Provincial Russia . ls of Vaigatch,where bears and reindeer were sacrificed to Noumand Vesako, were overturned by missionary law of 1885 prohibiting encroachment on Samo-yede territory was too late to prevent their losingthe most valuable tracts to Russians, and especiallyto the enterprising and astute Ziranes. This peopleinhabit the Governments of Archangel,\ologda, andViatka, and, like the Perms and \otiaks farther tothe south, belong also to the Finnish race. In thesolitudes of the Ural forests they are an unspoiltrace of hunters, but where they have come in con-tact with the weaker
Provincial Russia . ls of Vaigatch,where bears and reindeer were sacrificed to Noumand Vesako, were overturned by missionary law of 1885 prohibiting encroachment on Samo-yede territory was too late to prevent their losingthe most valuable tracts to Russians, and especiallyto the enterprising and astute Ziranes. This peopleinhabit the Governments of Archangel,\ologda, andViatka, and, like the Perms and \otiaks farther tothe south, belong also to the Finnish race. In thesolitudes of the Ural forests they are an unspoiltrace of hunters, but where they have come in con-tact with the weaker Samovedes their custom ofcommercial exploitation has made them crafty,treacherous, and tyrannical. Theoretically all thesepeople are Christian, but polygamy is not infre-quent, and pagan ideas linger very near the , the Votiak crossing a stream throws a tuftof grass to the current, and cries to the Water Spirit,Do not hold me ! The Permian recruit, when hesets out for the barracks and kisses his X Q o THE URALS 43 pays obeisance to the Fire Spirit by bowing to thestove. The Urals proper begin about 68° lat. within theArctic Circle, and their northern division extendsas far south as the Deneshkin Rock, in the sixtiethparallel. From the principal chain a number of sub-sidiary ridges run out westwards, the most interest-ing of w^hich culminates in the gaunt precipicesof Sablya. Farther south, near the pyramid ofTell-Pos-Is or Xepubi Nior, silver pines, birches,and larches, begin to clothe the lower slopes Onthe Asiatic side the water drains to the Ob ; onthe wxst the hill streams hurry through romanticglens to the Petchora. In one of these, in theupper valley of the Schtchongor, are the famouscascades called the Three Iron Gates, where thecliffs overhanging the dark water are cut intoenormous columns by vertical fissures, and are ofdazzling whiteness. Along these rivers are the rarevillages of the Finnish or Russian settlers, lyingat vast distances from each
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Keywords: ., bookauthorstewarth, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookyear1913
