There were, fortunately, at this time, two rival khans beyond the waves of the Caspian opposing each other with bloody cimeters.

The energetic young prince, by fortunate marriage, and by the success of his arms, rapidly extended his authority.

But again the awful plague swept Russia.

The annalists of those days thus describe the symptoms and the character of the malady: "One felt himself suddenly struck as by a knife plunged into the heart through the shoulder blades or between the two shoulders.

An intense fire seemed to burn the entrails; blood flowed freely from the throat; a violent perspiration ensued, followed by severe chills; tumors gathered upon the neck, the hip, under the arms or behind the shoulder blades.