■f 
I 
4 
TO AZOF AND TAGANROG. 
the Laplander, the Tahlar, or the Calmuch. As 
for the agricultural Laplander, the mountaineer 
of Norivay, and the inhabitants of the north of 
Siueden, there does not exist a better disposed, 
or a more benevolent people. 
Several villages are scattered along the banks 
of this river; but they consist chiefly of 
wretched hovels, constructed of reeds and 
flags arrowing in the shallows of the Don : 
having these objects only in view, the traveller 
is presented with scenery which answers to the 
description given of the wigwams and the 
waters of America. Soon after we had passed the 
fortress of Rastof, we saw, as we looked back 
towards the East, the whole of the settlements 
upon the northern side of the river, including 
those of Rastof, of Nahhtshivan, and of Axay . 
Here the . Don is divided by the channel bearing 
the name of The Dead Danaetz ; and the high 
lands, upon which those towns are stationed, 
continue to form the northern bank of that 
branch of the river. We sailed along the main 
current, which flows, after this separation, 
through a very flat and marshy country. The 
only objects interrupting the uniformity of the 
landscape are those antient sepulchres alluded 
to in the passage cited from Rubruquis i . We 
411 
CHAP. 
XIV. 
Division of 
the Don. 
Tumuli. 
(2) See p. 400. 
