77 o THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



an aureole, so the Ural Cossacks poetize their fisheries and every- 

 thing in connection with them. In almost every popular song 

 of this country is mentioned, under all kinds of poetical names, 

 the Ural River with " its golden bottom " and its " silver banks," 

 and one of the most favorite local songs is an ode or hymn in 

 honor of the Yaik River (the historical name remains in poetry), 

 the foster father of the population. The economical importance 



FIG. 3. KAILING ACROSS THE URAL RIVER. 



of the fisheries for this people is so immense that it influences 

 their whole life, not excepting the military service. The right 

 of fishing in communal waters does not belong to any but mem- 

 bers of the community, who, on the other hand, are compelled to 

 undertake military service. The Ural Cossacks have ready for 

 the service every year about three thousand cavalry, and in case 

 of war every adult may be called on to serve as a soldier. The 

 entire population is about one hundred and ten thousand souls. 



Thus, when one part of the men is engaged in military serv- 

 ice, the other part, which remains at home, is forced to procure 

 money to pay the expenses of equipment for the outgoing sol- 

 diers, and also to make their own living. 



Only by bearing this heavy double burden have the Ural Cos- 

 sacks succeeded in acquiring exclusive rights to the land and 

 river colonized by them, and to preserve 4ntil the present time 

 some independence in their home affairs with a peculiar eco- 

 nomic organization of the community as an entire body. Much 

 struggling and fighting was done in the early existence of this 

 small community in order to gain this measure of independence 

 from the Muscovite Government, which has always had a strong 

 tendency to centralize different parts of Russian territory under 



