The Fortifications, Both Of Riazan And Colonna, Are Built
Of Timber, As Are Also The Houses; As Nothing Is To Be Seen In These Parts
Constructed Of Brick Or Stone.
Three days journey from Colonna, to the
north-west, we come to the city and province of Moscow, or
Mosqua, where
the great Duke Jvan or John resides; and through this province there runs a
river of the same name, having several bridges over it; and from which the
city and province have probably acquired their names. The castle of Moscow
is situated upon a hill, and is encompassed round with woods[29].
The fertility of this country, in respect to corn and cattle, may be
understood from this circumstance, that flesh is not sold by weight, but
they give it out in large pieces, as much as would weigh four pounds[30].
Seventy hens may be bought for a ducat, worth four or five shillings; and a
goose may be had for less than threepence. In this country, the cold of
winter is very severe, and the rivers are long frozen over: Taking
advantage of this circumstance, they carry oxen and other beasts to market
in winter, ready slaughtered, skinned, and embowelled; which they set up on
their feet in the market places, frozen as hard as a stone, and in such
numbers, that one may buy 200 or more of them at a time. Cutting them in
pieces, as in our markets, is quite impossible, as they are as hard as
marble, and are delivered out whole. The only fruits to be met with are
apples, nuts, and small walnuts. When the Russians have a mind to travel,
especially if the distance is very great, they prefer the winter season,
when the whole country is covered over with frozen snow, and all the rivers
are passable on the ice. They then travel with great convenience and
expedition, being only subjected to the severity of the cold. At this
season, they use sledges, which are to them as waggons are to us; and in
them they take every thing along with them, with the utmost ease, that they
have a mind to. In the summer, the roads are extremely miry, and full of
inequalities, proceeding from the country being extremely woody; and they
do not therefore take long journeys at that season, more especially as it
is very thinly inhabited. They have no grapes, but make a species of wine
from honey, and a kind of beer from millet, into which they put hop
blossoms, of which the odour is so strong, as to occasion sneezing, and
which intoxicates like wine. I must not omit to mention in this place,
that, about twenty-five years ago, the great duke, on finding that his
subjects were much addicted to drinking, which made them neglect their
affairs, gave orders that no more beer or mead should be made; by which
means, he obliged them, to live sober and regular lives. Besides this, he
did many other things for the advantage of his dominions.
Before the reign of this prince, the Russians paid tribute to the Tartars;
but they have now conquered a country called Kasan, which is 500 miles to
the east of Moscow, and the chief city of which lies on the left bank of
the Wolga, in descending towards the sea of Bochri, or the Caspian[31].
This country of Kasan enjoys considerable trade, especially in furs, of
which large quantities are carried from thence by way of Moscow to Poland,
Prussia, and Flanders. These furs come from a great distance to the
north-east, out of the empire of Zagathai[32], and from Moxia[33]; both of
which northern districts are inhabited by Tartars, part of whom are
idolaters, particularly the Moxians, who continue so to this day.
Having received some account of these Moxians, I shall relate, what I know
concerning their religious customs. At a certain season they lead a horse
into the middle of their assembly, and fasten it strongly by the head and
feet to five stakes, driven into the ground for that purpose. After this, a
particular person goes to some distance, with his bow and arrows, and
shoots at the heart of the animal till he has killed him. The horse is then
flayed, and the flesh eaten after the performance of certain ceremonies.
They then stuff the horses skin with straw, and sew it up, so as to appear
entire, fixing pieces of wood under the skin of the legs, that the stuffed
animal may stand up as it did when alive. They next construct a scaffold,
amid the branches of a large tree, upon which they fix the stuffed horse
skin, and worship it as a god; offering up to it the furs of sables,
ermines, grey squirrels, and foxes, which they hang among the boughs of the
sacred tree, just as we offer up wax-lights to the images of the saints.
The food of this people consists mostly of flesh, and that chiefly of
venison, got by hunting; but they likewise catch abundance of fish in the
rivers of their country. Many of the Tartars are idolaters, and carry the
idols which they worship about with them, on carts, in their moveable huts;
and some of them have the strange custom of worshipping each day, the
animal they meet first in a morning, after going out of their houses.
The grand duke of Russia has likewise conquered Nowgorod, or Novogorod[34].
This is an extensive province, about eight days journey to the north-west
of Moscow, which was formerly a republic. The inhabitants were without
sense or reason, and had a great many heretics among them; but at present,
the catholic faith makes its way among them by degrees, though some are
still misbelievers. In the meantimes, however, they lead more rational
lives, and justice is properly administered.
Poland is twenty-two days journey from Moscow; and the first place we come
to in Poland is a fortified town, called Trocki, or Trozk[35], to which we
arrive through woods, and over hills, travelling a long way in an
uninhabited desert.
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