The Chuvashes and Cheremisses live in the neighbourhood of Cann, on both sides of the Volga. The Chuvashes who dwell chiefly west of the river have become members of the Greek Church. ln their personal appearance they resemble the Turkish or Tartar tribes, to whom they are said to be akin in language, though this has been also pronounced to be a dialect of the Finnish. The Chuvaabes cultivate the ground, and rear cattle and bees. The Chem:tibiae. speak • language which contains a large number of Finnish roots intermixed with a large number of Turkish origin. The conformation of their body likewise shows some mixture with the Turkish race. They ate very diligent and intelligent agriculturists, and have large herds of cattle. The majority have adopted the religion of the Greek Church ; they observe the festivals both of the Greeks and the Mohammedans.
The Mordwi, or Mordvines, are settled wart of the Chuvaehes, in the country on both *ides of the river Sum, which falls into the Volga from the south, between Nischnel-Novgorod and Cowan. On the west they extend to the Oka. They live intermixed with the Russians, whom they resemble In feature and form, but their language he Finnish.
They are all Christians. They cultivate their lands with great care, and their fields are not inferior to the beat-cultivated grounds in Russia. They pay great attention to bees, and es they live in a country abounding in forests of lime-trees, their honey is preferred to that of any other part of Russia.
The Teptiares, tho most eastern of the Finnish tribes, are settled on the bank, of the Bialaya, an affluent of the Kama from the east.
Though the Finnish element prevails in their language, it contains also a large number of Turkish words. They rear cattle and bees, and pass a great part of their time iu hunting wild animals. They are partly heathens and partly Mohammedan& The third great brauch of the Caucasian family which inhabits Ronda is the Turkish, or Tartar. They came into Russia between the 9th and 13th century with the Mongols and other oonquerore. The Turkish tribes at present existing in Russia are four, the Tartars the Bashkir', the Metsheriakes, and the Tarktra. The Tartars of Cavan are the most civilised nation in Russia. Their language is a pure and cultivated Turkish idiom. About of them are still Mohammedans. They have schools both for the lower and higher classes of the people. In the elementary 0110°14 instruction is given in reading and writing, and the Kerlin and some other religious i books are explained. The objects of instruction in higher schools are the Turkish, Persian, and Arabian and arithmetic. The
priests are educated in an institution established for that purpose in a village called Gargali, which is about nine miles from the town of Orenburg. Those who are established in the towns are either mar chanta or manufacturers. The inhabitants of the villages are careful cultivators of the soil, and also occupy themselves with rearing cattle and bee.. Their village. are well provided with the most oommon mechanics, as shoemaker*, tailors, dyers, blacksmiths, and They have embraced Christianity. Bashkirs inhabit both declivities of the Ural Mountains, from 56* N. lat. to near 54' N. lat. They resemble in language and manners the Tartars of Casan, though in the form of their body they approach the type of the Monet+. The Bashkir. still adhere to a wandering life. In winter they Inhabit villages, but in summer they ramble about in the country. They cultivate some patches of land near the houses before they begin their wanderings, but the produce of these fields is not adequate to their consumption. Their riches consist in horses, of which the poorest peasant has from 30 to 50, and many have 500, and the richest from 1000 to 2000. Their horses are of a good breed. They keep only a small number of black cattle, sheep, and goats. They have also a great number of bee-hives, and they collect an immense quantity of wax and honey from the wild bees, which are nowhere more common than in the countries adjacent to the base of the Ural Mountains. They train the falcon for the chase of hares, foxes, and wolves. The small tribes of the Metsheriakes live dispersed among the Bashkirs, and subsist on the produce of their herds of cattle and of their bee-hives. They also cultivate the ground, but not to a great extent. They are considered to be more civilised than their neighbours. Both tribes are Mohammedans.
The Nogai Tartars inhabit the Crimea and the steppe which extends north of that peninsula; they are also dispersed over the country east of the Sea of Ater, aud along the northern base of the Caucasus. In the Crimea they are agriculturists, and have extensive orchards. They also manufacture leather, and make cutlery, saddles, and shoes. This portion of the Nogai has attained a considerable degree of civilisation. The remainder of the Nogais lead a half-wandering, half-settled life in the steppes north of the Sea of AzoŁ Their herds consist of cattle and small hardy horses, but of a rather small breed. They have also numerous flocks of the largo-tailed sheep.