Western Europe, to be afterwards used as ornaments on our ladies'
hats. Ptarmigans' wings were bought as long ago as 1611 at
Pustosersk by Englishmen.[53]

At the same time I saw, among the stocks of the merchants, walrus
tusks and lines of walrus hide. It is noteworthy that these wares
are already mentioned in Othere's narrative.

As I was not myself sufficiently master of the Russian language,
I requested Mr. Serebrenikoff to make inquiries on the spot, regarding
the mode of life and domestic economy of the Russians in the
neighbourhood, and I have received from him the following
communication on the subject:--

"The village consists of several cabins and tents. In the
cabins nine Russian householders live with their servants,
who are Samoyeds.[54] The Russians bring hither neither
their wives nor children. In the tents the Samoyeds live
with their families. The Russians are from the village
Pustosersk on the Petchora river, from which they set out
immediately after Easter, arriving at Chabarova about the
end of May, after having traversed a distance of between
600 and 700 versts. During their stay at Chabarova they
employ themselves in the management of reindeer, in
catching whales, and in carrying on barter with the
Samoyeds. They bring with them from home all their
household articles and commercial wares on sledges drawn
by reindeer, and as there is a poor ruinous chapel there,
they bring also pictures of St. Nicholas and other saints.
The holy Nicholas also figures as a shareholder in a
company for the capture of whales. Part of their reindeer
is left during summer on Vaygats, and after their arrival
at Chabarova they still pass over on the ice to that
island. Towards the close of August, when the cold
commences, the reindeer are driven across Yugor Schar from
Vaygats to the mainland. About the 1st October, old style,
the Russians return with their reindeer to Pustosersk.
Vaygats Island is considered by them to afford exceedingly
good pasturage for reindeer; they therefore allow a number
of them to winter on the island under the care of some
Samoyed families, and this is considered the more
advantageous, as the reindeer there are never stolen. Such
thefts, on the contrary, are often committed by the
Samoyeds on the mainland. For thirty years back the
Siberian plague has raged severely