[ '04 J 
Ruffian fhlp : this happened on the fif-» 
teenth of Anguft, 1749. 
The veiTcl belonged to a trader, of 
the feci called by its adherents Stara 
Fieva, that is, The Old Faith (a), who had 
come 
(<?) Thefe are looked upon as a fet of heretics by 
the Ruffians, who give them the name of Rafkol- 
chiki) or Ra/kohiikiy which fignifies BackfAders, of 
Apojlates, 
Though the particular religion of the mailer of 
the veflei be a circumftance indifferent in itfelf, and 
in no ways connected with the fubject of my nar- 
rative, yet I hope fome account of it will not be 
unacceptable to thofe who delight in fearching into 
the hiflory of nations, and more particularly into 
the Ruffian hiftory, and every thing relating to 
it. Another reafon for my mentioning it, is, that 
I find thefe people rnifreprefented by ieveral au- 
thors. Some have defcribed them as a diftinct 
nation, and others have taken them to be a fet of 
hermits, or monks ; but they are neither one nor 
the other; for the inhabitants of the northern coafU 
of Rulha, who bear the name of RuJJians, arc 
as fuch eftcemed profcfTors of the pure Greek reli- 
gion; whereas thefe fe&aries arc, in oppofition to 
them, diftinguiihed, as I faid, by a nick-name 
of 
