them buy bread or oatcake from the
neighbouring Russians. Their mode of preparing tea would not commend
itself to the denizens of Mayfair. It comes to them from China in the
shape of very hard bricks, composed of the leaves and coarsest portions
of the plant. After boiling it for a considerable time in water, they
add milk, butter, and salt. The infusion then acquires consistency, and
a dull red colour. "We tasted the beverage," says Madame de Hell, "at
Prince Tumene's, but must confess it was perfectly detestable.... They
say, however, that one easily gets accustomed to it, and eventually
learns to think it delicious. It has, however, one good quality. By
strongly stimulating perspiration it serves as an excellent preservative
against the effect of sudden chills. The Kalmuks drink it out of round
shallow little wooden vessels, to which they often attach a very high
value. I have seen several," adds our traveller, "which were priced at
two or three horses. They are generally made of roots brought from Asia.
It is scarcely necessary to say that the Kalmuks know nothing of
tea-kettles, and make their beverage in large iron pots. Next to tea,
they love spirituous liquors. From mare's milk or ass's milk they
manufacture a kind of brandy; but as it is a very feeble stimulant, they
eagerly seek after Russian liquors; and therefore, to prevent the fatal
consequences of their mania, the government has forbidden the
establishment of any dram-shops among their hordes. The women crave the
deadly liquor no less ardently than the men, but are so closely watched
by their lords and masters that they have few opportunities of indulging
the taste."

Among the Kalmuks, as among most Oriental peoples, the stronger sex
looks with contempt upon all household matters, abandoning them entirely
to the women; who work and take charge of the children, keep the tents
in order, make up the garments and furs of the family, and attend to the
cattle. The men hardly condescend to groom their horses; they hunt,
drink tea or brandy, doze about upon felts, and smoke or sleep. Add to
their daily occupations, if such they can be called, their joining in
occasional games, such as chess and knuckle-bones, and you have a
complete picture of the existence--we will not say life--of a Kalmuk
_paterfamilias_. At their laborious days, however, the women never
repine; they are accustomed to the burden, and bear it cheerfully; but
they age very early, and after a f