75*5 Dr. B R o WN E’i- travels Book II 
John Hufs, and Jerome of Prague.^ who endeavour’d 
to bring about a Reformation in thofe Parts 800 Years 
before Luther, are not as yet forgotten among the Bo- 
hemians, who keep Silver Medals to the Memory of 
thefe two great Men j upon which Account I cannot 
help mentioning, what Mneas Sylvius, afterwards Pope 
Pius II. fays of them two, viz. "Lhat John voas more in 
Tears and of greater Authority^, but Jerome excelled in 
Eloquence and Learning *, That they faced Death with un- 
paralleBd Conftancy, finging Hymns in the Midjl of the 
Flames. He adds. None of the old Philofophers fuffePd 
my Kind of Death with fo courageous a Temper^ as thefe 
the Flames. 
As the fame Author has made a Comparifon betwixt 
the City of Florence and Prague, I cannot forbear to 
give you my Obfervations upon this Head, which I 
made myfelf, both from the Top of the Do?no at Flo- 
rence, and from the Cathedral of St. Veit, on the Hill 
of the Lejfer Down. I found Prague to comprehend a 
much larger Compafs, and to be more populous than 
Florence. The Streets of the firft are much longer *, 
and the Windows of the Palace being of very fine 
Glafs, made a much better Show than the ragged Paper 
Windows of Florence; The River Arno, which paifes 
through this laft, bears not the leaft Comparifon with 
the Moldau at Prague \ and the great Scone Bridge over 
this River, bears a full Proportion to, if not exceeds, 
not only any one, but all the four Bridges of Florence, 
The Emperor’s Palace alfo upon the Hill is a very 
noble Structure. On the other hand, it muft be con- 
fefs’d, that the Cathedral of Florence, built of black and 
white marble ; the Chapel of St. Lawrence, and the 
Great Duke’s Gallery and Rarities, exceed any Thing I 
faw eVi Prague. Upon the White Hill near Prague was, 
1620. November the 8th, fought the famous Battle be- 
twixt the Armies of the Emperor Ferdinand II. and Fre- 
derick Eleiffor Palatine, in which the latter was routed. 
23. The Winter coming on, I would not go by Wa- 
ter to Hamburgh by the Moldau, which near Melnick 
falls into the Elbe j fo that being obliged to travel by 
Land, I left Prague and the Moldau to the Right, and 
pafs’d through Zagethal, Welverne, and Budin, to Laha- 
Jitz upon the Elbe. After having crofs’d the River 
Egra, (which arifing near the City of the fame Name, 
falls afterwards into the Elbe) I came by the Caftle of 
Kriegftein, feated upon a high Rock, thence to Aufig, 
a fmall City, and fo by the Way of Nolndorff, and over 
the Mount Kninsberg to the Frontiers cA Mifnia ; ta- 
king our Way through Peterfwald, Hellendorff Kifi- 
bel, near the laft of which are Iron Mines and Works. 
Having fpent nine Days by Coach, from Inglaw, on the 
Confines of Moravia, to this Place, not reckoning my 
Stay at Prague, which is computed to be 200 Englijh 
‘Miles, the Ways being very bad in fome Places, efpe- 
cialiy in the Winter Seafon. 
As we were going toward Drejden, I took a View of 
the Bohemian Rocks behind us, which refembled, at a 
Diftance, the Ruins of an old Wall ; but could not be 
convinced of what moft Geographers have told us of 
Bohemia, That it is enclofed in a great Foreft, though it 
is not to be difowned, but that both within the Country, 
and in fome Parts near the Borders, there are confider- 
able Woods, believed to be Part of the old Sylvia FLer- 
cinia, or Hercinian Foreii. The Bohemians have been 
at all Times a flout and warlike Nation j and though 
the common People are fomewhat rough, the Gentry 
are very obliging and polite. They abound in lufty 
and ftrong Horfes, but fince their unfortunate Revolt, 
they have, loft moft of their Privileges, and many thou- 
fand Families have quitted the Kingdom. 
We continued our Journey through toDrefden, 
one of the moft remarkable Places in all Germany, be- 
ing the Refidence of the Ele< 5 lors of Saxony upon the 
Elbe, over which is a ftately Bridge, fupported by fe- 
venteen Arches. The Fortifications of the City are 
very ftrong, after the modern Way ; the Baftions faced 
with Stone, furrounded in fome Places with a double 
Ditch. It has three Gates. The Things moft worth 
Obfervation are, Italian Garden in the Suburbs, the 
Himting-houfe in the Old Town beyond the River, and 
the Electoral Palace, with the Houfe for Wild Beafts 
Stables, and Arfenal, The Hall in the Eleftor’s Palace 
is very fpacious, and chiefiy remarkable for the many 
Draughts of Cities, Piflures of Giants, and the Habits 
of feveral Nations, very well done. ' 
_ But what is moft furprifing is, the Colleftion of Ra- 
nties, divided into feveral Chambers. The firft con- 
tains all Manner of Mechanical Inftruments, made very 
artificially. In the other Chambers, thefe following are 
moft worth Notice : ATube-Glafs four Ells long j di- 
vers artificial Works of Coral ; Bowls and Cups made 
out of Mother of Pearl ; Caftles of Gold and Mother 
of Pearl % a Cup made of a Stone taken out of an 
Ox’s Stomach, of a Foot long •, a Stone as big as one’s 
Fill, taken out of a Horfe, refembling a Bezoar-fione j 
fome very pure Ore out of the Mines of Freiberg % a 
natural Croft of the fame Ore ; one hundred twenty 
one Heads carved on a Cherry- ftone •, a Chryftal Ca- 
binet, fold by Oliver Cromwell Charles II. of England, 
on Horfe-back, carved out of Iron ; King Charles I. 
his Head •, an Organ of Glafs ; feveral unpolifti’d To- 
pazesi ten Inches diameter ; a Cup made of a Topaz ; 
feveral Emeralds, an Inch in diameter, as they grow in 
the Rock. 
Figures of Fifh in Stones^ the Stones dark colour’d, 
the Fifti of a Gold Colour ; two large fine Pieces of 
pure Gold Ore *, a White Hart as big as a natural one, 
made of the Filings and Shavings of Harts-horn. Ano- 
ther Chamber contains all Manner of Mathematical In- 
ftruments, and a Library of Mathematical Books and 
Maps*, an Unicorn’s Horn, which they .affirm to be of 
a Land Unicorn, becaufe it is neither wreathed nor hol- 
low. The moft remarkable Piblures, among a great 
Number, are, the Siege of Jerufalem, by Colier, valued 
at a high Rate ; two Nuns, by Lucas van Leyden ; a 
Pifture of Dr. Luther. Here is alfo a rowling Bullet, 
to demonftrate a perpetual Motion. 
01 Clock-works you fee a vaft Variety : A Cuckow 
finging, a Horfeman- riding, a Ship under Sail, an old 
Woman walking, a Centaur running and ffiooting, and 
a Crab crawling or creeping upon a Table ; all done 
by Clock-work, to the Amazement of ordinary Spec- 
tators. In the Stables, and Chambers thereunto belong- 
ing, you fee a noble Stable full of Horfes, each Horfe 
eating out of a Rack of Iron, and Manger of Copper. 
Near them is a curious Fountain and Pond, furrounded 
with Ballifters, where the Horfes are watered ; a long 
Walk arched, and painted with very fine Horfes ; over 
which is a Gallery, with the Pidtures of all the Dukes 
•and Eledlcrs of Saxony, in their Eledtoral Robes and 
Military Habits ; two Beds of Marble ; a Horfeman of 
Silver, bringing a Cup of Wine in his Hand, moved 
by a Spring *, a Pair of very fine Piftols, with Stories of 
the Old and New Tejiament upon them ; a Glafs Gun ; 
a Gun, which difcharges forty Times without being 
charged again ; a Lock without a Cock. Another 
Chamber has many rich Sleds and Accoutrements, made 
Ufe of in the Winter-time upon the Snow. A White 
Bear’s Skin ftuffed j Tigers and Lyons Skins *, a CaJ- 
fowares Skin ; very fine Armour for Men and Horfes i 
a Picture of a Laplander ; a Lapland Magick Drum ; a 
Chamber full of all Sorts of curious Hunting Tackle 
and Arms. 
The Arfenal is a long Square, a Building containing 
near 400 Brafs Pieces of Ordnance ; of Mufquets and 
other Arms a great Quantity; divers Silver Coats of 
Mail, lAc. In the Hunting-houfe in the Old Town are 
maintained fifteen Bears ; Fountains and Ponds are 
made here for the Conveniency of waffiing themfelves, 
in which the Bears much delight. Round the Pond 
you fee high ragged Trees or Pofts fet up, where the 
Bears climb up and down, and Scaffolds on the Top, 
where they fun and dry themfelves after they have been 
fporting in the Water. The Horn Gallery here is alfo 
worth taking Notice of ; out of which you pafs through 
three Chambers, one painted with all the different Sorts 
of Hunting, the fecond with Fowl, and the third with 
all Kinds of Wild Beafts. In the Houfe where the 
V/ild Beafts are kept, was a Marian, a four legg’d 
Beaft, which hangs on the Bows of Trees by the Tail. 
