Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1880-01-09
Living Under the snow.

Far away up in the north, on the shores Of
that frozen ocean lying beyond Europe and
Asia, you may sometimes catch sight (as l
did once) of huge, gray, pointed thing,
standing all alone in the midst of the snowy
plain, just like an immense pear with the
stalk upward. / should have been puzzled
had not seen a thin curl of smoke creeping
from the top Of IT. but that let me into the
secret. This queer-looking thing was Sam
oiede tent
The tent of Samoede is almost as simple
an affair as that of an Arab. All you have to
do is to plant dozen long poles in the
ground, slanted 10 as to let their tops meet
cover this framework with reindeer skins,
leaving hole at the top to let out the smoke
pile the snow high up around the lower part
to keep off the wind-the "house' is com
plete.
But, outlandish as it looks, this little bur
row is worth something in a real Russian
frost, which freezes the very breath on ones
moustache so go right up to the door,
(Which is simply thick skin hanging over a
hole in the side,) lift it, and step in.
The inside is certainly warm enough-rath-
er too warm, in fact, being almost az hot and
choky as a bake house. There is fire burn
ing in the middle, the smoke going anywhere
and everywhere and beside it sat three
things Zone can hardly call them human fig
ures) one deal larger than the other two.
There being no light but the glare of tho
fire, it is not easy for me to see where | am
going; and the first thing / do is to stumble
over something which seems like skin bag
unusually full. But it is not-it is q child,
wrapped or rather tied up in huge cloak of
deerskin, and rolling about the floor like a
ball.
In these out.of- the-way places, where a
man may go for days without seeing human
face except his own, people call upon each
other without waiting to be introduced and
my sudden entrance does not seem to disturb
my new friends in the least. They greet me
cordially enough and bid me welcome in
Russian, which most of the Samoiedes speak
little; and, seating myself on a chest,
look about me-
As my eyes get used to the half Light, see
that the group by the fire consists Of a wom-
an and two little girls, mufiled in skins from
head to foot. Papa is away somewhere with
his sledge and his reindeer, leaving mamma
to mind the house and take care OF the chill
dren. Funny little things they are, with
great round heads, and dark-brown skins,
and small, restless black eyes, and faces as
fiat as if somebody hnd sat down upon them
but queer as they look, they have learned to
make themselves useful already, for they are
hard at work stitching their own clothes.
They are not bit shy, and in another min
ute l have them scrambling up into my lap,
and wondering at the ticking of my watch,
which take out to show them, while they
clap their hands and shout "Pdi, pail"
which is their word for good"
The tent is not very large one, but every
inch of its space has certainly been made the
most of. The floor is carpeted with thick
sheets of gray felt, and Uttered with chests,
sacks, baskets, bark shoes, and bits of har-
ness; while hanging from the tent poles, or
thrust into the folds of the skins that cover
them, are perfect museum of things of eV-
cry sort-caps, pouches, fsh-spears, knives,
hatchets, whips-and last, but certainly not
least, the face of baby, which has been
thrust into kind of pocket in the skin, like
a knife into the sheath / stoop to stroke the
little brown face, while the round eyes stare
wOnderingly at me out Of the folds of the
skin.
Meanwhile the lady of the house Cor rather
tent hospitable like all Samoiedes, hastens to
set before me some black bread mixed with
bark, and lump of terrifcally strong cheese,
made of reindeer milk.
The reindeer supplies the SAmoiedes with
plenty of other things beside cheese indeed,
almost everything that they have got comes
from it in some form or other. They cat
reindeer meat, they drink reindeer milk
their fsh-spears are tipped with reindeer
horn their clothes, and the very tents in
which they live, are made of reindeer skin
the needles wherewith they stitch them are
of reindeer bone, and the thread of reindeer
sinew; and when they wish to move from
place to place, it is the reindeer that draws
them along-the Samoiede would be as bad
ly off without his reindeer, as the Arab with
out his camel.-Darid Ker in January Wide
Atcdke