In The Meane Time Being Deuising To Make An Anker Of Wood Of A Cart Wheele, There Arriued A Barke, Which Came From Astracan, With Tartars And Russes, Which Had 2 Ankers, With Whom I Agreed For The One:

And thus being in a readinesse, we set saile and departed, I, and the two Iohnsons being Master and

Mariners ourselues, hauing in our barke the said sixe ambassadors, and 25 Russes which had bene slaues a long time in Tartaria, nor euer had before my comming, libertie, or meanes to get home, and these slaues serued to rowe, when neede was. Thus sailing sometimes along the coast, and sometimes out of sight of lande, the 13. day of May, hauing a contrary winde, wee came to an anker, being three leagues from the shoare, and there rose a sore storme, which continued 44. houres, and our cable being of our our owne spinning, brake, and lost our anker, and being off a lee shoare, and hauing no boate to helpe vs, we hoysed our saile, and bare roomer with the said shoare, looking for present death: but as God prouided vs, we ranne into a creeke ful of oze, and so saued our selues with our barke, and liued in great discomfort for a time. For although we should haue escaped with our liues the danger of the sea, yet if our barke had perished, we knew we should haue bene either destroyed, or taken slaues by the people of that Countrey, who liue wildly in the field, like beasts, without house or habitation. Thus when the storme was seazed, we went out of the creeke againe: and hauing set the land with our Compasse, and taken certaine markes of the same, during the time of the tempest, whilest we ridde at our anker, we went directly to the place where we ridde, with our barke againe, and found our anker which we lost: whereat the Tartars much marueiled howe we did it. While we were in the creeke, we made an anker of wood of cart wheeles, which we had in our barke, which we threw away, when wee had found our yron anker againe. Within two days after, there arose another great storme, at the Northeast, and we lay a trie, being driuen far into the sea, and had much ado to keepe our barke from sinking, the billowe was so great: but at the last, hauing faire weather, we tooke the Sunne, and knowing howe the land lay from vs we fel with the Riuer Yaik, according to our desire, wherof the Tartars were very glad, fearing that wee should haue bene driuen to the coast of Persia, whose people were vnto them great enemies.

[Sidenote: The English flag in the Caspian sea.] Note, that during the time of our Nauigation, wee set vp the redde crosse of S. George in our flagges, for honour of the Christians, which I suppose was neuer seene in the Caspian sea before.

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