O )   J A N U A R Y , 1 9 4 4   -   M A R R I A G E

After he had been living with the Buryat for about a year, Peter seems to have become struck with a certain malaise. His many projects (digging irrigation systems, improving sanitation within the village, setting up a school for the children) had come to gradual, grinding halt. As the days went by, he became less and less inclined to leave his yurt, and on occasions when he did, the Buryat noticed that he would speak in gibberish. “The people of the village seem concerned about my recent lethergy - they think I have become homesick for the land of air horses and lightning boxes, or the company of other devils such as myself - but the most popular theory is that I is lonely for the company of a woman! But how does one summon a female take-apart white devil? Even the crafty old shaman is at a loss. Finally they decide to introduce me to a woman of the tribe!”

Peter did indeed marry the Buryat woman to whom he was introduced. Her name was Jötung, daughter of a prominent kulag herder. The shaman Tasak performed the ceremony after Peter obtained permission to marry into the tribe from the Chakamak. This woman and her father were later interviewed by the REC expedition. (see plate 38)