and for covering the frontiers along the Dniester, and the shores of the Black Sea. They were, however, neither disciplined, nor did they receive maintenance, or any pay for their service, till the year 1796, when the Empress Catharine II. gave orders that this corps of Cossacks should be formally admitted into the Russian army; that an addition of 3726 men should be made to it; that the proper quantity of land should be assigned to the individuals who composed it; and that the corps should be regularly organized, and the officers rewarded by rank and promotion.

In consequence of the death of the empress, which took place soon after, these measures were not carried into execution. The Emperor Paul ordered these Cossacks to quit the military service, and to place themselves on the footing of government boors; and in this situation they actually remained till the year 1801, when, in consequence of a petition which they caused to be presented to the Emperor, they were restored, by an ukas dated May 5th, 1804, to their former condition, and received a civil as well as a military organization.

They are divided into three regiments, each consisting of 500 men, under a common Attaman, or Commander-in-Chief. Each régiment has 1 colonel with the rank of major; 5 yessaule with the rank of captain; 5 sotniki and 5 chorunschiy with the rank of lieutenant; 1 quarter-master with the rank of quarter-master in the army; one clerk; and 483 men, subalterns and privates.

Officers and commanders must be chosen from the corps, and none can be appointed to that rank but such as have long served in it, and distinguished themselves by their good conduct.

Of the three regiments, two commonly remain at home; the third performs service on the frontiers; but they are all three bound to take the field in case their assistance should be necessary.

As soon as these Cossacks enter into actual service, on the frontiers, or in the field, they obtain from government maintenance and rations like the hussar regiments; but these cease as soon as they return to their homes.

The internal and civil affairs of this corps are committed to a peculiar tribunal, (Voiskovaia Kantzelariya) which consists of two permanent members, and two elected every three years, with the Attaman as president.-All these members are chosen by the corps, from among themselves, and confirmed by government.

From the decisions of this tribunal there is no appeal.-Criminal affairs belong to the Courts of the district, established for the purpose.

'These Cossacks are permitted to take as recruits Wallachians, Moldavians, Bulgarians, &c. but they are strictly forbidden to entice Russian peasants to join them.-Like all the other classes in the kingdom, each individual, independently of the general right of the whole body, has a private right to purchase land and other property. In case the land which they hold in common be found too confined, they are authorized to take possession of a part, or if circumstances require it, of all the waste lands between the Bug and the Ingul.

This corps in the year 1805 amounted to 6383 men, who occupied a considerable tract of land in the neighbourhood of Elizabethgrad, Cherson, and Olwiopol.

II. TSCHUGUYER COSSACKS.

The Tschuguyef Cossacks, in consequence of their own request, obtained a similar civil organization in the year 1803.

A regiment, consisting of 10 squadrons, with officers similar to those usual among the other Cossacks, has been formed of them; and the officers enjoy the same rank as those among the Cossacks of the Bug.-Like these, they perform service in turns, and they receive maintenance and provisions only when they march to the distance of more than 100 wersts from their home.-Like all the other Cossacks they are obliged to join the regiment when a vacancy takes place, completely mounted and equipped.

These Cossacks, including the adnodvortzy, or peasants, which formerly belonged to the convents, &c. amounted to 22,007 men; of these, however, 14,361 expressed a wish of again entering the condition of crown peasants: this was granted them, and in 1805 they amounted to only 7,646 men.

Their principal residence is the town of Tschuguyef, with the surrounding district; but lands of considerable extent, fit both for pasturage and agriculture, have been assigned to them in the Schirogan Steppe, and the northern Donez.

* A werst is about three quarters of a mile English,

III. COSSACKS OF THE DON.

The Cossacks of the Don consist of 66,941 individuals fit for service, above the age of seventeen; 46,612 children of officers and other Cossacks from the age of 1 to 17; 2,142 officers and generals. to whom must be added 6,050 unbaptized Tartars (inovertzy) and Calmucks; and 68,540 boors assigned to them: forming altoge ther 190,285 males, who, besides the Cossack capital, Tscherkask, reside in 111 separate hamlets and villages (stanitzy.)

The whole military corps is divided into 80 regiments, each of 500 men.-Besides a common Attaman, these regiments have their separate Colonels and officers, who enjoy the same rank and privileges as those of the other Cossacks, and who must all take the field properly equipped and well mounted. This organization and division into regiments exist only during the time they are in the field; when they return home, the whole establishment ceases, and they all revert to the state of boors, except a few who remain as guards, and to support the internal police of the country.

The capital of this tribe, where the Attaman and other members reside, is Tscherkask, a neat town on the Don.-This tribe of Cossacks, the most numerous and most important of all, are distinguished from the rest by greater civilization and industry.-They apply to agriculture, as well as to the breeding of horses, cattle, and sheep; they cultivate also the vine, and have already carried this branch of rural economy to a considerable degree of perfection: the wine in particular made in the neighbourhood of Zymlansk and Rasdorsk, is peculiarly well-tasted.

IV. THE TSCHERNOMORSKI, FORMERLY THE SAPORAGIAN COSSACKS.

These Cossacks, which obtained a new administration along with all the preceding, amount, since the reform introduced by the Empress Catharine II. in 1775, to about 25,000, which number, in extraordinary cases, can send into the field 15,000 warriors.→→ For common service, six regiments, each consisting of 578 men, have been organized with officers, who enjoy the same rank and privileges as those of the other Cossacks.

V. THE URALIAN COSSACKS.

This tribe, formerly called the Yaick Cossacks, are divided, according to the new regulation of 1803, into ten irregular regi

ments, each of which, officers included, consists of 578 men. The officers enjoy the same rank and privileges as the preceding.

These Cossacks have a civil establishment, like those already mentioned, under the direction of an Attainan, who resides in Uralsk, a town of considerable size, from which the possessions of this tribe extend along the right bank of the river Ural, as far as the Caspian Sea.

They amount to about 30,000, among whom there are a great many baptized Tartars, and also Calmucks, who have entered their names as Cossacks. On extraordinary occasions they can send into the field from 18 to 20,000 men.

In consequence of the situation of their lands on the rivers Ural and Ilek, and even on the shores of the Caspian Sea, all of which abound with fish, these people, besides breeding horses and cattle, apply much to fishing, and other branches of industry arising from that occupation. They carry on a great trade with dried fish of every kind; and the Uralian caviar is generally considered as the best.

The four Cossack tribes last mentioned, receive, like those of the Bug, maintenance and provisions when they serve at the distance of more than 100 wersts from their home.

CALMUCKS OF STAWROPOL.

Among the irregular troops of the Russian empire which, under the present reign, have received a new organization, may be classed the Calmucks of Stawropol, whose possessions are situated on the rivers Samara, Sok, and Tok, in the governments of Simbirsk and Orenburg, and whose chief residence is the town of Stawropol, on the Wolga.

The foundation of this considerable tribe was laid in the year 1716, by a Taisch, or leader of the great horde of the Astracan Calmucks who, with all his vassals, passed into Russia, where he and his followers settled, and embraced the Christian religion.-On this occasion Peter I. attended the Taisch, and gave him his own

name.

After the death of the Taisch, in 1737, the Empress Anne conferred on his widow the title of princess, and settled upon her an annual pension for her support.-At the same time the government of these Calmucks was assigned to her, in conjunction with

the commandant of the fortress of Stawropol, which had been built

the same year.

In 1745 these Calmucks obtained, through the senate, a kind of organization, being divided into 8 troops, of 300 men each, who were to hold themselves in readiness for military service.

In 1760 their number was increased by the Soongari Calmucks, who, in 1765, embraced the Christian religion, and were divided also into 3 troops; so that the whole tribe at present consists of 11 troops; all these together in 1805 contained 2869 men, capable of bearing arms, of whom, however, no more than from 4 to 600 were bound to take the field.

In 1803 these Calmucks obtained a new organization, similar to that of the Cossacks already mentioned.-At present they form one regiment of 1000 men, under the command of an Attaman, and other officers, who have the same rank as those of the Cossacks.-Of this regiment, one half only, in general, is employed in actual service, the other remaining at home. On extraordinary occasions. the Attaman is obliged to take the field with the whole regiment; and in this case, the garrisons and other posts are guarded by the remaining Calmucks, who do not properly belong to the regiment.

The Calmucks, like the Cossacks, are obliged to enter the regiment completely mounted and equipped.-They receive pay and provisions only when they serve at the distance of more than 100 wersts from their home.

The Stawropol Calmucks have been employed only in the wars with Prussia and Sweden; but their most important use is to maintain the cordon on the frontiers against the Kirgisians, Raisaks, and Mountaineers; a service for which, in consequence of their agility and simple mode of life, they are much better fitted than regular troops.