470 A V O Y A 
honourable and profitable Place, in the Service of the 
Czar, but I did not think fit to accept of his Propofal. 
The fine Appearance he made at that Time, the Re- 
fpeft that every one paid him, as well on Account of his 
Eftate, for he was rich ; as for the Place he enjoyed, and 
the Charafter he bore, of a Man of Courage and Ho- 
nour, and the miferable Condition I now faw him in, 
made me figh ; when I embraced him again with ex- 
traordinary Affedion and Tendernefs, afking him what 
was the Occafion of his Difgrace ? He anfwered, the Czar 
fufpeded he had not been fo zealous in his Service as 
he might have been, and for that Reafon only baniflied 
him to Siberia for three Years *, that he was to endure Mi- 
feries which are not to be expreffed, befides the Dangers 
to which all banifhed Perfons are expofed in hunting wild 
Beafts for their Subfiflance as likewife Hunger, and' the 
Rigour of the Seafon, which they were forced to fuffer, 
and none durft relieve them. He faid they were almoft 
every Day attacked by wild Beafts, which they met in 
Herds, feeking for Pafture; and that they had often 
much ado to defend themfelves : And further, if they 
did not each of them catch fuch a Number of Sables, as 
they were condemned to furnifh the Czar’s Officers with, 
they were each of them lafhed with a Whip made of 
Leathern Thongs, thick and hard, on their naked 
Backs, and fometimes all over their whole Bodies, till 
they were all in a gore Blood. 
Our Supercargo’s Acquaintance told him the fame 
Story, fo did the other three, who fpoke the German 
and French Tongues tolerably well. One of them had 
been Receiver-General of the Czar’s Revenues, in one of 
his Provinces *, the fecond had been a Major General, and 
the third a Man of Note. They all deplored their Mif- 
fortune, affuring us, that when the Time of their Baniffi- 
ment was out, they would get far enough from the 
Czar’s Power. We were extremely touched with the 
Relation of their miferable Condition. We fet down on 
the Mofs, took out the beft Provifion we had, and de- 
fired them to take Part of it. We offered them our 
Help to make their Efcapes, but they told us it was im* 
pradicable •, for that they were known to all the Govern- 
ors of the Forts and Places through which they and we 
muff neceffarily pals : And in cafe they ffiould be taken, 
all our, and their. Lives muff pay for their Attempt to 
get off.. That Death would certainly be our Puniffiment, 
and theirs ; and the moff cruel Death, which boundlefs 
Power, and northern Barbarity, could inffid. TTis in- 
creafed our Concern for thofe poor unfortunate Gentle- 
men ; we all weeped heartily at the fad Sight of what 
they fuffered, and the Idea of what they were ftill to 
fuffer. 
We could not think of parting prefently with Perfons 
in their difconfolate State. We had feen them when For- 
tune fmiled on them, at Icaff fome of them *, we had been 
their Friends, and we thought it had been cruel to leave 
them, without endeavouring to render a Day or two, of 
the difmal Time they were to pafs, pleafant to them *, the 
Society of fuch as they had formerly had a Friendffiip 
for, would contribute towards eafing them a little of the 
Load of Grief that hung at their Hearts. We told them 
what we wiffied, and that we were loth to part fo foon ; 
our Trade was not in fo much haffe, confidering the two 
large Parcels of Goods we had already fent to our Veffels, 
as to hinder us fpending a Day or two with Men in their 
CircLimftances, whom we equally loved and effeemed. 
The meeting them in fuch a Place, and in fo fad a Con- 
dition, had fomething romantic in it j and as much as we 
were Merchants, we had more of Heroes than to fly 
from our Friends in Adverffty, without taking a few 
Days to condole with them, and endeavour to alleviate 
their Sorrows. 
Befides thefe Confiderations, I had another. My De- 
fign, in the Beginning of my Voyage, was more to 
make Obfervations on the North Parts of the World, 
than to reap any Benefit by it. I had formerly made 
more beneficial Voyages to the Indies and Africa, than 
any thing I could propofe to myfelf by Travelling into 
the North. But having feen thefe two Parts of the 
World, I had a Curiofity to vifit that in which I was 
G E /o the Book II, 
now trading, and to inform myfelf of the Manners and 
Cuffoms of a People lefs known to us than the Indians in 
the Eaff and Weft, though they are at a greater Diff 
tance from us. I knew the Gentleman of Lorrain to be 
a fenfible Man, who had lived a long Time in Mufeovy, 
under the State of the Empire, and the Court of the 
Czar, as well as any Man ; and intending to communi- 
cate my own Obfervations to the World, I thought I 
could not better fecure the Reader’s Satisfaction, than 
by giving him his, which would make my Account of 
the North complete *, wherefore I refolved to ftay a 
Day or two with him, and his poor Brethren in Adver- 
fity, and learn of him what he could inform me of, as to 
the more noted and more populous Part of Mufeovy ; the 
City of Mofeow, and the Czar’s Court. Our Bufinefs 
obliged us to keep as near the Coaff as poffible ; and 
the Countries that lay near the Sea came within my 
own Knowledge; but the Inland Provinces v/ere out of 
our Way, and we had no Pretence to vifit them ; my 
Companions travelling for Profit, and not for Pleafure. 
Our unhappy Friends rejoiced mightily at our offering to 
fpend fome Hours with them. 
To encourage us, they told ns they had built them- 
felves five little Huts in the Wood, which they came 
out of, where each of them retired when he chofe to 
be alone ; that there was room enough to entertain us 
all ; and if we would be fo kind as to go thither with 
them, they ffiould be infinitely obliged to us. They knew 
our Bufinefs, and we ffiould not lofe our Time ; all the 
Skins they had were at our Service, except the Sables, 
which they were forced to referve for the Czar; but 
they were little to be valued, in refpeCt to the Joy they 
ffiould have in our Company. They faid, the very 
Remembrance of the happy Hours they fpent with us, 
in their profound Solitude, would make many future 
Months glide on the more fweetly. Our Supercargo and 
I confented to ftay with them, out of refpect, as the 
reft of our Company did out of Hopes of Profit, hear- 
ing them offer to give us their Furs. The baniffied 
Men told us we muft travel fome fcores of Leagues be- 
fore we could meet with a Market for our Commodities. 
We readily agreed to the Propofals they made us. When 
we had refreffied ourfelves on our own Provifions, we or- 
dered our Guide to unharnefs the Rain -Deer, and convey 
our Goods into the Huts the Gentlemen had built to 
defend them from the Weather. Their Neceflity made 
them ingenious, and nothing could be better contrived,' 
either for Pleafure or Convenience, in fo wretched a 
Place. 
They were built of Fir, higher than any we had feen 
in our Travels ; there were two or three Rooms in each 
of them, and Lattices to let in the Light at the Side. 
They v/ere each ffiaded by a Tuft of Trees, and paved 
wi.h broad Fifli-bones, fo artificially, that they looked 
as if the Floors were inlayed with Ivory. They had 
digged a Trench round them, and pallifaded the Circum- 
ference of the Ground, on which they were built, with 
ftrong Pofts, which were joined together with crofs Sticks 
of ftrong Wood, and on the Top were Spikes of Fiffi- 
bones. By this means, when the Gate, that was the En- 
trance into it, was ffiut, they were fafe againft the Infults 
of wild Beafts, and as fecure as in a fortified Place. They 
had all Sorts of hunting and fiffiing Tackle, Store of 
Metheglin, Bilker, and faked Rain-Deer- Venifon. The 
Lorrainer was a temperate Man, but the others loved 
drinking ; fo they and my Companions fell to it. • I al- 
ways abhorred the Debauches we were forced to make in. 
the North, and was very glad I had an Excufe to avoid 
tippling now. 
My Friend and I withdrew to converfe together, and 
the Company perceiving we v/ere old Acquaintance, per- 
■ mitted us to do fo. We retired into his Hut, and left the 
reft with the Saxon in his ; where they drank away Sor- 
row at that Time ; and after fix or feven Hours fpent over 
Brandy and Tobacco, they all lay down on Bear-Skins 
to take their Reft. The Lorrainer and I, in the mean 
Time, entered into a Difeourfe on his own Adventures. 
He told me how he intended to return home, after his 
Time of Exile was expired, and how I might hear of him 
