The next morning I fent my fervant to his lordship, with a small prefent of tea, two pieces of China damaík, and four little wedges of japan gold, which did not all weigh above fix ounces, or thereabouts; but were far fhort of the value of his fables, which indeed, when I came to England, I found worth near two hundred pounds. He accepted the tea, and one piece of the damafk, and one of the pieces of gold, which had a fine ftamp upon it, of the Japan coinage, which I found he took for the rarity of it, but would not take any more; and fent word by my fervant, that he defired to speak with me. When I came to him, he told me, I knew what had paffed between us, and hoped I would not move him any more in that affair; but that, fince I made fuch a generous offer to him, he afked me, if I had kindness enough to offer the fame to another person that he would name to me, in whom he had a great fhare of concern. I told him, that I could not fay I inclined to do fo much for any one but himself, for whom I had a particular value, and fhould have been glad to have been the inftrument of his deliverance: however, if he would please to name the person to me, I would give him my answer, and hoped he would not be displeased with me, if he was with my anfwer. He told me, it was only his fon, who, though I had not feen, yet was in the fame condition with himself, and above two hundred miles from him, on the other fide the Oby; but that, if I confented, he would fend for him. I made no hesitation, but told him I would do it: I made fome ceremony in letting him understand that it was wholly on his account; and that seeing I could not prevail on him, I would fhew my refpect to him by my concern for his fon: but these things are too tedious to repeat here. He fent away the next day for his fon, and in about twenty days he came back with the meffenger, bringing fix or seven horfes loaded with very rich furs, and which, in the whole, amounted to a very great value. His fervants brought the horfes into the town, but left the young lord at a distance till night, when he came incognito into our apartment, and his father prefented him to me; and, in fhort, we concerted there the manner of our travelling, and every thing proper for the journey. I had bought a confiderable quantity of fables, black fox-fkins, fine ermins, and fuch other furs that are very rich; I fay, I had bought them in that city for exchange for fome of the goods brought from China; in particular, for the cloves and nutmegs, of which I fold the greatest part here; and the reft afterwards at Arch-Angel, for a much better price than I could have done at London; and my partner, who was fenfible of the profit, and whofe business, more particularly than mine, was merchandize, was mightily pleafed with our stay, on account of the traffic we made here. It was in the beginning of June when I left this remote place, a city, I believe, little heard of in the world; and, indeed, it is fo far out of the road of commerce, that I know not how it fhould be much talked of. We were now come to a very fmall caravan, being only thirty-two horfes and camels in all, and all of them paffed for mine, though my new gueft was proprietor of eleven of them. It was most natural natural alfo, that I fhould take more fervants with me than I had before, and the young lord paffed for my steward; what great man I paffed for myself I know not, neither did it concern me to enquire. We had here the worit and the largest defart to pafs over that we met with in all the journey; indeed I call it the worst, because the way was very deep in fome places, and very uneven in others; the best we had to fay for it, was, that we thought we had no troops of Tartars and robbers to fear, and that they never came on this fide the river Oby, or at least but very feldom; but we found it otherwife. My young lord had with him a faithful Mufcovite fervant, or rather a Siberian fervant, who was perfectly acquainted with the country; and who led us by private roads, that we avoided coming into the principal towns and cities upon the great road, fuch as Tumen, Soloy Kamafkoy, and feveral others; because the Muscovite garrifons, which are kept there, are very curious and strict in their observation upon travellers, and fearching left any of the banished perfons of note fhould make their efcape that way into Mufcovy; but by this means, as we were kept out of the cities, fo our whole journey was a defart, and we were obliged to encamp and lie in our tents, when we might have had good accommodation in the cities on the way this the young lord was fo fenfible of, that he would not allow us to lie abroad, when we came to feveral cities on the way; but lay abroad himself, with his fervant, in the woods, and met us always at the appointed places. We were juft entered Europe, having paffed the river Kama, which, in thefe parts, is the boundary between Europe and Afia; and the first city on the European fide was called Soloy Kamofkoy, which is a's much as to fay, the great city on the river Kama; and here we thought to have feen fome evident alteration in the people, their manners, their habit, their religion, and their bufinefs; but we were miftaken; for as we had a vast desart to pass, which, by relation, is near feven hundred miles long in fome places, but not above two hundred miles over where we paffed it; fo, till we came paft that horrible place, we found very little difference between that country, and the Mogul Tartary; the people moftly Pagans, and little better than the favages of America; their houses and towns full of idols, and their way of living wholly barbarous, except in the cities as above, and the villages near them; where they are Chriftians, as they call themfelves, of the Greek church; but even these have their religion mingled with fo many reliques of fuperftition, that it is fcarce to be known in fome places from mere forcery and witchcraft. In paffing this foreft, I thought, indeed, we must, after all our dangers were, in our imagination, efcaped, as before, have been plundered and robbed, and perhaps murdered by a troop of thieves; of what country they were, whether the roving bands of the Oftiachi, a kind of Tartars, or wild people on the banks of the Oby, had ranged thus far; or whether they were the fable-hunters of Siberia, I am yet at a lofs to know; but they were all on horfeback, carried bows and arrows, and were at firft about five-and-forty in number; they came fo near to us us as within about two mufquet fhot; and, afking no queftions, they furrounded us with their horse, and looked very earneftly upon us twice; at length they placed themselves just in our way; upon which we drew up in a little line before our camels, being not above fixteen men in all; and being drawn up thus, we halted, and fent out the Siberian fervant who attended his lord, to fee who they were; his mafter was the more willing to let him go, because he was not a little apprehenfive that they were a Siberian troop fent out after him. The man came up near them with a flag of truce, and called to them; but though he spoke several of their languages, or dialects of languages rather, he could not underftand a word they faid: however, after fome figns to him not to come nearer to them at his peril, fo he faid he understood them to mean, offering to shoot at him if he advanced, the fellow came back no wifer than he went, only that by their dress, he faid, he believed them to be fome Tartars of Kalmuck, or of the Circaffian hords; and that there · must be more of them on the great defart, though he never heard that ever any of them were feen fo far north before. This was fmall comfort to us; however, we had no remedy: there was on our left hand, at about a quarter of a mile's distance, a little grove or clump of trees, which stood clofe together, and very near the road; I immediately refolved we would advance to thofe trees, and fortify ourselves as well as we could there; for, first, I confidered that the trees would in a great measure cover us from their arrows; and in the next place, they could not A a 4 come |