332 
DON COSSACKS. 
chap, dwelling, built of a few pieces of wood, and 
, — 1 thatched by weeds and sedge, carelessly 
heaped. The surrounding hovels are out- 
houses for the post-horses. During summer, 
its Cossack inhabitants sleep upon the roof, 
among the thatch. 
As it grew dark, a tremendous thunder-storm 
came on, and a very interesting spectacle was 
disclosed by the vivid flashes of lightning. The 
Cossack guard, as well as the people of the 
place, had collected themselves upon different 
parts of the thatched covering of the hut and 
adjoining hovels, to pass the night. Every 
flash of lightning served to exhibit their martial 
figures, standing upright, in groupes, upon the 
roof of the buildings, bowing their heads, and 
crossing themselves, beneath the awful canopy 
the sky then presented. All around was de- 
solate and silent. Perhaps no association could 
serve to render a scene of devotion more 
striking. It is customary among the Cossacks, 
before they consign themselves to sleep, to 
make the sign of the cross, facing respectively 
the four quarters of the globe. A similar 
superstition, respecting four cardinal points of 
worship, exists among ignorant people, even 
in our own country. The author, when a child, 
