CONTENTS.

WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUIS.Born 1220.—Died about 1293, or 1294.

WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUIS.

Born 1220.—Died about 1293, or 1294.

Born in Brabant—Travels into Egypt—Despatched by St. Louis on a mission into Tartary—Constantinople—Black Sea—Traverses the Crimea—Imagines himself in a new world—Moving city—Extreme ugliness of the Tartars—Desert of Kipjak—Tombs of the Comans—Crosses the Tanais—Travels on foot—Camp of Sartak—Goes to court—Religious procession—Departs—Reaches the camp of Batou—Is extremely terrified—Makes a speech to the khan—Is commanded to advance farther into Tartary—Suffers extraordinary privations—Travels four months over the steppes of Tartary—Miraculous old age of the pope—Wild asses—Distant view of the Caucasus—Orrighers—Point of prayer—Buddhists—Court of Mangou Khan—Audience—Appearance and behaviour of the emperor—Karakorum—Disputes with the idolaters—Golden fountain—Returns to SyriaPage 17

MARCO POLO.Born 1250.—Died 1324.

MARCO POLO.

Born 1250.—Died 1324.

Departure of the father and uncle of Marco from Venice—Bulgaria—Wanders through Turkestan—Sanguinary wars—Cross the Gihon and remain three years at Bokhāra—Travels to Cathay—Cambalu—Honourably received by Kublai Khan—Return as the khan’s ambassador to Italy—Family misfortunes—Return with Marco into Asia—Armenia—Persia—The assassins—City of Balkh—Falls ill on the road—Is detained a whole year in the province of Balashghan—Curious productions of the country, and the singular manners of its inhabitants—Khoten—Desert of Lop—Wonders of this desert—Shatcheu and Khamil—Barbarous custom—Chinchintalas—Salamander linen—Desert of Shomo—Enormous cattle—Musk deer—Beautiful cranes—Stupendous palace of Chandu—Arrives at Cambalu—Acquires the language of the country, and is made an ambassador—Description of Kublai Khan—Imperial harem—Nursery of beauty—Palace of Cambalu—Pretension of the Chinese to the invention of artillery—Magnificence of the khan—Paper-money—Roads—Post-horses—Religion—Fertility—Tibet—Bloody footsteps of war—Wild beasts—Abominable manners—Strange clothing and money—The Dalai Lama—Murder of travellers—Teeth plated with gold—Preposterous custom—Magical physicians—Southern China—Emperor Fanfur—Anecdote—Prodigious city—Extremes of wealth andpoverty—Hackney-coaches and public gardens—Manufacture of porcelain—Returns to Italy—The Polos are forgotten by their relatives—Curious mode of proving their identity—Marco taken prisoner by the Genoese—Writes his travels in captivity—Returns to Venice—Dies30

IBN BATŪTA.Born about 1300.—Died after 1353.

IBN BATŪTA.

Born about 1300.—Died after 1353.

Commences his travels—Romantic character—Arrives in Egypt—Kalenders—Sweetness of the Nile—Anecdote of an Arabian poet—Prophecy—Visits Palestine—Mount Lebanon—Visits Mecca—Miracles—Gratitude of Ibn Batūta—Patron of Mariners—Visits Yemen—Fish-eating cattle—Use of the Betel-leaf—Pearl-divers—Curious brotherhood—Krim Tartary—Land of darkness—Greek sultana—Mawaradnahr—Enters India—Arrives at Delhi—Loses a daughter, and is made a judge—Is extravagant in prosperity—Falls into disgrace, and is near losing his head—Becomes a fakeer—Is restored to favour—Sent upon an embassy to China—Is taken prisoner—Escapes—Mysterious adventure—Travels to Malabar—Is reduced to beggary—Turn of fortune—Visits the Maldive Islands—Marries four wives—New version of the story of Andromeda—Sees a spectre ship—Visits Ceylon—Adam’s Peak—Wonderful rose, with the name of God upon it—Sails for Maabar—Is taken by pirates—Visits his son in the Maldives—Sails for Sumatra, and China—Paper-money—Meets with an old friend—The desire of revisiting home awakened—Returns to Tangiers—Visits Spain—Crosses the desert of Sahara—Visits Timbuctoo—Settles at Fez69

LEO AFRICANUS.Born about 1486.—Died after 1540.

LEO AFRICANUS.

Born about 1486.—Died after 1540.

Born at Grenada—Educated at Fez—Visits Timbuctoo—Anecdote of a Mohammedan general—Adventures among the snowy wilds of Mount Atlas—Visits the Bedouins of Northern Africa—Resides in the kingdom of Morocco—People living in baskets—Unknown ruins in Mount Dedas—Troglodytes—Travels with a Moorish chief—Visits the city of Murderers—Adventure with lions—Clouds of locusts—Is nearly stung to death by fleas—Beautiful scenery—Tradition concerning the prophet Jonah—Is engaged in a whimsical adventure among the mountains—Jew artisans—Hospitality—Witnesses a bloody battle—Delightful solitude—Romantic lake—Fishing and hunting—Arabic poetry—Excursions through Fez—Ruins of Rabat—Visits Telemsan and Algiers—Desert—Antelopes—Elegant little city—City of Telemsan—History of a Mohammedan saint—Description of Algiers—Barbarossa and Charles V.—City of Kosantina—Ancient ruins and gardens—City mentioned in Paradise Lost—Carthage—Segelmessa—Crosses the Great Desert—Tremendous desolation—Story of two merchants—Description of Timbuctoo—Women—Costume—Course of the Niger—Bornou—Nubia—Curious poison—Egypt—Ruins of Thebes—Cairo—Crime of a Mohammedan saint—Dancing camels and asses—Curious anecdote of a mountebank—Ladies of Cairo—Is taken by pirates, and sold as a slave—Pope Leo X.—Is converted to Christianity—Resides in Italy, and writes his “Description of Africa”—Date of his death unknown109

PIETRO DELLA VALLE.Born 1586.—Died 1652.

PIETRO DELLA VALLE.

Born 1586.—Died 1652.

Born at Rome—Education and early life—Sails from Venice—Constantinople—Plain of Troy—Manuscript of Livy—The plague—Visits Egypt—Mount Sinai—Palestine—Crosses the northern desert of Arabia—An Assyrian beauty—Falls in love from the description of a fellow-traveller—Arrives at Bagdad—Tragical event—Visits the ruins of Babylon—Marries—Beauty of his wife—Departure from Bagdad—Mountains of Kurdistan—Enters Persia—Ispahan—Wishes to make a crusade against the Turks—Travels, with his harem, towards the Caspian Sea—Tragical adventure of Signora della Valle—Arrives at Mazenderan—Enters into the service of the shah, and is admitted to an audience—Expedition against the Turks—Pietro does not engage in the action—Disgusted with war—Returns to Ispahan—Domestic misfortunes—Visits the shores of the Persian Gulf—Sickness and Maani—Pietro embalms the body of his wife, and carries it about with him through all his travels—Sails for India, accompanied by a young orphan Georgian girl—Arrives at Surat—Cambay—Ahmedabad—Goa—Witnesses a suttee—Returns to the Persian Gulf—Muskat—Is robbed in the desert, but preserves the body of his wife—Arrives in Italy—Magnificent funeral and tomb of Maani—Marries again—Dies at Rome149

JEAN BAPTISTE TAVERNIER.Born 1602.—Died 1685, or 1686.

JEAN BAPTISTE TAVERNIER.

Born 1602.—Died 1685, or 1686.

Native of Antwerp—Commences his adventures at a very early age—Visits England and Germany—Becomes page to a viceroy of Hungary—Visits Italy—Narrowly escapes death at the siege of Mantua—Ratisbon—Imperial coronation—Tragical event—Turkey—Persia—Hindostan—Anecdote of a Mogul prince—Visits the diamond mines—Vast temple—Dancing girls—Mines of Raolconda in the Carnatic—Mode of digging out the diamonds—Mode of trafficking in jewels—Boy merchants—Anecdote of a Banyan—Receives alarming news from Golconda—Returns—Finds his property secure—Mines of Colour—Sixty thousand persons employed in these mines—Mines of—Sumbhulpoor—Magical jugglers—Miraculous tree—Extraordinary accident at Ahmedabad—Arrival at Delhi—Palace and jewels of the Great Mogul—Crosses the Ganges—Visits the city of Benares—Islands of the Indian Ocean—Returns to France—Marries—Sets up an expensive establishment—Honoured with letters of nobility—Purchases a barony—Dissipates his fortune, and sets out once more for the East, at the age of eighty-three—Is lost upon the Volga180

FRANÇOIS BERNIER.Born about 1624.—Died 1688.

FRANÇOIS BERNIER.

Born about 1624.—Died 1688.

A native of Angers—Educated for the medical profession—Visits Syria and Egypt—Is ill of the plague at Rosetta—Anecdote of an Arab servant—Visits Mount Sinai—Sails down the Red Sea—Mokha—King of Abyssinia—Bargains with a father for his own son—Sails for India—Becomes physician to the Great Mogul—Is in the train of Dara,brother to Aurungzebe, during his disastrous flight towards the Indus—Is deserted by the prince—Falls among banditti—Exerts the powers of Esculapius among the barbarians—Escapes—Proceeds to Delhi—Becomes physician to the favourite of Aurungzebe—Converses with the ambassadors of the Usbecks, and dines on horse-flesh—Anecdote of a Tartar girl—Description of Delhi—Mussulman music—Enters the imperial harem blindfold—Description of the imperial palace—The hall of audience, and the peacock throne—Tomb of Nourmahal—The emperor departs for Cashmere—Bernier travels in the imperial train—Plains of Lahore—Magnificent style of travelling—Tremendous heat—Enters Cashmere—Description of this earthly paradise—Shawls—Beautiful cascades—Fearful accident—Returns to Delhi—Extravagant flattery—Effects of an eclipse of the sun—Visits Bengal—Sails up the Sunderbund—Fireflies—Lunar rainbows—Returns to France, and publishes his travels—Character205

SIR JOHN CHARDIN.Born 1643.—Died 1713.

SIR JOHN CHARDIN.

Born 1643.—Died 1713.

Born at Paris—Son of a Protestant jeweller—Visits Persia and Hindostan—Returns to France—Publishes his History of the Coronation of Solyman III.—Again departs for Persia—Visits Constantinople—Sails up the Black Sea—Caviare—Salt marshes—Beautiful slaves—Arrives in Mingrelia—Tremendous anarchy—Is surrounded by dangers—Arrives at a convent of Italian monks—Is visited by a princess, and menaced with a wife—Buries his wealth—The monastery attacked and rifled—His treasures escape—Narrowly escapes with life—Leaves his wealth buried in the ground, and sets out for Georgia—Returns into Mingrelia with a monk, and the property is at length withdrawn—Crosses the Caucasus—Traverses Georgia—Armenia—Travels through the Orion—Arrives at Eryvan—Is outwitted by a Persian khan—Traverses the plains of ancient Media—Druidical monuments—Ruins of Rhe, the Rhages of the Scriptures—Kom—An accident—Arrives at Ispahan—Commences his negotiations with the court for the disposal of his jewels—Modes of dealing in Persia—Character of Sheïkh Ali Khan—Anecdote of the shah—Is introduced to the vizier, and engaged in a long series of disputes with the nazir respecting the value of his jewels—Curious mode of transacting business—Is flattered, abused, and cheated by the nazir—Visits the ruins of Persepolis—Description of the subterranean passages of the palace—Arrives at Bander-Abassi—Is seized with the gulf fever—Reduced to the brink of death—Flies from the pestilence—Is cured by a Persian physician—Extraordinary method of treating fever—Visits the court—Is presented to the shah—Returns to Europe—Selects England for his future country—Is knighted by Charles II., and sent as envoy to Holland—Writes his travels—Dies in the neighborhood of London233

ENGELBERT KÆMPFER.Born 1651.—Died 1716.

ENGELBERT KÆMPFER.

Born 1651.—Died 1716.

A native of Westphalia—Education and early Life—Becomes secretary to the Swedish Embassy to Persia—Visits Russia—Crosses the Caspian Sea—Visits the city of Baku—Curious adventure—Visits thepromontory of Okesra—Burning field—Fire worshippers—Curious experiment—Fountains of white naphtha—Hall of naphtha—Arrives at Ispahan—Visits the ruins of Persepolis—Description of Shiraz—Tombs of Hafiz and Saadi—Resides at Bander-Abassi—Is attacked by the endemic fever—Recovers—Retires to the mountains of Laristân—Mountains of Bonna—Serpent—Chameleons—Animal in whose stomach the bezoar is found—Sails for India—Arrives at Batavia—Visits Siam—Sails along the coast of China—Strange birds—Storms—Arrival in Japan—Journey to Jeddo—Audience of the emperor—Manners and customs of the Japanese—Returns to Europe—Marries—Is unfortunate—Publishes his “Amœnitates”—Dies—His manuscripts published by Sir Hans Sloane271

HENRY MAUNDRELL.

Appointed chaplain to the English factory at Aleppo—Sets out on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem—Crosses the Orontes—Wretched village—Inhospitable villagers—Takes refuge from a tempest in a Mussulman tomb—Distant view of Latichen—Syrian worshippers of Venus—Tripoli—River of Adonis—Maronite convents—Palace and gardens of Fakreddin—Sidon—Cisterns of Solomon—Mount Carmel—Plains of Esdraelon—Dews of Hermon—Jerusalem—Jericho—The Jordan—The Dead Sea—Apples of Sodom—Bethlehem—Mount Lebanon—Damascus—Baalbec—The cedars—Returns to Aleppo—Conclusion305

THE LIVESOFCELEBRATED TRAVELLERS.

THE LIVES

CELEBRATED TRAVELLERS.

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