PERSIA 



2 35 



enduring the hardships connected with 

 their nomad life, they have no desire 

 to live; and so the aged are dispatched 

 (as in. Fiji) by their considerate 

 children. The bodies of the dead 

 are burned. Though Shamanists in 

 religion, like most Siberian tribes, 

 they offer oblations, at least twice a 

 year, to ensure a plentiful catch of 

 fish and seals, and a prosperous season 

 generally. This is in addition to the 

 sacrifices offered by the Shamans, or 

 priests. 



The Kamchadales, or aborigines 

 of the Kamchatka Peninsula, differ 

 both in language and in appearance 

 from their neighbours, the Koriaks. 

 They are nominally Christians, and 

 now number about 3,000, having been 

 greatly reduced by disease and famine. 

 Some of the northern islands of the 

 Kurile Archipelago also contain Kam- 

 chadales. Travellers speak favourably 

 of them. Their huts are scrupulously 

 clean inside. They spear the salmon 

 in summer, and cultivate rye, potatoes, 

 and turnips, and keep a few cattle. 

 In business they are mere children, 

 and a glass of spirits will tempt 

 them to part with the most costly 

 fur.* 



TTIXGUsES, WITH HEINDEER. 



PERSIA. 



THE Persians once possessed an empire extending from the Bosphorus to the Indus. They 

 are often called Qajar, from the tribal name of the reigning dynasty. Now their country is 

 restricted to little more than half of the high tableland between the Tigris Valley and that 

 of the Indus. The total area of Persia, called by the natives Iran, is about 630,000 square 

 miles, and its population is estimated at 9,000,000. The Persian or Iranian group comprises 

 the inhabitants not only of Persia proper, but also of Afghanistan, Baluchistan, Bokhara, and 

 Central Asia generally. In Central Asia more traces are found of the old Persian language 

 than in Persia itself. 



The two primary Asiatic types viz. the Caucasian and the Mongolo-Tartar meet in the 

 Persians. They are divided into so many different branches that at first sight the country 

 appears to be inhabited by several distinct races. The Tajiks, as the Persians call themselves, 

 the Kurds, the Luris, the Leks, and the Baluchis are all offshoots of the Iranian branch of 

 the Caucasian stem. There has been a copious blending with Turkish and Usbeg stocks, and 

 pure Iranian Persians must necessarily be rare. 



