ROBINSON CRUSOE. 453

This seemed to appease them a little; and accordingly the
governor sent after us, and gave us a particular account how the
thing was ; intimating withal, that if any in our caravan had
done it, they should make their escape; but that whether we
had done it or no, we should make all the haste forward that
was possible ; and that, in the mean time, he would keep them
in play as long as he could,

This was very friendly in the governor ; however, when it
came to the caravan, there was nobody knew anything of the
matter; and as for us that were guilty, we were least of all
suspected. However, the captain of the caravan for the time,
took the hint that the governor gave us, and we travelled two
days and two nights, without any considerable stop, and then
we lay at a village called Plothus:; nor did we make any long
stop here, but hastened on towards Jarawena, another of the
Czar of Muscovy’s colonies, and where we expected we should
be safe. But upon the second day’s march from Plothus, by the
clouds of dust behind us at a great distance, some of our people
began to be sensible we were pursued. We had entered a
great desert, and had passed by a great lake called Schaks
Oser, when we perceived a very great body of horse appear on -
the other side of the lake, to the north, we travelling west.
We observed they went away west, as we did, but had supposed
we would have taken that side of the lake, whereas we very
happily took the south side ; and in two days more they dis-
appeared again: for they, believing we were still before them,
pushed on till they reached the River Udda, a very great river
when it passes farther north, but when we came to it, we found
it narrow and fordable.

The third day they had either found their mistake, or and
intelligence of us, and came pouring in upon us towards the
dusk of the evening. We had, to our great satisfaction, just
pitched upon a place for our camp, which was very convenient
for the night; for as we were upon a desert, though but at
the beginning of it, that was above five hundred miles over,
we had no towns to lodge at, and, indeed, expected none but
the city Jarawena, which we had yet two days’ march to; the
desert, however, had some few woods in it on this side, and
little rivers, which ran all into the great River Udda; it was in
a narrow strait, between little but very thick woods, that we
pitched our little camp for that night, expecting to be attacked
before morning. i

Nobody knew but ourselves what we were pursued for: but
as it was usual with the Mogul Tartars to go about in troops