CHAPTER FOUR OF THE TREES, PLANTS, AND DRUGGS I SHALL treat in the following Chapter concerning those kind of Trees, which are usually distinguished by the Name of Fruit-Trees. As to what regards the other sort; the Trees that are most common in Persia, are the Plantane, the Willow, the Fir, the Cornell, which the Arabians call Seder, and the Persians Conar, from whence the Word Cornus evidently proceeds; and from that, in English we come to call it the Cornell- Tree. The Persians hold, that the Plantane hath a natural Virtue in it against the Plague, and all other Infections of the Air; and thcy affirm, that they had no more Contagion at Ispahan, their Metropolis, after they had planted them every where round about, as they did in the Streets, and Gardens: Several other Towns of Persia are stock'd with these Trees, and particularly that of Chiras. The Tree which bears the Gall-Nut is common in several Parts Of Persia; but particularly in the Province of Coureston, where they grow in whole Rows together. The Trees that bear the Gum, the Mastick, and Insence, lie scatter'd up and down the different Parts of the Country, in great Quantities. The Tree which produces Frankincense, and very much resembles in its Form and Make, a great Pear- Tree, grows in a more eminent Manner, in the Desart of Caramenia, upon the Mountains. You may likewise find there, and in many other Places, the Turpentine- Tree, the Almond- Tree, and the wild Chesnut. The Tree that bears Manna, is likewise to be met with there. There are several sorts of Manna in Persia, the best is of a yellowish Colour, a large coarse Grain, and comes from Nichapour, a Country of Bactriana. There is another sort call'd the Tamarisk, because the Tree from which it drops, is call'd the Tarmarisk. They grow in great Quantities, in the Province of Sousiana; especially round about Daurac, a Place by the Gulph of Persia, which is the Aracas of Ptolmomy. The third sort of Manna that I have taken notice of is Liquid; they gather it about Ispahan, from a kind of Trees that are of a bigger Size than a Tamarisk, the Rind of which is bright and shining. The Leaves of this Tree do in Summer drop this Liquid Manna, which they pretend is not Dew, but the Sweat of the Tree congeal'd upon the Leaf In the Morning you may see the Ground that lies under it perfectly fat, and greasy with it. It is made use of in Remedies, the same with the Manna of Tamarisk, and 'tis as sweet as the rest. There are two kinds of little Trees or Shrubs in Persia, that are very remarkable for the dreadful Qualities and Properties that belong to them. Both the one and the other grow in the Desarts of Caramenia, near the Gulph of Persica; the first is call'd Gulbad Samour, that is to say, the Flower which poisons the Wind. The Arabians give it the Name of Chark, it bears a sort of Lambriches, full of tart and eager Milk, as thick as Cream. It is averr'd, that in the Places where many of these Shrubs grow together, the Wind in the most sultry Season of the Year, passing thro' these Trees, receives a deadly and mortal Quality, and kills all those who breathe in it, or whom it blows upon with any Violence. The other little Tree or Shrub, is call'd Kerzebre, a Name that signifies Asses-Gall, or the Poison of an Ass; and to which they attribute all that's bitter and mortal; because an Ass, as they account in the East, is a Beast of the most vigorous and healthful Constitution; or because Asses, and other Domestick Animals, that eat any of that Shrub, die in a little time after. They say likewise, that the Water which washes the Root or Trunk of that Tree, is Death to any Body. The Trunk of it is about the Bigness of one's Leg, and the Branches not so big as one's Arm, and it commonly grows to the Height of about six Foot. The Rind, which is generally pretty thick, is greenish, the Leaves are rather round than oval, with a Point at the End. This Tree bears a Flower, almost like our single Rose, and is of a Flesh Colour, like a Bryar-Rose; which is I believe the Reason why the Greeks have given this Tree the Name of Rododendron. The Arabians call it likewise as the Persians do, the Gall of Asses, and also Felly. They say, that it is the iverium of the Herbalists; which in French is call'd Rosage, and is treated of in all the Herbals of that Country. The Herbage grows very kindly in Persia, particularly those that we call the Fine Herbs, which have a wonderful good Scent. The Roots, Greens, and Roman Letuce that grow there, are larger, of a finer Colour, and better Tasted, than in any' Country of the World. They eat them raw, like Fruit, without perceiving any Harshness or Tartness in them. The Europeans have found by Experience, that our Greens come to a great Perfection in Persia; and it is certain, the Persians would have greater Plenty of them, and better than we, if their Religion put them upon manuring them, as carefully as they do in other Countries, where Flesh is forbid so many Days in the Year. Persia is a perfect Country for Physicial Druggs. Besides the Manna that comes from thence, which I have spoken of, there grows Cassia, Senna, Antimony, with which almost all the Fields are cover'd over, and Faenu Grecum. They call this Simple Kambalack, which is the Persian Name for great Tartary; because they say it Originally came from thence. Nux Vomica grows likewise almost every where, of the breadth of a Five-Penny Piece, and the Thickness of two Crowns, cover'd with a smooth Skin. The Gum Armonick, which the Persians call Ousioc, is very plentiful in the Confines of Parthida, towards the South. They take it out of a Plant which resembles the Stalk of an Artichoke. There is also in the same Places, and in all the Territories of Ispahan, a Plant which we in Europe are not acquainted with, and which is like the Spanish Thistle, they call it Livas; the Taste is somewhat sowerish, and very agreeable; it is at its growth in the Spring, which is the proper Season for it. The Persian Herbalists call it Rivendayvoni, as much as to say, Horse-Rhubarb, because they use it to purge the Beasts. They hold it to be a kind of Bastard Rubarb, and the Rubus Arabicus of our Herbalists. The Rhubarb grows in Corasson, which is the ancient Sogdiana. The best comes out of the Country of the Eastern Tartars, who are between the Caspian Sea and China. The one and the other is call'd Rivend-Tchini, the Rhubarb of China. They eat Rhubarb in Corasson, as we do Red-Beet, and it grows there just in the same Manner. The other remarkable Plants of Persia, are first, the POPPY; for tho' there are Plenty of Poppies in other Countries, yet they have in no other Place so much juice, and so strong, as they have there. This Plant is four Foot high, its Leaves very white, it is ripe in the Month of June, and they then extract the juice from it; they slice it in the Head, and the Persians by way of Superstition, always make twelve Slices of it, in Memory of the twelve Imans, three Incissions one just by another, all at one time, with a little Bill, that has three Edges, like the Teeth of a Comb. There comes out of it a kind of viscous or thick juice, which they gather together at the dawn of Day, before the Sun appears; and this is so strong, that the People who gather it together seem like dead People, taken up out of their Graves, being livid, meagre and trembling as if they had the Palsie. There is something that happens when one goes near those who bruise it, and prepare it for drinking, which I shall let you know in the Sixteenth Chapter. This Humour or Fume, gets into their Heads, and freezes up the whole Body. They make this juice up into Pills, and in Proportion as it issues out, and the Head of the Poppy is drier and drier, it grows black, and so do the Seed and Stalk likewise. The Persians call the juice Afioun, from whence our Word Opium is deriv'd. The best in the Kingdom is made in the Canton of Linjan, six Leagues from Ispahan, where the Fields are all cover'd over with Poppies. The Bakers sprinkle the Seed of them upon the Bread, because it is a provocative to Sleep, which they look upon to be very wholsome after Meals; and the lower sort of People eat the Seed between Meals. There are some who hold the Afioun of Cazeron in greater Esteem, which is towards the Gulph of Persica, than that at Ispahan, saying, that this engenders waterish Crudities, and the other does not. Secondly, There is Tobacco, which grows throughout all Persia, and particularly in Susiana at Hamadan, which is the Ancient Susa, and in the Desarts of Caramenia, in the Neighbourhood of Coitreston, near the Gulph of Persica, where they gather the best of all. It is very easy to grow, and requires no more than the ordinary Tillage of the Ground. They dry it and transport it in the Leaf by Bundles and Parcels, as they do Beets. 'Tis a perfect dead Leaf in its Colour when 'tis dry'd. They neither dress nor bind it up together, for that would make it too strong, and like the Brazil Tobacco. But the Persians don't like to have it so, but had rather have it milder, that they may continue smoaking it all the Day long. They hate the Smoak and smell of the twisted Tobacco of Brazil, which they call Tombacou Inglesi, or English Tobacco, because the first European takers of Tobacco, with whom they had any Commerce, were the English. The English us'd to bring this Tobacco from Brazil, and sell it in Persia, about fifty Years ago. But the Persians finding it to be both too strong and too dear, they made use of it no longer. Some People who love to make themselves Drunk with Tobacco, mingle Hemp-seed with it, and that makes the Vapours mount into the Brain, and intoxicates them immediately. I remember to have heard it made a Point of Debate among some knowing Persons in Europe, whether Tobacco and Sugar were Originals of the New World, or whether they always grew in the Eastern Countries. I have endeavoured to find the Truth of this upon the Spot. But you would scarce believe how little Curiosity the Eastern People have in such Remarks and Observations. There's scarce a Person among their Learned Men, who keeps a Register of the Discoveries that are made in the Arts and Sciences. As for Tobacco, I could not learn in Persia, whether it was originally the growth of that Country, or brought thither from Foreign Parts; and I found my Enquiries all in vain. One of the most curious Men in Ispahan told me thus much only, That he had read in a Parthian Book of Geography, that in taking up the Ruins of the Town of Sultania, they found among the Rubbish, a great Earthen Urn, in which were wooden Pipes, with Cups and Mugs and Tobacco cut very small, just as the Turks cut theirs at Aleppo, which made him believe, that the Plant was brought from Egypt into Persia, and that it could not have been the natural Growth of that Country, till within these four Hundred Years. I have seen some Persons who are of Opinion, that the Portugueze were the first who brought it from the Indies, not above two Hundred Years since. But that is not credible, because it appears, that it is far less time since they began to cultivate it in the Indies. For by all that I have been able to learn, I find it has not been above fifty Years standing there; And even the best and greatest of Tobacco that is made use of in the Indies, is carry'd from Persia, and that is the Tobacco which is transported in greater Quantities from thence by Sea. As to Sugar, I believe there was always some in the Indies. I know very well it is a Point mightily contested, and the greater part of Authors hold, that Sugar is a product of the New World, and that the Ancients us'd nothing but Honey. But I am of a contrary Opinion, which I found upon this, that Sugar grows throughout all the Indies, in great Plenty, with great Ease, and to a great Perfection; and not like Products that are brought from remote Countries, that never came up so kindly, when they are transplanted so far from their own Soil. Another Reason that I have, which is stronger, than the former, is, that Sugar is to be found, nam'd, and prescribed in an hundred Places of the Ancient Indian, Persian, and Arabick Manuscripts of Physick. The manner of taking Tobacco in Persia is unknown to us, and a singular way, which the Indians and Persians have to themselves. As the Air is more warm and dry there than in Europe and Turkey, and the Animal Spirits of the People more subtile, the Tobacco would be too heady for them, if they took it as we do, because they are at it continually. They pass their Tobacco-pipes thro' a Bottle of Water, of which I have given you a Figure on the side. They call these sort of Pipes Callion. The Bottle is cover'd over with an Earthen or Metal Mug, to the height of the Conduit, which is put into the Water as you see. At the Bottom there is a Plate like that belonging to some Candlesticks, and the Cane or Pipe by which they draw the Smoak, is fix'd to that Conduit. When they would Smoak, they wet the Tobacco which is in that Cup, and mince it very small, that it may not burn away too fast. They put two or three little Coals upon it, and draw the Smoak, which enters into the Water, circulates there, and is then suck'd back into the Mouth, not only cool and fresh, but likewise purg'd of all the unctious and gross Qualities of the Tobacco. You see some in taking it, that have good Stomachs, make great Bubbles, and cause great Murmurings in the Water, by the Attraction of Air. These Bottles are commonly fill'd with Flowers to give Pleasure to the Eye. They change at least once a Day the Water, which is all corrupted, and smells very rank of the Spirit of Tobacco. I have made an Experiment, and found that a Cup-full of that Water is a great Emetick, and would almost make a Man Vomit his Heart up. This mad Inclination to Tobacco, is an ill Habit, that has bewitched almost all the World. Our People in the West smoke it, snuff it, and chaw it, as every one knows: and some People, as particularly the Portuguese, have always a Nose full of Snuff. The Eastern People take it no other way, than smoaking, but with the same insatiable Greediness, most of them, especially the Persians, having always a Pipe in their Mouths. The People of Quality have their Pipe or Callion always carry'd before them by a Servant on Horse-back; and they often stop by the way to smoak, and sometimes smoak as they ride. They never go abroad without it, and where they go a visiting, there's their Bottle of Tobacco placed before them as soon as ever they are seated. It is true that seldom is any Hindrance to Business, for they dispatch that as they smoak, and as well as if they don't. Go into the Colleges, and you will find both Tutor and Pupil very hard at their Studies, and both of them with Pipes in their Mouths. In a word, they had rather go without their Dinners, than their Pipes; and this is plain, because during the Fast of Rhamazon, which lasts eighteen Hours, when it falls in the Summer; in all which time they take nothing at all in their Mouths, not so much as Water, the first thing they break their Fast with, is Tobacco. The excessive Use of this Weed drys them up, makes them lean, and weakens them; and in this they all agree, as an undoubted Truth. But then if you ask them, why they don't leave it off? They answer, Aded Chud, it is a Habit; and they say further, that there is no Joy, nor a cheerful Heart, without it. Abas the Great, at the time when this Habit began to gain ground apace, try'd several ways to root it out, but all in vain, altho' he himself abstain'd from Tobacco at that time. They say, among other things of him, that having one Day all his Noblemen round about him at a Feast, he commanded, that the Bottles of Tobacco, which were to be serv'd up to them, should have the Cups belonging to them full of Horse-dung dry'd and pounded, instead of Tobacco. This was not perceptible to the Sight, the Tobacco being usually served up, bruised or minced very small, as I have said, and moistened a little, and then a Coal or two of Fire placed upon it. The King ask'd the Grandees from time to time, How do you like that Tobacco? It was a Present from my Vizier of Hamadan, who, to reconcile me to the taking it, sent me the most excellent Tobacco in the World. Each of them answered him, Sire, it is most wonderful Tobacco; there is none that is more exquisitely good. At length the King, addressing himself to the General of the Courtches, who are the ancient Militia of Persia, and who passed for a Lord more stayd, and freer to speak his Mind than the rest, said to him, My Lord, I pray you tell me freely, and sincerely, What do you think of this Tobacco? Sire, reply'd he, I swear by your sacred Head, it smells like a thousand Flowers. The King turn'd, and looking on them all with Indignation, Cursed be that Drug, said he, that cannot be discerned from the Dung of Horses. Thirdly, There is Saffron, and it is the best in Nature; it grows in several Parts of Persia; but they esteem that above the rest, which grows by the Side of the Caspian-Sea, and next to it, is that of Hamadan, which is the ancient Susa or Suzan. Fourthly, The Assa-Faetida, which is a juice or Liquor that thickens, and grows almost as hard as the Gums: It drops from a Plant, which they call Hiltit, and is supposed to be the Lazerpithium or Silphium, of Dioscorides, which grows in many Parts of Persia, particularly in Sogdiana, and the adjacent Countries round about it. It is very good to eat, especially the White, for there are two sorts, one White and the other Black. The juice which comes out of the White is not so strong, and for that Reason only, less esteemed by them. The Orientalists call Assa-faetida, Hing, and the Indians make a great Consumption of it: They put it into all their Ragouts, and most delicate Meats: It is a Drug that has the strongest Scent I ever smelt; Musk does not come near it; you may smell it at a vast distance; and if there is any of it put in a Room, the Scent will last for whole Years. The Ships in which it is transported to the Indies, are so very strong of it, that there is no putting any thing else there, for fear of spoiling the Goods, or altering them; of which I had the unhappy Experience in some rich Stuffs; for though they were all wrapped up close in Cotton, and Sear-cloth folded round about it in several Folds, yet the Gold was tarnish'd, and the Silver turn'd quite black. Fifthly, There is the Mummy, and there are two sorts in Persia: One is commonly so call'd, which comes from Bodies embalm'd, and interr'd in dry burning Land, where, in the course of Ages, they petrify, as is very well known to all the Curious. This Mummy, which is nothing but the Petrifaction of a Corpse imbalm'd for two thousand Years, as they assure you, in Persia, is to be seen in Corasson, which is the Ancient Bactria. A Visier of the Province Named Mirza-Chefi, a very knowing Man, told me several times, that when they were working in the Sand to make Subterraneous Conduits for the carrying of Water, they have found some of these Mummies seven or eight Foot long, whether it is that the Bodies were larger at that time of Day, or that they took Pleasure to bury them, and stretch them out to a greater Length for the Admiration of Posterity: He added moreover, That when they found these Bodies, some of them had Heads of Hair and Beards, remaining, with Nails upon their Hands and Feet; and that their Faces were so little alter'd, that the Features of them might be plainly distinguished and discern'd. He thereupon told me, That our Bodies are like a Spunge, and that upon letting out the Blood, and those noble Particles of Life, which render the Body too moist, and then drying the rest well, one might keep them many Ages. The Soil of Bactria is a warm dry Sand, very proper to preserve and petrify Bodies after this Manner. The other Mummy is a precious Gum, which distills from a Rock. There are two Mines, or Springs, of it in Persia, the one in the Desarts of Caramenia, in the Country of Sar, and that is the best: For they avow, that let a human Body be never so much mill'd, broken, torn, and even minced all to pieces, one half Drachm of this Mummy will reestablish it in four and twenty Hours time. Of the Truth of this, no body in Persia makes the least Doubt, by reason of the Experience of miraculous Cures, which they perform daily, by means of this precious Drug. The other Mine is in the Country of Corasson, which is the Ancient Bactria, where I have told you, there are also Mummies of human Bodies, as there are in Egypt. The Rocks, from whence the true Mummy distills, belong to the King; and all that drops from them, is preserv'd for him. They are inclos'd, and lock'd up, and at the Entrance, are five Seals, of the principal Officers of the Province. They open the Mine but once a Year, in the presence of these Officers, and likewise several others, and all that is found of this precious Mastick, or the greatest part, is sent to the King's Treasury, from whence a Person that has occasion for it, may get it very easily, if he has but a little Credit and Interest. The Word Mummy is a Persian Word taken from Moum, which signifies Wax, Gum, Ointment. The Hebrews, and the Arabians, make use of this Name, with the same Signification. The Persians say, That the Prophet Daniel taught them the due Preparation and Use of the Mummy. Among the remarkable Plants of Persia, and that are at this time very well known, there is the Hannah, which is a Grain wherewith both Men and Women make a Colour to paint the Hands, the Feet, and sometimes the Face, in order to preserve the Skin, and the Complexion. The Sun has not the Power to tan a Face that is anointed with it, neither can the Cold penetrate it, as before, and chap the Skin. They likewise rub their Horses Legs over with it, for the same Reason. This Grain or Seed grow upon a little Tree, in Tufts, like Pepper or Ginger: There is abundance of it in the Countries of Kirmon, and at Siston: They say, it is the Shrub, which we call a Pastel. They also make use of the Leaves of it, for the same Effect. The manner of using them, is to beat 'em to a Powder, and then to temper them with Water in a Mortar; when that's done, they wet their Hands, and anoint them with Hannah so temper'd, and in a manner, enamel themselves over with it for the whole Night, that the Hannah may take place. This Tincture is nevertheless taken off by Water, which makes those, who have newly rubb'd their Hands with it, wash them very seldom for fear of the Hannah's going off: It commonly lasts fifteen Days or more before it goes away of it self. The Rounas, which our Authors call Opoponax, is a reddish root, that is employ'd in colouring and dying: It grows very much in Persia, and from thence the Indies, which is the best Country for colouring and dying, receives it. The Cotton-Tree grows up and down all over Persia; you may see whole Fields full of it: It is a Fruit as large as the Head of a Poppy, but of a rounder Figure. They find in every Head seven little Grains, or black Berries, which are as it were the Seed of that Fruit. There grows also in Persia, in several Places, a little Tree, perfectly rare and curious, the Fruit whereof is large and long, like green Lambriches, which when they come to open, yield a downy Silk, as fine as Wadding. I have had Quilts and Cushions made of it for my own Use in Persia. They Card it as they do Cotton, without spoiling it. I must place among these Physical Druggs the Bezoar, which is that Stone, that is so famous in Medicine. It is a soft Stone, form'd with several little -Coats and Skins, after the Manner of Pearls, or just like as Onions grow. They are found in the Bodies of He-Goats, and She-Goats, whether tame or wild, on the side of the Gulph of Persica, in the Province of Corasson, which is the ancient Margiana; and they are incomparably better than those which are got in the Indies, in the Kingdom of Colconda, and in the Countries most remote. They say further, that there are in those Countries of the Indies, great Bezoars, in the Bodies of the Asses, of the wild Boars, of the Porcupines, and in the Bodies of the Geese. I have seen some brought from Colconda; but because the Goats were driven three Days journey out of the Country, there were Bezoars but in a few of them, and those were only little pieces. We kept some of those Goats Fifteen Days alive, and that with nothing but corimon Green Herbs; and when we came to open them, we found nothing in them. I kept them at that time to try the Truth of what was said, that there was a particular Herb, which by heating those Animals, produc'd this Stone in their Bodies. The Persian Naturalists say, that the more these Animals feed in dry Countries, and eat warm and Sun-burnt Herbs, the more efficacious, and wholsome is the Bezoar that they yield us. Corasson, and the Borders of the Gulph of Persica, are Countries by their own Nature dry and Sun-burnt, if there are any in the World. One may always in the Heart of these Stones meet with some piece of Bramble, or other Wood, round about which, the humid Particles coagulate, that compose and form this Stone. It is to be observ'd, that in the Indies, they are the She-Goats that bear the Bezoar; and in Persia the Sheep, and the He-Goats; and this makes the Persians esteem most the Bezoar of their own Country, as being more hot, and better digested, and set but little Value on the others, which are sold at a much cheaper Rate. The Bezoar of Persia is sold by the Kourag, which is the weight of three Mesals; or to speak more plainly, Fifty Four Pound to the Kourag. The Orientalists hold, that the Bezoar is a Counter Poison, for which reason they have given it the name of Pe-zaer, which is as much as to say, the Conqueror of Poison; or a thing that has the upper-hand of Poison. Our Word Bezoar undoubtedly proceeds from thence, in the same Manner as the Word Civit, comes from the Word Zabad, which is the Persian Name. The Bezoar is made use of with great Success in Sudorifics; they give it in Purple Fevers; they more especially prescribe it in Cordials, Confections and Philtres. They say it warms and enlivens the Spirits, awakens Vigour, and confirms the Temperature of the Body. The Eastern Physicians prescribe this in the room of any thing else. The less knowing People, and the Quacks, cry it up to the Skies; but in the Bottom, it is a Drug that loses its Esteem in the East, and that will, in a short time, be entirely cry'd down, as I think it is already in Europe. The Manner of using it in Persia, is to grate it with the Point of a Penknife, or to make it into Powder on a Marble, and the usual Dose is two or three Grains, in a Spoonful of Rose-water. The Bezoar is very easily and commonly falsified. The greatest and most polish'd Pieces are the most to be suspected; because the Price of those Pieces being far above the Price of the common Pieces; the Falsifiers of it make more by the Drachm than any other way. I never saw true Bezoars that weigh'd above six Grains; and the true Bezoar is always lighter than the Counterfeit, which is one of the Marks the knowing Purchasers go by. There is another surer Mark still, which is to apply an Awl, made red-hot in the Fire; for if any Vapour issues from it, or if the Awl enters it, 'tis a certain Sign of its being a Counterfeit. Rosin and Spanish Wax, are the Materials which they commonly make use of, in falsifying the Bezoar. It must not be forgot, that the fine Polish of that Stone is Artificial; its Skin or Coat, when 'tis first taken out of the Body of the Animal, being Rough and Greenish, without as well as within. As I have had several Questions put to me since my return, concerning Musk and Ambergrease, I thought it would be very well done of me to set down here what I have observ'd in my Travels. I believe that all the World knows very well, that Musk is the Excrement and Corruption of a Beast, that resembles a wild She-Goat, excepting that her Body and Legs are smaller. It is to be met with in upper Tartag, in South China, which is bordering upon it; and in Great Tibet, which is a Kingdom between the Indies and China. I never saw any of those Animals alive there, but I have seen their Skins in several Places. You may meet with Draughts of them in the Embassy of the Hollanders to China, and in the China Illustrata of Father Kirchor. They give it out as a common Opinion, that Musk is the Sweat of an Animal, which runs and gathers it self in a small Bladder near the Navel. The Orientalists say more exactly, that it forms it self in a recess of the Body of that Goat, near the Navel, the Humour whereof works and eats its way out, particularly when the Beast is in a Heat; that then by dint of rubbing it self against Trees and Rocks, the Vessel is broke and penetrated, and the Matter spreads it self into that part, between the Muscles and the Skin, and gathering together there, it forms a sort of Lump or Bladder; that the Internal and External Heat, warms the corrupted Blood, and 'tis that Heat which gives so violent a Scent to the Musk. The Eastern People call this the Navel of Musk, and also the Odoriferous Navel. The good Musk is brought from Tibet; the Eastern People esteem it beyond that of China, whether it be that it has a more strong or lasting Perfume, or that their own comes fresher to them; because Tibet is nearer to them, than the Province of Xensy, which is the part of China where they make the most Musk. The great Trade for Musk is carried on at Boutam, a celebrated City in the Kingdom of Tibet. The Patans, who go to make Purchases there, distribute it out about all the Indies, from whence 'tis afterwards Transported to all the Parts of the Earth. The Patans are Neighbours to Persia, and the upper Tartag, and are Subjects, or rather only Tributaries to the Great Mogul. The Indians make great Account of this Aromatick Drug, and esteem it, as well for its Use, as for the great Demand there is for it. They use it in their Perfumes, in their Medicinal Epithems, and Confections,- and in all Preparations which they are accustomed to make, in order to awaken the Passions of Love, and confirm the Vigour of the Body. The Women make use of it to dissipate the Vapours, which rise from the Matrix into the Brain, by carrying a Bladder of it at their Navel, and when the Vapours are violent and continual, they take the Musk out of the Bladder, and inclose it in a little piece of single Holland, made in the fashion of a small Bag or Purse, and apply it to the Part, which Modesty will not permit me to Name. The best Musk in a Bladder, is worth fourscore and ten Roupies a Pound; the inferior sort goes at forty-five or fifty. A Roupie is thirty Pence French Money. The English and Portugueze make many Purchases in the Indies to sell again in Europe. The Hollanders buy theirs in China; the Armenians, the Persians, and the Patans carry theirs into Persia and Turkey, where there is a great consumption of them, for certain Reasons, that are very easy to Imagine. 'Tis the general Opinion, that when they cut the little Purse where the Musk is, there issues forth from it so strong a Perfume, that the Huntsman is oblig'd to stop his Mouth and Nose very close with Linnen folded in several Doubles; and that frequently, notwithstanding that Precaution, the excessive strength of the Perfume, forces the Blood to gush out with such Violence, that he bleeds to Death: I have appriz'd my self of this very exactly; and as, in effect, I have heard the same thing told by several Armenians, who had been at Boutam, I am my self perswaded of the Truth of it. My Reason is, because this Drug does not gain strength by Time, but on the contrary loses its Smell intirely at the long run. Besides, that Perfume is so strong in the Indies, that I was never able to bear the Smell. Whenever I trafick'd for Musk I always kept my self in the Air, with my Handkerchief held to my Nose, and stood at a pretty good distance from those who handled the Bladders, referring my self to my Broker's Opinion of it, by which I am well assured, that the Musk must be very heady, and perfectly insupportable, when 'tis taken just fresh from the Body. I add, that there is not a Drug in Nature, that is more easily counterfeited, nor more subject to Adulteration. There are several of these Bags or Purses, to be met with, which are no more than barely the Skins of the Animals, and fill'd with their Blood and a little Musk, to give it the Scent, and that are not the Purses which the Wisdom of Nature has plac'd near the Navel, to receive that wonderful and Odoriferous Moisture. As to the true and genuine Bladders themselves, when the Huntsman does not find them full, he squeezes the Body of the Animal, that the Blood may run into it, and fill it up; because 'tis a receiv'd Opinion, that the Blood of Musk, and even the Flesh it self, smells well. The Merchants afterwards put Lead, Bulls-blood, and other Things, into it, to add to the Weight. The Art which the Eastern People have to know when 'tis adulterated and when not, is first, to take and weigh it in their Hands. Experience has taught them, exactly to know by the weight, whether a Bladder be alter'd or not. Their Taste is the second Proof; the Indians never fail of putting into their Mouths the little Grains that are continually falling from the Bladders, when they are about buying them; The Third is, to take a piece of Thread soak'd in the juice of Garlick, and draw it through the Bladder, in a Needle, for if the smell of the Garlick goes away quite, the Musk is good, but if the Thread retains that smell, it is certainly adulterated. Ambergrease is got in the Indian Sea, along the Coasts of Africa, which lie between the Cape of Good Hope, and the Gulph of the Red Sea: The Sea throws it out at times, so that it goes much farther, even up to the River of Cglon, and the Coast of Malabar; but this happens very rarely. I have read in a Persian Author, that the Arabians believe Ambergrease to be a Matter produc'd by the Water of Springs and Fountains, which are at the bottom of the Sea, as the Naphte, which the Wiros, and the force 6f the Currents drive into the River. They hold, among the generality of the People, on the contrary, that it is a Froth of the Sea, that's harden'd and congeal'd, or else the Seed that comes out of large Fish, which likewise grows hard and congeal'd. But this is an Opinion that does not carry along with it an Air of Truth; for why should not the Sea, which is frothy, and has vast Fish every where in it, produce this precious Aromatick in other Places of the Indies, where there is still more Warmth, and a greater degree of Drought? The most knowing Indians say, that Ambergrease is an Odoriferous Gum, as Incense, which grows in Arabia, and which being wash'd into the Sea, by the Rains, the Floods, and the Torrents, which are usually subsequent to these rainy Seasons, (and these happen much about the time of our Autumn) is carried by the Winds and the Currents of the Monsoons, towards Africa, and driven along upon those Coasts, even to the last great Point of Land, which we call the Cape of Good Hope, where it is again driven back by the Course of a contrary Sea, which runs to meet it from the Island of Madagascar. One of the wisest Men in India, and one of the greatest Lords, by Name Miszar cheri felmole, whom the late King of Colconda, out of a particular Esteem, sent for from Ispaban, to give him his Daughter in Marriage, and who, the last time I was at Colconda, had the largest Pieces of Ambergrease, and the finest I ever saw in my Life, was of Opinion, that it was Wax and Honey congeal'd: He told me, as he was showing me some Pieces, which were very porous in the inside, and almost like a Spunge; that the Bees in Africa made their Honey among the Rocks, and in the old Trunks of hollow Trees, as they do in the East, mostly in Countries that are thinly inhabited, and sometimes even in others that are very well Peopl'd, as I have observ'd in my first Volume, that they make their Honey so in Mengrelia, and Circassia; and that the Torrents of Rain, carry pieces of their rough Work into the Sea, where the Matter hardening, contracts at last that admirable Scent, for which it is so much esteem'd. He said, that the difference between Ambergrease and the black Amber, which is not worth so much as the other, proceeds from this, that one Honey is not so good as the other, and that one may perceive just as much difference in the Ambergrease as one may in the Honey in all the Countries where there is wild Honey. This precious Drug, which was unknown to the ancient Professors of Pharmacy, as well Greeks as Arabians, smells at first very ill to what they pretend it does, but afterwards in proportion as it hardens, it loses that Quality. I have remark'd, that the Amber which is fresh and newly fish'd up, hath a strong smell, which is both displeasing and injurious, but goes off in time: They assure you still further, that the Birds of the Sea are very greedy of it, and peck it up, which I believe to be very true; however I never met with the point of a Bird's Beak in any piece of Ambergrease, which, they say, is frequently to be met with. (I The Persians don't use a great deal of Civet, which they call Zabad. The Women rub their Hair with it, having first very well prepar'd it for that purpose. Over and above all these Medicinal Drugs, which I have told you grow in Persia, there are also the Galbanum, which grows in the Mountains at seven or eight Leagues distance from Ispahan: The vegetable Alcali, which grows almost every where; the Sal Armoniack; the Orpiment, which is used for Depilation, or taking away the Hair; this grows in Media, and round about Casbin, particularly the yellow sort. I shall say nothing here of these latter Druggs, because they are neither so extraordinary, nor so much enquir'd after, but yet are sufficiently known already. Medieval background and art for this etext courtesy of Return to theTable of Contents. Last Updated on March 24, 2001 by Lisa and Sylvia.