"ed her that, having been many "years in breeding one eminent fpi"rit, was in a moment bereaved of him by the hands of a villian" (or low common foldier; for that is the meaning of the word villain in this place.)

We may therefore conclude, that, in the faculties of his mind, Sir Philip Sidney rofe above the highest pitch of knightly accomplishments, and was not only "un "Chevalier fans peur et fans re"proche," but fit for the greateft offices of ftate and government. It feems indeed no lefs difhonourable to the memory of Queen Elizabeth, that the should have let fuch a fpirit and fuch talents as his remain fo long unemployed, than that the fhould have trufted fo much of her moft arduous bufinefs to her unworthy favourite the earl of Lei. cester. As for the Chevalier Bayard, he does not appear to have had any extraordinary parts, or to have been ranked among the statef men of the times in which he lived; nor had he any fuperior degree of knowledge, to diftinguish him much from the ignorant nobility of his country whereas Sir Philip had acquired fuch a reputation for fcience and tafte in the fine arts, that, (to use the words of the above. mentioned author) "the univerfi"ties abroad and at home accounted him a general Mecenas of "learning; dedicated their books "to him, and communicated eve

"true friend without hire, and "the common rendezvous of worth "in his time." Since I wrote this, the public has been entertained with the life of a very extraordinary man, the Lord Herbert of Cherbury, written by himself, from which he appears to have been as ftrongly poffeffed with the high fpirit of chivalry as Sir Philip Sidney, and was alfo a man of parts and learning. But he seems to have had weakneffes and defects in his character, arifing chiefly from vanity, which are not to be found in Sidney, none of whofe actions were improper, and much lefs were they ridiculous. Yet it must be owned, if thefe gentlemen are compared as writers, that Lord Herbert's History of King Henry the Eighth is fuperior upon the whole to any work of Sir Philip Sidney.

The following curious particulars of fame remate nations and tribes of TARI ARS, who are but little known, and even their names feldom heard f in Europe, are extracted from the travels of John Bell of Antermony; and we doubt not will be pleafing to many of our readers.

Of the Kalmucks.

There was not a cunning painter, a "kilful engineer, an excellent mufician, or any other artificer "of extraordinary fame, that made not himself known to this famous fpirit, and found him his

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mounted

mounted. The buyers came from different parts of Ruffia. The Tartars had their tents pitched along the river fide. Thefe tents are of a conical figure; there are feveral long poles erected inclining to one another, which are fixed at the top into fomething like a hoop, that forms the circumference of an aperture for letting out the fmoak, or admitting the light; acrofs the poles are laid fome fmall rods, from four to fix feet long, and fastened to them with thongs; this frame is covered with pieces of felt, made of coarfe wool and hair. Thefe tents afford better fhelter than any other kind, and are fo contrived as to be fet up, taken down, folded and packed up with great eafe and quickness, and fo light that a camel may carry five or fix of them. Where the chan or any perfon of character refides, they are placed in ftrait lines. Thefe Tartars are ftrong made, ftout men, their faces broad, nofes flattifh, and eyes fmall and black, but very quick. Their drefs is very fimple, confifting of a loofe coat of theep-fkins, tied with a girdle, a fmall round cap, turned up with fur, having a tailel of red fiik at the top, leather or linen drawers, and boots: their heads are all fhaved, except a lock behind, which is plaited and hangs down their backs.

They are armed with bows and arrows, a fabre and lance, which they manage with great dexterity acquired by contant practice from their infancy. They are men of courage and refolution; but much afraid of cannon, which puts their horfes in diforder. As they are almost always on horfe back, they are excellent riders.

The drefs ofthe women differs lit. tle from that of the men, only their gowns are fomewhat longer than the coats of the men, a little or namented, and borderedwith partycoloured cloth; they wear earrings, and their hair all plaited in locks. The better fort drefs in filks in fummer. It must be obferved for the honour of their women, that they are very honeft and fincere, and few of them lewd; adultery is a crime scarce ever heard of. The Tartars make very good and faithful fervants; and the more mildly they are ufed the better they perform their duty; for their wandering unconfined manner of life naturally infpires them with fentiments of liberty, and averfion and hatred to tyranny and oppreffion.

All their wealth is their flocks; like thofe who lived in the early ages of the world, they have ca mels, horfes, cows, and theep. The horfes are of a good frze for the faddle, and very hardy; as they run wild till they are fometimes fix years old, they are generally headstrong; they are fold at this fair at five to fifteen or fixteen crowns, and the ftrong well-shaped natural pacers much higher. They have a few camels, but many dromedaries, who have two protuberances on their backs. Their cows are of a middle fize. The fheep large, having broad tails like thofe in Turkey; the wool is coarfe, but the mutton very fine.

In the preceding century a Kalmuck prince, named TorgottChorluke, came from Alack-ulla, (which fignifies the fpotted mountains) a country fituated between Siberia on the north, and India on the fouth, to the borders of Ruffia ;

and

and brought along with him about fifty thoufand families, or tents, as they fometimes reckon. In his march weftward to the Volga, he defeated Eyball utzick, a Tartar prince, who lived in tents beyond the river Embo. Advancing forward he met three other Tartar chiefs, named Kitta-haptzay, Malebash, and Etzan, whom he alfo defeated. And at laft fettled to the east of the Volga, under the protection of the Ruffians. Chorluke had fix fons; Dangtzing the oldeft fucceeded him in the government, or chanfhip.

The prefent chan, named Aijuka, is the fourth from Chorluke, and is much esteemed in the east for his fagacity and juftice. I am informed, that the reason why Chorluke left his own country, was a difpute about the fucceffion to the chanship. He, being engaged on the weakeft fide, and having unfuccefsfully tried his fortune in the field, at laft took the refolution of abandoning his own country altogether. Thefe people are generally called the black Kalmucks, though they are not black, but only fwarthy.

They have no money, except what they get from the Ruffians, and their other neighbours, in exchange for cattle with this they buy meal fometimes, but mostly cloth, filk-ftuffs, and other apparel for their women. They have no mechanics, except thofe who make arms. They avoid all labour as the greatest flavery; their only employment is tending their flocks, managing horfes, and hunting. If they are angry with a perfon, they wish he may live in one place, and work like a Ruf.

fian.

Their language contains none of those horrid oaths com, "mon enough in tongues of more enlightened nations. They believe virtue leads to happiness, and vice to mifery; for, when defired to do what they think wrong, they reply, in a proverb, Though a knife

be harp it cannot cut its own handle.'

On long marches all their provifions confift of cheefe, or rather dried curd,made up into little balls, which they drink when pounded and mixt with water. If this kind of food fails, they have always many fpare horfes, which they kill and eat. They broil or roaft the flesh before the fire, on pieces of broken arrows, and never eat it raw, as is commonly believed, un-' lefs compelled by neceffity. They have indeed large thick pieces of horfe-flesh, fmoaked or dried in the fun, which they eat; but this cannot properly be called raw. I have tafted fome of it, and thought it not amifs.

As to their religion I can fay little; they are downright Heathens, and have many lamas or priefts, who can read and write, and are diftinguished by their yellow habits. Their high priest is called Delay Lama, and lives far to the eastward.

Of the Tzerimish and Tzooweb.

There are two pretty numerous tribes, called the Tzerimifh and Tzoowafh: they fpeak a language quite different from the Mahometan Tartars in thefe parts, who ufe a corrupted dia. lea of the Arabic. The Mahometans likewife have fome

learn.

learning; but the Tzerimish and Tzoowash have none. They have a tradition among them, that in former times they had a book of religion; but, as no body could read it, a cow came and fwallowed it. They pay great veneration to a bull. From whence they came is unknown; but, from their complexion, it is probable they are from Afia. They live by agriculture, and feem to be an inoffenfive kind of people. Their huntfmen offer in facrifice to fome deity the first creature they catch. Hence fome curious men have imagined thefe people part of the ten tribes of the Jews, expelled by Shalmanezer. I advance this only as a conjecture, which every reader may follow, or not, as he pleases.

By accident I met with an Englishman at this place. He was by trade a carpenter, and had been in the Ruffian fervice; but, being fufpected of deferting, he was condemned to banishment, to this country, for a certain time and notwithstanding that was elapfed, the poor man, deprived of all means of afferting his liberty, remained ftill in the fame fituation. He bought a Tzerimish wife, from her father, for fix rubles, about thirty fhillings fterling. He brought her to vifit me. She was a woman of a chearful and open countenance, and dreffed in the manner of her country of which, for its fingularity, I fhall give a fhort defcription.

Her hair was plaited round her head, in many locks, but that on the back part longer than the reft, at the end of which was tied a taffel of red filk, and in the middle a fmall round brass bell; about her

head was a fillet fet with fmall fhells, instead of jewels, and hung all round with filver pence; above this was a piece of linen fo artfully plaited, and done up, that it look. ed like a grenadier's cap; at the top was a filk taffel, with another brafs bell, which gingled as the turned her head. The rest of her drefs was clean, though homely, and the whole feemed becoming enough.

Of the Tartars about Aftrachan.

The Mahometan Tartars here live without the town, and have the fame privileges as in other places. I met feveral of their women in the street with rings in their nofes, which were of different value according to the rank of the perfon who wore them; fome of gold, and others fet with precious tones. On enquiring the reafon of fuch a fingular ornament, I was told, that it was the confequence of a religious dedication of these perfons to the fervice of God: it is made by the parents, even while the mother is pregnant; in token whereof, as foon as the child is born, they put a ring in the right noftril, which continues there till death. I have feen fome with two fuch rings.

One day, as I was walking through the ftreets of Aftrachan, I obferved a very fingular appearance; it was a pretty Tartar lady mounted aftride upon an ox; fhe had a ring in her nofe, and a ftring drawn through the nose of the ox, which ferved inftead of a bridle; fhe was dreffed better than common, and attended by a footman: the fingularity of the equipage, but particularly her extraordi.