anner on the
head. In these three articles of dress they drive the horses and oxen; the
sun burns them to a dark brown, almost black. The children we saw were
quite naked. Various attempts have been made to civilize and instruct
them, but without success. One missionary pursued the work so far as to
feed and clothe the children, and collect them for instruction, which they
received for a while, but all at once and with one consent it was at an
end. When I see the Tartar galloping over the steppe as if riding on the
wind, it constantly makes me think of the wild Arabs. When we are anxious
to find a well of water where we may take our meal, and when we see
travellers assembled to water their cattle and flocks, and the camels
running loose on the steppes--which they do till autumn, when they are
sought up for work,--all reminds us of customs of the East.

This evening they halted at a Tartar village, where the occupant of the
_traktir_, or house of entertainment, persuaded the driver to take
out his horses for the night. The conduct of this man and his companions
was suspicious; they eagerly examined the mattresses of the travellers,
which were of superior quality; and when William Rasche came to make the
tea, which he did by the moonlight outside the hut, the boiling water
which he poured in to rinse the teapot came out into the tumblers a white
liquid; and after the tea was put in the innkeeper held up the pot against
the moon, and looked curiously into it. Instead of retiring early, as the
Tartars always do, the men in the hut kept a watch upon the travellers;
and the suspicions even of the driver were awakened, when one of them came
to him, as he was lying by his horses, to borrow his knife. His horses,
however, were so weary, and he himself so unwilling to move, that the
travelers contented themselves with harnessing the horses, and making
ready to depart in case of necessity. Soon after midnight, finding they
were still watched by the Tartars, and apprehending that these waited only
till they should all be asleep, to carry off their horses or to rob their
persons, they decided to make the best of their way out of their hands.
The driver being slow to move, W.R. jumped into his place, seized the
reins, and drove quickly off, thankful to have effected a safe escape. It
is very common for the Tartars to prowl about in the night, and steal the
horses and waggons, of their more settled and thrifty neighbors.

After about