IN NORTHERN MISTS 



"the King of the Bulgarians had told him that behind his country, at a dis- 

 tance of three months' journey, there lived a people called Wisu, among whom 

 the nights [in summer] were not even one hour long." Once the king is said 

 to have written to this people, and in their answer it was stated that the people 

 "Yagug and Magug [on the Ob?] lived over three months' journey distant 

 from them [i.e., the Wisu] and that they were separated from them by the 

 sea" (?). The Yagug and Magug lived on the great fish that were cast 

 ashore. The same is told by Dimashqi (ob. 1327) about the Yagug and Magug, 

 and by Qazwini (thirteenth century) about the people " Yura " on the Pechora. 



Jaqut (ob. 1229) in his geographical lexicon^ has an 

 article on 



" * Wisu ' situated beyond Bulgar. Between it and Bulgar is three months' 

 journey. The night is there so short that one is not aware of any darkness, 

 and at another time of year, again, it is so long that one sees no daylight." 

 In his article on "Itil" Jaqut says: "Upon it [the river Itil or Volga] trad- 

 ers travel as far as ' Visu ' - and bring [thence] great quantities of furs, such 

 as beaver, sable, and squirrel." 



Al-Qazwini (ob. 1283) says:^ 



" The beaver is a land- and water-animal, which dwells in the great rivers 

 in the land of *Isu' [i.e., Wisu, cf. al-Biruni], and builds a house on the bank 

 of a river." He further relates that " the inhabitants of * Wisu ' never visit the 

 land of the Bulgarians, since when they come thither the air changes and cold 

 sets in — even if it be in the middle of summer — so that all their crops are 

 ruined. The Bulgarians know this, and therefore do not permit them to come 

 to their country." Qazwini also gives the information that "Wisu" is three 

 months' journey beyond Bulgar, and continues: "The Bulgarians take their 

 wares thither for trade. Each one lays his wares, which he furnishes with a 

 mark, in a certain spot and leaves them there. Then he comes back and finds 

 a commodity, of which he can make use in his own country, laid by the side 

 of them. If he is satisfied with this, he takes what is offered in exchange, and 

 leaves his wares behind; if he is not, he takes his own away again. In this 

 way buyer and seller never see one another. This is also the proceeding, 

 as we have related, in the southern lands, in the land of the blacks." The same 

 story of dumb trading with a people in the north is met with again in 

 Abu'lfeda (ob. 1321) and Ibn Batuta (cf. also Michel Beheim, later). 



Ibn Batuta (i 302-1 377) has no name for this people, any- 

 more than Abu'lfeda; but he calls their country "the Land 



ijacut, 1866, iv. p. 944; i. p. 113. 



2 This agrees with reality. Along the Volga one can reach the land of the 

 Vesses on Lake Bielo-ozero. 



3 Al-Qazv/ini, 1848, ii. p. 416. 

 144 



