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Show The firft Booke of the farst part Cuar.3,§.12, Cuar.3Si12. Sea ee §. XII. oftheFiiftory ofthe Worlds : faith Play) who addeth thisfingularitieto thar foyle; Dhati the'fecond yeake the verie Plin.Natbip, ftubble (or ratherfalling'downe ofthe feedes againe) yeeldeth theny a haruert ofcorne "2847 withoutany further laboui: his words ave thefes 7bertatis:tanzeunt, of fancnti ano Of the frange fertilitie and happine(fe ofthe Babylonian Soile, as it ts certaine that Eden was[uch. ponte refubilisfiatfeges. T mayalfo bee demanded, whether this RegionofEden,by vs defcribed, bee of fuchfertilitieand beautic,as Eden the feate of Patadife was : whichif it be deniedjthen muft wealfo confider , that there was no partof the Earth , that §.. X ITI. retained thatfertilitieand pleafure, thatit had before the curfe: neither can weafcribe the fainefruitfulneffe to any part of the Earth, nor the fame vertueto any plant thereHerod.clial,t. ongrowing, that they had beforethe floud ; and thereforethis Region of Eden may jg be nownofuch flourifhing Countrey,asit was when it was fitft created in his perfecti. on. Yetthis I finde written of it: Firft,in Herodotus , who was an eye-witneffe, and {peaketh ofthe very placeit felfe ; for the Ie ofEdenis but twelue milesor thereabout from Nineue,and fo from Mofal. Ex Eaphrate exiens in Tigrim, alterum-flumen, inxts quod Vrbs Ninus fita erat. Hec regio; ommnium quas nos vidinias , optima cit, yc. where Euphrates runneth out into Tigris, not farre fromthe place where Ninus u feared. This Re- gion, of all that we hane feene, # most excellent sand hee addeth afterward : €creris aatem fratle procreande adco ferax eft , vt uunquam nonfere ducentareddat, crc. (that is) It #‘fo "fruitful in bringing forth Corne, that it yeeldeth two hundred fold: The lcanes of wheate and Barley being almoft foare fingers broad, As for the height of Adillet and Sefame , they are enenin length like unto Trees; which althongh I know tobe true, yet £ forbeare to fpeake hereof, well knowing, that thofe things which are reported ofthis fruitfulneffe, will feeme very incredible to thofe, which nener werein the Country of Babyloz) They hane commonly iu all the Country Palme Trees growing of their owne accord, the mof of them bearing fruit, out of which they make both Meates, and Wine, and Honey, ordering then: as the Figge Trets. Thus farre Herodotws. Tothis Palme-tree fo much admired in the Eaft India, Strabo and Niger adde a fourth excellency, whichis, that it yeeldeth bread; Ex quibus panems, ch mel, c winni & acctum conficiunt ; Ofwhich thefe people make Bread,Wine,Honey,andVineger, But As tonins the Eremite findetha fift commodity, not inferior toany of thofefoure, which is, that fromthis felfe-famerTree there is drawnea kinde of fine Flaxe, of which people make their garments, and with which in Eaft India they prepare the cordage for Ofthe Riner Pifon,ana the lazd of Hauilah.. Io Fter the difcouerie ofEdenjand theteftimnonies of the fertilitie thereo fit refteth to proue that 2ifow and Gebon are branches of Tigris and Euphrates. Ror, that the knowledge and certaintie ofthefe two Riuers fhould.trouble {> maty: wife meh it isftrange to me,{eeing neceflitieit felfe (Tigris and Euphrates being' known e) findeth themout: for Exphrates,or Tigrés,or both,be that Riuer or Riners of Eden; which-was ter Paradife; whichriueror riuers Mo/és witneffeth afterw ard-dinided into foure heads, whereof the one is called Pifon, the other Gehow &c. Could there be a ftranger fancie in the world,than when we findboththefe( namely) Tigris and Euphratéstin Affyria and Mefopo tamia,to feeke the other two in Indiaand Egypt,making the. one Ganges, and the other Nilus ¢ Tworriversas farre diftant as anyoffame: knowne or-difcoucred inthe world: the Scriptures making it fo plain,that thefe riers were dinided into foure 20 branchés, and with the Scriptures, Nature ,Reafon, and Experience bearing witnefle, There is 0 errour,which hath not fomeflipperie and bad‘foundation sor-fo me apparance of probabilitie,refembling truth, which when men Givho {tudietobee fingulary finde our;(ftraining reafon according to their fancies )they/then publith-to. the world matter ofcontention & iangling ; not doubting butin the variable deformitie of ens minds, to-find fome partakers or{eétators,the better bythei r helpe to.nurfe and cherifh fuch weakebabes,astheir owneinuentions haue begotten, But this miftaking(andfirft for the River ofPifox) feeméth to haute growne out ofthe not-diftinguifhing of that Region.in India,called Hauilah, from Hauilah which adioy~ neth to. Babylonia,afterward knownebythe nameof Sufiana. For Hauilah vpon Tigris ke namefrom Hawilah the fonneof Cafb ; and Hauilah in India, from Zauilahthe \¢ ofJod?an; the one remembredby4 (efes in the defcription of Paradif e,theother¢,,, feffeth , aying : That hee receiued «Garment made thereoffromthe Eremite himfelfer, which he brought with hins out of this Region. So therefore thofe Trees, which the Eat am that Iland of Ophir,(whenc ¢ Salomo n had gold and Hauilah adioyning, had Indies fo highlyefteeme and fo much admire (as indeede the Earth yeeldeth no Plant comparable tothis) thofe Trees (I fay) arein this vpper Babylon, or Regionof Eden, as commonas any Trees ofthe Field. Sent ctiam (faith SrR ABO) pafsivs per emnems Re- names. Now becaufe Ganges is.a great and afamous river of the Eaft India, and odorum fertilitate nobilis ) regio campefirts interest inter Tigris Gr Eup bre: tur atter Tigris and Euphrates) they chofe out this, tiuer to,mak one e ofthe And yetcer tainly there is another riuer, whom in thefe re{pect s they fhould ue chofen than Ganges: fortheriver Jadu on this. fide Indi 4, for beauty,,for 8 bility,giueth no way placeto Gauges,but exceedeth it in all.And how le man conceiue,that Ganges;can.be one of the foure hi ads, fecing Inind Tigris ?.and betweene Tigris and Indus, is all that large of many Kingdomes.And againe, farther towards the Eaft, giencm Palme [ua ponte nafeentes ; There are ofPalmes over all the whole of their owne accerd. Ofthis place Quintus Curtias maketh this report : Region , growing Zastibus a parttl lena (Arabic tem , sacens tam vbere co pinguifolo, vt a paflu vepelli pecora dicantur, ne [atictas perimab; (that is) 4s you trauaile.on theleft hana of Arabia (famous for plentie offwecte Odours there lyeth« Chamspaine Country placed betweene Tigris and Euphrates, ard fa fruitful aun jut & foile, that they ave faid to drive their Cattell from pasture, left they[bould perifh byfe Bitty. Bisin anno fegetes Babylony Setant sThe Babylonians cut their Corzetwice 6 yar (faith Niger.) And as Countries generallyare more fruitfull tothe Southward, thas inthe Northerne parts: fowe may iudge the excellency of this by that report which Séravo maketh of the South part of America,which is the North border of Eden, 9 part there of. His words bethefei 3 n the Latine : Tota exins hee recip frazibus c& arberiew) abundst man[uetis, itemd, femper virentibus , This Region abeundéeth with pleafunt fi Trees alwares greene : which witneffeth aperpetuall Spring not found elfew! the Indies only,by reafon of the Sunines neighbour hood,thelife & ftirrer vpofN ina perper all actinity. In briefe,fo great isthefer tility of the ground, that tl are conitrained twice to. mow downe their Corne fields, and athird time vp th Sheepe: which husbandry the Spaniards wantingin the Valley of i the firlt forty yeares, could not makeour kind of Wheate beare feed, but i high as the Trees,and was Fruitlefffe. Befides,thofe ficlds arc altogether wit! i ¢ Mofes fetteth downe the generations of Mesh,andhis fonnesafterthe Floud: For 2" fonnes of¢ ulb were Seba, Hanilah, Sabtah,and Raamah,andthe fonnes ofsodfax rand Hauilah &c. of which latter (to wit ) of Ophirand Hauilah the fonnes their thips, And thatthisis true , Athanafins in the life of Aatozias the Eremite,cot- ha Country ofthe fame,andis fituated y pon Ganges, henceit camethat Ganges t Pifow,which riuer is faid by 440/es to waterthe land of Hauilah, Or peris fuppofedthat thofe foure riuers named by Mo/es,mutt of necellit ie be foure areft in the world ; whence ({uppofing that Ganges.was the next great and f2- thofe ample Dominionsof India intra Gangem, which lie be5 of /adus and Ganges,nowcalledthe Kingdome of Aelforany of the I yw much lef the ure,becaule it is remoued from 74(sh C5 which fallethinto theO Surely, whofoeuer readeth sno Riuer in! <7faythat can. exceede Ealtward of Jzds Alexander thereon in great Galid in fayling downe that cof fogrear a billow, as rallowed vp therein: Hydacomparable to it, and as grcag |