608 CROSSING THE DESERT.

Sibeilka, with a caravan of miscreants, as he called them, that is
to say, Christians; and that they had resolved to burn the god
Schal-Isar belonging to the Tongueses.

As this fellow was himself a mere Tartar, and perfectly spoke
their language, 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 north; and in less
than three hours they were entirely out of our sight, and we never
heard any more of them; and we never 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 hard 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 waggons 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.

We may well be supposed to want rest again after this long
journey ; for in this desert we saw abundance of the sable-hunters,
as they called them. These are all Tartars of the Mogul Tartary,
of which this country is a part; and they frequently attack small
caravans, but we saw no numbers of them together. I was curious
to see the sable-skins they catched, but could never speak with
any of them; for they durst not come near us, neither durst we
straggle from our company to go near them.

After we had passed this desert we came into a country pretty
well inhabited ; that is to say, we found towns and castles, settled
by the Czar of Muscovy, with garrisons of stationary soldiers to
protect the caravans, and defend the country against the Tartars,
who would otherwise make it very dangerous travelling ; and his
ezarish majesty has given such strict orders for the well guarding
the caravans and merchants, that if there are any Tartars heard of