The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation Volume I Part 22

[Sidenote: Frisius & Munst.] Circ.u.m ver Insulam, per septem aut octo menses fluctuat glacies, miserabilem quendam gemitum, & ab humana voce non alienum, ex collisione edens. Putant incolae, & in monte Hecla, & in glacie loca esse, in quibus animae suorum crucientur.

Egregium scilicet Historiae augmentum, de Orro Islandico in vnius montis basin, haud sane vastam, coacto: Et interdum (statis forsan temporibus) loca commutante. Vbi scilicet domi in foco montano delitescere piget, & exire, pelagusque sed sine rate, tentare iuuat, seseque in glaciei frustella colligere. Audite porr, huius secreti admiratores: En porrigam Historicis aliud Historiae auctarium nequaquam contemnendum. Scribant igitur, quotquot his scriptorum commentis adherent, Islandos non solum infernum intra limites habere, sed & scientes volentes ingredi, atque intactos eodem die egredi. Quid ita? Quia peruetus est Insulae consuetudo, vt maritimi in hanc glaciem, ab Historicis infernalem factam, mane phocas, seu vitulos marinos captum eant, ac vesperi incolumes redeant. Addite etiam, in scrinijs & alijs vasis ab Islandis carcerem d.a.m.natorum a.s.seruari, vt paul post ex Frisio audiemus.

Sed mature praevidendum erit vobis, ne Islandi fort.i.tudinis & constantiae laudem vestris nationibus praeripiant: Quippe qui tormenta (vt historicis vestris placet) barathri sustinuisse & velint & possint, illaque sine vllo grauiore d.a.m.no perrumpere atque effugere valeant, quod quidem ipsum ex iam dictis efficitur: Et multos nostratium enumerare possum, qui in ipso venationis actu longiuscule a littore digressi, glacie a Zephyris dissipata, multa milliaria glaciei insidentes, tempestatis violentia profligati, & aliquot dies ac noctes continuas crudelissimi pelagi fluctibus iactati, sicque (id enim, inquam, ex praesenti Historicorum problemate consequitur) tormenta & cruciatus barathri glacialis experti sunt: Qui tandem mutata tempestate, atque a Borea spirantibus ventis, ad littora, c.u.m hoc suo glaciali nauigio rursus adacti, incolumes domum peruenerunt: Quorum aliqui etiam hodie viuunt. Quare hoc nouitatis auidi arripiant, indeque, si placet, iustum volumen conficiant, atque ad Historiam suam apponant. Nec enim vanissima illa commenta aliter, quam eiusmodi iocularibus excipienda & confundenda videntur. Caeterum, ioco seposito, vnde digressi sumus, reuertamur.

Primum igitur ex sectione secunda satis constat, glaciem, neque septem, neque octo mensibus circa ipsam Insulam fluitare: Deinde etiam, glaciem hanc, et si interdum ex collisione grandes sonitus & fragores edit, interdum propter vndarum alluuionem, rauc.u.m murmur personat, quicquam tamen humanae voci simile resonare aut eiulare minime fatemur.

Quod autem dic.u.n.t, nos & in glacie, & in monte Hecla loca statuere, in quibus animae, nostrorum crucientur, Id ver seri pernegamus, Deoque ac Domino nostro Iesu Christo, qui nos a morte & inferno eripuit, & regni coelestis ianuam n.o.bis reserauit, gratias ex animo agimus, qud nos de loco, in quem animae nostrorum defunctorum commigrent, rectius, quam dic.u.n.t isti Historici, inst.i.tuerit. Scimus & tenemus animas piorum non in Purgatoriam Pontificiorum, aut campos Elysios, sed in sinum Abrabae, in manum Dei, in Paradisum coelestem, mox e corporis ergastulo transferri.

Scimus & tenemus de impiorum animabus, non in montanos focos & cineres, vel glaciem nostris oculis expositam, deflectere, sed in extremas mox abripi tenebras, vbi est fletus & stridor dentium, vbi est frigus, vbi est ignis ille, non vulgaris, sed extra nostram scientiam & subtilem disputationem positus. Vbi non mod corpora, sed animae etiam, i.e. substantiae spirituales, cruciantur. Huic extremo & tenebricoso carceri non Islandos viciniores, quam Germanos, Danos, Gallos, Italos, aut quamuis aliam gentem, quoad loci situm, statuimus. Nec de huius carceris loco situue quicquam disputare attinet: sufficit n.o.bis abunde, qud illius tenebricosum foetorem & reliqua tormenta, dante & iuuante Domino nostro Iesu Christo, cuius precioso sanguine redempti sumus, nonquam sumus visuri aut sensuri. Atque hic de orco Islandico disputationis colophon esto.

The same in English.

THE NINTH SECTION.

[Sidenote: Frisius and Munster.] But round about the Iland, for the s.p.a.ce of 7. or 8. moneths in a yere there floateth ise, making a miserable kind of mone, and not vnlike to mans voice, by reason of the clashing together. The inhabitants are of opinion that in mount Hecla and in the ise, there are places wherein the soules of their countreymen are tormented.

No doubt, a worthy augmentation of the history, concerning the hel of Island, shut vp within the botome of one mountaine, & that no great one: yea, at some times (by fits and seasons) changing places: namely, when it is weary of lurking at home by the fires side within the mountaine, it delighteth to be ranging abroad, & to venter to sea, but without a ship, & to gather it selfe round into morsels of yce. Come forth, & giue care all ye that wonder at this secret. Lo, I will afford these historiographers another addition of history very notable. Let them write therfore, that the Islanders haue not only hel within their iurisdictction, but also that they enter into it willingly & wittingly, & come forth againe vntouched the very same day. How can that be? [Sidenote: Taking of Seales on the the ice.] Why it is an ancient custome of the Island that they which inhabite neare the sea sh.o.r.e do vsually go betimes in a morning to catch Seales, euen vpon the very same ise which the historiographers make to be hel, & in the euening returne home safe and sound. Set downe also (if ye please) that the prison of the d.a.m.ned is kept in store by the Islanders in coffers and vessels, as we shall anon heare out of Frisius.

But you had need wisely to foresee, lest the Islanders beguile all your countries of the commendation of courage & constacy: namely, as they (for so it pleaseth your writers to report) who both can and will endure the torments of h.e.l.l, & who are able to breake through & escape them, without any farther hurt: which thing is necessarily to be collected out of that, that hath bin before mentioned. [Sidenote: Westrerne winds disperse the ice.] And I am able to reckon vp a great many of our countnmen who in the very act of hunting, wandring somewhat farre from the sh.o.a.re (the ice being dispersed by westerne winds) & for the s.p.a.ce of many leagues resting vpon the ice, being chased with the violence of the tempest, & some whole daies & nights being tossed vp & downe in the waues of the raging sea, & so (for it followeth by good consequence out of this probleme of the historiographers) haue had experience of the torments, & paines of this h.e.l.l of ice. Who at the last, the weather being changed, & the winds blowing at the North, being transported again to the sh.o.a.re, in this their ship of ice, haue returned home in safety: some of which number are aliue at this day. Wherefore let such as be desirous of newes s.n.a.t.c.h vp this, & (if they please) let them frame a whole volume hereof, & adde it to their history. Neither do these vaine phantasies deserue otherwise to be handled & confuted, then with such like meriments, & sportings. But to lay aside all iesting, let vs returne to the matter from whence we are digressed.

[Sidenote: Ice floateth not 7. or 8. moneths about Island.] First of all therefore it is euident enough out of the second section, viz. ice floateth not about this Iland, neither 8. nor 7. moneths in a yere then, that this ice (although at some times by shuffling together it maketh monstrous soundings & cracklings, & againe at some times with the beating of the water, it sendeth forth an hoa.r.s.e kind of murmuring) doth any thing at all resound or lament, like vnto mans voice, we may in no case confesse. But wheras they say that, both in the Isle, and in mount Hecla we appoint certaine places, wherin the soules of our countrimen are tormented, we vtterly stand to the deniall of that and we thanke G.o.d & our Lord Iesus Christ from the botome of our hearts (who hath deliuered vs from death & h.e.l.l, & opened vnto vs the gate of the kingdome of heaaen because he hath instructed vs more truely, concernmg the place, whether the soules of our deceased countrimen depart, then these historiographers doe tell vs. We know and maintain that the soules of the G.o.dly are transported immediatly out of their bodily prisons, not into the Papists purgatory, nor into the Elysian fields, but into Abrahams bosome, into the hand of G.o.d, & into the heauenly paradise. We know & maintaine concerning the soules of the wicked, that they wander not into the fires & ashes of mountaines or into visible ice, but immediatly are carried away into vtter darknesse, where is weeping & gnashing of teeth, where there is colde also, & fire not comon, but far beyond our knowledge & curious disputation. Where not onely bodies, but soules also, that is spirituall substances are tormented. And we do also hold, that the Islanders are no whit nearer vnto this extreame & darke prison, in regard of the situation of place, then the Germans, Danes, Frenchmen, Italians, or any other nation whatsoeuer. Neither is it any thing to the purpose, at all to dispute of the place or situation of this dungeon. It is sufficient for vs, that (by the grace and a.s.sistance of our Lord Iesus Christ, with whose precious blood we are redeemed) we shall neuer see that vtter darknesse, nor feele the rest of the torments that be there. Now let vs here shut vp the disputation concerning the h.e.l.l of Island.

SECTIO DECIMA.

[Sidenote: Frisius, Zieglerus Saxo fere similiter.] Qud si quis ex hac glacie magnam partem ceperit, eamque vasi ant scrinio inclusam, quam diligentissime a.s.seruarit, illa tempore glaciei, quae circ.u.m insulam est, degelantis, euanescit, vt neque minima eius particula vel guttula aquae reperiatur.

Id profecto necessari addendum fuit: Hanc scilicet glaciem, voces humanas, secundum Historicos, representatem, & d.a.m.natorom receptaculum existentem, non esse, vt reliqua in vastissima hac vniuersitate omnia, ex Elementi alicuius materia conflatam. Siquidem c.u.m corpus esse videatur, corpus tamen non sit, (quod ex Frisij paradoxo recte deducitur) c.u.m etiam corpora dura & solida perrumpat, non secus ac, spectra & genij: Restat igitur c.u.m non sit elementaris naturae, vt vel spiritualem habeat materiam, vel coelestem, vel quod ipsi forsan largiantur, infernalem. Infernalem tamen esse non a.s.sentiemur, quia ad aures nostras peruenit frigus infernale longe esse intractabilius, quam est haec glacies, humanis manibus in scrinio reposita, nec quicquam suo contactu, vel nudatam carnem laedere valens. Nec profect spiritualem esse dabimus; accepimus enim a Physicis, substantias spirituales nec cerni, nec tangi, nec ijs quicquam decedere posse: quae tamen omnia in hanc historicorum glaciem, quantumuis, secundum illos, hyperphysicam, cadere certum & manifestum est. Praeterea & hoc verissimum est, eam calore solis resolutam, ac in superficie sua stagnantem, siti piscatorum restinguendae, non secus ac riuos terrestres, inseruire: Id quod substantiae spirituali denegatum est. Non est igitur spiritualis, vt nec infernalis. Iam ver coelestem habere materiam, nemo audebit dicere: Ne forte inde aliquis suspicetur, glaciem hanc barathrum, quod illi Historici affingunt, sec.u.m e coelo traxisse: Vel id coelo, quippe eiusdem materiae c.u.m glacie, commune esse, atque ita carcer d.a.m.natorum c.u.m Paradiso coelesti loca commuta.s.se, Historicorum culpa putetur.

Quare c.u.m glacies haec Historica nec sit elementaris, vt ex praesenti loco Frisij optime sequi iam toties monuimus: nec spiritualis, nec infernalis, quod vtrumque breuibus, solidis tamen rationibns demonstrauimus: nec coelestis materiae, quod opinari religio vetat: relinquitur omnino, vt secnndum eosdem Historicos nulla sit, quam tamen illi tam c.u.m stupenda admiratione praedicant, & nos videri ac tangi putamus. Est igitur, & non est: Quod axioma vbi secundum idem, & ad idem, & eodem tempore, verum esse poterit, nos demum miraculis istis glacialibus credemus. Itaque iam vides Lector, ad haec refellenda nullo alio esse opus, quam monstrari quomodo sec.u.m dissideant. Sed haud mirum, eum qui semel vulgi fabulosis rumoribus se cermisit, saepius errare. Cuiusmodi etiam prodidit quidam de glaciei huius Sympathia, qud videlicet molis, cuius pars esset, discessum insequeretur, vt omnem obseruationis diligentiam ineuitabili fugae necessitate deciperet. Atqui saepe idimus eiusmodi solitariam molem post abactam reliquam glaciem, nullis vectibus nullis machinis detentam, ad littus multis septimanis consistere. Palam est igitur, illud de glacie miraculum fundamento niti, quam est ipsa glacies, magis lubrico.

The same in English.

THE TENTH SECTION.

[Sidenote: Frisius. Zieglerus. Saxo.] If any man shall take a great quant.i.ty of this ice, & shall keepe it neuer so warily enclosed in a coffer or vessel, it wil at that time when the ice thaweth about the Iland, vtterly vanish away, so that not the least part thereof, no nor a drop of water is to be found.

Surely, this was of necessity to be added: namely, that this ice, which according to historiographers representeth mans voice, & is the place of the d.a.m.ned, doth not as all other things in this wide world, consist of the matter of some element. For whereas it seemeth to be a body, when indeed it is no body: (which may directly be gathered out of Frisius absurd opinion) whereas also it pierceth through hard & solide bodies, no otherwise then spirits & ghosts: therefore it remaineth, seeing it is not of an elementary nature, that it must haue either a spirituall, or a celestial, or an infernal matter. But that it should be infernall, we can not be perswaded, because we haue heard that infernall cold is farre more vnsufferable then this ise, which vseth to be put into a boxe with mens hands, & is not of force any whit to hurt euen naked flesh, by touching thereof. Nor yet will we grant it to be spirituall: for we haue learned in naturall Philosophy, that spiritual substances can neither be seene nor felt, & cannot haue any thing taken from them: all which things do notwithstanding most manifestly agree to this ise of the Historiographers, howsoeuer according to them it be supernatural. Besides also, it is most true, that the very same yse being melted with the heat of the sunne, & resolued into water, vpon the vpper part therof, standeth fishermen in as good stead to quench their thirst, as any land-riuer would do, which thing can no way be ascribed to a spirituall substance. It is not therefore spirituall, nor yet infernall.

Now none wilbe so bold to affirme, that it hath celestiall matter, least some man perhaps might hereupon imagine, that this ise hath brought h.e.l.l (which the historiographers annexe vnto it) downe from heauen together with it selfe: or that the same thing should be common vnto heauen, being of one & the same matter with ise, & so that the prison of the d.a.m.ned may be thought to haue changed places with the heauenly paradise, & all by the ouersight of these Historiographers. Wherfore seeing the matter of this historicall ise is neither elementarie (as we haue so often proued by this place of Frisius) neither spirituall, nor infernall, both which we haue concluded euidently in short, yet sound and substanciall reasons: nor yet celestiall matter, which, religion forbiddeth a man once to imagine: it is altogether manifest, that according to the said historiographers, there is no such thing at all, which notwithstanding they blaze abroad with such astonishing admiration, & which we thinke to be an ordinary matter commonly seene and felt. Therefore it is, and it is not: which proposition when it shall fall out true, in the same respect, in the same part, and at the same time, then will we giue credite to these frozen miracles. Now therefore the Reader may easily iudge, that wee need none other helpe to refute these things, but onely to shew how they disagree one with another. But it is no maruell that he, which hath once enclined himselfe to the fabulous reports of the common people, should oftentimes fall into error. There was a like strange thing inuented by another concerning the sympathy or conioining of this ise: namely, that it followeth the departure of that huge lumpe, whereof it is a part, so narrowly, & so swiftly, that a man by no diligence can obserue it, by reason of the vnchangeable necessitie of following. But we haue oftentimes seene such a solitarie lumpe of ise remaining (after the other parts thereof were driuen away) and lying vpon the sh.o.r.e for many weekes together, without any posts or engines at all to stay it. Therefore it is plaine that these miracles of ise are grounded vpon a more slippery foundation then ise it selfe.

SECTIO VNDECIMA.

[Sidenote: Frisius.] Non procat ab his montibus, (tribus praedictis) ad maritimas oras vergentibus, sunt quatuor fontes diuersissimae naturae. Vnus suo perpetuo ardore omne corpus sibi immissum raptim conuert.i.t in saxum, manente tamen priore forma. Alter est algoris intolrerabilis. Tertius vel melle dulcior & restinguendae siti iucundissimus. Quartus plane exitialis, pestilens, & virulentus.

Etiam haec fontium topographia satis aperte monstrat, quam ex impuro fonte has suas narrationes omnes miraculosas hauserit Geographus. Id enim dicere videtur: Montes hos tres praedictos fere, contiguos esse: Siquidem tribus montibus quatuor fontes indiscrete adscribit. Alioqui si non vicinos statuisset, vni alicui horam duos fontes adscripsisset. Sed neque hi montes contigui sunt (quippe multis milliaribus inuicem dissiti) neque iuxta hos fontes illi quatuor reperiuntur: quod, qui credere nolit, experiatur.

Caeterum ad haec confundenda sufficit, credo, ipsorum historicorum contrarietas. Nam de duobas fontibas quidam Frisio his verbis contradicit.

Erumpunt ex eodem monte (Hecla) fontes duo, quorum alter equarum frigiditate, alter feruore intolerabili exedit omnem elementarem vim. Hi duo sunt primi illi Frisij fontes, nisi quod hic miraculum indurandi corpora, alteri fontium attributum, omissum sit. Atqui non simul possunt ex ipso monte, & iuxta montem erumpere.

Hic vero libenter quaesierim, qua ratione quisquam ex Peripatecicis dicat, aliquid ipso elemento aquae frigidius, aut igne calidius? Vnde demum, scriptores, ista frigiditas? Vnde iste feruor? Nonne e Schola vestra accepimus aquam esse elementum frigidissimum & humidum, atque adeo fngidissimum, vt ad const.i.tuendas qualitates secundas, remitti sit necesse, nec simplicem vsibus humanis inseruire? (Haec ego nunc Physicorum oracula fundo, vera an falsa, nescio). Testis est vnus omnium, & pro omnibus, Iohannes Fernelius lib. 2. Physiologiae, cap. 4. Sic, inquit, qualitates hae (quatuor primae) quatuor rerum naturis summae obtigerunt, vt quemadmodum paro igne nihil calidius, nihilque leuius: Sic terra nihil siccius, nihil grauius: Aquam sinceram, nullius medicamenti vis gelida euincet, vt nec aerem, vllius humor. Summae praeterea sic illis insunt, vt ne minimum quidem possint augescere, remitti ver possint. Nolo huc rationes seu argumenta Physicorum aggregare. Vnum profecto hic cauendum est, ne dum fontium miracula praedicant scriptores, vt glaciem Islandorum, ita etiam fontes creatorum numero eximant. Nos fontium adiuncta, quae huc scriptores pertraxerunt ordine persequemur. Primus suo perpetuo calore: Plurimae sunt in Islandia thermae seu fontes calidi: Pauciores ardentes: quos neque cuiquam miraculo esse debere existimamus, c.u.m huiusmodi, vt a scriptoribus didici, pa.s.sim abundet Germania, praecipue in ijs locis, quae non sunt procul ab Alpium radicibus. Nota est fama thermarum Badensium, Gebarsuiliensium, Calbensium, in ducatu Wirtebergensi, & multarum aliarum quarum meminit Fuchsius in lib. de arte medendi. Et non solum Germania, sed etiam Gallia, & longe magis omnium bonorum parens Italia, inquit Carda.n.u.s. Et Aristoteles narrat, circa Epyrum calidas aquas scaturire, vnde locus Pyriphlegeton appellatur. Atque inquam, haec ideo minus miranda, quod vt incendij montani, ita feruoris aquei caussas indagarint Naturae speculatores: Aquam scilicet per terrae venas sulphureas, aut aluminosas labi, indeque non calorem solum, sed saporem etiam & virtutes alienas concipere. Docuit hoc Aristoteles libro de mundo. Continet, inquit, terra in se multos fontes, vt aquae, ita & spiritus & ignis: Quidam amnium more fluunt, & vel ignescens eijciunt ferrum: Nunc tepidae aquae erumpunt, nunc feruentissimae, nunc temperatae.

[Sidenote: Lib 3. Nat. quaest.] Et Seneca: Empedocles existimabat ignibus, quos multis locis apertos tegit terra, aquam calescere, si subiecti sint solo, per quod aquae transitus est. Et scite de thermis Baianis Ponta.n.u.s.

Baiano sed ne fumare in littore thermas Mirere, aut liquidis fluitare incendia venis: Vulcani fora sulphureis incensa caminis Ipsa monent, late multum tellure sub ima Debacchari ignem, camposque exurere opertos.

Inde fluit, calidum referens ex igne vaporem, Vnda fugax, tectis feruent & balnea flammis.

Hoc loco attingendum duxi quod tradit Saxo Grammaticus, Danorum celebratissimus historicus, Islandiae fontes quosdam nunc ad summum excrescere, & exundare: Nunc ade subsidere, vt vix fontes agnoscas. Qui etsi rariores apud nos inueniuntur, adscribam tamen similes, etiam alibi a natura productos, ne quis hic monstri quippiam imaginetur. Hos autem recitat Plinius. In Tenedo Insula vnum, qui semper a tertia noctis hora, in s.e.xtam solst.i.tio aestiuo exundet. In agro Pitinate, trans Apenninum montem, fluuium esse, qui omnibus Solst.i.tijs aestiuis exundet, brumali tempore siccetur. Refert etiam de fonte quodam satis largo, qui singulis horis intumeseat & residat. Nec id magis neglidendum: subire terras flumina, rursusque redire; vt Lycus in Asia, Erasinus in Argolica, Tigris in Mesopotamia, quibus Carda.n.u.s addit Tanaim in Moscouia: Et quae in aesculapij fonte Athenis immersa sunt, in Phaletico reddi. Et Seneca scribit esse flumina, quae in spec.u.m aliquem subterraneum demissa, ex hominum oculis se subduc.u.n.t, quae consumi paulatim & intercidere constet: Eademque post interuallum reuerti, recipereque & nomen & cursum priorem. Et iterum Plinius; fluuium in Atinate campo mersum, post 20 millia pa.s.suum exire. Quae omnia, & his similia, Islandiae fontes, miraculo nullo, prae caeteris esse debere, ostendunt.

Omne corpus immissum continu conuert.i.t in saxum. His duobus adiunctis, feruore nempe, seu ardore vehementissimo, & virtute indurandi corpora, primum suum fontem describit Frisius. Et fama quidem accepi, ipse non sum expertus, existere similem fontem in Islandia, non procul a sede Episcopali Schalholt, apud villam nomine Haukadal. Habet simile Seneca, dicens, fontem quendam esse, qui ligna in lapides conuertat, hominumque viscera indurescere, qui aquam eius biberint: Et addit eiusmodi fontes in quibusdam Italiae locis inueniri: quod Ouidias Ciconum flumini tribuit 15. Metamorph.

Flumen habent Cicones, quod potum saxea reddit Viscera, quod tactis inducit marmora rebus.

Et Carda.n.u.s: Georgius Agricola, inquit, in Elbogano tractu iuxta oppidum a falconibns cognominatum, integras c.u.m corpore abietes in lapidem conuersas esse, atque quod maius est, in rimis etiam Pyritidem lapidem continere. Et Domitius Brusonius, in Sylare amne, qui radices montis eius, qui est in agro vrbis Vrsentinorum olim, nunc Contursij lambit, folia & arborum ramos in lapides transire, non fide aliorum, sed propria, vt qui incola sit regionis, (cui rei etiam Plinius astipulatur) narrat, cortices aute lapidum, annos numero ostendere. Sic (si scriptoribus credimus) guttae Gotici fontis sparsae lapidesc.u.n.t. Et in Vngaria, Cepusij aqua, in vrceos infusa, lapidescit. Plinius refert etiam, vt in Ciconom flumine, & in Piceno lacu velino, lignum deiectum, lapideo cortice obduci.

Secundus algoris intolerabitis. Quantum ad secundum fontem attinet, nullus hic est qud quisquam sciat, algoris intolerabilis, sed plurimi bene frigidi, ita vt vulgaribus riuis aestiuo sole tepescentibus, non sine voluptate ex frigidioribus illis aquam hauriamus. Sunt & longe frigidiores forte alibi: Nam & Carda.n.u.s in agro Corinthio e montis vertice fluentem riuum commemorat, niue frigidiorem: Et intra primum a Culma lapidem, Insanam vocatum: quae aqua c.u.m feruere videatur, sit tamen longe frigidissima, &c.

Tertius vel melle dulcior. Neque id prorsus verum est. Non enim est vllus apud nos, qui vel minima ex parte c.u.m mellis dulcedine conferri possit.

Rectius igitur Saxo, qui fontes (quoniam plures sunt) in Islandia dicit inueniri Cerealem referentes liquorem, vt etiam ibidem non diuersi saporis solum, sed diuersi etiam coloris fontes & flumina reperiuntur.

Etsi autem tradunt Physici aquam naturaliter ex se neque saporem neque odorem habere, tamen, vt superius attigimus, veri simile est, quod alij per accidens vocant, eam saepe referre qualitatem terrae, in qua generatur, & per cuius venas transitum atque excursum habet: Atque hinc aquarum odores, colores, sapores, alios atque alios existere, Cuiusmodi sunt, de quibus narrat Seneca, quorum alij famem excitant, alij bibentes inebrient, alij memoriae officiant, alij inuent eandem, alij vini saporem & virtutem repraesentent: [Sidenote: Lib. de mirab. auscultat.] Vt ille apud Plinium in Andro Insula fons, in templo Liberi, qui Nonis Ian: vini sapore fluat. Et apud Aristotelem fons in agro Carthaginensi, qui oleum praebeat, & guttulas Cedri odore representet. Item, Orcus fluuius Thessaliae, influens in Peneum, olei instar supernatans: [Sidenote: Lib. 2. de Element.] Cuiusmodi etiam narrat Carda.n.u.s in Saxonia esse, iuxta Brumonis oppidum, fontem oleo perfusum: Et in Sueuia, iuxta Coen.o.bium, cui Tergensche nomen est. Item, in valle mentis Iura.s.si. Causam huius rei putat esse bitumen valde pingue, quod oleum sine dubio contineat. Idem, famam esse ait, in Cardia, iuxta loc.u.m Dascbyli, in campo albo aquam esse lacte dulciorem. Aliam quoque iuxta pontem, qua Valdeburgum itur. Iam aquarum vini saporem referentium meminit his verbis Propertius, 3. lib. Elegiar.

En tibi per mediam bene olentia flumina Naxon, Vnde tuum pota Naxia turba merum.

Est autem Naxus Insula vna ex Cycladibus, in mari aegeo. Causam huius a.s.signat Carda.n.u.s, quod hydromel vetustate transeat in vinum. Aristoteles commemorat Siciliae fontem, quo incolae loco aceti vtantur. Idem saporum aquae causam in calorem retulit, quod terra excocta mutet & praebeat saporem aquae.

Iam de aquae coloribus ita Carda.n.u.s. Eadem est ratio colorum aquae, ait, quae & saporum: videlicet a terra originem trahere. Nam Candida est aqua, ad secundum lapidem a Glauca, Misenae oppido: Rubea, vt in Radera Misenae fluuio, iuxta Radeburgum: Et olim in Iudaea iuxta Ioppen: Viridis, in Carpato monte, iuxta Neusolam: Caerulea aut blaua, inter Feltrium & Taruisium, & in Thermopylis etiam talem fuisse referunt: Nigerrima in Allera fluuio Saxoniae, vbi in Visurgim se exonerat. Caussae sunt argillae colores, sed tenuiores. Item Aristoteles: circa Iapygiam promontorium, esse fontem, qui sanguinem fundat, addens, eam maris partem suo foetore nauigantes procul arcere. Aiunt praeterea in Idumaea fontem esse, qui quater in anno colorem mutet, c.u.m sit colore nunc viridi, nunc albo, nunc sanguineo, nunc lutulento.

Et de aquarum odore sic Carda.n.u.s. Similis ratio differentiae est in odoribus. Plerumque tamen aquarum odores iniucundi sunt, qud rar terra bene oleat. Pessime olim foetabat in aelide, Anigri fluminis aqua, vsque ad perniciem, non solum piscium, sed etiam hominum. Iuxta Metonem in Messania, in puteo quodam optime olens aqua hauriebatur. Haec ideo recito, vt nullus magis in Islandia quam alibi, aquarum, colores, odores, sapores, miretur.

Quartus plane exitialis. Autor est Isidoras, esse fontem quendam, cuius aqua pota vitam extinguat: Et Plinius: Iuxta Nonarim, inquit, Arcadiae, Styx (iuxta Cyllenem montem, ait Cardan. Sola equi vngula continebatur: referunt ea sublatum Alexandrum magnum) nec odore differens, nec colore, epota illico necat. Idem, In Beroso Taurorum colle sunt tres fontes sine remedio, sine dolore mortiferi: Et quod longe maximum est, quod Seneca stagnum esse dicat, in quod prospicientes statim moriantur. Nos ver Islandi etiam hunc quartum Frisij fontem, cuius etiam Saxo meminit, vt antehac semper, itidem etiam n.o.bis hodie penitus ignotum testamur: Hocque igitur nomine, Deo immortales gratias agimus, qud ab eiusmodi fontibus & serpentibus, insectis venenatis, ac alijs pestiferis & contagiosis, esse nos immunes voluerit.

Praeterea est apud praedictos fontes tanta sulphuris copia. Montes tres a Munstero & Frisio igniuomi dicti, omnes longissimo interuallo a nostris fodinis distant. Quare c.u.m iuxta hos montes fontibus quatuor, quos tantopere miraculis celebrant, loc.u.m & situm faciant, necesse est eos fontes pari fere interuallo a fodinis sulphureis remotos esse. Nec ver apud montem Heclam, vt Munsterus, nec apud hos Frisij fontes (quorum rumor quam verus sit, hactenus ostensum est) sulphur effoditur: Nec patrum nostrorum memoria effossum esse arbitramur. [Sidenote: Sulpher in bore. ali Islandiae parte.] Neque verum est, quod de sulphuris copia tradit Munsterus, esse videlicet pene vnic.u.m Insulae mercimonium & vectigal. Nam c.u.m insula in quatuor partes diuisa sit, quarta pars, nempe borealis, tantum dimidia, hoc vt.i.tur mercimonio, nec sulphuris mica in vectigal Insulae penditur.

The same in English.

THE ELEUENTH SECTION.

[Sidenote: Frisius.] Not farre from these mountaines (the three forenamed) declining to the sea sh.o.a.re, there be foure fountaines of a most contrary nature betweene themselues. The first, by reason of his continuall heat conuerteth into a stone any body cast into it, the former shape only still remaining. The second is extremely cold. The third is sweeter then honey, and most pleasant to quench thirst. The fourth is altogether deadly, pestilent, and full of ranke poison.

Euen this description of fountaines doth sufficiently declare howe impure that fountaine was, out of which the geographer drew all these miraculous stories. For he seemeth to affirme, that the three foresaid mountaines doe almost touch one another: for he ascribeth foure fountaines indifferently vnto them all. Otherwise if he had not made them stand neare together, he would haue placed next vnto some one of these, two of the foresaid fountaines. But neither doe these mountaines touch (being distant so many leagues a sunder), neither are there any such foure fountaines neare vnto them, which, he that wil not beleeue, let him go try. But to confute these things, the very contrariety of writers is sufficient. For another concerning two fountaines gainsayth Frisius in these words. There do burst out of the same hill Hecla two fountames, the one whereof, by reason of the cold streames, the other with intollerable heat exceedeth al the force of elements. These be Frisius his two first fountaines, sauing that here is omitted the miracle of hardening bodies, being by him attributed to one of the said fountaines. But they cannot at one time breake forth, both out of the mountaine it selfe, and neare vnto the mountaine.

But here I would willingly demannd, by what reason any of the Peripateticks can affirme, that there is some thing in nature colder then the element of water, or hotter then the element of fire. From whence (I pray yon, learned writers) proceedeth this coldnesse: From whence commeth this heate: Haue we not learned out of your schole that water is an element most colde and somewhat moist: and in such sort most cold, that for the making of secundarie qualities, it must of necessitie be remitted, & being simple, that it cannot be applyed to the vses of mankind: I do here deliuer these Oracles of the naturall Philosophers, not knowing whether they be true or false. M. Iohn Fernelius, lib. 2. Phys. cap. 4. may stand for one witnesse amongst all the rest, & in stead of the all. So excessiue (satth he) be these foure first qualities in the foure elements, that as nothing is hotter then pure fire, & nothing lighter: so nothing is drier then earth, & nothing heauier: and as for pure water, there is no qualitie of any medicine whatsoeuer exceedeth the coldnes thereof, nor the moisture of aire. Moreouer, the said qualities be so extreme & surpa.s.sing in them, that they cannot be any whit encreased, but remitted they may be. I wil not heare heape vp the reasons or arguments of the natural Philosophers. These writers had need be warie of one thing, lest while they too much magnifie the miracles of the fountains, they exempt them out of the number of things created, as wel as they did the ice of the Islanders. We wil prosecute in order the properties of these fountains set downe by the foresaid writers.

[Sidenote: Many hote Baths in Island.] The first by reason of his continuall heat. There be very many Baths or hote fountains in Island, but fewer vehemently hote, which we thinke ought not to make any man wonder, when as I haue learned out of authors, that Germanie euery where aboundeth with such hote Baths, especially neere the foot of the Alpes. The hote Baths of Baden, Gebarsuil, Calben in the dutchy of Wirtenberg and many other be very famous: all which Fuchsius doeth mention in his booke de Arte medendi. And not onely Germanie, but also France, & beyond all the rest Italy that mother of all commodities, saith Cardan. And Aristotle reporteth, that about Epyrus these hote waters doe much abound, whereupon the place is called Pyriplegethon. [Sidenote: The causes of hote Baths.]

And I say, these things should therefore be the lesse admired, because the searchers of nature haue as wel found out causes of the heate in waters, as of the fire in mountaines: namely, that water runneth within the earth through certaine veines of Brimstone & Allom and from thence taketh not onely heat, but taste also & other strange qualities. Aristotle in his booke de Mundo hath taught this. The earth (saith he) conteineth within it fountains not only of water, but also of spirite & fire: some of them flowing like riuers, doe cast foorth red hote iron: from whence also doeth flow, sometimes luke-warme water, sometimes skalding hote, and somtimes temperate. And Seneca. [Sidenote: Lib. 3. nat. quaest.] Empedocles thought that Baths were made hote by fire, which the earth secretly conteineth in many places, especially if the said fire bee vnder that ground where the water pa.s.seth. And Ponta.n.u.s writeth very learnedly concerning the Baian Baths.

No maruell though from banke of Baian sh.o.r.e hote Baths, or veines of skalding licour flow: For Vulcans forge incensed euermore doeth teach vs plaine, that heart of earth below And bowels burne, and fire enraged glow.

From hence the flitting flood sends smokie streames, And Baths doe boil with secret burning gleames.

I thought good in this placel to touch that which Saxo Grammaticus the most famous historiographer of the Danes reporteth. That certaine fountains of Island do somtime encrease & flow vp to the brinke: sometimes againe they fall so lowe that you can ska.r.s.e discerne them to be fountaines. Which kind of fountaines, albeit they bee very seldome found with vs, yet I will make mention of some like vnto them, produced by nature in other countries, lest any man should think it somwhat strange. Plinie maketh a great recitall of these. There is one (saieth he) in the Isle of Tenedos, which at the Solst.i.tium of sommer doth alwaies flow from the third houre of the night, till the sixt. In the field of Pitinas beyond the Apennine mountaine, there is a riuer which in the midst of sommer alwaies encreaseth, and in winter is dried vp. He maketh mention also of a very large fountaine, which euery houre doeth encrease and fall. Neither is it to be omitted, that some riuers run vnder the ground, and after that fall againe into an open chanel: as Lycus in Asia, Erasinus in Argolica, Tigris in Mesopotamia, vnto which Cardan addeth Tanais in Moscouia: and those things which were throwen into aesculapius fountaine at Athens, were cast vp againe in Phaletico. And Seneca writeth that there are certaine riuers which being let downe into some caue vnder ground, are withdrawen out of sight, seeming for the time to be vtteriy perished and taken away, and that after some distance the very same riuers returne, enioying their former name and their course. And againe Plinie reporteth that there is a riuer receiued vnder ground in the field of Atinas that issueth out twentie miles from that place. All which examples and the like, should teach vs that the fonutaines of Island are not to be made greater wonders then the rest.

Doth forthwith conuert into a stone any body cast into it. By these two properties, namely warmth or most vehement heat, & a vertue of hardening bodies doth Frisius describe his first fountaine. And I haue heard reported (though I neuer had experience thereof my selfe) that there is such a fountain in Island not far from the bishops seat of Schalholt, in a village called Haukadal. Seneca reporteth of the like, saying: That there is a certain fountain which conuerteth wood into stone, hardening the bowels of those men which drinke thereof. And addeth further, that such fountains are to bee found in certaine places of Italy: which thing Ouid in the 15. booke of his Metamor. ascribeth vnto the riuer of the Cicones.