Page:The frozen North; an account of Arctic exploration for use in schools (IA frozennorthaccou00hort).pdf/77

 sent the Proven home, while he and a few chosen companions proceeded up the river in a small boat.

It was summer time and the tundras were covered with a scanty vegetation. The tundras are the plains of Russia and Siberia which lie between the tree limit and the Arctic ocean. Most persons think of them as entirely barren; in some parts the soil is fertile and would be suitable for cultivation, if the climate permitted. In the winter they are frozen, but in the summer they afford pasture to herds of reindeer.

All Siberia is colder than other places in the same latitude. One of the best-known cold regions on the earth is in Siberia, in latitude 67° 54´ N. Here the average temperature of the winter months is often as low as -53°, while some days the thermometer falls to -75° and -85° F.

The tundras are inhabited by a tribe of Siberian Indians called Samoyeds. These natives travel about during the summer, hunting and fishing, setting up their skin tents wherever they find game plentiful. They usually have with them a large number of dogs, which they use for