, and fo fwim away with it. After thefe fandy defarts had continued a great while, we came at length out of them between high, rough and bare hills, which were fo barren that there was to be feen neither plough-lands nor meadows, neither houfe nor ftick, neither high-way nor footh-path, wherefore thofe people that live there, have no houses, but caves and tents, as they have in the great defarts, where because of the great heat and drynefs, the

I 3

foil

foil is fo barron, that they cannot fubfift in a place for any confiderable time, nor have villages or certain habitations Wherefore they wander up and down, fall upon the caravans and plunder them, and make what fhift they can to get a livelihood. Thefe mountains, as I am informed, reach to the river fordan, the Dead and the Red-Seas, &c. wherein are fituated mount Sinai, Horeb, &c. and the town Petra, which by the prophet Ifaiah is called Petra of the Defarts. The Arabians that live in these defarts, and round about them, are extraordinary marks-men for bows and arrows, and to fling darts which are made of canes: They are a very numerous people, and go out in great parties every where almoft: They are a very ancient nation, and come from the fons of Ishmael, but chiefly from his eldest fon Nebajoth, and were anciently called the war-like Nabathees, and their country, the land or province of the Nabathees, which Jofephus teftifieth in Book i. Chap. 21. where he fays, that the twelve fons of Ishmael, which he had by an Egyptian wife, (his mother Agar, from whom they were called Agarens, as you may fee in the firft of the Chronicles and the fixth verfe, being alfo of the fame country,) were poffeffed of all the country between the Euphrates and the Red-Seas, and called it the province of the Nabathees. The Midianites that bought fofeph of his brethren, and carried him into Egypt, may alfo be reckoned among thefe. This fame country is alfo chiefly by Pliny (becaufe thereabout are no other habitations, but tents, wherein the inhabitants, live) called Scenitis. From this we may conclude that the prophet Isaiah in his 60th Chapter, and David in the 120th Pfalm did fpeak of them, when chiefly the latter maketh mention of the tents ot Kedar, whereby he underftands a country that is inhabited by fuch a nation, as liveth in tents, and is derived from Kedar the son of Ishmael, whom his father Abraham, as a strange child born by his maid Agar, did thruft out together with his mother into the defarts; his words are thefe, Wo is me, that I fojourn in Mefheck, that I dwell in the tents, of Kedar. In our times thefe and other nations are called the Saracens, which have very much encreafed under Mahomet (who by his Mother was an Ishmaelite) and

did