THE OSTIAKS. 



187 



civilization from their hands. He fears that if his children learn to read and 

 write, they will no longer be satisfied to live like their parents, and that the 

 school will deprive him of the support of his age. He is no less obstinately at- 

 tached to the religion of his fathers, which in all essential points is identical 

 with that of the Samoiedes. In some of the southern districts, along the Ir- 

 tysch, at Surgut, he has indeed been baptized, and hangs up the image of a 

 saint in his hut, as his Russian pope or priest has instructed him to do ; but 

 his Christianity extends no farther. Along the tributaries of the Obi, and be- 

 low Obdorsk, he is still plunged in Schamanism. 



Like the Samoiedes, the Ostiaks, whose entire number amounts to about 

 25,000, are subdivided into tribes, reminding one of the Highland clans. Each 

 tribe consists of a number of families, of a common descent, and sometimes 

 comprising many hundred individuals, who, however distantly related, con- 

 sider it a duty to assist each other in distress. The fortunate fisherman di- 

 vides the spoils of the day with his less fortunate clansman, who hardly thanks 

 him for a gift which he considers as his due. In cases of dispute the Star- 

 schina, or elder, acts as a judge; if, however, the parties are not satisfied with 

 his verdict, they appeal to the higher authority of the hereditary chieftain or 

 prince — a title which has been conferred by the Empress Catherine II. on the 

 Ostiak magnates, who, from time immemorial, have been considered as the 

 heads of their tribes. These princes are, of course, subordinate to the Russian 

 ofiicials, and bound to appear, with the Starschinas, at the fairs of Beresow or 

 Obdorsk, as they are answerable for the quantity and quality of the various 

 sorts of furs which the Ostiaks are obliged to pay as a tribute to Government. 

 Their dignity is hereditary, and, in default of male descendants, passes to the 

 nearest male relation. It must, however, not be supposed that these princes 

 are distinguished from the other Ostiaks by their riches or a more splendid 

 appearance ; for their mode of life differs in no way from that of their inferiors 

 in rank, and, like them, they are obliged to fish or to hunt for their daily sub- 

 sistence. 



On entering the hut of one of these dignitaries, Castren found him in a 

 ragged jacket, while the princess had no other robe of state but a shirt. The 

 prince, having liberally helped himself from the brandy-bottle which the trav- 

 eller offered him, became very communicative, and complained of the suffer- 

 ings and cares of the past winter. He had exerted himself to the utmost, but 

 without success. Far from giving way to indolence in his turf-hut, he had been 

 out hunting in the forest, after the first snow-fall, but rarely pitching his bark- 

 tent, and frequently sleeping in the open air. Yet, in spite of all his exertions, 

 he had often not been able to shoot a single ptarmigan. His stores of meal 

 and frozen fishes were soon exhausted, and sometimes the princely family had 

 been reduced to eat the flesh of wolves. 



The Ostiaks are excellent archers, and, like all the other hunting tribes of 

 Siberia, use variously constructed arrows for the different objects of their chase. 

 Smaller shafts, with a knob of wood at the end, are destined for the squirrels 

 and other small animals whose fur it is desirable not to injure ; while large ar- 

 rows, with strong triangular iron points, bring down the wolf, the bear, and 



