S INTRODUCTION. 



All these nations have the upper part of the visage 

 very broad and wrinkled, even during the period of 

 youth. Their noses are short and fiat ; their eyes lit- 

 tle, and sunk in their heads ; their cheek-bones high ; 

 the lower part of their face narrow ; their chin long ; 

 their teeth of an enormous size, and separated from 

 each other ; their eye-brows thick, large, and cover- 

 ing their eyes ; their complexion olive, and the hair 

 black : they are of a middle size, extremely strong, 

 and very robust : they all lead a vagrant, wandering 

 life, remaining under tents formed of different skins : 

 their food is that of horse or camel's flesh, which they 

 either eat raw, or sodden, by placing it between the 

 horse and the saddle : their drink is the milk of the 

 mare, fermented with millet ground into meal : their 

 head is shaven, except one lock of hair, which is left 

 at the top, and is allowed to grow long enough to form 

 into tresses, which hang down on each side the face. 

 The women cannot boast of more beauty than the men ; 

 their hair is adorned with pieces of copper, or stuck 

 with ornaments no less inelegant. The majority of 

 these nations are equally devoid of religion and mora- 

 lity, and generally subsist by robbery and theft. The 

 chief of their riches consists in horses, of which there 

 are more in Tartary than any part of the world. Of 

 these animals the natives are so fond that they occupy 

 the same house ; and so great is the skill displayed in 

 their management, that the creatures seem to under- 

 stand all their master's designs. 



To this race of men, also, we may attach the Chi- 

 nese, and likewise the natives of Japan ; for, though 

 their customs and ceremonies may widely differ, it is 

 the formation of the body to which we here attend. 

 It is universally allowed, that the Chinese have broad 



