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Page 26
* * * * *
Here ends the tale of the Kalmuck wanderings in the 10
Desert; for any subsequent marches which awaited them
were neither long nor painful. Every possible alleviation
and refreshment for their exhausted bodies had been
already provided by Kien Long with the most princely
munificence; and lands of great fertility were immediately 15
assigned to them in ample extent along the River Ily, not
very far from the point at which they had first emerged
from the wilderness of Kobi. But the beneficent attention
of the Chinese Emperor may be best stated in his own
words, as translated into French by one of the Jesuit 20
missionaries: "La nation des Torgotes (_savoir les Kalmuques_)
arriva � Ily, toute delabr�e, n'ayant ni de quoi
vivre, ni de quoi se v�tir. Je l'avais pr�vu; et j'avais
ordonn� de faire en tout genre les provisions n�cessaires
pour pouvoir les secourir promptement: c'est ce qui a �t� 25
ex�cut�. On a fait la division des terres: et on a assign�
� chaque famille une portion suffisante pour pouvoir servir
� son entretien, soit en la cultivant, soit en y nourissant
des bestiaux. On a donn� � chaque particulier des �toffes
pour l'habiller, des grains pour se nourrir pendant l'�space 30
d'une ann�e, des ustensiles pour le m�nage et d'autres
choses n�cessaires: et outre cela plusieurs onces d'argent,
pour se pourvoir de ce qu'on aurait pu oublier. On a
design� des lieux particuliers, fertiles en p�turages; et on
leur a donn� des boeufs, moutons, etc., pour qu'ils pussent
dans la suite travailler par eux-m�mes � leur entretien et
� leur bien-�tre."
These are the words of the Emperor himself, speaking 5
in his own person of his own paternal cares; but another
Chinese, treating the same subject, records the munificence
of this prince in terms which proclaim still more
forcibly the disinterested generosity which prompted, and
the delicate considerateness which conducted, this extensive 10
bounty. He has been speaking of the Kalmucks,
and he goes on thus:--"Lorsqu'ils arriv�rent sur nos
fronti�res (au nombre de plusieurs centaines de mille,
quoique la fatigue extr�me, la faim, la soif, et toutes les
autres incommodit�s ins�parables d'une tr�s-longue et 15
tr�s-p�nible route en eussent fait p�rir presque autant),
ils �taient r�duits � la derni�re mis�re; ils manquaient
de tout. Il" (viz. l'empereur, Kien Long) "leur fit pr�parer
des logemens conformes � leur mani�re de vivre;
il leur fit distribuer des alimens et des habits; il leur fit 20
donner des boeufs, des moutons, et des ustensiles, pour
les mettre en �tat de former des troupeaux et de cultiver
la terre, et tout cela � ses propres frais, qui se sont
mont�s � des sommes immenses, sans compter l'argent
qu'il a donn� � chaque chef-de-famille, pour pouvoir � la 25
subsistance de sa femme et de ses enfans."
Thus, after their memorable year of misery, the Kalmucks
were replaced in territorial possessions, and in
comfort equal, perhaps, or even superior, to that which
they had enjoyed in Russia, and with superior political 30
advantages. But, if equal or superior, their condition
was no longer the same; if not in degree, their social
prosperity had altered in quality; for, instead of being a
purely pastoral and vagrant people, they were now in
circumstances which obliged them to become essentially
dependent upon agriculture; and thus far raised in social
rank that, by the natural course of their habits and the
necessities of life, they were effectually reclaimed from
roving and from the savage customs connected with a half 5
nomadic life. They gained also in political privileges,
chiefly through the immunity from military service which
their new relations enabled them to obtain. These were
circumstances of advantage and gain. But one great
disadvantage there was, amply to overbalance all other 10
possible gain: the chances were lost, or were removed to
an incalculable distance, for their conversion to Christianity,
without which in these times there is no absolute
advance possible on the path of true civilization.
One word remains to be said upon the _personal_ interests 15
concerned in this great drama. The catastrophe in this
respect was remarkable and complete. Oubacha, with all
his goodness and incapacity of suspecting, had, since the
mysterious affair on the banks of the Torgau, felt his
mind alienated from his cousin; he revolted from the man 20
that would have murdered him; and he had displayed his
caution so visibly as to provoke a reaction in the bearing
of Zebek-Dorchi and a displeasure which all his dissimulation
could not hide. This had produced a feud, which,
by keeping them aloof, had probably saved the life of 25
Oubacha; for the friendship of Zebek-Dorchi was more
fatal than his open enmity. After the settlement on the
Ily this feud continued to advance, until it came under
the notice of the Emperor, on occasion of a visit which
all the Tartar chieftains made to his Majesty at his hunting 30
lodge in 1772. The Emperor informed himself accurately
of all the particulars connected with the transaction--of
all the rights and claims put forward--and of the
way in which they would severally affect the interests of
the Kalmuck people. The consequence was that he
adopted the cause of Oubacha, and repressed the pretensions
of Zebek-Dorchi, who, on his part, so deeply
resented this discountenance to his ambitious projects
that, in conjunction with other chiefs, he had the presumption 5
even to weave nets of treason against the Emperor
himself. Plots were laid, were detected, were baffled;
counter-plots were constructed upon the same basis,
and with the benefit of the opportunities thus offered.
Finally, Zebek-Dorchi was invited to the imperial lodge, 10
together with all his accomplices; and, under the skilful
management of the Chinese nobles in the Emperor's
establishment, the murderous artifices of these Tartar
chieftains were made to recoil upon themselves, and the
whole of them perished by assassination at a great imperial 15
banquet. For the Chinese morality is exactly of
that kind which approves in everything the _lex talionis_:
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