Celebrated Travels and Travellers, Part 1.: The Exploration of the World — John Shaqi
Celebrated Travels and Travellers, Part 1.: The Exploration of the WorldVerne, Jules
History
Celebrated Travels and Travellers, Part 1.: The Exploration of the World
Verne, Jules
Discoveries in geography; Explorers; Voyages and travels
They set out again, passing Kapila and Goruckpoor, on the frontier
of Nepaul, all made famous by Fo's miracles, and then reached the
celebrated town of Palian-foo, in the delta of the Ganges, in the
kingdom of Magadha. This was a fertile tract of country inhabited by
a civilized, upright people, who loved all philosophic researches.
After climbing the peak of Vautour, which stands at the source of
the Dyardanes and Banourah rivers, Fa-Hian descended the Ganges,
visited the temple of Issi-paten that was frequented by magicians
and astrologers, reached Benares, "the kingdom of splendours," and a
little lower down, the town of Tomo-li-ti, situated at the mouth of
the river, a short distance from the site of Calcutta in the present
day.
Fa-Hian found a party of merchants just preparing to put to sea with
the intention of going to Ceylon; he sailed with them, and in
fourteen days landed on the shores of the ancient Taprobana, of
which the Greek merchant, Jamboulos, had given a curious account
some centuries previously. Here the Chinese monk found all the
traditions and legends regarding the god Fo, and passed two years in
searching ancient manuscripts. He left Ceylon for Java, where he
landed after a very rough voyage, in the course of which, when the
sky was overclouded, he says, "we saw nothing but great waves
dashing one against another, lightning, crocodiles, tortoises, and
monsters of the deep."
He spent five months in Java, and then set sail for Canton; but the
winds were again unfavourable, and after undergoing great hardships
he landed at the town of Chantoung of the present day; then having
spent some time at Nankin he returned to Fi-an-foo, his native town,
after an absence of eighteen months. Such is the account of
Fa-Hian's travels, which have been well translated by M. Abel de
Remusat, and which give very interesting details of Indian and
Tartar customs, especially those relating to their religious
ceremonies.
The next traveller to the Chinese monk, in chronological order, is
an Egyptian called Cosmos Indicopleustes, a name that M. Charton
renders as "Cosmographic traveller in India." He lived in the sixth
century, and was a merchant of Alexandria, who, on his return from
visiting Ethiopia and part of Asia, entered a monastery.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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