All The Food They Supplied Us With Was Sour, And
Filthy Cows Milk; And The Water Was So Foul And Muddy, By Reason Of Their
Numerous Horses, That We Could Not Drink It.
If it had not been for the
grace of God, and the biscuit we brought with us, we had surely perished.
[1] Or hyperpyron, a coin said to be of the value of two German
dollars, or six and eightpence Sterling. - E.
SECTION XIV.
Of a Saracen who desired to be Baptized, and of men who seemed Lepers.
Upon the day of Pentecost, a Saracen came to visit us, to whom we explained
the articles of the Christian faith; particularly the salvation of sinners,
through the incarnation of Jesus, the resurrection of the dead, and
judgment to come, and how through baptism all sin was washed out. He seemed
much affected with these doctrines, and even expressed a desire to be
baptized; but when we were preparing for that ceremony, he suddenly mounted
on horseback, saying that he must first consult his wife; and he returned
next day, declining to receive baptism, because he would not then be
allowed to drink cosmos, without which, he could not live in that country.
From this opinion, I could not move him by any arguments; so that these
people are much estranged from becoming Christians, by the assertion of
that opinion by the Russians, and other Christians, who come among them in
great numbers.
On the same day, which was the morrow of the feast of Pentecost, Zagathai
gave us one man to conduct us to Sartach, and two others to guide us to the
next station, which was at the distance of five days journey for our oxen.
We were presented also with a goat to serve us as food, and a great many
skin bags of cows milk, but they gave us very little cosmos, as that liquor
is in great estimation among themselves.
From the station of Zagathai we travelled directly north, and our
attendants began to pilfer largely from us, because we took too little heed
of our property, but experience at length taught us wisdom. At length we
reached the bounds of this province, which is fortified by a deep ditch,
from sea to sea[1]. Immediately beyond this ditch, we came to the station
to which our conductors belonged, where all the inhabitants seemed to be
infected with leprosy; and certain base people are placed here to receive
the tribute from all who come for salt from the salt pits formerly
mentioned. We were told that we should have to travel fifteen days farther
before meeting with any other inhabitants. With these people we drank
cosmos, and we presented them in return with a basket of fruits and
biscuit; and they gave us eight oxen and a goat, and a vast number of
bladders full of milk, to serve as provision during our long journey. But
by changing our oxen, we were enabled in ten days to attain the next
station, and through the whole way we only found water in some ditches, dug
on purpose, in the vallies, and in two small rivers. From leaving the
province of Casaria, we traveled directly eastwards, having the sea of
Azoph on our right hand, and a vast desert on the north, which, in some
places, is twenty days journey in breadth, without mountain, tree, or even
stone; but it is all excellent pasture. In this waste the Comani, called
Capchat[2], used to feed their cattle. The Germans called these people
Valani, and the province Valania; but Isidore terms the whole country, from
the Tanais, along the Paulus Maeotis, Alania. This great extent would
require a journey of two months, from one end to the other, even if a man
were to travel post as fast as the Tartars usually ride, and was entirely
inhabited by the Capchat Comanians; who likewise possessed the country
between the Tanais, which divides Europe from Asia, and the river Edil or
Volga, which is a long ten days journey. To the north of this province of
Comania Russia is situate, which is all over full of wood, and reaches from
the north of Poland and Hungary, all the way to the Tanais or Don. This
country has been all wasted by the Tartars, and is even yet often plundered
by them.
The Tartars prefer the Saracens to the Russians, because the latter are
Christians: and when the Russians are unable to satisfy their demands for
gold and silver, they drive them and their children in multitudes into the
desert, where they constrain them to tend their flocks and herds. Beyond
Russia is the country of Prussia, which the Teutonic knights have lately
subdued, and they might easily win Russia likewise, if they so inclined;
for if the Tartars were to learn that the sovereign Pontiff had proclaimed
a crusade against them, they would all flee into their solitudes.
[1] From this circumstance it is obvious, that the journey had been
hitherto confined to Casaria, or the Crimea, and that he had now
reached the lines or isthmus of Precop. - E.
[2] In the English translation of Hakluyt, this word is changed to Capthak,
and in the collection of Harris to Capthai; it is probably the
Kiptschak of the Russians. - E.
SECTION XV.
Of our Distresses, and of the Comanian funerals.
In our journey eastwards we saw nothing but the earth and sky, having
sometimes the sea of Tanais within sight on our right hand, and sometimes
we saw the sepulchres in which the Comanians used to bury their dead, at
the distance of a league or two from the line of our journey. So long as we
travelled in the desert, matters were tolerably well with us, but I cannot
sufficiently express the irksome and tedious plagues and troubles we had to
encounter in the dwellings of the Tartars; for our guide insisted upon us
making presents to every one of the Tartar captains, which we were utterly
unable to afford, and we were eight persons in all, continually using our
provisions, as the three Tartars who accompanied us insisted that we should
feed them; and the flesh which had been given us was by no means
sufficient, and we could not get any to buy.
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