Part 38 (1/2)
This was very bad news to travellers; however, it was carefully done of the governor, and ere very glad to hear we should have a guard
Accordingly, two days after, we had two hundred soldiers sent us froarrison of the Chinese on our left, and three hundred more from the city of Naum, and with those we advanced boldly: the three hundred soldiers from Naum marched in our front, the two hundred in our rear, and our e, and the whole caravan in the centre In this order, and well prepared for battle, we thought ourselves a ul Tartars, if they had appeared; but the next day, when they did appear, it was quite another thing
It was early in thefrou, we had a river to pass, where ere obliged to ferry; and had the Tartars had any intelligence, then had been the ti over, the rear-guard was behind: but they did not appear there
About three hours after, ere entered upon, a desert of about fifteen or sixteen miles over, behold, by a cloud of dust they raised,an enemy was at hand; and they were at hand indeed, for they cauard on the front, who had talked so big the day before, began to stagger, and the soldiers frequently looked behind then in a soldier, that he is just ready to run away My old pilot was of lese,” said he, ”those fellows ed, or they will ruin us all; for if the Tartars come on, they will never stand it”--”I am of your mind,” said I: ”but what course must be done?”--”Done?” said he; ”let fifty of our e theht like brave fellows in brave company: but without it, they will every man turn his back”
Immediately I rode up to our leader, and told hily fifty of us , and fifty to the left, and the restthe last two hundred uard the camels; only that, if need were, they should send a hundred men to assist the last fifty
In a word, the Tartars came on, and an innumerable company they were; how ht was the least
A party of theround in the front of our line; and as we found thes to advance swiftly, and give the with their shot, which was done; but they went off, and I suppose went back to give an account of the reception they were like to ed their stomachs; for they immediately halted, stood awhile to consider of it, and, wheeling off to the left, they gave over the design, and said no reeable to our circumstances, which were but very indifferent for a battle with such a number
Two days after this we caovernor for his care for us, and collected to the value of one hundred crowns, or thereabouts, which we gave to the soldiers sent to guard us; and here we rested one day This is a garrison indeed, and there were nine hundred soldiers kept here; but the reason of it was, that formerly the Muscovite frontiers lay nearer to the abandoned that part of the country (which lies from the city west, for about two hundred miles) as desolate and unfit for use; andso very remote, and so difficult to send troops hither for its defence; for we had yet above two thousand miles to Muscovy, properly so called
After this we passed several great rivers, and two dreadful deserts, one of which ere sixteen days passing over, and which, as I said, was to be called No Man's Land; and on the 13th of April we came to the frontiers of the Muscovite dominions I think the first city, or town, or fortress, whatever it ed to the czar of Muscovy, was called Argun, being on the west side of the river Argun
I could not but discover an infinite satisfaction; that I was now arrived in, as I called it, a Christian country; or, at least, in a country governed by Christians: for though the Muscovites do, in my opinion, but just deserve the name of Christians (yet such they pretend to be, and are very devout in their way:) it would certainly occur to any man who travels the world as I have done, and who had any power of reflection; I say, it would occur to hiht into the world where the name of God, and of a Redeemer, is knoorshi+pped, and adored--and not where the people, given up by Heaven to strong delusions, worshi+p the devil, and prostrate themselves to stocks and stones; worshi+p monsters, elees of h but had their paGods, their idols, and their te even the works of their own hands!
Noe came where, at least, a face of the Christian worshi+p appeared, where the knee was bowed to Jesus; and whether ignorantly or not, yet the Christian religion ned, and the name of the true God was called upon and adored; and it made the very recesses of my soul rejoice to see it I saluted the brave Scotchhim by the hand, I said to hi Christians!” He smiled, and answered, ”Do not rejoice too soon, countryman; these Muscovites are but an odd sort of Christians; and but for the name of it, you may see very little of the substance for some months farther of our journey”
”Well,” said I, ”but still it is better than paganis of devils”--”Why, I'll tell you,” said he; ”except the Russian soldiers in garrisons, and a few of the inhabitants of the cities upon the road, all the rest of this country, for above a thousand norant of pagans” And so indeed we found it
We were now launched into the greatest piece of solid earth, if I understand any thing of the surface of the globe, that is to be found in any part of the world: we had at least twelve hundred miles to the sea, eastward; we had at least two thousand to the bottom of the Baltic sea, ard; and almost three thousand miles, if we left that sea, and went on west to the British and French channels; we had full five thousand ht hundred miles to the Frozen sea, north; nay, if soht be no sea north-east till we came round the pole, and consequently into the north-west, and so had a continent of land into Aive some reasons why I believe that to be a mistake too
As we entered into the Muscovite doood while before we ca to observe there but this: first, that all the rivers run to the east As I understood by the charts which some of our caravans had with thereat river Yamour, or Gammour This river, by the natural course of it, must run into the east sea, or Chinese ocean
The story they tell us, that the mouth of this river is choked up with bulrushes of a rowth, viz three feet about, and twenty or thirty feet high, I ation is of no use, because there is no trade that way, the Tartars, to who but cattle; so nobody that ever I heard or, has been curious enough either to go down to the mouth of it in boats, or to come up from the mouth of it in shi+ps; but this is certain, that this river running due east, in the latitude of sixty degrees, carries a vast concourse of rivers along with it, and finds an ocean to empty itself in that latitude; so we are sure of sea there
Soues to the north of this river there are several considerable rivers, whose streams run as due north as the Yamour runs east; and these are all found to join their waters with the great river Tartarus, naul Tartars, who, the Chinese say, were the first Tartars in the world; and who, as our geographers allege, are the Gog and Magogall northward, as well as all the other rivers I am yet to speak of, made it evident that the northern ocean bounds the land also on that side; so that it does not seem rational in the least to think that the land can extend itself to join with America on that side, or that there is not a communication between the northern and the eastern ocean; but of this I shall say no more; it was my observation at that time, and therefore I take notice of it in this place We now advanced frouna by easy and ed to the care the czar of Muscovy has taken to have cities and towns built in as many places as are possible to place the, like the stationary soldiers placed by the Romans in the remotest countries of their empire, some of which I had read were particularly placed in Britain for the security of co of travellers; and thus it was here; though wherever we caovernor were Russians and professedthe sun, moon, and stars, or all the host of heaven; and not only so, but were, of all the heathens and pagans that ever I met with, the most barbarous, except only that they did not eat es of America did
Souna, where we enter the Muscovite doether, called Nertzinskay; in which space is a continued desert or forest, which cost us twenty days to travel over it In a village near the last of those places, I had the curiosity to go and see their way of living; which is reat sacrifice that day; for there stood out upon an old stuhtful as the devil; at least as any thing we can think of to represent the devil that can beany creature that the world ever saw; ears as big as goats' horns, and as high; eyes as big as a crown-piece; and a nose like a crooked ram's horn, and a mouth extended four-cornered, like that of a lion, with horrible teeth, hooked like a parrot's under bill It was dressed up in the filthiest arreat Tartar bonnet on the head, with two horns growing through it: it was about eight feet high, yet had no feet or legs, or any other proportion of parts
This scarecroas set up at the outside of the village; and when I came near to it, there were sixteen or seventeen creatures, whether men or women I could not tell, for they make no distinction by their habits, either of body or head; these lay all flat on the ground, round this for thes of wood, like their idol; at first I really thought they had been so; but when I came a little nearer, they started up upon their feet, and raised a howling cry, as if it had been so many deep-mouthed hounds, and walked away as if they were displeased at our disturbing them A little way off from this monster, and at the door of a tent or hut, made all of sheep-skins and cow-skins, dried, stood three butchers: I thought they were such; for when I ca knives in their hands, and in thebullock, or steer These, it see of an idol; and these threeto it; and the seventeen prostrated wretches were the people who brought the offering, and weretheir prayers to that stock
I confess I was more moved at their stupidity, and this brutish worshi+p of a hobgoblin, than ever I was at any thing in lorious and best creature, to whoes, even by creation, above the rest of the works of his hands, vested with a reasonable soul, and that soul adorned with faculties and capacities adapted both to honour his Maker and be honoured by hiree so htful nothing, a inary object dressed up by themselves, and made terrible to themselves by their own contrivance, adorned only with clouts and rags; and that this should be the effect of ht up into hellish devotion by the devil hie and adoration of his creatures, had deluded thes, as one would think should shock nature itself
But what signified all the astonishhts? Thus it was, and I saw it before my eyes; and there was no room to wonder at it, or think it ie; and I rode up to the ie or monster, call it what you will, and with my sword cut the bonnet that was on its head in two in thedown by one of the horns; and one of our men that ith me, took hold of the sheep skin that covered it, and pulled at it, when, behold, a e, and two or three hundred people calad to scour for it; forsome had bows and arrows; but I resolved froain
Our caravan rested three nights at the tohich was about four miles off, in order to provide so been la march over the last desert; so we had son in execution I communicated e I had had a sufficient testimony, as above I told hiht that huenerate I told hiet but four or five o and destroy that vile, abominable idol; to let them see, that it had no power to help itself, and consequently could not be an object of worshi+p, or to be prayed to, much less help thehed at ood; but what do you propose to yourself by it?”--”Propose!” said I: ”to vindicate the honour of God, which is insulted by this devil-worshi+p”--”But hoill it vindicate the honour of God,” said he, ”while the people will not be able to knohat you mean by it, unless you could speak to theht you too, I will assure you, for they are desperate fellows, and that especially in defence of their idolatry”--”Can we not,” said I, ”do it in the night, and then leave the!” said he; ”why, there is not in five nations of the of a letter, or how to read a word in any language, or in their own”--”Wretched ignorance!” said I to hireat mind to do it; perhaps nature may draw inferences from it to them, to let thes”--”Look you, Sir,” said he; ”if your zeal prompts you to it so warmly, you must do it; but in the next place, I would have you consider these wild nations of people are subjected by force to the czar of Muscovy's dominion; and if you do this, it is ten to one but they will coovernor of Nertzinskay, and coive them satisfaction, it is ten to one but they revolt; and it will occasion a neith all the Tartars in the country”
This, I confess, put new thoughts intostill; and all that day I was uneasy to putthe Scots merchant met me by accident in our walk about the town, and desired to speak with n; I have been a little concerned about it since; for I abhor the idol and idolatry as much as you can do”--”Truly,” said I, ”you have put it off a little, as to the execution of it, but you have not put it all out of hts; and, I believe, I shall do it still before I quit this place, though I were to be delivered up to them for satisfaction”--”No, no,” said he, ”God forbid they should deliver you up to such a crew of monsters! they shall not do that neither; that would beyou indeed”--”Why,”
said I, ”hoould they use me?”--”Use you!” said he: ”I'll tell you how they served a poor Russian, who affronted them in their worshi+p just as you did, and whom they took prisoner, after they had lamed him with an arrow, that he could not run away: they took him and stripped him stark naked, and set him upon the top of the idol monster, and stood all round him, and shot as many arrows into him as would stick over his whole body; and then they burnt hi in him, as a sacrifice to the idol”--”And was this the same idol:” said I--”Yes,”
said he, ”the very same”--”Well,” said I, ”I will tell you a story” So I related the story of our e there, and killedone of our men, just as it is related before; and when I had done, I added, that I thought we ought to do so to this village