Friendly Missive of an Adept of Hermetic Science and Art

pilgrimages. To which place he also departed, along with a great multitude of people and pilgrims, by the favor of the Emperor original: Keyser; likely referring to the Sultan of Morocco, whom European writers of this era often titled as Emperor.. Because many gentlemen were aware of my exceedingly great desire to travel further and wider, and because I had rendered notable service to them through the medical arts original: Artzney-Kunst; this refers to the author’s practice as a physician, which provided him social mobility and protection during his travels., I was recommended to enter his service. Thus, I arrived with them in Arabia just as I had wished.

From Mecca, I traveled to Aden, and then to Mocha. From there, I took an English ship to Surat A major port city in the Gujarat state of India, which was a vital trading hub for the British East India Company at the time.. From this kingdom, thanks to favorable opportunities and the assistance of the Europeans there, I set out for Persia and various other Asian countries. And although I was sufficiently proficient in the Arabic and Portuguese languages Portuguese served as a lingua franca in many coastal trading ports of Africa and Asia during the 17th and 18th centuries., which I had previously learned in Europe, [I found myself] enough in...