rge ones with rough handles and strong blades, and
when Luka took one out from a bundle and said to the chief, "We will
give this knife for enough skins to finish the hut," he gave an order to
his wife, and she and two of the other women at once brought some elk
hides from a pile lying by the side of his tent. A few stitches here and
there with the needle made of a sharp fish-bone, with a thread of
twisted gut, fastened the corners of the hides together, and in half an
hour the tent was complete. The goat-skins were spread on the ground.
The fox and other skins were made into two piles, one on each side of
the tent, and all the goods stored inside.

"This is splendid," Godfrey said; "here we are as snug as if we were
born Ostjaks. I had no idea they would have made us so comfortable. We
will give them a cup of tea all round, Luka, as a reward for their
labours. We don't care for sugar, but the two pounds you bought at
Yeneseisk will come in useful now. They will think a lot more of it if
it is sweet. See if they have got a big kettle. That little thing of
ours will only hold a couple of quarts."

Upon inquiry the chief produced a cauldron, which he exhibited with
great pride. It had evidently been used for melting down blubber. Luka
carried it down to the water's edge, and then scrubbed it with sand
until it was tolerably clean; then he rubbed it with wisps of coarse
grass, filled it with water, and stood it on a fire that the Ostjaks had
made from drift-wood picked up from the shore. In half an hour the water
boiled. He put in two or three handfuls of tea and half a pound of
sugar, let it boil for another minute or two, and then took the pot off
the fire. Then he invited the Ostjaks to dip in their cups. In each of
the huts they had a few tin mugs, for the expense and risk of carriage
of crockery rendered the prices prohibitive, and even the tin mugs were
prized as among their most precious possessions. Luka and Godfrey also
dipped in their cups as an act of civility, but the latter made a wry
face when it approached his lips, for the odour of the blubber was very
strong, and he took an opportunity, when none of the Ostjaks were
looking, to pour the contents of the tin upon the ground beside him; but
to the Ostjaks the smell and flavour of blubber was no drawback, and men
and women sat round the fire drinking the sweet liquor with great
enjoyment, and evidently highly contented at the coming of this stranger
among the