The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1892-04-08
TRIBES OF AslATIc RUSSIA.

. Types of Mankind Not Pleasing to Euro
pean Eyes-Goldi and Gilyak.
= Speaking generally of the tribes of
Asiatic Russia, it will be anticipated that
they differ widely from one another in
appearance. When in the bazars Of
Turkistan, one meets with the tall, mod
erately stout Talk, with white skin,
abundant beard, long, arched, and slen-
der nose, thin straight lips, and good
teeth, his forehead high and wide, arched,
ample eyebrows, in fact, one Of ma
ture S gentlemen, who needs only Euro
pean education to lift him high in the
archaeological scale His neighbor, the
Uzebeg, is less pleasing in appearance,
has darker skin, and more Of the ''ani-
mali about him.
Passing to the Kirghese, we have a
type of mankind still less pleasing in
European eyes than either of the forego.
ing. He bears unmistakable traces Of
his Monaghan nativity. The head, in
deed, is not very large, but the cheek
bones stand out, though not sharply as
those of the Mongols generally. The
skin is bronzed and yellowish, the COW
cred parts, however, being white, espe-
cially with the women. The forehead is
low, flat and wide, and the nose blunt
6Qnd short. The mouth, too, is large and
wide, the lips nearly always thick. and
the teeth large, but Of incompatible
whiteness. The aspect of the face as a
whole is wide, fiat and angular, whilst
the ears are always large and standing
out The body is vigorous, hands and
feet small, calf almost none, and the
legs curved through continual riding.
The poorer specimens of humanity.
however, in Aslatic Russia are to be found
on the Tundra rather than in the Steppe.
When steaming on the Obi was struck
with the diminutive stature of the Ost-
jaks, their dark hair and eyes, and flat
features. This flatness of features was
quite outdone when further east, came
to the Buriats, who have large skulls,
square faces and low and fiat foreheads.
Their cheek bones are not only high, but
wide apart, the nose fiat eyes elongated.
and the skin swarthy and yellowish. But
of all the types of the human race met
in Siberia there were none that struck
me as so low as the tribes of the lower
Amur, especially the Goldi and the Gil
yaks.
The physiognomy Of the Goldi is dis
tinctly Monaghan. Some of the men
wear felt hats purchased from the Chi
nese, but the women for the most part
keep to the high conical hat, worn also
by the Yakutes. The outer garment of
oman and woman is alike in form, save
What on the skirt Of the woman at the
bottom is a row of coins or buttons.
They make their baskets Of birch tree
bark, and initiate some Of the customs
Of the neighboring Manchu, amongst
others that Of shaving off the hair, with
the exception Of a tail which they wear
on the top Of the head. In fact they re-
semble, if the expression may be allowed.
debased Chinese, and so to some extent
the ''Celestials'' regard them.
The Gilyaks rank several degrees low
er in the scale Of beauty, or rather the
lack Of it. They are diminutive, usually
below rather than above five feet their
eyes are elongated, the skin tawny, and
the hair black. They have not the open
and clear physiognomy of the majority
of the Tunguses, and their little eyes
sparkle with dull brilIiance, to which
must be added they have squat noses,
thick lips, and prominent cheek bones.-
Henry Lansdell, d. D., in Harper's Mag
azine.