A SUMMER ON THE YENESEI 277 



before the marriage service proper began. The couple 

 were supported on either side by two more half-breeds, 

 and all four bowed and crossed themselves continuously. 

 If they stopped for a moment, the pope broke off to 

 say, sotto voce, " Cross yourselves — cross yourselves." 

 We were, of course, not able to understand the prayers, but 

 presently the pope took two small ikons from the table, 

 and after blessing them, instructed the bridesmaids or 

 best men (I confess that their sexes puzzled me) to hold 

 the holy images in position on the foreheads of the 

 wedded pair. We found it difficult to keep our gravity 

 as we watched the attendants' efforts to support the 

 ikons at the proper angle during the ensuing genuflec- 

 tions. The ceremony concluded by a procession three 

 times round the table. The pope walked in front 

 chanting prayers, and the bride and bridegroom 

 followed him, while their supporters struggled after, still 

 holding the ikons upon their heads. As the ship was 

 rolling considerably, and the congregation were, many 

 of them, the worse for drink, the whole thing looked 

 much more like a football scrum than part of a religious 

 service. The proceedings concluded by both bride and 

 bridegroom kneeling down to touch the ground three 

 times with their forehead before the principal ikon. 

 The bride accomplished the feat successfully, but the 

 bridegroom was not so supple, and the pope paused to 

 admonish him contemptuously : 



" What sort of a Samoyede are you that you cannot 

 bow before the ikon ? " ^ 



^ On some parts of the Yenesei the name Samoyede is used as a term 

 of derision or reproach. 



