Page:The Annual Register 1758.djvu/287

 mands in person, all must march with him; none must stay even to guard their country; nor are the infirmities of old age admitted as an excuse. On these occafions, the army amounts, as I have said, to 100,000 men, and 2 or 300,000 horses; for each Tartar has two or three.

They cross rivers in a very extraordinary manner. Every one gathers rushes or reeds, which he fastens to two long poles, and makes a kind of rast, on which he places his cloaths and arms. He ties these poles to the tail of one of his horses, whose mane he holds with one hand, and holding a rod in the other to guide the horse, he swims with his feet, and passes the river quite naked. As to the rest, these rafts, though made in haste, are so well joined and so firm, that they carry safely such of their slaves as cannot swim.

If they have effects which water might damage, they kill four horses that are nearly of a size; and preserving the skins whole, after taking out the flesh and bones, they blow them like bladders, and place them on sledges, or waggons, of which they take off the wheels. Several Tartars swim at the sides to secure this floating machine, which is drawn by two horses, each of which hath a conductor to guide him to shore.

They are more eager to make incursions in winter than in summer, because in that seafon they find in the houses of the peasants, all the provisions which in summer they must collect in the fields, and the rivers and marshes being frozen, they can go any where without hindrance; the snow too renders the roads more convenient for their horses, which they never shoe. The feeding of their horses gives them no more trouble than the feeding of themselves; they require neither provisions nor magazines.

Moss, bark of trees, and poor herbs, are to them as good, and support them as well as the choicest forage; and in the winter they seek their food under snow, which they remove with their feet.

The Tartars in their expeditions never follow the usual beaten paths. They always choose the least known and most difficult roads; and to cover their march still more, they never make fires in their camp. By these means, they surprise even those who are most upon their guard against these incursions.

When they arrive within three or four leagues of the country into which they intend to penetrate, they halt for some days to rest. They then divide into three bodies; two of which compose the main body of their army: the third is subdivided, and forms a large detachment at each side. In this order they enter the country. The center advances in a parallel line with the right and left; but the whole marches night and day, without halting above an hour at most.

After marching sixty or eighty leagues into the country (which tract they spare at present, passing through it only as travellers) the two wings are ordered to disperfe themselves six leagues round. Divided again into ten or twelve brigades, of about 5 or 600 men each, and these into several others as they advance, they make what haste they can to pillage the country; and joining again by degrees, and in the same order in which they separated, they carry the booty to the main body of the army, which during this time kept together to 