& they have a custome that whensoever any plague or any calamitie doth afflict the countrey, as hunger, warre, or such like, then they goe to consult with their idol, which they do after this maner: they fall down prostrate before the idol, & pray unto it, & put in the presence of the same, a cymbal: & about the same certaine persons stand, which are chosen amongst them by lot: upon their cymball they place a silver tode, and sound the cymball, and to whomsoever of those lotted persons that tode goeth, he is taken, and by and by slaine: and immediately, I know not by what illusions of the devill, or idole, he is againe restored to life, & then doth reveale and deliver the causes of the present calamitie. And by this meanes knowing how to pacifie the idole, they are delivered from the imminent danger.

Of the forme of their private houses, and of the apparell of the people.

THE Common houses of the countrey are every where built of beames of Firre tree: the lower beames doe so receive the round holownesse of the uppermost, that by the meanes of the building thereupon, they resist, and expell all winds that blow, and where the timber is joined together, there they stop the chinks with mosse. The forme & fashion of their houses in al places is foure square, with streit and narrow windowes, whereby with a transparent casement made or covered with skinne like to parchment, they receive the light. The roofes of their houses are made of boords covered without with ye barke of trees within their houses they have benches or griezes hard by their wals, which commonly they sleepe upon, for the common people knowe not the use of beds: they have stooves wherein in the morning they make a fire, and the same fire doth either moderately warme, or make very hote the whole house.

The apparell of the people for the most part is made of wooll, their caps are picked like unto a rike or diamond, broad beneath, and sharpe upward. In the maner of making whereof, there is a signe and representation of nobilitie for the loftier or higher their caps are, the greater is their birth supposed to be, and the greater reverence is given them by the common people.

The Conclusion to Queene Marie.

THESE are the things most excellent Queene, which your Subjects newly returned from Russia have brought home concerning the state of that countrey: wherfore if your majestie shall be favourable, and grant a continuance of the travell, there is no doubt but that the honour and renowme of your name will be spred amongst those nations, whereunto three onely noble personages from the verie creation have had accesse, to whom no man hath bene comparable.

The copie of the Duke of Moscovie and Emperour of Russia his letters, sent to King Edward the sixt, by the hands of Richard Chancelour.

THE Almighty power of God, and the incomprehensible holy Trinitie, rightfull Christian beliefe, &c. We great Duke Ivan Vasilivich, by the grace of God great lord and Emperor of all Russia, great Duke of Volodemer, Mosco, and Novograd, King of Kazan, King of Astracan, lord of Plesko, and great duke of Smolensko, of Twerria, Joughoria, Permia, Vadska, Bulghoria, and others, lord and great duke of Novograd in the Low countrey, of Chernigo, Rezan, Polotskoy, Rostove, Yaruslavely, Bealozera, Liefland, Oudoria, Obdoria and Condensa, Commander of all Siberia, and of the North parts, and lord of many other countries, greeting. Before all, right great and worthy of honour Edward King of England, &c. according to our most hearty and good zeale, with good intent and friendly desire, & according to our holy Christian faith, & great governance, & being in the light of great understanding, our answere by this our honourable writing unto your kingly governance, at the request of your faithfull servant Richard Chancelour, with his company, as they shall let you wisely know, is this. In the strength of the twentieth yeere of our governance, be it knowen, that at our sea coastes arrived a shippe, with one Richard, and his companie, and sayd, that hee was desirous to come into our dominions, and according to his request, hath seene our Majestie, and our eyes: and hath declared unto us your Majesties desire, as that we should grant unto your subjects, to goe and come, and in our dominions, and among our subjects, to frequent free Marts, with all sortes of marchandizes, and upon

the same to have wares for their returne. And they have also delivered us your letters, which declare the same request. And hereupon we have given order, that wheresoever your faithful servant Hugh Willoughbie land or touch in our diminions, to be wel entertained, who as yet is not arrived, as your servant Richard can declare. And we with Christian beliefe and faithfulnes, and according to your honourable request, and my honourable commandement will not leave it undone and are furthermore willing that you send unto us your ships and vessels, when and as often as they may have passage, with good assurance on our part to see them harmelesse. And if you send one of your majesties counsel to treate with us whereby your countrey marchants may with all kinds of wares, and where they will make their market in our dominions, they shall have their free Marte with all free liberties through my whole dominions with all kinde of wares to come and goe at their pleasure, without any let, damage or impediment, according to this our letter, our word and our seale which we have commaunded to be under sealed. Written in our dominion, in our citie and our palace in the castle of Mosco, in the yeare 7060, the second moneth of February.

This letter was written in the Moscovian tongue, in letters much like to the Greeke letters, very faire written in paper, with a broad seale hanging at the same, sealed in paper upon waxe. This seale was much like ye broad seale of England, having on the one side the image of a man on horseback in complete harnesse fighting with a dragon. Under this letter was another paper written in the Dutch tongue, which was the interpretation of the other written in the Moscovian letters. These letters were sent the next yere after the date of king Edwards letters, 1554.

The coines, weights and measures used in Russia, written by John Hasse, in the yere, 1554.

FORASMUCH as it is most necessary for al marchants which seeke to have traffique in any strange regions, first to acquaint themselves with the coines of those lands with which they do intend to joyne in traffique, and how they are called from the valuation of the highest piece to the lowest, and in what sort they make their paiments, as also what their common weights and measures be:

for these causes I have thought good to write some thing thereof according to mine owne knowledge and experience, to the end that the marchants of that new adventure, may the better understand how the wealth of that new frequented trade will arise.

First, it is to be noted that the Emperour of Russia hath no other coines then silver in all his land, which goeth for paiment amongst merchants, yet notwithstanding there is a coine of copper, which serveth for the reliefe of the poore in Mosco, & no where els, and that is but only for quasse, water and fruit, as nuts, apples, and such other like. The name of which money is called Pole or Poles, of which Poles there goe to the least of the silver coines, 18. But I will not stand upon this, because it is no currant money among merchants.

Of silver coines there be three sortes of pieces: the least is a Poledenga, the second a Denga, the third, Nowgrote, which is as much to say in English as halfepenie, penie, and twopence, and for other valued money then this, there is none: there are oftentimes there coines of gold, but they come out of forrein countreys, whereof there is no ordinarie valuation, but they passe according to the agreement of merchants.

Their order in summing of money is this: as we say in England, halfpenie, penie, shilling and pound, so say they Poledenga, Denga, Altine and Rubble: There goeth two Poledengas to a Denga, six Dengaes to an Altine, and 23 Altines, and two Dengaes to a Rubble.

Concerning the weights of Russia they are these: There are two sorts of pounds in use amongst them, the one great, ye other small: the great pound is just two small pounds: they call the great weight by the name of Beasemar, and the smal they call the Skalla weight with this smal weight they weigh their silver coines, of the which the Emperor hath commanded to put to every small pound three Rubbles of silver, and with the same weight they weigh all Grocerie wares, and almost al other wares which come into the land, except those which they weigh by the Pode, as hops, salt, iron, lead, tinne & batrie with divers others, notwithstanding they use to weigh batrie more often by the small weight then by the great.

Whensoever you find the prices of your wares rated by the Pode, consider that to be the great weight, and

the pound to be the small. Also they divide the small pound into 48 parts, and they call the eight and fortieth part a Slotnike, by the which Slotnike the retailers sell their wares out of their shops, as Goldsmiths, Grocers, Silkesellers and such other like as we doe use to retaile by the ounce and as for their great weight which they cal the Beasemar, they sel by pode, or shippond. The pode doth containe of the great weight, 40 pounds, and of the smal 80: there goe 10. podes to a shippond.

Yet you must consider that their great weight is not full with ours: for I take not their great pound to be full 13 ounces, but above 12 I thinke it be. But for your just proofe, weigh 6 Rubbles of Russia money with our pound weight, and then shal you see what it lacketh : for 6 Rubbles of Russia is by the Emperors standerd, the great pound: so that I thinke it the next way to know the just waight, as well of the great pound as of the small.

There is another weight needfull to be knowen, which is the weight of Wardhouse, for so much as they weigh all their drie fish by weight, which weight is the Beasemar, as they of Russia doe use, notwithstanding there is another sorte in it: the names of those weights are these the marke pound, the great pound, the weie, and the shippond. The marke pound is to be understood as our pound, and their great pound is 24 of their marke pound the weie is 3 great pound, and 8 weie is a shippound.

Now concerning their measures. As they have two sortes of weights, so they have also two sortes of measures: wherewith they measure cloth both linnen and wollen they cal the one an Areshine, and the other a Locut the Areshine I take to bee as much as the Flanders ell, and their Locut halfe an English yard: with their Areshine they may mete all such sorts of clothes as come into the land, and with the Locut all such cloth both linnen and wollen, as they make themselves. And whereas we use to give yard and inch, or yard and handfull, they do give nothing but bare measure.

They have also a measure wherewith they doe mete their corne, which they cal a Setforth, and the halfe of that an Osmine: this Setforth I take to bee three bushels of London measure. And as for their drinke measure, they call it a Spanne, which is much like a bucket, and