Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XIII. From Yakutsk to the Lower Lena
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is enthroned in eternal light. He is perfect and good, or
rather is exalted above both good and evil, and seems to
meddle very little with the affairs of the universe, caring
therefore neither for sacrifices nor for prayers. In the fifth
(or ninth) layer of the lower world the fearful Erlik Khan,
the Prince of Darkness, sits on a black throne, surrounded
by a court of evil spirits and genii. The intermediate layers
are the abode of divinities and spirits of different degrees
of light and darkness. Most of these are the spirits of
deceased men. All spirits exert influence on the destiny
of man either for good or for evil. The children of men
are unable to soften or to subdue these spiritual beings,
whence the necessity of Shamans, who alone possess power
over the spiritual world.
The first real settlement we came to was Schigansk,
situated about 700 miles north of Yakutsk, on the left
bank of the Lena, at the mouth of its tributary the
Strekàlovka. This place, now only consisting of a church served
by a "pope” and his lay helper, and four yurtas with a
couple of native families, was once the centre of
administration and trade in the immense district of Schigansk
(“Schigansky Ulus”), comprising the area between Lat. 65°
and 73° N. and Long. 127° and 148° E. According to
tradition, a band of robbers attacked the place some 80 years
ago and slaughtered nearly all its inhabitants. Those who
escaped fled down the river and founded the new
settlement of Bulun, 500 miles to the north, and this latter
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