manner poſſible. M. Fabritius had the honour of being introduced to his audience before the reſt, and indeed during the whole time of his abode at Iſpahan, which was near two years, he had very particular and diſtinguiſhing honours ſhewn him, whereby it appear’d, that neither his perſon, nor buſineſs, had been diſagreeable to the Perſian Court. Dr. Kæmpfer, whoſe curious and inquiſitive diſpoſition ſuffer’d nothing to eſcape unobſerved, made all poſſible advantages of ſo long a ſtay in the Capital of the Perſian Empire. His main and favourite enquiries indeed, here and every where in his travels, tended chiefly to the improvement of Phyſick and Natural Hiſtory in their ſeveral branches, and he hath abundantly ſhewn, by his Amœnitates Exoticæ, that his endeavours that way have not been unſucceſsful. But he did not abſolutely confine himſelf to this ſubject, though large and extenſive enough: The Political Hiſtory of a Country, the ſucceſſion and remarkable actions of its Princes, the ſtate of their Court and Government, their perſonal qualities, vices or vertues, the cuſtoms, manners, inclinations of the natives, their way of life, trade, commerce, the remains of antiquity, the modern buildings, whether ſacred or civil, the flouriſhing or low condition of arts and ſciences, and many other things of the like kind, equally exerciſed his induſtry and attention. As to the Perſian affairs in particular, he was not a little aſſiſted in his reſearches by the Rev. F. du Mans, Prior of the Convent of Capuchins at Iſpahan; who had ſerved the Court of Perſia, in quality of Interpreter, for thirty years and upwards, and had acquired, beyond any European before him, a thorough knowledge of the Perſian language, government and cuſtoms, and a deeper inſight into the ſtate of that Court and Kingdom. And certainly, Dr. Kæmpfer’s account of Perſia, (as deliver’d in his Amœnitates) for accuracy and preciſeneſs may vye with the moſt conſiderable before or ſince.
M. Fabritius having brought his negotiations at the Perſian Court to a concluſion, towards the latter end of 1685, and preparing to return into Europe, Dr. Kæmpfer, for the reaſons alledged in his Preface to this Hiſtory of Japan, did not think fit to go back with him. He was indeed offer’d the place of
chief
