a very large country of Asia, situated between 57° and 160° E. Long., reckoning from the west end of the isle of Ferro, and between 37° and 55° of Lat. It is bounded on the north by Siberia, or that part of Asia which belongs to Russia; on the west by the rivers Don, Wolga, and Kama, which separate it from Russia; on the south by the Euxine and Caspian Seas, Karazm, the two Bukharias, China, and Korea; and on the east, by the Oriental or Tartarian ocean. It extends from east to west the space of 104 degrees in longitude, or 4145 geographical miles; but its breadth is not proportionable, being not above 960 miles where broadest, and where narrowest 330.

This vast region is divided into two great parts; the one called the Western, the other the Eastern Tartary.

Western Tartary, which is much more extensive than the Eastern, containing 139 degrees of longitude out of 161, is inhabited by a great number of nations, or tribes of people, who are called Mongols or Mongals, by themselves; and Moguls or Tartars, indifferently, by other nations.

The principal mountains, or rather chains of mountains, found in this part of Great Tartary, may be divided into three classes: first, those which run along the northern borders of it; and though perhaps not always contiguous, or of the same denomination, go under the general name of Ulug Tag, or Dag, that is, the Great Mountain. Secondly, those which make the southern bounds, and are called Kichug Tag, or the Lesser Mountain. The third great chain is called Mount Altay, lying nearly in the middle, between the Caspian Sea and Eastern Tartary, and extending between the other two, in about the 110th degree of longitude.

The principal rivers of Western Tartary, besides the Dnieper, Don, and Wolga, are the Jaik or Yaik, and Yem, both descending from the Ulug Tag, and falling into the Caspian Sea on the north side: the river Ili or Khonghis, which rises out of the Kichug Tag, on the borders of Little Bulgharia, and runs north-west into the lake Palkaf, which is about forty miles long, and 30 broad, in latitude 48°, longitude 97°, reckoning from the isle of Ferro: on this river the khan of the Elutus or Kalmyks usually resides: the river Irtilsh, Irtis, or Erchis, which rises in Mount Altay, and runs westward, inclining to the north, between two branches of it, into the lake Sayfan, Saffan, or Ilan, called also Honbotu-Nor, 90 miles long from west to east, and 40 broad, in latitude 47° 30', longitude 104°; from whence issuing again, it passes north-west, through part of Siberia, and falls into the Obi, which has its source in the same mountain, about one degree to the north of that of the Irtilsh; and seven or eight degrees to the north-east rises the Kem or Jenisea, which runs westward for the space of seven or eight degrees, and then turning northward enters Siberia. The next river of note is the Selenga, which rises out of the lake Kofogol, Hutuktu or Khutuktu, which is 70 miles long, from south to north, and 20 broad, in latitude 52°, longitude 118°, not far from the source of the Jenisea, and taking a sweep southward, round by the east, falls northward into the lake Baykal in Siberia, about 30 leagues north-west of the city Selenghinckoy, which stands upon it. Into the Selenga runs the Orkon, coming from the south-west; and into the Orkon the Tula, rising eastward in Mount Kentey. On the same mountain rises also two other rivers, viz. the Onon, called also by the Tartars Saghalion Ula, or the Dragon river, and by the Russians Amur; which running north-eastward, and then taking a large sweep by the south, rolls along the bounds of Eastern Tartary, and falls into the Eastern Ocean. On its banks stand two cities; Nerchinkfoy or Nipchev, a frontier of the Russians, almost due north of Pekin in China; and Saghalian Ula, possessed by the Chinese. Another large river is the Kerlon or Kerulon, which running north-eastward, falls into the lake Kulon or Dalay, which is 60 miles long from south-west to north-east, and 27 broad, in latitude 48° 30', longitude 135°, and issuing out again under the name of Ergona or Argun, joins the Saghalian Ula, about 170 miles beyond Nerchinkfoy. To these let us add the river Kalka, from whence, though small, the Kalka-Moguls or Mongols take their name. It rises in the mountains, separating Eastern from Western Tartary, and, running eastward, falls into the lake Puir, and then into that of Kulon, before spoken of.

In the middle of a desert, on the banks of the river Irtilsh, is a remarkable piece of antiquity called Sedny Palaty, or the seven palaces.

Above the Sedny Palaty, towards the source of the Irtilsh, grows the best rhubarb in the world, without the least culture. In the plain of this country also, about eight or ten days journey from Tomsk in Siberia, are found many tombs. tombs and burying-places of ancient heroes, who in all probability fell in battle. These tombs are easily distinguished by the mounds of earth and stone raised over them. The Tartars say, Tamerlane had many engagements in this country with the Kalmucks, whom he in vain endeavoured to conquer. Many persons go from Tomkify, and other parts, every summer, to these graves, which they dig up, and find among the ashes of the dead considerable quantities of gold, silver, braids, and some precious stones, but particularly hilts of swords and armour. They find also ornaments of saddles and bridles, and other trappings for horses; and sometimes those of elephants. Whence it appears, that when any general or person of distinction was interred, all his arms, his favourite horse and servant, were buried with him in the same grave; this custom prevails to this day among the Kalmucks and other Tartars, and seems to be of great antiquity. It appears from the number of graves, that many thousands must have fallen in those places; for the people have continued to dig for treasure many years, and still find it unexhausted. They are, indeed, sometimes interrupted, and robbed of all their booty, by parties of Kalmucks, who abhor disturbing the ashes of the dead. Armed men on horseback, call in braids, of no mean design and workmanship, with the figures of deer cast in pure gold, have been dug out of these tombs. They once discovered an arched vault, where they found the remains of a man, with his bow, lance, and other arms, lying on a silver table. On touching the body, it fell to dust. The value of the table and arms was very considerable. For the manners and customs of these Tartars, see Kalmucks.

Great quantities of a kind of ivory, called by the natives Mammons-horn, are found in this country and in Siberia, on the banks of the Oby. They are commonly found on the banks of rivers that have been washed by floods. Some of them are very entire and fresh, like the best ivory in all respects, excepting only the colour, which is of a yellowish hue. In Siberia they make snuff-boxes, combs, and divers sorts of turnery ware of them. Some have been found weighing above 100 pounds English.

The most considerable tribes in Western Tartary, next to the Kalmucks, are the Kalkas and Mungls, or Mongals, properly so called. The country of the Kalkas extends eastward, from mount Altay to the source of the river Kal-kha, whence they derive their name, in the borders of Eastern Tartary, and 139th degree of longitude. The territories of the Mungls, or Mongolia, lie to the south of those of the Kalkas, between them and the great wall of China, to which empire both nations are subject. Besides these tribes, who are idolaters of the religion of the Delay Lama, there are others, who possess that part of Western Tartary called Turkestan, the original country of the Turks and Turkmans, situated to the north of Great Bukharia and Karazm, between those countries and the dominions of the Eluths. Under Western Tartary also is comprehended Tibet, Thibet, or Többut, subject to the Delay Lama, or great high-priest of the Pagan Tartars and Chinese.

In all the vast region of Western Tartary, there are but few towns, most of the inhabitants living under tents, especially in summer, and moving from place to place with their flocks and herds. They generally encamp near some river for the convenience of water.

The air of this country is temperate, wholesome, and pleasant, being equally removed from the extremes of heat and cold. As to the soil, though there are many mountains, lakes, and deserts in it, yet the banks of the rivers, and the plains, some of which are of great extent, are exceeding fertile. The mountains, woods, and deserts, abound with venison, game, and wild fowl; and the rivers and lakes both with fish and fowl. In particular, here are wild mules, horses, and dromedaries, wild boars, several kinds of deer, a species of goats with yellow hair, squirrels, foxes; an animal called hau-tan, resembling an elk; another called chulon or chelion, that seems to be a sort of lynx; and a creature called taal-pe, as small as an ermine, of whose skins the Chinese make mantles to keep out the cold. Among other birds of extraordinary beauty, bred in this country, there is one called the jbonkar, which is all over white except the beak, wings, and tail, which are of a very fine red. Notwithstanding the soil in many parts of Tartary is so luxuriant, yet we are told it does not produce a single wood of tall trees of any kind whatever, excepting in some few places towards the frontiers; all the wood that is found in the heart of the country consisting of shrubs, which never exceed the height of a pike, and even these are rare.

It is remarkable, that in all the vast dominions of Mongolia, there is not so much as a single house to be seen. All the people, even the prince and high-priest, live constantly in tents, and remove their cattle from place to place as convenience requires. These people do not trouble themselves with ploughing or digging the ground in any fashion, but are content with the produce of their flocks, though the soil is exceeding fine, and capable, by proper culture, of producing grain of several sorts.

In the country of the Mongals the grass is very thick and rank, and would with little labour make excellent hay. This grass is often set on fire by the Mongals in the spring during high winds. At such times it burns most furiously, running like wild-fire, and spreading its flames to the distance of perhaps 10 or 20 miles, till its progress is interrupted by some river or barren hill. The rapidity of those flames, their smoke and crackling noise, cannot easily be conceived by those who have not seen them. When any person finds himself to the leeward of them, the only method by which he can save himself from their fury, is to kindle immediately the grass where he stands, and follow his own fire. For this purpose, every person is provided with flints, steel, and tinder. The reason why the Mongals set fire to the grass, is to procure early pasture to their cattle. The ashes left upon the ground sink into the earth at the melting of the snow, and prove an excellent manure; so that the grass in the spring rises on the lands which have been prepared in this manner as thick as a field of wheat. Caravans, travellers with merchandise, and especially armies, never encamp upon this rank grass; and there are several instances of considerable bodies of men being put in confusion, and even defeated, by the enemy's setting fire to the grass.

Eastern Tartary, according to the limits usually assigned it by historians and geographers, is bounded to the west by Western Tartary, or by that part possessed by the proper Mungls and Kalkas; on the north by Siberia; on the east by that part of the Oriental Ocean called the Tartarian Sea; and on the south by the same sea, the kingdom of Korea, and the Yellow Sea, which separates it from China. It is situated between the 137th and 160th degrees of longitude, being about 900 miles long from south to north, and near as many in breadth from west to east, yet but thinly peopled. This large region is at present divided into three great governments, all subject to the Chinese, viz. Shing-yang or Mudjen, Kurin-ula, and Tiftifkar.

The government of Shin-yang, containing all the ancient Lyaotong or Quan-tong, is bounded on the south by the great wall of China and the Yellow Sea; on the east, north, and west, it is inclosed by a wooden palisade, seven or eight feet high, fitted to mark its bounds and keep out petty robbers than to oppose an army. The lands of this province are for the general very fertile, producing abundance of wheat, millet, roots, and cotton. They also afford pasture to great numbers of sheep and oxen, which are rarely seen in any of the provinces of China. They have indeed but little rice; yet, to make amends, there is plenty of apples, pears, hazel nuts, filberts, and chestnuts, even in the forests. The eastern part, which borders on the ancient country of the Manchews and kingdom of Korea, is full of deserts and bogs. The principal cities of this government are Shing-yang or Mugden, Fong-whang ching, Inden, Icchew, and Kingchew. This country was the original seat of the Tartar tribe of the Manchews, who have been masters of China above 100 years.

The government of Kirin-ula-hotun is bounded westward by the palisade of Lyau-tong; on the east, by the Eastern Ocean; southward, by the kingdom of Korea; and on the north by the great river Saghalian; so that it extends no fewer than 12 degrees, and almost 20 degrees in longitude, being 750 miles in length and 600 in breadth.

This vast country abounds in millet and oats, with a sort of grain unknown in Europe, called by the Chinese may-jem-mi, as being of a middle kind between wheat and rice. It is wholesome, and much used in those cold regions. There is but little wheat or rice here; but whether that is the fault of the soil or the inhabitants, we cannot affirm. The cold begins much sooner in these parts than at Paris, whose latitude is near 50 degrees. The forests, which are very thick and large the nearer you advance to the Eastern Ocean, contribute not a little to bring it on and keep it up. The banks of the rivers here, in summer, are enamelled with a variety of flowers common in Europe, excepting the yellow lilies, which are of a most lively colour, in height and shape exactly resembling our white lilies, but are of a much weaker scent. But the plant which is most esteemed, and draws a great number of herbalists into these deserts, is the gin-feng*, called by the Manchews orboata, that is, the chief or queen of plants. It is highly valued for its virtues in curing several diseases, and all decays of strength proceeding from excessive labour of body or mind. For this reason it has always been the principal riches of Eastern Tartary; what is found in the north of Korea being consumed in that kingdom.

Formerly the Chinese used to get into the gin-feng country among the mandarins and soldiers continually passing; but in 1700 the emperor Kang-hi, that his Manchews might reap this advantage, ordered 10,000 of his soldiers, encamped without the great wall, to go and gather it, on condition that each should give him two ounces of the best, and take an equal weight of fine silver for the remainder: by which means the emperor got in that year 20,000 pounds of it for less than one-fourth of the price it bears at Pekin. The root is the only part that is used medicinally. Its value is enhanced by its age, for the largest and firmest are the best. This country abounds also in fine fables, grey ermines, and black foxes.

One of the tribes of Tartars inhabiting this country are called the Yu-pi Tartars, whose manner of life is somewhat extraordinary. All the summer they spend in fishing; one part of what they catch is laid up to make oil for their lamps; another serves for their daily food; and the rest, which they dry in the sun, without salting, for they have no salt, is laid up for their winter's provisions, whereof both men and cattle eat when the rivers are frozen. Notwithstanding this diet, a great deal of strength and vigour appears in most of these poor people. Their raiment consists of the skins of fish, which, after dressing and dyeing of three or four colours, they shape and sew in so delicate a manner, that one would imagine they made use of silk, till, on ripping a stitch or two, you perceive an exceeding fine thong, cut out of a very thin skin. When the rivers are frozen, their sledges are drawn by dogs trained up for the purpose, and highly valued.

Although the Manchew language is as much used at the court of Pekin as the Chinese, and all public acts are drawn up in the one as well as the other; yet it began to decline, and would probably have been lost, had not the Tartars taken great pains to preserve it, by translating Chinese books, and compiling dictionaries, under the emperor's patronage. Their language is singular in this respect, that the verb differs as often as the substantive governed by it; or, which is the same thing, to every different substantive they use a different verb; as for instance, when they would say, make a verse, a picture, a statue; for though the repetition of the same verb in discourse might be excusable, it is with them unpardonable in writing, as making a monstrous grating to their ears.

Another singularity of their language is the copiousness of it; for instance, besides names for each species of animals, they have words to express their several ages and qualities. Jutagzon is the general name for a dog; but typha signifies a dog who has very long and thick hair both on his ears and tail; and yolo, a dog with a long thick muzzle and tail, large ears, and hanging lips. The horse, as more serviceable to them, has 20 times more names than the dog; almost every motion of him giving occasion to a different name. Where they could get that astonishing multitude of names and terms, is not easy to determine.

This country is but thinly peopled, and contains only four cities, namely, Kirinula-hotun or Khotun, Pedee or Petuna, Ninguta, and Putay-ula-hotun, which are very ill-built, and encompassed with no better than mud-walls. The first stands on the river Songari, and is the residence of the Manchew general, who has all the privileges of a viceroy, and commands the mandarins as well as the troops. Ninguta, which the family now reigning in China considers as its ancient patrimony, is situated on the Hurkapira, which runs northward into the Songari. Its name is compounded of two Tartarian words which signify seven chiefs, to express the rise of the Manchew kingdom, which was first established by seven brothers of the late emperor Kanghi's great-grandfather's father.

The tribe of the Manchews, who inhabit a part of Eastern Tartary, and are lords of all the other inhabitants thereof, are called by the Russians Bogday, and the emperor of China Bogday Khan and Amulon Bogday Khan.

The third government into which Eastern Tartary is divided, is that of Tiftikar. It is 740 miles long and 600 broad; and belongs partly to China and partly to Russia. The people are great hunters, dexterous archers, and pay their tribute in fable-skins; each family being afflicted two or three, or more a-year, according to the number of able persons.

This province is inhabited chiefly by three sorts of Tartars, the Manchews, the Solons, and Taguri, of whom the first are masters. The Taguri are a large robust people, but not very numerous. They live in houses or huts, and cultivate barley, oats, and millet. Their cattle are principally horses, dromedaries, oxen, cows, and sheep. They make much use of their oxen to ride on.

The Solons also are a brave robust people. Their dress is a short jacket of wolves' skins, with a cap of the same; and they have long cloaks made of fox or tigers' skins, to defend them against the cold, especially of the night. They hang their bows at their backs. Their women ride on horseback, drive the plough, hunt flags and other game.

Besides the country towns or villages, there are three ci- ties in the province of Tiftikar, namely, Tiftikar, Merghen, and Saghalian-ula-hotun. The garrison of Tiftikar, the capital, consists of Manchews; but the inhabitants are mostly Chinese. According to their own account, they are all flaminans, or conjurors, and invoke the devil with frightful cries. They give their dead two burials, first leaving a hole at top of the grave, where the relations daily bring victuals, which they convey to the mouth of the deceased with a spoon, and leave drink in small tin cups standing round the grave. This ceremony holds for several weeks, after which they bury the body deeper in the ground.

Several rivers in this country produce pearls, which, though much cried up by the Tartars, would be little valued by Europeans, on account of their defects in shape and colour.

The kingdoms or countries of Corea, Lyan-tong, and Nyu-ches, forming a part of Katay, Kitay, or Cathay, and by some included under Eastern Tartary, are more properly provinces of China, though they lie without the great wall.

**Uzbek Tartary.** To the north and north-east of Persia lie the countries of Karafim, and Great and Little Bukharia, which being mostly subject to and inhabited by the tribe of Uzbek Tartars, are commonly known by the general name of Uzbek Tartary.

The kingdom of Karafim was known to the ancient Greeks, as appears from Herodotus, Ptolemy, and other authors of that nation, by the name of Khoraania. At present it is bounded on the north by the country of Turkestan, and the dominions of the great khan of the Eluths or Kalmucks; on the east, by Great Bukharia, from which it is separated partly by the mountains of Irdar, and partly by the deserts of Karak and Gaznah; on the south, by the provinces of Astarabad and Khorasan, belonging to Iran or Persia at large, from which it is divided by the river Jihun or Amu, and sundry deserts of a vast extent; and on the west by the Caspian Sea.

It may be about 440 miles in length from south to north, and 300 from west to east; being situated between the 39th and 46th degrees of north latitude, and the 71st and 77th degrees of east longitude. The country consists, for the most part, of vast sandy plains, some of which are barren deserts, but others afford excellent pasture. There is good land in several of the provinces, where vines grow, and wine is made; but water being scarce, a great part of the country turns to no account.

Karafim owes all its fertility to three rivers and a lake. The rivers are the Amu, Khefil, and Sir. The Amu, as it is called by the Uzbeks and Persians, is the Jihun of the Arabs, and Oxus of the ancient Greeks. It has its source in those high mountains which separate Little Bukharia from the dominions of the Great Mogul; and, after passing through Great Bukharia and Karafim, divides into two branches, one of which falls into the Khefil, and the other into the Caspian Sea, towards the borders of the province of Astarabad. The Amu abounds with all sorts of excellent fish, and its banks are the most charming in the world. Along them grows those excellent melons and other fruits so much esteemed in Persia, the Indies, and Russia.

The river Khefil rises in the mountains to the east of the province of Samarkand, and falls into the lake of Aral or Eagles, 50 or 60 miles below its junction with a branch of the Amu. Its banks are exceeding fertile wherever they are cultivated.

The Sir or Daria rises in the mountains to the east of Little Bukharia, and after a long course westward, along the borders of the Bukharias and Karafim, falls at last into the lake Aral.

Karafim is at present inhabited by three sorts of people, the Sarts, Turkmans, and Uzbek Tartars. With regard to the first of these, we are told, that they are the ancient inhabitants of the country, or those who were settled there before the Uzbeks became masters of it; and that they support themselves like the Turkmans by their cattle and husbandry. The Turkmans or Turkmans came originally from Turkestan or the parts of Tartary to the north of Karafim and Great Bukharia, towards the 11th century. They divided into two parties; one of which went round the north side of the Caspian Sea, and settled in the western parts of the Greater Armenia, from thence called Turkomania, or the country of the Turkmans. The second party turned south, and refted about the banks of the river Amu and the shores of the Caspian Sea, where they still possess a great many towns and villages, in the countries of Karafim and Astarabad.

The name of Uzbek, which the ruling tribe of the Tartars of Karafim and Great Bukharia bear at present, is derived from one of their khans. The Uzbeks of Karafim are divided into several hordes, and live for the most part by rapine; resembling in all respects those of Great Bukharia, excepting that they are much more rude and uncivilized. Like the Turkmans, they dwell in winter in the towns and villages which are towards the middle of Karafim; and in summer the greater part of them encamp in the neighbourhood of the Amu, or in other places where they can meet with pasture for their cattle, always watching for some convenient opportunity to rob and plunder. They never cease making incursions upon the adjacent territories of Persia or Great Bukharia, and are to be restrained by no treaties or engagements whatsoever. Although they have fixed habitations, yet, in travelling from one place to another, they carry with them all their effects of value, conformable to the way of living in life among their ancestors before they had settled dwellings.

These Tartars, it is said, never ride without their bows, arrows, and swords, although it be in hawking or taking any other diversion. They have no arts or sciences among them, neither do they till or sow. They are great devourers of flesh, which they cut in small pieces, and eat greedily by handfuls, especially horse-flesh.

Their chief drink is sour mare's milk, like that in use with the Nogays. They eat their victuals upon the ground, sitting with their legs double under them, which is their posture also when they pray.

All these tribes have abundance of camels, horses, and sheep, both wild and tame. Their sheep are extraordinary large, with great tails weighing 60 or 80 pounds. There are many wild horses in the country, which the Tartars frequently kill with their hawks. These birds are taught to seize upon the head or neck of the beast; which being tied with toiling to get rid of this cruel enemy, the hunter, who follows his game, comes up and kills him. Some travellers tell us, that the inhabitants of this country have not the use of gold, silver, or any other coin, but barter their cattle for necessaries. Others tell us, that they have money, particularly a piece of silver called tanga, the value near the fourth part of a crown. It is round, and has on one side the name of the country, and on the other that of the khan, with the year of the hegira. There are also, it is said, small pieces of copper, of different sizes, which answer to our pence, half-pence, and farthings.

As to the government of Karafim, the Uzbeks being masters, it is commonly vested in divers princes of that tribe of the same house; of whom, notwithstanding, only one has the title of khan, with a kind of superiority over the others. This khan has no sort of dependence on him of Great Bukharia, or any other prince.

Bukharia, Bokharia, Bokaria, Bogaria, or Boharia, is the name given to all that region or tract of land lying between Karakum and the Great Kobi, or Sandy Desert, bordering on China. It is divided into the Great and Little Bukharia. For an account of which, see the article Bukharia.

The inhabitants of these different countries, which are known by the name of Tartary, have a tradition among themselves that they are all sprung from one common stock, and that they are of the most remote antiquity. To this tradition much credit is due; for they are known to be the descendants of the ancient Scythians. But when M. Bailly contends that the Tartars are the most ancient of nations, and the civilizers of mankind, he writes without authority, and advances a paradox at which every mind must recoil. Among the Tartars there are no historical monuments of antiquity and credit; for all their writings extant, even those in the Mogul dialect, are long subsequent to the time of Mohammed; nor is it possible, says Sir William Jones, to distinguish their traditions from those of the Arabs, whose religious opinions they have in general adopted. M. Bailly displays indeed great learning and ingenuity in his attempt to derive civilization from this source; but the greatest learning and acuteness, together with the charms of a most engaging style, can hardly render tolerable a system, which places an earthly paradise, the gardens of Hesperus, the islands of the Maeanders, the groves of Elysium, if not of Eden, the heaven of Indra, the Perilous or fairy-land of the Persian poets, with its city of diamonds and its country of Shadegan, so named from Pleasure and Love, not in any climate which the common sense of mankind considers as the seat of delights, but beyond the mouth of the Oby, in the Frozen Sea, in a region equalled only by that where the wild imagination of Dante led him to fix the worst of criminals in a state of punishment after death, and of which he could not, he says, even think without shivering.

Before the era of Mohammed the Tartars had no literature. The magnificent Chengiz, whose empire included an area of near 80 square degrees, could find none of his own Mongols, as the best authors inform us, able to write his dispatches; and Timur or Tamerlane, a savage of strong natural parts, and passionately fond of hearing histories read to him, could himself neither write nor read. It is true, that by some Arabian writers mention is made of a set of Tartarian characters, said to consist of 41 letters; but from the description of these characters, Sir William Jones, with much plausibility, fulfils them to have been those of Tibet.

"From ancient monuments therefore (continues the learned president) we have no proof that the Tartars were themselves well instructed, much less that they instructed the world; nor have we any stronger reason to conclude from their general manners and character, that they had made an early proficiency in arts and sciences; even of poetry, the most universal and most natural of the fine arts, we find no genuine specimens ascribed to them, except some horrible war-songs expressed in Persian by Ali of Yezd, and possibly invented by him. After the conquest of Persia by the Mongols, their princes indeed encouraged learning, and even made astronomical observations at Samarkand; as the Turks became polished by mixing with the Persians and Arabs, though their very nature, as one of their own writers confesses, had before been like an incurable distemper, and their minds clouded with ignorance; thus also the Manchu monarchs of China have been patrons of the learned and ingenious, and the emperor Tien-Long is, if he be now living, a fine Chinese poet. In all these instances the Tartars have resembled the Romans, who, before they had subdued Greece, were little better than tigers in war, and Fauns or Sylvans in science and art.

"We may readily believe those who assure us, that some tribes of wandering Tartars had real skill in applying herbs and minerals to the purposes of medicine, and pretended to skill in magic; but the general character of their nation seems to have been this; they were professed hunters or fishers, dwelling, on that account, in forests or near great rivers, under huts or rude tents, or in waggons drawn by their cattle from station to station; they were dexterous archers, excellent horsemanship, bold combatants, appearing often to flee in disorder for the sake of renewing their attack with advantage; drinking the milk of mares, and eating the flesh of colts; and thus in many respects resembling the old Arabs, but in nothing more than in their love of intoxicating liquors, and in nothing less than in a taste for poetry and the improvement of their language."

Krim Tartary. See Crimea.