Chap. II. of W I L LIAM de Rubruquis. 
Prefent to be received, and immediately diftributed the 
fame amongft his Men, who were met together for that 
Purpofe, to drink and make merry. I delivered alfo to 
him the Emperor of Conftantinople* s Letters, eight Days 
after the Feaft of Afcenfion, and he fent them to Soldaia 
to have them interpreted there ; for they were written 
in Greek , and he had none about him that was fkilled 
in the Greek Tongue. 
He afked us if we would drink any Cofmos, that is to fay 
Mare’s Milk, for thofe that are Chriftians among them, as 
the Ruffians , Grecians , and Alans , who keep their own 
Law very ftri&ly, will not drink thereof, for they account 
themfelves no Chriftians after they have once drank of it, 
and their Priefts reconcile them unto the Church as if 
they had renounced the Ch rift ian Faith. Ianfwered, that 
we had as yet fufficient of our own to drink, and that 
when it failed us we muft be conftrained to drink fuch as 
fhould be given us : He enquired alfo what was contained 
in the Letters which your Majefty fent to Sartach. I an- 
fwered, that they were fealed up, and that there was no- 
thing contained in them but friendly Words. And he 
afked what Words we would deliver unto Sartach ? I an- 
fwered, the Words of Chriftian Faith. He afked again 
what thofe Words were ? For he was very defirous to hear 
them. Then I expounded unto him as well as I could by 
my Interpreter, who was a very forry one, the Apoftle’s 
Creed, which after he had heard he fhook his Head. 
Then he affigned us two Men to attend upon us, and our 
Horfes and our Oxen, and he caufed us to ride in his 
Company, till the Meffenger he had fent for the Tranfla- 
tion of the Emperor’s Letters arrived ; fo we travelled in 
his Company till the Day after Whitfunday . 
1 8. There came to us on Whitfon-Eve , fome of the 
People called Alans , who are the Chriftians of the Greek 
Church, ufing Greek Books, and were Priefts, but they are 
not Schifmaticks as the Grecians are, fince without exception 
of Perfons they honour all Chriftians ; and they brought 
unto us boiled Flefh, requefting us to eat of their Meat, and 
to pray for one of their Company who was dead. I an- 
fwered, becaufe it was the Eve of fo great a Feaft, we 
would not eat any Flelh ; and I expounded to them the 
Solemnity of the Feaft, for they were ignorant of all 
Things relating to the Chriftian Religion, except the Name 
of Chrift. 
They and many other Chriftians, both Ruffians and 
Hungarians , demanded of us whether they might be 
faved or no, becaufe they were conftrained to drink Cof- 
mos, and to eat the dead Carcaffes of Things Gain by the 
Infidels, which even the Greeks and Ruffian Priefts alfo 
efteemed as Things ftrangled or offered to Idols, becaufe 
they were ignorant of the Times of Faffing, neither could 
they have obferved them if they had known them. I in- 
ftrudled-them as well as I could, and {Lengthened them in 
the Faith ; as for the Flefh which they had brought, we 
referved it till the Feaft-day, for there is nothing fold 
among the Tartars for Gold and Silver, but for Cloth 
and Garments, of which we had none. When our Ser- 
vants offered them any of their Coin, called by them Yper- 
pera, they rubbed it with their Fingers and put it to their 
Nofes, to try by the Smell whether it were Copper or no. 
They did not allow for our Food any Subfiftence but Cow’s 
Milk only, which was very four : One Thing moft ne- 
ceffary was greatly wanting to us, for the Water was fo 
foul and muddy by reafon of their Horfes, that it was not 
fit to be drank ; fo that had it not been for fome Bifcuit, 
which by the Goodnefs of God was ftill left us, we had 
undoubtedly perifhed. 
19. On the Feaft of Pentecofi there came to us a Mo- 
hammedan, to whom, as he talked with us, we expounded 
the Chriftian Faith, who (being informed of God’s Good- 
nefs to Mankind in the Incarnation of our Saviour Chrift, 
the Refurredlion of the Dead and the Judgment to come, 
and that Baptifm was a waftiing away of Sins) faid that he 
would be baptized y but when we prepared to baptize him, 
he foddenly mounted on Horfeback, faying, that he would 
go Home and confult with his Wife : And the next Day 
he told us that he durft not receive Baptifm, becaufe then 1 
he fhould drink no more Cofmos ; for the Chriftians of 
that Place affirm, that no true Chriftians ought to drink 
it, and that without it He could riot live in that Defaft ; 
from which Opinion I could not for mv Life remove him. 
It is fcarce credible, how many are reftfained from becom- 
ing Chriftians from this Opinion, broached and conftrrhed 
among them by the Ruffians , of whom, there are a gteat 
many fettled here. The fame Day Zagat ai gave us ohe 
Man to condud us to Sartach , and to guide us to the 
next Stage, which was five Days Journey for Oxen to , 
travel.' They gave us alfo a Goat for Victuals, and a 
great many Bladders of Cow’s Milk, and but a little Cof- 
mos, becaufe they love it fo much themfelves arid fo 
taking our Journey dire&ly towards the North, I thought 
we had palled through one of Hell-Gates, 
The Servants who concluded us began to play the bold 
Thieves, feeing us take little heed to ourfelvcs 5 at length 
having loft: much by their Thievery, Suffering taught us 
Wifdom. When we came to the Extremity of that Pro- 
vince, which is fortified with a Ditch from one Sea unto 
another, without which was their Place of Lodging, into 
which fo foon as we had entered, it appeared to Us as if all 
the Inhabitants were infeded with Leprofy, for certain bafe 
Fellows were placed there to receive Tribute of fuch as 
took Salt out of the Salt-Pits. From that Place they told 
us we muft travel fifteen Days Journey before we fhould 
find any other Place ; with them we drank Cofmos, and 
gave to them a Bafiket full of Fruits and of Bifcuit, and 
they gave unto us eight Oxen and one Goat to maintain 
us in fuch a Journey, and I know not how many Bladders 
of Milk ; and fo changing our Oxen we proceeded for ten 
Days, arriving then at another Stage, neither found we 
any Water all that Way, but only in fome Ditches made 
in the Yallies and in two Rivers. From the Time alfo 
that we departed out of the Province of Gaffiaria , we 
travelled diredly Eaftward, having the Sea on the South- 
fide of us, and a vaft Defart on the North, which De- 
fart in fome Places reaches twenty Days Journey in 
Breadth, without Tree, Mountain, or fo much as a Stone 
therein, and is a moft excellent Pafture. Here the Coma- 
nians , which were called Capthad , were wont to feed their 
Cattle, and were the fame the Germans ftiled Walani , and 
the Province itfelf Walania. But If dor e calleth all the 
Traft of Land ftretching from the River of Tanais to the 
Lake of Meotis, and fo far as the Danube , the Country 
of the Alani. And the fame Country extends in Length from 
the Danube to Tanais (which divides Afia from Europe) 
for the Space of two Month’s Journey, and it was all in- 
habited by the Comaniam , called Copthai , and beyond 
Tanais as far as the River of Edil or Volga , the Space be- 
tween which two Rivers is a long Journey to be travelled 
in ten Days. To the North of the fame Province lieth 
Ruffia, which is full of Wood in all Places, and ftretches 
from Poland and Hungary to the River of Tanais , and it 
likewife hath been wafted by the Tartars , and is ftill waft- 
ed by them. 
20. The Tartars have more Efteem for the Saracens 
than the Ruffians , becaufe the latter are Chriftians, and 
when they are able to give them no more, they drive them 
and their Children, like Flocks of Sheep, into the Wilder- 
nefs, conftraining them to keep their Cattle there. Be- 
yond Ruffia lieth the Country of Pruffia , which the Teu- 
tonick Knights of the Order of St. Mary* s Hofpital of 
Jerufalem Have of late wholly fubdued, and indeed they 
might eafily win Ruffia if they would attempt it vigoroufiy j 
for if the Tartars fhould once know that the great Prieft, 
for that is the Name they give to the Pope, had caufed the 
Enfign of the Crofs to be difplayed againft: them, they 
would fly into the De farts. But to proceed ; 
We went towards the Eaftward, feeing nothing but the 
Sky and the Earth, and fometimes the Sea on our right 
Hand, called the Sea of Tanais , and the Sepulchres of 
.the Comanians , which appeared unto us two Leagues off. 
In which their Cuftom was to bury their Dead altogether. 
While we were travelling through the Defart it went rea- 
fonably well with us, but I cannot fufficiently exprefs the 
Irkfomenefs of their Place of Abode, for our Guide 
would have us go to every Captain with a Prefent, which 
was an Expence our Circumftances would not bear, for 
we were eight Perfons fpending our own Provifion, for 
the Tartar Servants would all of them eat of our Vi&uals, 
