Chapter XI: Preface: To the Second Edition (9)

But let vs heare Frisius. The flame of mount Hecla (sayth he) will not burne towe (which is most apt matter for the wicke of a candle) neither is it quenched with water. But I say that this strange opinion may be confirmed by many reasons borrowed out of your schoole of Philosophy. For the natarall Philosophers doe teach, That it is common to all forcible flames to be quenched with dry things, and nourished with moiste: whereupon, euen blacksmithes, by sprinckling on of water, vse to quicken and strengthen their fire. For (say they) when fire is more vehement, it is stirred vp by colde, and nourished by moisture, both which qualities doe concurre in water. Item, water is wont to kindle skorching fires: because the moisture it selfe, which ariseth, doth proue more fattie and grosse, neither is it consumed by the smoke enclosing it, but the fire it selfe feedeth vpon the whole substance thereof, whereby being made purer, and gathering round together, it becommeth then more vehement by reason of colde. And therefore also wild-fires cannot be quenched with water. Item, There be places abounding with brimstone and pitch, which burne of their owne accord, the flame wherof cannot be quenched with water. The graund Philosopher also hath affirmed, that fire is nourished by water. Arist 3. de anim. And Plinie, in the second booke of his naturall historie cap. 110. And Strabo in his 7. booke. In Nympheum there proceedeth a flame out of a rocke, which is kindled with water. The same author sayth: The ashe continually flourisheth, couering a burning fountaine. And moreouer that there are sudden fires at some times, euen vpon waters, as namely that the lake of Thrasumenus in the field of Perugi, was all on fire, as the same Strabo witnesseth. And in the yeares 1226, and 1236, not farre from the promontorie of Islande called Reykians, a flame of fire brake forth out of the sea. Yea euen vpon mens bodies sudden fires haue glittered: as namely, there sprang a flame from the head of Seruius Tullius lying a sleepe: and also Lucius Martius in Spaine after the death of the Scipions, making an oration to his souldiers, and exhorting them to reuenge, was all in a flame, as Valerius Antias doth report. Plinie in like sort maketh mention of a flame in a certaine mountaine, which, as it is kindled with water, so is it quenched with earth or haye: also of another field which burneth not the leaues of shadie trees that growe directly ouer it. These things being thus, it is strange that men should accompt that a wonder in Hecla onely (for I will graunt it to be, for disputation sake, when indeede there is no such matter so farre foorth as euer I could learne of any man) which is common to manie other parts or places in the world, both hilly and plaine, as well as to this.

[Sidenote: Frisius.] And by the same force that bullets, &c. Munster saith the like also. This mountaine when it rageth, it soundeth like dreadfull thunder, casteth forth huge stones, disgorgeth brimstone and with the cinders that are blowen abroad, it couereth so much ground round about it, that no man can inhabite within 20. miles thereof, &c. Howbeit, they ought to haue compared it with Aetna, or with other fierie mountaines, whereof I will presently make mention, seeing there is to be found in them, not onely a like accident, but in a manner the very same. Vnlesse perhaps this be the difference, that flames brake seldomer out of Hecla, then out of other mountaines of the same kinde. For it hath now rested these 34. yeares full out, the last fierie breach being made in the yeare 1558. as we haue before noted. And there can no such wonders be affirmed of our Hecla, but the same or greater are to be ascribed vnto other burning mountaines, as it shall by and by appeare.

But that brimstone should be sent foorth it is a meere fable, and neuer knowen vnto our nation, by any experiment.

This place is the prison of vncleane soules. Here I am constrained to vse a preface, and to craue pardon of the Reader, because, whereas in the beginning I propounded vnto my selfe to treat of the land, and of the inhabitants distinctly by themselues, I must of necessitie confusedly handle certaine matters in this first part, which do properly belong vnto the second. This is come to passe through the fault of these writers, who haue confounded this part of the inhabitants religion concerning the opinion of hell, or of the infernall prison, with the situation & miracles of the island. Wherfore that we may come to this matter, who can but wonder that wise men should be growen to this point, not onely to listen after, but euen to follow and embrace the dotings of the rude people: For the common sort of strangers, and the offskowring of mariners (here I do except them of better iudgement aswell mariners as others) hearing of this rare miracle of nature, by an inbred and naturall blockishnesse are earned to this imagination of the prison of soules: and that because they see no wood nor any such fewell layed vpon this fire as they haue in their owne chimneys at home. And by this perswasion of the grosse multitude, the report grew strong, especially (as they are too much accustomed to banning and cursing) while one would wish to another the firie torments of this mountaine. As though elementarie, materiall and visible fire could consume mens soules being spirituall, bodiless and inuisible substances. And to be short, who can but woonder, why they should not faine the same prison of damned soules, aswell in mount Aetna, being no lesse famous for fires and inflamations then this: But you will say, that Pope Gregorie fained it so to be. Therefore it is purgatorie. I am content it should be so: then there is the same trueth of this prison that there is of purgatorie. But before I proceede any further I thinke it not amisse to tell a merie tale, which was the originall and ground of this hellish opinion: namely that a ship of certaine strangers departing from Island, vnder full saile, a most swift pace, going diectly on her course, met with another ship sailing against winde & weather, and the force of the tempest as swiftly as themselues, who hailing them of whence they were, answere was giuen by their gouernor, De Bischop van Bremen: being the second time asked whether they were bound: he answered, Thom Heckelfeld tho, Thom Heckelfeld tho. I am affeard lest the reader at the sight of these things should call for a bason: for it is such an abominable lie, that it would make a man cast his gorge to heare it. Away with it therefore to fenny frogs, for we esteeme no more of it, then of their croaking coax coax. Nay, it is so palpable that it is not worthy to be smiled at, much lesse to be refuted. But I will not trifle any longer with the fond Papists: let vs rather come vnto our owne writers.

And first of all I cannot here omit a saying of that most worthie man Doctor Caspar Peucer. There is in Islande (quoth he) mount Hecla, being of as dreadfull a depth as any vaste gulfe, or as hell it selfe, which resoundeth with lamentable, & miserable yellings, that the noise of the cryers may be heard for the space of a great league round about. Great swarmes of vgly blacke Rauens and Vultures lie hoouering about this place which are thought of the inhabitantes to nestle there. The common people of that countrey are verily perswaded, that there is a descent downe into hell by this gulfe: and therefore when any battailes are foughten else where, in whatsoeuer part of the whole world, or any bloudie slaughters are committed, they haue learned by long experience, what horrible tumults and out-cryes, what monstrous skritches are heard round about this mountaine. Who durst be so bold (most learned Sir) to bring such an incredible report to your eares: Neither hath Island any Vultures, but that second kinde of Eagles, which Plinie noted by their white tayles, and called them Pygarsi: neither are there any with vs, that can beare witnesse of the foresaid spectacle: nor yet is it likely that Rauens and Eagles would nestle in that place, when as they should rather be driuen from thence by fire and smoke, being things most contrarie to their nature. And yet notwithstanding for proofe of this matter, as also of a strange tumult heard within the hollow of the mountaine, they allege the experience of the inhabitants, which indeede testifieth all things to the contrarie. But whereabout should that hole or windowe of the mountaine be, by the which we may heare outcries, noyse and tumults done among them, who inhabite the most contrarie, distant, and remote places of the earth from vs: Concerning which thing I would aske the author of this fable many questions, if I might but come to the knowledge of him: in the meane time I could wish that from hencefoorth he would learne to tell troth, & not presume with so impudent a face to enforme excellent Peucer, or others, of such vnknowen and incredible matters.

But to returne to Munster, who endeuouring to search out the causes of the great and strange fire of that famous hill Aetna, is it not monstrous that the very same thing which he there maketh natural, he should here imagine to be preternaturall, yea infernal? But why do I speake of Aetna? Let vs rather consider what Munster in another place thinketh of the burning of Hecla.

[Sidenote: Munsterus Cosmograph. vniuersalis lib. 1. cap. 7.] It is without doubt (saith he) that some mountaines and fields burned in old time throughout the whole world: and in this our age do burne. As for example: mount Hecla in Island at certaine seasons casteth abroad great stones, spitteth out brimstone, and disperseth ashes, for such a distance round about, that the land cannot be inhabited within 20. miles thereof. But where mountaines do continually burne we vnderstand that there is no stopping of the passages, wherby they poure forth abundance of fire sometime flaming, & sometime smoaking gas it were a streaming flood. But if betweene times the fire encreaseth, all secret passages being shut vp, the inner parts of the mountaine are notwithstanding enflamed. The fire in the vpper part, for want of matter, somewhat abateth for the time. But when a more vehement spirite (the same, or other passages being set open again) doth with great violence breake prison, it casteth forth ashes, sand, brimstone, pumistones, lumpes resembling iron, great stones, & much other matter, not without the domage of the whole region adioyning. Thus farre Munster. Where consider (good Reader) how he cutteth his throat with his owne sword, consider (I say) that in this place there is the very same opinion of the burning of Hecla, & the burning of Aetna, which notwithstanding in his 4. booke is very diuerse, for there he is faine to run to infernall causes. A certaine fierie mountaine of West India hath farre more friendly censurers, & historiographers then our Hecla, who make not an infernall gulfe therof. The History of which mountain (because it is short & sweete) I will set downe, being written by Hieronimus Benzo an Italian, in his history of the new world, lib. 2. These be the words. "About 35. miles distant from Leon there is a mountaine which at a great hole belcheth out such mightie balles of flames, that in the night they shine farre and neare, aboue 100. miles. Some were of opinion that within it was molten gold ministring continuall matter & nourishment for the fire. Hereupon a certain Dominican Frier, determining to make trial of the matter, caused a brasse kettle, & an iron chain to be made: afterward ascending to the top of the hill with 4. other Spaniards, he letteth downe the chaine & the kettle 140. elnes into the fornace: there, by extreme heate of the fire, the kettle, & part of the chaine melted. The monke in a rage ran back to Leon, & chid the smith, because he had made the chaine far more slender then himselfe had commanded. The smith hammers out another of more substance & strength then the former. The Monke returnes to the mountains, and lets downe the chaine & the cauldron; but with the like successe that he had before. Neither did the caldron only vanish & melt away: but also, vpon the sudden there came out of the depth a flame of fire, which had almost consumed the Frier, & his companions. Then they all returned so astonished, that they had small list afterward to prosecute that attempt, &c." What great difference is there betweene these two censures? In a fiery hill of West India they search for gold: but in mount Hecla of Island they seeke for hel. Howbeit they wil perhaps reiect this as a thing too new, & altogether vnknowen to ancient writers. Why therefore haue not writers imagined the same prison of soules to be in Chimæra an hill in Lycia (which, by report, flameth continually day and night) that is in mount Hecla of Island? Why haue they not imagined the same to be in the mountaines of Ephesus, which being touched with a burning torch, are reported to conceiue so much fire, that the very stones & sand lying in the water are caused to burne, & from the which (a staffe being burnt vpon them, & trailed after a man on the ground) there proceede whole riuers of fire, as Plinie testifieth? Why not in Cophantrus a mountaine of Bactria, alwayes burning in the night? Why not in the Isle of Hiera, flaming in the midst of the sea? Why not in Aeolia in old time likewise burning for certaine daies in the midst of the sea? Why not in the field of Babylon burning in the day season? Why not in the fields of Aethiopia glittering alwaies like stars in the night? Why not in the hill of Lipara opening with a wide and bottomlesse gulfe (as Aristotle beareth record) whereunto it is dangerous to approch in the night: from whence the sound of Cymbals and the noyse of rattles, with vnwonted and vncouth laughters are heard? Why not in the field of Naples, neare vnto Puteoli? Why not in the Pike of Teneriffa before mentioned, like Aetna continually burning and casting vp stones into the aier, as Munster himselfe witnesseth? Why not in that Aethiopian hill, which Plinie affirmeth to burne more then all the former? And to conclude, why not in the mountaine of Vesuuius, which (to the great damage of al the countrey adioyning, & to the vtter destruction of Caius Plinius prying into the causes of so strange a fire) vomiting out flames as high as the clouds, filling the aire with great abundance of pumistones, and ashes, & with palpable darknesse intercepting the light of the sunne from al the region therabout? I wil speake, & yet speake no more then the truth: because in deede they foresaw, that men would yeeld no credite to those things as being too well knowen, though they should haue feined them to haue beene the flames of hell: but they thought the burning of Hecla (the rumour whereof came more slowly to their eares) to be fitter for the establishing of this fond fable. But get ye packing, your fraud is found out: leaue off for shame hereafter to perswade any simple man, that there is a hel in mount Hecla. For nature hath taught both vs & others (maugre your opinion) to acknowledge her operations in these fire workes, not the fury of hell. But now let vs examine a few more such fables of the common people, which haue so vnhappily misledd our historiographers & cosmographers.

SECTIO OCTAUA.

[Sidenote: Frisius Zieglerus, Olauus Magn.] Iuxta hos montes (tres
prædictos Heclam, &c.) sunt tres hiatus immanes, quorum altitudinem apud
montem Heclam potissimum, ne Lynceus quidem perspicere queat: Sed
apparent ipsum inspicientibus, homines primùm submersi, adhuc spiritum
exhalantes, qui amicis suis, vt ad propria redeant, hortantibus, magnis
suspirijs se ad montem Heclam proficisci debere respondent: Sicque subitò
euanescunt.

Ad confirmandum superius mendacium de Inferno terrestri ac visibili, commentum hoc, non minus calumniosum (etsi facilè largiar, Frisium non tam calumniandi, quàm noua & inaudita prædicandi animo ista scripsisse) quàm falsum ac gerris Siculis longè vanius ac detestabilius, excogitarunt homines ignaui, nec coelum ec infernum scientes. Quos scriptores isti, viri alioqui præclarissimi & optimè de Repub. literaria meriti, nimium præpropero iudicio secuti sunt.

Cæterum optandum esset, nullos tanto nouitatis studio Historias scribere, vt non vereantur aniles quasuis nugas ijs inserere, atque ita aurum purum coeno aspergere. Qui verò demum sunt homines illi submersi, in lacu infernali natitantes, & nihilominus cum notis & amicis confabulantes? Anne nobis veterem Orphea, cum sua Euridice, in Stygias relabente vndas, colloquentem, & in his extremi orbis partibus, tanquam ad Tanaim Hebrúmque niualem, cantus exercentem lyricos, rediuiuum dabitis? Certè, etsi nolint alij futilem huiusmodi ineptiarum leuitatem ac mendacium agnoscere, agnouit tamen rerum omnium haud negligens æstimator Cardanus, lib. 18. subtil. cuius hæc sunt verba.

Est Hecla mons in Islandia, ardétque non aliter ac Ætna in Sicilia per interualla, ideóque persuasione longa (vulgi) concepta, quòd ibi expientur animaæ. Alij, ne vani sint, affingunt inania fabulæ, vt consona videantur. Quæ sunt autem illa inania? Quòd spectra comminiscuntur, se ad montem Heclam ire respondentia, ait idem. Et addit. Nec in Islandia solum, sed vbique, licet rarò, talia contingunt: Subdítque de laruâ homicidâ Historiam, quæ sic habet. Efferebatur, inquit, anno præterito, funus viri plebeij Mediolani, orientali in porta iuxta templum maius foro venali, quòd à caulium frequentia nomen caulis nostra lingua sonat. Occurrit mihi notus: Peto, vt medicorum moris est, quo morbo excesserit? Respondet ille: consuesse hunc virum hora noctis, tertia à labore redire domum: Vidit lemurem nocte quadam insequentem: Quam cum effugere conaretur, ocyus citato pede abibat: Sed à spectro captus atque in terram proiectus videbatur. Exclamare nitebatur: Non poterat. Tandem, cum diu in terra cum larua volutatus esset, inuentus à prætereuntibus quibusdam, semiuiuus domum relatus, cum resipuisset, interrogatus, hæc quæ minus expectabantur, retulit. Ob id animam despondens, cum nec ab amicis, nec medicis, nec sacerdotibus persuaderi potuisset, inania esse hæc, octo inde diebus perijt. Audiui postmodum & ab alijs, qui vicini essent illi, neminem ab inimico vulneratum tam constanter de illo testatum, vt hic, quod à mortuo fuisset in terram prouolutus. Cum quidam quærerent, quid ille postquam in terram volutaretur ageret? Conatum, inquit, mortuum adhibitis gulæ manibus, vt eum strangularet: Nec obstitisse quicquam, nisi quòd se ipsum tueretur manibus. Cum alij dubitarent, ne fortè hæc à viuo passus esset, interrogarentque in quo mortuum à viuo secernere potuisset? Caussam reddidit satis probabilem, dicens se tanquam cottum attrectasse, nec pondus habuisse, nisi vt premebatur. Et paulò post addit. Eadem verò ratione qua in Islandia, in arenæ solitudinibus Ægypti & Æthiopiæ, Indiæque vbi Sol ardet, eædem imagines, eadem spectra viatores ludificare solent. Hactenus Cardanus. Inde tamen nemo concluseret, sicut de Islandia scriptores nostri faciunt, in illis Ægypti and Æthiopiæ, Indiæque locis, carcerem existere damnatorum.

Hæc ex Cardano adscribere libuit, vt etiam extraneorum testimonia pro nobis, contra figmenta tanta afferamus. Conuincit autem præsens Cardani locus hæc duo, scilicet: nec esse Islandiæ proprias spectrorum apparitiones: (quod etiam omnes norunt, nisi eius rei ignorantiam nimis affectent) nec illud mortuorum cum viuis, in hiatu Heclensi, colloquium, nisi ementitis hominum fabulis, quauis ampulla vani oribus, niti, quibus beluæ vulgares, ad confirmandam de animarum cruciatibus opinionem, vsæ fuerant. Et quisquam est, qui illis scriptorum hiatibus, mortuorum miraculis ad summum vsque refertis, adduci potest vt credat? Quisquam, qui vanitatem tantam non cotemnat? Certè. Nam & hinc conuicia in gentem nostram recte sumi aiunt: Nihil scilicet hac proiectius ac deterius esse vsquam, quæ intra limites Orcum habeat. Scilicet hoc commodi nobis peperit Historicorum ad res nouas diuulgandas auiditas. Verum illa è vulgi dementia nata opinio, vt stulta ac inanis, & in opprobrium nostræ gentis conficta, hactenus, vt spero, satis labefactata est. Quare iam perge Lector, vlterius hanc de secretis infernalibus Philosophiam cognoscere.

The same in English.

THE EIGHT SECTION.

[Sidenote: Frisius. Zieglerus. Olaus magnus.] Neare vnto the mountaines
(the 3. fornamed Hecla &c.) there be three vaste holes, the depth
whereof, especially at mount Hecla, cannot be discerned by any man, be he
neuer so sharpe sighted: but there appeare to the beholders thereof
certaine men at that instant plunged in, & as yet drawing their breath,
who answere their friends (exhorting them with deepe sighs to returne
home) that they must depart to mount Hecla: and with that, they suddenly
vanish away.

To confirme the former lie, of an earthly & visible hell (albeit I will easily grant that Frisius in writing these things did not entend to reproch any, but only to blaze abroad new & incredible matters) certaine idle companions knowing neither hell nor heauen haue inuented this fable, no lesse reprochfull then false, and more vaine & detestable then Sicilian scoffes. Which fellowes these writers (being otherwise men of excellent parts, and to whom learning is much indebted) haue followed with an ouer hastie iudgement.

But it were to be wished, that none would write Histories with so great a desire of setting foorth nouelties & strange things, that they feare not, in that regard to broch any fabulous & old-wiues toyes, & so to defile pure gold with filthy mire. But I pray you, how might those drowned men be swimming in the infernal lake, & yet for al that, parletng with their acquaintance & friends? What? Will you coniure, & raise vp vnto vs from death to life old, Orpheus conferring with his wife Euridice (drawen backe againe down to the Stigian flood) & in these parts of the world, as it were by the bankes of snowey Tanais, & Hebrus descanting vpon his harpe? But in very deed although others will not acknowledge the falsbood, & vanity of these trifles, yet Cardane being a diligent considerer of al things in his 18. booke de subtilitate, doth acknowledge & find them out. Whose words be these. There is Hecla a mountaine in Island, which burneth like vnto Ætna at certain seasons, & hereupon the comon people haue conceiued an opinion this long time, that soules are there purged: some, least they should seeme liars, heape vp more vanities to this fable, that it may appeare to be probable, & agreeable to reason. But what be those vanities? namely, they feine certaine ghosts answering them, that they are going to mount Hecla; as the same Cardane saith. And further he addeth. Neither in Island only, but euery where (albeit seldome) such things come to passe. And then he tels this storie following of a man-killing spright. There was (saith he) solemnized this last yeare the funerall of a comon citizen, in the gate neare vnto the great Church, by that marketplace, which in regard of the abundace of herbs, in our tong hath the name of the herbmarket. There meets with me one of mine acquaintance: I (according to the custome of Phisitians) presently aske of what disease the man died? he giueth me answere that this man vsed to come home from his labour 3. houres within night: one night among the rest he espied an hobgoblin pursuing him: which to auoid, he ran away with al speed: but being caught by the spright, he was throwne down vpon the ground. He would faine haue made a shout, & was not able. At length (when the spright & he had struggled together vpon the ground a good while) he was found by certain passengers, & carried home halfe dead. And when he was come to himselfe againe, being asked what was the matter, he vp and tolde this strange relation. Hereupon (being vtterly daunted, & discouraged, when neither by his friends, nor by Phisitians, nor by Priests, he could be perswaded, that these things were but his owne conceits, & that there was no such matter) 8. daies after he died. I heard also afterward of others which were his neighbors, that no man could more constantly affirme himselfe to be wounded of his enemy, then this man did, that he was cast vpon the ground by a ghost. And when some demanded what he did, after he was tumbled on the earth? The dead man (quoth he) laying his hands to my throat, went about to strangle me: neither was there any remedy, but by defending my selfe with mine own hands. When others doubted least he might suffer these things of a liuing man, they asked him how he could discerne a dead man from a liuing? To this he rendered a very probable reason, saying that he seemed in handling to be like Cottum, & that he had no weight, but held him down by maine force. And presently after he addeth. In like manner as in Island, so in the desert sands of Ægypt, Æthiopia, and India, where the sunne is hot, the very same apparitions, the same sprights are wont to delude wayfaring men. Thus much Cardane. Yet from hence (I trow) no man will conclude as our writers of Island do, that in the places of Ægypt, Æthiopia, and India, there is a prison of damned soules.

I thought good to write these things out of Cardane, that I may bring euen the testimony of strangers on our sides, against such monstrous fables. This place of Cardane implieth these two things, namely that apparitions of sprights are not proper to Island alone (which thing al men know, if they do not maliciously feigne themselues to be ignorant). And secondly that that conference of the dead with the liuing in the gulfe of Hecla is not grounded vpon any certainty, but only vpon fables coined by some idle persons, being more vaine then any bubble, which the brutish common sort haue vsed, to confirme their opinion of the tormenting of soules. And is there any man so fantasticall, that wilbe induced to beleeue these gulfes, mentioned by writers, to be any where extant, although they be neuer so ful of dead mens miracles? yea doubtlesse. For from hence also they say, that reproches are iustly vsed against our nation: namely that there is nothing in all the world more base, & worthlesse then it, which conteineth hell within the bounds therof. This verely is the good that we haue gotten by those historiographers, who haue bin so greedy to publish nouelties. But this opinion, bred by the sottishnes of the common people hath hitherto (as I hope) bene sufficiently ouerthrowen as a thing foolish & vaine, and as being deuised for the vpbrayding of our nation. Wherefore, proceede (friendly Reader) and be farther instructed in this philosophy of infernall secrets.

SECTIO NONA.

[Sidenote: Frisius & Munst.] Circum verò Insulam, per septem aut octo
menses fluctuat glacies, miserabilem quendam gemitum, & ab humana voce
non alienum, ex collisione edens. Putant incolæ, & in monte Hecla, & in
glacie loca esse, in quibus animæ suorum crucientur.

Egregium scilicet Historiæ augmentum, de Orro Islandico in vnius montis basin, haud sanè vastam, coacto: Et interdum (statis forsan temporibus) loca commutante. Vbi scilicet domi in foco montano delitescere piget, & exire, pelagúsque sed sine rate, tentare iuuat, seseque in glaciei frustella colligere. Audite porrò, huius secreti admiratores: En porrigam Historicis aliud Historiæ auctarium nequaquam contemnendum. Scribant igitur, quotquot his scriptorum commentis adherent, Islandos non solùm infernum intra limites habere, sed & scientes volentes ingredi, atque intactos eodem die egredi. Quid ita? Quia peruetus est Insulæ consuetudo, vt maritimi in hanc glaciem, ab Historicis infernalem factam, manè phocas, seu vitulos marinos captum eant, ac vesperi incolumes redeant. Addite etiam, in scrinijs & alijs vasis ab Islandis carcerem damnatorum asseruari, vt paulò post ex Frisio audiemus.

Sed maturè prævidendum erit vobis, ne Islandi fortitudinis & constantiæ laudem vestris nationibus præripiant: Quippe qui tormenta (vt historicis vestris placet) barathri sustinuisse & velint & possint, illáque sine vllo grauiore damno perrumpere atque effugere valeant, quod quidem ipsum ex iam dictis efficitur: Et multos nostratium enumerare possum, qui in ipso venationis actu longiusculè à littore digressi, glacie à Zephyris dissipata, multa milliaria glaciei insidentes, tempestatis violentia profligati, & aliquot dies ac noctes continuas crudelissimi pelagi fluctibus iactati, sicque (id enim, inquam, ex præsenti Historicorum problemate consequitur) tormenta & cruciatus barathri glacialis experti sunt: Qui tandem mutata tempestate, atque à Borea spirantibus ventis, ad littora, cum hoc suo glaciali nauigio rursus adacti, incolumes domum peruenerunt: Quorum aliqui etiam hodie viuunt. Quare hoc nouitatis auidi arripiant, indeque, si placet, iustum volumen conficiant, atque ad Historiam suam apponant. Nec enim vanissima illa commenta aliter, quàm eiusmodi iocularibus excipienda & confundenda videntur. Cæterum, ioco seposito, vnde digressi sumus, reuertamur.

Primùm igitur ex sectione secunda satis constat, glaciem, neque septem, neque octo mensibus circa ipsam Insulam fluitare: Deinde etiam, glaciem hanc, et si interdum ex collisione grandes sonitus & fragores edit, interdum propter vndarum alluuionem, raucum murmur personat, quicquam tamen humanæ voci simile resonare aut eiulare minimè fatemur.

Quod autem dicunt, nos & in glacie, & in monte Hecla loca statuere, in quibus animæ, nostrorum crucientur, Id verò seriò pernegamus, Deóque ac Domino nostro Iesu Christo, qui nos à morte & inferno eripuit, & regni coelestis ianuam nobis reserauit, gratias ex animo agimus, quòd nos de loco, in quem animæ nostrorum defunctorum commigrent, rectius, quàm dicunt isti Historici, instituerit. Scimus & tenemus animas piorum non in Purgatoriam Pontificiorum, aut campos Elysios, sed in sinum Abrabæ, in manum Dei, in Paradisum coelestem, mox è corporis ergastulo transferri. Scimus & tenemus de impiorum animabus, non in montanos focos & cineres, vel glaciem nostris oculis expositam, deflectere, sed in extremas mox abripi tenebras, vbi est fletus & stridor dentium, vbi est frigus, vbi est ignis ille, non vulgaris, sed extra nostram scientiam & subtilem disputationem positus. Vbi non modò corpora, sed animæ etiam, i.e. substantiæ spirituales, cruciantur. Huic extremo & tenebricoso carceri non Islandos viciniores, quàm Germanos, Danos, Gallos, Italos, aut quamuis aliam gentem, quoad loci situm, statuimus. Nec de huius carceris loco sitúue quicquam disputare attinet: sufficit nobis abundè, quòd illius tenebricosum foetorem & reliqua tormenta, dante & iuuante Domino nostro Iesu Christo, cuius precioso sanguine redempti sumus, nonquam sumus visuri aut sensuri. Atque hic de orco Islandico disputationis colophon esto.

The same in English.

THE NINTH SECTION.

[Sidenote: Frisius and Munster.] But round about the Iland, for the space
of 7. or 8. moneths in a yere there floateth ise, making a miserable kind
of mone, and not vnlike to mans voice, by reason of the clashing
together. The inhabitants are of opinion that in mount Hecla and in the
ise, there are places wherein the soules of their countreymen are
tormented.

No doubt, a worthy augmentation of the history, concerning the hel of Island, shut vp within the botome of one mountaine, & that no great one: yea, at some times (by fits and seasons) changing places: namely, when it is weary of lurking at home by the fires side within the mountaine, it delighteth to be ranging abroad, & to venter to sea, but without a ship, & to gather it selfe round into morsels of yce. Come forth, & giue care all ye that wonder at this secret. Lo, I will afford these historiographers another addition of history very notable. Let them write therfore, that the Islanders haue not only hel within their iurisdictction, but also that they enter into it willingly & wittingly, & come forth againe vntouched the very same day. How can that be? [Sidenote: Taking of Seales on the the ice.] Why it is an ancient custome of the Island that they which inhabite neare the sea shore do vsually go betimes in a morning to catch Seales, euen vpon the very same ise which the historiographers make to be hel, & in the euening returne home safe and sound. Set downe also (if ye please) that the prison of the damned is kept in store by the Islanders in coffers and vessels, as we shall anon heare out of Frisius.

But you had need wisely to foresee, lest the Islanders beguile all your countries of the commendation of courage & constacy: namely, as they (for so it pleaseth your writers to report) who both can and will endure the torments of hell, & who are able to breake through & escape them, without any farther hurt: which thing is necessarily to be collected out of that, that hath bin before mentioned. [Sidenote: Westrerne winds disperse the ice.] And I am able to reckon vp a great many of our countnmen who in the very act of hunting, wandring somewhat farre from the shoare (the ice being dispersed by westerne winds) & for the space of many leagues resting vpon the ice, being chased with the violence of the tempest, & some whole daies & nights being tossed vp & downe in the waues of the raging sea, & so (for it followeth by good consequence out of this probleme of the historiographers) haue had experience of the torments, & paines of this hell of ice. Who at the last, the weather being changed, & the winds blowing at the North, being transported again to the shoare, in this their ship of ice, haue returned home in safety: some of which number are aliue at this day. Wherefore let such as be desirous of newes snatch vp this, & (if they please) let them frame a whole volume hereof, & adde it to their history. Neither do these vaine phantasies deserue otherwise to be handled & confuted, then with such like meriments, & sportings. But to lay aside all iesting, let vs returne to the matter from whence we are digressed. [Sidenote: Ice floateth not 7. or 8. moneths about Island.] First of all therefore it is euident enough out of the second section, viz. ice floateth not about this Iland, neither 8. nor 7. moneths in a yere then, that this ice (although at some times by shuffling together it maketh monstrous soundings & cracklings, & againe at some times with the beating of the water, it sendeth forth an hoarse kind of murmuring) doth any thing at all resound or lament, like vnto mans voice, we may in no case confesse. But wheras they say that, both in the Isle, and in mount Hecla we appoint certaine places, wherin the soules of our countrimen are tormented, we vtterly stand to the deniall of that and we thanke God & our Lord Iesus Christ from the botome of our hearts (who hath deliuered vs from death & hell, & opened vnto vs the gate of the kingdome of heaæn because he hath instructed vs more truely, concernmg the place, whether the soules of our deceased countrimen depart, then these historiographers doe tell vs. We know and maintain that the soules of the godly are transported immediatly out of their bodily prisons, not into the Papists purgatory, nor into the Elysian fields, but into Abrahams bosome, into the hand of God, & into the heauenly paradise. We know & maintaine concerning the soules of the wicked, that they wander not into the fires & ashes of mountaines or into visible ice, but immediatly are carried away into vtter darknesse, where is weeping & gnashing of teeth, where there is colde also, & fire not comon, but far beyond our knowledge & curious disputation. Where not onely bodies, but soules also, that is spirituall substances are tormented. And we do also hold, that the Islanders are no whit nearer vnto this extreame & darke prison, in regard of the situation of place, then the Germans, Danes, Frenchmen, Italians, or any other nation whatsoeuer. Neither is it any thing to the purpose, at all to dispute of the place or situation of this dungeon. It is sufficient for vs, that (by the grace and assistance of our Lord Iesus Christ, with whose precious blood we are redeemed) we shall neuer see that vtter darknesse, nor feele the rest of the torments that be there. Now let vs here shut vp the disputation concerning the hell of Island.

SECTIO DECIMA.

[Sidenote: Frisius, Zieglerus Saxo fere similiter.] Quòd si quis ex hac
glacie magnam partem ceperit, eámque vasi ant scrinio inclusam, quàm
diligentissimè asseruarit, illa tempore glaciei, quæ circum insulam est,
degelantis, euanescit, vt neque minima eius particula vel guttula aquæ
reperiatur.

Id profecto necessariò addendum fuit: Hanc scilicet glaciem, voces humanas, secundum Historicos, representatem, & damnatorom receptaculum existentem, non esse, vt reliqua in vastissima hac vniuersitate omnia, ex Elementi alicuius materia conflatam. Siquidem cum corpus esse videatur, corpus tamen non sit, (quod ex Frisij paradoxo rectè deducitur) cum etiam corpora dura & solida perrumpat, non secus ac, spectra & genij: Restat igitur cum non sit elementaris naturæ, vt vel spiritualem habeat materiam, vel coelestem, vel quod ipsi forsan largiantur, infernalem. Infernalem tamen esse non assentiemur, quia ad aures nostras peruenit frigus infernale longè esse intractabilius, quam est hæc glacies, humanis manibus in scrinio reposita, nec quicquam suo contactu, vel nudatam carnem lædere valens. Nec profectò spiritualem esse dabimus; accepimus enim à Physicis, substantias spirituales nec cerni, nec tangi, nec ijs quicquam decedere posse: quæ tamen omnia in hanc historicorum glaciem, quantumuis, secundum illos, hyperphysicam, cadere certum & manifestum est. Præterea & hoc verissimum est, eam calore solis resolutam, ac in superficie sua stagnantem, siti piscatorum restinguendæ, non secus ac riuos terrestres, inseruire: Id quod substantiæ spirituali denegatum est. Non est igitur spiritualis, vt nec infernalis. Iam verò coelestem habere materiam, nemo audebit dicere: Ne forte inde aliquis suspicetur, glaciem hanc barathrum, quod illi Historici affingunt, secum è coelo traxisse: Vel id coelo, quippe eiusdem materiæ cum glacie, commune esse, atque ita carcer damnatorum cum Paradiso coelesti loca commutasse, Historicorum culpa putetur.

Quare cum glacies hæc Historica nec sit elementaris, vt ex præsenti loco Frisij optimè sequi iam toties monuimus: nec spiritualis, nec infernalis, quod vtrúmque breuibus, solidis tamen rationibns demonstrauimus: nec coelestis materiæ, quod opinari religio vetat: relinquitur omnino, vt secnndum eosdem Historicos nulla sit, quam tamen illi tàm cum stupenda admiratione prædicant, & nos videri ac tangi putamus. Est igitur, & non est: Quod axioma vbi secundum idem, & ad idem, & eodem tempore, verum esse poterit, nos demum miraculis istis glacialibus credemus. Itáque iam vides Lector, ad hæc refellenda nullo alio esse opus, quàm monstrari quomodo secum dissideant. Sed haud mirum, eum qui semel vulgi fabulosis rumoribus se cermisit, sæpius errare. Cuiusmodi etiam prodidit quidam de glaciei huius Sympathia, quòd videlicet molis, cuius pars esset, discessum insequeretur, vt omnem obseruatíonis diligentiam ineuitabili fugæ necessitate deciperet. Atqui sæpe idimus eiusmodi solitariam molem post abactam reliquam glaciem, nullis vectibus nullis machinis detentam, ad líttus multis septimanis consistere. Palam est igitur, illud de glacie miraculum fundamento niti, quàm est ipsa glacies, magis lubrico.

The same in English.

THE TENTH SECTION.

[Sidenote: Frisius. Zieglerus. Saxo.] If any man shall take a great
quantity of this ice, & shall keepe it neuer so warily enclosed in a
coffer or vessel, it wil at that time when the ice thaweth about the
Iland, vtterly vanish away, so that not the least part thereof, no nor a
drop of water is to be found.

Surely, this was of necessity to be added: namely, that this ice, which according to historiographers representeth mans voice, & is the place of the damned, doth not as all other things in this wide world, consist of the matter of some element. For whereas it seemeth to be a body, when indeed it is no body: (which may directly be gathered out of Frisius absurd opinion) whereas also it pierceth through hard & solide bodies, no otherwise then spirits & ghosts: therefore it remaineth, seeing it is not of an elementary nature, that it must haue either a spirituall, or a celestial, or an infernal matter. But that it should be infernall, we can not be perswaded, because we haue heard that infernall cold is farre more vnsufferable then this ise, which vseth to be put into a boxe with mens hands, & is not of force any whit to hurt euen naked flesh, by touching thereof. Nor yet will we grant it to be spirituall: for we haue learned in naturall Philosophy, that spiritual substances can neither be seene nor felt, & cannot haue any thing taken from them: all which things do notwithstanding most manifestly agree to this ise of the Historiographers, howsoeuer according to them it be supernatural. Besides also, it is most true, that the very same yse being melted with the heat of the sunne, & resolued into water, vpon the vpper part therof, standeth fishermen in as good stead to quench their thirst, as any land-riuer would do, which thing can no way be ascribed to a spirituall substance. It is not therefore spirituall, nor yet infernall. Now none wilbe so bold to affirme, that it hath celestiall matter, least some man perhaps might hereupon imagine, that this ise hath brought hell (which the historiographers annexe vnto it) downe from heauen together with it selfe: or that the same thing should be common vnto heauen, being of one & the same matter with ise, & so that the prison of the damned may be thought to haue changed places with the heauenly paradise, & all by the ouersight of these Historiographers. Wherfore seeing the matter of this historicall ise is neither elementarie (as we haue so often proued by this place of Frisius) neither spirituall, nor infernall, both which we haue concluded euidently in short, yet sound and substanciall reasons: nor yet celestiall matter, which, religion forbiddeth a man once to imagine: it is altogether manifest, that according to the said historiographers, there is no such thing at all, which notwithstanding they blaze abroad with such astonishing admiration, & which we thinke to be an ordinary matter commonly seene and felt. Therefore it is, and it is not: which proposition when it shall fall out true, in the same respect, in the same part, and at the same time, then will we giue credite to these frozen miracles. Now therefore the Reader may easily iudge, that wee need none other helpe to refute these things, but onely to shew how they disagree one with another. But it is no maruell that he, which hath once enclined himselfe to the fabulous reports of the common people, should oftentimes fall into error. There was a like strange thing inuented by another concerning the sympathy or conioining of this ise: namely, that it followeth the departure of that huge lumpe, whereof it is a part, so narrowly, & so swiftly, that a man by no diligence can obserue it, by reason of the vnchangeable necessitie of following. But we haue oftentimes seene such a solitarie lumpe of ise remaining (after the other parts thereof were driuen away) and lying vpon the shore for many weekes together, without any posts or engines at all to stay it. Therefore it is plaine that these miracles of ise are grounded vpon a more slippery foundation then ise it selfe.

SECTIO VNDECIMA.

[Sidenote: Frisius.] Non procat ab his montibus, (tribus prædictis) ad
maritimas oras vergentibus, sunt quatuor fontes diuersissimæ naturæ. Vnus
suo perpetuo ardore omne corpus sibi immissum raptim conuertit in saxum,
manente tamen priore formâ. Alter est algoris intolrerabilis. Tertius vel
melle dulcior & restinguendæ siti iucundissimus. Quartus plane exitialis,
pestilens, & virulentus.

Etiam hæc fontium topographia satis apertè monstrat, quàm ex impuro fonte has suas narrationes omnes miraculosas hauserit Geographus. Id enim dicere videtur: Montes hos tres prædictos ferè, contiguos esse: Siquidem tribus montibus quatuor fontes indiscrete adscribit. Alioqui si non vicinos statuisset, vni alicui horam duos fontes adscripsisset. Sed neque hi montes contigui sunt (quippe multis milliaribus inuicem dissiti) neque iuxta hos fontes illi quatuor reperiuntur: quod, qui credere nolit, experiatur. Cæterum ad hæc confundenda sufficit, credo, ipsorum historicorum contrarietas. Nam de duobas fontibas quidam Frisio his verbis contradicit. Erumpunt ex eodem monte (Heclâ) fontes duo, quorum alter equarum frigiditate, alter feruore intolerabili exedit omnem elementarem vim. Hi duo sunt primi illi Frisij fontes, nisi quod hîc miraculum indurandi corpora, alteri fontium attributum, omissum sit. Atqui non simul possunt ex ipso monte, & iuxta montem erumpere.

Hîc vero libenter quæsierim, quâ ratione quisquam ex Peripatecicis dicat, aliquid ipso elemento aquæ frigidius, aut igne calidius? Vnde demum, scriptores, ista frigiditas? Vnde iste feruor? Nonne è Schola vestra accepimus aquam esse elementum frigidissimum & humidum, atque adeo fngidissimum, vt ad constituendas qualitates secundas, remitti sit necesse, nec simplicem vsibus humanis inseruire? (Hæc ego nunc Physicorum oracula fundo, vera an falsa, nescio). Testis est vnus omnium, & pro omnibus, Iohannes Fernelius lib. 2. Physiologiæ, cap. 4. Sic, inquit, qualitates hæ (quatuor primæ) quatuor rerum naturis summæ obtigerunt, vt quemadmodum paro igne nihil calidius, nihilque leuius: Sic terra nihil siccius, nihil grauius: Aquam sinceram, nullius medicamenti vis gelida euincet, vt nec aërem, vllius humor. Summæ præterea sic illis insunt, vt ne minimum quidem possint augescere, remitti verò possint. Nolo huc rationes seu argumenta Physicorum aggregare. Vnum profecto hic cauendum est, ne dum fontium miracula prædicant scriptores, vt glaciem Islandorum, ita etiam fontes creatorum numero eximant. Nos fontium adiuncta, quæ huc scriptores pertraxerunt ordine persequemur. Primus suo perpetuo calore: Plurimæ sunt in Islandia thermæ seu fontes calidi: Pauciores ardentes: quos neque cuiquam miraculo esse debere existimamus, cum huiusmodi, vt a scriptoribus didici, passim abundet Germania, præcipuè in ijs locis, quæ non sunt procul ab Alpium radicibus. Nota est fama thermarum Badensium, Gebarsuiliensium, Calbensium, in ducatu Wirtebergensi, & multarum aliarum quarum meminit Fuchsius in lib. de arte medendi. Et non solum Germania, sed etiam Gallia, & longe magis omnium bonorum parens Italia, inquit Cardanus. Et Aristoteles narrat, circa Epyrum calidas aquas scaturire, vnde locus Pyriphlegeton appellatur. Atque inquam, hæc ideo minus miranda, quod vt incendij montani, ita feruoris aquei caussas indagarint Naturæ speculatores: Aquam scilicet per terræ venas sulphureas, aut aluminosas labi, indeque non calorem solùm, sed saporem etiam & virtutes alienas concipere. Docuit hoc Aristoteles libro de mundo. Continet, inquit, terra in se multos fontes, vt aquæ, ita & spiritus & ignis: Quidam amnium more fluunt, & vel ignescens eijciunt ferrum: Nunc tepidæ aquæ erumpunt, nunc feruentissimæ, nunc temperatæ. [Sidenote: Lib 3. Nat. quæst.] Et Seneca: Empedocles existimabat ignibus, quos multis locis apertos tegit terra, aquam calescere, si subiecti sint solo, per quod aquæ transitus est. Et scite de thermis Baianis Pontanus.

Baiano sed ne fumare in littore thermas
Mirere, aut liquidis fluitare incendia venis:
Vulcani fora sulphureis incensa caminis
Ipsa monent, latè multùm tellure sub ima
Debacchari ignem, camposque exurere opertos.
Inde fluit, calidum referens ex igne vaporem,
Vnda fugax, tectis feruent & balnea flammis.

Hoc loco attingendum duxi quod tradit Saxo Grammaticus, Danorum celebratissimus historicus, Islandiæ fontes quosdam nunc ad summum excrescere, & exundare: Nunc adeò subsidere, vt vix fontes agnoscas. Qui etsi rariores apud nos inueniuntur, adscribam tamen similes, etiam alibi à natura productos, ne quis hic monstri quippiam imaginetur. Hos autem recitat Plinius. In Tenedo Insula vnum, qui semper à tertia noctis hora, in sextam solstitio æstiuo exundet. In agro Pitinate, trans Apenninum montem, fluuium esse, qui omnibus Solstitijs æstiuis exundet, brumali tempore siccetur. Refert etiam de fonte quodam satis largo, qui singulis horis intumeseat & residat. Nec id magis neglidendum: subire terras flumina, rursusque redire; vt Lycus in Asia, Erasinus in Argolica, Tigris in Mesopotamia, quibus Cardanus addit Tanaim in Moscouia: Et quæ in Æsculapij fonte Athenis immersa sunt, in Phaletico reddi. Et Seneca scribit esse flumina, quæ in specum aliquem subterraneum demissa, ex hominum oculis se subducunt, quæ consumi paulatim & intercidere constet: Eademque post interuallum reuerti, recipereque & nomen & cursum priorem. Et iterum Plinius; fluuium in Atinate campo mersum, post 20 millia passuum exire. Quæ omnia, & his similia, Islandiæ fontes, miraculo nullo, præ cæteris esse debere, ostendunt.

Omne corpus immissum continuò conuertit in saxum. His duobus adiunctis, feruore nempe, seu ardore vehementissimo, & virtute indurandi corpora, primum suum fontem describit Frisius. Et fama quidem accepi, ipse non sum expertus, existere similem fontem in Islandia, non procul à sede Episcopali Schalholt, apud villam nomine Haukadal. Habet simile Seneca, dicens, fontem quendam esse, qui ligna in lapides conuertat, hominumque viscera indurescere, qui aquam eius biberint: Et addit eiusmodi fontes in quibusdam Italiæ locis inueniri: quod Ouidias Ciconum flumini tribuit 15. Metamorph.

Flumen habent Cicones, quod potum saxea reddit
Viscera, quod tactis inducit marmora rebus.

Et Cardanus: Georgius Agricola, inquit, in Elbogano tractu iuxta oppidum à falconibns cognominatum, integras cum corpore abietes in lapidem conuersas esse, atque quod maius est, in rimis etiam Pyritidem lapidem continere. Et Domitius Brusonius, in Sylare amne, qui radices montis eius, qui est in agro vrbis Vrsentinorum olim, nunc Contursij lambit, folia & arborum ramos in lapides transire, non fide aliorum, sed propria, vt qui incola sit regionis, (cui rei etiam Plinius astipulatur) narrat, cortices aute lapidum, annos numero ostendere. Sic (si scriptoribus credimus) guttæ Gotici fontis sparsæ lapidescunt. Et in Vngaria, Cepusij aqua, in vrceos infusa, lapidescit. Plinius refert etiam, vt in Ciconom flumine, & in Piceno lacu velino, lignum deiectum, lapideo cortice obduci.

Secundus algoris intolerabitis. Quantum ad secundum fontem attinet, nullus hic est quòd quisquam sciat, algoris intolerabilis, sed plurimi bene frigidi, ita vt vulgaribus riuis æstiuo sole tepescentibus, non sine voluptate ex frigidioribus illis aquam hauriamus. Sunt & longè frigidiores fortè alibi: Nam & Cardanus in agro Corinthio è montis vertice fluentem riuum commemorat, niue frigidiorem: Et intra primum à Culma lapidem, Insanam vocatum: quæ aqua cum feruere videatur, sit tamen longe frigidissima, &c.

Tertius vel melle dulcior. Neque id prorsus verum est. Non enim est vllus apud nos, qui vel minima ex parte cum mellis dulcedine conferri possit. Rectius igitur Saxo, qui fontes (quoniam plures sunt) in Islandia dicit inueniri Cerealem referentes liquorem, vt etiam ibidem non diuersi saporis solùm, sed diuersi etiam coloris fontes & flumina reperiuntur.

Etsi autem tradunt Physici aquam naturaliter ex se neque saporem neque odorem habere, tamen, vt superius attigimus, veri simile est, quod alij per accidens vocant, eam sæpe referre qualitatem terræ, in qua generatur, & per cuius venas transitum atque excursum habet: Atque hinc aquarum odores, colores, sapores, alios atque alios existere, Cuiusmodi sunt, de quibus narrat Seneca, quorum alij famem excitant, alij bibentes inebrient, alij memoriæ officiant, alij inuent eandem, alij vini saporem & virtutem repræsentent: [Sidenote: Lib. de mirab. auscultat.] Vt ille apud Plinium in Andro Insula fons, in templo Liberi, qui Nonis Ian: vini sapore fluat. Et apud Aristotelem fons in agro Carthaginensi, qui oleum præbeat, & guttulas Cedri odore representet. Item, Orcus fluuius Thessaliæ, influens in Peneum, olei instar supernatans: [Sidenote: Lib. 2. de Element.] Cuiusmodi etiam narrat Cardanus in Saxonia esse, iuxta Brumonis oppidum, fontem oleo perfusum: Et in Sueuia, iuxta Coenobium, cui Tergensche nomen est. Item, in valle mentis Iurassi. Causam huius rei putat esse bitumen valde pingue, quod oleum sine dubio contineat. Idem, famam esse ait, in Cardia, iuxta locum Dascbyli, in campo albo aquam esse lacte dulciorem. Aliam quoque iuxta pontem, qua Valdeburgum itur. Iam aquarum vini saporem referentium meminit his verbis Propertius, 3. lib. Elegiar.

En tibi per mediam bene olentia flumina Naxon,
Vnde tuum pota Naxia turba merum.

Est autem Naxus Insula vna ex Cycladibus, in mari Ægeo. Causam huius assignat Cardanus, quod hydromel vetustate transeat in vinum. Aristoteles commemorat Siciliæ fontem, quo incolæ loco aceti vtantur. Idem saporum aquæ causam in calorem retulit, quod terra excocta mutet & præbeat saporem aquæ.

Iam de aquæ coloribus ita Cardanus. Eadem est ratio colorum aquæ, ait, quæ & saporum: videlicet à terra originem trahere. Nam Candida est aqua, ad secundum lapidem à Glauca, Misenæ oppido: Rubea, vt in Radera Misenæ fluuio, iuxta Radeburgum: Et olim in Iudæa iuxta Ioppen: Viridis, in Carpato monte, iuxta Neusolam: Cærulea aut blaua, inter Feltrium & Taruisium, & in Thermopylis etiam talem fuisse referunt: Nigerrima in Allera fluuio Saxoniæ, vbi in Visurgim se exonerat. Caussæ sunt argillæ colores, sed tenuiores. Item Aristoteles: circa Iapygiam promontorium, esse fontem, qui sanguinem fundat, addens, eam maris partem suo foetore nauigantes procul arcere. Aiunt præterea in Idumæa fontem esse, qui quater in anno colorem mutet, cum sit colore nunc viridi, nunc albo, nunc sanguineo, nunc lutulento.

Et de aquarum odore sic Cardanus. Similis ratio differentiæ est in odoribus. Plerumque tamen aquarum odores iniucundi sunt, quòd rarò terra bene oleat. Pessimè olim foetabat in Ælide, Anigri fluminis aqua, vsque ad perniciem, non solum piscium, sed etiam hominum. Iuxta Metonem in Messania, in puteo quodam optimè olens aqua hauriebatur. Hæc ideo recito, vt nullus magis in Islandia quàm alibi, aquarum, colores, odores, sapores, miretur.

Quartus plane exitialis. Autor est Isidoras, esse fontem quendam, cuius aqua pota vitam extinguat: Et Plinius: Iuxta Nonarim, inquit, Arcadiæ, Styx (iuxta Cyllenem montem, ait Cardan. Sola equi vngula continebatur: referunt ea sublatum Alexandrum magnum) nec odore differens, nec colore, epota illico necat. Idem, In Beroso Taurorum colle sunt tres fontes sine remedio, sine dolore mortiferi: Et quod longè maximum est, quod Seneca stagnum esse dicat, in quod prospicientes statim moriantur. Nos verò Islandi etiam hunc quartum Frisij fontem, cuius etiam Saxo meminit, vt antehac semper, itidem etiam nobis hodie penitus ignotum testamur: Hocque igitur nomine, Deo immortales gratias agimus, quòd ab eiusmodi fontibus & serpentibus, insectis venenatis, ac alijs pestiferis & contagiosis, esse nos immunes voluerit.