Chap. III. from Moscow /<? China. 
9^7 
they are upon the Water travelling, or fitting by the In this tedious uneafy Paffage, 1 was expofed to much 
Fire, fome of thefe violent Smoakers fall into the Wa- Care and Anxiety i for our Provifions, and elpecially 
ter and are drowned, or into the Fire and are burned i the Meal, grew very low, by realbn I had not recruited 
but fome, after they have fucked in the Smoak, let it otherwife than with Filli fince my Deparrare from To-- 
out at_ their Throats again, and thefe are in a better bolska^ and had been too charitable to the Qjiiach on 
Condition than the other, tho* fome weaker Conftitu- board our Ship, who when we found it ret^uilite, were 
tions are fometimes fuffocated even thus with the Smoak obliged to tow us along with a Line 7 by which conth 
which they let down into their Bodies. nual Fatigue they were become fo weak, that we were 
It is further obfervable, that they are very angry, if obliged to keep a perpetual Watch over them to prevent 
any of their Relations, though long dead, are named their Defertion. 
or mentioned. They are utterly unacquainted with all Notwithftanding all this Care, no Day palTed in 
Things before their own Life-time, and do not pretend which fome did not run away. And at laft the Cold- 
to give any Relation of them ; nor can they either nefs of the Seafon, and their perpetual Labour, ren» 
write or read; and though they are very fond of Bread derM them perfedly unferviceable ; and if I had not 
when they meet with it, they never trouble themfelves before-hand written to the Governor of Jenizeskoy for 
with the Tillage of Land, or Culture of Gardens. Men to affift me, which he difpatched away to meet 
They have neither Temples nor Priefts. Their Ship- me with the firft Opportunity, land my Retinue had 
ping or Boats, on the Outfide, are Barks of Trees been probably lofl: 1 for not being within thirty Miles 
fewed together, and the Infide Ribs of very thin Wood ; of the Village when the Affiftance came, we had been 
thefe are two or three Fathom long, and but an Ell certainly frozen up in the River, and had perifhed by 
broad ; and yet they can fecure thenifelves in them in Famine, and the deep Snows, which fall there ; for this 
great Storms till they get on Shore. In Winter-time River is utterly unnavigable in Winter, 
thefe OJliacks live entirely under Ground, there being I was fcarce got from Makofskol before the River froze 
no other Entrance to their Caves, but a Hole left open up. The Courfe of this River is, for the moft Parr, 
on the Surface of the Earth to let out the Smoke • If, through an even Country, abounding with Woods and 
as is frequent, a great Snow falls, it happens that, as fmall Shrubs 5 the Water in fome Places runs in fuch a 
according to their Cuftom, they lie afleep naked round 
the Fire, Part of their Body which lies a little diftant 
from the Fire, is two or three Fingers thick covered 
with jSnow ; when they perceive themfelves cold 
they turn about to the Fire, and bellow the bell Place 
on the cold Part of their Body a little while, and fo 
take no more Notice of it, being a very hardy Peo- 
ple in refpeft to the Variation of Weather. 
When an OJiiack is jealous of one of his Wives with 
another Man, he cuts fome Hair from the under Parc 
of a Bear’s Skin, which he carries to the Man whom 
he fufpefts : If he be innocnnt he then accepts it, but if 
he be guilty, they believe he dare not venture to touch 
it, but muft acknowledge the Truth, and then amicably 
makes up the Bufinefs with the Husband, and the Wife 
is fold ; for if any Ihould prefume to be fo ralh as to 
take the Hair though he was guilty, they tell us they 
are alTured, that the Bear’s Skin from whence that Hair 
was cut off, will again become a living Bear, which 
after the Expiration of three Days will appear in the 
Wood, and tear the perjured Wretch to Pieces. On 
this Occafion they invoke Bows, Arrows, Axes, and 
Knives, and firmly believe that if the guilty Perfon 
takes any of thefe, he fliall certainly be killed by thofe 
individual Inllruments which he accepts, within the 
Space of a few Days *, which is not only averred by 
themfelves, but unanimoully vouched alfo by the Ruffians 
whoiive in the Neighbourhood of thefe Parts. But enough 
of thefe OJliacks, The Shore of the River Oby^ on which 
they live, is ail untilled Land from the Sea to the River 
by reafon of the extreme Cold ; fo that no Corn, 
Fruit, or Honey, is here produced ; there being only a 
few Nuts which grow on the Cedar-trees. 
12. After having paffed fome Weeks on the River 
Oby amongft the barbarous OJiiacksy we went by the 
City of Keetskoy, fituate on the 'River Keta, which falls 
North- weft into the Oby. On ^he 28th following I 
paffed by the Cloifter of St. Gmgt, and the 3d of Or- 
^ober I went by the Village of WoroZeikin ; and on the 
fame Day died John George Weltfel^ a Painter, one of 
my Retinue, who was born at Slefwick, after he had 
kept his Bed fourteen Days on Account of a Swelling 
juft above his Heart, which was aggravated by a Fever. 
On the 7th of OSfober, I fafely arrived at the Village 
Makofskoi^ and there caufed Weltfel\ Corps to be buried 
on a Hill near the River, in the Middle of the Villao-e. 
I muft own that this Voyage upon the River Keta was 
the more irk fome and mela,ncholy than all the whole Way 
before ; we were obliged to labour for five Weeks 
againft the Stream, without feeing fo much as any 
Man, befides now and then an Oftiack that appeared, 
and immediately hid himfelf in the Woods. This Sort 
of OJliacks fpeak a different Language from thofe on 
the Oby ; but their Idolatry is the fame, 
V o L. IL N^ CXXXIIL 
crooked Channel, that where we dined at Noon, we 
were obliged to fup at Night, or at leaft not far froiri 
thence. Here are great Quantities of Woodcocks, 
Pheafants, Partridges, and other Wild-fowl ; and it 
was a very diverting Sight to fee great Flocks of Wood- 
cocks and Pheafants come to the Brink of the River to 
drink, which gave us an Opportunity of fhooting as 
many as we pleafed in our Paffage, and when our Pro- 
vifions grew fcarce, afforded us no fmall Affiftance. 
Here grow alfo Strawberries, black and red Currants 
and Black- berries ; but the River doth not yield great 
Quantities of Fiffi, 
1 3. Amongft the Hills which are fituate North-eaft of, 
and not far from hence, the Mammuts Tongues and 
Legs are found, as they are alfo particularly on the 
Shores of the Rivers Jenize^ Trugan, Mongamfea, Lena, 
and near Jakutikoi^ even as far as the Frozen Sea, In 
the Spring, when the Ice of this River breaks, it is 
driven in fuch vaft Quantities, and with fuch Force by 
the high fwollen Waters, that it frequently carries very 
high Banks before it, and breaks off the Tops of Hills, 
which falling down, difeover thefe Animals whole, or 
their Teeth only, almoft frozen to the Earth, which 
thaw by Degrees. I had a Perfon with me, who had 
annually gone out in Search of thefe Bones 5 he told 
it to me as a real Truth, that he and his Companions 
found the Head of one of thefe Animals, which was. 
difeovered by the Fall of fuch a frozen Piece of Earth. 
As foon as he opened it, he found the greateft Part of 
the FJefii rotten, but it was not without D.fficulty that 
they broke out his Teeth, which were placed in the 
Fore-part of his' Mouth, as thofe of the Elephants are 5 
they alfo took fome Bones out of his Head, and after- 
wards came to his Fore-foot, which they cut off, and 
carried Parc of it to the City of frugan, the Circumfe- 
rence of it being as large as that of the Waift of 
an ordinary Man. The Bones of the Head appear’d 
fomewhat red, as though they were tinflured with 
Blood. 
Concerning this Animal there are very different Re- 
ports. The Heathens of Jakutiy Tungufiy and Ofliacki, 
fay that they continually, or at leaft by Reafon of the- 
very hard Frofts, moftly Jive under Ground, where 
they go backwards and forwards ; to confirm which 
they tell us, that they have often feen the Earth hea- 
ved up when one of thefe Beafts was upon the 
March, and after he was paffed, the Place fink in, 
and thereby make a deep Pit. They further be- 
lieve, that if this Animal comes fo near to the Sur- 
face of the frozen Earth as to fmell the Air, he im- 
mediately dies, which they fay is the Reafon that feverai 
of them are found dead on the high Banks of the 
River, where they unawares came out of the Ground. 
1 1 C This 
