CUSTOMS OF THE NATIVES 437 



relates to the weather, or to success in catching fish, or 

 trapping or shooting foxes, etc. No other use is appa- 

 rently made of these idols. This superstition seems to be 

 common to all the Asiatic tribes of Siberia, and I could 

 not discover that they had any other religion, beyond a 

 hazy notion of the existence of a Good Spirit and of 

 happy hunting-grounds. 



As we discussed these customs of the natives we 

 were steaming up the river with a slight head wind and 

 a cloudy sky. We had drifted into keeping curious 

 hours. We rose at noon and took a cup of tea together; 

 at 4 P.M. we had a substantial breakfast, followed by a 

 cup of tea at eight. At midnight we dined, and at 3 a.m. 

 we had again a cup of tea, and turned in soon afterwards 

 for the night. 



From day to day I lost no opportunity of obtaining 

 scraps of information from Uleman about the natives. 

 It seems that there are few, if any ceremonies observed 

 with regard to marriage. The chief point to be settled 

 is the number of reindeer the bridegroom will give to the 

 father of the bride in exchange for his daughter. Those 

 natives who have been baptized have only one wife, but 

 the others sometimes have two, and, if they be rich, 

 even three. The wives of the natives are said to be 

 always faithful to their husbands. There is more cere- 

 mony observed in the funerals. Those who are not 

 baptized do not bury their dead. The dead man is laid 

 out upon the tundra in his best clothes, his bow and 

 arrows, his knife, and other personal effects being placed 

 around him. Some of the fleetest reindeer that belonged 

 to him in life are killed and left by the corpse ; bread 

 and fish are also laid near, so that in the next world he 

 may arrive provided with the necessaries of life. The 

 principal diseases from which the natives suffer are 



