Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 1.djvu/308

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NOTES AND QUERIES.

15,1916.

No one else was allowed to collect the amber as it was appropriated by the authorities, who paid a large tribute in respect of it each year to the King of Poland.

The travellers now reached Braunsberg, where they got into serious trouble with the Jesuits on account of their Lutheran faith. The Head of the Order, learning that the travellers were not Papists, enjoined them to remain in the town until they were con- verted. Wunderer and his companion re- plied that God had long since converted them, but they thought it wise to leave immediately for Konigsberg. Before they had got far they discovered that six horsemen had been sent after them, and they were forced to make a considerable detour in order to avoid pursuit. At Konigsberg the travellers visited the University, where were countless rare and beautiful books and an instrumentum mathematicum, by means of which it was said to be possible to see into the future, and which, had Wunderer made use of it, might well have caused him to omit Riga from bis itinerary. Leaving Konigsberg, the travellers crossed the " great river" (Niemen) and reached the district of Samogitia, travelling through barren wilder- nesses said to be peopled with evil spirits and ghosts which appeared even in broad day- light. The inhabitants of this uninviting country lived without faith or creed, and not only worshipped beasts, monsters, and serpents, but also had the power, by the Devil's agency, of transforming themselves into wolves and bears, Satan being very mighty among them. Neither Wunderer nor his companion came across any apparitions ; but the travelling was very bad indeed, the wagon turned over twice and finally broke up, and three times Wunderer and his com- panion lost their way. Of the people them- selves there was little in their habits to suggest that they were in league with any- thing but poverty and want. Their houses were little better than huts, and resembled " bird-cages " or " mouse-traps." In the wall near the floor was a long four-cornered opening which served for entrance, exit, and to admit light and air. Elsewhere were smaller openings, with dried nets made from wild beasts' skins to serve in place of glass. The huts were roofed with trunks of trees and bark. The inhabitants are de- scribed as tall of stature, but hideous to behold, their understanding meagre and their dress scanty. They wore long smocks without folds, or long cloaks made of skins or coarse cloth, small hats of " Hungarian " shape, and shoes of bark. The women were

even more scantily clad than the men, going- almost naked, with a sack round the body tied over one shoulder, like gipsies.

The travellers now entered Lithuania and arrived at Vilna, a town which is described as three times as large as Dantzig, where they found such a concourse of barbarians and strange people as could scarcely be found in any other town in Christendom- Here were Muscovians, Turks with bright- coloured garments, Jews, Tartars, Ar- menians, Scythians, Indians, Icelanders and Lapps, all busy trading and bartering, some with costly raiment from the East, others bringing gold and silver and precious stones. The town itself stood open day and night,, but after sunset the entrances to the main streets were closed with turnpikes, and all strangers were closely watched. The tra- vellers saw the place where, in 1581, a number of Russians holding certain singular beliefs had been burnt at the stake, and visited twelve churches and places of worship, for Lithuanians, Poles, Armenians, Turks, Jews, and Germans respectively

Leaving Vilna, they passed through a barren waste, which had been subject years before to Ivan the Terrible, and crossed the Russian frontier to Pskoff. This town, which was said to be about the same size as Rome and about as strong, was the only town in Muscovy which was fortified with walls. Wunderer states that the houses were all of wood and numbered as many as , 41,568 ! Here he attended a Russian Church service which displeased him greatly, nor was he impressed by the Russian people themselves. He describes them as tall and strong, with long beards, but cruel and indolent. The condition of the women seems to have been wretched. They re- ceived little respect, and were overworked and seldom seen. At Pskoff Wunderer saw the Czar Feodor as he was leaving church in state, and describes his dress and equipage- The latter was a magnificent coach covered in red satin, enriched with gilded pictures,. '. and drawn by five white Turkish horses with gold and satin trappings. At each wheel stood a nobleman clad in red satin. The Czar himself wore a long cloak covered with precious stones, a high pointed fur cap, also bejewelled, and red satin boots worked with ; gold. Wunderer also describes the dress, J manners, trade, and social life of the ; Russians. Of their laws (as one would expect from a student of jurisprudence) he writes at considerable length, giving extracts from the " ordinationes Joannis Basilii Magni Ducis Moschoviae Anno 1546 intro-