Text (translated from the 1595 Latin 5 Add, 1595 Latin, 1597 German 5 Add., 1598 Dutch, 1598 French, 1601 Latin, 1602 German, 1602 Spanish, 1603 Latin, 1606 English, 1608/1612 Italian, 1609/1612/1641 Spanish and 1609/1612 Latin edition)
177.1. {1595L5Add{The kingdoms of FESSE and MAROCCHO
177.2. {not in 1598D{That part of Africa which used to be called MAVRETANIA TINGITANA now comprises the kingdoms of Fesse and Maroccho, which we here on this map present to your view. Of which}not in 1598D} MAROCCHO, its chief and metropolitan city, takes its name from the [country of] Maroccho (they call it Marocx, {1606E{the Spanish Marwechos}1606E}). The fields around this city, {1606E only{and in general the soil and fields of the whole kingdom,}1606E only} as Ioannes Leo Africanus writes, are most pleasant and fertile, everywhere covered with herds of cattle, flocks of sheep and various sorts of deer and wild animals. In all places [there are] green and excellent pastures, most plentifully producing whatever is necessary for the maintenance of mans life, {not in 1597G5Add, 1598D, 1598F & 1602G{[as well as things] which may recreate the senses by pleasant fragrances, or please the eye with delightful prospects}not in 1597G5Add, 1598D, 1598F & 1602G}.
177.3. The whole kingdom is almost one large plain only, not much unlike Lombardy, {1606E only{the Paradise of Italy}1606E only}. The hills that you do find (and there are only few), are exceedingly bleak, cold and barren, so that they will produce nothing but barley. Maroccho which we said is the chief city of this kingdom, is considered one of the greatest cities of the whole world, for it is of such a wonderfully large size that during the reign of Haly, the son of Ioseph their king, it had more than one hundred thousand family houses.
177.4. It has 24 gates around it. Its wall[s], of marvellous thickness, are made of a kind of white stone and unburned chalk. There is such an abundance here of Churches, Colleges, stoves or hothouses, and inns that no more can be desired within reason. Among its Churches there is no one more cunningly and gorgeously built than that which stands in the middle of the city, built by that Haly just mentioned. There is another one besides this first [Church], erected by Abdul-Numen, his successor, and enlarged by {not in 1597G5Add, 1602G & 1608/1612I{Mansor}not in 1597G5Add, 1602G & 1608/1612I}, his nephew, and recently more richly adorned with many excellent columns, which he caused to be brought from Spain.
177.5. He built a fountain or cistern underneath this Church, as large and wide as the whole Church itself. The roof of the Church is covered all over with lead. At every corner he built pipes through which rain water falling on the roof might run into the cisterns underneath. Its steeple, made of a very hard kind of stone, like that of the Amphitheatre of Vespasianus in Rome is higher than that of Bononia in Italy. The steps or stairs by which they go up to its top are every single one of them nine handbreadths high, but at the outside of the wall ten. This tower has seven attics or lofts, one above the other.
177.6. On top of them there has been built another turret or spire like a pyramid, pointed towards its top. This has three lofts, one on top of the other into which they go by stairs or ladders made of wood. On top of this spire on a shaft of iron, instead of a weather cock, stands a most excellent Moon of pure gold, with three golden balls so attached to the shaft that the largest is the lowest, and the smallest the highest of them all. {not in 1598F{If anyone from the top of the steeple looks down to the ground, the tallest man seems to be no taller than a child of one year old}not in 1598F}. From this top the cape or foreland which they call Azaphy, which is one hundred and thirty miles off, may easily be discerned.
177.7. And although one may scarcely find a larger Church if one should travel all over the world, yet the place is almost totally empty, for no one ever comes here except on Fridays. Under the cloisters of this Church they report that there used to be a hundred Stationers, and as many over on the other side of the Churchyard who daily kept shop there, whereas now I do not think that this whole city at this time can afford [to have] a single bookseller.
177.8. Hardly one third of this town is inhabited now. This may also be the reason why there are many vineyards, large gardens of palm trees and other fruits inside the [city] walls, and excellent cornfields, most fertile and well manured, for outside the walls they cannot farm the ground by reason of the frequent assaults by thievish Arabs. This one thing is certain, that this city has grown old before its time, for it is no more than five hundred {not in 1602S & 1609/1612/1641S{and six}not in 1602S & 1609/1612/1641S} years since it was first built.
177.9. There is also in this city a very strong castle which with respect to {not in 1598D{its large size, the great thickness and circumference of its walls}not in 1598D}, its high and numerous towers, {not in 1598D{and finally its excellent and stately gates, built of the richest Tiburtine marble}not in 1598D}, may justly be considered a town by itself. {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{Within this castle is a most beautiful Church with a very high steeple, upon the top of which there is a golden moon with three balls of different sizes, {1601L, 1602S & 1609/1612/1641S only{all of pure gold}1601L, 1602S & 1609/1612/1641S only} all of them weighing much, and worth more than 130,000 crowns.
177.10. There have been some kings of this country who, inspired by their love for and the value of this gold, have attempted to take {1602S only{the moon and}1602S} these balls down and put them in their purses, but always some strange event or misfortune or something else thwarted their purpose and crossed their desires. So that now it is commonly among the people considered to be a very ominous thing for anyone to even consider touching these balls by hand}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}. Let it be sufficient to have spoken about this city like this here. He who desires a more elaborate discussion about this city and castle, let him turn to Leo Africanus {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{who in his 2nd book will satisfy him fully, or more}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}.
177.11. In this kingdom is also the city of TARADANT (the Moors call it Taurent), a very big and excellent city, built by the ancient Africans. It contains about 3000 houses or families. The people are more civil and courteous than in other places around here. Here are many craftsmen of various different occupations. {not in 1598D{The townsmen yearly generate big profits {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{by having guards for the merchants who from here travel further up into the country, by protecting them from assaults by thieves and robbers}not in 1597G5Add, 1598D & 1602G}, {1606E only{and to help them find the shortest and nearest routes}1606E only}, {not in 1598D{for it is a place attracting many people, strangers as well as Europeans and others}not in 1598D}.
177.12. There are also other cities, as the Map shows, among which is MESSA, which has a Church not far from the sea which they hold in most religious reverence. For there are some here who most fondly believe and assert that the Prophet Ionas, when he was sent by God to preach to the Ninivites, was at this place cast up by the fish which had previously swallowed him. The boulders of this Church, and its beams are made of whale bones, for it is a common thing for the sea to here cast up dead whales of marvellous size.
177.13. On the coast of this country is also found that kind of Amber which we call Amber-grey. Not far from this city is TEINT, a town where all those rich leathers are processed which are commonly called Maroccho. {not in 1598D & 1598F{More about this kingdom you may read in {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{Leo Africanus}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}, Marmolius and in the Saracen history of Cælius Augustinus Curio, where he has a specific discussion on this area}not in 1598D & 1598F}. So much about Maroccho. {not in 1598D & 1608/1612I{It remains now that we speak similarly about Fesse}not in 1598D & 1608/1612I}.
177.14. FESSE, like Maroccho, is a kingdom named after its chief city and metropolitan. This city is situated in the heart and middle of this kingdom. It was built as they say around the year of our Lord 786. It is not only the capital city of this kingdom, but also highly esteemed [as] The Metropolitan of all Barbary, {1597G5Add, 1601L, 1602G, 1602S, 1603L, 1608/1612I, 1609/1612/1641S & 1609/1612L have instead{Mauretania}1597G5Add, 1601L, 1602G, 1602S, 1603L, 1608/1612I, 1609/1612/1641S & 1609/1612L instead} {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{and is commonly called, as Marmolius says, The Court of all the Western part of the World}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}. There are some who think that it was named Fesse after a mass of gold that was found here when they first began to lay down its foundations, for fes in Arabic means a heap or mass {1597G5Add, 1602G, 1602S & 1609/1612/1641S have instead{gold}1597G5Add, 1602G, 1602S & 1609/1612/1641S instead}.
177.15. Most of the city is built on hills, only the middle of it is plain and level. The river at which it lies enters it at two different places (for the one river is divided here into two parts) and once it has entered within the walls, it spreads itself out into an infinite number of branches, so that it is by and by, through channels, troughs and pipes conveyed to almost every private house, church, college, inn and hospital. Finally, running through vaults, sewers and sinks, it carries with it all the waste and garbage of the city into the main river, and by those means keeps the city continually neat and clean.
177.16. Most of their houses, built of brick and coloured stone, are very beautiful and offer an excellent view to the beholder. The open places, galleries and porches are made of a kind of partly coloured brick or pavement, {not in 1598D{much like those earthen tiles {1608/1612I only{of Cretian pottery}1608/1612I only} which the Italians call Maiorica}not in 1598D}. The roofs or ceilings of their houses are overlaid very finely and gorgeously with gold and other most oriental colours. The tops of their houses are on the outside covered with flattened boards of dates so that in summertime they may spread coverlets and other cloths over them, for when it is hot, {not in 1598D{they tend to lie down and sleep all night [on them]}not in 1598D}.
177.17. Also, most houses have a turret, split into many rooms or lofts to which the women, exhausted and weary, may withdraw to recreate and refresh their minds, and from which they may overlook the entire city. Churches and Chapels they have in this city to the number of almost 700 {1597G5Add & 1602G have instead{70}1597G5Add & 1602G instead}, of which 50 are very large and excellent, most sumptuously built from separate stones or bricks, every one of them having a fountain or pipe joined to it, {not in 1598F{made of a kind of marble or stone unknown to the Italians}not in 1598F}.
177.18. Every Church has one Priest belonging to it, {not in 1598F{whose task it is to say service there, and to read prayers}not in 1598F}. The greatest and main church in this city, called Canaven is so large that it is said to be almost a mile and a half in circumference. It has thirty-one {1608/1612I has instead{32)1608/1612I instead} gates of marvellous size and height. The steeple of this Church, from which people are called to Church by a very loud and thundering voice {1606E only{(like we do by tolling a bell)}1606E only} is very high. Underneath this is a cellar or vault where the oil, lights, lamps, mats and other such things necessarily and ordinarily used in the Church, are retained and stored.
177.19. In this Church, every night of the year, 900 lamps are lit at once. Moreover, in this city there are more than 100 Baths. Also, two hundred hospitals, every one of them having 120 rooms at the least, and various of them have many more. Every room has a well or fountain of water all for itself privately. In about four hundred places you shall find mill houses, every place having in it five or six mills, so that all in all you may have several thousands of mills.
177.20. All occupations here have been allotted their specific and proper places to live in, every group by itself, in such a way that the best and most religious trades are placed closest to the cathedral Church. All things which are to be sold have their specific market places pointed out to them. There is also a place specifically assigned to Merchants which one may justly call a little city [by itself], enclosed by a brick wall {1598F only{like the Bourse in Antwerp}1598F only}. It has twelve gates around it, each of which has a big iron chain to keep horses and carts out. {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{So much for the Western part of Fesse}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}.
177.21. As regards the other side, which is on the East, although it has many excellent churches, buildings, noblemen's houses and colleges, yet it does not have so many tradesmen of various occupations. Yet, there are about five hundred and twenty {1608/1612I has instead{220}1608/1612I instead} weavers shops here, next to a hundred shops built for whitening of thread. Here is an excellent castle, equal in size to a pretty town, which in former times was the Kings house where he used to keep his court. These specifics we have here and there gathered from {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{the third book of}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G} Ioannes Leo's description of Africa, {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{where you may read about very many other things about this city, {not in 1598D{both pleasant and admirable}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}. Ludovicus Marmolius has also written something about this. Moreover, Diego Toressium in that book which he once wrote about the Serrifs}not in 1598D} {1606E only{(or Xariffs as the Spanish usually write it)}1606E only} {not in 1598D{has done something similar.
177.22. I do not think it not amiss in this place to add this one thing worth remembering. There is a stone, he says, at one of the gates of this city, which has upon it this inscription}not in 1598D} {1606E only{in Arabic letters [empty space for Arabic]}1606E only} {not in 1598D{FEZ VLEDE EL ENES, that is, populus gentium {1597G5Add & 1602G{people of the people}1597G5Add & 1602G, not in 1598D}, {1606E only{or like this Fes bleadi'lenes: Fesse is a world of men, similar to what they commonly say about Norway calling it Officinam hominum, the shop or workhouse where men are made}1606E only}. Again, he claims the following as a common proverb, often said about this city Quien sale de Fez, donde ira? y qui en vende trigo, que comprera? which is as much as to say {1598D, 1598F, 1606E & 1608/1612I only in Dutch/French/English/Italian{: He who is weary of Fesse, where will he go? {not in 1598D & 1598F{And he that sells wheat, what will he buy?}not in 1598D & 1598F; in 1606E & 1608/1612I only} {1601L, 1602S, 1603L, 1606E, 1609/1612/1641S & 1609/1612L in margin only{[This] corresponding to the poet speaking about Rome [saying] Quid satis est, si Roma parum est? What will satisfy you, if all of Rome is not enough?
{1608/1612I & 1609/1612/1641S [also in margin]{This is what St. Hieronymus in his second Epistle, addressed at the virgin Geruchia, cites from Ardens the Poet}1601L, 1602S, 1603L, 1606E, 1609/1612/1641S & 1609/1612L in margin, 1608/1612I in regular text}.
177.23. The kingdom of CONGI
177.24. About Congi, this kingdom of Africa {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{(which others corruptly call Manicongo for this word properly means the king of Congi}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}, {1606E only{and cannot refer to the country alone)}1606E only} my good friend Philippus Pigafetta the author of this Map, wrote a book in the Italian tongue, {not in 1608/1612I{recently}not in 1608/1612I} published in Rome, which he copied from the mouth and the stories of Odoardo Lopez, a Portuguese, who lived there himself for a long time, and therefore a man very familiar with the state and situation of this country, {not in 1597G5Add, 1598D, 1598F & 1602G{and an eye witness of what is written down here, from whom we have taken these few details}not in 1597G5Add, 1598D, 1598F & 1602G}.
177.25. This kingdom is divided into these six provinces: Bamba, Sogno, Sundi, Pango, Batta and Pemba, the first of which is inhabited and possessed by a warlike and very populous nation so that it by itself is able to provide 40,000 fighting men, when the need arises. The chief city of this province, and seat of their kings, is Bansa, which they now call St. Salvator. This whole province is very rich in silver and other metals, especially near the island Loanda, where they also catch an abundance of those shell-fish which breed pearls. These they use in this kingdom for exchange in buying and selling instead of money. For here they do not use any kind of coins, nor do they attach much value to gold or silver.
177.26. Here is also a large trade in slaves, as the Portuguese yearly buy and carry from here more than 5000 Negroes. This country produces a great multitude of Elephants, which they in their language call Manzao. There is also found in these quarters a kind of wild beast they call Zebra, {1608/1612I only{an ancient word from Spanish}1608/1612I only} of size and shape [similar to] a mule. But that it is not a mule becomes clear from [the fact] that this beast is not barren, as the mule is, for it breeds and brings forth young [ones], as other animals do. Its pelt or hide is different from that of other similar living creatures, for it is striped with stripes of three different colours, namely black, white and yellow, {not in 1597G5Add, 1598D, 1598F, 1602G & 1608/1612I{or lion tawny, as they call it}not in 1597G5Add, 1598D, 1598F, 1602G & 1608/1612I}. It is so wonderfully swift on its feet and so wild that it can by no means be tamed, or made serviceable for any use man may have [for it]. For which reason they commonly use this as a proverb: As swift as the Zebra.
177.27. There are also, as in other places, Lions, Tigers, Wolves, Deer, Hares, Rabbits, Apes, Chameleons, and various different kinds of snakes, next to hogs, sheep, goats, hens and parrots. Crocodiles, which they call Cariman are here very plentiful. But horses, oxen and other animals fit for services and use for mankind they do not have at all. {not in 1598F{Here grow great numbers of Palm trees. Of the leaves of this tree they make and weave almost all kinds of silk garments and clothing. For the use of silk worms, which in other places is well known, is here altogether unknown. The way of their posts, or manner of travel from one place to another (for as we have shown before, they have no horses)}not in 1598F}.
177.28. I think it well worthwhile to write down here based on {not in 1598D{the 15th book of}not in 1598D} Mapheius {not in 1598D{Indian histories, where he says}not in 1598D} that they have no other than wooden horses, which story he explains as follows. Upon a rafter or beam, he says, about nine {1597G5Add & 1602G have instead{ten}1597G5Add & 1602G instead} inches thick and eight feet long, they spread a piece of buffalo hide of the breadth and circumference of a saddle. Upon this the traveller sits straddling. Two men carry the beam on their shoulders, and if the journey is long, then two others take the next shift and relieve them from their burden.
177.29. {not in 1598F{The author Pigafetta mentioned before describes another way of carrying passengers from place to place, which is not very much different from this}not in 1598F}. {1598F only{Here grows a kind of palm the leaves of which they use to make silk, because they do not know silk like we do}1598F}. In the North this kingdom borders on Anzicanes, a man-eating nation, I mean a people that eat human flesh, {1608/1612I only{like one animal eats the other}1608/1612I only} so that here human flesh is openly sold {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{in their shops and meat markets, like beef and mutton and other meat is sold among us}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}. Also that which they report about Loanda an island off the coast of this country, I think worth noting here, namely, that they say it lies so exceedingly low and flat that it can hardly be seen above the water, {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{and that it consists of ground compounded of mud and sand, which the river close by casts out into the sea}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}.
177.30. Finally, that if anyone digs two or three handwidths deep into its ground, he shall find fresh water, very wholesome and good to drink. And what is most wonderful, this same water when the sea ebbs will be salt, but at high tide only will it be fresh. How this nation, {not in 1598D{by King Ioannis, King of Portugal, in the year of Grace 1491}not in 1598D} was converted to Christianity, and with what success they have since continued and made progress, and yet still constantly persist in doing this, you can read, if you want to, in the authors just mentioned: Pigafetta {not in 1598D{in his second book; Maffeius in his {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{first}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G} book on the history of India}not in 1598D} {1603L{and Iohn Barros in the third chapter of the third book of his first decade of Asia}1603L}. Before the arrival of the Portuguese in this country, the people had no proper names, but were called by common names, as you do with stones, {not in 1598D, 1601L, 1602S, 1603L, 1608/1612I & 1609/1612L{trees}not in 1598D, 1601L, 1602S, 1603L, 1608/1612I & 1609/1612L}, herbs, {not in 1598D{birds and as other creatures around them were called}1595L5Add, not in 1598D & 1598F}{1598F has instead{stones}1598F instead} © Marcel van den Broecke ©.