Nevertheless, it may be as it is said to be; so that I draw attention to the statement in order to improve the evidence on which it rests.

The terms Katshinzi, Sagai, Kisilzi, and Koibal, are political rather than ethnological, artificial rather than natural. As a general rule, however, they apply to populations which are Turk in speech, other than Turk in origin. The Katshinzi are the Katsha tribes already noticed as Turks, though, perhaps, Samoyed or Yeniseian in blood. They fall into two divisions.

A few hundred (the males amount to 240) are still to be found on the banks of the Katsha, their original area, near, or in, the town of Krasnoyarsk. Wholly Russianized, they represent that portion of the group which stayed at home, when the remainder emigrated to the valley of the Abakan. The descendants of this division amounted, in 1830, to 3460 males, and 3119 females; in 1847, to 9436 individuals. They reach as far as Askyz; where they are succeeded by

The Sagai, amounting in 1830 to 3897 males, and 4011 females, and extending to the head-waters of the Abakan. The Kisilzi (2283 males, 2080 females), like the Katshinzi of the Katsha, are all but Russians.*

* These details are taken from the preface to Castrén's Koibal and Karagass Grammar; a work which was not published until the notice on the Siberian Turks had been printed.

The numerals of the so-called Yeniseian division are as

It is more likely that the northern part of the Samoyed area should have been conquered from the south than vice versa. Such being the case, the Northern Samoyeds are, probably, intrusive. Castrén believes that they were, and also that the previous occupants of the northern parts From Castrén. The Mangaseia of Klaproth. The Turukansk of Klaproth.

of Siberia were Fins proper. He infers this from the names of the rivers Ishma, Tsylma, Pyosha, Oya and Kuloi, all of which are significant in the language of Finland. Then there is the story of the Sirtye. The Samoyeds called the Fins by this name. Now the Sirtye fled before the Samoyeds, and hid themselves underground, where they live at the present moment, with abundance of beavers, foxes, and mammoths. I can scarcely think that the aborigines of the North Samoyed area were actual Fins, though they were, probably, an allied population; perhaps more Lap than aught else.

Of the Samoyed mythology we know little, which is a pity; for, as the Samoyeds are amongst the rudest of the Ugrians, a knowledge of their superstitions would be of great value, for the light it would shed over the otherwise obscure creeds of the Laplanders, Finlanders, Estonians, and the like. However, of the Samoyed mythology we know but little. Perhaps, there is not much to know. We know, however, that the word Num is the name of the chief object of their cultus; and this is an important word. It is applied to the thunder, and this in what appears to Castrén, its original sense. It applies also to the sky in general, and to the sun, as the chief luminary. A Samoyed woman, stricken in years, and the observer of old customs, which she spoke of with regret as dying away, used morning and evening to leave her tent and prostrate, or bend, herself before the rising or setting luminary, saying, "When thou, O Yilibeambaertye, risest, so, also, out of my bed rise I," and "When thou, O Yilibeambaertye, settest, so, also, do I go to rest." This is so little of a prayer, that it may only be a receipt for early rising. I give it, however, as I find it.

Yilibeambaertye is a sort of synonym, or epithet for Num. It means, Guard over the hearths. The tribes

who use it most are those that have taken a tincture of civilization and Christianity; indeed, it is used, occasionally, to denote Christ. The ruder the Samoyed the more exclusively he speaks of Num, the sky, or the God of the Sky; the God of the Sky in the second instance, though, probably, the God of Thunder in the first. The tribe which most restricts its meaning to the original sense is that of the Kangmash.

Occasionally the name is given to physical phenomena other than atmospheric; other, at least, than those that belong palpably and visibly to the sky. Castrén once heard it applied to the earth; and once, when on the coast of the Icy Sea, he asked "Where is Num?" his attendant said "There," pointing to the waves.

The Tawgi tribes give to a deity named 'A or 'Nga the same importance that the others give to Num. To judge, however, from the Yurak creed, 'Nga is a subterranean, rather than a super-celestial, being. He dwells underground, dark and in darkness; sending to men and beasts death and disease. Do the souls or bodies of deceased men go to him? Castrén doubts this. He finds the idea of any place whatever for the reception of the spirits of the dead all but non-existent. Nevertheless, there is an approach to it in the residence of 'Nga.

There is also an approach to it in the Tadebcyo of the Tadibeas. A Tadibea is the Samoyed Shaman, or Medicine Man-a mere priest of ordinary flesh and blood, alive amongst living men. But the spirit, with whom he has the power of putting himself in contact, and who is called his Tadebcyo, is immaterial, and invisible; at least to ordinary eyes. The Tadibea, however, can see him, speak to him, propitiate him, learn the future events from him. In short, the Tadibea is the mediator between the uninitiated believer, and the Tadebcyo.

Where Christianity has taken root, the Tadebcyo is an evil, rather than a good, demon. Where paganism, however, remains intact, he is more good than bad. A Tadibea would repudiate the idea of dealing with anything diabolical. He will admit, however, that his friend is capricious, hard to please, accessible only through a proper mediator. If he were not so, what would be the use of a Tadibea?

In explaining this Castrén takes an opportunity of stating that the antagonism between absolute good and absolute evil finds no place amongst the Samoyeds. There are no extreme divinities; no Ahriman, no Auramazdes; nothing, in short, divine at all. The human temper is the divine temper also, good and bad mixed; more of the former than the latter. He adds, too, that the Samoyed, in worshipping a material object, such as a rock, tree, or the like, has no secondary ideas in respect to any divinity enshrined therein. He simply worships the object, stock or stone as the case may be. The negative character of this assertion must be borne in mind. It must also be borne in mind that negative statements are, pre-eminently, subject to correction.

The Itarma are the souls of departed Tadibeas.

In some tribes the Tadebcyo are called Los, Loh, and Koika.

The Samoyed analogies of the Roman Penates now claim our attention. They are of two kinds; those made by nature, and those made by human skill. Those of nature's making are odd-shaped stones, especially such as can be compared to the human form. Of course, these are essentially local. They are usually called Hahe.

The Yilyan,* on the other hand, are artificial. One

* Word for word, this is the first element in Yilibeambeartye, as well as the Ostiak Yilyan.