The previous episode:
Our travelers have reached Yudomskiy Krest, or the Yudoma Cross, a key landmark on the road from Yakutsk to Okhotsk. Yudoma Cross might have emerged as a crossroads, but there was no north-south route to intersect with the Yakutsk-Okhotsk road. The place takes its name from a literal cross, a religious marker, that Vitus Bering placed there during his explorations in the first half of the 18th Century.
By this time, you could be forgiven if you’ve forgotten that Okhotsk is not their final objective. Khvostov and Davydov are Naval officers, and their assignment is to pick up a ship and crew, supposedly ready for them in port at Okhotsk, and sail it across the Sea of Okhotsk and the Bering Sea into the Gulf of Alaska to reach Kodiak Island. At this point, after hearing for weeks that the locals had never seen such high water, they would probably be happy just to come in out of the rain.
We’ll again encounter a word that arises with some frequency in connection with the Russian-American Company: promyshlenniks. Modern Russian-English dictionaries say this word means industrialists, but at the time it referred to fur trappers. A bit of a spoiler here: Khvostov was not especially happy when he learned at Okhotsk that the crew with which he was to sail to Alaska were mostly promyshlenniks.
Just as a reminder, in quite a few places I render a place name in italics, with a translation in parentheses. These place names are usually in italics (yes, there are Cyrillic italics) in the original. These are instances where Davydov has written a Yakut place name, and translated it into Russian. If I give a place name in regular Roman type, it’s my transliteration of a Russian place name.
DAVYDOV’S NARRATIVE (Cont’d – Chapter II, concluded)
4 August.
In the morning, a Cossack arrived from the Yudoma Cross: there are always 5 or 6 people living there for the crossing of passers-by. This one was on a wooden canoe, and said that he had left a large boat three miles away, since the extremely strong opposite current prevented rowing it, and it was not possible to tow it to this place while the water spilled into the forest. This Cossack has lived more than 20 years at Yudoma Cross; but said, that he does not remember such high water, which has now demolished all the vegetable gardens, several yurts, storehouses, and a chapel with a cross, built by the Bering Expedition and giving the name of the Yudoma Cross to this place.
We had almost nothing to eat, but as if by design, at 2:00, several mergansers (a large genus of wild ducks) appeared in the vicinity. I shot one, and another, unable to fly, the dog caught. And so we dined very well.
Soon after that, for 15 rubles we bought a small bull from a Yakut driving cattle to Okhotsk. Our Yakuts drank raw blood, and they ate the guts, tail and everything that we threw away, first putting them in hot ash for a few minutes.
While waiting for the time when we could proceed further, I asked the merchant Zacharov about the road, the Yakuts, and more, pertaining to this region. I will relate two memorable incidents that I heard about from him, and then from others.
The merchant Tropin, traveling to Okhotsk with comrades, lagged behind them a little and came upon an enormous bear, which rushed to tear him to pieces. Tropin, unable to run away from the bear, was forced to engage in hand-to-hand combat. He grabbed the bear by the ears and shouted to his comrades for help. When they and the Yakuts came running to the cry, they saw that the bear, standing on its hind legs, exceeded the height of its opponent, although he was rather tall; and so, frightened, they ran away. Thus, the two rivals fought without any hindrance for more than an hour; the bear tore at the shoulders of the merchant, but could not use its teeth, being tightly squeezed. It finally became so tired that Tropin, noticing the bear’s weakening, managed to grab a knife from his belt and cut its belly. The merchant was so angry with his brave companions that, once he caught up with them, he gave them all a very neat lesson with a stick.
A similar incident happened a little later, when a party of employees of the merchant Lebedev went to Okhotsk, including two Zyryans, who were driving a black bull with them. Once, having lost the bull, they went to look for it in the forest, where one of them came upon a bear, which rushed at him. The Zyryan, not the least frightened, grabbed the bear in an arm hold with one hand, and held it by the ear with the other and did not let it bite him. When his comrade came up in response to his shout, he told his comrade to take the ax out of his belt; but it was gone; then the other Zyryan took a thick club and hit the beast so hard that it fell off its feet. These promyshlenniks stripped the skin off the bear, sold it on the Aldan for ten rubles, found the black bull and ax, and never boasted of their victory.
5 August.
It was a beautiful day, the water fell quite a bit, the boat arrived from Yudoma Cross, and we set out across the river Gryaznukha. The baggage was transported by boat, and the horses were driven through the water. Then we loaded them again and sent them to Yudoma, while we ourselves went by boat to Yudoma Cross, located on the left bank of the Yudoma. This river is 250 sazhens [perhaps a third of a mile] wide. Although in 1-1/2 days the waters in it and the Gryaznukha fell by four arshins [between 9 and 10 feet], the current was still so fast, that the horses were taken about a verst downstream. When they dried off, we saddled and loaded them. We forded the mouth of the river Krestovka, which flows into the Yudoma, where the cross with the chapel was erected, then crossed several marshes. The Krestovka emerges from Lake Sis-Kul, that is, spine, lying 35 versts from Yudoma Cross. At 12 o'clock in the morning we stopped at Ala-Ogus-Asylik (white bull feed). The weather was very cold; there was even a little frost; for which reason the fire we soon lit gave us no small pleasure.
6 August.
The day was fine, but cold. We crossed Krestovka by ford 15 times and rode past lake Sis-Kul, leaving it on the right hand. They say that there are many fish in its waters. I think, that Sis-Kul is located on a very high strip of land, because from one side of it flows the Krestovka, which flows to the Yudoma, which flows to the Maya, joining with the Aldan; from the other side of the lake flows the river Urak, flowing to the Sea of Okhotsk, 20 versts south of Okhotsk. Fording this river seven or eight times, we stopped at Keltegey-Kurumye (empty forest).
7 August.
Overnight and into the morning it rained a little, but not hard. The gadflies and mosquitoes disappeared, but midges took their place. Crossing the Urak, we arrived at Plotbishcha, where there are three yurts, in which live three Cossacks and Soldiers, as a guard for state property; sometimes they add a fourth for this storehouse. At noon it rained heavily, but the sun never ceased to be visible.
On the right side, we left Kononov pillar, erected by one Kononov in 1769. We crossed the Urak, then a small river flowing into it from the left side and stopped not far from Kislav ford on the Urak. The Yakuts said that on all the rivers here there are many bears, wading to catch fish, which come up from the sea in great numbers; for this reason to scare away these animals we fired a few shots from our pistols.
8 August.
We started out, and crossed on the Urak the Kislav ford, and then the Porozhniy, so called because it is located between two small rapids, and began to climb the Prodigal ridge, located about ten versts from the Porozhniy ford and about 50 from Plotbishcha. The ascent and descent are quite gentle. From the ascent flows a small river with no name, but from the descent the Prodigal flows into the Urak on the left side. Then we crossed two small rivers flowing into the same side of the Urak, and the Bludnaya four times, and stopped for the night. On the way I shot a duck and a grouse. The Yakuts were not very happy that we did not shoot squirrels.
Twenty sazhens from our tents on one side stood a steep stone mountain, and on the other, just as close, flowed the Bludnaya river; this narrow place was covered with larch trees. A dark night, a fine time, the wind whistling dejectedly in the gorges of the steep mountains and the set fires, produced a kind of despondency in the soul.
9 August.
We got up from the place at 7:00, crossed the Bludnaya river and to the left of the river left the Grebenchat mountain, which has this name because it is as if the mountain looks like a ridge, although it did not look much like that to me. 7 versts from it, is located Bolbukta Otutta (dense cedar forest), and three versts from that we forded the river Big Luktur at the place where it flows into the right side of the Urak; it comes out of the mountains, which are 30 versts south of Okhotsk. We then crossed two small rivers, and the little Luktur, all flowing to the Urak into the right side. On the last were staying nomadic Tungus in two yurts, to catch fish coming from the sea. Not far from here we passed Beaver Field, (given this name for the beavers sometimes living on it), through which flows the river Bobrovka [from the Russian word for beaver – JT.], falling into the right side of the Urak. Then we arrived at Uratsk ferry, where live two Cossaks, who carry baggage across the river by boat, but as the water was low, we waded across. Farther along we arrived at a place called Merchant’s Storehouse, and then to another called At-khayata (horse ridge), where we stopped for the night.
10 August.
From here we set out and, having passed the river of Konnoi ridge, started to climb the mountain of the same name. When we come back down it, we forded two rivers, a transverse stream and the Chelchikan, which flows into the Okhota, and we arrived at Meta, where there are Yakuts living. We entered one of their summer yurts, cut down from the forest, 1½ square sazhens in area, with a birch bark cover, and in the middle of which a hole was left for smoke to escape, because under it there is a hearth on the floor of the yurt. There was a cauldron on the fire, on which fish were boiled. The yurt is quite unclean, but less unpleasant than those of the Yakuts living in the Yakutsk region, about whom the people here say that they live like dogs.
Farther on we waded across the Namov river, flowing into the Okhota, passed Kiokh Tiryakx (green poplar) and branches of the river Uzholokon; then took boats across that river, which flows into the Okhota. From these followed the two ridges Uzholokon and Malchikan with rivers of those same names, flowing into the right side of the Okhota. Then we passed Ese-Baca (Bear’s head) and at 11:00 stopped to feed the horses. In these places there were more berries than previously and, among other things, a lot of honeysuckle, here called Aleukta.
The track for this installment is in orange, to the east. They finally reach Okhotsk, about a month after leaving Yakutsk, and four months after leaving St Petersburg.
Before I finish the description of the Okhotsk road and our arrival in Okhotsk, it is not superfluous to say everything that I saw first-hand or know with certainty about the Yakuts.
The Yakuts are known to descend from the Tatars; the similarity of their language with Tatar and many customs can serve as sufficient proof of this. I have already described their winter yurts; in the summer for the most part the Yakuts live where they store hay. All their hayfields are usually fenced off. The princes, who have many cattle and horses, do not feed them all hay, but for the most part keep them on the steppes, where they paw the snow, and feed on the remaining grass under this, for it is not possible to store a sufficient amount of hay, when some of the Princes have up to 1000 or more horses and cattle.
Most Yakuts wear long, and all women also wear the longest, braids tied at the back of the head. In the summer Yakuts dress in short Chinese kaftans, woolen or velvet, tied around with something of three or four fingers’ width, in a color different from the kaftan. Their boots are made of leather, with soft soles, or horsehide, called Saris. Sari are so tightly and strongly stitched that, for convenience in wet weather, most of the inhabitants of Yakutsk wear them on the roads, or even in the city. Leather pants, mittens and a hat complete the Yakut outfit. In summer the women dress in the same way as the men. Winter dress of the Yakuts is made of warm jerseys, pants, overcoats and long boots, which are worn with wool in the top and are called Torbas, and when on the road, over everything they wear a Sanayakh, a kind of overcoat made of reindeer leather, also with wool in the top. Moreover, during severe frosts, they cover (with pieces of fur specially attached) the forehead, cheeks, ears, nose and beard, so that only the eyes remain unwrapped; they put on their knees over the Torbas, what they call Suturs. Russians do the same at the when we travel in the wilderness of eastern Siberia, where the frost can be incredibly cruel. In winter Yakuts wear parkas [a word borrowed into English from Siberian languages; Davydov highlights it as a foreign word –JT.], covered with fox or sable. The parka is sewn from reindeer leather and looks like a long shirt, to which a stand-up collar is attached for the most part. Winter clothing of rich Yakuts, especially their hats, is expensive.
The Yakuts are very good-natured, hospitable, generally extremely cowardly, lazy when they can be, gluttonous to the point of excess and just as temperate when need or poverty drives them to it. Many Yakuts most of the time eat Undan and Soroy, a kind of sour butter, but these same people can eat an unbelievable amount. A very reliable man told me that he himself saw four Yakuts eat an old horse in two days. Their gluttony is the reason that they do not abandon, as I said, dead horses and any carrion. Meat raw, fried, or boiled, it is almost the same for them. They eat the very skin from a bull, just throwing it into the hot ash, so that the wool is burned, and they do all this not less out of hunger. Yakuts love moles, but most of all lard, of which some people can eat up to a pood. Gluttony is even their honor, they respectfully talk about a glutton: Utio Asatchi Khisi, that is, a good eater; over those who eat little, they laugh: saying, what kind of person are you!
But to give a better understanding of the gluttony of the Yakuts, I describe all of their rituals occurring at weddings.
When someone woos successfully among them, he agrees to pay the bride’s father in advance Kolyma, consisting of several bulls and horses, half of which are given back to the groom as a dowry for the bride. A wedding and a feast take place in the father-in-law's house, but at the expense of the groom; this holiday usually lasts two days and relatives from both sides and friends gather for it. The rich treat guests with wine, but poorer people serve kumys. After that, several horses, or bulls, are eaten, and sometimes many moles, revered as a tasty dish; they drink wine again, or kumys, and begin to sip lard. For the holiday, they collect every kind of fat, mix it together and put it in a vat. When the Kurum arrives (the festive dinner or wedding table), they melt all the lard and sit around the vat. A big spoon, or better to say a ladle, called Khamyak, goes around in turns until someone refuses. There have been hunters who have drunk 120 Khamyaks of melted lard, and one must remember that this happens already at the end of the meal, after a rich dinner, at which, of course, not a single Yakut has spared his stomach.
Kumis is made with mare’s milk, which they mix fifty-fifty with water, poured into a leather bag and left in a yurt until it turns sour. Then they take a churn made from a tree hollowed out like a cup, with four or five holes drilled into it and with a shelf inserted into the bottom of it. The sour milk is churned until a kind of cottage cheese forms; the remaining liquid is called Kumis, similar in strength to beer.
There are no rituals at a Yakut wedding. If the Kolyma has been paid, then the young woman goes to her husband's house; otherwise she stays with her father, and the husband leaves for his own. Every time he brings a part of the Kolyma, he stays with his wife for several days, and on his return he gets half back. The father-in-law never gives his daughter unless the whole Kolyma is paid off, even if that takes several years, but after the payment is made, the wife, as mentioned above, goes to her husband's house, accompanied by many women, and then again there is a two-day holiday. Kolyma sometimes extends to eighty cattle.
Many of the Yakuts also celebrate the birth of a son or daughter in the same way.
The Yakuts, especially the poor, are very untidy; in winter they keep cattle in their yurts, and from this one can judge about the smell in their houses. In the summer they make bowls from cow dung, and in the winter they pour water over the inside of them and let it freeze; they pound pine bark in such a dish, which they use for food.
This people and their descendants still retain some of their strange customs, for example: A Yakut, who has been away, on entering his yurt does not greet anyone, but sits down as if a stranger; his wife cooks for him and treats him like a guest; and once he has eaten well, he becomes the master of the house.
A brother-in-law in the presence of a daughter-in-law, must certainly wear a hat, otherwise he will dishonor her and himself. If he has been sitting in the yurt without a hat, he puts it on when the daughter-in-law enters.
The Yakuts believe in their sorcerers, or Shamans, who perform their superstitious rituals in secret, for when the priests learn about it, they haul the sorcerers into court. However, the Yakuts still believe them and are afraid of them. Sometimes the Shaman, a year or some time after the death of some Yakut, brings his dressed-up effigy into the house and says that this is the deceased, who requires a cow, or animal furs, or the like, and will haunt everyone in case of refusal. These cowardly people give all that is required, which the Shaman takes away with the effigy. The Yakuts ascribe miracles their sorcerers telling, among other things, about a certain Kachikata, that he seemed to have driven several knives through himself; that he took away people's hands and hung them on trees, without causing them any pain; that when there was a shortage of food on a journey, he asked his comrades if they wanted to eat anything? and then, shouting some words, he opened his hands, into which some tidbit usually fell, for example, a part of a fat mare, or a Simir with butter. (Simir is what they call a leather sack, in which they carry their Undan or churned butter along the road, or Khayak in Yakut. Cow butter, or ghee, is called Ary. Ары) This Kachikat always foresaw, they say, what would happen to him in two or three days; They also assure that he made a wooden cuckoo, put it on a tree, and she crowed for three years, that is, until the time when the Russians burned it with the tree; that after the death of Kachikat, the Yakuts dug a hole near his grave and put the Shaman's robe in it, which for three years jingled in the evenings. In a word, this Kachikat did so many miracles that the Yakuts feared him more than Boenai; it must be said that many of the Russians, no less than the Yakuts, believe that.
When a beloved horse belonging to a Prince grows old, he lets it go free; but if it still lives so long that it begins to lose its teeth, the Prince kills it, gathers his relatives and eats that horse with them. More commonly, for the feast the Prince will kill a cow, and bury his beloved horse, putting in a hole dug near that place, the entire harness belonging to it, in this way: a saddle, a bridle, a saddle bag, a bow with arrows and a palma. Almost everyone has saddlebags on the road; They are thrown over the saddle and hang in such a way that they do not interfere with the rider. A palma is a kind of cookery knife inserted into a wooden rod, about an arshin long. The palma is usually carried for cutting firewood.
When the Yakuts meet a bear on the road, then they take off their hats, bow to him; they call him Tonon (* - which means Chief), old man, grandpa and other affectionate names. They ask humbly that he let them pass; that they did not think of touching him and have never even spoken a bad word about him. If the bear, not convinced by these proverbs, rushes the horses, then, as if involuntarily, they begin to shoot at him and, having killed him, they eat all of him with great relish. Meanwhile, they make a statue depicting Boenai and bow to it. The elder Yakut stands behind a tree and grimaces. When the meat is cooked, they eat it, croaking like crows and saying: we are not eating you; it’s the Tunguses, or Russians: they make gunpowder and sell guns; and you yourself know that we do not know how to do anything. They speak Russian the whole time, or Tunguska, and do not break a single joint. When they eat the bear, they collect the bones, wrap them together with the statue of Boenai in birch bark, or whatever, hang it on a tree and say: grandfather! The Russians (or Tungus) ate you, and we found your bones, and cleaned up for you. From this rite one can conclude how much the Yakuts fear the revenge of the bears, or the spirit thereof, after they kill one.
Some Yakuts, even now, having cooked food on the road, pick it up in their hands, speak to the spirit of that place, then raise the food; each throws the first spoonful into the fire, and then begins to eat. The Yakuts believe every place has a master who is not God or the devil, but a special spirit.
11 August.
It rained at night. At 7 o'clock we set off and passed the coal pits, that is, the place where the exiles burn coal for blacksmithing work for the government. The closer we got to the sea, the smaller the forest became; at last the bush began, and on the seaside there was nothing. Arriving at a place called Amunok, located near the sea itself, we turned left and drove along the coast. There are a lot of cloudberries at Amunok.
The sight of a completely calm sea, the fish playing in it, the somersaults of aquatic animals, and the noise of the waves always breaking on the shallow shores gave me such pleasure that I cannot describe it. It seemed to me that all my troubles had passed, and I came to my element. The immensity of the Ocean, which I will soon have to sail across, despising all the fury of the waves, instilled in me such pleasure, that I was ready to set sail at that very moment.
The city of Okhotsk is located ten versts from Amunok. Riding up to it, one first begins to see the church and the bell tower; and then the whole city, into which we drove at 6 o'clock in the afternoon.
In the next installment: Chapter III of Davydov’s narrative begins. Davydov’s pleasure at finally reaching the sea, which he regards as his own element, fades a bit as he and Khvostov look over the ship and the crew they have been assigned. But they do make it to sea, even if it takes them a week to find a combination of wind, tide, current, and sailing capability that allows them to leave the harbor.