388 
THE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA. 
[chap. VIII. 
that the nature of the religious delusion in this case accounts 
for the severity of the law or the authorities. For, on the 
ground of a text in the Gospel of Matthew interpreted in a 
very peculiar way, all Skoptzi subject themselves to a mutilation, 
in consequence of which the sect can only exist by new prose¬ 
lytes; and remarkably enough, these madmen, notwithstanding 
all persecution, or perhaps just on that account, actually still 
OSTYAK TENT. 
(After a Photograph.) 
gain followers. A large number of the Skoptzi were Fins from 
Ingermanland, with whom I could converse without difficulty. 
They had, through industry and perseverance, succeeded in 
creating for themselves a certain prosperity, were hospitable and 
friendly, and bore their hard fate with resignation. The}^ would 
not themselves kill any warm-blooded animal, for it was ''a sin 
to kill what God had createdwhich did not hinder them from 
