CAESAR FREDERICK ad. 



1563-81. 



tinuall smoake, this pitch is throwen with such force. This hole 



that being hot it falleth like as it were sprinckled over "'^hereout 



all the plaine, in such abundance that the plaine is 1^-J^J^-^ ^^^l^l 

 alwayes full of pitch : the Mores and the Arabians of true, and the 



that place say, that that hole is the mouth of hell : and -^cater \5 



in trueth, it is a thing very notable to be marked : and P}^^^ runneth 



by this pitch the whole people have great benefit to pitch ^^.//jf^^lf'^^ 



their barks, which barks they call Daneck and Saffin. the pitch 



When the river of Tygris is well replenished with resteth, ^" the 



water, you may passe from Babylon to Basora in eight '--(■'ater runneth 



or nine dayes, and sometimes more and sometimes lesse : ^^^"^f ^ '^^^^ 



we were halfe so much more which is 14 or 15 daies, and it maketh 



because the waters were low: they may saile day & all the river to 



night, and there are some places in this way where you ^^ ^^ [^ "^^^'^ 



pay so many medins on a baile : if the waters be lowe, ^^^'^'^^^^J^^J^ 



it is 18 dayes journey. ^pitcTlnd 



-r, brimstone. 



Basora. 



BAsora is a city of the Arabians, which of olde time 

 was governed by those Arabians called Zizarii, but Ziz^rii, an 

 now it is governed by the great Turke where he keepeth ^'^^^^'^^ P^^^- 

 an army to his great charges. 



The Arabians called Zizarii have the possession of 

 a great countrey, and cannot be overcome of the Turke, 

 because that the sea hath divided their countrey into 

 an Hand by channels with the ebbing and flowing of 

 the sea, and for that cause the Turke cannot bring an 

 army against them, neither by sea nor by land, and 

 another reason is, the inhabitants of that Hand are very 

 strong and warlike men. A dayes journey before you 

 come to Basora, you shall have a little castle or fort, 

 which is set on that point of the land where the rivers 

 of Euphrates and Tygris meet together, and the castle At the castle 

 is called Corna : at this point, the two rivers make a ?/ Coma the 

 monstrous great river, that runneth into the sea, which ^J^^ ^~ . 

 is called the gulfe of Persia, which is towards the South : j^^gyis do 

 Basora is distant from the sea flfteene miles, and it is meet. 

 a city of great trade of spices and drugges which come 



371 



