180 



THE POLAR WORLD. 



ing his favor, they never think of offering him either prayer or sacrifice. But, 

 besides Nam, there are a great many inferior spirits, or idols, who directly in- 

 terfere in human concerns — capricious beings, who allow themselves to be in- 

 fluenced by offerings, or yield to magical incantations ; and to these, therefore, 

 the Samoiede has recourse when he feels the necessity of invoking the aid or 

 averting the wrath of a higher Power. 



The chief of all Samoiede idols is in the island of Waygatz — a cold and mel- 

 ancholy Delos — where it was already found by old Barentz. This idol is a mere 

 block of stone, with its head tapering to a point. It has thus been fashioned, 

 not by a mortal artist, but by a play of nature. After this original the Samo- 

 iedes have formed many idols of stone or wood of various sizes, which they call 

 " Sjadsei," from their possessing a human physiognomy {sja). These idols they 

 dress in reindeer skins, and ornament them with all sorts of colored rags. But 

 a resemblance to the human form is not the necessary attribute of a Samoiede 

 idol ; any irregularly-shaped stone or tree may be thus distinguished. If the 

 object is small, the savage carries it everywhere about with him, carefully wrap- 

 ped up ; if too cumbersome to be transported, it is reserved as a kind of nation- 

 al deity. As with the Ostiaks, each Samoiede tribe has in its train a peculiar 

 sledge — the Hahengan — in which the household idols (or Hahe) are placed. 

 One of these Penates protects the reindeer, another watches over the health of 

 his worshippers, a third is the guardian of their connubial happiness, a fourth 

 takes care to fill their nets with fish. Whenever his services are required, the 

 Hahe is taken from his repository, and erected in the tent or on the pasture- 

 ground, in the wood or on the river's bank. His mouth is then smeared with 

 oil or blood, and a dish with fish or flesh is set before him, in the full expecta- 

 tion that his good offices will amply repay the savory repast. When his aid 

 is no longer necessary, he is put aside without any further ceremony, and as lit- 

 tle noticed as the Madonna of the Neapolitan fisherman after the storm has 

 ceased. 



The Hahe, or idols, are very convenient objects of reverence to the Samoiede, 

 as he can consult them, or ask their assistance, without being initiated in the 

 secrets of magic ; while the Tadebtsios, or invisible spirits, which everywhere 

 hover about in the air, and are more inclined to injure than to benefit man, can 

 only be invoked by a Tadibe, or sorcerer, who, like the Cumaean Sibyl, w^orks 

 himself into a state of ecstatic frenzy. When his services are required, the 

 first care of the Tadibe is to invest himself with his magical mantle — a kind of 

 shirt made of reindeer leather, and hemmed with red cloth. The seams are 

 covered in a similar manner, and the shoulders are decorated with epaulettes of 

 the same gaudy material. A piece of red cloth veils the eyes and face — for the 

 Tadibe requires no external organs of sight to penetrate into the world of spirits 

 — and a plate of polished metal shines upon his breast. 



Thus accoutred, the Tadibe seizes his magical drum, whose sounds summon 

 the spirits to his will. Its form is round, it has but one bottom, made of rein- 

 deer skin, and is more or less decorated with brass rings and other ornaments, 

 according to the wealth or poverty of its possessor. During the ceremony of 

 invocation, the Tadibe is generally assisted by a disciple, more or less initiated 



