The Pilgrimage of Symon Semeonis: A Contribution to the History of Mediæval Travel

Author(s): Mario Esposito

Source: The Geographical Journal, Vol. 50, No. 5 (Nov., 1917), pp. 335-352
Published by: The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)
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 THE PILGRIMAGE OF SYMON SEMEONIS 335

confusion in the mind of chamber-geographers, both military and

do not understand mountains. They take for granted that a wat
rule a racial and strategical frontier. Now, watersheds in many
frontiers, except from the purely physical point of view. (The Py
a notable exception.) The racial and strategical frontier is apt
gorges. If you take the map of the Trentino and draw a line
southern side of the Alps from the east end of the Oertler gr
Meran and across the hills towards Brunecken you run nearly l
racial frontier ; that is to say, a fair strategical frontier and the
are really the same. The Trentino problem is by no means insol
dealt with it, and an approximation to a reasonable frontier was n
in the negotiations between the Austrian and Italian governm
preceded the war.
I have only one other passing note to add to Miss Newbigin's re
is with regard to the way in which traffic came up from the M
I doubt if much of it went over the Cote d'Or. Having come u
to Lyons, it crossed the hills to the valley of the Loire, and
the stream to Orleans. As long as the roads were bad traffic a
made all the use they could of river transport.
The society is greatly indebted to Miss Newbigin for a very
and stimulating lecture, and for enabling us to hear the variou
visitors who have given us their views on the subject. Whate
bring the various considerations affecting the questions of delim
front and helps us to introduce them into the minds of politi
useful both to the Society and to the nation. I am sure I u
suffrages in offering Miss Newbigin our best thanks for her lecture

THE PILGRIMAGE OF SYMON SEMEONIS: A CON?

TRIBUTION TO THE HISTORY OF MEDIiEVAL
TRAVEL
Mario Esposito

INgraphy'
his valuable
(vol. 3,and interesting
1906, p. 491) [Link]
C. [Link]
the { Dawn
makes of Modern Geo?
a passing
reference to a fourteenth-century Irish traveller, Symon Semeonis, " whose
narrative is extremely important for the history of European trade in
Egypt." As Mr. Beazley was unable to devote any space to the examina?
tion of this hardly accessible and little-known document, I have tried in
the following pages to bring the subject under the notice of those who
are interested in the history of geography, and who may be able to clear
up some of the obscurities which I have not succeeded in explaining.
The Itinerarium or ' Carnet de Voyage' of the Irish Franciscan
Symon Semeonis appears to have been first mentioned in modern times
by Thomas Tanner (' Bibliotheca Britannico-Hibernica,' fol., Londini, 1748,
p. 702), who met with a MS. of it in the Library of Corpus Christi
College at Cambridge. This MS. was accurately described some years
later by James Nasmith (' Catalogus Librorum MSS. in Bibl. Coll. Corp.
Christi Cant.,' 4to, Cantabrigise, 1777, pp. 384-385), who, realizing the

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336 THE PILGRIMAGE OF SYMON SEMEONIS

interest of the narrative, made a transcript of it which he printed

at Cambridge, along with the highly curious Diary of an antiquaria
through a number of English cities drawn up by William Worceste
Botoner (c. 1415-1482), a precursor of Leland, and, at the end
volume, an anonymous fifteenth-century tract on Leonine verse, bot
MSS. in the same Library.* This book, which was published by
subscription,f has become excessively rare.| In some copies at
beginning of the Diary of Botoner ? are eight additional pages num
77* to 84*, on the last of which we are told that only 250 copi
printed. Apart from its scarcity,|| this edition is most unsatisfacto
contains neither Commentary nor Index, and the Introduction con
merely of a reprint of Tanner's very meagre and not altogether a
notice. Moreover, the text is disfigured by a number of gaps, man
corrupt passages and misprints, and Nasmith confesses that he alter
orthography of the original " for the convenience of readers"
p. 5, note). Elsewhere I have drawn attention to the curious fas
which certain editors, even in quite modern times, have attem
"emend" mediaeval Latin texts by rewriting them in classical L
('Studies,' 3, 1914, p. 659).
Since Nasmith's time brief general accounts of the ' Voyage of Sy
have been given by an anonymous author (Retrospective Review, S
Series, vol. 2, 1828, pp. 232-254) in 1828, and by the present write
1911.

The sole surviving MS. of the Itinerarium of Symon Semeonis is pre?

served in the Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge,** wdiere it
bears the number 407. It is an octavo parchment volume of 178 folios.
* * Itineraria Symonis Simeonis et Willelmi de Worcestre. Quibus accedit Trac-
tatus de Metro . . . e codicibus MSS. edidit Jacobus Nasmith,' 8vo, Cantabrigiae,
1778. The textof Symon's tract occupies pages 3-73, that of Botoner's Diary pp. 77-378,
and the metrical tract pp. 381-388.
f The preface contains a list of 134 subscribers, arnong whom is not one Irishman,
whereas no less than fourteen copies were subscribed for by Spaniards !
X Though only valued at from 8 to 15 francs by Lowndes (8, 2400), Brunet (5, 391),
and Graesse (6, 1, 408), copies very rarely appear for sale.
? On this work and on Botoner's unpublished notebook see Gasquet ('The English
Bible and other Essays,' 1897, pp. 286-318).
]] As far as I am aware, the only copy in Ireland is that in the possession of the
Royal Irish Academy. There are four copies in the British Museum and two at Man?
chester. On the Continent the book is not easily met with.
IT Hermathena, 16, 1911, pp. 264-287. The article "Simeonis, Symon," in the
Dictionary of National Biography (1897) is devoid of value. Beazley (' Dawn of Mod.
Oeog.,' 3, 1906, pp. 484, 491, 492, 551) has merely passing references. So also Butler
('Annals of Clyn,' 1849, p. v.), Hardy ('Descr. Catal. of Brit. Hist.,' 3, 1871, p. 375),
Stokes ('Ireland and the Anglo-Norman Church,' 1889, p. 375), Bellesheim ('Gesch.
der kathol. Kirche in Irland,' I, 1890, p. 541), Green ('Making of Ireland,' 2nd ed.,
x909? P- 546) > Macalister ('Quart. Statement Pal. Explor. Fund,' July, 1912, pp. 153-
156).
** It was bequeathed to the College in 1575 by Archbishop Parker.

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 THE PILGRIMAGE OF SYMON SEMEONIS 337

A most accurate description of its contents has been rece

Dr. M. R. James.* We shall here concern ourselves sol
i to 92, which are the work of one scribe, and which we
venience sake designate as " the MS." The rest of
written by different hands, also of the fourteenth centu
enter into the subject of our present inquiry.
The contents of our MS. {i.e. fols. 1 to 92) then are?
(1) Fols. 1a to 33$, the Itinerarium of Symon Semeonis
title, that of Itinerarium having been given to it by Nas
are blank.

(2) Fols. 37^ to 67^, the Itinerarium of William de Rubruck or

Rubruquisf (1253-55). Fols. 67^?68 are blank.
(3) Fols. 69a to 910, the Itinerarium of Odoric of Pordenone % (1330).
Fols. 91 ?-92 are blank.
The date of the MS. can be fixed within fairly narrow limits. At the
top of fol. \a is the signature of its original owner, Simon Bozoun,? Prior
of Norwich from 1344 to 1352. As we have just seen, the third article in
the MS., the Itinerarium of Odoric, was compiled in 1330, and some time
must have elapsed before copies of it could reach England and be tran-
scribed. We shall probably, then, not be far out in concluding that our
MS. was produced at some date between 1335 and 1352 by an English
scribe, who, we may conjecture, worked at Norwich. The hand is good
and clear. || Folios 1 to 33 are evidently not the autograph of Symon's
Itinerarium, but it is not improbable that they are a direct copy of that
original, for, as we shall see, Symon was totally unknown among his con?
temporaries, and in no catalogues of monastic libraries or their mediaeval
documents do we find any reference to his book. MSS. of it must there?
fore have been excessively scarce.
Symon's narrative is incomplete. It breaks off at the end of a sentence
halfway down folio 33^ in the middle of his account of Jerusalem. We
are not however justified in supposing that anything is missing in our
copy. The lower half of folio 33^ is blank, and three blank folios follow
before the Itinerarium of Rubruquis begins. At the end of Rubruquis
the scribe has left a similar blank space of a folio and a half before

* * Descriptive Catal. of the MSS. in the Library of Corpus Christi College,' vol. 2,
part 2, 1911, pp. 291-293.
f This portion of the MS. was collated by Michel and Wright, who gave a facsimile
of the first lines on fol. 370 ('Soc. de Geog. de Paris, Recueil,' 4, 1839, pp. 205-396),
and by Beazley ('Carpini and Rubruquis,' Hakluyt Society, 1903, pp. xviii.-xix.).
These editors wrongly assigned the MS. to the fifteenth century.
X This copy was not collated by Yule for his edition (' Cathay and the Way Thither,'
new ed. by H. Cordier, vol. 2, 1913, pp. 40, 278-335).
? "Liber fratris Symonis Prioris Norwic." From him it passed into the possession
of Norwich Cathedral Priory.
|| So says Dr. James, but Mr. Beazley ('Carpini,' p. xviii.) describes it as "a small
close, and difficult late mediseval hand, abounding in abbreviations."

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338 THE PILGRIMAGE OF SYMON SEMEONIS

commencing on Odoric. Had there been more of Symon's It

in the original there is no reason to believe that our scribe wo
neglected to copy it.

Of the personal history of Symon Semeonis we know nothi

what he himself tells us in his narrative, of which we may now
give an analysis.
The opening paragraph presents several obscurities, wherefor
set it forth in the original Latin :?
Edition, p. 3. "Zte Hybemia profecti sumus . . . Symon S
Hugo Illuminator, ordinis fratrum minorum professores . . . ve
sanctam . . . iter XVII. Aprl. Kl. arripientes, celebrato capitttlo
apud Clen . . . am in festo beatissimi patris nostri Francisci, an
milesimo CCCXXII, quo anno celebratttm est pascha in VI
How then are these words to be interpreted ? " We, the F
Symon Semeonis and Hugo Illuminator, set forth from Ireland
the Holy Land, commencing our journey on the 16th of March
vincial chapter having been celebrated at Clen . . . am on O
4th, in the year 1322, in which year Easter was celebrated on
March." It is most unfortunate that the place-name should hav
partially effaced in our MS. Mr. G. G. Butler, Fellow of P
College, Cambridge, who very kindly examined the MS. at my
writes, " The four first folios of the MS. are much wrinkled, an
on the inside (binding) margin is hard to read. Clen ends a line
latter part of the word is obscure. I notice a down stroke o
and then one or two letters which have disappeared ; finally, a
am." I cannot discover what locality is intended. The neares
to the effaced name would be Clane in Co. Kildare, at wh
Franciscan convent had been established in 1258 (cf. ' Annals o
Masters,' ed. O'Donovan, ad ann. 1258), but I cannot find an
a provincial chapter having been held there at the period
Symon. J Another difficulty arises in regard to the chron
date given for the celebration of Easter, March 27, corresponds
year 1322, but to 1323^ and further on in the narrative (Ed
are told of the consecration of a church in Egypt on 8 Septem
* Nasmith's text has Simeonis, but the reading of the MS. is Semeonis, w
thought it better to retain.
f It is much to be regretted that we possess as yet no thorough or critic
tion into the early history of the Franciscan establishments in Irelan
survey may be seen in Bellesheim (' Gesch. der kath. Kirche in Irlan
pp. 472-474) ; see also a note by Golubovich (' Bibl. bio-bibliog. della T
2, I9X3> P- 250)-
\ In the Chronicle of the Irish Franciscan John Ciyn (ed. Butler, Irish
1849, pp. 14, 31) we read that a chapter was held at Clane in 1345, and on
1321.
? Cf. De MasLatrie ('Tresor de Chronologie,' etc, 1889, col. 140).
richt ('Bibl. Geogr. Patestina:,' 1890, p. 72) and Potthast ('Bibl. H

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 THE PILGRIMAGE OF SYMON SEMEONIS 339

The only explanation that I can propose of this doubt

is that a provincial chapter of the Franciscan Order was held
that be the locality designated?on 4 October 1322, and
following spring, on 16 March 1323, Symon and Hugh set
journey. It is of course possible that some corruption has cre
text.

An examination of the Irish Annals and of a number of Franciscan

documents has not revealed any mention of our pilgrims. Their names,
Symon Fitz Semeon (Symon Semeonis) and Hugh Limner* (Hugo
Illuminator) show them to have been not of Celtic, but rather of Anglo-
Irish descent. They were, however, undoubtedly natives of Ireland.
The naive manner in which they express their wonder at the glories and
wealth of English and Continental cities proves beyond dispute that they
had crossed the Irish Channel for the first time. Owing to Brother
Hugh's untimely death at Cairo, to be related further on, we are indebted
solely to Symon for the actual compilation of our narrative. This he put
together from the rough notes taken en route, and it seems probable that
he wrote it down in some English Franciscan establishment shortly after
his return. Symon was no classical scholar, and his style and Latinity
are of the crudest description ; but he was evidently a man of considerable
intelligence and an accurate observer. If his Itinerarium cannot be
compared for originality and historical importance with those of Carpini,
Rubruquis, the Polos, Odoric,f and others, it is still a highly interesting
production, and well worthy of careful study. Indeed, as the detailed
narrative of a pilgrimage from Ireland to the Holy Land in mediseval
times, it is, I believe, unique.
Leaving their monastery on 16 March 1323?not 1322?our two friars

ed. 2, 1896, 2, p. 1022) wrongly assign the pilgrimage to 1332. Chevalier (' Bio-Bib-
liogr.,' 2C ed., 1907, art. " Simeonis, Simon "); gives correct information. Simon is not
even mentioned by Golubovich (' Biblioteca bio-bibliografica della Terra Santa e dell'
Oriente Francescano,' tomo ii., 1913).
* Cf. 'New English Dictionary,' art. "Limner," where the word is explained as
illuminator of MSS. Writing about 1550 John Bale (' Index Britannise Scriptorum,' ed.
Poole, Oxford, 1902, p. 170) mentions that a certain "Hugo de Hibernia, ex Minori-
tarum genere, scripsit Itinerarium quoddam, Iiber i. Ex Nordouicensi scriptorum
catalcgo." Bale is clearly referring to our Hugo. Holinshed ('Chronicle,' ed.
London, 4to, 1808, 6, p. 61) repeats Bale's statement, and both by a confusion with
another personage, Hugo Bernardus, make Hugo flourish about 1360, whereas we
know that he died in 1323. Wadding ('Annales Minorum,' ed. 2, 8, 1733, p. 146),
Ware (' Writers,' p. 85, ap. < Works,' Dublin, 1745, vol. 2), Fabricius ('Bibl. Lat. Med.
,Et.,' ed. 2, 1858, 3, p. 274), Tanner ('Bibl. Brit. Hib.,' 1748, p. 418) and Green
(' Making of Ireland,' ed. 2, 1909, p. 243) merely repeat Bale's account. Sbaralea
('Suppl. ad Script. Ord. S. Francisci,' 1806, p. 361) invents the additional detail that
Hugo wrote also ' Tractatus Varii.'
t It is interesting to recall the fact that Odoric was accompanied on some of his
wanderings by a certain Brother James of Ireland (cf. Beazley, 'Dawn of Mod. Geog.,'
3, 1906, p. 255), and Yule-Cordier, 'Cathay,' 2, 1913, p. 11).

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34? THE PILGRIMAGE OF SYMON SEMEONIS

crossed the Irish Channel * and landed in North Wales a

name of which has become illegible (" Castrum . . . llts"
Passing through the very strongly fortified localities of Beaum
and Flint (" Transivimus per Beaumareys, Coneway, . . . orel
they arrived at Chester on Holy Thursday (24 March 132
they state, was the port at which ships from Ireland regula
Here they celebrated Easter (March 27), and continuing
through Stafford and Lichfield, " where there is a most beaut
honour of St. Chad, with most lofty stone towers, and splend
with pictures and sculptures," Coventry, " dear to merchant
and St. Albans, " where there is a monastery of black monk
dictines), they arrived in London, " the most famous and w
the world."
" Over the Thames J is that famous bridge full of inh
wealth, in the midst of which is the church of St. Thomas,? t
and martyr. In the centre of the city is the church of St. P
derful size, crowned with an incomparable spire said to be 50
Towards the sea is that most famous and inexpugnable fort
Tower of London. Outside the walls at the other end of t
monastery of black monks known as Westminster, where t
bells, the most famous in the world for their size and admi
Almost joined to this monastery is the famous palace of
England, in which is that renowned chamber on the walls o
splendidly painted all the warlike histories of the whole Bib
nished with most complete and accurate descriptions in
language."
After a stay of several days in London, they went on
and Canterbury. At the latter place they visited the shrine
Becket in the church of the Benedictines, adorned in the m
style worthy of that martyr and glittering with precious s
gate of Jerusalem." All things reckoned, there was no s
" under the moon." In the northern part of the same ch
body of the celebrated Franciscan theologian, John of P
second Benedictine monastery in the same town they saw
St. Augustine, who converted the English people, and w
* Ed., p. 4, " mare hybernicum ferocissimum atquepericulosissimum."
?f Were we to accept the date 1322, this would give April 8 for Ho
seems inadmissible that our pilgrims should have taken from March 16
from Ireland to Chester, when they record no stop any where.
% "Ultra Tamysam." This curious use of the preposition ultra
"pons ultra Rodonum."
? The Chapel of St. Thomas on London Bridge, cf. 'Victoria Histo
1, 1909, p. 572.
|| Symon adds (p. 5), " Et in eadem ecclesia est capella Beatce Virginis
in qua quotidie missarum solempniis veneratur, ubi fubilantes anglici siv
bardorum clamantium atque Teutonicorum ululantium harmonia recisa,
philomenicas et cherubricos concentus Maria personant atque tripudiosos.

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 THE PILGRIMAGE OF SYMON SEMEONIS 34*

carefully remarks, must be distinguished from " that famo

hammer of heretics (Ed., p. 6, " doctor et77ialleus Iiereticorum
in Lombardy, in the city of Pavia, which is distant twenty
Milan."

Quitting Canterbury they arrived at Dover, " a most famous fortress,

situated on a hill, at the foot of which is a Benedictine monastery, in
which reposes the body of St. Thomas * the monk and martyr."
Taking ship at Dover, " the usual port for crossing to France," they
landed at Wissant,f " which is in the kingdom of the peaceful king, that
is the king of France," and proceeded to Boulogne, "where there is a
monastery, in which is an image of the Holy Virgin, known in the ver-
nacular as Nostre Dame de Bolonye." They next traversed the strong
fortress of " Mostrel," probably Montreuil-sur-Mer, and arrived at Amiens,{
where they admired the glorious cathedral, spared even by the vandals
who destroyed Reims. Among other things they saw at Amiens the head
of John the Baptist. Pushing on through Beauvais and Saint-Denis,
where there was a Benedictine monastery in which all the kings of France
were buried, and in which they were shown a nail taken from the Holy
Cross, they reached Paris.
Of the capital of the intellectual world they speak in glowing terms.
It was the most populous and wealthy of Christian cities, strongly fortified
and adorned with countless beautiful churches. The University was the
home of philosophical and theological science, " since it is their nurse
and the mother of the other liberal arts, the mistress of justice, the standard
of morals, in fine the mirror and lamp of all moral and religious virtue."
On an island in the Seine was the cathedral of Notre Dame, the western
doors of which were wonderfully sculptured. In the same island was the
palace of the king of France, " in which is that most beautiful chapel
wonderfully adorned with biblical histories." ? Here among a number of
most precious relics they saw the real crown of thorns, a large cross made
from the wood of the true cross, the lance of the soldier Longinus, and
hair and milk of the Holy Virgin. ||
The journey through France cannot be completely traced, for some of
the place-names are so corruptly spelled as to defy identification.
On leaving Paris they traversed the cities of "Pinum" and Troyes
(" Troga"), and reached Chatillon-sur-Seine. Here they found it necessary
to relinquish their plan of getting into Lombardy by way of Dijon (" Dinona"),
Salins (" Saliva") (Jura), and Lausanne, for the route was unsafe
* St. Thomas of Canterbury, died 1295, "gallicis manibus martirizatus" (p. 7).
t A small port halfway between Calais and Boulogne.
% The edition (p. 7) has " venimus civitatem Abranensem" no doubt a misreading
of Nasmith's for Ambianensem.
? Symon is here alluding to the ancient Palais Royal, on the site of which is the
Palais de Justice, and to the beautiful Sainte-Chapelle.
|| " Quae omnes," adds Symon (p. 8), " apradicto rege singulari diligentia reverenter
custodiunlur."

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342 THE PILGRIMAGE OF SYMON SEMEONIS

owing to the war then raging (1323) between Matteo Visc

Milan, and Robert, King of Naples, allied with Pope John XX
turned aside towards " Duymonem" leaving Dijon (" Dunone7
left, and by way of ' Geum' reached Chalon-sur-Saone, (" Ve
lonem " (Ed., p. 9), a corruption of Cabillonum). A voyage do
brought them to Lyons, which is dismissed with the remark
here Pope Gregory X. celebrated the famous Council (1
was reached after some further speedy navigation, this time
A visit to the church of the Friars Minor there leads them to recount an
interesting occurrence, of which I have found no record elsewhere :?
" In this church repose the bodies of the Minor Friars Mellanus de
Conflent (? Conflans, Haute-Saone), inquisitor of heretical depravity, and
Paschasius de Saliente, who in the province of Burgundy betweenc Trista'
and Valence, at ' Montpelhim,1 * in the church of the black monks,
received at night in time of peace, by exceptional privilege, the palm of
martyrdom at the hands of the Patrines {i.e. Patarenes or Cathari), or
heretics, whom the aforementioned inquisitor, fearless of death, had pub-
licly condemned in the church on the 3rd of March f preceding, in the
year 1321."
Passing Vienne,J " where presided the venerable father St. Mentenius,?
who instituted the solemn Litanies before Ascension Day," and Pont-Saint-
Esprit, where they admired " the height and breadth of the arches of that
wonderful stone bridge || across the Rhone, half a mile in length," they
reached the city of Arles, " where St. Francis had appeared to Antony of
Padua preaching before the brothers' chapter." All the way down the
Rhone they noticed " many most wealthy cities, the names of which are
not written down in this book."
From Arles they proceeded by land to Salon (" Venimus Salenam
castrum " (p. 10)), and Marseille, where they mention the church constructed
in honour of St. Louis of Toulouse (f 1297), and remind us that Lazarus
had once been bishop of the city. Of its extraordinary commercial activity
they have not a word to tell.
Hastening on through Saint-Maximin, Brignoles, and Draguignan,f
they stopped at Nice, " in which town," says Symon, " was held that

* I cannot discover what places are intended by Saliente, Trista, and Montpelium.
The latter can hardly refer to Montpellier, which could not have been described as " in
the province of Burgundy."
f The edition here (p. 9) has absurdly X. non. Martii, which is meaningless. I have
assumed V. non. Martii.
X " Civitas Vionensis " (p. 9). Symon has here mixed up the order, for he must have
reached Vienne before Valence.
? This is no doubt an allusion to St. Mamertus, Bishop of Vienne in 477, who intro?
duced the so-called Minor Rogations, i.e. the three days before the feast of the Ascension.
|| This bridge, 920 yards long, was built between the years 1265 and 1309.
^| Symon has confused the order, "proper'antes per Dargymiam, Sanctum Maximum,
Bigaloras castrum,"

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 THE PILGRIMAGE OF SYMON SEMEONIS 343

famous Nicene Council at which St. Nicholas is said to have assisted."

This amazing statement would probably have surprised but few fourteenth-
century readers.
From Nice they sailed over to Genoa,* " the most famous, powerful,
and victorious of states, most abundantly equipped in ships and armed
galleys (u Galeys armatisv), since it is the nurse and mistress of sailors."
Outside the city, we are strangely told, was preserved the body of the
Venerable Bede. Symon has confounded the latter with Beda Junior, who
died at Genoa about 883 (Acta SS. Boll., April., i., 867-873). The state
was happy in the possession of the Genoese Riviera (Ed., p. 10, "Ula
imperialissima riparia?) a most beautiful district abounding in olives and
other fruit trees, and covered with wealthy castles and palaces. From
Genoa they traversed some difficult and dangerous (Ed., p. n, Uiproficis~
centes per . . . mittitudinem malandrinorum") country to Bobbio (" Castrttm
Bobinet"), where they were shown in the Benedictine monastery one of the
stone jars in which the Lord had turned water into wine (cf. St. John ii.
3-10). Here also they saw the tomb of St. Columbanus.
Resuming their journey through Piacenza, " Paxina," f Mantua, Verona,
and Vicenza, cities strongly fortified and well furnished with Saints'
bodies, they came to Padua, a large and fortified city adorned with an
imposing church dedicated to St. Antony the Minorite, whose corpse lies
there.

At Padua they embarked and sailed, apparently down the River

Brenta, to Venice, which they reached on the 28th of June. Delighted
with the glorious city of the Republic, then at the zenith of its power, they
sojourned here during nearly seven weeks. " Although entirely situated
in the sea, yet by virtue of its beauty and cleanliness it deserves to be
placed between the stars of Arcturus and the shining Pleiades. It is two
miles away from terra firma, and has streets, J one third of which are paved
with burnt bricks, the remaining two thirds consisting of navigable canals.
Here repose the entire and undecayed corpses of Mark the Evangelist, of
Zacharias the prophet, father of John the Baptist, whose mouth is open
even to the present day, of Gregory the Nazarene ? (Gregorii Nazareni),
Theodore the martyr, of the holy virgins Lucia and Marina, and of many
other saints and martyrs. In honour of St. Mark is a most sumptuous
church incomparably constructed of marble and other most precious
materials, and adorned with wonderful mosaic work representing Biblical
stories; opposite to it is that famous Piazza (Ula vulgata platea), like
* The edition (p. 10) has " civitatem Ravensem." This is no doubt a mistake for
* Januensem.'
f This may possibly be a corruption of " Piadena," a small town situated between
Piacenza and Mantua.
X " Habet bareryas, quoad unam partem communiter de lateribus coctis pavimentatas,
quoad duaspartes navigabiles " (p. Ii).
? It is not clear to what personage Symon is here alluding. He cannot, of course,
mean Gregory of Nazianzus.

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344 THE PILGRIMAGE OF SYMON SEMEONIS

which nothing can be found in the whole world. Almost

church is the palace of the Doge, in which for the glory
living lions are kept, and opposite the palace towards the
round marble columns, large and lofty, on the top of one o
gilt lion * shining like Diana or the star of the sea {stella na
western gate of the same church are two bronze horses f glit
in all directions. Outside the city, on an island near th
monastery of the monks {in monasterio monachorum) % repos
the blessed Nicholas, bishop and confessor." ?
Quitting Venice on Thursday, 18 August 1323, || our two
across the Adriatic " to the excellent port of Pola {Spol
in the province of Istria {Listrid), and subject to the Ven
days further sailing brought them to Zara,fl in Dalmatia, a
city, distant 300 miles ** from Venice, to which. it also
possessing the remains of the blessed Gregory the martyr.
The Dalmatian women wore a remarkable head-dress, " in
horn-shaped like the horned owl (" Ornamentum cornutum ve
Ed., p. 12), in others oblong and square, in others again vast
adorned in the front part with precious stones, tall, and suite
tion from hail, wind, rain, and sun."
The islands off the Dalmatian coast, then belonging to th
were, our pilgrims were informed, as numerous as the days of
From Zara they sailed on by way of " Alysna,11 probably
Curzola (Cursula) to Ragusa, which Symon (or his copyist) has
into " Agulya." This most wealthy and well-fortified Veneti
distant 200 miles from Zara, and was much frequented by Slav
(Symon probably means Albanian), Paterine, and other
merchants, " who are in behaviour, dress, and language tota
from the Latins. For the Slavs {Sclavi) are in language closely
the Bohemians {Boemys), but for the most part differ in reli
Bohemians use the Latin rite, the Slavs mostly the Greek
current in Ragusa was of bronze or copper, without image o
of which thirty denarii were worth one Venetian grosso,|J and

* Evidently a reference to the two granite columns brought from Sy

here in 1180; one of them bears a winged Lion of St. Mark.
f In reality four bronze horses. Symon's memory must have failed hi
X Possibly the word nigrorum has fallen out before monachorum. Sym
referring to the monastery of San Nicolo or San Niccoletto del Lido.
? This is an error. The body of St. Nicholas of Myra was translated to
|| " Feria Vta. infra octavas assumptionis virginis gloriosae."
TT u Jataia," Ed., p. 12. Further down Symon calls it Iachara (p. 13
corruption of the native name Iader, Zadar.
** This same somewhat exaggerated estimate is given by the later
(trans. by Newett, Manchester, 1907, p. 167).
ft Further down (p. 14) he writes Ragusa correctly.
XX The Venetian groat or grosso was worth a little less than $d.{cf. Yu
ed. Cordier, 2, 1903, p. 591).

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 THE PILGRIMAGE OF SYMON SEMEONIS 345

grosso was worth one sterling with an obol. As at Le

bagatiny (cf. Casola, ed. Newett, p. 177) were current
value as at Venice. Ragusa was said to possess the he
(Blasius), the patron-saint of the town, and its citadel w
inexpugnable rock protected by the sea and by terrible
were " innumerable " here, and many other kinds of " m
could be bought for a small price.
After a stay of several days at Ragusa, Symon and his
ceeded apparently to Dulcigno (" Duleyna civitas "), now
of Montenegro, but which Symon states to belong to " th
(possibly Achaea is intended), and from there on to
famous and powerful, the possession of the Greek Empe
ject to the prince of Romania,* the brother of the King
Albania, Symon tells us, is the province between Sclavon
which possesses a language of its own, and " was recentl
the afore-mentioned King of Cassia, a schismatic, for th
themselves schismatics, employing the Greek rite, an
latter in dress and manners. For the Greeks rarely or n
{caputium) but a white hat {capellum), almost flat, turne
front and upwards behind, so that their hair, of the leng
which they are very proud, may appear more clearly to
Slavs, whom we have mentioned above, wear a white
round, to the top of which the nobles afifix a long feat
they may be more easily distinguished by the rustics and
Ed., p. 14). The town of Durazzo (Durachia) is in the c
very extensive, but as regards buildings miserably smal
once totally destroyed by an earthquake (this occurre
loss, it is said, of 24,000 citizens. It is now thinly pop
differing in language, customs, and religion, by Latins, G
Jews, and barbarous Albanians. The city is distant 20
120) miles from Ragusa, and the coinage consists of sma
which eleven are worth one Venetian grosso, as in all Ro
Availing themselves of the favourable wind they hurr
Valona {Belona), a fort of the Grecian Emperor, Corf
more than 140) miles from Durazzo, a possession of t
salem (Robert the Good (1309-1343)), Leucas {Lucata,

* John, Count of Gravina, who in 1316 had become Prince of

one ofthe nine sons of Charles II., King of Sicily, Naples, and J
Later Durazzo was annexed to the principality of Achaea.
f Robert the Good (1309-1343). Another of his brothers was S
(t 1297).
X A French coin, " tournois," known at Venice as tornese, where it was worth about
\d. (Yule, 'Mareo Polo,' ed. Cordier, 2, p. 592). Eleven of these coins would thus be
equivalent to 8d., a great deal more than the grosso ($d.). For eleven (xi.) we should
probably read six (vi.). Confusion between x and v in numerals is common in mecliseval
MSS.

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346 THE PILGRIMAGE OF SYMON SEMEONIS

Santa Maura or Leucadia), past the islands of Cephalonia

lonid), and Zante (Jacinctum), to Glarentza (Clarentia, now called
in the Morea. This city, distant 200 miles (in reality 150) from
belonged also to the King of Jerusalem. Its governor (capita
was then the lord Nicolaus de Genenillas (Genenillas seems c
whose citadel was on a hill about 5 miles off. Pushing south
through the French citadel of Beauvoir (Belveres Castrum), now P
kastro, between Pyrgos and Katakolo, through Arkadia (Archa
mediseval name of Kyparissia, and "Jonhil" possibly to be ide
with Porto de Junco or Zonklon, now Navarino, possessions of th
of Romania (John, Count of Gravina), they reached by sea the Ve
city of "Montana" stated to be 100 miles from Glarentza. In t
as in other Venetian dependencies in Romania, lived many Greek
Montana I conjecture to be Modoni (Methone), exactly 100 mil
of Glarentza. Further sailing past " Cornu," a Venetian fort (very p
Corone), Maina * (Mayna), and " Companum" a fort of the Greek
brought them to Porto Quaglio {Portus de Quayt), " where so man
(conturnices sive qttaylis) are found t that 18 are commonly sold
Venetian grosso."
From Porto Quaglio they sailed to the island of Cerigo, which
calls Cyngttm. This island belonged to Nicholas Vener (n
Venier, the name of a famous Venetian family), a citizen of Veni
possessed a very strong citadel situated on the top of a hill, and o
south side an excellent port. Their route now led to Crete, wh
landed at a fort named " Conteryn" stated with manifest exagger
be 260 miles from the city of Montana.
" Crete," Symon tells us, " is that island of which the poet has
Primits Creteis Saturnus venit ab oris." This, the sole literary allu
Symon's book, is not a quotation from a classical author, but com
the Eclogues of the supposed poet Theodulus (Theodohts cum comm
Rothomagi per Jacobum Le Forestier, [1500?], 4to, verse 37)
modern research has shown to be none other than the ninth-
heretic Godescalc. These Eclogues, now almost universally for
were immensely popular in the Middle Ages (see Manitius, * Gesch
lat. Lit. des M.A., 1, 1911, p. 572).
In the description of Crete are embodied a number of most inte
pieces of information. From Conteryn they proceeded to Cane
was surrounded by a splendid forest of cypress trees (the cyp
native of the Levant). Like the cedar of Lebanon, this tree surpass
height both towers and spires; its wood was of phenomenal streng

* On the Castle of Maina above Porto Quaglio see Finlay, c Mediaeval Gre
Trebizond,' 1851, p. 231, and Rodd, * Princes of Achaia,' 2, 1907, p. 277.
f " Le nom de Porto Quaglio, le Port aux Cailes, lui vient de ce qu'il est la
station de ces oiseaux avant leur migration en Afrique " (V. de Saint-Martin, c
naire de Geographie,' art. " Porto Quaglio ").

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 THE PILGRIMAGE OF SYMON SEMEONIS .347

especially suited for the building of churches and palaces. Prac

the houses were built of cypress wood, or of " sechym " * wood,
materials were commonly used as fuel, " there issued such a pe
it seemed to be paradise or the preparation of an apothecary." f
Sailing along the coast past " Byohorn" Rethymno (Retym
Castel-Milopotamo {Milopotomum Castruni), they reached C
strongly fortified, and stated with gross exaggeration to be 230
Conteryn. Candia, as indeed the whole island, was under th
the Venetians, who ruled it by a lieutenant responsible to the
inhabitants consisted of Latins, Greeks, and perfidious Je
Latin women, like the Gehoese, are commonly adorned with go
and brilliant jewels ; and when one of them becomes a widow s
or never is married again, nor is adorned with a nuptial ga
wears a black widow's veil; nor does she ever walk with a m
upon the same seat either in church or elsewhere, but wit
veiled and heaving sighs she ever seeks solitary places, and nev
to avoid the society of men as she would that of serpents. The
the Jews and of the Greeks at Candia adopt a very singular cos
some cases resembling the surplices (" suppellicia11) of choriste
chorales") of the Latin Church, in others having a kind of cloa
a cowl ("qucedam vero capis absque caputiis induuntur,}), wh
inside is curiously embroidered with gold, and which they wea
occasion of religious festivals. It is similar to the garmen
Canonici a remotis." %
This city, like those of Istria, Albania, and Romania, which
traversed, produced most excellent,wine and cheese (cf. c Casol
316), and abounded in fruit. The ships and galleys were loaded w
and that famous Cretan wine, which was exported over the whole
to be had every where. Pomegranates (jnalagranatd), lemons (pom
figs, grapes,papinionesj languriae,\ gourds {cucurbitae), and othe
fruit could be purchased at the smallest price. Candia was also
for its wealth in ships and horses. Of its general appearan
tells us, what is still true of practically every city in the L

* Sechym is a corruption of Cethym, the name of the island of Cypr

'Cathay,' ed. Cordier, 3, 1914, p. 246, and Zarncke, 'Der Priester
I, 1879, pp. 91, 104, 158). Ducange gives " Cethi, lignum album." There
" De Ligno Sethim," in Book 17 of Bartholomseus Anglicus, ' De Proprieta
ed. Lyons, 1480, ap. Nicolaus Philippi and Marcus Reinhard.
"f* Ed. p. 16, ((lanta est redolentia quod non aliud videtur nisi paradisu
pigmentarii."
X The term Canonici a remotis does not occur in Ducange, and I am unable to
explain it, unless it be a corruption oi canonici regular es. Symon adds (p. 17), " cum
quibus in aures portant indiffere7iter et in illis summo gloriantur." We should of course
read inaures (ear-rings) and summe.
? I do not find this word in Ducange. It probably means some sort of melon.
|| Also absent from Ducange. In Pliny ('Hist. Nat.,' ^7, 2, n) the word desig-
nates a kind of lizard.

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 34^ THE PILGRIMAGE OF SYMON SEMEONIS

to those at sea it appears beautiful, but has filthy, narrow, an

streets, and most vilely paved.* Indeed, he adds, these cities o
etc, however fertile and well fortified they may be, are, on com
the cities of Italy, both small and unimportant. At Candia wa
preserved the body of St. Titus, PauFs disciple and the p
of the Cretans, and here they saw a Franciscan monk who had
been a Jew; but undoubtedly their most interesting observati
the most interesting things in the whole book?was that o
people dwelling outside the city, who worship according to the
and assert themselves to be of the race of Ham {de gener
These people rarely or never stop in one place more than thir
always, as though accursed of Heaven, nomad and outcas
thirtieth day wander from field to field with little, oblong, black
after the fashion of the Arabs, and from cave to cave, becaus
inhabited by them becomes after the above-mentioned t
vermin and other filth, in the presence of which it is impossib
There can be no reasonable doubt that the nomads thus described
were Gypsies.J That they worshipped according to the Greek rite need
not militate against this view, for, as is well known, the Gypsies have no
religion, and-are at all times prepared to adopt that which pays them best
for the time being. The history of their earliest settlements in Europe
has given rise to a great deal of discussion. ? Some historians have
attempted to identify them with the Athinganoi and Komodromoi vaguely
mentioned by certain Byzantine writers as early as the ninth century, but
the equivalence cannot be proved. As far as our present-day knowledge
goes the first positive appearance of the Gypsies in Europe cannot be
traced further back than the fourteenth century. Hopf has shown that
they were certainly settled in Corfu before 1346, and possibly even before
1326, and we know that they were established in Wallachia about 1370.
Symon's explicit reference to their presence in Candia in 1323 is thus the
earliest date in the history of the Gypsies on their road to Europe. No
doubt they had been already some time established in Crete before
Symon saw them. Their profession of the Greek rite would indicate this.

* " Barerias tamen kabet viles immundas strictas angulosas et in vilissimo pavimen-
tatas," (p. 17). Cf. Casola, p. 202.
f By Chaym Symon presumably means Ham (Cham) and not Cain, though Marig-
nolli (1338-53) describes the Veddahs of Ceylon as the sons of Cain (Yule-Cordier,
' Cathay,' 3, 1914, P- 245)-
X Hopfs suggestion that they were Coptic negroes is most improbable, as was
pointed out by:R. Pischel (Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society, New Series, 2, 1909, p. 319).
? See especially Paul Bataillard (' Bibl. de l'?cole des Chartes,' [1], vol. 5, 1844,
pp. 438, 521 ; [3] t. 1, 1849, P- x4 > ' Ltat de la Question de l'Anciennete des Tsiganes
en Europe,' Paris, 1876, p. 18; Journ. Gypsy Lore Soc, 1, 1889, p. 188); Hopf,
' Einwanderung der Zigeuner in Europa,' Gotha, 1870; Moses Gaster, art. "Gipsies"
in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, nth edit., 1910. Bataillard inaccurately stated Symon
to have been a Spaniard, and to have started out from England ! His copy of
Nasmith's book is now in the Public Reference Library at Manchester.

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 THE PILGRIMAGE OF SYMON SEMEONIS 349

The island of Crete was oblong and covered with lof

On the summit of one of them, not named by Symon
Mount Ida, was a level plain * only to be approached by a
road. This plateau was strongly fortified and peopled
Greeks, ruled by a despot named Alexius. The settlem
the necessaries of life except salt and iron.
Before leaving the subject of Crete we may notice S
that "this island has in circuit 500 miles according to the
delineate the islands of the sea." t These words seem t
pilgrims had been shown, no doubt by Mediterranean sail
coast-charts or portolani, the triumph of the navigato
Republics. These charts began to be common after 1300 o
and soon entirely swept away the puerilities of ancient and
maps.J
On Monday, 10 October ? 1323, our two pilgrims quitted Candia,
and, sailing past the island of Scarpanto or Karpathos, called by Symon
Schalpyn, arrived at Alexandria, " a city most famous and beloved (amplex-
abilis) by merchants," on the feast of St. Calixtus (October 14). The
distance is correctly given as 500 miles from Candia.
On the arrival of their vessel in the port, it was immediately boarded
by a number of Saracen harbour officials, who hauled down the sail, and
wrote down the names of everybody on board, at the same time making
out a most careful list of all the merchandise and goods in the ship.
Leaving two guards on board, they returned to the town taking all the
passengers along with them, in order to report the matter to the admiral
or governor (admiraldus), without whose permission neither travellers nor
goods are allowed to enter or leave the town. || The two guards did not
leave the ship until it had been entirely unloaded. This is done in all
cases in the hope that some extra goods may be discovered, which had
escaped the first inventory, for the admiral gets a fixed tribute on all that
is found in the ship, and has to pay a certain portion of it to the Sultan
(soldanus).
The admiral, on learning of the affair, immediately despatched a
message to the Sultan at Cairo % by means of a carrier-pigeon.** These

* Symon appears to be here referring to the Kampos tes Nidas, a plateau on Mount
Ida, from 2 to 2| miles in length from east to west, and watered by several springs.
t " Secundum marinarios insulas maris describentes " (Ed., p. 18).
X See Mr. Beazley's very valuable 'Dawn of Modern Geography,' 3, 1906, pp.
512-528.
? Ed., p. 18, " Die lunrn infra octavas S. Francisci"
j| Ed., p. 19, t(Sine cujus licentia etpresentia nullus ingreditur forensis nec egreditur,
nec intra bona portantur."
I7 Symon calls Cairo Kayer or Kayr, usually with Del or De le prefixed.
** This method of corresponding appears to have been first regularly organized by
the Saracens. In ancient times we find isolated instances of its employment, e.g. at
the siege of Mutina in B.c. 43, cf. Pliny, Hist. Nat.> x. 53, and Frontinus, Strateg.,
iii. 13.

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35? THE PILGRIMAGE OF SYMON SEMEONIS

pigeons were trained in the Sultan's castle at Cairo and sen

(gabice) to the governors of the various maritime cities, " who
they wish to make something known to the Sultan despatch on
letter tied under its tail, which never stops unti) it has reache
from which it was brought originally; and so the Sultan and his
are informed daily of what is going on in the country and of th
measures to be taken."
In the meanwhile our pilgrims had been confined "before the first
and second gate of the city," where from early in the morning till six in
the evening they were, as Christians, jeered at and insulted by the passers-
by. However, towards six the admiral arrived with an armed escort, and
seating himself before the city gate ordered all the merchandise that was
to be brought into the city to be weighed before him, and those persons
who desired admittance to be presented. Symon and Hugh and the other
arrivals were then introduced by the Christian merchants and their consuls,
and through the medium of an interpreter were closely examined as to the
reason of their arrival in Egypt. Finally, at the pressing instance of the
European consuls they were granted admittance, but orders were given to
examine their books and personal property.
While this was being done the officials caught sight of images of the
Crucifix, of the Blessed Virgin, and of John the Evangelist, which they
had brought with them from Ireland,* and breaking out into abuse
exclaimed, " Wach! these are the dogs and most vile pigs who do not
believe in Mahomet, but in their superstitious prayers continually blaspheme
against him, affirming insane fables to the effect that God has a son, and
that he is Jesus the son of Mary." Others, Christian renegades {renegati),
who feared the Saracens, cried out, " These men are surely spies, and their
presence here will bring us no good. Let them be ejected from the city
and sent back to the countries of the Christians or idolaters f from which
they came." (Cf. Beazley, * Dawn Mod. Geog.,' 3, p. 202.)
To these amenities Symon and Hugh meekly replied, " If Mahomet is
the true prophet, then remain in peace with him and praise him, but to us
there is no other lord than Jesus Christ, whose adopted sons we are and
not spies, wishing merely to visit His glorious tomb, kiss it with our lips,
and moisten it with our tears."
At the express command of the governor they were now placed in the
fondaco or trading establishment of the merchants of Marseille (fundus
Marcilice, Ed., p. 21), where they waited five days in the chapel until they
could secure a permit enabling them to continue the journey, for the

* Ed.., p. 20, " quas de Hibemia devote et reverenter nobiscum portavimus"

f " Adpartes Christianorum sive refuytanorum unde egressi sunt." The word reficy-
tanorum is possibly a misreading of Nasmith's for rcfuganorum, which is in Ducange.
Prof. R. A. S. Macalister suggests to me that refuytanireXgoX be Symon's version of the
Arabic raff' watani, "idolatrous herd," though the expression does not appear to be
commonly applied to Christians.

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 THE PILGRIMAGE OF SYMON SEMEONIS 351

Saracens cared little that poor people, and especially Fr

should travel in their country, as there was little money t
them.

Our pilgrim's field of observation was now much wi

narrative gives us a highly interesting and curious des
economic, social, and religious condition of Egypt at this
epoch.
At Alexandria each maritime Christian state possessed its fondaco and
consul; * thus there were the fondaci of Genoa, of Venice, of Marseille,
and of the Catalans (fundus Cathelanorum). f Every merchant was bound
to betake himself with his merchandise to the fondaco of his respective
state, and the fondaco was under the direction of the consul of the state
to which ir, belonged. Nobody was admitted to the city without his
consul's permission, and when leaving merchants had to pay a certain tax
charged on the amount of goods they had originally brought in. %
The Saracens look after their city with particular care, especially 011
Fridays when during prayer-time the Christians are absolutely forbidden
to come forth from their houses. After prayers some of them proceed to
the cemeteries to pray for the dead ; others " velut canes ad vomitum"
hurry off to their ordinary occupations. Some, indeed, never go to church
at all, but continually carry on their business. The Saracens rarely fast
except during the period of their Ramathan, that is, the thirty days during
which the Alkoran is said to have descended upon Mahomet. Then they
fast the whole day " up to the appearance of the first evening star, after
which they eat and drink . . . until it dawns sufficiently to enable a white
thread to be distinguished from a black one."
Their churches, or rather " synagogues of Satan," they call Keyentes^ ?
and no one is allowed to enter without having previously performed the
necessary ablutions in the large cistem of water provided for that purpose.
Each church is provided with a lofty tower surrounded by a platform from
which at certain hours priests cry the praise of the Prophet to the assembled
people. These churches are kept wonderfully clean, and no Christian
who had not previously abjured his religion would be allowed to enter,
under penalty of death sentence.
As regards religious belief, the Saracens, || though they look upon
Christ as a pure and holy prophet, placing Him above Moses, nevertheless

* Cf. Beazley, 'Dawn of Modern Geography,' 3^ 1906, pp. 484* 49*> etc, and
Heyd, 'Histoire du Commerce du Levant au Moyen Age,' 2, 1886, pp. 33, 37, 44, 49.
t Symon appears to be our only authority for the existence of a Catalan fondaco at
Alexandria at this date, cf. Heyd, loc. cit., p. 33.
X The text is here (p. 22) not quite clear : "sub certo numero et determinato in eorum
[sc. mercatoruml introitu de hiis requisito, in eorum exitu tenetur reddere rationem."
? For Kanayis (as Prof. Macalister informs me), piural of Kanisah, a church.
|| Symon usually speaks of them as Prcedicti (or scepedicti) ribaldi. At pp. 23 and 44
very scurrilous assertions are made with regard to the morals of Mahomet and his
followers.

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 352 RIVERS OF KATANGA

refuse absolutely to admit His divinity. T

Merian (i.e. Maslh ibn Mariatn, Messias
circumstances Ebyna Alla " (i.e. Ibn Allah).
Symon's knowledge of the doctrines of
derived from a book which he cites as " Lib
Machometl" or " De Doctrina ejus pestifera
the so-called' Doctrina MachumetJ translate
the Dalmatian (c. 1143). ^ nas Deen printed
numerous quotations made from the * Alch
cenorum' come from the Latin translatio
under the encouragement of Peter abbot of
an Englishman, who filled the post of
those acquainted with the general nature of
certainly no surprise to find that some
Mahomet is credited in this version do not
Arabic (cf. Wustenfeld, loc. cit., p. 46).
One mile outside the city of Alexandria i
evangelist and " advocatus venetiarum " was
or should we read intra, within ?) that of
virgin Katherine. It is now marked by t
between which runs the public street. The
the Saracens, and the body of the saint wa
to Mt. Sinai, which according to the inha
journey (dietae magnae) distant (? 2, p. 18).
(To be continued.)

RIVERS OF KATANGA

I. The Grottoes of the Kilubi and the curious River Mai

Dr. Schwetz, Medical Service, Belgian Congo
(The following account is condensed from a detailed report commwiicated to
the Society by the courtesy of M. le Minisire des Colonies Belges.)

THIS note
Niembo in relates to of
the district the hydrography
Lomami-Katanga, andof thein region
deals particularof Kasango
with the River Kilubi, an affluent of the Lovoi, with the marsh lake Samba,
its affluent the Mukebo and its discharge the Kasolo, an affluent of the
Lomami. Lake Samba (called by the natives " Kiziba") is a great marsh
8-1 o kms. long, divided into two or three parts by strips of more or less

* E.g. by Bibliander, * Machumetis AlcoranJ Basel,i55o, I, pp. 189-200 ; cf. Wiisten-

feld, Abhl. der k. Gesells. zu Gottingen, 22, 1877, pp. 48-50; and Steinschneider, Sit-
zungsber. der Wiener Akad., Phil.-Hist. A7., 149, 1905, Abhl. 4, pp. 33-34.
t Ed. Bibliander, loc. cit., I, pp. 7-188 ; cf. Wustenfeld, loc. cit., pp. 44~47> and
Steinschneider, loc. cit., pp. 67-73.

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