The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation — Volume 02Hakluyt, Richard
History
The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation — Volume 02
Hakluyt, Richard
Discoveries in geography -- English; Voyages and travels
occidentali, et postea aliæ secundum ordinem suum; ita quod vltima vxor
erit in capite Orientali: et erit spacium inter curiam vnius dominæ et
alterius, iactus vnius lapidis. Vnde curia vnius diuitis Moal apparebit
quasi vna magna Villa: tunc paucissimi viri erunt in ea. Vna muliercula
ducet 20. bigas vel 30. Terra enim plana est. Et ligant bigas cum bobus vel
camelis vnam post aliam: et sedebit muliercula in anteriori minans bouem,
et omnes aliæ pari gressu sequentur. Si contingat venire ad aliquem malum
passum, soluunt eas et transducunt sigillatim: Vadunt enim lento gressu
sicut agnus vel bos potest ambulare.
The same in English.
Of the Tartars, and of their houses. Chap. 2.
They haue in no place any setled citie to abide in, neither knowe they of
the celestiall citie to come. They haue diuided all Scythia among
themselues, which stretcheth from the riuer Danubius euen vnto the rising
of the sunne. And euery of their captaines, according to the great or small
number of his people, knoweth the bound of his pastures, and where he ought
to feed his cattel winter and summer, Spring and autumne. For in the winter
they descend vnto the warme regions southward. And in the summer they
ascend vnto the colde regions northward. In winter when snowe lyeth vpon
the ground, they feede their cattell vpon pastures without water, because
then they vse snow in stead of water. Their houses wherein they sleepe,
they ground vpon a round foundation of wickers artificially wrought and
compacted together: the roofe whereof consisteth (in like sorte) of
wickers, meeting aboue into one little roundell, out of which roundell
ascendeth a necke like vnto a chimney, which they couer with white felte,
and oftentimes they lay mortar or white earth vpon the sayd felt, with the
powder of bones, that it may shine white. And sometimes also they couer it
with blacke felte. The sayd felte on the necke of their house, they doe
garnish ouer with beautifull varietie of pictures. Before the doore
likewise they hang a felt curiously painted ouer. For they spend all their
coloured felte in painting vines, trees, birds, and beastes thereupon. The
sayd houses they make so large, that they conteine thirtie foote in
breadth. For measuring once the breadth betweene the wheele-ruts of one of
their cartes, I found it to be 20 feete ouer: and when the house was vpon
the carte, it stretched ouer the wheeles on each side fiue feete at the
least. I told 22. oxen in one teame, drawing an house vpon a cart, eleuen
in one order according to the breadth of the carte, and eleuen more before
them: the axeltree of the carte was of an huge bignes like vnto the mast of
a ship. And a fellow stood in the doore of the house, vpon the forestall of
the carte driuing forth the oxen. Moreouer, they make certaine fouresquare
baskets of small slender wickers as big as great chestes: and afterward,
from one side to another, they frame an hollow lidde or couer of such like
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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