The Tartars, as to stature, are generally thick and short, having flat square faces, little eyes, little round short noses, and an olive complexion. They are reckoned the best archers in the world, and eat all manner of flesh but hog's-flesh. They are very hospitable, and take a pleasure in entertaining strangers. Their religion is mostly Paganism, they worship the Sun, Moon, and Stars, and a variety of images, but not in temples or churches, for they worship in groves and on the tops of monntains
[sic]
; but those that live near the Mahometan countries are mostly Mahometans. The Southern provinces lie in a temperate climate, and would produce all manner of corn and vegetables; but the inhabitants pay no regard to it, and lead a rambling life, driving great herds of cattle before them to such parts of the country where they can meet with the best pasture, and here they pitch their tents, but seldom remain long enough in a place to reap a crop of corn, even if they were to plough the land and sow it.
A Chinese Man and Woman in their proper Habits.
Chinese couple
An Account ofCHINA.
THE Empire of China is a great and spacious country, on the East of Asia, famed for its fruitfulness, wealth, beautifulness of towns, and incredible number of inhabitants.
It is divided into seventeen kingdoms, which contain 160 large cities, 240 lesser, and 1200 towns; the chief of all is Pekin. The air is pure and serene, and the inhabitants live to a great age. Their riches consist in gold and silver mines, pearls, porcelain or China ware; japanned or varnished works; spices, musk, true ambergris, camphire
[sic]
, sugar, ginger, tea, linen, and silk; of the latter there is such abundance, that they are able to furnish all the world with it. Here are also mines of quicksilver, vermillion, azure-stone
, vitriol, &c. So much for the wealth: Now as to the inhabitants, they are so numerous, that the great roads may be compared to a perpetual fair, such numbers are continually passing, which made a Portuguese, who went thither, ask, "If the women had not nine or ten children at a birth?" Every inhabitant is obliged to hang a writing over his door, signifying the number and quality of the dwellers. The inside of their houses is very magnificent. The men are civil, well-bred, very ingenious, polite, and industrious, but extremely covetous, insomuch that they will not scruple to sell their very children, or drown them, when they think they have too many. This desire of wealth lets them never be idle, and makes them have a great aversion to strangers that come to settle among them. The men go neatly dressed, and carry a fan in their hand, and when they salute each other (for they are very courteous) they never put off their hat, but with their hands joined before their breast bow their bodies. Here is no Nobility but what depends on learning, without any regard to birth, except the Royal Families; and the more learned any one is, the more he is advanced in honour and government. The King, who is called the Tartar, keeps a guard of forty thousand men. When he dies his body is buried on a pile of paper, and with him all his jewels, and every thing else, except living creatures, that he made use of in his life-time. His Counsellor, Priest, and Concubines, that devoted themselves wholly to his soul, sacrifice their lives as soon as he dies; but have the liberty to chuse what kind of death they please, which is generally beheading. In this country there is a stupendous wall, built to prevent the incursions of the Tartars, which is at least 1700 miles long, near 30 feet high, and broad enough for several horsemen to travel on it abreast. Their established religion is what they call the Religion of Nature, as explained by their celebrated Philosopher Confucius; but the greatest part of them are Idolaters, and worship the Idol Fo
. The Mahometans have been long since tolerated, and the Jews longer. Christianity had gained a considerable footing here by the labour of the Jesuits, till the year 1726, when the missionaries being suspected of a design against the Government, were quite expelled.
An Indian Man and Woman in their proper Habits.Indian coupleAn Account ofINDIA.
INDIA, one of the greatest regions of Asia, is bounded on the East by China, on the West by Persia, North by Great Tartary, and on the South by the Indian Sea. It is divided into three parts, viz. Indostan, or the Empire of the Great Mogul; India on this side the Ganges, and India beyond; the cities of Deli
[sic]
and Agra are the two chief, and, by turns, the residence of the Great Mogul, at each of which he has a very splendid palace. The most noted city on the coast is Surat, a place of great trade, where the English have a factory. India on this side the Ganges contains many petty kingdoms. On the coast are Goa, belonging to the Portuguese, which is their staple for East-India goods; and Bombay, a little island and town belonging to the English. On this coast are Pondicherry, Fort St. David, and Fort St. George, which belong to the English, who in fact possess the supreme dominion of the country, most of the native princes being either dependent on them, or happy to enter into alliance with them. India beyond the Ganges, is also divided into various kingdoms, and contains a great number of large and populous cities, of which we have no knowledge besides their names. The people are for the most part tawny, strong, and big, but very lazy. They eat on beds, or tapestry spread on the ground. They burn most of their dead, and their wives glory in being thrown into the funeral piles, and there consumed to ashes. The Great Mogul is a Mahometan, and esteemed the richest King in the world in jewels; one of his thrones is said to have cost five millions sterling
. Their commodities are silks, cottons, callicoes, muslins, sattins
[sic]
, carpets, gold, silver, diamonds, pearls, porcelain, rice, ginger, rhubarb
, aloes, amber, indigo, cinnamon, cocoa, &c. They are mostly Pagans, and worship idols of various shapes, and the rest are Mahometans, except a few Christians. Their monarch is absolute, and so are all the petty Kings; who are so fond of titles that they often take them from their jewels, furnitures, equipage, and elephants, to make up a number. This country is so exceeding rich, that it is thought by many to be the Land of Ophir, where Solomon sent for gold.
OfTURKEYinASIA.
THIS vast continent takes in Natolia, Arabia, Phœnicia, Judea, or Palestine, and the Euphratian Provinces. The people are chiefly Mahometans, though there are many Jews and Christians in some places among them. There are various governments, but they are all subject to the Grand Signior, who depopulates these fine countries, and discourages industry; so that the Phœnicians, formerly famous for commerce, are at present a poor despicable people; and Judea, the land which heretofore flowed with milk and honey, is in general still fruitful, abounding in corn, wine, and oil, where cultivated, and might supply the neighbouring countries with all these, as they anciently did, were the inhabitants equally industrious. The parts above Jerusalem, its once famous capital, are mostly mountainous and rocky; but they feed numerous herds and flocks, and yield plenty of honey, wine, and oil, and the vallies
[sic]
abound with large crops of corn.
Shaw's Travels.
AFRICA.An Egyptian Man and Woman in their proper Habits.Egyptian coupleAn Account ofEGYPT.
EGYPT, a country in Africa, is parted from Asia by the Red Sea, and bounded on the north by the Mediterranean; on the east by Arabia Petræa; on the south by Æthiopia and Nubia; and on the west by Barbary. The air of this country is very unhealthy, occasioned by the heat of the climate. The soil is made fruitful by the river Nile, which overflows the country annually, from the middle of June to September, and supplies the want of rain, of which there is very seldom any. It abounds with corn, and does not want for rice, sugar, dates, sena
[sic]
, cassia, balm, leather, flax and linen cloth, which they export. Diodorus Siculus relates, that there had been formerly in Egypt, eighteen thousand great towns; the most noted of which was Alexandria. In the eastern parts, beyond the river Nile, is the famous country of Thebais, with its desarts
[sic]
, where St. Anthony, St. Paul, and other anchorets, had their cells. Beyond the Red Sea there is another desart, where the children of Israel lived forty years. The modern inhabitants are fine swimmers, handy, pleasant, and ingenious, but lazy. This kingdom was first governed by the Pharaohs; afterwards conquered by Alexander the Great; and in the sixteenth century, Selim, the Turkish Emperor, conquered the Mamulucks, or Saracens; for in the year 1516, defeating and killing Camson, Soldan of Egypt, and Tomumbey the next year after, Egypt was perfectly conquered by the Ottomans or Turks, who have governed it ever since by their Bashaws. The old religion of this country was idolatry, but now Mahometanism prevails most, through there are some few Christians.
An Account ofBARBARY.
BARBARY is bounded by Egypt on the east, Mount Atlas on the south, the Atlantic Ocean on the west, and the Mediterranean to the north. Though this country be under the Torrid Zone, yet the mountains and sea coasts, between the Straits of Gibraltar and Egypt, are more cold than hot. The men of this country are allowed many wives though they seldom are married to more than one. The women are always veiled in the presence of men; so that a man knows no more of the beauty of the woman he marries, than what he learns from her parents, till they are actually married. The people are of a good mild humour, and such as live abroad under tents, as the Arabians or shepherds, are laborious, valiant, and liberal; but they who live in cities are proud, covetous, and revengeful; and though they traffic much, know but very little, and have neither banks nor bills of exchange. Their commodities are beef, hides, linen, and cotton; raisins, figs, and dates. It is a rich country, and governed, part of it, as Fez and Morocco, by Kings; and the other, as Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, by Bashaws from the Grand Seignior
[sic]
. As for religion, they have the Christian, Jewish, and Mahometan, and they who live in the mountains and fields with their flocke
[sic]
, which are a great number, have hardly any at all. When any one dies, his friends have women that cry and scratch their faces, and take on seemingly with great grief for the deceased. They live mostly on rice, beef, veal, mutton; but wine is forbidden by Mahomet's law.
A Description ofZAARA,or the Great DesartsofAFRICA.
THE air of this country is very hot, so that the people are forced to keep in their little huts, or seek refreshment in caverns, the most part of the day; these desarts have a great number of lions, tigers, and ostriches. The inhabitants are unpolished, savage, and very bold, for they will stand and meet the fiercest lion or tiger. They are divided into families or clans, each head of a family is sovereign in his own canton, and the eldest is always head; they follow the Mahometan religion, but are no strict observers of it. The country is a mere desart, as the name imports, and so parched for want of water, that the caravans from Morocco to Negroland are obliged to carry both water and provisions, the province producing hardly any thing for the support of life.
A Negroe Man and Woman in their proper Habits.Negro coupleAn Account of the Land of theNEGROES.
THIS country lies along the river Niger, on both sides of it, between Zaara and Guinea. It contains fourteen kingdoms. The inhabitants of the sea coast are somewhat civilized by their commerce with the Portuguese; but those that dwell up higher in the country are savage and brutal. They are continually at war with one another, and all the prisoners they take in war they sell for slaves. They sow neither wheat nor barley, but only millet; and their chief food is roots and nuts, pease and beans. The country is surrounded with woods, and abounds with elephants. They have no wine, but a pleasant sort of liquor, which they get from a certain sort of palm trees, in this manner -- they give three or four strokes with a hatchet on the trunk of a tree, and set vessels to receive the distilling juice, which is very sweet, but in a few days grows strong, yet will not keep long, for in fifteen days it grows sour. One tree will yield near a gallon in twenty-four hours. The commodities of this country are gold, ostrich feathers, amber, gums, civit
[sic]
, elephants teeth, and red-wood.
An Account ofÆTHIOPIA.
ÆTHIOPIA is about one-half of Africa, and divided into the Upper and Lower Æthiopia. This country is pretty full of mountains much higher than the Alps or Pyrenees, but level, spacious, and well inhabited, and fruitful on the top; the soil near the Nile is fruitful, but at a distance chiefly sandy desarts. The people comely and well shaped, though black or swarthy. Their cattle are very large, their horses and camels courageous and stout. Their kings sit at table alone. Their messes not being very neat or costly, are served in black clay dishes, covered with straw caps finely woven; they use neither knives nor forks, spoons nor napkins, and think it beneath them to feed themselves, and so have youths on purpose to put the meat in their mouths. They have no towns, but live in tents, which are so very numerous where the King is, that they resemble a great city; and they have also their officers to prevent disorder, and things are so well managed, that they can remove speedily on all occasions without confusion. Their commodities are metals, gems, cattle, corn, sugar, canes, wine, and flax. They are a mixture of Jews, Mahometans, Pagans, and Christians. The government is subject to an Emperor, who is called Prestor
[sic]
John. In Lower Æthiopia the commodities are silver, gold, ivory, pearls, musk, ambergris, oil, lemons, citrons, rice, millet, &c. The people have hitherto been esteemed barbarous and savage; but if the relations of Bruce
, the celebrated traveller, are in the least to be depended on, we have done them great injustice in this respect; and we are well assured that they are not generally canibals
[sic]
, as we have been accustomed to think them. The Hottentots
inhabit part of the country, who are the most odious of all the human species, for they besmear their bodies with grease and all manner of filth, and adorn themselves with hanging the guts of bears about their arms, legs and necks
.
An Account ofGUINEA.
GUINEA is a kingdom of Africa; the country is very extensive, and the people of Europe drive a great trade in it. The French were the first who discovered it, about the year 1346. The soil of this country is fertile, but the heat insupportable by any but the natives, who are counted the blackest of all the Negroes, and most of them go quite naked. Ignorance and stuperstition
[sic]
reign among them, and it is said that they offer human sacrifices. They look on God to be a good being, and for that reason only are civil to him; they worship the devil, and pray earnestly he may do them no mischief. Their commodities are cotton, rice, sugar, canes, elephants, peacocks, apes, and pearls. Several small Princes and states in the inland country, who are generally at war, sell their prisoners for slaves to the Europeans; others traffic to different countries for purchasing slaves, or steal them, and bring them down to the coast; and some will sell their children and nearest relations, if they have an opportunity.
AMERICA.American coupleAn American Man and Woman in their proper Habits.
AMERICA, the fourth and last quarter of the world, is divided into North and South America. North America contains Mexico, (or New Spain,) New Mexico, and California, Florida, Canada, (or New France,) Nova Scotia, New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsilvania
[sic]
, Maryland, Virginia, and Carolina. South America contains Terra Firma, the land of the Amazons, Brazil, Peru, Chili
[sic]
, Paraguay, and Terra Magellanica.
An Account ofMEXICO,orNEW SPAIN.
MEXICO is so called from its chief city; and New Spain since the Spaniards settled there. It has the sea of Mexico on the east, its gulph
[sic]
, Florida, and New Mexico on the north, and the southern sea on the west and south. The air is temperate and healthful, and the soil fruitful, producing wheat, barley, pulse, and maize; and variety of fruits, as citrons, lemons, oranges, pomegranates, apples, pears, cherries, cocoa nuts, figs, &c. with great plenty of roots, plants, and herbs. There are some rich mines of gold and silver, in which about 4000 Spaniards continually work. The people are civil, and excel in painting and music: they are subject to the King of Spain: their religion is a mixture of Paganism and Christianity.
An Account ofNEW MEXICO,orGRANADA.
THIS part of the world is not fully discovered by the Europeans. The soil is sandy and barren, the air healthful and temperate, but not a little subject to hurricanes, thunder and lightning. There are some silver mines, turquoise, emeralds, crystal, &c. The natives are naturally good and civil, governed by a captain named Casich, whom they choose themselves. They are given to idolatry, and some adore the sun, others believe in a God, and some of them have no religion at all.
An Account ofFLORIDA.
FLORIDA is a large and fruitful country in North America, bounded on the north-east by Carolina, on the south, and some part of the west, by New Galicia and some countries not yet discovered. The air is very temperate, and soil extremely fertile, and produces grain, herbs, and fruit in great abundance. Ferdinando Soto, after the conquest of Peru, entered this country May 25, 1538, and gave it the name Florida, because the flowers were then on the ground, but died of grief, for being disappointed of the treasures which he expected. The native inhabitants were extirpated by the Spaniards, who disregarded every principle of humanity when the security of their acquisitions in the New World was in question; but this fine country was conquered from them by the English, to whom it was confirmed by the peace of Paris
; its importance was however never sufficiently considered by them, and to gratify the jealousy of Spain it was restored to her at the peace of 1783. It was divided into East and West: St. Augustine and Pensacola are its chief towns; and its commodities furs, pearls, and the most delicious fruits. The Spaniards regard it as forming a desirable frontier between them and the United States of America; but as the soil and climate are inferior to none in the world, it will doubtless one day emerge from its obscurity, become populous, and hold a high rank in the world.
An Account ofCANADA.
CANADA is the chief province now possessed by the English in America; it is bounded by New Britain and Honduras Bay on the North and East; by Nova Scotia, New England, and New York on the South; and by some of the great lakes, the new settlements of the United States, and the yet remaining possessions of the native Indians, on the West. The soil and climate are not very different from those of New England, though it has a much severer winter; but the air is very clear, the summer hot and pleasant. The meadow grounds are well watered, yield excellent grass, and breed vast numbers of cattle.
This country was originally settled by the French; and in so doing Louis XIV. seems to have formed the vast design of consolidating all North America under his dominion: the English, under Wolf
[sic]
, Amherst, and Monkton
[sic]
, conquered it in the years 1759 and 1760; and it was confirmed to us at the peace of 1763. The inhabitants were guaranteed in all their privileges; and the Roman Catholic religion is yet the most prevalent, though all others are tolerated. It has been lately divided into two provinces, Upper and Lower Canada, each having its separate government and legislature. Its trade and population are annually and rapidly increasing.
Quebec, its capital, is situated at the confluence of the rivers St. Laurence and St. Charles, about 320 miles from the sea, and is very strong both by nature and art; when taken by the immortal Wolfe it was supposed to contain about 15,000 inhabitants, independent of the garrison, and has since had considerable additions. The trade between Canada and England, the greater part of which centers here, is supposed to employ eight sail of shipping, and near 2000 seamen.
An Account ofTERRA FIRMA.
TERRA FIRMA, or the Firm Land, is a large country of South America, and contains eleven governments, subject to the King of Spain. The air here is extremely hot, though wholesome, the soil very fertile, when well manured. The natives are tawney
[sic]
, robust, healthful, long lived, and go naked about the middle. The commodities are gold, silver, and other metals; balsam, rosin, gum, long pepper, emeralds, sapphire, jasper, &c. Here is one Spanish archbishopric and four bishoprics; but the natives are idolaters.
An Account ofPERU.
PERU is in South America, a large country, divided into six provinces. The air in some parts is very hot, in others sharp and piercing. The soil is the richest of all the Spanish plantations, abounding with exceeding high mountains and large pleasant vallies. The commodities are vast quantities of gold and silver, valuable pearls, medicinal drugs, cochineal
, tobacco, abundance of cotton, &c. The natives are of a copper colour, tall and well made; but are so depressed by the Spaniards, it is impossible to form any judgment of their genius, virtues, or vices.
Of the Land of theAMAZONS.
THIS country is very little known, but as far as discovered the air is temperate, and the soil fertile. There are on the banks of the river Amazon about fifty nations of fierce savage people, said to eat human flesh. The commodities are gold, silver, sugar, ebony, cocoa, tobacco, &c. Their religion is Paganism, and language unknown.
An Account ofBRAZIL.
BRAZIL is in the east of South America, bounded on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by some undiscovered countries between it and the mountains called Andes, on the north by Guiana, and on the south by Paraguay. It was discovered by the Portuguese in 1501, and is still in great part subject to them. The air is very temperate and wholesome, though under the torrid zone; the soil fertile, and the country produces red or Brazil wood, sugar, amber, rosin, balm, tobacco, train oil
, confectionary, &c. The natives are reckoned cruel, but ingenious; have faint notions of religion, and speak several different languages, though they cannot pronounce either of the three letters L, F, R. They are all naked, and neither sow nor reap, but live by hunting and by the fruits which the land produces of its own accord.
An Account ofCHILI.
CHILI is also a great country of South America, 400 leagues in length from north to south, is divided into three governments, and subject to the King of Spain. In summer the air of this country is very warm, but in winter so extremely cold that it often kills man and beast. The mountainous parts are generally dry and barren, but the vallies exceedingly fertile in maize, wheat, and other grain. The people are white, tall, courageous, an warlike, but very gross Idolaters, the chief object of their worship being the devil, whom they call Eponamon,
i.e.
powerful. The country is enriched with several mines of gold, and great quarries of jaspar
[sic]
. The commodities are gold, silver, maize, corn, honey, ostriches, and metals. Most of them use the Spanish tongue, but some their ancient jargon.
A Persian Man and Woman in their proper Habits.Persian coupleAn Account ofPERSIA.
PERSIA is a famous kingdom of Asia, called by the inhabitants Farsistan, and the Empire of the Sophy
. It is bounded by the Caspian Sea, India, Persian Gulph, and Arabia Deserta. The air of this country is temperate towards the north, but very hot in the summer towards the south. Their grain is barley, millet, lentil, pease, beans, and oats; and all their provinces produce cotton, which grows upon bushes; their fruits are excellent, and they have vines in abundance, but in obedience to Mahomet's commands drink no wine, but sell it all to the Arminians
[sic]
. They are suffered to make a syrup of sweet wine, to which they add an acid, and it serves them for their common drink. They have a great number of mulberry trees for silk worms, silk being the principal manufacture in this country. The people are of a middle stature, well set and thick, and of a tawny complexion; are neat and sharp, have good judgment, are civil to strangers, and very free of their compliments. Thus a Persian that desires his friend to come to his house usually says, "I entreat you to honour my house with your presence: I so devote myself to your desires, that the apple of my eye shall be a path to your feet," &c. They are just in their dealings; and their commodities are rich silks, carpets, tissues, gold, silver, seal skins, goat skins, alabaster, metals, myrrh, fruits, &c. Their religion is Mahometanism, and their language has a great tincture of the Arabic. Ispahan is the capital city. The kingdom is hereditary, and government so despotic, that the Sophy, or King, makes his will his law, and disposes as he pleases both of the lives and estates of his subjects, who are very obedient, and never speak of their sovereign but with extraordinary respect.
Top
An Account ofDAYS, WEEKS, MONTHS,andYEARS.
THE day is either natural or artificial; the natural day is the space of twenty-four hours, (including both the dark and light part) in which time the sun is carried by the first mover from the east into the west, and so round the world into the east again. The artificial day consists of twelve hours,
i.e.
from the sun's rising to its setting; and the artificial night is from the sun's setting to its rising. The day is accounted with us for payment of money between the sun's rising and setting; but for indictment for murder the day is accounted from midnight to midnight, and so likewise are fasting days.
The Hebrews and Chaldeans begin their days at sun rising, and end at the next rising.
The Jews and Italians from sun-set to sun-set. The Romans at midnight. The Egyptians from noon to noon, which account astronomers follow.