78 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
During the comparatively idle time which intervened between 
the arrival at Ust-Zylma and the journey down the Petchora, 
Mr. Seebohm collected what information he could about that 
curious wandering race, the Samoyedes, and his book contains 
a very interesting account of them. He describes them as a 
Mongolian race of people of nomad habits. They live almost 
entirely upon Reindeer. In summer they live in tents made of 
birch-bark; in winter their tents or “‘chooms” are made of 
Reindeer-skins. Their dress also is made of Reindeer-skin 
neatly sewn together with the sinews of the same animal. The 
wealth of a Samoyede depends entirely on the number of his 
Reindeer; each knows his own by marks cut on the animals’ ears. 
In summer the Samoyedes live on the “ tundras,” some go to the 
Kanin Peninsula, some to the Timanski Tundra, or Malyazemlia, 
and others to the northern shores of the Great Tundra, the 
Bolshaizemlia of the Russians, the Arkya-ya of the Samoyedes. 
“These ‘tundras’ are bare tracts of slightly undulating land, rolling 
prairies of moor, swamp, and bog, full of lakes and abounding with reindeer- 
moss, upon which the Reindeer feed. In summer these ‘ tundras’ are quite 
impassable for horses, but the Reindeer, with their broad feet, will carry 
a sledge over places where it would be impossible for a man to stand.” 
This. was the ground which Messrs. Seebohm and Harvie 
Brown were anxious to explore, feeling sure that it would prove 
to be the nesting-place of some at least of the birds of which they 
were in search. 
Oologists are well aware of the great interest which attaches 
to the discovery of the eggs of such birds as the Grey Plover, the 
Knot, the Sanderling, the Curlew Sandpiper, and the Little Stint; 
and it was to these species above all others that our travellers 
determined, if possible, to direct their energy and observation. 
That they were not altogether disappointed we gather from the 
extremely interesting account which Mr. Seebohm has given of 
their discovery of the nests and eggs of the Grey Plover 
(pp. 199—205), the Little Stint (pp. 272—274), and Bewick’s 
Swan (pp. 196,197). We must not pick all the plums out of 
Mr. Seebohm’s book by giving extracts from these particular 
pages, but must allow the reader to experience the pleasure of 
perusing these pa sages in their entirety by referring him to the 
book itself. 
