s 64 The VO YA GE S and TR A FE L S 
\ 
The Flefh which they gave us was not fufficient For 
us, neither could we find any Thing to be bought for our 
Money : And as we fat under our Carts in the cool Sha- 
dow, on Account of the extreme Heat, they would impor- 
tunately and fhamefully intrude themfelves into our Com- 
pany, fo that they would even tread upon us to fee what we 
had ; fuch Slovens they were, that they would lay their 
Tails in our Prefence while they were yet talking with us : 
Many other Things they committed, which were moil te- 
dious and loathfome unto us. 
But above all, it grieved me to the very Heart, that 
when I would have fpoken what might tend to their Edi- 
fication, my foolifh Interpreter would fay, you fhould not 
make me become a Preacher now ; I tell you I cannot, I 
will not rehear fe any fuch Words : And true it was which- 
he faid, for I perceived afterwards, when I begun to have 
a little Knowledge in the Language, that when I fpoke 
one Thing he would fay quite another ; that is, whatfoever 
came next to his witlefs Tongue’s End. Then feeing the 
Danger I might incur in fpeaking by fuch an Interpreter, 
I refolved rather to hold my Peace, and thus we travelled 
with great fatigue from Place to Place, till a few Days 
before the Feaft of St. Mary Magdalen , we arrived at the 
Banks of the mighty River Tanais , which divides Afia 
from Europe , even as the River Nile of Egypt feparates 
AJia from Africa. At the Place where we arrived, Baatu 
and Sartach had caufed Cottages to be built upon the 
Eaftern Bank of the River, for a Company of Ruffians to 
dwell in, that they might tranfport Ambaffadors and Mer- 
chants in Ferry-Boats over that Part of the River ; where firft 
they ferried us over, and then our Carts, putting one Wheel 
into one, and the other into the other Lighter, firft binding 
both the Lighters together, and fo they rowed them over. 
In this Place our Guide play’d the fool ftrangely ; for 
he imagining that the Ruffians dwelling in the Cottage 
fhould have provided us Horfes, fent home the Beafts we 
brought with us, in another Cart, that they might return 
to their own Matters. But when we demanded fome Beafts 
of them, they anfwered, that they had a Privilege from 
Baatu , whereby they were bound to no other Service but 
to ferry Goers and Comers ; and that they received great 
Sums from Merchants even for that. We ftayed there by 
the River-fide three Days. The firft Day they gave us a 
great frefn Turbot : The fecond Day they bellowed Rye- 
bread and a little Flefh upon us, which the Purveyor of the 
Village had taken up at every Eloufe for us : And the third 
Day dried Fifh, which they have there in abundance. The 
River was as broad in that Place as the River Sein is at 
Paris •, and before we came there, we patted over many 
fine Waters all full of Fifh, and yet the barbarous and 
rude Tartars know not how to take them ; neither do 
they make any Reckoning of any Fifh, except it be fo 
great that they may eat the Flefh of it as they da the 
Flefh of a Ram. 
This River is the Limit of the Eaft Part of Rvffiia ; it 
rifeth out of the Fens of Meeotis , which Fens extend 
quite to the North-ocean. It runs fouthward, and forms 
a Sea of feven hundred Miles in Extent before it falls into 
the Pontus Euxinus , or the Black-Sea ; and all the Rivers 
we patted over ran into the fame. This River has alfo 
great ftore of Wood growing on the Weft Side thereof. The 
Tartars remove no farther towards the North : For about 
the firft of Augufi , they begin to return back to the South •, 
and therefore there is another Cottage fomewhat lower, 
where Paflengers are ferried over in Winter-time. And 
in this Place we were driven to great Extremity, becaufe 
we could get neither Horfes nor Oxen for Money ; at 
length, after I had declared unto them, that my coming 
was for the common Good of all Chriftians, they fent us 
Oxen and Men, but we ourfelves were forced to travel on 
foot. At this Time they were reaping their Rye ; as for 
Wheat, it grows not well in that Soil : They have Millet 
in great abundance. 
The Ruffian Women drefs their Heads like our Wo- 
men : They embroider their Gowns on the Out-fide, from 
their Feet unto the Knees, with party-coloured or grey 
Stuff. The Ruffian Men wear Caps like the Dutchmen *, 
alfo they wear upon their Heads certain Iharp and high- 
crowned Hats made of Felt, much like a Sugar-loaf. 
Book I. 
WT trayeded thence three Days together without finding 
any People 1 and when ourfelves and our Oxen were ex- 
ceeding weary and faint, not knowing how far it would 
be to any Tartars , on a fudden there came two Horfes 
running towards us, which we caught with great Joy : 
Our Guide and our Interpreter mounted upon their Backs 
to fee how far off they could difcry any People ; and upon 
the fourth Day of our journey, having found fome Inha- 
bitants, we rejoiced like Seamen, who had efcaped out 
of a dangerous Tempeft, and had newly recovered the 
Haven. Then having taken frefh Horfes and Oxen, we 
patted on from Stage to Stage, till at laft, the fecond of 
Nugujl , we arrived at the Habitation of Sartach , the 
Tartar Prince. 
21. All the Country lying beyond Tanais is a very beau- 
tiful and plea fan t Region, abounding with Rivers and 
Woods. Towards the North Part thereof there are large 
Forefts inhabited by two forts of People, one of them Is 
called Moxel, being mere Pagans , and without Law ; they 
have neither Fowns nor Cities, but only Cottages in the 
Woods. Their Lord, and a great Part of themfelves, 
were put to the Sword in Germany ; whereupon they highly 
commend the brave Courage of the Almians , hoping as yet 
to be delivered out of the Bondage of the Tartars by their 
Means. If any Merchant come among them, he mutt pro- 
vide Things neceflary for him with whom he is firft enter- 
tained all the time of his Abode among them. If any lieth 
with another Man’s Wife, her Hufband, unlefs he be an 
Eye-witnefs thereof doth not regard it, for they are not 
jealous of their Wives. They have abundance of Hogs, 
and great Store of Honey and Wax, and various forts of 
rich and coftly Skins, and Plenty of Falcons. 
i he other People are called Mercia s, which the Latins 
call Mardui , and they are Mohammedans. Beyond them is 
the River of Etilia , or Volga , which is the greateft River 
that ever I faw, and it iffues from the North Part of Bul- 
garia the Greater •, and fo trending along Southward, dif- 
charges itfelf into a certain Lake, containing in Circuit the 
Space of four Months Travel, of which I fhall fpeak here- 
after. . The two Rivers aforementioned, T anais and Etilia^ 
otherwife called Volga in the Northern Regions, thro’ which 
we travelled, are not diftant above ten Days Journey ; but 
Southward they are divided a great Space one from another, 
for Tanais defcendeth into the Sea of Pontus. Etilia maketh 
the forefaid Sea or Lake, with the Help of many other 
Rivers which fall into it out of Perfia, and we had to the 
South of us very high Mountains ; upon the Side thereof 
towards the faid Defart, the People called Carges , and the 
Alani or Areas inhabit, who are as yet Chriftians, and make 
War againft the Tartars. Beyond them, next unto the 
Sea or Lake of Etilia , there are certain Mohammedans 
called Lefgi , who are in Subjetffion to the Tartars. Beyond 
this is Porta-Ferrea , or the Iron Gate, concerning the Si- 
tuation of which your Majefty fhall be further informed to- 
wards the End of this Treatife, for I travelled in my Re- 
turn by the very Place between thefe two Rivers; in the 
Regions through which we patted the Comanians formerly 
inhabited before they were over-run by the Tartars . 
22. We found Sartach lying within three Days Journey 
of the River Etilia , whofe Court feemed to us to be very 
great, for he himfelf had fix Wives, and his eldeft Son alfo 
had three Wives; every one of which Women hath a great 
Houfe, and each of them above two hundred Carts. Our 
Guide went unto a certain Nejiorian named Coiat , who is 
a Man of great Authority in Sartach Court ; he made us go 
a long way to one Janna , for fo they call him’ who 
has the Office of entertaining Ambaffadors. In the Evening 
Coiat commanded us to come unto him. Then our Guide 
began to enquire what we would prefent him with, and 
was exceedingly offended when he faw we had nothing ready 
to prefent. We flood before him, and he fat majeftically, 
having Mufick and Dancing in his Prefence. Then I fpoke 
unto him in the Words before recited, telling him for what 
Purpofe I was come unto his Lord, and requefting fo much 
Favour at his Elands as to bring our Letters unto the Sight 
of his Lord. I excufed myfelf alfo, that I was a Monk, 
not having, nor receiving, nor ufing any Gold or Silver, 
or other precious thing, fave our Books, and the Garments 
in which, as Priefts, we ferve-d God ; and this was the 
Caufe 
