skin, and worship it as a god; offering up to it the furs of sables,
ermines, grey squirrels, and foxes, which they hang among the boughs of the
sacred tree, just as we offer up wax-lights to the images of the saints.
The food of this people consists mostly of flesh, and that chiefly of
venison, got by hunting; but they likewise catch abundance of fish in the
rivers of their country. Many of the Tartars are idolaters, and carry the
idols which they worship about with them, on carts, in their moveable huts;
and some of them have the strange custom of worshipping each day, the
animal they meet first in a morning, after going out of their houses.

The grand duke of Russia has likewise conquered Nowgorod, or Novogorod[34].
This is an extensive province, about eight days journey to the north-west
of Moscow, which was formerly a republic. The inhabitants were without
sense or reason, and had a great many heretics among them; but at present,
the catholic faith makes its way among them by degrees, though some are
still misbelievers. In the meantimes, however, they lead more rational
lives, and justice is properly administered.

Poland is twenty-two days journey from Moscow; and the first place we come
to in Poland is a fortified town, called Trocki, or Trozk[35], to which we
arrive through woods, and over hills, travelling a long way in an
uninhabited desert. There are, it is true, certain places by the way, in
which travellers may rest a while, and make a fire, if ordered before hand;
and sometimes, though very rarely, one finds a small hamlet or two, a
little way out of the road. Going beyond Trozk, one meets with more hills
and forests, in which there are some habitations; and nine days journey
beyond Trozk, we come to a fortified town called _Loniri_ or Lonin[36].
After this, we quit that part of Poland called Lithuania, and come to a
district named _Varsonich_[37], which belongs to certain lords, who are
subject to _Kazimir_, or Cassimir, King of Poland. This part of the country
is fertile, and contains a great many walled towns and villages, but none
of any great importance. From Warsaw, it is seven days journey to the
frontiers of Poland, through a good and beautiful country; where one meets
with _Mersaga_[38], a tolerably good town, where Poland ends. Respecting
the towns and provinces of Poland, I shall say nothing farther, for want of
proper information; except that the king and his sons, and whole household,
are very