Travels in Kamtchatka and Siberia; with a narrative of a residence in China

Front matter

E.. A.1-T 'A ¥!..::•- AXE . UrtSJi -U_-.(D)SrVEYAW(r.IE 2\ti. ity C^liumA3md^.Zondii7U.SSO TRAVELS IV KAMTCHATKA AND SIBERIA; WITH A NARRATIVE OF A RESIDENCE IN CHINA. BY PETER DOBELL, COUNSELLOR OF THE COURT OF HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. IL LONDON: HENRY COLBURN AND RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET. 1830. J. B. NICHOLS AND SON, 25, PARLIAMENT-STREET. CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME.

CHAPTER XIV.

— p. 1. Yakutsk — Visit to the Governor — Description of the town — Extremes of temperature — Resources ofthe neighbourhood — Ancient Citadel, constructed of wood — Bad management of horses — An example of wedding preparations, and ceremony — Good qualities of the inhabitants of Yakutsk — Speculations on the origin of the Yakut tribes — Historical traditions — Natural resources of the province of Yakutsk — Existence of bones of immense animals — Climate of the province — Agriculture — A Yakut farm — Errors and abuses in the administration of the country — Mode of transporting and preserving flour — Remarks on the Government transports, and on those employed to command them — Pasturage, cattle, and horses — Population of the province — Articles of diet — Character and habits of the natives — Tribute paid to the Government — A principle of policy recommended. -

Chapter I

— p. 127. Aspect of the country to the eastward of Macao, near Pedro Branca — A Comprador and his party — Strange jargon of English used by the Chinese — Office and habits of a Comprador — Hoppoo boats and men — Exactions of the Mandarins — Macao Roads and Island — Grotto of Camoens — Islands near Macao — Bocco Tigris — Custom-house Officers — Tiger Island — Whampoa Roads — Boats called Sampans, managed by women — Samtchoo, a pernicious liquor — Communication of the women at Whampoa with the European ships. VI CONTENTS.

Chapter II

— p. 142. Whampoa — Charming aspect of the neighbourhood — Chinese regulations for the intercourse with foreign vessels — Venality of the native agents — Avarice the favourite passion of the Chinese — Prevalence of smuggling — Extensive illegal traffic in opium — Safe transport of property by the smuggling boats — How to overcome the incivility of a Civil Officer — Conduct requisite to be adopted in the intercourse with the Chinese — Junk River — Salt River — Apo-Tsy, Admiral ofthe Pirates — Commerce of China — Navigation — Chinese Colonists — Construction and working of the Junks — Crowd of vessels in the vicinity of Canton — Dutch forts — Arrival at Canton — Course to be pursued by commercial strangers — Hong Merchants — Remarks on the commercial relations of China — The Tea-trade.

Chapter III

— p. 169. Nature of the Chinese commercial policy — Exactions usually practised — Visits of the Hoppoo — List of the official Mandarins composing the Government of Canton — Power of the Viceroy — His Council — Penal code, and its effects — Illustrative Anecdotes — General venality — Punishment of Debtors — Monetary system — Want of commercial facilities.

Chapter IV

— p. 185. Population of Canton — State of the garrison — Defective organization ofthe army — Civil Wars — "The Celestial CONTENTS. VII Fraternity" — Better qualities of the Chinese — 111 effects of their education — General duplicity — Occasional ho nesty — Opinion as to the population of the Empire — Agriculture and Horticulture — Tenure of land — Me chanic arts — Causes of the Chinese success in the art of dyeing.

Chapter V

— p. 197. Remarks on the Chinese character — Prevalent misrepresentations — Chinese chronology — National vanity and arrogance — Inefficacy of the Laws — Corruption of the Government — Sale of honours and distinctions — Observations on the Peasantry — The Poor of Canton and its suburbs — Diseases — Practice and effects of smoking opium — Low state of medical knowledge — An anecdote.

Chapter VI

— p. 211. Canton — Climate and temperature — Construction of the streets — Respect exacted by the Mandarins — Pauhn- Kai-Qua, Chief of the Hong Merchants — Economy of fuel in Chinese cookery — Habits of the dwellers in boats — Chinese fops and gourmands — Prevalence of debauched habits — Education and manners of the women — Mischiefs of Polygamy — A convivial Anecdote — Idle amusements ofthe rich and poor — Fighting quails — Fighting crickets — Flower-boats — Singular custom attending the Tea-contracts — A characteristic anecdote. CONTENTS.

Chapter VII

— p. 230. Chinese habits — Tea-drinking — Smoking — Dress — Domestic entertainments — Comic performers — Pantomimes — Tumblers — Dinner Customs and Ceremonies — A Drinking Game — Birds' nest-soup — Chinese Cookery.

Chapter VIII

— p. 245 Low state of morality in China — Notions of religion — Multifarious application of the bamboo — Custom the criterion of conduct in China, rather than feeling — Reputation of Confucius — Deficiency of humane Institutions among the Chinese — Practice of exposing Children — Education in low life — Provincial diversities — General proneness to curiosity — Religious festivals and holidays — Feast of the new year — Traditions respecting the ten days kept sacred on that occasion.

Chapter IX

— p. 267. The first month of the Chinese year, and its festivals — Second month — Offerings made to the shades of the departed — Third month — Feast of the lanterns — Sing- Songs, or plays — Fourth month — The floral God, Sam- Kay — Fifth month — Honours paid to the God Chai- Kong — Achievements attributed to him — Sixth mont^i — Festival of the goddess Koon-Yam — Her attributes — Seventh month — Six female Deities — Eighth month — Homage paid to the Moon — Ninth month — Kiteflying — Tradition ofthe two Kings — Offerings to Wha- Quong, the God of fire — Tenth month — Its celebration CONTENTS. IX usually deferred through jealousy of Foreigners — Inferior deities — Homage of the Merchants — Eleventh month — Festival in honour of Thai-Sooy — Twelfth month.

Chapter X

— p. 282. Chinese notions of the deluge and the creation — Ideas of the Supreme Being — Attributes of Pack-Thai, the protector of cities— Minor Deities subsidiary to him — Mode of supporting the priesthood — Monasteries — Religious Sects — Hostility shewn to the Christian faith — Chinese notions of a future state — Office and influence of the Shing-Shang. — Ceremonies attendant on courtship and marriage — Funeral customs.

CHAPTER XL

— p. 299. General conformity of habits and customs among the various classes in China — Language and education — Industry and frugality of the Chinese — Office of the Beggar-Mandarin — Characteristic anecdote — Police in Canton — Arts and dexterity of thieves — Pawnbrokers — Origin of the European commerce with China — Restrictions imposed — Difficulties of the Hong-merchants.

Chapter XII

— p. 313. Infrequency of travelling among Chinese — Probable causes of this — Propensity to boasting — Reasons for the absence of national greatness — Partial differences and general resemblance in costume, manners, &c. — Style of domestic building — Decorative gardening — X CONTENTS. Illuminations and fire works — Fruits and vegetables — Markets and provisions — Mode of preparing soy — Sweetmeats.

Chapter XIII

— p. 327. General account of the varieties and management of Tea — Classification of Teas, black and green — Necessity of experience in the choice of Teas — Chinese mode of infusion — Process of firing and packing Tea — Skill of a Chinese tea-smeller — Concluding remarks on the Government of China, and on the Chinese foreign commerce, particularly the Tea-trade. TRAVELS IN KAMTCHATKA, &c. — ♦ —

Chapter XIV

Yakutsk — Visit to the Governor — Description of the town — Extremes of temperature — Resources of the neighbourhood — Ancient Citadel, constructed of wood — Bad management of horses — An example of wedding preparations, and ceremony — Good qualities of the inhabitants of Yakutsk — Speculations on the origin of the Yakut tribes — Historical traditions — Natural resources of the province of Yakutsk— Existence of bones of immense animals — Climate of the province — Agriculture — A Yakut farm — Errors and abuses in the administration of the country — Mode of transporting and preserving flour — Remarks on the Government transports, and on those employed to command them — Pasturage, cattle, and horses — Population of the province — Articles of diet — Character and habits of the natives — Tribute paid to the Government — A principle of policy recommended.

There being.no hotels in any of the towns of Siberia, I had procured a letter of re commendation to a respectable merchant in Yakutsk, named Alexis Andravitch Zakharof, VOL. II. b YAKUTSK. who immediately offered me apartments in his house, and received me in the kindest manner. Shortly after my arrival, I paid a visit to his excellency the governor, Ivan Gregorievitch Khartachefskoy, from whom I experienced the greatest politeness and attention. He invited me to dine with him on Sunday, the following day, and proffered me every possible assistance for the prosecution of my journey to Irkutsk, for which place I intended to set out as soon as I should be able to get a boat prepared, and should be recovered from my fatigue. I found my host not only an extremely hospitable, good man, but obliging and serviceable in every respect.

He promised to procure a boat, and prepare it as early as possible, as I was too late to take my passage in the soodna, or large vessel, of thirty or forty tons burthen, that left Yakutsk the day after my arrival. The town of Yakutsk was composed of two hundred and seventy houses,* one hundred jour tas, five churches, and a monastery, indepen dently of the government public buildings, ma gazines, storehouses, outhouses of various de- * Both houses and inhabitants are much increased since my first visit, and the town much improved in every way. YAKUTSK. scriptions belonging to individuals, &c. One of the churches is quite new, and handsomely built of brick ; and there is, also, a new house of the same materials ; but all the rest of the buildings are of wood. They are extremely neat and well built ; some of them with a great deal of taste, and attention to the architecture.

The place has two thousand five hundred Russian inhabitants, including Cossacks, and a very consider able population of Yakuts, in and about the town. Though the average heat of summer at this place does not exceed 16 degrees of Reaumur, yet is it sometimes as hot as the climates of the torrid zone ; and in winter it is the coldest spot in all Siberia, the frost often exceeding 40° of Reaumur. It is situated in 62° 1 ' 50" N. latitude, and longitude, from St. Petersburg, 99° 24 15" East. The principal vegetables cultivated in their gardens are potatoes, cabbages, turnips, radishes, and other roots ; cucumbers rarely, except in hot beds, the climate being too capricious to ex pose them in the open air. Winter sometimes pays them a visit in summer, and frost and snow have been frequently seen in August.

Innumerable herds of cattle and horses are b2 TRADE OF YAKUTSK. reared by the Yakuts in the neighbourhood of the town, whilst the river Lena supplies it with fine fish, (such as before described in crossing the Aldan,) as well as a profusion of water fowl, aud, in the country around, an abundance of game. We saw pigs and poultry in the street ; and my host, Mr. Zakharof, informed me there were some sheep belonging to the inhabitants of tbe place. The sight of pigs was a treat to my Chinese, who, like the rest of their countrymen, were great pork-eaters, and had a contemptible opinion of every country that was not well stocked with that provision. Formerly, before the fur trade to the North west coast of America was monopolized by the Russian American Company, there was a very spirited and enterprising commerce carried on by individuals through this place.

Every spring, fleets of barkas * of the largest size descended the river, and innumerable convoys of horses de parted from thence to Ochotsk, and returned in the fall ; so that for the greater part of the summer the town resembled a fair. * A barka is a large square raft of very stout timber, hewed flat on the upper side, and floored, on which flour, and all sorts of things, are stowed in bulk, and floated down the Lena to Yakutsk. ANCIENT CITADEL. The weather suddenly changed on the lath to cold, with a high wind, and occasional showers of rain; and on the 16th it snowed, and was so very cold, I was obliged to put on my winter garments. Yakutsk is remarkable for these sud den changes from hot to cold, and from cold to hot, the climate being so capricious and uncer tain, that the inhabitants can form no previous judgment of it whatever.

Their early horticul tural labours are sometimes entirely destroyed, and they are obliged to renew them so late that the vegetables cannot arrive at maturity ere hoary winter again spreads his fleecy wings, and forces them to gather their half-ripe products in order to preserve them from his frigid grasp. My host had fine comfortable outhouses for his cattle and horses, cellars for preserving his vegetables, caves for ice, &c. In the latter, fish and meat may be kept good the whole year round in a frozen state ; and they always have a large stock. The following day I visited the ancient cita del, built entirely of wood, one hundred and se venty years previously : also, a brick church, and a council house adjoining, erected by the well-known Stolnick, Voyavauda Sheeskkin, the chief and his son, assisted by five hundred Cos- ANCIENT CITADEL. sacks under his command.

The old wooden walls, surmounted by fourteen towers, seven of which now remain, have been so substantially put together, that they are at this moment in a good state of repair, having suffered very little decay ; and they exhibit, moreover, much better workmanship than the generality of modern wooden buildings of this description. The citadel is of considerable extent, surrounding a large space where the ostrog formerly stood. Outside of all was a strong picquet fence, and three or four redoubts, proving altogether a very good defence against the Yakuts, Tongusees, &c. On the whole, it is one of the handsomest and strongest wooden fortifications I have ever seen, exhibiting an ample proof of the courage, perseverance, and intelligence of the conquerors of Siberia, who, with a handful of men, could erect such a citadel, in the heart of an enemy's country, and during the daily attacks of that enemy.

On the 20th of August, I found my host very early preparing some horses to carry goods, and dealing out to the Yakuts their saddles, mats, &c. I had the curiosity to inquire where those articles were manufactured. He told me the wooden saddles were made by the Russian inha- MIS-MANAGEMENT OF HORSES. bitants ; the straw mats, and the girths, ban dages, bridles, reins, &c. principally of horse hair, by the Yakuts ; but the cow-hair cloths, placed next the horses' skin, were the manufac ture of the Burettas, a populous horde, living near Irkutsk, and called by the Russians brats. The saddle, being put together with thongs, and having no iron work whatever about it, is ex tremely light; but the mat and hair-cloth are large and heavy, and, when once soaked with rain, are themselves almost as much as a beast can carry.

I pointed out to my host, that in a country where horse-hair was so abundant, a cushion, stuffed with it, just large enough for the saddle to rest on, with a thin coarse mat or cloth of the lightest description, to keep the load from chafing the horse, would enable the poor beast to carry his burthen with nnich more ease in every respect. A number of horses on the Yakutsk road are lost, in consequence of non-attention to this circumstance. A horse severely galled frets and becomes feverish, loses his appetite, and grows weaker from day to day, till at length, worn down by his burthen, he breathes out his last by the road-side. If there are no spare horses (which often happens), what he had carried must be distributed amongst the MIS-MANAGEMENT OF HORSES. rest, who are consequently overloaded, and the whole convoy suffers through a single accident — oftentimes many of them dying — and all this for want of a little attention to prevent them from being galled !

The number of dead horses I saw by the road-side on my journey from Ochotsk has induced me to notice this circumstance particularly.* To lose so many horses is a matter of great regret, and it is a most pain ful sight to see animals of such a noble and useful description galled and ill-used, f * There is, however, a disease that prevails occasion ally on the Ochotsk road, and carries off an immense number of horses. In the spring of 1818 we left Yakutsk with a convoy of seventy horses ; and we had only twenty-two left on arriving at Udomskoy Krest. They were attacked by a swelling of the glands of the throat, or by lumps arising in the hreast or belly ; and I never saw a horse live more than three days after he was thus attacked. t No Yakut should be allowed to receive the Govern ment flour or liquor without his packsaddle being prepared in such a way as to prevent his horses from injury during their journey.

In other respects, the Yakuts are most tender and kind to their animals, and seldom beat them ; and the attachment of a herd of horses for their keepers is so strong, they will not proceed without them, should they stop and leave them. They are turned out to feed every night, and always collected in the morning, by hallooing to them. Should any of them get out of A CURIOUS CEREMONY. In ihe evening the Governor waited on me, and invited me to accompany him to a house, to see a ceremony performed, previously to a wedding that was to take place the next day. We repaired to the house, where we found a large party of gentlemen and ladies assembled. The bride and her attendants occupied one end of the room, near a large table, on which were placed fruits, cakes, wines, &c. Tea and coffee were then served.

Afterwards, I was called to look at a procession from an opposite building or store, called in this country an anbar, where every sort of provisions, effects, &c. are kept. I saw several low, four-wheeled vehicles, each drawn by a single ox, loaded with furniture, bedding, clothing, &c. &c. for the new married couple. Lights were carried before them, and a number of young girls, as? abled near the door of the anbar, sang in concert, as each vehi cle was loaded with the effects of the bride. This ended, the party returned to the house, when dancing commenced, and was kept up hearing, the Yakut jumps on one of the others, who is sure to find his companion in a very short time. When the Yakut calls, the first horse that hears answers by neighing, and immediately the whole herd begin to neigh, and run to the keeper.

B A CURIOUS CEREMONY. with spirit the whole night. Before quitting the house, the parents of the young bridegroom requested me to come the following morning, and witness the ceremony of his taking leave of them, previously to his going to church. At twelve o'clock, on the 22d, we attended at the father's house, where a number of the friends of the bridegroom were collected : several large tables were laid for dinner, and at the principal one, near the images, which in a Russian house are always at the eastern corner of the room, sat the bridegroom and his attendants. A female relative, representing the bride, was placed in the chair on the left hand of the bridegroom ; and the father and mother sat at the opposite side of the table. Three dishes of cold meat were placed before the principal attendant, and, wine and watky being at the same time handed round, he cut a large cross on the first one, placing it aside; then the second, then the third, in the same way; and, at the cutting of each, wine and watky were handed round to the com pany, who rose, and drank to the wedding party.

Nothing was eaten, this being merely a ceremony to prepare the feast for the young couple when they should return from the church. After this, the bridegroom went round to the A CURIOUS CEREMONY. opposite side of the table, holding the image of the Virgin in his hand, and crossed himself on his knees, and bowed his head three times to the ground, before his father, who, when he rose, took the image from him, kissed him, and crossed him with it on his head. The same homage was paid to his mother, on which she delivered the image to another person, who preceded the bridegroom and his party to the church, where they met the bride and her attendants ; and the couple were then led to the altar, and united in the holy bands of wedlock, by the Protopope, or Chief of the Clergy. The ceremony resembles that of the Catholic church, except that, towards the close, the priest places a hymeneal crown on the heads of the man and woman, and they walk three times round a table, where lie the cross and the Bible.

This part of the pro ceeding is regarded as alternately binding them in strict allegiance to each other during the rest of their lives. There are also two rings used, which are exchanged, from the man to the woman, during the ceremony. The whole party now returned to the house of the bridegroom's father, where a repast wras prepared for them, resembling all large entertainments of this sort. The healths of the principal persons of the place GAIETIES OF YAKUTSK. were drunk, and followed by a salute of three guns after each toast. The evening was crowned with an illumination, and a ball, at which, as a stranger, I had the honour of leading off the bride. I found the inhabitants of Yakutsk hospitable, kind, and gay. Several balls were given during my stay, and where there were assembled all the belles of the town, whose dress, manners, and appearance far surpassed what I expected to meet with in so remote a situation.

The only fault I found with the ladies was, their being too much ornamented. Indeed, it is greatly to be lamented, that women, in every country, both high and low, civilized and sa vage, use too many ornaments. One of our best poets has said, beauty — " is, when unadorned, adorned the most." and, I may add with safety, ugliness unadorned is infinitely less ugly. Thus much I have ven tured to say in favour of dame Nature ; let the ladies look to it. They will find their account in the modest, simple attire, that renders defects less noticed, and every charm more charming. On the day I had fixed for my departure, I waited on the Governor to take my leave of him, who, with his accustomed politeness and hospitality, endeavoured to detain me to dinner; but I was obliged to resist his kindness, and to depart.

I also took an affectionate farewell of my good host and his family, from whom I had received every possible attention. He accompanied me to my boat, taking with him a sheep, a large fish, and other provisions, which he in sisted on my accepting for my journey. The Governor, I found, without saying any thing to me, had sent a supply of fine bread, poultry, &c. so that I was overpowered with every sort of good thing by these hospitable people. In deed the inhabitants of Siberia, in this respect, bear away the palm from all the rest ofthe globe. As Yakutsk is the spot where the Yakuts, who are supposed to have migrated from some other part of Siberia, first made a settlement, I take this opportunity of giving to the readers what I have been able to collect on the subject of this horde, whose Tartar origin, according to my eyes, seems indisputably stamped in their features.

There are credible proofs to adduce of their being descended from the Mongols, but their most probable origin is Tartar. On application to the chiefs of the horde, very little light has been thrown on this subject, as they have no books, or written documents of any sort, and what has been derived from oral tra dition is too imperfect and unconnected to afford any very satisfactory information. Their man ners and customs resemble those of the Bu rettas : and indeed those of the Siberian tribes generally are very similar. The following facts however serve to establish the opinion of their having been descended from a race of Tartars living on the frontiers of the Government of Tobolsk, who call themselves Sagay, and who occupy a portion of the Barabinsky Step ; * or also from a tribe of Tartars of the same descrip tion living about Krasnoyarsk.

A Yakut's features and the expression of his countenance partake much more of the Tartar than of the Mongol race. His language also bears a strong affinity to that of the Tartars of Baraba, and he calls himself Saga, a name differing so little from Sagay, the name of the Barabinsky horde, that there is every reason to believe him descended from that people, * Step means an arid plain ; and is therefore a term very inapplicable to the plain of Baraba, which has a fine river, and is very fertile, and in many parts covered with trees of a large growth. although dissimilar to them in some other re spects, perhaps owing to a long separation, and the having intermixed with other tribes. As to the number of words of Mongol, Buretta, and Tongusee, found in their language, it proves nothing more than that they have either lived in the neighbourhood of, or intermixed with, those nations.

I found no one who could give me the etymology of the appellation Yakut. It does not exist in the Yakut language and has probably been bestowed upon them on some par ticular occasion by the Russians or others. Ano ther remarkable fact is, that Saga was the origi nal name of the river of the step of Baraba, which has been changed since the country has become more thickly inhabited. According to their chro nicles, as handed down by oral tradition, they are descended from two tribes. One of these was named Batulen, whose chief was called Omogoy Bey, and who with his family quitted his country for reasons unknown, but was probably driven away by force of arms and the oppressions and vexations of some mere powerful horde. The number of his tribe that emigrated to the country of the Burettas, in the vicinity of Irkutsk, on the banks of the Lena, is also unknown.

On descending that river they stopped for some time at the mouth of the river Olekma, and then continued their journey until they arrived at the spot where the town of Yakutsk now stands, and there made a permanent settlement. They relate, that whilst in the country of the Bu rettas, and proceeding towards the Lena, they were several times attacked by that horde, who at length collecting all their forces, determined to exterminate Omogoy Bey and his party. A superstition prevailing even to this hour amongst the Burettas, that of never undertaking any thing of importance between the full and new moon, saved the Yakuts from destruction. Whilst their enemies were awaiting the propitious moment to attack them, they crossed the mountains to the banks of the Lena, where, constructing rafts, they embarked with their cattle and horses, and were soon conveyed by that rapid stream far from the danger that had threatened them.

The place where they descended the steep bank of the river to embark still bears the name of the Yakutskoy Svoz,* or place of em barkation of the Yakuts. Their second tribe, they say, is descended from a tribe whose chief is named Ellija, pro- * The Russian word svoz properly means the place of transport, or the transport itself. bably the same Tartar horde from whence sprung the ancestors of the Batulen race, who also descended the Lena, but from what direc tion is likewise unknown. It appears that Ellija had been informed of the departure of Omogoy Bey; and, although the navigation of the Lena was quite unknown to him, neither its dangers nor the extreme severity of the climate could deter him from executing his design. He arrived at Yakutsk, and finding there Omogoy Bey and his party, immediately joined them.

Omogoy Bey became much attached to Ellija, and gave him his daughter in marriage, which indissolubly united the two tribes. From documents preserved in the archives of Ineseisk it would appear, that a desatrik (a sort of civil under-officer) named Ilia Ermolin, be longing to a party led by one Golkin to the banks of the Lena (where they expected to find some Cossacks, that is to say, at the mouth of the river Kiringee), heard from the Tongusees that the Cossacks whom they sought had gone to the land of the Yakuts. It seems then, that the Tongusees, and perhaps the Burettas, had given them the name of the Yakuts. Those indefatigable Cossacks were the per sons who at length conquered the inhabitants ; RESOURCES OF YAKUTSK. and there actually remains at the town of Ya kutsk the greater part of a very strong wooden fortification built by them, which, if it had been taken common care of, would now be almost as strong as the day it was built.