and called sahkuz. Their ears are singularly large, and they never attempt to cover them, but constantly wear their caps, low on purpose to make them stick out. a form has beauty! How variable The houses of the Stepp Tatars are often dug in the ground to such a depth as to require only roofing to complete them. These being impervious to the air, are warmer in winter and cooler in summer than the usual huts, which are built of wood and plastered. It is singular that, during the whole of my residence at Karagoss, I have never seen or heard of the small-pox among the Tatars, though the Greeks in the immediate neighbourhood have had it with great virulence. Vaccination is practised in the towns, but in the villages it is received slowly and unwillingly. The use of vapour baths is very general, both among the Tatars and Russians, who heat them, however, in a different manner. The Tatar bath generally consists of three rooms, the innermost of which is heated by the steam from a copper of boiling water; this is admitted into the apartment by a door, and the heat is regulated by E numerous small windows in a dome above, which are removed and replaced at pleasure. The outer room is used for dressing, and the second contains two or three water-baths, for those who prefer that mode of bathing. The Russian bath is heated by a trench full of stones, which are rendered red hot by a furnace below. From water thrown upon these the necessary vapour is created, and as the heat is greater the nearer one approaches to the roof, there is always a flight of steps in the room, by ascending which, any requisite degree may be obtained. The food of the Tatars consists chiefly of sour milk, or paste. From childhood they are so accustomed to the use of sour food, that they eat every sort of acid with extreme avidity. They devour unripe fruit with great greediness, and suck lemons in preference to oranges. They seldom eat fresh milk, but immediately it comes from the cow, it is first boiled and afterwards churned. The butter is then melted and poured into a skin. The buttermilk is put into a cask, which stands ready to receive the overplus of every day's consumption, and which, thus becoming sour, is saved until the time when their cows are dry. A very small jug of it will at that time sell for a petack. They also make cheese, which is not dried, but salted and pressed in small thin pieces. These are afterwards put down into an earthen pot, or small tub, with a sufficient quantity of salt to keep them. They prepare paste for eating in a great variety of ways, making it in different shapes, and frying or boiling it with butter. Sometimes it is served up in the form of pancakes, sometimes of patties, containing a small portion of meat and onion. One of their favourite dishes consists of small balls of paste sent up in sour cream. Another, which is by far the most conformable to a stranger's taste, is made of minced meat, sea |