Jean-Louis Pictet did not only take an interest in astronomy. In Saint Petersburg, he visited the Cabinet of Curiosities and Natural History in the Academy of Sciences. In Umba, he looked for "magic drums" that he knew from books. Despite the notoriety of these divination instruments for hunting, and because they were banned by Russian peasants and priests as Sami "remains of pagan superstitions", Pictet had trouble finding someone who would make the two drums he wanted to take back with him. D. Buyssens