A CASE OF JEALOUSY. 149 



there is no chase ; the animals submit themselves to hunger 

 and security, and so does man. All nature groans beneath 

 the vigorous winter. 



" The Russians have been here 150 years, and the Yakuti 

 Tartars have been under the Russian government ever since ; 

 yet they have made no alteration in their dress in general : 

 but the Russians have conformed to the dress of the Yakuti. 

 They appear to live together in peace and harmony, but the 

 Yakuti hold no offices, civil or military. 



" The Tartar is a man of nature, not of art. He is a 

 lover of peace. No lawyer here perplexing natural rights of 

 property. No wanton Helen, displaying fatal charms. No 

 priest with his outrageous zeal has ever disturbed the peace. 

 Never, I believe, did the Tartar speak ill of the Deity, or 

 <-nvy his fellow-creatures. He is contented to be what he is. 

 Hospitable and humane, lie is uniformly tranquil and cheer- 

 ful, laconic in thought, word and action. Those that live 

 with the Russians in their villages are above mediocrity as 

 to riches, but discover the same indifference about accumu- 

 lating more and for the concerns of to-morrow that a North 

 American Indian does. If it happens that they profess the 

 Russian religion, they treat it with strange indifference, not 

 unthinkingly, but because they do not think at all. 



" The house of the Russian is a scene of busy occupation, 

 filled with furniture, provisions, women, children, dirt, and 

 noise; that of the Tartar is as silent and-as clean as a 

 mosque. There is very little furniture, and that is rolled 

 up and bound in parcels in a corner of the house. 



" So strong is the propensity of the Russian to jealousy, 

 that an ordinary Russian will be displeased if one even en- 

 deavors to gain the good-will of his dog. I affronted the 

 commandant of this town very highly by permitting his dog 

 to walk with me one afternoon. He expostulated with me 

 very seriously. I live with a young Russian officer, with 

 whom I came from Irkutsk. No circumstance has ever in- 

 terrupted the harmony between us but his dogs. They have 

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