However, though Michael Strogoff could not know the events which had occurred since his departure, he at least knew that he was several days in advance of the Tartars, and that he need not despair of reaching before them the town of Irkutsk, still six hundred miles distant.
Hala eta guztiz, eta Mikel Strogoffek bere irteeraren ondotik gertatu zenaren berri ez bazuen ere, zerbait bazekien behintzat: hainbat egunetako aldea kentzen ziela tatariarrei, eta ez zuela etsi behar, oraindik ere Irkutskera haien aurretik iristeko abagunea zuen-eta, zortziehun eta berrogeita hamar versta falta baziren ere (900 kilometro).