In Some Form Of This Same Word, Nogait,
Ongot, Onggod, Ongotui, We Are, I Imagine, To Trace The Natigay Of
Polo.
The modern representative of this Shamanist Lar is still found
among the Buraets, and is thus described by Pallas under the name of
Immegiljin:
"He is honoured as the tutelary god of the sheep and other
cattle. Properly, the divinity consists of two figures, hanging side by
side, one of whom represents the god's wife. These two figures are merely
a pair of lanky flat bolsters with the upper part shaped into a round
disk, and the body hung with a long woolly fleece; eyes, nose, breasts,
and navel, being indicated by leather knobs stitched on. The male figure
commonly has at his girdle the foot-rope with which horses at pasture are
fettered, whilst the female, which is sometimes accompanied by smaller
figures representing her children, has all sorts of little nicknacks and
sewing implements." Galsang Czomboyef, a recent Russo-Mongol writer
already quoted, says also: "Among the Buryats, in the middle of the hut
and place of honour, is the Dsaiagachi or 'Chief Creator of Fortune.' At
the door is the Emelgelji, the Tutelary of the Herds and Young Cattle,
made of sheepskins. Outside the hut is the Chandaghatu, a name implying
that the idol was formed of a white hare-skin, the Tutelary of the Chase
and perhaps of War. All these have been expelled by Buddhism except
Dsaiagachi, who is called Tengri, and introduced among the Buddhist
divinities."
[Illustration: Tartar Idols and Kumis Churn.]
[Dorji Banzaroff, in his dissertation On the Black Religion, i.e.
Shamanism, 1846, "is disposed to see in Natigay of M. Polo, the Ytoga of
other travellers, i.e. the Mongol Etugen - 'earth,' as the object of
veneration of the Mongol Shamans. They look upon it as a divinity, for its
power as Delegei in echen, i.e. 'the Lord of Earth,' and on account of
its productiveness, Altan delegei, i.e. 'Golden Earth.'" Palladius (l.c.
pp. 14-16) adds one new variant to what the learned Colonel Yule has
collected and set forth with such precision, on the Shaman household gods.
"The Dahurs and Barhus have in their dwellings, according to the number of
the male members of the family, puppets made of straw, on which eyes,
eyebrows, and mouth are drawn; these puppets are dressed up to the waist.
When some one of the family dies, his puppet is taken out of the house,
and a new puppet is made for every newly-born member of the family. On New
Year's Day offerings are made to the puppets, and care is taken not to
disturb them (by moving them, etc.), in order to avoid bringing sickness
upon the family." (He lung kiang wai ki.)
(Cf. Rubruck, 58-59, and Mr. Rockhill's note, 59-60.) - H. C.]
NOTE 2. - KIMIZ or KUMIZ, the habitual drink of the Mongols, as it still is
of most of the nomads of Asia. It is thus made. Fresh mare's milk is put
in a well-seasoned bottle-necked vessel of horse-skin; a little kurut
(see note 5, ch. liv.) or some sour cow's milk is added; and when acetous
fermentation is commencing it is violently churned with a peculiar staff
which constantly stands in the vessel. This interrupts fermentation and
introduces a quantity of air into the liquid. It is customary for visitors
who may drop in to give a turn or two at the churn-stick. After three or
four days the drink is ready.
Kumiz keeps long; it is wonderfully tonic and nutritious, and it is said
that it has cured many persons threatened with consumption. The tribes
using it are said to be remarkably free from pulmonary disease; and indeed
I understand there is a regular Galactopathic establishment somewhere in
the province of Orenburg for treating pulmonary patients with Kumiz diet.
It has a peculiar fore- and after-taste which, it is said, everybody does
not like. Yet I have found no confession of a dislike to Kumiz. Rubruquis
tells us it is pungent on the tongue, like vinum raspei (vin rape of
the French), whilst you are drinking it, but leaves behind a pleasant
flavour like milk of almonds. It makes a man's inside feel very cosy, he
adds, even turning a weak head, and is strongly diuretic. To this last
statement, however, modern report is in direct contradiction. The Greeks
and other Oriental Christians considered it a sort of denial of the faith
to drink Kumiz. On the other hand, the Mahomedan converts from the nomad
tribes seem to have adhered to the use of Kumiz even when strict in
abstinence from wine; and it was indulged in by the early Mamelukes as a
public solemnity. Excess on such an occasion killed Bibars Bundukdari, who
was passionately fond of this liquor.
The intoxicating power of Kumiz varies according to the brew. The more
advanced is the vinous fermentation the less acid is the taste and the
more it sparkles. The effect, however, is always slight and transitory,
and leaves no unpleasant sensation, whilst it produces a strong tendency
to refreshing sleep. If its good qualities amount to half what are
ascribed to it by Dr. W. F. Dahl, from whom we derive some of these
particulars, it must be the pearl of all beverages. "With the nomads it is
the drink of all from the suckling upwards, it is the solace of age and
illness, and the greatest of treats to all!"
There was a special kind called Kara Kumiz, which is mentioned both by
Rubruquis and in the history of Wassaf. It seems to have been strained and
clarified. The modern Tartars distil a spirit from Kumiz of which Pallas
gives a detailed account. (Dahl, Ueber den Kumyss in Baer's Beitraege,
VII.; Lettres sur le Caucase et la Crimee, Paris, 1859, p. 81;
Makrizi, II. 147; J. As. XI. 160; Levchine, 322-323; Rubr.
227-228, 335; Gold.
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