in the absence of furniture. Strict Mohammedans though they are, they have largely, through Russian influence, and the cold climate, discarded the habit of secluding and veiling their women.
The other Siberian-Turkish element is found in the Kirghiz, who form the principal native population on the steppes of the Ishim in the south-west Tobolsk province. Here they live a nomadic, semi-settled life, just as they do in other parts of Central Asia.
The two chief Finnish races of North-West Siberia are the Samoyedes, who hve in the far north on the toundras, and the Ostiaks, who live in the forest zone a few degrees farther to the south. These people are probably the oldest inhabitants of the continent, and are the relics of the ancient civilization which once covered all Siberia, having retreated north-west from the pressure of Turk, Mongol and Russian. They have a distinct physical type and language; their nomad habits, their birch-bark habitation, their reindeer culture and their skill in hunting and fishing are also characteristic. Their ancient and primitive civilization, moreover, is shown in their adherence to the old shamman rites and the worship of the spirits of nature. Natural religion was probably once universal among mankind, and its appearance among these people at the present day is an indication of their ancient origin. In the summer the Samoyedes roam with their reindeer over the toundras to the Arctic Sea, where they engage in fishing, returning in winter to the lower latitudes on the edge of the forest zone. The Ostiaks, who in other respects are similar to the Samoyedes, keep more in the southern forests during the summer, specializing more particularly in fur
