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PLATE XLI,
A FEMALE YAKOUTI.
HUNTI.VG, as was mentioned in the last description, together with
fishing and the care of their cattle, form the whole employment of the
Yakouti; for they are ignorant of every means of cultivating the soil,
nor indeed would the severity of the climate and baiTenness of their
land repay them their labour. The women are in general more active
and laborious than the men, and they might be reckoned rather goodlooking,
were it not for tlie smoke and grease about them, which
make their complexion of a dirty yellow hue. The men are in general
of a moderate size; some, however, are very tall; their face is flat and
thin, their eyes small, and their beards generally black and thin. They
are dull in their dispositions, and slow in their actions. They are
religious according to their own system, which is that of Schamanism;
are honest and placable. In their general character they are said to
resemble the Mungalian nation as much as the Tartars; and some have
asserted, that they are descendants of the former; but tliose. Mho have
resided some time among them, speak of them as Tartars, both on
account of their language and other remarkable circumstances. They
have no written character, but the foundation of their language is
certainly Tartarian, with a large mkturc of Mungalian words. The
Yakouti have no rcgidar and fixed habitation; they seldom, however,
change their stations during the winter. Their tents or houses ar^
in the shape of cones, with a hole at the top, to let out the smoke
from the fires which are made on the ground in the middle, and this
also is the only means of admitting the light. Their chief food arises
from hunting and fishing, and their drink is called/-./.OT/. ; it is made
from the milk of their mares, with a little water; a piece of the
stomacli of a calf, or colt, is also put in: they keep this constantly
stu-ring, till it ferments, when it acquires a pleasant acidity; and, if
taken in large quantities, it has an intoxicating quality.
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