On the 10th of May[8], the ambassador of Lithuania arrived; and, as he was to set out next day after mass, I went to pay him my compliments, accompanied by M. Pamartin; who directed him, on the part of the king of Poland, to take care of me, and to conduct me in perfect safety to Theodosia.  To this the ambassador answered, that he had every respect for the orders of his majesty, the sovereign arbiter of his life and death, and would carefully obey his orders.  I thanked M. Pamartin for all his kindnesses, as he had frequently visited me, and had supplied me with every thing I needed for subsistence during my stay; and, as some token of my gratitude, I made him a present of a tolerably good German horse, which had carried me hitherto.  We here parted with the rest of our horses, which were quite unfit for our farther use, and procured horses of the country for the remainder of our journey; and, on parting with the guides who had accompanied us to Kiow by orders of the king, I rewarded them for their attention and good conduct.

I left Kiow on the 11th of May, along with the Lithuanian ambassador; and as I was unable to travel on horseback, on account of pains in my feet, I travelled in a carriage, which had served me for that purpose ever since I left the king of Poland at Lenczycz.  The first place we came to was Cerca, belonging to the king of Poland, where we waited till the 15th, for the Tartar horse who came to escort us on our journey.  After their arrival we set out on our journey through the great desert of Tartary, and came to the Boristhenes, which separates Tartary from Russia, and which is some miles broad[9].  As it was necessary to pass the river, our Tartars cut down some trees, the stems of which they fastened together into a raft, which was covered over by the branches, and upon which the whole of our baggage was placed.  They fastened their horses by the tails to this raft, by which means it was dragged across the river, they themselves swimming along-side of their horses, and holding by their manes.  We had likewise to swim our horses across, in which we succeeded, by the blessing of God, but in much fear and danger at this, to us, unusual mode of navigation.  When we got over, we had to remain a whole day on the other side to collect and replace our baggage.

While among the Tartars, their officers eyed me with much attention and suspicion; and, during our new journey through the desert beyond the river, the Lithuanian ambassador informed me, by means of the interpreter, that the Tartar officers had come to a resolution to carry me to their prince, as they could not allow a person of my appearance to go on to Theodosia without his permission.  I was much alarmed by this intelligence, believing that I should incur considerable risk of having the purposes of my journey frustrated by this measure, and, therefore, earnestly recommended to the ambassador to keep in mind the orders he had received on the part of the king of Poland respecting me, and