vineyards and trees, which beare goodly fruit neere vnto the riuers side, which is but small; the walles are about three English miles in compasse, but the suburbs are almost as much more.  The towne is greatly peopled.  We departed from thence with our camels the last day of May with M. Iohn Newbery and his company, and came to Birrah in three dayes, being a small towne situated vpon the riuer Euphrates, where it beginneth first to take his name, being here gathered into one chanell, whereas before it commeth downe in manifolde branches, and therefore is called by the people of the countrey by a name which signifieth a thousand heads.  Here is plenty of victuals, whereof we all furnished our selues for a long iourney downe the aforesayd riuer.  And according to the maner of those that trauell downe by water, we prepared a small barke for the conueyance of our selues and of our goods. [Sidenote:  Euphrates shallow.] These boates are flat bottomed, because the riuer is shallow in many places:  and when men trauell in the moneth of Iuly, August, and September, the water being then at the lowest, they are constrained to cary with them a spare boat or two to lighten their owne boates, if they chance to fall on the sholds. [Eight and twenty days iourney by riuer.] We were eight and twenty dayes vpon the water betweene Birrah and Felugia, where we disimbarked our selues and our goods.  Euery night after the Sun setteth, we tie our barke to a stake, go on land to gather sticks, and set on our pot with rice or brused wheat, and hauing supped, the marchants lie aboord the barke, and the mariners vpon the shores side as nere as they can vnto the same. [Sidenote:  Arabians vpon the riuer of Euphrates.] In many places vpon the riuers side we met with troops of Arabians, of whom we bought milke, butter, egges, and lambs, and gaue them in barter, (for they care not for money) glasses, combes, corall, amber, to hang about their armes and necks, and for churned milke we gaue them bread and pomgranat peeles, wherewith they vse to tanne their goats skinnes which they churne withall. [Sidenote:  The Arabian women weare golde rings in their nostrels.] Their haire, apparell, and colour are altogether like to those vagabond Egyptians, which heretofore haue gone about in England.  Their women all without exception weare a great round ring in one of their nostrels, of golde, siluer, or yron, according to their ability, and about their armes and smalles of their legs they haue hoops of golde, siiuer or yron.  All of them as wel women and children as men, are very great swimmers, and often times swimming they brought vs milke to our barke in vessels vpon their heads.  These people are very theeuish, which I prooued to my cost:  for they stole a casket of mine, with things of good value in the same, from vnder my mans head as he was asleepe:  and therefore trauellers keepe good watch as they passe downe the riuer. [Sidenote:  Euphrates described.] Euphrates at Birrah is about the breadth of the Thames