A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume I Part 40

Antonio remained fourteen years in Frisland or Orkney; four years of that time along with his brother, and ten years alone after the death of Nicolo.

The elder Zeno ingratiated himself so much into the favour of the prince, that he was appointed admiral of a fleet which was sent out upon an expedition against _Estland_[10], which lies between Frisland and Norway.

The invaders committed great ravages in that country, but hearing that the king of Norway was coming against them with a considerable fleet, they departed in haste; and being a.s.sailed by a violent tempest, they were driven on certain shoals where a part of their s.h.i.+ps were lost, and the remainder were saved upon _Grisfand_[11], a large but uninhabited island.

The fleet of the king of Norway was overtaken by the same storm and mostly perished; of which _Zichmni_, who was personally engaged in this expedition, was apprized in consequence of one of the enemy's s.h.i.+ps having likewise been forced to take refuge in _Grisland_. Finding himself driven so far to the north, and having repaired his s.h.i.+ps, Zichmni now resolved to make an attack upon the island of Iceland, which was under the dominion of the king of Norway; but finding it too well fortified and defended for his small force, and reflecting that his diminished fleet was now in bad repair, he deemed it prudent to retire. In his way homewards, however, he made an attack upon the islands of _Estland_, of which there are seven in number. These are _Tolas_, Yeal or Zel; _Broas_, Bra.s.sa sound; _Iscant_, Unst or Vust; _Trans_, Trondra; _Mimant_, Mainland; _Danbert_[12]; and _Bres_, or Bressa; all of which he plundered, and built a fort in Bres, where he left Nicolo Zeno in the command, with a sufficient garrison and a few small barks, while he returned himself to Frisland. In the ensuing spring, Nicolo Zeno resolved to go out upon discoveries; and, having fitted out three small vessels, he set sail in July, shaping his course to the northwards, and arrived in _Engroveland_[13], where he found a monastery of predicant friars, and a church dedicated to St Thomas, hard by a mountain that threw out fire like Etna or Vesuvius.

In this place there is a spring of boiling hot water, by means of which the monks heat their church, monastery, and cells. It is likewise brought info their kitchen, and is so hot that they use no fire for dressing their victuals; and by enclosing their bread in bra.s.s pots without any water, it is baked by means of this hot fountain as well as if an oven had been used for the purpose. The monks have also small gardens, covered over in winter, which being watered from the hot spring are effectually defended from the extreme cold and snow, which are so rigorous in this region so near the pole. By these means they produce flowers, and fruits, and different kinds of herbs, just as they grow in temperate climates; and the rude savages of those parts, from seeing these to them supernatural effects, take the friars for G.o.ds, and supply them with poultry, flesh[14], and various other things, reverencing the monks as their lords and rulers. When the frost and snow is considerable, the monks warm their apartments as before described, and by admitting the hot water, or opening their windows, they are able in an instant to produce such a temperature as they may require.

In the buildings of their monastery they use no more materials than are presented to them by the before mentioned volcano. Taking the burning stones which are thrown from the crater, they throw them, while hot, into water, by which they are dissolved into excellent lime; which, when used in building, lasts forever. The same stones, when cold, serve to make their walls and vaults, as they cannot be broken or cut except with an iron instrument. The vaults which they build with these stones are so light as to require no props for supporting them[15]. On account of these great conveniences, the monks have constructed so many walls and buildings of different kinds, as is really wonderful to see. The coverings or roofs of their houses are constructed for the most part in the following manner: Having carried the wall to its full height, they make it to incline or bend in gradually till it form a regular vault. They are little incommoded with rain in this country; as the climate is so extremely cold, that the first snow that falls does not thaw for nine months.

The monks live mostly on fish and wild fowl; for, in consequence of the boiling hot water running into a large and wide haven of the sea, that bay is kept from freezing, and there is so great a concourse of sea fowl and fish in that place, that they easily take as many of them as they can possibly have occasion for, with which they maintain a great number of people round about, whom they keep constantly employed either in building or in catching fish and fowls, and in a thousand other necessary occupations relative to the monastery. The houses of these natives are built on the hill near the monastery, of a round form, about twenty-five feet wide at the bottom, and growing gradually narrower as they go up, in a conical form, ending in a small hole at top, to admit light and air; and the floor of the house is so hot, that the inhabitants feel no cold within doors at any season. To this place many barks resort in summer from the neighbouring islands, from the cape above Norway, and from _Trondon_ or Drontheim, which bring to the fathers all kind of commodities and merchandize that they have occasion for; taking fish in exchange, dried either in the sun or by means of cold, and the furs of various animals. The commodities brought here for sale are, wood for fuel, wooden utensils, very ingeniously carved, corn, and cloth for making into garments. By these means the monks are plentifully supplied with every thing they need, in exchange for their furs and fish, which are in great request by all the neighbouring nations. Monks resort to this monastery from Norway and Sweden, and other countries; but princ.i.p.ally from Iceland. It often happens that many barks are detained here ail the winter, by the sea becoming frozen over.

The fishermens boats of this country are made in the form of a weavers shuttle, long and narrow, and pointed at each end; constructed of a light frame of fish bones, cased all over with the skins of fishes, sewed together in many doubles, and so tight and strong, that it is wonderful to see the people bind themselves fast within them during storms, and allow the winds and waves to drive them about, without fear of their boats splitting or of themselves being drowned. Even when they are driven against a rock, they remain sound and without hurt or damage. In the bottom of each boat there is a kind of sleeve or nose, tied fast in the middle by a string; and when any water gets into the boat, they let it run into the upper half, of the sleeve, which they then fasten with two pieces of wood, after which they loosen the under band, and squeeze the water out; and they repeat this operation as often as may be necessary with great facility, and without danger.

The water, of the boiling spring, being sulphureous, is conveyed into the monastery, and the cells of the princ.i.p.al friars, by means of pipes made of copper, tin, or stone; and is so hot that it heats the apartments like a stove, without communicating any disagreeable or unwholesome stench. Their sweet water for drinking is conveyed in a subterraneous ca.n.a.l of masonry, into a great copper reservoir in the middle of the court of the convent; and this reservoir being contained within a larger bason supplied from the boiling, spring, is continually kept of a proper temperature, and prevented from freezing. This they use in the preparation of their victuals, for drinking, and for watering their gardens. Thus they derive much convenience and comfort from the adjoining volcano, and these good friars make it their chief study to keep their gardens in order, and to erect commodious and even elegant buildings. For this latter purpose they are in no want of good workmen and ingenious artizans, as they give good wages, so that there is a great resort of workmen and artizans of every denomination; they are likewise very bountiful to those who carry them fruits, and seeds, and other articles; and as great profits are to be made, and provisions are very cheap, there is a great resort of workmen and artists of every denomination, and of traders to this place. Most of these monks speak Latin, particularly the superiors and princ.i.p.als of the monastery.

This is all that is known of _Engroveland_ or Greenland, from the relation of Nicolo Zeno, who gives likewise a particular description of a river that he discovered, as is to be seen in the map which I, Antonio Zeno, have drawn of all these countries. Not being able to bear the cold of these northern and inhospitable regions, Nicolo Zeno fell sick, and soon afterwards returned to Frisland, where he died. He left two sons behind him, John and Thomas; the latter of whom had likewise two sons, Nicolo, the father of the celebrated Cardinal Zeno, and Peter, from whom was descended the rest of the Zenos who are now living. After the death of Nicolo, his fortune, honours, and dignity, devolved upon his brother Antonio; and, though he made great supplications and entreaties for the purpose, he was not permitted to return to his native country; as Zichmni, who was a man of a high spirit and great valour, had resolved to make himself master of the sea, and for this purpose made use of the talents and advice of Antonio, and ordered him to go with a few barks to the westwards, because in the summer several islands had been discovered by some of the fishermen. Of this voyage and the discoveries which were made in consequence of it, Antonio gives an account in a letter to his brother Carlo, which we here give exactly as it was written, having only altered a few antiquated words[16].

[1] Faira, or Fara, in the Orkneys, called Farras-land, and corrupted into Feislanda or Frisland.--Forst.

[2] Mr Forster is not happy in his explanation of this word, Porlanda or Porland, which he endeavours to derive from Fara-land; precisely the same with Fris-land from Faras-land, only dropping the genitive _s_.

Porland seems used as a general name of the earldom, perhaps connected with the strange name Pomona, still used for mainland, the largest of the Orkney islands. Frisland the particular Fara islands, or one of them.--E.

[3] Sorany or Sorani, of which Sinclair is said to have been duke or lord, Mr Forster considers to have been the Sodor-oe, or southern islands of the Norwegians, or those now called the Western Islands; and traces the corruption from the Norwegian plural _Suder-oer_ contracted _Soroer_, varied _Soroen_ and trans.m.u.ted to _Sorani_. All this may be possible; but it does not appear in Scots history that the Sinclairs ever held the Western Islands, and certainly not at this period: Sorani ought therefore to be looked for in Caithness; or it may possibly refer to _Roslin_ near Edinburgh, which belonged to the family of Sinclair.--E.

[4] By this latter distinction, Zeno probably means a decked vessel.--E.

[5] It is hardly possible to mention all the little islands, and the places situated on the largest of the Orcadian Islands, which by the ancients was called Pomona, and on account of its size, is likewise called Mainland, also _Hross-ey_, i.e. _Gross-ey_, or large island. The town was called _Kirkiu-og_ or the harbour near the church, now called by the Scots, Kirkwall.--Forst.

In this note Mr Forster wanders from the subject in hand, and his observations have no reference to the present expedition. _Ledovo_ is probably the Island of Lewis, and _Ilofe_ may possibly be Hay, though that conjecture would lead them too far to the south.--E.

[6] _Sudero_, or _Suder-oe_, might mean the Western Islands so called by the Norwegians; but certainly here means some bay of Sutherland, as they here met the troops of Sinclair, who had marched by land. The town of _Sanestol_ is quite inexplicable. Though Mr Forster supposes it to have been the cl.u.s.ter of islands called Schant, or Shanti-oer, which he thinks is here corrupted into Sanestol: But, if correct in our opinion, that they must have been on the main land of Scotland, his conjecture must be erroneous. These conquests could be nothing more than predatory, incursions, strangely exaggerated.--E.

[7] This is a very early mention of salted fish, yet within the lifetime of William Beukels, the supposed inventor of the art of pickling herrings who died in 1397. Professor Sprengel has shewn that herrings were caught at _Gernemue_, or Yarmouth, so early as 1283. In Leland's Collectanea we meet with a proof that pickled herrings were sold in 1273; and there are German records which speak of them so early as 1236. Vide Gerken, Cod. Diplom. Brandenb. I. 45. and II. 45l.--Forst.

[8] This is certainly a place in the isle of Sky called Pondontown.--Forst.

[9] Britannia in this place is a.s.suredly put for Britany in France.--E.

[10] Estland is probably meant for Shetland, formerly called Yaltaland or Hitland, and afterwards changed into Zet-land and Shetland. This will appear more distinctly in the sequel, when the names given by Zeno to the particular islands of the group, come to be compared with, the modern names.--Forst.

[11] Grisland seems to be the island which lies to the eastward of Iceland, called Enkhuyzen; perhaps the island of Grims-ey to the north, of Iceland.--Forst.

[12] Probably Hamer, a place on the north of Mainland.--Forst.

[13] Engrgroneland, Groenland, or Greenland.--Forst.

[14] The poultry here mentioned in the text; must have been ptarmagans and the flesh that of the reindeer.--Forst.

[15] The lime or mortar here described, appears to be the terra puzzuolana or terras, a compound of lime and oxid of iron, which forms an indestructible cement, even under water; and the remarkably light stones ejected from the volcano, and used in the construction of their vault, were probably of pumice.--E.

[16] The greater part of this concluding paragraph must necessarily be in the language of the editor; perhaps of Ramusio. It contains, however, some palpable contradictions, since Nicolo Zeno could hardly be supposed to mention the _rest_ of the Zenos, descendants of his grand-nephew, while still living himself; neither does it appear how the sons of Nicolo got back to Venice; and there is no account of Antonio ever being allowed to return at all.--E

SECTION II.

_Sequel of the Narrative by Antonio Zeno_.

Twenty-six years ago, four fis.h.i.+ng boats, which had been overtaken by a violent storm, were driven out to sea for a great many days; and on the cessation of the tempest, they discovered an island called _Estoitland_, which lay above a thousand miles to the westward of _Frisland_. One of the boats, containing six men, was cast away upon this island; and the men, being made prisoners by the inhabitants, were conducted to a fine and populous city where the king resided, who sent for various interpreters, but none could be found except one who spoke Latin. This man, who, in like manner, had been cast by accident on the same island, asked them, by order of the king, from what country they had come; and being made acquainted with their case, the king ordered that the should stay in the country.

These orders they obeyed, as indeed they could not do otherwise, and they remained five years on the island, during which time they learned the language of the people. One of them was in various parts of the island, and affirms that it is a very rich country, abounding in every commodity and convenience in life, being little less than Iceland, but much more fertile, having a very high mountain in the centre, from whence four great rivers take their source, and traverse the whole country.

The inhabitants are a very ingenious and sensible people, and have arts and handicrafts of every kind as we have; and it is highly probable that they formerly carried on some traffic with Europe, as this man says he saw Latin books in the kings library, but which at present they do not understand; for they have a language of their own, and peculiar letters or characters in which it is written. They trade with _Engroveland_ or Greenland, and get from thence furs, brimstone, and pitch. To the south of _Estoitland_ there is a very large and populous country, which abounds with gold. The people sow corn, and make the liquor called beer, which is drank by the people of the north as wine is among us in Italy. They have large and extensive woods; make their buildings with walls; and have a great number of towns and castles. They build s.h.i.+ps and navigate the sea; but they have not the loadstone, and know nothing about the use of the compa.s.s; on which account these fishermen were held in high estimation, insomuch that the king sent them with twelve s.h.i.+ps to the southward to a country called Drogio. In their voyage thither, they had such contrary winds and stormy weather that they thought to have foundered at sea; but escaping that death, they met with a fate still more dreadful, as they were made prisoners by the savages, who are cannibals, and most of them were devoured. But the Frisland fisherman and his companions, by teaching these barbarians the way to catch fish with nets, saved their lives. This man used to go every day to the sea or the rivers, in which he caught vast quant.i.ties of fish, which he gave away among the princ.i.p.al people of the country; by which means he got into such high favour that he was beloved and respected by every body.

The fame of this man spread abroad through the whole country; and one of the lords, being very desirous to have him, that he might see and learn this new and wonderful art of catching fish, made war against the lord with whom he lived, and prevailing in consequence of his superior power and greater skill in war, the fisherman and his companions were given up to him as the price of peace. During thirteen years that he resided in these parts, he says that he was transferred in this manner to twenty-five different lords, as they were continually at war with each other to procure possession of him; so that by wandering about the country in this manner he became perfectly well acquainted with every part of it, He says that it is a very extensive country, and as it were a new world; but that the inhabitants are a rude unpolished people, without the enjoyment of any convenience of life; for, although they take or kill many wild animals in hunting, they have not the sense to make their skins into garments, but all go naked, and are miserably pinched with cold. They are besides extremely uncivilized and savage, continually engaged in wars against each other, in which they commit horrible ravages, and devour their prisoners. They know not the use of any metal, and live by the chase, being armed with spears of wood made sharp at the point, and use bows, the strings of which are made of slips of hide. They are divided into small tribes, each of which has its lord or governor, and the laws or customs of the several tribes differ much from each other. Farther to the southwest, however, the manners are more civilized in proportion to the increasing mildness of the climate; and there the people are not without some degree of knowledge, making use of gold and silver, and having cities and temples dedicated to idols, in which they offer up human sacrifices.

After residing many years among this savage people, the princ.i.p.al fisherman became desirous of returning into his own country, but his companions being without hope of ever seeing it again, wished him prosperity in his attempt, and resolved to remain where they were. Bidding them farewell, he fled through the woods, in the direction which led towards _Drogio_, and was received with great kindness by one of the lords of that country who knew, him, and who was a determined enemy to the lord from whence he had escaped.

Thus pa.s.sing from one lord to another, with all of whom he was well acquainted, as he had formerly resided with them all, he at length, and with great difficulty, arrived in Drogio, where he stayed three years. Then fortunately hearing that some small vessel had arrived on the coast, he went thither, and learned, to his unspeakable satisfaction, that they were from _Estoitland_. Upon this, he earnestly requested to be taken on board, which they did very willingly; and as he understood the language of the country, which the others did not, he became their interpreter. He afterwards made repeated voyages from _Estoitland_ to _Drogio_ and acquired great riches. After which, he equipped a bark of his own, in which he returned to _Frisland_ where he made a report to his lord of all that had befallen him, and of the discovery he had made of an extensive and wealthy country.

As this strange and marvellous story was confirmed by the testimony of the sailors he had brought along with him, it gained full credit; and accordingly Zichmni determined to send me, Antonio Zeno, with a fleet into these parts; and so great was the desire among the people to embark in this expedition, that our fleet was well manned and equipped without expence to the public. I accordingly set sail with a great number of s.h.i.+ps and men, but not commander in chief as I expected, for Zichmni went in person on the expedition. Our great preparation for the voyage to _Estoitland_ began in an unlucky hour as, three days before our departure, the fisherman died who was to have been our guide; yet Zichmni would not give up the enterprise, but took for, his guides several of the sailors who had returned with the fisherman from _Estoitland_. Shaping our course to the westwards, we pa.s.sed several islands subject to _Frisland_, and arrived at _Ledovo_, or the Lewis, where we staid a week to refresh ourselves, and to provide the fleet with necessaries. Departing thence, we arrived on the first of July off the island of _Ilofe_, or Islay; and the wind being favourable, did not stop there but stood on our voyage. Not long afterwards, being in the main sea, we were overtaken by a dreadful tempest, which tossed us to and fro, at the mercy of the winds and waves for eight days, so that we knew not whereabouts we were. By the violence of this tempest, we lost many of our vessels, but after the return of good weather, we collected the remains of our shattered fleet, and having a fair wind, we stood on to the westwards, and at length descried the coast of _Estoitland_, and arrived in a good and safe harbour. Here we saw an infinite number of armed men running furiously towards the sh.o.r.e, apparently for the purpose of defending the island. Upon this, Zichmni commanded signs of peace to be made, and the islanders sent ten men to us who could speak ten different languages; but we could understand none of these, excepting one man who happened to be an Icelander. This man was brought to our prince, and gave the following account of the country; and people.

The land was called _Icarta_, and all its kings were named _Icarus_, after the name, of its first king, who was the son of _Daedalus_ king of Scotland. This _Daedalus_ had discovered and conquered the island, and after inst.i.tuting the body of laws by which they are still governed, had left them his son to be their king. After this, _Daedalus_[1] sailed in quest of farther discoveries, but was overtaken by a violent storm and drowned. In memory of which, they named their island Icaria, the sea surrounding it the _Icarian_ sea, and all their successive kings _Icarus_.

He stated, moreover, that they were perfectly contented with the state in which they had been placed by Providence, and not choosing to make the smallest change in their manners and customs, would admit no strangers into their land; and therefore requested the prince not to attempt violating the laws of their king, of glorious memory, as any such attempt would turn to his manifest destruction, since they were resolved to sacrifice their lives in defence of their laws. They were willing, however, to receive _one_ of our men, who should be advanced to the rank of a chief, on purpose to learn our language; having already received _ten_ different men with that view from ten different nations.

Upon this _Zichmni_ sailed from the harbour, as if meaning to go away from the island; but being in want of wood and water, he skirted along the coast at some distance, and put into another harbour on the eastern side of the island with all his fleet. Here the mariners went on sh.o.r.e, and procured the necessary supplies with all possible speed, lest they might be attacked by the natives. This precaution was by no means unnecessary, for the inhabitants near this harbour made signals by fire and smoke to the rest of the country; and taking to their arms, were soon joined by others, and came down upon our men with bows and arrows, and other weapons, and in the conflict, many of them were killed, and others dangerously wounded[2]. We were therefore obliged to depart, and made a large circuit round the island, always accompanied on the sh.o.r.e and on the hills by a vast number of armed men to oppose our landing. Seeing that nothing could be done here, Zichmni set sail to the eastwards with a fair wind; and after six days sail, we came in sight of land, which we found to be a very good country, with an excellent harbour. We descried a mountain at a considerable distance, which emitted smoke, and Zichmni sent an hundred soldiers to explore the country, and to inquire if it were inhabited. In the meantime, we took in wood and water, and caught vast quant.i.ties of fish and sea-fowl, and procured immense numbers of eggs; so that our people, before almost famished, had now more provisions than they could eat. To this harbour, we gave the name of port _Trin_, and the point that stretched out into the sea was named Cape _Trin_. The soldiers who had been sent out to examine the country, returned at the end of eight days, and reported they had been all through the island, quite to the smoking mountain, and that the smoke we saw proceeded from a fire at its bottom, where there was a spring of liquid pitch which ran into the sea. They said likewise, that the interior of the island was inhabited by a wild people, who were very short in stature, and timid, and hid themselves in, caves.

On receiving this piece of intelligence, and considering that the island was blest with a pure and wholesome air, good soil, fine rivers, and many other advantages, Ziehmni resolved to people it and to build a town at Port Trin, and took, great pains to discover the whole of it, and to explore the seas on both sides of _Engroveland_, or Greenland. But many of his people began to murmur, being quite wearied with so tedious a voyage, alleging, that as the winter was fast approaching, they should not be able to return home before the ensuing summer, if they made any longer delay. On this account, retaining only the row-boats, and as many men as were willing to stay with him. Zichmni sent away all the rest of the people with the s.h.i.+ps, giving the command to me, Antonio Zeno, much against my will. Taking therefore our departure, we sailed twenty days to the eastwards, without seeing any land; on which we s.h.i.+fted our course to the south-east, and after five days, we came in sight of the island of Neome[3], so that we pa.s.sed Iceland without seeing it. We here procured refreshments from the inhabitants, who were subject to Zichmni, and sailed thence in three days to _Frisland_, where we were received with great joy, as the people thought, in consequence of our long absence, that their prince and the whole armament had been lost.

As to the particulars concerning the people and their customs, the animate, and the productions of these countries, I have written all these in a separate book, in which I have described the country, and the wonderful fishes of _Frisland, Estland_, Norway, _Estoitland, Drogio, Icaria_, and _Engroveland_, on both its sides. I have composed likewise, the life of my brother Nicolo Zeno, with an account of his discoveries; and a history of the life and acts of _Zichmni_, a prince as worthy of immortal fame as any that ever lived, having been famous for his valour, enterprising spirit, and humanity.

[1] Or Icarus, for the language in Forster is ambiguous, and does not clearly fix this important historical fact!--E.

[2] The expression is here so equivocal as to leave in doubt whether the killed and wounded were _Icarians_ or _Frislanders_, or part of both.--E.

[3] _Neome_ seems to be the isle or Stromoe, one of the Faro Islands; as it is in fact to the southward of Iceland, and only three days sail from the Orkneys, the Faras-islands, or _Frisland_ of this author.--Forst.

CHAP. XVI.

_Travels of John Schildtberger into Tartary, in 1394_[1].

John Schildtberger, a native of Munich in Bavaria, went with the army of King Sigismund of Hungary, against the Turks in 1394. In 1395, being taken prisoner, he was sent by Bajazet, whose name he always writes _Weyasit_, into Asia. In the great battle, in which Bajazet was defeated, and taken captive by Timur, Schildtberger was again made prisoner, and accompanied that conqueror in all his expeditions, till his death in 1405, at Otrar or Farab, though Schildtberger says that he died in his capital of Samarcand.

After the death of Timur, he entered into the service of Shah-Rokh, and was left by that prince among the auxiliary troops, which a.s.sisted his brother Miran-Shah against Kara-Joseph, a Turkomanian emir of the black-weather tribe. Miran-shah having been made prisoner and beheaded by Kara-Joseph, Schildtberger followed the standards of Abubekr, the son of Miran-shah.

At this time, there lived in the court of Abubekr, a prince named Zegra, a son of the khan of Great Tartary, to whom Ideku[2] sent word that he would resign to him the sovereignty of Kiptschak. Zegra accordingly set out for Great Tartary, accompanied by Schildtberger, and four others. Their route lay through _Strana_[3], which produces good silk; then through _Gursey_, Gurghia, or Georgia, which is inhabited by Christians; after this, through the country of, _Lahinsham_[4], where silk is cultivated; and through _Schurban_, or s.h.i.+rvan, where the silk is produced from which the silk stuffs of Damascus and _Kaffer_[5] are made. They next pa.s.sed through _Bursa_[6], which is situated in Turkey, and from whence the fine silk, of which velvet is manufactured, is sent to Venice and Lucca: This is an unhealthy country. Their route next lay through _Temur-capit_, Demir-Kapi or, Derbent, which signifies, in the Tartarian language, the Iron-gate, and which separates Persia from Tartary. They then went through a town of great strength, called _Origens_[7], situated in the middle of the _Edil_. After this, their way was through the mountainous country of Setzalet, in which there are many Christians, who have a bishop and some Carthusian monks, who perform the service in the Tartarian language, that the common people may understand what is sung and read. They were now arrived in Great Tartary, at the camp of Ideku, who had just a.s.sembled all his forces and was going to march into the land of _Ibissibur_[8]. In this expedition, they employed two months of continual marching; in the course of which, they crossed a range of mountains, thirty-two days journey in length, and at their extremity, there is a desert, which is the end of the world[9]; which desert is uninhabitable from the number of reptiles and wild beasts with which it is infested. These mountains are inhabited by roaming savages, who are hairy all over, except their faces and hands[10], and who subsist on green leaves and roots, or whatever they can procure. In this country, also, there, are wild a.s.ses as large as horses. The inhabitants employ dogs, as large as a.s.ses, to draw carts and sledges, and some times feed upon them. They are Christians, and they bury, their young people who die in celibacy, with music and rejoicing, eating and drinking at their graves.

In this country they cultivate nothing but beans, and they eat no bread.