These People Have Many Fine Carts, Many Of Which Are
Richly Carved And Gilt, Having Two Wheels, And Are Drawn By Two Little
Bulls, Not Much Larger Than Our Biggest English Dogs, Which Run With
These Carts As Fast As Any Horse, Carrying Two Or Three Men In Each
Cart:
They are covered with silk or fine cloth, and are used like our
coaches in England.
There is a great resort of merchants to this place
from Persia and all parts of India, and vast quantities of merchandise,
such as silks, cloths, and precious stones, diamonds, rubies, and
pearls. The king is dressed in a white _cabie_ made like a shirt, and
tied with strings on one side, having a small cloth on his head, often
coloured red and yellow. None enter into his apartments, except the
eunuchs who have charge of his women.
[Footnote 405: Futtipoor, certainly here meant, is now a place of small
importance about 20 miles west from Agra. - E.]
We remained in Fatepore till the 28th of September 1585, when Mr John
Newbery took his journey towards Lahore, intending to go from thence
through Persia to Aleppo or Constantinople, whichever he could get the
readiest passage to; and he directed me to proceed to Bengal and Pegu,
promising me, if it pleased God, to meet me at Bengal within two years
with a ship from England[406]. I left William Leades the jeweller at
Fatepore, in the service of the king Zelabdim Achebar, who gave him good
entertainment, giving a house and five slaves, with a horse, and six
S.S. in money daily. I went from Agra to _Satagam_ in Bengal, in company
with 180 boats loaded with _salt_, opium, _hinge_, lead, carpets, and
various other commodities, down the river _Jemena_, [Jumna]; the chief
merchants being Moors.
[Footnote 406: In Purchas his Pilgrims, I. 110, is the following notice
respecting Mr Newberry: "Before that," meaning his journey along with
Fitch, "he had travelled to Ormus in 1580, and thence into the
Continent, as may appear in fitter place by his journal, which I have,
passing through the countries of Persia, Media, Armenia, Georgia, and
Natolia, to Constantinople; and thence to the Danube, through Walachia,
Poland, Prussia, and Denmark, and thence to England."]
In this country they have many strange ceremonies. The bramins, who are
their priests, come to the water having a string about their necks, and
with many ceremonies lave the water with both their hands, turning the
string with both their hands in several manners; and though it be never
so cold, they wash themselves regularly at all times. These gentiles eat
no flesh, neither do they kill any thing, but live on rice, butter,
milk, and fruits. They pray in the water naked; and both dress and eat
their food naked. For penance, they lie flat on the earth, then rise up
and turn themselves round 30 or 40 times, lifting their hands to the
sun, and kiss the earth with their arms and legs stretched out; every
time they lie down making a score on the ground with their fingers, that
they may know when the prescribed number of prostrations is finished.
Every morning the Bramins mark their foreheads, ears, and throats, with
a kind of yellow paint or earth; having some old men among them, who go
about with a box of yellow powder, marking them on the head and neck as
they meet them. Their women come in troops of 10, 20, and 30 together to
the water side singing, where they wash themselves and go through their
ceremonies, and then mark themselves, and so depart singing. Their
daughters are married at ten years of age, and the men may have seven
wives each. They are a crafty people, worse than the Jews. When they
salute one another, they say, _Rame_, _rame_.
From Agra I came to _Prage_[407], where the river Jumna enters into the
mighty Ganges, and there loses its name. The Ganges comes out of the
north-west, and runs east to discharge its waters into the gulf of
Bengal. In these parts there are many tigers, and vast quantities of
partridges and turtle-doves, besides many other kinds of birds. There
are multitudes of beggars in these countries, called _Schesche_, which
go entirely naked. I here saw one who was a monster among the rest. He
had no clothes whatever, his beard being very long, and the hair of his
head was so long and plentiful, that it covered his nakedness. The nails
on some of his fingers were two inches long, as he would cut nothing
from him; and besides he never spake, being constantly accompanied by
eight or ten others, who spoke for him. If any one spoke to him, he laid
his hand on his breast and bowed, but without speaking, for he would not
have spoken to the king.
[Footnote 407: At the angle of junction between the rivers Jumna and
Ganges, the city of Allahabad is now situated. - E.]
We went from _Prage_ down the Ganges, which is here very broad, and
abounds in various wild-fowl, as swans, geese, cranes, and many others,
the country on both sides being very fertile and populous. For the most
part the men have their faces shaven, but wear the hair of their heads
very long; though some have their crowns shaved, and others have all
their heads shaven except the crown. The water of the river Ganges is
very sweet and pleasant, having many islands, and the adjoining country
is very fertile. We stopt at _Bannaras_, [Benares], a large town in
which great quantities of cotton-cloths are made, and sashes for the
moors. In this place all the inhabitants are gentiles, and the grossest
idolaters I ever saw. To this town the gentiles come on pilgrimages out
of far distant countries. Along the side of the river there are many
fair houses, in all or most of which they have ill favoured images made
of stone or wood; some like lions, leopards, or monkeys; some like men
and women; others like peacocks; and others like the devil, having four
arms and four hands.
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