Being Exceedingly Fatigued
And Distressed In Mind, I Did Not Care To Speak With Them, Yet Our Tartar
Guide Treated Me With Much Kindness, And Made Me As Good Cheer As He Was
Able.
Next day, being the eve of the festival of the Virgin, he killed a
fat lamb to entertain me,
Part of which he roasted, and part was boiled;
and though contrary to the rules of our religion to eat meat on that day,
I made a hearty meal, notwithstanding that every thing was disgustingly
dirty. We had likewise sour milk to drink, and the Tartars drank mares
milk, of which they are very fond; but I would not drink this, though I
could easily perceive my dislike did not please the Tartars.
I remained here two days; and at last, on the 26th of August, Marcus and
the rest made their appearance on the other side of the river, and sent a
boat for me in which were two of his servants, a Russian and a Tartar.
Stephen Testa and John Ungaret, my two attendants, were very much
rejoiced at seeing me again, as they believed me entirely lost, and we
rested two days at this place before entering upon the desert. Marcus had
been so attentive as to provide a horse for me, of which I stood in great
need. In this caravan, which was under the command of the Tartar
ambassador, there were about three hundred persons, Russians and Tartars,
who carried with them above two hundred[7] horses, partly intended to
serve as food by the way, and partly for sale in Russia. We arrived in
good order at night on the banks of the river, and we rested every day at
noon during the fifteen days of our journey, as we were now considered to
be out of danger from any attack by the Tartars. I do not recollect the
name of the emperor of the Tartars who inhabit this part of the country
between the Wolga and the Tanais. This nation has no fixed place of abode,
but shift their encampments from place to place, wherever they can find
pasture and water for their cattle, on which they have their whole
dependence, as they subsist entirely on flesh and milk. They have cows,
heifers, and sheep of admirable beauty, the flesh of which is excellent,
as they feed on fine pastures; but these people prefer mares milk to
every other delicacy. Though I have not been in the country of these
Tartars, I have been informed that it is flat and agreeable, having
neither hill nor mountain; but the inhabitants addict themselves
excessively to robbery and plunder, as their sole occupation, and
continually infest the borders of Russia and Circassia by predatory
incursions. Their horses are very wild and unmanageable, and are never
shod. We were told that there is another tribe of Tartars beyond the
Wolga, named wild Tartars, who allow their hair to grow extremely long.
In the middle of winter they often make inroads to the very skirts of the
city of Citracan, whence they carry off cattle, but do no other damage.
These people, like all the Tartars, shift their encampments in search of
pasturage and water.
After travelling for fifteen days along the eastern bank of the Wolga, we
came to a small forest, where the Tartars and Russians of the caravan cut
down trees to construct rafts for crossing the river. While they were at
this work, we discovered a small bark which was by no means in good
repair, by means of which our company proposed to convey our baggage
across. Marcus crossed over with a part of our baggage, leaving me in
charge of the rest, and sent back the boat when he was landed. In my trip
with the remainder of our baggage, the boat began to leak when we were
about half way over, the breadth of the river at this place being about
two miles. Stephen and two Russians accompanied me in the boat, leaving
Demetrius, my interpreter, and John Ungar in charge of the horses. We had
much ado to bale out the water, but by the blessing of God, we got over
in safety. After our baggage was landed, the Russians put off, to go back
for the rest of our people and the horses; but the boat fell to pieces.
This necessarily delayed our other servants and the horses from getting
over till next day, during which interval they were badly off, as all our
provisions were on our side. It was fortunate that I now examined the
state of our provisions, which I found diminished much beyond expectation,
so that we were under the necessity of abridging our allowance for the
remainder of the journey, that we might not run short altogether. Our
principal food consisted of millet, with garlic and onions, and some sour
milk; and we found some wild apples at this place, which we roasted. In
the course of two days, the whole baggage of the caravan was transported
to the western side of the river by means of seven rafts, drawn by horses,
and directed by the Tartars, the horses swimming and having the rafts
tied to their tails. The sight of this was very amusing, but seemed very
dangerous to those who were employed. After resting some time, we quitted
the banks of the river, and resumed our journey. This river Wolga is
certainly the largest and deepest river in the world, being, as well as I
could judge, two miles broad, and has very high banks.
[1] Called Citrarchan in the former section, but certainly what we now
call Astracan, then the capital of a Tartar principality, which now
forms one of the provinces of the vast Russian empire. - E.
[2] These are large shallow ponds, in which sea water is exposed to
evaporation, to procure salt. - E.
[3] In the original this person is called the cham of the _Camercheriens_.
The Tartar government of Astracan belonged to one of the Mongal tribes
of Kipschak; but the word used in the original may have been a local
term, not now explicable.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 65 of 219
Words from 65561 to 66591
of 224388
