410 
quadrangle. At the ends of the crofs-beain 
hung tafiels of the fame three-colouredyarn. 
Having inquired the ule of this crofs, Iwas 
told, that it had been pldced there by the 
prieiis on account of the ficknefs of the 
Prince’s mother, and as a means towards 
effecting, her fpeedy recovery. It feemed 
ftrange to mé, that thefe Heathen priefts 
fhould have choien for this purpode a crofs, 
the [ymbol of Chriftianity. . 
Our arrival, which was a before-unfeen 
phenomenon to the horde, attraéted the at~ 
tention of all: Men and youths left their 
herds, and the women, who were engaged 
in making butter, in weaving felt, fewiag, 
and other domeftic employments, came 
running out of their tents, with their chil- 
dren, to view the ftrangers. ee 
The whole behaviour and appearance of 
thefe peopie evinced a great rudenefs and 
want of civilization. Many of the men 
were half naked, and even beys of ten 
years of age flocked around us in the 
fame ftate as they had come out of the 
hands of Nature. The women and girls 
mutt, however, be excepted from this ge- 
neral charge of unbecoming. nudity, 
though it muft be owned, that their 
cloaths were not remarkably clean or 
meat. 
The boys who had from the'r infancy 
been deftined tor the priefthood, had their 
heads clofe-fhaven: but the others, for the 
moft part, wore in the plaits of their hair 
fmall bells, which jingled at every mo- 
tion of the body. Almoft every one, 
mens boys, women, and young girls, even 
children from three to four years of age, 
had tobacco- pipes in their mouths 3 which, 
joined to the nakednefs, brown mulatto- 
colour, and charaéteriltic broad Calmuc 
faces, gave the children a truly ridiculous, 
and even ape-like, appearance. The 
ftrange fight of thefe naked boys and half- 
naked men was quite new and unexpected 
to us, e!pecially to the ladies of our party, 
who, blufhing with fhame and contufion, 
knew not whither to turn, that le!fs offen- 
five objects might meet their eyes. . 
At laf, accompanied by a great crowd, 
we arrived at the huts, or kzbiths (as they 
are called’), of the horde. They were ail 
made of brown felt, had a very dirty and 
fmoaky appearance; and the fiefh and 
hides, which were hung on them to dry, 
rendered them Mili more difgufting. ‘Two 
only, ‘which ftood confpicvous in the 
middle of the others, were diftinouithed 
by their fuperior fize, and by ther colour, 
being of wiite felt; and we learned that one 
of them was the habitation of the printe, 
Remarks on the Calmucs, their Adanners and Cuftems. (Dec. 1; 
and the other the temple of their gods.— 
Having obferved {mall wooden wind- 
mill-wings fixed at the entrance of the 
brown fele huts, I inquired for what pur- 
~pofe they were put there, and was told, 
t 
that they were praying-machines, on which 
the owner of the hut caufes certain 
prayers to be written by the priefts, that 
they may be turned round by the wind, 
and he thereby be freed from the trouble of 
repeating thém himfelf. The priefts have 
likewife a very commodious method of ex~ 
pediting their prayers: when they have a 
number of petitions to offer up for the 
people, they for this purpofe make ule of 
a cylindrical wooden-box, into which they 
throw the written prayers; and haying 
placed it perpendicularly on a ftick, they 
fit down befide it, pull it backwards and 
forwards with a ftring, gravely fmoaking’ 
their pipes while performing the ceremony; 
for, according to their doétrine, in order 
to render prayer efficacious, it is only 
neceflary that it be put in motion; and it 
is a matter of indifference, whether this 
be dore by means of the lips, of a wind- 
mill, or of a cylindrical. box, é 
Adjoining to the Prince’s kibitk ftood 
another, likewife fomewhat larger than the 
others, which ferved for a kitchen. Al- 
thouglr the Prince’s kibitk was diftin- 
guifhed from the other felt-huts by its 
external appearance, and by its much 
larger fize, yet the entrance to it was fo. 
iow, that we could not go in without 
ftooping : but we found the interior of it 
very roomy, and ornamented in a fingular 
manner. 
The middle of the ground was covered 
with a wariegated carpet, and the other 
parts with frefh-mown grafs. Round 
about the fides ttood or hung a number of 
chefts with iron-cramps, leather-bottles, © 
faddles, guns, bows, arrows, and other 
warlike inftruments. Oppofite to the en- 
trance of the kibitk lay the princefs on a 
low fopha, over which hung feftoons of 
yellow filk. She appeared to be about 
fifty years of age, had an orange-coloured 
filk drefs, and on her head a Calmuc cap, 
likewife of a yellow colour (which is held - 
facred among the Calmucs) with a black 
border and her hair hung down over her’ 
fhoulders in two long plaits. : 
The fifter of the young prince, a girl of ' 
about fiiteen or fixteen years of age, of 
a pleafing phyfiognomy, and who, fora | 
Calmuckeis, might be deemed a beauty, 
met us at the entrance of the tent, and’® 
welcomed the ladies of our party. She 
wore a wide drefs of green filk, and joie 7 
aaah (| 
