thought requisite for the girls is that of embroidery, which is the chief, and almost only occupation of those above the rank of peasantry. Spinning and weaving, which they also sometimes perform, are more generally the work of their servants. This employment, and some small share in the domestic concerns (the more important of which devolve on the elders of the family), fill up the dull and monotonous round of a Tatar life.

In the villages of the plain the priest is the parish schoolmaster; and it sometimes happens that his wife can also read. In this case, while the husband superintends the boys she teaches the girls of the village, or

rather the very small number of them who are desirous of learning.

The dancing of the women is very ridiculous; two only dance at a time, extending the hands, turning the head towards one shoulder, and bending the eyes continually on the ground with affected bashfulness. The step is somewhat like the slow movements of the English hornpipe, and the dance finishes at the option of the performers. That of the men is to quicker time, more animated, and, though not more pleasing, is perfectly the reverse of the other. The musicians are usually gipsies, and

wherever they appear they are sure to find dancers ready. The men are allowed to dance in the court-yard of the women's apartments, who look at them from their latticed gallery.

Swinging is a favourite amusement with them, and the love of it by no means confined to children. The ladies seemed surprised when I told them that I had for some time left ́off this diversion, though I liked it much when a child. I cannot wonder, however, that they continue to be fond of the pastimes of early life, since they continue always to be children in understanding; and there is something reasonable in their love of this exercise since it is the only one

which they are permitted to take, and that only at the seasons of their two great holidays.

The common Tatar carriage is a long covered cart or waggon, some of two, and others of four wheels, called a maggiare. Few, even of the richest among them, have any better vehicle than this to take out their wives and families in. When a Tatar lady goes to visit her mother, or other friends, all her attendants go with her, and she expects to be met at her carriage with as much ceremony as if she came in a state coach. The embellishments of

a Tatar room are few; it is however

C

warm, clean, and comfortable. The floors, which are always formed of mud, are covered over, even in the poorest houses, with coarse grey blanketing; in the best with Turkish matting or carpets. Cushions are ranged for seats, and also for the back to lean against, along two sides of the room. Around the whitewashed walls of the female apartments, hang the specimens of the industry of its inhabitants, viz. embroidered napkins, handkerchiefs, &c., and on the shelves are seen various articles of dress, the robes and kaftans of the ladies; besides this display, there is always a pile of coverlids, mattrasses, and cushions for their beds, over which is