Page:Notes upon Russia (volume 2, 1851).djvu/75

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NOTES UPON RUSSIA.
47

of Poland, etc., described the Juhari as having been subjects of the Grand Duke of Muscovy, and as having located themselves on the Palus Mæotis [the Sea of Azov], but that they then wandered to Pannonia on the Danube, and thence derived the name of Hungary. He further stated, that Moravia was so named from a river which waters it; and that Poland took its name from polle, which signifies a plain; and that Buda derived its name from a brother of Attila. For my own part, I have at least desired to give the account as I have received it. They say that the Juhari up to the present time use the same dialect as the Hungarians, but whether this be true, I cannot say from my own knowledge; for though I have made diligent search, I have been unable to find any man of that country with whom my servant, who is skilled in the Hungarian language, might have an opportunity of conversing. These people pay a tribute to the prince in furs; and although pearls and gems are brought thence into Muscovy, they are not collected upon that coast, but are principally brought from the shores of the ocean near the mouths of the Dwina.

The province of Siberia borders upon Permia and Viatka; but I have been unable to learn whether it contains any cities or fortresses. In this province rises the river Jaick, which empties itself into the Caspian Sea. They say that this region lies waste on account of the neighbourhood of the Tartars; or, if it is cultivated in any part, it is where the country has been taken possession of by the Tartar Schichmamai. The natives use a dialect of their own. They trade principally in squirrel skins, which surpass in size and beauty those of other provinces; but we have not been able to see any great plenty of them in Moscow.

The people of Czeremissi dwell in the woods below Lower Novogorod. They have their own dialect, and follow the tenets of Mahomet. They are now subservient to the King of Kazan, although the greatest part of them were formerly