THE COSSACKS. 



245 



and remodeled the Cossack regiments. Their 

 spirit of freedom was again outraged by the harsh 

 measures of the Russian ruler, and they went 

 over to the Khan of the Crimea. They soon be- 

 came disgusted with their new masters, and suc- 

 ceeded in obtaining pardon from the Empress 

 Anne, who allowed them to settle again on Rus- 

 sian territory. Fresh cases of turbulence pro- 

 voked the Empress Catharine to destroy their 

 selcha, and to form the Ukraine Cossacks into 

 regiments of hussars. The bulk of the Zaporo- 

 ghes were banished to the peninsula of Taman. 

 Count Razumoffski, the last attaman of the 

 Ukraine, was dismissed by Catharine II. In her 

 reign their organization may be said to have come 

 to an end, though the Emperor Nicholas reestab- 

 lished certain Ukraine regiments under a differ- 

 ent name. 



The most important of all the branches is 

 undoubtedly the Cossacks of the Don. They 

 may be taken, says Drygalski, " as denoting the 

 primary type " of the whole body of Cossacks. 

 Alison ^estimated the extent of their territory as 

 being equal to nearly two-thirds of that of the 

 British Islands, and it is " incomparably more 

 level "and fertile." The beginning of their his- 

 torical existence as an organized community may 

 date from the reign of Ivan the Terrible. He 

 issued a ukase, which is considered as constitut- 

 ing the first title-deed to the territory which they 

 held on the river Don and the neighboring 

 streams. This ordered them, in return for the 

 possession of the specified territory, to engage 

 in an " unending pursuit of the Tartars, the for- 

 mer oppressors of their country and enemies of 

 the Christian faith." Fighting was, almost of a 

 necessity, the chief business of their lives ; and 

 in old times, according to Mr. Wallace, the Don 

 Cossacks prohibited agriculture on pain of death : 

 possibly more on account of the temptation that 

 fertile and cultivated districts offered to the raid- 

 ing nomads of the neighborhood, than because 

 of any enervating effect attributed to it. 



The Don Cossacks, since they have been of 

 any historical importance, at all events, were al- 

 ways supposed to be subject to the czars. They 

 have, however, been rather disobedient depend- 

 ents, and have twice raised formidable insurrec- 

 tions; the last in 1773. The origin of the Sibe- 

 rian Cossacks is attributed to the restlessness of 

 a portion of the Don Cossacks under the press- 

 ure of Muscovite rule. A large body of them, 

 between six and seven thousand in number, under 

 the leadership of their attaman, Yerraak Timo- 

 vief, began to move toward the East during the 



latter half of the sixteenth century. They are 

 said to have reached first the government of 

 Perm, and while halting there discovered the 

 country now known as Siberia. In their desire 

 to move farther away from their Muscovite op- 

 pressors they thought of penetrating to this new- 

 ly-found territory, but the wide deserts, as seen 

 from the elevation of the Ural Mountains, intimi- 

 dated them, and they professed an intention of 

 remaining where they had already arrived. Yer- 

 mak, by his eloquence, persuaded them to go on. 

 They passed the mountain-barrier, and, defeating 

 a vast host of Tartars who attempted to oppose 

 their passage, extended their conquests to the 

 Tobol, the Irtish, and the Obi. Their wonderful 

 march, or migration, was terminated by the sub- 

 jugation of all the tribes dwelling between the 

 Ural and the Altaic chains. In 1581 Yermak 

 ceded his conquests to the czar. " Thus," says 

 Clarke, " was Siberia added to the extensive pos- 

 sessions of Russia by a Cossack of the Don." 



Each Cossack community possessed the right 

 of self-government, which was exercised much 

 in the same way as in that of the setcha in the 

 Dnieper, subject to the duty of military service 

 under the banner of the czars. This was the 

 tenure on which they held their liberties. Among 

 themselves the spirit of equality, perhaps, never 

 was less restricted ; yet there was a proper regard 

 to order. Any Cossack, by passing through the 

 minor offices, might arrive at the highest place. 

 When in the execution of his office, the most 

 perfect respect was paid to the official. When 

 not on duty, he was no more than any one of his 

 companious-in-arms. Clarke noted how " amus- 

 ing it was to observe the temporary respect they 

 paid to their attaman." If he convened any 

 number of the inhabitants on any business, how- 

 ever trivial, they made obeisance before him, 

 remaining uncovered and standing, as though 

 they found themselves in the presence of a sov- 

 ereign. The moment the meeting was over, he 

 passed among them almost unnoticed, receiving 

 no other mark of respect than that paid to a pri- 

 vate individual. Though still freer than most of 

 their fellow-subjects, the greater part of their 

 privileges have been withdrawn. The right of 

 electing their attaman was abolished by Nicholas, 

 and the dignity is now hereditary in the imperial 

 family, being attached to the titles borne by the 

 heir to the throne. 



The maritime enterprise of the Cossacks 

 whose territory lay near the Euxiue rendered 

 them formidable to the Turks who had taken 

 possession of the last remains of the Eastern 



