CHAP. vi. SAMOYEDES. 57 



the rudiments of legs. They are no doubt the larvae of some 

 fly or beetle. Engel told us that they sometimes reached a 

 length of four inches or more. Some herds of reindeer are 

 perfectly free from these creatures, and others suffer very 

 much from them. 



The Samoyedes are acute and intelligent people, but on 

 the whole they are not so sharp-witted as the Eussians. 

 They are good-natured and harmless, except \yhen they are 

 drunk, then they become quarrelsome and dangerous. They 

 are passionately fond of vodka, a mild, and to us by no 

 means palatable spirit, distilled from barley, arid they easily 

 become intoxicated. In some places they distil an intoxi- 

 cating drink from mushrooms. If a drunken Samoyede 

 quarrels, and calls for help, the other Samoyedes will at once 

 help him. Engel's recipe for dealing with a dangerously 

 drunken Samoyede is to supply him with more drink, when 

 he speedily becomes maudlin and begins to sing. The 

 Samoyede women are generally betrothed very young, about 

 thirteen, and often have children at fourteen. Some Samo- 

 yedes have more than one wife, but this is very rare. The 

 race is no doubt slowly dying out, and is to some extent 

 becoming mixed. They are acquainted with the stars, and 

 use them as a compass ; but Engel told us of a very curious 

 circumstance which came under his observation when he was 

 brought across the tundra in the sledges of the Samoyedes. 

 In stormy weather, when it was impossible to determine 

 the direction, the Samoyede used to scrape away the snow 

 down to the moss, which he examined, and altered his 

 course accordingly. The Samoyedes do not live to be 



