B A S 



lage contains from ten to fifty huts ; but tV.e fummer en- 

 campment never exceeds twenty juries. Thefe juries arc a 

 kind of banacks. 



The Baihkirs have fome knowledge of the art of writing, 

 and have fchools ; but as it is from t'leir own nation that 

 they eleft their pricfts and the inilruftors of youth, th.cy 

 remain in the profounded; ignorance. With fome knowledge 

 of tillage, they retain a liking to the paftoral life ; which 

 fpoils ihem for agriculture. They fow but little grain ; co:i- 

 fequently their harvefts afl'ord them only a few refources for 

 the winter, being far from fufficicnt for their whole confnnip- 

 tion. Thcv apply with greater fuccefs to the cultivation of 

 bees ; making hollows in the trees to ferve the purp'of-.-s of 

 hives: which to fecure from the attacks cf the bears, they have 

 invented a variety of ingenious contrivances both as weapons 

 and traps. One man, in frequent inftances, is known to 

 poffefs at leaft five hundred hives. They have the art of 

 finding out the mountains liiat contain mines; but, like the 

 Tartars, they would think thcmfelves difgraced by working 

 them themfelves. It nuift be owned, however, that they 

 have not the ilrength of body which that labour requires. 

 Their practice is to let them out for a term of fixty years to 

 Ruffian contraftors, affigning to them at the fame time a 

 tract of foreft neceffary for the forges. The pooreft of 

 ihcm ferve for waj^es in tranfporting the ore. 



The women undcrftand the art of weaving, fidling, and 

 dyeing narrov7 coarfe cloths ; they liiicwife make th: clothes 

 for the whole family. Tliey make a fniall quantity of linen 

 of hemp ; but they prefer weaving the filaments of the com- 

 mon nettle, as that plant requires no culture, and the linen 

 they make of it is extremely coarfe. They have not the 

 ■unwholefomc pra£lice of fteeping their hemp or their nettlrs 

 in water, but leave them to dry in the air on the top of 

 their huts during the autumn and winter ; then dripping off 

 the bark, they pound them in wooden mortars. The men 

 follow the more diFicult bufinefs of making felt and of tan- 

 ning leather. Both fexes wear Ihiits of the cloth made of 

 nettles ; they alfo wear wide drawers, which defcend to 

 the ankle-bone, and a fort of flippers, like people in the 

 Eaft. Both men and women wear a long gown, that of the 

 men being generally of red cloth bordered with fur ; this 

 they bind round their middle with a girdle, or with the 

 belt to which they fix their fcymitar. Tlie poor have a 

 winter peliffe of (heep flcin, and the rich wear a horfe /l<in 

 in fuch a manner that tiie mane covers their back and waves 

 in the wind. The cap is of cloth, like the fruftum of a 

 cone, and lo inches high; and that of the rich is ufually 

 ornamented with valuable furs. The gown of the v/ives is 

 made of fine cloth or filk, buttoned before as high as the 

 neck, and faftened by a broad girdle, which the richer claffes 

 have made of fteel. Their necks and throats are covered 

 with a fort of fliawl, on which avu feveral rows of coins, or 

 a living of lliells. 



The principal wealth of this people confifts in their flocks ; 

 it is cfpeciall; from their horfes that they derive the neccf- 

 faries of life ; meat, milk, vefTels, garments. They have 

 nearly as many and even rather niore flicep than horfes ; 

 and their horned cattle are about half as numerous : they 

 likewife bring up fome goats, and only the rich have ca- 

 mels. A man of the ordinary clafs lias feldom fewer than 

 between thirty and fifty hoifes, many pofTefs five hundred, 

 and fome a thoufand, two thoufand, and more. Their 

 flieep are of the broad-tailed fpecies ; they efteem the 

 others for the finenefs of their wool. 



The moll opulent of the Baihkirs are thofe who dwell to 

 the call of the Ural, and in the province of Iffet. Some 

 of them are owners of not lefs than four thoufand hoirfes, 



B A S 



who fatten in the richefl; paflurcs: the wafp; and gnat* 

 oblige them in the month of June to quit thefe fine mea- 

 dows, and retreat to the mountair? ; the horfes then lofe 

 their fle(h and pine away, but regain their prlftine vigour on 

 coming down again to the plains in the mouth of July. 



Tiiough the Baflikirs experience a long and very fevcre 

 winter, yet they abandon their flocks and droves to the in- 

 clemencies of the feafon. They have neither granaries nor 

 barns ; they only lay up a little hay, which they range in 

 cocks round the trees, refcrving it for the diftempered cattle. 

 Thofe that arc healthy pick up a little grafs or mofs from 

 beneath the fnow, and are often reduced to the neceflity of 

 feeding on the bark of the young elms. No farther atten- 

 tion is paid to the camels, than to wrap them in fome 

 wretched coverings of felt which th.ey few about their 

 body. The cattle towards the end of the winter are become 

 lean, weak, and emaciated. Though the females are never 

 kept apart from the males, they rarely bring forth cut of 

 feafon ; hecaufc the exhaullcd ilate of the flc;cks and herds 

 during tiis winter, is unfavourable to generation. Neither 

 the Bafhkirs nor the Kalmuks fuffer the colts and the calves 

 to fuck their dams except during the night, their praftiee 

 being lo milk them in the day-tiir.'- for their own advantage ; 

 kuniifs, prepared from mare's milk, being their favourite 

 hquor. (Sec Kumiss.) Thcv are alfo fond of a inixturc 

 of four milk and mead, called Arjan. In the fpring they 

 drink the fap of the birch, which they collecl by means of 

 deep incifions in the trees. 



Their arms are the bow, the lance, the helmet, and coat 

 of mail ; from the Ruffians they obtain fabres, Kufquelb, 

 and piltols. A Bafiikirian army prefenls a truly ciu'ious 

 fptdlacle ; obferving no order in marching, they only form 

 into ranks when they halt. Every one leads a horfe in his 

 hand, which carries all his provifions : the load however is 

 not heavy ; confifting only of chtefe, fome corn dried in the 

 kiln, and a hand-mill to gri:id it to meal. With the meal they 

 form a ball which they fwallow, and which ferves them for 

 bread. Each warrior, drefled in his long gown, equips him- 

 fclf as he chufes or as he can. One has procured for himfelf 

 the various kinds of arms, and carries a whole arfenal with 

 him ; the other fcarcely pofleffes more than one ill-condi- 

 tioned weapon. Such troops as thefe rendered the armies 

 of the ancient Perfians at once fo numerous and fo little for- 

 midable. 



They are all well mounted, are flcilful in drawing the bow, 

 and dexteroufly manage their horfes. A fmallnumbcrof Bafh- 

 kirs are eafily victorious over a numerous fquadron of Kirg- 

 hifes; fometimes one of their regiments will traverfe a whole 

 horde of Kirghifes, put to flight by their very looks all the 

 enemies they meet, and return triuinphant without having fuf- 

 tained the flightefl lofs. The military fervice which they 

 arc bound to perform, and the only point in which they 

 are galled by the Ruffian yoke, con fills in furnifliing, in 

 time of war, 3000 cavair)-, which form 30 troops of lOO 

 men each. The Bafhkirians are the moft negligent and (lo- 

 venjy of the Tartars. In commerce they are the kail in- 

 telligent ; but, at the fame time, they are the moft hofpita- 

 ble, the moft lively, and the moft brave. Their diverlions 

 at any religious feftival, or at a ni'aniage, confift in nume- 

 rous libations of four milk, finging, dancing, wrefthng, and 

 liorfc racing, in which they excel. In their fongs they enu- 

 merate the atchievements of their anceftors, or their own, 

 and fometimes their amorous adventures. Their fongs are 

 always accompanied with gellures, which render thenri very 

 theatrical. Among them old age meets with the greateil 

 refped. In their entertainments, it occupies the place of 

 honotir ; and the ftranger, to whon^; compliments are paid. 



