and in this division of our plan, we have been
chiefly guided by the masterly delineations on the same subject, of the
eloquent historian of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire[1].

In their navigation of the Euxine, and by planting colonies on its coasts,
the Greeks became acquainted with Western Scythia, extending from the
Danube, along the northern frontiers of Thrace, to mount Caucasus. The
great extent of the ancient Persian Empire, which reached at one period
from the Danube to the Indus, exposed its whole northern frontier to the
Scythian nations, as far to the east as the mountains of Imaus or Caf, now
called the Belur-tag. The still more eastern parts of Scythia or Tartary
were known of old to the Chinese, and stretch to the utmost north-eastern
bounds of Asia. Thus from the Danube and Carpathian mountains, in long.
26 deg.. E, to the promontory of Tschuts-koi-nos, or the East Cape of Asia, in
long. 190 deg.. E. this vast region extends in length 160 degrees of longitude,
or not less than 8000 miles. Its southern boundaries are more difficultly
ascertainable: but, except where they are pressed northwards by the
anciently civilized empire of China, these may be assumed at a medium on
the thirty-fifth degree of north latitude; from, whence Scythia or Tartary
extends in breadth to the extremity of the frozen north.

Next to the nomadic nations of Western Scythia, who encountered and baffled
the arms of Darius, King of Persia, under the general name of Scythians,
who were perhaps congeneric, or the same with those afterwards known by the
name of Goths, the dreaded name of the Huns became known to the declining
Roman Empire. But our object does not require us to attempt to trace the
history of these nations, under their various appellations of Huns, Topa,
Geougen, Turks, Chozars, and others, till the establishment of the vast
empire of Zingis connected the history and devastating conquests of the
Tartars with the affairs of modern Europe[2].

In the beginning of the thirteenth century, Temugin, the son of a Mogul
chief, laid the foundations of a vast empire in the north east of Tartary
or Mongolia. His father had reigned over thirteen hordes or tribes of the
Moguls, Moals, or Monguls: and as it was not customary for these warlike
tribes to submit to be ruled over by a boy, Temugen, who at the death of
his father was only thirteen years of age, had to contend with his
revolted, subjects, and had to obey a conque