Between  the  Yenesei  and  the  Lena  rivers  in  the  north,  and  along  the,
northern  slopes  of  the  Alta  Mountains  to  the  Sea  of  Okhotsk,  in  the
south,  dwell  the  Tungooses.  They  may  be  said  to  occupy  most  of  South-
eastern Siberia.  Of  the  tribes  of  Siberia  they  are  among  the  most  inde-
pendent and  hardy,  and  for  centuries  gave  China  no  end  of  trouble  ;  a
branch  of  their  race,  in  fact,  are  rulers  of  that  great  empire.  A  thousand
years  before  Christ's  time  these  people,  whom  the  Chinese  called  Tung-
hoo  (Eastern  barbarians),  were  living  in  the  forests  and  mountains
north  of  the  Celestial   Empire,  feeding  and  eating  their  swine  ;  greasing


THEIR    FOREFATHERS.  355

Aeir  bodies  in  winter,  the  better  to  repel  the  severe  cold  ;  in  summer
going  virtually  naked  ;  covering  themselves  with  hogs'  skins  when  forced
to  wear  a  little  clothing  ;  dwelling  in  subterranean  caverns,  deep  or  shallow,
according  to  the  standing  of  the  dweller  as  a  member  of  the  tribe;
stamping  with  their  feet  upon  the  meat  to  make  it  tender,  and  sitting
upon  it  to  thaw  it  out  ;  burying  their  dead  at  once,  and  sacrificing  a  hog
to  the  manes  ;  or  using  the  corpses  as  a  bait  for  martens,  thus  gathering
many  soft  and  beautiful  furs — a  terror  to  their  savage  neighbors,  and  a
menace  even  to  the  Empire  of  China.  But  for  more  than  a  millen-
nium the  barbarians  and  the  Celestials  had  intercourse  with  each  other,
the  Tungooses  sending,  now  and  then,  tributes  of  arrow  heads,  bows,
cuirasses  and  marten  skins  as  evidences  of  their  friendship  and  depend-
ency. China  was  busy  gathering  into  her  embrace  the  Mongols  and
Tartars  who  surrounded  her,  and  about  twelve  hundred  years  ago  suc-
ceeded in  uniting  the  hordes  or  tribes  of  her  barbarous  neighbor  into
one  nation.  But  it  afterwards  slipped  from  her  control,  and  as  an  inde-
pendent kingdom,  extended  its  sway  over  part  of  Corea.  Now  subject
to  China,  now  to  Kussia  now  independent,  the  Tungooses  got  so  that
they  could  read,  fatten  cattle,  work  in  iron,  build  fortified  cities,  cultivate
silk  and  hemp,  and  continued  industriously  in  the  ways  of  war.
