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at the village, we stopped at the door of the person who had taken our guide's place, and soon found that he was a man of authority, and he desired the inhabitants to serve us as his friends.

The name of this village is Vitzora. The inhabitants no sooner saw this person in our company, than they ran to help us out of the sledges, and to unharness our rein-deer. He bartered all his skins with us for brandy and tobacco, except his bear skins, which we did not choose to buy, and his sables, which he durst not sell; for the czar reserving that commodity for himself, those in any part of his dominions who sell it without a licence from him, are severely punished. Officers are appointed to take these furs of such as have them; they have warehouses in several places of the empire, and are the only persons permitted to trade in that merchandize.

Having dealt with the Borandian gentleman for all the furs he had to sell, he sent two of his servants about the village, to tell the inhabitants, that if they would bring their skins to his house, they might have brandy and tobacco for them, as their master had already had for his. The Borandians of Vitzora were glad to hear of so good a market; they immediately brought us all their furs, and we bought in this place above fifteen hundred skins of all sorts, except sables; when our cargo becoming too bulky to be carried in a sledge, we desired our landlord to do us the favour to lend us his bark, and some of his servants to go in it with one of our seamen, who was a good sailor, to carry the furs aboard our ship, which lay at above one hundred leagues distance; for the sailor, and the Borandian servants, who were used to the coasts, might easily

manage that small vessel, and convey our merchandize to our companions. He readily agreed to this request, and we paid him for the use of his bark in tobacco and brandy.

This bark was built in the form of a gondola, it being broad in the middle and sharp at each end. It was entirely of wood, joined with pegs, without so much as a nail in it, or the least bit of iron. In the middle it had a fir-tree mast, to which was fastened a square piece of coarse cloth, made of the rind of a tree, which served for a sail; the cordage was made of the same materials, and the two anchors were formed of a very heavy kind of wood. When they were about to put to sea, he privately showed us thirty pair of sable skins, which we bought with ready money, slipped them on board, and the vessel put off immediately. This, however, was running a dangerous risk; for had there been any searchers at hand, he would not only have been corporally punished, but also he and his whole family sent as slaves into Siberia.

The bark being out of sight, our supercargo and accomptants sat down to drink with the Borandian gentleman, while the two seamen and I walked out to take a view of the place, the situation of which was very pleasant, having two mountains on each side of it, almost a league in height. All the houses were built and artfully covered with fish bones, and the crannies every where stopped up with moss, as close as the caulking of a ship, and in some places that were most exposed to the wind, were covered with turf very neatly laid. The doors, like those we had seen in other parts of the country, were built like the mouths of ovens, and at the tops of the houses were a kind of lattices, to admit

the light. The inhabitants were very short and swarthy, with flat noses and disagreeable persons. All the women and children appeared industrious, for we found them busily employed, some making fishing-nets of the rind of trees, others sails, which looked like fine mats, their needles being formed of fish bones. Others were employed with knives, and others again with hatchets, in different kinds of business.

As we had not yet disposed of half our commodities, and were in a country abounding with furs, we, at our return to our lodgings, consulted with our supercargo and accomptants, when it was agreed, that as our commission for traffic and discovery was very extensive, we would proceed as long as we found the trade good, and our cash, brandy and tobacco, held out. Having taken this resolution, we sent our guides back with the rein-deer and sledges, and with letters to our captains, to inform them of our success and resolution; and then, by the assistance of our host at Vitzora, hired a bark to carry us to Petzora, the capital of a principality of the same name, on the north coast of the Muscovite sea: our landlord was so kind as to embark with us, and, by the help of an easterly wind, we coasted along the shore, and in fifteen hours reached Petzora.

CHAP. IV.

The author and his company kindly entertained at Petzora; prosecute their journey; meet with five exiles in the woods of Siberia, one of whom is known by the author; the hardships endured by these poor people. The author arrives at the town of Papinowgorod; an account of the manners, customs and buildings, of the inhabitants. He travels through Samo. jedia; a description of the persons and manners of the Samojedians.

ON our arrival at Petzora we waited upon the collector of the customs, who there assumes the title of governor, and lives at the castle. He was dressed after the manner of the country, in a robe of violetcoloured cloth, and entertained us with some excellent metheglin, which was as racy as sack, after which we had brandy and gingerbread; the common collation all over Muscovy. As we knew that he had the care of the czar's sables, we asked him to sell us some; and on his desiring to know how many we wanted, we told him, we would take all he had, if he would let us have them a pennyworth. Upon this he conducted us to the warehouse, where there were five zimmers, each zimmer being fifty pair, among which there were two zimmers as black as jet, and the finest I ever saw, for which we paid him 500 ducats, and the other three zimmers we purchased for 800 crowns, or 400 ducats. Having paid him his money, he gave us a noble entertainment of roasted wild-fowl, young rein-deer venison, which is very good meat, and fresh fish; two boats having at our first arrival been ordered to catch some for our entertainment. After this meal we sat eight hours drinking brandy and metheglin, the

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fumes of which would much sooner have got in my head, had I not every now and then eat a Muscovite biscuit, which is most excellent bread. At length, however, becoming intoxicated, the governor and his guests all laid down on white bear skins, for he had no beds, when having slept six or seven hours, we arose, and the governor immediately presented us with a bumper of brandy.

After breakfast, being desirous of going through the town, in order to try whether we could carry on any trade with the inhabitants, the governor ordered one of his officers to accompany us, and we soon bought of several people 2000 grey squirrel skins, four dozen of ermines, 500 fox skins, the greatest part of which were as white as snow, 120 white wolf skins, and 200 martens of a greyish colour; all which we bought for 400 ducats, half of which we obliged them to take in copper money, because it encumbered us, and the other half in gold and silver. We then returned to the castle, whither we sent our merchandize, and there packed it up in bales, covered with the same sort of stuff as the sails of the bark. Having thus taken care of our goods, it was resolved that one of our accomptants should return with them to the ships, for which purpose we desired the governor to furnish us with a bark, to which he agreed. We also hired three Borandians to assist the accomptant in his voyage, the governor passing his word for them, that they should be trusty and do us no wrong. For the hire of the bark, and the wages of the Borandians, we paid him ten ducats more, and gave the Borandians. some pieces of tobacco, the governor promising to satisfy them for their trouble, when they came back.

This vessel having set sail, we fell to drinking

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