5 ^ 8 An Account of U K r a i N. ^ Book Ik 
The Ukrain is a very fertile Country, though the third 
Part of it is fcarcely cultivated •, it produces fuch a vaft 
Quantity of Grain of all Sorts, that the Inhabitants are 
at a Lofs how to con fume it *, they cannot export any of 
it, becaufe their Rivers are not navigable. They abound 
in Honey, Wax, Wood, Cattle, Fowl, and Fifli. Hungary^ 
^ranfylvaniay JVallachia^ and Moldavia^ fupply them 
with Wine 5 they alfo make good Beer, and Aqua Vit^e^ 
out of their Corn ; they have much Mead •, the Salt-pits 
near Cracow furnifh them with Salt ; they have alfo 
fome out of the Country of Pokutia, on the Borders 
of Moldavia and Pranfylvania^ where there are Salt- 
fprings : Their Houfes are of Wood, and their For- 
tifications of Earth and Wood, which they account better 
againft Cannon, than Brick Walls ; but they are foon fet 
on Fire. 
The Rivers of note here are the Borijihems or Nieper, 
the Bog, Tyras or Neifier, the common Border betwixt 
them and Wallachia, the Dezna, the Rofs, the Horin, the 
Stouez, and the Ster, near which was fought the laft Bat- 
tle between thePo/^iand Co[facks, in 1651 which obli- 
ged the Cojfacks to feek Proteftion among the Mufcovites 
and Turks. The Language of the is a Dialed of 
the Polifp Tongue, as the Polijh is of Sclavonian', but 
that of the Cojfacks is much more fmooth, and full of 
Diminutives, which makes it very agreeable. 
3, The common People are of the Greek Church : 
Their- Worfhip is the fame with that of th6 Ruffians ; 
their Metropolitan refides ol Kiow, is confecrated by the 
Patriarch of Conjiantinople, and fubjed to him ; the 
whole almoft of their Religion confifts in Feafts and Holy- 
days j but the greater Part of the Gentry are Papifts, and 
a few Proteftants. It is very common in this Country for 
Maids to woo the Men ; if a young Woman be in love 
with a- young Man, fhe is not afhamed to go to his Fa- 
thers Houfe, and reveal her Pafiion in the moft ten- 
der Expreflions, and promifes all Obedience if he pleafe 
to atcept of her in Marriage : If fhe be rejeded by the 
young Man becaufe he is too young, or not difpofed to 
marry, or the like, fhe tells him that fhe is refolved never 
to go out of the Houfe till he confent, and accordingly 
takes up her Lodgings there : To force her out, would be 
to provoke all her Kindred •, hor would the Church fuffer 
them to Life any Violence to her without infliding heavy 
, Penance, and branding the Houfe with Infamy ; fo that 
after two or three Weeks the Parents, or the young Man 
himfelf, being moved with the Conflancyof the Woman, 
accommodate Matters as well as they can, and make up 
the Match. 
Their Manners are like thofe of Soldiers, not follicitous 
for what is to come, but fpend freely what they have 
among their Companions, and leave Futurity to fhift for 
itfelf •, they are very inconftant, mutinous, and purfue 
their prefenc Advantage rather than their Faith and Pro- 
mife *, they are great Drinkers, but by reafon of their La- 
bour and Hardfinips, they have fo much Health that Phy- 
fidans are of little Ufe among them : They are of a good 
Stature, flrong, nimble, great Lovers of Liberty, uneafy 
under any Yoke, and indefatigable : They are much 
given to fifhing and hunting. None know better the 
way of preparing Saltpetre, and making Gunpowder, 
their Country abounds with it, and feveral Parts of Europe 
are furnilEed from thence. This Territory was almofl a 
Defart till improved by the Indufliry of the Cojfacks, and 
, Other Colonies ; the many Rivers which run through it 
add much to its Fruitfulnefs. 
They have fome Animals peculiar to their Country, 
fuch as a Bead: called Bohac, not unlike a Guiney Pig \ it 
makes Holes in the Earth, which it enters in Odioher, and 
never comes abroad till April ; within thefe Holes there 
are many little Apartments for their Provifions, Lodg- 
ings, and Dead •, eight or nine Herds of thofe Beafts live 
together in fuch Caves. They are eafily tamed, and are 
very diverting. When they go out for Provifions, they 
place a Sentinel, who as foon as he fpies anyvBody gives 
a Signal, and they ail run to their Caves. The Jeunaky 
is a Kind of Goat, remarkable for his beautiful Fur, re^ 
ferpbling Sattin, and a white Skin and fmooth Horns *, 
he has no Horn in his Nofe, as fome report, but as he 
feeds goes backwards. They have many wild Horfes, of 
no Value but for their Flelh, which they fell in their 
Markets, and think it better than Beef of Veal : When 
thofe Horfes come to be old, their Hoofs, never pared, 
fo contraft their Feet that they cannot go ; in Summer 
they are mightily incommoded with Flies and Graihoppers, 
in fuch vaft Numbers, that they form a Cloud of five or 
fix Leagues long, and three or four broad, darken the 
Air in the cleareft Day, and deftroy all the Corn they 
light; on in lefsthan two Hours time. 
4. When they rendezvous upon the Elands of Ecarb- 
niza-W ijkowa, the firfh thing they do is to chufe their 
General for that Expedition *, and to make their Boats, 
which they call Colna, of about fixty Foot long, twelve 
Foot deep, and as many wide. They are built very light, 
one Plank pinned on the Edge of another, and widening 
upwards. They have a Stern at each End, and about 
twelve or fifteen Oars of a Side. They have no Deck ; 
but to, prevent their Sinking, though full of Water, they 
compafs them round with a Border of Reeds, as big as a 
Barrel, tied together, and faftened to their Boats with 
Ropes ; they have a forry Maft and Sail, but feldom ufe 
them, except in very fair Weather. Their Provifion is 
a Ton of Bifket, which they take out of the Bung as 
they ufe it ; a Barrel of boiled Millet, and another of 
Pafte, made with Water, which they eat with their Mil- 
let ; every Boat carries about fixty Perfons ; every Man 
having two Guns, and each Boat five or fix Falconets or 
fmall Pieces of Cannon. They fet out about the Begin- 
ning of June, and return about the firfi; of Auguji. 
They wait for a dark Night, that they may pafs un- 
difcovered by the Turks Galleys, which lie at Oczakow to 
intercept them. With thefe Boats they cruize over all 
the Black Sea. If they fpy a Galley, they keep at a 
Diftance till Night, obferve the Courfeof the Veffel, and 
when it is dark come up and board it ; they take out all 
the Cannon, Money, and Merchandize, and then fink 
the Ship, becaufe they have neither Skill nor Opportu- 
nity to ufe it. No fooner have the Turks Intelligence 
that the Cojfacks are at Sea but the Alarm is taken imme- 
diately, which reaches quickly to Conjlantinople ; from 
thence Couri'/rs are difpatched to the Coafts of Natolia, 
Romelia, and Bulgaria, to bid them be upon their Guard ; 
but the Cojfacks are generally too nimble for them, and 
are forty Hours on the Coafts before them. If a Galley 
fpy them in the Day-time (which is very uncommon *, 
for their Vefifels are not above two Foot and a half above 
Water) they avoid fighting, by rowing away from her, 
or retiring to Shallows among Reeds, where the Galleys 
cannot follow them. 
This was their way of living till the Grand Signior 
obliged Sigifmund, King of Poland, to prohibit thofe 
Piracies. It was bad Policy in the Poles to let them chufe 
their own General ; for this General being abfolutely their 
own Creature, is forced to comply with their Methods. 
I'hey handle their Guns very dextroufly, and have Scythes 
fet long- ways upon Poles, v/ith which they fight very 
fiercely, and at the fame time Ikilfully *, fo that regular 
Troops are often beat by them. They are very indif- 
ferent Horfemen, but excellent Soldiers on Foot. They 
are inured to all manner of Fatigues and Hardlhips, obe- 
dient to their Commanders, aftive, and dextrous in 
intrenching themfelves, not only in the ordinary way, 
but alfo by making a Fence of their Baggage Wag- 
gons, v/hich cover them as they march. Thefe moving 
Intrenchments are abfolutely neceflary for them, when 
they march without Horfe in open Plains in the De- 
farts of the Tartars, againft whom they are forced to 
ftand wherever they meet them. There have been feve- 
ral Inftances, that one thoufand Cojfack Foot marching 
betwixt their Chariots and Waggons, have, in a Plain, 
repulfed five or fix thoufand Tartars on Horfebapk. 
Their Horfes, though fwift, are but weak, and ftopped 
by the lead Barricade. But, however, this way of 
marching, in the midft of their Baggage and Ammu- 
nition Waggons, would fcarcely be pradticable in any 
other Country but Poland and the Defarts of Tartaryt 
which lie upon a level 
5. It 
