of similar circumstances, these two degraded branches of the same great race have still preserved a striking resemblance in their customs and character. Of those Siberian tribes engaged in venatorial pursuits, it may be asserted, that by the common consent of travellers, no people exists more alike in every respect to the aborigines. For the purpose of a brief comparison, one tribe may be selected.

*

The Tungusi, a very ancient nation, who say their ancestors were the first inhabitants of Siberia, roam over the greater part of that region. Like the Indians, they are subject to few diseases, and possess the senses of sight and hearing to an incredible degree of perfection.† They are faithful, honest, and hospitable, mindful of kindness and injuries, proud, and tenacious of their personal dignity. Dances are customary among them, and the most favorite of their social pleasures are songs, and fanciful tales of an Oriental character, resembling those of the Algonquin nations. Remarkable for the faculty of remembering natural objects, and localities, they retain, with the most accurate fidelity, the recollection of every rock and tree in their hunting grounds, can describe a road distinctly by these landmarks, and trace their way hundreds of miles over a pathless country without hesitation. They are brave and robust, hunt with the bow and arrow, are excellent archers, and follow the game by the trail, or impression left on the earth, as well as if the animal. were bounding in full view. The women perform the chief burden of domestic and predial labor, while the ruder sex engage in the hardships of the chase. Enduring of cold, fatigue, and privations, many days are frequently passed by them with

* Strahlenburgh, p. 451. Tooke, vol. ii. p. 99.

† Cochrane, pp. 140, 166.

out food, and when fortunately game has been killed, they feast in an extravagant, wasteful, and voracious manner, without thought of the future,* and never leaving the spot till all is consumed. Polygamy is allowed, and wives are purchased by presents to the parents. They clear the soil for the reception of grain, by girdling the trees, and annually, in the autumn, burn the grass upon the steppes or prairies. The boundaries of their hunting grounds are marked out, and any aggressions beyond them resented by force. The dead are not buried, but suspended from trees in boxes, or placed upon scaffolds. bodies are tattooed with much taste and skill,—the moccasin and wampum are used in their dress,—the latter being employed for decoration, as is often the case among the Indians.§ ́ They are fond of smoking, and whilst so employed, pass the pipe around like the American calumet. In all these particulars, resembling closely the Indian, it is impossible to point out any nation, so exactly the counterpart of the Americans.

Their

The

A few analogous customs may also be indicated. Indian custom of shaving the head, with the exception of a single ringlet upon the crown, is of very general use among the Mongols. It is probably as ancient as the time of Herodotus, who describes it accurately, as it was practised by the royal Scythians. The same historian details the often quoted description of Scythian scalping in these words: "Their mode of stripping the skin from the head is this. They make a circular incision behind the ears, then taking hold of the head at the top,

* Cochrane, p. 155.

+ Spark's Life of Ledyard, p. 238.

‡ Sauer, p. 49.

§ Loskiel, pp. 48, 49. Ledyard, pp. 246, 251.

they gradually flay it, drawing it towards them. They next soften it in their hands, removing every fleshy part which may remain, by rubbing it with an ox's hide; they afterwards suspend it thus prepared from the bridles of their horses, when they both use it as a napkin, and are proud of it as a trophy. Whoever possesses the greater number of these, is deemed the most illustrious."* A little image found among the Calmucks, establishes the fidelity of this description: it represents a man mounted on a horse, and sitting upon a human skin, with scalps pendant from his breast. The same author states that upon. the interment of a Scythian chief many of his retainers were slaughtered at his tomb, which was the case also with the Natchez and other American nations, and with the Mongols.‡

The Siberian and Chinese dog is of the same species as the American; in America the dog was domesticated even with the remote Fuegian tribes. An analogy has been indicated between the ideas of the Egyptians as emblemized in the figure of Anubis, and those of the Mexicans in relation to the techichi; but the same superstitions were of much wider extent. Dogs were venerated in Egypt, and their death was lamented as a misfortune. According to Bryant, the Egyptians represented under the figure of a dog all such as had the management of funerals. Traces of the same idea, says Dr. Clarke, appear in the stélé upon some of the ancient tumuli, which were sculptured with the figure of this animal, as a type of the Egyptian god who had the care of the dead. The dog was anciently held in great reverence by the Hindoos, and was sacred to Kala-Bhairava; the practice still prevails of employing this animal to Pennant, vol. i. p. 260. Barrow, p. 483. Strahlenburgh, p. 30.

* Lib. iv. c. 64.

watch by the dead, from the belief that he perceives evil spirits, and terrifies them by his howling; for the same reason he is placed by the couch of the dying. With the Siberian and American tribes he was selected for a similar purpose, and was sacrificed also in cases of sickness and death. Besides the Mexicans, many other aboriginal nations were accustomed to kill these animals at the celebration of the funeral rites; this may be observed even of the distant tribes of South America.* The Indians, says Mr. Andrews, are generally accompanied by a black dog; this animal "is his master's friend through life, and the destined pilot of his voyage to the promised Elysium hereafter. To arrive at this happy land rivers are to be crossed, and the dog is to convey over his master's provisions, a store of which is always inhumed upon his decease." The Indians of Canada, according to Charlevoix, during the last sickness of a chief, were accustomed to "cut the throats of all the dogs they can catch, that the souls of these animals may go into the other world, and give notice that such a person will arrive there soon."‡

The Siberians and Americans are both extravagantly addicted to the use of the vapor bath. In health it is a favorite enjoyment, and in sickness a usual remedy for all diseases. The Mongols, like the Indian, never hesitate whilst suffused with

* King and Fitzroy, vol. ii. p. 167. Davis' China, vol. ii. p. 310. Tooke, vol. iii. p. 223. Sauer. Nuttall's Arkansas, p. 96. Mod. Trav. Penn, p. 120.

Ward, vol. i. p. 264. Wilkin

India, vol. viii. p. 253. son, vol. ii. p. 33.

Herod., l. ii. c. 66.

Clarke's Travels, vol. iii. p.

131.

† Anderson's Travels in S. Am., vol. ii. p. 75.

Voyage, vol. ii. p. 141.

§ Sauer, p. 177. Malte Brun.

perspiration to rush from these baths and plunge headlong into the coldest streams. They were employed also by the Mexicans, and the same method of producing the vapor by throwing water upon heated stones was universally practised.* A few additional particulars may be mentioned: the Yourte or Mongol hut resembles the American wigwam;† the constellation of the Great Bear is known by the same name with the Indians and the Siberians; they agree in calling the Aurora Borealis, "the dance of the dead," or "dancing spirits;" in using masks in religious ceremonies;§ and in the methods of interment, either placing the dead upon scaffolds like some of the western aborigines, or burying them in a sitting posture, or burning them. The peculiar form of the plumes of the head-dresses, the use of leggins, and the employment of the wampum as an ornament for their garments, assimilate the costumes of both people. White is a sacred color; the same method of storing corn in magazines in the ground is used; there are some traces of the institution of the totem in Siberia; for the purpose of procuring fire, they sometimes use an instrument consisting of a cylindrical piece of wood which is inserted in the hole of a circular disk and rapidly turned; this is to be found also in

* Herodotus describes a similar bath in use among the Scythians, 1. iv. c. 75.

Ledyard, 241. Sauer, 130.

The bear is venerated by both races; and after having killed one in the chase, it is usual to celebrate the event by an expiatory feast, during which songs are addressed to his manes, descriptive of his praises. Malte Brun. Charlevoix, vol. ii. p. 56.

§ Pennant, vol. i. p. 238. Bartram's Travels, p. 43. Trans. Lit. and Phil. Soc. Quebec, vol. i. p. 240.