Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1880-11-24

guage of the Ostjaks by the protohiered
or chief priest, at Obdorsk, and was
forwarded to the Russian Bible Socie-
ty, but not published, and up to the
present time neither tn t nor any other
part Of the New Testament exists, as
far as | know, for the Samoyedes, Ost-
jaks, or Voguls. 1t is said, however,
that in European Russia a priest is
sent yearly to d town in the far north
of the Archangel province, to baptize
the children, and marry such among
the Samoyedes as are professedly Chris
tian. Also in 1877 the Russians open
ed school at Obdorsk for the native.
Samoyedes and Ostjaks. We may hope
therefore, that for them better days are
coming, both by reason of what the
Russians are doing, and also possibly
and indirectly by the efforts which GER
tain Englishmen are making to invade
the lands of these aborigines for the
purposes Of commerce
The Ostjaks dress to some extent in
garments of reindeer skin, and also
subsist for the most part on what they
Cdptult III uuuIluG duu HSHIuS LII lHc
use of the bow their skill is so great
that for shooting squirrels they use a
blunt arrow, and take care to hit the
amin i on the head that the skin may
not be damaged. They do not gener-
ally cultivate the soil, nor have they
towns or villages of their own. The
Ostjaks, for the moct part, especially
those on the Obi, have fewer deer, and
being brought into contact with the
Russians, are fast giving up their ma
tive dress and customs The religion
of both Samoyedes aud Ostjaks is Sha-
manism, of which | shall have occasion
to speak hereafter; but many of the
Ostjaks have been baptized into the
Russian Church, and a school has been
opened for the two peoples on the low
er Obi at Obdorsk One of the most
noteworthy things on the Obi was the
extraordinary price of provisions. The
Ostjaks came to our steamer Offering
live ducks for five farthings each Large
fish, called yass, cost | l-2d. pair, and
great pike farthing each. Milk was
more expensive, and cost lid a bot
tie but we heard that in some of the
distant villages young calf could be
bought for cd. These prices should
be borne in mind in connection with
the attempt that is now being made to
open up commerce from Siberia by the
rivers Obi and Yenesei, and through
the Kara Sea, to England In the
summe- of 1874 Captain Wiggins, of
Sunderland, who had long contempla-
ted the project, sailed through the Ka-
ra Sea, which had hitherto been sup
posed to be blocked by ice, and, reach
ing the Obi, demonstrated TO the world
that the passage could be made between
England and Siberia, with no unusual
risks, in about three weeks. In the
next year Professor Nordenskjod fol-
lowed in the wake of our countryman,
and reached the Yenesei.
Now, these two rivers, the Obi and
the Yenesei, rise in the empire of Chi
ma, and drain an extent Of country
nearly as large as the whole of Europe
The country through which they flow
may be divided into four regions. Fur
thest south are the mountains of the
Altai range, which are rich in silver,
copper, iron and gold. Further north
is belt six hundred miles wide of rich
black earth, to which it is never
thought of putting manure, and the
scratching of the surface of which yields
an abundant cereal crop. This land,
which is comparable to that of an Eng
lish garden, in the neighborhood of
Barnaul may be hired for I'D. an
acre. The chief things wanted in this
district are capital and labor The
next belt northward is forest region
of numberless square miles, where a
hard larch-tree, big enough for ships
mast, may be had for sovereign, and
in which region are abundance of wild
animals bearing fur, such as the squir-
rel, the sable the Artic fox, the beaver
and the bear, wolf, elk, deer, etc. There
are also abundance of game and extern
sive pastures for cattle. A merchant
told me that in Tiumen he sold ten
thousand brace of grouse and caper-
caizie for the St Petersburg market at
Cd. brace all round, and that in 1877
he bought up meat at Tobolsk for less
than lid. per English pound
The most northerly region is that of
tn. Tundras, intersectcd by rivers that
are so full Of fish that the natives try
To avoid taking heavy haul, so fire.
uuently are their nets broken by the
abundance of the draught. Large ouan-
= Egh arh
mer, and kept alive in ponds till the
approached winter, when they are TAX
en- out and frozen, and forwarded dis
tance of more than two thousand miles
to st. Petersburg. The express car
riage from Tiumen costs ISs. hun
dredweight. notwithstanding which, If
the sturgeon sells for 2is hundred
weight, and the sterct and certain
kinds Of salmon for 30s., there remains
an ample margin OF profit for all par.
ties concerned. Beside the "fresh" fish
thus sent TO st. Petersburg. large num-
bers are dried. and sent TO the great
fair Mt Mini Novgorod. II may very
well he then that n profitable trade at
no distant date shall he opened up in
Siberian products brought bv steamer
to the English market.
On the 10th Of June after voyage
Of seven davs, | reached Tomsk, which
is few miles eastward Of the meridian
of Calcutta and fifty-two hundred miles
from London, the journey having been
accomplished in twcnty-sx travelling
days From Tomsk | made n detour
in so doing passed through country
singuarly rich and productive. Here
are to he seen the whitc-barkcd birch,
the ccdar-nut tree. the Scotch fir, flow
ering acacia, the alder, pine. willow and
hite-nowering cheromcka-the last
presenting pretty object when in