340 
DON COSSACKS. 
chap, these ; for it will readily be admitted, that from 
v, — t — j any one of these appellations the word Tana'is 
would be derived'. Even in the present day, 
the analogy between the words is so striking, 
that, in hearing Tahtars and Cossacks name 
this branch of the Don, particularly if uttered 
with quickness and volubility, it seemed as fre- 
quently pronounced Tana'is as Tanaetz. To 
distinguish this branch of the Don from the 
Danaetz, properly so called, they add to each an 
epithet; the latter being called the Northern , 
and the former the Dead Danaetz. 
Camps of We traversed continued steppes, from Kamen-' 
Caimucks. Camps of Culmucks were often stationed 
near the road. We visited several ; but obtained 
little information worth adding to the description 
before given of this people. In one of those 
camps, containing not more than four tents, we 
found women only, busied in the distillation of 
brandy from milk. The men were all absent ; 
perhaps upon some predatory excursion. The 
women confirmed what we had heard before, 
concerning the materials used for distillation : 
having made butter, they said, they were di- 
stilling the butter-milk for brandy. We could 
(l) The change from D into T, and vice versd, is one of the most 
common modifications to which language is exposed. 
