3 6 TRAVELS TO THE EAST. 
much more referable both for them and ftrangers. 
We alighted to reft at one of thefe places, and 
feized the opportunity to fee what plants the fpring 
had brought forth. Saffron (Crocus few* iLnn. 
was the firft, and the mod remarkable I found. I 
fhould have been well fatisfied with feeing tks 
plant grow in its native country, if I had fomicl no- 
thina elfe in this journey. The oriental Saffron is 
not a diftiflft fpecies from the European ; but its 
goodnefs and virtue in phyfic hath always been 
more efteemed than the latter, therefore the dofe 
of it is lefs as it is ftronger. It grew here, but in no 
confiderable quantity, amongft the Arbutus An- 
drachne ; not at the top, but towards the decline of 
the hills; nor expofed to the heat of the fun, but in 
flrady places. The colour was a pale yellow ; but l 
faw fome near Smyrna of a more dark and almo^ 
deep yellow. Natolia is well ftored with this pre- 
cious plant, without culture; and in certain places, 
as round Magnefia, towards the confines of Brufla, 
large quantities are gathered and exported to dif- 
ferent places in Afia and Europe ; I have however 
good reafon to fufpeft that all our apothecary {hops 
have not the fort to fell that is gathered here, when 
oriental Saffron is prefcribed. 1 he phyfictan as well 
as the apothecary cannot but fufpeft its genumenefs, 
after having gone through the hands of fo many 
druggifts, who, as I myfelf have feen, underftand 
the art of encreafing a drug they cannot gain y 
when fold genuine. Therefore, if any one is de- 
firous of haying the true oriental Saffron, which » 
fuch a noble medicine, he muft endeavour to get 
from the firft hand, which can beft be done by or- 
dering it from any of the above-mentioned towns, 
and fome fflands in the Archipelago, where it grows 
in yet larger quantities. A phyfiaan, who^s 
4 
