CHAPTER XIII. 



YAKUTSK TOWN AND PROVINCE. 



"ITTAKUTSK, or the 'city of the Yakuts' as the natives 

 -L proudly call it, where the survivors of the expedition 

 found the first comforts of civilized life after their long 

 journey, is situated on the Lena River near latitude 62 

 north. It is the capital and chief town of the province of 

 Yakutsk, one of the six into which Eastern Siberia is 

 divided and a commercial center of the fur and ivory trade. 



The region of the Upper Lena has been subject to the 

 Russian power for 250 years. After crossing the Yenisei, 

 the Cossack conquerors of Siberia advanced to the shores 

 of Lake Baikal, and in 1620 attacked and partly defeated 

 the populous and warlike nation of the Buriats. Then, 

 turning northward to (he Lena, they descended the river to 

 the principal town of the Yakuts, where, in 1632, they 

 founded the city of Yakutsk, and after considerable resist- 

 ance made subject the powerful nation of the Yakuts. 



The province of Yakutsk is the largest in Siberia, and 

 covers an area of no less than a million and a half of square 

 miles. The population, consisting almost wholly of natives, 

 Tunguses, Yakuts and Yukaghirs is estimated at 235,000 ; 

 making about one inhabitant to every seven square miles. 



The Russian population of the province is about 7,000, 

 and is confined almost entirely to the valley of the Lena, 

 Yakutsk, and its neighborhood. In the most northern 

 villages of Siberia their dwelling places consist of cabins, 

 built of logs or planks from broken-up lighters, and having 

 flat, turf-covered roofs. Such carvings and ornaments as 

 are commonly found on the houses of well-to-do Russian 

 peasants are here completely wanting. 



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