A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume I Part 2

[15] In a treaty between the Teutonic knights, and the newly converted Prussians, the latter engaged never to burn their dead, nor to bury them with their horses, arms, clothes, and valuables.--Forst.

[16] This power of producing cold in summer, so much admired by Wulfstan and Alfred, was probably the effect of a good ice-cellar, which every Prussian of condition had in, or near his house.--Forst.

SECTION IV.

_Voyage of Sighelm and Athelstan to India, in the reign of Alfred King of England, in 883_[1].

Though containing no important information, it were unpardonable in an English collection of voyages and travels, to omit the scanty notice which remains on record, respecting a voyage by two Englishmen to India, at so early a period. All that is said of this singular incident in the Saxon Chronicle, is[2], "In the year 883, Alfred sent Sighelm and Athelstan to Rome, and likewise _to the shrine_ of Saints Thomas and Bartholomew, in India, with the alms which he had vowed." [Bartholomew was the messenger of Christ in India, the extremity of the whole earth.]--The words printed in _Italics_ are added in translating, by the present editor, to complete the obvious sense. Those within brackets, are contained in one MS.

Codex of the Saxon Chronicle, in addition to what was considered the most authentic text by Bishop Gibson, and are obviously a note or commentary, afterwards adopted into the text in transcription.

This short, yet clear declaration, of the actual voyage, has been extended by succeeding writers, who attribute the whole merit to Sighelm, omitting all mention of Athelstan, his co-adjutor in the holy mission. The first member of the subsequent paraphrase of the Saxon Chronicle, by Harris, though unauthorized, is yet necessarily true, as Alfred could not have sent messengers to a shrine, of which he did not know the existence. For the success of the voyage, the safe return, the promotion of Sighelm, and his bequest, the original record gives no authority, although that is the obvious foundation of the story, to which Aserus has no allusion in his life of Alfred.

"In the year 883, Alfred, King of England, hearing that there existed a Christian church in the Indies, dedicated to the memory of St Thomas and St Bartholomew, dispatched one Sighelm, or Sithelm, a favourite ecclesiastic of his court, to carry his royal alms to that distant shrine. Sighelm successfully executed the honourable commission with which he had been entrusted, and returned in safety into England. After his return, he was promoted to the bishop.r.i.c.k of Sherburn, or s.h.i.+reburn, in Dorsets.h.i.+re; and it is recorded, that he left at his decease, in the treasury of that church, sundry spices and jewels, which he had brought with him from the Indies."

Of this voyage, William of Malmsbury makes twice mention; once in the fourth chapter of his second book, De Gestis Regum Anglorum; and secondly, in the second book of his work; ent.i.tled, De Gestis Pontific.u.m Anglorum; and in the chapter devoted to the Bishops of s.h.i.+reburn, Salisbury, and Winchester, both of which are here added, although the only authority for the story is contained in what has been already given from the Saxon Chronicle[3].

"King Alfred being addicted to giving of alms, confirmed the privileges which his father had granted to the churches, and sent many gifts beyond seas, to Rome, and to St Thomas in India. His messenger in this business was Sighelm, bishop of Sherburn, who, with great prosperity, which is much to be wondered at in this age, penetrated into India; whence he brought on his return, splendid exotic gems, and aromatic liquors, of which the soil of that region is prolific."

"Sighelm having gone beyond seas, charged with alms from the king, even penetrated, with wonderful prosperity, to Saint Thomas in India, a thing much to be admired in this age; and brought thence, on his return, certain foreign kinds of precious stones which abound in that region; some of which are yet to be seen in the monuments of his church."

In the foregoing accounts of the voyage of Sighelm, from the first notice in the Saxon Chronicle, through the additions of Malmsbury, and the amplified paraphrase by Harris, we have an instance of the manner in which ingenious men permit themselves to blend their own imaginations with original record, superadding utterly groundless circ.u.mstances, and fancied conceptions, to the plain historical facts. Thus a motely rhetorical tissue of real incident and downright fable is imposed upon the world, which each successive author continually improves into deeper falsehood. We have here likewise an instance of the way in which ancient ma.n.u.scripts, first ill.u.s.trated by commentaries, became interpolated, by successive transcribers adopting those ill.u.s.trations into the text; and how many fabricators of story, first misled by these additaments, and afterwards misleading the public through a vain desire of producing a morsel of eloquence, although continually quoting original and contemporary authorities, have acquired the undeserved fame of excellent historians, while a mult.i.tude of the incidents, which they relate, have no foundations whatever in the truth of record. He only, who has diligently and faithfully laboured through original records, and contemporary writers, honestly endeavouring to compose the authentic history of an interesting period, and has carefully compared, in his progress, the flippant worse than inaccuracies of writers he has been taught to consider as masterly historians, can form an adequate estimate of the enormity and frequency of this tendency to romance. The immediate subject of these observations is slight and trivial; but the evil itself is wide-spread and important, and deserves severe reprehension, as many portions of our national history have been strangely disfigured by such indefensible practices.

[1] Harris, I. 873. Hakluyt, V. II. 38.

[2] Chron. Sax. Ed. Gibson, p. 86.

[3] Hakluyt, II. 88.

SECTION V.

_Travels of John Erigena to Athens, in the Ninth Century_[1].

John Erigena, of the British Nation, descended from n.o.ble progenitors, and born in the town of St. Davids in Wales; while the English were oppressed by the cruel wars and ravages of the Danes, and the whole land was in confusion, undertook a long journey to Athens, and there spent many years in the study of the Grecian, Chaldean, and Arabian literature. He there frequented all the places and schools of the philosophers, and even visited the oracle of the sun, which Esculapius had constructed for himself. Having accomplished the object of his travels, he returned through Italy and France; where, for his extraordinary learning, he was much favoured by Charles the Bald, and afterwards by Lewis the Stammerer. He translated into Latin, in 858, the books of Dionysius the Areopagite, concerning the Heavenly Hierarchy, then sent from Constantinople. Going afterwards into Britain, he became preceptor to Alfred, King of England, and his children; and, at the request of that prince, he employed his leisure in translating the Morals of Aristotle, and his book called the Secret of Secrets, or of the Right Government of Princes, into Chaldaic, Arabic, and Latin; certainly a most exquisite undertaking. At last, being in the abbey of Malmsbury, where he had gone for his recreation, in the year 884, and reading to certain evil-disposed disciples, they put him to death.

[1] Hakluyt, II. 38.

SECTION VI.

_Geography of the Known World, in the Ninth Century as described by King Alfred_[1].

INTRODUCTION.

Though not strictly conformable to our plan, as being neither a journey or voyage, it yet seemed inc.u.mbent to present our readers with this curious British production of the great Alfred King of England, which gives a singular record of the geographical knowledge of the world in the ninth century. It was originally written by Orosius, a Spanish Christian, who flourished in the end of the fourth and beginning of the fifth century, and who published a kind of History of the World, down to A. D. 416, which remained in good repute among the learned till about an hundred years ago, but is now much neglected. Near a thousand years ago, the work of Orosius was translated into Anglo-Saxon, by Alfred King of England, but, with great freedom and much licence, often using his author merely as a foundation for a paraphrase; omitting most of the introductory chapters to each book, sometimes leaving out considerable pa.s.sages, and often inserting new matter. This is peculiarly the case with the first chapter of the first book, containing the whole of the geography, and which is all that has any reference to the nature of our work.

The Honourable Daines Barrington, who published the Anglo-Saxon version, with an English translation, informs us that the original MS. is in the Cotton Library, _Tiberius_ I., and is supposed to have been written in the ninth or tenth century; but that, in making his translation, he used a transcript, made by Mr Elstob, occasionally collated with the Cotton MS.

and with some other transcripts. But, before publis.h.i.+ng a work of such curiosity and interest, he ought to have made sure of possessing a perfect copy, by the most scrupulous comparison of his transcript with the original MS.

In the following republication of the geographical chapter, much care has been taken to correct errors, chiefly in regard to direction, as east, west, north, and south, are often used interchangeably in the translation by Mr Barrington. Most of the notes are from that edition, or from J.R.

Forster, who reprinted so much of this chapter as referred to northern geography, and who appears to have studied that part of the subject with great care.

As a specimen of the Anglo-Saxon, or the language of England near a thousand years ago, we have given the first sentence of this geographical chapter in the ordinary Roman letters, with a literal translation.

_Anglo-Saxon_.

Ure yldran calne thysne ymbhwyrft thyses middangeardes, cwaeth Orosius, swa swa Ocea.n.u.s ymbligeth utan, wone man ga.r.s.ecg hatath, on threo todaeldon.

_Literal Translation_

Our elders have divided all of this middle-earth, quoth Orosius, which Ocea.n.u.s surrounds, which men calleth _ga.r.s.ecg_ into three deals.

_Geography of Alfred_.

-- 1. According to Orosius, our ancestors divided the whole world which is surrounded by the ocean, which we call _ga.r.s.ecg_[2], into three parts, and they named these divisions Asia, Europe, and Africa; though some authors only admit of two parts, Asia and Europe. Asia is bounded to the southward, northward, and eastward by the ocean, and thus divides all our part of this earth from that which is to the east. On the north, Europe and Asia are separated by the Tanais or Don; and in the south, after pa.s.sing the Mediterranean[3] sea, Asia and Africa join to the westward of Alexandria[4].

-- 2. Europe begins, as I have said before, at the Tanais, which has its source in the northern parts of the Riphean mountains[5], which are near the Sarmatic[6] ocean; and this river then runs directly south, on the west side of Alexander's temples, to the nation of the Russians[7], where it runs into the fen called Maeotis, and thence it issues eastwards with a great stream, near the town called Theodosia, into the Euxine. Then becoming narrow for a considerable track, it pa.s.ses by Constantinople, and thence into the Wendel sea, or Mediterranean. The south-west end of Europe is in Ispania or Spain, where it is bounded by the ocean; but the Mediterranean almost closes at the _islands_ called Gades, where stand the pillars of Hercules. To the westward of this same Mediterranean is _Scotland_[8].

-- 3. Asia and Africa are divided by Alexandria, a city of Egypt; and that country is bounded on the west by the river Nile, and then by Ethiopia to the south, which reaches quite to the southern ocean. The northern boundary of Africa is the Mediterranean sea all the way westwards, to where it is divided from the ocean by the pillars of Hercules; and the true western boundaries of Africa are the mountains called Atlas and the Fortunate Islands. Having thus shortly mentioned the three divisions of this earth, I shall now state how those are bounded by land and water.

-- 4. Opposite to the middle of the eastern part of Asia, the river Ganges empties itself into the sea, whilst the Indian ocean is to the southwards, in which is the port of Caligardamana. To the south-east of that port is the island of Deprobane[9]. To the north of the mouths of the Ganges, where mount Caucasus ends, is the port of Samera; and to the north of this port are the mouths of the river called Corogorre, in the ocean called Sericus.

Now, these are the boundaries of India: Mount Caucasus is to the north, the river Indus to the west, the Red Sea[10] to the south, and the ocean to the east. In this land of India there are forty-four nations, besides the island of Taprobana or Ceylon, in which there are ten _boroughs_; and also many others which are situated on the banks of the Indus, and lie all to the westward of India. Betwixt this river Indus, and another to the west called Tigris, both of which empty themselves into the Red Sea[11], are the countries of Oroca.s.sia, Parthia, Asilia, Pasitha, and Media, though some writers call the whole of this land Media or a.s.syria[12]. The fields are much parched by the sun[13], and the roads are very hard and stony. The northern boundary of this land is Mount Caucasus, and the southern is the Red Sea. In this land there are two great rivers, the Hystaspes and Arbis, and twenty-two nations, though the whole has the general name of Parthia.

To the westwards, Babilonia, Chaldea, and Mesopotamia are between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. Within this country there are twenty-eight nations, the northern boundary being Mount Caucasus, and the Red Sea to the south. Along the Red Sea, and at its northern angle, are Arabia, Sabaea, and Eudomane, or Idumea. Beyond the river Euphrates, quite westward to the Mediterranean, and northward to Mount Taurus, even into Armenia, and southward to near Egypt, are many countries, namely Comagene, Phenicia, Damascena, Coelle, Moab, Ammon, Idumea, Judea, Palestine, and Sarracene, all of which are comprehended under the general name of Syria. To the north of Syria are the hills called Taurus, and to the north of these are Capadocia and Armenia, the former being to the westward of the latter; and to the westward of Capadocia is the country called the lesser Asia. To the north of Capadocia is the plain called Temisere, and betwixt Capadocia and lesser Asia are Cilicia and Isauria. Lesser Asia is entirely surrounded by salt water, except to the eastward; having the Euxine on the north, the Propontis and h.e.l.lespont on the west, and the Mediterranean on the south.

In it is the high mountain of Olympus.

-- 5. To the northward of _hither_ Egypt is Palestine, to the eastwards the land of the Sarracens, to the west is Libia, and to the south the mountain called Climax. The head of the Nile is near the _cliffs_ of the Red Sea, though some say it is in the western part of Africa, near Mount Atlas, whence it flows over a large track of land, till it sinks; after which, it proceeds in its course, till it becomes a great sea, or wide river[14]. The spot where the river takes its rise is called by some Nuchal, and by others Dara. Hence, for some distance from the wider part, _before_[l5] it rises from the sand, it runs westward to Ethiopia, where it is called Jon, till it reaches the eastern part, where it becomes a wide river[16], and then it sinks again into the earth; after which it appears again opposite to the cliffs of the Red Sea, as I mentioned before, and from this place it is called the Nile. Then running from thence westwards, it divides its stream round an island called Meroe[17]; then running to the northward, it empties itself into the Mediterranean. There, in the winter season, the current at its mouth is opposed by the north winds, so that the river is spread all over the land of Egypt;[l8] and by the rich earth which it deposits, it fertilizes the whole country. The _farther_ Egypt lies along the southern part of the Red Sea, and to the east is the ocean. To the west is the _hither_ Egypt, and in the two Egypts there are twenty-four nations.

-- 6. Having before given an account of the north part of Asia, I shall now speak of its southern parts. I have before mentioned that Mount Caucasus is to the north of India, beginning eastwards on the ocean, and running due west, till it join the Armenian mountains, which the inhabitants call Parcoatrae, from which the Euphrates takes its rise; and from the Parcoatrian mountains mount Taurus runs due west, quite to Cilicia. To the north of these mountains, quite to the ocean which environs the north east end of the earth, where the river Bore empties itself into the ocean, and from thence westwards to the Caspian sea, which extends to Mount Caucasus, all the land is called Old Scythia, or Hircania. In this country there are forty-three nations, all situate at great distances from each other, on account of the barrenness of the soil[19]. Then to the westward of the Caspian unto the Tanais or Don, and the Palus Maeotis, thence south to Mount Taurus[20], and north to the ocean, is all Scythia, and is divided among thirty-two nations. The country on the east side of the Tanais is inhabited by a nation called the Alboari in the Latin tongue, which we now call Liobene. Thus have I shortly stated the boundaries of Asia, and shall now state those of Europe, as far as we are informed concerning them.

-- 7. From the Tanais westwards to the Rhine, which takes its rise in the Alps, and runs northward, till it falls into that branch of the ocean which surrounds Bryttannia, and southward from the Tanais to the Donua or Danube, whose source is near that of the Rhine, and which runs to the northward of Greece, till it empties itself into the Euxine[21], and north even to that part of the ocean which is called the _Cwen_ sea[22], there are many nations; and the whole of this extensive country is called Germany. Hence to the north of the source of the Danube, and to the east of the Rhine are the people called eastern Franks[23]. To the south of them are the _Swaepas_[24]. On the opposite banks of the Danube, and to the south and east, are the people called _Baegth-ware_[25], in that part which is called _Regnes-burh_[26]. Due east from them are the Beme[27]. To the north-east the Thyringas[28]. To the north of these are the Old Seaxan[29]. To the north-west of these are the Frysan[30]; and to the west of _Old_ Saxony is the mouth of the _Aelfe_ or Elbe, as also _Frysan_ or Friesland. Prom hence to the north-west is that land which is called _Angle_, with _Sellinde_, and some other parts of Dene[31]. To the north is _Apdrede_[32], and to the north-east the _Wolds_[33], which are called AEfeldan[34]. From hence eastwards is Wineda-land[35], otherwise called Sysyle[36]. To the south-west, at some distance, is the Macroaro[37], and these have to the west the Thyringas and Behemas, as also part of the Baegthware, all of whom have been already mentioned. And to the south, on the other side of the Donua or Danube, is the country called Carendrae[38].

-- 8. Southwards, towards and along the mountains which are called the Alps, are the boundaries of the Baegthware and of the Swaefas already mentioned; and then to the eastwards of the Carendrae country, and beyond the Waste[39], is Pulgara-land or Bulgaria[40]. To the east is Greca-land[41]

or Greece; and to the east of the Moroaro or Moravians, is Wisle-land[42]; and to the east of that is Datia, though it formerly belonged to the Gottan[43] or Goths. To the north-east of the Moroara or Moravians, are the Delamensen[44]. East of the Delamensen are the Horithi[45]; and north of the Delamensen are the Surpe[46]; to the west also are the Syssele[47]. To the north of the Horithi is Maegtha-land[48], and north of Maegtha-land is Sermende[49], quite to the Riffin[50], or the Riphean mountains.

-- 9. To the south-west of Dene or Denmark, formerly mentioned, is that arm of the ocean which surrounds Brittania, and to the north is that arm which is called the _Ostsea_[51] or East sea; to the east and north are the north Dene[52], or North Danes, both on the continent and on the islands.

To the east are the Afdrede[53]. To the south is the mouth of the AElfe or Elbe, and some part of _Old Seaxna_[54] or Old Saxony. The North Dene have to the north that arm of the sea which is called the East sea, and to the east is the nation of the Osti[55], and the Afdrede, or Obotrites, to the south. The Osti have to the north of them that same arm of the sea, or the Baltic, and so have the Winedas and the Burgendas[56]. Still more to the south is Haefeldan[57]. The Burgendas have this same arm of the sea to the west, and the Sweon[58] to the north. To the east are the Sermende, to the south the Surfe[59]. The Sweons have to the south the arm of the sea called _Ost_, and to the north, over the wastes, is Cwenland[60], to the north-west are the Scride-finnas[61], and the North-men[62] are to the west[63].

-- 10. We shall now speak of Greca-land or Greece, which lies south of the Danube. The Proponditis, or sea called Propontis, is _eastward_ of Constantinople; to the north of that city, an arm of the sea issues from the Euxine, and flows _westwards_; to the _north-west_ the mouths of the Danube empty themselves into the south-east part of the Euxine[64].

To the south and west of these mouths are the Maesi, a Greek nation; to the west are the Traci or Thracians, and to the east the Macedonians. To the south, on the southern arm of the Egean sea, are Athens and Corinth, and to the south-west of Corinth is Achaia, near the Mediterranean. All these countries are inhabited by the Greeks. To the west of Achaia is Dalmatia, along the Mediterranean; and on the north side of that sea, to the north of Dalmatia, is Bulgaria and Istria. To the south of Istria is the Adriatic, to the west the Alps, and to the north, that desert which is between Carendan[65] and Bulgaria.

-- 11. Italy is of a great length from the north-west to the south-east and is surrounded by the Mediterranean on every side, except the north-west. At that end of it are the Alps, which begin from the Mediterranean, in the Narbonese country, and end in Dalmatia, to the east of the Adriatic sea.