‘The travels of Sig. Pietro della Valle, a noble Roman, into East-India and Arabia Deserta. In which, the several countries, together with the customs, manners, traffique, and rites both religious and civil, of those Oriental princes and nations, are faithfully described: In familiar letters to his friend Signior Mario Schipano. Whereunto is added a relation of Sir Thomas Roe’s voyage into the East-Indies’ [‎6] (27/508)

The Travels of Peter Delia Valle,
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tinguifliingof this Traffick 5 the charge of maintaining the Fortrefs
of Ormwz, without any profit3and the continual danger 01 lofing it
every hour, unlefs the Englifh guard the Sea with their (hips and
help to defend it 5 thefe and other like confiderations may not im
probably induce the King of Fer/w(contented to have demonftra-
ted his power and valor, and chaftis'd his Enemies 5 the Portugals,
according to his defire^ to grant the Englifh as much as they de
mand : For he (hould not yield it to them upon force, but out of
his liberality 5 and for his own profit give them that freely 3 which
to retain to himfelf, as things now ftand, would notonelybeof
no advantage, but of lofs. Peradventure he may alfo imagine
now, in the pride of his vidory, that as with help of the Englifli
he has driven the P^rtag^Z/outof 5 fo 'twill be eafie for
him to expel the Englifh too, eitherby the help of others, or
elfe by his own Forces alone, fhould they not comply with him.
However, becaufe thefe Treaties with the Ferfhw are manag'd
by the Company, of Merchants who alfo made the War, and
not by the King oiEngland 5 and hitherto 'tis not known, whe
ther their King approve the fad: or no, and will profecute or let
fall the enterprize > therefore, for a total conclufion, befidcs the
confent of the King of Verfta^ they alio wait the determination of
the King of England ^ and the greateft hope I have of the defeat
ing of thefe projects fo prejudicial to the Catholicks, is this
- alone, that the Englifh King will not meddle in them, and, per
haps alfo, prohibit hisSubjeds fo to do 5 as a perfon w T hom we
^^^know to be a Friend to Peace, moft averfe from all kind ot War 5
specially, with the King of Spain ^while the Match of his Son with
the Daughter of Spain is in agitation,
In the mean time we began to find the Sea fufficiently rough,
being got wholly out of the Perfian Gulph, and enter'd into the
open Sea, (term'd by the Ancients Mare rubrum^nd by us at this
day the Southern Ocean ) and having pafs'd not onely the Cape
of Giafck ^t ,DUt a lfo that of Arabia^ which the Forth gals vulgarly
' y/vV czWRejalgate^ as it is a^fet down in the Maps 5 byt properly
'y ought to be call'd Kas elhad^ which in the Arabian Tongue fig-
rnhes Capo del fine, or the Cape of the Confine, becaufe'tig the
s/ , j a ^ 0 f t ]^ at; Country, and is further then any other extended in
to the Sea 5 like that of Galicia in our Europe , which for the
fame re^fon we call Finis Terr#, On Saturday, the 28. of Janu
ary, havmg taken the meridional altitude of the Sun, according
to daily cuftom, and made fuch detraction of degrees as was ne-
cellary s we found our felves twenty three degrees five minutes
diftant from the Equinodial towards the North: whence by
confequence we had pafs'd the Tropick of Cancer twenty fix mi
nutes and a half, according to the opinion of the Moderns, who
reckon the Sun's greateft declination where the Tropicks are,
twenty three degrees thirty one minutes and a half diftant
from the Equinodial. During the fucceeding dayes we failM
with a brilk but favourable wuu^and with a Sea not tempeftuous
but
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