When he reached the
frontiers of this vast Moscovite state which was vaguely supposed
to exist in the extreme Eastern part of Europe, he was
firmly turned back. No foreigners were wanted. And
Schnups went to visit the heathen Turk in Constantinople, in
order that he might have something to report to his clerical
master when he came back from his explorations.
Sixty-one years later, Richard Chancellor, trying to discover
the North-eastern passage to the Indies, and blown by
an ill wind into the White Sea, reached the mouth of the Dwina
and found the Moscovite village of Kholmogory, a few hours
from the spot where in 1584 the town of Archangel was founded.
This time the foreign visitors were requested to come
to Moscow and show themselves to the Grand Duke. They
went and returned to England with the first commercial treaty
ever concluded between Russia and the western world. Other
nations soon followed and something became known of this
mysterious land.
Geographically, Russia is a vast plain. The Ural mountains
are low and form no barrier against invaders. The
rivers are broad but often shallow. It was an ideal territory for
nomads.
While the Roman Empire was founded, grew in power and
disappeared again, Slavic tribes, who had long since left their
homes in Central Asia, wandered aimlessly through the forests
and plains of the region between the Dniester and Dnieper
rivers.
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