The Prince Of Citracan, Whose Name Is _Casinach_,
Sends Every Year An Ambassador To The Grand Duke Of Muscovy, On
Purpose
to extort a present; and on this occasion, several Tartar merchants
accompany the ambassador, carrying silk, silken vestments, and
Other
articles of trade, which they barter for saddles, furs, and other things
which are in request among their countrymen.
The only way of travelling into Russia from this place, is through
extensive deserts, on which account travellers have to go in large bands
or caravans for mutual security, and to carry provisions for the journey.
The Tartars care little for the latter precaution, as they have always
plenty of spare horses, and kill one when needed, as they live entirely
on flesh and milk, without caring for any other food. They use no bread,
and only a few of their merchants who have been in Russia know any thing
of this article. Previous to the commencement of our journey[5], we
provided provisions for the journey as well as we could. In this view we
procured some rice with much difficulty, which, boiled in milk, and then
dried in the sun, makes, when afterwards boiled in water, an excellent
and nourishing food. We had likewise some onions, a small quantity of
biscuit, and some other trifles, and I bought, during the journey, the
salted tail of a sheep[6]. The usual road from Citracan to Russia lay
between two branches of the Wolga, but the roads were then exceedingly
dangerous, as the Tartar emperor was then at war with his nephew, who
pretended a right to the throne, as his father had once been emperor.
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