362 
DON COSSACKS. 
chap, the house of a General, the principal officer and 
__ Ataman of Tcherkask'. This person was a 
merchant, and very rich. His house, like all 
those we saw afterwards, was extremely neat, 
and elegantly furnished. Upon the walls of the 
apartments were French and English prints : 
among others, we noticed one, a very fine en- 
graving, taken from a picture of more than 
common interest. It represented Rousseau, in 
his last moments, desiring his housekeeper to 
open the window, that he might once more 
behold the face of Nature. The General, having 
requested that we would accept of his services 
while we remained in the city, appointed an 
officer to attend us, to provide us with sen- 
tinels, and whatsoever else might be deemed 
necessary. 
The town of Tcherkask is divided into 
eleven stanitzas, and contains fifteen thousand 
inhabitants. The number of houses amounts to 
three thousand; allowing, upon the average, 
five persons to each. This, from all we could 
learn, is the true state of the population. Here 
(1) “ The internal government of Tcherkask is exercised, under the 
Ataman, by a Mastor of Police, and a Chancery of four persons. The 
Police Master, and, on some solemn occasions, the Ataman, is distin- 
guished by a large staff, with a silver filigree head, resembling that of 
a drum-major.” Heber’s MS. Journal. 
