An Arab's Journey to Colonial Spanish America: The Travels of Elias al-Mûsili in the Seventeenth Century 9780815650621, 9780815632665

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AN ARAB’S JOURNEY TO COLONIAL SPANISH AMERICA

Middle East Literature in Translation Michael Beard and Adnan Haydar, Series Editors

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t h e t rav e l r o u t e o f e l i a s a l - m uˆ s i l i

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An

ARAB’S JOURNEY to

COLONIAL SPANISH AMERICA T he Travels of Elias al-Mûsili in the Seventeenth Century

h Translated from the Arabic and Edited by Caesar E. Farah

sy rac u s e u n i v e r s i ty p r e s s

∞ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.

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Contents Preface ix Translator’s Introduction xv Journey of the First Eastern Traveler to America Introduction 1 Book of Travel 1. From Baghdad to Venice 5 2. Tour of France 8 3. Spain and Italy 11 4. Preparing for the Journey to America 14 5. The Journey to South America 16 6. Arriving in America 17 7. Proceeding along the Coast of Venezuela 18 8. Description of Cartagena 19 9. The Journey to Panama 21 10. The Journey to Panama City 23 11. From Panama to Guayaquil in the Land of Peru 25 12. Describing the Alligator Called “Caïman” 27 13. From Guayaquil to Quito 28 14. Quito and Its Environs 30 15. From Quito to Cuenca: Describing the Bullfight 33 16. Mines of Gold 34 17. Journeys and Dangers 35

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18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47.

The Cave of Gold in Piura 36 From Piura to Trujillo 37 The Journey to Lima 39 Residing in Lima 40 Description of Lima 41 The Journey to Huancavelica 43 Mercury Mines 44 Petrified Water—Describing the Cactus 45 Arriving in Aguamanga 46 The Journey to Cuzco 47 Traveling to Abancay 49 Describing Abancay 50 The Indians of Paucartambo 51 Mines of Silver 52 Cruel Death of a Wealthy Man 52 Minting Silver 55 Ancient Inhabitants of the Land 55 Freeing Some Prisoners—A Marble Quarry 56 Wealth Illegally Gathered 57 Travel to Oruro and Potosi 58 A Visit to the Mint and Silver Mine 59 Describing the Extraction of Silver 60 Journeying to Chuquisaca 61 Describing Tucuman and Buenos Aires 63 The Deposed Viceroy 65 A Traveler Befriending the Wronged 68 The Return to Panama from Peru 69 The Journey from Panama. Solomon’s Island 71 The Land of Nicaragua 73 The Land of San Salvador, Describing the Plant of the Nile 74 48. The Land of Guatemala 75

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49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58.

The Land of Chiapa, a Messenger of Peace 77 The Journey to Mexico 78 Describing Mexico 80 The Wondrous Church of the Virgin 81 Heretics Attack the Port of Vera Cruz 83 From Mexico to Baghdad via China 85 Tales of China and the Philippines 87 The Mariannes Islands 88 The Return to Europe 89 From Spain to Rome 91

Appendix A: Pedro the Candian (Cretan): One of the Conquerors of Peru 92 Appendix B: Christian Relics in Central and South America 94 Glossary 107 Index 109

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P reface The original title of this work is not known, it being undoubtedly a record of travel by the author. The title that has come down to us was the contribution of the Arabic editor of a portion of a larger anthological compilation by al-Mûsili himself. The editor entitled this edition of the travel portion: The Journey of the First Eastern Tourist to America 1668–1683

Nature of the Account This translation is based on the account of one Reverend Elias al-Mûsili, described as a priest of the Chaldean church, from the family of ‘Amûda 1 (some say ‘Amûna)2 that hailed originally from Baghdad. It is a rendition into English of the Arabic edition by the Reverend Antûn Rabbât, S.J., a highly regarded Jesuit scholar of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Rev. Rabbât was a contributor to 1. ‘Amûna is the most likely title of the family. It would be easy to mistake (in the original Arabic handwritten script) a d for an n. 2. So listed in D. Christianus Fridericus de Schnurrer, Bibliotheca Arabica, part 4, Die Ostsyrischen Schriftsteller (no. l59, p. 97). The Arab editor spelled the name “‘Amûda” but also claims it could be “‘Amûna.”

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the esteemed Jesuit publication of the University of Saint Joseph of Beirut, Lebanon, al-Mashriq (The East). He was also an authority on Eastern Christianity, as evinced by the scholarly production he bequeathed to posterity. He himself was of Syrian origin, which might explain why he chose to title the manuscript as he did. His Syrian origin might also be the cause of his tendency to translate “Suryân” as “Syrian.” The term Suryân traditionally refers to the liturgical language of Eastern Christians, which is expressed in Syriac, a derivative of ancient Aramaic. The author of the travelogue was not of Syrian origin; rather, his original home was in northern Iraq, although upon his return from his travels he did settle in northern Syria. The term Chaldean, utilized by al-Mûsili, implies that he belonged to the rite that had joined the Church of Rome. The Holy See chose to dub as “Chaldeans” both the Jacobites and the Nestorians who acknowledged the pope as their spiritual leader. Both were of the Monophysite persuasion but utilized differing liturgies in their services. It is not clear whether Rev. al-Mûsili used the Jacobite or the Nestorian version. Judging from the fact that the manuscript was discovered in a monastery located in the Jacobite heartland, we might safely assume that this was his religious affiliation. In consulting a prayer book of the Chaldean rite, which our author prepared after his return to Baghdad and which was published in Rome by the Propaganda Fide in 1692, we find a statement by him that he was related to the patriarch of the Chaldean church. Among the titles he lists for himself we read:“Archdeacon of the Church of Baghdad,” followed by a string of Latin qualifications, to wit:“Protonotarius Apostolicus, Staurophorus D. Petri, Comes Palatinus,” and “priest of the church of the king of Spain.” 3 It appears that his father was also a priest of the same rite. According to Rabbât, we know nothing about the ‘Amûda family, the only other reference being to a nephew called Yunân who, after completing his studies at the Propaganda Fide in Rome, returned to Aleppo in 1670. Later, when Elias undertook the trip to America, he 3. See de Schnurrer, Bibliotheca Arabica (Halle on the Sale, Prussia, 1811), 256–60.

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regretted having sent Yunân home, thus missing the opportunity of having him as his companion.

The Manuscript The manuscript was discovered by Rev. Antûn Rabbât in the library of the Suryân (Jacobite Orthodox) bishopric in Aleppo. Fascinated by its contents, Rev. Rabbât recommended its publication to His Eminence Dionysius Efram Naqqâsh, the bishop of the Chaldean rite, a branch that split off from the Jacobite church to join Rome. Permission granted, Rabbât proceeded to copy and edit in the original Arabic that portion of the manuscript that related to Rev. Elias’s travel to America. The editor was intrigued by the fact that, while Easterners are noted for their love of travel, none before Rev. Elias had ventured into the Americas and left a record of his observations and experiences that shed light on towns, villages, cities, provinces, and native peoples as well as on their Spanish overlords. Rev. Rabbât praises Rev. Elias’s account and claims that what the traveler left for posterity “has not been matched by anyone or anything” in the contents of libraries that he himself had investigated, an important inducement for him to edit the work. Rabbât first published the manuscript in the Jesuit journal alMashriq (vol. 8, nos. 18–24 [l905]) under the heading “The most ancient voyage of an Oriental to America (1668–83).”It was subsequently published as a separate work by the Catholic Press of the Jesuits in Beirut in 1906 under the title The Journey of the First Oriental to America or the Travels of Rev. Elias, the son of Bishop Hanna al-Mûsili from the Chaldean ‘Amûn Family, 1668 to 1683.4 To this separate publication were added appendixes: one consisting of six indexes in Arabic and 4. Utilization of “Oriental” for “Easterner” reflects the tradition pursued by Western authors, which in light of Edward Said’s work Orientalism, 1st ed. (New York: Vintage Books, 1979) might be deemed pejorative.

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French, another of terms and places (for a total of ninety-one pages), and a third of chapter subheadings. Louis Cheikho, editor of al-Mashriq, alleged that a copy of the manuscript was printed in Beirut in June 1903.5 A summary of al-Mûsili’s account of his journey from the time he left Baghdad until he returned to Rome was translated into German from the edited account by Else Reitemeyer.6 In more recent times a Spanish Arab, Abelardo Shediac, wrote an introductory article on the journey of al-Mûsili to Spanish America.7 A verbatim reprint of the original manuscript was executed in 1725 but with the omission of a small part and the substitution for the original author of the name of “‘Ubaydallah Yûsuf ‘Abdallah, Maronite from Jerusalem” without any reference to Rev. Elias, the real author.8 The original manuscript is also mentioned by D. Christianus Fridericus de Schnurrer in Bibliotheca Arabica.

Modifications Introduced In translating from the Arabic, I introduced modest changes on occasion in order to render the English version less awkward. There are insertions and deletions, mostly of conjunctions. I recast some sentences in a more direct style of expression and preserved the notations and comments of the Arabic editor, enhanced or modified only as needed. I also preserved and documented where possible the published sources of his Spanish references. Sources of seventeenth- to latenineteenth-century authorship cited by al-Mûsili and by Rev. Rabbât were incomplete, making it impossible to provide full data on all of 5. al-Mashriq 29 (June 1903): 1–154. Cf. Cheikho’s Catalogue, p. 39. Other references are to be found in Sbath 108 (pp. 1–214) wherein he erroneously claims the journey took place in the eighteenth century; see also Fihris, p. 1604. 6. Eichstätt, Klerusblatt 7 (1926): 298–300, 329–30, and 336–37. 7. See Abelardo Shediac’s “Primer Viaje de Oriental a la America,” in America Espanola 25 (1940): 87–98. 8. De Schnurrer, Bibliotheca Arabica, 99.

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these in this translation. Other qualifications and explanations were added only where called for. I have also introduced additional explanatory notes as needed for clarification. The repetitive nature of al-Mûsili’s narrative, which is understandable when one is constantly journeying, and the trite language in which he expressed his views necessitated some rewording and telescoping of sentences in order to avert the reader’s boredom and to dull the edges of al-Mûsili’s repetitiveness. No conscious attempt was made, however, to alter the author’s intent. My aim, rather, was to simplify and to smooth over transitional sentences. Although there is no evidence that al-Mûsili was conversant with Turkish, he did have recourse to Turkish expressions. These expressions perhaps were those commonly employed in the Arabic of northern Iraq, wherefrom he derived, as is evident in the Persian background of such terms, which is not unusual in the Mosul region. I could not avoid employing such terms, especially when they reflected both official and current usage. I have translated Persian, Turkish, and Arabic terms in a commonly accepted mode, with some elaboration on occasion. Following the pattern of Rev. Rabbât, I have added an expanded glossary to this translation.

h I wish to acknowledge a number of colleagues who have provided advice and assistance, namely Professor Emeritus Bernard Lewis of Princeton University for suggesting the translation and editing of the manuscript, and Professor Stuart Schwarz of Yale University who helped in deciphering Latin/Spanish names alluded to in the manuscript. I owe special thanks to the Minnesota Humanities Commission for providing a grant to facilitate this publication, and to Mark Lindberg and his assistant Xuejin Ruan of the University of Minnesota Cartography Laboratory for preparing the English version of the map depicting the author’s travel route.

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Translator’s Introduction The author of this travelogue divided the account of his journey into two parts. In the first he relates his journey from Baghdad to Europe, and in the second his travel to America and back to Europe. In the seventeen chapters not included in editor Antûn Rabbât’s 1905 edition, Rev. Elias describes the history of America’s discovery, its ancient rulers, and the conquest by Spain. Most of the information came from his perusal of Spanish historical sources, presumably during his yearlong sojourn in Lima, capital of Peru, in 1680, according to his own account. It appears that he later decided to modify the original travelogue and to supplement it by adding the return-to-Europe portion of his journey. Rabbât chose not to include this portion in the part he edited from the Arabic original, perhaps because it was already known data. As an afterthought, Rabbât appended two portions: Pizarro’s discovery (appendix A) and al-Mûsili’s chapter relating the preaching of early Christian missionaries antedating the conquest (appendix B). Starting from Aleppo, Syria, in 1668, Rev. Elias embarked upon a journey-cum-pilgrimage to Jerusalem, whence he traveled to Baghdad, then to Iskenderun,1 and by sea to Venice, France, Spain, Portugal, and Sicily; then back to Spain, and from Cádiz, again by sea, to America. His journey was sanctioned by both the Spanish monarchy and by notables of the court, who by his own account made ready the provi1. Formerly Alexandretta on the northern end of the Syrian coast of the Mediterranean.

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sions he needed. Without this support he could not have undertaken such an extensive journey, which lasted eight years (from the time he set sail until he returned to Rome) and during which he suffered considerable hardship.2 His journey to the Americas began in 1675. His route carried him past the Canary Islands. He disembarked in Cartagena, New Granada (Colombia) after spending fifty-five days at sea. His early destination was the region of Panama, then across the Isthmus to the west coast. He visited towns and mines along the coast of the Pacific Ocean, his journey extending into the countries known today as Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, La Plata (Argentina), and Chile.3 From there it was back to Lima, Peru, in 1680, where he wrote the first part of his travelogue. He next journeyed to the “New World” (Central America and Mexico)4 and by sea back to Spain and thence to Rome, where he terminated his account after an audience with the pope. Of the encounter with the pope he wrote:“Pope Innocent XI bestowed upon me favors I did not deserve. Glory be to God forever and ever more.” 5

What Is Known about the Author Rabbât refers to Rev. Elias as being a Chaldean priest of simple faith and true piety, but one with little knowledge of Arabic composition and literary style.6 He wrote about what he observed simply, but carefully and sincerely. Following his journey on a large map, editor Rabbât notes that the author did not overlook a single town, nor did his memory fail him except on very rare occasions. Because his style of writing was weak and his descriptions, with minor exceptions, lacked 2. This is also the judgment of Else Reitemeyer, Klerusblatt, 298. 3. See his route on the map as designated by Rev. Rabbât. 4. From the Turkish expression he employs directly: Yeni Dünya. 5. Pope Innocent XI had ascended to the papacy following the death of Clemens IX while Rev. Elias was on his journey. 6. Presumably Rev. Elias was more fluent in Syriac, the liturgical language of the Chaldeans.

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artistic expression, the reader’s interest is held by Elias’s movements from place to place and from situation to situation, and by his account of the strange things he observed. Rabbât corrected grammatical errors in the structuring of his Arabic writing, but without impinging on his style. It is probable the author wrote also for the benefit of fellow Syrians, for Rabbât alleges that he settled in Aleppo after his return, although there is evidence turned up in Spanish archives to suggest that he returned to Spain instead. The travel portion might have been designed to entertain his fellow countrymen with tales of exploits in unknown lands. They would have been fascinated to learn of conditions in the countries visited before they became Christianized and of his own experiences. In this respect he imparts to the reader a strong awareness of the cultures of the New World, from the perspective both of the native Indian peoples and of the ruling Spaniards and the Church, who appeared to lend their authority to every segment of his travels. Reverend Elias had been asked to prepare a prayer book in Arabic and Latin for the use of both clergy and communicants according to the Eastern rite and the calendar that was published in 1692 under the title Horae diurnae et nocturnae ad usum Orientalium for the Propaganda Fide.7 Whether it was prepared in Rome or in Baghdad is difficult to tell. All we know is that the sponsor of the publication was Andrâwus, Kawâlîr (Chevalier) ibn Maqdisi ‘Abdallah al-Kaldâni al-Mûsili.

Rabbât’s Notations Himself a devout Jesuit, Rabbât asserts that it is commonly known that people on the bottom rung of barbarism attain the highest levels of civilization only through the efforts of missionaries. It is also clear from Rev. Elias’s encounters that the Church enjoyed considerable influence at every level in the lands he visited. Perhaps this influence can be at7. Published in D. Christianus Fridericus de Schnurrer’s Bibliotheca Arabica (Halle on Sale, Prussia, 1811), no. 264, pp. 256–60.

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tributed to the fact that it was the Church’s mission to Christianize the Indians. While Rabbât does not describe Rev. Elias’s journey as undertaken with such purpose in mind, it is evident from Rev. Elias’s own account of the extensive holding of masses and counseling that he did indeed contribute to reinforcing the teachings of Christianity while on his extensive journey. From both a religious and a lay point of view, one can understand Rabbât’s interest in publicizing the reverend’s travels. He saw sufficient merit in this travelogue, when compared with the observations of contemporaries, to undertake placing the account in proper historical and religious perspective.

The Manuscript According to Rev. Rabbât’s investigations, the manuscript is unique. He was unable to find any reference to the existence of another either in Eastern or in Western libraries. On the other hand, there are a number of references to copies of it in other sources that may or may not have been tampered with. We do know that the author himself later, perhaps upon returning to his native land, introduced modifications to the original manuscript, which, regrettably, did not come down to us in al-Mûsili’s own handwriting. The only precise date we have is 1680, the year he spent in Lima and began to record accounts of his travel to that date. Rabbât’s examination of the original manuscript reveals a very early binding (no date presumed), 21 by 15 centimeters in dimension with about twenty-one lines to the page. It was written in very clear script, but not carefully. The 269 pages include the 100 that constitute the author’s account of his travels. The next 114 pages were divided into seventeen chapters, the ones relating the conquest of Spanish America and its history, rulers, and peoples. Much of this history is gleaned from early Spanish accounts by known historians, to which the author adds his own reflections in light of his own experiences and what he heard on his travels in South and Central America. The last 55 pages contain the journey of Sa‘îd Pasha, the ambassador of the Ot-

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toman imperial government to France in 1132/1719, published in Turkish and French but not in Arabic.

Addenda and References The addenda to his journey focus on known material that he derived from the Book of Voyages describing the accounts of Pizarro’s and his thirteen companions’ discovery of Peru in 1526.8 Checking the excerpts with the original convinced Rev. Rabbât that the information conveyed by Rev. Elias was not basically inaccurate. In the 113 pages constituting one addendum, Rev. Elias described the peoples who resided in those regions before the arrival of Europeans; he related the discovery of Peru and the battles between discoverers and natives. He relied mostly on Spanish accounts, which he quotes in his narration, especially Gregorio Garcia’s Origen de los Indios, Jose de Acosta’s Historia General des Indes, and works by such authors as Garcilaso, Salazar, Anton de Edebra (?), Diego de Alvera (?), Roderico Luca, Andreas de Lara, and Hugo Karon (?). Comparing his with the accounts of his informants produced remarkably accurate reproduction of the texts utilized. The problem lies in Rev. Elias’s inability to summarize or synthesize the data in a coherent manner. Rabbât chose to reproduce Elias’s account of Pedro di Candia (Crete),9 one of Pizarro’s thirteen companions in the discovery of Peru, because if it is accurate an Easterner would have had a share in the earliest discoveries and adventures in South America. Rabbât focuses on this group because they had a hand in the glory of the conquest and in the earliest conversion to Christianity of native Indians.10 He also stresses what early adventurers claim to have seen by way of evidence that preachers of Christianity led by Saint Thomas the Apostle had 8. Book of Voyages, vol. 8, pp. 143 et seq. 9. According to al-Mûsili, Pedro was of the Greek faith, hailing from Candia (the island of Crete), known for his religiosity and nobility of character. 10. Translation of his excerpt is titled “Pedro the Cretan, one of the Conquerors of Peru,” pp. 74–75 of the separately published manuscript of al-Mûsili’s narrative.

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found their way to Peru long before the Spaniards appeared.11 Given the author’s orientation in this regard, and his strong Christian convictions, I have decided to translate these two appendixes and to add them to the main text of al-Mûsili’s travelogue.

Reproduction of the Original The travel-to-America portion of the manuscript is not in the author’s own handwriting. We have no date as to when it was copied. His own name had been erased and replaced by that of Hanna b. Diyâb al-Mârûni (the Maronite) of Aleppo,12 followed by that of Jibrâ’ îl ibn Yûsuf Qirmiz and the date of 5 January 18l7, which one assumes is when the latest copy was done.

Account of the Journey The author does not stipulate what he undertook to accomplish by his journey to Europe, the only part that he appeared to have planned. It would appear that it was an afterthought that induced him to abbreviate the account of his residence in Europe, which equaled his years in America. Most likely it was only upon his return that he recalled the events of the seven years he spent in Latin Europe, and this delay may explain why this part of his narrative is so concise. It is possible that raising funds was one of the original aims of his journey, besides getting in touch with family members and church 11. Reverend Elias discusses these legends in a chapter entitled “Christian Relics in Central and South America” (pp. 765–83 of the book version of his travels), accepting the allegation that Saint Thomas did indeed reach that land. That this saint should attract his attention might be attributed to Saint Thomas’s having been the one who converted the Malabar coast (India proper) natives to the branch of Christianity (Chaldean rite) to which he himself subscribed. See appendix B. 12. Substitution of the name of “‘Ubaydallah Yûsuf ‘Abdallah, Maronite from Jerusalem”was made in the verbatim reprint of the original manuscript executed in 1725.

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members studying in Rome. By his own account he had run out of vital funds and was in dire need of replenishing his personal treasury. There are hints in his travelogue of his serving perhaps as an observer on the status of the Church’s servants in the New World, because on a couple of occasions he threatened to report those he deemed unjust in dealing with communicants back to the highest ecclesiastical authority. There was also little mention of what he did during the year or so he spent in Europe before returning to Baghdad. He could not have completed the whole account before his return to Europe and Baghdad. Because he ends the narrative with his audience with Pope Innocent XI in Rome, there is no way of knowing whether he lingered on in Rome to complete the account or waited until he returned to his native land. It is assumed he returned to Baghdad before settling eventually in Aleppo several years later, where he might well have come up with the final recension of his travelogue and with other observations. It is also possible that he might have done this after returning to Spain, where he might have ended his days. He apparently attracted much attention as he entertained his audiences with accounts of his adventures. The return to Baghdad from Rome is speculative, because neither Elias nor Rabbât provides us with any specific data and because we have no dates to serve as landmarks. This lack of information poses an additional question: Did he indeed return to Baghdad, as the editor of the manuscript alleges, or did he travel back to southern Spain—Seville and the coast—where we have evidence of his involvement in some complex trial over a debt owed him!

The Ease of Travel Another matter of curiosity for the reader is the ease with which al-Mûsili moved about in Europe and Latin America. A letter of introduction from the pope served to open doors to Catholic monarchs and dukes of Europe. They in turn provided recommendations to their contacts, who acted to facilitate al-Mûsili’s travels. Thus the ease of his travel once he crossed the waters could have happened only by virtue

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of such letters of recommendation from the highest authorities, both lay and ecclesiastical. He carried letters of recommendation from every dignitary he met or called upon, starting with his own patriarch’s to the Holy See and the pope’s letter, followed by that of Spain’s queen regent. According to his own recorded account, the journey to the Americas was the product of happenstance, not of any advance planning on his part. On the other hand, one might speculate whether the queen regent would have authorized such a journey had al-Mûsili succeeded in obtaining the funds he was supposed to—but failed to—collect in Naples and Sicily by her own orders to the viceroys there.13 The fact that he had to consult a traveling companion from Rome and think before coming up with an alternative reward from the queen regent suggests that a journey to the Americas was not part of his initial agenda. Perhaps she readily consented to his request to save face after her viceroys in Naples and Sicily had ignored her directive, for very few indeed were authorized to journey to these lands when not in direct service of the Crown’s interests. The solution to his dilemma thus came about by accident. It was the cardinal who accompanied him on part of the European journey, obviously conversant with the situation and realizing how lucrative a trip to the Americas could be, especially when enjoying the sanction and endorsement of the highest authority in Spain, who urged him to propose it to the queen after she asked him to seek an alternative form of compensation. If it was from Europe that he intended to gather charity for his fellow communicants and their churches in and around Baghdad, then one wonders how he might have been able to do so by calling alone on royal dignitaries in France,14 Spain, and Italy who did not appear to be open-handed with their treasuries, at least not for an unknown cleric from a distant land. He was not especially successful on this leg of his intended journey. 13. Maria Anna of Austria, widow of King Philip IV, who was regent to her minor son, Carlos II. 14. He had an audience with King Louis XIV and his brother, the Duke of Orléans.

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The Pope Endorses His Travels By al-Mûsili’s own account, Pope Clement IX received him well and provided him with the wherewithal to conduct mass, which he did primarily according to the Chaldean rite, but occasionally according to the Latin as well, because he refers to the role of assistants from the Catholic monasteries and churches of the towns he visited or resided in temporarily. He also mentions having trained one deacon to assist him in the conduct of the mass according to the Chaldean rite. There is no mention of the pope’s providing him with any funds, although he did provide him with vestments used in the conduct of the mass and with a letter of introduction to the Latin monarchs of France and Spain. By initially extending such courtesies and encouragement to Rev. Elias, the pope no doubt sought to cement ties with an important branch of the Eastern church that had come recently under the papacy’s guidance. Hence, one might assume that special favor was being shown al-Mûsili partly as a reward for his church’s joining Rome. In addition, one might also assume that the favor was a good way to introduce Roman Catholic dignitaries in the countries he visited in Europe to the liturgical rite of the Eastern churches, as he was often called upon by nobles and high dignitaries to conduct (at times in private) masses in the Chaldean manner. Such curiosity and interest helped to open doors for him through the references provided by these well-placed contacts. Doors started opening with his being rewarded with the journey to the Americas by the queen’s personal decree and continued through those of high rank he befriended who shared the journey with him. It is unfortunate that his account ends abruptly with his audience with the pope upon his return. We might have benefited from a description of his return journey to Baghdad, which would have closed the circle on his adventurous voyage to Europe and the Americas. Even more regrettable is his inability to fulfill his intention of returning to Baghdad via the Orient, that is, by way of the Philippines and Surat, because of a last-minute obstacle: the captain of the ship, the only enemy he speaks of. Completing an around-the-world journey might

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not have placed him on the same level as ibn Battuta (the famous fourteenth-century traveler from Morocco), but it would have definitely provided the reader much insight regarding that part of the world from an Easterner’s perspective. Although no immediate mention was made concerning what he aimed to accomplish by journeying to America, one might conclude that, having started and ended with visits to the papacy, Elias might also have been commissioned to report on the condition of the Church and its tributaries in the Americas, in addition to gathering charitable gifts for his own church and people. Wherever he went he always called first on heads of a monastery or nunnery, a bishop, a governor, and the highest-ranking official in every locality visited, all of whom undoubtedly were made aware of the queen’s sanction of his journey and the pope’s favorable disposition toward him personally.

The Aid of Well-Placed Contacts One might also speculate that his traveling with high officials of the monarchy and of the Church, befriending them and later encountering them in their posts as he moved about, lent him additional status in his encounters with the minor dignitaries he chanced upon during his travels. The excellent treatment he claimed to have received from highranking dignitaries might also imply that they were aware of the possibility that he might report back on their performance. Indeed, there are instances in which he alleges to have observed injustices and threatened to report them, a threat that facilitated his efforts to redress these wrongs and to make peace between disputants. Nevertheless, it is safe to assume that in opting for the journey when other means of monetary compensation in Italy and Spain failed, he seized a God-sent opportunity to fulfil his initial mission. The wealth of the Americas now beckoned him to reach out and in so doing to return with sufficient silver and valuable gifts to ease the life of the Church and communicants in and around Baghdad. In this respect

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he was tapping the great store of goodwill generated by his branch of the Church because it opted to join Rome. Moreover, fascination with the liturgical rite of his church, evinced by the queen of Spain’s request that he conduct a private service for her and by his continuing to conduct services wherever he went in the Americas, served as a magnet for attracting monetary and other rewards. Having thus made the best contacts possible, both religious and lay, and being armed with letters of reference from both the pope and the queen regent of Spain, as well as from other high dignitaries of Spain, Rev. Elias could expect, and did indeed receive, the highest considerations possible on his journey. On the outward-bound leg of the journey, the general (commander) of the galleons even assigned him a private cabin on the lead ship, which carried also those who were appointed to the highest positions in both the Church and government of the new lands. These contacts proved to be invaluable because they included the Inquisitor, governor generals, and associates who, as it turned out from his description, were well positioned in the lands he traversed to open up doors to visit whatever he chose. Letters of introduction and support received in Spanish America from governors and bishops constantly paved the way for him, even to visit the restricted silver mines of Peru, which in turn rewarded him with considerable wealth. We can only judge the extent by the way he alludes to what he could pay out, or to the mule load of raw silver from the mines. He was assigned attendants and carriages and other transport facilities. He invariably was welcomed by the highest Church dignitaries and local rulers, who often met him as much as six miles from town to escort him. One might say that this is rather unusual attention for a relatively uncultured, ordinary priest, unless he had something special to offer or to endear him to his audiences. One thing is certain: he must have had good working knowledge of the Spanish language, and presumably of Latin, in order to communicate with the high dignitaries of government and Church. It is also likely that he embellished his accounts with data gleaned from the writings of other, and earlier, authors who visited and observed the

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cultures and peoples of the Americas. He does resort often to hearsay, which is inescapable given the fact that what he noted and observed of Indian ways and mores could have come only from direct contacts with them. Herein lies an important aspect of his contribution. One can hardly avoid gaining insight into the social and cultural values of these peoples in reading al-Mûsili’s descriptions. Moreover, one might deduce from the way he describes technical matters that he is basically sound in his observations. He was apparently a keen and incisive observer, as the record shows in his descriptions of what he saw, and in his relaying of what he heard. The record would also explain the relative soundness of his judgment. He evidently was tactful and compassionate in relating to those in need, as one might deduce from several accounts of personal encounters, but with no tolerance of those who committed wrongs. He exhibited a strong sense of loyalty to those he befriended. When, for example, the governor general implored him to do so, Elias cut short his stay in the Americas, thus passing up a promising opportunity to amass a large fortune in silver, in order to accompany him back to Spain and possibly to help plead his case when he was forced to return under adverse circumstances. A matter of curiosity to the reader lies in the fact that at no time does the reverend provide an account of what he earned on his journey through gifts and conduct of religious services or of the size of the wealth he brought back with him. He does relate, however, an episode that might shed some light on the amount of silver he received on occasion. In return for his conducting mass for them in their own church, Indian Catholics rewarded him with great sums of money. Nevertheless, we have no intimation of what the sum total he brought back to Baghdad might have been, because the narrative does not take us that far. During his travels in America all those years, he never once alludes to having run out of funds to pay for expenses incurred. He must have laid out considerable sums to hire mules and attendants, to purchase large quantities of supplies, and to rent separate quartering facilities. He invariably politely turned down offers of hospitality by bishops and governors, opting to stay in monasteries or in quarters he himself

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rented. This choice is understandable in the case of his sojourn in Lima, which lasted a full year. On the other hand, one wonders whether his turning back such generous offers was for the purpose of not exposing his possessions unnecessarily to the large retinues of these dignitaries were he to reside in their households.

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AN ARAB’S JOURNEY TO COLONIAL SPANISH AMERICA

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Journey of the F irst Eastern Traveler to America b y r e v. e l i a s , s o n o f b i s h o p h a n na a l - m û s i l i , t h e c h a l d e a n o f t h e f am i ly o f ‘ am û da ( ‘ am û na )

Introduction Praise be to God who created the world out of His wisdom and all beings by His command and word; who created man in His image and made him Lord over the rest of creation by His grace and beneficence; who forbade him the eating of fruit so as not to experience death.1 But this weak created being when he defied the order of his creator and ate of the forbidden fruit forfeited the blessing that he had enjoyed and became an outcast of the Garden of Eden in the land of suffering and sorrow, until He, may He be praised and glorified, showed mercy and sought to redeem him. So He sent His beloved son, the second uqnûm,2 and His eternal word to the pure immaculate virgin and the noblest of creation wherein he dwelt in an imperceptible manner and was incarnate by her and became man without sin. He walked among men and performed miracles by curing the sick and raising the dead. Then he chose his disciples, simple fishermen, and set forth rules and regulations 1. Presumably “eating of fruit” refers to unlawful gain. 2. Hypostasis: divine person within the Trinity.

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for them and ordered them to travel the whole world and preach through the sanctified gospel saying to them (Matthew 28:19) go forth and teach and baptize in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, for he who believes and is baptized is saved, and he who does not believe will be judged. He said to them also (Matthew 18:5) he who accepts thee accepts me. He promised them also that upon his ascent he would send down the enriching spirit to grant them blessing and wisdom. After he ascended [into heaven] and sat at the right hand of the Father, he sent down the Holy Spirit and it settled upon them like tongues of fire and they began to talk in other languages. And they went out to the ends of the settled world, wandering about and preaching the gospel. Their deeds bore witness to their preachings. Some went east, others went west, others still south and some to the north. With them were proven the words of the Prophet David who said about them (Psalms 18:5): Their good tidings spread throughout the earth and their voices were heard in all the inhabited regions. They were destitute, oppressed, cast out, and despised; wore goat and sheepskins (Hebrews 11:37) and the rays of their light rose and lightened those dark regions. With their preaching they cleansed the world of its pagan worshippers and saved them from perdition and oppression. He chose for them disciples and successors, and passed on to them the gifts and the blessing of the Holy Spirit so they might empower those who followed them in leadership and management, generation after generation, continuously until the end of the worlds. As for the Church—the bride of Christ, the Lord, at the head and manager of which Saint Peter, the Rock, so designated upon Christ’s glorious ascent, and afterward those who succeeded him—they did not cease to spread and expand until there was not a place or region in all four ends of the earth free from the preachings of the gospel and the true upright faith among different peoples and in various languages. But that lying cursed one [the devil], the enemy of good and righteousness, is ever alert and active in rattling the minds of the faithful and weaning them away from the bosom of the Church, their mother. He casts his nets and lays his traps and plants in the hearts of some the seeds of envy, pride, and defiance to the extent that some sects deny obedi-

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ence to the Roman church and its head and manager, the Sovereign Pontiff and shepherd of shepherds. They took for themselves different leaders, each opposing the other so that He, may He be glorified, set their enemies against them, thus fulfilling the words of our Lord Jesus in the gospels on the tongue of Saint Luke the apostle, when he addressed the Jews in chapter 52,3 saying: Were you to witness Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, behold the first are last and the last first.4 When the aforementioned sects scattered from the bosom of the Holy Church, Lord Jesus willed that other peoples of differing lots and temperament would substitute for them, folk of strange tongues and languages dwelling in the wilderness and mountains, pursuing a barbarous life and differing not from animals, tormented and guided by the perdition of the devil. A party of them worshipped stones, another beasts, and still others trees. Some offered sacrifices from their own kind to the cursed devil. They dwell in the fourth clime, which was concealed from sight and mind. Even the great saint and teacher of the Holy Church, St. Augustine, used to believe that this clime was uninhabited by humans. Our aim is to offer proof and show how these peoples returned to the true faith and into the bosom of the Holy Church. Indeed many of them after entering the faith of Christ were numbered among the saints. As for this clime,5 we aim to talk about it for it is vast in length and width, bigger than the other three known ones: Asia, Africa, and Europe. They named it falsely America.6 We shall talk about it [the land] 3. Rabbât claims it is Mathew 8:11, not Luke as cited. It is not unusual for him to refer to fifty-two chapters for Luke because the division of chapters used to differ in other countries and times before the Roman division became predominant. Cf. next note. 4. This too is not the exact wording in Matthew. Most likely we have here a composite quotation with only portions attributed to Matthew. 5. Used here to connote continent. 6. He meant that it should have been named after its real discoverer, Christopher Columbus. On page 102 of his book, Elias relates how it came to be named after Amerigo Vespucci from Florence, a wise and good manager who served as a sailor on Columbus’s ship. He drew a map of the land and its Indians and presented it to the king

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as called for and record the reason for its discovery giving proper attention to detail in proper time and place. We shall rely on God’s help to avert exaggeration or shortcomings, lapses, and omissions because all human beings are subject to them. Praise be to God always and forever more.

of Spain. What was recognized as Amerigo’s map was subsequently transformed to become the name of the newly discovered continent.

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Book of Travel b y r e v. e l i a s , s o n o f r e v. h a n na a l - m û s i l i , o f t h e f am i ly ‘ am û da t h e c h a l d e a n

In his introductory remarks Rabbât mentions Elias’s references to the West Indies and the reasons for the Spanish conquest of that land.To such references Elias added what he personally witnessed during the twelve years he spent in South and Central America or, in his own words, “the kingdom of the ‘New World’ and the land of Peru.7 He extracted information from the works of established authorities and translated it into Arabic from Spanish.8 He organized this material and arranged it to suit his purposes, in 1680 in Peru.

1. From Baghdad to Venice I, the one humbled in priesthood, declare that I set out from Baghdad in the year 1668 to visit the tomb of our Lord Jesus Christ (Jerusalem) in the company of the Topci Bashi [chief of the artillery] 7. Elias employs for “New World” the Turkish appellation “Yeni Dünya” (New World), but with reference more specifically to the land of Mexico and surroundings, which used to be called “New Spain.” The fruit known as nèfles du Japon to Europeans is known to Easterners as yeni dünya. 8. Text blank in original.

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Mikhâ’îl Agha,9 taking the less traveled road. Halfway along, we were assaulted by as many as one hundred highwaymen. A great battle ensued and we triumphed over them. That took place on the day of the feast of the Resurrection. We ourselves were only twelve people, but with the power imparted to us by our rifles,10 we triumphed over them. We resumed our journey toward Damascus. From there, I continued to the Holy City and was honored by visiting the holy sites. I then traveled to Aleppo and a few days later to the seaport of Iskenderun (Alexandretta). There I embarked on an English vessel for Europe. We stopped in Cyprus where I visited the tomb of St. Eliazar and his sister Miryam as well as Martha’s.11 From Cyprus we journeyed to

9. According to Rabbât and judging from information in the manuscript, his alias was Michael Condoleo, head of the artillery department of Damascus, Aleppo, Baghdad, and the whole region. He was born in Crete and lived in Damascus. He used to travel around the country by order of the imperial government [Ottoman] to inspect conditions in the artillery depots. In their letters, missionaries referred to him as a devout Catholic who led a good Christian life. Indeed, he was of great help to them, both materially and culturally. He was very rich and enjoyed widespread influence, a person of great enthusiasm. Rev. John Amieu, head of the Jesuit mission in 1646, praised him often and referred to him in his dispatches to Baghdad. Mîkhâ’îl Agha had children whom he entrusted to the care of Rev. Heronimus Queyrot, the Jesuit delegate to Damascus, to acquire Christian instruction and literary sciences as well as knowledge of Greek, which Rev. Queyrot taught to many Greek Melkite students. 10. He uses the Turkish word for rifles, tüfek, which originally meant “reed” (presumably so named because it resembled a reed in shape), but in Ottoman military parlance current in the Syrian and Iraqi regions the word is “musket.” 11. Rabbât takes up the controversy, supporting the view of religious experts who claimed that the burial place of Mary Magdalene, Martha, and Eliazar is still an unresolved historical problem, still being debated by historians. The French and the inhabitants of the region of Provence insist that they lived after the resurrection of the Savior in the suburbs of Marseille and were buried on a hill still visited by pilgrims seeking blessing. It is the hill of Sainte-Beaume. Most historians, particularly the modern ones, deny the truth of this information and do not accept the arguments for it. Proofs employed by the French are attributed to the monks of Cyprus, who have alleged on the basis of old beliefs that Eliazar, Martha, and Magdalene were buried in the environs of Marseille. Polish authorities have supported this contention (al-Mashriq 15 [July 22, 1912]), relying on a letter of April 17, 1660, sent by Rev. Joseph Besson, the Jesuit, to

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the isle of Quraytish, known as Crete, reaching it a few days later. Next we went to the isle of Zantiya, which belongs to the Venetians together with two other islands located nearby called Corfu and Cyphalonia. Both are ruled by Venice, known to the Turks as Venedik, and to the rest of the world. A few days later we reached Venice itself. We spent altogether seventy days on the sea, from the time we left Iskenderun until we entered this port.12 As soon as we disembarked we were confined to “the house of purification,” 13 called Nazaret in Italian.14 We spent there the forty-one days imposed on us. This Nazaret is located outside the city as is customary in Christian countries, which fear the plague. Precisely on the forty-first day, the head physician came to investigate whether there were any sick among us, following which we were issued certificates to exit the Nazaret. We then entered the city of Venice. I spent twenty days there looking around and visiting the churches, especially St. Mark the Apostle’s with its indescribable wealth. Next I journeyed to Rome and spent six months there visiting the holy places, especially St. Peter’s, unique in the world for its beauty. From there it was on to France via the country of the Grand Duke of Tuscany,15 who lived in the city of Florence. From there I traveled to

Rev. de Gardin [?], head of the Jesuit order in Aix-en-Provence. Our traveler, however, relies on a different version, deriving from the Greeks of Cyprus who insisted that Saint Eliazar’s remains are located in their cathedral. 12. In the seventeenth century, ships used to cover the distance between Syrian ports and Venice in thirty days, sometimes in fifteen or twenty days if the winds were favorable. Storms and the need to make stops in Mediterranean ports account for the delay in arrival for up to two months. 13. Quarantine. 14. “Lazaretto” in Italian and “Lazaret” in French, where travelers from infected regions spend forty days in a quarantine. The word derives from the name of Eliazar (Lazare), which was applied in medieval times to the areas in which those afflicted with leprosy were confined. Thus, in its original connotation, it referred to the hospital of lepers or (in French) Léproserie. Outside Venice this hospital was known as Ste Marie de Nazaret, which is why the author called it Nazaret, not Lazaret. 15. Duke Ferdinand II (1621–1690). Rulers of Tuscany had consuls in Aleppo and

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the duchy’s port, Livorno, and a few days later departed for Genoa, a port city then ruled by an independent prince, unique for its buildings and rich possessions.

2.Tour of France I traveled by sea to the port of Marseille, which was under French rule. After disembarking we walked to the city of Avignon, which was administered by His Eminence, our Pope.16 This town is located in France, but the old rulers of the country had made a gift of it together with some villages to St. Peter [Rome]. From there we traveled by river on a boat drawn by horses upstream until we reached the city of Lyon, one of the greatest of France after Paris, the city of the King of France. I met there with a pious man called Picque.17 This honorable

in the port cities of Syria at that time. 16. The city of Avignon and its suburbs were purchased by Pope Clement VI from Anna, Queen of Sicily and Countess of Provence, in 1348. Roman popes resided in it from 1309 (before the purchase) until 1377, and it remained under their rule, being administered on their behalf by an Apostolic delegate until French revolutionaries wrested control of it from them in 1789. 17. François Picquet, born in Lyon on April 12, 1626, appointed consul for both France and Holland in Aleppo in 1652, where he led a life exemplary for its piety, virtue, and support of others. He served both faith and state very well and became famous for his aid to Catholics. Due to his efforts Andrawus (Andreas) was installed patriarch of the Syrian Catholics (Chaldeans). Missionaries and the common folk were one in praising his love for and kindness toward those in need. He returned to his country in 1663 and resided there for eight years, following which he was ordained bishop of Césarople, then of Babylon, and appointed also Apostolic delegate to Persia. King Louis XIV made him his ambassador to the court of the Shah. He returned to Syria, then went to Persia, where he served very well both the Church and the Christians of the East. He died in the city of Hamadan, in Persia, on August 26, 1658. For a biography, see Bishop of Grasse Mgr. d ‘Antelmy’s Vie de Messire F. Picquet (Paris: Chez la Veuve Merge, 1782); also A. Rabath’s Documents inédits pour servir à l’histoire du Christianisme en Orient, vol. 1 (Paris: Picard et fils; London: Luzac & Co.; Leipzig: Otto Harassowitz, 1905), pp. 96, 103, 104 et seq.

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man once served as consul in Aleppo and upon his return to that city he was made bishop of Baghdad. He died in Persia in the city of Hamadan. Time does not permit us to talk about his virtues and good manners. A few days later I departed for Lyon and then to Paris, capital of France. Upon entering the city I went to visit the victorious king and was well received. I also visited his brother, the Duke of Orléans, offering him a sword as a gift and conducting mass for him in the church of his palace.18 All were exceedingly hospitable to me. Next I called on a prince called St. Aignan and delivered to him a letter from his uncle, Padre John, the honorable Capuchin monk who headed the order in Aleppo.19 He received me with honor and very generously because of his uncle, the padre. I settled there and visited this great city, whose beauty is unmatched anywhere in the world, as is the justice of its government, the uprightness of its laws, or the love of its inhabitants for foreigners. I witnessed a matter that deserves mention and praise as an example of their good and kindly deeds. This matter is in reference to a number of women, seventeen in all, some virgins, others widows. The virgins had forsaken the world and left all their possessions to the blessed company known as “Charité” in French, a charitable association of old.20 The widows also

18. That he bore gifts fit for royalty suggests that the head of the Chaldean Church must have provided him with the means for endearing his communicants to the Catholic establishment of Latin Europe. 19. He is Rev. Jean-Baptiste de St. Aignan, a pious and virtuous man who served the church in Aleppo and Mosul well for many long years. He wrote numerous reports that Rev. Rabbât consulted in the libraries of Paris. Among his Capuchin contemporaries is Rev. Sylvestre de St. Aignan, who most likely was his brother. The signatures of both appear on dispatches to the Holy See and to the French cabinet, as does the signature of Rev. Nicola Poirresson, head of the Jesuits, as well as those of the Carmelite fathers Peter and Joseph Malak. Rev. Rabbât was well positioned to verify them because he did include many in his landmark work Documents inédits. 20. Rabbât describes them as a society, known as the Nuns of Charity, founded by Saint Vincent du Pau, with branches in all parts of the world and celebrated for their virtuous acts and services to the poor.

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had left their acquisitions to this charitable society. All moneys thus endowed are secured by those who invest it for profit.21 Every year they earn two million, or twenty karras,22 in profit. These blessed women get together once a week to distribute the money among the poor and needy, churches and monasteries, the ill and the wayfarer, in the east and in the west, because of their dedication to the faith of the Lord [Jesus]. They bestow funds from this charity also on the daughters of the poor to help them get married. I witnessed many things worthy of mention and praise in this great city. While I was in Paris, there came an emissary 23 [known in Turkish as 24 Ilçi] from Sultan Muhammad Khan 25 to King Louis.26 I called on this Ilçi many times because I knew Turkish. He asked me to stay in Paris and not to leave. I spent eight months there.

21. He means banks. 22. An Arabic word for a device that measures by scoop or volume, used in Iraq, each being the equivalent of 100,000 units of currency—unspecified in value, but in the context used by the author, presumably kurûs¸. 23. The Ottoman ambassador referred to is Suleiman Agha. He reached Toulon on August 4, 1669, and entered Paris in a great procession where he was received by Monsieur de Leon, minister of the king, and then by the king himself, who welcomed him with great ceremony. He stayed in Paris for a while, during which time Monsieur d’Arvieux was his constant companion. See Vandal, Mis de Nointel et Mémoires d’Avrieux vol. 4, no. 24. 24. It is interesting to note that from page 214 to the end of the manuscript is included the “Journey of Sa‘îd Pasha, ambassador to France in 1132/1719–20,” a travelogue known in French and Turkish and in Arabic as an appendix to Rev. Elias’s journey-cum-history. See Rev. Rabbât’s “Introduction” in al-Mashriq 8, no. 18 (September 15, 1905): 822. It would have been of value to scholars had he appended also to his own work the journey of Suleiman Agha and a record of his embassy. 25. Ottoman ruler from 1648 to 1687, during whose turbulent reign the second unsuccessful siege of Vienna (1683) took place. 26. Louis XIV, who ruled from 1643 to 1715, had urged Sultan Muhammad IV to persevere in his war with the Hapsburgs because he himself was similarly involved with them, although his mother was Anne of Austria.

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3. Spain and Italy From Paris I headed for Spain, passing through a great city called Orléans, then another called “Bonras,” 27 and Poitiers as well as Bordeaux, which is located on a great river. Louis had cut through the mountains and mixed the two seas together, thus enabling ships to pass with ease from the ocean to these two land seas.28 From there I traveled to Spain, passing through untold country and villages and reaching twelve days later a river constituting the boundary between the kingdoms of France and Spain. On it is located a castle called St. Jean de Luz. It belongs to France. We crossed the river and reached a castle under Spanish rule called Fuenterabia, next to which is a small town called Irun. From there we went on to a town called San Sebastian, a port on the western sea,29 proceeding by land to Madrid, seat of the king of Spain and passing en route through a small town called Burgos. There I inspected a St. Augustinian monastery in whose chapel is a small cross of the Lord Jesus called in Spanish “Cristo de Burgos.” 30 It is responsible for many miracles. I also visited a monastery for nuns and the tomb of the Armenian king Sis[?], called “Ohanasi Taka.” 31 The inscriptions on his tomb are Armenian. We continued our journey, traversing countless cities and towns until I reached Madrid. The ruler at that time was the queen wife of 27. There is no record of such a city. He might have erred in the spelling of one of the three en route: Tours, Amboise, and Blois, all situated along the banks of the Loire and through which he passed from Bordeaux to Poitiers. 28. Reference is to the great public project launched by King Louis XIV to enable passage with ease in the Gironde River. What he did was to connect the two rivers, Dordogne and Gironde, through the land called “Entre-deux mers.”Often in Arabic the word sea can stand for river, especially if the river is wide. 29. The Atlantic Ocean. 30. According to Rabbât, the cross is attributed to St. Nicomedius and is honored in Spain from ancient times. 31. Rabbât could not find any data on a king with such a spelling.

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King Phillip IV,32 who had died leaving an infant son called Carlos II. I presented to her letters from Pope Clement IX and she issued me orders for a thousand piasters payable by the governor of Sicily and another thousand by the ruler of Naples.33 I left Madrid, heading for Italy through the province of Aragon, passing through a town called Zaragossa where the kings of Spain were being crowned at that time. There I looked up the blood brother of the king, Don Juan of Austria. I visited him and he was kind to me. Then I left, heading toward the sea, and reached a town called Barcelona, the port of the province of Catalonia on the eastern sea.34 I embarked on a ship belonging to the King of Spain,35 and reached two days later the Port of Cadaquès, from which coral is extracted. We remained there twenty-five days because of raging storms in the Gulf of Lyon and the difficulty in navigating the very dangerous passage out. After holding mass on Sunday, we raised sails and departed. We reached the harbor of Toulon after a full day and night. It belonged to the kingdom of France. From there I proceeded to Rome and visited my paternal nephew, the deacon Yunân,36 who had just completed his studies and was about to leave Rome and return to our country after being provided by the Propaganda Fide with books and other necessities. From there I went to Naples and presented the queen’s order to her minister who governed as her viceroy. He read it and told me to go to Sicily to collect the thousand piasters. I did. In Palermo the queen’s

32. Mary-Anne of Austria, who died in 1665. Carlos II was four years old at the time, so his mother was appointed regent, but Juan of Austria usurped rule for a while; when he died the queen recovered it and exercised it until Carlos attained majority. 33. One piaster, or an écu, at that time was equivalent to a silver dînâr (the currency utilized in Mesopotamia [Iraq] until today). Others say that one piaster also served as the equivalent of one Austrian thaller (whence “dollar”). 34. The Mediterranean. 35. The traveler uses the Turkish word çektir (in colloq. Arabic: shakhtûra’), defined by Redhouse (Sözlük [Istanbul: Redhouse Press, 1968], 246) as a sails and oars boat used mostly for the coastal transport of goods. 36. Nothing is known about him. One might presume that he was enrolled in the Propaganda Fide’s seminary.

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viceroy read the order and promised to give me a thousand piasters, but two months later he told me that he could not. I sent my nephew back to Aleppo; and when I realized that there was no hope of my obtaining the money from this hard-hearted person after all the hardship I had endured to get there [Palermo], I returned to Naples to collect the thousand piasters from its viceroy as had been promised me. He replied that since the governor of Sicily did not give me the thousand piasters, he would not either, and he did not. I was left without money. Having lost hope, I returned to Spain via Rome and the port of Livorno in order to return to the queen her order. From there I journeyed by sea back to Barcelona and to Zaragossa, where I saw the brother of the king to tell him what had happened to me and to relate the hardships and losses I suffered. The journey to Italy and back had cost me four hundred piasters. He was moved by what he heard. On my way back to Madrid to see the queen I was accompanied by one Joseph Fattâl, a citizen of Aleppo who had made Rome his home. He attended to my needs on the journey back to Spain from Rome.37 I laid before the queen my situation and she was very upset over her order’s being rejected. After handing it back to her, I left for Portugal. Its king at that time was imprisoned on the Island of Terceira. They had done that to him because he was feeble-minded and lacked pedigree. His wife had stayed with him three years, an immoral woman of French background who had been married to King Don Alfonso VI. Her second husband was called Don Pedro; and although he sat on the throne [of Alfonso], he was not acknowledged as king because his brother was still alive. He was permitted the title of “prince” only. He had a daughter by her after their marriage. I called on this prince and conversed with him, remaining [in Portugal] seven months, during which I visited all its churches and monasteries. Among the inhabitants of this land are some fine and generous Catholics, also Christians of Jewish ancestry. They are well known to 37. The family is well known but no data turned up on this deacon, according to Rabbât’s investigations. Most likely he was enrolled in the seminary of the Propaganda Fide.

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everyone, and they do not intermarry with old-line Christians. Some of them in reality deny the religion of Jesus. Whenever this denial is established, the court of the Inquisition condemns them to death by burning. As for the city, Lisbon, it is a seaport wherefrom ships set sail for the East Indies, to the land of Goa, which is part of the Portuguese realm.

4. Preparing for the Journey to America After spending seven months there, I returned to Madrid and dwelt in the residence of the Duke de Obro [?], whose associates entertained me lavishly. One of the ladies, the Marquesa de Losobles [?], the one who had reared the king, received me with great honor and asked the king to grant me permission to hold mass for him. I was accompanied by a Roman 38 deacon whom I had trained to serve in my mass.39 I entered the church of the king and held mass for him and his mother. Afterward the queen ordered the one who had reared him to ask me what I wished to have, that it might be granted. I asked for time, then went to consult some friends, who counseled me to ask for permission and a firm order allowing me to journey to the West Indies. I found this a difficult decision but placed the burden on God, depended on Him and made the request. No foreigner was permitted to travel to the Indies without an absolute order from the king. It was the blessed pope’s nuncio in Madrid, Cardinal Mariscoti, who counseled me to make the request. I received the order through the queen and some of my friends rejoiced over my good fortune. The prince, in whose house I dwelt, made ready for me all that I needed for the journey and gave me letters

38. Latin rite. The term Rûm stood for Roman, under whose rule Christianity was recognized, although it was the Byzantine version that came to dominate. 39. To wit, Chaldean or Eastern rite.

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of recommendation to some of his friends. The order of the queen carried recommendations to viceroys, bishops, priests, and all the governors of the “land of India” [Indies], urging them to lend me every support. I fortified myself in God and drew strength from His blessed mother, the Virgin Mary, and left Madrid for the old city of Cádiz, the port on the Atlantic Ocean. I reached it after a twelve-day journey by land and saw the ships to India all readied and prepared to sail. The bureau in charge of the realm’s affairs was located in this port. I submitted to it the queen’s order. They recorded it and issued me a secondary one to implement hers. On the 12th of February in the year of our Lord 1675 I presented the order with the letters of recommendation to the “general of the galleons,” Don Nicolao de Cordoba. He liked me and received me well, indeed assigning me accommodation in his own ship.40 I placed my belongings in the cabin and closed the door. This galleon was the lead ship of the fleet. Accompanying me from Cádiz was a deacon who belonged to the Greek faith, born in Athens, because I could not find anyone in Cádiz from my own people or religious rite. I regretted deeply having sent my nephew Yunân to the lands of the East [homeland]. But regret at this juncture was to no avail. Some of my companions warned that this Roman would rebel against me and abandon me once we reached the “Indies.” 41 When we got there, he did indeed do exactly what had been predicted [of him]. On that day [February 12] we raised anchors and sails, and set off. The galleons numbered sixteen. They departed to the sound of cannon

40. He uses the Spanish term Camera for accommodation. 41. Arabs and Turks refer to inhabitants of the Eastern Roman empire, even after they were Hellenized, as “Rumi,” which today is synonymous with adherents of the Byzantine rite—both Orthodox and Melchite (Greek Catholic). In their eyes, the Eastern rite churches have deviated from true orthodoxy and are considered heretics. This might explain why the Greek deacon did not stay with the Chaldean priest who had turned papist.

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fire and trumpets from the port, with flags fluttering and banners raised high.

5.The Journey to South America As we sailed away, some of the travelers were happy, others sad over leaving their families behind. Such an armada sets sail only once every three years for that part of the Indies called Peru, a distance of 1,500 farsakhs42 to the New World from which the treasury of the king is replenished. Merchants load their galleons with all sorts of merchandise to sell there. They allow no one, priest or merchant, not of Spanish extraction to accompany them without special orders from the king, as previously mentioned. Such laws and decrees have been in effect since first introduced by Carlos V,43 one of the kings of Spain and Hungary, for it was in his reign that the Indies were conquered. These galleons return laden with wealth: silver and gold, estimated at twenty or twenty-five million, each valued at ten karats.44 Three days out of Cádiz a great storm caused much disturbance for three hours. Among us was a nobleman called Don Nicolao Infante, the deputy of the king, who died that night out of intense fear. They tied to his feet a large jug made of earthenware and tossed him overboard so he could sink to the bottom and be eaten by fish and not float again on the surface. They fired three cannon shots as he was tossed overboard. He had been appointed to head the government at Quito [Ecuador]. In another three days we came upon an island called “Canaries,” which is under Spanish rule. We continued sailing, with the winds 42. Known in Persian as parsang. Each farsakh is the equivalent of three miles. 43. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, also king of Spain as Charles I (1516–56) and son of Philip I of Castile. It was during his reign that Spain conquered large areas of Mexico, Peru, and the Antilles. 44. Each karat is valued at 100,000 units (Turkish piasters) of currency.

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pushing us on; halfway along, we encountered an English ship laden with black slaves numbering about seven hundred. They [the English] had brought them from the country of Brazil, which was under Portuguese rule, to sell them in some of the islands of the West Indies.45

6. Arriving in America On the fourtieth day,46 we encountered land, part of the territory of India, and reached a spot on the shore. The captain 47 contemplated the color of the water and, upon noticing that it was different, he knew it was the water of the river and that we had arrived, because a great river, as wide as forty farsakhs, originates in that region and flows with great strength for some forty farsakhs into the ocean, which is the extent to which its waters mix with the waters of the ocean. There is no river like it in the world.48 From there we explored a land called Caracas [Venezuela] and an island named Marguerita,49 both of which were also under Spanish rule. We were told that for over twenty years divers had been retrieving from the sea nearby shells containing large pearls of great color. One day the divers vowed that the first pearl extracted on that day would be given to 45. West Indies or Caribbean region. 46. Probably after encountering the English ship, or the forty-fourth day after leaving Cádiz. 47. The author employs the Persian term Nuahazé (sing. Nahazé) in describing him, a term that ordinarily refers to the proprietor of the ship but can also signify its captain. 48. Reference is probably to the Orinoco river of Venezuela, some fifteen hundred miles long from its source in the Parima Mountains on the Brazilian border to the Atlantic. It has the third largest basin in South America, draining some 380,000 square miles. 49. Located in the Lesser Antilles opposite Caracas, famous for pearl diving. When its Spanish discoverers settled in the neighborhood toward the end of 1499, they bought pearls from its inhabitants by the weight in exchange for needles and pins, which might explain why it was called the Gulf of “Las Perlas.”

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the church of the Virgin. When they discovered that they had extracted a very large pearl of great value, they regretted it [their vow] and decided that the following day they would dive in the name of the Virgin. The pearl recovered that day turned out bigger and better than that of the day before. So they became greedy and said to themselves: we will fulfill our vow to the Virgin. They dove on the fourth day in the customary manner but came up empty-handed. They found no more pearls in that ocean from that day until the present.

7. Proceeding along the Coast of Venezuela Continuing our original narrative, we proceeded until we reached the port of Cumana, under Spanish jurisdiction.50 From this port one can travel to all parts of Peru. The only deterrent is fear of jalâlîyah,51 and of the high mountains, rivers, forests, and wild animals. For such reason they preferred to travel by sea. We anchored in that port and had our fill of fruit and gifts given to us by the governor of the town. Two days later we left that port and came to an island called Curacao, belonging to the Netherlanders [Dutch]. Its governor also sent us a boat full of fruit and ice for drinks and fired seven cannon shots from the fort in our honor. We returned the salute with seven cannon shots of our own. Next we proceeded to an island called Tortuga, which is uninhabited because of giant tortoises, each measuring more than two yards in length and width.52 Ships went there to hunt them, salt them, and use them for provision. At this island we chanced upon a small French ship. Spain and France were at war.53 We numbered seventeen galleons. When the 50. In present-day Venezuela. 51. Arabic word for those who had evacuated a place; in this case the author refers to them as bandits, probably the origin of the term guerilla. 52. The island was named after these tortoises when first discovered in 1503. 53. Reference probably is to the war over the Spanish Netherlands (1672–78), which coincided with his journey to America.

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French discovered that we had surrounded them, they fled into the island and left the ship empty. We captured it and discovered that it was loaded with salted turtles.54 As for those who had abandoned the ship and fled, they had another ship on the other side of the island, some nine miles away, where they rendezvoused with it. Two months later they armed a ship with men and war matériel in order to avenge themselves on their enemies.

8. Description of Cartagena We continued on until we reached a city called Cartagena,55 after a pleasant journey of fifty-five days. We entered the port, which is also the terminal port of the galleons, on Thursday of Easter [week]. We disembarked the next day, on Friday of Sorrows [Good Friday] and rested to recover from tediousness. We were blessed by the processions held that day in commemoration of the sufferings of Jesus Christ. There are some very rich notables in this city, the seat of the king’s provincial government, also churches, priests, and monasteries for both monks and nuns. Its inhabitants are Catholic, true Spaniards who love foreigners. The governor was our companion on the journey. He overwhelmed me with kindness and hospitality. We spent forty days in

54. Salted turtles provided the main staple for meat consumption by sailors. 55. Also known as “New Carthage,” located along the coast of present-day Colombia. It is described as a great city and trading center, considered the port of trade for South America, to which merchant ships came and from which they departed laden with treasures and goods. In those days it was a popular market place for slaves brought by slave traders from the Congo, Goyan [Ghana ?], and other African countries and sold like cattle. According to Rabbât, Catholic missions sought to lessen their burdens and release them from bondage to the extent possible. They enlightened them and their minds with the Gospels, making the cross of Christ their consolation in this sad state of affairs. Most notable for his work among them was the Jesuit Peter Clavier (?) (d. 1654). He spent nearly half a century ministering to the slaves at Cartagena, gaining for Christ countless numbers of them. With his own hands he baptized over 300,000.

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Cartagena, until letters arrived with a courier from Lima,56 the capital of the king’s viceroyalty and of the rich merchants of Peru. We left this port for another called Porto Belo [Portobelo],57 where trading takes place when Peruvian merchants return from the “Southern Sea.” We waited two months for them. They arrived with twentyfive Lacs of gold and silver,58 and trading ensued between merchants, Indians, and Spaniards for the next forty days. Meanwhile the French ship [seeking vengeance] arrived and laid anchor.59 One night it raided the Spanish skiffs and stripped them of 200,000 piasters. When the owners heard about this in the morning, they set out after them [the French] but could not find them. They failed, and the French celebrated to the blowing of horns and the beating of drums. One can find in this port a species of insect smaller than a mosquito called in the Indian language nakthawa;60 if ignored, this tiny insect can penetrate the body and after four or five days become as large as a pea, necessitating cutting the spot [where it is lodged] with finesse in order to extract it with the help of a needle. When placed on burning coal it explodes like a firecracker. If not removed carefully, and if it should fall dead on human flesh, the victim’s flesh would swell and he would explode and die.61 56. He uses the Turkish Ulak for courier. 57. Known also as San Filippe de Portobelo, a small town on the Isthmus of Panama, near the Chagres River where the Panama Canal today connects the two oceans. 58. A unit of currency employed in the Indian subcontinent, each consisting of 100,000 rupees. In the context employed by the author, each Lac would be the equivalent of ten million (kurûs¸ ). 59. He uses the term qansara, a corruption of the French ancrer, employed apparently in the dispatches of some contemporaries of the author. 60. Transliterated from the Arabic. 61. From the description of its characteristics one is reminded of a leech. Probably it is what naturalists call Sacropsylla penetrans, because their description of it coincides with the author’s. See Dr. Moniez, Traité de Parasitologie (Paris: Balliere, 1896) 612. Dom d’Ulloa described a skin disease resembling it, which he named “the small snake” (Culebrilla). It is a common affliction among the inhabitants of Panama. He says that it is a sort

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There is also in that land a large nocturnal vampire who fastens upon his victim while asleep and bleeds him by sucking his blood while flapping his wings simultaneously to fan the victim and let him enjoy his sleep. He continues doing so until the victim barely awakens on account of the great loss of blood drained out of him. We suffered rain and heat for forty days and nights in that town while merchants peddled their wares. When the king’s treasury reached the port, the general called for me to inspect it. I was overawed by the vast treasure of silver and gold [it contained].

9.The Journey to Panama 62 When that was done, I embarked on a ship heading for the land of Santa Fe,63 where emeralds are mined. From there the travel inland is usually by river.64 The general in command of the fleet advised me against it, indeed preventing me from doing so, claiming that in that land there are certain poisonous snakes that kill people. Moreover, the distance is too great. “I counsel you in the name of divine love,” said he, “not to go, stray, and die in that country.” I heeded his advice and did not go. Forty days later we departed Cartagena and I traveled with the galleons. Twenty days later we reached the port known as San Filippe de Portobelo, where we dropped anchor awaiting the ships coming from

of pimple that requires surgical removal, as well as removal of the affected skin; it comes out like a wick, whence the appellation “snake,” but he states that the inhabitants of Cartagena and Porto Belo insist that it is truly a snake, or small crawler. It is more likely the latter, known also as Filaria medinensis, but not subject to verification. Moniez, Traité de Parasitologie, 319. 62. In the book form of the travelogue, the heading given here is “The Trade of Panama.” 63. Santa Fé de Bogotá, capital of New Granada, today the capital of Colombia. 64. The Magdalena River.

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the land of Peru on the Southern Sea, known as Mar del Sur,65 to the port called Panama. Here reside a governor, commanding soldiers, and a bishop. There are also monasteries for both monks and nuns. It is a very delightful town, located at a distance of about eighteen parsangs from Portobelo, through mountains and forests astride the two seas, southern and northern. Travel through this land is difficult, as we shall see later. The king’s treasury was portaged by mule to Portobelo, as were the goods of the merchants, a distance of less than three days. The portage fee was thirty piasters per mule load. The season of trading the goods brought by the galleons is forty days. The king’s treasury is twenty-five million and every million is ten karats; each karat, l00,000 piasters. This treasury is not carried to Spain in its entirety. It is divvied up for salaries and allowances for soldiers and officials guarding the islands, forts in Indian territory called the land of Peru. From this treasury they pay also the expenditures of galleons and soldiers serving on them. This port is very hot and full of diseases. There was no great illness the year we were there; still, about a thousand people died on both sides [of the isthmus].The rest were taken ill, and so was I, but the Lord cured me through the intercession of the Lordess of saints, the Virgin Mary and the living Saint Elias.66 The merchants from Spain sold their goods to the merchants of Peru and received silver and gold [for them]. The merchants of Peru returned whence they had come and the galleons carried silver and gold and certain products like tiftik, wool known as Biguniya,67 and cacao, which resembles coffee in its aroma and taste but is richer.68 From this port they return to Cartagena, and from there they journey to the is65. Probably Marsosiego, lit., Calm Sea, in reference to the Pacific Ocean. The author transcribes it as Marcurichua, probably the way he heard it. 66. Namesake of the author and the patron saint of all variations on Elias. 67. It is a transliteration of Vicuña. Rabbât falsely assumes that it derives from a plant known as Biniyuniya, claiming it comes in varieties, including the cotton type. 68. This description would reinforce the description of Panama’s role as Spain’s principal conduit for New World gold, prospering as long as the Spanish Empire flourished.

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land of “Lawana” [Havana],69 which is well fortified, as we shall see later.70

10.The Journey to Panama City I, the humble one, resolved on accompanying those merchants to Peru. So I rented three mules for ninety piasters, but the governor did not want me to proceed by myself because of the mountains where grows a type of grass resembling bamboo. When a white man steps on it, it rises from the ground like the shaft of an arrow and strikes him. The one thus smitten does not recover. He dies. It does not strike Indians or blacks, nor does it harm them in any way. When the governor told me this story, I said to him that I do not believe what I do not see with my own eyes. He rose and sent an Indian servant along to point the weed out to me. When we reached where it was located, the Indian came around to my side of the horse and quickly disappeared. Lo and behold, the weed, still at a distance of ten yards from the road, rose and headed in my direction as if intending to strike me. The Red man came out [of hiding] and shouted at it:“Beware O dog!” and it immediately fell back unto the ground. I witnessed this with my own eyes!71 69. Arabization by the author of “La Habana,” Cuba. 70. This segment of the journey was accomplished before he set down in Lima (1680) to record the account of his travels. Havana was the last stop before the journey back to Spain. This raises the question as to whether he modified his account to project what he could only have seen after he wrote down the initial portion of his account. 71. Rabbât claims this account is not credible. After consulting the travels of al-Mûsili’s contemporaries and carefully researching other scientific works, Rabbât alleges that he had found nothing to prove what al-Mûsili says he had seen with his own eyes. It might be that the governor sought to dissuade him from traveling altogether because of the risks involved. Lending credence to this story is like lending the same to the fruit known as Hura crepitans, which when it ripens explodes like a shot out of a rifle. On the other hand one could argue that contemporaries did not venture as far out as the reverend did nor did they have the opportunity to observe all that he did. There is no

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I saw also on this mountain straight branches without leaves. On every branch were three kernels [nuts] like cotton. When the side of the nut opens, there emerges from it a white dove with full wings, legs, a red beak, and black eyes. This flower is called “the flower of the Holy Spirit.” Many a ruler of Spain wished to have it brought back and planted there but failed [to do so].72 After leaving Portobelo we traveled for three hours along a small river containing little water and many stones,73 then ascended a mountain to spend the night. This place is called Burkarfon [?]. We continued next day on our journey to Chagres, where we spent the night, then on to a small town called New Panama because old Panama had burnt down the year before.74 I discovered upon reaching the town that all the houses were built of wood. I spent the next day with the bishop, and found him to be a pious man. A great friendship ensued from this association. Indeed, we became like brothers. We exchanged rings. This noble bishop was called Don Antonio de Leon. He even gave me the small cane which he used to hold in his hand. I remained in this town about a month.

special reason to question his account given the fact that he does not rely on hearsay in this case. 72. Probably the flower known as Polygala, with some exaggeration by the author in describing it. 73. Chagres. 74. “New Panama” is present-day Panama City. English corsairs led by Henry Morgan attacked the original city of Panama (founded in 1519) in 1671, and plundered and burnt it. The Spaniards rebuilt the town shortly before our pilgrim got there. The origin of the name is interesting: There are those who say it derives from the Indian word for “many fish”; others say it comes from the Cuna Indian phrase panna mai (far away), in the hope that Spanish soldiers asking where gold was located would be told “panna mai” in the hope they would go “far away.”

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11. From Panama to Guayaquil in the Land of Peru 75 Next I embarked on a ship sailing for the southern sea but called the “Blue Sea” [Pacific] as we headed for Peru. Opposite the port of Panama is a small inhabited island called Taboga. It is within three parsangs of the port. Quickly I encountered on board the ship in our company a man called Captain Francisco from the town of Trujillo. When we reached the island two hours into the night, the captain suggested that we spend it on land because the governor of the island was his brother-in-law. I accepted and we were carried to shore on a small raft. The raft consisted of about five planks of wood. When it was next to the ship it turned over. It was at night, and dark. For a moment I saw my soul floating on the water. I prayed and held onto the raft by means of that cane which the bishop had given me. The Lord and his mother, the Virgin Mary, thus came to my rescue and all three of us reached land without any harm at all befalling us.76 We spent three days there waiting for the ship to take on drinking water, then traveled by sea keeping close to land, which was on our left. There is also in this sea along our path a place called Gorgone,77 that is, a whirlpool. A ship trapped there finds it very difficult to get out, and only a tempest can push it out. If there is none, one might die of thirst and hunger waiting. It is an adventure traveling through this treacherous sea on account of the strong waves, for it is known as the turbulent sea with pounding waves. He who travels through it is lost, and whoever comes out of it is considered born again.78 Were it not for God’s care, which saved us from the evils of its waves, we would have remained on the surface of the waters longer than the month it took us to break out.

75. Guayaquil is today a city on the Golfo de Isla Santa Clara in southwest Ecuador. 76. Al-Mûsili probably intended “three of us” to mean himself, his assistant, and the captain. 77. English: Gorgon, one of three sisters in Greek mythology. 78. The author appears to have borrowed metaphors almost verbatim from The Arabian Nights.

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At last we reached the port of Santa Elena and anchored there.79 In my company were three kindly men who were on their way each to take up an official appointment. Once we reached land we remained there five days in fear of the sea’s evil. We were determined to proceed by land however difficult the road. While in this port, I was told about a male Indian who was one hundred and fifty years old. I was determined to visit him, finding him sound of body in spite of his age. He began to tell us about former days, stating that within one parsang of the port there was a big cave where giants were buried. He also said that his father had told him that when Spanish ships first arrived and gained control of the land, Indians believed the ships [on which they had arrived] were whales and the ship masts, wings, because they had never seen ships before. When they saw horses and their riders, they believed that the two were one being, that is, horse and rider. When I heard of what had happened in that land and of the giants buried there, I was eager to see with my own eyes [where they were buried]. I took along twelve Indian companions well fitted with arms and went to the cave to verify what we had heard. When we got there, we lit the candles that we had brought with us in fear of getting lost inside the cave. We proceeded with candles in hand, posting at every ten steps a man with a light in his hand in order not to lose our path to the entrance. I preceded them, sword in hand unsheathed. We reached the spot where the bones were and found them very thick and the skulls exceedingly large. From one of the skulls, I extracted a tooth weighing almost a hundred measures.80 I examined also the limb bone and measured one of them. It was five hand spans. An artist in a certain country measured it and estimated the body’s length at twenty-five [hand] spans. We exited the cave in great wonder over what we had seen, and I took with me the aforementioned tooth.81

79. On the lower coast of Ecuador today. 80. He uses the Arabic mithqâl, each being the equivalent of one and one-half dirhams and weighing one-eighth of an ounce, for a total weight of twelve and one-half ounces. 81. According to Rabbât, travelers to Peru have often mentioned the bones of gi-

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12. Describing the Alligator Called “Caïman” We returned to the port and hired mounts, then left with the Indians for the region of Guayaquil, which is also a seaport on the Blue Sea, and at a distance of four days. The path leads through forests and trees and some small rivers. One finds there an animal resembling a dragon, called the Caïman. It is broad-bodied and five yards long, with a mouth about five fingers wide. When it encounters a human being, it swallows him alive, but it would not eat a dead one. It comes out of the water and roams near the river. Should it run into a human being or an animal, it would swallow him and rest on its hands. Its feet resemble the paws of lions. Should a horse or bull come to the river to drink, it would lunge at it and drag it into the river by the nose. Others would join it in cutting up and eating the victim. Should dogs come to the river to drink, they first bark on the bank; the animal would hear their voices and come out to swallow them, at which time they [the dogs] would run off to another place to drink, knowing the Caïmans are where they had barked. Thus do dogs trick the Caïman. As for the way Indians hunt the Caïman, first they take a stick about half a yard long with both ends sharpened finely. Next, they tie a thin rope to the middle of the stick, which they harden by slow fire and render as sharp as a sword and hard as steel. Then one of them hides at the edge of the river, and when the Caïman comes out to swallow him, the Indian thrusts the stick into its mouth while still holding onto it. As that animal closes its mouth, the stick embeds itself firmly in its flesh on both ends. They pull it out [of the river] with great effort and struggle

ants from the past. Curiel [?], a contemporary of our traveler, states following his journey to the environs of Guayaquil that Indians told his party about the giants who used to live there, and about how a young man descended from heaven and wiped them out with fire. Some took refuge in caves, where they were burned alive. Another [traveler] claims that he measured a tooth and it was three fingers long and four wide, which supports the claims of our author. But these are teeth of old animals, not of human beings. Could they have been dinosaurs?

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to turn it over on its back to prevent it from moving. Afterward, they cut it up into pieces. Another trick they employ in hunting it is for an Indian to enter the river with a rope in his hand. He dives under the water and reaches the Caïman floating on top; next he tosses the rope around its midriff with a loop on one end, then ties it tightly around him and swims away fleeing it. This animal cannot devour anything under, only out of, the water. As the Caïman comes out of the water after him, other Indians converge on it and pull it out by the rope tied around it and kill it. I witnessed with my own eyes how they hunted two of them after one had swallowed a young boy who was in our company while we were traveling on a raft. The boy was the attendant of the priest of this district, who took it hard and ordered the Indians to hunt this animal. They hunted two, cut the stomach of one open and found the body of the boy. They extracted it and the priest took it and had it buried. Those animals are very numerous and at certain times they come out of the river and lie on its bank with their mouths open for air. A small bird comes, enters the mouth, and begins to peck away at the dirt embedded in its teeth until it is filled, then flies off. The animal is pleased with having his teeth cleaned in this way.

13. From Guayaquil to Quito We reached Guayaquil four days later. The town is inhabited by both Indians and Spaniards. The inhabitants were exceedingly generous to us, particularly the monks of the Dominican order. We left ten days later for a town called Baba,82 inhabited by Indians and Spaniards. It is a hot place. One can find there trees resembling mulberry trees bearing a fruit called cacao from which chocolate is made. The fruit hangs from trees like melons and is attached to the stem of the tree. When it ripens and turns yellow, they harvest it and cut it open. Inside is the fruit, which consists of seeds harder than nuts. 82. Babahoyo today.

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They leave them to dry; then they roast them until the color, smell, and taste resemble the coffee bean. But it is very oily, becoming even doughy. They add sugar to it as needed, also cinnamon and raw ambergris, and make patties from it [the mixture], then dry them in the shade. From these patties they boil the chocolate and drink it like coffee. This fruit is common to all Christian [European] countries, which they import from there [Ecuador] and sell. We left this village for a city called Quito, passing as we journeyed another city called Botigas de San Antonio. On the way can be found a type of cane that reaches a height of forty yards. The thickness of each is greater than the loom of the weaver. One yard separates a knot from the next. They use this cane as beams for roofs of homes. Some are filled with white sweet water. After drinking it, I ordered the muleteer to cut six knots for me filled [with the sweet water] and to load them on a mule.83 One can find also on this path a variety of wild animals, such as all sorts of monkeys, and types of bird, like the parrot that speaks, and another called “Pacamaya,” the size of a large cock but with strangely colored plumes. We went through a town called Quanalpo (Guamote), and four parsangs later we reached a village called Anbat (Ambato). There are also along the way mountains covered with snow.84 Volcanic fire shoots out of the top of one. One year, much fire, ash, and smoke shot out, like great thunder, covering the air, and neither sun nor sky could be seen for two hours. Later this cloud descended and burnt all the grass on the surface of the earth and polluted rivers. Then followed a plague, which afflicted every type of animal, because they had been weakened. We reached a village called Nashbat [?] and from there we went to another called Latacunga, which houses a convent of the Carmelites, built by a righteous man who is the bishop of Quito. He spent 250,000 83. D’Ulloa mentioned this cane on a trip from Guayaquil to Quito, and his description matches that of the author. 84. These are the Cotopaxi, Cargairaso, and Chimborazo Mountains. They contain volcanic craters.

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piasters on building and furnishing it. This bishop is called Don Alonso de la Peñya Monte Negro.85 Four monks of the Dominican order came out to greet me. They were sent by the head [of the order]. They escorted me to Quito, where they had me stay in their monastery because their leader had heard that I carried an order from their commander in Rome confirming him in his position.

14. Quito and Its Environs I was only two hours in the monastery of the Dominicans when the governor of the city heard of my coming and settling in the monastery. He left his palace and came quickly to visit me. He was angry and rebuked me for that [staying at the monastery]. I said to him:“You know, my dear, that the monks had gone out to meet me, some two konaks [stages] away and escorted me to their monastery.86 You speak [first] with the head [of the monastery] and [then] take me to your palace.” 87 The head did not consent to my leaving the monastery, but the two discussed the matter and agreed that I should spend the whole day with the governor and sup with him, but spend the evening with the head, and pass the night in my cell with my attendant. This blessed governor was my companion from Spain. We had come together in the same ship. Whenever I was offered delectable food on the ship, I would offer him some of it. So we became real friends. This city, wherein the bishop resided, is rich with possessions, adorned with churches and monasteries. The aforementioned bishop was very rich but lacking in generosity, a miser in giving. The water they drank in this town is bad. You would find many people with 85. Bishop of Quito from 1658 to 1688, 86. Konak is a Turkish term for resting after completing a stage in a journey. 87. The term used is the Turkish saray, which also means official residence, headquarters

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lumps under their throats. Indians, as well as Spaniards, live in this city, where I remained for two months. As concerns that molar which I had extracted from the bones of the giants in the cave of Santa Elena, one of my friends had a daughter in a convent; he came to me and implored me to let him show it to his daughter. I responded as a friend and gave it to him. As it passed from one nun’s hand to another, it disappeared, and I did not find it again. The bishop of the city imposed a sanction until they produced it, but that was not possible. There was in this convent a nun who suffered from bleeding for eight years. When the bishop had hosted me, he asked what was the benefit of the water extracted from the cane mentioned above? I said to him that I had read in some books and learned from them that the juice of the cane benefits those suffering from bleeding. He asked me to make a gift of it to this nun. I did. She drank it for seven days and was cured of her ailment. I saw also that they manufactured in this town woolen cloth similar to “Londra cloth.” 88 They also told us about a mountain of theirs which for years emitted fire like thunder. By virtue of its force, this fire forced out burning stone and cast [it] far away from the mountain, a distance of forty parsangs.89 They mentioned also that a number of years ago while one of the Indians was plowing his land he uncovered an icon of the Virgin Mary buried in the earth. It had a very peculiar appearance. He took it to his home and hid it in a chest. When he returned the next day to his field to plow, he found it in the field. So he returned it for the second time 88. It is ordinary material, manufactured in London and in southern France. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Languedoc factories of France excelled in its manufacture. They shipped it to eastern ports every year in the amount of nearly fifteen thousand pieces or finished garments. The price of each garment was two hundred francs. For details see Paul Masson, Histoire du commerce français dans le Levant au XVIIe siècle (Paris: Hachette, 1896; reprint, New York: Burt Franklin, 1967). 89. Reference presumably is to Mt. Pichincha, which exploded with great force in 1660 and burned out the entire surroundings.

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to his home. He came again the third day to plow and found it there. He kept on repeating the process for a number of times but was unable to keep it in his home. The bishop of the city was informed of this. He received it [the icon] with great reverence and accompanied it in a procession to a place near the city, built for it an honorable church, and placed it there. It is called the Church of the Virgin Mary of Jacicua [?] after the name of that place. People come from all over to visit it. If a plague breaks out in this town, they take this icon in procession to Quito, and it remains with them nine days in great honor and reverence. Through the intercession of this mediator the plague disappears from this town. They then return her in procession to her church in the aforementioned town. They also told us that at a distance of twenty-four parsangs from this town there is a river that springs from those mountains. When it overflows, it casts out upon the earth from the heart of the mountain sand mixed with gold. There are people who know when the river is at its lowest, so they go out and sift through [its waters] and clear it of its gold. I was determined to see this with my own eyes. Some people advised me not to go because the road was very difficult, so I did not; but I did buy some of that gold in the city of Quito. After remaining two months in Quito, I set out for a town called Otavalo. Through it passes the line which in astronomy is referred to as “Linea.”90 An observers notes that the inhabitants of this town lack color [that is, are pale] and have swollen bellies. They mentioned that on certain days dead birds fall out of the sky. There is no shade here besides that provided by trees. The sun never sets here. We were told that at a distance of twenty-five parsangs from the city of Quito there are infidel [that is, non-Christian] Indians. Priests who had come out to convert them to Christ’s faith brought back with them buds from cinnamon trees. No one there knows how to grow this tree. These buds resemble the shoots that come from the East Indies because they are sharp and burn. The Indians do not want the Spaniards to discover it [the tree], so as not to take their country. 90. By it is meant the equator.

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We were also told that they have there nutmeg, which the Indians gather. Its nut is green, like large olives. They send it to Caracas and sell it there to the English and the Dutch, not to the Spaniards. There are also lots of storms and heavy rains in that district.

15. From Quito to Cuenca: Describing the Bullfight I returned to Quito and went to the town of Latacunga and thence to another called Riobamba, a town with beautiful buildings and graceful churches. Its inhabitants are rich and noble. I stayed at the monastery of the Dominicans. They received me with great joy and kindness. I held mass there. The rites of conducting service in this order resembles somewhat ours [Chaldean]. On account of this, they were pleased to hear my mass.91 I stayed there eight days, then headed for a town called Cuenca. I reached it seven days later. Our road was through mountains and snows. These mountains are called Paramo because of the intense cold to be found there. On the way [one encounters] a river that flows down from the mountains inhabited by pagan Indians. They made five small skiffs and rode them down [the river] until they reached the road over which Spanish traders travel. One day, while passing through laden with goods, the Indians appeared suddenly; some merchants fled out of fear of being killed, leaving behind their loads of merchandise. The Indians unwrapped the merchandise, took what they selected, left behind gold nuggets [in payment], then departed. The owners returned and went off with the gold in exchange for their goods. I became ill after reaching the town of Cuenca and was bedridden for ten days, being treated by doctors. But it was she who cures the sick, the Virgin Mary, who restored my health. The governor of that town was a friend of mine because he was our companion on the ship when 91. Rabbât claims that the monks of Mâr ‘Abd al-Ahad (Arabic for Dominicans) have preserved until today some very old rituals in the conduct of their mass, resembling those of Easterners.

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we embarked from Spain. He wanted to hold an event to please me. In Spain they call such an event the “Fiesta de los Toros” [bullfight] and they conduct it in the following manner: First they surround an open space with a wooden fence, then build up, like stairs, a series of benches on which people sit to be able to see. After that they bring into the space [arena] one of the wild bulls who had been penned up. When the bull finds himself loose in such a space, he runs about fearfully seeking but not finding an exit. Then a horseman appears with a spear in his hand and incites the bull, who in turn attacks him, but he runs away. After a while he kills the bull. Occasionally the bull kills the horse and its rider by the strength of his horns. Such a fiesta, and display, is conducted throughout Spain every year during its [designated] season.

16. Mines of Gold After this I left, heading toward a town called Loja. We proceeded with difficulty on account of the rains, day and night for about three days, and entered Loja, spending a day and a night there to escape the intense cold and heavy rains. I left the next day, traveling in the direction of a village called Zaruma and the mountains where the gold mine is located. We proceeded along a very difficult path through the mountains for three days and reached the aforementioned town, which is on top of the mountain surrounded by the gold mines. I examined all the processes by means of which gold is extracted from rocks. First, rocks are brought up from the mine and are pulverized in a water mill. Next they wash this pulverized dirt and sort out of it the gold by sifting the water. Next, they smelt it and pour it into molds. I bought from that gold four hundred coins because it was not the season for milling. Ten days later I sought to return by the road I came on, but a priest from that village told me there was another “which is better than the road you took before, but it is through a desolate uninhabited region void of villages. You need to take with you provisions to last five days.” I paused to consult, then took his advice. I carried with me what provisions I needed and had two persons, muleteers, accompany me.

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One of them was an Indian and the other a mestizo, that is a half-breed, of an Indian mother and Spanish father.

17. Journeys and Dangers We proceeded along a bad road between mountains a full day and night. The devil sought to tempt the mestizo muleteer, and he plotted to kill me. But God Almighty uncovered his intention at the hands of my servant. I took away his weapons and remained on the alert in fear of my life, until we reached three villages close to one another. One of them was called Basilica, the second Junjunama, and the third Vacanama. When the inhabitants, most of whom were Indians, saw me, they were puzzled and asked how I got through these difficult paths, claiming that I was either a prophet or a saint. Their bishops are Indian, like themselves. But the Indians of that region have no beards, just a few hairs fixed in their jaws. Since I was someone with a full beard, they were very much puzzled, saying that I was very brave to have journeyed to this country. Next day we left there, traveling in the direction of a village called Amotapé. One night, while I was sleeping in the tent, my two companions conspired among themselves to kill me. In my company was a young Indian lad who knew the Spanish language. He had risen at night and heard how they planned to kill me. He hastened over to me trembling, awakened me, and told me about it. But with God’s decree one of the mules broke loose that night [of the planned assassination] and kept heading toward the mountains. My aforementioned mestizo companion took off after him the whole night and did not return with him until sunrise. During that time I stripped them of their weapons, since I had no weapons of my own. Fearing their deceptiveness, I took the sword in my hand and called the mestizo over. I told him to get down on his knees and tell me how the devil tempted him with such a thought, demanding that he confess before me the whole truth. He confessed, pleading that I absolve and forgive him. Five days later we reached the village. Before we entered it from

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among the trees, the two treacherous ones fled out of fear and left their mules behind. The priest of the village came out and welcomed me with great respect. I told him about what had happened to me and he replied: “God delivered you from their evil, because my brother was thus killed along that road.” There flows next to this village a river called “Rio Colan.” In it there are large fish, like those of the Tigris river.92 I crossed the river on that day and reached the town of Colan, and I stayed in the house of the priest. It was the night of St. Jacob’s [the Lord’s brother] feast. The priest invited me to conduct mass the next day, promising me all the vows offered to the priest [for the mass]. I held mass that next day, and all the Indians, numbering four thousand, attended it. At the end of the mass, I sat on a chair and offered blessing, that is, blessed the bread. People kept coming to take the blessed bread and to cast coins in the offering tray. At the end I looked and found about two hundred and fifty piasters.

18.The Cave of Gold in Piura Two days later I wrote to the governor of Piura asking him to send me a tahtiravan, known in Spanish as a Litera [litter],93 because this governor and his family accompanied us from Spain. Immediately upon receipt of my letter, he sent me the carriage, because people traveling in that land become very tired should they ride horses of the heat and sand. We traveled to a port on the bank of the river called Payta [Paute],94 which is two parsangs away from Colon.95 From there we journeyed by night to a town called Piura, a distance of little over nine parsangs. There I alighted at the home of the governor, who received 92. One of the two major rivers of Iraq, the country from which our author originally hailed. 93. From Persian takht-e-ravan, a carriage transported by hand. 94. “Port,” literally, “shore.” 95. Colon is named after a river by that name.

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me with great honor. This town is inhabited by Spaniards and rich Indians. And in it are [both] ornate and modest churches. They told us that fifteen years earlier there was an Indian of noble descent called Kasiki, who was wealthy but had only a daughter. One day the father went off to another town. The daughter spotted a man wearing humble clothes. She said to him:“Why are you wearing such paltry clothes?” He replied: “Because of my extreme poverty and need!” She told him: “If you keep a secret I will give you so much bounty that you would become both rich and pleased.” He replied, “So be it.”She promised that if at nightfall he should come to a certain place and wait for her, she would take him to the cave of her father, which is outside the town. After blindfolding him, she led him to the aforementioned cave like an infirm [person]. When they reached the cave, she loaded him with as many gold nuggets as he could carry and returned to the vicinity of the town, removed the cover from his eyes, and turned him loose. When her father returned from his journey, he went one day to the cave and spotted a footprint at the entrance of the cave. He knew that it was caused by his daughter, so he gave her poison to drink and she died. He too died suddenly. Until today they search for this cave and are unable to find it.

19. From Piura to Trujillo After spending ten days there, I left, heading for a village called Lilmoa. We proceeded along a barren track lacking in water, and as sandy as the land of Egypt.96 All the inhabitants of this village are Indians. Only their bishop is Spanish. Some are true Christians, the rest Christian out of fear. Next day I left for an Indian town called Lombayeque. This town is big, inhabited by rich Indians and some Spaniards. The bishop’s deputy invited me to his home and asked me to hold mass on Sunday, addressing the Indians in Spanish. I conducted mass on Sunday and addressed them as requested. There were thirty-five priests and 96. Probably the Desierto de Sechura.

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about three thousand souls, commoners. They were greatly pleased with my sermon, admiring the beard and change of vestment.97 All were kind to me and sought the blessing from me because I had given them gifts of rosaries and crosses from Jerusalem. Five days later I left and headed for a town called Sagna [Zana]. This town is large, inhabited by both Indians and Spaniards. Next to the town flowed a large river. I used to travel by night, riding the litter—I mean the tahtiravan—because of the intense heat. One night the muleteer was not paying attention and dozed off. The mules strayed from the path and entered the forest between the trees. This forest is great, having no beginning or end. When I became aware of the situation, I ordered my servants to dismount and wait in order not to stray more than we had done [already] from the path and perish, as had happened to others. When it was morning, I told the Indian muleteer to light a great fire and make even greater smoke. Our companions had gone ahead of us to the place of stopping [destination]. When they noticed that we had taken long to show up, they realized that we had strayed from the path and sent out men to search for us. I had told the muleteer to climb to the top of a tall tree and plant a white banner. Next day toward noon the search party reached us by virtue of that white marker and were very angry with the muleteer for having strayed from the path. Most of the trees of that forest were white cotton and not owned by anyone. It is very rough, like the pomegranate, and its fruit is small and strong, while the fiber [lit., hair] of this cotton is long like wool. Those Indians who wish can go there and take as much cotton as they need. With it they weave skirts for women and other necessities. We reached the aforementioned town two days later. It is inhabited by Spaniards and Indians and governed by [someone] called “General.” I remained there four days in the luxury [lit., glory] and comfort of the general’s and the bishop’s deputy’s [hospitality]. From there I left for Trujillo and traveled ten days along a difficult road; rest places were few, and there was nothing to subsist on. I had 97. Eastern-rite priests wear very ornate robes while conducting mass.

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brought with me what I needed by way of food and drink. I had a horse and a spare halter. When the weather turned cool, I would ride it; when it tired and wandered off, I rode the litter. Trujillo is large, inhabited by a bishop who at that time was dead and his position vacant. In this town are monks and nuns belonging to [the orders of] St. Francis and the Jesuit Ignatius, also bishops and some two thousand priests. The monks of St. Francis invited me to conduct mass at their place, which coincided with the day of St. Francis’s feast, and which is always on October 4. I held mass there. The church was full of people. They were very pleased with my mass because I had with me the implements for conducting mass; also the robe that His Holiness the Pope had given me, with his medallion and signet drawn on it. People were coming and seeking the blessing from it.

20.The Journey to Lima After remaining ten days in this town, I returned [sic] seeking the town of Cajamarca, which is at the top of a mountain and inhabited by the king of the Indians called Incarasuf. We shall tell the story of this great king [later]. I remained there three days and was shown all that had become of this king and his murder by the Spaniards. On the fourth day I left this town, heading for the town of Lima, where the minister of the king resides, and who governs this territory. I descended the mountain seeking this town, and four days later reached a river called Santa. This river has excessive water and no crossing. They cross it with great fear because the Indians invented something for crossing it called balsa, that is, “kelek.”98 They gather dried pumpkins [gourds?] and tie them together, like a kelek, then place planks of wood over them, and grass or branches of trees on top of the planks. They use these to transport goods and guide people from one end to the other. Beasts of burden cross it [the river] by swimming. We crossed this river with reverence and invocations to God and His mother, the Virgin 98. Turkish word for inflated sheepskin.

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Mary, and kept on traveling from there until we crossed lands of the sugarcane and factories in which they work textiles. In my company were two poor men, each one missing a hand. The first was a soldier whose hand was cut off in the war with Indians; the other had been bitten by a snake, so they cut it off for him.

21. Residing in Lima We arrived in Lima eight days later and I alighted at the home of the Inquisitor, I mean the head of the Holy Office, because he was my companion [lit., friend] from Spain. I had loaned him one thousand four hundred piasters in the city of Portovillo [Portobelo in Panama] and he had paid me back in interest forty piasters for each one hundred I loaned him, as merchants had been doing in that country. After recovering from the fatigue of the journey, I went to meet the governor and offered him the decree from the king [of Spain] and letters of recommendation which I had brought with me from Spain. This governor was a blessed man. His name is Don Balthasar Villagucunda de Castillar, Marquis de Maragun [Aragon?], one of the greats of Spain. He received me with great joy and promised to help me in everything I needed. I entered to visit his wife and she too received me with great honor. This blessed governor had been married for fourteen years and had no children. We shall recount his story later. I next went to visit the ranking priest, called archdeacon, and all his colleagues among the priests when they were congregated in the church for prayer. The bishop of this town had died and his seat remained vacant. This bishopric has an annual income of 50,000 piasters and encompasses 120 priests. They were awaiting the new bishop, who was coming from Spain. After remaining twenty days in this town, I became sick and was confined to bed with a severe illness. The doctors of the governor attended me. The Lord cured me of my illness after twenty days through the intercession of the mother of mercy, the Virgin Mary. I got up and went to see the governor and met with him for the

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second time. He received me joyfully, generously, and honorably. When I was ill he used to send me twice daily his treasurer with loads of the finest sweets to visit with me and inquire about my condition. At that moment one of the mine owners came to the governor and told him that he could extract silver from stone without adding mercury to it. When they investigated his technique, they found it a false invention. I was present and witnessed the process with my own eyes. Before the Spaniards came into possession of this land, no one knew the true God. Some worshipped idols, others the sun, moon, and stars. They knew no crafts nor did they know how to read or write. When they wished to submit petitions to their king, they would draw on kerchiefs the nature of their complaints. At the time of this land’s conquest, two brothers were kings, one called Vadavalia [Wasar Inca], the other Wazulpa Anica. There was war between them. Their weapons consisted of bows and arrows, spears, and slings for casting stones. They had no cattle—I mean horses, mules, donkeys, oxen, cows, sheep—not even chicken except an animal that resembled a camel, the size of a donkey and [with] a protruding chest, on which they placed burdens and whose meat they ate, but it did not travel far. Its length of travel each day is no more than twelve miles. When it tires, it sleeps, foams at the mouth, and spits at its owner.99 When one of those Indians dies, they make a tomb for him, about two meters high and three long. They placed in it the tools of his profession with one swig of corn wine.

22. Description of Lima Many severe earthquakes occur in this town. The governor had promised to attend to me all during the time I was in the Indies. He wrote to most of the country and towns under his jurisdiction enjoining them to be kind to me. There are numerous monasteries and churches in Lima. First among them is the cathedral, which serves as 99. The description seems to fit the llama.

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the seat of the bishopric. There are other churches for priests: four monasteries belonging to the brothers of St. Francis, three to those of St. Augustine, three to the Jesuits, three to the brothers of Mercy, and four to the nuns. In each convent dwelt one thousand nuns.100 There are also four convents belonging to nuns attending the poor, like orphans and widows and the homeless: two under the name of St. John for treating the ill, that is, strangers and poor, and a large hospital in the name of the king because the king spends on it. It is called St. Andreas. They used to invite me to hold mass in the churches and monasteries and were very kind and considerate to me. I remained in this city approximately one year, staying in the house of the Holy Inquisitor, mentioned above, who is called Don Juan Batista de la Cantera, that is, John the Baptist from the town of Cantera. This blessed one was a priestly man who did not wish that I spend anything on food and drink. The city is expensive to live in, so much so that one chicken costs a piaster and a half. After recovering from my illness, the whole chapter of the priesthood which they call the “Cabildo,” that is, the council of the church, visited me and escorted me in procession to the church. Inside, they honored me by seating me next to the archdeacon, who sits right next to the bishop, in the area where the bishop and priests sit. Then they asked me to hold mass. So I sent for my equipment and it was brought from the residence. I conducted mass in the Chaldean language, that is, Eastern Syriac, and they were greatly pleased to hear my mass. Next day they held a council among themselves and sent me one thousand piasters. Other churches, monasteries, and nunneries followed suit. They sent me many things. I had at my disposal a carriage with four mules and a black slave attendant.

100. Rabbât claims this is either an exaggeration or an error on the part of the copier (that is, of the original manuscript).

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23.The Journey to Huancavelica At the end of the year I asked permission from the governor to visit the mountains of silver and gold. He responded to my request and wrote letters for me to all the administrators of that country and the bishopric of the villages under his jurisdiction, enjoining them to treat me kindly and to honor me. He sent along for companion one of his soldiers, who was to proceed ahead and make all arrangements for food and drink and places to stay, usually in the house of the village’s headman. We left Lima with this man in my company, heading for a town called Huancavelica. For two days we proceeded along an easy path and ascended the third day a snow-covered mountain where winds and cold were still intense. Our tempers and dispositions began to change because we had left a very hot land and passed quickly into cold land. After climbing to the top of the mountain we went to a place called “Bonada Bariacaca,” that is, “the roar of drunkenness.” From there we traveled a distance of two parsangs and encountered the head of the order of St. Francis, who is called “The Provincial.” He asked me about the journey and I told him what occurred to us on account of the quick change of climate. At that point he parted from us and took to another road. We reached that day a river called River Boni over which is a bridge stretching from side to side, woven from ropes of hemp 101 and tied to trees. We crossed it with difficulty. Mounts were taken to another road through openings and made to wade across. We reached the aforementioned town of Huancavelica ten days later. It is a small town. I stayed in the Jesuit residence. Winds here change three times a day, and it always rains late in the afternoon. It is an unhealthy town given to radical climatic changes because of the mountain containing the mercury-stone mine, which dominates the town.

101. Cannabis indica, also flax.

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24. Mercury Mines I went out to inspect the mine with the governor of the district. I saw it and was impressed. I noticed also that workmen were cutting stones out of the mine and bringing them to the surface. They showed me how they extracted the mercury from it. They took me into a building [lit., house] with the floor being perforated throughout, one opening next to the other. In each was placed a brass container. These containers were arranged in rows on top of each other, with one opening lined up with the container above, the lowest being plugged—as with water urns. They place the stones above the containers, as does a potter in clay ovens. The stones containing mercury are then placed in a row above the jugs, again as the clay potter does in his clay ovens where stones are also placed on top of the containers. This building has a covered roof, but strong and high, with openings to let the smoke out. They put firewood on top of the stones and light it. Stones heat up to a high degree and mercury flows therefrom, escaping downward into those containers. Mercury experts know when to reduce the fire and let it cool for a day and a night, after which they lift the stones and ashes and throw them outside, then take the mercury out of the containers. There is [on the premises] a deputy of the king who controls production on behalf of the king. He compensates owners of the mine at the rate of fifty-two piasters for each qintâr. The qintâr in this country is six imperial manns.102 The king’s deputy sells the qintâr for ninety piasters to the owners of the silver mines; it is used to extract silver from stones. We shall talk about that also. I held mass there on the altar that they have in the middle of the mine and blessed them and their mines.103 The owners of the mines of-

102. Two manns equal one ratl, which equals today 11 pounds in Syria, 15.75 pounds in Egypt. 103. Rev. Feuillée, the French nuncio to Peru and a contemporary of our traveler, gives a detailed description of these mines in which he says:“The famous mercury mines of South America are carved out of a wide mountain near Huancavelica stretching deep into the mountain and containing openings for residences and paths and a place of wor-

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fered me a bashkash in the amount of fifty qintârs of mercury,104 asking me to wait a month until it can be extracted from the stone and given to me. Because of changing climatic conditions I feared staying, so I deputed someone to receive the mercury on my behalf when it was extracted. But it is under yasak from the king [of Spain],105 who has decreed that no mine owner can sell mercury nor anyone buy it. Should anyone violate this decree, his possessions would be confiscated and he would be subjected to the death penalty.

25. Petrified Water—Describing the Cactus In this town can be found a type of water, brownish in color. They pour it into containers, where it remains eight days in the open air until it solidifies and becomes stone. They build houses with it.106 I saw this with my own eyes. If they should put a piece of wood in the middle of this water and leave it there for forty days before taking it out, the half that was in the water would petrify and the other, which was out of the

ship. The mines are lit by countless candles.” His description of the way the mineral is extracted hardly differs from al-Mûsili’s description, with one exception: he gives the price of the qintâr at eighty piasters. The description derives from Francis Vásquez de Coronado, “Captaine generall of the people which were sent in the name of the Emperor maistie to the countrey of Cibola newly discovered, which he sent to Don Antonia de Mendoça Viceroy of Mexico, of such things as happed in his voyage from the 22 of Aprill in the yeere 154 . . .” (London, 1600), 505–8. 104. Bashkash is presumably from the Persian bakhshidan (to make a gift); the Arabized form derives from the Turkified form signifying a gratuity or present. 105. Turkish for “forbidden” or “prohibited.” 106. Rev. Feuillée mentions these solidified waters, saying: “The water of this spring is extremely hot upon exiting and solidifies rapidly when it flows into the fields. From such stones builders build homes. They pour the water into molds especially made to accommodate the form or shape desired and there is no strain involved for the builders, nor for carvers and molders who prepare the mold they wish for a statue and pour the water into it. The statue that emerges is of wonderful stone which they polish a little to increase its lustre.”

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water, would remain wood. One of the Jesuits presented me a cross of this kind. I left this town ten days later, accompanied by fourteen men who came along to bid farewell and then returned to town. I took the path leading to a town called Aguamanga. There are all kinds of trees along this path; most of them are of the type they call “tocal” [tunal], which has thick leaves and no branches. The leaves have thistles, and on the edge grows a fruit which is called in Indian language “tuna.” This fruit is the size of a chicken’s egg but much harder. It is sweet on the inside, like the fruit of the mulberry. It is both soothing and cooling. The shell of the fruit is covered with soft thistles, obliging one not to hold it by hand until after he wipes the thistles off. The countryside and mountains of that region are full of this plant.107

26. Arriving in Aguamanga We reached this town four days later and alighted in the Jesuit residence because their head was a righteous man who had sent them letters enjoining them to give me shelter. In this town there was once a very rich bishop, who was the first head of the Inquisition. His name was Don Christofolo de Castello.108 After I settled in at the residence that night, two priests came the next morning on behalf of the bishop to congratulate me on my arrival. Early next morning I went to visit him. He rose personally to greet me and ask about myself. He invited me to his home for lunch that day. I responded and had lunch with him, following which he presented me with a golden chain worth two hundred piasters. When the notables of the region heard about the honor bestowed 107. The description fits the type of cactus that is common in the Near East, especially along coastlines. It is surprising that our traveler had not encountered any in his own country, unless the region of Iraq-northern Syria did not have any in his own day. 108. Perhaps reference is to Cristobal de Castella i Zÿmora (1636–1669).

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upon me by this blessed bishop, they all came to visit me. Four days later I went out with two Jesuits to return their visit, as is the practice in that country. The bishop sent me companions to take me to the homes of those who had called on me because the Jesuits had written down the names of those who visited me one by one. There are very rich churches and monasteries in this town. After I had visited them and rested eight days, the bishop decreed that they perform a play,109 about the Roman man of God known in the foreign tongue as San Alexius, but in Arabic as Mâr Rîsha. The play depicts what this saint did and how he gave his bride a ring, then cut the wall open and went out to tour the world.110 We attended this play and were very pleased. The inhabitants of this town went out of their way to honor me because the governor was powerful and my friend. I remained in it twenty days enjoying extreme comfort.

27.The Journey to Cuzco I left there for a town called Cuzco. The governor of the district, the head of the Jesuit order and his companions, and other friends all came out to bid me farewell. We traveled together for about half a parsang, then said good-bye and parted company. They returned to town and I continued on my way. Two days later we reached a river called Apurimac. There was across this river a woven bridge made from tree roots and branches, more or less a yard wide and about twenty long. We crossed with much care and fear because Indians unload the mules and carry the loads one by one across the bridge on their backs. They strip the mules of all their trappings and lead them across the bridge. If the leg of one should slip between the boards stretched across the bridge, they free the edges and 109. The Arabic term used signifies “comedy,” but most likely the author meant “drama.” 110. For more on stories about Mâr Rîsha, see al-Mashriq 8: 650 et seq.

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let the mule fall into the river from that height and swim across to the other side. We crossed with great trepidation, because the bridge sways and shakes like a cradle when rocked by someone’s foot. When we reached the other side, we thanked the Lord for our delivery. As for the Indians, because they know how to swim, when one of them falls through he comes out safely. We continued on our way and encountered all types of animals from horses and wild llamas, mules, donkeys, and other kinds that live in those desolate mountains. There is also another type of animal called Picuna [Vicuna], which resembles a gazelle without horns. This animal is strong and friendly. When he notices people or animals coming across, he descends from the mountain to look at them. They are numerous. I had with me hunting dogs and a firearm. I killed some of these animals, whose meat is eaten only by Indians. Their wool is as soft as silk, from which they make hats and chapeaus, resembling tiftik,111 but with a honeyish color, like the color of the gazelle. In the stomach of this animal can be found the bazahr stone, lodged between the two kidneys. They extract it and sell it for a high price because it is an antidote for poison.112

111. A very soft type of wool. 112. According to Rabbât, bazahr is known also as hazahr, a Persian word meaning antidote. Ba means “with” and zahr means poison. Arab doctors were very familiar with it. Its reputation became more intense in the Western lands. It is called Bezuar in Portuguese or Bezoard in French and bezoar in English. According to al-Tifashi (Arab author):“Men have access to two types of this stone, one animal, the other mineral. The mine thereof is situated between the Isle of Ibn ‘Umar and Mosul (Iraq) where it is plentiful. There are large stones, which are soft and turn white upon rubbing. As for the animal variety, which is the subject of discussion, it is a light yellowish stone with soft dots. It is layered, dissolving rapidly if subject to friction and turning white. It weighs from about 1/8 to 1/6 of an ounce up to 1/2. It is imported through Persia from Chinese sources. The bazahr is found in the cattle [lit., ibal or camel] of that country [Peru] and the [real] Persian root for the word is pak zahr, or that which cleanses the body of poison. It forces poison out of veins and saves the afflicted from death.” In earlier centuries it was regarded as the greatest medicine, but all this is fable and cannot be verified.

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28.Traveling to Abancay Three days later we entered a sugarcane plantation called Abancay. This land belongs to the Jesuits. They harvest from it each year 30,000 khandicary of sugar.113 The laborers who do the plowing are all black slaves. They also work at making the sugar. We continued on and reached the aforementioned town three days later. This town was inhabited once by the king of the Indians, Wazulpa Anica [Atahualpa Inca], the brother of King Wasar Inca mentioned before.114 When we were close to the town, and the Jesuits heard about it, they came out and escorted me to their monastery with great fanfare. In olden times this monastery was the palace of the aforementioned king. The width of this palace with its garden is half a town. The convent for nuns is also inside the palace. We found there stones carved by ancient Indians without the iron tools employed by stone masons. They are worked with great symmetry.115 The inhabitants of that town at the time consisted of four thousand Spanish and three thousand Indian households. Their bishop is a righteous man, as are the rest of the clerics. They have schools for Spanish children, and another built by the Jesuits for the children of the Indians. I had scarcely covered a mile into the town before two priests came out to greet me on behalf of the bishop and the governor of the country, together with the aforementioned Jesuits. They escorted me into the town for a distance of a mile with the bishop bent on having me stay in his home, but the Jesuits would not let me and had me stay with them instead. The governor of the country wanted me to stay at his home, but I declined both his and the bishop’s invitation. The governor was my friend; we had been traveling companions from Spain.

113. Khandicary is defined as an imperial (from the Persian) unit of measure. 114. King Wasar Inca is mentioned in section 21. 115. The Arabic term he employs is the Persian rastaq, which derives from the Persian râst meaning straight line; the stem of the palm resembles râst in that it bears straight rows of leaves.

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When this governor reached Lima, he married a woman who gave him 150,000 piasters in cash, as it is customary in Christian countries for the woman to give the man cash according to her means and honorable status. Next day the bishop of the place came to visit me, as did also the rest of the notables and heads of monasteries. Four days later, accompanied by two Jesuits, I rode out in my carriage and returned their visit.

29. Describing Abancay They asked me to hold mass in the large church in the presence of the bishop, priests, notables, and commoners. I conducted mass in the Eastern Syriac tongue. The overseer of monasteries and churches kept on calling on me to hold mass for them. There were two archdeacons at my disposal to assist in the services. All treated me generously and respectfully, offering me presents from convents and other places. The council of canons of the cathedral sent me a befitting present. The bishop of the town also sent me a present to match. Some friends offered me a carriage to use on trips outside the town and to look at the monuments of the ancient Indians. Among what I saw were the tombs of old Indians who in the days of their paganism used to bury their dead on the surface of the earth, then build above them a tomb about two yards high, one and one-half yards wide, and three yards long. These tombs are separate, laid out side by side. In those days occurred a great earthquake outside the town, at a distance of about two parsangs. There was a mountain immediately bordering a river. The earthquake caused it to collapse, and it crumbled into the middle of the river, blocking its flow. The waters rose and flooded the land, destroying plantations and three villages. As the mountain came tumbling down, another earthquake occurred in the city of Lima. All the inhabitants took flight out of fear because many homes were destroyed, among them some churches. Then came an order from the king of Spain decreeing the dismissal of the governor, my aforementioned friend. I stayed five months in the

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town of Cuzco because of the onslaught of winter and the rise in the rivers that are impossible to cross.

30.The Indians of Paucartambo At the end of this period I left that town, heading for another called Paucartambo, reaching it after six days of travel. During those six days I used to sleep every night in a different town. Upon entering it, some people came out with Dominican friars and the governor of the district to meet me. They escorted me into town and welcomed me. I stayed at the governor’s home because he was the attendant of the viceroy, my friend. This town is a screen, that is, a barrier between pagan Indians and Spaniards. The Indians take men, women, and children to their land and enslave them. When they have a feast or invitation, they slaughter one of the Spaniards and barbecue and eat him/her. Those Indians also possess some sort of grass which, if they should chew it, makes them drunk and gives them courage and strength, like drinking wine. That grass is called “Coca.” 116 They have no wheat or barley, only Egyptian corn,117 from which they make a drink that makes them drunk, like ‘araq.118 Those Indians are numerous and very strong. The Spaniards are unable to resist them because they inhabit high mountains and are ruled by a chieftain who controls them.

116. One of the contemporary travelers of al-Mûsili wrote:“An inhabitant of the suburbs of Cuzco might refrain from food but not from chewing the grass of coca because in it he finds food, drink and medicine.” This could be an ingredient of cocaine. 117. Al-Mûsili is familiar with maize because it is popular among the rank and file in the Arab Near East. 118. A clear intoxicant alcoholic product distilled mostly from grapes, sometimes from dates, and popular in the Near East. Some varieties are over 100 proof. It is known to the Turks as raki and a sweet variety thereof as ouzou among the Greeks.

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31. Mines of Silver Three days later I left this town, traveling in the direction of the silver mine known as Condoruma, reaching it after two days. Because of intense cold and strong winds, I was unable to spend more than three days there. I went to another mine known as Cailloma at a distance of one day’s journey near a small village wherefrom they extract silver. There I observed how they do it, by grinding stones and placing the dirt-like result in water, then adding mercury to the “mud.” They keep on stirring the mixture all day long for about ten or twelve days. Mercury attracts the silver, which attaches itself to it. Next they wash it in a basin lined with cattle skin. The water carries off the dirt and the silver settles in the bottom. I witnessed this whole process with my own eyes. From there I went on to a village called Lampa, reaching it two days later. There I watched Indians build a new church. Their priest is a Spaniard who had been there for about thirty years. He is very rich, spending 200,000 piasters of his own money on the building of that church. I spent that night there and next day went to another mine called Bono.

32. Cruel Death of a Wealthy Man The owner of the Bono mine is a rich man called Don Jose Salcedo, that is, Joseph from the city of Sevilla. He paid the king 2,700,000 piasters in taxes on silver. They say that this man used to extract six thousand piasters [worth of silver] daily from the mine. One of his enemies envied him and enticed others to bear false witness against him, alleging that he had conspired with some white folk to become ruler of this town. So they wrote to the governor about it. The governor came to the mountain known as the Mines of Bono where this man was living. He arrested him and took him to Lima, where he hanged some of the friends of this man and confiscated their wealth, also the mine, in the name of the king. He also seized the stones that had been taken out of

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the mine for the purpose of extracting the silver from it. They weighed ten thousand qintârs. The governor imprisoned this man and had the death penalty passed on him. He [the condemned man] told the governor:“Put my case before the king in Spain; should he order my death, then kill me; and should he order I be set free, then set me free and I will honor all my commitments while I am here held in your prison.” But neither the governor nor the council would listen to his pleas, decreeing his death out of greed. Towns and villages, the poor, monks, nuns, orphans, and widowers all prayed to God for his deliverance because each year he used to distribute among them eighty thousand piasters in charity. But the cruel-hearted governor ordered that he be hanged at midnight. After his hanging, experts were sent out to smelt the stones and extract therefrom the silver. But when they cast it into the fire, there appeared a sign from God and the silver turned to ash, to the great astonishment of those who saw and heard. As for the mine from which silver was extracted, it was inundated by water and was sunk and destroyed. There was also a second miracle: The governor who killed him unfairly, when fifteen days later he entered his bedchamber, he saw before him the one he had killed unfairly and was overcome by fear. He retreated trembling from the sight and his wife asked him the reason. He told her what he had seen, then fell ill and was confined to bed, dying six days later. A third miracle took place before those present and listening: after a few days, the judge who ordered his execution had his hands and legs paralyzed. Then there was a fourth miracle: The man who was killed had done many good deeds and acts of kindness, as mentioned earlier. His generosity cannot be described. He was father to orphans and widows and compassionate to the poor and destitute and watchful over monasteries upon which he bestowed gifts and money for special prayers. He used to give poor girls money to get married. He spent his whole life doing good. During holy week he sent with his brother to the town of Cuzco seventy thousand piasters to be distributed among the poor and the churches.

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While still alive, shortly before he was killed, a poor man and his family who had come on the same boat with him from Spain came to him to discuss his predicament, that is, how to support his large impoverished family. When he learned that he had been his companion [on the journey], he was moved and called his treasurer over. Giving him the keys to his treasury, he said to him:“Take this poor man to the treasury and let him take as many silver coins [paras] as he wants.” 119 When he got to the treasury, this poor person took only twelve paras. Each para was worth 1,300 piasters. He went away with the money, invoking blessings upon his benefactor. The wealthy man asked his treasurer: “How many silver paras did this poor man take?”“Twelve,” he replied. He asked the poor man why he did not take more? He simply thanked him profusely and left, saying no more. He has many such examples of good deeds. He also had a brother who had disappeared. When another governor came to rule that land, he relayed to the king the death of this man who was killed unjustly. The king and the Inquisition were very upset because he had been guided by a lucky star in helping the poor and destitute, as well as in contributing to the treasury of the king. The king issued an order to make a bequest to the brother who had disappeared. The governor was instructed to give him fifty thousand piasters from the king’s treasury and to let him reopen the mine of his brother. As for myself, I did not get to that dead man when still alive, but I did become a friend of his brother, who is called Don Gaspar de Salcedo. He and one hundred men struggled to drain the water from the mine. He said to me one day:“Friend! why do you go to Spain in such a hurry? Wait this year until the mine is cleaned [sic] and I will provide you with as much silver as God decrees.” But I could not wait because my deposed friend, the viceroy, was returning to Spain. This was the main reason preventing me from staying.

119. Turkish term for a basic unit of currency; in late Ottoman times each para was only one-fortieth of a piaster. Units of currency employed by our author are accepted as they are valued in his time.

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33. Minting Silver After leaving this mine, we went to a town called Chucuito. The governor there was the nephew (on his brother’s side) of the king’s secretary. He had accompanied us from Spain. He is called Don Andreas de Bernajia [?] from the country of Biscaya. We reached the town four days later. In it the king has a house for coining silver, also experts and deputies to control the silver that comes out of the mines surrounding this town. They bring the silver, melt it, then mint it. They make coins out of it [lit., paras] and stamp it with the insignia of the king. Anyone carrying raw silver not controlled first by the mint has it confiscated and placed in the king’s treasury.

34. Ancient Inhabitants of the Land At one end of this town there is a lake, about sixty parsangs in circumference.120 We were told that Indians tossed into this lake a golden chain belonging to King Inica (the Inca), mentioned before, when the Spaniards killed him, and that the chain was borne by four thousand men. When the king sponsored a sport, they would lay the chain out on the earth and it surrounded the town. The notables entered the ring it formed and played. He who fell on the chain or outside of it would be mocked. Spaniards now do not know in what end of the lake they tossed it. Indians in those days did not possess money [lit., dînârs].They used barter for trading. There was in this lake an island about two parsangs long inhabited by pagan Indians who worshipped a mountain that rose before them, which was called the Red Mountain. No one was able to cross over to them because they possessed weapons such as spears, arrows, and slings. They would stage sorties in the open country and capture Spaniards. They also took male mules to kill and eat. My friend the governor issued orders to village heads in that district to rally. They did, 120. It is called Lake Titicaca.

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some four thousand strong, and put together forty rafts, placing in them sacks filled with dirt and some horses. They then armed themselves and crossed the lake on the rafts. When they drew near to land, the Indians of the island lined up opposite them to do battle. They were showering them with arrows and the Spanish soldiers were responding with bullets. The Spaniards cast the sacks of dirt on the shore of the island to enable the horses to cross over to the land because there was much mud on it. Upon reaching land, horsemen mounted and charged the Indians, killing many and capturing the rest, some three hundred Indians not counting women and children. Six hundred were killed in battle. They took them off the island and brought them to the town of Cuzco. The governor called upon the bishop of that town to instruct them and teach them the fundamentals of the faith of Christ; to baptize them and then to distribute them in the land. As for myself, I remained in that town eight days.

35. Freeing Some Prisoners—A Marble Quarry I departed seeking a village two days’ journey away called Cumata. In it there was a monastery belonging to the Augustinians. It contained an icon of our Lady, the Virgin Mary, called Copacabana, renowned for performing great miracles. They came to visit this icon from all over. I went to be blessed by that Immaculate Queen and visited Her, then left for a village called Barancilavacan. I was followed by four thieves who wanted to rob me of my mounts and mules. But this Virgin blinded them and the Lord did not enable them to fufill their aim. The ruler of that country was my friend. His name was Don Elia, like mine. He came out to welcome me with some priests and commoners. They took me to his home. Next day the bishop of the Indians came to visit me and told me: in the prison of this governor are seven Indians, imprisoned for minor infractions. I went down to the prison with a paper on which their names were written and called upon the jailer to open the gate, which he did. He called them one by

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one to come out of the prison and freed them. When the governor heard of what I had done, he said to me:“May it be an offering on your behalf,121 for you have honored us with your visit.” About half a parsang away from this village is a high mountain containing a quarry of marble stone, like crystal. The governor wanted to make of this stone a small domed bath, place it in containers, and send it to the king of Spain. But he died before he was able to complete the work.

36.Wealth Illegally Gathered Eight days later I left this town for another called Sicasica, administered by men of my friend the governor. I had loaned him two thousand piasters in Lima. He came out to meet me. On the side of the road there was a lake about one-half-parsang long,122 on which he hunted certain types of birds until after dusk. We then entered the town and were well received, alighting at the home of the governor. All priests and commoners came to greet me. The inhabitants of this town are both Spaniards and Indians. They told us about a priest who had died four years earlier. He was an ascetic man of the cloth who spent much time praying in the temple of that town for twenty-two years. A lot of money had been gathered for him improperly. Before his death he confessed to a priest and made a will in which he stated that he had buried under his bed two earthenware containers, one filled with silver, the other with gold. He had also stipulated in the will, executed by a judge, that the beneficiaries should be his brother and sister. I used to know his brother, a priest by the name of Don Josef, that is, Yûsuf [Arabic version], and his sister was called Dona Inez. Following his death, they took him out of the house, locked the door, and sealed it. After he was buried, a delegation representing law and authority came to the house to dig up the money. When they finished doing so 121. In the sense of a gift, implying a form of redemption. 122. Probably the southern arm of Lake Titicaca on the Bolivian border.

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they discovered the two pots, but they contained blood, not a single dînâr. All those present marveled at such a miracle, because the justice of God was so manifested in the case of wealth improperly accumulated. When the bishop of the town heard about this, he enjoined that this bad example be kept quiet. But it became a matter of great concern to people.

37.Travel to Oruro and Potosi I left eight days later for a town called Oruro. We traveled along a difficult road in great hardship. We reached the town in five days and were greeted outside of it by Jesuits, who had us stay with them. The governor was called Don Alonso del Coral, an ugly man who ate only beef tripe. Three parsangs away can be found a silver mine, so rich that silver is extracted without the aid of mercury, illegal in all mines. One cannot find finer silver than this. I went to the mine and bought raw silver for five hundred piasters. Eight days later I left, heading for the town of Potosi. We spent the night of the first leg of the journey in an Indian village. I carried an order that authorized mules be assigned to me from village to village. I used to hire them as would the king. So I asked the chief of the Indians to have them ready for me at one o’clock after midnight and handed him the money. The time came, the sun rose and it was broad daylight, and still the beasts of burden were not there for us to travel. I sent a search party after him and they brought him to me drunk. I would address him in Spanish and he would answer me in his Indian tongue. I ordered they tie him to the pillar of the house and flog him. At the first blow, he asked that they desist and spoke in Spanish, saying that the mules were tethered at his place. I asked why he did not speak Spanish until after he had been struck for the first time and he replied:“We Indians do not respond to Spaniards until they beat us.” I left there and traveled to a place where hot water came out of the ground with the smell of phosphorus. The sick came from many places

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to bathe and be cured of their ailments. The name of this place [hot spring] is Tarapaya. Six days later we arrived in the town of Potosi and the governor came out to meet us at a distance of a mile from town with ten men from his retinue and received me with great honor. This governor is one of the relatives of the governor general’s wife, and he had been asked in one of the letters to be good to me. I stayed in the Jesuit residence. Some people came to visit me and I went to visit them.

38. A Visit to the Mint and Silver Mine One day I went to the place where they minted dînârs, piasters, halves and quarters.123 In this mint house there are forty black slaves and twelve Spaniards working. We saw the pile of coins, like hillocks on one side, the halves on another, and half-quarters still on another, heaped on the floor and being trampled underfoot like dirt that has no value. On one side of this town is the mountain containing the mine. It is known throughout the world on account of its excessive wealth; countless treasures have been extracted from all four sides of it for a hundred and forty years. They had fenced it off, dug it up, and reached the very bottom of it to extract the silver. They had prepared wooden props for it, to make sure the mountain did not cave in. From the outside it looks whole, but on the inside it is empty. Up to seven hundred Indians work inside to cut out stone for men who had already bought the rights from the king. Every miner has assigned a certain number of Indians to work his share of the mine. There is a royal decree ordering every village to offer a number of Indian men to mine. According to the law one out of five men is to be assigned to such a task. Should local rulers object, the governor general was empowered to depose them. 123. He uses the terms applied to Ottoman coinage but in reference to denominations of Spanish coin. Today a dînâr consists of one thousand piasters in Iraq and Jordan.

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When these workers reach the town of Potosi, the governor apportions them to the mines.124

39. Describing the Extraction of Silver There are thirty-seven mills used for grinding silver-bearing stones day and night, except for Sundays and holidays. After grinding it finely, they take it in quantities of fifty qintârs and form separate piles with it. They add water to each, as mentioned earlier,125 then add mercury to it according to need. They then stir it with shovels several times; and should it require more mercury, they add it until perfected. If it is cold by nature, they add copper until it warms up. If it is warm by nature, they add lead until it cools. How can they tell whether it is warm or cool? They scoop up samples in a clay utensil and wash it with water until the dirt disappears and the mixture of silver and mercury remains. The sample is then smeared by finger on a piece of the aforementioned clay pot. If it crumbles, it is considered hot; if it sticks, it is considered cold. When perfect, or well tempered, it adheres to the clay and shines. Next they put it in a large basin with water flowing over it and stir it all the while with finesse. Silver and mercury settle on the bottom and dirt is carried off by the water. After thus completing the “washing” of this mixture, the overflow of water is cut off and the basin cleaned. The mixture of silver and mercury is taken out and put in gunnysacks hung from trees, under which are placed containers lined with cattle skin. Mercury flows out of the sacks into these containers underneath and only pure silver remains in them, like loaves of sugar. All mills employed in extracting silver are operated by water power, like other mills. I had a friend who owned one of the mines. He told me about his father, who owned a mine in this mountain but it contained little silver. He ordered the Indians to tear it down and fill it in with the stones 124. He distributes them according to the level of work merits and his friendship with the owners. 125. Mentioned in section 31.

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taken from it. They did as ordered and filled it in, then began to work on another side. Thirty-seven years later my friend went there and opened that mine, discovering that the stones which were considered useless earlier had been transformed and ripened, like a fruit. They pulled them out and extracted the silver therefrom, with each yielding thirty,126 because the climate of this mountain of silver is governed by the planet Mercury, which ripens silver.127 I met four very rich men in this town. They are the ones who work the mint for making coins. One of them operates it for a week at a time and produces 200,000 piasters or more because they buy silver from mine owners and make piasters out of it. They purchase it by weights of 100 mithqâls for twelve and one-half piasters each [mithqâl];128 then, after minting it, the value becomes sixteen piasters. They pay every year two and a half million [piasters?] in taxes on it to the king. Outside the town there is a lake, which they claim had flooded the town some years earlier and destroyed many homes.129 The inhabitants, however, were safe. I remained in it [the town] forty-five days.

40. Journeying to Chuquisaca I left the mills for a town called Chuquis, but in the Indian language it is called Chuquisaca. We reached the first day a place where hot springs sprung out of the earth. It is known by the Spanish equivalent, that is: Los Banos Calientes. I spent the night there. Next day I reached the aforementioned town. The Jesuits came out to receive me and took me to their residence. In this town is located the government of the king and the overseer of the country. But they fall under the immediate authority of the viceroy of Lima. In it there is a bishop who is allocated each year 126. No measure or unit follows “thirty.” 127. This is apparently an ancient fable. 128. Each is the equivalent of one and one-half dirhams (see note 80). 129. Lago Poopó?

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120,000 piasters. He was once a priest of the town of Ocomana, mentioned before. He had offered it as a gift from his bishopric, following which the king treated him generously by granting him this bishopric. Next day I went to visit him and he was exceedingly kind to me. The chief Inquisitor of the town is a priest who was also my friend. He treated me generously through the governor, my friend, because he was his friend. He was called Don Bartolomé de Bavida. He sent a representative to call on me. The bishop sent also two priests to visit me. Eight days later two monks of the Jesuit residence accompanied me and I returned the visits of those who had visited me, of priests, friars, and commoners. Twelve days later the bishop asked that I conduct mass in the cathedral on Apostles’ Day. I had with me the implements for officiating, that is, the habit and other items which Pope Clement IX had given me. The head of the king’s council invited me afterward to conduct mass in the church of the council, located in his residence. He made me a more precious gift than that of the bishop. Soon thereafter, the heads of monasteries were inviting me to hold mass in their churches and in the convents of the nuns. I had a friend there, a member of the council, called Don Juan Gonzales, who had accompanied me from Spain. This blessed man received orders from the king to go to Lima and take an account from the governor general, my friend, who had been deposed. One of the Jesuits had a sister who was ill. He asked me to go visit her. I knew something about medicine to treat her. I called upon her and treated her with what was suitable for her illness. I gave her to drink one dirham of frog ashes,130 and with God’s help she was cured. There was also another sick nun in the convent. The bishop sent me a special dispensation to go to the convent because without it no one can pass through its gate. I entered the convent and treated the nun and, again with the help of God, His wisdom and care, she was cured and became healthy. The town’s inhabitants were very excited and urged 130. Here dirham is used as a unit of weight.

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me to live with them. They were prepared to pay me five hundred piasters a year for my expenses. I told them that it was not possible.

41. Describing Tucuman and Buenos Aires There was in the residence a Jesuit, a deputy governor of the country called Tucuman where the Jesuits had residences.131 The bishop of the town was my friend and companion from Spain. The monk asked me to go to that land, which was at a distance of five hundred parsangs from the town of Chuquis. They use on this road land rafts (kelek) mounted with sails and propelled by the wind.132 He promised to give me one thousand mules were I to accept the offer and accompany him. Animals in that country are plentiful, and without value in those wild mountains. I declined, however, because of the vast distances. 131. Rabbât, a proud Jesuit himself, claims that the author intends by it the district of Tucuman and Buenos Aires, which used to be called the viceroyalty of Paraguay, famous in the history of the New World. It was there that Jesuit missionaries gathered a large number of uncivilized Indians, freed them from enslavement, and won them over for humanity after they had led the life of animals. They trained their minds and refined their way of living, taught them the rudiments of culture and concern for the needs of life, such as agriculture and the wearing of clothes. They taught them the arts and handicrafts and other things until they evolved into a self-sustaining society, coherent and content with its new way of life, the like of which was unknown to other groups and individuals. Moratori claims that this is true Christianity. Bovon (Histoire nationale, 20) says:“Nothing is more noble for religion than what was accomplished by the sacrifices of Jesuit missionaries, known for civilizing barbaric peoples and establishing a wholesome society armed only with the weapons of virtue.” The Protestant Robertson (History of Charles V, vol. 1 [Paris: Baudey, 1828]) states that the Jesuits gave proof of their capacity for good in a special way in the New World. The conquerors of this land were motivated by gain and plunder, domination and brutality, while the aim of the Paraguayan mission through the Jesuits was to give proof of the higher standards of humanity. 132. Similar to what was used on the Tigris River in Iraq. Kelek literally means inflated sheepskin.

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There are many pagan Indians in those mountains. I was afraid of them, which is why I did not want to go. This region is vast, larger than the other three, rich with mines of gold, silver, and precious stones. Its inhabitants, however, are few. In it there is a district called Santa Fe, wherefrom emerald is mined.133 This bishopric has fifteen hundred miles of land.134 On one end is a town, which is the port of Buenos Aires. It is located on the ocean close to the country of Brazil, which is ruled by the Portuguese. In this town of Buenos Aires they plant an herb called Yerba de Pales. All those born in that country drink it boiled with sugar and hot water. One cup suffices to benefit the one who drinks it. If he wishes to regurgitate, drinking more than one cup will force all sourness out [of his stomach]. This is common among all the people of that land, like coffee in our country.135 To the south of Chuquis there is a town called Misque, inhabited by Indians and Spaniards, including a governor and priest. From it they head down to sea, a distance of about five hundred parsangs, and reach a land called “Chevela” [Chile], “Cheleviya,” and “Valdiviya.” In this town [Misque] resides also a bishop and the king’s council of state, with a governor who is called General. They are always at war with the Indians and pagans, before they [the latter] even knew the ways of war, which they learned after associating with Spaniards. They had no horses at first, nor did they know how to ride them. Now they ride horses bearing spears, like Arabs, and constantly combat the Spaniards. Should they capture one, they would barbecue and eat his flesh. As for the head, they hollow out the skull and make a drinking vessel out of it, and drink one of the wines of their country with it. They are defiant, fierce, and cruel. Opposition to the Spaniards is the legacy of their fa-

133. He confuses it with the Santa Fé of Colombia. 134. The narrator does not specify whether the measure he uses is linear or square. 135. This is how it is transcribed from the Arabic; the term used would be Herba diyal Payil Caway, which Rabbât defines as “Cacuys” or “Yerva de Pales” and recommends that the reader consult the references of other travelers and historians, citing Histoire Générale de Voyages, vol. 14, pp. 146 et seq.

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thers and grandfathers to them, except for some who had fled this country during the conquest, when their kings were killed, and inhabited high and rugged mountains. I left this town forty-five days later in the company of the judge, Don Juan, who had been assigned to receive an accounting from the deposed viceroy of Lima, and returned to the aforementioned Potosi. While I was in the town of Chuquis, I had with me a picture of the head and face of Christ, which I had brought with me from Rome and which I had presented to a Jesuit. But when I reached the town of Potosi and opened the trunk, I found it there. My servants, companions, and I were puzzling over this miracle. When the head of the monastery of Mercederians,136 which more correctly is the Order of Mary The Gift Giver, asked me for it, I gave it [the icon] to him thinking that it would come back again, but it did not.

42.The Deposed Viceroy

.

Now we shall return to discussing the viceroy of Lima, my friend, whom they deposed without fault of his own and in whose place the king ordered the bishop seated in Lima to govern. The deposed viceroy had interceded to have this bishop promoted to the bishopric of Lima. After being deposed, the bishop became his great enemy. The reason for his being removed from office is that merchants of the Indies had written against him both to the king and to his brother, Don Juan of Austria, viciously and without cause. When the petitions reached Spain from the Indies, they came into the hands of the king’s brother, a great enemy of the viceroy, because the brother was a partisan of the queen; that is why he had him deposed. I left Potosi in the company of that man, who went to get an accounting from the viceroy, and we reached a town called Uquipa [Iquique] near the “Blue Sea” [Pacific]. Around midnight, before entering it, the mules strayed. We slept that night with great difficulty be136. He uses the Arabic term al-Marsah for this order.

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cause I was carrying a load of pure silver. I thanked God when we found them the next morning, for in that land there are no thieves. We entered the town the next day and met the aforementioned bishop, who had been in Panama, and whose crutch I was carrying, the one that saved me from drowning in Taboga.137 He welcomed me and received me like a brother with respect and kindness. There they told me about an Indian who owned a great rich mine which the Spaniards were unable to find. He and his son would go to the mine secretly at night and cut out the silver-laden stones and bring them back to his home, where they purified them with fire. When I learned that he had offered a gift of forty thousand piasters for a mass, I sent for him and invited him to my place, saying: “Tell me, why did you not reveal this mine to the king so he would be kind to you and to your children, offering presents and official positions to govern in this town?” He replied:“I saw Indians older than myself who had made revelations to the Spaniards only to die finally under their tortures. That is the reason.” I believed his words as concerns cruelty, which I myself had witnessed them [Spaniards] inflict on Indians. We stayed ten days in that town, until we were able to locate a ship. We traveled by sea for eight days until we reached the port of Lima, called El-Callao, about six miles from it. The raw silver I carried, were it in anyone else’s baggage, they would have confiscated it for the king. In my case, they did not want to search my load. We entered the town of Lima in the carriage of my friend, the head of the Inquisition. My companion stayed in another place. The bishop in charge opposed the judge who had come along to get the accounting, and had him imprisoned in his place of residence, saying: “First you exile the deposed governor general to another place, about six hundred miles away, then you listen to the complaints of the inhabitants and their formal depositions.” The governor general was brought forth and he listened to the order of exile. He obeyed because the laws of Spain decree that when a governor is deposed, he is to be exiled some six miles away. But the 137. Incident described in section 11.

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enemy of this governor was Don Juan, as mentioned earlier, so he ordered that he be exiled six hundred miles away. He obeyed the king’s order and went off to the selected place of exile, called Payta, a desertlike land to which they bring drinking water from a distance of six miles. His wife and servants remained outside Lima, some six miles, on account of their being infirm. I accompanied the governor to the port of Callao with some friends to bid him farewell. This man had excessive faith in the Virgin. He said: “If they give me poison to drink, it would not harm me because of the strength of the Lord and His holy and pure mother.” His carriage went off and we returned to town. I called on the bishop of the district and spoke with him, saying: “How does God sanction the exile of this poor man to such a far-off place? He is weak, and doctors have declared that anyone who goes to such a hot place will die! Our Lord Jesus Christ has commanded us to perform merciful deeds. We keep up with the infirm, visit them; we do not cast them out and exile them to distant places to face death!” He replied:“I am angry with his wife because she cursed me, so I wanted to have my vengeance on her by exiling the husband to that place.” The governor general had told me upon saying good-bye to him to watch over his home and wife. He feared that his enemies might offer her poison to drink. I spent a year and two months looking after his family. The bishop sent word to the judge not to have an accounting until he issues him a decree. He spent seven months waiting, after which a decree was issued to be enforced in three months. During Holy Week, the judge hastened to pass judgment, recorded and sealed the books, then sent proclamations to be hung on walls declaring that the deposed governor general had been found legally innocent and free of any wrongdoing. When the bishop heard this he was overcome with sorrow and tore his clothes out of pain. The governor general then returned from his exile to the town of Lima. All the nobles and notables of the town went out to meet him and to accompany him to the village where his wife was. There was great rejoicing among notables and Indians for his safe return. The Lord granted him upon his return a son

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whom he named Ferdinand della Cura Contde de Castilla y Marquese de Malagon.

43. A Traveler Befriending the Wronged When the viceroy was in exile, the bishop sent for me and said: “Why are you so closely identified with this man? Come over to my side and leave him. I will allow you to live with me and will support your interests and assist you in all that you need.” I replied:“How can I abandon an old friend and forsake his friendship, particularly of such a virtuous person, and more so now because of his being deposed. God has enjoined upon us to help the weak and lift the fallen. One who is born in uprightness and knows his origins and is respectful of his honor and kind does not abandon his first friend in isolation, rather he helps and consoles him in his affliction and hardship. Yet I still am at your service and affection, a friend to you as I am to him.” He said to me: “Do as you please!” Two months later, the bishop sent for me. When I entered the town I went to my friend, the head Inquisitor, and told him about it. He said to me to go see him [the bishop] and tell him what was on my mind. When I went and spoke with him, he answered: “Why don’t you go back to your country?” I said in reply: “If I wished to do so, nothing would prevent me. At the moment I have no intention of leaving here.” He said in turn: “The order you received and the permission granted you are valid for four years, which are completed.” I said:“Yes, it is so; but I do not wish to leave and be parted from the viceroy, and you can do what you wish or please.” He said in reply:“For what reason do you like this man and defend him, but do not accord me the same?” I replied:“Yes, in our country and according to our ways, we defend the man who is down and render him assistance in keeping with God’s commandment ‘love thy neighbor as thyself.’ I am fond of the viceroy and of you, as if you were my kin.” He [the bishop] rose from his chair, came over, and embraced me, saying:“God bless you; you are of noble lineage; your blood and deeds

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testify to that.” I returned to the head Inquisitor, my friend, and told him what had transpired. He rejoiced, and so did the wife of the viceroy, who said [to me]:“May God shower you with His mercy, and upon the parents who gave you birth, and may He enhance your lineage.”

44.The Return to Panama from Peru Shortly thereafter, I left the town for a village some one-half parsang away called Madalena, where my friend, the head of the Inquisition, had a lovely home and garden. I spent there five months waiting for Spanish ships, during which time I began writing a record of my travels. When the ships arrived, there came along a new viceroy. I had spent six years in this country because of my exiled friend. He had promised to expedite my affairs once he regained the reins of government. But when I saw that a new viceroy had arrived, my hopes were dashed. When the Spanish ships arrived in Portobelo and dropped anchor there, the bishop of Lima, who at the time was in charge of government over the Peruvian country, ordered the merchants of Lima to transport the king’s treasury on the king’s ships, then journey to Portobelo and bring back the seasonal goods. The laws of the land decree that when the galleons arrive in Portobelo from Spain, they are to continue on to Panama. Silver was to be transported from Panama to Portobelo by means of around a thousand mules. It takes about a month to complete the process. The distance is some eighteen parsangs. Halfway along, there is a small river, Chagres, which they cross with small boats called “chatas,” which are assigned to Portobelo. The seasonal trading commences and lasts forty days only, during which time all buying and selling are completed. Let us resume our narrative. I departed with the deposed viceroy, accompanied by all the notables and nobility [who had come] to bid him farewell. We were accompanied by merchants who were going to participate in the seasonal market. It was a great day, celebrated with

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cannon shot and fireworks, and it took place on the 21st of September 1681. We set sail from the port of Callao, heading for the port of Panama. Five days later we reached a port called Amotapé and bought what provisions we needed there, where a chicken is priced at one and one-half piasters, and an ewe at five piasters. We departed two days later and after three days at sea reached Amortajada, or “embalmed,” because the sea there is shallow; waters tumble down and push ships off course. But the Lord saved us through the intercession of His merciful mother, the Virgin Mary, when fog appeared and the winds calmed. The waves of the sea, called Coriente, were disturbing us and pushing us toward land until we looked and discovered that we were close to the cave.138 We were all driven out of our minds. We rose immediately and began to pray. The priest was blessing and absolving [us from sin] because we were about to die, while we kept on imploring the Lord and His mother, the Virgin Mary, for help. After completing our prayers, a wind blew from the heart of the mountain like a funnel and pushed the ship to the sea and we were saved from that evil and great danger. Ships following us from a distance—because the seas were calm and winds nonexisting—were very surprised to see us coming toward them driven by the wind. This wind accompanied us until late afternoon of the following day. We entered the port of Santa Elena, that is, of Saint Helena, where we spent eleven days waiting for the ship coming from the town of Guayaquil. This ship, called the gold ship, was carrying twelve million of gold.139 When the general reached us, he ordered that we leave the port, and we did, heading for Panama, which we entered in peace and safety after first departing from Lima forty-two days earlier. Here we found two ships carrying Spanish soldiers. They had come from the “New 138. Presumably he intended “rock” because in the dialect of the inhabitants of Baghdad, carried over from Syriac, the Arabic translation is “house carved out of rock,” that is, cave. 139. No currency unit is given.

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World” [Yeni Dünya]140 to track down sea bandits [pirates], that is, the “ship of thieves” of the South Sea. My friend, the deposed viceroy, suggested to me to go to the New World because he was ashamed for not being able to provide the assistance which he had previously promised me. He was prepared to equip me with all that I needed and give me letters of recommendation to the viceroy of the New World, who was one of his relatives. We Now Begin with the Help of God Almighty and His Granting of Success to Record the News of My Journey to the New World

45.The Journey from Panama. Solomon’s Island In December of 1681 we embarked upon the large vessel called the “Captain” 141 and traveled nine miles to an island called Taboga, mentioned earlier. We spent three days there taking on provisions: vegetables, fruits, and refreshments.142 Then we set off for the port of Realejo. Five days later we came upon an uninhabited island called Montuosa. Here the winds died down and for twelve days the ship did not move. There was another island nearby called Isla de los Ladrones, that is, “the island of thieves.” They say that a ship was traveling through this sea to the New World and was driven by a crosswind to the sandy island. The wind then died down and sailors undertook to repair certain things in the galley of the ship that had been torn down by the strong winds at sea. They went onto the land and brought back sand to fill the basin in which they cook, then left the island. The following day the cook prepared meals as usual. He tried to stir the sand but found it had turned into a stone. He pulled it out to discover that it was a nugget of gold. When they decided to return to the island, they were unable to do so 140. Term used for Mexico. 141. Capitania, or flagship. 142. The term he uses, Mubarradât, means literally, “things that are kept cool.”

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because they had no precise information of its whereabouts, nor had they taken measure of the sun.143 In the books of the ancients this island was known as Isla de Solomon, that is, the Island of Solomon. They say that when Solomon built the temple,144 he used to bring gold from this island. Spaniards now are not in agreement, nor do they have the initiative or inclination to look for this island.145 Shortly thereafter, the wind allowed us to leave and we set off, reaching three days later the port called Golfo Dulce, that is, the “sweet gulf ” because in it flows a freshwater river and mixes with the sea.146 We dropped anchor there and sailors went off to replenish our water supply. I went off to land with them because of the intense heat, and began to bathe in the cold waters of the river to cool myself. This river is only about a yard deep. I noticed that its sand was mixed with gold. I showed it to the captain of the ship, who was born in that country, and he said to me:“Don’t be surprised because there is gold to be found in all these lands and rivers, but the Spaniards do not dare come over to extract it on account of the pagan Indians inhabiting the tops of mountains and because in these regions there are countless Indians.” While we were anchored, a great turbulence swelled the sea and the anchor rope broke twice. After spending three days there, we set sail and continued on, reaching six days later a port called La Caldera, or the port of “the pot.” We anchored there. I asked the soldiers on the ship to bring me some 143. Term used, qirât (kerat), can also signify a unit of weight. 144. Literally, “the house.” 145. In consulting the history of voyages, Rabbât claims he found what corroborates al-Mûsili’s information, in spite of the fact that many writers deny its veracity, especially after Spain heard about it and spent many years attempting to verify it without any success. Alvaro de Mendoza set out in 1595 with a large fleet in search of this island. He toured all neighboring islands but without finding what he was looking for. Thirty years later Antonio de Medina and other sailors also conducted a careful search for it, but all their efforts departed with the winds. That the island should be called Solomon and that gold be brought from it have no basis in fact. 146. Southwest end of present-day Costa Rica.

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shells.147 They returned with nine of them. I opened them one by one to eat them and found in one a pearl the size of a chickpea. I said to the general: How contemptible! There are pearls in this sea and you do not attempt to dive for them. He replied: “This too is on account of our fear of pagan Indians.” We spent one day in port. The wind was down and the rain that fell was hot. Five days later we ended up near a mountain called Papagayo. Upon reaching it a strong wind blew and the mast broke into three pieces. We were suddenly without hope, despairing of salvation because of the great turbulence at sea. Our hearts sank out of fear, but through the power of the Almighty Deliverer the sea calmed and the wind died down.

46.The Land of Nicaragua Six days later we reached the port of Realejo and disembarked. We spent a full day and night there. The general wrote the bishop of the city of Leon, some twenty-seven miles away from the port, informing him of my arrival. When he heard this he rejoiced greatly because when I was in Paris he had befriended me. He had a claim against the monks in Paris. He too was a monk of the order of Merci. When he won his claim, he came to Madrid and the king of Spain granted him this bishopric. I left next day for the city of Leon, and when I drew near I saw the bishop had come out six miles from the city to receive me. He took me to his home, where I spent eight days as his guest. There I met a man, a friend, whom I had seen and become acquainted with in Lima. This blessed man gave me a good female mule as a gift, as did the bishop. When the eight days were up, we left for a town two parsangs away called Salvajo [?] and went on from there to another called in Spanish Nostra Señora del Viejo, that is, the town of our Lady, the “Virgin of the Old.” This Virgin has many miracles, especially among travelers by 147. In reference presumably to oysters or some other shellfish.

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sea. When we were in the midst of the turbulence at sea and the mast of our ship broke, as we mentioned earlier, I had vowed upon my soul that were I to reach Her church, I would hold mass for Her for nine days. I remained in this town nineteen days and fulfilled my vow.148 I was also awaiting a sunbûk [skiff],149 called canoa, to cross this narrow sea, which is about thirty-four parsangs. The bishop had warned me not to cross this narrows because it is very dangerous, and in it many ships sink. But I relied on the help of the Virgin Mary, whom I would call “the daughter of my country,” and embarked upon the sunbûk.

47.The Land of San Salvador, Describing the Plant of the Nile We negotiated passage through the narrows in twenty hours and reached the other side. I stayed in a village called Amapala,150 consisting of four houses for Indians. I met there a Spaniard coming from the New World and heading for Peru. He told me that he had sold his horse to an Indian with its saddle and bridle for two and one-half piasters because he was determined to cross the narrows. From there we went on for eight days, a distance of forty parsangs, and reached an Indian village called Amushayu [?]. From there we continued traveling for eight parsangs until we reached the village called San Miguel. After another eight parsangs we reached a village called Zuruaquin [?]; six more, and we were in the village called Istepeque [?]. After another seven parsangs we came upon the village called Cuquinbit [?]. From 148. Historians have mentioned this place of worship and described the miracles attributed to the Virgin. It is alleged that it was named the Lady of Viejo because of the “mountain of fire” nearby, which is called Volcan Viejo. 149. This vessel is much larger than a canoe, although resembling it in design. In the Red Sea it was utilized to traverse the shallow waters that stretch for miles opposite the eastern shores of the sea’s lower reaches. 150. Located on the Bay of Fonceca.

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there we journeyed to San Martin, eight parsangs away, and then to San Salvador. In these lands they [owners] plant the nile [indigo-plant]. This plant resembles odoriferous trefoil, or the trefoil which they feed to horses. Each one of them has a plantation. They plant the nile like wheat. In certain years it reaches the height of a human being and becomes cheap in the New World. They harvest these weeds [sic] when they are ripe and toss them into a great basin where they heat up and devour each other [that is, ferment]. In that basin are wheels to stir the water. They then empty it into another basin and three days later it foams. They take that foam into their hands, forming from it balls which they spread in the sun. This is what they call in our country “testicular nile.” From the residue they make indigo paste.

48.The Land of Guatemala From there we went to a village called Jalaya,151 five parsangs away, and then to another called Santa Ana,152 eight parsangs from it. Next it was to the village of Tekesa [?], six parsangs away. This village is inhabited by Mulatos, that is, the offspring of a white father and black mother. They have ruddy complexions, neither white nor black. From there it was on to the town of Kiliyataco [?], at a distance of eight parsangs; from there it is ten parsangs to the village of Escalaos [?], another twelve to the village of Paytapa, and six more to the village of Santiago, that is, Saint Jacob. From Santiago we went to the town of Guatemala. In it is located the seat of the king’s government, called Audiencia, headed by someone called presidente or chief of government. In this town there is also a very rich bishop whose name is Don Juan de Ortega. I paid him a visit and he returned the visit on the second Sunday of Lent. I entered 151. Jalapa? 152. Snarate would be on the way and about the same distance.

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the church and conducted mass in the presence of his father confessor without the bishop’s permission. He went and told him about the vestment used in the mass, the one the pope gave me. He was very delighted and ordered two priests of the church to be in attendance whenever I conducted mass. I stayed in this town thirty-four days, well and generously treated by all. I held mass in all the churches and monasteries and, truly, they offered me suitable gifts. It was in the days of the great fast [Lent] of 1682. I left that town shortly thereafter, accompanied by the sergeant of arms of the Audiencia and four priests representing the bishop for about a mile outside town. I bade them farewell and they me. They returned to town and I traveled three parsangs until I reached a village called Chatamalina Bejacu,153 from there to a village called Basun, at a distance of six parsangs, and then to the village of Basima Tuluz [?] seven parsangs away. From there I went on to San Antonio de Suchitepec, twelve parsangs away. This district was governed by an official from Syuvilia [Seville?], but the Indians brought charges against him to the Audiencia in order to have him removed [from office]. I interceded on his behalf and wrote to the presidente, who was called Don Juan Miguel de Agurto [?], a staunch Christian and a supporter of the clergy. Whenever I went to visit him, he would fall down on his knees and kiss my hand. From this district comes the cacao that they convert into chocolate. Its trees are numerous and are controlled by Indians, who are exceedingly rich. They have set aside four thousand piasters in guarantee, so that if they found themselves quarreling with the governor or the priest of the village they would expend from the interest the cost of adjudication and recording. I went from this village to the village of Tapu [?], which is five parsangs away, and from there to that of Santa Maria de Belen [Palin], six parsangs farther, then on to San Cristobal [Verapaz], three parsangs along, and next to San Francisco el Alto, six parsangs distant; then to the village of Julanils [?], six parsangs away, and to Ranjo [?] village of San 153. Chimaltenango?

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Ramon, five parsangs distant; then to Ecuatina Enco [?], two parsangs along, and another two to the village of Bianto [?]; then to the village of Cocomadanes [?], ten parsangs away. From there, it was on to the village of San Martin, three parsangs ahead; then to the village of Pecetan [?], two parsangs away; then to the village of San Antonio Peresquin [?], at five parsangs; then to the village of Vesitmenam [?], and from there to the village of Isquintenango, another seven parsangs; then to the village of Teopisca, five parsangs away; and from there to Ciudad Real, at a distance of six parsangs; then to Bella Cana [?], two parsangs away, and then to the village of Ixtapa, six parsangs from there, and then to Chiapa, five parsangs, and then to Chiapa El Spanol, two parsangs.154

49.The Land of Chiapa, a Messenger of Peace I entered this town and stayed at the home of the governor. In it there is a bishop whose name is Don Alonso Bravo, who was quarreling with the Provincial—I mean the head of the order of Dominicans. The bishop had excommunicated the governor of the country. When I became aware of this and of the hatred between them, I was deeply saddened. So I spoke with the bishop and the Provincial and actively endeavored to reconcile both. Two days later was the birthday of the Virgin and the hallowed body was prostrate on the holy altar while the bishop was performing mass. When he had finished, I rose from my chair and took the Provincial and governor of the town and presented them before the bishop, got down on my knees, and said to him:“The Lord Jesus Christ said I entrust my peace to you and he commanded us to reconcile and be at peace. Behold the Lord Jesus is present and is witnessing from above this hallowed altar, we must therefore abandon all evil thoughts and hatred and exchange them for love and humility. In the words of the Savior: Blessed is the name of the Lord. Here am I, 154. Towns and villages with question marks could not be located on current maps, which suggests that either they were renamed or that there was a misspelling by the author, who simply went by the verbal pronunciation.

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a priest from the city of Baghdad, who has come forth to make peace between us.” At that, the governor withdrew from the altar and we went to the home of the bishop, being invited to dinner. When we were done eating, the bishop rose from his chair and placed around my neck a golden chain worth two hundred piasters. The governor gave me a fine female mule. The Provincial also made a gift to me. They did not leave me for a minute. Priests and monks would ask me about our country, which they call the Old World. After spending sixteen days there I journeyed seeking a village called Tosta [Tuxtla?], which was two parsangs away, then to that of Ecoscaona [?], four parsangs along; then to the village of Bianatic [?], four parsangs from there. In this village the governorships separate: the viceroyalty of Mexico, or the New World, from that of Guatemala, since the governorship of the latter is independent.

50.The Journey to Mexico I journeyed to the village of Sanatitipec [?], which is at a distance of six parsangs, then to the village of Istinipec [?], nine parsangs from it, and from there to the village of Acanitepec [?], and then to the town of Xilapa [?] where resided a ruler called Don Juan Vetia. His uncle was the secretary of the Indian office, a strong man, and my friend.155 When he heard of my arrival, he came out of the town some two parsangs to meet me. He received me with honor and dignity and had me stay in his home. Near this town there is a mountain where there can be found transients who hold up travelers on occasion and rob them. The governor of the locality sent along two guards to protect me while crossing that mountain. We crossed it with the help of God without harm and reached a town called Texia [?], four parsangs away;then to the village of San Juan della Costa, twelve parsangs away; next to the village of Inxapa [?], five parsangs along; then to the village of San Miguel, ten parsangs 155. Juan Vetia Linaje.

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from there; then to the village of San Lucas, three parsangs distant; then to the town of Oaxaca, six parsangs from it. There resided in this town a nobleman from Spain who had a brother in Lima in the service of the viceroy, my deposed friend. The latter had given me a letter for his brother in Oaxaca. When I was nearing the town, I sent him the letter, so he came out to greet me with joy and to escort me into town. He insisted that I stay in a house which he had prepared for me. The bishop of the town had died and the see of the bishopric was vacant, being held meanwhile by a Gardien [caretaker].156 This blessed man was once captured and held in Algiers while transiting from India [America] to Spain. But God eased his plight and he was freed to become head of the clergy in this town. I had become his friend and he was exceedingly kind to me. His name was Don Dionisio. This town is rich in buildings and churches, particularly the monastery of the Dominicans, as well as other monasteries and hospitals for the sick. The large church [cathedral?] is extremely elegant. There are numerous other churches besides it. I had in my possession per diem money in the sum of eight hundred piasters. I deposited some of it with my aforementioned friend, the one called Don Francisco de Castro, so he could buy kermes for me, because in this town and its environs, the kermes attaches itself to certain trees with thick leaves, as mentioned earlier.157 It sticks to it like the worm to a leaf, then is transformed into a shape resembling a small pox. When it reaches maturity, they extract it and place it in a hot oven until it dies, after which they dry it. Fifteen days later I left this place for Mexico [City] where the viceroy of the king resides. We reached the village called Ipita after traveling four parsangs and continued on to Tatao, six parsangs away. From there it was on to Owanetepec, at a distance of five parsangs; then to the village of San Anton, two parsangs from there; then to the village of Cos, five parsangs from there. Next, after another five 156. Al-Mûsili refers to him as “head of clergy.” 157. Known officially as Coccus,, an insect yielding a red crimson dye.

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parsangs, we came to San Sebastian. From there it was another four parsangs to the village of Teowacan [Tehuacan]; then to the town of Inaxotepec, five parsangs away. We continued on to the village of Tepeaca, at a distance of seven parsangs. It was another six parsangs to the town of La Puebla de Los Angeles, that is, the city of the people of the angels. I entered the city and stayed with one of my friends. It is large and cheerful, on account of its palaces and monuments, rich in churches, like the cathedral, which is very ornate in its construction, with an abundant use of silver and gold in its decoration, not to mention its sacred ornaments. In this city presently resides a bishop by the name of Emanuel de Santa Cruz. He is an educated man, fears God, and enjoys an income of eighty thousand piasters annually. This country contains monasteries for all monastic orders.

51. Describing Mexico Two days later I departed, heading in the direction of Mexico City, which is at a distance of twenty-four parsangs from this one [Puebla]. I reached it and alighted at a friend’s [house] for whom I was bringing a letter from Guatemala. He received me with honor and kindness. A day later I fell ill and remained in bed for ten days. As concerns the viceroy of this country, I was bringing him a letter from his relative, my friend the viceroy, who was in Peru. He continuously wrote to his governors to watch after me. Ten days later I was cured with God’s help and went to visit the viceroy. I visited also his wife. Both received me with love and smiling faces. The viceroy offered that I stay with him in the palace. I was overwhelmed by his generosity and thanked him for his graciousness but declined the offer. I rented a house for three hundred and sixty piasters a year and a carriage and mules with six hundred and fifty piasters, then began to go out to visit the nobles. First, I called on the bishop of the city; then I visited all the other notables. The bishop granted me a decree authorizing me to hold masses wherever I

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wished. So every day at sunset I went to chat with the viceroy for about two hours, then returned home. As for this place [Mexico City], it is situated in a lowland [basin]. Next to it is a lake fed by springs. During certain years past, it rained so heavily that the city sank; many of the homes were flooded and crumbled. The soil here has no firm underpinning. How can one begin to describe the churches in this city, its noble and fine edifices, its excessive wealth, something one cannot fully do. In this city are three monasteries for the Franciscans, two for the Dominicans, three for the Augustinians, two for the Monks of Mercy, hospitals for treating the ill, and seventeen monasteries for nuns, as well as a monastery for the Carmelite monks and two residences for the Jesuits. There are numerous other churches besides the cathedral.

52.The Wondrous Church of the Virgin About one-half mile outside town there is a church bearing the name of the Virgin Mary called Guadalupe. We were told that after the Spaniards had entered this land by a few days, an Indian by the name of Juan Diego was strolling outside the town when a woman of great radiant beauty appeared to him and told him to go to the bishop of the country and tell him “to build for me a house here.” The Indian was frightened by the intensity of light surrounding her face and he departed hurriedly, as instructed by the lady, to tell the bishop of all that which she ordered. When the bishop contemplated this Indian, in his sad state and awful clothes, he ordered him thrown out [of his presence]. The poor chap returned, a cast-out failure, to the spot where that glorious lady had spoken to him. She appeared to him for a second time in the same spot and repeated to him what she had said before, ordering him to return to the bishop and tell him what she had commanded. He obeyed her order and went back to the bishop and laid before him all that she had suggested. Again the bishop derided him and ordered he be humiliated and thrown out. He returned once more

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sadly to the same spot. The lady appeared to him for the third time and said to him:“Why do you not do what I ordered you to do?”He replied by saying:“I did all that you told me and went to the bishop twice and laid before him your request but he cast me out and did not believe me!” She ordered him to go to the bishop for the third time, saying: “Take this rose with you to convince the bishop.” She then handed him a rose and it was out of season [for it]. The Indian took the rose and put it in the garment he was wearing. He then went to the home of the bishop, and when the servants saw him and recognized him, they humiliated him and tossed him out. He said to them:“For God’s sake, let me talk to the bishop because I have a present for him from the Spanish lady which I am supposed to deliver.” They informed the bishop and he ordered they let him in. When he was in his presence he said to him:“Sir, the lady sent me to you three times and says to you to build a house for her in such a place and she sends you this rose so you would believe me and be sure that she has sent me to you.” When the Indian detached the rose from his garment, the bishop noted that it was not the season for roses. His astonishment was even greater when he noticed that the image of the Virgin Mary had imprinted itself on his garment, which was made of heavy wool. The bishop at that moment fell to his knees before this Indian and begged his forgiveness. Quickly they relieved the Indian of the rose and of the garment wherein the image of the Virgin was imprinted and had it paraded in procession to the beat of drums and placed it on the great altar with much rejoicing and celebration. They then went out to the designated spot and the bishop ordered a church be built there, where she appeared to the Indian, and called it the Church of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe. The aforementioned Indian, Juan Diego, spent the rest of his life serving the Virgin in that church, wailing like one of those seeking repentance. The church is located outside Mexico City, at a distance of about one-half mile, as we mentioned before, and it is very richly decorated with silver, gold, and precious robes. Even the steps leading up to the great altar are made of silver. The pillars of the altar are also of silver. A causeway resembling a bridge was constructed, some two yards high, from the surrounding edge of this church to the interior of the

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city, because during the summer the ground turns into a lake. This allows them to reach the church on that walkway. In that country rain begins to fall from the first of May and lasts until September, contrary to the custom in our country.158

53. Heretics Attack the Port of Vera Cruz I remained about six months relaxing in this city, waiting until a ship arrived from Spain, which brought a number of letters from merchants to their partners. The ship brought also a devious person who claimed he was dispatched by the king to investigate those who had committed crimes and to take an account of the king’s treasury. This rascal threw fear into many a heart among the guilty. When the viceroy heard about it, he wrote to the governor of the port ordering him to look into the orders that this person carried, but he did not want to reveal them. The viceroy knew then that he was an impostor and he sent soldiers after him. They caught up with him and the viceroy had him imprisoned. In those days a number of pirate ships reached the port of Vera Cruz, and they [the pirates] were all heretics, representing all sorts of people.159 They arrived at night and went ashore about a mile and onehalf away from the city and entered it like thieves because the port had no wall. They went straight to the house of the governor and held him prisoner. Afterward they entered and rounded up men and women and imprisoned them in the large church and locked it up, stationing guards at the doors. They then began to plunder and rob monasteries, 158. The church today is well within the city’s boundaries and no causeway is necessary to reach it. 159. Led probably by the notorious Welsh buccaneer Sir Henry Morgan (1635–1688), who at the order of Sir Thomas Modyford was commissioned to capture some Spanish prisoners in order to gain details of the threatened attack on Jamaica; far exceeding his original mandate, he embarked on a career of ravaging Spanish ships and their possessions along the coast from Panama to Mexico and Cuba as well.

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churches, and homes for about three days. After that they let the prisoners out of the church and made them carry the loot to the ships anchored about three-quarters of a mile away. They put all the loot, men, and slaves on these ships and took them to an island near that port, about a mile and one-half away, and let them off there, demanding that they ransom their lives to the tune of 150,000 piasters. These poor souls sent word to the city of Puebla to provide the ransom. And ten days later 150,000 was raised. The Spaniards were freed, but they kept the black slaves and the loot taken from this city in the amount of eight million.160 The pirates numbered six hundred while the Spaniards and their slaves were over four thousand individuals.161 The chief pirate was a heretic who had a Spanish companion and partner by the name of Nesilio. The two quarreled over the division of the loot between them, so Nesilio killed the heretical chief and took over leadership of the pirates. I had with me in this town the load of kermes which I had bought in Oaxaca for a thousand piasters. They stole it, among other plundered possessions. But while those pirates were on the island, ships arrived from Spain. The viceroy sent word to the general about the true state of things so he could combat and burn the pirates’ ships before he himself reached the harbor. The general sent up the flag to rally all ship captains. He gathered them to discuss strategy and be of one accord, so that the general himself would not alone be held at fault because the ships were loaded with goods. He feared that one of his ships might be sunk or burnt during combat. Once they were far from port and they had held counsel, Nesilio took one look at them, raised his sails, and went off laughing right before the Spanish ships without fear, taking with

160. Presumably in piasters, the currency he uses as equivalent of the local. 161. The term he applies to these bandits, Jalalîyah, refers historically to nonMuslims, that is, Christians and Jews, who were forced out of Arabia after its Islamization in the seventh century and were rendered subject to the poll tax. In this case, the author has in mind the “heretics,” that is, non Catholics, presumably Protestants.

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him more than two thousand captives and black slaves, with some red ones.162 This [episode] took place in 1683 A.D.

54. From Mexico to Baghdad via China A hundred years earlier, during the days of Philip IV,163 king of Spain, ships set sail from the New World to the environs of China and chanced upon an island which they gained and named Philippines after the aforementioned king. Spaniards settled there. Years later ships journeyed to this island with a number of priests and friars and Christianized its pagans.164 Every year a ship comes from this island to the New World laden with goods from China. It takes the ship eight months to reach here from that island [Philippines] but only three to return.165 Also every 162. Reference to Indians. 163. Not likely; Philip II was then king. 164. The author was not precise in his facts. The discoverer of these islands was Ruis Lopez de Villa Lopez (?). He journeyed in 1543 from Mexico and reached the islands two months later. Spaniards did not take full possession of them until 1560–70. They were named later after Philip II, king of Spain. 165. When Spain implanted itself in the West Indies (Peru and Mexico) and the East (Indies) (India and the Philippine islands), merchants in the cities of Manila and Lima wanted to tie together the two Indies by means of the sea in order to facilitate commercial communications and to bridge the vast distances. Their efforts succeeded, and ships began to journey between the two worlds, carrying from America to China and East India what it distinguished itself in producing by way of gold, silver coins, and ingots, and returning with finished products from China: gold and silver jewelry, silks, woven material, seeds, spices, and perfumes. The fifty-some thousand pairs of silk stockings brought from there each year had become famous. As for the time of travel, it used to differ depending on the route. The ship would set sail from the port of Callao around the middle of March following the seasonal winds termed “Alizés,” which blew east to west, and reach Manila in less than two months. But the return was difficult, and would take from ten to twelve months. A Jesuit father advised them to make use of the opposing winds, and so they began to depart in July from Manila and travel toward the

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year a ship arrives from Surat 166 to that island carrying goods for the two Armenian merchants of Julfa who reside there.167 What money they get from the ship they loan to the Spaniards for a year. At the end of the year, a ship comes from Surat and collects the old debt from the Spaniards, then contracts a new loan with them from the proceeds for another year. No permit is given any other group because no ship other than the one belonging to the Julfites comes here. It was my intention to travel on that ship to that island and from there embark on another one belonging to the Julfites to Surat and from there to my own country.168 Regrettably, I had a clash with the man who was proceeding to take up the governorship of that island [Philippines]. He had asked me to loan him ten thousand piasters. I north until they caught the western winds, which originated in those areas, so that they would be driven to the shores of California and Mexico between December and January, dropping anchor in the port of Acapulco in Mexico. 166. Reference most likely is to the city of Surat at the end of a bay north of Bombay, that is the bay of Cambay, which ibn Battuta [the famous North African Arabian traveler of the fourteenth century] called “Kanabayat.” He mentioned a city by that name and described its vast trade. Surat, however, is a recent city. It was not mentioned in the books written by Arabs because its reputation did not antedate the beginning of the seventeenth century, when it found itself at the confluence of Moghul and Persian trade. English, French, and Dutch merchants established important branches of trade there, and Surat also contained Jesuit and other missions. 167. In reference to the district in the suburb of Isfahan, in Persia, built by Shah ‘Abbâs at the beginning of the seventeenth century, naming it after the Armenian inhabitants he had brought from their old city of Julfa (now in the Republic of Armenia). It was not long before it became an important city and a target of Catholic missions from the West. Missions of Latin monks multiplied in Julfa and yielded lasting fruit, which Rabbât mentions in Documents inédits pour servir à l’histoire du Christianisme en Orient, 82–93. 168. Commercial communications between Baghdad and Surat by way of Persia were continuous, as mentioned often in both published and unpublished tracts and travel accounts, which Rabbât claims were preserved “by us.” It is not clear whether he meant at the Jesuit University of Saint Joseph in Beirut, with which he was affiliated, or in his own private possession. It is a pity that al-Mûsili, this latter-day ibn Battuta, did not return by way of the Philippines, India, and Persia, because that journey would have been unprecedented and very enlightening.

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consulted with the viceroy and he told me:“Beware, he is in debt and owes 200,000 piasters.” So I refrained from going by this route and resolved to return to the country of Spain.

55.Tales of China and the Philippines We were told that some fifty years ago a few missionaries were traveling from this island [Philippines] to China to teach its people and turn them from paganism to the faith of Christ. The devil, being the enemy of good and of all good doing, inspired the heart of China’s king to kill all the monks settled there, and he killed them. Then he ordered ships and troops dispatched to the Philippines. When its inhabitants saw this great armada coming to fight them,169 they were seized with fear because they were few in numbers and unprepared. They had no way out or recourse but to seek refuge in the church, where they began to beseech God and pray for deliverance, carrying the holy body in procession and prayer to combat the enemy. Through God’s strength and justice, which do not abandon those who seek Him in faith, the sea rose in fury, scattered, destroyed, and wiped out those ships. From that great armada only thirteen were saved in the end. When the king of China learned of the great catastrophe that had afflicted him, he was deeply saddened and died suddenly soon afterward. He counseled his eldest son, who succeeded him, to get ready another great army and with well-fortified ships to journey again to that island and wage war on it. When the said son proceeded to prepare the armed forces and ships, the same thing happened to them as had happened to the earlier expedition and all were wiped out. The son also met the same quick death occasioned by sadness. His younger brother succeeded him, and when he was upon the throne, he too was determined to prepare more troops and ships. But his mother advised him not to wage war on that island so as not to suffer the same fate as his father and brother. Rather, she counseled him to 169. Term used is “army.”

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make peace, befriend the missionaries, and let them enter the country and preach and not to oppose them in any way. Now every three years monks come from Spain and cross over to China, where they preach and teach without objection. I had a friend who was a captain on that island for about seventeen years. When he came to Mexico and was my guest, he told me all about these matters and the miracles that took place in the Philippines. This man is truthful in what he says. I have also the testimony of Jesuits and monks who established without doubt the truth of that catastrophe.170

56.The Mariannes Islands Fifty years ago the Spaniards also discovered an island close to the Philippines and conquered it. Its inhabitants were Indians who worshipped idols. When they took possession of it, they Christianized and baptized its inhabitants and called it after the queen, wife of Philippe IV. The mother of King Carlos II was Queen Marie Anne d’Autriche [sic], the sister of Emperor Leopold. So they called the island the“Mariannes.” When I, the abject one, was in Mexico there came a ship from the Philippines carrying two friars of the Dominican order bearing petitions to His Eminence the Pope. Those friars accompanied me to Spain in the same ship. It is then that they showed me the petitions so I could lend them support before His Eminence the Pope concerning a disaster laid upon them by the judges of the Philippines in a dispute between the Jesuits and the bishop, who had demanded taxes from them and they had refused to obey or to pay them to him.171 Because of this, 170. The picture al-Mûsili presents is puzzling. For one, he mistakes the Japanese armada for Chinese; for another, he appears to confuse with each other and telescope the events he abbreviates, including persecutions that took place in Japan, China, and Tonca. Quite clearly his sources, based on hearsay, were not reliable. 171. The traveler apparently was unaware that Jesuits and many other orders are exempt from rendering taxes to heads of bishoprics. Rabbât claims to have delved into history books without finding confirmation of the account of the author. He speculates that he might have confused two incidents with each other. The first involved Jesuits in

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they complained about him, and the judges of the town seized him at night, put him in a ship, and exiled him to a place some forty-five miles away. The bishop was a member of the Dominican order and he died in exile, like St. John Chrysostom.172 When the two friars reached Rome and presented the petition detailing the affair to the pope, and His Eminence learned about that foul incident, he sent word rebuking the king of Spain for this deed involving his judges and the bishop. When the king and the court learned about the matter, an order was sent to the Philippines deposing those judges and exiling them. They died in exile under the ban.

57.The Return to Europe Let us talk now about our return. When the ships were ready to set sail for Spain, I went from Mexico City to the port of Vera Cruz, forty parsangs away.173 I spoke with the general of the ships and asked him to take me to Spain. He requested in return one thousand piasters for passage, to include food and drink. Regulations on these ships specify that

Mexico with Johannes Balafocas (?), the bishop of Puebla de Los Angeles, which took place before al-Mûsili got there by forty years. The bishop had demanded taxes from the Jesuits, but they refused to tender them and the Apostolic nuncio ruled in their favor. Balafocas was ousted from the city and he blamed it on the missions. The news accounts of this event are lengthy (see Cretenogoly, History of the Jesuit Order, vol. 4, pp. 68 et seq.). The second has to do with Arnan Gerero (?), bishop of Manila, a contemporary of the author. He wrote in his history that he had called the clergy of Manila to a meeting but that the Jesuits excused themselves. This angered him, but it was not long before the bishop got over his anger and accepted their excuse, announcing his regret over what took place, and his friendship with them was resumed. See Historia delle Philipine, 220, and History of the Jesuit Order, vol. 5, pp. 22 et seq. 172. Lit., the golden mouthed: the great Church father who authored the liturgical mass still executed today by both Greeks and Latins in their churches. 173. In this, as in all other distance measurements by al-Mûsili, there are considerable discrepancies; one must assume that he was presenting approximations he arrived at while traveling, or what others told him.

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they rent a room which is two yards long, one yard and one-third wide, and one yard and one-half high. I found it difficult to pay a thousand piasters for it but had no choice but to accept. Eight days later the captains of the ships held council and consulted with each other to determine whether they could set sail from the Indies and reach Spain during these months. They drew lots because they were unable to leave until three months later. They readied a small ship to carry letters and news about the country and sent it ahead of them to Spain. When I saw that, I puzzled over my lot because that port is hot, its water foul, and its climate worse. I pulled myself together and rode that small ship heading for Spain, but aiming at first for the island called La Habana [Cuba] because it is the port for the Peruvian galleys and the ships of the New World called flotta. I found a friend in the port of Vera Cruz who suggested that I purchase two loads of dry onions and two cases of apples to give as gifts.174 I bought and acted on his advice and set sail with God’s will. Twenty days later we reached this aforementioned island, La Habana. We were happy and delighted. The governor of this island was the brother of the general who had taken me to Peru. I offered him the onions and apples as gifts. He was surprised and asked:“How do you know we need onions and apples on this island?” When they plant an onion on that island it grows to the size of a mouse’s tail. If they let it grow to full size it withers and dries. I stayed four and one-half months on the island, until the ships arrived from the New World. The island has good climate and sweet water. Its inhabitants are friendly. When I was ready to leave for Spain, I received by way of gifts,175 in return for the onions and apples, nine cases of sugar with jars of jam. I had booked passage on the ship that had come from Caracas for three hundred and fifty piasters and we set sail. 174. The original term used by the author, armagan, is of Persian origin and is current in Aleppo and the Mesopotamian region. 175. Arabic word bakhshîsh from the Persian bakshidan: to give and forget; misinterpreted in the recent period of Ottoman rule to signify “bribe.”

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We reached the island of Lucaya [Bahamas] and ran into sea turbulence generated by heavy winds, which lasted eleven days. Ships were scattered all over the sea’s surface. We dwelt in tears and lamentation; we prayed, held processions on the ships, offering vows to churches and saints. Eleven days later the sea calmed down with God’s help and all the ships that had been scattered assembled again. At night they lit lanterns so they would not go astray and be lost and also so they would not get too close to each other and collide with one another and break up. It was then that a suitable wind came up and we got back on our course heading for Cádiz. Twelve days later we discovered land at dawn and the wind was very helpful until midday.

58. From Spain to Rome We entered the harbor of Cádiz safely. Warships belonging to the king of France were anchored outside the harbor with warships of the king of Spain opposite them. When we sailed between these two rows [of warships] we saluted them with cannon fire, and both the French and Spanish warships returned the salute, following which cannon fire resumed with both sides bombarding each other and smoke accumulating like clouds.176 We entered the harbor and dropped anchor. Next day friends from town came out in rowboats and took us to land. In response to orders from the presidente, head of the council, we carried our luggage to shore without its being opened and inspected as is the custom. Ten days later I went to Seville to recover two thousand piasters I had loaned the captain of the ship so he could buy what his ship needed. But when he arrived in Cádiz they seized his ship and took it because he owed thirty thousand piasters to the church of Seville. I went [there] to lodge a complaint and the presidente decided for jus176. A mild way of describing a sea battle, with both sides taking time out to salute the ship bearing al-Mûsili, then resuming their firing upon each other.

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tice, saying that before all else the two thousand owing [me] should be paid because without it [the loan] the ship would not have made it back. They paid it to me and I went to Cádiz and booked passage on a Dutch ship to travel to Rome. In my company were two Armenian servants. I had brought with me from India [West Indies] four parrots who talked like a human being. I brought also a silver candelabrum of rare workmanship worth 1,450 piasters. I offered it to our lord, the pope, and to the church of the Propaganda Fide. When the cardinals beheld it, they were greatly pleased with the delicateness of its workmanship. At that moment Pope Innocent XI, owner of righteous deeds, granted me appointments I was not worthy of. Praise the Lord unto all ages. Amen. Here ends al-Mûsili’s narrative of travel. There follow two appendices on the advent of Christianity to South America which Rabbât chose to include in this work.

Appendix A Pedro the Candian (Cretan): One of the Conquerors of Peru The Discovery of Peru. Pizarro and His Thirteen Companions p e d r o d i ca n d i a 1 7 7 Francisco Pizarro was one of the early discoverers of America. When his companions experienced the burdens of travel, wars with Indians, hunger and thirst, they refused to continue on their journey [of discovery]. Pizarro drew his sword and drew a line on the earth, saying: “All those who wish to return to Panama, let them cross this line”; his 177. The appendix does not reflect the whole of the original text, only selections made by Rabbât.

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aim was to find out who were the brave among them. Only thirteen individuals did not [cross]. They traveled by sea until they reached Gorgone, the whirlpool in the sea. They remained there patiently enduring hardships, hunger, nakedness, and many diseases. Their manliness manifested itself and they persevered in the worship of God, as all good Christians must, praying eagerly to the Holy Mother with their rosary, chanting and praising the name of the creator, avoiding swearing and grumbling. Those thirteen became the magnet for drawing pagans lost in darkness, worshippers of idols, unto the path of salvation . . . God granted them the strength to exit the gorgone . . . they then reached the land called Capullana. Pizarro learned that the ruler of that land was a lady known for her generosity and giving. He delegated Nicolas de Ribera, an elderly person known for his enlightenment and receptiveness, and two companions to call upon the lady. They went to her and asked her for help in achieving victory. She replied:“I will give you what food and drink you need, but no soldiers.” So they took provisions, got on their ship, and sailed for the previously mentioned port of Santa Elena. From there they reached the island of Puna but were afraid of harm befalling them, so they left it and disembarked on land.178 When they noticed that the natives were staring at them, more than forty thousand of them, Pizarro’s thirteen thought of trying their luck by sending to them an emissary asking them for food and drink in friendship, not antagonism. They selected one who was called Peter, originally from the Greek sect, a native of Candia. So he ventured forth in true Christian spirit wearing a helmet and carrying a dagger, a sword, and a rifle. But he chose to rely rather on the armament of spirituality with a threefoot-long cross in his hand. He was a big man who now trusted in fate and the strength of the holy cross. When the Indians beheld him, they were amazed by his shape. They looked at him and wondered if he were some divine creature. After holding council, they turned loose upon him a lion and a tiger which they were keeping there for King 178. This information derives from the “Voyage of Pizarro in 1526” and the narrator did not err. See History of Voyages, vol. 13, pp. 143 et seq.

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Huayna Capac. When Peter the Cretan saw those animals he implored heaven for help and victory from the sacred cross. The animals approached him gently, unperturbed, and with no intention to devour. They crouched at his feet and he caressed them as one would gentle sheep. He reached out and stroked their heads, placing the cross on their foreheads. His success was due to the miraculous power of the sacred cross, which safeguards its worshippers from enemies, seen and unseen. When the Indians beheld such a miracle, they were convinced that Peter the Cretan was the son of the sun, who came down from heaven. They accepted him and led him into the temple of the sun that King Huayna Capac had built next to Fort Tumbez. Because many silver experts could be found in the town, the walls of the temple were covered with sheets of silver, not to mention the treasures which the king had dedicated to that temple. There were also animals, birds, and snakes of every species cast into silver and gold, also gardens and fruits made of silver and gold. After being treated kindly by the Indians and gazing upon all such wealth, Peter returned to the ship and told his twelve companions of the great treasures he had seen and of the miracle which the cross had performed with the beasts. From that moment on, Peter took up the cross in place of the sword because it had saved him from what might have been a disaster. Pizarro agreed to have two of the companions stay behind and learn the language of the Indians, their state of affairs, and the rules of the land while he and the other ten returned to Panama to gather an army.

Appendix B Christian Relics in Central and South America This is another excerpt by Rabbât of what Rev. Elias al-Mûsili had copied from historical works on Central and South America concerning crosses, relics, customs, and unique reports of a great man who had visited them [Indians] in former times, taught them, and predicted

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what the future held for them. Rabbât claims he examined travelogues and histories, as well as the correspondences of missions, and discovered that there was much truth in such customs and habits, which lends credence to the opinion of those who assert that Christianity reached these lands and left vestiges difficult to deny, although one cannot verify either sources or dates. Nevertheless, our traveler insists, as did others before him, that Saint Thomas the Apostle did preach the holy gospels in South America and Christianized a number of its inhabitants. But times passed over what he had taught about salvation and it withered and faded away. Such a possibility need not be denied, nor should truth be excluded because of inconclusive evidences and vagueness of accounts. Indians might well have been visited in early times by a missionary or priest who could have arrived either by accident, being tossed ashore by storms, or by design. Polish experts, however, held the view, as stated in their own words, that “reports we have of old America concerning such matter is closer to fiction than to truth.” 179 In Rabbât’s words:“We publish this chapter and leave the reliability of it to its author.” 180 This chapter includes news of Saint Thomas the Apostle, Christ’s disciple, and of his own disciples who visited the West Indies. Pizarro, the conqueror and pacifier of these lands, says that when he befriended the Indian inhabitants, he was told that they heard from their forefathers about a miracle concerning two men who came to them, one with a light complexion and tall, the other dark-haired and squat of build. Their faces shined like the sun. They used to preach with staffs in their hands. They said:“Their location even until today is known to us; it is at a distance of fifteen parsangs from Lima.” When Pizarro heard this news, he took these elders with him and went to see the land. Informed Indians showed it to them, together with the rock on which the disciple stood and preached. There were prints of his two 179. “Curiosis magis quam certa proponunt,” Acta Sanctorum 4 (July 1866): 15. 180. Chapter 11 of the full work by al-Mûsili, from which the travel portion had been extracted.

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feet on that rock, and I [al-Mûsili], the humble one, saw them with my own eyes. Inscribed on the side of this rock were the following letters:—181 These letters, together with the rock, are also drawn in the book of the author and they are—.182 I copied them from Pizarro’s book, as authenticated by other historians. The Indians reportedly told him:“We do not know what has been written on this rock because we do not have an alphabet, nor do we read or write.” When Pizarro went to that mountain, he found the words of the Indians to be true. He looked at the signs traced on the rock, that is, traces of the oldest foot of the disciple and the letters, but he was unable to read them because with time they had faded; so he copied of them what was legible. Later a priest came to Quito and held a great mass one day with crown and staff, as common to priests and bishops. When the Indians saw him attired in such manner, they asked the priest whether he was truly the disciple, that is, of the Christ, because his garment resembled those “pictured in our places of worship on the rock, and the rite appears similar to that rite, and the garment looks exactly like it. He too used to hold mass—the one who was called Tomas and who, according to our ancestors, was in this country, then left afterward heading east and did not return. His vestiges, however, remained with us.” The historians Gomara and Garcilas state in their respective histories that it was indeed Saint Thomas because the Holy Spirit used to lift him and move him from one location to another, one place to another, and to wherever he wanted to go. So he traveled to East India to a town called Caramine and Malabar. In those days they used to call it “Milapor”in East India. According to Chrysostom [Saint John of Damascus], Sifronios, and Saint Gironimus: Saint Thomas the Apostle baptized three kings, and they are the very ones César Baronius mentions in his book as having been present to hear the preaching of Saint Thomas, and their being of the Chaldean rite. This is affirmed by the historian Clodianus in the book Histories of the East at the Time of King Alexander the Son of Philip the Macedonian. 181. Left blank in the original. 182. Blank again in the original.

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A report on the conversion to Christianity of a pagan king in the land of Peru in the year 1653 follows this chapter. Al-Mûsili next proceeds to discuss vestiges of old Christianity, saying: Let us return to that rock on which the disciple used to preach and the symbols etched on it: an iron key and a boat anchor. The Indians had no way of knowing what the key, anchor, and letters meant before the Spaniards entered this land and built doors with iron keys, and the Indians saw the anchors of their boats and these written letters. It is then that they understood what the symbols represented. When the disciple failed in his efforts to bring them back to the faith of Christ, he left behind the keys of Saint Peter as a sign and proof of the coming of Christians to preach to them the faith of Christ. The Indians used to worship that rock. A deputy of the bishop of Lima came and destroyed the letters inscribed on it. At the head of the rock was a cross, in those days, near the river called Galanco. The first minister 183 went there to investigate with the bishop of Lima, whose name was Tobi, together with the priest, Arnando, an instructor of divinity, and some other teachers. They were able to prove with the testimony of witnesses and a number of Indian elders and others from the whole district, that it was indeed the rock which Indians called “rock of the disciple,” as told by their ancestors and by which name it is known until today. They also told the minister that in another town called GolandaLamya, one of the appendages of Gaxa-Tambo, some nine days’ journey from Lima, there is another rock on which was printed two feet and a staff called “Fe-Cola” [?], whose owner had inherited from his ancestors. The Indians claimed that their forefathers used to call it the “rock of the disciple,” and still refer to it by the same name today. Those who stood on it were two. When the bishop of Lima died, he was followed by another called Turibo Magro [?], who was beatified by the Church. He used to visit the churches of his bishopric and diocese, as was the custom among 183. He uses the Turkish birinci iskilac, an old sadrazam (equivalent of prime minister).

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bishops and priests. They informed him about another rock in the land of Chuquis, in a village called Kolinab [?], which the Indians highly revered. He asked them about it, and they told him that they learned from their ancestors that on this ancient rock one of two men, the bearded blond, used to stand and preach. When he prayed he would fall down on his knees and stretch out his arms heavenward and fasten his eyes on the sky. In our great temple there are portraits of our ancestors in stone in which they are seen testifying to that. When the bishop heard these words, he fell upon his knees and began to slide forward to the spot where the feet of the disciple were printed, and kissed them, wiping his face upon them, after which the clergy and the rest of the folk followed suit out of great reverence. The bishop then ordered the construction of a church upon that rock which he blessed and named formally the “Church of the Disciple,” as it is still known until today. Again in the days of Francisco Pizarro, conqueror of this land, that is, the fourth clime or Peru, in the year 1537, the king sent a teacher, his own scribe by the name of Augustin de Zarate, to record and verify the income of the kingdom in the whole land of Peru. He states in his recordings that when he was in the district of Quito, he entered one day the house of idols and found in it a depiction in stone of the crown of a bishop, a staff, and a vestment of the mass. He asked the Indians what these insignia meant and was told that in the days of their ancestors there came a white-haired person called “disciple,” who was a wise man. On this mountain can be found the print of his feet and staff and writings which we can not decipher. Augustin de Zarate says in his history that he witnessed this with his own eyes in the temple of idols in the district of Quito. The author [al-Mûsili] follows up these reports from the Kingdom of Peru before the coming of the Spaniards with a description of their worldly and religious customs, saying: “In the Island of Cumata near the land of Peru the historian Gomara says that in the house of their gods they used to worship a cross [found] among the idols and say:‘This cross is sacred to us; with it we ward off enemies, seen and unseen, when they appear to us at night; if any child is exposed to an ailment,

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we place upon it the cross and it is cured.’ Those Indians knew nothing of the curing qualities of the cross because they had forgotten the teaching of the apostles and the devil had preoccupied them with the pleasures of the world and delights of the flesh.” Also on the island of Cozumel near the New World, the great teacher Gomara and the blessed monk of Saint Augustin assert that when the Marquis Gurinin [?], the conqueror of that land, first entered the island, he saw a large basin surrounded with lime; in the middle of it was erected a cross, some three yards high. They used to worship it, saying:“This is the symbol of the god of floods”; when the water was trapped, they would gather around it and hold a religious procession for it and invoke rain, and immediately rain would come down upon them. This island was sacred to the Indians. They have preserved the memories of the disciple who used to preach to them. They honored the crosses which dispensed miracles and benefits, and because the disciple used to teach with inspiration from the Holy Spirit, saying that some day Christians will come to these lands. It is for such reason that these symbols were placed as a sign [of this coming]. Al-Mûsili also relates that there was on that island an Indian by the name Chilion-Combal who claimed prophecy.184 He had foretold that “soon will come to you bearded folk, white men; receive them with forbearance and peace, for they are the people of this cross which the disciple, Thomas, left for you.” His name is also inscribed on a rock in the town called Chontalis [?]. This cross was taken one day by the infidels and tossed into the fire, coated with tar and drippings in order to burn it. It remained there for three days but would not burn. When they witnessed such a miracle, they believed in it and preserved it in their possession until the Spaniards entered their land. When the bishop of Oaxaca heard of that miracle, he sent priests to bring it to the church, but the Indians found it difficult to part with it; they hesitated, saying:“It is a treasure of our ancestors; how can you take it from us?” The bishop then made them a cross to substitute for it and placed the 184. Corrected by Rabbât from al-Mûsili’s version: Chilon-Cacas.

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cross of the miracle in the church of the town of Oaxaca.185 I [alMûsili], the humble one, saw it with my own eyes. According to the work on history by teaching monk Gregorios Garcia, when this land was conquered, its Indians told him about this cross on the authority of what they had heard from their ancestors, that it was carried by Thomas the Apostle, who walked on the sea with his two legs as we would on land. In the town of Chiapa they found in the possession of an Indian notable a book that he had inherited from his forefathers. In it there was a picture of creation, the Holy Trinity, and the Virgin dressed like an Indian maiden. The bishop of this town, Bartolomea de Las Casas, called a gathering of its Indians to verify what had been said of Saint Thomas. They told him that a tall man with a beard came to them wearing a tunic, I mean a long shirt to the feet, and heavy leather soles on his feet,186 and a wrap around the waist. He had long hair. That is what our forefathers recounted for us. In the year 1553 the master monk Pedro Andreas de Lara, head of the Brothers of Mercy, that is, Saint Mary the Giver, mentions that he was in the land of Chile. He entered an Indian village called today Santiago de Chile where an Indian elder told him that a long time ago a tall light-complexioned man with a beard and long hair called upon their forefathers. His name was Thomas. Today we have an elder who is also called Thomas. His whole family has gone by this name from the time of Saint Thomas. In those days they called him “Barron Thomas.” They showed him the rock upon which he stood to preach and upon which traces of his footsteps are printed. The historian Sarosanoa [?] says that when the Spaniards acquired this land, they cast lots to determine how to divide it up. A captain by the name of Juan de Borsel Barilla gained a steep mountainous track which belonged to a rebellious Indian. He had built there a tower and 185. Taken from “The Voyage of Grijalva in the year 1517,” Book of Travels, vol. 12, pp. 1245 et seq. 186. Term used is the Persian Charûkh.

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ordered that all trees and forests be cut down in that area. They discovered a cave and entered it. There they found a cross six yards high, of rough finish, supported by three small rocks. In it were three wooden pegs of fine finish. They say that this cross was handmade by Saint Thomas himself. When the men beheld it, they fainted suddenly and reported that it had come down from heaven. Indians gathered, carried the cross on their shoulders, then planted it in a high place, decorating it with flowers and palm leaves. When the captain heard of this, he informed the governor of the region, who quickly came with a large crowd to the spot to verify what was related by careful inquiry from the Indians and the books of their kings. They informed him of all that their forefathers had passed on to them, whereupon the crowd ascended the mountain seeking the cave, weeping and wailing along the way. They found in the cave a long rock stretched on the ground, some three yards, upon which was printed half the body of the disciple, that is, of one side because it served as his bed. They rejoiced greatly, thanking the Lord Jesus for revealing to them the treasure of his disciple and apostle, Thomas. They carried the cross to town and placed it upon a woman who was on the verge of giving up the soul, and she was immediately cured of her disease. Next day there was a dispute between two soldiers. One dealt his companion three mortal dagger strikes and laid him dead. People scurried quickly to the cross, shaved a little from it, and gave it to the dead to drink. He rose immediately, opened his eyes, and spoke. Next day he departed, sound of body, but with the traces of the dagger still in it. Also in those days it rained heavily for three days and nights. The flood was so great that rivers overflowed, valleys were filled, and pine trees came tumbling down from mountainsides right to the fortified walls of the town. When the inhabitants witnessed this, they were terrified. They trembled, fearing that this was the second flood [after Noah’s]. They assembled and carried the cross in great procession, in complete security. Immediately the waters receded and vanished. Trees and wood remained in place. They took them and built with them a church in the name of the cross of the blessed Saint Thomas the Apostle.

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In a town near the city of Cuzco, which was the capital of the Indian king, they found in the book depository of the monarch a record of events,187 confirmed by the writings of the ancient Indian kings who used to record such events in symbols and pictographs because they had no alphabet. Master Acosta states in his writings about the Indies that Saint Thomas and Padre Gregorio Garcia mention the New World and confirm the journey of the apostle Thomas. So does Master César Baronius in his first book, chapter 20, who investigated and confirmed the preaching of this apostle in that land. Don Estefan de Lazar mentions the miracles performed by that disciple in the land of Peru in his own writings. The historian Garcilasso [?] mentions the same in his first book, chapter 18; as does Padre Rodrigo Lusa, who spent many years in the Indies and writes about it. So does Don Diego Albers [?] and Master Antonio de Edebra [?]. All those experts mention in their histories the work of Saint Thomas the Apostle. Master Gomar states that Saint Thomas the Apostle visited Indians of the village of Buna [?] and preached to them the faith of Christ, planting in their hearts spiritual words for the salvation of their souls. But the cursed devil would harden their hearts and plant obstacles in the field of Christ. He beckoned them to burn the saint alive. A crowd of Indians gathered and conspired to burn him. When they went to his dwelling they found him sitting calmly. They gathered dry firewood and straw, and spread it around him, then lit the fire, which quickly spread and burnt fiercely. When the Indians saw the fire burning so strongly they could not suffer coming closer on account of the great heat generated by it. So they retreated and watched from a distance while the saint remained calmly and peacefully seated witnessing the devil burn before him in that fire. The fire burnt out and ashes remained behind but not a string [sic] of the apostle was burnt; nor was there even a trace of smoke upon him, nor one hair of his body [burnt]. He went out to them [the Indians] cheerfully, calmly, showing no trace 187. He uses for “book depository” the Arabo-Persian composite maktabhane (house of writing).

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of pain or anxiety, and began to preach to them. The Indians were incredulous and their minds in total bewilderment on account of that “great secret.” 188 He left the town and entered another called Chucuito, located on the shore of a lake eighty parsangs long,189 which I, the unworthy one, passed by. When the Indians witnessed this miracle, they went out with him to bid him farewell. As they were accompanying him in the countryside, suddenly thunder, lightening, and a great storm accompanied by dark clouds engulfed them; rough stones came pouring down from heaven followed by screeching sounds and torrents of rain.190 The Indians were trembling with fear and the devil deluded them, saying that this was his vengeance for their having accompanied this disciple. He rose and made the sign of the cross, raising his hand, blessing them in the name of his master, Jesus Christ, the savior of the world and dispeller of those dark clouds, of the stormy tempest and frightening thunder, and immediately a calm came over the world, and it was transformed into a bright, cheerful day. That cursed devil, enemy of good and virtue, retreated in defeat and inspired the inhabitants of Chucuito not to receive him. It was where he was heading to preach. Those folk did not wish to kill him [outright]; rather, they tied his hands and feet and placed him on a small kelek made of wood and eased it into the lake, saying, “We leave him to die in this lake, which is better than killing him.” While they were gathered on the shore of the lake waiting to see what was to become of this saint, they suddenly saw a lady descending from the sky, shining as a star, and of great stature and beauty. She went down to the saint, loosened the ties of his hands and feet, and led him to the other side of the lake. The author says that the merciful Virgin Mary came down from heaven and saved Saint Thomas.191 188. Miracle? 189. Presumably Lago Titicaca. 190. The rough stones are most likely good-sized hail. 191. No mention of who is intended by “the author.”

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an arab’s journey to colonial spanish ame rica

We were not able to record in our abridged book all that was stated by the aforementioned authors. We were content to choose and select from the histories of Spanish experts what has been verified by the Council of Judges of the Catholic Church, which is called in the Spanish language the Inquisition. End of the Book of Travels.

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GLOSSARY INDEX

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Glossary Agha: title of an official, Sir ‘Araq: clear alcoholic beverage Armagan: present, gift Ba: with Bakhshîsh: same as Bashkash Bashkash: gratuity Bazahr: antidote Biguniya: a plant Canoa: canoe; see sunbûk Çektir: rowboat with sails Charûkh: thick-soled sandals Chatas: small rowboat Dînâr: Grk. dinarion, a monetary unit of Iraq and Jordan today Dirham: unit of currency or weight Eskilac: first minister [archaic] Farsakh: league Gardien: caretaker, guardian Hazahr: see Bazahr Ibal: camel Ilçi: envoy Jalâlîya: bandits, guerillas Karat: unit of measure or weight Karras: a device that measures by scoop or volume Kelek: inflated sheepskin Kermes: Coccus Khandicary: imperial unit of measure 

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Glossary

Konak: Halting-place, stage Kurûs¸: piaster Lac: large denomination of Indian rupees Lazaret: Nazareth = Quarantine Londra: woolen cloth Maktabhane: secretariat; house of writing Mann: 5+ kilograms in Aleppo Mithqâl: unit of weight or measure Nakthawa: Indian for tiny insect Nuahazé: sing. Nahazé: proprietor or ship captain Ouzo: see ‘araq Pak: pure Para: money unit Parsang: see Farsakh Qansara: corruption of French ancrer: to anchor Qintâr: Kantar = 254.6 kilograms Raki: see ‘araq Sadrazam: Ottoman designation for prime minister Sunbûk: barge, skiff Tahtiravan: litter, palanguin Tiftik: mohair Topci Bashi: chief of artillery Tüfek: musket Ulak: courier Uqnûm: divine person within the Trinity Yasak: forbidden Yeni Dünya: Central America Zahr: poison

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Index Abancay plantation, 49–50 ‘Abbâs (shah of Persia), 86n. 167 ‘Abdallah, ‘Ubaydallah Yûsuf (Maronite from Jerusalem), xii, xx Acanitepec, 78 Acosta, Jose de, xix, 102 addenda, xix-xx Agha, Mikhâ’îl, 5–6 Agha, Suleiman, 10n. 23–24 Aguamanga, 46–47 Agurto, Juan Miguel de, 76 Aix-en-Provence, 7n. 11 Albers, Diego, 102 Alcapulco, 86n. 165 Aleppo, xi, xv, xvii, xxi, 6 Alexandretta, xv, 6 Alfonso VI (king of Portugal), 13 alligator hunting, 27–28 Alvera, Diego de (writer), xix Amapala, 74 America: account of trip to, xx; discovery of, 92–94; journey to, xv-xvi, xxv, 16–17; name of, 3–4n. 6; preparation for trip to, 14–16. See also specific city or country Amieu, John, 6n. 9 Amortajada, 70 Amotapé, 35, 70

‘Amuda family, ix, x Amushayu, 74 Anbat (Ambato), 29 Antilles, 16n. 43, 17n. 49 Apurimac River, 47 Aragon, 12 ‘araq, 51n. 118 Argentina, xvi, 64 d‘Arvieux (companion to Agha), 10n. 23 assassination attempts, 35–36 Atahualpa Inca, 49 Audiencia, 75–76 Augustine, Saint, 3 Austria, 12 Avignon, 8

Baba, 28 Babylon, 8n. 17, 9 Baghdad, xv, xxi, xxiii, 5, 86n. 168 Bahamas, 91 Balafocas, Johannes, 88–89n. 171 bamboo-like plant, 23 Banos Calientes, Los, 61 Barancilavacan, 56 Barcelona, 12, 13 Baronius, César, 96, 102

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 bashkash, 45n. 104 Basilica, 35–36 Basima Tuluz, 76 Basun, 76 Bavida, Bartolomé de, 62 bazahr (hazahr) stone, 48 Bella Cana, 77 Bernajia, Andreas de, 55 Besson, Joseph, 6–7n. 11 Bianatic, 78 Bianto, 77 birds, 29 bishop of Lima, 66–68 bishop of Philippines, 88–89 Blue Sea. See Pacific Ocean Bolivia, xvi, 58–59 Bonada Bariacaca, 43 Boni River, 43 Bono silver mine, 52 Bonras, 11 book of the kings, 100, 101 Bordeaux, 11 Borsel Barilla, Juan de, 100–101 Botigas de San Antonio, 29 Bravo, Alonso, 77 Brazil, 17 Buenos Aires, 64n. 131 bullfight, 34 Buna, 102 Burgos, 11 burial rites, 41, 50 Burkarfon, 24

cacao, 22, 28–29, 76 cactus, 46 Cadaquès, Port of, 12 Cádiz, xv, 15–16, 91–92 Cailloma silver mine, 52 Caïman (alligator), 27–28 Cajamarca, 39

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Index Caldera, La, 72–73 Callao, 20, 39–43, 50, 66–70. See Lima Canary Islands, xvi, 16 cane, gift of, 24–25, 66 Cantera, Juan Batista de la, 42 Capac, Huayna, 93–94 Capullana, 93 Caracas, 17 Caramine, 96 Cargairaso Mountains, 29n. 84 Carlos II (king of Spain), xv, 12, 14, 54 Carlos V (king of Spain and Hungary), 16 Cartagena, xvi, 19–20, 21, 22 Casas, Bartolomea de Las, 100 Castello, Christofolo de, 46 Castillar, Balthasar Villagucunda de, Marquis de Maragun, 40 Castro, Francisco de, 79 Catalonia, 12 Chagres River, 24, 69 Chaldeans, x, xxiv-xxv, 9n. 19 Charles I (king of Spain), 16n. 43 Chatamalina Bejacu (Chimaltenango), 76 Cheikho, Louis, xii Chevela (Chile), 64 Chiapa, 77, 100 Chiapa El Spanol, 77–78 Chile, xvi, 64, 100 Chilion-Combal (Chilon-Cacas), 99 Chimborazo Mountains, 29n. 84 China, 85, 87–88 Chontalis, 99 Christ, Jesus (picture), 65 Christianity, 1–2, 94–104 Christian relics in South America, 94–104 Chrysostom, St. John, 89, 96 Chucuito, 55–56, 103 Chuquis, 61–65, 98

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Index Church of the Disciple, 98 Church of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe (Mexico City), 81–83 Church of the Virgin Mary of Jacicua, 31–32 cinnamon trees, 32 Ciudad Real, 77 Clavier, Peter, 19n. 55 Clement VI (pope), 8, 88 Clement IX (pope), xxi-xxii, xxiii, 12 Clodianus, 96 coca grass, 51 coccus, 79, 84 Cocomadanes, 77 Colan, 36 Colombia, xvi, 19–21, 64n. 133 commercial communications, 85–86n. 165, 86n. 168 Condoleo, Michael, 6n. 9 Condoruma silver mine, 52 Copacabana (icon), 56 Coral, Alonso del, 58 Cordoba, Nicolao de, 15 Corfu, 7 Coriente, 70 Coronado, Francis Vásquez de, 45n. 103 Cos, 79 Cotopaxi Mountains, 29n. 84 Cozumel, 99 Crete, 7 Cristo de Burgos, 11 crosses, 11, 98–100, 101 Cuba, 23, 90 Cuenca, 33–34 Cumana, 18 Cumata, 56–57, 98–99 Cuquinbit, 74 Curacao (island), 18 Curiel (historian), 26–27n. 81 Cuzco, 47–49, 51, 53, 102

Cyphalonia, 7 Cyprus, 6

Damascus, 6 deposed viceroy, xxvi, 50, 62, 65–71 devil, 2–3, 102–3 Diego, Juan, 81–83 Dionisio (guardian at Oaxaca), 79 Diyâb al-Mârûni, Hanna b. (Maronite of Aleppo), xx Documents inédits (Rabbât), 9n. 19 Dordogne River, 11n. 28

earthquakes, 41, 50 Eastern rite churches, 14n. 38, 15n. 41, 38n. 97 Ecoscaona, 78 Ecuador, xvi, 26–36 Edebra, Antonio de, xix, 102 Elia (ruler of Cumata country), 56 emerald mines, 21, 64 Entre-duex mers, 11n. 28 Equator, 32–33 Escalaos, 75 Euatina Enco, 77 Europe, xv, xx-xxi, 1–16 evangelism, xvii-xviii, xix-xx, 2, 19n. 55, 41, 63n. 131, 95–104

fall of man, 1 farsakhs, 16n. 42 Fattâl, Joseph, 13 Fe-Cola, 97 Ferdinand II (duke of Tuscany), 7–8n. 15 Feuillée (nuncio to Peru), 44–45n. 103, 45n. 106 floods, 101

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 Florence, 7 flower of the Holy Spirit, 24 Fort Tumbez, 94 France, xv, 7–12 Francisco (captain from Trujillo), 25 French war ship, 18–19, 20 Fuenterabia castle, 11

Galanco, 97 Garcia, Gregorio, xix, 100, 102 Garcilas. See Garcilaso Garcilaso (historian), xix, 96, 102 Genoa, 8 Gerero, Arnan, 88–89n. 171 giants’ bones/teeth, 26, 31 Gironde River, 11n. 28 Gironimus, Saint, 96 Golanda-Lamya, 97 gold: in cave in Piura, 36–37; mining of in Zaruma, 34; from river near Quito, 32; of Solomon’s Island, 71–72; Spanish routes of, 16, 85–86n. 165 golden chain of Inca king, 55 Golfo de Isla Santa Clara, 25 Golfo Dulce, 72 Gomara (historian), 96, 98–99, 102 Gonzales, Juan, 62, 65, 67 Gorgone, 25, 93 Guadalupe, 81–83 Guatemala, xvi, 75–78 Guatemala City, 75–76 Guayaquil, 25–28, 70 Gurinin, Marquis, 99

Hamadan, 8n. 17, 9 Havana, 23, 90 highwaymen, 6, 18n. 51, 56, 78 Holy Spirit, 2

Index hot springs, 58–59, 61 Huancavelica, 43

Ibn Battuta, xxiv, 85n. 166, 86nn. 167–68 icon of Virgin Mary, 31–32, 56 illnesses: bleeding, 31; in Cuenca, 33; cured by crosses, 101; from insect in Portobelo, 20; of Jesuit’s sister, 62–63; in Lima, 40–41; lumps under throats, 30–31; in Mexico City, 80; in Panama, 22; plague, 29, 32 Inaxotepec, 80 Incarasuf (king of Indians), 39 Indians: alligator hunting methods, 27–28; of Chile, 64–65; freed prisoners, 56–57; Incas, 41, 49; mine owner, 66; near Red Mountain, 55–56; 150-year-old man, 26; of Otavalo, 32; of Paramo mountains, 33, 35–36; of Paucartambo, 51; of Payta, 37; religious training of, 63n. 131; of San Antonio de Suchitepec, 76; spiritual life before Spaniards, 40–41 indigo plant, 75 Inez (sister of corrupt priest), 57–58 Infante, Nicolao, 16 Innocent XI (pope), xvi, xxi, 92 insect in Portobelo, 20 Inxapa, 78 Ipita, 79 Irun, 11 Isfahan, Persia, 86n. 167 Iskenderun, xv, 6 Isquintenango, 77 Istepeque, 74 Istinipec, 78

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Index Italy, 12–13 Ixtapa, 77

jalâlîyah, 18n. 51, 84n. 161 Jalaya, 75 Japan, 88n. 170 Jerusalem, xv, 5–6 Jesus Christ, 1–3, 103 Jewish Christians, 13–14 John (Cauchin monk in Aleppo), 9 Josef (brother of corrupt priest), 57–58 “Journey of Sa‘îd Pasha, ambassador to France in 1132/1719–20,” 10n. 24 Juan of Austria, 12n. 32, 14–15, 65 judges of Philippines, 88–89 Julanils, 76 Julfa, 86 Junjunama, 35

karats, 16n. 44 Karon, Hugo, xix karras, 10n. 22 Kasiki (Indian of Payta), 37 kelek (inflated sheepskin), 39, 63 kermes (coccus), 79, 84 Kiliyataco, 75 Kolinab, 98 konak, 30n. 86

Lacs, 20n. 58 Ladrones, Isla de los, 71 Lampa, 52 Languedoc factories, 31n. 88 La Plata, xvi Lara, Pedro Andreas de, xix, 100 Latacunga, 29, 33 Lazar, Estefan de, 102 Lazaret, 7n. 14

 Leon, 73 Leon, Antonio de, 24–25, 66–67 Lilmoa, 37 Lima, xv, xvi, 20, 39–43, 50, 66–70, 85–86n. 165 Lisbon, 13–14 Livorno, 8, 13 llamas, 41 Loja, 34 Lombayeque, 37–38 Londra cloth, 31n. 88 Lopez, Ruis Lopez de Villa, 85n. 164 Losobles, Marquesa de, 14 Louis XIV (king of France), xxiin. 14, 8n. 17, 9–11 Luca, Roderico, xix Lucaya (Bahamas), 91 Lusa, Rodrigo, 102 Lyon, 8–9, 12

Madalena, 69 Madrid, 11–12, 13, 14 Magro, Turibo, 97–98 Malabar, 96 Malak, Joseph, 9n. 19 Malak, Peter, 9n. 19 Manilla, 85–86n. 165 manuscript, xi-xiii, xviii-xx marble quarry, 57 Mar del Sur, 22 Marguerita Island, 17 Mariannes Islands, 88–89 Mariscoti, Cardinal, 14 Marseille, 6n. 11, 8 Mary-Anne (queen regent of Spain), xxii, xxiii, 11–12, 14–15, 88 Medina, Antonio de, 72n. 145 Mendoça, Antonio de, 45n. 103 Mendoza, Alvaro de, 72n. 145 mercury mines, 44–45

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 mestizo muleteer, 35–36 Mexico, xvi, 16n. 43, 78–83, 88–89n. 171 Mexico City, 79, 80–83 minting coins, 51n. 118, 59, 61 Misque, 64 missionaries to South America. See evangelism Modyford, Sir Thomas, 83n. 159 Montuosa island, 71 Morgan, Sir Henry, 24n. 74, 83n. 159 Muhammad Khan, 10 al-Mûsili, Elias: approach of, 5; background of, ix, xvi-xvii; character of, xxvi; contacts of, xxivxxv, 14–15; ease of travel, xxi-xxvii; funds collected, xxvi-xxvii; liturgy used by, x; motivation for journey, xx, xxii, xxiv-xxv

nakthawa, 20 Naples, xxii, 12, 13 Nashbat, 29 Nazaret, 7 Nesilio (pirate), 84 New Granada, xvi, 19–21 New Panama, 24, 34 New World, xvi, 71–92 Nicaragua, 73–74 Nicomedius, Saint, 11n. 30 Nostra Señora del Viejo, 73–74 Nuns of Charity, 9–10 nutmeg, 33

Oaxaca, 78, 99–100 Obro, Duke de, 14 Ohanasi Taka, 11 150-year-old Indian, 26

Index Order of Mary the Gift Giver, 65 Orinoco River, 17 Orléans, 11 Orléans, Duke of, 9 Ortega, Juan de, 75–76 Oruro, 58 Otavalo, 32 Owanetepec, 79

Pacific Ocean, 22, 25–26, 27 Palermo, 12–13 Panama, xvi, 20–23, 70–71 Panama City, 22–24 Papagayo Mountain, 73 Paraguay, 63n. 131 Paramo Mountains, 33–36 Paris, 9 Paucartambo, 51 Payta, 67 Paytapa, 75 Payta (Paute), 36–37 pearls, 17–18, 73 Pecetan, 77 Pedro (prince of Portugal), 13 Pedro di Candia (Crete), xix, 93–94 Peñya Monte Negro, Alonso de la (bishop of Quito), 29–31, 30n. 85 Perlas, Las, 17–18 Persia, 8n. 17, 9 Peru: conquest of, 98; discovery of, xix-xx, 92–94; evangelism of, 97; insects in, 20; ships sailing to, 16; Spanish treasury dispersal in, 22; travels through, 36–58, 66–69; travel to, xvi, 23–26 Peter, Saint (apostle), 2 Peter the Cretan, xix, 93–94 petrified water, 45 Philip I (of Castile), 16n. 43

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Index Philip II (king of Spain), 85n. 164 Philip IV (king of Spain), 11, 85 Philippines, 85, 87–88 piasters, 12n. 33 Pichincha, Mount, 31n. 89 Picquet, François, 8–9 Picuna (Vicuna), 48 pirates, 83–85 Piura, 36 Pizarro, Francisco, xix, xix-xx, 92–94, 95–96, 98 plant of the Nile, 75 play about Mâr Rîsha, 47 Poirresson, Nicola, 9n. 19 Poitiers, 11 Poopó, Lago, 61 pope, x, xvi, xxi, xxiii, 89. See also Clement VI (pope); Innocent XI (pope) Porto Belo (Portobelo), 20–24, 69 Portugal, xv, 13–14 Potosi, 58–59, 65 Puebla de Los Angeles, 80, 84 Puna Island, 93

Qirmiz, Jibrâ’’îl ibn Yûsuf, xx Quanalpo (Guamote), 29 quarantine, 7 Queyrot, Heronimus, 6n. 9 Quito, 29–32, 33, 96, 98

Rabbât, Antûn: background of, ix-x; investigation of manuscript, xviiixix; notations of, xvii-xviii; publication of travelogue, xi, xv; works of, 9n. 19 Realejo, 71, 73 redemption, 1–2

Reitmeyer, Else, xii Ribera, Nicolas de, 93 Riobamba, 33 Rio Colan, 36 rock in Sarosanoa cave, 101 rocks of the disciple, 95–98, 100 Roman Catholic Church, xvii-xviii, xxiv-xxv, 2–3. See also pope Rome, xvi, xxi, 7, 12, 13, 91 Rumi, 15n. 41

Sagna (Zana), 38 Sainte-Beaume Hill, 6n. 11 Salazar (writer), xix Salcedo, Gaspar de, 54 Salcedo, Jose, 52–55 Salvajo, 73 San Anton, 79 San Antonio de Suchitepec, 76 San Antonio Peresquin, 77 Sanatitipec, 78 San Cristobal (Verapaz), 76 San Filippe de Portobelo, 20n. 57, 21–24 San Francisco el Alto, 76 San Juan della Costa, 78 San Lucas, 78 San Martin, 74, 77 San Miguel, 74, 78 San Ramon, 76–77 San Salvador, 75 San Sebastian, 11, 80 Santa Ana, 75 Santa Cruz, Emanuel de, 80 Santa Elena (Helena), 26, 31, 70, 93 Santa Fe, 64 Santa Fé de Bogotá, 21 Santa Maria de Belen (Palin), 76

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 Santa River, 39 Santiago, 75 Santiago de Chile, 100 Sarosanoa (historian), 100 Schnurrer, D. Christianus Fridericus de, xii sea battle, 91 seasonal market, 69–70 Seville, 91 Shediac, Abelardo, xii Sicasica, 57–58 Sicily, xv, xxii, 12 Sifronios, 96 silver mines, 44, 52–55, 58, 59–61, 66 Sis (king of Armenia), 11 slave trade, 17, 19n. 55 Solomon’s Island, 71–72 Spain, xv, xvi, xxi, 11–12, 13, 14, 91 Spanish Inquisition, 14, 54, 104 St. Aignan, Jean-Baptiste de, 9n. 19 St. Aignan, Sylvestre de, 9n. 19 St. John de Luz castle, 11 St. Mark’s Cathedral, 7 St. Peter’s Cathedral, 7 sugarcane, 29, 31, 49–51 sunbûk, 74n. 149 Surat, 86

Taboga, 25, 71 tahtiravan (litter), 36, 38 Tapu, 76 Tarapaya hot springs, 58–59 Tatao, 79 Tekesa, 75 Teopisca, 77 Teowacan (Tehuacan), 80 Tepeaca, 80 Terceira, Island of, 13 Texia, 78

Index Thomas, Saint (apostle), xix-xx, 95–97, 99–104 Titicaca Lake, 55n. 120, 57n. 122, 103n. 189 Tobi (bishop of Lima), 97 tocal trees (tunal), 46 tomb of Mary/Martha/Eliazar, 6–7n. 11 tortoise hunting, 18–19 Tortuga Island, 18 Tosta (Tuxtla), 78 Toulon, 12 trade routes, 85–86n. 165 treasury of Spain, 21, 22, 69–70 Trujillo, 38–39 Tucuman, 63

Ulloa, Dom d‘, 20n. 61, 29n. 83 Uquipa (Iquique), 65–66

Vacanama, 35 Vadavalia (Wasar Inca), 41, 49 vampire, 21 Venezuela, 17–19 Venice, xv, 7 Vera Cruz, 83–85, 89–90 Vesitmenam, 77 Vespucci, Amerigo, 3–4n. 6 Vetia, Juan, 78 Virgin of the Old, 73–74 volcanoes, 29, 31

Wasar Inca, 41, 49 Wazulpa Anica (Atahualpa Inca), 41, 49 West Indies, 12, 14–18. See also America; specific city or country white cotton trees, 38 wildlife, 27–28, 29, 48

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Index Xilapa, 78

Yeni Dünya, 5n. 7, 71–92 Yerba de Pales, 64 Yunân (nephew of al-Mûsili), x-xi, 12–13, 15

Zana, 38 Zantiya (island), 7 Zaragossa, 12, 13 Zarate, Augustin de, 98 Zaruma, 34–35 Zuruaquin, 74

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Other titles in Middle East Literature in Translation The Author and His Doubles: Essays on Classical Arab Culture Abdelfattah Kilito; Michael Cooperson, trans. The Committee Sun‘allah Ibrahim; Mary St. Germain and Charlene Constable, trans. A Cup of Sin: Selected Poems Simin Behbahani; Farzaneh Milani and Kaveh Safa, trans. Fatma:A Novel of Arabia Raja Alem; Tom McDonough, trans. Fugitive Light:A Novel Mohamed Berrada; Issa J. Boullata, trans. In Search of Walid Masoud:A Novel Jabra Ibrahim Jabra; Roger Allen and Adnan Haydar, trans. Three Tales of Love and Death Out el Kouloub; Nayra Atiya, trans. Women Without Men:A Novella Shahrnush Parsipur; Kamran Talattof and Jocelyn Sharlet, trans. Yas¸ar Kemal on His Life and Art Eugene Lyons Hébert and Barry Tharaud, trans. Zanouba:A Novel Out el Kouloub; Nayra Atiya, trans.