London Labour and the London Poor, Vol. 4

by Henry Mayhew

Of Prostitution in Siberia.

From Russia the transition is natural to the contiguous and kindred region of Siberia. Thence we may, without any apology, extend our inquiries to the remotest north—for the Arctic countries do not present themselves with sufficient prominence to occupy a separate account, and to none could they be added as a supplement more fitly than to the snowy wilderness which spreads on one side to the shores of the Frozen Sea, and on the other to the frontiers of the Chinese Empire. It may appear anomalous to include any of these tracts under the head of civilized countries; but we place them as an appendage of Russia, to which, indeed, they form an appropriate companion.

The state of manners at which the population of these snowy tracts have arrived is extremely low. Nature has taught them many rude arts; but their civilization has not advanced far beyond its crudest elements. The severe rigours to which they are exposed have produced pressing wants, which they have ingenuity enough to satisfy, and further than this their education does not appear to go. They are rude, ignorant, and gross. Some remain with none but the faintest idea of a Deity; others preserve the ancient heathen belief of the Shamans; others have accepted a form of Christianity; but in few of them has a variation in their religious ideas resulted in a change of manners. In fact, the form, and not the spirit of our creed has been introduced among them.

Throughout the immense tracts of Siberia we find numerous tribes, and even nations, classed under various denominations; but all, in their general manners, very much resembling each other. The condition and character of the female sex among them is low; but it is not treated with that harshness or contumely which it experiences in some savage races. Although the rude Ostyak, for instance, considers his wife as no more than a domestic drudge, seldom thinks of giving her a cordial word, and loads her with tasks, he does not use her with positive severity. Among the Samoyedes, women are much less happy and more harshly treated. In the perpetual migrations of the tribes they are charged with the principal burdens, and drag after the men like a train of slaves. The wife is viewed as a necessary but almost disgusting appendage to a man’s household. She is regarded as unclean under many circumstances—especially childbirth, after which her husband will not approach her for two months. When about to be delivered she experiences, instead of the kind, considerate usage which some, even of the wildest savages pay to their women in such situations, a scorn and indignity to which, by long custom, she has thoroughly learned to bend.

In many parts of Siberia, however, a better prospect is presented, and the sexes appear more on an equality. Towards the centre, away from the sea on one hand, and Russia on the other, the tribes enjoy a very independent existence, being, indeed, the most free among the subjects of the Czar. In the winter time, when the rivers are completely frozen, the young girls assemble on their snowy borders, taking care to deck themselves out with every sort of finery they can procure. Their friends also congregate, forming groups, gossip, and enjoy themselves, while the youths mix with the maidens—each selecting the partner he likes the best. It is at this time of the year that the principal matches are arranged. In all parts it is customary to pay a certain amount to the girl’s parents to buy the privilege of marrying her. Should a man not be rich enough to offer the sum required, he hires himself to her father, who tasks him sometimes very heavily, and continues in servitude for three, five, seven, or ten years, according to the agreement made beforehand. At the end of that period he takes his bride, is redeemed from his servile condition, and enters the family with all the dignities and rights of a son-in-law.

Among the Ostyaks it is regarded as very disgraceful to marry a brother’s widow, a mother-in-law, or, indeed, any person connected in an ascending or descending line with the wife; but it is reckoned honourable to marry several sisters. The sister of a deceased wife is considered a particular acquisition, and, indeed, is attended with a solid advantage, for a man taking the second daughter of a house pays to her father a sum only equal to half of that which he paid for the first. No one can marry a person of the same family name; but this seems to apply to men alone, for a woman under this description who enters another household, and bears a daughter, may bestow her upon her brother. In a word, every union is lawful provided the father of the bridegroom and the father of the bride are of different families—though custom makes other distinctions, which are generally observed with as much strictness as those marked by the traditionary law.

When an Ostyak desires to marry he selects from among his companions or relatives a mediator. He then goes with a train of friends, as numerous as his influence enables him to collect, and stands before the door of the house in which the girl whom he has fixed upon resides. Her father easily guesses, on the arrival of such a cavalcade, what the object of it is, and consequently asks no questions, but invites the company in and welcomes them with a feast. Then, retiring with the mediator into another hut, he enters into a negotiation about the amount which he is to receive for his daughter. These things are quietly arranged, though the spirit of bargaining is generally active on both sides. It is not necessary to pay down the whole amount at once, but this must be done before the nuptials can take place. Sometimes, however, a man snatches away his bride before he has fully discharged his debt. In that case her father waits for an opportunity to seize her, carries her home, and keeps her in pledge until the amount be faithfully paid.

Similar customs prevail among the Samoyedes, who are polygamists, though they prefer the changing one wife for another, according to the changes in their inclination, to having two or three at once. The Tungueses, however, often keep as many as five, but even among them the majority of men marry no more than one at a time. They enter into matrimony at a very early age. It is common to see a husband fifteen years old, and a wife, or even a widow, of twelve. There is with them no feast or ceremony of any kind. The bargain is made and ratified, and the young couple proceed forthwith to their nuptial couch.

The Bulwattes, who are also polygamists, treat their women well. Among them one curious observance is,—that the consummation of every marriage must take place in a newly-built hut, where, as they say, no impure things can have been. This is, at any rate, a poetical and a somewhat refined idea. Certain feasts are essential before the union is contracted.

The Tchoutkas, beyond Nigri Kolinsk, have been baptized in large numbers. Their Christianity, however, does not incline them to remove polygamy, for they have in most cases a plurality of wives, whom they marry for a certain period—long or short, as circumstances may determine. It sometimes happens in one of these households that the wife obtains sufficient ascendancy over her husband to bind him to her, and a convention, intended from the first to be only temporary, becomes permanent. The woman who accomplishes this achievement is honoured by the rest of her sex, and is thenceforward supreme in the family. Generally speaking the women of this tribe are more happy and free than in any other part of Siberia.