any land; on which we shifted our course to the south-east,
and after five days, we came in sight of the island
of Neome[3], so that we passed Iceland without seeing
it. We here procured refreshments from the inhabitants,
who were subject to Zichmni, and sailed thence in three
days to Frisland, where we were received with
great joy, as the people thought, in consequence of
our long absence, that their prince and the whole
armament had been lost.
As to the particulars concerning the people and their
customs, the animate, and the productions of these
countries, I have written all these in a separate
book, in which I have described the country, and the
wonderful fishes of Frisland, Estland, Norway,
Estoitland, Drogio, Icaria, and Engroveland,
on both its sides. I have composed likewise, the
life of my brother Nicolo Zeno, with an account of
his discoveries; and a history of the life and acts
of Zichmni, a prince as worthy of immortal fame
as any that ever lived, having been famous for his
valour, enterprising spirit, and humanity.
[1] Or Icarus, for the language in Forster is ambiguous,
and does not
clearly fix this important
historical fact!—E.
[2] The expression is here so equivocal as to leave
in doubt whether the
killed and wounded were Icarians
or Frislanders, or part of
both.—E.
[3] Neome seems to be the isle or Stromoe,
one of the Faro Islands; as it
is in fact to the southward
of Iceland, and only three days sail from
the Orkneys, the Faras-islands,
or Frisland of this author.—Forst.
Travels of John Schildtberger into Tartary, in
1394[1].
John Schildtberger, a native of Munich in Bavaria,
went with the army of King Sigismund of Hungary, against
the Turks in 1394. In 1395, being taken prisoner,
he was sent by Bajazet, whose name he always writes
Weyasit, into Asia. In the great battle,
in which Bajazet was defeated, and taken captive by
Timur, Schildtberger was again made prisoner, and accompanied
that conqueror in all his expeditions, till his death
in 1405, at Otrar or Farab, though Schildtberger says
that he died in his capital of Samarcand. After
the death of Timur, he entered into the service of
Shah-Rokh, and was left by that prince among the auxiliary
troops, which assisted his brother Miran-Shah against
Kara-Joseph, a Turkomanian emir of the black-weather
tribe. Miran-shah having been made prisoner and
beheaded by Kara-Joseph, Schildtberger followed the
standards of Abubekr, the son of Miran-shah.
