I once inquired of a Tatar, if the passports given to the dead were indiscriminately granted to all ; and when he answered in the affirmative, I further asked him, horV a favourable character could be conscientiously given to such persons as a known robber or murderer? "We believe," said he, " that none are so bad as that some good may not be found in them, and that the soul will only remain in Hell till it has expiated the sins committed in this life, or until Mahomet has made sufficient intercession for it." The Tatars commemorate the anniversary of the death of their relatives, on which occasion all the women and girls of the village visit the grave. The nearest relations remain reading and praying around it for about an hour, and the other women arrange themselves at some distance. The prayers being finished, all seat themselves together within sight of the grave, when pancakes, and a finer sort of bread, are distributed amongst the party. I was present at one of these ceremonies : the woman deceased had left five children, the two eldest of whom (girls of fourteen and sixteen years of age) evinced much real sorrow for her loss. In the interval oftwelve months their father had married again, and his second wife made one of the party. Soon after he divorced this woman, on account ofthe badness ofher temper, and he is since married to a third.
The fast of the Oroza is a very severe one, and kept with equal strictness by rich and poor.
It consists, as is well known, in abstinence from food and drink from sunrise to sunset. When it falls in harvest time, the men are frequently unable to work, in consequence of its debilitating effects. They wash their faces, and even rinse their mouths with water, but though parched with thirst, and fainting with fatigue, never venture to swallow a drop.
Their favourite recreation of smoking is also denied them, and it is not till they are absolutely reduced to the bed of sickness, that they can obtain any remission of these observances.
At their two Byrams, one of which follows this fast, they enjoy all the gaiety of which a Tatar life is capable. On these occasions, the peasantry of most of the surrounding villages visit their Murza. Much ceremony appears on their first meeting, each person approaching him in order, kneeling on one knee, kissing his hand, and putting it to his forehead. They then seat themselves indiscriminately, and little consciousness is seen of any difference of rank between them. He regales themwith coffee and sherbet, which latter is a very favourite drink with them, and is simply coarse honey mixed with water. Another, and I believe the only strong liquor which they are allowed, is called booza: it is made either from rice or millet. and with this, it is said, they occasionally get much intoxicated ; but the vice of drunkenness is very rare among the Tatars in the Crimea, and I believe is never an habitual one.
Wine they universally refuse, and even in cases of sickness, require the consent of their priest before they will drink it. This, in some instances within my own knowledge, has not been granted when it might have been of essential service. Many of them drink brandy without scruple, alleging that Mahomet only forbad the use of fermented liquors. This is, however, only the plea of the most ignorant or the most wilful. I have seen them drink beer, which must be just as objectionable, under this view of the law, as wine, but they were not informed how it was made.
I once inquired of a Tatar gentleman, if it were true that the Mahometans believe w r omen to have no souls :
" certainly not," replied he, "but the perfect seclusion in which they live makes it impossible to admit of their praying in public, and it is contrary to our law that they should do so." For ray own part, I have seen the Tatarwomen pray, both at the stated hours, and also in an ejaculatory manner, with a zeal and devotion which left me no doubt of their faith and hope.
The old men are generally very strict attendants at mosque, but the young seem to go seldom. I was once a secret witness of their ceremonies in a village metchet*, but observed nothing remarkable. The most religious of them place their ambition in acquiring a sufficient fund to carry them to Mecca ; a visit to which, procures forthem the title ofHadgee, or Pilgrim.
The Tatars wear a great number of charms and amulets, as preservatives from sickness and other dangers. They commonly consist ofsome written paper, purchased from the Mulla, and carefully sewn up in a piece of cotton or silk. These hang in strings about the neck, are suspended by the women to the hair, and are worn by themen in the centre of the back, stitched to the outer garment. They use this remedy for * Mosque, or place of worship.