370 Sir R. Schomburgk on the Natives of Guiana, 



are pyramidal huts made of boards, and covered with graSS 

 and mudi 



The tents of the Samoiedes are made of pieces of bark, 

 covered with reindeer skin, and are made of a pyramidal form. 



The description which the author of the Neue Nackrichten 

 gives of the appearance of the Samoiedes holds good in many 

 respects, if compared with the Guiana Indians ; but nothing 

 has struck me more forcibly than the observation, that the 

 females are often mothers at the age of ten or twelve years, 

 and cease to bear children at thirty. 



The Indians of Guiana obtain their wives by purchase) or 

 by a three or four years' labour, if they do not possess the 

 required purchase-money. Early engagements, therefore, take 

 place, and the boy or young man is permitted to pay visits to 

 his intended in the interval till marriage takes place. 



Erman was told by an old Yakuti, that among the northern 

 families of his tribe, who were not converted to Christianity, 

 polygamy was still prevailing, and that the men purchase 

 their brides, for a sum of money which is called Koliiim ; but 

 as frequently the family of the young man was not able to pay 

 the whole sum at once, they were betrothed at an early period, 

 to afford time to pay the sum by instalments, and during 

 which period the young man was permitted to visit his bride. 



According to Erman, the language of the Yakutes pre- 

 serves the inflection of adjectives through case and gender, 

 a peculiarity which is worthy of consideration. This travel- 

 ler's observations with regard to their national songs and mu- 

 siC) refer likewise to the Indians of Guiana ; their song con- 

 sists only of a few notesj and the theme is constantly repeated 

 in short phrases, inspired at the moment, or caused by events 

 known to the singers. These songs are plaintive, and more 

 like a dirge than the effusion of a joyful spirit. 



The similarity in manners and customs between the Yaku- 

 tes and Samoiedes and the Indians of Guiana, cannot be called 

 accidental coincidences, and urge us to inquire, whether ad- 

 ditional confirmatory proofs can be discovered of these tribes 

 being of a common origin. 



But this similarity in manners, &c., does not refer solely to 

 the Yakutes and Samoiedes ; it may be traced through all 



