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THE AMERICAN MUSEUM

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NATURAL HISTORY

THE BIRDS OF SIBERIA

THE

BIRDS OF SIBERIA

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A RECORD OF A NATURALIST'S VISITS

TO THE VALLEYS OF THE PETCHORA

AND YENESEI

BY

HENRY SEEBOHM

F.L.S., F.Z.S., F.R.G.S.

WITH MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS

LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET

1 90 I

•u,%^^l>^-'*^^^.

Printed by Ballantvne, Hanson ir' Co.
At the Ballantyne Press

PREFACE

The following pages contain the narrative of Mr.
Seebohm's two Siberian Expeditions — the first under-
taken in 1875 in company with Mr. J. A. Harvie-Brown
of Dunipace to the valley of the Petchora ; the other,
more lengthy and arduous, to the Yenesei river in
1877, when, though without any fellow-naturalist to
share his labours, he had the advantaofe of the
companionship of Captain Wiggins, the well-known
Siberian navigator. Under the respective titles of
"Siberia in Europe" and "Siberia in Asia," the
results of these two journeys were published in 1880
and 1882.

Both works having passed out of print, it was
arranged to combine them in one volume. Mr.
Seebohm set about the task, and had nearly finished
it when his death occurred. With regard to the
present completion of it, it is only necessary to say
that, though the author has in various places made
emendations of his former text, the nomenclature and
the ornithology generally are here given as he left
them. Certain passages which were unnecessary to
a combined edition, or which had been superseded by

vi PREFACE

subsequent information, have been omitted. Limita-
tion of space has also necessitated the omission of
the lengthy footnotes, which chiefly referred to the
geographical distribution of birds, but this omission,
if not in its entirety, was at all events to a large
extent contemplated by the author himself

OLD RUSSIAN SILVER CROSS

CONTENTS

PART I
TO THE PETCHORA VALLEY

CHAPTER I.

EARLY EXPLORERS.

John Wolley — Unknown Breeding-Grounds — Birds of Archangel and Lapland —
Voyages to the Petchora in the Seventeenth Century — Schrenck's Visit in
1837 — Castren's Visit in 1842 — Keyserling's Visit in 1843 — Pelzam's
Visit in i874^Hoffmansegg's Visit about 1850 — Outfit — Letters of Intro-
duction .......... Pp. 3-6

CHAPTER H.

LONDON TO ARCHANGEL.

London to St. Petersburg — Mode of Heating Railway Carriages — Frozen Market
at St. Petersburg — Bohemian Waxwings — Moscow to Vologda — M. Verakin —
Sledging from Vologda to Archangel — The Yemschik — Post-houses — The
Samovar — Angliski Russ — Modes of Harnessing Horses — State of the Roads —
Weather — Traffic — Birds seen en route — Arrival at Archangel . . Pp. 7-13

CHAPTER HL

ARCHANGEL.

The White City, Archangel— Decline of its Commerce — Cheapness of Living —
Peter Kotzoff— Father Inokentia — The Samoyedes and their Sledges — Their
Physical Characteristics — Samoyede Names of Birds — National Songs —
Election of Samoyede Chiefs — Their Ignorance of Doctors or Medicinal I'lants
—Piottuch— Birds— The Weather— Hasty Departure from Archangel

Pp. 14-20

viii CONTENTS

CHAPTER IV.

SLEDGING TO UST-ZYLMA.

Bad Roads — Postal Service in Winter and Summer — Changeable Weather —
Scenery — Pinega and Kuloi Rivers — Snow Plains— The Forests — Birds —
Samoyedes — Mezen— A Polish Exile — Snow-Buntings — Jackdaws — We leave
Mezen— Scenery— The Mezen River— The Pizhma — Bad State of the Roads—
Piottuch's Accident — The Via Diabolica — Bolshanivagorskia — Break up of the
Road — Polish Prejudices — The Villages — Curiosity of the Peasants — Greek
Crosses — Love of Ornament — Employment and Amusements — Samoyedes —
Siberian Jays — Umskia — First View of the Petchora — Arrival at Ust-Zylma

Pp. 21-35

CHAPTER V.

UST-ZYLMA.

Ust-Zylma — Its Streets and Houses — Its Manure — Population of the Town — Its
Churches— Our Quarters— The Banks of the River— The Old Believers— Their
Superstition — Silver Crosses — Hospitality of the Officials — Shooting-parties —
Captain Arendt and Captain Engel — Snow-shoes— Scarcity of Birds — The
Snow-bunting — Redpolls — Winter Pp. 36-47

CHAPTER VI.

THE ZYLMA AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD.

The Samoyedes — Reindeer — The Tundra — Nomad Life — Diseases of Reindeer —
Samoyede National Character — Trip to Umskia — Bad Roads — Paucity of
Birds — Easter Holidays — Drunkenness — Heavy Snowfall — Our First Bird's-
nest — Excursion to an Island in the River .... Pp. 48-54

CHAPTER VII.

THE SA.\fOYEDES.

Trip to Habariki — Samoyedes — Lassoing Reindeer- — Dogs of the Natives —
Samoyede Sledges — Reindeer Harness — The Chooms — Samoyede Hospitality
— Marriage Ceremonies — Funeral Rites — Religion . . . Pp. 55-67

CHAPTER VIII.

LIFE IN UST-ZYLMA.

May-day — Snow-buntings — Jackdaws — Game — Birds of Prey — Sunday at Ust-
Zylma — A Fire — Marriage Ceremony — Tenure of Land — The Commune —
Preparations for Summer ........ Pp. 68-74

CHAPTER IX.

THE ADVENT OF SUMMER.

Mild Weather — Bear-tracks — Saddle of Bear — First Rain — Six New Migratory
Birds — Magpie's Eggs — Cessation of the Winter Frost — Return of Winter —
A Wild-goose Chase — Cachets — Night on the Banks of the Petchora— The
Silent Forest .... ..... Pp. 75-81

CONTENTS ix

CHAPTER X.

THE BREAK-UP OF THE ICE.

Gulls — Species new to Europe — Fresh Arrivals — Duck shooting — Bird-life in the
Forest — Gulls perching on Trees — Break-up of the Ice on the Zylma — On the
wrong Bank of the River — Dragging the Boats across the Ice — Final break-up
of the Ice on the Petchora Pp 82-89

CHAPTER XI.

PEASANT LIFE IN UST-ZYLMA.

Religious Processions — Costumes of the Peasants — A Russian Holiday — Drunken-
ness— Prejudices of the Old Believers — Field Work — House-building — New
Birds — The Siberian Chiffchaff — Prices of Provisions — Arrival of Waders

Pp. 90-96

CHAPTER XII.

THE PETCHORA IN FLOOD.

Samoyede Names — The Blue-throated Warbler — Toads — Birds Resting on
Migration — Sparrow-hawk — The Petchora Free from Ice — A New Song —
Ceremony of Blessing the Steamer — Rambles in the Woods — Appearance of
the Mosquitoes Pp- 97-106

CHAPTER XIII.

A TRIP TO HABARIKI.

Trip to Habariki — Forest Scenery — Tarns in the Woods — Changeable Weather —
New Birds identified in the Forests — Golden Eagle — Osprey — Hobby —
Cuckoo — Yellow-headed Wagtail — Bohemian Waxwing — Great Snipe — Terek
Sandpiper — Goosander — Smew — Black-throated Diver . . Pp. 107-116

CHAPTER XIV.

OUR VOYAGE TO THE DELTA.

Return to Ust-Zylma — Wedding of the Engineer's Son — Scarlet Bullfinch — Last
Days at Ust-Zylma — Our Boat — We Sail to Habariki — Birds' Eggs — Smew's
Eggs — Snipes in Trees — Down the Petchora — Sedge-warbler — Blackcock —
Arctic Tern — Willow Swamps — We Cross the Arctic Circle — A New Bird —
Arrival at Viski — The Delta — Double Snipe — Pustozersk — The Tundra —
Arrival at Alexievka ........ Pp. 117-132

CHAPTER XV.

ALEXIEVKA.

Alexievka— The Timber Rafts — The Island — Nests and Eggs — Buffon's Skua —
Sailing for the Tundra — Description of the Tundra — Its Vegetation — Nests of
Lapland Bunting and Red-throated Pipit — First Sight of the Grey Plover — Its
Nest — Omelette of Grey Plover's Eggs — Birds seen on the Tundra — Eggs
collected during the Day — Nest oi A ntlius gustavi . . Pp. 133-142

X CONTENTS

CHAPTER XVI.

STANAVIALACHTA.

The Tundra near the Yushina River — Golden Plover's Eggs — Abundance of
Nests — Lapland Bunting — Richardson's Skua — Means of Propelling our Boat —
The Tundra near Stanavialachta — Eyrie of a Peregrine Falcon — More Nests —
Abundance of Willow-grouse — Nest of the Willow-grouse — Visit to two
Islands in the Delta ......... Pp. 143-14S

CHAPTER XVII.

AFTER GREY PLOVERS AT WASILKOVA.

Examination of our Nests — Excursion to Wasilkova — Search for Breeding Haunts
of Bewick's Swan — News from England — Grey Plover's Eggs — Flock of
Buffon's Skuas — Black Scoter's Nest — Watching for Skuas' Nests — Another
Nest of Grey Plover — Scaup's Eggs — The Zyriani . . Pp. 149-160

CHAPTER XVIII.

STANAVIALACHTA REVISITED.

Second Visit to Stanavialachta — Peregrine Falcons — Plague of Mosquitoes — Mid-
night on the Tundra — Nest of the Velvet Scoter — Little Feodor sent in Quest
of the Swan's Skin — A Russian Bath — Feodor's Return — Identification of Eggs
of Bewick's Swan — Mosquito Veils — Our Eighth Nest of Grey Plovers — Our
Servants — Our Ninth Nest of Grey Plovers — The Tenth and Eleventh Nests

Pp. 161-177

CHAPTER XIX.

THE GOLIEVSKI ISLANDS.

Trip to the Golievski Islands — Shoal of White Whales — Glaucous Gull — Dunlins
and Sanderlings — Black Scoter — Dvoinik — Little Stint — Curlew Sandpiper —
Snow Bunting — Overhauling our Plunder — The Company's Manager — ■
Discussions concerning the Stints — Probable Lines of Migration followed b}^
Birds Pp. 17S-1S8

CHAPTER XX.

THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS.

Hybernation of Birds — Migration of Birds — Reed-warblers — Origin of Migration
— Transvaal Warblers — The Mammoth Age — Insect Life — Lines of Migration
— Heligoland and its Ornithologists — Variety of Birds — Wind and Weather —
The Throstle-bushes — ^ Migration by Sight — Order of Migration — Stray
Migrants — The Yellow-browed Warbler — Migration on Heligoland — Skylarks
— Migratory Instincts — Other Facts of Migration . . Pp. 189-206

CONTENTS xi

CHAPTER XXI.

IN CAMP AT DVOINIK.

Trip to Kuya — The Prahms — Travelling in a Rosposki — The Birds en route —
Arrival of the Triad at Alexievka — We Win over the Manager — The Ino —
Doing Robinson Crusoe in a Wrecked Ship — Nest of the Long-tailed Duck — •
Our First Little Stint's Nest — The Tundra — Sunset and Sunrise — Little Stint's
Eggs — The Tundra near Bolvanskaya Ba^^ — Phalaropes — Interior of the
Tundra — Change of Plumage in Phalaropes — An Early Morning Start — Con-
fusion of Time — The Snowy Owl — Two more Nests of Little Stint — A March
of Geese on the Tundra— An Old Grave ..... Pp. 207-225

CHAPTER XXI L

HOMEWARD BOUND,

On Short Commons — Bad Weather — A Foraging Party — Russian Superstitions —
Return of the Steamer — Beautiful Flowers— Arrival at Alexievka— Departure
for Home — Thunderstorm — Water-spout — Sea-birds — Hard Fare — Copen-
hagen— Summary of the Trip Pp. 226-234

CHAPTER XXIII.

RESULTS OF THE JOURNEY.

Results of the Trip — Summer in the Arctic Regions— Circumpolar Birds — Birds
Confined to the Eastern Hemisphere — Various Ranges of Birds — Migration of
Birds — Dates of Arrival— Probable Route — Conclusion . . Pp. 235-243

PART II
THE YENESEI

CHAPTER XXIV.

SIBERIA AND SEA-TRADE.

Sir Hugh Willoughby's Voyage to Novaya Zemlya— Ancient Voyages across the
Kara Sea — Modern Voyages across the Kara Sea — Captain Wiggins's Voyage
in 1876— Ornithological Arctic Expeditions — Letters of Introduction from
Count Schouvaloff — Recent Expeditions to Siberia — Nordenskiold's Voyage

Pp. 247-254

xii CONTExNTS

CHAPTER XXV.

FROM LONDON TO OMSK.

At St. Petersburg — Political Feeling in Russia — Feeling against England — Russian
Arguments against the Policy of England—At Moscow— Irkutsk and the
Siberiaks— At Nishni Novgorod— The Journey before Us — Our Sledge— Birds
— At Kazan— Roads between Kazan and Perm — At Perm — At Kongur — The
Urals — Birds — We Enter Asia — Ekaterinburg — Tiumen — The Steppes —
Villages of the Crescent and the Cross — Russian and Mahommedan Clergy —
Cheap Provisions — Birds Pp. 255-265

CHAPTER XXVL

DOWN RIVER TO THE KAMIN PASS.

Omsk— From Omsk to Tomsk — Sledging— Birds— Tomsk— Tomsk to Krasnoyarsk
— Birds— Krasnoyarsk — Prices — Beaten by the South Wind — Frost again —
Birds — Yeneseisk — Our Visitors — Scientific Expeditions — Birds — Our
Lodgings — Easter-day Festivities — I Hire a Young Jew — Lessons in Bird-
skinning— New Sledges — Down the Precipices — Russian Hospitality — Special
Couriers — Deceptive Appearance of the Road — Winding Roads — Epidemic
among the Horses— Race with the South Wind— The Kamin Pass — Stopped
by the Rain — The Kamin Pass in December — The Pass in April — The South
Wind Beaten Pp. 266-280

CHAPTER XXVn.

TURUKANSK AND THE WAY THITHER.

Stations — Hospitality of the Peasants — Furs and their Prices — Dogs Drawing
Sledges — Birds — Visit to a Monastery — Graphite — Captain Wiggins's Former
Travelling Companion — An Honest Russian Official ! — Installed as Guests in
the House of the Zessedatel — Turukansk — We turn Shop-keepers — The Skoptsi
— Scarcity of Birds — Old Gazenkampf— Our Host's Tricks — The Blagachina —
The Second Priest — The Priest's Accomplishments — -The Postmaster — The
Secretary of the Zessedatel — Schwanenberg's Troubles . . Pp. 281-291

CHAPTER XXVIII.

OUR journey's END.

Soft Roads — Sledging with Dogs— Sledging with Reindeer — We reach the Thames
— Cost of Travelling — The Yenesei River — Good Health of iheThames Crew —
Precautions against Scurvy — Fatal Results of Neglect — Picturesqueness of our
Winter Quarters — View from the House — Through the Forest on Snowshoes
— Birds — The Nutcracker — Continued Excursions in the Forest — Danger ahead

Pp. 292-298
CHAPTER XXIX.

IN WINTER QUARTERS.

The Ostiaks of the Yenesei — An Ostiak Baby — A new Bird — Visit from the
Blagachina and the Postmaster — Blackcocks in the Forest — The Capercailzie
— Wary Crows — Stacks of Firewood — Result of a Week's Shooting

Pp. 299-303

CONTENTS xiii

CHAPTER XXX.

WAITING FOR SPRING.

Scarcity of Birds — Arrival of Ostiaks — Snow-spectacles — Ostiak Dress — Poverty
of the Ostiaks — Schwanenberg goes in search of Graphite — Ostiak Ideas con-
cerning the Covering of the Hair — Hazel-grouse — Difference of Tungusk and
Ostiak Hair-dressing — The Weather — Superstition about shooting Crows — A
Token of coming Spring — Scarcity of Glass — Double Windows — Geographical
Distribution of the Samoyedes — Of the Yuraks — Of the Ostiaks — Of the Dolgans
— Of the Yakuts — Of the Tungusks Pp. 304-310

CHAPTER XXXI.

THE CHANGING SEASONS.
Erection of an Ostiak Choom — Ornithological Results of the Week — An Ostiak
Feast — Comparisons of Ostiaks and Tungusks — Snowy Owl — Our First Rain
in the Arctic Circle — Further Signs of approaching Summer — Northern
Marsh-tit — Ornithological Results of the Third Week — White-tailed Eagle —
Snowstorm — A solitary Barn Swallow — A Wintry Day — A Fox — The River
Rises — Five Roubles for an Eagle — What became of the Roubles — Visit from
our Ostiak Neighbour — A Baby Fox — Our Two Babies — A Crow's Nest — The
Blue-rumped Warbler ........ Pp. 311-320

CHAPTER XXXII.

THE BREAK-UP OF THE ICE.
Weary Waiting for Summer — Ravens — More Ostiak Neighbours — The Ship
breaks her Bands of Ice — A Hen-harrier — Appearance of the Rising River —
Premature Migration of Geese — My Week's Work — Old Story of Thaw in the
Sun and Frost in the Shade — Last Day of May — Revolutions in the Ice — A
Range of Ice Mountains — Signs of Summer — Arrival of the Common Gull and
of the White Wagtail — Ice Breaking up — An Unprepared-for Contingency —
Dangerous Position — Driving along with the Ice — Loss of the Ship's Rudder
— Preparations to Abandon the Ship — Babel of Birds — We Desert the Ship —
On Board Again — The Thames steered into the Creek — Enormous Pressure of the
Ice — The Battle of the Yenesei — "Calving" of Icebergs — The Final March Past

Pp- 321-334
CHAPTER XXXIII.

THE MARCH-PAST OF THE MIGRANTS.

Arrival of Migratory Birds — Wagtails — The Thames Afloat once more — More
Birds Arrive — An Ostiak Funeral — Birds Arrive Fast — The Tungusk Ice
Coming Down — New Birds — Pintail Snipe — Mosquitoes on the Wing

Pp- 335-342
CHAPTER XXXIV.

A BUSY WEEK ON THE KUREIKA.

Four Species added to my List — Dotterel — Rapid Rise of the River— Open Water
— Arrival of the Great Snipe — Pallas's Sand-martin — Common Sandpiper —
Characteristics of the Native Tribes — Ship Repairs — Pine Bunting — Ice lost
in the Forest — Glinski's Industry — Ruby-throated Warbler — Waxwings — Nut-
crackers— Death of a Tungusk — Funeral Rites — Diseases of the Natives—
Their Improvidence — Uselessness of the Priests . . . Pp. 343-352

xiv CONTENTS

CHAPTER XXXV.

FULL SUMMER AT LAST.

Trip Across the Yenesei — Lost in the Forest — Second Visit to the other Side of
the Yenesei — Number of Birds — Striped Squirrels — Gulls in Trees — A New
Bird — The Ibis — Song of the Yellow-browed Warbler — Ostiak Fishing Season
— Observations made across the Kureika — Nest of the Little Bunting — Eastern
Stonechat — Another Round in the Forest— Von Gazenkampf again — A System
of Plunder — Russian Commercial Morality .... Pp. 353-36S

CHAPTER XXXVI.

LAST DAYS ON THE KUREIKA.

Birds begin to Grow Scarce — Absence of the Nutcrackers — Fertile Hybrids
between Hooded and Carrion Crows — Nest of the Yellow-browed Warbler —
Birds Plentiful in the Early Morning — Arctic Willow-warbler — Nest of the
Dark Ouzel — Second Nest of the Little Bunting — Leaving the Kureika — New
Birds Identified each Week — Parting with our Friends . . Pp. 369-375

CHAPTER XXXVn.

THE LOSS OF THE " THAMES."

Contrary Winds — Aground on a Sand-bank — Ostiaks to the Rescue — Visit on
Shore — Nest of the Siberian Chiffchaff — Birds in the Forest — Under Way
again — Wreck of the Thames — Arrangements for the Future . Pp. 376-383

CHAPTER XXXVHI.

DOWN RIVER TO D U D I N K A.

Wild Flowers — Willow-warbler's Nest — Windy Weather — Tracks of a Bear in
the Sand — A Snipe's Nest — Nest of the Arctic Willow-warbler — The Captain
and His Crew — British Pluck and Blunder — On the Way again — Measuring
the Footprints of Swans — The River Bank — Purchasing Costumes of the
Various Races — Manner of Hunting the Sable — Coal from the Tundras

Pp. 3S4-392

CHAPTER XXXIX.

FROM DUDINKA TO GOLCHIKA.

The Tundra — The Dried-up Dudinka — Reception by the Birds — Variety of Birds
— The Chetta River — Samoyede Chooms — The Broad Nose of Tolstanoss —
Second Visit to the Tundra — Asiatic Golden Plover's Nest — A Night on the
Tundra — The Dunlin — News of Siberoff's Schooner — Winter in Siberia — The
Fishing Station — The King of the Samoyedes — Egg of the Red-breasted Goose
— Brekoffsky Island — Eggs of the Mountain Accentor — Various Eggs — Wearied
out — Ugliness of the Natives — Land on the Horizon . . . Pp. 393-404

CONTENTS XV

CHAPTER XL.

GOLCHIKA.

Golchika — Blowing Eggs — Drift-wood on the Swamp — The Little Stint — Rock
Ptarmigan — I secure a Passage to Yeneseisk — Fighting over the Ibis— Buffon's
Skuas — Shell-Mounds — The Captains come to Terms — Sandbanks at the
Mouth of the Golchika— Farewell to the Tundra . . . Pp. 405-413

CHAPTER XLL

MIGRATION.

Climate of the Tundra— Break up of the Ice — Migration of Birds in the South or
France — Comparison between Island and Continental Migration — Routes of
Migration — Grouse — Conservatism of Birds — Mortality amongst Migrants —
Origin of Migration— Glacial Epochs— Emigration of Birds — Geographical
Distribution of Thrushes— Reports on the Migration of Birds . Pp. 414-428

CHAPTER XLIL

RETURN TO KUREIKA.

Ornithological Spoils— My Three Companions— The Native Tribes— Birds on a
Little Island— Dolgan Names for Various Articles of Clothing— An Island
Rich in Birds— The Siberian Pipit— Temminck's Stint — An Arctic Accentor—
My Doubts cleared concerning the Thrush seen at Brekoffsky— " Die Wilden "
— Evil Influences — Need of a Hero in Siberia — The Two Curses of Russia-
Baptized Natives retaining their Charms and Idols— The Strange Hours we
kept — Marriage Ceremonies — Funeral Ceremonies -Diseases— Birds seen on
approaching Dudinka—Vershinsky— Golden Plover frequenting the Summit of
Larch-trees — Gulls— Mosquitoes — The Thames — An Impenetrable Island —
Kureika in its Summer Aspect Pp- 429-441

CHAPTER XLIIL

BY STEAMER TO YENESEISK.

Silovanoff— Hospitality of the Inhabitants— Interior of one of the Houses— A
Model Village— The Sect of the Skoptsi— Their Exile — A Fish Dinner— Birds
near Silovanoff— Redstart— Lost in the Forest— The Steamer Aground-
Michael Susloff— A Tipsy Blagachina— Discussion about Siberia— Its Gold
Mines the Ruin of its Prosperity— A Dense Forest— Birds on the Banks—
Verkhni Ambatskia— Decrease of the Ostiaks— Their Boats and Canoes— Birds
on the Pasture Land— The Forest Trees of the Yenesei— Larch— Spruce Fir
—Siberian Spruce Fir- Scotch Fir— Cedar- Birch— Alder and Juniper-
Poplar- Picturesque Scenery— Two New Birds added to my List— The Kamin
Pass— The Ibex -Hot Weather— The Amount of Wood our Engines consumed
—Our Hostess' Hospitality— A Poor Bag— Vegetation in the Forest— The
Black Kite— The Taz—Yermak— Swallows .... Pp. 442-457

xvi CONTENTS

CHAPTER XLIV.

FROM YENESEISK TO TOMSK.

•Once more in Yeneseisk —Country on the Banks of the Yenesei — Moulting
Birds — Blyth's Grass-warbler — Nordenskiold's Goods — A Holiday — A Dinner
Party at the Ispravnik's — From Yeneseisk to Krasnoyarsk — Three days at
Krasnoyarsk — The Club — Telegraph Communication — Scurvy amongst the
Tungusks — The Neighbouring Country — From Krasnoyarsk to Tomsk —
Magnificence of the Autumn Foliage — The Villages— The Birds — Difficulties
in the Way — A Friendly Ispravnik — Tomsk — The Wreck of the Thames.

Pp. 458-468

CHAPTER XLV.

FROM TOMSK TO PERM.

From Tomsk to Tiumen — An Old Acquaintance — Cost of Steamboat Travelling —
Cooking — Tobolsk — Contrast between Russian and Tatar Villages — Threading
the Labyrinth of the Tura — The Black Kite — Cormorants— Asiatic White
Crane — Notes of Sandpipers — Tiumen — Russian Hotel Accommodation— Bad
Roads — Ekaterinburg — Recrossing the Ural — Iron-works — Kongur — New
Railways — The Big Village Pp. 469-478

CHAPTER XLVI.

HOMEWARD BOUND.

Perm — De-Tatarisation of Russia — The Siberiak — Heavy Rain — Autumnal Tints
— Kazan — Search for a Professor — The Museum — Tatars — Steamboat Accident
— The Volga — Nishni Novgorod — Moscow— Its Museum — St. Petersburg.

Pp. 479-486

CHAPTER XLVII.

RUSSIAN CORRUPTION.

St. Petersburg — The Turkish War — Corruption of Russian Officials — Commercial
Morality — Russian Servants — Turkish Misrule — Christianity of the Turks —
Childishness of the Russian Peasants — Russian Conservatism — Financial
Condition of Russia ......... Pp. 487-496

CHAPTER XLVni.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS.

Ornithological Results of the Trip — Siberian Forms of Birds — Discoveries of
Pallas — Comparison of European and Siberian Birds — Interbreeding of
Allied Species — Affinity of European and Japanese Species — Sub-species —
Conclusion ........... Pp. 497-504

Index Pp. 505-512

ILLUSTRATIONS

Old Russian Silver Cross
Grey Plover ....

Sledging through the Snow .

Little Stint ....

Samoyede Knives .

Ust-Zylma ....

Old Russian Silver Cross

Ancient Church of the Old Believers

Old Russian Silver Cross

Chooms of the Samoyedes

Lassoing Reindeer .

Rein Rests ....

Old Russian Silver Cross

A Spill in the Snow

Old Russian Silver Cross

Shooting Wild Geese

The Banks of the Zylma

Difficulties with Snow-shoes .

Old Russian Silver Cross

Willow-Grouse

Old Russian Silver Cross

The Flooded Banks of the River

The Delta of the Petchora .

Ploughing at Ust-Zylma

A lexievka from the Tundra .

Old Russian Silver Cross

Stanavialachta

Grey Plover's Nest and Young

A Swan's Nest

Kuya .....

Watching Grey Plovers through a Cloud of Mosquitoes

Mosquito Veil ....••••

Page
vi

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7

14

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21

35
36-

47
48

55
61
67
68
74
75
82
90
96

97
106
107
117
132

133

142

143
149

151
161
164
176

xviii ILLUSTRATIONS

■Old Russian Silver Cross 177

Little Stint's Nest, Eggs, and Young 178

The Lighthouse at Heligoland on a Migration Night . . . .189

Heligoland 203

Old Russian Silver Cross ......... 206

Doing Robinson Crusoe at Dvoinik 207

Old Russian Silver Cross 225

Migration of Geese . 226

Old Russian Silver Cross 234

From Mekitza to Kiiya on a Rosposki 235

Our Headquarters at Ust-Zylma ........ 242

Old Russian Silver Cross ......... 243

Old Russian Silver Cross 244

Captain Wiggins ........... 247

■Ostiaks of the Ob 251

Samoyede Pipe ........... 254

Boundary between Europe and Asia 255

Bronze Ornament from Ancient Grave near Krasnoyarsk . . . 265

Sledging in a Snowstorm 266

Fishing Station on the Ob 273

Samoyede Snow Spectacles 280

Siberian Dog Sledge 281

Ostiak Cradle ........... 291

Inside an Ostiak Choom ......... 292

Dolgan Belt and Trappings 295

Samoyede, Ostiak, and Tungtisk Pipes ...... 298

Reindeer Sledge on the Kureika 299

Tungusk Pipe and Belt 303

Winter Quarters of the " Thames " . 304

Bronze Knives from Ancient Grave near Krasnoyarsk .... 310

•Ostiak Choom . . . . . . . . . . .311

Ostiak Costume ........... 319

Bronze Bit from Ancient Grave near Krasnoyarsk .... 320

Driving with the Ice on the Kureika 321

•Ostiak Anchor 334

■Gulls among the Icebergs 335

Ostiak Pipe 338

Ostiak Drill ............ 340

Russian Pipe 341

Old Russian Silver Cross 342

Dolgan Hunter 343

Ostiak Arrow -Heads 348

Russian Ikon 349

Bronze from Ancient Grave near Krasnoyarsk 352

Summer Quarters on the Kureika 353

ILLUSTRATIONS xix

Page

Russian Ikon 367

Old Russian Silver Cross 368

Samoyeds Man and Dolgan Woman ....... 369

Tungusk Pipe 375

Wreck of the " Thames " . . . . . . . . . 376

Samoyede Pipe . '379

Old Russian Silver Cross 383

Yurak Hunter 384

Mammoth Tooth {Upper view) ........ 389

Matnmoth Tooth {Under view) ........ 392

Samoyedes erecting Choom . 393

Golchika ............ 403

Old Russian Silver Cross ......... 404

Shell Mounds on the Tundra ........ 405

Shells at Golchika . 411

Dolgan and Samoyede Boots . . . . . . . .413

Ostiak Boats ............ 414

Bronze Fork from Ancient Grave near Krasnoyarsk .... 428

An Island in the Yenesei 429

Bronze Mirror from Ancient Grave near Krasnoyarsk . . . 435

The Kamin Pass . 442

Bunch of Squirrels^ Skins . 447

In the Kamin Pass . . 458

Dolgan Lady's Bonnet . 461

Village on the Ob 469

Dolgan Quiver ........... 473

Ostiak Choom on the Ob . . 479

Russian Pipe 485

Bronze from Ancient Grave near Krasnoyarsk ..... 486

Tatar Girl 487

Bronze Celt from Ancient Grave near Knasnoyarsk . . . . 496

Carrion and Hooded Crows and Hybrids 497

Bronze Celt from Ancient Grave near Krasnoyarsk .... 498

Bronze Celt from Ancient Grave near Krasnoyarsk .... 499

Bronze Ikon . 504

MAP ........ At end of volume

PART I

TO THE PETCHORA VALLEY

A

GREY PLOVER

CHAPTER I.

EARLY EXPLORERS.

John Wolley — Unknown Breeding-Grounds — Birds of Archangel and
Lapland — Voyages to the Petchora in the Seventeenth Century —
Schrenck's Visit in 1837 — Castren's Visit in 1842 — Keyserling's Visit
in 1843 — Pelzam's Visit in 1874 — Hoffmansegg's Visit about 1850 — Outfit
— Letters of Introduction.

The history of British birds has been enthusiastically
studied by ornithologists during the last half-century. In
spring and autumn several species of birds annually
visit our shores in considerable numbers, passing us in
their migrations to and from unknown breeding-grounds.
These migrations, and the geographical distribution of
birds, have of late years occupied a large share of the
attention of ornithologists. The name of John Wolley
stands pre-eminent amongst the discoverers in this de-
partment of science. His indefatigable labours in Lapland

4 EARLY EXPLORERS

are still fresh in the memory of the older generation of
ornithologists, who will never cease to regret his untimely
death. Notwithstanding his researches, there remained
half a dozen well-known British birds whose breeding-
grounds still continued wrapped in mystery, to solve
which has been the ambition of many field naturalists
during the past twenty years. These birds, to the dis-
covery of whose eggs special interest seemed to attach,
were the Grey Plover, the Little Stint, the Sanderling,
the Curlew Sandpiper, the Knot,* and Bewick's Swan.

In 1872 myfriend John A. Harvie-Brown accompanied
E. R. Alston on an ornithological expedition to Arch-
angel, the results of which were published in the " Ibis"
for January 1873; and in 1874 I went with Robert
Collett of Christiania to the north of Norway. Neither
of these journeys added any very important fact to the
stock of ornithological knowledge ; but in each case they
considerably increased our interest in Arctic ornithology,
and gave us a knowledge of the notes and habits of many
Arctic birds which was of invaluable assistance to us
on our subsequent journeys. The difference between
the birds found at Archangel and those at the north of
Norway was so striking that we, as well as many of our
ornithological friends, were convinced that another ten
degrees east would bring us to the breeding-ground of
many species new to North Europe; and there was also
a chance that among these might be found some of the
half-dozen birds which I have named, the discovery of
whose breeding-haunts w^as the special object of our
ambition.

* The Knot (Tringa canuius) was the only one of these six species of birds
which we did not meet with in the valley of the Petchora. It probably breeds
on the shores of the Polar Basin in both hemispheres, but its eggs were absolutely
unknown until they were discovered on the west coast of Greenland a few years
ago.

NATURALISTS' VOYAGES 5

Harvie-Brown had been collecting information about
the river Petchora for some time, and it was finally
arranged that we should spend the summer of 1875 there
together. We were under the impression that, ornitho-
logically speaking, it was virgin ground, but in this we
afterwards discovered that we were mistaken. So far as
we were able to ascertain, no Englishman had travelled
from Archangel to the Petchora for 250 years. In that
curious old book called " Purchas his Pilgrimes," published
in 1625, may be found the narratives of divers merchants
and mariners who visited this river between the years
1 6 1 1 and 1 6 1 5 for the purpose of establishing a trade there
in furs and skins, especially beaver, for which Ust-Zylma
on the Petchora was at that time celebrated.

In 1837 Alexander Gustav Schrenck visited the
Petchora under the auspices of the Imperial Botanical
Gardens at St. Petersburg, and published voluminous
information respecting the botany and the ethnology of
this district.

In 1842 Castren was sent out by the Swedish Govern-
ment and collected much valuable information about the
Samoyedes and the other races of North-East Russia.
The following year, Paul von Krusenstern and Alexander
Graf Keyserling visited the Petchora, and published an
important work upon the geology and physical geography
of the country, but none of these travellers seem to have
written anything upon the subject of birds beyond a
mere passing mention of ducks and geese. In St. Peters-
burg- we learnt that Dr. Pelzam, from the Museum at
Kazan, visited the Petchora in 1874, but he spent most
of his time in dredging and paid little attention to birds.
In Archangel we made a more important discovery. We
there met the man who had been guide to Henke and
Hoffmansegg about 1853. From him we learnt that

6 EARLY EXPLORERS

these naturalists had spent a year or more on the Petchora,
had there collected birds and eggs, and had been very
successful.

Our outfit was simple. We determined to be tram-
melled with as little luggage as possible. Besides the
necessary changes of clothing we took each a pair of
Cording's india-rubber boots, which we found invaluable.
To protect our faces from the mosquitoes, we provided
ourselves with silk gauze veils, with a couple of wire
hoops inserted opposite the bridge of the nose and the
chin, like little crinolines. These simple koniarniks proved
a complete success. On a hot summer's day life without
them would have been simply unendurable. Of course
the heat and sense of being somewhat stifled had to be
borne, as by far the lesser of two evils. Our hands we
protected by the regulation cavalry gauntlet. We took
two tents with us, but had no occasion to use them. Our
net hammocks served as beds by night and sofas by day,
and very luxurious we found them. We each took a
double-barrelled breechloader and a walking-stick gun.
Five hundred cartridges for each weapon, with the neces-
sary appliances for reloading, we found amply sufficient.
The only mistake we made was in not taking baking
powder, nor sufficient dried vegetables and Liebig's
extract of meat.

In travelling in Russia, it is of the utmost importance
to be on good terms with the officials, and we were
most fortunate in obtaining the best introductions. Our
warmest thanks are due to Count Schouvaloff for his
kindness in grivingf us letters that ensured us a welcome
such as we could not have expected. They added greatly
to the safety and success of our trip.

SLEDGING THROUGH THE SNOW

CHAPTER 11.

LONDON TO ARCHANGEL.

London to St. Petersburg — Mode of Heating Railway Carriages — Frozen
Market at St. Petersburg— Bohemian Waxwings — Moscow to Vologda —
M. Verakin — Sledging from 'Vologda to Archangel — The Yemschik —
Post-houses — The Samovar — Angliski Russ — Modes of Harnessing
Horses — State of the Roads — Weather — Trafl&c — Birds seen en route —
Arrival at Archangel.

We left London on the 3rd of March 1875. A journey
of four days and three nights, including a comfortable
night's rest at Cologne and a few hours each at Hanover
and Berlin, landed us in St. Petersburg. In Belgium it
was cold, but there was no snow. In Germany we saw
skaters on the ice, and there were patches of snow in
shady corners. As we proceeded eastward the snow and
cold increased, and in Russia the whole ground was from
one to two feet deep in snow, and sledges were the only

8 LONDON TO ARCHANGEL

conveyances to be seen at the stations. As far as Cologne
the railway carriages were heated by the ordinary hot-
water foot-warmer, and very comfortable they were, with
a temperature outside of about 40°. From Hanover to
Berlin the carriages were heated with charcoal fires under
the seats, and the sense of oppression from foul air was
so intolerable, that we were only too glad to shiver with
the windows open and the thermometer down to 20°.
From Berlin to the frontier the carriages were heated by
steam-pipes, with an arrangement for regulating the heat,
and although the thermometer outside continued the
same, we were able to keep a comfortable temperature
of 60° without any sense of suffocation. In Russia the
carriages were heated with wood fires, and we kept up
about the same temperature without any sense of dis-
comfort, although the thermometer had fallen to 5°
outside. At Wirballen our letters of introduction saved
us from an immensity of trouble and formality, thanks to
the courtesy of M. de Pisanko and the other officials.

We spent four days at St. Petersburg, sight-seeing
and completing the preparations for our journey. The
morning after our arrival was the last day of the "butter
fair," and we were very much amused and interested,
especially with the ice-slide, which is one of its great
features. A most interesting sight to us was the frozen
market. Here, one stall was full of frozen pigs, there
another was laden almost mountain high with frozen sides
of oxen and deer. Part of the market was occupied by
rows of stalls on which the frozen fish lay piled up in
stacks. Another portion was devoted to birds and game,
heaps of capercailzie, black grouse, hazel grouse (the
rabchik of the Russians), willow grouse (the koropatki of
the Russians), and others, with stacks of white hares, and
baskets full of small birds. Amongst the latter we were

ST. PETERSBURG AND MOSCOW 9

anxious to secure some Bohemian waxwings, in order, if
possible, to throw some light upon the vexed question of
the difference between the sexes. We bought a dozen
of the most perfect skins for eighty kopecks. There
were not many waxwings in the market, and all those we
bought proved, on dissection, to be males. In winter these
birds go in flocks, and it seems that the sexes flock sepa-
rately, as is known to be the case with many other species.

On the evening of the loth of March we left St.
Petersburg, and travelled by rail all night to Moscow,
where we spent a day. In the market we were told
that waxwings were seen only in autumn. Jackdaws and
hooded crows we found very abundant in Moscow. We
left in the evening, and travelled by train all night and
the whole of the next day, reaching Vologda at midnight.

We had previously written to the English Consul in
Archangel, and he was kind enough to buy fur dresses
for us and send them on to St. Petersburg. He also
commissioned M. Verakin, a Russian merchant in
Vologda, to furnish us with a sledge and provisions
for the journey. M. Verakin treated us most hospitably,
would not hear of our going to the hotel, and gave us
every assistance in his power. Unfortunately, he spoke
only his native Russ, but at last he found us an inter-
preter in the person of the German servant of a friend,
and we were able through him to convey our thanks to
our host for his kindness to us.

From 8 a.m. on Sunday morning, the 14th of March,
to Thursday at noon, we travelled by sledge day and
night from Vologda to Archangel, a distance of nearly
600 English miles. Our sledge was drawn by three
horses, driven by a peasant called the yemsckik. Both
horses and drivers were changed at each station. There
were thirty-six stages, varying in length from fifteen to

10 LONDON TO ARCHANGEL

twenty-seven versts (ten to nineteen English miles).
The horses were generally good, though small. They
were tough, shaggy animals, apparently never groomed,
but very hardy. We had but one lazy horse out of the
1 08 which we employed on the journey, but another
broke down, and had to be left on the roadside to follow
as best it could. That this treatment was not a solitary
instance was proved by the fact that on one of the
stages (the one of twenty-seven versts) we passed two
horses which had evidently broken down and had been
cast aside in the same way, lying dead and frozen on the
road. The drivers were very civil and generally drove
well, urging on the horses rather by the voice than the
whip, often apparently imitating the bark of a wolf to
frighten them, and at other times swearing at them in
every variety of oath of which the Russian language is
capable. The yemschiks were perfectly satisfied with a
pourboire of one kopeck per verst. The horses were
charged three kopecks per verst each. There was
generally a comfortable room at the stations, and the
station-masters usually came out to receive us. Some-
times we did not quit our sledge, but if we were hungry
we carried our provision-basket into the station-house,
ordered the "samovar," and made tea. The samovar is
a great institution in Russia. Provisions are not to be
had at the station-houses, but we always found a samovar,
and we were generally able to procure milk. The
samovar is a brass urn, with a charcoal fire in a tube in
the centre, which boils water in a few minutes. We
found that about a dozen words of Russ sufficed to pull
us through very comfortably. Arrived at a station, we
generally allowed the station-master to have the first
say. As soon as a convenient opportunity occurred we
interposed, " Tre loskedi saychass,'' ysfhich. being interpreted

SLEDGE-TRAVELLING ii

means "Three horses immediately." We then produced
some rouble notes, and asked, " Skolko " — " How much ? "
The station-master would again begin to talk Russ. We
offered the amount due as appeared from the list of
stations which had been provided for us by M. Verakin
at Vologda. This proving satisfactory, we proceeded to
pay the yemschik his pourboire. The station-master
once more began to talk volubly in Russ. We waited
until he had done, and then asked innocently, ''Fa7Jteelye?"
The station-master nodded his head and said, " Da, da " —
' ' Yes. " We then said, ' ' Brown Seebohm A ngliski Vologda
na Arckange/sky After the changes had been rung upon
our names, it generally ended in our having to copy them
upon a piece of paper for the station-master to write in
his book ; and the new yemschik having by this time
got his team in order, we settled ourselves down again,
cried '' Kharasho T — " All right ! " and started off. With
slight variations this course was repeated at each station.
Our horses were harnessed in divers ways. Of course
one was always in the shafts, but the other two were
sometimes put one at each side of the shaft-horse ; some-
times one on the near side, and the other in front ;
sometimes side by side in front of the shaft-horse ; and
sometimes all three were in single file. The roads in
the Archangel province, where the snow-plough was
used regularly, were generally very good. In the
province of Vologda, where the snow-plough seemed to
be unknown, the roads were at least twice as bad as the
imaofination of an Enorlishman can conceive. On the
good roads the sensation of travelling was very pleasant,
not unlike that in a railway carriage ; on the bad roads
our sensations were something like what Sancho Panza's
must have been when he was tossed in the blanket. Our
luggage was tightly packed with hay, and ourselves in

12 LONDON TO ARCHANGEL

fur, else both would have suffered severely. At first we
expected to be upset at each lurch, and took it for
granted that our sledge would be battered to pieces long
before the 600 miles to Archangel were completed,
but by degrees we began to feel reassured. The out-
riggers of our sledge were so contrived that the seat
might approach, but not quite reach, the perpendicular ;
and after we had broken a shaft once or twice, and seen
the cool businesslike way in which our yemschik brought
out his axe, cut down a birch-tree and fashioned a new
shaft, we began to contemplate the possibility of the
entire dissolution of the sledge with equanimity. The
weather was very changeable; sometimes the thermometer
was barely at freezing-point, sometimes we had a sort of
November fog, and occasionally a snowstorm, but nearly
half the time it was clear and cold with brilliant sunshine.
The last night and day it was intensely cold, from 2° to
4° below zero. There was a considerable amount of
traffic on the roads, and we frequently met long lines of
sledges laden with hides, tar-barrels, frozen sides of beef,
hay, flax, etc. Many peasants were sledging about from
place to place, but we saw very few travellers with
Government horses. The country was covered with
about two feet of snow. It was rarely flat ; at first a sort
of open rolling prairie land with plenty of timber and
well studded with villages, it afterwards became more
hilly and almost entirely covered with forest. In many
cases the road followed the course of a river, frequently
crossing it and often continuing for some miles on its
frozen surface. The track was then marked out with
small fir-trees stuck into the snow at intervals. During
the whole journey we met with only one person who
could speak either English, French, or German. This
was at Slavodka, where we bought some fancy bread

BIRDS EN ROUTE 13

and Russian butter from a German baker, who came
from Hesse Cassel. Jackdaws and hooded crows were
the commonest birds in the open country, feeding for the
most part upon the droppings of the horses on the roads.
They were in splendid plumage and wonderfully clean.
Many of the jackdaws had an almost white ring round
the neck, and are doubtless the Corvus collaris of some
authors, but, so far as we were able to see, this cannot
be regarded as a good species. We frequently saw
almost every intermediate variety in the same flock.
During the first few days we noticed many colonies of
nests in the plantations, but whether these would be
tenanted by rooks later on in the season, or whether the
hooded crow breeds in colonies in this country, we were
not able to ascertain. We occasionally saw ravens and
magpies, the latter becoming more common as we travelled
farther north. In the open country we frequently came
across small flocks of yellow-hammers on the roads, and
now and then a pair of bullfinches. In driving through
the forest we occasionally caught sight of a crossbill,
pine grosbeak, marsh-tit, jay, or great spotted wood-
pecker. On one occasion we had an excellent opportunity
of watching a small covey of willow-grouse, almost as pure
white as the snow upon which they were running. In
the villages sparrows were common enough. At Vologda,
we are under the impression that they were all the house
sparrow. In the villages through which we passed after
the first day they were certainly all tree sparrows.

Upon our arrival at Archangel we were most hospitably
entertained by the British Consul, Mr. Charles Birse.
We were delighted once more to sit down to a good
dinner, to enjoy the luxury of a Russian bath after our
long journey, and to have a good night's rest in a
comfortable bed.

LITTLE STINT

CHAPTER III.

ARCHANGEL,

The White City, Archangel — Decline of its Commerce — Cheapness of
Living — Peter Kotzoff — Father Inokentia — The Samoyedes and their
Sledges — Their Physical Characteristics — Samoyede Names of Birds
— National Songs — Election of Samoyede Chiefs — Their Ignorance of
Doctors or Medicinal Plants— Piottuch— Birds — The Weather — Hasty
Departure from Archangel.

We spent nineteen days in Archangel completing the
preparations for our journey, and picking up what in-
formation we could respecting the great river Petchora,
and the routes thither. Everybody looked upon our
expedition as a most formidable undertaking, but all were
anxious to give us every assistance in their power. There
is an excellent German club in Archangel, and we
dropped a few roubles in practising krasnoye po bielemou

ARCHANGEL 15

and bieloye po krasnomou * with billiard-balls large
enough for Hercules to have played with. Archangel,
the white city, must have been christened in winter.
Most of the houses are painted white, the streets were
white, the Dvina was white, and as far as the eye could
reach the whole country was white. The principal street,
the Troitski Prospekt, is a long straight road flanked with
low houses, separated by gardens. All the houses are
constructed of wood, except in the centre of the town,
where many of them are of plastered bricks. The popula-
tion is said to be from fifteen to seventeen thousand in
winter, increasing in summer to about half as many more.
Archangel seems to be declining in importance as a
commercial centre, doubtless in consequence of its isola-
tion from the railway system of Russia. The number of
large firms does not increase, and there are now only
three export houses of importance. The chances of
commercial success are consequently small, and most of
the young men who can afford it leave the city. The
cost of living is small. House-rent is very cheap, and
provisions equally so. For example, the best joints of
beef can be bought in winter for 3^. per lb., in summer at
3f^. White bread costs /^^d. per lb., but brown bread
can be had for f^. Butter is y^d. per lb. Milk (un-
skimmed) id. per quart, and cream 3f^. per pint. Game is
ridiculously cheap, capercailzie being y^d, each in autumn
and IS. yd. each in winter ; hazel grouse /\^d. per brace in
autumn and i i\d. in winter ; hares 3^. each, and salmon gd.
to IS. Tfd. per lb. In spite of the long and severe winters,
the price of fuel is not a very important item. Wood
sufficient to serve a small family for a year costs
about 10/.

For some days we sat in commission, examining

* Red upon white, and white upon red.

i6 ARCHANGEL

witnesses on the Petchora, the British Consul kindly acting
as interpreter for us. We got the best information from
Peter Kotzoff, a Russian pilot, who showed us a chrono-
meter which was presented to him by the British Govern-
ment for assisting in the rescue of the crew of the
Elizabeth, which was wrecked at the mouth of the
Petchora. He was for some years a pilot on the great
river, and acted as guide to Count Wilczec on his return
journey overland from the Austrian- Hungarian Arctic
Expedition. Another interesting acquaintance which we
made was that of Father Inokentia, the present arch-
priest of Archangel, who lived seventeen years in the
Petchora, principally east of Ishma. He was sent out by
the Russian Government as a missionary amongst the
Samoyedes, to convert them from their so-called idolatrous
faith to the Greek Church. He told us that he remem-
bered meeting with Schrenck, and that Castren stopped
some time at his house, at Kolva, on the river Ussa.
He left the Petchora in 1847, so that his information was
somewhat out of date. Father Inokentia seemed to be a
jolly fat friar of the old school, and was very kind and
patient in answering our numerous questions. How far
he succeeded in his mission it is difficult to say. Most
of the Samoyedes on the west side of the Ural now
profess to belong to the Greek Church, but we were
repeatedly informed that many of them still secretly
retain their old beliefs, and continue to practise their
ancient rites. We went through most of the Samo-
yede vocabulary given in Rae's " Land of the North
Wind," and found it to be on the whole correct.
No doubt, in districts so widely separated as the
Kanin peninsula and the valley of the Ussa. consider-
able differences of dialect must be expected. But
perhaps the most interesting information which we

THE SAMOYEDES 17

obtained respecting this curious race of people was that
which we got from the Samoyedes themselves. We had
our first glimpse of them — it was little more than a glimpse
— at St. Petersburg, where we found a single choom erected
on the ice of the Neva. These were probably poor
Samoyedes, owning only a few reindeer, and earning a
scanty living during the long winter by selling various
articles made from the skins and horns of these deer, and
picking up a few kopecks by giving curious strangers a
ride in their national sledges.

Near the villages round Archangel there were several
Samoyede chooms. Two or more families were wintering
about fifteen versts from Archangel, and came almost
every day in their sledges to the town. On one of our
shooting excursions we chartered a couple of these
sledges to take us to an island on the Dvina, and
thoroughly enjoyed this novel mode of travelling. The
reindeer were very tractable, and we skimmed over the
surface of the snow at a rapid pace. We had long
conversations with several Samoyedes, the Consul, of
course, acting as interpreter, and we invited them
to the Consul's house, where they gave us freely
all the information they could respecting themselves
and the traditions of their race. They spoke Russian
well and were by no means devoid of intelligence.
They were all small men, with dark straight hair
worn hanging over the forehead, thin moustache and
beard, and little or no whiskers. Their features were
irregular, with wide fiat noses, high cheek-bones, and
thick lips. The under jaw was coarse and heavy, the
eyes brown, small, and oblique like those of the Chinese,
and not unfrequently sore. They had small hands
and feet, wide round heads, and sallow complexions.
We took some of them to the museum, where they

B

i8 ARCHANGEL

recognised many of the stuffed birds, and tried to
describe their habits and imitate their notes. They
gave us the following Samoyede names of birds in the
Petchora district :

Sandpiper Suitar.

Willow Grouse Hond-jy'.

Swan Chouari.

Goose Yebtaw.

Black Goose Parden Yebtaw.

They told us there were two species of swans in the
Petchora, the larger one common and breeding there, the
smaller one rare, and appearing only in autumn. They
represented the snowy owl as found on the tundra, but
did not recognise the Lapp or Ural owls. We found
later that these statements were substantially correct. On
one occasion the Samoyedes favoured us with some of
their national songs, monotonous chants which reminded
me very much of the songs of the peasants of the Par-
nassus. One, which was translated for us, was a sort of
Ossianic ditty, relating how the singer intended to make
a journey with reindeer, how he would select the four
fleetest bull reindeer from his herd, how he would always
be at the head of the party, how he would get plenty of
vodka, how he would barter his skins, and how he would
take care not to be cheated in the transaction. One of
the Samoyedes told us that they have a chief, residing in
the Ural, who is answerable to the Emperor for the
annual tribute, and that at his death his son succeeds
him, unless he is thought not worthy to be made king.
In this case another chief is elected by ballot, by putting
pieces of wood into 2, piniu, or boot. It is right to note,
however, that other Samoyedes whom we questioned had
never heard of this Ural chief. The Samoyedes have no
doctors, and use no medicinal plants, nor do they employ

BIRDS OF ARCHANGEL 19

any other medicines, unless the outward application of
goose or swan fat for frost-bites may rank as such.

At Archangel we were fortunate enough to secure the
services of M. Piottuch, a Polish exile, whom we engaged
to go with us to the land of the Samoyedes in the double
capacity of interpreter and bird-skinner. He spoke
Russian and bad French, and since Alston and Harvie-
Brown's visit to Archangel in 1872 had spent a con-
siderable part of his leisure time in shooting and skinning
birds. Accompanied by Piottuch we made several ex-
cursions on snow-shoes into the neighbouring woods, but
saw remarkably few birds. Archangel contains a great
number of sparrows ; most of the farmyards abounded
with them. Once or twice we identified a tree-sparrow,
but by far the greater number were the common house-
sparrow, many of the males being in splendid plumage.
The next commonest bird was certainly the hooded
crow. They were remarkably tame. In the market we
sometimes saw half a dozen perched at the same time on
the horses' backs, and we could almost kick them in the
streets. They are the scavengers of Archangel. Pigeons
were also common, now wild, but probably once domesti-
cated. They look like rock-doves, a blue-grey, with
darker head and shoulders, two black bars on the wing,
and a white rump ; but in some the latter characteristic
is wanting. These pigeons are never molested, and are
evidently held to be semi-sacred, like those in the Piazza
di San Marco in Venice, or in the court of the Bayezidieh
mosque in Stamboul. Jackdaws, ravens, and magpies
were frequently seen. In the woods we found the mealy
redpoll, the marsh-tit, an occasional bullfinch, a pair of
lesser spotted woodpeckers, and a solitary hawfinch.
Some white-winged crossbills and waxwings were brought
alive into the town, but the peasant who had the wax-

20 ARCHANGEL

wings asked eight roubles a pair, so, of course, we did
not buy them. We were told that these birds were
common near Archangel until towards the end of No-
vember, when they disappear as the weather becomes
more severe.

During our stay in Archangel we had considerable
changes in the weather. Soon after our arrival it was
very cold, and on one or two occasions we noticed the
thermometer as low as 27° below zero. If the weather
was windy we felt the cold keenly, but at the lowest
point there was not a breath of wind, and wrapped up in
our furs we suffered from nothing but an attack of icicles
on the moustache. Occasionally we had slight snow-
storms, but brilliant sunshine was the rule, and we found
the clear, dry air most invigorating. After April had set
in the weather became more cloudy, and the thermometer
once registered 2)7° '^^ the shade. No signs of frost
having been visible by the 6th, we made hot haste to be
off before our winter road should break up, taking leave
of our kind friends, Mr. and Mrs. Birse, with great
regret. It has rarely been our lot to be received with
such genuine hospitality as was shown us by this es-
timable gentleman and his wife.

SAMOYEDE KNIVES

UST-ZYLMA

CHAPTER IV.

SLEDGING TO UST-ZYLMA.

Bad Roads — Postal Service in Winter and Summer — Changeable Weather
— Scenery — Pinega and Kuloi Rivers — Snow Plains — The Forests — Birds
— Samoyedes — Mezen — A Polish Exile — Snow-Buntings— Jackdaws — We
leave Mezen — Scenery — The Mezen River — The Pizhma — Bad State of
the Roads — Piottuch's Accident — The Via Diabolica— Bolshanivagorskia
— Break up of the Road— Polish Prejudices — The Villages — Curiosity of
the Peasants — Greek Crosses — Love of Ornament — Employment and
Amusements— Samoyedes — Siberian Jays— Umskia — First View of the
Petchora — Arrival at Ust-Zylma.

The journey from Archangel to Ust-Zylma on the
Petchora is between 700 and 800 English miles.
There are about forty stations, the distances between
them being somewhat greater than those on our previous
journey. Had we left Archangel a fortnight earlier,
before the sun was powerful enough to soften the surface

22 SLEDGING TO UST-ZYLMA

of the snow, we might have accomplished the journey
in much shorter time. As it was, we took three days
and three nights to reach Mezen. We stopped one
day and two nights in this, the frontier town of Siberia in
Europe ; and the remainder of the journey occupied five
days and four nights. A fortnight later the snow became
impassable, the winter road was broken up, the horses at
the stations in the uninhabited portions of the country, a
distance of 250 versts, were sent home, and for two
months the valley of the Petchora was as effectually cut
off from all communication with civilised Europe as if it
had been in the moon. The last 1 50 miles had become a
series of uninhabited, impassable swamps, across which no
letter, nor messenger, nor telegram, ever came. The
postal service was suspended until the floods in the river
caused by the sudden melting of the snow had sufficiently
subsided to make it possible to row against stream.
The summer route from Mez^n to Ust-Zylma is up the
Mezen River to its junction with the Peza, up that river
to its source, across the watershed, a porterage of sixteen
versts, by horses, to the source of the Zylma, and then
down that river to the Petchora.

We left Archangel on a Tuesday evening, in two
sledges or pavoskas ; Har vie- Brown and I, with part of
the luggage in one, drawn by three horses, and Piottuch
with the remainder of the luggage in the other, drawn
by two horses. That night and the whole of the follow-
ing day were warm, the thermometer standing at 44° in
the shade. In the sun it once went up to 70°. The
wind was south-west, and in our inexperience we began
to fear that summer would be upon us before we reached
the Petchora. Our progress was slow, and at this time,
including stoppages, we did not average much more than
seven miles an hour. On Wednesday night we had a

THE PINEGA AND KULOI 1'^

smart frost, and began to congratulate each other on the-
chance of our progress being more rapid. But we soom
found that we were out of the frying-pan into the fire.-
The great traffic to and from the fair at Pinega had W(()Fn<
a deep rut for the horses' feet in the track, and one runner
of our sledge would persist in running in it, which threw
the sledge so much out of the level that the outrigger or
projecting spar, which is necessary to prevent the sledge
from being upset every five minutes, was continually
ploughing into the snow which formed a bank on each
side of the road. As long as the snow was soft it was of
little consequence, but when the crust was hardened by
an hour or two of frost, the outrigger of the sledge went
" scrunch " into it with a sound almost like that of a man
turning wood in a lathe, and our progress was as much im-
peded by this unwelcome break as it had been by the giving
way of the snow under the horses' feet. On Thursday
afternoon the sun was again hot, but fortunately it froze again
at night. Friday was dull all day, with a slight thaw, and
we reached Mezen at 4 p.m. and found the roofs dripping.
The scenery on the route was much more varied than
we had expected to find it. Most of the way we sledged
through the forests, a wide space being cleared on each
side of the track ; but sometimes the trees came close up
to the road, which was hilly and winding, and we seemed
to be lost in a dense wood. Perhaps the most picturesque
scenery of the journey was that we saw in ascending the
Pinega River and descending the Kuloi, and we repeat-
edly enjoyed it for some versts at a time. The Pinega
River is very broad, with what looked like cliffs of oolite
on each side, surmounted by pine forests. The Kuloi
River is narrower, and there are no cliffs of any importance,
the trees coming down to the edge of the ice. When we
passed the Kuloi near its source, soon after leaving

24 SLEDGING TO UST-ZYLMA

Pinega. the river was flowing through a strip of open
country. In several places it was free from ice, and on
two occasions we saw ducks swimming upon the open
water. About thirty versts before reaching Mezen we
crossed an immense plain of snow, as flat as a lake,
extending east and west as far as the eye could reach. In
almost every instance the flat plains were destitute of
trees, being no doubt swamps or marshes, too wet for
timber to grow in, whilst the hills were invariably covered
with forests. We found that the roads were always deep
in the forests. Our horses had firm footing, but the out-
riggers of the sledge " scrunched " unpleasantly. In the
open plains the sides of the road were low, any deep
tracks which might have been made being no doubt soon
filled up again by the drifting snow, and we got on at a
rapid pace so long as the snow did not give way under
the horses' feet. The forests were principally spruce fir,
and very spruce these fir-trees looked, as if they had just
been combed and brushed, in striking contrast to the
hasrsrard larches, whose leafless branches were clothed
with black and grey lichen like a suit of rags, and were
torn and twisted by the winds into wild fantastic shapes,
reminding one of a sketch by Gustave Dore. In many
places birches and Scotch fir were common, and occasion-
ally we saw a few willows. There were very few birds.
The hooded crow was the commonest, principally close
to the villages. Now and then we saw a jackdaw or a
raven, or a pair of magpies. As we proceeded farther
east, sparrows became less plentiful, but we noticed both
species, the house and the tree sparrow. Soon after
leaving Archangel we met with a flock of snow-buntings,
and they gradually became more frequent as we neared
Mezen, especially on the rivers. They seemed to be
slowly migrating northwards, following the course of the

ARRIVAL AT MEZEN 25

rivers, where there was always a chance of their finding
some open water. Not far from Pinega we got out of the
sledge to chase a pair of great spotted woodpeckers, and
succeeded in shooting the female. We also saw a pair of
Siberian jays, but, not being provided with snow-shoes,
we found it was no use attempting to follow the birds into
the forests through the deep snow. Soon after leaving
Pinega we saw a bird sitting on a cliff, and after a short
chase shot it, and found it to be a common crossbill, a
bird which, curiously enough, wq did not meet with
afterwards. A staofe or two before reaching Mezen we
saw a second pair of Siberian jays, and surprised a fine
male capercailzie not far from the road.

At Pinega we found a party of Samoyedes from Kanin,
with about twenty sledges, and we passed a larger party
about halfway to Mez^n. We met with no difficulties.
Once or twice, on our arrival at a station during the
night, we were told that there were no horses to be had,
that they were all out ; but on the presentation of the
"Crown Padarozhnayas," with which General Timarsheff
(the Minister of the Interior at St. Petersburg) had
kindly provided us, horses were forthcoming at once.
We paid for five horses on one occasion when we had
only four, and at Pinega the station-master tried to make
us take six, but our obstinate refusal to do so, lest it
should become a precedent in future, prevailed.

We reached Mezen on the loth of April, and spent an
interesting day in this frontier town. The Ispravnik, to
whom we had letters from the Governor of Archangel,
called upon us and invited us to take tea at his house. He
spoke a smattering of French, but had asked a Polish
exile of the name of Bronza to meet us as interpreter.
M. Bronza spoke German, and we endeavoured to get
some information from him about the Samoyedes ; but he

26 SLEDGING TO UST-ZYLMA

was so full of his own grievances, and so utterly without
interest in Russia and everything Russian, that we soon
gave it up in despair. Poland is evidently the Ireland of
Russia. Both the Irish and the Poles seem crazy on the
subject of home-rule, and in many other points show a
similarity of temperament. They are both hot-blooded
races, endowed with a wonderful sense of humour, and
an intolerable tolerance of dirt, disorder, and bad
management generally.

At Mezen we were much interested in watching a
large flock of snow-buntings. Their favourite resort was
the steep bank of the river, where they found abundance
of food in the manure which was thrown away. In a
country where there is plenty of grass in summer and
very little corn is cultivated and where the cattle have to
be stall-fed for seven or eight months out of the twelve,
manure apparently is of little value, and hundreds of cart-
loads are annually deposited on the steep banks of the
river, where it is washed away by the floods caused by
the sudden melting of the snow in May. The snow-
buntings were also frequently seen round the hole in the
ice on the river, where the inhabitants of Mezen obtained
their supply of water. In both places the boys of the
village had set white horsehair snares, and seemed to be
very successful in their sport. At this time of the year
these birds are fat and are excellent eating. We were
told that in a fortnight they would be here in much
o-reater numbers, and would be sold for a rouble the
hundred, or even less. None of the birds we got were
in full summer plumage, yet they looked extremely
handsome as they ran along the snow like a wagtail or a
dotterel, or fluttered from place to place with a butterfly-
like kind of flight. We occasionally saw them hop, but
they generally preferred to run. The most interesting

BELOW-ZERO DISCOMFORTS 27

fact which we observed was that the snow-bunting
occasionally perches in trees. We saw two in the forest,
one of which perched in a spruce fir.

We found jackdaws very numerous at Mez6n, but
Piottuch told us that it is only during the last four or five
years that the bird has been seen in this neighbourhood.
He said that it is now a resident there. Piottuch in the
days of his exile lived some years at Mezen, and had
a considerable circle of acquaintance in the town, who
made merry on the occasion of his revisiting them.

We left Mezen on Sunday morning at nine, glad to
get away, as Piottuch's old friends were too many for
him, and far too hospitable, and he was drinking more
champagne than we thought prudent. During the pre-
vious four-and-twenty hours we had had violent wind
and snowstorms, but the morning had cleared up, the
sun shone brilliantly, and it was not cold. But at night
snow came on again and continued till Wednesday
evening, when the weather suddenly cleared up again,
the thermometer falling from freezing-point to zero.
During the three days, about four inches of snow had
been added to the couple of feet already on the ground.
Travelling during even a slight snowstorm is by no
means so pleasant as when the sun shines on a mild
day ; but travelling in a sledge with the thermometer at
zero is decidedly unpleasant, even with brilliant sunshine
and no wind. If you expose your face to the air your
nose is in danger, then the icicles that form continually
upon your moustache are anything but comfortable, and
the condensation of your breath upon your neck-wrap-
pings is always irritating; while, if you subside altogether
into your furs, the sense of semi- suffocation is almost as
bad. On the whole, however, we did not suffer so much
from the cold as we expected.

28 SLEDGING TO UST-ZYLMA

The scenery on this journey was more varied than
any we had previously met with. We alternated between
forest, river, and opejj plain. The Mezen is a fine river,
half a mile or more wide, with steep banks of what
looked like red chalk about lOO feet high, clothed with
forest to the edge, which is continually crumbling away
and letting the pine-trees slip into the water. At in-
tervals, and often with remarkable regularity, the cliffs
were cut away down to the water's edge, probably by
small temporary rivulets born of the melting snow. The
Pizhma is a much smaller river, not half the size of the
Mezen, and without rocky cliffs on the banks. There
are two Pizhmas, on both of which we travelled. Both
rise in the lake of Jam, the Petchorski Pizhma flowing
north-east into the Zylma just before that river enters
the Petchora, and the Mezenski Pizhma flowing south-
west into the Mezen. On the rivers the roads were
always good, except in one part of the Mezenski Pizhma
where the river is very narrow and the current very
strong. In one place we almost shuddered to see open
water rushing along within nine feet of the sledge. Not
long afterwards we stuck fast, and had to get out of the
sledge on the snow in the middle of the river. It was
nearly midnight and very cloudy. Piottuch with his
lighter sledge had got safely over the dangerous part
and stood grinning at us, as the yemschiks hacked the
frozen snow off the runners of our sledge with their axes,
and having added his two horses to our team, placed two
little fir-trees across the path and flogged the horses
until they dragged the machine through the snow and
water on to firm ground. We had our revenge, however,
shortly afterwards. A few stations farther on Piottuch's
sledge came to grief, one of the runners breaking com-
pletely in two in the front. He was some distance in

A VIA DIABOLICA 29

advance of our sledge, and when we overtook him at the
station he came to us with a very long face to tell us of
the ''tres 7nal chose.'' We soon set him upon his legs
again. We bought a peasant's sledge for a rouble and a
half, took off the sides, and removing the runners from
the broken sledge lashed the two together with a strong
cord. Piottuch started in high glee again, assuring us
that his sledge was '' beaucoup plus don' than ours. The
effect of the alteration however was, to raise the level of
his outriggers a few inches, which made all the difference
between safety and danger. He was soon fast asleep as
usual, for he had not yet quite slept off his Mezen cham-
pagne, when his sledge gave a greater lurch than it was
wont to do and capsized, waking him with a shower of
portmanteaus about his ears; and he was dragged out of
the deep snow by the yemschik amidst roars of laughter
on our part.

As before, we found the roads in the open plain
always good. These plains were a dead flat, with a tree
or two here and there. The rut worn by the horses' feet
was not deep, and the path was almost level with the
side. We glided along smoothly and luxuriously. The
roads in the forest were bad beyond all conception. The
banks were high, and were always in the way of the
outriggers, which "scrunched" against them with a most
irritating sound. Both laterally and vertically they were
as winding as a snake. Sometimes our sledge was on
the top of a steep hill, our first horse in the valley, and
our third horse on the top of the next hill. The motion
was like that of a boat in a chopping sea, and the sledge
banged about from pillar to post to such an extent that
we scarcely felt the want of exercise. The Russian
forest-road is not a via mala, it is a via diabolica.

At Bolshanivagorskia, upon entering the station-house.

30 SLEDGING TO UST-ZYLMA

we found the room occupied by a party, and the samovar
in full operation. Fancying that some of the party looked
English, I inquired if any of them spoke German, and
the least Russian-looking gentleman among them replied
that he did. I informed him that we were Englishmen,
travelling from London to the Petchora, and I added
that we were glad to find some one on the route with
whom we could converse. I then asked him if he and
his party were also travelling. He replied that they were
stationed there for some time. I then asked if his name
was Rosenthal. He said it was, and a hearty laugh
followed at the success of my guess. We enjoyed his
astonishment for some time, and then explained that we
had been told by the Ispravnik at Mezen that there was
only one man in the district who could speak German,
the forest engineer, Herr Rosenthal. We spent an hour
pleasantly together. Like every one we met who had
not been to the Petchora, he exaggerated the dangers
and difficulties of the journey. He was engaged in
measuring the timber felled on Rusanoffs concession on
behalf of the Russian Government, who receive so much
per tree according to the quantity of available wood in it.
On the other hand, it is possible that we may have
under-estimated the dangers and difficulties of our journey,
seeing we had the good luck to pull through them so
well. The roads were certainly giving way, and it may
have been a happy accident in our favour that the
weather changed again when it did. On one occasion
the crust of snow not being firm enough to support the
horses, they all three suddenly sank up to their bellies.
Of course they were utterly helpless. We feared for a
moment that our journey had suddenly come to an end
and that we had hopelessly stuck fast. We alighted
from the sledge, which had not sunk in the snow. The

WE COLLECT A CROWD 31

two yemschiks set to work in good earnest, and we doffed
our malitzas and followed suit. The horses were un-
harnessed, and we soon succeeded in making them
struggle out on to firm ground. We had no difficulty in
pushing the sledge after them, and were soon ready to
start again. All this time Piottuch stood calmly by,
never offering for a moment to render us the smallest
assistance. The Russians we always found equal to any
emergency, and ready to lend a helping hand on such
occasions as an Englishman would. The Poles, on the
contrary, seem to be a helpless, shiftless race of people,
with a contemptible prejudice against manual labour. A
similar accident did not happen again. We had many a
stumble, but no irretrievable fall. Our horses were sure-
footed and wonderfully plucky, and we seldom had a
really bad animal. We started with five horses for the
two sledges, which we reduced to four the latter half of
the journey, and on one or more occasions we accom-
plished a stage satisfactorily with only three.

The country is very thinly populated. After leaving
Mezen the villages were small, and during the last 150
miles there were no villages at all, only a single station-
house, where a change of horses could be obtained, and
which would shortly be deserted altogether for the
summer months. As we were the first Englishmen who
had travelled on this road during the lifetime of any of the
villagers, our appearance naturally excited great curiosity,
and when we stopped at a station in the village to change
horses, a crowd quickly gathered round the sledges. We
found the peasants very inquisitive, asking the English
names of various articles. They were extremely good-
natured, enjoyed a broad joke, laughed heartily at our
pigeon-Russ, and were, so far as we could judge, perfectly
honest. We left our sledges with all our luggage, wraps.

3 2 SLEDGING TO UST-ZYLMA

and things unprotected, sometimes for an hour, at the
stations where we stopped for a meal, and on no occasion
had anything been stolen. In the villages on this part of
the journey we noticed a number of crosses, generally one
or two at the entrance, and one near the centre of the
village. They were made of wood, and were about ten
feet high, the ordinary Greek double cross, with an
oblique foot-bar, and most of them were protected by a
wooden roof to keep off the snow. Both the roof and
the cross itself were, as a rule, elaborately carved, and the
whole face of the cross was covered with inscriptions (no
doubt Slavonic) in about three-inch letters. Sometimes
in the poorer villages the crosses were not carved, and
the inscription and ornamentation were simply painted
upon the wood, generally in various colours. The Russian
peasantry in European Siberia seem to be fond of orna-
ment. The majority of the houses are built with the
gable end to the street, and in the centre of the gable is
a window, opening on to a balcony. This balcony, the
framework of the windows, the ends of the rain-gutters,
and the ends of the ridge of the roof, were often elabo-
rately carved and fretted, and sometimes painted in gay
colours. In nearly all the villages we noticed a con-
spicuous arrangement of railings for the drying of flax,
hay, or corn. In the station-houses we found the men,
and sometimes the women, engaged in spinning flax,
making nets, or weaving coarse linen. In the stations,
however, where there was no village, a draught-board of
very rude construction evidently served to while away the
long winter evenings. Several times during the journey
we saw Samoyedes, or Syriani, sledging along with their
reindeer, and in many places the snow was ploughed up
some distance from the road, showing that the reindeer
had been seeking for food. As we neared Ust-Zylma we

THE SIBERIAN JAY 33

passed several of the chooms, or reindeer-skin tents, of
these curious people by the roadside. During the greater
part of the journey few birds were to be seen. In the
villages magpies were the commonest birds, and occa-
sionally we saw a few pigeons, hooded crows, and tree-
sparrows. On the banks of the river flocks of snow-
buntingrs were common. In the forests we saw a few
capercailzie.

At Umskia, where we were fortunately detained six
hours for want of horses, there was an abundant supply
of birds. This station is a solitary house on the banks of
the Petchorski Pizhma, about fifty-four versts from Ust-
Zylma. The great attraction for birds in this place was
doubtless the hole in the ice of the river, which had to be
kept open to supply the station with water, and the dung
which the horses dropped during the few hours they fed
and rested outside the station. We shot five Siberian
jays {Perisoreus infaustus), and had some opportunity of
watching their habits. They were not at all shy, and
were fond of perching upon or clinging to the trunks of
the pines, and sometimes we saw them run up the stems
like a woodpecker. Their song was by no means un-
musical, a low warble like that of the starling, but not so
harsh. These birds are early breeders, and the song is
probably discontinued soon after incubation has begun, as
we did not hear it afterwards, though we frequently came
across the birds. Out of the five birds which we shot
only one proved to be a female, with the ovary very
small. There were a few snow-buntings always to be
seen, but we did not think it worth while wasting powder
and shot upon them, as we had selected a score of hand-
some birds out of a lot brought to one of the stations by
a peasant who had snared them. We could have bought
almost any quantity alive or dead at ten kopecks the

c

34 SLEDGING TO UST-ZYLMA

score. I shot one by accident as it was feeding under a
larch-tree in company with a Siberian jay, a couple of
bullfinches, half a dozen other snow-buntings, and a few
redpolls. Harvie- Brown shot another as it sat perched
upon the branch of a larch, in order to be able to produce
the skin of a bird shot perching, as the fact that they do
ever perch in trees has been disputed. We had abundant
opportunity of seeing these birds in trees. We saw as
many as three or four in one tree at the same time, and
frequently observed them fly from one tree to another.
We saw plenty of the Northern bullfinches {^Pyr7'hula
rtibicilla, Pallas) and shot five males in brilliant plumage.
They were all in pairs. We fancied that the call-note of
these bullfinches differed from that of our bird. Speaking
from memory, it seemed to us to be louder and harsher,
by no means so plaintive, and not badly represented by
the word " kak."

After leaving Umskia we looked anxiously out for the
first glimpses of the distant Petchora, and it was not long
before we crossed a low range of hills, from the ridge of
which we had a view of the mighty river. As we sledged
down the Zylma, and finally reached its junction with the
Petchora, the vastness of this river impressed us beyond
all our expectations. We were 300 miles from its mouth,
and to our left the huge flood stretched away in a broad
white stream as far as the eye could reach, and fifteen
times as wide as the Thames at Hammersmith Bridge,
On the opposite bank, a mile and a half off, we could
discern the churches and houses of Ust-Zylma, round
which the river swept to our right. Piottuch had arrived
at the town some hours before us, and we found comfort-
able apartments in the house of a Russian peasant of the
name of Boulegan, where we were visited by M. Znaminski,
the Preestaff of Ust-Zylma, and drank a toast {the success

A GREAT RIVER

35

of our visit to the Petchora) in a bottle of excellent
Crimean champagne.

The total course of this great river covers nearly
looo miles. It rises in the Urals, north of the
government of Perm, not far from the important town of
Tcherdin, which lies upon the watershed of the Petchora
and the Kama. It drains nearly the whole of the north-
western slope of the Ural Mountains, and flows almost
due north till its junction with the Ussa ; here the river
is a mile wide, and the Ussa is the larger stream of the
two. The Petchora at this point makes a bend west ;
but after receiving the waters of the Zylma, it resumes
its northward course, which it continues till it falls into
the Arctic Ocean by a number of mouths opposite the
islands of Novaya Zemlya.

OLD RUSSIAN SILVER CROSS

ANCIENT CHURCH OK THP: OLD BELIEVERS

CHAPTER V.

UST-ZYLMA.

• Ust-Zylma — Its Streets and Houses — Its Manure — Population of the
Town — Its Churches — Our Quarters — The Banks of the River — The
Old Believers — Their Superstition — Silver Crosses— Hospitality of the
Officials — Shooting-parties — Captain Arendt and Captain Engel — Snow-
shoes — Scarcity of Birds — The Snow-bunting— Redpolls— Winter.

Ust-Zylma * is a long, straggling" village, lying on the
narrow strip of flat land on the north and east bank of
the Petchora, where that river makes a sudden bend
from west to north, about 300 miles from its mouth.
Each homestead is a farmhouse with outbuildings,

* In " Purchas his Pilgrimes," the narrative of the voyage of Josias Logan,
who wintered in the valley of the Petchora in 1611, contains the following
description of this town : " Ust-Zylma is a village of some thirtie or fortie houses,
and standeth in the height of 66° and 30 minutes. They have corne growing
there, both barley and rye, and their barley is passing faire and white almost as
rice. ' '

UST-ZYLMA 37

including almost always a bath-house. They are
irregularly scattered over the ground, sometimes at
considerable distances apart, and sometimes in clusters.
There is a principal road which one might by courtesy
call the main street, which meanders throuofh the villao-e
for perhaps two miles, with numerous side branches ; but
the general appearance of the place is as if the houses
had been strewed about at random, and each peasant
had been left to make a road to his nearest neighbour as
best he could. Towards the centre of the villacre there
is here and there a wooden causeway, like those in Arch-
angel. We found this wooden t7'ottoir all but indis-
pensable when the thaw set in. When we reached Ust-
Zylma the streets were covered with a thick layer of
frozen manure. The yards round the houses were in a
still worse condition, and when the sun was hot it was
difficult to walk dryshod in consequence of the pools of
liquid manure, which filled every depression in the
ground, and no doubt very frequently soaked into the
wells. This manure makes Ust-Zylma one vast dung-
hill, and would probably produce much disease, were it
not for the fact that it is frozen for nearly seven months
out of the twelve, and is in most years carried away soon
after it thaws by the floods of the Petchora, which
generally overflows its banks when the snow melts all at
once with the sudden arrival of summer. It not un-
frequently happens at this season of the year that half
the village is under water, and the peasants have to boat
from house to house. All the houses are built with this
contingency in view. The bottom story is generally low,
and consists of a suite of lumber-rooms, where the cattle
are often housed in winter. The dwelling-rooms are on
the second story, generally reached by a covered flight
of stairs outside the house, leading from a porch below

38 UST-ZYLMA

to a gallery, which is carried round the house. Upon
this porch, staircase, and gallery a good deal of skill in
wood-carving is often expended. The winter is long,
and the lenofth of time durinof which the cattle are stall-
fed so great, and the amount of land available for cultiva-
tion so small, that there is always a large surplus of
manure, which, as I have already stated, the peasants do
not think worth the cost of preservation. The cattle are
fed principally upon hay, which is cut upon the low lands
on the other side of the Petchora. These lands are
flooded every spring, and any manure placed upon them
would speedily be washed off: nor is it needed, as the
river itself is the great fertiliser in these low-lying
districts, exactly as the Nile is in Egypt. Of course, to
accumulate so much manure in the streets, the trafiic
must be lar^e. Lono" stringfs of sledo^es were often to be
seen drawing hay, pine logs for buildings, and smaller
timber for firewood. In the summer nearly every
peasant turns fisherman, and catches salmon and other
fish in the Petchora with a seine net. Neither farming
nor fishing seems to be very profitable. It is very easy
to get a living, but there is no market for surplus produce.
Beef fetches only i^d. per lb. retail. Most articles that are
worth the cartage, such as furs, feathers, down, frozen
meat, tar, and so forth, go to Pinega fair, and some are
even sent as far as Nishni Novgorod ; but the cost of
transit absorbs the profit. Now and then you meet with
a merchant who has accumulated a handsome fortune ;
but the peasants are on the whole poor, and will doubtless
remain so until railway communication with Moscow is
opened, or steamers run regularly from the mouth of the
Petchora, both of which projects seem at present to be
hopelessly improbable. The population of Ust-Zylma
probably does not exceed 1500 or 2000, increased in

CHURCHES 39

winter by Samoyedes, who erect their chooms in the
neighbouring forest. When we reached Ust-Zylma, and
for a week or more afterwards, a great migration of these
curious people was going on, and we often saw a score
or more of their sledges in a day, and sometimes there
were as many reindeer as horses to be seen in the streets.

The flat country on the banks of the Petchora, upon
which the village is built, does not extend more than a
few hundred yards. The land then rapidly rises, and
these slopes are cultivated for some way up the hillside.
We found the peasants busily employed in carting
manure in sledges and spreading it on the snow. The
monotony of the long village is broken by three churches,
one a very ancient and picturesque structure, in some
places rather artistically ornamented. This was formerly
the church of the Old Believers, but it is now too rotten
for use, and a more modern-looking building has been
erected. The third church is that of the Orthodox Greek
Church. All the houses in Ust-Zylma are of course built
of wood, solid balks of timber with moss and tar in the
joints, and notched into each other at the corner, and
they are more or less carved and ornamented in various
places. Sometimes the slopes of the hills are relieved by
a large tree which has been left standing, and here and
there is an old windmill. Beyond the cultivated ground
is the forest, clothing the hilly country stretching away
north, the trees gradually dwindling in size as far as the
Arctic Circle, beyond which lies the mysterious tundra.

Our quarters in Ust-Zylma were two excellent rooms
on the second floor of the best house in the village, for
which we paid two roubles a month. No doubt we could
have had them for half the money if we had taken them
for six months. The house was built by M. Sideroff, the
founder of the Petchora Timber-trading Company, and

40 UST-ZYLMA

was afterwards sold to M, Boulegan. Our windows
looked out across the street on to the Petchora, which we
calculated from two rouQ"h trioronometrical observations to
be a mile and a half wide. At Ust-Ussa, 200 miles
higher up, its width is said to be nearly a mile. A little
beyond the limits of the village at each end, the flat land
on the bank of the river ceases, and the forest comes up
to the edge of a cliff of sand, earth, and pebbles, varying
from 50 to 100 feet high. This bank drops nearly
perpendicularly on to the mud and pebbles on the edge
of the river. In some places the pebbly strand was bare
of snow, and we noticed pieces of granite, ironstone, and
limestone. Some of the latter was full of fossil shells,
and we found many pieces that looked like madrepore
and fossil coral. Soon after the high steep bank of the
river begins, the grand sweep which the Petchora makes
round the village ends, and the river stretches away
north-east for miles. The view from the top of the bank
looking up the wide white river is very fine. The high
banks, too steep in most places for the snow to rest upon,
and the dark pines on the top, form a striking contrast
to the pure white snow on the ice below, down which for
many versts may be seen the long winding line of dimi-
nutive fir-trees, marking the road, upon which the sledges
of the travelling peasants look like black spots in the
distance. It would, perhaps, be a very difficult subject
to make a fine picture of, the effect on the eye being one
of simple vastness, causing one continually to exclaim,
" What a great river ! What a big country! "

Most of the peasants of Ust-Zylma and the villages
near are Old Believers, people who retain a very curious
form of Christian superstition, closely allied to the Greek
Church. Castren calls them the " Raskolnicken " of
Ust-Zylma. They have not a good reputation amongst

THE OLD BELIEVERS 41

the Germans, who have to hire labour for the timber-
trade on the Petchora. They are represented as crafty
and faithless, and as few of them are employed as possible.
Their chief characteristic appears to be that they make
the sio-n of the cross with the thumb touching the second
and third, instead of the fourth and fifth fingers, as is the
fashion of the Orthodox Church. They have a curious
prejudice against tobacco, and will not smoke it them-
selves nor, if they can help it, allow other persons to
smoke in their houses. They seem to have Jewish
superstitions against pork and hare, neither will they use
any plate, glass, or other article from which persons not
of their religion have eaten or drunk. If you offer them
vodka in your own glass they will refuse it if they be
strict Old Believers, but we must do them the justice to
say that, under circumstances of this kind, many we met
were superior to their superstitions. But the most extra-
ordinary feature of their religion is that it forbids the use
of potatoes as food. They are not very diligent in their
attendance at church nor much under the control of their
priests, holding the doctrine that every man should be a
priest in his own house, and should conduct divine
worship there. Our host was very exemplary in this
respect when he was sober, having an excellent religious
library, and we often heard him and his family chanting
Slavonic prayers. One of his books was a Slavonic MS.,
dating about 1740, and profusely illustrated with full-
page coloured drawings, very carefully executed, although
somewhat stiff. It appeared to be the history of some of
the saints of the Greek Church. I tried very hard to buy
this book, but nothing would induce M. Boulegan to part
with it. In a corner of every Russian room is a sacred
picture or ikon, before which every one on entering
the room bows and crosses himself several times before

42 UST-ZYLMA

speaking to the host. Some of these pictures are very-
old, being handed down from generation to generation,
and sometimes there is quite a collection of these ikona,
varied with brass and enamel triptychs of various ages
and merit. Every peasant wears a silver or bronze
cross. Some of these are of exquisitely delicate work-
manship, frequently ornamented with enamel, and
occasionally set with jewels. On the back of many of
them are elaborate Slavonic inscriptions. A wonderful
fertility of resource is found in the designs of these
crosses, which are always chaste and artistic, never florid
in the ornamentation or wanting in harmony of parts.
The great centre of all this religious art is, we were
informed, the monastery of Onega, on the south shore of
the White Sea.

A peculiarity which we were told marked the Old
Believers of Ust-Zylma is a habit which the women have
of uttering cries, not loud but frequently repeated. This
habit or disease is called ''eqiiarter,'' and is brought on
immediately by the smell of tobacco smoke. Whether
the cry is voluntary, and is intended as a mark of dis-
approval, or as an exorcism against evil influences, or
whether it be a form of hysteria allied to St. Vitus's
dance, we were not able to ascertain.

The officials at Ust-Zylma received us with the
greatest hospitality. In addition to the letters with
which the Governor of Archangel had provided us, it so
happened that Piottuch was an old friend of M. Znaminski,
the Preestaff, or highest military officer. He had made
his acquaintance some years ago, in the days of his exile
in Mezen, and both being fond of a day's sport, they had
fraternised as sportsmen ought to do. M. Sakeroff, the
postmaster, was the other great chasseur of Ust-Zylma,
and these gentlemen were kind enough to plan several

OUR HOSTS 43

shooting-parties for our benefit. M. Znaminski was a
stout handsome man, very dignified in his manners, but
active in the field, and we were under very great obliga-
tions to him for his uniform kindness and hospitality to
us. Another official who, as well as his charming wife,
was most hospitable to us was the Public Prosecutor,
M. Miranoff, the "Schliidevatel," as Captain Engel always
called him. We were also most kindly entertained by
the "Maravoi," who appeared to be a gentleman of con-
siderable education. Unfortunately none of these gentle-
men spoke either English, French, or German, so that
our communication with them was necessarily very
limited. Interpreting was certainly not Piottuch's forte.
Any information we got through him was so largely
mixed with his own ideas and opinions, that we soon
ceased to attach much value to it, besides which his bad
French was often as difficult to understand as the original
Russ.

We got a great deal of information respecting the
country and its inhabitants from two gentlemen in the
employ of the Petchora Timber-trading Company, Cap-
tain Arendt, the manager or " Provalychik " in the
Petchora, residing temporarily at Ust-Zylma, and Captain
Engel, the commander of the steamer belonging to the
company, which was then lying in winter quarters at
Habariki, about twenty-seven miles down the river.
These gentlemen called upon us the day after our arrival,
and we were indebted to both of them for innumerable
acts of kindness.

Among our first purchases on our arrival at Ust- Zylma
was a couple of pairs of snow-shoes, without which it is
impossible to travel on the snow. No one can form the
slightest idea how utterly helpless one is without snow-
shoes when there is scarcely three feet of snow on the

44 UST-ZYLMA

ground. To travel a mile would probably be a hard
day's work, completely knocking one up. On snow-shoes
we eot alonof comfortably at the rate of three miles an
hour, and we soon became tolerably at home on them.
They were about seven feet long and six inches wide,
made of birch wood, and covered underneath with rein-
deer skin, with the hair pointing behind. This is abso-
lutely necessary to enable one to ascend a hill, the hair
preventing effectually any sliding backwards. The great
difficulty with which we had to contend at first was to
avoid treading on our toes, but with a little practice we
learnt to keep our shoes parallel. In going down hill
we had to be careful lest our speed should increase to
the point where we lost the control of our centres of
gravity.

Every day we sallied out with our guns and snow-
shoes in search of birds, but during the first week or so
it was somewhat monotonous work, and we soon began
to tire of winter. There were very few birds to be seen.
In the village the hooded crow, the magpie, and the tree-
sparrow were common, and now and then we saw a
raven. The peasants brought us capercailzie and hazel
grouse, which they shot with their rifles and offered
us at twenty kopecks (about sevenpence) each for the
capercailzie, and the same sum per brace for the hazel
oTouse. These birds are probably all residents, though
Father Inokentia told us that the hooded crow was a
migratory bird at Pustorzersk, arriving there about the
loth of May.

The commonest bird at this season of the year in the
streets of Ust-Zylma is undoubtedly the snow-bunting
{Plectrophaiies nivalis). We were told that they arrived
about the ist of April. In spite of its abundance we
could not help looking upon it with all the interest

SNOW-BUNTINGS 45

attaching to a rare bird. The brilHant contrast of the
black and white on the plumage of these birds, then
rapidly assuming their summer dress, was especially
beautiful during flight. The flight itself is peculiar,
somewhat like that of a butterfly, as if it altered its mind
every few seconds as to which direction it would take.
It can scarcely be called an undulating flight. The bird
certainly does rest its wings every few seconds, but either
they are expanded when at rest, or they are rested for so
short a time, that the plane of flight is not sufficiently
altered to warrant its being called undulatory. The
snow-buntings in Ust-Zylma were principally in flocks,
but now and then we saw a couple of birds together
which seemed to have paired, and occasionally, when
the sun was hotter than usual, a solitary specimen might
be seen perched upon a rail attempting to sing, but we
never heard them sing on the wing. Unfortunately we
did not oret far enough north to meet with these birds at
their breeding stations. In 1874, when Collett and I
were in Norway, we found the snow-bunting breeding on
the island of Vadso in the Varanger Fjord. We were too
late for eggs, as this bird is a very early breeder, and the
young were already in the nest by the middle of June;
but we had many opportunities of watching the male
birds. They would fling themselves up into the air
almost like a shuttlecock, singing all the time a low and
melodious warble, not unlike that of a shore-lark, or
perhaps still more like that of the Lapland bunting, and
they would immediately descend in a spiral curve with
wing and tails expanded, and finish their song on a
rock. Although we only once or twice heard the snow-
buntings attempting to sing in Ust-Zylma, they were by
no means silent birds, and were continually calling to
each other. The call note is a zh, not unlike that of the

46 UST-ZYLMA

brambling or greenfinch. The alarm-note is a loud tiueek.
As they fly together in flocks they merely twitter to each
other, not unlike purple sandpipers on the seashore.

Flocks of redpolls [Frmgilla linaria, Linn.) were
also common, but consisting of much smaller numb^TS
than those of the snow-bunting. Many of the males
were beginning to assume the carmine breast, showing
great promise of beauty when the full summer plumage
should be attained. We were informed that these birds
arrived about the same time as the snow-bunting. On
the outskirts of the town we met with a few small parties
of yellow-hammers i^E^nberiza citrinella, Linn.), and oc-
casionally heard their familiar song. These birds are
probably also migratory. They were comparatively rare,
and as we never saw any farther north, we may assume
Ust-Zylma to be about the extreme limit of their summer
range. The forests were remarkably silent. Often there
was not a bird to be seen for miles. Once or twice we
had a distant glimpse of a Siberian jay, a marsh-tit, or a
bullfinch, but we did not succeed in obtaining a shot. On
the whole our first week in Ust-Zylma was not very
encouraging from an ornithological point of view. After
eight days work our list of identified birds in the valley
of the Petchora stood as follows :

1. Hooded crow. 4. Tree-sparrow. 7. Yellow-hammer.

2. Raven. 5. Snow-bunting. 8. Capercailzie.

3. Magpie. 6. Mealy redpoll. 9. Hazel grouse.

— certainly a very meagre list. Notwithstanding such a
bad beginning, we did not feel disheartened, but laid all
the blame on the weather. We could not help smiling at
our alarm in Archangel lest summer should come before
we could reach the Petchora. Nearly three weeks had
gone by, and summer and the summer birds seemed as
far off as ever. The thaw made no progress. Sometimes

SUMMER STILL DELAYS 47

it was hot enough in the sun in the daytime, and the
glare of the sunshine on the white snow forced us to
wear snow spectacles, but it always froze again at night,
and if a few days sunshine made any impression on the
snow, a raw cold day, with a high wind and a more or less
heavy fall of snow, made everything look and feel as
winterly as before, Piottuch went over to Ishma with
M. Znaminski, but did not shoot a bird. He told us that
he saw two birds of prey, most likely hen-harriers, and
M. Znaminski informed us that we must not despair, as
a swan had been seen flying over.

OLD RUSSIAN SILVER CROSS

CHOOMS OF THE SAMOYEDES

CHAPTER VI.

THE ZYLMA AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD.

The Samoyedes — Reindeer — The Tundra — Nomad Life — Diseases of
Reindeer — Samoyede National Character — Trip to Umskia — Bad Roads
— Paucity of Birds — Easter Holidays — Drunkenness — Heavy Snowfall
— Our First Bird's-nest— Excursion to an Island in the River.

During this comparatively idle time we picked up what
information we could about the Samoyedes. Captain
Engel, who was a wild, harum-scarum, devil-may-care
fellow, and had been in most parts of the world, had
seen a good deal of the Samoyedes. Some years ago
he was wrecked in the lagoon of the Petchora, not
far from the island of Varandai, had been hospitably
received by these wandering people, had made his
way across country to Kuya, and had remained in the
district ever since. The information which we obtained

THE SAMOYEDES 49

from Captains Arendt and Engel may be summed up as
follows :

The Samoyedes are a Mongolian race of nomad
habits. They live almost entirely upon reindeer. In
summer they live in tents made of birch-bark ; in
winter their tents or chooms are made of reindeer-skins.
They eat the flesh of the reindeer and drink its blood.
Their dress is made of its skins, neatly sewn together
with its sinews. The wealth of a Samoyede consists
entirely in the number of his reindeer ; each knows his
own by marks cut upon the animal's ear. In summer
the Samoyedes live on the tundras. Some go to the
Kanin peninsula, some to the Timanski Tundra or
Malyazemlia, and others to the northern shores of the
Great Tundra, the Bolshaizemlia of the Russians, the
Arkya-ya of the Samoyedes. These tundras are naked
tracts of slightly undulating land, rolling prairies of moor,
swamp, and bog, full of lakes, and abounding with
reindeer-moss, upon which the reindeer feed. In summer
the tundras are quite impassable for horses, but the rein-
deer, with their broad feet, will carry a sledge over places
where it would be impossible for a man to stand. The
Samoyedes are always on the tramp, seldom remaining
long in one place. A considerable portion of their lives
is spent in packing, unpacking, and travelling. In winter
the cold is too gfreat for the reindeer to find food under
the frozen snow of the Arctic latitudes, and in summer
the poor animals would be driven frantic by the mosquitoes
which swarm in the more southerly regions. In summer
the Samoyedes occupy their spare time in shooting ducks
and geese, making their clothes, reindeer harness, etc.,
and in winter they come down to the towns and villages
— Kuya, Pustozersk, Ust-Zylma, Mezen, Pinega, and
others, and barter their surplus reindeer-skins, horns,

D

50 THE ZYLMA AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD

feathers, etc., with the Russian merchants for bread,
vodka, and other articles. Those that come down to the
more southerly towns have learnt the value of money,
and prefer to sell rather than barter. They used to be
very clever with the bow and arrow, but now they all use
old-fashioned small-bore flint-lock rifles. Some of the
Samoyedes are very rich. A reindeer is worth about
seven or eight roubles, or an English sovereign. Some
of the Samoyedes are said to possess as many as 10,000
reindeer. Of late years the reindeer have suffered much
from disease. Captain Engel was of opinion that this
disease was allied to cholera. The animals turn dizzy,
and run round and round like sheep attacked by " sturdy."
The reindeer also suffer much from a hideous parasite.
One day, as we were passing a herd of them in the streets
of Ust-Zylma, Engel took hold of one of the animals, and
groping among the long hair on the small of the back, he
presently squeezed out of the flesh one of these disgusting
creatures. In a short time he produced a dozen of them.
They varied in size from half an inch to an inch in length,
the diameter being from half to a third of the length.
The surface was covered with rudimentary scales. The
lower part of the body was tapered, and the head rounded
with two indistinct jaws. We did not notice even the
rudiments of legs. They are, no doubt, the larvse of some
fly or beetle. Engel told us that they sometimes reached
a lenofth of four inches or more. Some herds of reindeer
are perfectly free from these creatures, and others suffer
very much from them.*

The Samoyedes are an acute and intelligent people,
but on the whole they are not so sharp-witted as the
Russians. They are good-natured and harmless, except
when they are drunk, then they become quarrelsome and

* Probably the reindeer bot (Hypoderma tamndi), first described by Linnaeus. — Ed.

DRUNKENNESS 51

dangerous. They are passionately fond of vodka, a fairly
mild, and to us by no means palatable spirit, distilled
from barley, and they easily become intoxicated. In
some places they distil an intoxicating drink from a
fungus. If a drunken Samoyede quarrels, and calls for
help, the other Samoyedes will at once help him.
Engel's recipe for dealing with a dangerously drunken
Samoyede was to supply him with more drink, when he
speedily becomes maudlin and begins to sing. The
Samoyede women are generally betrothed very young,
about thirteen, and often have children at fourteen.
Some Samoyedes have more than one wife, but this is
very rare. The race is no doubt slowly dying out, and
is to some extent becoming mixed. They are acquainted
with the stars, and use them as a compass ; but Engel
told us of a very curious circumstance which came under
his observation when he was brought across the tundra
in the sledges of the Samoyedes. In stormy weather,
when it was impossible to determine the direction, the
Samoyede used to scrape away the snow down to the
moss, which he examined, and altered his course accord-
ingly. The Samoyedes do not live to be very old, but
grey-haired old men and women are seen among them.

After we had been a week at Ust-Zylma without
seeing any sign of summer or summer birds, we began
to find time hang heavy on our hands. Picking up in-
formation about the Samoyedes and the Old Believers
was such unsatisfactory work, from the contradictory
nature of the reports, that we soon got tired of it, and
longed for something better to do than shooting redpolls
and snow-buntings. As we had not met with any Siberian
jays or bullfinches at Ust-Zylma, we decided that the
best way to while away the time was to go back again to
Umskia for a day or two, in the hope of finding as many

52 THE ZYLMA AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD

birds as we saw there before. We took the small sledge
and a couple of horses, and travelled all the Friday night.
The journey was a very eventful one. The sledge, it
may be remembered, had turned over once with Piottuch,
but he had travelled at least lOO miles in safety after-
wards, and we had almost forgotten the circumstance.
We soon found out, however, that something was radically
wrong with the crazy machine. It must have dropped
its centre of gravity altogether on the via diabolica, for
between Ust-Zylma and Umskia (a distance of thirty-six
miles) we were upset and tumbled over into the snow no
less than fifteen times. This was altogether a new experi-
ence for us, but we survived it without any damage, thanks
to the thickness of our malitzas and the depth of the snow.
Arrived at Umskia we were disappointed to see so
few birds. The Siberian jays had disappeared altogether.
The snow-buntings were represented by a solitary
individual perched upon the summit of a lofty larch.
Occasionally two or three redpolls were to be seen, and
at long intervals during the day a pair of bullfinches put
in an appearance. We saw a pair of white-tailed eagles
{Halicetus albicilla, Linn.) soaring over the forest, but they
never came within gunshot. The day was cold, with only
occasional gleams of sunshine and continual threatenings
of snow, and no birds seemed to be feeding. We took a
lone walk on the road, and made several excursions into
the forest and down the river on snow-shoes, but scarcely
a bird was to be seen. At this season of the year the
most absolute silence reigns in these drear Siberian
forests. In the afternoon we tightened up our " pavoska,"
and so far succeeded in restoring the centre of gravity that
we returned home without a spill. We saw only two birds
either in going or returning, a Siberian jay in going, and
a capercailzie (Tetrao tirogallus, Linn.) in returning.

WINTER ONCE MORE 53-

On our arrival at Ust-Zylma at two o'clock on Sunday-
morning, we found service going on in the church in cele-
bration of Easter Eve. We went with M. Znaminski to
the 3 A.M. mass, and after service breakfasted with him,
and at 7 a.m. turned into our hammocks for an hour or
two's rest. The Easter holidays lasted three days,
during which we saw plenty of eating and drinking, and
some (but not much) drunkenness. The Russian peasantry
in Siberia easily get drunk. They drink vodka neat, and
two or three glasses are enough for most of them. There
is one very curious circumstance about drunkenness in
this part of the world. So far as we could ascertain,
with the Russian peasants drunkenness never produces
crime. When a Russian peasant is drunk, he is not
quarrelsome like most Englishmen, but simply becomes
obtrusively affectionate. He wants to embrace you, and
kiss you, and be your very best friend. During these
holidays, when we were returning from the hospitable
boards of our Russian or German friends in the small
hours of the morning, we would occasionally meet one or
two victims of excess of vodka lying in the snow, their
malitzas being warm enough to prevent them from being
frozen 10 death.

On the Sunday night there was a very heavy fall of
snow. At least a foot must have been added to the
depth. On the Monday morning the weather was very
stormy, and the fresh fallen snow was drifted into hills
and valleys. The change in the appearance of the town
was wonderful. The vast dunghill of Ust-Zylma had
put on its Easter holiday attire, and was once more pure
as the driven snow. Everything was covered with a
layer of white powder, dry as dust, and white as (the
only possible comparison) — white as itself. At night the
effect was still more striking. The snow on the railings,

54 THE ZYLMA AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD

on the house tops, and wherever it had been disturbed
by footmarks, was white, and all the rest was a pale
delicate cobalt-blue.

On Tuesday the 28th of April we got our first nest. It
was brought in by some peasants. It was the nest of a
Siberian jay, and contained four eggs. This bird is pro-
bably the earliest breeder in these parts, and no doubt
winters in the Petchora district. The nest was not so
flat as we expected, and was composed almost entirely of
lichens, with a few pieces of matting, hair, and feathers.
The foundation was made of slender pine twigs, and the
inside was profusely lined with feathers.

The snowstorm having now ceased, we made an
excursion on snow-shoes to an island on the Petchora.
and afterwards visited the opposite bank of the river —
I' metre cote, as Piottuch called it. It was remarkable
how very few birds we saw. I twice came across a flock
of bullfinches, all males, and shot three of them. I also
saw and shot a solitary tit, very nearly allied to our marsh-
tit. It is a greyer bird than ours, with the white cheeks
much whiter, and the black hood extending much farther
down the back. We also saw footmarks of hares, and
found several snares set by the peasants to catch them.
The next day we visited the same ground again. We
did not see a single bullfinch, but caught a glimpse of a
small spotted woodpecker. We crossed over to the
banks of the Zylma, but the birch woods there produced
nothing but a solitary marsh-tit, which I shot. The
woods round Ust-Zylma seemed to be absolutely empty
of bird life. Our first eight days had produced only nine
species of birds. During the following ten days we
increased our list by only three birds — the bullfinch, the
Siberian jay, and the Siberian marsh-tit.

LASSOING REINDEKR

CHAPTER VII.

THE SAMOYEDES.

Trip to Habariki — Samoyedes — Lassoing Reindeer — Dogs of the Natives
— Samoyede Sledges — Reindeer Harness — The Chooms — Samoyede
HospitaUty — Marriage Ceremonies — Funeral Rites — Religion.

It was quite obvious that we should make little or no
progress in our ornithological researches until summer
came. We accordingly laid ourselves out to pick up
further information about the Samoyedes, so that our
time might not be absolutely wasted. We had not yet
visited any of their chooms, or tents, and we were glad
to learn from Captain Engel that there were several in
the neighbourhood of Habariki. On Thursday morning,
April 29, we sledged over to that village, a distance
of forty versts. The road was about two- thirds on the
Petchora, and the remaining third across country,

56 THE SAMOYEDES

principally islands. It was so good that we accomplished
the distance in four hours, stopping for half an hour mid-
way to feed the horses. We scarcely saw a bird on the
whole journey.

Habariki is a poor little village, without a church,
and containing not more than a dozen houses. The
sandy banks of the river are about fifty feet higher than
the level on which it is built, and keep it out of the reach
of the floods that come with the thaw. The village was
admirably adapted for the winter quarters of Sideroff's
steamer, which lay below the bend in a little creek
running back out of the Petchora, protected there from
danger of being smashed to pieces by the blocks of ice
that crash down on the breaking up of the river.

After a good lunch we hired two sledges and started
in search of the Samoyedes with Captain Engel and a
Russian, the engineer of the steamer. We had ascer-
tained that there were some chooms about four versts off,
but just as we arrived at the place we found everything
ready for a move northward. The chooms were taken
down and packed on sledges, and the reindeer, to the
number of about 500, were collected together ; and before
we had been there ten minutes the order to march was
given. We were informed that they were not going far
that afternoon, and would probably erect their chooms in
the course of the evening within a verst of Habariki, but
that before doing so they were going to take out fifty of
the reindeer which belonged to a Russian. We were
anxious to see the operation of lassoing, and drove with
the Samoyedes in our sledges to the place selected for
the purpose. As soon as we left the road our horses
stuck fast with the snow up to their traces, and we were
glad to give up our almost ineffectual struggle to get
along on foot, and seat ourselves on one of the reindeer

LASSOING REINDEER 57

sledges, which soon brought us to the spot. It was
admirably chosen — a large open space — perhaps half a
mile across, sufficiently hollow to give it the effect of a
natural amphitheatre surrounded by forest. In the centre
was a slight elevation, where three or four sledges were
stationed, commanding a fine view of the herd of rein-
deer gathered round. A little below us in the hollow were
about a score of sledges with the women and the baeeao-e.

The Samoyedes proved themselves expert in throwing
the lasso. In the left hand they held a small coil of rope,
in the right hand the larger half. The lasso was thrown
with an underhand fling, and nearly always successfully
over the horns of the animal at the first attempt. The
left hand was then pressed close to the side so as to bring
the shock of the sudden pulling up of the reindeer at full
speed against the thigh. When a reindeer found itself
caught, it generally made desperate efforts to escape, but
was usually on its haunches gasping for breath in a few
seconds. The Samoyede then hauled in the rope, or, if
it had run out nearly to its full length, another Samoyede
came up and began to haul it in nearer to the animal.
When he was close to the deer he took hold of its horns,
and with a side twist brought it down on to the snow.
The Russian to whom the fifty reindeer belonged then
approached, and taking a thong of three-plait matting
from a bunch at his belt, tied one of the animal's forelegs
to the hind leg on the same side ; crossing the feet, but
keeping the legs parallel at the point of ligature.

As soon as the reindeer was left, he made wild efforts
to rise and walk ; and sometimes succeeded in hobbling
a few paces. Finding his strength give way with his
frantic efforts to escape, he generally rested with his fore-
knees on the snow for a time; and finally lay down
quietly. A dozen reindeer were soon on the ground.

58 THE SAMOYEDES

The scene became quite exciting ; the reindeer were
wheeling round and round in circles. The dogs tied to
the sledges barked furiously and evidently wished to have
a share in the sport. The dogs selected by the Samo-
yedes to help them to get within lasso range of the deer
rushed frantically about at the command of their masters,
whose loud cries added to the excitement of the scene.
Sometimes a herd of reindeer ran over a place where
the snow was unable to bear their weight ; and it was
interesting to watch them snorting and plunging. As
the number caught increased, the difficulty also increased
of identifying and catching the remaining few of the fifty
that belonged to the Russian, and the Samoyedes with
the lassos were driven about in sledges at a rapid pace to
get within reach of the animals they wanted. The deer
kept together ; if one ran out of bounds a dog was sent
after it and soon brought it back again. In one respect
the reindeer resemble sheep ; wherever one goes, the rest
try to follow.

In this herd the greater number were females {vah'
shinka), with good horns; these they do not cast till they
drop their young. A few were males {Jiorre), their new
horns just appearing. Those chiefly used in the sledges
were cut reindeer {biick\ also without horns. Some of
the hornless animals leaped right through the lasso and
others were caught by the leg.

The lasso is a cord about loo feet long, made of two
thongs of reindeer-skin plaited together, so as to make
a round rope three-eighths of an inch in diameter.
The noose is formed by passing the cord through a small
piece of bone with two holes in it. The lasso passes
freely through the hole, while the end is fastened to a
little bone peg with a bone-washer to prevent it slipping
through the other hole.

SAMOYEDE SLEDGES 59

The dogs were all white except one, which was quite
black. They were stiff-built little animals, somewhat like
Pomeranian dogs, with foxlike heads and thick bushy
hair ; their tails turned up over the back and curled to
one side.

The next morning we turned out of our hammocks at
four and strolled in the brilliant sunshine, hoping to meet
with some birds ; but, with the exception of the hooded
crows, magpies, snow-buntings, and redpolls, we met
with none feeding. In the woods we saw an eagle, a pair
of marsh-tits, a pair of Siberian jays, and occasionally a
pair of ravens.

After breakfast we visited the chooms, and very pic-
turesque they looked in the white landscape in the dazzling
sunshine. Here and there a few willows dotted the undu-
latinor around near a windino- rivulet. The reindeer were
not to be seen, all were away feeding. Two chooms
stood a few feet apart from the rest ; in front of these the
sledges were drawn up, twenty-three in number, some
light and elegant in shape, with four carefully hewn ribs
on each side, and a low sloping back. In these the
Samoyedes and their families travelled. Others were
not quite so finely finished, and had only three ribs on
each side ; these were used for the lighter baggage,
reindeer-skins, malitzas, and so forth, covered over in
some cases with a tarpaulin made of pieces of birch-
bark, neatly sewn together with reindeer-sinew. Other
sledoes a^ain were of much stronger and clumsier make,
with only two ribs on each side, adapted for the heavy
baggage. Some of these were a simple gantry upon
runners, carrying casks of reindeer-meat, others a wooden
chest with an ang'ular roof like the recogfnised Noah's ark
model, containing loaves of black bread and other perish-
able articles.

6o THE SAMOYEDES

The harness of the reindeer is very simple. The
saddle is a plain band of tanned reindeer-leather, about
eight inches broad, hanging a few inches below the body
on each side. About six inches from each end a double
thong of reindeer-skin is attached, and forms the belly-
band. The thong passes through the saddle, and is
fastened to a button {stchorlak) made of reindeer-horn or
bone. These buttons are about two inches in diameter,
with two oval holes near the centre for the thong to pass
through. Some of them are round, others square with
the corners off, others hexagonal, and others again hex-
agonal with every alternate side concave, whilst some are
merely irregular rhomboids. All the buttons are bevelled
on the edge, and generally slightly hollowed to fit the
curve of the reindeer's side. On the near side of the
near reindeer is a piece of carved bone, into which the
reins can be hitched, called halsil (the h pronounced
slightly gutturally). This part of the harness is of divers
shapes and patterns, and seems to be especially the part
on the ornamentation and variation of which the Samo-
yedes expend their spare time and taste.

The simplest form is a hook to receive the reins. A
more elaborate one is a double hook, the reversed hook
being obviously added only for the sake of ornament.
Others again have the double hook, with a variety of
ornamental carving added. On the off side of the saddle,
opposite the halsil, is a leather loop to which the bridle-
rein of the next deer is attached. The collar is a narrow
band about three inches wide, also of tanned leather
passing round the neck. The two ends of this collar are
fastened together by the trace which passes from the
sledge, between the hind legs of the deer, between the
body and the belly-band which hangs rather loosely,
then between the forelegs to the breast, where it passes

REINDEER HARNESS

6i

through the two ends of the collar, and is secured to a
bone peg or ^ paysik of simple construction. The head-
piece or halter (for no bit is used) is called syahney. That
of the leading deer consists of a square straight piece of
bone or horn, about four inches long, on the right cheek,
under the root of the horns, with a hole at each end, and
a second piece of horn, a semicircular or half-round
section, bending nearly rectangularly, not quite in the

.-^

REIN RESTS

middle. This piece of horn is hollowed or deeply
grooved on the flat side, and has a hole bored through at
each end, and a third hole about half an inch from that
one at the long end. The position of this piece of horn
is with the short end halfway across the forehead and
the long end in a similar position to the straight piece of
horn on the other side of the head. Both pieces are
more or less ornamented with simple carving ; they are
fastened together, the ends about a couple of inches apart,
by a short thong of plain or plaited leather, passing
through the holes at one end of each piece, and tied

62 THE SAMOYEDES

across the forehead. To the other ends of the pieces of
bone, plain thongs of leather are attached, one passing
behind the horns, the other under the neck. Through
the third hole, in the long side of the bent piece of horn,
passes a thong fastened to the single rein, either with a
simple tie or with an intervening swivel made of horn,
called by the Samoyedes the siirnye. The head-pieces
of the other deer are slightly different. The bone pieces
under the horns are slenderer, but slightly curved, and
both alike. They are tied together across the forehead,
as is the head-piece of the leading deer, but the other
ends are tied to the apex of a piece of bone or horn,
shaped like an isosceles triangle, with the angles cut off
square, the angle at the apex being very obtuse, and the
basal line slightly concave. These triangular pieces are
placed nearly over the jugular vein, and are fastened at
one end under the neck, and at the other at the back of
the head. The bridle-rein is attached at one end to the
thong passing at the back of the head, and the other to
the saddle of the deer to the left or near side. The wood
or bone blind pulley through which the traces run is
Q.-a}\^d.pate-chay, it is so arranged that any deer not doing
its fair share of the pulling drops behind against the
sledge. The animals are urged on by a long pole, with
which they are hit or poked ; it is called the toor, and the
bone button at the end of it the tooi^-inaJiL Behind each
sledge, on each side, there is a thong of leather passing
through a hole pierced through one end of a bit of bone
about nine inches long. ^ second thong of leather forms
the link connecting this to a second bone, which can be
fastened to the head-piece of the deer of the following-
sledge, which thus requires no driver. This rude chain
is called the pooinye. The swivel is occasionally a
brass one, bought from the Russians. Now and then a

SAMOYEDE CHOOMS 63

brass ring is seen on the head-piece, and sometimes
tassels of plain leather, shaped like luggage labels and
stained vermilion, ornament it.

The chooms were shaped like ordinary regulation
tents, about twelve feet in diameter and height ; the)^
were supported inside by some thirty slender birch poles,
converging to a cone, tied together in a bunch at the
top. This skeleton was covered with old, dirty, and
much-patched reindeer-skins, sewn together and lined
with coarse and half-rotten canvas, probably old sails.
Some cords of twisted reindeer-sinew strengthened the
structure, and an opening about a foot wide was left at
the summit of the tent to serve as a chimney. We drew
back the covering overlapping the opening used as a
door and entered. Snow, heaped up to the height of
about a foot, protected the choom from bottom draughts.
A wood fire burned in the centre upon a thin metal plate ;
an ordinary gipsy kettle was suspended over it by a
simple arrangement. Mats of slender birch-bark, woven
together every six inches by a warp of string, were placed
on either side of the fire ; over these were stretched
another mat made of some kind of rushy grass. Around
were packed various articles of clothing, wooden bowls
and spoons of Russian origin, a Russian box containing
a china tea-service ; a heap of reindeer giblets, part of
which were doubtless stewing in the kettle, and sundry
other articles. Exactly opposite the door there hung one
of the Onegra bronze bas-reliefs of saints or viroins,
framed in a rudely carved piece of wood, shaped some-
what like a cross.

After purchasing some reindeer harness, we were
invited to drink a cup of tea and to eat a kind of spiral
biscuit. Our hostess had just been sewing ; a steel
needle, a tailor's thimble, and thread of reindeer-sinew

64 THE SAMOYEDES

lay in a corner of the tent. The smoke annoyed us
when we stood up, but we did not feel it much when
seated. The Samoyedes sat cross-legged on the ground,
and tea was served on a little table about six inches high,
just large enough to hold half a dozen cups. As usual,
we found our hosts very ready to give us any information
we asked them.

The Samoyedes never seemed annoyed at our taking
notes among them ; they struck us as a good-tempered,
somewhat phlegmatic race. They carried old-fashioned
Russian flint-lock rifles, but we could not rouse their
interest in our breech-loaders ; they do not appear to
work much in metals. They always carry a knife, no
doubt of Russian make, but they are very ingenious in
makinor handles and in ornamentino- them. Patterns of
various grades of elaboration are carved upon them, and
the patterns filled up with melted tin. They use a small
saw, a rude form of brace and bit, and also the indis-
pensable axe.

Like the Russians, the Samoyedes have beautifully
white and regular teeth. They are very fond of chewing
the resin which they get from the Scotch fir, which
doubtless assists in keeping the teeth clean.

As we are now on the subject of this strange race,
we may as well insert here some details we gathered a
few days later, after our return to Ust-Zylma, from a
Samoyede who drove up in his reindeer sledge from a
choom near Habariki. Our interpreter was a Polish
Jew, banished by his father to Siberia, because he had
adopted the religion of the Greek Church. He translated
the Samoyede's bad Russian into worse German.

We were informed that when a young Samoyede
desires to marry, and has come to some understanding
with the damsel of his choice, he visits her father's

MARRIAGE CUSTOMS 65

choom, and with a short stick taps him, and then the
mother of the maiden, on the shoulder. He then
demands the girl in marriage, and offers the father and
mother a glass of vodka, which he has brought with him.
As a token of his goodwill the father drinks the vodka ;
he tells the young man he has no objection, but that he
must ask the girl's consent. The preliminary ceremony
of asking papa having been gone through, the young
man retires. A few davs later he comes ao-ain to the
choom ; this time accompanied by what servants he has,
and provided with plenty of vodka. His retinue remain
outside, while he enters the choom, and seats himself by
the side of his lady-love. The father hands the young
man a glass of vodka ; he drinks half, and hands the
half-full glass under his left arm to the girl, who finishes
it. The father then gives his daughter a glass of vodka,
who in like manner drinks half of it, and presents the
remainder with her left hand under her rieht arm to her
lover, who drains the glass. After this the father hands
a piece of raw flesh to the young man, who eats it, and
then takes a piece from the floor, eats half, and presents
the other half under his left arm to the girl to finish.
She, in her turn, takes a piece of raw flesh from the
floor, eats half, and likewise hands the other half under
her right arm to the young man to finish. Then follows
the eating and drinking that in barbarous, as in civilised
nations, is considered necessary to ratify the ceremony.
Before night an old man, called a shaman, a kind of
magician or medicine-man, carrying a drum, visits the
choom ; of him the bridegroom asks certain questions
concerning his bride. If the old man knows nothing
against her he begins to play upon his drum, and the
marriage is completed. If, however, the magician speaks
evil of the girl, the young man has the option of leaving

E

66 THE SAMOYEDES

her there and then, or if he be still enamoured of her
charms, it is open to him to bargain with her father to
take her for a month or a year on trial. At the expiration
of the time agreed upon, if the pair suit each other, they
consider themselves married for life. On the other hand,
should they not agree, they can separate at the end of
the time specified ; but in that case the man must provide
for any children born within the period. After the
marriage festivities are over, the young couple are left
alone in the choom of the bride's father.

It is customary for the bridegroom to present his
bride with the skin of a black fox. The girl's father
gives his son-in-law a choom, with all its appurtenances,
and five, ten, twenty, or thirty reindeer, according to his
wealth. If the bridegroom be rich, he gives his father-
in-law money to the amount sometimes of two hundred
roubles.

Since the adoption of the Russian faith by the
Samoyedes they bury their dead. Previous to their
conversion, when one among them died he was fully
dressed and, in his best malitza and soveek, was laid flat
on his back on the tundra. His favourite bilck reindeer
was killed and laid by his side, with his best harness and
his driving-pole and bow.* The choom is taken down
at once, and the camp is broken up amidst much weeping
and lamentation. If possible, the place is never re-
visited. The Samoyedes believe that if the dead man's
property were not left with him his spirit would follow
them.

The Samoyedes used to have wooden idols, to which

* Captain Hall, in his " Life with the Esquimaux," mentions a similar custom
existing among them. The Innuits seal up their dying in snow-huts, or igloos,
where they are allowed to die alone. The blubber-lamp, as well as the fishing
and hunting instruments of the dead, are always laid by his side, and the place is
abandoned.

SACRIFICE OF REINDEER

67

they sacrificed reindeer.* In order that the reindeer may
reach the unseen god, of whom the wooden idol is
evidently considered but the symbol, it must be killed in
a peculiar fashion. A running- noose is made in the
middle of a cord and put round the horns of the deer ; a
Samoyede holds the two ends. Another noose is put
round the animal's hind feet, and while he is thus held at
full stretch, he is stabbed in both sides with two pieces
of wood (not with a knife) ; then the spirit of the reindeer
is supposed to be sent to the god. The greater number
of Samoyedes have adopted the Russian faith, and have
been baptized into the Greek Church, but many of these
still retain their ancient beliefs, and sacrifice to their
idols, while in the more easterly parts of the vast
region inhabited by this people, many have not yet
been "converted."

* William Govedon, who wintered at Pustozara, 1614-15, tells us that the
Samoyedes had then " no true knowledge of God, but worship blocks and images
of the deuill, unto which they strangle tame deeTe."—Puichas his Pilgrimes, lib. iii.
ch. 12.

OLD RUSSIAN SILVER CROSS

A SPILL IN THE SNOW

CHAPTER VIII.

LIFE IN UST-ZYLMA.

May-day — Snow-buntings — Jackdaws — Game — Birds of Prey — Sunday
at Ust-Zylma — A Fire — Marriage Ceremony — Tenure of Land — The
Commune — Preparations for Summer.

On May-day the thaw continued in real earnest. A warm
wind and a hot sun made oreat havoc with the snow. All

o

traces of the heavy fall of the previous Sunday night
soon disappeared, and a considerable portion of the old
accumulation of winter melted. Ust-Zylma became once
more a vast dunghill, and on the hills, where the snow in
some places lay exceptionally deep, it was too soft to bear
our weight, even on snow-shoes. We attempted our
usual ramble in the woods at the back of the town ; but
travelling was very laborious, and we returned to our
quarters with broken snow-shoes, and without having

JACKDAWS 69

remarked anything of special interest. With the excep
tion of a yellow-hammer, which was making a feeble
attempt to sing, we scarcely saw or heard a bird. One
effect of the thaw was to banish the snow-buntings from
the town to the country. Although this bird is thick-
billed, and undoubtedly feeds on grain and seeds during
the winter, it appears to change its diet to some extent
during the breeding season. When I was in Lapland I
found it nesting among the rocks on the island of Vadso,
in the Varanger Fjord. Not far distant, down by the
shore, was the great whaling establishment of Mr. Foyne,
where on an average three whales a week were cut up.
The snow-buntings constantly visited the yard, which
abounded with insects attracted by the offal ; and the
stomachs of some which I shot and skinned proved to be
lull of these.

During this sloppy season we confined our walks
pretty much to the town itself, carrying our walking-stick
ouns in case a new bird should turn up. On the 3rd of
May we were rewarded by seeing for the first time a pair
of jackdaws. It was contrary to law to shoot in the
streets, and the birds were within a stone's-throw of the
house of the public prosecutor. I shot one of them, as I
thought, very cleverly, on the sly, but I found that my
attempt at concealment had been a failure, for a day or
two afterwards, whilst discussing our walnuts and wine
with the chief magistrate at the public prosecutor's
hospitable table, we were kindly cautioned to shoot as
little as possible in the streets.

The liberal hospitalities of our friends helped to
beguile the time during the thaw ; and occasionally the
peasants offered us birds, which provided variety for our
larder, and sometimes interested us and found employ-
ment for Piottuch We bought four capercailzies for

70 LIFE IN UST-ZYLMA

eighty kopecks from one of our friends the Samoyedes
who had shot them with ball. Hazel-grouse (Bonasa
betulina) were also frequently brought to us, at twenty
kopecks per brace. They are most delicate eating, and
are considered by many to be the finest game that can
be brought to table.

Winter returned on the 4th of May, when a raw west
wind brought a heavy storm at noon, after which snow
and bitter cold continued, with occasional high wind, till
the 8th. We went out, notwithstanding, struggling on
snow-shoes across deep ravines and through bushes and
plantations. We also made an excursion within the
island in search of birds. For some days the snow-
buntings remained outside the town in such immense
flocks that when they rose the whirring of their wings
could be heard at some distance. On the 6th the
snow drove them back into Ust-Zylma, also small parties
of redpolls, which follow the buntings very much as
starlings follow rooks. When we first met with the
flocks of snow-buntings we found them to consist princi-
pally of males, but as the season advanced the females
largely predominated. On the 4th of May we saw a
white-tailed eagle and a hen-harrier, and on the following-
day we had an excellent sight of a merlin. Magpies
were as abundant as ever, but, like the snow-buntings,
they had moved into the country, and on the 5th we dis-
covered a nearly completed nest in a spruce fir, built
about five feet from the "•round. The birds were most
vociferous, and used every artifice to decoy us away from
their property.

On the 8th of May summer seemed farther off than
ever. On the previous day the weather had been very
changeable-^alternately warm, snowing, hailing, sleeting,
with an occasional gleam of sunshine, and a cold wind,

NEW ARRIVALS yf

but on the whole a thaw. The next day the morning
was bitterly cold, with the north wind blowing hard. In'
the afternoon the wind veered to the west, with a heavy
fall of snow. At midnight the wind dropped, the sky
became clear, and the thermometer went down to i6°.
The landscape was again white and frost-bound. It looked
exactly like mid-winter, except that at that hour of night
we could see to read a newspaper out of doors. The
climate of these regions is very curious at this time of the
year. The change is sudden and violent — a leaping from
mid-winter into summer, without any intervening spring.

We strolled out in the morning, not expecting to see
anything new. We shot a tree-sparrow and a yellow-
hammer, and were returning home somewhat disheartened,
in spite of our unexpectant mood at starting, when a hen-
harrier suddenly put in an appearance. He did not,
however, come within range, and we went into a little
valley, there to wait for him or a chance raven. By-
and-by a small hawk crossed in front of us. W^e followed
it up the hillside, caught sight of it again, watched it
alight on a heap of manure, quietly stalked it, and shot
it. It turned out to be a female merlin. Whilst we
were carefully putting it away, an eagle passed almost
within shot of us. In one of the cottages a peasant
showed us the skin of an eagle-owl [Btibo maxiinus).
The next evenino- we strolled out on the banks of the
Petchora. Brilliant sunshine flooded the earth, not a
cloud was in the sky ; but it was cold and winterly as
Christmas. Flocks of magpies and of hooded crows
were almost the only birds we saw. They passed us on
the wing, evidently going to their resting-places in the
woods.

The week had not brought us many birds, but we
knew summer was at hand, and we waited patiently.

72 LIFE IN UST-ZYLMA

Meanwhile we mingled with the inhabitants of Ust-
Zylma and observed their ways. Sunday seemed a day
devoted to calling, and many sledges used to drive up to
the house where we were from the neighbouring villages.
The peasants combined business with these visits to town,
and we bought four skins of white fox and one of grey
fox for nine roubles and a half, from one of Boulegan's
visitors.

Once we had an opportunity of seeing the people of
Ust-Zylma turning out to extinguish a fire. A small
conflagration burst out in the house of Captain Arendt.
All the villagers trooped to the spot, armed with axes,
wooden shovels, and boat-hooks. It is the law that in
case of fire every peasant should assist in putting it out.
On each house a board is nailed up, on which is roughly
sketched the article its inhabitants must furnish to assist
in extinguishing the flames. The people keep to their
primitive ways and habits. We watched a peasant one
day shooting at a mark with a flint-lock rifle. The
barrel was very thick, and the bore the size of a large
pea. He carried a spiral coil of lead, and, when he
wanted a bullet, bit a piece off with his perfectly white
regular teeth, and chewed it into a rough sphere. His
gun, which he told us was worth five roubles, was
ornamented all over the stock with by no means inartistic
carvings.

On one occasion we assisted at a wedding in the
Orthodox Greek church. The marriage ceremony took
place in the afternoon, and was sufficiently imposing.
The priest met the couple at the vestibule of the church.
After going through a form of prayer, he presented the
bride and bridegroom with a lighted taper, which he had
first crossed over their bowed heads ; the rings likewise
were crossed over their heads, as were also a pair of

LAND TENURE 73

gold crowns before being placed upon them. The bible
and the crucifix were kissed. A silver cup of wine was
quaffed by the plighted pair, each drinking from it
alternately. Censers of incense were swung. The
priest, the happy couple, and the assistants bowed and
crossed themselves continually, and between each part of
the ceremony prayers were offered.

We were not very successful in our attempts to
obtain accurate information as to the tenure of land. It
was sometimes difficult to reconcile conflicting statements.
Most of our informants, however, agreed that they or
their ancestors were formerly serfs of the Crown, that
after their emancipation the land remained the property
of the Crown, and was leased to the village or commune
at a nominal rent. The affairs of the commune are
managed by a parliament or town council, composed
of every householder, electing a mayor or starrosta
(literally, oldest man), whose term of office is three
years, and who is responsible to the Government for the
rent or taxes payable by the commune. Every three
years a redistribution of land takes place, the arable land
being divided amongst the householders in lots propor-
tionate to the number of individuals living in each house.
Five hundred roubles will build a handsome habitation
in Ust-Zylma. We were informed that every peasant
was annually entitled to a fixed number of cubic yards of
firewood without charge, and to a limited number of balks
of good building timber, which he was free to sell if he
did not require to use it.

The near approach of summer was the signal for
unusual exertions on the part of the peasants. Pro-
crastination seems to be a Russian national vice. Now,
when the horses were nearly worn out by long feeding
upon bad hay, and when the roads were very heavy by

74

LIFE IN UST-ZYLMA

reason of the thaws, the poor animals had to work double
time. A quantity of last year's fodder still lay on the
flat land on the other side of the Petchora, which, if left,
would inevitably be swept away when the frozen river
broke up ; the cattle had to be taken across the ice and
housed in a place of safety, there to wait until the floods
subsided on these flat stretches and the new rich pasture
had begun to spring up. The women and children had
also to be transported across, to look after the cattle ;
whilst the men went down the river to fish, leaving Ust-
Zylma as deserted for three months as a winter village in
the Parnassus.

OLD RUSSIAN SILVER CROSS

CHAPTER IX.

THE ADVENT OF SUMMER.

Mild Weather— Bear-tracks— Saddle of Bear— First Rain— Six New
Migratory Birds — Magpie's Eggs — Cessation of the Winter Frost —
Return of Winter— A Wild-goose Chase— Cachets— Night on the Banks
of the Petchora — The Silent Forest.

On the loth of May we had for the first time real summer
weather, which continued for some days. It thawed in
the shade as well as in the sun ; but, as there was not
much wind, the snow melted slowly. We drove up the
Zylma and took a Jong walk in our snow-shoes, returning
across the island ; but the pine and birch woods were
still almost deserted. We shot a pair of marsh-tits, heard
the cry of a great black woodpecker, and saw four wild
geese flying over our heads. On the island we fell in
with a small flock of shore-larks {Otocorys aipeslris), and

76 THE ADVENT OF SUMMER

succeeded in shooting four while feeding upon the bare
places on the banks of the island. We also started a pair
of wild geese and a large owl, probably the snowy owl,
which alighted on a heap of snow in the middle of the
Petchora. Its flight resembled that of the glaucous gull,
but it occasionally skimmed close to the snow for some
distance.

We traced along the snow the footprints of a bear and
its cubs, about a day or two old. The traces of Bruin's
presence had an added interest to us from the fact that
for the last two days we had been breakfasting and dining
on a saddle of bear, and most excellent we had found it,
much better than beef. The animal we had been feasting
on was about a year old ; it had been turned out of its
place of hybernation by some woodcutters, who had cut
down the tree at the root of which it was sleeping. I bought
the skin, and had an excellent hearth-rug made of it.

Summer now seemed to have suddenly burst upon us
in all its strength, the sun was scorching, the snow in
many places melted so rapidly as to be almost impassable.
The mud banks of the Zylma were steaming from the
heat. On the 12th of May, about noon, the weather
grew hazy, with a very conspicuous halo around the sun-
like a dull circular rainbow ; the wind was warmer than
it had yet been, and in the afternoon there came on a
steady rain, the first rain we had seen since we left home.
Sancho Panza says that one swallow does not make a
summer ; but the arrival of six species of migratory birds
within two days ought to have some significance. On
the I ith we saw for the first time a pair of swans. The
same day, on the half-open land between the Petchora
and the Zylma, we saw some flocks of wild geese, and,
near a pool of water on the ice, half a dozen Siberian
herring-gulls i^Lariis affinis, Rheinh.). Their cry seemed

SIX NEW MIGRANTS 77

to me to be exactly the same as that of the common and
Mediterranean herring-gulls. On the 12th a little detach-
ment of white wagtails came to the village, and we shot
six during the day. In each instance they were on the
roof of the houses. We also shot a redstart {Rtiiici/la
pkceniairtis, Linn.) occupying the same position. Another
new arrival was the meadow-pipit, of which we shot a
solitary example. The shore-larks had already been
some days in Ust-Zylma, and by this time were in large
and small flocks in the fields on both sides of the town.
All those we shot proved to be males. Three or four
small hawks, probably merlins, were hovering about, and
a snowy owl was brought in to us, apparently just killed.
A white-tailed eagle, his white tail looking grey against
the snow, was perching on an ice-block in the Petchora,
and at a little distance off we could distinctly see a raven
picking a bone. Morning and evening we watched the
gulls, without being able to get a shot at them. The
redpolls had disappeared altogether, and we saw the
snow-buntings only once or twice. The signs of coming
summer were surrounding us, small flies were on the
wing, twice we came upon a tortoiseshell butterfly ; we
visited the magpie's nest, which we had discovered some
days previously in a spruce, and found that it contained
seven eggs. But even the approach of summer has its
accompanying drawbacks : we had to give up at this
time all hope of more winter posts, and two months
might elapse before the summer ones would arrive. This
break in the communication with civilised Europe is
one of the trials to be endured by explorers in these
districts.

The little spurt of mild weather, however, turned out
to be a delusion. Our six species of summer migrants
proved no more reliable than Sancho Panza's solitary

78 THE ADVENT OF SUMMER

swallow. On the 13th a strong gale from the north
brought winter back again, and drove away our newly
arrived visitors to more genial latitudes. The snow-
buntings and the shore-larks became very wild during
this spell of bitter wind ; towards evening it dropped, and
when we came upon a flock of the former, they were so
tame that they allowed us to walk about within ten and
sometimes five yards of them. The flock was composed
mostly of females ; one male that we observed amongst
them was in more mature plumage than any we had yet
seen. Birds of prey appeared in unusual numbers. We
saw hen-harriers, both male and female, numerous merlins,
which often perched upon the heaps of manure in the
fields, and, for the first time, a peregrine falcon. Piottuch
was fortunate enough to shoot a fine snowy owl on the
goose ground between the Petchora and the Zylma. A
hard frost in the night, followed by a cold east wind with
bright sunshine, was most unfavourable to the arrival of
migratory birds. We were deliberating as to what would
be the least unprofitable mode of spending the day, when
the Preestaff sent in to inquire if we would join him and
the postmaster in an excursion four and twenty miles
up the Petchora to shoot geese, and we accepted their
invitation gladly. We ordered a horse and sledge,
packed up provisions, tents, and wraps, and were soon
■en route.

About halfway we descried two swans on the snow of
the Petchora. We started our sledge in pursuit, and
approaching the birds in a spiral curve, we came within
range, fired, and missed. The birds, very large and
very white, flew about a verst across the river, and again
alighted. Here they were joined by a third swan.
Slowly we crept up again in a spiral curve within range ;
this time two rifles fired, and both missed ; a third time

LYING UP FOR GEESE 79

the riHes came within range, but with no better result ;
after which the swans flew right away.

We then visited a small lake close to the banks of the
Petchora, but it was completely ice-bound, and declared
to be niet dobra (good for nothing). Finally, we selected
a spot where there was open water in two places. Geese
flew about in small flocks at intervals during the after-
noon, and we all expressed confident hopes of a bag
after sunrise. The horses were taken from the sledge, a
fire was lit, supper with unlimited tea followed, and was
over by eleven. We then selected places supposed to be
favourable for the cachets ; at each place a hole was dug
in the snow, which was piled up to the height of three or
four feet, and planted round with willow twigs. " Cock-
sure " (the nickname we gave to Piottuch, a bad pun on his
name),* who was in high glee, drove across the Petchora
with the postmaster, where he was "cocksure" of finding
plenty of geese.

After a final cup of tea and a smoke, we separated at
one o'clock, each departing to his cachet, to take, if he
felt so inclined, a sleep in the snow for a couple of hours.
I did not feel sleepy, and was curious to watch a whole
night on the banks of the Petchora ; so dofiing my
malitza, axe in hand, I set to work to turn my cachet
into a turreted castle, some six feet high inside. It was
a keen frost, and the surface snow was easy to hew out
into square blocks, which I joined together with soft
snow from below, and soon my castle was one solid mass
of frozen snow. The exercise kept me warm. I planted
my last piece of willow twig and put on my malitza just
as the sun appeared above the horizon, amidst lake and
vermilion clouds, behind the steep mudbanks on the
other side of the Petchora. Behind me rose a thick

* " Piatookh " is the Russian for a cock.

8o THE ADVENT OF SUMMER

wood of willow and decayed or decaying birch, a pine
showing here and there between. Presently I spied,
from between my turrets of snow, a marsh-tit silently
searching for food on a willow ; I changred one of mv
cartridges for dust-shot, put my feet into my snow-shoes,
sallied forth, and shot it. His mate soon began to call,
and in half a minute I secured her also, and returned to
my cachet.

An hour passed by ; now and then I heard the distant
" orae, orao^" of the oreese, or the wild cry of some far-off
sw^an, but nothing came within range of less than cannon-
shot of me. Fourteen large glaucous gulls slowly flew
up the Petchora ; I watched a pair of swans on the ice
through my telescope, and listened to the distant call of
some smaller gulls ; whilst redpolls and white wagtails
often passed over me, all flying up wind. At length I
o-ot tired of waiting and watching, and made an excursion
on my snow-shoes into the wood. All around was dead
silence ; nothing was to be heard but the gentle rattling
of the east wind amongst the leafless branches of the
willows. The wood seemed as empty of bird-life as the
desert of Sahara.

I returned to my cachet, and waited and watched
with no better result than before. A flock of snow-
buntings came fluttering up the Petchora and alighted
on some willow-trees ; this was interesting. I now made
an excursion to the cachet of my companions. I had
forootten to wind my watch, and made this an excuse for
my visit. Halfway to it, I came upon a small flock of
reed-buntings amongst some willows, and missed a shot
at one of them. My companion had stuck heroically to
his cachet, but had had no better luck than mine. As
we were chatting, we heard the note of a bird, which I
took to be a redstart.

A POOR BAG 8 1

I followed the sound to some distance, but could not
overtake the bird on my snow-shoes. Setting out to
return to my cachet, I was interrupted by a flock of
reed-buntings ; I got a shot at one, but the cap missing
fire, away they flew. I was returning disconsolately by
the side of a thick but narrow plantation, when I heard a
" gag, gag " through the trees, and descried seven geese,
apparently flying straight for my companion's cachet ;
and on returning I learnt that he had brought down a
bean-goose.

On my way back to my cachet I met another party
of reed-buntings, one of which I bagged ; then I sat in
my hiding-place for an hour, waiting for geese that never
came within range. At eight I found I had taken a
wink of sleep. I could stand it no longer, so set off
in search of my companions, and bagging another reed-
bunting and wagtail on my way, we returned together to
our encampment, where we soon had the kettle boiling
with tchai.

The postmaster and " Cocksure " turned up as we
were breakfasting, and reported a blank night. The
Preestaff, we found afterwards, had fared no better.
Decidinor that we had had enougrh of this wild-g-oose
chase we harnessed our sledges and returned home in
a steady rain. Our horse was done up, and we were six
hours on the road, through four of which we slept soundly,
waking up just in time to bag a score of shore-larks.

Notwithstanding its inglorious results, we enjoyed
our trip as a novelty, and had many hearty laughs over
divers "spills" out of and over the sledge; but as ours
was the only one that brought home a goose, the best of
the laugh was on our side. We had, moreover, bagged
a new migrant, and "Cocksure" had seen a black wood-
pecker and a common snipe.

F

THE BANKS OF THE ZYLMA

CHAPTER X.

THE BREAK-UP OF THE ICE.

Gulls — Species new to Europe — Fresh Arrivals — Duck-shooting — Bird-
life in the Forest — Gulls perching on Trees — Break-up of the Ice on
the Zylma — On the wrong Bank of the River — Dragging the Boats
across the Ice — Final break-up of the Ice on the Petchora.

The same evening, as we sat at the window of our rooms
writing up our journals, and now and then looking up
to glance through the rain at the ever-impressive scene
before us, we suddenly descried upon the ice a flock
of, perhaps, 200 gulls. In the twinkle of an eye we
had donned our indiarubber boots and were wading
through the streets of Ust-Zylma. As we neared the
birds we made sure, from their note, that the larger
number of them were the common gull, with possibly
a dozen herring-gulls among them. We discharged four
cartridges of our goose-shot into them. Our broadside,

FRESH ARRIVALS 83

fired from a distance, left one dead and one wounded on
the field. The smaller bird was undoubtedly, the common
gull, but it was not at first so easy to determine to what
species the larger gull belonged. The colour of the
mantle was intermediate between that of the lesser
black-backed gull and the Mediterranean herring-gull,
but the wing pattern resembled that of the latter species.
Upon our return home, however, we cleared up the
difficulties surrounding our bird, and finding that it
had no colloquial name in our language we ventured
to christen it the Siberian herring-gull. The species
was not new to science, but we may claim to have
been the first to add it to the list of European birds.

Another species new to our list was the golden
plover, which also arrived in flocks. These birds were
special objects of our attention, partly because they were
a valuable addition to our larder, and still more so
because we were anxiously on the look-out for the
arrival of the grey plover, the eggs of which were one
of the possible prizes which we hoped to obtain. All our
efforts to obtain even a glimpse of the latter species on
migration proved, however, in vain. As we subsequently
met with them on the tundra, we can only suppose that
they migrate to their breeding-quarters by a different
route, probably following the coast-line. If they do fly
across country, they must travel at such a high elevation
that they are rarely observed inland.

Wild geese and swans increased in numbers daily,
and about this time flocks of wild ducks began to fly
up the Petchora. So far as we could judge, they seemed
to be principally pintail ducks, though we succeeded in
shooting a teal.

Pipits also began to arrive in great numbers. They
were wild and difficult to shoot, apparently all flying up

84 THE BREAK-UP OF THE ICE

wind ; evidently eager to continue their journey and
rarely alighting on the ground. Both species were
represented, but they appeared to migrate in separate
flocks, and the red-throated pipit was much more abun-
dant than the meadow-pipit. We occasionally heard
both species singing, but they were by no means in full
song, being evidently intent on migration.

Fieldfares and redwings also arrived and soon became
very numerous ; and among the flocks of shore-larks
which- continued to pass through the district a few
Lapland buntings were generally to be seen.

The flocks of shore-larks had by this time become
more numerous, and consisted of males and females in
nearly equal numbers. These birds were very tame,
frequenting for the most part the fields at the back
of the village, feeding and running about in the stubble,
and occasionally attempting to sing on the ground. The
snow-buntings and redpolls had disappeared, and in the
streets their place appeared to be taken by white wag-
tails. Fresh flocks of these charming little birds in full
breeding plumage arrived daily ; and in a large flock
consisting of from thirty to forty birds we noticed an
Arctic yellow wagtail (Motacil/a borealis).

Three whimbrels passed over us. My companion
whistled to them, so cleverly imitating their note that
they approached within fifty yards of him, when he
shot them. A peasant also brought us a rook, the
only one we saw during our journey. At this time we
ascertained positively the presence of a bird which we
had long suspected to be on the roof of the Preestaff's
house next door to ours — a no less important bird than
the common sparrow. We shot two males and three
females. This is an extraordinary instance of the
extreme localness of birds. We never by any chance

A DUCK-HUNT 85:

saw these common sparrows among the tree-sparrows-
in our yard, nor had we any reason to think that they
were to be found elsewhere in the town.

On the 19th we received an invitation from our
friends who had assisted us in our late wild-gfoose
chase, to join them in a duck-hunt. M. Znaminski
had a maisoniiette a few versts up the Zylma, which
he turned to use on such occasions of sport. He and
M. Sacharoff were already there. We accepted the
invitation, and after sledging across the Petchora, and
perhaps four versts up the Zylma, we reached our host's
quarters at about 3 a.m. We had made a somewhat
circuitous road up the Zylma, for there were many
ugly-looking places in the ice which had to be avoided.
On arriving we dismissed our yemschiks, who returned
to Ust-Zylma with orders to come with five sledges to
fetch our whole party back on the following day at noon.

The shooting-ground was a flat piece of country lying
between the Petchora and the Zylma. It bore traces of its
annual submersion for a week or two under the waters of the
great river when it breaks up. The larger part was covered
with a forest of birch, willow, and alder ; many of the trees
were dead, perhaps in consequence of the flood, and drift-
wood was scattered or accumulated in piles all around.

It was heavy work walking in these woods, or rather
wading through the water and snow in them. Every
now and then we came to a lake or an open swamp, or
found ourselves on the banks of a kicria or creek where
the snow had melted, and the walking was easier. Few
or no trees grew by the side of these kurias ; the banks
of the Zylma also were bare, the forests near the rivers
being shorn ofl" by the ice, which sometimes mows down
the stoutest trees as a man mows grass with a scythe.
On the low ground between the Zylma and the forest

86 THE BREAK-UP OE THE ICE

land, pollard willows grew, many of which had been
knocked down by the floating blocks of ice.

It would be impossible to estimate the number of
ducks we saw. They seemed to fly over us by hundreds
and thousands. Small and large flocks continually passed
us on the wing. In the evening the shores of the Zylma
and a piece of open water opposite were almost black
with them ; sometimes they filled the air like a swarm
of bees. They were very wild, but the old pollard
willows gave excellent opportunities for concealment,
and a good shot would have made a heavy bag in a
short time. My companion shot seven in about an
hour : six pintails and one teal. Nearly all these ducks
were pintails ; we identified hundreds through our glasses,
and saw only a few teal.

My companion identified a small flock of shovellers,
one of which flew quite close to him. He also distinctly
made out a pair of golden-eyes, which came within shot
while we were dining. Through the glass he also
recognised a wigeon. We also saw a few geese and
swans. We met with the greenshank more than once,
and had a fine view of a peregrine falcon. A small
flock of shore-larks and a few red-throated pipits, too
busy migrating to stop to be shot, nearly complete the
list of birds we saw in the open country.

I spent most of my time in the woods. Three weeks
previously we had made a long round through them on
our snow-shoes and found them deserted ; not a bird to
be seen but a solitary marsh-tit or an occasional " hoodie."
Now, in the early morning, these woods were full of life
and abounded in interest for the ornithologist. In the
afternoon they were more quiet, and the interest v/as
not sufficient to repay the toil of wading through water,
snow, mud, and drift-wood. The commonest and noisiest

TREE AND MEADOW PIPITS 87

bird was the redpoll. Next to it, strange to say, was
the meadow-pipit. This bird behaved in every way
like the tree-pipit, being occasionally seen on the
ground, but mostly up in the trees ; sometimes singing
on the ground, sometimes when on the wing, but oftener
in the branches overhead.

We had just decided that these birds were, or ought
to be, tree-pipits, when we shot down half a dozen from
among the branches, and finally satisfied ourselves that
they were the meadow-pipit. Our astonishment was
still greater, however, when we beheld three gulls quietly
perched upon the top of a tall birch in the wood. We
watched them for some time, examining them through
our glasses ; at last they rose and flew over our heads,
and by their cry we recognised them to be the familiar
Larus canus. Shortly afterwards we shot one.

Fieldfares and redwings were sprinkled through the
woods ; we could almost always hear the song of the
latter bird, as well as the loose cry of the former, and
its starling-like note before alighting. My companions
saw a couple of redstarts chasing each other, and I
followed a willow-wren, which was in full song, for at
least an hour, but did not succeed in shooting it. Many
white wagtails flew past, and reed-buntings were also
common. Where the birches were largest we heard the
tapping of woodpeckers. We shot a pair of Siberian lesser
spotted woodpeckers (/^. pipra. Pall.); and of a pair of
three-toed woodpeckers that we saw we succeeded in
shooting the male. We also shot a pair of marsh-tits.

When I returned on the morning of the 20th after a
five hours' solitary ramble in the woods, I found the
sportsmen still fast asleep. My entrance roused them,
and we soon proceeded to make tea. We were sitting-
down to our pipes after our late breakfast, when we were

88 THE BREAK-UP OF THE ICE

startled by the appearance of M. Znaminski, who had
just gone out, and now came hurrying back in a state of
great excitement, beckoning to us to come.

We seized our guns, expecting to see some great
or rare bird ; we rushed to the door, and there we paused
and stood still, gazing before us in mute astonishment.
Our road was in movement, and was going to Ust-Zylma
at the rate of two or three miles an hour. There was no
doubt about it, the Zylma was breaking up. The scene
was wild and picturesque. In a few hours it was very
impressive. The ice had broken into the Petchora at
the mouth of the Zylma. Here and there piles of it lay
upon the banks. Finally it had blocked, and gradually
the Zylma became a confused mass of jammed ice and tree-
trunks, while an occasional ice-floe, thicker than the rest,
formed where the water had been stiller and deeper,
risine above the level. While the ice moved the sound
was like that of a waterfall : as it cracked on the Petchora,
the noise was as that of rumbling thunder. The water
was rapidly rising, and our predicament was serious. It
was obvious that no horses could reach us. The Russians,
who at first did not realise the situation, soon began tO'
look grave. We took counsel together, and we decided
to transport ourselves and our baggage to some houses
that stood on higher ground, halfway towards the mouth
of the Zylma. It took us some hours to do this. We
were beginning to make preparations for a week's camping
in the midst of floods, when towards four o'clock we dis-
cerned in the distance the figures of our yemschiks.
They were coming, but they were coming without horses.
When they reached us we learned from them that the ice
had broken up on both shores of the Petchora. They
had come across in a boat, which they had dragged for
a couple of versts in a sledge across the central field

A NARROW ESCAPE 89

of ice, being forced to leave it on the shore five or six
miles off We determined to put the bulk of our baggage
under the charge of two yemschiks and to return with
the other men in the boat.

We felt rather nervous as we entered the boats and
put to sea on the open water across which we had sledged
so recently, and we had some little difficulty in finding a
solid piece of ice on which to land. The central ice of
the Petchora was evidently on the eve of breaking up.
Every nerve was strained to drag the boats across the
mile of ice, and relaunch them on the safe side of the
river without a moment's unnecessary loss of time. It
was past midnight, and at any moment the crash might
come. The ice was obviously under great pressure.
Cracks runninof for miles with a sound like distant thunder
warned us that a mighty power was all but upon us, a
force which seemed for the moment to impress the mind
with a greater sense of power than even the crushing
weight of water at Niagara, a force which breaks up ice
more than a mile wide, at least three feet thick, and
weighted with another three feet of snow, at the rate
of 100 miles in the twenty-four hours. It was eight
o'clock in the morning when we landed in Ust-Zylma,
and heartily thankful we were to find ourselves once
more safe in our quarters. We were hungry and dead
tired after the excitement was over, and after a hasty
breakfast we were glad to turn into our hammocks. We
slept for a couple of hours, and then, looking out of the
window, we found the crash had come ; the mighty river
Petchora was a field of pack-ice and ice-floes, marching
past towards the sea at the rate of six miles an hour.
We ran out on to the banks to find half the inhabitants of
Ust-Zylma watching the impressive scene.

DIFFICULTIES WITH SNOW-SHOES

CHAPTER XI.

PEASANT LIFE IN UST-ZYLMA.

Religious Processions — Costumes of the Peasants — A Russian Holiday
— Drunkenness — Prejudices of the Old Believers — Field Work — House-
building—New Birds— The Siberian Chiffchaff— Prices of Provisions —
Arrival of Waders.

The 2 1 St of May was St. Michael's Day, one of the
greatest holidays in this country. A long procession of
Old Believers, consisting mostly of women and children
■carrying banners and pictures, wended its way through
the town. The women were dressed in their best, and
decked with all the jewellery that they possessed, some
of which was very ancient and valuable. Many of the
dresses, too, were antique — heirlooms handed down from
mother to daughter. Some of these were gorgeous, none
were vulgar, the colours being always sober, rich and

ST. MICHAEL'S DAY 91

clear. The wealthier peasants' wives and daughters were
arrayed in velvet and gold, silk and satin ; those of the
poorer in linen and cotton, almost entirely of Russian
manufacture. The women, as a rule, wore the rubak/ia,
which is simply a skirt put over the fur malitza, coming-
down to within a few inches of the ground ; their
chausstLres consisted of high boots, and their head-dress
of an orientally coloured handkerchief, tied behind. We
had already noticed this Eastern taste for colour among
the peasantry. A few days previously an imposing-
wedding procession had passed our window. The larger
number of the party were on horseback, two on each
horse. All were brightly dressed : the men wore knots
of ribbons on their shoulders ; the women, gaily apparelled,
had on various and curious head-dresses, ornamented
with gold braid. Yet, for all their brilliancy, the colours
did not look garish, a little touch of grey being always
introduced to subdue the effect.

On St. Michael's Day it is customary to make presents
to the Church. The peasants brought various sorts of
offerings, cows, sheep, gloves, ribbons, etc., which were
afterwards sold by auction. Then the afternoon was spent
in merry-making, and, as is too often the case on a Russian
holidav, the revellers all oot more or less drunk.

We found the condition of things wonderfully altered
at Ust-Zylma by the breaking up of the ice of the Zylma
and the Pizhma. Despite the map, the latter river flows
into the Petchora, and is not a tributary of the Zylma.
The thaw of the two rivers together had been too much
for the Petchora. The ice was broken up for three or
four versts on either side of the town ; most of it had
disappeared, perhaps beneath the other ice. Already
several boats were out, and the men were fishing in open
water. The breaking-up of the ice went on steadily for

92 PEASANT LIFE IN UST-ZYLMA

days. By the 25th of May the great river was entirely
free. Summer had come as suddenly as usual, and the
people were hard at work ; the women and children
carting manure on the land, using sledges, although the
snow had disappeared except where it lay in drifts ; the
men breaking up the ground with an antediluvian-looking
plough, sowing corn broadcast, or harrowing in the seed
with a wooden-toothed harrow.

A good deal of building was also going on. The
year before the peasants had made large earnings out of
the fisheries, and were now spending larger sums than
usual in erecting houses. We found the demand for
labour was great, and wages were high. Few men could
be got under 10s. per week. We spent our days, as
usual, on the look-out for the arrival of new migratory
birds, in watching the habits of those at hand, and in
adding to our collection. We saw no snow-buntings
after the i8th, and the merlins disappeared with them.
Nor did we see any gulls after the 21st. The shore-
larks and the Lapland buntings were also growing scarce.
Occasionally small flocks of them would appear in the
fields behind the house, sometimes so busy feeding as to
allow us to approach very near them.

On the 2 1 St of May we were surprised to find a pair
of wheatears. In England they are the earliest birds of
passage to arrive in spring, but of course they winter
farther south than the snow-buntings and shore-larks,
and we might reasonably expect them to arrive later in
such northerly breeding-grounds.

On the 22nd we added another familiar British
migrant to our list, the tree-pipit, a bird which usually
arrives rather late with us. A more important addition
to our list was, however, the Siberian chiffchaff {P/iy//o-
scopus tristis, Blyth), a little warbler which frequented

A GOOD HUNTING-GROUND 93

the low willows, uttering a plaintive call, a single note
repeated at intervals. We were under the impression
that we were adding a new bird to the European list,
but we afterwards found that our discovery had been
forestalled by M. Meves of Stockholm, who had found
it some years previously in the government of Perm. A
third specimen which we added to our list was a skylark.
On our return home we found that Znaminski had also
been out shooting, and had bagged some very interesting
birds for us — five green wagtails, three meadow-pipits,
two red-throated pipits, and a stonechat, the latter not
the European but the Indian species {Pratincola 7naura,
Pall.), a new and interesting addition to the European
fauna. Znaminski's hunting-ground had been a marshy
piece of land just behind the town, sprinkled over with
small spruce firs, bushes of stunted birch, juniper, and
dwarf rhododendrons (Ledum palustre). To this spot
we betook ourselves the next morning, and found it to
be a favourite resting-place of migratory birds. We
shot a red-throated pipit on the ground, solitary among
a company of meadow-pipits. We secured a green wag-
tail and a short-eared owl. In this favoured spot the
willow-warblers congregated and were in full song ; the
blue-throated warblers were also there, but their song
was not so full ; it resembled sometimes the warble of the
pipit and sometimes that of the whitethroat. We secured,
besides, a brace of golden plover and a reed-bunting.

During the afternoon we visited the skirts of the
pine-forest in the valley, and there I shot two male
wheatears. The day before, a male and female wheatear
had flown past me and perched on the summit of a tall
pine. Out of a spruce fir in the wood we now heard a
loud, clear " chiff-cheff-chaff." We thought it was the
cry of the chiffchaff; but we failed to find the bird.

94 PEASANT LIFE IN UST-ZYLMA

Shortly after we heard a warbler singing. For a
moment we fancied it was a willow-wren, but before the
song was half finished we felt convinced that we were
unacquainted with it. It was not unlike the " chiff-cheff-
chaff " of our bird when it makes the third variation it
occasionally does in its notes, but these notes were more
musical, repeated rapidly without intermission, running
into a song. This bird was also perching in a spruce
fir, but a long shot brought it down. It proved to be
the Siberian chiffchaff. For days afterwards we heard
several of these birds singing, and, on further study of
their note, we found it very distinct from that of the
chiffchaff Our bird's note is not badly represented by
its name, with an equal accent on both syllables. The
note of the Siberian chiffchaff is better represented by
the word "chivit," with a decided accent on the first
syllable. It is seldom uttered singly, but generally
repeated " chiv-it, chiv-et," or oftener "chivit," followed
by two notes of its song. The bird seemed very partial
to the spruce fir, perching on its topmost bough. In
comparing its habits and those of the willow-warbler, we
found the Siberian chiffchaff easy to shoot, while the
latter was as wild as possible.

Another song that greatly roused our curiosity was a
melodious whistle, reminding us both of the song of the
blackbird and of the redwing. We expected the songster
would turn out to be some rare Siberian thrush. The
bird was by no means shy, so we had no difficulty in
following its song, and in approaching within easy shot,
as it perched sometimes on the top, sometimes near the
summit of a spruce fir. Once we observed it hopping
on the ground. We obtained six specimens, and were
somewhat disappointed to find such melodious and thrush-
like notes proceeded from the pine-grosbeak.

COST OF PROVISIOiNS 95

It is a curious fact that the day following, 011 returning
to the spot where we had seen and shot so many various
birds, we found it deserted ; there was nothing but
willow-warblers on it. Red-throated pipits passed over
singly and in flocks, but none seemed disposed to alight.
In a plantation hard by we heard a chaffinch sing, but
we did not get a shot at it. We fell in there with a
small flock of bramblings, and secured a male that w^as
not yet in full breeding plumage. On the following day
a thick mist came up the Petchora, which cleared up
about noon, and was followed by a north-west breeze
with orleams of sunshine and threatenines of rain. Birds
were few and sang little, the note of the warblers being
almost the only one we heard. We had an excellent
opportunity of identifying a white-tailed eagle, which
came almost within shot of us. Two cranes {Grus com-
munis, Bechst.) passed over us, and I recognised them
as birds I had seen two or three days before. By this
time all the hooded crows and magpies had gone into
the woods to breed, and the town was deserted by them.
During the week there had apparently been an arrival
of house-sparrows in Ust-Zylma, for they abounded in
Znaminski's yard. Strangely enough, we could not
meet with any in other parts of the town.

On the 26th the weather changed. A cold north-east
wind blew, and it was a day unpropitious for bird-shooting.
So little did we anticipate meeting with any, that we
spent the morning in buying provisions for our journey.
It may be useful to record the prices we paid :

Salt beef 1.70 rouble per poud {i\d. per lb.).
Butter 6.50 roubles ,, (4f(^. ,, ).

Tea 2 ,, per lb. (55. ,, ).

Coffee .55 rouble ,, (is. d^i. ,, ).

We also bought a nvelina, or white salmon, for our

■96

PEASANT LIFE IN UST-ZYLMA

present use. In its stomach were several small fishes.
It weighed 15 lb., and cost 10 kopecks per lb. We
were told that later the price would be 5 kopecks per lb.
This fish sometimes reaches the weight of 60 lb. We
found it very nice eating, but failed to recognise its
boasted superiority to salmon. We acknowledge, how-
ever, that the cooking may have been in fault.

In the afternoon we went out in the cold wind, not
expecting to shoot anything ; but to our astonishment
we found a number of new birds in the town itself We
secured a wood-sandpiper out of a flock of four, and a
Temminck's stint, of which there were several. We
saw a common swallow twice, and shot a pair of ringed
plovers. We had also an excellent view of two oyster-
catchers. All these were new arrivals. Many green
wagtails were to be seen, and we shot four males and
two females. In the village we met a shore-lark, the first
we had seen for many days in the streets.

The unfavourable-looking day proved one of the
most interesting we had yet had.

OLD RUSSIAN SILVER CROSS

\VI I, LOW-GROUSE

CHAPTER XII.

THE PETCHORA IN FLOOD.

Samoyede Names — The Blue-throated Warbler — Toads — Birds Resting
on Migration — Sparrow-hawk — The Petchora Free from Ice — A New
Song — Ceremony of Blessing the Steamer — Rambles in the Woods —
Appearance of the Mosquitoes.

Whilst we were waiting for the flood in the Petchora to
subside sufficiently to make it safe for us to proceed
down the river in a small boat, we met with a Samoyede
somewhat more intelligent than usual, and from him we
were glad to learn something more concerning the names
of various articles connected with reindeer and sledging
which we had collected. It is somewhat difficult to

G

98 THE PETCHORA IN FLOOD

express the exact sound in English characters, since
almost every Samoyede word is pronounced either nasally
or gutturally.

The Samoyede for sledge is khan, the kh pronounced
like ch in German, and the n like n in Spanish.

A reindeer is tu, the ti like the German //, There
are three sorts of reindeer : khora-tii, the entire male
reindeer; khdb-tii, the cut reindeer; ^^nA ydh-tii, the female
reindeer. These adjectives are also used in reference to
horses and other cattle.

The piece of leather over the body of the animal
which takes the place of our saddle is called the yode'-
yhia. The narrower band round the neck, in place of
the collar, is xhft pode'-yiir. The single trace attached to
the lower part of the collar, and passing between the legs
under the body, is called the sd. The blind pulley, or
pulley-block without a pulley through which it passes, is
t\\& Pyat' -say' . The halter, or bridle without a bit, is the
syahn. The halter of the leading reindeer is the nyes'-
min dye syahn. The halter of the other reindeer is the
pyelay syahn. The rein with which the leading reindeer
is guided is the metdnye. The hook on the side of the
saddle-band on which the rein rests is the khdlsoold.
The swivel or universal joint by which the rein is
attached to the halter is the siir'nye. A button which
serves to fasten the trace to the collar, or the belly-band
to the saddle, is \\\^ paysik. The long pole with which
the reindeer are driven is the toor, and the bone or ivory
knob at the end of it the tdor-ntahl. The rein connectinp-
the leading reindeer with the one next to it is the poo-
inye. A lasso is called a teeit-zdy, and the bone noose
through which it runs is the sah'nnk. The tent or choom
is the myah'-kdn, and a dog is called a vomyeko.

The Samoyede who gave us this information was one

A DOOMED RACE 99

of the poorer men of his tribe. All the richer families
had migrated north with their herds of reindeer before
the snow had melted. The poorer families remained
behind, hanging on to the skirts of the Russians, helping
them with their fishing, and receiving for pay such food
as their employers chose to give them. One cannot help
pitying these poor people. Their nation is gradually
dymg out. Like the North American Indians, they are
doomed to destruction, for, like them, they cannot refuse
spirits. In the struggle for existence they have no^
chance with the cunning Russian, who in all matters of
business has no more conscience than a Greek or a
Jew.

During this time the birds were few. On the 27th
we took a walk in the forest, and the only ones that were
singing were the willow-warblers, an occasional pine-
grosbeak breaking in now and then. We secured, how-
ever, a pair of bramblings out of a flock. We shot a
blue-throated warbler, a yellow-hammer, a female reed-
bunting, a Siberian jay, a stonechat, and a red-throated
pipit, and out of a number we brought down a brace of
golden plover. We saw a solitary shore-lark, a gull
(apparently the common species), and a fine male bull-
finch. In the town we got a couple of wood-sandpipers ;
then the green wagtails were common, and we came upon
a large party of Lapland buntings, all apparently females.
In the evening the wind dropped and a frost set in. At
midnight, when we went to bed, the thermometer marked
only 30°. The next day was bright, but cold, with a
light north wind blowing. We went for another long
tramp through the pine-woods, but very few birds were
to be seen. We shot a pair of grosbeaks, a fieldfare, and
a blue-throated warbler {Cyanecula suecica, Linn.). We
saw a Siberian jay, for whose nesi we had a long search,

loo THE PETCHORA IN FLOOD

which resulted in bur finding two old ones. Whether
these were nests of the Siberian jay or of the pine-gros-
beak we could not, however, determine. Twice we heard
the note of the Siberian chiffchaff, but we could not see or
get a shot at the birds.

The smart frost returned during the night. In the
morning, however, the wind veered round to the east,
and it was warm ; in the afternoon it was very hot.
Five hours hard walking through the woods in the early
morning resulted in nothing. I did not bring down a
single bird. My companion shot two blue-throated
warblers ; they had now grown as common as the willow-
warbler. The blue-throated warbler has been not inaptly
called the Swedish mocking-bird. Sometimes it is shy
and retiring, seeking food in the densest thickets and
bushes, haunting the marshy grounds sprinkled over
with small spruce fir, dwarf willows and juniper ; but
when newly arrived from its winter home, and beginning
to sing, it is an easy bird to see, and not difficult to shoot.
On its first arrival it often warbles in an undertone so
low that you fancy the sound must be muffled by the
thick tangle of branches in which you think the bird is
concealed, while all the time it is perched on high upon
the topmost spray of a young fir, this very conspicuousness
causing him to escape detection for the moment. His
first attempts at singing are harsh and grating, like the
notes of the sedge-warbler, or the still harsher ones of
the whitethroat ; these are followed by several variations
in a louder and rather more melodious tone, repeated
over and over again, somewhat in the fashion of a song-
thrush. After this you might fancy the little songster
was trying to mimic the various alarm-notes of all the
birds he can remember — the "chiz-zit" of the wagtail,
the "tip-tip-tip" of the blackbird, and especially the

SONG OF THE BLUE-THROAT loi

"whit-whit" of the chaffinch. As he improves in voice,
he sings louder and longer, until at last he almost
approaches the nightingale in the richness of the melody-
he pours forth. Sometimes he will sing as he flies
upward, descending with expanded wings and tail, to
alight on the highest bough of some low tree, almost
exactly as the tree-pipit does. When the females have
arrived, there comes at the end of his song the most
metallic note I have ever heard a bird utter. It is a sort
o( "ting-ting," resembling the sound produced by the
hitting of a suspended bar of steel with another piece of
the same metal.

Our afternoon walk was more fruitful of result than
that of the morning. I had followed for some time the
shore of the overflowing Petchora, when, after having
bagged a brace of wood-sandpipers and a ring-dotterel, I
crossed a sandbank to a marshy pool. The muffled
croak of numerous toads or frogs kept up a sound
resembling that of gurgling water. On my approach the
whole tribe disappeared and hid in the mud. After I
had waited a while, three slowly put up their noses above
the surface. I fired ineffectually upon the reptiles, but I
started seven or eight sandpipers and a red-throated
pipit, upon which I set off at once in pursuit of the last
bird. I presently found myself on a marshy piece of
ground, covered with grassy hillocks, in the narrow
trenches between which pipits were sitting. As I walked
on they rose at my feet on all sides, and I soon had half
a dozen within shot. I brought down a bird with each
barrel, reloaded, and, as I walked up to my victims,
there rose between me and them two or three pipits,
who evidently preferred being shot to being trodden
upon. Unfortunately I had but two cartridges left, so,
bringing down another brace, I went back to our quarters

I02 THE PETCHORA IN FLOOD

for more ammunition. On returning to the open marshy
ground, I found the birds still there, and very soon
secured another half-dozen. My last shot was a double
one. As I was getting over the soil upon which some
pipits had been sitting, a hawk rushed past clutching a
bird in its claws. A dozen wag-tails set off after it in
vociferous pursuit. I followed more quietly, and soon
had the satisfaction of laying a male sparrow-hawk upon
its back, with a half-eaten sparrow beside it. Some wag-
tails remained perched upon the railing behind which the
hawk had retired to finish the devouring of its prey.
They uttered cries, which might be interpreted either as
doubting the supposed escape of their foe, or as a paean
of rejoicing over its downfall. The sight of their enemy
lying motionless on its back rendered them deaf to the
sound of my gun and blind to my presence. They
remained undismayed within a few yards of me, not
stirring until I had packed away the hawk. At this
juncture my companion came up. He had been more
fortunate than I in his raid upon the reptiles, and had
secured a couple, which we found to be a species of toad,
with whitish and black spots and stripes on the back.
At this pool I now secured a Temminck's stint, and my
companion another pipit, making the eleventh shot that
day. For weeks we had never succeeded in shooting
more than one out of a flock. They had abounded
during the last fortnight in the fields and in the open
ground about the town. We had seen hundreds, and
yet, during those two weeks, we had not secured more
than five males and one female ; now in a couple of
hours we had bagged ten males and one female out of a
single flock. We had found them wild, and seldom
disposed to settle on the ground. It was curious that
these pipits should have been so different from the

THE LITTLE BUNTING 103

others ; but what was still more curious and interesting
was their behaviour during the raid we made upon them.
After repeated shots, bringing down several of their
numbers, the remainder would get up, settle on the
railings, on the adjoining house-roof, or perch upon the
slender branches of a willow-tree hard by.

The same day I saw again the barn-swallow, which
seemed to be the only representative of its species at
Ust-Zylma. I watched a flock of shore-larks and Lap-
land buntings on the stubble. As a rule, they ran along
the ground like the wagtails, but I also marked both
birds hopping for some distance.

For the first time, on Sunday, 30th of May, the Pet-
chora was free from ice. The steady march-past of the
frozen blocks had lasted just one week. The wind that
day was warm, blowing from the south, but the sky was
cloudy. A peasant brought us three young Siberian
jays, aid another rowed across the river, the bearer of a
ruff, the first we had yet seen ; and of some eggs — six
duck's eggs, doubtless those of the pintail, and four of
the hooded crow. The following day the warm south wind
continued, with sunshine and cloud. We took a lono-
round in the valley, where a few days before we had seen
so many Siberian chiffchaffs. The blue-throated warblers
were singing lustily, but we failed to hear or see the bird
we were specially in search of As we were making our
way home, through a swamp thickly studded over with
willows, birch, and fir, I heard a song quite new to me.
It closely resembled that of the yellow-hammer, whose
note is popularly supposed to say " Lit, lit, lit, little bread
and no cheese." This bird cried " Lit, lit, lit, in as tay."
I shot the strange songster, and brought down my first
little bunting {^Emberiza pusilla, Pall.). Twice during the
day we visited the marshy spot, upon which forty-eight

I04 THE PETCHORA IN FLOOD

hours previously the. red-throated pipits had swarmed,
but we found it utterly deserted. The flock was evi-
dently resting- after a long stage of migration, and had
now resumed its northward progress.

The next day a visit to the same spot brought the
same result ; not a red-throated pipit was to be seen
upon it. On the ist of June I saw a common scoter
for the first time, flying down the Petchora close past
Sideroff's steamer. I was on deck at the time, one of a
crowd waiting to witness the ceremony of sprinkling the
vessel with holy water ere it set out on its summer
voyage. The ship had arrived the evening before from
its winter quarters in the bay behind Habariki. The
ceremony was effective. Flags were flying, cannons
firing, guests assembled ; a breakfast was prepared, then
came the procession of robed priests, candles burning
and censers swinging; prayers were chanted, the crucifix
was kissed, and then the sprinkling began. Everybody
and everything was sprinkled with holy water from a
rod, apparently made of fine gilt wire. The paddle-
boxes were sprinkled, the deck was sprinkled fore and
aft, the cabins were sprinkled, the sailors were sprinkled ;
the captain and the engineer each received a whisk from
the brush, which made them wince, for at that moment a
detachment of ice, probably from the Ussa, was passing
down the river, chilling the water not a little. Then all
was over except the breakfast, when a practical joke was
played upon the guests, A course of bear-flesh was
served up incognito, so deliciously cooked that all ate of
it with gusto, suspecting nothing. Our amiable friend,
the wife of the public prosecutor, alone suspected, but
wisely kept her counsel.

After our dissipation we spent the evening packing
skins, and retired to our hammocks about midnight ; but

IN CHASE OF CHIFFCHAFFS 105

whether owing to Captain Arendt's hospitality or to the
effect of the arsenic in the skins, we could not sleep.
At three o'clock, finding that the sun had been up some
time, we bethought ourselves that we could not do better
than follow his example, so we accordingly arose, and
shouldering our guns, marched off" to the Siberian chiff-
chaff" valley. We chose good positions in the wood, and
disposed ourselves to watch and wait. Before long I
heard the distant chivit of the much longed-for bird,
rising from the bottom of the valley. I pressed forward
cautiously through the trees, and caught sight of the little
warbler's white throat glistening in the sunshine, as it
uttered its unpretentious song, perched on the top of a
pine. I could not approach it nearer than within sixty
yards without making a considerable ddtour to avoid
the stream with its high mud walls, crumbling down on
all sides, so I risked a shot. It was too far and missed.
Meanwhile a second Siberian chiffchaff set up its
chivit. I started off in pursuit of the cry and soon
came within shot of the bird, perched, as usual, on the
summit of a spruce fir. I fired, ran to the tree, searched
diligently through the moss at the foot, but found
nothing. Whistling for my companion to come up, I
began to run the tree over with my telescope, when, to
my great delight, I caught sight of my bird lying dead
on a spray within six inches of the top. We saw no
more of these birds during the morning, but shot two
wheatears, which had by this time grown common, a pair
of blue-throated warblers and a willow-wren. Nearly all
the green wagtails which we saw had more or less
brown on the breast ; they were doubtless last year's
birds which had not yet assumed the full mature plumage.
On our return a peasant brought us three young ravens
and some duck's eggs, probably pintail's. That day I

io6

THE PETCHORA IN FLOOD

recorded in my journal, with many groans, the first
appearance of the mosquitoes. Horrid-looking beasts,
with bodies a third of an inch long, monsters, the Culex
dainnabilis of Rae, with proboscis " infernali veiieno
niunitay I foresaw that we should have opportunities
enough to study the natural history of these bloodthirsty
creatures to our hearts' discontent.

OLD RUSSIAN SILVER CROSS

THE FLOODED BANKS OF THE RIVER

CHAPTER XIII.

A TRIP TO HABARIKI.

Trip to Habariki— Forest Scenery— Tarns in the Woods— Changeable
Weather— New Birds identified in the Forests— Golden Eagle— Osprey—
Hobby — Cuckoo— Yellow-headed Wagtail- Bohemian Waxwing— Great
Snipe— Terek Sandpiper— Goosander— Smew — Black-throated Diver.

We were fast asleep the next evening when we were
roused up by Captain Engel's invitation to go down with
him by the steamer to Habariki to stay there three days.
We had barely time to dress and fill our pockets with
■cartridores. The current of the river was in our favour ;
it was running at the rate of four miles an hour, and we
accomplished the twenty-seven miles in two hours.
Arrived at Habariki we scarcely recognised the place
again. The snow had disappeared, all but a patch or
two on the Timanski hills, fifty miles off. The Petchora,
freed from ice, had risen some twenty feet or more, and

io8 A TRIP TO HABARIKI

had flooded the island in front of the village, the willows
and pine-tree tops being just visible above the surface.
Inland, half the country at least was under water, a vast
network of lakes and swamps with forest between. In
some places the skirts themselves of the forest were
flooded. As we had not brougfht our wadino--boots we
had to confine our explorations to the woods. These
proved an inexhaustible source of interest to us, and one
in no wise lacking in variety. There was much beauty
in these woods. Under foot spread a carpet of soft green
moss and lichens, the thick moss predominating in the
older and thicker parts of the forest, while the reindeer-
moss and the many-coloured lichens abounded in the
younger and more open woods. Stray shrubs of arbutus
and rhododendron, bushes of bilberry, crowberry, cran-
berry, the fruit of which was preserved by seven months'
frost, clumps of carices, and other vegetation decked the
shady aisles. The monotony of the great pine forest was
varied by the delicate hues of willow and alder thickets,
by plantations of young pines and firs, by clumps of tall
spruce and haggard old larches, while here and there a
fine birch spread abroad its glossy foliage, or a gaunt
Scotch fir extended wide its copper-coloured arms. All
around lay strewn trunks and branches of timber, fallen
or felled, in every stage of decomposition, from the hoary
log, moss-covered and turned to tinder, to the newly
lopped branches of some lofty forest patriarch, whose
magnificent boughs had been wantonly cut up to furnish
firewood for Sideroff s steamer. The most curious features
in these forests were open and slightly hollow places, like
tarns, or half dried-up tarns, the bed carpeted with moss
and a network of last year's Potamogeton. The shallow
places were quite dried up, but the deeper ones had still
a lakelet glistening in the centre. These hollows are

ABUNDANCE OF BIRDS 109

doubtless jEilled with water when the Petchora reaches its
highest flood point in June, and many are not yet dried
up when an early winter sets in, and the remaining water
becomes ice-bound.

Our three days stay at Habariki was marked by very
variable weather. Thursday was calm and warm, with
bright sunshine. Friday was bitterly cold, with a strong
gale from the north, and only occasional gleams of sun-
shine, and slight storms of rain and snow. On Saturday
morning the gale had subsided, and the greater part of
the day the sun shone, but a violent hailstorm fell during
the afternoon, and in the evening we had a dead calm.
Notwithstanding the generally unfavourable weather we
saw a vast number of birds, and added to our lists in
these three days more than half as many species as we
had seen during the whole of our stay at Ust-Zylma.

We saw several eagles, but only one near enough for
identification. It showed no traces of white on the tail,
and we concluded it migfht be a ofolden-eaorle or a white-
tailed eagle of the first year. We identified an osprey as
it flew past us overhead. We fired at it, and it dropped
a large bunch of damp moss that it was doubtless carry-
ing for nesting purposes. On a bare larch-trunk tower-
inor hio-h above the surroundinor wood we could see, about
fifteen feet from the top, a large nest, which we presumed
was that of this bird.

I rose a dark-winged hawk trom the ground, which I
have no doubt was a hobby. Some hours later we saw a
similar-looking bird, perched high on the naked branch of
a dead larch, and a long shot brought it down. It proved
a fine male of this species.

Many of the ancient stems of the larches contained
old nest-holes of woodpeckers, and the bark of some trees
was riddled from top to bottom with small holes, evidently

no A TRIP TO HABARIKI

made by these birds when feeding. One of our sailors
shot a male. We saw soon after a pair of three-toed
woodpeckers, but did not then succeed in securing either
of them. On another occasion we heard the tapping
sound of the woodpecker's beak ; a tap, then a slight
pause, followed by a rapid succession of taps, and, after a
second slight pause, a final tap. I imitated the sound as
well as I could with a cartridge on the stock of my gun.
The bird immediately flew to a dead larch-trunk, close to
where we were standing, and perched, its head thrown
back listening, some fifty feet from the ground. In this
position it fell to my companion's gun. It was a female.

We heard the cuckoo's familiar note repeatedly every
day ; the first time it was near midnight, soon after our
arrival at Habariki.

The hooded crow and magpie were as abundant as
usual in this part of Europe. The Siberian jay was very
common ,in the wood, and very noisy ; all the more so,
perhaps, for the number of young birds among them. I
saw on one occasion an old jay feeding a young one. I
shot the latter ; it was in the full plumage of the first year.
The old birds were very tame and easy to secure, for they
were in full moult. The body bore no appearance of it,
but the wing and tail feathers were " in the pen." The
flight of the Siberian jay is noiseless, resembling some-
what that of the owl, sailing with wings and tail expanded
before alighting. These birds like ascending from branch
to branch, close by the stem of a birch or fir. When
they cannot hop from one bough to another they ascend
the trunk in the fashion of the woodpecker. This habit
we both of us specially noted. We did not hear their
song, but they were constantly uttering harsh loud cries,
some of which reminded us of those of the peregrine at its
nest, while others resembled the scream of the wood-

THE YELLOW-HEADED WAGTAIL iii

pecker. During the season of incubation the Siberian
jay seemed shy and silent.

A flock of tree-sparrows was always to be seen
among the few houses in the village, sometimes perched
on the railings, at other times gathered in a bunch on
the roofs. We saw no evidence of their havingf beeun
to think about building. The pine-grosbeak was one of
the commonest, if not the commonest bird at Habariki,
and the mealy redpoll also was common. The little
bunting was not rare, but its shy and retiring habits often
caused us to overlook it. We rarely heard it sing, yet
frequently noticed its quiet call-note. We also often
came upon it feeding on the ground near the swampy
edge of the forest tarns, in company with yellow wag-
tails, fieldfares, and bramblings. We saw several reed-
buntings, and shot a male. They usually frequented the
willows on the edges of the marshes and lakes. The
green wagtail was common, and still kept together in
flocks ; we constantly saw them in trees.

The yellow-headed wagtail {Motacilla citreola) was
a bird we had neither of us met with before. The
alighting of a small party of five on an alder-bush
surprised us. We secured a male, but the remainder
disappeared among some alders and willows growing on
an impassable piece of flooded land close to the Petchora,
which was also full of floating driftwood. So, unfortu-
nately, we saw them no more.

We noticed a few white wagtails, principally near the
village. Fieldfares were numerous, sometimes in flocks,
generally in pairs. They scarcely seemed to have yet
begun to breed. We had two nests brought us, how-
ever, each containing one ^%%. We found plenty of old
isolated nests, but no traces of colonies. The fieldfares
were singing far more in the woods about Habariki

112 A TRIP TO HABARIKI

than I had heard them doing during the breeding season
in Norway.

The redwing was decidedly commoner than the field-
fare, and its rich wild notes constantly resounded in all
parts of the forest. Its usually plaintive whistle was
only occasionally heard, the note which it more frequently
uttered resembled rather that of the song-thrush, but
was very short. We shot one, to make sure that it was
a bird of no other species. Its low warble often came
following the notes just mentioned ; but sometimes it was
given without the preliminary note, and once we heard
it utter a loose alarm-cry like that of the fieldfare. It is
evidently an earlier breeder than the latter bird. We
got four or five of its nests, containing four eggs each ;
one had five eggs. We found one nest in a spruce-fir
built nine feet from the ground, but in no instance did
we find a nest nearer than eighteen inches to the ground,
nor is it likely that there would be any built lower in
a country comparatively flooded. All the redwings were
in pairs ; we saw no signs whatever of their habits being
gregarious.

The blue-throated warbler was very common and tame,
allowing us to approach near as it sang perched on a low
bush or fed on the ground. It was in full voice, and
the variety of its notes formed a perfect medley of bird-
music. It frequented marshy ground, whether amongst
alders and willows, or in the forests of pines or other
trees. We saw several handsome male redstarts, and
came upon a pair or two of wheatears in the open sandy
pinewood near the village.

In the same locality we saw a few pairs of stonechats.
Willow-warblers were very abundant. At Habariki, for
the second time, I heard this bird utter a note different
from any I had heard in England. It is like the t-r-r-r

THE BOHEMIAN WAXWING 113

of the chiffchaff, but it is very difficult to describe it
exactly on paper. The nearest letters denoting it are
perhaps z-z-z ; it reminded me very much of the spitting
of a cat. We heard the song and also the "■ cJiiv-W of
the Siberian chiffchaff several times, and succeeded in
shooting one bird. When silent we always found it
busily engaged feeding like a tit. usually among spruce-
firs. Of the Lapp-tit {Parus cinctus, Bodd.) we saw two
pairs and a few solitary birds.

The note of the waxwingr had long been familiar to

O ft)

me, for I had once kept a pair in a cage for some
months. I was delighted to hear it once more resound-
ing from the lofty spruce and larch trees in the forest.
We succeeded in shooting one pair only ; nor were they
in very good plumage, having very few and small wax-
like appendages on the secondaries. The eggs in the
female were very large, and the testes of the male very
fully developed. It is therefore probable that they were
on the point of building, if they had not already begun.
As the yellow on the primaries was I -shaped and not
V-shaped, I judged it to be a )'oung bird.

We saw one solitary barn-swallow, and shot it, and
came upon many droppings of the capercailzie, but did
not see the bird. Several traps were set in the forest to
catch the hen, for the cock is not eaten. The peasants
call the latter gliikd, and the female taitaiora. Willow-
grouse and hazel-grouse, we were told, were abundant in
some seasons.

We saw one pair of golden plover on the newly sown
cornfields behind the village, and noticed two or three
pairs of ringed-plover frequenting the ploughed land
below Habariki and the grassy banks of a little stream
running out of the Petchora. We rose a pair of double
snipe from the young wood on the sandy ground beyond

H

114 A TRIP TO HABARIKI

the fields, and bagged one of them. These were the
first examples we had yet seen of the species.

We did not succeed in securing- a common snipe, but
we often heard their pecuHar tic-tuc note, and the sound
of their drumming high in the air. My companion
identified a snipe with his glass as belonging to this
species; it was uttering the characteristic note, and later,
when it dropped to the ground, it rose again with the
ziofzagr fliorht belonoing- to this bird. We were not a
little surprised the first time we saw a common snipe
perched upon the topmost upright twig of a bare larch
seventy feet above ground. We soon grew familiar to
the sight ; indeed, after what we witnessed of the
arboreal habits of birds we are not accustomed to see
perching in England, we ceased to feel surprise at the
circumstance. The origin of this habit is doubtless due
to the flooding of the great tracts of country by the
annual overflow of rivers at the time of migration. We
saw but one flock of Temminck's stint, feeding on the
marshy ground near one of the forest trees. We shot
them all, hoping to discover the Little stint amongst them,
but we were disappointed.

We found the greenshank and dusky redshank
iTotanus fuscus) abundant, but did not succeed in
shooting an example of either species.

Wood-sandpipers were common, frequenting the
edges of the marshes and the forest tarns. This bird,
like Temminck's stint, elevates its wings when alighting,
until they almost meet. There is a likeness also in the
song of the two birds. The note of the wood-sandpiper
is decidedly musical. We shot specimens from the
summit of high bare trees sixty-five feet at least from the
ground.

We shot half a dozen Terek sandpipers, the first we

DUCKS AND GEESE 115

had yet seen. The favourite resort of these pretty birds
was the grassy margin of the stream before mentioned,
where they fed on the edge of the water and on the
shoals of driftwood which Hned it in many places. We
also came upon them in the marshy ground round some
of the forest tarns. They were extremely tame. Like
the wood-sandpiper, they would allow us to come and
talk within a few yards of them, letting us take up a
position where, by a little patience, a double shot could
be obtained. We thoroughly identified the ruff on the
marsh, although we failed to obtain a specimen of it.

We saw a bean-goose, which had been shot a day or
two before our arrival. We also saw a pair of swans,
and identified the skin and head of one shot by a sailor a
week or two before our arrival as belonging to the common
wild species, Cygmts miisiczis.

Wigeons were by no means uncommon on the lake,
the larger forest tarns, and the open water in the marshes
We shot a female off the nest, and took from it five eggs
and the down : it was built under a couple of fallen trees
crossing each other. The nest had been used the previous
year, as old egg-shells were under the down. Several
other specimens of this bird were brought to us.

The pintail was the commonest duck about Habariki.
We shot a female from the nest, taking nine eggs and the
down. This nest also was under a prostrate tree, and
not far from the wigeon's. We had one nest of teal
with down brought us, together with a male bird. They
were not rare. The golden-eye was a common duck,
generally seen in pairs on the open water in the marshes
and larger forest tarns. We shot a female, and took
a perfect ^'g'g from her. A nest in the hollow stump
of a tree some twenty feet from the ground was shown
to us, and we were told that these birds bred there

ii6 A TRIP TO HABARIKI

every year. The nest contained ten eggs and plenty of
down.

We saw several goosanders, distinctly identifying one
pair on the water of the marsh behind Habariki. The
smew was rather a common duck ; we saw many pairs on
the pools, the large marsh, and the woodland tarns, and
secured a fine male. We were told that they breed in
low stumps of trees.

We identified the black-throated diver for the first
time on the 2nd of June. We saw it several times and
heard it fiying overhead.

We occasionally saw one or two common gulls and
one pair of Siberian herring-gulls. In addition to the
above-mentioned birds we frequently saw others that we
were unable fully to identify. Thus we often came upon
large sandpipers on the marsh whose cry was like that of
the redshank ; they were probably the dusky redshank.
We also sav/ a large fiock of ducks of a heavy species
flying overhead which we imagined to be the eider-
duck.

In the woods and forests of Habariki we did not once
meet with the raven, the bullfinch, or the yellow-hammer,
or with any species of pipit or lark.

THE DELTA OF THE PETCHORA

CHAPTER XIV.

OUR VOYAGE TO THE DELTA.

Return to Ust-Zylma — Wedding of the Engineer's Son— Scarlet Bullfinch
—Last Days at Ust-Zylma— Our Boat— We Sail to Habariki— Birds' Eggs
— Smew's Eggs — Snipes in Trees — Down the Petchora — Sedge-warbler —
Blackcock — Arctic Tern — Willow Swamps — We Cross the Arctic Circle
—A New Bird— Arrival at Viski— The Delta— Double Snipe— Pustozersk
• — The Tundra — Arrival at Alexievka.

We returned to Ust-Zylma on Sunday, the 6th of June,
and attended the wedding of the son of the engineer of
Sideroff's steamer. It took place in the church of the
Old Believers, but the ritual did not differ much from
that of the orthodox ceremonial. The bridal party after-
wards sat in state in the house of Sideroffs manager.
Coffee was hrst served, then sherry, afterwards cham-
pagne. All the quality, as an Irishman would say, were
present, except the public prosecutor. It was an exceed-

ii8 OUR VOYAGE TO THE DELTA

ingly formal and slow affair, the only feature of interest
being the assemblage of villagers outside, who sang a
melancholy tune, while two or three couples slowly
walked round each other in a depressed fashion, the
gentleman taking hold of one of the lady's arms by the
elbow, the other arm interlaced in hers. The girls wore
their hair plaited in a pigtail behind, at the end of which
a cross-bar was attached, from which dangled half a dozen
broad ribbons like a banner screen. They kept their
eyes fixed on the ground as they danced, and lifted a
handkerchief of many colours to their mouths. All the
time vodka was served from a tin can, and through the
afternoon and evening the part of the room near the door
was filled with an ever-changing crowd of peasant maidens
who came to have a good stare at the bride and bride-
groom and, having gazed their fill, retired to make way
for others, who entered and did likewise.

The next morning a stroll up the chiffchaff valley
resulted in nothing, but as we were returning home I
heard the song of a bird that was quite new to me — four
notes loud and clear. 1 shot the little songster, and it
proved to be a male scarlet bullfinch [Carpodacus
erythrinus). It was in company with another j, bird, but
this one escaped us. We heard the cuckoo in our
morning ramble. Four eggs of the wood-sandpiper were
brought to us, and the next day four eggs of the oyster-
catcher, one of which was slightly set. All that day we
worked hard at our eggs ; we had blown 143 in all,
including the ^<gg of a peregrine falcon which a Samoyede
brought us on the 27th of May. He said he found it in
a nest built on the ground, containing three others, which
he had the clumsiness to break. At night we turned out
for a breath of fresh air alongf the banks of the g-reat
river. During our walk we shot a pair of Terek sand-

WE START DOWN STREAM 119

pipers, the first we had yet seen in Ust-Zylma. We
also brought down two Temminck's stints, and afterwards
secured our soHtary example of the Little ringed-plover
(C Tfiinor). I shot at it as it rose from and again alighted
upon a swampy, hummocky strip of tundra land. The
next day a peasant brought us a fine cock willow-grouse,
our first, clothed in about half its summer costume. We
had also a nest given to us of the wheatear, with one ^^^
in it, and the female bird caught upon it.

We had for some time been on the look-out for a boat
in which to make the journey down the river, and by the
exertion of Piottuch and the kind help of M. Znaminski,
who was much interested in our expedition, we succeeded
in obtaining one which suited us very well. A wooden
cabin, not unlike a large dog- kennel, occupied the centre,
and was just large enough for us to recline in at full
length ; and at the back of it was a covered space, where
our baggage could be packed secure from the heavy rains
which occasionally occur in summer. It had one mast,
on which we could hoist a square sail whenever the wind
was favourable. The current would of course usually be
in our favour, but we were also provided with four oars,
which, though incapable of propelling the boat at much
speed, would be useful in crossing the stream, and in
giving her way enough to make the rudder of some use
in a calm. We engaged four boatmen, two Russians, a
Samoyede, and a half-breed, all of whom possessed
some knowledge of the river, while the latter had the
additional advantage of being what passed in this district
as an enthusiastic sportsman. We left Ust-Zylma on
Thursday, the loth of June, and sailed down to Habariki
with a fair wind and a strong current. The banks of the
river were covered with birch and spruce woods, alter-
nating with willow-swamps. On our way we landed at

120 OUR VOYAGE TO THE DELTA

several places, but met with nothing of special interest.
Everywhere we found the bluethroat, the redwing, the
brambling, the fieldfare, the little bunting, and the
willow-warbler common. We saw a solitary sand-martin.
The peasants at Habariki had collected eggs for us ;
among them those of the redwing, the redstart, the hooded
crow, and various ducks. The best nest contained eight
eggs. It had been found by two boys, who had divided
the eggs and the down between them. Four of these
eggs, cream coloured, of a smaller size than the pintail's,
were first brought to us, and with them some pale grey
down. The lad who brought them said he had found
the nest in the old stump of a tree, and the fragments of
rotten wood scattered in the down seemed to corroborate
his statement. We then sent for the other sharer of the
spoil ; he had already sold the eggs, along with another
duck's nest, containing six eggs. On our inquiry as to
what he had done with the down, he immediately went
off for it, and soon brought it to us. It was very pale
down, containing small fragments of wood, the exact
counterpart of the other portion in our possession. We
found, however, that the down of the second nest was
mingled with it. We had no difficulty in separating it,
for it was brown, and evidently that of the pintail. Ulti-
mately we purchased the batch of ten eggs from Sideroff's
manager, who had bought them from the lad. Four
exactly matched the four we had secured from his com-
panion ; the other six were the same in size but greenish
in colour, and similar to eggs of the pintail duck which
we afterwar.ls obtained. Upon shewing the boys some
skins of ducks, they at once identified the smew as the
duck which belonged to the whiter eggs with the pale
grey down. These eggs are extremely rare in collections,
and we were not a little elated with our prize.

SNIPE ON TREES 121

At three the following^ morniiio- we shouldered our
guns and went on shore. We had sat up late blowing-
eggs, but the excitement of finding ourselves in a locality
where rare eggs and birds might be expected made any
attempt to sleep fruitless, and we decided to gratify our
curiosity without further delay. We shot a Siberian
chiffchaff singing and " chiviting " lustily amongst the
pines, and heard several cuckoos. The snipes were
drumming on the marshes, and three times we marked
th m perched high up on trees ; once upon a dead trunk,
and twice on the slender dead branches near the summit
of larches. These trees were at least seventy feet high.
To put an end to all dispute concerning their species, we
settled the question by dropping a common snipe with a
No. 4 cartridge. It was shot from the topmost twigs of
a lofty larch, just budding into leaf. My afternoon walk,
which was a long round on the marsh, resulted in very
little. I rose a reeve from her nest, and shot her as
she was silently shuffling off. The nest was a rather
deep hole upon a grass tussock, lined with dry grass,
and in it were four eggs and two feathers. A quantity
of yellow wagtails were running along the swampy
ground, and perching freely upon the birches growing on
the islands formed in the marsh. Their usual cry was a
loud nc or ns, but what seemed the call-note to the female
resembled the sound i-i-i-k ; the song is a low chatter
like that of the swallow. Ducks were constantly coming
and going to and from the open places on the swamp.
The wigeon, judging from the frequency of its cry,
seemed the commonest species; its loud vi-e-ee'-yjc was
continually to be heard.

In the evenino we left the little villag^e of Habariki and
proceeded down the river. All the next day we crept
slowly down the mighty Petchora, a strong current in our

122 OUR VOYAGE TO THE DELTA

favour, but the wind contrary, and with only a couple of
oars propelling us along. The scenery was often inter-
esting. The west bank, lofty and steep, was now and
then clothed to the water's edge with forests of birches
and pines ; the east bank at that part was a dead flat
covered with willows. Numberless islands studded the
water, kurias running up amongst them, sometimes of
great picturesqueness. The th^m'-'-eef^ of the Terek sand-
piper resounded continually ; and sometimes we heard
the cry of the common sandpiper. We shot a brace of
the latter, the first we had secured ; we found the species
very wild. Two or three times during the day we pulled
up on an island or on the mainland. On a sandy island
thinly covered with grass we came upon a party fishing
with a seine net ; we watched and saw the net twice
drawn without result. On this island we shot a hen-
harrier, a cuckoo, and a short-eared owl. A few gulls
were flying about — the common gull and the Siberian
herring-gull. As we pulled on, I saw a party of six
waxwings flying north. Willow-warblers abounded ; I
watched one for some time that allowed me to approach
within six feet of it. I noticed that some appeared to
have a whiter throat and a more rapid song than usual.
One I heard vociferously uttering a note unlike any that
I have heard from the willow-warbler, tuz-Z2ik. These
observations convinced me that two species of willow-
warblers exist in these parts, and upon a careful examina-
tion of our skins afterwards, I found that I had shot an
Arctic willow-warbler i^Phylloscopus boi^ealis). Swans,
geese, and ducks, especially the latter, were to be seen in
the ponds behind the fringing belts of willows ; amongst
these we clearly identified the scaup and the black scoter.
We found six ducks' nests, most of which were those of
the wigeon. In one of these dense willow-swamps lining

THE YORSA RIVER 123

the east bank of the river I found for the first time the
sedge-warbler. On several occasions, especially at night,
we heard its harsh notes, but the bird kept very close,
and was very difficult to see. I shot two ; one was flying
out of a birch-tree, in which it had descended, singing
after the manner of the bluethroat. We also secured a
red-throated diver, the first added to our list. We saw a
rough-legged buzzard, the only one of the species we
clearly identified. It was sitting in a low willow-tree,
and we shot it, as we silently drifted past, about mid-
night. We stopped soon after, anchoring in a little
creek. A steady rain began to fall, which continued all
the following day ; we just managed to creep down to the
river Yorsa, where again we pulled up en route. We
saw very few birds, but in the evening we got on shore,
and a turn in the rain was not without result. We
seemed entangled in a network of willow swamps, lakes,
and kurias running out of the winding Yorsa. Here and
there rose a few taller willows and birches. After a
while we came upon a little house, the abode of the hay-
cutters in autumn, which our boatmen were now glad to
make use of for the night. All around it were long
straggling meadows, upon which the grass was just
beginning to come up. My companion shot a second
yellow-headed wagtail, a male ; he saw the female also,
but lost her. He also saw a small owl, probably Teng-
malm's owl. I secured a fine male goshawk, the only
one we identified on our journey. It was in a thick
alder-bush when I disturbed it, in the act of devouring a
female wigeon. In the same place I shot a short-eared
owl. Reed-buntings abounded. I took a nest containing
four eggs ; it was built inside an old fieldfare's nest, and
was nine feet from the oround, in a willow-tree. This is
another example of the manner in which birds accommo-

124 OUR VOYAGE TO THE DELTA

date themselves to the circumstances of a flooded country.
We found the Httle bunting very common, and just
beginnino- to build. Once or twice a white-tailed eaorle
hovered overhead. In long- grass covering the raised
bank of the island we discovered a blackcock's nest con
taining five eggs ; also a wigeon's nest, with seven eggs,
and a teal's with six.

The next afternoon we left the Yorsa River : the day
was hne, but the wind contrary. We stopped for an
hour at Churvinski Ostroff, and had a short stroll on
shore armed with walking-stick guns. My companion
shot a tree-sparrow, and I a small spotted woodpecker.
We also started a three-toed woodpecker out of its hole
in a tree ; I shot it, when immediately the female came
up, and I secured her also. We whistled for our boat-
men, who, by our orders, cut down the tree. The bird's
hole was about fifteen feet from the ground, descending
nine inches perpendicularly ; there was no lining in it,
except plenty of saw- or rather beak-dust. It contained
two newly hatched birds and one egg. On our way back
we shot a pair of yellow-headed wagtails ; the female had
dry grass in her beak, which she was evidently carrying
to build her nest. The male was not fully mature, having
the nape brown, and dark feathers amongst the yellow of
the crown. The yellow of the hen-bird was much less
brilliant than that of her mate, and the head and cheeks
were greenish- brown, with the exception of a pale yellow
streak over each eye, meeting across the forehead. A few
miles lower we brought down two little buntings and an
oyster-catcher ; we also took a brambling's nest and a
duck's, both containing eggs. That evening we saw our
first Arctic tern. We spied them from a distance, and
brought them within range by imitating their notes. We
suspected this species by the ash-grey colour of the lower

ARRIVE AT ABRAMOFF 125

parts. Later in the night we had the opportunity of
procuring both birds and eggs, and verifying our previous
recognition. We had pulled up at one of the islands to
boil the kettle for tea and cook some fish. After this
meal we began to explore. We shot three terns, and
found three nests, securino" five eofg-s in all. As I was in
the act of taking up one of these nests, a hare ran up,
stood in mute amazement gazing at me for a second or
two, and then turned and bolted. On this island we shot
an oyster-catcher ; it was evident the nest was there, but
we could not find it.

Rain and contrary winds accompanied us all the next
day ; and at night we stopped at Abramoff. We got
from the peasants there eggs of the common gull and
some of the white wa^rtail, besides those of the wieeon,
golden-eye, fieldfare, and redpoll. We also saw a couple
of young ravens. We shot a ringed-plover, a Temminck's
stint, and a pair of yellow-headed wagtails. We were
now leaving the more hilly country and the forests of
pine, and were entering a waste of willows. Far as the
eye could reach, on all sides of us, stretched this never-
ending, almost impenetrable willow-swamp, with winding
kurias and lakes. The only break in the monotony was
here and there a straggling bit of pasture-land, on which
stood a house or two, where a cow fed and the peasants
fished, and where, in the autumn, they would make hay.
Terns, gulls, and oyster-catchers were now not unfre-
quently seen, in addition to the almost numberless ducks
that were breeding everywhere. On the shores would
occasionally appear a Terek sandpiper, a Temminck's
stint, or a dotterel. In the thickets the bluethroat was
giving way to the sedge-warbler, but the willow-wren
remained the commonest bird. The notes of the redpoll,
the brambling, and the redwing still sounded. The

126 OUR VOYAGE TO THE DELTA

fieldfare and the reed-bunting, as well as the yellow-
headed, yellow, and white wagtails were still often to be
met with, the little bunting being especially plentiful.
That day I took my first nest of the Terek sandpiper. I
was walking in a wood of tall willows, when the bird rose
at my feet and silently fluttered away. There were four
eggs laid in a slight hollow, lined with broad grass. We also
found the nest of an oyster-catcher, containing four eggs.
We were now a little to the north of the Arctic Circle,
and at three in the morning moored our boat on the
shores of an island among whose willows grew an
occasional birch or alder. I spent five hours upon it.
Sedge-warblers were singing lustily, and sometimes so
melodiously that we almost took them to be bluethroats.
Soon, however, my attention was arrested by a song
with which I was not familiar. It came from a bird
singing high in the air, like a lark. I spent an hour
watching it. Once it remained up in the sky nearly
half an hour. The first part of the song was like the
trill of a Temminck's stint, or like the concluding notes
of the wood-warbler's song. This was succeeded by a
low guttural warble, resembling that which the blue-
throat sometimes makes. The bird sang while hovering ;
it afterwards alighted on a tree, and then descended to
the ground, still continuing to sing. I shot one, and my
companion an hour later shot another. Both birds
proved to be males, and quite distinct from any species
with which either of us was previously acquainted. The
long hind claw was like that of the meadow-pipit, and
the general character of the bird resembled a large and
brilliantly coloured tree-pipit. It was very aquatic in its
habits, frequenting the most marshy ground amongst the
willows.

On our return home five skins of this bird were

"ANTHUS GUSTAVI" 127

submitted to our friend Mr. Dresser, who pronounced it
to be a new species, and described and figured it in a
work which he was then pubHshing on the birds of
Europe, In honour of my having been the first to
discover it he named it after me, Anthus seebolnni,* but,
alas for the vanity of human wishes, I afterwards
discovered that the bird was not new, but had been
described some years before from examples obtained
on the coast of China, I had subsequently the pleasure
of working out its geographical distribution, as the reader
who cares to peruse the accompanying footnote may
learn. The honour of havino- added a new bird to the
European lists still remains to us, and is one of the
discoveries made upon our journey on which we pride
ourselves.

In the evening we reached Viski, a small town with a
church built upon a flat piece of pasture-land. It was
the first villaofe containino^ more than half a dozen houses

&

* The Siberian pipit {Anlhus gustavi, Swinhoe) was perhaps the most interesting
discovery which we made during our journey. It was first described by Swinhoe
in 1863, from specimens obtained at Amoy, in South China, on migration. It is
seldom that the history of an obscure bird is so suddenly and completely worked
out as has been the case with this species. In 1869, G. R. Gray, of the British
Museum, redescribed the species as Anthus batch ianensis, from skins collected by
Wallace on the island of Batjan in the Moluccas. In 1871 Swinhoe announced
the identity of Gray's birds with the species with which he had previously described
from South China. Three years later he identified the species in North China
on migration, and also obtained a skin from Lake Baikal. The year after our visit
to the Petchora, Drs. Finsch and Brehm found it in the valley of the Ob, a little
to the north of the Arctic Circle, and I afterwards found skins in the British
Museum from Borneo and Negros in the Philippine Archipelago, and also obtained
information that it had been procured in winter at Manila and in Celebes. In
1877 I found it breeding in considerable numbers in the valley of the Yenesei
in latitude 70^°, and on my journey home I identified skins in the Museum
at St. Petersburg, collected by Baron Maydell in Tschuski Land, north of
Kamtschatka, and on Bering Island to the east of the peninsula, collected by
Wossnessensky. We may therefore conclude that the Siberian pipit breeds on
the tundras beyond the limit of forest growth, from the valley of the Petchora
eastwards to Bering's Strait, that it passes through South-Eastern Siberia and
East China on migration, and winters in the islands of the Malay Archipelago.

128 OUR voyagp: to the delta

and the first church that we had seen since leaving Ust-
Zylma. It is reputed to be the residence of several rich
peasants, one of whom is the owner of 10,000 reindeer
valued at a sovereign each. Without exception it is the
dirtiest place I have ever been in. The peasants keep
cows, but as they have no arable ground the manure is
valueless and is thrown outside the house to be trodden
under foot. There was an excellent shop in the place,
where we laid in a store of tobacco, white flour, etc. In
the village we saw a sand-martin and a magpie, but no
sparrows.

On leaving Viski we entered upon the true delta, a
labyrinth of water and islands, one almost as dead a flat
as the other. The islands — which but a little while ago
had lain three or four feet deep under the overflow of the
great river — were almost all alike. They were monotonous
willow-swamps, with here and there narrow strips of sandy
land appearing, thickly covered with grass and sparingly
sprinkled with willows and alders. Everywhere were
the winding kurias and chains of lakelets. On the dry
places ducks of various sorts were breeding. We identi-
fied a shoveller, and there were wigeons, scoters, and
teal. On one island we found two pintails' nests with
eggs, and I shot our first tufted duck, a species which we
found very rare in the Petchora. As soon as I fired there
rose between me and it a flock of red-necked phalaropes,
which alighted between me and the floating body. I
shot five : they were the first we had yet secured, but
later in the day we brought down four more. My com-
panion meanwhile was exploring another island, where he
fell in with a flock of ruffs at their " lecking " place. He
shot two. Geese were becoming more and more plen-
tiful ; in one instance we marked aflock of fifty at least.
Swans often passed us by twos and threes. The sand-

BIRDS IN THE DELTA 129

pipers, the Terek, and Temmlnck's stints were as common
as ever. We watched one of the latter to its nest, shot it,
and secured the four eggs. Early next morning I brought
down a skylark, the second only that we had seen. I
also shot a blue-throat, a species which by this time had
grown very rare. The commonest warbler, abounding
in some places, was the sedge-warbler, next to it was the
willow-warbler. Now and then also we heard the red-
wing, and generally where we stopped there would greet
us the song of the new pipit pouring down from the sky.
The bird would remain up in the air for a long time, then
fly down and alight in the middle of a dense willow
swamp, rendering it impossible for us to secure another
specimen. A red-throated pipit that my companion shot
out of a tree furnished us with the best possible evidence
that this species is much more arboreal in its habits than
the meadow-pipit. The yellow-headed wagtail had now
become quite a common bird, but occasionally we still
saw the white wagtail. At one island we shot a pair of
small spotted woodpeckers, which must have found the
alder and willow-trunks very small for their nests. I
found also two fieldfares' nests, one with four, the other
with six eggs. Late in the evening we came upon a
large flock of great snipe, and in the course of half an hour
we had shot ten. They were flying about in companies
of about six, continually alighting on the ground, where
the sound of their feeding was often heard. One or two
common snipe were also hovering overhead and frequently
drumming. On one island we saw signs that the breaking
up of the Petchora did not take place so silently in the
delta as it had done at Ust-Zylma. On the flat shore we
discovered a small rang-e of miniature mountains some
eighteen to twenty feet high. We took them at first
from a distance to be low sandhills, but on nearer

I

130 OUR VOYAGE TO THE DELTA

approach found them to be a pile of dirty blocks of
ice.

We arrived at Pustozersk at midnight on June i8,
and spent the night shooting. The country was a sort
of rolling prairie, rising here and there into dry moorland,
on which grew birches, junipers, and a few pines. The
lower land remained a willow-swamp. Among the sand-
hills we found a couple of terns' nests and one of the
Terek sandpiper. Plenty of Temminck's stints were
about, but we failed to find any nests. We shot a couple
of sand-martins preparing to build. In a walk that I
took on the dry moorland I stalked a couple of willow-
grouse sitting upon a birch-tree, very conspicuous objects
for a mile around. I also rose a shore-lark from its nest,
in which I found four young birds, and secured a golden
plover, one of whose axillary feathers was blotched with
brown. In this part of the moor the yellow-headed
wagtails abounded. Down in the marshy ground I shot
a ruff, and saw several others, besides a number of red-
necked phalaropes ; but of all the birds the most interest-
ing were the pipits. Our new pipit was here by no means
uncommon ; two or three would sometimes be singing
together. We secured two more specimens, one of
which must have been trilling its roundelay up in the air
for nearly an hour before we were able to shoot it. These
pipits poured their song indifferently from the sky, or
perching on a bough, or down upon the ground. The
red-throated pipit we also found settling freely in trees.
In the swampy ground we saw many sedge- warblers,
fieldfares, and redwings, and one or two blue-throats.
The next night we again spent shooting in a willow-
covered island just opposite Kuya. We had grown very
weary of these islands, and somewhat disappointed in the
result of our ornithological experience of the delta. We

BIRDS ON THE ISLAxNDS 131

had indeed secured some interesting species of birds, but
each island had proved almost a repetition of the others
— the same landscape, the same conditions, the same
bird-life. We were nearinof Alexievka, however, and on
the eastern side of the river we could almost distinguish
the low outline of the skirts of the great Zemelskaya
Tundra, stretching away, we knew, on the east to the
Ural Mountains, on the north-east to the gates of the
Kara Sea ; and the tundra was the unexplored land, the
land of promise.

On this island we took the nest, containing seven
eggs, of a pintail, shooting the bird as she was flying off.
We found also those of the red-necked phalarope, the
great snipe, and the reed-bunting. Our most exciting
nest-discovery was that of a swan. It was a large nest,
made of coarse grass lined with a little down and a few
feathers, and containing three eggs. It was placed upon
a bank between two marshes, half-concealed by willow-
scrub. The most interesting birds we shot were a black
scoter, a herring-gull, and a long-tailed duck, the first
we had yet seen on our travels. Its cry was not unlike
the word " colguief." Of all species of ducks it is the
tamest and yet one of the most difficult to shoot, for it is
an expert at diving, and eludes the sportsman's aim by
its rapid and repeated plunges under the surface of the
water.

Just before reaching Alexievka we anchored for an
hour at another island, about which seven swans were
sailing. The graceful birds, however, did not give us
the chance of a shot. Upon this island we had an
excellent view of our first great black-backed gulls, and
also of Buffon's skua. The former were sitting amidst
several Siberian herring-gulls, but their superior size
allowed us to identify them at a glance. The Arctic tern

132

OUR VOYAGE TO THE DELTA

was breeding on this island, while ruffs, phalaropes, and
Temminck's stint abounded upon it. Cn one part,
covered with dwarf willows, interspersed with taller trees,
I heard to my astonishment the warble of the Siberian
chiffchaff, two specimens of which I secured. The red-
throated pipits were there perching, as usual, in the
boughs, and I noticed also one or two of our new pipits
and a number of reed-buntings.

This bird-haunted island was our last stoppage before
reaching Alexievka. We arrived at our destination on
the evening of the 19th of June, after ten days voyage
down the great river and through the intricacies of the
monotonous delta.

PLOUGHING AT UST-ZYLMA

ALEXIEVKA FROM THE TUNDRA

CHAPTER XV.

ALEXIEVKA.

Alexievka — The Timber Rafts — The Island — Nests and Eggs — Buffon's
Skua — SaiUng for the Tundra — Description of the Tundra — Its Vegeta-
tion— Nests of Lapland Bunting and Red-throated Pipit — First Sight of
the Grey Plover — Its Nest — Omelette of Grey Plover's Eggs — Birds seen
on the Tundra — Eggs collected during the Day — Nest of Anthus gustavi.

Alexievka is the shipping-port of the Petchora Timber-
trading Company. It is a group of houses built upon
an island in the delta of the great river, where the ships
are laden with larch for Cronstadt. The larch is felled
in the forests 500 or 600 miles up the river, and
roughly squared into logs varying from two to three
feet in diameter. It is floated down in enormous rafts,
the losfs beincr bound toQether with willows and hazel-
boughs. These rafts are manned by a large crew, some
of whom help to steer it down the current with oars and

134 ALEXIEVKA

poles, while others are hired for the season to assist in
loading the ships at Alexievka. Many of the men bring
their wives with them to cook for the party ; sleeping
huts are erected on the raft, and it becomes to all intents
and purposes a little floating village, which is frequently
three months in making the voyage down the river.
Marriages have been known to take place on these rafts.
Occasionally a funeral has to be performed, and sometimes
all hands are engaged in helping to keep the raft under the
lee of an island or a promontory to avoid the danger of
having it broken up by the violence of the waves. With
the greatest care in the world this will sometimes happen.
The Russian has a good deal of the fatal facility to blunder
which characterises the Englishman, and shiploads of
stranded logs of larch are strewn on the islands of the
delta and on the shores of the lag^oon of this orreat river.
When we landed on the island of Alexievka it was
a rapidly drying-up willow-swamp of perhaps half a
dozen square miles, some six feet above the level of the
Petchora, which swept past it with a rapid current. In
some places the willow-swamp was impenetrable, in
others bare grassy oases varied the flat landscape, and
there were one or two largish lakes on the island. During
the floods which accompanied the break-up of the ice,
the whole of the island was under water, and men were
busily clearing away the mud which had deposited itself
on the floors of the houses. An extensive series of
wooden fortifications protected the various buildings from
being carried away by the ice. For four months of the
year the village was a busy scene, full of life and activity,
but for the remaining eight months a solitary man and a
dog kept watch over the property of the Company, and
even they had to desert their charge and escape to the
shore during the breaking-up of the ice.

AT ALEXIEVKA 135-,

Three rooms were generously placed at our disposal,
and we proceeded to make ourselves as comfortable as
the circumstances would permit. Our first care was to
buy a brace of willow-grouse and a bean-goose for the
pot ; our next to purchase eggs of the yellow-headed
wagtail, bean-goose, willow-grouse, and long-tailed duck.
A nest of the white wagtail which we found contained
remarkably brown eggs ; it was made chiefly of roots and
a little stalky grass, and was lined with reindeer hair.
The next day peasants brought us two nests of the
yellow-headed wagtail, which were also composed of fine
roots and dry leafy grass, the inside lined with reindeer
hair ; one had, besides, two small feathers and a piece of
duck-down.

The mosquitoes, which of late had tried us severely,
were now giving us a respite, driven back by the cold
north wind and occasional snowstorms. All day I kept
indoors, going out but for half an hour, when I bagged a
Siberian chiffchaff and a red-throated pipit perched in a
tree. The nests came in plentifully. The first day of our
stay there were brought to us those of the blue-throat,
the redpoll, the reed-bunting, the willow-warbler, two of
the bean-goose, with the goose snared upon it, and one
of the pintail duck. With these were brought two
wigeon's eggs. The weather continued very cold ; the
Petchora looked sullen and tempestuous under the dark
sky and bleak w ind. The next clay we again kept indoors,
profiting by our enforced captivity in having a general
overhauling of our skins. We found the Siberian chiff-
chaff the commonest warbler amongst the willows of
Alexievka. Its note is a " ching-chevy " repeated three
or four times in rapid succession with the accent laid on
the " ching," and the warble generally, but not always,
ending with a final " ching." Probably owing to the

136 ALEXIEVKA

coldness of the weather we did not then hear it in full
song, as we did at Ust-Zylma and Habariki. We found
Buffon's skuas numerous in Alexievka ; they were usually
in flocks of five or six. There seemed to be only one
common sparrow in the place, and this I shot.

The 22nd of June was inscribed in our journal as a
red-letter day. We were dead tired when we turned
into our hammocks at half-past ten the night before, and
slept the clock round and an hour over, rising at half-
past eleven. When we woke we found it was a bright
warm day, the wind had dropped, and the great river
looked no longer like an angry sea. We decided to
cross it, ordered our men to get the boat ready, made a
hasty breakfast, and set sail at last for the land of promise,
the mysterious tundra. We pictured this great land to
ourselves as a sort of ornithological Cathay, where all
sorts of rare and possibly unknown birds might be found.
So far we had been just a little disappointed with the
results of our trip. July would soon be upon us, and we
had not yet solved one of the six problems that we had
proposed to ourselves as the main objects of our journey.
We had not seen the least trace of the knot, the curlew
sandpiper, the sanderling, or the grey plover. Some
birds that we had at first fancied might be Little stints in
full breeding plumage, we were now thoroughly con-
vinced were nothino- but Temminck's stints, and as we
had hitherto met with but one species of swan, we had
reluctantly come to the conclusion that we had not yet
seen Bewick's swan. We congratulated ourselves that
our observations on the arrival of migratory birds at
Ust-Zylma were not without interest. We were much
pleased that we had shot one specimen of the Arctic
willow-warbler. The abundance of yellow-headed wag-
tails, and the prospect of bringing home many of the

ON THE TUNDRA 137

eggs of this rare bird, was a source of considerable
satisfaction to us. Our two best things were undoubtedly
the new pipit and the Siberian chiffchaff. We hoped
that both these birds might be new, but our acquaintance
with the various Indian species that might possibly migrate
into this resfion was not sufficient to warrant us in enter-
taining more than a hope. We therefore looked forward
to our first day on the tundra with more than usual anxiety
and interest.

The tundra forms the east bank of the Petchora, and
we anchored our boat under a steep cliff, perhaps sixty
feet high, a crumbling slope of clay, earth, sand, gravel,
turf, but no rock. We looked over a gently rolling
prairie country, stretching away to a flat plain, beyond
which was a range of low rounded hills, some eight or
ten miles off. It was in fact a moor, with here and there
a large flat bog, and everywhere abundance of lakes.
For seven or eight months in the year it is covered with
from two to three feet of snow. Snow was still lying in
large patches in the more sheltered recesses of the steep
river-banks, and on one of the lakes a large floe of ice,
six inches thick, was still unmelted. The vegetation on
the dry parts of the tundra was chiefly sedges, moss, and
lichen, of which the familiar reindeer-moss was especially
abundant. In some places there was an abundance of
cranberries, with last year's fruit still eatable, preserved
by the frost and snow of winter. Here and there we met
with a dwarf shrub, not unlike a rhododendron, with a
white flower and aromatic-scented \^2M^^{Led2U}i palustre),
a heath-like plant with a pale red flower {^Andromeda
polifolid), and dwarf birch [Bettila nana) running on the
ground almost like ivy. The flat boggy places had evi-
dently been shallow lakes a few weeks ago after the
sudden thaw, and were now black swamps ; water in the

138 ALEXIEVKA

middle, grown over with yellow-green moss, and sedges
towards the edge. They were separated from each other
by tussocky ridges of moor, which intersected the plain
like the veins on the rind of a melon. We found no
difficulty in going where we liked ; our indiarubber
waterproofs were all-sufficient. We crossed the wettest
bogs with impunity, seldom sinking more than a foot
before reaching a good foundation, a solid pavement of
ice. Birds were but thinly scattered over the ground,
but there were sufficient to keep our curiosity on the qiii
vive. The commonest bird was the Lapland bunting,
and we took two of their nests in the tussocky ridges
between the little bogs. The next commonest bird was
the red-throated pipit, and we found two of their nests in
similar positions. As we marched across the tundra we
fell in with some dunlins, and took a couple of their nests.
This was encouraging. The dunlin was a bird we had
not seen at Ust-Zylma, and one possibly that migrated
direct across country to Ust-Ussa. We had not walked
more than a couple of miles inland before we came upon
a small party of plovers. They were very wild, and we
found it impossible to get within shot of them ; but a
distant view through our binocular almost convinced us
that we had met with the grey plover at last. On going
a little farther other plovers rose, and we determined to
commence a diligent search for the nest, and offered half
a rouble to any of our men who should find one. Our
interpreter laughed at us, and marched away into the
tundra with a " C'est impossible, monsieur." We appealed
to our Samoyede, who stroked his beardless chin and
cautiously replied, " Mozhna." The other men wandered
aimlessly up and down, but the Samoyede tramped the
ground systematically, and after more than an hour's
search found a nest on one of the dry tussocky ridges

NESTS OF THE GREY PLOVER 139.

intersecting the bog, containing four eggs about the size
and shape of those of the golden plover, but more like
those of the lapwing in colour. The nest was a hollow,
evidently scratched, perfectly round, somewhat deep, and
containingr a handful of broken slender twios and reindeer-
moss. Harvie-Brown concealed himself as well as he
could behind a ridge, to lie in wait for the bird returning
to the nest, and after half an hour's watching shot a
veritable grey plover. Soon afterwards another of our
men found a second nest, also containing four eggs, in
an exactly similar situation. Harvie-Brown took this nest
also in hand, and in about an hour succeeded in shooting
the female. The third nest was found by the Samoyede.
This time I lay down behind a ridge some thirty yards
from the nest, and after waiting a quarter of an hour
caught sight of the bird on the top of a distant tussock.
Presently she ran nearer to another ridge, looked round,
and then ran on to the next, until she finally came within
fifty yards of where I was lying. I had just made up my
mind to risk a shot when she must have caught sight of
me, and flew right away. In a quarter of an hour I
caught sight of her again, approaching by short stages as
before, but from an opposite direction. I must have been
in full sight of her. When she had approached within
fifty yards of me, as near as I could guess, I fired at her
with No. 4 shot and missed. I remained reclining where
I was, with little hope that she would try a third time to
approach the nest, and whiled away the time with watch-
ing a Buffon's skua through my glass as it cautiously
approached in my direction. Turning my head round
suddenly I caught sight of the grey plover running
towards the nest within fifty yards of me. I lifted my
(jun and fired aoain but was so nervous that I missed
her a second time. I was so vexed that I got up and

140 ALEXIEVKA

walked towards the skua, which still remained in statu quo.
I missed a shot at it too, spent some time in a vain search
for its nest, and returned to my old quarters. In ten
minutes I saw the grey plover flying up. It took a wheel
in my direction, coming almost within shot, and evidently
took stock of me, and satisfied itself that I was a harm-
less animal practising with blank cartridge, and having no
evil design upon its eggs. It alighted about fifty yards
beyond the nest, and approached less timidly than before.
When it came within fifty yards of me I fired, this time
with No. 6 shot, and laid the poor bird upon its back.
As we returned to our boat Harvie-Brown found a fourth
nest, and, after watching as before, secured the bird. We
accidentallv broke two of the eeafs belonging; to the third
nest, but reached Alexievka at midnig-ht with fourteen
identified grey plover's eggs. Two sittings were quite
fresh, and made us an excellent omelette for breakfast
the next morning. The other two were very slightly
incubated.

On the tundra we saw several Buffon's skuas, and
shot two. I also shot a willow-grouse on a piece of
swampy ground near a lake, where a few dwarf willows
were growing. On the lakes we saw many pairs of long-
tailed ducks. A few pairs of yellow-headed wagtails,
which evidently had nests, a redwing, a Temminck's
stint, a few pairs of bean-geese, a redpoll, and a hawk,
which, as far as I could make out with my glass, was a
male peregrine — this completed the list of birds we saw
on the tundra.

On our return to headquarters we found that the price
we had paid for the eggs to the workmen had induced
many of them to go out bird-nesting, and at night our
bag for the day stood as under, as far as eggs were con-
cerned : —

OUR EGG LIST 141

Grey plover ......... 14

Dunlin .......... 7

Great snipe ......... 4

Lapland bunting ........ 25

' Red-throated pipit 39

Yellow-headed wagtail ....... 10

Mealy redpoll 16

Reed-bunting ......... 12

Redwing .......... 3

Bean-goose . . . . . . . . . . ir

Wigeon (with down) . . . . . . . .17

Temminck's stint ........ 4

162

This was a grand haul. Any little lingering feeling of
disappointment which we had experienced was now com-
pletely gone. The grey plover eggs alone would have
made our trip a success. They were unquestionably the
first that had ever been taken in Europe. We spent the
next two days in blowing our eggs and writing up our
journals, occasionally strolling out among the willows
on the island to bag a few yellow-headed wagtails and
other birds to keep Piottuch employed. We found that
the swans' eggs that we had brought from Kuya were
perfectly fresh. The eggs of the bean-goose, on the
contrary, some of them more than a week old, were
mostly considerably incubated. The ducks' eggs were
all fresh, or nearly so. Most of these were wigeon's,
pale cream-coloured eggs ; the down large, dark brown,
very distinctly tipped with white and with pale whitish
centres. The red-throated pipits and Lapland buntings'
eggs were, many of them, too much sat upon to be easily
blown, as were also the dunlins' eggs. The eggs of
Temminck's stint, red-necked phalarope, yellow-headed
wagtail, and most of the redpolls were all fresh or very
slightly sat upon. The eggs of the gulls, both those of
the common species and of the Arctic herring-gull, were
quite fresh, whilst some of those of the Arctic tern were

142

ALEXIEVKA

fresh, and some considerably incubated. During these
two days we found several nests of the fieldfare on the
island, a nest of the willow- warbler, and one of the yellow-
headed wagtail. The latter was on the ground, concealed
amonest the old tano-led ofrass which the floods had
twisted round a stake. It was principally composed of
dry herbage, with one or two feathers in the lining. Our
two rarce aves, which we christened the Petchora pipit,
and the Siberian chiffchaff, were by no means uncommon,
but we failed to find either of their nests. Amongst the
nests, however, which our excellent coadjutors the Zyriani
brought us was one which we at once concluded could
belong only to the Petchora pipit {Anthus gustavi). It
contained five perfectly fresh eggs, larger than those of
the red-throated pipit, and similar in colour to those of
the meadow-pipit. The nest was somewhat larger than
that of the red-throated pipit, composed of more aquatic-
looking flat-leaved grass, and containing fragments of
Eqtiisetum in the lining. Our collection of eggs increased
rapidly. We had now 145 sittings, numbering 681

OLD RUSSIAN SILVER CROSS

STANAVIALACHTA

CHAPTER XVI.

STANAVIALACHTA.

The Tundra near the Yushina River — Golden Plover's Eggs — Abundance
of Nests — Lapland Bunting — Richardson's Skua — Means of Propelling
our Boat — The Tundra near Stanavialachta — Eyrie of a Peregrine Falcon
— More Nests— Abundance of Willow-grouse — Nest of the Willow-grouse
—Visit to two Islands in the Delta.

The next day we left Alexievka in the morning to spend
a few days exploring the tundra in the neighbourhood of
Stanavialachta, the old loading-place of the Petchora
Timber-trading Company, about forty versts down the
river, where we learnt there were several wooden houses
that we could occupy. We sailed about twenty versts
down to the mouth of a small tributary called the
Yushina. The tundra here was less marshy, the ground
more hilly, and upon it were more willows. The
country looked so inviting that we cast anchor and went

144 STANAVIALACHTA

on shore for a stroll. We soon saw some plovers, and
were in hopes of a second haul of grey plovers' eggs.
After a time our Samoyede discovered a nest, but the
eof2fs in it were of a much liofhter orround colour than
those we had found before. We waited and shot the
bird, but to our disappointment it turned out to be a
golden plover. We afterwards saw several more. We
could not detect any difference in the habits of the two
species at the nest. We secured a bean-goose off its
nest with seven eggs, and were very successful in finding-
nests of small birds. We took eg"o"s of reeve, rinoed-
plover, willow-warbler, Lapland bunting, red-throated
pipit, blue-throated warbler, redwing, Temminck's stint,
and willow-grouse. The redwing's nest contained six
eofos. It was in a willow about four feet from the oround.
Redpolls were common, and oftener to be met with on
the oTound than in the willow and birch-bushes. The
Lapland bunting we constantly saw both running and
hopping on the ground. These charming birds were very
tame and very numerous. They perched freely in the
bushes. They were busily employed in the duties of
incubation, and we rarely, if ever, heard them sing. In
Finmark I used to hear their song constantly ; but then
they were only just beginning to breed. We saw many
red-throated pipits, carrying flies in their mouths, evi-
dently destined to feed their young, and if we came
inconveniently near their nests they would fly uneasily
from bush to bush. Near a couple of deserted turf huts
we noticed the white wagtail and the wheatear. The
yellow-headed wagtail was also frequently met with on
the tundra, but not in anything like the numbers in which
we found it on the islands of the delta. On the banks
of the orreat river numerous Siberian herrino-o-ulls were
slowly sailing past, and we shot four. I shot a Richard-

AT STANAVIALACHTA 145

son's skua, which heedlessly flew within range of my
gun. This was the first example of this species which
we had yet seen. It was as white underneath as the
Buffon's skuas, but the centre tail-feathers were much
shorter. Curiously enough we never met with the dark-
bellied variety of Richardson's skua in the Petchora. It
must be the western form. I found it by far the
commonest variety in Finmark. We saw a few Arctic
terns, and got one egg. On the lakes the long-tailed
duck was common, and I shot two males. These birds
are very quarrelsome, and by no means so shy as the
other ducks. My companion identified a red-breasted
merganser, but did not succeed in shooting it. I saw a
great snipe, a large flock of red-necked phalaropes, a few
pairs of fieldfares, and several black-throated divers.
Every day the tundra became gayer with flowers, and we
continually regretted that we were not botanists. I
noticed Equisehmi variegatimi for the first time. The
evening^ or what oug-ht to have been the evening-, turned
out so cold, with a strong contrary wind, against which
our stupid keelless boat could make little headway, that
finding the tide was also against us, we cast anchor in a
creek for a night's rest. In the morning, by dint of hard
rowing for some time, then of thrusting with a pole, as is
done in the flat-bottomed boats on the Grecian lapfoons,
then turning out two of our men, and making them drag
us alonof, canal-boat fashion, we at lensfth arrived at
Stanavialachta. We spent the day in making the
Company's deserted houses sufficiently waterproof to
afford us good shelter for a few days. In the evening we
turned out for a stroll ; the tundra in this locality was
much more hilly, and was diversified with more lakes
than in the neig^hhourhood of Alexievka. The hig-h
ground was very dry, and we seldom came upon any

K

146 STANAVIALACHTA

impassable bog. The vegetation also was more abundant,
the flowers more varied, and the willows and dwarf birch-
trees more numerous. The weather was very unfavour-
able ; a stronor orale was blowino- from the west, and it
was very cold, with occasional attempts at rain, yet we
saw many birds. The red-throated pipit was by far the
commonest. My companion shot a meadow-pipit from a
tree, and caught another sitting on its nest. We saw
several golden plover, a flock of seven or eight Buffon's
skuas, a pair of dotterel, and one or two shore-larks,
besides securing the nest of a bean-goose containing two
eggs. On the grassy top of a mound, half-way down the
mud cliffs overlookinor the gfreat river, and within sio^ht
of the Arctic Ocean, I came upon the eyrie of a peregrine
falcon. It contained four egfors, one of which was much
liofhter in colour than the others. This mound had
probably been used for some years as a nesting-place by
the falcons, since the grass was much greener upon it
than upon the surrounding places. A little way off there
rose another mound, just similar to it, and this was
apparently the falcons' dining-table, for scattered all
about it were feathers of grouse, long-tailed duck, and
divers small birds.

While I remained near the nest, the two falcons
hovered around, uttering sharp cries ; when I approached
nearer still, they redoubled their screams, hovered over
me, closed their wings, and descended perpendicularly
till within a few yards of my head. Their movements
were so rapid that I wasted half a dozen cartridges in
trying to secure them, and had at last to leave them,
baffled in the attempt. My companion and I returned
to the charge on the following day ; but again we were
defeated. A mile up the river, however, we found a
second eyrie upon an exactly similar green-topped

THE WILLOW-GROUSE 147

mound. The nest contained three egrors, and the behaviour
of the birds as we neared it was the same as had been
that of the falcons of the day before. My companion
succeeded in shooting the male. We found many nests
of other birds. Our Samoyede in the morning brought
us one of the black-throated diver, containing two eggs,
and in the course of the day we found a second. We
also secured nests of the golden plover, long-tailed duck,
wheatear, Temminck's stint, blue-throat, and Lapland
bunting ; in the latter were young birds. Our most
interesting find, however, was the nest with two eggs of
Richardson's skua, placed on a tussock of mossy ground.
It was lined with some reindeer moss and leaves of the
surrounding plants. The devices of the birds to deceive
us, as we came near it, attracted our attention and revealed
its vicinity. They often alighted within fifteen yards of
us, shammed lameness and sickness, reeled from side to
side as if mortally wounded, then when we persisted in
our onward course they flew boldly at us and stopped
repeatedly.

We again saw the dotterels, but apparently not yet
nesting. Willow-grouse were as plentiful on this part of
the tundra as red erouse on the Bradfield moors on
the 1 2th. Their white wings and their almost entirely
white bodies made them very conspicuous objects. They
usually rose within shot from a patch of willow cover.
Sometimes we saw a pair knocking about the tundra like
two big white butterflies, with a peculiar up-and-down
flight, then they tumbled into a willow-grown knoll
on the hillside. It might be owing to their extreme
conspicuousness that their flight always seemed so much
more clumsy than that of the red grouse. One of their
nests, which we found on the ground, contained a baker's
dozen of eggs. It was a mere hollow scraped in the turf.

148 STANAVIALACHTA

lined with a leaf or two, a little dry grass, and a few
feathers. The next day we succeeded in shooting the
female peregrine on the first eyrie we had discovered,
then, after taking a sketch of the place, we set out for
Alexievka, visiting on our way a couple of islands on the
delta. The first on which we disembarked was very
marshy, and covered with small willows. On this island
the willow-warblers were rare, but we occasionally heard
the Siberian chiffchaff, and we noticed one almost inces-
santly repeating " chi-vit' -che-vet' .'' The yellow-headed
wagtail was common, the shore-lark had disappeared
altogether, the Lapland bunting was represented by a
solitary bird. Red-throated pipits were still numerous ;
but we did not see the meadow-pipit. The sedge-warbler
abounded. We also saw several Temminck's stints,
phalaropes, a flock of eight Buffon's skuas, and ducks
of various sorts. The other island was almost entirely
a grassy marsh, interspersed with spaces of open water.
A flock of Siberian herring-gulls hovered about a party
of fishermen, who were catching with a seine net a small
fish exactly resembling the herring. Temminck's stints
congregated in great numbers on the dry or drying mud,
but we could find no trace of their nests. Phalaropes
single and in flocks were common ; we took three of their
nests, also one of a tern. Ducks as usual abounded ; we
noticed among them a pair of shovellers, and carried off
a nest, containing three eggs and a little down, which
belonged to this bird. On the river we continually passed
flocks of scaup and black scoter.

The sketch of Stanavialachta at the head of this
chapter was taken from one of the peregrines' eyries ; the
second eyrie was half-way down the point to the extreme
left. To the right in the distance is the eastern boundary of
Bolvanskaya Bay ; to the left, the outer islands of the delta.

GREY PLOVER S NEST AND YOUNG

CHAPTER XVII.

AFTER GREY PLOVERS AT WASILKOVA.

Examination of our Nests — Excursion to Wasilkova — Search for Breeding
Haunts of Bewick's Swan — News from England — Grey Plover's Eggs —
Flock of Buffon's Skuas — Black Scoter's Nest— Watching for Skuas' Nests
— Another Nest of Grey Plover — Scaup's Eggs — The Zyriani.

On the 29th of June the weather was very wet. We
spent the clay in blowing- eggs and examining our nests.
We had now five nests which we were pretty sure were

I50 AFTER GREY PLOVERS AT WASILKOVA

those of our new pipit ; they were entirely distinct from
that of the red-throated pipit. Instead of being composed
of fine round grasses they were made of flat-leaved grass,
knotted water-plants and small leaves, and in two of them
were Equiseta. The eggs in them were larger, more lark-
like, a dark ring circled the larger end, and they were all
more or less mottled, especially those of the lighter variety.

Buffon's skua, we found, had been feeding upon
beetles and cranberries. Another fact worth noticing was
that the ten great snipes which we shot near Pustozersk
were all males.

The following morning proving fine we set ofi^ on an
excursion to Lake Wasilkova, which at high flood was
but a bay of the Petchora. The tundra inland was the
usual stretch of rolling moorland, swamp, and bog,
interspersed with lakes and ranges of low sandy hills.
On the swamps we found dunlins, on the moors golden
plover, and once we saw a grey plover. In both localities
we met the Lapland bunting and the red-throated pipit,
and the dry grassy hills were haunted by shore-larks.
On one of the lakes and along the coast we came upon
Siberian herring-gulls ; longtailed ducks abounded on the
stretches of open water, but we failed to find a nest. We
came to a spot on the shore where a pair of peregrines
had built their eyrie, but the peasants had taken the eggs
away for food. Under a low willow bush we shot a black
scoter as she sat on her nest. Once we saw a hen-
harrier beating up the hillsides, and caught sight of a
white -tailed eagle as it flew overhead. Among the
willows in the low swampy ground we shot a pair of
wood- sandpipers, and caught three of their young,
apparently a couple of days old. We also saw a
raven and many Buffon's skuas. During the day the
mosquitoes were very troublesome in the sheltered parts

SWANS' NESTS

i^i

of the tundra, but a cold north wind kept the hilltops
clear.

Hitherto, we had been unable to identify the swans
that during our voyage had flown overhead, or settled on
the ice in the river. We w^ere convinced that there were
two different sizes, but had been unable to establish the
fact. On an island near Kuya we had found one nest

»

V..-U

A SWAN S NEST

containino- four laro^e eo-as, but we had failed to secure
the bird. To determine the breeding haunts of Bewick's
swan was one of the principal objects of our journey, but
as yet the offer of five roubles reward for any swan's
eggs accompanied by the parent bird had resulted only
in two or three nests beino- brouoht to us without the
bird. Our Samoyede now brought us two swan's eggs
that he had found thrown out of a nest, and advised us
of a second nest containing four eggs. We despatched
him at once to the latter with a trap to try and catch the

152 AFTER GREY PLOVERS AT WASILKOVA

bird. That day we also bought two very small swan's
eggs, smaller than those of the ordinary wild swan, from
a fisherman. He told us that his mate had the skin of
the parent bird, which he had caught at the nest. The
fishing encampment from which he came was lower
down the river, on an island opposite the hamlet of
Stanavialachta. We could not think this was a made-up
story, for the man could not have heard of the reward
we had offered for eggs accompanied with the captured
parent bird, as we were the first to speak to him on his
arrival. We therefore at once determined that if we did
not discover Bewick's swan in the neighbourhood of
Alexievka, we would make an excursion to Stanavialachta
for the express purpose of obtaining the head and skin of
the bird whose eggs we had just bought.

The following day our Samoyede returned from his
excursion in quest of the swan. He had failed to secure
her. From the appearance of the trap it seemed as if the
swan had shuffled up to her nest on her belly, after the
manner of a diver, for the trap had gone off and only
secured a few breast- feathers. Simeon set off on a second
expedition. The first time the nest had been discovered
the eggs were exposed to view, this time they were care-
fully covered with down. Simeon now reset the trap,
this time laying it over the eggs, and carefully concealing
it with the down. His hope was that the bird would
remove the down with her beak and be snared by the
neck. On the morrow he came back to us, however,
with the four eggs and no swan ; she had never returned,
having apparently forsaken her nest, as we had feared
she would. Simeon brought with him four ducks' nests,
but the down was all mixed and the find was therefore
valueless. These are some of the disappointments
caused by the clumsy mismanagement of untrained men.

HOME MAILS AT LAST 153

A cold east wind that blew all day prevented us doing
much ; we went out for an hour only, and shot a few
yellow-headed wagtails and a phalarope. We had plenty
to interest us, however, in reading the letters and papers
that had reached us from England. The steamer had
arrived from Ust-Zylma the day before, bringing us
tidings of home from April 4th to May 13th, inclusive.
The post had reached Ust-Zylma on the 26th ; the last
letters had therefore been five weeks en rotUe, and so far
as we know they had not been delayed in Archangel.
From Ust-Zylma to Alexievka they would have taken
more than another week to travel had it not been for the
steamer. On the 13th of May the Consul at Archangel
wrote that the ice on the Dvina was expected to break up
in seven days. A letter dated the 26th described the
Dvina as quite free from ice for some days past, showing
that it and the Petchora broke up within a day or tw^o of
each other.

The cold north-east wind that continued blowing kept
us near home, but as it also kept the mosquitoes at bay
we did not complain very bitterly of it. In the face of
the cutting gale we crossed over to the tundra on the
following day, in search once more of the grey plovers.
On the way we visited an island and took a nest of the
ringed plover. Soon after landing at our destination we
heard the note of the birds we were in search of, and saw
two or three, but could not discover any signs of their
having a nest. After our previous experience we decided
to vary our tactics. Hitherto we had found the nests by
sheer perseverance in searching, and had afterwards
watched the female to the nest and shot her. We now
decided to watch the female on to the nest in the first
instance, and, having by this means found it, to secure
the female afterwards as a further and more complete

154 AFTER GREY PLOVERS AT WASILKOVA

identification of the eggs. It was also perfectly obvious
that the extreme care we had taken not to alarm the bird
was unnecessary. Our little manoeuvre of walking- away
from the nest in a body, leaving one behind lying flat on
the ground to watch, under the impression that the bird
could not count beyond three, and would think that we
had all gone, was clearly so much artifice wasted. The
birds were evidently determined to come back to their
nests in spite of our presence ; nor was there any cover
to hide us if the contrary had been the case. Our care
not to handle the eoxrs until we had secured the bird was
also of no use, as we often proved afterwards. On a
marshy piece of ground I shot a reeve ; and then we
struck across a very likely piece of land — little flat pieces
of bog with mossy ridges between. Presently Harvie-
Brown, who was in front, whistled, and as I was coming
up to him I saw a grey plover to my left. He called out
to me that he had put up a pair near where he was
standing. I soon caught sight of another bird on the
ground, lifting its wings as if to attract me from its nest.
It then quietly ran off, and I went to the spot, but finding
nothing lay clown to watch. Harvie- Brown did the same
about eighty yards off. It was not long before I caught
sight of both birds at some distance. One, which I at
once concluded must be the male, remained in one spot,
the other was running towards me, stopping on some
elevation every few yards to look round. By-and-by it
flew between Harvie- Brown and me, and alighted on the
other side of me. The other bird soon followed, and
remained as before, apparently watching the movements
of the restless bird, which I now felt sure must be the
female. To this latter bird I now confined my attention,
and kept it within the field of my telescope for more than
half an hour. It was never still for more than a minute

GREY PLOVERS' NESTS i55

together ; it kept running along the ground for a few
yards, ascending the ridges, looking round, and uttering
its somewhat melancholy cry. It crossed and recrossed
the same ridges over and over again, and finally dis-
appeared behind a knoll about forty yards ahead of me,
and was silent. I now adjusted my telescope on a tussock
to bear upon the place in case I lost its position, and was
just making up my mind to walk to the spot when I again
heard its cry, and saw it running as before. The male
was still stationary. The crossing and recrossing the
ridge upon which my telescope was pointed then continued
for another quarter of an hour, and at last the bird dis-
appeared behind the same ridge as before. I gave her a
quarter of an hour's grace, during which she was perfectly
silent, and then sat up to see if Harvie- Brown was satisfied
that she was on the nest. His point of sight was not so
favourable as mine ; and, thinking I had given up the
watch as hopeless, he fired off his gun as a last resource,
and came up to me. As soon as he fired both birds rose
almost exactly in front of the knoll upon which my
telescope pointed. Upon his arrival to learn what I had
made out, I told him the nest was forty or fifty yards in
front of my telescope. We fixed one of our guns pointing
in the same direction, so that we could easily see it. We
then skirted the intervening bog, got our exact bearings
from the gun, and commenced a search. In less than a
minute we found the nest with four eggs. As before, it
was in a depression on a ridge between two little lakes of
black bog. The eggs in this, our fifth nest, were con-
siderably incubated, which was probably the reason why
the birds showed more anxiety to lure us away.

On our way back towards the river we crossed a
marsh where we saw some dunlins, and secured one
young one in down. On the higher part of the tundra.

156 AFTER GREY PLOVERS AT WASILKOVA

nearer the water's edge, were several golden plovers : we
shot one, and noticed a pair of grey plovers amongst
them. The two species were quite easy to distinguish
even at some distance without the help of a glass. On a
piece of low tundra near the Petchora we came upon a
large flock of Buffon's skuas. My companion stopped to
watch the grey plovers, and I marched after the skuas.
We had usually seen these birds hawking like terns over
the tundra, in parties of seven or eight, and now and then
we had met a pair alone on the ground. They were
always wild and difficult to approach, and hitherto we
had succeeded in shooting a few only. As I neared the
spot where the large flock was assembled I watched them
aliehtincr on the banks near the oreat river. I walked
towards them, and soon caught sight of a score of herring-
gulls on the shore to the right. Before I had got within
a hundred yards of the latter they all rose and flew
towards me, the skuas also rose and followed them. I
let the gulls go by and aimed at the nearest skua as soon
as it came within range. Fortunately I brought it down,
for in a moment I was surrounded by about 100 or
I 50 skuas, flying about in all directions, generally about
ten of them within shot. They were very noisy, uttering
a cry like "hack, hack" as they darted towards me, or
screaming wildly as they flew about. This lasted about
twenty minutes, during which I finished what remaining
cartridges I had, some of which were dust. I missed
several birds, but left seven killed and wounded on the
field. My companion now joined me ; he brought down
four more and a Richardson's skua ; the birds then all
retired except one that kert flying from one to the other
of us, every now and then making a downward swoop,
like a tern, over our heads. We soon discovered the
cause of its anxiety ; a young skua in down, a day or two

CROSSING THE RIVER 157

old, lay on the ground at our feet. Our search for nest
or eggs was vain. As it was getting late, after shooting
a pair of dunlins on a space of marshy ground, and a
willow-grouse among some dwarf willows, we returned
to our boat, resolving^ 10 renew our search for eofSfs of
Buffon's skua and grey plover on the morrow. We
turned to look towards the place of our encounter with
the former : the whole flock had returned to it ; they
looked like great black terns on the wing as they hovered
over it with their peculiar kestrel- or tern-like flight. On
several occasions afterwards we observed that the skuas
have many habits in common with the terns.

The north-east wind continued to blow the next day,
but the sunshine was bright and warm. When evenino-
came and the sun got low down in the horizon — for of
course it never set — the wind increased and we felt it
very cold. We spent our morning blowing eggs. In the
afternoon we sent Cocksure on another expedition after a
swan, whose nest with four eggs had been found and
brought to us by one of our men. Towards four we
crossed the river to the tundra. Our crazy old flat-
bottomed boat could only sail with the wind dead on her
stern, so we had to row with the stream for about a mile
down the river, and then sail up again with the wind.
By the appearance of the surrounding landscape we
calculated that since we had last been on that part of the
Petchora, the water must have fallen four feet at least.
Some of the islands had doubled in size, and new sand-
banks lay bare. We landed near a deserted house called
Bugree, and soon afterwards shot a black scoter off her
nest. It contained six eggs and an abundance of down
and lay in a little hollow sloping towards the river,
entirely concealed amongst dwarf birch. The scoter
apparently does not breed on the islands, but prefers a

158 AFTER GREY PLOVERS AT WASILKOVA

drier situation on the tundra, upon some sloping bank
overlooking a river or a lake, and sheltered by dwarf
birch or willows.

We first paid a visit to the marshy ground and saw
many dunlins, Lapland buntings, and red-throated pipits ;
one of the latter was carrying in its bill a caterpillar at
least an inch long. Our next resort was to the sandy
banks, where we found a ring dotterel's nest. We then
visited the Buffon's skua ground. The large flock had
left, but about a dozen remained behind. We watched
them for an hour, and shot one. They were mostly
hawking up and down the moor, occasionally resting on
the ground. Suddenly, a skua uttered its alarm note ; it
sounded as if we had approached too near its nest. I
whistled for my companion to come, and we lay down,
about 1 20 yards apart, for an hour. The skua did not
run about on the ground, but kept uneasily flying from
one spot to the other, seldom remaining long in one
place. One spot, however, it visited four times, and
rested longer on it than on the others. The third time
it visited it I made up my mind the nest was there, and
carefully adjusted my gun on a hillock to cover the spot
in case I lost it. The fourth time the bird visited it,
Harvie- Brown and I got up together, each followed our
bearines, and in about a minute we crossed each other at
the nest, in which were two eggs. The bird was near at
hand, shamming lameness to attract our attention. My
companion walked up to it and shot — to our disappoint-
ment and disgust, not a Buffon's, but a Richardson's
skua.

After this we turned our attention to the grey plover
ground. We found one of our men trying to watch one
of these birds to the nest. We lay down, one fifty yards
to his rio^ht, and the other as much to his left. The birds

A GOOD DAY'S WORK 159

behaved exactly as those we watched the day before.
After the female had crossed and recrossed one hillock
many times, and finally disappeared behind it, I made up
my mind that the nest was there, and rose. My sudden
appearance alarmed the male, who flew up, showing his
black axillaries very distinctly in the evening sunshine as
he skimmed over my head. We then all three rose, and
in less than a minute met at the nest, which contained
three eggs. I sat down to pack the eggs ; and Harvie-
Brown followed the male, who came up as we found the
nest. Whilst I was packing the eggs and warming my
hands, and talking " pigeon-Russ " with the man, the
female came within range, and I took up my gun and
shot her, thereby completing the identification of the
eggs. On our return home we found that Cocksure had
sent word that the swan had not revisited her nest as yet,
and begged one of us to go to relieve guard. My
companion accordingly, after a substantial meal, set off
at midnight ; meanwhile the men we employed to help us
brought in the results of their day's work : a red-throated
diver, trapped on the nest, with two eggs ; half a dozen
phalaropes" eggs, a duck's nest, containing seven large
olive-grey eggs, with down which was almost black.
These, they assured us, were the eggs of the bolshaya
tchoi'uaya ootka (the great black duck). We recognised
them, however, to be the same as those our Samoyede
had brought home on the 2nd, and on which he had shot
a female scaup. The next take was a long-tailed duck's
nest, with five ep'S^s. Then a man came in brinorino- us
four small nests of nialenkya peteetza (small birds), a
sedge-warbler's, a red-throated pipit's and two willow-
warblers'.

The men who had collected these spoils were in
the employment of the Company, to whom belong the

i6o AFTER GREY PLOVERS AT WASILKOVA

steamers, the yacht or cutter, everything upon the island
of Alexievka, and even the island itself. The Company
has a large and profitable trade in timber, which is shipped
principally to Cronstadt for the Russian Government.
Whether the company be Mr. Sideroff or Mr. Iconikoff,
or both, or neither, remains one of those commercial
secrets so common in Russia, which nobody can ever get
to the bottom of These employes in Alexievka were all
Zyriani from Ishma, a race of people said to be of Finnish
origin. Some were reported to be very rich, the pro-
prietors of large herds of reindeer. Like the people of
Ust-Zylma, they are peasants, but were described to us
as being- more luxurious in their living" and in the furniture
of their houses. They were also said not to get drunk
so often as the Ust-Zylma folk, but when inebriated, not
to be good-natured and obtrusively affectionate as these
are prone to be, but quarrelsome and given to fighting.
They have the reputation of being better workmen, and
certainly beat the Ust-Zylmians hollow at birds'-nesting.
In feature or size the two do not differ much ; perhaps
the eyes of the Zyriani are more sunken and their cheek-
bones a little more prominent ; and there may be a greater
number of red- and yellow-haired men among them.
There were several fishing encampments of these peasants
in different places down the river, and we found that it
was customary in the wealthier families for one son to go
in summer on the tundra, with the reindeer and the
Samoyede servants. The language of the Zyriani is
totally different from Russian, and belongs to the aggluti-
native family of languages. The tribe belongs to the
Orthodox Greek Church, and not to that of the Old
Believers.

CHAPTER XVIII.

STANAVIALACHTA REVISITED.

Second Visit to Stanavialachta — Peregrine Falcons — Plague of Mosquitoes
— Midnight on the Tundra — Nest of the Velvet Scoter — Little Feodor
sent in Quest of the Swan's Skin — A Russian Bath — Feodor's Return —
Identification of Eggs of Bewick's Swan — Mosquito Veils — Our Eighth
Nest of Grey Plovers — Our Servants — Our Ninth Nest of Grey Plovers
— The Tenth and Eleventh Nests.

On the following morning, when my companion returned
from his watch at the swan's nest, which had turned out
a complete failure, we consulted with Piottuch as to what
was to be done. The swan had evidently forsaken her
nest. Time was rapidly flying, and we feared the
breeding: season would be over before we had obtained
identified eggs of the smaller species. It did not appear
as if we could do anything at Alexievka ; we had evi-
dently yet to learn how swans could be trapped at their
nests on the Petchora ; and we came to the conclusion

L

i62 STANAVIALACHTA REVISITED

that our wisest course was to go in search of the peasant
who owned the skin of the swan belonging to the two
small eggs we had bought some days ago. When we
last heard of him he was fishing at one of the islands in
the delta which we had visited, not far from Stanavialachta,
and we determined to make a second expedition to this
locality. Fortunately for us, an opportunity occurred on
the following day to run over to this place in the steamer
belonging to the company. Outside the bar in the
lagoon the cutter was cruising about with pilots to bring
any ship which arrived up the river to Alexievka. The
steamer had to visit this cutter to take the men a fresh
stock of provisions, and we were delighted to make
arrangements with Captain Engel to take us with him, to
drop us at Stanavialachta, and pick us up on his return.

We left Alexievka on the 6th of July and landed at
our old quarters, but learnt to our disappointment that
the peasant we were in quest of had found the fishing so
bad that he had given it up in disgust and returned to his
native village of Mekitza, some miles north of Alexievka.
We were determined to settle the question if possible ;
we ascertained that he had not sold the swan's skin, but
had taken it with him, so we decided to send one of our
men to Mekitza as soon as we returned to Alexievka.
In the meantime we started for the tundra to revisit our
previous shooting-grounds. We stopped a few minutes
on the shore to watch a family of Samoyedes fishing
with a seine-net. They seemed to be catching nothing
but a small fish resembling a herring, and even these did
not appear to be at all plentiful. Leaving the shore, our
curiosity led us first to visit the eyries of the two pairs of
peregrine falcons, at each of which we had shot one of
the birds. We found that the male of the first had
paired with the female of the second ; a fresh lining of

THE MOSQUITO PLAGUE 163

feathers had been put into the latter's nest, and doubtless
there would soon be eesfs- The dotterels still haunted
the hillsides. We shot some near each of the deserted
houses — two by one, three by the other. Doubtless the
riofht thinor to have done would have been to lie down
and watch the birds to their nests and to have taken the
eggs. But in the first place a dotterel is very difficult to
see through a mosquito-veil, and in the next to lie down
and become the nucleus of a vast nebula of mosquitoes is
so tormenting to the nerves that we soon chose to adopt
the consolatory conclusion that the grapes were sour and
not worth the trouble of reaching after ; or, in plain words,
that the birds had not beeun to breed, and it was no use
martyrising ourselves to find their eggs. The mosquitoes
were simply a plague. Our hats were covered with
them ; they swarmed upon our veils ; they lined with a
fring-e the branches of the dwarf birches and willows ;
they covered the tundra with a mist. I was fortunate in
the arrangement of my veil, and by dint of indiarubber
boots and cavalry gauntlets I escaped many wounds ; but
my companion was not so lucky. His net was perpetu-
ally transformed into a little mosquito-cage ; his leggings
and knickerbockers were by no means mosquito-proof;
he had twisted a handkerchief round each hand, but this
proved utterly insufficient ; had it not grown cooler on
the hills, as the sun got low, he would certainly have
fallen into a regular mosquito fever. We were told that
this pest of mosquitoes was nothing as yet to what it
would become later. " Wait a while," said our Job's
comforter, "and you will not be able to see each other
at twenty paces distance ; you will not be able to aim
with your gun, for the moment you raise your barrel half
a dozen regiments of mosquitoes will rise between you
and the sight." When the coolness of evening set in we

164

STANAVIALACHTA REVISITED

had pretty good shooting for an hour or two ; but after
nine or ten o'clock we found nothing. There is very
little to be met on the tundra or anywhere else at mid-
night, for in spite of brilliant sunshine, the birds retire to
roost at the proper time and all is hushed. Our best find
was the nest of a velvet scoter. We shot the female as
she rose from it ; there were eio"ht eo-o-s in it and a Qrood
supply of down. It was placed under a dwarf birch, far
from any lake or water. We shot three willow-grouse

WATCHING GREY PLOVERS THROUGH A CLOUD OF MOSQUITOES

and caught three young birds in down. While we were
seeking for them the male frequently flew past within
easy shot, and the female ran about with head depressed
and wings drooping, coming sometimes within two or
three yards of us. We saw two pairs of wood sandpipers
who had established themselves in a small space of
marshy ground. They evidently had young, for they
were continually flying round and alighting upon the
willows. To search for young in down, through long
grass, wearing mosquito-veils must prove a vain quest
and we did not long pursue it. We caught the young of
the Lapland bunting, and shot one of this year's shore-

A RUSSO-TURKISH BATH 165

larks, a very pretty bird. We saw a few divers, a large
harrier or eagle, and on the shore of the Petchora we
watched a flock of Siberian herring-gulls stealing fish
from the nets of the Samoyedes, and as we went down
river we came on another flock similarly employed. We
saw no swans on the tundra, but they were common on
the islands in the river ; one or two pairs were frequently
in sight, and still there continued to fly overhead flocks
of migratory ducks, always going north. All the day it
had been a dead calm, but for the slight southerly breeze
that had risen towards evening. The next morning a
long-unfelt pleasant breath of wind was blowing down
the river ; it was not enough, however, to drive back the
visitation of mosquitoes that was almost making us wish
for the blustering north gale back again.

Despatching little Feodor, our most intelligent man,
by the steamer to Kuya, we bade him walk over to
Mekitza, then ferret out the peasant and the swan's skin,
and bring us home the latter. Meanwhile we spent the
day blowing eggs. In the evening we took a Russian
bath — an experience worth describing. We lay down
upon a platform in a wooden house ; a primitive stove
was in it, built of stones loosely piled one upon the other ;
a hole in the side of the house with a sliding door let out
the smoke. A wood-fire was kindled in the stove ; it
was allowed to go out when the stones were thoroughly
heated ; the steam resulting from the pouring of a glass
of cold water upon them soon cleared the room of all foul
air and smoke. As we lay stretched on the platform we
occasionally threw water upon the hot stones, and flogged
ourselves with a small broom composed of birch-twigs,
still clothed with leaves ; after which we rubbed ourselves
down with matting, sponged all over with cold water,
and then went into another apartment to cool ourselves,

i66 STANAVIALACHTA REVISITED

smoke a i&v^ papyros, and dress. The peasants frequent
these bath-houses, and often walk out of the hot steam
naked, the colour of boiled lobsters, to plunge into the
Petchora.

The next day was one of our red-letter days. Little
Feodor, our boatman, returned, bearing with him the
longed-for trophy- — the swan's skin. He told us he had
gone to Mekitza, only to learn there that the peasant
whom he sought had departed to another island to fish.
Going to his house he found, however, that the man had
left the skin with his wife, and she, ofood soul, had cut off
the beak and given it to her children for a plaything.
Feodor paid her a rouble for the skin, with the feet still
attached to it, and got the beak into the bargain. There
was no other swan's skin in the house, nor, as far as we
could ascertain, was there another in the village ; this
one was still soft and greasy, showing the bird had been
but recently killed. This, undoubtedly, was the skin of
a Bewick's swan ; the beak also was equally indisputable.
The eggs in our possession were exactly the size one
would expect a swan so much smaller than the wild swan
would lay. We had every reason to believe and none to
doubt that this was, indeed, the skin of the bird caught
upon the nest containing the two eggs we had purchased.
The chain of evidence connecting them was complete,
and the identification of the eggs satisfactory. Let us
recapitulate and go over the links of the narrative, the
more fully to establish the conclusion we had arrived at.
Two peasants are fishing together at Pyonni, an island
near the mouth of the delta of the great river, twelve
versts north of Stanavialachta. They find there a swan's
nest, containing two eggs, and they set a trap for the
bird, which they succeed in catching. In the division of
spoil, one takes the eggs, the other the swan. One peasant,

BEWICK'S SWAN 167

wearied out by the pertinacity of the cold north-east wind,
goes up stream to fish in smoother waters. On his way he
stops at Alexievka, where we are, and we buy from him
a number of ducks' and gulls' eggs, also two swans' eggs
unusually small. As we purchase these we tell him that
we shall be glad to pay the price of any swan's skin he
can get us. He replies that the skin of the swan whose
eggs he has just sold to us is in the possession of his
partner, that the bird was trapped at the nest before they
were taken out of it, adding that he has left his mate
fishing on an island opposite Stanavialachta. On inquiry
we find that two of our boatmen know this man, that we
have seen him ourselves on the island where we found
the two shoveller's esfors ; we remember that he made
a haul with a seine net of a small basketful of fish
resembling herrings, which he presented to one of our
men. We now take the first opportunity to go down to
Stanavialachta and learn there that this peasant, dis-
gusted as his comrade was by the prevalence of the cold
north-east wind, has returned home to Mekitza. We
send our most intelligent man to his house and get the
skin.

The relative size of the two birds is very different, as
may be appreciated at a glance, without the help of
measurements. The bill of Bewick's swan is more than
half an inch shorter than that of the larger species ; the
lengths of the wing, measuring from the carpal joint, are
respectively 20:^ inches and 23 J ; the lengths of the
middle toes 5-15 and 6-i. Our eggs of Bewick's swan
were about ^^q inches long. We have eggs of other
swans, doubtless of the large species, which measure
4tV' 4A' 4t*o' ^"^ 4ro inches ; these measurements
make it seem probable that exceptionally large eggs of
Bewick's swan might be of the same size as exceptionally

i68 STANAVIALACHTA REVISITED

small eggs of the common wild swan. The eggs appear
to vary very little in shape.

That afternoon I took a walk on the island, armed
with my walking-stick gun. Birds were extremely tame.
The yellow-headed wagtail seemed more abundant than
ever. Reed buntinofs also were common. I grot a shot
at a swan, but the distance was a trifle too great. The
weather was very hot, and the mosquitoes were swarm-
ing. Our home-made mosquito veils proved a great
success ; they and our cavalry gauntlets just made life
bearable in these Arctic regions ; still we longed for
the cold winds back again to expel the plague of
blood-sucking insects. Veils are necessary evils, but
they interfere sadly with work, and much increase the
difficulty of finding the shot birds among the long
grass.

The next mornino- a swan's egfo- made us an excellent
omelette for breakfast, after which I turned out for half
an hour amongst the willows to shoot a few yellow-headed
wagtails. They abounded on the marshy ground. I also
secured two or three redpolls, some reed buntings, and a
phalarope.

We set sail at noon, with a north-east wind, to visit
the tundra eight or ten versts higher up the great river.
For some distance before we landed the coast was very
fl^t, with willows down to the water's edge. Amongst
these dwarf trees we repeatedly heard our two especial
favourites, the Petchora pipit and the Siberian chiffchaff.
As soon as we got beyond the willows we landed on the
tundra, and started in pursuit of a large flock of Buffon's
skuas, but were soon stopped by a pair of grey plovers,
which showed by their actions that we were near their
nest. We lay down as before, forty or fifty yards apart,
and watched the birds. They ran about, up and down,

GREY PLOVERS AGAIN 169

and all around us ; and at the end of half an hour we
were no wiser than at first. There was evidently some-
thing wrong. Harvie-Brown then shouted to me, " Have
you marked the nest ? " I replied by walking up to him
and comparing notes. We then watched together for
another half-hour with exactly the same result. I sug-
gested that we must be so near the nest that the bird
dare not come on, and advised that we should retreat to
the next ridge, which we accordingly did. We had not
done so many minutes before the female made her way
on to the ridge where we had been lying. She then ran
along the top of the ridge, passed the place where we had
been stationed, and came down the ridge on to the flat
bog towards where we then were. I whispered, " She is
actually crossing over to us." Suddenly she stopped,
lifted her wings and settled down on the ground. We
both whispered, almost in the same breath, " She is on
the nest." I added, " I saw her lift her wings as she
settled on to the eggs." Harvie-Brown replied, " So did
I," and added, " I can't hold out any longer against the
mosquitoes." I replied, " I am perfectly satisfied ; she is
within ranofe, take her." He lifted his g^un to his shoulder.
She ran off the nest to the top of the ridge and stood
there until my companion shot her. We then walked up
to the nest, the first we had seen on the flat. The eggs
were quite fresh, or nearly so ; and the nest must have
been made nearly a fortnight later than those we had
previously taken. During that time the bogs had become
much drier, so that we could cross them without much
difficulty ; and this was probably the reason why this nest
was placed lower down. The eggs had all the appearance
of a second laying, being less blotched than usual, one of
them remarkably so. It is worth noticing that whilst we
were watching in our first position, very near the nest,

I70 STANAVIALACHTA REVISITED

the birds were almost quite silent, and did not call to each
other as they usually do.

After carefully packing the eggs, we walked on, and
speedily started another pair. This time we lay down
together, as nearly as we could tell, on the spot from
which the birds rose, which seems to be generally from
forty to fifty yards from the nest. The clouds of
mosquitoes formed such a mist on the tundra that we
had some difficulty in marking our birds ; but by raking
the horizon with our binoculars and getting well bitten
through our veils in the process, we soon found the
female, and watched her to a ridge just opposite to us.
She soon settled down ; and within a quarter of an hour
after we had lain down we were both perfectly satisfied
that she was on the nest. We gave her a few minutes
grace, and then walked up to the nest, without making
any effort to shoot the bird, having perfectly identified
her, and being almost tired out by the mosquitoes. The
eggs in this nest were considerably incubated. The nest
was placed, as before, in a hollow on a ridge. The
ground on this ridge was not so mossy as usual, and
there was much bare brown turf to be seen. Whether
this had anything to do with the colour of the eggs it is
difficult to say ; but the fact is that these eggs are quite
brown in ground-colour.

It was very late, or rather very early morning when
we returned to our quarters, and we had to spend an hour
slaughtering mosquitoes before we could make the room
habitable ; then we had our dinners to cook and our pipes
to smoke before we could retire to rest. At noon I
turned out of my hammock and spent the day indoors.
The wind was north-west, and there were continual hints
of rain. Our men were tired after the long row the day
before. They were not in good condition, nor could it

OUR COLLECTORS 171

be expected they should be. They had now reached the
last day of a four weeks' fast, during which they were
supposed to eat nothing but bread and water, with fish if
they could get it. During the period of probation it was
intensely ludicrous to watch the expression on our steers-
man's face when he held up as many fingers as there still
remained days of fasting to be gone through, opening his
mouth wide the while, then grinning all over as he said,
" Moi skaffum." " Skaffum " is pigeon-English for " eat,"
derived, we were told, from the Swedish {skaffa, to
provide).* This fellow's name was Feodor ; he was a
good-natured simpleton, indescribably lazy and always
thinkinor of his stomach — we had nicknamed him " Moi
skaffum." Gavriel, our other Russian, was not very
much sharper, but was by no means lazy when directed
in his work, thoug-h he had not the sense to discover for
himself what wanted doing. Our half-bred Samoyede,
also called Feodor, — Malenki Feodor we dubbed him —
was a sharp, active lad, always finding out something to
do ; with a little traininsf, indeed, he would have made an
excellent servant. He learnt while with us to skin birds
well, and was by this time a fair nester, Simeon, our
thorough-bred Samoyede, was a philosopher — stolid,
phlegmatic, and a good worker. He was our birds'-nester
paj'- excellence. He knew the tundra well and the birds
upon it ; for three years he had lived in Varandai, and in
his palmier days had reindeer of his own. Nothing
moved Simeon ; success did not elate him, nor failure
depress him. He would take the extra rouble we always
grave him when he brought us a rare bird's nest as a
matter of course, without a "thank you." And when, as
we witnessed once, he steadied the boat for a drunken

* The universal sAojf ( = "food" and " to eat ") of the British sailor seems a
more probable derivation. — Ed.

172 STANAVIALACHTA REVISITED

German captain, who brutally trod upon his hand,
evidently thinking it a fine thing to show his contempt
for the poor Samoyede, Simeon equally took the insult as
a matter of course, did not offer to withdraw his hand nor
move a muscle of his face. If Simeon had any hot blood
in him, the veins of it must have run very deep under his
sallow skin.

The next day I did not do much either, but Cocksure
being out of birds, I turned out amongst the mosquitoes
and got him a few. I shot several yellow-headed wag-
tails, which were as abundant as ever, and also three
Terek sandpipers, the first we had secured, although we
had occasionally heard their notes on the island. A nest
of shoveller's eggs, quite fresh, was brought to us during
the day.

Our ninth nest of the grey plover we took on the
1 2th of July. A stiff warm gale from the east, with
occasionally a smart shower of rain, kept the air clear of
mosquitoes in the morning. In the afternoon the wind
fell, and the mosquitoes were as bad as ever ; but we
were too busy to heed them much. At eleven we crossed
to the tundra. We soon came upon a pair of grey
plovers, which rose a couple of hundred yards ahead of
us, their wingrs crlitterino- in a o-leam of sunshine after a
smart shower. These birds have frequently a very curious
flight as they rise from the nest, tossing their wings up in
the air, reminding one somewhat of the actions of a
tumbler pigeon. We lay down as near as we could to
the spot from which they rose, and were somewhat
puzzled at their behaviour. The male seemed equally,
if not more anxious than the female, running about as
much as she did, continually crying, and often coming
very near us, and trying to attract our attention by pre-
tending to be lame. The female rarely uttered a note.

WAITING AND WATCHING 173

We suppose this must have been because one of us was
too near the nest. Harvie- Brown moved his post of
observation after we had spent some time without being
able to discover anything ; and then the female behaved
as usual, and I soon marked the position of the nest. We
walked straight up to it, and found the four eggs chipped
ready for hatching. We had no difficulty in shooting
both birds, and afterwards hatched out two of the eggs,
obtaining a couple of good specimens of young in down.
With a little practice this mode of finding birds' nests
becomes almost a certainty. One has first to be quite
sure which is the male and which is the female. When
the birds are near enough, and one can compare them
tosrether, the orreater blackness of the breast of the male
is sufficient to distinguish him ; but we found that the
females varied considerably in this respect, and that it
was better to notice the habits of the birds. The female
generally comes first to the nest, but she comes less
conspicuously. She generally makes her appearance at
a considerable distance, on some ridge of mossy land.
When she has looked round, she runs quickly to the next
ridge, and looks round again, generally calling to the
male with a single note. The male seldom replies ; but
when he does so it is generally with a double note.
When the female has stopped and looked round many
times, then the male thinks it worth while to move ; but
more often than not he joins the female by flying up to
her. The female very seldom takes wing. She is very
cautious, and, if she is not satisfied that all is safe, will
pass and repass the nest several times before she finally
settles upon it. The female rarely remains at one post
of observation long ; but the male often remains for ten
minutes or more upon one tussock of a ridge, watching
the movements of the female.

174 STANAVIALACHTA REVISITED

We walked some distance before we came upon a
second pair ; but at length we heard the well-known cry,
and got into position. We spent nearly two hours over
this nest, and were quite at sea at the end of the time.
We changed our position several times, but to no purpose.
The female went here and there and everywhere, as much
as to say, " I'm not going on to the nest as long as you
are so near." By-and-by the mosquitoes fairly tired us
out, and we gave up the watching game and commenced
a search. At last we found out the secret of the bird's
behaviour. We picked up some broken egg-shells, and
concluded at once that the bird had young. We tried to
find them, but in vain. These two hours, however, were
not wasted. The birds came nearer to me than they had
ever done before. I often watched them at a distance of
not more than ten yards, and was able to hear their notes
more distinctly. The note most frequently used is a
single plaintive whistle, kop, long drawn out, the o pro-
nounced as in German, and the consonants scarcely
sounded. This I am almost sure is the alarm-note. It
is principally uttered by the female when she stops and
looks round and sees something of which she disapproves.
If the male shows any anxiety about the nest, which he
seems to do more and more as incubation progresses, he
also utters the same note. The double note, kl-ee or
kleep — the kl dwelt upon so as to give it the value of a
separate syllable — is also uttered by both birds. It is
evidently their call-note. I have seen the female, when
she has been running away from the male, turn sharp
round and look towards him when he has uttered this
note, exactly as any one might do who heard his name
called. Whilst we were watching this pair of birds a
couple of other grey plovers came up, and called as they
Hew past. The male answered the call and flew towards

PLOVER LANGUAGE 175

them. On the winor this whistle is leng-thened out to
three notes. I had some difficulty in catching this note
exactly. It is not so often uttered as the two others I
have mentioned, and is generally heard when you least
expect it ; but I am almost sure it is a combination of
the alarm-note with the call-note- — kl-ee-kop. If I wanted
to make a free translation from Ploverski into Eng^lish I
should say that kl-ee means " Hallo ! old fellow," and kop
means " Mind what you are about !"

We procured our tenth nest of the grey plover the
same afternoon. It was found by our Samoyede, who
brought us three eggs and the male and female shot at
the nest. He accidentally broke the fourth ^%%. As it
contained a live young bird, we placed these three eggs
in our hatching basket, where we had made a snug nest
of bean-goose-down.

By this time we were pretty well tired with tramping
the tundra. The ceaseless persecution of the mosquitoes,
and the stifling feeling caused by having to wear a veil
with the thermometer above summer heat, had taxed our
powers of endurance almost to the utmost ; and we turned
our faces resolutely towards our boat ; but a most anxious
pair of grey plovers were too great an attraction to us to
be resisted. We watched them for some time, during
which a pair of ringed plovers persisted in obtruding
themselves impertinently between us and the objects of
our attention. This pair of grey plovers also puzzled us,
and we concluded that they possibly had young, and
consequently we gave up the search. We had each
marked a place where we thought a nest might be ; and
we each of us went to satisfy ourselves that it was not
there. The two places were about fifty yards apart.
The birds first went up to Harvie- Brown and tried to
draw him away by flying about and feigning lameness.

176 STANAVIALACHTA REVISITED

Then they came to me and did the same. They were so
demonstrative that I fek perfectly certain of finding the
nest, and shot at the female. She dropped in the middle
of a wet bog. I then shot the male, walked up to him,
and left him with my basket and gun to struggle through
the bog to pick up the female. Before I got up to her, I
saw her lying on the turf on her breast with her wings
slightly expanded. I was just preparing to stoop to pick

MOSQUITO VEIL

her up, when she rose and flew away, apparently unhurt.
I must have missed her altogether, as she was evidently
only shamming to draw me away. I returned to search
for the nest, and was unable to find it. Whilst I was
looking for it Harvie- Brown came up; so I gave up the
search, and we again turned towards the boat. When
we had got about halfway towards the spot where Harvie-
Brown had been looking, I caught sight of a young grey
plover in down, almost at my feet. Stooping to pick it
up, I saw the nest with three eggs not a yard from me.

YOUNG GREY PLOVERS 177

This was the last and eleventh nest of these rare birds
which we found. The young in down are very yellow,
speckled with black, and are admirably adapted for con-
cealment upon the yellow-green moss on the edges of the
little bogs, close to which the grey plover seems always
to choose a place for its nest.

Our attempt to hatch the highly incubated eggs, and
thus obtain specimens of young in down, was successful.
We soon had five young grey plovers well and hearty,
and secured three or four more afterwards.

OLD RUSSIAN SILVER CROSS

M

LITTLE stint's NEST, EGGS AND YOUNG

CHAPTER XIX.

THE GOLIEVSKI ISLANDS.

Trip to the Golievski Islands— Shoal of White Whales— Glaucous Gull-
Dunlins and Sanderlings — Black Scoter — Dvoinik — Little Stint — Curlew
Sandpiper — Snow Bunting — OverhauUng our Plunder — The Company's
Manager — Discussions concerning the Stints — Probable Lines of Migra-
tion followed by Birds.

On the 13th of July an opportunity presented itself of
visiting the Golievski Islands at the entrance of the

ISLAND No. 4 179

lagoon. These islands are little more than sandbanks,
and the beacons erected upon them for the guidance of
vessels entering the river are washed away every spring
by the ice. To re-erect these beacons and to inspect
others on various promontories on the shores of the
lagoon, the steamer makes a trip every July. Captain
Engel asked us to accompany him, and we gladly ac-
cepted the invitation.

Passing Stanavialachta and Cape Bolvanski, we sailed
almost due north to the bar, where the lead announced
scarcely thirteen feet of water. We then steered nearly
east to within three miles of the shore, whence we after-
wards kept in a north-easterly direction. A few miles
after passing Cape Constantinovka we altered our course
to north, and made Island No. 4 about midnight. Off Cape
Constantinovka we came upon a shoal of white whales or
beluga, which played like porpoises round the steamer.

We stayed a couple of hours on Island No. 4, erecting
the beacon upon it. The night was foggy at intervals, but
the midnight sun shone bright. The island is a flat
desert of sand, unrelieved by a blade of grass. It may
be a couple of square miles in extent in the summer time,
and is not much affected by the tide, which rises only four
or six inches. We found a large flock of glaucous gulls
upon it, but we could only discover two nests. They
were heaps of sand, hollowed slightly at the apex and
lined with some irregularly disposed tufts of seaweed.
The young in down were running about on the flat sand-
bank. We secured half a dozen and shot four old birds.
The young were less spotted than those of most gulls ;
the old birds were pure white, with delicate, dove-
coloured mantles, paler than those of our herring-gull.
The legs and feet were pale flesh-tinted pink ; the beak
and the line round the eye were straw-yellow. The

i8o THE GOLIEVSKI ISLANDS

point of the beak was horn-colour, with the usual dark
vermilion spot on the angle of the lower mandible. The
pupils of the eye were blue-black, and the irides very pale
straw-yellow. The interior of the mouth was of the same
colour as the legfs and feet. The birds to whom the two
nests belonged were easily shot ; they made repeated
downward darts upon us like terns. The rest of the flock
kept well out of range, soon settling down at a point on
the extreme end of the island, and, on being fired at there,
flew right away. Among these glaucous gulls were two
immature birds and, one or two Siberian herring-gulls.
After the dispersion of the flock that had engaged all our
attention, we began to notice the presence of small parties
of sandpipers feeding about the island. They were very
wild, running about on the low, wet sandbanks which
rose hardly a couple of feet above high-tide level, and
about the margins of the little pools in the lower parts
of the island. Amono- them were some dunlins ; we
succeeded in shooting a couple of these, and one or two
sanderlings. These birds were peculiarly interesting to
us. We had scarcely hoped to come across them. We
saw no evidence, however, of their breeding upon the
island ; they seem to have settled upon it merely to feed.
The only nests we found were those of the glaucous gull.
The shores of the island were devoid of all material for
nest-building, except sand and a very slight quantity of
seaweed. A few whelks, some broken mussels, and
other bivalves lay sparingly scattered about ; with here
and there a few pieces of driftwood, and near the south
shore the decaying body of a seal, probably the harp seal.
At two o'clock we returned on board, and after a
couple of hours' sleep, we woke to find ourselves lying at
anchor in a thick fog that completely hid Island No. 3
from us. The sun, however, was shining brilliantly over-

"BEAUCOUP D'AROMA" i8i

head. After an early breakfast we watched the fog
lifting, and gradually we caught sight of the island, over
which a flock of thousands of black ducks was whirlinof
and circling. This island we computed to be some eight
or ten miles in length. It appeared to be exactly the
same sandy desert as Island No. 4, but we were told that
some persons who had visited it declare that grass grows
upon it. Unluckily for us its beacon had not been carried
off, only laid upon its side by the ice, so that in an hour's
time it was repaired and set up on its legs again and all
hands ordered back on board. Near it lay another dead
seal, apparently the common one, in a condition described
by Cocksure as having " beaucoup d'aroma." A few
herring and glaucous gulls were upon the island, and we
found two empty nests ; but what interested us most was
the presence of large parties of dunlins and small iiocks
of sanderlings. Numbers of black ducks continually
passed like clouds overhead. The large flocks did not
come near enough for identification, but we made out
amongr smaller ones the lono-tailed duck and the black
scoter, and were inclined to think that the laro-e flocks
were composed of the latter species.

At eigrht o'clock we had a more substantial breakfast
than that partaken of in the earlier hours, and then went
to lie down on sofas in the cabin. All day we drifted
down a sea almost as smooth as a mirror ; not a breath
of wind stirred during the night or day. We had also
left the mosquitoes behind, and only saw one or two after
leaving the delta of the Petchora. The steamer returned
to No. 4 Island as we slept to get into the right course
and deposit a " carabas " on the William Bank, and a long
pole (with a besom on the top and a stone at the foot)
upon the Alexander Bank.

We commenced our next day at 4 p.m. It was a very

i82 THE GOLIEVSKI ISLANDS

short one, but it proved very eventful. After a refreshing
wash and a promenade on deck for half an hour, we
dined and smoked a pipe. By that time the boats were
ready, and we went on shore a couple of versts south of
the river Dvoinik, there to erect another beacon, which
we were afterwards told the Samoyedes had pulled down.

Harvie-Brown and I struck off at once for the tundra
in the direction of the Pytkoff Mts. (580 feet high),
about fifteen miles distant. The tundra was very flat,
and we soon came upon ground exactly similar in
character to that tenanted by the grey plovers near
Alexievka. We had not walked far when we heard the
well-known cry, and there rose four j^rey plovers. My
companion soon after met with another pair and lay down
to watch them. We parted company here, and I heard later
that, feeling ill — the effect probably of irregular meals and
sleep — he soon after returned to the ship, having met with
nothing of interest, except the grey plovers and a few
Buffon's and Richardson's skuas, and also picking up the
feathers of a snowy owl.

After leaving him I went on for about a quarter of an
hour, then finding the tundra "flat, stale, and unprofit-
able," I turned sharp to the north, towards what I took
to be a large lake, but which in the maps is set down
to be a bay of the sea. En ro2Ue I saw nothing but an
occasional Lapland bunting or red-throated pipit. Arrived
at the water's edge, however, I spent an interesting hour.
A large flock of sandpipers were flying up and down the
banks. They looked very small and very red, and in
order to watch them I hid amongst some dwarf willows,
teeming with mosquitoes. I did not heed their bites,
for my hopes and doubts and fears made me for
the time mosquito-proof Presently some birds swirled
past, and I gave them a charge of No. 8. Three

A RED-LETTER DAY 183

fell — three Little stints — the real Simon Pure at last. I
now waited a few minutes, and soon heard their notes
again. This time a small flock passed me over the
water, and I dropped a couple into it. I endeavoured to
wade in after them, but the mud was too much for me ; a
smart north wind was blowing also, so I turned back and
waited on the shore ; there I spent the time examining
every dunlin that came within the range of my glass in
the hopes of discovering one without a black belly. After
a while I walked on, not caring to shoot more, but
desirous of finding some evidence of the Little stint's
breeding haunts. At a short distance before me rose
sandhills sprinkled over with a sort of esparto grass, and
towards these I now walked. The intervening ground
was covered with thick, short, coarse grass, and was
studded with little pools of water. I had not gone far
before I came upon some sandpipers feeding on the edge
of a small island in the bay. There was no kind of cover
near ; so approaching as close as I dared, I fired. There
must have been six or seven birds ; all rose but one, who
tried to follow the rest, but was wounded, and he dropped
into the water, fluttering feebly on till he reached another
island. The mud on the banks was so deep and sticky
that it was with difficulty I again got within range, and
with a second shot laid him upon his back. When I
managed to reach him, my pleasure was great on picking
him up to find a curlew sandpiper. This was the single
specimen of the species that we obtained on our journey.
I now hastened on to the sandhills. The mosquitoes had
by this time forced me to wear my veil, but when on
reaching- the hills I saw a number of small waders runninof
hither and thither, I threw it back ; still I could detect
nothing but ringed plovers. I shot one to be certain of
my identification, and hoping also that the report would

1 84 THE GOLIEVSKI ISLANDS

rouse rarer game. A shore-lark in first plumage was the
only other bird that rose at the sound. I secured it.
Wandering on farther I was still disappointed. Beds of
wild onion and large patches of purple vetch had replaced
the coarse grass. I returned on my footsteps to the edge
of the bay, and missed a shot at a swan ; a snowy owl
also flew past out of range. The curlew sandpipers had
disappeared. The flock of Little stints was still there,
but I left them to follow a snow-buntinof, the first I had
seen since leaving Ust-Zylma. I shot it. Then to my
consternation I discovered through my glass that the last
man had left the beacon, and that I must return. A pair
of black-throated divers were sailing about the bay, one
or two herring-gulls were flying about, but my time was
up. I was a good mile from the ship, so turning by the
sandhills I made my way to the beacon, bagging a fine
male grey plover as I went. As soon as I got on board
we started for Alexievka.

My wonderful success at the last moment determined
us by some means or other to return to this land teeming
with rare birds. We marked, as we steamed along, that
the sandhills continued on the north side of the river
Dvoinik as far as Cape Constantinovka. It was probable
that the breedino--oround of the Little stints mioht be
found on these coasts or on the mountains. Those I had
seen might be last year's birds, not breeding this year, but
haunting the neighbourhood of the older ones, as is the
case with the flocks of dunlins. It was tantalisino; to have
to hurry away from what seemed the Promised Land,
and as we looked at the old washing-tub that usually
carried us on our trips to the tundra, and knew that for
its life it could not dare cross Bolvanskaya Bay, we
felt inclined to parody Richard II I. 's cry, and exclaim
aloud, " A boat ! a boat ! my kingdom for a boat ! "

THE LITTLE AND TEMMINCK'S STINTS 185

Our young grey plovers in down, when we visited
them, we found thriving. There were five small birds in
excellent condition.

The five sanderlings that we had shot on the islands
were three males and two females. The testes of the
former were small, the latter had eggs about the size of a
pin's head. Both males and females showed signs of
moult ; they had some bare places almost like sitting-
spots, but no recent ones.

The curlew sandpiper turned out to be a female, with
very small eggs, and showed no signs of having been
breeding this year.

The five Little stints in our possession proved to be
all males. Temminck's stints were very common at
Alexievka. They were breeding abundantly : sometimes
we found them in single pairs, sometimes almost in
colonies, but we had never met with flocks of these birds
since leaving- the neighbourhood of Habariki. Those
that we had come upon afterwards had never failed to
show us by their ways that we were intruding upon their
breeding quarters. When Harvie- Brown visited Arch-
angel in 1872 he found Temminck's stints breeding on
one of the islands of the delta of the Dvina. This was
probably not far from the southern limit of their breeding
range. He also continually observed this species in
other localities, congregating in small flocks together, and
evidently not breeding. These might have been the
birds of the preceding year. If, as it is pretty well
established, few sandpipers breed until the second year,
and the young birds flock, during their first summer,
somewhere near the southern limit of the breeding-
stations, it might also be augured that the Little stints I
had seen were probably breeding at no great distance
from the spot I had visited the previous day. The

i86 THE GOLIEVSKI ISLANDS

thought of the probable vicinity of the nests, the discovery
of which had been one of the strong motives of our
journey, excited us so much that we did not go to bed,
but spent the night plotting and planning the possibilities
of getting to Dvoinik again. There were difficulties in
the way. Unluckily for us the company's manager was
a very impracticable man. It was his first year in office ;
he was young, inexperienced, and comparatively un-
educated. For the nonce he was absolute monarch of
Alexievka, and the absoluteness of his power was too
much for him. A German from Revel, he had yet so
much of the Russian in him that, when scratched, the
Tartar would out. He was very unpopular, and one
glimpse behind the scenes revealed to us rebellion
"looming in the distance." There were allowances to
be made for the man. No gentleman would come to
such a place as Alexievka, or face the existing muddle,
for the sake of the miserable pay " la pauvre compagnie,"
as Cocksure calls it, gives. The Provalychik had a
plentiful crop of cares under his crown. So far as we
could see he was plotting and being plotted against. He
was not backed up by the Bureau at St. Petersburg. His
domestic affairs looked ugly, and amongst his subordinates
he had scarcely one reliable man he could trust. The
whole situation was a specimen of what the Germans call
" Russische Wirthschaft." We knew the man could
render us an invaluable service without exposing the
company to the slightest loss, but as yet we had not
been able to make him see with our eyes. We longed
for the arrival of Sideroff, fearing, however, he would
come too late. Meanwhile we tried to work the oracle,
and had not yet given up the task in despair.

Whether the birds that I had seen in flocks on the
tundra were those of the year before or not continued a

MIGRATION HYPOTHESES 187

matter of discussion between my companion and myself.
He considered that maritime birds that feed principally
when the tide falls, have consequently a periodical dining-
hour and a special dining-room, and therefore get into
the habit of flocking together at dinner-time. I remained
still of the opinion that birds of the same species were
breeding not far off, probably on the coast between
Bolvanskaya Bay and Varandai, or it might be on the
Pytkoff mountains. We had also many debates concern-
ing the probable line of migration followed by the grey
plover, the Little stint, the curlew sandpiper, and the
sanderling ; and in this we began to question the usually
received theory that these birds migrate up the Baltic and
along the coast of Norway to their breeding haunts. My
own notion had long been that birds migrate against the
prevailing winds ; that they migrate to their breeding-
orround in a narrow stream, returnina^ from them in a
broad one. If these birds, therefore, winter on the
shores of the Mediterranean, they probably leave by way
of the Black Sea, cross by the Sea of Azov to the Volga
near Sarepta, follow the Volga to Kasan, thence along
the Kama to Perm, then over the low hills of the Ural to
the Ob, and so on to the Arctic Ocean. Some breed
near the mouth of the Ob, others on the eastern or the
western coast. The stragglers who wander off as far as
Archangel and the North Cape maybe barren birds with
nothinor else to do.

After starting this hypothesis we bethought ourselves
that we had with us a list of the birds of Kasan, in a
book lent to us by M. Znaminski. These chapters are
headed " Materials for making a Biography of the Birds
of the Volga," and the work itself is entitled, " Descriptive
Catalogues of the High School of the Imperial University
at Kasan," edited by MM. Kovalevski, Levakovski,

i88 THE GOLIEVSKI ISLANDS

Golovinski, and Bogdanoff; published at Kasan in 1871.
From this book Cocksure drew for us the following
information : —

''Little and Temminck's stints are seen in flocks
during the first fortnight in May on the Volga, from
Simbirsk to Kasan, and on the Kama as far as Uffa.
They are not seen during the summer, but are found
aofain at Simbirsk in the middle of Autrust.

" Curlew sandpipers are seen in Kasan in spring and
autumn only, both on the Volga and Kama.

" Sander lings are seen in autumn at Kasan, and have
been seen in spring on the Sarpa.

" Grey plovers are seen in small flocks in May and
vSeptember near Kasan, but are not to be met with every
year.

" Yellow-headed zvactails arrive at Kasan with the
common species, viz., middle of April ; a few pairs are
seen until the beginning of June."

These extracts prove that part of the migration of
these species takes place across country ; but probably
the main stream follows the coast, especially in autumn,
as I was myself an eye-witness, the year after my return
from the Petchora, on the island of Heligoland.

THE LIGHTHOUSE AT

HELIGOLAND ON
A MIGRATION NIGHT

CHAPTER XX.

THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS.

Hybernation of Birds — Migration of Birds — Reed-warblers — Origin of
Migration — Transvaal Warblers — The Mammoth Age — Insect Life —
Lines of Migration — Heligoland and its Ornithologists — Variety of Birds —
Wind and Weather — The Throstle-bushes — Migration by Sight — Order of
Migration — Stray Migrants — The Yellow-browed Warbler — Migration on
Heligoland — Skylarks — Migratory Instincts — Other Facts of Migration.

It is very difficult to realise the fact that no longer ago
than towards the close of the last century the belief in
the hybernation of swallows was held by many ornitholo-
gists. That certain species of mammals spend the winter
in a torpid state is proved beyond all possibility of doubt ;
but there is no evidence of the hybernation of any species
of birds. Never was theory founded on more flimsy
substratum of supposed facts, or supported by weaker

logical

aro^ument.

Swallows made their appearance in

190 THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS

spring, no one knew how or whence. During the
summer they were remarkable for being almost con-
stantly on the wing, but late in the autumn a noticeable
change took place in their habits. They were observed
more and more to congregate in large flocks, and towards
evening to perch in numbers on houses, and frequently
in trees. Finally they collected in thousands on the reeds
and willows on the banks of the Thames, and disappeared
durinor the nieht. In the mornino- not a swallow was
to be seen, and ornithologists came to the startling
conclusion that they had plunged into the dark waters of
the river, and buried themselves in the mud at its bottom,
to reappear the following spring, refreshed by their
winter's sleep. And this theory was gravely accepted
as one among many other unfathomable secrets of
Nature! After a time it was, however, discovered that
the disappearance of many of the summer resident birds
from their breeding-grounds in this country was the
signal for their appearance in some parts of Southern
Europe or Northern Africa, and the theory of migration
was accepted as resting upon a basis of indisputable fact
when birds were seen in the act of migrating. At certain
stations, such as Gibraltar and Malta, and notably on the
island of Heligoland (all, curiously enough, under British
rule), birds were seen passing over, not in small flocks
only, but by thousands and tens of thousands, so that
no possible doubt could remain as to the great fact of
migration. The periodical disappearance of the swallow
remained, however, almost as great a mystery as before.
The impulse of migration was called an instinct, but did
not the less remain an unfathomable secret of Nature,
and the only cause that could be assigned for it was that
it must have been originally implanted in certain species
at their creation and denied to others.

THE HABIT OF MIGRATION 191

The discoveries of Darwin and Wallace have placed
the facts of migration in an entirely new light, and added
a new interest to a subject which has always been one of
the most fascinating departments of ornithology. The
origin of the habit of migration is still involved in much
mystery. It is probably a fact in the history of birds of
comparatively modern date. It is not confined to any
one geographical region, nor to any one family of birds,
nor can we assume that it will be present or absent
in every species of the same genus. The birds of the
Nearctic region are as migratory as those of the Palsearctic.
Many birds visit South America and Australia only during
the breeding-season. If we include as birds of the tropical
regions those species which visit them after having bred
in the cooler regions, they will also contain a considerable
proportion of migrants, even though no bird migrates
there to breed. We may lay it down as a law, to which
there is probably no exception, that every bird breeds in
the coldest regions of its migrations. No bird migrates
to the tropics to breed because there is no hotter region
for it to migrate from. The stories of birds breeding a
second time in the place of their winter migration
probably have the same scientific value as the stories
of swallows having been found hybernatincr in caves and
hollow trees, or of toads having been found in the recesses
of otherwise solid rocks.

Many birds, such as the robin, the blackbird, and
others, which are for the most part resident in England,
are migratory in Germany. There is every probability
that it is only within comparatively recent times that
these birds have ceased to migrate in England, and we
may fairly conjecture that, should the English climate
remain long enough favourable to the winter residence
of these birds, they will develop into local races, which

192 THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS

will eventually have rounder and shorter wings than
their continental allies.

In some genera of birds it is comparatively easy to
determine the geographical range from an examination of
the shape of the wing. In the genus Acrocephalus, or
reed-warblers, for example, A. turdoides is noticeable
for its very pointed wing. Its migrations extend from
South Sweden to the Transvaal. A. orientalis, again,
is scarcely distinguishable except in having a slightly less
pointed wing. Its migrations extend from Japan to
Borneo. A. stentoreus has a decidedly more rounded
wino-, and the limits of its mig^rations are from Turkestan
to India ; whilst A. syrinx has the roundest wing of all,
and appears to have become a resident in the island of
Ponape. In the smaller species of the genus the fact
is equally striking. The sharp- winged A. schoenobcenus
ranges from the Arctic Circle to South Africa, whilst the
more rounded-winged A. dtimetorum and A. bcBticatiis have
very limited ranges.

There is a considerable difference of opinion as to the
origin of migration, some ornithologists holding that the
original home of a species was its winter quarters ; others
supposing that before the instinct of migration was formed
the species was a resident in the district where it now
breeds. Both views have their difficulties ; but the pre-
ponderance of evidence seems to me to be largely on
the side of the latter theory. In turning over a box of
Transvaal skins, shot during the breeding season between
September and March, it seems impossible to come to
any other conclusion. Throwing aside the brilliant birds
of the district, we shall find, especially if the box comes
from Potchefstroom, a variety of reed-warblers and allied
birds, which speak of swamps abounding with insects,
where birds of this kind delight to breed and find

FROM AFRICA TO THE ARCTIC 193

unlimited food. As a matter of fact most of these
birds do breed there, and, because the winter is so
mild, remain there all the year round. But mixed up
with these African types we shall find a fair sprinkling
of our own reed-warblers, who have gone down there to
avoid our cold winters. These birds are not breeding ;
they have migrated to the Transvaal to enjoy the
mosquitoes of the Potchefstroom swamps, and when
the Potchefstroom birds have finished breeding and begin
their six months rest from family cares, they will some
of them migrate to the Arctic regions of North Europe
to breed amongst the mosquitoes which swarm on the
river-banks on the outskirts of the tundra. We can
scarcely conceive it possible that these species were ever
resident birds in the Transvaal. It seems much more
rational to conclude that they were once resident birds
in the subarctic regions of Europe, and now by the
change in the winter temperature of their original home
have come to South Africa as migrants, apparently out
of season in regard to their breeding habits, to mix
amongst birds, many of whom are closely allied to, if
not congeneric with, themselves. The cause of migration
is want oi food, not want of warmth. The feathers of a
Siberian jay or a Lapp tit are proof against any cold.

Admitting that the various species of birds that breed
in countless thousands in the Arctic regions were once
residents there in the days when the climate was much
warmer than it is now, we still find some difficulties to
explain. In the first place, the Mammoth age does not
appear to have been so very much warmer than the
present. It is said that the remains of the foliage of
conifers, such as now exist in Siberia, have been found
in the stomachs of frozen mammoths. In the second
place, the question may be fairly asked : How about the

N

194 THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS

three months' niofht ? Would that be no bar to the
wintering of so many birds in the Arctic regions ? But
are we sure that there was three months night ? May it
not be possible that the obliquity of the earth's axis to
its orbit was much less in those ages, and that this was
one cause of the comparative mildness of the winters,
whilst the summers were for the same reason cool enough
for the growth of conifers ? An increase in the obliquity
of the earth's axis would possibly account for the glacial
period which destroyed the mammoths and compelled the
birds to migrate.

It is alleged that many birds leave their winter
quarters because in southern climates the heat dries up
everything, and lessens the production of insect life.
Many of our European birds winter on both shores of
the Mediterranean. In wandering through the valleys
of Asia Minor, or the mountain-gorges of the Parnassus,
or on the islands in the lagoon of Missolonghi, in May
and June, I noticed no absence of insect life. On the
contrary, insect life appeared to be superabundant.
Vegetable life appeared to be threatened by innumerable
grasshoppers. One of the prominent features of the
district was the countless thousands of beetles which
swarmed on every plant ; and, if we may judge from the
number and size of their webs, the countries I have
named must be a perfect paradise for spiders. That
these districts are suitable for the maintenance of insecti-
vorous birds during summer is proved by the fact that
soon after the Phylloscopi which have wintered there
have left, their place is filled with birds belonging to the
allied genus Hypolais, so that the olive-trees are well
supplied with insect-eating birds both winter and summer.
One species of swallow winters in Greece, one is found
there all the year round, and three other species are

NOCTURNAL MIGRATION 195

summer migrants to that country. In some cases no
doubt the weaker birds are turned out by the stronger.
Swallows arrive in Dlisseldorf early in April. For some
weeks they circle over the town, like a swarm of bees.
Early in May the swifts arrive, and soon become as
abundant as the swallows were, whilst the latter birds are
rarely seen during the summer.

Too much has probably been made of the great lines
of migration, the highways which lead from the summer
to the winter quarters.* It has been asserted that there
is a connection between these routes and the position of
submerged continents across which the birds migrated
in past ages. Probably there is some such connection,
but in all probability an accidental one. To prove the
case it would be necessary to show that migratory birds
chose a longer route across a shallow sea in preference to
a shorter route across a deep sea. It would be necessary
also to prove that the habit of migration is older than the
subsidence of the submergfed land.

I venture to think that the modus operandi of migra-
tion has been to a largfe extent misunderstood. Few
birds migrate by day. By far the greater number of
species migrate by night. The number of places where
nocturnal migrations can be systematically observed is
very small. Two circumstances are requisite to make
such observations successful. First, a sufficiently large
population sufficiently interested in the event to permit
no nocturnal migration to pass undiscovered. Second, a
sufficiently intelligent naturalist to record the sum of
many years' observation. Probably in no place in the
world are these desiderata so exactly fulfilled as upon the

* This and the following paragraphs have been left intact, but how much
Mr. Seebohm was afterwards led to modify his views on the subject of migration
may be seen by reference to page 418 in Part II. of this volume. ^ — Ed.

196 THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS

island of Heligoland. Soon after my return from the
valley of the Petchora, Mr. Gatke, the celebrated orni-
thologist and artist, who resided for so many years
on Heliofoland, invited me to visit the island, to renew
the acquaintance of the grey plover, the Little stint, the
blue-throat, the shore-lark, the little bunting, and others
of my Petchora friends, and to see something of the
wonderful stream of migration which sets in every autumn
from the Arctic regions to the sunny South, and flows
abundantly past the island. Heligoland is a very small
place, probably not much more than a hundred acres in
extent. It is an isolated triangular table of red sand-
stone, with perpendicular cliffs two or three hundred feet
in height, dropping into a sea so shallow, that at low water
you can scramble round the island at the foot of the cliffs.
Most of the surface of this rock is covered with rich soil
and grass. About a mile from the island is a sandbank,
the highest portion covered over with esparto grass, and
the lower portions submerged by the sea at high tide,
reducing the island from perhaps fifty acres to twenty-
five. The resident birds on Heligoland and Sandy
Island probably do not exceed a dozen species ; but in
spring and autumn the number of birds that use these
islands as a resting-place during migration is so large,
that as many as 15,000 larks have been known to have
been caught there in one night, and the number of species
of birds obtained on these two small plots of land equals,
if it does not exceed, that of any country of Europe.
There are several species of Siberian and American birds
which have never been obtained in any part of Europe
except upon the island of Heligoland. The list of
Heligoland birds is so varied, that many ornithologists
have doubted its accuracy. No one can visit the island,
however, without being convinced of the bona fides of all

MIGRATION IN HELIGOLAND 197

concerned. The authenticity of the Heligoland skins is
beyond all possible question. During the time I spent
on the island, from the 23rd of September to the i8th of
October, I either shot or saw in the flesh such a variety
of birds that I could almost agree with my friend Mr. Gatke
when he stated that he would willingly exchange his col-
lection of rare birds shot in Heligfoland for those which
had passed over the island without being obtained. It is
probable, however, that the latter bear a much smaller
proportion to the former in Heligoland than in any other
place.

The fact is that this little island is the only part of
the world of which the ornithology has been properly
worked. Every little boy in the island is a born and
bred ornithologist. Every unfortunate bird which visits
the island has to run the gauntlet of about forty guns, to
say nothing of scores of blowpipes and catapults. The
flight and note of every bird is familiar to every islander.
Each bird has its own local name in the Heligoland
language. A new bird is instantly detected. The fisher-
man steers with a gun by his side ; the peasant digs his
potatoes with a gun on the turf, and a heap of birds on
his coat. On an island where there are no cows, and
sheep are kept for their milk only, meat is of course very
dear, especially as it has to be brought by steamer from
Hamburof, one of the dearest cattle-markets on the
continent of Europe. Birds therefore naturally form an
important article of diet to the Heligolanders. Every
bird which appears is whistled within range with mar-
vellous skill. The common birds are eaten, the rare
ones sold to the bird-stuffer, and the new ones taken to
Gatke. Many of the Heligolanders are clever shots.
Long before sunrise the island is bristling with guns ;
and after dark the netters are busy at their throstle-

198 THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS

bushes ; whilst at midnight the birds commit suicide
against the Hghthouse. When we consider that this has
been going on for a quarter of a century, and that the
results have been most carefully chronicled for that
length of time, the wonder is not that so many species of
birds have occurred on Heligoland, but that so many
have hitherto escaped detection. This must be accounted
for on the theory that, after all, the appearance of birds
on Heligoland is only accidental. Comparatively little
migration is observed by the casual visitor who frequents
the restaurant to enjoy the oysters and the lobsters, or
rows across to Sandy Island to bathe on the shore, and
take a constitutional on the "dunes." Now and then a
flock of waders may be detected hurrying pasr ; flocks of
pipits occasionally land on the island, feed for an hour or
two, and then pass on ; and sometimes a scattered and
straggling stream of hooded crows, of heavy and
laborious flight, will continue all day long. But by far
the most important migration will be found to have
taken place "while men slept." Every flock which
passes over probably drops a few tired or hungry birds,
and a walk through the potato-fields in the morning after
a migration night sometimes turns up the most curious
and interesting variety of species which have sought the
only cover on the island to feed or rest. Perhaps the
first bird you flush is a skylark ; the report of your gun
starts a golden plover, or a jack snipe ; then you observe
some small birds skulking in the potatoes, and you pre-
sently secure a little bunting, an aquatic warbler, and a
shore-lark. Your next shot may be a corncrake, followed
by a ring ousel or a Richard's pipit.

Every night, however, is not a migration night.
Sometimes for a week together you may diligently tramp
the potatoes without finding a bird. Migration is a

THE THROSTLE-BUSHES 199

question of wind and weather. Aeuckens, the bird-stuffer
on Heligoland, told me that birds migrate north-east in
spring, and south-west in autumn. Gatke, on the other
hand, maintains that the directions are due east and west.
Both agree that birds dislike an absolutely favourable
or absolutely contrary wind. The former ruffles their
feathers and chills them ; the latter, if too strong, impedes
their progress. They prefer a side wind, and probably
alter their course slightly to accommodate themselves
to it. It is even said that they will sometimes tack.
Weather is perhaps as important as wind. Under or-
dinary circumstances a bird does not require to rest on
Heligoland, and the arrivals for the most part are said
not to be from any point of the compass, but perpendicu-
larly from the sky. The islanders describe with great
2"usto the sudden arrival of thrushes in this manner.
There are scarcely any trees on the island, so the
peasants make artificial bushes with a net on one side
into which the poor thrushes are driven with sticks and
lanterns as soon as they alight. Some hundreds are thus
frequently caught in one night. By long experience the
Heligolanders know when to expect an arrival of birds.
Aeuckens related to me how they would watch on favour-
able nights by the throstle-bushes, when on a sudden,
without a moment's warning, a rush and whirl of wings
would be heard, and the throstle-bush would swarm with
thrushes, not dropped, but apparently shot like an arrow
from a bow, perpendicularly down from the invisible
heights of mid air. It is supposed that migration takes
place for the most part at a high elevation, beyond the
range of our vision ; that the birds migrate by sight, and
not, as has been assumed, by blind instinct ; that they
are guided by prominent landmarks with which they have
gradually become familiar ; and that many birds which

200 THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS

are not gregarious at any other time of the year become
so during the periods of migration, in order to avail
themselves of the experience of the veteran travellers of
their own or of other species. The desire to migrate is
a hereditary instinct originally formed and continually
kept up by the necessity to do so, in order to maintain a
struggle for existence against the changes of temperature,
but the direction in which to migrate must be learned
afresh by each individual. The theory that migration
ordinarily takes place at high elevations is supported by
the fact that it is only in dark or cloudy weather that
migration on a large scale is observed. It is supposed
that the landmarks being obscured by clouds, the birds
are obliged to descend to see their way, for it is observed
that as soon as the clouds begin to break, the migration
apparently comes to an end. On dark nights the stream
of migration suddenly stops when the moon rises. Each
bird has its time of migration. Weather has, apparently,
nothinof to do with this date. Good weather does not
seem to hasten the birds to their breeding haunts, nor
bad weather retard their starting. If the suitable con-
junction of circumstances occur during the season of a
certain bird's migration, that bird visits the island. If
the season goes by without such conjunction, the bird
does not visit the island. The period of its migration is
over. The migration of this species has taken place at
high altitudes, it may be, or by other routes ; and it is in
vain to look for it until the next season of migration
comes round, when, given the necessary wind and
weather, the appearance of the bird may confidently be
expected.

The period of migration of each species lasts about a
month. In spring, during the first week, the flocks con-
sist principally of adult males ; during the second week.

THE ORDER OF MIGRATION 201

they principally consist of adult females ; in the third
week, follow the birds of the year ; whilst finally, during
the last week, arrive the cripples — birds which have lost
their toes, birds with half a tail, birds with one mandible
abnormally long, or birds with some other defect. In
autumn the order of migration is somewhat different.
For weeks before the regular period of migration is due
stragglers in various stages of plumage arrive, loaf about
in a desultory manner for a few days, and then disappear.
Some of these birds are in summer plumage, some of
them in their winter dress, whilst others are in a tran-
sition stage, moulting as they migrate. These avant-
coureurs are supposed to consist of barren birds, odd
birds who have been unable to find a mate, or birds
whose nests have been destroyed too late in the season
to allow of a second nest to be made. Having nothing
else to do, the hereditary instinct to migrate not being
checked by the parental instinct, they yield to its first
impulses, and drift southwards before the general body of
their species. When the period of migration sets in in
earnest, astounding^ as the fact is, it is nevertheless true
that the birds of the year are the first to migrate, birds
which of course have never migrated before. This
circumstance, which all the Helio'olanders with whom I
conversed agreed in corroborating, may to a large extent
account for the fact that the rare stragglers recorded as
visiting- Helisfoland and other countries are for the most
part birds of the year on their first autumn migration. It
is not to be wondered at that on their first journey they
should frequently stray from the direct course. Probably
the mortality amongst birds of the year is very great,
especially amongst those who take the wrong road on
their first migration. The yellow-browed warbler [Pkyl/o-
scopus superciliosus, Gmel.) breeds in immense numbers

202 THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS

on the Arctic circle in Siberia. The main line of
migration of this, as well as of several other species of
birds breeding in the same district, is eastwards, passing
through North China and conducting them to South
China, Burma, and the eastern portion of India, where
they winter in abundance. Several birds, some nearly
allied, and one concreneric, miorrate west instead of east
from the same breedina-.a-rounds, and with these a few
yellow-browed warblers appear annually to mix anci find
their way to Europe, passing Heligoland in small numbers
nearly every autumn. Probably most of these wanderers
perish during the winter, as they have been observed in
spring on Heligoland only once every few years. This
charming little bird has once been recorded from the
British Islands. I saw one or two during my short stay
on Heligoland, and was fortunate enough to shoot one.
For nearly a week, whilst I was visiting this interesting
locality, the weather was unfavourable. There were
scarcely half a dozen birds on the island. I used to take
a constitutional with my gun twice or thrice a day, spend-
ing most of the rest of the time in Mr. Gatke's studio,
chatting about his birds, visiting regularly Aeuckens, the
bird-stuffer, to inquire if any one else had had better luck.
On the iith of October I shot three shore-larks.
Aeuckens told me that the appearance of this Arctic
species was a very good sign, that he had often noticed
that a few birds always preceded the favourable weather,
and that we might soon expect a change and plenty of
birds. The next day the west winds, which had pre-
vailed for a week, slackened a little. In the afternoon
it was a calm, with a rising barometer ; in the evening
a breeze was already springing up from the south-east.
I called upon Gatke, who advised me to go to bed, and
be up before sunrise in the morning, as in all probability

BIRDS AT THE LIGHTHOUSE 203

I should find the island swarming with birds. Accord-
ingly I turned in soon after ten. At half-past twelve I
was awoke with the news that the migration had already
beo-un. Hastily dressing myself, I at once made for the
lio-hthouse. As I crossed the potato-fields birds were
continually getting up at my feet. Arrived at the light-
house, an intensely interesting sight presented itself.

hp:ligoland

The whole of the zone of light within range of the
mirrors was alive with birds coming and going. Nothing
else was visible in the darkness of the night, but the
lantern of the lighthouse vignetted in a drifting sea of
birds. From the darkness in the east, clouds of birds
were continually emerging in an uninterrupted stream ; a
few swerved from their course, fluttered for a moment as
if dazzled by the light, and then gradually vanished with
the rest in the western gloom. Occasionally a bird
wheeled round the lighthouse and then passed on, and

204 THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS

occasionally one fluttered against the glass like a moth
against a lamp, tried to perch on the wire netting and
was caught by the lighthouse man. I should be afraid
to hazard a guess as to the hundreds of thousands that
must have passed in a couple of hours ; but the stray
birds which the lighthouse man succeeded in securing
amounted to nearly 300. The scene from the balcony
of the lighthouse was equally interesting ; in every direc-
tion birds were flying like a swarm of bees, and every
few seconds one flew against the glass. All the birds
seemed to be flying up wind, and it was only on the lee
side of the light that any birds were caught. They were
nearly all skylarks. In the heap captured was one red-
start and one reed-bunting. The air was filled with the
warbling cry of the larks ; now and then a thrush was
heard : and once a heron screamed as it passed by. The
night was starless and the town was invisible, but the
island looked like the outskirts of a gas-lighted city,
being sprinkled over with brilliant lanterns. Many of
the larks alighted on the ground to rest, and allowed the
Heligolanders to pass their nets over them. About
three o'clock a.m. a heavy thunderstorm came on, with
deluofes of rain ; a few breaks in the clouds revealed the
stars ; and the migration came to an end or continued
above the range of our vision.

The conclusion I came to after my Heligoland expe-
rience was that the desire to migrate was an hereditary
impulse, to which the descendants of migratory birds
were subject in spring and autumn, which has during the
lapse of ages acquired a force almost, if not quite, as
irresistible as the instinct to breed in spring. On the
other hand, the direction in which to migrate appears to
be absolutely unknown to the young birds in their first
autumn, and has to be learnt by experience. The idea

INSTINCT, OR HEREDITARY IMPULSE? 205

that the knowledge of where to migrate is a mysterious
gift of Nature, the miraculous quality of which is
attempted to be concealed under the semi-scientific term
of instinct, appears to be without any foundation in fact.
It appears that each individual bird has to find out its
own proper winter quarters for itself, and learn the way
thither as best it may. That birds have keen organs of
sight is a fact well known to all who have watched them
obtainino^ their food or eluding their enemies. That they
must have wonderful memories for place is shown by the
distance they roam from their nests which, however well
concealed, they seem to have no difficulty whatever in
finding again. Amongst true migratory birds, that is
amonofst birds which have a winter as well as a summer
home, as distinguished from gipsy migrants who per-
petually loaf about on the outskirts of the frost during
winter, continually changing their latitude with the tem-
perature, it appears to be a general rule that the farther
north a species goes to breed the farther south it goes to
winter. It is not known if this applies to individuals as
well as to species. The various times of arrival of many
species of birds in most latitudes of Europe are well
known and carefully recorded, but of the dates of
departure from the various latitudes of Africa where
they winter we know little or nothing, otherwise this
question might easily be settled. It is obviously much
easier to record the date of arrival of a bird than of its
departure. In the one case a single entry is sufficient ;
in the other, memoranda may have to be daily recorded
for weeks. At Valkenswaard, in Holland, I noticed that
the earliest migrants were those with the widest range.
Birds whose breeding- range extended to or beyond
Britain were the earliest to breed, whilst those whose
eggs I was most anxious to obtain, those whose breeding-

2o6

THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS

range did not extend to our islands, were very late in
arriving. It seems to be a curious fact that, as a general
rule — though subject, no doubt, to many exceptions — the
birds who have come from the lonoest distance arrive
the earliest. The facts of migration are, however, so
many, and the theories which they suggest are so various,
that we must brino- this ramblinof, if not irrelevant
chapter to an end, and return to the narrative of our
doings in the valley of the Petchora.

OLD RUSSIAN SILVER CROSS

DOIXi; ROBINSON CRUSOE AT DVOINIK

CHAPTER XXI.

IN CAMP AT DVOINIK.

Trip to Kuya — The Prahms— Travelling in a Rosposki — The Birds en
route — Arrival of the Triad at Alexievka — We Win over the Manager —
The Ino — Doing Robinson Crusoe in a Wrecked Ship — Nest of the Long-
tailed Duck — Our First Little Stint's Nest— The Tundra— Sunset and
Sunrise — Little Stint's Eggs — The Tundra near Bolvanskaya Bay —
Phalaropes — Interior of the Tundra — Change of Plumage in Phalaropes
— An Early Morning Start — Confusion of Time — The Snowy Owl — Two
more Nests of Little Stint^A March of Geese on the Tundra — An Old
Grave.

A DAY or two after our return from the Golievski islands,
a chance suddenly turned up of making a trip up stream
to Kuya. The rafts, which ought by this time to have
reached Alexievka, had not arrived, and ill-natured
rumours of their having run aground were brought down
by some fishermen. The manager of the company had
also run out of various arlicles de luxe, which his soul

2o8 IN CAMP AT DVOINIK

lusted after ; so the steamer was ordered to Kuya, and
we gladly accepted berths in her. On the way we met
one of the rafts coming down from Kuya. We drove on
to Mekitza to visit the prahms ; queer-looking vessels,
something like canal-boats, carrying a gigantic mast in
the centre, and an arched roof above. Each vessel is
a shop, where miscellaneous merchandise is sold or
bartered, and the owners who come down every summer
from Tcherdin, near Perm, are sometimes very wealthy
men. The goods fetch high prices on board. We paid
elevenpence per pound for sugar, and six shillings for
tea. The merchant from whom we bought our provisions
was reputed to be worth a million sterling. Nor was
it extraordinary, considering the amount of trade he
managed to secure. He had come down to Mekitza
with three prahms, had cleared the cargo of two, and
sold the vessels, and very few goods now remained in
the one in which he intended to make his journey home-
ward. In the villages the prices were much lower than
those asked on the prahms. Thus we paid only i^d.
per lb. for excellent fresh beef

At Kuya several timber-rafts passed us, proceeding to
Alexievka ; these we waylaid. They were carrying a batch
of letters for us, up to June 7th. Having secured this wel-
come prize, we set our faces towards our headquarters.

The five versts between Kuya to Mekitza and back
we travelled in a rosposki, a machine composed of
four wheels, about two feet in diameter, the axle-trees
of which are connected by three parallel poles, upon
which we sat. This vehicle is, without exception, the
most uncomfortable carriage it has ever been my ill-luck
to travel in. There is no support for the back, nothing
to hold on by at the sides ; only three bare poles to sit
on, and not height enough from the ground to swing one's

ARRIVAL OF THE "TRIAD" 209

legs about in peace. On the way we saw sand-martins,
hooded crows, arctic terns, common gulls, ringed plover,
and Temminck's stints. We got young in down of the
ringed plover and arctic tern, and shot a long-tailed duck
with her brood of ducklings. At Kuya we saw both the
common and the tree sparrow.

The morning had been intensely hot ; in the after-
noon the wind rose, veered round to the north, and the
night was stormy and cold. The next day the chill
continued, and for the time being the plague of mos-
quitoes was stayed. It was a pleasant surprise, on
reaching Alexievka, to find an English schooner, the
Triad, Captain Taylor, anchored in the river. She had
come over from Iceland, whither she had carried coal, and
was now chartered for larch to Cronstadt. We at once
secured berths in her. She intended to sail in ten days,
hoping to make Elsinore in a month.

The cold weather continued the next day. We spent
two hours at Wassilkova, but saw little of interest. The
red-throated pipits were in full moult, but we brought
home some of their young, also those of the yellow-
headed wagtail and dunlins, and a pintail duck and its
half-grown ducklings. The next day my companion
secured another specimen of our new pipit, for which we
had been looking in the neighbourhood. The day was
memorable for having brought successfully to a conclusion
our negotiations with Captain Arendt, the manager of
the company. A watch, a revolver, a musical box, and a
ten-pound note had brought him round, and on the
morrow the steamer was to be placed at our disposal.
We were in high spirits, shouting, " Hurrah! for Dvoinik
and the Little Stint ! " The next morning we were fairly
off by 10 A.M. It was damp and chilly, with a light
breeze from the north-west. As we neared the bar, we

o

2IO IN CAMP AT DVOINIK

sighted a brig- under full sail. We hoisted a rendezvous
flag, and went on board. Though flying Danish colours,
we found she was an English vessel — the InOy from
Newhaven. The captain told us he had been some days
trying to get into the. Petchora, but he was unable to
reach it by steering between islands Nos. 3 and 4, owing
to the ice, and had come round the east passage between
islands 7 and 8 and Varandai. This ice accounted
for the extraordinarily cold weather we had been having
since the previous Sunday.

About four we landed at Dvoinik, and took possession
of a stranded vessel that was lying high and dry upon
the beach. It was settled that the company's steamer
should call for us on the following Tuesday, Wednesday,
or Thursday, according to the final arrangements for the
starting of our schooner, the Triad, in which we were to
make part of our homeward passage. Meanwhile we were
to live at Dvoinik, in regular Robinson Crusoe fashion.
The deserted vessel looked very comfortable, and we
anticipated a jolly time.

Leaving the men to sweep up the hold, we started
off in high glee for a raid upon the Little stints. We
hastened over the tundra, makino^ for the marshy ground
upon which I had seen the dunlins, but not one was
there. Possibly, we thought, the young could fly by this
time, and had joined their parents on their favourite
feeding-ground. On the brackish lake close by we shot
a brood of long-tailed ducks, and afterwards found an
empty nest in the short, coarse grass, placed exactly at
high-tide water-mark. It contained down enough to
identify the species. There was no cover to the nest,
except a margin of thin turf, that looked as if it had been
turned up by a spade. On the lake there were, as before,
a couple of black-throated divers. I waited for a short

NEST OF THE LITTLE STINT 211

while, hiding in the cleft of the bank, as I had done on
the previous occasion when I had shot the Little stints,
but none were to be seen. I then skirted the margin of
the bay to its narrow entrance, having spied a grey
plover or two, a pair of Arctic terns, and a few herring-
gulls. When there, a small number of dunlins passed
rapidly overhead, and I repeatedly saw flocks of Little
stints. However, these might have been the same flock
passing and repassing. They were very wild, and I
could not get a shot. Some time before, my companion
and I had parted company. We now met at one of the
capes at the southern extremity of the high promontory.
Cocksure was with him. On comparing notes I found
their experience had been much the same as mine, only
Cocksure shot a Temminck's stint, near the sandhills.
In returning we separated again to cover more ground ;
and again when we met, and compared notes, we found
that to each the sandhills, the lakes, and the shores had
proved a blank, destitute of bird-life.

We then separated for a stroll on the tundra. I had
not gone far before I heard our interpreter Piottuch
shoutino- in a state of oreat excitement. Harvie- Brown
was the first to come up ; and I joined them shortly
afterwards. I found them sitting on the crround, with
a couple of Little stints in down. I sat down beside
them, and we watched the parent bird as she was
fluttering and flying and running all round us, sometimes
coming within a foot of one of us. After securing the
old bird we went on a short distance, and Piottuch again
made loud demonstrations of delight. This time it was
nest and eo-Sfs. The nest was like that of most sand-
pipers, a mere depression in the ground, with such dead
maroshka (cloudberry) leaves and other dry materials as
were within easy reach, scraped together to serve as

212 IN CAMP AT DVOINIK

lining. The position was on a comparatively dry extent
of tundra, sloping from the top of the little turf cliffs that
rise from the lagoon down to the sandhills at the twin
capes, between which the tide runs in and out of a little
inland sea. These sandhills are flanked on the side next
the sea with piles of drift-wood of all sizes and shapes —
lofty trees which have been mown down by the ice when
the great river broke up and in many places overflowed
its banks, squared balks of timber washed away by the
floods from the stores of the Petchora Timber-trading
Company, and spars of luckless ships that have been
wrecked on these inhospitable shores. They are sparingly
sprinkled over with esparto grass, and soon run into an
irregular strip of sand and gravel. This part of the
coast, however, did not seem to have any attraction
for the Little stints. There were plenty of ringed plover
upon it, and a few Temminck's stints ; and we saw a
pair of snow-buntings with five young, which had probably
been bred amongst the drift-wood. At Dvoinik, however,
for perhaps a verst from each twin cape, between the
sand and the mouth of the little inland sea, is an extent
of dead flat land, covered over with thick short grass,
and full of little lakes, mostly very shallow and filled
with black or coffee-coloured mud with an inch or two of
brackish water upon it. Some of these pools are covered
with aquatic plants, and others are open water. These
lakes and pools seem to be the real point of attraction ;
and on their edges the Little stints feed, in small flocks
of from half a dozen birds to a score, as they happen to
meet from the tundra. The large flock of perhaps a
hundred or more birds, which was occasionally seen,
might possibly have been last year's birds and not
breeding ; but more probably it consisted entirely of
males, which, so far as we had an opportunity of observ-

THE TUNDRA'S VARIED GROUND 213

ing, do not take any part in incubation. The ground
where the nests were placed was full of tussocks or
hummocks, close together, the swampy ground between
being almost hidden, or traceable only by rows of cotton-
grass. The nests were within a hundred yards of the
place where I shot the five Little stints on July 14, on
a comparatively dry extent of tundra gently sloping
towards the north-east, lying between the lagoon and
the inland sea — exactly the place in which one would
expect them to breed, not too swampy, but probably
the coolest place the birds could have chosen. The
Pytkoff Mts., though at a considerably greater elevation
(513 feet above the level of the sea), are no doubt
warmer, because more inland. The sandy shore, having
little or no cover, would also be hotter from the sun.
Facing the north-east, this part of the tundra catches the
most of the prevailing winds at this season of the year,
and the least sun ; and no doubt the large bay or inland
sea on one side, and the open water on the other, help to
cool the air.

We had already given names to the different sorts of
ground on the tundra. The dry, grassy hills were the
shore-lark ground ; the dead, flat bog, intersected with
tussocky ridges, was the grey plover ground ; the
swampy marsh, covered with long grass, was the reeve
ground. Where the grass was shorter and more tangled
and knotted, it became dunlin ground ; and where this
short grassy swamp was sprinkled over with tussocks of
dryer earth, covered over with moss and flowers, it was
the Lapland bunting or red-throated pipit l^ round. The
part where the tussocks lay so close together that they
reminded one of the hundred domes of the Stamboul
bazaar seen from the minaret of Santa Sophia, and the
swampy ground was almost hidden, or traceable only by

214 IN CAMP AT DVOINIK

rows of cotton-grass, we agreed to call for the future the
Little stint g-round. The hummocks were covered with
green moss, mingled here and there with a little hoary
reindeer moss. This undergrowth was concealed by the
niaroshka (the cloudberry), a species of rush, sedges,
the dwarf sweet-smelling daphne, and other shrubs and
flowers of the tundra.

The last few days had been almost winter, but on the
following day it was summer once again. The wind
had dropped and the clouds had gone from the sky.
This was the bright side of the change ; the reverse was
the swarm of mosquitoes that hung over the tundra.
Brown and I visited the Little stint ground again, on
the principle of "stick to your covey"; but not a bird
or a nest could we see upon it. We shot a wheatear
on the shore, saw a pair of sanderlings, dropped a fine
glaucous gull, a reeve, and some other birds, and then
returned to our quarters. Our Samoyede brought us
a couple of nests of long-tailed ducks, one containing
three eggs, the other five. We were tired out, so
having cooked a duck for dinner, we went to bed at
4 A.M., to rise at ii a.m. We began our day (let the
reader forgive the Irishism, it is only a Petchorski bull),
by watching the sun set and rise again in the space of an
hour or so ; then we set ofi", hoping to get the start of
the mosquitoes. It was a dead calm, and taking the
boat, we crossed over to the north twin cape. We found
the sand barren of special interest, as it had been on the
other side ; only the intrusive ringed plover made as
much hubbub as a hundred Little stints or grey plovers
would have done, evidently considering its eggs were
the only ones we could possibly be in search of The
lakes and pools were very similar in shape and appear-
ance to those on the south cape. Temminck's stints were

THE ARCTIC MIST 215

somewhat more abundant, and we fell in with one small
party of Little stints. Before leaving this ground we
devoted an hour to duck-shooting for the pot, and
bagged three long-tailed ducks, and one pintail with
two young in down. We then turned our attention
to the tundra, which rapidly rose some forty feet or
so, afterwards sloping gradually down apparently to
the Pytkoff hills, distant some fifteen miles. In many
places a white mist lay over the landscape, resembling
far-away lakes. There were numerous small pools of
water, but we could not distinsfuish them until within
a short distance. In suitable ground the grey plover
abounded, and we shot young Lapland buntings ; yet
on the whole the tundra did not look inviting — grey
plovers and their eggs were not sufficient attraction to
lure us to face the mosquitoes ; so turning away from
it we began to explore the shores of a river winding
inland. On its high steep grassy banks we found shore-
larks, old and young, and what was even more to the
purpose and acceptable in our present Robinson Crusoe
situation — an abundance of leeks or eschalots, of which
we laid in a plentiful supply. We recognised an eagle
soaring overhead, we saw some skuas, ringed plovers,
Temminck's stints, and redpolls, but nothing of special
interest. It was now about eight o'clock, so we rowed
back to the entrance of the inland sea, intending to
cross over to our quarters on the south cape, when
suddenly a dense white mist, coming from the Arctic
ice, fell upon us. We hastened to run our boat ashore,
stopping to shoot a sanderling on a sandbank, and soon
after an Arctic tern.

Our next nest of the Little stint was taken on the
24th of July. Harvie- Brown and I had^been up all
night, shooting by the light of the midnightj, sun, hoping

2i6 IN CAMP AT DVOINIK

to avoid the mosquitoes, and were returning home to our
wrecked ship in a thick white morning mist. I stopped
behind to refresh myself with a bath, and afterwards
turned towards the Little stint ground. Just as I reached
it I was glad to see Piottuch emerge from the white mist,
with the intelligence that he had found another nest of
this bird, containing four eggs, about three versts off,
and had shot the bird, leaving the nest and eggs for us
to take. We walked on together a short distance, when
I heard the now familiar cry of a Little stint behind me,
a sharp wick^ almost exactly the same as the cry of the
red-necked phalarope, or that of the sanderling. Turn-
ing quickly round, I saw the bird flying past as if coming
up from its feeding-grounds. It wheeled round us at
some distance and alighted on the ground about eighty
yards ahead. We walked slowly up towards it, and stood
for some time watching it busily employed in preening
its feathers. By-and-by we sat down. It presently began
to run towards us, stopping now and then to preen a
feather or two ; then it turned back a few paces, and
lifting its wings settled down, evidently on its nest. We
gave it three minutes grace, to be quite sure, and then
quietly walked up to the place, and sat down, one on
each side of the eggs. The bird as quietly slipped off
the nest, and began to walk about all round us, now and
then pecking on the ground as if feeding, seldom going
more than six feet from us, and often approaching within
eighteen inches. It was a most interesting and beautiful
sight. The tameness of the bird was almost ludicrous.
We chatted and talked ; but the bird remained perfectly
silent, and did not betray the slightest symptom of fear
or concern, until I touched the eggs. She then gave a
flutter towards me, apparently to attract my attention. I
turned towards her, and she resumed her former un-

TAMENESS OF THE LITTLE STINT 217

concern. I stretched my hand towards her. She quietly-
retreated, keeping about two feet from my hand. She
seemed so extremely tame that I almost thought for the
moment that I could catch her, and, ofettinof on to all fours,

''00

I crept quietly towards her. As soon as I began to move
from the nest, her manner entirely changed. She kept
about the same distance ahead of me ; but instead of retreat-
ing, with the utmost apparent nonchalance, she did every-
thing in her power to attract me still farther. She shuffled
along the ground as if lame. She dropped her wings as if
unable to fly, and occasionally rested on her breast, quiver-
ing her drooping wings and spread tail, as if dying, I threw
one of my gauntlets at her, thinking to secure her without
damage, but she was too quick for me. Piottuch then fired
at her, and missed. He followed her for some distance ; but
she kept just out of range, and finally flew away. We
waited about a quarter of an hour at the nest, talking and
making no effort to conceal ourselves, when she flew straight
up and alighted within easy shot, and I secured her.

The Little stint seems to be a very quiet bird at the
nest, quite different from Temminck's stint. When you
invade a colony of the latter birds, especially if they
have young, the parents almost chase you from the spot
— flying wildly round and round and crying vociferously,
often perching upon a stake or a tree, or hovering in the
air and trilling. We observed none of these habits in
the Little stint. So far as we saw, only the female takes
part in incubation, and only the female is seen near the
nest. On our way back to the wreck we met with a
party of sanderlings on the shore, and shot two of them.
No doubt these birds were breedinof somewhere in the
district. After a good dinner of willow-grouse and a
siesta of three hours, we started to take the nest that
Piottuch had marked. Whilst we had slept the weather

2i8 IN CAMP AT DVOINIK

had changed. The mosquitoes had all gone. A smart
gale was blowing from the north, and a heavy sea was
breaking on the shore. It was cloudy, dark, and cold,
with an attempt now and then at rain. The nest was a
couple of miles off, very near the shore of the inland
sea, but on somewhat similar ground — moss, cloudberry,
grass, and the like. The eggs were intermediate in
colour between those of the other two nests. On our
return to our quarters we found that our Samoyede
servant had caught a young Little stint, half-grown, a
very interesting bird. Like the young of the dunlin, the
first feathers are those of summer plumage. On com-
paring the young in down and half-grown birds of the
dunlin with those of this bird, we noted that the legs of
young dunlin in down were pale brown, whilst those of
the half-grown and mature birds were nearly black ; the
Little stint, on the other hand, seems to have nearly
black legs and feet at all ages.

The Little stint is evidently much more nearly allied
to the dunlin than to Temminck's stint, and ought to be
called the Little dunlin. The birds are very similar in
colour. Their eggs can hardly be mistaken for those of
Temminck's stint, but are in every respect miniature
dunlins' eggs. The young in down of Temminck's stint
are quite grey compared with the reddish-brown of the
young of the dunlin. The young in down of the Little
stint are still redder, especially on the sides and the back
of the neck.

The average size of the twenty eggs we obtained of
the Little stint is about i xV x f inch, a trifle smaller than
the eggs of Temminck's stint usually are. The ground-
colour varies from pale greenish-grey to pale brown.
The spots and blotches are rich brown, generally large,
and sometimes confluent at the large end. They probably

POOLS ON THE TUNDRA 219

go through every variety to which dunlins' eggs are
subject. All the eggs which we found, with one excep-
tion, which would probably be a barren one, were very
much incubated.

The following morning the gale from the north con-
tinued. It was a mosquitoless day, and very cold ; a
heavy sea still broke against the shore ; ever and anon
the sun shone, but masses of cloud kept drifting over the
sky. We spent the day in exploring the tundra in the
direction of Bolvanskaya Bay. Far as the eye could
reach the country stretched before us, a gently undulat-
ing moor, an Arctic prairie, a Siberian tundra ; no hills
were on the horizon, save the short range of the Pytkoff
Kamin. Plenty of lakes, large and small, gleamed upon
the expanse ; the banks of most of them were steep and
of peat ; others were flat, and covered with rushy grass ;
rarely were they sandy. Here and there the pools were
almost dried up ; some were so choked up by coarse
grasses, rushes, and ca7nces as to become swamps, holding
a little space of open water in the centre. These were
quite accessible, however, thanks to our waterproof boots ;
we sank some twelve to eighteen inches through water
and mud, but reached a safe bottom, hard and level as a
stone floor, a solid pavement of ice. We spent an hour
or two wading round one of these open spaces of water,
forming the centre of a choked-up lakelet. Upon a little
island of firm ground, that raised its summit above the
reeds, was the empty nest of some bird, probably a gull,
and close to the open water was the nest of a black-
throated diver, with one ^g^. The latter was placed
upon a foundation of roots and dead grass, half turned to
peat, raked up from the bottom of the swamp, and upon
this was placed a lining of fresh green flaggy grass.
The ^.gg was very small ; but both parent birds were

220 IN CAMP AT DVOINIK

Hying overhead, often coming near enough for identifica-
tion. On the open water phalaropes were swimming,
and we frequently rose them from the grasses at our feet.
Their behaviour plainly showed that they were breeding ;
they circled round us wildly, uttering their usual cry. We
secured three young in down, only recently hatched.

We spent another hour on the banks of a large lake,
upon which swam two pairs of long-tailed ducks, each
with its brood. After waiting and watching and stalking,
we got hold of two old birds, two of the young in down
of one brood, and six more grown-up young of the other.
On the sandy margin of another lake, white with the
seeds of the cotton-grass, we saw several ringed plover,
and shot one Little stint. We came upon a few Buffon's
skuas, and on their ground we found the grey plover
abundant as usual. Returning home, I chose the lee
shore for my route, and as I came along watched several
glaucous and herring gulls, saw a pair of wheatears, and
shot a shore-lark.

Meanwhile our Samoyede and our half-breed had
made a long excursion into the tundra by the banks of
the rivers Erisvanka and Eevka. They described the
country as exactly the same as that which we already
knew — moor, swamp, and bog, with plenty of lakes,
large and small. They had met nothing of interest,
except ducks, geese, and swans. These birds were now
evidently leaving their breeding haunts and retiring into
the tundra to moult. During this period of comparative
helplessness and inability to fly, they are attacked by the
Samoyedes on their way back from Varandai and the
Bolshai Tundra. The Samoyedes have grand battues
amongst the geese, and return to the Petchora laden with
feathers and down, which they sell at the Pinega fair.
Our men brouo"ht back with them but one bird. This

BIRDS' CRIES 221

was perhaps the most interesting of all to us — a Bewick's
swan, shot on the banks of a great lake in company with
four others.

On the morrow the storm continued, and rain fell
during the morning ; so we spent the hours inside our
wreck, writing up our journals and examming the
phalaropes.

The idle morning seemed a long one. After dinner
we smoked a pipe, whiled away the time in chatting, and
then retired, as I thought, very early to bed. I woke
after some hours and got up, for I had had sleep enough,
shouldered my gun, and went out, leaving all the others
still deep in their slumbers. It was very windy, and
ever and anon came gusts of rain, yet there were more
birds than usual out feeding, "It's the early bird that
catches the worm," I said to myself

My first care was to seek out the Little stint ground.
I saw several birds upon it, but no trace of a nest could I
discover. Then I took a long stroll along the edge of the
inland sea and by the banks of the river beyond. As I
went along I constantly heard the clear, sharp, but not
loud cry of the Little stint and phalarope — ivick — but I
had not yet learned to distinguish the one from the other,
nor could I tell either from the cry of the sanderling.
The spluttering note, pt-r-r-7', of the Temminck's stint is
very distinct ; so is the dunlin's thick hoarse cry o{ peezh,
or its grating call-note — /rr— as well as the noisy /<?<?- zV of
the ringed plover.

I had been out some hours when I met my com-
panion, and hailed him with "Good morning," He
answered with " Good evenings." We both ag^reed the
hour was seven, but we differed as to its being a.m. or
P.M. I was convinced it was the morning of the morrow,
whereas Harvie- Brown was persuaded it was yester-

222 IN CAMP AT DVOINIK

evening, A never-setting sun plays strange pranks with
one's reckoning of time.

Harvie-Brown had worked the Little stint ground,
but had not seen a bird upon it. While with me, he shot
a brace of grey plovers ; then we parted, and I returned
to the Little stint feeding haunts. I secured a brace of
them, a few dunlins, old and young, and a grey plover ;
also some young Temminck's stints half-way between
feathers and down. As I was picking up the latter I
discerned in the distance the form of a great white bird,
which seemed to me to alight upon a distant lake.
Taking it to be a Bewick's swan, I put a slug-cartridge
into my gun and walked rapidly on in its direction.
Before I sfot within shot of it the bird rose, and I saw a
snowy owl drop behind the sand-hills. I carefully stalked
it, looked around, and after a time descried a white spot
resting on the north twin cape, which, with the aid of my
telescope, I discovered to be the owl. He, too, must
have been watching me ; perhaps he took my sealskin
cap for some new species of lemming, for presently he
rose and flew across the water directly towards me. By
the time he had reached the other twin cape he evidently
discovered his mistake, and alighted on the beach about
sixty yards in front of me. I rose and walked towards
him ; he also rose, but before he had flown ten yards my
shot reached him, broke one of his wings, and dropped
him into the sea. As he lay struggling in the water a
score of glaucous and herring-gulls came flying towards
him, and sailed round and round him, making quite a
small uproar with their cries. I was too anxious, how-
ever, to secure my first snowy owl to pay any heed to
them, especially as my cartridge extractor had got out of
order ; I therefore plunged into the water, and, as it was
shallow, I soon landed my prize.

A NEW-FANGLED EXTRACTOR 223

My extractor was a complicated new-fangled patent
invention, and already that day it had caused me to lose
a pair of Buffon's skuas. I had shot a young dunlin on
the muddy margin of the inland sea, breaking with the
same barrel the wingf of an old dunlin ; with the second
barrel I killed a Little stint. The wounded bird lay a
few yards off, when suddenly, down there flew upon it a
couple of Buffon's skuas, who quarrelled over it and
carried it off before — unable to reload — I could wade
through the mud to the rescue.

After securing the owl, I carried my trophy home in
triumph, overtaking my companion by the way. On
reaching the wreck, we finally settled the question of
evening or morning. We satisfactorily established that
it was the former, so we dined and went to bed again.

The next day the gale continued, but there was some
sunshine, and the cold kept the mosquitoes at bay. I
spent my morning superintending the cooking of the
swan our men had brought the preceding day. Mean-
while Harvie-Brown went out to the far end of the
inland sea, and got a little distance from the spot where
we had found the last nest of the Little stint. He
came upon two more. We had by this time twenty of
these birds' eggs ; all miniature dunlins' eggs, and like
them, varying in colour. These two nests were not built
on the tundra proper, but on the feeding-ground — a flat
sandy strip of land on which grew short grass and bunches
of a thick-leaved yellow-flowering plant, sprinkled here
and there with dried-up or drying pools, and with drift-
wood lying scattered about in all directions. The tundra
stops at some 150 yards from the seashore, and this
stretch of feeding ground lies between it and the water's
edge.

After lunching on the baked breast of the swan, I

224 IN CAMP AT DVOINIK

returned to the wreck, but by a different route from that
which my companion had taken. I took the boat across
to the north twin cape, and was an hour pulling half a
verst against the heavy gale. I then skirted the margin
of a long narrow inlet, exactly like the dried-up bed of
a river, running some miles into the tundra, bending
round almost behind the inland sea. I had not gone
more than a mile when I heard the cackle of geese ;
a bend of the river bed gave me an opportunity of
stalking them, and when I came within sight I beheld
an extraordinary and interesting scene. At least one
hundred old geese, and quite as many young ones,
perhaps even twice or thrice that number, were marching
like a regiment of soldiers. The vanguard, consisting
of old birds, was halfway across the stream ; the rear,
composed principally of goslings, was running down the
steep bank towards the water's edge as fast as their
young legs could carry them. Both banks of the river,
where the geese had doubtless been feeding, were
strewn with feathers, and in five minutes I picked
up a handful of quills. The flock was evidently
migrating to the interior of the tundra, moulting as it
went along.

On the top of the high embankment bordering the
river I came upon a wooden monument, about a foot
in height and width, and from two to three feet in length.
The wood was entirely rotten, and I easily broke and
tore open the lid that still covered it. Inside I found
bones like those of a dog, a broken vessel of glazed
earthenware, the rusty remains of an iron vase, and
an abundance of mould. Outside were fragments of
bleached bone, like the remains of an infant's skull.
This was doubtless a Samoyede's tomb ; but we could
not determine if it was that of an infant, whose remains

BIRDS ON THE TUNDRA

225

had been buried in the box, or that of an adult interred
below.

After loitering some time about this spot I pushed
on farther, crossing over a plateau of tundra, well covered
in places with willows some three feet high. Here 1
found willow-grouse with young well able to fly, many
willow-warblers, a few" redpolls, and one blue-throated
warbler.

OLD RUSSIAN SILVER CROSS

MIC.RATION OF GEESE

CHAPTER XXII.

HOMEWARD BOUND.

On Short Commons — Bad Weather — A Foraging Party — Russian Super-
stitions— Return of the Steamer — Beautiful Flowers — Arrival at Alexievka
— Departure for Home — Thunderstorm — Water-spout — Sea-birds — Hard
Fare — Copenhagen — Summary of the Trip.

Matters were beo-inninp" to look somewhat serious in
our Robinson Crusoe encampment. The heavy gale
continued to blow unabated, and it was very probable
the steamer would not call for us until the sea grew
quieter. Meanwhile our larder was nearly empty. We
were reduced to half a loaf of bread, and to what birds
we could secure. We breakfasted on a grey plover, a
brace of dunlins, and three duck's eggs, which, though
somewhat incubated, yet made a good omelette. There
was nothing, however, for dinner, so we all turned out

ON SHORT COMMONS 227

to provide for the pot. Harvie- Brown went south, and
returned with only a few dunlins and a grey plover ; he
had chased a bar-tailed g-odwit for some distance near
the seashore, but had not got within shot. I had met
with no better luck, for although I had brought down
a dozen dunlins and c»rey phalaropes as they fed on the
margin of a lake I had been able only to secure three.
At the first step I took in the direction of my prizes,
I sank lower th;m knee-deep into the black mud. My
gun also snapped at a willow-grouse within easy range.
We returned to our quarters somewhat down-hearted ; the
gale was blowing more fiercely than ever, a thick mist
covered the sea, and gusts of wind drove the rain into the
wreck. We cooked ourselves a supper of fried dunlins,,
and allowed to each a weak basin of Liebig's extract-
of-meat soup, and half a slice of bread. About midnight,
as we smoked our pipes and listened to the howling and
spitting of the wind and rain outside, our thoughts followed
the forlorn-hope party we had sent out, and we doubted
whether it would meet with better luck than we had.
This party consisted of Cocksure, the Samoyede, and
the half-breed. They had gone on what might be called,
in a double sense, a wild-goose chase, in pursuit of the
flock of geese I had seen the day before migrating across
the water into the tundra. We went to bed hoping
against hope, and were awakened towards four by the
noisy arrival of our envoys, carrying back in triumph
eleven old geese and five young ones. One of the
party had taken the boat up the river upon which I
had seen the flock. The other two followed, each keep-
ing upon opposite banks. They came upon the geese
a few versts higher up than the spot at which I had seen
them, and falling upon them had made a grand haul of
birds. The laying in of this stock of provisions lifted a

228 HOMEWARD BOUND

burden off our minds. We now proceeded to administer,
with better grace than we could have before, a sound
rating to our two lazy, good-for-nothing Russian servants.
They were the only two who had grumbled during this
time of perplexity ; for ever muttering that if the storm
did not abate and the steamer come to our rescue, we
should surely all be '' pi^opar' (lost). We had ordered
one to join the forlorn-hope party, but he had soon
returned, and all the nig^ht he had done little but kneel
in a state of abject fear, tremblin!:^, crossing himself, and
crying, '' Gospodin, Gospodin, dai kkleba" (Lord, Lord,
give us bread). These poor dupes of the miserable
Greek Church have not learnt the wholesome doctrine
Cromwell taught his soldiers, to " trust in the Lord and
keep their powder dry. " Like many other fanatics at home
and abroad, they close their eyes to the truth that God
7nay bless their work, but will never bless their idleness.
As a just punishment for their sloth and cowardice, we
condemned them to pluck the geese, on which we and the
captors made a hearty meal. While we regaled ourselves
they had to look on, and feast upon leeks.

The larger number of geese, being in full moult, had
been unable to fly. Cocksure assured us that both old
and young constantly hid themselves under the water,
where some remained, just keeping their beaks above
the surface, for ten minutes at a time. He added that he
had often observed the same thing in Mezen during the
moultino- season.

The gale exhausted its violence during the night, and
gradually slackened and wore itself out during the day :
when the following morning came, the weather was quite
calm. With ten geese in our larder, we considered our-
selves entitled to a lazy day, so we wandered out in the
tundra, making a small collection of the flowers that grow

THE PEREGRINES' EYRIES 229

upon it, the bonnie bright Arctic blossoms that deck for
a few weeks that region of ice. We shot an immature
gull, and loafed about, feeling that we had exhausted the
place, and hoping for the arrival of the steamer. A
flock of what we took to be sandpipers, flying wildly
overhead and uttering a note like that of the knot, roused
our curiosity. When we at last succeeded in shooting one,
the bird turned out to be a reeve. Another incident in this,
our last day, was tracing the footprints of a swan in the
mud, and identifying them as those of a Bewick's swan.

At two o'clock the following" morning I was on our
wreck's deck, chatting with Cocksure, when on the
horizon we caught sio"ht of the steamer. All our com-
panions were asleep, except the half-breed, but five
minutes later all were up and hard at work packing.
By five o'clock we were on board, steaming over a sea
smooth as glass towards Bolvanski Nos. At eight we
went on shore at Stanavialachta to visit the peregrine's
nest, where we expected to find a new lot of eggs. From
a distance we could see the male bird sitting on the spot.
He allowed us to approach to within ten or twelve yards,
when suddenly he took the a'arm and rose. We fired
and dropped him on the beach below. There were no
eggs in the nest. Probably the female bird was sitting
on the other eyrie ; but we were dead-beat with fatigue,
and the hillsides swarmed with mosquitoes, so we made
our way back at once to the steamer, sl.ooting a willow-
grouse as we went, a male in fine summer plumage. The
flowers on this part of the tundra were very beautiful,
vividly coloured, and abundant ; especially lovely was a
tall monkshood and a species of pink. On board the
steamer we stretched ourselves on the sofa in the cabin
and fell asleep, only to awake when the vessel stopped
at Alexievka about noon.

230 HOMEWARD BOUND

The Triad was making ready to start on the morrow ;
her cargo was to be about 8000 cubic feet of larch. Our
stay in these Arctic latitudes was now fast drawing to an
end. I spent the afternoon looking about the island,
directing my search especially for young of the yellow-
headed wagtail. Scarcely a bird was to be seen out of
cover. Grass nearly two feet high covered the ground,
and the willows were in full leaf It was difficult enough
to get a shot at a bird, and almost impossible to find it
when brought down. At last I tried the coast, and found
plenty of birds feeding amongst the drift-wood and the
prostrate willows that had fallen with the crumbling away
of the banks. Yellow-headed wagtails, red-throated pipits,
and reed buntings were here in abundance. I could not
stay, however, for the sun was scorching hot, and the
mosquitoes were swarming.

I spent the night with Captain Taylor and Captain
Arendt on board the Triad, giving a helping hand in
superintending the loading of the schooner. The heat
was so intense that I could scarcely bear the suffocation
of my mosquito-veil, and seldom put it on. The conse-
quence was that I was more bitten in those few hours than
I had been during the whole of my previous stay. I did
not turn in till 6 a.m., but I woke at eleven, and spent my
day making out the bills of lading for Captain Arendt.
At five o'clock on Sunday, August i, we finally bade
farewell to the tundra and to our wandering life, and
began our journey towards Europe and civilisation. We
left Alexievka in tow of the steamer, reaching the bar
soon after midnight. The cutter signalled ten feet of
water ; as we were drawing so much we were soon
aground, as was to be expected. I sat up with the
captain all night as we tediously manoeuvred through the
shallow water. We had just lit the fire to cook some

CLEARING THE PETCHORA 231

supper, when Engel suddenly heaving on the anchor, we
got under way again. The captain took the hehn, and
I remained below cooking the steaks and making the
coffee ; but we were soon aground once more, and sat
down to eat our meal in the cabin. For some hours we
went on, sometimes aground, sometimes scraping the
bank, until at last we crossed the bar ; then Engel towed
us until we sighted the beacon at Dvoinik. All sails
were now set, and we steered N.E. by N. with a gentle
breeze. All the following day and night we tacked from
one bank of shoal water to another, with a head wind
against us. The lead was kept constantly going, and as
soon as the water under the keel was less than a foot,
orders were immediately given to "'bout ship." By
good luck or good management, we succeeded in getting
out of the lagoon of the Petchora without running
aground again, though Captain Taylor vowed that
nothing should ever induce him a second time to risk a
ship in such a dangerous and difficult river. We had
scarcely cleared the banks more than half an hour before
the wind dropped entirely ; the sails flapped idly on the
masts, and we sent the crew to bed. We were lounging
on the after part of the ship, telling our adventures to the
captain, when three curious clouds, like beehives, appeared
to rise on the horizon. We were leaning over the bul-
warks watching these unusual shapes in the sky, when
our attention was caught by the sound of a distant rum-
blinof. The sea was as smooth as fjlass, and we were
debatinof whether the noise was not that of the Arctic
ice, when the captain descried a distant ripple on the sea,
and started up as if he had been shot. Hastily asking
me to take the rudder, he ran to the hatchway and cried
out, at the top of his voice, " All hands on deck ! " Every
possible exertion was made to haul down the canvas ; but

232 HOMEWARD BOUND

before this could be accomplished the gale came upon us,
and the ship reeled as the squall struck her, first on the
starboard and then on the port side. By the time the
canvas had been taken in, the squall had become violent ;
the sea rose, peals of thunder followed each other rapidly,
and rain came down in torrents. A still more extra-
ordinary sight presented itself shortly afterwards — a
waterspout. About half a mile from the ship the clouds
came down in a funnel, and deluges of rain appeared to
fall under it, the sea being lashed into foam as if ten
thousand millstones had been suddenly hurled into it. It
was some hours before the wind settled down again ; but
it proved to be a favourable one, and we made fair
progress homewards through a Scotch mist from the
Arctic ice.

For two days we had fog and fair wind, then came
wind and sunshine. On the 3rd of August a few flocks
of phalaropes passed overhead, and on the 4th a pair of
snowy owls alighted on the ship. We saw also several
kittiwake gulls and pomatorhine skuas. Then from the
8th of August to the 29th came three dreary weeks,
during which the ship wearily toiled on, against heavy
gales and contrary winds, but ever and anon came a fair
breeze, to prevent us despairing altogether of ever reach-
ing Elsinore. It seemed hopeless often enough. Various
were the tacks the captain tried on the way. One day
we would lie-to and let the good ship drift back with the
heavy gale towards Kolguev Island, another we would
tear along, blown forward by an equally fierce wind,
which we welcomed, for it was bearing us homeward.
Now we would lie motionless with sails idly flapping
against the masts, and again we would be cutting the
water with a favourable breeze impelling us on. As we
approached the North Cape the weather grew wilder; it

HOME AGAIN 233

seemed as if we could never round it ; the bold promon-
tory appeared to frighten away all fair winds. When we
were within eighty miles of Bear Island our search for
it was vain ; it lay shrouded in impenetrable fogs. At
last we left the ill-starred land behind us. We passed
the wild peaks of the Lofodens ; we left the storm-tossed
waves beating at their feet, and hailed the mountains
behind Christiansund in menial weather. During those
weeks we saw kittiwakes and Fulmar petrels almost
daily ; now and then there passed a skua or a puffin or
two, but no bird on migration.

After another week of fair winds, head winds, calms,
and gales, we reached Elsinore on the thirty-fifth day.
All this time we had roug-hish fare on board. The
Triad had no provision for passengers. The first week
exhausted our stock of grog and fresh provisions, and
the remainder of the journey we had to put up with hard
captains' biscuits, Australian tinned meat, and coffee
with no milk and short rations of sugar. When we
landed at Elsinore we found that we had averaged
2\ knots per hour ! Our first care was to order a good
dinner, which we all agreed was the most superb enter-
tainment to which we had ever sat down. For the last
fortnight we had dreamed of dining, but always woke
before the happy moment arrived. Our dinner at
Elsinore was enjoyed with an appetite which we never
hope to experience again. Taking the night train to
Copenhagen, we arrived there on the morning of Monday
the 6th of September. We were disappointed in our
efforts to find a steamer for England, so proceeded at
once to Hamburg, where my companion found a boat for
Leith ; and I lost no time in putting myself and, not my
"sieben Sachen," but my " siebzehn Sachen," on board
a steamer for Hull.

234

HOMEWARD BOUND

I left Hamburg in the Zebra on Wednesday the 8th
of September, and after a smooth passage landed in
Hull on Saturday the iith instant, having been away
from home rather more than twenty-seven weeks. Of
this time the journey out occupied about six weeks ;
another six weeks was spent in weary waiting for the
arrival of spring ; and the journey home took up a third
period of six weeks, leaving only nine weeks in which
the bulk of our ornithological work was done. For-
tunately during this time we had twenty-four hours
daylight, of which we frequently availed ourselves. By
dint of hard work and long hours we succeeded in doing
more in those nine weeks than we could possibly have
expected. There can be no doubt that we were ex-
ceptionally fortunate in chancing upon the localities
frequented by birds which appear to be extremely local
during the breeding season.

OLD RUSSIAN SILVER CROSS

FROM MEKITZA TO KUYA O.N A ROSPOSKI

CHAPTER XXIII.

RESULTS OF THE JOURNEY.

Results of the Trip — Summer in the Arctic Regions — Circumpolar Birds
— Birds Confined to the Eastern Hemisphere — Various Ranges of Birds —
Migration of Birds — Dates of Arrival — Probable Route — Conclusion.

The results of our somewhat adventurous journey ex-
ceeded our most sanguine hopes.

Of the half-dozen British birds, the discovery of
whose breedinof-orrounds had baffled the efforts of our
ornithologists for so long, we succeeded in bringing
home identified eggs of three — the grey plover,* the
Little stint, and Bewick's swan. Of the remaining three,
two — the sanderling and the knot — were found breeding

* Mr. Seebohm apparently overlooked the fact that Middendorff found the nest
of the grey plover on the Taimyr peninsula in 1843, and figured the egg in his
Sibirische Keise, Bd. II., Th. 2, plate 19, Fig. i. Tringa miiiuta was also found
nesting, though its eggs were not figured, by the same traveller. — Ed,

236 RESULTS OF THE JOURNEY

by Captain Fielden, in lat. 82°, during the Nares Arctic
expedition, but the breeding-grounds of the curlew sand-
piper still remain a mystery.* We added several birds to
the European list, which had either never been found
in Europe before, or only doubtfully so ; such as the
Siberian chiffchaff, the Petchora pipit, the Siberian
herring-gull, the Arctic forms of the marsh-tit and the
lesser spotted woodpecker, the yellow-headed wagtail,
and the Asiatic stonechat. We brought home careful
records of the dates of arrival of the migratory birds
which breed in these northern latitudes, besides numerous
observations on the habits of little-known birds. Our
list of skins brought home exceeded a thousand, and of
eggs rather more than six hundred.

The number of species which we obtained was compara-
tively small, the whole of our collecting having been done
north of latitude 65°. The Arctic regions are frost-bound
for eight months out of the twelve, and buried under a
mantle of snow varying in depth from three to six feet.
During this time they are practically barren of ornitho-
logical life ; the small number of birds which remain within
the Arctic circle forsake the tundras where they breed, to
find feed in the pine-forests at or near the limit of forest
growth, a few only remaining where the shelter of a deep
valley or watercourse permits the growth of a few stunted
willows, birches, and hazel bushes. Practically it may
be said that there is no spring or autumn in the Arctic
regions. Summer follows suddenly upon winter, and the
forests and the tundra as suddenly swarm with bird-
life. Although the number of species breeding within
the Arctic circle is comparatively small, the number of
individuals is vast beyond conception. Birds go to the

* Mr. H. Leybourne Popham afterwards obtained the eggs of the curlew sand-
piper on the Yenesei, vide " Proc. Zoolog. Soc." 1897, p. 891, pi. li. — Ed.

CIRCUMPOLAR BIRDS 237

Arctic regions to breed, not by thousands, but by millions.
The cause of this migrration is to be found in the lavish
prodigality with which Nature has provided food. Seed-
or fruit-eatinof birds find an immediate and abundant
supply of cranberries, crowberries, and other ground fruit,
which have remained frozen during the long winter, and
are accessible the moment the snow has melted ; whilst
insect-eating birds have only to open their mouths to fill
them with mosquitoes.

Of the 1 10 species which we obtained, the following are
circumpolar birds, breeding both in the eastern and western
hemispheres, being nearly one-third of the total number : —

Osprey. Sanderling.

Peregrine Falcon. Shoveller Duck.

Snowy Owl. Pintail Duck.

Short-eared Owl. Scaup Duck.

Raven. Golden-eyed Duck

Pine Grosbeak. Long-tailed Duck.

Mealy Redpoll. Goosander.

Lapland Bunting, Red-breasted Merganser.

Snow Bunting. Arctic Tern.

Shore-lark. Great Black-backed Gull.

Bohemian Waxwing. Glaucous Gull.

Sand Martin. Richardson's Skua.

Willow-grouse. Buffon's Skua.

Grey Plover. Red-throated Diver,

Red-necked Phalarope. Black-throated Diver.
Dunlin.

It will be observed that more than half of these species
are water birds, showing that the communication between
the Palsearctic and the Nearctic regions has been one of
water rather than of land.

The following species are confined to the continents of
Europe and Asia, and range throughout the Arctic regions
of the eastern hemisphere from the North Cape to Bering's
Strait. A few of these are occasionally found in Greenland
and in Alaska, but are not found in the intermediate or
Nearctic regions, though many of them are there repre-

238 RESULTS OF THE JOURNEY

sented by very nearly allied species, showing that the
communication across the Pole has been interrupted at a
comparatively modern geological epoch : —

White-tailed Eagle.

Hobby.

Merlin.

Goshawk.

Sparrow-hawk.

Hen-harrier.

Eagle-owl.

Black Woodpecker.

Three-toed Woodpecker.

Cuckoo.

Magpie.

Siberian Jay.

Tree Sparrow.

Scarlet Bullfinch.

Brambling.

Reed-bunting.

Ruff.

Temminck's Stint.

Common Snipe.

Great Snipe.

Whimbrel.

Common Crane.

Wild Swan.

Bean-goose.

Skylark.

Red throated Pipit.

Green Wagtail.

Blue-throated Warbler.

Wheatear.

Lapp Tit.

Common Swallow.

Hazel Grouse.

Little Ringed Plover.

Oystercatcher.

Greenshank.

Wood Sandpiper.

Curlew Sandpiper.

Spotted Redshank.

Common Sandpiper.

Bar-tailed Godwit.

Teal.

Wigeon.

Tufted Duck.

Velvet Scoter.

Black Scoter.

Smew.

Common Gull.

From the length of this list it might be reasonable to
assume that ornithologists are right in separating the Ne-
arctic region from the Palaearctic region, and that it would
be an error, even as far as Arctic birds only are considered,
to unite the two together into one circumpolar region. A
more minute examination of the list may, however, lead us
to a different conclusion. It is not correct to speak of a
bird as an Arctic species unless its breeding-grounds are
principally within the Arctic circle. We must, therefore,
eliminate from our list those species whose breeding-
grounds are principally south of the Arctic circle, and
only extend beyond it at the extreme northern limit of
their range. This will dispose of thirty of the species we

RANGES OF BIRDS 239

have enumerated, leaving only seventeen, of which at
least two-thirds are represented in the Nearctic region by-
very closely allied species. Of the half-dozen species
which may be said to belong especially to the eastern
Polar region, every one is represented by a species in the
western Polar region belonging to the same genus.

The following species range from Scandinavia east-
wards as far as the watershed between the Yenesei and
the Lena. The proportionate length of this list shows
that this boundary is almost as important a one as Bering's
Strait, especially when we consider that several enu-
merated in the second list cross over into Alaska. On the
other hand, we must not forget that our knowledge of the
birds of the country east of the Yenesei is very limited : —

Rough-legged Buzzard. . Redstart.

Hooded Crow. Willow-warbler.

Jackdaw. Sedge-warbler.

House Sparrow. Capercailzie.

Northern Bullfinch. Black Grouse.

Tree Pij>it. Golden Plover.

White Wagtail. Dotterel.

Fieldfare. • Ringed Plover.

Redwing. Little Stint.

The dotterel and the Little stint are the only species
in this list of which it can be said that their principal
breeding-grounds are north of the Arctic circle, The
nearest relations of the former species are undoubtedly
to be found in the southern Palsearctic region, whilst the
genus to which the latter belongs is well represented in
the Polar regions of both continents.

Two species only appear to range from Scandinavia
eastwards as far as the valley of the Ob, but do not cross
the watershed into the valley of the Yenesei : —

Rook. Yellowhammer.

The Ural Mountains, although they are the boundary
between political Europe and Asia, are by no means so

240 RESULTS OF THE JOURNEY

geographically or ornithologically. So far as we know,
one species only of the Petchora birds recognises this
chain as the eastern limit of its range, viz. : —

Meadow Pipit.

Four species ranging westward from Kamtschatka
throughout Arctic Siberia and across the Ural Mountains,
do not appear to advance farther into Europe, during the
breeding season, than the valley of the Petchora : —

Siberian Pipit. Siberian Stonechat.

Yellow-headed Wagtail. Bewick's Swan.

Six species, ranging westward from Kamtschatka
throughout Arctic Siberia and across the Ural Mountains,
appear to extend beyond the valley of the Petchora as
far as the White Sea, viz. : — ■

Siberian Lesser-spotted Woodpecker. Marsh-tit (eastern form).
Little Bunting. Terek Sandpiper.

Arctic Willow-warbler. Siberian Herring-gull.

One bird only appears to be so restricted in its
geographical range as to be found only in the valleys of
the Petchora, the Ob, and the Yenesei, viz. : —

Siberian Chiffchaff.

Of the fourteen birds included in the last four lists,
only four or five have their principal breeding-grounds
within the Arctic circle, and these all belong to genera
which are represented in the Nearctic region, with the
exception of the Arctic willow-warbler, which has been
obtained in Alaska.

The final conclusion to which we must therefore
arrive, from a study of the geographical distribution of
the birds found in the valley of the Petchora, is that a
circumpolar region ought to be recognised : that so far

ARRIVALS OF MIGRANTS

241

as the Polar regions are concerned the division into
Nearctic and Palsearctic is a purely arbitrary one.

The migration of birds is a subject which interests all
naturalists, and is a very attractive one to a great number
of persons who do not pretend to any scientific knowledge
of ornithology. The dates and order of arrival of
migratory birds present so many points of interest that,
for the sake of comparison, the following list has been
made of all those birds which we had reason to believe to
be migratory in the Ust-Zylma district, leaving out those
to which, from their rarity or localness, considerable
doubt attaches as to their date of arrival : —

April I. Snow-bunting.

I. Mealy Redpoll.

May 4. Hen-harrier.

,, 5. Merlin.

,, 10. Bean-goose.

,, 10. Shore-lark.

,, 10. Snowy Owl.

,, II. Wild Swan.

,, II. Bewick's Swan.

,, II. Siberian Herring-gull.

,, 12. White Wagtail.

,, 12. Redstart.

,, 12. Meadow-pipit.

,, 13. Pintail and other Ducks.

13. Peregrine Falcon.

,, 14. Reed-bunting.

,, 15. Common Gull.

,, 17. Golden Plover.

,, 17. Fieldfare.

,, 17. Redwing.

,, 17. Red-throated Pipit.

,, 17. Green Wagtail.

May 18. Lapland Bunting.

„ 18. Whimbrel.

., 18. Teal.

,, 20. Willow-warbler.

,, 20. Wheatear.

,, 21. Crane.

„ 22. Siberian Chiff-chaff.

,, 22. Siberian Stonechat.

,, 23. Short-eared Owl.

,, 23. Blue-throated Warbler.

,, 24. Brambling.

,, 24. Pine-grosbeak.

,, 26. Oyster-catcher.

,, 26. Ringed Plover.

,, 26. Wood-sandpiper.

,, 26. Temrainck's Stint.

., 26. Common Swallow.

,, 31. Little Bunting.

June 3. Cuckoo.

3. Double Snipe.

,, 3. Terek Sandpiper,

,, 3. Black-throated Diver.

This list is necessarily very imperfect. In addition
to the difficulty of ascertaining the date of arrival of
rare or local birds, we had a still greater difficulty to
contend with. There can be no doubt that Ust-Zylma
lies somewhat out of the line of migration, which is

Q

242

RESULTS OF THE JOURNEY

probably determined largely by the direction of the great
valleys. Birds from the Mediterranean might fairly be
supposed to reach the Volga via the Bosporus, the Black
Sea, the Sea of- Azov, and the river Don to Sarepta.
The natural course of birds from India and Persia would
be to the Volga by way of the Caspian Sea. The line
of migration would probably follow the Volga to Kasan,

OUR HEADQUARTERS AT UST-ZYLMA

and thence along the Kama to Perm and Cherdin, close
to the source of the Petchora. The course would then
continue down the Petchora as far as its junction with
the Ussa. It would then be reasonable to conclude that
the hardy species, which migrate early, would have
plenty of time to go round by Ust-Zylma ; whilst the
later arrivals would leave the Petchora at Ust-Ussa, and
cross direct to the tundra. For example, the snow-
bunting, hen-harrier, merlin, bean-goose, shore-lark,
snowy owl, wild swan, Bewick's swan, and herring-gull

LATE BREEDING MIGRANTS

243

are probably amongst the earliest breeders on the tundra,
and pass through Ust-Zylma, whilst the later breeders
on the tundra are not there at all. The followinof birds
are all summer migrants to the tundra, but were not seen
passing through Ust-Zylma during migration : —

Yellow-headed Wagtail.
Arctic Tern.
Siberian Pipit.
Red-necked Phalarope.
Long-tailed Duck.
Buffon's Skua.
Grey Plover.

Dunlin.

Richardson's Skua.
Dotterel.
Sanderling.
Curlew Sandpiper.
Little Stint.

Most of these are very late-breeding birds, but why
they should breed late, or for what cause they seem to
choose a different line of migration, seems at present
inexplicable. Before a conclusion can be arrived at
many more facts must be collected. The field of ornitho-
logical research is one in which any amount of work may
be advantageously done, and possibly the perusal of the
present narrative may help to arouse the enthusiasm
of other adventurous ornithologists, and induce them to
take up the running where we left it off

OLD RUSSIAN SILVER CROSS

OLD RUSSIAN SILVER CROSS

PART II

THE YENESEI

CAPTAIN WIGGINS

CHAPTER XXIV.

SIBERIA AND SEA-TRADE.

Sir Hugh Willoughby's Voyage to Novaya Zemlya — Ancient Voyages
across the Kara Sea — Modern Voyages across the Kara Sea — Captain
Wiggins's Voyage in 1876 — Ornithological Arctic Expeditions — Letters of
Introduction from Count Schouvaloff — Recent Expeditions to Siberia —
Nordenskiold's Voyage.

Before beginning the story of my Yenesei expedition, a
few words on the history of the opening-up of this region
are necessary.

Three hundred years ago, when Ivan the Terrible
reigfned over Russia, and the Slav and Tatar races were
struggling in mortal combat, a peaceful expedition left
the shores of Britain under the command of Sir Hugh
Willoughby, Three ships were sent to the Arctic region
on a wild-CToose chase after the semi-fabulous land of
Cathay — a country where it was popularly supposed that
the richest furs might be bought for an old song, where
the rarest spices might be had for the picking, and where
the rivers rippled over sands of gold. Like so many

248 SIBERIA AND SEA-TRADE

other Arctic expeditions, this proved a failure. Poor Sir
Hugh Willoughby, it is supposed, discovered one of the
islands of Novaya Zemlya, but was afraid to winter
there, and landed on the Kola peninsula, where he and
all his crew were starved to death.

Another ship belonging to the same expedition, com-
manded by Richard Chancellor, was more fortunate. It
was separated from the others by a heavy storm, and
driven by contrary winds into the White Sea. Chancellor
not only saved his ship and the lives of his crew, but
discovered Archangel, which subsequently became a little
English colony. At that time the inhabitants of Arch-
angel were actually carrying on a trade with this wonder-
ful land of Cathay. In their flat-bottomed lodkas, sewn
together with willow roots, they skirted the east coast of
the White Sea, and dragged their boats across the Kanin
peninsula. They coasted the southern shores of the
Arctic Ocean, and passing through the Kara gates,
entered the Kara Sea. On the Yalmal peninsula they
found a river, the head of which brought them to a
narrow watershed, across which they again pushed their
boats, coming to another river, which brought them into
the gulf of the Ob. Crossing this gulf they entered the gulf
of the Taz, at the head of which was the once famous
town of Mangaze, where a great annual fair was held.
This fair was frequented by merchants who brought tea,
silks, and spices down the Ob and the Yenesei to barter
with the Russian merchants, who returned to Archangel
the same season.

In the struofpfle for existence which commenced on
the opening out of the port of Archangel to British com-
merce, according to the inevitable law of the survival of
the fittest, this Russian maritime enterprise languished
and finally died, and thenceforth the inhabitants of the

CAPTAIN WIGGINS 249

banks of Dvina received their silks and their tea via the
Thames instead of the Ob and the Yenesei ; and ever
since that time the commercial world seems to have taken
it for granted that the Kara Sea was unnavigable, and that
the Kara gates were closed by impenetrable bars of ice.

Latterly considerable efforts have been made, prin-
cipally by Professor Nordenskiold of Stockholm and
Captain Wiggins of Sunderland, to re-open this ancient
route, and to re-establish a trade with Siberia via the Kara
Sea. In 1874 Captain Wiggins chartered the well-known
Arctic steam yacht Diana, and passing through the Kara
gates, explored the entrance to the Ob and the Yenesei,
and returned to England in safety. In 1875 Professor
Nordenskiold chartered a walrus-sloop at Hammerfest,
and entering the Kara Sea through the Matoshkin Skar,
landed in the gulf of the Yenesei. The walrus-sloop
returned to Europe in safety, leaving the Professor to make
his way up the river in a boat as far as Yeneseisk, whence
he returned to Stockholm by the overland route.

In 1876 both these gentlemen attempted to take a
cargo to Siberia by the Kara Sea. Professor Norden-
skiold was the first to arrive, and fortunately failing to
find a channel up the Yenesei deep enough for his
steam.er, he landed his goods at a little village called
Koreopoffsky, about a hundred miles up the Yenesei,
and returned to Europe without any mishap. Captain
Wiggins was less fortunate. He left Sunderland on the
8th of July in the Thames, Arctic steam yacht (120 tons),
and entered the Kara Sea on the 3rd of August. The
ice prevented him from sailing direct to the mouths of
the great rivers, so he spent some time in surveying the
coast and the Baideratskerry Gulf, and did not reach the
mouth of the Ob until the 7th of September. Here he
lay at anchor some time in the hope that a favourable

250 SIBERIA AND SEA-TRADE

wind might enable him to ascend the Ob against the
strong current ; but the weather proving tempestuous and
the wind contrary, he abandoned the attempt, and ran
for the Yenesei. He commenced the ascent of this river
on the 23rd of September, and after a tedious voyage,
struggling against contrary winds and shallow water, he
finally laid his vessel up on the Arctic Circle, half a mile
up the Kureika and 1200 miles from the mouth of the
Yenesei, on the 17th of October. The following morning
the ship was" frozen up in winter quarters. A room in a
peasant's house on the banks of the river, looking down
on to the ship, was rigged up for the crew, and as soon
as the ice on the river was thick enough to make sledging
safe. Captain Wiggins returned to England by the over-
land route.

Hearing that Captain Wiggins was in England, and
likely to rejoin his ship, with the intention of returning
in her to Europe through the Kara Sea, I lost no time in
putting myself in communication with him. I was
anxious to carry our ornithological and ethnological
researches a step further to the eastward, so as to join on
with those of Middendorff. Schrenck, and Radde in East
Siberia. I made the acquaintance of Captain Wiggins
on the 23rd of February, and came to the conclusion
that an opportunity of travelling with a gentleman who
had already made the journey, and consequently "knew the
ropes," might never occur again. Captain Wiggins told me
that it was his intention to start from London on the return
journey in three days. I finally arranged with him to give
me five days to make the necessary preparations for accom-
panying him. I wrote to Count Schouvaloff, who had
given Harvie-Brown and myself excellent letters of intro-
duction on our Petchora journey, asking him to be kind
enough to send to my rooms in London similar letters for

LETTERS OF INTRODUCTION

251

my proposed Yenesei expedition, and all those who know
the value of such documents in Russia will appreciate
my gratitude to his Excellency for his kindness in
furnishing me, at a moment's notice, with letters of intro-

OSTIAKS OF THE OB

duction to General Timar^^cheff, the Minister of the
Interior at St. Petersburg, which proved of the greatest
service to me on my long and adventurous journey.

The details of this journey, how we travelled nearly
six thousand miles to the ship, and how we lost her, and
had to travel home again by land, form the subject of the
following pages. The reader may, however, feel some

252 SIBERIA AND SEA-TRADE

interest in following the narrative of the attempts to
explore the North-East Passage after the loss of the ill-
starred Thames.

The success of Captain Wiggins in reaching the
Yenesei in 1876 encouraged two steamers to make the
attempt in the following year, the year of our disasters.
The Lotiise succeeded in ascendinor the Ob and the
Irtish as far as Tobolsk, where she wintered, returning
with a cargo in safety the following autumn. The Frazer
reached Golchika on the Yenesei, where a cargo of
wheat ought to have met her, but in consequence of the
cowardice or the blunders — not to say the dishonesty —
of the persons in charge, the cargo never arrived, and
the steamer was forced to return empty.

Notwithstanding his misfortunes. Captain Wiggins
stuck bravely to his enterprise, and 1878 saw him again
in the Ob with a steamer, the Warkworth, drawing twelve
feet of water. The navigation of the lagoon of the Ob
is attended with considerable difficulty. Sand-banks are
very numerous. The regular tide is very unimportant,
and the normal condition of the river in autumn is a slow
but steady fall from the high level of the summer flood
to the low level of winter. Abnormal conditions of great
importance to navigation, however, continually occur.
A strong south wind accelerates the fall of the river,
whilst a violent north wind backs up the water and
causes the river to rise many feet. When the Warkworth
arrived at the last great sandbank forming the bar, she was
stopped for want of water, A large praam laden with wheat
awaited her at Sinchika, a small port on the south-east of
the gulf, forty miles beyond Nadim, the most northerly
fishing station of the Ob, Captain Wiggins lost some
time in searching for a channel, but fortunately before it
was too late a cold north wind set in, backed up the

VOYAGE OF THE "VEGA" 253

waters of the Ob, and enabled the Warkworth to cross
the bar and anchor within sight of the praam. There
was no time to be lost. The ship dared not venture on
shallower water, so the praam had to leave her haven of
shelter and trust herself to the swelling waves. She was
probably three or four hundred feet long, only pegged
together, with ribs fearfully wide asunder, and com-
manded by a captain chicken-hearted as Russian sailors
alone can be ; but though she writhed like a sea-serpent
by the side of the steamer, the operation proved success-
ful, and Captain Wiggins turned his face homewards
with the wheat on board. The cream of the success
was, however, skimmed at the bar. Two hundred tons
had to be thrown overboard before the deep channel
could be reached, but the bulk of the cargo was brought
safe into London.

The seasons of 1879 and 1880 were unfavourable.
Long-continued east winds drove the remnants of the
Kara Sea ice against the shores of Novaya Zemlya, and
a narrow belt of pack-ice blocked the Kara gates. Late
in the season of 1879 a Bremen steamer succeeded in
finding a passage, and in bringing a cargo of wheat from
Nadim. It was very fortunate that the English steamers
were unable to enter the Kara Sea. Drawing fourteen
to seventeen feet of water, they had literally no chance
at all where Wiggins only saved himself by the skin of
his teeth, not drawing more than twelve feet.

The crowning feat of this north-east Arctic enterprise
was performed by Nordenskiold in the Vega in 1878-79,
a voyage which may not, perhaps, have any great com-
mercial value, but in a scientific point of view must rank as
one of the most successful Arctic expeditions ever made.

Captain Palander left Gothenburg on July 14, 1878,
was joined by Nordenskiold at Tromso on the 21st, and

254 SIBERIA AND SEA-TRADE

entered the Kara Sea on the ist of August. On the 5th
they passed the mouth of the Yenesel, and held a clear
course until the 12th, when they encountered drift-ice
and fogs, but succeeded in reaching the North-east Cape
in lat. 77|^° on the 19th. On the 27th they passed the
mouth of the Lena, but with September their troubles
began. On the 3rd the thermometer for the first time
fell below zero, and they were compelled to hug the
coast. On the 6th the nights became too dark to
permit of safe navigation, and the ice thickened so rapidly
that on the 12th, at Cape Severni, they were delayed for
six days. On the 19th they made fifty miles, but during
the next six days their progress was very slow, the ship
having continually to battle with thick ice, and on the
28th they were finally frozen up in winter quarters in lat.
'67° 70', having failed to accomplish the 4000 rtiiles from
Tromso to Bering Strait by only 120 miles. The
greatest cold they had during the winter was in January,
when the thermometer fell to 74° below zero. On May
15th the ice was 5^^ feet thick. The Vega got away on
July 1 8th, having been frozen in nine months and
twenty days, and on the 20th she sailed through Bering
Strait, returning to Gothenburg by the Suez Canal, after
having circumnavigated Europe and Asia for the first
time in the history of the human race.

SAMOYEDE PIPE

BOUXUARY BETWEEN EUROPE AND ASIA

CHAPTER XXV.

FROM LONDON TO OMSK.

At St. Petersburg — Political Feeling in Russia — Feeling against England
— Russian Arguments against the Policy of England — At Moscow —
Irkutsk and the Siberiaks — At Nishni Novgorod — The Journey before Us
— Our Sledge — Birds — At Kazan — Roads between Kazan and Perm — At
Perm — At Kongur — -The Urals — Birds — We 'Enter Asia — Ekaterinburg
— Tinmen — The Steppes — Villages of the Crescent and the Cross —
Russian and Mahomedan Clergy — Cheap Provisions — Birds.

We left London on Thursday, the ist of March, 1877,
at 8.25 P.M., and reached Nishni Novgorod on Saturday
the loth at 10 a.m., having travelled by rail a distance of
2400 miles. We stopped three days in St. Petersburg
to present our letters of introduction, and to pay some
other visits. We had audiences with the Minister of the
Interior and with the Minister of Finance, both of whom

256 FROM LONDON TO OMSK

showed great interest in Captain Wiggins's attempt to
re-open a trade with Siberia by sea.

At a dinner-party given in our honour at Sideroff's,
the well-known concessionnaire of the Petchora, and on
various occasions in our hotel and in the cafes, we had
abundant opportunity of informing ourselves of the state
of political feeling in St. Petersburg. Russia was by no
means on the best of termswith England. The Panslavistic
party was in the ascendency. As a stepping-stone to its
wild scheme of reversing the policy of Peter the Great,
and making Russia a great southern power, embracing
all the Slavonic nations, it continually urged the govern-
ment to lay violent hands on Turkey and wrest from her
her Slavonic provinces. The military party, always on
the qui vive for a chance of obtaining promotion and
loot, had joined the hue and cry. The wily diplomatists
of St. Petersburg partly under the influence of the old
tradition of Russian aggrandisement, and possibly far-
seeing enough to perceive that the logical outcome of
Panslavism would be a United Slavonia, in which Poland
would eventually play the part of Prussia encouraged the
agitators. They shrewdly calculated that whatever
might become of Turkey in Europe, some share of the
spoil of Turkey in Asia must fall into Russian hands ;
and that if they only gave the Panslavistic party rope
enough it would be sure to hang itself. On the peasantry,
absolutely ignorant of European politics and anxious for
peace to develop their rising commerce and agriculture,
religious fanaticism was broucrht to bear in favour of war.
The moment seemed ripe for action, but England, under
the vigorous policy of Lord Beaconsfield, stopped the
way. We found the feeling against England amongst
the merchants very sore. Even the better educated
Russian is remarkably ignorant of European politics. He

RUSSIAN POLITICAL IDEAS 257

has a smattering of knowledge and a rudimentary appre-
ciation of logic just sufficient to enable him to express his
opinions in syllogistic form. The line of argument which
we had to meet and combat was ingenious and plausible ;
we never once were able to convince an opponent that it
contained a single fallacy. The greatest astonishment
was expressed that England should want to prop up such
a rotten government as that of Turkey. We were
assured that a Christian countrv like Eno-land could not
possibly love the Turks any more than the Russian could,
and that England, that had always been the champion of
freedom, could never permanently uphold the slavery of
the Slavonic races in Turkey. The explanation of these
anomalies was an amusing mixture of truth and error,
but so firmly had it taken possession of the popular mind
of the day, that nothing that we could say in answer
made the slightest impression. The arguments used
against us ran pretty much in one strain. Lord Beacons-
field was a Jew. The Jewish party was in power.
England had, politically, entirely succumbed to Jewish
influences. The Jewish party was the money-lending
party. The money-lending party was the creditor of
Turkey. England, therefore, under the malign influence
of her Jewish prime minister, upheld the integrity of
Turkey solely that the Jewish creditors of that anti-
Christian and despotic state might obtain as many
shillings in the pound as possible from their bankrupt
debtor. We could only shrug our shoulders and reflect
that a little log-ic, as well as a little knowledg^e, is a
danoferous thingf.

When we left St. Petersburg^ the weather showed
signs of breaking, and we reached Moscow in a complete
thaw. As we had a sledge journey before us of between
three and four thousand miles, which we hoped to get

R

258 FROM LONDON TO OMSK

through before the roads became impassable, we made as
short a delay in Moscow as possible. A few hours rest
gave us an opportunity of visiting the British Consul and
of enjoying the hospitality of a wealthy Russian merchant
of the name of Trapeznikoff The latter gentleman
entertained us in his splendid mansion, and we had a very
interesting conversation with him. We had now fairly
turned our backs upon Europe and European politics,
and discussed Siberian topics only. Mr. Trapeznikoff is
a Siberiak, born at Irkutsk, and takes a prominent part
in the efforts which the Moscow Geographical Society
are making to rival the attempts of Captain Wiggins to
open up sea communication between Europe and Siberia.
Mr. Trapeznikoff was one of the comparatively few
Russian merchants with whom we came in contact who
were able to converse in German. The more we heard
of Irkutsk the more disappointed we were that we had
not time to make a dStotir to this interesting town. It
is not a large place, but we were told that the population
was upwards of 30,000. Though situated in the heart of
Siberia, it is said to be the most European town of all
the Russias. We were informed that in Irkutsk we
should find the freest thought, the highest education, the
most refined civilisation, the least barbarous luxury of
any Russian town.

We reached Nishni Novgorod on Saturday the loth
of March, and were officially received at the railway
station by the chief of police, who was kind enough to
conduct us across the Volga to a hotel. We devoted
the morning to the purchase of a sledge, and spent some
time in buying a stock of provisions for the road, but
evening saw us fairly under way. We had a long and
adventurous affair before us, a sledge journey of more than
three thousand miles. We hoped to cross the meridian of

SLEDGING DOWN THE VOLGA 259

Calcutta, 2300 miles north of that city, before the roads
broke up, and then to sledge nearly a thousand miles due
north, before entering the Arctic Circle. Our sledge
was something like a cab on runners, with an empty
space under the driver's seat to enable us to stretch our
legs at night. We sledged away, day and night, with
three horses abreast, stopping to change them every
fifteen to twenty miles, with bells tinkling to drive away
the wolves. At first our road was down the Volga, and
we travelled smoothly along with no greater misfortune
than an occasional run through a snow swamp where the
thaw had been greatest ; but on some of the banks we
were knocked about unmercifully, the motion of the
sledge resembling that of a boat in a short choppy sea.
It was late in the year, and the roads were worn out.

On Sunday we dined at Vassilla. There had been
some frost during the night, but it was thawing rapidly
at noon. Birds were plentiful for the time of the year.
Hooded crows, jackdaws, and house-sparrows were very
common, and I saw one flock of snow-buntings. Vassilla
is a large town about half-way to Kasan, the distance
from Nishni to Kasan being 427 versts, about 280 miles.

We continued to sledge thus down the frozen Volga,
travelling day and night, with occasional snowstorms and
a persistent thaw. The left bank of the river a^ we
travelled down was comparatively flat, but the other
bank was hilly. This is the case with the Petchora, and
also with the Ob and the Yenesei. There was very little
change in the birds on the roadside. House-sparrows,
jackdaws, and hooded crows were the commonest. Once
I saw a pair of ravens, and once a solitary great tit, and
at a station 61 versts before we reached Kasan tree-
sparrows were feeding with the house-sparrows. On
the banks of the Volga were numerous holes, evidently

26o FROM LONDON TO OMSK

the nests of colonies of sand-martins, and occasionally
magpies were seen. We did not make any stay in
Kasan, but without delay on the evening of our arrival
we took -d. padarozhnaya for Ekaterinburg, 942 versts, or
628 miles, paying, as before, 4 kopeks per verst per horse.

The first night's journey from Kasan was a fearful
pull and jolt. The weather was mild, with snow, but the
state of the roads was inconceivably bad. We were
dashed about to such an extent that in the morning
every bone in our bodies ached. No constitution in the
world could stand a week of such ill-usaee. Before
sunrise the thermometer had fallen to zero. This was
followed by a magnificent sunshiny morning, and very
fair roads. I saw a pair of bullfinches for the first time
since leaving Nishni,

The next morning the weather still continued fine,
but the roads were never good for lon^ at a time. We
had got into a hilly country, which was very picturesque,
but not at all conducive to the maintenance of good
roads, especially so late in the season.

We passed through Perm late in the evening of
Thursday the 15th of March, and were glad of an excuse
to rest a few hours on Friday at Kongur. At this town
we were most hospitably entertained by Mr. Hawkes,
who showed us over his iron steamship building yard.
The father of Mr. Hawkes was an enterprising Scotch-
man, who established a flourishing business in this remote
corner of Europe. Shortly after bidding our host a
reluctant adieu, we commenced the ascent of the Ural
mountains. In this part the range scarcely deserves to
be regarded as more than a succession of hills, the
loftiest hardly high enough to be dignified with the name
of mountain. The country reminded me very much of
that in the neighbourhood of the Peak of Derbyshire.

EKATERINBURG 261

For several hundred versts we sledged up one hill and
down another, occasionally following the valleys between.
In the lowlands we frequently passed villages, and a
considerable part of the country was cultivated. For
miles together the road passed between avenues of
birches. The hills were covered with forests, principally
Scotch and spruce fir, with a few birches and larches.
During this part of our journey we had magnificent
weather ; hard frost but warm sunshine. Birds were
more abundant, one of the commonest being the large
bullfinch with a brick-red breast. Hooded crows were,
perhaps, less frequent, but on the other hand ravens
and magpies were much commoner, and jackdaws
remained as numerous as ever. I noticed several small
birds which I had not seen before— greenfinches, yellow-
hammers, marsh tits, and one or two jays.

A few stages before reaching Ekaterinburg we left
the last hill of the Urals behind us, and an easy slope
brought us out of the forests to a more cultivated and
level country, in which the villages were more plentiful.
As we passed the granite pillar which marks the boundary
line between the two continents, we hoped that we had
left the mists and fogs of Europe behind us to enter the
pure and dry climate of Asia. We reached Ekaterinburg
on the morning of Sunday the i8th of March, having been
123 hours sledging 628 miles, about five miles an hour,
including stoppages. We changed horses sixty-five times.
Ekaterinburg has about 30,000 inhabitants. We were
most hospitably entertained by M. George Onesime
Clerc, the head of the Observatory, to whom I had a
letter of introduction from M. Bogdanoff, of St. Peters-
hurcr ; we also visited M. Vinebourof, an official of the
telegraph-office and an excellent amateur ornithologist,
who went with us to the museum.

262 FROM LONDON TO OMSK

Time did not, however, admit of our making much
delay. We were anxious to cover as much ground as
possible whilst the frost lasted, and we bade a hasty
adieu to our friends. The same afternoon we took a
padarozhnaya for Tiumen, and made the 306 versts, or
204 miles, in twelve stages, which we accomplished in
thirty-nine hours. The country was gently undulating
and well wooded, with numerous villages.

We spent a couple of days at Tiumen enjoying the
hospitality of Mr. Wardroper, a Scotch engineer ; with him
we visited M. Ignatieff, and lunched at his hou^e with some
of the merchants of this thriving place. The river was full
of steamers, all frozen up in their winterquarters, and every-
thincr told of commerce and wealth. The house of Ivan
Ivanovich Ignatieff was a handsome mansion elegantly fur-
nished in the German style, just such a house as a North
German family with an income of 600/. or 700/. a year
inhabit. We had a quiet but substantial luncheon — roast-
beef and claret, roast grouse and sherry, ice-cream and
champagne. One of the guests was a magnificent specimen
of a Russian, standing 6 ft. 8 in., and weighing, we were
told, twenty-two stone.

From Tiumen to Omsk is 637 versts, which we accom-
plished in sixty-two hours, changing horses twenty-seven
times. It was quite holiday travelling; we had good horses
and excellent roads. The scene was entirely changed. We
were nowcrossing the great steppes of western Siberia. We
had left the Peakof Derbyshire behind us, and were travers-
ing an almost boundless Salisbury Plain. For nearly a
thousand miles hardly anything was to be seen but an
illimitable level expanse of pure white snow. Above us
was a canopy of brilliantly blue sky, and alongside of us
a line of telegraph poles crossed from one horizon to the
other. Occasionally we came upon a small plantation of

CRESCENT AND CROSS 263

stunted birches, and every fifteen to twenty miles we
changed horses at some village built on the banks of a
frozen river whose waters find their way into the Ob
beneath their thick armour of ice. These villages were
almost entirely built of wood, floated down in rafts from
the forests on the distant hills. Most of them were
Russian, with a large stone or brick church in the centre,
and a gilt cross on the steeple. Others were Tatar
villages, where the crescent occupied the place of the cross ;
and it was somewhat humiliating to us as Christians to
find that the cross was too often the symbol of drunkenness,
disorder, dilapidation, and comparative poverty, whereas
the crescent was almost invariably the sign of sobriety,
order, enterprise, and prosperity. The general opinion
amongst the better educated Russians with whom I was
able to converse was that the chief fault lay with the
priests, who encouraged idleness and drunkenness, whilst
the Mohammedan clergy threw the whole of their influence
into the opposite scale. Living is so extravagantly cheap
in this part of the world that the ordinary incentives to
industry scarcely exist. We were able to buy beef at
twopence per pound, and grouse at sevenpence a brace.
We had a very practical demonstration that we were in a
land flowing with hay and corn, in the price we paid for
our horses. Our sledge was what is called a troika and
required three horses. Up to Tiumen these horses had
cost us sixpence a mile. On the steppes the price suddenly
fell to three-halfpence, i.e , a halfpenny a horse a mile. At
one of the villages where we stopped to change horses it
was market-day, and we found on inquiry that a ton of
wheat might be purchased for the same amount as a
hundred-weight cost in England.

Whilst we were crossing the steppes we saw very few
birds. The almost total absence of trees and the depth

264 FROM LONDON TO OMSK

of the snow upon the j^round is, of course, a sufficient
explanation why birds cannot Hve there in winter.
Occasionally we saw small flocks of snow-buntings, whose
only means of subsistence appeared to be what they could
pick up from the droppings of the horses on the road.
These charming little birds often enlivened the tedium of
the journey, flitting before the sledge as we disturbed
them at their meals. They were rapidly losing their
winter dress. They only moult once in the year — in
autumn. In the winter the general colour of the snow-
bunting is a huffish brown. After the autumn moult each
feather has a more or less broad fringe of huffish brown,
which almost obscures the colour of the feather lying
below it. The nuptial plumage is assumed in spring by
the casting of these fringes, which appear to dry up and
drop off, whilst at the same time the feathers appear to
acquire new life and the colour to intensify, as if in spring
there was a fresh flow of blood into the feathers, some-
what analogous to the rising of the sap in trees, which
causes a fresh deposit of colouring matter. The snow-
buntings we saw on the sledge-track across the steppes
had nearly lost all the brown from their plumage, their
backs were almost black, as were also the primary quills
of their wings, whilst the head and under-parts were
nearly as white as the snow itself, and at a distance one
might often fancy that a flock of black butterflies was
dancing before us. The snow-bunting had an additional
charm for us from the fact that it is a winter visitor to
England whose arrival is always looked for with interest,
and a few pairs even reniain to breed in the north of
Scotland. It is remarkable as being the most northerly
of all passerine birds in its breeding range, having been
found throughout the Arctic Circle wherever land is known
to exist. The only other birds we saw on the steppes were

A LATE SEASON

265

a few sparrows, jackdaws, and hooded crows in the villages.
The bullfinches and the tits disappeared with the trees,
and the summer birds had not yet arrived, though Mr.
Wardroper at Tiumen told us that starlings, rooks, geese,
and ducks were all overdue. It was, perhaps, fortunate
for us that the season was an unusually late one, otherwise
the roads might have been in many places impassable.

BRONZE ORNAMENT FROM ANCIENT GRAVE NEAR KRASNOYARSK

SLEDGING IN A SNOW-STORM

CHAPTER XXVI.

DOWN RIVER TO THE KAMIN PASS.

Omsk — From Omsk to Tomsk — Sledging — Birds — Tomsk — Tomsk to
Krasnoyarsk — Birds — Krasnoyarsk — Prices — Beaten by the South Wind
— Frost again — Birds — Yeneseisk — Our Visitors — Scientific Expeditions
— Birds — Our Lodgings — Easter-day Festivities — I Hire a Young Jew —
Lessons in Bird-skinning — New Sledges— Down the Precipices — Russian
Hospitality — Special Couriers — Deceptive Appearance of the Road —
Winding Roads — Epidemic among the Horses — Race with the South
Wind — The Kamin Pass — Stopped by the Rain — The Kamin Pass in
December — The Pass in April — The South Wind Beaten.

I HAD a letter of introduction from General TimarschefC
the Minister of the Interior, to the Governor-General of
West Siberia in Omsk. Unfortunately the Governor
was from home, but his wife received us very kindly.
Her Excellency spoke good French and German, and had
an English governess for her children. M. Bogdanoff, in

OMSK 267

St. Petersburg, had given me a letter of introduction to
Professor Slofftzoff, who found for us a friend of his,
Mr. Hanson, a Dane, to act as an interpreter. Professor
Slofftzoff is an enthusiastic naturalist. He showed us a
small collection of birds in the museum. Amono- these
were several which have not hitherto been recorded east
of the Ural Mountains, for example the blackcap, the
garden-warbler, and the icterine warbler ; but as there
are no special labels with these specimens to authenticate
the localities, the fact of their really having been shot in the
neighbourhood of Omsk must be accepted with hesitation.
In museums which profess to be local only, birds from
distant localities continually creep in by accident, and many
errors in geographical distribution are thus propagated.

I gave the Professor some Sheffield cutlery in ex-
change for a curiously inlaid pipe of mammoth-ivory and
a flint and steel, the latter inlaid with silver and precious
stones. He told me that both were made by the Buriats
in the Transbaikal country, but the pipe is not to be
distinguished from those made on the tundras of the
north, and I suspect it to be of Samoyede origin.

Twenty years ago Omsk was only a village ; now it
has thirty to forty thousand inhabitants. This increase
is very largely accounted for by the fact that the seat of
government has in the meantime been removed thither
from Tobolsk. From Omsk to Tomsk is 877 versts, or
585 miles, which we accomplished in eighty-five hours,
including stoppages — an average of 10^ versts an hour.
We changed horses thirty-seven times. We had now
got into the full swing of sledge travelling : snow, wind,
rain, sunshine, day, night, good roads, bad roads — nothing
stopped us ; on we went like the wandering Jew, only
with this difference, that we had a fixed goal. However
rough the road might be, I could now sleep as soundly

268 DOWN RIVER TO THE KAMIN PASS

as in a bed. My sledge fever was entirely gone. I
began actually to enjoy sledge travelling. I found
a pleasant lullaby in the never-ceasing music of the
" wrangling and the jangling of the bells." After having
sledged 2762 versts, or 1841 miles, one begins to feel
that the process might go on ad infinitum without serious
results.

The weather was mild, with no absolute thaw, but
now and then we had snow-storms, generally very slight.
Our way lay across flat steppes with scarcely a tree
visible, until we came within 150 miles of Tomsk, when
we again passed through a hilly, well-wooded country,
like an English park. We saw the same birds as here-
tofore, with an occasional hazel-g-rouse and orreat tit. On
the steppes snow-buntings were, as before, very common.
On the whole the roads were good : indeed, in the flat
district, very good.

In Omsk I had seen some very curious Kirghis arms
at Professor Slofftzoff's, and I had vainly tried to purchase
some. In Tomsk I learned that Barnaul was the place
to obtain them. There is a museum in that town. I
was told that M. Bogdanoff, a mining engineer, and
M. Funck, a shot-maker, spoke German, and further,
that there is an antiquary of the name of Goulaieff.
Tomsk is a very business-like place, apparently about
the same size as Omsk. From Tomsk to Krasnoyarsk
is 554 versts, or 369 miles, which we accomplished in
sixty-four hours and in twenty-seven stages. The
weather was very mild, and we had several slight falls of
snow. The country was generally hilly and well-wooded,
and the roads on the whole good, but occasionally we
found them extremely bad. After the 27th of May (15th
Russian style) we had to pay for an extra horse, and
upon entering the Yeneseisk Government, the cost of

AT KRASNOYARSK

269

each horse was doubled. Magpies were as common as
ever ; jackdaws much less so. Hooded crows disap-
peared soon after leaving Tomsk. Ravens were rather
more numerous than before. Bullfinches were plentiful
in the woods, and snow-buntings on the plains. The
great tit was only occasionally seen. House-sparrows
were very common, but we saw no tree-sparrows. We
reached Krasnoyarsk on Monday the 2nd of April, and
paid our first visit to Herr Dorset, the government " Vet."
of the district. He was a German, and kindly placed
himself at our disposal as interpreter. He introduced
me to a M. Kibort, a Polish exile, who engaged to
procure me skins of birds, and send them to England.
We visited the governor, who gave me a " Crown
padarozhnaya,'' and an open letter of introduction to all
the officials. In Krasnoyarsk prices were as follows: —

Wheat . . . .

40 kop. per pood.

Flour .

60

Swan's-down

12 to 15 rbl. ,,

Goose-down .

8rbl

Feathers

3 rbl

Pitch .

3 to 3^ rbl.

Hemp seed .

20 kop.

We spent the evening at the house of SiderofTs
agent, Mr. Glayboff. We also bought some fine pho-
tographs of the gold mines and other places.

A warm south-west wind blew all Sunday, and
continued during the night. In Krasnoyarsk we found
the streets flooded, and everybody travelling upon wheels.
In the evening the post refused us horses on the plea
that sledging was impossible. There was nothing for it
but to ofo to bed. In the morning the south-west wind
was as warm as ever. The red hills of Krasnoyarsk
were almost bare. We were obliged to take to wheels,
and organise a little caravan. Equipage No. i was a

270 DOWN RIVER TO THE KAMIN PASS

rosposki, on which our empty " pavoska " was mounted,
a vemschik standing- on the box at the back, and
driving his three horses over the top. Equipage No. 2
was a tarmitass, with two horses, drawing our luggage.
Equipage No. 3 was another tarantass, containing
Captain Wiggins and myself. We got away about
1 1 A.M., and trundled along over snow, mud, grass, or
gravel up the hill, through a series of extempore rivers,
and across the steppes — a wild bleak country, like a
Yorkshire moor — for 35 versts, at an expense of fifteen
roubles. The next staofe was 28 versts. The road was
a little better. We dismissed the rosposki, and travelled
in the otherwise empty sledge, but retained one tarantass
for our luggage. This stage cost us six roubles. Night
came on, and after a squall of wind, snow, and sleet, it
grew a little colder. The next stage was 23 versts. We
travelled as on the last, but transferred our luggage from
the tarantass to a sledge. We had reached the forest,
the roads soon became better, the wind got more
northerly, the night was cooler, and we got off for four
roubles. At the end ot this stage we repacked our
sledge, got horses at the regular price of three kopeks
per verst per horse, and matters began steadily to
improve. Our five horses were soon knocked down to
four, and finally to three. What little wind there was
blew cold, the sky was clear, the sun shone brightly, and
all our troubles were over for the present. The road
became excellent. The country was hilly, and the
scenery grew once more like an English park with fine
timber. We might easily have fancied ourselves in the
Dukeries in Nottinghamshire. Hooded crows had
entirely disappeared, but the carrion crow was several
times seen. In the evening we dined at a roadside
station, kept by a Jew. We had potato soup and fish,

SOCIETY AT YENESEISK 271

two spoons, but only one plate. We reached Yeneseisk
at 9 A.M. on Thursday the 5th of April, having been
nearly forty-eight hours in travelling 330 versts, in
consequence of the thaw in the earlier part of the journey.
There were thirteen stages in all.

Arrived at Yeneseisk we took rooms at the house of
a M. Panikoroffsky, and enjoyed a few days rest. We
had brilliant sunshine, with the thermometer at or near
zero, and we were told that there was no great hurry,
that we might expect to have a month's frost in which to
travel to Turukansk.

By this time we had sledged 3646 versts, or 2431
miles, and had fairly earned a rest. We had plenty of
visitors. First, there was Mr. Boiling, a Heligolander,
who left his native island thirty- five years ago. He was
a boat-builder who spoke German very well and knew
enough English to make his way. Then there was M.
Marks, a Pole, an elderly man, a political exile. He was
a photographer, a dealer in mathematical instruments, an
astronomer, a botanist, had had a university education,
and spoke French, though somewhat rustily. A most
active, useful little man was the head of the police, who
offered to do anything for us, but unfortunately he only
spoke Russian. Then there was Schwanenberg, the
captain of Sideroff s schooner, who was on his way down
the river. He spoke English and German. The
telegraph-master also spoke German, so that altogether
we had no difficulty in finding society.

There were very few birds at Yeneseisk during our
stay. Magpies were plentiful. There were no jackdaws.
House- and tree-sparrows were very abundant, and in
equal numbers. The carrion crow was very common.
Boiling told me that about three years ago a pair or two
of hooded crows paid a visit to Yeneseisk, and were most

272 DOWN RIVER TO THE KAMIN PASS

hospitably received by their black cousins, so much so
that they allowed them to intermarry in their families.
The consequence now is that perhaps seventy-five per
cent, of the Yeneseisk crows are thoroug^h-bred carrion
crows, five per cent hooded crows, and twenty per cent,
hybrids of every stage between the two. Middendorff,
however, mentions the interbreeding of these birds as
long ago as 1843, so Boiling's story must be taken for
what it is worth. Now and then we saw a orreat tit, and
flocks of redpolls and snow-buntings frequented the
banks of the river, the latter bird, we were told, having
only just arrived.

Our lodgings were very comfortable. The sitting-
room was large, with eight windows in it, of course
double. The furniture was liorht and elegfant. A few
pictures, mostly coloured lithographs, and two or three
mirrors ornamented the walls ; and a quantity of shrubs
in pots materially assisted the general effect : among
them were roses, figs, and geraniums.

Whilst we were resting at Yeneseisk the great
festival of Easter took place. Every Russian family
keeps open house on that day to all their acquaintances.
The ladies sit in state to receive company, and the
gentlemen sledge from house to house making calls, A
most elaborate display of wines, spirits, and every dish
that is comprised in a Russian zakuska, or foretaste of
dinner, fills the sideboard, and every guest is pressed to
partake of the sumptuous provisions. Captain Wiggins
had made a good many acquaintances during his previous
visit to Yeneseisk, so that we had an opportunity of
seeing the houses of nearly all the principal merchants
and official personages in the town. Some of the
reception-rooms were luxuriously furnished.

The most important business which claimed my

AN EXILE SERVANT

273

attention in Yeneseisk was the selection of a servant.
On the whole I was most fortunate. All to whom I
mentioned my requirements shook their heads and told
me it was a hopeless case. Of course I wanted as good
a servant as I could get, honest, industrious, and so forth.
Two qualifications were a sine qua non. He must be

FISHING STATION ON THE OB

able to skin birds, and speak either French or German.
I soon learned that there was not a single person in
Yeneseisk who had ever seen a bird skinned for scientific
purposes. After many fruitless inquiries, I at last suc-
ceeded in finding a young Jew of the name of Glinski,
about four and twenty years of age, who three months
before had married the daughter of the Israelitish butcher
in Yeneseisk. Glinski spoke bad German and bad
Russian, and had an inconvenient habit of mixing up

s

274 DOWN RIVER TO THE KAMIN PASS

Hebrew with both these languages, but on the whole I
might have had a worse interpreter, as he did his best to
translate faithfully what my companion for the time being
said, instead of telling me what, in his (the interpreter's)
opinion my companion ought to have said, as too many
interpreters are in the habit of doing. Nevertheless,
Glinski was, without exception, one of the greatest thick-
heads that I have ever met with. He was an exile from
the south of Russia. At fourteen years of age he had
committed some crime — stolen and destroyed some bills
or securities for which his father was liable — and had
spent some years in prison. He was afterwards exiled,
and his term of exile had just expired. He had scarcely
any notion of arithmetic, and his other acquirements were
so scanty that he was continually chaffed even by the
simple-minded Russian peasants. He was very short-
sighted, but clever with his fingers. I asked him if he
thought he could learn to skin birds. He said he thought
he could, but should like to see how it was done. I
skinned a couple of redpolls in his presence, and gave
him a bullfinch to try his hand on. With a little help
and instruction he made a tolerable skin of it. We after-
wards skinned a few birds together at various stations on
the journey, and when we arrived at our winter quarters
I turned over this part of my work entirely to Glinski.
At the end of a week he could skin better and quicker
than I could, and on one occasion, as will be hereafter
recorded, he skinned forty- seven birds for me in one day.
I always found him industrious, honest, and anxious to
do his best. He asked me twenty roubles a month
wages, I of course paying his board and lodging and
travelling expenses. 1 agreed to these terms, and
promised also an additional bonus of ten kopeks per
skin. During the time that Glinski was with me he

I PURCHASE A SCHOONER 275

skinned for me more than a thousand birds, for which
I paid him over a hundred roubles, besides his wages,
but for all that I am told that since I left Yeneseisk he
has abused me roundly to my friends there because I
refused to lend him fifty roubles more when I parted
from him. No one must expect gratitude from a Russian
Jew.

Another important business which I transacted in
Yeneseisk was the purchase of a ship. Boiling had a
schooner on the stocks, which had been originally
intended to bring to Yeneseisk the cargo which Professor
Nordenskiold left at Koreopoffsky. Other arrangements
were made by which Kitmanoff was to bring these goods
up in his steamer, and the schooner was sold to me.
Captain Wiggins undertook to rig it at the Kureika,
where it was to be delivered by Boiling as soon as the
ice broke up. Boiling and I were to sail in her a thousand
miles down the Yenesei to Dudinka, ornithologising as
we went along, whilst Captain Wiggins went up the
Kureika to take en board a cargo of graphite, which
Sideroffs plenipotentiary, Captain Schwanenberg, was to
have ready for him. In Dudinka the schooner was to be
disposed of on joint account, or kept as a second string
to our bow across the Kara Sea, as circumstances might
render desirable.

The addition of Glinski to our party also made fresh
arrangements for travelling necessary. Now that there
were three of us, we required two sledges. We were
told that the roads were bad, and that the sledge we had
bought in Nishni Novgorod was too heavy for the roads
north of Yeneseisk. We accordingly bought a couple of
light sledges, mere skeletons of wood covered with open
matting. One of them, which Captain Wiggins and I
reserved for ourselves, had an apology for a hood.

276 DOWN RIVER TO THE KAMIN PASS

We had arrived at Yeneseisk in a hard frost, but
before we had been there three days the south wind
overtook us. The snow began to melt, and taking fright
at once, we left at 1 1 o'clock on the evening of Monday
the 9th of April. For the first few stations the road was
through the forests or along the sloping banks of the
river, and we thought ourselves fortunate if we did not
capsize more than half a dozen times between two stations.
Afterwards our path was down the river, a splendid road
as long as we kept on it, perfectly level, except on
arriving at a station, where we had to ascend from the
winter level of the ice to the villages, which are built on
the bank above the level of the summer floods. Tne
villagers generally came out to meet us, and help us up
the steep ascent The assistance they gave us in de-
scending was still more important. It sometimes almost
made our hearts jump into our mouths to look down the
precipice which led to the road. We commenced the
descent with three or four peasants holding on to each
side of the sledge. As the pace became fast and furious,
one or two of our assistants occasionally came to grief,
and had a roll in the snow, but the help they rendered
was so efficient that we ourselves always escaped without
an accident.

In spite of the thaw, and the consequent bad roads,
we made seventy-eight versts the first night, and were
entertained by an official whom we had met at the house
of the Ispravnik in Yeneseisk, As is always the case in
Russia, we were very hospitably received, and on taking
leave of the Zessedatel, we were provided with a courier.
The Easter holidays were not yet over, and we might
have difficulty or delay in obtaining horses. This courier
accompanied us to the "grenitza," or boundary of the
province of Yeneseisk, a distance of about 300 versts.

A SIBERIAN ROAD 277

About 200 versts before reachinof Turukansk we were
met bv a cossack, who brougrht us a letter from the
Zessedatel of that town, informing us that he had sent us
an escort to assist us on our way.

The thaw had cut up the roads a good deal. We
had generally three, rarely only two, frequently four, and
sometimes five horses in our sledge, but in all cases they
were driven tandem. The smaller sledge was driven
with two, and occasionally three horses. Although to
all appearances the road was a dead level from one to
two miles wide, it was in reality very narrow, in fact too
narrow for a pair of horses to run abreast with safety.
W'e were really travelling on a wall of hard trodden
snow from five to seven feet wide, and about as high,
levelled up on each side with soft snow. Whenever we
met a peasant's sledge, the peasant's poor horse had to
step off the road, and stand on one side up to the traces
in snow. After our cavalcade had gone by, it had to
struo-ale on to the road ag^ain as best it could. Our
horses were generally good and docile, and they kept
the road wonderfully, though it sometimes wound about
like a snake. A stranger might naturally wonder for
what inscrutable reason such a tortuous road should be
made along a level river. It was carefully staked out
with little bushes of spruce fir, from two to five feet
high, stuck in the snow every few yards. The explana-
tion is very simple. When Captain Wiggins travelled
up the river in December, little or no snow had faller..
At the beginning of the winter the ice breaks up several
times before it finally freezes for the season. When the
roads were first staked out by the starrosta of the village,
the little bushes that now reared their heads above the
snow were trees eight to twelve feet hi^h, and the road
had to be carefully picked out between shoals and hills

278 DOWN RIVER TO THE KAMIN PASS

of ice-slabs lying' scattered about in every direction.
After the winter snow had fallen we could see nothing
of all this, except the tops of the trees. Everything was
buried to a depth of six feet. Our horses got well over
the ground, and for two-thirds of the way we averaged
a hundred and fifty versts in the twenty-four hours ; but
on the sixth, seventh, and eighth days of our journey
from Yeneseisk to Turukansk we passed through a
district where an epidemic had prevailed amongst the
horses. Here we were obliged to travel slowly, and
frequently had to wait for horses at the stations, so we
consequently only scored about half our previous average.
These epidemics amongst the cattle occur with some
regularity every spring, or, to speak more correctly,
during the last month or two of winter, for in these
latitudes there is no spring. The cause is not very
far to seek. It is unquestionably insufficient food. The
corn has been finished long ago, and the hot sun and
occasional thaws have caused the hay to foul.

On this journey we had the same variable weather
as heretofore. Since leaving Krasnoyarsk we had been
racing the south wind. A couple of days after leaving
that town we thought we had fairly beaten it, but we
had not been two days in Yeneseisk before it again
overtook us. We had no absolute rain, however, until
we reached the entrance to the Kamin Pass, not far from
the point where the Kamina Tungusk joins the Yenesei.
This pass is twenty versts in length, and is extremely
picturesque. The river here flows through a comparatively
narrow defile, between perpendicular walls of what looked
like mountain limestone rock. This is considered the
only dangerous part of the journey. The channel is
deep and tortuous, and the current so rapid that open
water is visible in places even in the hardest winters.

THE PASS 279

We reached the station at the entrance of this pass in
the evening. A heavy gale from the south-west was
blowing, and the rain was beating loudly against the
windows of the station-house. We were told that it was
impossible to proceed, and that we must remain in our
present quarters until a frost should set in. We were
not sorry to be compelled to take a night's rest, but
the prospect of having to stop a week or two until the
weather changed was not pleasant. The south wind
seemed to have completely beaten us, and we went to
bed somewhat disheartened. When we woke the next
morning: we heard the wind still howling-. We were
making an effort to be resigned to our fate, and as a
preliminary step we turned out to inspect our sledges,
and see if our baggage had escaped a complete soaking.
We were, however, soon driven in again. Although the
wind was still blowing hard, it had shifted a point or two,
and cut like a knife. The rain was all gone, the snow
was drifting in white clouds down the pass, and a
thermometer placed outside the window sank to 3°
above zero. As the mercury fell our spirits rose ; with
the thermometer 29° below freezing point the worst roads
must be safe, so we ordered our horses, breakfasted, and
were soon in the Kamin Pass.

When Captain Wiggins came through this pass in
the previous December it was on a brilliantly sunshiny
day. The blue ice was then piled in fantastic confusion
on each side. The snow had not then fallen and buried
the signs of the skirmishes which had taken place between
the river and winter, before the latter finally conquered.
The thermometer was below zero, and the sunshine
glistened on the frozen waterfalls that hung down the
cliffs like young glaciers, and clouds of dense white
steam were rising from the open water in the centre

28o

DOWN RIVER TO THE KAMIN PASS

of the river. We saw it under very different circum-
stances. The strong wind was driving the fine drifted
snow in clouds down the pass, and everything was
wrapped in haze. A thin band of open water rippled
black as we passed by. The scene was fine and
constantly changing, and reminded me very much of
the Iron Gates on the Danube.

During the rest of the journey we had no more
anxiety on the score of weather. Once or twice the
south wind overtook us again, but we had at length
reached a latitude in which we could afford to laugh at
our old enemy. Whatever attempts he made to stop us
with rain only ended in snow, and we found that a thin
sprinkling of snow on the hard crust of the road was
rather advantageous to rapid travelling than otherwise.
It was like oil to the runners of our sledgfe.

SAMOVEDK SNOW SITXTACLES

SIBERIAN DOG SLEDGE

CHAPTER XXVII.

TURUKANSK AND THE WAY THITHER.

Stations — Hospitality of the Peasants — Furs and their Prices — Dogs
Drawing Sledges — Birds — Visit to a Monastery — Graphite — Captain
Wiggins's Former Travelling Companion — An Honest Russian Official !
— Installed as Guests in the House of the Zessedatel — Turukansk — We
Turn Shop-keepers— The Skoptsi — Scarcity of Birds — Old Gazenkampf
— Our Host's Tricks — The Blagachina — The Second Priest — The Priest's
Accomplishments — The Postmaster — The Secretary of the Zessedatel —
Schwanenberg's Troubles.

The distance from Yeneseisk to Turukansk is 1084
versts, or 723 miles. The road is divided into forty-four
stages, which we accompHshed in nine days and ten
nights. The stations where we changed horses were
frequently in villages containing not more than half a
dozen houses. Those we visited were always scrupulously
clean, and everywhere we were most hospitably received.
The best the peasants had was placed before us — tea,

282 TURUKANSK AND THE WAY THITHER

sugar, cream, bread, and occasionally soup, fish, beef, or
game. Frequently we were treated as guests, and our
offers of payment refused. The yemschiks, or drivers,
were always very civil, and some of the younger ones
were fine-looking fellows. However numerous our horses
were, we only paid for three, at the rate of three kopeks
per verst per horse, to which we added vodka money —
ten kopeks to each yemschik. At most of the houses furs
were to be bought. I picked up a fine bear-skin, for which
I paid six roubles : ermine was to be had in almost any
quantity at from ten to fifteen kopeks a skin. Squirrel*
was even more abundant at about the same price. Skins
of a light-coloured stone-marten, f which the peasants
called korlojmok, were occasionally offered to us at fifty
kopeks to a rouble each, I bought two gluttons' skins, one
for four and the other for five roubles. Otter and blue ioy.\

* The grey squirrel (Sciicrus vulgaris) is a Palaearctic quadruped, being repre-
sented on the American continent by a closely allied form (Sciurus hudsonius). In
the British Islands only the red variety occurs, but in Siberia every intermediate
form is found between red and grey squirrels.

t The beech-marten {Martes foina) has been recorded as a British quadruped,
but recent investigations seem to have proved that the pine-marten [Martes abietum)
is the only species found in our islands. Both species are strictly palasarctic, and
neither of them is found on the American continent ; indeed, it is doubtful if
their range extends into Asia. In Siberia they are represented by the allied
species {Martes sibirica) mentioned above.

+ The blue fox, as it is called in its summer dress, when it is of a bluish-grey
colour, or the arctic fox, as it is called in the snow-white winter dress (Viilpes
lagopus), is a circumpolar quadruped. The Siberian merchants in Yeneseisk, as-
well as the Hudson Bay merchants in London, maintain the distinctness of the
two forms, and attempt to prove their statements by producing both summer and
winter skins of each. A possible explanation is, that like the stoat, the arctic
fox changes the colour of its fur with the seasons throughout the greater part of
its range ; but towards the northern limit of its distribution the summers are so
short that it is not worth while for it to turn dark, whilst towards the southern
limit of its range snow does not lie long enough on the ground to make the
whiteness of the fur protective. My impression is, however, that the blue fox is
a variety of the arctic fox, bearing somewhat the same relation to the latter form
as the black fox does to the red fox. It is difficult to explain otherwise the facts
that skins of blue fox are obtained very far north, and those obtained in winter
have very glossy, long, and thick fur.

SLEDGE DOGS 283

were offered at ten to twelve roubles, and white fox at
three to five roubles. We made many inquiries for sable*
and black fox, but did not succeed in ever seeing any.
They are all carefully reserved for the Yeneseisk merchants,
who no doubt would be very angry if they heard of any of
these valuable skins "going past " them. We were told
that the price of sable was twenty-five roubles and black
fox double that price or more. The beaver has been
extinct on the Yenesei for many years. We bought a few
skins of red fox f with wonderfully large brushes, and the
general colour a richer and intenser red than ours, the
price varying from two to four roubles.

As we got further north we found fine dogs at the
stations, and occasionally we met a sledge drawn by dogs.
These animals are most sagacious. A Russian traveller
will hire a sledge with a team of six dogs, travel in it ten
or fifteen miles to the next station, where he gives the
does a feed, and sends them home aorain alone with the
empty sledge. On several occasions we met teams
of dogs returning alone with the empty sledges. They
are fine fellows, a little like a Scotch shepherd's dog, but

* The sable (Martes zibellina) is only found in Siberia, being represented in
America by a nearly allied species (Martes amevicana), which is said to differ from
its Siberian cousin both in the form of the skull and the shape of the teeth.
There is little or no difference in the general appearance of the two species, and
they are subject to much the same variation in the colour and quality of the fur,
though I have never seen skins from Hudson Bay in which the hairs were as long
or as thick as in Siberian skins, nor are the American skins ever quite so dark as
the finest Asiatic ones, though when dyed it is sometimes difficult to detect the
difference at a glance. The price of sables in St. Petersburg, at the best shops,
varies from £2 to £2^ each, according to quality. The quality at £6 (60 roubles)
is, however, rich enough and dark enough for ordinary use.

t The red fox ( Viilpes vulgaris) is a circumpolar quadruped. The Arctic form is
of a richer, deeper red than that found in more temperate regions, and has longer
hair and a much more bushy tail. On both continents a melanistic form, called
the black or silver fox, occasionally occurs, the silver fox having white tips to the
black hairs. In St. Petersburg, fine skins of the silver fox fetch £2.^, but the best
skins of black fox are sold as high as £t^o.

284 TURUKANSK AND THE WAY THITHER

with very bushy hair. They have sharp noses, short
straight ears, and a bushy tail curled over the back.
Some are black, others white, but the handsomest variety
is a grey-fawn colour. Another sign of having entered
northern latitudes met us in the appearance of snow-
shoes, and occasionally our yemschiks would run on them
at the sides of the sledge for a mile or more togfether.

We had very little opportunity of seeing the birds of
the district, as our road was almost always on the river.
Sparrows and magpies disappeared before we reached
the Kamin Pass. At most stations carrion crows and
snow-buntings were seen, and now and then a raven flew
over our heads. We were often offered willow-grouse,
capercailzie and hazel-grouse, but we very seldom saw
these birds alive. Seven hundred versts north of Yene-
seisk the nutcracker appeared. At most stations one or
two of these birds were silently flitting round the houses,
feeding under the windows amongst the crows, perching
on the roof or on the top of a pole, and if disturbed,
silently flying, almost like an owl, to the nearest spruce,
where they sat conspicuously on a flat branch, and
allowed themselves to be approached within easy shot.
I secured eight of them without difficulty. In the
summer this river must be a paradise for house-martins.
At every station the eaves of the houses were crowded
with their nests, sometimes in rows of three or four deep.
Two hundred versts south of Turukansk I bouofht the
skin of a bittern which had been shot during the previous
summer. The only four-footed wild animal we saw was
a red fox.

Thirty versts from Turukansk we stopped to inspect
a monastery. Two hundred and fifty years ago the
ancient town of Mangaze, at the head of the gulf of the
Taz, was destroyed by the Cossacks. An attempt was

MANGAZE 285

made to remove the annual fair which used to be held at
Mancraze a deofree or two to the east. The villao-e now
known as Turukansk was founded under the name of
Novaya Mangaze. The relics of the patron saint of the
monastery of the old town were mostly destroyed by
fire. The monastery was rebuilt a little to the south
of New Mangaze, opposite the junction of the Nishni
Tunofusk with the Yenesei, and hither such of the relics
of St. Vasili as survived the fire were removed. They
consist of an iron belt with iron shoulder-straps called a
Tikon, and a heavy iron cross, which it is said the saint
wore as a penance. In a small building outside the
church is a cast-iron slab covered with Slavonic inscrip-
tions, which is said to be his tombstone. Such is the
story, at least, which the Bishop told us through the
medium of my thick-headed interpreter. At the station
where we changed horses, close by the monastery, we
were shown some samples of graphite, which was said to
come from the Nishni Tungusk river, and appeared to
be of excellent quality.

When Captain Wiggins came through Turukansk
the previous autumn, he had the misfortune to pick up
as a travelling companion an adventurer of the name of
Schwanenberg, a Courlander who spoke German and
English. Schwanenberg's ^reat object was to secure a
monopoly of the trade by sea between Europe and
Siberia for his master Sideroff, and so to twist every little
success of Captain Wiggins that it might redound to the
honour and glory of Sideroff The consequence was
that he caused Captain Wiggins to commit a grave
indiscretion. The cargo which Captain Wiggins had
picked up in Sunderland was landed from the Thames
packed on sledges, and the caravan, headed by Schwan-
enberg, commenced a triumphal march up country. Un-

286 TURUKANSK AND THE WAY THITHER

fortunately, Captain Wiggins fell into the trap, and made
matters ten times worse by hoisting the Union Jack.
The Zessedatel of Turukansk was naturally astounded
at such extraordinary proceedings, and from excess of
zeal impounded the goods and refused horses to the
travellers. After a desperate quarrel, nearly ending in
bloodshed, in which the Blagachina and the Postmaster
conspired against the Zessedatel, the travellers proceeded
to Yeneseisk, leaving the goods behind them. The
Zessedatel had other enemies. Two of the principal
merchants of the Lower Yenesei, who shall be nameless
— I call them the arch-robbers of the Yenesei — ^joined
the conspiracy. The Zessedatel was too honest; he
would not accept the bribes which these worthies pressed
upon him in order to blind his eyes to their nefarious and
illecral practices. The upshot of it all was, that when
Captain Wiggins and Schwanenberg passed through
Krasnoyarsk they were able to bring so much pressure
to bear upon the good-natured Governor that the Zesse-
datel of Turukansk was removed from his office, and
when we arrived at this Ultima Thule we found that a
new Zessedatel reigned in his place. This gendeman
had received orders from head-quarters to assist Captain
Wio-gins to the utmost of his power, and had also been
advised of my intended visit. The Cossack who escorted
us for the last two hundred versts had strict orders to
bring us to the Zessedatel's house, and we were imme-
diately installed as his guests. He placed his dining-
room at our disposal, and we occupied the two sofas in it
at night. We tried hard to avoid trespassing upon his
hospitality, but he would take no refusal.

Turukansk is a very poor place, built on an island.
It may possibly consist of forty to fifty houses. Most of
these are old, and the whole place bears an aspect of

THE SKOPTSI 287

poverty. We met no one who could speak English,
French, or German, and we probably saw most of the
inhabitants. The Zessedatel gave back to Captain
Wiggins possession of his goods, and placed at his dis-
posal an empty house, where the Captain displayed them
and kept open shop for a couple of days. Glinski and
I helped him, to the best of our ability, to measure
ribbons, printed calicoes, and silks, and though more
people came to see th^^ goods than to buy, we neverthe-
less all had to work hard. Captain Wiggins was, I am
sure, heartily sick of his job, and many times, I have no
doubt, devoutly wished his wares were in Kamtschatka.
They were mostly consignments from Sunderland shop-
keepers, which the Captain, in a rash moment, induced
these tradesmen to entrust to his care. Most of the
goods were utterly unsuited to the market, and many of
them seemed to me to be priced at more than double
their value in England. In spite of this we sold some
hundred roubles' worth at prices yielding a profit of ten
to fifty per cent.

Among the people who came to inspect the goods
was a smooth-chinned, pale-faced man, who we found on
inquiry was one of the Skoptsi, a strange sect of fanatics
who have made themselves impotent "for the kingdom
of heaven's sake." They live in a village sixteen versts
from Turukansk in four houses, and are now reduced to
ten men and five women. They were exiled to this
remote district as a punishment for having performed
their criminal religious rite. Most of them come from
the Perm government. They occupy themselves in
agriculture, and in curing a small species of fish like a
herring, which they export in casks of their own manu-
facture.

We saw very few birds in Turukansk ; two or three

288 TURUKANSK AND THE WAY THITHER

pairs of carrion crows seemed to be the only winter
residents. I saw no other birds, except a flock of snow-
buntings, which, we were informed, had not long arrived.
House-martins come in summer, as their nests bore ample
evidence. We were told that these birds arrive in
Turukansk during the last week in May, old style — that
is, the first week in June of our style.

We left Turukansk at five o'clock on the afternoon of
Sunday the 22nd of April. We were not sorry to escape
from the clutches of our host, A man with such a faculty
for annexing adjacent property I never met with before.
He was interesting as a type of the old-fashioned Russian
official, ill-paid, and sent by the Government to an out-
of the-way place to pay himself — a wretched system. A
more shameless beggar never asked alms. Old von
Gazenkampf — for this was his name — might have been
sixty-five years of age. He had imposed himself and
his Cossack servant on a well-to-do widow, who boarded
and lodged the pair gratis, but sorely against her will.
She dared not refuse them anything, and was afraid to
ask for payment. I asked our host to choose a knife or
two out of the stock I brought with me for presents ; he
immediately took six of the best I had, and the day
following asked me for a couple more to send to a friend
of his at Omsk. He offered me a pair of embroidered
boots for six roubles. I accepted the offer. He then
said that he had made a mistake, and that he could not
sell them, because he had promised to send them to his
friend in Omsk. Half an hour afterwards he offered me
the same pair for twelve roubles ; I gave him the money,
and packed them up for fear his friend in Omsk should
turn up again, and I might have to buy them the next day
for twenty roubles. From Captain Wiggins he begged all
sorts of things, annexed many more without asking, and

THE BLAGACHINA 289

finally begged again and again for his friend in Omsk.
It was very amusing and — very expensive ; otherwise the
old buffer was as jolly as possible, talked and laughed
and made himself and us at home, gave us the best he
(or rather the widow) had, and kissed us most affection-
ately at parting.

The Blagachina was a tall, comparatively young man,
with long flowing hair paried in the middle. He was a
widower. So far as we could see he appeared to be a
true man, anxious to do all the good that lay in his
power and to give us every information possible. He
was very kind and generous to us, and invited us several
times to his house ; but he had the too comm.on Russian
failing of being fonder of vodka than was consistent with
due sobriety.

The second priest was a teetotaler, a small, keen-
eyed man, with an excellent wife and a row of charmino-
children. He had a turning-lathe in his house, and was
skilful in making cups, boxes, etc., out of cedar and
mammoth-ivory. He had been amongst the Ostiaks of
the Taz, and had visited the ruins of the ancient town
of Mangaze. He was something of an ethnologist
and archseologist, and made very fair pencil sketches. I
rather liked him, but Captain Wiggins thought him
something of a Jesuit, poking his nose into everything,
ubiquitous, and taking upon himself to answer every
question, no matter to whom addressed. He had taken
the side of the deposed Zessedatel in the quarrel between
that gentleman and the two captains in the previous
year, and so had incurred the anger of the postmaster
and the Blagachina, who nicknamed him the " Thir-
teenth Apostle." From what I afterwards learned, 1 am,
however, disposed to think he was in the right. The
postmaster appeared to be a good-natured fellow, a

T

290 TURUKANSK AND THE WAY THITHER

bit of a sportsman, but of the heavy-brained type of
Russian. The secretary of the Zessedatel was a Pole, a
very intelHgent man ; he dined with us every day and
appeared to be hand in glove with von Gazenkampf, but
we heard later that he was very anxious to escape from
his bondage. No wonder ! To be compelled to live in
such a miserable place is exile indeed. After we had left
I had a peep behind the scenes of Russian official life
in Turukansk. Captain Schwanenberg told me all the
troubles he had to endure in this place the week before
we arrived. As Sideroffs agent it was part of his duty
to obtain a certificate from the Zessedatel of Turukansk,
testifying that this worthy official had visited the graphite
mines of Sideroff on the Kureika and satisfied himself
that a definite amount of graphite had been dug from
them. Without such a certificate Sideroffs monopoly to
procure graphite from these mines would lapse. The
Russian Government, in order to encourage the develop-
ment of the mineral resources of the country, very liber-
ally grants to the discoverer of a mine a right of private
property in it, but very justly it requires the mine to be
worked in order to maintain this right. The difficulties
that Schwanenberg had to contend with were threefold.
First, the mine had, in fact, been standing idle a sufficient
length of time to vitiate Sideroffs claim to it ; second,
it had never been visited by the Zessedatel ; and third,
Schwanenberor had contracted with Sideroff to take all
the necessary steps to secure his rights. Old von
Gazenkampf was quite prepared to sign everything that
Schwanenberg required, and a sum had been agreed
upon as the price of the Zessedatel's conscience ; but at
the last moment the mysterious friend in Omsk had turned
up, and poor Schwanenberg had to part with his watch-
chain and the rings off his fingers, at which he was

RUSSIAN COMMERCIAL MORALITY 291

secretly very angry, as he assured me that Sideroff would
never recoup him for these losses. The Nihilists blame
the Emperor for all this sort of plundering, but most
unjustly. No Government can command honesty in its
servants unless it is supported by public opinion, and
hitherto public opinion in Russia remains on the side of
the successful thief. I need only point out the fate of
old Gazenkampfs predecessor to show how impossible it
is for an honest official to live in the present atmosphere
of commercial morality in Russia. Let us hope that the
valley of the Yenesei is exceptionally bad in this respect-
It is not at all improbable that the demoralisation which
usually emanates from gold-mines may be an important
factor in the case. Peculation has undoubtedly been
overdone in this district. The officials are gradually
killing the geese that lay the golden eggs ; the villages;
are dwindling away ; Turukansk is only the wreck of what,
it once was, and when one looks at the tumble-down
church and the few miserable straggling houses that
nowhere else would be called a town, one wonders how
Turukansk ever came to be printed in capital letters in
any map.

OSTIAK CRADLE

INSIDE AN OSTIAK CHOOM

CHAPTER XXVIII.

OUR JOURNEY'S END.

Soft Roads — Sledging with Dogs — Sledging with Reindeer — We reach
the Thames — Cost of Travelling — The Yenesei River — Good Health of
the Thames Crew — Precautions against Scurvy — Fatal Results of Neglect
— Picturesqueness of our Winter Quarters — View from the House —
Through the Forest on Snowshoes — Birds — The Nutcracker — Continued
Excursions in the Forest — Danger ahead.

The road from Turukansk to the Kureika is very little
frequented. So far to the north, the traffic has dwindled
down to almost nothing, consequently the snow never
gets trodden down hard, and sledging in heavy sankas is
impossible. We were therefore obliged once more to
abandon our sledg-es and to have still lighter ones. As
there were only four stages, we decided to hire them
from stage to stage and repack our baggage into fresh
sledges at each station. We had the remains of the

REINDEER AND DOG TRAVEL 293

captain's merchandise to take with us, so we required
six sledges, each drawn by one horse. The first stage
was on land, wearisomely long, with bad roads and
worse horses ; the second stage was on the river, a
much better road, but, in consequence of bad horses,
very slow. The baggage was packed as before, on
three one-horse sledges. To each of our three sledges,
containing also a fair share of baggage, were harnessed
six dogs. They went splendidly, never seemed tired,
and never shirked their work. The pace was not rapid,
but at the next stage we had to wait an hour for the
horses with the baggage. The harness was simple in
the extreme, consisting merely of a padded belt across
the small of the back, and passing underneath between
the hind legs.

The two last stages were travelled with reindeer.
We had six sledges, as before, for ourselves and the
baggage, and four sledges for our drivers. Each sledge
was drawn by a pair of reindeer, so that we required
twenty reindeer to horse our caravan. This was by far our
fastest mode of travelling. Sometimes the animals seemed
to iiy over the snow. During the last stage the reindeer
that drew my sledge galloped the whole way without a
pause ! The journey from Turukansk to the Kureika is
138 versts, and occupied about twenty-two hours.

We reached the winter quarters of the Thames on
Monday, April 23rd, at three o'clock in the afternoon,
delio-hted once more to be amono^st English voices and
English cooking. We had sledged from Nishni Nov-
gorod to the Kureika, a distance of 4860 versts, or
3240 English miles. Including stoppages, we had been
forty-six days on the road, during which we had made
use of about a thousand horses, eighteen dogs, and forty
reindeer. The total number of stages was 229. My

294 OUR JOURNEY'S END

share of the expenses from London was £^yy exclusive
of skins, photographs, etc., purchased — an average of
about 3f^. per mile, including everything.

The Yenesei is said to be the third largest river in
the world. In Yeneseisk the inhabitants claim that the
waters of their river have flowed at least two thousand
miles (through Lake Baikal) to their town. Here the
river must be more than a mile wide, but at the Kureika,
which is about eight hundred miles distant, it is a little
more than three miles wide. From the Kureika to the
limit of forest growth, where the delta may be said to
begin, is generally reckoned another eight hundred miles,
for which distance the river will average at least four
miles in width. To this we must add a couple of hundred
miles of delta and another couple of hundred miles of
lagoon, each of which will average twenty miles in width,
if not more.

On reaching the ship we found the crew well and
hearty. The men had been amply provided with lime-
juice, had always some dried vegetables given them to
put into their soup, and the captain had left strict orders
with the mate that exercise should be taken every day,
and that during the winter trees should be felled and cut
into firewood ready for use on board the steamer on her
voyage home. The consequence of these sanitary pre-
cautions was that no symptoms of scurvy had presented
themselves. On the other hand, we afterwards learned
that the crew of Sideroffs schooner, which had wintered
four degrees farther north, not having been supplied
by Captain Schwanenberg with these well-known pre-
ventives, had suffered so severely from scurvy that the
mate alone survived the winter.

Our winter quarters were very picturesque. The
Thames was moored close to the north shore of the

OUR WINTER QUARTERS 295

Kureika. at the entrance of a small gully, into which
it was the captain's intention to take his ship as soon
as the water rose high enough to admit of his doing
so, and where he hoped to wait in safety the passing
away of the ice. On one side of the ship was the steep
bank of the river, about a hundred feet in height, covered
with snow, except here and there, where it was too

DOLGAN BELT AND TRAPPINGS

perpendicular for the snow to lie. On the top of the
bank was the house of a Russian peasant-merchant,
with stores and farm-buildings adjacent, and a bath-
house occupied by an old man who earned a living by
making casks. One of the rooms in the house was
occupied by the crew of the Thames during the winter.
As we stood at the door of this house on the brow of
the hill, we looked down on to the "crow's-nest" of
the Thames. To the left the Kureika, a mile wide,
stretched away some four or five miles, until a sudden
bend concealed it from view, whilst to the rio^ht the

296 OUR JOURNEY'S END

eye wandered across the snow-fields of the Yenesei,
and by the help of a binocular the little village of
Kureika might be discerned about four miles off on
the opposite bank of the great river. The land was
undulating rather than hilly, and everywhere covered
with forests, the trees reaching frequently two, and in
some rare instances three feet in diameter.

Not long after our arrival I purchased a pair of snow-
shoes, unpacked my gun, and had a round in the forest.
The sun was hot, but the wind cold. On the river the
depth of the snow was six feet, but in the forest I found
it rather less. The trees were principally pine, fir, larch,
and birch. I found more birds than I expected. A pair
of what I took to be ravens were generally in sight, and
now and then a small flock of snow-buntings flitted by.
Outside the door of the sailors' room, picking amongst the
refuse thrown out by the cook, were half a dozen almost
tame nutcrackers hopping about. They allowed us to go
within three feet of them, and sometimes they even per-
mitted us to touch them with a stick. They seemed to
be quite silent, never uttering a sound, and their feathers
were so fluffy that their flight was almost as noiseless as
that of an owl. I saw one or two of these birds as I
entered the wood, but none afterwards. The Lapp-tit
was very common and very tame. I saw one black-and-
white woodpecker, but did not get a shot at him. Some
willow-grouse flew over my head out of shot, and I saw
many pine grosbeaks. I thought I heard a jay scream,
but could not get a sight of the bird.

The following day I had a long round on snowshoes
through the forest in the morning, and another nearly as
long in the afternoon. The sun was burning hot, but a
cold north wind was still blowing-, and it was freezing"
hard in the shade. I then discovered that the nutcracker

EXCURSIONS IN THE FOREST 297

was by no means the silent bird he appeared to be when
close to the houses. I got amongst quite a colony of
them in the forest. At one time there were eight in
one tree ; at another time they tiew from tree to tree,
screaming at each other. They have two distinct notes,
both harsh enough. One, probably the call- note, is a
little prolonged and slightly plaintive ; the other is
louder and more energetic — an alarmed or angry tone.
This is probably the alarm-note, and is the one which on
the previous day I mistook for the scream of a jay. It is
almost as orratino- to the ear as the note of a corncrake. I
found the pine grosbeak as common as they had been the
day before, and shot males both in the red and yellow
plumage. I was also fortunate enough to get a shot at
one of the pair of birds which the sailors called ravens,
and which they assured me had wintered at the Kureika.
I was surprised to find him so small a bird, and I am now
convinced that he was only a large carrion-crow. His
croak was certainly that of a crow, and not that of a
raven.

I continued to make excursions in the forest every
day with greater or less success. After all, the forest
was nearly denuded of birds. I sometimes trudged along
on my snowshoes for an hour or more without seeing
one. Then all at once I would come upon quite a small
family of them. The few birds there were seemed to be
gregarious. Pine grosbeaks and Lapp-tits were generally
together, perhaps three or four of each. On the 27th I
succeeded in securing the woodpecker, and found him to
be, as I expected, the three-toed woodpecker. On the
banks of the river small flocks of snow-buntings occasion-
ally passed, and the nutcrackers continued as common as
ever. The latter birds were remarkably sociable, three
or four usually congregating together about different

298 OUR JOURNEY'S END

parts of the ship, and apparently watching with interest
the operations of our sailors, who, assisted by some
Russian peasants, were busy cutting away the ice all
round the vessel. The river was frozen solid to the
bottom where the Thames was moored, and the captain
was afraid that when the water rose she would remain
attached to the bed and be swamped instead of rising
with the water. This was no imaginary danger, for I
remember a case in point which happened in the Petchora.
The ship I refer to did certainly float when the water
rose, but she left her keel ice-bound to the bottom of the
river. The Thames was frozen very fast indeed. The
last couple of feet was frozen mud, as solid as a rock, and
the men found it hard and tedious work chipping away
this icy mass with their pickaxes.

SAMOYEDK lll'IC OK MAMMOTH-IVORY — OSTIAK I'lPE OK WOOD INLAID WITH
LEAD— TUNGUSK I'll'E OK WROUCIHT IRON

CHAPTER XXIX.

IN WINTER QUARTERS.

The Ostiaks of the Yenesei — An Ostiak Baby — A new Bird — Visit from
the Blagachina and the Postmaster — Blackcocks in the Forest — The
Capercailzie — Wary Crows — Stacks of Firewood — Result of a Week's
Shooting.

Whilst we were waiting patiently for summer to return
I was much interested in observing the natives of these
northern climes. Every day our house was visited by
'Ostiaks, who came with squirrel, ermine, and fox skins,
to barter for meal or black bread from the Russian
peasant merchant. These Ostiaks must not be con-
founded with the Ostiaks of the Ob. The latter are a
Finnish race allied to the Voguls of the Urals, the
Zyriani of the Izhma, and the Kvains of Lapland.
The Ostiaks of the Yenesei, on the other hand, are allied
to the Samoyedes ; at least this was the opinion I
formed as the result of my inquiries into their language.
There were several Ostiak chooms at a short distance
from our winter quarters. These chooms, or tents, were
exactly like the summer tents of the Petchora Samoyedes,

300 IN WINTER QUARTERS

covered with birch-bark ; their sledo^es also were of
precisely the same construction as those of their North
European relations. Judging- from their clothes, they
must have been very poor. Their reindeer were large,
and looked healthy. On one occasion one of the women
brought a baby, a queer little thing, with black eyes and
black hair. The cradle was a wooden box about three
inches deep, with rounded ends, almost the shape of the
child. The bottom of the box was oval, and projected
an inch beyond the box at either side, and three or four
inches at each end. A quantity of sawdust lay at the
bottom of the box, which was covered with a piece of
flannel over the child's legs, and a hare's skin with the
fur on over the body. The baby was placed in the box,
having on nothing but a short cotton shirt. The flannel
was carefully wrapped over its feet and lashed securely,
from two places on each side, to a brass ring over its
knees. The arms were placed close to the body, and
wrapped up with it in the hare's skin, which was secured
as before to a brass ring over the breast. Half a hoop of
wood, the two ends of which were loosely fastened to the
sides of the box, was raised so as to be at an angle of 45°
with the bottom of the box ; it was kept in that position
by lashings from the top and bottom ; when a handker-
chief was thrown over this it formed a hood over the
child's head. The little one cried as the complicated
operation of being put to bed was performed, but as soon
as it was finished the Ostiak woman sat down upon the
floor, took the box upon her knee, and quieted the child
by giving it the breast.

On the 28th I added a new bird to my list. I had
walked an hour in the forest without seeing a feather. I
then all at once dropped upon a little party of tits, in com-
pany, as usual, with some pine grosbeaks. I shot at what I

KEEPING OUT THE COLD 301

thought was the handsomest tit, and had the pleasure of
picking up a nuthatch. Half an hour afterwards I came
upon the same or another party. I watched each bird
very closely, and soon found there was a nuthatch among
them. The note was different from that of the tits, a
sort of zty something like the note of our tree-creeper,
and an occasional whil, or very liquid zvhit. The two
birds proved to be male and female. On the same
excursion I heard a redpoll or two, the first trace of
these birds I had seen since leaving Yeneseisk. I also
saw a flock of snow-buntings, and shot a second three-
toed woodpecker.

The same evening the Blagachina and the postmaster
came to visit Captain Wiggins. They had sledged over
from Turukansk. I had hoped, with the assistance of
Glinski as interpreter, to get some interesting informa-
tion from these gentlemen, but they seemed to have
found it necessary to fortify themselves against the cold
during the journey, and when the sledge arrived the
Blagachina was so fast asleep that we had the greatest
difficulty in waking him. He slept most of the following-
day, apparently waking just to eat and refresh himself with
the vodka of the Russian merchant, so we saw little or
nothing of our visitors, and got no information from them.

On Sunday the wind shifted from north-east to
north-west, but produced no change in the weather. The
sun was burning hot all day, and on any steep bank
exposed to its rays it made a slight impression, but not a
drop of water survived the night's frosts, and to all
intents and purposes we were still in mid-winter. We
used occasionally to see a cloud in the evenings, but
generally the sky was brilliantly clear. As I could make
nothing out of our guests, I left them to drink and sleep
and turned into the forest. To my surprise, I found

302 IN WINTER QUARTERS

quite a covey of blackcock on the top of the hill, but I
was in very bad shooting order, and missed every shot
until I came suddenly upon a bird sitting upon the thick
branch of a pine. It fell down with a crash on the
snow, and I found that I had secured a hen capercailzie.
Her crop was full of the small needlelike leaves of a
species of fir, allied to our Scotch fir, which the Russians
call the cedar.

Early on the following morning our visitors left, and
Captain Wiggins and I hired a sledge and drove across
the Yenesei to the village of Kureika. Before we started
I noticed that a fresh pair of carrion-crows had arrived,
and as soon as we reached the village we saw three or
four more feeding on the green in the centre, which at
that time of the year was a large manure-yard, with here
and there some dirty snow visible. One of these crows
seemed to be nearly, if not quite, a thoroughbred hoodie.
Two of them were about half and half, and one was black
with a grey ring round its neck. They evidently knew
that we were strangers, and retired into the forests as
soon as we arrived, but one of the Russian peasants, of
whom they seem to have no fear, promised to get me
some in a day or two. In the woods which were close
to the village the trees were small, principally birch. All
the large cedars and pines had been cut down to build
the village with, and to furnish an annual supply of fire-
wood for the steamers which during the short summer
ply between Yeneseisk and Golchika. Quite a mountain
of this firewood was stacked on the edge of the cliff,
representing the winter's work of the villagers. There
were hardly any small birds in the forest, all that I saw
being a pair of Lapp-tits. Black-game was, however,
abundant. In one tree I counted six blackcocks, whilst
six more were in trees close by. A good rifle-shot might

SLOW PROGRESS

303

have made a large bag. I got at least five shots at
seventy to ninety yards, but with a 20-bore gun missed
them all. The villagers were very hospitable, inviting
us into their houses and offering us tea and milk. In
the afternoon I had a stroll in the forest, on the other
side of the Kureika. The sun was burning hot, but
whenever I exposed myself to the wind it was icy cold.
I bagged a pair of Lapp-tits, a brace of pine grosbeaks,,
and a couple of nuthatches.

We had now been a week at our winter quarters, and
were hoping that the advent of May would bring us
warmer weather and more birds. My tale of skins had
only reached forty, and many of these were snow-
buntings, which I shot merely to keep Glinski in practice.
My list of birds identified within the Arctic Circle had
only reached twelve, and I was beginning to be impatient
of the slow progress.

TUNUUSK PIPE AND BELT

CHAPTER XXX.

WAITING FOR SPRING.

Scarcity of Birds — Arrival of Ostiaks — Snow-spectacles — Ostiak Dress- -
Povertyof the Ostiaks — Schwanenberg goes in search of Graphite — Osiiak
Ideas concerning the Covering of the Hair — Hazel-grouse — Difference of
Tungusk and Ostiak Hair-dressing — The Weather — Superstition about
shooting Crows^A Token of coming Spring — Scarcity of Glass — Double
Windows — Geographical Distribution of the Samoyedes — Of the Yuraks
—Of the Ostiaks— Of the Dolgans— Of the Yakuts— Of the Tungusks.

On the ist of May a long round in the forest, with a
cool wind and a burning hot sun, did not result in much
more than so many hours' practice on snowshoes. In
one clump of spruce-fir I got a couple of pine grosbeaks
and a pair of Lapp-tits. In another I shot a three- toed
woodpecker and a nuthatch, letting the tits go by. I
picked up an odd tit afterwards, saw another pine gros-
beak and a few black-game, which complete the list of
all the birds I saw in six hours. Every excursion I made
impressed upon me two facts — the scarcity of birds and
the orreofariousness of the few there were.

SNOW SPECTACLES 305

The sun was as brilliant and warm as ever on the
following day, but the wind was higher — a nor'-wester,
as cold as ice. I shot a nuthatch and a woodpecker in
the morning, but stayed at home in the afternoon, finding
an excellent excuse in the arrival of a party of Ostiaks
from a distance, whose reindeer looked very picturesque
picketed on the snow round the house. From one of
these poor fellows I bought a bow and some arrows, and
from another a pair of snow spectacles. The latter are
a great curiosity. The frame is made of reindeer-skin
with the hair left on, and the spectacles are tied on
behind the head with thongs of reindeer-skin without
hair. The eye-pieces are roughly the shape of the eye,,
sewn into the skin. The poor Ostiak who had made
these was apparently unable to procure metal enough of
one kind to furnish both eye-pieces, so one was made of
sheet-iron and the other of copper, A narrow horizontal
slit leaves the eye well protected from the glare of the
hot sun on the white snow, and yet allows a much wider
range of vision than one would expect.

I found it very difficult to get any accurate informa-
tion about the dress and habits of the various races
inhabiting these parts. There are so many races, they
are so mixed together, and with the Russians ; and my
"muddle-headed Hebrew" being such a poor interpreter,
I was almost ready to despair of getting at the exact
truth. So far as I was able to ascertain, the Ostiak
dress is a short jacket of reindeer-skin, more or less
ornamented, long reindeer-skin boots coming up to the
thighs, a "gore "-shaped head-dress tied under the chin at
the two points and edged with foxes' tails, one going over
the brow and the other round the neck. In winter the
jacket is made of skins with tiie hair outside, and is lined
with skins, the hair of which is next the body ; while

u

3o6 WAITING FOR SPRING

in severe weather an overcoat is worn, made of similar
material, shaped like a dressing-gown. In summer,
similar dresses are worn made of reindeer-leather,
stained or dyed in fanciful patterns. I am of opinion
that the Ostiaks of the Yenesei are a race of Samoyedes,
who migrated southwards into the forest region, and
adapted the national dress to a more southerly climate,
borrowing more or less the costume of the Tungusks.
They seem to be very poor. Living, as they do, prin-
cipally on the banks of the mighty river, fishing in the
summer-time and hunting in the winter, they come far
too much into contact with the Russians, who, with the
aid of their accursed vodka, plunder them to almost any
extent.

On the 3rd of May Captain Schwanenberg left us on
a wild-goose chase up the Kureika in search of graphite.
He and eight men went up the river for about a hundred
versts. He chartered a party of Ostiaks, who engaged
to take him, his men, and his baggage, including a pump
and a sledge-load of spades, pick-axes, etc., at the rate
of 30 kopeks per pood. His destination was a waterfall
in a part of the river which is very narrow, and where
the banks are perpendicular rocks of graphite. A
quantity of this graphite had been brought down to the
winter quarters of the Thames the previous autumn.
Captain Wiggins took a sample with him to London,
which was unfavourably reported upon ; so Sideroff, who
has the concession for these mines, instructed Schwanen-
berg to dig deep into the ground and try to find graphite
of a better quality. Of course the expedition turned out
a disastrous failure, as will hereafter appear.

The Ostiaks seem to reverse St. Paul's recommenda-
tion to women to have the head covered. In summer
the men wear no head-dress out of doors. In the house

HAZEL-GROUSE 307

the women wear nothing on the head, but the men tie
a handkerchief round the brow, and when I asked the
reason of this custom, I was told that a man must not
expose his hair.

In the afternoon I had a long round on snow-shoes,
but saw only half a dozen birds. Four of them were
pine grosbeaks ; I was chasing the fourth when I saw a
large bird stretch its neck out from a well-leaved branch
of a pine-tree, and immediately draw it in again. I
could not see anything, but I fired at the foliage, and
down tumbled a hazel-grouse. Shortly afterwards I
caught a momentary glimpse of another alighting in a
distant pine. I carefully stalked it, but although my
snow-shoes made noise enough on the frozen crust of the
snow, as soon as I doubled in full view of the tree, the
bird remained standing on a conspicuous branch within
easy shot. The birds turned out to be male and female,
and were the first hazel-grouse I had seen. I saw a
solitary nutcracker in the forest, but these were the only
birds I came across during a ramble of four hours, except
close to the house, where a flock of snow-buntings, half
a dozen nutcrackers, and a pair of crows were constantly
to be seen. In the eveninof I bought a coat of a
Tungusk. He could not speak Russian, but he tried to
make me understand that he was Tunorusk and not
Ostiak by showing me his hair. It was brushed back
and tied in a knot at the neck like an incipient pigtail.
He gave me to understand that the Ostiaks wore their
hair loose and tumblins: over their forehead.

On the 4th of May the weather still showed no sign
of change. A burning hot sun was trying to thaw the
snow. An icy cold nor'-wester was freezing it again
directly. I shirked the cold morning, and got one of the
sailors to take me in the dog-sledge a couple of miles up

3o8 WAITING FOR SPRING

the Kureika in the afternoon. We were about three
hours in the forest. My bag was one hazel-grouse, four
pine grosbeaks, three Lapp-tits and one mealy redpoll.
The latter was the first of this species which I had shot
since leaving Yeneseisk. In the evening the man whom
I had commissioned to shoot crows for me came from his
village without any. I asked him why he had neglected
my orders. He told me that it was unlucky to shoot a
crow, that a gun which had once shot a crow would never
shoot any other bird afterwards ; and he assured me that
he had once shot a crow, and had been obliged to throw
his gun away. So much for the intelligence of the Russian
peasant !

The next morning I walked across the Yenesei to the
village where the crows were, but I could not get a shot
at them, they were so wary. I found the peasant had
shot me a couple of striped squirrels "^ and a brace of
black-grouse, but no crows. I had a round in the forest,
but came home with an empty bag. The wind was as
cold as ever, but when I got back to the ship I heard
that a swan had been seen flying over it, so we began to
look forward a little more hopefully to the possibilities of
approaching spring.

One of the peculiarities of this part of the country is
that it is a land of dear glass. You rarely see a window
with square panes. In the houses of some of the poorer
peasants it is not an uncommon thing to find one entirely
composed of broken pieces of glass of all sizes and
shapes, fitted together like a puzzle, and carefully sewn
into a framework of birch bark which has been elaborately

* The striped squirrel {Tamias asiaticus) is common to both continents. In
America it is called the chipmunk. A very near ally (Tamias lysteri) is also found
on the latter continent, but this species has a somewhat more southerly range,
being found as far south as Mexico. The former species is arctic or subarctic in
its range, and has never been found so far south as the British Islands.

THE NATIVE RACES 309

cut to fit each piece. Sometimes glass is dispensed with
altogether, and pieces of semi-transparent fish-skin are
stitched together and stretched across the window-frame.
In winter double windows are absolutely necessary to
prevent the inmates of the houses from being frozen to
death. The outside windows project about six inches in
front of the inside ones. If the inside window reveals
the poverty of the inhabitants, the outside window seem-
ingly displays his extravagance. To all appearances it is
composed of one solid pane of plate-glass nearly three
inches thick. On closer examination this extravagant
sheet of plate-glass turns. out to be a slab of ice carefully
frozen into the framework with a mixture of snow and
water in place of putty.

On Sunday, the 6th of May, I had a short stroll — if
walkino- on snow-shoes can be called strollinof — in the
forest, but I shot nothing except a blackcock. In the
afternoon I put together all the notes I had dotted
down about the geographical distribution of the native
tribes in these parts. Most of this information I obtained
from my most intelligent friend the second priest of
Turukansk, whom Captain Wiggins and his friends had
nicknamed the "Thirteenth Apost'e."

The most northerly race are the Samoyedes. They
ext'-nd from the Kanin peninsula in Europe to the
north-east cape in Asia. They occupy a strip of land
extending; from the coast southwards for about three
hundred miles, exceeding' that distance at the grulf of the
Ob and the Taz, the whole of the shores of which they
frequent.

The Yuraks are a small race nearly allied to the
Samoyedes. They occupy the district between the east
shore of the gulf of the Taz and the Yenesei from the
Arctic Circle to about 70° North latitude.

310 WAITING FOR SPRING

The Ostiaks are a much larger race, not so nearly
allied to the Samoyedes as the Yuraks are. They are
distributed immediately south of the Yuraks from the
Arctic Circle to nearly as far south as the Kamin Pass.

The Dolgan territory is bounded on the north by the
Samoyede land about 70° N., on the south by the Arctic
Circle, on the west by the Yenesei, from which river it
extends eastwards three or four hundred miles. These
people belong to an entirely different race, and are very
nearly allied to the Tatars.

The Yakuts occupy the district watered by the
Katanga River from 70° to about J^" North latitude.
They are near allies of the Dolgan and Tatar races.

The Tungusks occupy the districts on the east bank
of the Yenesei drained by the two great rivers, the
Nishni Tungusk and Kamina Tungusk, as far east as
the watershed of the Lena. They are copper-coloured
like the Dolgans and Yakuts, but their language bears
no resemblance to any of the races I have mentioned.

BRONZE KNIVES FROM ANCIENT GRAVE NEAR KRASNOYARSK

K^C'i

OSTIAK CHOOM

CHAPTER XXXI.

THE CHANGING SEASONS.

Erection of an Ostiak Choom— Ornithological Results of the Week— An
Ostiak Feast — Comparisons of Ostiaks and Tungusks — Snowy Owl — Our
First Rain in the Arctic Circle — Further Signs of approaching Summer
— Northern Marsh-tit— Ornithological Resultsof the Third Week— White-
tailed Eagle — Snowstorm — A solitary Barn Swallow — A Wintry Day —
A Fox — The River rises — Five Roubles for an Eagle — What became of
the Roubles — Visit from our Ostiak Neighbour — A Baby Fox — Our Two
Babies — A Crow's Nest — The Blue-rumped Warbler.

On the 7th of May I recorded in my journal another sign
of approaching summer, namely, the arrival of an Ostiak
family, who in the course of the day erected a tent or
choom on the banks of the Kureika close by the ship.
The migrations of the natives in these parts are facts

312 THE CHANGING SEASONS

in natural history almost as much guided by instinct as
those of birds. The Ostiak is a hunter. In the winter
he lives in the forest and hunts birds to eat, and fur-
bearing animals to provide the means of obtaining meal
and tobacco from the Russian peasant-merchant, and to
satisfy the claims of the Russian tax-gatherer. In summer
he migrates to the banks of the o-reat river to catch fish,
in which operation he is very expert. Our new neighbour
seemed very poor. He had no reindeer, and arrived
with a couple of dog-sledges. His dogs were a queer
mongrel lot, and seemed half- famished. He soon cut
down some slender birch-trees and erected his choom,
exactly on the pattern of the Petchora Samoyedes. He
covered it with rolls of birch-bark, carefully sewn together
with reindeer-sinew into broad sheets, which wound
diagonally round the choom. On the day of his arrival
the wind was west, and for the first time since our arrival
the sky was cloudy. I had a long round through the
forest, but only shot a single bird, a three-toed wood-
pecker. We had then been a fortnight in our winter
quarters. My second week was not a very successful one
ornithologically ; I certainly added another fifty skins to
my plunder, but only two new species to my list.

The 8th of May was the first day on which there was
any sign of thaw in the shade. What little wind there
was came from the south-west, but the air was raw and
chilly. I did not go into the forest, but on the banks of
the river I fired into a flock of snow-buntings, in order
to find Glinski something to do, and killed six. Six more
ran away wounded over the snow. They were pursued
and caught by the Ostiak children, who carried them to
their father, who was chopping firewood near the choom.
The snow-buntings were then divided amongst the party,
rapidly plucked, andgreedily eaten, warm, raw, andbleeding!

THE OSTIAKS 313

Before this was accomplished the youngest child, certainly
not more than five years old, having either heard or smelt
what was going on, came running out of the choom with
scarcely a rag of clothes on, and howled and screamed
until its share of the spoil was thrown to it.

The Ostiaks are a very different-looking race from
the Tungusks. They might be mistaken for a mixed
breed between the Russians and Tungusks. The
Ostiaks are of sallow complexion, have high cheek-bones
and flattish noses, but the Tungusks are copper-coloured,
have still higher cheek-bones, and sometimes scarcely
any bridge at all to the nose. One also occasionally sees
brown hair amongst the Ostiaks, but this may, of course,
indicate the presence of Russian blood.

Although I did not turn out on my snow-shoes that
day, I nevertheless added a new bird to my list. This
was a handsome snowy owl, almost white. It was
sent me in the flesh by Mr. Nummelin, the mate of
Schwanenberg s schooner, who had left us a day or two
previously to sledge down to the islands where she lay
moored. In a note which accompanied it he told me
that he had picked it up a few stations north of our
quarters. It had been caught in a fox-trap. I found on
dissecting the black-grouse and hazel-grouse that they had
been feeding on the buds of the birch and alder.

On the 9th of May we had the first attempt at rain
since our arrival in the Arctic Circle. The wind continued
south-west and the snow began to thaw fast. The mate
also saw a goose fly over the ship, and our hopes of the
arrival of summer began to rise. I also watched a rough-
legged buzzard majestically sailing in wide circles near
us, but it took care never to come within shot. The rain
continued all the following day, and became very heavy
at night. A flock of six geese flew over, and we rejoiced

314 THE CHANGING SEASONS

at the prospect of an early end to the long winter. The
wind continued west during- the i ith, but the rain turned
to snow with intervals of sunshine. A couple of peregrine
falcons arrived, to the discomfiture of the snow-buntings.
In the afternoon the clouds cleared away, and we had a
calm brioht evening. I tried a round in the forest, but

o o

the snow was very treacherous after the rain, and I came
to grief on my snow-shoes more than once. In a pine-
tree not far from our quarters I found a crow's nest
containinor one gq-q-.

On the following day, when I made my usual round
in the forest, I found a north-west wind blowing, and
although the sun frequently shone, it was very cold.
Travelling was easy enough. There was a frozen crust
on the snow, hard enough to bear my weight when dis-
tributed over a pair of snow-shoes. I met with only one
party of birds, but that was a very interesting one. It
consisted of a flock of about a dozen tits, far more than I
had ever before seen tooether. I shot five of them. To'
my great surprise, two of them proved to be northern
marsh-tits. I have always looked upon the tits generally
as non-migratory birds, but some partial migration must
have taken place in this instance. Captain Wiggins,
told me that when he left the Kureika in the middle
of November the forest swarmed with tits. No doubt
many of these birds died during the winter, which pro-
bably kills off more birds even in temperate climates
than is popularly supposed. Others may have migrated
southwards. I do not think it possible that I could have
overlooked the marsh-tit thus far. It must either have
then just arrived or is extremely rare.

A five hours' ramble on Sunday with a north-west
wind, a leaden sky, and a smart frost produced nothing
but a hazel-grouse and a passing glimpse of a rough-

ARRIVAL OF BIRDS 315

legged buzzard. Monday, the 14th of May, brought our
third week to a close, a perfect wintry day, with bright
hot sun and hard frost. It had been a somewhat dreary
week. I increased my number of skins by only twenty,
but added five fresh species to the list.

On the 15th of May we had a smart breeze from the
south-east, and it was bitterly cold. There was some
sunshine in the morning, but the afternoon was cloudy,
and in the evening we had snow. I walked across the
Yenesei to the village and shot a crow. It was all but a
thoroughbred hoodie. I bought a capercailzie and a
willow-grouse from one of the peasants. The latter bird
was beginning to show the summer plumage, having
changed the feathers of the upper part of the neck.
Another bird which I added to my list was the white-
tailed eagle. It was perched on a pine on the banks of
the orreat river. I tried to stalk it, but snow-shoes are

o

too noisy on a frozen crust of snow for the keen ears of
an eagle, and I failed. Finding that the peasant was
still resolved not to ruin his own gun by shooting unlucky
birds with it, I arranged with him to drive me over to
the ship in the evening, and to lend him my muzzle-
loader in order that with it he might shoot me some
crows. On my return to the ship I saw a couple of
peregrines and a large owl, and heard that four geese had
been seen flying over.

During the night a considerable quantity of snow fell,
and next morning the wind was south-west with sleet.
In the afternoon we had an occasional gleam of sunshine,
and in the evening the wind fell, but the sky was cloudy.
The snow was very soft, but it thawed slowly. We had,
nevertheless, many indications of summer. I saw at least
a dozen flocks of geese, each containing from six to
twenty birds. The first harbinger of mosquitoes also

3i6 THE CHANGING SEASONS

arrived — the first insect-eating bird, a most characteristic
one, no less a novelty to us than a barn-swallow. Poor
little bird ! he must have got strangely wrong in his
almanack and curiously out of his latitude. He was the
only one of his kind which I saw within five hundred
miles of the Arctic Circle, and at the time of his arrival
I don't think there was a solitary insect upon the wing,
Vv'hatever there might have been in sheltered nooks and
crannies. I dropped him on the snow as he was
industriously hawking in a gleam of sunshine — a much
quicker and less painful death than dying of starvation.

Sancho Panza was very right when he said that one
swallow does not make a summer. I never saw more
complete winter weather than we had on the day follow-
ing the appearance of our adventurous little pioneer.
A cold wind blew from the north, howling round the
peasant's house and in the rigging of the ship, driving
the snow into the cook's passage and into the cabin. All
day long fine dry snow fell, drifting into every hollow,
completely shutting the great river out of view and
casting a thick haze over the nearest objects. I do not
think I ever saw a more miserable day. To add to my
discomfort I had a heavy cold in my head, the first attack
of the kind since leaving England. I expected to have
had an absolutely blank day, but late in the evening the
weather cleared up with a hard frost, and the peasant
across the Yenesei drove up with five crows which he
had shot with the muzzle-loader 1 had lent him. Two
of these crows were thorouohbred carrions, and the other
three cross-breeds between that bird and the hoodie.

The next day my cold continued very heavy, and I
did not take my gun out at all : the north wind was still
blowing a gale, but there was not a cloud in the sky, and
it was freezinor hard in the shade. In the afternoon I

WHITE-TAILED EAGLE 317

saw a fox crossing the Kureika not far from the ship.
The dogs caught sight of it and gave chase, but they had
only recently returned from a journey and were tired, and
the fox reached the forest without their gaining upon him.
The following day was another dismal one. The wind
shifted south, south-east, and south-west, and snow and
sleet fell continually.

On Sunday we again had sunshine, with a north and
north-west wind, and frost in the shade. Another sign
of approaching summer became now observable. The
river must have risen considerably in consequence of the
melting of the snow down south. The channel round
the ship, which the sailors had cut out of the ice, filled
with water, and we came upon water after digging down
into the snow a couple of feet. There was no open
water visible, but in the centre of the river we could see
large discoloured patches, as if the snow was saturated
with water. Ornithologically the day did not prove
blank, for I was able to complete the identification of one
of my previous week's new birds. After seeing the eagle
on the other side of the river, I had offered five roubles
to the peasants if they would shoot or trap it for me.
At the next village, twenty versts down the river, a white-
tailed eagle was trapped, and a joint expedition from the
two villages came over to the ship in a couple of reindeer-
sledges to bring me the bird and claim the promised
reward. This I gladly paid them, as I was in hope that
I might in this or some other way obtain a specimen of
Pallas's sea-eagle. On receipt of the five roubles the
whole party turned into the Russian merchant's store near
the ship. The end of it was that during the n'ght the
five roubles filtered out of the pockets of my elated
friends, and in the morning they were all penniless and
dead drunk. To add to their misfortunes, the reindeer

3i8 THE CHANGING SEASONS

had broken loose from their moorings in the snow, and
had wandered off up the Kureika in search of food.
When the peasants came to their senses during the
following afternoon they started off on snow-shoes to
follow the tracks, but whether they ever recovered the
animals or not I never heard. No wonder that a land
like Siberia, full of wealth of all sorts, remains poor for
want of labour to realise its resources.

In the evening the Ostiak from the choom came with
his son down into the cabin, apparently to pay us a visit.
They sat down stolidly and partook of some tea which
we happened to have on the table. We were wondering
what could be the object of their visit, whether it might
not be one of ceremony to show a neighbourly feeling,
when the boy pulled out from under his fur coat a squirrel
and a hazel-grouse, which his father had shot during the
day. After we had examined these for some time, the
old man in his turn pulled out from his sleeve a live fox,
a few days old. It was sooty black, with a white tip at
the end of its tail. It was still blind, but we hoped it
might turn out to be a veritable black fox, so we decided
to buy it and try and bring it up by hand. We rigged
up an excellent bottle with the tube of my pocket-filter
and part of a kid-glove. We got Glinski to tell the
Ostiak to search for and find the hole where he got the
young fox and to lie in wait for the mother. This he
did, and on the next day he came again in triumph,
bringing the mother and five more young ones, exactly
like the one we had. The mother was red enough, but
we bought another young one to keep our other baby
company. It was only by dint of great perseverance
that we succeeded in bringing these two babies up with
the bottle, but as soon as they began to feed themselves
they grew fast. They were very quarrelsome in their

THE COMING THAW

319

play, and often would spit at each other like cats.
They grew up tame and timid, but the red hairs deve-
loped themselves in due time, and our hope of being able
to rear a couple of black foxes soon faded.

On the 2ist of May I climbed up to the crow's nest
which I discovered on
the nth, and found that
it contained five eggs.
I had a o-ood view of
the parent birds, and as-
certained that they were
hybrids between the car-
rion-crow and the hoodie.
The wind was south-west,
but there was no sunshine
and it froze hard. Farther
south, however, the thaw-
must have been going
on apace. The river kept
steadily rising. When the
water first broke in upon
the sailors, who were cut-
ting" away the ice from
under the Thames, it rose
to four feet on the ship's
bow. On the 21st it
stood at eight feet. I
had a short round in the
forest in the afternoon, and scarcely saw a bird. One
was, however, new to me. At first I thought it was a
tit. It was flitting about from tree to tree, apparently
seeking insects on the trunks below the level of the
surface snow, in the hollows round the stems caused by
the heat of the sun absorbed by their dark surfaces. It

OSTIAK COSTUME

320

THE CHANGING SEASONS

gave me a long chase, flying rapidly, but never rising
higher than three or four feet above the around. At
last I got a long shot at it. It was alive when I secured
it, and I remarked its large and brilliant pale blood-
red eye. It was the blue-rumped warbler {Tarsiger
cyanurus), and made the third new species added to my
list during the fourth week of our residence within the
Arctic Circle. My booty was also increased by some
forty skins.

BRONZE BIT FROM ANCIENT GRAVE NEAR KRASNOYARSK

fmyjkJ DRIVING WIIH THE ICE ON THE
KUREIKA

CHAPTER XXXII.

THE BREAK-UP OF THE ICE.

Weary Waiting for Summer — Ravens — More Ostiak Neighbours — The
Ship breaks her Bands of Ice — A Hen-harrier — Appearance of the Rising
River — Premature Migration of Geese — My Week's Work — Old Story of
Thaw in the Sun and Frost in the Shade — Last Day of May — Revolutions
in the Ice — A Range of Ice Mountains — Signs of Summer — Arrival of the
Common Gull and of the White Wagtail — Ice Breaking up— An Unpre-
pared-for Contingency — Dangerous Position — Driving along with the Ice
— Loss of the Ship's Rudder — Preparations to Abandon the Ship — Babel
of Birds — We Desert the Ship — On Board Again — The Thames Steered
into the Creek — Enormous Pressure of the Ice — The Battle of the
Yenesei — " Calving " of Icebergs — The Final March Past.

The fifth week of weary watching and waiting for a
summer, which some of the sailors began to think would
never come, commenced with a cloudy sky and an occa-
sional attempt at a snowstorm, the wind chopping about
from south-east to south-west. Many geese flew over
during the day and hawks were more frequently seen than

X

322 THE BREAK-UP OF THE ICE

before — so far as I could Identify them, peregrine falcons
and rough-legged buzzards. Late in the evening a large
brown owl, probably the Ural owl, sailed up and down
the banks of the Kureika, but it never came within shot.

On the morning of the following day the wind was
west, but before evening it turned round to the north,
accompanied with hard frost in the shade. My attention
was called to a pair of ravens, who seemed to have
excited the jealousy of the crows who had their nest
close by. The efforts of the latter birds to drive away
the new-comers were untiring. I shot the female raven,
which was a fresh bird for my list. I also picked up a
dead short-tailed field-mouse, nearly as large as a rat.
The migration of geese continued all day, and a further
migration of Ostiaks took place. Before night we had
three Ostiak chooms near the ship.

On the 24th of May a great source of anxiety was
removed from our minds. When we turned into our
berths the previous night the water at the ship's bow
stood at eleven feet. At four o'clock in the morning we
were suddenly awoke by a convulsion like an earthquake.
We started from our berths, and found that the ship had
burst through the bands of ice, risen to her level, and
righted herself. Her bow showed eight feet only, so she
must have risen three feet. There was, however, no
change at the stern, which probably remained aground.

A long round in the forest proved almost a blank ;
my bag being but one solitary bird, a willow-grouse, with
traces of summer plumage on the head and neck. The
sun was warm, but the wind was north, and to all intents
and purposes it was still mid-winter. The succession of
partial thaws and frosts had made the crust of the snow
so hard that we could walk anywhere without snow-shoes.
My afternoon's ramble again produced only one bird, but

THE RISING OF THE WATERS 323

as this was a new one, a fine male hen-harrier, I looked
upon the day's work as a success. The harrier had the
remains of a snow-bunting in its stomach.

The next day was very cold, with a north-west wind
and brilliant sunshine. The river had risen so much that
the ship floated both fore and aft. We could perceive
that the ice in the centre of the river was gradually
losing its heavy burden of snow, the water in many
places having risen to the level of its surface, causing
large greyish patches, and making the snow look more
or less piebald. As the river rose it gradually widened.
Outside the central snow-covered ice a narrow belt of
ever-wideninof thin black ice was a feature in the land-
scape. The migration of geese was stopped by the cold.
It had evidently been premature. Many flocks passed
over during the day, but they were all flying south,
having overshot their mark and flown faster than the
rate at which the ice was breaking up, into a region still
frost-bound, where, consequently, no food could be ob-
tained. Hawks became abundant, a sure sign that their
prey were not far off and would very soon become so
also. I shot another male hen-harrier, and missed a shot
at the female. I also saw a pair of sparrow-hawks and
a rough-legged buzzard, and in the evening one of the
engineers shot a male peregrine falcon. The female was
sittinof on the same tree at the time.

There was no change during the next three days.
On the 26th I shot a bean-goose, which was apparently
the species of which all the flocks we had hitherto seen
were composed. I found an excellent place on the bank
of the main river, where I could lie concealed like a
grouse-shooter behind his butts. The geese came up at
a terrific pace in parties of five or six, exactly like grouse
in a drive. They were scarcely in sight before they

324 THE BREAK-UP OF THE ICE

whizzed over my head, and out of shot again before I
had time to turn round. I wasted at least a dozen car-
tridges before I secured a bird, which fell to the ground
with a tremendous crash. I saw another male hen-harrier
and another rouofh-lesfeed buzzard, and a small hawk,
which I have little doubt was a merlin. On the 28th,
besides the flocks of geese, flocks of swans constantly
passed over, and I added to my collection a raven and a
female hen-harrier. At night, as we went to bed, the
thermometer stood at 25° on deck. My week's work
was about forty birds skinned and three new species
identified. We were all weary of winter. The peasants
told us that they never remembered so late a season.

On Tuesday, the 29th of May, we commenced our
sixth week in the Arctic Circle, and a very eventful one
it proved. The little wind there was was southerly, and
the sun was hot, but still there was scarcely any percep-
tible thaw, and the river rose but very slowly, I did not
see a single hawk all day. At noon the snow-buntings
were perched together in a birch-tree, and in the evening
they disappeared. I had two long rounds in the forest —
not a bird visible. I heard a mealy-redpoll, but failed
to catch sight of it. We seemed to be reduced to the
pair of hybrid crows nesting near, and the nutcrackers,
which I did not shoot because I wanted their eesfs. At
that time they did not appear to have the least idea of
building. Their tameness was quite absurd ; there was
generally a pair in the rigging of the ship. About four
were usually to be found close to the house, and I occa-
sionally came upon a pair or two in the forest. A few
flocks of geese and swans passed over during the day,
now flying northwards.

On the following day it was the old story again — a
clear sky and thaw in the sunshine, with a cold north

THE BREAK-UP AT LAST 325

wind and hard frost in the shade. The river rose three
or four inches during the day, but it froze as fast as it
rose. Several flocks of geese passed over, evidently
yesterday's rash birds who had turned back and were
now all going south. Half a dozen snow-buntings put
in an appearance, and the hen-harrier was twice seen.

The last day of May was warm, with a gentle breeze
from the north-west. I had a very long round in the
forest, and saw a few Lapp-tits and a nuthatch. During
the day many swans and geese flew over, all going north-
wards again. I saw a hen-harrier and a sparrow-hawk,
but no snow-buntings. I shot a hazel-grouse, and saw a
couple of Siberian herring-gulls steadily migrating down
the Yenesei.

On the ist of June a revolution took place in the ice.
There had been scarcely any frost during the night.
The wind was south, not very warm, but the sun was
unusually hot. As we turned out of the cabin after
breakfast we were just in time to see a small range of
mountains suddenly form at the lower angle of juncture
between the Kureika and the Yenesei. The river had
risen considerably during the night, and the newly-
formed strip of thin ice on each side of the centre ice
was broader than it had ever been. The pressure of the
current underneath caused a large field of ice, about a
mile long, and a third of a mile wide, to break away.
About half the mass found a passage down the strip of
newly-formed thin ice, leaving open water behind it ; the
other half rushed headlong on to the steep banks of the
river, and, driven on irresistibly by the enormous pres-
sure from behind, it piled itself up into a litde range
of mountains, fifty or sixty feet high, and picturesque
in the extreme. Huge blocks of ice, six feet thick and
twenty feet long, in many places stood up perpendicularly.

326 THE BREAK-UP OF THE ICE

Others were crushed up into fragments like broken glass.
The real ice on the river did not appear to have been
more than three feet thick, clear as glass and blue as an
Italian sky. Upon the top of this was about four feet
of white ice. This was as hard as a rock, and had no
doubt been caused by the flooding of the snow when the
water rose, and its subsequent freezing. On the top of
the white ice was about eiohteen inches of clear snow,
which had evidently never been flooded. Everything
remained in statu quo during the rest of the day. The
river was certainly rising, but slowly. Captain Wiggins
anticipated no sudden change, and laughed at some of
his sailors who, alarmed at the apparition of the ice
mountains, began to remove their valuables out of the
ship. I did not make any long excursion, but kept near
our quarters. I got a flying shot at the sparrow-hawk,
and dropped him upon the snow. That we were on the
eve of summer was everywhere apparent. Great numbers
of geese and large flocks of swans were continually pass-
ing northwards. I had strolled out on the edge of the
river bank without my snow-shoes, when just at the
moment that I stepped upon a treacherous bank, and
was struggling up to the breast in snow, a flock of geese
passed right over my head. I had my gun in my hand,
but was perfectly helpless. These geese were smaller
than the one I had shot, and showed black on the belly.
They were, no doubt, the lesser white-fronted goose
{Anser erythropus). An arrival of gulls also took place.
Besides the large dark-mantled species which I had seen
the day before, a smaller pale-mantled species arrived,
which I afterwards identified as the common gull.
Another bird, which heralded the speedy presence of
mosquitoes, was the white wagtail. A small party of
these charming birds arrived, one of them not having

THE "THAMES" IN DIFFICULTIES 327

quite attained its full breeding plumage. There were
still many white feathers on the throat. These birds
belonged to the Indian form of the white waoftail. I
also saw a very handsome male brambling, but did not
get a shot at him.

We turned into our berths at half-past nine, having
first instituted an anchor watch, in case any further
movement of the ice should take place. We had but
just fallen asleep when we were suddenly roused by
the report that the river was rising rapidly and the
ice beginning to break up. We immediately dressed
and went on deck. The position of affairs was at once
obvious. The melting of the snow down south was
evidently going on rapidly, and the river was rising at
such speed that it was beginning to flow up all its
northern tributaries. This was a contingency for which
we were utterly unprepared. We were anchored opposite
the entrance to a little creek, into which it was the
captain's intention to take his ship when the water
rose sufficiently high to admit of his doing so. In
this little creek he hoped to wait in safety the passing
away of the ice. In a moment his plans were utterly
frustrated. The entrance to the creek was perfectly
high and dry. A strong current was setting up the
Kureika. Small floes were detaching themselves from
the main mass and were running up the open water. In
a short time the whole body of the Kureika ice broke
up and began to move up-stream. As far as the Yenesei
the tributary stream was soon a mass of pack-ice and
floes marching up the river at the rate of three miles
an hour. Some of these struck the ship some very ugly
blows on the stern, doing considerable damage to the
rudder, but open water was beyond, and we were soon out
of the press of ice with, we hoped, no irretrievable damage.

328 THE BREAK-UP OF THE ICE

All this time we had been getting up steam as fast
as possible, so as to be ready for any emergency. On
the opposite side of the river we could see a haven of
perfect safety, a long creek already full of water, and
having- the additional advantage of not being on the
scour side of the river. When we had got sufficient
steam to turn the engine we found, to our dismay, that
the ice which had already passed us had squeezed us
towards the shore, and that there must have been a
subsequent fall in the water, for we were at least two
feet aground at the stern, and immovable as a rock.
The current was still running up the river, and against
it there was no chance of swinging the ship round. A
mile astern of us was the edge of the Yenesei ice. There
was nothing to be done but to wait. In a short time the
river began to rise again rapidly, and with it our hopes
that we might float and steam into safety, when suddenly
we discovered, to our terror, that the ice on the Yenesei
was breaking up, and that a dread phalanx of ice-floes
and pack-ice was coming down upon us at quick march.
On it came, smashed the rudder, ground against the
stern of the ship, sometimes squeezing her against the
shore so that she pitched and rolled as if she were in
a heavy sea, and sometimes surrounding her with small
floes which seemed to try and lift her bodily out of the
water. Once or twice an ice-floe began to climb up the
ship's side like a snake. Some of the sailors got over-
board and scrambled over the pack-ice to the shore.
Others threw their goods and chattels to their comrades
ashore. At length an immense ice-flow of irresistible
weight struck the ship. There was no alternative but
to slip the anchor and allow her to drive with the ice.
Away we went up the Kureika, the ice rolling and
tumbling and squeezing alongside of us, huge lumps

WE ABANDON THE SHIP 329

climbinor one upon the top of another. We were carried
along in this way for about a mile, until we were finally
jammed into a slight bay, wedged between blocks of
pack-ice. Soon afterwards the river fell some five or
six feet, the stream slackened, the ice stood still, and the
ship and the pack-ice were aground.

The ship went through the terrible ordeal bravely.
So far she had made no water, and there was no evidence
of any injury except to the rudder. This had been
broken to pieces, and all trace of it carried away — a
loss which it would take some weeks to repair. How
could any one have committed the inconceivable blunder
of fitting out an Arctic yacht with every precaution
against ice, and leaving it with a complicated rudder,
exceedingly difficult to replace, and without provision for
its being unshipped ?

The question now demanding immediate consideration
was — what would take place when the ice began to move
again? It seemed most probable that the ship would
either be stranded on some sandbank or carried down
with the ice to the sea. The captain decided that it was
wisest to get as many valuables out of her as possible,
and to make preparations for abandoning her if the worst
came to the worst. The sailors accordingly occupied
themselves in getting the cargo ashore over the lumps
of stranded pack-ice and ice-floes.

The pitch of excitement at which we were naturally
kept by the alarming character of the events in which
we were forced to take such an active part, was by no
means allayed by the weather. The brilliantly clear
skies to which we had become accustomed had changed
to stormy clouds, followed by drizzling rain and mist.
All nature seemed to share in our excitement. The
revolution in the ice took place to the accompaniment

330 THE BREAK-UP OF THE ICE

■of a perfect babel of birds. Above our heads we con-
tinually heard tho. gag, gag, of geese and the harsh bark
of swans, as flock after flock hurried past us to the
tundra. Wherever there was a little open water between
the ice-floes and pack-ice, crowds of gulls were fishing as
if they had not had a meal for a week, and their derisive
laugh, as they quarrelled over their prey, seemed to mock
our misfortunes, while ever and anon the wild weird cries
of the black-throated and red-throated divers, like the
distant scream of tortured children, came from the creek
opposite. A few flocks of wild ducks also passed us,
and alonof the shore small birds flitted from bush to
bush in hitherto unknown profusion. Bramblings and
white wagtails passed in pairs, shore larks in small
flocks, and redpolls in large flocks, and I shot a solitary
wheatear. In the midst of his troubles on board his
half-wrecked steamer. Captain Wiggins seized his gun
and shot a goose, which was flying over the ship, and
which proved to be the little white-fronted goose, doubt-
less the species which I had missed shooting the day
before.

The ice remained quiet until about midnight, when
an enormous pressure from above came on somewhat
suddenly. It had apparently broken up the great field
of ice to the north of the Kureika, but not to an extent
sufficient to relieve the whole of the pressure. The
water in the Kureika once more rose rapidly. The
immense field of pack-ice began to move up-stream at
the rate of five or six knots an hour. The Thames was
soon afloat again, and driven with the ice up the river,
she was knocked and bumped along the rocky shore, and
her stern-post twisted to such an extent that she began
to make water rapidly. At 9 o'clock on Sunday, the
3rd of June, all hands left her, and stood watching on the

THE SHIP REACHES THE CREEK 331

steep bank. The stream rose and fell during the day,
the current sometimes stopping, sometimes becoming
very rapid, the unfortunate ship being occasionally afloat,
but generally aground. At night the stern-post seemed
to have come, back to its place, the undaunted captain,
with part of his faint-hearted crew, went on board, and
the pumps reduced the water in the hold. The chances
were ten to one that she was a hopeless wreck, but still
the sailors struggled on to the last. The marvel was,
where all the ice that had gone up the Kureika could
possibly be stowed. I calculated that at least 50,000
acres of ice had passed the ship.

Late on the night of Monday, the 4th of June, the
ice on the Kureika almost entirely cleared away. Steam
was got up, and by the help of ropes ashore the Thames
was steered into the little creek below the house, where
it had been the original intention of the captain to have
waited in safety the passing away of the ice. The season
had been so severe that the snow, which ought to have
melted and swollen the river before the breaking-up of
the ice, still remained upon the land. The consequence
was that, when the great revolution commenced, the
entrance to the creek was high and dry. The Thames
entered the creek at two o'clock in the morning ; by
noon the water had sunk five or six feet, and the vessel
lay on her side, with her bow at least three feet aground.
These sudden falls in the level of the water were, no
doubt, caused by the breaking-up of the ice lower down
the river, which dammed it up until the accumulated
pressure from behind became irresistible. Some idea of
what this pressure must have been may be realised by
the fact that a part of the river a thousand miles long,
beginning with a width of two miles, and ending with
a width of six miles, covered over with three feet of ice,

332 THE BREAK-UP OF THE ICE

upon which was lying six feet of snow, was broken up at
the rate of a hundred miles a day. Many obstacles could
cause a temporary stoppage in the break-up of the ice — a
sudden bend in the river, a group of islands, or a narrower
place where the ice might jam. But the pressure from
behind was an ever-increasino- one. Although the river
frequently fell for a few hours, it was constantly rising on
the whole, and in ten days the rise where we were
stationed was seventy feet. Such a display of irresistible
power dwarfs Niagara into comparative insignificance.
On several occasions we stood on the banks of the river
for hours, transfixed with astonishment, staring aghast at
icebergs, twenty to thirty feet high, driven down the
river at a speed of from ten to twenty miles an hour.

The battle of the Yenesei raged for about a fortnight,
during which the Kureika alternately rose and fell.
Thousands of acres of ice were marched up-stream for
some hours, then the tide turned and they were marched
back again. This great annual battle between summer
and winter is the chief event of the year in these regions,
like the rising of the Nile in Egypt. Summer, in league
with the sun, fights winter and the north wind, and is
hopelessly beaten until she forms an alliance with the
south wind, before whose blast the forces of winter
vanish into thin water and retreat to the Pole. It was a
wonderful sight to watch these armies alternately advanc-
ing and retreating. Sometimes the pack-ice and floes
were jammed so tightly together that it looked as if one
might scramble over them to the opposite shore. At
other times there was much open water, and the icebergs
"calved" as they went along, with a commotion and
splashing that might be heard half a mile off No doubt
it is the grounding of the icebergs which causes this
operation to take place. These icebergs are formed of

\

A REVOLUTION OF NATURE 333

layers of ice, piled one on top of the other, and imperfectly
frozen together. In passing along, the bottom layer
grounds, but the velocity at which the enormous mass is
going will not allow it to stop. It passes on, leaving
part of the bottom layer behind. The moment it has
passed, the piece left behind rises to the surface like a
whale coming up to breathe. Some of the "calves"
must have come up from a considerable depth. They
rose out of the water with a huge splash, and rocked
about for some time, before they settled down to their
floating level.

At last, after their fourteen days' battle, the final
march-past of the beaten winter forces took place, and
for seven days more the ragtag-and-bobtail of the great
Arctic army came straggling down the Kureika — worn
and weather-beaten little icebergs, dirty ice-floes that
looked like floating mud-banks, and straggling pack-ice
in the last stages of consumption. Winter was finally
vanquished for the year, and the fragments of his beaten
army were compelled to retreat to the triumphant music
of thousands of song-birds, and amidst the waving of
green leaves and the illumination of gay flowers of every
hue.

This sudden change in the short space of a fortnight
from midwinter to midsummer can scarcely, even by
courtesy, be called spring. It is a revolution of nature,
and on a scale so imposing that the most prosaic of
observers cannot witness it without feeling its sublimity.
Looked at in a purely scientific point of view, the lesson
it impresses upon the mind is exactly the opposite of
that intended to be conveyed by the old fable of the
traveller whose cloak the wind and the sun alternately
try to steal from him. In these Arctic regions the sun
seems to be almost powerless. The white snow seems

334

THE BREAK-UP OF THE ICE

to be an invulnerable shield, against which the sun-darts
glance harmless, reflected back into the air. On the
contrary, the south wind seems all-powerful. In spite of
mist and cloud, the snow melts before it like butter
upon hot toast, and winter tumbles down like a pack of
cards.

OSTIAK ANCHOR

GULLS AMONG THE ICEBERGS

CHAPTER XXXIII.

THE MARCH-PAST OF THE MIGRANTS.

Arrival of Migratory Birds — Wagtails — The Thames Afloat once more
— More Birds Arrive— An Ostiak Funeral — Birds Arrive Fast — The
Tungusk Ice Coming Down — New Birds — Pintail Snipe — Mosquitoes on
the Wing.

As soon as I was able to resume my shooting, I found
that there had been a general arrival of migratory birds.
It was verv difficult to oret about in the meltinq- snow,
but in the willows on the steep bank of the river little
birds were feeding industriously, picking up insects on
the naked branches, and sometimes making little flights
in the air to catch a gnat upon the wing. Presently I
heard a plaintive weesc, which reminded me of Heligo-
land, and on shooting the bird I picked up a yellow-

336 THE MARCH-PAST OF THE MIGRANTS

browed willow-warbler {Phylloscopus siiperciliostis, Gm.),
as I expected. There was quite a little party of these
diminutive creatures, and they were so tame after their
long journey that I watched them for a long time hopping
from twig to twig, diligently searching for food. I was often
within four feet of one of them, and could distinctly see its
white eye-stripe and the two pale bars across its wing.

My attention was called away from these charming
little warblers by hearing a still more plaintive call-note,
which proceeded from a very nearly allied species almost
as small — the Siberian chiffchaff. During the day I
repeatedly heard the song — if song it may be called —
of this little black-legged willow-warbler, which I had
learned to recognise in a moment by hearing it so often
in the valley of the Petchora. I soon put its identity
beyond question by shooting a fine male, and discovered
that it had arrived in considerable numbers, as its note
was often heard during the day, but generally from some
pine-tree which was for the moment inaccessible, being
surrounded by snow too soft to bear my weight, even on
snow-shoes, and too deep to struggle through with any
chance of a successful pursuit. But interesting as the
arrival of these two rare warblers was to me, having
made this group my special study, I was even more
delighted to hear the unmistakable song of our common
European willow-warbler, a bird I had never dreamt of
meeting so far east. I shot a pair, and thus satisfactorily
demonstrated that some of our ornitholoo-ical books have
been wrong in giving the Ural range as the eastern limit
of this well-known species during the breeding season.
It seems too bad to shoot these charming little birds, but
as the " Old Bushman " says, what is kit is history, and
what is missed is mystery. My object was to study
natural history, and one of the charms of the pursuit is to

THE DUSKY OUZEL 337

correct other ornithologists' blunders and to clear up the
mysteries that they have left unsolved.

The next birds that claimed my attention were some
small parties of thrushes, which were very wild, keeping
mostly to the forest, where I could not pursue them, but
at last I secured one as he was feeding on the steep bank
of the river where the snow had melted, and had the
pleasure of picking up a dusky ouzel {Merula fuscatd),
a bird which I had never seen in the flesh before. The
call-note of these birds reminded me somewhat of that
of the redwing.

Wagtails rapidly became very numerous, and were to
be seen running about close to the edge of the water,
sometimes perched on a little ice-floe, and coming inland
to the pools formed by the melting snow. They were
mostly the Indian form of the white wagtail, but I shot a
fine male yellow-headed wagtail, a bird whose acquaint-
ance I had first made on the banks of the Petchora.
Ducks were flying up the river at intervals, but none
came near enough for me to identify the species. I shot
a solitary Lapland bunting, a bird for which I had been
on the look-out for some time, as in the valley of the
Petchora it had been among-st the earliest arrivals. The
season was, no doubt, late, and this species breeds on the
tundra beyond the limit of forest growth, where winter
still reigned supreme.

We had brilliant sunshine on the following day, the
5th of June, without a breath of wind. The snow was
thawing very fast. Ice came down the river slowly, but
the current was still up the Kureika. The water rose
considerably during the afternoon, and the Thames was
again afloat. The captain was busy putting ballast into
the fore part of the ship, so as to raise the stern as much
as possible out of the water. When this was done she

Y

338 THE MARCH-PAST OF THE MIGRANTS

Flocks of Arctic wagtails arrived.

was moored so that the stern might ground as soon as
the next fall of the water took place, that we might be
able to form some idea of the extent of injury she had
sustained. She was makings about two inches of water
an hour.

Birds continued to be very abundant for some days.

I shot three males,
one of them showinsf rudi-
ments of an eye-stripe. The
blue-throated warbler also
arrived. I shot four, two
males and two females. I
also shot a brambling and
another little white-fronted
goose. Meanwhile, all day,
the cuckoo was vigorously
announcing that he too had
reached these regions. I
shot a great snipe, and Cap-
tain Wiggins got another.
I also got a plover, which
turned out to be a species
which I had never seen in the flesh before — the Asiatic
golden plover.

In the evening there was an Ostiak funeral. The
wife of one of the men living in a choom near the ship
died. The funeral party consisted of half a dozen
Ostiaks. Early in the morning they crossed the creek,
where the ship was lying, in a boat, and then mounted
the hill to the top of the bank. First came the Ostiaks,
carrying the corpse slung on a pole. Then followed men
with axe, pick, and spade, then women with materials for
baking bread and making tea, and finally came the empty
coffin. It took nearly all day to dig the grave out of the

OSTIAK PITE

HIGH TIDE OF MIGRATION 339

frozen ground. A fire was made, bread was baked, tea
drunk, and we were told the tea-cups were buried.
Finally a small birch-tree was felled, and a rough cross,
with the Russian oblique footboard, was made and placed
at the foot of the o-rave.

In the evening there was hardly any ice left in the
river, and the surface was as smooth as glass, so we took
the boat and rowed across to the creek on the other side
of the Kureika. The captain and I each shot a Siberian
herrino--orull. I also shot a brace of teal.

Another lovely morning broke upon us, with scarcely
a breath of wind. Birds were coming faster than I could
keep pace with. In my journal of the 6th of June I find
recorded that in a quarter of an hour I shot a couple of
Indian pintail snipe, a red-throated pipit, and an Arctic
wagtail. I also identified some pintail ducks, some
wood sandpipers, and Temminck's stints. I repeatedly
heard the loud wild mee-yoo of the wigeon, but did not
see the bird.

I had a fine view of a male smew. Waoftails
were extremely abundant, principally the white wagtail.
There were many Arctic wagtails, and I shot one grey
wagtail [Motaci/la melanope). I shot one red-throated
pipit in winter plumage and a couple of female scarlet
bullfinches.

The forest was utterly impenetrable. In most places
the snow was too soft for snow-shoes, but I could hear
a multitude of thrushes and willow-warblers singing.
Now and then a few late geese and swans passed over,
and ducks of various species were constantly on the wing.
I saw a couple of terns, most likely Arctic terns.

The tide in the Kureika had apparently turned. All
day long the ice came slowly drifting back, and both
rivers were once more full of pack-ice.

340 THE MARCH-PAST OF THE MIGRANTS

The next day was again lovely and smiling, with
scarcely a breath of wind, but the snow thawed more
slowly than we wished, for it froze every night for an
hour or two. Four-and-twenty hours of warm south
wind would have made a wonderful difference. The
river had risen ag-ain, and during the night and the
following day pack-ice and floes floated up the Kureika.
This we were told was the Tungrusk ice comingr down.
All this time the great migration of birds was going on.
My list for that day was forty birds shot, and thirty-two

OSTIAK DRILL

skinned. The most interesting were the golden plover,
wood sandpiper, Temminck's stint, little bunting, a couple
of male scarlet bullfinches, and a couple of dark ouzels
{Turdtts obscttTMs). The latter was a new species to me
in the flesh, for I had hitherto only known it from
skins.

The following day was again brilliantly fine. The
wind, if the gentlest zephyr may be called wind, changed
continually, east, south, and west. The stream of ice
went on uninterruptedly, but this time it was down the
Kureika. Birds were not quite so numerous, neverthe-
less I added four to my list. The first was a fieldfare
down by the river- side, then I secured a terek-sandpiper
on the flooded grass behind the store. In the afternoon
a flock of half a dozen ringed plover arrived, and I shot

BIRDS IN THE FOREST

341

a brace of them. The last was a lesser whitethroat
{Sylvia afUnis) in the trees at the top of the banks of the
Kureika. In the forest birds were abundant enough.
A woodpecker made the woods ring again with its loud
tapping. Willow-warblers and bluethroats were the
principal songsters. I heard the Siberian chiffchaff
repeatedly, and shot a
yellow-browed warbler
while it was uttering its
note most vociferously.
I also saw several
scarlet bullfinches.

On the grass around
the house, shore-larks
and Lapland buntings
congregated in a large
flock. Both species
occasionally run and
occasionally hop, but
I think the shore-larks
hop oftener. I noticed
also that the Lapland
buntings when dis-
turbed generally sought

refuge in a tree. Another very common bird was the pintail
snipe. I could have shot a score a day had I possessed
cartridges to spare. They came wheeling round, uttering a
loud and rather shrill cry — peezk, then dropped down with
a great whirr of wing and with tail outspread, an occupa-
tion which seemed so engrossing that they did not
discover until upon the ground that they had alighted
within twenty yards of a man with a gun. By this time
many mosquitoes were on the wing, but as yet their bite
was not very virulent.

RUSSIAN PIPE

342 THE MARCH-PAST OF THE MIGRANTS

Late in the evening clouds began to gather, and rain
came on which continued all night. The river soon
began to rise, and the tide of ice turned again up the
Kureika, proving that the mouth of the Yenesei was still
blocked.

OLD RUSSIAN SILVER CROSS

DOLGAN HUNTER WITH OSTIAK BOW AND DRUM OF SAMOYEDE SHAMAN

CHAPTER XXXIV.

A BUSY WEEK ON THE KUREIKA.

Four Species added to my List — Dotterel — Rapid Rise of the River —
Open Water — Arrival of thie Great Snipe — Pallas's Sand-martin — Com-
mon Sandpiper — Characteristics of the Native Tribes — Ship Repairs —
Pine Bunting — Ice lost in the Forest — Glinski's Industry — Ruby-throated
Warbler — Waxwings — Nutcrackers — Death of aTungusk — FuneralRites —
Diseases of the Natives — Their Improvidence — Uselessness of the Priests.

It rained off and on the whole of Saturday the 9th of
June, nevertheless birds were plentiful. The first great
rush of migration seems to take place as soon as the ice

344 A BUSY WEEK ON THE KUREIKA

and snow melt. Indeed many birds, as we have seen,
in too great a hurry to reach their breeding-grounds,
overshoot the mark, and, finding no food, are obliged to
turn back. Any little oasis of land in the vast desert of
snow, like the cleared ground between the house and the
ship, is soon full of birds, and I found myself in a favour-
able situation for noting the new arrivals, some of whom
were almost sure to be attracted by the black spot, and
to drop down to feed. I was constantly running in and
out, and made an excellent bag. Unfortunately our
position did not command a good view of the chief
stream of migration, which appeared to follow the main
valley of the Yenesei. There were no bare hills in the
neighbourhood from which to watch, and our house stood
on a small patch of cleared ground surrounded by forest
except on the river side. Very few large flocks of birds
passed over, and those which visited us appeared to
be stragglers from the great line of migration. They
stayed a few hours to feed, hurried on again, and fresh
stragglers took their places. The day's bag, however,
added four new species to my list : — the yellow-breasted
bunting {^Emberiza aureola), the ruff, the sand-martin, and
MiddendorfTs reed-bunting [Emderiza passerina). In
addition to these novelties, I secured four Asiatic golden
plovers and a couple of dusky ouzels. The latter were
singularly tame compared with the fieldfare and redwing,
both of which were common but very wild. In the evening
I added a fifth bird to my list, namely the dotterel.

For three days we had seen no snow-buntings, but
shore-larks and Lapland buntings were still common. A
few swans and geese passed over, and ducks were flying
about in all directions.

All day the wind was north and north-west ; and the
river rose more than it had ever done in one day before.

MOVEMENTS OF THE ICE 345

The current was still up the Kureika, but as far as we
could see both rivers were almost clear of ice.

On the morning of Sunday we had a breeze from the
west with drizzling rain, and an open river gently rising,
with a slight current up the Kureika. By noon the wind
dropped and the water began to fall. The afternoon was
calm but cloudy, with an occasional gleam of sunshine
and now and then a shower of rain. The Yenesei south-
wards seemed to be clear of ice, but in the afternoon the
Kureika was one crowded mass of pack-ice and floes,
driftine down to the sea at the rate of three to four knots
an hour. Birds were not very numerous, but I shot
more thrushes than usual. A peasant from the opposite
village brought me a couple of ducks, a wigeon, and a
red- breasted merganser. In the afternoon I shot a
pintail duck and saw a diver for the first time, but
whether red-throated or black-throated I was not near
enough to determine. The forest was still impenetrable,
though the rain had made havoc with the snow.

We had a warm south wind on the following day, and
the march-past of ice continued down the river, getting
slower and slower, and coming to a final block about
noon. In the afternoon the wind shifted round to the
west, the river began to rise slightly, the tide in the
Kureika turned, the ice which had not rounded the corner
into the Yenesei was marched back again, and in the
afternoon and evening we had open water.

Birds were not quite so numerous as heretofore. A
party of two or three dotterels came down to feed, and
by the river-side I came across a couple of ruffs, a pair
or two of terek-sandpipers, a golden plover, and a few
ringed plover. I nevertheless succeeded in adding four
new species to my list — the common skylark (the only
example I obtained in the Arctic Circle), the double snipe.

346 A BUSY WEEK ON THE KUREIKA

and the Siberian stonechat, and what I took to be the
house-martin. Several pairs of the latter arrived, and
were soon busily hawking for flies and occasionally
examining- their old nests. I shot a couple, so that I
might have tangible evidence of the existence of this
bird in the valley of the Yenesei. A few weeks later
they swarmed in countless thousands, and I might easily
have obtained a score at a shot. The reader may there-
fore imagine my disgust when on my return home I
found that my two birds were not the common house-
martin after all, but a nearly-allied species, Pallas's
house-martin (Hirundo lagopoda), a bird so rare that
the British Museum did not possess a specimen of it,
and that besides my two skins the species was solely
represented in the British Islands by a unique skin
from Japan in the Swinhoe collection.

The fine weather continued on the following day, the
river went on rising slowly, the Kureika ice stopping the
way ; it scarcely made a verst the whole day.

There were very few birds. The shore-larks were
all gone. Only a few stray Lapland buntings were left.
Now and then a plover or a pair of sandpipers paid us
a short visit. The martins had a larg-e accession to their
numbers, and flew round the house like a swarm of bees.
It was now possible to plough our way through the
forest ; for the snow was very soft, and melting rapidly.
Bluethroats and willow-warblers were the principal song-
sters. The simple notes of the redwing, the unobtrusive
song of the Little bunting, and the cheerful call of the
Siberian chiffchaff, were also very frequently heard.
Both the double snipe and the pintail snipe were common
enough. A couple of white-tailed eagles flew over about
noon. Now and then a few late swans passed over, but
the geese seemed to have all gone to their breeding-

NATIVE CHARACTERISTICS 347

places. The day added only one bird to my list, the
common sandpiper.

I had a talk with Schwanenberg about the Asiatics,
as he called the natives. He said the Ostiaks are very
friendly people, but the Tungusks are bad, and think
nothing of shedding human blood. The Dolgans again
are good people. The Yuraks are dangerous, and the
Samoyedes vary according to locality.

Matters were looking somewhat brighter at the ship.
The carpenter was busy making a new rudder. At low
water, when the stern was aground, he did some caulking,
and as the vessel was only leaking a little we were in
hopes that she might yet be made seaworthy after all.

The next morning the wind was north-east, and
changed in the afternoon to south-west. The weather
was as changeable as the wind : we had clouds, sunshine,
heavy gales, thunder, and rain. Scarcely a bird came
near the house all day, but before breakfast I shot a
very interesting one close to the door — a pine-bunting
[Embertza leucocephald). I also secured a reed-bunting,
the common species, a larger and browner bird than the
one I got on the 9th. I shot a hazel-grouse in the forest,
but saw nothing else of special interest. The Siberian
chiffchaffs seemed common enough, but snow still lay
too thick upon the ground to hunt them successfully.

The river rose considerably during the following
night, but during the day it fell slightly, and the current
was down the Kureika. Surely, we thought, this must
be the last march-past of ice. From what Schwanenberg
told me, I fancy half the ice that goes up the Kureika
never comes down again. He said that some ten versts
from our quarters the banks of the river were low. When
he came back from his wild-goose chase after graphite,
this part of the country was flooded for miles on each

348

A BUSY WEEK ON THE KUREIKA

side of the river ; hundreds of acres of ice had drifted
into the forests, and when the water subsided frozen
blocks would probably be stranded among the trees and
gradually melt on the ground.

The villagers of the other side of the river brought
us a few birds which they had secured, so Glinski thought
he would try how many he could skin in one day. He
began at nine a.m. and finished at two the next morning.

OSTIAK ARROW-HEADS

Allowing a couple of hours for meals and a " papiross "
afterwards, this would make fifteen working hours, during
which he skinned forty-six birds. I labelled them all,
and o;ave them the last finishing- touch. I had arrang-ed
to pay all his expenses, and to give him ten kopecks a
skin in addition to his twenty roubles a month ; so he
made a very good thing of the bargain.

The ice was still straggling down, but slowly, on
the 14th. The wind was south in the morning, with
rain, but it cleared up at noon, and the evening was
bright, with scarcely any wind. I had three rounds in
the forest. Before breakfast I shot a ruby -throated
warbler [Eriihacus calliope). He had a wonderfully fine
song, decidedly more melodious than that of the blue-
throat, and very little inferior to that of the nightingale.
When I first heard him sing I thought I was listening to
a nightingale; he had his back towards me when I shot
him, and I was astonished to pick up a bird with a scarlet
throat. The feathers were as glossy as silk, and when I

NUTCRACKERS

349

skinned him I thought I had rarely, if ever, seen so
beautiful a warbler. It seems that a fine voice and gay
colours do sometimes coexist in birds as well as on the
stage. In the afternoon I shot another very interesting
bird, the blue-rumped warbler; I did not hear his song
when I came upon him ; he was busily engaged searching
for insects, principally at the roots of trees. Nor was my
morning's second walk entirely a blank, as I shot a
yellow-browed warbler. The
snow in the forest still made
walking" difficult and dis-
aofreeable. I saw a small
flock of perhaps half a dozen
birds, which, judging from
their notes, I am all but sure
were waxwings ; I could not
however get near enough to
identify them. ,

Whilst I was walking in
the forest, picking my way
amongst the swamps and the
few remaining snow-fields, I
was delighted once more to hear the alarm-note of the
nutcracker. I was, however, unable to get a sight of
the bird. A fortnight before they had been common
enough near our quarters. These birds seem to be well
aware of the fact that offal and scraps of food of all kinds
are always to be found in winter near the habitations of
man. Their tameness had been quite absurd. Some-
times the Ostiak children shot one with a bow-and-arrow,
and occasionally one was caught by the dogs. When
the breeding season began they seemed entirely to
change their habits. About the yth of June they retired,
apparently, into the recesses of the forest. I was very

RUSSIAN IKON
(Brass and enamel)

350 A BUSY WEEK ON THE KUREIKA

anxious to secure a series of their eggs, and had carefully-
looked after them, feeding them with the bodies of the
birds I skinned. They treated me, however, in the most
unofrateful manner. As soon as the snow was melted
from most of the ground they vanished, and all my
efforts to discover their breeding-place proved in vain,
thoueh I offered a considerable reward for a nest
containing eggs. The Russians call the nutcracker the
verofky, and both the peasants and the natives assured
me that no one had ever seen its nest. With the
exception of a couple of birds which I picked up after-
wards in full moult, I saw nothing more of them until
they reappeared in flocks on the return journey.

In the evening I spent some time watching the
double snipes through my binocular. With a little
caution I found it easy to get very near them, and fre-
quently, as I sat partially concealed between a couple of
willow-bushes, I was able to turn my glass on two or
three pairs of these birds, all within fifteen or twenty
yards of me. They had one very curious habit which
I noted. They used to stretch out their necks, throw
back the head almost on to the back, and open and shut
their beaks rapidly, uttering a curious noise, like running
one's finger along the edge of a comb. This was some-
times accompanied by a short flight, or by the spreading
of the wings and tail. The double snipe is by no means
shy, and allows of a near approach. When it gets up
from the ground it rises with a whirr of the wings like
that of a grouse, but not so loud, whilst the pin-tailed
snipe gets up quietly. I did not succeed in finding the
nest of the double snipe, but I have no doubt it breeds
in the valley of the Kureika, as it was still frequenting
the marshy ground when we weighed anchor in the ill-
starred Thames on the 29th of June, and I noticed it in

DISEASES OF THE NATIVES 351

the same locality when I returned in the Yenesei on the
2nd of Auoust.

About this time a Tungusk died in one of the chooms
of the Ostiaks. He had been a servant of our landlord,
Turboff, For many months he had been suffering from
a chest complaint, but the disease which ultimately killed
him was scurvy. Some days before he died we tried to
persuade him to drink lime-juice, but it was of no avail.
He evidently had not very much confidence in our
medical knowledge, and did not seem to think it a matter
of any importance. I suppose he shared the opinion now
getting so prevalent, that between good medicine and
bad medicine there is a world of difference, but that
between good medicine and no medicine there is scarcely
any difference at all. The Ostiaks buried the poor man ;
they begged from us some boards to make a coffin, and
the corpse was placed in it ; an axe was then waved
three times up and three times down the body, the lid
was nailed down, and a grave hastily dug in the forest.
At the foot of the grave a small pine-tree was growing.
It was roughly squared as it stood, a slit made in the
trunk, and a cross-bar inserted.

We found scurvy and chest-diseases to prevail a good
deal, especially amongst the natives. The intense cold
of the long winter affects the throat and lungs, and
asthma, bronchitis, or consumption is the result. During
the winter also, fresh vegetable diet is very scarce. The
people preserve the cranberries, which grow so abun-
dantly during the summer, but they are so improvident
that they use the berries in their tea, so long as they last,
and in spring, when the need for them is greatest, the
stock is exhausted. There are no doctors. If the
government combined with the office of priest that of
doctor some good might be effected. At present the

352 A BUSY WEEK ON THE KUREIKA

priests are absolutely useless ; their offices, in the Greek
Church, are so mechanical that they might be performed
almost equally well by machinery. In many cases the
priests are worse than useless ; they have nothing to
do, and, under the pretext of keeping certain days holy,
they encourage the people in drinking to excess, and in
idling away valuable time. Russia stands sorely in need
of an Isaiah to proclaim the truth that the "holy days and
the feast days are an abomination,"

BRONZE FROM ANCIENT GRAVE NEAR KRASNOYARSK

SUMMER QUARTERS ON THE KUREIKA

CHAPTER XXXV.

FULL SUMMER AT LAST.

Trip Across the Yenesei — Lost in the Forest — Second Visit to the other
Side of the Yenesei — Number of Birds — Striped Squirrels — Gulls in Trees
— A New Bird — The Ibis — Song of the Yellow-browed Warbler — Ostiak
Fishing Season — Observations made across the Kureika — Nest of the
Little Bunting — Eastern Stonechat — Another Round in the Forest — Von
Gazenkampf again — A System of Plunder — Russian Commercial Morality.

Friday, the 15th of June, was hot, with a south wind.
The water continued to rise, and the ice continued to

straggle down the Kureika.

In the morning GHnski and

354 FULL SUMMER AT LAST

I had a row up the river. We saw some common sand-
pipers and shot one. We also secured a female reed-
bunting and a Siberian chiffchaff in the willows, now half
under water, and we shot a pair of pine grosbeaks in the
forest.

Some peasants from the village on the other side of
the Yenesei rowed across, bringing us some birds.
Amongst them was a green sandpiper and a curlew
sandpiper in full breeding plumage. They gave such a
elowino- account of the number of birds near their villaore
that I went back with them. It took us nearly two
hours' rowing- aQ^ainst wind and tide to reach our destina-
tion. I found they had not exaggerated; birds abounded.
The country was flatter, and thinly sprinkled over with
birch-trees. There were several lakes and pools of
water, and more grass and willow-swamps. I shot a
female hen-harrier, a bird I had not seen since the snow-
buntings left. I also shot a common gull, which com-
pleted my identification of this species made on the ist
of June. I saw willow-grouse and black grouse and
numberless ducks. I added to my list both the red-
throated and the black-throated divers, the red-breasted
merganser, the golden-eye duck, and the goosander, and
frequently recognised the wild cry of the scaup duck. I
found the red-necked phalarope very abundant in the
pools, and as tame as usual. I listened to a sedge-
warbler for some time, but did not succeed in shooting
it. I also followed a cuckoo, but could not get a shot.
I supposed it to be the European bird, but it had quite a
different voice. Instead of crying "cuckoo" it made a
guttural and hollow-sounding '' hoo','' not unlike the cry
of the hoopoe. I afterwards secured an example of this
bird, and found it to be the Himalayan cuckoo {Cuculus
inter77iedius). I had an excellent opportunity of listening

LOST IX THE FOREST 355

to the song- of the fieldfare. The call-note of this bird,
tsik-tsak, is continually heard, but the song seems con-
fined to the pairing season ; it is a low warble, scarcely
deserving to be called melodious.

The excitement of the chase, the appearance of
species new to my list, and the abundance of bird-life
generally, caused me to forget that time was flying.
The difference between day and night in these latitudes
at this season of the year is so small that I failed to
notice that it ought to be evening, and that the sun must
before very long prepare to dip below the horizon for an
hour or so, until other sensations reminded me that it
must be long past dinner-time. I looked at my watch,
was astonished to find it so late, took out my compass,
for the sky was overcast, and steered due east with the
intention of striking the Yenesei and of following the
course of its banks until I reached the villaoe. Before
long I caught a glimpse of a sheet of water through the
trees, but on reaching the shore I was astonished to find
that it was not the Yenesei. Though it stretched nearly
north and south as far as the eye could reach, it had little
or no stream, and was not more than half a mile wide.
Now the Yenesei had a current of at least four miles an
hour, and was three miles wide. I climbed up a tree in
the hope that a distant view of the great river might be
thus obtained, but it was of no use. In every direction
an endless series of tree-tops stretched away to the
horizon. I realised the fact that I was lost in the forest
— a forest perhaps five thousand miles long by more than
a thousand miles wide. I comforted myself with the
reflection that it could only be a question of time, that
one end of the sheet of water before me must be con-
nected with the Yenesei, and that if I took the wrong
direction to-night I should nevertheless be able to find

356 FULL SUMMER AT LAST

the right one on the morrow. My game bag was full,
and if the worst came to the worst I could do as I had
seen the Ostiaks do. Fortunately, however, I discovered
that in my haste to explore new ground I had neglected
to take out of my bag a pot of Liebig's extract of meat,
with which I had provided myself before crossing the
river. Sitting down on a fallen tree-trunk, I dined as
best I could on my solitary dish. I then walked for an
hour along one bank of the sheet of water without any
sign of its coming to an end. I doubled back, and had
reached the place whence I started, when I debated the
advisability of having a night's rest on the ground.
Visions of hungry bears just awakened from their winter's
sleep floated before my imagination, and I decided that I
was not tired enough to go to bed, so started to explore
the creek in the opposite direction. Presently I fell in
with an owl and chased it for some time. Other interest-
ing birds then claimed my attention, until in the excite-
ment of the chase I almost forgot that I was lost. I had
wandered away from the creek, and seeing a slight
elevation comparatively bare of trees I made for it»
intending to get my bearings again from the compass.
On reaching the place, however, I was surprised and
deliofhted to find the river within sioht. Arrivino- at the
bank I could just discern the mouth of the Kureika on
the opposite shore, and by midnight I reached the
village, and was rowed across to our quarters loaded
with spoil, dead tired, and a little unnerved with my
adventure in the forest. When it was all over, I found
that I had been more frightened than I suspected at the
time. How I got right at last still remains a mystery
to me.

Migration was still going on. As we crossed the
river in the small hours of the morning, flocks of ducks

EROSION OP^ RIVER BANKS 357

were still flying north, and I might have shot a short-
eared owl if I had not been too sleepy.

It was astonishing to see the quantity of wood that
was floating down, but as we coasted the shore to avoid
the current, we easily saw whence it all came. In many
cases the banks were undermined for six or eight feet ;
in some places they had fallen in, and the trees growing
upon them were hanging down in the water. The banks
are nothing but sand and earth ; the river evidently
widens every year, and carries an immense quantity of
mud down to its mouth.

The following day I chronicled two arrivals, the first
steamer from Yeneseisk and the first common house-
sparrow. The steamer, which was a paddle-boat belong-
ing to the Mayor of Yeneseisk, unfortunately did not
bring the mails. It brought us, however, startling news
— that Russia had declared war against Turkey, and
had already taken several forts ; and that England
was at first inclined to help Turkey, but was pre-
vented from doing so by the outbreak of a revolution in
India !

I did not go far from home in search of birds, but a
peasant brought us a Bewick's swan. A brisk breeze
from the south had blown all day; it veered round to the
east in the evening, when some enormous floes of ice
went down the Kureika. At 10.30 p.m. we had one of
the finest rainbows I have ever seen.

Spring flowers were now rapidly making their appear-
ance. One that seemed to be our wood anemone was
already in flower. Patches of snow were still lying in
the forest, especially on the northern slopes.

During the next day the ice was still straggling down
the Kureika, but not in sufficient quantity to close our
little port, so I gave an Ostiak and his wife a couple of

358 FULL SUMMER AT LAST

roubles to row Glinski and me across the Yenesei in
their lodka. The distance was computed to be four
versts, but the current took us down a verst below the
village, and this verst we had to row back up-stream.
We were just over an hour making the journey. The
Starrosta of the village gave us quarters, and we planned
to have three days' good sport. A peasant soon brought
us thirteen golden-eye ducks' eggs, with the down out of
the nest. He told us that he found the eo'Sfs in a hollow
tree. He also brought two common gulls' eggs. The
great snipe I found even more common than on the other
side of the river. In the evening I watched numbers of
them through my binocular. They stretched out their
necks, threw back their heads, opened and shut their
beaks rapidly, uttering that curious noise like the running
of one's finger along the edge of a comb, exactly as I had
heard them before.

The scarlet bullfinches also were very numerous.
The male was generally perched conspicuously in a birch-
tree warbling a few simple notes, which sounded very like
the words, "I'm very pleased to see you," with the
emphasis on see. The martins were busy building their
nests.

I turned out at four o'clock the next morning, and
had a long round before breakfast. The number of birds
was perfectly bewildering. I found two wigeons' nests,
one with seven eggs and the other with five. I shot a
sedge-warbler, and a couple of Siberian chiffchaffs, also a
small bird whose song resembled somewhat the trill of a
redpoll ; I was surprised to find it to be the Arctic
willow-warbler. The reed-bunting was common, but I
did not see the smaller species.

I was well rewarded for getting up so early. There
can be no doubt that ornithological observations are much

SEDGE-WARBLERS 359

more easily made in the early hours of morning- imme-
diately following sunrise than at any other period of the
day. It requires some courage to turn out ere the day
has got properly aired, but an ornithologist is always well
rewarded for his trouble. Birds are on the feed and can
be easily approached, and in spring they are in full song.
I regarded my morning's work as amply repaid by two
important discoveries : first, that of the song of the Arctic
willow- warbler ; and second, the identification of the
sedge-warbler, which I had previously only partially
identified by its song. The bird I shot was, so far as I
then knew, the first sedge-warbler ever shot in Asia, but
I discovered on my return home that Severtzow had
met with it in Turkestan, though his identification was
doubted by many ornithologists. I afterwards found it
extremely common in suitable localities on the banks of
the Yenesei. Of course this bird is only a summer
visitant to Siberia, and a very interesting problem
presents itself for future ornithologists to solve : Where
do the Yenesei sedge-warblers winter, and by what route
do they migrate ?

In the afternoon we had rain, but in the evening the
sun came out again very hot. I found this an excellent
time to pick up the small warblers on the banks of the
kuria, which forms almost an island in the summer.
In a couple of hours I had shot three Siberian chiffchaffs
and a couple of sedge-warblers. I also recognised the
redpoll-like notes of the Arctic willow-warbler,and secured
another bird. I shot a male shoveller duck, and found a
nest with four eggs in it, which I supposed to belong to
this species; I kept the down in it, to assist its identifica-
tion. The female uttered a cry like pape as she flew
away.

I was surprised to see several small-bodied long-

360 FULL SUMMER AT LAST

tailed animals in the slender branches of the hazel-trees,
sometimes twelve and twenty feet aloft. As they ran
along the ground or up the trunk of the tree, they had all
the actions of our squirrel. They proved to be striped
squirrels. "^

The next day was dull, with heavy gales from the
west, but the frequent showers did not seem to diminish
the number of birds. I shot a common g-ull after havino-
watched it perching in a larch-tree; Harvie-Brown and
I had noticed this habit of the gull in the valley of the
Petchora. Two or three times I had caught a passing
glimpse of a dark-coloured thrush, with a very conspicuous
white eyebrow. I was now fortunate enough to secure
one, as it was feeding- on the o-round in a dense birch
plantation. It is a most beautiful bird, the Siberian
ground-thrush {Geocichla sibirica), but it seemed to be
very rare and very shy.

The fieldfares, which had hitherto been very wild,
were now comparatively tame. They were in full song,
if their subdued chatter be musical enoug^h to be called a
song. They often sing as they fly. That day I shot
a new bird, the mountain hedge-sparrow {^Accentor
montanelliis). I also found another wigeon's nest with

six eggs m It.

The next morning I secured a couple more males of
my new hedge-sparrow. They seemed wonderfully quiet
birds, I did not hear them utter a note. In the after-
noon we saw Kitmanoff's steamer pass on its way to the
Kureika; it had my new schooner the J bis in tow, built
by Boiling in Yeneseisk. I had arranged with Captain
Wiggins to go shares in her with me, his part of the
contract being to finish her, and rig her out English
fashion. In the half- wrecked condition of the Thames

* Vide note, p. 308.

A HEAVY BAG 361

we felt it might be useful to us all to be provided
with two strino^s to our bow. At sio-ht of the steamer
we lost no time in packing up our things and crossing
the river. We had had three days' hard work.
Glinski had skinned ninety-nine birds, and we were
taking about thirty more with us to skin on the other
side.

On our return I found that during our absence the
Arctic willow-warbler had arrived in some numbers.
Early the next morning I heard the now well-known
song from the door of our house. After breakfast I had
a turn in the forest, and heard many of these birds
singing. The song is almost exactly like the trill of
the redpoll, but not quite so rapid and a little more
melodious. The bird did not seem shy, and I soon shot
four. Nor did it appear to me so restless as most of the
willow-warblers. The Siberian chifFchaff, for instance, is
a most unquiet bird; it seems always in a hurry, as if its
sole object were to cover as much ground as possible.
On the 'extreme summit of a spruce fir I discerned a
little bird shiverinof his wino-s and making- a feeble
attempt to sing. It began with a faint plaintive note
or two, then followed the "weest" of the yellow-
browed warbler by which I recognised the species,
and, lastly, it finished up with a low rapid warble which
appeared to be variations upon the same note. This
is probably all the song of which this little bird is
capable, but every particular is interesting respecting a
warbler which now and again deigns to visit the British
Isles.

Whilst walking through the forest I suddenly came
upon a bird preparing to fly from a dense clump of trees,
and was fortunate enough to shoot it before it got
well on the wing. It proved to be an example of the

362 FULL SUMMER AT LAST

Himalayan cuckoo, whose extraordinary note had at-
tracted my attention some days previously.

The heat had been great during the last two days,
with scarcely a breath of wind stirring, and the snow had
melted everywhere except a few patches here and there
in the forests, where it had drifted to an unusual depth.
The river had fallen considerably, and only now and
then a stray block of ice was to be seen floating down the
Kureika. The Ostiaks were busy fishing, and three
chooms were pitched on our side of the river and four on
the other. The season had not yet fairly commenced,
the water was very cold, and fish were very scarce, but
every day brought fresh signs of the rapid approach of
summer, and the Ostiaks were very busy and evidently
in high spirits at the close of the long winter. I visited
each fresh family that arrived, in hopes of picking up
something interesting, but they were all evidently very
poor. From one man who seemed a little more enter-
prising than the others I procured a rude kind of spoke-
shave which he was using to plane his new oars into
shape, and a drill which was almost the exact model of
one I bought from a Samoyede in the Petchora, The
Ostiak told me that he had made these tools himself

The 22nd of June was oppressively hot, with a slight
breeze occasionally from the south. It was evident that
not only had summer come in earnest, but migratory birds
also had finished coming. Though I diligently took my
round in the forest every morning, I found many birds
conspicuous by their absence, and had no new arrivals to
chronicle. The Arctic willow-warbler was now very
common, and the principal songster. Besides its song it
utters an occasional note, sometimes a single one, dzty
sometimes made into a double note by dwelling upon the
first part, d-z, zit. Little buntings were also there in

THE DARK OUZEL 363,

great numbers. Now and then I met a brambling, a
Lapp-tit, a yellow-headed wagtail, or a sedge-warbler ;,
but the willow-warblers and bluethroats, which had been
so common a week back, had nearly all disappeared. I
got a redwing's nest with three eggs.

Early on the following morning we had rain, and as
we crossed over to the ship to breakfast a white fog
covered the river ; it cleared away before noon, and w^e
had a warm sunshiny day. Boiling (who had come
down in Kitmanoffs steamer) and I rowed across the
Kureika, and we spent the day on the other side. Birds,
were extremely numerous, and I solved some very
important problems. During the past week I had
repeatedly heard the song of a thrush with which I was
not acquainted, but hitherto I had never been able to get
a shot at the bird. This thrush was a very poor songster,
but he had a very splendid voice. He seldom got beyond
one or two notes, but in clearness and richness of tone
these notes were fully equal to those of the blackbird. I
was fortunate enough to secure a bird, which turned out
to be the dark ouzel. It was a female with eggs large
enough for a shell, so that I hoped soon to find a nest.
I saw several pairs flying about. At frequent intervals I
had also heard a short unpretentious song, not unlike
that of our hedge-sparrow. It came from a bird generally
perched aloft on the top of a high tree, from which, after
warblingr its short sonor, it would dart off to another. As
yet I had only been able to shoot a single specimen ; this
time I succeeded in securing another. It was the
mountain hedge-sparrow.

On the banks of the river where the Kureika joins the
Yenesei are islands and peninsulas clothed with willows.
These were nearly all covered with some feet of water,
so that one could squeeze a boat amongst the trees. As

364 FULL SUMMER AT LAST

we rowed past this willow cov^er, I heard a familiar song,
and pointed the bird out to my companion ; it was
wheeling round in circles overhead, occasionally descend-
)ing into the willows. I recognised it to be the Siberian
pipit which Harvie- Brown and I had discovered in the
Petchora. Some hours after we first sighted it, I was
lucky enough to get within shot of one singing in a
willow-tree ; I had, of course, expected to find this bird
in this locality, as it had already been shot east of the
Lena.

My fourth important observation that morning was,
however, the most valuable of all ; in fact, by it I attained
one of the special objects of my journey. A quarter of
-an hour before we left the opposite shore, as I was
making my way down the hill to the boat amongst
tangled underwood and fallen tree-trunks, rotten and
•moss-grown, a little bird started up out of the grass at my
feet. It did not My away, but flitted from branch to
branch within six feet of me. I knew at once that it
must have a nest near at hand, and in a quarter of a
minute I found it, half hidden in the grass and moss. It
contained five eggs. The bird was the Little bunting.
It hovered about so close to me, that to avoid blowing
it to pieces I was obliged to leave the nest and get a
sufficient distance away. It seemed a shame to shoot the
poor little thing, but the five eggs were, as far as I knew,
the only authentic eggs of this species hitherto obtained,
therefore it was necessary for their complete identification.
The nest was nothing but a hole made in the dead
leaves, moss, and grass, copiously and carefully lined with
fine dead grass. I can best describe the eggs as minia-
ture eggs of the corn-bunting.

The forest on that side of the river was principally
larch, spruce, pine or cedar, and the trees were larger

VON GAZEXKAMPF 365

than upon the side where our headquarters were. The
two commonest birds were the yellow-browed warbler
and the Arctic willow-warbler, and the songs or notes
of both were constantly to be heard. Sedge-warblers
were frequent on the banks, and bramblings in the
forest.

In the evening I had a long chase after two birds,.
whose song resembled somewhat that of the wheatear. I
had to take a boat at last to get to them. They proved
to be two fine male Eastern stonechats, and though I
followed them for at least an hour, I never once heard
the call-note — ti-tzic-tzic — which our bird so constantly
utters.

The next morning Boiling, I, and one of the engineers
rowed across the Kureika, and had another long round
along the banks of the Yenesei and in the forest. We
saw no more of the dark ouzels, but occasionally we
heard their note. The yellow-browed warbler and the
Arctic willow-warbler were as plentiful as ever, but we
could find no trace of their nests. These birds were
both in full song, and had evidently not begun to build.
I found a nest of Temminck's stint with two eggs. In
the willows near the shore sedge-warblers were singing
lustily, and once or twice we heard the Siberian pipit.
There were several pairs of black ducks across the river^
probably black scoters.

In the afternoon Sotnikoff s steamer arrived. Unfortu-
nately for us, as fate would have it, she carried as one of
her passengers the Zessedatel of Turukansk. He soon
boarded us, and as a matter of course he soon beofan to
beg. The captain was his first victim ; from him he
extracted a handsome pistol and some preserved fruit.
I presented the old gentleman with a bottle of sherry
and some cigars, but I absolutely refused to let him

366 FULL SUMMER AT LAST

annex anything ; he tried hard to cajole me, first, out of
my double-barrelled gun, then of my single barrel, and
lastly he made a dead set at my binocular, but I denied
him everything, and he left me with a sour countenance.
Certainly, in all my experience, I have never met with
:so shameless a beggar as old Von Gazenkampf. His
name led one to expect that he had some German noble
blood in his veins, and his aristocratic appearance
encouraged the supposition, but one soon discovered
that he belonged to the corrupt school of Russian officials
in the worst days of serfdom. It is scarcely possible to
believe that the Government of St. Petersburg is aware
of the rascalities practised in remote corners of the
empire, and no doubt an official sent from headquarters
to examine into the administration of these distant
districts, would on his arrival be heavily bribed to keep
■silence. It was lamentable to see the universal system
of plunder carried on. The Russian peasants plunder
the poor Ostiaks, the Government officials and the
Yeneseisk shopkeepers plunder the Russian peasants.
Commercial honour seemed almost unknown on the
Yenesei. Let us take an instance. During our stay the
Mayor of Yeneseisk was a merchant, who had formerly
been a pedlar. Like many of the shopkeepers of that
unfortunate town, he came from the district south of
Nishni-Novgorod. He was at that time computed to be
worth two million roubles. He had failed twice, dishonour-
ably it was said, and paid each time five shillings in the
pound. We had a fine specimen of his mode of trans-
acting business. We bought sundry articles from him,
paid for them, and got a receipt. These were of the
value of seventy-three roubles, and were to be brought
down by the steamer to our ship with other articles
•ordered. When the river became navigable, the goods

COMMERCIAL IMMORALITY

367

were promptly delivered, and the account hurriedly
presented for payment as the steamer was on the point
of leaving to go farther down the river. Fortunately
for us one of our party could read Russian. He found
that the seventy-three roubles already paid were included
in the amount claimed, and their payment thus demanded
a second time. Twenty odd casks of tallow, and about
as many sacks of biscuits, were also to be brought down
to us by the steamer ; in both cases one package less
than the proper quantity was de-
livered. The captain promised
to have these missing packages
found, and left for usat Dudinka,
but I felt certain that we might
as well at once have written off
the value to our already suffi-
ciently large plunder account,
and, needless to say, we never
heard any more of them.

It would be unfair to repre-
sent this entire absence of any
feeling of commercial honour
as in any way an exclusively
Russian characteristic. It is Asiatic, Oriental,
moment you have crossed a line which one
draw from Konigsberg to Trieste, you have ceased
ethnologically to be in Europe, and as far as race and
character go you are to all intents and purposes in Asia.
West of this line people do frequently act dishonourably,
but they are ashamed of it, and it is only the temptation
of the gain which reconciles them to the disgrace which
they try to hide. East of this line it gives a man far
more pleasure to cheat you out of a sovereign than to
earn a sovereign in a legitimate manner. So far from

RUSSIAN IKON
(Brass and enamel)

The
mioht

368

FULL SUMMER AT LAST

being ashamed of it, he glories in it, and boasts of his
cleverness. I do not think this enormous difference of
national character is a question of climate, race, or
religion. I take it to be purely a question of free
government and just laws. The free man fears no one,
and can afford to tell the truth. Under just laws, a love
of justice and contempt of knavery rapidly develop
themselves. The commercial immorality of Russia must
be laid to the charge of its despotic government.

OLD RUSSIAN SILVER CROSS.

SAMOYEDE MAN

DOLl-.AN WOMAN

CHAPTER XXXVI.

LAST DAYS ON THE KUREIKA.

Birds begin to Grow Scarce — Absence of the Nutcrackers — Fertile
Hybrids between Hooded andCarrion Crows — Nest of the Yellow-browed
Warbler — Birds Plentiful in the Early Morning — Arctic Willow-warbler —
Nest of the Dark Ouzel — Second Nest of the Little Bunting — Leaving the
Kureika — New Birds Identified each Week — Parting with our Friends.

On Monday, the 25th of June. I had a long round in the
forest, but met with nothing of special interest. The
•only nest which I found was that of a redwing, containing
four eggs. Birds were evidently beginning to become
.-scarce again. Many had left for still more northerly

2 A

370 LAST DAYS ON THE KUREIKA

breedincr-orrounds, and those which remained had scat-
tered themselves in the forest. The pairing season was
over, and the songs with which the male birds had
wooed their females were now for the most part hushed,
the energies of the feathered songsters being apparently
concentrated upon the engrossing duties of nidification.
A few birds only seemed to have finished their nests,
and occasionally serenaded their patient mates during the
period of incubation. The bluethroats had disappeared
altogether. Of the four willow-warblers the western
species were seldom heard, but the three eastern species
were the commonest birds in the forest. I shot a solitary
nutcracker, a male in full moult, which, from the appear-
ances observable on dissection, I presumed might have
been a barren bird. The breeding haunts of the nut-
cracker remained a mystery which I was unable to solve.
Probably they were quietly hatching their eggs in the
remotest recesses of the forest. One of the Ostiaks brought
me the nest of a hazel-o-rouse containing eioht eo^g-s.
It was made of leaves, dry grass, and a few feathers.

On the afternoon of the following day I climbed up
to the crow's nest which I had discovered on the i ith of
May. It now contained two young birds ; one looked
much more thoroughbred hoodie than the other. I was
unable to shoot the male, but I had often examined him
through my binocular ; he had a very grey ring round
the neck, and showed a quantity of grey on the breast
and under the wings. I shot the female ; she had not
quite so much hoodie in her. The feathers on the sides
of the neck and on the lower part of the breast and belly
were grey, with dark centres. The fact is now con-
clusively proved that these hybrids are fertile.

Late in the evening Boiling and I strolled through
the forest. As we were walking along, a little bird

THE YELLOW-BROWED W^^RBLER 371

started up near us, and began most persistendy to utter
the alarm-note of the yellow-browed warbler, a note
which I had learned in Giitke's oarden in Helio-oland
As it kept flying around us from tree to tree, we naturally
came to the conclusion that it had a nest near. We
searched for some time unsuccessfully, and then retired to
a short distance and sat down upon a tree-trunk to watch.
The bird was very uneasy, but continually came back to a
birch-tree, frequently making several short flights towards
the ground, as if it were anxious to go to its nest, but
dared not whilst we were in sight. This went on for about
half an hour, when we came to the conclusion that the
treasure we were in search of must be within a few yards
of the birch-tree, and we again commenced a search.
In less than five minutes I found the nest, with six eo-o-s
in it. It was built in a slight tuft of grass, moss, and
bilberries, semi-domed, exactly like the nests of our
willow- warblers. 1 1 was composed of dry grass and moss,
and lined with reindeer-hair. The eggs were very
similar in colour to those of our willow- warbler, but rather
more spotted than usual, and smaller in size.

The special interest attaching to this discovery lies in
the fact that the yellow-browed warbler has more than once
been shot in the British Islands, and has thus obtained a
place in the list of British birds. Its eggs were previously
unknown ; those obtained by Brooks in Kashmir havino-
been lately discovered to belong to a nearly-allied, thouo-h
distinct, species, the validity of which that keen-eyed
ornithologist was the first to point out."^

The next morning Boiling and I rose at one o'clock,
soon after sunrise, and rowed across the Kureika to
explore the opposite banks of the river. The mornino- is

* It should, perhaps, be stated that the vaHdity of this species has not been
universally recognised by ornithologists. — Ed.

372 LAST DAYS ON THE KUREIKA

without doubt by far the best time for birds. From sun-
rise to noon they were plentiful enough in the forest :
the latter half of the day they were more rarely seen, and
were much more silent. I secured another Siberian pipit,
and found a pair of dark ouzels, evidently breeding.
They showed so much uneasiness at our presence that
we made a more careful search for the nest, and soon
found one which I have no doubt was theirs. It was an
exact duplicate of our song-thrush's nest, and apparently
ready for the first egg. I discovered afterwards, however,
that it yet required a final lining of dry grass.

After breakfast I had an unsuccessful search for the
nest of the Arctic willow-warbler. The bird was common
enough, but evidently it had not begun to breed. Often
four or five of them would be singing together at the
same time. As they did not arrive until a fortnight after
the other three willow-warblers, we might fairly expect
them to be late breeders.

In the afternoon I had a siesta, and in the evening
strolled out again into the forest. I walked for a mile
without shooting anything but a hazel-grouse, when
suddenly a thrush flew off its nest with a loud cry, and
alighted in a tree within easy shot. I glanced at the
nest, snapped a cap at the bird with one barrel, and
brought her to the ground with the second. I picked
her up, expecting to find a redwing, but was surprised
and delighted to find the rare dark ouzel. The nest was
in a slender spruce, about fifteen feet from the ground,
on an horizontal branch, some six inches from the stem.
I lost no time in climbing the tree, and had the pleasure
of brineingf down the nest with five eQ-o-s in it — so far as
I knew the first authenticated eggs of this species ever
taken. The nest was exactly like that of a fieldfare, and the
eggs resembled small, but richly-marked blackbird's eggs.

WE LEAVE THE RIVER

37J

On the following morning I felt somewhat fatigued
after the previous long day's work of twenty-four hours,,
but could not resist the temptation of having a short
early stroll in the forest. It produced a very small bag,
nothing but a solitary male bluethroat ; but I found, how-
ever, a second nest of the Little bunting containing two
eggs. I carefully marked the spot, hoping to get the full
clutch of five eofo-s if we remained long" enoug-h for the
purpose. A north wind had been blowing for some days,
and the captain was taking the opportunity of getting the
little schooner into order.

The next morning I returned to the spot I had marked,
and took the nest of the Little bunting, which had now
three eggs in it. At noon we packed up, and went on
board, towing our unfinished schooner with us. We got up
steam and cast anchor some fifty versts down the Yenesei.
We were all heartily glad to leave the Kureika. The
sailors who had wintered there were sick of the place ; and
the captain, who had seen his ship all but lost, could have
no pleasant recollections of the trap into which he had
fallen. For my own part I was anxious not to be too late
for the tundra, which I looked upon as my best ground.
I had been about ten weeks in the Kureika.

The following table of the number of species of birds
identified during each week will show at a glance the date
of the arrival of the mass of migrants

3
3

3
13
33

23 April

to 30 April

I May

,, 7 May

8 „

„ 14 ..

15 ..

.. 21

22 ,,

., 28 ,,

29 ,,

,, 4 June

5 June

II II

19

25

90

374 LAST DAYS ON THE KUREIKA

Comparing this list with that of the arrivals of migra-
tory birds in the valley of the Petchora,* it appears that
birds arrive much later in the valley of the Yenesei ; but
it Is possible that the difference may be an accidental one
of season and not a constant one of locality. In the
Petchora we found that the greatest number of migratory
birds arrived between the loth of May and the 4th of June,
whilst on the Yenesei the arrivals were principally
between the 31st of May and the i8th of June. These
dates correspond with the time at which the ice on the
two rivers broke up, in lat. 65^, namely the 21st and 31st
of May respectively.

When we left the Kureika, of course we never
expected to see it again ; so we took an affectionate leave
of our landlord Turboff, and of the Starrosta of the
village on the other side of the Yenesei. I believe they
were sorry to part with us, although Captain Wiggins had
had one or two quarrels with both of them. In oneway
or other they had made a considerable profit out of our
lono- visit to their remote corner of the world. We had
hired their dogs and their reindeer, paid them for labour
of various kinds, bought milk, meat, and firewood from
them, and made them presents of all sorts of things, and
yet for all that it was easy to see that they looked upon
the enterprise of Captain Wiggins with great jealousy.
The Russians are an intensely conservative people. They
look with suspicion upon anything new. Of course I
never for a moment expected them to understand my
reasons for collecting birds. From what Glinski told me
they evidently considered it to be a cloak to hide some
ulterior object. Captain Wiggins was perhaps a little
imprudent in expatiating in broken Russ upon the
wonderful benefits which the introduction of commerce

* See p. 241.

CAPTAIN WIGGINS 375

was to bestow upon the country. He told them over
and over again that the success of his enterprise was to
open the door at once to EngHsh commerce. This
naturally aroused the jealousy of the men, who had
practically a monopoly of the trade of the district. They
were too short-sighted to see the advantage which such
a change might bring them, and looked upon Captain
Wiggins as a competitor. His scrupulous honesty in
dealing with the natives, many of whom came to buy
cotton goods and always received over-measure, was
another cause of offence with traders who systematically
cheated their customers, and took advantage of their
necessities to over-charge them on every possible occa-
sion. Nevertheless their innate Russian hospitality
and good- nature overcame much of their prejudice, and
they took leave of us with every mark of affection. As
for the natives, they were really grateful for what little
we had done for them, and persisted in kissing our feet.
We left the settlement with gloomy anticipations of
its future. Debt and drink continually drain everything
of value into the hands of half a dozen merchants, who
are gradually killing off the geese that lay the golden

TUNGUSK PIPE

CHAPTER XXXVII

THE LOSS OF THE "THAMES."

Contrary Winds — Aground on a Sand-bank — Ostiaks to the Rescue —
Visit on Shore — Nest of the Siberian Chiffchaff — Birds in the Forest
— Under Way again — Wreck of the Thames — Arrangements for the
Future.

On Saturday, the 30th of June, we sailed down the river
with a somewhat contrary wind, which obliged us to tack
more or less, but the current helped us to the extent of at
least three knots an hour. In the evening we cast anchor
about one hundred and ten versts below the Kureika.
I went on shore and found a third nest of the Little
bunting, with five eggs somewhat incubated. The nest
was lined with reindeer-hair. We had a heavy thunder-
storm late at night, and after we had turned in the rain
came down in torrents.

Sunday morning, the ist of July, was almost a calm,

THE "THAMES" AGROUND 377

with rlsinof foo" which cleared off before noon. We were
crossing the river to get to the west of one of the islands,
when the current unexpectedly drifted us too near the
shore, and we found ourselves suddenly aground on a
sandbank, with a light wind and a strong current driving
us against the point of the island. We spent the whole
morning throwing overboard the ballast, and putting the
wood and cargo on board the Ibis, but as quickly as we
lightened the ship the water fell. Every now and then
we took an anchor out from the vessel in a boat, and
hauled in the cable with the steam winch. All our
efforts proved vain, the anchors all came home, the
bottom was evidently smooth ice, and the part of the
anchor which dragged on the ground was polished like
steel. All the afternoon we worked away, without
apparently the ghost of a chance. W^e tossed half the
wood overboard, filled the Ibis, hauled first at the bow
and then at the stern, ran the engines full speed ahead,
and then tried full speed astern, but the vessel was.
aground somewhere about midships, and we vibrated on
a pivot, not gaining a single point.

In the evening a few Ostiaks came across in a boat
to see what was the matter, and we set them to work to^
clear the bunkers of wood, and move the remaining
ballast forward, hoping thus to raise the ship by the
stern. Meanwhile the sailors took out an anchor, with
three lengths of cable, and dropped it at a greater dis-
tance from the ship than they had hitherto done. It
was eleven o'clock by this time, the men were exhausted,
and this was our forlorn hope. We had all worked hard
since five o'clock (eighteen hours), in a hot sun and
amidst virulent mosquitoes (the Cu/ex damnabilis of
Rae), and the captain now decided that if he failed in
this endeavour nothing^ more could be done. In the

378 THE LOSS OF THE "THAMES"

morning the ship would, no doubt, be high and dry on a
•daily enlarging sandbank, and we should have to dis-
mantle her, sell her as a wreck in Dudinka, and go down
the river in the Ibis. To our great surprise and delight,
however, our last manoeuvre succeeded. The anchor
held sufficiently to draw us off; we steamed into deep
water, and at one o'clock cast anchor in safety. From the
Ostiaks we bought a sturgeon a yard long for half-a-crown,
and some sterlet half that length for a penny a piece.

The following morning, whilst the Captain was taking
in fresh ballast, I went on shore and had a few hours'
shooting and birds'-nesting. The mosquitoes were
swarming in clouds ; there were so many between the
•eye and the sight of the gun that it was almost impossible
to see a small bird. I came upon an encampment con-
sisting of three Ostiak chooms, and about fifty reindeer.
The shore was very muddy, and between the river and
the forest was a long, gently-sloping bank, sprinkled
■over with willows. In these trees wisps of dry grass
were hanging, caught between the forks of the branches,
and left there after the hiorh water had subsided. In one
of these, about two feet from the around, a bird had
built its nest, or rather it had appropriated one of these
wisps for its nest. There was scarcely any attempt at
interlacing stalks. It was undoubtedly the most slovenly
a,nd the most loosely-constructed nest I remember to
have seen. It was not much more than a hole, about
two and a half inches in diameter, with one side a little
higher than the other, the entrance somew^hat smaller
than the diameter of the interior, which was globular in
form, and carefully lined with capercailzie and willow-
Sfrouse feathers. The tree in which it was built was
about fifty yards from the small encampment, and the
feathers of both these birds would naturally be found

NEST OF SIBERIAX CHIFFCHAFF 379

outside an Ostiak's choom. As I approached, a little
bird flew out of it, and began to fly uneasily from tree to
tree, uttering the plaintive note which I at once recog-
nised as that of the Siberian chififchaff. I looked into
the nest and saw it contained three eggs, pure white,
with dark red, almost black, spots. I retired about
twenty yards. The bird came back to the tree, and,
having apparently satisfied itself that its treasures were
safe, it began once more flying from tree to tree, still
uttering its plaintive alarm-note. To be perfectly certain
it was a Siberian chiffchaff I shot it, and returned to the
ship with the first identified eggs of this species ever
taken. I found, besides, two solitary fieldfares' nests.

SAMOYEDE PIPE

about a mile from each other, from one of which I shot
the bird. So far as I could judge, the fieldfare was
rather a rare thrush there, and it did not appear to be at
all gregarious. During migration they were in small
flocks of about half a dozen birds, but afterwards I saw
them only in pairs. I also found three nests of
Temminck's stint, from two of which I shot the birds.
Sedge- warblers were very abundant, and a few pairs of
bluethroats frequented the willow. I saw both the white
wagtail and the yellow-headed wagtail. In the pine
forests the Arctic willow-warbler was very numerous.
Most of these birds were in full song, and apparently
thought that there was no occasion whatever to hurry
about nest building. One pair, however, were chasing
each other through the forest, uttering a note I had not

38o THE LOSS OF THE "THAMES"

heard before, a plaintive scream. I shot one, expecting-
to procure a new bird. Our willow-warbler, and also the
yellow-browed warbler, were thinly sprinkled through
the trees, the former preferring the ' birches and the
latter the pines. I shot a scarlet bullfinch, and heard
several singing.

On Tuesday, the 3rd of July, we weighed anchor
early in the morning with a fair breeze, which at noon
became strong enough to clear the decks of mosquitoes.
The cabin we made habitable by a vigorous application
of brown-paper smoke. We found the sterlet and the
sturgeon delicious eating, the former the richer of the
two. Now and then we passed small encampments of
Ostiak chooms on the banks. The men were busy
fishing, in their usual lazy fashion. They frequently
boarded us, wanting to buy salt and to sell fish. We
saw many birds as we steamed along, a large flock of
ducks, a small party of swans, occasionally a gull, once
a pair of terns, and once an eagle.

After dinner I turned in for an hour's nap. When I
came on deck aofain I found that a serious accident had
happened. In attempting to wear the ship, or box-haul
her on her stern, she had refused to come round. The
sails were in perfect order, each in the correct position
for performing its required task. She was coming-
round very nicely, when suddenly, without any apparent
cause, in spite of her helm, in spite of a monster patent
jib, pulling hard with a fresh breeze, she swung back
and shot towards the shore. She was then in five
fathoms of water. She soon got into three and a half
fathoms, and the captain to save himself let go the
anchor. The sails were thrown back, which had the
desired effect of throwing her head off-shore. By a
most unfortunate accident, in coming back, she fouled

THE END AT LAST 381

her anchor in two and a quarter fathoms, in such a
position that the current prevented her getting off.
Steam was got up, an anchor was taken out, and the
vessel was soon hauled off the fluke of the anchor under
her, but only to fall back into a shoal. When we had
twenty pounds of steam with which to work, the pro-
peller was put in action, the steam winch hauled on the
cable, and a fair breeze from the south-west soon got us
off the shoal. In two minutes she would have been in
perfect safety, when, without a moment's warning, the
wind suddenly changed to north-east, and drove her hard
and fast into the shallow water before the sails could be
furled. All our efforts to get her off were vain. The
ballast we had put in after the accident on Sunday was
thrown out, the wood was got back again into the
Ibis, anchors were tried on several sides, but all came
home, one was taken upon shore and the cable strained
until it broke. The men worked hard all night, but by
mornino- she was more than a foot aground, fore and aft,
and as the water was falling rapidly, it was evident the
case was utterly hopeless. Everything that could be
done had been done, and the captain gave the vessel
up.

Thus ended the career of the Thames, a melancholy
close to a long chapter of accidents and hairbreadth
escapes. The ship seemed fated. Why she refused to
wear round in the first instance will probably always
remain a mystery. Perhaps some treacherous under-
current seized her keel, or possibly she fouled some
hidden snag. Fouling her anchor in coming back was
one of those accidents that will happen to the best-
regulated vessels ; but that, after having escaped both
these dangers, a sudden and total change of wind should
occur at the precise moment when she was sailing into

382 THE LOSS OF THE "THAMES'"

perfect safety, was one of those coincidences that a
century ago would undoubtedly have been ascribed to-
the agency of supernatural powers of evil. This un-
toward accident was a heavy blow to all of us. We
realised to the full the truth of Burns's proverb, that
" the best laid schemes o' mice and men gang aft a-gley."
The captain's hopes were totally frustrated. The good
ship was for that year at least irretrievably stranded, and
the following spring the ice would probably crumple her
up like pasteboard. For my part I could only expect to
reach the tundra too late for my best work, with the
cheerful prospect, besides, of facing an overland journey
of five or six thousand miles, with a little mountain of
lueeaee. There was nothing left for it but " to sfrin
and abide."

The first thingr to do was to hold a council of war.
Captain Wiggins declared himself determined if possible
to complete his programme. If he could not return to
E no-land in the Tha^fies he was desirous of makino- the
attempt in the Ibis. The question was whether his men
would consent to accompany him. I declined to commit
myself to what I could not but consider a foolhardy
enterprise, but expressed myself not only willing but
most anxious to go as far as Golchika, and proposed that
the future destination of the Ibis should be left an open
question, to be finally settled on our arrival at that port.
Wiggins fell in with this compromise at once, and began
to complete the half-finished Ibis. Now that the Thames
was hors de combat we could freely rob her of spars^
sails, compass, and many other little things which would
make the Ibis as complete as possible. Boiling assisted
in these arrangements with hearty good will. He was
as anxious as I was to reach Golchika, but the men
worked sullenly, and it was evident that something

WE MAN THE "IBIS"

383'.

approaching a mutiny was in the wind. Wiggins told
off four of the sailors to man the Ibis, but one of them,
refused to oo on board without a clear understanding^ as
to the ultimate destination of the little craft. Wiesfins

oo

declined to commit himself to any route. The man per-
sisted in his refusal to go on board ; Wiggins threatened
to put him in chains ; the man would not withdraw his
refusal. Mysterious entries were made in the log-book,
and another man was chosen to fill his place. Order
being thus restored, the completion of the Ibis was
definitely arranged, and we returned to our bunks, none
of us in the happiest of humours, but determined to make
the best of a bad job.

OLD RUSSIAN SILVER CROSS

YURAK HUNTER

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

DOWN RIVER TO DUDINKA.

Wild Flowers — Willow-warbler's Nest — Windy Weather — Tracks of a
Bear in the Sand — A Snipe's Nest — Nest of the Arctic Willow-warbler
— The Captain and His Crew — British Pluck and Blunder — On the Way
again — Measuring the Footprints of Swans — The River Bank — Pur-
chasing Costumes of the Various Races — Manner of Hunting the Sable
— Coal from the Tundras.

The following day I went on shore for a few hours in the
morning. The country was very flat, covered with
stunted forests of birch, willow, and alder : pines rose in
the distance, grass had already grown as high as our
knees, and wild flowers of various kinds were in full

FLOWERS ON THE TUNDRA 385

bloom. A sort of yellow pansy was the first to appear
after the wood-anemone, the Jacob's ladder was common,
a dwarf rose was just bursting into flower, and the air
was fragrant with the aromatic rhododendron-like shrub,
Ledujn palustre ; the wild onion and the wild rhubarb
were flowerinsf, and on the sand we sometimes found
quantities of the graceful Anemone Pulsatilla. Birds
were abundant ; I took two nests of the fieldfare only a
few yards distant from each other, showing that they
were to some extent gregarious, also a nest of willow-
grouse with three eggs. In one part of the forest I heard
a small bird flying round and round uttering a cry like
na-na-na. Whilst I was watching it I was called away,
but before leaving I fired at the bird and missed. I
afterwards returned to the same place and saw and heard
the bird again. Again I fired and missed it, and I then sat
down to watch. The bird came within twenty yards of
me, alighted in a birch, and in less than a minute dropped
down on the ground. As I neither saw it nor heard
anything more of it for five minutes I concluded that it
had dropped into its nest. I walked up to the place ; a
fallen birch-tree was lying across a tussock of moss and
bilberry. I tapped the birch-tree with my gun, and the
bird flew out of the tussock. I soon found the nest, and
turning round I shot the bird. It proved to be only our
willow-warbler. This alarm-note was one quite new to
me. The nest was as usual semi-domed, and profusely
lined with feathers. The eggs were very small, and
thickly marked with light red spots. I saw one or two
snipes and shot two male Eastern stonechats. The
martins were busy hawking for mosquitoes ; some of
them had eggs in their nests. Fortunately I brought a
few home, for, as already stated, the species proved to be
different from our European martin. We had a cold

2 B

386 DOWN RIVER TO DUDINKA

north wind all the next day, with mist and rain. I did
not go on shore, but spent the whole of my time in
putting my things in order, getting the schooner ship-
shape, blowing and packing eggs, and writing up my
journal. The wind continued the following day to be
north-east, blowing a stiff gale ; but it was warm, accom-
panied by occasional showers. I went on shore both
morning and afternoon. Strolling on the muddy sand
by the river bank I came upon the recent tracks of a
bear, which animal the peasants said they had seen a
week or two ago. I saw a short-eared owl and a hen-
harrier, and shot a cuckoo, which proved to be the
Himalayan species. I also took my fourth nest of the
Little bunting, with six eggs. It was lined with dry
grass, and one or two reindeer-hairs. I shot the bird.
Almost immediately afterwards, as I was crossing a
swamp, a snipe rose at my feet, fluttering in a manner
that convinced me she had eggs. I shot her as she was
flying away ; she proved to be the common snipe. The
nest was made in a little tussock of grass and moss
which grew out of the water, a deep hole having been
hollowed in the moss, and lined with dry stalks of flat
grass. It contained four eggs considerably incubated.
A few minutes afterwards a willow-warbler flew out of a
large tussock of grass, and began to utter the alarm-
note of the Arctic willow-warbler : I shot it, but too
hastily, and mangled it so much that it was scarcely
recognisable. I soon found the nest, built in a recess in
the side of the tussock. It was semi-domed, the outside
being moss and the inside fine dry grass. There was
neither feather nor hair used in the construction. It
contained five eggs, larger than those of the willow-
warbler and of a somewhat different character. Before
they were blown they looked pink, but afterwards the

CAPTAIN VERSUS CREW 387

ground-colour became pure white, profusely spotted all
over with very small and very pale pink spots. Very few
authentic eggs of this species are even now known.

I saw several redpolls and bramblings, but did not dis-
cover their nests. I found a nest of the fieldfare, and
another of the redwing- ; the eg-ors of the fieldfare were
highly incubated, and those of the redwing still more so,
indeed two of them were hatched.

We spent the whole of the following day in getting
our stores and baggage comfortably stowed on board the
Idts. A smart breeze from the north still blew, keeping
us clear of the mosquitoes. The river had fallen so much
that the Thames lay high and dry on the sand, and we
could walk ashore without any difficulty.

The next day the captain mustered his men in the
cabin, and had a somewhat unsatisfactory interview with
them. I had seen upon my arrival at the Kureika that
the captain was not popular with the crew. The British
sailor is a peculiar character, for ever exercising the
Englishman's favourite privilege of grumbling. Probably
Captain Wiggins had been unfortunate in the selection
of his scratch crew. So far as I could learn the men had
shown jealousy of each other, had taken every possible
occasion to grumble at their food, and at their work, but
they certainly had laboured in the most spirited way upon
the two occasions we had run aground, though now there
did not seem to be a man among them who had any pluck
left. Right or wrong, they appeared to have lost all faith
in their leader. They were in a complete panic at the
idea of the captain attempting to go to sea in the Ibis,
The captain and his men had evidently been at logger-
heads some time ; to some extent this was the former's
fault ; he had not sufficient tact. Captain Wiggins was
a very agreeable travelling companion, one with whom it

388 DOWN RIVER TO DUDINKA

was a pleasure to converse ; he was also a thorough
Englishman. With the exception of the Yankee, I
suppose John Bull is the 'cutest man in the world, but
unfortunately he is too well aware of the fact, and relies
implicitly upon his fertility of resource to get safely out
of any scrape into which he may fall. He takes little
thought for the morrow, but goes on blundering and
extricating himself from the effects of his blunders with a
perseverance and ingenuity truly wonderful. But all
this means hard work for those ^ under his authority.
Captain Wiggins had also minor faults which increased
his unpopularity ; he was apt to form rash judgments,
and consequently was for ever altering his opinions and
changing his plans. No one saw this more clearly or
criticised it more severely than the crew under him. But
the captain had another fault of still deeper dye in the
■eyes of an English tar — he was a teetotaler and worked
liis ship upon teetotal principles. In my opinion this
was the fountain-head of all his difficulties. After four-
and-twenty hours' hard work, a glass of honest grog
would, more than anything else in the world, have
cheered their drooping spirits, revived their fainting pluck,
and cemented the camaraderie that ought to subsist
between a captain and his men, especially upon expedi-
tions involving such rare difficulties. Nevertheless my
sympathies went rather with the captain than with his
crew : the latter, when he appeared unjust, should have
considered how much allowance ought to be made for a
man who had seen his pet schemes frustrated, and his
ship lost. The captain was suffering from a kind of
monomania — that he had been checkmated by a secret
conspiracy, but I could not detect any evidence that such
was the case : if it were, then certainly the winds and
the waves were among the conspirators.

WE START IN THE "IBIS"

389

With all his faults, Captain Wiggins is an Englishman
to the backbone, possessing the two qualities by which
an Englishman may almost always be recognised, the
two marked features of the national character which are
constantly showing themselves in English private, social,
and commercial life, and most of all in English political
and military life. One of these is an unlimited capacity
to commit blunders, and the other is indomitable pluck
and energy in surmounting them when made.

At length, after much unpleasantness, the last finish-
ing touch was given to the rigging of the Ibis, and on
Monday the 9th of July we
were en route for Golchika.
We bade adieu to our dogs
and foxes and the larger
half of the crew, and finally
weighed anchor at three
in the afternoon, in a stiff
gale. Unfortunately the
wind was nearly dead
ahead, but we had a cur-
rent of three or four knots
in our favour. The Ibis
sailed far better than we

anticipated ; in spite of her flat bottom we could sail
her pretty near the wind, and we beat down the great
river very satisfactorily, leaving Igaka and the ill-fated
Thames far behind us, and nearing the tundra at the rate
of seven or eight versts an hour. Just before we left the
scene of our last disaster three swans alighted on the
shore, a verst above the ship. I walked up to the spot
and took the measure of their footprints on the sand.
From the centre of the ball of the heel to the centre of
the ball next the claw, the middle toe measured five and

MAMMOTH TOOTH
(Upper view)

39Q DOWN RIVER TO DUDINKA

a quarter inches. The measurement enabled me confi-
dently to assert that the birds I had seen were Bewick's
swans, the footprints left by the wild swan being at least
an inch longer. Several gulls passed us ; they had black
tips to their wings, and were probably glaucous gulls. I
hoped soon to have an opportunity of shooting one.

We passed Plakina in the early morning of the
following day, and made good headway with the wind
north and north-west until noon. It then dropped almost
to a calm, and in the evening we had a breath of air
from the south, with a few occasional drops of rain.
This weather lasted all night. After leaving Igaka the
banks of the river are rather steep, and somewhat thinly
clothed with larch, with an undergrowth of coarse grass,
except where the innumerable water-channels cut into the
soil. The Ibis was only drawing about three feet of
water, so we had no difficulty with the shoals ; the water
also had fallen so much that most of the dangerous sand-
banks showed above it, and were easily avoided. We
passed very few villages, perhaps one in every three
versts ; some of these were very small, consisting of but
two or three houses. The population, we were told,
decreases every year, in consequence of the rapacity of
the Zessedatels, or local governors. Now and then we
passed one or two Ostiak chooms ; but this race also is
decreasing, and evidently from the same cause. We saw
very few birds. Large flocks of black ducks continued
to fly northward, and occasionally we saw a few gulls or
a pair of swans. In one part of the river we passed
what was apparently a sleeping-place for gulls ; the shore
was flatter than usual, and there were no trees. About two
hundred gulls were assembled, apparently roosting, some
down by the water's edge, and others on the grassy banks.

On the nth we cast anchor at Dudinka at seven

HUNTING THE SABLE 391

o'clock in the morning, and went on shore to visit the
merchant Sotnikoff ; as we almost expected, however, we
found that he had gone down to Golchika in his steamer,
to superintend his fisheries. He had built himself a large
new residence, the only good house in the little village.
In the winter I had sent Sotnikoff a message, asking him
to secure for me complete costumes of the Dolgan men
and women who visited Dudinka in the spring to trade.
The costumes were waiting for me, and very handsome
they were : I paid for them one hundred and forty roubles.
I also bought some Yurak and Samoyede costumes. I
saw some fine mammoth-tusks and teeth, but the former
were too heavy and bulky to take home overland.
Sotnikoff's stores contained an almost endless number of
furs, but among them were no black fox or sable. The
latter animal is now very rare ; at one time it was hunted
in the forests in winter, the hunter following the tracks
in the snow, until he lost them at the foot of a tree ; he
then surrounded the tree with a net, whose meshes were
too small for the sable to pass through, and to which was
attached a number of little bells. Lying down within
sound of the bells the hunter waited one, two, or three
days, until the tinkling warned him that the sable had
come out and was entangled in the net. Another mode of
securing the animal was to smoke it out of its hole and
then to shoot it.

At Dudinka we saw some excellent coal, which burnt
as well as any English fuel. It was brought by Sotnikoff
from a mine on the tundra, about eighty versts from
Dudinka. There was also a quantity of blue and green
copper ore from the same place. We understood that
this had been analysed, but had not turned out worth
working, only containing 5 to 10 per cent, of metal.

Soon after leaving Dudinka the trees became more

392

DOWN RIVER TO DUDINKA

scarce upon the banks of the river. The right bank was
still steep, and was called the rocky bank ; the left shore
was flat, and was called the meadow bank. We passed
several islands and sandbanks. On one of the latter we
got aground, but by running an anchor out in a boat from
the ship we soon hauled her off into deep water.

MAMMOTH TOOTH
(Under view)

SAMOYEDES ERECTING A CHOOM

CHAPTER XXXIX.

FROM DUDINKA TO GOLCHIKA.

The Tundra — The Dried-up Dudinka — Reception by the Birds — Variety
of Birds — The Chetta River — Samoyede Chooms — The Broad Nose of
Tolstanoss — Second Visit to the Tundra — Asiatic Golden Plover's Nest
— A Night on the Tundra — The DunUn — News of Sideroff's Schooner —
Winter in Siberia — The Fishing Station — The King of the Samoyedes
— Egg of the Red-breasted Goose — Brekoffsky Island — Eggs of the
Mountain Accentor — Various Eggs — Wearied out — Ugliness of the
Natives — Land on the Horizon.

We cast anchor soon after midnight on the 12th of July.
I went on shore in the morning to ascertain what birds
were to be found on the tundra. We cHmbed up the
steep bank, and found ourselves in a wild-looking country,
full of lakes, swamps, and rivers, a dead fiat in some
places, in others undulating, even hilly. This was the
true Siberian tundra, brilliant with flowers, swarming

394 FROM DUDINKA TO GOLCHIKA

with mosquitoes, and full of birds. In sheltered places
dwarf willows and creeping birch were growing, and (we
were only some fifty versts from the forests) here and
there a few stunted larches. Winding through the tundra
was the track of what had once been the bed of a river,
but was now a small deep valley forming a chain of
isolated lakes and pools. This river-bed is called the
dried-up Dudinka, and is about fifty versts to the north-
west of the real river Dudinka. On some of the northern
slopes large patches of snow were still lying.

Most of the birds evidently had young. As we
approached we each found ourselves the centre of attrac-
tion of a little feathered crowd, whose constituents uttered
various alarm-notes as they flew round, or waited upon
some shrub or plant with bills full of mosquitoes, anxious
to feed their young as soon as the coast was clear. I
noticed the bluethroat, the red-breasted pipit, the shore-
lark, the Little bunting, and great numbers of Lapland
buntings, redpolls, and yellow-headed wagtails. A willow-
grouse was sitting upon nine eggs. I took a red-necked
phalarope's nest with four eggs ; a pair of Bewick's swans
had evidently a nest somewhere in the neighbourhood ;
several pairs of golden plover and wood-sandpipers were
considerably alarmed at our invasion of their breeding-
grounds. The Arctic willow- warbler, the common willow-
warbler, and the Siberian chiffchaff were all in full song,
and I repeatedly heard the Siberian pipit. Several pairs
of fieldfares had nests, and I found one containing young
birds. Near the shore a pair of ringed plover and
several pairs of Temminck's stints were very demonstra-
tive, but my attention was devoted to more attractive
game. Upon a steep sloping bank, covered with patches
of dwarf birch and willows, and overlooking a flat willow-
swamp close to the shore (which had evidently once

SAMOYEDES 395

formed a little delta at the mouth of the dried-up Dudinka),
a pair of thrushes were loudly proclaiming the vicinity
of their nest. I shot one, and found it to be the dusky
ouzel, whereupon I commenced a diligent search for the
nest. In half an hour I found it, in the fork of a willow,
level with the ground. It was exactly like the nest of a
fieldfare, lined with dry grass, and it contained, alas ! five
young birds about a week old. This was very dis-
appointing, as the eggs of this bird were unknown.

On the lakes were several ducks and divers, but they
took care to keep out of gunshot. After three hours'
stay on land we returned to our ship.

At noon the wind changed to south-east with rain. In
the course of the morning we passed the mouth of the
Chetta river, said to be the highway to the Ob. In the
early summer boats are towed up this river to a lake,
whence a short cut across the tundra with reindeer leads
to a stream down which the boats can float into the Taz.

During the afternoon we passed four Samoyede
chooms. The inhabitants seemed well off; many
reindeer sledges were lying round the tents, and five boats
were on the shore. Half a dozen of the Samoyedes
came alongside of us, wishing to buy tobacco. In several
places we saw huge lumps of turf, some more than twenty
feet thick, lying on the edge of the tundra like rocks. They
must have been floated down in days long past, when the
floods rose much higher than they do now, or before the
bed of the river had been channelled to its present depth.

In the evening the wind got well back into its old
quarter, and it soon blew so stiff a gale that we dared not
round the "broad nose" of Tolstanoss, and had to cast
anchor under the lee of the mud cliffs of the Yenesei
about midnight.

The gale continued next day with rain until noon,

396 FROM DUDINKA TO GOLCHIKA

when I took advantage of our enforced delay, and went
on shore for a few hours. A cHmb of about one hundred
feet landed me on the tundra. In some places the cliffs
were very steep, and were naked mud or clay. In others,
the slope was more gradual, and covered with willow and
alder bushes. In these trees thrushes were breeding ; I
soon found the nest of a dusky ouzel, with five nearly
fledged young. It was placed as before in the fork of a
willow, level with the ground. On the top of the bank
I found myself on the real tundra. Not a trace of a pine-
tree was visible, and the birches rarely exceeded twelve
inches in height. There was less grass, more moss and
lichen, and the ground was covered with patches of
yellow mud or clay, in which were a few small stones, that
were apparently too barren for even moss or lichen to
grow upon. The tundra was hilly, with lakes, swamps,
and bogs in the wide valleys and plains. As soon as I
reached the flat bogs I heard the plaintive cry of a
plover, and presently caught sight of two birds. The
male was very conspicuous, but all my attempts to follow
the female with my glass, in order to trace her to the
nest, proved ineffectual ; she was too nearly the colour
of the ground, and the herbage was too high. Feeling con-
vinced that I was within thirty paces of the nest, I shot the
male, and commenced a diligent search. The bird proved
to be the Asiatic golden plover, with grey axillaries, and
I determined to devote at least an hour looking for the
nest. By a wonderful piece of good fortune I found it,
with four eggs, in less than five minutes. It was merely
a hollow in the ground upon a piece of turfy land, over-
grown with moss and lichen, and was lined with broken
stalks of reindeer-moss. The eggs more resembled those
of the golden than those of the grey plover, but were
smaller than either. These are the only authenticated

BIRDS ON THE TUNDRA 397

eggs of this species known in collections. I saw a small
hawk like a merlin, a pair of Siberian herring-gulls that
evidently had a nest in the neighbourhood, a number of
shore-larks and Lapland buntings, a few red-throated
pipits, and some redpolls.

I went on board again in the afternoon. The gale still
continued, and squalls of rain frequently passed over us.
The captain decided that we must continue to lie at anchor
for the night, so I challenged one of the sailors named Bill
to spend the night with me on shore. We had no sooner
landed than a couple of peregrine falcons revealed their
nest to us by their loud cries. At a glance up the cliffs
we decided the place where it must be, at the top of a
steep mud promontory which stretched out to a sharp
ridge beyond and above the surrounding coast. I climbed
up a valley in which the snow was still lying, and came
straight along the ridge to the little hollow where four
red eggs were lying on a dozen small flakes of down.
Bill shot the female, but she fell amongst the willow and
alder bushes, and though we spent an hour in the search
we did not succeed in finding her. The time was not,
however, wasted. Whilst searching for the fallen pere-
grine we started a Siberian chiffchaff from an alder bush,
and had the good fortune to secure her nest with four
eggs. It was placed in the branches about four feet from
the ground, and was rather more carefully constructed
than the one I had previously found. It was composed
of dry grass, semi-domed, and lined with willow-grouse
feathers. The eggs were white, spotted with dark
purple, and large for the size of the bird. The Siberian
chiffchaff is evidently a much later breeder than the willow-
warbler, which is somewhat singular, as both birds
arrived together from the south. Our willow-warbler
was still there, but not common.

398 FROM DUDINKA TO GOLCHIKA

On the plains we passed manyfpairs of Asiatic golden
plover, but as I had already secured their eggs we passed
across the tundra to some lakes in the distance, hoping to
find something new. In a marsh adjoining one of the
lakes I shot a dunlin, the first I had seen in the valley of
the Yenesei. A few hours later I shot a second, and
secured its young in down. The old bird was in full
moult. On the lake two ducks were swimming ; Bill
took them both at one shot. They proved to be two
female long-tailed ducks, also a new species for my list.
On a bare hill overlooking the second lake I shot a pair
of Arctic terns, and soon after found their nest, contain-
ing one egg and two young in down. On a similar bare
place a pair of ringed plover were very demonstrative,
but we took no trouble to seek for their nest. We
caught several young Lapland buntings, and shot a shore-
lark in the spotted plumage of the first autumn.

Before we returned to the ship the gale had subsided,
and we hastened back to the shore. Coming down the
bank I found a fieldfare's nest on the ground under the
edge of the cliff It contained five young birds nearly
fledged. I shot the female, expecting to find one of the
rarer Siberian thrushes.

As soon as we got on board, at two o'clock in the
morning, the anchor was weighed, and we proceeded with
a crentle breeze from the land. In the afternoon we
picked up Schwanenberg's two mates in an open boat ;
they were on the look-out for us, and from them we
learned the fate of Sideroff's schooner. The little river
in which she was anchored had steep banks, between
which the snow drifted to the depth of twenty feet. All
the sailors died of scurvy except the mate. Early in
April the pressure of the snow above, and some move-
ment possibly in the ice below, caused the vessel to

FATE OF SIDEROFF'S SCHOONER 399

spring a leak, and she rapidly filled to the depth of six
feet. The island where she was lying is called Mala
Brekoffsky, and is said to be in lat. 70° 35' N,, and in
long. 82° 36' E. From the mate, who wintered there,
I learned the following particulars. From November
22nd to January 19th the sun never rose above the
horizon. On May 15th it ceased to set. On May 29th
the first geese appeared : the only birds seen during the
winter being willow-grouse and snowy owls. On June
15th the first rain fell ; on the i6th the first thunderstorm;
on the 1 8th the ice broke up, and was all gone in five
days. The river rose higher, they said, than it had been
known to rise for seventeen years, the whole of the island,
twenty versts long, being flooded. One house was
carried away, and the other two were saved by the men
standing^ on the roofs and stavinij off the floatincr ice with
poles. The water came within a foot of the top of the
roofs. The schooner was carried bodily away, and at
the date of our visit lay high and dry a couple of versts
lower down, with a large hole in her side, a more hope-
less wreck than the T/iames. The latter vessel lay near
the mouth of a small but deep river, into which — in the
opinion of Boiling and some others — there was a fair
chance she might be floated the following year between
the rising of the water and the breaking up of the ice.

In the evening we sailed through a very narrow
channel into the little creek where the fishing station was
established. In various places round the creek stood the
chooms of the Yuraks. Opposite each choom three or
four boats lay on the muddy beach, the fishing nets
hanging on rails and stages to dry. At the entrance to
a narrow channel like a river — but which was really an
arm of the great river coming to an abrupt termination —
about a verst inland, were the headquarters of Sotnikoff's

400 FROM DUDINKA TO GOLCHIKA

agent at that station. This was the busiest place we had
yet seen on the river ; it contained three or four wooden
houses, a couple of chooms, and a yurt. The latter was
a turf and mud house, nearly square, built half under the
ground and half above it, a few larch-poles as rafters
supporting the turf roof, altogether making probably as
ofood a house for the summer as one could have in this
part of the world. When the cold north wind blows the
house may easily be kept warm with a small fire ; and in
the burning heat of the sun it forms a cool retreat, easily
cleared of mosquitoes by smoke. A small steamer lay at
the mouth of the kziria, as these arms of the river are
called ; along with her lay a barge, and in various places
Russian lodkas and Samoyede canoes were moored. On
land fishing-nets were piled in every stage of wetness,
dryness, fulness, and emptiness ; fish was being salted,
casks were being filled or packed in the barge. Some
hundreds of white-fox skins were hanging up to dry, and
men of various nationalities were ofoinor to and fro. The
more information I tried to obtain about these eastern
tribes, the more puzzled I became. I was presented to
a Samoyede of the name of Patshka, called the King of
the Samoyedes. When I asked him if he were a Samo-
yede he gave me a very hesitating affirmative, but freely
admitted that he was Yurak. He emphatically denied
that he was Ostiak, Tungusk, or Dolgan. The natives
did not seem to recognise the word Samoyede, except
perhaps as a Russian term for an Asiatic. One told
me he was a Hantaiski, another that he was Bergovoi,
another that he was Karasinski, whilst a fourth called
himself an Avamski. The only conclusion I could come
to was that they were all Yuraks, and that the names by
which they called themselves referred to their respective
districts.

THE RED-BREASTED GOOSE 401

Before anclioring in this creek, we ran aground and
were an hour or two endeavouring to get the vessel free,
beino- obHg-ed to send two anchors off in order to tret
her afloat. I went on shore about midnight. When
Schwanenbero-'s second mate left the Kureika I had
commissioned him to procure for me what eggs he could
before my arrival, and in each case to shoot the bird if
possible. He and the first mate had accordingly lost no
opportunity of collecting whatever eggs they could find.
This collection, small as it was, proved of great value, for
I had arrived at my destination too late for most eggs. A
very interesting egg was that of the red-breasted goose,
which the first mate found on the adjacent island. There
were two eggs in the nest, but, shooting the bird while
she was sitting, he unfortunately broke one egg.

On Sunday I spent twenty hours out of the twenty-
four in exploring the island. As far as I was able to
penetrate, it was all swamps and lakes, with a few dwarf
willows dotting it in clumps here and there. Three
weeks earlier the whole island had been eight feet under
water; it was now about fourteen feet above the level of
the Yenesei, so that the river must have fallen about
twenty-two feet. The place abounded with birds, but
the number of species was small. The commonest
was the yellow-headed wagtail. What interested me
most in the small collection of eggs which the two mates
had procured for me were five sittings of the eggs of the
mountain accentor, which were up to that time unknown
in collections. These eggs are blue and unspotted, and
resemble very closely those of our hedge-sparrow. The
mate took me to a nest in which were young birds. It
was close to the ground in a dwarf willow-bush. The
next commonest bird was the Lapland bunting, but there
was no evidence of their breeding, though they had

2 c

402 FROM DUDINKA TO GOLCHIKA

already-fledged young on ihe tundra. I concluded that
their nests had been swept away by the flood, and that
they had not bred a second time. Temminck's stints
were extremely abundant; amongst the mate's collection
of eggs were thirty-three of this bird. He had also
secured for me some of the red-necked phalarope, and of
the ruff, which were not uncommon here. The only
warbler I saw on the island was the Siberian chiffchaff.
This bird was always to be heard, and frequently to be
seen. I took two of its nests, with eggs still unhatched
in them, and received twenty-five of its eggs from the
mate. The nests were on or only just above the ground.
I saw a few pairs of red-throated pipit, and took one of
their nests with five eo"ors, and o;ot a second sitting- from
the mate. In both cases the ecrors were variable in
colour, formino^ a Graduated series from dark brown to
stone colour. Occasionally I heard the Siberian pipit,
and I got a sitting of eggs from my deputy collector
which could belong to no other bird which I saw on the
island. Redpolls were not uncommon, and the mate told
me this was the earliest bird to breed. Most of its eggs
in his collection were taken before the river rose. He
took a few nests of a thrush. The eggs were apparently
those of the redwing. I saw a pair of thrushes, but
failed to shoot either of them. A pair of white wagtails
built their nest on the wreck of Schwanenberg's schooner.
The mate saved the eggs for me. I took a teal's nest
with eggs, and occasionally saw long-tailed ducks flying
past. The mate secured me three swan's eggs, birds
which were constantly to be seen. So far as I yet know,
Bewick's swan is the only species found at this place. The
Siberian herring-gull and the Arctic tern were generally to
be seen, and the same hand secured me eggs of both.
Occasionally a pair of Buffon's skuas flew over.

BREKOFFSKY NATIVES 403

The following day, another twenty hours' hard work
well-nigh exhausted the ornithology and ethnology of the
Mala Brekoffsky ostroff. I was footsore with all this
walking in swamps, and positively worried by mosquitoes.
I think nothing short of the certainty of coming upon a
curlew sandpiper's egg would have tempted me on shore
again that day. The natives are very ugly, not copper-
brown like the Dolgans, nor yellow like the Ostiaks, but
almost as cadaverous-looking as corpses. The extreme

GOLCHIKA

irregularity of their features and the dirt of their dress
add to their repulsiveness. I got a curious leaden pipe
from a Yurak, and the mate gave me an interesting
iron pipe, made by a Tungusk, which he had got at
Dudinka.

In the evening we weighed anchor, delighted to leave
the mosquitoes, but at midnight we were obliged to cast
anchor again and send a boat out to find water to Hoat a
ship drawing three feet ! We seemed to be out in the
open sea but we were, in fact, in a nest of shoals. At
last we found a passage out, in one to one and a quarter
fathoms, and got on fairly with a head wind and a slight
current as day came on.

404

FROM DUDINKA TO GOLCHIKA

At noon the next day there was land to starboard;
high bold cliffs, composed no doubt of turf and mud,
extending ninety degrees on the horizon. All the rest
was open water. In the afternoon two herds of beluga
or white whale passed close to the ship. Towards
evening we saw a strip of land at a great distance on
the port side of the vessel. At night we made scarcely
any progress, being almost becalmed, and the river so
broad that the current was scarcely perceptible.

During the next morning the wind freshened a little ;
the channel narrowed to perhaps six miles, which helped
the current, and at noon we cast anchor at Golchika,
close to three steamers and sundry barges.

OLD RUSSIAN SILVER CROSS

CHAPTER XL.

GOLCHIKA.

Golchika — Blowing Eggs — Drift-wood on the Swamp — The Little Stint
— Rock Ptarmigan — I secure a Passage to Yeneseisk — Fighting over the
Ibis — Buffon's Skuas — Shell-Mounds — The Captains come to Terms —
Sandbanks at the Mouth of the Golchika— Farewell to the Tundra.

The village of Golchika is on an island between the two
mouths of the river of the same name ; across both these
arms stretches a swamp, and beyond the swamps rise
the steep banks of the tundra. In summer Golchika is a
busy place ; all the processes of catching, salting, and
storing fish go on during a long day of twenty-four hours.
The sun having ceased to rise and set, the ordinary
divisions of time are ignored. If you ask a man what
time it is, he will most probably tell you he has not the
slightest idea. Order seems for the nonce forgotten, and
people sleep and eat when inclination bids them.

Immediately after casting anchor, we took one of
the boats and paid visits of ceremony to the Russian
steamers. Boiling and I had arranged to spend the

4o6 GOLCHIKA

night on the tundra ; but we had no sooner returned to
the Ibis to dine than the wind, which had been freshen-
ing all the afternoon, blew such a gale that it became
impossible to land with safety. The gale continued all
night, accompanied by heavy showers of rain, nor did it
decrease sufficiently during the next day to allow us to
venture on shore in a boat. Fortunately I had on
board a box of eggs, collected for me by a Samoyede,
the blowing of which kept me employed. Several had
been taken from the nest two or three weeks before our
arrival, and were becoming rotten. The larger number
were those of gulls and divers ; there were some small
eggs which were unquestionably those of the snow-
bunting, and there were twenty or thirty of the sand-
pipers, but none that were strange to me. There was a
sitting of red-necked phalarope, and some eggs which I
identified as those of the Little stint. There were also
two sittings of golden plover, and one of the Asiatic
golden plover.

The wind having" somewhat subsided during the
night, Glinski, Bill, and I started at four o'clock in the
mornino- for the tundra. We first had to cross the
swamps, which we did without difficulty, in no place
sinking more than a foot below the surface, at that
depth the ground probably remaining frozen. One
corner of the marsh was still bounded by a small range of
ice mountains, miniature Alps, perhaps thirty feet high
at their greatest elevation. This ice probably survives
the summer; it had, of course, been piled up when the
floes passed down the river. All over the swamp drift-
wood lay scattered — old, weather-beaten, moss-grown,
and rotten. The marshy ground was only a few inches
above the level of the sea, but immediately after the thaw
it had been, we were informed, some feet under water.

BIRDS OF THE TUNDRA 407

Birds were abundant. Golden plover, Arctic tern, ruffs,
red-necked phalarope, snow-bunting, Lapland bunting,
and dunlin were continually in sight, and I shot a couple
of female Little stints, the first I had seen in the valley
of the Yenesei. On the tundra, the commonest bird was
the Asiatic golden plover. They were breeding in every
spot that we visited. My attempts to watch them on to
the nests were vain, but from their behaviour I came to
the conclusion that they had young. Just as we were
leaving the swamp we picked up a young plover not
many days old. The European golden plover was very
rare, and we only shot one brace. The note of the
Asiatic golden plover is very similar to that of the grey
plover. Its commonest note is a plaintive ko. Occasion-
ally the double note kle-e is heard, but oftener the triple
note kl-ec ko is uttered. Ringed plover were plentiful
on the barer places on the tundra. Wagtails seemed
entirely to have disappeared ; the redpoll and the red-
throated pipit were still found, but were not abundant.
In the small valleys running up into the tundra we
frequently saw^ willow-grouse, and on the high ground
I shot some rock ptarmigan [Lagopus rupestris). In
some of these valleys the snow was still lying ; flowers
were very brilliant ; but we did not come upon any
shrubs more than a foot high. Occasionally gulls, divers,
and swans flew past us overhead, but I did not see any
skuas on this part of the tundra until later. On the 21st
of July I moved all my luggage from the Ibis to the
steamer belonging to Kittman and Co., where I engaged
a passage to Yeneseisk. 1 secured a small cabin next
the paddle-box, just large enough for myself and Glinski
to work in. For this I paid twenty-five roubles. My
large casks were on the barge, at a freight of sixty
kopecks a pood, and we were each charged sixty kopecks

4o8 GOLCHIKA

a day for our meals, besides having to provide for our-
selves tea, coffee, sugar, and spirits. In the afternoon I
explored the island. It seemed to be about a square
mile in extent, very swampy, and thinly sprinkled with
rotten driftwood. I shot Arctic terns, red-throated pipit,
Lapland and snow-buntings, and Temminck's stint, and
saw red-necked phalaropes, and a long-tailed duck. As
I was leaving a boat passed, towing a couple of white
whales ; one was about six feet long and the other nine
or ten feet. Before I left the men were already begin-
ning to cut off the skin and blubber into strips : the skin
seemed to me half an inch and the blubber about two
inches in average thickness ; the former makes the
strongest leather known. Captain Wiggins told me it
fetched a rouble per lb. in St. Peterburg, where it is
largely used for reins and traces.

On my return I found the captain and Schwanenberg
fighting over the Ibis. I had offered to take six hundred
roubles in a bill upon Sideroff for my half from Schwan-
enberg, or an I. O. U. for 500 roubles from Wiggins.
Schwanenberg wanted to go in her to St. Petersburg,
Wiggins wanted to go in her to the Ob. Schwanenberg's
crew were on excellent terms with their captain, and
were willing to risk their lives for, and with him.
Wiggins, on the other hand, was at loggerheads with his
men, who point-blank refused to go. It was a very
unpleasant position for the captain, but, to a certain
extent, he had himself to blame. He had unfortunately
not taken the right course 10 gain the affection of his
sailors ; and, considering the feeling existing between
them, it seemed to me unreasonable to expect the men to
follow him into further risks, which were never contem-
plated when they were first engaged. The captain was
evidently trying all he could to discover some combination

THE RIVAL CAPTAINS 409

by which he might be saved the humiliation of finding
means for a rival to do that which he had failed to dO'
himself. In the meantime, Schwanenberg was in much
suspense, fearing the boat would slip through his fingers.
Both parties consulted me ; I tried to give them good
advice, wishing heartily the matter could be settled one
way or the other. To attempt to cross the Kara Sea in
a cockleshell like the Ibis was a foolhardy enterprise,
and could only succeed by a fluke, but both captains were
anxious to risk their lives in the desperate attempt.
Ambition and enthusiasm seemed for the moment to have
deprived them of common sense.

Boiling and I had a long round on the tundra. The
next day we saw a few pairs of European, and a great
many pairs of Asiatic, golden plover. I spent nearly
two hours over a pair of the latter bird, trying to watch
the female to the nest. She ran backwards and for-
wards over one piece of ground for half an hour, then
flew to another place, and went through the same
performance. The only conclusion I could come to was
that she had young, and thus sought to protect first one
and then another. The male remained for a long time
in one place. His object seemed to be to watch me,
and to grive the alarm to the female should I move.

Had I been a fortnight earlier I should no doubt have
obtained many of their eggs. I had had to pay dearly
for Captain Wiggins' blunders, but I could not desert
him in his misfortune. I had put upon him as much
pressure as I possibly could without quarrelling with him,
to induce him to finish the rigging of the Ibis, and to
let Boiling and myself proceed alone according to our
original plan.

We found the ringed plover very common on the
bare places on the hills as far as we penetrated the tundra.

4IO GOLCHIKA

Near the river Golchika I shot two reeves, and on the
hills I shot a male Little stint. On the same bare places
which the ringed plover frequented, I occasionally came
upon a pair of wheatears. Redpolls, Lapland buntings,
red-throated pipits, and shore-larks were common, and
were evidently feeding their young. On the banks of
the Golchika I saw a solitary white wagtail, and some-
times a red-necked phalarope or a Temminck's stint.
That day a party of seven or eight Buffon's skuas flew
over our heads, out of gunshot. This was the only
occasion upon which I saw the " chorna chaika " at
Golchika. One of the most interesting discoveries we
made on this trip was that of a number of hills of shells
on the tundra, at least 500 feet above the level of the
sea.* Some of these beds of shells were on the slopes
of the hills, others were conical elevations of sand, gravel,
and shell. These latter were from ten to twenty feet high,
with a little turf and vegetation on the top ; the sides
were as steep as the loose materials of which they were
composed would allow. I picked up four or five
diflerent species of shells in a -nearly perfect condition,
but by far the greater number were broken into small
pieces, and bleached white. The soil in the neighbour-
hood of these hills, whenever it was bared from its
covering of turf, seemed to be a bluish, sandy clay.

In the evening the two captains came on board, and
I acted as mediator. I tried all I could to brincr matters

* A series of these shells was submitted to my friend Captain H. W. Feilden,
who, with the aid of Mr. Edgar A. Smith, determined them to be of the following
species :

MOLLUSCA : Pecien islandiciis, Astarte borealis, Natica affinis, Saxicava arctica,
Fiisus (Neptunea) kroyeri, Fustis {Neptunea) despectus. Cirripedia : Balanus porcatus.
All the species here represented, although obtained at so great an elevation, are
now existing and common in the neighbouring seas. This can only be accounted
for by the supposition of a recent rising of the land or subsidence of the sea in
these regions.

AN UNDERSTANDING AT LAST 411

to a conclusion without a final rupture. After some
sparring I at last succeeded in bringing the two impracti-
cable men to a mutual understanding on the following
terms. WisfSfins retained his anchors and cables, his
spare sails and blocks, his stores and provisions, and
Schwanenberg paid him in cash four hundred roubles,
and, in a bill upon Sideroff, three hundred roubles more,
whilst I took Schwanenberg's draft upon Sideroff for six

SHELLS AT GOLCHIKA

hundred roubles. If it had not been for Wiggins' im-
practicability we might have had fifteen hundred roubles
for the ship at Brekoffsky, with Schwanenberg's thanks
and gratitude into the bargain, but after all it did not
make much difference in the long run. Wiggins had
the orood luck to meet Sideroff and obtain his endorse-
ment ; nevertheless the bill was not paid until Wiggins
had prosecuted him from court to court, and at last got
a final verdict in his favour, and an execution. As my
bill was only accepted " per pro," my lawyer in St.

412 GOLCHIKA

Petersburg advised me not to throw good money after
bad, and it remains unpaid to this day. I was deHghted
when the affair was at last settled, and the Russians
could no longer accuse us of acting in a dog-in-the-
manger fashion. Sotnikoff's steamer left that evening
with the two captains and the Ibis, and, what was much
more to the point, he was accompanied by the voracious
Zessedatel. I paid my P.P.C. visit to him, received the
Zessedatel's official kiss, and got off cheaply by giving
him ten roubles for a wolf's skin worth half that sum.

When we rose the next morning we found that
Ballandine's steamer had sailed during the night, leaving
us with the last steamer at Golchika. We were told to
hold ourselves in readiness to start the first moment the
water rose high enough to float us, but we did not weigh
anchor until the afternoon, and the evening was spent
in getting on and off the shoals at the mouth of the
Golchika river. We did not get clear of the sandbanks
until four o'clock in the afternoon of the next day, nor
should we have done so then had not a smart breeze
from the north-west backed up the waters of the Yenesei,
and raised us from two to three feet. The harbour of
Golchika will shortly have to be abandoned, for the
sandbanks at the mouth of the river increase every
year. The channel through them is tortuous, and is
rapidly becoming more shallow. No ships drawing
more than five feet of water ought to venture near it, and
then they should only enter it with great care and
vigilance. When the ice thaws in spring, the water
rises three or four feet. The year of our visit it had
risen more, and stood three feet deep in the houses ; but
this was an extraordinary occurrence, and, we were told,
had never happened before during the ten years that
steamers had been in the habit of visitingr Golchika.

HOMEWARD BOUND

413

My stay in the most northerly village of the Yenesei
lasted only six days. The weather being cold and windy
I had almost forgotten the existence of mosquitoes. I
now bade adieu to the tundra, with a feeling somewhat
akin to disappointment and regret. My trip might be
considered almost a failure, since I had not succeeded in
obtaining esfors either of the knot, sanderlina^, or curlew
sandpiper. Nevertheless I was glad to turn my face
homewards.

DOLGAN AND SAMOYEDE BOOTS

tfj. \'^^'

OSTIAK BOATS

CHAPTER XLI.

MIGRATION.

Climate of the Tundra — Break up of the Ice — Migration of Birds in the
South of France — Comparison between Island and Continental Migration —
Routes of Migration — Grouse — Conservatism of Birds- — Mortality amongst
Migrants — Origin of Migration— Glacial Epochs— Emigration of Birds — -
Geographical Distribution of Thrushes — Reports on the Migration of Birds.

The history of animal and vegetable life on the tundra
is a very curious one. For eight months out of the
twelve every trace of vegetable life is completely hidden
under a blanket six feet thick of snow, which effectually
covers every plant and bush — trees there are none to
hide. During at least six months of this time animal
life is only traceable by the footprints of a reindeer or a
fox on the snow, or by the occasional appearance of a
raven or a snowy owl, wandering above the limits of

CLIMATE OF THE TUNDRA 415

forest growth, whither it has retired for the winter. For
two months in midwinter the sun never rises above the
horizon, and the white snow reflects only the fitful light
of the moon, the stars, or the aurora borealis. Early in
February the sun just peeps upon the scene for a few
minutes at noon and then retires. Day by day he
prolongs his visit more and more, until February, March,
April, and May have passed, and continuous night has
become continuous day. Early in June the sun only just
touches the horizon at midnight, but does not set any
more for some time. At midday the sun's rays are hot
enough to blister the skin, but they glance harmless from
the snow, and for a few days you have the anomaly of
unbroken day in midwinter.

Then comes the south wind, and often rain, and the
great event of the year takes place — the ice on the great
rivers breaks up, and the blanket of snow melts away.
The black earth absorbs the heat of the never-settino-
sun ; quietly but swiftly vegetable life awakes from its
long sleep, and for three months a hot summer produces
a brilliant alpine flora, like an English flower-garden run
wild, and a profusion of alpine fruit, diversified only by
storms from the north, which sometimes for a day or two
bring cold and rain down from the Arctic ice.

But early in August the sun begins to dip for a
few moments below the horizon, and every succeeding
midnight sees him hide longer and longer, until, in
September, the nights are cold, the frost kills vegeta-
tion, and early in October winter has set in and snow
has fallen, not to melt again for eight months. The
nights get longer and longer, until towards the end of
November the sun has ceased to take its midday peep at
the endless fields of snow, and the two months' nieht and
silence reign supreme.

4i6 MIGRATION

But wonderful as is the transformation in the aspect
of the vegetable world in these regions, the change in
animal life is far more sudden and more striking. The
breaking up of the ice on the great rivers is, of course,
the sensational event of the season. It is probably the
grandest exhibition of stupendous power to be seen in
the world. Storms at sea and hurricanes on land are
grand enough in their way, but the power displayed
seems to be an angry power, which has to work itself
into a passion to display its greatness. The silent
upheaval of a gigantic river four miles wide, and the
smash-up of the six-feet-thick ice upon it, at the rate of
twenty square miles an hour, is to my mind a more
majestic display of power; but for all that the arrival of
migratory birds, so suddenly and in such countless
number, appeals more forcibly to the imagination,
perhaps because it is more mysterious.

In Part I. of this volume I have attempted to give the
reader what information I could upon this interesting
subject. My facts were principally derived from personal
observation of the migration of birds on Heligoland,
so that the subject was treated from an island point of
view. But since those lines were written I have had
an opportunity of seeing something of migration in the
south of France, both in autumn and spring, and the
study of the subject from a continental point of view has
caused me to modify some of the views expressed in the
former chapter on migration.

When we left England in the middle of October, 1881,
the swallows had disappeared, but we found a few
strag-orlers still basking- in the sun at Arcachon. The
window of our hotel looked over the bassin on to the
He des Oiseaux, and as we stood on the balcony we
could see an almost constant stream of migration going

MIGRATION IN THE PYRENEES 417

on. Large flocks of skylarks passed every few minutes,
warbling to each other as they flew, and smaller flocks of
meadow pipits were almost as frequent. Now and then
we saw flocks of dunlins and a larger species of sandpiper
which looked like redshanks, and once a party of thirty
to forty cranes passed over, forming a line like the letter
V. Flocks of ducks — perhaps more correctly described as
clouds of ducks, so numerous were these birds — continued
to pass southwards until the middle of November. In
many places the farmers had put down flap-nets to catch
the smaller species, which were decoyed into them by
call -birds, and during the whole period of migration
birds of all kinds were brought every day to the market.
In early spring we were at Biarritz, and here again we
found migration going on apace; but the tide had turned,
and the birds were all going north. Early in March
small parties of skylarks, woodlarks, pied wagtails, white
wagtails, meadow pipits, and other birds were constantly
passing in succession, but only within a mile or two of
the coast.

On the nth of March we ascended La Rhune, an
outlying mountain of the Pyrenees. Just as we reached
the col between the two peaks, we witnessed a most
interesting little episode of migration. A flock of birds
came up from the Spanish side, and passing over our
heads continued their northerly course. This flock
consisted of eight kites, a crane, and a peregrine falcon.
It was a curious assemblage, and we watched them
throuofh our binoculars with orreat interest.

All through the winter we found the chiffchaff very
common at Pau, but it never uttered its familiar note.
When we reached Biarritz it was equally common, and
quite as silent ; but on the 9th of March it began to chiff-
chaff lustily. On the 15th willow-warblers arrived in

2 D

4i8 MIGRATION

considerable numbers, and were soon in full song. Newly
arrived parties were always silent, and sometimes the
hedges quite swarmed with these pretty little birds,
apparently tired and hungry after their migration, anxiously
searching the bushes for food, and very frequently taking
a short flight into the air to capture a gnat upon the wing.

The marked difference between migration at Heli-
goland and migration on the shores of the Bay of Biscay
is, that at the former locality not a bird was to be seen in
unfavourable weather, but that when the wind was pro-
pitious birds came over with a rush, whilst at the latter
post of observation a gentle stream of migration seemed
always to be going on, in almost all weathers, from early
morn to late at niofht. The natural inference from such
observations is, that in the middle of a long land-journey
they simply travel slower in unfavourable weather, and
rest at night ; but when a sea-journey has to be made,
they wait for favourable wind and weather, and conse-
quently it often happens that, when the right time comes,
a crowd of birds has accumulated, which comes over en
masse, with what ornithologists call a " rush."

Another result of my Bay of Biscay experience is, that
I must revoke my suggestions that too much has been
made of the orreat lines or routes of migfration.* I made
many excursions inland, both from Arcachon and from
Biarritz, but a very few miles from the coast took me out
of the range of migration. On the west coast of France,
both in spring and autumn, birds appeared to me to
migrate low, principally by day, and to follow the coast-
line. I am inclined to think that I must also recall the
doubts, formerly expressed, that birds follow ancient coast-
lines. The migration from the south of Denmark over
Heliooland to the coast of Lincolnshire seems to corre-

o

* See p. 195 in Part I.

MIGRATION THEORIES 419

spond so exactly with what geologists tell us must have
been the old coast-line, that it is difficult to believe it to
be only a coincidence. If we admit the theory that
migration became a fixed habit during the glacial period,
we must also admit that the difficulty of proving that the
old coast-line disappeared after the formation of the
instinct, is removed. The fact that the British red grouse
is entirely confined to our islands and is replaced by a
very nearly-allied, but perfectly distinct species on the
continent — the willow-grouse, seems to prove that in all
probability, after the extermination of bird-life from the
corner of Europe now occupied by Great Britain, by the
ice of the glacial epoch, it was again re-peopled with grouse
from the mainland. During the warm period which
followed the glacial epoch, we may fairly assume that the
absence of the present ice at the North Pole, and the
presence of an additional amount of ice at the South Pole,
might so alter the centre of gravity of the earth as to
leave the shallow portion of the German Ocean dry land,
and then the grouse might again find a home in England
without difficulty. It is obvious, however, that whether
the land-connection between England and the Continent
were formed by a difference in the level of the water, or
whether it were formed by a greater former elevation of
a part of the bed of the German Ocean, the severance of
Britain from the continent of Europe must have taken
place sufficiently long ago to allow for the differentiation
of the two species which has subsequently taken place.
The reader may perhaps be inclined to think that it is
quite unnecessary to assume any such land-connection in
•order to account for the existence of grouse on our island.
The grouse is a bird, and can fly, and pretty quickly too, as
any one who has shivered behind a butt in the inglorious
sport of grouse-driving knows. Why cannot the ancestors

420 MIGRATION

of our orrouse have flown across the Channel ? The
answer to this supposed doubt on the part of the reader
for the necessity of the assumption of a former land-
connection is, that there is no instance on record of a
red grouse having been captured on the continent, or of
a willow-o-rouse having ever straved to our islands ; and
it is a well-known ornithological fact that in a great many
instances a very narrow channel of deep sea bounds the
geographical range of birds. Migration across the sea
seems to take place only where it has become a fixed
habit, formed ages ago. Birds are very conservative.
To an immense extent they do as their forefathers did.
One cannot expect a very high development of the
reasoning faculty in them. The lower the power of the
reason the greater is the blind force of hereditary
instinct. Like other conservatives, birds have to suffer
the penalties of not being able to adapt themselves to the
changed circumstances of the times. There can be no
doubt that thousands of birds perish in their attempt to
follow the old routes which their ancestors took. I have
been assured repeatedly by naval officers that they have
seen many instances of flocks of birds being drowned at
sea, and I have myself picked up birds that have been
washed ashore after a storm.

The origin of migration probably does not date back
to a period before the glacial epoch. As birds gradually
began to increase and multiply to an extent sufficient
to produce a struggle for existence, in the form of a fight
for food, they seem to have adopted a custom, which
they still retain, of leading away or driving away their
families every autumn to seek food and a home else-
where. As the circle of bird-life constantly widened,
in due time the abundance of food tempted many birds
to stray into the Arctic regions, to breed during the long

EFFECTS OF THE GLACIAL PERIOD 421

summer of those climates at that period. Probably
during the darkest months of midwinter, if the cool season
of the pre-glacial period may be called winter, some local
migrations took place, and birds wandered back again for
a month or two into the adjoining districts, but these
little journeys can scarely be dignified with the name of
migration.

In process of time, however, the temperature of the
earth appears to have cooled to such an extent that as
each pole came to be in aphelion during winter, the winter
became so severe that those birds who did not learn to
migrate to southern climes perished for lack of food during
the cold season. These periods of severe winters lasted
for 10,500 years, and were followed by similar periods of
mild winters when the cold was transferred to the opposite
pole, the complete revolution of the precession of the
equinoxes taking about 21,000 years. Then came the
glacial period, a period supposed to have lasted 120,000
years, when the relative positions of the various planets
in the solar system so increased the eccentricity of the
earth's orbit, and so exaggerated the severity of the
winters, that in consequence of the effects of cold being
cumulative (ice and snow not running away as water does)
the severity of the winter became at length so great that
summer was unable to melt the whole of the previous
winter's snow and ice. A permanent glacier having once
been formed at the North Pole, and havingf once bridofed
over the Arctic Ocean to the continent, would rapidly
increase so long as the cause of its existence continued ;
and the evidence of geology goes far to prove that, at the
height of the glacial epoch, the field of ice measured five
or six thousand miles across. As this immense ^lacier
marched southwards the palaearctic birds were driven
before it, and whilst most of them still came annually to

422 MIGRATION

breed in the semi-arctic climate which huna: around its
skirts, all had to winter as best they could in the already
overcrowded Indian and Ethiopian regions, and a few
species seem to have made, not simple migrations for a
season, but absolute emiorations for orood and all into
distant lands, and thus their descendants have become
almost cosmopolitan. The migration or irruption of
sand-grouse in 1863 was probably an emigration of this
nature.

It must have been a curious state of thino-s in south
Europe at this time, when reindeer were destroyed by
tigers within sight of a glacier such as now exists at the
South Pole.

After the glacial period had passed its meridian, and
the edge of the ice gradually retreated northwards, carry-
ing its climate, its swamps, and its mosquitoes with it,
the great body of the palaearctic birds followed it, returning
every summer farther and farther north to breed. Here
and there a colony was left behind, and formed the tropical
allies of so many of our species — birds which no longer
migrate, but which have the powers of flight, the pointed
wings of their ancestors, though they no longer require
them.

The extraordinary emigration of sand-grouse alluded
to is doubtless only one of many such great movements
which have from time to time taken place. The dis-
turbance of bird-life produced by the temporary exter-
mination of it in the northern half of the palsearctic region
during the glacial epoch must have been very great. The
countries to the south of the orreat grlacier must have been
overcrowded, and the natural cure for such a state of
things must have been emigration on a large scale. It is
not difficult to trace some of these movements even after
such a lapse of time. Their history is written indelibly

EVOLUTION OF THRUSHES 425,

on some of the palsearctic genera. The reader may be
interested in hearing upon what data such theories are
based. Let us select the Thrushes as an example. They
are almost cosmopolitan. They are found on all the
great continents, on many of the Pacific Islands, and
almost all over the world except in New Zealand, Western
Australia, part of New Guinea, and Madagascar, and we
must remember that these countries are by no means fully
explored yet. But in spite of their near approach to being
cosmopolitan, they belong to a palaearctic genus or genera.
A large proportion of their nearest allies are palaearctic,
and the formation of their wings — flat, long, pointed, and
with the first primary very small — is such as is principally
found in palaearctic birds who acquired wings capable of
powerful flight to enable them to migrate during the
glacial epoch. . Before this time we may assume that
the Thrushes were residents in Europe and North
Asia.

The Thrushes are divisible into three tolerably well-
defined genera. The genus GeocicJda, or Ground-
Thrushes, contains about forty species. The genus
Turdics, or true Thrushes, contains about fifty species,
and the genus Merula, or Ouzels, contains rather more,
about fifty-three. Zoologists have come to the conclusion
that the history of the individual is more or less an
epitome of the history of the species. Now the young
in first plumage of all thrushes have spotted backs, but
the only thrushes which retain this peculiarity through
life are to be found in the genus Geocichla ; and we
therefore assume that the ground-thrushes are the least
changed descendants of their pre-glacial ancestors. In
fact we come to the conclusion that before the glacial
period there were no true thrushes and no ouzels, and
that the ground-thrushes inhabited Europe and North

424 MIGRATION

Asia, whence they were gradually driven south as the
polar ice extended its area. The European ground-
thrushes took refuge in Africa, and overspread that
continent. A small part of them remained ground-
thrushes, and their descendants now form the African
species of the genus GeocicJila. But by far the larger
portion developed into true thrushes, some of whom
permanently settled in Africa, whilst others crossed the
then warm South Pole and spread over South America,
some even emiofratinp" as far as Central America and
South Mexico. We thus find that the true thrushes of
the Ethiopian and the Nearctic regions are very closely
allied, and have by some writers been separated from
the genus Turdics, and associated together under the
name of Planesticus. During the warm period at the
North Pole which followed the glacial epoch, the true
thrushes of North Africa appear to have followed the
retreating ice, and to have spread over Europe, penetrat-
ing eastwards into Turkestan and Kashmir, and north-
wards across the pole into North America as far south as
Mexico.

In Asia a similar emigration must have taken place.
The orimnal o-found-thrushes of Siberia were driven
across the Himlayas into the Indo-Malay region, where
a few of them still retain their original generic character.
It would appear that one or two species found a retreat
across Bering Strait into America, one being found in
Alaska and one in Mexico. The Alaska species probably
crossed over after the glacial period, as it is very nearly
allied to the East Siberian species. The Mexican species
is nearly allied to that found on Bonin Island, and
probably crossed over before the glacial period, and was
driven southwards by the ice, never to return. The
greater number, however, of Asiatic ground-thrushes

MIGRATION AND INSTINCT 425

appear to have developed into ouzels, which filled India
and the Malay peninsula, many of them migrating east-
wards to Java and the Pacific Islands, some even reach-
ing across the Pacific Ocean, and forming- a colony of
ouzels in Central America and north-western South
America. After the glacial period had passed away
from the North Pole, some of the ouzels seem to have
followed the ice northwards, and again to have spread
over Siberia, two species even reaching into and spread-
ing over Europe.

Such is a brief outline, so far as we can oruess it from
the present facts of geographical distribution, of one of
the ofreatest emigrations or series of emiorations which
the world has probably ever known, and comparable only
to those of the Arvan race of men. The fact most
observable in these movements seems to be that birds
are guided by something very nearly approaching reason;
their habits are not merely the result of their capabilities ;
there is method in their mio^rations. Whilst we find that
a narrow channel is frequently the boundary of a bird's
distribution, we must admit that in most cases it is a
self-imposed boundary. It is not that the birds cannot
migrate across the sea ; the fact is simply that they do
not because they have no adequate motive.

The more one sees of migration the less it looks like
an instinct which never errs, and the more it seems to be
guided by a more or less developed reasoning faculty,
which is generally right, but occasionally wrong. The
stream of migration which we watched for weeks whilst
waiting for the opening of navigation on the Yenesei was
almost always from due south to due north, but at the
commencement many parties of wild geese, too eager
to reach their breeding-grounds, overshot the mark, and
although the ice broke up at the rate of a hundred miles

426 MIGRATION

in the twenty-four hours, they overtook and passed the
thaw, and finding no food had to turn back. The
records of migration which have been kept on the British
coast seem also to show that similar blunders are com-
mitted in autumn, and that many birds which ought tO'
reach our northern and eastern shores have apparently
in like manner overshot the mark, and have had to turn
back, some from the sea and others from the continent,
and consequently arrive on our western or southern
shores.

It has been remarked in this country that migration
takes place in autumn in greater flocks or "rushes " than
in spring. This is probably caused by the birds lingering
at some favourite feeding-grounds, and accumulating in
increasing numbers until a sudden frost warns them that
they are overstaying their time, and they " rush " off en
masse, helter-skelter, for summer climes. A somewhat
similar accumulation of birds apparently takes place on
the skirts of the frost in spring, for when the ice broke
up we had a "rush" of various sorts of birds, which
suddenly swarmed on all sides.

In the valley of the Yenesei the stream of migration
follows the course of the river from north to south, instead
of from east to west as at Heligoland. Very few, if
any, birds appear to cross the deserts of Mongolia. In
South Siberia the stream of migration divides, part of the
birds probably following the Angora, and part the smaller
stream which retains the name of Yenesei. Among the
birds which take the eastern route are the yellow-browed
warbler, the Arctic warbler, Blyth's grass-warbler, the
pintailed snipe, the Petchora pipit, and many other birds ;
whilst amongst those which appear only to take the
western route are the willow-warbler, the sedge-warbler,
the great snipe, the fieldfare, and many others. Occa-

MIGRATION HIGHWAYS 427

sionally, however, a bird, or a small party of birds which
ought to take the eastern route accidentally get wrong,
take the western turning and find their way into Europe,
where some of them are caught, and are justly considered
as great rarities. Most of these little blunderers who'
have taken the wrong road are birds of the year, who,
never having migrated before, have not yet learnt their
right way, and may be excused for having gone
wroncr.

The facts of migration, as observed from an insular
point of view, lead to theories which will not hold water
when we come to compare them with observations made
on a great continent. It must be conceded that birds-
have certain recognised routes or highways of migration,
which they follow with remarkable pertinacity. 13 ut
different species of birds have in many cases different
routes. Some of these routes have been mapped out by
Palmen, Middendorff, and Severtzoff, but it would be a
great mistake to suppose that all birds migrating from
any given locality choose the same route. These high-
ways are complicated, and the route chosen by one
species of birds often crosses at right angles that selected
by another species. In Cordeaux's interesting book on
the birds of the Humber district, many interesting facts
connected with this subject are given.

The subject of migration is one which is receiving
much more systematic attention than has ever been given
to it before. For some years printed forms with schedules
of instructions connected with migration have been for-
warded to more than a hundred and fifty lighthouse stations,
on the coasts of England and Scotland by two gentlemen,
interested in this branch of the study of ornithology —
Mr. J. A. Harvie-Brown (my companion on the trip to the
valley of the Petchora) and Mr. John Cordeaux. The

428

MIGRATION

returns from these stations, a summary of which is
published annually (W. S. Sonnenschein & Allen) under
the title of " Report on the Migration of Birds," are
•extremely interesting, and ought to be studied by every

ornitholosrist.*

* These Reports were continued for a period of eight years, from 1881 to 1887,
and then ceased. The Irish observations, however, tlianks to Mr. R. M. Barrington,
have continued up to tlie present time. — Ed.

BRONZE rORK FROM ANCIENT GRAVE NEAR KRASNOYARSK

CHAPTER XLII.

RETURN TO KUREIKA.

Ornithological Spoils — My Three Companions — The Native Tribes —
Birds on a Little Island — Dolgan Names for Various Articles of Clothing
— An Island Rich in Birds — The Siberian Pipit — Temminck's Stint —
The Arctic Accentor — My Doubts cleared concerning the Thrush seen at
Brekoffsky — " Die Wilden " — Evil Influences — Need of a Heroin Siberia
— The Two Curses of Russia — Baptized Natives retaining their Charms
and Idols — The Strange Hours we kept — Marriage Ceremonies — Funeral
Ceremonies — Diseases — Birds seen on approaching- Dudinka — Vershinsky
— Golden Plover frequenting the Summit of Larch-trees — Gulls — Mos-
quitoes— The Thames — An Impenetrable Island — Kureika in its Summer
Aspect.

There Is a great deal of truth In the old proverb that
"It Is an 111 wind that blows nobody any good." If my
visit to the tundra had not been delayed by the blunders
or the misfortunes of Captain Wiggins, I might still have
missed my birds. As It was, I brouo-ht home eees
of three species of willow-warbler which were almost

430 RETURN TO KUREIKA

unknown before; besides eggs of the dusky ouzel and the
Little bunting, which were also of great rarity. Had my
•original programme been carried out, I should certainly
have missed all of these, except the eggs of the Siberian
■chiffchaff Of my other novelties, the eggs of the
mountain accentor and of the Asiatic golden plover, I
should probably have obtained a more abundant supply.
Then again, the voyage across the Kara Sea woul«i
probably have been somewhat barren of ornithological
results, whereas my journey home overland, though a
somewhat fatiguing one, was, as I hope the reader may
learn for himself, extremely interesting, and not wanting
in important ornithological and ethnological results.

We left Golchika on Tuesday, the 24th of J uly. There
were three persons on board with whom I could converse.
Besides my aide-de-camp Glinski, I had Boiling's com-
pany as far as Yeneseisk. Boiling was a well-read man
who could talk sensibly on almost any subject, and who
had lived many years in Siberia. As far as Vershinsky
we were to enjoy the society of Uleman, a native of
Saxony, who had emigrated to Poland, and was exiled
thirty years before. He lived by himself at Vershinsky
with no other companions than his dogs and his birds ; at
one time he had amused himself by rearing foxes, wolves,
and birds of different kinds.

In the summer he went down to Golchika to fish, and
in the winter he carved boxes, cigarette-holders, studs,
combs, etc., out of mammoth-ivory, and the horns of the
wild goat or sheep which inhabits the rocky mountains of
the tundra. He was also somewhat of a doctor, and was
friendly with all the Asiatic tribes who frequented that
country. During our journey he gave me some interesting
information concerning the natives, which I looked upon as
more reliable than any I had hitherto obtained.

MONGOL RACES 431

The Samoyedes, Yuraks, and Ostiaks, in Uleman's
-opinion, are three distinct races, having more or less
distinct languages, and each occupying an intermediate
position between the European and the true Mongol. The
similarity between their numerals leads me, however, to
the conclusion that they are very closely allied, and that
their languages are merely dialects of a common tongue.

The true Mongol races are much darker in colour,
their eyes are more oblique, and less capable of being
opened wide, they have flatter noses and higher cheek-
bones. Several Mongol races speak dialects of the same
lanofuaoe — for instance, the Tatars of Perm and Kazan,
the Dolgans, and the Yakuts are all closely allied, and
■can understand each other without much difficulty, and
are all near relations of the Turks.

Early on the morning of the 25th the rough sea and
the contrary winds made it impossible for us to proceed,
so we cast anchor in lat. 71°. Late in the evening the
river was calm enough to make it safe to land, and I went
on shore for a couple of hours. On a small island in one
of the numerous lakes gulls were evidently breeding ; and
long-tailed ducks and divers were common. The wheat-
ear was very abundant on the clay cliffs, and I saw many
Little buntings, bluethroats, shore-larks, Lapland buntings,
and red-throated pipits. I shot a dotterel, and found one
of its young in down. I also found two thrushes' nests,
built on a small ledge of the nearly perpendicular mud or
clay cliff, where the ground had slipped. One contained
eg'^s and the other young birds. I was not able to secure
the old birds of either nest. They were too wild and shy
to come within gunshot. The nest and eorgs were like
those of the redwing, to which species they doubtless
belonsfed.

From Uleman I got the following Dolgan names for

432 RETURN TO KUREIKA

their various articles of dress. The outside coat with the
hood is called sa-kob'-y ; the undercoat md-khdl'-kd ; the
trousers chor-kec' ; the stockings chay-zhee' ; the boots
bok-dr-ee ; the cap cho-bdk. In very cold weather a pair
ofover-boots are worn, Q:d}\^^ chcrt-d-ko'-dce. The ofirdle
round the waist \s poy'-dss. The men wear a belt across,
the shoulders for their powder, etc., and a highly-orna-
mented front or breast-cloth ; but the names of these he
could not remember. I afterwards ascertained that of
the above names those for the trousers, boots, and girdle
were Russian names, which the Dolgans appear to have
adopted.

We cast anchor on the following evening at Nikan-
drina in lat. yoV. I spent a few hours on shore, and was
well rewarded for my trouble. The island was about
twenty versts south of Brekoffsky, and very similar to it
in character. It was nearly dead flat, not many feet
above the level of the river, and (judging from the drift-
wood of various ages scattered on the surface) must be
entirely under water when the river is at its height in
June. The lowest flats are swamps covered with carices,
in which reeves and red-necked phalaropes are found.
At a few inches greater elevation stretch swamps covered
with willows about a foot high ; and here the yellow-headed
wagtail and the Siberian pipit breed. Of the latter I
secured eight specimens. Hitherto I had found this bird
very difficult to shoot, for the female was hidden in her
nest among the willows, whilst the male soared lark-like,
singing in the air out of gunshot. Now both parents
were feeding their young with mosquitoes. My attention
was attracted to them by hearing repeatedly the call
note of a pipit, so loud that I at first mistook it for that
of a thrush. I soon found out that it proceeded from a
comparatively short-tailed bird flying round me in the

THE MOUNTAIN ACCENTOR 433

company of half a dozen long-tailed yellow-headed wag-
tails, whose breeding-haunts I was invading, much to their
consternation. Every now and then the pipit alighted on
a willow-tree, where it uttered an alarm-note like wit, wit.
By watching my opportunity, I secured five males and
three females.

On slightly higher ground the swamp was nearly dry,
the willows were growing in isolated clumps, and the soil
was bare or covered with short grass and moss. Great
numbers of Temminck's stints were breeding here, and
were soon flying round me in all directions. Many of
their broken egg-shells lay about, and I found one of
their young in down. Lapland buntings were also
common on this piece of ground.

Another slight elevation brought me to different
ground, where the willows were four or five feet high,
and the open space was gay with the brilliant flowers of
the tundra. The red-throated pipit, the Lapland bunting,
and the yellow-headed wagtail abounded, and occasion-
ally I saw a reed-bunting, a Siberian chiffchaff, or a
species of thrush. I shot one of the latter birds, which
proved to be a redwing. I also saw a fieldfare on this
island, and shot several examples of the mountain hedge-
sparrow. The cold wind with occasional showers keep-
ing the mosquitoes down, I was able to shoot without a
veil, and consequently to see and to shoot birds with
much greater ease than heretofore.

The mountain accentor was a silent bird, but now
and then I could hear its tit-like note, til-il-il, proceeding
from a willow-bush. It was some time before I was
able to see the bird that uttered the cry, as it frequented
the thickest of the willow-bushes, sneaking from one to
another like a grasshopper-warbler. This bird should
not be called the mountain accentor ; a much better name

2 E

434 RETURN TO KUREIKA

would be the Arctic accentor. Like the Lapland bunting
on the Dovrefield, when it gets out of its Arctic latitude
it has to ascend a mountain in order to find a climate
cold enough to suit its constitution. Yet it is essentially
a bird of the plains, the willow swamps are its natural
habitat, and there the female lays her blue eggs and
rears her young only a few feet above the level of the
sea.

Turning into bed at four o'clock in the morning I
slept until noon. When I awoke a steady rain was
falling, which continued till night. Meanwhile a boat
arrived from Brekoffsky, bringing me the thrush I had
failed to secure at that place ; Schwanenberg's mate had
sent it. It, too, turned out to be a redwing. I now
considered this matter settled, and all the doubtful points
cleared up.

We got under way at 4 p.m., and steamed steadily up
the river. The rain cleared off about midnight, but the
sky was still cloudy, and we had no sunshine. Boiling,
Uleman, and I spent the night chatting about "die
Wilden," as Uleman called the Mongolian races there.
He had had a rare opportunity of observing them, having
been there five-and-twenty years, and having lived eight
of these years amongst them on the tundra, as Sotnikoff's
aorent. He had seen more of the Doloans than of the
other races. When he first went there, he told us, all
the native tribes were virtuous, honest, and truthful, and
they still live very peaceably amongst themselves, and
quarrel rarely. The selfishness of civilisation is unknown ;
thus, when one buys or begs a bottle of vodka he shares
it with his companions, the oldest man or woman being
always served first ; even the children get their share.
Amongst themselves the rights of property are still
strictly observed. In the tundra, or on the banks of the

RUSSIAN MORALITY 435

river, sledges are frequently to be seen laden and covered
over with reindeer skins ; they are perfectly safe, and
are often thus left for months. The natives used to be
truthful in their dealingrs with stransrers, and their word
was formerly as good as their bond ; now they have
become corrupted by intercourse with the Russians.
Siberia is largely peopled with exiles, and even a political
exile, isolated from his own set, and removed from the
restraints of society, loses after a while the conscience
which formerly gfoverned his conduct towards those

m

BRONZE MIRROR FROM ANCIENT GRAVE NEAR KRASNOYARSK

who formed his surroundings. Smarting also, perhaps,
under a keen sense of injustice, he gradually conforms
his thoughts and actions to the low standard of morality
sure to be found amongst exiled criminals. Truth and
honour are, at best, scarcely known in Russia. Like the
Greek, the Russian lies without shame, and looks upon
cunning as the highest virtue. Siberia is sorely in need
of a hero, a man who, having made a fortune honestly
by energy, enterprise, and ability, is capable of spending
it wisely. In a country where the rouble is worshipped
as devoutly as the almighty dollar is said to be in the
United States, such a man might do much to raise the
tone of society, infuse fresh intellectual life amongst the
better-educated few, and establish a new standard of
honour and morality in commercial intercourse. I believe
the only hope for Russian society lies in its merchants.

436 RETURN TO KUREIKA

They alone may be able to rise above the corruption of
the officials, and the superstition of the clergy.

The two curses of Russia are its Church and its State
staff. The one sells justice and the other palters with
morality. The Emperor is said to be anxious to reform
these fatal errors in the administration ; but, in a remote
corner like the one to which I allude, he has practically
no power. The Russo-Greek Church is nominally
Christian, but what elements of Christianity are in it I
am unable to say. Its outward appearance is simple
buffoonery, savouring more of Cagliostro than of Christ.
It has never had any real influence upon the natives.
Many of them have, indeed, gone through the ceremony
of baptism, and wear crosses of silver or brass as charms,
but none the less do they retain their old faiths or seek
the aid of the Shamanski in their troubles. Every native
family has a special sledge set apart for its household
gods, drawn by reindeer which are also set apart for
this purpose, and covered in by a " clean " reindeer skin,
that is, a skin upon which no man has ever slept. The
images or idols are made of wood, stone, iron, anything
in short that can be carved to resemble a human being"
or an animal. These idols must be looked upon more
in the light of charms than of gods. They are never
prayed to. Their only use seems to be to act as a
centre of magnetic or spiritual influence. The Shaman
arranges them, walks round them, beating incessantly on
his drum, whilst the people dance around until he, and
probably they, become more or less ecstatic, or under
the sway of frenzy. It is said that under this excitement
the Shaman will often foam at the mouth. In this
state they believe a certain supernatural influence is
exerted, through which information is obtained, supposed
also to be of a supernatural character. It principally

CUSTOMS OF THE NATIVES 437

relates to the weather, or to success in catching fish, or
trapping- or shooting foxes, etc. No other use is appa-
rently made of these idols. This superstition seems to be
common to all the Asiatic tribes of Siberia, and I could
not discover that they had any other religion, beyond a
hazy notion of the existence of a Good Spirit and of
happy hunting-grounds.

As we discussed these customs of the natives we
were steaming up the river with a slight head wind and
a cloudy sky. We had drifted into keeping curious
hours. We rose at noon and took a cup of tea together;
at 4 P.M. we had a substantial breakfast, followed by a
cup of tea at eight. At midnight we dined, and at 3 a.m.
we had again a cup of tea, and turned in soon afterwards
for the nio-ht.

From day to day I lost no opportunity of obtaining
scraps of information from Uleman about the natives.
It seems that there are few, if any ceremonies observed
with regard to marriage. The chief point to be settled
is the number of reindeer the bridegroom will give to the
father of the bride in exchano-e for his daughter. Those
natives who have been baptized have only one wife, but
the others sometimes have two, and, if they be rich,
even three. The wives of the natives are said to be
always faithful to their husbands. There is more cere-
mony observed in the funerals. Those who are not
baptized do not bury their dead. The dead man is laid
out upon the tundra in his best clothes, his bow and
arrows, his knife, and other personal effects being placed
around him. Some of the fleetest reindeer that belonged
to him in life are killed and left by the corpse ; bread
and fish are also laid near, so that in the next world he
may arrive provided with the necessaries of life. The
principal diseases from which the natives suffer are

438 RETURN TO KUREIKA

fevers of various kinds. Consumption and scurvy, so
common among the Russians, are almost unknown to
them. No doubt their fondness for raw flesh, coupled
with their active open-air life, prevents the latter malady.
Since their increased intercourse with the Russians,
both syphilis and smallpox have unfortunately appeared
amonof them with dire effect.

About fiftv versts before we reached Dudinka, we
noticed several red-breasted geese with their young
broods on the banks of the river, but I could not per-
suade the captain to stop to give me the chance of a
shot. Occasionally we saw a pair of peregrines and a
small bird of prey, which I took to be the rough-legged
buzzard.

I went on shore on Sunday at Vershinsky, walking
three versts on the banks of the river to the place where
the steamer stopped to take in wood for the engine
fires. I crossed a succession of little valleys full of alder
and willow-trees, and frequently having a pretty little
tarn in their hollow. The higrh land was tundra, with
abundance of reindeer moss, and thinly scattered over it
were stunted and weather-beaten larches. Vershinsky is
the most northerly point (lat. 69°) at which I met Pallas's
house-martin. I shot a young Little bunting and white
and yellow-headed wagtails. The Little bunting was
unusually common. I saw both the Arctic and common
willow -warblers, and also several pairs of European
golden plover. The latter were very anxious to entice
me away from their young. Occasionally they uttered
their plaintive crj- from the ground, but oftener from the
topmost branch of a larch-tree. I shot one, perched at
least fourteen feet aloft. Another bird which frequented
the tops of the larch-trees was the wood-sandpiper. I
shot a pair of redwings and some young fieldfares;

MOSQUITOES 439

bluethroats, also, had fully-Hedged young. In some of the
more sheltered valleys patches of snow were still lying
unmelted. The wild flowers were very brilliant, and,,
after I had shot off all my cartridges, I gathered a few
and pressed them. Rhubarb and a species of thyme
were abundant there. One of the passengers on board
was my friend the second priest of Turukansk, and he
gathered a quantity of each for medicinal purposes,
saying that the natives were ignorant of their uses.

Early in the morning of the 30th July, we stopped
an hour at an island to take some barrels of salt fish on
board. I went on shore and found a large colony of
Siberian herring-gulls sleeping on the sand. By far the
larger proportion were immature birds, which apparently
do not go farther north. I shot one, and the rest flew
off to a distance. The day turned out very wet, and we
did not go again on shore. We had scarcely had a fine
day since we left Golchika. We were told that this was
an exceptionally cold summer; and for one great blessing
we had to thank the keen winds— they banished the
mosquitoes. We had, indeed, almost forgotten their
existence until the preceding day. When I was on
shore it was a dead calm, the clouds were black as
before a thunderstorm, and the bloodthirsty insects were
swarming in thousands. I had neglected to take my
gauntlets, and was, in consequence, much bitten on the
wrists, causing me some slight suffering; the irritation of
my hands prevented my sleeping, but it was accompanied
by little or no swelling. Either the mosquitoes had
exhausted their stock of poison, or my blood had grown
so thin that they did not care to expend much virus
upon it.

In the evening we stopped an hour at Igarka to take
our leave of the ill-starred Thames. The water had

440 RETURN TO KUREIKA

fallen away some distance since we had abandoned the
vessel, but the sand in which she lay had a considerable
slope; still it seemed the general opinion that she might
yet be got off before the season was over. In a few days
the captain was expected down with the Zessedatel to
hold an inquest on the ill-fated vessel, the result of which
could not be foretold, except that one might be perfectly
sure that a certain imaginary friend in Omsk would be
considerably enriched thereby. It was grievous to see
so fine a craft thrown away. The captain had no doubt
done his best by her; but he was a man lacking
administrative skill, whose actions always seemed guided
by the impulse of the moment. Nevertheless, his crew,
who half hated and half despised him, were obliged to
confess that he was every inch a sailor.

The first real summer day we had had for a long
time was August ist. We steamed up the river under a
cloudless sky, and with scarcely a breath of wind. We
passed a large colony of sand-martins about noon. In
the evening I landed for half an hour on an island. The
shore was bare sand, covered higher up with a dense
growth of Equisetums which soon ended in impenetrable
willow-thickets. The island was some miles long. Boiling
said he remembered it fifteen years ago without a tree or
a green leaf upon it, nothing but bare sand. Birds were
not abundant. I saw yellow-headed and white wagtails,
old and young, and heard the cries of ducks and divers
and terek-sandpipers beyond the willows. Temminck's
stints were common. The absence of grass prevented
other birds frequenting the island.

The following day we cast anchor at the village of
Kureika, at four in the morning, to take in wood, and I
availed myself of the opportunity to go on shore and
have an hour's shootinof on our old huntinof-orounds, and

OUR OLD QUARTERS AGAIN 441

to take a cup of tea with old Jacob, the Starrosta. The
trees being now in full leaf, the short grass having grown
to a heis"ht of two feet or more, and the level of the
rivers and lakes having fallen five or six feet, the aspect
of the place was utterly changed. The Arctic willow-
warbler was very common, and still in full song.
Wagtails appeared to be less numerous, but the redpolls
and the lesser wliitethroats still frequented the birches.
Young fieldfares were abundant, and I heard the song of
the scarlet bullfinch. The double snipe was also there,
and must have been breeding. The house-martins were
swarming in countless numbers. We seemed to have
almost got below the mosquito region, for the weather
was warm, and yet we scarcely saw any of these insects.
On the other hand, a small midge was occasionally
abundant, and irritating.

It was interesting to see the familiar place once again,
every feature of which was stamped upon our memories
by the monotony of our long, weary waiting for summer.
It was almost impossible to believe that only two months
ago the banks of the Kureika were still white with snow,
and the possibility of the shipwreck of the Thames
scarcely dreamed of. So much had happened in the
interval that it seemed to be vears ao-o.

THE KAMIN PASS

CHAPTER XLIII.

BY STEAMER TO YENESEISK.

Silovanoff — Hospitality of the Inhabitants— Interior of One of the
Houses — A Model Village — The Sect of the Skoptsi — Their Exile — A
Fish Dinner — Birds near Silovanoff — Redstart — Lost in the Forest — The
Steamer Aground — Michael Susloff — A Tipsy Blagachina — Discussion
about Siberia — Its Gold Mines the Ruin of its Prosperity — A Dense
Forest — Birds on the Banks — Verkhni Ambatskia — Decrease of the
Ostiaks — Their Boats and Canoes — Birds on the Pasture Land — The
Forest Trees of the Yenesei — Larch — Spruce Fir — Siberian Spruce Fir
— Scotch Fir — Cedar — Birch — Alder and Juniper — Poplar — Picturesque
Scenery — Two New Birds added to my List — The Kamin Pass — The
Ibex — Hot Weather — The Amount of Wood our Engines Consumed — Our
Hostess' Hospitality — A Poor Bag — Vegetation in the Forest — The Black
Kite — The Taz — Yermak — Swallows.

At sunrise on the morning of the 3rd of August the
barge was anchored at Silovanoff to take in more wood,
whilst the steamer went to Turukansk and back. I went
on shore to shoot, and to inspect the extraordinary

A MODEL VILLAGE 445

inhabitants of the villao^e. It was evident at a olance
that the people here were a different race from the
Yenesei Russian. The place looked quite English !
Order reigned, and a hundred little details betokened
industry and civilisation. The boats were larger and
better finished ; instead of being hauled up on shore
through the mud, a wooden landing-stage was provided
for them, with a revolving wooden roller at the head.
Instead of having to climb a muddy inclined plane tO'
reach the houses, a flight of wide and easy wooden steps
led up to them, with a neat gate at the bottom to keep
the cows from coming up. To reach an ordinary
Russian peasant's house one has to pick one's way across
a dunghill. Here the surrounding space was clean, the
cows being railed off on every side. The inhabitants
were most hospitable. Although it was only half-past
two the women- folk were stirring. Soon the samovar
came in steaming, and tea, sugar, bread and butter, and
smoked herrings were laid before us. " That says more
than it looks," as the German idiom has it : tea and
butter are kept in store for strangers only, and are never
tasted by the inhabitants. The house we were in was
far better than any we had visited between Yeneseisk
and the sea ; the rooms were lofty, the windows large,,
well glazed, and double ; there was a large and well-
built stove in it, and due provision was made for ventila-
tion. A special stove was erected to smoke out
mosquitoes. A clock hung upon the wall, and there
were positively books on a shelf! The carpenter's work
was excellent, evidently planed, and not merely smoothed
with an axe. There was also ample evidence about that
the village possessed a competent smith. Outside, the
same signs of honest toil prevailed : casks were being
made, and boats were being built. Several fields, care-

444 BY STEAMER TO YENESEISK

fully railed off, were planted with potatoes. Everything
betokened order, industry, and comparative wealth. In
sooth, a model village, without crime, where idleness and
drunkenness were unknown. And yet the people did
not look happy. There was no fire in their glance, no
elasticity in their step, there seemed to be no blood in
their veins. They were as stolid as Samoyedes ; thtir
complexions were as sallow, and the men's chins as
beardless. Strange to say, there was not a living soul
in the village under forty years of age. It was the
village of the Skoptsi, a sect whose religion has taken
an ultra-ascetic form — teetotalism carried out to the
bitter end, an attempt to annihilate all human passions,
not only their abuse but their use as well. All the men
were castrated, and in all the women the milk-glands
were extracted from the breasts. They ate no animal
food except fish. They did not even allow themselves
butter or milk. All intoxicatinof and excitino- drinks
were forbidden, such as spirits, wine, tea, and coffee. On
the other hand they had a very mild beer called quass,
which, coming up from the cold cellar on a hot day, was
very refreshing. It was a very mild beer indeed,
certainly not XXXX, nor even single X. Possibly its
intoxicating properties might be represented in terms of
X by the formula VX. I was not able to procure a
Skoptsi pipe, for tobacco in all forms was prohibited.
Although the population of the village numbered under
a score, yet there were two sects of Skoptsi among them :
one drank milk and the other did not. They kept all the
holidays of the Russian Church, but had no priest, saying
that every man was a priest, and could perform priestly
offices only for himself ; so curiously do eccentric errors
and half- forgotten truths grow side by side. These
Skoptsi have been justly banished to this island by the

DINNER WITH THE SKOPTSI 445

Russian government, Uleman said principally from the
neighbourhood of the iron mines near Ekaterinberg.
They told me there were formerly seven or eight hundred
of them, but that they were literally dying of starvation,
and they petitioned the Emperor to send them elsewhere,
to some region where they could cultivate the land and
grow vegetables. They were consequently sent to a
place near Yakutsk, where some thousands of these
amiable but misguided people now live. After breakfast
we spent some hours in the forest, then enjoyed the
luxury of a commodious Russian bath, and were after-
wards invited to dine. We had, of course, a fish dinner.
Eirst a fish-pasty of tcheer, then sterlet, followed by a
refreshing dessert of preserved cranberries. A pint of
quass each completed a by no means despicable repast.

In the forest birds were abundant; fieldfares and
redwings had fully-fledged young. I saw several three-
toed woodpeckers, and shot a Lapp-tit. Redpolls were
very numerous. The song of the Arctic willow-warbler
was continually to be heard, and occasionally that of the
common willow-warbler. The Siberian chifTchaff was
carefully tending its newly-fiedged brood, and only its.
alarm-note was now to be heard. Martins were swarm-
ing like bees under the eaves of the houses, and a fiock
of Siberian herring-gulls, mostly immature, were watch-
ing the fishing-boats. On the pebbly beach young and
old white wagtails were running about. I shot a young"
bluethroat and a young redstart. The latter was a new
bird for my list. As in the Petchora I did not find it so
far north as the Arctic Circle.

The forest behind Silovanoff was very luxuriant and'
very picturesque, and I enjoyed my solitary rambles in
it beyond measure. Now and then I came to a charming
swamp abounding with waders, and ever and anon

446 BY STEAMER TO YENESEISK

glimpses of thrushes excited my hopes as the wary birds
frequented the thick underwood, I was specially on the
qui Vive for rare thrushes. I had shown my friend the
priest the skin of the Siberian ground-thrush, the solitary
example of which rare bird I had obtained at Kureika,
and he had immediately recognised it as the chorna
drohst, and told me that it was more abundant in the
district round Turukansk than anywhere else. I searched
far and wide in the forest, but in vain. I was not
fortunate enough to obtain a second example. A good
specimen of the dark ouzel in its first spotted plumage
was, however, some compensation for my trouble. In
my efforts to explore the country I nearly lost myself a
second time. I had been wandering for some hours in
the forest when my appetite warned me that it was time
to return home. I took out my compass and steered
west, but the further I went the more impassable the
forest became. I found myself in a swamp so deep that
I could only make slow and uncertain progress by
struoolinor from one fallen tree-trunk to another, and
finally I stuck fast altogether, and had to turn back.
The question to decide was, should I try to round the
swamp to the north or to the south ? I had not the least
idea which way I had come, but fortunately I had a good
map in my pocket and succeeded in striking the Yenesei
without making any very serious detour.

When the steamer came back from Turukansk we
heard that it had had sundry misadventures on the way.
Once or twice it had run aground on a sandbank, and
had got off with difficulty. To provide against these
accidents twenty or thirty long poles are kept on board,
and it is very amusing to see them in action. The
moment the ship grounds all is noise and confusion.
The captain shouts to the two men who, one on each

A LITERARY PRIEST

447

side of the bows of the ship, are constantly calHng out
the depth of the water (which they measure with long
poles), Chetire ; Tre spolovina, etc., and in a moment all
is hurry-skurry and bustle, and the shallow side of the
steamer suddenly develops a score or more legs like a
centipede, the men straining on the long poles till they
bend again, organising a strong push and a push all
together by the most unearthly screams and yells.

When we left Silovanoff we were minus one passenger,
Michael Susloff, the second
priest of Turukansk, by far
the most active and intelli-
gent Russian I had met. He
was sent by the Archbishop
to visit the Ostiaks on the
Taz, and was busy writing
a report for his Eminence.
He promised me a copy
of it. It contained much
interestino' ethnological in-
formation, and a number of
valuable historical facts re-
garding the ancient town of
Mangaze, extracted from the archives of Turukansk.
Susloff told me that he did his best to prevent a rupture
between the late Zessedatel and Wiggins and Schwanen-
berg when the two captains passed through Turukansk
in the previous autumn, but the Blagachina and the
Postmaster egged them on for private reasons of their
own ; Sotnikoff and Ivanoff were also among the
conspirators for obvious considerations.

At the monastery the Blagachina of Turukansk came
on board to install his mother as a passenger on the
ship ; he was, however, so inebriated that he could hardly

BU.N'CH OF squirrels' SKINS

448 BY STEAMER TO YENESEISK

speak, and he speedily left without taking leave either of
Kitmanoff or of myself.

We did not ijet a chance of ooingr on shore till late
the following evening, when it was too dark to shoot.
Boiling and I had a long talk about Siberia, and the
anomalous facts in its domestic history. It presents the
spectacle of a healthy race of people, living in a healthy
because dry climate, continually replenished by emigrants
and exiles, and yet the population remaining almost
stationary ; a country with capabilities of becoming
"rich beyond the dreams of avarice" continuing poor.
Report affirms that scarcely one merchant in ten in it is
solvent, and that not one bank in ten could pay more
than ten shillings in the pound if wound up. The
question arises, to what cause is this extraordinary state
of things to be attributed ? Boiling ascribed it all to the
Q-old mines. The land, he said, cannot be cultivated,
and manufactures cannot be successfully carried on,
because the peasants and workmen are continually tempted
away by advances on account of wages, and by having
the opportunity of pocketing gold. Arrived at the gold
mines they are overworked. A certain task is allotted to
each man to perform every day, and he must work until
it be done. Not unfrequently it takes twenty hours out
of the twenty-four to finish it, and then, after insufficient
rest, he has to turn to work aj^ain, often in wet clothes.
The miners have to " work the dead horse" for perhaps
a year ; that is to say, the advance of wages which
they received on being engaged having been speedily
squandered, it usually takes them a year to save sufficient
from their pay to clear off their debt. They do not like
to return to their village empty-handed, so they steal
gold as fast as they can. When at length they have
made a purse they come home, possibly with ruined

IN THE FOREST 449

constitutions/probably utterly demoralised with extrava-
gant habits unfitting" them for their former life. Many
never reach home at all. Some die on the way, and
others are robbed and murdered in the forest for the sake
of the gold on their persons. The Russian law prohibits
the purchase or sale of gold, and compels the owners of
mines to sell to the Government only. Nevertheless a
large trade in the precious metal, principally in that which
has been stolen, is carried on, and considerable quantities
find their way to China, or are bought by the Kirghis.
This is well known to the police, who are, nevertheless,
seldom able to detect it. Siberia is rich in gold mines,
but its true wealth is to be found in its soil, not under
it.

We had an hour on land the following afternoon. We
were now in lat. 64°. I went first into the deep forest,
the pines of which had evidently been burnt some years
ago. Only a few charred trunks remained, and the
forest had become a dense mass of birch-trees. Under
foot spread a thick soft carpet of moss, lichen, and liver-
wort, thinly sprinkled over with cranberries laden with
unripe fruit, the aromatic Ledum palust7^e, the graceful
Eqidsetuvi sylvaticum, and the Lycopodiuni annotimim.
I also found three ferns, the first I had seen for some
time : Polypodiuin dryopteris, Athyriiim filix-fcemina,
and Lastrea nmltijiora. During half an hour's walk we
saw only one bird, a capercailzie or a blackcock, the
thickness of the forest preventing the identification of the
species. On the bank, among some willow thickets, birds
were more numerous. I shot two young Siberian chiff-
chaffs out of a family noisily flying from tree to tree like
a brood of tits. Young bluethroats were also on the
wing. During the evening we saw several birds, two
pairs of grey-headed white- tailed eagles, and a pair ot

2 F

45° BY STEAMER TO YENESEISK

smaller birds of prey with apparently a slightly longer
tail and somewhat narrower wings. The wings appeared
to be darker in colour than the tail and the rest of the
body. I took the larger bird to be the white-tailed
eagle, and the smaller the rough-legged buzzard.

We stopped a couple of hours about noon the next
day at Verkhni Anbatskia. This place used to be the
great rendezvous of the Ostiaks ; as soon as the river was
free from ice a kind of yearly fair was held there, to which
they brought the tribute of skins annually paid to the
Government, and at the same time purchased meat and
other necessaries. At the beginning of this century,
about two hundred large boats were sometimes moored
on the banks of the small river which here joins the
Yenesei. Thirty years ago the number had dwindled
down to eighty, and at the time of my visit they did not
exceed a score. This decline of traffic may be partly
accounted for by meat-depots having been established
in other villages, but there can be little doubt that the
Ostiaks have largely decreased in numbers and in wealth.
They have been plundered and demoralised by the
Russian merchants. One of these wealthy arch-robbers
still lived here, carrying on a contraband trade in spirits
with the unfortunate Ostiaks. The Government had
tried to trap him, but hitherto he had eluded the grasp of
the officials. I bought three sable skins of him for twenty
roubles each, fine black sable with white hairs, the only
good skins I saw in Siberia. The Ostiaks' boats are
unique in form, built without nails, and very picturesque.
Their canoes are light and extremely elegant, and are
made of one, or sometimes two pieces of wood.

Around the village undulated pasture land, sprinkled
over with spruce fir, and fragrant with white clover in full
bloom. Birds abounded. I shot a nutcracker, one of a

SIBERIAN FOREST TREES 451

flock of seven or eight. Young white and yellow-headed
wagtails were numerous, but I devoted most of my atten-
tion to the young thrushes. Two species, with different
voices, frequented the spruce firs. I secured two of one
and one of the other. One species proved to be the dusky
ouzel, whose eggs I had discovered at the Kureika; and the
other was a new species for my list, the black-throated
ouzel i^Meriila atrigularis). This was probably the
northern limit of its breeding range. On the shores of a
small lake the green sandpiper was very noisy. On the
banks of the river both the house-martin (doubtless the
Siberian species) and the sand-martin swarmed. I watched
them pursue and finally drive away a merlin, who pertina-
ciously approached too near their nests. The alarm-note
of the young dusky ouzels was very much like the ti-tic
of the wheatear, but louder ; it might be expressed by
tick-tick. On the stones on the bank of the Yenesei
were several of the latter bird.

As we steamed up the river on the following day, we
discussed the subject of the forest-trees of the Yenesei,
and, to the best of our ability, we thoroughly ventilated it.
So far as I can ascertain, there are five trees belonging to
the Pine group. They are as follows : —

Larch [Piiius larix). This well-known tree extends
farther north than any of the others, and is abundant,
though small, as far north as lat. 69!-°. Farther south
it attains large dimensions. At Yeneseisk a larch-pole,
suitable for the mast of a ship, 36 inches in diameter
at the stem and 18 inches at the point, and 60 feet
long, may be bought for a sovereign. This hard dark
wood looks well for the walls and ceilings of the peasants'
rooms.

Spruce fir [Picea obovata). This elegant tree, with
branches growing out of the trunk down almost to the

452 BY STEAMER TO YENESEISK

root and trailing" on the ground, extends nearly as far north
as the larch — say to lat. 69°. It is a very important tree
for commercial purposes. Its wood is white, of very
small specific gravity, extremely elastic, and is said not to
lose its elasticity by age. It makes the best masts for
ships, and is for oars the best substitute for ash. Snow-
shoes are generally made of this wood. The quality is
good down to the roots, and it makes the best " knees"
for ship-building, knees which do not require to be cut
out of the solid, or artificially bent. It is, however, subject
to very hard knots, and care must be taken not to blunt
the edge of the axe in cutting it.

Siberian spruce fir [Larix sibirica). This tree differs
from the common spruce in having a smooth bark of an
ash-grey colour ; its leaves are also of a much darker
blue-oreen. We did not meet with it further north than
lat. 63°. It has little commercial value, being soft and
apt to crack and decay. The ease with which it is split
causes it to be abundantly used for firewood and for
roofing.

Pine or Scotch fir [Pinus sylvestris). This well-known
tree scarcely extended so far north even as the preceding,
say to lat. 62|-°.

The Swiss Pine or "Cedar" i^Pinus cembrd) resembles
in appearance the Scotch fir, but its timber is said to have
a much higher marketable value. It is dark, but not so
dark as larch, and there is very little of the white inferior
wood next to the bark. If stacked too long in the forest
it is liable to be attacked by worms, but for furniture and
indoor use it is the best timber to be found in Siberia.
It is reputed never to rot, shrink, warp, or crack. Soft
and easy to work, it is nevertheless of fine grain, and is
almost free from knots. The Ostiaks build their ships of
it. They hew down a trunk two or three feet in diameter,

FINE SCENERY 453

split it. and of each half make a wide thin board ; the
rest is wasted, for the axe is an extravaoant tool. This
tree is found up to lat. 67^°.

We found the common birch up to lat. 69!-°, and in
various places we noticed that where a pine forest had
been burnt or cut down, it appeared to be immediately
replaced by a luxuriant growth of birch. The creeping
birch and two or three sorts of willow were common in
suitable localities on the tundra as far north as we went
— i.e. lat. 7i|-°.

The alder was abundant at 6c^\° and the juniper at

I did not observe the poplar at the Kureika in lat.
66^°, but it was abundant at Silovanoff in lat. 66°. The
Ostiaks hollow their canoes out of the trunk of this
tree.

As we conversed upon this interesting topic of northern
trees, a pair of peregrines loudly protested against our
approaching so near the shore, and in the afternoon I
twice noticed a large, very dark, and long-tailed hawk
sail majestically between the ship and the shore,
apparently taking no notice whatever of our noise
and smoke. Possibly it might have been a female
ofoshawk.

The next day we steamed through much more pic-
turesque scenery than we had hitherto seen on the
Yenesei. The banks were much more hilly, and the
course of the river much more winding. For some few
versts we steered due north ; the river not beinof more
than half a mile wide here, its character resembled that
of lake scenery.

We stopped for two hours at Samorokova in lat. 62°.
Birds were not abundant ; they were as a rule in full
moult, and were very silent and retiring. Nearly all

454 BY STEAMER TO YENESEISK

those we shot were birds of the year. I added two fresh
ones to my list, the tree-pipit and Blyth's reed-warbler
iyAcrocepJialiis dunietoruni). The latter was making a
sound like ''tick-tick.'' Sand-martins were breeding in
great numbers on the banks of the river ; they evidently
had unfledged young. As I walked on the top of the
bank, they flew at me uttering a shrill harsh cry, which I
do not remember having heard in England. The Siberian
chiffchaff and the Arctic willow-warbler were also common,
— the latter in full song, the former uttering its plaintive
alarm-note only. For some days the common sandpiper
had frequented in large numbers the sand at the water's
edge. The common gull haunted the river, and we
rarely saw the larger species. In the evening the vessel
stopped an hour to take in wood, just outside the Pod-
kamennaya Tungusk river, and in the fir-trees behind the
village I shot a couple of black-throated ouzels, female
and young.

In the dusk of the following evening we steamed up
to the entrance of the Kamin Pass, and there anchored
for the night, the pilots being unwilling to risk the navi-
gation of that part of the river without daylight.

Soon after four we got under way again. The
scenery here was certainly very fine. It looked very
different on a sunshiny summer's day from its appearance
on a blustery winter's morning. Many of the rocks
appeared to be limestone, conspicuously veined with
quartz. In one place high up the cliff was a large colony
of house-martins.

The peasants told us that the mountains are fre-
quented by a kind of ibex, which they call kabagar ; they
described it as having very small horns but long hair,
and they told us that it produces musk. This animal
must not be confounded with the kalkun a kind of goat

OUR STEAMER'S FUEL 455

found on the mountains of the tundra towards the
Katanga river. The latter is much larger, has also long-
hair, but has heavy horns.

The next day we did not get a chance of going on
shore until nearly midnight, when it was too dark to
shoot. The last few days had been oppressively hot,
and we had all found it difficult to sleep. Our food was
ill adapted to the weather. Beef, fish, and bread, with
no vegetables, are at best a somewhat heating diet, and
when the fish is sturgeon and sterlet, delicate as salmon
and rich as eel, meltinof in the mouth, the heatinu;"
properties of the regimen are increased. There scarcely
stirred a breath of air, the thermometer must have been
between 80° and 90° in the shade, and we continually
felt a stray mosquito busily employed injecting poison
into our veins. No wonder the blood gets hot and
feverish under such conditions, and that we tossed upon
our hard bunks and wooed the fickle goddess of sleep in
vain. As the result of these circumstances. Boiling and
I went on shore at midnight, the anchor having been
dropped to allow a boatload of firewood to be stored in
the barge. Our engine fires burnt a great quantity of
wood, twelve sazhins a clay, costing a rouble and a half
each. A sazhin is a stack three arshins high and as
many long, the width of the length of each log, say one
to one and a half arshins ; each arshin measures twenty-
eight English inches. We had to stop once or twice
every four-and-twenty hours to get the requisite supply
of firewood on board, and with the occasional additional
delays in getting casks of salt fish, we lost nearly a third
of our time. I always took advantage of these stoppages
to go ashore and pick up a few birds, but upon this
occasion it was dark, and I did not take my gun. Boiling
and I went out in the village to forage. We hoped to

456 BY STEAMER TO YENESEISK

find some peasant who, from the recesses of his cellars,
would bring- up milk and fruit to cool our hot blood.
We met an old acquaintance of Boiling's, and went home
with him. Curiously enough his house happened to be
the one at which we had stopped to change horses in the
winter. The man's wife was in bed, but when she heard
of our visit and of our need, she got up at once, and in
a few minutes we were luxuriating in a large basin of
deliciously cold milk and a plate of freshly gathered
bilberries. We ate so much that I was really afraid that
we should be ill, but the acid of the fruit had the desired
effect upon our fevered condition. We returned to the
steamer, and that night enjoyed a more healthy sleep
than we had had for a week or more, awaking the next
morning cool and refreshed.

Next day I had a couple of hours in the forest about
noon, but did not get a bird, my bag consisting of one
grey squirrel only. I caught a far-off glimpse of a wood-
pecker, and occasionally saw a nutcracker or a tit out of
shot. I suppose that most birds were then in full moult,
and were hiding away. The oak-fern was very abun-
dant, and I noticed for the first time the beech-fern.
Bilberries were ripe and plentiful ; cranberries grew in
less numbers and were scarcely ripe. On the banks of
the river we had seen several birds of prey ; occasionally
three or four had passed us on the wing together. It
was the first occasion on which I noticed a kite, Milvus
ater, a large bird with a long forked tail, his colour dark
brown ; when one could see the body underneath, a
broad pale band across the tail and across each wing was
visible. In the forests the mosquitoes were at this tim^e
very common and virulent, but on board we escaped
them and the midges, thanks to a cool breeze from the
north. That afternoon we passed the mouth of the Taz,

YERMAK 457

a river which it may be hoped will some day be turned
into a canal to the Ob. Three expeditions have success-
fully made the passage. The river rises from a marsh,
across which boats may be pushed to the source of a
tributary of the Kett, which flows into the Ob.

At noon on the 12th of August we passed the village
of Yermak, once the San Francisco of Siberia. The
gold mines lie some two hundred versts up the mountains
that rise behind Yermak towards the watershed of the
Yenesei and Lena. Yermak used to be five versts in
length; it was once the centre for the head offices of the
gold mines, and the emporium of Siberian gold. At that
time large houses were built in it, handsomely furnished
billiard-tables erected in them, French cooks were brought
over to prepare for the inhabitants the delicacies of a
European table, and champagne flowed like water.
Thousands of horses filled the stables of the city, its
granaries overflowed with corn, and everything that
money could buy was to be found in its stores. At the
time of my visit all this had disappeared. Each gold
mine has its offices on the spot, and the miners are
provisioned by contract. On the whole one cannot
regret the change. Such centres of luxury and riot do
much to deteriorate a nation; and the more their
dimensions can be contracted and the site removed
from the haunts of peasant life, so much the better for
the morality and ultimate prosperity of the country.

I find recorded in my journal of that day the first
sight of barn-swallows since shooting the solitary example
of the species at the Kureika. Cranes passed us going
northwards. Eagles and kites, and now and then a
small hawk, were the principal birds we met as we
steamed along.

IN THE KAMIN PASS

CHAPTER XLIV.

FROM YENESEISK TO TOMSK.

Once more in Yeneseisk — Country on the Banks of the Yenesei — Moulting
Birds - Blyth's Grass-warbler — Nordenskiold's Goods— A Holiday — A
Dinner Party at the Ispravnik's — From Yeneseisk to Krasnoyarsk — Three
Days at Krasnoyarsk — The Club — Telegraph Communication — Scurvy
amongst the Tungusks — The Neighbouring Country — From Krasnoyarsk
to Tomsk — Magnificence of the Autumn Foliage — The Villages — The
Birds — Difficulties in the Way — A Friendly Ispravnik — Tomsk— The
Wreck of the Thames.

On the morning of the 14th of August, soon after tea,
we reached Yeneseisk, having been twenty-two days on
the road, which was considered a good passage. I was
busy all the afternoon getting a large empty room in
Boiling's house fitted up to unpack and dry my skins. I
found them in better condition than I had expected, but
nevertheless far too damp for me to venture travelling
with them for a month longer, unless artificially dried.

COUNTRY NEAR YENESEISK 459

My skins being laid out so that the process of drying
might go on, I devoted most of the next day to exploring
the banks of the Yenesei. The country I found almost
flat, and for miles there stretched an extent of meadow
land that had recently been cut for hay. It was inter-
sected with numerous half-dried-up river-beds, running
parallel to the Yenesei. These beds were full of tall
carices and various water-plants, and were almost con-
cealed by the willow-trees; occasionally the water was
open, running between muddy borders. On this meadow
land wagtails were numerous, especially near the town;
but I saw only one species, the masked wagtail, Motacilla
personata. It was, however, very hard to get good
specimens of any bird. Nearly all being in full moult
they did not sing, and remained concealed in the herbage,
making it difficult to shoot them, and when shot they
proved very imperfect. Many of the young birds also
were not yet fully fledged. Kestrels were very abundant,
and I frequently saw as many as a score on the wing
together. Richard's pipit was also common, frequenting
the newly-mown meadows; I shot both old and young.
Occasionally I saw a shrike which appeared to be the
great grey shrike, but I did not succeed in bringing one
down. Magpies were numerous, especially near the
town. Singularly enough, we did not see any before
reaching Yeneseisk, yet Uleman told me that rarely
a summer passed without one or two being seen at
Vershinsky. Crows abounded, but I saw no jackdaws.
I shot both the orreat tit and the cole tit. Amongst the
willows one of the commonest birds was Blyth's grass-
warbler, Zz/^'^V^zc'/ir^yz/iT^/^, mostly young ones not yet fully
fledged. I shot one Siberian chiffchaff, but did not see
any young. My attention was frequently attracted by
small parties of young birds among the willows, uttering a

46o FROM YENESEISK TO TOMSK

loud tic-tic-tic. These proved to be Pallas's grasshopper-
warbler, LociLstella certhiola. On one occasion I heard
a similar sound, very loud and harsh, emanating from
some sedges near a pool. Presently the bird came in
view perching on a reed, and I felt sure I had a large
reed-warbler. It turned out, however, to be a male
ruby-throated warbler. Frequenting the willows I also
found the yellow-breasted bunting and the tree-pipit. In
the neighbourhood of the running water and muddy
banks sandpipers were numerous. Three species were
almost equally abundant — the common sandpiper, Tem-
minck's stint, and the green sandpiper.

There did not appear to be much actual migration
going on. Starlings were collected together in great
flocks, but probably remained until driven away by cold
weather. Now and then a small party of cranes passed
overhead, generally flying south. Boiling told me that
the swallows ought to have left before our return to
Yeneseisk. When we first arrived house-martins were
swarming, having bred on the church-towers; a few
lingered for a week, but their number appeared to
diminish daily. Occasionally I saw a swallow, which
did not seem to be a common bird at that season. On
the other hand sand-martins flew over the meadows
or skimmed over the Yenesei in thousands. Both
the common and tree-sparrows congregated in large
flocks. Hawks were very numerous; there was a large
brown buzzard, a dark-coloured kite, and several small
hawks.

Boiling meanwhile was busy superintending the
unpacking of Nordenskiold's goods. It was remarkable
how little damage they had suffered, after having lain
for a year at Koreopoffsky. On the whole the various
articles imported seemed to give satisfaction. Norden-

NORDENSKIOLD'S GOODS

461

skiold, however, had put 50 per cent, on the original
cost-price in Sweden, to cover the expense of freight,
insurance, and agents' commission ; the merchant who
bought them here would require at least 25 per cent,
profit on an average, so that ultimately double the
Swedish price would probably be demanded for them.

DOLGAN LADY S BONNET

This made some of the articles too dear for the Russian
market. Sugar, for instance, for which nine roubles a
pood was asked, was sold at the last fair in Irbit at
seven roubles. Other articles, on the other hand, were
scarcely good enough for the Siberian market, such as
nearly all the glass-ware. The Russian government had
granted entrance duty free to these goods and a further
shipment. The English manufactures gave the most

462 FROM YENESEISK TO TOMSK

satisfaction, and no doubt a still better quality of these
would have been yet more appreciated.

I spent most of the day of Saturday, the i8th of
August, in P. P. C. visits. This was a holiday ; a harvest
it must have proved to the isvostchiks, or cabdrivers.
The merchants and the various official personages sat
in state to receive visitors, and occasionally slipped out to
pay calls themselves. On a side-table in each house,
vodka, sherry, or madeira, dishes of cold meat, sardines,
dried fish, etc. were laid out, but no plates and very
little cutlery were to be seen. The visitors took a
mouthful and a orlass of wine standing chatted a few
minutes, and then left. I paid my visits with one of the
telegraph officials in uniform, who kindly translated for
me. He had just got two months' leave of absence, and
was ooinCT to Warsaw, so we arranged to travel tocrether.
I spent the whole of the next day finishing the packing-
up of my birds.

A dinner at the Ispravnik's on the following Monday
furnished me with a curious example of Yeneseisk
customs. I received a written invitation in French to
dine at two o'clock. Soon after that hour I made my
appearance, and found three other gentlemen, officials
from Krasnoyarsk, making up a party of half a dozen,
including host and hostess. After being introduced to
the other guests, I was requested to help myself from
the side-table to a glass of vodka or sherry, with a
morsel of bread and cheese, or a sardine. A card-table
was soon after placed in the centre of the room, and the
four gentlemen sat down to play a game resembling
whist, whilst I chatted in French with Madame. Some-
times Madame took a chair at the card-table, then the
Ispravnik and I would hold a laborious conversation in
Russian with the help of a dictionary. This continued

A RUSSIAN DINNER 463

until half-past three, when soup was brought in and laid
upon a side-table. The Ispravnik and I alone sat at
this table ; the card-players did not stir from their post ;
a plate of soup was placed beside each ; they quickly
despatched it and resumed their game. Courses of roast
beef, fowls, pudding, etc. followed, and between each
course the card-playing went on as usual. Half an hour
after dinner coffee was served, and after coffee cards
were continued as before, so I made my adieu highly
interested and amused. In the evening (Monday, the
20th of August) we left Yeneseisk in a post pavoska,
with our heavy luggage in a telega. The luggage being
almost all mine, I paid for three horses, and M. Spren-
berg, my companion, the young telegraph officer, for
one.

We went along very pleasantly, progressing without
any accident. The country looked very different from
what I had found it in winter. From the tops of some
of the hills we could see a great distance, and many of
the views were striking. The fine road, with the long
line of telegraph posts, descended into the valley through
a strip of partially cleared country like an English park,
and then lost itself in the forest. In the middle distance
we could catch glimpses of the winding Yenesei. On its
banks was a large village, conspicuous by its two white
churches, whilst far away rose the distant mountains,
almost as blue as the sky. As we neared Krasnoyarsk
the country became barer and bleaker, the villages larger
and more numerous, and considerable patches of black
land were under cultivation, growing oats, wheat, rye,
and hemp. Our road extended in some places for miles
through meadows where horses and cows were grazing
in great numbers. Birds were plentiful for the season of
the year. Starlings were in large flocks. In the villages

464 FROM YENESEISK TO TOMSK

sparrows and the three common species of swallow
abounded. Wagtails were also numerous, all apparently
the masked wagtail. Birds of prey were frequently to
be seen perched upon the telegraph posts ; of these the
larger number were kestrels, but occasionally a large
brown buzzard was to be seen. A grey shrike likewise
affected the telegraph wires. Magpies, carrion-crows,
and ravens also abounded. We reached Krasnoyarsk
on Friday, the 24th of August, at ten o'clock at night,
having been about fifty-two hours on the way. The
journey cost me thirty-eight roubles.

Here we spent three days very agreeably at the
family hotel of Madame Visokovoi. There is an excel-
lent club in Krasnoyarsk, where English bottled beer
and stout may be obtained at three roubles the bottle.
The club is situated in a large garden, where sometimes
two or three orange-legged hobbies may be seen together
on the wing.

The engineer of the telegraph office was a German
from Berlin, and he gave me some interesting informa-
tion about the line, which is leased to a Danish company.
It frequently happens when some of the Indian cables
are out of order or overcrowded with messages, that
from 500 to 1000 English telegrams pass through Kras-
noyarsk in a week. The fact of my travelling companion
being a telegraph official, and dressed in the government
official uniform, gave us free access to all the telegraph
offices, and it was great fun chatting freely from time to
time with the friends we had left behind us a thousand
miles or more. I found in Krasnoyarsk, in consequence
of the quantity of baggage I was bringing home, that I
should be short of money, so I wired to St. Petersburg
for five hundred roubles, and forty-eight hours afterwards
had the notes in my pocket.

PREHISTORIC BRONZES 465

I found in Professor Strebeloff a most interesting and
hig-hly educated man, and enjoyed his hospitality more
than once. To find a scientific man who could read
English and speak German was a treat. He gave me a
small collection of Siberian spiders for an entomological
friend.

The most interesting event which happened to me in
this town was, however, the purchase of a small collection
of bronze and copper celts and other instruments which
had been du^ out of the ancient araves between Krasno-
yarsk and Minusinsk.

The most interesting of these bronzes are figured as
tail-pieces in this volume. So far as I know, this little
collection, which is now in the British Museum, is unique
in this country. In Erman's "Travels in Siberia,"
published in 1848, in an English translation (vol. ii. page
139), a description will be found of a similar collection
from the same district. In an ethnological periodical
published at Toulouse, entitled Mat ^riazix pour F Histoire
Primitive etNaturelle de I' Ho7nnie (1873, page 497), a very
similar collection is described and figured (plate xvi.) by
M. E. Desor, the bronzes having been forwarded to him
for that purpose by M. Lapatine, a Russian engineer
residing in Krasnoyarsk. As I passed through St.
Petersburg on my return journey, M. Russow, the curator
of the Anthropological Museum in that city, showed me,
in their almost unique series of Siberian objects of
ethnological interest, a collection very much like my own
from the same valley, and I also discovered a case of
bronzes in the Imperial collection in the Hermitage in
St. Petersburg, evidently having the same origin. All
authorities agfree that these bronzes are the remains of a
race antecedent to any of the present races of Siberia.
M. Lapatine states that he obtained his bronzes from

2 G

466 FROM YENESEISK TO TOMSK

nomad Tatars, who collected them in the steppes whilst
feeding their flocks ; and Erman mentions that they "are
found in graves which, as the present Tatar inhabitants
of the circle maintain, belong to a race now extinct and
totally different from theirs."

Doctor Peacock presented me with a complete suit of
Tungusk summer clothes, a quiver full of arrows, and the
pipe and belt which he had got from a Tungusk at the
gold mines. In one of these districts Dr. Peacock was for
some years a physician, and he told me that on his arrival,
out of a population of five thousand men under his charge,
he had found no less than eighteen hundred suffering from
scurvy. He soon discovered that they were in the habit
of bleeding themselves twice a year, in spring and in
autumn. To this he put an end, and the following year
the number of patients afflicted with scurvy was re-
duced to eight hundred, and the year following to two
hundred.

Kibort. the Pole, who had promised to get me skins
and eggs of birds, I found had done nothing, so after
blowing him up sky high, I left loo roubles with Dorset,
the Krasnoyarsk "vet," who vowed to look after the
delinquent ; and in consequence I have received many
interesting parcels of birds from this district.

During our stay at Krasnoyarsk the weather was very
unsettled ; one day we had to put up with showers of
rain, and another with clouds of dust. The country in the
neighbourhood looked charmino- — mountain, river, rock,
and forest alternating with grassy plains and naked hills.
Birds abounded. The white wagtail which we saw was
the masked wagtail. Jackdaws were common, together
with plenty of carrion crows, but there were no hoodies.

We left Krasnoyarsk on Saturday evening at eight
o'clock, and reached Tomsk on Wednesday morning,

AUTUMNAL TINTS 467

August 29th, at ten o'clock, travelling two only out of
the four nights. The weather was fine, broken by but
one thunder-shower ; in the afternoon, however, we
found it very hot, with the sun striking in our faces. The
roads were generally good, but dusty, and it was only
now and then that we came upon a short stretch of
corduroy road, which is certainly one of the most diabolical
inventions for breaking the backs of poor travellers that
can be conceived. The scenery was very fine. We
seemed to be constantly passing through an English
nobleman's park ; the autumnal tints of the trees were
wonderful, the same that I have seen in the fall in the
American forests. The range of colours was exactly
that of the finest Newtown pippin, varying from the
richest chrome yellow to the deepest madder red. Some
of the villages we passed were very large ; occasionally
we went through a Tatar village, where the crescent
occupied the place of the cross on the church spire. We
frequently came upon gipsies who had pitched their
wiofwams outside the ofates. Now and then we met a
Buriat, a Transbaikal Mongolian. Birds were very
numerous. The carrion crow was common for perhaps
the first two hundred versts ; during the next one hundred
and fifty versts it was still found, but the hooded crow
and the hybrid between the two abounded ; and for the
last two hundred versts the hoodie only was found. The
migration of hoodies appears to have passed across
country to Yeneseisk, leaving Krasnoyarsk to the south-
east. A Pole whom I met at one of the villages, a zealous
jager and therefore an observer of birds, told me that the
hooded crow had been there as long as he had — that
is, thirteen years. The green wagtail was common, but
the white wagtail appeared to me to be the Indian or
European white wagtail, and not the masked wagtail.

468 FROM YENESEISK TO TOMSK

This journey cost me forty roubles. We might easily
have made it in twelve hours less, but the steamer from
Tomsk leaving only at 3 a.m. on the morning of the 30th,
we preferred to take it easy. We were never absolutely
stopped for horses, but we travelled under difficulties, for
six horses had been reserved by telegraph at each station
for General Sievers, who was on his way from Irkutsk,
bent on catching the steamer for which we were bound.
Early one morning we were told at one of the stations
that there were no horses, not even for our crown
padarozhnaya. We had, however, long ago reached that
chronic state of stoical imperturbability into which all old
travellers finally drift, and had ordered the samovar, and
were discussing our second cup of tea, when a Cossack
rode up full gallop, bearing orders from the Ispravnik of
the town lying thirty miles behind, to the effect that the
General might go to Hong Kong, but the Englishman
must have the horses.

At Tomsk we found a capital hotel, the " European,"
kept by a one-armed Pole, and we spent a pleasant
evening with one of the telegraph officers with whom my
travelling companion was acquainted. Here we learned
that Captain Wiggins had sold the wreck of the Thames
for six thousand roubles. I afterwards learned that the
Yeneseisk merchants who bought her were successful in
saving her in the spring, but that they made the mistake
of attempting to tow her up to Yeneseisk. After a series
of disasters she was finally stranded on a sandbank, where
it was impossible to save her when the ice broke up.
She was accordingly dismantled, and what was left of her
abandoned.

VILLAGE ON THE OK

CHAPTER XLV,

FROM TOMSK TO PERM.

From Tomsk to Tiumen — An Old Acquaintance — Cost of Steamboat
Travelling — Cooking — Tobolsk — Contrast between Russian and Tatar
Villages — Threading the Labyrinth of the Tura — The Black Kite- —
Cormorants — Asiatic White Crane — Notes of Sandpipers — Tiumen —
Russian Hotel Accommodation — Bad Roads — Ekaterinburg — Recrossing
the Ural — Iron-works — Kongur — New Railways — The Big Village.

We left Tomsk on Thursday, the 30th of August. The
water in the river was so low that the steamer was not
able to come up to the town, so we were obliged to hire
a droshky to drive us three miles to the station on
Wednesday evening, when we got into a small tug
steamer which weighed anchor at three o'clock in the
morning. The Kosagoffsky was lying about forty-five
versts down the river, and we were comfortably quartered
on board of her in time for a late breakfast. She was a
smart iron vessel, built in Tiumen, and would not have

470 FROM TOMSK TO PERM

disgraced an English dockyard. As we were going on
board we met an old acquaintance, the secretary of old
Von Gazenkampf of Turukansk, and we arranged to take
a private second-class cabin for us three. The price was
fifty roubles (about £2 each at the then rate of exchange),
which, for a journey of 3200 versts, or upwards of 2000
miles, was very cheap. For our luggage we paid at the
rate of one rouble per pood, or about eight shillings per cwt.
Our meals were served in our own room, and we had an
excellent dinner, consisting of five courses, for a rouble each.

We had an excellent cook on board, and had an
opportunity of tasting the celebrated Siberian fishes to
perfection. Fried sterlet is undoubtedly one of the finest
dishes that can be put upon the table ; it reminds one
both of trout and eel, but possesses a delicacy superior
to either. Nyelma, or white salmon, is, I think, an
over-rated fish; to my taste, it is immeasurably inferior to
pink salmon. What it might turn out in the hands of an
Enolish cook I do not know. Our cook on board was
the best I had met in Russia. He could fry to perfection,
but his roasts and his boils were not up to the mark ;
they evoked a suspicion that he had tried to kill two
birds with one stone. His boiled meat had been stewed
with an idea of making as much soup out of it as he
dared, and his roast joints never underwent destructive
combustion in any part; they were only a shade better
than boiled meat browned with some piquante sauce.

On the 3rd of September we had left the Tom and
the Ob and were steaming up the Irtish, before long to
enter the Tobol and afterwards the Tura. At noon on
Wednesday we spent a couple of hours at Tobolsk, a fine
old city with many interesting churches. Part of the
town is built upon a hill, and part on the plain. It was
formerly the capital of western Siberia, but since the

UP THE TOBOL 471

removal of the Government offices to Omsk, it has
declined in importance, its streets are wide, and paved
with thick planks or battens laid longitudinally, which
have rotted away in places, and a drive through the city
is an experience to be endured rather than enjoyed. We
found a second-class photographer in Tobolsk, from whom
I bought some photographs of Ostiaks and Samoyedes.

The next day we steamed up the Tobol accompanied
by a small steamer, which was to take us on to Tiumen,
when the river became too shallow for our vessel to
navigate. The country we passed continued to be very
flat; there was seldom any view to be had from the deck
but that of the interminable willows on either bank.
Whenever we stopped for wood in the neighbourhood of
a village, its inhabitants came out with milk, cream, eggs,
raspberries, and cranberries to sell. These Russian
hamlets looked, as usual, poor and dirty; many houses
in them falling to ruins. On the other hand, the Tatar
villages were clean and orderly.

We were nine days and nights steaming from Tomsk
to Tiumen ; but although the scenery was generally very
monotonous— for the most part a low sandbank and the
edge of an interminable willow-swamp was all that could
be seen — we nevertheless enjoyed the change. It was
something to be able to get a "square" meal. Occa-
sionally we were able to go on shore at the villages, where
we stopped to take in passengers or firewood. The stacks
of the latter at some of the stations were enormous. Our
engine-fires consumed forty sazhins a day, more than two
hundred cubic yards. Twice before reaching Tiumen we
had to change into smaller steamers, which alone were able
so late in the season to thread the shallow labyrinth of the
Tura. This river winds like a snake ; we seemed to be
perpetually describing a circle : the normal appearance was

472 FROM TOMSK TO PERM

that of circumnavigating a clump of willows, surrounded
by a narrow strip of green grass, which gradually lost itself
in a sloping bank of yellow sand. The monotony of the
journey was, however, wonderfully relieved by the abun-
dance of bird life. To lounge on deck with binocular at
hand ready to be brought to bear on any interesting bird
or group of birds was pleasant pastime.

Birds of prey were very numerous. On the meadows
around Tomsk the black kite was as common as it is in
the Golden Horn at Constantinople. Hooded crows and
magpies were constantly seen on the banks of the river ;
and near the villages we noticed jackdaws, tree-sparrows
and white wagtails. After we had entered the labyrinth
of the Tura, large flocks of rooks appeared for the first
time. WadincT and swimming" birds were ot course the
most abundant. Soon after leaving Tomsk, I noticed
about forty cormorants on a sandbank. Whenever we
passed a fishing party, gulls and terns were sure to
abound : probably the common gull and the common
tern. Ducks abounded everywhere. Cranes passed over
occasionally in small flocks, and whilst steaming up the
Tura I had a fine view of four or five Asiatic white
cranes [G7^us leiicogeranus), as they flew leisurely over our
vessel. During flight they appeared to be pure white all
over, except the outside half of each wing, which looked
jet-black.

Sandpipers were the commonest birds of all, and the
most noisy. The redshank was the loudest of all, though
perhaps the least numerous. His tyii, tyil is well known
to every ornithologist. The note of the wood-sandpiper
is very similar, but softer. This bird abounded. A less
noisy and less common, but more conspicuous bird was
the green sandpiper, whose tye, tye was frequently
heard. The common sandpiper was also by no means

TIUMEN

473

uncommon, and its meek 2ss, zss did not pass unnoticed.

As we neared Tiumen a small flock of peewits appeared,

feeding on the water's edge and flying before us from

bank to bank of the river. In one of the villages I

examined a peasant's

stock of swan's skins ;

they were the wild swan

and Bewick's swan in

about equal numbers ;

so that there can be no

doubt that both species

are found in the valley

of the Ob.

We reached Tiumen
just as the sun was set-
ting, and went to the
best hotel. The town
was one mass of mud,
and the streets full of
deep holes. Noprovision
being made for lighting
them, when darkness fell
they became utterly de-
serted. No doubt it was
the business of some
official to see something
done to improve mat-
ters. No doubt also he

was paid so much a year by the inhabitants to permit
nothinor to be done, and so long- as he could fill his
own pockets he was perfectly satisfied, I doubt not,
and the streets might go to the dogs. The Wirtkschaft
in the hotel was not much better ; if a guest was pro-
vided with a lofty room having plenty of windows and a

Mm

DOLGAN QUIVER
(Border of Yurak sovik in background)

474 FROM TOMSK TO PERM

large door, it was evidently considered all that was needful
for his comfort. A card-table, a sofa, and a couple of
chairs was furniture abundant. If he had neglected to
bring his bed and bedding he had better not undress,
but lie down upon the sofa and sleep as best he could.
Russian hotel-keepers apparently labour under the de-
lusion that travellers are subject to hydrophobia, and
must upon no account be allowed to see more than a pint
of water at a time. When we asked to wash after a dusty
journey, we were conducted to a brass machine containing
when full about a quart of water. This mysterious
looking receptacle was fixed against the wall. On lifting
a valve at the bottom about a wine-o"lass full of water
would ooze out and fall upon our hands, and this was
called washing ! To convert the dust into mud such an
arrangement sufficed, but to do anything else than this
was out of the question. On other occasions, when we
asked that the necessaries for performing our ablutions
might be brought to our rooms, a dirty flat-bottomed basin
made of brass would be carried in to us, and placed upon
the floor ; over this we were expected to stand and wash,
whilst the servant from time to time poured water upon
our hands from an ancient looking vessel, also brass, and
highly ornamented with a long narrow spout like a large
coffee-pot. You are expected to have your own soap
and your own towel. The only explanation I can suggest
for these curious customs is that they may have first
originated in the desire to avoid the communication of
infectious diseases, brass being popularly supposed in the
East to be incapable of conveying contagion. In Athens,
Constantinople, or Smyrna, for example, the mouthpiece
of your private nargilleh or chibouque is made of amber,
but in a public restaurant, if you call for a nargilleh, the
mouthpiece of the one handed to you will be of brass.

EKATERINBURG 475

Should you ask why it is not of amber, the answer will
probably be given you that amber is dangerous, being
capable of conveying infection.

We left Tiumen at sunset on Saturday night, and made
the first station in four hours, over a road which was a
disgrace to the town. No ditches bordered it, and the
rain that fell had to lie until the sun or the wind dried it
up. We could not discover the slightest evidence that
the road was ever mended. At the first station we slept
four hours, simply to recover from the effects of the
wretched journey over this highway, and then we travelled
the whole of the following day without any improvement in
the condition of our route.

The next morning, however, after a six hours' night
rest, we came upon excellent roads, and reached Ekaterin-
burg at eight o'clock in the evening. The presence of
rock on the road-side, a few stations before, indicated our
near approach to the Ural. I saw no birds of special
interest on the journey. The peasants we passed were
busy stacking their corn. We got very comfortable
quarters at the American Hotel, and spent an
interesting day. Mr. Onesime Clerk was kind enough
to do the honours of the place. He took us to see
the Emperor's private manufactory of works of art,
executed in the various valuable stones found in the
Ural. We saw huge blocks of material and several
unfinished vases, but as it was a holiday the men were
not at work.

We visited the observatory, from which there is a
panoramic view of the town, and were much astonished to
learn that the average rainfall per annum for the last
forty years has been eleven inches only (278 millimeters).
The town looked very different now in the summer time
from its winter-season appearance. It was by far the

476 FROM TOMSK TO PERM

handsomest Siberian city that I had seen, being in some
parts very picturesque.

We left Ekaterinburo- the following^ morning^ at ten
o'clock, and crossed the European frontier, soon entering
the range of hills and valleys called the Ural Mountains.
The roads were not so bad as we had expected to find
them, and we made the fourth station by nine o'clock,
putting up there for the night. We had been warned at
starting that many robberies had lately occurred on this
route, and we were recommended not to travel after dark,
and to wear our revolvers by day as conspicuously as
possible. The story ran that some convicts, after mur-
dering the soldiers who had escorted them to Siberia,
had made their escape, and were now in the Ural forests,
living by plundering the caravans that passed through.
In many places the roads over which we travelled were
mended with white quartz, and we met many telegas
laden with granite, probably destined to be used for the
same purpose. The scenery all around was very fine,
alternate hill and forest, but we saw nothing that could
possibly be called a mountain. The next morning we
were up by four o'clock, and accomplished five stations
during the day, over roads that did not deserve to be
much grumbled at. We passed the Vassilyova Iron-
works, and took with us a sample of the iron ore, which
is so magnetic that a needle clings to it with considerable
force.

Our way still lay through hills and valleys covered
with forest, and from some of the ridges we had fine and
extended views. The next day we travelled from 5 a.m.
to 8 P.M. The last thirty versts before reaching Kongur
were very heavy work, the roads almost reaching the
point when it is impossible for roads to become worse ;
they were a thick mixture of gravel and mud, with deep

KONGUR 477

ruts into which our wheels sank nearly up to the axles.
To add to our misery we were overtaken by frequent
showers of rain. We seemed generally to be on high
land, only occasionally descending into the valleys.
Rooks were very abundant, and we constantly passed
colonies of their now deserted nests in the birch-trees on
the road-side. The hooded crows seemed to live very
peaceably amongst them. We often noticed birds of the
two species amicably feeding together, but there was not
the slightest evidence of any interbreeding between them.
The rook is probably only a summer visitor here as it is
in Tiumen, and the hooded crows may possibly pair before
the rooks arrive. Jackdaws were also equally abundant,
some having the neck grey, others with a ring almost
pure white. As soon as we arrived at Kongur an isvost-
chik drove us to the house of Mr, Hawkes, Unfortunately
he was from home, attending the great fair at Nishni
Novgorod, but his manager entertained us most hospitably,
and we enjoyed some English porter, which to us was as
great a treat as champagne would have been, Kongur
was the most easterly town we visited whose streets were
lighted at night : no attempt, however, being made at
paving, we found them transformed into rivers of mud.
The four remaining stations to Perm occupied us fourteen
hours. The road was simply diabolical, and had it not
been that we could frequently leave it and travel on the
grass bordering it, we should have been much longer on
the way. Attempts to improve this highway have been
made to little or no purpose. The amount of traffic upon
it is enormous. We no sooner passed one caravan than
we came upon another ; and frequently, as far as the eye
could reach, there defiled before us one long line of
telegas, laden with g"oods en route for Siberia. In the
other direction the traffic was less.

478 FROM TOMSK TO PERM

We were told that the railway was to be opened
between Perm and Ekaterinburg the following autumn.
Another mode of transit and conveyance in this direction
will be a boon to the overworked horses, and ought to
prove a profitable speculation to all concerned in it.
When the enormous traffic is removed from this road,
the chances of mending it will improve.

The railway has since been opened, and my friend
Mr. Wardroper informs me that the price of wheat has
doubled in Tiumen in consequence of a concession
having been granted by the Government to a company
to form a line of rail from Ekaterinburg to that town.
When this line is completed there will be steam communi-
cation in summer from St. Petersburg to Tomsk, a
distance of 6630 versts, or 4200 miles.

It was an immense relief to think that we had paid
off our last yemschik, and should finish our long journey
by steam. The distances that are travelled by horses
in Siberia are enormous, and yet there is probably no
countrv in the world where so much travelling is accom-
plished by the merchants, who are obliged to visit the
great fairs regularly if they wish to buy in the cheapest
and sell in the dearest market. In the course of con-
versation with one of these merchants Siberia was half-
jokingly described to me as a big village, the main street
of which, extending from Nishni Novgorod to Kiakhta,
was about five thousand miles long, where there were
always half a million horses on the road, and where every-
body knew everybody else from one end of the street to
the other.

OSTIAK CHOOM ON THE OB

CHAPTER XLVI.

HOMEWARD BOUND.

Perm — De-Tatarisation of Russia — The Siberiak — Heavy Rain —
Autumnal Tints — Kazan — Search for a Professor — The Museum — Tatars
— Steamboat Accident — The Volga — Nishni Novgorod — Moscow — Its
Museum — St. Petersburg.

It was quite dark when we reached Perm on Saturday,
the 15th of September, and we at once drove to the
steamer Samolot, or "self-flyer," deHghted to bid a long
adieu to tarantass, telega, and Tatar yemschik, and to
find ourselves once more directly steaming towards
Europe and civilisation.

Russia has made enormous progress since the
abolition of serfdom ; yet the moment you cross its
frontier you still feel that you have left Europe and

48o HOMEWARD BOUND

European ideas behind, and are, to all intents and
purposes, among Asiatics in Asia. The Mongols are at
home there, but you are a foreigner. The late Emperor,
no doubt, did much to de-Tatarise his vast realm, and,
from what I can learn, with sure, if comparatively slow,
results. I am told that the most European town in all
the Russias is Irkutsk. Some day, doubtless, this city
will be a second New York, the capital of an Asiatic
United States, a free Siberia from the Ural to the Pacific.
This change will probably not be brought about by
revolution. The Russian is too law-loving a man to
try and free himself by force from the mother country.
He will trust to the accidents of diplomacy. Siberia will
some day be free. Every Siberian imbibes the notion of
freedom with his mother's milk. Though born in Russia,
or the child of Russian parents, he repudiates his nation-
ality, calls himself a Siberiak, and is proud of his country.
He looks down upon the Russian as the Yankee scorns
the Britisher.

We left Perm on the morning of the 1 6th of September ;
a strong sou'-wester blowing, which during the afternoon
ended in a deluge of rain. A day later on the road we
and all our goods would most likely have been drenched
throusfh. From the river we did not see much of the
town ; the banks were steep, and we only saw that part
built in the valleys which came down to the water's edge.
At a distance the lower valley seemed to be full of public
buildings, and the upper one of factories.

We had heavy gales and showers all the next day.
Only at intervals could we enjoy a walk on deck. The
banks of the Kama are hilly and well wooded, and the
trees were in all the brilliancy of their autumnal tints. I
have only seen in America any hue approaching the
chrome-yellows of the birches, or the fire-red of the

KAZAN 481

poplars. This was thoroughly Siberian, yet we were
enduring all the miseries of the worst season of European
climate. In the morning rain and wind, in the afternoon
wind and rain. Another feature in the landscape showed
that we had left Siberia: the much greater extent of land
under cultivation, and the increased number of villages.
What struck me most was the immense amount of traffic
on the river; we were continually meeting steamers towing
two, three, four, and in one instance ten large barges laden
with goods en route for Siberia.

We ought to have reached Kazan at eleven o'clock
the next morning, but a driving hurricane of wind and
rain in our teeth delayed us until three in the afternoon.
The town lay some four versts inland, and was connected
with the river by a tramway. We bargained with an
isvostchik to drive us direct to the University, a huge
pile of buildings surrounding, in a rambling fashion, a
large courtyard, possibly intended for a garden, where
confusion reigned supreme. Six hundred students from
all parts of Russia and Siberia are educated at this
University, where, no doubt, the elements of disorder
everywhere so rife in the Russian character are thoroughly
inculcated. I had a letter of introduction from an
eminent ornithologist in St. Petersburg to Professor
Peltzam, whose acquaintance I was most anxious to
make, as he had visited the Petchora the year before
Harvie- Brown and I were there. After seeking" in vain
in various official buildings we at last found an old
woman, who conducted us to the Professor's house in
the University grounds. Madame Peltzam came to the
door, and the following colloquy took place : — ** Is the
Professor at home ?" I asked. " No." " Is it possible
to send for him?" "No." "Can Madame inform me
where we might find him?" "No idea." "Can

2 II

482 HOMEWARD BOUND

Madame tell us when the Professor will be at home ? "
" Possibly late at night, or early to-morrow morning ! "
I explained that I had letters of introduction to the
Professor, and intended to leave for England early the
following morningf, and was most anxious to see him.
Madame was sorry she "could give us no further informa-
tion." Nothing more was to be said, yet what was to be
done ? Fortunately I remembered that I had another
letter to a Professor in Kazan, Professor Kovalefsky.
The isvostchik drove us to his house. The Professor
was at dinner, but most kindly came at once to see us. I
explained my vain attempts to find Dr. Peltzam, and
asked if he could arrange for me to see the ornithological
museum. He at once offered to conduct me thither in
half an hour, and promised that Dr. Peltzam should be
there to meet me. When I called again, at the expira-
tion of the prescribed time, the Professor was waiting
to escort us to the museum, and informed me that Dr.
Peltzam was already there. This was the second time
that a Russian lady had denied to me all knowledge of
the whereabouts of her husband, of whom I was in quest,
and on both occasions the denial was given in a manner
that convinced both myself and those who accompanied
me that its object was to prevent us finding the gentle-
man in question. The only explanation I can suggest
for this strange reception is that, as my companion
travelled in the uniform of the Russian service, we were
mistaken for members of the secret police, who have
power of arresting any individual at a moment's notice,
without granting him any form of trial or explanation,
and transporting him there and then to Siberia ; a
monstrous exercise of tyranny which only a chicken-
hearted nation, like the Russian, would endure for a day
without a revolution.

KAZAN MUSEUM 483

In the ornithological museum I found very little to
interest me. The birds were without localities, and
consequently without scientific value. Dr. Peltzam told
me that, since the retirement of Dr. Bogdanoff, no one
had taken up ornithology as a speciality. He showed
me what he believed to be hybrids between the capercailzie
and black game, and a couple of grey hens which had
partially assumed the male plumage. The latter were
interesting from the fact that, upon dissection, the ovary
in each case was found to have been injured by a shot,
and the birds in consequence rendered barren. Although
three years had elapsed since Dr. Peltzam's visit to the
Petchora, he had not yet prepared the scientific results
of it for the press. Whether this delay was the result of
Russian dilatoriness or of German Grundlichkeit carried
to a pedantic extreme, I cannot say.

In the ethnological department the prevailing disorder
reached its climax ; considering the locality also, the
collection was meagre in the extreme. I saw, however,
one or two things of great interest, among them a
complete suit of summer clothing, from the east of Lake
Baikal, which was said to be Tungusk. This dress was
semi-transparent, and made of bladder or fishes' skin.*
Another most interesting object was the dress of a
Shaman, the front covered with many pounds' weight of
iron, wrought into images of fishes and animals of all
kinds. It was evidently Siberian. The curator told me
that the Shaman was the doctor of the tribe, and that each
image was a present from a patient whom he had cured.
I was shown everything that could interest me, and I am
much indebted to Professor Kovalefsky, Dr. Peltzam,
and the other curators for their kindness and attention.

* These dresses are found as far east as Kamschatka, where they are used as
waterproofs. — Ed.

484 HOMEWARD BOUND

I can only regret that they are burled alive in such a
God-forsaken place as the University of Kazan.

I had now seen much of the Tatars. By their appear-
ance they seem to belong to a much higher race than the
Dolgans or Tungusks. More or less copper-coloured,
with high cheek-bones, small noses, sunken eyes, and
large jaws, their features are yet much more regular than
those of their supposed relations, and their beards more
developed. This may be the result of their more civilised
life in a more genial climate. Yet it seems to make them
indebted to the Arabs for somethino- more than their
religion. Probably the change of faith was not made
without some admixture of Arab blood, or, perhaps, like
the Turks the Tatars have undergone a national chancre

o o

of feature through the importation of Aryan blood into
their harems.

We ouQ^ht to have left Kazan at eigrht o'clock the next
morning, and we were at the station punctually at that
hour, but we waited and waited in vain — no steamer
came. At eleven a telegram arrived with the news that
our vessel had been injured by collision with another. A
spare steamer was now made ready for us, and the Kazan
passengers departed, leaving the Kama passengers to •
their fate. I was told that three hundred steamers ply
the Volra and the Kama, and considering^ the darkness
and storminess of many of the nights, and the narrowness
of the navigable channels in some parts of the river, an
occasional collision is no matter for surprise. The scenery
of the Volga was very similar to that of the Kama, but
the river was wider, the country somewhat flatter, and
the towns larger. Formerly the church was the only
stone building to be seen, now there were stone dwellings
in most of the villages we passed.

We reached Nishni Novoforod about five o'clock in

MOSCOW

48;

the afternoon of Thursday, the 20th of September, our
progress having been delayed by the strong westerly gales
that continued to prevail. The fair was over, but still a
brisk atmosphere of business pervaded the town, the
streets and bridges were crowded with traffic, and every-
thing denoted activity and prosperity. In a couple of hours
we had transferred our luggage to the railway station,
delighted once more to see a
locomotive, and to feel ourselves
drao-o-ed over rails after havino-
sat behind about fifteen hundred
horses, to say nothing of dogs
and reindeer.

We reached Moscow in good
time on Friday morning, Sep-
tember 2ist, and I lost no time
in presenting my letters of in-
troduction to M. Sabanaeff
From him I learnt that he
had ceased to pursue his orni-
thological studies, and had P"iven

o o

away his collection to one of
the Moscow museums.

The next day I spent an hour at the museum of the
University, looking over Sabanaeff's collection of birds'
skins from the Ural. In the University of Kazan I
thought disorder reigned supreme, but in that of Moscow
I was obliged to admit the final triumph of chaos. There
was a collection of more than a thousand skins of birds,
specially interesting, being collected on the boundary of
the Eastern and Western Palsearctic regions. These
skins were all mixed up, the land-birds with water-birds,
the large with the small, crammed into drawers and
cupboards, with no covering over them, not even a sheet

RUSSIAN PIPE

486

HOMEWARD BOUND

of paper to keep out the dust. Delving for information
mine was almost a hopeless task ; but I

in such a
succeeded,

to the indefatigable kindness of

M. Sabanaeff, in gaining some interesting facts.

I left Moscow on Saturday at half-past eight in the
evening, and arrived at St. Petersburg at half-past ten
the next morning. I remained a few days in this in-
teresting city, and reached home the afternoon of Wednes-
day, the loth of October, having accomplished the follow-

ing mileage : —

Sheffield to Nishni Novgorod by rail
Nishni Novgorod to Kureika by sledge
Kureika to Golchika by ship
Golchika to Yeneseisk by steamer
Yeneseisk to Tomsk by pavoska .
Tomsk to Tiumen by steamer
Tiumen to Perm by pavoska
Perm to Nishni Novgorod by steamer
Nishni Novgorod to Sheffield by rail

2,560
3.240
1,000
1,810
590

2,134
460
800

2,560

15.154

Shortly afterwards Captain Wiggins also returned,
though he had to abandon part of his baggage on account
of the badness of the roads across the Ural Mountains.
Of the adventures of the crew, all I know is that they
arrived safely in England at last. Captain Schwanenberg
weighed anchor in the Ibis on the 1 3 th of August, and by a
fluke arrived without accident on the i ith of September at
Vardo, whence he was towed to Stockholm and crossed the
Baltic arrivine at St. Petersburg- on the i ^th of December.

BRONZE FKOM ANCIENT GRAVE NEAR KRASNOYARSK

TATAR GIRL

CHAPTER XLVII.

RUSSIAN CORRUPTION.

St. Petersburg — The Turkish War — Corruption of Russian Officials —
Commercial Morality — Russian Servants — Turkish Misrule — Christianity
of the Turks — Childishness of the Russian Peasants — Russian Conserva-
tism— Financial Condition of Russia.

When we arrived in St. Petersburg we found, as might
naturally be expected, that the one topic of conversation
was the war. Everybody from the Emperor downwards
was disappointed

No one imauined that there could be

488 RUSSIAN CORRUPTION

any difficulty in the matter if the enemy were not assisted
by European alHes. The conquest of Turkey was ex-
pected to be a mere walk over the course, a march past,
with a few victories to give dclat to the Russian army.
The Emperor soon discovered his mistake. Like Louis
Napoleon in the Franco-German war, he found that his
generals had deceived him as to the state of the army.
In every department of the Government corruption had
reigned supreme so long that disaster was the inevitable
result. It was commonly reported that official incapacity
and dishonesty reached their climax in the War Office,
and every post brought fresh narratives of blunders and
defeat. The commercial world of St. Petersburg were
chuckling over a cartoon in K ladder adatsch, in which the
Russian Army was depicted with lions' heads, the officers
with asses' heads, and the generals with no heads at all.
Of course the number of the Berlin Punch containing
this lampoon was forbidden entrance into Russia, but
many copies were surreptitiously introduced. There can
be little doubt that, had not the Turkish Army been
equally mismanaged, Russia would have been ignomini-
ously defeated by her plucky little foe. But, after all,
the less said by Englishmen about Russian blunders the
better. Our fiascos in the Crimea, and recently in Zulu-
land and the Transvaal, have been quite as disgraceful ;
possibly, if the whole truth were known, much more so.

The corruption of Russian officials is beyond all
conception. Some time ago an attempt was made by
the Government to clear out the Augean stable of railway
manaoement. It was found on one of the lines that for
years the head office had been debited with an annual
sum for the repairs of a building which had never been
built, both the original sum paid for the purpose and the
subsequent annual grants for imaginary repairs having

OFFICIAL MISRULE 489

been embezzled by the local officials. The administrative
staff was cashiered in a body, but the result was un-
satisfactory in the extreme. Formerly the railway was
managed by corrupt and dishonest men who had at least
the merit of knowino- somethins; of their business. After
the change, the railway was managed by corrupt and
dishonest men who knew nothing of their business.

There is, perhaps, scarcely anything in the whole range
of Russian social politics more hopeless than this universal
official corruption. Half the Nihilism in Russia may be
traced to this source. The Russian official is very
impartial in the selection of his victims. He plunders the
Government, he plunders the people, and he plunders his
fellow officials ; but this is not all, his worst feature is that
he helps the rich to plunder the poor. If by any chance
an honest official is placed in any position of trust and
tries to act justly, the rich merchants of the district com-
bine together, and move heaven and earth to have him
displaced, so that their own petty schemes of plunder
may be renewed.

The cause of this corruption is not difficult to trace.
In a nation so recently emancipated from serfdom a high
standard of honour cannot be expected. All oriental
nations are corrupt, not because they are oriental, but
because they are governed more or less despotically.
Theft and falsehood are the natural resources of slaves.
It is only the free man who can afford to be honest, and
to tell the truth. It is unreasonable to expect a sense of
honour in the bureaucracy of any country unless it is
supported by public opinion. Russia is passing through
a stage which all nations have had to pass through, or
will have to pass through — an intermediate stage between
serfdom and freedom. Serfdom has been abolished by
the decree of the late Emperor, but the vices of serfdom

490 RUSSIAN CORRUPTION

will only be abolished by a gradual development which it
will take generations to complete. At the present time
the Russian peasant has little or no sense of honour. A
merchant does not lose caste by doing a dishonourable
action. So far from feeling any sense of shame from
having acted dishonourably, he feels a sense of com-
placency. It gives a Russian far more innate pleasure
to cheat somebody out of a rouble than to earn a rouble
honestly. He feels that he has done a clever thing by
earning a rouble dishonestly, and despises the honest man
as weak. Nevertheless there are in the Russian character
many elements of future greatness, and it is impossible to
live amongst the Russians without liking them. Those
who know Russia best will respond most heartily to the
sentiment : " Russia, with all thy faults I love thee still."
It is impossible to look upon the dishonesty and in-
capacity of the Russian officials without feeling both anger
and contempt ; but we must not confound the Russian
nation with its Qrovernors, nor can we condemn the latter
without remembering that many of their vices are
fostered by, if not inseparable from, the miserable system
of despotism under which Russia still groans. The
Russian is a child, with a child's virtues and a child's
faults, and naturally claims from any right-minded person
the pity and affection which childhood demands. The
faithfulness of a Russian servant is something wonderful.
He never tires in your service. If he has worked for
you all day, he will gladly work for you all night if
required. Nothing is too difficult for him to attempt.
He is your right-hand man in every case of need. He
can mend your carriage or your harness, and repair your
clothes or your boots. Give him a good axe, and there
is no joiner's or carpenter's work which he cannot do ; nay,
if need be, he can build you a new house almost single-

THE RUSSIAN AND THE TURK 491

handed. He can shoot your game, kill and cut up an
ox, or do any plain cooking you may require. He is the
soul of punctuality ; and if you order him to wake you at
four o'clock in the morning you may sleep soundly to the
last moment in the full confidence that, at five minutes
past that hour, it will be your own fault if you have not
made considerable progress with your toilet. He is
honest if you trust him ; but for all that, to earn a glass
of vodka he will lie without shame, and commit a petty
theft without remorse.

There must be a great future in store for a nation with
so many virtues. The Russians surely will not always
remain children. At present we may consider them to
be in a state of arrested development. A generation
or two of education would doubtless develop both the
intellectual and moral possibilities of the Russian, as it
has developed those of his Western cousins. Russia is
at this moment only beginning to rise out of the darkness
of the Middle Ages. The Russian can at least con-
gratulate himself upon the fact that there are two worse
governments than his own in Europe, the Turkish and
the Greek. The former government is probably the
worst in the world, and it is a scandal to Europe and a
shame to England that it should have been propped up
so lonof. The Turkish government is nothing" but a band
of robbers, plundering Moslem and Christian alike, a
horde of banditti whose only desert is the gallows. The
Turk himself, on the other hand, is in some respects the
best Christian in Europe. He is, in fact, too Christian.
No other nation, unless it be the Russian, would submit
to such misgovernment without a revolution.

Like the Russians, the Turks are extraordinarily
hospitable ; and, as in Russia, so in Turkey or Asia
Minor you may travel in safety into the remotest corners

492 RUSSIAN CORRUPTION

and in the wildest districts. I remember passing an
orchard in Asia Minor laden with ripe cherries. Because
I was a stranger, the Turk to whom it belonged asked
me to enter and take my fill. As we steamed down the
Yenesei, and passed a lodka, the poor fisherman flung us a
brace of sterlet on board, because we were strangers. How
differentto the English boor! "Who's him, Bill?" "Idon't
know — a stranger." " Then heave half a brick at him."

In some respects the Turk is the superior of the
Russian, for he never lies, and his word is as good as
his bond. The Turk, too, can live where the Russian
would starve. The Russian is kept in comparative
poverty by the rapacity of his Ispravnik and the venality
■of the police ; whilst the Turk thrives under far greater
robbery and more shameless injustice. How is this?
Because the Russian, like the Englishman, is a spend-
thrift, and too fond of his glass ; whilst the Turk, like the
Frenchman, is a sober, saving man. On the other side,
again, the Turk has a touch of the Spaniard or Italian
about him. It is always wise not to quarrel with a Turk.
A Turk makes a good friend, but a vindictive enemy.
With a Russian you may quarrel to your heart's content.
He has this noble trait in his character, that he never
bears malice ; and however violently you may have
■quarrelled the night before, everything is soon forgiven
and forgotten, and he meets you in the morning with a
smile on his face and a hearty shake of the hand, as if
nothing had happened. If you escaped being murdered
last night in the heat of passion, you may be sure that
you are in no danger to-day, or in the future, on the score
•of that quarrel.

Something of the good nature, the childishness, the
happy-go-lucky feeling of the Russian, which forms such
a marked feature in the national character, is doubtless

THE RUSSIAN PEASANT 493.

attributable to the fact that in the country the necessaries
of Hfe are extremely cheap, and in the towns the demand
for labour frequently exceeds the supply. Although
commercial affairs appeared to be in a chronic state of
depression, and the peasant was said to be taxed to the
last rouble note that he could possibly realise, we saw
nothing approaching destitution. Whatever may be the
case in the more densely-populated districts in South-
Russia, wherever we travelled there appeared to be a
superabundance of land. Bread, meat, milk, and
potatoes generally abounded at fabulously low prices,
and the heavy taxation did not appear, after all, to be
such a very terrible thing. Neither the peasant nor
his children had any occasion to starve. They might
possibly have to go on short rations of their favourite
tea, or be obliged to drink it without sugar ; or they
might be compelled to let their wardrobes run to seed,
and have to make up for the thinness of their old clothes
by putting an extra log on the fire. On Sundays and on
holidays the rouble which the government or its repre-
sentative had annexed would be most missed. The poor
peasant might be obliged to forego the luxury of getting
drunk, but possibly his inability to purchase vodka is a
blessing rather than a curse. The struggle for existence
in the parts of Russia which we visited is very easy, and
the rate of development of the Russian mind can only be
proportionately slow. The uneducated Russian is a
child, with a child's virtues and a child's faults. The
uneducated Englishman is a brute, a savage, with
nothing of the child about him. The Englishman has
learnt many a bitter lesson in the school of adversity.
He has had many a battle with the wolf at the door —
terrible battles — of the anguish and desperation of which
the Russian can form no conception whatever ; battles

494 RUSSIAN CORRUPTION

which have dried up his milk of human kindness, and
made him naturally as savage as the wolf with which he
has metaphorically fought. There are plenty of wolves
in Russian forests, but they seldom come to a poor man's
door as they do in England. When they do come the
man becomes a Nihilist.

During both my journeys in Russia, as well as on a
subsequent visit to St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Warsaw,
at the time of the assassination of the late Czar, I made
many enquiries respecting Nihilism. I found no difficulty
whatever in entering into conversation on the subject,
but considerable differences of opinion as to its nature
and extent prevailed. One set of opinions, which I
found principally held by the foreign residents, repre-
sented Nihilism as being confined to a handful of half-
crazy fanatics. I was told that the Russians were the
most conservative nation in the world, that when there
has been another revolution in France, and a revolution
in Germany, and when England has become a republic,
that then, and not till then, the Russians will enquire
whether their turn has not come. There is some truth
in this idea. There is a strong party, whose head-
quarters are in Moscow, who are very conservative,
attributinof all the troubles of Russia to the introduction
of Western civilisation and Western ideas, and only
desirous of going back to the days before Peter the
Great.

The other class of opinions, which I found held by
many influential and well-informed Russians, represent
Nihilism as a much more important and wide-spread
influence, which is said to be especially rife in the army,
and is being rapidly disseminated in the country by the
soldiers who have served their time and have been
dismissed to their homes. The pessimist party naturally

RUSSIAN FINANCE 495

look upon the optimists as living in a fool's paradise, and
think that a revolution which will sweep away every
vestige of rank and wealth may happen any day. I
cannot think that any such movement is possible in any
part of Russia with which I am acquainted, but the
condition of the people in South Russia may be quite
different, and a blaze once lighted, the fire would
probably sweep across the whole country and carry
everything before it.

The financial condition of Russia is most unsatis-
factory. The Crimean War, by increasing the indebted-
ness of the nation to foreign countries, brought down the
value of the paper rouble from 38^. to about 32^. The
Turkish War, from similar causes, still further reduced
it to i^d. The philosophy of the exchange is easy of
explanation. Russia has to export every year, in gold,
an amount said to be fifteen millions sterling, to pay
the interest of the national and private debts held out of
the country. After exhausting the produce of her gold
mines, roughly estimated at seven millions sterling, the
balance must be the excess of exports over imports. If
this be not enough, the price of bills on Russia (payable
in paper roubles) m.ust fall until they are low enough to
tempt merchants to buy them for the sake of purchasing
with them Russian produce, which they can sell in
Europe at a profit, and thus make up the exports to the
required amount.

Under these unfavourable circumstances Russia is
obliged to discourage imports as much as possible, and
cannot adopt free trade. The finances of the country
are in a diseased state, and cannot digest the wholesome
food of free trade, but must resort to protection as a
medicine. Some plausible physicians suggest a different
remedy. They assert that Russia should honestly admit

496

RUSSIAN CORRUPTION

her bankruptcy, and offer her creditors a fair composi-
tion, as other bankrupts do or ought to do. They say
that if Russia was to pay her interest for the future in
paper roubles, and adopt free trade, that her commerce
would develop to such an extent that the country itself
would benefit enormously, and that in the long run, by
the rise in the value of the rouble, the bondholder would
be better off than he will be when the inevitable break-
down of the present system comes.

There can be no doubt that the internal resources of
Russia are immense, and that under a wise government
which made their development possible Russia would
soon become one of the wealthiest nations of Europe.
Unfortunately the present Emperor has not the courage
to attempt to govern his country justly.

BRONZE CELT FROM ANCIENT GRAVE NEAR KRASNOYARSK

CHAPTER XLVIII.

RESULTS
AND CONCLUSIONS.

Ornithological Results of the Trip
— Siberian Forms of Birds — Discoveries of Pallas — Comparison of
European and Siberian Birds — Interbreeding of Allied Species — Affinity
of European and Japanese Species — Sub-species — Conclusion.

The ornithological results of my trip to the Yenesei were
on the whole satisfactory. It was a great disappoint-
ment to me not to get to the coast, and still more so to
miss the birds of the Kara Sea, and to arrive on the
tundra too late for most of the eo-os of which I was in
search. The enforced delay in the pine forests produced,
however, some very interesting results, and on the whole
the excursion must be pronounced a success, although I

2 I

498

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

did not solve the problems which our expedition to
the Petchora left open. It is very seldom that the
first expedition to a strange land is successful. The
pioneer can do little more than discover the localities
where future researches may be successfully made. My
great mistake was that I wintered too far north. Had I
waited the arrival of the migratory birds at Yeneseisk
instead of on the Arctic Circle, my ornithological bag
would have been increased fourfold in value. On my
return journey my time was necessarily
very limited, and I was obliged to hus-
band my ammunition. It was also the
most unfavourable time of the whole
year for making ornithological observa-
tions. During the breeding season many
birds forsake the neighbourhood of the
villages and the cultivated land and
scatter themselves through the forests.
And whilst they are moulting in the
autumn they seem to be fully aware that
their powers of flight are limited, and that,
NEAR KRASNOYARSK consequcntly, they are an easy prey to
their raptorial enemies, and therefore
they seem afraid to trust themselves on the wing. For
the most part they are silent at this season, and skulk
amongst the underwood, and it is only by chance that
one can obtain a shot at them. My plans were also
considerably disarranged by the two shipwrecks, which
did not form a part of my original programme.

The pioneer of Siberian ornithology was Pallas.*
Pallas was a very keen observer, and finding that

BRONZE CELT FROM
ANCIENT GRAVE

* Pallas's " Zoographia Russo-Asiatica " was written in 1806, though, in
consequence of the Napoleonic wars it was not printed till 1809, only published
in 1826, and scarcely known until the re-issue in 183 1.

SIBERIAN FORMS

499

many species of Siberian birds, though closely allied to
West European species, were nevertheless distinguish-
able from them, he gave them names of his own.
Modern writers on European ornithology have treated
these names with scant courtesy. In some cases, where
they have had an opportunity of comparing examples
from Siberia with West- European skins, they have
admitted the validity of his species ; but in other cases,
where they have also had access to East-European skins,
the existence of intermediate forms
has been alleged as a reason for deny-
ing the validity of the species, and
the Siberian forms have been passed
by with a contemptuous sneer, as
beneath the notice of science. In
the majority of cases, however, the
writers have never seen a Siberian
skin, and Pallas's names are consigned
to the limbo of synonyms without
note or comment. With these writers
a species is either a species or it is
nothing. They attempt to draw a

hard and fast line where nature has drawn none. They
profess to believe in the theory of the development of
species, but they never dream of looking at birds from
an evolutionary point of view. In their hearts they still
cling to the old-fashioned notion of special creations.
Their dogmatic criticism of Pallas's species, " We con-
sider this a good species," or "We cannot admit the
validity of this species," reads like a satire upon their own
ignorance.

The fact is that most Siberian birds which are
common to Europe do present marked differences in
colour, not only the resident birds, but also the

BRONZE CELT FROM

ANCIENT GRAVE NEAR

KRASNOYARSK

500 RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

migrants. If we consider the European forms as the
typical ones, then the Siberian birds are Arctic forms.
It may be interesting to enumerate some of these.

The Siberian form of the three-toed woodpecker,
which Bonaparte (adopting a manuscript name given it
by Brandt) called Picus crissoleucMs, has the under parts
almost snowy-white, whereas the European form has the
feathers of most of the under parts conspicuously striated
with black. Some of the Siberian examples, probably
vouno- birds, show some of these striations.

The Siberian form of the lesser spotted woodpecker,
to which Pallas gave the name of Picus pipra, has the
whole of the under parts unspotted silky-white, with
the exception of the under tail-coverts, which are very
slightly streaked with black. The transverse bars on
the back and rump are also nearly obsolete. It is larger
than the South European form, the wing measuring
3.75 inches, and the tail 2.5. I have shot it at Archangel
and in the valley of the Petchora, and in addition to
skins from the valley of the Yenesei, I have examples
from Lake Baikal, the Amur, and the islands of Sakhalin
and Yezo. Specimens from Norway and Sweden are,
however, somewhat intermediate, being as large as the
Siberian form, but in the colour and markings of the
back and under parts they are only very slightly paler
than the South European form.

The Siberian forms of the Lapp tit, to which Cabanis
gave the name of Pants obtectus, are much less rusty
on the flanks than Norwegian examples. It is, however,
easy to find a complete series from the Scandinavian
bird, through Archangel and Petchora skins, to the
extreme Siberian form.

The Siberian form of the marsh tit, to which
Bonaparte gave the name of Parus cavitchatkensis, is an

INTERBREEDING 501

extreme term of a somewhat complicated series. English
skins are the brownest, and have the black on the head
extending- only to the nape, and are scarcely distinguish-
able from examples of Partis palnstris from the South
of France, Italy, and Asia Minor. This form turns up
again in China. Examples of P. borealis from Norway
differ in having the back grey instead of brown. Ex-
amples from Archangel are greyer still, and have the
black on the head extending beyond the nape. Both
these characteristics are more pronounced in skins from
the Petchora, the Ob, and the Lower Yenesei, and still
more so in those from the Upper Yenesei — the true
P. camtchatkensis ; whilst in Japan a fourth form, to
which I have given the name of P. japoniciis, is found,
which combines a greyish-brown back with the great
development of the black on the head.

The Siberian form of the nuthatch, to which Lichten-
stein gave the name of Sitta uralensis. is another case in
point. Examples from the Yenesei, and also from the
north island of Japan, have the under parts almost pure
white.

Other examples of slight variations between our birds
and those of Siberia might be given, in some cases
where intermediate forms are known to exist, and in
others where they have not yet been discovered, or may
possibly not exist. The subject of the interbreeding
of nearly-allied birds in certain localities where their
geographical ranges meet or overlap, and the almost
identical subject of the existence of intermediate forms in
the intervening district between the respective geographical
ranges of nearly-allied birds, is one which has not yet
received the attention which it deserves from orni-
thologists. The older brethren of the fraternity have
always pooh-pooh'd any attempt to explain some of these

502 RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

complicated facts of nature by the theory of interbreed-
ing, and have looked upon the suggestion that hybridisa-
tion was anything but an abnormal circumstance as one
of the lamest modes of getting out of an ornithological
difficulty. The fact is that these pre- Darwinian scientific
men have adopted the theory of evolution only theoreti-
cally, and have not yet been able to overcome the effects
of early education sufficiently to adopt it practically, and
to look upon the facts of nature from the new standpoint.
The explanation of these Siberian forms of our well-
known species of birds, whether they be or be not
connected together by intermediate links, must be sought
for in Japan and North China. When we get back into
a temperate climate again, we find the familiar forms
of temperate Europe reappearing, or nearly so. For
example, the greater spotted woodpecker of South Europe
is almost identical with that of Japan, whilst that of
Siberia is white instead of pale-grey on the under parts.
The short-eared owl of South Europe is also identical
with that of North China, whilst the adult male of the
Siberian form is what ornithologists unmeaningly call the
"pale phase" of the species. The same remarks apply
to the European, Siberian, and Japanese forms of the
Ural owl. The nuthatch of China only differs from
ours in being a trifle smaller. The more one examines
this subject the more evidence one finds of the existence
of forms, the extremes of which are very distinct, but
which must be considered as only sub-specifically separ-
ated, inasmuch as a series of intermediate forms from
intervening localities connects them. Many birds, in
addition to the typical or temperate form, have an Arctic
form, in which the white is highly developed ; a desert
form, in which the yellowish-browns are predominant ;
and a tropical form — in localities where the rainfall is

THE BINOMIAL SYSTEM 503

excessive — which appears to be highly favourable to the
production of reddish-browns. It is very difficult to
determine the precise cause of these variations. At
first I was inclined to ascribe it to the direct chemical
influence of clin^iate upon the colouring matter of the
feathers, but a larger acquaintance with these Siberian
forms — which are much more numerous than I supposed,
the fact being that it is the rule and not the exception
for Siberian forms to differ from European ones — has
convinced me that the explanation must be sought in the
theory of protective colouring gradually assumed by the
survival of the fittest.

Here again the confirmed habit of the older orni-
thologists of either treating these little differences as
specific, or of ignoring them altogether, is much to be
deplored. I venture to suggest, as a punishment for
their delinquencies, that they should be exiled to Siberia
for a summer to learn to harmonise their system of
nomenclature with the facts of nature. Dr. Dryasdust
and Professor Redtape have committed themselves in
the pre- Darwinian dark ages of ornithology to a binomial
system of nomenclature, which does not easily lend itself
to the discrimination of specific forms ; and although the
American ornithologists have emancipated themselves
from the fetters of an antiquated system, English orni-
thological nomenclators still groan under the bonds of
this effete binomial system, and vex the souls of field-
naturalists with capricious changes of names in their
futile efforts to make their nomenclature subservient to a
Utopian set of rules called the Stricklandian code — laws
which are far more honoured in the breach than in the
observance, for they have done great harm to the study
of birds. It is devoutly to be wished that the rising-
generation of ornithologists may have the courage to

504

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

throw the binomial system to the dogs, and trample the
Stricklandian code under foot, and once for all study
nature and make their nomenclature harmonise with the
facts of nature.

One of the great charms of the study of ornithology
is the amount of work which still remains to be done.
The pleasure which comes from labour of any kind is
pretty much in proportion to its results, and there are
very few, if any countries in which ornithological field-
work is not amply repaid by interesting discoveries. I
trust that when the reader lays down my book he will
agree with me that there are few countries in the world
more prolific of objects of interest than Siberia.

BRONZE IKON

Lniulon.JiAn -Kurrr. v,.j;j,«>^k

INDEX

Note. — The numbers ofpa^es indicating illustrations are in italics.

Accentor montanellus, 360
Acrocephalus dumetonan, 454
Aeuckens, Mr., 199, 202
Alexievka, 131, ijj; life at, 134: birds

at, 135, 136; leave, 143; manager at,

186; final departure from, 230
Alston, Mr. E. R., 4, 19
Anser erythropus, 326
Anthus batc/iianensis, gustavi, seebohmi,

127 (note)
Archangel, Arrival at, 13; its decline

in importance, 15; Samoyede chooms

at, 17; birds, 19; intense cold at, 20;

departure from, 20 ; discovery of, 248
Arctic Circle, 126; as breeding-ground,

202 ; its flora, 229
-•Vrctic tern, 124
Arendt, Capt., 43, 48 seij., 72, 209, 230

B

Barn-sw.\llovv, 103, 104, 457

Bear, as food, 76

Birds, as food, 197, 217; circumpolar
species, 237 ; confined to Eastern Hemi-
sphere, 237 ; ranges of, 239 ; migratory,
their dates of arrival, 241 ; late breeders,
243 ; scarcity of, 304 ; geographical
range of, 420; Siberian compared with
European, 500

Birse, Mr. Charles, 13, 20

Blackcock, 302

Boats, 119 ; mode of propelling, 145, 184 ;
Russian lodkas, 248 ; navigation in
shallow water, 446, 447

Bogdanoff, on the birds of the Volga, 188

Boiling, Mr., on crows, 271, 363 ; goes ta
Yeneseisk, 430

Bolshanivagorskia, Arrive at, 29

Bolvanskaya Bay, 184, 219

Bojiasa betiilina, 46, 70

Boulegan, M., 34, 41

Boundary between Europe and Asia, 2jj,
261

Breeding-grounds, of British birds, 4 ; of
knot, p4 (note) ; of hooded crow, 13; of
Siberian pipit, 127 (note) ; of Bewick's
swan, 152; of little stint, 183, 185, 187 ;
of yellow-browed warbler, 201 ; at
Dvoinik tundra, 212-215 • ^'^ curlew
sandpiper, 236 (note) ; of nutcracker,
370

Brehm, Dr., 127 (note)

Brooks, Mr., on yellow-browed warbler,

371
Bubo maximus, 71
Bullfinch, Northern, 13, 19, 34, 54; scarlet,

118 ; song of, 3t;8
Buntings, Snow-, 24, 26, 44 ; song of, 45 ;

on Petchora, 46 ; reed-bunting, 80. 81 ;

Lapland bunting, 103 ; Little bunting,

364

Capercailzie, 25, 33, 44, 46, 302

Carpodacus crythrinus, 118, 358

Castren, 5, 40

Chancellor, Richard, 248

Chetta river, 395

Chiffchaff, Siberian, 92, 135 ; on Kureika,

336 ; habits and song, 361, 377
Chooms, 17; of Samoyedes, ./<?,• interior

of, 63 ; erection of, jg^ ; of \'uraks, 399
" Chorna chaika,' 410
Churches, "Old Believers," j6

5o6

INDEX

Clmrvinski Ostroff, 124

Collett, Mr. R., 4, 45

Constantinovka, Cape, 179, 184

Copenhagen, Arrive at, 233

<'ordeaux, Mr. John, on migration, 427

Cot-i'us collaris, 13, 16

Costumes, Dolgan, Yurak andSamoyede,
391 ; Tungusk, 483

Cranes, Common, 95 ; White Asiatic, 472

Crossbill, 13; at Archangel, 19; at Pinega,
25

Crosses, Ancient Russian, jj, ^7, b-j, 74,
96, /06, 142, 1-J7, 206, 22J, 234, 243, 244,
343,3(^8,383, 404

Crows, Hooded, 13 ; at Archangel, 19,
24. 33 ; migratory habits, 44, 46, 71 ;
carrion, 270 , interbreeding, 272 ; car-
rion, 466, 467 ; carrion, hooded, and
hybrid, 491

Cuckoo, 118; Himalayan cuckoo, 355,
362

Cuculus hifermediits, 355

Cyanecula suecica, 99

Cygnus musicus, 115

D

Desor, M. E., on Siberian bronzes, 465

Disease among Siberian tribes, 357, 438

Diver, Black-throated, 116

Dogs, of Samoyedes, 59 ; sledge, 283

Dolgan belt and trappings, 2()3 ; their
geographical distribution, 309 ; hunter,
343; friendly, 347 ; woman, j69,- boots,
-jf/j,- ethnological position, 431 ; names
for articles of dress, 432 ; honesty and
truthfulness, rightsof property, 434, 435;
lady's bonnet, 461 ; quiver, 4^3

Dotterel, 146

Dresser, Mr., 127

Ducks, Wild and pintail, 83 ; wildness
of, 86; at Habariki, 115; eider, 116;
tufted, 128 ; long-tailed, 131

Dudinka, Anchor at, 390 ; coal at, 391

Dunlins, 138, 398

Dvoinik river, 182, 184; camping out by,

20-J

Eagle, White-tailed, 52, 70
Eagle Owl, 71

Easter holidays at Ust-Zylnia, 53
Eevka river, 220

Eggs, 118; of grey plover, 140, 141; of
swan and other birds, 141 ; of peregrine,
146; oi Anihus gustavi, 150; of various
birds, 159; of Bewick's swan, 167; of
Buffon's skua, 169; Little stint, i^S;
Temminck's, 218; dunlin, 223; common
gulls' and golden-eye duck, 358 ; Little
bunting, 364, 430 j dark ouzel, 372, 429;
Asiatic golden plover, 396; red-breasted
goose, 401 ; mountain accentor, 401 ;
Temminck's stint, ruff, red-necked
phalarope, Siberian pipit, teal, Arctic
tern, Siberian herring-gull, 402 ; willow-
warbler, 429

Eider-duck, 116

Ekaterinburg, Museum at, 261 ; arrive
at, 475 ; leave, 476

Elsinore, Arrive at, 233

Emberizapusilla, 103; aureola, passerina,
344; leucocepliala, 347

Engel, Capt. , 43; adventurous life, 48;
on the Samoyedes, 48 seq., 55, 56;
erects beacons, 179 ; tows Triad, 231

Erisvanka river, 220

Erithacus calliope, 348

Erman, on Siberian bronzes, 465

Feilden, Capt., 235, 410 (note)

Fieldfare, 87, 385

Finsch, Dr., 127 (note)

Firewood, steamer, 455

Fish, Cooking of Siberian, 470

Fox, Blue, or Arctic, 282 (note), 317 ; red

fox, 283, 318
Fringilla liiiaria, 46

G

Gatke, Mr., 196, 197, 199

Geese, Wild, shooting, 7^,- night excur-
sion on Petchora after, 78-81 ; flock on
tundra, 224; migrating, 226; habits
during moulting, 228

Gcocichla sibirica, 360, 423

German manage)-, 186

Glass, Scarcity of, 308, 309

Golchika, 403; arrive at, 404; its busy
fish-trade, 405; its harbour, 412; leave,

4T3
Golievski Islands, 178
Golovinski, on \'olga birds, 188
Goosander, 116

INDEX

507

Goshawk, 123

Gray, G. R., 127 (note) '

Grus communis, 95; kucogeraniis, 472

Gulls, 80; flock of, 82; Siberian herring-,
83; perching on trees, 87 ; great black-
backed, 131; glaucous, 179; a.mong
icebergs, 32 j

H

Habariki, 55, 56; excursion to. 107;
scenery of, 108; birds at, in; rare
eggs at, 120 ; leave, 121
Halicetus albicilla, 52
Hall, Capt., 66 (note)
Hamburg, Arrival at, 233; leave, 234
Harnessing, of Russian post-horses, 11 ;

of reindeer, 60
Harvie-Brown, Mr. J. A., 4, 19, 22, 139,
140, 154. 155. 173. 222, 250; on migra-
tion, 427
Hazel-grouse, 46, 70
Heligoland, lighthouse, rSg ; its birds,

196, seq.; during migration, 198, 203
Hen-harrier, 70, 71
Henke, visits the Petchora, 5
Herring-gulls, 76; Siberian, 83
Hincndo lagopoda, 396
Hoffmansegg, 5
Hull, Arrive at, 234
Hybernation, 189
Hypodei-ma tarandi, 50 (note) ■
Hypolais, genus, 194

I

Ibex, 454

Ibis, schooner, 360; her sailmg qualities,

389
Ice, action on trees, 85; breaks up on the

Petchora, 88 ; on the Yenisei, 321 seq.;

-floes, 328-330; -mountains at Gol-

chika, 406
Iconikoff, Mr., 160
Ikon, 41, ^2, 349,367. 504
Inokentia, Father, meets Gastrin and

Schrenck, 16, 44
Irtish river, 470

J

Jackdaws, 13; at Archangel, 19. 24;

at Mezen, 27; at Ust-Zylma, 60
Jays, 13; Siberian, 25; habits of, 33

first nest of, at Ust-Zylma, 54. 59

K

Kamin Pass, 442, 43S

Kara Sea, 248

Kazan, Arrive at, 481 ; its museum, 483 ;

leave, 484
Kestrels, 459
Keyserling, A Graf, 5
Kibort, collects birds, 466
Kitiivvakes, 233
Knot, 4

Kotzoff, Siberian pilot, 16
Kovalevsky, Mr., 187,482
Krasnoyarsk, Bronze ornament from, 263 ;
arrive at, 269 ; prices at, 269 ; bronze
knives from, 310; bronze bit, 320;
bronze, JJ2; bronze fork, 42S; bronze
mirror, 433: return to, 464; telegraphic
communication with, 464; collection of
bronzes, etc., at, 465: leave, 466;
bronze celts, 4^6, 498, 4gg
Krusenstern, von, 5
Kuloi river, 23

Kureika, graphite mines, 290; road to,
292; birds at, 296, 297; winter quarters
at, 298; birds on, 307, 313, 314- 3i5;
driving with ice, J2// summer quarters.
333: spring flora, 357; Siberian pipits
at, 364; Little bunting at, 364; leave,
374; anchor at, and revisit, 440
Kuria (creek), 85, 125, 128; on Yenesei,

400
Kuya, 49, i6r; trip to, 207
Kvains, 299

Laoopus riipestris, 407

Lapatine, M., his collection of Siberian

bronzes, 465
Lanisapnis, 76; -canns, 87
Ledum palustre, 93
Levakovski, 187
Locustella certhiola, 460
Lodkas, Russian, 248
Lofoden Islands, 233
Lusciniolafuscata, 459

M

M.\Gi'iES, 13, 24, 46, 59. 70, 7t; ^'

Yenescisk, 271
Mammoth tooth, jc?9,J9-
Marsh-tit, 13, 19 . Siberian, 54. 75. 8°

5o8

INDEX

Marten, Beech, 282 (note)
Martin, Pallas's house-, 346, 385
Martes foina, -abietum, -sibirica, 582

(note) ; -zibellina, -ainericana, 283

(note)
Maydell, Baron, 127 (note)
Mealy redpoll, 19, 46 (note)
Mekitza, 20^, 2js
Merganser, Red-breasted, 145
Merlin, 70, 71
Menila fuscata, 337, 423; -atrigularis,

451

Meves, M., 93

Mez6n, 22; arrive at, -25; birds at, 26;
leave, 27 ; its river scenery, 28 ; Samoy-
edes at, 49

Mezenski Pizhma, 28

MiddendorfF, 235 (note), 250; on crows,
272 ; on migratory routes, 427

Migration, times for, 188; night, i8g ;
swallows, 190; scientific theory of, 191 ;
origin of, 192 ; cause of, 193 ; lines of,
195 ; Heligoland as resting-place, 196 ;
affected by weather, 199 ; period of,
200, 201 ; moulting during, 201 ; mor-
tality during, 201 ; hereditary impulse,
204; of geese, 226; dates of arrival,
241 ; summer migrants, 243 ; to
Kureika, 335, 340; great rush, 343,
357 ; dates of arrival of birds in valley
of Yenesei, 374; study of continental,
416 ; during glacial period, 419 ; of
grouse, 419; origin, 420; guided by
reason, 425 ; autumn rushes in England,
426 ; course of in Yenesei valley, 426

Milvus atcr, 456

Mongols, 431, 467

Moscow, Arrive at, 257 ; leave, 258 ;
return, 485 ; leave, 486

Mosquitoes, 106; plague of, 163; clouds
of, 164; veil, 776, 230, 377, 439, 441

Moiacilla borealis, 84 ; M. citreoia, iii ;
M. melanope, 339 ; M. per sonata, 459

N

Nests (see also under Eggs), 149; swan's,
/J// duck's, 152; grey plovers, 176,
177 ; Little stint, ijS, 223

Nikandrina, Arrive at, 432; birds at, 432,

433
Nishni Novgorod, Arrive at, 258
NordenskiiJld, Prof., enters Kara Sea,

249 ; success of, 253 ; his goods at

Yeneseisk, 460, 461
Nutcracker, 349
Nuthatch, 301

o

Ob river, 248; navigation of, 252; fish-
ing station on, ^/j; village on, ^69
Officials, at Ust-Zylma, 43; at Turu-

kansk, 288-291
Omsk, 266 ; Kirghis arms at, 268 ;
museum, 268

Ostiaks, of the Ob, 2ji ; cradle, 2gi ;
interior of choom, 2g2 ; exterior, 311 ;
wooden pipe, 2g8 ; of the Yenesei, 299;
baby and cradle, 300; their reindeer
and snow-spectacles, dress, and habits,
305, 306; hairdressing, 306; head-
coverings, 307; geographical distribu-
tion, 310; eating of raw flesh of birds,
312; physical characteristics, 313; cos-
tume, 3ig; anchor, 334: funeral, 338;
pipe, 338; drill, 340; friendly nature,
347 ; arrow-heads, 348; boats, 414;
choom on the Ob, 4'jg

Otocorys alpestris, 75

Outfit, for Siberia, 6

Ouzel, Dark, 372; dusky, 395; black-
throated, 451

Owl, Eagle, 71; snowy, 75, 222; short-
eared, 123; Tengmalm's, 123

Oyster-catcher, 96, 124

Palander, Capt., 253

Pallas, on Siberian ornithology, 498

Palmen, on migratory routes, 427

Parasites on reindeer, 50

Par us cinctus, 113; P. borealis, P. camt-

chatkensis, P. jap07iicus, P. obtectus,

P. palustris, 500, 501
Pavoskas, 22, 52

Peacock, Dr. , treats for scurvy, 466
Pelzam, Dr., visits Petchora,5; at Kazan,

485
Peregrine falcon , 78, 86, 146, 147, 162

Perisoreus infaiistus, 33

Perm, Arrival at, 479

Petchora, 5; visited by Schrenck, Key-
serling, von Knisenstern, Dr. Pelzam,
5 ; Henke, Hoffniansegg, 6 ; first sight

INDEX

509

of, 34 ; source and course of, 35 ; geo-
logical characteristics of banks, 40 ;
birds in valley of, 46 ; excursion after
geese on, 78 ; flocks of birds, 81-84 ;
flooded banks, loj ; delta, iij ; birds
and sport on, 122, 123; Timber Trading
Co., 143; trade on, 160; dangers of
navigation, 231

Petchorski Pizhma, 28

Petrels, Fulmar, 233

Phalaropes, Red-necked, 128, 131 ; be-
haviour when breeding, 220, 227

Phylloscopus tristis, 92, 194 ; P. super-
ciliosus, 335

Pictis crissoleuciis, P.pipra, 500

Pigeons, 19

Pigeon-Russ, 11, 31, 159

Pinega river, scenery on, 23 ; fair at, 23 ;
birds of, 25 ; Samoyedes at, 25, 49

Pine-grosbeak, 13 ; song of, 94

Piottuch, M. , 19; sledge adventure, 28;
helplessness of, 31 ; shoots snowy owl,
78 ; nickname for, 79, 211

Pipits, wildness of, 83 ; red-throated and
meadow, 84 ; Siberian, 127 (note) ;
tree-, 92, 454 ; Richards', 459

Pizhma river, 28

Planesticus, 424

Plectrophanes nivalis, 44

Plover, Grey, j, 4 ; shyness of, 138-148 ;
nest and young, 149; behaviour of,
i54i 155 ; flight. 172 ; call-note, 173,
175 ; found by Middendorff, 235 ; Asiatic
golden plover, 83 ; on Golchika tundra,
407

Popham, Mr., on Curlew Sandpiper, 236

Prahms, 208

Pratincola maiira, 93

Provisions, price of, 95, 208 ; scarcity of,
226, 227 ; cheapness of in Steppe vil-
lages, 263

" Purchas his Pilgrimes," 5, 36 (note);
67 (note)

Pustozersk, 44, 49 ; arrive at, 130

Pyrrhula rubicilla, 34

Pytkoff Mountains, 187, 213, 219

R

Railw.w-traveli.ing, in Germany, 8 ;

in Russia, 8
Ravens, 13 ; at Archangel, 19, 24 ; on

Petchora, 46

Redpoll, Mealy, 19, 46, 52, 59, 70, 80

Redstart, jj

Redwing, 434

Reindeer, 49, jj, 56, 293, 305

Reindeer-bot, 50

Rein-rests, bi

Roads, bad to Ust-Zylma, 22 ; on plains
good, 29 ; forest, 29 ; to Kureika, soft,
little used, 292 ; corduroy, 467 ; bad to
Perm, 477 ; road 5000 miles long, 478

Rosposki, 208, 2jj

Russia, political feeling in, 256 ; the two
curses of, 436 ; de-Tatarisation of,
480; her war with Turkey, 487; cor-
ruption of her officials, 488 ; Nihilism
in, 494 ; her financial condition, 495

Russians, readiness to help, 31 ; peasantry
in Siberia, 32 ; their houses, 32 ; drink-
ing habits, 53 ; procrastination, 73 ;
cunning, 99 ; baths, 165 ; grumbling,
228 ; cowardice, 253 ; shameless official
begging, 288; pipe, j^/, ^i?j/ useless
priests, 352 ; commercial dishonesty of
officials, 366-368 ; conservatism, 374 ;
servants, 490

Russow, M., on Siberian bronzes, 465

Riiticilla phanicurus, 177

Saban.\eff, M., museum collection, 485,
499 (note)

Sacharoff, M., 85

Samovar, 10

Samoyedes, 5 ; dialect, 16 ; phj'sical
characteristics, 17 ; sledges, 17 ; names
of birds, 18 ; national songs, 18 ; elec-
tion of king, 18 ; ignorance of doctors,
18; knives, 20; Captains Arendt and
Engel upon, 48-51 ; lassoing rein-'eer,
55, 56-58 ; sledges, 59 ; temperament,
64 ; good teeth, 64 ; marriage customs,
64-66 ; burial of dead, 66 ; idols of, 67 ;
conversion, 67 ; language, 97, 98 ; de-
cadence of, 99 ; skill at birds'-nesting,
171 ; trade in geese, 220 ; tomb of,
224; pipes, 2,v, 29,?, j>79/ snow spec-
tacles, 280; geographical distribution,
309 ; variable, 347 ; man, J69/ erecting
a choom, jgj ; King of, 400 ; boots,
413 ; their ethnological place, 430, 431

Sanderling, 4, i8o

Sandpiper, Curlew, 4, 18; wood-, 114;
Terek, 118

lO

INDEX

Scarlet Bullfinch, ii8, 358
Schouvaloff, 6, 250
Schrenck, A. G., 5, 16, 250
Schvvanenberg, Captain, makes use of

Captain Wiggins, 285, 286 ; his troubles

at Turukansk, 290, 291 ; goes up Ku-

reika, 306, 347 ; quarrels with Wiggins,

408, 409; comes to terms, 411 ; arrives

at St. Petersburg, 486
Sciurus vulgaris, S. hudsonius, 282 (note)
Scoter. Black, habits, 157
Scurvy, Mortality from, 398, 466
Severtzoff, on migratory routes, 427
Shooting grounds, on Petchora and

Zylma, 85, 93, loi ; at Alexievna, 134 ;

Zemelskaya tundra, 138, 139
Shore-larks, 75, •j'] ; lameness of, 84
Shrike, Great grey, 459
Siberia, hospitality of peasants in, 281 ;

influence of exiles on natives, 435 ;

economic problems of, 448, 449
Sideroff, his steamer at Habariki, 56, 104,

160 ; gives a dinner-party, 256 ; his

agent works on Captain Wiggins, 285,

286 ; his graphite mines, 290 ; fate of

his step.mer, 398, 399
Silovanoff, Arrive at, 442 ; asceticism of

people, 444 ; lost in forest, 446
Sitta urale/isis, 501
Skoptsi, religious sect, 287, 444
Skua, Buffon's, 131 ; at Alexievna, 136,

139, 140; solicitude for young, 156;

stalking, 168, 169; Richardson's skua,

147

Skylark, 93

Sledging, 7, 9; of Samoyedes, 17, 32,
adventure, 28, 30, 52 ; spill in snow,
61?/ commence long journey, 259 ; in
a snowstorm, 266; light sledges, 275;
terrible roads for, 276 ; Siberian dog-
sledge, 281 ; very light for soft roads,
292 ; reindeer sledge, 2gq

Slofftzoff, Prof., 267

Smith, Mr. Edgar A., 410 (note)

Snipe, 81; Double-, habits and habitat, 350

Snow-buntings, 24 -, at Mez6n, 26 ; at
Ust-Zylma, 44 ; flight and habits, 45,
46, 59 ; at Vadso, 69 ; flocks of, 70, 80

Snowshoes, 43 ; excursion on, 54 ; diffi-
culties with, go, 284 ; through forest
on, 296

Sparrows, House and Tree, 13 ; as sca-
vengers, 19, 24 ; on Petchora, 46, 71 ;
fondness for locality, 84, 95 ; at Yene-
seisk, 271

Squirrel, Grey, 282 (note) ; Striped, 308

(note), 360
Sianavialachta, 14J ; arrive at, 145; fal-
cons' eyries, 146 ; second visit to, 162
Steppes, Villages on, 263
Stint, Little, 4, 14 ; nest, eggs, and young,

I'/S ; tameness of, 216; habits, 217;

Temminck's stint, 96, 102, 114, 125
Stonechat, 93
St. Petersburg, bird market at, 8 ; arrive

at, 255 ; audience with Ministers, 255 ;

leave, 257 ; return to, 486
Sti-ebeloff, Prof., 465
Stricklandian Code, 503
Susloff, Michael, 289; joins company, 439;

ethnological and historical report, 447
Swallow, 103, 104, 457
Swan, Bewick's, 4, 18, 76 ; story of lost

skin and eggs, 166, 167 ; in valley of

Yenesei, 389
Swinhoe, describes Anihus giistavi, 127

(note)
Sylvia affinis, 341

Taimyr Peninsula, 235 (note)

Tamias asiaticus, T. lysteri, 308 (note)

Tarsiger cyajiuriis, 320

Tatars, ethnological relations of, 431,
484 ; village, 467 ; girl, 48"]

Taylor, Capt., 209, 230, 231

Taz river, 457

Teal, 83

"Telegas," 463, 476, 477

Tengmalm's owl, 123

Tern, Arctic, 124, 211, 398

Thames, 252 ; in winter quarters, 293,
304; frozen to bed of Yenesei, 298;
dangerous position, 328-331 ; afloat,
337 ; wreck of, jjb, 380 ; mutinous
attitude of men, 382, 383 ; fai'ewell to,
439 ; final break-up of, 468

Thrushes, Geographical distribution of,

423-425
Timarscheff, Gen., 251
Timber rafts, 133, 208
Tit, Lapp-, 113
Tiumen, Arrive at, 473 ; hotel customs,

474 ; leave, 475
I'obol river, 470
Tobolsk, 470
Tom river, 470

INDEX

511

Tomsk, 268 ; birds at, 269 ; arrive, 468 ;
leave, 469 ; birds of prey near, 472

Totiinus fuscus, 114

Trapoznikoff, M., 258

Triad, schooner, 209, 230 ; grounds in
the Petchora, 231 ; in a squall, 231

Tringa minuta, 235 (note)

Tundra at Timanski, 49; at Dvoinik,
212-215 ! ^^ Bolvanski, 219 ; flora, 229,
393 ; birds on, 394, 396 ; shell mounds
on, 40J, 410 ; fauna, flora, and climate,
414 seq. ; migratory birds, 416

Tungusks, Geographical distribution of,
310 ; bad qualities, 347 ; method of
dressing hair, 307 ; iron pipe, 2gS ;
pipe and belt, joj ; pipe, jjj

Tura river, 470

T Urdus obscurus, 340, 423

Turkish misrule, 491; hospitality, 491, 492

Turukansk (ancient Novaya Mangaze),
monastery at, 284 ; scarcity of birds,
288 ; leave, 288 ; ruined by official
peculation, 291

u

Uleman goes to Yeneseisk, 430; his
information on the natives, 431, 435;
and their marriage customs, 437

Umskia, birds at, 33 ; trip to, 51

Ural Mountains, 35 ; robberies by escaped
prisoners, 476

Ussa, its junction with Petchora, 35 ; a
path for migrants, 242

Ust-Zylma, 21 ; bad roads to, 22 ; summer
route, 22 ; Samoyede chooms at, 33 ;
streets and houses, 37 ; condition of
people, 38 ; Samoyedes at, 39 ; super-
stitions, churches, and books, 40, 41 ;
trade, 49 ; scarcity of birds, 51 ; Easter
at, 53 ; thaw, 68 ; fire at, 72 ; wedding,
72,118; tenure of land, 73 ; commune,
73 ; impressive scene, 88, 89 ; religious
procession on St. Michael's Day, 91 ;
high wa^es, 92; return to, 117; leave,
119; ploughing at. tj2 ; out of line of
migration, 241 ; headquarters at, 2^2

Varandai, 187
Verakin, M., 9

Verknaya Anbatskia, rendezvous of
Ostiaks, 450

Vershinsky, Arrive at, 438
\'iski, 127

Voguls of the Urals, 299
Volga, 187; sledge down, 259
Volgoda, 9

Vulpes lagopus, 282 (note); /'. vulgaris,
283 (note)

W

Wagtails, White, jy, 80 ; flocks of, 84 ;
Arctic yellow-, 84 ; green-, 93, 337 ;
Arctic-, 338 ; grey-, 339

Warblers, 93 ; song of Siberian chiffchaff,
94 ; of blue-throat, 100 ; of sedge-
warbler, 126 ; Transvaal, 192, 193 ;
blue-rumped, 320 ; ruby-throated, 348 ;
sedge-, winter quarters doubtful, 359 ;
Arctic willow-, 359 ; its song, 362 ;
yellow-browed-, 371 ; Blyth's reed-
454; Pallas' grasshopper-, 459

Wasilkova, Lake, 150

Waxwings, 8, 9 ; at Archangel, 19

Weather, sudden changes at Ust-Zylma,
71 ; summer, 75 ; great heat, 76 ; cold,
78, 95, 100, 103, fog, 125. 153 ; affects
migration, 199, 210; heavy squall and
waterspout, 231, 232 ; in Arctic circle,
236 ; racing south wind, 278-280 ; on
Kureika, 321 ; at Golchika, 406, 440 ;
at Krasnoyarsk, 4G7

Whales, White, 179

Wheatears, 92

Whimbrel, 84

Wigeon, 86, 115

Wiggins, Capt. , 2^j ; explores Ob, 249,
and Yenesei, 250 ; meets Seebohm,
250 ; bravery of, 252, 270 ; misfortune
at Turukansk, 285-287 ; his enterprise
and honesty, 374 ; interviews crew, 387 ;
good qualities, 388, 399 ; quarrels with
Schwanenberg, 408, 409 ; comes to
terms, 411 ; crosses Ural Mountains,
486

Willoughby, Sir Hugh, his voyage to
Novaya Zemlya, 247

Willow-grouse, 13, 97

Willow-wren, 105, 229

Wolley, J-. 3

Woodpecker, Great spotted, 13 ; lesser
spotted, 19 ; at Pinega, 25 ; black, 75^
81

Wossnessensky, 127 (note)

512

INDEX

Yakuts, Geographical distribution of,
310 ; their ethnological position, 431

Yellow-hammers, 13; on Petchora, 46,
60

Yemschik, 9, 28, 88; Siberian, 282; on
snowshoes, 284

Yenesei river, 236, 249, 254 ; width of
294; trip across, 354; lost in forest,
355, 356; island in, 42g ; its dense
forest, birds, and vegetation, 449 ;
forestitrees, 451-453 ; birds on its banks,
459 ; flora, 384, 385

Yeneseisk, Arrive at, 271 ; few birds, 271 ;
Easter festivities, 272 ; purchase of
schooner at, 275 ; leave, 276 ; birds in
and near, 296, 297 ; return, 458 ; various
birds at, 460; P. P. C. visits, and
dinner, 462 ; leave, 463

Yermak : its past prosperity, 457 ; birds

at, 457
Yooshina, 143
Yorsa, Scenery on, 123
Yuraks, Geographical distribution of,

309; dangerous, 347; hunter, JS4 ;

local names for, 400 ; ethnological

place, 431

Zemelskaya tundra, 131 ; vegetation,

137 ; flora, 145
Zessedatel of Turukansk, 286, 288, 365
Znaminski, M., 34, 42, 43, 47, 53; invites

to duck-hunt, 85, 93, 119, 187
Zylma, Sledging on the, 34 ; junction

with Petchora, 35 ; banks of, 82
Zyriani, 142 ; their habits, language, and

characteristics, 160; of the Izhnia, 299

y3

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100113991