This happy occasion, as I thought, of coming into a Christian country, made me congratulate the Scots merchant upon it. He smiled at that, telling me not to rejoice too soon; for, said he, except the Russian soldiers in garrison, and a few inhabitants of the cities upon the road, all the rest of this country, for above a thousand miles, is inhabited by the most ignorant and barbarous Pagans.
We advanced from the river Arguna, by moderate journies and found convenient garrisons on the road, filled with Christian soldiers for the security of commerce, and for the convenient lodgings of travellers: but the inhabitants of the country were mere Pagans, worshiping the sun, moon, and stars. We particularly observed this idolatry near the river Arguna, at a city inhabited by Tartars and Russians, called Nerisinkey. Being curious to see their way of living, while the caravan continued to rest themselves in that city, I went to one of their villages, where there was to be one of their solemn sacrifices.
There I beheld upon the stump of an old tree, an idol of wood, more ugly than the representation of the devil himself: its head resembled no living creature; its ears were as big and as high as goat's horns, a crooked nose, four-cornered mouth, and horrible teeth: it was clothed in sheep skins, had a great Tartar bonnet, with two horns growing thro' it, and was eight feet high, without feet, legs or proportion. Before this idol their lay sixteen or seventeen people, who brought their offerings, and were making their prayers, while at a distance stood three men and one bullock, as victims to this ugly monster.
Such stupendous sacrilege as this, in robbing the true God of his honour, filled me with the greatest astonishment and reflection: which soon turning to rage and fury, I rode up to the image, and cut in pieces the bonnet that was upon his head with my sword, so that it hung down by one of the horns, while one of my men that was with me pulled at it by his sheep-skin garment. Immediately an hideous howling and outcry ran through the village, and two or three hundred people coming about our ears, we were obliged to fly for it.
But I had not done with the monster; for the caravan being to rest three nights in the town, I told the Scots merchant what I had seen, and that I was resolved to take four or five men well armed with me, in order to destroy the idol, and show the people how little reason they had to trust in a god who could not save himself. At first he laughed at me, representing the danger of it, and when it was destroyed, what time had we to preach to them better things, whole zeal and ignorance was in the highest degree, and both unparalleled? that if I should be taken by them, I should be served as a poor ruffian, who contemned their worship; that is, to be stripped naked, and tied to the top of the idol, there shot at with arrows till my body was fall of them, and then burnt as a sacrifice to the monster; but Sir, said he, since your zeal carries you so far, rather than you should be alone I will accompany you, and bring a stout fellow equal to yourself, if you will, to assist you in this design: and accordingly he brought one Captain Richardson, who, hearing the story, readily consented; but my partner declined it, being altogether out of his way: and so we three, and my servant, resolved to execute this exploit about midnight; but upon second thoughts we deferred it to the next night, by reason that the caravan being to go from hence the next morning, we should be out of the governor's power. The better to effectuate my design, I procured a Tartar's sheep-skin robe, a bonnet, with bow and arrows, and every one of us got the like habits, the first night we spent in mixing combustible matter with aqua vitae, gunpowder, &c. having a good quantity of tar in a little pot: next night we came up to the idol about eleven o'clock, the moon being up. We found none guarding it; but we perceived a light in the house, where we had seen the priests before. One of our men was for firing the hut, another for killing the people, and a third for making them prisoners, while the idol was destroyed. We agreed to the latter; so knocking at the door, we seized the first that opened it, and stopping his mouth and tying his feet, we left him. We served the other two in the like manner; and then the Scots merchant set fire to the composition, which frightened them so much, that we brought them all away prisoners to their wooden god. There we fell to work with him, daubing him all over with tar mixed with tallow and brimstone stopping his eyes, ears, and mouth full of gunpowder, with a great piece of wild-fire in his bonnet, and environed it with dry forage. All this being done, we unloosed and ungagged the prisoners, and set the idol on fire, which the gunpowder blowing up, the shape of it was deformed, rent and split, which the forage utterly consumed; for we staid to see its destruction, lest the ignorant idolatrous people should have thrown themselves into the flames, And thus we came away undiscovered, in the morning appearing as busy among our fellow travellers, as no body could have suspected any other, but that we had been in our beds all night.
Next morning we let out, and had gone but a small distance from the city, when there came a multitude of people of the country to the gates of the city, demanding satisfaction of the Ruffian governor for insulting their priests, and burning their great Cham Cai-Thaungu, who dwelt in the sun, and no mortal would violate this image but some Christian miscreants; and being already no less than thirty thousand strong, they announced war against him and all his Christians.
The governor assured them he was ignorant of the matter, and that none of his garrison had been abroad; that indeed there was a caravan that went away that morning, and that he would send after them to inquire into it; and whoever was the offender, should be delivered into their hands. This satisfied them for the present, but the governor sent to inform us, that if any of us had done it, we should make all the haste away possible, while he kept them in play as long as he could. Upon this we marched two days and two nights, stopping but very little, till at last we arrived at a village called Plothus, and hasted to Jerawena, another of the Czar's colonies. On the third day, having entered the desert, and passed the lake called Shaks Oser, we beheld a numerous body of horde on the other side or it to the north, who supposed we had passed on that side of the lake; but either having found the mistake, or being certainly informed of the way we took, they came upon us towards the dusk of the evening, just as we had pitched our camp between two little but very thick woods, with a little river running before our front and some felled trees with which we covered our rear; a precaution we always took, and which we had just finished when the enemy came up. They did not fall on us immediately, but sent three messengers, demanding the men who had insulted their priests, & burnt their god, Cham Chi-Thaungu, that they might be burnt with fire; that if this was complied with, they would peaceably depart; but if not, they would destroy one and all of us. Our men stared at one another on receipt of this message, but Nobody was the word, as indeed nobody knew it, but he who did it. Upon which the leader of the caravan returned for answer, That they were peaceable merchants, who meddled with none of their priests and gods and therefore desired, them not to disturb us, and put us to the necessity of defending ourselves. But do far was this from satisfying them, that the next morning coming to our right, they let fly a volley of arrows among us, which happily did not hurt any, because we sheltered ourselves behind our baggage. We expected however to come to a closer engagement; but were happily saved by a cunning fellow, a Cossack, who obtaining leave of the leader to go out, mounts his horse, rides directly from our rear, and taking a circuit, comes up to the Tartars, as tho he had been sent express, and tells them a formal story, that the wretches who had burnt the Cham Chi-Thaungu, were gone to Shiheilka, with a resolution to burn the god Shal-Ifar, belonging to the Tongueses. Upon which, believing this cunning Tartar, who was servant to our Muscovites, away they drove to Shiheilka, and in less than three minutes were out of sight, nor did we ever hear of them more.
When we came to the city of Jarawena, we rested five days, and then entered into a frightful desert, which held us twenty-three days march, infested with several small companies of robbers, or Mogul Tartars, who never had the courage to attack us. After we had passed over this desert, we found several garisons to defend the caravans from the violence of the Tartars. In particular the Governor of Adinskoy offered us a guard of fifty men to the next station, if we apprehended any danger. The people here retained the same paganism and barbarity, only they were not so dangerous, being conquered by the Muscovites. The clothing, both of men & women, is of the skins of beasts, living under the ground in vaults & caves, which have a communication with one another. They have idols almost in every family; besides, they adore the sun and stars, water and snow; and the least uncommon thing that happens in the elements, alarms them as much as thunder and lightning does the unbelieving Jews.
Nothing remarkable occurred in our march through this country. When we had gone through the desert, after two days farther travel; we came to Jenezoy, a Muscovite city, on the great river so called, which we were told, parted Europe from Asia. The inhabitants here were very little better, though intermixed with the Muscovites, but the wonder will cease, when I inform my readers of what was observed to me, that the Czar rather converts the Tartars with soldiers than clergymen, and is more proud to make them faithful subjects, than good Christians.