The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1877-06-22

The Cossncks.
The special correspondent of the Lon
don Standard, writing from Bucharest
under date Of May II, says.
All Bucharest was stirred to-day bv n
rumor that those legendary horsemen.
the Cossacks of the Don, would be yisi-
bic in their habits as they live at the
Chaussee, not later than ten A. NJ All
Bucharest hurried TO the nearest cab
stand at the news, and vehcmentlv re-
Questioned Scopski driver.
The Chaussee was crowded with
pretty women, chattering gaily from
carriage TO carriage across the avenue.
Gentlemen filled the side paths, smoking
innumerablc cigarettes and gossiping in
me shade. a. charming sight il was as
| drove up, the brilliant summer toll
cites flowing down to tho very carriage
wheels, the white necks out-streched
IN pretty impaticncc to behold the COM
ing lines, chequers of hot sunshine fall
ing upon eager faces through the pale
lines above, and the strawberries on ei-
ther side all pink with blossom. Our
brlet spring is ended almost before il
had begun. A fortnight since ladies
still shivcred in fur, whilst to-day they
are wearing low dresses of muslin and
languidly bcmoaning the heat. No
spectacle less interesting than real sot-
ma Of Cossacks could have tempted the
indolcnt beauties Of Roumania out of
doors bctwiXt sunrise and sunset in
such weather.
In process of time, at the end of the
long avenue lined with carriages, sharp
eyes behold a denser column of dust
arising. 1t thickens and draws nearer
smartly Cries of delight and impa-
tlence pass all along-ladies eagerly
stand up, favored gentlemen climb upon
the coachbox, and presently the Cossack
lances pierce it, glittering in the sun.
DARK and colorless masses loom through
1t, and we become aware Of strange
but stirring music. The famous horse
men are almost among us before we see
them, so neutral are their colors, and so
thick the dust already. Not q sound is
heard, even while they pass, except the
martial war song of the bards who head
each sotnia, and the shrill accompani-
ment of whistles modulated to weird
harmony. No rattle ofaccoutrements be-
trays the Cossack; his very horse seems
trained to move with silent activity
With that pecan in ones ears and the
whistles screaming through it, one be-
holds without astOnishment these war
riors glide past, stealthily and swiftly.
One recognizes the surviving race of an
earlier time. TO the same war song,
perhaps, marched the ancestors of these
people when they overran Russia. The
Bucharest ladies We're not a little i'm
pressed and little frightened. They
looked al each other blankly, with little
shrugs of the shoulder TO express
amazement and distaste. One of them
afterwards confessed to me that her
Muscovite sympathies vanished at sight
Of the first Cossack, so ugly and so dirty
was he. | could not agree with her.
Soldiers, and officers too, are dirty
on campaign, and Antinous himself
could not be prepossessing if black
with dust and bedabblcd with pcrspira-
tion. But the Cossacks are by no means
so ugly as is traditionally believed. A
great number have fair hair, and the
moustaches of nearly all are bleachcd
white by the sun. Many have good
features, of an English rather than Ger
man type, and though | observed a
Tartar cheek-bone to be more common
than i'll other regiments | have seen. il
was very far from being rule. AS
soldiers, the men appeared to me most
promising; tall, well set up, full of life
and spirit, looking about them rs they
went with free but not insolent curiosi-
ty. Discipline was evidently lax, so
lar as order and regularity are concern
ed, but | should think the men were
perfectly under command. The uni
torm Is very ugly. Upon the matted
nan, nan, worn i4nS, cut squarely OIL and
.lairieu ,aaII ; Wn.H mucous ingenuity 10 stand
haoa1tiy 9.ia'sn, rom thc rear OF the
,ieau, - , Ies slueWa!s klnu Oh uhorna-
lheii.eu 9iiaho, covered win torn OIL
sAins ;iAdi anu Pio'iueu WIN peak Moth
ang ~ usiY Il; .nis mas peeh devised by
n,ii.aa! n saiior III our epocn' rune
anu precche: were oiue once, suppose,
ouI ~" ,ta .heii coior Is TMsl. very clum-
ooH,s , my wal. lhey nave each
lonS iancc WIN Triangular piade' hea-
V! tSemuI, anu carplhe' certain
liuuioel aiso nave Ic,oiVers. Ihey car
l! te"teS uuort' Iouuer, rations, water
,.nre ra,,s Aha tueir very simple kit. some
va W. i1aueu h up hSe marker women,
80 a. .L: iiau siA suchS ~ ieast' hanging
,Ua,nI ,'.,ri .iieir sauuics. thelr PONIES
W., WIN ~. nas,iI! critlcise. Iney do
arvbod' 'U. ou1waruly rd, SLOW .nose quaiitieS ey
70 ysyoal uol ,oui'S Goun ~ .He,l, anu untii aple
ca. so SpeaM ;r?sii eAPerience shail hot Oh
ie, an oPii'ioli' ihey are ridden with
out , e..rp. Like all Oriehtais, Cos
l",ao I"um S'.s upoi' io'sc shoulders, WIN
n,n,' nmees 'er! nign. me attitude looks
olaihs! ana uncoHllortaoie 10 us, but
tbe M hno" hn.t hro, =, ro,lnehus i.seii 70 some OF
'he pes' horsemeh III inc world.
Amer the Don Cossacks had passed
each sotnia, led by its scalds and whist
lers- before the sacred banner, the
Demidon Hussars arrived. must not
forget, however, TO observe a fact much
commented upon here. The Cossacka
march under flags of their own, dedi-
Gated to certain saints, but in moments
when the faith is said TO be menaced
they solemnly bring out holy banner,