My young lord had with him a faithful Muscovite servant, or rather a Siberian servant, who was perfectly acquainted with the country; and who led us by private roads, that we avoided coming into the principal towns and cities upon the great road, such as Tumen, Soloy Kamaskoy, and several others; because the Muscovite garrisons, which are kept there, are very curious and strict in their observation upon travellers, and searching lest any of the banished persons of note should make their escape that way into Muscovy; but by this means, as we were kept out of the cities, so our whole journey was a desert, and we were obliged to encamp and lie in our tents, when we might have had good accommodation in the cities on the way: this the young lord was so sensible of, that he would not allow us to lie abroad, when we came to several cities on the way; but lay abroad himself, with his servant, in the woods, and met us always at the appointed places.
We were just entered Europe, having passed the river Kama, which, in these parts, is the boundary between Europe and Asia; and the first city on the European side was called Soloy Kamaskoy, which is as much as to say, the great city on the river Kama; and here we thought to have seen some evident alteration in the people, their manners, their habit, their religion, and their business; but we were mistaken; for as we had a vast desert to pass, which, by relation, is near seven hundred miles long in some places, but not above two hundred miles over where we passed it; so, till we came past that horrible place, we found very little difference between that country and the Mogul Tartary; the people mostly Pagans, and little better than the savages of America; their houses and towns full of idols, and their way of living wholly barbarous, except in the cities as above, and the villages near them; where they are Christians, as they call themselves, of the Greek church; but even these have their religion mingled with so many relics of superstition, that it is scarce to be known in some places from mere sorcery and witchcraft.
In passing this forest, I thought indeed we must, after all our dangers were, in our imagination, escaped, as before, have been plundered and robbed, and perhaps murdered, by a troop of thieves: of what country they were; whether the roving bands of the Ostiachi, a kind of Tartars, or wild people on the banks of the Oby, had ranged thus far; or whether they were the sable-hunters of Siberia, I am yet at a loss to know; but they were all on horseback, carried bows and arrows, and were at first about five-and-forty in number. They came so near to us as within about two musket shot; and, asking no questions, they surrounded us with their horses, and looked very earnestly upon us twice. At length they placed themselves just in our way; upon which we drew up in a little line before our camels, being not above sixteen men in all; and being drawn up thus, we halted, and sent out the Siberian servant who attended his lord, to see who they were: his master was the more willing to let him go, because he was not a little apprehensive that they were a Siberian troop sent out after him. The man came up near them with a flag of truce, and called to them; but though he spoke several of their languages, or dialects of languages rather, he could not understand a word they said: however, after some signs to him not to come nearer to them at his peril, so he said he understood them to mean, offering to shoot at him if he advanced, the fellow came back no wiser than he went, only that by their dress, he said, he believed them to be some Tartars of Kalmuck, or of the Circassian hordes; and that there must be more of them on the great desert, though he never heard that ever any of them were seen so far north before.
This was small comfort to us; however, we had no remedy: there was on our left hand, at about a quarter of a mile’s distance, a little grove or clump of trees, which stood close together, and very near the road; I immediately resolved we should advance to those trees, and fortify ourselves as well as we could there; for, first, I considered that the trees would in a great measure cover us from their arrows; and in the next place, they could not come to charge us in a body: it was, indeed, my old Portuguese pilot who proposed it; and who had this excellency attending him, namely, that he was always readiest and most apt to direct and encourage us in cases of the most danger. We advanced immediately with what speed we could, and gained that little wood, the Tartars, or thieves, for we knew not what to call them, keeping their stand, and not attempting to hinder us. When we came thither, we found, to our great satisfaction, that it was a swampy, springy piece of ground, and, on the other side, a great spring of water, which, running out in a little rill or brook, was a little farther joined by another of the like bigness; and was, in short, the head or source of a considerable river, called afterwards the Wirtska. The trees which grew about this spring were not in all above two hundred, but were very large, and stood pretty thick; so that as soon as we got in, we saw ourselves perfectly safe from the enemy, unless they alighted and attacked us on foot.
But to make this more difficult, our Portuguese, with indefatigable application, cut down great arms of the trees, and laid them hanging, not cut quite off, from one tree to another; so that he made a continued fence almost round us.
We staid here, waiting the motion of the enemy some hours, without perceiving they made any offer to stir; when about two hours before night, they came down directly upon us; and, though we had not perceived it, we found they had been joined by some more of the same, so that they were near fourscore horse, whereof, however, we fancied some were women. They came in till they were within half a shot of our little wood, when we fired one musket without ball, and called to them in the Russian tongue, to know what they wanted, and bid them keep off; but, as if they knew nothing of what we said, they came on with a double fury directly to the wood-side, not imagining we were so barricaded, that they could not break in. Our old pilot was our captain, as well as he had been our engineer; and desired of us, not to fire upon them till they came within pistol shot, that we might be sure to kill; and that, when we did fire, we should be sure to take good aim. We bade him give the word of command; which he delayed so long, that they were, some of them, within two pikes length of us when we fired.
We aimed so true, (or Providence directed our shot so sure) that we killed fourteen of them at the first volley, and wounded several others, as also several of their horses; for we had all of us loaded our pieces with two or three bullets apiece at least.
They were terribly surprised with our fire, and retreated immediately about one hundred rods from us; in which time we loaded our pieces again, and, seeing them keep that distance, we sallied out, and caught four or five of their horses, whose riders, we supposed, were killed; and coming up to the dead, we could easily perceive they were Tartars, but knew not from what country, or how they came to make an excursion such an unusual length.
About an hour after, they made a motion to attack us again, and rode round our little wood, to see where else they might break in; but finding us always ready to face them, they went off again, and we resolved not to stir from the place for that night.
We slept but little, you may be sure; but spent the most part of the night in strengthening our situation, and barricading the entrances into the wood; and, keeping a strict watch, we waited for daylight, and, when it came, it gave us a very unwelcome discovery indeed: for the enemy, who we thought were discouraged with the reception they had met with, were now increased to no less than three hundred, and had set up eleven or twelve huts and tents, as if they were resolved to besiege us; and this little camp they had pitched, was upon the open plain, at about three quarters of a mile from us. We were indeed surprised at this discovery; and now, I confess, I gave myself over for lost, and all that I had. The loss of my effects did not lie so near me (though they were very considerable) as the thoughts of falling into the hands of such barbarians, at the latter end of my journey, after so many difficulties and hazards as I had gone through; and even in sight of our port, where we expected safety and deliverance. As for my partner, he was raging: he declared, that to lose his goods would be his ruin; and he would rather die than be starved; and he was for fighting to the last drop.