At night, the
child was laid in a long basket, and was closely covered with furs; in
the same basket also, he travelled in the sledge.
One day the traveller saw a Samoyede feast. A reindeer was brought, and
killed before the tent door; and its bleeding body was taken into the
tent, and devoured, all raw as it was, with the heartiest appetite. It
was dreadful to see the Samoyedes gnawing the flesh off the bones; their
faces all stained with blood, and even the child had his share of the raw
meat. Truly they looked more like wolves than men.
I might go on to tell you of many other tribes; but I must be content
just to mention a few.
There is a tribe who live in the eastern part of Siberia, called the
Yakuts, and instead of deer, and dogs, they keep horses, and oxen, and
strange to say, they _ride_ upon the oxen; and _eat_ the horses. A
horse's head is counted by them a most dainty dish. The cows live in one
room, and the family live in the next, with the calves, which are tied to
posts by the fire, and enjoy the full blaze. You may suppose that the
calves need the warmth of the fire, when I tell you that the windows of
the house are made of ice, but that the cold is so great, that the ice
does not melt.
There is a large tribe called the Buraets. They dwell in tents. They are
Buddhists. At one time the Russians allowed missionaries to go to them.
There was an old man named Andang, who used to attend the services very
regularly.
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