SAMOYEDES, one of those barbarous tribes who range over the vast and frozen deserts of Asia, which are bounded by the Northern Ocean. They cover a space along the shores of that ocean which extends east and west about two thousand miles, nearly as far as the river Mesen on the west, which falls into the White Sea; and eastward to the Olenek and almost to the Lena, comprising the space between the 40th and 120th degrees of east longitude. From north to south this territory extends from 300 to 600 miles; yet on this extensive area there are not more than 20,000 inhabitants. They are divided into three principal tribes, namely, the Vanoites, who inhabit the banks of the Petchora and the Obi; the European tribe, who are found on the Mesen and in the interior of the government of Archangel; and the Khirutches, who wander over the remoter wastes of Siberia. They bear the stamp of their ungenial climate in their small and stunted proportions, being in general not above four or five feet in height. Their features are extremely coarse, resembling those of the Tungouses, while their neighbours the Ostiaks bear the stamp of the Finnish race. The face is flat, round, and broad, the lips large and thick, the nose wide and open, and the beard small, with a small quantity of rough and black hair carefully arranged. The dress of the men differs little from that of the Ostiaks. But the females do not wear any veil; they keep the head and face uncovered, unless during their winter journeys. The Ostiaks are in regular subjection to the Russians, have adopted many of their customs, and are reckoned to have made greater advances in civilization than their neighbours. The Samoyedes, though included within the nominal limits of Russian authority, arc left at liberty to roam at large over the desert, the vast extent and poverty of which would not maintain a military force. They live by hunting, and are continually moving about on their sledges from place to place. The animal they hunt is the wild deer, which is their chief subsistence; they eat the flesh, make clothes of the skin, and use the nerves as thread for sewing. They also hunt the white fox, and employ themselves in summer in fishing in the lakes. Like most savage nations, they are extremely superstitious, and have very rude ideas of the Supreme Being. They however acknowledge the Deity as the ruler of the universe, who cannot be represented by any image; and under him numerous inferior deities, spirits, and demi-gods, who are divided into celestial and terrestrial, and are the inferior agents who distribute good and evil among men. These are represented by little wooden idols, finely clothed and ornamented, placed in houses or in woods, to which sacrifices are offered. They have their magicians or shamans, who are general throughout Northern Asia, and are distinguished by their drums, and by a dress adorned with rings and pieces of iron. These persons have a terrific aspect, which frightens even the Russians; and their practice is to work themselves up into such an irritable state of nerves, that a sudden cry, a blow, or even a touch, raises them to a state of frenzy, and they seize the first deadly weapon they can lay hold of in order to massacre the person who is the cause of their agitation. On the subject of death they have many superstitions. They cover the deceased with all his clothes, put a caldron over his head, and, wrapping him in deer-skins, they drag him out by an opening made in the tent for the express purpose, lest, as they fear, he should drag out any one after him. In winter they place the body in a ditch, and cover it over with leaves and branches of trees. In winter a wooden cottage is constructed, in which they place the dead with his axe, knife, bow, arrows, tobacco, and pipe. Their dead bodies are consequently in most cases devoured by the wild beasts. They have a superstitious dread of ghosts, and have recourse in this case to magicians, who array themselves in charms, and exorcise the spirit, exhorting him not to revisit the earth and disturb his surviving friends, or envy them the possession of those hunting grounds which he has left. It is considered of evil omen to pronounce the name of the deceased; and[7:19:634] this is viewed by the relatives as a deadly injury. They are in general a peaceable and harmless race, prone to intoxication, as most savages are, and immoderately fond of tobacco. Their favourite amusements are wrestling and dancing.