300 ICE-BOUND ON KOLGUEV 



the tundra like some old badger. ' Troobka, troobka ' 

 (telescope), he shouted. ' Uano black, yes, Uano quite 

 black, yes, yes, no good.' 



Even then I could not form an idea as to his meaning. 

 With that he comes up, impatiently seizes my glass and 

 says, ' Now Ahnglia reindeer, yes, yes.' 



So off I went in turn at this strange game ; I was to 

 be the reindeer this time. Then he shouts, ' Reindeer 

 black, no good ; eyes no good, many tears. 1 Now rein- 

 deer white, good eyes, very good, yes, yes, laughter, 

 Verrmyah's adliurs. Yes, yes, reindeer come quick.' 



And then I saw it all, as of course you will by this 

 time. Translated it only means, ' White is a much 

 better colour to see than black. So white deer are an 

 advantage when Verrmyah goes out to find the deer.' 

 And this was quite true, for a grey reindeer is very hard 

 to see against the grey peat. 



Many other things Uano told me that day ; where the 

 fish were, and how the salmon trout only ran up two 

 rivers, the Gusina and the Kriva, to wit. He told me 

 that the Kriva rose in a big lake. The lake ('toh') he 

 called it. He told me of high mountains,' 2 so steep that 

 reindeer could not pull the sleighs up their sides. Many 

 things he told me, but one he would not tell. He would 

 not tell me where the brent geese bred. This was a 



1 This word ' yarrn-ga ' is literally tears. It is used to express the watering of the 

 eyes from the smoke of a wood fire, but also they use it to express any defect of sight. 

 So ' pisinga ' — laughter — is used for happiness or success. 



" Sowandeyi and Siecherhur. 



