They wore wide trousers, a long kaftan, and a shorter one
over that; on the head a kind of bee-hive, called schaube, made of
the bark of trees, painted red and ornamented with tinsel, coral,
and small coins. From the breast to the girdle their clothes were
also covered with similar things, over the shoulders hung a cord
with an amulet in the nose, they wore small rings. They had large
wrappers thrown round them; but left their faces uncovered.
Their household goods consisted of tents, handsome rugs, iron pots,
copper coins, etc. The Tartars are mostly of the Mahomedan
religion.
The permanent Tartars have very peculiar dwellings, which may be
called enormous mole-hills. Their villages are chiefly situated on
declivities, and hills, in which they dig holes of the size of
spacious rooms. The light falls only through the entrance, or
outlet. This is broader than it is high, and is protected by a long
and broad portico of planks, resting either upon beams or the stems
of trees. Nothing is more comical than to see such a village,
consisting of nothing but these porticoes, and neither windows,
doors, nor walls.
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