untains, and forests, and rivers. Neither is
Siberia a country in which nothing will grow; in some parts there is
wheat, and where _wheat_ will not grow _barley_ will, and where _barley_
will not grow _turnips_ will. Yet there are not many cornfields in
Siberia, for very few people live there. In the woods you will find
blackberries, and wild roses, like those in England; and _red_ berries,
as well as _black_ berries, and _lilies_ as well as _roses_.

Still it must be owned that Siberia is a very cold country; for the snow
is not melted till June, and it begins to fall again in September; so
there are only two whole months without snow; they are July and August.

INHABITANTS.--The Russians are the masters of Siberia, and they have
built several large towns there. But these towns are very far apart, and
there are many wild tribes wandering about the country.

One of these tribes is the Ostyaks. Their houses are in the shape of
boxes, for they are square with flat roofs. There is a door, but you must
stoop low to get in at it, unless you are a very little child; and there
is a window with fish-skin instead of light. There is a chimney, too, and
a blazing fire of logs in a hole in the ground. There is a trough, too,
instead of a dining-table, and out of it the whole family eat, and even
the dogs sometimes. The house is not divided into rooms, but into stalls,
like those of a stable; and deer-skins are spread in the stalls, and they
are the beds; each person sits and sleeps in his own stall, on his own
deer-skin, except when the family gather round the fire, and sitting on
low stools, warm themselves, and talk together.

In one of these snug corners, an old woman was seen, quite blind, yet
sewing all day, and threading her needle by the help of her tongue. She
wore a veil of thick cloth over her head, as all the Ostyak women do, and
as she did not need light, she hid her head completely under it.

But though the Ostyaks are poor, they possess a great treasure in their
dogs, for these creatures are as useful as horses, and much more
sensible. They need no whip to make them go, and no bridle to turn them
the right way; it is enough to _tell_ them when to set out, and to stop,
or to turn, to move faster, or more slowly. These dogs are white, spotted
with black; the hair on their bodies is short, but long on their handsome
curling tails. They draw their masters in sledges, and are yoked in
pairs. There are some large sledges