Vpon The Bankes Whereof Are Salt Pits Or Fountaines, The Water Of Which So Soon As It Entereth Into The Lake, Becommeth Hard Salte Like Vnto Ice.

And out of those salte pittes Baatu and Sartach haue great reuenues:

For they repayre thither out of all Russia for salte: and for each carte loade they giue two webbes of cotton amounting to the value of half an Yperpera. There come by sea also many ships for salt, which pay tribute euery one of them according to their burden. The third day after wee were departed out of the precincts of Soldaia, we found the Tartars. [Sidenote: The Tartars.] Amongst whome being entered, me thought I was come into a new world. Whose life and maners I will describe vnto your Hignes as well as I can.

De Tartaris and domibus eorum. Cap. 2.

Nusquam habent manentem ciuitatem, sed futuram ignorant. Inter se diuiserunt Scythiam, qua durat a Danubio vsque ad ortum solis. Et quilibet Capitaneus, secundum quod habet plures vel pauciores homines sub se, scit terminos pascuorum suorum, et vbi debet pascere hyeme et astate, vere et autumno. In hyeme enim descendunt ad calidiores regiones versus meridiem. In astate ascendunt ad frigidiores versus aquilonem. Loca pascuosa sine aquis pascunt in hyeme quando est ibi nix, quia niuem habent pro aqua. Domum in qua dormiunt fundant super rotam de virgis cancellatis, cuius tigna sunt de virgis, and [Transcriber's note: sic.] conueniunt in vnam paruulam rotam superius, de qua ascendit collum sursum tanquam fumigatorium, quam cooperiunt filtro albo: et frequentius imbuunt etiam filtrum calce vel terra alba et puluere ossium, vt albens splendeat, et aliquando nigro. Et filtrum illud circa collum superius decorant pulchra varietate pictura. Ante ostium similiter suspendunt filtrum opere polimitario variatum. Consumunt enim filtrum coloratum in faciendo vites et arbores, aues et bestias. Et faciunt tales domos ita magnas, quod habent triginta pedes in latitudine. Ego enim mensuraui semel latitudinem inter vestigia rotarum vnius biga viginti pedum: et quando domus erat super bigam excedebat extra rotas in vtroque latere quinque pedibus ad minus. Ego numeraui in vna biga viginti duos boues trahentes vnam domum: Vndecem in vno ordine secundum latitudinem biga, et alios vndecem ante illos: Axis biga erat magnus ad modum arboris nauis: Et vnus homo stabat in ostio domus super bigam minans boues. Insuper faciunt quadrangulos de virgulis fissis attenuatis ad quantitatem vnius arca magna: et postea de vna extremitate ad aliam eleuant testudinem de similibus virgis, et ostiolum faciunt in anteriori extremitate: et postea cooperiunt illam cistam siue domunculam filtro nigro inbuto seuo siue lacte ouino, ne possit penetrari pluuia; quod similiter decorant opere polimitario vel plumario. Et in talibus arcis ponunt totam suppellectilem suam et thesarum: quas ligant fortiter super bigas alteras quas trahunt cameli, vt possint transuadare flumina. Tales arcas nunquam deponunt de bigis. Quando deponunt domas suas mansionarias, semper vertunt portam ad meridiem; et consequenter collocant bigas cum arcis hinc et inde prope domum ad dimidium iactum lapidis: ita quod domus stat inter duos ordines bigarum quasi inter duos muros. Matrona faciunt sibi pulcherrimas bigas, quas nescirem vobis describere nisi per picturam. [Marginal note: Nota.] Imo omnia depinxissem vobis si sciuissem pingere. Vnus diues Moal siue Tartar habet bene tales bigas cum arcis ducentas vel centum. Baatu habet sexdecem vxores: qualibet habet vnam magnam domum, exceptis alijs paruis, quas collocant post magnam, qua sunt quasi camera; in quibus habitant puella. Ad quamlibet istarum domorum appendent ducenta biga. Et quando deponunt domus, prima vxor deponit suam curiam in capite occidentali, et postea alia secundum ordinem suum; ita quod vltima vxor erit in capite Orientali: et erit spacium inter curiam vnius domina et alterius, iactus vnius lapidis. Vnde curia vnius diuitis Moal apparebit quasi vna magna Villa: tunc paucissimi viri erunt in ea. Vna muliercula ducet 20. bigas vel 30. Terra enim plana est. Et ligant bigas cum bobus vel camelis vnam post aliam: et sedebit muliercula in anteriori minans bouem, et omnes alia pari gressu sequentur. Si contingat venire ad aliquem malum passum, soluunt eas et transducunt sigillatim: Vadunt enim lento gressu sicut agnus vel bos potest ambulare.

The same in English.

Of the Tartars, and of their houses. Chap. 2.

They haue in no place any setled citie to abide in, neither knowe they of the celestiall citie to come. They haue diuided all Scythia among themselues, which stretcheth from the riuer Danubius euen vnto the rising of the sunne. And euery of their captaines, according to the great or small number of his people, knoweth the bound of his pastures, and where he ought to feed his cattel winter and summer, Spring and autumne. For in the winter they descend vnto the warme regions southward. And in the summer they ascend vnto the colde regions northward. In winter when snowe lyeth vpon the ground, they feede their cattell vpon pastures without water, because then they vse snow in stead of water. Their houses wherein they sleepe, they ground vpon a round foundation of wickers artificially wrought and compacted together: the roofe whereof consisteth (in like sorte) of wickers, meeting aboue into one little roundell, out of which roundell ascendeth a necke like vnto a chimney, which they couer with white felte, and oftentimes they lay mortar or white earth vpon the sayd felt, with the powder of bones, that it may shine white. And sometimes also they couer it with blacke felte. The sayd felte on the necke of their house, they doe garnish ouer with beautifull varietie of pictures. Before the doore likewise they hang a felt curiously painted ouer. For they spend all their coloured felte in painting vines, trees, birds, and beastes thereupon. The sayd houses they make so large, that they conteine thirtie foote in breadth. For measuring once the breadth betweene the wheele-ruts of one of their cartes, I found it to be 20 feete ouer: and when the house was vpon the carte, it stretched ouer the wheeles on each side fiue feete at the least.

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