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natives on the Taimyr are as yet not even nominally
Christians, and those that are supposed to belong to the
orthodox Church are still, at heart, Shamanists. The
missionaries, being desirous to report as many converts as
possible to the Holy Synod, give vodka, tobacco, etc. to
those natives that consent to be baptised. The consequence
is that many are baptised several times over in order to
get these presents.
The Samoyedes on the Taimyr are most faithful adherents
to the religion of their ancestors, and the great majority of
them are not, either by threats or gifts, persuaded to be
baptised. A somewhat rough people, they answer the
admonitions of the missionary in their language, whose accents
often remind the listener of the grunting of pigs and the
growling of bears: “Ugh! Ugh! Be baptised? And
why? The baptised people are the worst rascals on the
whole Taimyr? Ugh! Ugh! But give me a vedro of
vodka, and I will think about the matter. Ugh! ha-ha-ha!”
This answer, literally translated by myself from the
diary of a missionary, contains only too much truth. The
baptised natives are, as a rule, the least reliable people,
and by breaking up the old tribal organisations of the
natives, grown out of the experience of thousands of
years and working very well in their way, the kind of
missionary work carried on in these regions often does
more harm than good. The genuine pagans of northern
Siberia are, as a rule, much more real Christians in
their lives than “the baptised people”. This is
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