Central Banking in Turbulent Times

Tuomas Valimaki
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Central Banking in Turbulent Times
Central Banking in
Turbulent Times

Francesco Papadia with Tuomas Valimaki

OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS

Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP,

United Kingdom
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford.
lt furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship,
and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of
Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries
© Francesco Papadia and Tuomas Valimaki 2018
The moral rights of the authors have been asserted
First Edition published in 2018
Impression: 1
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the
prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted
by law, by licence or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics
rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the
above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the
address above
You must not circulate this work in any other form
and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer
Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Data available
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017952243
ISBN 978-0--19-880619-6
Printed and bound by
CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY
Links to third party websites are provided by Oxford in good faith and
for information only. Oxford disclaims any responsibility for the materials
contained in any third party website referenced in this work.
Foreword

This is a classic central banking book. It is written by two authors who have
been senior and highly experienced central bankers. Francesco Papadia was
Director General for Market Operations at the European Central Bank (ECB)
during the critical years of the Great Financial Crisis (GFC), and played a
central role in managing the ECB's response to it. Tuomas Valimaki is Chief
Economist at the Bank of Finland and a member of the ECB's Monetary Policy
Committee.
The book is about central banking in recent decades, primarily about the
roles and actions of the two main central banks, the ECB and the Federal
Reserve System of the USA (the Fed). Chapter 1 recounts how the consensus
view on the appropriate role of such central banks developed during the
course of the Great Moderation (1992-2007), that is, that central banks should
use a single instrument, the official short-term interest rate, to control a single
objective, price stability, defined as an inflation target. In this process it was,
incorrectly, assumed that the achievement of overall macroeconomic stabil-
ity, and the self-interest of those involved in banking and financial markets,
would quasi-automatically help to ensure financial stability also. So the finan-
cial stability aspects of central banking became diminished.
When the crisis first erupted in 2007 /2008, central banks also found that
their ability to achieve their primary task of maintaining price stability via
changes in the official short rate became compromised. As money markets
became dysfunctional, and everyone, including bankers, began to hoard
liquidity, the standard means of controlling the overnight interest rate
became less reliable, spreads between official rates and market rates widened
abruptly, and soon, by early 2008, official short-term rates began to hit the
zero lower bound (ZLB). Chapter 2, the main segment of the book, is about
the onset of such problems, and how the two key central banks, the ECB and
the Fed, responded to, and eventually overcame, such problems and difficul-
ties, largely by the use of balance sheet adjustments and quantitative easing
(QE). This provides a truly authoritative account of the main actions of these
two central banks during the GFC, as might be expected since Papadia played
such a central role in this exercise at the ECB. This key, and lengthy, chapter
Foreword

will be a precious source about central bank actions in the GFC for scholars
for decades to come.
The experience of the GFC means that central banks are now saddled with
two objectives: financial stability as well as price stability. The third, final,
and shortest chapter, Chapter 3, is primarily about how to handle this role
expansion. The authors briefly consider whether financial stability could be
delegated to another authority, but, rightly, dismiss this, given the centrality
of central bank liquidity provision in crises.
If one has two objectives, ideally one should have two instruments, in order
to hit such objectives exactly, as in the Tinbergen principle. Chapter 3 is largely
about the question whether the new concept of using macro-prudential meas-
ures can provide such a second instrument. The authors are doubtful, since
such macro-prudential measures are relatively new, not fully tried, and uncer-
tain in effect. If they do not work well enough, the central bank could be left
with a dilemma, a potential trade-off. In such cases, could the central bank seek
political guidance? But would that be consistent with central bank independ-
ence? Perhaps fortunately, we do not know what the future will bring, so we,
and central bankers, are left with more than enough unanswered questions.
This is a book by central bank experts, about central bank policy actions,
and it will be eagerly read by members of the central bank fraternity around
the world. But the audience of those who will profit by, and enjoy, reading this
book goes much wider. It will include all those interested in the causes,
conduct, and consequences of the GFC; those studying money and banking;
those in financial markets and institutions caught up in the GFC; and those
who want to make sense of recent financial developments.
Charles Goodhart

vi
Preface

This book has been written by two central bank insiders. Indeed, we have spent
practically all our professional lives in a central bank. Nevertheless, when writing
this book, we have tried to move beyond our insider perspective. Or, rather, we
have endeavoured to look again at the information we have accumulated over
our long years in central banks from a new perspective, seeking to exploit our
depth of knowledge, whilst avoiding the limitations implicit in any specific
professional experience. In order to achieve this new perspective, we make
selective use of the available economic literature. References to this literature
are used only as long as they help to better understand the economic develop-
ments with which we deal in this book: the analytical apparatus serves our
narrative, not vice versa.
During the Great Recession, which started in August 2007 and entered its
most acute phase in September 2008 with the failure of Lehman Brothers, we
worked at the border between top decision-makers and markets. Our job was
to provide options to policymakers, to design the various programmes, and to
carry them out in the trenches. This put us at the centre of it all, close to
decisions, but also on the front line, implementing actions, often taken in
emergency situations, and monitoring how they affected financial markets
and, most importantly, the real economy.
This experience has been in many ways exhilarating: we found ourselves
in the middle of historic events, in institutions that were at the forefront of
understanding the unfolding crisis and limiting its damages. The ensuing
choices had critical repercussions, beyond the mere economic sphere, on the
welfare of hundreds of millions of individuals. The catastrophic experience of
the 1930s-when central banks failed to adequately fight the Great Depres-
sion and the debt crisis-forced central banks to be bold and act swiftly. They
were compelled to look beyond the well-trodden paths they had followed
before the crisis. There were also reasons, however, to be afraid, or at least
conscious, of the risk of making serious mistakes. Critical decisions, not written
in any monetary policy textbook, were swiftly made. In fact, many central
Preface

banks pursued actions that would have been unthinkable before the crisis but
would eventually find their ways into textbooks. 1
Numerous actions taken by central banks would have previously been
considered extreme and even potentially dangerous. There were no orienta-
tion tools available, no maps to guide us: we were in terra incognita. Blanchard
(in Blanchard et al. 2016, p. 8) summarized what happened in an apt way:
'Central banks have experimented with and researchers have explored mon-
etary policy, often in that order.' At the same time, we felt that society was
placing an outsized burden on our institutions. Problems were dealt with as
they arose, day by day, sometimes hour by hour. Still, we sensed we were
working in the tradition of institutions adapting to historical developments,
asked to serve society by using, in the best possible ways, the important tools
and resources entrusted to them.
Frequent, rapid, and frank contacts and exchanges with market participants
and central bankers in other jurisdictions were critical. These information
channels helped us, and the institutions in which we served, to make deci-
sions and to avoid being paralyzed by doubt. Market participants presented
us with problems that went beyond their capacity to solve. In return, they
helped us understand what was happening and find new solutions for vari-
ous emergencies. With central bankers in other jurisdictions, we shared
experiences about the problems facing us and, together, we looked for solu-
tions, often requiring joint actions. The relationship was particularly close
with the Fed, which had a much longer experience than the ECB as a central
bank with a global influence. This, together with the fact that the Great
Recession developed in two phases-the first with an epicentre in the United
States and the second with an epicentre in the euro-area-explains why this
book is concentrated on the experience of these two central banks. However,
at times, we extend our analyses to include central banks in other advanced
economies. Although this book does not look at the experience of emerging
economies, a relevant observation is that the tools that appeared totally
unconventional for central banks in advanced economies were instead famil-
iar in the experience of emerging economies. This is not surprising, because
the disturbed functioning of markets in advanced countries during the Great

1 The sense of being surprised by one's own actions in central banks during the Great Recession

was analogous to that described in 1831 by the Bank of England Member Jeremiah Harman in the
Lords' Committee, quoted by Bindseil (2004): 'We lent ... by every possible means, and in modes
that we never had adopted before, we took in stock of security, we purchased Exchequer bills, we
made advances on Exchequer bills, we not only discounted outright, but we made advances on
deposits of bills to an immense amount; in short by every possible means consistent with the safety
of the Bank; seeing the dreadful state in which the public were, we rendered every assistance in our
power.' The same sense of having to go well beyond normal practices is well presented in
chapter 18 in the memoirs of Ben Bemanke (2015a) 'For much of the panic, the Fed alone, with
its chewing gum and bailing wire, bore the burden of battling the crisis. This included preventing
the failure of systematically important institutions.'

viii
 Preface

Recession had some similarities with the functioning of less mature markets
in emerging economies.
Our book is not an historical account of the Great Recession, or of any time
before it for that matter. A number of very good books cover this area.2 Our
purpose is to show how the concepts and practicalities of central banks
changed with the Great Recession and what conjectures we can make about
their future developments.

2 See, among others, Pisani-Ferry (2014); Brunnerrneier, James, and Landau (2016); Bastasin
(2015).

ix
Acknowledgements

We warmly thank the many people who helped us with the preparation
of this book. 3
For the part of the book written by Francesco Papadia, Alessandra Marcelletti,
Madalina Norocea, Piero Esposito, and Pia Hilttl efficiently prepared the vast
empirical material presented. Christophe Beuve and Deborah Perelmuter gave
useful advice on some issues relating to the Federal Reserve of the United States
(Fed), with which he was less familiar than the European Central Bank (ECB).
Ariana Gilbert-Mongelli revised the English and provided numerous sugges-
tions regarding presentation. Carina Worner revised the typographical layout
and checked the references. For the part written by Tuomas Valimaki, Jarmo
Kontulainen provided several useful comments, and Gregory Moore revised the
English as well as contributing to the presentation.
Claudio Borio, Fabrizio Cacciafesta, Andrea Enria, Ivo Maes, Giangiacomo
Nardozzi, and Andre Sapir were very generous with their comments. Patricia
Mosser, Klaus Regling, Rolf Strauch, Guntram Wolff, Zsolt Darvas, Marcello
Messori, and Franco Passacantando commented on various versions of the
book. The Directorate General for Financial Stability of the ECB, led by Sergio
Nicoletti Altirnari, allowed us to use data published in the Financial Stability
Review (FSR) of the ECB.
Presentations at the School of European Political Economy at Libera Univer-
sita Internazionale degli Studi Sociali (LUISS), the National Bank of Belgium, the
Bruegel Institute, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Waseda University in
Tokyo, and the ECB helped in developing the reasoning presented in the book,
in some cases identifying weak spots in its development. Lectures at Politecnico
di Milano, Scuola Sant'Anna of the University of Pisa, the Goethe University in
Frankfurt, and LUISS in Rome allowed both substance and form to be honed.

3 Tuomas Valimaki wrote Section 2.1.4. Francesco Papadia wrote the rest of the main text. The

authors of the boxes and appendices are indicated in the boxes and appendices. The different
authors are exclusively responsible for the content of their writings.
Contents

List ofFigures xv
List of Tables xxi
List of Boxes xxiii
List of Contributors xxv

Introduction 1
1. Central Banking before the Great Recession 9
1.1 Changing Nature and Objectives of Central Banks 9
1.2 Dominant Central Bank Model before the Crisis 21
1.2.1 Inflation Targeting 33
1.2.2 The Neo-Wicksellian Approach 40
1.2.3 Central Bank Reaction Functions and the Taylor Rule 52
1.2.4 The Corridor Approach 56
1.3 The Unsettled Issue of Financial Stability 64
1.4 Planting the Seeds of the Great Recession: Macroeconomic,
Regulatory, Supervisory, and Intellectual Failings 76
1.4.1 The Great Moderation 76
1.4.2 Macroeconomic Failings 83
1.4.3 Regulatory and Supervisory Failings 102
1.4.4 Intellectual Failings 105

2. Central Banking during the Great Recession 109

2.1 Monetary Policy 109
2.1.1 Consequences of the Great Recession 109
2.1.2 Central Bank Action and Communication 126
2.1.3 Global Central Bank Collaboration 151
2.1.4 Assessment 159
2.2 Financial Stability 204
2.2.1 Consequences of the Great Recession 204
2.2.2 Central Bank Action and Communication 226
2.2.3 Assessment 241
3. Central Banking after the Great Recession 248
3.1 Hits to the Pre-Crisis Central Bank Model 248
3.2 Was the Pre-Great Recession Central Banking Model]eopardized? 256
3.3 Strategic and Operational Issues 259
Contents

3.4 Central Banks in a New Regulatory and Supervisory Landscape 267

3.5 How Wide Will the Scope of Responsibilities of Central
Banks Be? 271
3.6 Possible Adaptations to the Central Banking Model 277

Appendix 1 Tightening with Macro-Prudential Tools while Easing

with Interest Rates (Francesco Papadia) 285
Appendix 2 Quantifying Survey-Based Inflation Expectations
(Pia Hilttl) 287
Bibliography 293
Index 311

xiv
List of Figures

1.1 Consumer Price Levels in Italy, the UK, Germany, and the USA
(1861-2016) 14
1.2 Size of the Central Bank Balance Sheets, as Percentage of each Country's
GDP (1900-2012) 15
1.3 Long-Term Interest Rates in Italy, the UK, Germany, and the USA
(1861-2016) 16
1.4 Multi-Secular Behaviour of Long-Term Interest Rates: France and the
Netherlands (c.1798-2015) 17
1.5 Multi-Secular Behaviour of Long-Term Interest Rates in the UK
and the USA (c.1790-2015) 18
1.6 Nominal Interest Rates, Millennia Perspective (c.3000 Bc-1700 AD) 19
1.7 Share of Countries with Systemic Banking Crises (1920-2007) 21
1.8 Inflation-Unemployment Trade-Off in the UK (1956-2014) 25
1.9 Distribution of Inflation Rates and Growth Per Capita (1980-2014) 28
1.10 Components of the Money Multiplier in the Euro-Area,
Index 2007=100 (2007-2015) 49
1.11 Components of the Money Multiplier in the USA, Index 2007=100
(2007-2016) so
1.12 Wicksell-Richter Diagram 52
1.13 Variability of Aggregate Per Capita Income and Real Interest Rates:
Average of USA, Italy, UK, and Germany (1870-1915 and 1945-2000) 54
1.14 The ECB Corridor of Interest Rates (1999-2015) 56
1.15 Liquidity and Overnight Interest Rate in the Euro-Area before the Great
Recession (11 July 2007-6 August 2007) 58
1.16 Spread between EONIA and the Rate on ECB Deposits and Excess
Liquidity (2000-2007 and 2008-2015) 60
1.17 Fixation of Interest Rates in the USA 61
1.18 Diagram of Central Bank Dilemma between Inflation
and Financial Stability/Risk Appetite 74
1.19 Inflation and Real GDP Growth in the USA (1948-2016) 77
List of Figures

1.20 Inflation and Real GDP Growth in the Euro-Area (1961-2013) 77

1.21 Inflation and Real GDP Growth in Emerging Economies (1962-2014) 78
1.22 Ratio between Total Credit to Private Non-Financial Sector and GDP
(1971-2013) 84
1.23 Current Account Balance in China and USA, Percentage of GDP
(1998-2015) 85
1.24 US Households' Debt, Percentage of GDP and Percentage of
Disposable Income (1980--2014) 85
1.25 S&P/Case-Shiller US National Home Price Index (1984-2014) 86
1.26 Volatility of Asset Prices in the USA (1990--2017) 87
1.27 Ten-Year Nominal Government Bond Yields in Selected Euro-Area
Countries (1980--2016) 88
1.28 Consumer Price Inflation in Selected Euro-Area Countries (1980--2016) 89
1.29 Difference in Estimated Inflation Expectations between the Periphery
and the Core of the Euro-Area (1985-2015) 90
1.30 Ten-Year Real Government Bond Yields in Selected Core and Peripheral
Euro-Area Countries, CPI Deflator (1980--2016) 91
1.31 Real Interest Rates Calculated from Estimated Expected Inflation Rates,
Selected Euro-area Countries (1985-2015) 91
1.32 Expected Inflation vs Ten-Year Government Bond Interest Differentials
between Periphery and Core of the Euro-Area (1985-2015) 92
1.33 Compensation per Employee in Selected Core and Periphery Euro-Area
Countries, Index 1998=100 (1998-2016) 93
1.34 Current Account Balances in Euro-Area Peripheral Countries,
Percentage of GDP (1980--2016) 94
1.35 Budget Balances in Selected Euro-Area Peripheral Countries, Percentage
of GDP (1980--2016) 95
1.36 Ratio of Bank Loans to Deposits for the Euro-Area, Ireland, and
Spain (1972-2014) 96
1.37 Spreads between the Sovereign Bond Yields of Greece, Italy, and
Spain with Respect to Germany's Ten-Year Yields (2002-2016) 98
2.1 Spread between EONIA and the Rate on ECB MRO (2003-2016) 111
2.2 Spread between the FFR and the Target Rate (2003-2016) 112
2.3 Spreads between Euribor, US Libor, and UK Libor over the OIS
Rate (2002-2015) 113
2.4 Spread between Interest Rates on New Loans up to Euro 1 Million
and EONIA in the Euro-Area (2003-2016) 114
2.5 Spread between the Weighted-Average Effective Loan Rate for All
Commercial and Industry Loans in the USA and the FFR (2003-2016) 115

xvi
 List of Figures

2.6 Yields on Italian, Spanish, and German Ten-Year Government

Bonds and Ten-Year OIS Rate (1998-2016) 116
2.7 Interest Rate Consistent with the Taylor Rule for the Euro-Area and
the USA (1999-2015) 118
2.8 EFFR and Interest Rate Corridor in the USA (2003-2016) 128
2.9 EFFR, IOER, and Interest Rate on ON RPP in the USA (2013-2017) 128
2.10 Total Assets for the ECB, the Fed, and the Bank of England, Index
2007=100 (2007-2016) 129
2.11 ECB Assets (2007-2016) 130
2.12 ECB Liabilities (2007-2016) 131
2.13 Federal Reserve Assets (2007-2016) 131
2.14 Federal Reserve Liabilities (2007-2016) 132
2.15 Trend in Indebtedness of Institutional Sectors in the USA and the
Euro-Area, Debt to GDP ratio. Index 2008=100 (2003-2015) 145
2.16 Central Bank Liquidity Swaps Provided by the Fed (2007-2010) 153
2.17 Five-Year Euro and Sterling against the US Dollar Cross-currency Basis
(2007-2016) 154
2.18 Changes to the Market for Central Bank Reserves during the Great
Recession 161
2.19 Elasticity of EONIA before and during the US Phase of the
Great Recession (January 2007-September 2009) 163
2.20 Off-Target Deviations of the EFFR together with the Volatility of
the Spread (2008-2009) 164
2.21 Euro-Area Reference and Bank Lending Rates to Non-Financial
Corporates (2006-2017) 166
2.22 Spread between MRO Rate and Three-Month Euribor, Excess Liquidity
(September 2008-December 2010) 169
2.23 Distribution of Sovereign Yields and the Difference in Bank
Lending Rates between Periphery and Core (2008-2017) 173
2.24 Germany and USA Ten-Year Sovereign Yields
(2011-2014) 187
2.25 Market Expectations of the Time EONIA Exceeds Zero
(2012-2017) 188
2.26 US Monetary Policy Stance as a Shadow Rate (2005-2017) 193
2.27 Evolution of Inflation Expectation based on Inflation Options:
Probability Distribution for Five-Year Inflation Expectations, Three
Observations Moving Average (2014-2016) 199
2.28 Shadow Rate with a Time-Varying Lower Bound for the ECB
(2007-2017) 200

xvii
List of Figures

2.29 CISS in the Euro-Area (2007-2016) 210

2.30 Market-Based Systemic Risk Measures in the USA (1996-2014) 211
2.31 Liquidity Premium in the Euro-Area (2007-2009) 212
2.32 Liquidity Premium in the USA (2007-2009) 213
2.33 Impaired Loan Ratios of Significant Banking Groups in the
Euro-Area (2007-2016) 215
2.34 Non-Performing Total Loans to Total Loans in the USA
(2003-2016) 216
2.35 Core Tier 1/Common Equity Tier 1 Capital Ratios of Significant
Banking Groups in the Euro-Area (2010-2016) 216
2.36 Percentage Change in Bank Capital-to-Assets Ratio in the USA and
the Euro-Area (2007-2015) 217
2.37 Return on Assets for Euro-Area, Other EU Countries, and the
USA (2000-2014) 218
2.38 Return on Equity and Cost of Equity for Euro-Area Banks (2000-2015) 218
2.39 Return on Equity of Banks in Periphery and Core Euro-Area
Countries and the USA (2003-2014) 219
2.40 Average Return on Equity and Cost of Capital in the USA
(2006-2016) 220
2.41 Sovereign and Bank Credit Default Spreads Guly 2011-May 2014
and May 2014-February 2017) 221
2.42 Bank Credit to Bank Deposits for the Euro-Area and the USA
(2006-2014) 222
2.43 Bank Deleveraging in the Euro-Area (2008-2016) 223
2.44 Foreign Claims of Home Country Banks in the Euro-Area
and the USA (1999-2014) 224
2.45 Price-Based and Quantity-Based FINTEC Indices in the Euro-Area
(1995-2016) 224
2.46 Increase in Shadow Banking in the Euro-Area, Index 2008=100
(2008-2016) 225
2.47 Ratings of Banks in the USA and in the Core and Periphery of
the Euro-Area (2003-2015) 243
2.48 Stock of Bank Lending in the USA and in the Euro-Area,
Index 2007=100 (2007-2016) 244
2.49 Schematic Identification of Lending Supply Shifts 245
2.50 Spread between Lending and Deposit Rate in the Euro-Area
(2000-2016) 246
2.51 Spread between the Bank Lending and Deposit Rate in Germany
and Spain (2003-2016) 246

xviii
 List of Figures

3.1 Relative Frequency of Searches of the Terms 'Inflation'

and 'Price Level' (2004-2017) 264
A.2.1 Balance Statistic of Expected and Perceived Rates of Inflation,
and Actual Inflation in the Euro-Area (1997-2017) 288
A.2.2 Logistic Estimates of Expected Rate of Inflation and Actual Rate of
Inflation in Italy, France, Germany, and Spain (1986-2016) 291
A.2.3 Expected Inflation Rates based on Survey Data Estimates for Spain, Italy,
France, and Germany, plus North-South Differential (1985-2017) 292
B.5.1 Exchange Rate between the Italian Lira and the German Mark
(1965-1998) 35
B.5.2 Interest Rate Spread and Inflation Differential between Italy and
Germany(1965-1998) 37
B.8.1 Money Multipliers in the UK and Japan 48
B.10.1 Volatility of GDP in Selected Countries (Standard Deviation of
Year-on-Year Growth in Percentage Terms-Five-Year Window) 79
B.10.2 Quarterly Inflation Rate, Year-on-Year (1965-2015) 79
B.12.1 Danish Policy Rate and One Month Swap Rate
CTanuary 2013-May 2017) 120
B.12.2 Danish Policy Rate and Bank Lending Rates to Non-Financial
Corporates and Households Ganuary 2012-May 2017) 121
B.12.3 Swedish Policy Rate (Repo), One-Month Money Market Rate
(STIBOR), and Bank Lending Rates to Households and
Non-Financial Corporates Ganuary 2012-May 2017) 122
B.12.4 Swedish Policy Rate (Repo), One-Month Money Market Rate
(STIBOR), and Bank Lending Rates to Households and
Non-Financial Corporates Ganuary 2012-May 2017) 123
B.12.5 Year-on-Year Changes in Bank Lending Volumes in Sweden
CTanuary 2012-May 2017) 124
B.14.1 Target Balances in the Euro-Area Central Bank Balance Sheets 149
B.15.1 Basis Swap between the Dollar and the Euro (2008-2016) 157
B.15.2 Cost of Borrowing Dollars from Central Banks or in the Market
through the Cross-Currency Swap Market 158

xix
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favour Pietro declined, but at the same time he eagerly accepted of
the permission to visit at his house; and was no sooner completely
established in his own dwelling than he fully availed himself of this
permission.
The family to which he became thus suddenly known was
originally of Mardin, but about fourteen years previously had been
driven from thence by the Kurds, who sacked and plundered the city,
and reduced such of the inhabitants as they could capture to slavery.
They were Christians of the Nestorian sect; but Della Valle, who was
a bigot in his way, seems to have regarded them as aliens from the
church of Christ. However, this circumstance did not prevent the
image of Sitti Maani, the eldest of the old man’s daughters, and the
beauty of whom he had heard so glowing a description in the desert,
from finding its way into his heart, though the idea of marrying having
occurred to him at Aleppo, he had written home to his relations to
provide him with a suitable wife against his return to Italy. Maani was
now in her eighteenth year. Her mind had been as highly cultivated
as the circumstances of the times and the country would allow; and
her understanding enabled her to turn all her accomplishments to
advantage. In person, she was a perfect oriental beauty; dark, even
in the eyes of an Italian, with hair nearly black, and eyes of the same
colour, shaded by lashes of unusual length, she possessed
something of an imperial air. Pietro was completely smitten, and for
the present every image but that of Maani seemed to be obliterated
from his mind.
His knowledge of the Turkish language was now of the greatest
service to him; for, possessing but a very few words of Arabic, this
was the only medium by which he could make known the colour of
his thoughts either to his mistress or her mother. His passion,
however, supplied him with eloquence, and by dint of vehement
protestations, in this instance the offspring of genuine affection, he at
length succeeded in his enterprise, and Maani became his wife. But
in the midst of these transactions, when it most imported him to
remain at Bagdad, an event occurred in his own house which not
only exposed him to the risk of being driven with disgrace from the
city, but extremely endangered his life and that of all those who were
connected with him. His secretary and valet having for some time
entertained a grudge against each other, the former, one day seizing
the khanjar, or dagger, of Pietro, stabbed his adversary to the heart,
and the poor fellow dropped down dead in the arms of his master.
The murderer fled. What course to pursue under such circumstances
it was difficult to determine. Should the event come to the knowledge
of the pasha, both master and servants might, perhaps, be thought
equally guilty, and be impaled alive; or, if matters were not pushed to
such extremities, it might at least be pretended that the deceased
was the real owner of whatever property they possessed, in order to
confiscate the whole for the benefit of the state. As neither of these
results was desirable, the safest course appeared to be to prevent, if
possible, the knowledge of the tragedy from transpiring; a task of
some difficulty, as all the domestics of the household were
acquainted with what had passed. The only individual with whom
Pietro could safely consult upon this occasion (for he was unwilling
to disclose so horrible a transaction to Maani’s relations) was a
Maltese renegade, a man of some consideration in the city; and for
him, therefore, he immediately despatched a messenger. This man,
when he had heard what had happened, was of opinion that the
body should be interred in a corner of the house; but Pietro, who had
no desire that so bloody a memorial of the Italian temperament
should remain in his immediate neighbourhood, and moreover
considered it unsafe, thought it would be much better at the bottom
of the Tigris. The Maltese, most fortunately, possessed a house and
garden on the edge of the river, and thither the body, packed up
carefully in a chest, was quickly conveyed, though there was much
difficulty in preventing the blood from oozing out, and betraying to its
bearers the nature of their burden. When it was dark the chest was
put on board a boat, and, dropping down the river, the renegade and
two of his soldiers cautiously lowered it into the water; and thus no
material proof of the murder remained. The assassin, who had taken
refuge at the house of the Maltese, was enabled to return to Italy;
and the event, strange to say, was kept secret, though so many
persons were privy to it.
 When this danger was over, and the beautiful Maani irrevocably
his, Pietro began once more to feel the passion of the traveller
revive, and commenced those little excursions through Mesopotamia
which afterward enabled Gibbon to pronounce him the person who
had best observed that province. His first visit, as might be expected,
was to the ruins of Babylon. The party with which he left Bagdad
consisted of Maani, a Venetian, a Dutch painter, Ibrahim a native of
Aleppo, and two Turkish soldiers. For the first time since the
commencement of his travels, Pietro now selected the longest and
least dangerous road, taking care, moreover, to keep as near as
possible to the farms and villages, in order, in case of necessity, to
derive provisions and succour from their inhabitants. Maani, who
appears to have had a dash of Kurdish blood in her, rode astride like
a man, and kept her saddle as firmly as any son of the desert could
have done; and Pietro constantly moved along by her side. When
they had performed a considerable portion of their journey, and,
rejoicing in their good fortune, were already drawing near Babylon,
eight or ten horsemen armed with muskets and bows and arrows
suddenly appeared in the distance, making towards them with all
speed. Pietro imagined that the day for trying his courage was now
come; and he and his companions, having cocked their pieces and
prepared to offer a desperate resistance, pushed on towards the
enemy. However, their chivalric spirit was not doomed to be here put
to the test; for, upon drawing near, the horsemen were found to
belong to Bagdad, and the adventure concluded in civility and mutual
congratulations.
Having carefully examined the ruins of Babylon, the city of Hillah,
and the other celebrated spots in that neighbourhood, the party
returned to Bagdad, from whence he again departed in a few days
for Modain, the site of the ancient Ctesiphon, near which he had the
satisfaction of observing the interior of an Arab encampment.
His curiosity respecting Mesopotamia was now satisfied; and as
every day’s residence among the Ottomans only seemed more and
more to inflame his hatred of that brutal race, he as much as
possible hastened his departure from Bagdad, having now
conceived the design of serving as a volunteer in the armies of
Persia, at that period at war with Turkey, and of thus wreaking his
vengeance upon the Osmanlees for the tyranny they exercised on all
Christians within their power. Notwithstanding that war between the
two countries had long been declared, the Pasha of Bagdad and the
Persian authorities on the frontier continued openly to permit the
passage of caravans; and thus, were he once safe out of Bagdad
with his wife and treasures, there would be no difficulty in entering
Persia. To effect this purpose he entered into an arrangement with a
Persian muleteer, who was directed to obtain from the pasha a
passport for himself and followers, with a charosh to conduct them to
the extremity of the Turkish dominions. This being done, the Persian,
according to agreement, left the city, and encamped at a short
distance from the walls, where, as is the custom, he was visited by
the officers of the custom-house; after which, Pietro caused the
various individuals of his own small party to issue forth by various
streets into the plain, while he himself, dressed as he used to be
when riding out for amusement on the banks of the Tigris, quitted the
town after sunset, and gained the place of encampment in safety.
When the night had now completely descended upon the earth,
and all around was still, the little caravan put itself in motion; and
being mounted, some on good sturdy mules, and others on the
horses of the country, they advanced at a rapid rate, fearing all the
way that the pasha might repent of his civility towards the Persian,
and send an order to bring them back to the city. By break of day
they arrived on the banks of the Diala, a river which discharges itself
into the Tigris; and here, in spite of their impatience, they were
detained till noon, there being but one boat at the ferry. In six days
they reached the southern branches of the mountains of Kurdistan,
and found themselves suddenly in the midst of that wild and hardy
race, which, from the remotest ages, has maintained possession of
these inexpugnable fastnesses, which harassed the ten thousand in
their retreat, and still enact a conspicuous part in all the border wars
between the Persians and Turks. Living for the most part in a
dangerous independence, fiercely spurning the yoke of its powerful
neighbours, though continually embroiled in their interminable
quarrels, speaking a distinct language, and having a peculiar system
of manners, which does not greatly differ from that of the feudal
times, they may justly be regarded as one of the most extraordinary
races of the Asiatic continent. Some of them, spellbound by the
allurements of wealth and ease, have erected cities and towns, and
addicted themselves to agriculture and the gainful arts. Others,
preferring that entire liberty which of all earthly blessings is the
greatest in the estimation of ardent and haughty minds, and
regarding luxury as a species of Circean cup, in its effects debasing
and destructive, covet no wealth but their herds and flocks, around
which they erect no fortifications but their swords. These are
attracted hither and thither over the wilds by the richness of the
pasturage, and dwell in tents.
In Kurdistan, as elsewhere, the winning manners of Della Valle
procured him a hospitable reception. The presence of Maani, too,
whose youth and beauty served as an inviolable wall of protection
among brave men, increased his claims to their hospitality; so that
these savage mountaineers, upon whom the majority of travellers
concur in heaping the most angry maledictions, obtained from the
warm-hearted, grateful Pietro the character of a kind and gentle
people. On the 20th of January, 1617, he quitted Kurdistan, and
entered Persia. The change was striking. A purer atmosphere, a
more productive and better-cultivated soil, and a far more dense
population than in Turkey, caused him, from the suddenness of the
transition, somewhat to exaggerate, perhaps, the advantages of this
country. It is certain that the eyes of the traveller, like the fabled
gems of antiquity, carry about the light by which he views the objects
which come before him; and that the condition of this light is greatly
affected by the state of his animal spirits. Pietro was now in that
tranquil and serene mode of being consequent upon that enjoyment
which conscience approves; and having passed from a place where
dangers, real or imaginary, surrounded him, into a country where he
at least anticipated safety, if not distinction, it was natural that his
fancy should paint the landscape with delusive colours. Besides,
many real advantages existed; tents were no longer necessary, there
being at every halting-place a spacious caravansary, where the
traveller could obtain gratis lodgings for himself and attendants, and
shelter for his beasts and baggage. Fruits, likewise, such as
pomegranates, apples, and grapes, abounded, though the earth was
still deeply covered with snow. If we add to this that the Persians are
a people who pique themselves upon their urbanity, and, whatever
may be the basis of their character, with which the passing traveller
has little to do, really conduct themselves politely towards strangers,
it will not appear very surprising that Della Valle, who had just
escaped from the boorish Ottomans, should have been charmed
with Persia.
Arriving at Ispahan, at that period the capital of the empire, that is,
the habitual place of residence of the shah, his first care, of course,
was to taste a little repose; after which, he resumed his usual custom
of strolling about the city and its environs, observing the manners,
and sketching whatever was curious in costume and scenery. Here
he remained for several months; but growing tired, as usual, of calm
inactivity, the more particularly as the court was absent, he now
prepared to present himself before the shah, then in Mazenderan.
Accordingly, having provided a splendid litter for his wife and her
sister, who, like genuine amazons, determined to accompany him to
the wars should he eventually take up arms in the service of Persia,
and provided every other necessary for the journey, he quitted
Ispahan, and proceeded northward towards the shores of the
Caspian Sea. The journey was performed in the most agreeable
manner imaginable. Whenever they came up to a pleasant grove, a
shady fountain, or any romantic spot where the greensward was
sprinkled with flowers or commanded a beautiful prospect, the whole
party made a halt; and the ladies, descending from their litter, which
was borne by two camels, and Pietro from his barb, they sat down
like luxurious gipsies to their breakfast or dinner, while the
nightingales in the dusky recesses of the groves served them
instead of a musician.
 Proceeding slowly, on account of his harem, as he terms it, they
arrived in seven days at Cashan, where the imprudence of Maani
nearly involved him in a very serious affair. Being insulted on her
way to the bezestein by an officer, she gave the signal to her
attendants to chastise the drunkard, and, a battle ensuing, the
unhappy man lost his life. When the news was brought to Pietro he
was considerably alarmed; but on proceeding to the house of the
principal magistrate, he very fortunately found that the affair had
been properly represented to him, and that his people were not
considered to have exceeded their duty. His wife, not reflecting that
her masculine habits and fiery temperament were quite sufficient to
account for the circumstance, now began to torment both herself and
her husband because she had not yet become a mother; and
supposing that in such cases wine was a sovereign remedy, she
endeavoured to prevail upon Pietro, who was a water-drinker, to
have recourse to a more generous beverage, offering to join with
him, if he would comply, in the worship of Bacchus. Our traveller,
who had already, as he candidly informs us, a small family in Italy,
could not be brought to believe that the fault lay in his sober
potations, and firmly resisted the temptations of his wife. With
friendly arguments upon this and other topics they beguiled the
length of the way, and at length arrived in Mazenderan, though
Maani’s passion for horsemanship more than once put her neck in
jeopardy on the road. The scene which now presented itself was
extremely different from that through which they had hitherto
generally passed. Instead of the treeless plains or unfertile deserts
which they had traversed in the northern parts of Irak, they saw
before them a country strongly resembling Europe; mountains, deep
well-wooded valleys, or rich green plains rapidly alternating with
each other, and the whole, watered by abundant streams and
fountains, refreshed and delighted the eye; and he was as yet
unconscious of the insalubrity of the atmosphere.
Pietro, who, like Petronius, was an “elegans formarum spectator,”
greatly admired the beauty and graceful figures of the women of this
province,—a fact which makes strongly against the idea of its being
unhealthy; for it may generally be inferred, that wherever the women
are handsome the air is good. Here and there they observed, as they
moved along, the ruins of castles and fortresses on the acclivities
and projections of the mountains, which had formerly served as
retreats to numerous chiefs who had there aimed at independence.
A grotto, which they discovered in a nearly inaccessible position in
the face of a mountain, was pointed out to them as the residence of
a virgin of gigantic stature, who, without associates or followers, like
the virago who obstructed the passage of Theseus from Trœzene to
Athens, formerly ravaged and depopulated that part of the country.
This and similar legends of giants, which resemble those which
prevail among all rude nations, were related to our traveller, who
rejected them with disdain as utterly fabulous and contemptible,
though not much more so, perhaps, than some which, as a true son
of the Roman church, he no doubt held in reverence.
At length, after considerable fatigue, they arrived at Ferhabad, a
small port built by the Shah Abbas on the Caspian Sea. Here the
governor of the city, when informed of his arrival, assigned him a
house in the eastern quarter of the city, the rooms of which, says
Pietro, were so low, that although by no means a tall man, he could
touch the ceiling with his hand. If the house, however, reminded him
of the huts erected by Romulus on the Capitoline, the garden, on the
other hand, was delightful, being a large space of ground thickly
planted with white mulberry-trees, and lying close upon the bank of
the river. Here he passed the greater portion of his time with Actius
Sincerus, or Marcus Aurelius, or Ferrari’s Geographical Epitome in
his hand, now offering sacrifices to the Muses, and now running over
with his eye the various countries and provinces which he was proud
to have travelled over. One of his favourite occupations was the
putting of his own adventures into verse, under a feigned name. This
he did in that terza rima which Dante’s example had made
respectable, but not popular, in Italy; and as he was not of the
humour to hide his talent under a bushel, his brain was no sooner
delivered of this conceit than he despatched it to Rome for the
amusement of his friends.
 Being now placed upon the margin of the Caspian, he very
naturally desired to examine the appearance of its shores and
waters; but embarking for this purpose in a fishing-boat with Maani,
who, having passed her life in Mesopotamia, had never before seen
the sea, her sickness and the fears produced in her mind by the
tossing and rolling of the bark among the waves quickly put an end
to the voyage. He ascertained, however, from the pilots of the coast,
that the waters of this sea were not deep; immense banks of sand
and mud, borne down into this vast basin by the numerous rivers
which discharge themselves into it, being met with on all sides;
though it is probable, that had they ventured far from shore they
would have found the case different. Fish of many kinds were
plentiful; but owing, perhaps, to the fat and slimy nature of the
bottom, they were all large, gross, and insipid.
The shah was just then at Asshraff, a new city which he had
caused to be erected, and was then enlarging, about six perasangs,
or leagues, to the east of Ferhabad. Pietro, anxious to be introduced
to the monarch, soon after his arrival wrote letters to the principal
minister, which, together with others from the vicar-general of the
Carmelite monks at Ispahan, he despatched by two of his domestics;
and the ministers, according to his desire, informed the shah of his
presence at Ferhabad. Abbas, who apparently had no desire that he
should witness the state of things at Asshraff, not as yet
comprehending either his character or his motives, observed, that
the roads being extremely bad, the traveller had better remain at
Ferhabad, whither he himself was about to proceed on horseback in
a day or two. Pietro, whose vanity prevented his perceiving the
shah’s motives, supposed in good earnest that Abbas was chary of
his guest’s ease; and, to crown the absurdity, swallowed another
monstrous fiction invented by the courtiers, who, as Hajjî Baba would
say, were all the while laughing at his beard,—namely, that the
monarch was so overjoyed at his arrival, that, had he not been
annoyed by the number of soldiers who followed him against his will,
he would next morning have ridden to Ferhabad to bid him welcome!
 However, when he actually arrived in that city, he did not, as our
worthy pilgrim expected, immediately admit him to an audience. In
the mean while an agent from the Cossacks inhabiting the north-
eastern shores of the Black Sea arrived, and Della Valle, who
neglected no occasion of forwarding his own views, in the shaping of
which he exhibited remarkable skill, at once connected himself with
this stranger, whom he engaged to aid and assist by every means in
his power, receiving from the barbarian the same assurances in
return. The Cossack had come to tender the shah his nation’s
services against the Turks; notwithstanding which, the business of
his presentation had been negligently or purposely delayed, probably
that he might understand, when his proposal should be afterward
received, that, although the aid he promised was acceptable, it was
by no means necessary, nor so considered.
At length the long-anticipated audience arrived, and Della Valle,
when presented, was well received by the shah; who, not being
accustomed, however, to the crusading spirit or the romance of
chivalry, could not very readily believe that the real motives which
urged him to join the Persian armies were precisely those which he
professed. Nevertheless, his offers of service were accepted, and
the provisions which he had already received rendered permanent.
He was, moreover, sumptuously entertained at the royal table, and
had frequently the honour of being consulted upon affairs of
importance by the shah.
Abbas soon afterward removing with his court into Ghilan, without
inviting Della Valle to accompany him, the latter departed for Casbin,
there to await the marching of the army against the Turks, in which
enterprise he was still mad enough to desire to engage. On reaching
this city he found that Abbas had been more expeditious than he,
and was already there, actively preparing for the war. All the military
officers of the kingdom now received orders to repair with all
possible despatch to Sultanieh, a city three days’ journey west of
Casbin; and Pietro, who had voluntarily become a member of this
martial class, hurried on among the foremost, in the hope of
acquiring glory of a new kind.
 The shah and his army had not been many days encamped in the
plains of Sultanieh, when a courier from the general, who had
already proceeded towards the frontiers, arrived with the news that
the Turkish army was advancing, although slowly. This news allowed
the troops, who had been fatigued with forced marches, a short
repose; after which they pushed on vigorously towards Ardebil and
Tabriz, Pietro and his heroic wife keeping pace with the foremost. In
this critical juncture, Abbas, though in some respects a man of
strong mind, did not consider it prudent to trust altogether to
corporeal armies; but, having in his dominions certain individuals
who pretended to have some influence over the infernal powers,
sought to interest hell also in his favour; and for this purpose carried
a renowned sorceress from Zunjan along with him to the wars, in the
same spirit as Charles the First, and the Parliament shortly
afterward, employed Lily to prophesy for them. Their route now lay
through the ancient Media, over narrow plains or hills covered with
verdure but bare of trees, sometimes traversing tremendous
chasms, spanned by bridges of fearful height, at others winding
along the acclivities of mountains, or upon the edge of precipices.
Notwithstanding his seeming ardour to engage with the Turks,
Pietro, for some cause or another, did not join the fighting part of the
army, but remained with the shah’s suite at Ardebil. This
circumstance seems to have lowered him considerably in the
estimation of the court. A battle, however, was fought, in which the
Persians were victorious; but the Turkish sultan dying at this
juncture, his successor commanded his general to negotiate for
peace, which, after the usual intrigues and delays, was at length
concluded. Abbas now returned to Casbin, where the victory and the
peace was celebrated with great rejoicings; and here Della Valle,
who seems to have begun to perceive that he was not likely to make
any great figure in war, took his leave of the court in extremely bad
health and low spirits, and returned to Ispahan.
Here repose, and the conversation of the friends he had made in
this city, once more put him in good-humour with himself and with
Persia; and being of an exceedingly hasty and inconsiderate
disposition, he no sooner began to experience a little tranquillity,
than he exerted the influence he had acquired over the parents of his
wife to induce them, right or wrong, to leave Bagdad, where they
lived contentedly and in comfort, and to settle at Ispahan, where they
were in a great measure strangers, notwithstanding that one of their
younger daughters was married to an Armenian of that city. The
principal members of the family, no less imprudent than their adviser,
accordingly quitted Mesopotamia with their treasures and effects,
and established themselves in the capital of Persia.
This measure was productive of nothing but disappointment and
vexation. One of Maani’s sisters, who had remained with her mother
at Bagdad, while the father and brothers were at Ispahan, died
suddenly; and the mother, inconsolable for her loss, entreated her
husband to return to her with her other children. Then followed the
pangs of parting, rendered doubly bitter by the reflection that it was
for ever. Pietro became ill and melancholy, having now turned his
thoughts, like the prodigal in the parable, towards his country and his
father’s house, and determined shortly to commence his journey
homeward. Obtaining without difficulty his dismission from the shah,
and winding up his affairs, which were neither intricate nor
embarrassed, at Ispahan, he set out on a visit to Shiraz, intending,
when he should have examined Persepolis and its environs, to bid
an eternal adieu to Persia.
With this view, having remained some time at Shiraz, admiring but
not enjoying the pure stream of the Rocnabad, the bowers of
Mesellay, and the bright atmosphere which shed glory on all around,
he proceeded to Mineb, a small town on the river Ibrahim, a little to
the south of Gombroon and Ormus, on the shore of the Persian Gulf.
Maani, whose desire to become a mother had been an unceasing
source of unhappiness to her ever since her marriage, being now
pregnant, nothing could have been more ill-judged in her husband
than to approach those pestilential coasts; especially at such a
season of the year. He quickly discovered his error, but it was too
late. The fever which rages with unremitting violence throughout all
that part of the country during six months in the year had now seized
not only upon Maani, but on himself likewise, and upon every other
member of his family. Instant flight might, perhaps, have rescued
them from danger, as it afterward did Chardin, but a fatal lethargy
seems to have seized upon the mind of Pietro. He trembled at the
destiny which menaced him, he saw death, as it were, entering his
house, and approach gradually the individual whom he cherished
beyond all others; time was allowed him by Providence for escape,
yet he stood still, as if spellbound, and suffered the victim to be
seized without a struggle. His wife, whose condition I have alluded to
above, affected at once by the fever, and apprehensive of its
consequences, was terrified into premature labour, and a son dead-
born considerably before its time put the finishing stroke, as it were,
to the affliction of her mind. Her fever increased in violence—medical
aid was vain—death triumphed—and Maani sunk into the grave at
the age of twenty-three.
A total change now came over the mind of Della Valle, which not
only affected the actions of his life, but communicated itself to his
writings, depriving them of that dashing quixotism which up to this
point constitutes their greatest charm. A cloud, black as Erebus,
descended upon his soul, and nine months elapsed before he could
again command sufficient spirits or energy to announce the
melancholy event to his friend Schipano. He, however, resolved that
the body of his beloved wife should not be consigned to the earth in
Persia, where he should never more come to visit or shed a tear
over her grave. He therefore contrived to have it embalmed, and
then, enclosing it in a coffin adapted to the purpose, placed it in a
travelling trunk, in order that, wherever his good or bad fortune
should conduct him, the dear remains of his Maani might accompany
him to the grave. Certain circumstances attending this transaction
strongly serve to illustrate the character of Della Valle, and while they
tell in favour of his affection, and paint the melancholy condition to
which his bereavement had reduced him, likewise throw some light
upon the manners and state of the country. Dead bodies being
regarded as unclean by the Mohammedans, as they were in old
Greece and Rome, and most other nations of antiquity, no persons
could be found to undertake the task of embalming but a few old
women, whom the auri sacra fames reconciled to the pollution.
These, wrapping thick bandages over their mouths and nostrils, to
prevent the powerful odour of the gum from penetrating into their
lungs and brain, after having disembowelled the corpse, filled its
cavities with camphor, and with the same ingredient, which was of
the most pungent and desiccating nature, rubbed all its limbs and
surface until the perfume had penetrated to the very bones. Pietro, at
all times superstitious, was now rendered doubly so by sorrow.
Having somewhere heard or read that the bodies of men will be
reanimated at the general resurrection, wherever their heads happen
to be deposited, while, according to another theory, it was the
resting-place of the heart which was to determine the point, and
being desirous, according to either view of the matter, that Maani
and himself should rise on that awful day together, he gave orders
that the heart of his beloved should be carefully embalmed with the
rest of the body. It never once occurred to him that the pollinctores
(or undertakers) might neglect his commands, and therefore he
omitted to overlook this part of the operation; indeed his feelings
would not allow him to be present, and while it was going on he sat
retired, hushing the tempest of his soul in the best manner he could.
While he was in this state of agony, he observed the embalmers
approaching him with something in their hands, and on casting his
eyes upon it he beheld the heart of Maani in a saucer! An
unspeakable horror shot through his whole frame as he gazed upon
the heart which, but a few days before, had bounded with delight and
joy to meet his own; and he turned away his head with a shudder.
When the operation was completed, the mummy was laid out upon
a board, and placed under a tent in the garden, in order to be still
further desiccated by the action of the air. Here it remained seven
days and nights, and the walls being low, it was necessary to keep a
strict and perpetual watch over it, lest the hyenas should enter and
devour it. Worn down as he was by fever, by watching, and by
sorrow, Pietro would intrust this sacred duty to no vulgar guardian
during the night, but, with his loaded musket in his hand, paced to
and fro before the tent through the darkness, while the howls of the
hyenas, bursting forth suddenly quite near him, as it were, frequently
startled his ear and increased his vigilance. By day he took a few
hours’ repose, while his domestics kept watch.
When this melancholy task had been duly performed, he departed,
in sickness and dejection, for the city of Lâr, where the air being
somewhat cooler and more pure, he entertained some hopes of a
recovery. Not many days after his arrival, a Syrian whom he had
known at Ispahan brought him news from Bagdad which were any
thing but calculated to cheer or console his mind. He learned that
another sister of Maani had died on the road in returning from
Persia; that the father, stricken to the soul by this new calamity, had
likewise died a few days after reaching home; and that the widow,
thus bereaved of the better part of her family, and feeling the
decrepitude of old age coming apace, was inconsolable. Our
traveller was thunderstruck. Death seemed to have put his mark on
all those whom he loved. Persia now became hateful to him. Its very
atmosphere appeared to teem with misfortunes as with clouds.
Nothing, therefore, seemed left him but to quit it with all possible
celerity.
Pietro’s desire to return to Italy was now abated, and travelling
more desirable than home; motion, the presence of strange objects,
the surmounting of difficulties and dangers, being better adapted
than ease and leisure for the dissipating of sharp grief. For this
reason he returned to the shore of the Persian Gulf, and embarked
at Gombroon on board of an English ship for India, taking along with
him the body of his wife, and a little orphan Georgian girl whom he
and Maani had adopted at Ispahan. As even a father cannot remove
his daughter, or a husband his wife, from the shah’s dominions
without an especial permission, which might not be granted without
considerable delay, Pietro determined to elude the laws, and
disguising the Georgian in the dress of a boy, contrived to get her on
board among the ship’s crew in the dusk of the evening, on the 19th
of January, 1623.
 Traversing the Indian Ocean with favourable winds, he arrived on
the 10th of February at Surat, where he was hospitably entertained
by the English and Dutch residents. He found Guzerat a pleasant
country, consisting, as far as his experience extended, of rich, green
plains, well watered, and thickly interspersed with trees. From Surat
he proceeded to Cambay, a large city situated upon the extremity of
a fine plain at the bottom of the gulf of the same name. Here he
adopted the dress, and as far as possible the manners of the
Hindoos, and then, striking off a little from the coast, visited
Ahmedabad, travelling thither with a small cafila or caravan, the
roads being considered dangerous for solitary individuals. At a small
village on the road he observed an immense number of beautiful
yellow squirrels, with fine large tails, leaping from tree to tree; and a
little farther on met with a great number of beggars armed with bows
and arrows, who demanded charity with sound of trumpet. His
observations in this country, though sufficiently curious occasionally,
were the fruit of a too hasty survey, which could not enable him to
pierce deeply below the exterior crust of manners. Indeed, he seems
rather to have amused himself with strange sights, than sought to
philosophize upon the circumstances of humanity. In a temple of
Mahades in this city, where numerous Yoghees, the Gymnosophists
of antiquity, were standing like so many statues behind the sacred
lamps, he observed an image of the god entirely of crystal. On the
banks of the Sabermati, which ran close beneath the walls of the
city, numerous Yoghees, as naked as at the moment of their birth,
were seated, with matted hair, and wild looks, and powdered all over
with the ashes of the dead bodies which they had aided in burning.
Returning to Cambay, he embarked in a Portuguese ship for Goa,
a city chiefly remarkable for the number of monks that flocked thither,
and for the atrocities which they there perpetrated in the name of the
Church of Rome. Della Valle soon found that there was more
security and pleasure in living among pagans “suckled in a creed
outworn,” or even among heretics, than in this Portuguese city,
where all strangers were regarded with horror, and met with nothing
but baseness and treachery. Leaving this den of monks and traitors,
he proceeded southward along the coast, and in a few days arrived
at Onore, where he went to pay a visit to a native of distinction,
whom they found upon the shore, seated beneath the shade of some
fine trees, flanked and overshadowed, as it were, by a range of small
hills. Being in the company of a Portuguese ambassador from Goa
to a rajah of the Sadasiva race, who then held his court at Ikery, he
regarded the opportunity of observing something of the interior of the
peninsula as too favourable to be rejected, and obtained permission
to form a part of the ambassador’s suite. They set out from Onore in
boats, but the current of the river they were ascending was so rapid
and powerful, that with the aid of both sails and oars they were
unable to push on that day beyond Garsopa, formerly a large and
flourishing city, but now inconsiderable and neglected. Here the
scenery, a point which seldom commanded much of Della Valle’s
attention, however picturesque or beautiful it might be, was of so
exquisite a character, so rich, so glowing, so variable, so full of
contrasts, that indifferent as he was on that head, his imagination
was kindled, and he confessed, that turn which way soever he might,
the face of nature was marvellously delightful. A succession of hills
of all forms, and of every shade of verdure, between which valleys,
now deep and umbrageous, now presenting broad, green, sunny
slopes to the eye, branched about in every direction; lofty forests of
incomparable beauty, among which the most magnificent fruit-trees,
such as the Indian walnut, the fawfel, and the amba, were
interspersed, small winding streams, now glancing and quivering and
rippling in the sun, and now plunging into the deep shades of the
woods; while vast flights of gay tropical birds were perched upon the
branches, or skimming over the waters; all these combined certainly
formed a glorious picture, and justified the admiration of Pietro when
he exclaimed that nothing to equal it had ever met his eye. On
entering the Ghauts he perceived in them some resemblance to the
Apennines, though they were more beautiful; and to enjoy so
splendid a prospect he travelled part of the way on foot. The
Western Ghauts, which divide the vast plateau of Mysore from
Malabar, Canasen, and the other maritime provinces of the Deccan,
are in most parts covered with forests of prodigious grandeur, and in
one of these Pietro and his party were overtaken by the night.
Though “overhead the moon hung imminent, and shed her silver
light,” not a ray could descend to them through the impenetrable
canopy of the wood, so that they were compelled to kindle torches,
notwithstanding which they failed to find their way, and contented
themselves with kindling a fire and passing the night under a tree.
Ikery, the bourn beyond which they were not to proceed towards
the interior, was then an extensive but thinly-peopled city, though
according to the Hindoos it once contained a hundred thousand
inhabitants. Around it extended three lines of fortifications, of which
the exterior was a row of bamboos, thickly planted, and of enormous
height, whose lifted heads, with the beautiful flowering parasites
which crept round their stems to the summit, yielded a grateful
shade. Here he beheld a suttee, visited various temples, and saw
the celebrated dancing girls of Hindostan perform their graceful but
voluptuous postures. He examined likewise the ceremonial of the
rajah’s court, and instituted numerous inquiries into the religion and
manners of the country, upon all which points he obtained
information curious enough for that age, but now, from the more
extensive and exact researches of later travellers, of little value.
Returning to the seacoast, he proceeded southward as far as
Calicut, the extreme point of his travels. Here he faced about, as it
were, turned his eyes towards home, and began to experience a
desire to be at rest. Still, at Cananou, at Salsette, and the other parts
of India at which he touched on his return, he continued assiduously
to observe and describe, though rather from habit than any delight
which it afforded him.
On the 15th of November, 1624, he embarked at Goa in a ship
bound for Muskat, from whence he proceeded up the Persian Gulf to
Bassorah. Here he hired mules and camels, and provided all things
necessary for crossing the desert; and on the 21st of May, 1625,
departed, being accompanied by an Italian friar, Marian, the
Georgian girl, and the corpse of Maani. During this journey he
observed the sand in many places strewed with seashells, bright and
glittering as mother-of-pearl, and in others with bitumen.
Occasionally their road lay over extensive marshes, covered thickly
with reeds or brushwood, or white with salt; but at this season of the
year every thing was so dry that a spark falling from the pipe of a
muleteer upon the parched grass nearly produced a conflagration in
the desert. When they had advanced many days’ journey into the
waste, and beheld on all sides nothing but sand and sky, a troop of
Arab robbers, who came scouring along the desert upon their fleet
barbs, attacked and rifled their little caravan; and Della Valle saw
himself about to be deprived of his wife’s body, after having
preserved it so long, and conveyed it safely over so many seas and
mountains. In this fear he addressed himself to the banditti,
describing the contents of the chest, and the motives which urged
him so vehemently to desire its preservation. The Arabs were
touched with compassion. The sight of the coffin, enforcing the effect
of his eloquence, interested their hearts; so that not only did they
respect the dead, and praise the affectionate and pious motives of
the traveller, but also narrowed their demands, for they pretended to
exact dues, not to rob, and allowed the caravan to proceed with the
greater part of its wealth.
On arriving at the port of Alexandretta another difficulty arose. The
Turks would never have allowed a corpse to pass through the
custom-house, nor would the sailors of the ship in which he desired
to embark for Cyprus on any account have suffered it to come on
board. To overreach both parties, Pietro had the body enveloped in
bales of spun cotton, upon which he paid the regular duty, and thus
one further step was gained. After visiting Cyprus, Malta, and Sicily,
where he remained some short time, he set sail for Naples. Here he
found his old friend Schipano still living, and after describing to him
the various scenes and dangers through which he had passed,
moved forward towards Rome, where he arrived on the 28th of
March, 1626, after an absence of more than twelve years.
His return was no sooner made known in the city than numerous
friends and relations and the greater number of the nobility crowded
to his house, to bid him welcome and congratulate him upon the
successful termination of his travels. His presentation to the pope
took place a few days afterward, when Urban VIII. was so charmed
with his conversation and manners, that, without application or
intrigue on the part of the traveller, he was appointed his holiness’s
honorary chamberlain,—a compliment regarded at Rome as highly
flattering. In order to induce the pope to send out missionaries to
Georgia, Pietro now presented him with a short account of that
country, which he had formerly written; and the affair being seriously
taken into consideration, it was determined by the society De
Propaganda Fide that the proposed measure should be carried into
effect, and that Pietro should be regularly consulted respecting the
business of the Levant missions in general.
Early in the spring of 1627, he caused the funeral obsequies of his
wife to be celebrated with extraordinary magnificence in the church
of Aracœli at Rome. The funeral oration he himself pronounced; and
when, after describing the various circumstances of her life, and the
happiness of their union, he came to expatiate upon her beauty, his
emotions became so violent that tears and sobs choked his
utterance, and he failed to proceed. His auditors, according to some
accounts, were likewise affected even unto tears; while others relate
that they burst into a fit of laughter. If they did, the fault was in their
own hearts; for, however extravagant the manner of Della Valle may
have been, death is a solemn thing, and can never fail properly to
affect all well-constituted minds.
However, though his love for Maani’s memory seems never to
have abated, the vanity of keeping up the illustrious name of Della
Valle, and the consequent wish of leaving a legitimate offspring
behind him, reconciled a second marriage to his mind, and Marian
Tinatin, the Georgian girl whom he had brought with him from the
East, appears to have been the person selected for his second wife.
M. Eyriès asserts, but I know not upon what authority, that it was a
relation of Maani whom he married; but this seems to be extremely
improbable, since, so far as can be discovered from his travels, no
relation of hers ever accompanied him, excepting the brother and
sister who spent some time with him in Persia.