C H A P T E R II, ,
DESCRIPTION’ OF INDEPENDENT TATARY.
of- Iff m:—Haris.— Number— A&nhef-s ~ I ) r 0 ,—fPdde.=i~
Hiftory.___K h a k izm .— Nhme— K b iva i^ ^r-a d e— Gr e a t B v c j d f s iM ^ l ^ 0 r
thalitss. :'-^—%xteht and Boundaries. — Hiflofy. — U e l i g — fMafiktrs and
-Cuftoms— Provinces— Cities.— Manufactures:—Climate,, — Rivers,,— Lakes,—
Mountains.5f|V/ / ■ v' ‘ — Chara&er c f 'lhe People, j
ABOUT one half of IndependentTatary is occupied by the Kirgnfes
in tiie north, a -people alfb tailed- Kaizaks-, and ..of , andquh'bed
Tatar» origin, whence they;feem to live in »perfeQ: ain^y' ^ithr’their
fouthera brethren, the Uzbeks.
• ■The - great ftcpp, or dcfert of Iffim, divides, thefe i^irgupes from
Siberia. This ftepp.is interfered by a river of the fame name ; and
there are other -ftreams which join that river, are loft in the fands, .or
fall into extenfive lakes, for the moft.part either lalinc or bitter.1 Even
the foil is .Impregnated with fait or nitre, which Talfas; fuppofe's to'proceed
from the ranges offecondary mountains, which extend valoog' the
river till it join the Irtifh. -A mfire honfiderabfe cha-m ftretehe§ • from
ths river Yaik, ©r Ural, towards the Altaian range, called the? mountains
of Algedym Zaao. The mountains of Ural, otherwije ealfed-thofe
of Aral, ori eagles, though they chiefly bend S. W. detach fpirhc
branches towards the fea of Aral,* On the eaft the.great chain; of
Altai liaay" be cOrtfidered as beginning with Uluk Tag, or the; Great
Mountain, towards which a route of General Bentarn is deline$tecl in
Arrowfmith’s map of Afia, while the Kifik Tag^^ilajflc^lVipixo^ij,
runs S.- towards the Palkati lake, which is alfo called that of Tengis,
1 Dec. Ruff. iv. 456. Pallas call* it'the ftepp of Ifett.
* Pallas, ib. p; 74, fays that the UraEan. chain terminates, in the fouth, in fecondary ^
fomeftretchingW. others S. to the fea of Aral, and feme E. towards the Altaian chain.
' 2 . ■ fffi AtVj, «and
and' Balcafh. , When; Pallas vilited this ftepp, in 1771, t,he Ruffians. Kracnsti.
were icn'proving the fortified line on the north of this* defert, which is
remarkable for, proceeding through-a: feries.of fin all faline lakes. This
extenfive plain mull not however be regarded as a mere defert, deftitute
of all irVjegetatiop^'p and it is .faid that many [ancient tombs ,occur in its
wide exj>anfe, as - well as in' the Barahinian ftepp’,; between the Irtifh,
and the Qb, which daft .c©nfifts,of,a tolerable folk . and., prefents feveral
forells of birth, with the,-appearanc>&,of havibg..b|en formerly) a prodigious
faline marfti,
/ • On the weft of the Kirgufes there ftili remain fame tribes ,©£ K,almuks,
though theu,greater part I migrated from the.'-Mhlga-’in 1,770,- when they
fought dhe prOteiftiott of the Ghindfe The Kirgufes are fuppofed to be
fo called from the ^fSinder of their hord; and havel from time im- H o n k ; '
memorial beerL-here clafied under three dbvifions of Great, Middle, and
Leffer, f l’fdg'h quite unknown to Europe till.the Ruffian cbnqueft of
Siberia, ;{bme:tribp§ becomingfubje^ to that emptrb|n 1606.* They are
confidered as faith 1 efs,- pufil 1 an im ohs, yet reftfefs ; but the Great Hord, ■
defended by n^ountains*,ldh'ithe Si atid-'E., aftPbted their independence in ' -
repeated contefts with the Kalinuks of Soongaria. The Middle and
Little -Hards have acknowledged the-.Ruffian fovereignty fince 1731;
hut1 this: fubjeUion is merely nominal, fbr the Ruffians' are- obliged to
fortify themfelves again ft thefe -alftbs. '< Thefe ’ two herds are each
eftimated at thirty thoufand families ; and fuppofing &.e Great Hord to ^mter,
contain fixty thoufabd, and each family fix perfons, the population of
this,- wick: rdgipni mSght- Amount to 72-0,000 j but it probably: does; not
exceed half a' million.;
■ Thb RirguTds hhVe graduafiy mbked from1 the. ea-ft towards the-weft. Manners. (
Their;manners, rco'mmon'to the Tat&fs,have: been deferibed at cohfider-
afile’ length; by Pallas.‘ Thfeir ten% are of a 'kind of felt; their drink
kumifs, made of acidulated mareVrhfik, for that of cows is unpka-
fant. The' Great Hotd is confidered as theYource of the two 1 others.
Being fettled near thd' mPudtains of Alak, Ala Tan,‘-(and
confidered by the Ruffians ,as forming ond chain with‘the Bclnr, Whie’R ,
Tooke,' ff Dec.'Ruff,'iii. 37^.--
joins, '