the governor had; we agreed with him for provisions sufficient to last us twelve days, and for reindeer to carry us to the end of our journey. When we had concluded all our dealings with him, and paid our money, we were forced to have a drunkenbout at parting, without which there is no getting away. We eat and drank for ten hours together, and then took our rest for eight more; after which we arose, harnessed our rein-deer, loaded our sledges with our merchandize and provisions, and took leave of the governor.

We proceeded seventeen hours, all the way buying up what furs we could find of the Siberians; and having in six hours more crossed the Riphean mountains, we entered Samojedia, a desolate mountainous country, full of juniper-trees, pines and firs. It abounds in moss as well as snow; and every moment, to our no small terror, we met with white bears, wolves and foxes.

On our ascending mount Stolphen, whence arises the river Borsagatz, we came to eight or nine houses, where we stopped, in order to rest ourselves and our cattle, and exchanged with the inhabitants brandy for white and black wolf and fox skins, castor and otter skins. They had several dozen of sables, which they would not sell upon any terms, though they were assured by our Borandian guide that there was no manner of danger, we being traders, who were going to our ships, and could not be discovered before we reached the coast, because we were not to pass through any place where there were officers empowered to search for prohibited goods. All our arguments, however, had no effect, till we drank them down; when our brandy rendering them courageous, they brought out their sables, and sold

us the best and the greatest quantity we had picked up in our whole journey.

We staid to rest ourselves in one of the chief huts of the village; the master of the house, with his wife and children, and we, lying all together on bear skins. Having slept four or five hours, I was awoke by the noise made by our host to raise his family, all of whom went out, when, having the curiosity to follow them at a little distance, I observed them fall down on their knees behind the cottage, lifting up their hands and eyes to adore the sun.

The people of Samojedia are shorter and thicker than either the Laplanders or the Borandians. They have large heads, their faces and noses are flat, they are of a swarthy complexion, and have scarcely any hair. They wear a round fur cap, and a white bear's skin coat, that reaches down to their knees, and is fastened round the waist with a girdle four inches broad; they also wear breeches, shoes and stockings made of the same skin, with the hair outwards; and instead of a cloak they hang a black bear's skin over their shoulders, the feet dangling at the four corners: this skin is placed more on the left side than on the right, to leave the right arm at liberty in the management of their bows and arrows, and upon this skin they tie their quiver. They also wear upon their feet a kind of skates, two feet long, with which they slide with prodigious swiftness over the snow.

The Samojedian women have more disagreeable persons than the men. They are capable of enduring great hardships, and take care to breed up their children in using their bows with dexterity. They are dressed like the men, only their upper garment is a little longer; and all the difference in their

head-dress is, that the women have a lock of twisted hair hanging down on their shoulders, at the end of which is a knot, formed of a long slip taken from the bark of a tree, which hangs down as low as their heels, and this is all their finery. They hunt as well as the men, and are, in the same manner, armed with bows and arrows. They are constant to their husbands; and if either man or woman is found guilty of adultery, the criminal is immediately stoned to death.

Having traversed Samojedia, and exchanged our money and goods for skins, we returned, and in twelve days after our departure from Papinowgorod, reached the coast of Borandia, without meeting with any adventure worth notice. Upon that coast our ships had waited for us at an appointed place, where we put all our merchandise on board, paid off our Borandian guide, and embarked.

CHAP. V.

The author sails to Nova Zembla. An account of the sea-horse fishery in the straits of Weygatz. Some of the crew land in a small island in these straits, and catch a number of penguins. Four Zemblians taken; a description of their persons and dresses.

HAVING weighed anchor, we sailed from the coast of Borandia with a fair wind, and the next day, in the afternoon, cast anchor near the coast of Zembla, when we observed upon the shore, about thirty persons with quivers on their backs, worshipping on their knees the setting sun. Our master and supercargo immediately consulted what course it would be proper for us to take, to come at the speech of them. They thought them more wild

than any savages they had yet seen, and thinking it would be difficult to persuade them to deal with us, it was resolved to send out three long-boats, with ten men well armed in each, that they might be able to defend themselves in case they should be attacked. I was one of the number dispatched upon this service; but when we were about a quarter of a mile from the land, the savages arose from their knees, discharging their arrows at us, and then fled with surprising swiftness, but being at a great distance when they let fly at us, they did not do us the least harm.

We no sooner reached the shore than we landed, and pursued them to the place whither we thought they had fled, in hopes of making some of them our prisoners; but we found it impossible, though we followed them till we approached some mountains covered with snow. However, we continued to advance farther into the country, till we came to a rising ground, upon which was erected a piece of wood, very wretchedly cut into the figure of a man, and before it two Zemblians on their knees, with their arms lying by them. They were worshipping this idol, who was called Fetizo, as the others on the shore had been adoring the sun: but the moment they beheld us, they fled into an adjoining wood of firs, and as night approached, we thought it would be in vain to pursue them, and therefore returned to the ships.

From thence we steered towards the Straits of Weygatz, to catch sea-horses; and having proceeded about six leagues, kept near the shore, and put out our long-boats, with eight harpooners in each besides the rowers. We were three days without catching any thing, but at last observed two

great fish approaching us, one of which had a large horn in his forehead; when the boats coming near, the harpoons were thrown at him on all sides, and the ropes to which they were fastened let loose, after which the men hastily retired, to be out of his reach while he was struggling. At last the fish swimming above the water, which was a proof of his weakness, the men in the boats drew him to them by the ropes fastened to the harpoons, and then cutting off his head, threw the body into the sea, it being neither fit for food nor oil. This was a sea-horse, which is taken only for the sake of his teeth and horn, the former being more valuable than those of the elephant, because they are whiter, and not so apt to turn yellow. The horn of this sea-horse was ten feet long, and very heavy ; from the root, which was as thick as a man's shoulder, it gradually decreased, wreathing handsomely, till it ended in a sharp point. One of the boats coming too close to the other fish, in order to make sure of it, and not retreating with sufficient speed, was unhappily overturned by his tail, with which he lashed the boat with prodigious fury, on his feeling the harpoon; by this means two of the men were drowned, notwithstanding which the fish was taken; but though this was no recompence for the loss of our sailors, yet it was a good prize, the teeth being larger and whiter than the former.

We were four days cruising about before we met with any more, and were preparing to change our station, when we perceived four of the same fish, that seemed larger than those we had caught; three of them we took, but none of them had any horn. Twelve hours after we discovered five more, but three of them escaped, one of which had a horn.

YOL. X.