A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 1 - Robert Kerr
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If the reader has any idea of the difficulty attendant on making out so
many places, disguised by a vicious orthography, a difficulty, which is
still more increased by the necessity there is for determining, with
accuracy, the situation of these places, and their probable distances from
each other, he will be ready to allow that the task is certainly not very
trifling, nor to be accomplished without much labour. In the foregoing
itinerary, Pegoletti certifies the existence of the paper money which had
been previously mentioned by Rubraquis, Haitho, Marco Polo, and Oderic:
Some of these authors describe it as having been fabricated of cotton
paper; while others remark very justly, that it was made of the bark of the
paper mulberry tree. Oderic calls it Balis, Pegoletti gives it the name of
Balis-chi. A Jesuit named Gabriel de Magaillans, pretends that Marco Polo
was mistaken in regard to this paper money; but the concurrent testimony of
five other credible witnesses of the fact, is perfectly conclusive that
this paper money did actually exist during the first Mogul dynasty, the
descendants of Zinghis, called the legal tribe of _Yu_ by the Chinese. On
the downfall of that race it was abolished.
Supposing the station on the Kara-morin and Cassai to be the same, which is
highly probable, the whole journey in this itinerary, from Asof to Pekin,
extends to 276 days, besides nine days more by water, or 285 in all; so
that allowing for delays, rests, accidents, and occasional trafficking, a
whole year may fairly be allowed, and as much for the return.
[1] Forster, Voy. and Disc, in the North, p. 150.
[2] Gintarchan, or Zintarchan, is, by Josaphat Barbaro, called also
Gitarchau; and Witsan, in his account of Northern and Eastern Tartary,
says Astracan was called of old _Citracan_. By the Calmuks, it is
called Hadschi-Aidar-Khan-Balgassun, or the city of Hadschi Aidar
Khan, whence all these names are derived by an obvious corruption,
like [Greek: Eis tnae polis], or the city, by way of eminence, by
which the Greeks distinguished Constantinople, and which the Turks
have corrupted into Estambol, and Stambol.--Forst.
[3] Sara is undoubtedly the town of Saray, situated on the eastern arm of
the Wolga, or Achtuba. The Astracan mentioned in the text by
Pegoletti, was not on the spot where that city now stands; both that
ancient Astracan and Saray having been destroyed by Timur Khan, or
Tamerlane, as he is usually called, in the winter 1395. The old town
of Saray was at no great distance from ancient Astracan.--Forst.
[4] Saracanco is probably the town which formerly existed on the river Jaik
or Ural, the remains of which are now known by the name of
Saratschik.--Forst.
[5] The name of Organci is easily recognized In the town of Urgenz in
Kheucaresm; which is named Dschordschanio by Abulfeda, and Korkang by
the Persians. But there were two towns of this name, the greater and
the lesser Urgenz, or Old and New Urgenz. The Old or Greater Urgenz
was situated near to where the Gihon discharges its waters into lake
Aral; the New or Ixsser Urgenz is to be found near Chiwa, or Chiva, on
the Gihon--Forst.
[6] Oltrarra is properly called Otrar, and also Farab, which latter name is
to be found in Abulfeda. It is situate on the river Sihon or Sire. The
Chinese, who cannot pronounce the letter _r_, call it Uotala.--Forst.
[7] Armalecco is the name of a small town called Almalig, which, according
to Nassir Ettusi and Ulug-beg, is in Turkestan. From the life of
Timur Khan, by Shersfeddin Ali, it appears that Almalig is situate
between the town of Taschkent and the river Irtiah, in the country of
the Gete, and on the banks of the river Ab-eile, which discharges
itself into the Sihon, or Sirr-Daria.--Forst.
[8] Came-xu is in all probability the name of Khame or Khami with the
addition of xu, instead of Tcheou or Tsheu, which, in the Chinese
language, signifies a town of the second rank.--Forst.
[9] Obviously the Kara-Moran, called Hoang-ho by the Chinese, or the Yellow
River.--Forst.
[10] Cassai, or Kaway, seems to be the place called Kissen, on a lake of
that name, near the northernmost winding branch of the Kara-moran, in
Lat. 41.50'. N. long. 107 deg.. 40'. E.--Forst.
[11] It is curious to notice, in the writings, of this intelligent
commercial geographer, and in the travels of Marco Polo, the peculiar
advantages in commerce enjoyed by the Chinese at so early a period, of
being paid in sliver for their commodities and manufactures. This
practice, which prevailed so early as 1260, the era of the elder
Polos, and even, in 851, when the Mahometan travellers visited
Southern China, still continues in 1810.--E.
[12] The value of the silver _somno_ is nowhere mentioned; but it is of no
importance, as it would not enable us to institute any comparison of
values whatsoever.--E.
[13] Gamalecco is undoubtedly Cambalu, Cambalig, or Khan-balig, otherwise
Pekin; exactly as Gattay is substituted for Katay Kathay, or Cathay.
--Forst.
CHAP. XV.
_Voyages of Nicolo and Antonio Zeno in 1380_.[1]
INTRODUCTION.
Although we have admitted this article into our collection, on the
authority of Ramusio and J. R. Forster, we are disposed to consider the
whole as a fabrication, altogether unworthy of any credit. The first
section, indeed, may possibly have had some foundation in truth, as the
Zenos may have navigated about the close of the fourteenth century to the
Orkneys, and some imperfect and disfigured narrative of their voyage may
have fallen into the hands of Marcolini, the author or editor of these
strangely distorted and exaggerated or pretended voyages. In regard to the
second section, unless we could suppose, that, by Estoitland and Drogio,
some strangely distorted account of different districts in Ireland were
meant to be enigmatically conveyed, the whole of that section must be
pronounced a palpable and blundering forgery. But it appears obviously
intended by the relater, to impress upon his readers, that some portion of
the western hemisphere, afterwards named America, had been visited by
Antonio Zeno; and the high probability is, that Marcolini, a patriotic
Venetian, had invented the whole story, on purpose to rob the rival
republic of Genoa of the honour of haying given birth to the real
discoverer of the New World. If there be any truth whatever in the voyages
of the Zenos, it is only to be found in the first section of this chapter;
and even there the possible truth is so strangely enveloped in
unintelligible names of persons and places, as to be entirely useless. The
_second_ section is utterly unworthy of the slightest serious
consideration; and must either have been a posterior fabrication, engrafted
upon an authentic, but ignorantly told narrative; or the seeming
possibility of the _first_ section was invented to give currency to the
wild forgery of the _second_. Latin books, a library, gold, ships, and
foreign trade, corn, beer, numerous towns and castles, all in the most
northern parts of America in the _fourteenth_ century, where only nomadic
savages had ever existed, are all irrefragable evidence, that the whole, or
at least that portion of the voyages of the Zenos, is an idle romance. To
increase the absurdity, as if to try the gullability of the readers,
_Dedalus_, a king of Scotland! is assumed to have been the first discoverer
of the Western World; and his son _Icarus_ is introduced to give his name
to a civilized island, already named Estoitland in the narrative.
After this decided opinion of the falsehood and absurdity of the whole of
this present chapter, it may be necessary to state, that, in a work so
general and comprehensive as that we have undertaken, it did not seem
advisable or proper to suppress an article which had been admitted into
other general collections of voyages and travels. The remainder of this
introduction is from the work of Mr J. R, Forster, extracted partly from
Ramusio, and partly consisting of an ingenious attempt to explain and
bolster up the more than dubious production of Marcolini: But these
observations are here considerably abridged; as an extended, grave, and
critical commentary on a narrative we believe fabulous, might appear
incongruous, though it did not seem proper to omit them altogether.--E.
The family of Zeno, in Venice, was very ancient, and not only of the
highest rank of nobility, but celebrated for the performance of great
actions, and the highest offices of the state had been filled from time
immemorial by persons of the family. About the year 1200, Marin Zeno
assisted in the conquest of Constantinople, and he was Podesta, or governor
of that city, about 1205. He had a son named Pietro Zeno, who was father to
Rinieri Zeno, who was elected doge, or Duke of Venice, in 1282, and
governed the republic for seventeen years, during which period he waged a
successful war against the Genoese. he adopted Andrea, the son of his
brother Marco, who was afterwards raised to be captain-general of the
Venetian fleet, in the war against Genoa. Rinieri Zeno, the son of Andrea,
was the father of Pietro Zeno, who, in 1362, was captain-general of the
Venetian squadron in the allied fleet of the Christians against the Turks,
and had the surname of Dracone, from the figure of a dragon which he wore
on his shield. Pietro had three sons; Carlo Leone, the eldest, who was
procurator and captain-general of the fleet: of the republic, and; rescued,
her from imminent danger in a war in which, almost all Europe was leagued
for her destruction; the second, Nicolo, called likewise il Cavaliere, or
the night, shewed great valour in the last mentioned war of _Chioggia_
against the Genoese; Antonio was the youngest.
Francesco Marcolini, a learned Italia, extracted the whole of the ensuing
relation from the original letters of the two Zenos, Nicole and Antonio,
which is published in the collection of Ramusio; and declares that Antonio
laid down all the particulars of these voyages, and of the countries he and
his brother had visited, on a map, which he brought with him to Venice, and
which he hung up in his house as a sure pledge and incontestible proofs of
the truth of his relations, and which still remained as an incontrovertible
evidence in the time of Marcolini. Many have been inclined to reject the
whole of this narrative because the names which it assigns to several of
the countries are nowhere else to be found. After having carefully
examined, and made a translation of the whole, I am fully convinced that
the narrative is true, and that it contains internal proofs of its own
authenticity, and I hope fully to solve, in the course of this
dissertation, all the difficulties attending the names, which have been
strangely perverted by a vicious orthography.
It has been alleged that the whole narrative has the appearance of a mere
fable; and it may be asked where is _Friesland_ and the other countries
which it mentions, to be found? Who has ever heard of a _Zichmuni_ who
vanquished Kako, or Hakon, king of Norway, in 1369, or 1380? All this is
very plausible; but we think a good deal may be done for clearing away the
difficulties.
Marcolini extracted this relation from the original letters of the two
Zenos, who were of one of the most considerable families in Venice; a
family which could not be supposed to have boldly forged a story of this
kind. The truth could easily have been detected, whether these brothers
existed or not, and whether they ever made voyages to the north. Besides
this, the map, actually constructed by Antonio, and hung up in his house at
Venice, existed in the time of Marcolini, as a sure and incontestable proof
of the fidelity of the narrative. How then is it possible to harbour any
doubts? In this case, there must be an end of all faith in history.
I once held, that the countries described by the Zenos had been swallowed
up by an earthquake; but, reflecting that so great a revolution in nature
must have left some historical vestiges, or traditions, I examined the
matter over again, and found that the countries described, bore a strong
resemblance to the Orkneys, Shetland, Faro, and Western Islands, &c. The
Zenos having represented _Porland_ as composed of a cluster of small
islands, I suspected the other names might likewise refer to collective
groups. Thus _Estland_ appeared to resemble in name the Shetland, Zetland,
or Hitland Islands; and on comparing the names of _Tolas, Broas, Iscant,
Trans, Mimant, Dambre_, and _Bres_, with those of Yell, Zeal or Teal,
Burray or Bura, of which name there are two places, West Bura, and East
Bura, and when taken collectively the Buras, Unst, Tronda, Main-land,
Hamer, which is the name of a place in the mainland of Orkney, and Brassa,
or Bressa, the resemblance seemed so obvious, that I no longer harboured
any doubt. The land of _Sorani_, which lay over against Scotland, naturally
suggested the _Suderoe_, or southern islands of the Norwegians, now called
the Western Islands or Hebrides. _Ledovo_ and _Ilofe_, are the Lewis and
Islay. _Sanestol_, the cluster of islands named _Schants-oer. Bondendon_,
Pondon, or Pondon-towny in Sky. _Frisland_, is Faira or _Fera_, also called
Faras-land. _Grisland_ seems Grims-ay, an island to the North of Iceland:
though I would prefer Enkhuysan to the eastwards of Iceland, but as that
was probably nothing more than an island of ice, we are compelled to assume
Grims-ay, _Engroneland_ is obviously Greenland. _Estoitland_ must have been
_Winland_, the Newfoundland of the moderns; and the Latin books may have
been carried there by bishop Eric of Greenland, who went to Winland in
1121. _Drogio_ lay much farther south, and the people of _Florida_, when
first discovered, had cities and temples, and possessed gold and silver.
_Icaria_ with its king _Icarus_, could be no other than Ireland[2] and
perhaps the name took its origin from Kerry; and as _Icarus_ was chosen for
the name of its first king and lawgiver, his father must of course be
_Dedalus_ who, in all probability, was some Scottish prince, having a name
of a similar sound. _Neome_ I take to be Strom-oe, one of the Faro isles,
_Porland_ probably meant the Far-oer, or Faro islands; as Far-oe, or Far-
land, is easily transmuted into _Porland_.
It is true that we find no such name as _Zicumni_ among the princes of the
Orkneys. The race of the ancient earls of Orkney, descendants of Jarl
Einar-Torf, becoming extinct, Magnus Smak, king of Norway, nominated, about
1343, Erngisel Sunason Bot, a Swedish nobleman, to be Jarl or Earl of
Orkney. In 1357 Malic Conda, or Mallis Sperre, claimed the earldom.
Afterwards, in 1369, Henry Sinclair put in his claim, and was nominated
earl in 1370, by King Hakon. In 1375, Hakon nominated Alexander Le-Ard to
be earl for a year. But Sinclair vanquished Le-Ard, and by a large sum
procured the investiture from Hakon in 1379, and we know from history, that
he remained earl in 1406, and was likewise possessed of Shetland. The name
_Sinclair_, or _Siclair_, might easily to an Italian ear seem _Zichmni_;
and as Sinclair vanquished Le-Ard, who represented the king of Norway, it
was no great impropriety to say that he had beaten the king of Norway.
After these elucidations, there can be no reason left to doubt of the truth
of this narrative of the Zenos which besides, as considered with relation
to the geography of the north at that period, is of great importance
--Forst.
[1] Ramusio. Forst. Voy. and Disc, p. 158.
[2] This is a most unlucky blunders as Icaria and Estoitland are obviously
one and the same place in the narrative of Marcclini, and therefore,
both must be America, or both Ireland, or both in nubibus.--E.
SECTION I
_Narrative of Nicolo Zeno_.
Nicolo Zeno, surnamed _il Cavaliere_, or the knight, had a strong desire to
see distant countries, that he might become acquainted with the manners and
languages of foreign nations, by which he might acquire credit and
reputation, and might render himself the more useful to his country. Being
a man of great property, he fitted out a ship with this view, at his own
expence, in 1380, and sailed through the Straits of Gibraltar to the
northwards, intending to visit England and Flanders. By a storm, which
lasted many days, his ship was cast away on the coast of _Frislanda_[1].
The vessel was entirely lost, but the crew got safe on shore, and part of
the cargo was saved. Zeno and his people were soon attacked by the natives,
attracted by the hopes of a rich plunder, against whom they were hardly
able, in their weary and weather-beaten state, to defend themselves; but,
fortunately for them, _Zichmni_, or Sinclair, the reigning prince or lord
of _Porlanda_[2], who happened to be then in _Frislanda_, and heard of
their shipwreck, came in all haste to their relief, of which they stood in
great need. After discoursing with them for some time in Latin, he took
them under his protection; and finding Nicolo Zeno very expert, both in
naval and military affairs, he gave him, after some time, the post of
admiral of his fleet, which Nicolo for some time refused, but at length
accepted.
Not long afterwards, Nicola wrote an account of these circumstances to his
brother Antonio, inviting him to come to _Frislanda_; who accordingly soon
arrived there, and lived four years along with Nicolo in that country; and
remained ten years in the service of _Zichmni_, or Sinclair, the prince of
that country, after the death of his brother Nicolo.
Nicolo Zeno having been shipwrecked in 13SO, on the island of _Frislanda_,
and saved by prince _Zichmni_ from the rude attacks of the natives, put
himself and all his people under the protection of this prince, who was
lord of certain islands lying to the south of _Frislanda_, which were
called _Porlanda_, and were the most fertile and most populous of all the
islands in those parts. _Zichmni_, or Sinclair, was besides this duke of
_Sorany_[3], a place which lies on one side of Scotland. Of these northern
parts, I, Antonio Zeno, have constructed a map, which hangs up in my house;
and which, though it be much decayed by time, may serve to give some
information to the curious.
_Zichmni_ the lord of all these countries, was a man of great courages and
famous for his skill in navigation. The year before the arrival of Nicolo
Zeno, he had defeated the king of Norway in a pitched battle, and was now
come with his forces to conquer _Frislandia_, which is much larger than
Iceland. On account of the knowledge of Nicolo Zeno in maritime affairs,
the prince took him and all his crew on board his fleet, and gave orders to
his admiral to treat him with the highest respect, and to take his advice
in every affair of importance.
_Zichmni_ had a fleet consisting of thirteen vessels, two of which only
were galleys, the rest being small barks, and only one of the whole was a
ship[4]. With all these they sailed to the westward, and without much
difficulty made themselves masters of _Ledovo_ and _Ilofe_[5], and several
other smaller islands and turning into a bay called _Sudero_, in the haven
of the town of _Sanestol_[6] they took several small barks laden with
fish[7]; and here they found _Zichmni_ who came by land with his army,
conquering all the country as he went. They stayed here but a short time,
and then shaped their course to the westwards, till they came to the other
cape of the gulf or bay, and here turning again, they found certain islands
and broken lands, all of which they brought under subjection to _Zichmni_,
or Sinclair. These seas were all full of shoals and rocks, insomuch that if
Nicolo Zeno and the Venetian mariners had not acted as pilots, the whole
feet, in the opinion of all who were in it, must have been lost; so small
was the skill of their people in comparison with ours, who had been trained
up in the art and practice of navigation from their childhood. After the
proceedings already mentioned, the admiral, by the advice of Nicolo Zeno,
determined to make for the shore, at a town called _Bondendon_[8], with a
view to get intelligence of the success which _Zichmni_ had met with in the
prosecution of the war on land. They here learned, to their great
satisfaction, that he had fought a great battle, in which he had put the
army of the enemy to flight; and in consequence of this intelligence, the
inhabitants sent ambassadors from all parts of the island, agreeing to
yield the country to his pleasure, and took down their flags and ensigns in
every town and castle. It was therefore thought advisable to remain at
_Bondendan_ for his arrival, as they had received reports that he would
certainly be there in a short time. On his arrival there were great
congratulations and rejoicings, as well for the victory obtained by land as
for the success of the naval expedition; and the Venetians were much
honoured and extolled for their skill, every tongue being loud in their
praises, and Nicolo Zeno was much applauded for his prowess. The prince
caused Nicolo to be brought into his presence, and bestowed high
commendations for the skill he had exerted in saving the fleet, and for the
great valour he had displayed in the taking of many towns, where indeed
there was no great difficulty or opposition; in reward for which he
bestowed upon him the honour of knighthood, and distributed rich and
liberal presents among his followers. Departing from _Bondendon_, the fleet
returned in triumph to _Frislanda_, the chief city of which is situated on
the south-east side of the island within a gulf, of which there are many in
that island. In this gulf or bay, there are such vast quantities of fish
taken, that many ships are yearly laden thence to supply Flanders,
Britannia[9], England, Scotland, Norway, and Denmark; and the produce of
this fishing brings great riches into the country.
The foregoing circumstances were contained in a letter sent by Nicolo Zeno
to his brother Antonio, in which he invited him to come to _Frislanda_; and
accordingly the latter set sail for this purpose, and, having surmounted
many dangers, safely joined his brother in that far distant country.
Antonio remained fourteen years in Frisland or Orkney; four years of that
time along with his brother, and ten years alone after the death of Nicolo.
The elder Zeno ingratiated himself so much into the favour of the prince,
that he was appointed admiral of a fleet which was sent out upon an
expedition against _Estland_[10], which lies between Frisland and Norway.
The invaders committed great ravages in that country, but hearing that the
king of Norway was coming against them with a considerable fleet, they
departed in haste; and being assailed by a violent tempest, they were
driven on certain shoals where a part of their ships were lost, and the
remainder were saved upon _Grisfand_[11], a large but uninhabited island.
The fleet of the king of Norway was overtaken by the same storm and mostly
perished; of which _Zichmni_, who was personally engaged in this
expedition, was apprized in consequence of one of the enemy's ships having
likewise been forced to take refuge in _Grisland_. Finding himself driven
so far to the north, and having repaired his ships, Zichmni now resolved to
make an attack upon the island of Iceland, which was under the dominion of
the king of Norway; but finding it too well fortified and defended for his
small force, and reflecting that his diminished fleet was now in bad
repair, he deemed it prudent to retire. In his way homewards, however, he
made an attack upon the islands of _Estland_, of which there are seven in
number. These are _Tolas_, Yeal or Zel; _Broas_, Brassa sound; _Iscant_,
Unst or Vust; _Trans_, Trondra; _Mimant_, Mainland; _Danbert_[12]; and
_Bres_, or Bressa; all of which he plundered, and built a fort in Bres,
where he left Nicolo Zeno in the command, with a sufficient garrison and a
few small barks, while he returned himself to Frisland. In the ensuing
spring, Nicolo Zeno resolved to go out upon discoveries; and, having fitted
out three small vessels, he set sail in July, shaping his course to the
northwards, and arrived in _Engroveland_[13], where he found a monastery of
predicant friars, and a church dedicated to St Thomas, hard by a mountain
that threw out fire like Etna or Vesuvius.
In this place there is a spring of boiling hot water, by means of which the
monks heat their church, monastery, and cells. It is likewise brought info
their kitchen, and is so hot that they use no fire for dressing their
victuals; and by enclosing their bread in brass pots without any water, it
is baked by means of this hot fountain as well as if an oven had been used
for the purpose. The monks have also small gardens, covered over in winter,
which being watered from the hot spring are effectually defended from the
extreme cold and snow, which are so rigorous in this region so near the
pole. By these means they produce flowers, and fruits, and different kinds
of herbs, just as they grow in temperate climates; and the rude savages of
those parts, from seeing these to them supernatural effects, take the
friars for gods, and supply them with poultry, flesh[14], and various other
things, reverencing the monks as their lords and rulers. When the frost and
snow is considerable, the monks warm their apartments as before described,
and by admitting the hot water, or opening their windows, they are able in
an instant to produce such a temperature as they may require.