304 ICE-BOUND ON KOLGUEV 



' There was a very curious effect this evening, and a 

 beautiful picture as the moon rose ; for the moon was 

 huge and red and oval, all its mountains and hollows 

 sharply defined. In the foreground the tundra, with the 

 mist filling in all the hollows, and the reindeer just 

 visible as they walked off feeding to the skyline, com- 

 pleted a picture which I stood and admired long. My 

 wretched sketch gives no idea of it. Hyland shot a 

 titlark, one of a flock. 



' Old Ustynia has been very hard at work making a 

 bridal dress or panitsa for young Ustynia, for she is to 

 be married to On Tipa's eldest son. The dress was 

 constructed of many small bits of reindeer skin, stitched 

 together with sinew. The sinew is saved from the back 

 of the deer, hung up to dry ; it is afterwards torn in strips, 

 and each strand before beino- used is rolled between the 

 hands as cobblers at home roll their thread. The 

 women use sometimes a bone thimble on the thumb. 

 And they stitch outwards, that is to say, away from 

 themselves, as sailmakers do. They stitch very nearly 

 as quickly as Englishwomen, in spite of their contrary 

 way. Their needles, which they get from the Russians, 

 they keep with various odds and ends in prettily orna- 

 mented skin bags. 



' Old Ustynia begged two pieces of wire to-day for 

 knitting needles, and her delioht was tremendous when I 

 also gave her a pair of woollen stockings.' 



