Note 497 — Chapter II · GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SLAVERY.

The Samoyedes were not nearly so much under Russian influence. The details given by Pallas make it nearly certain that slavery did not exist. “Every Samoyede keeps his reindeer and tends them himself with the help of his family, except the richest, who hire poor men as herdsmen”497. Islawin and Finsch also make no mention of slavery498. And the account of Samoyede customs given by Von Stenin, who has largely drawn upon Russian literature, makes the non-existence of slavery quite certain499.