PESANKA TO SCHAROK 185 



' toors ' (driving rods), and sprang from the sleighs. 

 ' Scharok, Scharok,' they cried together — ' Sarco in the 

 Samoyed — in the Samoyed Sarco.' They always put 

 everything twice like this, for fear that I should miss it. 

 For after they found that I wrote down their words, and 

 used to try and use them, they were at the greatest pains 

 to teach me all they could. 



And then they snuffed and the reindeer fed. The 

 ground was well lichened, and the deer were just half 

 an hour feeding steadily before they raised their heads. 

 Then within a minute or two of each other every head 

 was up. But we left them no time for rumination, for 

 again we moved off. 



And then we took to the snow at the sides of the mud 

 creeks, and then to the mud itself, on which the sleighs 

 ran very well. 



Splish, splosh went the feet of the deer, squirting up 

 unsavoury mud which the tide had left. It was red at 

 the top, but below this crust was lying liquid and 

 black. 



At last we came on the huts — ' isba ' and ' ombara ' — 

 sleeping -huts and storage -huts. All were deserted. 

 One of them, Uano said, was his. ' Have you no boat 

 of any kind ? ' I asked. ' Yes,' he said, there was a boat, 

 but it wanted doing up. It was lying up among the 

 sheds, but we hauled it into a handier position, nearer to 

 the sea ; for I meant to use that boat. Then I pitched 

 the tent, and gave the men some tea, and just before 



