THis dayes exceeding heate hath di­stempered mee in such sort, that it causeth mee to doubt with my selfe, whether of the two extremities were easier to bee endured, the violent sharpnes of the colde Winter, or the fierie raging of the hote Sommer.

On this question there are so many and sundry opinions & of each side so ma­nie reasons, that I dare not vndertake to determine thereof, though in my slender iudgement, the cold (how sharpe soe­uer The colde more tole­rable then the heate. in the deepest furie of the Winter) is far easier to be suf­fred, then these feruent and contagious heates of the Dogge­dayes in the Sommer. But to heare this of both sides debated with reasons and proofes that may be alledged, it is doubtfull to whether to encline. Leauing therfore euery man to thinke herein what pleaseth him, let vs in the meane time not lose the freshnes of this pleasant euening, which after the great heate, is now turned into an ayre most sweete and comfortable, and seeing wee haue nothing to doe, let vs walke a while by the streames of this running Riuer, & passe our time in some ho­nest conuersation.

It happeneth better then we loo­ked, for see where Anthonio commeth, whose wisedome, [Page] behauiour and discreete discourse is such; that you would ne­uer be weary of his company.

It is true indeede, I know him well to be a man both curtious, learned and wise, I would we could set him in some good vaine, to the ende wee might heare him discourse.

I will doe my best to make him walke along with vs.

God saue you Gentlemen.

And you Sir are most welcom, & in the fittest time that may be, vnlesse you haue some busines which may hinder vs from enioying your company vnder this tuffet of trees, where if it please you now after this excessiue heate, we may awhile refresh our selues with the mildnes of this sweet ayre, and the delightfull coolenes of thys fresh riuer.

Truly Gentle­men nothing can let me in any thing, wherin I may doe you seruice, for my will is fully bent to follow yours, and therefore without any excuse I will obey you in what soeuer it shall please you to commaund me.

This curtesie of yours is so great, that I know not by what meanes we shal be able to deserue it, to the ende therefore that wee may the better en­ioy the desired fruite of your conuersation, let vs if it please you repose our selues vnder this shadow, where couered from the sunne, what with the pleasing sound of this clere streame, trickling along the peble stones, and the sweete murmurings of the greene leaues gently mooued with a soft and delicate winde, we shal receiue double delight.

It is true, but not if wee remaine standing, you hauing taken vp the best place.

Indeed I might haue offered you the place, but mee thinkes you are not much amisse, especially because heere is roome in the middest between vs both for Signior Anthonio, who how neer soeuer he be vnto me, me thinks is neuer neere enough.

All this Signior Bernardo, is but to increase the desire I haue to do you seruice, for in truth such is the reputa­tion of your wisedom, that wheresoeuer you are, we ought to seeke you out, to th' end to be participant of your vertue and knowledge.

Let vs lay apart these friendly ceremonies, and busie our selues in contemplating the diuersity of those things which we see round about this place where we repose, that we may be thankfull to the Creator and Maker of them. In trueth so great is the varietie of flowers & Roses which are [Page 2] in thys Medowe, that beholding narrowly euery one apart, me thinkes I neuer saw any of them before, so many manners are there of them, theyr shapes and formes so sundry and di­uers, theyr colours so rare and daintie, their branches & flow­ers placed in such excellent order, that it seemeth that Nature hath endeuoured with her vttermost industry to frame, paint, and enamell each of them.

You wonder at a little, in respect of the much we haue to wonder at, I would to God it had been your hap to haue beene where I was yesterday, in the company of ten or twelue Gentlemen, where discoursing of the strange and meruailous effects wrought by Nature in the world, they were so amazed at some (to the common sort vnknowne) vvhich I told them, as though I had come out of the other world, and told them stories of such things as I there had seene.

I pray you tell vs some of them, that we may know what reason of amazement they had.

I could tell you many, but that which they least beleeued and iested at as a fable, was because I said there was a part of the earth inha­bited, where the day dureth the full space of a whole halfe yeare, and the night in like sort as much.

And meruaile you if they wondred heereat? It is true indeede that I haue sometimes my selfe hearde as much, but I giue as litle credite thervnto as these gentlemen did.

I perceiue wel that sig­nior Anthonio vnderstandeth this matter better then either of vs, because I see him smile, ask him therfore what his opiniō is hereof.

I am glad gentlemen, to see that in so few reasons you fal vpō a matter so high, that to declare it wel, other things of necessity must first be touched, so strange, that vnlesse it be amongst men wise & of deep vnderstanding, it were better to passe them ouer with silence, according to the saying of the Marquesse of Santillana. Neuer report wonders, for in so do­ing, of the greatest part thou art sure not to be beleeued, but to be laughed at, as was signior Bernardo amongst those gen­tlemen.

In this maner though you may (my ignorance considered) pretende great reason to holde your peace, yet I beseech you, let nothing with-hold you from explaining vn­to me thys doubt and some other, which I haue about the se­secret hidden misteries of Nature.

This is but a small matter, so that you wil not binde me to say more than I know, which truly is very little.

I know that in the fountaine of your brest there is not so lit­tle water, but that it may suffise throughly to asswage & satis­fie our thirst, least therefore the time passe away in superflu­ous reasons, seeing we are to intreate of the wonders & mer­uailous workes of Nature, I beseech you begin with her defi­nition, that wee may thereafter the better vnderstand her ef­fects.

Aristotle saith, that Nature is the beginning of Motion, and rest of the selfe same thing in which it is princi­pall, The Philo­sophers de­finition of Nature. and by it selfe alone & not by any accident, but I will not spende the time in alledging the definitions and opinions of ancient Philosophers, seeing they are so far different frō those of later time, and because this our discourse shall be altogether Christianlike, leauing out all those Authors & Philosophers which were Gentiles, I will onely followe those which vvere Christians, of the which he that went neerest to the marke in my iudgement was Leuinus Lemnius, which following Saint Thomas, leauing ancient opinions like a Christian in the be­ginning Leuinꝰ Lē ­nius defini­tion of Na­ture. of his Booke of the Meruailous secretes of Nature, sayth, That Nature is nothing else then a will or reason de­uine causer of all things that are engendred, and conseruer of them after they are ingendred, according to the qualitie of e­uerie one of them. This word therefore & Name of Nature, serueth not for other, then to represent vnto vs the will and minde of God, by which all things are made and created, and in theyr times and seasons vnmade and dissolued, and there­fore it is said, that the leafe of a tree cannot wagge without the will and ordinaunce of God: from whom as the very onelie foundation and beginning, proceed & depend all creatures reasonable and vnreasonable, euen to the very least. Yet, I know, there want not Philosophers which hearing these defi­nitions, will say, that there is Natura naturans, which is God himselfe, and Natura naturata, which is the effect which by Natura na­turans, Na­tura natu­rata. his deuine will hee worketh in creatures. But let vs not stay here, but behold the foundation, whence al proceedeth, which is God indeed: which if we well contemplate this aboundant and plentifull spring, wee shall finde that those which are so [Page 3] astonished & hold for miracles some new things, aboue their capacity, which happen in the worlde, haue small reason of their so great amazement. For what can be more worthy of admiration to men vertuous and of cleare iudgement, then the wonderfull machine and composition of this world, the mouing of the heauens in order so iust and due, the admira­ble effects of the Sunne, the Moone, and of the other Pla­nets: the strange influences of the Starres, the exceeding strength of the Poles, vpon whom all these things not stray­ing one iote out of compasse, are moued with a Harmony so meruailous: the reason, wherewith the foure Elements stand and containe them selues, in their places appointed them, each of them affording vnto vs that part of himselfe of which we haue neede: the cloudes forming and thickning them selues in the region of the ayre: the raine, haile, snow, and ice, the vehement force and terrible violence of the winds, thunders, lightnings, and blazing-starres. Besides these, the world dai­ly bringeth foorth and yeeldeth to our view so many thinges new, rare, and full of wonder, that if we would busie our selues to admire and contemplate the variety & strangenes of each of them, we should haue leasure to doe nothing else. For how wonderfull is it to see that amongst so many men as are in the world, and daily are borne of new, though they beare all one proportion and shape, of eyes, mouth, nose, forehead, lippes, cheekes, eares, &c. Yet it is almost impossible to finde one like another, and though it happen somtimes that one resem­ble another: yet there neuer wanteth some difference of di­uersity. Besides this, behold the difference of trees, plants, hearbs, and flowers, which in each Countrey groweth, with such diuersity of colour, tast, smell, property, and vertue: and if these things, because we see them daily with our eyes, and handle them with our hands as thinges common, doe not a­maze vs, why should wee then so much wonder in seeing some things, which passe this common agreement and order of nature. Which for all that doe not exceede nature, neither are vnnaturall: though the conceite thereof, passe the gros­nes of our reach and vnderstanding. To see a dead man ray­sed, a dumb man made speake, or a man borne blind restored [Page] to sight, such a thing we may well terme vnnatural & miracu­lous: But as for things monstrous, of which som we see, some are out of vse, & some vtterly vnknowne, me thinks in a vvise man they should work no alteration, nor breed any astonish­ment at all. Look amongst the green plants & hearbs, & you shall there somtimes find litle creepers & worms, some of one sort, some of another, painted with sundry colours, some with many feet, some with great hornes in the forehead, some with wings, some with 2. heads, one before, and another behind, & that they go & moue as well of the one side as the other, & if we should see these great & huge, how would they thē won­der & be amazed that are ignorant of their causes. But per­chance, he that created al things aboue & vnder the heauēs, in the aire, the earth, & the Sea of nothing, with his only wil, hath lost his force: or his hand is become vnable, to doe all the rest, which in respect therof is nothing. No no, without dout, now is the selfe same God which than our soueraigne Lord & ma­ker, which as he easily without any trauaile, by his only will of nothing made all things: so can he whē it pleaseth him by the selfe same wil only, turne to vndoe them, & make of all things nothing, as they were before.

It is all as you haue saide Signior Anthonio, & your definition of nature is true, & agre­ing to our Christian beleefe, according to the which all things may be termed naturall but yet I remaine in dout of som part of that which you haue said, & therfore I pray you, before you passe any farther, declare it better vnto me. First, making all things so easie in the hand & wil of God, which you term na­ture it self, when it cōmeth by the same to work great & mer­uailous things, as raising of the dead, you say they are superna­turall & miraculous, in the which, vnder correction, me thinks you contrary your selfe, seeing the one is as naturall to God as the other.

This cōmeth & proceedeth not from God, but from the things thēselues, which being so ful of difficulty, & neuer before seen of vs, for their great strangenes we cal thē miracles, which is as much to say as meruailous & supernatu­rall. Because nature, or rather to speak more properly, God is not wont often to work them, & therefore not finding any o­ther word or maner to expresse them, we say they are miracles [Page 4] & supernaturalli & so you must vnderstand it, & not that it is to God any more difficulty to worke the one then the other.

You haue satisfied me in this point, but withall you said, that the shapes of men being al one, their countenances & ge­stures are so diuers, that it is vnpossible to finde one like ano­ther in all points. Wheras I haue heard & read of many that were so like in resemblance the one vnto the other, that there was no difference at all to be found between them. Your selfe I know, must needs haue better knowledge hereof then I, be­cause you haue read Pliny & other authors, which treat ther­of: and Pedro Mexia hath copied out many examples of thē in his forrest of collections, besides all the which I wil alledge some notable examples. The first, is of two striplings which one Toranius sold to Mark Anthonio, saying, they were two Many ex­amples of mē like one to the other. brothers, when in truth the one was born in Europe, & the o­ther in Asia, whose likenes was such, that there was not in any one point, difference between thē: And when Anthonio fin­ding himselfe deceaued, began to be angry, Toranius satisfied him in saying, that there was greater cause of wonder in the diuersity of their Nations, then if as he first had sayd, they had ben both begotten & horn of one father & mother. I am sure you haue read what many authors write of K. Antiochus, who The likenes of Artemon to Antio­chus. being murdered by the means of his wife Laodice, she placed in his steed, & clothed with his rich habiliaments & regall or­naments one Artemō of Siria, who resembled him in such sort, that he raigned two yeres, without being known or discouered of any man. In Rome there was a man called Caius Bibius, so: like to Pompey, that he could be discerned from him by no Caius Bibius like to Pō ­pey. other means, then by the diuersity of his apparell Cassius Seuc­rus, & Mirmilus, Lucius Pancus, & Rubus Estrius, Marcus Mes­sala, Diuers Ro­maines one like to ano­ther. & Menogenes, were by couples one so like another, that they were with much adoe to be knowne of theyr familier friends, such as were well acquainted with them; and haunted daily their company. But leauing the auncient Romaines, we haue the like examples enough amongst our selues. Don Ro­drigo Don Rodri­go Girdon and his bro­ther. Girdon, and his brother the Count of Vruenna were so like, that vnlesse it were by their attire & habiliments, their ve­ry Seruants knew them not apart, in so much that I haue [Page] heard it affirmed, (which if it be true, is passing strange) that being children & sleeping both in one bed, in touching their legs or armes together, the flesh of the one did so cleaue to the other, that they could not without difficulty be sundred: But what should we passe heerein any farther, vvhen euery day we see and heare the like.

I can be a witnesse of two which I haue seene my selfe, no lesse meruailous then these which you haue rehear­sed, The strange likenes of two men. of the one there are witnesses enough in this house of Beneuenta, for it is yet not much aboue twenty yeares, that the Earle had a Lacky, whom another man came to seeke, saying, that he was his brother, and that he had runne away from his Parents being young, they were so like, that there was not be­tweene them any iote of difference at all, vnlesse it were that he that came was somwhat more in yeeres, but which is stran­gest, though the Lacky were sent for to take possession of some goods left him by his Father: yet did he constantly de­ny the other to be his brother, affirming with oathes, that he was not borne in that Village nor Country by many miles, the other still remaining obstinate in challenging him for his brother, where-vpon the Earle commaunded them both to goe to the same Village for to satisfie an old woman there, which said, she was mother to them both. The Lacky com­ming thither, could not perswade them but that he was the selfe same whom they supposed, in the end, the old vvoman looking fixedly vpon him, for better assurance, (quoth she) if thou art my sonne, thou hast in such a place of thy legge a marke, vvhich vvhen thou wert a child was burned. The Lacky with wonderfull astonishment confessed that he had such a marke indeede, though still perseuering with oaths to affirme that he knew them not, and that hee neuer in his life before had beene in that Village, as the truth indeede vvas, for afterward it was proued, that he was borne farre from that place, and it was well knowne who were his Parents. Besides A thing no­table of two daughters and a sonne, borne all at a burthen. this, it was my hap being but a stripling, to see an other the like, very strange, in a Village hard by the Citty of Segouia, where I remained foure or fiue dayes, in the house of a very honest & substantiall man, which had by his wife two daugh­ters, [Page 5] so strangely like, that in turning your eyes once of them, it was vnpossible to know which was the one and which was the other, they were about 13. or 14. yeres olde, I asking the mother which was the elder, shee pointed to the one, saying, that she was borne halfe an houre before the other, for she had at one burden both them and a sonne, which she told me was with an vnkle of his in Segouia, so resembling in all points to his sisters, that being one day apparelled in one of theyr gar­ments, and brought before her husband and her, neyther hee nor shee did the whole day till night that hee was vnclothed, finde, know, or perceaue any difference at all betweene him and his sister.

Truely this is very strange, and the like hath sildom happened in Spaine, especially in our time. Macrobius wri­teth in the second booke of his Saturnals, that there came a young man to Rome so resembling Aug. Caesar, that stand­ing before him, it seemed that hee beheld as in a glasse the fi­gure of himselfe, whereupon Caesar asked him if euer his mo­ther had beene at Rome, meaning thereby that perchance his The answer of a young man to Au­gustus Cae­sar. father might haue had acquaintance with her, which the young man perceiuing, answered him redily, that his mother had neuer been there, but his father oftentimes: though thys history be common & rehearsed of many, yet I could not let it passe, because it serueth so fitly to the purpose of which wee entreat.

I deny not, but that this may be true, and that there are many the like things hapned in the worlde, but ac­cording to the old prouerbe, One Swallow maketh no Som­mer, neyther doth the whole field leaue to be cald greene for two or three hearbes or leaues that are withered and of a dead colour within it: these are things which happen sildome, and therefore refute not a generalitie so great as is the diuersity & common difference of the countenaunces and gestures of all the men and women in the whole world.

I confesse that you haue great reason, but let vs not so passe ouer Sig­nior Bernards tale of the woman with three children borne at one burden, all liuing and brought vp to that age, which tru­ly seemeth to me so strange, that me thinks in my life I neuer heard the like, especially in this our Country.

I won­der [Page] not a little thereat my selfe: yet Aristotle writeth that the women of Egipt are so fruitefull, that they haue often 3. or 4. children at a burden, and though he expresseth not so much, The womē of Egipt meruailous fruitfull. yet we must imagine that many of them liue and doe well, or otherwise hee would neuer make so often mention of them. In this our Spayne, we haue often seene a woman deliuered of three children at once, and one in a Village not far hence of 4. and in Medina del campo, some yeres passed, it was pub­liquely reported, that a certain principal woman was brought a bed of 7. at once, and it is said, that a Bookebinders wife of Salamanca, was deliuered of 9. and we must thinke that in o­ther A woman deliuered of 7. children at once. an­other of 9. Countries haue hapned the like of as great, & greater ad­miration, though we, (as they say) being in one ende of the world haue had no notice nor knowledge of them.

Pli­nie saith, it is certaine that sixe children may be borne at one birth, which is most strange, vnlesse it be in Egypt, where the women bring sildome one alone into the worlde. In Ostia there was a woman that had at one burden two sonnes and two daughters, all liuing and doing well. Besides, in Pelopo­neso, a woman was 4 times deliuered each time of 5. sonnes, A woman deliuered of 4. children all liuing. the most part of which liued. Trogus Pompeius writing of the Egiptian women, saith, that they are often deliuered of 7. sons at once, of which some are Hermophrodits. Also Paulus the Lawyer writeth, that there was brought from Alexandria Hermo­phrodites. to Adrian the Emperor, a woman to be seene which had fiue liuing children, 4. of the which were borne in one day, & the 5. foure daies after the deliuery of the first. Iulius Capitolinus Two womē deliuered at once of fiue sons a peece. writeth the like of a woman deliuered of 5. sons in the time of Anth. Pius, so that the matter which signior Bernardo reher­sed of the woman with 3. liuing children, is not so newe nor strange. Besides, it is cōfirmed with the publique fame of that which hapned to a lady one of the greatest of this land, which being in trauaile it was told her husband that she was deliue­red A Lady of Spaine deli­uered of six sonnes. of one son, & within a little space of one more, & within few houres, they told him that shee had brought him forth 4. more, which were 6. in all: who answered merily to those that brought him the newes, if you can wring her well, I warrant you, (qd hee) you shal get more out of her. This is no fable, [Page 6] but a matter known to be true.

Seeing we are falne into the discourse of prodigious births, I can by no means passe o­uer with silence, that which Nicholaus de florentia writeth, al­ledging the authority of Auicenna in Nono de animalibus, that a woman miscaried at one time of 70. proportioned children, 70. Propor­tioned chil­dren at one burden. & the same author alledgeth Albertꝰ Magnꝰ, which said that a certaine Phisition told him for assured trueth, that beeing sent for into Almaigne to cure a gentlewoman, hee sawe her deliuered of a 150. children wrapt all in a net, each of them so A gentle­woman of Almaigne deliuered of a 150. chil­dren. great as ones little finger, & all borne aliue & proporcioned. I know well that these thinges are almost incredible to those which haue not seene thē, yet is this one thing so notorious & wel known, that it cōfirmeth the possibility of the rest, though it be far more admirable then any of thē all. That which hap­ned to the lady Margaret of Holland, which brought forth at The mon­strous and strange child birth of the Lady Mar­garet of Holland. one burden 306. children, all liuing, about the bignes of little mise, which were christned by the hands of a Bishop in a ba­son or vessel of siluer, which as yet for memory remaineth in a Church of the same Prouince, the which our most victori­ous Emperor Charles the fift hath had in his hands, & this is affirmed to be true by many and graue witnesses. Sundry au­thors write hereof, especially Henricus Huceburgensis, Baptista Fulgoso, & Lodo. Viues, which saith, that the cause of this mon­strous birth was the curse of a poore woman, which cōming to the gates of this great Lady to demaund almes, in steede of bestowing her charity, she reuiled & taunted her reprochful­ly, calling her naughty pack, & asking her how many fathers shee had for her children, wherat the poore woman taking griefe, beseeched God on her knees, to send vnto this Lady so many children at a burden, that she might be able neyther to know thē, nor to nourish them.

I think there neuer was the like of this seene or heard of in the world, and truly here­in Nature exceeded much her accustomed limites, the iudg­ment thereof let vs referre to the Almightie, who suffered & permitted her to conceaue so many creatures, which seeing it comes so well to purpose, I will tell you what I haue heard of som men of credit, such as wold not report any vntruth, which is, that in the kingdom of Naples, or in diuers places therof, the [Page] childbirth is passing dangerous to the Mothers, because there The dange­rous chylde­birth of wo­men in the kingdom of Naples. issueth out before the childe appeare, a little beast of the fa­shion & bignes of a little frog, or little toade, and somtimes 2. or 3. at once, if any of the which through negligence come to touch the grounde, they hold it for a rule infallible, that the woman which is in trauaile dieth presently, which because so soone as it cōmeth out of the wombe it creepeth & that swift­ly, they haue the bed stopt round about, & besides, the ground & wals so couered, that it cannot by any means com to tuoch the earth, & besides, they haue alwaies ready a bason of water, wherein they presently put those litle beasts, & couering it so close that they cannot get out, carry thē therin to some riuer, or to the sea, wherein to auoide the danger they cast thē: and though I haue not seen any Author which writ so much, yet all those that haue been in those countries confirme the same, so that there is no doubt to be made thereof, but that it is as true as strange: and though it may seeme that I vse some di­gression frō the matter, yet me thinks that it is not amisse that we should vnderstand what Aristotle writeth in his 3. booke de animalibus, of a he Goat, which as it seemed was euen ready to cōceaue, if nature would haue giuen him therto any place, Hee Goates hauing milk in their teats. for he had teates like vnto the femals, great & full of milk: so that they milked him, & it came frō him in such quantity that they made cheese thereof.

Meruaile not much at this, for if you read the booke which Andreas Mateolus of Siena made, de epistolis medecinalibus, you shal find that he saith, hee saw himselfe in Bohemia 3. of the same sort, of the which hee himselfe had one for his proper vse, whose milke he found by experience to bee the best medicine of all for those which were troubled with the Apoplexy or falling sicknes.

There must be some cause, for which Nature in such a thing as this exceeded her accustomed order, and perchance it was to bring a remedy for a disease so vneurable as this is accoun­ted to be.

Seeing we are in thys discourse of byrthes, it were not amisse that we knewe in what space a woman may beare child, so that the same may liue and be accounted lawful.

This matter hath been handled by many authors which giue vs light herein. The Lawiers say that in the 7 month, ta­king [Page 7] therof some dayes away, and in the tenth month likewise How long a woman may goe great with child. the birth may be called lawfull, as one of their digests, begin­ning septimo mense, and diuers other declareth, and Iustinia­nus in his Autentick of restitutions. The Philosophers and Phisitions debate thereof more at large. Pliny sayeth, that the child borne in the eighth moneth may liue, which is directly against the experience we haue, and the opinion we general­ly hold thereof, for we see that those children doe not liue which are borne in the seauenth moneth, vnlesse they are borne iust at the time complet: hee holdeth besides that the birth of eleuen moneths is lawfull, and so hee sayeth that the mother of Suillius Rufus, was deliuered of him at the end of eleuen moneths. Other Philosophers haue held opinion, that a woman may goe with child till the thirteenth moneth: but to rehearse all their opinions, were neuer to make an end, he that seeketh to be satisfied heerein, may reade Aristotle, Aulus Gellius, and many more Authors, & Phisitions which intreate copiously thereof, it is sufficient for vs that wee haue said so much in a matter, which we haue so sildome occasion to know or vnderstand.

This matter, in truth is fitter for Phisitions to dis­course of, then for vs, but in the meane time I would faine know what these Hermophrodites are, vvhich I heard Signi­or Ludouico euen now say were so common to the Aegiptian women.

This matter is so common, that there is scarse­ly any one ignorant, but that there are often children borne What Her­mophro­dites are. with two natures, the one of a man, the other of a woman, though diuers times the one of so slender force and weake, that it serueth not for other then to shewe what Nature can doe when she pleaseth: but some there are, though rare, which are as fully puissant in the one nature as in the other, of the first sort I knew a married woman my selfe, which it was well knowne, had also the nature of a man, but without any force or effect, though in her countenance and iesture there appea­red a kind of manlines, of the other sort also there are diuers, and amongst the rest there was one in Burgos, who beeing Two Her­mophro­dites bur­ned. commaunded to choose whether nature she would exercise, the vse of the other being forbidden her vpon paine of death, [Page] made choise of that of the feminine sort, but afterwards being accused that she secretly vsed the other, & vnder colour ther­of committed great abhomination, she was found guilty and burned.

I haue heard that there was another the like burned in Seuilia, for the selfe same cause, but in these parts we hold it for a great wonder, that men should haue the na­ture of vvomen, or women of men: Yet Pliny alleadgeth, the Philosopher Califanes, which was with Alexander Magnus in his conquest of the Indies, who sayth, that amongst the Na­samans, there is a people called Androgini, who are al Hermo­phrodites, and vse in their embracements without any difference, The Andro­gins are all Hermo­phrodites. as wel the one nature as the other. But we would scarce­ly beleeue this, being so vnlikely, were it not confirmed by A­ristotle, which saith, that these Androgins haue the right teate like a man, & the left with which they nourish their babes, like a vvoman.

This matter seemeth vnto me very nevv & strange, neither doe I remember that euer I heard the like, but there are so many things in the vvorld aboue our capaci­ty, that I hold it not impossible, especially being affirmed for true, with the authority of so graue authors though me thinks this Country must needes be very farre from those which are now of late discouered in India.

I cannot choose but merualie much hereat and I be­leeue that it is some influence or constellation, or else the pro­perty of the Country it selfe, which ingendreth the people in such sort, as we see other Countries bring forth people of di­uers complexions, qualities, & conditions. But now seeing we haue so long discoursed of births, as wel cōmon & natural, as vnnatural & rare: it were not amisse if we said somwhat of such as are prodigious & monstrous, so far beyond that won­ted order and rule of Nature, which she is accustomed to ob­serue.

It is true that there hath been seene diuers births admirable & monstrous, which either proceed frō the wil and permission of God, in whose hands all things are, or els throgh some causes and reasons to vs not reuealed, though many of them by coniectures & tokens com afterwards to be discoue­red, which though they perfectly cōclude not the demonstra­tion of the true cause, yet giue they vs a great liklihood & ap­parance [Page 8] to gesse thereat. It is a thing naturall to all children, to giue a turn in their mothers belly, & to come into the world with the head forwards, yet this generall rule oftentimes fai­leth, & some come forth thwartlong, & some with their body double, neither of the which can liue, their body is so crusht and broken, the mothers also of such are in exceeding danger. Others come to be borne with their feet forward, which is al­so passing dangerous, as well for the mother as the child: vn­lesse they chaunce to come foorth with their armes hanging down close by their sides, vvhich if they hold vpward or cros­wise, they crush them or put them out of ioynt, so that fevve such liue. Of these cam the linage of Agrippas in Rome, which is as much to say as Aegrè parti, brought forth in paine, and The linage of Agrippas. cōmonly those that are so borne, are held to be vnlucky, & of short life. Some say that Nero was so borne of his mother A­grippina, who though he seemed in obtaining the Empire to Nero borne with his feet forward. be fortunate, yet in losing it so soon with a death so infamous, his end proued him vnfortunate & miserable. It happeneth also sometimes that the mothers die, and that the children by opening their sides are taken out aliue, & come to liue & doe vvell. Of these was Scipio Affrican, which was therfore the first that was called Caesar, & another Romaine Gentleman called Scipio Affri­can called Caesar quiae Caesus ex v­tero. Manlius, as Pliny vvriteth in his seauenth booke.

It is a matter so true & notorious, that there is no dout to be made therof, which we read in the chronicles of Spaine, of the birth of Don Sanches Garcia, king of Nauarre, vvhose mother Don­na Ursaca, being at a place called Baruban, to take her plea­sure The strange birth of Don Sanches Garcia king of Nauarre. in the fields, vvas by certaine Mores which of a sodaine came thither to spoile and make booty, thrust into the body vvith a speare, in such sort, that the babe vvith which she went great, appeared out of the wound, as though he vvould faine come foorth, she her selfe liuing in pittifull extreamity, and painfully gasping for life: vvhich her seruants perceauing, o­pened the wound a little more, and tooke the Infant out, cau­sing him to be nourished, the which prospered so vvel, that he aftervvards cam to attaine the royall Diademe, and raigned many yeeres. And not much before our time, a Gentleman The like of Diego Oso­rio. called Diego Osorio, of the house of Astorgo, vvas borne [Page] in the selfe same manner, but they tooke so little heede in cut­ting of his mothers belly, that they gaue him a slash on the legge, of which hee remained euer after lame, and liued ma­nie yeeres.

Children to be borne toothed, is a thing so com­mon, that we haue seene it often, amongst the Auncients, as Children borne too­thed. Pliny and Soline writeth, were Papinus, Carbo, and Marcus Curius Dentatus. I can giue good testimony heereof my selfe, as an eye witnes of some that haue been borne with teeth, and that with those before, vvhereby we may the better be­leeue the antiquity.

Some Greeke Authors write that Pirrhus King of the Epirotes, in steede of teeth was borne with a hard massie bone onely, one aboue, and another be­neath. And Herodotus vvriteth, that in Persia there vvas a whole linage that had the like. Caelius Rodiginus, in the be­ginning of his fourth booke de antiquis lectionibus, bringeth Hercules borne with three rowes of teeth. for author Io. Mochius, vvhich affirmeth that Hercules had three rowes of teeth, which is passing strange: but no doubt there haue happened many miraculous things in the vvorld, vvhich for want of vvriters haue not come to our know­ledge: and if we could see those things which happen in o­ther Countries, we should not so much vvonder at these of which we novv speake: neither neede we goe farre to seeke them, for wee shall finde enough euen in our Europe and Countries heere abouts.

I will tell you vvhat I saw in a Towne of Italy, called Prato, seauen or eight miles off from The face of a child newe borne, co­uered with long haire. Florence, a child new borne, vvhose face was couered with a very thick beard, about the length of ones hand, white and fine, as the finest threeds of flaxe that might be spunne, which when he came to be two moneths old, began to fall off, as it had peeld avvay through some infirmity, after which time I neuer savv him more, neither knovv I what became of him.

And I once savv a little vvench, which was borne with a long thick haire vpon the chine of her backe, and so sharpe, A vvench hauing haire vppon the chine of her backe, like brisles of a Boare. as if they had beene the brisles of a vvild Boare, so that shee must continually euer after keepe it cut short, or othervvise it hurt her vvhen shee cloathed her selfe.

These are things vvherein Nature seemeth not farre to exceede her ac­customed [Page 9] order: Let vs therefore come to thē that are more strange, and of greater admiration. Pliny writeth that there was a woman called Alcippa deliuered of an Elephant, and A woman deliuered of an Elephant another of a Serpent: besides, he writeth, that he saw himselfe a Centaure, brought to the Emperour Claudius in hony to keepe him from putrefaction, which was brought forth by a woman of Thessalia. Besides these, there are manie other such like thinges reported by vvise and graue Authors, that such as neuer heard of them before, vvould be astonished at theyr strangenes.

And thinke you that this age and Sundry strange and monstrous childbirthes time of ours, yeeldeth not as many strange and vvonderfull things as the antiquitie did? Yes vndoubtedly doth it, vvere vve so carefull to registre and to commit them to memory as they were. I will tell you one, of the which I am a witnesse my selfe, of a woman that hauing had a very hard trauaile, in the which she was often at the poynt of death, at last was deliue­red of a child, and withall of a beast, whose fashion was lyke vnto a Firret, which came foorth with his clawes vpon the childes brest, and his feete entangled within the childs legges, both one and the other died in few houres.

Wee see and heare daily of many things like vnto these, and besides, we haue seene women in steede of chyldren bring forth one­lie lumpes of flesh, which the Phisitions call Moles. I haue Lumpes of flesh, called by the Phi­sitiōs moles. seene my selfe one, of the which a woman was deliuered, of the fashion of a great Goose-neck, at one end it had the signe of a head vnperfectly fashioned, and the woman told me, that when it came into the world it moued, and that therfore they had sprinkled water vpon it, vsing the words of Baptisme. In engendring of these things, Nature seemeth to shewe herselfe weake and faint, and perchance the defect heereof might be in the Father or mother, the imperfection of whose seed was not able to engender a creature of more perfection.

Your opinion herein is not without some reason, but withall vnderstande, that there may bee aswell therein supersluitie, which corrupting it selfe, in steede of engendring a child, en­gendreth these other creatures which you haue rehearsed, as the Elephant, the Centaure, and the rest: but the likeliest is, that they are engendred of corrupted humors, that are in the [Page] womans body, vvhich in time wold be the cause of her death, in steed of which, Nature worketh that vvhich Aristotle saith in his Booke De communi animalium gressu, that Nature for­ceth her alwaies of things possible to doe the best, and vvhen Nature for­ceth her al­wayes to do the best. she can create any thing of these corrupted humors, whereby she may preserue lyfe, shee procureth to doe it as a thing na­turall.

The one and the other may wel be true, but yet in my iudgement, there is another reason likelier then eyther of them both, which is, that all these thinges, or the most part of them, proceede of the womans imagination at the time of her conception. For as Algazar an auncient Philosopher of great authority affirmeth: The earnest imagination, hath not onely force and power to imprint diuers effects in him which The won­derful force of imagina­tion. imagineth, but also may worke effect in the things imagined, for so intentiuely may a man imagine that it rayneth, that though the wether were faire, it may become clowdy & raine indeed, and that the stones before him are bread, so great may be the vehemency of his imagination that they may turne in­to bread.

I beleeue the miracle which Christ made in turning water into wine, but not these miraculous imaginati­ons of Algazar, which truly in mine opinion are most ridicu­lous.

In exteriour things I neuer sawe any of these mira­cles: yet Aristotle vvriteth in his ninth Booke De animalibus, that the Henne fighting with the Cocke and ouercomming him, conceaueth thereof such pride, that shee lyfteth vp her crest and tayle, imagining that shee is a Cocke, and seeking to tread the other Hennes, vvith the very imagination where­of, she cōmeth to haue spurres. But leauing thys, let vs come to Auicenna, (for in thys matter we cannot goe out of Doc­tors and Philosophers) whose opinion in his seconde Booke is, that the imagination of the minde, is able to work so migh­tie a change in naturall things, that it hapneth oftentimes the Childe to resemble that thing which the Mother at the time of her conception imagineth. The selfe same sayth S. Augu­stine, in his 12. Booke of the Citty of God: that the earnest imagination of a woman going great, causeth often the child to be borne with the qualities & conditions of the thing ima­gined: [Page 10] and vve reade in Plutarch, that a white woman con­ceauing chylde by a vvhite man, was deliuered of an Infant A blacke child, borne of white Pa­rents. coale-blacke, because at the tyme that she conceaued, she held her eyes and imagination fixed vpon the picture of a Black-Moore which was painted in a cloth vpon the wal, which the child wholy resembled.

Aristotle, Pliny, & many other Authors write of that famous Poet Vizantine, that his father The strange opiration of Nature in the Poet Vi­zantine. and mother beeing white, hee was borne black.

But this was of another sorte, Nature making as it were a iumpe from the Grandfather to the Nephewe, for his Mother vvas begotten by an Ethiopian in aduoutry, which Nature coue­ring in her byrth being white, discouered in the byrth of her sonne beeing black. Let vs therefore returne to imagination, of whose effects we haue seene great experience, and I haue heard of a woman deliuered of a child all couered ouer with rough haire, the reason wherof was, that she had in her cham­ber A childe co­uered with hayre. the picture of Saint Iohn Baptist clothed in hairy skinns, on which the woman vsing with deuotion to contemplate, her chyld was borne both in roughnes & figure like vnto the same.

Marcus Damascenus writeth the selfe same which you haue said, saying, that it hapned in a place of Italy, neere The place is called Petroe sancta. the Citty of Pysa. It is not long since that there went through Spayne a man gathering money, with the fight of a son of his couered with hayre, in such quantity so long & thicke, that in his whole face there was nothing els to be seen but his mouth and eyes: Withall, the haire was so curled, that it crimpled round like Ringes, and truely the wilde Sauages which they paynt, were nothing so deformed, and ouer their whole body so hairie as was thys boy.

I will neyther wonder at this, nor at any such like, seeing that in this our time it is known & affirmed for a matter most true, that certaine Players shewing of a Comedy in Germany, one of them which played the de­uill, hauing put on a kinde of attyre most grisly and feareful, vvhē the Play was ended went home to his own house, where A wonder­full Monster borne in Germany. taking a toy in the head, he would needs vse the company of his wife without changing the deformed habite hee had on, who hauing her imagination fearefully fixed on the ouglie [Page] shape of that attire with which her husband was thē clothed, conceaued childe, and came to be deliuered of a creature re­presenting A wonder­ful monster. the very likenes of the deuill, in forme so horrible, that no deuil of hell could bee figured more lothsome or ab­hominable. The mother died presently, & for the small time that this monster liued, which was onely three daies, there are told of him things strange, hellish & infernall, and to the end this wonder might be knowne vnto the whole world, the fi­gure thereof was brought printed into Spaine, and carried through Christendome.

I saw it, and can giue there­of good testimonie, and it was assuredly reported to be true in such sort as you haue said, whereby we may well perceaue how mighty the force of imagination is, beeing able to ingen­der a monster so horrible. And seeing we are in the discourse of matters monstrous (though this which I will tell you bee not like to these before rehearsed) yet I am sure you wil think that it is not a little to be wondred at, and perchance it is of a man whom we all haue seene, who being a Fryer of the third order of S. Frauncis, was wont to make his residence in the A most strange sto­ie of a Frier. Cloister of our Lady of the Vally, which is hard by this place where wee nowe are, but at this present is in a Cloyster called Soto, fast by the Cittie of Zamorra. He is so little of stature, that without doing him any wrong, we may well terme him a Dwarfe, but to the bignes of his body he hath an excellent feature and proportion of lymmes, and a singuler comlines in his gesture: this man, as the common voyce is, and besides as many religious men haue assured me for a truth, was borne in a Village called S. Tiso, with all the teeth and tussles which he nowe hath, of the which hee neuer changed nor lost any one, and with much difficulty could hee be nourished with milke, so that hee suckt but a very little while: besides, hee brought from his mothers wombe, the haire of his secretes, as if he had beene 20. yeres old. At 7. yeres of age, his chin was couered with a beard, at 10. yeres he begat a child, and was in the chiefest strength of his age as other men at 30. and which is more, is not at this present aboue 25. yeres olde.

In truth this is a thing very strange & worthy of admiration, but what shall we say of other monsters which are so many & of [Page 11] so sundry shapes in the world, that they make those astoni­shed which see them, or reade that which is written of them.

I know not vvhat to iudge, because of one side so ma­ny graue men, and of such authority, that we are bound to be­leeue them, vvrite of these monsters, and of the other side, we see and heare of so fevv now in the vvorld, and of those we scarsely finde any man, that can say he hath seene them him selfe, and yet there was neuer so great a part of the vvorld dis­couered as is now, for all the which we see not that there are any of these monsters found either in India maior, conque­red by the Portugales, neither in vvest Indies, marry they say Sundrie strange and monstrous formes of men. that they are all retired to mountaines, & vnaccessible places. Pliny, Soline, and Strabo, write perticulerly of them, notwith­standing. I will make mention of some fevv of them. Some they called Monosceli, which haue but one legge, vvith the which they are so light in leaping, that they ouertake all other Monosceli. beasts, onely in iumping after them, their foote is so great, that in hote vveather lying on the ground, they lift it vp, and with the shadow thereof defend them selues from the heate of the Sunne. There are others without either neck or head, hauing their eyes in their shoulders: others their faces plaine without nosethrils, in steed of which they haue tvvo little holes onely: others without mouthes, maintaining them selues with the onely smell of fruits & hearbs, the force of whose sent is such, that they dry and wither vp the flovvers, in smelling out of them all their substance. The smell of any euill or noysome thing is so contrary to them, that oft-times it putteth them in danger of their liues. Their speech and vndestanding is by signes. Besides, they vvrite that there are men in the moun­taines of Scithia, or Tartaria, with so little mouthes, that they cannot eate, but maintaine their liues with sucking in onely the substance and iuice of flesh and fruites. There is another kind of men with dogs faces and Oxe feete, which containe all their speech vnder two wordes, onely with the which the one vnderstandeth the other. There are others whom they call Phanaces, whose eares are so great, that they couer there­with Phanaces. their vvhole bodies: they are so strong, that vvith one pull they teare whole trees vp by the roots, vsing them in their [Page] fight with exceeding agillity. There are others with one eye only, and that in their forehead, their eares like dogs, and their haire standing stiffe vp an end. Others they describe with di­uers and monstrous formes, which if I should rehearse all, I should neuer make an end, yet by the way, I will tell you what I haue reade in one of Ptolomes tables of Tartaria maior, There is in it, sayth he, a Country now called Georgia, fast by the kingdome of Ergonil, in the which there are fiue sorts of Sundry di­uers shapes of men in the Country of Georgia. people, some blacke as Ethiopians, some white like vs, some hauing tailes like Peacocks, some of very little and low stature with two heads, and others whose face and teeth are in maner of horse iawes. And if this be true, it is a wonderfull thing that there should be in one Land such diuersities of men.

Doe these Authors set all these monsters together in one part of the earth, or in diuers parts.

In this point they dif­fer farre the one from the other. Pliny and Strabo agree with the story written by the Philosopher Onosecritus, which was in India with Alexander the great, and writeth all these mon­sters to be there. Solinus sayeth, that the Arimaspes, being a people with one eie, are in Scithia, fast by the Riphaean moun­taines. Arimaspes. Others hold, that the most part of these monsters are in the solitary deserts of Affrica, and the rest are in the moun­taines of Atlas: others sayde, that the Cyclops, Gyants of ex­ceeding hugenes, with one onely eye, and that in the midst of In what pla­ces of the world the monsters are written to be. their forehead, were to be seene in Sicillia.

Yet it may be that they are as well in one place as in another, yet Strabo entreating of them, in conclusion accounteth them but fa­bles, and fained matters: and Sinforianus Campegius, a man singulerly learned, in a Chapter which hee writeth of mon­sters, proueth by naturall reasons that there can be none such, and if there be any, that they are no men, but brute beasts, like vnto men: Pomponius Mela, is of the same opinion, say­ing, that the Satyres haue nothing else of man, then the like­nesse.

I will neyther beleeue all nor condemne all which is written, but as touching the Satyres, me thinkes Pomponius Mela hath small reason, for wee must rather beleeue Saint. Hierome, who in the life of Saint Paule the first Hermite, [Page 12] (which worke is allowed by our Church) witnesseth that they Satyres are men and creatures reasonable. The shape of Satyres. are men, and creatures reasonable. Their shape is according to the description of diuers Authors like vnto men, differing onely in some points, as in hauing hornes on their heads, their noses and forepart of their mouthes, like to dogges snowts, and their feete like to those of Goates. Many affirme, that they haue seene them in the deserts of Aegipt. The Gentiles in diuers places adored them for Gods, and Pan the God of Sheepheards, was alwayes painted in the likenes of a Satyre. Many haue written of these Satyres, and it is held for a mat­ter certaine and vndoubted.

Sabellicus, in his Aeneads sayeth, that there are of them in the mountaine Atlas, which runne on foure feet, and some on two feet like men, either sort passing swiftly. Pliny affirmeth, that there are of them in India, in certaine moun­taines, called Subsolani, whom not accounting men, hee ter­meth to be most dangerous and harmfull beasts. Ouid in his Metamorphosis, sayeth, that the Satyre is a beast like vnto a man, onely that hee hath hornes on his head, and feete like a Goate. But if it be so, that they are men capable of reason, I wonder that we haue no greater knowledge of them.

Heerein is no great cause of wonder, because the deformity of their figure maketh them so vvild, that it taketh from them the greatest part of the vse of reason, so that they flie the con­uersation of men, euen as other bruite beastes doe: but a­mongst them selues they conuerse, and vnderstand one ano­ther well enough: for all those which vvrite of the moun­taine Atlas, say, that there are in the tops therof, many nights, heard great noyses, and soundes, as it were of Tabers and Flutes, and other winde instruments, vvhich they hold for a certaine to be doone by the Satyres in their meetings: for as soone as the day comes you heare no more: yet some will Meetings of the Satyres. say that the Satyres are not the cause thereof, but another secrete of Nature: of the vvhich we will hereafter in his more conuenient and proper place discourse.

Before we passe any farther, let vs first vnderstand what difference there is between Satyres, Faunes, & Egipanes: Satyres, Faunes, Egipanes. for Virgill in the beginning of his Georgiques, inuoketh [Page] as well the one as the other, and sundry other Authors vsing these seuerall names, doe seeme to put a difference betweene them.

I will ansvvere you herein with Calepin, which saith, that Faunes were held amongst the Greeks for the selfe same, which Satyrs among the Latines, & that they both are one thing. Probus and Seruius saith, that they are called Fau­ni à fando, because they prophesied, as Pan did amongst the Sheepheards. And Seruius vvriteth, that Egipans, Satyrs, and Faunes, are all one. Nicolaus Leonicus, in his second booke de vana historia, vvriteth of another sort of Satyrs, much dif­fering in shape from these before rehearsed, he alledgeth an Author called Pausanias, vvhose authority he followeth in his whole worke, who sayeth, that he heard Eufemius, a man of great estimation and credite affirme, that sayling towardes Spaine, the ship in which they went, through a great tempest and storme, beeing driuen with a violent vvesterne wind to runne along the Ocean Seas, brought them at last vpon the coast of certain Ilands, which seemed to be vninhabited: wher they had no sooner landed to take in fresh vvater, but there appeared certaine vvild men; of a fierce & cruel resemblance, all couered vvith haire somwhat reddish, resembling in each other part men, but onely that they had long tailes full of bris­led haires like vnto horses. These monsters discouering the Marriners, ioyned them selues in a great troupe & squadron Men with tailes like horses. together, making an ilfauoured noyse, like the barking or ra­ther howling of doggs, and at last of a sodaine set vpon them with such a fury and vehemence, that they draue them backe to their ship, forcing them to leaue behind them one of their vvomen which was also landed, vpon whom, they savv from their ship those brutish men, or rather barbarous monsters, vse all sort of fleshly abhomination and filthy lust, & that in eue­ry such part of her body, as by any possibility they might; which when they savve themselues vnable to succour, vvith griefe hoising vp their sailes, they departed from thence, na­ming the place the Iland of Satyrs. Gaudencius Merula, re­hearseth the selfe same saying: that Eufemius which told this to Pausanias, was a Cardinall.

Ptolome in his second booke of the tenth table of Asia, vvriteth that there are three [Page 13] Ilands of Satyres bearing the selfe same forme, & I verily be­leeue, Three I­lands of Satyres. that those are they whom we commonly call wilde Sa­uages, paynted with great and knotty staues in theyr handes, for till nowe I neuer heard that there were any such particu­lerly in any part of the world.

Plinie vvriteth, alleadging the authority of Megas­thenes, that there are towards the East certaine people, which haue long bushie tayles like Foxes: so that they are in a man­ner Men with tayles like Foxes. like vnto those which you haue said. I partly beleeue this the rather, because of that which (as I haue heard) hapned to a lynage of men that brake vp a vessell pertayning to S. Tori­bius, Bishop of Astorga, in which hee helde sacred reliques, with whose delectable sauour hee sustained himselfe, putting in place there of things stinking & vnsauory, for punishment and perpetuall marke of which wicked offence, both they & theyr posteritie came to haue tayles, which race, as it is sayde, A race of men hauing all tayles. continueth till this day.

You commit no deadly sinne though you beleeue it not. But I will tell you one no lesse monstrous then all these aboue mentioned, the which I did see (as they say) with mine owne eyes in the yeare 1514. of a stranger that went to S. Iames in pilgrimage, who ware a long garment downe to his feet open before, which in giuing him some litle almes he opened wide, & discouered a child, whose A strange story of a Pilgrima. head to our seeming was set in the mouth of his stomack or a very little higher, his whole necke beeing out, from whence downeward his body was fully perfected and well fashioned in all his members, which he stirred as other children doe, so that there was in one man two bodies; but whether this child was gouerned by the man vvhich bare it, or by it selfe in his naturall operations, I cannot say, for I vvas then so young, that I neyther had the discretion to discerne it, nor the wit to aske it. I should not haue dared to haue tolde this, but that there are in Spayne so many vvhich haue seene it & remem­ber it besides my selfe, and the thing so publique and notori­ous. Besides, I haue beene tolde by certaine persons of great credite, that about 2. or 3. yeares since, in Rome they went a­bout gathering money vvith shewing a man that had tvvo A man with two heads. heads, the one of the vvhich came out of th'entry of his sto­macke, [Page] the selfe same place out of vvhich the others bodie came; but this head, though it were most perfectly shaped, yet was it like vnto a dead member, vvhich of it selfe had no feeling, but that the man felt vvhen it was touched, as vvell as any other of his members.

Though these things be passing strange & won­derfull, and neede many witnesses to giue them credite, yet why should not this happen sometimes to men, as it doth of­ten to other creatures? I haue seen my selfe a Lamb brought forth vvith two heads, which died incontinently.

Pe­trus Crinitus in his 21. Booke of honest discipline, saith, that in Emaus (which I take to be that of which the holie Scrip­ture maketh mention) a woman bare two boyes from the na­uill downeward ioyned in one, hauing vpwards two seuerall bodyes, two heads, two breasts, and all other members pro­portionable, Two chil­dren frō the nauill down ward ioyned in one. and that they were two persons, and two distinct soules, it was easie to perceaue, for the one wept, when the o­ther laughed, the one slept, when the other waked, and each of them did in one moment different operations: in which sort they liued two yeares, at terme of which the one dying, the other liued only foure dayes after him. He rehearseth this historie by the authoritie of Singibertus, whom he commen­deth for an Authour of great grauity and truth, who lyued in the time of Theodosius the Emperour. Besides, Saint Au­gustine in his Citty of God writeth of this monster, though not so particulerly. I haue read of other two that were borne ioyned together by the shoulders, backe to backe, lyuing so Two chyl­dren ioyned backe to backe. a certaine time, till the one comming to die, the stench of his dead body, so infected and anoyed the other, that hee lyued not long after him.

When there is no Authour of credite, I will neuer beleeue that which is amongst the com­mon sort reported, beeing for the most part altogether fabu­lous.

Leauing thys, I pray you tell me Signior An­thonio what you thinke of that which Plinie writeth of the Pigmees, & many other Authors of the Amazons.

As for the Amazons, many Writers affirme that they haue been, Pigmees. Amazons. and there are so many histories recorded of them, theyr valo­rous deedes of Armes, the battailes and warres in which they [Page 14] were, that it should seeme great temerity to say the contrary. Though Plutarch writing the life of great Alexander, bring­eth xij. Greeke Authors that wrote also of his life, some in his very time, and some little after his death, of which some fewe make mention of one Thalestris, Queene of the Amazones, that came so far to see him and speake with him, but the rest Thalestris Qu. of the Amazons. and the greater part say nothing at all thereof, wherby he see­meth to doubt whether it were true or no, for if it were, hee thinks that such and so esteemed Authors would neuer haue past so notable a matter in silence. Besides, Strabo was of o­pinion, that this matter of Amazons was altogether faigned, whose wordes are these: Who can beleeue that there was e­uer at any time, Army, Cittie, or Commonwealth onelie of women, and not onely that there were, but that they made war & inuaded conqueringly vpon other Countries, subdued their neighbours in battailes, ranged and dared set their Ar­mies in Ionia, and on the farther side of Pontus, euen to At­tica? This were as much to say, as that in those dayes the wo­men were men, and the men women.

All thys is not sufficient to prooue that in times past, there were no such; for all those that write of the Troyan The Ama­zons cam to the warres of Troy. warres, make no doubt of theyr comming thither, and that vvhich is written of theyr originall & beginning, is most no­torious and knowen, but of theyr last fall, and finall ende, I haue not seene anie Historie that maketh mention.

There haue beene in the Worlde many notable thinges vn­knowne for want of Wryters, of the which this may be one: but I haue cheefelie noted one thing, vvhich is, that the Au­thors agree not about those Countryes vvherein they write that they lyued; the rehearsall of vvhose seuerall opinions, concerning theyr Prouince and Kingdome, I will not en­comber my selfe with repeating.

Diodorus Sicu­lus vvryteth, that the Amazones raigned in two partes, the one in Scithia, a Prouince of Asia, and the other in Lybia, a Prouince of Affrica, vvherein is confirmed that which you say, touching theyr diuersitie of Regions, though their man­ner of life were all one. And if you desire to know the sum of their history, & the opinion of diuers authors concerning thē, [Page] reade Pedro Mexias in his Forrest of Collections, who ther­in Pedro Mex­ias. handleth it at large; & truly if they were so mighty as they are vvritten to be, some great and notable matter must needes haue succeeded before their fall, who in time of theyr prospe­rity had achiued such vvoorthy enterprises.

Leauing this, let vs resolue our selues in the matter of Pigmees propo­sed by Signior Ludouico, the discourse of which vvill yeeld as much matter vvhereon to speake, as this of the Amazones.

Of these the most parte of Cosmographers make mention, describing them to be men of three spans in length. Plinie holdeth, that they exceede not in length three hand­bredths the thombe being strect out. Iuuenall speaking of The coun­try, stature, story, & de­scription of the Pigmees them, sayth, that theyr vvhole stature passeth not the height of a foot. Both the one & the other may be true, for as amongst vs there be some men greater then other, so may there be be­tweene them difference of statures, though the highest can­not exceede three spans or very little more. Theyr habitation is in the vtter parts of India towards the East, neere the rising of the Riuer Ganges, in certaine Mountaines, where at such times as it is in other places Winter, the Cranes come to lay theyr egges, and to bring vp theyr young ones about the Ri­uer sides, vvhose comming so soone as the Pigmees perceiue, because they are so little that the Cranes regard them not, but doe them much hurt, as well in theyr persons, as in eating vp theyr victuals & spoyling their fruites, they ioyne themselues (as Homer writeth) in great number to breake theyr egges, & Theyr fight with the Cranes. to prepare themselues to this terrible fight, they mount vpon Goates & Rams, and in very goodly equipage goe forvvarde to destroy this multiplication of Cranes, as to a most dange­rous and bloody enterprise.

This is a fierce people & of great courage as it see­meth; but as I haue heard, they liue not long, for theyr wo­men at 3. yeares of age beare chyldren, at 6. yeares are barren and reputed old, and the greatest age they may reach vnto is ix. or x. yeares. Ouid in his 6. booke of Metamorp. sayth, that they are two foote long, double the reckoning of Iuue­nall, Ouid. and that theyr vvomen beare children at fiue yeares, and at eyght yeares are old, and die soone after.

The com­mon [Page 15] fame that goeth of them is so, & the like saith Aristotle by these words. The Cranes come out of the plaines of Sci­thia, Aristotle. to the lakes aboue Aegipt, which is where the Riuer Ni­lus runneth, and it is said, that they fight in this place with the Pigmees, and this is no fable, but an assured truth, that there are meruailous little men, and very little horses also, the men are about two feet and a handbreadth high, the vvomen breed children at fiue yeres, at eight are barraine, and liue not much longer. Solinus also entreating of the selfe same matter, saith, Solinus, that the Pigmees enhabite certaine hils of India, and that the longest terme of their life is eight yeeres.

These authors are well wide one from another, seeing the one placeth them in Affrica, and the other in the vttermost bounds of Asia, beeing so many thousand miles difference betweene them. Pomponius Mela, will haue their habitation to be in the far­thest parts of all Affrica, some others will haue it to be in Eu­rope. Pomponius Mela. For Gemafrisius in his Cosmography, sayeth, that there was a ship made of leather, driuen through a vehement tem­pest, Gemafrisius. vpon the coast of the kingdom of Norway, in the which were no other people then Pigmees, of whose habitation A shippe of Pigmees driuen on the shore of Norway. there could no knowledge be had, because no man could vn­derstand their language, but according to the course of their voyage it could not be, but in some part betweene the West and the North, which we will farther proue, when we come to discourse thereof. It must be in some other newe part of the world, or else it must be in some Country contained vnder Europe. Pigafeta, a Knight of Malta, which accompanied Magellan in his voyage to the Indies, when he discouered the straight, and returned back in the ship called Victoria, (which The relati­on of Piga­feta, in his voyage to the Indies with Ma­gellan. they say went round about the vvorlde) in relation that hee made to the Pope, of his strange aduentures by the way, said, that being in the Archpelago, which is in the Sea of Sur, and on the other side of the Straight, there were found Pigmees in a certaine Iland, of different fashion from these, for their eares were as great as their whole body, they laid themselues downe on the one, and couered themselues with the other, and were in their running exceeding swift, which though he himselfe did not see, because he could not apart himselfe from [Page] the voyage which the ship held, yet it was in the Ilands there about, a thing notoriously knowne and manifest, and the most part of the Marriners testified the same.

Pigafeta, had neede, for the credite of his report, to bring such witnes­ses, as had seene them in person: but the matter is not great, for euery man may beleeue herein what he list, without com­mitting deadly sinne. Anthony Gubert, seeing these diuersi­ties tooke occasion in a Treatise of his, to say, that this matter of Pigmees is but a fable, which hee endeuoureth to proue, by diuers effectuall reasons, the one of which is, that the world beeing neuer so much voyaged, neyther euer so great a part thereof discouered and knowne as now: yet is there not any particuler part thereof certainly knowne or found out, that is enhabited of Pigmees. But omitting the sundry opinions of others, which haue written of this matter, it should be a great rashnes, not to giue credite to so graue Authors, as were Ari­stotle, Soline, and Pliny, which affirme them to be: and it may be, that in times past this race of men, were in those sun­dry parts which they say, all of one forme and likenes, accor­ding to that which wee sayde of the Amazones: but let vs leaue this to be concluded, by men of greater curiosity then wee are, onely by the way, I will tell you this, that there are di­uers of opinion, that these Pigmees are not reasonable men, but beastes, bearing the figure and likenesse of men, vvith Pigmees are men, & en­dued with the vse of reason. some little more vse of reason, then the other beastes haue.

They are in the wrong, vvhich maintayne that opi­nion: for it is most certaine, that there are Pigmees, and that they are men indued with reason, the which you may see in Ezechiell, vvhere hee reckoneth vp the Pigmees amongst other Nations, that had affaires and dealings in the Citty of Ezechiel 27. Tyre, saying: The Pigmees also which stand in thy Towres, hanged vp theyr shieldes round about thy walls, and in this manner encreased thy goodlines and beauty.

Perchaunce, those Pigmees of which Ezechiell maketh mention, was some Nation of little men, but not so little as those which wee speake of: for Pigmee in Hebrew, Pigmee in Hebrew sig­nifieth a lit­tle man. is as much to say, as a man of little stature: for if these Pig­mees were such, as those Authors write, they must needes [Page 16] enioy long life, seeing they voyaged so farre, vsing traffique by Sea, bringing vnto vs such commodities, as theyr Coun­try yeeldeth, and carrying backe such of ours, as are necessa­rie for them, so that I account it a matter vnpossible, that men whose space of lyues is so short, should traffique with such carefull industrie, in the farre Countries of Siry and Iury.

Your opinion is not without reason, but in the ende heerein we cannot stedfastly affirme any thing for trueth, so that it is best that wee leaue it euen so, contenting our selues with that which hath beene vpon this matter alleadged, see­ing we haue not as yet ended our discourse of monsters. I say therefore, that Ctesias affirmeth, that beeing with Alexander in India, hee sawe aboue 130000. men together, hauing all Ctesias. heads like dogges, and vsing no other speech but barking. 130000. men toge­ther with heads like dogs.

I would rather call these dogges with two feete, or else some other two footed beasts: such as there is a kinde of great Apes, of the which, I haue seene one with a doggs face, but standing vpright on his feete, each part of him had the An Ape with a dogs head. shape of a man, or so little difference, that at the first, any man might be deceaued, and so perchaunce might Ctesias, and the rest of those which saw them, seeing they could not affirme vvhether they had the vse of reason, vvhereby they might be held for men, and not brute beasts.

Both the one and the other may be, but leauing this, they write, that there are certaine men dwelling on the hill Milo, hauing on each foote eight toes, which turne all Men with eight toes. backward, and that they are of incredible swiftnes: Others, that are borne vvith theyr haire hoary gray, vvhich as they waxe olde, becommeth blacke. To be short, if I should re­hearse the infinite number of such like as are reported, I Men borne with gray haire, which in old age waxeth blacke. should neuer make an ende: for you canne scarcely come to any manne, vvhich will not tell you one vvoonder or o­ther, vvhich hee hath seene. One vvill tell you of an Evve that brought foorth a Lyon, vvhich as Elian sayeth, hap­pened in the Countrey of the Coosians, in the time of the An Ewe brought forth a Ly­on, and a Sowe an Elephant. tiranny of Nicippus: Another vvill tell you of a Sovve that farowed a Pygge, resembling an Elephant, vvhich hap­pened not long since in this Tovvne, vvherein vvee dwell, [Page] so that euery one will tell you a new thing, and for my part I will not beleeue but that they are true: because we see euery day new secrets of nature discouered, & the world is so great, that we cannot knowe in the one part what is done in the o­ther. If it were not for this, it were vnpossible to write the number of them, neither were any booke how great so euer, able to containe them. But for the proofe of the rest, I will tell you of one strange people, found out in the world. Mine author is Iohanes Bohemus, a Dutch man, in his booke, entitu­led Iohanes Bo­hemus. the manners and customes of all Nations, who though he declareth not the time wherein it happened, nor what the The story of a miracu­lous Iland found out by Iambolo person was that found them out, yet he writeth it so familier­ly, that it seemeth he was some man meruailous well knowne in his Country: but because you shall not thinke that I en­haunce the matter with wordes of mine owne, I will repeate those selfe same which he vsed, in the which haue patience if I be somwhat long. Iambolo, sayth he, a man from his child­hood wel brought vp, after that his Father died, vsed the trade Iohanes Bo­hemus. Cap. 26. of Merchandize, who voyaging towards Arabia, to buy spi­ces and costly perfumes, the ship wherein he went, was taken by certaine Rouers, which made him with another of the pri­soners, Cow-heard, and keeper of their cattell, with which as he went one morning to the pasture, hee and his companion were taken by certaine Aethiopians, and caried into Aethio­pia, to a Citty situate on the Sea, whose custome was from long and auncient time to cleanse that place, and others of the Country there abouts, according to the aunswere of an Ora­cle of theirs, in sending at certaine seasons two men beeing strangers, to the Iland which they call Fortunat, whose enha­bitants liue in great and blessed happines. If these two went thither and returned againe, it prognosticated to that Coun­try great felicity: but if they returned through feare of the long way or tempest of the Sea, many troubles should hap­pen to that Country, and those which so returned, were slaine and torne in peeces. The Aethiopians had a little boate, fit for two men to rule, into the which, they put victuals enough for sixe moneths, beseeching them with all instance to direct the Provv of their boate, according to the commaundement [Page 17] of the Oracle, towards the South, to the end they might ar­riue in that Iland where those fortunate men liued, promi­sing them great rewardes, if after theyr arriuall they returned backe: threatning to pull them in peeces, if they should be­fore through feare returne to any coast of that Country: be­cause theyr feare should be the occasion of many miseries to that Land; and as in so returning they should shewe them­selues most wicked and cruell, so should they at theyr hands, expect all crueltie possible to bee imagined. Iambolo and his companion beeing put into the boate with these conditions, the Ethiopians remained on the shore celebrating theyr holie ceremonies, and inuoking theyr Gods to guide prosperously thys little ship, and to graunt it after the voyage finished, safe returne. Who sayling continuallie 4. months, passing many dangerous tempests, at last, wearied with so discomfortable a voyage, arriued at the Iland wherto they were directed, which was round and in compasse about 5000. stadyes, approching to the shore, some of the inhabitants came to receiue them in a little Skiffe, others stoode on the shoare, wondering at the strangenes of theyr habite and attyre: but in fine, all receiued them most curteously, communicating with thē such thinges as they had. The men of this Iland, are not in body and man­ners like vnto ours, though in forme and figure they resemble vs, for they are foure cubites higher, and theyr boanes are like Men whose bones are like sinewes. sinewes, which they double & writhe each way, they are pas­sing nimble, and withall so strong, that whatsoeuer they take in theyr handes, there is no possible force able to take it from them. They are hairie, but the same is so polished and deli­cate, that not so much as any one haire standeth out of order. Theyr faces most beautifull, theyr bodies well featured, the entry of theyr eares far larger then ours. The chiefest thing wherein they differ from vs, is theyr tongues, which haue a singuler particularitie giuen thē by Nature, the which is, that from theyr birth, they are so parted and deuided, that they seeme to be double, so that they vse them diuersly, and in one Men with deuided tongues, which spe [...] two purpo­ses at once instant pronounce different reasons; and which is more, they counterfet also the voyce of the birdes and fowles of the ayre, but which is of other most admirable, they speake with two [Page] men at once, to one with the one part, and to the other vvith the other part of the tongue, and demanding of the one, they aunswere to the other, as though the two tongues were in two seuerall mouthes of two sundry men. The ayre is al the yeare long so temperate in this Iland, that (as the Poet writeth) the Peare remaineth on the Peare-tree, the Aple on the Aple­tree, and the Grapes vppon the Vine, without withering or drying. The day and night are alwaies equall, the Sunne at noone dayes maketh no shadow of any thing. They liue ac­cording to their kindreds, to the number of 500. in company together. They haue no houses not certaine habitations, but fieldes and Medowes. The earth without tillage yeeldeth thē aboundant store of fruites, for the vertue of the Iland, and the temprature of theyr climate, maketh the earth being of it selfe fertile, passing fruitfull, yea more then enough. There grow many Canes, yeelding great store of white seedes, as bigge as Pidgions eggs, which gathering and making wette with hote Bread made of white seede. water they then let dry, which being done they grinde it, and make thereof bread wonderfully sweet and delectable. They haue sundry great Fountaines, of the which some are of hote water, most wholesome to bathe in, and to cure infirmities, & others to drinke, most sweete and comfortable. They are all much addicted to Sciences, and principally they are curious in Astrologie: they vse 28. letters, and besides them other 7. These men vse 28. let­ters. Characters, euery one of the which they interprete 4. wayes for the signification of theyr meaning. All of them for the most part liue very long, cōmonly till the age of a 150. yeres, and for the most part without any sicknesse. And if there be any one that is diseased with a long infirmitie, he is by the law constrained to die. In like sort, when they come to a certaine At 150. yeres they kil thēselues age which they account complete, they willingly kill them­selues. They write not like vnto vs, for theyr line commeth from aboue, downeward. There is in that Ilande a kinde of hearbe, vpon which all those that lay themselues downe, dye sleeping as it were in a sweet slumber. The women mary not but are common to all men, & they all bring vp the children with equall affection, oftentimes they take the children from their mothers, and send them into other parts, because they [Page 18] should not know thē, the which they do to that end that there should be no particuler but equall loue & affection amongst them; they haue no ambition of honour or valour more one then another, so that they liue in perpetuall agreement and conformity. There are bred certaine great beasts, of a meruai­lous nature and vertue, in their bodies they are rounde like a A most strange kind of beast. Tortoys, & in the midst diuided with 2. lines athwart, in the end of each of those halfes, they haue 2. eyes, and 2. hearings, but one belly onely, into the which the sustenance commeth as well from the one part as the other: they haue many leggs and feet, with the which they goe as well one way as another, the blood of thys beast is of singuler vertue for diuers things: what part soeuer of a mans body being cut and touched with this blood, healeth presently. There are in this Iland manie Foules, and some of such greatnes, that by them they make experience of theyr children, setting them vp on theyr backs, and making them flie vp into the ayre with them; and if the laddes sitte fast vvithout any feare, they account them hardy, but if they tremble or seeme to be fearefull, they bring them vp with an ill vvill, reputing them simple, of dull courage, and of short life. Amongst those kindreds which keepe al­wayes companie together, the eldest is King and gouernour, to whom all the rest obey, who when he commeth to the age of a hundred and fiftie yeares, depriueth himselfe of life, in whose place succeedeth without delay the eldest of that Trybe.

The Sea is rounde about thys Ilande very tempestuous. The North-starre, and many other starres which we see here, cannot there bee discerned. There are seauen other Ilands rounde about this, in a manner as great, with the selfe same people and conditions. Though theyr ground be most fruit­full in all aboundance, yet they liue most temperately, and eate theyr victuals simple without anie composition, separa­ting from them those that vse anie arts in dressing their meats They abhor artificiall dressing of meates. other then seething or vvasting each thing by it selfe. They adore one onelie God the Creatour of all thinges, vsing be­sides a peculiar kinde of reuerence to the Sunne, and all the other celestiall thinges. They are great Hunters and fishers.

[Page] There is great store of Wine and Oyle. The trees grow of themselues, without being planted. The Ile bringeth foorth Theyr so­brietie. Their ap­parrell▪ Theyr ex­ercise. great Serpents, but hurtlesse, whose flesh in eating is most sa­uorie and sweet. Theyr garments are made of a certaine fine woll, like Bombast, which they take out of Canes, which be­ing dyed with a kinde of Sea Ore they haue, becommeth of a most daintie colour like Purple. They are neuer idle, but stil employ themselues in good exercises, spending many houres of the day, singing hymnes vnto God and the other celestiall things whom they particulerly hold as mediators for theyr I­land. They burie themselues on the Seashoare, where the water may bayne their Sepulchres. The Canes out of the which they gather theyr fruites, grow and decrease with the mouing of the Moone. Iambolo and his companion remai­ned 7. yeares in this Iland, they were driuen out vnwillingly and perforce, as men that liued not according to theyr inno­cent customes and vertuous simplicitie, so that putting them a great quantity of victuals in theyr boate, made them goe a­board and cast off; who hoysing vp theyr sailes, after great tempests and dangers, many times reputing themselues as dead & lost men, at last came to land in a part of India, where they were by a certaine King gently entertained, from whom afterward they were sent with a safe conduct into Persia, and thence to Greece. This is the selfe same which Iohn Bohe­mus writeth, without adding or diminishing one word.

The thinges of this Iland are so strange, that I can hardly beleeue them: for mee thinkes they are like those fa­bles which Lucian writeth in his booke De vera narratione, Alexander de Alexan­dria, cap. 25. lib. 2. de di­ebꝰ Genia­libus. yet Alexander of Alexandria confirmeth that of the Foules flying vp into the ayre with the children, whose wordes are these. There are certaine Ethiopians, which set their children as they waxe great vpon certaine Foules, which to that pur­pose they nourish of diuers sortes, and making them mount vp with them into the ayre; whereby they knowe what they may hope of them in time to come, for if they sit fast without feare, they nourish them with great care and diligence, as of a noble inclination and deseruing to be cherished, but if theyr courage faile, or that they shew any demonstration of feare, [Page 19] they send them to be brought vp in some barren places, farre from them selues.

I doe not so affirme these things for true, that I thinke it deadly sinne not to beleeue them, ma­ry they are written by a man so graue, and which in the rest of his works, vsed such sincerity, that truly me thinkes wee should doo him great wrong, in not beleeuing him.

I know not what to say, that there should be no more notice in the world, of a Country so fruitfull, and a people so blessed: especially, seeing the Portugals haue sayled and discouered all the Coast of Aethiopia and India, euen to the very Sunne rising, where they haue found so many and so diuers Ilands, that it should be almost vnpossible, for any such Country to remaine vndiscouered.

Meruaile not at this, for the Portugals as you say, haue not stirred out of the Coast of Af­frica and India, the farthest that they went, being to the Iles of Molucco, whence such store of spice commeth, as for Ta­probana, Zamorra, and Zeilan, they are all adioyning Ilands, neere to those Coasts, but they neuer nauigated into the O­cean foure continuall moneths, as these others did.

You are deceaued heerein, for in only Magellans voyage, they sai­led farther then euer any other Nation did: and if there had beene any such miraculous people in the world, they should then haue had knowledge of them, as well as Pigafeta had of the Pigmees, for they did not onely (as you know) discouer 4000. Ilands discouered by the Por­tugales. the Sea of Sur, passing a Sea where in fiue or sixe moneths they neuer saw any land, but also on the other side sailed with­in few degrees of the Southpole: And besides this, the 4000. Ilands which they discouered in the Archpelago, towards the Sunne rising, the most part of which are peopled, and accor­ding to somes opinion, are thought to be on the other side of the earth, in none of which any such blessed people haue been found, as you speake of.

Though all this be as you say, yet the world is so great, and there is in it so much to be discouered, that perchaunce they are in those parts which we know not: thinges so strange and monstrous, that if we saw them, would make vs wonder a great deale more, and giue vs occasion to bee lesse astonished at the others, in respect of which, peraduenture we should account these very possible, [Page] and one day hauing more time, we may discourse more par­ticulerly of this matter.

I take this worde of yours for a debt, marry I would now aske you which you holde for the greatest wonder in that people, eyther their tongue so strangelie deuided, that they speake differently, and with di­uers persons seuerall matters at one time; or else in steede of bones, to haue onely sinewes, doubling their members euery way.

The first I neuer heard of, nor of any the like, and therefore of the two, I hold it for the stranger, but the likeli­hoode of the second is authorised for true, by many vvriters, and chiefely by Varro, who writeth, that in Rome there was a Fencer called Tritamio, of such exceeding strength, that be­ing Tritamio a Fencer of exceeding strength. bound hand and foot, he wrestled with very strong men, whom onely with pushing his body from one side to ano­ther, he gaue such a blow, that if he touched them, they were in danger of their lyues: the like force had a Sonne of his, who was a man at Armes vnder Pompey, the which without Arms went to fight with his enemy Armed, whom taking by The lyke strength of his Sonne, being a man of Armes vnder Pom­pey. one finger, he made him yeeld, and brought him prisoner to the Campe. It is sayde, that these two had not onely their si­newes at length like vnto other men, but also thwart and cros­wise ouer all their whole body, whence proceeded this their so miraculous strength. There are many incredible thinges reported, of the forces and strength of Milo, which though they were without doubt supernaturall and miraculous, yet were they in the ende, the cause of his most miserable and disastrous death, for putting his hands into the cleft of a great tree, thinking to rent and split it forcibly thorough, the same of a suddaine turned backe, and closed with such violence, catching, entrapping, and crushing his handes so miserably, The misera­ble end of Milo, who liuing, was so renow­ned for his strength. that beeing not able to pull them foorth, and beeing farre from helpe, and in a desolate place, hee was there forced pittifully to finish his life and vnfortunate strength together; cutting vp his body, they found that the pipes of his armes and legs were doubled.

Though the strength of Milo were so famous and renowned as you say, yet were there in his time (as diuers [Page 20] Authors make mention) that exceeded him farre. Elian wri­teth, that there was one called Tritormo, helde in such admi­ration for his strength, that Milo thinking thereby the great­nesse of his fame to bee diminished and obscured, sought him out, and challenged him; but at such time as they were to enter into combate, Tritormo taking vppe a mighty peece of a Rocke, so huge, that it seemed vnpossible that anie hu­maine The mira­culous force of Tritor­mo. force should mooue it, cast it from him three or foure times, with such exceeding force, and then lifting it vppe on his shoulders, carried it so farre, that Milo amazed at the strangenesse thereof, cryed out. O Iupiter, and is it possible that thou hast brought an other Hercules into the vvorlde! But whether this mans pipe bones were double or single no man knoweth.

I haue heard of some whose bones were whole, sounde, and massiue, vvithout any marrowe in them, as di­uers Ligdamus the Siracu­san, hauing his bones massiue and whole with­in. vvrite of Ligdamus the Syracusan, and that the same is the cause of greater force.

I neuer savve any such, but Pliny vvryteth thereof in these vvordes; vvee vnderstande, say­eth hee, that there are certayne menne, vvhose bones are massiue and firme vvithin, in vvhome this one thing is to bee marked, that they neyther suffer thyrste, nor may at a­ny time sweate: As for thirste, wee see it voluntarilie sup­pressed of diuers; for there was a Romaine Gentleman cal­led A Gentle­man in a certaine in­firmity for­bidden to drinke, re­mained all his life time euer after without drinking. Iulio Uiator, who beeing in his youth sicke, of a cer­tayne corruption betvveene the fleshe and the skinne, was forbidden to drinke by the Phisitians: vsing him selfe to which abstinance a vvhile, hee kept it in his age without euer drinking any thing at all.

This is a matter not to bee lette slippe, but in the meane time, lette vs returne to that of strength, I saye therefore that the forces of Sampsonne were such, that if the holy Scripture made not mention of them, no manne would beleeue them, so that wee maye al­so giue credite to that which is written of Hercules, Theseus, and other strong menne, that haue beene in the vvorlde, whose Histories are so common, that it were to no purpose [Page] to rehearse them heere.

These were indued both with strength and courage, and through the vse thereof, the one and the other accomplished great and worthy enterpri­ses, leauing behind them a fame glorious and euerlasting: but there haue beene, and as yet are, sundry of rare and excellent strength, which they haue employed and doe employ so ill, that there is no memory nor reckoning made of them. There was one not long since in Galicia, called, the Marshall Pero Pardo de Riba de Neyra, who bearing great grudge to a cer­taine Pero Pardo de Riba de Neyra, gri­ped his ene­my to death betweene his armes. Bishop, and finding no meanes to accomplish his re­uengefull despite, was contented to yeeld to the request of certaine that went betweene to make them friends: & at such time as they should meete together for the consummation of their attonement, the Marshall went to embrace him, but his embracing was in such sort, that he wrung his guts out, and crusht all his ribs to peeces, leauing him dead betweene his armes.

Hercules did no more, when hee fought with Antheus, whom he vanquished in the same manner, though this act be so villainous, especially hauing giuen security, that it deserueth not to be spoken of. There are besides at this day, many trewants, peasants, and labourers, of such accom­plisht strength, that if they employed it in worthy works, they would winne thereby great estimation.

It is not suf­ficient to haue courage with this strength, but they must be also fortunate, for else they are soone dispatcht with a blow of a Canon, yea, and though it be but of a Harquebuz, it is e­nough to abate the strongest man liuing, and therefore they had rather liue in assurance dishonourable and obscure, then with such ieopardy to seeke glory and fame. But let vs returne Sundry that abstained long from drinke. to those that haue no thirst, least we forget it. It is a common thing, that there are diuers men which bide fiue or sixe dayes without drinking, especially if the victuals they eate be colde and moyst. I knew a woman that made but a pastime, to ab­staine from drink eight or tenne dayes: and I heard say, that there should be a man in Medina del Campo, (I remember not well from whence he was) that stayed vsually thirty or fourty dayes, without drinking a drop, and longer, if it were in the fruite season, for with eating thereof, hee moystned so his [Page 21] stomacke, that hee made no reckoning of drinke. It vvas tolde mee for a truth, that there was in Salamancha a Cha­non of the same Church vvhich vvent to Toledo, and re­turned, being out xx. dayes, in all which time till he returned to his owne house, hee neuer dranke any droppe of water or wine, or any other liquor. But that which Pontanus writeth in his booke of Celaestiall thinges, causeth mee to wonder a A man that neuer drank in his life. great deale more, of a man, that in all his life time neuer drank at all; which Ladislaus King of Naples hearing, made hym perforce drinke a little vvater, vvhich caused him to feele ex­treame payne and torment in his stomack. I haue been told also by many persons worthy of credite, that there is in Mar­sile, neere to the Citty of Lyons at this present, a man lyuing, which is wont to continue three or foure monthes vvithout drinking, without receauing thereby any discommoditie in his health or otherwise.

There are many strange things reported about thys matter, the cause wherof we will leaue to Phisitions, who giue sufficient reasons, whereby we may vn­derstand how possible thys is, which seemeth so farre to ex­ceede the ordinary course of Nature.

If wee leaue thys purpose, let vs returne to our former of strength, for I was deceaued in thinking that the greater part thereof consi­sted in bignes of body & members.

If we should fol­low this rule, we should oftentimes deceaue our selues, for we The great­nes of stren­gth consi­steth not in the bignes of body. finde many great men of little and slender force, and manie little men of great and mightie puissance, the cause whereof is, that Nature scattereth and separateth more her vertue in great bodies then in lesser, in which beeing more vnited and compacted, it maketh them strong and vigorous, and so saith Virgil. In a little body oftentimes, the greatest vertue raignes.

But we must not alwaies alowe this rule for true, for we haue read and heard of many Giants, whose wonderfull forces were equall with the largenes of theyr bodies.

For my part, I thinke that thys matter of Gyants be for the most part feigned, and though there haue beene great men, yet were they neuer so huge as they are described, for euerie one addeth that as he thinketh good. Solinus writeth that it is by many Authors agreed, that no man can passe the length [Page] of seuen foote, of which measure it is saide that Hercules was. Yet in the time of Aug. Caesar, saith he, there liued tvvo men Pusion and Secundila, of which, either of them had x. feete Pusion and Secundila, x. foote long a peece. or more in length, and theyr bones are in the Ossary of the Salustians, and afterwards, in the time of the Emperor Clau­dius, they brought out of Arabia a man called Gauara, nine foote and nine inches long; but in a thousande yeeres before Augustus, had not beene seene the like shape of men, neither since the time of Claudius, for in this our time, who is it that is not borne lesse then his Father.

If you mark it wel, in the same chapter in which Solinus handleth this matter, he sayth, that the bones of Orestes were found in Tegoea, which being measured, were 7. cubits long, which are more then 4. Orestes was 7. cubits long. yardes according to the common opinion; and yet this is no great disformity in respect of that which followeth: Besides saith he, it is written by the Antiquitie, and confirmed by true witnesses, that in the warres of Crete, vpon an irruption of waters, breaking vp the earth with the violent impesuositie thereof, at the retreate thereof, amongst many openings of the earth, they found in one monument a mans body 33. cu­bites A bodie found of 33. cubits. long. Among the rest that went to see this spectacle so strange, was Lucius Flacus the Legate, and Metellus who be­holding that with theyr eyes, which otherwise they vvoulde not haue beleeued, remained as men amazed. Pliny also saith, that a hill of Crete breaking, there was founde the body of a man 45. cubits long, the which some said was of Orion, and others of Ocius And though the greatnes of these 2. bodyes be such that it seeme incredible yet farre greater is that of An­theus, the which Anthoniꝰ Sabellicꝰ in his Aeneads, saith was found in the citty of Tegaena, at such time as Sartorius remai­ned The mira­culous lēgth of the carkas of Antheus. there Captain generall of the Romaine Army, whose Se­pulchre being opened and his bones measured, the length of his carkas was found to be 70 cubits & to confirme the pos­sibility of this he addeth presently, that a certaine host of his, a man of good credit told him, that being in Crete, & meaning to cut downe a certaine tree to make therewith the mast of a ship that selfe tree by chance was turned vp by the roote, vn­der the which was found a mans head, so incredibly great that [Page 22] it amazed the beholders, but being rotten it fell in peeces, the teeth still remaining whole, of the which they carried one to Venice, shewing it to those that desired the sight thereof, as a thing wonderfull. Frier Iacobꝰ Philippꝰ de Bergamo, vvry­teth in his Supplementum Chronicorū, that there vvas found a Sepulchre, and in the same a body of admirable greatnesse, outreaching as it were in length the high walls or buildings, it seemed that he lay sleeping, he had woundes vpon him well 4. foote wide; at his bolster stoode a candle burning, vvhich would not goe out, till they bored a hole vnderneath, & then the light extinguished. The body so soone as they touched The Sepul­chre of Pal­las, sonne to Euander. it, turned into powder & ashes, round about him were writ­ten in Greeke Letters these wordes, Pallas sonne of Euander, slaine by Turnus.

You would wonder more at that which Sinforianus Campegius writeth, in his Booke called Ortus Gallicus, alleaging the authoritie of Ioh. Bocacius, vvho affirmed to haue seene it himselfe, that in Sicilia, neere to the Citty of Trapana, certaine Labourers diging for chalke vn­der the foote of a hill, discouered a Caue of great widenesse, entring into the which with light, they founde sitting in the midst therof a man, of so monstrous hugenes, that astonished therwith they fled to the vilage, reporting what they had seen: & at last gathering together in great number, with weapons & torches, they returned back to the Caue, where they found this Giant, whose like was neuer hearde of before, in his left The strange & admirable stature of a Giant. hand hee held a mighty staffe, so great and thicke as a great maste of a ship: seeing that he stirred not, they tooke a good hart & drew neere him, but they had no sooner layde theyr hands vpon him, but he fel into ashes, the bones onely remay­ning so monstrous, that the very skull of his head held in it a bushell of Wheat, and his whole carkas beeing measured, was found to be a 140. cubits long.

It is necessary to alleage many Authors, to giue credit to a thing so far out of all limits of reason, the like of which hath neuer been seene, or written of in the world: which if it be true, I would thinke it shoulde be some body buried before the floode: For in the first age I take it, that men vvere farre greater then they are nowe: but since the Deluge, neyther Nemrod, neither anie of those [Page] that helped builde the Tower of Babilon, neither any other Giant whatsoeuer, hath approched any thing neer this mon­strous and excessiue hugenes of stature.

You haue reason; but what shall we say thereto, when we find it written by such authorized Authors, gyuing vs the testimony of an­tiquity, let vs therefore passe on with them, & returne to that which Sinforian sayd, that hee saw himselfe by Valencia in a Cloyster of Grey-friers, the bones of a Giant, according to the greatnes of which, by good Geometry the length of the The bone of a Gyant, to which his body being proportio­ned, must be 40. foote long. body could bee no lesse then fortie foote. Hee alleageth also Iohn Pius of Bononia, which sayth, that he sawe in a Towne on the Sea-side neere vnto Vtica or Carthage, a tussle of a mans head, which if it had been broken in peeces, would haue made a hundred such tussles as men now liuing commonlie haue; and of the selfe same tussle maketh S. Augustine men­tion in his booke of the Citty of God.

Many things like vnto these haue beene founde in times past, which for my part beeing by such men confirmed, I account woorthy of beleefe.

There want not testi­monies to giue them credite, if wee will looke into Antiqui­ties, we shall finde in the holy Scripture that of Nemrod and those other Gyants of which Signior Ludouico nowe spake, who after Noes-flood, builded that high Tower to saue them selues in, if such another shoulde happen to come: or accor­ding to the Gentiles opinion, to make warre with the Gods: and all these in respect of men that now liue, were sayd to be of a wonderfull and huge stature, and comming vnto other a­ges neerer vnto ours, that which is written of S. Christopher, and confirmed by authoritie of the Romaine Church is no­torious to all men, where we finde that his proportion & sta­ture was little lesse then these aboue named. Besides, I haue heard diuers that haue been in the Monastery of Ronces val­les Heereof I take it it comes that seeing a great wo­man, wee say shee is a Rounceuall. affirme, that there are certaine bones of those (which as they say) were slaine in the battaile wherein Charles the great was ouerthrowne by the King Don Alonso de Leon, vvhere many of the twelue Peeres of Fraunce, through the great va­liantnes of Bernardo del Carpio ended their liues; the vvhich bones are so great, that they seeme to be of some Gyants: & [Page 23] a Frier that brought the measure of one of theyr shin-bones shewed it me, it was in my iudgement as great as that of three men now a dayes: but in this, I referre me to those that haue seene them, who told me also that there were some armours so great and heauy, that they might well serue for a testimony, of the greatnes of those bodies which ware them.

This which you haue sayd, agreeth with that which Iosephus writeth, in his fift booke of Antiquities. There was (saith he) Iosephus lib. quinto de an­tiquitatibus. a linage of Gyants, which for the greatnes of their body, and proportion different from other men, were aboue measure wonderfull: of which, there are yet some bones to be seene, not to bee beleeued of those which haue not viewed them. And in time of Pope Iulio the third, no longer agone, there was a man in a Village of Calabria, who perchance is yet a­liue, of so extraordinary a sise and stature, that the Pope de­sirous A man of Calabria of a meruai­lous tall and big stature. to see him, sent for him to Rome, who because neither Horse nor Mule was able to carry him, was brought to Rome in a Coach, out of the which his legs from the knees down­ward hanged foorth: he was so high, that the tallest man in Rome reached not to his halfe breast, according to which height, the rest of his members were proportioned: it was a thing of admiration, to see how deuouringly he eat & drank. A friend of mine asked him whether his parents were great, he aunswered, that both his parents and brothers were of the middle sort, onely he had a sister as yet young, which by all coniecture, in time would be as great or greater then himselfe.

I am of opinion, that in times past, the men were for the most part greater then they now are, and that by little and lit­tle they decrease daily: and whereas the Auncients write, that men then exceeded not the measure of seauen feete in height, that their feete were then greater then ours, and their cubits, inches, spans, and all their other measures also, so that the lon­ger the world lasteth, the lesse shall the people waxe. Wee may the better vnderstand this to be so, through that which is written of the Gyant Golyas, in the first booke of Kings, that he was sixe cubits high, which if they were then no grea­ter Golyas the Gyant. then they now are: the greatnes of his stature was not so out of proportion and wonderfull: and if the bodies of An­theus [Page] & Oryon had thē been measured, they would not haue been so many of their cubits as they were, of theirs that mea­sured them, & I beleeue that they would nowe be more; the cause hereof is, that as the world waxeth old, so al things draw The longer the world lasteth the lesser are the people in stature. to be lesser, for euen as earth that hath not ben laboured, yeel­deth greater fruite at the beginning and in more aboundance, then after when it becōmeth weary, and tired with continuall trauaile & bringing forth: euen so the vvorld through weari­nes and long course of generation, ceaseth to breed men of so large and puissant statures as it wonted.

Although in part of this your argument, you seeme to haue some reason: yet you are deceaued, if you hold this for a generall rule with­out exception, for this age of ours is not without Gyants, and those very great; truth it is, that in times past there were of thē in many parts, and now in very few, & those for the most part in Lands nere to the North & South pole: for it seemeth that Nature enclineth to create this greater men in cold Countries; But seeing this is a matter which cannot be handled, without falling into discourse of those Countries towards the Septen­trion matter, of no lesse admiration, let vs leaue it till we meete another time, to the ende wee may haue where-with to en­tertaine good conuersation.

There are also people of great stature, which liue in hote Countries towards the Ae­quinoctiall: for as Crates Pergamenus writeth, there is a peo­ple among the Aethiopians called Sirboti, whose common stature is eight cubites and more in height: and what thinke, People a­mong the Ethiopians called Sir­boti, of 8. cubites in height. you? May not these men well be called Gyants.

This onely Author maketh relation thereof, and though we haue notice of all the Nations of Aethiopians, we haue neuer seene nor heard of any such great people amongst them, but wee notoriously knowe that there are of them in the colde Regi­ons, and such as are commonly helde to bee vninhabitable, which at farther leasure I will cause you thoroughly to vnder­stand.

If you thinke that I will forgette this your pro­mise, you are deceaued, for I holde well in memory all such matters, as we doo nowe leaue in suspence; but nowe seeing you will haue it so, let vs passe on, and giue mee to vnder­stand, vvhether liue longest these great or little men, for it [Page 24] agreeth with reason, that the one greatnes should be conforma­ble to the other.

The long life of man, consisteth ney­ther in littlenes nor greatnes, but in being wel complexioned, Wherein the long life of man con­sisteth. & hauing good humors, not apt to receaue corruption: be­sides, a mild & reposed life, good victuals, sobriety in eating & drinking, & many other particuler things, which Phisitions prescribe, doe help much there-vnto: but the chiefest of all, is the good quality & condition of the country, as wel for some particuler constellation, as for the temperature & purenes of the ayre, breeding the victuals in perfection without rawe and flimy humors: & this I take to be the cause why some Nati­ons liue so long. Aelianicus sayth, that in the Prouince of Ae­tolia, the men liue 200. some 300. yeres; and Pliny sayth, that The men of Aetolia liue long. there is a people in India called Cimi, who liue ordinarily 140 yeeres. Onosecritus also writeth, that in a certaine part of India where at noone dayes there is no shadow at all; the men are of height 5. cubits, and two hand breadths, & that they liue 130. yeres, without waxing old, but die euen as it were in their mid­dle age. There is another Nation of people of a Prouince cal­led Pandora, whose life endureth v. or 300. yeres, in their youth People of the prouince Pandora. their haire is hoary and gray, in their elder age turning to be blacke: Though these liues be long, yet we may giue credite there-vnto for the causes which I haue said, & chiefely for the purenes of the aire, which cōserueth health, as wel in humane bodies thēselues, as in the fruits & victuals, which grow there, with lesse coruption, & more perfection & vertue thē in other parts. [...] glueth testimony heereof, speaking of the Iland Lemnos, and the Citty Mirina, the which hath in opposite the mountaine Atos in Macedonia, which is so high, that being thence in distance 6000. paces it couereth this Citty with his shadow on the top wherof moueth no aire at al but pure, in so much that the ashes which there remaine, moues not frō one yere to another & on the height of this hil was builded a City called Acroton, the enhabitants of which liued twice so long as The Citty Acroton bu [...]lded on the top of the moun­taine Atos. those that dwelt beneath.

If this Citty were so wholsom, & the people of so long life, wherfore cam it to be dispeopled & for saken: by reason me thinks it should be as full of people as it were able to hold.

One cōmodity alone suffiseth [Page] not to the life of man, for what auaileth long life, if men liue continually in penury and want of thinges necessary? For in so great a height, Spring they could haue none, neither could they gather water into Cesternes, because it was higher then the Region where the clouds are congealed, which could by no means moue themselues wanting wind as they must needs want there: for howe can there be any, where the ashes lye without mouing? so that this & other commodities for their sustenance, were to be prouided, with such paine, difficulty, and vnease, that forsaking this place, they chose rather with more ease though shorter life to commodate themselues else­where: for this selfe same cause is the mountaine of Olym­pus There blo­weth no wind at all on the top of the hill Olympus. vninhabited, in whose top also it is affirmed, the ayre to be so pure, that there bloweth no wind at all. The like also I beleeue, to be of the mountaine Pariardes, which is in Arme­nia, where after the flood the Arke of Noe remained. But all this is to no other ende, then that you should vnderstand the reason, how mans life is to be conserned more in some places then in others: and euen so I thinke it to be, in the Prouinces which we haue rehearsed & that also which the selfe Solinus sayeth of the Aethiopians, whom they call Macrobians, who are on the other side of the Iland Meroe, and liue ordinarily Macrobians. 150. yeeres, and many reach to 200. And Gaudencius Me­rula writeth, that he hath found Authors, which affirme, that in the selfe same Iland Meroe, the people neuer die of any sicknes, liuing so long till very age consume them. But lea­uing Men neuer die of sick­nes in the Iland Meroe this generality of liues, let vs come to entreate of some particulers without alleadging the liues of those holy Fathers out of the old Testament, before and after the flood, of 800. and 900. yeeres a peece, which we firmely beleeue through faith, and because the holy Church affirmeth it, so that wee know it to be true and indubitable: neither is that a small ar­gument to giue credite to some things, which seeme for their strangenes fabulous, as that which Pliny writeth, alleadging Damates in his chronicle, where he saith, that Pictorius Prince of the Epiorians, liued 300. yeeres. Xenophon affirmeth, Pictorius li­ued 300. yeeres. that a King of the Maritimes, had 600. yeeres of age, and a Sonne of his 800: But Pliny iesteth thereat, saying that this [Page 25] computation of yeeres & ages was made through ignorance of times; for in those dayes, many reckoned the Sommer for one yeere, and the Winter for another, others made them shorter, reckoning the Spring for one, and the Autumne for another, so that one of our yeeres cōtaineth as much as foure of theyrs. So counted the Arcadians: and the Egyptians made a yeere of euery month, from one coniunction of the Moone to another: so that it is no maruaile if they say, that some of them liued a 1000. yeeres and more. And if that K. of Maritimes liued 600. and his sonne 800. yeeres, I vvarrant you it was according to this account, so that in fine it seemeth that the longest age of a man cannot extend aboue a 150. or a 160. yeares, and so long, sayth Mucianus, they liue that in­habite the top of the mountaine Timoli.

Alexander in his 24. chapter of his third booke De diebus Genialibus, en­treateth at large of this computation of yeeres made by the Auncients, in the which they were so diuers & different, that we had neede of a whole day to repeate theyr varieties, being Diuers and different cō ­putation of yeres by the Auncient. many more then those which Plinie rehearseth: but he spea­keth like a good Phylosopher, conforming himselfe to that which is likeliest, and restrayning the limits of Nature, as a thing onely of it selfe, and not borne, created, and conserued in the will and minde of God, as writeth Leuinus Lemnius, alleadged by you in the beginning of this our discourse, guy­ding our selues according to which, these misteries are not so hard to be beleeued: for that of Nestor is since the first ages, neyther is it held for fabulous, whom as the Poet Naso vvry­teth, Nestor liues 300. yeere. liued 300. yeares. But leauing these Auncients, let vs come to certaine secrets of Nature of later times: of which, if Plinie had had knowledge, hee woulde not so much haue wondred at those long liues, neyther haue helde them for fa­bulous. First therefore I will begin with that which Uelasco de Taranta writeth of an Abbesse, which was in the Mona­stery The Ab­besse of Mōuiedro turned to be young again of Monuiedro, who hauing accomplished the age very neere of a 100. yeeres, nature that went in her fayling & de­clining, recouered of a suddaine in such sort vertue, vigour and force, that her flowers, which in long and many yeres be­fore she had not felt, began to come downe, euen as when she [Page] was in the prime of her youth, and withall her teeth & tussles which through age were fallen out, began to bud and growe out anew, her grey hayres waxed by the rootes black, casting off by little and little theyr hoarines, her face waxed fayre & full, fresh blood filling out the olde riuels and wrinckles, her breasts rose and increased, and to be short, shee became as young and fresh in sight, as she was at 30. yeeres, in such sort, that diuers with wonderfull admiration comming to see her, shee procured to hide herselfe and not to be seene, beeing a­shamed of the strange alteration and newnes which shee per­ceaued in herselfe: and though hee remembred not to write those yeares which she lyued afterwards, yet it is to be imagi­ned that they were many.

I will not wonder at this, be­cause I my selfe haue knowledge of two the like, wherof the one is, that being in Rome the yeare 1531. the publique voice and fame throughout all Italy was, that there was in Taranto Two men that in theyr old age be­came yoūg againe. an olde man of a 100. yeares that had turned young againe, changing all that euer he had in him, euen to his skin and the very nayles of his feete and hands, of which dispoyling him­selfe like a Snake, hee grew so newe and fresh, and became so young and frolick, that his very familiars knew him not, and in the end, for it was well 50. yeares past that this had hapned to him, he turned to be so old againe, that his colour proper­ly resembled the roote of a vvithered tree. The other vvas, (which is most true and assured) that the Admirall Don Fa­driques passing in his youth through a Village called Rioia, encountred a man of the age, as it seemed, of fiftie yeares, who tolde him, that hee had beene footeman to his Grandfather, vvhich the Admirall making difficultie to beleeue, because his Grandfather was dead long and many yeeres agone, the other with othes assured him that it was true, and vvithall, told him that he was at that present a hundred yeeres old, and that he had turned to be young againe: changing his nature, and renuing in him all things that caused age. The Admirall astonished at thys myracle, made diligent enquiry therof and found by infallible proofes, the trueth to be in each poynt ac­cording as he had sayd: and this is by the vulgar fame, and by infinite witnesses that were present, notoriously known to be [Page 26] true.

I will not deny but that all this which you haue sayd is possible, seeing that there is in this present time of ours a matter more strange and miraculous, publique and of vn­doubted truth, written by Herman Lopes, de Castaneda, Chro­nicler to the King of Portugall, of a man brought to Nunnes de Acuna, being Vizroy and Gouernour in India, the yeare 1530. a thing truly most worthy of admiration, for it was by sufficient witnesses & indubitable profes affirmed to be true, that hee had at that time accomplished the full age of 340. A man in India that was 340. yeeres old, & had foure times renu­ed his age. yeeres. He remembred when that Citty was vnpeopled, bee­ing one of the chiefest & most important strengths of all In­dia: he had 4 times being old renued to youth, each time ca­sting of his hoary haires and riueled wrinckles, and sheading his rotten teeth, in place of which fresh and new arised: and at such time as the Vizroy sawe him, the hayres of his head were black, and those of his beard also, though hee had there but few. A Phisition being present, was bid feele his pulses, the which were found to be as lusty, as though he had beene in the flower and prime of his youth. This man in his youth had been a Gentle, and afterwards turned to embrace the er­ronious beleefe of the Moores, hee was naturall of the King­dome of Hungarie, hee confessed that in his time he had had seuen hundred wiues, of which some died, & some he had for­saken. The King of Portugall had notice of this man, & kept reckoning of him, and the Armies that came yeerelie from thence, brought him tydings that hee lyued, and liueth as yet as they that come thence say, so that he must now haue 370, yeres. The selfe same chronicler also writeth, that at such time as the selfe Nunnes de Acuna gouerned, there was in the cittie of Vengala another Moore, named Xegueor, natiue of a Prouince called Xegue, that was also 300. yeeres old both by A Moore in the Citty of Vengala 300. yeeres olde. his lowne saying, and the affirmation of those that knew him well besides other many great proofes and arguments there­of. This Moore, for the austeritie of his life and abstinence vvhich hee vsed, was held amongst the rest for a very holie and religious man, and the Portugals had great familiarity & friendshippe vvith him. For all thys, though the Chroni­cles of Portugall are so sincere, that there is nothing registred [Page] in them but with great fidelitie and approoued truth, yet I should stagger in the beliefe of this, were it not that there are so many both in Portugall and Spayne which are eye witnes­ses hereof, and know it fully to be true.

And so tru­lie should I, but that your proofe and information is not re­futable: for these ages are so long in respect of the shortnesse of ours, that they bring with them incredible admiration, and mee thinkes it is impossible that the first of these two shoulde haue had so many wiues.

It being verified that hee The lawes both of Gē ­tiles and Moores per­mitteth to take manie wiues. liued so long, this is not to be wondred at, for the law both of Gentiles and Moores, permitteth men to forsake their wiues and to take new as often as they please, and so perchance this man was so fantasticall and peeuish, that not contenting him­selfe long with any, he tooke it for a custome to put away his wiues, as we doe seruants that please vs not. And as they hold together as many wiues as they will (though they bee not all called lawfull) what letted him, if he chopt & changed some, turning away & taking new, especially if he were so rich that he had meanes to maintaine many at once: so that there is no such cause to wonder at any of these thinges, for in the yeare 1147. in the time of the Emperor Conrad, died a man which had serued Charles the great in his warres, who as it was by inuinsible arguments proued, had liued 340. yeeres, and it a­greeth A man that had liued 340. yeres. with that which you haue sayd of this Indian, whence Pero Mexia which writeth also the same, tooke it. Fascicu­his Temporum likewise maketh mention thereof. All thys can he doe in whose hands Nature is, shoutning & lengthning lyues and ages as it pleased him; but for my part I will neuer beleeue, but that there are in these things some secrete myste­ries, which we neither conceiue nor vnderstand.

Let vs take it as we find it, without searching the profound iudg­ments of God, who onely knoweth wherefore hee dooth it, and in truth I dared not vtter, as holding in for a thing fabu­lous, that which I haue read in the xv. booke of Strabo, where The long life of those that liue on the other side of the Mountaines Hyperbores. he saith, that those which dwel on the other side of the moū ­taines Hyperbores, towards the North, many of them liued a 1000. yeares.

I haue also read it, but hee writeth the same as a thing not to be beleeued though he denieth not but [Page 27] that it may be possible, & that many of them liued very long, but the likeliest is that in those Countries, they deuide theyr yeeres according to the reckoning of which Pliny speaketh, one into foure, by which computation a thousand yeeres of theirs, maketh 250. of ours: and this differeth not much from the ages of other people and Nations which we haue rehear­sed: Yet Acatheus the Philosopher, speaking of the moun­taines Hyperbores, sayeth, that those which dwell on the far­ther side, liue more yeeres then all the other Nations of the world. Pomponius Mela, also speaking of them in the third booke, vseth these words; vvhen they are weary of liuing ioy­full, to redeeme themselues from the trauailes and miseries of life, they throw themselues headlong into the Sea, which they account the happiest death, and fortunatest Sepulcher that may be: how so euer many Authors of credite verifie theyr Cornelius Tacitus wri­teth that in Illiria a man called Don­domio liued 500. yeeres. liues to be long.

It is said also, that those of the Iland Thile, according to the opinion of many, now called Iseland, liue so long that wearied with age, they cause themselues to be conuaied into other parts, to the ende that they may dye.

I haue not seene any Author that writeth this, it is like to be some inuention of the common people, because those of that Iland liue very long, euery one addeth what pleaseth him: for as the desire to liue is a thing naturall to all men, so how old so euer a man be, he will in my opinion rather pro­cure to defend and conserue his life, then seeke occasion to finish or shorten the same. This people being in the occident, and according to the auncient vvriters, the last Nation that is knowne, that way participate with the Hiperboreans in fame of long life, or perchaunce those which haue heard speake of Biarmio Superior, (the which as we will one day discourse, is the last which is knowne of the other side of the Septentrion, and of which are written many wonderfull matter, chiefely of their long life without infirmity, ending onely through ex­treamity of age: the which many of them not attending, vo­luntarily kill themselues) thought that these men were vnder the selfe climate: and hereof was the inuention of the Elysian fields, which the Gentiles held to be in these parts: But this being a matter that requireth long time, we will now leaue it, [Page] & returne to our former discourse. Truly, if conforming our selues to reason, we would well weigh the trauailes, miseries, Long life not to be desired. & vexations, which in this wretched life we endure, we should esteeme a short life far hapier then a long, which we see beset with infinite troubles & calamities; & endeuor so in this tran­sitory life to serue God, that we may come in glory to enioy that other which shal endure for euer.

Seeing we haue hetherto discoursed of so many particularities belonging vnto men: let vs not forget one which is of no lesse mistery, nor lesse worthy to be knowne then the rest, which is of the Cen­taures or Archers, to the ende wee liue not deceaued in that Centauri vel Sagitarij. which is reported of thē: for many Histories make mention of them though to say truth, I neuer read any graue Author, that affirmeth to haue seene them, or stedfastly that they now are or at any other time haue been in the world, which if they either be indeed or haue been, they are not to be held for small The Histo­ry of the Centaures. wonders, but for as great as euer haue been any in the world.

Certainely this of the Centaures, is but a Poetical ficti­on, for if it were true, it is not possible, as you said, but that som graue Author or other would haue written therof.

Let vs yet know whence these fables had their beginning.

Aske this of Eginius Augustus Libertus, which in a booke of his, entituled Palephatus de non credendis fabulis, sayth, that Ixi­on King of Thessalia, brought a mighty Heard of Bulls and Cows to the mountain Pelius, which being affrighted throgh some accident that happened, scattered themselues, flying into the Woods, Valleys, & other vninhabited places, out of which they furiously sallied, dooing great hurt and damage in the Country, killing and wounding the passengers, and destroy­ing the fruits & laboured grounds. Ixion seeing that the peo­ple hereby endamaged exclaimed vpō him, resoluing to take some order for the destruction of these Bulls, made it be pro­claimed, that he would giue rich rewards & great recompen­ces, to who so euer should kil any of them. There were at that Those of Nephele first learned to ride hor­ses. time in a Citty called Nephele, certaine young men of great courage, which were taught & instructed by those of the same towne to breake & tame horses, & to mount vpon their backs sometimes assailing and sometimes flying, as neede required. [Page 28] These vndertooke this enterpise to destroy these Bulls, and through the aduantage of their horses, & the vertue of theyr own courage, slew & tooke daily so many of them, that at last they cleared & deliuered the Country of this anoyance. Ixi­on accomplished his promise, so that these young men remai­ned not only rich, but mighty & formidable through the ad­uantage they had of other mē, with this vse & redines of their horses, neuer till that time seen or known before. They retai­ned still the name of Centaures, which signifieth wounders of Bulls. They grew at last into such haughtines & pride, that they neither esteemed the King nor any man else, doing what they list them selues: so that beeing one day inuited to a cer­taine mariage, in the towne of Larissa, being wel tipled, they The cause of the warrs betweene the Lapiths & the Cen­taures. determined to rauish the dames and Ladies there assembled, which they barbarously accomplished, rising of a sodaine, and taking the Gentlewomen behind them on their horses, & ri­ding away with thē, for which cause the wars began betweene them & the Lapiths (for so were the men of that Country cal­led.) The Centaures gathering thēselues to the mountains, by night came down to rob & spoile, stil sauing thēselues throgh the swiftnes of their horses. Those of the Countries there a­bout, which neuer til that time had seen any horsman, thought that the mā & the horse had ben all one; & because the town whence they issued to make their warres was called Nephele, which is as much to say as a cloud, the fable was inuented say­ing; that the Centaures discended out of the clouds. Ouid in his Meramorphosis entreateth hereof, say that it was at the mariage of Perithous with Hypodameya, daughter to Ixion, he nameth also many of the Centaures, by whō this tumult was committed, but the pure truth is that which Eginius writeth.

It is no meruaile if the people in those dayes were so de­ceaued, hauing neuer before seen horses broken & tamed, nor men sitting on their backs, the strange nouelty whereof they could not otherwise vnderstand; for proofe wherof we know The Indians thoght that the man and the horse had been all one creature that in the Ilands of the vvest-Indies, the Indians when they first saw the Spaniards, mounted vpon horses, thought sure that the man and the horse had beene all one creature, the feare conceaued, through which amazement was cause that [Page] in many places they rendered themselues with more facillity, then they would haue done, if they had knowne the trueth thereof: But withall you must vnderstand, that the Aunci­ents called old men also Centaures, that were Tutors of no­ble mens Sonnes, and so was Chiron called the maister of A­chilles, Chiron the Tutor of Achilles. through which name diuers being deceaued, painted him forth, halfe like a man, halfe like a horse.

I was much troubled with this matter of Centaures, wherefore I am glad that you haue made me vnderstand so much therof: but withall, I would that Signior Anthonio would tell vs what his opinion is of Sea men; for diuers affirme that there are such, and that they want nothing but reason, so like are they in all proportions, to bee accounted perfect men as wee are.

It is true indeede, there are many graue & sincere wri­ters, which affirme that there is in the Sea a kind of fish which they call Tritons, bearing in each point the shape humane, the Tritons or Sea men. Nereides. female sort thereof they call Nereydes, of which Pero Mexias in his Forrest, writeth a particuler Chapter, alleadging Pliny, which sayeth, that those of the Citty of Lisboa aduertised Ti­berius Caesar, how that they had found one of those men in a Caue neere to the Sea, making musick with the shell of a fish; but he forgot an other no lesse strange, which the same Au­thor telleth in these very wordes. My witnesses are men re­nowned in the order of Knighthood, that on the Ocean Sea neere to Calays, they saw come into their shippe about night time a Sea man, whose shape without any difference at all was humaine, he was so great and wayed so heauy, that the boate began to sinke on that side where hee stoode; and if hee had A strange History of a Sea man. stayed any thing longer, it had been drowned. Theodore Gaze also alleadged by Alexander of Alexandria, writeth, that in his time one of these Sea men, or rather men fishes, accusto­med to hide him selfe in a Caue, vnder a Spring by the Sea side in Epirus, where young maydens vsed to fetch their wa­ter, of which seeing any one comming alone, rising vp, hee caught her in his armes, and carried her into the Sea, so that hauing in this sort carried away diuers: the enhabitants being aduertised thereof, set such grins for him, that at last they tooke him, & kept him some dayes. They offered him meat, [Page 29] but he refused to eate, and so at length, beeing in an element contrary to his nature, died.

The same Alexander speaketh of another Sea-monster, which Bonifacius Neapolitanꝰ, a man of great authority cer­tified him that he saw brought out of Mauritania into Spain, A Sea man brought out of Maurita­nia into Spaine. whose face was like a man some-what aged, his beard & haire curled and glistring, his complexion and colour in a manner blew, & in all his members proportioned like a man, though his stature were somewhat greater, the onely difference vvas, that he had certaine finnes, with the which as it seemed, he di­uided the water as he swamme.

It seemeth by this which you haue sayd of these monsters, that there should be in them a kinde of reason, seeing the one entred by night in­to the Shyp, with intention to doe it damage, and the other vsed such craft in his embuscades to entrappe those women.

They are some likelihoods, though they conclude not, for as we see that there are heere on earth some beastes vvith more vigorous instinct of nature then others, and neerer ap­proching to the counterfaiting & gestures of men, as for ex­ample, Apes and such like: so is there also in this point dif­ference among the Fishes of the Sea, as the Dolphins, vvhich are more warie and cautelous then the others, as well in doing The Dol­phins more cautelous then other Fishes. damage as in auoyding danger: for Nature hath giuen all things a naturall and generall inclination to ayde & help thē ­selues withall. Olaus Magnus handleth very copiously thys matter of Tritons or Sea-men, of which in the Northerne Seas, he sayth there is great abundance, and that it is true that they vse to come into little Shyps, of which with their weight they ouerturne some, and that they gette vp also into great ships, but as it seemeth, not with meaning to doe hurte, but onely through nouelty and curiositie to view them, and that commonly they keepe together in flocks and companies, in maner of an Armie: and it hath happened, that som of them entring into shyps, haue been so amazed, that they haue been taken by the Mariners: but in finding themselues layde hold on, they giue loude and pittifull shrikes, making a most hy­deous and ilfauoured noyse: at which very instant there are heard infinite other the like cryes and howlings, in such sort, [Page] that they make deafe the eares of them that heare them, and there appeare so many of theyr heads aboue water, as though they were a mightie Armie of many people, with the vvhich, and with their terrible noyse, they make the waues rise so ve­hemently that is resembleth a furious tempest. The which is a token that they goe alwaies together, vnlesse it be that some one stray by chance; & when they perceiue that any of theyr company is taken, they make this crying & tumult to assault the ship, vnlesse the Mariners do presently turne him lose & cast him into the Sea againe, which beeing done, they cease theyr clamour, and goe their waies quietly vnder the vvater, without doing any farder hurt. And therfore that which sig­nior Ludouico saide, is not without reason, for truely though they be not creatures reasonable, yet seeme they to haue farre greater vse thereof then other Fishes haue, for as farre as wee can conceaue and iudge, that entry of theirs so boldly into the ships, is not with any intention to do harme, but only to view what is in them, and to behold the men whose likenesse they beare. And if perchance they ouerturne any little vessel, such as are Cockboats or Skiffes, it is through their heauy weight, and not through any will to doe mischiefe. But let vs refer this to th' Almightie, who onely knoweth the truth of that which we gesse at by coniecture.

I would that you knewe, afore we passe any farder, a common opinion which is helde in the kingdome of Galicia, of a certaine race of men, whom they call Marini, the which as it is affirmed for matter most A race of men in Ga­licia discen­ded of a Triton. assured, and they themselues deny not, but make their boast thereof, are discended from one of these Tritons or Seamen, vvhich though beeing a thing very ancient, is tolde in diuers sorts, yet they come all to conclude, that a certaine vvoman going along the Sea-shore, vvas surprised and taken by one of these Tritons that lay embusht in a tuffet of Trees, and by force constrayned to yeelde vnto his lustlie desire, after the accomplishment of which, he withdrew himselfe into the wa­ter, returning often to the same place to seeke this woman, but at last, perceauing that his vsuall repayre thither was de­scried, and that there was waite layd to take him, he appeared no more. It pleased God to permitte this woman from the [Page 30] time of that acquaintance with the Triton to conceaue child, which though at the time of her deliuery proued to be in each poynt like vnto other children, yet by his strange appetites, & desires, and infinite other signes and tokens, it was most eui­dent and manifest that it was begotten by the same Triton or Seaman. This matter is so ancient, that I meruaile not though it be told after diuers sorts, seeing there is no Author that wri­teth it, neyther any other testimonie thereof then onelie the common and publique fame, which hath spred and publi­shed it.

One poynt herein me thinks by the way is rather to be helde for a fable then to bee credited: for though it were that Nature through any such copulation, should suffer some thing to be engendered, yet should the same be a monster, & Reasons re­futing the former sto­rie of men, called Ma­rini. not a man capable of reason, as you say this was, for hence would arise two no small inconueniences; the one, that there should be men in the worlde, whose beginning shoulde not discend from our first Parents Adam and Eue: for this Tri­ton neyther is, neyther can bee accounted a reasonable man, and of the posteritie of Adam, in like sort, neither his sonne, nor those that shall discend of him: the other is, to gaine-saie the generall rule of all Philosophers and Phisitions, which re­solutely affirme it to be vnpossible, that there shoulde be en­gendered of the seede of a man reasonable, and of a creature vnreasonable, any creature like to eyther of them, perfectlie bearing eyther of both theyr shapes. Though put the case that the contrary sometimes happen between a Mare and an Asse, a dogge and a Shee-woolfe, or a Foxe and a bitch, yet the contradiction is not so great, these beastes differing so lit­tle one from another, as the great and vnspeakeable diffe­rence vvhich in so manie poynts is betweene men and bruite beastes. And though in likenesse and similitude a Seaman resemble a man of reason: yet it suffiseth that hee differ onely in reason: then the which, there can in the world be no grea­ter difference. And therefore Galen the Phisition, in his third Booke De vsu partium, in scoffing manner iesteth at a certaine Poet called Pindarus, because hee affirmed the fable of Centaures to be true.

All that you haue sayde standeth with great rea­son, but I haue alwayes heard, that the seede onely of the man is able to engender, without any necessity that the vvomans should concurre also, & of this opinion is Aristotle.

In thys sort the contradiction is greater, for if the seed of the vvoman concurre not in generation, of necessity it must en­sue, that the thing engendered be like the Father, and not the mother, the contrary whereof is knowen to be true: and that both the seede of the male and female concurre in generati­on: which if it were otherwise, the generation could not com to effect, and thys maintaineth Hipocrates, in his booke De An answere to those re­futations. Genitura, and in that De sterilibus, and Galen in his 14. booke De vsu partium.

Very vvell hath this matter been de­bated on both sides, yet I will not leaue vnaunswered the two inconueniences alleaged by Signior Ludouico, as for the first, it followeth not that if a woman conceaue a chyld reasonable by a creature vnreasonable, that therfore the same child shold not be accounted the ofspring of Adam, for it suffiseth that he is on the mothers side, without any necessitie that he must be also of the fathers: As for the second, I confesse, that guy­ding our selues by the ordinary course of Nature, the Phylo­sophers and Phisitions in maintayning the impossibilitie of perfect generation, betweene different creatures haue great reason, vnlesse that it be in these before mentioned, whose fi­militude is such that they seeme to be all of one kinde. But we must not so restraine Nature as they doe, without hauing re­gard to the superior cause, which is God, by whose will it is directed and gouerned, and to whom wholy it obeyeth. For seeing it is a greater wonder, of nothing to work so many mi­raculous things as he doth, me thinks we should not so much meruaile, or at least wee should not holde it so vnpossible as these Phylosophers do, that a reasonable woman should con­ceaue a chyld by a Sea-man, and that in the participation of reason he should take after his mother, whose seede concur­red as well in his generation as his fathers. For there haue hap­ned and happen daily in the world many thinges no lesse no­table then this, of the which, thys one which I will rehearse you is so strange and admirable, that I should not dare recite [Page 31] it, vnlesse it were confirmed by the testimony and authority of so many learned and graue Writers. The first, is Iohn Saxon in his History, the second, Iohannes Magnus Archbi­shop of Vpsala, in the Kingdome of Sweueland: and lastly, it is written and affirmed by his Successour, the Archbishop Olaus Magnus.

There liued, say they, in a Towne of the Kingdome of A most strange and admirable History, of a Virgine deflowred by a Beare. Sweueland, built neere the mountaines, a very principall and rich man, who had a daughter very beautifull and faire, the which going foorth one euening in company of other may­dens to walke and take the ayre, as they were sporting in the midst of their deuises and pastimes, there issued out of a thic­ket that was on those mountaines a Beare, of exceeding great­nes, fierce, and terrible, making towardes them as fast as hee could, the which tremblingly & fearefully began to flie, each one procuring to saue her selfe, onely this seely young may­dens hap was to fall into his pawes, with whom running away as fast as hee might, without any resistance he recouered the thicknes of the wood, whose principall intention though it were (as it is to be imagined) to satisfie the appetite of his raue­ning hunger: yet was it the pleasure of God, not to permit this maydens death; for the Beare moued with an instinct of Nature different farre from his cruell kind, refrained not on­lie from deuouring her, but carrying her into a Caue which he had, in the bottome of a deepe Valley in the Forrest, con­uerted the rage of his cruelty into a loue most vehement, stro­king her softly with his pawes, cherinshing, and handling her in such gentle sort, that she perceauing his intention, relented in some part her feare, and for terror of death not daring to resist his fiercenes, suffered him to gather the flower of her virginity. The Beare daily issued out of the Caue, chasing Harts and other beasts, presenting alwayes part of his pray vnto her, of which hunger compelled her to eate: her drinke was cleare water, out of a running Fountaine that passed vn­der the trees neere this Caue, and in this sort sustained she her desolate life, praying continually vnto God to haue pitty on her, and to deliuer her out of this wretched estate and misera­ble calamity: And though shee determined oftentimes to [Page] runne away when the Beare was out, yet shee neuer dared to attempt the same, fearing death if she were found by him, and besides, not daring to aduenture through the mountaines, be­ing so full of sundry & diuers cruell wild beasts. Hauing cer­taine moneths endured this vnhappy kind of life; it happe­ned that certaine Noble men came with nets, toyles, & dogs a hunting into this Forrest, by whom this Beare was entrap­ped and slaine. The vvench hearing their cries and voyces, and that they were neere vnto her Caue, ranne with all possi­ble speed vnto them, who with singuler amazement, as well at the ralation shee made, as at the wildnes of her affrighted countenance, carried her away with them, and deliuered her vnto her parents, who scarcely knew her, she was become so vgly & disfigured. Nature which often worketh things mer­uailous out of her natural order & common obserued course, ioyned in such sort the seede of this brute beast in the body of this mayden, that to her intollerable greefe and dismayment, shee perceaued her selfe to goe great, fearing nor attending anie thing else, then to bee deliuered of some horrible mon­ster. But such was the will of the Almighty, that at the end of nine moneths, shee came to beare a goodly Boy, resembling in nothing else his Father, then that hee was somewhat more hairy then other children are. They nourished him vp with diligence and care, calling him the Beare: or perchance that name was giuen him afterwards by the people, wondering at his miraculous fiercenes & valour; for after he came to mans estate, he became so strong, valiant, and hardy of his person, that he was redoubted farre and neere, and comming to haue knowledge of those that slew the Beare, by whom he was en­gendered, he depriued them of life, saying; That though by theyr meanes he had receaued a good turne, yet could he doe no lesse then reuenge his Fathers death. This man begatte Trugillus Sprachaleg afterwards, a famous Captaine, vvhose Sonne was Ulfon, a man notable & renowned, and of whom the Chronicles of those Countreyes make great and often mention, for hee was Father to Suenus, which by his valour came to obtaine the royall Diademe of Denmarke, and they say, that of this lynage discende all the Kings of Denmarke [Page 32] and Swethland.

In trueth this Story should seeme fa­bulous, were it not by so many graue and learned men af­firmed to be true: but wee may well giue it credite, because wee haue knowledge of the like happened in our time no lesse monstrous, nor woorthy of admiration, then this which you haue rehearsed; and there are as yet many which founde themselues present, and can giue witnesse thereof. It was in this sort, as I haue heard it through true relation of many per­sons, most woorthy to be beleeued. A vvoman in Portugale for a hainous offence by her committed, was condemned, The most wonderfull History of a woman be­gotten with child by an Ape. and banished into an vninhabited Iland, one of those which they commonly call the Isles of Lagartes, whether shee was transported by a shippe that went for India, and by the way set a shoare in a Cock-bote, neere a great mountaine couered with trees and wilde bushes, like a Desert. The poore vvo­man finding her selfe alone forsaken and abandoned, vvith­out any hope of life, beganne to make pittifull cryes and la­mentations, in commending her selfe vnto God, him to suc­cour her in this her lamentable & solitary estate. Whiles shee was making these mournfull cōplaints, there discended from the mountaine a great number of Apes, which to her excee­ding terror and astonishment, compassed her round about, a­mongst the which, there was one far greater thē the rest, who standing vpō his hind legs vpright, seemed in height nothing inferiour to the common sort of men: he seeing the vvoman weepe so bitterly, as one that assuredlie held her self for dead, came vnto her, shewing a cheerefull semblaunce, and flatte­ringly as it vvere comforted her, offering her certaine fruites to eate, in such sort, that he put her in hope that shee should not receaue any damage of those other Apes, taking her by the arme, and gently as it vvere inuiting her to followe him to the mountaines, to the which she willingly condiscending, he led her into his Caue, whether all the other Apes resorted, prouiding her such victuals as they vsed, where-with & with the water of a Spring neere therevnto, she maintained her life a certaine time, during the which, not being able to make re­sistance, vnlesse she would haue presently been slaine, she suf­fered the Ape to haue the vse of her body, in such sort that [Page] she grew great, and at two seuerall times was deliuered of two Sonnes, the which as she her selfe saide, and as it was by those that saw them afterwards affirmed, spake, and had the vse of reason. These little boyes, being the one of two & the other of three yeeres aged, it happened that a ship returning out of India, passing thereby, and being vnfurnished of fresh water, the Marriners hauing notice of the Fountaine which was in that Iland, and determining thereof to make their prouision, set them selues a shore in a Cockbote, which the apes percea­uing, fled into the thickest of the mountaine, hiding them­selues, wherewith the woman emboldened and determining to forsake that abhominable life, in the which she had so long time against her will continued, ranne forth, crying as loud as shee could vnto the Marriners, who perceauing her to be a woman, attended her, and carried her with them to their ship, which the Apes discouering gathered presently to the shore, in so great a multitude, that they seemed to be a whole Army, the greater of which through the brutish loue and affection which he beare, waded so farre into the Sea after her, that hee was almost drowned, manifesting by his shrikes and howling how greeuously he took this iniury done him: but seeing that it booted not, because the Marriners beganne to hoise their sailes and to depart, he returned, fetching the lesser of the two Boyes in his armes, the which, entring againe into the water as farre as he could, he held a great while aloft aboue water, and at last, threw into the Sea, where it was presently drow­ned: which done, he returned backe fetching the other, and bringing it to the same place, the which in like sort he held a great while aloft, as it were threatning to drowne that as hee had done the other. The Mariners moued with the Mothers compassion, and taking pitty of the seely Boy, which in cleare and perfect words cryed after her, returned back to take him, but the Ape daring not attend them, letting the Boy fall into the water, returned, and fled towards the mountaines with the rest. The Boy was drowned before the Marriners could suc­cour him, though they vsed their greatest diligence: At their returne to the ship, the vvoman made relation vnto them of all that happened to her in manner aboue rehearsed, which [Page 33] hearing, with great amazement they departed thence, and at their arriuall in Portugall made report of all that they had seene or vnderstoode in this matter. The woman was taken and examined, who in each poynt confessing this fore-saide history to be true, was condemned to be burnt aliue, aswell for breaking the commaundement of her banishment, as also for the committing of a sinne so enorme, lothsome, and dete­stable. But Hieronimo capo de ferro, who was afterwards made Cardinall, beeing at that instant the Popes Nuncio in Portu­gall, considering that the one of her faults was to saue her life, and the other to deliuer her selfe out of the captiuity of these brute beastes, and from a sinne so repugnant to her nature & conscience, humbly beseeched the King to pardon her, which was graunted him on condition, that shee should spende the rest of her life in a Cloyster, seruing God and repenting her former offences.

I haue hearde this history often, and truelie in my A strange history of the first in­habitation of the King­doms of Pe­gu & Sian. iudgement it is no lesse strange then any of those before re­hearsed, or any other that euer hapned.

That which Iohn de Banos, Chronicler of the King of Portugall writeth, is no lesse meruailous, but of as great or greater admiration then any of these, if there were thereof so sufficient witnesses to proue it true. Writing certaine memorable thinges of the Kingdomes of Pegu and Sian, which are on the other side of the Riuer Ganges, hee sayth, that the people of those King­doms, hold and affirme for a matter assured and indubitable, that of long time that Country was vninhabited, and so wild and desert, and possessed of so many fierce and cruell beasts, that if a whole Armie of men had come, they could not haue preuailed against theyr multitude. It hapned on a time, that a ship comming from the Kingdome of Chinay, was through a violent tempest driuen on that Coast among the Rocks, so that all those that were therein perrished, sauing onely one woman, and a mighty great mastiue, the which defended her from the furie of wilde beastes, vsing daily with her fleshlie copulation, in such sort, that she became great, and in proces of time was deliuered of a sonne, she being at that present ve­rie young, the boy in space of time had also acquaintance [Page] with her, and begat vpon her other children, of whose mul­tiplications those two kingdoms became to be inhabited, and as yet at this day they haue dogs in great veneration, as deri­uing from them theyr originall beginning.

If that of the Triton with the woman, and that of the Beare with the mayden, and that of the Ape be true, there is no impossibi­litie of this: but let vs leaue heerein euery man to thinke as it pleaseth him, without constraining him to beleeue or not to beleeue any thing, but that whereto his iudgement shal most encline: and though wee haue vsed a large digression, yet let vs not so giue ouer the matter which we handled concerning Tritons or Seamen: for I haue heard that there is a kinde of fish also called Mermaids, resembling in theyr faces fayre and beautifull women, the truth whereof I would be glad to vn­derstand.

It is true, there is indeede much talke of the Mermaids. Mermaydes, whom they say from the middle vpward to haue the shape of women, and of a fish from thence downeward. They are painted with a combe in one hand, and a Looking­glasse in the other; some say that they sing in so sweet, melo­dious and delectable a tune, that charming there-with the Shipmen asleepe, they enter into their ship and bereaue them of their liues: but to say the truth, I haue neuer seen any Au­thor worthy of credit, that maketh mention hereof. Onelie Pedro Mexias sayth, that in a certaine strange and terrible tempest, there was one of them amongst a number of other Fishes, driuen a shoare on the Sea-coast, hauing the visage of A mermayd driuen a shore on the Sea-coast. a vvoman most beautifull, expressing in lamentable sort such sorrowe and griefe, that shee mooued the beholders to com­passion, vvho gently turned her backe againe into the water, vvhereinto shee willingly entred and swamme away, vvithout being seene any more. And though it may be that there is in the Sea such a kind of fish, yet I account the sweetnes of their singing, with all the rest that is reported of them to be a meer fable.

It is a thing most true known and approued, that there are in the Sea as diuers and sundry kindes of Fishes, as there is on the earth of beasts, or in the ayre of foules, so that it is not to be wondred at, if some of them resemble humaine forme, as these which we haue named.

And though wee haue long deteyned our selues in this conuersation, yet before wee part, I beseech you resolue me in one doubt, which remaineth cōcerning men, the which is this, I haue heard say, that there haue been in times past cer­taine women which changing theyr sexes haue been conuer­ted into men: which seemeth so strange and vnnaturall, that I hold it but for a fable, like that which is reported of Tyre­sias the Thebane Prophet.

Neuer wonder so much at Tyresias the Theban Prophet this, for possibly this which is reported of him as a tale false and feigned, was indeede truth, as many other the like, which haue with great authority beene written and affirmed. For proofe whereof read Pliny in his 4. chapter of his 7. Booke, where he vseth these words, It is no matter feyned, sayth hee, that women sometimes change their sexe, for we sinde in the Chronicles, that Publiꝰ Liciniꝰ Crassꝰ, & Caius Cassiꝰ Lon­ginꝰ beeing Consuls, a young mayden, perfect in that sexe, The daugh­ter of Casin changed in­to a man. daughter to Casinus, was changed and metamorphozed to a perfect man, and therefore by the commaundement of theyr Soothsayers, was carried away as a thing prodigious, and cast into a desert Iland.

And Licinius Mucianus affirmeth, that he saw in Argos a man called Aresconte, who had beene first a vvoman, & cal­led The like of a woman in Argos. Arescusa, after the changing of her sexe she came to haue a beard and married a vvife: of the like sort he sawe a young strypling in the Citty of Smyrna, and a little farder he cōmeth to say, & I my selfe saw in Affrica, Luciꝰ Cosciꝰ, a cittizen of Triditania, who the selfe same day that he was maried, beeing then a woman, was transformed into a man. Neither is Plinie alone author of this wonderful nouelty, for Pontanꝰ a man of great grauity, writeth that a woman in the citty of Caeta, after The like of a woman in the Citty of Caeta. she had bin 14. yeres married turned her sex, & becam a man, & that another woman called Emilia, maried vnto a citizen of Ibula called Anthonio Spensa, after she had been 12. yeres his wife, becam a perfect man, and maried another woman & be­gat children. Another far stranger then eyther of these is re­cited by the same authour, of a woman that had been maried & brought forth a sonne, which afterwards beeing conuerted into a man, married another woman, and had children by her, [Page] but because these are old matters, and it may be sayd that wee goe farre for witnesses, I will tell you what Doctor Amatus writeth, a Phisition of no small estimation in Portugall, who in a worke of Phisicke which he made, sayth, that in a village called Esgueyra, distant ix. leagues from the Citty of Corim­bra, there liued a Gentleman, who had a daughter named Marya Pacheco, the which at such age as by the course of nature her flowers should haue come downe, in sted thereof, as though it had before lyen hidden in her belly, there issued A gentle­mans daugh ter of Por­tugall chan­ged her sex. forth a perfect and able member masculine, so that of a vvo­man shee became a man, and was presently clothed in mans habite and apparrell, and her name changed from Marie to Manuell Pacheco, and not long after, passing into the East Indies, shee wan in the vvarres great reputation through the valour of her person, from whence returning most opulent and rich, she shortly afterward married a Gentlewoman of a very Noble house, by whom whether she had any children or no, he writeth not: but onely that she neuer came to haue a­ny beard, retayning alwayes a womanly face & countenance: and thys he affirmeth of his owne sight and knowledge. But those that will neyther giue credite to these thinges vvhich I haue sayde, nor to the Authors of them, let them read Hyp­pocrates, by a common consent called the Euangelist of Phi­sitions. There was, sayth he, in his 6. booke De morbis popu­laribus, The like of a woman cal­led Phaetula. a woman called Phaetula in the Citty of Abderis, wife to Piteus, which beeing of young and tender yeares, when her husband was banished from thence, remained many months without hauing her flowers, which caused her to feele an ex­ceeding payne in her members, whereupon her body shortly after miraculously changed sexe, her voyce became manly & sharpe, and her chinne was couered with a beard. The selfe fame hapned in like sort in Tafus to Anamisia, wife to Gor­gippus.

Truly these things which you haue rehearsed are meruailous, and the onely authoritie of Hippocrates suffiseth to giue them credit, emboldned through which I will tel you a thing, which till nowe I alwayes accounted as a fable, or thing dreamed: which though it be long since it was tolde [Page 35] me, yet would I neuer vtter it to any, because I reputed it as a thing altogether incredible. It was thus. A friend of mine The like of a Husband­mans wife in Spaine. of good authority and credite, told me, that in a Village not farre hence, there was a vvoman maried with a Husbandman, by whom hauing no children, they were at continuall iarre, so that were it through iealousie or other cause, she led with him a most vnquiet life, for remedy whereof, shee rising on eue­ning, cloathed her selfe in the garments of a young fellowe that dwelt with them in the house, and departed secretly, from that time forward faigning her selfe to be a man, and put her selfe into seruice, gaining where-with to sustaine her life, in which estate after she had a while remained; whether it were that Nature wrought in her with so effectuall vertue and pu­issance, or that her owne earnest imagination seeing her selfe in that habite, had force to worke so strange an effect, she was transformed into a man, and maried an other woman, not da­ring through simplicity discouer this matter, till by chaunce: a man that had beene before time acquainted with her, loo­king one day earnestly vpon her, and viewing in her the per­fect resemblance of her which hee had before time knowne, demaunded, if she or rather he were her brother, vvhereup­pon he being now changed, and become a man, and withall putting great confidence in the other, opened vnto him the whole secresie of this successe, instantly beseeching him not to discouer it to any man.

Whatsouer Nature hath at one time done, it may doe an other, and as well may this which you haue tolde bee true, as that which is affirmed by Writers, and therefore you haue done well to reserue it till nowe, comming so well to purpose as it doth, for the confir­mation of the before rehearsed; especially we being nowe so well perswaded of the possibility thereof: but if you should tell the same amongst some kinde of men, you would be in Strange things not to be told, but before such as are learned and wise. great hazard to be iested at for your labour: as I was for say­ing, that there was a part of the vvorlde, where the dayes and nights equally endured sixe moneths a peece.

This is the inconuenience: that those which haue seene and reade these strange and wonderfull secrets, may not make relation of them, but in presence of those that are lear­ned, [Page] wise, and of cleare vnderstanding: so that these matters which we haue heere priuately discoursed, are not to be re­hearsed before other men, the grosnes of whose ignorance, would account vs more grosse and ignorant, and inuenters of fables and nouelties: neyther should it auaile vs to alleadge witnesses, for they will say they knowe them not: who, nor whence they are: yea, though they be such Authors, as neuer wrote with greater grauity and credite.

But seeing it is now so late, and that we haue spent so great a part of the night, me thinks it were not amisse if we retired our selues: for this shall not be the last time (God willing) that we will meete together.

This our communication hath been long, though for my part I could haue been contented, that it should haue lasted till to morrow morning, and there­fore Signior Anthonio, afore we depart, I will take your word that we shall to morrowe meete heere againe in the euening.

Assure your selues Gentlemen, that I will not faile, for the profite heere of is mine.

The pleasure you haue al­ready done vs, is not small, neither shall that be lesse which we hope to receaue to morrow.

WHat thinke you Signior Bernardo, had I not reason in commending Anthonio, to be a man most accomplished in let­ters and ciuility, and of a most sweete & pleasing conuersation?

Tru­ly I little thought him to be so suffici­ent in discourse, as I perceaued yesterday that he is: of which seeing I nowe begin to tast the sweetnes, I should be excee­dingly glad, that it were our happe according to promise, to meete together againe to day; for our time cannot, in my opi­nion, be better employed then in his company, who vnlesse I be deceaued, goeth far beyond a great many, which presume themselues to be great and learned Clarks.

Beleeue me in this one thing which I will tell you, it is sildome or neuer seene a foole to be curious, (folly and vertuous curiosity being two things directly repugnant & contrary) for wise men pro­cure alwayes to extend their knowledge farther, esteeming that which they already knowe and vnderstand to be little or nothing: but fooles, whose vnderstanding reacheth not to thinke that there is any farther knowledge to be had, then that which they vnderstand and comprehend, within the grosse compasse of their owne barraine capacity, imagine that all wisedome & knowledge maketh there an end; so that boun­ding there their definitiue conclusion, they argue and dispute, without willing yeeld to any thing more, then that whereto the dulnes of their sence reacheth: whereas the vvise man for much that he knoweth, thinketh alwaies that there is an other that knoweth more, and neuer wedding him selfe to his owne [Page] fancy, nor trusting his owne opinion and iudgement, remit­teth him selfe alwayes to those of more vnderstanding: and this is the cause, wherefore they erre so sildome, whereas the other blockish dull heads neuer iudge a right in any thing: because trusting opiniatiuely to their owne wit, they neuer perswade them selues that they are deceaued, whereby they remaine continually in error.

This which you haue sayd is so true, that I must needes yeeld there-vnto, vnlesse I would shew my selfe as ignorant and wilfull, as those which you speake of, but Lupus est in fabula: for if I be not decea­ued, yonder commeth Signior Anthonio. I should be glad that hee came vnaccombred with other matters, to the ende we might haue his conuersation a while, as yesterday we had.

Though it were with deere price to be bought, wee should not permit the contrary.

A better encounter then this I could not haue wished, in meeting you both toge­ther, for being three, I feared that we should not all haue met so conueniently.

Neyther are we lesse glad of our good hap in meeting you in this place, hoping that it shall please you to fauour vs in prosecuting that good conuersation, with the which you left vs yesterday so engaged.

You shall finde me ready, wherein it shall please you to commaund me.

Lette vs then if you thinke good, vvalke a while a­mongst these Vines, the fragrant greenes and spreading of whose pleasant branches, yeeld an ayre, nothing inferiour in freshnes to that which yesterday refreshed vs by the Riuers side, and a little beyond is a delicate▪ Fountaine, where being wearied with walking, we may rest and repose our selues, it is enuironed round about with greene trees, whose shaddowe will serue to defend vs from the scorching of the sunne, which also now beginneth to decline.

Let vs goe whether it shall please you; for in truth such is the sweete and delecta­ble freshnes and verdure of these fields, that it reuiueth a man that beholdeth them, and it may serue for a motiue, to lift vp our minds, and to be thankfull vnto God, which hath for our vse created them.

If our care were as great to consider of this, as his is to blesse vs with his benefites, wee should without ceasing [Page 37] prayse his Name, and bee continuallie busied in the contem­plation of his glorious workes; but see here the Fountaine & place most commodious for vs to repose in.

Well let vs then sit downe together, for thys very Fountaine wil yeeld vs sufficient matter of admiration, whose water we see spring out so perfectly pure, and cleere, that it runneth as it vvere cheerfully smyling amongst the peble stones, the which (par­ting with his course the sands) it leaueth bare and naked, pro­curing with his christaline freshnes thirst to the beholders, & inuiting them as it were to drinke.

God hath giuen to many things different force and qualitie, so that few or none are without theyr particuler vertues, if wee were able to at­taine to the knowledge of them, but chiefely hath he enriched the water, (ouer and aboue the generall vertue as beeing one The cause of the diuer­sitie of the taste & pro­perties of waters. of the 4. Elements concurring in the generation of all things created) with sundry proper and particuler gifts, vertues, and operations, the diuersities of which, by experience we finde in Riuers, Springs, Fountaines, Ponds, Lakes, and Floodes: the cause whereof is, (though the water be all one, & proceed wholy from one beginning & originall) that the Sea passing through the veynes and concauities of the earth, taketh and participateth the vertue, nature, and propertie of the same earth and minerals through which it passeth, whereof it com­meth, that some Springs are hote, some cold, some bitter, som sweet, some salt and brackish, and others of so many different tastes & properties, that it is vnpossible to reckon thē. There are many Authors which write of theyr different vertues and conditions, some of the which are recited by Pedro Mexias, in a chapter of his booke entituled, The Forrest of Collecti­ons, which (seeing you may there finde at large, when it shall please you to peruse him) I will spend no time in rehearsing.

You say he collected some, whereby I imagine there are other some by him vnremembred, of which you shoulde doe vs great fauour to giue vs notice and vnderstanding.

I am perswaded that he left them out, not for vvant of remembrance or knowledge of them, but onelie that hee wrote those, which he accounted the principallest, & of grea­test wonder. For what greater or more incredible strangenes [Page] may there be then that of the Fountaine of Epirus, into the The Foun­taine of E­pirus. which putting a Torch or a candle lighted, it quencheth and extinguisheth the flame thereof, and putting it in dead, it kin­deleth and enflameth the same: and that which he writeth of other Riuers & Lakes, which burned the hands of those that had falsly sworne beeing put into them, and others that filled them ful ofleprosie; and of the Fountaine Elusidis, which in The Foun­taine Eleu­sidis. sounding a Flute or other musicall instrument, beginneth to swel & buble vp in such quantity as though it would flow o­ouer, the which in ceasing the sound, appeaseth it selfe againe, & sinketh & setleth it selfe into a quiet estate as it was before. There are so many like vnto these written & reported, that to go about to rehearse thē all would be an endlesse work. I will only therfore recite some of thē recited by Pliny, in his second booke cap. 103. & som other mentioned by other authors of great authority, grauity and credit, which I imagine you haue not heard, neither are they in the collections of the beforesayd Author remembred. First therfore to begin, how strange & miraculous is that of Iacobs Well in Sichar, where Sychen the son of Emor died, by signes and tokens of which, the inhabi­tants Iacobs Wel in Sichar. knowe in what sort the Riuer Nilus shall ouerflowe that ensuing yere (for it hapneth yerely once) at which time they faile not with all diligence to obserue the tokens thereof, espe­cially how high the water riseth, wherby they assuredly know in what sort the Nile shall rise, and how far he shall ouerflowe that yere: by which obseruation, they know if the yere shalbe scarse & barrein, or plentiful & abundant, according to which they make their prouisions, fetching from other parts thinges necessary for their sustenaunce, if there be any apparance of dearth. Of the Lake which Pedro Mexias sayth is in Ethio­pia, in the which those that bathe themselues, come forth as it were annoynted and besmeared with Oyle: Pomponius Mela & Solinus make mencion, whom hee alleageth for au­thors, saying that the water thereof is so subtile, delicate and and pure, that a feather falling therein, goeth straight without any let downe into the bottome, which is no small cause to wonder at, that being in shew greasie and full of grossenesse, the effect thereof should bee so aboue reason contrary. The [Page 38] selfe same property writeth Gaudencius Merula of a Lake which is in India, called Silias, into the which, casting the ligh­test The Lake Silias. thing that may be, it sinketh presently to the bottom. The which according to the Philosophers opinion, proceedeth of the great purity and thinnesse, which is very neere to be con­uerted into ayre. There are also in a vally of Iury (as wryteth Iosephus in his booke of the captiuity of the Iewes, alleaged Sundry Springs of different na­tures, in a valley of Iu­ry, neer Ma­cherunte. by Nicholaꝰ Leonicꝰ, neer a place called Macherunte, a great number of Springs, of the which some are sweet & of a most pleasing tast, and others vnsauory and bitter in extremity, be­ing all wreathed, & as it were mingled one with another. Not far from thence there is a Caue, into the which there issue out of a Rocke two fountaines, so neere together that they seeme to be both but one, and yet are in their effects most different & contrary, for the one is extreame colde, and the other hote, so that between thē both they make there a lake of most sin­guler temprature, healing those that bathe themselues therein of diuers infirmities. And seeing it cōmeth to passe to count the wonderful things of this vally, though we digresse a little from the order of our discourse, concerning the property of waters, I will tell you what the same Authour writeth of the property of an herbe which there is found, called Baharas, ta­king his name of that part of the valley where it groweth. It hath the colour of a bright & shining flame, by the glistering The most strange na­ture & pro­pertie of the herbe Ba­haras. discouered far of by night, but the neerer you approche vnto it, the more it loseth of his brightnes, which when you come to take it, vanisheth, leauing deluded & deceaued the handes of those that seeke it. Neither can it be found, vnlesse you first cast vpon it the vrine of a woman that hath her flowers, bee­ing corrupted and poured downe all at once vpon it, which beeing done, it discouereth it selfe presently to the viewe of those that seeke it, who die at the very instant, vnlesse they haue a peece of the roote of the same herbe gathered before, bounde to theyr arme, hauing which, they remaine secure, & may gather it without any perrill or danger.

But they haue also another manner of gathering the same, which they hold for the surer, which is thus. He that goeth in search thereof, finding it, pareth the ground close rounde a­bout [Page] away, and bringing with him a dogge, bindeth him with a corde fast to the roote therof, at whose departure the dogge striuing to follow him, pulleth it vp by the roote, falling pre­sently downe dead in the place, by his death giuing securitie to his Maister to take vp the roote without any danger at all, and to carry it away, & to apply it to such vse as pleaseth him. The vertue therof is so great, that it healeth men possessed of deuils: besides, many and diuers other infirmities, for which it is a remedy most excellent. So that some will say, that the The vertue thereof. vertue of this hearbe was not vnknowne to Salomon, by the excellencie and force whereof, hee expelled euill spirits, and cured infinite diseases, which was an occasion to make his wisedome be held in greater admiration: & that others lear­ned this of him, after his death working therewith many mer­uailous and admirable things, exceeding the rules of Nature, but thys is Apocryphus, and not written by any Authour of credite.

God ordained not this hearbe with such diffi­cultie to be found and gathered, without enduing it also with some especiall and particuler vertue, which, as sayth Hermes, he hath in such sort imparted to herbes, plants, & stones, that if we had the knowledge and vse of them, we should so cure all infirmities and diseases, that wee should seeme to be in a manner immortall.

Beleeue me, the vertues of the wa­ter are no lesse then theyrs: for as the herbes sucke and draw theyr propertie and vertue out of the earth, which nourisheth and produceth them, yeelding moisture and sustenaunce to their rootes: so likewise the water draweth to it selfe, the pro­pertie of the earth & minerals through which it passeth, parti­cipating with thē, of their vertues; which beeing so deepe in earth, are frō vs hidden & vnknown. But I know not whether the vertue of a Spring which Aristotle writeth to be in Syci­lia in the Country of the Palisciens, proceede of thys cause, A Spring in Sycilia, most admirable. for the misterie which it contayneth is farre greater, and so sayth Nicholaus Leonicus, that it is a thing verie hardly cre­dible: for he affirmeth the propertie thereof to be such, that who so taketh a solemne oath, and the same oath be written in Tables, and cast with certaine solemnities into the Foun­taine: If the oath contained therein be true, the Tables re­maine [Page 39] floating aloft vpon the water, but if it be false, they sink incontinently downe to the bottome: And he which tooke the same, is burned presently in the place, and conuerted into ashes, not without damage many times of those that were present: They called this the holy Fountaine, and appointed the charge and custody thereof to Priests, which suffered no man to sweare, vnlesse that hee first put in sureties, that hee would content him selfe to passe by this triall.

I rather thinke that Aristotle and those that wrote heereof were de­ceaued, then otherwise, because we heare not at this present, that there is any such Fountaine knowne in Sicilia: & if there had beene in times past any of such force and vertue, the me­mory thereof would be farre more rife and famous then it is.

Let vs neuer trouble our selues with the triall heere­of, for in this sort we may say the like, of all those others which we haue not seen.

The selfe same Nicolaus Leonicus, wri­teth A Foun­taine in the Country of the Elyans. of another Fountaine, in the Country of the Elyans, nere to the Riuer Citheros, into the which, all the water that ranne there out, degorged. There stood by this Fountaine a sacred house, the which they constantly affirmed to haue beene the habitation of foure Nimphs, Caliphera, Sinalasis, Pegaea, and Ia­sis. All manner of diseased persons that bathed them selues in this Fountaine, came there out whole and sound. The like is written of two other Riuers, the one in Italy called Alteno, and The Foun­taines Alte­no & Alfeno the other called Alfeno in Arcadia: But of no lesse wonder then all the before rehearsed is, that which is vvritten of the Lake in Scithia, in the Country of the Dyarbes, neere to the A Lake [...] in Scithia. Citty Teos, the which besides the meruailous plenty of fish in which it aboundeth, hath a property most admirable: for in calme and warme weather, there apeareth aboue the vva­ter great aboundance of a kind of liquor like vnto oyle, which the inhabitants in Baotes made for the same purpose, skimme off from the vvater and apply the same to their vses; finding it to be as good and profitable, as though it were very oyle in deede. There is likewise in the Prouince of Lycia, nere a Cit­ty called Pataras, a Fountaine, the vvater that floweth from A Foun­taine in Li­cia. which, looketh as though it were mingled with blood: The cause whereof, as the Country men say, is through one Te­lephus, [Page] who washing therein his wounds, it hath euer since re­tained the colour of blood: But the likeliest is, that it passeth through some veine of red clay or coloured earth, vvith the which mixing it selfe, it commeth forth stained with that co­lour: the Author hereof is Nicolaus Leonicus. And Athenaeus Naucratites sayeth, that in an Iland of the Cyclades called Te­naeus, there is a Fountaine whose water will agree by no means Water of the Foun­taine Te­naeus, that will by no meanes be mingled with wine. to be mingled with vvine, alwayes, howsoeuer it be mingled or poured with vvine into any vessell, it remaineth by it selfe a part, so that it is to be taken vp as pure & vnmedled, as when it was poured forth, yea, though all possible diligence were vsed to ioyne and mingle them.

There be a great many that would be glad, that all water were of this condition, by no means brooking the mixture therof with wine, as a thing that keepes them somtimes sober against their wils.

You say truth, but leauing them with their fault, which is none of the least, but one of the greatest & foulest that may be, in any man pretending to beare honour or reputation, I say there is in the Iland of Cuba, according to the relation of many which A Fountaine in the Iland of Cuba. haue seene the same, a Fountaine which poureth forth a thick liquor, like vnto Tarre, which is of such force, that they cauke and pitch their ships withall, in such sort that they remaine as firme & dight, against the entry of water, as though they were trimmed with the best sort of Pitch that we doe heere vse in these parts.

I haue heard say, that there is in the same Iland a great Valley, the stones that are found in which are all Stones in a Valley of the same Iland all round. so round, as if they had by Art euery one beene fashioned in the same forme.

Perchaunce Nature hath so framed them for some effect, of the which wee are ignorant: seeing that few or none of her workes are without some secrete mi­stery, and as well may these stones serue to some vse, as the li­quor of that Fountaine: but let vs heerewith not trouble Sig­nior Anthonio from prosecuting his discourse.

Solinus discoursing of the Iland of Cerdonia, saieth, that it containeth A strange Fountaine in the Iland of Cerdonia. many wholsome vvaters & Springs, & amongst the rest, one whose water healeth all infirmity of the eyes, & withall serueth for a discouery of theeues: for whosoeuer by oath denieth the theft which he hath cōmitted, in washing him selfe with that [Page 40] water, loseth incontinent his fight; & if so be that his oath be true, his eye siight is therby quickned & made more sharp & liuely: but whosoeuer obstinately persisteth in denying his fault, remaineth blind for euer. But of this Fountaine there is now no notice at all, for I haue beene long resident in that I­land, during which time, I neuer heard any such matter. Ma­ny the like vnto these are written of by diuers Authors, the which for their vncertainty, I wil not weary my self in rehear­sing: only I wil tell you of a Lake, which is in the Spanish I­land called S. Domingo, in a mountaine very high & vninhabi­ted. The Spaniards hauing conquered that Country, found round about this mountaine no habitation of people, through A Lake on the top of a mountaine in the Ile of S. Domingo the cause of a hideous noise, which was therein continually heard, amazing & making deafe the hearers therof, the hiden cause & secret mistery wherof, no man being able to compre­hend, three Spaniards resolutly deliberated to goe vp into the height thereof, & to discouer if it were possible the occasion whence this continuall roaring proceeded: so that prouiding them selues of all things necessary, for the difficulty & ragged sharpnes of the way, being ful of craggy rocks & shruby trees & bushes, stopping their eares fast & close with pelets of wax, & taking some few victuals with thē, put themselues onward in their enterprize, not without exceeding wearines & trauel, insomuch that the one fainting by the way, was forced to bide behind. The other two with chereful labor & vertuous alacri­ty, ouercōming all difficulties, cam at last with much ado vnto the top of the mountain, wher they found a great Plain with­out any trees, & in the midst a lake, the water of which was ob­scure & black as inke, boiling & bubling vp, as though all the fire in the world had been flaming vnder it, making a noise so terible & thundring, that though they had stopped their eares with all possible care & diligence: yet the intollerable roring noise thereof, wrought such a humming and giddines in their heads, that they were constrained with all possible hast to re­turne, without bringing any certaine relation then this which you haue heard.

Such a matter as this cannot be without great mistery, for put case that there were vnderneath some mine of Sulphur or brimstone, sufficient through the heat of [Page] the fiery matter therein to make the water seeth vp and boile, yet could not the same cause a noyse so tempestuous & hor­rible, as you said the same is; and besides, me thinks this con­tinuall boiling should in time consume the water, and so the Lake by consequence become dry.

Perchaunce there may be some Spring or Fountaine there neere, which feedeth the Lake with as much warer as the fire consumeth, by which meanes it can neuer be voyde or empty.

Let vs leaue these secrets of Nature to him onely which hath made them, for though we through some causes represented in our vn­derstanding, would seeke to yeeld reasons thereof: yet when we thinke to hit the white, we shall finde our selues far wide: returning therefore to our former matter of Springs & Wa­ters, me thinks it were not reason, that speaking of things so Two Foun­taines in Spaine of strange ef­fect. farre off, we should ouer-slip these which we haue heere at home in our owne Country, hauing in this our Spaine two Fountaines, whose effects are not a little to be admired at, the one of which is in a Caue called de la Iudia, by the Bridge of Talayuelas, neere the Castle of Garcimunios, which though I my selfe haue not seene, yet I haue been thereof so certified, that I assuredly know it to be true: It yeeldeth a vvater which in falling congealeth, and becommeth hard, in manner of a stone; which hardnes it alwayes after retaineth without dis­soluing, in such sort, that they apply it to theyr buildinges.

It were neede of great Philosophy to know the mi­stery of this, that vvater should in such sort harden, that it should neuer afterwards dissolue: the contrary reason where­of we see in great heapes of Ice, which how hard so cuer they be, yet change of weather, maketh them to dissolue and melt.

This is because the heat vndoeth that which is done by the cold, as in snow, haile, & ice; which seeing it worketh not the like effect in these stones, we may thereby gather that, not the cold but som other secret to vs hidden & vnknown, is the cause of this obduration & hardnes. I haue heard with great credite affirmed, that there is also neere the towne called Uilla Nueua del obyspo, a Fountaine, in which during sixe moneths of the yeare, from such time as the sunne entreth into the signe of Lybra, which beginneth about the midst of September, [Page 41] called the Equinoctiall of the Autumne, till the middest of March, there is no one drop of water, and all the other halfe yeare, there runneth a most cleere & abundant streame: and thys is euery yere ordinary. Of thys Fountaine maketh men­tion also Lucius Marineus Siculus. Sinforianus Campegius wryteth of another in Sauoy, which breedeth by miraculous A Fountaine in Sauoy, breeding stones of great vertue. operation stones of exceeding vertue.

If this be true, then am I deceaued, for I neuer thought that stones could be bred, but that they were as the bones of the earth, alwayes of one bignes, neyther decreasing nor increasing; for otherwise, if stones should grow, in time they would come to be of such quantitie and greatnes, that they would be in diuer parts very combersome.

And doubt you of this? Assure your selfe that stones waxe and diminish according to the qualitie of which they are, the place where they are, and the property, nature, and condition of the earth where they are founde. Though those which wee here call peble stones, remaine al­wayes in one greatnes, or els grow so little and so slowly, that it can in many yeeres hardly be perceaued, yet all those stones which are any thing sandie, contracting & drawing the earth about them, conuert the same into theyr owne nature, hard­ning it in such sort, that in short space a little stone becōmeth to be exceeding great, yea and in such sort, that sometimes we see things of different nature and kinde, enclosed & shut vp within them, still retaining their owne substance and essence, which if you desire better to vnderstand, behold but the stone in the Earle Don Alonsos garden, which hee hath caused to A strange stone in the Earle of Be­neuenta his Garden. be placed there, as a thing meruailous to be viewed of al men, which though it be hard and sound, hath in the midst therof a great bone, seeming to be the shinbone of some beast, which the same stone embraced by all likelihood lying neere it on the ground, and continually growing, came at last to com­passe it rounde about, which beeing afterwards carued by a Mason, was found lying in the very bosome & midst therof, and that thys should be a very perfect bone, there is no doubt to be made thereof, for I my selfe haue made most sufficient proofe and try all of the same.

I haue also viewed it very narrowly and am of your opinion.

Turning to [Page] our discourse of Fountaines, I am perswaded that there are many of rare and great vertues, vtterly to vs vnknowne, and sometimes it hapneth, that the vertue of the water, worketh through the ayde of some other thing, ioyntly together, mat­ters verie admirable, as that which Alexander writeth in his booke De diebus genialibus, that in those partes of England vvhich bende toward the West, when any shyps are broken, These Fouls are in Eng­lish called Barnakles. and the ribbes or planches of them remaine a while in the wa­ter, that with the continuall moystnes, they engender & bring forth certaine Puscles like Mushromps, which within fevve dayes seeme to be aliue and to haue motion: and by little and little grow & gather feathers. That part wherewith they are fast to the rotten tymber is like vnto a water-foules bill, which comming lose of it selfe, thys miraculous foule beginneth to heaue it selfe vp, and by little and little in short space of time to flie and mount into the ayre. Pope Pius, whose name was Aeneas Siluius, rehearseth this in another sort, saying, that in The Author is heerin de­ceaued, for these are 2. seuerall sto­ries, & both very true. Scotland, vpon the bankes of a Riuer, there growe certaine Trees, whose leaues falling into the water and putrifying, in­gender in them a certaine vvorme, which by little and little becommeth great and feathered, and at last lifteth vp the wings and flieth into the ayre. Cassaneus in his Catalogue of the glory of the world, in the twelfth part repeateth thys o­therwise. In times past, sayth he, there grew in England vp­on a Riuers side a strange and wonderfull tree, that brought forth a fruite like vnto Ducks, the which being ripe and fal­ling of, those which fell on the Land side, rotted and perished, but those vvhich fell into the vvater receaued presently lyfe, recouering feathers and wings, and in short space became a­ble to flie. Others write that there were many of these Trees, and so by consequence many such foules in great number. But whether there be any such nowe or no, I know not. Be­sides these Authors. I remember that I read in an Epitaphe which is written in the Map of the world, printed by a Vene­tian called Andreas Valuasor, that one Andrew Rosse, cittizen of the same towne, had at that present two of these foules, a­bout the bignes of two little Ducks, the which were brought him out of Spayne, but I think there was an error in the wri­ting, [Page 42] and that he should haue written England or Scotland: for a thing so miraculous as this is, cold not in Spayne be ob­scure & vnknown.

Truly, as you say, this may wel be termed miraculous, but mee thinks this disagreement of opi­nions, maketh the matter seeme doubtfull.

There is no mortall sin neither in beleeuing nor vnbeleeuing it: but Ni­colaꝰ Leonicꝰ affirmeth another thing as strange as this, that in the Citty of Ambrosia, situated at the foote of the hill Par­nassus, there should be a tree called Ys, and by another name The strange fruite of a tree in the citty of Am­brosia. Cocus, whose leaues are like those of the Dock, and the fruite about the bignes of a Pease, the which if it be not gathered in season, engendreth a little flie like vnto a maget at the begin­ning, which afterward cōmeth to haue wings & flyeth away, leauing the fruite hanging on the tree & withered vp: which some let perrish of purpose, because the blood of those flyes is singulerly excellent to die silke withall.

Of no lesse admiration are those trees of which Pigafeta in his relation to A strange tree menti­oned in Pi­gafetas rela­tion to the Pope. the Pope maketh mention, whose leaues falling downe, pre­sently moue & go, as it were vpon 2. poynts, which they haue on the one side like feete, seeming to haue life: he affirmeth to haue seen this himselfe. Therefore, whatsoeuer is said and af­firmed by graue Authors, we ought to beleeue that it may be, for though some haue a fault in ouerreaching, yet others will not register any thing but that which is true. Turning there­fore to our purpose of waters, let vs not in silence passe ouer the greatnes of such Riuers as haue beene in our times disco­uered: for till now Nylus, Ganges, Danubius, and Boristhenes haue bin accounted great, but at this present, the greatest that is in all Asia, Affricke, or Europe, is but a little streame in comparison of those, vvhich by Nauigation are newly found out in the West Indies, scarcely to be beleeued, vvere they not sufficiently authorized by the infinite number of so ma­nie Certaine ri­uers of in­credible greatnesse, found out in the West Indyes. vvitnesses: As for example, the riuer of Orellana, so cal­led, by the name of him that first discouered it, is so great, that it beareth fifty leagues of breadth at the mouth where it en­tereth into the Sea, and through the extreame furie vvith vvhich it forciblie passeth, it pierceth in such sort through the vvaues of the salt vvater, that the Saylers call that Coast the [Page] Sweete vvater Sea. The Riuer Dela plata, nowe inhabited by our Spanyards, there as the Sea receaueth it, containeth xxv. leagues in breadth, and the Riuers of Maranion fyfteene. There are also many others, of infinite largenesse, whereby we may coniecture, that there is a greater quantity of Lande thē that which is already discouered, for it is not possible that such mighty Riuers shoulde rise out of any Spring, but that many other Riuers shoulde fall into them, and that out of di­uers Regions, but let vs leaue this till we meete another time, when we shal haue more leysure.

First I pray you tell vs, what is your opinion concerning the source and rising of Riuers, both these and the rest, and whence theyr spring, issue and proceed, for I haue heard herein diuers contrary opini­ons, which cause me to be doubtfull, & I would be glad to be resolued.

The opinion of Aristotle and others that imitate him, is, that the Riuers are engendred in the hollowe Aristotles o­piniō of the source of Riuers. and hidden parts of the earth, where the ayre, through the great moysture & coldnes conuerteth it selfe into water, the which running along the veynes of the earth, cōmeth at last to the height thereof, where not being fully perfected, it ta­keth thicknesse and issueth out, discouering it selfe as well in great Riuers as in little streames and Fordes such as wee see, Anaximander and many other Phylosophers with him af­firmed, The opini­on of Anax­imander & his followers that the earth hath within it selfe and in the midst thereof a belly full of water, out of which breake forth all these Fountaines, Riuers, and Springs: but the surer opinion, and the truth indeed is, that all Riuers, streames, and Fountaines, and Lakes that come of flowing waters, issue & proceed out of the Sea, as sayth Ecclesiastes in the first Chapter by these The surest opinion cō ­firmed by Scripture. wordes. All Riuers enter into the Sea, and the Sea for al that encreaseth not, and the Riuers returne to the same place out of which they issued, and begin to runne anew.

You haue giuen vs very good satisfaction in this matter of vvhich we doubted, onely one thing remaineth, in which I beseech you to resolue vs concerning the foure Riuers that issue out of earthly Paradise, for in all that I haue seene or read, I haue onely founde the names of Tygris and Euphrates, as for Gion and Fison, I heare them not named in the world. Besides, I [Page 43] should take it that these Riuers must needs be of great vertue, seeing their source, Spring, & originall commeth out of Para­dice.

I would not willingly that you should engulfe ei­ther your selfe or mee in a matter so profound and deepe, en­tring once into the which, I know not how wee should gette out, for of such difficulty is this poynt which you haue tou­ched, that he had neede of great vnderstanding and learning that should therein well resolue you, which both are in mee wanting, neyther being so great a Diuine, or so well seene in the holy Scriptures, that I can satisfie you without bringing you into many doubts, whereas you haue nowe onely one. For to discourse of these Riuers, of force we must first declare that which may be said of Paradice, of which when I set my selfe to consider, my vnderstanding is in it selfe confounded, for the disagreeing contrariety of Authors which haue writ­ten heereof, is such that I know I should weary you with hea­ring them.

I knowe not how wee may spend the time better, then in searching and debating a matter so pleasant and delectable, though it were to no other end, then to moue vs to seeke and aspire vnto that heauenly Paradice, which this tere­striall representeth vnto vs.

Well then, seeing it so pleaseth you, I will recite the opinions of such as vnderstand it better than I doe, and you may thereof iudge, that which see­meth most agreeing to our Catholique faith and to reason, & I will with the greatest breuity I may, make you pertaker of that which I remember.

Many Diuines, especially those which haue written vpon Genesis, haue discoursed vpon this matter of earthly Para­dice: amongst whose opinions, though there be some diuer­sity, yet they shoote all at one marke, though in the meane time it be some confusion to those which curiously procure to sift out the truth thereof: But seeing their opinions are all Christianlike and of good zeale, I account it no error in fol­lowing eyther of them. But leauing a while the Christians and Diuines, let vs first see what was the old Philosophers o­pinion, though it were at blindfold, concerning Paradise: and the place on earth, where they thought it to be. If wee take this name of Paradice generally, it signifieth a place of delight, [Page] and so sayeth Saint Hierome in his Translation, that Heden What the word of Pa­radice ge­nerally ta­ken signi­fieth. in the Hebrew Text signifieth delight, according to the 70. Interpreters, which hauing said that God planted Paradice in the place of Heden, turne presently to declare the same, cal­ling it a Garden of delight: & of these delightful places there are many in the worlde for their exceeding beauty and plea­santnes called by this name, and so Casaneus alleadging Phi­lippus Bergamensis, the one very late, the other not very aun­cient, sayeth, that there is one in the Oryent towards the side The Philo­sophers opi­nions con­cerning Pa­radice. of Zephyrus, (and this hee thinketh to be the same of which we now speake,) another in the Aequinoctiall betweene the winds Eurus & Euronotus; the third betweene the tropick of Cancer, and the circle of the South pole; a fourth in the Ori­ent on the other side of the Aequinoctiall, where the Sunne scorcheth with so vehement heate: a fifth at the Southerne pole, of which he sayth, that Solinus also maketh mention, and as I take it, it is in his discourse of those that dwell on the other side of the Hyperbores. The sixth he placeth in the Occi­dent, and withall he alleadgeth, that the Senate of Rome had made a decree, that none should be chosen high Pontif, vn­lesse he were in the Garden of delights in the prouince of Ita­ly: But me reemeth that Casaneus & Philippus reckoning vp such places as these are, & calling them paradices, and taking the word so largely, might haue found a great many more. For Salomon also sayeth: he maketh Gardens and paradices, and planteth in them fruitfull trees. And Procopius writeth of a paradice in a certaine part of Affrica, whose wordes are these: There was, saith he, builded a royall pallace, by a King of the Vandales, in the most delightfull paradice of all those that euer I haue seene, for there were many delicious Foun­taines, of which it was bedewed and watered: and the vvoods round about were continually most fragrant, greene, & flou­rishing. These paradices are vnderstood, as I haue said, to be all the purest & pleasantest places of the earth, refreshed with sweet gales & temperate wholesome ayres, though perchance also such as haue written of them, haue added somwhat to the truth: and as for those of which Phillip of Bergamo speaketh, they are described in places so far distant from vs, that it is al­most [Page 44] vnpossible to know the truth. The Gentiles likewise ac­cording Where the Gentiles supposed the Elisian fields to be. to their fals, sects, & opinions, fained the Elisian fields to be paradice; whether they imagined the soules of those that liued well; to be transported after their death. Which some dreamed to be in the prouince of Andaluzia, in this our Spain, because it is a plat most pleasant & delectable. Others held o­pinion, that they were not any where else then in an Iland cal­led Phrodisia, consecrated to Venus, neere vnto Thule, which was the most delicious and comfortable place that might be Thule is thought to be the same which is now called Iseland. found in the whole world, which sodainly sinking into the Sea vanished & was seen no more. But the commonest opinion was, that the Elisian fields were those, which we now call the fortunate Ilands, the enhabitants of which are saide to liue so long, that they are held to be as it were immortall. Plato in his fourth book called Phedon, writeth, that there is a place on the Plato. earth so high aboue the clouds, that they cannot raine vpō the same; neither though it be neere the region of the fire, feeleth it any immoderate heate: but that there is alwaies a tempera­ture of aire most pure & perfect, in such sort, that many are of opinion, that al things grow there, in greater fertility & abun­dance, then in any other part of the earth: and that the men are of purer complexion & longer life then we, whose bodies are such, that many think them to be formed the greater part of fire & aire: as for water and earth they participate thereof very little, neither feed they of such fruits & victuals as we doe heere, but differ far from vs in customs, & alwaies enioy a per­fect freshnes of youth. These words rehearseth Caelius Rodi­ginus, which were saith he, of a man that went serching out the certaine knowledge of our faith, & who was not far of frō be­ing a Christian, if there had been any man to haue instructed him, wherin he was found to say so of him, I know not, for Pla­to spake & wrote many other things, wherein he deserued the name of Diuine, & out of which greater argument may be ta­ken, then out of these words to iudge as he doth of him. That agreeth very well with this of Plato, which Lactantius Fir­mianus writeth in verse, in a little Treatise of the Phaenix, dis­coursing of that Country, whether after shee hath burned her selfe in Arabia, and turned to reuiue againe of a vvorme [Page] engendered in her owne ashes) she taketh her flight, to passe The Phaenix renueth of her owne ashes. her life, till such time as of necessity, she must returne to renue her selfe againe: His very words are these. There is (saith he) in the farthest part of the East, a blessed place, where the high gate of the eternall pole is open, it is neyther anoyed with the heate of the Sunne, nor the colde of the Winter, but there whence the Sunne sendeth & discouereth to vs the day, there are neyther high mountaines nor low Valleyes: the fields are all flat in a great and pleasant Plaine, which notwithstanding the euen leuell thereof, is ten fadoms higher then the highest mountaine of ours. There is a flourishing vvood adorned with many beautifull trees, whose braunches and leaues enioy Lactantius Firmianus discourse of Paradice. perpetuall greenes, and at such time as through the ill guiding of the chariot and horses of the Sunne by Phaeton, the whole world burned, this place was vntouched of the flame, and when Deucalions flood ouerwholmed the whole world, this remained free, for the waters were not able to ouercome the height thereof. There is neyther languishing disease, paine­full old age, nor consuming death. No feare, no greefe, no coueting of riches, no battailing, no raging desire of death or vengeance bereaueth their repose. Sorrowfull teares, cruell necessities, and carefull thoughts, haue there no harbour. No frozen dewe toucheth their earth, no misty cloude couereth their fieldes: neyther doe the heauens poure into them anie troubled waters, onely in the midst thereof they haue a Foun­taine, which they call Uiba, cleare, pure, & aboundant of sweet vvaters, which once a moneth moystneth the whole vvood. The trees therein are of a meruailous height, & hang alwaies full of fruit: in this delicious Paradice liueth the Phaenix, the onely one bird of that kinde in the world, &c.

Lac­tantius praiseth this Country very largely, neither agreeth his opinion ill with Platos: But he speaketh heere like a Philoso­pher, and not like a Christian, though perchaunce if hee had beene asked his opinion like a Christian, in what part of the world he thought terestriall Paradice to be; hee would haue described it in like sort. But leauing these Philosophers Pa­radices, seeming rather to be fictions, then worthy of credite; tell vs I pray you what the Doctors and Diuines say heere­vnto, [Page 45] whose diligence, study and care hath beene greater in procuring to vnderstand & write the veritie thereof.

I will in few words tell you what some of them, and those of the greatest authority haue written on thys matter. S. Iohn Da­mascenes o­pinion of Paradise. S. Iohn Damascene, in his second booke chap. 2. saith these words; God being to make Man to his owne image & like­nes, and to appoint him as King and ruler of the whole earth, and all therin contained, ordained him a sumptuous & royall being place, in the which he might leade a blessed, happy, & glorious life, and this is that diuine Paradise planted by his owne omnipotent hands in Heden, a place of all pleasure and delight, (for Heden signifieth a delightfull place) and hee pla­ced him in the Oryent, in the highest and most magnificent place of all the earth, where there is a perfect temprature, a pure and a delicate ayre, and the plants continually greene & fragrant; it is alwayes replenished with sweet and odoriferous sauours, a light most cleere, and a beauty aboue mans vnder­standing: a place truly onely fitte to be inhabited of him, that was created to the image & likenes of God himselfe.

S. Iohn differeth not much in the situation and qualities here­of from the opinion of the others before alleadged, but passe on I pray you with your discourse.

Well, be then at­tentife a while. Venerable Bede handling this matter, sayth: Earthly Paradise is a place most delightfull, beautified with a Venerable Bedes opi­nion. great abundance of fruitfull trees, & refreshed with a goodly fountaine. The situation thereof is in the oryentall parts, the ground of which is so high, that the water of the flood could not ouer-reach the same: and thys opinion holdeth Strabo Strabo the Theologi­ans opinion. the Theologian, affirming that the height of the earth where Paradise is, reacheth to the circle of the Moone, through which cause it was not damnified by the flood, the waters of which could not rise to the height thereof. Those which fol­low this opinion, might better conforme themselues with O­rigen, who iudgeth, that all this which is written of Paradise, Origens o­pinion. must bee taken allegorically, and that it is not situate on the earth, but in the third heauen, whether S. Paule was lyfted in Spirit; but leauing him, because hee is alone in his opinion, without hauing any that followeth him, let vs returne to our [Page] alleaged Authors, against whō S. Thomas and Scotus argue, saying, that Paradise can by no meanes reach vnto the circle These opi­nions refu­ted by S. Thomas & Scotus. of the Moone, because the Region of the fire beeing in the midst, the earth can by no meanes passe thorough the same without being burnt & destroyed. Besides this, there are ma­ny other reasons sufficient to refute this opinion, for so shold those Riuers which come from Paradise, passe through the region of the fire, which, the contrariety of the two Elements being considered, is absurd: and besides, if this ground vvere so high, it could not chuse but be seene a farre of from manie parts of the world aswell by sea as by land: and by this means also, there should be a place in the worlde, by the vvhich it seemes a man might goe vp into heauen, so that this opinion is grounded vpon small reason, and easie to be confuted.

Many other Authors there are, which affirme Paradise to be in so high a part of the earth, that the water of the Deluge could not reach vnto the top thereof to anoy it: and to the obiection which may be made against them out of Moises, which sayth, that the waters thereof couered and ouerflowed; the height of xv. cubits, all Mountaines vnder the vniuersall heauen: they aunswer, that these Mountaines are to be vn­derstood such as are vnder the region of the Ayre, where the clowdes are thickned and ingendered, for Heauen is meant many times in the holy Scripture by this region, as the royall Heauen ta­ken for the regiō of the ayre, in ma­ny places of Scripture. Psalmist saith: The foules of heauen & the fishes of the Sea. Where by this word heauen, is vnderstoode the region of the ayre, thorough which the birds flie; so that according to their opinion, the mount or place where Paradise is, exceedeth, & is aboue this region of the ayre, where there is neither bluste­ring of winds, nor gathering of cloudes, so that it could not be endomaged by the waters of the flood. This is the selfe same of which we discoursed yesterday, as touching the mountains Olympus, Athos & Atlas, & that of Luna (which in height, according to the opinion of many, exceedeth all the rest on the earth) and many other like mountaines in the world, ouer whose tops there is neither raine, wind, nor clowdes, the ashes lying from one yere to another vnmooued, because that the height of their tops exceedeth the midle region of the ayre, & [Page 46] pierceth thither where it is still & pure without any mouing. But S. Thomas also argueth this not to be tru, saying that it is no conuenient place for Paradise to stand in the midst of the region of the ayre, neither could it, beeing there, haue such qualities & conditions as are necessary, because the winds and waters would distemper it.

This shold be so if it were in the midst of the region, but you your selfe say that it passeth farder, where the winds & waters haue no force to worke any distemprature.

If not the winds & waters, thē the fire wold work it, for the farder it shooteth beyond the region of the ayre, the neerer it approcheth the region of the fire.

You speak against you self, for yesterday you said that the city Acroton builded on the top of the mountain Athos, being in the superior region of the ayre, enioyed a singuler tempera­ture.

You say tru, but things are not to be taken in such extremety as you take them, for though it be said the superior part, yet therby is not meant the vtmost thereof, neither is that which we call the superior part with out a difference and di­stance between the beginning & the end, the which thogh it be in the midle temperat, yet the end being neer to the fire, & participating with the heat of the Sun, wanteth that tempra­ture; & that which S. Thomas saith, is to be vnderstood, that if Paradise be in the region where the clowds be engendred, it cannot be in a place temperate, neither if it reach vnto the vp­permost of the superior part of the pure aire, by reason of the great heat & drines of the fiery element. But these are matters spoken at randon, without euer beeing seen or verified: and therfore euery one thinketh & iudgeth that which in his own fancie he imagineth to agree with reason. For no man is able to doe that which Lucian in his Dialogues writ of Icarus, the which with artificiall wings flewe vp into the ayre. Leauing therfore fables, I say that the common opinion of all men is, that Paradise is seated in the oryent, & in a country or region abounding in delights, & so writeth Suidas a greeke Author, whose words are these. Paradise, saith he, is in the East, the seat therof is higher then all the other earth, it enioyeth a tempra­ture Suidas a greek Au­thor. pure in al perfection, an ayre most delicate & cleere, the trees therof flourish in perpetuall greenenesse, laden vvith [Page] flowers and fruites, a place full of all solace and sweetnes, and of such beauty and goodlines, that it passeth all humaine ima­gination. Conciliador and Scotus are of the same opinion, and these are the words of S. Thomas him selfe. Wheresoe­uer wee beleeue Paradice to be, it must be so, that it be in a place very temperate, be it vnder the Aequinoctial or in what other part so euer. To this purpose Caelius Rodiginus appli­eth that of Arryanus, a Greeke Historiographer, to whom Arrianus a Greeke Hi­storiogra­pher. they attribute so much credit, that they call him the very sear­cher of verities, who sayeth, that Hanno a famous and renou­ned Cartagenian Captaine, parting with an Army from the pillers of Hercules, where the Citty of Calyz is, forward into the Ocean, leauing Lybia & Affrica on the left hand, sayling towards the West, and afterwards turning his course towards the South, suffered by the way many and great impediments & discommodities, for besides the great feruentnes of the hot The strange aduenture happening to Hanno a Carthageni­an Captaine. starres, as if it had beene in the part of a burnt vvorld, they be­gan to want water, or if they found any, it was such as they could not drinke; they heard terrible thunders without cea­sing, their eyes were blinded with continuall flashes of light­ning and it seemed that there fell from heauen great flakes of flaming fire, so that they were forced to returne. Some think that this Nauie went very neere the Aequinoctial, but Caelius aleadgeth it, speaking of Paradice, saying, that all these were tokens of Paradice, beeing neere there abouts, according to that of Genesis, where he sayeth, that God placed before the gate thereof a Cherubin with a sword of fire, which turned a­bout on all sides, to the end that he should suffer no man to enter into that place: But I rather beleeue, that Hanno with this Nauy came to be vnder the Torrida Zona, at such time as the heate thereof caused these effects, making him returne so astonished, whereas if he had stayed, perchaunce hee should haue found both time and place to passe forward, as it hap­pened at the first to Colona, who going to discouer the In­dies, found him selfe vnder the same Zone, where the vvea­ther waxing calme, his ships were detained two or three daies, without any hope euer to come foorth, or to saue their liues: but afterwards, a gentle gale arising, they passed forth without [Page 47] any danger, and now since, diuers passe thereby daily in their Nauigations: but all these are imaginations of contempla­tiue men, seeking to sift out the truth.

There are some also that affirme Paradise to be in that part where God when he framed the world, began the first moo­uing of the heauens, which they call the right hande of the worlde, and the best part thereof. This is alleaged by Nicho­laus de Lyra, bringing for his Author Iohan. de Pechan, in a Nicolaus de lyra. Ioha. de Pe­chan. treatise which he wrote of the Sphaere, though the more ge­nerall opinion be, that the motion of the heauens tooke not theyr beginning in any one particuler place, but that they be­gan to moue ioyntly as they nowe doe. There want not al­so that affirme the whole worlde in which wee dwell, to be Terrestriall Paradise, who grounde them selues in saying, that the foure Riuers which the holy Scripture saith come out of Paradise, issue out of diuers and distant partes of the earth, which cannot otherwise be verified, vnlesse we will grant the whole earth to be Paradise: but I woulde aske of these men, when the Angell by the commaundement of God draue A­dam and Eue out of Paradise, whether they went, for accor­ding to this opinion, they should haue gone into some other part out of the world: As for their obiection of the foure Ri­uers, you shall heereafter vnderstand it, when we fall into dis­course of them.

If it please you, you may well declare it now, seeing you haue satisfied vs with such opinions as are held touching the seate of Paradice.

One onely re­maineth contrary to all the rest, maintained by Caetanus, and Opinions of Caetanus & Eugubinus touching te­restriall Pa­radice. after him, by Augustinus Stechius Eugubinus, a late Doctor, that wrote learnedly & highly vpon the Genesis, who decla­ring the wordes of Moises, which sayeth, God had planted Paradice in Heden, prooueth that though this word Heden being interpreted signifieth delights: yet in that passage it is not to be vnderstoode, for other then the proper name of the Prouince or Country so called, where Paradice was planted, the which he proueth by strong and sufficient arguments and reasons, the first hee gathereth out of the fourth Chapter of Genesis, where it is written: Cain flying forth went and en­habited the orientall stripe of Heden. And out of the 27. of [Page] Ezechiel, where he reckoneth vp many people, & diuers Na­tions that handled & trafficked with the citty of Tyre, saying, that there came also thither people out of the Countries of Charam, Chene, & Heden: yet Caeton thinketh that Heden in this authority, is not the place where terestrial Paradise was, but the name only of a particuler Citty: But following the o­pinion of Eugubinus, we may gather that the Country where earthly Paradise was planted, was inhabited, & that neere vnto it were peoples & Nations: & therfore God placed the Che­rubin there, with the turning fiery sword, to the end he should not let enter there-into any person liuing: for if Paradise had been thē vnknown as now it is to al men, what need had there beene of an Angell to gard it, when no man knew where it stoode, nor which way to come vnto it: Besides it may be ga­thered, that put the case that Paradise stood towards any part of the East, yet could not the same be far off frō the Citties of Ierusalem & Tyre, because he nameth iointly together Cha­ram & Heden, being a thing most manifest, that Charam is a Prouince in Chaldae or Mesopotamia, which appeareth by the words of Genesis, saying: God took thē out of Vra Pro­uince of the Chaldaeans, that they might go to Canaan, & they cam euen to Charam: these are euident reasons to proue that Paradise stood in that Coūtry, & that if as yet it be, it standeth there: it maketh the better with this opinion, because the two Riuers Tygris & Euphrates, bath and water that Prouince. Be­sides, we may suppose that the Arke of Noe during the 40. dayes of the flood, while it floted vpō the water, being so great & huge, & built so monstrous, as appeareth by the holy scrip­ture, to no other end then that it should not sink, made no ve­ry long voyage, which staying & setling it selfe on the moun­taines of Armenia, is a token that Noes biding was not farre from thence: & of the other side it is certaine, that his habita­tion was not far off from that part where Paradice was, which by consequence could not be farre off from Armenia, vpon which these prouinces before rehearsed doe border: and that the Country where Paradice stood was enhabited, appeareth by these words of S. Chrisostome. Before the flood, saith he, S. Chrisost. men knew the place where Paradice stood, & the way to goe [Page 48] vnto the same: But after the deluge, they found thēselues out of the knowledge thereof, neyther could Noe or any of his Successors remēber or find out the place where it had beene. And seeing that Chrisostom saith, that it was neuer afterwards knowne, neither can we know if it still remained, or if it were dissolued for standing in part where notice might haue been had thereof.

Indeed if Paradice should be in a place so neere vnto vs, how were it possible that no man should haue knowledge thereof, or at the least of the place where it might stand.

To this answereth Eugubinus, that granting his former opiniō to be true, or that Paradice was planted in a flat ground, or at least not so high as other Doctors affirme: then certainly it was destroyed by the waters of the flood. God through our offences not permitting a thing so notable & of so great perfection, to remaine amongst vs in the world.

It seemeth not vnto me that Eugubinus hath reason to gainsay the opinion of so many Doctors agreeing all in one. Strabo being both a Historiographer and a Diuine, writeth, that the The Sera­phin with the fiery sword, pla­ced before Paradise. sword with which God placed the Seraphin at the gate of Pa­radice, was called Versatilis, which is as much to say as turning, because it could turn back, as it did when it gaue place of entry to Elias & Enoch, though the same be otherwise vnderstood of Nicolaus de Lyra, who saith, that Torrida Zona is the firy sword which the Seraphin held, whose exceeding furious heate de­fended that passage frō all men liuing: But this is out of date, seeing the industry of this our age hath found the same to be passable.

I dare not determinatly affirme, whether Elias cam out of terestrial Paradice or any other place, when he was speaking with Christ at his transfiguration; for it is generally held as a thing most certain & indubitable, that Elias where so euer he be is in body and soule.

Truly there are for the maintenance of each of these opinions, so many reasons, that it is best not to trouble our wits withall, but to leaue the cen­sure of thē to wiser men & greater Doctors then we are: only one thing remaineth, the which truly if it were in my power, I would not permit, that so many fables shold be set forth & di­vulged as there are, as that which is written in the life of S. A­masus, that hee stoode so many yeeres at the gates thereof: [Page] and also in a treatise of S. Patricks Purgatory, where it is writ­ten, Fables tou­ching Para­dice. that a Gentleman entring in passed through the same in­to earthly Paradice: for in such matters no man ought to be so hardy, as to affirme any thing, but that which is knowne to be true and approoued.

In good sooth you haue great reason, but now seeing you haue sayde as much as may be a­bout the situation of Paradice, goe forward with that of the Riuers which come from thence, a matter, vnlesse I be decea­ued of no lesse difficulty, then the before rehearsed.

I assure you it is such, that I should haue been glad if you had ouerslipped it, doubting least I shall be vnable to satisfie your expectation: for as Eugubinus sayeth, there is so great and so intricate a difficulty heerein, that he is hardly able to vnwinde him selfe there out, whom of force in this matter I must fol­low: for as for the other Authors which write heereof, it see­meth that they stay at the halfe carere, without reaching to the end of the course. To begin therefore, it is sayd in Genesis, that there issued a Riuer out of Paradice, deuiding it selfe in­to The foure Riuers that issue out of Paradice. foure parts, the which were Gion, Fison, Tygris, and Eu­phrates; But seeing the difficulty of the seate and place of pa­radice cannot clearely be determined, much lesse can this be of the foure Riuers which issue thence, especially knowing at this present that their Springs and risings are in diuers diffe­rent parts of the world: yet for all this sifting and bolting out the truth, we will approach as neere it as we may. This Riuer which deuided it selfe into foure, first issued out of the place of delights, which was according to Eugubinus the Prouince of Heden, and from thence entered to inundate Paradice, whence comming forth it made this deuision. It is manifest, that the first part therof called Gion, is the same which we now call Ganges, for this is it which watreth the land of Heuylath: The second Riuer Fyson, is without all doubt that which wee now call Nilus, seeing there is no other which watereth and compasseth about the Land of Aethiopia, as the text it selfe sayeth: As for Tygris & Euphrates they retaine yet their selfe same first names, and runne along the Country of the Assiri­ans: and of these two last it may be sayde, that they rise, or at the least that the first Land which they water, is the same, [Page 49] which according to that before alleaged, may be called the prouince of Heden.

These two Riuers are by all Cosmographers described to haue their risings in the Moun­taine Taurus in Armenia, and it is true that they vvater the prouince of the Assirians, but theyr rysing and beginning is farre from thence, as saith Strabo by these words. Euphrates and Tygris rise in the Mountaine Taurus, and compassing a­bout The rysing of the riuers Tygris and Euphrates. Mesapotamia, ioyne themselues together by Babylon, and from thence goe to enter into the Persian Sea: the spring of Euphrates is on the North side of Taurus, and that of Ty­gris on the other part of the same Mountaine tovvardes the South: the sources of these two Riuers are distant the one frō the other 2500. stadies. This is also affirmed by other Au­thors, and Beda sayth: It is a thing most notorious, that those riuers which are said to come out of Paradise, spring and ryse out of the earth; Gion which is Ganges, out of the hill Cau­casus, which is a part of the mountaine Taurus: Fison, which is Nilus, not farre from the mountaine Atlas in Affrica, to­wards The sources of Ganges and Nylus the West, and Tygris and Euphrates out of a part of Armenia: which two & Nylus, as the Historiographers say, hide themselues in many places vnder the earth. Pomponiꝰ, Solinus, Ptolomie, and the rest are of Bedas opinion as tou­ching the rising of these Riuers: and the words of Procopius are these; Out of this Mountaine, saith hee, arise two Foun­taines, the which immediatly make two riuers, of that on the right hand commeth Euphrates, and of that on the left hand Tygris.

I tolde you, that whence soeuer these Riuers come, so they enter thorough the prouince which they called Heden, according to the opinion of Eugubinus, they may enter into earthly Paradise and vvater it, neyther for all thys leaueth it to agree with the text of Genesis, especially making one whole riuer after they come to ioyne by Babylon.

Leauing these two Riuers, let vs speake of the o­ther two, seeing it is also notorious, that Ganges taketh his beginning in the Mountaine Caucasus, though some vvill The moun­taine Emo­dos. say in the Mountaine Emodos, whose height and sharpnesse is such, that few haue been able to reach vnto the place where the source of the Riuer is, whence some took occasion to say, [Page] that Paradise was placed in the midst of those Rockes, and rough vnaccessible crags, and so shall you find it described in the most part of Mappes, but is certaine that this considera­tion is false, and leauing it for such, I say that the streame of this Riuer, discendeth from betweene the East & the North, and cōmeth running thorough many Countryes of the East-Indies, euen till it enter into the Ocean Sea, and contrarilie, the Riuer Nilus ryseth as I haue sayde in Affrica, neere the Mountaine Atlas, and as some thinke, towards the East, though by the Nauigation of the Portugals which discoue­red it, it seemeth that the rysing thereof shoulde bee in the Mountaine called De Luna, bending towards the South. But how soeuer it be, his streame is contrary in opposit to the The moun­taine of the Moone. riuer Ganges, and entred by a different and contrary way in­to the Redde Sea, so that I see not how it may stand with rea­son, that these two Riuers shoulde conforme themselues in theyr rysing, or that they shoulde euer come both out of one part.

Haue patience awhile, and perchaunce, though now it seeme to you vnpossible, you will straight be of a con­trarie opinion: First therefore you must suppose, that there is eyther now a Paradise in the worlde, or else that the same is through the waters of the Generall floode destroyed. The will of him which planted and made it, is not that we should haue thereof any notice, not onely concealing from vs the place where it stoode and standeth, but taking also from vs all signes and tokens, whereby we might come to the know­ledge and vnderstanding thereof: So that though Paradise nowe remaine in such sort as when it vvas first made & plan­ted by the hands of GOD: yet hath hee so diuerted from thence the current of those Riuers, guiding them by vvayes different and contrary one to another, that by them it is vn­possible to attain to the knowledge therof: For it Paradise be in the East, and vnder the Aequinoctiall, according to the common opinion, and that the foure Riuers ought to come from those parts, and to deriue theyr streames from thence, we now see, that Nilus and Ganges are towards the West, or rather South-west, and Tygris and Euphrates, though they [Page 50] come from the East-wardes, yet is it by very contrary wayes, the reason is, because those Riuers at theyr comming foorth of Paradise, or at least before they come to be knowne of vs, The Riuers that come frō Paradise, hide them­selues in the hollowes of the earth. doe hide themselues in the depths and veynes of the earth, breaking out againe in other parts with new Springs and ry­sings, the one beeing distant frō the other so many thousand leagues: and that this may be so, vvee see daily amongst our selues the experience thereof, as for example, the Riuer of Alpheus in the prouince of Achaia, which entring into a cō ­cauitie vnder the earth, turneth to come out againe in the The Riuer Alpheus. Spring of Arethusa neere Caragosa in Sicilia, vvhich by this experience is apparantly knowne, for all such thinges as are throwne into the same in Achaia, beeing such as may swim and flote aboue water, come foorth at the mouth of Arethu­sa, passing not onely vnder the earth, but also vnder the Me­diterranean Sea, as Plinie affirmeth, saying: There are many Sundry Ri­uers that hi­ding them­selues vnder the earth, come to rise out in newe springs. Riuers that hyding themselues vnder the earth, come to ap­peare and runne anewe in other partes: as the Riuer Licus in Asia, Erasine in the region of Algorica, and Tygris in Me­sapotamia. The like also doe the Riuers of Sil and Gaudiana in our Spaine, although the space of grounde vnder which they runne hidden be not so great, yet suffise they for exam­ples of that which wee say. And in thys manner doe the ri­uers which come from Paradise, hide and put themselues in the concauities and hollowe veines of the earth, and turne to breake out anew in other parts, where of force they must al­ter and change the course and currant of theyr streames.

S. Augustine entreating of thys matter, affirmeth the riuers of terrestriall Paradise to hide themselues vnder the earth. Encisus in his Cosmography, discoursing of Landes on the Coast of the Oryent, reaching to the Golfe called the great Sea, which by the same coast goeth towards the North, in cō ­ming to speak of the land called Anagora, sayth, From thys The Gulfe called Mare magnum. place forwards, there is knowledge of no more Lands, for no man hath sayled any farder, and by Land it is vnaccessible, for the Lande is full of Lakes, and high rockie mountaines of Encisus, tou­ching Para­dise. meruailous greatnes, where they say is the seate of earthly Pa­radise, and that there is the Fountaine, where the foure Ri­uers [Page] make a crosse, and afterwards sinck into the earth, go­ing along by the hollow veynes vvhereof, they come out a­gaine, the one at the Mountaine Emodos which is Ganges, and the other in Ethiopia, at the mountaine De Luna, which is Nylus, and the other two at the rough mountaines of Ar­menia, which are Tygris and Euphrates. All this is so easie for him which made the whole World of nothing, & of no­thing created all thinges in the same, that we ought not so to meruaile at this, but as a thing vvhich may be. Leauing thys opinion, and returning to that of Eugubinus, that Paradise should be planted in the prouince of Heden, & that through the waters of the Generall flood, it should be destroyed and ouerthrowne: the selfe same consideration may serue for this of the Riuers not without proofes very euident and agreea­ble to reason, for if it were destroyed with the Flood, euen as it pleased God to permit the vndooing thereof, so would hee also ordayne, that all signes and markes of the same shoulde cease, to the end, that the peoples dwelling in the prouinces and borders thereabout, shoulde haue no knowledge at all thereof, & that it should be no longer necessary for the Che­rubin to remaine in garde thereof with a fierie Sworde, as till that time hee had done. But before wee come to handle the principall causes, you shall vnderstande, that there are some who holde opinion, that all these foure Riuers, rise neere the Land of Heden, and come to ioyne in the same. Leauing therefore a part Tygris and Euphrates, because that of them seemeth in a manner verified; as for Ganges, the course ther­of is not so contrarie, but that it may well meete where the o­ther riuers doe: and that any inconuenience eyther of lownes or highnes of the earth, might bee sufficient to diuert or to cause the same to runne where it now doth: But this is an ar­gument that neyther concludeth, nor carrieth any reason withall.

As for the Riuer Nilus, they goe another way to worke, Some hold opinion that Nilus is not the same w^t is in the holy Scripture called Fison. saying, that it is not the same, which in the holy Scripture is called Fison, for there are two Ethiopias, say they, the one in Affrica, which is watred with Nilus, the other in the West In­dies in Asia, beginning from the coast of Arabia, & folowing [Page 51] along the coast of the Ocean sea towards the East, the which may be vnderstood by the holy Scriptures, who call those of the Lande of Madian neere to Palestina, Ethiopians: & Se­phora also that was wife to Moises, beeing natiue of that re­gion, was called Ethiopesse. And with this agreeth a Glosse written in the margen of Caetano his discourse vppon thys matter, by Anthonio de Fonseca, a Frier of Portugall, and a man very learned: so that Fison may well be some Riuer of these which watereth this Country, first discending by the Lande of Heden, comming from the same to enter into the Ocean, as Tygris and Euphrates, and many other deepe ri­uers doe; in the same maner may it be coniectured that Gion should bee some one of these riuers, the one and the other through antiquity hauing lost theyr names, and that it is not knowne, because it cannot perfectly be prooued whether of these two Ethiopias is meant by the holy Scripture. Auene­za saith, it is a thing notorious, that the Riuer Gion was not far from the Land of Israell, according to that which is writ­ten in the third booke of Kings. Thou shalt carry it into Gi­on, although there be other Authors that vnderstande not Gion to be a Riuer, but to be the Lake Siloe, or else a Spring so called. If that Gion were Ganges, it is manifest that it run­neth not so neere vnto Israel, as it is heere said. S. Isidore en­treating of this matter, sayeth, that the Riuer called Araxes, commeth out of Paradise, which opinion is also maintained by Albertus Magnus. Procopius writeth of another Riuer, called Narsinus, whose streame issueth from thence neere to the Riuer Euphrates: some thinke that these are Gion and Fison, though at this time, their waters runne not through the same Lands. These are the opinions of Ecclesiasticall Doc­tors, labouring to discusse and sift out the truth of this secret: But leauing them all, I will tell you my opinion partly, agree­ing with Eugubinus and his followers; that when it pleased God to drowne the whole worlde, in time of the Patriarch Noe, with a vniuersall flood, mounting according to the sa­cred Text, fifteene cubits in height aboue all the mountaines of the earth: the same must of necessity make and vnmake, change, alter, and ouerturne many things, raysing valleyes, a­bating [Page] mountaines, altering the Deserts, discouering many The Authors conclusion concerning the foure Riuers. parts of the earth vnseene before, and couering & drowning many Citties and Regions, which from thence forth remai­ned vnder the water ouerwhelmed in the Sea, or couered with Ponds and Lakes, as we know that which without the flood, happened to Sodome and Gomorrha, with the rest, which af­ter they were burnt did sinke with them: And we see often­times in the swelling and ouerflowing of great Riuers, whole Countries drowned and made like vnto a Sea, yea, and some­times mighty Riuers to lose their wonted passage, and turne and change their course another way, farre different from the first: If I say the violent impetuosity of one onely riuer suf­fice to worke these effects? What shall we then thinke was a­ble to doe the incomparable fury, and terrible swinging rage of the generall and vniuersall flood? In the which as the same Text sayth, all the Fountaines and Springs of the earth were broken vp by their bottomes, and all the Conduits of heauen were opened, that there might want no water eyther aboue or beneath. If then the Springs so brake vp, it could not be, but that some of them were changed, and passed into other pla­ces, different from those in which they were before: theyr streames scouring along through contrary wayes and veines of the earth. In like manner might it happen to those which entered into terestriall Paradise, & issued forth to water those Lands named in the holy Text, which eyther through the fal­ling downe of huge mountaines and rocky hills, or filling vp of lowe valleyes, might be constrained to turne their streames farre differently to their former course, or else by the permis­sion and will of GOD, (which would haue vs to be igno­rant of this secrete) they changed their Springs and issues by hiding and shutting them selues in the bowels of the earth, and running through the same many thousand miles: and at last came to rush forth in other parts, farre distant from those where they were before; neyther passed they onely vnder a great quantity of Lands enhabited and vninhabited: but the very Sea also (whom they hold for mother & Spring whence they proceede) hideth them vnder her, to the ende that they might returne to issue foorth, where they were not knowne, [Page 52] or if through some cause they were, it should be vnto our greater admiration and meruaile, as now it is.

Neyther wonder you at all, if the generall flood wrought The opinion of som who thought the world to be plaine and leuel before the time of the vniuer­sall flood. so great a mutation in the world: for there haue not wanted graue men, who affirme, that the whole world before the time of the flood was plaine and leuell, without any hill or valley at all, and that by the waters thereof were made the diuersities of high and lowe places, and the seperation of Ilands from firme Land. And if these reasons suffice not, let euery man thinke heerein what shall best agree with his owne fancy, for in a mistery so doubtfull and secrete we may as well misse as hit: and so S. Augustine thinking this to be a secret which God would not haue knowne, but reserues it to himselfe, saith, that no man may certainly attaine to know where the place of terestriall Paradise is, vnlesse it be by reuelation diuine, which selfe same hee might haue saide of the foure riuers that issue there out. But seeing this is a matter, which the more wee penetrate into, the greater difficulties we shall finde: it were better that wee lefte the same to be discussed and determi­ned, of men whose learning and capacity is more profound then ours, alwayes submitting our selues to their iudgement and censure.

It pleaseth me very wel which you say: but there is one thing in the which you must first satisfie mee, that is my first demaund of the vertue, with which by all reason the wa­ters of these Riuers should be enriched with, for this was the beginning of our present discourse.

I confesse that by reason, these Riuers should haue more vertue then all the others of the world, and so I thinke they had at such tyme as they issued out of Paradise: and whiles with their waters, they refreshed that blessed soyle: but after, as they changed their Springes and Issues, the cause ending, the effect also might cease and end without retayning any more the former vertue: but whether Paradise be as yet, and whether at their beginning they enter into the same, enri­ching & ennobling themselues with the vertue therof, is to vs vtterly vnknown, & perchance God hath herein darkned our vndestanding, because through our wickednes we deserue not [Page] to enioy so great a good, or that a thing so excellent procee­ding from so sacred a place, should be communicated vnto vs: so that we remain in obscurity & darknes vnable to iudge of Paradise, but by signes & coniectures, which lead vs to be­leeue the one and the other without any assured certainty: so that I meruaile not if in so diuers a matter there be diuers opinions.

Will you haue my opinion: vve are so fewe and so ill Christians in the world, that we deserue not to haue this matter of Paradise reuealed by God vnto vs.

Fewe Christians say you? nay we are many in the world if we were all good, and would liue as we ought to doe.

Of all friendship, I pray you make me vnderstand this, for in my o­pinion we are so few, that in many parts of the world there is scarcely any knowledge or notice of vs.

You are farre deceaued, as you shal presently vnderstand. First therfore the deuill is so mighty, that he hath beene able to blind the vnder­standing of many wise & prouident men, to the end that they might not attaine vnto the knowledge of the truth: so that the world is deuided into three principall sorts of Religions, Three prin­cipall sects of Erronius Religions in the world. besides ours which is the vniuersal true Christian and Catho­lique beleefe. The first is of the Iewes, which still remaine in their law: The second is of the Moores and Turks, who fol­low the law of Mahomet. The third is of Pagans and Gen­tiles, who adore Idols, and thinges which are bare creatures, leauing to adore him vvho of nothing made and created them all.

This is that whereat I wonder exceedingly, that these false lawes and sects should so maintaine them selues in manifest errors and deceites, without any substance or foun­dation, especially those of the Pagans and Moores, which in a manner take vp and possesse the whole Lands and Coun­tries of the worlde that are knowne and enhabited: for take the three parts into which the world is by the auncient Phi­losophers deuided, and you shall finde that they possesse so much thereof, that there is scarcely any place left for the Chri­stians, so that we are thrust, and as it were shouldered into the least part thereof which is Europe, yea, and of that also wee possesse but a part.

I tell you once againe that you are deceaued, for Christendome stretcheth very wide and farre, and there are fewe places in the world where Christians inhabite not, as you shall straight vnderstande, though in truth all that beare the name are not true & Catholique Christians. But leauing this for another time, I say, that the blindnes of the Gentiles con­sisted, not in that they followed the simplicity of the Lawes of Nature, the which if in those dayes they had vsed well, they might rightly haue called themselues, wise: But that they be­came to frame and forge new Sects and Religions: Whereas I can not perswade my self, but that they knew that there was one only God, onely puissant and almighty, who of nothing created the whole word, and all things therein contained, but such was theyr malice, that they would needes put vp & ex­alt into the heauens other men, deifying and making them Gods, by their owne authoritie. Of the beginning and origi­nall of Idolatry, though there be many and diuers opinions, The origi­nall of Idols. yet for breuities sake I will omit them, onely the commonest is, that Ninus King of the Assirians, after the death of his Fa­ther King Belus, made and erected an Idol of his likenes, or­dayning the same to be a suretie and defence to all those that had theyr refuge thereunto, howe capitall and haynous soe­uer were the offences by them committed: so that the offen­ders finding there a securitie inuiolable against those by whō they were persecuted, began with all reuerence to worshippe that Idoll, and to doe sacrifice vnto the same, as though it had been God. From that time forward, the ignorant blindnesse of the common people began to adore theyr Kings & Prin­ces and to call them Gods, imagining that as they had been mighty on the earth while they liued, so shoulde they be in heauen after theyr death. Against the grossenes of this error, furdered by the deuill, which put himselfe into the Idols they made: and to deceaue them the more, spake and gaue aun­sweres, many haue written, chiefely Lactantius Firmianus, in his Booke of Diuine Institutions, highly and cleerly making them vnderstand, the error and deceite wherein they were a­bused in adoring creatures, & leauing to adore the Creator. Neyther doe you thinke but that the wiser sort had in dete­station [Page] theyr ignorant errors, laughing at the foolish multi­tude, and though in publique they did like the rest, because they would not lose theyr worldly estimation, yet in theyr se­crete breast they were of a farre different opinion, which they shewed as cleerly as they might, namely Diuine Plato, Ari­stotle, Porphirius, Socrates and Cicero, who in his Treatise of the Nature of the Gods, gaue to vnderstand, howe diffe­rently The olde philosophers in theyr se­cret conceit, detested the adoration of the feyned Gods. hee iudged of those false Gods, if it had beene lawfull freely to haue vttered that which in his breast hee conceaued. To be short, there were fevve Philosophers, eyther Latines or Greekes, which vnderstood not this common blindnesse, hauing the same in abhomination and horror. If you doubt heereof, aske Hermes Trismegistus, who confesseth that there is no more but one true and onely God. Looke in Lu­cians workes, and you shall finde them full of scoffs & iestes in derision of his Gods: whom as there was then no man to lighten and instruct them in the way of truth, they went gre­ping and feeling at blindfold, as all the Gentiles doe vvhich are now at this day in the world. For beeing now generallie come to know and confesse the truth, that there is one onely GOD which created the vvorld, and is the beginning of all things, they ioyntly adore with him, many other imagined Gods, as the Sun, the Moone, the Starres, & all other things of which they think themselues any way to be benefited. But their insensible madnes endeth not heere, for in many places they worship with diuine honors the deuill himselfe, making him temples and sacrifices, and honouring him with all pos­sible veneration: as in many prouinces of India Maior, but cheefely in the West Indies. Beeing asked if there be one onelie GOD, the Creator of all things, they say, yea: and if they knowe the deuill to be of all other creatures the most wicked & abhominable, with open mouth they confesse that he is: if you turne to aske them, wherefore then they adore him, they aunswer, that as God is cheefely Good, so is it his custome and Nature to doe alwayes good and neuer euill, for all euill workes proceede of the deuill, who is the onely Au­thor The cause why the gē ­tiles adore the deuill. of them: so that they haue no neede, say they, to serue or honour God, because they are assured that he wil neuer cease [Page 54] to doe them good, and therefore they serue and honour the deuill, because he should not doe them all the euill hee may: as though the deuill without the permission and sufferaunce of God, could doe or vndoe any thing; so that with these, & such like toyes and frenzies, they runne headlong into hel, re­fusing to take possession of those goodly seates which theyr Deceauers left voyde in heauen.

The Moores and Turkes, presuming to be a people more aduised and setled in reason, deceaue themselues through the sweetnes and libertie of their Law, which flattereth them in their delights and fleshly lusts, without binding them to anie precepts, so that they run on a head, defending it with Armes The Maho­metists will neither hear nor answer any man in disputation against theyr religion. and not with reasons, according to the commaundement of Mahomet, saying, that he that hath an ill cause, puts it to plea­ding: but the likeliest is, that being assured to be vanquished and confounded, if they come to disputation, they wil there­fore neyther heare nor aunswere any man. As for their Pro­phet, as crafty and as wise as he was, yet like a most barbarous and vnlearned man, who neither knew how to read nor write, (besides infinite fansies and toyes that hee saide, aswell in his Alcoran as in the booke called Zuna, compiled of his words and deeds by the wise men of his law) contrarieth himselfe in so many places, that he must be more then blind which seeth not his falsenes, deceit, & beastly ignorance. Concerning thys Many lear­ned Authors that vnrip & lay open the beastly ab­surdities of Mahomets Secte. point read S. Isidore, & Anthoniꝰ Archbishop of Florence, and Vincentius de speculo historiali, & a booke entituled, Forta­licum fidei, and another made by Iohn Andreas, who was first a Moore & an Alfaqui of great estimation, and an other com­posed by Lope de Obregon, Curat of Saint Uincent de Auila, entituled, Confutatio Secte Mahumetanae, the which besides many other Authors, entreat particulerly of this matter: So The wise & learned men amongst thē what shewe soeuer they make in publique, do in secret de­test his abu­sions. that I need not vse any longer discourse heerein, seeing his falsenes, abusions, contradictions and follies, beeing neyther Philosopher nor Astronomer are most manifest: onely I will say, that I holde it also for certaine, that the wise and lear­ned men amongst them, howsoeuer in publique they obserue this Lawe, yet they are in theyr hearts otherwise perswaded: for me thinks, though there were nothing els yet some points [Page] which they themselues confesse, were sufficient to make them find theyr error, and to leade them into the knowledge of the truth, which are such as Mahomet himselfe confesseth, and are expressed in his Alcoran, in the Zuna, and in another Booke which they call Mahomets Ladder of Heauen, full of monstrous absurdities, where he sayth, that going vp with the Archangell Gabriell, who was his guide to bring him into the Mahomets confession touching our Sauiour Iesus Christ, our blessed Lady, the Gospell, and our Christi­an Beleefe. presence of God, hee sawe stand in the seauenth Firmament two auncient Men of great authority and venerable maiestie, and that asking the Archangell who they were, hee answered that they were two very iust men, and great seruants of God: the one S. Iohn whom they called Baptist, and the other, Ie­sus Christ, who was not begotten by man, but by the onelie Spirit of God, and that he was borne of Mary, who after she was deliuered, yet still remained a pure Maiden in perfect virginitie. And in another place he sayth, Christ the Messias, the Word of God, and the holy Spirit of the Highest: Like­wise in another chapter of the Alcoran: Christ shall turne to discend vpon the earth, and shall be the righteous Iudge of the people. And of our blessed Lady he sayth, that the virgin Marie, mother of Iesu Christ, was conceaued without sinne, and offered vp in the Temple, and dedicated to the seruice of God, and that the lotte fell vpon Zacharias to haue charge & care ouer her: that shee spake with the Angels, and commu­nicated with them: that she was fed with caelestiall food: and that the Angels said vnto her, O Mary, Mary, certainly God hath chosen thee, and adorned thee, and exalted thee aboue all the vvomen of all generations. But aboue all, I vvoulde haue you marke one grosse absurditie of this naughtie man, the vvhich alone were sufficient to make all Moores, Turkes, and Infidels in the world, to discouer & find out his ignorant falsenes, that is, where he affirmeth our blessed Lady, to be that Mary which was sister of Aaron: wheras there is so great di­stance of yeres passed between the one & the other, & it be­ing a thing so manifest, that Christ was in the time of the Emperours Augustus and Tyberius Caefar. The which is an errour so notorious, that it shoulde cause the whole world to know and detest his blindnes, abusion, and ignorance.

[Page 55] Besides, the selfe same Mahomet speaking in his Alcoran of the Gospell, termeth it the light, health, way, and law of the people, without the which they cannot be saued: and in ma­ny places he confesseth the faith of the Christians to be holy and good, though afterwards like a blind, wicked, and fran­tick man, hee turneth to speake against it, condemning the same for naught: and yet all his Alcoran and the bookes of Zuna, of no lesse reputation amongst the Moores then the Alcoran, are full of the praises of Christ, of his holy Mother, and of the Gospell: which was an occasion that not long since, there were some among the Turkes in Constantinople, that dared openly maintaine and affirme, that Christ was a greater Prophet and better beloued of God then Mahomet. But let vs leaue these kind of men, running wilfully vnto their The slauery and serui­tude which the Iewes haue endu­red since the deniall of our Sauiour the true Messias, is an euident argument to confute their obsti­nate blind­nes. owne damnation, and come vnto the Iewes, a people no lesse obstinate and wilfull then the other, who by no meanes will confesse that the prophesies of the Messias, promised in their law was fulfilled in our Sauiour Christ, but remaine obstinate in stubbernes and hardnes of hart: and therefore God per­mitteth that they liue continually in slauery and subiection of Christians, Moores, & Pagans, reproached, contemned, and persecuted, in which seruile & miserable state they shall con­tinue so long, as they doe perseuer in resisting, & not willingly acknowledge the manifest and knowne truth: But this is so cleare, that it were in vaine to spend therein any time.

Turning therefore to that, whereas you said, that in respect of other sectes, there were but few Christians in the worlde, I would haue you otherwise perswaded: for presupposed that the greater and truer Christianity be in these our parts of Eu­rope. Yet for all that there are Christians in all parts of the world, or at least ouer the greater part thereof. Besides, those with whom we commonly heere conuerse, there is on the o­ther side of Alemaigne, Hungry, & Polonia, within our Eu­rope, a great number of Christian Regions: as Russia, Prusia, Lituania, Moscouia, part of Tartaria, & many other mighty Prouinces which followe the Greeke Church, though not wholy, for some of them apart & sepuester them selues from the same, holding seueral & different opinions. Besides these, [Page] there are the kingdomes of Scotland, Mirguena, Swethland, and Westgothland, with infinite others towards the North, of which we will one day discourse more particulerly, and at length. But leauing Europe, because it is so knowne and no­torious; let vs passe into Libia & Affrica, which is the second part of the world, where we shall finde, besides many Coun­tries conquered by the Crowne of Portugale, and reduced to the Christian faith, that on the Coast towards the South, in the midst thereof is a Christendome, so great, large, and wide, that it is little lesse then this of our Europe, which is wholy vnder the gouernment and subiection of one King and Go­uernour.

Is not that hee whom wee call Prester Iohn.

Yes, it is he indeede which is now commonly so called, but those which gaue him this name, and nowe call him so, know not what they say, nor whether they name him right or no.

This cannot I vnderstand, vnlesse you declare it plainlier vnto mee: for it is contrary to the common opinion of all men.

I confesse it to be so, and that it is a great chaunce if you find any man affirme the contrary: but if you will heare me a little, you shal vnderstand wherein the error is; so that you your self wil confes that I haue reasō in that which I will say: First therefore it were good that you did vnder­stand what Paulus Iouius entreating of this matter affirmeth, who sayth, that this name of Prester Iohn is corrupted, & that his true name is Belulgian, which was cōmon to all the Kings The name of Prester Iohn is rightly Be­lulgian. of that Land: the which interpreted, signifieth a rich pearle of great & incomparable excellence: But turning to our pur­pose, if you reade the life of S. Thomas the Apostle, and S. Luke, in the Acts of the Apostles, you shall find that S. Tho­mas went to preach the faith in India maior, where he died, leauing conuerted to the Christian beliefe infinite multitudes of people, who electing and choosing after his death, a priest that was called Iohn, to gouerne, instruct, & rule them, from that time forward each of their Gouernors being for the most part priests, were called Priest Iohn, bearing the name of the first elected. Of their election there is written a very strange An egregi­ous fiction of the Pa­pists. History: that at the time of the solemnity thereof, a hand of S. Thomas was brought forth, into which putting a dry wi­thered [Page 56] Vine, when hee that was elected passed by: the same burgened and sprouted out Vine leaues, greene branches, and sundry clusters of ripe Grapes, out of which they pressed the wine, with which they celebrated the same day seruice. But though you beleeue not this, there is no greater danger: For they had not the body of S. Thomas, neither knew they where it was; and as we find in the Chronicles of Portugale, this ho­ly The place where Saint Thomas the Apostle died Apostle died in a Country called Choromandel, in the king­dom of Bishaga, & in a citty named Melia, somtimes the prin­cipal of that kingdom, but now ruinated, remaining only cer­taine auncient and noble buildings, by which it appeareth the Citty to haue been somtimes great & populous: amongst the which there is a church held by the enhabitants in great vene­ration, saying, that there lay buried the body of S. Thomas, & another of a King by him conuerted to the faith of Christ. The Portugales digging in search thereof, found 3. bodies, the one of the king, another of the Apostle, & a third of one of his Disciples. That of the Apostle they knew by sundry markes, chiefly in that they found lying by him in his graue a Launce, with the which, the fame went in those Countries that he was slaine, vvhich opinion whole India maintayneth: but the Church in his life recordeth the same in another sort, saying, The Church holdeth that S. Thomas was slayne with a knife by an idola­trous Priest. that he was wounded to death with a knife, by the hands of an Idolatrous Priest: though herein be small difference. S. I­sidore speaking of him, saith, that he died with the stroke of a Launce, & his body, as it is written in his life, was transported into the Country of Syria, into the Citty of Aedisa: and this is that which we chiefly ought to beleeue. But how so euer it be, S. Mathew was he who preached in Aethipia, and S. Tho­mas in India, after whom succeeded Prester Iohn, whose be­ginning of rule was great & mighty, which authority in space The begin­ning of the name and authority of Prester Iohn of time they came to loose, and to be yoked vnder the subiec­tion of the great Cham. The manner of this, being so far off, hath not beene well vnderstooode, though some haue ende­uoured to write and giue notice thereof, principally, though passing obscurely a certayne Armenian: but certayne it is, that there are as yet sundry tokens of this Christianity. Iohn Mandeuile vvryteth in the description of a iourney, vvhich [Page] he made, that there are many of these Christian Prouinces vnder the dominion & Empire of great Cham, whom at his entry into their Townes, they encounter with their Cleargy in Procession, & the holy Crosse before them, to which hee boweth & maketh low reuerence: and that they blesse fiue Apples, presenting them vnto him in a dish, of which hee ta­keth and eateth of the one: If he refuse so to doe, they take it for a great disfauour. Lodouicus Patritius Romanus, writeth, that being in Taprobana, he found there sundry Merchants of the fore-said Prouinces, who professed the faith of Christ, making him great and large offers, if hee would accompany them home into their Country, & instruct them more amply & throughly in the faith, according to the vse of the Romain Church: which request of theirs he would willingly haue ac­complished, but that he dared not vndertake so far a voyage: so that heereby wee may gather, that Prester Iohn is not hee which is in Aethiopia but he who was in the Oriental Indies, Prester Iohn is not hee which is in Aethiopia, but he who was in the East Indies conquered by the great Chā, though the other be now throgh error so cal­led. and that he name giuen vnto him of Aethiopia, was but through error, & because the people would haue it to be so. Iohannes Teuronicus, in his book of the rites & customes of Nations, is as well deceaued also in this matter as the rest, fol­lowing the cōmon opinion, that he of Aethiopia in Afrique should be Prester Iohn: the other hauing raigned & beene subdued in the end of Asia, where, as I said, the great Cham or Tartare holdeth his Empire & signeury, who as it is thought, is one of the puissantest & mightiest monarches of the world, & so he entituleth himselfe King of Kings, & Lord of Lords. This matter, though otherwise well knowne and verified, is also confirmed by Marcus Paulus Venetus, who was along time resident in Townes & Citties of his Empire, and by an English Knight, likewise called Iohn Mandeuile, who seruing him in his warrs, receaued his wages & pention.

You haue great reason in all this which you haue said: and now I call to memory, that the Aethiopians beganne to receaue the faith of S. Phillip the Deacon, and afterwards by the preach­ing of S. Mathew the Apostle, and therefore they vaunt them selues to be the first Christians that were in the world in com­munity. But leauing these, there is a prouince of Christians [Page 57] in Asia, called Georgia, the which say they, were so called, be­cause they were conuerted by S. George: but I rather take it to A Prouince of Christians called Geor­gia. be the ancient proper name of the Prouince. These Georgists are also called Yuori, they haue their Embassadours alwaies in the Court of the Sophie, I knowe not whether they pay him tribute or no: their Country is very colde and full of Moun­taines. Those also of Colchos are christians, now called by an Sundry Pro­uinces, king­doms and I­lands of Christians. other name, Mengrels. There is another kind of people cal­led Albanes, who maintaine the Christian religion. There is another country of Christians who are called Iacobits: & on the Mountaine Sinay there are other christians named Ma­romites. And all the coast of India is inhabited of christians, from the entry of the Red-Sea, where the citty of Aden stan­deth, to the citties of Ormur, Dia, & Malaca, and frō thence forward to the kingdoms of Iapon & China, which are verie great & mighty: and hereabouts border many other King­doms, citties, & Ilands, as Zamora, Taprobana, Zeilan, Bor­ney, and the Iles of Molucco, whence the spice cōmeth, with many other Regions great & little, where dwell infinit num­bers of Christians, as well Portugals as other, which (through their good example) haue conuerted themselues to the Chri­stian faith: the like is hoped that those wil doe which liue vn­der the subiection of the great Cham, seeing they drawe so neere vnto it, which should be a great augmentation of chri­stianitie: so that by this meanes Christianitie goeth as it were compassing round about the whole world. The christianitie Christianity goeth com­passing roūd about the whole world of the Armenians is notorious to all men, in the greater of which they are in a manner all christians, and in the lesser, the greatest part. There are likewise christians in Sury in Egypt, where as yet remaine sundry signes of ancient christianity, & in many other parts, though in respect of their farre distance from hence, we haue no plaine and perticuler knowledge of them. I haue read in the chronicles of Portugall, that vvhen the Ilands of Catatora were founde out, the enhabitants were all christians in their beliefe, though, God wot, passing igno­rant in the misteries of the same: for they onely worshipped the Crosse, because they said that God the redeemer of man­kind died vpon the same: as for the rest, they held a few pre­cepts, [Page] the chiefest of which was, to obserue the law of Nature. They called themselues by the names of the Apostles and o­ther Saints, whereby it may be thought, that some good chri­stian man had arriued in that Iland, and conuerted thē to the faith, through whose death or departure from thence, they re­mained so smally endoctrined in that Beliefe, through the which they should worke their saluation. As for the christia­nity of the West Indies & new discouered world, we al know it & hold it for a thing most assured, that asmuch as is & shall be discouered, will embrace the Catholick faith: because that people easily discouereth the error of their Idols and false gods, knowing him whom they serued, to be the verie deuill himselfe: for some of them were of the same beliefe as those of India Maior, of whom I spake before, who held him in so­lemne reuerence with sacrifice & temples. But since the chri­stians arriuall in those parts, now they see the dreadful state of damnation wherin they stood, & withall, the deuils authority daily decaying: (for he speaketh nor appeareth now no more The deuill speaketh nor appeareth no more to those Gen­tiles that be­gin to em­brace the Christian fayth. vnto thē as he was wont to doe) there come daily such migh­ty numbers of them, & with such sorrowfull contrition & re­pentance to receiue the Christian faith, that it is wonderfull: in which after they are once throughly instructed, they per­seuer with such ardent charity, zeale and perfection, that tru­lie I am ashamed to say, how far they doe excell vs of vvhom they receaued it.

At one thing I do much vvonder, and that is, how the christianity of these Indies remaineth so cleere without Heresies, considering the foule & contagious infection that is here amongst vs, & no doubt but diuers haue The newe conuerted Countries, cleer with­out heresie. gone out of these parts thither, that haue not beene of the soundest in Religion, but it seemeth that God hath layde his hand vpon that Country for the preseruation of the same, to the end he may be there honored & serued.

Wee haue vnderstood that Christendom is far greater then we thought it had been, if we all could agree in one vnitie of acknowledg­ing & obeying the Catholique Church: and couer our selfe vnder the blessed protection thereof, & not as many doe, who beare only the name of Christians, but are indeed children of damnation, following other fantasticall Churches, & profes­sing [Page 58] new haereticall doctrines. I pray God that wee may liue to be all liuely members of one true and Catholique Church, the Spouse of Christ, & that we may one day see the prophe­cie fulfilled, Et erit vnum Ouile, & vnus Pastor, and there shal be one flold & one Sheepheard.

That wee may see, say you, this were to promise your selfe a longer life, then those of whō we yesterday made mention: considering the diuersi­tie of supersticions, & factious Sectes wherewith the world is infected.

Say not so, for whē soeuer it shall please God to touch the harts of all those in the world with his mercifull hands, he can in one yeere, yea in one month, day, houre, or moment, so illuminate & lighten, not only all haereticall Chri­stians, but also Turkes, Moores, Pagans, and Iewes, and all erronious Sectes ouer the whole world, that they may see and repent their owne error, & reconcile themselues into the bo­some of our holy Mother the Catholique Church, to th'end the prophecies you haue said, may take effect: but let vs not looke for this, till that which is promised of the comming of Antechrist be fulfilled, which, wee knowe not, when it shall please GOD to bring to passe. In the meane time, seeing it now beginneth to grow late, let vs deferre this communica­tion of ours, till we meet againe to morrow, or any other time when it shal please you.

I am well content therwith, because the howre of Supper approcheth, but on condition that we faile not to meet heere againe to morrow at this time, and walke into this pleasant Garden hereby, where the varie­tie of sweet sauours and odoriferous flowers will exceedingly delight vs, & giue vs occasion to passe our time in good con­uersation.

No man better content with this match then I: in the meane time, committing you to the protection of the Angels, I take my leaue, for I must goe this other way.

God haue both you and vs in his keeping, and blesse vs euerlastingly.

SO soone as I knew of your beeing here, I made as much hast as I possibly might to come to you, and had not it been that some occasions hindered mee, I woulde not haue failed to haue beene the first.

I likewise had a desire to haue come sooner, to the end I might the more at leysure haue enioyed the pleasant freshnes of this Garden. But because the way betweene this and my lodging is long, I stayed for the company of signior Anthonio, to enioy by the way his good conuersation.

To say the very truth, I am glad that I finde you here, for if I had been heere my selfe alone, I should haue beene halfe a­fraid.

And of what?

Haue you not heard that which is bruited abroad these few dayes past?

I haue not heard any thing, neither know I what you meane, vnlesse you first declare it vnto me.

Why it is openly sayde ouer all the Towne, that there hath of late appeared in thys Garden certaine visions & Spirits, which haue affrighted di­uers men, so that for my part, though it be somewhat against my good reputation, I am not ashamed to confesse it, I am so fearefull, that I had rather fight with any man, how far so­euer aboue mee in force and strength, then to be alone in place, where any such cause of feare and amazement might happen.

There are many which would laugh at this which you say, & attribute your feare to faintnes and want of courage: but I will not meruaile hereat, because I know how violently such passions and conditions of the mind are, which as it seemeth, grow and are borne in men, so that, though they would neuer so faine, yet they cannot shake them off & for­get [Page 59] them: so that I haue seene a man, who, if you shewed him A man that could by no meanes en­dure the sight of a Rat. a Rat, would cry out, and enter into amazement, trembling like a child; though in all other his actions, he wanted neither valour nor courage. Besides this, it is a thing publique and well knowne, of a Noble man in this Country of ours, who, if you shut any doore in the whole house where hee is, at what houre so euer it be of the night, entereth into such an alterati­on A Noble man that if you shut by night any doore of the house, wold be ready to throw him selfe out at the window and agony, that sometimes he is ready to throw him selfe out at the window. And there are others, which if you make any iesture at them with your hands or fingers, they trouble and vexe them selues, as though you did them the greatest oppression and outrage in the world.

These are na­turall passions and imperfections, which seeing, as the olde prouerbe is: no man can take away that which Nature hath giuen, they that are troubled with them, are not to be blamed, if they cannot leaue and cast them off so lightly, as it seemeth they might, to those that are not encombred with them.

They are not so absolutely naturall, as you terme them, for they are qualities which worke in men, according to the com­plexion of which they are: and as the complexion which is the causer of them may change, and is often changed through space of time and many other accidentall causes; so also may be changed, these which you call passions, defects, or inclina­tions naturall. We see this verified by good experience, in those who are much troubled with melancholly, who so long as this humor dureth, are amazed at all things which they see, hauing in their minds a kind of impression and imagination, which maketh those thinges seeme to be of an other figure, then in deede they are: but this humor consuming, and the other humors comming to praedominate aboue that of me­lancholly, this amazement of theirs weareth away, and they become in conditions far different to that they were before: in this sort the chollerick man is commonly hasty and heede­lesse in all occasions; and the flegmatick more slowe and tar­dise: But age, time, and chaunces, change many times one complexion into an other, and ioyntly the passions, conditi­ons, and operations of them, as by example we see euery day.

So that you say, though they be not wholy naturall, yet [Page] there is no great error in saying that they are, whiles their com­plexion so continueth without changing.

Vnderstand it how you will, but howsoeuer they are, the force which they haue is great, so that if it be not with singuler reason and dis­cretion, they are sildome kept vnder, and subdued.

May they then at any time be subdued?

Yea indeed may they, for I my selfe haue seene good experience thereof, A strange melancholly humor of a Gentlewo­man, which by reason & discretion she violently suppressed. in a kindswoman of mine, not dwelling farre from hence, which being vexed with a kind of melancholly, called by the Phisitions Mirrachia, vvhich bereaueth the Patient of all iudgement, driuing him to a kind of madnes and frenzie: in such sort suppressed and preuented the same with discretion and reason, that shee sildome suffered her selfe to be vanqui­shed thereof: And truly it was strange, to see the combate that passed betweene her & the melancholly, in such sort that you should see her sometimes forced to fall downe groueling to the ground, flat vpon her face: and though the violence of this humor was such, that it forced her somtimes to teare in peeces such thinges as she had about her, and to cast stones at those that passed by, and to bite those that approached her: yet reason continually so striued against the vehemencie of these passions, gouerning, detaining, & suppressing them, that by little and little they vtterly forsooke her, leauing her sences cleare, & her iudgment vntroubled as it was before: but lea­uing this, and returning to your speech of the Spirits, which are reported to be seene somtimes in this Garden: did you e­uer procure to sound out the truth thereof?

Yes mar­rie did I, but I could neuer learne any certainty thereof, so that I hold it for a iest, and all other such like tales, of which the common people speaketh.

There are some, certainly, yea, and very many, which I take to be meere fictions and fa­bles, inuented by men for their pastime, or some other cause that moued them: others there are, which are vndoubtedly of most assured truth, as it appeareth by sundry examples & successes which cannot be denied.

Truly Signior An­thonio, I shold be very glad, throughly to vnderstand this mat­ter of Spirits, whether they be illusions & deceits of the deuill, who representeth thē in imagination & fancy only; or whe­ther [Page 60] they are truly seene & discerned with our bodily eyes, for according to the diuersity of tales which I haue heard, and of such diuers sorts, I knowe not what I should iudge thereof.

You haue entred into a matter very deepe, & me thinks you go about to make me a Diuine perforce, as yesterday you did, in that of terestriall Paradise, wherin because I found you then easie to be contented, I am the readier now to satisfie you so far as my knowledge extendeth. Let vs therfore repose our selues on this greene banke, where with the shadow of those trees of one side, & the freshnes of this Fountain on the other, we shal sit to our ease & contentment.

We are ready to fulfill & obey your cōmaundement in all things, especially in this tending to so good an end: & surely I haue oftentimes beaten my braines about this matter, of which you will nowe entreate, but still in the end, finding the conceite thereof intri­cate & aboue my capacity, I gaue it quite ouer.

Well therfore, I wil begin to say what I know, & as there ariseth a­ny doubt, aske, and I wil doe my best to resolue & satisfie you as wel as I can, & with the greatest breuity possible, for other­wise the matter is so great & so much thereof written, that we should neuer bring it to an end: and because these illusions & Illusions and apparitions of Spirits do chiefly pro­ceede of the deuill. apparitions of Spirits chiefely proceed of the deuils, let vs first see what the ancient Philosophers thought of them, not tou­ching our Christian Religion. The Peripatetikes & chiefely Aristotle, were of opinion, that there were no deuils at all, and so saith Aueroes, that hee knew no spirituall substances, but those which moue the heauens, which he calleth also Angels, seperated substances, intelligences, & mouing vertues, so that the deuils being spirituall substances, he seemeth to deny that there be any. Of the same opinion was Democrites, & therin so obstinate, that certaine yong men clothing themselues one Democrites would by no meanes beleeue that there were any deuils. night in deformed & vgly attire, seeming to be very deuils in deed, thinking to make him afraide, when they came into the place where he was, vsing horrible & feareful gestures, he she­wed himselfe secure without any alteration at all, bidding thē cease to play the fools, because he knew wel there were no such bugs as they represented. And when these Philosophers were asked, what griefe that was which those endured who [Page] were possessed of Spirits: they answered it was a passion pro­ceeding The olde philosophers opinon tou­ching those that were possessed with Spirits. of a melancholly humor, affirming melancholly to be able to worke those effects: and as yet the most part of Phi­sitions, maintaine the same; affirming that when the deuill speaketh in diuers tongues, yea, though often very highly and mistically, yet that all this may well proceed through the ope­ration of a vehement melancholly. But this is a manifest er­ror, for amongst the Ethnike Philosophers them selues, there were diuers of a contrary opinion: as Pythagoras, Plato, So­crates, Trismegistus, Proculus, Pophirius, Iamblicus, & many others, though S. Austine in his ninth booke De ciuitate Dei, sayeth, that Plato and his followers called the superiour An­gels Gods, and that they were the selfe same, whom Aristotle called Angels; and in this sort is to be vnderstoode the spirit of Socrates, so famous in Platos works, and of which Apulei­us writeth a whole booke, and whosoeuer attentiuely readeth the Tymeus of Plato, and his Cratilus in the tenth Dialogue De legibus, shal find that he meant the same: & Aristotle him selfe, sayeth, that Lemures and Lamiae dwell in a sad Region.

I vnderstand not these names if you declare thē not plain­lier vnto me.

The deuils are called by sundry & different Lemures et Lamiae. names, which though for certaine respects keepe their parti­culer significations, & Lamiae properly signifie a kind of de­uils, yet vnder the same name, are also contayned Hags and Witches, as persons who haue confederation and agreement with the deuill: and Lemures or Lares are such as wee call Hobgoblins or domesticall Spirits: and as these are Spirits, it seemeth to make against that which in other places he main­tained: But leauing these men who went so blindly and ob­scurely to worke: Let vs come to the trueth it selfe, which is Christ, and to our Christian Religion, which manifestly tea­cheth vs to vnderstand, what we should beleeue as touching these maligne Spirits, whose being, is proued by so many ex­amples and testimonies of the holy Scripture, and by the mi­steries and miracles wrought by the same God our Sauiour, in casting them foorth of humaine bodies: The which after­wards the Apostles and holy men, did in like sort. The Phi­losophers which confessed that there were deuils, though they [Page 61] vnderstood, that theyr office was to torment the soules of e­uill liuers, as saith Plato, and Xenocrates in his booke which he made of death, yet they drawe diuers waies, for they make good spirits and euil spirits, and they call the departed soules of great wise men, Spirits, & halfe Gods, feyning thē through the excellencie of their merrits, to be assumpted into heauen, where, though they neuer entered into the Consistory with The fabulus fictiō of the old Phylo­sophers. the other Gods, but when they were called and appointed, yet were they Mediators for men that liued on the earth, car­rying and offering vp theyr messages, requests, demaunds & supplications to the Gods in heauen. Neyther made they heere an end, but they called also the Gods, Daemons, as it ap­peareth Daemonia. by the words of Trismegistus, which are thus. When the separation, saith he, shall be of the soule from the bodie, the examination thereof shall be tryed by the power & iudg­ment of the chiefe Daemon, who finding it righteous & god­lie, will assigne it a conuenient & happy place: but if he find it spotted with wickednes, and defiled with sinnes and offen­ces, hee will throw it into the deepe Abysmes, where there is alwayes horror and confusion, terrible tempests, violent waters, and vnquenchable fires; And so by degrees downe­wardes towards the earth, they place other Gods, still decly­ning, till they come to the ill Spirits, which they say are those who dwell vnder the earth in the deepe Abysmes thereof. Feyning besides, a hundred thousand other such like toyes & vanities, which if you desire to see, you may reade the Phylo­sophers before named, and besides them Caelius Rodiginus, Protinus, Pselius and many others, who haue perticulerlie written of this matter. But one thing I will assure you, that he had neede of a very diuine iudgement, whom they confound not with theyr intricate and obscure contrarieties: it is best therefore that we referre our selues to the Church, following for Pylots in this matter the holy Doctors, who cleerelie ex­presse the pure truth hereof, and so shall we attaine to the vn­derstanding of that which we pretend.

You say well, but first declare vnto vs, whether Lucifer & those other An­gels that offended with him in ambition and pryde, fell alto­gether into hell, or no?

They fell not altogether into [Page] the very Abysme of Hell, though they all fell into the truest hell, which is Punishment. Those which remained in the Whether Lucifer and those other Angels that offended w^t him, fell al­together in­to Hell, or no. places betweene, was because they had not offended with so determinate an obstination and vehemence as the others had, and they remained also there, because it was necessary & con­uenient for our merite, that we should haue Spirits for our e­nemies, & in such place where they might vexe vs with theyr temptations. For which cause, God permitted a great part of them to remaine in the ayre, the earth, and the water, vvhere they shall continue till the day of iudgement, and then they shall be all damned into the very dungeon of Hell: so that we haue with them a continuall warre: who though they be in the places which I haue said, yet are they not out of Hell in respect of torment, for theyr paine is all alike. All this is out of S. Thomas, in the first part. Quest. 64. Ar. 4. The diffe­rence of the degrees of Spirits, is rehearsed by Gaudencius Merula, taking the same out of Pselius, who maketh 6. kinds Sixe degees of Spirits. of Spirits betweene Heauen & Hell. The first, who are those that remained in the highest region of the Ayre, hee calleth Angels of fire: because they are neere vnto that Region, and perchance within it. The second kinde, saith hee, is from the middle region of the Ayre downeward towardes the Earth. The third, on the earth it selfe. The fourth, in the waters. The fift, in the Caues and hollow vautes of the earth. The sixt in the very dungeon and Abysme of Hell.

In such sort, that they are as it were enter-linked one with another, but tell mee, haue all these Spirits one selfe dutie and office.

No, if we will beleeue Gaudencius Merula, but manie, and The deuils haue seue­rall and sun­dry offices. those of diuers sorts. For the cheefest greefe and paine of the first, which vvere those that had least offended, seeing them­selues so neere Heauen, is the contemplation, that through theyr wickednes they haue lost so great a Beatitude, (though this be generall to them all) and these are nothing so harmfull as the others are. For those which are in the middle of the re­gion of the Ayre, and those that are vnder them neerer the earth, are those which sometimes, out of the ordinary opera­tion of Nature, doe mooue the windes with greater fury then they are accustomed, & doe out of season congele the clowes, [Page 62] causing it to thunder, lighten, haile, and to destroy the grasse, Corne, Vines, and fruites of the earth, and these are they, whose helpe the Negromancers do often vse in their deuilish operations. Amongst other things which are written in the Booke called Mallcus Maleficarum, you shall finde, that the Commissioners hauing apprehended certaine Sorceresses, A strange story written in the book called, The Hammer of Witches. willed one of them to shew what she could doe, assuring her life, on condition that from thence forward, shee should no more offend in the like. Wherupon, going out into the fields, in presence of the Commissioners & many other besides, she made a pitte in the ground with her hands, making her vva­ter into the same, which being done, she stirred about the v­rine with one of her fingers, out of the which, by little & lit­tle after shee had made certaine Characters, and mumbled a few wordes, there arose a vapour, which ascending vpwarde like a smoake, began to thicken of it selfe in the midst of the region of the ayre, gathering and making there a blacke fear­full Clowde, which cast out so many thunders & lightnings, that it seemed to be a thing hellish and infernall: the vvoman remaining all thys while still, asked at last the Commissioners where they woulde haue that clowde to discharge a great quantitie of stones, they poynting her to a certaine place, where it could doe no hurt at all, the clowde of a suddaine be­gan to moue it selfe, with a great furious blustering of winds, and in short space comming ouer the place appointed, dys­charged a great number of stones, like a violent shower, di­rectly within the compasse thereof. And in this sort may the Witches and Negromancers worke many such like thinges, through the help of those Spirits, as we wil hereafter declare. But turning to the third kind of Spirits beeing on the earth, The office & function of the thirde degree of Spirits. whose principall office & function is to persecute men, and to tempt and allure them to sinne, and thereby to worke theyr damnation, enuying that those glorious places which they once enioyed in heauen, should bee possessed & replenished with men. These vex vs, these trouble vs, these deceiue vs, and The deuils malice a­gainst vs, proceedeth onely of enuie. entise vs to all those wicked offences, which we cōmit against the maiestie of him, who made & created vs of nothing these lie in waight day and night to entrap vs, sleeping and waking [Page] they allure vs to euill thoughts and naughty works, tempting our soules, & perswading vs to run the way of perdition: the which because they are Spirits they may very well do, in vex­ing and tempting our Spirit, yea, and many times so that wee are not not able to perceaue it. And though Gaudencius & The deuils though of different kindes, yet in malice & desire to doe euill, are all alike. Pselius attribute to sundry kindes of Spirits, sundry functions in perticuler, yet in generall each of thē can indifferently vse them, though they be of another kinde. For in dooing euill, they agree all in one malice, and most earnest desire to worke our damnation by all meanes possibly they may.

Is that true which they say, that there is no man but hath at his right hand a good Angell, and at his left hand a bad.

Doubt not of this, for as God, for our good and benefit, hath ordeyned to each one of vs a good Angel to accompanie vs, Euery man hath a good Angell and a bad atten­dant vpon him. whom we call our Angel of gard, who as by the holy church we are taught, keepeth & defendeth vs frō many dangerous temptations, by which the deuil procureth to work our dam­nation: so also haue we at our left hand an ill Spirit, which stil is solliciting, perswading and alluring vs to sin and offend by all meanes possibly he may. And the Gentiles, though they were not so illuminated as we are, yet did they in part acknow ledge this, calling the good Angell, Genium Hominis: though Genium Ho­minis. this of the euill Angell I haue not found approoued by ame Author, onely that it is an opinion which the common peo­ple holdeth, and is generally allowed: and besides, the readi­nes of them at hande to procure vs to sin, is confirmed by the holy Scripture in sundry places.

What power hath God giuen vnto these good and bad Angels, which wee carry daily in our company?

That may you vnderstand by the wordes of Iob, who sayth: There is no power which may be compared thereunto: and The won­derfull puis­sance of the deuill. so leauing aside that which concerneth the good Angels, all whose works are wholy directed to the seruice & wil of God: as touching the euill spirit, our enemy, he is so mighty & puis­sant in forces, that in a moment he can throw downe moun­taines, and raise vp valleis, force riuers to runne against their streame, dry vp the Sea, and turne all thinges in the vvorlde topsie turuie, so that hee ouerthrowe not the frame and [Page 63] Machine thereof made and ordayned by the hand of God. But you must consider, that they cannot vse and put in effect The power of the deuill restrained by God. this power and vertue, with the which they were first created, when they list: For God hath so bound and limited them, as S. Austine saith in his third booke de Trinitate, that they can­not put in excution the full puissance of their malicious de­sire, without the permission of God, by which they are bride­led and restrained.

How commeth it then, that they doe often vexe and torment men, not onely doing them great and greeuous da­mages, but also oppressing them with violent and sodaine death: As for example, I can tell you two thinges of mine owne knowledge, both most true and strange: vvhereof this A strange chance that happened to a Boy in the Citty of A­storga. one that followeth happened in the Towne vvhere I was borne & brought vp, in which there was a man of very good quality, and well learned, who had two Sonnes, the one of which being about the age of 12. or 13. yeeres, had through some fault of his so offended his Mother, that in a rage shee began to curse him with detestable maledictions, betaking him to the deuils of hell, and wishing that they would fetch him out of her presence, with many other horrible execrati­ons: this was about ten a clok at night, the same being passing darke and obscure; the foolish woman continuing her wic­ked curses so long, till at last the Boy through feare, went out into a little Court behind the house, out of which he sodainly vanished, in such sort, that though with great diligence they searched round about the house, they could by no meanes finde him, at which both his Father and Mother exceedingly wondred, because both the dores of the same Court, and all o­thers about the house at which hee might goe out, were fast bolted & lockt; about two houres after, they heard in a cham­ber ouer their heads, a very great noise, and withall the young Boy groaning, with extreame anguish and griefe: whereup­pon they presently going vp, and opening the chamber dore, which they found also fast lockt, they perceaued the seely boy lie groueling on the ground, in the most pittifull plight that might be: for besides his garments which were rent & torne all to peeces, his face, hands, and in a manner his whole body, [Page] was scratcht & grated, as though he had been drawn through thornes and briers: and he was so disfigured & dismayed, that hee came not that whole night to himselfe. In the meane time, his parents caused him to be drest and cured in the care­fullest sort they might, omitting nothing which they thought to be expedient for the recouery of his health: The next day, after his sences were somwhat comforted, and that he began to recouer his iudgment, they asked him by what meanes this mischaunce had happened vnto him, to whom he made aun­swere, that as he stoode in the court or trippet, there came vn­to him certaine men of exceeding great stature, grim in coun­tenance, and in gesture lothsome and horrible, who presently without speaking any word, hoised him vp into the ayre, and caried him away, with such swiftnes, that it was not possible to his seeming, for any Bird in the world to flie so fast; and at last lighting downe amongst certaine mountaines full of bu­shes & briers, they trailed him through the thickest of them, from one side to another, araying him in such sort, as at this present he was to be seene: and thinking surely none other, but that they would kill him, he had at last the grace and me­mory to commend him selfe vnto God, beseeching him to helpe and assist him: at which very instant they turned backe with him through the aire, and put him in at a little window, which was there in the chamber, where when they had left him, they vanished away. This Boy I knew familierly, both in his young and elder yeeres, for he liued many yeeres after: but hee remained euer after that time deafe, and dull concei­ted, neuer recouering his former quicknes and viuacity of spi­rit: taking continually exceeding griefe, when any man tal­ked with him of this matter, or brought it anie way into his memorie.

Trulie those parents who in their angrie moods, offer and betake their children to the deuill doe most greeuously offend, of which this that you haue said is an ex­cellent example: But now for aunswere of your obiection, I say that somtimes, for iust causes, God permitteth the deuill to vse and put in execution, some part of the much which hee may doe: as you may vnderstand by his suffering sathan to persecute Iob, whom he yet so limited, that he could haue no [Page 64] power to touch his soule, and the like hath he done and doth, in other things which we haue seene and knowne, and haue happened, and daily happen in diuers parts: of the which I will tell you one, that happened about 8. or 10. yeeres since, in a Village called Benauides, where two men being together in A verie strange thing that happened in Benauides. a fielde, there arose of a sodaine a terrible tempest, with such violence of vveather and vvinde, and presently there-vpon a vvhirl-wind so strangely impetuous, that it amazed those that beheld it. The two young men seeing the fury thereof come amaine towards them, to auoide the maine danger, ran away as fast as they possibly might: but to be short, make what hast they could, in fine it ouertooke them, who fearing least the same should swinge them vp into the aire, let them selues fall flatlong downe to the earth, where the vvhirl-wind, whisking round about them a pretty while, and then passing forth, the one of them arose, so altered, and in such an agony, that he was scarcely able to stand on his feete, yet as well as he could, som­times going and somtimes creeping, hee came towards those that stoode vnder a hedge, beholding this which had passed, who seeing that the other made no semblance at all to rise, but lay still without stirring or motion, went to see hovv he did, and found him to be starke dead, not without markes vpon him of wonderfull admiration, for all his bones were so crush­ed, that the pipes and ioynts of his legs and armes, vvere as ea­sie to be turned the one way as the other, as though his whole body had beene made of mosse, and besides, his tongue vvas pulled out by the rootes, vvhich could not by any meanes be found, though they sought the same round about the place most diligently. This matter vvas diuersly iudged of, but the most part tooke it to be the iust iudgement of God, vvhom it pleased to make this man, an example to the vvorld, in suf­fering The misera­ble end of a swearer. him to end his dayes so miserably, and to haue his tong torne out of his head, and carried away: for he vvas noted to be a great outragious swearer, and blasphemer of Gods holy name, vvhile hee liued.

And may it not be that the vvhirle-vvind catching this man in the midst thereof, might haue povver to vvorke these effects, as vvell as vvhole Rocks to be vvhirled vp, and trees to be turned vp by the rootes, by [Page] the furious buffing together of vvindes, when they meete.

I confesse vnto you, that the force of whirle-windes are very great, and that they worke often very dangerous and damageabe effects, as that which destroyed Algadefres, ouer­throwing the houses and buildings, and making them all flat with the earth; in like sort it is passing dangerous at Sea, when two contrary winds take a ship betweene them, for sildome or neuer any shippe so taken escapeth: but as for this which happened in Benauides, I cannot iudge it to be other, then the worke of the deuill, through the permission of God as by two reasons it appeareth: the first, that they being two men together, the one was saued: the other, that the dead mans tongue was wanting, & could not be found.

You haue satisfied vs, as concerning the power, which the deuil hath, and the limitation thereof therfore passe on I pray you with your former discourse.

The fourth kind of Spirits are those which are in the waters, as well the Sea, as Floods, Riuers, and The fourth kind of Spi­rits. Lakes, these neuer cease to raise damps, and stormes, persecu­ting those which saile, putting them in great and fearefull dangers, through violent and raging tempests, procuring to destroy and drowne the ships also, through the ayde of mon­sters, rocks, and shallowes which are in the Sea: the like doe those of the Riuers, guiding in such sort the Boates, that they make them to ouerturne, and causing those that swimme, to entangle them selues in sedge or weeds, or bringing them in­to some pits or holes where they cannot get out: and finally, by all meanes possible they persecute and molest them, so far as the limitation of their power extendeth. The fifth kind of Spirits, are those which are in the Caues, & vautes of the earth, The fifth kind of Spi­rits. where they lie in waite to entrap those that digge in Mines, and Wells, and other workes vnder the ground, whose death and destruction, they couet and procure as much as they may. These cause the motions and tremblings of the earth, through the ayde of the windes which are therein enclosed, whereby These are causers of earthquakes whole Citties are often in danger to be swallowed vp, especi­ally those which are built neere the Sea, whole mountaines are heereby throwne downe, infinite peoples destroyed, yea, and sometimes the Sea, heereby breaketh into the Land, wa­sting [Page 65] & deuouring whatsoeuer it findeth before it. The sixth The sixth kinde of Spirits. and last kinde of Spirits, are those who are in the Abysmes & place, whose name is Hell, whose principall and proper office is, besides the paines which they endure, to torment the dam­ned soules; This is the place where is no order at all, as sayth Iob, but continuall feare, horror and amazement.

See­ing you haue declared vnto vs how many sorts of Spirits there are, tell vs also I pray you, whether they haue bodies or no: because I haue often beaten my braines about this secrete, without finding any man that could herein resolue me.

You may well call it a secret, considering the diuers opinions that are thereof, for many say that they are pure Spirits, as A­puleius, who made himselfe so well acquainted with them, writeth that there is a kinde of Spirits, who are alwayes free from the strings and bonds of the body, of vvhich number is Sleepe and Loue, whom he termeth spirits: vvhereby he see­meth to confesse, that there are others which haue bodyes, & so thinketh S. Basile, who attributeth bodies not only to these Spirits, but also to the Angels. The like is vnderstood by the The opini­on of S. Ba­sile touching the bodies of Spirits. words of Pselius. They who followe this opinion, alleage for the maintenance thereof the wordes of the Prophet Dauid, where he saith: He which maketh his Angels, spirits, and his ministers of fire, &c. They alleage also S. Augustine to haue beene of the same opinion, saying: that the Angels before theyr fall, had all, their bodies formed of the superior & pu­rest part of the Ayre, and such those haue as yet, which re­mained guiltlesse of Lucifers offence: the bodies of whose followers were turned into a thicker and grosser ayre, to the end they might be therein more tormented. But the Maister of Sentences sayth in his second booke, that this is not Saint Augustines opinion, but falsely attributed vnto him, and so the common opinion of all the holy Doctors is, that both the Angels and deuils are pure Spirits, as S. Thomas, and Saint Both the Angels and deuils are pure Spirits. Iohn Damascene, and S. Gregory, who aunswere most suffi­cientlie to such doubts, as may herevpon be mooued, as how they may feele, suffer and receaue punishment: though Gau­dencius Merula defend the contrary, saying, that thinges in­corporat, cannot onely suffer or receaue feeling, of any bodily [Page] paine, but that also to feele them in vnderstanding is vnpossi­ble. But as for this opinion, holde it for a manifest error, for truly Gaudencius in some of his opinions, goeth farre vvide of the marke. If I should heere rehearse each of the seuerall The gene­rall opinion of the holy Doctors cō ­cerning the substance of Spirits. Doctors opinions, I should beginne an endlesse worke: lea­uing them therefore, I will come to the poynt indeed, & that which the rest confesse to be the generall opinion, as I sayde before, of all or the most part of the holy Doctors of the Church, which is, that the Angels when it is necessarie, doe fashion & make vnto thēselues visible bodies, for the effects which they pretend, as we finde in many places of the holie The Spirits when it is necessary, fa­shion vnto themselues bodies of fire, ayre, or earth. &c. Scripture: whether it be of ayre thickned, of fire or of earth, it maketh no matter, but that so it is, see what is written of the three Angels that came to the house of Abraham in the like­nesse of three beautifull young men: and the Angell Gabri­ell appeared to the glorious virgine in a most goodlie forme and figure, when he brought her the salutation. The selfe same is permitted to deuils in their operations, whose bodies though we call fantasticall, because they vanish presentlie a­way, yet they verily are visible bodies, formed of some such substance as I said before, but the same is so fine and delicate, that it straight dissolueth & vanisheth.

And because this is to the purpose of that which you asked mee, and which we now discourse of, I haue so lightlie passed ouer all the rest, for there haue not wanted Doctors vvhich affirme the deuils to be in such manner bodily, that they haue neede of foode vvherewith to sustaine themselues and that they feare stoute men, and flie from theyr sharpe vveapons, and that beeing striken, they feele anguish and payne. And if you be desirous to see many particularities, and the seuerall opinions of diuers learned Authors, read Caelius Rodiginus, in his second Booke De Antiquis Lectionibus, where hee dis­courseth copiously thereof. But now, for not digressing frō the principall, let vs come to that which they call, Phantasma, What Phā ­tasma is. the vvhich hath his beginning in the fantasie, which is a ver­tue in Man, called by an other name Imaginatiue, and because thys vertue beeing mooued, worketh in such sort, that it cau­seth in it selfe the thinges feigned and imagined to seem pre­sent, [Page 66] though in truth they are not: Wee say also, that the thinges which vanish away so soone as we haue seene them, are fantasies, seeming to vs that wee deceaue our selues, and that we sawe them not, but that they were onely represented in our fansie. But thys is in such sort, that sometimes we tru­lie see them indeed, and other times, our imagination & fan­sie so present them to our view, that they deceaue vs, and wee vnderstand not whether they were things seene or imagined, and therefore, as I thinke, comes it, that wee call the thinges which we really see, Visions: and others which are fantasti­cated and represented in the fantasie, Fancies; vvhether of which this was that hapned in Fuentes de Ropell, I know not, but sure I am that it was as true as strange, neither is the place so farre distant, beeing onely two miles hence, but that you may by infinite witnesses, be thorowly resolued of the veritie thereof. There lyued about 30. yeeres since, a Gentleman of good account, called Anthonio Costilla, who (of the vvhich I A strange vision that hapned to Gentleman in Fuentes de Ropell. my selfe can giue good witnesse) was one of the valiantest & hardiest men of all the Country, for I haue beene present at some broyles & byckerings of his, in which I haue seen him acquite himselfe with incredible courage and valour: Inso­much that beeing somewhat haughtie, and suffering no man to ouercrowe him, he had many enemies thereabouts, which caused him, wheresoeuer he went, to goe alwayes well proui­ded: so that one day riding from his owne house to a place called Uilla Nueua, hauing vnder him a good Ginet, and a strong Launce in his hand, when he had doone his businesse, the night cōming on, and the same very darke, he lept a horse back, and put himselfe on his way homeward: comming to the end of the Village where stoode a Chappell, in the fore­part or portall of which there was a lettice window, & within the same a Lampe burning: thinking that it shoulde not be wel done to passe any further without saying his prayers, hee drewe neere vnto the same, saying his deuotions a horseback, where whiles hee so remained looking into the Chappell, hee savve three visions like Ghostes issue out of the middest thereof, seeming to come out from vnder the ground, & to touch the height of the roufe with their heads.

[Page] As he had beheld them awhile, the haire of his head began to stand an end, so that being somewhat affrighted, he turned his horse bridle, and rode away: but he had no sooner lyfted vp his eyes, when hee sawe the three visions going together a little space before him, seeming as it were to beare him com­pany, so that commending himselfe to God, & blessing him selfe many times, he turned his horse, spurring him from one side to another, but wheresoeuer hee turned, they were al­waies before his eyes; vvhereupon, seeing that he coulde not be rid of them, putting spurres to his horse, he ranne at them as hard as he could with his Launce, but it seemed that the vi­sions went and mooued themselues, according to the same compasse wherein hee guided his horse, for if he went, they went, if he ranne, they ranne, if he stood still, they stood still, alwaies keeping one euen distance from him, so that hee was perforce constrained to haue them in his company, till hee came to his owne house, before which there was a great court or yard, opening the gate of which, after hee was lighted of his horse, as he entred he found the same visions before him, and in this manner came hee to the doore of a lodging where his wife was, at which knocking and beeing let in, the visions vanished away: but hee remained so dismayed and changed in his colour, that his wife thinking hee had receaued some wounde or mishap by his enemies, often asked him the cause of this his deadly countenaunce & alteration, and seeing that he would not reueale the same vnto her, she sent for a friende of his that dwelt thereby, a man of good qualitie, and of sin­guler learning and integritie of life, who presently comming, and finding him in that perplexity, importuned him vvith such instance, that at last he recounted vnto him the particu­larity of each thing that had hapned. He being a very discrete man, making no exterior shewe of vvonder or amazement, bad him be of good courage, and shake off that dismaiment, with many other comfortable perswasions, causing him to goe to supper, and from thence brought him to his bedde, in which leauing him layd, with light burning by him, he vvent forth, because he would haue him take his rest and sleep, but hee was scarcely gone out of his chamber, when Anthonio [Page 67] Costilla began with a loud skrietch to cry out for help, where­vpon he with the rest entring into the chamber, and demaun­ding the cause of this outcry: he told them, that hee was no sooner left alone, but that the three visions came to him a­gaine, and made him blind with throwing dust vpon his eyes, which they had scraped out of the ground: which in trueth thed found it to be so: from that time forward therefore they neuer left him vnaccompanied: but all profited nothing, for the seauenth day without hauing had Ague or any other ac­cident, he departed out of this world.

If there were pre­sent heere any Phisition, hee would not leaue to affirme and maintaine, that this proceeded of some melancholly humor, ruling in him with such force, that he seemed really to behold, that which was represented in his fantasie.

The same also may wel be, for many times it seemeth that we see things, which in deed we doe not, being deceaued through the force of our imagination: and perchance this of those visions may be the like, who being once represented in the imagination of fancie, had force to work those effects: and the humor which caused the same, encreasing through amazement and feare, might at last procure death: yet for all this, I will not leaue to beleeue, but that these visions were some Spirits, who taking those bodies of ayre, earth, water, or fire, or mingling for that effect any of those Elements together, came to put so great amazement in this man, that the same was cause of his death.

In all things which by certaine knowledge, cannot be throughly approoued, there neuer want diuers and contrary opinions: so that in this diuersity of iudgements, I would ra­ther impute it to the worke of Spirits, then to any melanchol­ly passion or humor: and perchaunce if these visions had not had sufficient force, through this amazement, to procure his death, yet would they haue been cause vnto him of som other secret infirmity: but howsoeuer it was, it was by the secret permission of GOD, the which we comprehend not, and therefore it were in vaine to trouble our selues more about it.

Many the like things happen in the world, full of ad­miration, as well for the terror of their effects as for the miste­ry of their causes which we conceaue not. Of which sort was [Page] that which happened in Bolonia to Iohn Vasques de Ayola, A notable strāge thing that happe­ned in Bolo­nia, to one Iohn Vas­ques de Ay­ola a Spa­niard. the verity of which I haue found to be approued by most cer­taine & indubitable proofes.

I haue heard this often, as a thing whose truth is not to be doubted of: but seeing you vndertooke to tell it, I pray you goe forward with the same.

I will tell it you, as it was told me, & as it is both in Bo­lonia and Spaine, by infinite testimonies confirmed. This Ayola in his youth, with other Spaniards his companions, comming to Bolonia, with intention to remaine there, and to study the Lawes, as many of his other Country-men did, and finding at the first no conuenient lodging, wherin they might commodiously remaine, so as for their study was necessary: as they went, enquiring vp & downe the streetes, they met with three or foure Gentlemen of the Towne, of whom they de­manded, if they could adresse them to any good place where they might abide being strangers newly come out of Spaine, and vnacquainted: the one of the Gentlemen smiling, made them aunswere, that if they desired to haue a commodious house, he would furnish them with one, poynting to a good­ly great house in the same streete, whose dores and windowes were fast closed vp, and that without any rent or hire at all: at which liberall offer of his the Spanish Studients being som­what abashed, thought surely that hee had iested with them, till another of the Bolonians tolde them that the same was in deede spoken merily, because the same house had beene mu­red, well twelue yeeres since, no man in all this space daring liue within the same, by reason of the fearefull visions and sights, which are there vsually seene and heard by night: so that the owner, sayth he, hath giuen ouer and abandoned it as a thing lost, because there is not any man found so hardy, that dare aduenture to abide there onely one night. If the matter be no greater then this (quoth Ayola) let him deliuer me the keyes, and I and my companions will (God willing) goe liue in the same, come what will. The Gentleman hearing this their resolute answer, told them that if they required the keies, they would cause them to be deliuered vnto them, with many thanks besides: vvherevpon finding them still persist in their determination, they brought them to the owner of the house, [Page 68] who laying many terrors before their eyes, & seeing them not regard the same, but rather to laugh thereat, caused the doores to be vnrammed & opened: and deliuering them the keyes, put them in possession of the house, assisting thē besides with some necessary houshold-stuffe; the rest that wanted, they prouided for themselues, so that being furnisht of all thinges, they tooke vp their lodging, in a chamber that opened into a great Hall, hiring a woman that dwelt there without to dresse their victuals, for they could not finde any that dared serue them within the house. All those of Bolonia stood intentiue to behold the successe of this matter: the Spaniards only ma­king a mockery thereof, for hauing beene there aboue thirty dayes, they had neuer seene nor heard any thing, so that they held all that which was said to be a meere fable: but within a while after, the two being one night laid downe to sleepe, & Ayola remaining at his study, towards midnight he heard of a sodaine a great brute & noise, as if it had been the clattering of many chaines together: vpon which, growing into some al­teration, he imagined presently with him selfe the same to be without doubt the vision, which was wont to be seene in this house, & therefore determined to goe & waken his compani­ons, but being about to goe, it seemed that his hart failed him, so that he was, as it were, forced to attend the euent of this a­lone: after he had listned intentiuely a while, he perceiued that the same noise cam vp the great staires of the hall, so that pul­ling vp his spirits, & cōmending himselfe to God with a good hart, & blessing himselfe many times, taking in one hand his sword, & in the other a candel lighted, he went out of his chā ­ber, and put himselfe in the midst of the Hall, for the chaines, though the noise they made were great, seemed to come very leasurely: standing so a while, he might see com towards him throgh the dore that opened to the staires, a fearful vision, that affrighted him extreamely, & made all his haire stand an end, for it was the carkas of a very great man, only knit together by the bones without any flesh at all, like the forme wherin death is painted: he was tied about the legs, & round about the body with certain cha [...]es, which he drew trailing along: & so stai­ed himselfe, the one & the other stood still beholding a while, [Page] till at length Ayola recouering courage, seeing that the vision moued not, began to coniure him with the greatest & holiest wordes that his feare suffered him to imagine, to tell him what the thing was which he sought or desired, and to let him vn­derstand, if he needed any thing, promising him his helpe & assistance so farre as he possibly could. The vision laide his armes a crosse, and making shew that hee receaued gratefully this offer, seemed to recommend himselfe vnto him. Ayola bad him againe, tell him, if he would haue him goe with him to any place. The vision bowed downe his head, & pointed to the staires, whence he came. Ayola bad him goe on before in Gods name, promising stedfastly to follow him, whether so euer hee went: vpon which, the vision began to returne whence he came, going with great space and leasure, seeming to be so clogged with the chaines, that he could goe no faster. Ayola following him, as he came to the midst of the staires, whether through the wind, or that he trembled in seeing him­selfe alone with such company, his candell went out, so that his amazement & feare was much greater then before, yet gathe­ring together his spirits as well as he might, he said to the visi­on: thou seest that my candell is out, therefore stay heere a while, & I will goe light him, and come presently back againe, where-vpon going backe, & kindling the same in the fire, he returned, finding the vision in the selfe same place where hee left him, so that the one & the other going on a new, they past through the whole house, and came into a Court, and from thence into a great Garden, into which the vision entred, and Ayola after him: but because there was in the midst thereof a great deepe Well, Ayola stayed, feating least the vision shold turne vpon him, & doe him some outrage: vvhich the vision perceauing, made signes that he shold not be afraid, as it were requesting him to goe with him to a certaine place of the garden, towards which he pointed, whether they were no soo­ner come, but the vision vanished sodainly away.

Ayola beeing alone, began to call and coniure him, making great protestations, that if there were any thing, in vvhich he might stand him in sted, he was there ready to performe the same, and that there should be in him no fault at all: but stay­ing [Page 69] there awhile, and seeing not hearing any thing more, he aduised to pull vp foure or fiue handfuls of grasse & herbes, in the selfe same place where himselfe thought that the vision vanished, hauing done which, hee returned and awaked his companions, whom he found both soundly sleeping. They looking vp vpon him, sawe him so altered, and his colour so changed, that they verily thought he would there haue ended his life, whereupon they rose vp, and forced him to eate of a conserue which they had, and to drinke a little wine, then lay­ing him downe on his bedde, they asked him what was the cause of this his deadly alteration of looke, wherupon he told them all that had happened, beseeching them to keepe it se­cret, because in reuealing it to others, they shoulde neuer be beleeued. But, as these things are hard to be kept secret, so one of them told it in a place, whence it was knowne throughout the whole Citty, and came at last to the hearing of the chiefe Magistrate, who endeuouring to sound out the truth therof, commaunded Ayola by solemne oath to declare the particu­laritie of each thing which he had seene, who did so, making this former relation. The Gouernour hearing him tell the same with such assurance, went with others of the Towne to the same place of the Garden, where, according as hee had told them, they founde a great heape of withered grasse, in which, commaunding certaine men to digge with spytters, they founde, and that not very deepe, vnder the grounde a graue, and in the same a carkas with all the markes declared by Ayola, which was the cause that his whole report was cre­dited to be true, but seeking to enquire and learne what body the same so buried should be, so encheyned and exceeding in greatnes the ordinary stature of other men, they founde no man that could expresly satisfie them therein, though there were diuers old tales told of the predicessours of the owner of that house. The Gouernour caused incontinently the carkas to be taken vp, and buried in a Church, from which time for­ward, there were neuer any fearefull visions or noyses seen or heard more in that house. Ayola returned afterwardes into Spayne, and was prouided, through his learning, of many of­fices vnder the Crowne, and his sonne after him, in our time, [Page] was a man of great sway and authoritie in this Country.

It seemeth that Ayolas courage was farre better then Costil­las, seeing the one dyed through feare, and the other remay­ned liuing: but I would faine vnderstande in what sort thys Vision might appeare, which seemeth not to be a matter of so great misterie.

At least the Phylosophers and Phy­sitions, cannot attribute it, to the abundance of melancholie, because it appeared by the carkas which they found buried, that the same vision was truly and substancially seene by Ay­ola, and not represented in his fancie. And if there were here any Diuines, I dare vndertake there would not want diuersity of opinions, for some would say that it was the worke of the deuill, to no other end then to mocke the people, in forming to himselfe a body of ayre or earth, of the same figure like the carkas that lay buried: Others woulde rather maintaine the same to be a good Angell dooing so, to the intent that the same body, whose soule was perchaunce in heauen, might enioy sacred buriall, neither woulde they want reasons for maintenaunce of their opinions, euery man may therfore be­leeue herein as pleaseth him, without offending, but howso­euer it vvere, by a good or euill Angell, it was by the wil and sufferaunce of God, and for my part I take it to be the surest to iudge alwayes the best.

Your reason is good, & tru­lie this matter is not without some great mistery which vvee vnderstand not, and therefore let vs spend no more time in altercation about it.

Many thinges haue hapned and happen daily in the world, to search the depth and bottom of whose secrets, were great presumption, at which, though som times by signes and tokens we may giue a gesse, yet we must alwayes thinke, that there is some thing hidden from vs, and of this sort is that which hapned to a Gentleman in thys our A notable strange chance that hapned to a Gentleman in Spayne in a Monastery of Nunnes. Spayne, whose name, for the foulenes of his endeuour, and many respects beside, I wil conceale, and the name also of the towne where it hapned. This Gentleman being very rich & noble, delt in matters of dishonest loue with a Nun, the which to th'end shee might enioy his abhominable embracements, willed him to make a key like vnto that of the Church doore, and shee would finde time and meanes (through her turne [Page 70] which shee had about the seruice of the Sachristie and other such occasions, to meete him there, where they both might satiate theyr filthy lusts and incestuous desires. The Gentle­man exceedingly reioycing at this match, caused two keyes to be made, the one for the doore of the Church Portall, and an other of the Church doore it selfe, which beeing doone, be­cause it was somewhat farre from his house, hee tooke one night his horse, and for the more secrecie of the matter rode thither alone: being come thither about midnight, leaping of his horse, and tying him by the reynes of the bridle to a con­uenient place, he went towards the Monastery, of which o­pening the first doore of the Portall, hee founde that of the Church open of it selfe, and in the Church a great light and brightnes of Torches and Wax candels, and withall, he heard voyces, as it were of men singing, and doing the funerall ser­uice of some one that was deceased: at which being amazed, he drew neerer, better to behold the manner therof, where he might see the Church to be full of Fryers and Priests, singing these obsequies, hauing in the midst of them a coffin couered with blacke, about which were many light & tapers burning, each of the Friers, Priestes, and many other men besides that seemed to assist at these funerals hauing also a waxcandle bur­ning in their hands, but his greatest astonishment of all, vvas that he knew not one of thē: after hee had remained a while beholding thē, he approched neere one of the Friers, & asked him for whom those honorable solemnities were done, vvho answered him that such a gentleman, naming his own proper name, was dead, and that they were nowe performing the ho­nors of his burial. The gentleman laughing replied, saying, he whō you speak of, liueth, & you are deceiued, nay, quoth the Fryer, you are deceaued, for he is assuredly dead, & his bodie here present to be buried, & therwith fell to his singing again. The gentleman being herewith in a great confusion asked an other, of whom he receiued the selfe same answer, so that be­ing striken with a great amazement, without more attending he went out of the Church, and getting vp on his horse, be­gan to ride as fast as he could homeward: but he had no soo­ner turned his horse head, whē he was ware of two great black [Page] mastiues that accompanied him, of each side of his horse one: who doe what he could, with rating and striking at thē with his sword, would neuer leaue him, till he came to the gate of his house, where lighting off his horse and entring in, his Pa­ges and seruants comming to receaue him; wondred to see the colour of his face so pale and deadly; assuring themselues that some great mischance had hapned vnto him, beseeching him with such instance to tell thē what ayled him, that at last, hee recited vnto them all the particularities of this before re­hearsed history; hauing made an end of which, and entring into his chamber, the two black mastiues of a suddaine rushed in vpon him, and woried him, so that his seruants not beeing able to succour him, hee dyed presently, verifying that of his funerals, which he had seene done while he liued.

This man was payd the hyre of his desert, for what more greeuous offence can a man commit, then to endeuour to violate that, which is to God so folemnely sacred▪ and surely for my part I am of opinion that these mastiues were two deuils, set lose by God, receauing of him power and permission thus cruelly to punish a wickednes so detestable, or els they might be two very mastiues indeede guided by the deuill, through the suf­ferance of God. And perchance those visions which he sawe in habites of Fryers and Priestes, were to warne him of his er­ror and offence, to the end hee might haue repented & cra­ued pardon, & the like might be of the mastiues that accom­panied him to his house: but he like an ill christian, neglect­ing to vse permitence & contrition, paied with the losse of his life, that which his offence deserued, I will not iudge of his soule, which in so dangerous an estate passed from his body.

I take it for al this that he might be saued, if at such time as he saw himselfe assaulted by the dogs he had the grace har­tilie to repent.

Happy was he if he had this grace, and most vnhappy and miserable if he wanted it, but leauing this, passe on I pray you Signior Anthonio.

There is another written by Alexander de Alexan­dro, in his Diebus genealibus, which because it serueth fitly to our purpose, I will not passe it ouer: and as the same Alex­ander sayeth, it was told him by a great friend of his, whom he [Page 71] so highly commendeth, and with such earnest words, to be a man of great vertue and no lesse credite, that hee putteth no doubt, but that the matter passed really and truly as he told it him. This friend of mine, sayeth he, had a deere companion, Another ve­ry strange history writ­ten by A­lexander de Alexandro. a Gentleman of good quality, who through a long infirmity, hauing endured exceeding paine & anguish, and being coun­celed for the recouery of his health, to goe to the Bathes of Cuma, requested him to beare him company, which hee did with many other Gentlemen besides: after they had remai­ned there a certaine space, the sicke Gentleman daily so em­paired in health, that finding no amendment, they returned backe towards Rome againe: but by the way, his infirmity so encreased, and hee waxed there-with, and with the wearines of trauaile so weake, that he ended his dayes in an Inne by the way, where he came to lodge: His companions heauily be­wailing his death, caused him to be buried with the greatest funerall solemnity they might, in the Church of the Village where they were, remaining there some few dayes after, about the performance of his obsequies, which being finished, they departed towards Rome: Growing one night late they took vp their Inne in a Village, where this friend and companion of the deceased Gentleman layd him selfe downe to sleepe, in a bed that stoode alone in a chamber, the dore of which being fast lockt, and a candell burning by his bed side, being broade awaked, of a sodaine he saw stand before him his dead com­panion, whom he had left buried in the other Village, his eyes hollow, his face deadly, his countenance pittifull, leane, and yellow, who approaching the bed, and beholding him with­out speaking a word, began to put off his cloathes, which see­med to be the very same that he ware while he liued: what so euer he that lay in the bed said vnto him, he aunswered not a word, but after his cloaths were off, lifting vp the couerlet & sheete, hee laide him downe in the bed by him, who through great feare was so dismayed, that he had not the power to re­sist him, so that the dead man came neerer vnto him, & made semblance to take him in his armes, who with exceeding hor­ror, seeing himselfe in this distresse, and being shrunke to the farther side of the bed, when hee sawe there was no remedy, [Page] tooke as good courage as he could, and thrusting downe the cloathes betweene them, because he should not touch him, be­gan to make resistance, which the dead man perceauing, and beholding him with a grim & angry countenance, rose out of the bed, putting on his cloathes & shooes againe, and so went his wayes, without being seene from that time forward any more. The other remained in the bed, with so great feare and perplexity, that he fell therof greeuously sicke, & was in great hazard of his life, though he recouered at last: hee affirmed, that when hee made that resistance to keepe the dead man from him, that by chaunce the other touched him with one of his feete, which exceeded all the Ice of the world, in extreami­ty of coldnes.

This thing is surely very strange, and hardly to be iudged of, for what way so euer you will conster it, there cannot want contradiction.

I confesse it to be so, yet I should vndoubtedly hold it to be an illusion of the deuill, who endeuored, if he could, to haue deceaued him that lay in the bed, taking vpon him the shape and figure of his dead friend: but God would not suffer him to doe him any hurt, and in manner as the same deuill came not imagined or fantasticall, but taking on him a visible body, and such as through the thicknes thereof might be touched, so vanished hee away, and turned into ayre againe. And that the deuills forme and thicken in such sort their bodies, that they seeme somtimes verily and visibly to resemble vs: you may plainely vnderstand by another example of the said Alexander, who sayeth, that a certaine Monke called Thomas, with whom he Another most strāge history writ­ten by A­lexander de Alexandro. was familiarly acquainted, beeing a man euer after this acci­dent of a most holy and approued good life, who being resi­dent in a Monastery neere vnto the Citty of Luka, being si­tuated amongst certaine mountaynes, falling one day out with some other of the Monkes, and mooued with an excee­ding passion of choller, went furiously out of the Cloyster, with determination to absent himselfe from thence for euer, and to goe liue in some other part: as he was thus trauersing the thickest of the mountaine, hee met with a great tall man, of a tawnie Sunne-burnd complexion, with a long blacke beard, rowling eyes, and his garment hanging downe to the [Page 72] ground. After hauing saluted him, the Moonke asked him whether he went that way, seeing the same was no beaten or vsuall path: The other aunswered him, that hee followed a horse of his, which was broken loose, and had strayed ouer those mountaines into certaine meddowes on the other side, so that they went on together talking, till they came to a Ri­uer at the foote of the mountaine: which because the same was very deepe, and full of great pits, they went along the side thereof seeking a Foord or passage, till at last comming to a certaine place which seemed passable: the Moonke would haue puld off his hose and shooes, but the other would by no meanes suffer him so to doe, saying: that he was tall & strong enough, to carry him safely ouer on his shoulders, in which perswasion he was so earnest, that make the Monke what ex­cuse he could, he trussed him, halfe perforce vp vpon his shol­ders: at which instant looking downward, he chanced to spie his Ferrymans feete, not hauing seene them till then, which were of a farre different making from those of other mens, so that entring into some suspition, hee would faine haue losed himselfe, but he could not, for the other began to wade with him into the deepest of the streame: vvhere-vpon, fearing it to be as in truth it was, he began with great inward deuotion to commend him selfe to God, and to call vpon the blessed name of Iesus for helpe: at which very instant, the other who was the deuill indeede, threw him downe on the shoare of the Riuer, vanishing presently away, vvith so horrible a noise and tempest, that the very sands of the Riuer, were turned vpsie downe: and the Oakes that grew vpon the banks were torne vppe by the rootes, and the poore Moonke left in a traunce, halfe dead, who so soone as he reuiued and came to him selfe returned penitently to his Cloyster, giuing thankes vnto GOD, for the danger out of which hee had deliuered him.

To make recitall of all such like things as hap­pen in the vvorlde, were to beginne an endlesse and infinite worke: for the deuils, though they lost grace, yet lost they not theyr naturall vertue, as Anthonio de Florencia vvry­teth, so that if the same vvere not restrayned through the vvill of GOD, they coulde vvorke many greater hurtes [Page] and damages, then those which they doe.

According to the saying of S. Paule, they cannot onely take vpon them such formes of bodies as we haue said, but they can also trans­forme them selues into Angels of light to deceaue vs, which they would each moment put in practise, as sometimes they doe, were not their power suppressed and preuented, which God doth somtimes by his only will, and somtimes by a third person, as that of the deuill, which vnder the habite of a very beautifull and wise woman dined with a Bishop, who was de­liuered from destruction by S. Andrew the Apostle, cōming to demaund almes of him like a Pilgrime, by aunswering a The answer of S. Andrew to a questi­on proposed to him by the deuill. question proposed to him by the deuill: which was, how far distant the heauen was from the earth: Thou shouldst better know then I, answered S. Andrew, because thou hast falne from thence; where-with the deuill finding him selfe disco­uered, vanished presently. But it is to no purpose to detaine our selues in these examples, because there are whole volumes full of them: and Saint Gregory in his Morrals, rehearseth many notable thinges, which they may reade that desire to know them.

For all this, I must needs tell you one A strange History of Don Antho­nio de la Cueua. by the way, which hath been told me for a matter vndoubted, and most assuredly true, of one Don Anthonio de la Cueua, a Gentleman passing well knowne in this our Country, nowe lately dead: vvho by Gods permission, for some cause to vs vnknowne, was, while he liued, often tempted and vexed with visions and fantasies, so that in continuance of time, he began not to feare them, though hee accustomed to haue all night long continually a candell burning by him in the chamber where he slept. One night amongst others, lying in his bed, and reading of a booke, he might heare a great rumbling vn­der the bed, and as he lay imagining what the same might be, he perceaued come from vnder the bed close by the bed side an arme and hand, seeming to be of a naked Blackamoore: which taking the candell, turned it downwards in the candle­stick and put it forth, and at that very instant, offered to come into the bed to him, which he endeuoring to refist, the blacke Moore, or rather deuill, grasped him by the armes, & he him likewise, beginning to wrestle and strugle together with such [Page 73] force, and making so great a noyse, that the seruaunts of the house awaked, who comming into the Chamber to knovve what the matter was, found Don Anthonio de la Cueua alone, in such a heate and sweating, as though he had newly come out of a Stew or Hothouse, who declared vnto them the particu­laritie of this accident, and withall, that so soone as they be­gan to enter into the Chamber, the vision vntwynged him­selfe from him, so that he knew not what was becom thereof.

At one thing I doe much wonder, which I haue of­ten heard to be affirmed for truth, that the deuils also are In­cubi and Succubi, taking oftentimes to that ende the shape & Incubi. Succubi. likenes, sometimes of men, sometimes of women.

This is affirmed by many Authours: For their malice is so great, that they will not stick to commit the greatest abhomi­nation The deuils malice is such, that he wil not stick to commit any abho­mination, so that he may cause men to commit it with him. and wickednes that may be, so that ioyntly they may procure and cause men to commit it with them. Caelius Ro­diginus saith, that there was in Greece a man called Marcus, naturall of Cafronesus, vvho had great familiaritie with de­uils, for which cause he liued alwaies solitary, conuersing little with other men. This man vttered many of the deuils secrets, of which this of the Incubi and Succubi was one, and many o­ther, that for theyr filthines and abhomination are not to be spoken of: but according to his confession, all the deuils doe Marcus a Greacian, that had great famili­aritie with deuils. not vse this execrable offence, but those onely who are neere vnto vs, and doe forme theyr bodies of a grosse substance, as of water or earth. Saint Augustine saith, that the Satyres and Faunes were thought of some to be Incubi, because they were so luxurious. Hence many tooke occasion to authorise that for truth, which is reported of Marlyn, that he was begotten of a deuill, but thys is better said then affirmed, for whether it be so or no, God onely knoweth: and besides this vvhich I haue said, he speaketh of many other particularities & secrets, that are amongst the deuils, which in truth, it is best not to know nor vnderstand, for the knowledge of them can be no way profitable, and may perchance be some way hurtfull.

If the deuill can doe that which this Marcus sayeth, perchance Lactantius Firmianus tooke thence occasion, to vvrite that folly of his, saying that the authority of Genesis, [Page] vvhich saith, As the sonnes of GOD sawe the daughters of men, which were beautifull, they tooke them for wiues, and had children by them, is vnderstood by the Angels, vvhom An erroni­ous opinion of Lactanti­us Firmianus God held heere in the world, so that he attributeth to thē bo­dies, with which they conuersed with women and begot chyl­dren.

Truly you may rightly terme it his folly, for there cannot be a greater, as both S. Thomas & all the other Doc­ters of Theologie affirme, vnderstanding by the sons of God, men that serued him, & walked in the way of righteousnes, & by the sons of men, those that followed their owne lusts and pleasures, not regarding that which they ought to doe: for it were absurd to thinke that the Angels should pollute them­selues with such filthines as the deuils doe, who also doe it not because they therin receiue delight, but because of the sin and and offence, which they therin make men to commit ioyntly with them: for they cannot in truth, howsoeuer they fashion their bodies, exercise any vitall operation, though there want not some, who say that the deuils come to be enamoured of women, & pursue them in loue with lust and desire: but I e­steem this to be a meere mockery, for it the deuill at any time make a shew of loue, the same is dissembled, & that which he only seeks, is the destruction of the soule, without hauing any other respect, for verification of which, I will tell you what I saw in the Iland of Cerdinia, in the citie of Caliar, where at that instant was handled the inquisition of certaine Witches, vvho they said, had confederation & did cōmunicate, with those of Fraunce & Nauarre, of which many not long before had bin A wonder­ful history of a mayden that was en­amoured of the deuill. sought out & punished: at that very time there was a beau­tifull young mayden of the age of 17. or 18. yeres old appre­hended & accused to haue acquaintance and fleshly conuer­sation with the deuill, brought to the same by the allurements and entisements of one of these Witches. The deuill vsed of­tentimes to resort vnto her in the likenes of one of the most beautifull young gentlemen in the world, vsing so sweete and comely behauiour, that the poore wench, became so vehe­mently enamoured, and so deepely inflamed in his loue, that of all worldly felicities, she accounted his company to be the greatest: but he when he saw his time, and thought her to be [Page 74] sure enough his, tooke such order that the matter was disco­uered and the mayden taken, who persisted so obstinatelie a­gainst the perswasions of those that willed her to repent & to craue mercy, that it was wonderfull, thinking surelie that the deuill woulde helpe her, as he had promised, perseuering in such ardant loue and affection towardes him, that, with her passionate speeches, she amazed and moued to pitty, those that heard her speake: and for conclusion, willingly suffered herselfe to be put aliue into the fire and burnt, still in vaine re­claiming the promised assistance of her abhominable Louer, loosing thereby both her body and soule, which so easily shee might haue saued, in dying Christianlike, and taking patient­lie with repentance her bodily death in this world.

Trulie, her end was most pittifull and lamentable, yet farre better did another of which I haue heard, beeing lyke­wise a young mayden, rich, beautifull, & of good parentage, An other strange hi­story of a mayden de­ceaued by the deuill. who with extreame and vehement affection, became to be in­amoured of a young Gentleman liuing in the same Tovvne where shee remained, but for her reputations sake, she coue­red so warily this secrete feruent affection of hers, that it was neyther perceaued of the Gentleman himselfe, nor of any man else, the deuill onely excepted, who, seeing occasion of­fered, whereby, as he thought, to procure her damnation: tooke vpon him the likenes, habite and gesture of the Gen­tleman: offring vnto her his seruice and loue, with such arti­ficiall perswasions, that after solemne promise of marriage, he came to haue the vse of her body, to which otherwise her chast desire woulde neuer haue consented: after which hee frequented many nights her companie, lying in naked bedde with her, as if hee had beene indeede the Gentleman vvhose shape he tooke vpon him, and with whose loue the mayden was so ardently enflamed. In this manner passed ouer manie monthes, the deuill alwaies perswading her, not to sende him any messages, because it was for some respects conuenient to keepe the matter for a while secret, & withall, that she should not conceaue any vnkindnesse, if seeing her in publique, hee vsed no outward semblance of loue towards her, aduising her also, to vse in all poynts, the like strangenesse towardes him, [Page] preuenting heereby the inconuenience that might haue hap­ned, if she should haue found herselfe in company with the supposed Gentleman. The matter continuing thus, it fell out that the Mother of this mayden gaue vnto her a booke of de­uout prayers to read, which she often perusing, the deuill had no more power at all to come in place where she was, nor to abuse her any longer, because she ware the same continuallie about her necke: Whereupon, at the end of three Moneths, shee wondring much at his absence, and withall, hearing that he, I meane the supposed Gentleman, courted another Gen­tlewoman, entring into a most vnpatient iealousie, shee sent him one day word, that by any meanes he should com speak with her, about a matter most important. The Gentleman, without vnderstanding the cause, beeing full of curtesie and good behauiour, awayting a time when her mother was out, came and founde her alone, and after hauing curteously salu­ted her, demaunded what her pleasure was. The mayden see­ing him speake as one that scarcely knewe her, bathing her face with teares, in wordes full of griefe, complayned of his strangenesse and forgetfulnesse, asking him for what deme­rite of hers he had left her so long vnuisited. The Gentleman astonished at this manner of speech, aunswered her as a man amazed, and vtterlie ignorant of her meaning: whereupon, kindled with exceeding choller, shee began to threaten him, that seeing he had despoyled her of that which she held dea­rest, that he should not now thinke to cast her of, and that if he would not of his owne accord accomplish the promise of marriage vvhich he had vowed vnto her, shee would besides her complaints to God and the world, doe her vttermost di­ligence to constraine him perforce to that, whereto by his most solemne protestation hee was bound. The Gentleman, strooken heerewith into greater admiration then before, aun­swered her, that he thought her not to be in her right sences, for neuer in his life had he promised marriage, nor once spo­ken to her in secret, neyther was of meaning to satis-fie anie such demaund of hers.

The poore vvench welnigh out of her wits, after infinite exclamations, calling heauen and earth to witnes, began per­ticulerly [Page 75] to recite vnto him all such thinges as had passed be­tweene her and the deuill, asking him how he could be so im­pudent to deny the same; she mingled with threatning teares, wishing him to haue the feare of Gods vengeance before his eyes. The Gentleman with great confusion began to blesse himself, protesting vnto her by the most solemne sort of oaths he could, that she was deceaued, and that of this matter hee knew nothing at all. Oh God (quoth shee) and howe is this possible, doe you not remember that on such a very day (to mee most vnfortunate:) naming a great feastiuall day, you sware, and vowed to accomplish with mee the holy estate of marriage in the open face of the Church, which you said you were constrained to deferre as yet for some respects. But he hauing heere no longer patience, to the end (quoth he) that you shal fully and plainly perceaue your owne error, I will by sufficient information and vnrefusable witnesses proue vnto you, that I was not in this Towne the day you say, neither 20. dayes before, nor 20. dayes after: if any man therefore in my name haue deceaued you, I am not to be blamed: and to the end shee might be the better resolued, he sent incontinently for seauen or eight persons of credite, as well of his house as others, which without knowing the cause wherfore, solemnly swore and declared, that this Gentleman had beene the very day and all the time mentioned, absent in another Towne a­boue fifty leagues from thence. The young Mayden remai­ned confused and ashamed, as well for this, as for other parti­culer things passed betweene her & the deuill, which seemed to her impossible to haue beene done by any humaine man, so that her iudgement waxing clearer, she nowe began to su­spect this her detestable Louer, to be him who indeed he was, and there-vpon entring into a wonderfull deepe repentance, and vtterly giuing ouer the world, shee placed her selfe in a Monastery, where shee continued most deuoutly the rest of her life in Gods seruice.

She tooke in my iudgment the best and surest course, both for her owne saluation, and to reuenge her selfe of the iniury receaued by her enemy. But seeing you haue set vs in this matter, I pray you tell vs what power and authority they haue ouer the deuill, that vse and [Page] exercise the Art of Negromancie: for it is manifest that Ne­gromancers Negroman­cie. and Witches, constraine the deuils & make them perforce obey and accomplish their commaundements: and many also carry them bound and enclosed in rings, boxes, lit­tle viols, and many other things, applying their helps to such vses as they themselues will, and such deuils they commonly call Familiars.

It cannot be denied, but that there is such an Art called Negromancie, vsed in old times by faith­full and vnfaithfull, and now in these our dayes also by diuers. But this Art may be exercised in two sorts, the first is naturall, Naturall Magique. which may be wrought through things, whose vertue & pro­perty is naturall to doe them, as hearbs, plants, and stones, and other things, as the planets, constellations, and heauenly influ­ences: and this Art is lawfull, and may without scruple or offence be vsed and practised, of those that can attaine vnto the knowledge of their hidden properties; and such is that of which S. Thomas writeth in his Treatise, De ente et essentia, (though some doubt whether the same be his or no) where he alleageth, that Abel the Sonne of Adam, made a booke of all the vertues & properties of the planets, which, foreknow­ing Abel the Sonne of A­dam made a book of the vertues of the Planets. that the world should perish through the generall flood, he enclosed so cunningly in a stone, that the waters could not come to corrupt the same, whereby it might be preserued and knowne to all people. This stone was found by Hermes Tris­megistus, who breaking it, and finding the booke therein en­closed, profited wonderfully by applying the contents there­of to his vse; which booke comming afterwards to the hand of S Thomas, it is said, that he did there-with many great ex­periences: amongst the which one was, that being sicke, and troubled with the noise of Beastes and carriages that passed through the streete, remedied that trouble, by making an I­mage, such as the booke prescribed him, which being buried in the streete, none of all the Beasts had power to passe there­by: but cōming thither staid or went backward, not being by any man to be constrained to do the contrary: He also telleth of a certaine friend of his, who by the selfe same booke made an Image, putting the which into a Fountaine, it caused all such vessels as touched the water thereof, presently to breake, [Page 76] which came by obseruations of certaine houres and points in working of those Images, of which they tooke great recko­ning and heede, to the end that the planets might the better vse their influences in working those thinges, which seemed supernaturall. The vse of all this is so lawfull, that there is no­thing to be sayde to the contrary. The other kinde of Ne­gromancie The vse of natural Ma­gique is lawfull. or Art Magique, is, that which is vsed and practi­sed through the helpe and fauour of the deuill, which hath beene of long time, as we know, exercised in the world? And of this, the holy Scriptures giue vs sufficient testimony, as well in the old Testament, speaking of the Magitians of Pharaoh, who contended with Moyses and Aaron, as in the new Te­stament, in the Acts of the Apostles, making mention of Si­mon Magus, rebuked by S. Peter: and besides, to satisfie your demaund, you must vnderstand, that the deuils may also be forced and constrained by the good Angels; and this is be­cause of the grace which the one lost, and the other as yet re­taine.

But leauing a-part the examples vvhich wee finde in the newe Testament, of that which our Sauiour Christ, as very GOD and manne wrought with them: Let vs come to the Apostles and Saints, who by the vertue of wordes, and in the onely name of Iesus, made them obey and accomplish all that which they commaunded them: But the Magitians, neyther by themselues, neyther by their wordes, Characters, or signes, haue power or force to constrayne the deuills to any thing, howe so euer they persvvade them selues to the contrarie: vvhich because you shall fully vnderstand to be so, you must knowe that none canne vse or exercise this Arte of Negro­mancie, vnlesse hee first make a secrete agreement, or ex­presse The Magi­tians do co­uenant and agree with the deuill. couenaunt vvith the deuill, and such deuilles vvith vvhom they deale in these couenauntes, are not of the com­mon sort, but of a higher and superiour condition: For a­mongst them selues (sayeth Father Franciscus de victoria) in a Repetition vvhich hee made of Magique, they doe ob­serue theyr orders and degrees of superioritie: and this is for the better vse of theyr wickednesse: and so sayeth Saint Tho­mas: some deuils (sayeth hee) are preferred as principals, to [Page] commaund the rest, and the inferiour deuils are subiect vnto Some deuils higher in authoritie then others. those, which are of mightier force, to execute theyr wicked­nesse: and therefore the Iewes sayde vnto Christ, that hee wrought his miracles in the name of Belzebub, Prince of de­uils, so that the Negromancers and Magitians that are confe­derated with the Princes and Captaines of the Infernall Ar­mie, haue alwaies the lesser & inferiour deuils in a readines at commaundement to doe their will and pleasure, being there­vnto constrained, by those of the higher dignitie and conditi­on. And whereas you say, that the deuils are kept by some bound and enclosed in Ringes, Boxes or Viols, it is a com­mon error and deceite, which the deuils make them beleeue, with whom they deale, for they are where, & in what place, and when they list themselues, and how farre soeuer they be of, yet at such time as they are called, or theyr presence requi­red, they come in the very same instant to make aunswere, to those which holding them for Familiars, and thinking surelie that they carry them alwaies present with them, demaund or aske any thing of them, who are greatly abused & deceaued, in presuming that they are able to hold them forcibly at theyr commaundement: because it proceedeth not through the words of the Negromancer, but through the might and au­thority of the higher Spirits and deuils, which as Captaines gouerne and commaund them: Yea, and some-times con­strayning them to remaine bound indeed, when they haue a­ny notable exployt in hande, but els for the most-part they leaue them alwayes at libertie. This is not onely the opinion of S. Thomas, but also of S. Augustine, and almost all the rest of the Doctors that handle this matter, who write therof many particularities, leauing which, let vs passe now to other matters, no lesse worthy to be vnderstood.

Let then the first I pray you be one, which of long time, so often as I thinke thereof, hath and doth exceedingly trouble my vnderstanding, and the same is, if the soules of the deceased, returne at any time to visite or to speake with those that liue in the world: as I haue often heard say that they doe.

There want not sufficient reasons to confirme that which you say: but leauing the determination thereof to bet­ter [Page 77] Diuines then we are: let vs handle our former discourse of fancies, and visions, of which vndoubtedly many that are reported to be true, are faigned, and somtimes take their be­ginning of occasions that happen, whereby they are thought to be true, when in deede they are not.

This is an or­dinary matter & happeneth daily, for confirmation of which, I vvill tell you of one that chaunced not long since in this A pretty tale of Sprights that were seene in Be­neuenta. Towne wherein we now are, and the party yet liuing, which was a woman, who rising one night very early before day, to doe certaine busines shee had; hauing ouer night willed her May de to leaue the fire well couered, to the ende shee might light her candle in the morning, and finding the same quite out when shee rose, fell into a great chafe: the may de seeing her Mistris so angry, stept out of dores with a candell in her hand, and going from house to house without finding fire, perceauing at last a Lamp burning within the Church, went and knocked at the dore thereof, desiring the Sexton to light her candell. Her Mistres being out of patience, and not en­during to stay so long, tooke another candle, & going to the house of one of her acquaintance, lighted the same, returning at that very instant by one side of the Church, as her may de dyd by the other, and being in the Sommer time both vnclo­thed, sauing onely that they had a thin white peticoate ouer theyr smockes, they chaunced to be seene by a neyghbour thereby, who was risen a little before, whose eyes belike not being well opened, he tooke them to be Sprights, and publi­shed the next day that he had seene certain women go about the Church in Procession with candles in their hands. Some that heard him, added that they were eyght, others tvvelue, others twentie & thirtie; and amongst the rest they affirmed that some yet liuing, were seene, who hearing thereof, fell in­to the greatest feare of the worlde that they shoulde not liue long, but I procured to search out the truth thereof, & found it to be in such sort as you haue hearde.

Let but once such a matter as this come amongst the common people, and it will growe so from one mouth to another, that at last, of a flie they will make an Elephant, neuer willing to acknovv­ledge themselues to be deceaued, as it hapned in a very plea­sant [Page] tale, which I will tell you, the truth whereof came after to be discouered. There dyed in a towne of this Countrey, a Gentleman very rich and of great reputation, who had or­dained his body to be buried in a Cloyster of Fryers, vvhich Another pretty tale of a Spright. was performed, and his funerals doone sumptuously, vvith great pompe and magnificence. The night comming, a cer­taine mad woman that ranne vp and downe the towne halfe naked, was by chaunce left in the Church of the Monasterie when the Sexton lockt the doore, who hauing seene the dead mans Herse which stood in the midst of the Church couered ouer, & of each side with a black cloth trayling on the groūd, with great compasse and widenes as the manneris, and be­ginning to be pinched with cold, (for it was in the middest of the Winter) went to shroud herselfe vnder the same, in which sort the fell a sleepe, till at last the Fryers came into the Quire to say theyr matins; with the noyse of whose voyces awaking, she thought good to sport with them a little, & to make them afrayde, beginning to giue great bounces and rumblings a­gainst the Coffin, and withall, to skritche and howle in the lothsomest manner she could. The Pryor and his Brethren, somewhat troubled at the suddainenesse thereof, came downe into the body of the Church, bringing with them Holy-vva­ter, and holding in theyr handes halowed Candles burning, and vsing such prayers and deuotions as for such a case they thought conuenient.

Notwithstanding, the foolish woman resolute to goe for­ward with that which shee had begunne, the neerer she heard them approach, the greater bounsing shee made, and withall, rearing vp the coffin in height with her head, let both herselfe and the same fall as hard as she could, which though she did manie times, yet the largenes of the mourning cloth kept her from beeing discouered. The Pryor seeing that this coniura­tions & exorcismes profited nothing at all, thought it should be a great rashnesse to lift vp the cloath, and to discouer vn­derneath, least thereby, through feare and amazement, might ensue some harme or danger to some of the Fryers, and so commaunded them to returne to theyr Matines. The foole seeing the danger ouerpast, layd her downe to sleepe awhile, [Page 78] and vvaking about the breake of day, conueyed herselfe se­cretly from vnder the Herse, hyding herselfe in a place of the Church, vntill such time as the Sexton came to open the doore, and people began to presse in, at which time she stole priuily out of the Church. The Fryers comming to visit this Herse, & lifting vp the cloth, found nothing but the ground trampled and troden, so that they knewe not what to iudge thereof. This matter could not remaine so secrete, but that it was in fewe dayes published, not onely through the vvhole Cittie, but also in many other places, and euery man adding what pleased him, it was told in diuers sorts, and the opinions and iudgements thereof likewise were diuers, no man know­ing the truth thereof, till on a certaine day, two months after the foresayd buriall, it chaunced that this foolish or franticke vvoman standing in the Market-place, and beeing enuironed with a number of boyes and idle fellowes, that were iesting and sporting with her, spyed by chaunce two Religious men of the same Cloyster passing by, at which breaking out into a great laughter, i-fayth, quoth shee, Fryers, Fryers, as lustie as you are, I made you once tremble and shake for feare: At which turning backe, better to vnderstande that which shee sayde, shee tolde them laughing that it was shee that lay the same night vnder the Herse, and which made thē so afray de vvhen they came into the Church to say theyr Matines. The standers by, made her by sweete speeches and fayre promises confesse all that had passed, laughing not a little at the crafti­nesse of the foole, and at the generall error in which they had still remained, if shee had not herselfe disclosed vnto them all the particularities thereof.

Manie such thinges as these, without doubt, doe happen in the world, of which some neuer come to be disco­uered: but seeing we haue sufficiently discoursed of the same, I pray you let me somwhat vnderstand your opinion as con­cerning Robingoodfelowes & Hobgoblins, which are sayde Trasgo [...]y Duendes de Casa. to be so common, that there is scarcely any man but will tell you one tale or other of them, of which for mine owne part, I beleeue none, but doe make reckoning that euery man for­geth heerein, what pleaseth him.

Many of them without doubt are forged, and ma­nie Hobgoblins and Robin Goodfelows also true, for these kindes of Spirits are more familiar and domesticall then the others, and for some causes to vs vn­knowne, abide in one place more then in another, so that some neuer almost depart from some perticuler houses, as though they were their propper mansions, making in them sundry noyses, rumors, mockeries, gaudes, and iestes, without doing any harme at all: and though I am not my selfe witnes thereof, yet I haue heard many persons of credit affirme, that they haue heard them play as it were on Gyternes and Iewes Harpes, and ring Belles, and that they aunswer to those that call them, and speake with certaine signes, laughters & mer­ry gestures, so that those of the house come at last to be so familiar and well acquainted with them that they feare them not at all. But in truth, as I said before, if they had free power to put in execution their malicious desire, we shoulde finde these pranks of theirs, not to be iestes, but earnest indeed, ten­ding to the destruction both of our bodie and soule, but as I tolde you before, this power of theirs is so restrained and ty­ed, that they can passe no farder then to iestes and gawdes: and if they doe any harme or hurt at all, it is certainlie verie little, as by experience we dailie see: and therefore leauing vn­rehearsed an infinite number of fables and strange tales tolde of them by the common people, I will tell you truly what I savve my selfe, beeing a boy of tenne yeeres old, & a Schol­ler in Salamanca.

There was in that Citty a widdow, very principall and rich, somewhat aged in yeeres, which kept in her house foure or fiue mayde Seruants, of the which two were young and very A Hobgo­blin in the Citty of Sa­lamanca. beautifull. There was a common report bruted abroade in the Towne, that there should be in this vviddowes house a Hobgoblin or spright that plaid daily sundry strange pranks, of which the most vsuall was, that hee threw stones from the roofe of the house, not onely vpon the persons therein, but al­so vpon others that came to visite the vviddow, in such quan­tity, and with such noise, as though whole showers of them had beene rained out of the Element, yet alwayes harmlesly without hurting any man. This matter grew so publique, that [Page 79] the brute thereof came at last to the eares of the Magistrate, who desiring to know the truth thereof, went presently to the widdowes house, with at least twenty in his company, entring into which, hee commaunded a Sergeant accompanied with foure other men, to seeke round about the house with a bur­ning Torch, willing him not to leaue any corner aboue or beneath vnsearched, wherein by any possibility a man might be hidden, which he and his fellowes executed so neerely, that vnlesse they would haue vntiled the house they could doe no more: so that returning they made relation, that there was no seeking any farther, for all was safe: vvhere-vpon, the Magi­strate told the Gentlewoman of the house, that she was abu­sed and deceaued, and as it was most likely by her yong may­dens, who might bring into her house their Louers, by whom these stones might be so throwne vp and downe: and there­fore willed her for auoyding of all inconueniences, to looke more narrowly vnto them, least emboldened through this simplicity of hers, they might in time attempt some greater matter. The good Gentlewoman was the most ashamed of the world, not knowing what to reply, yet still persisted to af­firme that of the throwing of the stones to be most true. The Magistrate and the rest iesting at her simplicity, tooke their leaue to be gone, but they were scarcely off the staires, but there came such a whirling of stones about their eares, & with such a noise, as though they had beene throwne with three or foure slings together, as thicke as might be: which falling on their leggs, armes, and feet, did them no hurt at all. The Ma­gistrate caused the selfe same man which had searched be­fore, to search againe, with great diligence and hast, but it was all in vaine, for there was no body to be found: at which, as they stood wondring, there fell of a sodaine in the portall of the house, such a shower of stones amongst them, that it farre exceeded the former, at which their amazement encreasing, one of the Sergeants tooke vp amongst the rest that lay on the flower, a markt stone, and throwing it ouer the top of the house that stoode on the other side of the streete in front; If thou be a right deuill (quoth he) returne me this stone again, at which very moment, the selfe same stone fel from the roofe [Page] of the house, and hitte him on the brimme of his Hatte ouer his eyes, and the stone was euidently knowne of them all, to be the very same which hee had throwne ouer the other house, so that the Magistrate with the rest of those that were there present with him, departed out of the house, with the greatest astonishment that might be; and not long after there came thither a Priest, of the little Tower of Salamanca, who through certaine coniuration which hee wrought, deliuered the house both of this throwing of stones, and all other such like molestations.

In good sooth, I neuer heard of a merrier deuill: but afore you passe any farther, I will tell you of two thinges A Story of a Studient and a Hobgob­line in Be­neuenta. which both happened in this same Towne where we nowe are: the one was of a young man, that being a Studient in Sa­lamanca, came thence hither to see his mother, beeing a wid­dow, and was certified by the folkes of the house, that there haunted in the same a Hobgobline, vvhich at sundry times played twenty knauish pranks with those of the house, which the Studient would by no meanes beleeue, but laughed at the reports thereof, and at last, grew into choller with them, be­cause they persisted in the earnest affirmation thereof: At night calling for a candell, hee went to a chamber that vvas made ready for him, and shutting to the doore, layd himselfe downe to rest, but waking within a little while, he might see vnder his bed a light, like vnto a little flame of fire: at which lifting vp the cloathes, and starting out of the bed, he began to looke whence this fire might come, but the same presently vanishing, hee turned to his rest againe, thinking surely that his eyes had dazeled, but he had not line long when he per­ceaued a greater flame then the first, to his seeming vnder the bed, at which lifting the couerings of the bed fearefully vp, and bowing downe his head very lowe to looke vnderneath the bed, he was sodainly taken by the legges, and pitcht top­sie turuie ouer, and throwne into the midst of the chamber, where-with striken into a great amazement, he cryed out as loude as he could for a candell, which beeing brought, and searching vnder the bed, there was nothing at all to be found: from which time forward the Studient acknowledged his er­ror, [Page 80] and was lesse obstinate in beleeuing that were Hobgob­lins. The other was of two Gentlemen, which are nowe the Another sto­ry of a Hob­gobline in Beneuenta. chiefest in the Towne, and our especiall friends, who hearing of a Hobgobline that haunted a poore womans house, hol­ding the same for a iest, would needes goe thither one night with a certaine Priest, to search out the secret cause whence this report might arise: comming thither, and giuing no cre­dite to the poore womans wordes, of a sodaine one of them was striken a great blow vpon one of his iawes, with a clod of stinking filthy clay, of which he receaued no greater hurt, but that it astonished him a little: There fell also of this earth vp­pon others of their company, and one of them was hitte a great blowe on the shoulder with a tile, so that the Gentle­men and the Priest made as great hast as they could to gette thence, not without great wonder and meruaile.

Not long after, a Priest exorcising a vvoman that was pos­sessed, the deuill that was within her, amongst other thinges, confessed that it was hee that which had handled them the o­ther night, and that the same clay which hee threwe at them was out of a Graue, and of a putrified body, not throughly yet conuerted into earth. But if wee will enter into speech of this kinde of spyrites, wee shall neuer make an ende: for there is nothing tolde of them, so vnpossible, but I beleeue the same, seeing it is a thing so manifestly approoued, that they canne take vppon them, what shape or forme they list: Leauing therefore this, and passing to other poyntes of grea­ter importaunce, I pray you make mee vnderstande, vvhe­ther A false and ridiculous opinion that many hold touching those that are possessed this opinion which many doe holde be true, that when so euer any manne is possessed, the soule of some one that is dead, should enter into him, and speake within him.

In trueth you haue reason to seeke to be resol­ued of so ignorant an absurdity as this of theirs is, vvho so e­uer mainetayne or thinke the same; for though sometimes GOD permitte the soules departed, for some especiall cau­ses to returne vnto the vvordle, yet dooth hee not permitte them to enter into a body, vvhere is an other soule: for two reasonable soules canne by no meanes abide in one body, so that there cannot be a greater falsenes and errour then this: [Page] for without doubt they are deuils and not soules, as we may see by their casting forth, which is done by the vertue of holy and sacred words, at which time they vse their vttermost en­deuour, not to be constrained to goe into places, where they cannot exercise their malice: of which we haue in the Scrip­tures an example of him, who being as Saint Luke saith in his eight Chapter, possessed of a legion of deuils, was deliuered of them by our Sauiour, by whose permission they entred in­to a Heard of Swine, which threw them selues immediatly downe the Rocks, tumbling into the Sea.

I would also gladly know, what should be the cause that the deuils are so desirous to enter into mens bodies, and can with such diffi­culty be cast out of them, making there-vnto all resistance that they possibly may.

To this question Psellius ma­keth aunswere, and Gaundencius Merula also saying, that Psellius opi­nion of the cause why the deuils desire to en­ter into mens bodies though the deuils are enemies vnto men, yet they enter into their bodies not so much with will to doe them hurt, as with desire of a vitall heate and warmenes, for these are such as doe enhabite the deepest and coldest places, where the cold is so pure that it wanteth moistnes, so that they couet places hote and moist, searching all oportunities and occasions to enter into them so often, as for some reasons which we vnderstand not, God suffereth & permitteth them so to doe. And when they cannot enter into the bodies of mē, they enter into those of other creatures, where willingly they detaine themselues so long as they may, and through the violent strength which the body by their entry receaueth, happen these tremblings, sha­kings, and forcible motions, which we see they vse that are possessed. This kinde of deuils vse the spirit of the patient as their proper instrument, and with his tongue speake and vtter what they list: but if they be of those that flie the light, and dwell in the profundities of the earth, as the last and vtmost sort of those of the earth: they make the patient deafe and dumbe, like a blocke without vnderstanding, as though hee were depriued of all his sences & forces which he had before: and this is the worst sort of all, and with greatest difficulty cast out. But as for mee, I take these to be rather imaginations of those Authors, then opinions indeed to be allowed and held [Page 81] for true: for the deuils not hauing bodies, nor entryng into the bodies otherwise then as pure Spirits, they can receaue neither good nor ill of the naturall heate, conteyned in the body of the men into which they enter.

Much might be replyed to the opinion of these two Authors, but I had ra­ther, seeing the beginning of this our discourse was of the Witch, that with her vrine caused a clowde to rise in the ayre, that you would tell me what difference is betweene Witches and Inchaunters, and in what sort the one and the other vse their Science.

Much might be answered to this your demaunde, but omitting that which is lesse materiall, let vs come to that which in our vulgar and mother tongue we vn­derstand. We call by name of Enchaunters, those who pub­liquely Enchaunters and openly haue any agreement or couenaunt vvith the deuill, by whose helpe they worke thinges which are in apparance wonderfull, entring into circles they cause them to appeare and to speake, consulting with them, vsing theyr fa­uour and ayde in all theyr workes, and many they make the deuils alone to doe for thē. Witches are those which though they haue familiarity and conuersation with the deuill yet the Witches. same is in such sort, that they themselues scarcely vnderstande the error wherewith they abuse themselues, vsing vnknowne signes, Characters, and other superstitions, in which they se­cretly inuoke the names of the deuils, vsing theyr ayde and counsaile. And because the deuill may the better bring them to his byasse, hee discloseth vnto them some properties and vertues of rootes, herbes, and stones, and other things, which haue secret operations, mingling the one with the other, that is to say, that of naturall Magique with that of the deuill, but in conclusion, they may all be called Witches & Enchaunters, which with naturall Magique (which is the knowledge of those things to whom Nature hath imparted these secret ver­tues) mingle signes, Characters, and words, vsing thē though they vnderstand them not, in theyr sorceries & vvitchcraftes.

By the way, before you passe any further, I pray you satisfie me in one thing which you sayd, that the deuill doth sometimes enter into the body of vnreasonable creatures, which to me seemeth verie strange, because I neuer heard the [Page] the like before.

Is your memory so short, that you re­member not that which wee saide a little before of the deuils cast forth by our Sauiour, which desired leaue of him to enter The deuill sometimes entreth into the body of beastes. into a heard of Swine, the which threw themselues presentlie headlong downe the rocks? But to the end that you may vn­derstand that the deuils doe also enter into bruite beasts, at re­quest of those with whom they are compacted, I will heere giue you a later example.

When I was a Student, it was my chaunce to be familiar­lie acquainted with another young man that studied Phisick, in which he proued so excellent, that hee was preferred for a Phisition to the Emperour Charles the fifth. He and I bee­ing one day in company, discoursing of such matters as these of which we now speake, he affirmed to me with great othes, that when hee studied Grammer in the Monastery of Gua­dulupe, as he went foorth one euening to solace himselfe in the fieldes, he saw ryding on the high-way, a man in a religi­ous A story of a student that rode be­tween Gua­dalupe and Granada in one night. habit, vpon a horse so leane, and to the outward shewe so tyred, that hee seemed scarcely able to stande vpon his feete, within a while the passenger comming to the place where he walked, after salutations past of both sides, desired him of all fauour to goe vnto the towne, and to buy him somewhat for his supper, because for diuers causes he coulde not goe him­selfe, promising him not to be vnthankfull for so great a cur­tesie. The Student gently aunswered, that he was most vvil­ling to doe him that or any other measure he could: vvhere­vpon receauing money, he departed presently to the towne, & returned with speed, bringing such things as the other had required him to buy. The stranger being hungry, spred his cloake, & ouer that a napkin he carried with him, vppon the grasse, and fell to his victuals with an appetite, constrayning the student to sit downe & to eate with him. Where amongst other talke, the scholler asked him whether he rode that way, who aunswering to Granada, the scholler told him that if hee had beene prouided of meanes, he would willingly haue vn­dertaken that voyage with him, to visite an old mother of his that lyued in that Cittie, whom in many yeeres hee had not seene. That shall not be your stay, aunswered the passenger, [Page 82] for if it shall please you to beare mee company, I will defray your charges thither, and withall, I will promise you to take such order, that you shall neither be anoyed nor wearied with the length of the way, but vppon condition that wee depart presently, for I cannot stay long by any meanes. The scholler beeing poore, and the onely thing that letted him to vnder­take this iourney, beeing the want of money, accepted vvil­linglie his offer, desiring him onely to attend so long, till hee had taken leaue of some of his friendes in the towne, & fetcht a shirt or two. The passenger beeing therewith contented, he went his wayes and returned againe with great speede, but make as much hast as he could, the night was come on, so that he requested the other to stay till next morning, vvhich hee would in no wise doe, saying that it was rather better to tra­uaile by night, and to rest by day, because beeing in the midst of Iune, the heate was most extreame: so that they began to goe onwards on theyr voyage, the one a foote, and the other on horsebacke, telling old stories, and discoursing of sundry matters, till when they had so gone a little while, the passen­ger importuned the student to gette vp behinde him on the croupe of his horse, at which the scholler laughing, tolde him that his horse, in respect of his passing leanenesse, seemed to be fitter for dogs meate, then to carry two men at once on his backe. Well, quoth the passenger, if you knew my horse so well as I doe, you would not say so, for I assure you, howe il­fauoured soeuer he looke, there is not his fellow in the world, neyther woulde I sell him for his weight in gold: and if you doubt of his ability to cary vs both, get but vp, and you shall ere it be long confesse the contrary; at which perswasions & others which he vsed, the student got vp behind him on his Palfry, which carryed them away with such smoothnesse and so swiftly, that hee though hee neuer rode pleasantlier in his life, & euery foote his companion askt him what he thought of his leane beast, assuring him that he would not be tyred or alter his pace, though the iourney were neuer so long. After they had ridden all night, at last the dawning of the day began to appeare, & the student saw before him a goodly countrey, ful of gardens & plesant trees, & not far of a very great citty, [Page] asking of his companion what countrie and cittie the same was, hee made him aunswere, that they were within the pre­cincts of Granada, and that the same was the Cittie vvhich they saw before them, instantly desiring him in recompence of his easie voyage, not to vtter this matter of him & his horse to anie man liuing: and so tooke his leaue of him, bidding him to goe where it pleased him, for hee was to take another way. The Student after many thankes dispatching himselfe out of his cōpany, went to the towne the most amazed man of the world, thinking it vnpossible to finish a voyage of so many miles in one night, vnlesse there had beene some deuill within the horse, as it is most likelie there was.

It is most manifest that this could not be without the work of the deuill, and I will recite vnto you another the like, which a most substantiall friende of mine, a man of verie good reputation told mee was most certaine and true, and it hapned on the selfe same way of Granada to his father, which Another no­table chance that hapned to two men on their way to Granada. in companie of another of his friendes going homewardes, hauing parted from Valladolid and past the Towne of Ol­medo, met by the way with a stranger, who told him that hee was also to goe the same way, and that if it pleased them, he would be glad to beare them company, with which they bee­ing very well contented, rode on together, entertayning them selues with diuers kindes of discourses and pastimes, till ha­uing ridden eight or nine miles, theyr newe companion per­swaded them to light downe in a greene Medow by the high way side, which was to the eye very greene and pleasant, and there spreading a great cloake which he ware, drew out of his Budget prouision to eate, and so did the others also, and sate themselues all downe vpon the cloake, and two of theyr Lac­quaies with them, and the newe commer would needs haue theyr horses also sette theyr feete vpon the same great cloake of his, and so breaking theyr fast with great leysure, and deui­sing of sundry things, such as best pleased them, after they had sitten a good space without scarcely thinking of their iournie, they began to make hast to get a horsebake, but theyr nevve companion byd them take leysure, for they shoulde come in good time to Granada, shewing them with his finger the citty [Page 83] not aboue a quarter of a league from thence, bidding them thanke his cloake: requesting them withall not to vtter this to any man, which they promised him not without singuler astonishment, vpon which he tooke his leaue of them, depar­ting by a contrary way.

Truly eyther of both these things heere rehearsed, are passing strange: but if, as you say, the deuils lost not their nature, though they lost grace, then is the power and force which they haue, if they be in liberty & not restrained, like vnto that of the good Angels, and so as the Angell carried by the haire the Prophet Abacuck out of Iury into the denne of Lyons, which was in Babilon where Daniel was; might the deuill likewise carry in an houre these men, so great a way as is betwixt Olmedo and Granada: and in this manner doe I thinke that they carry those men and women, whom wee call Sorcerers and Hags, whether they will them­selues. Sorcerers & Hags.

This is a lynage and kinde of people, which are expresly agreed and accorded with the deuill, holding and o­beying him as their soueraigne Prince and Maister, and suffe­ring thēselues to be marked of him as his slaues, which mark, some say, they beare in one of their eyes, fashioned like a Toades foote, by which they know and haue notice one of a­nother: for they haue amongst themselues great companies and fraternities, making often generall meetings together, at which times, they pollute themselues with all filthines, in ac­complishing most abhominable villanies, brutish lusts, and in­fernall ceremonies; and alwayes when so euer they meete so together, they doe lowly homage and reuerence to the deuill, who most cōmonly appeareth to them in the figure of a great Ram-goate, where the wicked & hellish abhominations that they commit, are such, that they are not to be vttered. I will therefore onely tell you one, which was told me for a matter most assured and approued, by infinite testimonies and infor­mations that were taken thereof, which was thus. A certaine A notable chance that happened to a learned man in Spaine. man well learned, and very discreete, suspected vehemently a neighbour of his to be a Sorcerer, and through the great de­sire he had to be assured thereof, began to vse conuersation, and to enter in a great league of familiarity and friendshippe [Page] with him, couering so finely his dissimulation, that the other assuring him selfe of his secrecie, discouered him selfe vnto him, with great instance, perswading him also to enter into their society, in which doing, he should enioy all the pleasures, delights, and contentments of the world, who faining him­selfe to be very desirous of the same, it was agreed betweene them, that at the next assembly of theirs, hee should goe to make his couenant and confederation with the deuill, putting himselfe vnder his baner and protection. The day assigned, being come and gone, after it was darke night, the Sorcerer tooke the learned man out of the Towne, and carried him a­long certaine valleyes and thickets, in which to his iudgment he had neuer beene before, though hee knew the Countrey round about very well; and in short space hee thought that they had gone very farre: comming at last into a plaine field enclosed round about with mountaines, where he saw a great number of people, men and women, that went vp and downe in great mirth, who all receaued him with great feast & glad­nes, giuing him many thankes, for that it had pleased him to become a member of their society, assuring him that there was no greater happines in the world, then that which he should enioy. In midst of this field was a throne built very sumptu­ously, on which stoode a great & filthy Ram-goate, to whom at a certaine houre of the night they all went to do reuerence, and going vp certain degrees one after another, they kist him in the foulest part behind. The learned man seeing an abho­mination so great, though hee were by his companion tho­roughly instructed, how he should behaue himselfe, could no longer haue patience, but began to call vnto God, at which very instant there came such a terrible thunder and tempest, as though heauen and earth should haue gone together, in such sort, that he became for a time, through great astonishment, sencelesse, and without all iudgement and vnderstanding, in which sort, he knew not himselfe how long he continued, but when hee came to himselfe, it was broade day, and hee found himselfe amongst certaine rough mountaines so brused and crushed, as though hee had scarcely any one sound bone in his body; and being desirous to know what this place might [Page 84] be wherein he was, comming downe from those mountaines to the plain country vnderneath, he found people so strange­lie differing in habite, custome, and speech, from those of this Country, that hee neyther vnderstoode their language, ney­ther in the world knew what course he might best take to get home: But making of necessity vertue, crauing releefe by signes, and guiding himselfe by the Sunne, he tooke his way towards the West, and was three yeeres in his iourney home­wards, enduring by the way great trauailes and misfortunes, of which presently vpon his ariuall, and of all the rest which he had passed and seene, he gaue notice to the Magistrate, ac­cusing by name & sirname diuers persons which he had seene and knowne in the abhominable assembly, who were appre­hended, found guilty and executed, whose processe hee that tolde me this, swore solemnly that hee had seene and reade.

As for me, I scarcely iustifie this learned mans action, for God knoweth what his meaning was, when he went with the other to their assembly and congregation; howsoeuer it was, it fell out well, that he had the grace to repent himselfe, and to returne home to his natiue Land, being by the deuils transported so far from thence.

Fryer Alonso de Castra, in his 16. Chapter De iusta Panitione Haereticorum, writeth a­nother Fryer Alon­so de Castra, his opinion touching Sorcerers & Hags. History like vnto this: but I will first tell you certaine things that he writeth in particuler of these hags & Sorcerers, making a difference betweene them and Enchaunters and Witches: for this kind of people (sayth he) are agreed onely with the deuill, to the end that they might in this life enioy all manner of delights and pleasures. The first time that they goe to present themselues before him, and to doe him ho­mage, they finde him not in the likenes of a Goate, but like a King of great & royal authority: they are all brought into his presence by other deuils, in figure of Ram-goates, whom they call Martinets: Moreouer, he sayeth, that the reuerence and homage which they doe vnto him, is not like to that which wee vse vnto Princes, but in turning theyr shoulders, and bovving dovvne theyr heads as lowe as they canne, and that hee vvhich is newly assumpted into this brotherhoode, doth first vvith vvordes vvicked and abhominable, blaspheme [Page] and renounce all the holy points and misteries contayned in our Catholique beleefe, vowing vnto the deuill his faithfull seruice for euer, with many other execrable ceremonies, vows, and oaths, which he there vseth; which being accomplished, they mingle themselues altogether, & many deuils with them in likenes of young Gentlemen, & some of beautifull dames, where without shame or respect they fulfill in all abhomina­tion their filthy lust and beastly appetite: and of this compa­nie the greater part, or in a manner all are women, as beeing through frailty and ignorance, readiest to be deceaued by the deuill, and aptest therevnto through the lust of the flesh: and these women, saith he, are called Lamia and Striges, for Lamia is a most cruell beast, which hath the face of a woman, and the Lamia, Striges. feete of a horse: and Striges is a bird that flieth by night, ma­king great shriking and noise, the which when she can gette into any place where children are, doth sucke out their blood Wee call these skriech Owles. and drinke it, for which cause, the Sorcerers also are called Striges, because they worke the same effect, sucking out the blood of men, when by any meanes they may, especially that of little children.

I would be glad to vnderstand this a little better, because I haue heard both Phisitions and Phi­losophers affirme and maintaine this to be vnpossibe, because the pores & veines are so close, that the blood cannot by any such sucking be drawne out of them.

This reason seemeth to be sufficient, but to be short, not onely the com­mon people, but also many Authors of good credite, affirme it to be true; and it may be that the deuill whose knowledge and forces, you confesse, to be farre aboue our vnderstanding, maketh them heerein cunning and industrious in exceeding Nature.

VVhether this be so or no, the matter is not great, but according to the opinion of many Authors, the Sorcerers and Sorceresses goe vnto these assemblies in tvvo manners; the one through the deceite of certaine oyles and Two maner of wayes by which the Sorcerers are present in generall assemblies with the de­uill. oyntments, with which they anoynt themselues, which de­priueth them of their right sence, making them imagine that they are transformed into Birds or Beasts, deceauing not on­lie themselues with this error; but oftentimes also the eyes of others that behold and view them, for the deuill with deceit­full [Page 85] apparance, formeth about them that fantasticall body, which is also practised by sundry Enchaunters, who doe dazle and deceaue our sight, as did Cyrce and Medaea, and others that vsed the Art of Magique, turning and transforming men into brute beastes, to the seeming of all those which behelde them, though in truth it was nothing so. For as the Philoso­pher sayeth, it is vnpossible to change one shape into another, and the Counsaile of Aquilon vseth these words. Whosoe­uer doth affirme that any creature may be transformed into any other thing better or worse, or may take any other shape, then that in which it was of God created, is an Infidell. But the Sorcerers and Sorceresses, though they finde the manner where-with they are deceaued & abused, yet they take it well and giue consent there-vnto, thinking themselues in those i­maginations to be transported with great swiftnes, into those parts which they desire, and verily to see and finde themselues in action of those thinges, which to their fancie are represen­ted. The other kinde of going to these assemblies, and tran­sporting them to farre places with such swiftnes, is really and truly by helpe of the deuils, vpon whom somtimes they ride, in likenes of Goates, somtimes they anoynt themselues with other oyntments, whose operation maketh them thinke that they are fowles and flie in the ayre, when in deede they are ca­ried by the deuils. And though vppon this matter, there be many things to say and alleadge, as both by reading and ex­perience I haue found to be true, yet for breuities sake I will omit them, onely this I will tell you, that there is no doubt at all to be made, but that the deuill can in very short space, and as it were in an instant, transport these Sorcerers into meruai­lous farre Regions: For he which had power (speaking with feare and reuerence) to carry our Sauiour Christ out of the Desert. and to set him on the top of a pinacle on the temple, and from thence to conuey him to a high mountaine, whence he might view & discouer a great part of the world, can farre more easily transport a man or vvoman through the ayre, which to the end you may by example vnderstand: I will tell you what Fryer Alonso de Castra, writeth, alleadging the au­thority of Paulus Grillandus, in his Treatise of Heretiques, [Page] that a Sorceresse in Italy, hauing beene by the deuill carried into one of these assemblies, after she had filthily defiled her A strange story of a Sorceresse. selfe with their abhominations, as she was from thence retur­ning homewards, by a Chappell where people often assem­bled to pray, the Bell hapned to ring to seruice, which the de­uill no sooner heard, but hee cast her off and went his wayes, leauing her in a fielde full of bryers neere to a Riuers side, whereby within a while a young man chaunced to passe that was of her acquaintance, whom so soone as shee saw, she cal­led by his name, and desired him to come vnto her, but the young man seeing her naked, and her hayre flaring about her shoulders and breast, thinking her surely to be some Spright, feared to come any neerer, till at last, telling him that she was Lucrecia (for so was her name) and importunating him with weeping and pittifull words, he tooke hart a grace and drewe neere vnto her, asking her with great wonder what she made there at that time, and in so strange a sort: she answered him dissemblingly, vsing such excuses as she thought might serue to auoyde suspition of the truth indeed, but in such sort, as the young man cleerly perceiued them to be fictions, and there­vpon told her, that vnlesse she would tell him the plain truth of the matter, shee should not expect of him any further assi­stance at all: she seeing that lying auailed not after hauing cō ­iured him with many othes neuer to disclose it during his life, frō point to point discouered vnto him, this which you heere before haue heard: which the young man hauing wholy vn­derstood, conueied her so secretly to her house that shee was not seene of any man, receauing of her many & sundry gifts to the end that he should keepe this matter secret, who acqui­ted not so wel his promise vnto her, but that he opened it to a friend of his, in whom hee reposed great trust & confidence, who imparting it to another frō hand to hand, within a while it began to be spred abroad, in such sort that shee was taken, examined, found guilty & punished according to her desert. By this example you may perceaue that they are sometimes verily in person transported by the deuils, though sometimes they are by them abused & deceaued, perswading themselues that they bodily goe, see, & find themselues present in those [Page 86] abhominable meetings, whē there is indeed but only, as I said before, a representation therof in their fancie, as for example. Malleus maleficarū telleth of a woman, who affirmed so obsti­nately Another story of a Sorceresse, written in Malleꝰ Ma­leficarum, a booke con­tayning no­thing but things ex­ceeding wel verified, and of vndoub­ted truth. before the Commissioners, that she could goe & come bodily whether she list in short space, though she were neuer so fast imprisoned, & the way neuer so farre of, that for tryall, they presently caused her to be shut vp in a chamber, & willed her to go to a certain house, & to learne what was there done, & to bring them relation thereof, the which she promising to do, after she had remained awhile alone, the Commissioners caused the dore to be suddainly opened, & entring the cham­ber, found her lying stretched out on the ground, in such sort, as though shee had been verily dead: one of them curious to proue whether she had any feeling or no, tooke a candle, and with the flame therof scorched one of her legs, but seeing no signe of motion in her, he left her & they departed out of the chamber, causing the dore to be fast lockt again, presently vp­on which she came forth, telling the Commissioners that she had gone and come with great trauaile, declaring vnto them the marks & tokens of all such things as they asked, obstinatly maintaining that she had beene present and viewed the same with her eyes: wherupon, they asked her if she felt no griefe in one of her legs, she answered that since her comming back it grieued her very sore: then layd they before her the grosse­nes of the error wherewith she was abused, and told her what they had done vnto her in maner as before: which she trulie perceiuing, fell downe on her knees & craued pardon, which was granted, vpon promise of her repentance & amendment of life. Truly this is one of the greatest abhominations in the world, & though there be certaine Witches, that are not Sor­cerers, as we may see in the Golden Asse of Lucius Apuleius, yet all those that are Sorcerers are Witches, seeing that by their sorceries they are able to change not onely theyr ovvne, but other mens shapes also, as Cyrce and Medaea did, & thys partly through Magique naturall, that is, the knowledge of the vertues of herbes, stones, oyles & oyntments, whose pro­perties are by the deuil reuealed vnto them, & partly through the meere helpe of the deuill, employing therein his vvhole [Page] power, for the better binding & assuring them to be perpe­tually his.

This which you say, may very well be con­firmed by that historie which I told you was like vnto that of the learned man, the which hauing almost forgotten, you haue brought into my memory againe: it is written by the selfe same Paulus Gryllandus. There was, sayth he, in Italie a woman, who through the temptation of the deuill, beeing Another hi­story of a Sorceresse, recited by Paulus Gril­landus. desirous to soyle herselfe in those abhominations amongst the other sorcerers, entred into their detestable societie, so that shee went and came so often from those assemblies, that her husband, after some manifest tokens thereof discouered, grew into great suspition of the matter, and hauing oftentimes wil­led her to tell him the truth thereof, with solemne promise to conceale the same, shee would neuer by any meanes confesse it, but with great oathes and protestations affirmed the con­trary: He remayning still firme in his imagination, carefullie endeuoured by all possible meanes to com to the knowledge thereof, watching her alwaies with great heede and continuall care, till at last, shee hauing one night lockt herselfe into a lit­tle chamber, he looked in at a little hole which he had made, and sawe her annoynting herselfe with a kind of oyntment, which she had no sooner doone, but he thought that she was transformed into a Bird, and that she flew out at the louer of the house, loosing presently the sight of her, though he held his eyes most ententiuely fixed vpon her, whereupon going downe to the doore of his house, and finding the same fast shut, he went to bed, exceedingly amazed at that which hee had seene, where falling a sleepe, as hee awaked towards the morning, he found his wife lying close by his side; whereup­on, with greater wonder then before, asking her if shee had skill in forcerie, and she with terrible oathes denying the same; he told her, that deniall could not serue her turne, because he had seene plainly her whole proceedings with his eyes, giuing her thereof so manifest tokens, that shee was in the greatest confusion that might be, yet she still perseuered with despe­rate othes most obstinatly to deny the same til at last her hus­band starting vp, and taking a good cudgell, and laying vpon her with heaue and ho; through pure feare made her to con­fesse [Page 87] it: but on such condition that hee should forgiue her, and neuer disclose word thereof to anie man liuing, therupon reuealing vnto him all the secret misteries of her wicked and damnable science: which her husband hearing, began to en­ter into a great desire to see the manner of theyr meetings, whereupon, beeing agreed to goe together the selfe same night, after shee had craued leaue of sathan to admit her hus­band, they both anoynted them selues, and were carryed to the wicked assembly, and place of their execrable and pesti­ferous delights. The man after hauing gazed about him a­while, & diligently beheld all that passed, sate himselfe downe at a table with the rest, furnished with sundry and diuers sorts of daintie meates, to the eye seeming delicate and good, but in proofe of a very sowre and vnpleasant tast, of which when he had prooued diuers, finding them all to be of a most vn­fauorie relish, he began to call for salt, because there was none at all vpon the table, but seeing the bringing of the same de­layd, he began to be more importunat in crauing it, at last, one of the deuils to please him set a salt-seller on the table, but hee beeing vnmindfull of his vviues admonishment, which vvas that hee shoulde there in no wise speake any word that vvere good & holie, seeing the salt come at last after so long calling for, God blesse vs, quoth he, I thought it would neuer haue come, which word he had no sooner spoken, but all that euer was there vanished away, with a most terrible noyse & tem­pest, leauing him for a great while in a traunce, out of which so soone as he came to himselfe recouering his spirits & sence, hee founde himselfe naked in a field amongst certaine hilles, where walking vp and downe in great sadnes and anguish of spirit, so soone as the day came hee met with certaine Sheep­heards, o whom demaunding what country the same vvas, he perceiued by theyr aunswere that he was aboue a hundred miles from his owne house, to which with much a doe, ma­king the best shift he could, at last he returned, and made re­lation of all this which you haue heard before the Inquisitors, whereupon, his wife and diuers others whō he accused, were apprehended, arraigned, found guihie and burnt.

I am gladde that you were put in minde to recite this history, [Page] which truly is very strange, though I haue often reade and heard of the like; for that which concerneth this kind of peo­ple, is no new matter, but very auncient: Many very old Au­thours write much of them, and of Witches, Negroman­cers, and Enchaunters, no lesse pestilent and pernitious to hu­maine kinde, then these others: sith leauing to be men, they became to be deuils in their works, of which sort there haue beene very many famous, or rather infamous in the world, as Zoroastes, Lucius Apuleius, Apolonius Tyaneus, and many The names of certaine old famous Sorcerers & Negroman­cers. others, of whom there is now no knowledge or memory, be­cause Historiographers haue not vouchsafed to write of thē, as men not worthy to be commended to the posterity: as for this our time, the number of them is, the more the pitty, too great, which though they professe the faith of Christ, yet they are not ashamed to confederate themselues with the deuill, and to doe their works in the name of Belzebub (as the Pha­risies sayd of our Sauiour) and for a small contentment in this worlde, make no account of the perdition of theyr soules, though for the greatest part also, they neuer enioy heere any great prosperity, or euer come to any good successe, for com­monly their confederate the deuill, bringeth them to a shame­full end, procuring the discouery of their wickednes, and so The deuill in the ende always brin­geth his mi­nisters to shame and confusion. consequently punishment for the same, which if one amongst twenty here escapeth, yet in the other world he is assured per­petually to fry in the fire of hell: But leauing these, let vs now come to another sort of them, who handle the matter in such sort that they wil scarcely be knowne what they are: these are Charmers, the which as it seemeth, haue a perticuler gift of God to heale the biting of mad dogs, & to preserue people & cattell from being endomaged by them. These as they say are known, in that they haue the wheele of S. Katherin in the roof of their mouth, or in som other part of their body, who thogh in my iudgement it cannot be denied but that they doe great help in such like things: yet to heare their prayers, coniurati­ons, & grosse clownish phrases, would moue a man to laugh­ter, though they to whō they vse them seeme to recouer ther­by their health.

This is a strange people, but truly this gift or vertue of theirs, is much to be doubted of, seeing for the [Page 88] most part, as Frier Franciscus de Victoria saith, they are base for­lorne people, & of ill example in their life, & somtimes such as boast & make their vaunts of more thē they can accomplish: and I haue heard that some of them wil creepe into a red hot Ouen, without danger of burning.

I cannot think that any man hath particuler grace to doe this, but rather that he doth it by the help, & in the name of the deuil.

No doubt but many of them doe so, though there are also som, to whom God hath imparted particuler graces and vertues, as those of whom Pliny writeth, alleaging the authority of Crates Perga­menus, that there is in Hellespont, a kind of men called Ophro­gens, who with only touching, heale the wounds made by ser­pents, Particuler vertue of men called Ophrogens. vpon which imposition of their hands, they presently purge, cast out, & auoid all the poyson & venom with which they are infected: and Varro saith, that in the same Country, there are men, which with their spettle heale the biting of Ser­pents, and it may be that these were all one people. Isigonus and Nimphodorus affirme, that there is in Affrica a certaine people, whose sight causeth all those things to perrish, vpon which it is intentiuely fixed, so that the very trees wither, and the children die there-with: The selfe same Isigonus sayeth, that in the Country of the Tribals and Ilyrians, there is a cer­taine kind of people, which in beholding any one with frow­ning eyes, if they detaine their sight any while vpon them, doe cause them to die: and Solinus writeth the like of cer­tayne vvomen among the Scythians. Pirrhus King of Epy­rotes, as Plutarch testifieth in his lyfe, had such vertue in the greate toe of his right foote, that vvho so euer had a sore mouth, if hee touched him there-with, was helped present­lie: and some Authors vvrite, that hee healed also many o­ther infirmities there-vvith. As for the King of Fraunce, it is a thing notorious to all menne, that hee hath a particuler grace and vertue in healing, the Lamparones or Kinges E­uill: and it may bee, that as GOD hath imparted these graces to many and sundry kindes of people, so also may hee endue some of these menne, of vvhich wee novve speake vvith povver and vertue to heale a griefe so pestilent and raging, as that of the byting of a madde Dogge, of [Page] which kind of cure, to the end you may better vnderstand the manner, I will tell you what happened to my Father when he was a young man. As he trauailed one day by the way, he was set vpon by a fierce Mastiue, by whom, make what de­fence he could, he was bitten through the boot into the legge, of which making small account, because it went not deepe in­to the flesh, he caried the hurt about him three or foure daies, without complaining of the same; the fourth day passing by a Chappell, and hearing the bell ring to Seruice, hee lighted off his horse, and stayed to heare the same which being done, as he was comming forth of the Chappell he was encountred by a Husbandman, who saluting him, demaunded if hee had not beene lately bitten by a mad dogge. My Father told him A pretty kind of cu­ring a man that was bitten by a mad dogge. he had beene indeede bitten of a dogge, demaunding of him the cause why he was so inquisitiue thereof; in good faith sir, quoth the Husbandman laughing, you may thanke God that it hath pleased him to guide and conduct you into this place, for this dogge by whom you are bitten, was mad, and if you should remaine nine dayes without helpe, there were no other way with you but death; and for the more assurance, that I tell you the truth, the dogge had such, and such markes: all which my Father acknowledging to be most true, & entring into some amazement, the other bad him be of good com­fort, telling him, that hee had the gift of healing that disease, and if it pleased him to stay a day or two in the Village, hee would helpe him. My Father accepting courteously his of­fer, went home with him to his house, where hee presently There is a Sect of men in Spain cal­led Saluda­dores, who heale by such like ce­remonies those that are bitten by mad dogs, I haue seene of them my selfe. blessed him, and all that euer he did eate, with certaine words and signes, and so likewise once againe after meate; towards the euening, he tolde him that if he would be cured, he must patiently endure three pricks in the nose, to which my Father being in extreame feare, willingly consented bidding him vse his pleasure, where-vpon, in presence of many the principal­lest men of the Village, he tooke a sharpe pointed knife and prickt him three times on the nose, wringing gently out of each pricke a drop of blood, which he receaued in a little saw­cer each drop by it selfe, and then washt his nose with a little white vvine, which was also charmed, after which, entertay­ning [Page 89] themselues in talke about halfe an howre, they lookt on the bloode which was in the sawcer, still remaining in theyr sight without beeing remoued, and they found in euery drop a liue worme bubling therein: which the Charmer shewing vnto my Father, sayd be of good cheere sir, for here is all the hurt that the dogge hath done you, but assure your selfe you should haue runne mad and dyed, if your good hap, or rather God had not guided you this way, giue God therfore thanks, and depart when you please. My Father requiting him in the thankfullest manner he coulde, tooke the next morning his leaue, and went on his way: As for this man that helped him, though it might be that God had giuen him some perticuler gift & vertue, yet for my part, I rather mistrust that he went not the right way, because hee could so readily tell the colour and tokens of the dogge.

Whatsoeuer he was, your Father had good hap in meeting with him. But now seeing it waxeth late, and wee haue so long discoursed of the manners and waies, whereby the deuill seeketh to deceaue vs, and to leade vs to perdition, I pray you resolue mee in one doubt which remaineth, the which is, in what sort they tempt men in theyr sleepe.

If you will reade Anthonio de Florencia, you shall there finde so many & diuers meanes and wayes, by the which he compasseth vs about with temptations, that to recite them all, we had need of farre longer time, then at this present vve haue; but amongst the rest this one is most vehement and of great force, which he suggesteth to vs in our sleepe, represen­ting in our fantasie those thinges in which we take delight, & such as are pleasing to our humors and appetites, especiallie making vs dreame lasciuious Dreames, and tempting vs so farre with filthy and carnall lust, that he prouoketh vs often­times to pollutions. To others he representeth in their sleepe The cause why the de­uill sugge­steth euill thoughts to vs in our sleepe. great treasures and riches, to the end that waking they might be stirred with desire of them, and haue their thoughts and imaginations busied about thē, leauing matter of better me­ditation: But his malice is not alwaies herewith contented, for sometimes it tendeth farder, prouoking vs in our sleep to cō ­mit follies, wherby we may lose both body and soule at once, [Page] which to the end that you may the better vnderstand, I will tell you what chaunced to a very principall gentleman of this countrey, whose surname was Tapia, whom beeing a boy, I knew passing well. This gentleman had so strange a conditi­on in his sleep, that he arose diuers nights sleeping out of his bed, and went vp and downe the house from place to place, A strange chance that hapned to a Gentleman in his sleepe. without waking: for which cause, least hee might thereby come to receaue some mischiefe, his seruaunts accustomed to set euery night a great shallowe tub of water by his beds side, for it is a thing approoued, that whosoeuer is troubled vvith this passion, awaketh presently in: touching the colde vvater. It hapned one night among the rest, that his seruants hauing forgotten to sette this vessell as they vsually accustomed, that beeing in the hotest season of the Sommer, thys Gentleman arose sleeping out of his bedde, with the greatest agonie that might be to goe swimme in the Riuer, whereupon, casting a­bout him a cloake ouer his shirt, he went out of his chamber, and vnbolted the doore of the house, making as fast towards the Riuers side as he could: comming to the townes end, he met with another companion, to whom, demaunding of him whether he went at that time of night, he made answer, that he felt such an extreame heate in his body, that he was deter­mined to goe refresh & coole himselfe in the Riuer: I could neuer haue mette with a fitter companion, sayde the other, for I am also going thither for the same occasion; of vvhose company Tapia beeing glad, they went on together, till they came to the Riuers side, where, as Tapia hauing put of his cloake and his shirt, and was ready to enter into the vvater, the other fell a scoffing and iesting at him, as at one that knew not hovve to swimme, vvhich he taking in ill part, because he was therein very expert and cunning, aunswered in chol­ler, that he would fwymme with him for as much, & for what wager soeuer he dared aduenture against him to the contra­rie: that shall be soone seene, quoth the other, whither your cunning be such, that you dare boldly performe as much as you say, and thereupon, forthwith went vp to the toppe of a high Bridge, that crost ouer the same Riuer, whence, after he had stript himselfe naked, he threwe himselfe downe head­long [Page 90] into the vvater, the Riuer running in that place verie swift and dangerous, where swimming vp and downe in the maine streame, he called vpon Tapia, by dding him according to his promise, doe as much as he had doone: who disday­ning to seeme eyther of lesse cunning or courage then the o­ther, went likewise vp to the top of the Bridge, and threvve himselfe downe in the very same place, in which the other had so doone before him: till which time still remaining fast a sleepe, his feete were no sooner in the vvater, but hee avva­ked presentlie, where finding himselfe plunging in midst of the rough streame, though he were in a wonderfull feare and amazement, yet as well as hee could, and with all the possible speede he might, he skambled foorth, earnestly calling vpon the companion that came thether with him, thinking assu­redlie that there was a man swimming with him indeed, but hauing passed with great difficultie the danger of the stream, after long calling and looking about him, when hee coulde neyther see nor heare any man make aunswere, hee beganne to mistrust, that thys matter proceeded by the craftie illusion and deceit of the deuil, who (as he truly thought) endeuoured by that subtile practise and enticement, to destroy in his sleep both his body and soule. VVherupon, recommending him selfe by hartie prayer vnto almightie GOD, and going vp againe to that place of the Bridge where hee and his compa­panion, as he imagined, had left their clothes, when he found no more then his owne, throughly confirming himselfe in the mistrust before conceaued, he returned homewardes to his owne house with very great astonishment, meeting by the way diuers of his seruaunts, who missing him in his chamber, and finding the doore of the house vnbolted, went seeking him vp and downe, to vvhō hee recited from poynt to point all that happened vnto him, from which time forward hee vvas lesse troubled with such passions, contayning himselfe alwayes in such heedfull sort, that the deuill could neuer haue power to deceaue him againe.

Truly this man was in great danger of eternall de­struction: but GOD is so kind and mercifull, that he alwaies succoureth and assisteth all those, that in time of necessity and [Page] danger, recommend themselues with a deuout hart vnto him. And therefore truly we had need looke well and carefullie to our selues, seeing wee haue so cautelous and craftie and aduer­sarie, continually dressing so manie grinnes & trappes to en­tangle The deuill is alwayes lying in wait to deceaue vs. vs, and alwaies busie in laying baites and allurements ready to deceaue vs. But seeing it is now very late, and the pleasantnes of our discoursing hath made vs passe ouer the time without scarcely thinking of the same, I am of opinion that we should doe well to referre this our conuersation and meeting till another time, for the satisfaction of some doubts which as yet remaine, if it shall please Signior Anthonio to a­gree thereunto.

No man better contented there-with then my selfe, appoynt therefore what time you thinke good and I will not faile to be ready.

Let vs then I pray you deferre the same no longer then till to morrowe morning.

I giue you my hand vpon the same.

And I also giue mine.

I Could neuer haue wished to haue come in a better time then now, seeing I finde the company together, which I so much desired, especially in this place and Gar­den of Signior Bernardos, which contai­neth so great a variety of pleasant Plants, Flowers, Hearbs, and other things worthy of admiration, that though we goe not this day out into the fields, we may find heere sufficient to re­create and delight our selues.

I was saying the same, euen as you entred, and in truth the contemplation of so rare a diuersity of many beautifull things, placed in so due and ex­cellent order, within so small a plot and compasse of ground, may leade vs to the contemplation of him which is the giuer of all beauty, and stirre in vs a zeale and desire to be thankfull for his gifts.

The greatest excellencie of my Garden, is this commendation which it hath pleased you to giue it, o­therwise hauing in it no particuler matter, woorthy of such praise, for I am altogether vncurious, hauing onely endeuou­red to place in it hearbs necessary and wholsome, and flowers that haue some pleasing freshnes & gaynesse of colour, wher­with to recreate the sight, amongst which, somtimes when I am solitary, I vse to solace my selfe in entertaining time, which to the ende that at this present, we may the more commodi­ously passe ouer: Let vs sitte downe in this seate, vnder this Arke of Iassemin, whose shadow will keepe vs from being en­combred [Page] with the Sunne, for though the weather be tempe­rate, yet it is good to auoide inconueniences.

It plea­seth me well to follow your aduise, for though the heate ge­nerally be comfortable vnto the body of man, yet the excesse thereof causeth great infirmities and diseases, as daily experi­ence teacheth vs.

Seeing wee are nowe so at leasure, I pray you let vs knowe what the matter was betweene you and the Lycentiat Sorya, this morning, in comming out of the Church, I would gladly haue drawne neere to haue heard your difference, but I was deteined in talke by a Gentleman of my acquaintance, about a matter of som importance: If it be true which I haue heard say, the Licentiat presumeth much and vnderstandeth little.

He should loose nothing thereby, if he did vn­derstand somewhat more, then he doth, yet in his owne con­ceite, he imagineth, that he knoweth more then all the world besides, though truly he made little shew thereof, in the mat­ter of which wee reasoned to day, concerning Fortune and Chaunce: I beleeue he had newly read the Chapter that Pe­dro Mexias maketh thereof, in his Forrest of Collections, for he could say it all by roate, hee was so obstinate in affirming that there was no Fortune, but onely God, that hee would neyther heare reason, nor speake reason, nor vnderstand any thing that was sayd vnto him.

This is a matter that I haue long desired to vnderstand, for in all discourses, almost at euery word wee heare Fortune, Chaunce, good Lucke, ill Lucke, Hap, Mishap, and Desteny named, and when I sette my selfe to thinke what the effect of these wordes meaneth, I conceaue it not, but the farther I wade therein, the farther I finde my selfe in confusion.

The vnderstanding of these wordes is somewhat difficill, yet not so much as you make it, for they were not inuented without cause, or with­out contayning vnder them a signification, which oftentimes is manifested vnto vs, by the effect and sequell of such ad­uentures and chaunces as doe happen vnto vs.

It were not amisse in my opinion, seeing wee haue happened on a matter so subtile and disputable, if we endeuoured to vnder­stand what might be sayde as concerning it; for wee cannot [Page 92] passe the conuersation of this euening in a matter more plea­sant, or more necessary to be knowne then this: and there­fore, sir, you cannot excuse your selfe to take the paines to sa­tisfie vs in this, of which we are so ignorant, and contayneth therein so many doubts.

Though in respect of my small vnderstanding, I might iustly excuse my selfe, yet I will not refuse to satisfie you in this or any thing else, whereto my knowledge and ca­pacity extendeth, on condition that you will not binde me any farther, or expect more at my handes: If I shall erre in any thing, lette it remaine onely amongst our selues, as in our former conuersations it hath doone, for this matter be­ing so farre from my profession, I feare mee, I shall not bee able to say all that vvere necessarie and behoouefull for the good vnderstanding thereof.

Greater should bee our error, in leauing to reape the fruite of your learned con­uersation, and therefore without losing any more time, I pray you deferre it no farther.

Well, to obey you then I will begin, according to the common order, with the definiti­on of Fortune: which Aristotle writing in his second booke De Phisicis, Cap. 6. sayeth in this sort. It is a thing manifest, Aristotles definition of Fortune. that Fortune is an accidentall cause in those things, which for some purpose are done to some end.

Vppon the woordes of this Definition, all the Phylo­sophers that haue vvrytten Glosses vppon Aristotle, doe spende much time and many reasons, vvith great alterati­ons and argumentes, the vvhich differing one from an o­ther, I vvill forbeare to recite, least vvith the rehearsall of them, I shoulde confounde your vnderstanding, and be­ginne an endlesse matter. I vvill therefore, onely say that, vvhich in my opinion, I iudge fittest for the purpose, and most materiall to satisfie your desire: for your better vn­derstanding, I vvill therefore beginne vvith that vvhich in Humanitie is helde and vvritten, as concerning Fortune, and then vvhat in Phylosophie is thought thereof: and last­lie, vvhat vvee that are Christians ought to thinke and e­steeme in true Diuinitie in deede. Touching the first of the Gentiles, as they erred the groslyest that might be, without all [Page] reason and sence in all things concerning their Gods, so with­out The grosnes of the Gen­tiles about their Gods. any foundation or ground, faigned they Fortune to be a Goddesse, dominating and hauing power ouer all things, as writeth Boetius, in his first booke of Consolation, so that as well in Rome as in other places, they builded and dedicated vnto her temples, in which she was worshipped and adored, of the which, and of the founders of them, many Authors make mention, as Titus Liuius, Pliny, Dionisius Halycarna­seus, Plutarch, and Seneca. The Praenestins, a people of I­taly, held and adored her for the chiefest Goddesse and Pro­tectresse of their Common-wealth: but omitting this, as not making much to the purpose, I will tell you the diuers sorts and manners where-with they figured her forth in their tem­ples: Some paynted her like a franticke vvoman, standing with both her feete vppon a rounde ball: others with great Sundry ma­ners and formes in which the Gentiles fi­gured and paynted Fortune. wings and no feete, giuing thereby to vnderstand, that shee neuer stoode firme: others fashioned her with a head tou­ching the cloudes, and a Scepter in her hand, as though shee vniuersally gouerned all things in the world: Others sette in her hand Cornucopia, or the horne of aboundance, shewing thereby that from her we receaue all, both our good and euil: Some made her of glasse, because it is a mettall so easily cra­zed and broken; but the most vsuall manner of painting her, was with a wheele in her hand, continually turning the same vp & downe, her eyes being blindfolded and mufled: wher­by it might appeare, that hee which was in the height of all prosperity, with one turne of the wheele, might easily come vnder and be cast downe; and likewise those vnderneath, and of base estate, might easily be mounted vp into higher degree: Others thought it good to picture her like a man, and there­fore made vnto him a particuler temple.

Diuers also paynted her sayling by Sea vpon the backe of a great fish, carrying the one end of a sayle puffed with a full winde in her hand, and the other vnder her feet, deciphering as it were thereby the fickle and dangerous estate of Saylers & seafarers; and hence as I take it, proceedeth that common phrase of speech, that when any man hath passed great tem­pest and danger by sea, we say, Corrio fortuna, as though For­tune [Page 93] had medled with the matter. Besides these, they deuised The phrase Corrio For­tuna, is not so proper in English, and therefore I set it in Spa­nish. and figured her forth in many other shapes, with a thousand rediculous toyes and imaginations, the cause of which diuer­sitie of formes attributed vnto her, was because shee vvas a thing onely imagined, and not knowne in the world, as vvas Ceres, Pallas, Venus, Diana, and their other Goddesses, so that they described her by gesse & imagination, according to the conceits & inuentions of their own fancies, some of which were passing grosse, ridiculous, and absurd.

I haue not seene any picture of Fortune that pleaseth mee better, then that in a table of your inuention, where you paynt her vvith the wheele of which you spake, in her hand, holding her eyes betweene open and shut, with a most strange and vncertaine aspect, placing vnder her feete Iustice and Reason, wearied and oppressed, in poore, ragged, and contemptible habites, lamenting in sorrowful gesture the iniury they receaue in be­ing held in such captiuity & slauery: on the one side of For­tune standeth Pleasure, and on the other Freewill, both bee­ing pompously attired with rich and beautifull ornaments, each of them holding in her hand a sharpe Arming-sworde, seeming with angry gesture, to threaten them some great mischiefe, if they ceased not their complaints. I leaue the o­ther particularities thereof, but it appeareth well that her ef­fects are better knowne vnto you, then they were to diuers of those Auncients.

That liberty which they had in their imagination may I also haue to describe her properties and conditions, seeing she obserueth neither Reason nor Iustice in her actions, but oppresseth and banisheth them in a man­ner out of the world, gouerning herselfe by her owne will & pleasure, without order or agreement, as Tully writeth in his booke of Diuination. There is nothing sayth he, so contrary to Reason & Constancie, as Fortune: and therefore the An­cients termed her by so sundry Names, calling her blind, fran­ticke, variable, vnconstant, cruell, changeable, traytresse, opi­niatre, without iudgement, besides infinite other foule Epi­thetes and ignominious names, alwaies accusing and con­demning her as vvicked, light, inconstant, mutable, and in­considerate.

This was a gentle Goddesse that would suffer her selfe to be so handled of mortall men, because shee did not whatsoeuer they desired, conforming herselfe wholy to their inclinations, humours, and appetites. They might by thys haue perceiued, that her power was not so great as that which was attributed vnto her.

When theyr affaires succee­ded prosperously, then they praysed and adored her vvith great honours and thanksgiuings, and endeuoured to please her with great and sumptuous sacrifices: and so, as I sayd, they builded vnto her temples with sundry names and titles, accor­ding to their good & ill successes, of which though the grea­ter Temples dedicated to aduerse For­tune. part was for the prosperous euent of theyr doings, yet di­uers also were founded and entitled of euill and aduerse for­tune, in which shee was worshipped with no lesse reuerence then in the others, especially of those which feared aduersitie or tribulation growing towards them, verily perswading thē ­selues, that the same proceeded frō her, and therfore through sacrifice and humble prayers, they endeuoured to appease, her, to the end she might alter & change her determination.

In this manner they made two seuerall Goddesses of prosperous and aduerse fortune, for otherwise, in allovving her to be but one, how being good could she be euill, or how being euill could shee be good? For that should be expreslie contrary to the opinion of all the old Philosophers, who held that the Gods were Gods through theyr vertue and good­nesse, as Tully in his nature of the Gods, diuine Plato, and all the rest of the graue and learned sort.

They dyd in this, as diuers Gentils doe now adayes in sundry parts and prouinces of India Maior, who as you Signior Anthonio in our discourse three dayes since told vs, thought they know the deuill to be the worst and wickedst thing that euer was fra­med by the hand of God, yet doe they make vnto him tem­ples, adoring him with great deuotion and solemne sacrifice: being asked why they doe so, they aunswer, that therby they hope to please, win, and content him, to the end hee should not hurt or anoy them.

This is like that of the old wo­man, which setting candles before all the Images in the church, set one also before the deuill which S. Bartholmewe [Page 94] held bound, and beeing asked why shee did so, she aunsvve­red, because the Saints shoulde helpe her, and the deuill not hurt her.

Her meaning perchaunce was good and simple, deceaued onely through ignorance: but returning to our purpose, the Gentiles helde and worshipped good and euill Fortune, as the onely Goddesse and giuer of all good & euill, of all aduersity and prosperitie, of all successes, as vvell fortunate as vnfortunate, of riches, pouertie, glory and mise­rie, and they esteemed of her, and named her according to the good and euill effects which she wrought, and finally, e­uery one spake of her, according to the benefits and doma­ges receaued from her hand. Of the one she was loued, and of the other feared. Emperours, Kinges, and Princes, helde her picture in theyr secrete chambers and withdrawing pla­ces, recommending themselues and theyr affayres vnto her, hoping thereby that all things should betide them according to theyr owne will and desire: and lastly, as Pliny sayth, to onely Fortune gaue they thanks for all such benefites as they receaued, and onely Fortune was she that was blamed and of whom they complained, if any aduerse chaunce, miserie, or vexation hapned vnto thē.

I would faine aske of these Gentils how they knew, or wherby they had notice, that For­tune was a Goddesse & not a God, and wherfore they pain­ted her in that sexe, hauing neuer seene her, neyther yet vn­derstood any assured certaintie of her.

I verily think that none of them could yeeld hereof any reason, but that frō the beginning of their Paganisme, when they assumpted her into the nūber of their Gods, they imagined her according to her name, to be of the feminine sex, & perchance also as Ga­len saith, they painted her in this sort, the better to signifie her inconstancie, neither was the subtilty of the deuil wanting to confirme the foolish people in their conceaued opinion, for entring into the statues & idols of fortune, he gaue out of thē oftentimes his answers. Yet the greatest part of Philosophers did not account Fortune to be a Goddesse, but wrote verie differently of her, as Aristotle did in this definition which you haue heard; wherfore, sith we haue hetherto entreated of the vaine & erronious opinion of the old Gentils, & the grossnes [Page] where-with the common people suffered themselues to be a­bused: Let vs now see what the Philosophers thought there­of: first, Aristotle, whom in this matter we will chiefely fol­low, termeth Fortune to be an accidentall cause, differencing her from naturall & essentiall causes, which worketh in those things that are done with some purpose, and to some effect.

This definition is to me so obscure, that I vnderstand now as little thereof, as I did before you told it.

Haue patience and you shall vnderstand it better: First therfore for There is great diffe­rence be­tweene Chaunce & Fortune. better declaration thereof, you must know that there is great difference betweene Fortune and Chaunce, for Chaunce is ampler and containeth more then Fortune doth, for all that is Fortune may bee called Chaunce, but all that is Chaunce may not be called Fortune, as according to the fore-said defi­nition it followeth, that if Fortune must be in those thinges which are done for some purpose and to some end, they must needes be done with some vnderstanding, which beeing so, then there can be no Fortune in those things which want vn­derstanding: so that whatsoeuer betideth to Creatures vnrea­sonable and things sencelesse, cannot be termed Fortune, but Chaunce, for Fortune is only to be vnderstood in things per­tayning vnto men, whence it commeth, that when we see any man in great prosperity, we say, that Fortune was fauorable vn­to him, the which we say not of any sencelesse or vnreasona­ble Creature: but rather that such a thing chanced, or that by Chaunce such a thing was done, the which very fame word, as I said, may be also applied vnto men, and the definition of Chaunce may be the very same which we said of Fortune, ta­king only that clause away, for some purpose or to some end, and therfore we will say thus. Chaunce is an accidentall cause which worketh in things: for seeing this words purpose and The defi­nition of Chaunce more gene­ral then that of Fortune. end cannot be but in the vnderstanding, it is manifest that the definition of Chaunce is more generall then that of Fortune, because it comprehendeth all thinges that want vnderstan­ding, which to the ende you may the better conceaue, I will vse some examples for the plainer and more euident demon­stration thereof. If a man should goe from hence to Rome, with purpose and intention to prouide himselfe of some ho­nest [Page 95] estate or office whereby to liue, and in comming thither, the Pope giueth him a Bishoprick or a Deanry, we may say that he had good Fortune, considering that his meaning on­ly extended to the attaining of some meane office, sufficient for his maintenance, & contrary to his expectation, the Pope made him some Cardinall or great Prelate, so that wee may very well terme him Fortunate: the like may be said of one, that going with Horses or Oxen to tyl a peece of ground, tur­neth vp a stone by Chaunce, vnder which he findeth hidden some great treasure, and there-with enricheth himselfe. This mans intention and purpose, was to tyll that ground, and not to seeke for any treasure, in finding of which, we may say, that he was fauoured of Fortune: But because the examples of such thinges as haue truly indeede passed, may be better vn­derstoode, we may say, that the Emperour Claudius was very fortunate, because Caligula being slaine, and hee also fearing to be killed, in that fury and vprore of the people, for that he was his neere kindsman; as hee peeped out of a corner of the house, wherein he lay hidden, to see how the world went, was espied of a Souldiour, who knowing him, and running to­wards him, Claudius cast himselfe downe at his feete, humbly beseeching him to saue his life: in which his miserable despe­ration, Claudius despairing to liue, of a sodain made Emperour. the Souldiour bad him be of good courage and voide of feare, saluting him by the name of Emperour, and present­ly being brought foorth before the other Souldiours, he was established and confirmed in his Predicessours roome, so that heerein was Fortune fauourable vnto him, for his peeping out of the corner wherein he lurked, quaking for feare, vvas with purpose to discouer if the coast were cleare, and to saue his life; & it happened thereby accidentally vnto him, that he was chosen and elected Emperour. The like may be vnder­stood in matters of aduersity; as if one goe to the Court with purpose to serue the King, and by his seruice to obtaine such fauour at his hands, that he may thereby come to be rewarded with some rich estate or dignity, and it falleth out so vnhap­pily with him, that hee come in a quarrell to kill a man, and thereby to loose all his substance; wee may say that Fortune was aduerse and contrary vnto him; or if a man walking wi [...]h [Page] his friend in the streete, a tyle fall from the house and breake his head; hee may iustly say that his Fortune was ill, for both the one and the other happened by accident, and not accor­ding to the purpose and meaning which they had. And if you would haue an example contrary to this former, see but what happened to Caligula, the Predicessour of Claudius, who going out of his house to solace himselfe in the Towne, Caligula murdered as he went to see certaine pastimes. and to see certaine youthfull tryumphs and pastimes of yong Gentlemen of Rome, was murdered by some that had con­spired his death. The purpose hee had was to recreate him­selfe, and to see those pastimes, or rather as Suetonius Tran­quillus sayeth, to digest his last nights supper, hauing his sto­macke somwhat ouercharged, and it happened accidentallie vnto him, when he thought least thereof, that he was slaine; so that his Fortune may well be termed aduerse and contrary. These matters also we may in generall call Chaunce, because they chaunced without any such purpose, meaning or inten­tion, and likewise Fortune, because they happened to men, hauing reason & vnderstanding to make choise of one thing from another: but if a Grayhound running after a Hare, or any other Beast coursing vp and downe the fieldes, should strike his foote vpon a thorne, and become lame, this cannot be properly called Fortune, but Chaunce.

Afore you passe any farther, I would faine know why you say, that these accidents are not to be termed Fortune in vnreasonable Cre­atures, grounding your selfe therein, because they haue not reason or vnderstanding, to make election of one thing from another, seeing in many Beasts wee see by experience many times the contrary: as for example, the Grayhound in seeing the Hare, hath vnderstanding to follow her, and meaning to catch her; and I haue seene some, that if theyr Maisters bee not present, carry them vp and downe in theyr mouthes till they finde him: besides, the setting dogge, when he seeth the Patriches, standeth still; and some make a signe to their Mai­sters with theyr foote, to the ende that hee should shoote at them, which they could neuer doe, vnlesse they had an vn­derstanding and purpose to haue those Patriches killed: Be­sides, what shall we say of those thinges which the Elephant [Page 96] doth, vnderstanding, obeying, and executing those thinges which his Gouernour commaundeth him. Marke also well the prankes and dooings of Apes, and you shall finde in them so strange an imitation of man, that they seeme by signes to manifest that they want nothing but speech: and therefore me thinks that the definition of Fortune, of which you spake, may as well be applied to these Beastes, as that of Chaunce, seeing they haue such vse of vnderstanding.

I confesse all that which you haue sayde to bee true, marry that which is in these Beasts, is not, nor may not be called reason or vnderstanding, but an instinct of Nature, which moueth and leadeth them to doe that which they doe: for all Beasts are not created for one effect, but as their effects are diuers, so are also their conditions and instincts, hauing Beastes haue no vnder­standing, but are onely guided by a distinct of Nature. causes that carry with them perpetually a certaine limitted or­der & agreement; and this opinion is by all the Philosophers confirmed, particulerly Aristotle in his third booke De Ani­ma, and all those that glosse vpon his text, affirmeth that the brute Beastes are led and guided by a naturall instinction and appetite, without hauing any reason or vnderstanding at all in those things which they doe.

Your aunswer hath not so satisfied me, but that I remaine as yet in some part doubt­full: for howe can it be that the Elephant should so behaue himselfe in battaile, fighting and carrying a Tower of Armed men vpon his backe, wholy ruling and directing himselfe by his commaunders voyce, vnlesse he were endued with vnder­standing, for the commaundement is no sooner out of his Gouernors mouth, but he presently executeth the same. Be­sides, we see that Beares in many things which they doe seeme not to be without the vse of vnderstanding: they wrestle with men without hurting them, they leap & daunce conformably to the sound that is made vnto them, the experience of this we haue all seene: & I particulerly haue seene one play vpon a Flute, which though he could not distinguish the notes by A Beare that playd vpon a Flute. measure, yet he made a cleare & distinct sound: but all this is nothing in respect of that which we see done by dogs. They aunswer to their names when they are called, & in all dangers they accompany & assist their Maisters: neither want they a [Page] kinde of pride, presumption, and disdaine, as Solinus writeth of those which are bred in the Country of Albania, who are so passing fierce and cruell, that, as he saith, two of them were The fierce­nes of the dogs of Al­bania. presented by a King of that country to great Alexander, whē he passed thereby towards the conquest of India; who desi­ring to make triall of theyr fiercenes, caused wilde Bores and Beares to be brought forth, and to be thrust into an inclosed yarde, where one of these dogs was turned loose, who neuer stirred at sight of them, but laying himselfe downe on the grounde, let them passe by quietly, so that Alexander think­ing him to be but a fearefull and cowardly curre, caused him presently to be killed, which being vnderstood of those that had the charge to present them, they came vnto Alexander, telling him, that the dog disdained so base a conquest, as that of those beasts presented before him, for proofe wherof they desired that some fiercer beast might be brought before the other which remained, whereupon Alexander commaunded that a Lyon of exceeding cruelty shoulde be thrust in to him, which presently without any difficulty hee slew: then bring­ing him an Elephant, he leapt and skipt, wagging his taile, & making the greatest ioy that might be, & set so fiercely vpon him, that at the first hee puld him ouer and ouer, and vvould haue kild him, but that they tooke him presently away.

King Lysimachus had also a dogge, which seeing the fire wherin his dead daughter was to be burned according to the The strange affection of a dog of K. Lysimachus. custome of that time, after hauing accompanied the dead corps to the place where it was to be burnt, and seeing it throwne thereinto, cast himselfe also presently headlong into the midst therof, refusing, lothing, and despising life after the death of his Mistresse. Neither is that lesse wonderfull which hapned in Rome in the Consulship of Appius Iunius, and Publiꝰ Silus, to a gentleman condemned to death for a gree­uous crime by him committed, after whose execution, a dog which hee had nourished young, and that had borne him al­waies companie in his imprisonment, seeing his deade bodie The loue of a Romaine gentlemans dog to his dead maister carried along the streete, followed after, with so pittifull cries and howlings, that he mooued all those which heard him to compassion: some of thē giuing him to eate, thinking therby [Page 97] to appease him, he tooke the bread and offred the same to his dead Maisters mouth, perswading him as it were to eate ther­of, and lastly the body beeing according to the sentence of condemnation cast into the Riuer of Tyber, the dog plun­ged himselfe into the water, and putting himselfe vnder the body, heaued it vp, and brought it to the shoare, not without exceeding wonder and admiration of all the beholders. But leauing apart these old matters, what shall wee thinke of that dogge called the little Lyon, which passed ouer with a Soul­diour, Cardanꝰ also maketh mē ­tion of thy dog in his booke de perfect is a­nimalibus. when Colona began his discouery of the Occidentall Indies, who in theyr battailes accustomed to fight vvith such incredible fiercenes, that the Indians confessed theyr feare to be greater of the dogge, then of twentie Christians together: and which is more, if any Indian prisoner were broken loose and runne away, in telling the dogge thereof hee vnderstood Fernandus Gonzala O­uiedꝰ sayth, that this dog was called Bezerillus. presently theyr meaning, and followed after him as fast as he could by the track, neuer leauing till he had found him out, and which is strangest of all, he knewe him amongst a thou­sand other Indians, & going directly to him, would take him by the bosom, & bring him along (if he resisted not) without hurting him at all, but if he striued to defend himselfe, do the other Indians what they could, he neuer left till he had torne him in peeces, but commonly hee found small resistance, for they were generally so terrified at his sight, that happy vvas he that had the best heeles.

Truly mee thinkes these A strange story of the Earle of Be­neuenta [...] dogge. thinges are such, that they could neuer be done without vn­derstanding, for confirmation whereof, wee need not goe so farre to seeke examples, hauing had in this our towne one so notably strange as that of the Earle Don Alonsos dog, called Melchorico, which dyd many things almost vnpossible to be done of any vnreasonable creature, and scarcely credible, but that there are so many witnesses of them, so that the Earle tooke such exceeding pleasure in him, that hee would neuer suffer him to be out of his sight, giuing on his deathbed com­maundement, that the dogge should bee well kept and nou­rished, bequeathing to that effect a yeerely pension: but the dogge missing the Earle, after his death began to droupe in so strange and mourneful a sort, as though nothing had wan­ted [Page] to expresse his extreame griefe, but only speech, & for the space of 3. dayes would neuer receaue any sustenaunce at all, till at last those of the house taking pittie of the silly dog, en­deuoured by deceauing him, if it were possible to preserue his life. There was in the house a Iester, which counterfeited the Earle so in his speech and gesture, and resembled him so neere in fauour, that beeing attired in his apparrell, hee see­med in a manner to be the Earle indeed: Vpon whose backe they put on a sute of apparrell which the Earle had been ac­customed to weare, causing him therewith to enter into the Chamber, and to call the dogge by his name, and to whisle and cheere him vp as the Earle was wont to doe. The dogge beeing at the first sight deceaued, presentlie sprang vp, lea­ping and fawning on him, making the greatest ioy that hee possibly might, and fell incontinent to his meate: but within awhile perceiuing the deceite, he returned to his former drou­ping, refusing vtterly to eate, and continuing so a few dayes, at last died.

This is a matter verie large, & that yeeldeth manie arguments to perswade vs that there is also in other beasts some sparke of reason & vnderstanding: for what cō ­mon wealth of the world, can be better gouerned then that of the Bees, hauing one onely King their soueraigne and supe­rior, The go­uernment of the Bees. whom they obey & folow, how strange is it to see the or­der & agreement they hold, in gathering their hony & bring­ing it to their hiues? And as Plinie writeth, there are some a­mongst them, who serue onely for discouerers or skouts, gui­ding the rest to those parts that are commodious for the ga­thering of their hony. Besides, what artifice can be greater thē that which they vse in building their combs or little lodgings wherein they lay their hony, which when the cold winter com­meth, when the flowers are faded & gone, serueth to them for for sustenance. The selfe same do the Emets, laying vp, while the somer endureth, in their caues & storehouses, prouision for The proui­dence of the Ants. the winter, which being for the most part corne & seeds, they knip & bite the graines in sunder, least otherwise through the moistnes of the earth, they might come to sprout and shoote forth. Neither is their art with which they stop & dresse their Cabbins, lesse exquisite, defending themselues thereby from [Page 98] the wind & water: infinit other things are written of them of which we may take example, yea & be ashamed, that we can­not so wel gouerne & order our selues, as do those feeble and silly beastes. Let vs also marke the diligent vigilance of the Cranes, which for their security by night, while they sleepe, The vigi­lance or the Cranes. leaue by turne one alwaies waking, as their Sentinel or watch­man, the which to auoyde sleeping, standeth vpon one foote only, lifting vp the other & holding therin a stone, the fall of which awaketh her if she should chance to sleep, so that sure­ly in my iudgement, this warie and prouident carefulnesse of theirs to preserue themselues from such dangers as might o­therwise at vnawares fal vpon them while they sleepe, can by no meanes be without some vse of reason or vnderstanding.

I confesse that all these things alleadged in your reply­cation are true, but not that they do them with vnderstanding & election of good from euil, or of that which is hurtfull, and noisom, from that which is wholsom & profitable, as for rea­son, it is more then manifest that they haue thereof no vse at al, for only man is a creature resonable: neither can that of theirs by any means be called vnderstanding, though they seeme in these operations which you haue said, to haue vse thereof: for vnderstanding is so conioyned & vnited with reason, that the one cannot be without the other. Nothing, I say, can vnder­stand but that which hath the vse of reason, nor any thing Reason and vnderstan­ding vnsepa­rably con­ioyned and vaited toge­ther. haue reason, but that which vnderstandeth. This therefore in those beasts which seemeth to be reason & vnderstanding, is a liuely instinct, with which nature hath created them more thē others, that are more brutish, & haue the power of phantasie more grosse & dark, which is the vertue that worketh in them with that imaginatiō, by the which they are guided to put the same in effect, and this proceedeth as saith Albertꝰ Magnꝰ in The cause why some beasts haue greater in­stinct then others. his eyght chapter De animalibus, not that the wilines, sagacity and craft of brute beastes, is more in one then in another, be­cause they haue reason or vnderstanding in those thinges which they do, but because their complexion is purer & bet­ter, and theyr sences of more perfection, and because also the Caelestiall bodies haue better influence into them, through which theyr appetite is better guided by instinct and Nature: [Page] So that we may heereupon inferre, that all theyr workes are done by onely appetite, fancie, and the vertue imaginatiue, which mooueth them: so that seeing all this is doone with­out reason, or vnderstanding, or purpose, or intention di­rected to any ende, it cannot bee saide, that this definiton of Fortune is competent or appliable to brute beastes. Though many other reasons and arguments might be alleaged about this matter, yet this that is already sayd shall suffise, seeing we pretende no farder, then to knowe the difference betweene Chaunce and Fortune, the rest we will leaue to be debated of by the Phylosophers.

I throughly vnderstand all that which you haue sayd, and the Phylosophers opinion also concerning the same: but I see that that these words are dai­lie vsed farre wide from theyr definition and opinion, for in naming Fortune, we neuer marke whether the thing be done with any purpose, or to any end, but rather the contrary, for we vse this worde so generally, attributing thereunto all acci­dents whatsoeuer, that we make no difference of one from an other, and therefore Tully in his Offices, Great, sayth hee, is the sway of Fortune in prosperity, & in aduersitie who know­eth not her force? Whiles wee enioy her fauourable & pro­sperous winde, wee attaine vnto the fruition of our desires, when otherwise, we are afflicted and full of miseries: so that he maketh no difference what is an accidentall cause & vvhat is not, neyther bindeth he her to things onely done contrarie to the purpose and pretended ende: as for example, when a Prince with a little Army, presenteth battel to another, whose Army and force is farre in number more puissant, it is mani­fest that his meaning is to doe the best he can, and his intenti­on firme to obtayne victory, otherwise, he would neuer put himselfe in so apparant a danger, which if hee, according to his hope obtayne, nothing hapneth therein vnto him contra­rie to the purpose and meaning which he had, but hee attay­neth the end for which hee hazarded the battaile: yet for all this we let not to say, that hee had good fortune to ouercome so mighty an Army with so slender forces: if one should goe to Rome with purpose to be made a Bishoppe, beeing of so small merrite that there were no reason at all, why hee should [Page 99] hope to obtaine so great a dignity; yet in comming to be one, we may well say that Fortune was fauourable vnto him ther­in: and so when Iulius Caesar in his warres against Pompey, being in Durazo, where he attended a supply of Souldiours, without the which, his party was not strong enough to en­counter with Pompey, seeing that they came not, without trusting any man else, determined himselfe in person disgui­sed and vnknowne to goe fetch them, according to which re­solution, putting himselfe into a Fisher-mans boate, thrust off from the shore, and began to passe the straight, but the water being rough, and the tempest violent, his Pilot the poore Fi­sher-man feared drowning, & would faine haue turned back againe, and was therein very obstinate; which Caesar by no meanes permitting him to doe, after many perswasions and threatnings, seeing him still perseuer in his feare: at last, be of good courage man (quoth he) and passe on without feare, for thou carriest with thee the good Fortune of Caesar. It is ma­nifest that his chiefe purpose and meaning in this ciuill warre, was, as the sequel shewed, to obtaine alone the Empire, which he afterwards did, and yet in common course of speech, wee let not to say, that his good Fortune aduaunced him to that estate: What shall we say of Caesar Augustus, who from that very instant that Iulius Caesar was slaine, had presently a mea­ning to succeed him in the Empire, employing al his thought, care, and imagination, about the compassing thereof, and at last obtayned it indeede, according to his pretence from the first, without any contrary accident, vnexpected Lucke, or sodaine Chaunce; and yet for all that, neither was he forget­full to giue thankes vnto Fortune, neither erre we in calling him Fortunate, for they were wont to say in an old Prouerb, that there was neuer any Emperour more vertuous then Tra­iane, nor more Fortunate then Octauian, which was the same Augustus Caesar of whom we speake. And now daily wee see this name of Fortune so commonly vsed, that in a manner the rule and signeury of all worldly thinges, seemeth to be at­tributed vnto her, as though it were in her power to guide & direct them at her pleasure; and so saith Salust, that Fortune dominateth ouer all thinges; and Ouid, that Fortune giueth [Page] and taketh away whatsoeuer pleaseth her: and Virgil attribu­teth vnto her authority ouer all humaine matters, bee they wrought by accidentall causes, or fall they out aunswerable to our desire, according to that which we procure and seeke.

That which Aristotle saith, is in true Philosophy, which though we vnderstand, yet we apply not well, for For­tune is not in those things which succeede vnto vs, according to our purpose and pretence; but in those that doe exceede our hope, or come vnlooked for, & vnthought of, and so we commonly mingle & confound Fortune with Chaunce, and Chaunce with Fortune, yea, & sometimes we attribute that to either of them, which is neither of both. But to tel you the ve­ry truth, this definition of Fortune is so intricate, that I my selfe doe not throughly vnderstand his meaning, where hee saith, according to the purpose and to some end, which are two di­uers words, & may be vnderstoode in sondry sence; as those doe which glosse vpon his text, whose diuersity of opinions maketh the glosse far more difficill then the text it selfe. But I will not meruaile hereat, because perchaunce Aristotle would doe therein, as he did in the selfe same books de Phisicis, which being finished, and Alexander telling him that it was great pitty, that so high & excellent a matter, should by the publi­shing thereof, become vulgar and cōmon; he aunswered, that he had written them in such sort, that few or none should vn­derstand thē: And in truth the old Writers in all their works, so delighted in compendious breuity of wordes, that they not being clearely vnderstoode of those that followed in the ages after, were the cause of an infinit variety of opinions, neither is there any one which glosseth vpon thē, who affirmeth not his interpretation to be the true sence & meaning of the Author, the same being perchaunce quite contrary. But leauing this. I say, that though in this mother speech of ours, we want fit and apt words to signifie the propriety of many things: yet in ex­pressing the effects of Fortune, we haue more then either the Latine or Greeke, for besides prosperous & aduerse Fortune, we haue Dycha, Desdycha. Hap & Mishap, good Luck & ill Luck, Ventura, Disuentura. by the which we signifie all successes, both good and euill, accusto­ming our selues more vsually to these words, then to that of [Page 100] Fortune: for what Chaunce soeuer happen to a man, we cō ­monly say, that he was [...] Desdichade. Bonauentu­ [...]ado, Mala­uenturado. Happy or Vnhappy, Lucky or Vn­lucky.

Me thinks that Felicity and Infelicity signifieth also the same, & that we may very well vse them in such sence as we doe the others.

You are herein deceaued, for Hap, Mishap, good and euill Luck, prosperous & aduerse Fortune, are as we haue Some words of the Au­thor omit­ted, which treate of the Etimologie of Dycha & Desdycha, Ventura, Disuentura, and Disgra­cia, deriuing them from the Latine, which doe nothing a­gree with our English phrase. saide, when they come by accidentall causes, not keeping any order or limitation, & felicity, as saith S. Anthony of Florence, is in those things, which happen to a man for his merrite and vertue, & infelicity, in not happening to him which hath ver­tue and merrite to deserue them: but these words we vse, not in ordinary matters, but in those that are of weight and mo­ment: some Authors also affirme the same to be vnderstood of prosperous and aduerse Fortune, and that we ought not to vse this manner of speech, but in difficill matters, and such as are of substance and quality.

According to this rule, wee erre greatly in our common speech: for there are many that come to obtaine very principall estates and dignities, not by their vertues and merrites, but rather through their great vices and demerrites: yet wee commonly say, that such mens felicity is great, and that they are very fortunate.

You haue sayde the trueth, for indeede wee goe following our owne opinion without any foundation of reason, neither lea­ning to those graue and auncient Phylosophers of tymes past; neyther to those which haue written, what in true and perfect Christianitie wee ought to thinke thereof, who af­firme Fortune to bee that, which happeneth in worldly and exteriour matters, not thought on before, nor looked for, neyther of it selfe, but proceeding from a superiour cause, di­rectly contrary to them, which hold that such accidents hap­pen, without any cause superiour or inferiour, but that they all come at happe hazard: So that howsoeuer Fortune bee, it must bee accidentally, and not in thinges that come praeme­ditated and hoped for: but seeing that the most sort of men obserueth heerein no order, attrybuting all successes both good and euill to Fortune, vvhether they happen or no in such sort as the Definition thereof requireth, euery manne [Page] speaking and applying as he listeth; I hold it for no error, if amongst the ignorant, wee followe the common vse: but a­mongst the wise and learned, me thinkes it were good for a man to be able to yeeld a reason of those things he speaketh, and to speake of things rightly, according to their Nature and property, least otherwise hee be derided and held for a foole.

Greater in my iudgement is the error which witting­lie and wilfully we commit, then that which is through igno­rance onely: neyther can any vse or custome be sufficient to authorize or allow, that which in the iudgement of all wise and learned men is held for false and erronious. But afore you passe any farther, I pray you tell me what you meane in this your last definition, whereas you say, that Fortune is onely to be vnderstoode in exteriour things.

It is manifest of it selfe, that in thinges spirituall and interiour, there can be no In thinges spirituall & interiour there can be no Fortune. Fortune, which who so list more at large to see, and more par­ticulerly to satisfie himselfe therein, may reade S. Thomas, in his second booke De Phisicis, and in his third Contra Gentiles, and S. Anthony of Florence, in the second part of his Theo­logiques.

As for the opinion of Philosophers, you haue sufficiently made vs vnderstand the same: now I would you would doe vs the fauour, to declare vnto vs, what the sacred Doctors of our holy Mother the Catholique Church doe teach and thinke therein.

Farre different are they from the before alleadged Philosophicall censure, for what good What wee ought in true Religi­on to thinke of Fortune. Christian soeuer you reason withall concerning Fortune; he will aunswer you with the authority of Esay, who saith: Woe be vnto you that set a table before Fortune, and erect Altars vnto her as to a Goddesse, for with my knife shall you be cut in peeces.

The Gentiles as they were passing blinde in all diuine things, pertayning vnto God and his omnipotencie, so not beeing able to comprehend & vnderstand his diuine vniuer­sall prouidence in all thinges, they diuided the same frō God himselfe, and made thereof a Goddesse, attributing to her, gouernment, domination, power, and commaundement, all the exterior things of the world, which error of theirs herein committed, some of themselues doe confesse and acknow­ledge, [Page 101] as Iuuenall where he sayth: Where Prudence is, thou hast no deitie, ô Fortune, but wee for want of wisedome doe make thee a Goddesse, and place thee in heauen. According to which, S. Hierome in an Epistle of his to Terentia sayth: Nothing is created of GOD without cause, neyther is any thing doone by chaunce as the Gentiles thinke, the temeritie of blinde Fortune hath no power at all: Whereby wee may There is no other For­tune then the will and prouidence of God. see that Fortune is nothing else then a thing fained in the fan­tasie of men, and that there is no other fortune then the will and prouidence of GOD, which ruleth and gouerneth all things: but when we will stretch our selues farther, vvee may say that Fortune cōsenting in Natura naturans, which is God himselfe, is part of Natura naturata, being his operations, I say part, because of the definition of Aristotle & others, who attribute no more to her then accidentall causes, so that Na­ture working in all other naturall thinges, Fortune is more straightly limited in her workes, and is inferiour to Natura naturata, and the selfe same is to be vnderstood of that which wee call Chaunce.

In this manner there is none other Chaunce nor Fortune, but onely the will and prouidence of God, seeing that thereon depend all successes and chaunces, as well prosperous as aduerse.

You haue said the truth, and so are the wordes of Lactantius to be vnderstood in his 3. booke De diuinis institutionibus, which are thus. Let not those enuie at vs to whom God manifested the truth, for as we well know Fortune to be nothing, &c. Comming therfore to the conclusion of this matter, I say that we imitate the Gentiles in vsing this name of Fortune & Chaunce, as they did, adding thereunto Hap, Mishap, Good luck, Bad luck, Felicity and Infaelicitie, in an inferiour degree as it were vnto them, when in pure truth, there is neither Chaunce nor Fortune in such sort as they vnderstoode them, and as yet many Christians thorough ignorance vnderstand them: but if any such Chri­stian would set himselfe with Aristotle, to examine and sifte out the cleere reason of Chaunce and Fortune, I am assured he would come to confesse the same, as he which knewe and vnderstood, that there was a first cause, by which the vvorld was ruled and gouerned, that was the beginning and Ruler of [Page] all things, and that Fortune differed not from the will of the same, which is the very selfe from which we receaue all good and euill according to our deserts, God willing or permitting the same, as it best pleaseth his diuine Maiestie: so that the good Christian ought not to say in any prosperous successe of his: It was my good fortune, or Fortune did thys for me, but that God did this, or this was done by the will & permis­sion of God. And therefore, though we speake vnproperlie, as conforming our selues to the common vse, in vsing the name of Fortune in our discourses and affayres, yet let vs al­wayes thereby vnderstande the will of God, and that there is no other fortune.

I knowe that you coulde haue dis­coursed more at large of this matter if it had pleased you, nei­ther should we haue wanted arguments and replyes & mat­ter to dispute on: but you haue done farre better, in leauing out those superfluous arguments, which woulde haue but troubled our wits, & in going so roundly to the matter, tou­ching onely that which is requisite & fit for the purpose, with such breuity & compendiousnes, that we both vnderstand it distinctly, & beare it perfectly in our memory. Now therfore I pray you, if it be not troublesome vnto you, make vs vnder­stand what thing is Desteny, & how, when, & for what cause we are to vse this word, in which I find no lesse obscurity, thē in those before discoursed of.

I was glad in thinking that I had made an end, & now me thinks you cause to begin What thing Desteny is. anew: but I will refuse no paine, so that it please you to take the same in good part, & to haue patience in hearing mee. I will vse as much breuitie as I possibly may, because otherwise the matter is so ample, and so much thereof to be said, that I know you would be weary in hearing me, in summe therfore I will briefly alledge that which maketh most to the purpose, beginning first with the opinion of the ancient Philosophers hereof. The Stoyicks said, that Desteny was an agreement, & The Stoy­icks opinion of Desteny. order of naturall causes working their effects with a forcible & vneuitable necessity, in such sort, that they affirmed al pro­speritie and all misery, the beeing of a King, begger, or hang­man, to proceed from the vnauoydable necessity of Desteny. Aulꝰ Gelliꝰ saith, that a Philosopher called Chrisippꝰ, main­tained [Page 102] Desteny to be a perpetuall and inclinable order and The opini­on of Chri­sippus. The opini­on of Seneca chaine of things; of the selfe same opinion was Seneca, when he said, I verily beleeue, that Desteny is a strong and forcible necessity of all thinges and doings whatsoeuer, which by no means or force may be altred: so that all those of this sect at­tributed to Desteny all successes good and bad that hapned, as though they must of force & necessitie so fall out, without any possibility to be auoyded or eschewed, to which opinion the Poet Virgill conforming himselfe, saith of Pallas. To e­uery man is assigned a fixed time and desteny, not to be auoi­ded. This vnineuitable order, according to many of their opi­nions, proceedeth of the force which the starres and Planets haue through their influence and operation in humaine bo­dies. Boetius in his 4. booke of Consolation, saith, that De­stenie is a disposition fastned to the mooueable things, by which the Prouidence annexeth each of them with order and agreement: and according to S. Thomas, in his 3. booke Con­tra Gentiles, by Disposition is vnderstood ordenance, which being considered with the beginning whence it proceedeth, which is God, may be called Desteny, alwaies referring it selfe to the diuine Prouidence; for otherwise we may say the same selfe of Desteny which we said of Fortune, that desteny is no­thing, but only a thing fained in the imagination of the Gen­tiles: for a good Christian ought by no means to attribute a­ny inclination, successe in matters, or estate of his, to desteny, & truly: it is a wicked & Gentilicall kind of speech which we vse, in saying when any thing hapneth, our Desteny woulde haue it so, or it was his desteny, hee could not auoyde it: for though perchance the wiser sort knowe their error in saying so, only following the common vse, yet the common people think as they speak that Desteny is indeed a thing forcible, & not to be shunned, but must of necessity happen and fall out.

It is passing true that you haue said, and for confirmati­on thereof, I will tell you a most true storie, which hapned to A story of one that said it was his desteny to be a Hang­man. my selfe, in one of the cheefest Citties of this Kingdome. Ri­ding one day with certain other gentlemen into the fields for recreations sake, towards the euening as we returned home­wardes, we sawe by the Townes side three men setting vp a [Page] poast, vpon a little knap close by the high-way, for one that was condemned to be strangled there the next day, of which three, the one as a Gentleman in our company told me, poin­ting to him, was the Hangman, adding withall, that it was pittie, that hee had vndertaken so infamous a condition, bee­ing a young man otherwise well qualified, and a very good Scholler, of which desiring to know the truth, because it see­med vnto me strange, I turned my horse, and riding neere to the place where the men were, after I had asked them for whom that poast was sette vp, and they with theyr aunswere satisfied mee, I narrowly markt and behelde the gesture and countenaunce of the young man, who was of a very good complexion, and of an honest face, hee seemed to be about the age of twentie or twenty & one yeeres, his garments were not costly, but cleanly and hansome, asking him if hee vvere the Hangman, he aunswered mee that hee was, demaunding of him in Latine, if euer he had beene a student, hee aunswe­red me to that demaund and many others in the same tongue very eloquently, but at last asking him of what country and place he was, he aunswered me: that hauing confest himselfe to be a Hangman, he could with no honesty reueale vnto me, any thing touching his Country or Parentage, and therefore prayed me to hold him for excused; I perceauing his shame­fastnes vrged him farther, saying: How is it possible, that ha­uing such knowledge and vnderstanding, thou hast taken vp­pon thee so base, infamous, and dishonest an office: Truly thou deseruest the greater blame and punishment, by howe much more carelesly thou vsest the excellent giftes which God hath endued thee withall, as comlines of fauour & pro­portion, good capacity and vnderstanding, in vsing of which well, thou mightest doe God and thy Country seruice, wher­as now thy talent lieth hidden and buried. He hauing a while attentiuely listened to that which I said vnto him, aunswered at length with many teares, that such was his hard Desteny, by which he was thereto forcibly compelled, against the sway of which, he was not able to preuaile; of whose error and igno­rance taking pitty, I beganne to make vnto him a large dis­course, causing him to vnderstand, that there was no Desteny [Page 103] able to force Free-will, but that euery man had liberty to dis­pose of himselfe as he pleased, and to take what way he list, so that hee could not blame his Desteny, but himselfe onely, which hauing election of so many good wayes, had suffered himselfe to be guided so ill. Vsing these and many other such reprehensiue speeches vnto him, hee fell into such weeping, and shed so many teares, that I tooke compassion of him: vvithall, he told me, that he had falne into this misery, for want of good counsaile, hauing heeretofore neuer met with any that had told him so much, whereby to lighten him out of the error wherein he was: but seeing (quoth he) that which is past may be repented, but not vndone, I will by Gods grace here­after take a new course, lesse dishonourable to my kindred, for you shall know sir, that I am borne of Parents of a very ho­nest condition: beeing brought into this miserable estate in which you now see me through play only, but God be than­ked, it is yet vnknowne to my friends, that I execute this de­testable office, neither dooth any man of this Towne knowe whence I am, for the place where I was borne, is farre from this Country: so that I am fully resolued to change my man­ner of life, and to follow your counsaile; and heere-with bit­terly bewailing his vnfortunate course, I brought him home with me to my lodging, in which he remained that night, see­ming to be exceeding sorrowfull, and the next morning de­parted: vvhether hee went I knowe not, but from that time forward he was no more seene in those quarters: and truly by many signes I sawe in him, hee gaue me good hope that hee would doe as he said.

This fellowe had neuer seene the authority of S. Gregory, in his Homily of the Epiphany, where, God defend (saith he) the harts of those that are faithfull, from saying that there is any Destenie: this is vnderstoode, when they thinke or hold for a certainty, that such thinges as happen to them, proceede from the constellations or other superiour causes, as not any way to be auoided or declined: Therefore when­soeuer this word Destenie is mentioned, we must vnderstand the same that we did of Fortune, that is, the will and proui­dence of God. But the best is not to vse it at all, thereby to a­uoyde [Page] the error, into which the common people doe fall, yea, and a much greater, which is the deniall of free-will; for if that Destenie were a thing indubitable, and the sway thereof not to be resisted, then should neyther reward, punishment, grace, nor glory be due vnto deserts: and so diuine Plato in his Gorgias, To say (saith hee) that there is any constrayning or vnineuitable Destenie, is a fable of vvomen, which vnder­stand not what they say: so that all thinges are subiect to the free-will of man, not to doe any thing forcibly, but by con­tentment of the same vvill, for being a Free-will there can be no Destenie. But because in plunging our selues farther in­to this matter, we should fall vpon that of Prescience & Pre­destination, engulfing my selfe in which, I should not be able to finde the way out: it is sufficient onely to declare, though it be but superficially, what belongeth to this word Destenie, still vnderstanding that all proceedeth and dependeth of the Diuine will and prouidence of God; and so sayth S. Austine, in his fifth booke De ciuitate Dei, If for this cause humaine thinges are attributed to Destenie, let him which calleth the will & power of GOD by the name of Destenie, take heede and correct his tongue. And so concluding, we may inferre, that there is no Desteny at all, at least in such sence as the com­mon people vnderstandeth the same: but that by this word we ought to vnderstand the prouidence of GOD, and the fulfilling of his will, which alwayes leaueth vs in free liberty to choose that which is good, and to eschewe that which is e­uill. For this word Destenie, is chiefely vnderstood and men­tioned in matters of aduersity, which when they happen vn­to vs, are eyther for that we seeke and procure them, or else that God permitteth them, because our sinnes and wicked life deserueth such chastisement: Let not him say, that is hanged, that his Destenie brought him there-vnto, but the small care he had to liue vertuously, to feare GOD and to flie vice, was the cause thereof: The like of him that murdereth or drow­neth himselfe, for if such had liued well, and refrayned those vices and enormities, for punishment of vvhich, they vvere condemned by the Ministers of Iustice, or by theyr ovvne guilty desperate conscience to dye, they should neuer haue [Page 104] had any such cause to complaine. But there is so much here­in to be sayde, that in seeking particulerly to discusse euery poynt thereof, it vvould be too tedious, especially to those, vvho desire no more then well to knowe the conclusion how it ought to bee vnderstoode, vvhich by this praecedent dis­course, I hope you doe.

I vnderstand you very well, yet mee thinkes, vn­der correction, that there are some things which happen for­cibly An argu­ment to proue that there is De­stenie. to men, and not to be auoy ded: as for example, a man borne of Parentes that are bondslaues, of force must bee a bondslaue, and such a one, mee thinkes may with reason say, that his Destenie placed him in that seruitude and bondage, because hee came not there-vnto by his owne will, neyther could hee by any meanes auoy de the same, but would by any meanes seeke and procure his freedome, if there were anie possibility thereof.

This obiection may many wayes be aunswered, the one is, that it was no Accident or Chaunce that happened The obiec­tion aun­swered. to this man, to serue as a bondslaue, because hee was begot­ten and borne in seruitude: and besides, there is no impossi­bility of recouering his liberty, for euery day wee see happen sondry newe occasions, whereby a slaue may be manumitted and sette free, if then it be possible, it followeth, that there is no forcible Desteny: if you will say that it was an accident in his Auncestors to fall into bondage, to the end that this man should be borne a slaue, I aunswere, that it was in their choise and free-will, because they might haue gone some whether else, and haue refrained that place in which they stood in dan­ger & hazard to be made Captiues: so that he cannot lay the fault vpon his Destenie, but vpon those that might haue re­medied the same and did not.

You leaue me not well satisfied heerein, for if I loose perforce my liberty, neyther e­uer was it, neyther now is it in my hand to remedy the same: neyther am I hee that was any way the occasion thereof, I may well say, it vvas my Destenie, and consequently vvith reason complayne of the same, considering that it vvas not in my povver to auoy de it.

All that vvhich is not vnpossible, may bee sayde auoy dable: and if at anie tyme [Page] while one remaineth in bondage, occasions may happen to All that is not vnpossi­ble may be auoided. recouer his freedome, he can by no meanes say, that his De­stenie forcibly with-holdeth his liberty: for though he want it against his will, yet hee wanteth it not with impossibility of euer hauing it: if he vse such meanes and industry as is requi­site for the obtaining thereof. For example, we see daily ma­nie slaues runne from their Maisters, and set themselues at li­berty, not onely heere with vs, but also such as are in captiui­tie vnder the Mores and Turkes: and if the enterprize which any such one vndertaketh for his liberty, succeede not accor­ding to his intent, it is because hee procured it not in such as was requisite, or because it pleased not God to permit his de­liuerie, for his sinnes and demerrites, or some other cause to vs hidden and vnknowne.

Thinke not that you haue here made an end: for the principall poynt as yet remaineth. If you remember, you said that many of the Auncients held opinion, that the causes of Desteny working with such necessity, proceeded from the second superior caelestiall causes, as the influence of the Pla­nets and starres. I pray you therefore make vs to vnderstand what is the force of the constellations, and in what sort theyr influence worketh as well in vs, as in other things, for the cō ­mon opinion is, that all things on the earth, are gouerned & maintained by the Caelestiall bodies, whence it commeth that the Astronomers by calculating Natiuities, casting figures, and other obseruations, come to foreknowe and vnderstand many thinges, not onely concerning men, but also tempests, earth-quakes, plagues, inundations, and other such like fu­ture calamities.

It is a thing notorious, that the starres haue their influences, but not in such sort as the common o­pinion How the o­peration & influence of the starres is to be vnder­stoode. maintaineth: first therfore you must vnderstand, that their influence hath no power or force to worke any operati­on in the soules of men: but onely in their bodies, the reason whereof is, that the soules are farre more noble, and of more excellent perfection then the planets and starres, so that the constellations being vnto them inferiour in beeing and sub­stance, are vnable to worke in them any effect at all. That the soules are more noble then the caelestiall bodies: S. Thomas [Page 105] proueth in this sort, in his Booke against the Gentiles: So much more noble, saith hee, is euery effect, as it is neerer in Our soules farre more noble then the caelesti­all bodies. likenes to the cause whence it proceedeth, & so our soules be­ing liker vnto God then the caelestiall bodies are, in beeing Spirits, as is the first cause which is God, must needs be more excellent then they, so that they can haue no influence vnto them, nor domination ouer thē, the soules remaining alwaies free: For though Dionisius sayd, that God hath so disposed the whole order of the Vniuerse, that all inferior thinges be­neath Out bodies lesse noble thē the Pla­nets, & ther­fore subiect to their in­fluence. should be gouerned by those that are superior and a­boue, yet he presently addeth, and those that are lesse noble, by those that are more noble: and though by this reason the soules remaine free, yet the bodies doe not so, because they are lesse noble then the Sunne, the Moone, & the other hea­uenly lights, and so are subiect to their influences, working in them diuers and contrary inclinations, some good, and some euill, which they that seeke to excuse theyr vices and vvicked life, call Destenies, as though it were not in their power to flie and auoyde them through the libertie of free-will? For if we say, that Mars doth praedominate in men, that are strong and valiant, we see that many borne vnder his Planet, are ti­morous and of small courage. All those which are borne vn­der Venus, are not luxurious, nor all vnder Iupiter Kings & great Princes, nor all vnder Mercurie cautelous and craftie, neither are all those which are borne vnder the signe of Piscis, fishermen, and so forth of all the other Signes and Planets, in manner that theyr effects are not of force and necessitie, but only causing an inclination to those things, the which by ma­ny wayes and meanes may be disturned, altered, & auoyded, chiefely by the disposition and will of the first cause, which is The influ­ence of the planets, wor­keth not [...] force & ne­cessity, but theyr effects may many vvayes bee altered and changed. God, who addeth, altereth, & taketh away at his pleasure, the force, vigor, and influence of those Planets and starres: re­straining theyr vertue and force, or els mouing, directing and lightning our minds not to follow those naturall inclinations, if they tend to euill and sinister effects. The Angels & deuils also may doe the same, as beeing creatures more noble then the soule, the one moouing to good, and the other to euill: for oftentimes our good Angell is the cause that we refraine [Page] those vices to which by the constellation of those heauenly Our good Angel pre­serueth vs oftentimes from many mischiefes. bodies, we are inclined, and that we follow for our soules pro­fit such waies as are vertuous and good, and that wee auoyde those dangers which these influences doe threaten vnto vs. These also may a man of himselfe beware and eschew by dis­cretion and reason: for as saith Ptolomie: The wise & pru­dent man shall gouerne the starres.

I confesse all this which you haue said to be true: but yet besides the inclinations & appetites of men, the starres and Planets worke also in another manner, as in aduauncing some men, and abating others, making some prosperous and rich, yea, and sometimes from low & base estate, enthroning them in kingdoms, as for example, King Gygas, and almost in our very time Tamberlaine the great: and deiecting others that were great and mighty, yea Kinges and Monarches into extreame calamitie & miserie infinite examples whereof may be seene in the Booke called The fall of Princes, and manie o­thers, full of such tragicall disastres. And it is manifest that this proceedeth from the constellations vnder which they are borne, and the operations with which they worke, because many Mathematitians and Astronomers, knowing the day, Astrono­mers some­times fore­tell future things. howre, and moment wherin a man is borne, vse to giue their iudgement and censure, what shall betide vnto him so borne, according to the Signes and Planets, which then dominate in their force and vigure. And many of them doe fore-tell so trulie manie wonderfull thinges, that it seemeth scarcely pos­sible to any man but God to knowe them, which seemeth to proceede through the will of God, whom it hath pleased to place that vertue in those Planets, wherby the future successe might be knowne of those persons that are borne vnder thē. And though I could here alleadge many examples of Em­perours, Kings and Princes, whose successes to come vvere foretold them by Astronomers truly, & as indeed they hap­ned, Pope Mar­cellꝰ Father said at the houre of his sonnes birth, that he was borne to be Pope. yet omitting them, because they are so cōmonly known, I will tell you one of Pope Marcellus, who came to be high Bishop, whose Father liuing in a place called Marca de An­cona, where he was also borne, beeing a great Astronomer & at the birth of his sonne casting presently his natiuitie, sayde [Page 106] openly, that he had a sonne borne that day, which should in time to come be high Bishop, but yet in such sort, as though he were not: which came afterwards to be verified, for after he was elected in the Consistorie by the Cardinals, hee dyed within twentie daies, not beeing able to publish or determine any thing by reason of his short gouernment. I knewe also a man in Italie, called the Astronomer of Chary, who whatso­euer he foretold, the same proued in successe commonlie to be true, so that he was held for a Prophet: truth it is that hee was also skilfull in Palmestrie and Phisiognomie, and thereby strangely foretold many things that were to come: and per­ticulerly The Astro­nomer of Charie. he warned a speciall friend of mine to looke wel vn­to himselfe in the xxviij. yeere of his age, in which he should be in danger to receaue a wounde, whereby his life shoulde stand in great hazard, which fell out so iustly as might be, for in that yeere he receaued a wound of a Launce in his bodie, whereof he dyed. A certaine Souldiour also one day impor­tunating him to tell his fortune, declaring vnto him the day and howre, wherein he was borne, and withall, shewing him the palme of his hand, and because he excused himselfe, growing into choller, and vrging him with threatnings to sa­tisfie his demaund, he told him that he was loth to bring him so ill newes, but seeing you will needs haue it, quoth he, giue me but one crowne, and I will be bound to finde you meate and drinke as long as you liue. The Souldiour going away laughing and iesting at him, seeing presently two of his fel­lowes fighting, went betweene to part them, and was by one of them thrust quite through the body, so that he fell downe dead in the place.

I cannot choose but confesse vnto you, that many Astronomers hit often right in their coniectures, but not so that they can assuredly affirme those thinges which they fore­tell of force and necessity to fall out, there being so many cau­ses Many causes and reasons to alter that which the signes and Planets doe seeme to portend. and reasons to alter and change that which the signes and Planets doe seeme to portend: the first, is the will of God, as being the first cause of all things, who as he created and made the starres with that vertue and influence, so can he by his on­ly will change and alter the same when it pleaseth him: Also [Page] all the starres are not knowne, nor the vertues which they haue, so that it may well be that the vertue of the one, doth hinder, make lesse, or cause an alteration in the effect of the o­ther, and so an Astronomer may come to be deceaued in his calculations, as vvas the selfe same Astronomer of Chary, which you speake of, when he fore-told that Florence being besieged with an Army imperiall, & with the forces of Pope Clement, should be put to sackage and spoile of the Souldi­ours. This Prophecie of his had like to haue cost him his life, if hee had not made the better shift with his heeles, for the Souldiours, by composition that the Towne made, finding themselues deluded, made frusttate, & deceaued of their pro­phecied booty, would haue slaine him, if he had not with all possible diligence made away. Besides, if this were so, there must of necessity follow a great inconuenience, and such as is not to be aunswered: for if when so euer any one is borne vn­der such a constellation, that of force the good or euill there­by portended must happen vnto him: the selfe same then by consequence must needs happen to all those which are borne in that instant, vnder the same signe and Planet: for accor­ding to the multitude of the people which is in the worlde, there is no houre nor moment, in which there are not many borne together, of which, some come to be Princes, and some to be Rogues: When Augustus Caesar was borne, it was vn­possible but that there were others also borne in the very same poynt and moment, which for all that came not to be Empe­rours, and to gouerne the whole worlde in so flourishing a peace as he did, yea, and perchaunce some of them, went af­terwards begging from dore to dore. And thinke you that Alexander the great, had no companions at his birth? Yes without doubt had he, though they had no part of his good Fortune and prosperity. This matter is handled very copi­ously by S. Austine, in his fifth booke De ciuitate Dei, aun­swering the Mathematitians and Astronomers, which say, that the constellations and influences are momentary, where­by it should ensue that euery part and member of the body, should haue a particuler constellation, because the whole bo­dy together cannot be born in one moment, nor in many mo­ments: [Page 107] to be short therefore, they are many times deceaued that giue such great credite to the abusiue coniectures of A­stronomy, spending their whole time about the speculation and fore-knowledge of future things, pertaining not onely to the birth of men, fore-shewing their fortunes and successes, but also to those of plagues, earth-quakes, deluges, tempests, droughts, and such like things that are to happen.

If I vnderstand you well, your meaning is, that the influence of the Planets worketh not in men with any necessity or con­straint, but onely as it were planting in them an inclination to follow the vertue of their operations, which may with great facility be euited in such thinges as are within the vse of free will and Lybre arbitrement: In the rest, they may sometimes fall out, according as by the vertue and property of the signes and planets may be coniectured and iudged, yea, and some­times also otherwise, because it may please the first cause which imparted vnto them that vertue to change or alter their property, or that there may be diuers other causes in the way, which may hinder the effect of their influence.

You haue in few wordes briefly knit vp the very pith and substance of the whole.

Well then, let vs leaue this and come to Palmestrers, which are they that tell Fortunes by seeing the lines of the inside of the hand, whose diuinations they say prooue oftentimes true: I would faine therefore know, what credite we may giue them.

I haue great suspition of those, who confidently affirme their diui­nations by Palmestry, that they deale also in Negromancy, & The Chy­romancers or Palme­strers doe often med­dle their Sci­ence with Negroman­cie. that the deuill being farre craftier and subtiler then man, and through his long experience, and by certaine coniectures, be­ing able to knowe certaine thinges that are to come, doth re­ueale vnto them the most part of those things: for otherwise, by the lines of the hand onely, it were not possible to diuine so right, though somtimes also the things simply thereby con­iectured may proue true: neyther can the Phisiognomers af­firme, that the same must needs be true, which by their Sci­ence appeareth likely to happen: For Aristotle, which wrote a booke of Phisiognomy, entreating of all the signes & marks by which the conditions of men may be knowne, sayeth, that [Page] they are but casuall and by Chaunce. As for those that see­ing the Phisiognomy of a man, doe iudge that he must come to be rich, or that his end must be the Gallowes, or that hee must be drowned, and such like: such must thinke that they be deceaued, and ought therefore to reserue the successes of all thinges to the will of God, whereby they may couer their error, and remaine excused, if the sequell fall otherwise out, then they coniectured it should.

This matter seemeth sufficiently debated of: onely out of the former discourse resulteth one doubt, which mee thinks were against reason, that it should remaine so smothe­red vp, and that is of the speech of Signior Anthonios, where he sayd, that of the influence of the signes, planets, and starres, are engendered pestilences and new diseases, inundations, de­stroying vvhole Countries, long drinesse vvhich causeth dearths, infirmities, scarsity of corne & fruit, with diuers other the like.

This is a question in which the Astronomers and Philosophers doe disagree, eyther holding of them their seuerall opinions. For the Astronomers in community doe hold and affirme that all this which you haue said proceedeth The opini­on of the Astrono­mers touch­ing the ope­ration of the Planets. from the constellations, and that through their causes these domages do happen vnto men, & all the other euils also with the which we are afflicted, alleadging for the proofe thereof, the authority of Ptolome in his Centiloquium. The man, sayth he, that is skilfull in the Science of Astronomy, may fore see and auoide many euils to happen, according to that which the starres doe shew & portend: and also they alleadge Gal­len, in his third book of Iudiciall daies, whose words are these. Let vs (saith hee) imagine that a man is borne, the good Pla­nets being in Aries, and the euill in Taurus; there is no doubt to be made, but all thinges shall goe prosperously with this man, while the Moone shall be in Aries, Cancer, Libra or Capricornus: but when she shall possesse any signe, in Qua­drat aspect or in Diameter, to the signe of Taurus, he shall be molested with many troubles and vexations: and hee goeth farther and sayth, that this man shall begin to be perplexed with many infirmities, when so euer the Moone shall be in the signes of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, or Aquarius; and con­trarily [Page 108] shall enioy perfect good health while the Moone shall be in the signes of Aries, Libra, Cancer, or Capricornus. They recite besides another authority of Auicenna in his fourth booke, where he saith, the configuration of the caelestiall bo­dies, to be sometimes the cause of pestilentiall infirmities, as when Saturne and Mars are in coniunction. And so doth Gentil exemplifie it, alleaging the selfe same place: but what should I trouble my selfe in reciting their authorities, when finally there is no Astronomer or Phisition, which holdeth not the same: but the Philosophers, as I haue said, maintaine a contrary opinion, affirming that no domage or euil can pro­ceede Opinion of the Philoso­phers. from the Planets, signes, or starres, into the inferiour bo­dies: and so diuine Plato in his Epynomide, I surely thinke (saith he) the starres and all the caelestiall bodies to be a kinde The opini­on of Plato. of diuine creatures, of a very beautifull body, and constituted with a soule most perfect and blessed: and to these creatures, as farre as I vnderstand, must be attributed one of these two things; eyther that they and their motions are eternall, and without any domageable preiudice; or if not, yet at the least that their life is so long, that it is not necessary for them to haue any longer.

These are the words of Plato, by the which is vnderstood, that if the Caelestiall bodies haue no euill in them, as beeing diuine, pure, cleane, and sempiternall, without any preiudici­all domage, and free from all corruption and euill, they can then by no means be causers of those domages & euils which happen in the world to the inferior bodies. Going on farther in the same booke, This is, sayth he, the nature of the stars, in sight most beautiful & goodly, & in their moouings obser­uing a most magnificent order, imparting to inferiour crea­tures such things as are profitable for them. By these authori­ties they inferre, that seeing the starres are of such excellencie, and that from them are imparted to creatures things profita­ble and wholesome, they can by no meanes be the occasion of harme or mischiefe, theyr nature & office which they con­tinuallie vse, being contrarie thereunto. But farther the same Author goeth on, declaring the same more plainly. Finally, saith hee, of all these thinges we may inferre this as a true and [Page] conclusiue opinion, that it were vnpossible for the heauen, the Planets, the starres, and the caelestiall bodies which ap­peare therein, vnlesse they had a soule, or vnlesse they dyd it through God by some exquisite reason, to be able to reuolue the yeeres, monthes & dayes beeing the cause of all our good, and so being of our good, they cannot be of our euill. And this explaneth Calcidiꝰ vpon the same Plato in his Tymaeus, by these words, Either, sayth he, all the starres are diuine and good, without doing any euill, or some of thē onely are euill and domageable: But howe can this agree, or howe can it be Calcidius. said, that in a place so holy and so full of all bounty and good­nes, there can be any euill? And the starres beeing repleni­shed with caelestiall wisedome, euilnes and malice proceeding of the contrary which is folly, howe can wee then terme the starres to be malicious or causers of any euill, vnlesse we shold say that which is not lawfull, that they are at one time good, and at another time euill, and that they cannot mixtly be the cause both of good and euill, the which is not to be thought or beleeued, that all the starres haue not one selfe caelestiall substance, none of them separating themselues from theyr owne nature: so that all the starres beeing good, they may be the cause of good, but not of euill.

These authorities, me thinks, conclude not through­lie the purpose of their intention, for there are manie thinges that can cause both good and euill, and therefore the caelesti­all bodies also may doe the same.

This is when there An obiec­tion. is in any thing both good & euill, working effects according to the nature thereof; but there is no euill in the heauens, not in any thing therein contained, for according to Aristotle in An aunswer to the ob­iection. his seconde Booke De Coelo, the motion thereof is life to all things, & in the ninth of his Metaphisickes also he affirmeth, that in those things which are sempiternall, there can be found no euill, error, or corruption. And Auerroes entreating of this matter, vseth these wordes: It is a thing manifest, saith he, that in those things which are Eternall, and whose essence is without beginning, there can be no euill, error, or corrup­tion, the which cannot be in any thing but where euill is, and Auerroes. heereby may be knowne the impossibilitie of prouing that [Page 109] which the Astronomers say, that there are some of them luc­kie, and others vnluckie: this only may be knowne of them, that there are som better then others. By these words we may vnderstand that the starres are all good, but not in equalitie: neither haue they all equall vertue & goodnes, and as in them there is no euill at all, so can they not be the cause of any harme at all, neither can wee say that their influences cause a­ny contagious or pestilentiall infirmities, & so thinketh Mer­curius Trismegistus in his Asclepius, Where, the heauen, saith Opinion of Merc. Tris­megistus. he, is that which engendreth, and if the office thereof be to engender, it cannot be to corrupt. Proclus in his booke De Anima, holdeth the same. The Heauens, saith hee, founded with a harmony in reason, containe all worldly thinges, put­ting them in perfection, accomodating them and benefiting them: which being so, how then can they damnifie, destroy or corrupt them.

Auerroes also alleadgeth another reason by the testimonie of Plato, who sayth, That euill is found in those things which Auerroes. haue no order nor agreement, and all diuine thinges are fra­med and constituted in most excellent order, whereby it fol­loweth, that the starres and other caelestiall bodies haue no e­uill in them: and hauing none in them, they cannot worke or cause any. This opinion followeth Iamblicus in his Booke Iamblicus▪ Plotinꝰ scof­feth at the Astrono­mers. De Misterijs Egiptiorum, and Plotinus in his tenth Booke, where he demaundeth if the stars be the causes of any thing, iesting and scoffing at the Astronomers, who affirme that the Planets with their motions are not onely the causes of riches and pouertie, but also of vertue, vices, health and diseases, & that in diuers times, they worke vpon men diuers operations, And finally he will by no meanes permit that there are any e­uill starres, or that they can be sometimes good and somtimes euill, which opinion is also maintained by Auerroes in his 3. booke of Heauen. Where, whosoeuer, sayth hee, beleeueth Auerroes. that Mars, or any other planet or starre howsoeuer set in con­iunction or opposition can hurt or doe domage, he beleeueth that which is contrary to all Philosophy. Marcilius Ficinus Opinion of Marsilius Fi­cinus. in his Comentaries vpon the sixth Dialogue of Lawes, sayth thus: One thing we must vnderstande and beleeue, that all [Page] forces, and mouings of the superior Bodies, which discende into vs, are of their owne nature alwaies causers of our good, and guide vs thereunto: wee must not therefore iudge that viciousnes of ill conditioned men proceedeth of Saturne, or rashnes and crueltie of Mars, or craft and deceit of Mercury, or lasciuious wantonnes of Venus. Let vs see what reason thou hast, to attribute vnto Saturne that frowardnesse and vice, which thy euill custome, conuersation, exercise or dyet, hath engendred in thy body or minde, or to Mars that fierce­nes and crueltie, which seemeth to resemble that magnanimi­tie and greatnes to which he is enclined, or to Mercurie that subtiltie and craft, called by a better name industrie, or to Ve­nus thy lasciuious loue and wantonnesse? Hapneth it not often that men loose their sight, yea and sometimes their liues vnder the flaming blasts of the Sunne-beames, which is ordai­ned onely for our comfort, and to giue life and nourishment to things? And doe wee not see diuers that in open ayre re­ceaue the warmenesse thereof to theyr comfort, who in en­closed places are with a small heate smothered, sluft & choa­ked? And euen as these men through the heate of the Sun, whose nature is to helpe, cherrish and comfort, doe receaue domage by theyr owne faulte, in not vsing the same as they shoulde doe: so may the successes of those which are borne vnder these planets, which by their nature are al good, throgh euil & vicious education proue naught, though the inclinati­on of their planets be neuer so good and fauourable: So that by these wordes of Marsilius, the opinion of Astronomers, Mathematitians and Phisitions, seemeth not to be wel groun­ded, The Astro­nomers opi­nion repro­uable by many argu­ments. but that how commonly held or allowed soeuer it be, he holdeth it to be reprouable by many and euident arguments.

The Philosophers are not a little beholding to you for strengthning their opinion with so many authorities & effec­tual reasons, & no doubt, but if this matter were put to your arbytrement, they should finde of you a fauourable iudge.

I haue not so good opinion of my selfe, as to take vpō me the arbitrement of this matter, though it were of lesse sub­stance then it is, especially so many wise & learned men main­taining either side. I haue therfore onely rehearsed & touched [Page 110] some of their allegations on both sides, leauing you in your choyse to leane vnto that opinion which liketh you best, re­ferring alwaies the iudgement therof to those that are of grea­ter learning, deeper studie, and more grounded wisedome thē my selfe, though it seemeth vnto me to be a matter scarce­lie determinable, considering the varietie of effectuall reasons that may be alleaged of either side.

For all this I account you halfe partiall, and there­fore Obiection. I pray you aunswere mee to one obiection, which might be of the Astronomers side opposed, the which is thus: We see that there are diuers venomous and hurtfull hearbes, and manie other Wormes, Vermins and Serpents so contagious, that they are thorough theyr poysons and infections noisome vnto men, yea, and often causers of their death: And seeing that all inferiour bodies, are ruled, receauing their forces and vertues from the influence of the heauenly and superior bo­dies, it then seemeth, that they should be cause of the domage which is wrought by the contagion of these inferior bodyes, and therfore the Philosophers party is not so freely & gene­rally to be maintained, without exception of some particula­rities: for if we will looke downe vnto the herbes, we shal find The iuyce of Hemlocke giuen to drinke, to those that were condē ­ned to die. that the Hemlock, a kinde of weede, yeelded to our elders a iuyce, with the which they executed their sentence of death, constraining those whom they condemned to die, to drinke thereof, as Plato writeth in his Phaedon. The iuyce also of the Mandragora is knowne to be mortiferous and deadlie to those that drinke thereof.

Passe on no farther in this The iuyce of Mandra­gora is mor­tiferous. The vertue of Hemlock matter, for I confesse it to be as you say: yet Hemlocke was not created by God, neither doth the influence of the constel­lations worke in it any effect, but for our profit & commodi­tie: for if you read Dioscorides, you shal there find that there is nothing of greater efficacie to heale Saint Anthonies fire, it asswageth the raging of the Milke in women newly deliue­red: and Plinie sayth, that it preserueth the teates from swel­ling. Cornelius Celsus affirmeth, that it healeth watry eyes, and stauncheth the bleeding at the nose: and Galene sayth, that the grayne thereof is the naturall foode of many Byrdes, namelie Stares.

[Page] Neither is the Mandragora lesse profitable and wholsome: The vertues of Mandra­gora. for the roote thereof moystned and tempered with Vineger, healeth the woundes made by Serpents, dissolueth the Kings euill, and cureth the disease called the Wolfe, asswageth the paine of the Goute, causeth the flowers of women to come downe, and taketh spots out of the face. All this saith Aui­cenne, thereof in his seconde Booke. Tryacle, Escamonia, Turbit, Agarico, and other Medicines made of herbes, wee notoriously know to contayne poyson in them, and yet wee see by daily experience how wholsome their operations are to No herbe so veno­mous▪ but it is some-way vertuous & profitable. those that are sicke, and the like is in all other herbes vvhich are venomous, of which there is not any one to be found that wanteth peculiar vertue, or that is not one way or other help­ing and profitable. Neither is there lesse vertue to be found in lyuing things which are commonly held to be venomous, as for example, though the Snake be not without poyson, yet her skinne which she casteth, as sayth Dyoscorides, being sod in Wine, and some drops thereof let fall into the eare diseased, helpeth the paine thereof, and the same Wine beeing taken and held in ones mouth, cureth the tooth-ache, and the flesh thereof being made into a certaine preparatife & eaten, hea­leth the Leprosie. The Viper is most venemous and full of poyson, yet are they no small vertues and commodities which The Viper yeeldeth re­medy a­gainst many diseases. she yeeldeth: for as Pliny sayth in his 29. booke, the ashes of her skinne beeing burned, is the best remedy that may be, to cause hayres falne of through infirmitie or disease to grow a­gaine, and that shee herselfe beeing burned and beaten into powder, tempred with the iuyce of Fenell and certaine other things, cleereth the eye-sight, and driueth away Rhumes and Catarres. Dyoscorides also sayth, and Plinie affirmeth the same, that the payne of gowtie feete is taken away, by annoin­ting them with her greace: and Galen in his sixth booke De virtute medicamentorum, affirmeth, that if a Viper be choked with a corde or string made of coloured Flaxe, and hanged a­bout the neck of him which suffereth any passion, stuffing or choaking in the throat, it shall be an admirable remedie: the selfe same affirmeth Auicenne in his 3. booke, though there be many that regard not whether the string be of Flaxe, or of [Page 111] wooll, of what colour so euer, and for the most part they vse therein white: Besides, Aristotle sayth, in his third booke De Animalibus, that as the Vipers and Scorpions are knowne to be noysome and full of poyson, so haue they also many pro­fitable and helping vertues, if wee could attaine to the know­ledge and experience of them all: And lastly, that the Viper sod in vvine, healeth those that are infected with Leaprosie: which Gallen confirmeth by an example, alleadged in his e­leuenth booke of simple Medicines, where he sayth, that cer­taine A Leaper strangely cured. Mowers brought with them into the field where they laboured, a little vessell of vvine, leauing the same vnder a hedge by forgetfulnes vncouered, within a while, returning to drinke thereof, as they poured out the vvine, there fell out of the vessell a dead Viper into their drinking boule, which hauing crept into the same, was therein drowned, so that they dared not to tast thereof: There was thereby by chaunce at that present in a little Hute or Cabbine, a man infected with a disease which they call Leaprosie, who through the loath­some contagiousnes of his disease, was expelled the Towne, and forced to remaine in the fields, to the end that the infecti­on of his disease, should scatter it selfe no farther. The Mow­ers mooued with compassion, accounting the calamitous life of this poore man to be more miserable then death, gaue vn­to him this impoysoned vvine to drinke, as a work of charity, thereby to deliuer him out of that languishing life so full of horror, loathsomnes, and calamity; which hauing done, the successe that followed was meruailous, for so soone as the sick Leaper had greedily swallowed in the wine, his disease and fil­thines began by little and little to fall from him, and in short spacee he becam whole & sound: so that I say, that all hearbs, beasts, and stones, contayning in them any poyson or thing noysome, containe also in them many good and profitable vertues, neyther are we to attribute vnto the starres the blame of the domages which they doe, but vnto our selues, vvhich know not how to vse them as we ought, and should doc for our health and commodity. For the Sunne which with his comfortable heate conserueth and cheereth our life, would perchaunce be occasion of death to him, that in midst of a ra­ging [Page] hot day, would lay himselfe naked vpon some high place to be scorched & parched with the beames thereof: And as a sword or dagger which is made for the defence of man, and to offend his enemy, may be the causer of his owne death, if he wil desperatly thrust it into his owne body: in like sort those men who vse not the before rehearsed things, and such like as they should doe, in receauing thereby the profit they may, & in auoyding the harme that through the vse of them ill em­ployed, may ensue, can not iusty lay blame on any but them­selues: Concluding therfore, I say that pestilentiall & conta­gious diseases, are caused by matters of the earth it selfe infec­ting Pestilentiall diseases are caused through the corruptions & putrifacti­ons of the earth. the ayre, as dead carrions, corrupted carkasses, sinks, stan­ding, & stopt waters that come to putrifie and stink, with ma­ny such other filthy & infectious things: As for great inun­dations, droughts, and famines, with the rest of such like acci­dents that offend & anoy vs; they come and proceed, for our chastisement, from the wil of God, causing & permitting thē, without the which, neither can the starres haue any force or vertue at all, neither can they be the causers of any thing that may worke vs hurt, hinderance, domage, or preiudice.

Well then, seeing the Astronomers and Phisitions are of one opinion, & the Philosophers of another, & each of them armed with so many arguments & reasons to maintaine their party; let vs leaue them to beate their braines about the determination therof, contenting our selfe with this satisfacti­on which you haue giuen vs. And seeing it now waxeth time to withdraw our selues, & you Signior Anthonio being weari­ed with your long discourse, & our troublesome demaunds & interpositions; it is more then reason that we nowe giue you respite till another time, and that we accompany you to your lodging.

This courtesie is so great, that in accepting it, I should shew my selfe vnworthy therof, & therfore I will not put you to that paine: but seeing it is so late, we wil goe euery man his way, & there-vpon I betake you to the protection of th' Almighty.

Seeing you will haue it so, we also commit you to God, who guide you in the accomplishment of your good desires.

SEeing our busines is nor great, and this place where wee are so fitte and commodious, to passe our time in good conuersation: I cannot choose Signior Antho­nio, but challenge you of the ac­complishment of your promise, made vnto vs in these our for­mer cōuersations, touching the declaration of certaine doubts, which we then lest in suspence, remitting them till some other time, that we should meete together, which now (seeing our oportunity, the fit and delightfull pleasure of this place, and the sweete temperature of the weather, inuiteth vs to enter­taine our selues in some recreatiue discourse) I pray you make vs vnderstand, especially those touching Geography & Cos­mography, wherein my ignorance is such, that I should ac­count my selfe very happy to be instructed in some know­ledge thereof, whereby I might be able to discourse my selfe, or at least to vnderstand others when they discourse therein: I say this, because I heard you say the other day, that you were laughed at by certaine Gentlemen, for saying, that there was a part of the worlde, where the day endured the whole space of sixe moneths together without night; and the night like­wise as long without day, which to me seemeth a matter so meruailous and strange, that how true so euer it be, I cannot choose but greatly wonder thereat; and therefore you shall [Page] doe me a great fauour to declare it somwhat more particuler­lie in plaine and euident reasons, whereby I may the better comprehend the same.

You haue preuented me, for in truth I came with the same purpose and intention, and I know not howe vvee may spend the time better, for thereby (seeing with our eyes we cannot view, nor with our bodies trauell the whole world thorough) yet shall we vnderstand the particularities thereof, at the least those which in this matter we require to know, if it shal please Signior Anthonio to make vs participant of some part of his knowledge therein.

I coulde haue beene contented that you had forgotten this matter, into the deepe Sea of which, if I once engulfe my selfe, I see not how I shall be able to auoyd the danger of drowning: for to debate and declare one particularitie well, of force there must concurre many others weaued and enchained as it were together, one with another: yet if you will promise mee to take in good part that little which I shall say, and to which my knowledge extendeth, I will proue how farre I can reach, and when I am at the farthest, I will make an end, though in truth, were it not for giuing you contentment, I should do best in holding my peace, least I seeme to take vpon me to be an Astronomer, a Phylosopher, and a Cosmographer, whereas indeede I haue knowledge in no part of any one of them.

Wee re­quire heerein no more of you then you knowe, which howe little so euer it be, I am sure it is farre aboue ours, and therfore seeing you haue audience so intentiuely bent to heare you, you haue no reason to vse such excuses, & finally, if you con­discend not willingly to our request, we are resolutely bent to vse force.

Nay, rather then you should doe so, I will doe the best I can with a free and good will, & though I en­treate not but of that part of the world which is towards the North, because it so chiefely serueth for our purpose: yet can not I chuse but touch diuers others, for the better vnderstan­ding of our matter, and this will be with so great a difficultie, that I may with great reason say as Pomponius Mela did, whose words are these: I begin, sayth he, to write the situati­on of the Vniuerse, a worke truly very combersome, and of [Page 113] which my tongue and eloquence is no way capable, the same consisting of so great a diuersitie of people & places. &c. This therefore is likely to be a matter more tedious then pleasant: prouided alwaies before hand, that you account mee not so arrogant, as that I should attribute any thing of that vvhich I will say herein vnto my selfe, assuring you that I wil alledge nothing but that which hath been written by Authors of cre­dit, both auncient and moderne: and in fine, nothing can be said which hath not beene said before, as Solinus confesseth, saying: What thing may we properly terme to be our owne, seeing there hath not been till this our time, any one thing left vnintreated of.

The opinions of those that write of this part of the earth, are so different and disagreeing, that there can be no greater confusion in the world: at which I wonder not, if they som­times erre in many things touching those parts of the worlde, distant so infinite a number of miles from vs, (and separated from vs by so many Mountaines, Valleyes, Rocks, Cragges, vnenhabited Deserts, Riuers, Lakes, Forrests, sandes & seas, which barre vs from giuing assured testimony and witnesse of them) seeing wee beeing heere in Europe, which as euerie one knoweth that hath but a little smacke in Geography is the least of the three old parts of the VVorld, cannot truelie tell where she endeth her bounds and limits, and throughlie proue the same with sufficient reasons, but onely that we fol­low heerein the opinion of the Auncients, who wrote there­of according to their owne fancie, and as they list themselues: for some of them comming to distinguish the bounds of Eu­rope on the North-side, content themselues in setting the Ri­uer Tanais, and the Lake Maeolis for limits therof: others the Ryphean mountaines, without vnderstanding what they say, or yeelding any reason therfore: but they neuer talke of that Land which runneth on in length by the sea coast on the left hand towards the West passing by the kingdome of Norway and many other Prouinces and Countries, for they know not what Land it is, neither whether it goeth, nor where it endeth, nor where it turneth to ioyne with those parts of which they haue notice.

By this meanes then it may be, that they are deceaued which say that Europe is the least part of the three olde diui­ded parts of the world, & yet some say, that on the other side of the bounds of Asia also, there is much vnknowne Lande.

You haue reason, for this Land of which I speak, stret­ching out along the Occident, commeth turning to the Sep­tentrion, euen till vnder the Northern Pole, which is the same that we here see, from which forward on the other side, what Lande there is, or howe it extendeth it selfe, wee knowe not, though perchaunce the same be very great and spacious. But let vs leaue this matter till hereafter, where I will declare it more particulerly, & let vs return to entreate of som grounds and principles which are necessary for the facility of vnder­standing that which wee will speake of: for otherwise, in al­leaging euery particuler, wee should bring in all the Astrolo­gie and cosmography of the world: and therfore ommitting to declare what thing the Sphaere is, and in what sort it is vn­derstood that the earth is the Center of the worlde, and then how the Center of the Earth is to be vnderstood, with infinit other the like, I will onelie alleadge that which is necessarie for our discourse.

First therefore, all Astronomers and Cosmographers de­uide The heauen is deuided into fiue Zones, and the earth in­to as many. the heauen into fiue Zones, which are fiue parts or fiue gyrdings about, according to which also the Earth is deuided into other fiue parts. The one hath in the midst thereof the Pole Artick, or North-pole, which is the same that wee see: the other hath the South or Pole Antartick, directly contra­ry on the other side of the Heauen. These 2. Poles are as two Axeltrees, vpon which the whole Heauen turneth about, they still standing firme in one selfe place, in the midst betweene them both is the same which we call Torrida Zona, and of the other two Colaterall Zones, the one is between Torrida Zo­na & the North-pole, beeing the same in which we inhabite, cōtaining Asia, Affrick, & Europe, & it hath not bin known or vnderstood til these our times, that any other of the Zones or parts of the earth, hath been enhabited; and so saith Ouid The opini­on of Ouid. in his Metamorphosis, that as the heauen is deuided into fiue Zones, two one the right hand, and two on the left, and that [Page 114] in the midst more fierie then any of the rest: so hath the di­uine Prouidence deuided the Earth into other fiue parts, of which that in the midst is through the great heate vninhabi­table, and the two vtmost in respect of their exceeding cold. The selfe same opinion holdeth Macrobius in his seconde Macrobiꝰ, Virgil, and the rest of the ancients erred touch­ing the en­habited parts of the earth. booke of the Dreame of Scipio, & Virgill in his Georgiques, and the most part of all the auncient Authors, whose autho­rities it serueth to no purpose to rehearse, because in these our tymes we haue seene and vnderstood by experience the con­trary as touching Torrida Zona, seeing it is as well to be en­habited as any of the others, and euery day it is past vnder frō one part to another, as wee the other day discoursed. And trulie the ignoraunce of the Auncients must bee verie great, A great ig­norance of the ancient. seeing they know not that Arabia faelix, Aethiopia, the coast of Guyne, Calecut, Malaca, Taprobana, Elgatigara, & ma­ny other Countries then in notice, were vnder Torrida zona, beeing a thing so notorious & manifest, that I maruaile how they coulde so deceaue themselues, and not onely they, but diuers moderne Writers also, which though one way they confesse it, yet another way they seeme to stande in doubt, as may be seene by the Cosmography of Petrus Appianus aug­mented by Gemmafrigius, a man in that Science very fa­mous, whose wordes are these: The fiue zones of the Hea­uen, constitute so many parts in the Earth, of which the two vtmost in respect of theyr extreame cold, are vnenhabitable, the middlemost, through the continuall course of the Sunne, and perpendiculer beames thereof, is so singed, that by rea­son it seemeth not at all, or very hardly to be habitable.

The Greeke Commendador likewise, a man of great fame & estimation in Spayne, deceaued himselfe in his glosse Commen­dador is a Knight, of some crosse, as that of Malta or S. Iames. vvhich hee vvrote vpon Iohn De Meno, wherein hee main­tayneth thys auncient opinion by these vvordes: The Ma­thematitians, (sayth hee) deuide the Earth into fiue Zones, of which the two vtmost next the Poles, through theyr great extreamitie of colde, are not enhabitable, neyther that in the midst through extreame heate, the other two of each side participating of the heate of the middle, and the colde of the vtter Zones are temperate and inhabitable. Of these two, the [Page] one is enhabited by those Nations of which we haue notice, and is deuided into three parts, Affrica, Asia, and Europa: the other is enhabited by those whom we call Antypodes, of whom we neuer had, nor neuer shall haue any knowledge at Antypodes. all, by reason of the Torrida or burned Zone, which is vnin­habitable, the fierie heate of which stoppeth the passage be­tweene them and vs, so that neyther they can come at vs nor we at them. &c. Though heere the Comendador confesse that there are Antypodes, with whom wee cannot conuerse nor traffique, yet the Auncients accounting the Torrida Zo­na as vninhabitable, doubted whether there could be of the other side therof any people; seeming vnto them vnpossible, for any man since the creation of Adam, which was created in this second Zone of the Pole Articke, to passe ouer the burning Zone and there to generate and spred mankind. Of this opinion seemeth to be S. Austine, when he saith, Those which fabulously affirme that there are Antypodes, which is S. Austins o­pinion tou­ching Anty­podes. to say, men of the contrary part, where the Sunne riseth when it setteth with vs, and which goe on the ground with theyr feete right against ours, are by no meanes to be beleeued: and Lactantius Firmianus in his third booke of Diuine Instituti­ons, laugheth and iesteth at those, which make the earth and Lactantius Firmianus opinion. the water to be a body sphaericall and round, at which error of his, being a man so wise and prudent, I cannot choose but much meruaile in denying a principle so notoriously known, as though the world being round, those people which are op­posite to vs vnderneath, should fall downe backwards. The grosnes of which ignorance being nowe so manifestly disco­uered, I will spend no more time in rehearsing his wordes: so that they deny that there are Antypodes, and that the world is enhabitable at all the Zones, the contrary whereof is mani­fest. Pliny handleth this matter in the sixty fiue Chapter of his second booke: but in the end, he resolueth not whether Pliny tou­ching the same. there are Antypodes or no, neither can it out of his words be gathered, what he thinketh thereof.

What is the meaning of this word Antipodes?

I will briefely declare it vnto you, though mee thinkes you should haue vnderstood the same, by that which I haue sayd [Page 115] before: Antypodes are they which are on the other part of the world, contrary in opposite vnto vs, going with their feete against ours, so that they which vnderstand it not, thinke that they goe with their heads downward, whereas they goe in the selfe same sort with their heads as wee doe; for the world being round, in what part thereof soeuer a man standeth ey­ther vnder or aboue, or on the sides, his head standeth vpright towards heauen, and his feete directly towards the Center of the earth, so that it cannot be saide, that the one standeth vp­ward and an other downward, for so the same which wee should say of them, they might say of vs, meruailing how wee could stay our selues without falling, because it should seeme to them that they stand vpward and we downward: and the right Antypodes are as I said, those which are in contrary and Who are the right Antypodes. opposite Zones, as they of the North-pole, to those of the South-pole; and we being in this second Zone, haue for our Antypodes those of the other second Zone, which is on the other side of Torrida Zona: but those in Torrida Zona it selfe, cannot holde any for theyr right Antypodes, but those which are of one side thereof, directly to those that are on the other vnder them or aboue them, or howe you list to vnder­stand it.

I vnderstand you well, but we being in this Zone which is round winding, as you say about the earth; how shall we terme those that are directly vnder vs, who by all likelihoods must be onely vpon one side of the world, for if there were a line drawne betweene them and vs through the earth, the same line should not come to passe through the Center and middle of the earth.

These the Cosmo­graphers call in a manner Antypodes, which in such sort as they haue different places one frō an other, so doe they terme them by different names, as Perioscaei, Etheroscaei, and Amphi­oscaei, being Greeke wordes, by which their manner of stan­ding is declared and signified. Perioscaei are those whose sha­dowes Perioscaei. goe round about; and these as you shall heereafter vn­derstand, cannot bee but those which are vnder the Poles. Amphioscaei, are those which haue their shadow of both sides Amphioscaei, towards Aquilo and Auster, according as the Sunne is with them. Etheroscaei, are those which haue their shadow alwayes Ethoroscaei, [Page] on one side: but what distinction soeuer these words seeme to make, yet Antypodes is common to them all, for it is suffici­ent that they are contrary, though not so directly that they writhe not of one side nor other: for facility of vnderstan­ding this, take an Orenge or any other round fruite, & thrust it of all sides full of needles, and there you shall see howe the points of the needles are one against another by diuers waies, of which those that passe through the sides, are as well oppo­site as those which passe through the very Center and middle of the Orenge: But this being a matter so notorious, and all men now knowing that the whole world is enhabitable, and The whole world is en­habitable. that the same being round, one part must needes be opposite to another: it were to no purpose to discourse any farther therein.

This is no small matter which you say, that the whole world is enhabitable, for (leauing aside that you should say, this generality is to be vnderstood, that there is in all parts of the world habitation; notwithstanding, that there are ma­nie Deserts, Rocks, and Mountaines, which for some particu­ler causes are not enhabited) me thinks you can by no meanes say, that the two vtmost Zones in which the North & South­pole is contained, are enhabited, seeing the common opinion of all men to the contrary.

I confesse that all the old Astrologians, Cosmographers, and Geographers, speaking of these two Zones, doe terme them vninhabitable, the same proceeding, as they say, through the intollerable rigour and sharpnes of the cold; of which they affirme the cause to be, because they are farther off from the Sunne then any other part of the earth: and so sayth Pliny in the 70. Chapter of his second booke by these words: Heauen is the cause of depri­uing vs the vse of three parts of the earth, which are the three vninhabitable Zones, for as that in the midst, is through ex­treame heate not any way habitable, so of the two vtmost is the cold vntollerable, being perpetually frosen with ice, whose whitenes is the onely light they haue, so that there is in them a continuall obscurity: as for that part which is on the other side of Torrida Zona, though it be temperate as ours is, yet is it not habitable, because there is no way to get into it, &c. And here-vpon he inferreth, that there is no part of the world [Page 116] enhabited, nor where people is, but onely this Zone or part of the earth in which wee are; an opinion truly for so graue an Author, farre from reason and vnderstanding: That ther­fore which I intend euidently to make manifest vnto you, is, that they were not onely deceaued in those Zones, wherein eyther Pole is contayned, but in Torrida Zona also: for as this is found not to be so vntemperate, nor the heate and Ar­dor so raging as they supposed; so also is the cold of the Po­lar Zones nothing so rigorous and sharpe, as they described The Polar Zones enha­bited. it, but sufferable and very well to be endured and enhabited, as by proofe we find, that all those cold Regions are peopled. But the Auncients are to be excused, who though they were great Cosmographers and Geographers, yet they neuer knew nor discouered so much of the earth, as the Modernes haue done, which by painefull and industrious Nauigation haue discouered many Regions, Countries, and Prouinces before vnknowne: not onely in the Occidentall Indies (the which wee will leaue apart) but in the Orientall also, and in the farre partes of the Septentrion: for proofe whereof, reade Ptolo­me, which is the most esteemed Geographer, and to whom is giuen in those thinges which he wrote, the greatest credite, and you shall finde that hee confesseth himselfe to be igno­rant of many Countries nowe discouered, which he termeth vnknowne and vnfound Landes, saying: That the first part of Europe beginneth in the Iland of Ireland. Hybernia, whereas there are many other farther North, that enter also into Eu­rope: and also a great quantity of firme Land, which is on the Ptolome ig­norant in many coun­tries nowe knowne. same part towards the North-pole, where he might haue ta­ken his beginning: and in his eight Table of Europe, spea­king of Sarmacia Europaea, hee sayeth, that there lyeth of the one side thereof a Country vnknowne: and in his second Table of Asia, entreating of Sarmacia Asiatica, hee sayth the same, not acknowledging for discouered all that vvhich is forthward betweene these two Prouinces & the Sea North­ward: Of Scithia hee sayth the same, in his seauenth Table of Asia, that on the North-side it hath vnknowne Lande: & in his third Table, that all that part of the Mountaynes to­wardes the North is vndiscouered; and in comming to India [Page] to the kingdome of Chyna, hee hath no knowledge at all of that which is thence forwarde to the East, where is so great a multitude and diuersitie of Countries, Prouinces and King­doms, as in a manner remaineth behind on this side: yet truly there was neuer any man equall vnto Ptolomie in that which he knew, and all both Auncients and Moderns doe follovve him, as the truest Geographer, though hee were many tymes deceaued, as in saying that the Indian Sea is wholy closed and separated from the Ocean, it beeing afterwards founde, that from the Cape of Bona Speranza to Calycut, there is more then a thousand leagues of water, the which, according to his opinion, should be enuironed with firme land.

Strabo also in his seauenth booke saith, that the same Regi­on which turneth towards the Aquylon, pertayneth to the Ocean sea, for they are sufficiently known who take their be­ginning from the rising of the riuer of Rheyne, forth to the riuer of Albis, of which the most famous are the Sugambij & the Cymbri, but the stripe that reacheth out on the other side of the riuer Albis, to vs is wholy vndiscouered & vnknowne, and a little farther, Those (saith he) which will goe to the ry­sing of the Riuer Boristhenes, & to those parts from whence the winde Boreas commeth, all those Regions are mani­fest by the Clymes and Paraleils, but what Countries & peo­ple those are which are on the other side of Almania, and in what sort they are placed which are nowe called Bastarni, as many doe suppose, or Intermedij, or Lasigae, or Raxaili, or others that vse the couerings of Wagons for the roofes of theyr houses, I cannot easily say, neither whetheir their coun­try extendeth it selfe to the Ocean, or whether through the extreame cold it be vnenhabitable, or whether there be anie other linage of men between the sea & those Almaines which are towards the part of the Ponyent.

By these authorities you may vnderstande, that Strabo (though hee were so great a Cosmographer) had no know­ledge of all those Countries which are on the other side of Almaine towards the Septentryon or North-pole. But you must vnderstand, that they made Almaine extende it selfe much farther, then we now adayes doe, bringing within the [Page 117] limits thereof, all those Countries euen vnto Scithia, in which seeing Strabo was ignorant, it is not much if the other Cos­mographers were ignorant of that which is vnder the vtmost Zone it selfe. As for Strabo, he confesseth not only his igno­rance in those parts, but also in speaking of the Getes, There are, saith he, certaine mountaines which reach Northward, e­uen to the Tyrregetes, to the knowledge of whose bounds & ends we cannot attaine, the ignorance of which hath made vs admit many fables that are reported of the Hiperbores and Ryphaean mountaines: But let vs leaue these men, yea, and Pytheas Marsiliensis also with his lyes, which he wrote of the Ocean Sea: and if Sophocles saide any thing in his tragicall verses of Oricia, that she was carried of the wind Boreas ouer the whole Sea, and transported to the vtmost bounds of the whole world, to the fountaines of the Night, & to the height of the Heauen, and to the old Garden of Apollo: let vs leaue him also, and come to the trueth of that, which is in deede knowne in this our age.

Strabo hath cleerely giuen to vnderstand in these speeches, the small knowledge he had of those Countries, which are towards the North; and of the other side of the Hiperborean and Ryphaean mountaines, which being included in the vtmost Zone, where as you say, vnknowne to all the Auncients: but I wonder at nothing more, then that the vvorld hauing dured so many yeeres be­fore them, there was neuer any that could attaine to the light and cleare certainty thereof.

There hath not wanted some, which in som sort though doubtingly haue roued ther­at, as Pliny, who though he denied, as I said a little before the vtmost Zones to be enhabited; yet comming to speake of the mountaines of Rypheus, hee discouereth the contrary of that which hee had saide before, turning to vse these wordes. The Arimasps being past, there are straight at hand the Ry­phaean Plin lib. 4 Cap. 12. mountaines, and a Country through the continuall falling of snow like feathers, called Pterophoros, the which is a part of the world condemned of Nature, beeing seated in a place of obscurity & darknes: we cannot place these moun­tains any where, then in the very rigour of Nature it selfe, and in the very seate and bowels of the Aquilon: on the other [Page] side of the Aquilon, liueth (if we wil beleeue it) a verie happy people, whom they call Hyperboreans, whose life they say, lasteth many yeres, and of whom are reported many fabulous miracles: it is thought that there are the vtmost barres of the world, and the farthest compasse of the starres, it is 6. months light with them, & one only day of the Sun contrary: not as som ignorantly say, from the Winter Equinoctiall to the Au­tumne, only once a yere doth the sunne rise vnto them in the Solstitio, and only once a yere set in the Winter. Their region is warme, of a wholsome temprature without any noysome The happy soyle of the Hyperbori­ans. ayres: the mountaines & woods serue them for houses, they worship their gods in troupes, ioyntly flocking together, there is neuer amongst them any discord, debate, sicknes or infirmi­ty. Death neuer ouertaketh them til being through olde age weary of liuing they throw themselues from the top of some high Rock down headlong into the sea: this they account the happiest sepulchre that may be. Some writers haue placed thē in the first part of Asia and not of Europe, because there are some in situation & likenes resembling them, called Attacori, others haue placed them in the midst betweene either Sunne, which is Sun-setting of the Antypodes, and the rising thereof with vs, which can by no way be so, beeing so great and huge a sea between. Those who place them there, where they haue but one day in the yere continuing sixe months, say that they sow their corne in the morning, and reape it at midday, and that when the Sunne forsaketh them, they gather the fruit of their trees, and during the space of theyr night they hide thē ­selues in Caues. This people is not to be doubted of, seeing so many Authors haue written that they were wont to sende their first fruites to the Temple of Apollo in Delos, vvhom they cheefely adored. All this is out of Plinie, who as you see discourseth confessing and denying, for one while he sayth, if we will beleeue it, making it ambiguous, and then presentlie he turneth to say that it is not to be doubted of.

I alwayes vnderstood that the Hiperborians shold be those who dwell on those Mountaines which are on the end of Asia, towards the North, and me thinkes that Plinie and those Auncients, beeing ignorant in the rest concerning [Page 118] them, call those also Hyperboreans which dwell on the other side, though there be a great quantity of Land betweene, see­ing hee calleth also by that name those which are vnder the Pole Artick, or on the other side thereof.

It is so, for if they were there abouts, we could not haue so litle knowledge of them as wee haue, and in truth as I vnderstand, there must needes be a great quantitie of Lande betweene those moun­taines and the people whom he termeth by that name. Soli­nus also entreateth of this matter in the verie selfe same man­ner, Solinus tou­ching the Hyperbo­reans. which though it be somewhat prolixe, I will let you vn­derstand what he saith, First, talking of the Land which is on the other side of the Rephaean mountaines and of the Ary­masps, he vseth these words: Vpon these mountaines & the height of Ryphaeus, there is a Region couered with continu­all clowdes and Ise, and in some places of exceeding height, it is a part of the world condemned of Nature, and seated in a perpetuall obscure myst, in the very entrance of the Aquy­lon, whereby it is most rigorously cold. This onelie amongst all other Lands, knoweth not all the courses of time, & of the heauens, neither tasteth it any other thing then cruell Win­ter, and sempiternall cold. And farther, speaking in another chapter of the Hyperborean mountaines, he saith, that there was a fable of the Hyperboreans & a rumor, of which to be­lieue any thing was accounted temerity, but seeing, saith he, so many approued Authors & men of great sufficiency cōfirme them, let no man doubt of thē, or hold thē for fabulous, being approued with such authorities: cōming therfore to speak of them, they are on the other side of Pterophoros, which we haue heard say is on the other side of Aquilo, it is a blessed nation. Some will situat the same rather in Asia thē Europe, & others in the midst betwixt the one & th'other sun, there as it setteth with Antipodes & riseth with vs, the which is contrary to rea­son, there being so great a sea, which runneth between the 2. rotundities. They are therfore in Europe, & neer them as it is thought, are the bars of the world, and the last compassing or circuit of the stars, they haue one only day in the yere. There want not some who say that the sunne is not there as we haue him here, but that he riseth in the Equinoctiall of the winter, [Page] and setteth in the Autumne, so that the day continueth sixe monthes together, and the night as much. The heauens are fauourable, the ayre sweet, the winds breathe gently & com­fortably, there is amongst them nothing noysome or hurtful. The woods are their houses, in the day the trees yeelde them victuals, they know not what discord is, they are not troubled with infirmities, they liue innocently, theyr will is equall, and opinions agreeing, in olde age death is welcome vnto them, which if it be tardife in cōming, they preuent it in bereauing themselues of life: for being wearie of liuing, after hauing banqueted with theyr friendes, they let themselues fall from the top of a high Rocke into the depth of the Sea, and this is among them the most esteemed Sepulchre. It is said that they were wont to sende by vnspotted virgins theyr first fruites to Apollo in Delos, who beeing once by the wickednes of their hostes that harboured them defiled, they since that time haue euer vsed to offer them vp within the bounds of theyr ovvne Countrie, &c. And Pomponius Mela ending to entreate of Sarmanica, and beginning with Scithia, from thence, saith he, Pom. Mela touching the Hyper­boreans. follow the confines of Asia, and vnlesse it be where the Win­ter is perpetuall, and the cold not to be suffred, doe enhabite the peoples of Scithia, who in a manner all do call themselues Sagae, and on the edge of Asia, the first are the Hyperbore­ans vpon the Aquylon and the Ryphaean mountaines, vnder the vtmost cyrcling of the starres, where the Sunne not euery day, as he doth with vs, but rysing in the Equynoctiall of the Winter, setteth in Autumne, so that theyr day and night suc­cessiuely continueth sixe monthes long apeece.

Me thinkes these three Authors say in a manner one thing, and in like words, differing onely a little about the ha­bitation of this people, the one placing them by the Ryphaean mountaines, and the other by the Hyperboreans, betweene the which, as I take it, there is a great distance: but afore you passe any farder, I pray you declare vnto vs the meaning of these two words lately by you mentioned, Pterophoras & Hy­perbore. The signifi­cation of Pterophoras and Hyper­bore.

Pterophoras in Greeke is as much to say as a Region of feathers, because the furie of the windes is there so violent, that they seeme to flie with winges, and the snovve [Page 119] which continually falleth, resembleth great feathers. Hiper­boreans is as much to say, as those that dwell vnder the wind Boreas, which is the same that wee heere call [...] Circius, the which as it seemeth, engendereth it selfe, and riseth of the cold of those mountaines; and this is the opinion of Diodorus Siculus, though Festus Pompeius say that they are so called, because they passe the common maner of men in their liuing and yeeres: and Macrobius in his comment De somno Scipto­nis, interpreteth it saying, that they are people which entring within the Land, passed on the other side of the wind Bore­as: but whether it be as the one or the other sayes, the matter makes not much.

Let vs passe forward, and seeing these Authors seeme heerein to confesse, that there are Lands and Prouin­ces vnder the Zones of the Poles which are enhabited: I pray you tell vs what the Modernes doe thinke thereof, who haue seene and discouered more then those of times past.

The Modernes entreate very differently heereof, though they be few: for Countries so sharpe and so farre out of the way, haue beene viewed or passed into by few, whereby their par­ticularities might be discouered; though wee may say that heerein is fulfilled the saying of our Sauiour Christ that there is nothing so secrete but commeth to be reuealed and so there haue not wanted curious and industrious persons which haue verified the same, discouering this secrete: but afore we come to entreate of the particularities of this Country, heare what Iacobus Ziglerus an Almaigne Author sayth. The Aunci­ents, sayth hee, perswaded by a naked imagination, spake of Iacobus Ziglerus of the Nor­therne parts. those places by estimation of the heauens, deeming thē not to be sufferable or enhabitable without great difficulty, for those men which were borne or conuersant in Aegipt or Greece, tooke an argument thereby to speake of the whole enhabi­table world, & to affirme those parts vnder the North-pole not to be enhabited: But to declare that the Lands how cold so euer they be, are not therefore vninhabitable, he bringeth for example the aboundance of mettals & minerals of siluer, which grow in Swethland and Norway, being Countries ex­ceedingly colde, whence hee maketh an argument, that the [Page] heauens are not so vntemperate in those parts or any others how cold so euer, but that they may be enhabited, yea, and in such sort that men liue there very long, & in great health and strength, as by experience of those Countries we finde it to be true, which could not be, vnlesse the heauen were tempe­rate and fauourable in correcting that domage which by the cold might be caused: Afterwards handling this matter a lit­tle more at large, he turneth to say; I write not this to the end you should thinke that those who goe thither out of Aethio­pia or Aegipt, should agree so well with that climate, as those which are naturall of the same; for vndoubtedly they would hardly endure the cold, and be in great danger of their liues: vvhich may be considered by those of the Land of Babilon, for those of them which went towards the North, did not by and by penetrate into the vtmost bounds of the earth in those parts, but seated them selues in the middle thereof, and as they enured themselues to suffer the colds, so by little & little they pearced farther in, cōming in time to be so accustomed to the cold, that they endured the Snow and Ice, as well as the hote Countries doe the continuall heat & parching of the Sunne: and if there be perchaunce in those parts any thing ouersharp & rigorous, Nature hath amended the same with other helps; Nature hath prouided a remedy to euery mis­chiefe. for on the Sea shore she hath ordained Caues that runne vn­der the mountains, where the fiercer that the cold is, the grea­ter is the heate & warmenes that gathereth it selfe therein, and Landward shee hath made Valleyes contrary to the North, wherein they might harbor & shroud themselues against the cold; as for their Cattell and wild Beastes, she hath cloathed them with such thicke skins, that the nipping of the cold can no whit at al anoy them, & therfore those furres of those parts are more precious, then those of warmer Countries.

We haue well vnderstoode all these authorities and opinions, but we vnderstand not what you will inferre by them.

It is easily vnderstood, if you looke vnto that which we at the beginning discoursed, as touching the opinion of all auncient Authors & Geographers, who thought that the two vtmost Zones of the Poles were not enhabitable through their ex­treame cold, whereas by that which I haue said, and wil heere­after [Page 120] say, the contrary appeareth: And so we will goe on veri­fying that our Europe is not so little or the least part of the earth, as many will haue it to be, seeing we know not the ends thereof, of one side extending it selfe, & following the whole Coast of the Sea, seeming to guide it towards the Occident, then giuing a turne to the Septentrion, & by another way pas­sing and trauersing the Riphaean mountaines, following the same Land which reacheth euen to the Septentrion it selfe, or vnder the North-pole.

That Coast which you say goeth towards the Occident, as I haue heard say, is not nauigable, be­cause of the frozen Sea, which hindereth the passage of the ships.

There is a great Coast of the Sea, which for the same reason you giue, according to many of the Cosmogra­phers is not nauigable; and of this, the Auncients yeeld not so good reason, neither haue they so good experience thereof as the Moderns haue, though Gemma Frigius a very graue Au­thor, be very short in handling this matter, for comming to speake of the Prouinces of Curlandia and Liuonia, hee sayth, that they are the last of Sarmatia, and that Liuonia stretcheth towards the Septentrion, & cōmeth to ioyne it selfe with the Hiperboreans, whose peoples are Parigitae and Carcotae, which goe following that part of the Septentrion that passeth on the other side of Circulus Articus, & that they are great and wide Regions, & most extremely cold, and that the men which en­habit them, are of a strong constitution of body, & very faire of cōplexion, but somwhat grosse of vnderstanding; and that there are places of ice so hard frosen, that great troups of hors­men may therevpon make their fights & encounters, whereto they vse the winter more then the somer, & that like vnto these Countries are those of Escarmia & Dacia; and a little farther speaking of the Prouince of Swethland, which he calleth Go­tia Occidentalis, (because there is another called Meridionalis) & of Norway which stretcheth it self by the Coast of the Oc­cident towardes the Iland of Thule, and ioyneth it selfe with Thule is the same which we now call Iseland. Groneland, he saith, that without the circle Artick, are the pro­uinces of Pilapia & Vilapiae, the coldest countries of the world, because they reach vnto the very North-pole, in which their day cōtinueth the space of a whole month, & that those parts The prouin­ces of Pilapia and Vilapia. [Page] are not till this day throughly discouered because the enhabi­tants of them are most wicked & cruell, and persecute Chri­stians within their limits, and that euill Spirits doe there pre­sent themselues many times before the eyes of men, in bodies formed of ayre, with a fearefull and terrible aspect: and af­terwards he saith, that in those Countries towards the Occi­dent, it is said, though their place and seate be vncertaine, that the Pigmees doe enhabite men of a cubite high, the trueth whereof is vncertaine, but only that a ship of leather through the violence of the winds, being driuen on the shore, was ta­ken with many of these Pigmees in it: All this you must vn­derstand he saith, in speaking of that Coast, which as I sayde Pigmees. goeth out Westward, for from thence all that which turneth compassing about the Land towards the East, passing the vt­most Zone, euen till it come to meete with ours, is vnknown, neither hath any ship made that voyage, neither is there any Nation that can giue vs notice thereof, the reason is, because of the frozen Sea of which you spake, through which, that Coast is by no meanes nauigable, whereof Gemma Frigius maketh no mention in this place, neither afterwards also, whē he commeth to speake of the Scithians, where hee saith, that in the farthest Scithia, which extendeth it selfe farre beyond the Hiperboreans: there are many Nations whom he nameth by their names, without comming in one part or other to the Sea-coast, in sort that heereby may be inferred, that hee left much Land in those parts for vndiscouered and vnknowne: and in his Map (which cannot be denied to be one of the best and surest, that hath beene hetherto made by any man) com­ming to the Country of Swethland, he setteth the same sim­ply with an Epitaph, saying, That of those Septentrial Lands he will there-after more particulerly entreate: and so sayeth Iohn Andraeas Valuasor in his.

It seemeth vnto me, that in this matter they cannot so agree one with another, but that they must differ and discord in many points because the most of them, or in a manner all, speake by heare-say and con­iecture, who though they bring apparant reasons, yet are they not so sufficient, that we are bound absolutly to beleeue them, without thinking that in many of them we may be deceaued.

It is true in part, though they haue also many rea­sons which cannot be reprooued, as those which the same Gemma Frigius giueth, to make vs vnderstand that beyond these Landes farther Northwardes, the dayes and nights en­crease successiuely, as I said before, till they come to be sixe monthes long apeece, which seeing the Batchiler Encisus re­hearseth also in his Cosmography, discoursing more plainlie The Bachi­ler Encisus, concerning the length of the dayes and nights towards the Poles. and cleerely of them, I will let you vnderstand what he wry­teth. Entreating howe that the dayes and nights are alvvayes equall, and of one length, to those that dwell vnder the Equi­noctiall, he passeth forward, telling how they goe increasing and decreasing in length, according to the degrees that they apart themselues from the Sunne: so comming to say, that those which dwell in 67. degrees, haue their longest day of 24. houres, so that one day is 24. houres, and one night as much more, which is day without night, and night without day. Those which dwell in 69. degrees, haue a whole month together day without night, and another whole month night without day. Those which dwell in 71. degrees, haue two months of day without any night, and two months of night without anie day. Those which dwell in 73. degrees, haue three months of day, and other three of night. Those which dwell in 75. degrees, haue four months of continuall day, and other foure of continuall night. And those which dwel in 79. and 80. degrees, haue sixe months of day without night, and other sixe months of night without day: so that in the whole yeere they haue no more then one day, & one night.

By this computation it seemeth, that they which are in 80. de­grees, and enioy the day and night sixe months long apeece, should be vnder the very Pole.

Nay rather they reach not so farre as to be vnder it, as the same Encisus saith a little after by these words, From thence forward to the Pole, the difference is little, whether it be day or night: for the great­nes of the Sunne exceeding the roundnes of the world, yeel­deth to those parts of the Poles a continuall brightnesse, be­cause the compasse of the earth beeing inferior to that of the Sunne, is not able to make shaddowe, or to hinder that the cleerenesse thereof shine not ouer those parts.

This is maruailous strange, that there shoulde be anie Lande where it is neuer night.

You must not vnder­stand but that it waxeth night (which is when the Sunne set­teth) but yet the same in such sort, that there neuer vvanteth sufficient light and brightnes, to see any worke whatsoeuer is to be doone, and if you will be attentife, I will make you vn­derstand it more plainlie. With those that are vnder the Poles and haue there their habitation, the Sunne neither riseth, ney­ther setteth as it doth heere with vs, but verie differently: for The diuersi­ty of the ry­sing and set­ting of the sun between vs and those that lyue neere or vn­der the Poles. with vs the Sunne riseth in the East, and passing ouer our heads (or missing little thereof) goeth to hide it selfe and set in the West, and giuing a compasse about vnder the earth, turneth the next day to appeare in the same place, making in this course very little difference in a yeere: and our shad­dowe vvhen the Sunne riseth, falleth to the West, and vvhen it setteth, towards the East: but to those who are at the Poles, which according to the rising of the Sunne, are the sides of the world, it is not so: and therefore consider, that when the Sunne is in the midst betweene them both, and from thence goeth declining to one side, the more he declineth, the more he lightneth that side, and hideth himselfe from the other, & because in going and turning to the same place, he deteyneth himselfe halfe a yeere, he causeth that those which are vnder the Pole of that side, haue the day halfe a yeere long, and contrarie, vvhen returning to the mydst of his iourney, hee goeth declyning to the other side, hee vvorketh the same ef­fect vvith those of the other Pole, and so they repart the yeere one with another, the one hauing mid-daie vvhen the other hath mid-night, and so by contrarie.

And if you desire to vnderstand this well, and to see it by experience, take any round thing that is somewhat great, and causing it to be hanged vp in the ayre, light a Candle when it is darke, and lyfting it vp a little, bring it rounde about by the midst, and beginne thence to goe declining vvith it to An example whereby it is proued, that it can neuer be very dark vnder the Poles. one side, and you shall see that the more you decline, the more you shall lighten the poynt which is on that side, and the more obscure will that be on the other side, & then com­ming to turne againe, giuing a compasse by the midst, and [Page 122] thence discending on the other part towards the other side, the same will presenlie beginne to goe lightning, and the o­ther obscuring, and if as I say it is a Candle, it were a Torch, the brightnesse vvould be greater, and though declining to one side, it obscure the other, yet should it neuer be so much, but that there woulde remaine some lyght of that which doth reuerberate from the flame and greatest brightnesse of the Torch: and so fares it with those inhabitants vvhich are at the Poles, or in the Land vnder them: which as the Sunne is so much greater then the vvhole Earth, so cannot he chuse but cast from one side some light vnto the other, vvhich though it be not with his proper beames, yet is it of the fla­shing and excellent brightnesse which dooth reuerberate from them, as we haue heere with vs an example of the like when the Sunne is going downe. Besides, the cleerenesse of the Moone and Starres shyning there, helpeth verie much that the obscuritie of the Night can neuer be there so great, but that men may see one another doe theyr businesse, and as Nature hath prouided a remedie for all thinges, so hath shee heereby taken away that tediousnesse, which otherwise the length of so long a night should haue caused.

I haue very well vnderstood all that which you haue sayde, according to vvhich, the Sunne riseth and setteth with them, farre differently from that hee doth with all the world besides.

I will tell you: with vs, as I saide before, the Sunne passeth aboue ouer vs, and maketh our shadowes on one side at his rising, and on another at his setting, but if you will vn­derstand me well, you must vse attention: and first you must know that this word Orizon signified the Heauen which we see, wheresoeuer we are in turning our eyes rounde about the What thys Word Ori­zon signifi­eth. earth, so that euery Prouince and Country hath an Orizon, which is that part of Heauen which they discouer in circling or compassing it about with theyr sight: And as in our Ori­zon we discouer the Sunne by little and little when he riseth, to take his course through the heauen ouer vs, and so at last to set himselfe in the contrary place: so with those which are vnder the Poles in his rising, & afterwards his setting, in a far [Page] different sort: For the first day that he riseth, there appeareth but a point of him, which can scarcely be discouered, and go­eth so round about their Orizon, in which going about hee sheweth himselfe alwaies in one sort, without encreasing, vn­lesse it be a very little, casting all alike brightnes forth: At the second turne he goeth discouering himselfe a little more, and so at the third and fourth, and all the rest, encreasing from de­gree in degree, and giuing turnes round about the heauen vp­wards, in which he continueth three moneths, and the sha­dow of all that vppon which his beames doe strike, goeth round about, and is when he beginneth to rise very great, and the higher he mounteth, the shorter it waxeth: and afterward when he turneth to come downward, in which he dureth o­ther three moneths, it is contrary, euen till hee come to hide himselfe vnder the earth, at which time, as hee goeth hiding himselfe to those of the one pole, so goeth hee shewing and discouering himselfe to those of the other.

The vnder­standing of this mistery is not without some difficulty, espe­cially to vs, which till this time haue not had thereof any no­tice: yet I now begin by little and little to comprehend the same, onely one doubt remaineth which somwhat troubleth mee, which is, if the whole Land from that place where the dayes are of 24. houres length (which according as I vnder­stand, is from the Ile of Thule, and the other Prouinces that are on firme Land, till you come to that which you say is vn­der the Pole) be enhabited of men, or Desert without habi­tation.

I make no doubt but that all this Land is enhabi­ted in parts, though not so populously in all places as this of Whether all those parts be enhabi­ted or no. ours: & in this the Authors doe not so plainly declare them­selues, that we may thereby receaue cleare and particuler vn­derstanding thereof, though some of them goe on setting vs in the right way to knowe the same. For Encisus following the discouery of the Coast, which goeth towards the Sunne­setting, giuing a turne to the North, he goeth discouering by the same many Prouinces, amongst which, I remember hee speaketh of two, the one called Pyla Pylanter, and the other Pyla Pylan­ter Euge Velanter. which is somwhat farther Euge Velanter, in which he saith the [Page 123] dayes encrease to two moneths and a halfe, and the night as much, which though it be a Land enhabited, yet through the extreame and terrible cold thereof, the Riuers and Waters are in such sort frozen, that the enhabitants haue much adoe to get any vvater: for their Ices are so thicke, strong, and hard, that they cannot be broken without infinite paine & trauaile. They waite many times til the Ice be opened by certaine wild Beasts, which they haue amongst them, white of colour, and Wild Beasts like vnto white Beares which digge vp the Ice with their nailes. proportioned much like vnto Beares, whose nature is as well to liue by water as by land: whose feete are armed with such terrible sharpe, great, and strong nailes, that they breake there­with the Ice how thicke so euer it be, vnder the which plun­ging themselues, they swim along the water, and pray vpon such fishes as they finde, leauing the holes whereat they en­tred open, at which the enhabitants come incontinently to draw water, endeuouring with all dilligence to keepe them o­pen, least otherwise they freeze and close together againe as fast as they were before. They hang in at them their baits and Angling hookes, with the which also they take fish for their sustenance: As for me I assuredly thinke that these Prouin­ces are those which Gemma Frigius calleth Pilapia and Vila­pia, though he say that the dayes in them encrease no farther then to a moneth, & the nights as much. But let vs not won­der if in such things as these so farre distant & seperated from vs, we finde no witnesses of such conformity, but that they differ in somwhat. Olaus Magnus, giueth vs, though in briefe words, some neerer notice of this matter: for before he come to discourse more particulerly of the Prouinces vnder the same Pole, he vseth these words. Those of Laponia, saith he, of Bothnya, Byarmya, and the Ifladians, haue their dayes and nights halfe a yeere long a peece: Those of Elsingia, Anger­mania, and part of Swethland haue them fiue moneths long, and those of Gothland, Muscouia, Russia, and Liuonia, haue them three moneths long: Which Author being naturall of Gothland and Bishop of Vpsala, it is to be thought that hee knew the truth thereof: But these Countries being so neere vnto ours, I meruaile that there is no greater notice of them, and that there are not many more Authors that doe write of [Page] them: Truth it is as I vnderstand, that this encreasing of daies and nights should not bee generall throughout the vvhole Country, but onely in part thereof, which may be gathered out of that which he sayth, of the Kingdome of Norway, that in the entry and first parts of the same, the dayes are as they are heere with vs: But going on forth to the blacke Castell, and from thence forwarde, there is so great a change as you haue heard before, & the like may also be in other Countries. By these before rehearsed authorities, we may vnderstand the resolution of the doubt by you proposed, that all the Lande betweene vs and the North is enhabited, at least in parts ther­of heere and there, so that it may be trauailed through ouer all.

My head is greatly troubled, about this encreasing & decreasing of the dayes and nights so much, because the far­ther we goe from the Aequinoctial, the longer we find them: yet the common opinion of all Cosmographers, is, that in one degree are reckoned sixteene leagues and a halfe or somwhat more, which being so, it seemeth meruailous, that in two de­grees A league is three miles. which are but 23. leagues or very little more, the day and successiuely the night should encrease so much time as is a moneth, according to your former computation; and that when it were day in the one part, it should be night in the o­ther, they being so neere together.

You haue some reason to doubt, but as these Lands goe alwaies downehill or slopewise in respect of the course of the Sun, so in little space the same both hideth & discouereth it selfe vnto them in great quantity; this you may partly vnderstand by that which hap­peneth to trauailers, who hauing the Sunne in their eye, a lit­tle before the setting thereof, in passing ouer a Plaine and champaine place, lose presently the sight thereof in comming to the foote of a hill, as though he were sodainly set, yet if they make hast, when they get vp to the top of the hill, they finde him not fully downe, recouering againe day though but a lit­tle yet somwhat longer: But for all this, I blame you not in wondring at a thing so strange, which for the true proofe and vnderstanding whereof, were necessary to be seene with our eyes: for confirmation whereof, though there be many most sufficient reasons and proofes, yet I haue not reade heerein [Page 124] any Author which auoucheth his own knowledge and sight, whereas me thinkes if these Regions were so short, as by this computation of degrees the Authors seeme to make them, there should not haue wanted curious men to discouer the particularities of them, howe great so euer the difficulty or danger had beene in doing the same, which if they had done, they should perchaunce haue found many things farre other­wise then they deemed, at least touching some particularities, of which some later Writers vaunt to haue in part experi­ence: of which seeing we our selues are able to giue no assu­red testimony of sight; I thinke it best that we leaue them to those whose curious industry wil omit no paine to attaine vn­to the perfect searching out of things so worthy to be known: and seeing the Auncients which went sifting out these mat­ters, confesse that from the same Land came Virgins to bring their first fruits to the temple of Apollo in Delos, belike there was then some known way, & the passage betweene nothing so difficill as it nowe seemeth vnto vs, which beeing to vs vn­knowne, and the manner howe to trauaile and passe through those cold Regions beset with deepe Snow, thicke Ice, wide Riuers, painefull high Hils, fearefull low Valleyes, vnaccessi­ble Desarts, and all kinds of cruell wild Beasts: we leaue them vnuoyaged, not seeking any way whereby we may penetrate into them, and attaine the cognition of their particulers in a manner concealed and hidden from vs, of which though some fewe of the hether parts thereof were knowne by relati­on of some painefull and industrious men, who affirmed that they had seene them: yet the greatest part was by coniectures, considerations, and probable argumentes, though the curi­osity of our times hath passed a little farther, because as I haue sayde, they are eye-witnesses of part of that which wee haue discouered of, as I will tell you straight, but all shall be little to giue vs such perfect and particuler knowledge of this part of the worlde, that we may discourse thereof as of the others which we know. Some Authors will haue this Land to be in Asia, others in Europe, but in whether it be, the matter is not great: alwayes if it be in Europe then is Europe not so little a part of the earth as they make it, of vvhich if they will [Page] set the limits there as the Auncients say it finished, then must these Regions before time vndiscouered, be another nevve part of the world, and so they should make foure parts ther­of or fiue, with that which is newly discouered thereof in the West Indies.

I vvonder not much if men haue not so good notice of those partes of which wee haue discoursed neere the one and neere the other Pole, and of that vvhich runneth out by the Coast of the North towardes the West, because besides the great sharpnes and rigour of the cold, we haue no cōuersation at all with the enhabitants of those parts, nor they with vs, neither is there any cause to mooue eyther them or vs thereunto, vnlesse it be the curiositie of some that thirst after the vniuersal knowledge of all things in the world, as did Marcus Paulus Venetus, who for this cause only tra­uailed so great a part of the worlde, as any man that euer I heard of till this day. Truth it is that some Kings and Princes through couetous desire of enlarging their dominions, as you shall hereafter vnderstand, haue entered so far as they could, conquering into these parts, which they found neyther ouer all enhabited, neyther yet so desert, but that it was in manie places and the greater part therof peopled, and not so far one from another, but that they had knowledge, conuersation, & traffique together. And as in these Countries and Prouinces of ours, we finde one soyle, plaine, temperate and pleasant, and another quite contrary, sharpe, barren and vnfruitfull, subiect to boystrous winds, harsh ayres, and continuall snow, wherewith some mountaines are all the yeere long couered, so that no man will frame in them his habitation: So likewise in these extreame Regions of the North, no doubt but there are some parts of them vninhabited, as those which Pliny, So­line, and the before remembred Authors terme condemned of Nature: yet there want not wayes and compasses in cyr­cling about them, to discouer that which is enhabited on the other side, and though with difficultie, yet in fine, Nature would not leaue to prouide an open way, to the end that this Land should not remaine perpetually hidden and vnknown.

I remember I haue seene in Paulus Iouius in a chapter which hee made of Cosmography abbreuiated in the begin­ning [Page 125] of his History these words, speaking of the Kingdomes of Denmarke and Norway, and the Landes beyond them: Of the Nature, saith he, of these Lands, & of the peoples that liue beyond them called Pigmaei, & Ictiophagi, which are those that liue by fishes, now newly discouered, in whose Country Pigmaei. Ictiophagi. by a certaine order of the Heauen of that constellation, the dayes and nights are equall, which I will make mention in their place.

Mee thinkes there are many that touch this matter, promising to write largely thereof without doing it, and if they doe it, it is euen as they list themselues, because there is no man to controle them: and as for Paulus Iouius himselfe, all that he wrote of this Country, was by the relati­on of a Muscouian Embassadour in Rome. In one place hee saith, that the Muscouites border vpon the Tartaryans, and that towards the North they are accounted the vtmost dwel­lers of the worlde, and that towardes the West, they confine with the Danske Sea. And in another place, the Muscouites, sayth he, who are seated betweene Polonia and Tartaria, con­fine with the Ryphaean mountaines, & enhabite towards the Septentryon in the vtmost bounds of Europe and Asia, ex­tending themselues ouer the Lakes of the Riuer Tanays, euē to the Hyperborean mountaines, and that part of the Ocean which they call the Frozen Sea. These are his wordes, in which truly he hath little reason, for the vtmost Land that the Muscouites possesse, is where the day and night continue 3. months long a peece, so that they cannot be called the last enhabitants of the earth, for those whose day and night is of sixe months, are farder North, and neerer the Pole then they, so that in fine, as I sayd before, touching these matters which cannot be seene without such difficultie, those that entreat of them, goe by gesse, coniecturing thereat by the probabilitie of reasons & considerations.

As I imagine, this coun­trey must be very great, where the daies are so long in encrea­sing, and decreasing: and more, if there be on the other side of the North before you come at the Sea, so much other land, of force it must haue the same encrease and decrease, for the selfe same cause and reason, as is of the other side, and if the same goe lengthning on inwards, it must be greater, then it [Page] hath seemed vnto vs.

Whether this land extend it selfe on the other side of the North forward, or whether the Sea be straight at hande, I cannot resolue you: for there is not any Author that writeth it, neither do I thinke is there any that knoweth it, the cause wherof as I said is, that in passing by the coast of the West, beyond the Iles of Island. Thule, the coldes are so bitterly sharpe, that no ship dareth to aduenture farder, by reason of the huge floting Rockes and flakes of Ise, vvhich encomber that Sea, threatning eminent danger and vnauoy­dable destruction to those that attempt to saile thereinto. Of the other side of the East, giuing a turne about to the very same North, is discouered so far as the Prouince of Agana­gora, which is the last of all the knowne Countries on that The Pro­uince of A­gonagora. side, the Gulfe being past which is called Mare magnum, for by land they say it is not to be trauailed, by reason of the great Deserts, & the earth in many places full of Quagmyres, with many other inconueniences which Nature seemeth to haue there ordained. Some say that earthly Paradise standeth there, and that therefore no earthly man in the world hath know­ledge thereof: but of this we haue before sufficiently entrea­ted, with the opinions of those, that haue written thereupon. Some there are also who write, that in this Lande are certaine great mountains, amongst the which are enclosed many peo­ples of India, from which they haue no issue, nor meanes at all to come out, but I rather beleeue this to be a fiction, be­cause I find the same confirmed by no graue & allowed Au­thour. But howsoeuer it be, beyond this Countrey called A­ganagora, is much vnknowne and vndiscouered Land, ney­ther by sea thence Northward hath there been any nauigation or discouery, of which also the extreame cold and the sea cō ­tinually frozen and choked vp with heapes of Ise, may be the cause, the feare of which hath hindred men from attempting the discouery therof onely that which we may hereby vnder­stand, is that there is a most great quantity of Land from the coast which goeth by the west & turneth towards the North, and that which compasseth about the East, and turneth like­wise to the North, of which till this time there is not anie man Lande yet vnknowne. that can giue direct notice, in midst of all which, is that which [Page 126] we intreated of, which is vnder the North, whose daie and night is reparted into a yeere.

I knowe not in vvhat sort the moderne Geographers doe measure or compasse the world, but I know that they say, that the whole Rotundity of all the Land and water in the worlde, containeth not aboue sixe thousand leagues, of which are discouered 4350. recko­ning from the Hauen of Hygueras in the Occident or West 1650. lea­gues of the world yet vndiscoue­red. Indies, to Gatigara, where the Prouince of Aganagora is cō ­tayned, which is in the Orient, so that there are yet to discouer 1650. leagues, in discouering of which, the ende and vtmost boundes of the Indies shoulde be knowne, as well as that of this part of the earth which we inhabite.

To those that will measure the world in this maner, may be answered, as a Boy in Seuilla to those that would de­uide the conquest thereof between the King of Castile and The answer of a boy of Seuilla. the King of Portugale, who in mockage of theyr folly, puld downe his breeches, and shewing them his buttocks, badde them draw the line there along if they would needes deuide the world in the midst by measure: & as for those which me­sure in such sort the worlde, they take but the length of the earth, fetching their way by the midst of the Equinoctiall, and so the Astronomers and Cosmographers may goe neere the mark, reckoning by degrees, and giuing to euery degree 16. leagues & a halfe, & a minute of way as they do: but though they discouer this, yet they can hardly come to discouer the many parts & nookes that are of one side and another of the world, being so wide, that in one corner thereof may lye hyd­den many thousands of miles and Countries, which beeing seene & known, wold perchance seem to be some new world, & so lieth this part of which I speake on the coast of the Sea, quite without notice or knowledge.

Some will say, that the shippe called Victoria (which is yet as a thing of ad­miration The shippe called Vic­toria com­passed the world round about. in the Bay of Seuilia) went round about the world, in the voyage which she made of fourteen thousand leagues.

Though she did compasse the world round about in one part, yet it is not said that she compast the same about in all parts, which are so many, that to thinke onely of them, is sufficient to amaze a mans vnderstanding.

[Page] Amongst the rest, we neuer heard that the Coast from the West to the East, by the way of the North, or at least the grea­ter part thereof, hath beene compassed about, as yet by any ship, neither haue we knowledge of any thing at all, neither by Sea nor Land, nauigating from thence forward.

If you reade Pomponius Mela in his Chapter of Scithia, where he discourseth of this matter, you shall finde that he bringeth the authority of Cornelius Nepos, alleadging for witnesse Quintus Metellus, whom he had heard say, that when he was Proconsull of the Gaules, the King of Swethland gaue him Indians dri­uen by storme into the Norths Sea. certaine Indians, of whom, demanding which way they came into those Countries, they aunswered, that through the terri­ble force of a great tempest, they were so furiously driuen from the streame of the Indian Sea, that after long attending nothing else, thē to be swallowed vp of the waues; they came at last violently to bee striken into a Riuer on the Coast of Germany: which being true, then they made that nauigati­on, by those partes which you say are vndiscouered from the West to the East, by the way of the North, whereby it is to be thought, that the Sea is not so frozen as they say, but that it is nauigable.

Truth it is that Mela saith so, though it be doubted whether the Indians came this way or no, and Mela himselfe in the ende of the Chapter turneth to say, that all the same Septentrionall side is hardened with Ice, and therefore vnin­habitable and desert: but as I haue said, all this is not directly proued and confirmed by sound experience & exact know­ledge, seeing we know not howe farre the Land extendeth it selfe on the other side of the North without comming to the Sea, and if we would seeke to sift this secrete out, and aspire to the knowledge of that which might be found in nauigating that Sea, fetching a compasse about the world from North to North, God knoweth what Lands would be found and dis­couered?

The likeliest to beleeue in this matter, in my iudgement is, that the same Sea of the North though be­ing frozen the greatest part of the yeare, yet that the same, at such time as the Sunne mounteth high, and their day of such length, should through the heate of the Sunne thaw and be­come [Page 127] nauigable, and so in that season the Indians might be driuen through the same with a tempest; all which though it be so, yet the people assuredly knowing that the same Sea freezeth in such sort euery yeere, will not dare or aduenture to saile therein, or to make any voyage on that side, so that we come not to the knowledge of such thinges as are in that Sea and Land, vnlesse wee will beleeue the fictions that Sylenus told to King Mydas.

Of all friendship, tell vs them I pray you, for in so diffuse a matter any man may lye by au­thority without controlement.

That which I will tell you is out of Theopompus, alleaged by Aelianus in his book Fictions of Sylenus to King Mydas out of Aeli­anus. De varia Historia. This Sylenus, saith he, was the Sonne of a Nimph, and accounted as inferiour to the Gods, but as supe­riour vnto men, who in one communication, among many others that hee had with King Mydas, discoursed vnto him, that out of this Land or world in which wee liue, called com­monly, Asia, Affrique, and Europe, whom he termeth Ilands, enuironed rounde about with the Ocean: there is another Land so great, that it is infinite and without measure, in the same are bred Beastes and Fowles of admirable hugenes, and the men which dwell therein are twise so great as we are, and their life twice as long: They haue many and goodly Citties, in which they liue by reason, hauing lawes quite contrary vn­to ours: among their Citties there are two that exceede the rest in greatnes, in customes no whit at all resembling, for the The Citty of Machino The Citty of Euaesus. one is called Machino, which signifieth warlike, and the other Euaesus, which signifieth pittifull, the enhabitants of which are alwayes in continuall peace, and plentifully abounding in great quantity of riches, in whose Prouince the fruites of the earth are gathered without being sowed or planted. They are alwayes free from infirmities, spending their whole time in mirth, pleasure, and solace, they maintaine iustice so inuiola­bly, that many times the immortall Gods disdaine not to vse their friendship and company: but on the contrary, the en­habitants of Machino are altogether warlike, continually in Armes and Warre, seeking to subdue the bordering Nati­ons: This people doth dominate and commaund ouer many other proud Citties and mighty Prouinces. The Cittizens [Page] of this Towne are at least 200000. in number, they sildome die of infirmity, but in the Warres, wounded with stones and great staues: Iron nor steele hurtes them not, for they haue none: Siluer & gold they possesse in such quantity, that they esteeme lesse therof, then we doe of Copper; Once, as he said, they determined to come conquer these Ilands of ours, and hauing past the Ocean with many thousandes of men; and comming to the Hiperborean mountaines, hearing there, & vnderstanding that our people were so ill obseruers of Reli­gion, and of so wicked manners, they disdained to passe any farther, accounting it an vnwoorthy thing to meddle with so corrupt a people, and so they returned backe againe. He ad­ded heere-vnto many other meruailous things, as that there were in other Prouinces thereof certaine people called Me­ropes, who enhabited many and great Citties, within the Meropes. bounds of whose Country there was a place called Anostum, which worde signifieth, a place whence there is no returne: Anostum. this Country, saith he, is not cleare and light, neither yet alto­gether darke, but betweene both, through the same runne two Riuers, the one of delight, the other of greefe, vppon the shore both of the one and the other, are planted trees about the bignes of Poplar-trees; those that are on the banks of the Riuer of griefe, bring forth a fruite of the same nature & qua­lity, The Riuer of delight. The Riuer of griefe. causing him that eateth thereof, to spend the whole time of his life in sad and melancholly dumps, bitter teares, & per­petuall weeping. The fruite of those that grow on the banks of the other Riuer, haue a contrary effect and vertue, yeelding to the eater thereof a blessed course of life, abounding in all ioy recreation and pleasure, without any one moment of sad­nes: When they are in yeeres, by little and little they waxe young againe, recouering their former vigour and force, and thence they turne still backward euen to their first infancie, becomming little babes againe, & then they die.

These things were very strange if they were true, but be howe they will, they carry some smell of that of which we entreated, con­cerning the Land which is on the other side of the Riphaean and Hiperborean mountaines; seeing he saith that determi­ning to conquer this our world which he calleth Ilands, they [Page 128] returned backe after they came to those mountaines: and so it is to be vnderstoode, that they came from the other part of the North-pole; as for that Land which he saith to be so te­nebrous & obscure, it may be the same which as we sayd hath continuall obscurity, and is a condemned part of the world, & I doe not wonder at all, if amongst the other works of Na­ture, she made this part of the earth with so strange proper­ties, (I meane not that which Silenus spake, but the other by vs entreated of before) the ayre of which by reason of som con­stellation or other thing we comprehend not, is so troubled that it is not onely vninhabitable, but also not to be passed through wherby the secreets therein contained, remaine con­cealed, though perchance on the other side therof, the time & temperature may be such and so contrary, that it may excell these very Countries wherein we now liue.

You haue reason, for without doubt the Land which is in those parts vndiscouered, must be very great, and containe in it many things of admiration vtterly vnknowne to vs: But comming now to particularize somewhat more of that which is now in these our times known & discouered, I wil tell you what some very new & moderne Authors doe say thereof, and principal­lie Iohn Zygler, whom I alleadged before, who in person vi­sited & viewed some part of these Septentrionall Countries, Iohan, Zyg­lerus. though hee passed neither the Hiperborean, neyther the Ri­phaean mountains, who meruaileth greatly at that which sun­dry Authors haue left written of these parts, for he found ma­ny things so different and contrary, that theirs conformed in no one poynt with the truth, as well touching the situation of mountaynes and heads of Riuers, as the sundry properties and qualities of the Regions and Prouinces, for hee sayeth, that he was in that part where they all affirme the mountaines Ryphaeus to be; and hee found there no mountaynes at all, neyther in a great space of Lande round about it, but all a plaine and leuell Country: the selfe same is affirmed by Si­gismund Herberstain, in his voyage; so that if they erre in the seate of a thing so common and notorious, as are these Sigismund Herberstain. mountaines, being situated in a Country of Christians, or at least confining there-vpon (for the Country where the Aun­cients [Page] desribing them, is nowe called Muscouia) hardly can they write truly of other thinges which are farther off, and in Countries of which we haue not so great knowledge as wee haue of this.

But turning to that which we entreated of, I say that those thinges can hardly be verified which are written by the Aun­cients concerning these Northern Lands, not so much for the small notice we haue of them, as for that the names are altered of Kingdoms, Prouinces, Citties, mountaines and Riuers, in such sort, that it is hard to know which is the one, and which is the other, for you shall scarcely finde any one that retaineth his olde name, and though by signes and coniectures wee hit right vpon some of thē, yet it is impossible but that we should The names of the most part of Pro­uinces and Regions are changed. erre in many, in taking one for another, the experience wher­of we may see here in our owne Country of Spayne, the prin­cipall townes of which, are by Ptolomie and Plinie, vvhich write particulerly of them, called by names to vs now vtterlie vnknowne, neyther doe we vnderstand which is which, they are so altred & changed. So fareth it with the auncient Geo­graphy, which though there be many that do practise & vn­derstand according to the antique, yet if you aske them many things according to that now in vre with the moderns (so are things in these our times altered and innouated) they cannot yeeld you a reason thereof, & if they doe, it shall be such, that thereout will result greater doubts.

But leauing this, I will, as touching the Lands of which we entreate, conclude with that which some Historiographers of our time, haue made mention, namely, Iohan. Magnus Go­thus, Albertus Cranzius, Iohan. Saxo, Polonius Muscouita, and chiefely Olaus Magnus, Archbishop of Vpsala, of whō we haue made heere before often mention, who in a Chroni­cle of those lands of the North, & the particularities of them, (though beeing borne and brought vp in those Regions, should seeme to haue great knowledge of such thinges as are in the same) yet is he meruailous briefe cōcerning that which is vnder the same Pole. He saith that there is a Prouince cal­led Byarmia, whose Orizon is the Equinoctiall circle it selfe, and as this circle deuideth the heauen in the midst, so vvhen [Page 129] the Sunne declineth to this part of the Pole, the day is halfe a yeere long, and when he turneth to decline on the side of the other Pole, he causeth the contrary effect: the night endu­ring as much. This Prouince of Byarmya deuideth it selfe The Pro­uince of By­armya deui­ded into two parts. into two parts, the one high, and the other low, in the lower are many hills perpetually couered with Snow, neuer feeling any warmth: yet in the valleys below there are many Woods and Fields, full of hearbes and pastures, and in them great a­boundance of wild Beasts, and high swelling Riuers, as well through the Springs whence they rise, as through the Snow that tumbleth downe from the hills. In the higher Byarmya, he saith, there are strange and admirable nouelties, to enter in­to which, there is not any knowne way, for the passages are all closed vp, to attempt through which, hee termeth it a danger and difficulty insuperable, so that no man can come to haue knowledge thereof, without the greatest ieopardy that may possibly be deuised or imagined. For the greater part of the way is continually couered with deepe Snow by no meanes Wild Beasts like vnto Stags called Rangeferi. passable, vnlesse it be vpon Beasts like vnto Stags, called Ran­gifery, so abounding in those Regions that many doe nourish and tame them. Their lightnes (though it seeme incredible) is such, that they runne vpon the frozen Snow vnto the top of high hills, & downe againe into the deepe Valleyes. Iohn Saxon saith, that there was a King of Swethland called Ha­therus, Hatherus King of Swethland. who being aduertised that there dwelt in a Valley be­tweene those mountaines a Satire called Memingus, that pos­sessed infinite riches, with many other resolute men in his company, all mounted vpon Rangifers & domesticall Ona­gres, made a Roade into his Valley, and returned laden with Wild Asses. rich and inestimable spoiles.

Was he a right Satire indeede, or else a man so called?

The Author expla­neth it not, but by that which he saith a little after, that in that Country are many Satires & Faunes; we may gather that hee was a right Satire, and that the Satires are men of reason, and not vnreasonable creatures, according to our disputation the other day: and in a Country full of such nouelties, such a thing as this, is not to be wondred at. But returning to our commenced purpose, I say that this superiour Byarmya of [Page] which Olaus Magnus speaketh, to vs so vnknowne, by all likelyhoode should be that blessed soile mentioned by Pliny, Soline, & Pomponius Mela, whose Clymate is so temperate, whose ayre so wholesome, and whose enhabitants doe liue so long, that they willingly receaue death by casting themselues into the Sea; of which Land being so meruailous, and being as it seemeth seated on the farther side of the Pole, the proper­ties are not so particulerly knowne, and so he saith, that there are many strange people, nouelties, and wonders: But lea­uing this, & comming to the lower, Olaus saith, that the Val­leyes The lower Byarmya. thereof, if they were sowed, are very apt and ready to bring foorth fruite, but the enhabitants doe not giue them­selues to tillage, because the fieldes and Forrests are repleni­shed with Beasts, & the Riuers with Fishes, so that with hun­ting and fishing they maintaine their lyues, hauing no vse of bread, neyther scarcely knowledge thereof. When they are at warre or difference with any of their neighbours, they sildom vse Armes, for they are so great Negromancers & Enchaun­ters, that with wordes onely when they list they will make it In steede of Armes, they vse Enchant­ments. raine, thunder, and lighten, so impetuously, as though heauen and earth should goe together; and with their Witchcraftes and Charmes they binde and entangle men in such sort, that they bereaue them of all power to doe them any harme, yea, and many times of their sences also and lyues making them to dye mad. Iohn Saxon writeth, that there was once a King of Denmarke called Rogumer, who purposing to subdue the Rogumer King of Denmark. Byarmyans, went against them with a mighty and puissant Army, which they vnderstanding, had recourse to no other defence then to their Enchantments, raising such terrible tem­pests, winds, and waters, that through the violent fury thereof, the Riuers ouerflowed and became vnpassable; vpon which of a sodaine they caused such an vnkindly heat, that the King and all his Army were fryed almost to death, so that the same was farre more greeuous to suffer then the cold, and through the distemperature and corruption thereof, there ensued such a mortality, that the King was forced to returne: but he kno­wing that this happened, not through the nature of the Land, but through coniuration and sorcerie, came vpon them ano­ther [Page 130] time so sodainly, that hee was amongst them before they heard any newes of his comming: yet vniting themselues so well as time permitted them, with the ayde of theyr neigh­bours, arming themselues with bowes and arrowes, and fly­ing, fighting, and retiring with incredible swiftnes through the Snowes, they disconfited the King and chased him away, who in his dayes was accounted a puissant Prince, and had triumphed of many warlike Nations. Comming out of these Prouinces of Byarmya, there is presently another which hee calleth Fynlande, of which a great part was according to the Author before named in times past, subiect to the King of Finmarchia or Finlande. Norway. This Land, though very colde, yet is in some parts laboured, and yeeldeth fruites of all sorts vnto the enhabitants, who are in proportion of body mighty and strong, and in fight agaynst theyr Enemies of great valour and courage. Though the ayre be cold, yet it is pure and well tempered, in so much that their fishes cutte vp onely, and laide in the ayre, doe endure many dayes without corrupting: In Sommer it rayneth with them very sildome or neuer; theyr day is so long, that it continueth from the Kalendes of Aprill, till the sixth of the Ides of September, which is more then fiue mo­neths, and the night againe as much: the darknes of which is neuer so great, but that you may well see to reade a Letter in the same: it is distant from the Aequinoctiall in threescore degrees: There are no starres seene from the beginning of May, till the beginning of August, but onely the Moone which goeth wheeling round about a little aboue the earth, resembling a great Oake, burning and casting out beames of fire, with a brightnesse somewhat dimme and troubled, in such sort, that it causeth great admiration and astonishment to those that neuer sawe it before: and which is more, hee sayeth, that shee giueth them so light the most part of theyr night, though it continue so long: and as for that little time in vvhich shee hideth herselfe, the brightnesse of the starres is so radyant, that they haue lyttle misse of the Moone, vvhich starre-light, at such time as the Moone shyneth, for­saketh them, whose brightnesse is the cause that they ap­peare not, though I cannot but beleeue that they appeare al­wayes [Page] somewhat, though not so cleerely at one time as at an other, seeing in these our Countries we see them shine neere the Moone, though she be at full, yea, and sometimes at mid­day we see starres very neere the Sunne.

It is likely that it should be as you say in Byarmya and those other vnknown Countries which are vnder the Pole or neere there abouts: and it may be inferred also that the dayes goe encreasing and decreasing, till they come to the full length of a halfe yeere; for being in this part of fiue moneths, they are in some places more and some lesse, and seeing it is enhabitable as you say, where it endureth fiue moneths, it cannot but be better where it is of foure, and better then that, of three, and so consequent­ly of two and one, whereby there is no doubt to be made, but that the whole Land is enhabitable.

I told you before, that generally the whole Land is enhabited, vnlesse it be in some places, through some particu­ler cause and secrete ordinance of Nature. As touching the Moone, and the manner in which she lightneth those Regi­ons, I haue not seene any Author that handleth the same but onely Olaus Magnus, though by good reason it seemeth, that where the Sunne turneth about the heauens in course and compasse so different from that which hee doth with vs, the Moone should doe the like in such sort as wee haue sayde.

By all likelihoode there are many secrete and won­derfull thinges of the nature of this Land hidden from vs, as the Eclipse of the Sunne and the Moone which must needes be otherwise then it is heere with vs, and therefore the Astro­nomers should doe well to sift out the verity thereof, and to make vs vnderstand the same and withall the reckoning of the moneths and yeeres, the computation of which, it is likely also that they vse in another sort.

As for their yeeres, the difficulty is small, seeing one day and one night doe make a full yeere: and as for the deuision of their seasons, their day is Sommer, and the night is their Winter, the moneths per­chaunce they deuide according to their own fashion, and the effects of their heauen: but heerein the Authors giue vs no notice, neither maketh it much matter whether we know it or no.

That which I wonder most at, is, how this people [Page 131] can tolerate and endure the bitter and extreame colde of that Clymat, the effect of which here with vs, though it be not so vehement as that of theirs, we see daily before our eyes, bring­eth many men to theyr end, and therefore wee take heede of taking colde, as of the most dangerous thing that may be. Nature hath ordained a remedy a­gainst all in­conuenien­ces.

You say true, it hapneth so heere indeede oftentimes, but you must consider that the force of nature is great, which where she createth those things that are most full of difficulty, there also createth and ordaineth she remedies and defences a­gainst thē, as you may before haue vnderstood by the words of Iohn Zyglere: but I will giue you another reason, then the which in my iudgement nothing can be more euident and plaine, which is, that to all things the same is proper and natu­rall in which they are bred and brought vp: As for example, a man who from his child-hood is accustomed to eate some things that are venomous afterwards though he eate them in great quantitie, they hurt him not at all; and of this I haue seene the experience my selfe: in the like sort a man brought vp in the cold, the greater he waxeth, the lesse he feeleth the inconuenience thereof, so that it commeth in time to be na­turall vnto him, euen as to the fish to liue in water, the Sala­mander to nourish himselfe in the fire, and the Camelion to maintaine himselfe onely by ayre. And euen as a Moore of Guyney, should hardly fashion his body to endure the colde Things to which men are accusto­med becom naturall vnto thē in time. of these Northeren Landes, so likewise one of these men brought into a hote Country, would finde as great difficultie in enduring the heat. Besides this, Nature hath framed the mē of these Regions more sturdie and strong, and against the ri­gour of the weather ordained them warme Caues vnder the earth, to harbour themselues in. They haue wilde beastes in great quantitie whom they kill, of whose skinnes they make them garments, turning the hairie side inward. Their woods and Forrests are many and great, so that in euery place they haue store of fuell to make great fires, in fine, they vvant no defensiuenes against the cold, which is so far from annoying them, that they liue in better health, & many more yeeres then we doe, for their ayres are delicate & pure, & preserue them from diseases, making theyr complexions more robust and [Page] strong, & lesse apt to griefes, aches, and infirmities then ours.

You haue sufficiently answered me, & therfore goe on I pray you with that you were about to say of those Prouinces, when I interrupted you.

There remaineth little to be said, but that betvveene Byarmia and Fynland, in declyning towards the South, there is another prouince which they call Escrifinia, of which the Authors giue no ample and perticu­ler notice, onely they say that the people of this Land is more nimble and expert in going ouer the Snow and Ise then anie other Nation, in which they vse certaine artificiall staues, with which they swing to & fro, without any danger, so that there is no valley, howe deepe so euer fild with Snowe, nor moun­taine so high and difficill, but they runne ouer the same, euen at such time as the snow is deepest and highest: and this they doe in the pursute of wilde beasts, whom they chase ouer the mountaines, and sometimes for victories sake, in striuing a­mong themselues and laying wagers who can doe best, and runne with greatest nymblenes and celeritie. It is of no great moment to know the manner of these staues which they vse, both because it is difficile to vnderstand, and the knowledge thereof would stand vs in small steed, hauing heere no vse of them.

If any man be able to discouer those peoples of the superior Byarmia, me thinks these should be they, see­ing they are so nimble & expert in passing the snowes, wher­by they might ouercome the difficultie of the mountaines, & so enter into that Countrey, which is generally esteemed so happy, and where the people liue so long without any neces­sitie to trauaile for theyr liuing, hauing all things so abundant­lie prouided them by Nature. In truth I should receaue great pleasure to vnderstande assuredly the particularities of thys Lande, and also howe farre it is distant from the Sea, and if it be on all sides enuironed with those high mountaines & cold Countries, it being in the midst of them, contayning so many prouinces & Regions of excellent temprature, vnder a climat & constellation making so great a difference betweene them and the others, & as touching this world to make thē so bles­sed and happy as the ancients affirme and the moderns denie not.

This land hath many more prouinces then these, [Page 132] whose names I nowe remember not, of which there are some though seated in the region of the cold, yet enioying through some particuler influences an especiall puritie of ayre & tem­perature of wether. But seeing till this day wee haue not at­tayned to the knowledge of any more, content your selues with that which is alreadie sayde.

I stande considering with my selfe the great and lothsome tediousnesse, that mee thinks those Countrymen should sustaine through the wea­risom length of their nights, which in my opinion were alone sufficient to make them wearie of their liues.

Did you neuer heare the olde Prouerbe, that Custome is another na­ture: euen so the length of the nights is a thing so vsuall vnto Custome is another na­ture. those of this Country, that they passe them ouer without any griefe or tediousnes at all. While theyr day endureth, they sowe and gather in their fruites, of which the most part, the earth plentifullie affordeth them without labour. A great part of that season they spende in chasing of wilde Beastes, whose fleshe they powder with salt, and preserue as wee doe, and their fish in like sort: or else they dry the same in the ayre as I said before: neither are their nights such or so darke, but that they may hunt and fish in them. Against cold they haue as I said deepe Caues, great store of wood, and warme furres in great plentie, when light fayleth them, they haue Oyle of Fishes, and fatte of Beastes, of which they make Lampes and Candles, and withall, they haue a kinde of wood contayning in it a sort of Rozen, which beeing cleft in splinters, they doe vse in steed of Candles, and besides this as I haue sayd before, the nights are during the time of theyr continuance so light, that they may see to doe their busines & affayres in them, for the Moone and perticuler starres shine in those Regions, and the Sunne leaueth alwayes behind him a glimmering or kind of light, in so much, that Encisus speaking of these Landes in his Cosmographie, sayeth, that there is in them a Moun­taine or Clyffe so high, that hovve lowe soeuer the Sunne discende vvhen hee goeth from them to the Pole Antartick, the toppe thereof alwayes retayneth a light and brightnesse with vvhich through the exceeding height thereof it parti­cipateth.

This hill must be higher then either that of Atlas, Athos, or Olympus, & so they say also that in the Ile of Zey­lan there is another called Adams hill, whose height commu­nicateth with heauen, & the opinion of the inhabitants is, that Adams hill. Adam liued there after he was cast out of Paradise.

All may be possible, but let vs returne thether whence we came, I say therfore that seeing Nature hath endued this people with the vse of reason, assure your selfe that they want not manner and meanes to seeke out such things. as are necessarie for the sustentation and maintenaunce of their liues, yea perchance with greater subtiltie and industry then we thinke for, neither want they discretion to deuide their times to eate, drinke, and sleepe at an howre, to minister iustice, and to maintaine their Lawes, and to make their alliances & confederations, for see­ing they haue warres and dissentions one with another, it is to be thought, that either partie will seeke to founde theyr cause vpon reason, & procure to haue Chiefes and Leaders to whō they obey: and if that which the Auncients say be false, that they shoulde be Gentiles, and that theyr cheefest God whom they adore should be Apollo, then it is likely that they lyue There is nowe no known part of the world out of which the worship­ping of aun­cien feyned Gods is not banished. by the Law of Nature: for in this time of ours there is not a­ny knowne part in the world, out of which this adoration of auncient Gods is not banished, at least that manner of ado­ring them which the old Gentiles obserued. I am sorrie that Olaus Magnus declared not this matter more particulerlie, seeing he could not chuse but haue knowledge thereof, con­fessing in one Chapter which he made of the colde of those Regions, that he himselfe had entred so farre within thē, that he founde him-selfe within 86. degrees of the very North­pole.

I know not howe this may be, seeing you say that he speaketh not of the Prouinces of Byarmia of his own knowledge of sight, which according to the reckoning you sayde the Cosmographers make of the degrees, in reaching within 80. degrees of the Pole, are there where the vvhole yeere containeth but one onely day, and one onelie night.

You haue reason to doubt, for I cannot throughlie conceaue it my selfe, but that which seemeth vnto me, is that either he reckoneth the degrees after another sort, or else that [Page 133] there is error in the Letter. But howsoeuer it be, it coulde not be chosen but that he beeing naturall of Gothland, had seene a great part of these Septentrionall Countries, seeing hee is a­ble to giue so good and perfect notice of them: Onely this one thing now remaineth to tell you, which is, that you must vnderstand, that the very same which we haue heere discour­sed of, of Lands and Prouinces vnder the North-pole, is and in the very selfe same manner, in those which are vnder the South-pole, and that in as much as pertaineth to the Heauen they differ nothing at all, and verie little in that of the earth, neyther can they chuse but haue there some other winde like vnto * Circius, seeing the Snowe, Ise, and cold is there in such extreamity, as by experience they found which went the voy­age A North North We­sterne wind. with Magellane, who according to those that write of him & his voyage, was within 75. degrees of the Pole before he came to finde and discouer the straight to passe into the Sea of Sur, but he entreateth nothing of the encrease and de­crease of the dayes and nights, the cause why, I vnderstande not, it beeing a thing of so great admiration, that I vvonder why the Chronaclers make no mention thereof, seeing they could not chuse but haue notice thereof, both by the relation of those that then accompanied him in his voyage, and of o­thers that haue since attempted to discouer those parts, bee­ing prohibited to passe any farther through the extreamitie of the cold, who foūd in those parts men of monstrous great­nes, such as I saide were found neere to the Pole Artick: But The Snowe on the moū ­taines neere the South-pole, is blew­ish of colour like vnto the Skie. this by the way I will not omit to tell you, that the snowe which was founde on the toppes of Mountaines there, vvas not white as it is in the Septentrionall Lands, but blewish and of a colour like the skie, of which secrete there is no other rea­son to be giuen, then onely that it pleaseth Nature to haue it so: There are also many other strange things, as birds, beasts, herbes, & plants, so farre different from these which we haue, that they mooue great admiration to the beholders of them. And if those parts were well discouered, perchance also after the passing ouer of these cold Regions so difficile to be enha­bited through the rigor of the Snow and Ise, there might be found other Countries as temperate as that of the superiour [Page] Byarmia, of which we spake before. But let this happen when it shall please God, in the meane time, let vs content our selues with the knowledge of that which in our age is discouered & knowne.

We should be greatly beholding to you, if it should please you to prosecute your begunne discourse, for no doubt where the course of the Sunne, Moone, and Starres is so diuers, there cannot chuse but bee many other things also rare, strange, and worthy to be knowne.

It pleaseth me well to giue you this contentment, so that you will referre it till to morrow, for it is now late, and draweth neere supper time.

Let it be as you please, for to say the truth, it is now time to retire our selues.

YOV may see that there wanteth in me no desire to doe you seruice, see­ing I came first hether to renewe our yesterdayes conuersation, and to ac­complish my worde and promise.

Your courtesies towardes vs are many, and this not the least of all, seeing we hope at thys present to vnderstand the particularities of that delightful dis­course which yesterday you began, with promise to end the same to day.

It vvere good that wee sate downe vn­der the shadovve of these sweete Eglantines and Iassemynes, wherby we shall not onely receaue the pleasant sauour which they yeelde, but shall haue our eares also filled with delight in hearing the Nightingales recorde their sweete and delectable notes, to which in my iudgement, the curious forced melody of many Musitians is nothing to be compared.

No doubt but of all Birdes their singing is most de­lightfull, if it continued the whole yeere, but as theyr amo­rous The song of the Nigh­tingale ex­ceedeth that of all other birdes in sweetnes. desire ceaseth, so ceaseth also theyr harmonie, whereas the songe of other Birdes endureth the whole yere thorough.

They perchaunce account it needelesse to rechaunt theyr melodious tunes and sweete harmonie, but at such time as the the pryde and gaietie of the season entertaineth them in loue and iealousie, cheerefully with mutuall sweetnesse re­ioycing one another, and each mate vnderstanding others call.

According to thys, you will haue the Birdes to vnderstand one another.

There is no doubt but they doe, for euen as the Beastes knowe the voyce one of another, assembling them­selues [Page] together by theyr bellowing and braying, euen so doe Birds vnder­stand the cal one of ano­ther. they vnderstande the chyrping and peeping one of another, calling themselues thereby together into showles and flocks.

Nay, vvhich is more strange, they doe not onely vn­derstand one another among themselues, but sometimes also, they are vnderstoode (as it is written) of men, of which num­ber Apolonius Tyaneus was one.

That certainlie seemeth vnto mee a thing vnpossible.

Well, yet I It is written of Apollo­nius Tyaneꝰ that he vn­derstood the singing of Birdes. will not sticke to let you vnderstande what I haue read con­cerning this matter, and you shall find the same written in his life. Apollonius disporting himselfe one day in the fieldes vnder the shadow of certaine trees, as wee doe at this present, there setled ouer his head a Sparrow, chirping and chyttering to other Sparrowes that were vpon the same trees, the which altogether beganne to make a great chyrping & a noyse, and A pretty iest. to take theyr flight speedilie towards the Cittie, whereupon, Apollonius bursting into a great laughter, and beeing by his companions earnestly intreated to declare the cause thereof vnto them, he saide, that the same Sparrow that came alone, had brought newes to the rest, that a Myller comming on the high way towardes the Towne with a burden of Corne charged vppon his Asses backe, had by chaunce let one of his sackes fall, the stringes whereof breaking, the Corne fell out, which the Myller coulde not so cleane scrape vp and ga­ther together againe, but that a great deale thereof remayned tumbled in the dust, which was the cause of the great myrth that the other byrdes demeaned, who in thanking him for his good newes, flewe away with hym to eate theyr part of the same Corne. His companions hearing this, smyled there­at, thinking it to be but a iest, till in returning to the Towne, they found the place where the sack had been broken, & the Sparrowes scraping verie busilie about the same.

Apo­lonius was a man of great wisdom & knowledge, but I rather think, that he deuined this matter by some other meanes, for it seemeth hard to beleeue that birds should haue any language wherwith they should so particulerly expresse their meaning, vnlesse it be certain generall notes, by which each kind know­eth and calleth theyr semblable, for in thinking otherwise, we [Page 135] should attribute vnto them some vse of reason, which can be Birdes or Beasts haue no vse of reason at all. neither in them, nor in Beasts, what shewe so euer they make thereof.

Let vs leaue this, least otherwise wee inter­rupt Signior Anthonio, in the prosecution of his promised discourse, touching the Septentrionall Countries, which is a matter not to be let slip.

I would that I were therein so instructed, that I could entreate so particulerly and plainly thereof, as it were requisite I should: but though the fault be mine, in that I vnderstande little, yet I want not an excuse where-with to wipe away some part of the blame: For the great confusion of the Authors both Auncient & Moderne that write thereof, as yesterday you vnderstoode is such, that it maketh me also confuse and wauering, in whether of theyr opinions I should follow. Trust me it is a world to see theyr disagreements, and he had neede of a very Diuine iudgment, The disa­greement of writers tou­ching the description & situation of Countries that should conforme himselfe to the vnderstanding of Pto­lomaeus, Solinus, Stephanus, Dyonisius, Rufus, Festus, Auie­nius, Herodotus, Plinius, Anselmus, Strabo, Mela, and diuers other of the Auncients, some of the which in reckoning vp of Nations and Prouinces, name onely one, saying forth others aboue this and others aboue that beyond, of the one side and of the other: some declare the names particulerly of each one, but in such sort, that comparing them with these by which we now know thē, they are not to be discerned which are which, for with great difficulty can we know who are the right Getes, Massagetes, Numades, Scythians, and Sarmates, but onely that we goe gessing according to the names which they now haue; for there are Authors that giue to the Land of the Scithians onely 75. leagues of widenes, and others will Diuersity of writers tou­ching the Scithians. needs haue the most part of all those great Countries North­ward to be contained vnder them, so that Pliny not without cause, speaking of these Septentrionall parts, termeth them to be so vast and of so farre a reach, that they may be accounted an other new part of the world, yet he then knew nothing of the interiour part thereof towards the Pole which is now dis­couered. But leauing this, there is no lesse difficulty and dif­ference in the description of those parts which we now know and vnderstand, yea, euen those which are neere vs, and with [Page] whom we haue traffique, as Norway, Denmarke, Gothland, Sweueland, and the Prouinces which we call Russia & Prus­sia, of which they write so intricatly, especially in some points, that they hardly giue resolution to those that reade them, not­withstanding which difficulties, seeing there is no part of the world in which there are not some thinges, though to them common, yet rare and strange to those that haue not seene them, but newly heare them spoken of; I will tell you some particularities recorded by the Authors, that make mention of these Regions, with which we may passe in good conuer­sation this euening, as we haue done the rest. And first to be­gin with their men, they say that they are of great stature, their lims & members wel proportioned, and their faces beautiful: Amongst which, there are many Gyants of incredible great­nes, which as you enter farther into the Lande, so shall you Sundry Gy­ants of won­derfull force & puissance. finde them greater. Of these make mention Saxo Gramma­ticus, and Olaus Magnus, chiefely of one called Hartenus, a­nother Starchater, and two others, Angrame, and Aruedor, who were endued with so extraordinary a force & puissance, that to carry an Oxe or a Horse vpon their shoulders, though the way were very long, they accounted nothing. There are also women nothing inferiour to them in strength, some of which haue beene seene, with one hand take a Horse with a man Armed vpon his back, and to lift him vp, and throw him downe to the ground: and of these and others sundry Au­thors write many notable thinges worthy of memory, which seruing nothing to our purpose, it were in vaine heere to re­hearse. Leauing them therefore, I say that the continuance of the Snow in all these Septentrionall Lands is such, that the high eminent places and toppes of mountaines, are couered there-with all the yeere long, and many times the valleyes and low places also, notwithstanding all which extreamity of cold they haue very good pastures, both for Beasts wild and tame; for theyr fodder and grasse is of such quality, that the very cold nourisheth and augmenteth the force & verdure therof: The greatest discōmodity they haue, is through the wind Cir­cius, which the greater part of the yere blustreth in those Pro­uinces, North, North-we­sterne wind. and that with such raging fury & violence, that it ren­teth [Page 136] vp the trees by the rootes, and whirleth whole heapes of stones from vp the earth into the ayre, wherby those that tra­uaile, are often in great danger of their liues; the remedy they haue, is to hide & shroud themselues in caues & hollow vauts vnder the mountains; for somtimes the tempests are so incre­dibly raging & terrible, that there haue ben ships in the Both­nyk The strange violence of the tempests in the Nor­thern coun­tries. Sea, (which though it be neere the frozen Sea, yet not­withstanding is nauigable) hoised vp into the ayre, & thrown down violently against the maine Land; a matter scarsly cre­dible, but that it is verified by so many & so graue Authors; at other times you shall see waues of the Sea resembling mighty mountains raised in height, & then with their fal, drowne and ouerwhelme such ships as are neere; somtimes the tiles, yea, & the whole roofs of the house taken away & blown far off; & which is more, the roofs of their churches couered with Lead & other mettals, haue ben torn vp & caried away, as smoothly as though they had been but feathers: neither haue men Ar­med and a Horseback more force to resist the violence of this wind, then hath a light reed, for either it ouerthroweth them, or else perforce driueth thē against some hillock or Rock; so that in diuers places of Norway which lie subiest to this wind, there grow & encrease no trees at all, for they are straight tur­ned vp by the roots. For want of wood they make fire of the bones of certaine fishes, which they take in great quantity: the bleetenes of this wind (for sildome in those parts bloweth any other) is cause that the most part of the yere, the Riuers, ponds, & Lakes are all frozen, yea, & the very waters of the Springs doe no sooner com out of them, but they are presently conge­led into Ice, & when the heat of the Sun thaweth or melteth any Snow, the same presently turneth into so hard an Ice ouer that which is vnderneath, that they can scarcely pearce it with Pickaxes; so that euery yeere their yong men in plaine fields make thick wals of snow, like vnto those of a Fortresse, in som such place that they may receaue the heat of the Sun, melting through which, they conuert into a hard Christaline Rock of Certaine warlike pa­stimes that their young men vse. Ice; and sometimes of purpose after they haue framed this edifice of snow, they cast water vppon the same to make it freeze and become more hard and cleare: vsing the same in [Page] certaine warlike pastimes they haue, in steede of a Castell of lyme or stone, one troupe entereth there-into to defende the same, and another bideth without to besiege, assault, or surprize it, and this in most solemne sort with all engines, stra­tagems, and manners of vvarfare, great prices being ordained for those that shall obtayne the conquest: besides, the try­umph wherein the conquerours doe glory ouer the vanqui­shed. Who so amongst them is found to be fearefull, or not forward in executing that which he is commaunded, is by his companions stuft full of Snow vnder his garments, and som­times tumbled starke naked in great heapes of the same, enu­ring them therby better to abide hardnes another time. These Septentrionall Lands haue many Lakes and standing waters of great largenes, som of the which are a hundred miles long. These are at somtimes so frozen, that they trauaile ouer them both a foote and horsebacke: In the Countries of East and Westgothland, there are Lakes vpon which great troupes of horsmen meete and runne for wagers, their horses are in such Troupes of horsemen skirmishing and fighting vpon frozen Lakes. sort shod, that they sildome slide or fall in time of warre, they skirmish often vpon these frozen Lakes, yea, and sometimes fight maine battailes vpon them. At sundry seasons they hold vpō them also certaine Faires, to which there resorteth a great concourse of strange Nations, the beginning of which cu­stome was ordained, as saith Iohn Archbishoppe of Vpsala, Predicessour to Olaus, by a Queene of Swethland, called Di­sa, who being a woman of great wisedome, commaunded her Disa queene of Sweth­land. Subiects on a certaine yeere in which her dominions were af­flicted with extreame dearth & scarsity of graines, to goe vnto the bordering Regions, carrying with them such merchan­dize as their Country yeelded, and to bring with them in ex­change thereof Corne and graine, & withall to publish fran­chize to all such as should bring thither any victual to be sold, where-vpon many strangers repairing thither at such time and season as the Lake was frozen, she appointed them that place, for holding of their Faire, from which time till this day that custome hath continued. Northward of these Regions there are many great and meruailous Lakes, such as scarcely the like are to be found in any other part of the world that is [Page 137] peopled: of which leauing apart one that is neere the Pole, & is called the white Lake, which is in maner an other Caspi­an The white Lake. Sea, yeelding great commodities of fowle and fish to the adioyning Prouinces, part of the same reaching out euen to the Muscouites. There are in the Regions of Bothnia, Lakes of 300. & 400. miles long, where there is such quantity of fish taken, that if they could conueniently be carried about, they would serue for prouision to halfe the world: Thereby also are many other notable Lakes, of which the three most fa­mous, are as the Authors write, Vener, Meler, and Veher. Vener containeth in length 130. miles, which are about 44. The Lake Vener. leagues, & as much in breadth within it, it hath sundry Ilands well peopled with Citties, Townes, and Fortresses, Churches, and Monasteries: for all those three Lakes are in Country of Christians, though we haue heere little notice of them: Into this Lake enter 24. deepe Riuers, all which haue but one on­ly issue, which maketh so terrible a noyse amongst certayne Rocks, falling from one to another, that it is heard by night six or seauen leagues of, making deafe those that dwell neere there abouts, so that it is sayd there are certaine little Villages and Cottages thereby, the enhabitants of which are all deafe. They call the issue of these Riuers in their Country language Frolletta, which is as much to say, as the deuils head. The se­cond Lake called Meler, is betweene Gothland and Sweth­land The Lake Meler. hath in the shore thereof many mynerals of mettals both of siluer and others, the treasures gathered out of which, en­richeth greatly the Kinges of those Countries. The third also called Veher, aboundeth in mines on the North side Zhe Lake Veher. thereof: The waters thereof are so pure & cleare, that casting there-into an egge or a white stone, you may see it lye in the bottome, though it be very deep, as well as though there were no water betweene. Within this Lake are many peopled I­lands, in one of which wherin are two great Parish Churches, Olaus writeth, that there happened a thing very meruailous and strange. There liued in this Iland, saith hee, a man called Catyllus, so famous in the Art of Negromancie, that in the A strange History of a Negroman­cer. whole worlde his like was scarcely to be found: Hee had a Scholler called Gilbertus, whom hee had in that wicked Sci­ence [Page] so deepely instructed, that hee dared so farre presume as to contend with him being his Maister, yea, and in som things seeme to surpasse him, at which shamelesse ingratitude of his, Catyllus taking great indignation, (as alwayes Maisters vse to reserue vnto themselues certaine secrete points) with onely wordes and charmes, without other band, fetter, or prison, he bound him in an instant, both body, hands, and feete, in such sort, that he could not wag himselfe, in which plight he con­uayed him into a deepe Caue vnder one of the Churches of the same Iland, where he remaineth till this day, & according to the common opinion, is alwayes liuing. Thither vsed dar­ly to resort many, not only of that Country people, but stran­gers also to see him, and to demaund questions of him. They entred with many Torches and Lanternes, and with a clew of threed, of which they fasten one end to the dore whereat they enter, vnwiding the same still as they goe, for the better assu­rance of finding their way out, the Caue being full of many deepe pits, crooked turnings and corners. But at length be­cause the moisture & dampish cold thereof, with a lothsome stench besides, anoyed so much those that entred, that some of them came out halfe dead; they made a law, that on greeuous paine, none of the Countrimen should frō that time forward resort nor enter into that Caue, neither giue counsaile, aide, or assistance to strangers, which for curiosities sake shold atempt the same.

This is without doubt the worke of the deuil, who, the same Gilbertꝰ dying, perchance presently entered in­to his putrified stinking carkasse, & abusing the people, aun­swered The force of enchant­ments can­not any lon­ger prolong life then the time by God fixed & ap­pointed. The deuils haue greater liberty in the Northerne Lands thē in other parts. to their demands: For though the force of enchaunt­ments be great, yet can they not preserue life any longer, then the time fixed & appointed by God.

You haue reason, and in truth it seemeth that the deuill is there more lose and at greater liberty then in other parts, so that som wil say, the prin­cipall habitation of deuils to be in the North, according to the authority of holy Scripture. All euill shal come & discouer it selfe from the Aquilon, & Zachary Chap. 2. crieth, ho ho, flie from the land of the Aquilon: howbeit that these authorties are vnderstoode cōmonly in that Antichrist shal come from those parts, whose like was neuer in persecuting the people of [Page 138] God.

Remember you not what Esay saith in his 14. Cha. speaking to Lucifer, It was thou, saith he, that saidst in thy hart, I wil mount vp into heauen, & put my chaire vpon the starrs, and seate my selfe on the hill of the testament, in the sides and corners of the wind Circius or Aquilon.

These autho­rities haue many interpretations, but howsoeuer it be, sure it is that there is in these Northerne parts, an infinite number of Sorcerers, Witches, Enchaunters, and Negromancers.

Those of the Prouinces of Biarmia, Scrifinia, & Finland, with many other bordering Regions, doe, as the cōmon fame go­eth, for the most part all exercise Negromancie, chiefly those of Filandia and Laponia, which they vaunt to haue learned of Zorastes. To such as sailed to their country for traffiques sake, and had the wind contrary at their departure, they vsed to sell for mony or merchandize such & so cōmodious wind as they themselues desired. They vsed to knit in a cord three knots, of which vndoing the one, there followed presently a moderate wind, out of what Coast so euer they desired, vndoing the se­cond, the wind began to bluster somwhat more furiously; but vpon the losing of the third, there arose such raging stormes and tempests, that the shippes miscaried oftentimes and were drowned: And therfore such strangers as traffiqued thither, procured to entertaine friendship with them, imagining their happy and vnhappy successe, the raging and calmenes of the Sea, to be at their pleasure and disposition: for in this the de­uils were to them in great subiection and obedience. Besides, when any man desired to know news frō forraine parts, there were amongst thē diuers that would vndertake to giue them true aduertisements, of such things as they required to know, being wel paid for their paines. They enclosed thēselues into a chamber, taking with them their wiues, or som other person whō they especially trusted, & then smiting vpon a figure of mettall which they kept, made in fashion of a Toade or Ser­pent, after whispering some words, & making certaine signes, they fell downe groueling on the ground in a traunce, most straightly charging and enioyning him or her that stoode by, to take great heed, that no flye, vermine, or beast, should touch them while they so continued: Returning to themselues, they [Page] aunswered to such thinges as they were enquired of so truly, that they were neuer found to be false in any one point: And this they publiquely vsed, till they receaued the faith of our Sauior Christ; since which, if they vse the same it is with great secrecie, and most seuerely punished if it be knowne. There are as yet in certaine Prouinces that confine vpon them, and are somewhat neerer vnto vs, many notable Negromancers, famous by the writing of many Authors. Amongst the rest, there was euen almost in our time Henry king of Swethland, Henry King of Sweth­land, a fa­mous Ne­gromancer. who had the deuils so ready and obedient at his commaunde­ment, that he caused presently the wind to turne and change into what part so euer hee pointed with his cap, in so much, that of the common people, he was called by no other name then Windy Bonet. He had a Sonne in lawe called Reyner, Reyner King of Denmark. King of Denmarke, who conquered on the Sea coast many Countries by force of Armes, neuer at any time hauing con­trary wind, when hee went to Seaward, beeing therein by his Father in law alwayes assisted, to whom hee succeeded after­wards also in the Kingdome of Swethland. Many write of a woman called Agaberta, daughter of a Gyant in those Sep­tentrionall Agaberta a notable Sor­ceresse. Lands, whose name was Vagonostus, that she was so skilfull in Negromancie, that she sildome suffered her selfe to be seene in her proper figure; somtimes she would resem­ble an old withered wrinkled Crone, sometimes a most beau­tifull and goodly Mayden, somtimes she would seeme so fee­ble and faint, and yellow of colour, as though shee had beene consumed with a long and languishing Ague: another time she would be so high, that her head should seeme to reach vn­to the clouds, changing when she listed with such facility her shape, as did Vrgand the vnknown, of which old fables make such mention, the strange force of her enchauntments was such, that she could darken the Sun, Moone, & Starres, leuell high Mountaines, and make plaine champaine of sauage De­serts, pull trees vp by the rootes, and dry vp running Riuers, with many the like, as though shee had had all the deuills of hell ready at a beck to fulfill her commaundements. The like is written of an other called Grace of Norway. Yffrotus the Grace of Norway. mighty King of Gothland and Swethland, walking for recre­ation [Page 139] along the Sea-shore, was runne at by a Cow, and hurt Ifrotus K. of Gothland, slaine by a Witch. with her hornes in such sort, that hee died presently vpon the same: afterward it came to be knowne and proued, that the same Cowe was a Witch disguised in that forme, which for some griefe conceaued against the King, had vsed that re­uenge Hollerus a Negroman­cer. vpon him. There was one called Hollerus, so incredi­bly surpassing the rest in this detestable Science, that the com­mon people supposed him to be more then a mortall man, & honoured him as a God, though at length they founde theyr error, for notwithstanding his fained immortalitie, his heade was cut off, and his body torne in peeces by his enemies: for commonly the deuill though hee helpe them for a while, yet euer in the end he leaueth them in the myre. Othinus, which Othinus by his Enchant­ments resto­red the K of Denmark to the Crowne, was held for one of the greatest Negromancers that euer was, brought Hadignus king of Denmark to his kingdom out of farre Countries into which he was banished, on horsebacke, or rather on the deuils backe behind him, through thicke and thinne, yea, and ouer the Sea it selfe, bringing it by his En­chauntments so to passe, that the King was receaued & esta­blished in his gouernment: afterwardes, in a battaile against Haruinus King of Norway, he caused such a clowdie showre of hayle to strike on the face of his enemies, that not endu­ring the violence thereof, and beeing on the other side furi­ously charged by the Danes, they turned theyr backs & were discomfited. But it were time lost to entreate any farder of this people, beeing the deuils disciples, dwelling and dailie dea­ling so familiarly with them. There are amongst them often seene visions and Spirits, deluding those that trauaile, appea­ring to them in likenes of some of theyr knowne friends, and suddainly vanishing away, so that the deuill seemeth to haue in those Septentrionall Countries, greater dominion & more libertie then in other parts.

I remember that I haue read a certaine Author, which A mountain that seemeth to be inha­bited of de­uills. among many strange and wonderfull thinges, wryteth that there is in a certaine part of these Lands a mountaine enuiro­ned round about with the Sea, vnlesse it be of one side, where it hath onely a very narrow and little entry, so that it seemeth in manner to be an Iland: the toppe thereof is couered with [Page] trees, so thicke and high, that a farre of they seeme to touch the Clowdes. There is within the same continually hearde so great & hideous a noyse, that no man dareth to approch neer it by three or foure leagues. The shyppes keepe alwayes a loofe of, fearing and flying that Coast as death it selfe. There is seene amongst those trees such an abundance of great black fowles, that they seeme in a manner to couer them, who ry­sing vp into the ayre doe make so great a clowde, that they obscure in a manner the cleerenesse of the Sunne, theyr cry­ing or rather roring, is so horrible and fearefull, that such as heare them, though verie farre of, are constrayned to stoppe theyr eares. They neuer flie out of the precincts of thys I­land, the same beeing alwayes shadowed with a kinde of ob­scuritie in manner like a Clowde, diuersifying it frō the Land neere vnto it: Some (saith he) doe affirme this Mountaine to be a part of Hell, where the condemned soules are tormen­ted: vvhich opinion though it bee ridiculous, yet the pro­pertie of this Mountaine is strange, and in the cause thereof, some hidden mysterie which we comprehend not.

These are matters, the secrecie of whose causes are not to be sifted out, like vnto that of the Mountaines of Angernamia, one of the farthest of those Northerne Prouin­ces, A strange noyse heard in certaine mountaines of Anger­namia. which are so high, that they are seene a farre of by those that sayle on the Bothnycke Sea, and by them with great care and diligence auoyded, through a wonderfull secret in them contayned, which causeth a noyse so hideous, violent, feareful, and full of astonishment, that it is heard many leagues of, and if that by force of tempest driuen, or otherwise through igno­raunce vnwitting, any ship passeth neere thereunto, the hor­ror thereof is so great, that many die presently: through the penetrating sharpnes, and vntollerable violence of the same, many remaine euer after deafe, or diseased, and out of theyr wits. Neyther are they that trauaile by Land, lesse carefull in auoyding these Mountaines. Once certaine young men of great courage, beeing curious to discouer the cause heereof, stopping theyr eares as artificially as they coulde deuise, at­tempted in little Boates to rowe neere these mountaines, and to view the particularities of them, but they all perrished in [Page 140] that attempt, by theyr desastre leauing an example and war­ning to others, not to hazard themselues in like danger. That which we may hereafter imagine is, that there are some clefts or Caues within the Rocks of these Mountaines, and that the flowing and ebbing of the water, striuing with the wind, and hauing no aspyration out, causeth that fearefull rumbling and hideous noyse; and this is vnderstood, because the greater the tempest is at Sea, the greater is the noyse in those Mountains, the same being in calme and milde weather nothing so loude and violent. Of these mountains Vincentiꝰ maketh mention Vincentius in his Spe­culo histo­riali. in his glasse of Histories, though he write not so particulerlie of them as some moderne Authors doe, which affirme that they haue seene them.

Me thinks this place is as perrillous as that of Charib­dis, and rather more, considering the sharpnes and terror of Charibdis. the noyse which penetrateth so farre: and in my iudgement the flowing and ebbing of the water, should draw vnto it the shippes, and make them perrish, though you made therof no mention.

It seemeth vnto me that you also haue read these Authors which treat of the Septentrional Countries, & seeing it commeth now to purpose, I will tell you one no lesse admirable then the rest, which is, that in a citty called Viurgo, neere the prouince of Muscouia, there is a Caue called Esme­len, The strange propertie of a Caue in the Cittie of Viurgo. of so secret a vertue, that no man hath hetherto been able to comprehend the mistery and cause thereof, which is, that casting any quicke beast into the same, there issueth out pre­sently a sound so terrible, as though 3000. great Canons were discharged and shot off together, the effect of which is such, that the hearers thereof, if they haue not their eares very well stopt & closed, do fall presently down depriued of all feeling & sence, like dead men, out of which mortall traunce som ne­uer reuiue, some do, but frō that time forward so long as they liue they detaine som defect or other. The greater the beast is that is throwne thereinto, the greater is the noyse and roaring that resoundeth out. This Caue is compast about with a ve­rie strong wall, and the mouth thereof shut vp with a migh­tie strong doore, hauing many Lockes, of vvhich the Go­uernour hath one Key in his keeping, and the rest of the [Page] Magistrates each of them a seuerall, least otherwise some des­astre might fall out, by which the Citty might come to be dis­peopled, which though it be very strong both of walles and Ramparts, yet the greatest strength thereof consisteth in the Caue, neyther is there any enemy so mightie, or puissant, that dareth to besiege it, hauing before his eyes the ruine of great Armies that haue attempted the same before, by which after the Citty was brought into some extreamitie, the Cittizens bethinking themselues of the propertie of the Caue, cōmaun­ded by publique proclamation all those of the towne to stop theyr eares, and one night vnawares to the enemie, they cast into the Caue a great number of liuing beasts, vpon vvhich there presently issued forth such a hideous & infernall noyse, and the violence thereof strooke such amazement into the e­nemies, that some fell downe in a traunce, and others throw­ing away theyr Armes, fledde out of theyr Cabbines & tren­ches, the most confusedly that might bee, and withall, to en­crease theyr misery, the Cittizens issuing out, massacred the greater part of them, by that meanes deliuering theyr Cittie from seruitude. And though they could not but receaue som inconuenience through the horrour of that hellish noyse, though theyr eares were neuer so well closed, yet through the ioy of theyr victory and recouered libertie, they made small account of the same, since which time, all the borderers there abouts, fearing the effect of theyr Caue, doe liue in league & amitie with them.

In truth this is a matter of great admiration, and such, (that though diuers very great secretes both of heauen and earth are comprehended) yet the curiosi­tie of no wit, how perfect soeuer, can reach to giue heereof a­nie reason.

Let vs leaue these secrets to him that made them, whose will perchance is to conceale theyr causes frō vs.

You say well, and in truth the more wee should beat our wits about them, the lesse we should be able to vnderstand them, it suffiseth therefore for vs to knowe, that these are the secrete and wonderfull workes of God shewen by Nature, the vn­derstanding whereof is aboue our reach and capacitie. But to follow on our discourse of the wonders of this Countrey, [Page 141] you shal vnderstand, that in those standing waters & frozen Lakes of which wee spake before, the ayre remaineth often­times The ayre somtime in­closed with­in the frozen lakes, in see­king vent, maketh a terrible thū ­dring and noyse. shut in and inclosed, the which moouing it selfe, and running vp & down vnder the Ise seeking vent, causeth such roring and noyse that it were able to amaze him that know­eth not the cause thereof, the same being no lesse terrible then the thunder from heauen; yea and somtime because it is nee­rer, it seemeth to be more violent: the force thereof is such, that the Ise sundereth and splitteth in clefts, making it vvay and roome to passe & espire out thereat, at which time those that trauaile thereupon, being neere the place where the noise is, make as much hast thence as they can, fetching a compasse about, till they thinke themselues in securitie, and then they follow theyr way on forward. And though all these Lakes & waters, thaw by degrees, more and more as the Sommer com­meth on, yet is the Lake Vether in thawing far different frō The strange propertie of the lake Ve­ther in thaw­ing the rest: for it seemeth to haue in the bottome thereof some secrete and hidden property hard to be vnderstood, because the water beginning to boyle and bubble beneath, in making like noise as doth a Cauldron of skalding water seething ouer a hote Furnace, in very little space mounteth vpward & brea­keth the Ise, how strong, thicke, or hard soeuer it be, and that into such little peeces, that many times those whose hap it is to be in that instant trauailing vpon the same, doe saue them­selues vpon one of them as vpon a plank, where they perrish if they be not presently succoured with Boates, which vsual­lie accustome to be in readines, to helpe and assist those that are in danger, at such time as the breaking of the Ise is suspec­ted to be at hande: And once it happened that a Gentleman of very principall calling and reputation, with fiue or sixe of A notable chance that hapned to a Gentleman vpon thys Lake, by which he sa­ued his lyfe. his Seruaunts all on horsebacke, trauailed vpon this Lake to­wards a towne in the Iland, and at the very same time, some­what far from them vpon the same Lake was going a labou­ring man, driuing before him certaine beastes, who beeing borne there-abouts, and knowing by long experience the propertie and manner of the Lake, at that instant hearing it beginne to murmure and bubble beneath, leauing his beasts, betooke him to his heeles, and ran with all his might towards [Page] the shoare, which was about halfe a league of. The Gentle­man and his seruaunts being a good space farder inwards vp­on the Lake, imagined the poore man to be some theefe that had stolne this Cattell, and the cause of his running away, to be the feare he had of being discouered by him and his com­pany: and therefore putting spurres to their horses, galopt af­ter him, as fast as they coulde to take him. But the Labourers extreame feare made him so swift, that they coulde not ouer­take him, till he was of from the Lake, and vppon the firme Land, where laying hands vpon him, and demaunding him, why he ran in such sort away, leauing his Cattell behind him. The poore Labourer beeing tyred with running, was scarse able to make them answere, but after hee had paused awhile and recouered his breath, he prayed them to haue a little pa­tience, and though he told them not, they should themselues see the cause why. Whereupon, presently of a suddaine the water bubled vp, the Ise speeted in small peeces, & the beasts in sight of them all fell into the water and were drowned, at which the husbandman laughing, I had rather (qd. hee) that they were drowned then I, and thys was the cause of my run­ning, because fore-seeing by assured signes the breaking of the Ise, and hauing no space to saue them, I did the best I could to saue my selfe. The Gentleman beeing a stranger in those parts, hearing this tale with amazement, thinking thys preseruation of him & his to proceede of Gods diuine good­nes, gaue thankes and prayse vnto his holie Name, and with­all, knowing the Labourer to be an instrument and meane of sauing his life, tooke him along with him, not onely paying him for the Cattel which he had lost, but also recompencing him with many other large rewards, to his great contentment and bettering of his estate.

By diuers meanes doth God preserue his seruaunts and I warrant you this Gentleman was one that feared GOD, seeing it pleased him by fo strange a meane to deliuer him frō that danger in which he had other­wise perrished.

The nature of this Lake is wonder­full strange, & aboue mans capacitie, which being but a mo­ment before able to beare and sustaine a whole Army, should so in an instant be dissolued & broken. But leauing thys, the [Page 142] cold must of necessitie, in my iudgement, be there most ex­treamely sharp, vehement & rigorous, seeing it causeth an Ise of such incredible strength and thicknes.

Let vs leaue that of the sea which is on the other part or vnder the North, commonly called the Frozen-sea, remaining so, as some doe write, the whole yere thorough, though as I said before, my o­pinion is, that it thaweth at such time of the yere as the sun ly­eth beating vpon it with his beames, & let vs come vnto those Lands and Seas, which though we call Septentrionals, yet are neerer vnto vs, which are all as you haue heard, in a manner, enhabited of Christians, and are according to the description of the old Cosmographers, contained vnder our Europe, the cold of which is so sharp & pearcing, that a man would iudge no humaine flesh able to endure the same. But according to the olde Prouerbe, Custome is another nature, and so those that are accustomed thereunto, receaue thereby no domage Custome is another na­ture. at all.

Albertus Kransius in his history of those Countries, wry­teth in perticuler of some yeeres, in which the cold was so ex­cessiue, that not onely the Riuers and Lakes were frozen, but the Sea also, so that no ship could saile thorough the same, & that they trauailed on horsebacke vpon the Ise frō one coun­trey to another, carrying with them prouision of thinges ne­cessarie, & fuell also to make fire. Neyther was this extreame cold and freezing vpon the Sea-coast onely, but also manie thousands of myles inward to the Landwarde, and the earth was so hardned and bounde, that it yeelded them no fruites, vvhereupon there ensued a great dearth and mortalitie, prin­cipally among theyr Cattell, for want of fodder. The dailie encrease of this cold and Ise continued so long, that they built Tauerns and victualing houses built vpon the sea. vppon the Sea, on such places as men vsually trauayled by, Innes and Tauerns, with all necessary prouisions both to eate by day, and to rest by night, as well for man as horse, a mat­ter scarcely credible.

I knowe not why any man should be so fond, as to trauaile vpon the Sea in such danger and penury of commodities as of necessity they must endure, especially hauing meanes to goe by Land, with greater secu­ritie, and more prouision of necessaries.

This may be easily answered, for the way by Sea can­not chuse but be farre neerer, in cutting straight ouer, and lesse painefull, as being without Hilles, Valleys, Quagmires, or compasses about: Neyther is it to be imagined, that they want by the way commodity of things necessary, vvhich for gaine are brought thether most aboundantly from all sides, at such times as this passage is vsed: Besides, both Horsemen & foote-men trauaile with greater facilitie, but especiallie the footemen, which when they list goe as it were in post, euen as fast as a horse can gallop.

Shall we not vnderstand the manner howe this may be.

Yes marry shall you, if you please, and in truth it is an inuention worth the knowing. When they are to make a voyage vpon the Ise, if they list to A strange inuention to slide vpon the Ise. vse speede, they sette both theyr feete vpon a peece of wood, made as smoothe and slippery vnderneath as is possible, bind­ing onely theyr left foote to the same, theyr right foote being loose, vpon which they weare a strong shoe, with an yron in the poynt thereof, so cunningly made, that how great a blow so euer you giue the rouling planke with the same, yet the foote receaueth thereby no hurt at all, because the force of the stroke falleth hollow: They carry in theyr hands great staues like demy Launces, with three sharpe pikes at one ende of them: And so hauing made theyr prouision of all things ne­cessarie for theyr iourney, going on alone, or many in com­pany, euery man vpon his engine, they drawe the right foote backward, and giue a spurne as harde as they can against the planke vpon which the left foote is bound, which presentlie gyrdeth out, slyding along the Ise with incredible swiftnesse, welnie so farre as the reach of a Caliuer shot without stay, and then seeing the force of theyr course beginning to relent, they chop downe theyr staffe vppon the Ise, fastning therein the three pykes of the same, for otherwise they should fall downe, and then turning anewe into theyr first posture, they giue an other gyrde with theyr right foote, so that they trauaile in one howre three or foure leagues. When there are many of them together, they contend and lay wagers one with another who should giue the greatest stroke with his foote, and they make such a shouting and crying, that the tediousnes of the way is [Page 143] nothing noysome to them at all. Besides, they haue certaine I haue seene in Brabant and [...] the Noble mē vse these kinde of slids very cunously made and gilded they call them Trin [...]aus. slide Wagons finely made, in which two or three persons may sit, in which with great ease and pleasure, they are drawne a­long the Ice with Horses, beeing much like vnto those slids which are heere vsed of Gentlemen for their recreation. They are carried in them with incredible swiftnes, because the Ice is altogether plaine, smooth, and slippery, without any rub, hillock, or other impediment to stumble at.

Necessi­ty inuenteth many thinges, which to those that neuer sawe them, seeme new and strange, though ordinary, and of no ac­count to those that daily vse them: but as for this inuention, it is very easie and without any difficulty at all. For in Frize­land, Denmarke, and other cold Countries also, both men and women doe vse much to trauaile on the Ice, though after a different sort: for they weare in the soles of their shooes cer­taine plaine Irons, with a point turning vp forward, they call them Schouerdins, and with these in short space slyding vp­pon the Ice, they transport themselues very farre: but it be­hooueth them to be skilfull in their Art, or otherwise they fall very often. Their women are heerein so practised, that they will slide in such sort fiue or sixe leagues, carrying a basket on their heads, and that without once stumbling. Also when the Snow is deepe, they haue certaine little Wagons, made in such These are in manner like those aboue said which they call [...]. sort of planks, layd athwart one another, that they cannot sink into the Snow, in which, they are drawne along by Horses with exceeding swiftnes.

I thinke the Snow be neuer so deepe in these Landes of which wee speake, but that they haue some deuise or other to passe ouer them: for you sayde that in the lower Byarmya, Fimnarchia, Escrifinia, Fylandia, yea, and in part of Norway, and in some places vnder the Em­perour of Russia, the enhabitants doe trauaile ouer such pla­ces, as a man would iudge to be vtterly impossible: Where though the Snowes lye so deepe, that they make low valleyes equall with high mountaines; yet you say that the peoples industry findeth meanes to passe ouer them from one part to an other.

It is most true, and as I said before, chiefely those of Fylandia, haue fame to excell in agility and lightnes. When they are to passe ouer the Snow, they bind vnder their [Page] feete certaine bordes, about the breadth of a spanne, or little The maner of their tra­uailing vpō the Snow. more, from the points of which commeth a crooked staffe bowing vpward, which they take in their hands, the same be­ing furrd and wrapt about with the skinnes of certaine Beasts called Rangifery, and in this fashion they trauaile vppon the Snowes without sinking into them, the manner of which is difficill to be conceaued vnto those which haue not seene the same.

They haue also an easier kinde of artifice to trauaile o­uer the Snow, much like vnto those slide-Wagons of which Rangifer is a Beast in ma­ner like vnto a Stagge. wee spake before, to drawing of which, in steede of Horses they vse Rangifers: then the which there is no one thing a­mong them of greater vtility and profit. They are about the bignes of a Horse, or little lesse, in fashion, making, and pro­portion, they are like vnto Stagges; they haue on their heads three hornes, two like vnto those of a Stag, with many points, branches, and brow-antlers, & betweene them two, one som­what lesse, hauing also many braunches, some of the which are round and clouen, their backe is somwhat hollow, so that the saddle is very sure and fast vppon them, for they are in steede of Horses to those peoples. When they put them in Coaches, Carts, or Wagons, besides the ordinary gyrths and peutrals, comming ouer their breast and belly, they tye one fast to the little horne in the midst, which causeth them to drawe with greater force. They are wonderfully light and swift, insomuch that when neede requireth, they trauaile twenty leagues in a day. They tread so light, that you can scarcely see any tracke of their feete, so that when the Snowe is any thing frozen, the enhabitants feare not to passe vppon their backes ouer any place, howe deepe so euer it be. They knowe by experience at what time they may aduenture this dangerous kinde of ryding with security, by the stifnesse of the Snowe. Commonly they are drawne by these Rangifers in such slide-Wagons, as I spake of before; and if they see themselues in any daunger, presently they vnspanne them, and leaping on theyr backes, doe saue themselues with great facilitie.

They haue great aboundance of these Beastes, both wild [Page 144] and tame, which in respect of the great commodity they re­ceaue by them, they nourish with great industrie, hauing whole Droues of them, as we haue heere of Oxen and Kine: in so much, that some one man hath foure or fiue hundreth of them to his priuate vse: The milke and cheese of the fe­males is passing wholesome, and a principall nouriture vnto them.

Theyr fleshe svveete and sauourie, but especiallie that of the young-ones, is passing delicate; the same powdred en­dureth The great cōmodities that those Country people re­ceaue of the Rangifers. very long. They apply theyr skinnes to such vses, as wee doe heere the hides of Oxen. They make also of them Couerlettes for theyr beds, retayning alwayes in them as it were a kinde of naturall warmth: Of their hornes and bones they make very strong Bowes, neyther is that of their hoofes without great vertue, hauing as it is wrttten, in them a nota­ble remedie against the falling sicknes.

I neuer hearde of a more profitable Beast, and therefore I much meruaile, why other Countries procure not to nourish them?

All possible dilligence hath beene vsed, not onely to conuay them into other Prouinces and Regions, but also to sende vvith them Keepers acquainted vvith theyr custome and nature: But all sufficed not; For it seemeth that Nature vvill haue them to bee onely in those Countries towardes the North, the farther from which you carry them, the greater difficultie is in keeping them; for in comming vvhere they feele not the sharpnesse of the colde, they die, e­uen like fishes taken out of theyr naturall Element, vvhich is water.

There is another Beast also in those partes, called Ona­ger, in manner like vnto the Rangyferes, but that hee hath Beasts called Onagri. onely two hornes like a Stagge, vvhose lightnesse they say is such, that hee runneth also ouer the Snovve, vvithout scarce­lie leauing any signe or trace of his feete. They were woont to vse this Beast in dravving theyr Coaches and artificiall Ta­bles, vvith vvhich they trauayled ouer the Ice and frozen Snowe. But they vvere forbidden by the publique edict of theyr Kinges and Princes, not to nourish them any more [Page] tame and domesticall: I omit the causes wherefore, because the Authors write insufficiently thereof. This Beast endureth so well hunger & thirst, that he will trauaile 50. or 60. leagues without eating or drinking. The woods and mountaynes containe infinite numbers of thē, they are at continuall warre with the Wolfes, of which also there is great plenty, whenso­euer any one of them happeneth to light vpon a Wolfe with his nailes, howe little so euer the wound be, hee dyeth thereof presently. If the Wolfe pursue him, his refuge is straight to the Ice, where in respect of his sharpe pawes, he hath a great aduantage, standing stiffe and firme vpon them, which the Wolfe cannot doe vpon his.

Solinus writeth also, that there are of these in Affrica, whose words are thus. There are The strange iealousie of the Onagres in Affrica. (saith hee) in this Prouince Beastes called Onagri, of which each male gouerneth a Heard of females, of the same kinde, they are exceeding iealous, and cannot endure to haue com­panions in their lasciuiousnes; whence it proceedeth, that they looke very watchfully vnto the females going great, to the end that if they bring forth males, by giuing them a bite vp­pon the genitories, they may thereby take from them all pos­sibility euer after of engendring; which the females fearing, endeuour alwayes as secretly as they can to hide their young ones.

Perchaunce these and those of the Septentri­onall Lands, are not all of one sort, seeing the one liueth not but in places extreamely colde, and to the other, nothing is more naturall then heate.

This is no argument to proue that they are not all one sort of Beastes, for as there are men in the Regions of extreamest cold, & likewise in those of most scorching heat, euen so may these Beasts, though of one sort, yet liue vnder contrary Climates, each of them confor­ming them to the nature of the soile: Yet I will not say, but that it may well be, that they are two sundry kindes, encoun­tring both in one name: For in truth we doe not finde, that any of these properties of which Solinus speaketh, are in the Northerne Onagres. But seeing the matter is not great, whe­ther they be one or diuers, let vs turne to our Wolfes againe, of which there is so great a number in those Northerne Regi­ons, that the people haue much adoe to defend themselues, [Page 145] and theyr Cattell from them: insomuch that they dare not aduenture to trauaile in diuers places, vnlesse they goe manie together, and well armed.

There are of them three sorts, the one like these which wee haue here, others all white, nothing so fierce and harmeful as 3. Sorts of Wolues in the Northe­ren Regions the rest, the thirde sort they call Troys, hauing great bodies, but short legges, which though they be more cruell, & with­all more swift then eyther of the other sorts, yet are they not of the enhabitants so much feared, because they liue and pray vpon wilde Beasts, seldome dooing any violence to men. But if at any time they vndertake to pursue a man, they neuer leaue till they haue woried him. As touching the auncient o­pinion, that there should be in these parts a prouince of men called Neuri, which at one time of the yeere are transformed The Neuri­ans doe at somtimes of the yeere transforme themselues into vvolues. into Wolues, if there be therin at all any foundation of truth, it is as all late Writers affirme, that as there are in those partes many Witches and Enchaunters, so haue they theyr limitted and determined times of meetings, and making theyr assem­blies, which they doe in the shape of Wolues, the cause wher­of though they declare not: yet is it to be thought, that they are by their maister the deuill so enioyned, at appointed times to doe him obedience in thys forme and figure: as the Sorce­rers and Hags doe, at which time he instructeth them in such thinges as appertaine to theyr arte and science. During the time of theyr transformation, they commit such infinite out­rages and cruelties, that the very Wolues in deed are tame & gentle in respect of them: For proofe that they can and do so transfigurat themselues, besides many other examples which I could alleadge, I will content my selfe in telling you onelie one, which is most true and certaine. It is not long since that the Duke of Muscouia caused one to bee taken that was no­toriously How the Duke of Muscouia dealt with an Enchan­ter. knowne to transforme himselfe in such sort as wee haue said, of whom being brought bound with a chaine into his presence, he demaunded if it were true, that hee could so transforme and change himselfe into a Wolfe, as it was bru­ted, which he confessing, the Duke commaunded him to do it presently: whereupon, crauing to be left alone awhile in a chamber, hee came of a suddaine out, in the shape of a verie [Page] Wolfe indeede, being still fast bound in his chayne as he was before. In the meane time, the Duke had of purpose made come two fierce mastiues, which taking him to be as he see­med, flew presently vppon him, and tare him in peeces, the poore wretch hauing no force or abilitie to defende himselfe at all.

Hee was iustly punished according to his de­sert. But it is not onely of late dayes, that the deuill exerciseth thys Arte among those Nations, for Solinus, Plinie, Pompo­nius Mela, and many other learned Authours, in theyr wry­tings make mention thereof. But leauing thys, seeing it com­meth so well to our purpose of VVoules, I will tell you what a man of verie good credite tolde mee not long since, affir­ming the same to haue happened in a Towne on the vtmost boundes of Germanie, vvhich we may also terme to be a land Septentrionall.

Thys Towne, sayde he, was so neere a great wilde Moun­taine ouer-growen vvith Trees and bushes, that of one side the Trees shadowed the Houses. Thys Mountaine vvas so pestred with VVolues, that raging through hunger, they v­sed to come in mightie troupes euen to the very Towne it selfe, though it vvere great and well peopled. Theyr crueltie and fiercenesse was such, that no man dared stirre out of the Towne alone, no nor three or foure together, if they vvent not verie well prouided both of courage and weapons, vn­lesse they woulde bee torne in peeces, and deuoured of the VVolues. Neyther did the Women and Maydens dare goe Howe three young men destroyed a number of vvolues that greatly an­noyed the towne wher they lyued. vnto the Riuer that ran thereby for vvater without a strong Conuoy of Armed men. Finallie, the domage they dailie receaued was so great, that for theyr last and onelie remedie, they determined to abandon the Towne, and to seeke some other habitation: vvhich theyr deliberation beeing knowne, three young-men amongst the rest of great force and cou­rage, determined to put theyr liues in ieopardie, rather then to leaue the place of theyr natiuitie defert, to become the ha­bitation of vvilde Beastes. VVhereuppon, making each of them a light Armour, complete at all peeces, full of short sharpe gaddes or Bodkins, they Armed themselues there­withall, pulling ouer the same a blacke garment, least other­wise [Page 146] the Wolues might discouer theyr Armour, and so sette forwarde to the Forrest, hauing in each hande a strong sharp poynted ponyard: and least they shoulde breake or leese them, foure others in a readines vnder theyr gyrdles. They vvent not farre a sunder, that they might succour one ano­ther when neede required.

They had not so soone endred into the VVood, but they were presently espyed by the VVolues, who very raueningly with open mouth assayling them, they made no semblance of defence, but suffred them freelie to come on: Who vvith open mouth thinking presently to deuoure them, what vvith the sharpe Bodkins on the Armour, vpon which they smote theyr iawes, and the stabbes bestowed vppon them with the ponyards, had quicklic theyr bellies full. In this order they they dispatched very many that day, helping still one another when they were in danger: And continuing the same many dayes together, penetrating daily farder into the mountaine, they made such a slaughter and hauocke of VVolues, that in short space they cleered the vvhole Coast of them, and deli­uered theyr towne from desolation.

Truelie these youngmen were woorthy of great commendation, for theyr courage and discretion, in clensing theyr Countrey of so great an inconuenience and mischeefe, but by the way, I will tell you a strange thing that hapned of late in Galicia. There was a man taken that accustomed to hide himselfe in the Mountaines and Caues, clothed in a Of a man that disfigu­sed himselfe like vnto a Wolfe, and did many cruelties in the kingdō [...] of Galicia in Spaine. VVolues skinne: lurking alwayes in some secrete place, neer vnto the High-way, where if he sawe any childe come alone, hee ranne out vppon him, and strangling him, satisfied ther­with his hunger. The hurt he did was so great, that those of the Countrey, with a generall consent, laying dailie wayte to catch him, surprized him one day so by chaunce at vnawares, that they tooke him aliue, and finding him to be a man, they imprisoned him, and afterwards layd him on the torture, but they could wring no matter at all out of him, for all that hee spake was fantastically, like vnto a madde man. Hee vvould eate nothing but rawe flesh, and in the end dyed before hys time of execution.

[Page] But leauing this of theyr Wolues, they haue besides manie other beastes both wilde and tame, amongst the which theyr Hares haue a propertie farre different from these of ours, for as the Winter commeth on, and the snowe beginneth to fall, A strange property of their Hares. they shead all theyr old haire, in place of which cōmeth newe as white as anie Lilly, which as the Sommer approcheth, they change againe, returning to theyr old colour, being the same which ours haue here, wherby it may be inferred, that in those Countries which are farder North, and where the snow is in a maner continuall, the Hares should be alwaies white, though it is doubtfull whether the Snow or the naturall propertie of the Land, causeth this alteration in the colour of theyr hayre. Whensoeuer they are taken in the Winter theyr skinnes are excellent, and accounted to be one of the best Furres that may be.

There is another mistery also very strange, written by the Historiographers concerning these Hares, which is, that what woman soeuer eateth theyr flesh, during the time of her go­ing great, the vpper lippe of the childe of which she cōmeth to be deliuered, is in the midst clouen in two with a slitte, e­uen vp to the verie nostrels, for which they vse this remedie. The Midwife or Phisition taketh the brawne of the breast of a Chicken newlie kilde, and layeth it vpon the slitte, and ouer that the warme bloode of the same Chicken, with which it closeth & ioyneth together, though neuer so well but that the marke and token thereof remaineth. There are also in those Countries certaine other Beastes called Gulones, about the greatnes of a Mastiue Curre, proportioned like a Cat, with Beastes cal­led Gulones. long and sharpe clawes, hauing a bushie tayle like a Foxe, vvhose nature is, hauing kilde any Beast, to eate so much as his belly can holde, which beeing swolne so great as though it would euen presentlie burst, hee goeth to the Woode, and seeking out two Trees that growe verie neere together, hee strayneth himselfe betweene them in such sort, that he com­meth to vomite and cast vp all that which hee had eaten be­fore, thence hee returneth to eate anewe, and thence to vo­mite againe, and so still, till hee haue deuoured the vvhole Beast. The skinne of this Beast is accounted very precious: [Page 147] In taking him the Hunters vse this pollicy: They lay neere The maner of taking the Gulones. the place where he vseth, the carkasse of some dead Beast, hi­ding thēselues in the meane time, til his belly be as full as a tun, within the thickest of some bush, and then they shoote at him with their Crosbowe, otherwise their fiercenes and cruelty, & withall, their swiftnes is such, that they would put the Hunters to great ieopardy, if they should chaunce to descry them while their bellies are empty. They haue also great aboun­dance of Tygers, whose skins they apply to many vses chiefe­ly Tygers. in respect of their exceeding warmth to garments and co­uerlets of beds. Their most esteemed furre is that of Martres, which we heere call Zibellinas, to which also there is an other Furre of Martres. Beast very like, and little differing; the flesh wherof they eate not, because it is very dry and vnpleasant: their skinnes onely is that which they seeke and hold in estimation. There are al­so Lynces, whose sight is so sharpe and piercing, that it pene­trateth Lynces. through a wall, seeing that which is on the other side. In Gothland commonly the Rams haue 4. hornes, and some 8 and withall, they are of such courage in defending them­selues The Rams of Gothland against the Wolfes, that they are sildome by them assai­led: for their hornes are so sharpe and strong, and withall doe grow in such order, as though Nature had of purpose planted them there for their defence.

I haue seene often some with 4. hornes, but neuer any with 8.

Nay more then Weathers whose taile weyed, wey­ed more thē one of their quarters. this, they say there are also Weathers of 5. quarters, for the taile waieth more then any of the other 4. & therfore may wel be taken for one. Of these I my selfe sawe certaine in Rome, which whether they were brought thence or no, I know not, but surely they seemed vnto me wonderfully strange.

But let vs now come to say somwhat of the fishes that are fouud in those parts, seeing of their Beastes we haue sufficiently discoursed. Notwithstanding that we all knowe that the Sea is the Mother of Monsters, and that therein are contained so many kinds and sorts of fishes, as there are Beasts on the earth or Fowles in the ayre: Yet seeing there are some very strange, and of which the Authors & Historiographers make particuler relation, I cannot but say somewhat of them: Amongst the rest there is one to whom for the horrible and [Page] hideous forme thereof, they giue no other name then Mon­ster. A kinde of fish called Monster. His length is commonly fifty cubites, which is but little in comparison of the greatnes and deformity of his proporti­on and members, his head is as great as halfe his body, and round about full of hornes, as great and long or rather more, then those of an Oxe: The greatnes and manner of his eyes is meruailous, for the onely apple is a cubite in length, and as much in breadth, which by night glistereth in such sort, that a farre off it resembleth a flame of fire: His teeth are great & sharpe, his tayle forked, containing from one point to the o­ther fifteene cubites, his body full of haires, resembling the wing-feathers of a Goose beeing stript, and his colour is as blacke as any Iet in the world may be: The violence & force of this Monster is such, that with great facility in a trice, hee will ouer-turne the greatest shippe that vsually crosseth those Seas, neither can the resistance of the Marriners, though they be many in number, auaile. The Archbishop of Nydrosia, Henry Fal­chendor Archbishop of Nydrosia. and Primate of the Kingdome of Norway, called Henry Fal­chendor, writing a Letter to Pope Leo the tenth, sent him withall the head of one of these Monsters, which was a long time kept for a wonder in Rome. There are other Sea-Mon­sters called Fisiters, no lesse dangerous to those that saile then Another kinde of fi­shes called Fisiters. the other: their length is commonly 200. cubits, the head and mouth proportionable to the same: The tayle is also forked in the midst, and containeth from one point to another a hun­dreth feete, their belly is exceeding great and wide: nosthrils they haue none, but in steede thereof, two deepe open holes aboue the forehead, out of which, they spout out such a quan­tity of water, that shipps haue beene many times through the violent fall thereof, in danger of drowning, vvhich, if that suffice not, they throw halfe their body vpon the sides of the shippe, ouerwhelming it with the waight thereof: neyther is their tayle lesse dangerous with which they giue so mighty a blow, that it is able to smite any ship in peeces. The domage were infinite, that these deformed Monsters would doe, but that it hath pleased God, that a remedy should be found out to preuent their mischiefe: for they flie the sound of Trum­pets and the thundering of Artillerie, as death it selfe; and this [Page 148] is the onely meane which the Marriners doe vse in driuing them away. There was one of these Fisiters found on the way towards India, with which happened a notable chaunce, in this sort. A Galley in which Ruynas Pereyra went for Cap­taine, A strange miracle. sayling neere the Cape of Bona Speransa, with a reaso­nable good winde, and all her sayles out, stoode of a sodaine still, so that the Marriners thought she had stroken a ground, and were in great feare of their liues: But dooing their dili­gence to redresse the danger in which they were, they percea­ued the Galley to haue water enough, onely that she was de­teyned by one of these Fisiters, which had clasped himselfe a­bout her keele, thrusting vp of a sodaine certaine finnes that reached aboue water, euen to the mizzen sayle, vpon which many of them layd their hands, and some would haue striken him with their Iauelins, others would haue shot at him with Muskets, or discharged a peece of Artillery; to neyther of which counsailes the Captaine would by any meanes consent, least through the strugling and tossing of the Monster being wounded, the Galley should be in hazard of drowning. The onely remedy therfore that he had refuge vnto, was to desire the Chaplain of the company to reuest himselfe in his Priest­ly habite, and with humble Prayers to beseech the Maiestie Diuine, to deliuer them from that imminent danger: In the midst of whose deuotions, it pleased God that the fish by lit­tle and little vnwound himselfe, and diued downeward into the water, the last that was seene of him was his head, being of an incredible greatnes, out of the holes of which, he launced out so much water and so high, that the same in falling resem­bled a mighty cloude dissolued into rayne; and there-with he went his wayes, those of the ship infinitely praysing God for this their miraculous deliuery. There is also in the West part of this Northerne Sea, a great number of VVhales, which though they be hurtful & of great terror, yet are they nothing so much feared as the others before named. There are of thē two kinds, of which the skin of the one is couered with great Two sorts of Whales. & thick haires: these are far greater then the other, in so much that there haue been of them taken 900. or 1000. foote long: the other whose skinnes are smooth and plaine, are nothing [Page] so great. But seeing there are many of them in this Sea of ours, and their shape and proportion is so well knowne vnto vs, it were time lost to describe particulerly the manner of them. Onely I will tell you what Olaus Magnus writeth, of one taken in those Countries, which seemeth a thing if not A Whale of admirable greatnes. incredible yet passing admirable, the which is, that his eyes were so great, that twenty men sitting within the circle of one of them, did scarcely fill it vp: according to which, the other parts of his body carried full prorortion and conformity. The greatest enemy they haue, and of greatest courage in daring to assaile them, and by whom they are many times conquered and slaine, is a fish called Orca, though not great and huge, The fish cal­led Orca, is enemy to the Whale. yet passing fierce and cruel, and extreamely swift and nimble; his teeth are long and sharpe as Sizers, with which comming vnder the Whale, being heauy and sluggish, he rippeth vp his belly. Of all others, this fish the Whale dareth not abide, and oftentimes in flying him, lighteth amongst shallows & sands, where being not able to swim for want of water, he is slaine of the fishers: of whom great numbers comming in small boats, strike him with hookes, giuing him alwayes the lyne at will, till they perceaue that hee is dead, and then they pull him a Land, and make great commodity of the oyle & other things which they take out of his body. Many doe affirme a thing, which in my opinion seemeth hard to beleeue, which is, that the great Whales when the weather is any thing tempestu­cus, plunge themselues with such violence from out the bot­tom of the Sea, that their back appeareth aboue water like an Iland of sand or grauell: insomuch that some sayling by Sea, imagining the same many times to be an Iland in deede, haue A strange thing writ­ten of the Whale. gone out of their ships, & made fire vpon it, through the heat of which, the Whale plunging himselfe into the water, lea­ueth the men deceaued, and in extreame great perril of death, vnlesse they could saue thēselues by swimming to their ships. This is written by many Authors of great estimation, though to mee it seemeth a thing incredible, and against all reason.

It may be that such a wonder as this, hath beene seene at some one time, and as the manner of men, especially trauai­lers is to ouer-reach, they say it happeneth vsually and often.

For my part I will wonder at nothing, neyther leaue to beleeue any thing that is possible, which is written of these great fishes, & Sea-monsters, seeing it is most approo­uedly knowne and verified, and nowe lately also written and published by sundry mē of credit, that in the yere 1537. there was taken in a Riuer of Germanie, a Fish of a huge & mon­strous greatnes, the fashion of whose head was like vnto that A mōstrous fish taken in a Riuer of Germany. of a wilde Boare, with two great tuscles shooting aboue foure spans out of his mouth, he had foure great feete, like to those with which you see Dragons vsually painted, and besides the two eyes in his head, hee had two others in his sides, and one neere his nauill, and on the ridge of his necke certaine long brisles, as strong and hard as though they had beene of yron or steele. This Sea-monster was carried for a wonder to An­werp, and there liue as yet many which will witnesse to haue seen the same. But in such like things as these, no man giueth vs more ample notice of things that are strange, rare, and mer­ueilous, then Olaus Magnus.

There are also in these Seas many other strange and hurtfull fishes, of which there is one called Monoceros, of extreame greatnesse, hauing in his forehead a mightie stiffe and sharpe horne, with which hee A fish called Monoceros. giueth the shippes so forcible and violent a stroake, that hee breaketh them, and driueth them vnder water, as though it were with a Canon shot: but this is when the ships are becal­med, which sildome happeneth vpon those Seas, for it there blow but the least gale of winde that may be, he is so lumpish and slow, that they auoyde him easilie. There is another fish A fish called Serra. which is as much to say as saw in English. called Serra, because of a ranke of pricks which hee hath on his head, so sharpe and hard as the poynts of Dyamants, with which lurking vnder the shyppes hee saweth in sunder theyr keele, which if it be not foreseene and remedied in time, they perrish presently. There is another fish called Xifia, which is Another cal­led Xifia. in a manner like vnto the Whale, whose mouth beeing open, is so wide and deepe, that it astonisheth the beholders, his eyes likewise of a most terrible aspect, his backe sharpe as a sword, with which lying vnderneath the shippes, hee practi­seth to cut or to ouerturne them, to the end he may eate and deuoure the men that are within them. There are also in this [Page] Sea fishes called Rayas, of exceeding greatnes, whose loue to­wards Rayas. men is passing strange and admirable: for if any man chance to fall into the sea, neere where any of them is, hee vn­derproppeth him presently, bearing him aboue the water, and if any other fishes com to anoy or hurt him, he defendeth him as much as he may, euen to the death. There is also another called Rosmarus, whose propertie is very rare and strange, he is about the bignes of an Elephant, he is headed in maner like Rosmarus. an Oxe, his skin is of darke & obscure colour full of stubbie haires, as great as wheaten strawes, he commeth often a shore, where chauncing to see a man any thing neere, he runneth at him with open mouth, and if he catch him, hee dismembreth him presently. Hee is meruailous swift, & delighteth much to eate grasse and sedge that groweth in freshe water, for which cause hee haunteth often to little riuers & plashes that are on maine land, wherewith when he is well satisfied and filled, he climeth vp the Rocks by the help of his teeth, which are pas­sing sharp & strong, where he layeth him downe to sleepe so deeply & profoundly, that it is not possible with any rumour how great soeuer it be, to awake him: at which time the mar­riners The maner of taking him. & peasants thereabouts, boldly without feare binde great ropes to each part of his body, the other ends of which they fasten vnto trees, if there be any neere, if not, as well as they can to some place of the Rock, and when as they thinke they haue entangled him sure enough, they shoote at him a far of with bowes Crosbowes & Harguebuzes, chiefely at his head. His strength is so great that awaking somtimes & per­ceauing himselfe to be wounded, he starteth vp with such vi­olence, that he breaketh all the cordes with which he is faste­ned, but commonly he hath first his deaths wound, so that af­ter a little strugling, hee turneth of the Cliffe downe into the Sea, and dieth incontinent, out of which they draw him with hookes and yrons, dispoyling him cheefely of his bones and teeth, which the Muscouites, Tartarians, & Russians esteeme to be so good and true Iuorie, as the Indians doe that of theyr Elephants.

Of all this Paulus Iouius maketh relation in an Epistle which he wrote to Pope Clement the seauenth, being amply [Page 150] thereof, enformed by one Demetrius a noble man and Lieue­tenant generall vnder the Emperour or Duke of Russia. But to our first purpose, there are also founde in this Seas sundry kindes of fishes, or rather beastes, which liue both by water and land, comming often a shoare to feede in the pastures thereby, bearing the likenesse of Horses, Oxen, Hares, Wol­ues, Sundry fi­shes like to Horses, Ox­en, & &c. Rats, and of sundry other sorts: which after they haue well fedde on the Land, turne backe vnto the Sea againe, the one being in a maner as naturall vnto them as the other. But leauing to speake any farther thereof, wee now will come to the Dolphins, whose loue to musicke and children, is a thing manifest & notorious to all men: and seeing it serueth to the Dolphins. purpose, I will tell you a strange and true tale of one of them, that beeing taken by fishermen when hee was very young & little, was by them brought and put into a pond or standing water, in the Iland of S. Domingo, a little after the conquest thereof by the Spaniards. Being in which fresh water, in short A strangt tale of a Dolphin in S. Domingo space hee encreased to such greatnes, that hee became bigger then any horse, and withall so familiar, that calling him by a name which they had giuen him, he would come ashore, and receaue at theyr handes such thinges as they brought him to eate, as though he had beene some tame & domesticall beast. The boyes, among other sportes and pastimes they vsed with him, woulde sometimes gette vp vppon his bace, and hee swimme all ouer the Lake with them, without euer dooing harme, or once dyuing vnder the water with any one of thē. One day certaine Spanyards comming to see him, one of them smote him with a pyke staffe which he had in his hand, from which time forward, hee knewe the Spanyards so vvell by theyr garments, that if any one had beene therby when the other people called him, hee woulde not come ashore, other­wise still continuing with those of the Country his vvonted familiaritie. Hauing thus remained in this Lake a long space, the water vpon a tyme through an extreamitie of raine, rose so high, that the one side of the Lake ouerflowed and brake into the Sea, from which time forward he was seen no more. Thys is written by the Gouernour of the fortresse of that I­land, in a Chronicle which he made.

[Page] Leauing them therefore, now I will briefely speake of cer­taine notable Fish coasts from the West of Ireland forwards, winding about towardes the North: For it is a thing notori­ous, that many Kingdoms, Regions & Prouinces, haue their prouisions of Fish frō thence, of which our Spaine can giue good testimonie, the great commodity considered that it re­ceaueth yeerely thereby. To beginne therefore, the farther forth this way that you goe, the greater plenty you shall finde of fishe, many of those Prouinces vsing no other trade, for­raine Merchants bringing into them other necessary thinges in exchange thereof. The chiefest store whereof is founde on the Coast of Bothnia, which deuideth it selfe into three Pro­uinces, Bothnia deuided into 3. prouinces. East, West, and North-Bothnia. The last whereof is different farre from the other two, for it is a plaine Cham­paine Land, seated as it were in a Valley betweene great and high Mountaines. The ayre thereof is so wholesome, & the Climat so fauourable, that it may be well termed one of the The excel­lencie of the Climat of North Both­nia. most pleasant and delightfull places of the world, for it is nei­ther hote nor cold, but of so iust a temperature, that it seemeth a thing incredible: the Countries lying about it beeing so ri­gorously cold, couered with Snow, & congealed with a con­tinuall Ise. The fields of themselues produce all pleasant va­rietie of hearbes and fruites. The woods and trees are reple­nished with Birdes whose sweet charmes & melodious tunes, breedeth incredible delectation to the hearers: but wherein the greatest excellencie and blessing of this Land consisteth, is that amongst so great a quantitie of Beasts and Fowles, of which the Hilles, Woods, Fieldes, and Valleyes are full, it breedeth not, nourisheth, or maintaineth, not any one that is It nourish­eth no vene­mous or hurtful beast harmefull or venemous, neyther doe such kindes of Fishes as are in the Sea hurtfull, approach theyr shoares, which other­wise abound with Fishes of all sorts, so that it is in the fishers handes to take as many and as few as they list: The cause of which plentie is, as they say, that diuers forts of Fishes flying the colde, come flocking in multitudes into these temperate waters. Neyther bapneth this onely on theyr Sea-shoare, but in theyr Lakes & Riuers within the Land also, which swarme as thicke with fishes great and little of diuers kindes as they [Page 151] can hold. The enhabitants liue very long, neuer or sildome feeling any infirmity, which surely may serue for an argument (seeing it is so approouedly knowne to be true) to confirme that which is written concerning the vpper Byarmya, which Byarmya su­periour. though it be seated in the midst of vntemperate & cold coun­tries, couered and frozen with continuall Snow and Ice: yet is it selfe so temperate and vnder so fauourable a Climate and constellation, that truly the Authors may well call it as they doe, a happy and blessed soile, whose people hauing within thēselues all things necessary for the sustentation of humaine life, are so hidden & sequestred from other parts of the world, hauing of themselues euery thing so aboundantly, that they haue no need to traffique or conuerse with forraine Regions. And this I take to be the cause that we haue no better know­ledge of some people that liue vppon the Hyperbores, who though they liue not with such pollicy as we doe, it is because the plenty of all thinges giueth them no occasion to sharpe their wits or to be carefull for any thing, so that they leade a simple and rustique life without curiosity, deuoyd of all kind of trouble, care, or trauaile: whereas those who liue in Coun­tries, where for their substentation & maintenance, it behoo­ueth them to seeke needefull prouisions in forraine Landes, what with care of auoiding dangers, & well dispatching their affaires, and daily practising with diuers dispositions of men, they cannot but becom industrious, pollitique, and cautelous. And hence came it, that in the Kingdome of China there was a Law and statute, prohibiting and defending those that went A strange Law in the Kingdome of Chinay. to seeke other Countries, euermore to returne into the same, accounting them vnworthy to liue in so pleasant and fertile a soile, that willingly forsooke the same in searching an other. But returning to our purpose, in this North Bothnya, which is beyond Norway, is taken incredible store of fish, which they carry some fresh, some salted, to a Citty called Torna, si­tuated in manner of an Iland betweene two great Riuers that discende out of the Septentrionall mountaines, where they hold their Fayre and Staple, many and diuers Nations resor­ting thither, who in exchange of theyr fish, accommodate them with such other prouisions as their Country wanteth; [Page] so that they care not to labour or till their grounds, which if at any time they doe, the fertillity thereof is such, that there is no Country in the worlde able to exceede the same. The people is so iust, that they know not howe to offende or of­fer iniurie to any man: they obserue with such integrity the Christian fayth, that they haue him in horrour and destenta­tion that committeth a mortall sinne. They are enemies of vice, and louers and embracers of vertue and truth. They correct and chasten with all seuerity and rigour those that are offendours, insomuch, that though a thing bee lost in the streete or field, no man dareth take it vp, till the owner come himselfe.

There are also other Prouinces maintayned in a manner wholely by fishing, as that of Laponia, in the vvhich, are manie Lakes, both great and little, infinitelie replenished with all sorts of excellent fishes; and that of Fylandia, which is very neere, or to say, better vnder the Pole. The greatest Filandia. part of this Prouince obeyeth the King of Swethen, vvho hath in the frontyers thereof, one of the best and strongest Newcastle belonging to the King of Swethen. Castels in the worlde, called Newcastle, which is situated vp­pon a high Rocke, accessible onely of one side, and that with great difficulty. At the foote of this Rocke runneth a great and deepe Riuer, in such sort, that in some places it is hard to sound any bottome, the waters of which, and all the fishes therein are so blacke, that it is therefore called the blacke Ri­uer: it discendeth from the Aquilonar mountaynes, & com­meth along through such desert and craggie Landes, that no manne knoweth where the head thereof riseth, onely it is thought, that it commeth out of Lacus Albus, waxing black, by reason of the soile through which it commeth. There is in this Riuer great aboundance of Salmons and of other fishes, of such excellent relish and pleasing tast, that there can in no part of the world be found any better: They serue not onely for prouision to the Country it selfe, but are carried thence into many farre places. Amongst the rest, there is found a A strange property of the fish Tre­uius. fish called Treuius, which in the Winter is blacke, and in the Sommer white, whose meruailous property is such, that bin­ding him fast with a corde, and letting him downe into the [Page 152] bottome of a Riuer, if there be any gold in the sands thereof, the same cleaueth fast to his skin; which how great soeuer the peeces be, fall not off from him, till they be taken off, so that some vse no other occupation to winne theyr lyuing with, then this. It is sayde for an assured certainty, that sometimes there is openly seene a man goe in the middle of the streame, playing most sweetely vppon an Instrument like a trebble Viall, which at such time as men beholde him with greatest delight, of a sodaine sinketh downe into the water: There are also often heard vppon the shore, Trumpets, Drummes, and other loud Instruments, without seeing those that sound them: vvhich when it happeneth, they holde the same for a signe or presage of some harme or disastre, that is to ensue to some principall person of the gard of this Fortresse, which they haue often found true by experience. But leauing to speake of the great plenty of fish which is in these Countries; Now I will come to say somewhat of the Birdes and Fovvles which are in these parts, of which there are many kinds farre differing from those which we haue heere, & among the rest, some as great or rather greater then Patridges, whose feathers are diuersified with beautifull colours, chiefely white, blacke, and yellow, called Raynbirds, because towardes rayne they Rainebirds. cry, otherwise holding continually their peace. It is held for a certainty that they liue by the ayre, for being very fatte, they are neuer seene eate at any time, neyther when they kill them doe they finde any sustenance at all in theyr belly or mawe. Theyr flesh is of a very sauourie taste, and much esteemed. There are other Birdes found on the high and rough moun­taynes, such as are for the most part continually couered with Snowe, somewhat bigger then Thrushes, which are in the Sommer white, and all the Winter long blacke: Their feete Snowbirds. neuer change culour, which is a most perfect yellovv. They sleepe and shroude themselues for the most part alwayes in trees: But when they see any Hawke or Fowle that lyueth by pray, they choppe dovvne into the Snovve, fluttering the same ouer them with theyr vvinges, in such sort, that they leaue no part of them vndiscouered, preseruing thereby theyr lyfe. Of all other Fovvles they are hardlyest taken, [Page] they hide themselues so artificially in the Snow, and therefore they call them Snow-birds. Of Falcons there is passing great Faulcons of diuers sorts. store ouer all these Northerne Countries, and of many sorts. At such time as the day lasteth, the whole Sommer long in those Regions neere the Pole, fewe or none remaine in the bordering Lands, but flie all thither, returning thence againe when the night commeth about. Amongst these, there are certaine white, which pray both on fowles and fishes, which I take this to be that which wee call heere an Ospray, of which I haue seene diuers. Riuers for their pleasure doe reclaime, taking with them both fish and fowle. Their two feete are of sundry and seuerall fa­shions, the one with long sharpe talents with which they seaze their pray, the other like vnto a Goose, the talents whereof are nothing so long. The Rauens in these Lands are so great and harmfull, that they kill not onely Hares and Fawnes, but also Lambs and Pigs; of which they make so great spoile and destruction, that there are Lawes made, by the which there is a reward appointed to such as shall kill them, so much for the head of euery one. About the Sea shore and Lakes, there are many which they call Sea-Crowes, and of diuers kindes; some are great, and haue sawes in their beakes in manner of Sea-Crowes teeth, with which they sheare the fishes asunder. Their prin­cipal foode is Eeles, which if they be not very great, they swal­low in whole, and many times slice them out againe behind, afore they be fully dead. There is an other sort of them som­vvhat lesse, otherwise of small difference, which in seauen dayes make their nests, and lay their egges, and in other seauen dayes hatch their young-ones. There are other Birdes called Plateae, which are alwaies houering also ouer Lakes & Ponds; they haue mortall warres with the Crowes, and with all other Plateae. fowles that liue by fish, of which, if they see any haue in his beake or talent any pray, they make him let it goe, or other­wise they kill him; for they haue of them a great aduantage through the sharpnes of their beake and talents.

Of Ducks wilde & tame there is such infinite abundance in these prouinces, that they couer the Lakes and waters, no Duckes. other foule being any thing neere in so great quantity, especi­ally where there are any veynes of warme water, which keepe the Lakes longer without freezing, & where when they doe [Page 153] freeze, yet the Ise is so thin that it may easily be broken. They are of diuers colours and sizes, otherwise all of one making. Certaine Authors which write of these Countries, affirme, that one kinde of these Duckes, is of those which are bred of the leaues of certaine trees in Scotland, which falling into the Ducks bred of the leaues of a tree in Scotland. water take life, as in manner aboue saide, becomming first a worme, then getting winges and feathers, & at last flying vp into the ayre. Olaus saith, that he hath seene Scottish authors which affirme, that these trees are principally in the Ilandes called Orcades. They affirme also that there are Geese bredde and engendred in the same manner, betweene whom and the Geese. other there is great difference, both in colour & many other particularities. And seeing this wonder is by the testimonie of so many Authors confirmed, I see no reason but that vvee may well beleeue it without offending: and that also vvhich they write of a towne in the vtmost parts Northward of that Kingdome, the commoditie rising to which through the a­boundance of Duckes is so great, that I cannot ouerslip the same. There is neere this Towne a mighty great and craggy A Towne in Scotlande that recea­ueth great commoditie through Duckes. Rocke, to which at breeding time, these Fowles come flock­ing in such quantities & troupes, that in the ayre they resem­ble mightie darke clowdes rather then any thing else. The first two or three dayes, they doe nothing else then houer a­loofe, and flie vp and downe about the Rocke, during which time, the people is so still and quiet, that they scarcely styrre out of theyr houses, for feare of fraying them: so that seeing all things silent and still, they settle themselues boldlie, and fill the whole Rock with nests. Their sight is so sharpe and pear­cing, that flittering ouer the sea which beateth vpon the same Rock, they see the fish through the water, which incontinent­lie plunging themselues into the same, they snappe vp vvith such facilitie, that it is scarcely to be beleeued but of him that hath seene it. Those that dwell neere thereabouts, and know the passages and wayes to get vp into this Rock, do not one­lie sustaine themselues, by the fishe which they finde in the nestes of theyr young ones, but carry thē also to other townes to sell. When they perceaue that the young ones are ready to flie, to enioy this cōmoditie of the fish the longer, they pluck [Page] theyr wings and entertaine them so many dayes (as men vse to doe young ones of Eagles) and then when the ordinarie time approcheth, in which they vse to take theyr flight away, they take and eate them, theyr flesh being very tender, and of good smack. These Ducks differ much frō al the other sorts, and are neuer seene in that Region, but at such time as they breed, (euen as the Storkes are in Spaine) & though they kill many of them, yet the next yere they neuer faile to come, as many as the rock can hold. Their fat & greace is much estee­med & applied to many medecines, in which it is founde to be of meruailous operation & vertue. There are ouer al these Northerne Regions many other fowles, farre different from these which we haue heere, the varietie of whose kinds, seeing they haue no notable & perticuler property or vertue, it were in vaine to recite: And though as I said, the Climat be cold, yet there are founde many kindes of Serpents of such as are wont commonly to breede in hote Landes. There are Aspes Serpents. Aspes. three or foure cubites long, whose poyson is so strong and ve­hement, that whosoeuer is bitten by one of them, dieth with­in the space of foure or fiue howres, if he haue not presentlie such remedy as is requisite, which is Treakle of Venice if they haue it, if not, they stampe a head of Garlick, and mingle the iuyce thereof with olde Beere, giuing it the patient to drinke, and withall stamping another head of Garlicke, they apply it to the place bitten. These Aspes are so cruell and fierce, that in assayling any man, they stretch out theyr head with great fiercenesse, a cubite aboue the earth, and in finding resistance, they dart out of theyr throates an infinite quantitie of poyson and venom, whose pestilent contagion is such, that whosoe­uer is touched therewith, swelleth and dyeth as I sayde, if hee be not presently remedied. There are other Serpents called Hyssers. Hyssers, whose cheefe abyding is among herbes that are hore and dry. They runne exceedingly swiftly, but they are easie to be auoyded, because the noyse and hyssing they make is so great, that they are heard and descried a farre of, and thereby easily shunned and auoyded. They vse to giue a leape tenne or twelue foote high when they cast out theyr venome, the nature of which is such, that if it fall vpon any mens garments [Page 154] it burneth them like fire, hauing doone which they run pre­sentlie away. Theyr poyson representeth to our sight sundry and strange colours.

There is another kinde of Serpent whom they call Am­phisbosna, Amphis­bosna. hauing two heads, one in the due place, annother in the tayle, they goe and turne aswell one way as another, & doe appeare & are seene as well in cold weather as in warme. Gaudencius Merula vvryteth, that there are manie of these in Italie and other parts. In the Spring-time, there are found at the feete of Oakes and other trees, many little Serpents, Serpents that haue a King. which haue a cheefe Ruler or King amongst them, as the Bees haue by whom they are gouerned. Hee is knowne a­mongst all the rest, because hee hath a vvhite crest, which if it happen that he be killed, the whole Armie of them presently breaketh and scattereth.

All these and many other Serpents, which are there, are so as it were enameled with sundry bright and glistring colours, that they arrest often the eyes of the beholders, as vpō a most beautifull worke of Nature: neyther doe they onely liue on dry Lande, but there are also of them about the Sea, liuing both within & without the same, feeding vpon fish, nothing lesse hurtfull then the rest: of this kind there is at this present one most notable & of wonderfull greatnes in the prouince of Borgia, which is within the limits of the Kingdome of A huge and terrible Ser­pent in the prouince of Borgia. Norway, whose terrible shape, crueltie, and horrour is such, that there were doubt to be made thereof, vnlesse it were by the testimony of many witnesses which haue seene him, con­firmed. In the place vvhere hee lyueth, are certaine Rockie Mountaines, rough and verie high both Seaward and Land­ward, couered in many places with desert thickets and wilde bushes and trees. Heere was bred this horrible, dreadfull, and deformed monster, whose length, according to the gesse of those which haue seene his manner, making and proportion, is aboue two hundred cubites: his breadth from the backe to the bellie, at least 25. from the neck downward to the fourth part of his body, he is full of great haires, at least a cubit long apeece, from thence downeward he is bare and plaine, except his loynes, which are couered with certaine great sharp scales, [Page] or rather shelles: His eyes are so bright and shining, that by night they seeme to be flames of fire, so that by them he is ea­sie to be discouered a farre off, at such time as hee rangeth a­broade to seeke his pray, which is commonly of Oxen, sheep, Hogges, Stagges, and other Beastes both wilde & tame, such as he can find: but if in the woods and fieldes he cannot light of enough to satisfie his hunger, hee getteth him to the Sea­shore, and there filleth himselfe with such fish as he can catch. If any ships chaunce to approch neere that shore, eyther by tempest or ignorance, he putteth himselfe presently into the water, and maketh amaine at them: hee hath beene seene at times to reare himselfe of an exceeding height aboue the decke, and to take men out of the shippe with his teeth, and to swallow thē in a liue: a thing truely to be spoken or heard, full of amazement & terror; what is it then to them that find themselues present at a spectacle so fearefull, horrible & cru­ell? And if this Monster were not in such a desert place, farre of from those parts which are by the people enhabited, hee were able to dispeople and bring to desolation the vvhole Country, for yet as it is, those that are neerest, liue in great feare and dread of him.

Truly I remember not that euer I heard of a more terrible and cruell Serpent, and there­fore I much wonder, why the people of that Countrey doe not seeke some remedy to deliuer themselues of so miserable a feare and scourge as he is vnto thē.

Neuer thinke but that they haue done their best, though perchance it hath little auailed them.

Their only remedy must come frō God, which is, that time shal end his life, to doe which the force of man suffiseth not. As for my part, I wonder not at all, that there should be a serpent so great & fierce as this is: for both Plinie & Strabo alleaging Megasthenes, write of Serpents in Sundry cru­ell Serpents in India. India which are so great, that they deuoure a Stag or an Oxe whole in at once. Pliny also, by authoritie of Metrodorꝰ, saith, that there are some so huge, that they reach the birdes which flie in the ayre: & in time of the Emperor Regulus there was one found about the shores of the Riuer Bragada 120. foote long, to destroy which, there was a whole Army of men sette in order, as though they had gone to assault a mightie Citty.

But nowe turning to our former discourse, I say it is a thing strange and meruailous, that in so great an extremi­ty of cold as that of the North, there should breede so many venemous Serpents, the number of which is so great, that the people is with them miserably afflicted, especially the Sheep­heards, whose trade of life being most in the open field, meet with them oftenest; and therfore they neuer goe vnprouided of necessary remedies, to apply presently when neede requi­reth. But being wearied with matter so full of contagion and poyson, I will passe forward and come vnto their trees, whose kinds and qualities are diuers: rowing in that extreamity of cold, Snow and Ice, to such an exceeding height and great­nes, that there are no better found in the world to make ships and maine masts of, then they are: But seeing they are smally different from ours, I will spend no time in describing theyr particularities: onely I will tell you of one called Betulnye, which is in growth very great and tall, and all the yeere long A kinde of Trees that in the extre­mity of the colde Regi­ons, retaine all the yeere long their greenenesse. continually greene, without casting his leafe; for which cause, of the common people, he is called the holy Tree, not vnder­standing his vertue and property, which is so hote, that in de­spite of the cold, hee retaineth alwayes his greenenes and ver­dure, so that many Serpents make their nests and dens vnder his rootes, through the warmenesse and heate of the which, they defend themselues against the rigorous sharpnes of the colde, which all the other trees not enduring, as they shoote forth their leaues & fruites in the Sommer, so shed they them againe in the Winter, returning to their naked barenes. The like also doe all their hearbes and plants, of which many are such, as we haue commonly heere, and many farre different, of vs neither knowne nor vsed.

I am of opinion that in these Lands there are generally all such kinds of thinges, as are in others, excepting alwayes the difference of the soyles, the quality of which, maketh some better & some worse, and of greater and lesser vertue in their kinds and operations: But let vs detaine our selues no longer about thinges of so small importance. I pray you therefore tell vs if that be true, of which we reasoned the other day, that is, if all these Prouinces and Lands are enhabited of Christians: for if it be so, I won­der [Page] we should haue heere no more particular knowledge and notice of a matter so important.

Make no doubt at all of that which I haue tolde you, for all those of the Kingdome of Norway, (which is very Many Chri­stian Regi­ons. great, and contayneth many mighty Prouinces) and those of Dacia, Bothnia, Elfinguia, Laponia, Lituania, Escamia, Fi­landia, Escandia, Gronland, Island, Gothland, Westgothland, Swethland, Sueue, and Denmarke, with many other Septen­trionall Regions and Prouinces, euen to the Hiperbores; a­mongst which also are sundry of those, that the great Duke of Muscouia, and Emperour of the Russians possesseth; all these I say are vnder the banner and fayth of our Sauiour Ie­sus Christ, though differently: For some follow the Church of Rome, others obserue the ceremonies of the Greek church, cleauing wholy there-vnto; others of them followe the Ca­tholique Church, but ioyntly there-withall certaine errors that are there spread abroade.

But leauing this, till an other time, and returning to our former purpose, I pray you tell me if the Emperour of Russia be so great a Monarch, as heere it is sayd he is.

No doubt but he is so great and mighty, that there are fewe or no Princes of Christendome besides equall vnto him, in gouernment and signeury of ma­nie Kingdomes, Prouinces, Lands, and Countries, as partly The magni­ficent tytles of the Em­perour of Russia. may be vnderstoode by his tytles in a Letter, which he wrote to Pope Clement the seauenth, the beginning of which was as followeth. The great Lord Basilius, by the grace of God Emperour and Lord of all Russia, great Duke of Blodema­ria, of Muscouia, of Nouogradia, of Plescouia, of Finolenia, of Yfferia, of Iugoria, of Perminea, of Verchia, of Valgaria, Lord and great Prince of the neather Nonogradia, of Cerni­gonia, of Razania, of Volothecia, of Rozeuia, of Belchia, of Boschouia, of Iraslauia, of Beloceria, of Vdoria, of Obdoria, of Condinia, &c. This Letter was written in the Citty of Muscouia, which is his principall seate, and from which, the whole Country taketh his name, in the yeere of our Lorde, 1537.

Are all these Kingdomes, Lands, and Prouinces which you haue named enhabited with Christians.

It is to be supposed that they are, though I cannot affirme the [Page 156] same for a certainty, for perchaunce hee hath gotten some of them by conquest: the people of which may yet remaine in their idolatry, as for the law of Mahomet, it is there of small force. Yet for all this, this Duke or Emperour, or what you list to call him, being so mighty a Prince as he is, there is not­withstanding A Nation called Finns, that are in warre with the Musco­uites. a Prouince and Nation of people called Finnes, which liue in a manner vnder the Pole, so valiant and stoute in Armes, that they hold him at a bay, yea, and sometimes en­ter into his Country with fire and sword, making great con­quests vppon him.

So that the neerest Nation to them that liue vnder the North-pole, is that of the Russians & Muscouites.

You say true, it is so indeede of one side, marry on the other side is Bothnia, Fynland, and some others which are vnder the very Pole; but on that side of Russia and Muscouia, the old Cosmographers, for far that they went, rea­ched not beyond the same: and in all their Maps & Cards, if you mark them wel, they set them vtmost & next the North, or if they doe set any other, it is without name: But the Mo­dernes as I haue said, goe farther describing Countries both of one side & the other: yet for all that, as I vnderstand, there is a great part of the world there-abouts, as yet vndiscouered, A great part of the world vndiscoue­red. as well in the higher Biarmia which is on the other side of the Pole, as in the Land which extendeth it self towards the west, wheeling & fetching a compasse about to the Septentrion, & from thence againe pointing vp towards the East, which way these Muscouites trauaile with their merchandize, passing out of their owne bounds, among the Tartarians. The principall wares they carry are Furres of sundry sorts, of which some are very precious. These Muscouits are a crafty people, cautelous, deceitful, & of smal honor in maintaining their word & pro­mise, but aboue all other most cruel Albertus Krantzius wri­teth, A most ty­rannous act of the Duke of Muscouia that an Embassador being sent out of Italy to the duke of Muscouia was by him cōmanded to be put to death, because at the time of doing his Embassage, he kept his head couered: but the pore Embassador aleaging the custom of his country, & the preheminence of Embassadors § were sent frō mighty Princes: the tirant answered him, that as for him he meant not to abollish so goodly an vsage, to cōfirme the which, he caused [Page] presently his hatte to be nailed fast to his head, with mighty long yron nailes, so that he fell downe dead in the place.

Seeing you giue so good notice of these Northerne Lands, I pray you tell me what Countries or Prouinces those are which are of late discouered, and with which our Mer­chants doe traffique and conuerse, as that which they call Ti­erra del Labrador, the Land of Bacallaos, and another Coun­try Tierra del Labrador. The Land of Bacallaos. thereby latelier found out, whence commeth such aboun­dance of fish.

To tell you truth, I know not my selfe, but that which I imagine and holde for certaine, is, that they are some parts or corners in the Sea, of those Septentrionall Prouinces, of which wee haue spoken, which those that goe hence through ignorance, doe terme by new names: As for Tierra del Labrador, it is not yet throughly discouered whither it be firme Land; marry the most part and to which I giue greatest credite, affirme that is an Iland: The same beeing so farre Westward, that by all likelihood the Septentrional peo­ple had little knowledge thereof. Those which haue beene there, say, that the enhabitants doe liue after a barbarous and sauage manner. But in fine, you must vnderstand that it is in a manner vnpossible throughly and exactly to know the di­stinct particularity of the Regions that are in those parts, not so much for the impossibility of discouering them, as for the diuersity of the names of the Prouinces, Countries, King­domes, Ilands, Hils, and Riuers, which are euery day changed and diuersly in different names termed by such seuerall Nati­ons as finde them; whose languages differing each of them, speaketh and writeth of them, by such names as they them­selues haue imposed vnto them: insomuch that sometimes when we speake all of one Country, yet through the diuersi­ty of names, we imagine the one to be distant from the other many miles: And hence commeth so great a confusion, that though we know these Countries to be amongst those North and West Regions, of which we haue spoken, yet we vnder­stand not which of them they are; and in like maner of those of the East: For as some Cosmographers giue them one name and some another; those that come after them interpret thereof, euery one as he pleaseth, yea, and many times differ [Page 157] in the very principall poynts, and of this is the varietie of the worlde cause: for euen as euery yeere the trees, plants, and hearbes, sprout forth in one season their leaues and fruites, in another do fade, wither, and decay, and then the next yeere renewe againe: and euen as of men, one dies and another is borne, and the like of all other worldly creatures, beastes, fowles, and fishes; so doth it happen and fall out in the verie names of things, which with time also doe change, alter and loose their selues, leauing one, and taking another. Take for example the olde Cosmographers, which doe most particu­larly entreate of Spayne, the Prouinces, Citties, and particu­larities thereof, as Ptolome and Plinie, and you shall not find sixe names conforming and agreeing to those which we now vse, and perchance within a thousand yeeres, if the world last so long, they will haue lost these which they nowe haue, and taken others: For without doubt, as the worlde hath such an vnstable varying, so it will not leese the same vntill it come to be ended and dissolued: Neither onely in this, but in the Languages also I warrant you there will be in tract of time such alteration and change. For though at this present it see­meth that we speake in Castile, the most pure and polished speech that may be, yet those that shall come some space of yeeres after vs, will speake the same so differently, that such things as are written in this our time, will seeme vnto them as barbarous, as doth vnto vs the olde prose which we finde in stories of auncient time: For there is no thirtie or forty yeres, but there are diuers and sundry words, worne out of vse and forsaken, and others new inuented and had in price, vvhich though they be not good, yet vse maketh them to seeme so, as in all other things it vsually happeneth, that onelie custome is sufficient to make that which is euill, seeme good, and that which is good, seeme euill.

There is nothing more true and manifest then this which you say: But returning to our former discourse, I pray you make mee vnderstande, if those which doe border next vpon the frontires of these Sep­tentrionall Lands that doe professe the faith of Christ, are I­dolaters or no: for if they be so, in my iudgement it were an easie matter (the grossenes of their beleefe cōsidered) to per­swade [Page] and conuert them to the Christian fayth.

You haue great reason, for in truth they are with farre greater faci­litie conuerted, then the other Countries that are infected & poysoned with the false and damnable sect of Mahomet: and so Henry King of Swetheland, and Henry Bishop of Vpsa­la, being moued with a godly, charitable, and vertuous zeale, to extend and amplifie the Christian religion in those parts, Fynland cō ­uerted to the Christian Fayth. vsed such diligence, that they conuerted thereunto the Pro­uince of Finland, which is the fardest that is knowen North­ward, and where the dayes and nights doe each of them en­dure full sixe months apeece: the enhabitants of which are prooued so good Christians, and people of so great charitie and hospitalitie, that the chiefest exercise wherein they busie and employ themselues, is in dooing good workes: the like also as I sayd, doe those of Bothnia, who haue in euery parrish a Priest, as we haue here, that hath care and charge of theyr soules. And in all the other bordering Prouinces rounde a­bout these, they are most ready and willing to conuert them­selues: but the greatest pitty of all is, that they are lost for lack of Preachers and learned Pastours to preach vnto them, and to perswade and instruct them in the right way: manie good men haue not wanted will to doe the same, but theyr bodyes haue not beene able to suffer and endure the extreame colde of that Climat: but I trust in God, that of his mercie he will one day put this in some good mens harts to goe through withall, and endue and strengthen them with forces suffici­ent to the accomplishing thereof: especially seeing hee hath already so enclined the peoples harts to embrace his vvorde: for it is a thing most assuredly knowne, that on the Frontires of Norway, Bothnia, and Fynland, at such time as the vvea­ther breaketh, and that the snowe and Ise giueth thē passage, there come men and women thirty & forty leagues frō with­in The deuo­tion of the North peo­ple. the Land, bringing theyr young children, those that haue meanes, vpon horses and beasts backs, those which haue not, in little Baskets made for the nonce vppon theyr owne shoul­ders, to be baptized, some of which are foure months, some sixe, and some a yeere old: and there cōming to the Priestes and Pastours, they desire to be instructed with rules and pre­cepts [Page 158] howe to leade a Christian life, and as opportunitie ser­ueth, they bring dulie vnto them theyr Tythes. When they are ignorant of any poynt, howe they shoulde deale therein like Christians, then conforming themselues with the Lawe of Nature, they doe that which seemeth good and vertuous, and leaue that vndoone which seemeth wicked and vicious: and it is to be supposed, that those of the Prouinces adioyning to the dominion of the great Muscouite doe the like.

No doubt but they doe so: and truely the Christianitie of these Countries, is greater then I thought it had beene, and according to your speeches, there is apparance of encreasing it daily more and more, seeing that there are so many mightie Septentrionall Princes that are Christians, God of his great goodnesse giue them will and power throughly to conuert those poore people, and to bring them vnder the obedience of the holy Catholique Church, that they may saue theyr soules.

It seemeth vnto me now high time to retyre our selues, seeing the night hath surprised vs, otherwise wee might haue lengthned this our discourse with manie prettie poynts not yet talked of, which wee must nowe deferre till it shall please God to giue vs time and opportunitie to meete together againe: In the meane time, let vs not be vnthankful to those learned Authors, which by theyr painefull writings haue giuen vs notice and knowledge of such thinges as vvee haue to day discoursed of, chiefely Olaus Magnus, Archbi­shop of Vpsala, Primate of Swethland and Gothland, for the most of the things heere to day alleadged are his, as beeing a man very learned and industrious, and such a one as desired that we should vnderstand as well the qualities and perticuler properties of his owne naturall Country, as also of the other Septentrionall Regions, which haue beene till this present so vnknown, that they were in a maner accounted vnenhabita­ble: and seeing these are enhabited, at the leastwise the grea­ter part of them, wee may well suppose that so also are the o­thers that remaine yet vndiscouered, as well about the circute of this pole, as of the other, which to be so, they haue founde by manifest tokens, that haue gone discouering about the West Indies.

You haue briefely gone about the [Page] whole world, searching and displaying the wonders & mer­uailes thereof, but as for mee, I account this which wee haue saide, to bee but a Cypher in respect of that which might be said, yet let vs content our selues, and giue God thankes that we haue beene able to goe so farre.

Well, let vs now be going, and withall, if it shall please you to fauour me with your company at my Lodging, you shal be most hartilie wel­come to such a poore pittance as is prouided for my Supper.

Neither of vs needeth much bidding, and threfore goe on Sir whenit pleaseth you, and we will follow.