n of the caravan, for the
time, took the hint that the governor gave us, and we marched or
travelled two days and two nights without any considerable stop, and
then we lay at a village called Plothus; nor did we make any long stop
here, but hastened on towards Jarawena, another of the czar of Muscovy's
colonies, and where we expected we should be safe; but it is to be
observed, that here we began, for two or three days march, to enter upon
a vast nameless desert, of which I shall say more in its place; and
which if we had now been upon it, it is more than probable we had been
all destroyed. It was the second day's march from Plothus that by the
clouds of dust behind us at a great distance, some of our people began
to be sensible we were pursued; we had entered the desert, and had
passed by a great lake, called Schanks Osier, when we perceived a very
great body of horse appear on the other side of the lake to the north,
we travelling west. We observed they went away west, as we did; but had
supposed we should have taken that side of the lake, whereas we very
happily took the south side: and in two days more we saw them not, for
they, believing we were still before them, pushed on, till they came to
the river Udda: this is a very great river when it passes farther north,
but when we came to it, we found it narrow and fordable.

The third day they either found their mistake, or had intelligence of
us, and came pouring in upon us towards the dusk of the evening. We had,
to our great satisfaction, just pitched upon a place for our camp, which
was very convenient for the night; for as we were upon a desert, though
but at the beginning of it, that was above five hundred miles over, we
had no towns to lodge at, and, indeed, expected none but the city of
Jarawena, which we had yet two days march to; the desert, however, had
some few woods in it on this side, and little river, which ran all into
the great river Udda. It was in a narrow strait, between two small but
very thick woods, that we pitched our little camp for that night,
expecting to be attacked in the night.

Nobody knew but ourselves what we were pursued for; but as it was usual
for the Mogul Tartars to go about in troops in that desert, so the
caravans always fortify themselves every night against them, as against
armies of robbers; and it was therefore no new thing to be pursued.

But we had this night, of all the nights of our travels, a most
advantageous camp; fo