Page:The frozen North; an account of Arctic exploration for use in schools (IA frozennorthaccou00hort).pdf/78

 sledging in winter and drawing boats against the current during the summer. The dogs run alongshore and drag the boats after them up the river, very much as mules draw our canal boats. The Samoyeds are small of stature and very dirty. Their hair is matted and unkempt, and they wear clothes of skin, with sometimes a bright-colored cotton shirt over the skin blouse.

These people worship idols, which look like dolls made of skin, and which they always carry with them on their travels. Some of these idols, or gods, have faces of brass or copper, and some carry bows made of forged iron. The Samoyeds worship by making pilgrimages to certain spots, where they offer sacrifices and make vows; they eat the flesh of their victims, and besmear their idols with the blood. At these sacred places there are piles of bones and skulls of the reindeer, with the horns. Near by are also found quantities of old iron, and hundreds of small wooden sticks, carved to look like human faces.

It was to this Samoyed country that the Russian government used to send her criminals, and there are many exiles living there now; but the natives treat them very kindly and never inquire into the cause of their banishment.

As Nordenskjöld and his companions traveled on, they saw large masses of driftwood lying along the shores of the river. This driftwood is carried by the current out