Page:Notes upon Russia (volume 1, 1851).djvu/141

Rh Russian ambassador, named Vladomir Smenovich Plemerikov, and an interpreter, called Ustoma the Little, accompanied him to Vienna, in order to explain at the imperial court the reasons why the peace with Poland could not be established. Herberstein at this time was able to take the shorter road by Smolensko, for which the grand-prince himself gave him a safe conduct, though part of his men and his horses had been left in Novogorod. He travelled by Smolensko, Wilna, Bulsk, and arrived in Cracow the 25th January 1518, where he was well received by the king, and, after some adventures, arrived at Vienna on the 25th February. Here he stopped a few days to refresh himself, and then went to Innspruck to the emperor, who was very well satisfied, not only with the manner in which he had fulfilled his commissions, but also with the account given to him of the state of Russia, and the manners and customs of its inhabitants, and would sometimes listen to his narrative in the evening, long after his usual hour, till sleep overcame him. As a proof of the emperor’s satisfaction with his mission, Herberstein was shortly afterwards presented with the bailiwick of Clamm. After a stay of four weeks, Maximilian sent Herberstein back to Vienna, together with the Russian delegates, and the two new ambassadors destined for Moscow, Francesco da Collo and Antonio de’ Conti, who were glad of the occasion to get information from him, and to turn his experience to their own account.

Before Herberstein’s departure from Innspruck, he