I NOW proceed to give some account separately ofthe other colonists. After the great and little Russians, the Nogay Tatars, Greek, and German colonists may be next classed ; but in point of numbers, it is doubtful which should have the preference: they may be reckoned at from twenty-five to thirty-five thousand inhabitants in each colony.
The Nogay Tatars, if not the original inhabitants of the country, at least wandered over the immense Stepps ofNew Russia, with their tents, flocks, and herds, at the time of the Russian Conquest, and for ages before : this remnant of the Nomades of Nogay Tatary, are now collected together in a number of villages, of a somewhat similar description, (though much meaner and dirtier buildings) to those oftheKrim Tatars. They inhabit that part of the Taurida, which now goes by thename of Moloshnia Voda.
The government have at length conquered the inveterate prejudices of this wandering horde, and induced them to lay aside their rovinghabits, settling them in villages, and inciting them to cultivate the ground. They are, however, ofall the colonists, far the worst cultivators ; and are still much addicted to grazing large flocks and herds, and numerous studs of mares. Under the encouragement of government, agriculture has, nevertheless, much increased amongstthem ; arising in a great degree from the high price of wheat; and large quantities of this grain are now annually transported from the interior to the sea-side by these people.
The moral character of the Nogays is ofthe worst description, and there is hardly any kind of mischief which they will not perpetrate. In horse-stealing they have no rivals, the Cossacks, in this respect, being much their inferiors. It is a trade which they practise with great success, and much profit. The plan they follow is, to steal horses from the neighbourhood in which they live, and take them to the Crimea to sell : here they steal others, which they dispose of in their own neighbourhood ; and although this traffic is notorious, and has been carried on to a great extent for many years, it is remarkable how they manage to evade or satisfy the officers of government, the more especially, as there is a ferry at Tonki which must be crossed in passing and repassing, in and out of the Crimea, which subjects every body to examination, and where all passports are registered. A French nobleman is at present Director-General of the whole establishment of Nogays, and resides amongst them*.
The Greek colonists are seated on the western side of the sea ofAsoph, and occupy the district of Mariopol, of which the town of that name is the capital. They are divided into twenty-four large and flourishing villages. In the year 1778 * For a further account of them, see Mr. Whittington's Memoir, in Walpole's Travels in the East.
C\i\ JM K A they petitioned to become Russian subjects, which was granted by a manifesto of Catherine in 1779. They are therefore subject to the same laws and regulations as the Russians, finding recruits, paying capitation tax, and other taxes, andpersonal servicewhen demanded, and belong to the Russian tribunals in the same manner as the Russian colonist. Soon after the cession of the Crimea to Russia, the Greeks were compelled to quit the peninsula, that they might not give assistance to the Turks and Tatars, in their endeavours to repossess themselves of this country. Whether or no this was the true motive, the effect was that ofdriving them into the interior, and their landed property thus reverted to government. The Greeks who now reside in the Crimea, are for the most part new settlers from Anatolia, who came for the purpose ofaccumulating a certain sum, with which they intend to return to their " native land," for which even Turkish domination had not obliterated the love. The late events must, however, have wrought a change in this respect, and many who were anticipating the period of revisiting Anatolia, will rejoice at their present security from the storm which has spread so much devastation around.