The Maner How The Christians Become Busormen, And Forsake Their Religion.

I haue here noted before that if any Christian wil become a Busornan, that is, one that hath forsaken his faith, and be a Mahometan of their religion, they giue him many gifts and sometimes also a liuing.

The maner is, that when the deuill is entred into his heart to forsake his faith, he resorteth to the Soltan or gouenour of the towne, to whom hee maketh protestation of his diuelish purpose. The gouernour appointeth him a horse, and one to ride before him on another horse, bearing a sword in his hand, and the Busorman bearing an arrow in his hand, and rideth in the citie, cursing his father and mother: and if euer after he returne to his owne religion, he is guiltie of death, as is signified by the sword borne before him. A yong man, a seruant of one of our merchants, because he would not abide the correction of his master for his faults, was minded to forsake his faith. But (as God would) he fell suddenly sicke and died, before he gaue himself to the deuill. If he had become a Busorman, he had greatly troubled the merchants: for if he then would haue said that halfe their goods had bene his, they would haue giuen credite vnto him. For the auoiding of which inconuenience, it was granted in the priuiledges, that no Busorman, &c. as there appeareth.

In Persia in diuers places oxen and kine beare the tents and houshold stuffe of the poore men of the countrey, which haue neither camels nor horses.

Of the tree which beareth Bombasin cotton, or Gossampine.

In Persia is great abundance of Bombasin cotton, and very fine: this groweth on a certaine litle tree or brier, not past the height of a mans waste or litle more: the tree hath a slender stalke like vnto a brier, or to a carnation gillifloure, with very many branches, bearing on euery branch a fruit or rather a cod, growing in round forme, containing in it the cotton: and when this bud or cod commeth to the bignes of a walnut, it openeth and sheweth foorth the cotton, which groweth still in bignes vntill it be like a fleece of wooll as big as a mans fist, and beginneth, to be loose, and then they gather it as it were the ripe fruite. The seeds of these trees are as big as peason, and are blacke, and somewhat flat, and not round; they sowe them in plowed ground, where they grow in the fields in great abundance in many countries in Persia, and diuers other regions.

The writing of the Persians.

Arthur Edwards shewed me a letter of the Sophie, written in their letters backward, subsigned with the hands both of the Sophy and his Secretarie. The Sophies subscription was onely one word (his name I suppose was Shaugh) written in golden letters vpon red paper. The whole letter was also written on the same piece of red paper, being long and narow, about the length of a foote, and not past three inches broad.

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