Sheepskin vests and a double scalp-lock
Editorial contextAvril lists Siberian peoples, the 'Ostiaks, Bratski, Jacuti and Tongusi', as further kinds of Tartars and guesses they are Kalmyk hordes tamed by contact with the Russians. He then describes their looks and dress: sheepskin vests tied with a cord carrying bow and quiver, heads shaved to the crown with a double lock, and a round bonnet whose coloured silk tuft marked the horde.
Their Habits are for the most part all alike, consisting of several Sheep-skins sow'd together, which they fit to their bodies in the form of Vests, and gird about their Wastes with a Cord, wherein hangs their Bow and Quiver, with which they go always arm'd. They shave their Heads to the very Crown, where they preserve a Tuft thick enough to make a double lock
About Ostyaks, Buryats, Yakuts and Tungus (called 'other Tartars')
Keep in mind
Hearsay that lumps very different Siberian peoples together; the Kalmyk-origin theory is Avril's guess.
Why say 'Tartar' when they say 'Totar'?
Editorial contextAvril reports that the Chinese call the Tartars 'Totai' because of a missing letter in their language, and then wonders why Western Europeans say 'Tartar' at all, when Poles, Russians and the Tartars themselves say 'Totar'. It is a rare early admission that the extra 'r' of 'Tartar' is a Western habit.
This Relation adds, that the Chineses call the Tartars Totai, because they have not the Letter K in their Language. Nor do I know why we call 'em Tartars, seeing that in Poland, Muscovy and even in Tartary it self, they abridge the Name, and call 'em only Totar.
About Tartars in general
Keep in mind
The scan reads 'Letter K'; the sense (Chinese has no r sound) suggests the original printed 'R'.
The Bogdoi, 'Eastern Tartars' who took China
Editorial contextAvril's first 'nation' beyond China's frontier is the Bogdoi, whom the Chinese call Eastern Tartars and the Mongols 'Niouchi' (Jurchen). The next page gives his version of their history: an early invasion of China, the Yuan family ruling to 1368, the Ming to 1644, and then the Bogdoi returning to conquer China under Shunzhi, first emperor of the reigning Qing.
The first Nation is that of the Bogdoi, by the Chineses call'd the Eastern Tartars, and whom the Monguls call Niouchi
About Bogdoi (Manchus); also called Niouchi (Jurchen)
Keep in mind
His history is muddled; he credits the 'Tousbecks' (Uzbeks) with putting the Yuan family on the throne, where the Mongols are meant.
Mammoth tusks shown in Moscow
Editorial contextAmong Siberia's riches Avril lists a fine ivory from creatures the Russians called 'Behemot', found along the Lena and the shores of the 'Tartarian Sea'. He was shown teeth in Moscow ten inches long, finer than elephant ivory. On the next page he says the ivory was believed to stanch bleeding, was prized by Persians and Turks for dagger hilts, and came from a creature 'as big and as dangerous as a Crocodile'.
Several teeth of this Monster were shewn us at Moscow, which were ten Inches long, and two in Diameter at the Root ; Nor are the Elephants Teeth comparable to 'em
About Siberian ivory hunters; Russian traders
Keep in mind
He saw the teeth; the living 'monster' is hearsay. This is fossil mammoth (or walrus) ivory; the page OCR is badly garbled around it.
The scan is too rough to double-check this quote by machine. Compare it with the page.
Prester John's kingdom 'still in being'
Editorial contextAvril takes up the medieval legend of Prester John, the Christian king of the East. Following Marco Polo, he places John's kingdom in Tenduc or Tangut, between China and Mughal India, and a page earlier concludes that the Dalai Lama must be the real 'Prester John', a line of Christian rulers turned idolaters.
For the Kingdom of Tenduc, or as others read it, Tanchut, this Kingdom, I say, where Marcus Paulus places Preste-John, is still in being, if we may believe those who have travell'd through it, and lies between China and the Empire of the Great Mogul.
About Tartars of Tangut; the Dalai Lama
Keep in mind
A legend Avril tries to fit to the facts; he never went there.
'Lama' means a cross, and the Manchus wear crosses
Editorial contextTo support his idea that the peoples of Tartary were once Christian, Avril claims that 'lama' means 'cross' in the Tartar language, and that the Manchus who conquered China in 1644 always wore crosses they called lamas. It is a striking example of a missionary reading his hopes into reports.
he bears the Name of Lama, which in the Tartar Language signifies a Cross: And the Bogdoi who conquer'd China in 1644, and who are subject to the Dalae in all matters of Religion, wear always Crosses about 'em, which they call Lama's also
About Bogdoi (Manchus) and Tibetan Buddhists
Keep in mind
'Lama' is a Tibetan word for a teacher, not a cross; this is Avril's mistaken inference.
A Kalmyk khan said to eat only from gold
Editorial contextAvril reports that the chief khan of the Kalmyks claimed descent from Tamerlane, forced Russians and Uzbeks to pay him tribute, dressed always in white and ate only from gold plate. On the next page he checks the rumour: a French officer in Moscow who had been in this khan's tent near Astrakhan, with 100,000 Tartars, confirmed his splendour but never saw gold or silver plate.
He is very Potent, and therefore forces the Muscovites and the Yousbecks to pay him a certain Tribute, or else he would be continually Harrassing their Countries. 'Tis also reported that he is very Magnificent, that he goes always clad in White, and never eats but serv'd in Gold Plate.
About Kalmyks (Oirat Mongols)
Keep in mind
Rumour, partly contradicted by the eyewitness Avril cites.