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.
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