500 THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES

They were far from being satisfied with this for an answer, and a
great crowd of them came down in the morning, by break of day, to
nur camp; but, seeing us in such an advantageous situation, they durst
come no further than the brook in our front, where they stood, and
showed us such a number, as, indeed, terrified us very much; for those
that spoke least of them, spoke of ten thousand. Here they stood,
and looked at us a while; and then, setting up a grand howl, they let
tly a cloud of arrows among us; but we were well enough fortified for
that, for we were sheltered under our baggage; and I do not remember
that one man of us was hurt.

Some time after this we saw them move a little to our right, and
expected them on the rear, when a cunning fellow, a Cossack, as they
call them, of Jarawena, in the pay of the Muscovites, calling to the
leader of the caravan, said to him, ‘I will send all these people away
to Sibeilka.” This was a city four or five days’ journey at least to the
south, and rather behind us. So he takes his bow and arrows, and,
getting on horseback, he rides away from our rear directly, as it were,
back to Nertzinskay; after this, he takes a great circuit about, and
comes to the army of the Tartars, as if he had been sent express to
tell them a long story, that the people who had burnt their Cham-Chi-
Thaungu were gone to Sibeilka, with a caravan of miscreants, as he
called them; that is to say, Christians; and that they were resolved
to burn the god Scal Isarg, belonging to the Tonguses.

As this fellow was a mere Tartar, and perfectly spoke their lan-
guage, he counterfeited so well that they all took it from him, and
away they drove, in a most violent hurry, to Sibeilka, which, it seems,
was five days’ journey to the south; and, in less than three hours,
they were entirely out of our sight, and we never heard any more of
them, nor ever knew whether they went to that other place called
Sibeilka or no.

So we passed safely on to the city of Jarawena, where there was a
garrison of Muscovites; and there we rested five days, the caravan
being exceedingly fatigued with the last day’s march, and with want
of rest in the night.

From this city we had a frightful desert, which held us three-and-
twenty days’ march. We furnished ourselves with some tents here,
for the better accommodating ourselves in the night; and the leader
of the caravan procured sixteen carriages, or wagons, of the country,
for carrying our water and provisions; and these carriages were our
defence every night round our little camp; so that had the Tartars
appeared, unless they had been very numerous indeed, they would not
have been able to hurt us.