a people of Siberia in Asia. They live upon the banks of the rivers Oby and Yenify, and on those of some other rivers which fall into thele.

Vol. XV. Part II.

These people are very poor, and very lazy, and in the summer time live mostly upon fish. They are of a middle size, with broad faces and noses, and yellowish or red hair. All their garments from top to toe are made of silk skins, for they have neither linen nor woollen; and indeed they might almost as well go naked. Their greatest diversion is hunting; and they go together in crowds, with a weapon like a large knife fastened in a stick. In summer they take and dry the fish which serves them in winter; and when that season begins, they go into the woods with their bows and arrows, their dogs and nets, to kill fables, ermines, bears, reindeer, elks, martens, and foxes. Part of the furs of these is paid as a tax to the emperors of Russia, and the rest are sold at a slated price to the Russian governors, but sometimes they are allowed to dispose of them to private persons.

They chiefly live upon venison, wild fowl, fish, and roots, for they have neither rice nor bread. They drink for the most part water, and it is said they can very well relish a draught of train oil. They are immoderately fond of tobacco, and of swallowing the smoke, which soon intoxicates them. In the winter they build their huts in woods and forests, where they find the greatest plenty of game, and dig deep in the earth to secure themselves from the cold, laying a roof of bark or rushes over their huts, which are soon covered with snow. In summer they build above ground on the banks of the rivers, to enjoy the convenience of fishing, and make no difficulty of forsaking their habitations. They have a sort of princes among them, in one of whose houses some European travellers found four wives (A). One of these had a red cloth coat on, and was fet off with all sorts of glass beads. There was no other furniture than cradles and chests, made of the bark of trees sewed together. Their beds consisted of wood shavings, almost as soft as feathers, and their children lie naked upon them in cradles. They can neither read nor write, nor do they cultivate the land; and seem totally ignorant of times past. They have neither temples nor priests; and their boats are only made of the bark of trees sewed together. Their religion is Pagan; and they have some little brazen idols, tolerably well cast, representing men and animals, made of wood and earth, all of which are dressed in silks in the manner of Russian ladies. In general, however, they are ill made, every man being his own carver. They place them on the tops of hills, in groves, and in the pleasantest places their country affords, and sometimes before their huts; yet they have no set time for performing religious worship, but apply to their gods for succours in all their undertakings. As they have no regular priests, every old man may devote himself to that service, and the office is frequently performed by the masters and heads of families. Strahlenberg says, that when he was among them he saw one of their temples, which was built of wood in an oblong form, like a great barn, covered at

(A) They may have as many wives as they please, and make no scruple of marrying their nearest relations. They purchase a wife of her relations for three or four rein-deer, and take as many as they please, returning them again if they do not like them, only losing what they gave for the purchase. Upon the birth of their children, some give them the name of the first creature they happen to see afterward. Thus the child has frequently the name of an animal, and you hear a man call his son perhaps Sabatshi, or my little dog; others call their children according to the order of their birth, as First, Second, Third, &c. the top with birch bark. At the end of the wall supporting the gable was a kind of altar, made of timber, on which were placed two idols, representing a man and woman, dressed in all sorts of rags; and round these were other small figures, as deer, foxes, and hares, all which were roughly carved in wood, and also clothed in rags. They did not appear to have much devotion, nor any great reverence for their idols. When they offer sacrifices, they present the beast to the idol; and having bound it, an old man puts up the petitions of those who brought the offering; he then lets fly an arrow at the beast, and the people assist in killing it. It is then drawn three times round the idol; and the blood being received into a vessel, they sprinkle it on their houses; they afterwards dress the flesh and eat it, rejoicing and singing their country songs: they also befores the idol with the blood of the sacrifice, and grease their mouths with the fat. What they cannot eat they carry home to their families, and make presents of it to their neighbours: they as often sacrifice a fish as a beast. At the conclusion of the feast they shout, to show their gratitude to the idol for his attending, and accepting their devotions; for they are persuaded that the faint or hero represented by the image always attends their sacrifices, which when over he returns to his abode in the air. There is nothing more surprising, nor, if properly improved, is there any thing more instructing, than the history of superstition. It is with this view that we have given so enlarged a view of the Otlacks, longer, some may imagine, than their importance demands. It would, however, in our opinion, be improper to let such an opportunity slip of exhibiting the extreme weakness of unassisted reason, and the consequent necessity of a divine revelation. That the religion of these ignorant and misguided Pagans is the corruption of a primitive revelation, we think at least probable; nor do we see any way of so satisfactorily accounting for the universal use of sacrifices. The Otlacks are obliged to take an oath of fidelity to the Ruffian government; and, on these occasions they use the following ceremony. After laying down a bear skin and an axe, and holding over it a piece of bread and a knife, they say, "In case I do not to my life's end prove true and faithful to the supreme government of the country, or if I knowingly and willingly break through my allegiance, or be wanting in the duty I owe to the said supreme government, may the bear tear me to pieces in the wood; may the bread I eat stick in my throat and choke me; may the knife stab me, and the axe cut off my head." The like ceremony is used among them in the deposition of a witness.