Plmies Natural! HiftonVi 



A love and favdiitj and applying it Telfe to pleafe the neighbour inhabitants.Fuil againft his willjas 

 it were, he palfeth to the lake of Sodome, ArphaltiteSj that ill-favoured and curfedlake.-andiii 

 thcendfalleth intoit^andisfwallowedupof it, where amongft thofe peftilent and deadly wa- 

 tersj he loofeth his owne that are fo good and wholfome. And therefore to keepe himfclfe out of 

 it as long as heepoffibly could, upon the firft opportunitic of any valleys j heemaketh a lake^ 

 which many call Genefaia, which is I Smiles long, and fixe broad* The fame lake is environed 

 with divers faire and bcautifull townes, to wit, on theEaft fidejwithlulias and Hippo: on the 

 South, with Tarichea, of whichnamc, thelakeby fome is called Tarichiam and onthe Weftj 

 with Tiberias^ an healthfull place for the baines there of hqtc waters* 



ASphaltitcsjor the lake of Sodome^brcedeth and bringeth forth nothingbbt Bitumehjand 

 thereupon it tooke the name. No living bodie of any crcatpte doth it receive into it : bulls 

 and camels fwim and flote aloft upon it. And hereupon arileth that opinion which goeth 

 ofitjThat nothing there willgoedowneandfinketothebotome.This lakein length exceedeth 

 loo miles, 25 miles over it is at the broadeft place, and fixe at thenarrowcllOntheEaftjthe A- 

 rabian Nomadcs confront it j and on the Soutlj fide^Maehxius regardeth it: in timepaft^ihe fe- 

 cond fortrcffe of ludaja^and principall next to lerufalem.On the fame coaftjthere is a fountaine 

 C oi bote waters, holfome and medicinable, named Callirhoe, and good againft many difeafes. 

 The very name thatit carrieth, importeth no kfte praife and Gommendationi 



Chap. xvii. 

 }^fk people Ejfem 



A Long the Weft coafi , inhabits fhe Eflenl. Anation this is, living alone and folitatiej and . 

 of all others throughout theworlcl rnoft admirable and wonderfull. Women they fee 

 none s carnall luft they know not : they handle no money 2 they lead their life by them- 

 fclves, and keepe companiconely with Date trees. Yet neverthelelTe^ the countrey is evermore 

 D well peopled, for that daily numbers of ftraungers refort thither in great fi equencie from other 

 parts :and namely, fuch as be wearie of this milerable life, are by the furging waves of frowning 

 fortune driven hither,to fort with them in their manner of living.Thus for many thoufand yeers 

 [a thing incredible,and yet moft trueja people hath continued without any fupply of new breed 

 and generation. So mightily encrcafe they evermore, by the weariforne eftate and repentance of 

 other men* Beneath them, flood fometimeEngadda, for fertilitie of foile and plentie of Date- 

 tree groves, accounted the next citieinall ludaeajtolerufalem . Now, they fayj itfervethfor a 

 place onely to interre their dead. Beyond it,th ere is a caftie or fortrefte fituatc upon a rockcjand 

 the fame not farre from the lake of Sodome Afphakiies.And [hus much as touching lud^eai 



£ Chap. xvni. 



^ T)cc^polis,[j,C(ele-Sym!\ 



THere joyneth unto it on Syria fide^the region Decapolis/o called ofthe number of towns; 

 and cities in it. WhcrciUj all men obferve not the lame, nor make like account: howbeic 

 moft men {peakc of Damafcus and Opotos, watered with the river Chtyforrhoa. Alfoy 

 Philadelphia, renowmcd for the fruitfull territorie about it . Moreover, of Scy thopolis , taking, 

 name of the Scythians there planted : and beforetimc Myfa, fo named of Prince or leather Bac- 

 chtis^^ reafon that his nource there was buried. Alfo Gadara,{ituate upon the river Hieromiax^= 

 running even before it.Befides, the above-named Hippos Dios. LikewifePella, enriched with 

 P the good fountaines: and laft of alljGalaza and Canatha. There lye betweenc and about thefe 

 citties,certaine Royalties called Triarchies, containing every one of them as much as an whole 

 countrey * and reduced they be as it were into feverall countries, namely, Trachonitis Pani" 

 as, wherein ftandeth Gaefarea, with the fountaine above-faid, Abiia, Area, Ampeloeffa, and 

 Gabe^ ^ 



K iij Chap, 



