THE HEATHEN OSTIAKS. 445 



For our part, we regard the shaman, who claims the status of 

 a priest among the Ostiaks as among the other Mongolian peoples 

 of Siberia, as nothing short of an impostor. The sole member of the 

 precious brotherhood with whom we came in contact, a baptized 

 Samoyede, bore the sign of Christianity on his breast; according to 

 report he had even been a deacon in the orthodox church, and yet 

 he did duty as a shaman among the heathen Ostiaks. I learned 

 later, on good authority, that he was no exception to the general 

 rule; for all the shamans met with by my informant, Herr von 

 Middendorf, during years of travel in Siberia, were Christians. I 

 have already mentioned in the report of my travels that the shaman 

 whom we met took us also for believers; but I have reserved my 

 account of his performances and prophecies for to-day, as this de- 

 scription seems to me a fitting frame for such a picture. 



To begin with, he demanded brandy as a fee, but was satisfied 

 with the promise of a gift, and retired into a tent, saying that he 

 would let us know when his preparations were finished. Among 

 these preparations, apparently, was the muffled beating of a drum 

 which we heard after a considerable time; of other arrange- 

 ments we discovered nothing. On a given signal we entered the 

 tshum. 



The whole space within the birch -bark hut was filled with 

 people, who sat round in a circle pressing closely against the walls. 

 Among the Ostiaks and Samoyedes, who were there with wives 

 and children, there were also Russians with their families. On a 

 raised seat to the left of the entrance sat the shaman Vidli; at his 

 right, crouching on the floor, was an Ostiak, the master's disciple at 

 the time. Vidli wore a brown upper garment, and over it a kind 

 of robe, originally white, but soiled and shabbily trimmed with gold 

 braid; in his left hand he held a little tambour-like drum, in such 

 a way that it shaded his face; in his right hand was a drum-stick; 

 his head was uncovered, his tonsured hair freshly oiled. In the 

 middle of the tshum a fire was burning, and now and again it 

 blazed up and shed bright light on the motley throng, in the midst 

 of which we sat down in the places reserved for us. A thrice- 

 repeated, long-drawn cry, like a song from many voices, preluded by 



