Avontuurlijke reys-togten van Johan Smith, in verscheyde gedeelten des werelds, begonnen in het jaar 1593 ...

1593

Comes to his brother.

from there by ship to Livorno, being delighted to have such a good opportunity and the means to further explore Italy. Having passed through Tuscany, I arrived in the region of Siena, where I found my dear friends, the two very honorable friends, Mr. Willoughby and my brother, but in a violent skirmish, though to his honor, very severely wounded.

Comes to Rome.

What he sees there.
Visits St. John Lateran.
Sails down the Tiber.

From there I came to Viterbo and many other cities, and so to Rome, where it happened that I saw Pope Clement VIII, along with many Cardinals, crawling up the Holy Stairs original: "Heylige trappen", which they claim our Savior ascended when going to Pontius Pilate, the blood dripping from his head when it was pierced with a crown of thorns. Which drops are marked with steel nails, on which no one dares to walk in any other way than to say as many Ave Marias and Paternosters in their devotion and to kiss those steel nails. But on either side of them are similar stairs where one may walk, standing or kneeling, but separated from the Holy Stairs by two walls. Directly opposite is a chapel where a large silver lamp hangs that burns continuously, of which they say the oil is never increased nor diminished. A little way from there is that famous Church of St. John Lateran, where I heard Mass, which commonly happens once a month on a Friday. Having greeted Father Parsons, that famous English Jesuit, and having satisfied myself with viewing the rarities of Rome, I sailed down the River Tiber to Civita Vecchia, where I stepped aboard to delight my eyes with the beautiful city of Naples and its royal nobility, returning through Capua, Rome, and Siena.