. The Arctic world: its plants, animals and natural phenomena [microform] : with a historical sketch of Arctic discovery down to the British Polar Expedition: 1875-76. British Polar Expedition, 1875-76; British Polar Expedition, 1875-76; Zoology; Zoologie. 913 HUNTING THK WHITE BEAR. The Ostiaka are rjjnerally of mnall stature, dark-complexioned, and with black hair, like the Samojedes; but this is not invariably tlio case. They seem to belonij to the same family as the Samojedes and Finns. They are honest, good-natured, inert, and extremely careless and dirty in their habits; though it may be
. The Arctic world: its plants, animals and natural phenomena [microform] : with a historical sketch of Arctic discovery down to the British Polar Expedition: 1875-76. British Polar Expedition, 1875-76; British Polar Expedition, 1875-76; Zoology; Zoologie. 913 HUNTING THK WHITE BEAR. The Ostiaka are rjjnerally of mnall stature, dark-complexioned, and with black hair, like the Samojedes; but this is not invariably tlio case. They seem to belonij to the same family as the Samojedes and Finns. They are honest, good-natured, inert, and extremely careless and dirty in their habits; though it may be conceded that their huts are not filthier than the " interiors" of the Icelandic fishermen. Their women are not much better treated than African slaves, and are given in marriage to tlio highest bidder. The price necessarily Varies according to the condition of the parent; the daughter of a rich man sells for fifty reindeer, of a poor man for half-a-dozen dried sturgeon and a handful of squirrel-skhis. The Ostiaks and the Samojedes are great liunters of the white bear. It is the same with the Jakuts (or Yakouts), a people dwelling near the Bouriats, and, like them, approximating to the Mongol type. Their object in the chase, however, is not always to kill the animal, but to fake it alive. Madame Felinska asserts that, one day, she saw a considerable herd of bears con- ducted to Bt5r^zov, like a herd of tame oattle, and apjtarently quite as inoffensive. She does not inform us, however, by what means they had been reduced to such a desirable state of subjection. Frecjuently the Ostiaks and the Jakuts attack the white bears body to body, without any other weapon tlian a hatchet or long cutlass. They require to strike their formidable antagonist with immense vigour, and to slay it at the first blow, or their own danger is extreme. Should the hunter miss his stroke, his sole resource is to fling himself on the ground and lie motionless, until the bear, while smelling his
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1876
