510 FROM NORTH POLE TO EQUATOR. 



condoling with the women, who are still shrouded in mourning 

 garments, they fetch the horse, saddle and load it in the same 

 manner as when moving the aul, and lead it before the mollah to 

 be blessed. This done, two men approach, seize its bridle, unsaddle 

 it, throw it to the ground, and stab it through the heart. Its flesh 

 serves as a meal for the poor of the company, its skin falls to the 

 mollah. Immediately after the horse has been killed, the lance is 

 handed to the most important man among the relatives; he takes 

 it, pronounces a few words, breaks the shaft in pieces, and throws 

 these into the fire. 



Now the horses come snorting up, eager to prove their speed in 

 the race ; the young riders who guide and bridle them start ofl" at a 

 given signal and disappear in the steppe. The bard takes the 

 mollah's place, and commemorates the dead once more, but also 

 extols the living and seeks to gladden their hearts. The women lay 

 aside the singular head-dress, which serves as a sign of mourning, 

 and don their gala attire. After the abundant repast, the vessel of 

 intoxicating milk- wine circulates freely, and sounds of joy mingle 

 with the tones of the zither. 



Mourning for the dead is over ; life asserts its rights once more. 



COLONISTS AND EXILES IN SIBERIA. 



Those who regard Siberia as merely a vast prison are as far 

 from the truth as those who look upon it as one immeasurable 

 waste of ice. Russia does indeed send thousands of criminals or 

 others under sentence of punishment to Siberia every year; and 

 there are among these some who, having been convicted of serious 

 crimes against life and property, are not free during the whole of 

 their enforced sojourn. But only a very small proportion of all the 

 criminals are really in confinement for the whole period of their 

 sentence, and every one of them has it in his power to render this 

 confinement less severe, or even to free himself from it altogether 

 by his behaviour, and thus he enjoys advantages which do not fall 



