BOOK
V.
I
Mofcow. Its paper is certainly o f our manufacture, as I
> plainly difcovered the Engliih ftamp : and we find in Hack-
luyt, that paper is mentioned among the firft imports which
Ruifia received from England.
This library contains, perhaps, a larger quantity o f Chi-
nefe books than is to be found in any other collection o f
Europe. They are claffed in port folios, and confift o f
2800 feparate pieces. An exaCt catalogue o f them has been
lately made by Mr. Leontief, who was feveral years at Pekin;
where a Ruffian church is eftablifhed, and ftudents are permitted
to refide for the purpofe o f learning the language ®.
Hitherto we have been indebted almoft to the French alone
for any probable accounts o f the interior ftate o f the Chinefe
empire. The amicable intercourfe, however, which has for
fome time fubfiited between the courts o f Peteriburgh and
Pekin, has facilitated the acquifition o f Chinefe books ; and
the eftablifhment o f a feminary at Pekin has naturally led
the Ruffians to obtain a more general and accurate knowledge
o f that country. Hence many interefting publications have
been lately put forth at Peteriburgh relative to the laws,
hiftory, and geography o f China, extracted and tranflated
from the originals publifhed at Pekin.
The various branches o f natural hiftory are diftributed in
different apartments. This mufeum, which is extremely'
rich in native productions, has been confiderably augmented
with a variety o f fpecimens,, collected by Pallas, Gmelin,
Guldenftaedt, and other learned profeflors, during their late
expeditions through the Ruffian empire. As it neither falls
within my plan, nor is it in my power, to enter.into a minute
account of all the various fpecimens ; I fhafi only curforily
mention a few objects which principally engaged my atten-
* See Ruffian D ifco v c r ie s , & c . p . 208,
tion.
tion. The fluffed animals and birds occupy one apartment, c h a p .
Among the former I particularly obferved the Equus Hemionus, <■ .
a fpecies o f wild horfe, which bears the appearance o f a mule :
it refembles an afs'in its mane, ears, feet, and tail, and principally
in the black ftreak down its back ; in other parts it is
like an horfe. It is the fame which was called by Ariftotle
the Hamionos, found in his days in Syria, and which he celebrates
for its amazing fwiftnefs and fecundity ; it is denominated
by the Mongols djbiggetei, which fignifies eared;
is alfo known among naturalifts by the name o f mulus Dauricus,
becaufe it is found in Dauria, about the rivers
Amoor, Onon, and Orgoon. Thefe animals, however, are
obferved there only in fmall numbers, detached from the
numerous herds, which inhabit the vaft deferts o f Tartary
to the fouth of the Ruffian dominions.' Their fwiftnefs is
proverbial, and is faid to exceed even that o f the antelope :
they are defcribed by the Tartars as very fierce, and fo un-
tratftable as not to be tamed. Mr. Pallas has favoured the
world with an accurate defcription and engraving o f this
Angular animal in the New Commentaries of the Academy ;
to which I refer the reader for a more ample defcription, as
well as to Mr. Pennant’s account in his Hiftory o f Quadrupeds.
The other animals peculiar to Ruifia and the adjacent
countries, which attracted my notice, are the wild ram,
called Argoli by the Mongols, by Linnaeus Capra Ammon,
which inhabits the mountainous deferts fouth o f the Lake
Baikal; and the Bos Grunniens o f Linnaeus, or grunting ox
o f Pennant. The latter inhabits Tartary and Thibet, and is
mentioned here for the uncommon beauty o f its tail, which
is full and flowing, o f a gloffy and filky texture. Thefe tails
form a confiderable article o f exportation from Thibet. The
Indians fatten fmall bundles o f the hair to a handle, which
they