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. And hauing tired their horses, they goe in the night vnto a company of other horses feeding in some pasture, and change them for newe, taking with them also one or two horses besides, to eate them when they stand in neede. Our guide therefore was sore afraide, least we should haue met with such companions. In this iourney wee had died for famine, had we not caried some of our bisket with vs. At length we came vnto the mighty riuer of Etilia, or Volga. For it is foure times greater then the riuer of Sein, and of a wonderfull depth: and issuing forth of Bulgaria the greater, it runneth into a certain lake or sea, which of late they call the Hircan sea, according to the name of a certain citie in Persia, standmg vpon the shore thereof. Howbeit Isidore calleth it the Caspian Sea. For it hath the Caspian mountaines and the land of Persia situate on the south side thereof: and the mountaines of Musihet, that is to say, of the people called Assassini [Footnote: A tribe who murdered all strangers: hence our word _assassin_.] towards the East, which mountaines are coioyned vnto the Caspian mountaines, but on the North side thereof lieth the same desert, wherein the Tartars doe now inhabite. [Sidenote: Changla.] Howbeit heretofore there dwelt certaine people called Changla. And on that side it receiueth the streams of Etilia: which riuer increaseth in Sommer time, like vnto the riuer Nilus in Agypt. Vpon the West part thereof, it hath the mountaines of Alani, and Lesgi, and Porta ferrea, or Derbent, and the mountaines of Georgia. This Sea therefore is compassed in on three sides with the mountaines, but on the North side by plaine grounde. [Sidenote: Frier Andrew.] Frier Andrew, in his iourney traueiled round about two sides therof, namely the South and the East sides: and I my selfe about other two, that is to say, the North side in going from Baatu to Mangu-Can, and in returning likewise; and the West side in comming home from Baatu into Syria. A man may trauel round about it in foure moneths. And it is not true what Isidore reporteth, namely that this Sea is a bay or gulfe comming forth of the Ocean: for it doeth, in no part thereof, ioyne with the Ocean, but is enuironed on all sides with lande.

De curia Baatu, et qualiter recepti fuerunt ab eo. Cap. 21.

[Sidenote: Oceanus Aquilonaris Isisdorus.] Tota ilia regio a latere Occidentali istius maris, vbi sunt Porta ferrea Alexandri, et montes Alanorum, vsque ad Occanum Aquilonarem et paludes Maotidis vbi mergitur Tanais, solebat dici Albania: de qua dicit Isisdorus quod habet canes ita magnos, tantaque feritatis, vt tauros premant, leones perimant. Quod verum est, prout intellexi a narrantibus, quod ibi versus Oceanum Aquilonarem faciunt canes trahere in bigis sicut boues propter magnitudinem et fortitudinem eorum. In illo ergo loco vbi nos aplicuimus super Etiliam est casale nouum, quod fecerunt Tartari de Rutenis mixtim, qui transponunt nuncios euntes, et redeuntes ad curiam Baatu: quia Baatu est in vlteriori ripa versus Orientem nec transit illum locum vbi nos applicuimus ascendendo in astate, sed iam incipiebat descendere. [Sidenote: Descendit naui per flumen Volga. Nota] De Ianuario enim vsque ad Augustum ascendit ipsi, et omnes alij versus frigidas regiones, et in Augusto incipiunt redire. Descendimus ergo in naui ab illo casali vsque ad curiam eius. Et ab illo vsque ad villas maioris Bulgaria versus Aquilonem, sunt quinque dicta. Et miror quis Diabolus portauit illuc legem Machometi. [Sidenote: 30 dieta a Porta ferrea. Astracan.] A Porta enim ferrea, qua est exitus Persidis, sunt plusquam triginta dieta per transuersum, solitudinem ascendendo iuxta Etiliam vsque in illam Bulgariam, vbi nulla est ciuitas, nisi quadam casalia prope vbi cadit Etilia in mare. Et illi Bulgari sunt pessimi Saraceni, fortius tenentes legem Machometi, quam aliqui alij. [Sidenote: Descriptio curia Baatu.] Quum ergo vidi curiam Baatu, expaui, quia videbantur prope domus eius, quasi quadam magna ciuitas protensa in longum, et populus vndique circumfusus, vsque ad tres vel quatuor leueas. Et sicut populus Israel sciebat vnusquisque ad quam regionem tabernaculi deberet figere tentoria: ita ipsi sciunt ad quod latus curia debeant se collocare, quando ipsi deponunt domus. [Sidenote: Horda sonat medium.] Vnde dicitur curia Orda lingua corum, quod sonat medium, quia semper est in media hominum suorum: hoc excepto quod recte ad meridiem nullus se collocat, quia ad pattem illam aperiuntur porta Curia: Sed a dextris et a sinistris extendunt se quantum volunt secundum exigentiam locorum: dummodo recte ante curiam, vel ex opposito curia non descendunt. Fuimus ergo ducti ad quondam Saracenum, qui non prouidebat nobis de aliquo cibo sequenti die fuimus ad curiam, et fecerat extendi magnum tentorium, quia domus non potuisset capere tot homines et mulieres, quot conuenerant.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 69 of 82
Words from 68701 to 69712 of 82784