In the 1690s, smallpox epidemics reduced Yukagir numbers by an estimated 44 percent."[70] At the behest of people like Vasilii Poyarkov in 1645 and Yerofei Khabarov in 1650, Russian Cossacks killed some peoples like the Daur people of Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang to the extent that some authors speak of genocide.[71] The Daurs initially deserted their villages since they had heard about the cruelty of the Russians the first time Khabarov came.[72] The second time he came, the Daurs decided to do battle against the Russians instead, but were slaughtered by Russian guns.[73] The Russians came to be known as "red-beards".[74] The Amur natives called Russian Cossacks luocha (羅剎), after demons in Buddhist mythology, because of their cruelty towards the Amur tribespeople, who were subjects of the Qing.[75] The Qing viewed Russian proselytization of Eastern Orthodox Christianity to the indigenous peoples along the Amur River as a threat.[76]