COSSAKS. 



of Suffolk ui<l Eseex ; and W. by the hundred of Babergh. The 

 boundaries of Conford Poor-Law Union are much more extensive than 

 those of the hundred ; the Union contains 28 pariahea and townships, 

 with an area of 48.135 acre*, and a population in 1S51 of 17,71. 



COSLIN, or KOSLI N, a division of Pomerania in Prussia, comprising 

 the eastern part of that province, U bounded N. by the Baltic, along which 

 it extend* for above 100 mile* ; and K. and & I y the province of Wort 

 1'nuaia. It ha* an area of about 6468 square mile* ; i* divided into 

 nine min->r circles, and contained at the end of 1849 a population of 

 413,516. The nirface i* a level, occasionally broken by alight 

 elevations, and rising into sand-hills near the Baltic. There are 

 considerable woods and forest*. The division is watered by the Kega, 

 r.TMiite, Wipper, Stolpc, and numerous other streams ; it has many 

 lakes, but none of any considerable dimension* : several of them lie 

 along the shore* of the Baltic, and are separated from them by narrow 

 ipit* of sandy soil, through which some of them find an outlet 

 Agriculture and gracing are the chief pursuits ; to these must be added 

 the manufacture of woollen*, cotton*, ribbons, leather, iron-ware, glass, 

 paper, tobacco, Ac. Amber is obtained all along this coast. 



Ktidin (formerly Cholin), the capital of the division, and of the 

 principality of Camin, is about 5 miles from the Baltic, and situated 

 on the banks of the Niesenbecke, or Nesebach, which falls into the 

 bore lake of Jasmund; in 54" 12' N. lat, 16" 10' K. long., and has 

 about 9000 inhabitant*. The town, which is above a mile in length, 

 stands at the foot of the Oollenberg, from which it is supplied with 

 fresh-water. It is well-built, surrounded with a wall, and has four 

 gate* and three suburbs. It was formerly the residence of the bishops 

 of Camin, and is now the Mat of provincial administration and of the 

 superior court* of judicature. It has a gymnasium and a training 

 school, and manufactures of Russia leather, linens, woollens, hosiery, 

 and tobacco. The market-place contains a statue in freestone of 

 Frederick William I., who rebuilt the town after its destruction by 

 fire in 1718. On the Qollenberg is a monument commemorative of 

 the Pomeranians who fell in the campaigns of 1813, 1814, and 1815. 



Among the other towns are Coitxry, already noticed [CoLBERo] : 

 Stoipt, another walled town of about 9000 inhabitants, situated on 

 the river Stolpe, which U navigable, and has a harbour at its mouth 

 in the Baltic, 12 miles below the town. The town has a castle, 

 manufactures of woollens and linens, and some trade in amber and 

 fish. RUgancaldt, 18 miles N.K. from Koslin, is situated near the 

 mouth of the Wipper, and has a population of about 4000, who are 

 engaged in the manufacture of linen, broadcloth, sailcloth, and spirits. 

 The town i* frequented as a watering place. It ha* a castle, baths, 

 two hospitals, a small harbour, and docks for building coasting craft. 

 NttuUttiH, 40 miles 8. from Koslin: population, 4000. Btlganl, 

 15 miles S.W. from Koslin (population, 3300), ia the seat of a forest 

 board, and has an old castle. 



[Nl*VBB.l 



COSSAKS, a people inhabiting those part* of .the Russian empire 

 which border Turkey, Tartary, Mongolia, and China. The name is 

 derived it is said from the Tartar word Kasak, or Kaisaks, signifying 

 light-armed mercenary horsemen. They were for a long time known 

 by the Caucasian appellation of Tsherkassi (or Circassians), and to 

 this day the capital of the Don Cossaks is called Tsherkask. As to 

 descent they appear to be of the native Russian race, intermixed with 

 Tartars and Calmucks. Russian forms the basis of their dialect ; but 

 there i* a considerable admixture of Polish, which is explained by 

 their residing long on the frontier of Poland and serving under the 

 Polish kings. The first mention made of them is about the time of 

 the downfall of the Tartar dominion in Europe, and they seem to 

 have sprung up in southern Russia out of the remains of that domi- 

 nion. There, amalgamating with the natives and fugitives from all 

 part*, they formed a kind of military republic, and gradually extended 

 their power to the Bog and Dnieper, building towns and villages and 

 waging war against the Turks and Tartars. For the purpose of 

 defence they were classed into the married and unmarried, of whom 

 the Utter devoted themselves exclusively to the profession of 

 arms, and to plunder. They fortified themselves in their head- 

 quarters (called a ' Setch,' from which females were excluded) on an 

 bland of th* Dnieper, called Korlitzkoi-Ostrof. The married men 

 lived at some distance from the spot in villages, between the Dnieper 

 and Bug. When an emergency arose they elected a chief, called 

 attaman, or betntan, whose authority terminated with the cessation 

 of the emergency. They furnished troops at their own cost to the 

 Voivode* of th. Ukraine. In 1S70 they accompanied Ivan IV. of 

 Muscovy on hi* victorious campaign against the Turks, and on tin ir 

 return left a colony at the month of the Don. In 1680 the Cossaks 

 an, first mentioned as distributed into pulk*, 1 or regiment*, on the 

 occanonof their defending Tahegrin, in Poland, against the Tartars, 

 under the command of Ontafy DakiewiUh. In 1 6'.. 

 the king of Poland, divided their forces into 10 regiments of infantry 

 and 2000 horsemen, the latter receiving pay out of a tax levied upon 

 the rebel peasantry. He also appointed an attaman or hetman as 

 chief over them, and hi* tueesssora endeavoured on all occasions to 

 interpose them a* a barrier against the incursions of the Tartan of 

 the Crimea and Budjak, and hence arose their implacable enmity to 

 the Turk* and Tartan. The encroachment* made on their right* by 

 III. gave rise to a long series of contentions, which ended 



l-y rtirnielnitxk, their attaman, seeking the protection of Russia in 

 1054, in whose service they still remain. 



Their troops are almost wholly composed of cavalry. The Cossaks 

 form the irregular troop* of Russia, and some of them are enrolled 

 in regiment* of the guard* and the line. Territorially they are 

 established in the basin of tho Don and all along the southern border 

 of Russia, where they form a military cordon from the Black Sea 

 nearly to the Sea of Okhotsk, protecting the empire against, or 

 extending it on the side of, the Circassians, Kirghiz, and other 

 Tartars, Mongols, and Chinese. The area and population <>f the 

 principal Cossak settlements in Kuropean Russia are as follows (the 

 Ukraine Cossak* are for the most part settled and are not here 

 given): 



Besides the settlements indicated there are colonies of Cossaks on 

 the Russian side of the Lower Danube, in the Caucasus, in Astrakhan 

 aud Orenburg, and along the frontiers of Siberia and China ; but we 

 bavc no means of stating the extent of their territory or the in. 

 of the population. The Cossaks also form the bulk of tin- 

 employed in Siberia. The following table gives an approxiina' 

 the number of men afforded by this warlike people to Russia in 

 ordinary times : 



The Cossaks of the Caucasus besides the 9000 cavalry above 

 furnish also 9000 infantry, and in the Siberian towns 24 battalions 

 of 1000 Cossaks each are stationed, making the total of this force 

 employed in the empire in time of peace 126,200. One half of this 

 force is always kept in readiness for service ; the other forms the 

 reserve : the whole however may be called out at once, and tin- 

 strength of the regiments may be augmented at the emperor's plea- 

 sure. Every Cossak between the ages of 18 and 40 is liable to 

 perform military duty. Each regiment is drawn from one or more 

 'stanitzas,' or districts, and every Cossak is required to supply him- 

 self with a hone, arms, and equipments. The young are call- 

 first, and men of advanced ago are retained as the reserve unless they 

 volunteer for field duty. In time of war the period of service i* 

 unlimited ; in time of peace it is confined to three years. The 

 Tschernomorski Cossaks, who arc attached to the corps static!- 

 the regions of the Caucasus and Georgia, are almost inc&uantly in 

 active ervice. The nominal dignity of Hetman-generol of all the 

 Cossaks is vested in the Czarowitz, or heir-apparent to tho- Russian 

 crown. The Cossak receives no pay but when on active service. 

 'II.- 'Ircss of the soldiery is a short vest in the Polish style, largo 

 trowsers of deep blue, and a black sheepskin cap. Their arms consist 

 of a long spear, sabre, musket, pair of pistols, and a whip with n 

 leather thong, which they apply to their enemy's as well ax tlu-ir 

 charger's back. They are mostly members of tho Russo-' 

 Church, and are a purely military people. 



The Cossaks are of middle stature, strongly built, and able to cndutv 

 great fatigue. They have chestnut-coloured hair, blue eyes, and wear 

 the beard long. On service they sleep in tho open air ; learn almost 

 at a glance the nature of the ground over which they nave to inarch ; 

 fall suddenly on fugitives or isolated detachments, an-! 

 rapidly before a strong and organised force; for cxpcrtness in plunder 

 they are unequalled, and pity is unknown among them. They elect 

 their own officer.", with the exception of those of superior rank ; 

 these are named by the government They all bear long lances, whirh 

 they handle dexterously. They are excellent horsemen : tin ir i 

 are small, lively, and very hardy. The Cossak region 

 form part of the Imperial guards ore of course well clothed and 

 armed; but tho ' I its are in general wretched h 



and their miserable condition stimulates them in time of war to acts 

 of rapacity and barbarism which render them the terror of every 

 country they invade. The Cossaks afford great support to the 

 operations of a regular army by harassing the enemy s flanks and 

 cutting off his supplies. They are paid only whilst on active service. 



