It might have been imputed as a Piece of great Neglect in me, not to have visited the Euxine, especially as I had an Opportunity of sailing thither; seeing the Ancients used to account it as great a Piece of Curiosity to see Pontus, as to visit Corinth. Thither, therefore, I sailed with a prosperous Gale, and had the Privilege to be admitted into some of the Pleasure-Houses of the Grand Seignior.
In the Valves of one of them, I beheld the famous Fight of Selimus with Ishmael King of the Persians, excellently described in Checker-Work. I had also the View of many of the Orchards and Groves of the Turkish Emperor, which were seated in most pleasant Vallies. This I may say of them, That they ow’d little to Art, but almost all to Nature; so that I could not chuse but entertain such Epiphonema’s as these in my Thoughts, O most pleasant Houses for Nymphs! O choise Seats for the Muses! O Retirements fit for the Learned! To deal plainly with you (as I told you before) they seemed to me, as it were, sensibly to bewail their present Posture, and to cry aloud to Christians for their better Cultivation; and not they only, but much more Constantinople itself, yea, and all Greece too; which being, heretofore, the most flourishing Country in the World, is now wofully enslaved by Barbarians. Formerly it was the Mother and Nurse of all good Arts and liberal Sciences, but now, alas! it seems to call for that Culture and Humanity which once it delivered down to us; and, by Way of Requital, claims the Redemption of our common Religion from that Scythian Barbarism under which it groans; and call it may long enough, for (with Grief may we speak it) Christian Princes, now a-days, are otherwise employed; so that the Turks do not more domineer over the poor Greeks, than Vices, such as Luxury, Gluttony, Sloth, Lust, Pride, &c. do over Christians, which so clog, enervate, and depress our Minds, that we can hardly look Heaven-ward, or aspire to any Thing that is truly Great and Excellent.
Methinks, Duty and Piety should have been sufficient Motives to us to help our afflicted Brethren; but if we had been proof against those Incentives, so that neither brave nor praise-worthy Actions could unthaw our frozen Courage; yet Profit and Advantage, which are now the great Bias of the World, might have stirred us up to recover such opulent and commodious Countries from Infidels, and to possess them ourselves: But, on the contrary, we plow the Ocean, even as far as the Indies, and the very Antipodes, because there we get rich Prey and Spoil at a cheap Rate, even without Bloodshed, by imposing on the simple and uncrafty Indians. ’Tis true, we pretend the Conversion of the Heathens, but, if we go to the Root of the Matter, (to our Shame be it spoken) ’tis their Gold, not their Godliness, is the Gain we seek for. Our Ancestors carried it at quite another Rate, who did not, like trading Merchants, seek after those Places where there was most Wealth, but where there was greater Opportunity for noble and virtuous Atchievements; so that it was not Profit, but Honour, which put them upon hazardous and remote Expeditions: And when they came home, they were more laden with Glory than with Plunder. I speak this in your Ear; for others, perhaps, may think it a peculiar thing in me, to detract from the Manners of the present Age. But, let them think what they will, I see that the Arrow is drawn to the Head to destroy us; and I am afraid, that we, who would not fight for Glory, shall be forced to do it to save our Lives. But to return to Pontus.
The Turks call the Euxine, Caradenis, (i. e.) The Black Sea. It falls down thro’ narrow Streights into the Thracian Bosphorus, where its Waters are tossed up and down by many Vortices, Turnings, and Windings, occasioned by several Promontories jutting out into it; and thus, in one Day’s Passage, it descends to Constantinople, and from thence, almost by the like strait Passage, it breaks out into the Propontis. In the Middle of the Bay, where it makes its Influx into the Bosphorus, there is a Rock with an erected Pillar, in the Basis whereof is writ the Name of a certain Roman, called Octavian, (if my Memory fail not) in Latin Letters.
On the European Shore there is a Tower, called Pharos, where they hang out Lights in the Night, to guide Sailors by. Not far from this Place, a River falls into the Sea, in the Channel whereof there are found Stones, little inferior to Onyxes or Sardonyxes, and, if they be polished, are as shining as they. A few Miles from that Bay, which I lately spoke of, we may see those Streights over which Darius wasted his Army against the European Scythians: And about the Middle, between the two Mouths of the Bosphorus, there are two Castles, one of which is in Europe, and the other on the opposite Shore, in Asia. This latter was possessed by the Turks long before Mahomet took Constantinople. The other was built by him some few Years after he became Master of that City. The Turks make use of it, at this Day, as a Prison for the nobler Sort of their Captives. Lazarus, a Commander, or Prince of the Epitots not long ago was taken Prisoner by the Turks, together with some Spaniards at Castlenovo, and committed to this Tower; from whence making his Escape, and being retaken, he was impal’d, (i. e.) put to a most cruel Death, by having a Pole thrust thro’ his Body, from his Fundament to his very Neck; yet he indured it with incredible Patience.
Perhaps you expect that I should here give you an Account of those floating Islands, called Cyaneæ or Symplegades. But, to deal freely with you, those few Hours that I spent on the Pontus, I saw no such Islands at all; whether they had been carried to any other Place, I know not: If you desire to have a more particular Information concerning them, you may consult Peter Gyllius, who was an exact Enquirer into such Curiosities; for my Part, I shall record only what I saw, or know to be true. Yet I think it is not fit for me to conceal a Mistake that Polybius is guilty of; for he proposes many Arguments, to prove that, in Tract of Time, the Euxine will be choaked up with Sand and other Trash, brought in by the Danow, the Borysthenes, and other great Rivers falling into it, that it would be made unfit for Navigation; whereas, the contrary appeared to me; for that Sea is every jot as navigable, at this Day, as it was of old in the Days of Polybius. And though he seemed to have some Grounds for his Opinion, that to him were irrefragable, yet Time hath shewed them to be weak. The like Observation holds in other Cases; for, of old, who would not believe the Ancients, who affirmed, upon seemingly imaginable Grounds, That the Torrid Zone was inhabitable? whereas, later Discoveries have fully convinced us, That those hot Countries are as well inhabited as any other Part of the Terrestial Globe; nay, when the Sun is at the highest with them, and darts down its Rays perpendicularly upon them; even at that very Time the Ardency of the Heat is so tempered and cooled by continued Rains, that those Countries are rendered very fit for human Habitations. But to return.
After the Grand Seignior was informed, by Letters, of my Arrival (as I said before) he sent to the Governor of Constantinople, intimating his Pleasure, that he should send us to him into Asia, as far as the City of Amasia, or (as it is writ on ancient Coins) Amazeia, where he then was. Upon this Advice we prepared all Things for our Journey; and, with our Guides, on the 9th of March we were wafted over into Natolia, (for so the Turks call Asia at this Day.) That Day we went no farther than Scutari, a Town on the Asiatick Shore, opposite to Old Byzantium; where, or very little above it, the noble City of Chalcedon was formerly thought to stand. The Turks were of Opinion, That when our Horses, Coaches, Baggage, and Train, together with ourselves, were all got over the Hellespont, ’twas enough for one Day’s Journey; especially considering, that if we had forgot any of the necessary Accoutrements for our Journey, or had left them behind at Constantinople, (as it sometimes happened) we might bethink ourselves before we went any farther, and fetch them over. The next Day we continued our Journey from Scutari, over fragrant Fields, full of odoriferous Plants, and especially Stæchas’s, a sweet smelling Spike. There we saw a vast Number of Tortoises, stalking over all the Field, without any Fear at all. We had certainly seized upon a great many of them, as a Prey grateful to our Palates, had it not been for our Turkish Guides, whom we were afraid to disoblige; for if they had seen any of them brought to our Table, much more, if they had touched them, they would have thought themselves so defiled, that I know not how many Washings would not have cleansed their imagined Pollution. For, as I told you before, the Turks, and the Greeks too, are so superstitious, that they abhor ever to touch of that Animal; so that, it being no hurtful Creature, and no body endeavouring to catch them, the whole Country abounds with Tortoises. I kept one of them by me a great while, which had two Heads, and it would have lived much longer, if I had been as careful of it as I might. That Day’s Journey brought us to a Village, called Cartaly, which I mention, because I shall, for the future, gratify you with the Knowledge of the several Stages of this Voyage. For tho’ the Journey from Vienna to Constantinople hath been performed by many, yet this from Constantinople to Amasia, hath, as yet, been undergone by no Christian that I know of. From Cartaly we came to Gabise, a Town of Bithynia, which some think was anciently called Libyssa, and is famous for the Sepulchre of Hannibal, who was there interred. From thence there is a most pleasant Prospect into the Sea, and into the Bay of Nicomedia; here also grow Cyprus Trees of a wonderful Bulk and Tallness.
Our fourth Day’s Journey from Constantinople brought us to Nicomedia, a City, anciently of great Note; but we saw nothing remarkable in it, but the Ruins and Rubbish of old Walls, with some broken Pieces of Pillars with their Chapiters, which were all the Remainders of its ancient Splendor, except one Castle on an Hill, which was somewhat more entire. A little before we came to this Place, some Workmen, that were digging under Ground, discovered a long Wall made with Marble, which (it may be) was part of the ancient Palace of the Kings of Bithynia.
From Nicomedia, we passed over a Cliff or Ridge of Mount Olympus, and came to a Village called Kasockly, and from thence to Nice; but it was so late before we came thither, that the first Watch was set. Not far from that Place, I heard a mighty Noise, as if it had been of Men that jeer’d and mock’d us. I asked what was the Matter? Whether any of the Mariners, rowing on the Lake Ascanius, (which was not far off) did deride us, for travelling at that unusual Time of Night? I was answered, No, but it was only the howling of certain Beasts, which the Turks call Ciacals, or Jacals. They are a Sort of Wolves, somewhat bigger than Foxes, but less than common Wolves; yet as greedy and devouring as the most ravenous Wolves or Foxes of all. They go in Flocks, and seldom or never hurt either Man or Beast, but get their Food by Craft and Stealth, more than by open Force. Thence it is, that the Turks call subtle and crafty Persons, especially the Asiaticks, by the Metaphorical Name of Ciacals. Their Manner is to enter into the Tents or Houses of the Turks, in the Night-Time, and what they can catch that is eatable, that they eat; and if they find nothing else to devour, then they fall a gnawing of all Kinds of Leather Things, as Shoes, Boots, Girdles, Scabbards of Swords, and the like; and they are as cunning as they are thievish; but in this they are very ridiculous, that they discover themselves by the Noise they make. For whilst they are most busy in a House, devouring their Prey, if any one of their Herd, that stays without Doors, chance to howl, they all set up a howling likewise; and thus, forgetting where they are, they raise up the People of the House, who leap out of their Beds, and cudgel them soundly.