Hungarian Heritage Review, 1987 (16. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1987-08-01 / 8. szám
the billows threw me onto dry land. I am now living with the Army of His Majesty in Persia, in the City of Szulyak, whence can be seen Mount Ararat on which Noah’s Ark came to rest, and this place is seven or 800 miles away from Hungary. I live in the hope, despite this great distance, that I shall again see my dear forsaken fatherland and nation. One Matthew Farkas, of Hirip, was in the bondage of the Kuban Tatars for 40 years, then fell into the hands of the Dogheaded or Kalmuck Tatars and was the slave of the Dogheaded Tatars' Kahn (by the name of Juha). Divine Providence liberated him and he escaped to a city in Asia called Astrakhan. Last autumn when I disembarked from the galley I went to that city and there, by chance, met this man, and I rejoiced that in this strange land God allowed me to meet a Hungarian, where news about Hungary is rarely heard. I took this poor wretch to my quarters where I nourished and kept him, and I ordered my brave guards not to permit him to be avenged. However, in the spring when I took to the sea on a military expedition, I dismissed him, giving escort to him and his fellow captives for 500 miles, and I gave him sufficient traveling expenses. He swore strongly and cursed himself that he would deliver this letter to my nation and to Szikszó, and I too cursed him that God strike him dead if he should fail to turn over this letter to my people. Therefore, anyone who will see and read this missive will be reminded of this man’s faith and witness that he fulfilled his pledge. To Your Excellencies (if I be not boring) I should like to write a little about the activities and customs of this country, some amusing, the reason why I relate them. Since the historians write that the Magyars or Huns came from Scythia to Europe, I inquired about their former dwellings here, and I did come upon settlements of the Magyars whose homes were near the Volga River on a very sandy and woodless site; nevertheless they lived in beautiful homes, and even today oven tiles may be found there which are similar to our new Christian jugs. The bricks are wide exceedingly and well-proportioned, from which can be known that the dwellings were quite attractive. The King of the Magyars lived near the river named Kuma, whose palaces are in ruins but still standing today and even now called Hungarian in the local heathen tongue. The Hungarian language is no longer spoken and there are now no Hungarian villages. According to the Hungarian Calendar, the Magyars returned to Scythia in the year 445 and made colonies among the Crimean Tatars, where in Crimea they are even now under the protection of the Tatar Khan. There are seven villages wherein Hungarian is spoken and which I visited. There is no other country outside our own Hungary where Hungarian is spoken. In this country there are many nations which worship idols, as the Chuhaz and the Mordva nations which, in place of prayer, sacrifice mares and sheep —continued next page ...—-. . = Special feature — 1 1 26 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW AUGUST 1987
