246 



THE POLAR WORLD. 



flesh the sorcerer and the relations regale themselves, while the spirits to 

 whom the animal is supposed to be offered are obliged to content themselves 

 with the smell of the burnt fat. As among the Samoiedes or the Ostiaks, 

 woman is a marketable ware among the Tungusi. The father gives his daugh- 

 ter in marriage for twenty or a hundred reindeer, or the bridegroom is obliged 

 to earn her hand by a long period of service. 



In East Siberia the Tungusi divide with the Jakuts the task of conveying 

 goods or travellers through the forests, and afford the stranger frequent op- 

 portunities for admiring their agility and good-humor. On halting after a 

 day's journey, the reindeer are unpacked in an instant, the saddles and the 

 goods ranged orderly on the ground, and the bridles collected and hung on 

 branches of trees. The hungry animals soon disappear in the thicket, where 

 the}^ are left to provide for themselves. The men, who meanwhile have been 

 busy with their axes, drag a larch-tree or two to the place of encampment. 

 The smaller branches are lopped off and collected to serve as beds or seats 

 upon the snow, while the resinous wood of the larger trunks is soon kindled 

 into a lively fire. The kettle, filled with snow, is suspended from a strong 

 forked branch placed obliquely in the ground over the fire, and in a few min- 

 utes the tea is ready — for the Tungusi proceed every evening according to the 

 same method, and are consequently as expert as long and invariable practice 

 can make them. Comfortably seated on his reindeer saddle, the traveller may 

 noAV amuse himself with the dances, which the Tungusi accompany with an 

 agreeable song ; or if he choose to witness their agility in athletic exercises, it 

 only costs him a word of encouragement, and a small donation of brandy. Two 

 of the Tungusi hold a rope, and swing it with all their might, so that it does 

 not touch the ground. Meanwhile a third Tunguse skips over the rope, picks 

 up a bow and arrow spans the bow and shoots the arrow, without once touch- 

 ing the rope. Some particularly bold and expert Tungusi will dance over a 

 sword which a person lying on his back on the ground is swinging about 

 with the greatest rapidity. Should our traveller be a friend of chess, the Tun- 

 gusi are equally at his service, as they are passionately fond of this noblest of 

 games, especially in the Kolymsk district. Like all other Siberian nomads, 

 they visit at least once a year the various fairs which are held in the small 

 towns scattered here and there over their immense territory — such as Kirensk, 

 Olekminsk, Bargusin, Tschita, and Ochotsk, which, before the opening of the 

 Amoor to trade, was the chief port of East Siberia. 



Ochotsk is one of the dreariest places imaginable ; at least no traveller who 

 ever visited it has a word to say in its favor. 'Not a single tree grows for 

 miles and miles around, and the wretched huts of which the town is composed 

 lie in the midst of a swamp, which in summer is a fruitful source of malaria 

 and pestilence. The River Ochota, at whose mouth Ochotsk is situated, does 

 not break up before the end of May, and the ice-masses continue to pass the 

 town till the 15th or 20th of June. Soon after begins the most unpleasant time 

 of all the year, or " buss " of the Siberians, characterized by thick fog and a per- 

 petual drizzling rain. The weather clears up in July, but as early as August 

 the night-frosts cover tlie earth with rime. Salmon, of which no less than 



