nd called _Kara Kumiz_, which is mentioned both by
Rubruquis and in the history of Wassaf. It seems to have been strained and
clarified. The modern Tartars distil a spirit from Kumiz of which Pallas
gives a detailed account. (_Dahl, Ueber den Kumyss_ in _Baer's Beitraege_,
VII.; _Lettres sur le Caucase et la Crimee_, Paris, 1859, p. 81;
_Makrizi_, II. 147; _J. As._ XI. 160; _Levchine_, 322-323; _Rubr._
227-228, 335; _Gold. Horde_, p. 46; _Erman_, I. 296; _Pallas, Samml._ I.
132 seqq.)

[In the _Si yu ki_, Travels to the West of Ch'ang ch'un, we find a drink
called _tung lo_. "The Chinese characters, _tung lo_," says Bretschneider
(_Med. Res._ I. 94), "denote according to the dictionaries preparations
from mare's or cow's milk, as Kumis, sour milk, etc. In the _Yuan shi_
(ch. cxxviii.) biography of the Kipchak prince _Tu-tu-ha_, it is stated
that 'black mare's milk' (evidently the cara cosmos of Rubruck), very
pleasant to the taste, used to be sent from Kipchak to the Mongol court in
China." (On the drinks of the Mongols, see Mr. Rockhill's note, _Rubruck_,
p. 62.)--The Mongols indulge in sour milk (_tarak_) and distilled mare's
milk (_arreki_), but Mr. Rockhill (_Land of the Lamas_, 130) says he never
saw them drink _kumiz_.--H. C.]

The mare's-milk drink of Scythian nomads is alluded to by many ancient
authors. But the manufacture of Kumiz is particularly spoken of by
Herodotus. "The (mare's) milk is poured into deep wooden casks, about
which the blind slaves are placed, and then the milk is stirred round.
That which rises to the top is drawn off, and considered the best part;
the under portion is of less account." Strabo also speaks of the nomads
beyond the Cimmerian Chersonesus, who feed on horse-flesh and other flesh,
mare's-milk cheese, mare's milk, and sour milk ([Greek: oxygalakta])
"_which they have a particular way of preparing_." Perhaps Herodotus was
mistaken about the wooden tubs. At least all modern attempts to use
anything but the orthodox skins have failed. Priscus, in his narrative of
the mission of himself and Maximin to Attila, says the Huns brought them a
drink made from _barley_ which they called [Greek: Kamos]. The barley was,
no doubt, a misapprehension of his. (_Herod._ Bk. iv. p. 2, in _Rawl._;
_Strabo_, VII. 4, 6; _Excerpta de Legationibus_, in _Corp. Hist. Byzant._
I. 55.)

CHAPTER LIV.

CONCERNING THE TARTAR CUSTOMS OF WAR.

All their harness of war is excellent and costly. Their