The itinerary is vaguely dated in the title as of the year 1503, but we learn from the text, that Verthema set out upon the pilgrimage of Mecca from Damascus in the beginning of April 1503, after having resided a considerable time at Damascus to acquire the language, probably Arabic; and he appears to have left India on his return to Europe, by way of the Cape of Good Hope and Lisbon, in the end of 1508. From some circumstances in the text, but which do not agree with the commencement, it would appear that Verthema had been taken prisoner by the Mamelukes, when fifteen years of age, and was admitted into that celebrated military band at Cairo, after making profession of the Mahometan religion. He went afterwards on pilgrimage to Mecca, from Damascus in Syria, then under the dominion of the Mameluke Soldan of Egypt, and contrived to escape or desert from Mecca. By some unexplained means, he appears to have become the servant or slave of a Persian merchant, though he calls himself his companion, and along with whom he made various extensive peregrinations in India. At length he contrived, when at Cananore, to desert again to the Portuguese, through whose means he was enabled to return to Europe.
In this itinerary, as in all the ancient voyages and travels, the names of persons, places, and things, are generally given in an extremely vicious orthography, often almost utterly unintelligible, as taken down orally, according to the vernacular modes of the respective writers, without any intimate knowledge of the native language, or the employment of any fixed general standard. To avoid the multiplication of notes, we have endeavoured to supply this defect, by subjoining those names which are now almost universally adopted by Europeans, founded upon a more intimate acquaintance with the eastern languages. Thus the author, or his translator Eden, constantly uses Cayrus and Alcayr, for the modern capital of Egypt, now known either by the Arabic denomination Al Cahira, or the European designation Cairo, probably formed by the Venetians from the Arabic. The names used in this itinerary have probably been farther disguised and vitiated, by a prevalent fancy or fashion of giving latin terminations to all names of persons and places in latin translations. Thus, even the author of this itinerary has had his modern Roman name, Verthema, latinized into Vertomannus, and probably the Cairo, or Cayro of the Italian original, was corrupted by Eden into Cayrus, by way of giving it a latin sound. Yet, while we have endeavoured to give, often conjecturally, the better, or at least more intelligible and now customary names, it seemed proper to retain those of the original translation, which we believe may be found useful to our readers, as a kind of geographical glossary of middle-age terms.
Of Verthema or Vertomannus, we only know, from the title of the translation of his work by Eden, that he was a gentleman of Rome; and we learn, at the close of his itinerary, that he was knighted by the Portuguese viceroy of India, and that his patent of knighthood was confirmed at Lisbon, by the king of Portugal. The full title of this journal or itinerary, as given by the original translator, is as follows; by which, and the preface of the author, both left unaltered, the language and orthography of England towards the end of the sixteenth century, or in 1576, when Eden published his translation, will be sufficiently illustrated. –Ed.
There haue been many before me, who, to know the miracles of the worlde, haue with diligent studie read dyuers authours which haue written of such thynges. But other giuing more credit to the lyuely voyce, haue been more desirous to know the same, by relation of such as haue traueyled in those countreys, and seene such thinges whereof they make relation, for that in many bookes, geathered of vncertaine aucthoritie, are myxt false thinges with true. Other there are so greatly desirous to know the trueth of these thinges, that they can in no wyse be satisfied vntyll, by theyr owne experience they haue founde the trueth by vyages and perigrinations into straunge countreys and people, to know theyr maners, fashions, and customes, with dyuers thynges there to be seene: wherein the only readyng of bookes could not satisfie theyr thirst of such knowledge, but rather increased the same, in so much, that they feared not with losse of theyr goods and daunger of lyfe to attempte great vyages to dyuers countreys, with witnesse of theyr eyes to see that they so greatly desired to knowe. The whiche thyng among other chaunced vnto me also, for as often as in the books of Hystories and Cosmographie, I read of such marueylous thynges whereof they make mention [especially of thynges in the east parts of the world], there was nothyng that coulde pacifie my vnquiet mynde, vntyll I had with myne eyes seene the trueth thereof.
I know that some there are indued with hygh knowledge, mountyng vnto the heauens, whiche will contempne these our wrytinges as base and humble, by cause we do not here, after theyr maner, with hygh and subtile inquisition intreate of the motions and dispositions of the starres, and gyue reason of theyr woorkyng on the earth, with theyr motions, retrogradations, directions, mutations, epicicles, reuolutions, inclinations, diuinations, reflexions, and suche other parteyning to the science of Astrologie: whych certeynely we doe not contempne, but greatly prayse. But measuryng vs with our owne foote, we will leaue that heauie burden of heauven to the strong shoulders of Atlas and Hercules: and only creepyng vpon the earth, in our owne person beholde the situations of landes and regions, with the maners and customes of men, and variable fourmes, shapes, natures, and properties of beastes, fruites, and trees, especially suche as are among the Arabians, Persians, Indians, Ethiopians. And whereas in the searchyng of these thynges we have [thanked be God], satisfied our desire, we thinke neuerthelesse that we haue done little, excepte we should communicate to other, such thynges as we haue seene and had experience of, that they lykewyse by the readyng therof may take pleasure, for whose sakes we have written this long and dangerous discourse, of thynges whych we haue seene in dyvers regions and sectes of men, desiryng nothyng more then that the trueth may be knowen to them that desyre the same. But what incommodities and troubles chaunced vnto me in these vyages, as hunger, thirst, colde, heate, warres, captiuitie, terrours, and dyuers other suche daungers, I will declare by the way in theyr due places.
Should any one wish to know the cause of my engaging in this voyage, I can give no better reason than the ardent desire of knowledge, which hath moved me and many others to see the world and the wonders of creation which it exhibits. And, as other known parts of the world had been already sufficiently travelled over by others, I was determined to wait and describe such parts as were not sufficiently known. For which reason, with the grace of God, and calling upon his holy name to prosper our enterprise, we departed from Venice, and with prosperous winds we arrived in few days at the city of Alexandria in Egypt. The desire we had to know things more strange and farther off, did not permit us to remain long at that place; wherefore, sailing up the river Nile, we came to the city of new Babylon, commonly called Cayrus or Akayr, Cairo or Al-cahira, called also Memphis in ancient times.
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To accommodate this curious article to our mode of arrangement, we have made a slight alteration of the nomenclature of its subdivisions; calling those in this version