“The present proved more acceptable to the lady than her lord intended. She could speak Italian; and Smith in that language not only informed her of his country and quality, but conversed with her in so pleasing a manner as to gain her affections. The connection proved so tender, that to secure him for herself, and to prevent his being ill-used, she sent him to her brother, the bashaw of Nalbraitz, in the country of the Cambrian Tartars on the borders of the sea of Azoph. Her pretence was, that he should there learn the manners and language as well as religion of the Tartars.
“By the terms in which she wrote to her brother, he suspected her design, and resolved to disappoint her. Within an hour after Smith’s arrival he was stripped, his head and beard were shaven, an iron collar was put about his neck, he was clothed with a coat of hair-cloth, and driven to labor among the Christian slaves.
“He had now no hope of redemption, but from the love of his mistress, who was at a great distance, and not likely to be informed of his misfortunes. The hopeless condition of his fellow slaves could not alleviate his despondency.
“In the depth of his distress an opportunity presented for an escape, which to a person of less courageous and adventurous spirit would have been an aggravation of misery. He was employed in threshing at a grange in a large field, about a league from the house of his tyrant; who in his daily visits treated him with abusive language, accompanied with blows and kicks.
“This was more than Smith could bear; wherefore watching an opportunity, when no other person was present, he levelled a stroke at him with his threshing instrument, which dispatched him.
“Then hiding his body in the straw, and shutting the door, he filled a bag with grain, mounted the bashaw’s horse, and betaking himself to the desert, wandered for two or three days, ignorant of the way, and so fortunate as not to meet with a single person, who might give information of his flight.
“At length he came to a post, erected in a cross road, by the marks on which he found the way to Muscovy, and in sixteen days he arrived at Exapolis, on the river Don; where was a Russian garrison, the commander of which, understanding that he was a Christian, received him courteously, took off his iron collar, and gave him letters to the other governors in that region.
“Thus he travelled through part of Russia and Poland, till he got back to his friends in Transylvania; receiving presents in his way from many persons of distinction, among whom he particularly mentions a charitable lady, Callamata, being always proud of his connection with that sex, and fond of acknowledging their favors. At Leipsic he met with his colonel, Count Meldrich, and Sigismund, prince of Transylvania, who gave him one thousand five hundred ducats to repair his losses.
“With this money he was enabled to travel through Germany, France, and Spain, and having visited the kingdom of Morocco, he returned by sea to England; having in his passage enjoyed the pleasure of another naval engagement.
“At his arrival in his native country, he had a thousand ducats in his purse, which, with the interest he had remaining in England, he devoted to seek adventures and make discoveries in North America.”