Piifiies Nacurall Hiftorie. 



A and Cuhjcdi to the tidc^tfaat twice in a day & night by curnes^ the fca overfiovscth a mightie deak 

 of ground when it is floudj^ leavcth all drie again at the cbbe & return of the water : infomucbj 

 as a man can hardly tell what to make of the outward face of the earth in thofe partSj fo doubt- 

 full it is between feaand land.Thc poorc fillie people that inhabit thofe parts, either keepe toge-? 

 thcr on fuch high hilsasNaturc hath afforded here &there in theplain:or els raifemounis with 

 their owne labour and handie workc (like to Tribunals caft up aqd reared with turfcjin a campe) 

 above the height of the iea^at any Spring tide when the floud is higheft , and thereupon they kt 

 their cabines and cottages. Thus dwelling as they doe5they,leeme (when it is high water, & that 

 all the plaine is ovcrlpread with the fea round about)as if they were in little barkcs fioting in the 

 middeft of the fea :,againc,at a low water when the fea is gonejooke .upon ;themjyou would take 



B them for fuch as had fuffcred fhipwracke, havingtheirvcflels caft away, and left lying ato-fidc 

 amid thefands: foryeefhallfee the poore wretches filhing about their cottages, and following 

 after the fifhes as they go avyay with the water. They have not a four-footed beaft atnong then) : 

 neither enjoy they any bcnefite of milke, as their neighbour nations doe: nayjthcy are deftitute 

 of all meanes to chafe wild beafts, and hunt for venifon ; in as much as there is neither tree nor 

 bufli to give them harbour, nor any neare unto them by a great way.Sea-weeds or Reike,! uilies 

 and reeds growing upon the wailies & meeres/ervc them to twift for cords to make their fifhing 

 nctswith. Thefepoorefoulcs and fillie creatures are fainc to gather a flimie kind of fattiemud 

 or oafe, with their very hands,which they drie againft the wind rather than the Sunne : and with 

 that earth/or want of other fcweil^they make fire to feeth their meat (fuch as it is) and heat the 



C inward parts of their bodie, readie to bee f^arke and ftiffe againe with the chilling North wind. 

 No other drinke have they but raine water,which they fave in certaine ditches after a lliower^and 

 thofe they dig atthevery cntrieof their cottages. And yet fee ! this people (as wretched and 

 miferable a cafe as they bee in) if they were fubdued at this day by the people of Rome, would 

 fay (and none fooner than they) that they lived in ilaverie . But true it is, that Fortune Ipareth 

 many men, to let ihgm live ftill in paineand miferie. Thus much as touching want of woods 

 and trees, . 



On the other fide,as wonderful! it is to fee the mightie forrefts at hand thereby, which over- 

 (preadalhhe reft ofGermanie:andare (b big, that they yeeld both cooling and fhade to the 

 whole countrey . Yea, the very talleft woods of all the reft are a little way up higher in the coun- 



D trey, and not farre from the Cauchi abovefaid : and elpecially thofe that grow about the twd 

 great ioughes or lakes in that trad.Vpon the bankes whereof,as alfo upon the fea-coafts, there 

 arc to be feene thicke rowes of big Okes,that love their feat palTing well, and thrive upon it in 

 growth exceeding much ; which trees happening to be either undermined by the m\xs and bil- 

 lowcs ofthe fea under themjcating within their roois,or chafed with tempeftuous winds beating 

 from above, carie away with them into the fea(in manner of Iflands) a great part ofthe Conti- 

 nent jwhich their roots doe clafpc and embrace : wherewith being counterpoifed and ballaifed, 

 they ftand upright, fioting and making faile (as it were) amid the waves, by the meanes of their 

 mightie armes which ferve in ftead of tackling. And many a time verily, fuch Okes have frigh- 

 ted our fleets and armadoesatfea : and efpecially in the night feafon, when as they fecmed to' 



E ' come directly againft their proesftanding at anker,as if of purpole they were driven upon them 

 by the waves of thefeaunfomuch, asthefailersandpaftengers within, having no other meanes 

 to efeapc themjwere put to their fiiifts,and forced for to addrcife themielves,andrange a navall 

 battell in order,and all againft trees,as their very enemies,* 



Chap, ii, 



of the huge and great forrejl Her cyniai 



IN the fame North climate is the mightie forrcftHercynia. A huge and large wood this isj 

 ftoredwith tall and big Okes,that never to this day were toptorlopt.lt is fuppofed they have 

 F beene ever fince the creation of the world, and(in regard of their eternallimmoitalitic) fur- 

 mounting all miracles befides whatfoever. And to let paffe all other reports which happily 

 would be thought incredible, this is knowne for certaine, That the roots of the trees there,rua 

 and fpread fo farre within the ground, that they encounter and meet one another : in which rcfi- 

 ftance they fwell and rife upward, yea,andraife up mounts of earth withthcmtoagoodheighc 



