Page:Notes upon Russia (volume 2, 1851).djvu/37

ress, which he has named after himself, Vasilovgorod, which has subsequently become the hotbed of many misfortunes. Not far hence is the river Mosqwa, which also flows from the south, and falls into the Occa above Murom, not far from the town of Cassimovgorod, which the Prince of Moscow has given up as an abode for the Tartars.

The women of the latter people, by a certain art, stain their nails a black colour, for the sake of beauty, and constantly go about with their heads uncovered and their hair dishevelled. Eastward and southward of the river Mosqwa are immense forests inhabited by the Mordwa people, who have a dialect of their own, and are subject to the Prince of Moscow. Some maintain that they are idolaters, while others say that they are Mahometans. They dwell in villages scattered here and there, and cultivate the ground. Their food is game and honey, and they abound in valuable skins; they are especially hardy men, for they have often bravely repulsed those Tartars who rove about in quest of plunder. They are nearly all foot soldiers, remarkable for their long bows, and very skilful in archery.

The province of Rezan is situated between the Occa and the Don, and has in it a wood-built city not far from the bank of the Occa. There was formerly a fortress in it, called Jaroslaw, of which nothing now remains but the ruins. Not far from that city the river Occa forms an island, called Strub, once a large duchy, whose prince was subject to no one. South-east, or as some maintain, north-east^[1] of Moscow, stands the city of Columna. After that Rezan, which is thirty-six miles distant from Moscow. This province is more fertile than all the other provinces of Russia, for they say that in it each grain of wheat produces sometimes two or more ears, and the stalks grow so thick that horses cannot

1. ↑ Columna is situated, as Herberstein correctly states, south-east of Moscow.