CHAPTER I 



RE-CROSSING 



June 2,0th. — We were now in — though we did not 

 know it — for more than a three months' stay with the 

 Samoyeds. 



When I actually came to live among the Samoyeds 

 and to see all their manner of living, I found all so dif- 

 ferent in many ways from the books, that I think a good 

 deal that has been written must have been taken at 

 second-hand. 



It is possible of course that I have — nay, I must have 

 made some mistakes as to meanings and significances — 

 they are always hard to be sure about — but facts are facts. 

 And you will have them here at all events, in an accurate 

 record of our life among these interesting people as we 

 knew them. 



You know what winter hop-poles look like when 

 stacked ready for putting out. Well, cover them round 

 with birch bark and you have in appearance the outside 

 of a choom. 



The word 'choom,' or tsckumen, as I have seen it spelt, 

 is of course a Russian word. The Samoyeds name for 

 his dwelling is ' mya.' 



The ' mya ' in which we found ourselves was built of 



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