After
This, By His Order, A Silver Cup Was Brought To Me Filled With Mead, Of
Which He Made Me A Present, As A Mark Of High Regard With Which He
Honours Ambassadors, And Other Persons To Whom He Shews Favour.
This
present was to me a matter of very serious consideration, as the
etiquette required me to empty its
Contents, and the cup was very large.
When I had drained about a quarter of the liquor, knowing the sobriety of
the Italians, and perceiving that I was much difficulted, the grand duke
had the goodness to order the remainder to be emptied, and the goblet
given to me. Having thanked the grand duke in as respectful terms as I
was able, I took my leave and retired, accompanied by several barons and
other persons of rank.
Every thing was now in readiness for my departure, but Marcus would by no
means hear of my leaving Moscow, without taking a dinner with him, and
accordingly gave me a magnificent entertainment. 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. We had generally to break the ice to
procure water for our horses; we lighted fires to warm ourselves; and our
sledges served us instead of beds, as without them we must have slept on
the ground. We went with such expedition, over the frozen snow, that we
were assured we had travelled 300 miles in three days and two nights.
Casimir king of Poland, who then resided at _Troki_, immediately on
learning my arrival, sent two of his gentlemen to compliment me in his
name, and to congratulate me on my safe return. They likewise invited me
to dine with his majesty on the following day, which was the 15th of
February, and presented me on the part of the king with a robe of purple
damask, lined with Scythian furs, in which I dressed myself to go to
court. On this occasion, I went in a coach and six, accompanied by four
noblemen and several other persons. The king himself did me the honour to
receive me, and conducted me into a magnificent apartment, where he
introduced me to two of his sons in presence of many nobles, knights, and
gentlemen of the court. A chair was placed for me in the middle of the
room; and when I offered to kneel on one knee while addressing the king,
his majesty had the goodness to insist that I should sit down in his
presence, which I did after some hesitation. I then gave a recital of all
that had occurred in my travels, with some account of the dominions of
Uzun-Hassan, and of the number of his forces, and of the empire and
manners of the Tartars. The king and his courtiers listened to me with
much attention during my whole speech, which lasted more than half an
hour. I then thanked his majesty for the present he had made me, and for
all his kindnesses to me, attributing his attentions to the esteem he
entertained for our illustrious republic. His majesty was pleased, by
means of an interpreter, to express great satisfaction at my safe arrival,
as he hardly expected I should ever have been able to return; and that he
was much pleased with the information I had given him respecting Uzun-
Hassan and the Tartars, which he believed to be more authentic than any
he had received before. After some other discourse, I was conducted to
the hall where the dinner was served; soon after which his majesty came
into the hall with his two sons, preceded by several trumpets. The king
sat down at the head of the table, having his two sons on his right hand;
the primate of the kingdom sat next on his majestys left, and I was
placed next the bishop. The remainder of the table was occupied by about
forty of the nobles. Each service was ushered in with the sound of
trumpets, and all the meats were served on large silver dishes.
After dinner, which lasted two hours, I rose to depart, and asked the
king if he had any farther orders to honour me with; when he was pleased
to say very graciously, that he charged me to assure the senate that his
most anxious desire was to cultivate perpetual friendship and good-will
with our illustrious republic, and he was pleased to make his sons
express the same friendly wishes.
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