470 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 19 3 



northern part of the Polar zone presents the tundra, as indicated 

 above. Most of the tundra is quite flat and damp, soaked with water 

 like a very sponge, and having a covering of vegetation, chiefly of 

 reindeer moss, which is a kind of lichen. Still there are other vari- 

 eties of tundra covering the lower hills and even a part of the moun- 

 tains. These hilly tundras are much drier than the flat country. 

 The tundra stretches are interrupted in some places with rugged 

 mountains, quite naked and desolate, which at certain points, come 

 into the sea, forming huge capes. These capes serve as landmarks 

 over the long extent of low, slimy seashore. Such are, for instance, 

 in Eurasia, North Cape and Cape Taimir, East Cape, Indian 

 Point, etc. 



Still, I should mention that all varieties of tundra and of barren 

 mountains do not belong to special localities in the west or in the 

 east. They are interchanging through the whole extent of the 

 Polar circle, appearing again and again in Europe, in Asia, and 

 in America, and some cultural phenomena appear in the same 

 way spot wise on the whole stretch of the Polar area ; for instance, 

 snow goggles and a special ring for protecting the hand against the 

 bowstring, etc., have various forms, but each of these forms appears 

 again and again in localities separated from each other by hundreds 

 and thousands of miles. 



The influence of these geographical conditions on human culture is 

 also very important. Let us take the question of communication. 

 In winter, throughout the north, communication is carried on with 

 sledges ; in summer, the southern hilly part of the zone presents diffi- 

 culties of communication almost insurmountable. The inhabitant? 

 chiefly various branches of Tungus, may wander around only on rein- 

 deer back or even afoot. 



In the northern part of the country, quite flat and covered with 

 a maze of rivers and lakes, all having connection, walking on foot is 

 quite impossible. The usual means of communication is the canoe of 

 varying make, a dugout or a combination of three thin planks, less 

 frequently a birch-bark affair — all these are propelled either by pad- 

 dling or by special poles thrust into the bottom of the stream, which 

 is usually shalloAV. The breaks between the w^aterways are narrow 

 and damp, so the paddler is able simply to push along the wet grass 

 from one watercourse into another. In this way it is possible to pass 

 over from one fluvial system into another even without leaving one's 

 canoe for a single moment. If you were to look on such tundra 

 country in the summer from an airplane, it would appear to be cov- 

 ered with an endless net of blue veins filled with water and combined 

 into one system. You could perhaps make a journey from the Obi 

 River to the Kolyma having on your feet only the so-called dry-land 

 boots, which are utterly unfit for walking in the water, and you would 



