which he was about to commit, nor be defiled with the Wine that he was to guzzle down.
But to return to Buda.
'Twould be too tedious for me to give you a large Description of this Place, and it were a Task fitter for one that writes a Book, than a Letter; yet not to be wholly silent, Buda lies in a pleasant Place, and in a very fruitful Country, it is extended all along the Brow of an Hill, so that on one Side it borders on a rising Ground, abounding with choice Vineyards, and on the other Side, it is water'd by the River Danow, running by it, and beyond the Danow, there is the Town of Pest, and a large Campain adjoining, both which Prospects are in View of Buda, so that this Place seems naturally designed for the Metropolis of Hungary. It was antiently adorned with many stately Palaces, belonging to the Nobles of Hungary; but those goodly Piles are now either quite fallen to the Ground, or else have many Props to support them from tumbling down; they are Inhabited mostly by the Turkish Soldiers, whose daily Pay being but enough to support them, they have no over-plus to lay out in Tyling, or Repairing, such large Structures; and therefore they do not much regard, whether it Rains through the Roof, or whether the Walls be full of Clefts, provided they have a dry Place to set their Horses, and their own Beds in; the upper Part they think concerns them not, so that they make a great Part of the upper Stories to be Inhabited by Weazels and Mice.
Besides, 'tis a Piece of Religion in Turkey, not to covet magnificent Buildings; for (say they) 'tis a Sign of a Proud, Lofty, and aspiring Mind, to covet Sumptuous Houses, as if so frail a Creature as Man, did promise a kind of Immortality, and an everlasting Habitation to himself in this Life;
