s
ornaments, ten roubles; for a pair of boots of reindeer skin, two
roubles; for copper ornaments for hoods, two roubles each; and so
on.

[Illustration: SAMOYED IDOLS. One-third of natural size. ]

As I knew that the Samoyeds during their wanderings always carry
idols with them, I asked them whether they could not sell me some.
All at first answered in the negative. It was evident that they were
hindered from complying with my requests partly by superstition,
partly by being a little ashamed, before the West European, of the
nature of their gods. The metallic lustre of some rouble pieces
which I had procured in Stockholm, however, at last induced an old
woman to set aside all fears. She went to one of the loaded sledges,
which appeared to be used as magazines, and searched for a long time
till she got hold of an old useless skin boot, from which she drew a
fine skin stocking, out of which at last four idols appeared. After
further negotiations they were sold to me at a very high price. They
consisted of a miniature "pesk," with belt, without body; a skin
doll thirteen centimetres long, with face of brass; another doll,
with a bent piece of copper plate for a nose; and a stone, wrapped
round with rags and hung with brass plates, a corner of the stone
forming the countenance of the human figure it was intended to
resemble.

[Illustration: SAMOYED HAIR ORNAMENTS. One-third of natural size. ]

More finely-formed gods, dolls pretty well made, with bows forged of
iron, I have seen, but have not had the good fortune to get
possession of. In the case now in question the traffic was
facilitated by the circumstance that the old witch, Anna Petrovna,
who sold her gods, was baptised, which was naturally taken advantage
of by me to represent to her that it was wrong for her as a
Christian to worship such trash as "bolvans," and the necessity of
immediately getting rid of them. But my arguments, at once sophistic
and egoistic, met with disapproval, both from the Russians and
Samoyeds standing round, inasmuch as they declared that on the whole
there was no great difference between the "bolvan" of the Samoyed
and the sacred picture of the Christian. It would even appear as if
the Russians themselves considered the "bolvans" as representatives
of some sort of Samoyed saints in the other world.

When the traffic in gods was finished, though not to my full
satisfaction, because I thought I had got too little, we were
invited by o