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PLATE XXIX.
A BASHKimAN WOMAN.
THE Bashkirtzi, or Bashkirs, are so called from their great attention
to the cultivation of bees. They inhabit the country In the vicinity
of the southern Oural mountains, and part of the government of Oufa.
They reside for the most part in villages; and their language, manners,
and customs are similar to the Tartars of Kazan. During the summer
months they generally lead a wandering life, always moving, with their
tents and cattle, from place to place; but in the winter they confine
themselves to their villages. The women resemble those of Kazan
in their dress (see Plate XXIII.), except in some variation in the
ornaments. Instead of common tea, they make an infusion of a reddish
root (Tormentilla erecta, LINX.), which they drink without milk; it is
very astringent, or the flavour would be not unpalatable. The ceremonies
of their marriage are similar to the Tartars of Kazan. These
people have a custom of burying their dead near some forest, and they
generally make a sort of wooden hut by \^'ay of tomb, which, from
being of a similar form to those they live in, appear at a httle distance
like their villages.
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