THE SAMOYEDES 17 



obtained respecting this curious race of people was that 

 which we got from the Samoyedes themselves. We had 

 our first glimpse of them — it was little more than a glimpse 

 — at St. Petersburg, where we found a single choom erected 

 on the ice of the Neva. These were probably poor 

 Samoyedes, owning only a few reindeer, and earning a 

 scanty living during the long winter by selling various 

 articles made from the skins and horns of these deer, and 

 picking up a few kopecks by giving curious strangers a 

 ride in their national sledges. 



Near the villages round Archangel there were several 

 Samoyede chooms. Two or more families were wintering 

 about fifteen versts from Archangel, and came almost 

 every day in their sledges to the town. On one of our 

 shooting excursions we chartered a couple of these 

 sledges to take us to an island on the Dvina, and 

 thoroughly enjoyed this novel mode of travelling. The 

 reindeer were very tractable, and we skimmed over the 

 surface of the snow at a rapid pace. We had long 

 conversations with several Samoyedes, the Consul, of 

 course, acting as interpreter, and we invited them 

 to the Consul's house, where they gave us freely 

 all the information they could respecting themselves 

 and the traditions of their race. They spoke Russian 

 well and were by no means devoid of intelligence. 

 They were all small men, with dark straight hair 

 worn hanging over the forehead, thin moustache and 

 beard, and little or no whiskers. Their features were 

 irregular, with wide fiat noses, high cheek-bones, and 

 thick lips. The under jaw was coarse and heavy, the 

 eyes brown, small, and oblique like those of the Chinese, 

 and not unfrequently sore. They had small hands 

 and feet, wide round heads, and sallow complexions. 

 We took some of them to the museum, where they 



B 



