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 being 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 delight was tremendous when I 
also gave her a pair of woollen stockings.’ 
