192 ERMINE HUNTERS OF SIBERIA. 



ever hear the expedient that the Hottentots have recourse to, 

 in order to allay the feeling of hunger? They tighten the 

 girdle which they wear round the waist, and this they term 

 " tightening the girdle of famine."* 



But that is not a singular instance of this means being em- 

 ployed. The ermine hunters of Siberia are said to undergo 

 most dreadful sufferings from hunger. It appears, that in 

 order to defend their provisions from wild beasts, and not 

 b^ing able to carry them along with them, they dig holes in 

 the ground, and bury them, at such stated distances as they 

 think they will require them. But sometimes these depots 

 are discovered and plundered by the bears; at others, they 

 do not reach their fresh supplies at the expected times. 

 To obviate the inconvenience which these accidents may 

 occasion, each hunter is furnished with two flat boards which 

 they attach round their waists, and which they tighten con- 

 siderably, in order to alleviate the gnawing sensations which 

 they experience. 



HENRIETTA. 



Poor creatures! 



MRS. F. 



Many of the wandering tribes subsist, during their passage 

 across the African desert, upon the gum of an acacia (Jl. vera. 

 Willdenow). 



ESTHER. 



That, I believe, is the same plant as that which produces 

 gum arabic; the finest of which i brought in caravans to 

 Cairo, by the Arabs who live round Mount Tor and Mount 

 f Sinai. 



MRS. F. 



The diet of the Tartars, when on a hasty march, is scanty 

 enough; for on sudden emergencies they provide themselves 



* Thomson's Travels in the Cape of Good Hope. 



