The landing at Jaffa.- Jerusalem.-The Holy Sepulchre.--The holy places. -Bethlehem. - Return to Jerusalem. - Jericho. - The Jordan.-The pilgrims bathe and one is drowned.-Visit to Dead Sea.-Mount Quarantana.-A French squire falls off the mountain. -Trouble with an official.-Judgment and execution. Bethany.- Mount Tabor.-Tafur penetrates into the Mosque of Omar.-Second visit to the Holy Sepulchre.-Three pilgrims dubbed knights.

WHEN the pilgrim ship arrives at Jaffa the fact is known almost at once to the Prior of Mount Sion, who sends two or three friars to the Governor of Jerusalem who return with the Sultan's safe-conduct. They take the pilgrims ashore and deliver their names in writing to the Governor, and they themselves retain another list, and in this manner all fear of imposture is avoided. As one disembarks, there are Moors ready with asses which the pilgrims ride all the time that they are in the Holy Land. Two ducats is the price fixed for the hire, and this cannot be increased or diminished. The Governor and the friars travel with the pilgrims to Rama, a great place, five leagues from Jaffa, where there is a hotel founded for pilgrims by Duke Godfrey of Bouillon when he took the Holy Sepulchre. It is well provided with many apartments, some for men and some for women, and we remained there one day. The next morning we travelled two miles to the monastery of St. George, where his body is said to lie, and where he is believed to have slain the dragon, but others say that he slew it at Beyrout which is the port of Damascus. That day we slept at a place five leagues from there, close to a castle called Emmaus, and the following day we left early and travelled another five leagues to the city of Jerusalem, of which we obtained a good prospect some four leagues off. We could see a number of buildings, as well as Mount Sion, and the castles of King David, and the Holy Sepulchre which is a very lofty church.

As we entered Jerusalem the Christians, both Greeks and other nations, came out to receive us and carried us to a great square in front of the Holy Sepulchre where we prayed, but they did not let us go in. They then took us to a hostel, likewise founded by Duke Godfrey of Bouillon, where we found an abundance of food cooked in various ways, which the Greeks make ready and sell to the Christians. Not long after, the Prior of Mount Sion came with his friars, bringing with them ten or twelve knights who are accustomed to live in the monastery, and we were very comfortably lodged. The Prior left two friars who were to accompany us from that day onwards and show us the sights in Jerusalem and the vicinity. This monastery of Mount Sion is situated on one side of the city on the highest point, and in it are many places where Our Lord worked great miracles. There is also a lofty tower in the vault of which, when the disciples were gathered together, Our Lord appeared to them in tongues of fire--this was the Feast of Pentecost. From here one can see the sea of Sodom and Gomorrah, which they call the Dead Sea, where once were five cities. Beneath this tower is also a chapel where Our Lord appeared to St. Thomas the Apostle and told him to put his hand into His side, and many other things also happened in this place. At the entrance, in the centre of a Street, is the house of the Virgin Mary, and close to it, behind the monastery, is the place where Our Lord partook of the Last Supper with His disciples. This day we rested there, and the next day we heard Mass in the Holy Sepulchre, which is only open once a year, and there they took count of us according to the list which they made at Jaffa.

Each pilgrim paid seven ducats and a half, and with the two paid for the beasts, and certain payments made in small coin in the holy places-eleven of these coins being worth a ducat-each pilgrim paid twelve and a half ducats as tolls.

As we were preparing to enter the Holy Sepulchre, there came out to meet us in procession all those Christians who had been locked up there since the year before, that is to say the Catholics (three Franciscan friars), the Greeks, the Jacobite Christians, the Armenians, those of Cinturia, India and the Copts, in all seven different kinds of Christians, and we joined the procession and went into the Holy Sepulchre. This is a great church, exceeding lofty, with an immense opening through which the light enters. Within is another smaller chapel, in which is the Holy Sepulchre itself, and this is so small that there is no room in it, except for the priest who says Mass and the server. After worshipping there we went with the procession to Mount Calvary, where Our Lord was crucified, which is twelve or fifteen paces from that place. This is a great rock upon which stands a chapel, most richly ornamented with mosaic work. The hole in which the Cross was placed is still to be seen, as well as the holes where the crosses of the two thieves stood. After praying there, we descended to the place where Christ was anointed, and thence to the room where He was detained before the crucifixion. Afterwards we saw the place where St. Helena found the Cross, as well as the spot which Our Lord indicated as the centre of the world. Adjoining is the dwelling of the friars, where the relics are kept, and where Our Lord appeared to St. Mary Magdalene as a gardener. At the entrance is a great hall hung with pennons and flags of many kings and Christian princes, and here the knights set up their arms. All these things and many more are to be seen on the way in from this cemetery, and all the holy relics are there, and each one of the aforesaid Christians has a separate chapel. We left the procession and heard Mass, and then had dinner, which the Greeks had prepared for us very well for our money. That day the Moors and Christians had licence to display goods for us to buy, and we rested a day and night, hearing divine offices, each one in the manner of his country. Here is the tomb of Godfrey de Bouillon, with an inscription engraved on stone as follows. [It is missing.] Close to this is the tomb of Baldwin, his brother, made in the same manner, with this inscription. [It is missing.] The following day, when we had heard Mass, they opened the doors and let us out after counting us, and sent us to our hotel. That day we saw the Campo Santo and the Valley of Jehoshaphat, where is the sepulchre of the Virgin Mary, which is an underground vault reached by fifteen or twenty steps. The Franciscans are the guardians. Here we paid certain moneys. From there we went to the place where Our Lord was taken in the garden, and afterwards to the Mount of Olives, where Christ ascended to Heaven. There is a notable church here, with a stone with the imprint of His foot upon it. We saw also the place where the disciples, being gathered together, composed the Creed, and from there we continued to the spot where Christ uttered the Pater Noster. Close by is the elder-tree where Judas hanged himself. Then, as we returned to Jerusalem, we passed the place where the wood of the Cross was kept for a long time, and not far off is the site of the stoning of St. Stephen. We entered the city close by the Golden Gate, which adjoins the Temple of Solomon, and passed the pool where the Angel troubled the waters, and the sick were healed. Then we saw the Houses of Pilate and Caiaphas where Christ was judged. Here they still sentence people to death. We saw also the street called Amargura, where Our Lord carried the Cross on His shoulders, which is a covered way. Here the rain water is collected and pored in cisterns from which the people drink, for the city is badly supplied with water. This day we slept at our hotel. The next day we departed early from Jerusalem with the Governor and the friars, and set out for Bethlehem, five leagues from there, where on the way they showed us a chapel which marks the spot where the Star appeared to the Three Kings, and a league further on we came to the house of the prophet Elijah. At noon we arrived at Bethlehem, a small town with some fifty inhabitants. There the Moors vied with us in showing reverence, and we entered the monastery which is very notable and wealthy, with fine buildings. Six friars live here continually, and they came out in procession to receive us, and took us at once to a chapel under ground where Our Lord was born, and close to it is the crib, and at the going out is the place where Christ was circumcised. Then we saw the vaults where the Innocents are buried, and in these vaults is the place where St. Jerome translated the Bible, and here we rested that day and paid fees. The following day, after Mass, we departed for the place where St. John the Baptist was born, a distance of five leagues. Here lived St. Zachariah, and here he wrote the psalm Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel. In this place there are many holy things. We remained at Bethlehem all that day, and the next day we returned to Jerusalem, which is three leagues distant, where we arrived very early. We spent the day visiting certain sanctuaries in Jerusalem: the house of St. Anna, the house where St. Peter denied Our Lord (here is also the stone with which the sepulchre was closed); the houses of St. James, the Greater and, the Less, and the grave of Absalom which is situated outside the city. It is related that within the last few days, as some Moors were seeking treasure there, a cry was heard and they were brought out dead. We saw also a fountain which they say Our Lady, the Virgin, caused to spring forth, as well as the place where Our Lord fell when carrying the Cross, the castles of King David, the place where Christ washed the disciples feet, and many other holy places.

We rested for a day, and then set forth early from Jerusalem with the Governor and the friars, and dined two leagues from there at the castle and place called Madalon, which was the inheritance of Mary Mag- dalene. There is a notable church here, as well as the place where Our Lord raised Lazarus from the dead, and other holy sites. Here we paid fees. In the evening we departed and came to a place which belonged to Martha, the sister of Mary Magdalene, and slept that night at a house in a mountain where Our Lord healed the sick which were brought to Him. The next morning we came to Jericho, which is fifteen leagues from Jerusalem. There is here a great valley, and a vast plain through which the river Jordan flows to the place where Our Lord baptized St. John the Baptist, and was baptized of him. A stone cross in the water marks the spot. Here we all bathed, and a German gentleman belonging to our party perished by drowning. This is a place of the greatest sanity.

The pilgrims had to return that night to sleep at Jericho and to go the next day to Quarantana, where Our Lord fasted. But I arranged with a Moor to take me to the desert of Arabia, three leagues farther on, where St. John preached, and where the first hermit, St. Anthony, as well as other Holy Fathers, retired to live, and from there I returned by the Dead Sea, where were Sodom and Gomorrah and three other cities, five cities in all, which were overthrown for the sin of sodomy. The water is so foul that it cannot be de scribed, and they say that no fish can breed there and that no birds frequent the place. The Moor who travelled with me told me a great marvel: that the river Jordan enters the lake and emerges at the other side without mixing with the fetid waters, and that in the midst of the lake one can drink of the sweet water of the river. All about this valley there are certain tall and very straight trees, much burdened with a fruit like citrons, and if one touches them with the fingers, however lightly, they break and a smoke comes out, and the evil smell remains on the hand all that day.

The following day I returned and dined at Jericho, which is a village with about a hundred inhabitants, and there I gathered some of those roses which are beneficial to women in labour, and saw many holy places associated with Our Lord. At the head of that river is the province called Bethany-trans-Jordan. That night I slept at the mountain where Our Lord fasted where I again joined the pilgrims. This is a very high mountain range in the centre oĢ which are some small chapels, and there is a road for the ascent, made by St. Helena to do honour to the place. But as we were ascending, a squire of France, going to the assistance of a lady, fell headlong from the mountain and was dashed in pieces on the rocks below, for the place is very perilous to climb. We then descended, and by another and easier route we reached the very summit where Our Lord was tempted of the devil. We then returned and came to a fountain where the people from Jericho had brought food to sell to us. We remained there that night, and the next morning we took up the corpse of that squire and carried it to the before-mentioned house on the mountain, and there we buried it, after which we remained there that day.

The next morning we returned to the castIe of Madalon, but the Governor remained behind as he was going hunting. He commended us, however, to one of his knights, who accompanied us to the church where Lazarus was raised from the dead. The officer there demanded tribute, but the Moor who was with us refused to pay, saying that it was not customary, and the quarrel grew so heated that the officer and his men took up arms against the knight who had charge of us and wounded him. But we went to his assistance and attacked and wounded many of the Moors, and finally we captured the officer and his fellows and carried them before the Governor, who meanwhile had drawn near. The Governor at once held his enquiry and pronounced sentence of death on the officer, whose head was cut off without more ado, while the other prisoners were ordered to be flogged. We remained there until evening, and then returned to sleep at Jerusalem. The next day we departed with the same knight and came to Bethany, where they showed us many holy places, including Mount Tabor, where Our Lord was transfigured, and it is said that here also is the Vale of Hebron, where are the graves of Adam and Eve. We returned that night to Jerusalem, passing several holy places, among them the garden where Our Lord prayed and was taken, and we reached the city early.

That night I bargained with a renegade, a native of Portugal, and offered him two ducats if he would get me into the Temple of Solomon, and he consented. At one o'clock in the night I entered, dressed in his clothes, and saw the Temple which is a single nave, the whole ornamented with gold mosaic work. The floor and walls are of the most beautiful white cones, and the place is hung with so many lamps that they all seemed to be joined together. The roof above is quite flat and is covered with lead. They say, in truth, that when Solomon built it, it was the most magnificent building in the whole world. Afterwards it was destroyed and rebuilt, but to-day, without doubt, it is still unmatched. If I had been recognized there as a Christian I should have been killed immediately. Not long ago this Temple was a consecrated church, but a favourite of the Sultan prevailed on him to take it and turn it into a mosque. The renegade who had escorted me now returned with me to Mount Sion where the friars mourned for me as one already dead, since I had not come at the appointed time, and they rejoiced greatly to see me again, as did also the gentlemen of my company.

We had ordained to go the next day to hear Mass and to remain a day and night in the Holy Sepulchre. Accordingly, we arrived at daybreak, and they opened the doors with the same ceremonies as before. That day we confessed and received the Sacrament, and I dubbed three gentlemen Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, two Germans and a Frenchman, and we placed our arms in the accustomed place and took some of the relics which the guardian gave us, and the next day at dawn we heard Mass and departed. We spent the whole of this day and the next in visiting holy places and in preparation for our departure. I had been enquiring as to the possibility of visiting St. Catherine's monastery on Mount Sinai, which is close to the Red Sea, but learnt that the escort with the camels had already departed with an ambassador from Turkey to the Sultan at Babylonia, so that my journey could not be undertaken. I was willing to remain there until next year, if needs be, but the guardian advised me to go to Cyprus to see the Cardinal, brother of the old King, stating that he would give me a safe-conduct for Babylonia and that I could reach Mount Sinai from there, and I decided to do this.

Departure for Cyprus.-Rama.-Jaffa.-Beyrout.-Colchis.-Cyprus. -Nicosia.-Mosen Suarez and the late King's captivity.-Tafur is appointed ambassador to the Sultan of Egypt.

THE next day we departed with the Governor and the friars and slept at Rama. The following day we reached the port of Jaffa, where we found the galleys awaiting us, and we went on board, and the Moors and friars returned to Jerusalem while we set sail for Beyrout. This day the Governor Nagardin came to me and related what befell the King of Denmark, and so we arrived at the port of Damascus. We passed along the coat by Tyre, Ascalon and Acre, where is a castle to which the Knights of St. John withdrew when they lost Jerusalem. Close by is Nazareth, where Our Lady was saluted, which is in Galilee, and so we arrived at Beyrout. Here the patrons of the galleys took in merchandise, and I desired to see Damascus, but they could not stay for me. From here I saw Mount Lebanon, where all the trees are cedars, but they looked like laurels. Here, in Beyrout, they say that St. George slew the dragon, and now they find these creatures in the fields under the stones, like scorpions, and they grow no larger and have no poison. This, they say, is due to the prayers of the blessed St. George. I gathered much information concerning Damascus, but since I did not see the place I pass it over and leave it to those that have been there. We departed from Beyrout by the coast of Syria as far as Armenia, where of old Antioch is said to have stood, and they showed it to us. Then, proceeding along the coast, we saw the castle of Colchis where Medea lived, and the island of the Golden Fleece. This castle belongs to the Kings of Cyprus, wherefore they call themselves Kings of Armenia. In this part of Armenia there is a high mountain range called the Black Mountain, and here, they say, Noah's ark rested after the Flood.

Over against this castle is the island of Cyprus, and in that part which faces Armenia is the ancient city of Famagusta, which the Genoese captured when they took the King of Cyprus and carried him to Genoa with his wife, and there the Queen gave birth to a son whom they called Janus, who was the father of the present king. The place is depopulated on account of bad air and water. They say that there is a lake here called Gostanca which is the cause of the ill-health. Nevertheless, the Kingdom of Cyprus is for the most part unhealthy. We arrived at daybreak and anchored to take in cargo, and I bade farewell to the ship's master and to my friends, and had my goods put on shore. I caused enquiries to be made for beasts for me and my people and goods, and I departed forthwith and took the road for Nicosia, which is ten leagues away. This is the chief city of the Kingdom and the most healthy, and here the Kings are accustomed to hold their court, and the lords of the Kingdom have their dwellings there. Since it was already late I had to stay at an inn, two leagues from the city. As I was going along I was seized with such terrible pains in my head that I thought I was about to die. The pain descended to my legs and attacked the stomach, the belly, hips, thighs and the knees down to the feet, and it lasted all that night and the following day until Vespers. I could not but think that if each separate pain was to endure for three hours I should certainly die. That night I departed and came to the city of Nicosia where the King then was, and I lodged at an inn. The next morning, as I was hearing Mass in the church of St. George, a squire approached me from the Lady Ines, sister of the late King Janus, she having sent him to summon me to her presence. And after Mass I went with the squire to the palace of that lady and made my reverence, and she received me very graciously, desiring to know who I was and whence I came and whither I was going. After much speech with me she gave directions that I should take up my lodging in her house, and ordered all things necessary to be prepared for me and mine. This lady was very noble, but unmarried, having in youth resolved to remain a virgin, and she was continually in the King's council, and by her influence controlled most of the affairs in the Kingdom, and she was about fifty years of age. After I had rested she conduced me the next day to the King, her nephew, and to the Cardinal, her brother. I then made my reverence to both, and they received me very graciously, and I related to them the reason for my journey, stating that in the first place I had come there to visit the King and his court, and secondly to obtain a safe-conduct for my journey to Babylonia and Mount Sinai. I showed them my letters from King Juan, recommending me to the Cardinal of Cyprus who at that time was in Italy, but now I found him here, and he promised to help me in what ways he could. There was present at this interview Mosen Suarez, admiral of Cyprus, and he approached me with great friendliness, saying that he was a Castilian, as I was, and he craved leave of the King and the Cardinal and the Lady Ines to take me as his guest, and the Lady Ines made objection, but finally she consented, and I went with him to. his house. This knight was born in Segovia, of the family of Cernadilla, and being young and on his travels, he came to Cyprus on the very day on which the late King was fighting with the Sultan's forces, and he carried himself so valiantly in battle that he saved the King's life, but he was taken prisoner with him and carried to Babylonia. There is a custom among the Moors that none may ride on horseback who is not a renegade Christian, and that day, as they entered Babylonia, the King being a captive, they brought two horses, one for the King and one for Mosen Suarez, and when they were come into the presence of the Sultan he gave orders, having heard the truth of the affair, that Mosen Suarez should be honoured equally with the King. After some days, when they were speaking of the King's ransom, the Sultan told Mosen Suarez that if he wished to further the release of the King, he would set him free on his word that he would go and return with the ransom, or at least come back himself. Mosen Suarez promised accordingly, and the Sultan ordered that everything should be prepared for him, and when asked in what guise he would go, he replied that he would travel as a Syrian. Thereupon the Sultan fitted him out and gave him licence, and he departed and came to Cyprus, and after taking counsel with the Cardinal and the Lady Ines, and their advisers, it was ordained to send certain knights to the kings and princes of Christendom to seek their aid in ransoming the King (I saw there the knight who was sent to Castile, who was called Jacobo Guiri), and the lot fell upon this same Mosen Suarez to go to Rome to the Pope. In due time each returned from his mission, bringing back what he could, and the necessary guarantees having been obtained, Mosen Suarez, with the others of the Council, took a sum of gold, which was 300,000 ducats, and set out with it to the King.

As soon as they were come to Babylonia the Sultan heard of it, and sent orders to go out and receive them, and he showed Mosen Suarez as much honour as if he had been his own son. The release of the King was secured in this wise: the Sultan took the gold, and in addition the King of Cyprus obliged himself to send each year 8000 ducats, and so the matter was concluded. The Sultan gave orders to prepare the necessary things and the ships to carry the King to his country.

Moreover, the King showed much favour to Mosen Suarez and also to the Sultan's chief interpreter, a native of Castile who was a Jew of Seville and a renegade, for services rendered to him in his prison, and each year the present King sends him 200 ducats. When the King returned to his Kingdom and conferred with his lords, he took Mosen Suarez by the hand and made him sit down at his side, and said that if he had no legitimate son he would bequeath the Kingdom to him. The King also sent for one of his bastard daughters who was there, and married Mosen Suarez to her, and made him his admiral and his heir.

After I had passed four or five days in the house of the admiral Mosen Suarez, the Cardinal sent for me and told me that I was to go to hear Mass with the King, and that he would give me occasion for my journey to Babylonia, and that I was to dine with him. After Mass the King went apart to a corner of the church with the Cardinal and his aunt and with his councillors, and presently the Cardinal came and told me from the King that he knew of my desire to go to Babylonia and Mount Sinai, and that as the King had to send an ambassador to the Sultan about his affairs he had asked me to accept the office, and that by doing this I should be serving the King well. I knew that the Cardinal placed the affair in that light in order to honour me, and I replied that I was content to serve the King in this manner, since I knew him to be a Christian, and of the nation of France. Thereupon, the King sent for me to dine with him and the Cardinal, and he gave me directions for my journey.

Departure from Cyprus.-Damietta.-Weasels and carrier pigeons.- A narrow escape.-The Nile.-Crocodiles.-Hippopotami.- Journey up the Nile to Babylonia (Cairo).-The Mamelukes.- Reception by the Sultan of Egypt.-La Matarea.-The Pyramids.- Elephants.-A Girafe.-A game of Polo

I DEPARTED for Paphos, where the King has ordered me to be received in a village on a mountain, for the plague was in Paphos, and this village had escaped, and I lodged in the house of Diego Thenorio, a Castilian squire, with whom I had much pleasure. At the end of three days a ship with eighteen rowers arrived at Paphos, which was to carry me and the King's interpreter who was with me, the ship being as well victualed as if for the King's household, and with it came the particulars of the business I had to transact with the Sultan. The second day we set sail, and after being eleven days at sea, with favourable winds, we arrived at last at the port of Damietta, where the river Nile, which comes down from the terrestrial paradise, flows into the Mediterranean Sea, and there we entered the river and reached Damietta, a league and a half from the sea. It is as big as Salamanca and is abundantly supplied with bread and grapes, and all manner of fruits and sugar. The city is very flat and unwalled and without a castle. It is excessively hot, but the dwellings are very cool. There are so many weasels, both in the streets and houses, that they are more numerous than are mice with us, even in places where they abound. I saw there for the first time carrier pigeons' which take letters in their tail-feathers. They carry them from the place where they are bred to other places, and when the letters are detached they are set free and return to their homes. By this means the inhabitants have speedy news of all who come and go by sea or land, and thus escape surprise, since they live without defences, and have neither walls nor fortresses.

As soon as I arrived I was taken to the Governor, and I told him that I had come to the Sultan and asked him for a small boat to carry me farther, since the ship which had been sent with me could not be navigated in the river, and he gave directions for me to be received in his house while the necessary arrangements were being made. While I was there certain Moors came, saying that I was a Catalan, and that they had seen me at meat with the Lord of Candelor, and that they could prove it, and they brought two Turkish gentlemen who, they said, had been present and could testify to the truth of what was alleged. And they came and saw me, but said at once that the Moors lied. Whereupon I enquired: "If the Turks had said otherwise, what would have been my fate ?" They replied that I should have been executed at once, since whatever a Turk said was accepted as true. In this district more dates are produced than in any other part of the world. The Nile passes through the city, that is, one of two arms of the river which separate about a day's journey from Babylonia. In the month of September, when I was there, the water rises and floods the whole country, and when the water is at its height great numbers of fish enter the river from the sea and are found even among the houses. The heat is very great, and consequently the houses are built for the most part with openings towards the river, so that water can be collected easily, and at times the fish come in through the openings and are washed up on to the ground and caught. In this river there are great beasts which breed there called cocatriz, and when they are in the water neither man nor beast can escape them. They say that they are afraid of buffaloes, and for this cause, since there are no bridges in those parts, nor can any be made because of the great stretches of sand, the poor people, who would otherwise have to hire boats, mount these buffaloes and cross the river upon them without any danger. These creatures are accustomed to come out of the water five or six paces, and when it is sunny they become very sleepy, and those that set out to kill them take a lance with an arrow at the end, fitted with barbs, which grip when they enter and fasten themselves in the flesh. At the other end a cord is tied, some 100 or 150 fathoms long, and when they approach the beast they strike below the ribs, which is the only vulnerable spot, and the iron enters, whereupon they pull the cord tight. As soon as the beast feels that it is hurt it makes for the water, and they play out the cord until it becomes tired. Then they pull it ashore and carry it about through the towns and villages, begging alms, as they do in Castile when they kill a wolf. These creatures are shaped like a lizard. Their top and bottom teeth fit into each other so closely that when they seize anything they cannot easily let go. On land they flee from everything, because they are not at home there. I saw many of these creatures in that river. They say also that in the same river there are other beasts, although I did not see them, which are neither more nor less than horses, except that their jaws are as broad as their foreheads, and they come out of the water to graze, and the men make pits in the ground and cover them, like the wolf pits in Castile, and so they kill them, although they do no harm either in or out of the water. The water of the Nile is the best in the world and seems, in truth, to be water of paradise. During the whole period of my visit I drank nothing but this water, although I could have had excellent wine. In this place there are quails like those of Castile, which they sell, ten for a maravedi, and they kill them with dogs, beating them up with sticks with two or three bells fastened to the end. I remained at Damietta eight days, by which time the Governor had a ship prepared to take me to Babylonia. These ships are as long as a great galley, and are furnished with rooms from one end to the other where one can lodge. They have flat keels, since they have to ride in shallow water. They carry much cargo and are rigged with a sail as high as a carack's, but it is a narrow and lateen sail like that of a galley. It happens at times, when the river is rising, they cannot move a yard forward, although they work with sails and oars, unless they can get clear of the current, or land men to tow them with long ropes. They carry three drums, one in the poop, one in the prow and one amidships to frighten away the cocatriz. They do not dare to take water from the river by hand, but they bind a vessel to a long pole and take water in that manner. I now departed from Damietta, continuing my journey up the river. On either side the shore is sprinkled with villages down to the water's edge. I arrived at the place where the two arms of the river separate, the one I followed, and the other goes to Alexandria. There are men at Babylonian who shave the head, the beard, the eyebrows and the eyelids, and they appear to live like mad people, saying that they do this out of holiness, and that for the service of God they eschew the world and its pomps, and for this reason also they shave themselves. Some go about wearing horns, others bedaubed with honey and feathered, and others carrying poles with lanterns and lights hanging from them; others have bows and arrows drawn ready to shoot, and thus in diverse manners they go about, saying that they are persecutors of the Christians. The Moors show them great reverence. One day I met a number of them and asked where they were going; and they said that they were about to enter the fire with the Christian dogs to see who would burn the faster. In Alexandria there is abundance of flax from which they make excellent linen.

So, continuing our journey, we came in seven days to Babylonia and disembarked at the port, where there is a corn-market frequented by Christians, and we unloaded all our goods from the ship and lodged there that night. The next day in the morning we hired asses, very well equipped with saddles and bridles, and very fast, with a man to guide us to the house of the Sultan's chief interpreter, and it took us from dawn to midday to reach his house. When we had arrived I gave him the letters and saluted him from the King of Cyprus, and paid him also the 200 ducats sent by the King in accordance with the provisions of his father's will, which directed that sum to be paid to him for life, in return for services rendered to the King in prison. He received me very graciously and lodged me in his house. I remained there two days before I could see the Sultan, and during that time the interpreter spoke much with me, and asked me about myself, and heard from me how that I was a Castilian, born in Seville, whereat he was very pleased, for he too had been born there, but had been carried as a child to Jerusalem with his father, who was a Jew, and on his father's death he became a Moor. At first they called him Haym, but now Saym. He wanted to know who I was and whence I had come, and I hid nothing of my deeds in order to avail myself of his services and counsel. I was as well received in the house of this interpreter as if I had been his son, and he allowed me to mix with his wives and children, telling me that it was the greatest honour he could show me, and, indeed, it seemed that I was of his country, since his children were so fond of me. This gentleman would be about 90 years old, but, notwithstanding his age, he was still able to beget children, and while I was there one of his wives gave birth to a son. He has four Christian wives, such as are purchased in the Black Sea, for they hold it a great dishonour to marry a Moor by birth. During those three days, before I could see the Sultan, he showed me many things, so that it would take long to write of them. The third day he took the letters which I brought for the Sultan, and he carried them himself, and showed them and took counsel about the replies. That night he brought them back to me closed and told me, as I was his fellow countryman, that the Sultan had already seen the letters, since it was held to be a disgrace not to reply immediately, and therefore it was the custom to read them first, but that I should be well advised to propose my business without letting it be understood that I knew what had been told me.

The next morning he sent to make ready the beasts for me and mine, and at sunrise we set out for the Sultan's palace. Before we arrived we were able to eat and drink by the way, for men go about carrying portable stoves with ready cooked food, others sell fruit, others water, and many things besides. We arrived at the principal mosque, which is a very re markable thing to see, but there are better in Christian lands. We then came to a great square where there were men on horseback, and armed tents, and we learnt that outside the city there were more horsemen, for this was the day on which the Sultan is saluted. I cannot describe the number of men-at-arms, on horse and on foot, and keep silence, since I do not wish to relate what is hard to credit, although, indeed, in these parts anything may be said and believed. We arrived at the door of the Sultan's residence and left our beasts, and climbed the steps to the entrance. This dwelling is about the same size as Villareal. The streets are full of men going to and fro from place to place, and they told me that these were the Mamelukes, whom we call renegade barbarians, and the Sultan buys them for cash in the Black Sea, and in all places where the Christians sell them. When they arrive here they become Moors, and they teach them the law, and instruct them in horsemanship and to shoot with the bow. Then they are examined by the chief Doctor, and are given wages and rations and sent to the city. No man can become Sultan, nor admiral, nor have any honour or office except he be one of those renegades, nor can any Moor by birth ride on horseback under penalty of death. It is the Mamelukes who have all the honours of knighthood. Their sons have somewhat less honour, and the grandchildren still less again, and after that they are accounted Moors by birth. This is in order to augment the number of Mohammedans: therefore are they called the increasers of the law of Mohammed. The women do not enjoy this prerogative, but a Moor would rather take a Christian woman without dowry, than a Moorish woman, however richly dowered she may be, especially if she is a Moor ` by birth.

Continuing through the streets we reached a great door which was locked, and they opened it, and we entered and came to a great court full of horsemen, drawn up in order against the walls, and opening another door they took us to a square where horsemen were likewise marshalled. They then opened another door, and we came to a further square, where men were also stationed, but here there were negroes with clubs in their hands. The chief interpreter made me wait here with my attendants ,until he should return. In a short space of time he came back and escorted me through a door to a great square, in which were numbers of horsemen in the same order as before. In the centre of the square was a large and sumptuous tent with its trappings, where the Sultan was to dine, and where he was to receive the salute, and close at hand a pavilion had been set up, and a high platform with a seat where the Sultan was to alight. The chief interpreter told me to wait in the centre of that square and that the Sultan would come out and pass by with him, but that I was not to make any reverence, for such is their custom in their disdain for Christians. While I was there they opened a great door and the Sultan came out on horseback.

His son preceded him on foot with about 200 horsemen, and he passed close by me and sat himself on the above-mentioned seat. A few days previously the Sultan had set free from prison a son of his treasurer, who had succeeded his father, and who was very wealthy, having much gold and pearls and precious stones, and other things of great value, and to honour that feast, and to return to the Sultan's favour, he had sent him a black horse shod with gold, the bridle and saddle being also garnished with gold. In the saddle-bow was a ruby which was said to weigh an Egyptian pound and a half, which looked as large as a good-sized orange. In the back saddle-bow were three rubies as large as fowls' eggs, and a scimitar worth much gold. The hangings were of white damask, ornamented with a border of valuable pearls.

The chief interpreter now came to me, and told me that I must make a show of kissing the ground before approaching the Sultan, and he took the letters which I carried, and touched my head and mouth with them for greeting, and gave them to the Sultan. Since they were written in a foreign language he read them out in the Turkish language, for no one at the court speaks anything else. They say that this was ordained when the Turk adopted the law of Mohammed some time ago, and that it is done out of honour. The Sultan enquired of me concerning the King of Cyprus, and the Cardinal, his uncle, and Mosen Suarez, and also concerning others of the Kingdom, and when I had replied he assured me that he was pleased to grant the requests of the King, which were as follows: the King had sent me to beg that the Sultan would not send the Mamelukes each year, as he was wont to do, to collect the tribute, since they caused the King great expense, but that the King would send the tribute in four months, and further that the Sultan would accept the tribute in camlets, at the price they were worth in Babylonia. Also that he would allow the King to sell his salt, which was a source of great revenue throughout Syria, without paying duty, and all this was granted. The Sultan also gave directions that I was to be well lodged and that I was to have whatever was necessary, and this was done. That day the Sultan gave me a robe which he was accustomed to give, as an emblem of vassalage, to the King of Cyprus, which was of olive green and red, worked with gold and lined with ermine. Then the Sultan descended from his seat and came to the tent, whereupon the salute was given, and he dined. I then took leave of him for that day.

While I was there a hundred men, or thereabouts, entered, bringing a Moor with them, and they threw him on the ground, and stripped him, and gave him 200 strokes on the belly and shoulders with rods. They told me, further, that all criminal justice was administered in the presence of the Sultan. When we returned to that place we found none of those whom we had seen before, except the negroes, and from there we came to the great square, and mounted our beasts, but there were no gentlemen there nor in the tents, only poor men with sieves, sifting the sand. I enquired what it signified, and was told that they were vagrant people, who were seeking whatever might have fallen to the ground from so great a multitude of men. That day we were occupied until sunset in returning to our lodging. The following day we rested, and I arranged to send the Sultan's dispatch to the King of Cyprus in that vessel of his which was at Damietta, and that it should return for me in two months, during which time I intended to go to St. Catherine's monastery on Mount Sinai.

After sending the Sultan's dispatch to the King of Cyprus I remained in Babylonia about a month, marvelling at many things which were passing strange to those of our nation. Indeed, I had great good fortune in having such a guide as the chief interpreter for he took much pleasure in doing whatever I desired One day we rode out at dawn to La Matarea, where the balsam is obtained. It is about a league from the city and we did not arrive until mid-day, although we had very swift beasts. Our lodging might be said to be in the centre of the city, so that from this one can well see how extensive the city is. La Matarea is great orchard enclosed by a wall, and in it is the garden where the balsam grows. It is about 60 or 70 square feet in extent, and here it grows, and it resembles two year old vine, and they collect it in the month of October. The Sultan comes with great ceremony to collect the oil, and they say that there is so little that it does not reach half an azumbre of our measure But they take the branches and boil them in the oil and deliver them to the world as balsam. Having finished gathering the roots, they commence at once to cultivate the ground, and they take specially prepared cuttings and drive them in, and they water them with that water which Our Lady, the Virgin, called forth in that place when she was fleeing with her Son into Egypt. It is a place of great devotion for us Christians. When they have watered the plants with that water the next day they find they have taken root. Many times they have tried to water them with Nile or other water, but the roots dry up at once. As one goes out from this garden there is a very great fig-tree, which produces figs of Faron, which are red, and inside the trunk is a little building like a small chapel. The tree, they say, opened of itself, and there Our Lady and her Son hid when they were in danger of capture. As we were returning to Babylonia along the river Nile, we saw many gardens and fine houses of the nobles, and we took all that day to return, and did not reach our lodgings until midnight. The next day we went to see the Granaries of Joseph, which are three leagues from the mouth of the river, in the desert. Although they say that there are many more further inland, there are only three here, two great ones, and one lesser one. They are diamond shaped, with the apex raised, and they must be much higher than the Great Tower at Seville. As one enters through the door there is a wall joined to another, making a circular fairway which reaches to the top, with many windows. And the beasts, when they are laden, climb up and are unloaded through those windows, and so they fill the granaries to the top. Certainly I never thought that there was such a great building in the world to-day, nor have I seen the like before or since. This day we returned to Babylonia, and the following day we went to see the place where they keep the elephants, and we saw seven. They are black in colour and larger than camels. The front and back legs are so firm that they seem to be of marble. The foot is round with a very strong hoof. The legs are said to be jointed, but they have no marrow. The eyes are red, and very small like a farthing. The tail is short like a bear's. The ears resemble a shield, and the head is like one of those great jars which hold six arrobas. The tusks are four spans in length. The mouth is very small, and from the lip there hangs in front a trunk of about six palms' length. The beasts can extend and contract it at will, and with it they grasp whatever they want to eat, and carry it to the mouth, or take up water when they need it. These beasts seem to be very knowing. They play tricks, and at times they will fill their trunks with water and squirt it over anyone they choose. They play also with a lance, throwing it up and catching it, with many other sports. When they are in heat they take them at dawn and put them in the river to cool them, otherwise they could not control them. They have a very hard skin, and if they are wounded they put them where the moon shines on them, and the next day they are healed. The drivers carry an iron spike fastened to a pole, and they prick them behind the ears, and turn them where they will, for the skin is very tender there, and even a fly alighting in that place will give them pain. They feed them with grain and barley, as they do horses with us. It is said that in India they place castles upon them, which hold sixteen men, and when they wish to fight they cover the tusks with steel. These animals are said to be very long-lived. This day we returned to our lodging, having seen many strange sights. The following day we went to see an animal called a giraffe. It is as large as a stag. Its front legs are two fathoms long and its back legs no more than a cubit. In general appearance it is like a fag. It is dappled, the stripes being white and yellow. The neck is as long as a good sized tower is high. It is very tame. If they give it bread to eat with the hand it lowers its head and makes a great arc with its neck. They say that these creatures live to a great age, and that this one has been there more than 200 years.

That day we went to see the city of Babylonia. It is divided into three sections. The first they call Greater Babylonia, the second Cairo, and the third Mistra. By the side of the city of Babylonia, in the river which passes that quarter, there are three columns in the water with certain lines and ancient letters upon them, and in the month of September, when the river rises, guards are placed there, and they watch every hour when the water increases, and they report the matter to certain criers on the land, who go through the city every hour, crying out how much the water has risen, and when the water is fully risen the people know to what extent they can sow, and whether the year will be fruitful or lean. They say that the setting up of these columns was the first work undertaken in Babylonia. In the ancient part of this city there are many notable houses and gardens, even on the terraces, and great trees and vast numbers of caves and cisterns for storing the Nile water. This day we returned to our lodging, and I arranged with the interpreter to go the following day to see the Sultan, and crave licence to depart for Mount Sinai. We accordingly went in the morning to the great palace, but found that the Sultan had gone hunting, and we followed him and overtook him about a league from the city. He was exceedingly well attended, having, as it appeared to me, more than five or six thousand horsemen, and many falcons and leopards. That day the Sultan dined in the field, and afterwards they played a game which is customary there, in this manner: they place a ball in the centre of the field, and some thousand horsemen, more or less, take up their position on one side, and they draw lines on either side in front of them, and each one has a mallet in the hand, the handle of which is fixed into a staff, and they all attack the ball at the same time, with intent, on the one side, to drive it across the line, while the others seek to do the same on their part, and those who succeed in driving the ball across the line are the victors. That day one of the players tried to hinder the Sultan's son, and he took out his sword and tried to kill his opponent, and there was a great commotion until the Sultan came up and parted them.

The journey to Mount Sinai.-Trade in mummy.-The Monastery.- Tafur proposes to visit India.-Arrival of a caravan.-Nicolo de' Conti.-He relates the story of his life.-The Red Sea.

THAT day I begged leave of the Sultan to go to Mount Sinai, and he consented, and ordered that one of his interpreters should go with me, and he provided three camels for me and mine, and would accept no payment. I then took my leave and departed in two days. In those two days, indeed, there was little leisure, since there were so many strange and remarkable things to see, and as the weather was very hot they brought me each morning a vase of water to drink, which was specially treated, and in it were certain seeds like hemp, and of a truth it was a very healthy drink. It is their custom to drink it fasting in the summer before dinner. The Sultan's interpreter prepared everything that was necessary, and recommended me to the interpreter who was to go with me, and wrote himself to the Patriarch of Alexandria who lived in Cairo (who selects the Superior of the monastery of St. Catherine at Mount Sinai), to recommend me to him. We departed from Cairo, and crossed the lifeless desert of Egypt with much labour and in great peril. The heat was such that I was amazed that any man could withstand it. These deserts, they say, provide the mummies, which are the bodies of those who die there. For with the great dryness which is in those parts, the bodies do not decay, but the radical moisture is consumed, leaving the bodies entire and dried, so that they can be ground up. There is no road in the desert, for the wind effaces it and shifts the sands from one place to another and makes great hills, and people die there, as I have related. They navigate here with the compass as at sea. There is no habitation between Babylonia and Mount Sinai, and the camels carry everything, as well for the travellers as for themselves.

The journey to Mount Sinai endured for fifteen days. This mountain is very lofty and stands quite alone, about half a league from the Red Sea. On the summit of this mountain there was formerly a monastery, where the body of St. Catherine was kept, and they say that one year, when there was great scarcity of bread, the monks, on that account, and also in view of the great labour in climbing those heights, went to Babylonia, leaving the monastery and the holy body unattended. Thereupon the blessed St. Catherine appeared to them and told them to return, and that they would find provisions and a convenient place to live in, and that where they should find a great heap of wheat, there they should build their monastery and house her body. The monks thereupon returned, and found at the foot of the mountain a great heap of wheat, and there, thanking God and the Virgin St. Catherine for the blessings they had received, they erected their monastery which is still a most notable place. The monks ascended the mountain and brought down the body with great honour, and placed it in the monastery at the foot, where they now live, not, indeed, neglecting what is on the mountain itself, for there are many holy places there, it being the place where God gave the tables of the law to Moses, and where He appeared to him in the burning bush. Here also is the place where He bade Moses strike the rock with his rod, and the water gushed forth, which to this day runs down to the foot. The lower monastery is a fine building. There are in it about fifty or sixty persons, both monks and servants, and the church is well fashioned in the Greek manner. The body of St. Catherine is beneath the chief altar. I did not see the body, because they are not accustomed to show it, and, indeed, the place is not convenient for seeing it, but it appeared to me, from its size, that the body must be greater by a span than the tallest women who could be found in the world to-day. There are in a house certain bodies of men enbalmed. Some say they are the bodies of knights who visited that holy place and died there. Others say that some knights of Greece were carried there after death, and it is a place of great devotion. The monastery derives a large income from all Greece; and a great lord of Candia left to it, when he died, an income of 4000 ducats, but since the place is very remote, and the provisioning of it costs much money, part of the revenue is expended in maintaining an establishment at Babylonia, and the Patriarch of Alexandria lives there. He provides for everything, and the revenues are paid to him. He also elects the Patriarch who is sent to Greater India to Prester John, and while I was in Babylonia, the former Patriarch being dead, he chose his successor and dispatched him thither.

After spending three days at the monastery, I bethought myself whether it would be possible to go to Greater India, and I spoke privately with the Prior about the matter. He told me that a caravan, which was the means of communication with those parts, was due to arrive within two or three days, and that we could then obtain information as to the possibility of making the journey, but that he was altogether opposes to it. In four or five days the caravan duly arrived, bringing so many camels with it that I cannot give an account of them, as I do not wish to appear to speak extravagantly. This caravan carries all the spices, pearls, precious stones and gold, perfumes, and linen and parrots, and cats from India, with many other things, which they distribute throughout the world. One half goes to Babylonia, and from there to Alex- andria, and the rest to Damascus, and thence to the port of Beyrout.

I went to the shore of the Red Sea, which is half a league from Mount Sinai, to see the arrival of the caravan, and I found that a Venetian had come with it, called Nicolo de' Conti, a gentleman of good birth who brought with him his wife and two sons and a daughter, all of whom had been born in India. It appeared that he and they had become Moors, having been forced to renounce their Faith in Mecca, which is the Moors' holy place. As soon as he saw me he came up and enquired who I was, and what I did there, and what was my profession. I told him that I came from Italy, having been brought up at the court of the King of Cyprus, and that I was travelling upon his affairs to the Sultan who had given me licence to come there, and that I intended to pass on to India. He told me at once that I ought not to attempt it, and that, however much I desired it, it could not be accom- plished. As I seemed to be fixed in my determination, he besought and conjured me to tell him truly who I was, and said that he could do me a great service, which was that he would tell me what I ought to do, and that I could trust him implicitly, since he was a Christian as I was. He also promised to relate the events of his life, and how he had come there. I, observing that he was a person both grave and discreet and of good address, told him that I was a noble of Spain, and had come to the Holy Sepulchre, and from there to Babylonia, with intent to see Mount Sinai and to go on to India.

On hearing this Nicolo de' Conti showed great pleasure and said as follows:

You must know that at the time when Timur-Beg was ruling I found myself in Alexandria with certain moneys of my father, and from there I had to go to Babylonia, and through bad management and youthful inexperience, for I was only eighteen years of age, I lost what I had, and as I was desperate and ashamed to return home, I went to the place where Timur-Beg was, and remained a year at his court. From there I sought the means to go into Greater India and learnt that all was secure, for at that time the rule of Timur-Beg extended from India to the Red Sea.

When I arrived in India I was taken to see Prester John, who received me very graciously and showed me many favours, and married me to the woman I now have with me, and she bore me these children. I lived in India for forty years, with a great longing to return to my country. I gained much wealth, and after Timur-Beg had died, and the country was divided up, I arranged to journey to the Red Sea, and to go to Mecca, and to the place to which I am now come, and for this purpose I obtained a safe-conduct from the Sultan. I spent two years in procuring this, but at last he sent it to me. When I arrived with my wife and children at Mecca, they ordered us to abjure the Faith or to be killed. I myself was ready to receive martyrdom, but I knew that my wife and children would rather renounce the Faith than die, and I therefore decided to accept the alternative, hoping that God would save us in due time. But the Sultan must have been a participator in all this, in order to have a share in that which they robbed me of. Now this is my life and the story of my past, and in what concerns you I pray you, in the name of God, and for the love which you bear Him, and since you are a Christian and of my country, that you will not embark on such madness, for the way is very long and troublesome and perilous; the country is inhabited by strange races without king or laws or rulers; how can you expect to pass without a safe-conduct, and whom shall he fear who is minded to kill you? Further, the air is strange, and food and drink are different from those in your country. You will meet with bestial people, unable to govern themselves, and although there are monstrous things to be seen they are not enough to give you satisfaction. You will see heaps of gold and pearls and precious stones, but what shall they profit you since the people are beasts who wear them ?

These and other things were told me by Nicolo de' Conti, and finally I concluded that if I did not fly thither it was impossible to make the journey. I saw clearly that it was his great affection and the kindness of his nature which moved him to counsel me thus, and as it well appeared that he told me the truth, I tired of my project, and we returned to the monastery and remained there three days, and the company prepared for the road, some, as I have said, to go to Babylonia, and the rest to Damascus. During those three days I did nothing but visit various places and the Red Sea, and the place where the Children of Israel entered the sea when Pharaoh was following after them, and the sea became dry land and the waters were divided. From there we saw an island called Shushonah, whence, they say, the Jews came who are called in Castile Abens-susenes.

The return journey from Mount Sinai.- Nicolo de' Conti continues his relation- Prester John.

WE departed from Mount Sinai, and I took my leave from the Prior and the monks, and they gave me the device of St. Catherine, which is a wheel with teeth of gold, and out of my own poverty I gave them money. I left my arms, and set out of my road with those of the caravan and with Nicolo de' Conti. During the journey I did little else except hear of his doings in India, and he gave me many things written with his own hand. I asked him concerning Prefer John' and his authority, and he told me that he was a great lord, and that he had twenty-five kings in his service, although they were not great rulers, and also that many people who live without law, but follow heathen rites, are in subjection to him.

They say that there is in India a very high mountain, the ascent of which is exceedingly difficult, so much so that in ancient times those below knew nothing about those above, and those above had no knowledge of those below, and a road was made, and a chain was stretched from the top to the bottom, to which those who ascended or descended could cling. On the top of the mountain is a great plain where they sow and reap corn, and keep cattle and grain, and where there are many orchards full of fruit, and much water; all things, in short, necessary to the life of man. On one side is a very notable monastery, to which it is the custom for those of fit rank to be Prester to send twelve ancient men, nobles by descent, and virtuous, to elect a new Prester John when the office is vacant, and they do it in this manner. The chief sons and daughters are sent there to serve, and they marry one with another and raise up children, and they provide there all that is necessary for their existence, and give them horses and arms, and bows and arrows, and they teach them warlike arts, and the art of governing men. The electors who are there take counsel daily, and observe that one which appears to them most fit to succeed to the government when Prester John vacates it, and are already agreed as to the person to be chosen. When the ruler is at last dead, his knights, as the custom is, carry him to that mountain on a bier, covered in mourning, and the electors, beholding them from the heights where they are, take the one who has been chosen, and give him to the knights in exchange for the dead ruler. They then take up the body and bury it in the mountain, with the honours due to it, while the others go with their lord and, amidst great feasts and rejoicings, make their submission to him. Thither come certain races, bringing presents. Some bring pearls and others (ones of great worth, or gold rods, each one according to the land where he lives, or where he was born. Nicolo de' Conti told me also that in that mountain of Ceylon very fine cinnamon is grown. He said, further, that there is a fruit there like a great round pumpkin, and inside it are three separate fruits, each having its own taste.

He told me also of a sea coast where the crabs, on reaching land, and being exposed to the air, turn to stone. He spoke, too, of a country belonging to the heathen where there is a famous place of pilgrimage. Here a woman brought forth two sons at one birth, and immediately they were born they covered their eyes with their hands, and said that they did not intend to live in such a wicked world, and they betook themselves to a mountain, and there they lived and died. Where the one died there appeared a great lake of water, and where the other died a great lake of mud, and the people throw themselves in and die, saying that they are going to glory. Others there are who, in order to leave behind them a reputation for strength, and that their sons may be known to be the sons of good men, make an apparatus like shears, and putting their heads between the blades they force them to shut with their feet, and so cut off their heads. Nicolo de' Conti told me also that he had seen people eating human flesh, the strangest thing he had ever seen. This, be it understood, is a heathen practice, but he had seen Christians eating the raw flesh of animals, after which it is necessary to eat of a very odoriferous herb within fifteen to twenty days, but if they delay longer they become lepers.

I learnt also that Prester John, desiring to know whence the Nile had its beginnings, prepared boats and sent men and provided much food, and ordered them to bring back news of its source, and they set out and saw so many strange countries and peoples and unfamiliar animals that it was a great marvel, but as they had eaten all their victuals they had to return without having found what they sought, and Prester John was much cast down. He then took counsel as to whether it was possible to send men who would not perish for lack of food, and he ordered them to take young children, and, depriving them of milk, he reared them on raw fish (which is no great marvel, for it is reported by those that go to Guinea that, in those parts, the heathens eat nothing but raw fish). After these children were grown up he prepared boats and nets and ordered that they were in no wise to return without certain information concerning that which they sought. They departed and journeyed up the river, through divers countries, but they communicated with no one for fear of being prevented, and they came to a great lake like the sea, and they followed the shore, and went all round it to find out whence the water came which made that lake. They came at last to an opening where the water entered, and they proceeded until they came to a. great mountain range which was very lofty and precipitous, and which seemed to be hewn out of the rock, and the top of it could not be seen. In it was a great opening through which the water poured, and close to that mountain range, and joined to it, was another as high as the former, and it could well be seen that the water came from it. The travellers decided to send up one of their party to report, but he that ascended, so they say, having beheld what was within, refused to come down or even to answer questions. Another of the party was then sent up, but it was with him as with the first. When the others saw this, and that there was no possibility of obtaining more information, they left those two on the mountain, being unable to recover them, and returned by the way they had come.

They related to their Master all that had befallen them, telling him that nothing further could be discovered, since it was clear that God did not desire that mortals should know more, and that He had therefore locked up the secret in that wise. Nicolo de' Conti also told me that he saw a heathen people who are not accustomed to take a dowry with their wives when they marry, but if the man dies first the woman has to burn herself, in the same way as the heathen burn dead bodies. But if the woman dies first the man does not have to burn himself, for they say that woman was made for the service of man, but not man for the woman; and if the principal should perish, the accessory is not worthy even of mention. This is what the do: when the man dies they put the corpse in the place where it is to be burnt. The woman then attires herself as finely as she can, saying that it is for nuptials better than the first; and that she is to accompany her husband for eternity in the place where he is. The people make merry and sing, both she and her kinsmen, and they enquire whether anyone desires to send a message to those on the other side, since she is about to depart thither in company with her husband. Then they take off her clothes, and dress her in a sad robe, like a shroud, and sing dirges and sad songs the while. She then bids farewell to all and lies down beside her husband, placing her head on his right arm, and they say many things in conclusion, chiefly that the wife ought only to live so long as she is honoured and defended by that arm, and they set fire to them, and thus, cheerfully and willingly, she goes to her death. In another place, where they have the same custom, there is this difference, that when the marriage is celebrated they ask the woman whether she wishes to be burnt or not. If she consents, she has to submit to the practice mentioned above, but if she declines, she has to provide a dowry. On the death of her husband the same ceremony is gone through, but when it comes to the burning, they put in her head-dress in place of the woman, and she forfeits her dowry to the husband's heirs. Those that refuse to be burnt are looked upon as bad wives and not legitimate. It is said that there are very few such, and one of them, who did not elect to be burnt, left the country for shame and came to live in Babylonia, and Nicolo de' Conti saw her there.

Nicolo de' Conti told me that, although he had been plundered, he still had many things with him and much riches, such as pearls and precious cones. But he dwelt most upon the quantity of health-giving medicines which he had, so many, indeed, that their value was not to be estimated. He showed me a ruby of great worth, and also a round hat of grass, as delicate as the finest silk which could be found. He enquired of me where, if God brought him safely to Christian lands, his goods would have the best market. I told him that the Emperor was at war with the King of Poland, and it was but a short time since he had come into his Kingdom, and that he had little wealth, that there was less wealth in France on account of her longstanding wars, and that in Italy, as he knew better than I, they only bought to sell again. Further, that it appeared to me he would find the best market in Spain, chiefly on account of the great wealth of our King, but also because in all our wars we are always victorious, and have never been beaten. The people, I said, were very rich and valued such things more than anyone else. He, therefore, resolved to come to Spain.

I enquired whether he had ever seen monsters in human shape, such as some have reported, that is men with one leg and one eye, or but a cubit in height, or as tall as a lance. He replied that he had never met with such, but that he had seen beads with very strange shapes. In a heathen land he had seen an elephant of a great size and as white as snow, which is a very strange thing, since they are almost all black, and they kept it fastened to a column with chains of gold, and adored it as a god. He had seen also an ass which they brought to Prester John, not much larger than a hound, and of as many colours as it is possible to enumerate; also many unicorns and other animals, which it would take long to describe. He told me as well that he had seen them set up those castles upon the elephants, which they use when they go to fight. Prester John and his people are said to be as good Catholics and Christians as could be found anywhere, but they know nothing of our Romish Church, nor are governed by it. This lord is said to be held in such reverence that if the greatest of his subjects does anything worthy of death, he sends a servant with a letter ordering him to submit to execution by that servant, and in obedience to that letter, straightway he lowers his head and suffers death. Nicolo de' Conti told me also that he saw a noble lord who brought a great present of gold to Prester John, and had so much glory in what he brought and said so much to him, bragging that no one had ever done him such service before, that Prester John immediately ordered him to be put to death, saying that it was the best service he could do him, which was no small one for that lord.

I learnt also that the people in those parts are very skilled in the Black Arts, and that when navigating in the Red Sea, de' Conti saw them consult with demons, and he told me that he could descry a vague black shape moving up and down the mainmast. The sailors then conjured it to keep still and demanded: "What of our voyage?" and the shape made answer: "You will have six days of dead calm when the sea will be like oil, but be prepared, for you will have as many days of very heavy storms." He described their ships as like great houses, and not fashioned at all like ours. They have ten or twelve sails, and great cisterns of water within, for there the winds are not very strong, and when at sea they have no dread of islands or rocks. These ships carry all the cargoes which the caravans receive from them at Mecca [Jedda], which is the port where they unload. De' Conti told me that Mecca is a great place, larger than Seville. It is in subjection to no ruler, except to the chief of their law, whom they regard as their Pope, and they look on the Sultan as Emperor. There is a very rich mosque there where they keep the body of Mohammed, and certain Indians from Ethiopia who come there . . . . He said also that they could dam the water of the Nile, which runs from India to Ethiopia, and through all the land of Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea, and which divides itself into two arms, the one entering the sea close to Alexandria and the other by Damietta. If that water ceased to flow, the whole country would be depopulated.

I learnt from Nicolo de' Conti that Prester John kept him continuously at his court, enquiring of him as to the Christian world, and concerning the princes and their estates, and the wars they were waging, and while he was there he saw Prester John on two occasions dispatch ambassadors to Christian princes, but he did not hear whether any news of them had been received. He saw, however, the preparations made by Prester John to come with his hosts to Jerusalem, which is much farther than the journey to Europe. He saw the church where lies the body of St. Thomas, who converted the Indians. He mentioned also the drift which comes down, when the Nile rises, from the terrestrial paradise, which they call perfume of aloes, and in the time of St. Thomas, when he went about preaching and the people would not be converted, there came down the Nile a great tree which was washed ashore in that place. The people went to their ruler and besought him to come and see the greatest marvel in the world, namely, an aloe tree, greater than had ever been seen, and he came at once, and when he saw it he ordered them to carry it away with oxen, but they could not move it. He then directed that it should be cut up, but the tools would not enter the wood. St. Thomas, the Apostle, being there, told them that if they would be baptized and believe in God, who did these marvels, he alone with his hand would lift the tree and carry it to the desired place, and the ruler and his people replied that if he would do that they would believe. St. Thomas then crossed himself and laid hold of the tree, and carried it to the place which they showed him. When the people saw that miracle, all were baptized and became Christians. The Apostle then took that wood and had it sawed up, and made a chapel which he roofed with it, and there his body now lies. The Indians have to-day such devotion for the Apostle, that they take earth from the place where he is buried, and make pellets, which they carry always in their breasts, saying that in the moment of death, if they cannot communicate, it suffices to eat one of these. Nicolo de' Conti gave me five or six of them, which I believe I have to this day. The people of Greater India are a little darker in colour than we are, but in Ethiopia they are much darker, and so on until you come to the black negroes, who are at the Equator, which they call the Torrid Zone.

Arrival in Cairo.-The gory of Pedro de la Randa.-.Administration of Justice.-Life in the streets of Cairo.

OUR journey occupied fifteen days, in view of the great trouble we had in making it, but with the pleasure of hearing such good things from Nicolo de' Conti I did not notice the labour. We reached Babylonia, and appointed to meet each day in the church of St. Martha, where is interred the holy body of a Castilian called Pedro de la Randa, of whom mention is made later. This was because I had to go and take my residence with the Sultan's chief interpreter, and Nicolo de' Conti had to seek lodgings among the Moors. When I arrived at the house of my host, he received me with as much joy as if his own son had come back to him. The next day Nicolo de' Conti went to see the Sultan, and made complaint of the way in which the people had disregarded his safe-conduct, and of the manner in which they had forced him to become a Moor, and had robbed him. The Sultan heard this with much chagrin, and, to compensate de' Conti, he showed him many favours and made him his chief interpreter, equal with the other, and gave him a house and pos- sessions in Babylonia. The following day he came to that church where we had appointed to meet, and told me all that had happened between the Sultan and him, and what they had done for him, and that as he now held office under the Sultan, he could go through his country and visit the sea ports, so that he hoped, with the help of God, to reach Christian lands in safety with his company. He asked me to carry certain letters to Venice, since I was going there, and he wished to know when I intended to depart, and I told him that I was wearied with so much travelling and that I should stop there twenty or thirty days, which I did. During this time I did little else but see the sights of Babylonia with de' Conti and with the chief interpreter, my Castilian host.

One day my host told me what befell the late Sultan, his master, with a Castilian called Pedro de la Randa, and it was thus. Pedro de la Randa was a corsair and much looked up to in these waters, but one day he was defeated and captured by a Moorish ship, and after having so taken him they ran across a Catalan corsair, who defeated the Moors and took the ship, and with it Pedro de la Randa. The corsair recognized him, and knowing him for a very famous man, he proposed that he should refit Pedro de la Randa and give him a ship and money, on condition that he should be with him always and join the convoy, and that he should pledge his word. Pedro de la Randa replied that the project pleased him well, but he stipulated that they should fight only with Moors and never with Christians, for so he had sworn. The Catalan made an agreement with him, and they came to Rhodes, and there they made ready everything necessary for their venture. They sailed away and waged war on the Moors, taking many of their ships, and making them afraid to attack the Christians. Such was their fame that the Moors were thoroughly frightened, for it seemed as if two of the greatest Christian princes were at sea.

The war continued, and one day, following their custom, which was that if there was nothing to capture on sea one of them should land while the other guarded the ships, the Catalan disembarked at Damietta to make an attack, but so many Moors came up against him that he was very hard pressed. Pedro de la Randa, seeing this from his ship, came at once to shore to succour him, but the Moors attacked them in such numbers that they took them both and carried them to the Sultan. When the Sultan knew that they had brought that famous corsair who had wrought such havoc among the Moors, he rejoiced greatly, and asked Pedro de la Randa if he was the man who had so greatly injured his people, and he admitted it. He then asked him why he had done this. Pedro de la Randa replied that it was because they were enemies of the Faith: would the Sultan think it fitter for him to spare the Moors and plunder Christians? Then the Sultan decreed that to requite what he had done, and as an example of the justice of God, Pedro de la Randa should renounce the Faith, acknowledge his misdeeds and become a Moor, and that the Sultan would then pardon him and show him favour. But Pedro de la Randa made answer that all the good which the Sultan might do him could not compensate him for the loss of his soul, and the Sultan ordered their heads to be sawn off forthwith, whereupon the Catalan said he would become a Moor. Then Pedro de la Randa approached the Sultan privately and said: "My Lord, I will become a Moor if you will revenge me by killing my companion," and the Sultan was pleased to agree. Pedro de la Randa went apart with the Catalan and said "Friend, we cannot now save our lives, for even though we should renounce the Faith, the Sultan has decided to kill us, and since this is so let us receive martyrdom from God in palliation of our sins." The Catalan replied that it was well spoken, and he was content, and was immediately put to death. The Sultan then said to Pedro de la Randa: "I have now fulfilled my part of the bargain, do you fulfil yours." But he replied "Sultan, I did this only to save my companion's soul, since his spirit was so weak that for fear he would have become a Moor: now do with me whatever you think well." The Sultan made answer: "Serve me faithfully; do what I command and go with me to the wars, and I will give you your life." Pedro de la Randa replied: "On condition that you do not fight against the Christians." And the Sultan agreed, saying: "I promise that I will never put you to fight with Christians, but will make you ruler of all the Christians in my service, and I will show you many favours if you serve me faithfully"; and so he bound himself. The Sultan ordered a house to be prepared, and sent men to serve and gave him maintenance. He summoned also one of his admirals and placed Pedro de la Randa in his charge. They say, further, that as the Sultan was departing to return to the city he called this admiral back, and said: "See to it that the Christian has wine for himself and his household, as much as he needs, so that he may not pine for his own country." This was related to me by the interpreter with whom I was, both to magnify the Sultan, his master, and to please me by speaking well of a Castilian, as he also was.

When this Sultan died, another succeeded him, and he sent at once for that gentleman who had charge of Pedro de la Randa, and ordered that he should be taken, with intent to slay him. But the gentleman fled with him and they hid themselves. The Sultan sought them out and took them both, and ordered Pedro de la. Randa to renounce the Faith and become a Moor. But he would not consent, whereupon his head was sawn off, and the Christians took up the body and buried it in a church which is in Babylonia, called St. Martha's church, and it worked many miracles there.

That day justice was administered, and it was as follows. They brought out three men to be killed, and I asked what they had done. The interpreter told me that the night previously a money-changer had been robbed, and since these men were his neighbours, and did not observe the robbers, and had not taken such care of their neighbour's goods as of their own, therefore they had been condemned to die. I said: "It appears to me that you are punishing those who are without blame and innocent of offence: it is a bestial sentence." But the interpreter replied: "There are very many of us, and God increases our numbers daily. If we did not visit offences both on the criminal himself and on the spectators, we could not live. We do not merely administer justice, but find it necessary to execute it in a cruel and relentless manner."

The best and richest and most magnificent thing to see in Babylonia is the market. Great quantities of goods are sold there which come from Greater India, especially pearls, precious stones, spices, perfumes, and sweet smelling things, silks, and linen goods. It is not possible to enumerate all the articles which are brought from India and distributed throughout the world, and here is the chief market for all those things which I have described. There are certain men who come and go through the streets oĢ Cairo carrying a kind of mirror fastened to the breast. These are the barbers who shave the heads and the necks of the Moors, and they pass through the streets, crying as they go. There are negroes also of about ten or twelve years of age who go about calling: "Who will be shaved ?" These are those who serve the women in that which they are wont to cleanse secretly at the baths. For every requirement there are traders in the streets enquiring if anyone has need of them. Even the cooks go up and down, carrying braziers, and fire, and dishes of stew for sale; others have plates of fruit, and innumerable men go to and fro selling water which they carry on camels and asses, or on their backs, since there are many people, and no water is to be had except from the river. The summer fruits are very mellow, and as the heat is then very great, so God has provided what is necessary. When the heat is overpowering there comes at times a very sharp breeze which affects the eyes, and many people go about as if drunk, and find those fruits a great preventative. But otherwise the country is very healthy. The air, water, and meats are all good. The camels in those parts are very large and fine, but not swift. The asses, on the other hand, are the mot gentle beasts of good appearance, and swift-footed. and they are well accoutred with bridles and saddles.

Departure from Cairo.-Alexandria.-The voyage to Cyprus.-Nicosia. -.A Rising.-The King's person. Departure for Rhodes.-,A narrow escape from the Turks.-A great storm.-Arrival at Rhodes.-Death of the Grand Master.-Election of his successor.

I REMAINED at Babylonia thirty days and then departed, taking leave of the Sultan and of NicoIo de' Conti, who gave me letters for Venice, and also of my host, the chief interpreter, and his wife and children, who had treated me as if I had been one of them. They gave me presents which I took with me, namely, two Indian cats, two parrots, perfumes and other things, including a turquoise which I still have. They gave me also victuals for my journey. I left Babylonia and travelled by the Lower Nile, and when I arrived at the place where the two arms parted, I left the right arm, which goes to Damietta,.where I had already been, and came by the other to a place close to Alexandria, which they call Rosetta, and from there I reached the city of Alexandria. It is a very notable city and I remained there three days, wondering at the holy houses where St. Catherine was born and martyred. Here there is also a covered vault where, they say, is the wheel on which they put her. This city is a great sea port, and a great place of loading and unloading for the Christians, and when I .had seen it thoroughly I went by land to Damietta, but I did not find there the ship which the King of Cyprus had given me. I had to wait there eight days until it arrived, for it had been sailing along the coast as far as Jerusalem.

I was received with much honour by the Governor of Damietta, to whom I carried letters from the Sultan's chief. interpreter, and I sent to enquire if he had a crocodile skin to send to the King of Cyprus who had asked for it. He offered me one which had recently been killed, but it smelt very rank, so that for my part I would rather have carried away the Governor's pretty daughter who was there, than the skin of that crocodile. I now set sail and in seven days I reached Paphos, where I had embarked, a most unhealthy place. The very day on which I arrived a bishop and two of his squires had died, and I gave God thanks that as soon as I set foot on land I was able to ride off on the beasts belonging to the dead bishop and his squires. I departed for the court of the King of Cyprus, at Nicosia, and the interpreter whom the King had given me went before to announce me to the King and the Cardinal. They sent to direct me to remain that night at an inn, as on the morning of the following day they desired to receive me with honours, and this they did. The next morning, going on my way, I met many gentlemen of the court of the King, who had come out to receive me, and they accompanied me into the King's presence, and when I arrived I found the King and the Cardinal and many great men with them, and I was very well received, and treated with as much friendliness as if I had been born there, and they gave thanks to God that I had returned in safety after so long a voyage. They thanked me much on behalf of the King for what I had done in his service, and offered me whatever I desired. So I took my leave of the King, and the admiral who was there took me to his dwelling as before, where I was very well lodged.

The next day, in the morning, there was a great uproar among the people, and everyone flew to arms, including the Cardinal and the Lady Ines, his sister, and many of the great men of the Kingdom, against the King, intending to kill or take captive a favourite of his, named Jacobo Guiri, who held the office of judge. The King fled to a fortress at one end of the city, which they call the Citadel, but they surrounded it and demanded that he should banish the favourite from the court, and forbid him to return for a year. The King swore it, and it was accomplished forthwith, and the people went to their homes. On the following day the King sent for me, and in the presence of the Cardinal and certain nobles, asked me to take of him what I pleased for the cost of my journey. I replied that I was much beholden to him, but that I had sufficient for my return, and I requested him to order that they should give me a safe-conduct and a ship to carry me to Rhodes, and I laboured to depart and he to detain me. He desired me to slay at least eight days, and since I saw that it would please him I had to consent. During those days, while I refreshed myself, a ship was prepared to carry me, and I took leave of the King (and of a truth he gave me licence with bad grace), and he gave me his device, which I still have, and ten pieces of camlet, and finest linen, as well as a leopard, and such profusions of victuals for my journey to Rhodes that they sufficed for a year. While I was there two ambassadors came to the King, the one from the Duke of Savoy and the other from a Duke of Germany, each one to offer him his daughter in marriage. I did not hear the conclusion arrived at with either of them, but it was said that another marriage was projected, and was being anxiously pressed, by the Master of Rhodes on behalf of a daughter of the Count of Urguel of Aragona, sister of the wife of the Infante Don Pedro, Regent of Portugal. It appeared to me that the project which the King's council most favoured was the marriage with the daughter of the Duke of Savoy, and I believe that this was the one that succeded.

The King is a youth of sixteen or seventeen years of age, of great stature. His legs are so fat that they are almost the same size at the garter as at the thigh. He is a gracious man and, considering his age, of excellent understanding. He is very gay and apt with his body, especially in horsemanship. Without doubt, if his country were not so unhealthy, I should have been glad to place myself at his service for a time, but it is almost impossible for a stranger to live in such a wretched country, and on that account, and because I had to return to Castile for the Moorish war, I was obliged to continue my journey as speedily as I might.

I departed from the city of Nicosia, and came to Cerina where a ship was waiting to carry me to Rhodes. Cerina is an ancient city founded by Achilles, and from him it takes its name. It is small, but strong and well walled, and has a good harbour, although not large. This is closed with a chain and is well guarded. It was to this place that the King escaped with the Cardinal, his uncle, and the Lady Ines, and many others of the Kingdom when King Janus was captured. It is the healthiest place of any in Cyprus since it is exposed to the west wind. There I found a trading ship which the King had ordered to be prepared for me, which was to carry me to Rhodes, and another with it carrying merchandise. We left the harbour and came to the extremity of Cape Pifani at about noon. We then sailed out to sea by the Gulf of Satalia, on the way to Turkey, but before two o'clock we saw a Turkish galley coming towards us with intent to take and destroy us, in revenge for a ship of theirs which the Catalans had taken outside the harbour of Cyprus. We strove with sail and oars, and they likewise, so that there was no flagging of the litany while our hands grew weary with rowing. I had with me a boatswain of a Catalan galley who had killed a nephew of the captain. He had been sentenced to be hanged from the yard-arm, but the rope had broken with his weight, and I besought the captain to give him to me, since God had done so much for him, and he consented, and this was the means of our escape, for he was a skilled navigator. He lightened the boat so that it could make better headway, but the other ship with the merchandise would not jettison the cargo, and when it was late and the sun was setting the Turks overtook it, and sank it, and drowned every man of the crew. In the confusion which ensued we had time to increase our distance a little, and when it began to grow dark we put on as much sail as we could, and all took to the oars, and labouring as best we could, when night fell, we reefed the sail and turned to the right hand, rowing quietly so that there should be no sound from the oars, and the galley passed close to us without seeing us. The boatswain said that we must alter our course, as the galley would hug the land and wait for us, believing that, as our ship was small, they had us in their hands. We therefore made for the open sea, and saw the galley approach the land, and at midnight the south wind rose, and every wave swept us fore and aft. How much rather would I have fallen into the hands of the Turks than be drowned at sea! They wanted me to throw one of my men overboard, but we defended ourselves stoutly. Driving before the storm, we ran towards Castelrosso and reached there at three o'clock, and found that the galley had left scarcely two hours earlier. We landed there in a good harbour, and climbed to the fortress and rested, as became us after having escaped so great a peril. This castle belongs to the Knights of Rhodes, and is part of the province of Armenia, although an island. It is very rocky and no beast can climb it. Below, at the entrance to the harbour, are certain salt mines which are a source of great revenue to the Knights of Rhodes.

We departed from the island of Castelrosso and took the course to Rhodes, in constant fear of that galley. We had also foul weather, but in two days we arrived and entered the harbour, and I went to lodge with Brother Nuņo de Cabrera, an excellent knight, born in Castile, and a Knight of the Order, and among all those there he was the wealthiest and most renowned, and he received me most cheerfully and affectionately. He treated me very benevolently, and had it not been for the company he bore me, I think I should have died after the hardships I had suffered. Even in my own house I could not have been more piously nor better served. On the second day after my arrival I went to see the Grand Master, and gave him certain letters from the King of Cyprus, which he had entrustred to me concerning his affairs, and Brother Nuno de Cabrera accompanied me with other Castilian knights, and knights of different nations, particularly the French, who are much attached to our people. When I arrived I found the Master grievously ill with pains in his liver, but he soon dispatched the answers to the King of Cyprus, and I took my leave and returned to my lodging. That night he died of his sickness. While he was in the extremity of death there came, according to custom, the Commanders, the confessors, and certain knights of the Council, and asked him upon his oath, and from his conscience, that he should name the one whom he wished to succeed him as Grand Master of the Order, and that he should write it and seal it with his seal, so that it should remain a secret. They then took his writing and put it in safe keeping so that none should know of it, except the confessor. If the Master dies it is their custom to open the sealed paper, and at the time of the election of his successor the vote of the dead Master counts, it is said, for two.

This Master was buried on the day of his death at the hour of Mass, and his funeral offices were fitting to his person. The heads of the Order bore him on their shoulders on his bier, covered with a black pall, with a great train before and behind, which those that could not reach the bier held in their hands. He was dressed in his habit, with his sword, and with his spurs on his feet and a rosary in his hand; and thus they buried him. They then ordered all the gates to be closed, and me they placed in a room which they locked from without, and gave me food to eat, but my people they sent into the city, and so, clad in their habits, with their swords girt on, as is their custom, they entered the church to elect the new Master, which is done, they say, in this wise, From each nation of those who belong to the Order they take three persons, a knight, a chaplain and a lay or serving brother. These are selected by all present, and first they make everyone confess and communicate and swear on the holy relics, which they have there, that each will well and truly make his choice. Those that are chosen also swear that they will in their turn select well and truly, and these persons choose thirteen. These thirteen, upon a like oath, elect seven, and each one of these seven, having also been sworn, and without speaking to his fellows, records his vote in a closed writing, placing it on a table before that confessor who, as I have said, holds the vote of the deceased Maker. This is done in the presence of all the knights, and the confessor, having the votes of the seven and of the Master, reads them there, the Master's vote, as I have said, counting for two, and he that has the most votes becomes the Master. They remained there all that day and the night following until dawn, and all believed, and even said, that a Grand Commander who was there would be. the Master, and that there was no need to have an election, so certain was he to be chosen. An hour before dawn there was a great clamour heard, as well in the church as through out the city, with ringing of bells and blowing of trumpets, and they fetched me from my room, where I had been locked up, and carried me to the church, and, all being in procession, they made me carry the pennon of the Order to the great Altar, and he who had the votes cried out: "Give thanks to God, your Master is the Prior of Auvergne." And many, although it was fill night, could be seen to turn yellow with envy.

This having, been accomplished, they all carne out, and it was now day. We then went to the hospital, and they opened the doors, and we went outside into the city with all the people, and placed the pennon upon the tower of the harbour. The new Master was an ancient knight who had well served his Order, and a man of much virtue. The following day they took counsel and ordered that he should be fetched, and they armed four galleys and departed at once for Auvergne, where he was Prior. It would, indeed, be strange if there were any mischance in such an election, for they leave no scope for partiality nor friendship nor enmity. The Order is very noble and large, and great men are always forthcoming for its defence. This in truth is necessary, seeing that they have for neighbours, on the one hand, the Grand Turk, and on the other, the Sultan of Egypt; and in the valour of its defenders lies the safety of the Order.