The latter were conceived in the
following terms: "Go in peace to scour the country of Siberia and put to
flight the impious Kutchum." After having taken the oath of valor and
chastity, Iermak set out, on September 1, 1581, at the sound of warlike
trumpets, on the Tchusovaya, and directed his march toward the Ural
Mountains, preparing himself for great activity, without counting upon
any assistance. This expedition was even made without the knowledge of
the Czar, for the Stroganoffs, who had obtained the grant of the
countries situated on the other side of the chain of rocky mountains,
thought themselves able to dispense with soliciting of the Czar a new
sanction for their important enterprise. We shall see that Ivan did not
share this opinion.
At the moment when the states of Kutchum were to become the conquest of
the Russian Pizarro--as redoubtable for the savages as he of Spain, but
less terrible for humanity--the Prince of Pelim with the Vogulitches,
the Ostiaks, the Siberian Tartars, and the Bashkirs made a sudden
irruption upon the borders of the Kama. He destroyed the Russian
colonies near Tcherdin, Ussolie, as well as many other new fortresses of
the Stroganoffs, and put to death or dragged into captivity a great
number of Christians who were deprived of defenders.
Pages:
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329