THE MIGRATIONS OF MEN. 303 



sian yoke was growing more and more oppressive. To throw it off, 

 they decided to emigrate, and return to the country of their an- 

 cestors. The tribe had settled on either bank of the Volga, and, in 

 order to come together at a determined place, it had been arranged to 

 start in the dead of winter, at a time when the ice would be strong 

 enough to allow the people on the right bank to gain the left bank of 

 the river. On a given day, all the people of the left bank came to- 

 gether ; but some unknown cause hindered the people of the right 

 bank from crossing. The number of emigrants was, however, very 

 considerable, for, including women and children, there were 250,000. 

 The rear-guard was composed of a select body of horsemen, which 

 counted 80,000 men. You see, here was an emigration of an entire 

 people. 



From the beginning of the journey, the leaders understood that 

 they must hasten ; for, at the first news of their departure, the Russians 

 gave orders to pursue the fugitives. A regular army was soon organ- 

 ized and advancing upon them, preceded by a host of Cossacks. These 

 sworn enemies of the Calmucks massacred all those that strayed away 

 any distance from the main body. Although it was the 5th of January, 

 1771, when they started, this entire people traversed the regions here in- 

 dicated, and arrived on the following September on the frontiers of 

 China. 



In this long journey of more than 700 leagues, this wandering 

 horde was constantly pursued by the Russian army, obliged to ad- 

 vance always by forced marches, to open a passage through hostile 

 countries, harassed not only by the Cossacks but also by the Kir- 

 gheez, and the Bashkeers, the most savage and warlike inhabitants 

 of these countries, who gave them not a single moment's peace. 



I forgot to say that the winter, always very severe in these regions, 

 was exceptionally so at this time ; that in the first eight days all the 

 beasts of burden perished, and that they had to burn their tents to 

 obtain a moment's warmth. The women, the children, the aged, and 

 men in their vigor, perished by thousands from the cold. This journey 

 was, in reality, for these people, what the retreat from Russia was for 

 the French army ; but with this difference, that the Calmucks emi- 

 grated in families, with women and children, so that the disaster 

 would be much more terrible. Winter was followed by summer ; and, 

 much as they had suffered from cold, they suffered equally from heat, 

 and, above all, from want of water. There was even a time when the 

 entire body of Calmucks, at the sight of water, disbanded to quench 

 the thirst that devoured them. The rear-guard itself yielded to the 

 temptation. The Bashkeers and the Kirgheez, taking advantage of this 

 disorder, fell upon the multitude and put them to great slaughter. 

 Happily, Kien-Long was engaged in the chase in these parts, and, as is 

 usual with the Emperors of China, he was accompanied by a real army, 

 in which were several batteries oi artillery. He fired some pieces of 



