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FORTHE  PEOPLE 

FOR  EDVCATION 

FOR  SCIENCE 


LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  AMERICAN  MUSEUM 

OF 

NATURAL  HISTORY 


THE    BIRDS    OF   SIBERIA 


THE 

BIRDS  OF  SIBERIA 

iff  ^x  /  f7 ) 

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a  combined  edition,  or  which  had  been  superseded  by 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 

S 

7 

14 

2(> 

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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London  is'  Edinburgh 


AMNH   LIBRARY 


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