64 TPIE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA. [chap. 



Russians call these idols 'bolvany.'^ Both the Russians and 

 Samoyeds are very tolerant in regard to matters of faith. The . 

 Russians, for instance, say that the Samoyeds attribute to their 

 ' bolvans ' the same importance which they themselves attach 

 to their sacred pictures, and find in this nothing objectionable. 

 The Samoyeds have songs and sagas, relating among other 

 things to their migrations. 



" The Samoyed has one or more wives ; even sisters may 

 marry the same man. Marriage is entered upon without 

 any solemnity. The wives are considered by the men as having 

 equal rights with themselves, and are treated accordingly, which 

 is very remarkable, as the Russians, like other Christian nations, 

 consider the woman as in certain respects inferior to the man." 



I visited the place for the first time in the beginning of 

 August, 1875. It was a Russian holiday, and, while still a 

 long way off at sea, we could see a large number of Russians 

 and Samoyeds standing in groups on the beach. Coming 

 nearer we found them engaged in playing various different 

 games, and though it was the first time in tlie memory of 

 man that European gentlemen had visited their " town," they 

 scarcely allowed themselves to be more disturbed in their occu- 

 pation than if some stranger Samoyeds had suddenly joined 

 their company. Some stood in a circle and by turns threw a 

 piece of iron, shaped somewhat like a marlinspike, to the 

 ground ; the art consisting in getting the sharp end to strike it 

 just in front of rings placed on the ground, in such a way that 

 the piece of iron remained standing. Others were engaged in 

 playing a game resembling our nine-pins ; others, again, in 

 wrestling, &c. The Russians and Samoyeds played with each 

 other without distinction. The Samoyeds, small of stature, 

 dirty, with matted, unkempt hair, were clad in dirty summer 

 clothes of skin, sometimes with a showy-coloured cotton shirt 

 drawn over them ; the Russians (jirobably originally of the 

 Finnish race and descendants of the old Beormas) tall, well- 

 grown, with long hair shining with oil, ornamentally parted, 

 combed, and frizzled, and held together by a head band, or 

 covered with a cap resembling that shown in the accompanying 

 woodcut, were clad in long variegated blouses, or " mekkor," 

 fastened at the waist with a belt. Notwithstanding the feigned 

 indifference shown at first, which was evidently considered good 

 manners, we Avere received in a friendly way. We Avere first 

 invited to try our luck and skill in the game in turn with the 

 rest, when it soon appeared, to the no small gratification of our 



■^ This name, wliicli properly denotes a coarse likeness, lias passed into 

 the Swedish, the word hidvan being one of the few which that language 

 has borrowed from the Eussian. 



