MISCELLANIES. 



639 



tended to the Buo^ and the Dnies- 

 ter. Those who resided beyond 

 the cataracts of the Dnjeper now 

 received the name of Saporogians, 

 and these were the ino»t powerful 

 tribe. Thus, though the Little 

 Russian Cossacks had long existed, 

 it was not till late that they were 

 distinguished by this appellation. 

 During the reign of the grand- 

 prince Iwan Wassiljewitsch J. the 

 Tartar Cossacks first make their 

 appearance: they were afterwards 

 divided into those of Ordinsk and 

 Asow. There were likewise Cos- 

 sacks who were in the immediate 

 service of certain Tartar princes ; 

 and it is possible enough that they 

 may have been originally body- 

 guards of Tscherkes>ians. Thus 

 Wassili Iwanowitsch, son of the 

 prince just mentioned, had in his 

 service Cossacks, whom he often 

 employed in missions to the Krym. 

 The Ordinsk Cossacks had their 

 name from being dependant on 

 the Great Orda, the chief settle- 

 ment of the Tartars on the Wolga, 

 as were the Asow Cossacks on 

 Asow, consequently on the Turks, 

 who in 1471 made themselves 

 masters of that town. 



In 150O Agus Tscherkass and 

 Karabai were the chiefs of the 

 Asow Cossacks, who inhabited the 

 country between Asow and the 

 Russian frontiers; and these seem 

 to have intermingled most with 

 their neighbours the Tscherkes- 

 siaiis; for from that time the 

 terms Tscherkessian and Cossack 

 became synonymous. It is not 

 surprising that they should retain 

 their language and religion, for 

 the Russians seem still to consti- 

 tute the greater part of the nation. 

 In later times we have a striking 

 instance of a similar inlLrmix- 



ture ; for about sixty years ago 

 the Grebensk Cossacks on the 

 Terek had so blended themselves 

 with the Tschetschenzes and other 

 mountaineers as scarcely to be 

 distinguished from them ; but 

 they still retained the Russian lan- 

 guage, although they had taken 

 foreign wives. 



The origin of the state of the 

 Don Cossacks dates not much 

 earlier than 1570, for many re- 

 fugees had some time before set- 

 tled on the Don and its branches ; 

 but it was not till after the build- 

 ing of Tscherkassk that their po- 

 litical constitution was settled. 

 The Zar Iwan Wassiljewitsch, on 

 occasion of the expedition of the 

 Turks against Astrachan in 15G9, 

 is said to have ordered out against 

 them 5,000 Saporogians from 

 among the Tscherkessians (Cos- 

 sacks) residing on the Dnjeper, 

 under the conduct of Prince Mich- 

 ael Wyschnewetskii, who, in con- 

 junction with those established on 

 the Don, gained a complete vic- 

 tory over the Turks. It is related 

 that the greater part of these 5,000 

 men remained near the Don, and 

 in concert with the Cossacks there 

 founded the city of Tscherkassk; 

 where, after the manner of the 

 Saporogians, they lived a long 

 time without wives. Their losses 

 were supplied by stragglers and 

 unmarried men from the first co- 

 lonies of the Don Cossacks. The 

 troubles which soon afterwards 

 broke out in Russia contributed to 

 augment their numbers; they ex- 

 tended their possessions to the 

 Donez, the Medwediza, the Cho- 

 per and the Busuluk, and made 

 the town of Tscherkassk their 

 caiiital. 



These Cossacks soon became 



