NEW KIND OF BLACK PUDDINGs! 
15 
vering, the rings in which the poles are fastened, and the cur¬ 
tains used in the place of doors. 
These jurts are commonly round, like those of the Calmucks, 
and conical towards the top, with an opening to give vent to the 
smoke ; which, however, seldom ascends, particularly in severe 
weather, owing to the fire being made in the centre. The fol¬ 
lowing days we pursued our journey over mountains, woods, 
and tundern # , by a rout known only to the Tunguses. On 
coming up to the tracks of some reindeer, our guides immediately 
informed us that their countrymen were not a day’s distance from 
us ; which proved to be accurate, as we overtook them in the 
evening at the place where they had encamped for the night. 
These people are all very clever in ascertaining, from the ap¬ 
pearance of the reindeer tracks, both in winter and summer, 
not only the number of animals that have passed, but the length 
of time that has elapsed since the tracks were made. The 
next day they exchanged reindeer with us, giving us fresh ones 
in the place of our own, that were already jaded. 
After some days we reached a spot on the river Ochota, cal¬ 
led, by the Tunguses, Uega ; where they assemble from all 
quarters, once a year, and hold a fair. Here the inhabitants 
of the towns meet the mountaineers, and barter their tobacco, 
knives, pins, trinkets, and cloths, for reindeer skins and dried 
meat or fish. The former would be considerable gainers by this 
exchange, if, instead of throwing away their profits upon spirits, 
they carried home their merchandizes, and disposed of them at 
a good market. 
The Tunguses are an itinerant people; throughout the 
whole year incessantly moving with their houses, family, and 
property, from place to place. Nothing but want, rain, or 
trade, can detain them a whole week in one spot; but they re¬ 
gard even this restraint as a great punishment. Their reindeer 
carry the effects, consisting of their clothes, jurt, and eatables; 
but they never load them with a greater weight than 60 pounds. 
Infants unable to ride are put in pannels, lined with moss on 
one side, having an equal weight on the other to preserve the 
balance. They resemble the Jakuts in their method of pacify¬ 
ing a crying infant, by giving it a piece of fat to suck. The 
men and women ride, leading the beasts of burden. The 
riches of the Tunguses consist altogether of reindeer, some of 
them having upwards of 2000, which usually graze in mossy 
places, and in great herds; but whatever may be the extent of 
their possessions, they are very loth to slaughter any of them for 
*Tundern imply marshy, boggy countries, covered only with moss ftnd % 
few small bushes, 
