But, Instead Of Setting A Good Example, And Showing The Mass Of The People That The Laws And Regulations Must Be Observed, It Is Precisely These People Who Set All Laws At Defiance.

They send a servant forward or borrow one from their fellow-travellers, to the station to announce that on such a day they shall arrive, and will require eight or twelve horses.

If any hindrance occurs during this time - a hunt or a dinner - or if the wife of the traveller has a headache or the cramp, they postpone the journey without any ado to another day or two; the horses stand constantly ready, and the postmaster dare not venture to give them to private travellers. {308} It may so happen that travellers have in such a case to wait one or even two days at a station, and do not get through their journey quicker by the post than by a caravan. In the course of my journey by the Russian post, I several times went only a single stage during a whole long day. When I saw an uniform I was always in dread, and made up my mind that I should have no horses.

In each post-house, there are one or two rooms for travellers, and a married Cossack in charge, who, together with his wife, attends to strangers, and cooks for them. No charge is made for the room, the first comer is entitled to it. These attendants are as obliging as the stable people, and it is often difficult to procure with money a few eggs, milk, or anything of the kind.

The journey through Persia was dangerous; that through Asiatic Russia, however, was so troublesome, that I would prefer the former under any circumstances.

From Pipis the country again diminishes in beauty: the valleys expand, the mountains become lower, and both are frequently without trees, and barren.

I met, today, several nomadic parties of Tartars. The people sat upon oxen and horses, and others were loaded with their tents and household utensils; the cows and sheep, of which there were always a great number, were driven by the side. The Tartar women were mostly richly clothed, and also very ragged. Their dress consisted almost entirely of deep red silk, which was often even embroidered with gold. They wore wide trousers, a long kaftan, and a shorter one over that; on the head a kind of bee-hive, called schaube, made of the bark of trees, painted red and ornamented with tinsel, coral, and small coins. From the breast to the girdle their clothes were also covered with similar things, over the shoulders hung a cord with an amulet in the nose, they wore small rings. They had large wrappers thrown round them; but left their faces uncovered.

Their household goods consisted of tents, handsome rugs, iron pots, copper coins, etc. The Tartars are mostly of the Mahomedan religion.

The permanent Tartars have very peculiar dwellings, which may be called enormous mole-hills.

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