Whereupon He Is More In League With Them. How Best, If The Saracens Come, And Bring Greater Gifts Than They, They Are Dispatched Sooner.

He hath about him certaine Nestorian Priestes, who pray vpon their beades, and sing their deuotions.

Also, there is another vnder Baatu called Berta [Sidenote: Or, Berca.], who feedeth his cattell toward Porta ferrea, or Derbent, where lieth the passage of all those Saracens, which come out of Persia, and out of Turkie to goe vnto Baatu, and passing by they giue rewards vnto him. And he professeth himselfe to be a Saracene, and will not permit swines flesh to be eaten in his dominions. Howbeit, at the time of our return, Baatu commanded him to remoue himselfe from that place, and to inhabite vpon the East side of Volga: for hee was vnwilling that the Saracens messengers should passe by the saide Berrta, because he sawe it was not for his profite. For the space of foure dayes while we remained in the court of Sartach, we had not any victuals at all allowed vs, but once onely a little Cosmos. And in our iourney betweene him and his father, wee trauelled in great feare. For certaine Russians, Hungarians, and Alanians being seruants vnto the Tartars (of whom they haue great multitudes among them) assemble themselues twentie or thirtie in a companie, and so secretly in the night conueying themselues from home they take bowes and arrowes with them, and whomsoeuer they finde in the night season, they put him to death, hiding themselues in the day time.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 262 of 315
Words from 68652 to 68914 of 82784