The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1880-02-26
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Children Under the Snow.

| -FA.s- aGA = - 4fS-+
Far away up in the north, ON, the
shores of that great frozen ocean lying
beyond Europe and~Asia, you may
sometimes catch sight (as did once)
OF q huge, gray. pointed thing, stand
Ing all alone in theImidst Of the snowy
plain, just like an immense pear with
the stalk upward. I should have. been
puzzled had not seen q thin curl
creeping from the top Of it; but that let
me into the secret. This queer-l looking
thing was Ssmoiede tent. saaos5Il.s'1
The tent OF q Samoiede is almost as
simple an affair as that of an Arab. All
you have to do is to plant a dozen long
poles in the ground, slanted so as to let
their tops meet; cover this framework
with reindeer skins, leaving, q hole at
the top, to let out the smoke; pile the
snow up high around the lower part to
keep off the wind-the g, house, is COM
plete.. l,.s7e. Ell ol Id E-a;azsap rs aziYa2
But, outlaudish as it looks, this little
burrow is worth something in q Ireal
Russian frost, which freezes the very
breath on ones mustache; so ge.fight
up to the door (Which is simply thick
skin hanging over hole in the side),
lift it up and step in.
The inside is certainly warm enough
rather too warm. in fact, being al
most as hot and choky as q bake-house.
There is q fire burning in the middle,
the smoke going anywhere to every
where; and beside it sat three things
Zone can hardly call them human fig
ures) one deal larger than the other
two y, eg ass6f kfssTaos aa9 sEt}
There being no light but the glare of
the 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 q skin bag, unusually full,
But it is not--it is . child. wrapped or
rather tied up in q huge, cloak Of deer
skin, and rolling about the floor like
log II ssFS sFlfas a9iasz so=a-a 'sf.l
In these out-of-the-way places, where,
q man may 60 for days without seeing
a human face except his own, people
call upon each other without waiting
to be introduced; and my sudden en-
trance does mot seem to disturb nv
new friends in the least. They greet
me cordially enough, and bid me well
come in Russian, which most of the
Samoiedes speak q little; and, seating
myself on chest, / look about me.
As my eyes get used to the half-ight,
see that the group by the fire consists
of q woman and Two little girls, muf1ed
in skins from head to foot. Papa is
away somewhere with his sledge and
his reindeer. leaving mamme to mind
the house and take care of the children.
Funny little things they are, with great
round heads, and dark brown skins,
and small, restless, black eyes, and
faces as if somebody had sat down upon,
them; but, queer as they look, they
have learned to make themselves useful
for they are hard at work
stitching their own clothes. They are
not bit shy, and in another minute I
and wondering at the ticking of nv
watch, which / take cut to show them,
while they clap their hands and shout
'' Pai, pain which is their word for
good" -5--.-....4. s.-s-...
The tent is not very large one, but
every inch of its space has certainly
been made the most of. The floor is
,arpeted with thick sheets of gray felt,
Ind Uttered with chests, sacks, baskets,
park shoes and bits Of harness; while
hanging from the tent poles, or thrust
nto the folds of the skins that cover
hem, are a9perfect museum of things
IT every sert-caps,- pouches, fish
pears,' knives, hatchets, whips-and
asst, but certainly not least, the face of
! baby, which has been thrust into
lind of pocket in the skin, like knife
nto the sheath I stoop to stroke the
title brown face, while the round eyes
tare iwonderingly at me out of the
olds of the skin.
Mean while the lady of the house Cor
ather tent) hospitable, like all Sa-
noiedes, ihastens to set before me some
lack bread mixed with. bark, and
amp of terrifcally strong cheese, made
t reindeer milk.
The reindeer supplies the Samoiedes
With plenty of other things besides
heese; indeed, almost everything that
hey have got comes from it in. some
orm or other. They eat reindeer meat,
hey drink reindeer milk; their fish
pears are tipped with reindeer horn;
heir clothes, and the very tents in
7hich they live, are made of reindeer
kin; the needles wherewith they stitch
hem are of reindeer bone. and The
bread of reindeer sinew; and when.
hey wish to move from place to place,
is the reindeer that draws them along
the Samoiede- would be as badly off
'ithout his reindeer as the Arab with .,
ut his cameL-DGvtd Ker. .in Wide
lsoake.