TO THE HOLY HILLS 349 
taking with the di-zha those the Samoyeds did not shoot. 
The Russians are far superior to the Samoyeds at this 
game. The Samoyeds use an underhand toss, but the 
Russians throw overhand in cow-boy fashion. It is a 
queer picture. You have the big herd divided into two, 
a constant stream of cows and calves bolting from one 
side to the other. The Samoyeds are squatting here 
and there on one knee with their old flintlocks, and the 
Russians creeping low about with the di-zha ready 
coiled. The dogs bark, the cows and calves call or grunt 
incessantly to one another, the cows always trying to 
screen the calves by keeping them close at their side. 
Every now and then a calf goes down, and the mother 
stops for a moment smelling it and grunting, but the 
calf makes no response, and she is soon hurried on by 
the press. She will come back there presently and try 
to move it with her head, and finding it does not stir she 
stands over it for a moment or two, a sad picture of wild 
sorrow, and then walks slowly away, stopping at every few 
steps to call it on. At first the deer keep breaking and 
trying to bolt, but, being always headed by the dogs, give 
it up as hopeless. All the same, every now and then a 
few will get together and creep off. If they manage to 
get a hundred yards without being noticed they then stop, 
lay their horns right back on their shoulders, break into a 
swinging trot, and then into a gallop. When they mean 
going like this they sometimes succeed in getting clear 
off; and they would always, if they could only keep a 
