DON COSSACKS. 
309 
delighted even with the thought of a skirmish : C JH P - 
proud of their employment, they scoured the ' , — 
plains, armed with pistols, sabres, and lances 
twelve feet in length. 
Thus escorted and accoutred 1 , we proceeded 
to the distance of thirty versts before the evening; 
and passed the night in a spot full of swamps, 
stinking fens, and muddy pools. Near to these 
stagnant waters, a number of caravans had 
also halted. Mosquitoes were here in great 
number, and very troublesome. Our Cossacks 
passed the whole night upon the damp ground, 
and in the open air, almost naked, around our 
carriage. The atmosphere of such a country 
must in summer be pestilential. It resembled 
the P online Marshes in Italy ; being full of 
reeds, bulrushes, and tall flags, in which was 
heard the constant clamour of frogs and toads, 
whose croaking overpowered every other sound 
during the night. But in the morning, the 
chorus of a great variety of birds, with the 
humming of innumerable insects, and the pleasing 
appearance of a flowery wilderness, gave a 
liveliness to the flat and wide prospect. The 
name of this place was Tichaia; and hereabouts 
the river Lazovay has its source. We followed Biter 
LuoTtjr, 
(!) See the Vignette to this Chapter. 
/ 
