‘The travels of Ludovico di Varthema in Egypt, Syria, Arabia Deserta and Arabia Felix, in Persia, India, and Ethiopia, A.D. 1503 to 1508’ [‎53] (88/492)

INTRODUCTION.
liii
continued to Shiraz. Should this identification be
correct, (and I can suggest no other, unless he pur
sued a route by Neyriz and Bakhtegan, mistaking
the neighbouring lake which goes by those names for
a river,) Varthema must unquestionably be charged
with exaggeration, as neither the Pulwan nor the
Bendemir is entitled to the epithet of " a large and
fine river."
Arrived at Shiraz, which our author describes as a
great mart for turquoises and Balass rubies, remark
ing, however, that those stones were not produced
there, but came, as was reported, from a city called
" Balachsam" (Badakshan,) accident threw him in
the way of a Persian merchant called " Cazazionor,"
by whom he was recognized as a fellow-pilgrim at
Meccah, and whose friendly overtures on the occasion
were destined to exert a powerful influence in shaping
his subsequent course.
We, who carry with us on our travels circular
notes or letters of credit negotiable in any part of
the globe, can form a very inadequate conception of
the difficulties which an adventurer under Varthema's
circumstances must have encountered in making his
way from one place to another. He never alludes
directly to the subject, but his management may be
gleaned from incidental passages occurring in his
narrative. At the outset, he appears to have had a
supply of money, for he bribed the Captain of the
Mamluks to admit him into that corps. While with
them, he probably received pay and shared in their
exactions, which, with any remains of his original