Louis, The Patriarch Of
Antioch, Of Whom I Have Before Made Mention, Came About This Time To
Moscow, And Was Detained There By Order Of The Grand Duke; But I Made
Interest Through Marcus For His Release, Which I Obtained, And He Was To
Have Travelled Along With Me.
But as he delayed too long, I set off
without him.
At length, on the 21st January 1476, we set out from Moscow
in sledges, made like small huts, each drawn by a horse, and guided by a
driver. In these sledges we carried our baggage and provisions along with
us, and in them, journeys of great length may be made in a wonderfully
short time. By order of the grand duke, I had a guide appointed to
conduct me on the right road, and this was continued from place to place
all, through his dominions. We slept the first night in a small village,
where we found our lodgings exceedingly cold, but that was the smallest
of our inconveniencies, and on this account I hastened our journey as much
as possible. On the 27th of January, we arrived at _Vieseme_, and a few
days afterwards at Smolensk on the frontiers of Lithuania, in the
dominions of Casimir king of Poland. From Smolensk, till we arrived at
_Trach_[1], a city of Lithuania, we travelled continually in a plain
interspersed with some hills, the whole country being covered with wood,
and our only lodgings were in miserable hovels; dining always about noon
wherever we could meet with a fire, which had been left burning by
travellers who had passed before us.
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