1 6 Arctic and Antarctic Exploration [part i 
The earth, alternating in many places with strata of solid 
ice, is hard frozen in perpetuity for a depth of several 
hundred feet. The mean temperature of January is 
— 65 °, but the interior is much colder than the sea coast, 
there being a difference of 20 0 . At Yakutsk — 79 0 has been 
recorded, but the greatest natural cold ever measured 
is — 93° at Verkhoyansk, in 67 0 34', near the river Lena. 
A great part of the Siberian coast is quite uninhabited, 
but some hardy tribes extend their wanderings to, and 
even have permanent settlements on the shores of the 
polar sea. The Samoyeds, with both reindeer and dog- 
sledges, extend their wanderings to the Yenisei. The 
Ostiaks of the Obi and upper Yenisei rivers, numbering 
27,000, are Finnish and have close racial affinities with 
the Samoyeds. They possess a fine breed of dogs, but 
live chiefly by fishing. The Yuraks of the Yenisei are 
a branch of the Samoyeds. The Tunguses and Yakuts 
wander further to the east, as far as the Kolyma. 
The mysterious Onkilon or Omoki inhabited the river 
banks and sea shores of eastern Siberia. " Once there were 
more hearths of the Omoki on the shores of the Kolyma 
than there are stars in a clear sky." They were established 
in fixed settlements. The remains of their forts, built 
of tree trunks, and their tumuli are found, especially 
near the banks of the river Indigirka. Nordenskiold 
found the ruins of their house-sites near his winter 
quarters, and his excavating operations were rewarded 
by finding a stone chisel with a bone handle, slate knives, 
bone and slate spear-heads, and a bone spoon. Some 
centuries ago there was great pressure from the south, 
and the Onkilon, Omoki, and Chelagi appear to have 
been driven northwards. The Omoki are said to have 
gone away over the frozen ocean, but it is not known 
whither. It is thought that they went to the land said 
to be visible from Cape Jakan in clear summer weather. 
At all events they disappeared. 
Their place was taken by the tribe called Chukchis, 
who occupy the Siberian coast from Chaun Bay to Cape 
Chelagskoi. They are divided into reindeer or inland, 
and coast Chukchis, each with about 400 tents representing 
a population of 2000. The Chukchi race is the finest on 
the Siberian coast, the finest eastward of the White Sea. 
