The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-05-24

Inadequate food. as Is tho case with. the Snmo-
yeds, or else by constant horseback riding, as
Tide b snS Sa they are W aSis to Sn walk. W W. fa fsM e 10
captions the Finnic peoples arc more or less In
dustrious and honest, stealing being the .rarest
t%aclturn, looking down on their women and
making the lattor do the hardest OF work about
nomads, live. Others. however. having an adj
mixture OF Russian blood-like the Karelians or
the Zyrlans tboth Christian tribes are tall.
straight and fairly good looking, the latter dis.
playing not infrequontly aauiline prqhles: again
those OF the Laps ainhe6itSnts Of Lapiiand al
existence. although they do not disdain even the
meat OF the wild beasts of the forest that have
sometimes fairly attractive. But for the most
part the half civilized Firms are as repulsive as
Dad looks and untidy habits can make any hui
:. MANY tribes are nomads yet, or half nomads.
living In winter In their badly ventilated houses,
and migrating to the %seashore or to the rivers
as soon as summer sets In. such are IA yet the
Bashkirs., living off their droves Of horses and
myss they make. which Russian invalids como
to drink, on the spot. spending whole sum;
the nomads. The Bashkirs are Aio~hammedans,
and speak q Tartar language akin to the Hun
gnrlan. The Sarnoyeds are incorriRiblo nomnds,
loving their Arctic tundras aud marshy forests,
making their tents as well as all the coverings
Themselves into reindeer skin bags with a few
openings to them. and going about In such bags
The Votiaks demonstrating people with
their faxy hair and whitish, fishy eyes-eyen at
this late day have to be tried occasionally for
sacrifices to their wooden idols; the quiet. retir-
ing. servicenble, hospitnble Ostiaks live on dried
raw, and on occasions, drink tho blood OF freshly
slaughtered animals, partly in the guise OF
thsm' ana t pnrt I'VE because scHlSy; ;s sS plfTsse e q tse ,as amons
Most OF the Finnic tribes that are not of the
Moslem persuasion restrict themselves to mo-
nogamy. and their women, as n rule. conform to
the universally established rules as to sexual
virtues: but even to this rule there are hideous
exceptions. as in the case of the Notiaks men
toned above. among whom the boys are mar
ried as mere. children to women that are about
ten years older than themselves. Besides this.
tho Notiaks, in marrying, select in preference
women having childrcn-tho moro So boys-so
would soon be able to display their usefulness.
1t wonld be unjust, however, to cast the stone at
the Notiaks for this, since exactly the same
practice OF marrying women having several
children obtains in the south OF france-every-
where about Dax, Bayonne. and Biarritz, and
1t. However. with the French, the man who mar
ries the woman Is almost always the father Of
Some of the Firms live by agriculture. but the
majority are fishermen, hunters. and trnppcrs.
both so low in development that they show their
Intellect, solely In the cunning with which they
entrap the wild animals; On the other side, the
people called Iyrians. who are hunters and trap
pers also, are very intelligent indeed. although
they are tempted to use this intelligence in nm
interruptions way.,sadlv rohbing and exploit
ing their simple. minded neiRhbors.. the Same.
yeds. poisoning tho latter with bad vodka and
getting them entirely in their clutches, virtually
making serfs Of them. The. Iyrian Is a fearless
hunter. thinkiV nothing of facing q bear and
despatching him single handed: as he goes
hunting he bites off pieces OF lead from a slab he
carries and fashions the lead into bullets by his
own strong teeth.
THE TARTARS.
The very name OF Tartar is misleading.
since to most minds IL CONVEYS n remembrance
OF the Monaghan hordes that invaded Europe
in the thirteenth century and threatened to
destroy European civilization. Yet the fact Is.
that the Tartars have themselves been driven
away by the MonRolS from their original lands
In Turkestan. As stated previously, they belong
to another branch OF the yellow race. the Uralo-
Altaic. and they are. strictly speaking, Turks,