I was in Moscow, pleaded with the prince for his liberation, and above all the prince's wife, who was Michael's niece, being his brother's daughter; the Emperor Maximilian also interceded for him, and sent special letters to the prince, in his own name, in my first embassy; but so little effect had all these intercessions, that permission was not granted me to see him: indeed, no great opportunity of seeing him was allowed to any body; but in my second embassy, his liberation being accidently spoken of, I had the question rather frequently put to me by the Russians, whether I knew him, to which I replied, that I had only occasionally heard his name mentioned, and I believed that was all I was ever likely to know of him. At length Michael was liberated and discharged: the reason of which was, that the prince, who had married his niece during the lifetime of his former wife, put such reliance in his valour, that he thought his children would, through his means, be kept safe in possession of the kingdom, from interference on the part of his brothers; and he finally appointed him, by his will, tutor to his sons. Subsequently, after the death of the prince, Michael having reproached the prince's widow with wantonness, was charged by her with treason, and died an unhappy death in prison. Not long after the perpetration of this crime, she is said to have been carried off by poison in the midst of her recklessness, and her paramour, Ovczina, was butchered and torn to pieces.
Volonia contains the most warlike people amongst the principalities of Lithuania.
Lithuania is extremely woody, and has in it extensive marshes and numerous rivers; some of which latter, namely, the Bog, the Prepetz, the Thur, and the Berisina, flow eastwards into the Dnieper; others, namely, the Boh, the Cronon, and the Nareo, flow towards the north. The climate is severe, and the animals of all kinds small. Corn is very abundant, but the crop rarely comes to maturity. The people are miserable,
