t 



Introduction. 5 



independence, that ^pears to most advantage when united 

 with the qualities of the heart. They possess a degree of 

 vivacity even to impetuosity; their frankness many would 

 construe into rudeness, but it is accompanied with an accom- 

 modating temper, and they are ever ready to do services. A 

 sprightly manner, blended with their vivacity, and mixed with 

 a certain head-strong inconstancy, makes their character, to 

 speak freely, resemble that of the French. Having been 

 admitted into a number of companies where French was uni- 

 versally spoken, and remarking the gaiety of some, the impas- 

 sioned manner of others, the lively turns of the discussion, the. 

 desultory interruption of conversation, combined with the 

 affability of all, I have forgot for a time that I was in a foreign 

 country. This description is not, however, more applicable 

 to the Magy ares than to the Sclavonians, and must be under- 

 stood as restricted to the higher classes. 



The dress of the Magyare peasant resembles that of the 

 Slowacks, but it is of a ruder kind. Large pantaloons of linen 

 cloth, which fall into the stockings or over the boots, and a shirt 

 which only comes down to the loins ; these constitute the sum- 

 mer wear. A large pelisse of sheep skin, often embroidered 

 with other colours, thrown over the shoulders, or a rough 

 great coat, with very long hairs, to resemble the fleece of a 

 sheep, makes up the winter apparel. But if the dress of the 

 peasants be generally coarse, throughout Hungary, that of the 

 gentlemen is very elegant ; it is modeled on the equipment of 

 our light cavalry, originally copied from the Hungarian cavalry, 

 which has ever been in great reputation. Our hussars have 

 borrowed their name, their helmets are similar, and some of 

 their accoutrements, as Sako, Sabrack, &c. are terms of Hun- 

 garian derivation. According to report, the word Hussar ori- 

 ginates from an edict of king Mathias Corvin, ordaining that 

 every twenty labourers should provide a horseman ; he was 

 called, in Hungarian, Huzzas, whence hussar has been formed. 



The Kumans, called by the Hungarians, Kun, appear to be 

 of Magyare origin ; their name, perhaps, eomes from the river 

 ^Kuma, which, from the Caucasean region, falls into the Black 

 Sea. We find, in history, a branch of the Magyare people ex- 

 tending to Caucasus, and on the banks of the Kuma, are the 

 ruins of a town called Madschar, or Madjar, which may indi- 

 cate their pristine residence. Their history becomes* more 

 apparent about the end of the eleventh century, and the begin- 

 ning of the twelfth, when king Stephen, to recompence their 

 valour, in wars against the Greek emperor, assigned them a 

 district on the banks of the Theysse, now known by the name 

 of Great Ku mania or Great Kunia; in Hungarian, Nagy Kunsag. 



