RE-CROSSING 141 



These women, and all we saw afterwards, had a 

 curious characteristic posture, in which they seemed as 

 though looking for lost money. They would walk 

 about and stand for long at a time with their elbows on 

 their knees, which are unbent, and their shoulders lower 

 than the level of their backs. This I found it not pos- 

 sible to imitate. I used to think they looked like fighting 

 fowls, or, as Hyland better suggested, like peewits when 

 anxious about their nests. Possibly this attitude has 

 been derived from stooping under the rail where the pot 

 hangs, and from the necessity of avoiding the smoke. 



Now when luncheon was past we thought of travelling 

 ofif. On emerging from the choom we found one sleigh 

 ready waiting, to which were harnessed five fine deer. 

 It was a very small light sleigh, called 'adliurs,' to dis- 

 tinguish it from 'han,' the ordinary travelling sleigh. 

 ' Adliurgo ' in the Samoyed means ' rapidly away,' and 

 these small sleighs form, so to say, the Samoyed express. 



On to the adliurs got Mekolka and drove off. I under- 

 stood that he had gone for more deer. 



Now you may wonder how I came to understand what 

 was said to us, or to communicate in turn. I must 

 explain that on a previous voyage I had learnt a little 

 rough Russian, and in the meantime had improved my- 

 self by study. And although the Samoyed pronuncia- 

 tion was very different from the Russian, worse even 

 than the Russian of Arctic Russia (which is saying much), 

 still I understood some. Also, as my habit is, from the 



