126 SIBERIA IN EUROPE. chak xii. 



called a teen-zay', and the bone noose through which it runs 

 is the sah'-mih. The tent or choom is the mydh'-kan, and a 

 dog is called a vo-i-nye-ko. The Samoyede who gave us 

 this information was one of the poorer men of his tribe. All 

 the richer families had migrated north with their herds^of 

 reindeer before the snow had melted. The poorer families 

 remained behind, hanging on to the skirts of the Russians, 

 helping them with their fishing, and receiving for pay such 

 food as their employers chose to give them. One cannot 

 help pitying these poor people. Their nation is gradually 

 dying out. Like the North American Indians, they are 

 doomed to destruction, for, like them, they cannot refuse 

 spirits. In the struggle for existence they have no chance 

 with the cunning Eussian, who in all matters of business 

 has no more conscience than a Greek or a Jew. 



During this time the birds were few. On the 27th we 

 took a walk in the forest, and the only ones that were singing 

 were the willow warblers ; an occasional pine grosbeak break- 

 ing in now and then. We secured, however, a pair of 

 bramblings out of a flock. We shot a blue-throated warbler, 

 a yellow-hammer, a female reed-bunting, a Siberian jay, a 

 stonechat, and a red-throated pipit, and out of a number we 

 brought down a brace of golden plover. We saw a solitary 

 shore-lark, a gull (apparently the common species), and a 

 fine male bullfinch. In the town we got a couple of wood- 

 sandpipers ; then the green wagtails were common, and we 

 came upon a large party of Lapland buntings, all apparently 

 females. In the evening the wind dropped, and a sharp 

 frost set in. At midnight, when we went to bed, the 



