b o o k Expeditions o f this kind, into inhofpitable regions, among
— vagrant, and almoft barbarous nations, are full o f danger;
as had been fufficiently experienced, and particularly in that
undertaken by Muller,and Gmelin the elder, in the reign of.
the emprefs Anne ; and nothing .but the moft exteniive.
ardour for fciencecanSimulate men tofuchundertakings. In.
that expedition M. De 1’IileandStellerperiihed; and, as i f thefe
fchemes were deftined to ill fate, Dr. S. Gmelin, after having
loft many o f his papers and cojledtions, funk under, grief and
difeafe, and expired in a fmall village o f Mount Caucafus in
1 7 7 4 : Falk died in the courfe of the journey ; and profef-
for Lowitz was wantonly maflacred by the inhuman Pugatchef..
Mr. Pallas fortunately returned, but not without having
endured many hardihips, and having narrowly efcaped from
the moft imminent dangers : as- we may conclude by the
manner in which he finiihes the account o f his travels.
“ And on the 30th o f July I reached Peteriburgh, with a
“ very enfeebled body and grey hairs,, though only in
“ the three and thirtieth year o f my age ; but yet much
“ ftronger than when 1 was in Siberia ; and full o f grateful
“ acknowledgements to Providence for having hitherto pre-
“ ferved and delivered me from numberlefs perils.”
Mr. Pallas, known to the generality of the Englifti readers
only as a great naturalift,deferves a confiderable place among
thofe writers who have fucceeded in developing the complicated
hiftory o f the roving tribes, that are fcattered over
thofe exteniive regions which ftretch from the heart o f Siberia
to the northern limits o f India. The profeffor
has, in a recent publication, entitled, Colledtions upon the
Political, Phyfical, and Civil Hiftory o f the Mongol Tribes *
throwh new light upon the annals o f a people, whofe.an-
* S am lu n g e n H i l t . N a c h r i c l i t c n u e b e r M o n g o liic h c n V o lk e r c h a f t e n .
® ceftors
ceftors conquered Rhffia, China, Perfia, and Indoftan ; and chap.'
at more than one period, eftabliihed, perhaps, a larger e m L VIL
pire than ever was poflefled by any fingle nation. The materials
for this publication he collected,, partly during an in-
tercourfe with the Mongols, Burats, and Calmucs, and
partly from the communications o f Muller and Gmelin.
Hitherto moft authors who have written upon thefe Afia-
h°JdeSl have called ‘ hem all indifcriminately by the
b y 'M r taU aT "178 I f * f t erroneous appellation is rectified
by Mr Pallas , and he proves unqueftionably, that the Mond
iffe /f I S a ftln£t raCS fr° m the Tartars I that they ffer from them in their features, language, and government
, and refemble them in nothing but in a fimilar inch- - '
nation to a roving life.
T his primitive nation of-A lia, whofe origin, hiftory and
prefent ftate form the fubjeil o f this interefting work dates
M from founder Zinghis K h a n t S e
H H r° Vereig07 have been aIl'eady mentioned. When
his vaft dominions fell to pieces, under.his fuccefibrs in the
1 6 th century, the Mongol and Tartar hordes, who had formed •
W E B * ,aSa,n, feparated’ W H I I contmued
m tr ThG 1 1 h° rdes Mr- PalIas'<h-
O e ra ts^ CalIed Mongols.,
fen' , 1 a mucs, and. Burats; and each o f thefe lie
J B S f e de“ bes " ith « » t precijion and accuracy „ h id , i
h l S ch 1 Thh cond . ,,an p0lUlCaI ftate> is to be followed by a fetheir’
r W w S M a VeiT circumftantial account o f
o f the D fia iL M i | 'ill nf 4 «1 the worfhip . fn m a- If 13 the religion o f Thibet, and o f the
“ A work 7 ere‘.gnS Wh° now fit "P °n the throne o f China.
’ Mr* 1 00,ke j-uftly obferves, « that will enrich.
f the