the Lefs, the Euxine and Cafpian Seas; and on the Weft, by Poland and Sweden; from the Confines of which to thofe of China, in the Eaft, it is 15co Leagues in Length; and from the Euxine Sea, in the South to the known Parts of Nova Zembla, in the North, Its Extent. above 600 Leagues, extending from 47 Degrees of North Latitude to fome Places beyond the Artic Circle.

Its Name.

This Country is called Ruffia, as most Authors agree, from an antient People of the Country, called Roffi, or Ruffi, fo named from the Word Roffia, which fignifies Difperfion, because they lived antiently scattered up and down, without any fettled Form of Government: And the Name of Mufcovy is fuppofed to be derived from Mefech, the Son of Japhet; but this last seems to be a mere Conjecture built on a very flender Foundation. The Muscovites reckon the Creation of the World, which ufed to be their common Era, to have been above 7200 Years ago, more than 1500 Years before the Time fixed by all other Christian Nations, without being able to give any Manner of Reafon for thus differing from them. They ufed alfo to reckon the first Day of their Year the first of the Month September, and kept it with great Solemnity, till forced to do otherwife, as we fhall fee hereafter: Their Notion was, that it was more likely that God created the World with the Fruits of the Earth in full Maturity and Perfection than at a Time when the Face of Nature was covered over with Ice and Snow, without confidering that what is Winter with them is Spring, or Autumn in fome other Parts of the Globe.

The

The longest Day in the South Part of Mofcovy is fifteen Hours and a half; and in the North, it may be faid, to be two Months, the Sun not setting in that Time when near the Summer Solftice.

The sharp. The Air in these Climates, in the Winter nefs of the Seafon, is fo exceffively cold, especially to- Air. wards the North, that many feel its Effects, by the Lofs of their Hands, Feet and Nofes; and this Misfortune is the more inevitable, if they come too haftily near a Fire, the Caufe of which, as my Lord Bacon, obferves, is, "for that the few Spirits that remain in those "Parts, are fuddenly drawn forth, and fo "Putrefaction is completed: But Snow put upon the Part will prevent this, because it

66

preferveth those Spirits that remain till they "revive". In this Part of the Country Water fprinkled upwards with the Hand will freeze before it fall to the Ground; Birds, as they fly in the Air, will fall down and die, and Men, travelling in Sledges, come frozen to Death into the Cities and Towns; the Snow and Ice are on the Earth generally for nine Months of the Year; the Ice on the Rivers is above five Feet thick, and is not melted till fome Time after the Snow is gone : This cold Weather begins in August, and continues till May, during which Time every Body is wrapt up in Furs. The Land is very barren except on the South-weft Side near Poland, where they have several Sorts of Grain duct of the in great Plenty, and from the extreme Heat Lands. of the Summer, immediately following the Cold, they have their Harvest in about two Months after their Land is ploughed, fowing

The Pro

1

in May and reaping in July: The Soil needs no Dung, the Snow fupplying the Place of that, and all other Manure. They have some very good Fruits, especially Melons. I cannot forbear taking Notice in this Place, of a moft extraordinary Plant, which is mentioned by feveral Authors, and faid to be found near Samara, Aftracan and Gafan, it grows in the Shape of a Lamb; they affirm, that the Grafs withers near it, as if eaten by it, that when it is ripe, the Stump grows dry, and the Fruit is covered with a certain hairy Skin, refembling Wool, which, being prepared, makes a good Fur-Lining; the Wolves devour it, because it is like a Lamb, therefore the Mufcovites name it Bonnaretz, that is, little Lamb, and others Zoophyton, or Animal Plant. Julius Scaliger, mentioning this Plant, * fays the Fruit grows till the Grafs fails it, and that it dies not but for want of Nourishment. He adds, that no Beast will feed on it, but the Wolf, and that it is ufed as a Bait to take him.

As to other Fruits, M. Cornelius Le Bruyn, in one Part of his Travels, fpeaks of a kind of Gooseberry, with which the Woods about Mofcow are full, it is called Coftenitsa, and is of a very pleasant acid Tafte, they are eaten with Honey, or Sugar like Strawberries; there is also another Sort of them, called Brufnitsa, larger than the other, great Quantities of which are carried every Year to Mofcow, where the Ruffians put them into Tubs and Casks of Water all the Summer, and then draw a Liquor from them, which is very refreshing and pleafant,

Exerc. 181.

fant, efpecially when fweetened with Honey and Sugar. The fame Author, in another Place, fpeaks of an extraordinary Sort of Turnips, of various Colours, and furprizing Beauty, these he found among the Samoïeds, fome were of a purple Colour, fome grey and white, and fome yellowifh ftraiked with a red like Vermilion, and more pleasant to the Sight, than a Carnation.

The Country in general abounds with Forefts, Marshes, Lakes, Pools, and Defarts; but thefe afford great Plenty of Wild-Fowl, Fifh, and Furs of Wild Beafts for Cloathing.. There is, in this Country, a moft prodigious Plenty of wild Game, and the Ruffians have particularly one Sort of Hares, in great Numbers, which have fomething very wonderful in their Nature, and that is, that every Winter they turn as white as the Snow on the Ground, and in the Spring become of the fame Colour with our Hares in England. Near Petzora, a Province in the Northern Part of Muscovy, they take a Fish, called Morfa, with the Teeth of which they make Handles of Knives and Cymeters. Some of the Lakes in this Country, which are chiefly occafioned by the melted Snows, are above fifty Leagues long; thofe of Ladoga and Onega, near Finland, are two of the largest in Europe. The numerous Swarms of Gnats and Flies, produced by the intense Heat of the Sun on thefe Pools and-standing Waters, make the Summer Seafon, in Mofcovy, almoft as troublesome to Travellers as the Winter. The chief Towns in this vaft Empire are, Mofcow, Peterburgh, Wolodimer, Novogorod, Smolensko, Cafan, Bulgar, Aftracan, B 3

Wolagda,

A Defcrip

Wologda, Plefkow, Refan, Jereslaw, Pereslaw,
Arch-Angel, and St. Nicholas.

Mofcow, which was the principal City of tion of Mof- Muscovy, till the late Czar, PETER I. built Petersburgh, communicates its Name to the whole Country, and is fituated in 55 Degrees, 30 Minutes of North Latitude, on a gravelly Soil, and in a wholesome Air, almost in the Centre of the best Part of Ruffia, on a River of the fame Name, that falls into the Occa, it is divided into four Parts, named Cataigorod, where the Czar's Palaces ftand; Czargorod, Skerodum and Strelitza Slaboda : The laft fo called, because in that Part were formerly the Quarters of the Strelitzes, who, when in being, were established Forces, or Guards, like the Janizaries among the Turks, of which there were always wont to be about 20,000 quartered in Moscow, for the Czar's Guard. These four Parts are feparated and encompaffed by three Walls, befides that of the Imperial Palaces; the firft of red Bricks; the fecond is white; and the third of Earth, fupported on each Side by Planks, and Beams of Fir, which, altho' 15 or 16 Miles in Circumference, is faid to have been raifed in four Days, on a Report of the Approach of the Cham of Crim Tartary, and for this Reafon hath the Name of Skerodum, which in the Rufian Language fignifies, done in a hurry. The City of Moscow was founded in the Year 1334, and once confifted of 40,000 Houfes, but was taken, and almost burnt down by the Tartars in 1572; the Polanders took it also in 1611, it was again burnt in 1668, and fuffered greatly by Fire,