THE COSSACKS. 295 



suppressed the Little Hiissian Hetmansliip, and in 1777 destroyed the Zaporoo- 

 stronghold (site//). Those who wished to remain free were fain to seek refuge 

 "amongst their hereditary foe, the Turk. 



But the old Cossack spirit still doubtless partly survives amongst the present 

 Ukranians, Frequent revolts have taken place on the banks of the Dnieper, and 

 throughout Little Russia the old devotion to the hromada, or commune, has lived 

 through every political vicissitude. " The Commune is a great man," says the 

 local proverb. In the Ukranian there is a nomad strain ; he easily shifts his 

 abode, but he lacks the colonising genius of the Great Russian. In 1856 the 

 report spread that Prince Constantine had reappeared in Bessarabia, others said in 

 the Crimea, where he was enthroned beneath a red tent, inviting all good Ukranians 

 to freedom and the resumption of their lands ; but all should accept the invitation 

 within the year, else it would be too late. Immediately whole communities arose, 

 not to massacre their masters, but to depart in peace. In some places the 

 peasantry disposed of everything for a few roubles to the Jews, left their hamlets, 

 and set out. " "VVe thank you," said they to the nobles, " for your bread and salt, 

 but we Avill no longer be your slaves." 



The old Cossack warrior lives in tradition and song alone, and even the 

 Chùmal-, or Lkranian of the caravans, has all but disappeared, mostly rej^laced by 

 the railway and the steamer. Still even now merchandise is consigned at Odessa 

 by these caravans often more rapidly and at a cheajDcr rate than by the " goods 

 train." Like the Zaporog, the Chûraak was formerly a hero in his way, and had 

 to face every hardship and death itself in his search for fish and salt on the shores 

 of the Euxine and Azov Sea. Marauders beset the passes, fierce snow-storms 

 swept the steppe, safe-conducts were not always a protection against the Tatar 

 hordes, and on his return nothing protected him against the ruinous dues of the 

 nobles. His place was always at the head of the convoy, his inseparable com- 

 panion the cock which crowed the starting hour at dawn, and, when overtaken by 

 death, a mound, at times supplied with a farewell flask of spirits, marked his last 

 resting-place. 



The freedom-breathing Cossack songs and the refrains of the caravan Chûmaks 

 still linger in the memory of the Little Russian. The kohzar, who accompanies 

 his notes with the kohza, or mandoline, and the lirnik, who plays not on the lyre, 

 but with a sort of hand organ, still chant the lines which fii'st echoed on the 

 steppe. Some of the ballads recited at the fairs have an historic strain ; but, apart 

 from this popular minstrelsy, there are snatches of song which in their breadth of 

 thought, strength of language, and wealth of details are like fragments of epic 

 poems. Unfortunately they are tending to disappear, and will soon survive only 

 in written literature. As he listens to these dûmi, which seem to conjure back the 

 past, with all the hopes and fears, the joys, sentiments, and passions, of those 

 stirring days, the Little Russian fancies he lives again the life of his heroic 

 forefathers. The national poetrj^ of few languages excels that of the Ukranians 

 in energy of expression and depth of feeling. And what a sweetness and vigour, 

 combined with warmth and delicacy, are breathed in their love songs ! Amongst 



