We passed on from Chiousada to Karali; from Karali to Hazdengri; from thence to Mazotthoy; from Mazotthoy we passed over the River Sangar, which runs into Pontus out of Phrygia, and came to Mahathli, from thence to Zugli, thence to Chilancyck; from Chilancyck to Ialancich; from thence to Portughin; and from Portughin we reached to Ancyra, called by the Turks, Angur. We staid one whole Day at Ancyra, partly because the Turks did not hasten us; for, in regard the Persian Embassador made an Halt, we were desired to do so too, that we might make our Entrances, both at one Time, into Amasia. I saw nothing remarkable in all the Villages aforementioned, save that sometimes, among the Turkish Sepulchres, we happened to see some Pillars, or ancient Stones of curious Marble, wherein there were several Remains of Latin or Greek Inscriptions, but so defaced, that they could not be read; which Disappointment I very much resented, for all my Delight was, as soon as I came to my Inn at Night, to enquire after old Inscriptions, together with Latin and Greek Coins; and sometimes for rare Kinds of Plants.
As for the Sepulchres, or Graves of the Turks, their Custom is, not to fill them with Earth, but throw great Stones upon them for a Covering. Would you know the Reason? ’tis Superstitious enough. The Turks believe, that whenever the Devil accuses the Deceased, and calls upon him to give an Account how he spent his Life; then his good Genius will defend him, and this Stone is the Place upon which the Ghost must sit, that he may plead his Cause with more Care; and it is so huge and bulky, that Dogs, Wolves, or other ravenous Beasts, especially the Hyænæ, may not injure his Corps as it lies in the Earth.
The Hyæna is a Beast common in these Countries; she uses to dig up Graves, and taking out the dead Bodies from thence, carries them to her Den, near which you shall see a great Heap of Bones of Men, Horses, and other Creatures. She is a little lower than a Wolf, and quite as long; she hath a Skin like a Wolf, only her Hair is rougher and full of great black Spots; her Head is contiguous to her Spina dorsi, without any vertebræ at all; so that, when she looks backward, she must of necessity turn her whole Body: Instead of a Row of Teeth, she hath but one continued Bone. The Turks do ascribe great Vertue to this Beast, in Philtres, as did the Antients: there were two of them at Constantinople, when I was there; I cheapned them, but their Owners were unwilling to sell them, because they kept them for the Sultaness, who was thought, by Love-Portions, and Magic Art, to have engaged her Husband’s Love to her. Here I cannot chuse but take Notice of a Mistake in Bellonius, who thinks the Hyæna to be the same Creature with that we call the Zibeth or Musk-Cat.
The Turks have a Tradition, that the Hyæna, which they call Zirtlan, understands what Men say one to another. The Antients affirm’d, that they could also imitate Man’s Voice, and thereupon Hunters catch them by this Wile. They find out her Den, which they may easily do by the heap of Bones lying by it; and then one of them goes in with a Rope, leaving the other End of the Rope in the Hands of his Fellows without; and when he is creeping in, he cries with a loud Voice, Joctur, Joctur, Ucala! i. e. She is not here, She is not here! or, I cannot find her! whereupon, the Hyæna, thinking she is not discovered, lies close, and he ties one end of the Rope about her Leg; and then he goes forth, still crying, I cannot find her! but when he is escaped quite out of the Hole, he cries out aloud, She is within, She is within! which the Hyæna hearing, and understanding the meaning of it, leaps out, thinking to escape; but then they hold her back by the Rope, tied to her Leg, and either kill her, or, if they use Care and Diligence, lake her alive, for she is a fierce Creature, and defends herself desperately.
I found abundance of Old Coins all up and down this Country, especially of the later Emperors, viz. the Constantines, the Constantius’s, the Justin’s, the Valens’s, the Valentine’s, the Numerian’s, the Probus’s, the Tacitus’s, and such like. In many Places the Turks use them for Weight, viz. of a Drachm, or half a Drachm; and they call it Giaur Manguri, i. e. the Money of the Pagans or Infidels. The like Coins I found in the neighbouring Cities of Asia, as at Amysus, at Synopis, at Cumana, at Amastris, and Amasia itself, whither we were going. There was a Brasier of that City which grieved me very much; for demanding of him, whether he had any Old Coins to sell? He answered me, That a few Days ago, he had a large Room full of them, but had melted them down to make Brass Kettles, as thinking them of little Value, and fit for no other Use. When I heard this Story, it troubled me much to lose so many choice Monuments of Antiquity; but I paid him back in his own Coin, by telling; him, That I would have given him a hundred Guilders for them; so that my Revenge was suited to his Injury; for I sent him away as sorrowful, as he did me for losing the Coins.
As for Plants, I saw very few in my Journey in those Parts, which were unknown to us in Europe. They were almost all of the same Kind; only they were more or less flourishing, according to the Richness or Poverty of the Soil. The Amomum, which, Dioscorides says, grows near Pontus, I very diligently sought for, but in vain; so that I knew not whether that Plant did not fail in that Country, or else was transplanted into another.
This Town of Ancyra, was our 9th Stage from Constantinople. It is a Town of Galatia, sometimes the Seat of the Gauls, called by Pliny, Tectosagum; nor was it unknown to Strabo: Though perhaps the present Town is but part of the old Town, called in the Canons, Anguira. Here we saw a stately Superscription, and a Sampler of those Tables, wherein the Atchievments of Augustus were summarily comprehended. I caused as much of it, as we could read, to be transcribed. It is cut in the Marble Walls of that Structure, which heretofore was the Town-hall; but is now demolished, so that one part of it is visible to those that enter on the right Hand, and the other to those that enter upon the left. The top Chapiters are almost entire; the Middle is full of Clefts, and the lowermost Part of it is so battered with Clubs and Hatchets, that it cannot be read; which Loss cannot be sufficiently lamented by all Lovers of Learning; and so much the more, because the Commons of Asia, dedicated this City to Augustus. Here also, we were Eye-witnesses of the dying of that Cloth, I spake of before, made of Goats-wool, and how they Camlet it, or give it its Water-colour; ’tis done thus. They pour Water upon it, and by means of a Cloth-press, cause it to receive that Colour. That is counted the best, which is most variegated in every part; and if, in any Piece, the Water-colours do not deeply and uniformly appear, that Piece, though of the same Colour, and made of the same Wool, is valued at some Gilders less than another, because it is not so deeply tinctured. The better sort of Turks, in their old Age, are usually clothed with this Sort of Cloth, and Solyman himself used to wear Vests of it; but Green is a Colour disused much by Christians; and the rather, because the Turks commend it upon a Superstituous Account, as being worn by their Prophet Mahomet in his older Days.
A black Colour is counted unfortunate, and is disliked by them; and, when they see any Man so clad, they look on it as an ill Omen; so that when any of ours did approach the Bashaw’s, in a black Habit, they look’d a-squint on us, and made sad Complaints; and the Truth is, none of their own appear in black, but either one that is desperately poor, or else so overwhelm’d with some great Calamity, that he regards not what Cloaths he wears. A Purple Colour is a creditable Colour with them; only it is an Omen of much Bloodshed in Time of War: But the ordinary approved Colours among them, are the White, the Yellow, the Sea-Green, the Violet-Colour, and Mouse-Colour, &c.
The Turks ascribe very much to Augury, and Omens, Good or Bad, so that it hath been known, that some Bashaws have been removed from their Places and Offices, by reason of a Fall from their Horse; as if that were an Omen of some ill Luck, which is averted from the Publick, by falling on the Head of that private and particular Person; who is thereupon degraded.
From Ancyra, we came to a Village called Balygazar, and from thence to Zarekuct; from Zarekuct to Zermeczii, and to the Bank of the River Halys: As we past through a Village called Algii, we saw, at some Distance, the neighbouring Mountains of Synopi, which were red, like Vermillion; and from which Red Lead is called Synopi.