Originalbeschreibung (S. 168): "A TARANCHI."
Kontext (S. 162-173: Chapter XII ("The Province Of Semirechia (Continued)"), hier S. 168 f.: "But besides the Russian peasants who have become colonist by choice, and the Cossacks, who are sometimes made new colonists without their choice, here is a third class of settlers in Semirechia, – natives from the neighbouring countries, – who, sensible of the greater security to life and property, as well as lighter taxation, choose to be under the government of the Tsar rather than that of their Asiatic rulers. The Taranchis are a noticeable instance of this, and their treatment by the Russians presents many points of interest. During the civil wars of the Kuldja district in 1867 some hundreds of Taranchis crossed the Russian border for protection, to whom the authorities gave land as to their own colonists. One of the spots chosen for this purpose was the Sarkansky district, where some 800 took up their abode, each family receiving agricultural implements and seed, and £6 10s. in cash, with the result that, thanks to their semi-Chinese indusry and good tillage, they developed into a thriving colony. The Russians determined, moreover, to seek their intellectual and spiritual welfare. Taranchis, to the number of 800, were speedily baptized, and so became what the Russians call "converts"; not that they understood the new religion they had embraced, but professed to have done with Buddhism, and were willing to be instructed. Accordingly an association was formed in Vierny, called the Orthodox Christian Brotherhood,* and in 1868 a priest-schoolmaster sent to Sarkan. The priest's affairs, however, seem to have gone badly, for his miserably small stipend of £70 a year for some reason did not reach him, and he was well-nigh reduced to beggary. After establishing a school and a chapel he left, and was succeeded by another priest named Pokrovsky, who, in spite of many obstacles, was able to make some little headway. [...]"