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The Voiage and Travayle of Sir John Maundeville Knight / Which treateth of the way towards Hierusalem and of marvayles of Inde with other ilands and countreys cover

The Voiage and Travayle of Sir John Maundeville Knight / Which treateth of the way towards Hierusalem and of marvayles of Inde with other ilands and countreys

Chapter 88: CAP. LXXX.
By Sir John Mandeville
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About This Book

The narrator offers a medieval travelogue that traces routes toward Jerusalem and across regions of Asia, Africa, and India, blending eyewitness-style observations, borrowed reports, and fantastic tales. It catalogs cities, landscapes, animals, plants, trade goods, and unfamiliar customs, alternating itinerary notes with moral and religious commentary. Frequent digressions present marvels and monstrous races alongside practical details about pilgrim routes, local rites, and fortifications, producing a text that shifts between guidebook information and imaginative storytelling. The structure mixes descriptive chapters with episodic anecdotes, inviting readers to weigh veracity while encountering the era's geographical knowledge, commerce, and popular curiosities.

CAP. LXXX.

Of other wayes comming from Cathay toward the Grekes sea & also of the emperour of Percy.

NOW I haue devysed you the landes towardes the North, to come from the lands of Cathay to the lands of Pruse & Rossy where Christen men dwel. Now shall I devise unto you other lands & kingdoms, in comming down from Cathay to the Grekes sea wher Christen men dwell, and for as muche as next the great Caane of Cathay the Emperour of Percy is the greatest lorde, therefore I shall speake of him, & ye shall understande that he hath two kingdomes, the one beginneth eastward and it is the kingdome of Turkescon & it lasteth westward to the sea of Caspy & southward to the lande of Inde. This lande is good & playne and well manned,1 with good cities but two most principal, ye which are called Bacirida & Sormagaunt.2 The other is the kingedome of Percy, and lasteth from the river of Phison3 unto great Armony,4 & northward unto the sea of Caspy & southward to the land of Inde & this is a full plenteous countrey and good. In this lande are three principall cities Nessabor, Saphan, & Sermesse.5

1:  Peopled.

2:  Bokhara and Samarcand.

3:  Pison.

4:  Armenia

5:  Otherwise spelt Messabor, Caphon, and Sarmassane.