Then he would lay
the blame of the bear's death on the Russians, and bid the beast
wreak his wrath upon them. Also he would ask the bear to inform the
other bears how well he had been treated, that they too might come
without fear. Seals, sea-lions, and other animals were treated by
the Kamtchatkans with the same ceremonious respect. Moreover, they
used to insert sprigs of a plant resembling bear's wort in the
mouths of the animals they killed; after which they would exhort the
grinning skulls to have no fear but to go and tell it to their
fellows, that they also might come and be caught and so partake of
this splendid hospitality. When the Ostiaks have hunted and killed a
bear, they cut off its head and hang it on a tree. Then they gather
round in a circle and pay it divine honours. Next they run towards
the carcase uttering lamentations and saying, "Who killed you? It
was the Russians. Who cut off your head? It was a Russian axe. Who
skinned you? It was a knife made by a Russian." They explain, too,
that the feathers which sped the arrow on its flight came from the
wing of a strange bird, and that they did nothing but let the arrow
go.
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