NOTES UPON RUSSIA, Vol II

Being a Translation of the

Earliest Account of that Country

entitled Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii

by the Baron Sigismund von Herberstein

Ambassador from the Court of Germany to the Grand Prince Vasiley Ivanovich, in the Years 1517 and 1526

. . . The Tartars are divided into hordes, amongst which the horde of Savolha stands first in numbers and in fame ; for all the other hordes are said to have derived their origin from it. The word "horde" among them signifies a concourse or multitude. But although each horde has its peculiar name, such as the horde of Savolha, Precop, Nahaisa, and many others, and all are of the Mahometan religion, yet they are highly offended if they are called Turks, and consider it a reproach, but delight in being called Besermani, a name which the Turks also are pleased to be called by. But as the regions inhabited by the Tartars are scattered far and wide in various directions, so do they differ from each other considerably in manners and mode of life. The men are of middle stature, with a broad, fat face, with eyes turned in and hollow, wearing no hair but the beard, shaving the rest of their hair; the more distinguished persons only wear their hair, which is very black, and curling down to their ears; they are strong in frame and of a daring courage, preposterously depraved in the indulgence of their passions, and feeding contentedly on the flesh of animals in whatever manner they may have been killed, except pork, from which they are obliged to abstain by law. They are so patient under the want of food and sleep that they will sometimes endure these privations for four days together, without in the least relaxing any needful exertion. Again, when they by chance have lighted upon something to eat, they gorge themselves beyond measure, leaving nothing uneaten; and with this kind of surfeit they make amends for their previous fasting. When thus overcome by food and labour they sleep continuously for three or four days, and while in this state of deep sleep the Lithuanians and Russians, into whose country they are accustomed to make sudden irruptions and carry away much booty, fall upon them, and, defenceless as they are, having no sentinels nor any order amongst them, by degrees overwhelm them. Moreover, if during a long ride they are troubled with hunger or thirst, it is a practice to lance the veins of the horses on which they sit, and relieve their craving by drawing their blood; and they think that this is an advantage to the animals. As they nearly all wander on uncertain tracks, they are accustomed to direct their course by the observation of the stars, especially the polar star, called in their language Selesnicoll, which means an iron nail.

They are particularly found of mare's milk, for they think that it makes men fat and strong: they use many herbs for food, especially those which grow near the river Don: very few use salt. Their kings, on occasions when they distribute food to their people, are accustomed to give one cow or one horse amongst forty men; and when these are killed, the chief men take only the intestines and divide them amongst themselves, warming them first at the fire to cleanse them before eating them: they not only complacently lick and suck their fingers, greasy with the fat, but also both the knife and its. handle which have been used for the cleansing process. They consider horses' heads as great a luxury as we do boars' heads, and they are only served at the tables of men of rank. They have abundance of horses, low in the neck and small, but strong, alike able to endure labour and want of food, and to support themselves on the boughs and bark of trees, or on the roots of herbs, which they scratch out of the earth with their feet. These horses, thus inured to labour, are used with great effect by the Tartars ; and the Russians say they are far swifter when ridden by Tartars than by other men. This breed of horses is called Pachmat. Their saddles and stirrups are of wood, unless they happen to seize or purchase any from the Christians. To save their horses' backs from being rubbed, they protect them with grass or the leaves of trees. They swim across rivers; and if they happen to be fleeing from an enemy whose force they greatly dread, they throw away saddles and dresses, and all their baggage, and escape in the greatest confusion. Their arms are bows and arrows; a sword is rarely found amongst them. They enter into a contest with the enemy with the greatest boldness from a distance; they do not, however, continue this mode of warfare long, but pretending flight, take an opportunity while their enemies are pursuing them to discharge their arrows backwards, and then, when the ranks of the enemy are broken, turn their horses suddenly round and attack them. When a battle is to be fought upon their native plains, and they have the enemy within arrows' flight, they do not enter into the engagement in regular battle-array, but draw out their forces into a winding circle, so as to afford themselves a freer and more certain opportunity of discharging their weapons at the enemy. They observe a wonderful degree of order, both in advancing and retreating ; for performing which manoeuvres they have leaders, who are very skilful in these matters; but if these should happen to fall under the enemy's weapons, or through fear should make an error in generalship, the confusion of the entire army becomes so great that they cannot again be restored to order, nor be prevailed upon to turn their shafts against the enemy. This kind of contest, they themselves, from the resemblance, call a dance ; but if threatened with an engagement in a narrow defile, this stratagem cannot be used, and in that case they betake themselves to flight, because they are not armed either with shield, lance, or helmet, so as to be able to meet the enemy in an engagement hand to hand. Their style of riding is such, that they sit with the feet drawn up towards the saddle, so as to be able to turn round easily to either side; and if anything should happen to fall which they wish to pickup, they can lean upon their stirrups and easily lift it; and they are so skilful in this manoeuvre, that they can perform it while their horses are galloping. When attacked with spears, they avoid the adversary's blow by suddenly lowering themselves on the opposite side, only holding on to their horses with one hand and foot. When they go out on ravaging expeditions to the neighbouring provinces, each man takes with him two or three horses as a supply, so that when one is tired out he may use one of the others: they lead the weary horses meanwhile by the hand. Their bridles are very light, and they use whips instead of spurs; they only use geldings in warfare, because they consider them more capable of sustaining fatigue and abstinence. The men use a similar dress to that of the women, except that the latter cover the head with a linen veil, and wear linen breeches like those of sailors. When their queens go into public they are accustomed to cover their faces; but the rest of the people, who live a roving life in the fields, wear dresses made of sheeps' skins, which they never change until they are entirely worn out and ragged with long use. They never stay for any length of time in one spot, for they consider it a great calamity to be obliged to remain long in the same place; hence, when they are angry with their children, and wish to utter a heavy imprecation against them, they are accustomed to say, "may you abide in one place continually like a Christian, and inhale your own stink!" So that when they have consumed the pasture which they may find on one spot, they migrate elsewhere, together with their cattle, wives, and children, which they always lead about with them in marshy places. Those, however, who live in towns and cities follow another course of life ; when they are engaged in a war at all of a serious character, they place their wives, children, and old men, in the safest spots they can find . . .

Of Their Wild Beasts <in Lithuania>

Lithuania possesses other wild beasts, besides such as are found in Germany, namely, bisons, buffaloes, and alees, which are wild horses, called by some onagri [wild asses]. The Lithuanians call the bison, in their own language, "suber". The Germans improperly call it "aurox" or "urox", which name better suits the buffalo, which manifestly has the form of an ox, while the bison is a very dissimilar kind of animal; for the bisons have inanes, and are hairy about the neck and shoulders, with a kind of beard hanging from their chins, their hair smelling of musk, their heads short, their eyes large and fierce, as if they were on fire, and their foreheads broad, with horns generally so wide apart and stretched out, that the space would take in three tolerably stout men; a fact which was shown by Sigismund, King of Poland, father of the present King Sigismund Augustus, whom we know to have been a man of well-built and strong frame, who tried the dangerous experiment with two others of no less bulk than himself. The back of the bison is raised as with a kind of hump, the anterior and posterior parts of the body being mote depressed.

Those who hunt the bison had need be men of great strength, agility, and cunning. A suitable spot for the hunt is selected, where there are trees growing at equal distances from each other, with trunks of moderate thickness, so that it may be easy to run round them, and yet sufficiently large to protect the body of a man. Each of the hunters places himself at. one of these trees, and when the bison has been rouged by the dogs that are set upon -him, and is driven towards the spot, he rushes with great ferocity upon the first hunter who presents himself. The latter, however, protects himself by placing the tree between them, and strikes the beast with a hunting-spear, wherever he can; the animal does not often fall under the blow, but, exasperated with fury, not only tosses with his horns, but also darts out his tongue, which is so rough and strong, that if it only touch the garment of the hunter, it will lay hold of it and draw him, and the beast will never leave him until he has killed him. But if the huntsman should become weary with chasing about and striking, he presents to the beast his red cap, against which he will rage both with feet and horns. If, however, another of the hunters wishes to join the contest before the beast is slain, which must be done if the men wish to get away with a whole skin, it is easy to call off the beast against himself by once shouting the barbarous cry of "lululu!"

Masovia, which borders on Lithuania, is the only province which has in it the kind of buffalo which in the language of the country is called thur, but which we Germans may with propriety call urox. They are a sort of wild oxen, not unlike tame oxen, except that they are entirely black, with a line down the back having white blended with it. They are not very plentiful, and there are certain districts which are charged with the care of them; and it is only in some few preserves that they are kept. They are allowed to herd with tame cows. but have a mark set upon them to distinguish them. This is done because they are afterwards looked upon as degraded by the other buffaloes, and axe not admitted into their herd; and the calves which are produced by the cross breed are not long lived. The King Sigismund Augustus, at the time I was ambassador at his court, made me a present of one which was just dropped, and which the hunters had taken, driven half-lifeless from the herd. It had the skin which covers the forehead cut away, which I suppose was done for some purpose, but from thoughtlessness I neglected to enquire why it was done. This is certain, that girdles made of the hide of the urox axe much esteemed, and it is a vulgar opinion that parturition is assisted by wearing them. Queen Bona, the mother of Sigismund Augustus, presented to me two girdles of this kind, one of which my most serene mistress, the Queen of the Romans, graciously accepted as a present from me.

There is an animal in Lithuania, named in their language "loss", which the Germans call "ellem", and to which others give the Latin name " alee". <Footnote: this is the elk.> The Poles maintain that it is the "onager", which means wild ass; but it does not correspond in form to that animal, for it has cloven hoofs, although it is true that some are found with the hoof solid, but this is of rare occurrence. The animal is taller than a stag, with rather prominent ears and nostrils, with horns somewhat differing from those of a stag, and of a colour more tending to white. It is very swift of foot; it does not run like other animals, but rather with an ambling gait. Their hoofs are worn as amulets against the falling sickness.

In the desert plains about the Dnieper, the Don, and the Volga, is a wild sheep, called by the Poles "solhae", by the Russians "seigack", of the size of a doe, but with shorter hoofs, with high stretching horns, marked with rings, of which the Russians make transparent knife-handles. They are swift of foot, and take very lofty leaps. <Footnote: This is either the capra ibex, or capra segagrus, two allied species belonging to the genus agocems of Pallas.>

A Hunting Party

. . . It is, moreover, the common custom for the prince to invite ambassadors, after their business is concluded, to join him in the amusement of hunting. There is, near Moscow, a place planted with thickets, forming an excellent preserve for hares, in which a very great number of hares are preserved, as in a warren, and no one dare catch them. or cut the plantations, under a very heavy penalty. He also has a great number of chaces and other places for preserving game, and whenever he wishes to enjoy this amusement, he orders hares to be brought from different places ; for the more hares he takes, the greater amusement does he think it, and the greater is the honour that he thinks he has gained to himself. Also, when he comes into the field, he sends some of his councillors, together with some of the courtiers or knights, to summon the ambassadors to his presence. When they are brought to him, and approach the prince's presence, they are required, at the suggestion of the councillors, to alight from their horses, and to advance some steps towards the prince. When we were brought to him in this manner, during the hunt, he was sitting on a richly-caparisoned horse, and covered with a splendid robe, and taking off his gloves, but keeping his head covered, he received us condescendingly; and, holding out his bare hand, said, through an interpreter, " We have come out for our amusement; we have summoned you to take part in it, hoping that you may derive pleasure therefrom: mount your horses, therefore, and follow us." He had on his head a cap called a " kolpack",with jewelled ornaments hanging on each side, from back to front, from which rose plates of gold in the form of feathers, moving up and down with his motion. His robe was like the terlick, and made of cloth of gold. From his girdle hung small knives, after the fashion of the country, as well as a dagger; behind him hung, below his girdle, a kind of weapon like a caestus, such as they commonly use in war. The handle is somewhat more than a cubit long, with a thong of two palms' length attached to it; at the end. of which is a knob . or kind of block, of brass or iron, which is gilt all over. At the right side of the prince was the banished Tartar King of Kasan, named Scheale, and on the left two young knesi, one of whom carried an ivory hatchet, which they call "topar",very like what we see stamped on Hungarian coins. The other carried a club, also like an Hungarian club, which they call " schestpero", which means six-winged. King Scheale carried two quivers at his girdle, one of which contained his arrows and the other his bow. There were more than three hundred horsemen in the field. As we rode along, the prince would order us from time to time to stop at this or the other place, and occasionally to come nearer to him. When we reached the hunting ground, he spoke to us and said, that it was the custom whenever he amused himself with hunting, for himself and other gentlemen of rank to lead the hounds with their own hands, and recommended us to do the same. He then appointed two men to each of us, each of whom led a dog for our own especial amusement. To which we replied, that we gratefully accepted this favour; and told him that such was the custom also in our own country: but he made this remark by way of excuse, because a dog is regarded among them as an unclean animal, and it is a defilement to touch a dog with the naked hand. Moreover, about two hundred men stood in long array, one half of whom were dressed in black, and the other in yellow; not far from them stood all the other horsemen, to prevent the hares from running through and escaping. Nor was any one permitted from the commencement to let a hound slip, except King Scheale and ourselves. The prince first cried out to the huntsman, ordering him to commence the sport, and he immediately galloped at full speed to the other huntsmen, who were there in great number, and who all of them at once gave the halloo, and let loose both the mastiffs and grey-hounds, and a merry thing it was to hear the cry of so many different kinds of dogs, for they have a great many kinds of most excellent hounds. Some of them called "kurtzi", are only intended for hunting hares; they are very handsome, with hairy tails and cars; generally bold dogs, but not adapted for going over much ground. When the hare shows herself, three, four, five, or more dogs are slipped, and set after her on all sides; and when she is taken, there is loud hallooing, as if they had takien a large wild beast. If the hares happen to run out somewhat slowly, the prince immediately calls to any one whom he may see in the thickets, holding a hare in a bag, and cries out to him, "hui ! hui !" which means that he is to let the hare loose. Thus the hares sometimes come out as if they were asleep, and leap about amongst the dogs, just as goats or larnbs do in the midst of the flocks. He is thought to have done the cleverest day's work whose dog catches the greatest number of hares. The prince himself openly praised the ambassador whose dog caught the greatest .number.

When the chase was over, all mustered together, and brought the hares they had caught into one place; and when they were counted, the number amounted to about three hundred. The prince's horses which were used on that occasion were not so numerous or so handsome as I should have expected; for on my first embassy, when I was present at a similar entertainment, I saw a far greater number of beautiful horses, especially of that race which we call Turkish, but which they call " argamak". There were also a great number of falcons, some white and some purple, and remarkable for their size, such as we call gyrfalcons, and they " kretzet", which they use for taking swans, and cranes, and other birds of that kind.

The kretzet are very bold birds, but not so fierce or so formidable in their attack, that other birds, even birds of prey, should fall down and die at the sight of them flying in the air, as a certain person, in writing of the two Sarmatias, <footnote: this is the writer Miechov) has fabulously related. It is, indeed, consistent with experience, that if any one is hunting with a hawk or nisus, or any other falcon, and a kretzet, which they immediately detect by its flight from a long distance, should fly towards them, they dare not pursue their prey any further, but become frightened, and stop in their career.

Trustworthy, and indeed distinguished, gentlemen have told me, that the kretzet, when they are taken from the places where they make their nest, are sometimes shut up, four, five, or six together, in a kind of carriage prepared for that purpose, and that they observe a certain order of seniority in taking the food which is offered them,-whether it is by reason, or instinct, or by what process this is done, is uncertain. Moreover. in the same degree as they are fiercer and rapacious in their attack upon, other birds, they are very gentle amongst themselves, and never use their beaks against each other. They never wash themselves in water like other birds, but only use the sand, with which they clear themselves of lice. They take so much pleasure in the cold, that they make a practice of standing either upon ice or upon stone.

I return to my subject. The prince, after the hunt, proceeded to a certain tower constructed of wood, at five miles distance from Moscow., where certain tents were stretched. The first, which was like a house, was for himself; the second for King Scheale; the third for us; then others for different persons and purposes: and after we had arranged ourselves in them, the prince also entered his tent, and changing his dress, immediately sent for us ; and when we had entered, seated himself on a chair of ivory. On his right sat King Scheale (Scheik Ali), and we opposite, on a seat allotted to ambassadors at times when an audience is given to them, or when they have matters of business to treat about. Below the king sat certain knesi and councillors, and on the left side such of the younger knesi as were honoured with the prince's especial favour and regard. When all were seated, there were first brought some confections (as they call them) of coriander aniseed, and almonds; then nuts, almonds, and a whole pyramid of sugar, which the servants presented on their knees to the prince, the king, and ourselves. The drink was presented in a similar manner; and the prince showed his favours in the same way as he does at dinners. In my first embassy we had dinner at that place; and it happened, that through the tent being shaken, the bread, which they call the "Blessed Virgin's bread", and which they worship and eat as consecrated bread, and keep with great reverence deposited in some distinguished part of the house, fell on the ground, and the prince and all the rest were so thunderstruck at the accident, that they stood trembling until a priest was sent for, who picked it up from the grass with the greatest care and reverence. When the collation was finished, and we had taken the cup sent to us by the prince and drunk, he dismissed us, saying, " Now depart". After our dismissal, we were escorted with all honour to our hotels . . .

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