They were far from being satisfied with this for an answer: and a…
They were far from being satisfied with this for an answer: and agreat crowd of them came running down in the morning, by break ofday, to our camp; but seeing us so well posted, they durst come nofarther than the brook in our front, where they stood in suchnumber as to terrify us very much; indeed, some spoke of tenthousand. Here they stood and looked at us a while, and then,setting up a great howl, let fly a crowd of arrows among us; but wewere well enough sheltered under our baggage, and I do not rememberthat one of us was hurt.
Some time after this we saw them move a little to our right, andexpected them on the rear: when a cunning fellow, a Cossack ofJarawena, calling to the leader of the caravan, said to him, "Iwill send all these people away to Sibeilka." This was a city fouror five days' journey at least to the right, and rather behind us.So he takes his bow and arrows, and getting on horseback, he ridesaway from our rear directly, as it were back to Nertsinskay; afterthis he takes a great circuit about, and comes directly on the armyof the Tartars as if he had been sent express to tell them a longstory that the
urs they were entirely outof our sight, and we never heard any more of them, nor whether theywent to Sibeilka or no. So we passed away safely on to Jarawena,where there was a Russian garrison, and there we rested five days.
From this city we had a frightful desert, which held us twenty-three days' march. We furnished ourselves with some tents here,for the better accommodating ourselves in the night; and the leaderof the caravan procured sixteen waggons of the country, forcarrying our water or provisions, and these carriages were ourdefence every night round our little camp; so that had the Tartarsappeared, unless they had been very numerous indeed, they would nothave been able to hurt us. We may well be supposed to have wantedrest again after this long journey; for in this desert we neithersaw house nor tree, and
After we had passed this desert we came into a country pretty wellinhabited - that is to say, we found towns and castles, settled bythe Czar with garrisons of stationary soldiers, to protect thecaravans and defend the country against the Tartars, who wouldotherwise make it very dangerous travelling; and his czarishmajesty has given such strict orders for the well guarding thecaravans, that, if there are any Tartars heard of in the country,detachments of the garrison are always sent to see the travellerssafe from station to station. Thus the governor of Adinskoy, whomI had an opportunity to mak
I thought, long before this, that as we came nearer to Europe weshould find the country better inhabited, and the people morecivilised; but I found myself mistaken in both: for we had yet thenation of the Tonguses to pass through, where we saw the sametokens of paganism and barbarity as before; only, as they wereconquered by the Muscovites, they were not so dangerous, but forrudeness of manners and idolatry no people in the world ever wentbeyond them. They are all clothed in skins of beasts, and theirhouses are built of the same; you know not a man from a woman,neither by the ruggedness of the