We Were, Therefore, Constrained To Remain Three Days In This
Place.
The first day they gave us a large fresh fish[1].
The second day the
magistrate of the village gathered from every house for us, and presented
us with rye-bread and some flesh. And the third day they gave us dried
fish, of which they have great abundance.
The river Tanais, at this place, is as broad as the Seine at Paris; and
before arriving on its banks, we had passed many goodly waters full of
fish: but the rude Tartars know not now to catch them, neither do they hold
fish in any estimation, unless large enough to feed a company. This river
is the eastern limit of Russia, and arises from certain marshes which
extend to the northern ocean; and it discharges itself in the south, into a
large sea of 700 miles extent, before falling into the Euxine; and all the
rivers we had passed ran with a full stream in the same direction. Beyond
this place the Tartars advance no farther to the north, and they were now,
about the first of August, beginning to return into the south; and they
have another village somewhat lower down the river, where passengers are
ferried over in winter. At this time the people were reaping their rye.
Wheat does not succeed in their soil, but they have abundance of millet.
The Russian women attire their heads like those in our country; and they
ornament their gowns with furs of different kinds, from about the knees
downwards.
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