Chap. VIII
The Author is carry’d to the King’s Court. He traces the Origin of those Monarchs; describes the Royal Palace, Temple, &c.
The Governor, who, I said a while ago, came to levy the Tribute, went afterwards and carry’d it to the King, to whom he related how he met with a couple of Foreigners at such a Village, who knew how to make Machines that exactly measur’d Time, and divided a Day Natural into Twenty-four Parts, which they call’d Hours; and that the most wonderful thing of all, and of great Conveniency to the Inhabitants, was, that at every Hour, there was a Bowl of Metal on which a Hammer fell, denoting by a certain Number of Strokes the particular Time of the Day. The King seem’d surpris’d at this Account, and express’d his Desire to see us. Accordingly, we were very much alarm’d one Day, by the Arrival of two of this Prince’s Domestics that came to demand us of our Landlord, who having no Excuse to make for detaining us, gave us up with some Regret into their Hands.
Tho’ we were extremely sorry to leave the Judge, who made us infinitely more welcome than I could have desir’d to have been in Europe, yet we did not fail to express great Joy for the Honour the King had done us to send for us. In the mean time we ask’d our Guides several times, what might be the Reason of it, but they protested to us they did not know. All that they could assure us of, was, that we were talk’d of at Court as Persons of great Distinction, and that we should not fail of being well entertain’d there. But I was afraid that the King having heard of the Disputes we had held with the Priest, Judge, &c. had taken Exceptions against us, and intended to treat us as Seducers of his Subjects, and People that aim’d at the Subversion of his Government; yet it prov’d quite otherwise.
We were no sooner arriv’d, but the King sent for us to his Presence. After having made our Reverences, we were going to bend the Knee before we spoke to him, pursuant to a Hint that had been given us for that Purpose; but he would not permit it, and order’d a Joint-Stool to be brought for each of us, on which he commanded us to sit down; while all the others that were present were either standing or kneeling. The King was seated in a magnificent Chair of State which was ascended to by three Steps, and cover’d with a Canopy of admirable Sculpture. He ask’d us from whence we came, and how we got into his Country. We were oblig’d to gratify his Curiosity by an exact Detail of all our Adventures. He seem’d to be very glad that our Misfortunes had procur’d him the Pleasure of seeing us. At length, he came to the Article of our Science, which he extoll’d mightily, and after having told us, that he had heard we had made a Clock in our Village, he gave us to understand, that the chief reason of his sending for us, was to desire us, to make one for him, and promis’d to reward our Performance with the tenderest Marks of his Friendship, and by granting whatever we should desire at his Hands. We answer’d with a profound Obeisance, that we were not accustom’d to be so treated by our Sovereigns, that his Majesty did us a great deal of Honour to think us worthy of being employ’d in his Service, and that we would discharge ourselves in the best manner we could.
Upon this we were conducted into a very fine Apartment, which was to be our own, where Care was taken to serve and accommodate us as if we had been Persons of great Quality. Next Day, we gave Orders for fetching our Tools from the Place where we left them, caus’d several others to be made, such as my Comrade directed, and set about the Work with all possible Speed, because the King was impatient to see us at it.
The Monarch who then reign’d, was call’d Bustrol. He was a sober, modest, affable Prince, and, if he is still living, as I hope he is, one who is much more admir’d for his shining Virtues than for Pomp and Grandeur. He had a large full Robe on of the finest Goats-Hair, dy’d red, that was in all the Country, and he had a Fringe round it above a Foot deep. He wore a five-corner’d Cap with a Copper Button on it, an Inch and half in Diameter, which is the principal Mark of his Royalty, if you except his Gravity, Stature, and good Air.
The Governors are also cloth’d in red Robes, but they are of Woollen, and every way less. Other Men without Exception, wear Woollen Robes of mix’d Colours. The Judges only are distinguish’d by their Caps. As to the Women, they all have Habits or Veils of fine Linen for their upper Garments, under which they wear others more or less according to the Season.
The Children of the King have no Prerogatives above others, and tho’ a greater Deference is paid them, ’tis purely voluntary. The eldest only is honour’d, and dress’d almost like his Father, only he does not wear the Button.
The King may have 12 Wives, whom he either causes to be chose, or else chooses himself from among the People when he takes a Tour Abroad to shew himself, and they durst not refuse him any Woman tho’ she is actually promis’d to another. The Governors may have three, the Judges two, and the People one. The Priests are likewise permitted to have two Wives at a time; but whether they have both at one time or not, they are allow’d but two in all as long as they live, for if they happen to survive them, they are prohibited to marry again.
The most magnificent Thing belonging to the King is his Palace situated in the middle of the Royal Canton, which is of the same Extent as the others. It fronts to the N.N.E. is 36 Geometrical Paces in Breadth, and 20 in Depth. The first Floor, which is ten Foot above the Foundation, is divided into several Apartments well roof’d, where there’s no want of Pilasters, nor of Marble of various Sorts and Colours. The Pavement is red, the Pillars black, and the Roof-work white. The second Story being 20 Foot from the first, has on the Outside opposite to the Portal, a Stair-Case in form of an half Oval, with 20 Steps, each half a Foot in height. The first Room we enter, is a spacious Antichamber, behind which is the Chamber of Audience: From the Antichamber there run two narrow Passages, one on the Right, the other on the Left, which divide the main Body of the Building into two Parts, so that there are four stately Salons on each Side, and in the whole ten Apartments with the finest Cielings in the World, and Wainscotting than which I never saw any more curiously carv’d. Over this second Story there is a third divided almost in the same Manner as the former, only that instead of a Chamber of Audience, there is the Bed-Chamber where his Majesty lies. Then we come to a Platform cover’d with Pewter, and a Ballustrade all round of massy Copper. In the middle of it there is a round Pavilion cover’d with Copper also, and the whole is so well polish’d, that when the Sun shines on it, it dazzles ones Eyes. At the Top there is a Globe of 20 Foot Circumference, and a square Pyramid upon it which is one Foot in the Base and five in height, supported by twelve Pillars of Agate. In the whole Building there is nothing to be seen scarce but Marble, Agate, Jasper, and such exquisite fine Stones wonderfully well polish’d and wrought; the whole built according to an Order which comes pretty near to the Corinthian, except the Columns of the Cellars which are properly in the Tuscan Taste.
There being no Glass in this Country, they use instead of it the Skins of the Polη, which they rasp and dress in such a manner, that they last for ever, and give so free a Passage to the Light, that you have as much of it within Doors as without. This Parchment they put up in their Windows in the form of Quarrels, but as good and fine as it is, it must be own’d that our Glass surpasses it by far.
Behind the Palace there is a Dome of the Roman Order, 150 Foot Diameter, cover’d also with Copper, and of the same Materials and Magnificence as the Palace. This Place serves for two Uses, the Temple and the Senate. The King’s Throne is on the South Side over-against the Gate, and is rais’d six Foot upon a Stage of four which is cover’d with a magnificent Carpet; for ’tis certain these People infinitely surpass the Turks in the Weaving of their Tapistry. In the middle of the Cieling, there’s a very large Copper Sun, the Body of which is not perhaps above 10 or 12, Foot Diameter, but its Rays extend to a vast Distance. The Cone upon the Top of the Dome is broad and high. The whole is of Copper, and supported by six great Pillars or Towers, in each of which there is a Stair-case that leads to the Galleries of this stately Edifice.
All round the Canton there are Rows of Lodgings built with Pavilions upon the Angles, and two upon each Front or Side, equidistant from one another, so that in all there are twelve. Twelve Arches are also built between those Pavilions, which are like so many Gates open to go out of the Canton by 12 Bridges with Ballustrades of wrought Copper over-against them. Within these Lodgings in short, which are for the King’s twelve Wives, and for some of the Domesticks of the Court, there runs a Gallery all round supported by Pillars of Jasper cover’d with Pewter like the rest of the Lodgings, except the Pavilions which are of Copper, and extraordinary beautiful. The void Spaces between all these Buildings are full of Obelisks, Pyramids, Statues upon magnificent Pedestals, Pots full of all manner of Flowers according to the Season, Cages full of Birds of all the Colours in the Rainbow, which make very agreeable Melody, and in a Word, here is every thing to please the Senses, so that this Place is properly an inchanted Paradise.
The Canton which lies to the South of the Palace, is a Park full of Goats, Stags, which are very small in this Country, Bucks, Does, &c. and especially a Sort of Animals call’d Polη, which have long Hair, a Horn on their Heads, two Ears flat and broad as ones Hand, a short Tail but very broad, and great flat Feet, which is the Reason that they commonly stand upright. This Animal is about the bigness of our little Asses; the Flesh of it is very delicate, but there’s scarce any to be seen except in the King’s Parks, tho’ the Damage is not very great, by reason there are few People who do not scruple to eat it, because it very much resembles a Man, and seems indeed to be endow’d with some Reason.
The Canton to the South which is our North, is one continued Flower-Garden water’d with 1000 little artificial Fountains. The two others on the Right and Left are design’d for Fruit-trees, Pulse, and Pot-herbs; and besides those fine Cantons there are twenty more, twelve of which are for the Queen’s, and for their Children and Domestics, and the eight others for Tillage, Pasturage, &c.
The King’s Revenues consist in the annual Payment of a piece of Copper by every Master of a Family, which is about the Size of a Guinea. I mention’d it once before by the Name of Kala, and it has Inscriptions engrav’d on it, signifying Our Hearts to God on one Side, and Our Estates to the King on the other. I cannot tell what these Pieces are worth, but I have observ’d that they make as much of ’em in that Country as we do of Lewis d’Or’s in France, The current Coin here is of Pewter, of which there are Pieces of all Sizes with each a different Stamp. With this Coin they pay all the Officers of the State; tho’ the Gain to particular Persons is but a Trifle, yet as there are 41600 Villages or 41575 deducting the 25 Villages of the Royal Family, yet this Article amounts to 831500 Kalη, not reckoning the Judges and Priests who are exempt from paying the Tribute which, setting aside the Honour of their Posts, is all they get by them.
But I was then inform’d, that Things had not been fix’d on that Foot above 345 Years. Before then, the Kingly Power had been Time immemorial, or to speak in their Language, eternally in one and the same Family. These Kings were call’d Sons of the Sun and Earth, which Descent made them very ambitious, and the Children grew worse and worse from Generation to Generation. They degenerated so far as to demand Homage and Adoration from their Subjects. They abus’d their Wives and Daughters, prey’d upon their Estates, and talk’d of nothing less than cutting their Throats, when they gave the least Indications that they were not pleas’d with their Tyranny.
At last, as good Luck would have it for those wretched People, it happen’d I know not how, that a Portuguese arriv’d there, who having learnt their Language, told them, that after having been drove ashore upon their Coast, as we had been, he settled there with his Comrades, who were all dead within four Years Time, except one only, with whom he chose by the help of a very little Boat, to go up the River which ran thereabouts into the Sea. To this he added, that they were 8 Months in the Voyage, and that after having surmounted inconceivable Difficulties, they arriv’d at a Gulph of the Mountain from whence this River flow’d. They try’d to enter it several times, but it was so dark, and there were so many Rocks, Blind Holes, and Obstacles of all kinds, that they despair’d of passing it. At length however, they accomplish’d their Design, for after having gone above two Leagues under Ground, they arriv’d in the Country so jaded and fatigued, that they had not Strength to stir; and when this Portuguese had set his Foot upon Land, the other trying to do the same, fell backwards into the Boat, which at the same time drove from Shore, insomuch that this Man who was landed, not being able to reach to him, he had the Mortification to see him return into the Gulph from whence he never came out again. The Priest, to whom he told this Story, was as much astonish’d at it, as he was at his coming. He made him repeat it several times, thinking to catch him tripping, ’till having no more room to doubt of the Truth of a Relation so well circumstantiated, he went and imparted it to the Judge, who communicated it to the principal Men of the other neighbouring Cantons, so that in a very little time the whole Kingdom knew that their Kings had been Knaves and Villains, in that under pretence of a very particular and miraculous Birth, which set them infinitely above their Subjects, they treated them as Slaves, and were in a fair way in time to have us’d ’em like Dogs. But before six Weeks were gone and past, they shook off the Yoke, the King was depos’d, and sent to the Mines for his Life: And in his Place they chose the eldest Governor of the Country, with a Promise to let his Children reign after him, so long as they were humane, virtuous, and equitable.
Tho’ this banish’d Prince was a wicked Man, yet in one respect he was to be pity’d, because he protested to his Dying-Day that he believ’d what was publish’d concerning the Origin of his Ancestors, of whom he knew nothing but by Tradition. This Tradition however made the whole Race very insolent, and to value themselves infinitely above other Mortals; and indeed it was enough to puff them up, and to impress the People’s Minds with a very profound Respect for their Persons, while both were persuaded of the Truth of the Fact, which was related to me in the following Manner by Persons that might be depended on.
God, said they, was from all Eternity, but Heaven and Earth are not so ancient. As soon as the World was created, the Earth which is an animated Body, being charm’d with the shining Beauty of the Sun, became desperately in Love with him, made divers Attempts to mount up to him, but its Efforts were in vain, because the Weight of its Mass was such a Clog to it, that it rose but a very little way. The Sun perceiving how it shook and trembled, took Pity of it, and hiding himself in Clouds extremely thick, for fear of inflaming it more, and scorching it quite up, drew near to it, pierc’d it with his Rays to its very Bowels, and immediately retir’d. The Earth that Moment conceiv’d, and in 365 Days 1/4 after, was deliver’d of a Man and a Woman both surprizingly beautiful and majestick. This charming Couple advancing into the Country where they met with all manner of Trees without number bearing the choicest Fruits, had the Curiosity to ramble all over the Earth where ’twas accessible, till at length being arriv’d at the Southern Extremities of this vast Country, they found it bounded by unpassable Mountains. There it was, that Mol and his Wife Mola, by which Names, ’tis said, they were call’d, had some Contention. She it seems was for turning to the Right Hand, or else for going back the same Way they came, and he was for pushing on further, but being oblig’d to alter his Purpose by the Obstinacy of his Wife, he was in such a Passion, that he struck the Rock so hard with his Foot that it made a Gap, out of which Water flow’d in abundance, and form’d a River, which ran like a Torrent into a Pit, from whence there came out two Twins. This so cool’d the Matrix of the Earth, that it never more desir’d to be in Conjunction with its Lover the Sun, and consequently never had any more Children.
To this fine Tale they added, that from the two Persons were descended the Inhabitants of their Country, which they thought was the only Part of the World that was inhabited. But as soon as the Portuguese arriv’d, and told his Adventures, they were convinc’d, that they were not the only People of the World, and that the pretended Labour of the Earth was a meer Fable; which was follow’d by the Revolution that I just now mention’d. From that Time, the Kings and their Subjects liv’d in great Tranquillity and Harmony, spoke extremely well of one another, and indeed, I always observ’d that the People had an infinite Respect for their Sovereign, and that the King on his Part was fond of giving Demonstrations of his Tenderness to all that approach’d his Presence. He was civil to all Men in general, and as to us in particular, ’tis certain that he was so beyond measure.