Endnotes
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The Spirit of the Woods. —A. D. ↩
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On Easter night a part of the ceremony of the Greek Church consists in the carrying of crosses and banners by the clergy around the outside of the church, in commemoration of the seeking of the body of Christ by Joseph of Arimathea. —A. D. ↩
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Siberian hut. Many of the Russian exiles adopt the winter expedients of the Yakuts or inhabitants of Yakutsk. —A. D. ↩
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Elder of convict unions. —A. D. ↩
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“Vagrant,” or “vagabond” is the name given to escaped convicts who “tramp” their way through Siberia back to Europe. —A. D. ↩
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A pood, or pud, is thirty-six pounds avoirdupois. —A. D. ↩
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A tributary of the Lena. —A. D. ↩
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To “make a cover” means, in the convict dialect, to kill a man inside the prison-walls. A long, loose coat worn by the convicts is generally thrown over the head of the victim, in order to deaden his cries. This is called “making a cover.” —V. K. ↩
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A Russian proverb. —A. D. ↩
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Peril. —A. D. ↩
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About three-quarters of a yard. —A. D. ↩
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Russian proverb. —A. D. ↩
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To wish one a long life means that the person from whom the wish is supposed to come is dead. —A. D. ↩
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The district chief of police. —A. D. ↩
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A “Free Company” is composed of convicts who have served their sentence. They no longer live in prison, but are quartered in the town, though both their labor and their persons are still under a certain control, and they are subjected to rules and regulations. —V. K. ↩
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By the Réaumur thermometer, used throughout Russia. —A. D. ↩
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A Tartar headdress. —V. K. ↩
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Liquor traffic is strictly forbidden at the goldmines or in their immediate vicinity; consequently, about the tributaries of the Lena, where the mines are situated, an unlawful business has sprung up, that of carrying spirits to the miners, who exchange for it gold. This is dangerous traffic, for, if caught, one is sentenced to hard labor, and, in this locality, it is carried on under many and great difficulties. Some carriers perish in the forest from privations, some are shot down by Cossacks, others die by the hands of their own comrades; but, to compensate for all this, the profit is enormous, much more than a man could make by mining. —V. K. ↩
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A team with three horses harnessed abreast. —A. D. ↩
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A long, open cart without springs. —A. D. ↩
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An instrument resembling a three-stringed lute. —A. D. ↩
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A covered vehicle used in Siberia. —A. D. ↩
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A diminutive of Constantine. —A. D. ↩
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Name given to drivers of private conveyances in Siberia. —A. D. ↩
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A religious sect of vegetarians. —A. D. ↩
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A wooden arch that rises over the head of the middle horse, and to which a bell is fastened. —A. D. ↩
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Believers of the Old Faith. —A. D. ↩
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Chief of police of a district. —A. D. ↩
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A two-wheeled vehicle. —A. D. ↩
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The rural authorities. —A. D. ↩
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One of the inferior village authorities. —A. D. ↩
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Village commune. —A. D. ↩
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A sazhén is about seven feet. —A. D. ↩
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A poor quality of Russian tobacco. —A. D. ↩
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Village policeman. —A. D. ↩
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A local name for the formerly famous fairs in Kiev. —A. D. ↩
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“Lady,” “madam,”—a word used in Poland and in the southwest of Russia. —A. D. ↩
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“Gentlemen.” —A. D. ↩
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Volynia, a province of Russia. —A. D. ↩
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In Little Russia, high posts with old wheels fastened to the top are put up for the storks, and upon these the bird weaves its nest. —A. D. ↩
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Diminutive of Peter. —A. D. ↩
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Nickname for Little Russian. —A. D. ↩
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Diminutive of Peter. —A. D. ↩
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Diminutive of Peter. —A. D. ↩
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A famous leader of Cossacks. —A. D. ↩
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A corruption of Fèydor: Theodore. —A. D. ↩
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The system of leasing estates is quite prevalent in the southeast of Russia. The lessee, known by the local term “possessor,” governs the estate. He pays a certain sum to the owners, and the income derived therefrom depends upon his own enterprise. —A. D. ↩
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This wax taper is lighted during severe thunderstorms, and is also placed in the hands of dying people. —A. D. ↩
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Blind people seldom have blind children. —A. D. ↩
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Sleeveless coats. —A. D. ↩
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A meditation in the form of a song. —A. D. ↩
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Musical instrument, resembling a lute. —A. D. ↩
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The author, evidently meant his Urmánov to be a Revolutionist, a “Nihilist,” a Russian patriot in a word. The Samoyédes are put in simply to mislead the censorship. —S. S. & W. W. ↩
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The letters, given in the original in Church Slavonic, are omitted in the translation. —The Russian Review ↩
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Mahorka: a very cheap smoking mixture made from the stems of tobacco. —M. F. ↩
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Toyon: Chief. —M. F. ↩
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The Polyesie (The Woods), a district in southwestern or Little Russia. —M. F. ↩
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Bandura, an ancient oriental musical instrument of the lute family. —M. F. ↩
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The Little Russians shave their heads bare, leaving only a long tuft of hair in the middle. —M. F. ↩
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Gorelka: corn-whiskey. —M. F. ↩
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An interwoven mass of the stems of herbaceous plants often met with on the steppes of Russia. —M. F. ↩
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Ten days after the Jewish New Year, which is celebrated in the early Autumn, comes Yom Kippur, or the day of Purification, called by the peasants of Little Russia the “Day of Atonement.” A superstition exists among them that on this day the Jewish Devil Khapun (the Snatcher) carries off one Jew each year out of the Synagogue. This superstition probably had its origin in the extremely impressive ceremonies which the Jews carry out at this season with extraordinary zeal under the eyes of the Christian village population. —M. F. ↩
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Kvass: a foamy, fermented drink, made of brown flour and hops. —M. F. ↩
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Cakes. —C. M. ↩
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Swamp Street. —C. M. ↩
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Guards. —C. M. ↩