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PLATE XXV.
A FEMALE TART A11
OF THE NAGAl TRIBE.
T h e Nagais form one of the most considerable of the Tartar hords;
and thej are the more remarkable, bccause they have presen-ed, in a
greater degree, most of their ancient customs and estabhshments;
they have, however, -withiu these few years, been much reduced
both in power and numbers, and are now scattered o-ver a great part
of the Russian em])ire, Aiiiile some of them have put themselves under
the Turkish government. The Nagais were always a pastoral nation,
and inhabit that part of the empire, Vi hich lies near the sea of Azof,
while another part of them li^•e in the desert, or steppe, between the
Eerda and Moloshnie Vody. They speak the Tartarian language, but
are very illiterate. The dress of these people differs in some respects,
according to the place, where they reside: those in the vicinity of the
sea of Azof dress diiTerently from those on the Berda. The females
generally make their bonnets of furs, or cloth ; and they Avear also a
sort of ornament, covered with beads and pieces of money, \\ hich falls
down their back, siniilar to the Teheremhisi, and those of Kazan.
Besides ornamenting their ears, they frequently bore a hole through
the end of the nose, from which they suspend a gold ring, so large,
that it touches both their lips. The common people among the Nagais
use their women very ill, and bestow but little on their dress, which
is often very old and dirty, M'hile that of the more wealthy is much
finer
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