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ISBN 13: 978-1-4094-1466-7 (hbk)
WORKS ISSUED BY
THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY
THE RED SEA
AND ADJACENT COUNTRIES
AT THE CLOSE OF
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
SECOND SERIES
No. C
ISSUED FOE I949
THE RED SEA AND ADJACENT COUNTRIES
AT THE CLOSE OF
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
AS DESCRIBED BY
JOSEPH PITTS WILLIAM DANIEL
AND
CHARLES JACQUES PONCET
Edited by
SIR WILLIAM FOSTER, CLE,
PRINTED IN
GREAT BRITAIN
AT THE
UNIVERSITY PRESS
OXPOKD
BY
CHARLES BATEY
PRINTER
TO THE
UNIVERSITY
COUNCIL AND OFFICERS
OF
THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY
19489
EDWARD LYNAM, ESQ., D.LITT., M.R.I.A., F.S.A., President.
PROFESSOR E. G. R. TAYLOR, D.SC., Vice-President.
EDWARD HEAWOOD, ESQ., M.A., Vice-President.
SIR WILLIAM FOSTER, C.I.E., Vice-President.
MARCEL AUROUSSEAU, ESQ.
PROFESSOR C. R. BOXER.
G. R. CRONE, ESQ., M.A.
PROFESSOR F. DEBENHAM, O.B.E., M.A.
DAVID ECCLES, ESQ., M.A.
E. W. GILBERT, ESQ., M.A., B.LITT.
SIR MAURICE HOLMES, G.B.E., K.C.B.
SIR HARRY LUKE, K.C.M.G., D.LITT., LL.D.
FRANK B. MAGGS, ESQ.
N. M. PENZER, ESQ., LITT.D., F.S.A.
TRACY PHILIPPS, ESQ., M.C, HON. D.C.L.
ROYAL EMPIRE SOCIETY (L. J. WILMOTH, ESQ.).
W. S. SHEARS, ESQ.
H. J. WOOD, ESQ., B.SC., D.PH.
REAR-ADMIRAL A. G. N. WYATT.
J. N. L. BAKER, ESQ., M.A., B.LITT., Treasurer.
R. A. SKELTON, ESQ., B.A., Hon. Secretary (British Museum, London, W.C.r).
W. M. WHITEHILL, ESQ., PH.D., F.S.A., Hon. Secretary for U.S.A. (Boston Athenaeum, Mass.).
C. R. H. TAYLOR, ESQ., M.A., Hon. Secretary for New Zealand (Alexander Tumbull Library, Wellington, N.Z.).
PROFESSOR G. H. T. KIMBLE, Hon. Secretary for Canada (McGill University, Montreal).
PROFESSOR C. Y. SHEPHARD, Hon. Secretary for British West Indies (Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture, Trinidad).
PROFESSOR R. M. CRAWFORD, Hon. Secretary for Australia (University of Melbourne, Melbourne).
DOUGLAS VARLEY, ESQ., Hon. Secretary for South Africa (South African Public Library, Cape Town).
Trustees.
THE PRESIDENT
THE TREASURER
E. W. BOVILL, ESQ.
MALCOLM LETTS, ESQ., F.S.A.
A PART from their brevity, which precludes separate publication, the three narratives here reprinted have an underlying unity that amply justifies their presentation in one volume. True, each has its special characteristics and its own claim to recognition. Pitts was the first (and for a long time the only) Englishman to penetrate into the holy cities of Islam, so jealously guarded against infidel intrusion; Daniel made a gallant pioneer effort to journey from London to India by the Red Sea route; and Poncets is the only first-hand description of Abyssinia by a European between the expulsion of the Portuguese in 1633 and the visit of Bruce in 176971. Nevertheless, the narratives have much in common, and supplement one another to a remarkable extent. All three travellers were contemporaries, and two of them actually met. All three were concerned with a definite geographical areathe Red Sea and the countries bordering thereon (Egypt, Arabia, Abyssinia); all three made lengthy voyages on that sea in native craft and endured the resulting inconveniences so vividly described at a later date by Sir Richard Burton; Pitts and Daniel both deal with Cairo, though from different angles; the latters hearsay accounts of Mecca and Medina are corrected by the formers eyewitness descriptions; while both Daniel and Poncet give detailed accounts of the Sinai peninsula and its celebrated Greek Monastery. Each traveller makes his contribution, and the result is a striking picture of north-eastern Africa as it was at the close of the seventeenth century.
Concerning Joseph Pitts, the author of the first narrative, little is known save what can be gleaned from his book. That he was born in 1662 or 1663 is deduced from the fact that he was about fifteen at the time of his capture. Of his father we learn only that his Christian name was John; that he resided in Exeter; that he was a Nonconformist; and that he survived at least until his sons return from captivity in 1695. He seems to have given the boy a fair education, for though the latter must have left school at an early age, he had learnt to read, write, and cipher well. Brought up in a pious family, he was of a sober, steadfast disposition; and being naturally intelligent and self-reliant, he was well prepared for a career of extraordinarily varied character, calling for uncommon qualities of endurance and adaptation to circumstances.
Being of an adventurous turn, the youthful Joseph prevailed upon his father to allow him to go to sea. This had disastrous results for the lad, for in 1678 the small vessel in which he was serving was captured by an Algerian corsair off the coast of Spain, and he was taken to Algiers and there sold as a slave. His first owner used him rigorously; but after a few months he disposed of him to another purchaser, who in turn presented him to a brother living at Tunis. Whilst there, the English consul and two English merchants, taking pity on the lad, made offers to buy his freedom for him. Greatly to his disappointment these efforts failed, for the price demanded proved too high. After a while he was taken back to Algiers, where his master determined to force him to become a Muslim. For a considerable period Pitts withstood manfully blows, hard fare, and other cruelties; but at last, utterly exhausted and hopeless, he gave way and pronounced the required formula, though with a troubled conscience. His master suspected his sincerity and treated him little better than before. He was ill-fed, ill-housed, and (as he says) led a miserable life, until his oppressor lost his head for conspiring against the Dey. The widow sold Pitts to an old bachelor, who made him his body servant and treated him with much consideration. After about a year his new master decided to make the pilgrimage to Mecca, carrying with him his English slave. The result was the journey here chronicled.
