p-travl-guides-msg – 8/18/17
Period travel guides. Pilgrimage guides.
NOTE: See also the files: travel-msg, p-tourism-art, travel-foods-msg, ships-msg, p-backpacks-msg, horses-msg, med-ships-art, carts-msg, pilgrimages-msg.
************************************************************************
NOTICE -
This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.
This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org
I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.
The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors.
Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s).
Thank you,
Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous
Stefan at florilegium.org
************************************************************************
Subject: ANST - RE: period travel guides
Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 08:42:51 -0500
From: "C. L. Ward" <gunnora at vikinganswerlady.org>
To: <Ansteorra-Laurels at ansteorra.org>
Jovian asked:
>I assume that people wrote "travel guides"
>during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Have
>any survived? Where can they be found? What
>do they cover?
Medieval "travel guides" aren't generally what you'd find today if you go to
the "Travel" section of a bookstore. The accounts are much less factual in
many cases, and as far as I've seen never are the kind of document that
lists "what sights to see".
There are a number of more-or-less factual travellers' accounts, and then
you also get into medieval geography, which is often largely fictional or
based on hearsay. And then there are the "fantastic travels" which I think
must descend from the common desire to astound and amaze those folks back
home. At the edges of the world people always envisioned strange and often
dangerous creatures. For ancient peoples the earth's farthest perimeter was
a realm radically different from what they perceived as central and human.
The alien qualities of these "edges of the earth" became the basis of a
literary tradition that endured throughout antiquity and into the
Renaissance, despite the growing challenges of emerging scientific
perspectives. This phenomenon is so widespread that a number of books have
been written on the subject. In fact, the same phenomenon continues today,
providing us the many and varied aliens of science fiction and speculative
literature.
Some good ones to look at include:
VIKING TRAVELS TO BYZANTIUM
---------------------------
* Palsson, Hermann and Paul Edwards. Vikings in Russia: Yngvar's Saga and
Eymund's Saga. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 1989. Out-of-print,
to have Amazon.com do a book search for it go to:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0852246234/thevikinganswerl
ARABIC SOURCES DESCRIBING THE VIKING WORLD
------------------------------------------
* M. Reinaud, trans. Geography of Abu al-Fida'. Paris. 1848. Describes the
Norse ca. early 14th century under the heading "Northern Regions of the
World"
* Allen, W. E. D., trans. The Poet and the Spae-Wife: An Attempt to
Reconstruct Al-Ghazal's Embassy to the Vikings. Dublin: Allen Figgis & Co.
1960.
[A translation of the Arabic text describing al-Ghazal's visit to Turgeis,
ruler of the Vikings in Ireland ca. 845. This account dates to the early
1200's.]
* Al-Mas'udi. Meadows of Gold. trans. A. Sprenger. London. 1941.
[Describes the Rus market of Bulghur prior to 947.]
* Al-Mas'udi. The Meadows of Gold: The Abbasids. Paul Lunde and Caroline
Stone, trans and eds. Kegan Paul International. 1989. To order from
Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0710302460/thevikinganswerl
* Ibn Battuta. The Travels of Ibn Battuta. trans. H.A.R. Gibb. Hakluyt
Society 2. Cambridge. 1962. To order from Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/812150614X/thevikinganswerl
* S. Janicsek. "Ibn Battuta's Journey to Bulghar." Journal Royal Asiatic
Society. 1929. pp. 792-800.
* Smyser, H. M., trans. "Ibn-Fadlan's Account of the Rus with Some
Commentary and Some Allusions to Beowulf." Franciplegius: Medieval and
Linguistic Studies in Honor of Francis Peabody Magoun Jr. eds. Jess B.
Bessinger and Robert P. Creed. New York: University Press. 1965. pp.
92-119.
[A translation of the Arabic text describing ibn-Fadlan's journey among the
Rus or Russian Vikings ca. 921. This account dates to the early 1200's.]
See also the text, which I have on my webpage at:
http://www.vikinganswerlady.org/ibn_fdln.htm
FANTASTIC TRAVEL LITERATURE
---------------------------
Babcock, William Henry. Legendary Islands of the Atlantic: A Study in
Medieval Geography. New York: American Geographical Society. 1922.
Out-of-print, to have Amazon look for it:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0836969634/thevikinganswerl
Babcock, William Henry. "The So-Called Mythical Islands of the Atlantic in
Medieval Maps", Scottish Geographical Magazine 31/32 (1916).
Flint, Valerie I. J. The Imaginative Landscape of Christopher Columbus.
Princeton University Press. 1992. To buy from Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0691056811/thevikinganswerl
Fuson, Robert H. Legendary Islands of the Ocean Sea. Pineapple Press. 1998.
To buy from Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1561640786/thevikinganswerl
Harvey, P. D. A. Mappa Mundi: The Hereford World Map. British Library
Studies in Medieval Culture</CITE>. University of Toronto Press. 1996. To
buy from Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0802009859/thevikinganswerl
[This map is a great example of medieval mythical geography and how it
intermixes with the knowledge of the real world.]
Jakobsen, Alfred. "Geographical Literature." in: Medieval Scandinavia: An
Encyclopedia. Phillip Pulsiano et al., eds. Garland Reference Library of
the Humanities 934. New York & London: Garland. 1993. pp. 224-225.
Out-of-print, to have Amazon search for it:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0824047877/thevikinganswerl
Romm, James S. The Edges of the Earth in Ancient Thought. Princeton:
Princeton University Press. 1992. To buy from Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0691069336/thevikinganswerl
Simek, Rudolph. "Elusive Elysia or Which Way to GlÊsisvellir."
Sagnaskemmtun: Studies in Honor of Hermann P·lsson on his 65th Birthday.
Rudolph Simek et al., eds. Vienna, Cologne & Graz: Bˆhlau. 1986. pp.
247-275. Out-of-print, to have Amazon look for it:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/3205066006/thevikinganswerl
Tomasch, Sylvia and Sealy Gilles, eds. Text and Territory: Geographical
Imagination in the European Middle Ages. The Middle Ages Series. University
of Pennsylvania Press. 1997. To buy from Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0812216350/thevikinganswerl
Westrem, Scott D., ed. Discovering New Worlds: Essays on Medieval
Exploration and Imagination. Garland Reference Library of the Humanities
1436. New York: Garland Publishing. 1991. Out-of-print, to have Amazon look
for it: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0815301022/thevikinganswerl
::GUNNORA::
Subject: Re: ANST - RE: period travel guides
Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 14:34:12
From: "Eric Jackson" <owenapaeddan at hotmail.com>
To: ansteorra at ansteorra.org
Gerald of Wales wrote a excelent description of his travels through
Wales recruiting for one of the crusades. He also wrote about his travels in
ireland here are a few links. You can find his books on the web if you are
interested in them
Ireland
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/geraldwales1.html
Wales
http://www.llangynfelyn.dabsol.co.uk/dogfennau/disgrifiadau_gerallt.html
Owen ap Aeddan.......
Subject: ANST - Period Travel Guides
Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2001 19:40:42 -0400
From: fitzmorgan at cs.com
To: ansteorra at ansteorra.org
> I assume that people wrote "travel guides" during the Middle Ages and
> Renaissance. Have any survived? Where can they be found? What do they
> cover?
>
> Jovian
Look for "The Pilgrims Guide To Santiago De Compostela" Written in , I
think, the 12th Century. and translated by William Melczer. Italica Press,
INC. ISBN 0-934977-25-9 for $17.50 if it's still in print. This is a travel
guide for pilgrims telling of dangers to avoid and sites to see on your
pilgrimage.
It tells which rivers you can safely drink from and which are unsafe.
It says some rude things about the Basque. And tells short stories about the
many Saints who's shrines you will see on the way. It's well worth reading.
Robert Fitzmorgan
Barony of Northkeep
Date: Tue, 06 Apr 2010 20:37:10 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Travel accounts to Turkey
I would mention that the English published a number of these travel
Accounts in the 17th century. You might already find them translated.
Johnnae
Those with access to EEBO might look for such titles as follow:
A description of the grand signour's seraglio or Turkish emperours
court [edited] by John Greaves. Author: Bon, Ottaviano, 1552-1623.
Publication Info: London : Printed for Jo. Ridley, 1653.
Headings to look for: [Harem] [Turkey -- Court and courtiers]
[Istanbul (Turkey) -- Description]
----------
The four epistles of A.G. Busbequius concerning his embassy into
Turkey being remarks upon the religion, customs, riches, strength and
government of that people : as also a description of their chief
cities, and places of trade and commerce : to which is added, his
advice how to manage war against the Turks. Author: Busbecq, Ogier
Ghislain de, 1522-1592. Publication Info: London : Printed for J.
Taylor ... and J. Wyat ..., 1694.
The author died a century before publication in this case.
-----------
The six voyages of John Baptista Tavernier, Baron of Aubonne through
Turky, into Persia and the East-Indies, for the space of forty years
giving an account of the present state of those countries, viz. of the
religion, government, customs, and commerce of every country, and the
figures, weight, and value of the money currant all over Asia : to
which is added A new description of the Seraglio
Tavernier, Jean-Baptiste, 1605-1689., Phillips, John, 1631-1706., Cox,
Daniel,
London: Printed by William Godbid for Robert Littlebury ... and Moses
Pitt ...1677.
Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2010 23:10:20 -0400
From: Sam Wallace <guillaumedep at gmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: [Sca-cooks] 15th Century Travelogues
I found this set of travelogues while digging through Google Books. They
are of a pair of Italians who ventured to Persia, Poland, Russia and
other regions. There is some interesting mention of cuisine and culinary
customs, but not as many details as might be desired. It is worth
digging around in them as these areas did not produce many culinary
works until well after 1600.
Travels to Tana and Persia
http://books.google.com/books?id=RxgRAQAAIAAJ
Guillaume
Date: Sat, 2 Oct 2010 06:53:51 -0400
From: "Daniel & Elizabeth Phelps" <dephelps at embarqmail.com>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] The Adventures of Ibn Battula
I'm rereading "The Adventures of Ibn Battula" by Ross E. Dunn and came
across a description of a meal that might prove interesting. Ibn Battula
was a Muslim traveler in the 14th century who is often referred to as "the
Muslim Marco Polo". Dunn uses an account of his travels to recreate his
itinerary. The meal, served in Mogadishu, is describes as follows:
... the party addressed themselves to a meal of local fare, compliments of
the palace: a stew of chicken, meat, fish, and vegetables poured over rice
cooked in ghee: unripe bananas in fresh milk: and a dish comprising of sour
milk, green ginger, mangoes, and pickled lemons and chilies. The citizens
of Mogadishu, Ibn Battula observed, did justice to such meals as these: "A
single citizen... eats as much as a whole company of us would eat, as a
matter of habit, and they are corpulent and fat in the extreme."
I am puzzled at the inclusion of chilies in this description as I understand
them to have been introduced from the new world. Perhaps the translation
from the original text is in error?
Dan
Date: Sat, 02 Oct 2010 08:52:32 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] The Adventures of Ibn Battula
The adventures of Ibn Battuta, a Muslim traveler of the fourteenth
century by Ross E. Dunn. Google books has it up. The quote is on page
124.
The version The travels of Ibn Battuta: A.D. 1325 1354 by Ibn Batuta,
B. R. Sanguinetti doesn't contain the word "chilies."
The question would be--- do other versions use the word or are certain
versions using a modern word or term for Ibn Battuta's 14th century
peppers? (Numerous texts point out that the region now uses a very hot
chile pepper extensively. Was the modern pepper known as the African
devil chile thought to be the traditional pepper of centuries past?)
Running a search on Ibn Battuta and the word chilies through Google
Books leads to Ibn Battuta in Black Africa
By Ibn Batuta, Said Hamdun, No?l Quinton King.
A footnote in that book on page 78 reads
"The word translated 'chilies' is fulfil, compare Kiswahili pilipili."
Searching on pilipili
pilipili, pili-pili, piripiri n. from pilipili "pepper": red pepper,
capsicum, bird's-eye chili; red-pepper sauce [< Swahili < Persian]
I suspect that what Ibn Battula was served was a variety of black
pepper or even long pepper. Was it served fresh? Some of the texts
call it chopped. One would think that it should have been ground.
profiles the African Birdseye pepper (another new world in origin
capsicum pepper) and notes "pili-pili simply means "pepper-pepper" and
is a generic term for any African chile."
I think it's safe to say he was served a hot pepper of old world origin.
http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200801/
where.the.pepper.grows.htm talks about Where the pepper grows in
relation to its use in Arab history.
Johnnae
Date: Sun, 3 Oct 2010 17:37:11 -0400
From: "Daniel & Elizabeth Phelps" <dephelps at embarqmail.com>
To: "cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Ibn Battula"s Meals
In Dunn's book, page 166, he translates the account of a meal at Azak (Tana, now Azov (at the mouth of the Don for those interested in geography) as follows:
"millet gruel, macaroni, boiled meat of horse and sheep, and fermented mare's milk, called qumizz."
The reference to macaroni puzzles. It references some sort of pasta of that I'm reasonably sure. I'm suspecting that he is likely talking about broad flat noodles. Would they be made from wheat?
Dan
Date: Sun, 3 Oct 2010 14:51:42 -0700
From: David Friedman <ddfr at daviddfriedman.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] The Adventures of Ibn Battula
<<< I'm rereading "The Adventures of Ibn Battula" by Ross E. Dunn and
came across a description of a meal that might prove interesting.
Ibn Battula was a Muslim traveler in the 14th century who is often
referred to as "the Muslim Marco Polo". Dunn uses an account of his
travels to recreate his itinerary. The meal, served in Mogadishu,
is describes as follows:
... the party addressed themselves to a meal of local fare,
compliments of the palace: a stew of chicken, meat, fish, and
vegetables poured over rice cooked in ghee: unripe bananas in fresh
milk: and a dish comprising of sour milk, green ginger, mangoes, and
pickled lemons and chilies. The citizens of Mogadishu, Ibn Battula
observed, did justice to such meals as these: "A singe citizen...
eats as much as a whole company of us would eat, as a matter of
habit, and they are corpulent and fat in the extreme."
I am puzzled at the inclusion of chilies in this description as I
understand them to have been introduced from the new world. Perhaps
the translation from the original text is in error?
Dan >>>
The relevant passage is on page 376 of the Gibb translation of The
Travels. It isn't entirely clear if Ibn Battuta is describing the
food he was offered, or starting with that and then commenting on
what the local people eat.
"and in another dish they put curdled milk, on which they place
[pieces of] pickled lemon, bunches of pickled pepper steeped in
vinegar and salted, green ginger, and mangoes. "
That's clearly the passage he is referring to, and it sounds as
though Dunn has turned peppers into chilis. I haven't read his book,
but Ibn Battuta's own account of his travels, in the Gibb
translation, is a lot of fun. I like to describe Marco Polo as a 13th
c. Italian imitator of the 14th c. North African world traveler Ibn
Battuta.
--
David/Cariadoc
www.daviddfriedman.com
Date: Sun, 3 Oct 2010 22:19:55 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Ibn Battula"s Meals
<<< The reference to macaroni puzzles. It references some sort of pasta of
that I'm reasonably sure. I'm suspecting that he is likely talking about
broad flat noodles. Would they be made from wheat?
Dan >>>
Triticun durum (AKA T. turgidum), the wheat most commonly used in making
pasta, has been grown in North Africa since at least Roman times. It would
have been a trade good in the Moslem world of the 14th Century, so there is
a good possibility that the pasta mentioned was made from T. durum. Since
durum was being grown in Dhufar (west coast of the Arabian Peninsula), the
Horn of Africa would have had easy access to it.
Bear
Date: Mon, 4 Oct 2010 02:33:59 -0400
From: "Daniel & Elizabeth Phelps" <dephelps at embarqmail.com>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Ibn Battula"s Meals
Was written:
<<< Since durum was being grown in Dhufar (west coast of the Arabian
Peninsula), the Horn of Africa would have had easy access to it. >>>
My reply:
Yes but we are talking about a meal served in Azov a city up the River Don.
Azov (Russian: ?????, pronounced [a'zof]) is a town in Rostov Oblast,
Russia, situated on the Don River just sixteen kilometers from the Sea of
Azov. The River Don flows into the Sea of Azov from the north east. The
Sea of Azov connects to the Black Sea on its north side.
I suspect that "macaroni" is used by Dunn generically for pasta. All that
being said the grain used in making the pasta could have been grown locally?
We know that millet was also served at the meal. The "macaroni" referenced
could have been made from wheat, buckwheat or millet. Macaroni as we know
it is in the form of tubular noodles. Did tubular noodles exist in Azov at
the time?
Daniel
Date: Mon, 04 Oct 2010 11:24:54 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] The Adventures of Ibn Battuta
Came across this 3 part article on Ibn Battuta that people might enjoy.
Again from Saudi Aramco World
The Longest Hajj: The Journeys of Ibn Battuta: Editor's Note
The Longest Hajj: The Journeys of Ibn Battuta, Part 1: From Pilgrim to
Traveler?Tangier to Makkah
The Longest Hajj: The Journeys of Ibn Battuta, Part 2: From Riches to
Rags?Makkah to India
The Longest Hajj: The Journeys of Ibn Battuta, Part 3: From Traveler
to Memoirist?China, Mali and Home
will get one started.
Johnna
<<< http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200801/where.the.pepper.grows.htm
talks about Where the pepper grows in relation to its use in Arab
history.
Johnnae >>>
Date: Mon, 4 Oct 2010 11:17:02 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Ibn Battula"s Meals
I shouldn't try to follow a thread when I'm tired.
The area you are describing is in the grain growing region of Southeast
Europe. While they might or might not have had durum, they would have had
wheat and I would generally assume that any pasta would be made from some
variety of wheat, except possibly in times of famine. Neither buckwheat nor
millet have gluten and any pasta made from them would likely be extremely
friable.
The term macaroni derives from the Italian "maccaroni" meaning "dumpling."
In the original usage, the word can be used to refer to almost any form of
pasta. IIRC, the first reference to tubular pasta shows up in early 15th
Century Italy (check for references before taking that as gospel), but I
don't remember that usage being outside of Italy. In my view, tubular pasta
is a remote possibility. It is much more likely that the pasta would be
flat noodles or dumplings.
Millet, BTW, makes a very decent polenta, either as a soft mush or a drier
loaf. I suspect that this was probably served as mush.
Bear
<<< Yes but we are talking about a meal served in Azov a city up the River
Don. Azov (Russian: ?????, pronounced [a'zof]) is a town in Rostov Oblast,
Russia, situated on the Don River just sixteen kilometers from the Sea of
Azov. The River Don flows into the Sea of Azov from the north east. The
Sea of Azov connects to the Black Sea on its north side.
I suspect that "macaroni" is used by Dunn generically for pasta. All that
being said the grain used in making the pasta could have been grown
locally? We know that millet was also served at the meal. The "macaroni"
referenced could have been made from wheat, buckwheat or millet? Macaroni
as we know it is in the form of tubular noodles. Did tubular noodles
exist in Azov at the time?
Daniel >>>
Date: Tue, 05 Oct 2010 08:33:23 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Ibn Battula"s Meals
And of course it may just be a mistranslation. Perhaps instead of
macaroni, the translator should have used the term noodles.
Would we have noticed if the phrase had been
"millet gruel, noodles, boiled meat of horse and sheep, and fermented
mare's milk, called qumizz"?
Johnnae
On Oct 5, 2010, at 7:26 AM, Claire Clarke wrote:
<<< Maccaroni in fifteenth century Italian sources refers to at least
two shapes - something that resembles modern fettucine and something that resembles modern penne. There may be more that I haven't seen. But my understanding is that macaroni was the name used for what we would call spaghetti until the 19th century.
Angharad >>>
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2015 23:36:48 -0500
From: JIMCHEVAL at aol.com
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Glimpses of Turkish food (1432-1433)
The Travels of Bertrandon de la Brocqui?re [...] to Palestine, and His
Return from Jerusalem Overland to France During the Years 1432 and 1433
https://books.google.com/books?id=A9YWAAAAQAAJ&vq=We%20halted%20among%20the
m%3A&dq=Bertrandon&pg=PA164#v=onepage&q&f=false
"We halted among them: they placed before us one of the table-cloths before
mentioned, in which there remained fragments of bread, cheese and grapes.
They then.brought us a dozen of thin cakes of bread, with a large jug of curdled milk, called by them Yogort. The cakes are a foot broad, round, and thinner than wafers: they fold them up as grocers do their papers for spices, and eat them filled with the curdled milk....
once more lodged with the Turcomans, who again served us with milk. It was
here I saw women make those thin cakes I spoke of. This is their manner of
making them: they have a small round table, very smooth, on which they
throw some flour, and mix it with water to a paste, softer than that for bread.
This paste they divide into round pieces, which they flatten as much as
possible with a wooden roller, of a smaller diameter than an egg, until they
make them as thin as 1 have mentioned. During this operation, they have a
convex plate of iron placed on a tripod, and heated by a gentle fire
underneath, on which they spread the cake, and instantly turn it, so that they make two of their cakes sooner than a waferman can make one wafer."
"[The mufti (Amarath II)] loves liquor, and those who drink hard: as for
himself, he can easily quaff off from ten to twelve gondils of wine, which
amount to six or seven quarts*. When he has drunk much, he becomes generous,
and distributes his great gifts: his attendants, therefore, are very happy
when they hear him call for wine. Last year, a Moor took it into his head
to preach to him on this subject, admonishing him that wine was forbidden by
the prophet, and that those who drank it were not good Saracens. The only
answer the prince gave was to order him to prison"
"The prince waited to reseat himself, until the ambassador had sitten
down: then the different officers on duty who were in the apartment sat down on the floor,?and the person who had introduced the ambassador went to seek
for us his attendants, and placed us near the Bosnians. In the mean time, a
silken napkin was attached to the prince, and a round piece of thin red
leather was placed before him, for their usage is to eat only from
table-coverings of leather, then some dressed meat was brought to him in two gilded dishes. When he was served, his officers went and took the tin dishes I have spoken of, and distributed them to the persons in the hall, one dish among four. There was in each a piece of mutton, and some clear rice, but neither bread nor any thing to drink. I saw, however, in a corner of the court a high buffet with shelves, which had some little plate on them, and at the foot was a large silver vase, in the shape of a drinking cup, which I
perceived many to drink out of, but whether water or wine I know not. With regard to the meat on the dishes, some tasted of it, others not; but before all Were served, it was necessary to take away, for the prince had not been
inclined to eat."
"I descended into this plain to dinner, for I had brought with me chickens
and wine. My guides conducted me to the house of a man, who, when he saw
my wine, took me for a person of consequence, and received me well. He
brought me a porringer of milk, another of honey, and a branch loaded with
dates."
"They dress sheeps feet here with a cleanliness I have no where seen. I
regaled myself with them the more eagerly, as I had not eaten any dressed meat since I had left Couhongue. They cook also a nice dish with
green walnuts. Their manner is to peel them, cut them into two, and put
them on a string: then they are besprinkled with boiled wine, which attaches
itself to them, and forms a jelly like paste all around them. It is a very
agreeable food, especially when a person is hungry. We were obliged to lay
in a stock of bread and cheese for two days, as I was disgusted with raw
meat."
Jim Chevallier
<the end>