CON QJJ E S T O F S I B E R I A. i8i 



Gofluc from the fliores of the Cafpian to the banks of the 

 Kama ; and to trace the progrefs which he afterwards 

 made in the diftant regions of Siberia. 



By the victories which the Tzar Ivan VaffiUevitch had 

 gained over the Tatars of Cafan and Aftracan, that mo- 

 narch extended his dominions as far as the Cafpian Sea; 

 and thereby eftabUfhed a commerce with the Perfians and 

 Bvicharians. But as the merchants who traded to thofe .Hvrn'frlm 

 parts were continually pillaged by the CofTacs of the the c'a°fpUa 



fea. 



Don; and as the roads which lay by the fide of that a. d. 1377,. 

 river, and of the Volga, were infefted v/ith thofe ban- 

 ditti ; the Tzar fent a confiderable force againft them. 

 Accordingly,, they were attacked and routed; part were 

 ilain, part made prifoners, and the reft efcaped by flight. 

 Among the latter was a corps of fix thoufand Collacs, 

 under the command of the above-mentioned Yermac 

 Timofeeff*. ■ 



That celebrated adventurer, being driven from his ord7on"of 

 ufual haunts, retired, with his followers, into the interior smUmiml-. 

 part of the province of Cafan. From thence he diredted 

 his courfe along the banks of the Kama, , until he came 

 to Orel -f- . That place was one of the Ruffian fettlements 

 recently planted, and was governed by Maxim grandfon 



* S. R. G. VI. p. 232. Fif. Sib. Gef. I. p. 185. 

 t S.R. G. VI. p. 233. 



of; 



