OSTIAKS, an Asiatic tribe, who form the greater proportion of the native population of Siberia. They chiefly inhabit the banks of the Obi, in the government of Tobolsk, extending northward along the river to the frontier of the Samoiedes. They are extremely rude in their habits and manners. Considering indolence as their chief [7:16:668]enjoyment, they labour only from necessity. They are diminutive in their persons, being rather under than above the middle size; slender in their figures, with thin legs, and their faces pale and not at all strikingly marked. The visages of the men are particularly repulsive; nor do the women possess any superior attractions. They are simple, timid, and full of prejudices; and their only virtue seems to consist in hospitality, which they share in common with other savages. They are clothed in skins, without any shirt; and their lower garment consists of a species of jacket with sleeves, which reaches to the middle, whilst an upper garment, with a cap, is worn in cold weather. The female’s attire is not particularly becoming. The headdress is adorned with bands of cloth fastened by ribbons, and by ear-rings of little coloured pearls. They tattoo also the back of the hand, and the fore part of the arm and of the leg. They are by no means distinguished for cleanliness, owing probably to the hard labour to which they are exposed; the men, as in all barbarous countries, regarding them as slaves. The Ostiaks live chiefly by fishing, and, with all the disgusting filthiness of savages, they eat their fish raw. Some of the rich have herds of rein-deer. With these they migrate along the banks of the rivers in portable tents, composed of pieces of bark sewed together; but in winter they dwell in wooden habitations, covered with earth to increase the heat. The filth and stench of their abodes cannot be described. In winter they sometimes engage in hunting, performing for this purpose long journeys on sledges. They are in general healthy; but when they advance in years they become liable to nervous and scorbutic disorders. The small-pox, in particular, has committed dreadful ravages amongst them. They are exceedingly rude in their religious notions, being generally pagans, and addicted to the grossest idolatries. They have in all their cottages idols, which are like dolls: these are placed in the neatest corner of the tent, with a little table before them to receive the offerings. Here they deposit, for the use of the idol, a large horn of snuff, with little pieces of willow bark, such as are here used for putting into their nostrils; and they often bedaub it with fish oil: but if any misfortune befall them which they imagine the idol might have averted, they cast it on the ground, and break it to pieces. The idols which are the chief objects of worship are in a wooded valley, the approaches to which are carefully guarded. They consist of a man and woman clothed in the Ostiak dress, finely adorned with their richest furs and cloths. The surrounding country is considered as sacred, so that they neither hunt upon it, nor cut down the grass nor any tree. They place great confidence in their sorcerers, and are deluded by the grossest and most absurd superstitions. They were governed, before the Russian conquest, by their own hereditary chiefs, who still administer justice amongst them; and the obedience exacted from them consists chiefly in the regular payment of their tribute of furs. Their amusements consist in dancing, or in romantic tales of their exploits and amorous adventures; and their language has a considerable affinity with that of the Finns. According to the census of 1784, the Ostiaks of the Obi amounted to 30,891 males.