We forded the Kambyl^effka to get to Bazorkyn, a village of the Ingoush, who, the ysvostchyck gravely informed us, are very mysterious in their ways and avoid all intercourse with Christians. The fact is that the Ingoush, a tribe of the Mytsdjeghy who call themselves I^mour, are pagans; they inhabit that part of the countiy which lies between the Terek and the river Assa to the east, chiefly on the banks of those rivers, and on the banks of the Soundja, and rear cattle, as being a less laborious occupation than agriculture.
The village of Bazorkyn, through which we passed, was completely deserted, the doors of all the huts being left wide open.
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We were glad when we saw a ragged little urchin run out of a dwelling to have a look at us, for we learnt from him that everj'body was gone to bury the starshynd, and he pointed in the direction they had taken; we drove towards it, and in a little while came upon the party returning from the burial. The Ingoush dispersed at our approach, and hurried past as fast as they could, seeking to avoid any conversation with the interpreter, who however found out from the mistrustful people that all the doors of the habitations had been left open, that the spirit of the departed might not conceal itself in any of them.
There is a curious mixture of Christianity and paganism in the worship of the Ingoush, who somewhat resemble the pagan Ossets. The Ingoush call the Supreme Being, D6ammeh, and adore Ghalgarr; they swear by certain stones they hold sacred, but they prefer swearing by a tree that has been struck by lightning. The most weighty oaths, in cases of theft and murder, are taken at a feast of the dead on the Saturday of the third week in Lent, a feast called Laounse ghanan. The confession of a crime or the declaration of innocence is accepted as the truth; a man who stands accused of murder is taken to the grave of the victim, where he swears that he and all his family will be the dead man's slaves in the next world, should he not speak the truth.
The form of oath taken by the Ingoush in the following words, is now seldom employed:
' I.., swear by the Almighty, by the holy Archangel Michael, and by Tzomady Kovzad, the place we hold sacred, that, etc., etc., should I violate the oath I have now taken, may I not see the graves of my forefathers, and may my bones rot in a foreign soil; may the earth which nourishes me refuse to me her gifts; may the water with which my thirst is quenched dry up in its course; may by Google
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the air which I breathe bring upon me and upon all my kindred every grievous malady; may Heaven pour do*n upon mc every ill, and may the blood of all unclean animals, beasts, dc^, and cats, be spilled on the graves of my forefathers, and on my own grave.' '
Days of the Wefk in tlu Language of the Iiigoush. Monday.. Orshoat. I Friday... Peryska,
Tuesday.. Shynyra. Saturday.. Shalt.
Wednesday.. Kar. | Sunday.. Kyiynda.
Thnnday. Era. |
There is at a short distance from Bazorkyn, on the banks of the Kambyl^effka, a farm of 1400 acres of excellent land, the property of a Hungarian colonist; it includes a large nursery for fruit-trees, of which there are many rare and valuable sorts. The farm produce is remunerative, for it supplies the natives with their favourite maize and millet, but the nursery is a failure. Country life, such as we understand it in England, has scarcely any existence in Russia; nobles and landed proprietors are usually absent landlords who flock to the capitals and lai^c towns at home or abroad, where they are fhe better able to indulge in Habits more suited to their tastes, with the smallest trouble and inconvenience to themselves.
The evil effects that have been felt in Ireland by the absenteeism of landlords and the estrangement of the Sovereign, are experienced in Russia, only in a greater degree, the poor tenantry being neglected and left to their degenerate condition of bigotry and superstition, a policy that suits the Imperial Government, for ' a State degraded is half enslaved.' The peasants of Russia, however, have many good qualities; they are an eminently agricultural people, and have already developed in a remarkable degree, con-
' For the manners and (renenil customs of the Ineoush, ^re Reiitavidttva IP patninyjvm Xin-tasn, St. Petersburg, 1S47.