Cockrane's Journey to the 



(lie Tongousi, g;reat glii«onS, but 

 subsist mostly upon liorsellesh ; a mare 

 Ijein^ considered by tiiem as the 

 ■greatest diTicacy ; bul never slaujjlitorcd 

 txcept in sacrifice to a Shaiiiane. 



Tlieir rir.lies consist in large herds 

 of horses and horned caftle, besides an 

 abundance of the finest and most valu- 

 able firs. Tlioy^plso carry on a consi- 

 derable trade among themselves, and 

 some of their princes are immensely 

 rich, doing business to the amount ut' 

 one hundred and lifly Ihonsaiid roubles 

 a jcar, and yet living in the same 

 misery as their sgrvanls^lecping in the 

 rame apartment, wlik'h perhaps con- 

 tains forty or fifty people. Their dress 

 difiers little from that of the neighbour- 

 ing tribes, being made of reindeer skins 

 for the rich, and horses' hides for the 

 poorer class. Many of tiiem still sub- 

 sist entirely on fisiiing and liunting. 

 Their greatest luxuries arc tea, tobacco, 

 and spirits. They sit crossed legged. 

 The greater part of them are converted 

 to Christianity, and the clergymen in 

 many places deliver Iheir sermons in the 

 Yakut dialect. Indeed, so fashionable 

 is it, that in the best society at Yakutsk 

 the Yakut dialect is used for all private 

 tonversation, or in the presence of an 

 Kiiropean officer. 



' 'I'lieir yoinies arc comfortable, and, 

 upon tiie arrival of a guest, are made as 

 cicao as clean straw can make tlicu! ; 

 in other respects they are disgusting 

 enough, being but loo frequently filled 

 \vilh vermin. Their yourtes dilfer from 

 all the others I have seen, consisting of 

 fuie large apartment and a cow-house 

 adjoining. The mode of cotstnicting 

 their dwellings is as follows: niiio posts 

 are driven into the ground in tlie form 

 of a scpiare, the three in (he centre 

 being higher than the others ; on these 

 posts tli'y lay three beams, while the 

 four coiner posts arc connected by two 

 other cross beams. Stout planks arc 

 then placed sloping from tiic earth to 

 the horizontal beams to which they arc 

 fastened, while other piaiiks are also 

 Jaid sloping from the upper part of the 

 roof to (he side-|)osts, overlapping the 

 others. Grass, mould, and dung are 

 then plastered over them in lieu of caulk- 

 ing, and tiic walls are banked up with 

 llic same materials, fenced in during 

 tvihter. The heat in the \ourte is pre- 

 served by means of the snow, wlji<:h 

 becomes hardened to such a degree as 

 (o resist (he fnc and smoke from the 

 idiinmey, blocks of ice arc placed in the 

 ii<les of (he windows, and give a clcai' 



AIoNniiv Mau. No. 3;>h. 



Frozen Sea and Kamtchalka. 



631 



transparent light ; lliougli sometimes 

 bladders or oiled paper, as well as a 

 particular sjiecies of a fossil, called 

 ^Krum Ruthenicum Maria, glass, or 

 talc, serve for tiie same purpose. Tlif ee 

 sides of the interior are divided into 

 partitions, two or three living in each, 

 according (o the size of the family, and 

 are utcd as bed places ; they are three 

 or four feel wide, and ten long. In the 

 centre is the hearth and chimney, formed 

 by upiight sticks, plastered on the 

 inside. The wood is placed in an up- 

 right direction on the hearth, and the 

 fire is kept up constantly day and night. 

 'J'he state apartment, and of course that 

 occu])ied by (he chief gnes(, is the 

 farthest from the door, and immediately 

 under the image. The odour from the 

 cow-house, although disagreeable, is 

 considered very healthy, and far pre- 

 ferable to mixing with thirty or forty 

 people, whose stench and filth are in- 

 conceivable. "Vyith only a few inmates, 

 and additional cleanliness, I consider a 

 Yakut dwelling to be extremely conve- 

 nient, and peculiarly fresh and whole- 

 some. Their kitchen utensils are not 

 numerous ; a large iron kettle or boiler, 

 a large tea-kettle, and a few wooden 

 bowls and spoons, with still fewer 

 earthen jars, and a knife forcach person, 

 constitute the w hole. The richer Yakut 

 may have a samavaror tea-urn, and per- 

 liajis in such case a tea-pot also, but iri 

 general the tea is made in the kettle. 

 They use no plates, but taking a large 

 piece of beef in their left hand, they se- 

 cure it with (heir teeth, and (hen cut 

 away as much with (he riglU as will fill 

 (he moudi ; some warm melted butter 

 finishes (he repast, when the pipe and 

 tobacco come in as a desser(. 



THE BAIKAL LAKE. 



The approach (o (he unfathomable 

 'Baikal Lake may be considered one of 

 (he grandest sights in the world. The 

 ri\er Angara tliiws in (he fore ground, 

 gradually widiniug iis it draw s nearer to 

 (he lake, (ill at length (he soince of the 

 river forms a pretty inlet, where the ves- 

 sels for transporting provisions are laid 

 up. The siglit of a number of vessels 

 in an apjiarently good coiidilion was to 

 me a source of great pleasure, and I 

 coidd only regret (hat (he season would 

 not permit me to embark on board one 

 of Ihcm, instead of crossing, as at pre- 

 sent, in a sledge. The mounlains every 

 where round (he Baikal are of (he; most 

 rli;va(cd and romantic ai)pcarance. 

 They are bold, rocky, and very danger- 

 ous for vessels in summlr, as no an- 

 4 M churagc 



