A Collection of Curious Travels and Voyages, Volume 1 · Part 1 · Chapter 9
CHAP. IX.
A Short and Plain Relation of Plants, which I gathered during my stay at Halepo, in and round about it, not without great danger and trouble, which I glued upon Paper very carefully.
BEing I undertook this long Journey, chiefly on purpoſe to ſee my ſelf thoſe fine Outlandiſh Plants, whereof Authors ſo often make mention, growing in their native Soil, and ſo gain a more clear and perfect Knowledge of them. I was very glad to have an opportunity to ſtay longer than I intended, that I might the oftner go out with my Friends and Comrades into the Fields, among the Turks and Moors, (not without great pain and danger of being knock'd on the Head) to fetch in more and greater variety of Plants: Wherein my Comrade Hans Ulrich Krafft, who came into theſe parts along with me, very often hath faithfully and honeſtly aſſiſted me. But having heretofore made mention of the Garden-Herbs and Fruits, I will only in this place write of them which grow abroad without the Gardens, and that with all poſſible ſhortneſs, and begin with the Poplar-Tree, as the commoneſt of all, which the Inhabitants ſtill call by the ancient Arabian Name Haur; they grow very high in theſe Countries, and abundance of them grow about the Rivolet near Halepo, which make very ſhady Walks underneath in the heat of Summer. There is alſo a peculiar ſort of Willow-Trees, called Safcaf, &c. theſe are not all alike in bigneſs and heighth, and in their Stems and Twigs they are not very unlike unto Birch-Trees, (which are long, thin, weak, and of a pale-yellow colour) they have ſoft Aſh-colour'd Leaves, or rather like unto the Leaves of the Poplar-Tree, and on their Twigs here and there are Shoots of a ſpan long, like unto thoſe of the Cypriotiſh wild Fig-trees, which put forth in the Spring tender and woolly Flowers, like unto the Bloſſoms of the Poplar-Tree, only they are of a more drying quality, of a pale colour, and a fragrant ſmell. The Inhabitants pull of theſe (becauſe they bear no Fruits) great quantities, and diſtil a very precious and ſweet Water out of them, very comfortable and corroborating to the Heart. The Arabians call theſe Trees Zacneb and Zacnabum; Rhaſes in 353d, and Avicenna in his 749th Chapt. And after the ſame manner maketh Serapio mention of them in his 261ſt Chapt. by the common Name of Zucumbeth; and Theophraſtus in his Fourth Book, and Eleventh Chapter, where he treats of Elae-agnus, which this is very like unto, and may be taken for the ſame, although they differ in bigneſs, which often and eaſily happens according to the ſoyl and place where they grow. Hereabout are other ſmall Trees, which I rather take to be thorny Shrubs; they are very like in leaves unto the others, and are called by the Moors Sciſeſun. They love to grow in moiſt places, and in Hedges; from the Root ſhoot ſeveral Stems, cloathed with a ſmooth brown-colour'd Bark; they bear at top pretty long and ſtrong Twigs, which here and there are beſet with a few Prickles, whereon grow ſmall Flowers, white without and yellow within, whereof three and three ſprout out between the Leaves. I did not ſee any of their Fruit, but yet I do believe that they are like unto the Olives of the Bohemian Olive-Tree, to which this Plant is very like, which is very naturally delineated in the Herbal of the learned Matthiolus. Theſe Trees caſt forth ſuch an odour in the Spring, that any body that goes by muſt needs be ſenſible of it preſently. Wherefore the Turks and Moors cut many of their Branches, and ſtick them up in their Shops.
On the Banks of the above-mentioned Rivolet, chiefly about the Stone-Bridge, as you travel to Tripoly, grow many Agnus Caſtus's, of the leſſer ſort, and on the other ſide, in the Fields, many Pistachia Nut-trees.
Within and without the City grow alſo many ſorts of Trees, viz. that which Avicen. calleth Azedarack, but Rhaſes, Astergio; white Mulberry-Trees, Date-Trees, and Cypreſſes, by the Natives called Sacub (which hereabout grow very big and high) Turpentine-Trees, &c.
About the Fences and Hedges you will find wild Pomgranate-Trees, with fine double Flowers, wild Almond-Trees, the Fruit whereof the Moors carry about in great plenty to ſell to the Poor; and near it, in old decay'd Brick-walls, and Stony places, you ſhall ſee Caper-buſhes: Among the reſt there groweth a very ſtrange Buſh, by the Inhabitants called Morgſani, which is very green and thick, hath a long Woody Coat, whereout ſprout ſeveral Stalks, with round Leaves, like unto Caper-leaves, only with this difference, that four of them ſtand together all oppoſite to one another, like unto our Beans; between them there appear ſmall Flowers, red within and white without, whereout grow long Pods, like unto theſe of the Seſamum. This Plant hath a very unpleaſant ſcent, wherefore the Inhabitants uſe it frequently to deſtroy Worms: But what the Ancients formerly called it, I know not, but really am of this opinion, it muſt be according to the deſcription the Ardifrigi of Avicen. and Aadician of Rhaſis; he that pleaſeth may read more thereof in the quoted places. In theſe places is alſo found the thorny Acacia, by the Inhabitants called Shack, and by the Arabians Schamuth, which are very ſmall and low, chiefly theſe that ſtand in the Fields, which give as much trouble to the Plowmen as the Ferns and Reſt-harrow do here; the Twigs are of an Aſhen-colour, crooked, full of Prickles, like unto thoſe of a Roſe-buſh, and have very ſmall-feather'd Leaves, like unto Tragacantha, which are almoſt divided like unto our female Fern, the Flowers of them I have not ſeen, but the Cods that grow out of them are without browniſh, in their ſhape thicker and rounder than our Beans, ſpongy within, and containing two or three reddiſh Seeds.
I have, beſides theſe, ſeen in Shops Pods of a Cheſtnut-brown colour, ſold under the name of Cardem, which have two or three little diſtinct Cells or Baggs, in each whereof is a reddiſh Seed, in the Figure of our male Balſam; theſe are brought from Aegypt, and by ſome thought to be the true Acacia Dioſc. whether it be ſo or no I cannot well tell, becauſe I never ſaw the Plant. Very near it, in untilled places, groweth Galega; Siſynrichium Theophraſti, which is very curiouſly delineated in the Book of Rempert. Dodon. de herbis & floribus coron.
There is alſo found another fine Plant, by the Inhabitants called Tharaſalis, which hath ſeven or eight waved Leaves, which ſtand about a round Stalk, almoſt as it is to be ſeen in Siſynrichium, only they are a great deal broader, and not ſo long, when the Stalk thereof (which is not above a cubit long) is grown, through and above them; it gets at top a white Flower, not very unlike unto the low blew Flower de Luce which blow early in the Spring; it has a roundiſh Root, like unto that of Narciſſus, and alſo has many long white Fibres. Not far from thence, when you get upon the Hill, there groweth in the rough places others, viz. Biſtorta, ſtill by the Inhabitants called Zuph, a fine ſort of Verbacum; Scorzonera with purple Flowers, Saffron with ſmall little Leaves, and a delicate yellow Flower; alſo Ariſarum, Homaid. and Arum, called by them Carſaami, whereof there are four ſorts, among the reſt a ſtrange one, with long Ears, wherefore they call it in their Language Ovidne.
There alſo are about the Rivers ſome Anemones of ſeveral ſorts, and of ſeveral colours, very beautiful, as red, purple colour, yellow, &c. all which they call with a common name Sakaick, and give an additional Name according to the colour to it, viz. Schackaick achmar, Sakaik aſſar, Aſerack, &c. that is to ſay, red-yellow, of a Violet colour, &c. which would be too long and tedious, to deſcribe all here: Chiefly if I ſhould at length relate the common ones, as, Wild Rue, Aſphodelus albus; Rheſeda Plin. Flos ſolis foliis minoribus ſerpilli, Wild Onions, and other innumerable more. As you come down by another way back again, nearer to the Corn-Fields, you find other fine Herbs, as the wild new Harmala, a delicate ſort of Aſtragalus foliis hedyſari minoris, and by it another which is very like unto Aſtragalus of Dioſcor. ſo that I really believe it to be the ſame. There appear a great many of them upon the the heighth; it is a low Herb, with a long browniſh Root, as big and long as the Roots of Horſe-radiſh, which puts out at the ſides ſome ſtrong Fibres, which are almoſt blacker and harder to cut than the Root it ſelf: Some of them go downwards, and others the greater part upwards, and bended like unto Horns. Theſe contain, together with their ſweetneſs, alſo a dryneſs; they ſhoot out at the top into ſeveral Branches of the ſame colour, yet not above the length of a Finger, which encline towards the Earth, where out grow nine or ten ſmall Leaves, like Lentil-leaves, not very unlike to thoſe of Orobus, and diſtributed after the ſame manner. Between them ſprout out purple-brown Flowers, after them come long and thick and full Bladders, whereof ſome are as big as thoſe of the Colutea.
All theſe, and ſeveral other Herbs, have I preſerved and glued to ſome Paper with great and peculiar care, ſo that they are to be ſeen in their natural colours, ſo exact as if they were green.
About the River, up a Hill, I found a tender and fragrant Herb, with long and white Roots, of a pretty acrimonious taſte, its Leaves were like unto our Coriander, only ſomewhat rounder, and not ſo much cut, but only a little about the edges; I found no Stalks nor Flowers, for it was early in the year, and about Eaſter, which is the time of their firſt ſpringing, theſe they called Zarneb Melchi, and the Inhabitants dig ſo many of theſe Roots, that they ſend yearly ſeveral Cheſts-full into Perſia, where they uſe them (as I am informed) very frequently in Pains of their Backs, and all other accidental Pains. As far as I can ſee, when I look upon the Leaves, I reckon it to be the third ſort of Daucus of Dioſc. A little lower, as you come to the plow'd Fields, I found alſo the ſecond kind of Chondrilla of Dioſc. with round Roots of a ſmooth and dark-yellowiſh colour, perhaps at the top half an inch thick, and five or eight long, whereon at the end where it is thinneſt, hangs another round Root of the bigneſs of a Cheſtnut, which are ſo full of Milk, that they are ready to crack; at top, where it is divided into three parts, ſprout out many long and ſmall Graſs Leaves together, which lye flat upon the Ground; between them come out yellow Flowers like unto theſe of auricula muris, each whereof hath its peculiar Stalk.
Not far from it, yet in rougher and ſtonier Ground, groweth another Chondrilla, which is like unto that former in all parts, only the Leaves thereof are broader, and more woolly, and of an Aſh-colour, very like unto the Holoſtium of Montpellier. As you go to the Grand Signior's Garden, (about a ſmall mile from the Town) at the Road, I found a good many Plants, viz. Draba Dioſc. call'd Orobanche Halinu, Spina ſolſtitialis, a kind of Carduus Mariae; Wild Cucumbers, by them called Adiural hamar; Xyphium, Peplium, Heliotropium tri coccum Caroli Cluſii, and alſo his Paronychia Hiſpanica, and his third Lichnis, with pale and red purple-coloured Flowers; Coris Mathi. with yellow Flowers; two delicate ſorts of Geraniums; and upon old Walls I found a little Rauckel, with pale-colour'd Flowers, Umbilicus Veneris, and a great many more. I cannot leave unmentioned thoſe that are growing round about in the Fields, and chiefly amongſt them a Medica, with diſſected trifoliated Leaves; and many more, whereof ſome have long and ſtraight, and others many bended Pods, in a cluſter together. I alſo found one with many white and hoary Heads, which looked almoſt like unto Lagopodium, and another little one with green-colour'd Pods preſſed together, ſo long and broad as thoſe of Senna, which were a great Ornament to the whole Plant. And alſo thereabout are found many ſorts of Corn-flowers, quite differing from ours: Papaver erratic, in their Language called Schuck, of which they make a Conſerve with Sugar, and uſe it in Coughs; Papaver corniculatum with ſtately purple Flowers. I found alſo there Eryngium, with blewiſh Tops and ſtarred Heads: Two ſorts of Henbane, whereof one that groweth in the Fields hath red and purple-colour'd Flowers, the other which I found in the Town upon the old Walls had white ones, by the Latines call'd Apollinaris. Much thereabout, in the Corn, grew the leſs Melampyrum, by them called Paponeſck, which at the top beareth thick yellow flowers, very like unto the Melampyrum Tragi; Item the ſecond kind of Wild Cumin, with yellow flowers, and long bended pods: Poterion Math. by the Inhabitants called Megaſac, which they ſtick up in their Chambers, to keep them from being bewitch'd. A delicate ſort of Horminum, with ſmall woolly and diſſected leaves, a Garden-Cypreſs with gold-colour'd flowers: Seabioſa, Anchuſa, and a Salvia, which hath many roundiſh leaves, and about their ſquare ſtalks grow purple-colour'd Bells, wherein is its black Seed, like unto that of Meliſſa Molucca, whereof I have made mention above. In the Corn alſo groweth Leontopetalon, in their Language Aſlab, with its brown-colour'd round Root, and large Leaves, which are roundiſh, and very near divided like unto theſe of our Paeonia; the Stalk hath at the top, which is about a foot high, and hollow, more Twiggs, whereof the point of each of them beareth ſeveral ſmall purple and yellow Flowers, which make roundiſh Bladders, that contain one, two, and ſometimes three Seeds, the Children uſe to play their Tricks with them as they do with the Flowers of Papaver erraticum in our Country. The great Roots they bruiſe, and rub with it Spots in Cloaths, which they (as they ſay) draw out immediately.
By theſe in the Corn groweth alſo the true Chryſogonum of Dioſc. which is as high as the former, and alſo in Flowers, Stalks, and roundiſh Root (which is redder within) very like it, only the Stalk is ſlenderer, and hath more and longer by-ſhoots, or germina, at the end whereof you ſee ſtately yellow Flowers, ſo that it is thicker, and more ſpriggy than the other: Its pennated Leaves (whereof there are commonly four that come from the Root with long foot-ſtalks almoſt as ſlender as a Thread) lye cloſe to the Ground, as you may eaſily imagin, and have every one their Ribs, two and two Leaves growing together on each ſide, one after another, ſo that four of them ſtand together in a croſs; they are darkiſh green, and at the out ſide, where they are broader, very like unto Oaken leaves. Now, as theſe and others, that grow in theſe Countries, are as yet very little known, ſo may alſo the following, that groweth in plowed Fields, be reckoned among the unknown, which is very like unto the Lycopſis of Dioſc. for which, in my opinion, it ought to be taken.
This Plant hath a red Coat, and a ſtraight Stalk about two foot high, from whence round about below ſpread themſelves many ſtrong and rough Leaves, in a circle, as if it were from one center; not unlike the wild Bugloſs, they decreaſe a little by degrees, as they grow higher and higher: Out of each of them, cloſe to the Stalk, ſprouts out many Twigs, with their peculiar ſmall Leaves, as you ſee in Echium; between them ſhoot out very tender purple-colour'd Flowers, which are whole within, and divided into ſix ſmall or longiſh Leaves, almoſt like unto theſe of the Caryophillus montanus. In the beginning of February I have ſeen ſeveral Sorts of Hyacinths, and the Oriental one in the greateſt quantity, which they call Zumbel in their Language. In April I ſaw another very delicate one, known to them by the name Ayur, with long and very ſmall Leaves of our Philangium; it groweth pretty high, and beareth at the top four Stalky Flowers; the Leaves thereof are very like in ſhape and colour unto the three Leaves that ſtand up in our Flower de luce; the Root is very like to that of a Tulip, whereof I have alſo ſeen a great number in theſe Grounds of all ſorts of colours. I have alſo found ſome Daiſies like unto our own, and alſo another ſort of them with nine or ten white Saffron-flowers, which ſprout ſooner in the Spring in the Corn, not ſo bare as ours, but between the Leaves. The Leaves are pretty thick, but narrower, longer, and narrower pointed than the before-mentioned: They alſo ſpread more about upon the Ground, and come from a white Coat with a brown-red Skin, ſurrounded and divided in the middle, it is called Kuſan in their Tongue, but by ſome others it is ſtill called Surugen.
Theſe and a great many more ſtrange Herbs have I found, but becauſe they were unknown to me, I forbear to mention any more of them. But yet I cannot but deſcribe to you one more, for the taking of which I and my two Comrades fell into great danger, as we often did, both of Turks and Moors, which needs not all to be related here: This is called by the Inhabitants Rhaſut, and alſo Rumigi; it hath a ſtrong, yet unpleaſant ſavour, and about four ſtalks of a whitiſh colour, and ſo tender towards the Root, and ſo ſmall as a Packthread, whereon at each ſide grow ſeven or eight tender aſh-colour'd Leaves one againſt the other, diſtributed like unto thoſe of Oſmond-Royal, only they have round Ears towards the St…lk, like unto the ſmall Sage, and between the lowermoſt, which are a little more diſtant, Flowers like unto our Ariſtolochia, yet a great deal bigger, of a more browniſh colour, and hanging on longer Stalks. The Root ſtriketh very deep, and is very like unto our Pellitory, of a drying quality, and ſomewhat hot, as the bitter taſte intimates. When I was buſie about this tender Plant, and ſtrove to get it out whole, which took me up the more time, becauſe I had no proper Tools by me, a Turk well armed came galloping upon us, to ſee what we were doing; but when we perceived him to be fuddled, and that he earneſtly ſet upon us, to make booty of us, each of us gave him, according to his own deſire (ſeeing that he would not leave us without it) ſomething, that ſo we might get rid of him, ſo he rode away very well pleaſed out of our ſight, ſo that we took no further care of him. But before I could get the Root quite out, he came back again with full ſpeed upon us, ſo I bid my Comrades to run to the next Olive-Trees, and I would follow them preſently; but when I ſaw him come pretty near me, and found I could not get the Plant whole, I pulled it up as well as I could, and ſo ran to my Companions. But when I came to the Olive-trees, I found they were ran ſeveral Olive-trees further, which ſtand row by row, and found my ſelf quite alone and deſtitute, and that I muſt defend my ſelf behind the Tree; ſo he came down upon me with his Cymeter drawn, and fetch'd one blow after the other at me, which I ſtill declined running from one ſide of the Tree to the other, ſo that they went into the Tree and mangled it mightily. In the mean time defending my ſelf thus unarmed againſt him, I took a Reſolution, that if he ſhould take hold of his Bow and Arrow to ſhoot at me, which he could not do except he left his Cymeter, to run in upon him, and ſtruggle with him: But this Fight during very long, and perhaps his Anger did not give him leave to think of it, I found out another way (knowing them to be very covetous) to make my ſelf free again with a piece of Money, and to give him a ſmall Silver piece, (which in their Language they call Saict, worth about three-pence or a Groat) ſo pulled it out, and ſhew'd it him ſtill ſtanding behind the Tree: As ſoon as he ſaw it he gave over, and beckened to me to give it him, ſo I ſtepp'd to him, and when I reached it to him, he took it. But my Table-book fell out of my Pocket when I pulled out the Money, upon the Ground, wherein I had recorded many things, which when he ſaw, he would have it alſo, but I refuſing it, he grew mad, and began to renew the ſame Game again; then I repented that I did not diſmount him when I gave him the Money; yet I conſider'd, that if I ſhould have done him a Miſchief, as he deſerved, yet although I had never ſo good a Cauſe, I was ſure I muſt be caſt, and perhaps come to a greater miſchief and hurt; ſo I gave him it, and after he had received it, he was pacified and rode away.
But to come to my former purpoſe again, I found about the River the other Tragium Dioſc. in the ploughed Grounds, and afterwards alſo in abundance upon the Hill, but generally in moiſt places, near to the Spring that runs down the Hill: Its Root is whitiſh, pretty long and ſlender, from thence ſpread themſelves ſome woody Stalks not above a little finger long, whereon grew towards the top many Leaves together, which were long, and had of each ſide of their rib ſmall Leaves, one oppoſite to the other, which were (juſt like the Trichomanes) divided, only ſomewhat longer, about the bigneſs of theſe of Aſplenium, and are (as they) delicately green within, but without, and againſt the Ground, of an Aſh-colour, and woolly, chiefly the ſmall ones, that are juſt ſprouting out between the others. Out of theſe firſt-mentioned Stems come firſt naked long Stalks, upon which grow, at the top, Violet-brown Flowers cloſe together, as if it was an Ear of Corn: The Inhabitants call it Secudes, and ſo did the ancient Arabians, chiefly Avicen. in the 679th Chapter, where he alſo attributeth this Vertue, that it is very proper in the Bloody-flux.
In their Gardens the Turks love to raiſe all ſorts of Flowers, wherein they take great delight, and uſe to put them on their Turbant, ſo I could ſee the fine Plants that blow one after another, daily, without trouble. In December I ſaw our Violets, with dark-brown and white Flowers, whereof they gave me in that Seaſon ſeveral Noſegays. Then came the Tulips, Hyacinths, Narciſſies, which they ſtill name by the old name Nergis. Before all other, I ſaw a rare kind with a double yellow Flower, called Modaph, and a ſtrange Convolvulus hederae foliis, with great purple Flowers, whereout grew Seed-veſſels, as you ſee in the new Harmala, with three diſtinct Capſula's, wherein is kept its black Seed, to which they attribute the vertue of evacuating tough Slime. This is found ſometimes in Gardens, and by the Inhabitants called Haſniſca, and the Perſians Acafra, and Serapio, Chapt. 273. Habalnil; the Latines, Granum Indicum, and Carthamus Indicus; and he that hath a mind to know more of it, let him look into the Author himſelf, in the above-mentioned place, in the 306th Chapter of Avicen. and the 208th of Rhaſes. I alſo found in their Gardens Balm, Baſil, and a fine ſort of Amaranthus, which for his colour-ſake may be called Symphonia Plinii, and therefore called Parrots Feather.
I cannot forbear, before I conclude, to mention ſome which I found here and there in the Batzars, and among them a ſtrange ſort of Lillies, which as I am told grow in ſunny, moory, moſſy, and moiſt places; whereon groweth a long Stalk of the ſame colour and thickneſs of ours, only a great deal broader, but broadeſt of all at top, where it is about three fingers broad, ſo that it is like unto a Spatula that is painted at one end: On this Stalk grow at each ſide ſeveral tender Leaves, which are pretty long, but very ſmall and pointed, and at the top thereof ſome white Flowers like unto ours. When I was thinking of this at ſeveral times, what they were called by the Ancients, it came into my mind, that I had read of them in Theophraſtus, lib. 4. cap. 9. and I really believe it to be the ſame. But whereas Theophraſtus writes in the quoted place, that they do not touch the Ground, I can ſay nothing to it, for I never ſaw any of them growing. They have alſo ſome ſmall Roots to ſell, called Mamirani tchini, good for Eyes, as they ſay; they are yellowiſh like Curcuma, but a good deal longer, and thinner, and knotted, and very like unto our Poligonatum, and may be eſteemed to be the true Mamican, whereof Rhaſes maketh mention in ſeveral places. There is alſo among others brought a great quantity of the Juice of Scammony, that is ſtill very ſoft, it cometh in Leathern Bags from out of the Country, and ſo it's ſold to our Merchants in their Fondiques; but thoſe that buy it muſt have a great care (becauſe it is often adulterated) that they be not cheated. There is alſo a good deal of the Juice, by the Apothecaries called Opium, and by the Inhabitants Ofinn, which the Turks, Moors, and Perſians, and other Nations take inwardly, not only in War, at the time when they go to fight their Enemies, to make them couragious and valiant, but alſo in time of Peace, to drive away Melancholy and Care, or at leaſt to eaſe it. Their religious People make alſo uſe of it, but above all the reſt the Deruis, and take ſo much of it, that it maketh them preſently drowſie, and without conſideration, that when, after their barbarous and ſilly way, they cut, ſlaſh, or burn themſelves, they may feel leſs ſmart or pain. If any one hath ſo begun to make uſe of it, (they take about the quantity of a large Pea at a time) they cannot well leave it off again, except they have a mind to throw themſelves into a Sickneſs or other Inconveniencies: For, as they confeſs themſelves, that if they omit taking of it, they find themſelves very ill in their Bodies. Opium is commonly taken from the white Poppy-heads, in their Language called Caſcaſch, wherein they cut (when they are young and tender) a ſpiral or winding-circle round about it from top to bottom, one under the other; out of thoſe runs ſome Milk, which they let be there until it groweth thick, then they gather it and make it into Balls, like unto our perfumed Soap-balls. Being that the Turks uſe this Opium ſo commonly, it happens ſometimes that they take ſo much of it, that it is very dangerous; wherefore they have an Antidote (as I was informed) that is the Root Aſlab (whereof I have made mention before) which they give to bring them to rights again.
I found alſo in the great Batzars a ſort of Alga ſold in their Shops, which was dark-red, and therefore very uſeful for Dyers; it had Stalks of the thickneſs of a Finger, and was ſurrounded with ſeveral thin Scales, or rather Leaves, and round: Wherefore it may be taken to be a Saderva Serap. and Herb Alargivan of Andreas Bellunenſis, whereof he maketh mention in his Index, where he interpreteth the Arabian words. For a kind of this may alſo be taken (becauſe it affords a delicate purple colour) that Alga that is found in the Seas near Candia, and is deſcribed by Theophraſtus in his Fourth Book and Seventh Chapter. Laſtly, Among the reſt, I did alſo enquire after the Amomum, and thought, becauſe they were near unto the Confines of Armenia, that therefore they might eaſily have it by the Caravans, which come daily from thoſe parts; yet I was forced to run a great while after it, till at length I got a little Stalk thereof in one Shop: They call it by the name of Hamama. But of the other, ſo called by Dioſcor. which is like unto it, and therefore may eaſily be taken for the right one, they had a great deal. Theſe two ſmall Shrubs, although they are very like to one another, yet for all that they may be diſtinguiſh'd by their Stalks and different colours. Wherefore Dioſcorid. bids us (if we will not be impoſed upon) to pick out the bigger and ſmoother, with its noble Seed, and to leave the ſmall. This Stalk, which I found about the length of a Finger, is almoſt of the colour of the Bark of the Cinnamon-tree, and alſo in its acrimony and good odour (although it was old) ſtill very ſtrong. At the top had been ſeveral woody Stalks, cloſe to one another, whereon I believe had been the Flowers and Seeds. But the Twigs of the other ſort, which are crack'd and bended, are of a brown colour, which at the top divide themſelves into other leſs ones, like a Tree, whereon grow ſeveral Stalks, with little Heads like unto the Maſaron, or Marum Syriacum from Crete, wherein is no great ſtrength nor odour.
Thus much I thought convenient to mention of ſtrange Plants, chiefly of theſe the ancients make mention of, and ſo I conclude the firſt part of my TRAVELS.
Here endeth the Firſt Part.
THE SECOND PART OF THE TRAVELS OF Dr. Leonhart Rauwolff, INTO The Eaſtern Countries. Wherein is treated of his Journey from Halepo, through the famous Town of Babylonia, to Badgee; what he ſaw by the way, and what did befal him in going and coming by Water and by Land. With a brief account of the high Mount of Libanus; of the ſtrange Plants and Inhabitants thereof.