The year of the Tunguses is divided into summer and winter. The names of the months are:--Summer: 1, _ilaga_ (fly, gnat), in this the leaves and the early blossoms come out; 2, _ilkun_, is the proper flowering moon; 3, _irin_ (from _irim_, to ripen), the wild fruit grows ripe; 4, _serula sanni_ (perhaps _sonnaja_, cervical vertebra), in this month the red deer pair; 5, _hukterbi_, brings the red deer new hair. Winter: 1, _okti_ (perhaps _okto_, road), when the first snow falls: immediately after that the minever is good; 2, _mira_ (shoulder-joint), has the shortest days; 3, _giraun_ (suggests _giramda_, bone), has days of noticeably increasing length; 4, _okton kira_ (time of the road), when the sables are covered; 5, _tura_ (perhaps _turaki_, jackdaw), when the cormorants come; 6, _schonka_, when the ice becomes porous; 7, the beginning of the _tukun_, in which the rivers become clear: the last part of this period belongs to the summer year. Our informant, Georgi, speaks of thirteen months, but only gives the above twelve names. Schiefner conjectures that he has counted _tukun_ twice, or else has run two months together. For the Tunguses of the Sea of Okhotsk only twelve months are enumerated, and of these are translated:--1, grass month; 3, fish-and-horse month; 4, ripening month (?); 5, wrist; 6, elbow; 7, shoulder-joint; 8, atlas; nos. 5 to 11 are named from the joints of the human frame, 5-8 following out a suggestion of an ascending, 9-11 that of a descending order; the name of the twelfth month perhaps means the back. This is only one method of reckoning: a hint of it is already found in the preceding list. For the Tunguses of the lower Amur twelve months are reported, of which nos. 7-10 are simply numbered and the other names are not explained. Another traveller could only discover eleven months among the Tunguses of the Amur, possibly only because of the defective memory of his informants. But a year of eleven months is said to exist among the Samoyedes of Yurak. The months are:--1, month of leaf-fall, about August; 2, reindeer-rutting month; 3, the dark month; 4, sand month, when the winds drive the snow along like sand; 5, the calm month, no storms; 6, the good month, the weather is favourable for trapping animals; 7, eagle month; 8, geese month or month of calves; 9, month of inundations; 10, spring month, literally _wuenui-jiry_, _wuenui_ is said of fish when they come up-stream in great shoals; 11, the great month, since the days (or the month) are very long.