which they stood in need brought to them in greater quantities, and cheaper. As, however, it might be necessary in the course of these investigations to approach their coast, perhaps even visit it, we hoped that we should meet with a friendly reception and assistance, for which they might look to be liberally rewarded. This last remark appeared to give some offence; and one of them, Valetka, said, "Are we not also subjects of the Son of the Sun (the Emperor), who gave us these arms, not to do injury with them, or to abuse them, but to become useful through their means ?" Saying this, he struck with evident pride on a silver-mounted cutlass, which his father had received as a present in the reign of Catherine II. and in that sovereign's name. The result of the conference was, that all the chiefs pledged their words, and struck hands upon the promise, not only to give a friendly reception to our expedition, but to support it by every means in their power. The treaty was ratified by a portion of spirits, which I placed before my guests, to their very great satisfaction.

The negotiation of my travelling companion, Cochrane, terminated less favourably. He represented himself to be a merchant, desirous of passing through the Tshuktshi-land to the Bay of St. Lawrence, and thence to America, and offered a liberal remuneration in spirits and tobacco for a safe conduct. Loit demanded no less than thirty poods of tobacco* to convey him to Metshigmensk Bay in June; Valetka, on the other hand, offered to take him to the Verkon River for nothing, and there to recommend him to the care of another chief, with whom he might go to Tshukotskoi Noss; or, if he preferred it, he might return with him (Valetka) next year to Ostrovnoïę. Loit's demand was extravagantly high; Valetka, however, by his extreme disinterestedness, excited suspicion. Mr. Cochrane, moreover, had had many opportunities of seeing the Tshuktshi more closely, and felt convinced that a prolonged residence among them would bring with it many privations and sufferings, while his ignorance of their language would prevent him from deriving any really useful information. These reflections, and the conviction which forced itself upon him, that, owing to the violent character of these unceremonious Nomades, his passport from the governor would secure him neither against being murdered, nor against being frozen to death, induced him to resign his original plan, and to return to Nishney Kolymsk.

The Tshuktshi are as yet but very imperfectly known. Few observant travellers have visited this part of the world, and those few have described only the costume of the people, and some of their most striking customs and religious solemnities. No one yet has ever had an opportunity by a prolonged residence among them, or by means of a knowledge of their language, of becoming acquainted with their manner of life, their political institutions; in a word, no one has yet been in a situation to pronounce a deliberate judgment on the peculiar character of a race deserving, in many respects, of our attention. I myself spent only a few days among them, and could ascertain but little respecting their opinions, customs, and manners. Their whole

* Cochrane says, the demand was one hundred and twenty poods (4,320 lbs. English), and makes no mention of the more liberal offer of Valetka. Cochrane, however, laboured under great difficulties in the conference, and may have misunderstood much. He was ignorant of the Russian language; and all the conversation between himself and the Tshuktshi had to pass through the hands of two interpret. ers.-ED.

attention was at this time occupied by the business of the fair; and extreme caution was necessary, lest by asking too many questions, suspicion of some design against their independence might be awakened, a subject on which they are at all times extremely jealous. I endeavoured, however, to collect as much direct information from them as circumstances allowed.

Of all the tribes of Northern Asia, the Tshuktshi have maintained their national peculiarities in the greatest purity. Peaceably disposed, and conscious of their own weakness, they wander among the heaths, the mountains, and the ravines of their native land, the limits of which have been greatly circumscribed, in consequence of many sanguinary battles with the first conquerors of Siberia. Like all uncivilized nations they have few wants, and these are for the most part satisfied by their herds of reindeer, which provide them with shelter, clothing, and food. Under their reindeer tents they think themselves far happier on the snowy wastes of their gloomy icy land, than any of their neighbours dwelling under Russian laws. They endure the severest hardships and privations with a light heart; they feel elevated by a consciousness of their own independence; and look down with contempt upon those who have forfeited their hereditary freedom for the sake of a few enjoyments and conveniences that may be dispensed with. Previously to the conquest of Siberia, the Tshuktshi dwelt in a state of almost uninterrupted warfare with the other tribes, owing to the constant acts of spoliation of which they were guilty towards each other. Here, however, as elsewhere, a common danger united the bitterest foes. Frequent incursions of the Russians had almost put an end to internal dissensions, when the more important invasions, in 1750, of Shestakoff, and of the Voyevode of Yakutsk, Pavlutski, led all the smaller tribes to form a league with the Tshuktshi, in order to offer resistance to the common enemy. Still the contest remained most unequal. Several signal defeats shook the confidence entertained till then in the invincibility of the Tshuktshi, who fled at last for refuge to their inhospitable mountains and ravines, whither it was difficult for the victors to follow them, and where nothing tempted to a pursuit attended by innumerable perils and obstacles.

The Russians contented themselves, therefore, with the subjection of the smaller tribes; and it was long before they even succeeded in establishing anything like a commercial intercourse with the Tshuktshi. Still full of suspicion, they at first appeared upon their own frontiers in large numbers only, completely prepared for battle; and it was not till after an experience of many years had satisfied them of the peaceable disposition of the Russians, that they gradually became more confiding. At present they come with wives and children to a considerable distance within the Russian frontier, and enter on a commerce of barter highly profitable to both parties. This traffic has exercised a very favourable influence upon them, their intercourse with the Russians having considerably softened their manners. Upon the whole it is scarcely to be doubted that they will gradually ap proach more nearly to the Russians, and at length become incorpo rated with them, like the Yukagires, the Tshuvantsi, the Koriaks, &c. The greater part of the Tshuktshi have allowed themselves to be baptized, but this has had no farther influence; they are merely baptized Pagans, without the slightest conception of the doctrines and spirit of the Christian religion. With most of them, indeed, the act of

baptism is a mere matter of finance, by means of which they obtain possession of a few pounds of tobacco, a copper kettle, or some such article-presents being always made to those who submit to the ceremony. The consequence of this is, that many who have already been baptized once, after a little while apply a second time, and are very much dissatisfied if their demand for a second christening is not complied with. It seldom happens that the priest of Nishney Kolymsk, who visits the fair every year, does not find a few Tshuktshi or Lamoots that have not yet been baptized. These generally agree to undergo the ceremony, if a present is promised them. Such was the case this time with a young Tshuktshe, with whom the prospect of obtaining a few pounds of Circassian tobacco, operated as a powerful inducement. A great number of spectators were assembled in and about the chapel. The ceremony began; the new convert standing very quietly and respectfully, and allowing the priest and sponsors to do as they thought proper; but when called on, in compliance with the rites of the Russian church, to plunge into the baptismal font arranged for his accommodation, consisting of a large wooden tub or cask, he began to shake his head very gravely, and advanced a multitude of objections that were of course quite unintelligible to any of us. After a long "confabulation" with the interpreter, in which the tobacco probably played the most prominent part, our candidate for Christianity at length mustered resolution, and plunged into the icy bath. He jumped out more nimbly than he had jumped in, and, trembling all over with cold, cried out, "My tobacco! give me my tobacco!" Pains were taken to make him understand that the ceremony was not yet over, and that, having gone so far, he was bound to go farther. All this, however, was preaching to deaf ears; he jumped about, with his teeth chattering, and incessantly crying out, "Enough!-no more!-my tobacco!" At last, unable to gain his point, he left the whole assembly in the lurch, and ran off to his polog, or tent, to warm himself a little after the cold bath into which he had allowed himself to be seduced.

Such scenes, I was told, were of frequent occurrence, and this may afford some notion of the real value of these Tshuktshi conversions; which are not, nor cannot be, of the slightest value, not being preceded by any preparatory instruction. To give them this is indeed scarcely possible, on account of the wandering life they lead; on account of the ignorance of their language, which disables the priest from affording them any explanation of the principles of religion. The Bible Society of St. Petersburg has, indeed, had the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and, if I am not mistaken, one or two of the Gospels translated into the Tshuktshi dialect, and printed in Russian letters; but, in the first place, the rude language was wanting in a multitude of words to express new and abstract ideas; and, secondly, there were no letters to express its eternal rattling, hissing, and croaking sounds; the consequence is, that this translation is entirely unintelligible to those for whom it is intended. The baptized Tshuktshi have hitherto assumed only a few outward signs of Christianity, and such only as occasioned no inconvenience to them, or interfered with none of their previous habits. Thus, for instance, polygamy is as common among the baptized as among the unbaptized; the wealthy have two, three, and even more, wives, and these they take and leave according to their fancy, and some. times even exchange for others. The condition of the women, there.

fore, is that of slaves, yet they are better treated on the whole than among more uncivilized nations. Marked respect is shown them ; they are the constant companions of their husbands, and it is not at all uncommon to see a clever housewife exercise the most perfect control over all the rest of the family.

Among the Pagan customs to which the Tshuktshi still adhere, there are some most revolting and inhuman. All children, for instance, born with bodily infirmities, are immediately put to death; and the same course is pursued with respect to old people, who are thought to be no longer able to endure the hardships of a wandering life among the icy deserts. A melancholy example of the latter kind occurred only a few years ago. One of the most wealthy and pow erful of the Tshuktshi chiefs, the father of Valetka, felt himself growing feeble, and weary of life, and was at his own request put to death by his nearest relatives, who, in so doing, thought they were only performing a sacred duty. The Shamauns, who, in spite of the baptismal rite, still exercise an immense influence, contribute much to the maintenance of these inhuman customs. Every tribe, every caravan, has one or more Shamauns, who are consulted upon every important occasion, and whose decisions no one ventures to oppose. How great their influence was may be gathered by the following, among other instances, that occurred at the fair of Ostrovnoïe, in 1814. A pestilence broke out suddenly among the Tshuktshi who had come to the fair, and became more and more violent, in spite of all the incantations, drummings, and jumpings of the Shamauns; many men died, and a still greater number of rein-deer, the chief wealth of the people. A general assembly of Shamauns was held, in which it was determined that, to propitiate the incensed spirits, and to put an end to the destructive malady, it was necessary that Kotshen, one of the most influential among all their chiefs, should be sacrificed. Kotshen was so generally beloved and esteemed by his nation, that, notwithstanding the implicit obedience generally shown to the decisions of the Shamauns, their judgment was on this occasion rejected. The pestilence, however, continuing to rage among men and cattle, and the Shamauns persisting in their judgment in spite of threats and ill-usage,* Kotshen, at length, like another Curtius, declared he saw the spirits were determined to have him for a sacrifice, and therefore devoted his own life to preserve his nation. Still the general affection with which he was regarded opposed itself to the execution of the horrible sentence of the Shamauns. No one would lay his hand upon the sacrifice, till Kotshen's own son, softened by the father's entreaties, and by the menace of his malediction, planted the murderous steel in his heart, and surrendered the body to the Shamauns.

So powerfulis still the influence of Shamaunism, which occupies the place of religion, but which is distinguished from all other religions by the absence of everything like doctrine or law, if we except a few fabulous traditions. The belief and practice of the Shamauns is not anything invented by one man, and bequeathed to others; it arises in the breast of each separately from the impression of the objects by which he is surrounded. As the exterior objects in the wastes of

* The_Shamaun is often well beaten, to induce him to alter an unpopular judgment. This gentle correction frequently produces the desired effect; but he often persists in his first decision, and such firmness never fails to raise him greatly in public estimation.

Siberia are everywhere as uniform as the degree of enlightenment to which the half-savage population has reached, the impressions produced are nearly the same in all places, and on all individuals. When these Nomades abandon their wandering life, fix themselves in permanent habitations, and are brought within the reach of civilized influence, then, and then only, will the spontaneous belief in good and evil spirits and Shamauns disappear, and give place to the pure doctrines of Christianity.

Almost all who have hitherto expressed an opinion respecting the Shamauns, pronounce them at once to be gross cheats, whose convulsions are a mere juggle carried on with a view to gain. From all I have observed here, and in other parts of Siberia, I am disposed to consider this judgment severe and unjust. It is, at all events, onesided, and can apply only to the jugglers who, under the name of Shamauns, wander through the country, and by a variety of marvellous conjuring tricks, such as handling red hot iron, piercing their skin with needles, and the like, astonish the ignorant, and extort money from them. The real Shamauns belong to no caste; they form no distinct body, combined for one common object; they arise as individuals, and stand individually alone. A man happens to be born of an enthusiastic imagination and of excitable nerves; he grows up in a belief in the marvels of spirits and Shamauns; the spectacle of their unnatural convulsions, the mystical character of their whole existence, produce a lively impression on the youth. He longs to obtain admission to a communion with the strange and supernatural; but there is no one to act as his guide; for the oldest Shamaun is himself unconscious how he became one It is from himself,-from that vast and gloomy nature that immediately surrounds him,--that the neophyte must derive his knowledge of that which is incomprehensible. Solitude, retirement from human intercourse, watching, fasting, heating and narcotic drugs,--all these raise his imagination to the highest point of excitement. He becomes convinced that he has himself seen the spirits and apparitions of which he heard in early youth. At length he is consecrated as a Shamaun,—that is to say, during the silence of the night, and amid certain solemn forms, he is made acquainted with the conventional grasp of the hand, the use of the magic drum, &c. But all this adds nothing to his previous knowledge, occasions no change in his state of mind; it is a mere external ceremony; his future words, actions, and feelings remain the effects of his mental constitution; he is no cold calculating impostor, no common juggler. Whenever I have seen a genuine Shamaun perform his rites, the spectacle has always left a lasting and gloomy impression upon me: the wild look, the bloodshot eyes, the hoarse voice, apparently forcing its way by a powerful effort from the convulsively contracted breast, the unnatural distortion of the face and the whole body, the erect hair, nay even the hollow tone of the magical drum,-all combined to impart something ghastly and mysterious to the scene.

The camp of the Tshuktshi, formed of several detached groups, presents not a very cheerful, but, in its way, a very picturesque aspect. In the centre of each group of ten or twenty tents rises that of the chief, which is larger, loftier, and more ornamented than the rest, generally close to a tree, against which it leans for support, surrounded by the travelling sledges of the women and children. Near it stand a few favourite reindeer, tied up and fed on fine moss, while