Lucky or unlucky days are carefully observed by the Kalmucks. If one of the common people dies on a lucky day, he is buried, almost in the same way as among ourselves, and a small banner with a sort of epitaph is planted on his grave. On the contrary, if he dies on an unlucky day his body is laid on the ground, covered only with a felt or a mat, and the performance of his obsequies is left to carrion beasts and birds. In this case the relations or friends of the deceased watch to see by what kind of creature the corpse is first attacked, and from that fact they draw inferences as to how the soul fares in the other world. The rule is different with regard to princes, whose bodies are never exposed above ground. If they die on an unlucky day they are buried; otherwise they are burned with great pomp, and on the spot where they have expired a small chapel is erected, in which their ashes are deposited. The priests are still better off than the princes: die when they will they are always granted the honours of burning, provided they have had some reputation for sanctity in their lifetime; and their ashes are moulded into a little statue which is carried with great pomp to one of those small temples, called satzas, of which I have already spoken. The Kalmucks who greatly venerate the tombs of their priests, try as much as possible to keep the lamp in each of them perpetually burning. If it goes out, the first person who passes that way is bound to relight it.
The habits of private life among the Kalmucks are of course in accordance with their state of civilisation and religious belief, and are strongly marked by all their gross superstitions. Yet certain of their customs are serious and affecting, and cannot fail to make an impression on the traveller. Others are curious for their patriarchal simplicity. When a woman is in labour, one or more priests are sent for, and whilst the husband runs round the tent with a big stick to drive away the evil spirits, the ghelungs stand at the door reciting prayers, and invoking the favour of the deity on the child about to be born. When the babe is come into the world, one of the relations goes out of the tent, and gives it the name of the first object he sees. This is the practice among all classes. I have known a prince Little Dog, and other individuals bearing the most whimsical names. The women remain veiled for many days after their delivery, and a certain time must elapse before they can be present at the religious ceremonies.
The customs observed in marriages are more interesting, particularly when the young couple belong to the aristocracy. The preliminaries consist in stipulating the amount in horses, camels, and money, which the bridegroom is to pay to the bride's father; this being settled the young man sets out on horseback, accompanied by the chief nobles of his oulousse, to carry off his bride. A sham resistance is always made by the people of her camp, in spite of which she fails not to be borne away on a richly caparisoned horse, with loud shouts and feux de joie. When the party arrive at the spot where the kibitka of the new couple is to stand, and where the trivet supporting their great pot is already placed, the bride and bridegroom dismount, kneel down on carpets, and receive the benediction of their priests; then they rise, and, turning towards the sun, address their invocations aloud to the four elements. At this moment the horse on which the bride has been brought home is stripped of saddle and bridle, and turned loose for any one to catch and keep who can. The intention of this practice, which is observed only among the rich, is to signify to the bride that she is thenceforth to live only with her husband, and not think of returning to her parents. The setting up of the kibitka concludes the whole ceremony. The bride remains veiled until the tent is ready, and her husband taking off her veil, hands her into her new home. There is one curious incident in the marriages of the wealthy which deserves mention. The bride chooses a bridesmaid who accompanies her in her abduction; and when they come to the place for the kibitka, the bride throws her handkerchief among the men; whoever catches it must marry the bridesmaid. For a year after marriage the wife must confine herself to the tent, and during all that time can only receive visits on its threshold, even on the part of her parents. But when the year is out she is free to do just as she likes.
All marriages are not contracted in this peaceable manner among the Kalmucks. When the relations cannot agree on the terms, which is no unusual case, the question is very often settled by force. If the young man is really enamoured he calls together his comrades and by force or cunning carries off the girl, who, after she has once entered his tent, cannot under any pretext be reclaimed by her parents.
Lamism seems in the beginning to have forbidden polygamy and divorce, but these prohibitions have long become obsolete, and both practices are now legalised among all the Kalmucks. In case of infidelity on the wife's part, the repudiation takes place publicly, if the husband requires it. The most broken down horse that can be found is brought out, its tail is cut off, the guilty woman is mounted on its bare back, and hooted out of the oulousse. But these scenes occur very rarely; for the offended husband usually contents himself with sending his wife away privately, after giving her a few head of cattle for her support. The Kalmucks of the Caspian indulge very seldom in polygamy; indeed I never heard of more than one individual who had two wives. The condition of women among them is very different from what prevails in Turkey and great part of Asia; the restrictions of the harem are unknown, and both wives and maids enjoy the greatest independence, and may freely expose their faces to view on all occasions.
I have spoken of the efforts made by the Moravian brethren of Sarepta to convert the Kalmucks, and of the intolerant manner in which the Russian clergy put a stop to them. Though we are by no means partisans of spiritual missions, and are of opinion that the apostles of our day often do more harm than good, still we cannot but regret the decision adopted by the synod. By their position, their industry, the simplicity of their religious notions, and their knowledge of the country, the Moravians are most favourably circumstanced for effecting the civilisation and social improvement of the Kalmucks; and there are some men among them who really understand their task. Buddhism, as practised among the Kalmucks tends to cramp all intellectual growth. Consisting exclusively in gross and burlesque superstitions, though liberality and equality were its fundamental principles, that religion can now only serve to brutalise the people, and retain them under the yoke of a grasping and fraudulent clergy. In this point of view a conversion to more rational doctrines would evidently be for the welfare of the Kalmucks; but the change should not be accomplished under the influence of so ignorant and superstitious a clergy as that of the Russian church; for it would be better to leave the Kalmucks to their old creed, and trust to time for their emancipation from the control of their priests. After all, the civilisation of these tribes is a difficult problem. Looking to the arid land in which they dwell, we must confess that it would be fatal to them were they subjected to our rules of life. I resided a considerable time among them, and inured myself in a great degree to their habits; and when on returning to our civilised towns, I was again a witness of the struggles, passions, vices, and evils that torment most of the nations of Europe, I could not but wish from my heart that the Kalmucks may long retain their native habits, and very long remain safe from that ambitious civilisation that gnaws the souls of the various classes of our populations.
Oubacha's emigration left the plains of the Ural unoccupied for many years, and it was not until the beginning of this century that some Khirghis tribes of the Little Horde entered on possession of them with the consent of the Russian government. Few at first, their numbers rapidly increased by new emigrations, and at last Russia conferred upon the Khirghis colony the entire and authenticated possession of about 7,075,700 hectares of land. More fortunate than the Kalmucks, this people still enjoys a certain degree of independence, in appearance at least if not in reality. They have their sovereign khan, pay no tax, and the only obligation imposed on them is to furnish a corps of cavalry in time of war.
It is hard to know exactly the number of these Khirghis. The Russian government is always solicitous to persuade the world of the prosperity of its subject peoples, and to this end it publishes very fallacious documents. Thus in a supplement to the journal of the ministry of the interior, August 30, 1841, the population of the horde is set down at 16,550 tents, whereas the real number is but 8000, as appears from an extract taken in my presence at Astrakhan from the official documents of the military governor. But as the editor of the St. Petersburg journal judiciously remarks, the tribe cannot but have augmented rapidly under the wise administration of Russia, and it is from his admiration for his government he deduces the best proof in support of his statistical statements. Such arguments have not much weight with us, and we even suspect that the number 8000 is an exaggeration, and that the Khirghis have remained faithful to Russia only because they cannot do otherwise, since the government has taken the precaution of imprisoning them between two lines of Cossacks, those of the Ural and the Volga. Besides, if I may judge from the facts communicated to me at Astrakhan, the immigration of the Khirghis was not so free as the government is pleased to proclaim it to have been. Both force and fraud were employed to make them settle in regions from which Russia derived no profit since the flight of the Kalmucks.
The Khirghis are nomades, living in felt tents, and employed in cattle rearing, like the Kalmucks. But they profess the Mahometan religion, belong evidently to the Turkish race, and have been from all time implacable foes to the Mongol hordes. Latterly, however, they appear to have lived in harmony with the Kalmucks of the Volga. Their khan often visits Prince Tumene, and in 1836 more than 2000 Khirghis encamped on the banks of the Volga, and took part in the grand entertainments given by the Kalmuck chief to the government authorities. But this state of peace is only the result of imperious necessity; if the hordes were independent, their old animosities would soon break out again.