y the Grace of GOD
the illustrious King of the French; Friar William de Rubruquis, the meanest
of the Minorite Order, wisheth health and continual triumph in CHRIST
JESUS.

It is written in the book of Ecclesiasticus, "That the truly wise man shall
travel through strange countries; for he hath tried the good and evil among
men." All this, Sire, I have performed; and I wish I may have done so as a
wise man, and not as a fool. For many do foolishly those things which have
been done by wise men, and I fear I may be reckoned among that number. But
as you were pleased to command me at my departure, that I should write down
every thing I saw among the Tartars, and should not fear to write long
letters, I now therefore obey your orders, yet with awe and reverence, as
wanting fit language in which to address so great a king.

SECTION I.

_Commencement of the Journey._

Be it known, therefore, to your sacred majesty, that in the year 1253, on
the 7th of May, we entered into the sea of Pontus, which the Bulgarians
call the Great Sea[1]; which I was informed, by certain merchants, is 1008
miles in length, and is in a manner divided, about its middle, into two
parts, by means of two provinces which project into it, one on the north,
and the other on the south. That which is on the south is called Synope,
and contains the castle and port of the Sultan of the Turks. The northern
province is called Gasaria by the Latins[2], and Cassaria by the Greek
inhabitants of its coast, which is the same with Caesaria; and from thence
certain headlands extend southwards into the sea, towards Synope, from the
nearest part of which they are 300 miles distant; so that the distance from
these points to Constantinople is 700 miles in length and breadth, and 700
miles to Hiberia in the east, which is a province of Georgia.

We arrived in the province of Gasaria, or Casaria, which is of a triangular
form, having a city named Kersova on its western extremity, in which St
Clement suffered martyrdom. While sailing past that city, we saw an island
containing a church, which is said to have been built by the angels. In the
middle of this province, and on a cape to the south, stands the city of
Soldaia, directly facing Synope. And here all merchants land who come from
Turkey, in their way to the north, and embark here again on their return
from Russia and the north for Turkey; these latter bring ermines and
martins, and other valuable furs, and the fo