TARTARY AND THE TARTARS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 348, 29 March 1911, Page 7

TARTARY AND THE TARTARS.

To many minds the name of Tartary conveys a mythical, romantic, mysterious idea of a country, without cities, towns, or commerce, and of a people without settled habitations. Nor is this idea altogether incorrect, for the tract of land comprehended under the name of Tartary includes all that vast country of Asia which lies between the Frozen Sea to the north and Persia, Hindostan and China to the South—the generic name of Tartars being applied to a great variety of people owning the sway of many masters and called after the titles of the countries within whose geographical limits they happen to reside. The Tartars all claim to be descended from the eldest son of Japhet ; although from the time that Jeughis Khan subdued all Tartary and a great part of Asia, and made irruptions into Europe, they had been known under the name of Tartars, to which that of Monguls or Mongols, of whom he was properly the prince, appeared inferior ; nevertheless, the Tartars preserve among themselves the name of Turks. They have always been a free, warlike people, wandering over the vast steppes or plains which lie like a sort of neutral ground between Europe and Asia, and have at various periods exercised a most important influence over the history of the world. The independent Mohammedans inhabiting the borders of the Russian empire are especially a warlike people. The Tartars of Asiatic Russia, on the contrary, are represented as peaceable and Quiet hordes who live on the produce of their flocks and herds. The Mongol Tartars comprise a multitude of tribes, speaking different languages—or, rather. different dialects of the same tongue. They possess, _ for the most part, neither towns, villages, nor houses—in the European sense of these terms—but form themselves into wandering hordes, and live under tents or rude thatch-covered huts. All the various tribes of people known as Tartars have one general peculiarity—that of fondness for a roving life ; and it is no uncommon thing for travellers in the steppes of Russia to encounter a whole tribe moving onwards to a more fertile region, with their horses, tents and baggage, and driving their vast flocks before them in the wilderness. According to the temperature of the season, or the wants of their flocks, they will either pass their lives on the banks of rivers or at the foot of some hill which will shelter them from the north wind. Each tribe, however, has its own peculiar limits, beyond which it would be an act of hostility to wander. Like the Arabs, they r cultivate only as much land as is necessary for their sustenance, and dress in rude, primitive fashion. They possess the art of dressing hides to perfection ; but, for want of care, their goat and sheep-skin dresses are seldom free from a strong and disagreeable smell ; hence some tribes of them are called by the Chinese the Stinking Tartars. They are generally a sober people, living on milk, cream, and vegetables, with very little animal food ; but, like other barbarian ■?, they possess knowledge sufficient to make a strong alcoholic drink from mares' and goats' milk. They have, considerable dexterity in the use of the lance and bow and arrow, and are first-rate horsemen. Polygamy is allowed among them ; but they generally restrict themselves to one wife. They burn the bodies of their dead, and transport their ashes to some high hill, there to await the summons of the Great Allah on the last day. They are unacquainted, for the most part, with the use of money, and trade only by barter. They cultivate gardens occasionally with considerable taste an.i skill, and are generally a harmless, vigorous, and semi-barbarous people. These are the main characteristics of the great body of men known as Tartars ; but as they live nearer or further from the civilisation of Europe and China, these characteristics partake of a greater or less degree of mildness or ferocity.