432 ROYAL SOCIKTY OF CANADA 



twenty men and make an attempt to find the treasure. This little 

 episode throws a flood of light on the Tanais of that day. Thus, previ- 

 ous to 1437 an Italian, presumably a Venetian, for our author supposes 

 his readers know all about the fact, had been its civic ruler : a man 

 came hither from Cairo having met there a woman from Tanais: thus 

 showing the intercourse l>etween these two places. Then, in the house 

 of a Venetian citizen at Tanais, seven Italian merchants casually met 

 on '3r)th Nov., 1437. 



There evidently was a Tanais at the mouth of the Don (or Tanais 

 river) and also "a plain of Tanais" (il Campo délia Tana), both well 

 known to the Venetians and Genoese, and both in the Europe of that 

 day. For Ptolemy, describing plate 8 of Europe gives both the western 

 and eastern mouths of the Tanais as the eastern boundary of " Euro- 

 pean Sarmatia." Since he clscwliere tells us tliat Tanais is between the 

 "mouths of the river" {et inter ostia est Tanais Civitas) it was clearly 

 in Europe. " Tlie plain of Tanais" was on the west of the western 

 mouth. 



There were many fishing establishments around Tanais; our author 

 had two, one forty miles up the river at Bosfagaz, which must have 

 employed many men, for we incidentally learn it h'ad "three machines 

 for grinding salt." Another Venetian^ Da Valle, had an establishment 

 on the same river at Tumcn, 'and there were several others around 

 about, but we are not told who owned them. 



We can readily understand from these facts that a continuous and 

 brisk trade was kept up between Tanais, Venice and Genoa. Wine, 

 fruits and oil wete brought from Italy, and fish, furs and other articles 

 taken back. And the volume of commerce had been much greater 

 previously. Our author speaking of Gitracluiu (now Astrakan) on tlie 

 A^olga, tells us that before "its destruction by Tamcrlan it had been 

 great and famous, for all the spices and silks that now go to Soria came 

 to Gitrachan and were sent over the plain of Tumen to Tanais, to which 

 place the Venetians alone sent six or seven large galleys to carry olï the 

 aforesaid spices and silks." He also adds that in those days neither 

 the Venetians nor any other cis-marine nation traded at Soria. As a 

 commercial centre, therefore, Tanais had been frequented by Italian 

 ships and traders for centuries. 



A short description of the various places on each side of the sea 

 of Azov, out to the Black Sea, is given. Finally he went to Venice 

 overland, crossing from Tanais to Gitraclian (Astrakan) up the Volga 

 tlirough Russia to Moscow, on to Poland and Germany to Frankfort. 

 This would be about 1452. He narrates that, being in a shop on the 



