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diff --git a/old/12328.txt b/old/12328.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ce2d6fa --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12328.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14049 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Tent Life in Siberia, by George Kennan + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Tent Life in Siberia + +Author: George Kennan + +Release Date: May 12, 2004 [EBook #12328] +Last Updated: December 8, 2012 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TENT LIFE IN SIBERIA *** + + + + +Produced by Josephine Paolucci and the Online Distributed Proofreading +Team. + + + + + +TENT-LIFE IN + +SIBERIA + +By GEORGE KENNAN + +[Illustration: George Kennan 1868] + + + + +Tent Life in Siberia + +A New Account of an Old Undertaking + + +Adventures among the Koraks and +Other Tribes In Kamchatka and Northern Asia + +By + +George Kennan + +Author of "Siberia and the Exile System," "Campaigning in Cuba," "The +Tragedy of Pelee," "Folk Tales of Napoleon" + +_With 32 Illustrations and Maps_ + +1910 + + + + +PREFACE TO REVISED EDITION. + + +This narrative of Siberian life and adventure was first given to the +public in 1870--just forty years ago. Since that time it has never +been out of print, and has never ceased to find readers; and the +original plates have been sent to the press so many times that they +are nearly worn out. This persistent and long-continued demand for the +book seems to indicate that it has some sort of perennial interest, +and encourages me to hope that a revised, illustrated, and greatly +enlarged edition of it will meet with a favourable reception. + +_Tent Life in Siberia_ was put to press for the first time while I +was absent in Russia. I wrote the concluding chapters of it in St. +Petersburg, and sent them to the publishers from there in the early +part of 1870. I was then so anxious to get started for the mountains +of the Caucasus that I cut the narrative as short as I possibly could, +and omitted much that I should have put in if I had had time enough +to work it into shape. The present edition contains more than fifteen +thousand words of new matter, including "Our Narrowest Escape" and +"The Aurora of the Sea," and it also describes, for the first time, +the incidents and adventures of a winter journey overland from the +Okhotsk Sea to the Volga River--a straightaway sleigh-ride of more +than five thousand miles. + +The illustrations of the present edition, which will, I hope, add +greatly to its interest, are partly from paintings by George A. Frost, +who was with me on both of my Siberian expeditions; and partly from +photographs taken by Messrs. Jochelson and Bogoras, two Russian +political exiles, who made the scientific investigations for the Jesup +North Pacific Expedition on the Asiatic side of Bering Strait. + +I desire gratefully to acknowledge my indebtedness to The Century +Company for permission to use parts of two articles originally written +for _St. Nicholas_; to Mrs. A.D. Frost, of North Cambridge, Mass., +for photographs of her late husband's paintings; and to the American +Museum of Natural History for the right to reproduce the Siberian +photographs of Messrs. Jochelson and Bogoras. + +GEORGE KENNAN. + +BEAUFORT, S.C. + +February 16, 1910. + + + + +PREFACE + +The attempt which was made by the Western Union Telegraph Company, in +1865-66 and 67, to build an overland line to Europe via Alaska, +Bering Strait, and Siberia, was in some respects the most remarkable +undertaking of the nineteenth century. Bold in its conception, and +important in the ends at which it aimed, it attracted at one time +the attention of the whole civilised world, and was regarded as the +greatest telegraphic enterprise which had ever engaged American +capital. Like all unsuccessful ventures, however, in this progressive +age, it has been speedily forgotten, and the brilliant success of the +Atlantic cable has driven it entirely out of the public mind. Most +readers are familiar with the principal facts in the history of this +enterprise, from its organisation to its ultimate abandonment; but +only a few, even of its original projectors, know anything about the +work which it accomplished in British Columbia, Alaska, and Siberia; +the obstacles which were met and overcome by its exploring and working +parties; and the contributions which it made to our knowledge of an +hitherto untravelled, unvisited region. Its employees, in the +course of two years, explored nearly six thousand miles of unbroken +wilderness, extending from Vancouver Island on the American coast to +Bering Strait, and from Bering Strait to the Chinese frontier in +Asia. The traces of their deserted camps may be found in the wildest +mountain fastnesses of Kamchatka, on the vast desolate plains of +north-eastern Siberia, and throughout the gloomy pine forests of +Alaska and British Columbia. Mounted on reindeer, they traversed the +most rugged passes of the north Asiatic mountains; they floated in +skin canoes down the great rivers of the north; slept in the smoky +_pologs_ of the Siberian Chukchis (chook'-chees); and camped out upon +desolate northern plains in temperatures of 50 deg. and 60 deg. below zero. +The poles which they erected and the houses which they built now stand +alone in an encircling wilderness,--the only results of their three +years' labour and suffering, and the only monuments of an abandoned +enterprise. + +It is not my purpose to write a history of the Russian-American +telegraph. The success of its rival, the Atlantic cable, has +completely overshadowed its early importance, and its own failure +has deprived it of all its interest for American readers. Though its +history, however, be unimportant, the surveys and explorations which +were planned and executed under its auspices have a value and an +interest of their own, aside from the object for which they were +undertaken. The territory which they covered is little known to the +reading world, and its nomadic inhabitants have been rarely visited +by civilised man. Only a few adventurous traders and fur-hunters have +ever penetrated its almost unbroken solitudes, and it is not probable +that civilised men will ever follow in their steps. The country holds +out to the ordinary traveller no inducement commensurate with the risk +and hardship which its exploration involves. + +Two of the employees of the Russian-American Telegraph Company, +Messrs. Whymper and Dall, have already published accounts of their +travels in various parts of British Columbia and Alaska; and believing +that a history of the Company's explorations on the other side +of Bering Strait will possess equal interest, I have written the +following narrative of two years' life in north-eastern Siberia. It +makes no pretensions whatever to fulness of scientific information, +nor to any very extraordinary researches of any kind. It is intended +simply to convey as clear and accurate an idea as possible of the +inhabitants, scenery, customs, and general external features of a +new and comparatively unknown country. It is essentially a personal +narrative of life in Siberia and Kamchatka; and its claim to attention +lies rather in the freshness of the subject, than in any special +devotion to science or skill of treatment. + + + +[Illustration: Head covering used in stalking seals] + + + + +CONTENTS + + +PREFACE + + +CHAPTER I + +THE OVERLAND TELEGRAPH LINE TO RUSSIA--SAILING OF THE FIRST SIBERIAN +EXPLORING PARTY FROM SAN FRANCISCO + + +CHAPTER II + +CROSSING THE NORTH PACIFIC--SEVEN WEEKS IN A RUSSIAN BRIG + + +CHAPTER III + +THE PICTURESQUE COAST OF KAMCHATKA--ARRIVAL IN PETROPAVLOVSK + + +CHAPTER IV + +THINGS RUSSIAN IN KAMCHATKA--A VERDANT AND FLOWERY LAND--THE VILLAGE +OF TWO SAINTS + + +CHAPTER V + +FIRST ATTEMPT TO LEARN RUSSIAN--PLAN OF EXPLORATION--DIVISION OF PARTY + + +CHAPTER VI + +A COSSACK WEDDING--THE PENINSULA OF KAMCHATKA + + +CHAPTER VII + +STARTING NORTHWARD--KAMCHATKAN SCENERY, VILLAGES, AND PEOPLE + + +CHAPTER VIII + +BRIDLE PATHS OF SOUTHERN KAMCHATKA--HOUSES AND FOOD OF THE +PEOPLE--REINDEER TONGUES AND WILD-ROSE PETALS--A KAMCHATKAN DRIVER'S +CANTICLE + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE BEAUTIFUL VALLEY OF GENAL--WALLS OF LITERATURE--SCARING UP A +BEAR--END OF HORSEBACK RIDE + + +CHAPTER X + +THE KAMCHATKA RIVER--LIFE ON A CANOE RAFT--RECEPTION AT +MILKOVA--MISTAKEN FOR THE TSAR + + +CHAPTER XI + +ARRIVAL AT KLUCHEI--THE KLUCHEFSKOI VOLCANO--A QUESTION OF ROUTE--A +RUSSIAN "BLACK BATH" + + +CHAPTER XII + +CANOE TRAVEL ON THE YOLOFKA--VOLCANIC CONVERSATION--"O +SUSANNA!"--TALKING "AMERICAN"--A DIFFICULT ASCENT + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A DISMAL NIGHT--CROSSING THE KAMCHATKAN DIVIDE--ANOTHER BEAR +HUNT--BREAKNECK RIDING--TIGIL--STEPPES OF NORTHERN KAMCHATKA + + +CHAPTER XIV + +OKHOTSK SEACOAST--LESNOI--THE "DEVIL'S PASS"--LOST IN +SNOW-STORM--SAVED BY BRASS BOX--WILD SCENE + + +CHAPTER XV + +CUT OFF BY STORM--STARVATION THREATENED--RACE WITH A RISING TIDE--TWO +DAYS WITH FOOD--RETURN TO LESNOI + + +CHAPTER XVI + +KAMCHATKAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENTS--CHARACTER OF PEOPLE-- +SALMON-FISHING--SABLE-TRAPPING--KAMCHADAL LANGUAGE--NATIVE +MUSIC--DOG-DRIVING--WINTER DRESS + + +CHAPTER XVII + +A FRESH START--CROSSING THE SAMANKA MOUNS ON A KORAK ENCAMPMENT-- +NOMADS AND THEIR TENTS--DOOR-HOLES AND DOGS--POLOGS--KORAK BREAD + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +WHY THE KORAKS WANDER--THEIR INDEPENDENCE--CHEERLESS LIFE--USES OF +THE REINDEER--KORAK IDEAS OF DISTANCE--"MONARCH OF THE BRASS-HANDLED +SWORD." + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE SNOW-DRIFT COMPASS--MARRIAGE BY CAPTURE--AN INTOXICATING +FUNGUS--MONOTONY OF KORAK LIFE + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE KORAK TONGUE--RELIGION OF TERROR--INCANTATIONS OF SHAMANS--KILLING +OF OLD AND SICK--REINDEER SUPERSTITION--KORAK CHARACTER + + +CHAPTER XXI + +FIRST FROST-BITE--THE SETTLED KORAKS--HOUR-GLASS YURTS--CLIMBING +DOWN CHIMNEYS--YURT INTERIORS--LEGS AS FEATURES--TRAVELLING BY +"PAVOSKA"--BAD CHARACTER OF SETTLED KORAKS + + +CHAPTER XXII + +FIRST ATTEMPT AT DOG-DRIVING--UNPREMEDITATED PROFANITY--A +RUNAWAY--ARRIVAL AT GIZHIGA--HOSPITALITY OF THE ISPRAVNIK--PLANS FOR +THE WINTER + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +DOG-SLEDGE TRAVEL--ARCTIC MIRAGES--CAMP AT NIGHT A HOWLING +CHORUS--NORTHERN LIGHTS + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +DISMAL SHELTER--ARRIVAL OF A COSSACK COURIER--AMERICANS ON THE +ANADYR--ARCTIC FIREWOOD--A SIBERIAN BLIZZARD--LOST ON THE STEPPE + + +CHAPTER XXV + +PENZHINA--POSTS FOR ELEVATED ROAD--FIFTY-THREE BELOW ZERO--TALKED +OUT--ASTRONOMICAL LECTURES--EATING PLANETS--THE HOUSE OF A PRIEST + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +ANADYRSK--AN ARCTIC OUTPOST--SEVERE CLIMATE--CHRISTMAS SERVICES +AND CAROLS--A SIBERIAN BALL--MUSIC AND REFRESHMENTS--EXCITED +DANCING--HOLIDAY AMUSEMENTS + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +NEWS FROM THE ANADYR PARTY--PLAN FOR ITS RELIEF--THE STORY OF A +STOVE-PIPE--START FOR THE SEACOAST + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +A SLEDGE JOURNEY EASTWARD--REACHING TIDEWATER--A NIGHT SEARCH FOR +A STOVE-PIPE--FINDING COMRADES--A VOICE FROM A STOVE--STORY OF THE +ANADYR PARTY + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +CLASSIFICATION OF NATIVES--INDIAN TYPE, MONGOLIAN TYPE, AND TURKISH +TYPE--EASTERN VIEW OF WESTERN ARTS AND FASHIONS--AN AMERICAN SAINT + + +CHAPTER XXX + +AN ARCTIC AURORA--ORDERS FROM THE MAJOR--ADVENTURES OF MACRAE AND +ARNOLD WITH THE CHUKCHIS--RETURN TO GIZHIGA--REVIEW OF WINTER'S WORK + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +LAST WORK OF THE WINTER--BIRDS AND FLOWERS OF SPRING--CONTINUOUS +DAYLIGHT--SOCIAL LIFE IN GIZHIGA--A CURIOUS SICKNESS--SUMMER DAYS AND +NIGHTS--NEWS FROM AMERICA + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +DULL LIFE--ARCTIC MOSQUITOES--WAITING FOR SUPPLIES--SHIPS +SIGNALLED--BARK "CLARA BELL"--RUSSIAN CORVETTE "VARAG" + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +ARRIVAL OF BARK "PALMETTO"--DRIVEN ASHORE BY GALE--DISCHARGING +CARGO UNDER DIFFICULTIES--NEGRO CREW MUTINIES--LONELY TRIP TO +ANADYRSK--STUPID KORAKS--EXPLOSIVE PROVISIONS + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +A MEETING IN THE NIGHT--HARDSHIPS OF BUSH'S PARTY--SIBERIAN +FAMINES--FISH SAVINGS BANKS--WORK IN THE NORTHERN DISTRICT--STARVING +POLE CUTTERS--A JOURNEY TO YAMSK + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +YURT ON THE TOPOLOFKA--THE VALLEY OF TEMPESTS--RIVER OF THE +LOST--STORM BOUND--ESCAPE BY THE ICE-FOOT--A SLEEPLESS NIGHT--LEET +REPORTED DEAD--YAMSK AT LAST + + +CHAPTER XXXVI BRIGHT ANTICIPATIONS---A WHALE-SHIP SIGNALLED--THE BARK +"SEA BREEZE"--NEWS FROM THE ATLANTIC CABLE--REPORTED ABANDONMENT OF +THE OVERLAND LINE + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +OFFICIAL CONFIRMATION OF THE BAD NEWS--THE ENTERPRISE ABANDONED--A +VOYAGE TO OKHOTSK--THE AURORA OF THE SEA + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +CLOSING UP THE BUSINESS--A BARGAIN SALE--TELEGRAPH TEACUPS +REDUCED--CHEAP SHOVELS FOR GRAVE-DIGGING--WIRE FISH NETS AT A +SACRIFICE--OUR NARROWEST ESCAPE--BLOWN OUT TO SEA--SAVED BY THE +"ONWARD" + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +START FOR ST. PETERSBURG--ROUTE TO YAKUTSK--A TUNGUSE ENCAMPMENT-- +CROSSING THE STANAVOI MOUNTAINS--SEVERE COLD--FIRE-LIGHTED SMOKE +PILLARS--ARRIVAL IN YAKUTSK + + +CHAPTER XL + +THE GREATEST HORSE-EXPRESS SERVICE IN THE WORLD--EQUIPMENT FOR +THE ROAD--A SIBERIAN "SEND-OFF"--POST TRAVEL ON THE ICE--BROKEN +SLEEP--DRIVING INTO AN AIR-HOLE--REPAIRING DAMAGES--FIRST SIGHT OF +IRKUTSK + + +CHAPTER XLI + +A PLUNGE INTO CIVILISATION--THE NOBLES' BALL--SHOCKING LANGUAGE-- +SHAKESPEARE'S ENGLISH--THE GREAT SIBERIAN ROAD--PASSING TEA +CARAVANS--RAPID TRAVEL--FIFTY-SEVEN HUNDRED MILES IN ELEVEN +WEEKS--ARRIVAL IN ST. PETERSBURG + + +INDEX + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +GEORGE KENNAN, 1868 + +A TENT OF THE WANDERING KORAKS IN SUMMER + +TOWARD NIGHT: A TIRED DOG-TEAM From a painting by George A. Frost. + +WANDERING KORAKS WITH THEIR REINDEER AND SLEDGES From a painting by +George A. Frost. + +A MAN OF THE WANDERING KORAKS + +TENTS AND REINDEER OF THE WANDERING KORAKS From a painting by George +A. Frost. + +DRAWINGS OF THE KORAKS. ILLUSTRATIVE OF THEIR MYTHS + +A KORAK GIRL + +KORAK DOGS SACRIFICED TO PROPITIATE THE SPIRITS OF EVIL + +A RACE OF WANDERING KORAK REINDEER TEAMS From a painting by George A. +Frost. + +HOUR-GLASS HOUSES OF THE SETTLED KORAKS From a model in The American +Museum of Natural History. + +INTERIOR OF A KORAK YURT. GETTING FIRE WITH THE FIRE DRILL From a +photograph in The American Museum of Natural History. + +A WOMAN ENTERING A YURT OF THE SETTLED KORAKS + +SETTLED KORAKS IN A TRIAL OF STRENGTH + +AN OLD MAN OF THE SETTLED KORAKS From a photograph in The American +Museum of Natural History. + +YURT AND DOG-TEAM OF THE SETTLED KORAKS From a painting by George A. +Frost. + +A WOMAN FEEDING A DOG-TEAM IN GIZHIGA From a, painting by George A. +Frost. + +INTERIOR OF A YURT OF THE SETTLED KORAKS + +DOG-TEAMS DESCENDING A STEEP MOUNTAIN SLOPE + +CHUKCHIS ASSEMBLING AT ANADYRSK FOR THE WINTER FAIR + +ANADYRSK IN WINTER + +A MAN OF THE YUKAGIRS + +A MAN OF THE WANDERING CHUKCHIS + +TUNGUSE MAN AND WOMAN IN BEST SUMMER DRESS + +A TUNGUSE SUMMER TENT + +A CHUKCHI RUG OF REINDEER SKIN + +TUNGUSES ON REINDEER-BACK MOVING THEIR ENCAMPMENT From a photograph in +The American Museum of Natural History. + +A YURT OF THE SETTLED KORAKS IN MIDWINTER + +AN ARCTIC FUNERAL + +THE YURT IN THE "STORMY GORGE OF THE VILIGA" From a painting by George +A. Frost. + +MAPS + + + + +TENT LIFE IN SIBERIA + + +CHAPTER I + + +THE OVERLAND TELEGRAPH LINE TO RUSSIA--SAILING OF THE FIRST SIBERIAN +EXPLORING PARTY FROM SAN FRANCISCO. + +The Russian-American Telegraph Company, otherwise known as the +"Western Union Extension," was organised at New York in the summer +of 1864. The idea of a line from America to Europe, by way of Bering +Strait, had existed for many years in the minds of several prominent +telegraphers, and had been proposed by Perry McD. Collins, as early +as 1857, when he made his trip across northern Asia. It was never +seriously considered, however, until after the failure of the first +Atlantic cable, when the expediency of an overland line between the +two continents began to be earnestly discussed. The plan of Mr. +Collins, which was submitted to the Western Union Telegraph Company of +New York as early as 1863, seemed to be the most practicable of all +the projects which were suggested for intercontinental communication. +It proposed to unite the telegraphic systems of America and Russia by +a line through British Columbia, Russian America, and north-eastern +Siberia, meeting the Russian lines at the mouth of the Amur (ah-moor) +River on the Asiatic coast, and forming one continuous girdle of wire +nearly round the globe. + +This plan possessed many very obvious advantages. It called for +no long cables. It provided for a line which would run everywhere +overland, except for a short distance at Bering Strait, and which +could be easily repaired when injured by accident or storm. It +promised also to extend its line eventually down the Asiatic coast to +Peking, and to develop a large and profitable business with China. +All these considerations recommended it strongly to the favour of +capitalists and practical telegraph men, and it was finally adopted +by the Western Union Telegraph Company in 1863. It was foreseen, of +course, that the next Atlantic cable might succeed, and that such +success would prove very damaging, if not fatal, to the prospects +of the proposed overland line. Such an event, however, did not seem +probable, and in view of all the circumstances, the Company decided to +assume the inevitable risk. + +A contract was entered into with the Russian Government, providing for +the extension of the latter's line through Siberia to the mouth of +the Amur River, and granting to the Company certain extraordinary +privileges in Russian territory. Similar concessions were obtained +in 1864 from the British Government; assistance was promised by the +United States Congress; and the Western Union Extension Company was +immediately organised, with a nominal capital of $10,000,000. The +stock was rapidly taken, principally by the stockholders of the +original Western Union Company, and an assessment of five per cent. +was immediately made to provide funds for the prosecution of the +work. Such was the faith at this time in the ultimate success of +the enterprise that in less than two months its stock sold for +seventy-five dollars per share, with only one assessment of five +dollars paid in. + +In August, 1864, Colonel Charles S. Bulkley, formerly Superintendent +of Military Telegraphs in the Department of the Gulf, was appointed +engineer-in-chief of the proposed line, and in December he sailed from +New York for San Francisco, to organise and fit out exploring parties, +and to begin active operations. + +Led by a desire of identifying myself with so novel and important an +enterprise, as well as by a natural love of travel and adventure which +I had never before been able to gratify, I offered my services as an +explorer soon after the projection of the line. My application was +favourably considered, and on the 13th of December I sailed from New +York with the engineer-in-chief, for the proposed headquarters of +the Company at San Francisco. Colonel Bulkley, immediately after his +arrival, opened an office in Montgomery Street, and began organising +exploring parties to make a preliminary survey of the route of the +line. No sooner did it become noised about the city that men were +wanted to explore the unknown regions of British Columbia, Russian +America, and Siberia, than the Company's office was thronged with +eager applicants for positions, in any and every capacity. + +Adventurous Micawbers, who had long been waiting for something of +this kind to turn up; broken-down miners, who hoped to retrieve their +fortunes in new gold-fields yet to be discovered in the north; and +returned soldiers thirsting for fresh excitement,--all hastened to +offer their services as pioneers in the great work. Trained and +skilled engineers were in active demand; but the supply of only +ordinary men, who made up in enthusiasm what they lacked in +experience, was unlimited. + +Month after month passed slowly away in the selection, organisation, +and equipment of parties, until at last, in June, 1865, the Company's +vessels were reported ready for sea. + +The plan of operations, so far as it had then been decided upon, was +to land one party in British Columbia, near the mouth of the Frazer +River; one in Russian-America, at Norton Sound; and one on the Asiatic +side of Bering Strait, at the mouth of the Anadyr (ah-nah'-dyr) River. +These parties, under the direction respectively of Messrs. Pope, +Kennicott, and Macrae, were directed to push back into the interior, +following as far as practicable the courses of the rivers near which +they were landed; to obtain all possible information with regard to +the climate, soil, timber, and inhabitants of the regions traversed; +and to locate, in a general way, a route for the proposed line. + +The two American parties would have comparatively advantageous bases +of operations at Victoria and Fort St. Michael; but the Siberian +party, if left on the Asiatic coast at all, must be landed near Bering +Strait, on the edge of a barren, desolate region, nearly a thousand +miles from any known settlement. Thrown thus upon its own resources, +in an unknown country, and among nomadic tribes of hostile natives, +without any means of interior transportation except canoes, the safety +and success of this party were by no means assured. It was even +asserted by many friends of the enterprise, that to leave men in such +a situation, and under such circumstances, was to abandon them to +almost certain death; and the Russian consul at San Francisco wrote a +letter to Colonel Bulkley, advising him strongly not to land a party +on the Asiatic coast of the North Pacific, but to send it instead to +one of the Russian ports of the Okhotsk Sea, where it could establish +a base of supplies, obtain information with regard to the interior, +and procure horses or dog-sledges for overland explorations in any +desired direction. + +The wisdom and good sense of this advice were apparent to all; but +unfortunately the engineer-in-chief had no vessel that he could send +with a party into the Okhotsk Sea, and if men were landed at all that +summer on the Asiatic coast, they must be landed near Bering Strait. + +Late in June, however, Colonel Bulkley learned that a small Russian +trading-vessel named the _Olga_ was about to sail from San Francisco +for Kamchatka (kam-chat'-kah) and the south-western coast of the +Okhotsk Sea, and he succeeded in prevailing upon the owners to take +four men as passengers to the Russian settlement of Nikolaievsk +(nik-o-lai'-evsk), at the mouth of the Amur River. This, although not +so desirable a point for beginning operations as some others on the +northern coast of the Sea, was still much better than any which could +be selected on the Asiatic coast of the North Pacific; and a party was +soon organised to sail in the _Olga_ for Kamchatka and the mouth of +the Amur. This party consisted of Major S. Abaza, a Russian gentleman +who had been appointed superintendent of the work, and leader of the +forces in Siberia; James A. Mahood, a civil engineer of reputation in +California; R. J. Bush, who had just returned from three years' active +service in the Carolinas, and myself,--not a very formidable force in +point of numbers, nor a very remarkable one in point of experience, +but strong in hope, self-reliance, and enthusiasm. + +On the 28th of June, we were notified that the brig _Olga_ had nearly +all her cargo aboard, and would have "immediate despatch." + +This marine metaphor, as we afterward learned, meant only that she +would sail some time in the course of the summer; but we, in our +trustful inexperience, supposed that the brig must be all ready to +cast off her moorings, and the announcement threw us into all +the excitement and confusion of hasty preparation for a start. +Dress-coats, linen shirts, and fine boots were recklessly thrown or +given away; blankets, heavy shoes, and overshirts of flannel were +purchased in large quantities; rifles, revolvers, and bowie-knives of +formidable dimensions gave our room the appearance of a disorganised +arsenal; pots of arsenic, jars of alcohol, butterfly-nets, snake-bags, +pill-boxes, and a dozen other implements and appliances of science +about which we knew nothing, were given to us by our enthusiastic +naturalists and packed away in big boxes; Wrangell's (vrang'el's) +_Travels_, Gray's _Botany_, and a few scientific works were added to +our small library; and before night we were able to report ourselves +ready--armed and equipped for any adventure, from the capture of a new +species of bug, to the conquest of Kamchatka! + +As it was against all precedent to go to sea without looking at the +ship, Bush and I appointed ourselves an examining committee for the +party, and walked down to the wharf where she lay. The captain, a +bluff Americanised German, met us at the gangway and guided us through +the little brig from stem to stern. Our limited marine experience +would not have qualified us to pass an _ex cathedra_ judgment upon the +seaworthiness of a mud-scow; but Bush, with characteristic impudence +and versatility of talent, discoursed learnedly to the skipper upon +the beauty of his vessel's "lines" (whatever those were), her spread +of canvas and build generally,--discussed the comparative merits +of single and double topsails, and new patent yard-slings, and +reef-tackle, and altogether displayed such an amount of nautical +learning that it completely crushed me and staggered even the captain. + +I strongly suspected that Bush had acquired most of his knowledge of +sea terms from a cursory perusal of Bowditch's _Navigator_, which +I had seen lying on the office table, and I privately resolved to +procure a compact edition of Marryat's sea tales as soon as I should +go ashore, and overwhelm him next time with such accumulated stores of +nautical erudition that he would hide his diminished head. I had a dim +recollection of reading something in Cooper's novels about a ship's +deadheads and cat's eyes, or cat-heads and deadeyes, I could not +remember which, and, determined not to be ignored as an inexperienced +landlubber, I gazed in a vague way into the rigging, and made a +few very general observations upon the nature of deadeyes and +spanker-booms. The captain, however, promptly annihilated me by +demanding categorically whether I had ever seen the spanker-boom +jammed with the foretopsailyard, with the wind abeam. I replied +meekly that I believed such a catastrophe had never occurred under +my immediate observation, and as he turned to Bush with a smile of +commiseration for my ignorance I ground my teeth and went below to +inspect the pantry. Here I felt more at home. The long rows of canned +provisions, beef stock, concentrated milk, pie fruits, and a small +keg, bearing the quaint inscription, "Zante cur.," soon soothed my +perturbed spirit and convinced me beyond the shadow of a doubt that +the _Olga_ was stanch and seaworthy, and built in the latest and most +improved style of marine architecture. + +I therefore went up to tell Bush that I had made a careful and +critical examination of the vessel below, and that she would +undoubtedly do. I omitted to state the nature of the observations +upon which this conclusion was founded, but he asked no troublesome +questions, and we returned to the office with a favourable report of +the ship's build, capacity, and outfit. + +On Saturday, July 1st, the _Olga_ took in the last of her cargo, and +was hauled out into the stream. + +Our farewell letters were hastily written home, our final preparations +made, and at nine o'clock on Monday morning we assembled at the Howard +Street wharf, where the steam-tug lay which was to tow us out to sea. + +A large party of friends had gathered to bid us good-bye; and the +pier, covered with bright dresses and blue uniforms, presented quite a +holiday appearance in the warm clear sunshine of a California morning. + +Our last instructions were delivered to us by Colonel Bulkley, with +many hearty wishes for our health and success; laughing invitations +to "come and see us" were extended to our less fortunate comrades who +were left behind; requests to send back specimens of the North +pole and the aurora borealis were intermingled with directions for +preserving birds and collecting bugs; and amid a general confusion +of congratulations, good wishes, cautions, bantering challenges, and +tearful farewells, the steamer's bell rang. Dall, ever alive to the +interests of his beloved science, grasped me cordially by the hand, +saying, "Good-bye, George. God bless you! Keep your eye out for +land-snails and skulls of the wild animals!" + +Miss B---- said pleadingly: "Take care of my dear brother"; and as I +promised to care for him as if he were my own, I thought of another +sister far away, who, could she be present, would echo the request: +"Take care of my dear brother." With waving handkerchiefs and repeated +good-byes, we moved slowly from the wharf, and, steaming round in a +great semicircle to where the _Olga_ was lying, we were transferred to +the little brig, which, for the next two months, was to be our home. + +The steamer towed us outside the "heads" of the Golden Gate, and then +cast off; and as she passed us on her way back, our friends gathered +in a little group on the forward deck, with the colonel at their head, +and gave three generous cheers for the "first Siberian exploring +party." We replied with three more,--our last farewell to +civilisation,--and silently watched the lessening figure of the +steamer, until the white handkerchief which Arnold had tied to the +backstays could no longer be seen, and we were rocking alone on the +long swells of the Pacific. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +CROSSING THE NORTH PACIFIC--SEVEN WEEKS IN A RUSSIAN BRIG + +"He took great content and exceeding delight in his voyage, as who doth +not as shall attempt the like."--BURTON. + + AT SEA, 700 MILES N.W. OF SAN FRANCISCO. + _Wednesday, July 12, 1865_. + +Ten days ago, on the eve of our departure for the Asiatic coast, full +of high hopes and joyful anticipations of pleasure, I wrote in a fair +round hand on this opening page of my journal, the above sentence +from Burton; never once doubting, in my enthusiasm, the complete +realisation of those "future joys," which to "fancy's eye" lay in such +"bright uncertainty," or suspecting that "a life on the ocean wave" +was not a state of the highest felicity attainable on earth. The +quotation seemed to me an extremely happy one, and I mentally blessed +the quaint old Anatomist of Melancholy for providing me with a motto +at once so simple and so appropriate. Of course "he took great content +and exceeding delight in his voyage"; and the wholly unwarranted +assumption that because "he" did, every one else necessarily must, did +not strike me as being in the least absurd. + +On the contrary, it carried all the weight of the severest logical +demonstration, and I would have treated with contempt any suggestion +of possible disappointment. My ideas of sea life had been derived +principally from glowing poetical descriptions of marine sunsets, of +"summer isles of Eden, lying in dark purple spheres of sea," and of +those "moonlight nights on lonely waters" with which poets have for +ages beguiled ignorant landsmen into ocean voyages. Fogs, storms, +and seasickness did not enter at all into my conceptions of marine +phenomena; or if I did admit the possibility of a storm, it was only +as a picturesque, highly poetical manifestation of wind and water in +action, without any of the disagreeable features which attend those +elements under more prosaic circumstances. I had, it is true, +experienced a little rough weather on my voyage to California, but my +memory had long since idealised it into something grand and poetical; +and I looked forward even to a storm on the Pacific as an experience +not only pleasant, but highly desirable. The illusion was very +pleasant while it lasted; but--it is over. Ten days of real sea life +have converted the "bright uncertainty of future joys" into a dark +and decided certainty of future misery, and left me to mourn the +incompatibility of poetry and truth. Burton is a humbug, Tennyson a +fraud, I'm a victim, and Byron and Procter are accessories before the +fact. Never again will I pin my faith to poets. They may tell the +truth nearly enough for poetical consistency, but their judgment is +hopelessly perverted, and their imagination is too luxuriantly vivid +for a truthful realistic delineation of sea life. Byron's _London +Packet_ is a brilliant exception, but I remember no other in the whole +range of poetical literature. + +Our life since we left port has certainly been anything but poetical. + +For nearly a week, we suffered all the indescribable miseries of +seasickness, without any alleviating circumstances whatever. Day after +day we lay in our narrow berths, too sick to read, too unhappy to +talk, watching the cabin lamp as it swung uneasily in its well-oiled +gimbals, and listening to the gurgle and swash of the water around the +after dead-lights, and the regular clank, clank of the blocks of the +try-sail sheet as the rolling of the vessel swung the heavy boom from +side to side. + +We all professed to be enthusiastic supporters of the Tapleyan +philosophy--jollity under all circumstances; but we failed most +lamentably in reconciling our practice with our principles. There was +not the faintest suggestion of jollity in the appearance of the four +motionless, prostrate figures against the wall. Seasickness had +triumphed over philosophy! Prospective and retrospective reverie of +a decidedly gloomy character was our only occupation. I remember +speculating curiously upon the probability of Noah's having ever +been seasick; wondering how the sea-going qualities of the Ark would +compare with those of our brig, and whether she had our brig's +uncomfortable way of pitching about in a heavy swell. + +If she had--and I almost smiled at the idea--what an unhappy +experience it must have been for the poor animals! + +I wondered also if Jason and Ulysses were born with sea-legs, or +whether they had to go through the same unpleasant process that we did +to get them on. + +Concluded finally that sea-legs, like some diseases must be a +diabolical invention of modern times, and that the ancients got along +in some way without them. Then, looking intently at the fly-specks +upon the painted boards ten inches from my eyes, I would recall all +the bright anticipations with which I had sailed from San Francisco, +and turn over, with a groan of disgust, to the wall. + +I wonder if any one has ever written down on paper his seasick +reveries. There are "Evening Reveries," "Reveries of a Bachelor," and +"Seaside Reveries" in abundance; but no one, so far as I know, has +ever even attempted to do his seasick reveries literary justice. It is +a strange oversight, and I would respectfully suggest to any aspiring +writer who has the reverie faculty, that there is here an unworked +field of boundless extent. One trip across the North Pacific in a +small brig will furnish an inexhaustible supply of material. + +Our life thus far has been too monotonous to afford a single +noticeable incident. The weather has been cold, damp, and foggy, with +light head winds and a heavy swell; we have been confined closely to +our seven-by-nine after-cabin; and its close, stifling atmosphere, +redolent of bilge-water, lamp oil, and tobacco smoke, has had a most +depressing influence upon our spirits. I am glad to see, however, +that all our party are up today, and that there is a faint interest +manifested in the prospect of dinner; but even the inspiriting strains +of the Faust march, which the captain is playing upon a wheezy old +accordion, fail to put any expression of animation into the woebegone +faces around the cabin table. Mahood pretends that he is all +right, and plays checkers with the captain with an air of assumed +tranquillity which approaches heroism, but he is observed at irregular +intervals to go suddenly and unexpectedly on deck, and to return every +time with a more ghastly and rueful countenance. When asked the object +of these periodical visits to the quarter-deck, he replies, with a +transparent affectation of cheerfulness, that he only goes up "to look +at the compass and see how she's heading." I am surprised to find that +looking at the compass is attended with such painful and melancholy +emotions as those expressed in Mahood's face when he comes back; but +he performs the self-imposed duty with unshrinking faithfulness, and +relieves us of a great deal of anxiety about the safety of the ship. +The captain seems a little negligent, and sometimes does not observe +the compass once a day; but Mahood watches it with unsleeping +vigilance. + + BRIG "OLGA," 800 MILES N.W. OF SAN FRANCISCO. + _Sunday, July 16, 1865_. + +The monotony of our lives was relieved night before last, and our +seasickness aggravated, by a severe gale of wind from the north-west, +which compelled us to lie to for twenty hours under one close-reefed +maintopsail. The storm began late in the afternoon, and by nine +o'clock the wind was at its height and the sea rapidly rising. +The waves pounded like Titanic sledgehammers against the vessel's +quivering timbers; the gale roared a deep diapason through the +cordage; and the regular thud, thud, thud of the pumps, and the long +melancholy whistling of the wind through the blocks, filled our minds +with dismal forebodings, and banished all inclination for sleep. + +Morning dawned gloomily and reluctantly, and its first grey light, +struggling through the film of water on the small rectangular deck +lights, revealed a comical scene of confusion and disorder. The ship +was rolling and labouring heavily, and Mahood's trunk, having in some +way broken from its moorings, was sliding back and forth across the +cabin floor. Bush's big meerschaum, in company with a corpulent +sponge, had taken up temporary quarters in the crown of my best hat, +and the Major's box of cigars revolved periodically from corner to +corner in the close embrace of a dirty shirt. Sliding and rolling over +the carpet in every direction were books, papers, cigars, brushes, +dirty collars, stockings, empty wine-bottles, slippers, coats, and old +boots; and a large box of telegraph material threatened momentarily to +break from its fastenings and demolish everything. The Major, who was +the first to show any signs of animation, rose on one elbow in bed, +gazed fixedly at the sliding and revolving articles, and shaking +his head reflectively, said: "It is a c-u-r-ious thing! It _is_ +a _c-u-r-_ious thing!" as if the migratory boots and cigar-boxes +exhibited some new and perplexing phenomena not to be accounted for by +any of the known laws of physics. A sudden roll in which the vessel +indulged at that particular moment gave additional force to the +sentiment of the soliloquy; and with renewed convictions, I have no +doubt, of the original and innate depravity of matter generally, +and of the Pacific Ocean especially, he laid his head back upon the +pillow. + +It required no inconsiderable degree of resolution to "turn out" under +such unpromising circumstances; but Bush, after two or three groans +and a yawn, made the attempt to get up and dress. Climbing hurriedly +down when the ship rolled to windward, he caught his boots in one hand +and trousers in the other, and began hopping about the cabin with +surprising agility, dodging or jumping over the sliding trunk and +rolling bottles, and making frantic efforts, apparently, to put both +legs simultaneously into one boot. Surprised in the midst of this +arduous task by an unexpected lurch, he made an impetuous charge upon +an inoffensive washstand, stepped on an erratic bottle, fell on his +head, and finally brought up a total wreck in the corner of the +room. Convulsed with laughter, the Major could only ejaculate +disconnectedly, "I tell you--it is a--curious thing how she--rolls!" +"Yes," rejoined Bush savagely, as he rubbed one knee, "I should think +it was! Just get up and try it!" But the Major was entirely satisfied +to see Bush try it, and did nothing but laugh at his misfortunes. The +latter finally succeeded in getting dressed, and after some hesitation +I concluded to follow his example. By dint of falling twice over the +trunk, kneeling upon my heels, sitting on my elbows, and executing +several other equally impracticable feats, I got my vest on inside +out, both feet in the wrong boots respectively, and staggered up the +companionway on deck. The wind was still blowing a gale, and we showed +no canvas but one close-reefed maintopsail. Great massive mounds of +blue water piled themselves up in the concealment of the low-hanging +rain-clouds, rushed out upon us with white foaming crests ten feet +above the quarterdeck, and broke into clouds of blinding, strangling +spray over the forecastle and galley, careening the ship until the +bell on the quarter-deck struck and water ran in over the lee gunwale. +It did not exactly correspond with my preconceived ideas of a storm, +but I was obliged to confess that it had many of the characteristic +features of the real phenomenon. The wind had the orthodox howl +through the rigging, the sea was fully up to the prescribed standard, +and the vessel pitched and rolled in a way to satisfy the most +critical taste. The impression of sublimity, however, which I had +anticipated, was almost entirely lost in the sense of personal +discomfort. A man who has just been pitched over a skylight by one of +the ship's eccentric movements, or drenched to the skin by a burst of +spray, is not in a state of mind to contemplate sublimity; and after +going through a varied and exhaustive course of such treatment, any +romantic notions which he may previously have entertained with regard +to the ocean's beauty and sublimity are pretty much knocked and +drowned out of him. Rough weather makes short work of poetry and +sentiment. The "wet sheet" and "flowing sea" of the poet have a +significance quite the reverse of poetical when one discovers the "wet +sheet" in his bed and the "flowing sea" all over the cabin floor, +and our experience illustrates not so much the sublimity as the +unpleasantness and discomfort of a storm at sea. + + BRIG "OLGA," AT SEA, + _July 27, 1865_. + +I used often to wonder, while living in San Francisco, where the +chilling fogs that toward night used to drift in over Lone Mountain +and through the Golden Gate came from. I have discovered the +laboratory. For the past two weeks we have been sailing continually in +a dense, wet, grey cloud of mist, so thick at times as almost to hide +the topgallant yards, and so penetrating as to find its way even into +our little after-cabin, and condense in minute drops upon our clothes. +It rises, I presume, from the warm water of the great Pacific Gulf +Stream across which we are passing, and whose vapour is condensed +into fog by the cold north-west winds from Siberia. It is the most +disagreeable feature of our voyage. + +Our life has finally settled down into a quiet monotonous routine of +eating, smoking, watching the barometer, and sleeping twelve hours a +day. The gale with which we were favoured two weeks ago afforded +a pleasant thrill of temporary excitement and a valuable topic of +conversation; but we have all come to coincide in the opinion of the +Major, that it was a "curious thing," and are anxiously awaiting the +turning up of something else. One cold, rainy, foggy day succeeds +another, with only an occasional variation in the way of a head wind +or a flurry of snow. Time, of course, hangs heavily on our hands. We +are waked about half-past seven in the morning by the second mate, a +funny, phlegmatic Dutchman, who is always shouting to us to "turn out" +and see an imaginary whale, which he conjures up regularly before +breakfast, and which invariably disappears before we can get on deck, +as mysteriously as "Moby Dick." The whale, however, fails to draw +after a time, and he resorts to an equally mysterious and eccentric +sea-serpent, whose wonderful appearance he describes in comical broken +English with the vain hope that we will crawl out into the raw foggy +atmosphere to look at it. We never do. Bush opens his eyes, yawns, and +keeps a sleepy watch of the breakfast table, which is situated in the +captain's cabin forward. I cannot see it from my berth, so I watch +Bush. Presently we hear the humpbacked steward's footsteps on the deck +above our heads, and, with a quick succession of little bumps, half a +dozen boiled potatoes come rolling down the stairs of the companionway +into the cabin. They are the forerunners of breakfast. Bush watches +the table, and I watch Bush more and more intently as the steward +brings in the eatables; and by the expression of Bush's face, I judge +whether it be worth while to get up or not. If he groans and turns +over to the wall, I know that it is only hash, and I echo his groan +and follow his example; but if he smiles, and gets up, I do likewise, +with the full assurance of fresh mutton-chops or rice curry and +chicken. After breakfast the Major smokes a cigarette and looks +meditatively at the barometer, the captain gets his old accordion and +squeezes out the Russian National Hymn, while Bush and I go on deck +to inhale a few breaths of pure fresh fog, and chaff the second mate +about his sea-serpent. In reading, playing checkers, fencing, and +climbing about the rigging when the weather permits, we pass away the +day, as we have already passed away twenty and must pass twenty more +before we can hope to see land. + + AT SEA, NEAR THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS. + _August 6, 1865_. + +"Now would I give a thousand furlongs of sea for an acre of barren +ground, ling, heath, broom, furze, anything," except this wearisome +monotonous waste of water! Let Kamchatka be what it will, we shall +welcome it with as much joy as that with which Columbus first saw the +flowery coast of San Salvador. I am prepared to look with complacency +upon a sandbar and two spears of grass, and would not even insist upon +the grass if I could only be sure of the sand-bar. We have now been +thirty-four days at sea without once meeting a sail or getting a +glimpse of land. + +Our chief amusement lately has been the discussion of controverted +points of history and science, and wonderful is the forensic and +argumentative ability which these debates have developed. They are +getting to be positively interesting. The only drawback to them is, +that in the absence of any decisive authority they never come to any +satisfactory conclusion. We have now been discussing for sixteen days +the uses of a whale's blow-holes; and I firmly believe that if our +voyage were prolonged, like the Flying Dutchman's, to all eternity, we +should never reach any solution of the problem that would satisfy all +the disputants. The captain has an old Dutch _History of the World_, +in twenty-six folio volumes, to which he appeals as final authority in +all questions under the heavens, whether pertaining to love, science, +war, art, politics, or religion; and no sooner does he get cornered in +a discussion than he entrenches himself behind these ponderous folios, +and keeps up a hot fire of terrific Dutch polysyllables until we are +ready to make an unconditional surrender. If we venture to suggest +a doubt as to the intimacy of the connection between a whale's +blow-holes and the _History of the World_, he comes down upon us with +the most withering denunciations as wrongheaded sceptics who won't +even believe what is _printed_--and in a Dutch history too! As the +captain dispenses the pie, however, at dinner, I have found it +advisable to smother my convictions as to the veracity of his Teutonic +historian, and join him in denouncing that pernicious heretic Bush, +who is wise beyond what is written. Result--Bush gets only one small +piece of pie, and I get two, which of course is highly gratifying +to my feelings, as well as advantageous to the dispersion of sound +historical learning! + +I begin to observe at dinner an increasing reverence on Bush's part +for Dutch histories. + +[Illustration: Snow Scrapers] + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +THE PICTURESQUE COAST OP KAMCHATKA--ARRIVAL IN PETROPAVLOVSK + + BRIG "OLGA," AT SEA, 200 MILES FROM KAMCHATKA. + _August 17, 1865._ + +Our voyage is at last drawing to a close, and after seven long weeks +of cold, rainy, rough weather our eyes are soon to be gladdened again +by the sight of land, and never was it more welcome to weary mariner +than it will be to us. Even as I write, the sound of scraping and +scrubbing is heard on deck, and proclaims our nearness to land. They +are dressing the vessel to go once more into society. We were only 255 +miles from the Kamchatkan seaport of Petropavlovsk (pet-ro-pav'-lovsk) +last night, and if this favourable breeze holds we expect to reach +there to-morrow noon. It has fallen almost to a dead calm, however, +this morning, so that we may be delayed until Saturday. + + AT SEA, OFF THE COAST OF KAMCHATKA. + _Friday, August 18, 1865._ + +We have a fine breeze this morning; and the brig, under every stitch +of canvas that will draw, is staggering through the seas enveloped in +a dense fog, through which even her topgallant sails show mistily. +Should the wind continue and the fog be dissipated we may hope to see +land tonight. + + 11 A.M. + +I have just come down from the topgallant yard, where for the last +three hours I have been clinging uncomfortably to the backstays, +watching for land, and swinging back and forth through the fog in the +arc of a great circle as the vessel rolled lazily to the seas. We +cannot discern any object at a distance of three ships' lengths, +although the sky is evidently cloudless. Great numbers of gulls, +boobies, puffin, fish-hawks, and solan-geese surround the ship, and +the water is full of drifting medusae. + + NOON. + +Half an hour ago the fog began to lift, and at 11.40 the captain, who +had been sweeping the horizon with a glass, shouted cheerily, "Land +ho! Land ho! Hurrah!" and the cry was echoed simultaneously from stem +to stern, and from the galley to the topgallant yard. Bush, Mahood, +and the Major started at a run for the forecastle; the little +humpbacked steward rushed frantically out of the galley with his hands +all dough, and climbed up on the bulwarks; the sailors ran into the +rigging, and only the man at the wheel retained his self-possession. +Away ahead, drawn in faint luminous outlines above the horizon, +appeared two high conical peaks, so distant that nothing but the white +snow in their deep ravines could be seen, and so faint that they +could hardly be distinguished from the blue sky beyond. They were +the mountains of Villuchinski (vil-loo'-chin-ski) and Avacha +(ah-vah'-chah), on the Kamchatkan coast, fully a hundred miles away. +The Major looked at them through a glass long and eagerly, and then +waving his hand proudly toward them, turned to us, and said with a +burst of patriotic enthusiasm, "You see before you my country--the +great Russian Empire!" and then as the fog drifted down again upon the +ship, he dropped suddenly from his declamatory style, and with a look +of disgust exclaimed, "Chort znaiet shto etta takoi [the Devil only +knows what it means]--it _is_ a curious thing! fog, fog, nothing but +fog!" + +In five minutes the last vestige of "the great Russian Empire" +had disappeared, and we went below to dinner in a state of joyful +excitement, which can never be imagined by one who has not been +forty-six days at sea in the North Pacific. + + 4 P.M. + +We have just been favoured with another view of the land. Half an hour +ago I could see from the topgallant yard, where I was posted, that the +fog was beginning to break away, and in a moment it rose slowly like a +huge grey curtain, unveiling the sea and the deep-blue sky, letting in +a flood of rosy light from the sinking sun, and revealing a picture of +wonderful beauty. Before us, stretching for a hundred and fifty miles +to the north and south, lay the grand coast-line of Kamchatka, rising +abruptly in great purple promontories out of the blue sparkling sea, +flecked here with white clouds and shreds of fleecy mist, deepening in +places into a soft quivering blue, and sweeping backward and upward +into the pure white snow of the higher peaks. Two active volcanoes, +10,000 and 16,000 feet in height, rose above the confused jagged +ranges of the lower mountains, piercing the blue sky with sharp white +triangles of eternal snow, and drawing the purple shadows of evening +around their feet. The high bold coast did not appear, in that clear +atmosphere, to be fifteen miles away, and it seemed to have risen +suddenly like a beautiful mirage out of the sea. In less than five +minutes the grey curtain of mist dropped slowly down again over the +magnificent picture, and it faded gradually from sight, leaving us +almost in doubt whether it had been a reality, or only a bright +deceptive vision. We are enveloped now, as we have been nearly all +day, in a thick clammy fog. + + HARBOUR OP PETROPAVLOVSK, KAMCHATKA. + _August 19, 1865._ + +At dark last night we were distant, as we supposed, about fifteen +miles from Cape Povorotnoi (po-vo-rote'-noi) and as the fog had closed +in again denser than ever, the captain dared not venture any nearer. +The ship was accordingly put about, and we stood off and on all night, +waiting for sunrise and a clear atmosphere, to enable us to approach +the coast in safety. At five o'clock I was on deck. The fog was colder +and denser than ever, and out of it rolled the white-capped waves +raised by a fresh south-easterly breeze. Shortly before six o'clock +it began to grow light, the brig was headed for the land, and under +foresail, jib, and topsails, began to forge steadily through the +water. The captain, glass in hand, anxiously paced the quarterdeck, +ever and anon reconnoitring the horizon, and casting a glance up to +windward to see if there were any prospect of better weather. Several +times he was upon the point of putting the ship about, fearing to run +on a lee shore in that impenetrable mist; but it finally lightened up, +the fog disappeared, and the horizon line came out clear and distinct. +To our utter astonishment, not a foot of land could be seen in any +direction! The long range of blue mountains which had seemed the +previous night to be within an hour's sail--the lofty snowy peaks--the +deep gorges and the bold headlands, had all + + "--melted into thin air, + Leaving not a rack behind." + +There was nothing to indicate the existence of land within a thousand +miles, save the number and variety of the birds that wheeled curiously +around our wake, or flew away with a spattering noise from under our +bows. Many were the theories which were suggested to account for the +sudden disappearance of the high bold land. The captain attempted to +explain it by the supposition that a strong current, sweeping off +shore, had during the night carried us away to the south-east. Bush +accused the mate of being asleep on his watch, and letting the ship +run over the land, while the mate declared solemnly that he did not +believe that there had been any land there at all; that it was only a +mirage. The Major said it was "paganni" (abominable) and "a curious +thing," but did not volunteer any solution of the problem. So there we +were. + +We had a fine leading wind from the south-east, and were now going +through the water at the rate of seven knots. Eight o'clock, nine +o'clock, ten o'clock, and still no appearance of land, although we +had made since daylight more than thirty miles. At eleven o'clock, +however, the horizon gradually darkened, and all at once a bold +headland, terminating in a precipitous cliff, loomed up out of a thin +mist at a distance of only four miles. All was at once excitement. The +topgallant sails were clewed up to reduce the vessel's speed, and her +course was changed so that we swept round in a curve broadside to the +coast, about three miles distant. The mountain peaks, by which we +might have ascertained our position, were hidden by the clouds and +fog, and it was no easy matter to ascertain exactly where we were. + +Away to the left, dimly defined in the mist, were two or three more +high blue headlands, but what they were, and where the harbour of +Petropavlovsk might be, were questions that no one could answer. The +captain brought his charts, compass, and drawing instruments on deck, +laid them on the cabin skylight, and began taking the bearings of the +different headlands, while we eagerly scanned the shore with glasses, +and gave free expressions to our several opinions as to our situation. +The Russian chart which the captain had of the coast was fortunately +a good one, and he soon determined our position, and the names of the +headlands first seen. We were just north of Cape Povorotnoi, about +nine miles south of the entrance of Avacha Bay. The yards were now +squared, and we went off on the new tack before a steady breeze from +the south-east. In less than an hour we sighted the high isolated +rocks known as the "Three Brothers," passed a rocky precipitous +island, surrounded by clouds of shrieking gulls and parrot-billed +ducks, and by two o'clock were off "the heads" of Avacha Bay, on which +is situated the village of Petropavlovsk. The scenery at the entrance +more than equalled our highest anticipations. Green grassy valleys +stretched away from openings in the rocky coast until they were lost +in the distant mountains; the rounded bluffs were covered with clumps +of yellow birch and thickets of dark-green chaparral; patches of +flowers could be seen on the warm sheltered slopes of the hills; and +as we passed close under the lighthouse bluff, Bush shouted +joyously, "Hurrah, there's clover!" "Clover!" exclaimed the captain +contemptuously, "there ain't any clover in the Ar'tic Regions!" "How +do you know, you've never been there," retorted Bush caustically; "it +_looks_ like clover, and"--looking through a glass--"it _is_ clover"; +and his face lighted up as if the discovery of clover had relieved his +mind of a great deal of anxiety as to the severity of the Kamchatkan +climate. It was a sort of vegetable exponent of temperature, and out +of a little patch of clover, Bush's imagination developed, in a style +undreamt of by Darwin, the whole luxuriant flora of the temperate +zone. + +The very name of Kamchatka had always been associated in our minds +with everything barren and inhospitable, and we did not entertain +for a moment the thought that such a country could afford beautiful +scenery and luxuriant vegetation. In fact, with us all it was a mooted +question whether anything more than mosses, lichens, and perhaps a +little grass maintained the unequal struggle for existence in that +frozen clime. It may be imagined with what delight and surprise we +looked upon green hills covered with trees and verdant thickets; +upon valleys white with clover and diversified with little groves of +silver-barked birch, and even the rocks nodding with wild roses and +columbine, which had taken root in their clefts as if nature strove to +hide with a garment of flowers the evidences of past convulsions. + +Just before three o'clock we came in sight of the village of +Petropavlovsk--a little cluster of red-roofed and bark-thatched log +houses; a Greek church of curious architecture, with a green dome; +a strip of beach, a half-ruined wharf, two whale-boats, and the +dismantled wreck of a half-sunken vessel. High green hills swept in a +great semicircle of foliage around the little village, and almost shut +in the quiet pond-like harbour--an inlet of Avacha Bay--on which it +was situated. Under foresail and maintopsail we glided silently under +the shadow of the encircling hills into this landlocked mill-pond, and +within a stone's throw of the nearest house the sails were suddenly +clewed up, and with a quivering of the ship and a rattle of chain +cable our anchor dropped into the soil of Asia. + +[Illustration: Boy's Boots of Sealskin] + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +THINGS RUSSIAN IN KAMCHATKA--A VERDANT AND FLOWERY LAND--THE VILLAGE OF +TWO SAINTS. + +It has been well observed by Irving, that to one about to visit +foreign countries a long sea voyage is an excellent preparative. +To quote his words, "The temporary absence of worldly scenes and +employments produces a state of mind peculiarly fitted to receive +new and vivid impressions." And he might have added with equal +truth--favourable impressions. The tiresome monotony of sea life +predisposes the traveller to regard favourably anything that will +quicken his stagnating faculties and perceptions and furnish new +matter for thought; and the most commonplace scenery and circumstances +afford him gratification and delight. For this reason one is apt, upon +arriving after a long voyage in a strange country, to form a more +favourable opinion of its people and scenery than his subsequent +experience will sustain. But it seems to me particularly fortunate +that our first impressions of a new country, which are most clear and +vivid and therefore most lasting, are also most pleasant, so that in +future years a retrospective glance over our past wanderings will show +the most cheerful pictures drawn in the brightest and most enduring +colours. I am sure that the recollection of my first view of the +mountains of Kamchatka, the delight with which my eye drank in their +bright aerial tints, and the romance with which my ardent fancy +invested them, will long outlive the memory of the hardships I have +endured among them, the snow-storms that have pelted me on their +summits, and the rains that have drenched me in their valleys. +Fanciful perhaps, but I believe true. + +The longing for land which one feels after having been five or six +weeks at sea is sometimes so strong as to be almost a passion. I +verily believe that if the first land we saw had been one of those +immense barren moss steppes which I afterward came to hold in such +detestation, I should have regarded it as nothing less than the +original site of the Garden of Eden. Not all the charms which nature +has lavished upon the Vale of Tempe could have given me more pleasure +than did the little green valley in which nestled the red-roofed and +bark-covered log houses of Petropavlovsk. + +The arrival of a ship in that remote and unfrequented part of the +world is an event of no little importance; and the rattling of our +chain cable through the hawse-holes created a very perceptible +sensation in the quiet village. Little children ran bareheaded out of +doors, looked at us for a moment, and then ran hastily back to call +the rest of the household; dark-haired natives and Russian peasants, +in blue shirts and leather trousers, gathered in a group at the +landing; and seventy-five or a hundred half-wild dogs broke out +suddenly into a terrific chorus of howls in honour of our arrival. + +It was already late in the afternoon, but we could not restrain +our impatience to step once more upon dry land; and as soon as the +captain's boat could be lowered, Bush, Mahood, and I went ashore to +look at the town. + +[Illustration] + +Petropavlovsk is laid out in a style that is very irregular, without +being at all picturesque. The idea of a street never seems to +have suggested itself either to the original settlers or to their +descendants; and the paths, such as they are, wander around aimlessly +among the scattered houses, like erratic sheepwalks. It is impossible +to go for a hundred yards in a straight line, in any direction, +without either bringing up against the side of a house or trespassing +upon somebody's backyard; and in the night one falls over a slumbering +cow, upon a fair average, once every fifty feet. In other respects it +is rather a pretty village, surrounded as it is by high green hills, +and affording a fine view of the beautiful snowy peak of Avacha, which +rises to a height of 11,000 feet directly behind the town. + +Mr. Fluger, a German merchant of Petropavlovsk who had boarded us in a +small boat outside the harbour, now constituted himself our guide; and +after a short walk around the village, invited us to his house, where +we sat in a cloud of fragrant cigar-smoke, talking over American war +news, and the latest _on dit_ of Kamchatkan society, until it finally +began to grow dark. I noticed, among other books lying upon Mr. +Fluger's table, _Life Thoughts_, by Beecher, and _The Schoenberg-Cotta +Family,_ and wondered that the latter had already found its way to the +distant shores of Kamchatka. + +As new-comers, it was our first duty to pay our respects to the +Russian authorities; and, accompanied by Mr. Fluger and Mr. Bollman, +we called upon Captain Sutkovoi (soot-ko-voi'), the resident "Captain +of the port." His house, with its bright-red tin roof, was almost +hidden by a large grove of thrifty oaks, through which tumbled, in +a succession of little cascades, a clear, cold mountain stream. We +entered the gate, walked up a broad travelled path under the shade of +the interlocking branches, and, without knocking, entered the house. +Captain Sutkovoi welcomed us cordially, and notwithstanding our +inability to speak any language but our own, soon made us feel quite +at home. Conversation however languished, as every remark had to be +translated through two languages before it could be understood by the +person to whom it was addressed; and brilliant as it might have been +in the first place, it lost its freshness in being passed around +through Russian, German, and English to us. + +I was surprised to see so many evidences of cultivated and refined +taste in this remote corner of the world, where I had expected barely +the absolute necessaries of life, or at best a few of the most common +comforts. A large piano of Russian manufacture occupied one corner of +the room, and a choice assortment of Russian, German, and American +music testified to the musical taste of its owner. A few choice +paintings and lithographs adorned the walls, and on the centre-table +rested a stereoscope with a large collection of photographic views, +and an unfinished game of chess, from which Captain and Madame +Sutkovoi had risen at our entrance. + +After a pleasant visit of an hour we took our leave, receiving an +invitation to dinner on the following day. + +It was not yet decided whether we should continue our voyage to the +Amur River, or remain in Petropavlovsk and begin our northern journey +from there, so we still regarded the brig as our home and returned, +every night to our little cabin. The first night in port was strangely +calm, peaceful, and quiet, accustomed as we had become to the rolling, +pitching, and creaking of the vessel, the swash of water, and the +whistling of the wind. There was not a zephyr abroad, and the surface +of the miniature bay lay like a dark mirror, in which were obscurely +reflected the high hills which formed its setting. A few scattered +lights from the village threw long streams of radiance across the dark +water, and from the black hillside on our right was heard at intervals +the faint lonely tinkle of a cow-bell or the long melancholy howl of +a wolf-like dog. I tried hard to sleep; but the novelty of our +surroundings, the thought that we were now in Asia, and hundreds +of conjectures and forecastings as to our future prospects and +adventures, put sleep for a long time at defiance. + +The hamlet of Petropavlovsk, which, although not the largest, is one +of the most important settlements in the Kamchatkan peninsula, has +a population of perhaps two or three hundred natives and Russian +peasants, together with a few German and American merchants, drawn +thither by the trade in sables. It is not fairly a representative +Kamchatkan village, for it has felt in no inconsiderable degree the +civilising influences of foreign intercourse, and shows in its manners +and modes of life and thought some evidences of modern enterprise and +enlightenment. It has existed since the early part of the eighteenth +century, and is old enough to have acquired some civilisation of its +own; but age in a Siberian settlement is no criterion of development, +and Petropavlovsk either has not attained the enlightenment of +maturity, or has passed into its second childhood, for it is still in +a benighted condition. Why it was and is called Petropavlovsk--the +village of St. Peter and St. Paul--I failed, after diligent inquiry, +to learn. The sacred canon does not contain any epistle to the +Kamchatkans, much as they need it, nor is there any other evidence to +show that the ground on which the village stands was ever visited by +either of the eminent saints whose names it bears. The conclusion to +which we are driven therefore is, that its inhabitants, not being +distinguished for apostolic virtues, and feeling their need of saintly +intercession, called the settlement after St. Peter and St. Paul, with +the hope that those Apostles would feel a sort of proprietary interest +in the place, and secure its final salvation without any unnecessary +inquiries into its merits. Whether that was the idea of its original +founders or not I cannot say; but such a plan would be eminently +adapted to the state of society, in most of the Siberian settlements, +where faith is strong, but where works are few in number and +questionable in tendency. + +The sights of Petropavlovsk, speaking after the manner of tourists, +are few and uninteresting. It has two monuments erected to the memory +of the distinguished navigators Bering and La Perouse, and there are +traces on its hills of the fortifications built during the Crimean War +to repel the attack of the allied French and English squadrons; but +aside from these, the town can boast of no objects or places of +historical interest. To us, however, who had been shut up nearly two +months in a close dark cabin, the village was attractive enough of +itself, and early on the following morning we went ashore for a ramble +on the wooded peninsula which separates the small harbour from Avacha +Bay. The sky was cloudless, but a dense fog drifted low over the +hilltops and veiled the surrounding mountains from sight. The whole +landscape was green as emerald and dripping with moisture, but the +sunshine struggled occasionally through the grey cloud of vapour, and +patches of light swept swiftly across the wet hillsides, like sunny +smiles upon a tearful face. The ground everywhere was covered with +flowers. Marsh violets, dotted the grass here and there with blue; +columbine swung its purple spurred corollas over the grey mossy rocks; +and wild roses appeared everywhere in dense thickets, with their +delicate pink petals strewn over the ground beneath them like a +coloured shadow. + +Climbing up the slope of the steep hill between the harbour and the +bay, shaking down little showers of water from every bush, we touched, +and treading under foot hundreds of dewy flowers, we came suddenly +upon the monument of La Perouse. I hope his countrymen, the French, +have erected to his memory some more tasteful and enduring token of +their esteem than this. It is simply a wooden frame, covered with +sheet iron, and painted black. It bears no date or inscription +whatever, and looks more like the tombstone over the grave of a +criminal, than a monument to keep fresh the memory of a distinguished +navigator. + +Bush sat down on a little grassy knoll to make a sketch of the scene, +while Mahood and I wandered on up the hill toward the old Russian +batteries. They are several in number, situated along the crest of +the ridge which divides the inner from the outer bay, and command the +approaches to the town from the west. They are now almost overgrown +with grass and flowers, and only the form of the embrasures +distinguishes them from shapeless mounds of earth. It would be thought +that the remote situation and inhospitable climate of Kamchatka would +have secured to its inhabitants an immunity from the desolating +ravages of war. But even this country has its ruined forts and +grass-grown battle-fields; and its now silent hills echoed not long +ago to the thunder of opposing cannon. Leaving Mahood to make a +critical survey of the entrenchments--an occupation which his tastes +and pursuits rendered more interesting to him than to me--I strolled +on up the hill to the edge of the cliff from which the storming party +of the Allies was thrown by the Russian gunners. No traces now remain +of the bloody struggle which took place upon the brink of this +precipice. Moss covers with its green carpet the ground which was torn +up in the death grapple; and the nodding bluebell, as it bends to the +fresh sea-breeze, tells no story of the last desperate rally, the hand +to hand conflict, and the shrieks of the overpowered as they were +thrown from the Russian bayonets upon the rocky beach a hundred feet +below. + +It seems to me that it was little better than wanton cruelty in the +Allies to attack this unimportant and isolated post, so far from the +real centre of conflict. Could its capture have lessened in any way +the power or resources of the Russian Government, or, by creating a +diversion, have attracted attention from the decisive struggle in +the Crimea, it would perhaps have been justifiable; but it could not +possibly have any direct or indirect influence upon the ultimate +result, and only brought misery upon a few inoffensive Kamchadals who +had never heard of Turkey or the Eastern Question and whose first +intimation of a war probably was the thunder of the enemy's cannon and +the bursting of shells at their very doors. The attack of the Allied +fleet, however, was signally repulsed, and its admiral, stung with +mortification at being foiled by a mere handful of Cossacks and +peasants, committed suicide. On the anniversary of the battle it is +still customary for all the inhabitants, headed by the priests, to +march in solemn procession round the village and over the hill from +which the storming party was thrown, chanting hymns of joy and praise +for the victory. + +After botanising a while upon the battle-field, I was joined by Bush, +who had completed his sketch, and we all returned, tired and wet, +to the village. Our appearance anywhere on shore always created a +sensation among the inhabitants. The Russian and native peasants whom +we met removed their caps, and held them respectfully in their hands +while we passed; the windows of the houses were crowded with heads +intent upon getting a sight of the "Amerikanski chinovniki" (American +officers); and even the dogs broke into furious barks and howls at +our approach. Bush declared that he could not remember a time in his +history when he had been of so much consequence and attracted +such general attention as now; and he attributed it all to the +discrimination and intelligence of Kamchatkan society. Prompt and +instinctive recognition of superior genius he affirmed to be a +characteristic of that people, and he expressed deep regret that it +was not equally so of some other people whom he could mention. "No +reference to an allusion intended!" + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +FIRST ATTEMPT TO LEARN RUSSIAN--PLAN OF EXPLORATION--DIVISION OP PARTY + +One of the first things which the traveller notices in any foreign +country is the language, and it is especially noticeable in Kamchatka, +Siberia, or any part of the great Russian Empire. What the ancestors +of the Russians did at the Tower of Babel to have been afflicted with +such a complicated, contorted, mixed up, utterly incomprehensible +language, I can hardly conjecture. I have thought sometimes that they +must have built their side of the Tower higher than any of the other +tribes, and have been punished for their sinful industry with this +jargon of unintelligible sounds, which no man could possibly hope to +understand before he became so old and infirm that he could never work +on another tower. However they came by it, it is certainly a thorn in +the flesh to all travellers in the Russian Empire. Some weeks before +we reached Kamchatka I determined to learn, if possible, a few common +expressions, which would be most useful in our first intercourse with +the natives, and among them the simple declarative sentence, "I want +something to eat." I thought that this would probably be the first +remark that I should have to make to any of the inhabitants, and I +determined to learn it so thoroughly that I should never be in danger +of starvation from ignorance. I accordingly asked the Major one day +what the equivalent expression was in Russian. He coolly replied that +whenever I wanted anything to eat, all that I had to do was to say, +"Vashavwesokeeblagarodiaeeveeleekeeprevoskhodeetelstvoeetakdalshai." +I believe I never felt such a sentiment of reverential admiration for +the acquired talents of any man as I did for those of the Major when +I heard him pronounce, fluently and gracefully, this extraordinary +sentence. My mind was hopelessly lost in attempting to imagine the +number of years of patient toil which must have preceded his +first request for food, and I contemplated with astonishment the +indefatigable perseverance which has borne him triumphant through the +acquirement of such a language. If the simple request for something +to eat presented such apparently insurmountable obstacles to +pronunciation, what must the language be in its dealings with the +more abstruse questions of theological and metaphysical science? +Imagination stood aghast at the thought. + +I frankly told the Major that he might print out this terrible +sentence on a big placard and hang it around my neck; but as for +learning to pronounce it, I could not, and did not propose to try. I +found out afterwards that he had taken advantage of my inexperience +and confiding disposition by giving me some of the longest and worst +words in his barbarous language, and pretending that they meant +something to eat. The real translation in Russian would have been bad +enough, and it was wholly unnecessary to select peculiarly hard words. + +The Russian language is, I believe, without exception, the most +difficult of all modern languages to learn. Its difficulty does not +lie, as might be supposed, in pronunciation. Its words are all spelled +phonetically, and have only a few sounds which are foreign to English; +but its grammar is exceptionally involved and intricate. It has seven +cases and three genders; and as the latter are dependent upon no +definite principle whatever, but are purely arbitrary, it is almost +impossible for a foreigner to learn them so as to give nouns and +adjectives their proper terminations. Its vocabulary is very copious; +and its idioms have a peculiarly racy individuality which can hardly +be appreciated without a thorough acquaintance with the colloquial +talk of the Russian peasants. + +The Russian, like all the Indo-European languages, is closely related +to the ancient Sanscrit, and seems to have preserved unchanged, in a +greater degree than any of the others, the old Vedic words. The first +ten numerals, as spoken by a Hindoo a thousand years before the +Christian era, would, with one or two exceptions, be understood by a +modern Russian peasant. + +During our stay in Petropavlovsk we succeeded in learning the Russian +for "Yes," "No," and "How do you do?" and we congratulated ourselves +not a little upon even this slight progress in a language of such +peculiar difficulty. + +Our reception at Petropavlovsk by both Russians and Americans was most +cordial and enthusiastic, and the first three or four days after our +arrival were spent in one continuous round of visits and dinners. On +Thursday we made an excursion on horseback to a little village called +Avacha, ten or fifteen versts distant across the bay, and came back +charmed with the scenery, climate, and vegetation of this beautiful +peninsula. The road wound around the slopes of grassy, wooded hills, +above the clear blue water of the bay, commanding a view of the bold +purple promontories which formed the gateway to the sea, and revealing +now and then, between the clumps of silver birch, glimpses of long +ranges of picturesque snow-covered mountains, stretching away along +the western coast to the white solitary peak of Villuchinski, thirty +or forty miles distant. The vegetation everywhere was almost tropical +in its rank luxuriance. We could pick handfuls of flowers almost +without bending from our saddles, and the long wild grass through +which we rode would in many places sweep our waists. Delighted to +find the climate of Italy where we had anticipated the biting air of +Labrador, and inspirited by the beautiful scenery, we woke the echoes +of the hills with American songs, shouted, halloed, and ran races on +our little Cossack ponies until the setting sun warned us that it was +time to return. + +Upon the information which he obtained in Petropavlovsk, Major Abaza +formed a plan of operations for the ensuing winter, which was briefly +as follows: Mahood and Bush were to go on in the _Olga_ to Nikolaievsk +at the mouth of the Amur River, on the Chinese frontier, and, making +that settlement their base of supplies, were to explore the rough +mountainous region lying west of the Okhotsk Sea and south of the +Russian seaport of Okhotsk. The Major and I, in the meantime, were +to travel northward with a party of natives through the peninsula of +Kamchatka, and strike the proposed route of the line about midway +between Okhotsk and Bering Strait. Dividing again here, one of +us would go westward to meet Mahood and Bush at Okhotsk, and +one northward to a Russian trading station called Anadyrsk +(ah-nah'-dyrsk), about four hundred miles west of the Strait. In this +way we should cover the whole ground to be traversed by our line, +with the exception of the barren desolate region between Anadyrsk +and Bering Strait, which our chief proposed to leave for the present +unexplored. Taking into consideration our circumstances and the +smallness of our force, this plan was probably the best which could +be devised, but it made it necessary for the Major and me to travel +throughout the whole winter without a single companion except our +native teamsters. As I did not speak Russian, it would be next to +impossible for me to do this without an interpreter, and the Major +engaged in that capacity a young American fur-trader, named Dodd, who +had been living seven years in Petropavlovsk, and who was familiar +with the Russian language and the habits and customs of the natives. +With this addition our whole force numbered five men, and was to be +divided into three parties; one for the western coast of the Okhotsk +Sea, one for the northern coast, and one for the country between +the Sea and the Arctic Circle. All minor details, such as means of +transportation and subsistence, were left to the discretion of the +several parties. We were to live on the country, travel with the +natives, and avail ourselves of any and every means of transportation +and subsistence which the country afforded. It was no pleasure +excursion upon which we were about to enter. The Russian authorities +at Petropavlovsk gave us all the information and assistance in their +power, but did not hesitate to express the opinion that five men would +never succeed in exploring the eighteen hundred miles of barren, +almost uninhabited country between the Amur River and Bering Strait. +It was not probable, they said, that the Major could get through the +peninsula of Kamchatka at all that fall as he anticipated, but that if +he did, he certainly could not penetrate the great desolate steppes +to the northward, which were inhabited only by wandering tribes of +Chukchis (chook'-chees) and Koraks. The Major replied simply that he +would show them what we could do, and went on with his preparations. + +On Saturday morning, August 26th, the _Olga_ sailed with Mahood +and Bush for the Amur River, leaving the Major, Dodd, and me at +Petropavlovsk, to make our way northward through Kamchatka. + +As the morning was clear and sunny, I engaged a boat and a native +crew, and accompanied Bush and Mahood out to sea. + +As we began to feel the fresh morning land-breeze, and to draw out +slowly from under the cliffs of the western coast, I drank a farewell +glass of wine to the success of the "Amur River Exploring Party," +shook hands with the captain and complimented his Dutch _History_, +and bade good-bye to the mates and men. As I went over the side, the +second mate seemed overcome with emotion at the thought of the perils +which I was about to encounter in that heathen country, and cried out +in funny, broken English, "Oh, Mr. Kinney! [he could not say Kennan] +who's a g'un to cook for ye, and ye can't get no potatusses?" as if +the absence of a cook and the lack of potatoes were the summing up of +all earthly privations. I assured him cheerfully that we could cook +for ourselves and eat roots; but he shook his head, mournfully, as if +he saw in prophetic vision the state of misery to which Siberian roots +and our own cooking must inevitably reduce us. Bush told me afterward +that on the voyage to the Amur he frequently observed the second mate +in deep and melancholy reverie, and upon approaching him and asking +him what he was thinking about, he answered, with a mournful shake of +the head and an indescribable emphasis: "Poor Mr. Kinney! _Poor_ Mr. +Kinney!" Notwithstanding the scepticism with which I treated his +sea-serpent, he gave me a place in his rough affections, second only +to "Tommy," his favourite cat, and the pigs. + +As the _Olga_ sheeted home her topgallant sails, changed her course +more to the eastward, and swept slowly out between the heads, I caught +a last glimpse of Bush, standing on the quarter-deck by the wheel, and +telegraphing some unintelligible words in the Morse alphabet with his +arm. I waved my hat in response, and turning shoreward, with a lump in +my throat, ordered the men to give way. The _Olga_ was gone, and the +last tie which connected us with the civilised world seemed severed. + +[Illustration: Bone Knife or Scraper] + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +A COSSACK WEDDING--THE PENINSULA OP KAMCHATKA + +Our time in Petropavlovsk, after the departure of the _Olga_, was +almost wholly occupied in making preparations for our northern journey +through the Kamchatkan peninsula. On Tuesday, however, Dodd told me +that there was to be a wedding at the church, and invited me to go +over and witness the ceremony. It took place in the body of the +church, immediately after some sort of morning service, which had +nearly closed when we entered. I had no difficulty in singling out the +happy individuals whose fortunes were to be united in the holy +bonds of matrimony. They betrayed their own secret by their assumed +indifference and unconsciousness. + +The unlucky (lucky?) man was a young, round-headed Cossack about +twenty years of age, dressed in a dark frock-coat trimmed with scarlet +and gathered like a lady's dress above the waist, which, with a +reckless disregard for his anatomy, was assumed to be six inches below +his armpits. In honour of the extraordinary occasion he had donned a +great white standing collar which projected above his ears, as the +mate of the _Olga_ would say, "like fore to'gallant studd'n' s'ls." +Owing to a deplorable lack of understanding between his cotton +trousers and his shoes they failed to meet by about six inches, and +no provision had been made for the deficiency. The bride was +comparatively an old woman--at least twenty years the young man's +senior, and a _widow_. I thought with a sigh of the elder Mr. Weller's +parting injunction to his son, "Bevare o' the vidders," and wondered +what the old gentleman would say could he see this unconscious +"wictim" walking up to the altar "and thinkin' in his 'art that it was +all wery capital." The bride wore a dress of that peculiar sort of +calico known as "furniture prints," without trimming or ornaments of +any kind. Whether it was cut "bias" or with "gores," I'm sorry to say +I do not know, dress-making being as much of an occult science to +me as divination. Her hair was tightly bound up in a scarlet silk +handkerchief, fastened in front with a little gilt button. As soon as +the church service was concluded the altar was removed to the +middle of the room, and the priest, donning a black silk gown which +contrasted strangely with his heavy cowhide boots, summoned the couple +before him. + +After giving to each three lighted candles tied together with blue +ribbon, he began to read in a loud sonorous voice what I supposed to +be the marriage service, paying no attention whatever to stops, but +catching his breath audibly in the midst of a sentence and hurrying on +again with tenfold rapidity. The candidates for matrimony were silent, +but the deacon, who was looking abstractedly out of a window on the +opposite side of the church, interrupted him occasionally with doleful +chanted responses. + +At the conclusion of the reading they all crossed themselves devoutly +half a dozen times in succession, and after asking them the decisive +question the priest gave them each a silver ring. Then came more +reading, at the end of which he administered to them a teaspoonful +of wine out of a cup. Reading and chanting were again resumed and +continued for a long time, the bridegroom and bride crossing and +prostrating themselves continually, and the deacon closing up his +responses by repeating with the most astounding rapidity, +fifteen times in five seconds, the words "Gaspodi pomilui" +(goss'-po-dee-po-mee'-loo-ee), "God have mercy upon us." He then +brought in two large gilt crowns ornamented with medallions, and, +blowing off the dust which had accumulated upon them since the last +wedding, he placed them upon the heads of the bridegroom and bride. + +The young Cossack's crown was altogether too large, and slipped down +over his head like a candle-extinguisher until it rested upon his +ears, eclipsing his eyes entirely. The bride's hair--or rather the +peculiar manner in which it was "done up"--precluded the possibility +of making a crown stay on her head, and an individual from among the +spectators was detailed to hold it there. The priest then made the +couple join hands, seized the groom's hand himself, and they all began +a hurried march around the altar--the priest first, dragging along the +Cossack, who, blinded by the crown, was continually stepping on his +leader's heels; the bride following the groom, and trying to keep +the crown from pulling her hair down; and lastly, the supernumerary +stepping on the bride's dress and holding the gilt emblem of royalty +in its place. The whole performance was so indescribably ludicrous +that I could not possibly keep my countenance in that sober frame +which befitted the solemnity of the occasion, and nearly scandalised +the whole assembly by laughing out loud. Three times they marched in +this way around the altar, and the ceremony was then ended. The bride +and groom kissed the crowns reverently as they took them off, walked +around the church, crossing themselves and bowing in succession before +each of the pictures of saints which hung against the wall, and at +last turned to receive the congratulations of their friends. It was +expected of course that the "distinguished Americans," of whose +intelligence, politeness, and suavity so much had been heard would +congratulate the bride upon this auspicious occasion; but at least one +distinguished but unfortunate American did not know how to do it. My +acquirements in Russian were limited to "Yes," "No," and "How do you +do?" and none of these expressions seemed fully to meet the emergency. +Desirous, however, of sustaining the national reputation for +politeness, as well as of showing my good-will to the bride, I +selected the last of the phrases as probably the most appropriate, and +walking solemnly, and I fear awkwardly, up I asked the bride with a +very low bow, and in very bad Russian--how she did; she graciously +replied, "Cherasvwechiano khorasho pakornashae vass blagadoroo," and +the distinguished American retired with a proud consciousness of +having done his duty. I was not very much enlightened as to the state +of the bride's health; but, judging from the facility with which she +rattled off this tremendous sentence, we concluded that she must be +well. Nothing but a robust constitution and the most excellent health +would have enabled her to do it. Convulsed with laughter, Dodd and I +made our escape from the church and returned to our quarters. I have +since been informed by the Major that the marriage ceremony of the +Greek Church, when properly performed, has a peculiar impressiveness +and solemnity; but I shall never be able to see it now without having +my solemnity overcome by the recollection of that poor Cossack, +stumbling around the altar after the priest with his head extinguished +in a crown! + +From the moment when the Major decided upon the overland journey +through Kamchatka, he devoted all his time and energies to the work of +preparation. Boxes covered with sealskin, and intended to be hung from +pack-saddles, were prepared for the transportation of our stores; +tents, bearskins, and camp equipage were bought and packed away in +ingeniously contrived bundles; and everything that native experience +could suggest for lessening the hardships of outdoor life was provided +in quantities sufficient for two months' journey. Horses were then +ordered from all the adjacent villages, and a special courier was sent +throughout the peninsula by the route that we intended to follow, with +orders to apprise the natives everywhere of our coming, and to direct +them to remain at home with all their horses until after our party +should pass. + +Thus prepared, we set out on the 4th of September for the Far North. + +The peninsula of Kamchatka, through which we were about to travel, is +a long irregular tongue of land lying east of the Okhotsk Sea, between +the fifty-first and sixty-second degrees of north latitude, and +measuring in extreme length about seven hundred miles. It is almost +entirely of volcanic formation, and the great range of rugged +mountains by which it is longitudinally divided comprises even now +five or six volcanoes in a state of almost uninterrupted activity. +This immense chain of mountains, which has never even been named, +stretches from the fifty-first to the sixtieth degree of latitude in +one almost continuous ridge, and at last breaks off abruptly into the +Okhotsk Sea, leaving to the northward a high level steppe called +the "dole" or desert, which is the wandering ground of the Reindeer +Koraks. The central and southern parts of the peninsula are broken +up by the spurs and foot-hills of the great mountain range into deep +sequestered valleys of the wildest and most picturesque character, and +afford scenery which, for majestic and varied beauty, is not surpassed +in all northern Asia. The climate everywhere, except in the extreme +north, is comparatively mild and equable, and the vegetation has an +almost tropical freshness and luxuriance totally at variance with all +one's ideas of Kamchatka. The population of the peninsula I estimate +from careful observation at about 5000, and it is made up of three +distinct classes--the Russians, the Kamchadals or settled natives, and +the Wandering Koraks. The Kamchadals, who compose the most numerous +class, are settled in little log villages throughout the peninsula, +near the mouths of small rivers which rise in the central range +of mountains and fall into the Okhotsk Sea or the Pacific. Their +principal occupations are fishing, fur-trapping, and the cultivation +of rye, turnips, cabbages, and potatoes, which grow thriftily as far +north as lat. 58 deg.. Their largest settlements are in the fertile +valley of the Kamchatka River, between Petropavlovsk and Kluchei +(kloo-chay'). The Russians, who are comparatively few in number, +are scattered here and there among the Kamchadal villages, and are +generally engaged in trading for furs with the Kamchadals and the +nomadic tribes to the northward. The Wandering Koraks, who are the +wildest, most powerful, and most independent natives in the peninsula, +seldom come south of the 58th parallel of latitude, except for the +purpose of trade. Their chosen haunts are the great desolate steppes +lying east of Penzhinsk (pen'-zhinsk) Gulf, where they wander +constantly from place to place in solitary bands, living in large fur +tents and depending for subsistence upon their vast herds of tamed and +domesticated reindeer. The government under which all the inhabitants +of Kamchatka nominally live is administered by a Russian officer +called an "ispravnik" (is-prav'-nik) or local governor [Footnote: +Strictly, a chief of district police.] who is supposed to settle all +questions of law which may arise between individuals or tribes, and to +collect the annual "yassak" or tax of furs, which is levied upon every +male inhabitant in his province. He resides in Petropavlovsk, and +owing to the extent of country over which he has jurisdiction, and the +imperfect facilities which it affords for getting about, he is seldom +seen outside of the village where he has his headquarters. The only +means of transportation between the widely separated settlements of +the Kamchadals are packhorses, canoes, and dog-sledges, and there is +not such a thing as a road in the whole peninsula. I may have occasion +hereafter to speak of "roads," but I mean by the word nothing more +than the geometrician means by a "line"--simple longitudinal extension +without any of the sensible qualities which are popularly associated +with it. + +[Illustration: A TENT OF THE WANDERING KORAKS IN SUMMER] + +Through this wild, sparsely populated region, we purposed to travel by +hiring the natives along our route to carry us with their horses from +one settlement to another until we should reach the territory of the +Wandering Koraks. North of that point we could not depend upon any +regular means of transportation, but would be obliged to trust to luck +and the tender mercies of the arctic nomads. + +[Illustration: Reindeer Bridle and Snow Shovel.] + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +STARTING NORTHWARD--KAMCHATKAN SCENERY, VILLAGES, AND PEOPLE + +I cannot remember any journey in my whole life which gave me more +enjoyment at the time, or which is more pleasant in recollection, than +our first horseback ride of 275 versts over the flowery hills and +through the green valleys of southern Kamchatka. Surrounded as we +continually were by the wildest and most beautiful scenery in all +northern Asia, experiencing for the first time the novelty and +adventurous excitement of camp life, and rejoicing in a newly found +sense of freedom and perfect independence, we turned our backs gaily +on civilisation, and rode away with light hearts into the wilderness, +making the hills ring to the music of our songs and halloos. + +Our party, aside from drivers and guides, consisted of four men--Major +Abaza, chief of Asiatic exploration, Dodd the young American, whom we +had engaged in Petropavlovsk, Viushin (view'-shin) a Cossack orderly, +and myself. The biting sarcasm directed by Mithridates at the army of +Lucullus--that if they came as ambassadors they were too many, if as +soldiers too few--would have applied with equal force to our small +party made up as it was of only four men; but strength is not always +to be measured by numbers, and we had no fears that we should not be +able to cope with any obstacles which might lie in our way. We could +certainly find subsistence where a larger party might starve. + +On Sunday, September 3d, our horses were loaded and despatched in +advance to a small village on the opposite side of the bay, where we +intended to meet them with a whale-boat. On Monday the 4th, we made +our farewell calls upon the Russian authorities, drank an inordinate +quantity of champagne to our own health and success, and set out +in two whale-boats for Avacha, accompanied by the whole American +population of Petropavlovsk. Crossing the bay under spritsail and jib, +with a slashing breeze from the south-west, we ran swiftly into the +mouth of the Avacha River, and landed at the village to refresh +ourselves for the fifteenth time with "fifteen drops," and take leave +of our American friends, Pierce, Hunter, and Fronefield. Copious +libations were poured out to the tutelary saint of Kamchatkan +explorers, and giving and receiving three hearty cheers we pushed off +and began to make our way slowly up the river with poles and paddles +toward the Kamchadal settlement of Okuta (o-koo'-tah). + +Our native crew, sharing in the universal dissipation which had +attended our departure, and wholly unaccustomed to such reckless +drinking, were reduced by this time to a comical state of happy +imbecility, in which they sang Kamchadal songs, blessed the Americans, +and fell overboard alternately, without contributing in any marked +degree to the successful navigation of our heavy whale-boat. Viushin, +however, with characteristic energy, hauled the drowning wretches in +by their hair, rapped them over the head with a paddle to restore +consciousness, pushed the boat off sand-bars, kept its head up stream, +poled, rowed, jumped into the water, shouted, swore, and proved +himself fully equal to any emergency. + +It was considerably after noon when we left Petropavlovsk, and owing +to the incompetency of our Kamchadal crew, and the frequency of +sand-bars, night overtook us on the river some distance below Okuta. +Selecting a place where the bank was dry and accessible, we beached +our whale-boat and prepared for our first bivouac in the open air. +Beating down the high wet grass, Viushin pitched our little cotton +tent, carpeted it with warm, dry bearskins, improvised a table and +a cloth out of an empty candle-box and a clean towel, built a fire, +boiled tea, and in twenty minutes set before us a hot supper which +would not have done discredit to the culinary skill of Soyer himself. +After supper we sat by the fire smoking and talking until the long +twilight died away in the west, and then, rolling ourselves up in +heavy blankets, we lay down on our bearskins and listened to the low +quacking of a half-awakened duck in the sedges, and the lonely cries +of night birds on the river until at last we fell asleep. + +Day was just breaking in the east when I awoke. The mist, which for a +week had hung in grey clouds around the mountains, had now vanished, +and the first object which met my eyes through the open door of the +tent was the great white cone of Villuchinski gleaming spectrally +through the greyness of the dawn. As the red flush in the east +deepened, all nature seemed to awake. Ducks and geese quacked from +every bunch of reeds along the shore; the strange wailing cries of +sea-gulls could be heard from the neighbouring coast; and from the +clear, blue sky came down the melodious trumpeting of wild swans, as +they flew inland to their feeding-places. I washed my face in the +clear, cold water of the river, and waked Dodd to see the mountains. +Directly behind our tent, in one unbroken sheet of snow, rose the +colossal peak of Koratskoi (ko-rat'-skoi), ten thousand five hundred +feet in height, its sharp white summit already crimsoning with the +rays of the rising sun, while the morning star yet throbbed faintly +over the cool purple of its eastern slope. A little to the right was +the huge volcano of Avacha, with a long banner of golden smoke hung +out from its broken summit, and the Raselskoi (rah'-sel-skoi) volcano +puffing out dark vapour from three craters. Far down the coast, thirty +miles away, stood the sharp peak of Villuchinski, with the watch-fires +of morning already burning upon its summit, and beyond it the hazy +blue outlines of the coast range. Shreds of fleecy mist here and there +floated up the mountain sides, and vanished like the spirits of +the night dews rising from earth to heaven in bright resurrection. +Steadily the warm, rosy flush of sunrise crept down the snowy slopes +of the mountains, until at last, with a quick sudden burst, it poured +a flood of light into the valley, tinging our little white tent with a +delicate pink, like that of a wild-rose petal, turning every pendent +dewdrop into a twinkling brilliant, and lighting up the still water +of the river, until it became a quivering, flashing mass of liquid +silver. + + "I'm not romantic, but, upon my word, + There are some moments when one can't help feeling + As if his heart's chords were so strongly stirred + By things around him, that 'tis vain concealing + A little music in his soul still lingers, + Whene'er the keys are touched by Nature's fingers." + +I was just delivering the above quotation in impassioned style, when +Dodd, who never allowed his enthusiasm for the beauties of nature to +interfere with a proper regard for the welfare of his stomach, emerged +from the tent, and, with a mock solemn apology for interrupting +my soliloquy, said that if I could bring my mind down to the +contemplation of material things he would inform me that breakfast +was ready, and begged to suggest that the little music in my soul be +allowed to "linger," since it could do so with less detriment than the +said breakfast. The force of this suggestion, seconded as it was by a +savoury odour from the interior of the tent, could not be denied. I +went, but still continued between the spoonfuls of hot soup to "rave," +as Dodd expressed it, about the scenery. After breakfast the tent was +struck, camp equipage packed up, and taking seats in the stern-sheets +of our whale-boat we pushed off and resumed our slow ascent of the +river. + +The vegetation everywhere, untouched as yet by the autumn frosts, +seemed to have an almost tropical luxuriance. High wild grass, mingled +with varicoloured flowers, extended to the very river's brink; Alpine +roses and cinquefoil grew in dense thickets along the bank, and +dropped their pink and yellow petals like fairy boats upon the surface +of the clear still water; yellow columbine drooped low over the +river, to see its graceful image mirrored beside that of the majestic +volcano; and strange black Kamchatkan lilies, with downcast looks, +stood here and there in sad loneliness, mourning in funeral garb some +unknown flowery bereavement. + +Nor was animal life wanting to complete the picture. Wild ducks, with +long outstretched necks, shot past us, continually in their swift +level flight, uttering hoarse quacks of curiosity and apprehension; +the honking of geese came to us, softened by distance, from the +higher slopes of the mountains; and now and then a magnificent eagle, +startled from his solitary watch on some jutting rock, expanded his +broad-barred wings, launched himself into air, and soared upward in +ever-widening circles until he became a mere moving speck against +the white snowy crater of the Avachinski volcano. Never had I seen a +picture of such wild primitive loneliness as that presented by +this beautiful fertile valley, encircled by smoking volcanoes and +snow-covered mountains, yet green as the Vale of Tempe, teeming with +animal and vegetable life, yet solitary, uninhabited by man, and +apparently unknown. About noon the barking of dogs announced our +approach to a settlement, and turning an abrupt bend in the river we +came in sight of the Kamchadal village of Okuta (o-koo'-tah). + +A Kamchadal village differs in some respects so widely from an +American frontier settlement, that it is worthy, perhaps, of a brief +description. It is situated generally on a little elevation near the +bank of some river or stream, surrounded by scattered clumps of poplar +and yellow birch, and protected by high hills from the cold northern +winds. Its houses, which are clustered irregularly together near the +beach, are very low, and are made of logs squared and notched at the +ends, and chinked with masses of dry moss. The roofs are covered with +a rough thatch of long coarse grass or with overlapping strips of +tamarack bark, and project at the ends and sides into wide overhanging +eaves. The window-frames, although occasionally glazed, are more +frequently covered with an irregular patchwork of translucent fish +bladders, sewn together with thread made of the dried and pounded +sinews of the reindeer. The doors are almost square, and the chimneys +are nothing but long straight poles, arranged in a circle and +plastered over thickly with clay. Here and there between the houses +stand half a dozen curious architectural quadrupeds called "balagans" +(bah-lah-gans'), or fish storehouses. They are simply conical log +tents, elevated from the ground on four posts to secure their contents +from the dogs, and resemble as much as anything small haystacks trying +to walk away on four legs. High square frames of horizontal poles +stand beside every house, filled with thousands of drying salmon; and +"an ancient and fish-like smell," which pervades the whole atmosphere, +betrays the nature of the Kamchadals' occupation and of the food upon +which they live. Half a dozen dugout canoes lie bottom upward on the +sandy shelving beach, covered with large neatly tied seines; two or +three long, narrow dog-sledges stand up on their ends against every +house, and a hundred or more sharp-eared wolfish dogs, tied at +intervals to long heavy poles, lie panting in the sun, snapping +viciously at the flies and mosquitoes which disturb their rest. In the +centre of the village, facing the west, stands, in all the glory of +Kamchatko-Byzantine architecture, red paint, and glittering domes, +the omnipresent Greek church, contrasting strangely with the rude log +houses and conical _balagans_ over which it extends the spiritual +protection of its resplendent golden cross. It is built generally of +carefully hewn logs, painted a deep brick-red, covered with a green +sheet-iron roof, and surmounted by two onion-shaped domes of tin +which are sometimes coloured sky-blue and spangled with golden +stars. Standing with all its glaring contrasts of colour among a few +unpainted log houses in a primitive wilderness, it has a strange +picturesque appearance not easily described. If you can imagine a +rough American backwoods settlement of low log houses clustered round +a gaily coloured Turkish mosque, half a dozen small haystacks mounted +on high vertical posts, fifteen or twenty Titanic wooden gridirons +similarly elevated and hung full of drying fish, a few dog-sledges and +canoes lying carelessly around, and a hundred or more grey wolves tied +here and there between the houses to long heavy poles, you will have a +general but tolerably accurate idea of a Kamchadal settlement of the +better class. They differ somewhat in respect to their size and their +churches; but the grey log houses, conical _balagans_ drying fish, +wolfish dogs, canoes, sledges, and fishy odours are all invariable +features. + +The inhabitants of these native settlements in southern Kamchatka +are a dark swarthy race, considerably below the average stature of +Siberian natives, and are very different in all their characteristics +from the wandering tribes of Koraks and Chukchis who live farther +north. The men average perhaps five feet three or four inches in +height, have broad flat faces, prominent cheek bones, small and rather +sunken eyes, no beards, long, lank, black hair, small hands and feet, +very slender limbs, and a tendency to enlargement and protrusion of +the abdomen. They are probably of central Asiatic origin, but they +certainly have had no very recent connection with any other Siberian +tribe with which I am acquainted, and are not at all like the +Chukchis, Koraks, Yakuts (yah-koots'), or Tunguses (toon-goo'-ses). +From the fact of their living a settled instead of a wandering life +they were brought under Russian subjection much more easily than their +nomadic neighbours, and have since experienced in a greater degree the +civilising influences of Russian intercourse. They have adopted almost +universally the religion, customs, and habits of their conquerors, and +their own language, which is a very curious one, is already falling +into disuse. It would be easy to describe their character by +negatives. They are not independent, self-reliant, or of a combative +disposition like the northern Chukchis and Koraks; they are not +avaricious or dishonest, except where those traits are the results of +Russian education; they are not suspicious or distrustful, but rather +the contrary; and for generosity, hospitality, simple good faith, and +easy, equable good-nature under all circumstances, I have never met +their equals. As a race they are undoubtedly becoming extinct. +Since 1780, they have diminished in numbers more than one half, and +frequently recurring epidemics and famines will soon reduce them to +a comparatively weak and unimportant tribe, which will finally be +absorbed in the growing Russian population of the peninsula. They have +already lost most of their distinctive customs and superstitions, and +only an occasional sacrifice of a dog to some malignant spirit of +storm or disease enables the modern traveller to catch a glimpse of +their original paganism. They depend mainly for subsistence upon the +salmon, which every summer run into these northern rivers in immense +numbers to spawn, and are speared, caught in seines, and trapped in +weirs by thousands. These fish, dried without salt in the open air, +are the food of the Kamchadals and of their dogs throughout the long, +cold northern winter. During the summer, however, their bill of fare +is more varied. The climate and soil of the river bottoms in southern +Kamchatka admit of the cultivation of rye, potatoes, and turnips, and +the whole peninsula abounds in animal life. Reindeer and black and +brown bears roam everywhere over the mossy plains and through the +grassy valleys; wild sheep and a species of ibex are not unfrequently +found in the mountains; and millions upon millions of ducks, geese, +and swans, in almost endless variety, swarm about every river and +little marshy lake throughout the country. These aquatic fowls are +captured in great multitudes while moulting by organised "drives" of +fifty or seventy-five men in canoes, who chase the birds in one +great flock up some narrow stream, at the end of which a huge net +is arranged for their reception. They are then killed with clubs, +cleaned, and salted for winter use. Tea and sugar have been introduced +by the Russians, and have been received with great favour, the +annual consumption now being more than 20,000 pounds of each in the +Kamchatkan peninsula alone. Bread is now made of rye, which the +Kamchadals raise and grind for themselves; but previous to the +settlement of the country by the Russians, the only native substitute +for bread was a sort of baked paste, consisting chiefly of the +grated tubers of the purple Kamchatkan lily. [Footnote: A species of +fritillaria.] The only fruits in the country are berries and a species +of wild cherry. Of the berries, however, there are fifteen or twenty +different kinds, of which the most important are blueberries, +"maroshkas" (mah-ro'-shkas), or yellow cloud-berries, and dwarf +cranberries. These the natives pick late in the fall, and freeze +for winter consumption. Cows are kept in nearly all the Kamchadal +settlements, and milk is always plenty. A curious native dish of sour +milk, baked curds, and sweet cream, covered with powdered sugar and +cinnamon, is worthy of being placed upon a civilised table. + +It will thus be seen that life in a Kamchatkan settlement, +gastronomically considered, is not altogether so disagreeable as we +have been led to believe. I have seen natives in the valley of the +Kamchatka as pleasantly situated, and enjoying as much comfort and +almost as many luxuries, as nine tenths of the settlers upon the +frontiers of our western States and Territories. + + +[Illustration: Travelling Bag made of Reindeer skin] + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +BRIDLE PATHS OP SOUTHERN KAMCHATKA--HOUSES AND FOOD OF THE +PEOPLE--REINDEER TONGUES AND WILD-ROSE PETALS--A KAMCHATKAN DRIVER'S +CANTICLE + +At Okuta we found our horses and men awaiting our arrival; and after +eating a hasty lunch of bread, milk, and blueberries in a little +native house, we clambered awkwardly into our saddles, and filed away +in a long irregular line through the woods, Dodd and I taking the +advance, singing _Bonnie Dundee_. + +We kept continually near the group of mountains which had presented so +beautiful an appearance in the morning; but, owing to the forest of +birch and mountain ash which clothed the foot-hills, we caught only +occasional glimpses between the tree-tops of their white snowy +summits. + +Just before sunset, we rode into another little native village, whose +ingeniously constructed name defied all my inexperienced attempts to +pronounce it or write it down. Dodd was good-natured enough to +repeat it to me five or six times; but as it sounded worse and more +unintelligible every time, I finally called it Jerusalem, and let it +go at that. For the sake of geographical accuracy I have so marked it +down on my map; but let no future commentator point to it triumphantly +as a proof that the lost tribes of Israel emigrated to Kamchatka; +I don't believe that they did, and I know that this unfortunate +settlement, before I took pity on it and called it Jerusalem, was +distinguished by a name so utterly barbarous that neither the Hebrew +alphabet nor any other known to ancient literature could have begun to +do it justice. + +Tired by the unusual exercise of horseback riding, I entered Jerusalem +at a walk, and throwing my bridle to a Kamchadal in blue nankeen +shirt and buckskin trousers, who saluted me with a reverential bow, I +wearily dismounted and entered the house which Viushin indicated as +the one we were to occupy. + +The best room, which had been prepared for our reception, was a low +bare apartment about twelve feet square, whose walls, ceiling, and +floor of unpainted birch planks were scoured to a smooth snowy purity +which would have been creditable even to the neat housewives of the +Dutch paradise of Broek. An immense clay oven, neatly painted red, +occupied one side of the room; a bench, three or four rude chairs, and +a table, were arranged with severe propriety against the other. Two +windows of glass, shaded by flowery calico curtains, admitted the +warm sunshine; a few coarse American lithographs hung here and there +against the wall; and the air of perfect neatness, which prevailed +everywhere, made us suddenly and painfully conscious of our own muddy +boots and rough attire. No tools except axes and knives had been +used in the construction of the house or of its furniture; but the +unplaned, unpainted boards had been diligently scrubbed with water +and sand to a delicate creamy whiteness, which made amends for all +rudeness of workmanship. There was not a plank in the floor from which +the most fastidious need have hesitated to eat. The most noticeable +peculiarity of this, as of all the other Kamchadal houses which we saw +in southern Kamchatka, was the lowness of its doors. They seemed to +have been designed for a race of beings whose only means of locomotion +were hands and knees, and to enter them without making use of those +means required a flexibility of spinal vertebrae only to be acquired +by long and persevering practice. Viushin and Dodd, who had travelled +in Kamchatka before, experienced no difficulty in accommodating +themselves to this peculiarity of native architecture; but the Major +and I, during the first two weeks of our journey, bore upon the fore +parts of our heads, bumps whose extraordinary size and irregularity +of development would have puzzled even Spurzheim and Gall. If the +abnormal enlargement of the bumps had only been accompanied by a +corresponding enlargement of the respective faculties, there would +have been some compensation for this disfiguration of our heads; but +unfortunately "perception" might be suddenly developed by the lintel +of a door until it looked like a goose-egg, without enabling us to +perceive the very next beam which came in our way until after we had +struck our heads against it. + +The Cossack who had been sent through the peninsula as an +avant-courier to notify the natives of our coming, had carried the +most exaggerated reports of our power and importance, and elaborate +preparations had been made by the Jerusalemites for our reception. +The house that was to be honoured by our presence had been carefully +scrubbed, swept, and garnished; the women had put on their most +flowery calico dresses, and tied their hair up in their brightest silk +handkerchiefs; most of the children's faces had been painfully washed +and polished with soap, water, and wads of fibrous hemp; the whole +village had been laid under contribution to obtain the requisite +number of plates, cups, and spoons, for our supper-table, while +offerings of ducks, reindeer-tongues, blueberries, and clotted cream +poured in upon us with a profusion which testified to the good-will +and hospitality of the inhabitants, as well as to their ready +appreciation of tired travellers' wants. In an hour we sat down, with +appetites sharpened by the pure mountain air, to an excellent supper +of cold roast duck, broiled reindeer-tongues, black-bread and fresh +butter, blueberries and cream, and wild-rose petals crushed with white +sugar into a rich delicious jam. We had come to Kamchatka with minds +and mouths heroically made up for an unvarying diet of blubber, tallow +candles, and train-oil; but imagine our surprise and delight at being +treated instead to such Sybaritic luxuries as purple blueberries, +cream, and preserved rose-leaves! Did Lucullus ever feast upon +preserved rose-petals in his, vaunted pleasure-gardens of Tusculum? +Never! The original recipe for the preparation of celestial ambrosia +had been lost before ever "Lucullus supped with Lucullus"; but it was +rediscovered by the despised inhabitants of Kamchatka, and is now +offered, to the world as the first contribution of the Hyperboreans to +gastronomical science. Take equal quantities of white loaf sugar +and the petals of the Alpine rose, add a little juice of crushed +blueberries, macerate together to a rich crimson paste, serve in the +painted cups of trumpet honeysuckles, and imagine yourself feasting +with the gods upon the summit of high Olympus! + +As soon as possible after supper, I stretched myself out upon the +floor under a convenient table, which answered practically and +aesthetically all the purposes of a four-post bedstead, inflated my +little rubber pillow, rolled myself up, _a la_ mummy, in a blanket, +and slept. + +The Major, always an early riser, was awake on the following morning +at daylight. Dodd and I, with a coincidence of opinion as rare as it +was gratifying, regarded early rising as a relic of barbarism which no +American, with a proper regard for the civilisation of the nineteenth +century, would demean himself by encouraging. We had therefore entered +into a mutual agreement upon this occasion to sleep peacefully until +the "caravan," as Dodd irreverently styled it, should be ready to +start, or at least until we should receive a summons for breakfast. +Soon after daybreak, however, a terrific row began about something, +and with a vague impression that I was attending a particularly +animated primary meeting in the Ninth Ward, I sprang up, knocked my +head violently against a table-leg, opened my eyes in amazement, and +stared wildly at the situation. The Major, in a scanty _deshabille,_ +was storming furiously about the room, cursing our frightened drivers +in classical Russian, because the horses had all stampeded during the +night and gone, as he said with expressive simplicity, "Chort +tolko znal kooda"--"the devil only knew where." This was rather an +unfortunate beginning of our campaign; but in the course of two hours +most of the wandering beasts were found, packs were adjusted, and +after an unnecessary amount of profanity from the drivers, we turned +our backs on Jerusalem and rode slowly away over the rolling grassy +foot-hills of the Avachinski volcano. + +It was a warm, beautiful Indian summer day, and a peculiar stillness +and Sabbath-like quiet seemed to pervade all nature. The leaves of the +scattering birches and alders along the trail hung motionless in the +warm sunshine, the drowsy cawing of a crow upon a distant larch came +to our ears with strange distinctness, and we even imagined that we +could hear the regular throbbing of the surf upon the far-away coast. +A faint murmurous hum of bees was in the air, and a rich fruity +fragrance came up from the purple clusters of blueberries which our +horses crushed under foot at every step. All things seemed to unite +in tempting the tired traveller to stretch himself out on the warm +fragrant grass, and spend the day in luxurious idleness, listening to +the buzzing of the sleepy bees, inhaling the sweet smell of crushed +blueberries, and watching the wreaths of curling smoke which rose +lazily from the lofty crater of the great white volcano. I laughingly +said to Dodd that instead of being in Siberia--the frozen land of +Russian exiles--we had apparently been transported by some magical +Arabian Night's contrivance to the clime of the "Lotus Eaters," which +would account for the dreamy, drowsy influence of the atmosphere. +"Clime of the Lotus Eaters be hanged!" he broke out impetuously, +making a furious slap at his face; "the poet doesn't say that the +Lotus Eaters were eaten up themselves by such cursed mosquitoes as +these, and they're sufficient evidence that we're in Kamchatka--they +don't grow as big as bumblebees in any other country!" I reminded him +mildly that according to Walton--old Isaac--every misery we missed was +a new mercy, and that, consequently, he ought to be thankful for every +mosquito that didn't bite him. His only reply was that he "wished he +had old Isaac there." What summary reprisals were to be made upon old +Isaac I did not know, but it was evident that Dodd did not approve of +his philosophy, or of my attempt at consolation, so I desisted. + +Maximof (max-im'-off), the chief of our drivers, labouring under a +vague impression that, because everything was so still and quiet, it +must be Sunday, rode slowly through the scattered clumps of silver +birch which shaded the trail, chanting in a loud, sonorous voice a +part of the service of the Greek Church, suspending this devotional +exercise, occasionally, to curse his vagrant horses in a style which +would have excited the envy and admiration of the most profane trooper +of the army in Flanders. + +"Oh! let my pray-er be-e-e (_Here! you pig! Keep in the road_!) +set forth as the in-cense; and let the lifting up of my han-n-n-ds +be--(_Get up! you korova! You old, blind, broken-legged son of the +Evil Spirit! Where you going to_!)--an eve-n-ing sacrifice: let not my +heart be inclined to--(_Lie down again, will you! Thwack? Take that, +you old sleepy-headed svinya proclatye_!)--any e-vil thing; let me not +be occupied with any evil works (_Akh! What a horse! Bokh s'nim_!). +Set a watch before my mouth, and keep the do-o-o-r of my lips--(_Whoa! +You merzavitz! What did you run into that tree for? Ecca voron! +Podletz! Slepoi takoi! Chart tibi vasmee_!)"--and Maximof lapsed +into a strain of such ingenious and metaphorical profanity that my +imagination was left to supply the deficiencies of my imperfect +comprehension. He did not seem to be conscious of any inconsistency +between the chanted psalm and the profane interjections by which +it was accompanied; but, even if he had been fully aware of it, he +probably would have regarded the chanting as a fair offset to the +profanity, and would have gone on his way with serene indifference, +fully assured that if he sang a sacred verse every time he swore, his +celestial account must necessarily balance! + +The road, or rather trail, from Jerusalem turned away to the westward, +and wound around the bases of a range of low bare mountains, through a +dense forest of poplar and birch. Now and then we would come out into +little grassy openings, where the ground was covered with blueberries, +and every eye would be on the lookout for bears; but all was still and +motionless--even the grasshoppers chirping sleepily and lazily, as +if they too were about to yield to the somnolence which seemed to +overpower all nature. + +To escape the mosquitoes, whose relentless persecution became almost +unendurable, we rode on more briskly through a broad, level valley, +filled with a dense growth of tall umbelliferous plants, trotted +swiftly up a little hill, and rode at a thundering gallop into the +village of Korak, amid the howling and barking of a hundred and fifty +half-wild dogs, the neighing of horses, running to and fro of men, and +a scene of general confusion. + +At Korak we changed most of our horses and men, ate an _al fresco_ +lunch under the projecting eaves of a mossy Kamchadal house, and +started at two o'clock for Malqua, another village, fifty or sixty +miles distant, across the watershed of the Kamchatka River. About +sunset, after a brisk ride of fifteen or eighteen miles, we suddenly +emerged from the dense forest of poplar, birch, and mountain ash which +had shut in the trail, and came out into a little grassy opening, +about an acre in extent, which seemed to have been made expressly with +a view to camping out. It was surrounded on three sides by woods, and +opened on the fourth into a wild mountain gorge, choked up with rocks, +logs, and a dense growth of underbrush and weeds. A clear cold stream +tumbled in a succession of tinkling cascades down the dark ravine, and +ran in a sandy flower-bordered channel through the grassy glade, until +it disappeared in the encircling forest. It was useless to look for +a better place than this to spend the night, and we decided to stop +while we still had daylight. To picket our horses, collect wood for a +fire, hang over our teakettles, and pitch our little cotton tent, was +the work of only a few moments, and we were soon lying at full length +upon our warm bearskins, around our towel-covered candle-box, drinking +hot tea, discussing Kamchatka, and watching the rosy flush of sunset +as it slowly faded over the western mountains. + +As I was lulled to sleep that night by the murmuring plash of falling +water, and the tinkling of our horses' bells from the forest behind +our tent, I thought that nothing could be more delightful than camp +life in Kamchatka. + +We reached Malqua on the following day, in a generally exhausted +and used-up condition. The road had been terribly rough and broken, +running through narrow ravines blocked up with rocks and fallen trees, +across wet mossy swamps, and over rugged precipitous hills, where we +dared not attempt to ride our horses. We were thrown repeatedly from +our saddles; our provision-boxes were smashed against trees, and wet +through by sinking in swamps; girths gave way, drivers swore, horses +fell down, and we all came to grief, individually and collectively. +The Major, unaccustomed as he was to these vicissitudes of Kamchatkan +travel, held out like a Spartan; but I noticed that for the last ten +miles he rode upon a pillow, and shouted at short intervals to Dodd, +who, with stoical imperturbability, was riding quietly in advance: +"Dodd! oh, Dodd! haven't we got most to that _con-found-ed_ Malqua +yet?" Dodd would strike his horse a sharp blow with a willow switch, +turn half round in his saddle, and reply, with a quizzical smile, that +we were "not most there yet, but would be soon!"--an equivocal sort of +consolation which did not inspire us with much enthusiasm. At last, +when it had already begun to grow dark, we saw a high column of white +steam in the distance, which rose, Dodd and Viushin said, from the hot +springs of Malqua; and in fifteen minutes we rode, tired, wet, and +hungry, into the settlement. Supper was a secondary consideration with +me _that_ night. All I wanted was to crawl under a table where no one +would step on me, and be let alone. I had never before felt such a +vivid consciousness of my muscular and osseous system. Every separate +bone and tendon in my body asserted its individual existence by a +distinct and independent ache, and my back in twenty minutes was as +inflexible as an iron ramrod. I felt a melancholy conviction that I +never should measure five feet ten inches again, unless I could lie on +some Procrustean bed and have my back stretched out to its original +longitude. Repeated perpendicular concussions had, I confidently +believed, telescoped my spinal vertebrae into each other, so that +nothing short of a surgical operation would ever restore them to their +original positions. Revolving in my mind such mournful considerations, +I fell asleep under a table, without even pulling off my boots. + +[Illustration: Cap of brown and white fur] + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +THE BEAUTIFUL VALLEY OF GENAL--WALLS OF LITERATURE--SCARING UP A +BEAR--END OF HORSEBACK RIDE + +It was hard work on the following morning to climb again into the +saddle, but the Major was insensible to all appeals for delay. Stern +and inflexible as Rhadamanthus, he mounted stiffly upon his feather +pillow and gave the signal for a start. With the aid of two +sympathetic Kamchadals, who had perhaps experienced the misery of a +stiff back, I succeeded in getting astride a fresh horse, and we +rode away into the Genal (gen-ahl') valley--the garden of southern +Kamchatka. + +The village of Malqua lies on the northern slope of the Kamchatka +River watershed, surrounded by low barren granite hills, and reminded +me a little in its situation of Virginia City, Nevada. It is noted +chiefly for its hot mineral springs, but as we did not have time to +visit these springs ourselves, we were compelled to take the natives' +word for their temperature and their medicinal properties, and content +ourselves with a distant view of the pillar of steam which marked +their location. + +North of the village opens the long narrow valley of Genal--the most +beautiful as well as the most fertile spot in all the Kamchatkan +peninsula. It is about thirty miles in length, and averages three in +breadth, and is bounded on both sides by chains of high snow-covered +mountains, which stretch away from Malqua in a long vista of white +ragged peaks and sharp cliffs, almost to the head-waters of the +Kamchatka River. A small stream runs in a tortuous course through the +valley, fringed with long wild grass four or five feet in height, and +shaded here and there by clumps of birches, willows, and alders. The +foliage was beginning already to assume the brilliant colours of +early autumn, and broad stripes of crimson, yellow, and green ran +horizontally along the mountain sides, marking on a splendid chromatic +scale the successive zones of vegetation as they rose in regular +gradation from the level of the valley to the pure glittering snows of +the higher peaks. + +As we approached the middle of the valley just before noon, the +scenery assumed a vividness of colour and grandeur of outline which +drew forth the most enthusiastic exclamations of delight from our +little party. For twenty-five miles in each direction lay the sunny +valley, through which the Genal River was stretched like a tangled +chain of silver, linking together the scattered clumps of birch and +thickets of alder, which at intervals diversified its banks. Like the +Happy Valley of Rasselas, it seemed to be shut out from the rest of +the world by impassable mountains, whose snowy peaks and pinnacles +rivalled in picturesque beauty, in variety and singularity of form, +the wildest dream of eastern architect. Half down their sides was a +broad horizontal belt of dark-green pines, thrown into strong and +beautiful contrast with the pure white snow of the higher summits and +the rich crimson of the mountain ash which flamed below. Here and +there the mountains had been cleft asunder by some Titanic power, +leaving deep narrow gorges and wild ravines where the sunlight could +hardly penetrate, and the eye was lost in soft purple haze. Imagine +with all this, a warm fragrant atmosphere and a deep blue sky in which +floated a few clouds, too ethereal even to cast shadows, and you will +perhaps have a faint idea of one of the most beautiful landscapes in +all Kamchatka. The Sierra Nevadas may afford views of more savage +wildness, but nowhere in California or Nevada have I ever seen the +distinctive features of both winter and summer--snow and roses, bare +granite and brilliantly coloured foliage--blended into so harmonious +a picture as that presented by the Genal valley on a sunshiny day in +early autumn. + +Dodd and I devoted most of our leisure time during the afternoon to +picking and eating berries. Galloping furiously ahead until we +had left the caravan several miles behind, we would lie down in a +particularly luxuriant thicket by the river bank, tie our horses to +our feet, and bask in the sunshine and feast upon yellow honeyed +"moroshkas" (mo-ro'-shkas) and the dark purple globes of delicious +blueberries, until our clothes were stained with crimson spots, and +our faces and hands resembled those of a couple of Comanches painted +for the war-path. + +The sun was yet an hour high when we approached the native village of +Genal. We passed a field where men and women were engaged in cutting +hay with rude sickles, returned their stare of amazement with +unruffled serenity, and rode on until the trail suddenly broke off +into a river beyond which stood the village. + +Kneeling upon our saddles we succeeded in fording the shallow stream +without getting wet, but in a moment we came to another of about the +same size. We forded that, and were confronted by a third. This we +also passed, but at the appearance of the fourth river the Major +shouted despairingly to Dodd, "Ay! Dodd! How many _paganni_ rivers do +we have to wade through in getting to this beastly village?" "Only +one," replied Dodd composedly. "One! Then how many times does this +one river run past this one settlement?" "Five times," was the calm +response. "You see," he explained soberly, "these poor Kamchadals +haven't got but one river to fish in, and that isn't a very big one, +so they have made it run past their settlement five times, and by this +ingenious contrivance they catch five times as many salmon as they +would if it only passed once!" The Major was surprised into silence, +and seemed to be considering some abstruse problem. Finally he raised +his eyes from the pommel of his saddle, transfixed the guilty Dodd +with a glance of severe rebuke, and demanded solemnly, "How many times +must a given fish swim past a given settlement, in order to supply the +population with food, provided the fish is caught every time he goes +past?" This _reductio ad absurdum_ was too much for Dodd's gravity; +he burst into a laugh, and digging his heels into his horse's ribs, +dashed with a great splatter into the fourth arm or bend of the river, +and rode up on the other side into the village of Genal. + +We took up our quarters at the house of the "starosta" (stah'-ro-stah) +or head man of the village, and spread our bearskins out on the clean +white floor of a low room, papered in a funny way with old copies +of the _Illustrated London News_. A coloured American lithograph, +representing the kiss of reconciliation between two offended lovers, +hung against the wall on one side, and was evidently regarded with +a good deal of pride by the proprietor, as affording incontestable +evidence of culture and refined taste, and proving his familiar +acquaintance with American art, and the manners and customs of +American society. + +Dodd and I, notwithstanding our fatigue, devoted the evening entirely +to literary pursuits; searching diligently with tallow candles over +the wall and ceiling for consecutive numbers of the _Illustrated +London News_, reading court gossip from a birch plank in the corner, +and obituaries of distinguished Englishmen from the back of a door. By +dint of industry and perseverance we finished one whole side of the +house before bedtime, and having gained a vast amount of valuable +information with regard to the war in New Zealand, we were encouraged +to pursue our investigations in the morning upon the three remaining +sides and the ceiling. To our great regret, however, we were obliged +to start on our pilgrimage without having time to find out how that +war terminated, and we have never been able to ascertain to this day! +Long before six o'clock we were off with fresh horses for a long ride +of ninety versts to Pushchin (poosh'-chin). + +The costumes of our little party had now assumed a very motley and +brigandish appearance, every individual having discarded from time +to time, such articles of his civilised dress as proved to be +inconvenient or uncomfortable, and adopted various picturesque +substitutes, which filled more nearly the requirements of a barbarous +life. Dodd had thrown away his cap, and tied a scarlet and yellow +handkerchief around his head. Viushin had ornamented his hat with a +long streamer of crimson ribbon, which floated gayly in the wind +like a whip-pennant. A blue hunting-shirt and a red Turkish fez had +superseded my uniform coat and cap. We all carried rifles slung +across our backs, and revolvers belted around our waists, and were +transformed generally into as fantastic brigands as ever sallied +forth from the passes of the Apennines to levy blackmail upon unwary +travellers. A timid tourist, meeting us as we galloped furiously +across the plain toward Pushchin would have fallen on his knees and +pulled out his purse without asking any unnecessary questions. + +Being well mounted on fresh, spirited horses, the Major, Dodd, +Viushin, and I rode far in advance of the rest of the party throughout +the day. Late in the afternoon, as we were going at a slashing rate +across the level plain known as the Kamchatkan _tundra_, [Footnote: A +treeless expanse carpeted with moss and low berry-bushes.] the Major +suddenly drew his horse violently back on his haunches, wheeled half +round, and shouted, "Medveid! medveid!" and a large black bear rose +silently out of the long grass at his very feet. + +The excitement, I can conscientiously affirm, was terrific. Viushin +unslung his double-barrelled fowling-piece, and proceeded to pepper +him with duck-shot; Dodd tugged at his revolver with frantic energy +while his horse ran away with him over the plain; the Major dropped +his bridle, and implored me by all I held sacred not to shoot _him_, +while the horses plunged, kicked, and snorted in the most animated +manner. The only calm and self-possessed individual in the whole party +was the bear! He surveyed the situation coolly for a few seconds, and +then started at an awkward gallop for the woods. In an instant our +party recovered its conjoint presence of mind, and charged with the +most reckless heroism upon his flying footsteps, shouting frantically +to "stop him!" popping away in the most determined and unterrified +manner with four revolvers and a shotgun, and performing prodigies +of valour in the endeavour to capture the ferocious beast, without +getting in his way or coming nearer to him than a hundred yards. All +was in vain. The bear vanished in the forest like a flying shadow; +and, presuming from his known ferocity and vindictiveness that he had +prepared an ambuscade for us in the woods, we deemed it the better +part of valour to abandon the pursuit. Upon comparing notes, we found +that we had all been similarly impressed with his enormous size, his +shagginess, and his generally savage appearance, and had all been +inspired at the same moment with an irresistible inclination to take +him by the throat and rip him open with a bowie-knife, in a manner +so beautifully illustrated by the old geographies. Nothing but the +fractiousness of our horses and the rapidity of his flight had +prevented this desirable consummation. The Major even declared +positively that he had seen the bear a long time before, and only +rode over him "to scare him up," and said almost in the words of the +redoubtable Falstaff, "that if we would do him honour for it, so; if +not, we might scare up the next bear ourselves." Looking at the matter +calmly and dispassionately afterward, I thought it extremely probable +that if another bear did not scare the Major up, he never would go +out of his way to scare up another bear. We felt it to be our duty, +however, to caution him against imperilling the success of our +expedition by such reckless exploits in the way of scaring up wild +beasts. + +Long before we reached Pushchin it grew dark; but our tired horses +freshened up after sunset, with the cool evening air, and about eight +o'clock we heard the distant howling of dogs, which we had already +come to associate with hot tea, rest, and sleep. In twenty minutes we +were lying comfortably on our bearskins in a Kamchadal house. + +We had made sixty miles since daybreak; but the road had been good. +We were becoming more accustomed to horseback riding, and were by +no means so tired as we had been at Malqua. Only thirty versts now +intervened between us and the head-waters of the Kamchatka River, +where we were to abandon our horses and float down two hundred and +fifty miles on rafts or in native canoes. + +A sharp trot of four hours over a level plain brought us on the +following morning to Sherom (sheh-rome'), where rafts had already been +prepared for our use. + +It was with no little regret that I ended for the present my horseback +travel. The life suited me in every respect, and I could not recall +any previous journey which had ever afforded me more pure, healthful +enjoyment, or seemed more like a delightful pleasure excursion than +this. All Siberia, however, lay before us; and our regret at +leaving scenes which we should never again revisit was relieved by +anticipations of future adventures equally novel, and prospective +scenery grander even than anything which we had yet witnessed. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +THE KAMCHATKA RIVER--LIFE ON A CANOE RAFT--RECEPTION AT +MILKOVA--MISTAKEN FOR THE TSAR + +To a person of an indolent disposition there is something particularly +pleasant in floating in a boat down a river. One has all the +advantages of variety, and change of incident and scenery, without any +exertion; all the lazy pleasures--for such they must be called--of +boat life, without any of the monotony which makes a long sea voyage +so unendurable. I think it was Gray who said that his idea of paradise +was "To lie on a sofa and read eternally new romances of Marivaux and +Crebillon." Could the author of the "Elegy" have stretched himself out +on the open deck of a Kamchadal boat, covered to a depth of six inches +with fragrant flowers and freshly cut hay; could he have floated +slowly down a broad, tranquil river through ranges of snow-clad +mountains, past forests glowing with yellow and crimson, and vast +steppes waving with tall, wild grass; could he have watched the +full moon rise over the lonely, snowy peak of the Kluchefskoi +(kloo'-chef-skoi') volcano, bridging the river with a narrow trail +of quivering light, and have listened to the plash of the boatman's +paddles, and the low melancholy song to which they kept time--he would +have thrown Marivaux and Crebillon overboard, and have given a better +example of the pleasures of paradise. + +I know that I am laying myself open to the charge of exaggeration by +thus praising Kamchatkan scenery, and that my enthusiasm will perhaps +elicit a smile of amusement from the more experienced traveller who +has seen Italy and the Alps; still, I am describing things as they +appeared to me, and do not assert that the impressions they made were +those that should or would have been made upon a man of more extensive +experience and wider observation. To use the words of a Spanish +writer, which I have somewhere read, "The man who has never seen the +glory of the sun cannot be blamed for thinking that there is no glory +like that of the moon; nor he who has never seen the moon, for talking +of the unrivalled brightness of the morning star." Had I ever sailed +down the Rhine, climbed the Matterhorn, or seen the moon rise over +the Bay of Naples, I should have taken perhaps a juster and less +enthusiastic view of Kamchatka; but, compared with anything that I had +previously seen or imagined, the mountain landscapes of southern and +central Kamchatka were superb. + +At Sherom, thanks to the courier who had preceded us, we found a boat, +or Kamchatkan raft, ready for our reception. It was composed of three +large dugout canoes placed parallel to one another at distances of +about three feet, and lashed with sealskin thongs to stout transverse +poles. Over these was laid a floor or platform about ten feet by +twelve, leaving room at the bow and stern of each canoe for men with +paddles who were to guide and propel the unwieldy craft in some +unknown, but, doubtless, satisfactory manner. On the platform, which +was covered to a depth of six inches with freshly cut grass, we +pitched our little cotton tent, and transformed it with bearskins, +blankets, and pillows into a very cosy substitute for a stateroom. +Rifles and revolvers were unstrapped from our tired bodies, and hung +up against the tent poles; heavy riding boots were unceremoniously +kicked off, and replaced by soft buckskin _torbasses_ [Footnote: +Moccasin boots.]; saddles were stored away in convenient nooks for +future use; and all our things disposed with a view to the enjoyment +of as much luxury as was compatible with our situation. + +After a couple of hours' rest, during which our heavy baggage was +transferred to another similar raft, we walked down to the sandy +beach, bade good-bye to the crowd which had assembled to see us off, +and swung slowly out into the current, the Kamchadals on the shore +waving hats and handkerchiefs until a bend in the river hid them from +sight. The scenery of the upper Kamchatka for the first twenty miles +was comparatively tame and uninteresting, as the mountains were +entirely concealed by a dense forest of pine, birch, and larch, +which extended down to the water's edge. It was sufficient pleasure, +however, at first, to lie back in the tent upon our soft bearskins, +watching the brilliantly coloured and ever varying foliage of the +banks, to sweep swiftly but silently around abrupt bends into long +vistas of still water, startling the great Kamchatkan eagle from +his lonely perch on some jutting rock, and frightening up clouds of +clamorous waterfowl, which flew in long lines down the river until out +of sight. The navigation of the upper Kamchatka is somewhat intricate +and dangerous at night, on account of the rapidity of the current and +the frequency of snags; and as soon as it grew dark our native boatmen +considered it unsafe to go on. We accordingly beached our rafts and +went ashore to wait for moonrise. + +A little semicircle was cut in the thick underbrush at the edge of the +beach, fires were built, kettles of potatoes and fish hung over to +boil, and we all gathered around the cheerful blaze to smoke, talk, +and sing American songs until supper time. The scene to civilised eyes +was strangely wild and picturesque. The dark, lonely river gurgling +mournfully around sunken trees in its channel; the dense primeval +forest whispering softly to the passing wind its amazement at this +invasion of its solitude; the huge flaming camp-fire throwing a +red lurid glare over the still water, and lighting up weirdly the +encircling woods; and the groups of strangely dressed men lounging +carelessly about the blaze upon shaggy bearskins--all made up a +picture worthy of the pencil of Rembrandt. + +After supper we amused ourselves by building an immense bonfire of +driftwood on the beach, and hurling blazing firebrands at the leaping +salmon as they passed up the river, and the frightened ducks which had +been roused from sleep by the unusual noise and light. When nothing +remained of our bonfire but a heap of glowing embers, we spread our +bearskins upon the soft, yielding sand by the water's edge, and lay +staring up at the twinkling stars until consciousness faded away into +dreams, and dreams into utter oblivion. + +I was waked about midnight by the splashing of rain in my face and the +sobbing of the rising wind in the tree-tops, and upon crawling out of +my water-soaked blankets found that Dodd and the Major had brought the +tent ashore, pitched it among the trees, and availed themselves of +its shelter, but had treacherously left me exposed to a pelting +rain-storm, as if it were a matter of no consequence whatever whether +I slept in a tent or a mud-puddle! After mentally debating the +question whether I had better go inside or revenge myself by pulling +the tent down over their heads, I finally decided to escape from the +rain first and seek revenge at some more propitious time. Hardly had +I fallen asleep again when "spat" came the wet canvas across my face, +accompanied by a shout of "Get up! it is time to start"; and crawling +out from under the fallen tent I walked sullenly down to the raft, +revolving in my mind various ingenious schemes for getting even with +the Major and Dodd, who had first left me out in the rain, and then +waked me up in the middle of the night by pulling a wet tent down +over my head. It was one o'clock in the morning--dark, rainy, and +dismal--but the moon was supposed to have risen, and our Kamchadal +boatmen said that it was light enough to start. I didn't believe that +it was, but my sleepily expressed opinions had no weight with the +Major, and my protests were utterly ignored. Hoping in the bitterness +of my heart that we _should_ run against a snag, I lay down sullenly +in the rain on the wet soaking grass of our raft, and tried to forget +my misery in sleep. On account of the contrary wind we could not put +up our tent, and were obliged to cover ourselves as best we could with +oilcloth blankets and shiver away the remainder of the night. + +About an hour after daylight we approached the Kamchadal settlement of +Milkova (mil'-ko-vah), the largest native village in the peninsula. +The rain had ceased, and the clouds were beginning to break away, but +the air was still cold and raw. A courier, who had been sent down in a +canoe from Sherom on the previous day, had notified the inhabitants of +our near approach, and the signal gun which we fired as we came round +the last bend of the river brought nearly the whole population running +helter-skelter to the beach. Our reception was "a perfect ovation." +The "city fathers," as Dodd styled them, to the number of twenty, +gathered in a body at the landing and began bowing, taking off their +hats, and shouting "Zdrastvuitie?" [Footnote: How do you do?] while we +were yet fifty yards from the shore; a salute was fired from a dozen +rusty flint-lock muskets, to the imminent hazard of our lives; and +a dozen natives waded into the water to assist us in getting safely +landed. The village stood a short distance back from the river's bank, +and the natives had provided for our transportation thither four +of the worst-looking horses that I had seen in Kamchatka. Their +equipments consisted of wooden saddles, modelled after the gables of +an angular house; stirrups about twelve inches in length, patched up +from discarded remnants of sealskin thongs; cruppers of bearskin, +and halters of walrus hide twisted around the animals' noses. The +excitement which prevailed when we proceeded to mount was unparalleled +I believe in the annals of that quiet settlement. I don't know how the +Major succeeded in getting upon his horse, but I do know that a +dozen long-haired Kamchadals seized Dodd and me, regardless of our +remonstrances, hauled us this way and that until the struggle to get +hold of some part of our unfortunate persons resembled the fight over +the dead body of Patroclus, and finally hoisted us triumphantly into +our saddles in a breathless and exhausted condition. One more such +hospitable reception would forever have incapacitated us for the +service of the Russian American Telegraph Company! I had only time to +cast a hurried glance back at the Major. He looked like a frightened +landsman straddling the end of a studdingsail-boom run out to leeward +on a fast clipper, and his face was screwed up into an expression of +mingled pain, amusement, and astonishment, which evidently did not +begin to do justice to his conflicting emotions. I had no opportunity +of expressing my sympathetic participation in his sufferings; for +an excited native seized the halter of my horse, three more with +reverently bared heads fell in on each side, and I was led away in +triumph to some unknown destination! The inexpressible absurdity of +our appearance did not strike me with its full force until I looked +behind me just before we reached the village. There were the Major, +Viushin, and Dodd, perched upon gaunt Kamchadal horses, with their +knees and chins on nearly the same level, half a dozen natives in +eccentric costumes straggling along by their sides at a dog-trot, and +a large procession of bareheaded men and boys solemnly bringing up +the rear, punching the horses with sharp sticks into a temporary +manifestation of life and spirit. It reminded me faintly of a Roman +triumph--the Major, Dodd, and I being the victorious heroes, and the +Kamchadals the captives, whom we had compelled to go _sub jugum_, +and who now graced our triumphal entry into the Seven-hilled City. I +mentioned this fancy of mine to Dodd, but he declared that one would +have had to do violence to his imagination to make "victorious heroes" +out of us on that occasion, and suggested "heroic victims" as equally +poetical and more in accordance with the facts. His severely practical +mind objected to any such fanciful idealisation of our misery. The +excitement increased rather than diminished as we entered the +village. Our motley escort gesticulated, ran to and fro, and shouted +unintelligible orders in the most frantic manner; heads appeared and +disappeared with startling kaleidoscopic abruptness at the windows +of the houses; and three hundred dogs contributed to the general +confusion by breaking out into an infernal canine peace jubilee which +fairly made the air quiver with sound. At last we stopped in front of +a large one-story log house, and were assisted by twelve or fifteen +natives to dismount and enter. As soon as Dodd could collect his +confused faculties he demanded: "What in the name of all the Russian +saints is the matter with this settlement; is everybody insane?" +Viushin was ordered to send for the _starosta_, or head man of the +village, and in a few moments he made his appearance, bowing with the +impressive persistency of a Chinese mandarin. + +A prolonged colloquy then took place in Russian between the Major and +the _starosta_, broken by explanatory commentaries in the Kamchadal +language, which did not tend materially to elucidate the subject. An +evident and increasing disposition to smile gradually softened the +stern lines of the Major's face, until at last he burst into a laugh +of such infectious hilarity that, notwithstanding my ignorance of the +nature of the fun, I joined in with hearty sympathy. As soon as he +partially recovered his composure he gasped out, "The natives took you +for the Emperor!"--and then he went off in another spasm of merriment +which threatened to terminate either in suffocation or apoplexy. +Lost in bewilderment I could only smile feebly until he recovered +sufficiently to give me a more intelligible explanation of his mirth. +It appeared that the courier who had been sent from Petropavlovsk +to apprise the natives throughout the peninsula of our coming, had +carried a letter from the Russian governor giving the names and +occupations of the members of our party, and that mine had been put +down as "Yagor Kennan, Telegraphist and _Operator_." It so happened +that the _starosta_ of Milkova possessed the rare accomplishment of +knowing how to read Russian writing, and the letter had been handed +over to him to be communicated to the inhabitants of the village. He +had puzzled over the unknown word "telegraphist" until his mind was in +a hopeless state of bewilderment, but had not been able to give even +the wildest conjecture as to its probable meaning. "_Operator_," +however, had a more familiar sound; it was not spelled exactly in the +way to which he had been accustomed, but it was evidently intended +for "Imperator," the Emperor!--and with his heart throbbing with the +excitement of this startling discovery and his hair standing on end +from the arduous nature of his exegetical labours, he rushed furiously +out to spread the news that the Tsar of all the Russias was on a visit +to Kamchatka and would pass through Milkova in the course of three +days! The excitement which this alarming announcement created can +better be imagined than described. The all-absorbing topic of +conversation was, how could Milkova best show its loyalty and +admiration for the Head of the Imperial Family, the Right Arm of the +Holy Orthodox Church, and the Mighty Monarch of seventy millions of +devoted souls? Kamchadal ingenuity gave it up in despair! What could a +poor Kamchatkan village do for the entertainment of its august master? +When the first excitement passed away, the _starosta_ was questioned +closely as to the nature of the letter which had brought this news, +and was finally compelled to admit that it did not say distinctly, +"Alexander Nikolaivitch, _Imperator_," but "Yagor" something +"_Operator,_" which he contended was substantially the same thing, +because if it didn't mean the Emperor himself it meant one of his +most intimate relations, who was entitled to equal honour and must be +treated with equal reverence. The courier had already gone, and had +said nothing about the rank of the travellers whom he heralded, except +that they had arrived at Petropavlovsk in a ship, wore gorgeous +uniforms of blue and gold, and were being entertained by the governor +and the captain of the port. Public opinion finally settled down into +the conviction that "_Op_-erator", etymologically considered, was +first cousin to "_Im_-perator," and that it must mean some dignitary +of high rank connected with the imperial family. With this impression +they had received us when we arrived, and had, poor fellows, done +their very best to show us proper honour and respect. It had been a +severe ordeal to us, but it had proved in the most unmistakable manner +the loyalty of the Kamchadal inhabitants of Milkova to the reigning +family of Russia. + +The Major explained to the _starosta_ our real rank and occupation, +but it did not seem to make any difference whatever in the cordial +hospitality of our reception. We were treated to the very best that +the village afforded, and were stared at with a curiosity which showed +that travellers through Milkova had hitherto been few and far between. +After eating bread and reindeer meat and tasting experimentally +various curiously compounded native dishes, we returned in state to +the landing-place, accompanied by another procession, received a +salute of fifteen guns, and resumed our voyage down the river. + +[Illustration: War and Hunting Knives.] + +[Illustration: Snowbeaters used for beating snow from the clothing.] + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +ARRIVAL AT KLUCHEI--THE KLUCHEFSKOI VOLCANO--A QUESTION OF ROUTE--A +RUSSIAN "BLACK BATH" + +The valley of this river is unquestionably the most fertile part of +the whole Kamchatkan peninsula. Nearly all of the villages that we +passed were surrounded by fields of rye and neatly fenced gardens; the +banks everywhere were either covered with timber or waving with wild +grass five feet in height; and the luxuriant growth in many places of +flowers and weeds testified to the richness of the soil and the +warm humidity of the climate. Primroses, cowslips, marsh violets, +buttercups, wild-roses, cinquefoil, iris, and azure larkspur grow +everywhere throughout the valley in the greatest abundance; and a +peculiar species of umbelliferae, with hollow-jointed stems, attains +in many places a height of six feet, and grows so densely that its +huge serrated leaves hide a man from sight at a distance of a few +yards. All this is the growth of a single summer. + +There are twelve native settlements between the head-waters of the +river and the Kluchefskoi volcano, and nearly all are situated in +picturesque locations, and surrounded by gardens and fields of rye. +Nowhere does the traveller see any evidences of the barrenness, +sterility, and frigid desolation which have always been associated +with the name of Kamchatka. + +After leaving our hospitable native friends and our imperial dignity +at Milkova, on Monday morning, we floated slowly down the river for +three days, catching distant glimpses of the snowy mountain ranges +which bounded the valley, roaming through the woods in search of bears +and wild cherries, camping at night on the river-bank among the trees, +and living generally a wild, free, delightful life. We passed +the native settlements of Kirganic (keer-gan'-ic), Marshura +(mar'-shoo-rah), Shchapina (shchap'-in-ah), and Tolbachic, where we +were received with boundless hospitality; and on Wednesday, September +13th, camped in the woods south of Kazerefski (kaz-er-ef'-ski), only +a hundred and twenty versts distant from the village of Kluchei +(kloo-chay'). It rained nearly all day Wednesday, and we camped at +night among the dripping trees, with many apprehensions that the storm +would hide the magnificent scenery of the lower Kamchatka, through +which we were about to pass. It cleared away, however, before +midnight; and I was awakened at an early hour in the morning by a +shouted summons from Dodd to get up and look at the mountains. There +was hardly a breath of air astir, and the atmosphere had that peculiar +crystalline transparency which may sometimes be seen in California. A +heavy hoar-frost lay white on the boats and grass, and a few withered +leaves dropped wavering through the still cool air from the yellow +birch trees which overhung our tent. There was not a sound to break +harshly upon the silence of dawn; and only the tracks of wild reindeer +and prowling wolves, on the smooth sandy beach showed that there was +life in the quiet lonely wilderness around us. The sun had not yet +risen, but the eastern heavens were aglare with yellow light, even up +to the morning-star, which, although "paling its ineffectual fires," +still maintained its position as a glittering outpost between the +contending powers of night and day. Far away to the north-eastward, +over the yellow forest, in soft purple relief against the red sunrise, +stood the high sharp peaks of Kluchei, grouped around the central +wedge-like cone of the magnificent Kluchefskoi volcano. Nearly a month +before I had seen these noble mountains from the tossing deck of a +little brig, seventy-five miles at sea; but I little thought then +that I should see them again from a lonely camp in the woods of the +Kamchatka River. + +For nearly half an hour Dodd and I sat quietly on the beach, +absent-mindedly throwing pebbles into the still water, watching the +illumination of the distant mountains by the rising sun, and +talking over the adventures which we had experienced since leaving +Petropavlovsk. With what different impressions had I come to look at +Siberian life since I first saw the precipitous coast of Kamchatka +looming up out of the blue water of the Pacific! + +Then it was an unknown, mysterious land of glaciers and snowy +mountains, filled with possibilities of adventure, but lonely and +forbidding in its uninhabited wildness. Now it was no longer lonely +or desolate. Every mountain peak was associated with some hospitable +village nestled at its feet; every little stream was connected with +the great world of human interests by some pleasant recollection of +camp life. The possibilities of adventure were still there, but the +imaginary loneliness and desolation had vanished with one week's +experience. I thought of the vague conceptions which I had formed in +America of this beautiful country, and tried to compare them with the +more recent impressions by which they had been crowded out, but the +effort was vain. I could not surround myself again with the lost +intellectual atmosphere of civilisation, nor reconcile those earlier +anticipations with this strangely different experience. The absurd +fancies, which had seemed so vivid and so true only three months +before, had now faded away into the half-remembered imagery of a +dream, and nothing was real but the tranquil river which flowed at my +feet, the birch tree which dropped its yellow leaves upon my head, and +the far-away purple mountains. + +I was roused from my reverie by the furious beating of a tin +mess-kettle, which was the summons to breakfast. In half an hour +breakfast was despatched, the tent struck, camp equipage packed up, +and we were again under way. We floated all day down the river toward +Kluchei, getting ever-changing views of the mountains as they were +thrown into new and picturesque combinations by our motion to the +northward. We reached Kazerefski at dark, and, changing our crew, +continued our voyage throughout the night. At daybreak on Friday we +passed Kristi (kris-tee'), and at two o'clock in the afternoon arrived +at Kluchei, having been just eleven days out from Petropavlovsk. + +The village of Kluchei is situated in an open plain on the right +bank of the Kamchatka River, at the very foot of the magnificent +Kluchefskoi volcano, and has nothing to distinguish it from other +Kamchadal towns, except the boldness and picturesque beauty of its +situation. It lies exactly in the midst of the group of superb +isolated peaks which guard the entrance to the river, and is shadowed +over frequently by the dense, black smoke of two volcanoes. It was +founded early in the eighteenth century by a few Russian peasants who +were taken from their homes in central Russia, and sent with seeds and +farming utensils to start a colony in far-away Kamchatka. After a +long adventurous journey of six thousand miles across Asia by way of +Tobolsk (to-bolsk'), Irkutsk (eer-kootsk'), Yakutsk (yah-kootsk'), and +Kolyma (kol-e-mah'), the little band of involuntary emigrants finally +reached the peninsula, and settled boldly on the Kamchatka River, +under the shadow of the great volcano. Here they and their descendants +have lived for more than a hundred years, until they have almost +forgotten how they came there and by whom they were sent. +Notwithstanding the activity and frequent eruption of the two +volcanoes behind the village, its location never has been changed, and +its inhabitants have come to regard with indifference the occasional +mutterings of warning which come from the depths of the burning +craters, and the showers of ashes which are frequently sifted over +their houses and fields. Never having heard of Herculaneum or Pompeii, +they do not associate any possible danger with the fleecy cloud of +smoke which floats in pleasant weather from the broken summit of +Kluchefskoi, or the low thunderings by which its smaller, but equally +dangerous, neighbour asserts its wakefulness during the long winter +nights. Another century may perhaps elapse without bringing any +serious disaster upon the little village; but after hearing the +Kluchefskoi volcano rumble at a distance of sixty miles, and seeing +the dense volumes of black vapour which it occasionally emitted, I +felt entirely satisfied to give its volcanic majesty a wide berth, and +wondered at the boldness of the Kamchadals in selecting such a site +for their settlement. + +The Kluchefskoi is one of the highest as well as one of the most +uninterruptedly active volcanoes in all the great volcanic chain of +the North Pacific. Since the seventeenth century very few years have +elapsed without an eruption of greater or less violence, and even +now, at irregular intervals of a few months, it bursts into flame and +scatters ashes over the whole width of the peninsula and on both seas. +The snow in winter is frequently so covered with ashes for twenty-five +miles around Kluchei that travel upon sledges becomes almost +impossible. Many years ago, according to the accounts of the natives, +there was an eruption of terrible magnificence. It began in the middle +of a clear, dark winter's night, with loud thunderings and tremblings +of the earth, which startled the inhabitants of Kluchei from their +sleep and brought them in affright to their doors. Far up in the dark +winter's sky, 16,000 feet above their heads, blazed a column of lurid +flame from the crater, crowned by a great volume of fire-lighted +vapour. Amid loud rumblings, and dull reverberations from the +interior, the molten lava began to flow in broad fiery rivers down the +snow-covered mountain side, until for half the distance to its base it +was one glowing mass of fire which lighted, up the villages of Kristi, +Kazerefski, and Kluchei like the sun, and illuminated the whole +country within a radius of twenty-five miles. This eruption is said to +have scattered ashes over the peninsula for three hundred versts to a +depth of an inch and a half. + +The lava has never yet descended much, if any, below the snow line; +but I see no reason why it may not at some future time overwhelm the +settlement of Kluchei and fill the channel of the Kamchatka River with +a fiery flood. + +The volcano, so far as I know, has never been ascended, and its +reported height, 16,500 feet, is probably the approximative estimate +of some Russian officer. It is certainly, however, the highest peak +of the Kamchatkan peninsula, and is more likely to exceed 16,000 feet +than fall below it. We felt a strong temptation to try to scale its +smooth snowy sides and peer over into its smoking crater; but it +would have been folly to make the attempt without two or three weeks' +training, and we had not the time to spare. The mountain is nearly a +perfect cone, and from the village of Kluchei it is so deceitfully +foreshortened that the last 3,000 feet appear to be absolutely +perpendicular. There is another volcano whose name, if it have any, +I could not ascertain, standing a short distance south-east of the +Kluchefskoi, and connected with it by an irregular broken ridge. It +does not approach the latter in height, but it seems to draw its fiery +supplies from the same source, and is constantly puffing out black +vapour, which an east wind drives in great clouds across the white +sides of Kluchefskoi until it is sometimes almost hidden from sight. + +We were entertained at Kluchei in the large comfortable house of the +_starosta_, or local magistrate of the village. The walls of our room +were gayly hung with figured calico, the ceiling was covered with +white cotton drill, and the rude pine furniture was scoured with soap +and sand to the last attainable degree of cleanliness. A coarsely +executed picture, which I took to be Moses, hung in a gilt frame in +the corner; but the sensible prophet had apparently shut his eyes to +avoid the smoke of the innumerable candles which had been burned in +his honour, and the expression of his face was somewhat marred in +consequence. Table-cloths of American manufacture were spread on the +tables, pots of flowers stood in the curtained windows, a little +mirror hung against the wall opposite the door, and all the little +fixtures and rude ornaments of the room were disposed with a taste and +a view to general effect which the masculine mind may admire but never +can imitate. American art, too, had lent a grace to this cottage in +the wilderness, for the back of one of the doors was embellished with +pictorial sketches of Virginian life and scenery from the skilful +pencil of Porte Crayon. I thought of the well-known lines of Pope: + + "The things, we know, are neither rich nor rare, + But wonder how the d---- they came there." + +In such comfortable, not to say luxurious, quarters as these, we +succeeded, of course, in passing away pleasantly the remainder of the +day. + +At Kluchei we were called upon to decide what route we would adopt in +our journey to the northward. The shortest, and in many respects the +best, was that usually taken by the Russian traders--crossing the +central range of mountains to Tigil (tee-gill'), by the pass of the +Yolofka (yo-loff'-ka), and then following up the west coast of the +peninsula to the head of the Okhotsk Sea. The only objections to this +were the lateness of the season and the probability of finding deep +snow in the mountain passes. Our only alternative was to continue +our journey from Kluchei up the eastern coast to a settlement called +Dranka (dran'-kah), where the mountains sank into insignificant hills, +and cross there to the Kamchadal village of Lesnoi (less-noi') on the +Okhotsk Sea. This route was considerably longer than the one by the +Yolofka pass, but its practicability was much more certain. + +After a great many prolonged consultations with sundry natives, who +were supposed to know something about the country, but who carefully +avoided responsibility by telling as little as possible, the Major +concluded to try the Yolofka pass, and ordered canoes to be ready on +Saturday morning to carry us up the Yolofka River. + +At the worst, we could only fail to get over the mountains, and there +would be time enough then to return to Kluchei, and try the other +route before the opening of winter. + +As soon as we had decided the momentous question of our route, we gave +ourselves up to the unrestrained enjoyment of the few pleasures +which the small and sedate village of Kluchei afforded. There was +no afternoon promenade where we could, as the Russians say, "show +ourselves and see the people"; nor would an exhibition of our tattered +and weather-stained garments on a public promenade have been quite the +proper thing, had it been possible. We must try something else. The +only places of amusement of which we could hear were the village +bath-house and the church; and the Major and I started out, late in +the afternoon, with the intention of "doing" these points of interest +in the most approved style of modern tourists. For obvious reasons we +took the bath-house first. Taking a steam-bath was a very mild sort +of dissipation; and if it were true that "cleanliness was next to +godliness," the bath-house certainly should precede the church. I had +often heard Dodd speak of the "black baths" of the Kamchadals; and +without knowing definitely what he meant, I had a sort of vague +impression that these "black baths" were taken in some inky fluid of +Kamchatkan manufacture, which possessed peculiar detersive properties. +I could think of no other reason than this for calling a bath "black." +Upon entering the "black bath," however, at Kluchei, I saw my mistake, +and acknowledged at once the appropriateness of the adjective. Leaving +our clothes in a little rude entry, which answered the purposes +without affording any of the conveniences of a dressing-room, we +stooped to a low fur-clad door and entered the bath-room proper, which +was certainly dark enough and black enough to justify the gloomiest, +murkiest adjective in the language. A tallow candle, which was burning +feebly on the floor, gave just light enough to distinguish the +outlines of a low, bare apartment, about ten feet square, built +solidly of unhewn logs, without a single opening for the admission of +air or light. Every square inch of the walls and ceiling was perfectly +black with a sooty deposit from the clouds of smoke with which the +room had been filled in the process of heating. A large pile of +stones, with a hollow place underneath for a fire, stood in one end +of the room, and a series of broad steps, which did not seem to lead +anywhere, occupied the other. As soon as the fire had gone out, the +chimney-hole had been closed and hermetically sealed, and the pile +of hot stones was now radiating a fierce dry heat, which made +_res_piration a painful duty, and _per_spiration an unpleasant +necessity. The presiding spirit of this dark, infernal place of +torture soon made his appearance in the shape of a long-haired, naked +Kamchadal, and proceeded to throw water upon the pile of red-hot +stones until they hissed like a locomotive, and the candle burned blue +in the centre of a steamy halo. I thought it was hot before, but +it was a Siberian winter compared with the temperature which this +manoeuvre produced. My very bones seemed melting with fervent heat. +After getting the air of the room as nearly as possible up to 212 deg., +the native seized me by the arm, spread me out on the lowest of the +flight of steps, poured boiling suds over my face and feet with +reckless impartiality, and proceeded to knead me up, as if he fully +intended to separate me into my original elements. I will not attempt +to describe the number, the variety, and the diabolical ingenuity of +the tortures to which I was subjected during the next twenty minutes. +I was scrubbed, rolled, pounded, drenched with cold water and scalded +with hot, beaten with bundles of birch twigs, rubbed down with wads +of hemp which scraped like brickbats, and finally left to recover my +breath upon the highest and hottest step of the whole stairway. A +douse of cold water finally put an end to the ordeal and to my misery; +and, groping my way out into the entry, I proceeded, with chattering +teeth, to dress. In a moment I was joined by the Major, and we resumed +our walk, feeling like disembodied spirits. + +Owing to the lateness of the hour, we were compelled to postpone +indefinitely our visit to the church; but we had been sufficiently +amused for one day, and returned to the house satisfied, if not +delighted, with our experience of Kamchatkan black baths. + +The evening was spent in questioning the inhabitants of the village +about the northern part of the peninsula, and the facilities for +travel among the wandering Koraks; and before nine o'clock we went +to bed, in order that we might make an early start on the following +morning. + +[Illustration: Wooden Mortar used for grinding Tobacco] + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +CANOE TRAVEL ON THE YOLOFKA--VOLCANIC CONVERSATION--"O +SUSANNA!"--TALKING "AMERICAN"--A DIFFICULT ASCENT + +There was a great variety in the different methods of transportation +which we were compelled to adopt in our journey through Kamchatka; and +to this fact was attributable perhaps, in a great degree, the sense +of novelty and freshness which during our three months' travel in +the peninsula never entirely wore off. We experienced in turn the +pleasures and discomforts of whale-boats, horses, rafts, canoes, +dog-sledges, reindeer-sledges, and snow-shoes; and no sooner did we +begin to tire of the pleasures and ascertain the discomforts of one, +than we were introduced to another. + +At Kluchei we abandoned our rafts, and took Kamchadal log canoes, +which could be propelled more easily against the rapid current of +the Yolofka River, which we had now to ascend. The most noticeable +peculiarity of this species of craft, and a remarkable one it is, is a +decided and chronic inclination to turn its bottom side upward and its +upper side bottomward without the slightest apparent provocation. +I was informed by a reliable authority that a boat capsized on the +Kamchatka, just previous to our arrival, through the carelessness of a +Kamchadal in allowing a jack-knife to remain in his right-hand pocket +without putting something of a corresponding weight into the other; +and that the Kamchadal fashion of parting the hair in the middle +originated in attempts to preserve personal equilibrium while +navigating these canoes. I should have been somewhat inclined to doubt +these remarkable and not altogether new stories, were it not for the +reliability and unimpeachable veracity of my informant, Mr. Dodd. The +seriousness of the subject is a sufficient guarantee that he would not +trifle with my feelings by making it the pretext for a joke. + +We indulged ourselves on Saturday morning in a much later sleep than +was consistent with our duty, and it was almost eight o'clock before +we went down to the beach. + +Upon first sight of the frail canoes, to which our destinies and +the interests of the Russian-American Telegraph Company were to +be intrusted, there was a very general expression of surprise and +dissatisfaction. One of our party, with the rapid _a priori_ reasoning +for which he was distinguished, came at once to the conclusion that a +watery death would be the inevitable termination of a voyage made in +such vessels, and he evinced a very marked disinclination to embark. +It is related of a great warrior, whose _Commentaries_ were the +detestation of my early life, that during a very stormy passage of the +Ionian Sea he cheered up his sailors with the sublimely egotistical +assurance that they carried "Caesar and his fortunes"; and that, +consequently, nothing disastrous could possibly happen to them. The +Kamchatkan Caesar, however, on this occasion seemed to distrust his +own fortunes, and the attempts at consolation came from the opposite +quarter. His boatman did not tell him, "Cheer up, Caesar, a Kamchadal +and his fortunes are carrying you," but he _did_ assure him that he +had navigated the river for several years, and had "never been drowned +_once_." What more could Caesar ask!--After some demur we all took +seats upon bearskins in the bottoms of the canoes, and pushed off. + +All other features of natural scenery in the vicinity of Kluchei sink +into subordination to the grand central figure of the Kluchefskoi +volcano, the monarch of Siberian mountains, whose sharp summit, with +its motionless streamer of golden smoke, can be seen anywhere within a +radius of a hundred miles. All other neighbouring beauties of scenery +are merely tributary to this, and are valued only according to their +capability of relieving and setting forth this magnificent peak, whose +colossal dimensions rise in one unbroken sweep of snow from the grassy +valleys of the Kamchatka and Yolofka, which terminate at its base. +"Heir of the sunset and herald of morning," its lofty crater is +suffused with a roseate blush long before the morning mists and +darkness are out of the valleys, and long after the sun has set behind +the purple mountains of Tigil. At all times, under all circumstances, +and in all its ever-varying moods, it is the most beautiful mountain I +have ever seen. Now it lies bathed in the warm sunshine of an Indian +summer's day, with a few fleecy clouds resting at the snow-line and +dappling its sides with purple shadows; then it envelops itself in +dense volumes of black volcanic smoke, and thunders out a hoarse +warning to the villages at its feet; and finally, toward evening, it +gathers a mantle of grey mists around its summit, and rolls them +in convulsed masses down its sides, until it stands in the clear +atmosphere a colossal pillar of cloud, sixteen thousand feet in +height, resting upon fifty square miles of shaggy pine forest. + +You think nothing can be more beautiful than the delicate tender +colour, like that of a wild-rose leaf, which tinges its snows as the +sun sinks in a swirl of red vapours in the west; but "visit it by the +pale moonlight," when its hood of mist is edged with silver, when +black shadows gather in its deep ravines and white misty lights gleam +from its snowy pinnacles, when the host of starry constellations seems +to circle around its lofty peak, and the tangled silver chain of the +Pleiades to hang upon one of its rocky spires--then say, if you can, +that it is more beautiful by daylight. + +We entered the Yolofka about noon. This river empties into the +Kamchatka from the north, twelve versts above Kluchei. Its shores are +generally low and marshy, and thickly overgrown with rushes and reedy +grass, which furnish cover for thousands of ducks, geese, and wild +swans. We reached, before night, a native village called Harchina +(har'-chin-ah) and sent at once for a celebrated Russian guide by the +name of Nicolai Bragan (nick-o-lai' brag'-on) whom we hoped to induce +to accompany us across the mountains. + +From Bragan we learned that there had been a heavy fall of snow on +the mountains during the previous week; but he thought that the warm +weather of the last three or four days had probably melted most of it +away, and that the trail would be at least passable. He was willing +at all events to try to take us across. Relieved of a good deal of +anxiety, we left Harchina early on the morning of the 17th, and +resumed our ascent of the river. On account of the rapidity of the +current in the main stream, we turned aside into one of the many +"protoks" (pro-tokes') or arms into which the river was here divided, +and poled slowly up for four hours. The channel was very winding and +narrow, so that one could touch with a paddle the bank on either +side, and in many places the birches and willows met over the stream, +dropping yellow leaves upon our heads as we passed underneath. Here +and there long scraggy tree-trunks hung over the bank into the water, +logs green with moss thrust their ends up from the depths of the +stream, and more than once we seemed about to come to a stop in the +midst of an impassable swamp. Nicolai Alexandrovich, our guide, whose +canoe preceded ours, sang for our entertainment some of the monotonous +melancholy songs of the Kamchadals, and Dodd and I in turn made +the woods ring with the enlivening strains of "Kingdom Coming" and +"Upidee." When we tired of music we made an amicable adjustment of our +respective legs in the narrow canoe, and lying back upon our bearskins +slept soundly, undisturbed by the splash of the water and the scraping +of poles at our very ears. We camped that night on a high sandy beach +over the water, ten or twelve miles south of Yolofka. + +It was a warm still evening, and as we all sat on our bearskins around +the camp-fire, smoking and talking over the day's adventures, our +attention was suddenly attracted by a low rumbling, like distant +thunder, accompanied by occasional explosions. "What's that?" demanded +the Major quickly. "That," said Nicolai soberly, as he emptied his +lungs of smoke, "is the Kluchefskoi volcano talking to the peak of +Suveilich" (soo-veil'-itch). "Nothing private in the conversation, I +suppose," observed Dodd dryly; "he shouts it out loud enough." +The reverberations continued for several minutes, but the peak of +Suveilich made no response. That unfortunate mountain had recklessly +expended its volcanic energies in early life, and was now left without +a voice to answer the thundering shouts of its mighty comrade. There +was a time when volcanoes were as numerous in Kamchatka as knights +around the table of King Arthur, and the peninsula trembled to the +thunder of their shoutings and midnight jollity; but one after +another they had been suffocated with the fiery streams of their own +eloquence, until at last Kluchefskoi was left alone, calling to its +old companions throughout the silent hours of long winter nights, but +hearing no response save the faint far-away echoes of its own mighty +voice. + +I was waked early on the following morning by the jubilant music of +"Oh, Su-_san'_-na-a-a, don't ye cry for me!" and crawling out of the +tent I surprised one of our native boatmen in the very act of drumming +on a frying-pan and yelling out joyously: + + "Litenin' struck de telegraf, + Killed two thousand niggers; + Shut my eyes to hole my breff, + Su-_san'_-na-a-a, don't ye cry!" + +A comical skin-clad native, in the heart of Kamchatka, playing on a +frying-pan and singing, "Oh, Susanna!" like an arctic negro minstrel, +was too much for my gravity, and I burst into a fit of laughter, +which, soon brought out Dodd. The musician, who had supposed that he +was exercising his vocal organs unheard, stopped suddenly, and looked +sheepishly around, as if conscious that he had been making himself +ridiculous in some way, but did not know exactly how. + +"Why, Andrei," said Dodd, "I didn't know you could sing in English." + +"I can't, Barin," was the reply; "but I can sing a little in +_American_." + +Dodd and I went off in another roar of laughter, which puzzled poor +Andrei more and more. + +"Where did you learn?" Dodd asked. + +"The sailors of a whaling-ship learned it to me when I was in +Petropavlovsk, two years ago; isn't it a good song?" he said, +evidently fearing that there might be something improper in the +sentiment. + +"It's a capital song," Dodd replied reassuringly; "do you know any +more American words?" + +"Oh yes, your honour!" (proudly) "I know 'dam yerize,' 'by 'm bye +tomorry,' 'no savey John,' and 'goaty hell,' but I don't know what +they all mean." + +It was evident that he didn't! His American education was of limited +extent and doubtful utility; but not even Cardinal Mezzofanti himself +could have been more proud of his forty languages than poor Andrei +was of "dam yerize" and "goaty hell." If ever he reached America, the +blessed land that he saw in his happier dreams, these questionable +phrases would be his passports to the first society. + +While we had been talking with Andrei, Viushin had built a fire and +prepared breakfast, and just as the sun peered into the valley we sat +down on bearskins around our little candle-box and ate some "selanka," +or sour soup, upon which Viushin particularly prided himself, and +drank tumbler after tumbler of steaming tea. _Selanka_, hardtack, and +tea, with an occasional duck roasted before the fire on a sharp stick, +made up our bill of fare while camping out. Only in the settlements +did we enjoy such luxuries as milk, butter, fresh bread, preserved +rose-petals, and fish pies. + +Taking our places again in the canoes after breakfast, we poled on +up the river, shooting occasionally at flying ducks and swans, and +picking as we passed long branches full of wild cherries which drooped +low over the water. About noon we left the canoes to go around a +long bend in the river, and started on foot with a native guide for +Yolofka. The grass in the river bottom and on the plains was much +higher than our waists, and walking through it was very fatiguing +exercise; but we succeeded in reaching the village about one o'clock, +long before our canoes came in sight. + +Yolofka, a small Kamchadal settlement of half a dozen houses, is +situated among the foot-hills of the great central Kamchatkan range, +immediately below the pass which bears its name, and on the direct +route to Tigil and the west coast. It is the head of canoe navigation +on the Yolofka River, and the starting-point for parties intending to +cross the mountains. Anticipating difficulty in getting horses enough +for our use at this small village, the Major had sent eight or ten +overland from Kluchei, and we found them there awaiting our arrival. + +Nearly the whole afternoon was spent in packing the horses and getting +ready for a start, and we camped for the night beside a cold mountain +spring only a few versts away from the Village. The weather, hitherto, +had been clear and warm, but it clouded up during the night, and we +began the ascent of the mountains Tuesday morning the 19th, in a +cold, driving rain-storm from the north-west. The road, if a wretched +foot-path ten inches wide can be said in any metaphorical sense to +_be_ a road, was simply execrable. It followed the track of a swollen +mountain torrent, which had its rise in the melting snows of the +summit, and tumbled in roaring cascades down a narrow, dark, +precipitous ravine. The path ran along the edge of this stream, first +on one side, then on the other, and then in the water, around enormous +masses of volcanic rock, over steep lava slopes, where the water ran +like a mill-race through dense entangling thickets of trailing pine, +into ragged heaps of fallen tree-trunks, and along narrow ledges of +rock where it would be thought that a mountain sheep could hardly +pass. I would guarantee, with twenty men, to hold that ravine against +the combined armies of Europe! Our packhorses rolled down steep banks +into the stream, tore their loads off against tree-trunks, stumbled, +cut their legs in falling over broken volcanic rocks, took flying +leaps across narrow chasms of roaring water, and performed feats which +would have been utterly beyond the strength and endurance of any but +Kamchatkan horses. Finally, in attempting to leap a distance of eight +or ten feet across the torrent, I was thrown violently from the +saddle, and my left foot caught firmly, just above the instep, in the +small iron stirrup. The horse scrambled up the other side and started +at a frightened gallop up the ravine, dragging my body over the ground +by one leg. I remember making a desperate effort to protect my head, +by raising myself upon my elbows, but the horse kicked me suddenly in +the side, and I knew nothing more until I found myself lying upon the +ground with my foot still entangled in the broken stirrup, while the +horse galloped away up the ravine. The giving way of a single strap +had saved my skull from being crushed like an egg-shell against the +jagged rocks. I was badly bruised and very faint and dizzy, but no +bones seemed to be broken, and I got up without assistance. Thus far +the Major had kept his quick temper under strong control; but this was +too much, and he hurled the most furious invectives at poor Nicolai +for leading us over the mountains by such a horrible pass, and +threatened him with the direst punishment when we should reach Tigil. +It was of no use for Nicolai to urge in self-defence that there _was_ +no other pass; it was his business to _find_ another, and not imperil +men's lives by leading them into a God-forsaken ravine like this, +choked up with landslides, fallen trees, water, lava, and masses of +volcanic rock! If anything happened to any member of our party in this +cursed gorge, the Major swore he would shoot Nicolai on the spot! Pale +and trembling with fright, the poor guide caught my horse, mended my +stirrup strap, and started on ahead to show that he was not afraid to +go where he asked us to follow. + +I believe we must have jumped our horses across that mountain torrent +fifty times in an ascent of 2000 feet, to avoid the rocks and +landslides which appeared first on one side and then on the other. +One of our packhorses had given out entirely, and several others were +nearly disabled, when, late in the afternoon, we finally reached the +summit of the mountains, 4000 feet above the sea. Before us, half +hidden by grey storm-clouds and driving mist, lay a great expanse of +level table-land, covered to a depth of eighteen inches with a soft +dense cushion of arctic moss, and holding water like an enormous +sponge. Not a tree nor a landmark of any kind could be seen--nothing +but moss and flying scud. A cold piercing wind from the north swept +chilly storm-clouds across the desolate mountain top, and drove tiny +particles of half-frozen rain into our faces with blinding, stinging +force. Drenched to the skin by eight or nine hours' exposure to the +storm, tired and weak from long climbing, with boots full of icy +water, and hands numb and stiff from cold, we stopped for a moment +to rest our horses and decide upon our course. Brandy was dealt out +freely to all our men in the cover of a tin pail, but its stimulating +influence was so counteracted by cold that it was hardly perceptible. +The poor _starosta_ of Yolofka, with dripping clothes, blue lips, +chattering teeth, and black hair plastered over his white cheeks, +seemed upon the point of giving out. He caught eagerly at the +pail-cover full of brandy which the Major handed to him, but every +limb was shaking spasmodically, and he spilled most of it in getting +it to his mouth. + +Fearing that darkness would overtake us before we could reach shelter, +we started on toward a deserted, half-ruined "yurt" (yoort) [Footnote: +A Mongolian name for a portable or permanent house-like shelter, made +of logs, skins, or felt.] which Nicolai said stood near the western +edge of this elevated plateau, about eight versts distant. Our horses +sank to the knee at every step in the soft, spongy cushion of wet +moss, so that we could travel no faster than a slow walk, and the +short distance of eight versts seemed to be interminable. After four +more dreary hours, spent in wandering about through grey drifting +clouds, exposed to a bitter north-west wind, and a temperature of just +32 deg., we finally arrived in a half-frozen condition at the _yurt_. It +was a low, empty hut, nearly square in shape, built of variously sized +logs, and banked over with two or three feet of moss and grass-grown +earth, so as to resemble an outdoor cellar. Half of one side had been +torn down by storm-besieged travellers for firewood; its earthen floor +was dank and wet with slimy tricklings from its leaky roof; the wind +and rain drove with a mournful howl down through its chimney-hole; +its door was gone, and it presented altogether a dismal picture of +neglected dilapidation. Nothing daunted, Viushin tore down another +section of the ruined side to make a fire, hung over teakettles, and +brought our provision boxes under such shelter as the miserable hut +afforded. I never could ascertain where Viushin obtained the water +that night for our tea, as there was no available stream within ten +miles, and the drippings of the roof were thick and discoloured with +mud. I have more than a suspicion, however, that he squeezed it out +of bunches of moss which he tore up from the soaking _tundra_ +(toon'-drah). Dodd and I took off our boots, poured about a pint of +muddy water out of each, dried our feet, and, as the steam rose in +clouds from our wet clothes, began to feel quite comfortable. + +Viushin was in high good humour. He had voluntarily assumed the whole +charge of our drivers during the day, had distinguished himself by +most unwearied efforts in raising fallen horses, getting them over +breakneck places, and cheering up the disconsolate Kamchadals, and +he now wrung the water out of his shirt, and squeezed his wet hair +absent-mindedly into a kettle of soup, with a countenance of such +beaming serenity and a laugh of such hearty good-nature that it was +of no use for anybody to pretend to be cross, tired, cold, or hungry. +With that sunny face irradiating the smoky atmosphere of the ruined +_yurt_, and that laugh ringing joyously in our ears, we made fun of +our misery and persuaded ourselves that we were having a good time. +After a scanty supper of _selanka_, dried fish, hardtack, and tea, +we stretched our tired bodies out in the shallowest puddles we could +find, covered ourselves with blankets, overcoats, oilcloths, and +bearskins, and succeeded, in spite of our wet clothes and wetter beds, +in getting to sleep. + +[Illustration: Horn Spoon] + +[Illustration: Drinking Vessel made of horn] + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +A DISMAL NIGHT--CROSSING THE KAMCHATKAN DIVIDE--ANOTHER BEAR +HUNT--BREAKNECK RIDING--TIGIL--STEPPES OF NORTHERN KAMCHATKA + +I awoke about midnight with cold feet and shivering limbs. The fire on +the wet muddy ground had died away to a few smouldering embers, which +threw a red glow over the black, smoky logs, and sent occasional +gleams of flickering light into the dark recesses of the _yurt_. +The wind howled mournfully around the hut, and the rain beat with +intermittent dashes against the logs and trickled through a hundred +crevices upon my already water-soaked blankets. I raised myself upon +one elbow and looked around. The hut was deserted, and I was alone. +For a moment of half-awakened consciousness I could not imagine +where I was, or how I came in such a strange, gloomy situation; but +presently the recollection of the previous day's ride came back and I +went to the door to see what had become of all our party. I found that +the Major and Dodd, with all the Kamchadals, had pitched tents upon +the spongy moss outside, and were spending the night there, instead of +remaining in the _yurt_ and having their clothes and blankets spoiled +by the muddy droppings of its leaky roof. The tents were questionable +improvements; but I agreed with them in preferring clean water to mud, +and gathering up my bedding I crawled in by the side of Dodd. The wind +blew the tent down once during the night, and left us exposed for a +few moments to the storm; but it was repitched in defiance of the +wind, ballasted with logs torn from the sides of the _yurt_, and we +managed to sleep after a fashion until morning. + +We were a melancholy-looking party when we emerged from the tent at +daylight. Dodd looked ruefully at his wet blankets, made a comical +grimace as he felt of his water-soaked clothes, and then declared that + + "The weather was not what he knew it once-- + The nights were terribly damp; + And he never was free from the rheumatiz + Except when he had the cramp!" + +In which poetical lament we all heartily sympathised if we did not +join. + +Our wet, low-spirited horses were saddled at daylight; and as the +storm showed signs of a disposition to break away, we started again, +immediately after breakfast, for the western edge of the high +table-land which here formed the summit of the mountain range. The +scenery from this point in clear weather must be magnificent, as it +overlooks the Tigil Valley and the Okhotsk Sea on one side, and the +Pacific Ocean, the valleys of the Yolofka and the Kamchatka, and the +grand peaks of Suveilich and Kluchefskoi on the other. We caught +occasional glimpses, through openings in the mist, of the Yolofka +River, thousands of feet below, and the smoke-plumed head of the +distant volcano, floating in a great sea of bluish clouds; but a new +detachment of straggling vapours from the Okhotsk Sea came drifting +across the mountain-top, and breaking furiously in our faces, blotted +out everything except the mossy ground, over which plodded our tired, +dispirited horses. + +It did not seem possible that human beings could live, or would care +to live, on this desolate plain of moss, 4000 feet above the sea, +enveloped half the time in drifting clouds, and swept by frequent +storms of rain and snow. But even here the Wandering Koraks herd their +hardy reindeer, set up their smoky tent-poles, and bid contemptuous +defiance to the elements. Three or four times during the day we passed +heaps of reindeer's antlers, and piles of ashes surrounded by large +circles of evergreen twigs, which marked the sites of Korak tents; but +the band of wild nomads which had left these traces had long before +disappeared, and was now perhaps herding its deer on the wind-swept +shores of the Arctic Ocean. + +Owing to the dense mist in which we were constantly enveloped we could +get no clear ideas as to the formation of the mountain range over +which we were passing, or the extent and nature of this great plain of +moss which lay so high up among extinct volcanic peaks. I only know +that just before noon we left the _tundra_, as this kind of moss +steppe is called, and descended gradually into a region of the +wildest, rockiest character, where all vegetation disappeared except +a few stunted patches of trailing-pine. For at least ten miles the +ground was covered everywhere with loose slab-shaped masses of igneous +rock, varying in size from five cubic feet to five hundred, and lying +one upon another in the greatest disorder. The heavens at some +unknown geological period seemed to have showered down huge volcanic +paving-stones, until the earth was covered fifty feet deep with their +broken fragments. Nearly all of these masses had two smooth flat +sides, and resembled irregular slices of some black Plutonian pudding +hardened into stone. I was not familiar enough with volcanic phenomena +to be able to decide in what manner or by what agency the earth had +been thus overwhelmed with loose rocky slabs; but it looked precisely +as if great sheets of solidified lava had fallen successively from the +sky, and had been shattered, as they struck the earth, into millions +of angular slabs. I thought of Scott's description of the place where +Bruce and the Lord of the Isles landed after leaving the Castle of +Lorn, as the only one I had ever read which gave me an idea of such a +scene. + +We drank tea at noon on the west side of this rocky wilderness, and +before night reached a spot where bushes, grass, and berries again +made their appearance. We camped in a storm of wind and rain, and at +daybreak on the 21st continued our descent of the western slope of the +mountains. Early in the forenoon we were inspirited by the sight of +fresh men and horses which had been sent out to meet us from a native +village called Sidanka (see-dahn'-kah), and exchanging our tired, +lame, and disheartened animals for these fresh recruits, we pushed +rapidly on. The weather soon cleared up warm and bright, the trail +wound around among the rolling foot-hills through groves of yellow +birch and scarlet mountain ash, and as the sun gradually dried our +water-soaked clothes, and brought a pleasant glow of returning +circulation to our chilled limbs, we forgot the rain and dreary +desolation of the mountain-top and recovered our usual buoyancy of +spirit. + +I have once before, I believe, given the history of a bear hunt in +which our party participated while crossing the Kamchatka _tundra_; +but as that was a mere skirmish, which did not reflect any great +credit upon the individuals concerned, I am tempted to relate one +more bear adventure which befell us among the foot-hills of the Tigil +mountains. It shall be positively the last. + +Ye who listen with credulity to the stories of hunters, and pursue +with eagerness the traces of bears; who expect that courage will +rise with the emergency and that the deficiencies of bravery will +be supplied by the tightness of the fix, attend to the history of +Rasselas, an inexperienced bear-slayer. About noon, as we were making +our way along the edge of a narrow grassy valley, bordered by a dense +forest of birch, larch, and pine, one of our drivers suddenly raised +the cry of _medveid_, and pointed eagerly down the valley to a large +black bear rambling carelessly through the long grass in search of +blueberries, and approaching gradually nearer and nearer to our side +of the ravine. He evidently had not yet seen us, and a party to attack +him was soon made up of two Kamchadals, the Major, and myself, all +armed to the teeth with rifles, axes, revolvers, and knives. Creeping +cautiously around through the timber, we succeeded in gaining +unobserved a favourable position at the edge of the woods directly in +front of his Bruinic majesty, and calmly awaited his approach. Intent +upon making a meal of blueberries, and entirely unconscious of his +impending fate, he waddled slowly and awkwardly up to within fifty +yards. The Karnchadals kneeled down, threw forward their long heavy +rifles, fixed their sharp-pronged rests firmly in the ground, crossed +themselves devoutly three times, drew a long breath, took a deadly and +deliberate aim, shut their eyes, and fired. The silence was broken by +a long fizzle, during which the Kamchadals conscientiously kept their +eyes shut, and finally a terrific bang announced the catastrophe, +followed immediately by two more sharp reports from the rifles of the +Major and myself. As the smoke cleared away I looked eagerly to see +the brute kicking around in the agonies of death; but what was my +amazement to find that instead of kicking around in the agonies of +death, as a beast with any sense of propriety _would_ after such a +fusillade, the perverse animal was making directly for us at a gallop! +Here was a variation introduced that was not down in the programme! We +had made no calculations upon a counter-attack, and the ferocity of +his appearance, as he came tearing through the bushes, left no room +for doubt as to the seriousness of his intentions. I tried to think of +some historic precedent which would justify me in climbing a tree; but +my mind was in a state of such agitation that I could not avail myself +of my extensive historical knowledge. "A man may know the seven +portions of the Koran by heart, but when a bear gets after him he will +not be able to remember his alphabet!" What we should have done in the +last extremity will never be known. A shot from the Major's revolver +seemed to alter the bear's original plan of operations, and, swerving +suddenly to one side, he crashed through the bushes ten feet from the +muzzles of our empty rifles, and disappeared in the forest. A careful +examination of the leaves and grass failed to reveal any signs of +blood, and we were reluctantly forced to the conclusion that he +escaped unscathed. + +Hunting a bear with a Russian rifle is a very pleasant and entirely +harmless diversion. The animal has plenty of time, after the gun +begins to fizzle, to eat a hearty dinner of blueberries, run fifteen +miles across a range of mountains into a neighbouring province, and +get comfortably asleep in his hole before the deadly explosion takes +place! + +It would have been unsafe for any one to suggest "bear steaks" to the +Major or me at any time during the succeeding week. + +We camped for the night under the huge spreading branches of a gnarled +birch, a few versts from the scene of our exploit, and early Friday +morning were off for Sidanka. When about fifteen versts from the +village Dodd suggested a gallop, to try the mettle of our horses and +warm our blood. As we were both well mounted, I challenged him to a +steeplechase as far as the settlement. Of all the reckless breakneck +riding that we ever did in Kamchatka, this was the worst. The horses +soon became as excited as their riders, and tore through the bushes +and leaped over ravines, logs, rocks, and swamps with a perfect +frenzy. Once I was dragged from my saddle by the catching of my rifle +against a limb, and several times we both narrowly escaped knocking +our brains out against trees. As we approached the town we saw three +or four Kamchadals cutting wood a short distance ahead. Dodd gave a +terrifying shout like a Sioux war-whoop, put spurs to his horse, and +we came upon them like a thunderbolt. At the sight of two swarthy +strangers in blue hunting-shirts, top-boots, and red caps, with +pistols belted around their waists, and knives dangling at their +girdles, charging down upon them like Mamelukes at the battle of the +Pyramids, the poor Kamchadals flung away their axes and fled for their +lives to the woods. Except when I was dragged off my horse, we never +once drew rein until our animals stood panting and foaming in the +village. If you wish to draw a flash of excitement from Dodd's eyes, +ask him if he remembers the steeplechase to Sidanka. + +That night we floated down the Tigil River to Tigil, where we arrived +just at dark, having accomplished in sixteen days a journey of eleven +hundred and thirty versts. + +My recollections of Tigil are somewhat vague and indefinite. I +remember that I was impressed with the inordinate quantities of +champagne, cherry cordial, white rum, and "vodka" which its Russian +inhabitants were capable of drinking, and thought that Tigil was a +somewhat less ugly village than the generality of Kamchatkan towns, +but nothing more. Next to Petropavlovsk, however, it is the most +important settlement in the peninsula, and is the trading centre of +the whole western coast. A Russian supply steamer and an American +trading vessel touch at the mouth of the Tigil River every summer, +and leave large quantities of rye flour, tea, sugar, cloth, copper +kettles, tobacco, and strong Russian vodka, for distribution through +the peninsula. The Bragans, Vorrebeoffs (vor-re-be-offs'), and two or +three other trading firms make it headquarters, and it is the winter +rendezvous of many of the northern tribes of Chukchis and Koraks. As +we should pass no other trading post until we reached the settlement +of Gizhiga (gee'-zhee-gah'), at the head of the Okhotsk Sea, we +determined to remain a few days at Tigil to rest and refit. + +We were now about to enter upon what we feared would prove the most +difficult part of our journey--both on account of the nature of the +country and the lateness of the season. Only seven more Kamchadal +towns lay between us and the steppes of the Wandering Koraks, and +we had not yet been able to think of any plan of crossing these +inhospitable wastes before the winter's snows should make them +passable on reindeer-sledges. It is difficult for one who has had no +experience of northern life to get from a mere verbal description +a clear idea of a Siberian moss steppe, or to appreciate fully the +nature and extent of the obstacles which it presents to summer travel. +It is by no means easy to cross, even in winter, when it is frozen and +covered with snow; but in summer it becomes practically impassable. +For three or four hundred square miles the eternally frozen ground is +covered to a depth of two feet with a dense luxuriant growth of soft, +spongy arctic moss, saturated with water, and sprinkled here and there +with little hillocks of stunted blueberry bushes and clusters of +labrador tea. It never dries up, never becomes hard enough to afford +stable footing. Prom June to September it is a great, soft, quaking +cushion of wet moss. The foot may sink in it to the knee, but as soon +as the pressure is removed it rises again with spongy elasticity, +and no trace is left of the step. Walking over it is precisely like +walking over an enormous wet sponge. The causes which produce this +extraordinary, and apparently abnormal, growth of moss are those +which exercise the most powerful influence over the development of +vegetation everywhere,--viz., heat, light, and moisture,--and these +agencies, in a northern climate, are so combined and intensified +during the summer months as to stimulate some kinds of vegetation +into almost tropical luxuriance. The earth thaws out in spring to an +average depth of perhaps two feet, and below that point there is a +thick, impenetrable layer of solid frost. The water produced by the +melting of the winter's snows is prevented by this stratum of frozen +ground from sinking any farther into the earth, and has no escape +except by slow evaporation. It therefore saturates the cushion of moss +on the surface, and, aided by the almost perpetual sunlight of June +and July, excites it to a rapid and wonderfully luxuriant growth. + +It will readily be seen that travel in summer, over a great steppe +covered with soft elastic moss, and soaking with water, is a very +difficult if not absolutely impracticable undertaking. A horse sinks +to his knees in the spongy surface at every step, and soon becomes +exhausted by the severe exertion which such walking necessitates. We +had had an example of such travel upon the summit of the Yolofka pass, +and it was not strange that we should look forward with considerable +anxiety to crossing the great moss steppes of the Koraks in the +northern part of the peninsula. It would have been wiser, perhaps, for +us to wait patiently at Tigil until the establishment of winter travel +upon dog-sledges; but the Major feared that the chief engineer of the +enterprise might have landed a party of men in the dangerous region +around Bering Strait, and he was anxious to get where he could find +out something about it as soon as possible. He determined, therefore, +to push on at all hazards to the frontier of the Korak steppes, and +then cross them on horses, if possible. + +A whale-boat was purchased at Tigil, and forwarded with a native crew +to Lesnoi, so that in case we failed to get over the Korak steppes we +might cross the head of the Okhotsk Sea to Gizhiga by water before the +setting in of winter. Provisions, trading-goods, and fur clothes of +all sorts were purchased and packed away in skin boxes, and every +preparation made which our previous experience could suggest for rough +life and bad weather. + +[Illustration: Drill] + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +OKHOTSK SEACOAST--LESNOI--THE "DEVIL'S PASS"--LOST IN +SNOW-STORM--SAVED BY BRASS BOX--WILD SCENE + +On Wednesday, September 27th, we again took the field, with two +Cossacks, a Korak interpreter, eight or ten men, and fourteen horses. +A little snow fell on the day previous to our departure, but it did +not materially affect the road, and only served as a warning to us +that winter was at hand, and we should not expect much more pleasant +weather. We made our way as rapidly as possible along the coast of the +Okhotsk Sea, partly on the beach under the cliffs, and partly over low +wooded hills and valleys, extending down to the coast from the central +mountain range. We passed the settlements of Amanina (ah-man'-in-ah), +Vaempolka (vah-yem'-pol-kah), Kakhtana (kakh'-tan-ah'), and Polan +(po-lahn'), changing horses and men at every village and finally, on +the 3d of October, reached Lesnoi--the last Kamchadal settlement in +the peninsula. Lesnoi was situated, as nearly as we could ascertain, +in lat. 59 deg. 20', long. 160 deg. 25', about a hundred and fifty versts +south of the Korak steppes, and nearly two hundred miles in an air +line from the settlement of Gizhiga, which for the present was our +objective point. + +We had hitherto experienced little difficulty in making our way +through the peninsula, as we had been especially favoured by weather, +and there had been few natural obstacles to stop or delay our +progress. Now, however, we were about to enter a wilderness which was +entirely uninhabited, and little known even to our Kamchadal guides. +North of Lesnoi the great central range of the Kamchatka mountains +broke off abruptly into the Okhotsk Sea, in a long line of tremendous +precipices, and interposed a great rugged wall between us and the +steppes of the Wandering Koraks. This mountain range was very +difficult to pass with horses, even in midsummer, and was of course +infinitely worse now, when the mountain streams were swollen by the +fall rains into foaming torrents, and the storms which herald the +approach of winter might be at any moment expected. The Kamchadals at +Lesnoi declared positively that it was of no use to attempt to cross +this range until the rivers should freeze over and snow enough fall to +permit the use of dog-sledges, and that they were not willing to risk +fifteen or twenty horses, to say nothing of their own lives, in any +such adventure. The Major told them, in language more expressive than +polite, that he didn't believe a word of any such yarn; that the +mountains had to be crossed, and that go they must and should. They +had evidently never had to deal before with any such determined, +self-willed individual as the Major proved to be, and, after some +consultation among themselves, they agreed to make the attempt with +eight unloaded horses, leaving all our baggage and heavy equipage +at Lesnoi. This the Major at first would not listen to; but after +thinking the situation over he decided to divide our small force +into two parties--one to go around the mountains by water with the +whale-boat and heavy baggage, and one over them with twenty unloaded +horses. The road over the mountains was supposed to lie near the +seacoast, so that the land party would be most of the time within +signalling distance of the whale-boat, and in case either party +met with any accident or found its progress stopped by unforeseen +obstacles the other could come to its assistance. Near the middle of +the mountainous tract, just west of the principal ridge, there was +said to be a small river called the Samanka (sa-mahn'-kah), and the +mouth of this river was agreed upon as a rendezvous for the two +parties in case they lost sight of each other during storms or foggy +weather. The Major decided to go with Dodd in the whale-boat, and gave +me command of the land party, consisting of our best Cossack, Viushin, +six Kamchadals, and twenty light horses. Flags were made, a code of +signals was agreed upon, the heavy baggage was transferred to the +whale-boat and a large sealskin canoe, and early on the morning of +October 4th I bade the Major and Dodd good-bye at the beach, and they +pushed off. We started up our train of horses as the boats disappeared +around a projecting bluff, and cantered away briskly across the +valley toward a gap in the mountains, through which we entered the +"wilderness." The road for the first ten or fifteen versts was very +good; but I was surprised to find that, instead of leading us along +the seashore, it went directly back into the mountains away from the +sea, and I began to fear that our arrangements for cooperation would +be of little avail. Thinking that the whale-boat would not probably +get far the first day under oars and without wind, we encamped early +in a narrow valley between two parallel ranges of mountains. I tried, +by climbing a low mountain back of our tent, to get a sight of the +sea; but we were at least fifteen versts from the coast, and the view +was limited by an intervening range of rugged peaks, many of which +reach the altitude of perpetual snow. It was rather lonely to camp +that night without seeing Dodd's cheerful face by the fireside, and +I missed more than I thought I should the lively sallies, comical +stories and good-humoured pleasantry which had hitherto brightened +the long hours of camp life. If Dodd could have read my thoughts that +evening, as I sat in solitary majesty by the fireside, he would have +been satisfied that his society was not unappreciated, nor his absence +unfelt. Viushin took especial pains with the preparation of my supper, +and did the best he could, poor fellow, to enliven the solitary meal +with stories and funny reminiscences of Kamchatkan travel; but the +venison cutlets had lost somehow their usual savour, and the Russian +jokes and stories I could not understand. After supper I lay down upon +my bearskins in the tent, and fell asleep watching the round moon rise +over a ragged volcanic peak east of the valley. + +On the second day we travelled through a narrow tortuous valley among +the mountains, over spongy swamps of moss, and across deep narrow +creeks, until we reached a ruined subterranean hut nearly half way +from Lesnoi to the Samanka River. Here we ate a lunch of dried fish +and hardbread, and started again up the valley in a heavy rain-storm, +surrounded on all sides by rocks, snow-capped mountains, and extinct +volcanic peaks. The road momentarily grew worse. The valley narrowed +gradually to a wild rocky canon, a hundred and fifty feet in depth, +at the bottom of which ran a swollen mountain torrent, foaming around +sharp black rocks, and falling over ledges of lava in magnificent +cascades. Along the black precipitous sides of this "Devil's Pass" +there did not seem to be footing for a chamois; but our guide said +that he had been through it many times before, and dismounting from +his horse he cautiously led the way along a narrow rocky ledge in +the face of the cliff which I had not before noticed. Over this we +carefully made our way, now descending nearly to the water's edge, and +then rising again until the roaring stream was fifty feet below, and +we could drop stones from our outstretched arms directly into the +boiling, foaming waters. Presuming too much upon the sagacity of a +sure-footed horse, I carelessly attempted the passage of the ravine +without dismounting, and came near paying the penalty of my rashness +by a violent death. About half way through, where the trail was only +eight or ten feet above the bed of the torrent, the ledge, or a +portion of it, gave way under my horse's feet, and we went down +together in a struggling mass upon the rocks in the channel of the +stream. I had taken the precaution to disengage my feet from the +treacherous iron stirrups, and as we fell I threw myself toward the +face of the cliff so as to avoid being crushed by my horse. The fall +was not a very long one, and I came down uppermost, but narrowly +escaped having my head broken by my animal's hoofs as he struggled to +regain his feet. He was somewhat cut and bruised, but not seriously +hurt, and tightening the saddle-girth I waded along through the +water, leading him after me until I was able to regain the path. Then +climbing into the saddle again, with dripping clothes and somewhat +shaken nerves, I rode on. + +Just before dark we reached a point where further progress in that +direction seemed to be absolutely cut off by a range of high mountains +which ran directly across the valley. It was the central ridge of the +Samanka Mountains. I looked around with a glance of inquiring surprise +at the guide, who pointed directly over the range, and said that +there lay our road. A forest of birch extended about half way up +the mountain side, and was succeeded by low evergreen bushes, +trailing-pine, and finally by bare black rocks rising high over all, +where not even the hardy reindeer-moss could find soil enough to bury +its roots. I no longer wondered at the positive declaration of the +Kamchadals, that with loaded horses it would be impossible to cross, +and began to doubt whether it could be done even with light horses. It +looked very dubious to me, accustomed as I was to rough climbing and +mountain roads. I decided to camp at once where we were, and obtain as +much rest as possible, so that we and our horses would be fresh for +the hard day's work which evidently lay before us. Night closed in +early and gloomily, the rain still falling in torrents, so that we +had no opportunity of drying our wet clothes. I longed for a drink +of brandy to warm my chilled blood, but my pocket flask had been +forgotten in the hurry of our departure from Lesnoi, and I was obliged +to content myself with the milder stimulus of hot tea. My bedding, +having been wrapped up in an oilcloth blanket, was fortunately dry, +and crawling feet first, wet as I was, into my bearskin bag, and +covering up warmly with heavy blankets, I slept in comparative +comfort. + +Viushin waked me early in the morning with the announcement that it +was snowing. I rose hastily and putting aside the canvas of the +tent looked out. That which I most dreaded had happened. A driving +snowstorm was sweeping down the valley, and Nature had assumed +suddenly the stern aspect and white pitiless garb of winter. Snow had +already fallen to a depth of three inches in the valley, and on the +mountains, of course, it would be deep, soft, and drifted. I hesitated +for a moment about attempting to cross the rugged range in such +weather; but my orders were imperative to go on at least to the +Samanka River, and a failure to do so might defeat the object of the +whole expedition. Previous experience convinced me that the Major +would not let a storm interfere with the execution of his plans; and +if he should succeed in reaching the Samanka River and I should not, I +never could recover from the mortification of the failure, nor be able +to convince him that Anglo-Saxon blood was as good as Slavonic. I +reluctantly gave the order therefore to break camp, and as soon as the +horses could be collected and saddled we started for the base of the +mountain range. Hardly had we ascended two hundred feet out of the +shelter of the valley before we were met by a hurricane of wind from +the northeast, which swept blinding, suffocating clouds of snow down +the slope into our faces until earth and sky seemed mingled and lost +in a great white whirling mist. The ascent soon became so steep and +rocky that we could no longer ride our horses up it. We therefore +dismounted, and wading laboriously through deep soft drifts, and +climbing painfully over sharp jagged rocks, which cut open our +sealskin boots, we dragged our horses slowly upward. We had ascended +wearily in this way perhaps a thousand feet, when I became so +exhausted that I was compelled to lie down. The snow in many places +was drifted as high as my waist, and my horse refused to take a step +until he was absolutely dragged to it. After a rest of a few moments +we pushed on, and after another hour of hard work we succeeded in +gaining what seemed to be the crest of the mountain, perhaps 2000 feet +above the sea. Here the fury of the wind was almost irresistible. +Dense clouds of driving snow hid everything from sight at a distance +of a few steps, and we seemed to be standing on a fragment of a +wrecked world enveloped in a whirling tempest of stinging snowflakes. +Now and then a black volcanic crag, inaccessible as the peak of the +Matterhorn, would loom out in the white mist far above our heads, as +if suspended in mid-air, giving a startling momentary wildness to the +scene; then it would disappear again in flying snow, and leave us +staring blindly into vacancy. A long fringe of icicles hung round the +visor of my cap, and my clothes, drenched with the heavy rain of the +previous day, froze into a stiff crackling armour of ice upon my body. +Blinded by the snow, with benumbed limbs and chattering teeth, I +mounted my horse and let him go where he would, only entreating the +guide to hurry and get down somewhere off from this exposed position. +He tried in vain to compel his horse to face the storm. Neither shouts +nor blows could force him to turn round, and he was obliged finally +to ride along the crest of the mountain to the eastward. We went down +into a comparatively sheltered valley, up again upon another ridge +higher than the first, around the side of a conical peak where the +wind blew with great force, down into another deep ravine and up still +another ridge, until I lost entirely the direction of our route and +the points of the compass, and had not the slightest idea where we +were going. I only knew that we were half frozen and in a perfect +wilderness of mountains. + +I had noticed several times within half an hour that our guide was +holding frequent and anxious consultations with the other Kamchadals +about our road, and that he seemed to be confused and in doubt as to +the direction in which we ought to go. He now came to me with a gloomy +face, and confessed that we were lost. I could not blame the poor +fellow for losing the road in such a storm, but I told him to go on in +what he believed to be the direction of the Samanka River, and if we +succeeded in finding somewhere a sheltered valley we would camp and +wait for better weather. I wished to caution him also against riding +accidentally over the edges of precipices in the blinding snow, but I +could not speak Russian enough to make myself understood. + +We wandered on aimlessly for two hours, over ridges, up peaks, and +down into shallow valleys, getting deeper and deeper apparently into +the heart of the mountains but finding no shelter from the storm. It +became evident that something must be done, or we should all freeze +to death. I finally called the guide, told him I would take the lead +myself, and opening my little pocket compass, showed him the direction +of the sea-coast. In that direction I determined to go until we should +come out somewhere. He looked in stupid wonder for a moment at the +little brass box with its trembling needle, and then cried out +despairingly, "Oh, Barin! How does the come-_pass_ know anything about +these accursed mountains? The come-_pass_ never has been over this +road before. I've travelled here all my life, and, God forgive me, I +don't know where the sea is!" Hungry, anxious, and half frozen as I +was, I could not help smiling at our guide's idea of an inexperienced +compass which had never travelled in Kamchatka, and could not +therefore know anything about the road. I assured him confidently that +the "come-_pass_" was a great expert at finding the sea in a storm; +but he shook his head mournfully, as if he had little faith in its +abilities, and refused to go in the direction that I indicated. +Finding it impossible to make my horse face the wind, I dismounted, +and, compass in hand, led him away in the direction of the sea, +followed by Viushin, who, with an enormous bearskin wrapped around his +head, looked like some wild animal. The guide, seeing that we were +determined to trust in the compass, finally concluded to go with us. +Our progress was necessarily very slow, as the snow was deep, our +limbs chilled and stiffened by their icy covering, and a hurricane of +wind blowing in our faces. About the middle of the afternoon, however, +we came suddenly out upon the very brink of a storm-swept precipice a +hundred and fifty feet in depth, against the base of which the sea was +hurling tremendous green breakers with a roar that drowned the rushing +noise of the wind. I had never imagined so wild and lonely a scene. +Behind and around us lay a wilderness of white, desolate peaks, +crowded together under a grey, pitiless sky, with here and there a +patch of trailing-pine, or a black pinnacle of trap-rock, to intensify +by contrast the ghastly whiteness and desolation of the weird snowy +mountains. In front, but far below, was the troubled sea, rolling +mysteriously out of a grey mist of snowflakes, breaking in thick +sheets of clotted froth against the black cliff, and making long +reverberations, and hollow, gurgling noises in the subterranean +caverns which it had hollowed out. Snow, water, and mountains, and in +the foreground a little group of ice-covered men and shaggy horses, +staring at the sea from the summit of a mighty cliff! It was a simple +picture, but it was full of cheerless, mournful suggestions. Our +guide, after looking eagerly up and down the gloomy precipitous coast +in search of some familiar landmark, finally turned to me with a +brighter face, and asked to see the compass. I unscrewed the cover and +showed him the blue quivering needle still pointing to the north. He +examined it curiously, but with evident respect for its mysterious +powers, and at last said that it was truly a "great master," and +wanted to know if it always pointed toward the sea! I tried to explain +to him its nature and use, but I could not make him understand, and +he walked away firmly believing that there was something uncanny and +supernatural about a little brass box that could point out the road to +the sea in a country where it had never before been! + +We pushed on to the northward throughout the afternoon, keeping as +near the coast as possible, winding around among the thickly scattered +peaks and crossing no less than nine low ridges of the mountain range. + +I noticed throughout the day the peculiar phenomenon of which I had +read in Tyndall's _Glaciers of the Alps_--the blue light which seemed +to fill every footprint and little crevice in the snow. The hole made +by a long slender stick was fairly luminous with what appeared to be +deep blue vapour. I never saw this singular phenomenon so marked at +any other time during nearly three years of northern travel. + +About an hour after dark we rode down into a deep lonely valley, which +came out, our guide said, upon the sea beach near the mouth of the +Samanka River. Here no snow had fallen, but it was raining heavily. I +thought it hardly possible that the Major and Dodd could have reached +the appointed rendezvous in such a storm; but I directed the men to +pitch the tent, while Viushin and I rode on to the mouth of the river +to ascertain whether the whale-boat had arrived or not. It was too +dark to see anything distinctly, but we found no evidence that human +beings had ever been there, and returned disappointed to camp. We were +never more glad to get under a tent, eat supper, and crawl into our +bearskin sleeping-bags, than after that exhausting day's work. Our +clothes had been either wet or frozen for nearly forty-eight hours, +and we had been fourteen hours on foot and in the saddle, without warm +food or rest. + +[Illustration: Wooden Cup] + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +CUT OFF BY STORM--STARVATION THREATENED--RACE WITH A RISING TIDE--TWO +DAYS WITHOUT FOOD--RETURN TO LESNOI + +Early Saturday morning we moved on to the mouth of the valley, pitched +our tent in a position to command a view of the approaches to the +Samanka River, ballasted its edges with stones to keep the wind from +blowing it down, and prepared to wait two days, according to orders, +for the whale-boat. The storm still continued, and the heavy sea, +which dashed sullenly all day against the black rocks under our tent, +convinced me that nothing could be expected from the other party. I +only hoped that they had succeeded in getting safely landed somewhere +before the storm began. Caught by a gale under the frowning wall of +rock which stretched for miles along the coast, the whale-boat, I +knew, must either swamp with all on board, or be dashed to pieces +against the cliffs. In either case not a soul could escape to tell the +story. + +That night Viushin astonished and almost disheartened me with the news +that we were eating the last of our provisions. There was no more +meat, and the hardbread which remained was only a handful of +water-soaked crumbs. He and all the Kamchadals, confidently expecting +to meet the whale-boat at the Samanka River, had taken only three +days' food. He had said nothing about it until the last moment, hoping +that the whale-boat would arrive or something turn up; but it could no +longer be concealed. We were three days' journey from any settlement, +and without food. How we were to get back to Lesnoi I did not know, +as the mountains were probably impassable now, on account of the snow +which had fallen since we crossed, and the weather did not permit us +to indulge a hope that the whale-boat would ever come. Much as we +dreaded it, there was nothing to be done but to attempt another +passage of the mountain range, and that without a moment's delay. +I had been ordered to wait for the whale-boat two days; but +circumstances, I thought, justified a disobedience of orders, and I +directed the Kamchadals to be ready to start for Lesnoi early the next +morning. Then, writing a note to the Major, and enclosing it in a tin +can, to be left on the site of our camp, I crawled into my fur bag to +sleep and get strength for another struggle with the mountains. + +The following morning was cold and stormy, and the snow was still +falling in the mountains, and heavy rain in the valley. We broke camp +at daylight, saddled our horses, distributed what little baggage we +had among them, as equally as possible, and made every preparation for +deep snow and hard climbing. + +Our guide, after a short consultation with his comrades, now came to +me and proposed that we abandon our plan of crossing the mountains as +wholly impracticable, and try instead to make our way along the narrow +strip of beach which the ebbing tide would leave bare at the foot +of the cliffs. This plan, he contended, was no more dangerous than +attempting to cross the mountains, and was much more certain of +success, as there were only a few points where at low water a horse +could not pass with dry feet. It was not more than thirty miles to +a ravine on the south side of the mountain range, through which we +could, leave the beach and regain our old trail at a point within one +hard day's ride of Lesnoi. The only danger was in being caught by high +water before we could reach this ravine, and even then we might save +ourselves by climbing up on the rocks, and abandoning our horses to +their fate. It would be no worse for them than starving and freezing +to death in the mountains. Divested of its verbal plausibility, his +plan was nothing more nor less than a grand thirty-mile race with a +high tide along a narrow beach, from which all escape was cut off by +precipitous cliffs one and two hundred feet in height. If we reached +the ravine in time, all would be well; but if not, our beach would be +covered ten feet deep with water, and our horses, if not ourselves, +would be swept away like corks. There was a recklessness and dash +about this proposal which made it very attractive when compared with +wading laboriously through snow-drifts, in frozen clothes, without +anything to eat, and I gladly agreed to it, and credited our guide +with more sense and spirit than I had ever before seen exhibited by a +Kamchadal. The tide was now only beginning to ebb, and we had three or +four hours to spare before it would be low enough to start. This +time the Kamchadals improved by catching one of the dogs which had +accompanied us from Lesnoi, killing him in a cold-blooded way with +their long knives, and offering his lean body as a sacrifice to the +Evil Spirit, in whose jurisdiction these infernal mountains were +supposed to be. The poor animal was cut open, his entrails taken out +and thrown to the four corners of the earth, and his body suspended +by the neck from the top of a long pole set perpendicularly in the +ground. The Evil Spirit's wrath, however, seemed implacable, for it +stormed worse after the performance of these propitiatory rites than +it did before. This did not weaken at all the faith of the Kamchadals +in the efficacy of their atonement. If the storm did not abate, it +was only because an unbelieving American with a diabolical brass box +called a "come-_pass'_" had insisted upon crossing the mountains in +defiance of the _genius loci_ and all his tempestuous warnings. One +dead dog was no compensation at all for such a sacrilegious violation +of the Evil Spirit's clearly expressed wishes! The sacrifice, however, +seemed to relieve the natives' anxiety about their own safety; and, +much as I pitied the poor dog thus ruthlessly slaughtered, I was glad +to see the manifest improvement which it worked in the spirits of my +superstitious comrades. + +About ten o'clock, as nearly as I could estimate the time without a +watch, our guide examined the beach and said we must be off; we would +have between four and five hours to reach the ravine. We mounted +in hot haste, and set out at a swinging gallop along the beach, +overshadowed by tremendous black cliffs on one side, and sprinkled +with salt spray from the breakers on the other. Great masses of green, +slimy seaweed, shells, water-soaked driftwood, and thousands of +medusas, which had been thrown up by the storm, lay strewn in piles +along the beach; but we dashed through and over them at a mad gallop, +never drawing rein for an instant except to pick our way among +enormous masses of rock, which in some places had caved away from +the summit of the cliff and blocked up the beach with grey +barnacle-encrusted fragments as large as freight-cars. + +We had got over the first eighteen miles in splendid style, when +Viushin, who was riding in advance, stopped suddenly, with an +abruptness which nearly threw him over his horse's head, and raised +the familiar cry of "Medveidi! medveidi! dva." Bears they certainly +seemed to be, making their way along the beach a quarter of a mile or +so ahead; but how bears came in that desperate situation, where they +must inevitably be drowned in the course of two or three hours, we +could not conjecture. It made little difference to us, however, +for the bears were there and we must pass. It was a clear case of +breakfast for one party or the other. There could be no dodging or +getting around, for the cliffs and the sea left us a narrow road. +I slipped a fresh cartridge into my rifle and a dozen more into my +pocket; Viushin dropped a couple of balls into his double-barrelled +fowling-piece, and we crept forward behind the rocks to get a shot at +them, if possible, before we should be seen. We were almost within +rifle range when Viushin suddenly straightened up with a loud laugh, +and cried out, "Liudi"--"They are people." Coming out from behind the +rocks, I saw clearly that they were. But how came people there? Two +natives, dressed in fur coats and trousers, approached us with violent +gesticulations, shouting to us in Russian not to shoot, and holding +up something white, like a flag of truce. As soon as they came near +enough one of them handed me a wet, dirty piece of paper, with a +low bow, and I recognised him as a Kamchadal from Lesnoi. They were +messengers from the Major! Thanking God in my heart that the other +party was safe, I tore open the note and read hastily: + +Sea Shore, 15 versts from Lesnoi, October 4th. Driven ashore here by +the storm. Hurry back as fast as possible. + +S. Abaza. + +The Kamchadal messengers had left Lesnoi only one day behind us, but +had been detained by the storm and bad roads, and had only reached on +the previous night our second camp. Finding it impossible to cross the +mountains on account of the snow, they had abandoned their horses, +and were trying to reach the Samanka River on foot by way of the sea +beach. They did not expect to do it in one tide but intended to take +refuge on high rocks during the flood, and resume their journey as +soon as the beach should be left bare by the receding water. There was +no time for any more explanations. The tide was running in rapidly, +and we must make twelve miles in a little over an hour, or lose our +horses. We mounted the tired, wet Kamchadals on two of our spare +animals, and were off again at a gallop. The situation grew more +and more exciting as we approached the ravine. At the end of every +projecting bluff the water was higher and higher, and in several +places it had already touched with foam and spray the foot of the +cliffs. In twenty minutes more the beach would be impassable. Our +horses held out nobly, and the ravine was only a short distance +ahead--only one more projecting bluff intervened. Against this the sea +was already beginning to break, but we galloped past through several +feet of water, and in five minutes drew rein at the mouth of the +ravine. It had been a hard ride, but we had won the race with a clear +ten minutes to spare, and were now on the southern side of the snowy +mountain range, less than sixty miles from Lesnoi. Had it not been +for our guide's good sense and boldness we should still have been +floundering through the snow, and losing our way among the bewildering +peaks, ten miles south of the Samanka River. The ravine up which +our road lay was badly choked with massive rocks, patches of +trailing-pine, and dense thickets of alder, and it cost us two hours' +more hard work to cut a trail through it with axes. + +Before dark, however, we had reached the site of our second day's +camp, and about midnight we arrived at the ruined _yurt_ where we had +eaten lunch five days before. Exhausted by fourteen hours' riding +without rest or food, we could go no farther. I had hoped to get +something to eat from the Kamchadal messengers from Lesnoi, but was +disappointed to find that their provisions had been exhausted the +previous day. Viushin scraped a small handful of dirty crumbs out of +our empty bread-bag, fried them in a little blubber, which I suppose +he had brought to grease his gun with, and offered them to me; but, +hungry as I was, I could not eat the dark, greasy mass, and he divided +it by mouthfuls among the Kamchadals. + +The second day's ride without food was a severe trial of my strength, +and I began to be tormented by a severe gnawing, burning pain in +my stomach. I tried to quiet it by eating seeds from the cones of +trailing-pine and drinking large quantities of water; but this +afforded no relief, and I became so faint toward evening that I could +hardly sit in my saddle. + +About two hours after dark we heard the howling of dogs from Lesnoi, +and twenty minutes later we rode into the settlement, dashed up to the +little log house of the _starosta_, and burst in upon the Major and +Dodd as they sat at supper. Our long ride was over. + +Thus ended our unsuccessful expedition to the Samanka Mountains--the +hardest journey I ever experienced in Kamchatka. + +Two days afterward, the anxiety and suffering which the Major had +endured in a five days' camp on the sea beach during the storm, +brought on a severe attack of rheumatic fever, and all thoughts of +farther progress were for the present abandoned. Nearly all the horses +in the village were more or less disabled, our Samanka mountain guide +was blind from inflammatory erysipelas brought on by exposure to five +days of storm, and half my party were unfit for duty. Under such +circumstances, another attempt to cross the mountains before winter +was impossible. Dodd and the Cossack Meranef (mer-ah'-nef) were sent +back to Tigil after a physician and a new supply of provisions, while +Viushin and I remained at Lesnoi to take care of the Major. + +[Illustration: Stone Lamps] + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +KAMCHATKAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENTS--CHARACTER OF PEOPLE--SALMON-FISHING-- +SABLE-TRAPPING--KAMCHADAL LANGUAGE--NATIVE MUSIC--DOG-DRIVING--WINTER +DRESS + +After our unsuccessful attempt to pass the Samanka Mountains, there +was nothing for us to do but wait patiently at Lesnoi until the rivers +should freeze over, and snow fall to a depth which would enable us +to continue our journey to Gizhiga on dog-sledges. It was a long, +wearisome delay, and I felt for the first time, in its full force, the +sensation of exile from home, country, and civilisation. The Major +continued very ill, and would show the anxiety which he had felt about +the success of our expedition by talking deliriously for hours of +crossing the mountains, starting for Gizhiga in the whale-boat, and +giving incoherent orders to Viushin, Dodd, and myself, about horses, +dog-sledges, canoes, and provisions. The idea of getting to Gizhiga, +before the beginning of winter, filled his mind, to the exclusion of +everything else. His sickness made the time previous to Dodd's return +seem very long and lonesome, as I had absolutely nothing to do except +to sit in a little log room, with opaque fish-bladder windows, and +pore over Shakespeare and my Bible, until I almost learned them by +heart. In pleasant weather I would sling my rifle across my back and +spend whole days in roaming over the mountains in pursuit of reindeer +and foxes; but I rarely met with much success. One deer and a few +arctic ptarmigan were my only trophies. At night I would sit on the +transverse section of a log in our little kitchen, light a rude +Kamchadal lamp, made with a fragment of moss and a tin cup full of +seal oil, and listen for hours to the songs and guitar-playing of the +Kamchadals, and to the wild stories of perilous mountain adventure +which they delighted to relate. I learned during these Kamchatkan +Nights' Entertainments many interesting particulars of Kamchadal life, +customs, and peculiarities of which I had before known nothing; +and, as I shall have no occasion hereafter to speak of this curious +little-known people, I may as well give here what account I can of +their language, music, amusements, superstitions, and mode of life. + +The people themselves I have already described as a quiet, +inoffensive, hospitable tribe of semi-barbarians, remarkable only +for honesty, general amiability, and comical reverence for legally +constituted authority. Such an idea as rebellion or resistance to +oppression is wholly foreign to the Kamchadal character _now_, +whatever it may have been in previous ages of independence. They will +suffer and endure any amount of abuse and ill-treatment, without any +apparent desire for revenge, and with the greatest good-nature and +elasticity of spirit. They are as faithful and forgiving as a dog. If +you treat them well, your slightest wish will be their law; and they +will do their best in their rude way to show their appreciation of +kindness, by anticipating and meeting even your unexpressed wants. +During our stay at Lesnoi the Major chanced one day to inquire for +some milk. The _starosta_ did not tell him that there was not a cow +in the village, but said that he would try to get some. A man was +instantly despatched on horseback to the neighbouring settlement of +Kinkil, and before night he returned with a champagne-bottle under his +arm, and the Major had milk that evening in his tea. From this time +until we started for Gizhiga--more than a month--a man rode twenty +miles every day to bring us a bottle of fresh milk. This seemed to be +done out of pure kindness of heart, without any desire or expectation +of future reward; and it is a fair example of the manner in which we +were generally treated by all the Kamchadals in the peninsula. + +The settled natives of northern Kamchatka have generally two different +residences, in which they live at different seasons of the year. These +are respectively called the "zimovie" or winter settlement, and the +"letovie" (let'-o-vye) or summer fishing-station, and are from one to +five miles apart. In the former, which is generally situated under +the shelter of timbered hills, several miles from the seacoast, they +reside from September until June. The _letovie_ is always built near +the mouth of an adjacent river or stream, and consists of a few +_yurts_ or earth-covered huts, eight or ten conical _balagans_ mounted +on stilts, and a great number of wooden frames on which fish are hung +to dry. To this fishing-station the inhabitants all remove early in +June, leaving their winter settlement entirely deserted. Even the dogs +and the crows abandon it for the more attractive surroundings and +richer pickings of the summer _balagans._ Early in July the salmon +enter the river in immense numbers from the sea, and are caught by the +natives in gill-nets, baskets, seines, weirs, traps, and a dozen other +ingenious contrivances--cut open, cleaned, and boned by the women, +with the greatest skill and celerity, and hung in long rows upon +horizontal poles to dry. A fish, with all the confidence of sea life, +enters the river as a sailor comes ashore, intending to have a good +time; but before he fairly knows what he is about, he is caught in +a seine, dumped out upon the beach with a hundred more equally +unsophisticated and equally unfortunate sufferers, split open with +a big knife, his backbone removed, his head cut off, his internal +arrangements scooped out, and his mutilated remains hung over a pole +to simmer in a hot July sun. It is a pity that he cannot enjoy the +melancholy satisfaction of seeing the skill and rapidity with which +his body is prepared for a new and enlarged sphere of usefulness! +He is no longer a fish. In this second stage of passive unconscious +existence he assumes a new name, and is called a "yukala" +(yoo'-kah-lah). + +It is astonishing to see in what countless numbers and to what great +distances these fish ascend the Siberian rivers. Dozens of small +streams which we passed in the interior of Kamchatka, seventy miles +from the seacoast, were so choked up with thousands of dying, dead, +and decayed fish, that we could not use the water for any purpose +whatever. Even in little mountain brooks, so narrow that a child could +step across them, we saw salmon eighteen or twenty inches in length +still working their way laboriously up stream, in water which was not +deep enough to cover their bodies. We frequently waded in and threw +them out by the dozen with our bare hands. They change greatly in +appearance as they ascend a river. When they first come in from the +sea their scales are bright and hard, and their flesh fat and richly +coloured; but as they go higher and higher up stream; their scales +lose their brilliancy and fall off, their flesh bleaches out until it +is nearly white, and they become lean, dry, and tasteless. For this +reason all the fishing-stations in Kamchatka are located, if possible, +at or near the mouths of rivers. To the instinct which leads the +salmon to ascend rivers for the purpose of depositing its spawn, is +attributable the settlement of all north-eastern Siberia. If it were +not for the abundance of fish, the whole country would be uninhabited +and uninhabitable, except by the Reindeer Koraks. As soon as the +fishing season is over, the Kamchadals store away their dried _yukala_ +in _balagans_ and return to their winter quarters to prepare for the +fall catch of sables. For nearly a month they spend all their time +in the woods and mountains, making and setting traps. To make a +sable-trap, a narrow perpendicular slot, fourteen inches by four in +length and breadth, and five inches in depth, is cut in the trunk of a +large tree, so that the bottom of the slot will be about at the height +of a sable's head when he stands erect. The stem of another smaller +tree is then trimmed, one of its ends raised to a height of three feet +by a forked stick set in the ground, and the other bevelled off so as +to slip up and down freely in the slot cut for its reception. This +end is raised to the top of the slot and supported there by a simple +figure-four catch, leaving a nearly square opening of about four +inches below for the admission of the sable's head. The figure-four is +then baited and the trap is ready. The sable rises upon his hind +legs, puts his head into the hole, and the heavy log, set free by the +dropping of the figure-four, falls and crushes the animal's skull, +without injuring in the slightest degree the valuable parts of his +skin. One native frequently makes and sets as many as a hundred of +these traps in the fall, and visits them at short intervals throughout +the winter. Not content, however, with this extensive and well +organised system of trapping sables, the natives hunt them upon +snow-shoes with trained dogs, drive them into holes which they +surround with nets, and then, forcing them out with fire or axe, they +kill them with clubs. + +The number of sables caught in the Kamchatkan peninsula annually +varies from six to nine thousand, all of which are exported to Russia +and distributed from there over northern Europe. A large proportion of +the whole number of Russian sables in the European market are caught +by the natives of Kamchatka and transported by _American_ merchants +to Moscow. W.H. Bordman, of Boston, and an American house in +China--known, I believe, as Russell & Co.--practically control the fur +trade of Kamchatka and the Okhotsk seacoast. The price paid to the +Kamchadals for an average sable skin in 1867 was nominally fifteen +rubles silver, or about eleven dollars gold; but payment was made in +tea, sugar, tobacco, and sundry other articles of merchandise, at the +trader's own valuation, so that the natives actually realised only a +little more than half the nominal price. Nearly all the inhabitants of +central Kamchatka are engaged directly or indirectly during the winter +in the sable trade and many of them have acquired by it a comfortable +independence. + +Fishing and sable-hunting, therefore, are the serious occupations of +the Kamchadals throughout the year; but as these are indications of +the nature of the country rather than of the characteristics of its +inhabitants, they give only an imperfect idea of the distinctive +peculiarities of Kamchadals and Kamchadal life. The language, music, +amusements, and superstitions of a people are much more valuable +as illustrations of their real character than are their regular +occupations. + +The Kamchadal language is to me one of the most curious of all the +wild tongues of Asia; not on account of its construction, but simply +from the strange, uncouth sounds with which it abounds, and its +strangling, gurgling articulation. When rapidly spoken, it always +reminded me of water running out of a narrow-mouthed jug! A Russian +traveller in Kamchatka has said that "the Kamchadal language is spoken +half in the mouth and half in the throat"; but it might be more +accurately described as spoken half in the throat and half in the +stomach. It has more guttural sounds than any other Asiatic language +that I have ever heard, and differs considerably in this respect +from the dialects of the Chukchis and Koraks. It is what comparative +philologists call an agglutinative language, and seems to be made up +of permanent unchangeable roots with variable prefixes. It has, so far +as I could ascertain, no terminal inflections, and its grammar seemed +to be simple and easily learned. Most of the Kamchadals throughout +the northern part of the peninsula speak, in addition to their own +language, Russian and Korak, so that, in their way, they are quite +accomplished linguists. + +It has always seemed to me that the songs of a people, and especially +of a people who have composed them themselves, and not adopted them +from others, are indicative to a very great degree of their character; +whether, as some author supposed, the songs have a reflex influence +on the character, or whether they exist simply as its exponents, the +result is the same, viz., a greater or less correspondence between the +two. In none of the Siberian tribes is this more marked than in the +Kamchadals. They have evidently never been a warlike, combative +people. They have no songs celebrating the heroic deeds of their +ancestors, or their exploits in the chase or in battle, as have many +tribes of our North American Indians. Their ballads are all of a +melancholy, imaginative character, inspired apparently by grief, love, +or domestic feeling, rather than by the ruder passions of pride, +anger, and revenge. Their music all has a wild, strange sound to a +foreign ear, but it conveys to the mind in some way a sense of sorrow, +and vague, unavailing regret for something that has for ever passed +away, like the emotion excited by a funeral dirge over the grave of a +dear friend. As Ossian says of the music of Carryl, "it is like the +memory of joys that are past--sweet, yet mournful to the soul." I +remember particularly a song called the Penzhinski, sung one night by +the natives at Lesnoi, which was, without exception, the sweetest, and +yet the most inexpressibly mournful combination of notes that I had +ever heard. It was a wail of a lost soul, despairing, yet pleading for +mercy. I tried in vain to get a translation of the words. Whether it +was the relation of some bloody and disastrous encounter with their +fiercer northern neighbours, or the lament over the slain body of some +dear son, brother, or husband, I could not learn; but the music alone +will bring the tears near one's eyes, and has an indescribable effect +upon the singers, whose excitable feelings it sometimes works up +almost to the pitch of frenzy. The dancing tunes of the Kamchadals +are of course entirely different in character, being generally very +lively, and made up of energetic staccato passages, repeated many +times in succession, without variation. Nearly all the natives +accompany themselves upon a three-cornered guitar with two strings, +called a _ballalaika_ (bahl-lah-lai'-kah), and some of them play quite +well upon rude home-made violins. All are passionately fond of music +of every kind. + +The only other amusements in which they indulge are dancing, playing +football on the snow in winter, and racing with dog-teams. + +The winter travel of the Kamchadals is accomplished entirely upon +dog-sledges, and in no other pursuit of their lives do they spend more +time or exhibit their native skill and ingenuity to better advantage. +They may even be said to have made dogs for themselves in the first +place, since the present Siberian animal is nothing more than a +half-domesticated arctic wolf, and still retains all his wolfish +instincts and peculiarities. There is probably no more hardy, enduring +animal in the world. You may compel him to sleep out on the snow in a +temperature of 70 deg. below zero, drive him with heavy loads until his +feet crack open and stain the snow with blood, or starve him until +he eats up his harness; but his strength and his spirit seem alike +unconquerable. I have driven a team of nine dogs more than a hundred +miles in a day and a night, and have frequently worked them hard for +forty-eight hours without being able to give them a particle of food. +In general they are fed once a day, their allowance being a single +dried fish, weighing perhaps a pound and a half or two pounds. This +is given to them at night, so that they begin another day's work with +empty stomachs. + +The sledge, or _nart_, to which they are harnessed is about ten +feet in length and two in width, made of seasoned birch timber, and +combines to a surprising degree the two most desirable qualities of +strength and lightness. It is simply a skeleton framework, fastened +together with lashings of dried sealskin, and mounted on broad, curved +runners. No iron whatever is used in its construction, and it does not +weigh more than twenty pounds; yet it will sustain a load of four or +five hundred pounds, and endure the severest shocks of rough mountain +travel. The number of dogs harnessed to this sledge varies from seven +to fifteen, according to the nature of the country to be traversed and +the weight of the load. Under favourable circumstances eleven dogs +will make from forty to fifty miles a day with a man and a load of +four hundred pounds. They are harnessed to the sledge in successive +couples by a long central thong of sealskin, to which each individual +dog is attached by a collar and a short trace. They are guided and +controlled entirely by the voice and by a lead-dog who is especially +trained for the purpose. The driver carries no whip, but has instead a +stick about four feet in length and two inches in diameter, called +an _oerstel_ (oar'-stel). This is armed at one end with a long iron +spike, and is used to check the speed of the sledge in descending +hills, and to stop the dogs when they leave the road, as they +frequently do in pursuit of reindeer and foxes. The spiked end is then +thrust down in front of one of the knees or uprights of the runners, +and drags in that position through the snow, the upper end being +firmly held by the driver. It is a powerful lever, and when skilfully +used brakes up a sledge very promptly and effectively. + +[Illustration: TOWARD NIGHT; A TIRED DOG-TEAM +From a painting by George A. Frost] + +The art of driving a dog-team is one of the most deceptive in the +world. The traveller at first sight imagines that driving a dog-sledge +is just as easy as driving a street-car, and at the very first +favourable opportunity he tries it. After being run away with within +the first ten minutes, capsized into a snow-drift, and his sledge +dragged bottom upward a quarter of a mile from the road, the rash +experimenter begins to suspect that the task is not quite so easy as +he had supposed, and in less than one day he is generally convinced by +hard experience that a dog-driver, like a poet, is born, not made. + +The dress of the Kamchadals in winter and summer is made for the most +part of skins. Their winter costume consists of sealskin boots or +_torbasses_ worn over heavy reindeerskin stockings and coming to the +knee; fur trousers with the hair inside; a foxskin hood with a face +border of wolverine skin; and a heavy _kukhlanka_ (kookh-lan'-kah), or +double fur overshirt, covering the body to the knees. This is made of +the thickest and softest reindeerskin, ornamented around the bottom +with silk embroidery, trimmed at the sleeves and neck with glossy +beaver, and furnished with a square flap under the chin, to be held up +over the nose, and a hood behind the neck, to be drawn over the head +in bad weather. In such a costume as this the Kamchadals defy for +weeks at a time the severest cold, and sleep out on the snow safely +and comfortably in temperatures of twenty, thirty, and even forty +degrees below zero, Fahr. + +Most of our time during our long detention at Lesnoi was occupied in +the preparation of such costumes for our own use, in making covered +dog-sledges to protect ourselves from winter storms, sewing bearskins +into capacious sleeping-bags, and getting ready generally for a hard +winter's campaign. + +[Illustration: Root Digger] + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +A FRESH START--CROSSING THE SAMANKA MOUNTAINS--DESCENT ON A KORAK +ENCAMPMENT--NOMADS AND THEIR TENTS--DOOR-HOLES AND DOGS--POLOGS--KORAK +BREAD + +About the 20th of October a Russian physician arrived from Tigil, +and proceeded to reduce the little strength that the Major had by +steaming, bleeding, and blistering him into a mere shadow of his +former robust self. The fever, however, abated under this energetic +treatment, and he began gradually to amend. Sometime during the same +week, Dodd and Meranef returned from Tigil with a new supply of tea, +sugar, rum, tobacco, and hardbread, and we began collecting dogs from +the neighbouring settlements of Kinkil and Polan for another trip +across the Samanka Mountains. Snow had fallen everywhere to a depth of +two feet, the weather had turned clear and cold, and there was nothing +except the Major's illness to detain us longer at Lesnoi. On the 28th +he declared himself able to travel, and we packed up for a start. On +November 1st we put on our heavy fur clothes, which turned us into +wild animals of most ferocious appearance, bade good-by to all the +hospitable people of Lesnoi, and set out with a train of sixteen +sledges, eighteen men, two hundred dogs, and forty days' provisions, +for the territory of the Wandering Koraks. We determined to reach +Gizhiga this time, or, as the newspapers say, perish in the attempt. + +Late in the afternoon of November 3d, just as the long northern +twilight was fading into the peculiar steely blue of an arctic night, +our dogs toiled slowly up the last summit of the Samanka Mountains, +and we looked down from a height of more than two thousand feet upon +the dreary expanse of snow which stretched away to the far horizon. It +was the land of the Wandering Koraks. A cold breeze from the sea swept +across the mountain-top, soughing mournfully through the pines as +it passed, and intensifying the loneliness and silence of the white +wintry landscape. The faint pale light of the vanishing sun still +lingered upon the higher peaks; but the gloomy ravines below us, +shaggy with forests of larch and dense thickets of trailing-pine, were +already gathering the shadows and indistinctness of night. At the foot +of the mountains stood the first encampment of Koraks. As we rested +our dogs a few moments upon the summit, before commencing our descent, +we tried to discern through the gathering gloom the black tents which +we imagined stood somewhere beneath our feet; but nothing save the +dark patches of trailing-pine broke the dead white of the level +steppe. The encampment was hidden by a projecting shoulder of the +mountain. + +[Illustration: WANDERING KORAKS WITH THEIR REINDEER AND SLEDGES +From a painting by George A. Frost] + +The rising moon was just throwing into dark, bold relief the shaggy +outlines of the peaks on our right, as we roused up our dogs and +plunged into the throat of a dark ravine which led downward to the +steppe. The deceptive shadows of night, and the masses of rock which +choked up the narrow defile made the descent extremely dangerous; and +it required all the skill of our practised drivers to avoid accident. +Clouds of snow flew from the spiked poles with which they vainly tried +to arrest our downward rush; cries and warning shouts from those in +advance, multiplied by the mountain echoes, excited our dogs to still +greater speed, until we seemed, as the rocks and trees flew past, to +be in the jaws of a falling avalanche, which was carrying us with +breathless rapidity down the dark canon to certain ruin. Gradually, +however, our speed slackened, and we came out into the moonlight on +the hard, wind-packed snow of the open steppe. Half an hour's brisk +travel brought us into the supposed vicinity of the Korak encampment, +but we saw as yet no signs of either reindeer or tents. The disturbed, +torn-up condition of the snow usually apprises the traveller of his +approach to the _yurts_ of the Koraks, as the reindeer belonging to +the band range all over the country within a radius of several miles, +and paw up the snow in search of the moss which constitutes their +food. Failing to find any such indications, we were discussing the +probability of our having been misdirected, when suddenly our leading +dogs pricked up their sharp ears, snuffed eagerly at the wind, and +with short, excited yelps made off at a dashing gallop toward a low +hill which lay almost at right angles with our previous course. The +drivers endeavoured in vain to check the speed of the excited dogs; +their wolfish instincts were aroused, and all discipline was forgotten +as the fresh scent came down upon the wind from the herd of reindeer +beyond. A moment brought us to the brow of the hill, and before us in +the clear moonlight, stood the conical tents of the Koraks, surrounded +by at least four thousand reindeer, whose branching antlers looked +like a perfect forest of dry limbs. The dogs all gave voice +simultaneously, like a pack of foxhounds in view of the game, and +dashed tumultuously down the hill, regardless of the shouts of their +masters, and the menacing cries of three or four dark forms which rose +suddenly up from the snow between them and the frightened deer. Above +the tumult I could hear Dodd's voice, hurling imprecations in Russian +at his yelping dogs, which, in spite of his most strenuous efforts, +were dragging him and his capsized sledge across the steppe. The vast +body of deer wavered a moment and then broke into a wild stampede, +with drivers, Korak sentinels, and two hundred dogs in full pursuit. + +Not desirous of becoming involved in the melee, I sprang from my +sledge and watched the confused crowd as it swept with shout, bark, +and halloo, across the plain. The whole encampment, which had seemed +in its quiet loneliness to be deserted, was now startled into instant +activity. Dark forms issued suddenly from the tents, and grasping the +long spears which stood upright in the snow by the doorway, joined in +the chase, shouting and hurling lassos of walrus hide at the dogs, +with the hope of stopping their pursuit. The clattering of thousands +of antlers dashed together in the confusion of flight, the hurried +beat of countless hoofs upon the hard snow, the deep, hoarse barks of +the startled deer, and the unintelligible cries of the Koraks, as they +tried to rally their panic-stricken herd, created a Pandemonium of +discordant sounds which could be heard far and wide through the +still, frosty atmosphere of night. It resembled a midnight attack of +Comanches upon a hostile camp, rather than the peaceful arrival of +three or four American travellers; and I listened with astonishment to +the wild uproar of alarm which we had unintentionally aroused. + +The tumult grew fainter and fainter as it swept away into the +distance, and the dogs, exhausting the unnatural strength which the +excitement had temporarily given them, yielded reluctantly to the +control of their drivers and turned toward the tents. Dodd's dogs, +panting with the violence of their exertions, limped sullenly back, +casting longing glances occasionally in the direction of the deer, as +if they more than half repented the weakness which had led them to +abandon the chase. + +"Why didn't you stop them?" I inquired of Dodd, laughingly. "A driver +of your experience ought to have better control of his team than +that." + +"Stop them!" he exclaimed with an aggrieved air. "I'd like to see +_you_ stop them, with a rawhide lasso round your neck, and a big Korak +hauling like a steam windlass on the other end of it! It's all very +well to cry 'stop 'em'; but when the barbarians haul you off the rear +end of your sledge as if you were a wild animal, what course would +your sublime wisdom suggest? I believe I've got the mark of a lasso +round my neck now," and he felt cautiously about his ears for the +impression of a sealskin thong. + +As soon as the deer had been gathered together again and a guard +placed over them, the Koraks crowded curiously around the visitors who +had entered so unceremoniously their quiet camp, and inquired through +Meranef, our interpreter, who we were and what we wanted. A wild, +picturesque group they made, as the moonlight streamed white and clear +into their swarthy faces, and glittered upon the metallic ornaments +about their persons and the polished blades of their long spears. +Their high cheek-bones, bold, alert eyes, and straight, coal-black +hair, suggested an intimate relationship with our own Indians; but the +resemblance went no further. Most of their faces wore an expression +of bold, frank honesty, which is not a characteristic of our western +aborigines, and which we instinctively accepted as a sufficient +guarantee of their friendliness and good faith. Contrary to our +preconceived idea of northern savages, they were athletic, able-bodied +men, fully up to the average height of Americans. Heavy _kukh-lankas_ +(kookh-lan'-kas), or hunting-shirts of spotted deerskin, confined +about the waist with a belt, and fringed round the bottom with the +long black hair of the wolverine, covered their bodies from the neck +to the knee, ornamented here and there with strings of small coloured +beads, tassels of scarlet leather, and bits of polished metal. Fur +trousers, long boots of sealskin coming up to the thigh, and wolfskin +hoods, with the ears of the animal standing erect on each side of +the head, completed the costume which, notwithstanding its _bizarre_ +effect, had yet a certain picturesque adaptation to the equally +strange features of the moonlight scene. Leaving our Cossack Meranef, +seconded by the Major, to explain our business and wants, Dodd and +I strolled away to make a critical inspection of the encampment. It +consisted of four large conical tents, built apparently of a framework +of poles and covered with loose reindeerskins, confined in their +places by long thongs of seal or walrus hide, which were stretched +tightly over them from the apex of the cone to the ground. They seemed +at first sight to be illy calculated to withstand the storms which +in winter sweep down across this steppe from the Arctic Ocean; but +subsequent experience proved that the severest gales cannot tear them +from their fastenings. Neatly constructed sledges of various shapes +and sizes were scattered here and there upon the snow, and two or +three hundred pack-saddles for the reindeer were piled up in a +symmetrical wall near the largest tent. Finishing our examination, and +feeling somewhat bored by the society of fifteen or twenty Koraks who +had constituted themselves a sort of supervisory committee to watch +our motions, we returned to the spot where the representatives of +civilisation and barbarism were conducting their negotiations. They +had apparently come to an amicable understanding; for, upon our +approach, a tall native with shaven head stepped out from the throng, +and leading the way to the largest tent, lifted a curtain of skin and +revealed a dark hole about two feet and a half in diameter, which he +motioned to us to enter. + +Now, if there was any branch of Viushin's Siberian education upon +which he especially prided himself, it was his proficiency in crawling +into small holes. Persevering practice had given him a flexibility of +back and a peculiar sinuosity of movement which we might admire but +could not imitate; and although the distinction was not perhaps an +altogether desirable one, he was invariably selected to explore all +the dark holes and underground passages (miscalled doors) which came +in our way. This seemed to be one of the most peculiar of the many +different styles of entrance which we had observed; but Viushin, +assuming as an axiom that no part of his body could be greater than +the (w)hole, dropped into a horizontal position, and requesting Dodd +to give his feet an initial shove, crawled cautiously in. A few +seconds of breathless silence succeeded his disappearance, when, +supposing that all must be right, I put my head into the hole and +crawled warily after him. The darkness was profound; but, guided by +Viushin's breathing, I was making very fair progress, when suddenly +a savage snarl and a startling yell came out of the gloom in front, +followed instantly by the most substantial part of Viushin's body, +which struck me with the force of a battering-ram on the top of the +head, and caused me, with the liveliest apprehensions of ambuscade +and massacre, to back precipitately out. Viushin, with the awkward +retrograde movements of a disabled crab, speedily followed. + +"What in the name of Chort [Footnote: The Devil.] is the matter?" +demanded Dodd in Russian, as he extricated Viushin's head from the +folds of the skin curtain in which it had become enveloped. "You back +out as if Shaitan and all his imps were after you!"--"You don't +suppose," responded Viushin, with excited gestures, "that I'm going to +stay in that hole and be eaten up by Korak dogs? If I was foolish enough +to go in, I've got discretion enough to know when to come out. I don't +believe the hole leads anywhere, anyhow," he added apologetically; "and +it's all full of dogs." With a quick perception of Viushin's difficulties +and a grin of amusement at his discomfiture, our Korak guide entered the +hole, drove out the dogs, and lifting up an inner curtain, allowed the +red light of the fire to stream through. Crawling on hands and knees a +distance of twelve or fifteen feet through the low doorway, we entered +the large open circle in the interior of the tent. A crackling fire of +resinous pine boughs burned brightly upon the ground in the centre, +illuminating redly the framework of black, glossy poles, and +flickering fitfully over the dingy skins of the roof and the swarthy +tattooed faces of the women who squatted around. A large copper +kettle, filled with some mixture of questionable odour and appearance, +hung over the blaze, and furnished occupation to a couple of skinny, +bare-armed women, who with the same sticks were alternately stirring +its contents, poking up the fire, and knocking over the head two or +three ill-conditioned but inquisitive dogs. The smoke, which rose +lazily from the fire, hung in a blue, clearly defined cloud about five +feet from the ground, dividing the atmosphere of the tent into a lower +stratum of comparatively clear air, and an upper cloud region where +smoke, vapours, and ill odours contended for supremacy. + +The location of the little pure air which the _yurt_ afforded made +the boyish feat of standing upon one's head a very desirable +accomplishment; and as the pungent smoke filled my eyes to the +exclusion of everything else except tears, I suggested to Dodd that he +reverse the respective positions of his head and feet, and try it--he +would escape the smoke and sparks from the fire, and at the same time +obtain a new and curious optical effect. With the sneer of contempt +which always met even my most valuable suggestions, he replied that I +might try my own experiments, and throwing himself down at full length +on the ground, he engaged in the interesting diversion of making faces +at a Korak baby. Viushin's time, as soon as his eyes recovered a +little from the effects of the smoke, was about equally divided +between preparations for our evening meal, and revengeful blows at the +stray dogs which ventured in his vicinity; while the Major, who was +probably the most usefully employed member of the party, negotiated +for the exclusive possession of a _polog_. The temperature of a Korak +tent in winter seldom ranges above 20 deg. or 25 deg. Fahr., and as constant +exposure to such a degree of cold would be at least very disagreeable, +the Koraks construct around the inner circumference of the tent small, +nearly air-tight apartments called _pologs_, which are separated +one from another by skin curtains, and combine the advantages of +exclusiveness with the desirable luxury of greater warmth. These +_pologs_ are about four feet in height, and six or eight feet in width +and length. They are made of the heaviest furs sewn carefully together +to exclude the air, and are warmed and lighted by a burning +fragment of moss floating in a wooden bowl of seal oil. The law of +compensation, however, which pervades all Nature, makes itself felt +even in the _pologs_ of a Korak _yurt_, and for the greater degree of +warmth is exacted the penalty of a closer, smokier atmosphere. The +flaming wick of the lamp, which floats like a tiny burning ship in a +miniature lake of rancid grease, absorbs the vital air of the _polog_, +and returns it in the shape of carbonic acid gas, oily smoke, and +sickening odours. In defiance, however, of all the known laws of +hygiene, this vitiated atmosphere seems to be healthful; or, to +state the case negatively, there is no evidence to prove its +unhealthfulness. The Korak women, who spend almost the whole of their +time in these _pologs_, live generally to an advanced age, and except +a noticeable tendency to angular outlines, and skinniness, there is +nothing to distinguish them physically from the old women of other +countries. It was not without what I supposed to be a well-founded +apprehension of suffocation, that I slept for the first time in a +Korak _yurt_; but my uneasiness proved to be entirely groundless, and +gradually wore away. + +[Illustration: A MAN OF THE WANDERING KORAKS] + +With a view to escape from the crowd of Koraks, who squatted around +us on the earthen floor, and whose watchful curiosity soon became +irksome, Dodd and I lifted up the fur curtain of the _polog_ which the +Major's diplomacy had secured, and crawled in to await the advent of +supper. The inquisitive Koraks, unable to find room in the narrow +_polog_ for the whole of their bodies, lay down to the number of nine +on the outside, and poking their ugly, half-shaven heads under the +curtain, resumed their silent supervision. The appearance in a row of +nine disembodied heads, whose staring eyes rolled with synchronous +motion from side to side as we moved, was so ludicrous that we +involuntarily burst into laughter. A responsive smile instantly +appeared upon each of the nine swarthy faces, whose simultaneous +concurrence in the expression of every emotion suggested the idea of +some huge monster with nine heads and but one consciousness. Acting +upon Dodd's suggestion that we try and smoke them out, I took my +brier-wood pipe from my pocket and proceeded to light it with one of +those peculiar snapping lucifers which were among our most cherished +relics of civilisation. As the match, with a miniature fusillade of +sharp reports, burst suddenly into flame, the nine startled heads +instantly disappeared, and from beyond the curtain we could hear a +chorus of long-drawn "tye-e-e's" from the astonished natives, followed +by a perfect Babel of animated comments upon this diabolical method +of producing fire. Fearful, however, of losing some other equally +striking manifestation of the white men's supernatural power, the +heads soon returned, reenforced by several others which the report of +the wonderful occurrence had attracted. The fabled watchfulness of the +hundred-eyed Argus was nothing compared with the scrutiny to which we +were now subjected. Every wreath of curling smoke which rose from our +lips was watched by the staring eyes as intently as if it were some +deadly vapour from the bottomless pit, which would shortly burst into +report and flame. A loud and vigorous sneeze from Dodd was the signal +for a second panic-stricken withdrawal of the row of heads, and +another comparison of respective experiences outside the curtain. It +was laughable enough; but, tired of being stared at and anxious for +something to eat, we crawled out of our _polog_ and watched with +unassumed interest the preparation of supper. + +Out of a little pine box which contained our telegraphic instruments, +Viushin had improvised a rude, legless mess-table, which he was +engaged in covering with cakes of hardbread, slices of raw bacon, and +tumblers of steaming tea. These were the luxuries of civilisation, and +beside them on the ground, in a long wooden trough and a huge bowl of +the same material, were the corresponding delicacies of barbarism. As +to their nature and composition we could, of course, give only a +wild conjecture; but the appetites of weary travellers are not very +discriminating, and we seated ourselves, like cross-legged Turks, on +the ground, between the trough and the instrument-box, determined to +prove our appreciation of Korak hospitality by eating everything which +offered itself. The bowl with its strange-looking contents arrested, +of course, the attention of the observant Dodd, and, poking it +inquiringly with a long-handled spoon, he turned to Viushin, who, as +_chef-de-cuisine_, was supposed to know all about it, and demanded: + +"What's this you've got?" + +"That?" answered Viushin, promptly, "that's _kasha_" (hasty pudding +made of rice). + +"_Kasha_!" exclaimed Dodd, contemptuously. "It looks more like the +stuff that the children of Israel made bricks of. They don't seem to +have wanted for straw, either," he added, as he fished up several +stems of dried grass. "What is it, anyhow?" + +"That," said Viushin again, with a comical assumption of learning, "is +the celebrated 'Jamuk chi a la Poosteretsk,' the national dish of the +Koraks, made from the original recipe of His High Excellency +Oollcot Ootkoo Minyegeetkin, Grand Hereditary Taiyon and Vwisokee +Prevoskhodeetelstvo--" + +"Hold on!" exclaimed Dodd, with a deprecating gesture, "that's enough, +I'll eat it"; and taking out a halfspoonful of the dark viscid mass, +he put it to his lips. + +"Well," said we expectantly, after a moment's pause, "what does it +taste like?" + +"Like the mud pies of infancy!" he replied sententiously. "A little +salt, pepper, and butter, and a good deal of meat and flour, with a +few well selected vegetables, would probably improve it; but it isn't +particularly bad as it is." + +Upon the strength of this rather equivocal recommendation I tasted it. +Aside from a peculiar earthy flavour, it had nothing about it which +was either pleasant or disagreeable. Its qualities were all negative +except its grassiness, which alone gave character and consistency to +the mass. + +The mixture, known among the Koraks as _manyalla,_ is eaten by all +the Siberian tribes as a substitute for bread, and is the nearest +approximation which native ingenuity can make to the staff of life. It +is valued, we were told, more for its medicinal virtues than for +any intrinsic excellence of taste, and our limited experience fully +prepared us to believe the statement. Its original elements are +clotted blood, tallow, and half-digested moss, taken from the stomach +of the reindeer, where it is supposed to have undergone some essential +change which fits it for second-hand consumption. These curious and +heterogeneous ingredients are boiled up together with a few handfuls +of dried grass to give the mixture consistency, and the dark mass is +then moulded into small loaves and frozen for future use. Our host was +evidently desirous of treating us with every civility, and, as a mark +of especial consideration, bit off several choice morsels from the +large cube of venison in his grimy hand, and taking them from his +mouth, offered them to me. I waived graciously the implied compliment, +and indicated Dodd as the proper recipient of such attentions; but the +latter revenged himself by requesting an old woman to bring me some +raw tallow, which he soberly assured her constituted my only food +when at home. My indignant denials, in English were not, of course, +understood; and the woman, delighted to find an American whose tastes +corresponded so closely with her own, brought the tallow. I was a +helpless victim, and I could only add this last offence to the long +list of grievances which stood to Dodd's credit, and which I hoped +some time to settle in full. + +Supper, in the social economy of the Koraks, is emphatically the meal +of the day. Around the kettle of _manyalla_, or the trough of reindeer +meat; gather the men of the band, who during the hours of daylight +have been absent, and who, between mouthfuls of meat or moss, discuss +the simple subjects of thought which their isolated life affords. We +availed ourselves of this opportunity to learn something of the tribes +that inhabited the country to the northward, the reception with which +we should probably meet, and the mode of travel which we should be +compelled to adopt. + +[Illustration: Small Adze with bone headpiece] + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +WHY THE KORAKS WANDER--THEIR INDEPENDENCE--CHEERLESS LIFE--USES OF +THE REINDEER--KORAK IDEAS OF DISTANCE--"MONARCH OF THE BRASS-HANDLED +SWORD" + +The Wandering Koraks of Kamchatka, who are divided into about forty +different bands, roam over the great steppes in the northern part of +the peninsula, between the 58th and the 63d parallels of latitude. +Their southern limit is the settlement of Tigil, on the west coast, +where they come annually to trade, and they are rarely found north +of the village of Penzhina, two hundred miles from the head of the +Okhotsk Sea. Within these limits they wander almost constantly with +their great herds of reindeer, and so unsettled and restless are they +in their habits, that they seldom camp longer than a week in any one +place. This, however, is not attributable altogether to restlessness +or love of change. A herd of four or five thousand reindeer will in a +very few days paw up the snow and eat all the moss within a radius of +a mile from the encampment, and then, of course, the band must move to +fresh pasture ground. Their nomadic life, therefore, is not entirely a +choice, but partly a necessity, growing out of their dependence upon +the reindeer. They _must_ wander or their deer will starve, and then +their own starvation follows as a natural consequence. Their +unsettled mode of life probably grew, in the first place, out of the +domestication of the reindeer, and the necessity which it involved of +consulting first the reindeer's wants; but the restless, vagabondish +habits thus produced have now become a part of the Korak's very +nature, so that he could hardly live in any other way, even had he +an opportunity of so doing. This wandering, isolated, independent +existence has given to the Koraks all those characteristic traits of +boldness, impatience of restraint, and perfect self-reliance, which +distinguish them from the Kamchadals and the other settled inhabitants +of Siberia. Give them a small herd of reindeer, and a moss steppe to +wander over, and they ask nothing more from all the world. They are +wholly independent of civilisation and government, and will neither +submit to their laws nor recognise their distinctions. Every man is +a law unto himself so long as he owns a dozen reindeer; and he can +isolate himself, if he so chooses, from all human kind, and ignore +all other interests but his own and his reindeer's. For the sake of +convenience and society they associate themselves in bands of six or +eight families each; but these bands are held together only by mutual +consent, and recognise no governing head. They have a leader called a +_taiyon_ who is generally the largest deer-owner of the band, and +he decides all such questions as the location of camps and time of +removal from place to place; but he has no other power, and must refer +all graver questions of individual rights and general obligations +to the members of the band collectively. They have no particular +reverence for anything or anybody except the evil spirits who bring +calamities upon them, and the "shamans" or priests, who act as +infernal mediators between these devils and their victims. Earthly +rank they treat with contempt, and the Tsar of all the Russias, if he +entered a Korak tent, would stand upon the same level with its owner. +We had an amusing instance of this soon after we met the first Koraks. +The Major had become impressed in some way with the idea that in order +to get what he wanted from these natives he must impress them with a +proper sense of his power, rank, wealth, and general importance in the +world, and make them feel a certain degree of reverence and respect +for his orders and wishes. He accordingly called one of the oldest and +most influential members of the band to him one day, and proceeded +to tell him, through an interpreter, how rich he was; what immense +resources, in the way of rewards and punishments, he possessed; what +high rank he held; how important a place he filled in Russia, and how +becoming it was that an individual of such exalted attributes should +be treated by poor wandering heathen with filial reverence and +veneration. The old Korak, squatting upon his heels on the ground, +listened quietly to the enumeration of all our leader's admirable +qualities and perfections without moving a muscle of his face; but +finally, when the interpreter had finished, he rose slowly, walked up +to the Major with imperturbable gravity, and with the most benignant +and patronising condescension, patted him softly on the head! The +Major turned red and broke into a laugh; but he never tried again to +overawe a Korak. + +Notwithstanding this democratic independence of the Koraks, they are +almost invariably hospitable, obliging, and kind-hearted; and we were +assured at the first encampment where we stopped, that we should +have no difficulty in getting the different bands to carry us on +deer-sledges from one encampment to another until we should reach the +head of Penzhinsk Gulf. After a long conversation with the Koraks who +crowded around us as we sat by the fire, we finally became tired and +sleepy, and with favourable impressions, upon the whole, of this new +and strange people, we crawled into our little _polog_ to sleep. A +voice in another part of the _yurt_ was singing a low, melancholy air +in a minor key as I closed my eyes, and the sad, oft-repeated refrain, +so different from ordinary music, invested with peculiar loneliness +and strangeness my first night in a Korak tent. + +To be awakened in the morning by a paroxysm of coughing, caused by +the thick, acrid smoke of a low-spirited fire--to crawl out of a skin +bedroom six feet square into the yet denser and smokier atmosphere of +the tent--to eat a breakfast of dried fish, frozen tallow, and venison +out of a dirty wooden trough, with an ill-conditioned dog standing at +each elbow and disputing one's right to every mouthful, is to enjoy +an experience which only Korak life can afford, and which only Korak +insensibility can long endure. A very sanguine temperament may find +in its novelty some compensation for its discomfort, but the novelty +rarely outlasts the second day, while the discomfort seems to increase +in a direct ratio with the length of the experience. Philosophers +may assert that a rightly constituted mind will rise superior to all +outward circumstances; but two weeks in a Korak tent would do more to +disabuse their minds of such an erroneous impression than any amount +of logical argument. I do not myself profess to be preternaturally +cheerful, and the dismal aspect of things when I crawled out of my +fur sleeping-bag, on the morning after our arrival at the first +encampment, made me feel anything but amiable. The first beams of +daylight were just struggling in misty blue lines through the smoky +atmosphere of the tent. The recently kindled fire would not burn but +would smoke; the air was cold and cheerless; two babies were crying +in a neighbouring _polog_; the breakfast was not ready, everybody was +cross, and rather than break the harmonious impression of general +misery, I became cross also. Three or four cups of hot tea, however, +which were soon forthcoming, exerted their usual inspiriting +influence, and we began gradually to take a more cheerful view of +the situation. Summoning the _taiyon,_ and quickening his dull +apprehension with a preliminary pipe of strong Circassian tobacco, we +succeeded in making arrangements for our transportation to the next +Korak encampment in the north, a distance of about forty miles. +Orders were at once given for the capture of twenty reindeer and the +preparation of sledges. Snatching hurriedly a few bites of hardbread +and bacon by way of breakfast, I donned fur hood and mittens, and +crawled out through the low doorway to see how twenty trained deer +were to be separated from a herd of four thousand wild ones. + +[Illustration: TENTS AND REINDEER OF THE WANDERING KORAKS] + +Surrounding the tent in every direction were the deer belonging to +the band, some pawing up the snow with their sharp hoofs in search of +moss, others clashing their antlers together and barking hoarsely in +fight, or chasing one another in a mad gallop over the steppe. Near +the tent a dozen men with lassos arranged themselves in two parallel +lines, while twenty more, with a thong of sealskin two or three +hundred yards in length, encircled a portion of the great herd, and +with shouts and waving lassos began driving it through the narrow +gantlet. The deer strove with frightened bounds to escape from the +gradually contracting circle, but the sealskin cord, held at short +distances by shouting natives, invariably turned them back, and they +streamed in a struggling, leaping throng through the narrow opening +between the lines of lassoers. Ever and anon a long cord uncoiled +itself in air, and a sliding noose fell over the antlers of some +unlucky deer whose slit ears marked him as trained, but whose +tremendous leaps and frantic efforts to escape suggested very grave +doubts as to the extent of the training. To prevent the interference +and knocking together of the deer's antlers when they should be +harnessed in couples, one horn was relentlessly chopped off close to +the head by a native armed with a heavy sword-like knife, leaving a +red ghastly stump from which the blood trickled in little streams over +the animal's ears. They were then harnessed to sledges in couples, by +a collar and trace passing between the forelegs; lines were affixed to +small sharp studs in the headstall, which pricked the right or left +side of the head when the corresponding rein was jerked, and the +equipage was ready. + +Bidding good-by to the Lesnoi Kamchadals, who returned from here, we +muffled ourselves from the biting air in our heaviest furs, took +seats on our respective sledges, and at a laconic "tok" (go) from the +_taiyon_ we were off; the little cluster of tents looking like a group +of conical islands behind us as we swept out upon the limitless ocean +of the snowy steppe. Noticing that I shivered a little in the keen +air, my driver pointed away to the northward, and exclaimed with a +pantomimic shrug, "Tam _shipka_ kholodno"--"There it's awful cold." We +needed not to be informed of the fact; the rapidly sinking thermometer +indicated our approach to the regions of perpetual frost, and I looked +forward with no little apprehension to the prospect of sleeping +outdoors in the arctic temperatures of which I had read, but which I +had never yet experienced. + +This was my first trial of reindeer travel, and I was a little +disappointed to find that it did not quite realise the expectations +that had been excited in my boyish days by the pictures of galloping +Lapland deer in the old geographies. The reindeer were there, but they +were not the ideal reindeer of early fancy, and I felt a vague sense +of personal injury and unjustifiable deception at the substitution +of these awkward, ungainly beasts for the spirited and fleet-footed +animals of my boyish imagination. Their trot was awkward and heavy, +they carried their heads low, and their panting breaths and gaping +mouths were constantly suggestive of complete exhaustion, and excited +pity for their apparently laborious exertions, rather than admiration +for the speed which they really did exhibit. My ideal reindeer would +never have demeaned himself by running with his mouth wide open. When +I learned, as I afterward did, that they were compelled to breathe +through their mouths, on account of the rapid accumulation of frost in +their nostrils, it relieved my apprehensions of their breaking down, +but did not alter my firm conviction that my ideal reindeer was +infinitely superior in an aesthetic point of view to the real animal. +I could not but admit, however, the inestimable value of the reindeer +to his wandering owners. Besides carrying them from place to place, he +furnishes them with clothes, food, and covering for their tents; his +antlers are made into rude implements of all sorts; his sinews are +dried and pounded into thread, his bones are soaked in seal oil and +burned for fuel, his entrails are cleaned, filled with tallow, and +eaten; his blood, mixed with the contents of his stomach, is made +into _manyalla_; his marrow and tongue are considered the greatest +of delicacies; the stiff, bristly skin of his legs is used to cover +snow-shoes; and finally his whole body, sacrificed to the Korak gods, +brings down upon his owners all the spiritual and temporal blessings +which they need. It would be hard to find another animal which fills +so important a place in the life of any body of men, as the reindeer +does in the life and domestic economy of the Siberian Koraks. I cannot +now think of one which furnishes even the four prime requisites of +food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. It is a singular fact, +however, that the Siberian natives--the only people, so far as I know, +who have ever domesticated the reindeer, except the Laps--do not +use in any way the animal's milk. Why so important and desirable an +article of food should be neglected, when every other part of the +deer's body is turned to some useful account, I cannot imagine. It is +certain, however, that no one of the four great wandering tribes of +north-eastern Siberia, Koraks, Chukchis, Tunguses, and Lamutkis, uses +in any way the reindeer's milk. + +By two o'clock in the afternoon it began to grow dark, but we +estimated that we had accomplished at least half of our day's journey, +and halted for a few moments to allow our deer to eat. The last half +of the distance seemed interminable. The moon rose round and bright as +the shield of Achilles, and lighted up the vast, lonely _tundra_ with +noonday brilliancy; but the silence and desolation, the absence of any +dark object upon which the fatigued eye could rest, and the apparently +boundless extent of this Dead Sea of snow, oppressed us with new +and strange sensations of awe. A dense mist or steam, which is an +unfailing indication of intense cold, rose from the bodies of the +reindeer and hung over the road long after we had passed. Beards +became tangled masses of frozen iron wire; eyelids grew heavy with +white rims of frost and froze together when we winked; noses assumed +a white, waxen appearance with every incautious exposure, and only by +frequently running beside our sledges could we keep any "feeling" in +our feet. Impelled by hunger and cold, we repeated twenty times the +despairing question, "How much farther is it?" and twenty times we +received the stereotyped but indefinite answer of "cheimuk," near, +or occasionally the encouraging assurance that we would arrive in a +minute. Now we knew very well that we _should not_ arrive in a minute, +nor probably in forty minutes; but it afforded temporary relief to be +_told_ that we would. My frequent inquiries finally spurred my driver +into an attempt to express the distance arithmetically, and with +evident pride in his ability to speak Russian, he assured me that it +was only "dva verst," or two versts more. I brightened up at once with +anticipations of a warm fire and an infinite number of cups of hot +tea, and by imagining prospective comfort, succeeded in forgetting +the present sense of suffering. At the expiration, however, of +three-quarters of an hour, seeing no indication of the promised +encampment, I asked once more if it were much farther away. One Korak +looked around over the steppe with a well assumed air of seeking some +landmark, and then turning to me with a confident nod, repeated the +word "verst" and held up _four fingers_! I sank back upon my sledge +in despair. If we had been three-quarters of an hour in losing two +versts, how long would be we in losing versts enough to get back to +the place from which we started. It was a discouraging problem, and +after several unsuccessful attempts to solve it by the double rule +of three backwards, I gave it up. For the benefit of the future +traveller, I give, however, a few native expressions for distances, +with their numerical equivalents: "cheimuk"--near, twenty versts; +"bolshe nyet"--there is no more, fifteen versts; "sey chas +priyedem"--we will arrive this minute, means any time in the course of +the day or night; and "dailoko"--far, is a week's journey. By bearing +in mind these simple values, the traveller will avoid much bitter +disappointment, and _may_ get through without entirely losing faith in +human veracity. About six o'clock in the evening, tired, hungry, and +half-frozen, we caught sight of the sparks and fire-lit smoke which +arose from the tents of the second encampment, and amid a general +barking of dogs and hallooing of men we stopped among them. Jumping +hurriedly from my sledge, with no thought but that of getting to a +fire, I crawled into the first hole which presented itself, with a +firm belief, founded on the previous night's experience, that it must +be a door. After groping about some time in the dark, crawling over +two dead reindeer and a heap of dried fish, I was obliged to shout for +assistance. Great was the astonishment of the proprietor, who came to +the rescue with a torch, to find a white man and a stranger crawling +around aimlessly in his fish storehouse. He relieved his feelings with +a ty-e-e-e of amazement, and led the way, or rather crawled away, to +the interior of the tent, where I found the Major endeavouring with a +dull Korak knife to cut his frozen beard loose from his fur hood and +open communication with his mouth through a sheet of ice and hair. The +teakettle was soon simmering and spouting over a brisk fire, beards +were thawed out, noses examined for signs of frost-bites, and in half +an hour we were seated comfortably on the ground around a candle-box, +drinking tea and discussing the events of the day. + +Just as Viushin was filling up our cups for the third time, the skin +curtain of the low doorway at our side was lifted up, and the most +extraordinary figure which I ever beheld in Kamchatka crawled silently +in, straightened up to its full height of six feet, and stood +majestically before us. It was an ugly, dark-featured man about thirty +years of age. He was clothed in a scarlet dress-coat with blue facings +and brass buttons, with long festoons of gold cord hung across the +breast, trousers of black, greasy deerskin, and fur boots. His hair +was closely shaven from the crown of his head, leaving a long fringe +of lank, uneven locks hanging about his ears and forehead. Long +strings of small coloured beads depended from his ears, and over one +of them he had plastered for future use a huge quid of masticated +tobacco. About his waist was tied a ragged sealskin thong, which +supported a magnificent silver-hilted sword and embossed scabbard. His +smoky, unmistakably Korak face, shaven head, scarlet coat, greasy +skin trousers, gold cord, sealskin belt, silver-hilted sword, and fur +boots, made up such a remarkable combination of glaring contrasts +that we could do nothing for a moment but stare at him in utter +_amazement_. He reminded me of "Talipot, the Immortal Potentate of +Manacabo, Messenger of the Morning, Enlightener of the Sun, Possessor +of the Whole Earth, and Mighty Monarch of the Brass-handled Sword." + +"Who are you?" suddenly demanded the Major, in Russian. A low bow was +the only response. "Where in the name of Chort did you come from?" +Another bow. "Where did you get that coat? Can't you say something? +Ay! Meranef! Come and talk to this--fellow, I can't make him say +anything." Dodd suggested that he might be a messenger from the +expedition of Sir John Franklin, with late advices from the Pole +and the North-west Passage, and the silent owner of the sword bowed +affirmatively, as if this were the true solution of the mystery. "Are +you a pickled cabbage?" suddenly inquired Dodd in Russian. The Unknown +intimated by a very emphatic bow that he was. "_He_ doesn't understand +anything!" said Dodd in disgust; "where's Meranef?" Meranef soon made +his appearance, and began questioning the mysterious visitor in a +scarlet coat as to his residence, name, and previous history. For the +first time he now found a voice. "What does he say?" asked the Major; +"what's his name?" + +"He says his name is Khanalpooginuk." + +"Where did he get that coat and sword?" + +"He says 'the Great White Chief' gave it to him for a dead reindeer." +This was not very satisfactory, and Meranef was instructed to get some +more intelligible information. Who the "Great White Chief" might be, +and why he should give a scarlet coat and a silver-hilted sword for a +dead reindeer, were questions beyond our ability to solve. Finally, +Meranef's puzzled face cleared up, and he told us that the coat and +sword had been presented to the Unknown by the Emperor, as a reward +for reindeer given to the starving Russians of Kamchatka during a +famine. The Korak was asked if he had received no paper with these +gifts, and he immediately left the tent, and returned in a moment with +a sheet of paper tied up carefully with reindeer's sinews between a +couple of thin boards. This paper explained everything. The coat and +sword had been given to the present owner's father, during the reign +of Alexander I., by the Russian Governor of Kamchatka as a reward for +succour afforded the Russians in a famine. From the father they +had descended to the son, and the latter, proud of his inherited +distinction, had presented himself to us as soon as he heard of our +arrival. He wanted nothing in particular except to show himself, and +after examining his sword, which was really a magnificent weapon, we +gave him a few bunches of tobacco and dismissed him. We had hardly +expected to find in the interior of Kamchatka any relics of Alexander +I., dating back to the time of Napoleon. + +[Illustration: Iron Skin Scraper] + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + +THE SNOW-DRIFT COMPASS--MARRIAGE BY CAPTURE--AN INTOXICATING +FUNGUS--MONOTONY OF KORAK LIFE + +On the following morning at daybreak we continued our journey, and +rode until four hours after dark, over a boundless level steppe, +without a single guiding landmark to point the way. I was surprised +to see how accurately our drivers could determine the points of the +compass and shape their course by simply looking at the snow. The +heavy north-east winds which prevail in this locality throughout the +winter sweep the snow into long wave-like ridges called _sastrugi_ +(sas-troo'-gee), which are always perpendicular to the course of the +wind, and which almost invariably run in a north-west and south-east +direction. They are sometimes hidden for a few days by fresh-fallen +snow; but an experienced Korak can always tell by removing the upper +layer which way is north, and he travels to his destination by night +or day in a nearly straight line. + +We reached the third encampment about six o'clock, and upon entering +the largest tent were surprised to find it crowded with natives, as if +in expectation of some ceremony or entertainment. Inquiry through +our interpreter elicited the interesting fact that the ceremony of +marriage was about to be performed for, or rather by, two members +of the band; and instead of taking up our quarters, as we at first +intended, in another less crowded tent, we determined to remain +and see in what manner this rite would be solemnised by a wholly +uncivilised and barbarous people. + +The marriage ceremony of the Koraks is especially remarkable for its +entire originality, and for the indifference which it manifests to the +sensibilities of the bridegroom. In no other country does there +exist such a curious mixture of sense and absurdity as that which is +dignified in the social life of the Koraks with the name of marriage; +and among no other people, let us charitably hope, is the unfortunate +bridegroom subjected to such humiliating indignities. The +contemplation of marriage is, or ought to be, a very serious thing +to every young man; but to a Korak of average sensibility it must be +absolutely appalling. No other proof of bravery need ever be exhibited +than a certificate of marriage (if the Koraks have such documents), +and the bravery rises into positive heroism when a man marries two or +three times. I once knew a Korak in Kamchatka who had four wives, and +I felt as much respect for his heroic bravery as if he had charged +with the Six Hundred at Balaklava. + +The ceremony, I believe, has never been described; and inadequate as a +description may be to convey an idea of the reality, it will perhaps +enable American lovers to realise what a calamity they escaped when +they were born in America and not in Kamchatka. The young Korak's +troubles begin when he first falls in love; this, like Achilles' +wrath, is "the direful spring of woes unnumbered." If his intentions +are serious, he calls upon the damsel's father and makes formal +proposals for her hand, ascertains the amount of her dower in +reindeer, and learns her estimated value. He is probably told that he +must work for his wife two or three years--a rather severe trial of +any young man's affection. He then seeks an interview with the young +lady herself, and performs the agreeable or disagreeable duty +which corresponds in Korak to the civilised custom of "popping the +question." We had hoped to get some valuable hints from the Koraks as +to the best method which their experience suggested for the successful +accomplishment of this delicate task; but we could learn nothing that +would be applicable to the more artificial relations of civilised +society. If the young man's sentiments are reciprocated, and he +obtains a positive promise of marriage, he goes cheerfully to work, +like Ferdinand in _The Tempest_ for Miranda's father, and spends two +or three years in cutting and drawing wood, watching reindeer, +making sledges, and contributing generally to the interests of his +prospective father-in-law. At the end of this probationary period +comes the grand "experimentum crucis," which is to decide his fate and +prove the success or the uselessness of his long labour. + +At this interesting crisis we had surprised our Korak friends in the +third encampment. The tent which we had entered was an unusually large +one, containing twenty-six _pologs_, arranged in a continuous circle +around its inner circumference. The open space in the centre around +the fire was crowded with the dusky faces and half-shaven heads of the +Korak spectators, whose attention seemed about equally divided between +sundry kettles and troughs of _manyalla_, boiled venison, marrow, +frozen tallow, and similar delicacies, and the discussion of some +controverted point of marriage etiquette. Owing to my ignorance of the +language, I was not able to enter thoroughly into the merits of the +disputed question; but it seemed to be ably argued on both sides. +Our sudden entrance seemed to create a temporary diversion from +the legitimate business of the evening. The tattooed women and +shaven-headed men stared in open-mouthed astonishment at the +pale-faced guests who had come unbidden to the marriage-feast, having +on no wedding garments. Our faces were undeniably dirty, our blue +hunting-shirts and buckskin trousers bore the marks of two months' +rough travel, in numerous rips, tears, and tatters, which were only +partially masked by a thick covering of reindeer hair from our fur +_kukhlankas._ Our general appearance, in fact, suggested a more +intimate acquaintance with dirty _yurts_, mountain thickets, and +Siberian storms, than with the civilising influences of soap, water, +razors, and needles. We bore the curious scrutiny of the assemblage, +however, with the indifference of men who were used to it, and +sipped our hot tea while waiting for the ceremony to begin. I looked +curiously around to see if I could distinguish the happy candidates +for matrimonial honours; but they were evidently concealed in one of +the closed _pologs_. The eating and drinking seemed by this time to be +about finished, and an air of expectation and suspense pervaded the +entire crowd. Suddenly we were startled by the loud and regular +beating of a native _baraban_ or bass drum, which fairly filled the +tent with a great volume of sound. At the same instant the tent opened +to permit the passage of a tall, stern-looking Korak, with an +armful of willow sprouts and alder branches, which he proceeded +[Illustration: DRAWINGS OF THE KORAKS. ILLUSTRATIVE OF THEIR MYTHS.] +to distribute in all the _pologs_ of the tent. "What do you suppose +that's for?" asked Dodd in an undertone. "I don't know," was the +reply; "keep quiet and you'll see." The regular throbs of the drum +continued throughout the distribution of the willow sticks and at +its close the drummer began to sing a low, musical recitative, which +increased gradually in volume and energy until it swelled into a wild, +barbarous chant, timed by the regular beats of the heavy drum. A +slight commotion followed, the front curtains of all the _pologs_ were +thrown up, the women stationed themselves in detachments of two or +three at the entrance of each polog, and took up the willow branches +which had been provided. In a moment a venerable native, whom we +presumed to be the father of one of the parties, emerged from one of +the _pologs_ near the door, leading a good-looking young Korak and the +dark-faced bride. Upon their appearance the excitement increased to +the pitch of frenzy, the music redoubled its rapidity, the men in the +centre of the tent joined in the uncouth chant, and uttered at short +intervals peculiar shrill cries of wild excitement. At a given signal +from the native who had led out the couple, the bride darted suddenly +into the first _polog_, and began a rapid flight around the tent, +raising the curtains between the _pologs_ successively, and passing +under. The bridegroom instantly followed in hot pursuit; but the women +who were stationed in each compartment threw every possible impediment +in his way, tripping up his unwary feet, holding down the curtains +to prevent his passage, and applying the willow and alder switches +unmercifully to a very susceptible part of his body as he stooped +to raise them. The air was filled with drum-beats, shouts of +encouragement and derision, and the sound of the heavy blows which +were administered to the unlucky bridegroom by each successive +detachment of women as he ran the gantlet. It became evident at once +that despite his most violent efforts he would fail to overtake the +flying Atalanta before she completed the circuit of the tent. Even the +golden apples of Hesperides would have availed him little against such +disheartening odds; but with undismayed perseverance he pressed +on, stumbling headlong over the outstretched feet of his female +persecutors, and getting constantly entangled in the ample folds of +the reindeerskin curtains, which were thrown with the skill of a +matador over his head and eyes. In a moment the bride had entered the +last closed _polog_ near the door, while the unfortunate bridegroom +was still struggling with his accumulating misfortunes about half-way +around the tent. I expected to see him relax his efforts and give up +the contest when the bride disappeared, and was preparing to protest +strongly in his behalf against the unfairness of the trial; but, to my +surprise, he still struggled on, and with a final plunge burst through +the curtains of the last _polog_ and rejoined his bride. The music +suddenly ceased, and the throng began to stream out of the tent. The +ceremony was evidently over. Turning to Meranef, who with a delighted +grin had watched its progress, we inquired what it all meant. "Were +they married?"--"Da's," was the affirmative reply. "But," we objected, +"he didn't catch her."--"She waited for him, your honour, in the last +_polog_, and if he caught her there it was enough."--"Suppose he had +_not_ caught her there, then what?"--"Then," answered the Cossack, +with an expressive shrug of commiseration, "the _beidnak_ [poor +fellow] would have had to work two more years." This was pleasant--for +the bridegroom! To work two years for a wife, undergo a severe course +of willow sprouts at the close of his apprenticeship, and then have +no security against a possible breach of promise on the part of the +bride. His faith in her constancy must be unlimited. The intention of +the whole ceremony was evidently to give the woman an opportunity to +marry the man or not, as she chose, since it was obviously impossible +for him to catch her under such circumstances, unless she voluntarily +waited for him in one of the _pologs_. The plan showed a more +chivalrous regard and deference for the wishes and preferences of the +gentler sex than is common in an unreconstructed state of society; but +it seemed to me, as an unprejudiced observer, that the same result +might have been obtained without so much abuse of the unfortunate +bridegroom! Some regard ought to have been paid to his feelings, if +he _was_ a man. I could not ascertain the significance of the +chastisement which was inflicted by the women upon the bridegroom with +the willow switches. Dodd suggested that it might be emblematical of +married life--a sort of foreshadowing of future domestic experience; +but in view of the masculine Korak character, this hardly seemed to +me probable. No woman in her senses would try the experiment a second +time upon one of the stern, resolute men who witnessed that ceremony, +and who seemed to regard it _then_ as perfectly proper. Circumstances +would undoubtedly alter cases. + +Mr. A.S. Bickmore, in the _American Journal of Science_ for May, +1868, notices this curious custom of the Koraks, and says that the +chastisement is intended to test the young man's "ability to bear up +against the ills of life"; but I would respectfully submit that the +ills of life do not generally come in that shape, and that switching +a man over the back with willow sprouts is a very singular way of +preparing him for future misfortunes of any kind. + +Whatever may be the motive, it is certainly an infringement upon the +generally recognised prerogatives of the sterner sex, and should be +discountenanced by all Koraks who favour masculine supremacy. Before +they know it, they will have a woman's suffrage association on their +hands, and female lecturers will be going about from band to band +advocating the substitution of hickory clubs and slung-shots for the +harmless willow switches, and protesting against the tyranny which +will not permit them to indulge in this interesting diversion at least +three times a week. [Footnote: It is now well known that this ceremony +is a form of "marriage by capture" which is widely prevalent among +barbarous peoples.--G.K. (1909).] + +After the conclusion of the ceremony we removed to an adjacent tent, +and were surprised, as we came out into the open air, to see three +or four Koraks shouting and reeling about in an advanced stage of +intoxication--celebrating, I suppose, the happy event which had just +transpired. I knew that there was not a drop of alcoholic liquor in +all northern Kamchatka, nor, so far as I knew, anything from which it +could be made, and it was a mystery to me how they had succeeded in +becoming so suddenly, thoroughly, hopelessly, undeniably drunk. Even +Ross Browne's beloved Washoe, with its "howling wilderness" saloons, +could not have turned out more creditable specimens of intoxicated +humanity than those before us. The exciting agent, whatever it might +be, was certainly as quick in its operation, and as effective in its +results, as any "tanglefoot" or "bottled lightning" known to modern +civilisation. Upon inquiry we learned to our astonishment that they +had been eating a species of the plant vulgarly known as toadstool. +There is a peculiar fungus of this class in Siberia, known to the +natives as "muk-a-moor," and as it possesses active intoxicating +properties, it is used as a stimulant by nearly all the Siberian +tribes. [Footnote: _Agaricus muscarius_ or fly-agaric.] Taken in large +quantities it is a violent narcotic poison; but in small doses it +produces all the effects of alcoholic liquor. Its habitual use, +however, completely shatters the nervous system, and its sale by +Russian traders to the natives has consequently been made a penal +offence by Russian law. In spite of all prohibitions, the trade is +still secretly carried on, and I have seen twenty dollars' worth of +furs bought with a single fungus. The Koraks would gather it for +themselves, but it requires the shelter of timber for its growth, and +is not to be found on the barren steppes over which they wander; so +that they are obliged for the most part to buy it, at enormous prices, +from the Russian traders. It may sound strangely to American ears, but +the invitation which a convivial Korak extends to his passing friend +is not, "Come in and have a drink," but, "Won't you come in and take a +toadstool?" Not a very alluring proposal perhaps to a civilised toper, +but one which has a magical effect upon a dissipated Korak. As the +supply of these toadstools is by no means equal to the demand, Korak +ingenuity has been greatly exercised in the endeavour to economise the +precious stimulant, and make it go as far as possible. Sometimes, in +the course of human events, it becomes imperatively necessary that a +whole band shall get drunk together, and they have only one toadstool +to do it with. For a description of the manner in which this band gets +drunk collectively and individually upon one fungus, and keeps drunk +for a week, the curious reader is referred to Goldsmith's _Citizen +of the World_, Letter 32. It is but just to say, however, that this +horrible practice is almost entirely confined to the settled Koraks of +Penzhinsk Gulf--the lowest, most degraded portion of the whole tribe. +It may prevail to a limited extent among the wandering natives, but I +never heard of more than one such instance outside of the Penzhinsk +Gulf settlements. + +Our travel for the next few days after leaving the third encampment +was fatiguing and monotonous. The unvarying routine of our daily life +in smoky Korak tents, and the uniform flatness and barrenness of the +country over which we journeyed, became inexpressibly tiresome, and we +looked forward in longing anticipation to the Russian settlement of +Gizhiga, at the head of Gizhiginsk Gulf, which was the Mecca of our +long pilgrimage. To spend more than a week at one time with the +Wandering Koraks without becoming lonesome or homesick, requires an +almost inexhaustible fertility of mental resource. One is thrown for +entertainment entirely upon himself. No daily paper, with its fresh +material for thought and discussion, comes to enliven the long blank +evenings by the tent fire; no wars or rumours of wars, no _coup +d'etat_ of diplomacy, no excitement of political canvass ever agitates +the stagnant intellectual atmosphere of Korak existence. Removed to an +infinite distance, both physically and intellectually, from all of the +interests, ambitions, and excitements which make up our world, the +Korak simply exists, like a human oyster, in the quiet waters of his +monotonous life. An occasional birth or marriage, the sacrifice of a +dog, or, on rare occasions, of a man to the Korak Ahriman, and the +infrequent visits of a Russian trader, are the most prominent events +in his history, from the cradle to the grave. I found it almost +impossible sometimes to realise, as I sat by the fire in a Korak tent, +that I was still in the modern world of railroads, telegraphs, +and daily newspapers. I seemed to have been carried back by some +enchantment through the long cycles of time, and made a dweller in +the tents of Shem and Japheth. Not a suggestion was there in all our +surroundings of the vaunted enlightenment and civilisation of the +nineteenth century, and as we gradually accustomed ourselves to the +new and strange conditions of primitive barbarism, our recollections +of a civilised life faded into the unreal imagery of a vivid dream. + +[Illustration: Ice scratcher used in stalking seals] + + + + +CHAPTER XX + + +THE KORAK TONGUE--RELIGION OF TERROR--INCANTATIONS OF SHAMANS--KILLING +OF OLD AND SICK--REINDEER SUPERSTITION--KORAK CHARACTER + +Our long intercourse with the Wandering Koraks gave us an opportunity +of observing many of their peculiarities, which would very likely +escape the notice of a transient visitor; and as our journey until we +reached the head of Penzhinsk Gulf was barren of incident, I shall +give in this chapter all the information I could gather relative to +the language, religion, superstitions, customs, and mode of life of +the Kamchatkan Koraks. + +There can be no doubt whatever that the Koraks and the powerful +Siberian tribe known as Chukchis (or Tchucktchis, according to +Wrangell) descended originally from the same stock, and migrated +together from their ancient locations to the places where they now +live. Even after several centuries of separation, they resemble each +other so closely that they can hardly be distinguished, and their +languages differ less one from the other than the Portuguese differs +from the Spanish. Our Korak interpreters found very little difficulty +in conversing with Chukchis; and a comparison of vocabularies which we +afterward made showed only a slight dialectical variation, which could +be easily accounted for by a few centuries of separation. None of +the Siberian languages with which I am acquainted are written, +and, lacking a fixed standard of reference, they change with great +rapidity. This is shown by a comparison of a modern Chukchi vocabulary +with the one compiled by M. de Lesseps in 1788. Many words have +altered so materially as to be hardly recognisable. Others, on the +contrary, such as "tin tin," ice, "oottoot," wood, "weengay," no, +"ay," yes, and most of the numerals up to ten, have undergone no +change whatever. Both Koraks and Chukchis count by fives instead of +tens, a peculiarity which is also noticeable in the language of the +Co-Yukons in Alaska. The Korak numerals are:-- + + Innin, One. + Nee-ak deg.h, Two. + Nee-ok deg.h, Three. + Nee-ak deg.h, Four. + Mil-li-gen, Five. + In-nin mil-li-gen, Five-one. + Nee-ak deg.h " Five-two. + Nee-ok deg.h " Five-three. + Nee-ak deg.h " Five-four. + Meen-ye-geet-k deg.hin, Ten. + +After ten they count ten-one, ten-two, etc., up to fifteen, and then +ten-five-one; but their numerals become so hopelessly complicated when +they get above twenty, that is would be easier to carry a pocketful of +stones and count with them, than to pronounce the corresponding words. + +Fifty-six, for instance, is +"Nee-akh-khleep-kin-meen-ye-geet-khin-par-ol-in-nin-mil-li-gen," and +it is only fifty-six after it is all pronounced! It ought to be at +least two hundred and sixty-three millions nine hundred and fourteen +thousand seven hundred and one--and then it would be long. But the +Koraks rarely have occasion to use high numbers; and when they do, +they have an abundance of time. It would be a hard day's work for a +boy to explain in Korak one of the miscellaneous problems in Ray's +Higher Arithmetic. To say 324 x 5260 = 1,704,240 would certainly +entitle him to a recess of an hour and a reward of merit. We +were never able to trace any resemblance whatever between the +Koraki-Chukchi language and the languages spoken by the natives on the +eastern side of Bering Strait. If there be any resemblance, it must be +in grammar rather than in vocabulary. + +[Illustration: A KORAK GIRL] + +The religion of all the natives of north-eastern Siberia, wandering +and settled, including six or seven widely different tribes, is that +corrupted form of Buddhism known as Shamanism. It is a religion which +varies considerably in different places and among different people; +but with the Koraks and Chukchis it may be briefly defined as the +worship of the evil spirits who are supposed to be embodied in all the +mysterious powers and manifestations of Nature, such as epidemic and +contagious diseases, severe storms, famines, eclipses, and brilliant +auroras. It takes its name from the shamans or priests, who act as +interpreters of the evil spirits' wishes and as mediators between them +and man. All unnatural phenomena, and especially those of a disastrous +and terrible nature, are attributed to the direct action of these +evil spirits, and are considered as plain manifestations of their +displeasure. It is claimed by many that the whole system of Shamanism +is a gigantic imposture practised by a few cunning priests upon +the easy credulity of superstitious natives. This I am sure is a +prejudiced view. No one who has ever lived with the Siberian natives, +studied their character, subjected himself to the same influences that +surround them, and put himself as far as possible in their places, +will ever doubt the sincerity of either priests or followers, or +wonder that the worship of evil spirits should be their only religion. +It is the only religion possible for such men in such circumstances. +A recent writer [Footnote: W.E.H. Lecky, _History of Rationalism +in Europe_.] of great fairness and impartiality has described so +admirably the character of the Siberian Koraks, and the origin and +nature of their religious belief, that I cannot do better than quote +his words:-- + +"Terror is everywhere the beginning of religion. The phenomena which +impress themselves most forcibly on the mind of the savage are not +those which enter manifestly into the sequence of natural laws, and +which are productive of most beneficial effects; but those which are +disastrous and apparently abnormal. Gratitude is less vivid than +fear, and the smallest infraction of a natural law produces a deeper +impression than the most sublime of its ordinary operations. When, +therefore, the most startling and terrible aspects of Nature are +presented to his mind--when the more deadly forms of disease or +natural convulsion desolate his land, the savage derives from them an +intensely realised perception of diabolical presence. In the darkness +of the night; amid the yawning chasms and the wild echoes of the +mountain gorge; under the blaze of the comet or the solemn gloom of +the eclipse; when famine has blasted the land; when the earthquake +and the pestilence have slaughtered their thousands; in every form +of disease which refracts and distorts the reason, in all that is +strange, portentous, and deadly, he feels and cowers before the +supernatural. Completely exposed to all the influences of Nature, and +completely ignorant of the chain of sequence that unites its various +parts, he lives in continual dread of what he deems the direct and +isolated acts of evil spirits. Feeling them continually near him, he +will naturally endeavour to enter into communion with them. He will +strive to propitiate them with gifts. If some great calamity has +fallen upon him, or if some vengeful passion has mastered his reason, +he will attempt to invest himself with their authority, and his +excited imagination will soon persuade him that he has succeeded in +his desire." + +These pregnant words are the key to the religion of the Siberian +natives, and afford the only intelligible explanation of the origin of +shamans. If any proof were needed that this system of religion is the +natural outgrowth of human nature in certain conditions of barbarism, +it would be furnished by the universal prevalence of Shamanism in +north-eastern Siberia among so many diverse tribes of different +character and different origin. The tribe of Tunguses for instance, +is certainly of Chinese descent, and the tribe of Yakuts is certainly +Turkish. Both came from different regions, bringing different beliefs, +superstitions, and modes of thought; but, when both were removed from +all disturbing agencies and subjected to the same external influences, +both developed precisely the same system of religious belief. If +a band of ignorant, barbarous Mahometans were transported to +north-eastern Siberia, and compelled to live alone in tents, century +after century, amid the wild, gloomy scenery of the Stanavoi +Mountains, to suffer terrific storms whose causes they could not +explain, to lose their reindeer suddenly by an epidemic disease which +defied human remedies, to be frightened by magnificent auroras that +set the whole universe in a blaze, and decimated by pestilences whose +nature they could not understand and whose disastrous effects they +were powerless to avert--they would almost inevitably lose by degrees +their faith in Allah and Mahomet, and become precisely such Shamanists +as the Siberian Koraks and Chukchis are today. Even a whole century of +partial civilisation and Christian training cannot wholly counteract +the irresistible Shamanistic influence which is exerted upon the mind +by the wilder, more terrible manifestations of Nature in these lonely +and inhospitable regions. The Kamchadals who accompanied me to the +Samanka Mountains were the sons of Christian parents, and had been +brought up from infancy in the Greek Church; they were firm believers +in the Divine atonement and in Divine providence, and prayed always +night and morning for safety and preservation; yet, when overtaken +by a storm in that gloomy range of mountains, the sense of the +supernatural overcame their religious convictions, God seemed far away +while evil spirits were near and active, and they sacrificed a dog, +like very pagans, to propitiate the diabolical wrath of which the +storm was an evidence. I could cite many similar instances, where the +strongest and apparently most sincere convictions of the reality +of Divine government and superintendence have been overcome by +the influence upon the imagination of some startling and unusual +phenomenon of Nature. Man's actions are governed not so much by what +he intellectually believes as by what he vividly realises; and it is +this vivid realisation of diabolical presence which has given rise to +the religion of Shamanism. + +The duties of the shamans or priests among the Koraks are, to make +incantations over the sick, to hold communication with the evil +spirits, and to interpret their wishes and decrees to man. Whenever +any calamity, such as disease, storm, or famine, comes upon a band, it +is of course attributed to some spirit's displeasure, and the shaman +is consulted as to the best method of appeasing his wrath. The priest +to whom application is made assembles the people in one of the largest +tents of the encampment, puts on a long robe marked with fantastic +figures of birds and beasts and curious hieroglyphic emblems, unbinds +his long black hair, and taking up a large native drum, begins to sing +in a subdued voice to the accompaniment of slow, steady drum-beats. As +the song progresses it increases in energy and rapidity, the priest's +eyes seem to become fixed, he contorts his body as if in spasms, and +increases the vehemence of his wild chant until the drum-beats make +one continuous roll. Then, springing to his feet and jerking his head +convulsively until his long hair fairly snaps, he begins a frantic +dance about the tent, and finally sinks apparently exhausted into his +seat. In a few moments he delivers to the awe-stricken natives the +message which he has received from the evil spirits, and which +consists generally of an order to sacrifice to them a certain number +of dogs or reindeer, or perhaps a man. + +[Illustration: KORAK DOGS SACRIFICED TO PROPITIATE THE SPIRITS OF +EVIL] + +In these wild incantations the priests sometimes practise all sorts of +frauds upon their credulous followers, by pretending to swallow live +coals and to pierce their bodies with knives; but, in a majority of +instances, the shaman seems actually to believe that he is under +the control and guidance of diabolical intelligence. The natives +themselves, however, seem to doubt occasionally the priest's pretended +inspiration, and whip him severely to test the sincerity of his +professions and the genuineness of his revelations. If his fortitude +sustains him under the infliction without any exhibition of human +weakness or suffering, his authority as a minister of the evil spirits +is vindicated, and his commands obeyed. Aside from the sacrifices +which are ordered by the shamans, the Koraks offer general oblations +at least twice a year, to assure a good catch of fish and seal and a +prosperous season. We frequently saw twenty or thirty dogs suspended +by the necks on long poles over a single encampment. Quantities of +green grass are collected during the, summer and twisted into wreaths, +to be hung around the necks of the slaughtered animals; and offerings +of tobacco are always thrown to the evil spirits when the Koraks +cross the summit of a mountain. The bodies of the dead, among all the +wandering tribes, are burned, together with all their effects, in the +hope of a final resurrection of both spirit and matter; and the sick, +as soon as their recovery becomes hopeless, are either stoned to +death or speared. We found it to be true, as we had been told by the +Russians and the Kamchadals, that the Koraks murdered all their old +people as soon as sickness or the infirmities of age unfitted them +for the hardships of a nomadic life. Long experience has given them +a terrible familiarity with the best and quickest methods of taking +life; and they often explained to us with the most sickening +minuteness, as we sat at night in their smoky _pologs_, the different +ways in which a man could be killed, and pointed out the vital parts +of the body where a spear or knife thrust would prove most instantly +fatal. I thought of De Quincey's celebrated Essay upon "Murder +Considered as One of the Fine Arts," and of the field which a Korak +encampment would afford to his "Society of Connoisseurs in Murder." +All Koraks are taught to look upon such a death as the natural end of +their existence, and they meet it generally with perfect composure. +Instances are rare where a man desires to outlive the period of +his physical activity and usefulness. They are put to death in +the presence of the whole band, with elaborate but unintelligible +ceremonies; their bodies are then burned, and the ashes suffered to be +scattered and blown away by the wind. + +These customs of murdering the old and sick, and burning the bodies of +the dead, grow naturally out of the wandering life which the Koraks +have adopted, and are only illustrations of the powerful influence +which physical laws exert everywhere upon the actions and moral +feelings of men. They both follow logically and almost inevitably from +the very nature of the country and climate. The barrenness of the soil +in north-eastern Siberia, and the severity of the long winter, led +man to domesticate the reindeer as the only means of obtaining +a subsistence; the domestication of the reindeer necessitated a +wandering life; a wandering life made sickness and infirmity unusually +burdensome to both sufferers and supporters; and this finally led to +the murder of the old and sick, as a measure both of policy and mercy. +The same causes gave rise to the custom of burning the dead. Their +nomadic life made it impossible for them to have any one place of +common sepulture, and only with the greatest difficulty could they dig +graves at all in the perpetually frozen ground. Bodies could not be +left to be torn by wolves, and burning them was the only practicable +alternative. Neither of these customs presupposes any original and +innate savageness or barbarity on the part of the Koraks themselves. +They are the natural development of certain circumstances, and only +prove that the strongest emotions of human nature, such as filial +reverence, fraternal affection, selfish love of life, and respect for +the remains of friends, all are powerless to oppose the operation of +great natural laws. The Russian Church is endeavouring by missionary +enterprise to convert all the Siberian tribes to Christianity; and +although they have met with a certain degree of apparent success among +the settled tribes of Yukagirs (yoo-kag'-eers), Chuances (choo-an'-ces), +and Kamchadals, the wandering natives still cling to Shamanism, and +there are more than 70,000 followers of that religion in the scanty +population of north-eastern Siberia. Any permanent and genuine +conversion of the Wandering Koraks and Chukchis must be preceded by +some educational enlightenment and an entire change in their mode of +life. + +Among the many superstitions of the Wandering Koraks and Chukchis, +one of the most noticeable is their reluctance to part with a living +reindeer. You may purchase as many dead deer as you choose, up to five +hundred, for about seventy cents apiece; but a living deer they will +not give to you for love nor money. You may offer them what they +consider a fortune in tobacco, copper kettles, beads, and scarlet +cloth, for a single live reindeer, but they will persistently refuse +to sell him; yet, if you will allow them to kill the very same animal, +you can have his carcass for one small string of common glass beads. +It is useless to argue with them about this absurd superstition. You +can get no reason for it or explanation of it, except that "to sell a +live reindeer would be _atkin_ [bad]." As it was very necessary in the +construction of our proposed telegraph line to have trained reindeer +of our own, we offered every conceivable inducement to the Koraks to +part with one single deer; but all our efforts were in vain. They +could sell us a hundred dead deer for a hundred pounds of tobacco; but +five hundred pounds would not tempt them to part with a single animal +as long as the breath of life was in his body. During the two years +and a half which we spent in Siberia, no one of our parties, so far as +I know, ever succeeded in buying from the Koraks or Chukchis a single +living reindeer. All the deer which we eventually owned--some eight +hundred--we obtained from the Wandering Tunguses. [Footnote: This +feeling or superstition eventually disappeared or was overcome. Many +years later, living reindeer were bought in north-eastern Siberia for +transportation to Alaska.] + +[Illustration: A RACE OF WANDERING KORAK REINDEER TEAMS] + +The Koraks are probably the wealthiest deer-owners in Siberia, and +consequently in the world. Many of the herds which we saw in northern +Kamchatka numbered from eight to twelve thousand; and we were told +that a certain rich Korak, who lived in the middle of the great +tundra, had three immense herds in different places, numbering in +the aggregate thirty thousand head. The care of these great herds is +almost the only occupation of the Koraks' lives. They are obliged to +travel constantly from place to place to find them food, and to watch +them night and day to protect them from wolves. Every day eight or ten +Koraks, armed with spears and knives, leave the encampment just before +dark, walk a mile or two to the place where the deer happen to be +pastured, build themselves little huts of trailing pine branches, +about three feet in height and two in diameter, and squat in them +throughout the long, cold hours of an arctic night, watching for +wolves. The worse the weather is, the greater the necessity for +vigilance. Sometimes, in the middle of a dark winter's night, when a +terrible north-easterly storm is howling across the steppe in clouds +of flying snow, a band of wolves will make a fierce, sudden attack +upon a herd of deer, and scatter it to the four winds. This it is +the business of the Korak sentinels to prevent. Alone and almost +unsheltered on a great ocean of snow, each man squats down in his +frail beehive of a hut, and spends the long winter nights in watching +the magnificent auroras, which seem to fill the blue vault of heaven +with blood and dye the earth in crimson, listening to the pulsating of +the blood in his ears and the faint distant howls of his enemies the +wolves. Patiently he endures cold which freezes mercury and storms +which sweep away his frail shelter like chaff in a mist of flying +snow. Nothing discourages him; nothing frightens him into seeking the +shelter of the tents. I have seen him watching deer at night, with +nose and cheeks frozen so that they had turned black; and have come +upon him early cold winter mornings, squatting under three or four +bushes, with his face buried in his fur coat, as if he were dead. I +could never pass one of those little bush huts on a great desolate +tundra without thinking of the man who had once squatted in it alone, +and trying to imagine what had been his thoughts while watching +through long dreary nights for the first faint flush of dawn. Had he +never wondered, as the fiery arms of the aurora waved over his head, +what caused these mysterious streamers? Had the solemn far-away stars +which circled ceaselessly above the snowy plain never suggested to him +the possibility of other brighter, happier worlds than this? Had not +some + + "--revealings faint and far, + Stealing down from moon and star, + Kindled in that human clod + Thought of Destiny and God?" + +Alas for poor unaided human nature! Supernatural influences he could +and did feel; but the drum and wild shrieks of the shaman showed how +utterly he failed to understand their nature and teachings. + +The natural disposition of the Wandering Koraks is thoroughly good. +They treat their women and children with great kindness; and during +all my intercourse with them, extending over two years, I never saw a +woman or a child struck. Their honesty is remarkable. Frequently they +would harness up a team of reindeer after we had left their tents in +the morning, and overtake us at a distance of five or ten miles, with +a knife, a pipe, or some such trifle which we had overlooked and +forgotten in the hurry of departure. Our sledges, loaded with tobacco, +beads, and trading goods of all kinds, were left unguarded outside +their tents; but never, so far as we knew, was a single article +stolen. We were treated by many bands with as much kindness and +generous hospitality as I ever experienced in a civilised country and +among Christian people; and if I had no money or friends, I would +appeal to a band of Wandering Koraks for help with much more +confidence than I should ask the same favour of many an American +family. Cruel and barbarous they may be, according to our ideas of +cruelty and barbarity; but they have never been known to commit an act +of treachery, and I would trust my life as unreservedly in their hands +as I would in the hands of any other uncivilised people whom I have +ever known. + +Night after night, as we journeyed northward, the polar star +approached nearer and nearer to the zenith, until finally, at the +sixty-second parallel of latitude, we caught sight of the white peaks +of the Stanavoi Mountains, at the head of Penzhinsk Gulf, which marked +the northern boundary of Kamchatka. Under the shelter of their +snowy slopes we camped for the last time in the smoky tents of the +Kamchatkan Koraks, ate for the last time from their wooden troughs, +and bade good-by with little regret to the desolate steppes of the +peninsula and to tent life with its wandering people. + +[Illustration: Women's Knives used in making clothing] + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + + +FIRST FROST-BITE--THE SETTLED KORAKS HOUR-GLASS YURTS--CLIMBING +DOWN CHIMNEYS--YURT INTERIORS--LEGS AS FEATURES--TRAVELLING BY +"PAVOSKA"--BAD CHARACTER OF SETTLED KORAKS + +On the morning of November 23d, in a clear, bracing atmosphere of +twenty-five degrees below zero, we arrived at the mouth of the large +river called the Penzhina, which empties into Penzhinsk Gulf, at the +head of the Okhotsk Sea. A dense cloud of frozen mist, which hung over +the middle of the gulf, showed the presence there of open water; but +the mouth of the river was completely choked up with great hummocks, +rugged green slabs, and confused masses of ice, hurled in by a +south-westerly storm, and frozen together in the wildest shapes of +angular disorder. Through the grey mist we could see dimly, on a high +bluff opposite, the strange outlines of the X-shaped _yurts_ of the +Kamenoi Koraks. + +Leaving our drivers to get the reindeer and sledges across as best +they could, the Major, Dodd, and I started on foot, picking our way +between huge irregular blocks of clear green ice, climbing on hands +and knees over enormous bergs, falling into wide, deep crevices, and +stumbling painfully across the _chevaux-de-frise_ of sharp splintered +fragments into which the ice had been broken by a heavy sea. We had +almost reached the other side, when Dodd suddenly cried out, "_Oh_, +Kennan! Your nose is all white; rub it with snow--quick!" I have not +the slightest doubt that the rest of my face also turned white at this +alarming announcement; for the loss of my nose at the very outset of +my arctic career would be a very serious misfortune. I caught up a +handful of snow, however, mixed with sharp splinters of ice, and +rubbed the insensible member until there was not a particle of skin +left on the end of it, and then continued the friction with my mitten +until my arm ached. If energetic treatment would save it, I was +determined not to lose it that time. Feeling at last a painful thrill +of returning circulation, I relaxed my efforts, and climbed up the +steep bluff behind Dodd and the Major, to the Korak village of +Kamenoi. + +The settlement resembled as much as anything a collection of titanic +wooden hour-glasses, which had been half shaken down and reduced to a +state of rickety dilapidation by an earthquake. The houses--if houses +they could be called--were about twenty feet in height, rudely +constructed of driftwood which had been brought down by the river, and +could be compared in shape to nothing but hour-glasses. They had no +doors, or windows of any kind, and could be entered only by climbing +up a pole on the outside, and sliding down another pole through the +chimney--a mode of entrance whose practicability depended entirely +upon the activity and intensity of the fire which burned underneath. +The smoke and sparks, although sufficiently disagreeable, were trifles +of comparative insignificance. I remember being told, in early +infancy, that Santa Claus always came into a house through the +chimney; and although I accepted the statement with the unreasoning +faith of childhood, I could never understand how that singular feat +of climbing down a chimney could be safely accomplished. To satisfy +myself, I felt a strong inclination, every Christmas, to try the +experiment, and was only prevented from doing so by the consideration +of stove-pipes. I might succeed, I thought, in getting down the +chimney; but coming out into a room through an eight-inch stove-pipe +and a narrow stove-door was utterly out of the question. My first +entrance into a Korak _yurt_, however, at Kamenoi, solved all my +childish difficulties, and proved the possibility of entering a house +in the eccentric way which Santa Claus is supposed to adopt. A large +crowd of savage-looking fur-clad natives had gathered around us when +we entered the village, and now stared at us with stupid curiosity as +we made our first attempt at climbing a pole to get into a house. +Out of deference for the Major's rank and superior attainments, we +permitted him to go first. He succeeded very well in getting up the +first pole, and lowered himself with sublime faith into the dark +narrow chimney hole, out of which were pouring clouds of smoke; but +at this critical moment, when his head was still dimly visible in the +smoke, and his body out of sight in the chimney, he suddenly came to +grief. The holes in the log down which he was climbing were too small +to admit even his toes, covered as they were with heavy fur boots; +and there he hung in the chimney, afraid to drop and unable to climb +out--a melancholy picture of distress. Tears ran out of his closed +eyes as the smoke enveloped his head, and he only coughed and +strangled whenever he tried to shout for help. At last a native on the +inside, startled at the appearance of his struggling body, came to +his assistance, and succeeded in lowering him safely to the ground. +Profiting by his experience, Dodd and I paid no attention to the +holes, but putting our arms around the smooth log, slid swiftly down +until we struck bottom. As I opened my tearful eyes, I was saluted +by a chorus of drawling "zda-ro'-o-o-va's" from half a dozen skinny, +greasy old women, who sat cross-legged on a raised platform around the +fire, sewing fur clothes. + +The interior of a Korak _yurt_--that is, of one of the wooden _yurts_ +of the _settled_ Koraks--presents a strange and not very inviting +appearance to one who has never become accustomed by long habit to its +dirt, smoke, and frigid atmosphere. It receives its only light, and +that of a cheerless, gloomy character, through the round hole, about +twenty feet above the floor, which serves as window, door, and +chimney, and which is reached by a round log with holes in it, that +stands perpendicularly in the centre. The beams, rafters, and logs +which compose the _yurt_ are all of a glossy blackness, from the smoke +in which they are constantly enveloped. A wooden platform, raised +about a foot from the earth, extends out from the walls on three sides +to a width of six feet, leaving an open spot eight or ten feet in +diameter in the centre for the fire and a huge copper kettle of +melting snow. On the platform are pitched three or four square skin +_pologs_, which serve as sleeping apartments for the inmates and as +refuges from the smoke, which sometimes becomes almost unendurable. +A little circle of flat stones on the ground, in the centre of the +_yurt_, forms the fireplace, over which is usually simmering a kettle +of fish or reindeer meat, which, with dried salmon, seal's blubber, +and rancid oil, makes up the Korak bill of fare. Everything that you +see or touch bears the distinguishing marks of Korak origin--grease +and smoke. Whenever any one enters the _yurt_, you are apprised of the +fact by a total eclipse of the chimney hole and a sudden darkness, and +as you look up through a mist of reindeer hairs, scraped off from the +coming man's fur coat, you see a thin pair of legs descending the pole +in a cloud of smoke. The legs of your acquaintances you soon learn to +recognise by some peculiarity of shape or covering; and their faces, +considered as means of personal identification, assume a secondary +importance. If you see Ivan's legs coming down the chimney, you feel a +moral certainty that Ivan's head is somewhere above in the smoke; and +Nicolai's boots, appearing in bold relief against the sky through the +entrance hole, afford as satisfactory proof of Nicolai's identity as +his head would, provided that part of his body came in first. Legs, +therefore, are the most expressive features of a Korak's countenance, +when considered from an interior standpoint. When snow drifts up +against the _yurt_, so as to give the dogs access to the chimney, they +take a perfect delight in lying around the hole, peering down into the +_yurt_, and snuffing the odours of boiling fish which rise from +the huge kettle underneath. Not unfrequently they get into a grand +comprehensive free fight for the best place of observation; and just +as you are about to take your dinner of boiled salmon off the fire, +down comes a struggling, yelping dog into the kettle, while his +triumphant antagonist looks down through the chimney hole with all +the complacency of gratified vengeance upon his unfortunate victim. A +Korak takes the half-scalded dog by the back of the neck, carries +him up the chimney, pitches him over the edge of the _yurt_ into a +snow-drift, and returns with unruffled serenity to eat the fish-soup +which has thus been irregularly flavoured with dog and thickened +with hairs. Hairs, and especially reindeer's hairs, are among the +indispensable ingredients of everything cooked in a Korak _yurt_, and +we soon came to regard them with perfect indifference. No matter what +precautions we might take, they were sure to find their way into our +tea and soup, and stick persistently to our fried meat. Some one was +constantly going out or coming in over the fire, and the reindeerskin +coats scraping back and forth through the chimney hole shed a perfect +cloud of short grey hairs, which sifted down over and into everything +of an eatable nature underneath. Our first meal in a Korak _yurt_, +therefore, at Kamenoi, was not at all satisfactory. + +[Illustration: HOUR-GLASS HOUSES OF THE SETTLED KORAKS From a model in +The American Museum of Natural History] + +We had not been twenty minutes in the settlement before the _yurt_ +that we occupied was completely crowded with stolid, brutal-looking +men, dressed in spotted deerskin clothes, wearing strings of coloured +beads in their ears, and carrying heavy knives two feet in length in +sheaths tied around their legs. They were evidently a different class +of natives from any we had yet seen, and their savage animal faces did +not inspire us with much confidence. A good-looking Russian, however, +soon made his appearance, and coming up to us with uncovered head, +bowed and introduced himself as a Cossack from Gizhiga, sent to meet +us by the Russian governor at that place. The courier who had preceded +us from Lesnoi had reached Gizhiga ten days before us, and the +governor had despatched a Cossack at once to meet us at Kamenoi, and +conduct us through the settled Korak villages around the head of +Penzhinsk Gulf. The Cossack soon cleared the _yurt_ of natives, and +the Major proceeded to question him about the character of the country +north and west of Gizhiga, the distance from Kamenoi to the Russian +outpost of Anadyrsk, the facilities for winter travel, and the time +necessary for the journey. Fearful for the safety of the party of men +which he presumed to have been landed by the engineer-in-chief at the +mouth of the Anadyr River, Major Abaza had intended to go directly +from Kamenoi to Anadyrsk himself in search of them, and to send Dodd +and me westward along the coast of the Okhotsk Sea to meet Mahood +and Bush. The Cossack, however, told us that a party of men from the +Anadyr River had arrived at Gizhiga on dog-sledges just previous to +his departure, and that they had brought no news of any Americans +in the vicinity of Anadyrsk or on the river. Col. Bulkley, the +chief-engineer of the enterprise, had promised us, when we sailed from +San Francisco, that he would land a party of men with a whale boat at +or near the mouth of the Anadyr River, early enough in the season so +that they could ascend the river to the settlement of Anadyrsk and +open communication with us by the first winter road. This he had +evidently failed to do; for, if a party had been so landed, the +Anadyrsk people would certainly have heard something about it. The +unfavourable nature of the country around Bering Strait, or the +lateness of the season when the Company's vessels reached that point, +had probably compelled the abandonment of this part of the original +plan. Major Abaza had always disapproved the idea of leaving a +party near Bering Strait; but he could not help feeling a little +disappointment when he found that no such party had been landed, and +that he was left with only four men to explore the eighteen hundred +miles of country between the strait and the Amur River. The Cossack +said that no difficulty would be experienced in getting dog-sledges +and men at Gizhiga to explore any part of the country west or north of +that place, and that the Russian governor would give us every possible +assistance. + +[Illustration: INTERIOR OF A KORAK YURT. GETTING FIRE WITH THE FIRE +DRILL Photograph in The American Museum of Natural History] + +Under these circumstances there was nothing to be done but to push on +to Gizhiga, which could be reached, the Cossack said, in two or three +days. The Kamenoi Koraks were ordered to provide a dozen dog-sledges +at once, to carry us on to the next settlement of Shestakova; and the +whole village was soon engaged, under the Cossack's superintendence, +in transferring our baggage and provisions from the deer-sledges of +the Wandering Koraks to the long, narrow dog-sledges of their settled +relations. Our old drivers were then paid off in tobacco, beads, +and showy calico prints, and after a good deal of quarrelling +and disputing about loads between the Koraks and our new Cossack +Kerrillof, everything was reported ready. Although it was now almost +noon, the air was still keen as a knife; and, muffling up our faces +and heads in great tippets, we took seats on our respective sledges, +and the fierce Kamenoi dogs went careering out of the village and down +the bluff in a perfect cloud of snow, raised by the spiked _oerstels_ +of their drivers. + +The Major, Dodd, and I were travelling in covered sledges, known to +the Siberians as "pavoskas" (pah-voss'-kahs), and the reckless driving +of the Kamenoi Koraks made us wish, in less than an hour, that we had +taken some other means of conveyance, from which we could escape more +readily in case of accident or overturn. As it was, we were so boxed +up that we could hardly move without assistance. Our _pavoskas_ +resembled very much long narrow coffins, covered with sealskin, +mounted on runners, and roofed over at the head by a stiff hood just +large enough to sit up in. A heavy curtain was fastened to the edge +of this top or hood, and in bad weather it could be pulled down and +buttoned so as to exclude the air and flying snow. When we were seated +in these sledges our legs were thrust down into the long coffin-shaped +boxes upon which the drivers sat, and our heads and shoulders +sheltered by the sealskin hoods. Imagine an eight-foot coffin mounted +on runners, and a man sitting up in it with a bushel basket over his +head, and you will have a very correct idea of a Siberian _pavoska_. +Our legs were immovably fixed in boxes, and our bodies so wedged in +with pillows and heavy furs that we could neither get out nor turn +over. In this helpless condition we were completely at our drivers' +mercy; if they chose to let us slide over the edge of a precipice +in the mountains, all we could do was to shut our eyes and trust in +Providence. Seven times in less than three hours my Kamenoi driver, +with the assistance of fourteen crazy dogs and a spiked stick, turned +my _pavoska_ exactly bottom side up, dragged it in that position until +the hood was full of snow, and then left me standing on my head, with +my legs in a box and my face in a snow-drift, while he took a smoke +and calmly meditated upon the difficulties of mountain travel and +the versatility of dog-sledges! It was enough to make Job curse his +grandmother! I threatened him with a revolver, and swore indignantly +by all the evil spirits in the Korak theogony, that if he upset me in +that way again I would kill him without benefit of clergy, and carry +mourning and lamentation to the houses of all his relatives. But it +was of no use. He did not know enough to be afraid of a pistol, and +could not understand my murderous threats. He merely squatted down +upon his heels on the snow, puffed his cheeks out with smoke, and +stared at me in stupid amazement, as if I were some singular species +of wild animal, which exhibited a strange propensity to jabber and +gesticulate in the most ridiculous manner without any apparent cause. +Then, whenever he wanted to ice his sledge-runners, which was as often +as three times an hour, he coolly capsized the _pavoska_, propped it +up with his spiked stick, and I stood on my head while he rubbed the +runners down with water and a piece of deerskin. This finally drove +me to desperation, and I succeeded, after a prolonged struggle, in +getting out of my coffin-shaped box, and seated myself with indignant +feelings and murderous inclinations by the side of my imperturbable +driver. Here my unprotected nose began to freeze again, and my time, +until we reached Shestakova, was about equally divided between rubbing +that troublesome feature with one hand, holding on with the other, and +picking myself up out of snow-drifts with both. + +The only satisfaction I had was in seeing the state of exasperation +to which the Major was reduced by the stupidity and ugliness of his +driver. Whenever he wanted to go on, the driver insisted upon stopping +to take a smoke; when he wanted to smoke, the driver capsized +him skilfully into a snow-drift; when he wanted to walk down a +particularly steep hill, the driver shouted to his dogs and carried +him to the bottom like an avalanche, at the imminent peril of his +life; when he desired to sleep, the driver intimated by impudent +gestures that he had better get out and walk up the side of a +mountain; until, finally, the Major called Kerrillof and made him tell +the Korak distinctly and emphatically, that if he did not obey orders +and show a better disposition, he would be lashed on his sledge, +carried to Gizhiga, and turned over to the Russian governor for +punishment. He paid some attention to this; but all our drivers +exhibited an insolent rudeness which we had never before met with in +Siberia, and which was very provoking. The Major declared that when +our line should be in process of construction and he should have force +enough to do it, he would teach the Kamenoi Koraks a lesson that they +would not soon forget. + +We travelled all the afternoon over a broken country, perfectly +destitute of vegetation, which lay between a range of bare white +mountains and the sea, and just before dark reached the settlement of +Shestakova, which was situated on the coast, at the mouth of a small +wooded stream. Stopping there only a few moments to rest our dogs, we +pushed on to another Korak village called Mikina (Mee-kin-ah), ten +miles farther west, where we finally stopped for the night. + +[Illustration: A WOMAN ENTERING A YURT OF THE SETTLED KORAKS] + +Mikina was only a copy of Kamenoi on a smaller scale. It had the same +hour-glass houses, the same conical _balagans_ elevated on stilts, and +the same large skeletons of sealskin _baideras_ (bai'-der-ahs') or +ocean canoes were ranged in a row on the beach. We climbed up +the best-looking _yurt_ in the village--over which hung a dead +disembowelled dog, with a wreath of green grass around his neck--and +slid down the chimney into a miserable room filled to suffocation with +blue smoke, lighted only by a small fire on the earthen floor, and +redolent of decayed fish and rancid oil. Viushin soon had a teakettle +over the fire, and in twenty minutes we were seated like cross-legged +Turks on the raised platform at one end of the _yurt_, munching +hardbread and drinking tea, while about twenty ugly, savage-looking +men squatted in a circle around us and watched our motions. The +settled Koraks of Penzhinsk Gulf are unquestionably the worst, +ugliest, most brutal and degraded natives in all north-eastern +Siberia. They do not number more than three or four hundred, and live +in five different settlements along the seacoast; but they made us +more trouble than all the other inhabitants of Siberia and Kamchatka +together. They led, originally, a wandering life like the other +Koraks; but, losing their deer by some misfortune or disease, they +built themselves houses of driftwood on the seacoast, settled down, +and now gain a scanty subsistence by fishing, catching seals, and +hunting for carcasses of whales which have been killed by American +whaling vessels, stripped of blubber, and then cast ashore by the +sea. They are cruel and brutal in disposition, insolent to everybody, +revengeful, dishonest, and untruthful. Everything which the Wandering +Koraks are they are not. The reasons for the great difference between +the settled and the Wandering Koraks are various. In the first place, +the former live in fixed villages, which are visited very frequently +by the Russian traders; and through these traders and Russian peasants +they have received many of the worst vices of civilisation without any +of its virtues. To this must be added the demoralising influence of +American whalers, who have given the settled Koraks rum and cursed +them with horrible diseases, which are only aggravated by their diet +and mode of life. They have learned from the Russians to lie, cheat, +and steal; and from whalers to drink rum and be licentious. Besides +all these vices, they eat the intoxicating Siberian toadstool in +inordinate quantities, and this habit alone will in time debase and +brutalise any body of men to the last degree. From nearly all these +demoralising influences the Wandering Koraks are removed by the very +nature of their life. They spend more of their time in the open air, +they have healthier and better-balanced physical constitutions, they +rarely see Russian traders or drink Russian vodka, and they are +generally temperate, chaste, and manly in their habits. As a +natural consequence they are better men, morally, physically, and +intellectually, than the settled natives ever will or can be. I have +very sincere and hearty admiration for many Wandering Koraks whom I +met on the great Siberian tundras but their settled relatives are the +worst specimens of men that I ever saw in all northern Asia, from +Bering Strait to the Ural Mountains. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + + +FIRST ATTEMPT AT DOG-DRIVING--UNPREMEDITATED PROFANITY--A +RUNAWAY--ARRIVAL AT GIZHIGA--HOSPITALITY OF THE ISPRAVNIK--PLANS FOR +THE WINTER + +We left Mikina early, November 23d, and started out upon another great +snowy plain, where there was no vegetation whatever except a little +wiry grass and a few meagre patches of trailing-pine. + +Ever since leaving Lesnoi I had been studying attentively the art, +or science, whichever it be, of dog-driving, with the fixed but +unexpressed resolution that at some future time, when everything +should be propitious, I would assume the control of my own team, and +astonish Dodd and the natives with a display of my skill as a _kaiur_ +(kai-oor). + +[Illustration: SETTLED KORAKS IN A TRIAL OF STRENGTH] + +I had found by some experience that these unlettered Koraks estimated +a man, not so much by what he knew which they did not, as by what +he knew concerning their own special and peculiar pursuits; and I +determined to demonstrate, even to their darkened understandings, that +the knowledge of civilisation was universal in its application, and +that the white man, notwithstanding his disadvantage in colour, could +drive dogs better by intuition than they could by the aggregated +wisdom of centuries; that in fact he could, if necessary, "evolve +the principles of dog-driving out of the depths of his moral +consciousness." I must confess, however, that I was not a thorough +convert to my own ideas; and I did not disdain therefore to avail +myself of the results of native experience, as far as they coincided +with my own convictions, as to the nature of the true and beautiful +in dog-driving. I had watched every motion of my Korak driver; had +learned theoretically the manner of thrusting the spiked stick between +the-uprights of the runners into the snow, to act as a brake; +had committed to memory and practised assiduously the guttural +monosyllables which meant, in dog-language, "right" and "left," as +well as many others which meant something else, but which I had heard +addressed to dogs; and I laid the flattering unction to my soul that I +could drive as well as a Korak, if not better. To my inexperienced eye +it was as easy as losing money in California mining stocks. On this +day, therefore, as the road was good and the weather propitious, I +determined to put my ideas, original as well as acquired, to the test +of practice. I accordingly motioned my Korak driver to take a back +seat and deliver up to me the insignia of office. I observed in the +expression of his lips, as he handed me the spiked stick, a sort of +latent smile of ridicule, which indicated a very low estimate of my +dog-driving abilities; but I treated it as knowledge should always +treat the sneers of ignorance--with silent contempt; and seating +myself firmly astride the sledge back of the arch, I shouted to the +dogs, "Noo! Pashol!" My voice failed to produce the startling effect +that I had anticipated. The leader--a grim, bluff Nestor of a +dog--glanced carelessly over his shoulder and very perceptibly +slackened his pace. This sudden and marked contempt for my authority +on the part of the dogs did more than all the sneers of the Koraks to +shake my confidence in my own skill. But my resources were not yet +exhausted, and I hurled monosyllable, dissyllable, and polysyllable +at their devoted heads, shouted "Akh! Te shelma! Proclataya takaya! +Smatree! Ya tibi dam!" but all in vain; the dogs were evidently +insensible to rhetorical fireworks of this description, and manifested +their indifference by a still slower gait. As I poured out upon them +the last vial of my verbal wrath, Dodd, who understood the language +that I was so recklessly using, drove slowly up, and remarked +carelessly, "You swear pretty well for a beginner." Had the ground +opened beneath me I should have been less astonished. "Swear! I swear! +You don't mean to say that I've been swearing?"--"Certainly you have, +like a pirate." I dropped my spiked stick in dismay. Were these the +principles of dog-driving which I had evolved out of the depths of my +_moral_ consciousness? They seemed rather to have come from the depths +of my _im_moral _un_consciousness. "Why, you reckless reprobate!" +I exclaimed impressively, "didn't you teach me those very words +yourself?"--"Certainly I did," was the unabashed reply; "but you +didn't ask me what they meant; you asked how to pronounce them +correctly, and I told you. I didn't know but that you were making +researches in comparative philology--trying to prove the unity of the +human race by identity of oaths, or by a comparison of profanity to +demonstrate that the Digger Indians are legitimately descended from +the Chinese. You know that your head (which is a pretty good one +in other respects) always _was_ full of such nonsense."--"Dodd," I +observed, with a solemnity which I intended should awaken repentance +in his hardened sensibilities, "I have been betrayed unwittingly into +the commission of sin; and as a little more or less won't materially +alter my guilt, I've as good a notion as ever I had to give you the +benefit of some of your profane instruction." Dodd laughed derisively +and drove on. This little episode considerable dampened my enthusiasm, +and made me very cautious in my use of foreign language. I feared the +existence of terrific imprecations in the most common dog-phrases, +and suspected lurking profanity even in the monosyllabic "Khta" and +"Hoogh," which I had been taught to believe meant "right" and "left." +The dogs, quick to observe any lack of attention on the part of their +driver, now took encouragement from my silence and exhibited a doggish +propensity to stop and rest, which was in direct contravention of +all discipline, and which they would not have dared to do with an +experienced driver. Determined to vindicate my authority by more +forcible measures, I launched my spiked stick like a harpoon at the +leader, intending to have it fall so that I could pick it up as the +sledge passed. The dog however dodged it cleverly, and it rolled +away ten feet from the road. Just at that moment three or four wild +reindeer bounded out from behind a little rise of ground three or +four hundred yards away, and galloped across the steppe toward a deep +precipitous ravine, through which ran a branch of the Mikina River. +The dogs, true to their wolfish instincts, started with fierce, +excited howls in pursuit. I made a frantic grasp at my spiked stick +as we rushed past, but failed to reach it, and away we went over the +tundra toward the ravine, the sledge half the time on one runner, and +rebounding from the hard _sastrugi_ (sas-troo'-gee) or snow-drifts +with a force that suggested speedy dislocation of one's joints. The +Korak, with more common sense than I had given him credit for, had +rolled off the sledge several seconds before, and a backward glance +showed a miscellaneous bundle of arms and legs revolving rapidly over +the snow in my wake. I had no time, however, with ruin staring me in +the face, to commiserate his misfortune. My energies were all devoted +to checking the terrific speed with which we were approaching the +ravine. Without the spiked stick I was perfectly helpless, and in a +moment we were on the brink. I shut my eyes, clung tightly to the +arch, and took the plunge. About half-way down, the descent became +suddenly steeper, and the lead-dog swerved to one side, bringing the +sledge around like the lash of a whip, overturning it, and shooting me +like a huge living meteor through the air into a deep soft drift of +snow at the bottom. I must have fallen at least eighteen feet, for I +buried myself entirely, with the exception of my lower extremities, +which, projecting above the snow, kicked a faint signal for rescue. +Encumbered with heavy furs, I extricated myself with difficulty; and +as I at last emerged with three pints of snow down my neck, I saw +the round, leering face of my late driver grinning at me through the +bushes on the edge of the bluff. "Ooma," he hailed. "Well," replied +the snowy figure standing waist-high in the drift.--"Amerikanski nyett +dobra kaiur, eh?" [American no good driver]. "Nyett sofsem dobra" was +the melancholy reply as I waded out. The sledge, I found, had become +entangled in the bushes near me, and the dogs were all howling in +chorus, nearly wild with the restraint. I was so far satisfied with my +experiment that I did not desire to repeat it at present, and made no +objections to the Korak's assuming again his old position. I was +fully convinced, by the logic of circumstances, that the science of +dog-driving demanded more careful and earnest consideration than I +had yet given to it; and I resolved to study carefully its elementary +principles, as expounded by its Korak professors, before attempting +again to put my own ideas upon the subject into practice. + +As we came out of the ravine upon the open steppe I saw the rest of +our party a mile away, moving rapidly toward the Korak village of Kuil +(Koo-eel'). We passed Kuil late in the afternoon, and camped for the +night in a forest of birch, poplar, and aspen trees, on the banks of +the Paren River. + +We were now only about seventy miles from Gizhiga. On the following +night we reached a small log _yurt_ on a branch of the Gizhiga River, +which had been built there by the government to shelter travellers, +and Friday morning, November 25th, about eleven o'clock, we caught +sight of the red church-steeple which marked the location of the +Russian settlement of Gizhiga. No one who has not travelled for three +long months through a wilderness like Kamchatka, camped out in storms +among desolate mountains, slept for three weeks in the smoky tents, +and yet smokier and dirtier _yurts_ of the Koraks, and lived +altogether like a perfect savage or barbarian---no one who has not +experienced this can possibly understand with what joyful hearts we +welcomed that red church steeple, and the civilisation of which it was +the sign. For almost a month we had slept every night on the ground +or the snow; had never seen a chair, a table, a bed, or a mirror; had +never been undressed night or day; and had washed our faces only three +or four times in an equal number of weeks! We were grimy and smoky +from climbing up and down Korak chimneys; our hair was long and matted +around our ears; the skin had peeled from our noses and cheek-bones +where it had been frozen; our cloth coats and trousers were grey with +reindeer hairs from our fur _kukhlankas_; and we presented, generally, +as wild and neglected an appearance as men could present, and still +retain any lingering traces of better days. We had no time or +inclination, however, to "fix up"; our dogs dashed at a mad gallop +into the village with a great outcry, which awakened a responsive +chorus of howls from two or three hundred other canine throats; our +drivers shouted "Khta! khta! hoogh! hoogh!" and raised clouds of snow +with their spiked sticks as we rushed through the streets, and the +whole population came running to their doors to ascertain the cause +of the infernal tumult. One after another our fifteen sledges went +careering through the village, and finally drew up before a large, +comfortable house, with double glass windows, where arrangements had +been made, Kerrillof said, for our reception. Hardly had we entered a +large, neatly swept and scrubbed room, and thrown off our heavy frosty +furs, than the door again opened, and in rushed a little impetuous, +quick-motioned man, with a heavy auburn moustache, and light hair cut +short all over his head, dressed in neat broadcloth coat and trousers +and a spotless linen shirt, with seal rings on his fingers, a plain +gold chain at his vest button, and a cane. We recognised him at once +as the ispravnik, or Russian governor. Dodd and I made a sudden +attempt to escape from the room, but we were too late, and saluting +our visitor with "zdrastvuitia," [Footnote: "Good health," or "Be in +health," the Russian greeting.] we sat down awkwardly enough on our +chairs, rolled our smoky hands up in our scarlet and yellow cotton +handkerchiefs, and, with a vivid consciousness of our dirty faces and +generally disreputable appearance, tried to look self-possessed, +and to assume the dignity which befitted officers of the great +Russian-American Telegraph Expedition! It was a pitiable failure. We +could not succeed in looking like anything but Wandering Koraks in +reduced circumstances. The ispravnik, however, did not seem to notice +anything unusual in our appearance, but rattled away with an incessant +fire of quick, nervous questions, such as "When did you leave +Petropavlovsk? Are you just from America? I sent a Cossack. Did you +meet him? How did you cross the tundras; with the Koraks? _Akh!_ those +_proclatye_ Koraks! Any news from St. Petersburg? You must come over +and dine with me. How long will you stay in town? You can take a bath +now before dinner. Ay! _loodee!_ [very loud and peremptory]. Go and +tell my Ivan to heat up the bath quick! _Akh Chort yeekh! vazmee!_" +and the restless little man finally stopped from sheer exhaustion, and +began pacing nervously across the room, while the Major related our +adventures, gave him the latest news from Russia, explained our plans, +the object of our expedition, told him of the murder of Lincoln, the +end of the Rebellion, the latest news from the French invasion of +Mexico, the gossip of the Imperial Court, and no end of other news +which had been old with us for six months, but of which the poor +exiled ispravnik had never heard a word. He had had no communication +with Russia in almost eleven months. After insisting again upon our +coming over to his house immediately to dine, he bustled out of the +room, and gave us an opportunity to wash and dress. + +Two hours afterward, in all the splendour of blue coats, brass +buttons, and shoulder-straps, with shaven faces, starched shirts, and +polished leather boots, the "First Siberian Exploring Party" marched +over to the ispravnik's to dine. The Russian peasants whom we met +instinctively took off their frosty fur hoods and gazed wonderingly +at us as we passed, as if we had mysteriously dropped down from some +celestial sphere. No one would have recognised in us the dirty, smoky, +ragged vagabonds who had entered the village two hours before. The +grubs had developed into blue and golden butterflies! We found the +ispravnik waiting for us in a pleasant, spacious room furnished with, +all the luxuries of a civilised home. The walls were papered and +ornamented with costly pictures and engravings, the windows were hung +with curtains, the floor was covered with a soft, bright-coloured +carpet, a large walnut writing-desk occupied one corner of the room, a +rosewood melodeon the other, and in the centre stood the dining-table, +covered with a fresh cloth, polished china, and glittering silver. We +were fairly dazzled at the sight of so much unusual and unexpected +magnificence. After the inevitable "fifteen drops" of brandy, and the +lunch of smoked fish, rye bread, and caviar, which always precedes a +Russian dinner, we took seats at the table and spent an hour and a +half in getting through the numerous courses of cabbage soup, salmon +pie, venison cutlets, game, small meat pies, pudding, and pastry, +which were successively set before us, and in discussing the news of +all the world, from the log villages of Kamchatka to the imperial +palaces of Moscow and St. Petersburg. Our hospitable host then ordered +champagne, and over tall, slender glasses of cool beaded Cliquot we +meditated upon the vicissitudes of Siberian life. Yesterday we sat +on the ground in a Korak tent and ate reindeer meat out of a wooden +trough with our fingers, and today we dined with the Russian governor, +in a luxurious house, upon venison cutlets, plum pudding, and +champagne. With the exception of a noticeable but restrained +inclination on the part of Dodd and myself to curl up our legs and sit +on the floor, there was nothing I believe in our behaviour to betray +the barbarous freedom of the life which we had so recently lived, and +the demoralising character of the influences to which we had been +subjected. We handled our knives and forks, and leisurely sipped our +champagne with a grace which would have excited the envy of Lord +Chesterfield himself. But it was hard work. No sooner did we return to +our quarters than we threw off our uniform coats, spread our bearskins +on the floor and sat down upon them with crossed legs, to enjoy a +comfortable smoke in the good old free-and-easy style. If our faces +had only been just a little dirty we should have been perfectly happy! + +The next ten days of our life at Gizhiga were passed in comparative +idleness. We walked out a little when the weather was not too cold, +received formal calls from the Russian merchants of the place, visited +the ispravnik and drank his delicious "flower tea" and smoked his +cigarettes in the evening, and indemnified ourselves for three months +of rough life by enjoying to the utmost such mild pleasures as the +little village afforded. This pleasant, aimless existence, however, +was soon terminated by an order from the Major to prepare for the +winter's campaign, and hold ourselves in readiness to start for the +Arctic Circle or the west coast of the Okhotsk Sea at a moment's +notice. He had determined to explore a route for our proposed line +from Bering Strait to the Amur River before spring should open, and +there was no time to be lost. The information which we could gather +at Gizhiga with regard to the interior of the country was scanty, +indefinite, and unsatisfactory. According to native accounts, there +were only two settlements between the Okhotsk Sea and Bering Strait, +and the nearest of these--Penzhina--was four hundred versts distant. +The intervening country consisted of great moss tundras impassable +in summer, and perfectly destitute of timber; and that portion of it +which lay north-east of the last settlement was utterly uninhabitable +on account of the absence of wood. A Russian officer by the name of +Phillippeus had attempted to explore it in the winter of 1860, but had +returned unsuccessful, in a starving and exhausted condition. In the +whole distance of eight hundred versts between Gizhiga and the mouth +of the Anadyr River there were said to be only four or five places +where timber could be found large enough for telegraph poles, and +over most of the route there was no wood except occasional patches +of trailing-pine. A journey from Gizhiga to the last settlement, +Anadyrsk, on the Arctic Circle, would occupy from twenty to thirty +days, according to weather, and beyond that point there was no +possibility of going under any circumstances. The region west of +Gizhiga, along the coast of the Okhotsk Sea, was reported to be +better, but very rugged and mountainous, and heavily timbered with +pine and larch. The village of Okhotsk, eight hundred versts distant, +could be reached on dog-sledges in about a month. This, in brief, was +all the information we could get, and it did not inspire us with very +much confidence in the ultimate success of our enterprise. I +realised for the first time the magnitude of the task which the +Russian-American Telegraph Company had undertaken. We were "in for +it," however, now, and our first duty was obviously to go through +the country, ascertain its extent and nature, and find out what +facilities, if any, it afforded for the construction of our line. + +[Illustration: AN OLD MAN OF THE SETTLED KORAKS Photograph in The +American Museum of Natural History] + +The Russian settlements of Okhotsk and Gizhiga divided the country +between Bering Strait and the Amur River into three nearly equal +sections, of which two were mountainous and wooded, and one +comparatively level and almost barren. The first of these sections, +between the Amur and Okhotsk, had been assigned to Mahood and Bush, +and we presumed that they were already engaged, in its exploration. +The other two sections, comprising all the region between Okhotsk +and Bering Straits, were to be divided between the Major, Dodd, and +myself. In view of the supposed desolation of the unexplored territory +immediately west of Bering Strait, it was thought best to leave +it unsurveyed until spring, and perhaps until another season. The +promised co-operation of the Anadyr River party had failed us, and +without more men, the Major did not think it expedient to undertake +the exploration of a region which presented so many and so great +obstacles to midwinter travel. The distance which remained to be +traversed, therefore, was only about fourteen hundred versts from +Okhotsk to the Russian outpost of Anadyrsk, just south of the Arctic +Circle. After some deliberation the Major concluded to send Dodd +and me with a party of natives to Anadyrsk, and to start himself on +dog-sledges for the settlement of Okhotsk, where he expected to meet +Mahood and Bush. In this way it was hoped that we should be able in +the course of five months to make a rough but tolerably accurate +survey of nearly the whole route of the line. The provisions which +we had brought from Petropavlovsk had all been used up, with the +exception of some tea, sugar, and a few cans of preserved beef; but we +obtained at Gizhiga two or three _puds_ (poods) [Footnote: One _pud_ = +36 lbs.] of black rye-bread, four or five frozen reindeer, some salt, +and an abundant supply of _yukala_ or dried fish. These, with some +tea and sugar, and a few cakes of frozen milk, made up our store of +provisions. We provided ourselves also with six or eight _puds_ of +Circassian leaf tobacco to be used instead of money; divided equally +our little store of beads, pipes, knives, and trading-goods, purchased +new suits of furs throughout, and made every preparation for three or +four months of camp life in an arctic climate. The Russian governor +ordered six of his Cossacks to transport Dodd and me on dog-sledges as +far as the Korak village of Shestakova, and sent word to Penzhina by +the returning Anadyrsk people to have three or four men and dog-teams +at the former place by December 20th, ready to carry us on to Penzhina +and Anadyrsk. We engaged an old and experienced Cossack named Gregorie +Zinovief as guide and Chukchi interpreter, hired a young Russian +called Yagor as cook and aid-de-camp (in the literal sense), packed +our stores on our sledges and secured them with lashings of sealskin +thongs, and by December 13th were ready to take the field. That +evening the Major delivered to us our instructions. They were simply +to follow the regular sledge road to Anadyrsk via Shestakova and +Penzhina, to ascertain what facilities it offered in the way of timber +and soil for the construction of a telegraph line, to set the natives +at work cutting poles at Penzhina and Anadyrsk, and to make side +explorations where possible in search of timbered rivers connecting +Penzhinsk Gulf with Bering Sea. Late in the spring we were to return +to Gizhiga with all the information which we could gather relative +to the country between that point and the Arctic Circle. The Major +himself would remain at Gizhiga until about December 17th, and then +leave on dog-sledges with Viushin and a small party of Cossacks for +the settlement of Okhotsk. If he made a junction with Mahood and Bush, +at that place, he would return at once, and meet us again at Gizhiga +by the first of April, 1866. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + + +DOG-SLEDGE TRAVEL--ARCTIC MIRAGES--CAMP AT NIGHT--A HOWLING +CHORUS--NORTHERN LIGHTS + +The morning of December 13th dawned clear, cold, and still, with a +temperature of thirty-one degrees below zero; but as the sun did not +rise until half-past ten, it was nearly noon before we could get our +drivers together, and our dogs harnessed for a start. Our little party +of ten men presented quite a novel and picturesque appearance in their +gaily embroidered fur coats, red sashes, and yellow foxskin hoods, +as they assembled in a body before our house to bid good-bye to the +ispravnik and the Major. Eight heavily loaded sledges were ranged in +a line in front of the door, and almost a hundred dogs were springing +frantically against their harnesses, and raising deafening howls +of impatience, as we came out of the house into the still, frosty +atmosphere. We bade everybody good-bye, received a hearty "God bless +you, boys!" from the Major, and were off in a cloud of flying snow, +which stung our faces like burning sparks of fire. Old Paderin, the +chief of the Gizhiga Cossacks, with white frosty hair and beard, stood +out in front of his little red log house as we passed, and waved us a +last good-bye with his fur hood as we swept out upon the great level +steppe behind the town. + +It was just midday; but the sun, although at its greatest altitude, +glowed like a red ball of fire low down in the southern horizon, and a +peculiar gloomy twilight hung over the white wintry landscape. I could +not overcome the impression that the sun was just rising and that it +would soon be broad day. A white ptarmigan now and then flew up with +a loud whir before us, uttered a harsh "querk, querk, querk" of +affright, and sailing a few rods away, settled upon the snow and +suddenly became invisible. A few magpies sat motionless in the +thickets of trailing-pine as we passed, but their feathers were +ruffled up around their heads, and they seemed chilled and stupefied +by the intense cold. The distant blue belt of timber along the Gizhiga +River wavered and trembled in its outlines as if seen through currents +of heated air, and the white ghost-like mountains thirty miles away +to the southward were thrown up and distorted by refraction into a +thousand airy, fantastic shapes which melted imperceptibly one into +another, like a series of dissolving views. Every feature of the +scenery was strange, weird, arctic. The red sun rolled slowly along +the southern horizon, until it seemed to rest on a white snowy peak +far away in the south-west, and then, while we were yet expecting day, +it suddenly disappeared and the gloomy twilight deepened gradually +into night. Only three hours had elapsed since sunrise, and yet stars +of the first magnitude could already be plainly distinguished. + +[Illustration: YURT AND DOG-TEAM OF THE SETTLED KORAKS. +From a painting by George A. Frost] + +We stopped for the night at the house of a Russian peasant who lived +on the bank of the Gizhiga River, about fifteen versts east of the +settlement. While we were drinking tea a special messenger arrived +from the village, bringing two frozen blueberry pies as a parting +token of regard from the Major, and a last souvenir of civilisation. +Pretending to fear that something might happen to these delicacies +if we should attempt to carry them with us, Dodd, as a precautionary +measure, ate one of them up to the last blueberry; and rather than +have him sacrifice himself to a mistaken idea of duty by trying to eat +the other, I attended to its preservation myself and put it for ever +beyond the reach of accidental contingencies. + +On the following day we reached the little log _yurt_ on the Malmofka, +where we had spent one night on our way to Gizhiga; and as the cold +was still intense we were glad to avail ourselves again of its +shelter, and huddle around the warm fire which Yagor kindled on a sort +of clay altar in the middle of the room. There was not space enough on +the rough plank floor to accommodate all our party, and our men built +a huge fire of tamarack logs outside, hung over their teakettles, +thawed out their frosty beards, ate dry fish, sang jolly Russian +songs, and made themselves so boisterously happy, that we were tempted +to give up the luxury of a roof for the sake of sharing in their +out-door amusements and merriment. Our thermometers, however, marked +35 deg. below zero, and we did not venture out of doors except when an +unusually loud burst of laughter announced some stupendous Siberian +joke which we thought would be worth hearing. The atmosphere outside +seemed to be just cool enough to exert an inspiriting influence +upon our lively Cossacks, but it was altogether too bracing for +unaccustomed American constitutions. With a good fire, however, and +plenty of hot tea, we succeeded in making ourselves very comfortable +inside the _yurt_, and passed away the long evening in smoking +Circassian tobacco and pine bark, singing American songs, telling +stories, and quizzing our good-natured but unsophisticated Cossack +Meranef. + +It was quite late when we finally crawled into our fur bags to sleep; +but long afterward we could hear the songs, jokes, and laughter of our +drivers as they sat around the camp-fire, and told funny stories of +Siberian travel. + +We were up on the following morning long before daylight; and, after a +hasty breakfast of black-bread, dried fish, and tea, we harnessed our +dogs, wet down our sledge-runners with water from the teakettle to +cover them with a coating of ice, packed up our camp equipage, and, +leaving the shelter of the tamarack forest around the _yurt_, drove +out upon the great snowy Sahara which lies between the Malmofka River +and Penzhinsk Gulf. It was a land of desolation. A great level steppe, +as boundless to the weary eye as the ocean itself, stretched away in +every direction to the far horizon, without a single tree or bush +to relieve its white, snowy surface. Nowhere did we see any sign of +animal or vegetable life, any suggestion of summer or flowers or warm +sunshine, to brighten the dreary waste of storm-drifted snow. + +White, cold, and silent, it lay before us like a vast frozen ocean, +lighted up faintly by the slender crescent of the waning moon in the +east, and the weird blue streamers of the aurora, which went racing +swiftly back and forth along the northern horizon. Even when the sun +rose, huge and fiery, in a haze of frozen moisture at the south, +it did not seem to infuse any warmth or life into the bleak wintry +landscape. It only drowned, in a dull red glare, the blue, tremulous +streamers of the aurora and the white radiance of the moon and stars, +tinged the snow with a faint colour like a stormy sunset, and lighted +up a splendid mirage in the north-west which startled us with its +solemn mockery of familiar scenes. The wand of the Northern Enchanter +touched the barren snowy steppe, and it suddenly became a blue +tropical lake, upon whose distant shore rose the walls, domes, and +slender minarets of a vast oriental city. Masses of luxuriant foliage +seemed to overhang the clear blue water, and to be reflected in its +depths, while the white walls above just caught the first flush of the +rising sun. Never was the illusion of summer in winter, of life in +death, more palpable or more perfect. One almost instinctively glanced +around to assure himself, by the sight of familiar objects, that it +was not a dream; but as his eyes turned again to the north-west across +the dim blue lake, the vast tremulous outlines of the mirage still +confronted him in their unearthly beauty, and the "cloud-capped towers +and gorgeous palaces" seemed, by their mysterious solemnity, to rebuke +the doubt which would ascribe them to a dream. The bright apparition +faded, glowed, and faded again into indistinctness, and from its ruins +rose two colossal pillars sculptured from rose quartz, which gradually +united their capitals and formed a titanic arch like the grand portal +of heaven. This, in turn, melted into an extensive fortress, with, +massive bastions and buttresses, flanking towers and deep embrasures, +and salient and re-entering angles whose shadows and perspective were +as natural as reality itself. Nor was it only at a distance that these +deceptive mirages seemed to be formed. A crow, standing upon the +snow at a distance of perhaps two hundred yards, was exaggerated and +distorted beyond recognition; and once, having lingered a little +behind the rest of the party, I was startled at seeing a long line of +shadowy dog-sledges moving swiftly through the air a short distance +ahead, at a height of eight or ten feet from the ground. The mock +sledges were inverted in position, and the mock dogs trotted along +with their feet in the air; but their outlines were almost as clear +as those of the real sledges and real dogs underneath. This curious +phenomenon lasted only a moment, but it was succeeded by others +equally strange, until at last we lost faith in our eyesight entirely, +and would not believe in the existence of anything unless we could +touch it with our hands. Every bare hillock or dark object on the snow +was a nucleus around which were formed the most deceptive images, and +two or three times we started out with our rifles in pursuit of wolves +or black foxes, which proved, upon closer inspection, to be nothing +but crows. I had never before known the light and atmosphere to be so +favourable to refraction, and had never been so deceived in the size, +shape, and distance of objects on the snow. + +[Illustration: A WOMAN FEEDING A DOG-TEAM IN GIZHIGA From a painting +by George A. Frost] + +The thermometer at noon marked -35 deg., and at sunset it was -38 deg., and +sinking. We had seen no wood since leaving the _yurt_ on the Malmofka +River, and, not daring to camp without a fire, we travelled for five +hours after dark, guided only by the stars and a bluish aurora which +was playing away in the north. Under the influence of the intense +cold, frost formed in great quantities upon everything which was +touched by our breaths. Beards became stiff tangled masses of frozen +iron wire, eyelids grew heavy with long white rims of frost, and froze +together when we winked, and our dogs, enveloped in dense clouds of +steam, looked like snowy polar wolves. Only by running constantly +beside our sledges could we keep any sensation of life in our feet. +About eight o'clock a few scattered trees loomed up darkly against the +eastern sky, and a joyful shout from our leading drivers announced the +discovery of wood. We had reached a small stream called the Usinova +(Oo-seen'-ova), seventy-five versts east of Gizhiga, in the very +middle of the great steppe. It was like coming to an island after +having been long at sea. Our dogs stopped and curled themselves up +into little round balls on the snow, as if conscious that the long +day's journey was ended, while our drivers proceeded to make rapidly +and systematically a Siberian half-faced camp. Three sledges were +drawn up together, so as to make a little semi-enclosure about ten +feet square; the snow was all shovelled out of the interior, and +banked up around the three closed sides, like a snow fort, and a huge +fire of trailing-pine branches was built at the open end. The bottom +of this little snow-cellar was then strewn to a depth of three or four +inches with twigs of willow and alder, shaggy bearskins were spread +down to make a warm, soft carpet, and our fur sleeping-bags arranged +for the night. Upon a small table extemporised out of a candle-box, +which stood in the centre, Yagor soon placed two cups of steaming +hot tea and a couple of dried fish. Then stretching ourselves out in +luxurious style upon our bearskin carpet, with our feet to the fire +and our backs against pillows, we smoked, drank tea, and told stories +in perfect comfort. After supper the drivers piled dry branches of +trailing-pine upon the fire until it sent up a column of hot ruddy +flame ten feet in height, and then gathering in a picturesque group +around the blaze, they sang for hours the wild melancholy songs of the +Kamchadals, and told never-ending stories of hardship and adventure on +the great steppes and along the coast of the "Icy Sea." At last the +great constellation of Orion marked bedtime. Amid a tumult of snarling +and fighting the dogs were fed their daily allowance of one dried fish +each, fur stockings, moist with perspiration, were taken off and dried +by the fire, and putting on our heaviest fur _kukhlankas_ we crawled +feet first into our bearskin bags, pulled them up over our heads, and +slept. + +A camp in the middle of a clear, dark winter's night presents a +strange, wild appearance. I was awakened, soon after midnight, by cold +feet, and, raising myself upon one elbow, I pushed my head out of my +frosty fur bag to see by the stars what time it was. The fire had died +away to a red heap of smouldering embers. There was just light enough +to distinguish the dark outlines of the loaded sledges, the fur-clad +forms of our men, lying here and there in groups about the fire, and +the frosty dogs, curled up into a hundred little hairy balls upon the +snow. Away beyond the limits of the camp stretched the desolate steppe +in a series of long snowy undulations, which blended gradually into +one great white frozen ocean, and were lost in the distance and +darkness of night. High overhead, in a sky which was almost black, +sparkled the bright constellations of Orion and the Pleiades--the +celestial clocks which marked the long, weary hours between sunrise +and sunset. The blue mysterious streamers of the aurora trembled in +the north, now shooting up in clear bright lines to the zenith, then +waving back and forth in great majestic curves over the silent camp, +as if warning back the adventurous traveller from the unknown regions +around the Pole. The silence was profound, oppressive. Nothing but +the pulsating of the blood in my ears, and the heavy breathing of the +sleeping men at my feet, broke the universal lull. Suddenly there rose +upon the still night air a long, faint, wailing cry like that of a +human being in the last extremity of suffering. Gradually it swelled +and deepened until it seemed to fill the whole atmosphere with its +volume of mournful sound, dying away at last into a low, despairing +moan. It was the signal-howl of a Siberian dog; but so wild and +unearthly did it seem in the stillness of the arctic midnight, that +it sent the startled blood bounding through my veins to my very +finger-ends. In a moment the mournful cry was taken up by another dog, +upon a higher key--two or three more joined in, then ten, twenty, +forty, sixty, eighty, until the whole pack of a hundred dogs howled +one infernal chorus together, making the air fairly tremble with +sound, as if from the heavy bass of a great organ. For fully a minute +heaven and earth seemed to be filled with yelling, shrieking fiends. +Then one by one they began gradually to drop off, the unearthly tumult +grew momentarily fainter and fainter, until at last it ended as it +began, in one long, inexpressibly melancholy wail, and all was still. +One or two of our men moved restlessly in their sleep, as if the +mournful howls had blended unpleasantly with their dreams; but no +one awoke, and a death-like silence again pervaded heaven and earth. +Suddenly the aurora shone out with increased brilliancy, and its +waving swords swept back and forth in great semicircles across the +dark starry sky, and lighted up the snowy steppe with transitory +flashes of coloured radiance, as if the gates of heaven were opening +and closing upon the dazzling brightness of the celestial city. +Presently it faded away again to a faint diffused glow in the north, +and one pale-green streamer, slender and bright as the spear of +Ithuriel, pushed slowly up toward the zenith until it touched with its +translucent point the jewelled belt of Orion; then it, too, faded and +vanished, and nothing but a bank of pale white mist on the northern +horizon showed the location of the celestial armory whence the arctic +spirits drew the gleaming swords and lances which they shook and +brandished nightly over the lonely Siberian steppes. Crawling back +into my bag as the aurora disappeared, I fell asleep, and did not wake +until near morning. With the first streak of dawn the camp began to +show signs of animation. The dogs crawled out of the deep holes which +their warm bodies had melted in the snow; the Cossacks poked their +heads out of their frosty fur coats, and whipped off with little +sticks the mass of frost which had accumulated around their +breathing-holes; a fire was built, tea boiled, and we crawled out of +our sleeping-bags to shiver around the fire and eat a hasty breakfast +of rye-bread, dried fish, and tea. In twenty minutes the dogs were +harnessed, sledges packed, and runners covered with ice, and one after +another we drove away at a brisk trot from the smoking fire, and began +another day's journey across the barren steppe. + +In this monotonous routine of riding, camping, and sleeping on the +snow, day after day slowly passed until, on December 20th, we arrived +at the Settled Korak village of Shestakova, near the head of Penzhinsk +Gulf. From this point our Gizhiga Cossacks were to return, and here we +were to wait until the expected sledges from Penzhina should arrive. +We lowered our bedding, pillows, camp-equipage, and provisions down +through the chimney hole of the largest _yurt_ in the small village, +arranged them as tastefully as possible on the wide wooden platform +which extended out from the wall on one side, and made ourselves as +comfortable as darkness, smoke, cold, and dirt would permit. + +[Illustration: Korak Adzes] + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + + +DISMAL SHELTER--ARRIVAL OF A COSSACK COURIER AMERICANS ON THE +ANADYR--ARCTIC FIREWOOD A SIBERIAN BLIZZARD LOST ON THE STEPPE + +Our short stay at Shestakova, while waiting for the Penzhina sledges, +was dismal and lonesome beyond expression. It began to storm furiously +about noon on the 20th, and the violent wind swept up such tremendous +clouds of snow from the great steppe north of the village, that the +whole earth was darkened as if by an eclipse, and the atmosphere, to a +height of a hundred feet from the ground, was literally packed with a +driving mist of white snowflakes. I ventured to the top of the chimney +hole once, but I was nearly blown over the edge of the _yurt_, and, +blinded and choked by snow, I hastily retreated down the chimney, +congratulating myself that I was not obliged to lie out all day on +some desolate plain, exposed to the fury of such a storm. To keep +out the snow, we were obliged to extinguish the fire and shut up the +chimney hole with a sort of wooden trap-door, so that we were left to +total darkness and a freezing atmosphere. We lighted candles and stuck +them against the black smoky logs above our heads with melted grease, +so that we could see to read; but the cold was so intense that we +were finally compelled to give up the idea of literary amusement, and +putting on fur coats and hoods, we crawled into our bags to try to +sleep away the day. Shut up in a dark half-underground dungeon, with +a temperature ten degrees below the freezing-point, we had no other +resource. + +It is a mystery to me how human beings with any feeling at all can be +satisfied to live in such abominable, detestable houses as those of +the Settled Koraks. They have not one solitary redeeming feature. +They are entered through the chimney, lighted by the chimney, and +ventilated by the chimney; the sunshine falls into them only once a +year--in June; they are cold in winter, close and uncomfortable in +summer, and smoky all the time. They are pervaded by a smell of rancid +oil and decaying fish; their logs are black as jet and greasy with +smoke, and their earthen floors are an indescribable mixture of +reindeer hairs and filth dried and trodden hard. They have no +furniture except wooden bowls of seal oil, in which burn fragments of +moss, and black wooden troughs which are alternately used as dishes +and as seats. Sad is the lot of children born in such a place. Until +they are old enough to climb up the chimney pole they never see the +outside world. + +The weather on the day after our arrival at Shestakova was much +better, and our Cossack Meranef, who was on his way back to Tigil, +bade us good-bye, and started with two or three natives for Kamenoi. +Dodd and I managed to pass away the day by drinking tea eight or ten +times simply as an amusement, reading an odd volume of Cooper's novels +which we had picked up at Gizhiga, and strolling along the high bluffs +over the gulf with our rifles in search of foxes. Soon after dark, +just as we were drinking tea in final desperation for the seventh +time, our dogs who were tied around the _yurt_ set up a general howl, +and Yagor came sliding down the chimney in the most reckless and +disorderly manner, with the news that a Russian Cossack had just +arrived from Petropavlovsk, bringing letters for the Major. Dodd +sprang up in great excitement, kicked over the teakettle, dropped his +cup and saucer, and made a frantic rush for the chimney pole; but +before he could reach it we saw somebody's legs coming down into the +_yurt_, and in a moment a tall man in a spotted reindeerskin coat +appeared, crossed himself carefully two or three times, as if in +gratitude for his safe arrival, and then turned to us with the Russian +salutation, "Zdrastvuitia."--"At kooda?"--"Where from?" demanded +Dodd, quickly. "From Petropavlovsk with letters for the _Maiur_," +(mai-oor'), was the reply; "three telegraph ships have been there, +and I am sent with important letters from the American _nachalnik_ +[Footnote: Commander.]; I have been thirty-nine days and nights on the +road from Petropavlovsk." This was important news. Colonel Bulkley +had evidently touched at the southern end of Kamchatka on his return +from Bering Sea, and the letters brought by the courier would +undoubtedly explain why he had not landed the party at the mouth of +the Anadyr River, as he had intended. I felt a strong temptation to +open the letters; but not thinking that they could have any bearing +upon my movements, I finally concluded to send them on without a +moment's delay to Gizhiga, in the faint hope that the Major had not +yet left there for Okhotsk. In twenty minutes the Cossack was gone, +and we were left to form all sorts of wild conjectures as to the +contents of the letters, and the movements of the parties which +Colonel Bulkley had carried up to Bering Strait. I regretted a hundred +times that I had not opened the letters, and found out to a certainty +that the Anadyr River party had not been landed. But it was too late +now, and we could only hope that the courier would overtake the Major +before he had started from Gizhiga, and that the latter would send +somebody to us at Anadyrsk with the news. + +[Illustration: INTERIOR OF A YURT OF THE SETTLED KORAKS] + +There were no signs yet of the Penzhina sledges, and we spent another +night and another long dreary day in the smoky _yurt_ at Shestakova, +waiting for transportation. Late in the evening of December 2d, Yagor, +who acted in the capacity of sentinel, came down the chimney with +another sensation. He had heard the howling of dogs in the direction +of Penzhina. We went up on the roof of the _yurt_ and listened for +several minutes, but hearing nothing but the wind, we concluded that +Yagor had either been mistaken, or that a pack of wolves had howled +in the valley east of the settlement. Yagor however was right; he had +heard dogs on the Penzhina road, and in less than ten minutes the +long-expected sledges drew up, amid general shouting and barking, +before our _yurt_. In the course of conversation with the new +arrivals, I thought I understood one of the Penzhina men to say +something about a party who had mysteriously appeared near the mouth +of the Anadyr River, and who were building a house there as if with +the intention of spending the winter. I did not yet understand Russian +very well, but I guessed at once that the long-talked-of Anadyr River +party had been landed, and springing up in considerable excitement, I +called Dodd to interpret. It seemed from all the information which +the Penzhina men could give us that a small party of Americans had +mysteriously appeared, early in the winter, near the mouth of the +Anadyr, and had commenced to build a house of driftwood and a few +boards which had been landed from the vessel in which they came. What +their intentions were, who they were, or how long they intended to +stay, no one knew, as the report came through bands of Wandering +Chukchis, who had never seen the Americans themselves, but who had +heard of them from others. The news had been passed along from one +encampment of Chukchis to another until it had finally reached +Penzhina, and had thus been brought on to us at Shestakova, more than +five hundred miles from the place where the Americans were said to be. +We could hardly believe that Colonel Bulkley had landed an exploring +party in the desolate region south of Bering Strait, at the very +beginning of an arctic winter; but what could Americans be doing +there, if they did not belong to our expedition? It was not a place +which civilised men would be likely to select for a winter residence, +unless they had in view some very important object. The nearest +settlement--Anadyrsk--was almost two hundred and fifty miles distant; +the country along the lower Anadyr was said to be wholly destitute +of wood, and inhabited only by roving bands of Chukchis, and a +party landed there without an interpreter would have no means of +communicating even with these wild, lawless natives, or of obtaining +any means whatever of transportation. If there were any Americans +there, they were certainly in a very unpleasant situation. Dodd and I +talked the matter over until nearly midnight, and finally concluded +that upon our arrival at Anadyrsk we would make up a strong party of +experienced natives, take thirty days' provisions, and push through +to the Pacific Coast on dog-sledges in search of these mysterious +Americans. It would be an adventure just novel and hazardous enough +to be interesting, and if we succeeded in reaching the mouth of the +Anadyr in winter, we should do something never before accomplished and +never but once attempted. With this conclusion we crawled into our +fur bags and dreamed that we were starting for the Open Polar Sea in +search of Sir John Franklin. + +On the morning of December 23d, as soon as it was light enough to see, +we loaded our tobacco, provisions, tea, sugar, and trading-goods upon +the Penzhina sledges, and started up the shallow bushy valley of the +Shestakova River toward a mountainous ridge, a spur of the great +Stanavoi range, in which the stream had its source. We crossed the +mountain early in the afternoon, at a height of about a thousand feet, +and slid swiftly down its northern slope into a narrow valley, which +opened upon the great steppes which bordered the river Aklan. The +weather was clear and not very cold, but the snow in the valley was +deep and soft, and our progress was provokingly slow. We had hoped to +reach the Aklan by night, but the day was so short and the road so +bad that we travelled five hours after dark, and then had to stop ten +versts south of the river. We were rewarded, however, by seeing +two very fine mock moons, and by finding a magnificent patch of +trailing-pine, which furnished us with dry wood enough for a glorious +camp-fire. The curious tree or bush known to the Russians as +_kedrovnik_ (keh-drove'-nik), and rendered in the English translation +of Wrangell's Travels as "trailing cedar," is one of the most singular +productions of Siberia. I hardly know whether to call it a tree, a +bush, or a vine, for it partakes more or less of the characteristics +of all three, and yet does not look much like any of them. It +resembles as much as anything a dwarf pine tree, with a remarkably +gnarled, crooked, and contorted trunk, growing horizontally like a +neglected vine along the ground, and sending up perpendicular branches +through the snow. It has the needles and cones of the common white +pine, but it never stands erect like a tree, and grows in great +patches from a few yards to several acres in extent. A man might walk +over a dense growth of it in winter and yet see nothing but a few +bunches of sharp green needles, sticking up here and there through the +snow. It is found on the most desolate steppes and upon the rockiest +mountain-sides from the Okhotsk Sea to the Arctic Ocean, and seems to +grow most luxuriantly where the soil is most barren and the storms +most severe. On great ocean-like plains, destitute of all other +vegetation, this trailing-pine lurks beneath the snow, and covers +the ground in places with a perfect network of gnarled, twisted, and +interlocking trunks. For some reason it always seems to die when it +has attained a certain age, and wherever you find its green spiny +foliage you will also find dry white trunks as inflammable as tinder. +It furnishes almost the only firewood of the Wandering Koraks and +Chukchis, and without it many parts of north-eastern Siberia would +be absolutely uninhabitable by man. Scores of nights during our +explorations in Siberia, we should have been compelled to camp without +fire, water, or warm food, had not Nature provided everywhere an +abundance of trailing-pine, and stored it away under the snow for the +use of travellers. + +[Illustration: DOG-TEAMS DESCENDING A STEEP MOUNTAIN SLOPE] + +We left our camp in the valley early on the following morning, pushed +on across the large and heavily timbered river called the Aklan, and +entered upon the great steppe which stretches away from its northern +bank toward Anadyrsk. For two days we travelled over this barren +snowy plain, seeing no vegetation but stunted trees and patches of +trailing-pine along the banks of occasional streams, and no life +except one or two solitary ravens and a red fox. The bleak and dreary +landscape could have been described in two words--snow and sky. I had +come to Siberia with full confidence in the ultimate success of the +Russian-American Telegraph line, but as I penetrated deeper and deeper +into the country and saw its utter desolation I grew less and less +sanguine. Since leaving Gizhiga we had travelled nearly three hundred +versts, had found only four places where we could obtain poles, and +had passed only three settlements. Unless we could find a better +route than the one over which we had been, I feared that the Siberian +telegraph line would be a failure. + +Up to this time we had been favoured with unusually fine weather; but +it was a season of the year when storms were of frequent occurrence, +and I was not surprised to be awakened Christmas night by the roaring +of the wind and the hissing sound of the snow as it swept through our +unprotected camp and buried up our dogs and sledges. We were having a +slight touch of a Siberian _purga_ (poor'-gah = blizzard). A fringe of +trees along the little stream on which we were camped sheltered us +in a measure from the storm, but out on the steppe it was evidently +blowing a gale. We rose as usual at daylight and made an attempt to +travel; but no sooner did we leave the cover of the trees than our +dogs became almost unmanageable, and, blinded and half suffocated +with flying snow, we were driven back again into the timber. It was +impossible to see thirty feet, and the wind blew with such fury that +our dogs would not face it. We massed our sledges together as a sort +of breastwork against the drifting snow, spread our fur bags down +behind them, crawled in, covered up our heads with deerskins and +blankets, and prepared for a long dismal siege. There is nothing so +thoroughly, hopelessly dreary and uncomfortable, as camping out upon a +Siberian steppe in a storm. The wind blows with such violence that a +tent cannot possibly be made to stand; the fire is half extinguished +by drifting snow, and fills the eyes with smoke and cinders when it +burns at all; conversation is impossible on account of the roaring +of the wind and the beating of the snow in one's face; bearskins, +pillows, and furs become stiff and icy with half-melted sleet, sledges +are buried up, and there remains nothing for the unhappy traveller to +do but crawl into his sleeping-bag, cover up his head, and shiver away +the long, dismal hours. + +We lay out on the snow in this storm for two days, spending nearly all +the time in our fur bags and suffering severely from the cold during +the long, dark nights. On the 28th, about four o'clock in the morning, +the storm began to abate, and by six we had dug out our sledges and +were under way. There was a low spur of the Stanavoi Mountains about +ten versts north of our camp, and our men said that if we could get +across that before daylight we should probably have no more bad +weather until we reached Penzhina. Our dog-food was entirely +exhausted, and we must make the settlement within the next twenty-four +hours if possible. The snow had been blown hard by the wind, our dogs +were fresh from two days' rest, and before daylight we had crossed +the ridge and stopped in a little valley on the northern slope of +the mountain to drink tea. When compelled to travel all night, the +Siberian natives always make a practice of stopping just before +sunrise and allowing their dogs to get to sleep. They argue that if a +dog goes to sleep while it is yet dark, and wakes up in an hour and +finds the sun shining, he will suppose that he has had a full night's +rest and will travel all day without thinking of being tired. An +hour's stop, however, at any other time will be of no use whatever. As +soon as we thought we had deluded our dogs into the belief that they +had slept all night, we roused them up and started down the valley +toward a tributary of the Penzhina River, known as the Uskanova +(Oo-skan'-o-vah). The weather was clear and not very cold, and we all +enjoyed the pleasant change and the brief two hours of sunshine which +were vouchsafed us before the sun sank behind the white peaks of +Stanavoi. Just at dark we crossed the river Kondra, fifteen miles from +Penzhina, and in two hours more we were hopelessly lost on another +great level steppe, and broken up into two or three separate and +bewildered parties. I had fallen asleep soon after passing the Kondra, +and had not the slightest idea how we were progressing or whither we +were going, until Dodd shook me by the shoulder and said, "Kennan, +we're lost." Rather a startling announcement to wake a man with, but +as Dodd did not seem to be much concerned about it, I assured him that +I didn't care, and lying back on my pillow went to sleep again, fully +satisfied that my driver would find Penzhina sometime in the course of +the night. + +Guided by the stars, Dodd, Gregorie, and I, with one other sledge +which remained with us, turned away to the eastward, and about nine +o'clock came upon the Penzhina River somewhere below the settlement. +We started up it on the ice, and had gone but a short distance when we +saw two or three sledges coming down the river. Surprised to find men +travelling away from the village at that hour of the night, we hailed +them with a "Halloo!" + +"Halloo!" + +"Vwe kooda yaydetia?"--"Where are you going?" + +"We're going to Penzhina; who are you?" + +"We're Gizhigintsi, also going to Penzhina; what you coming down the +river for?" + +"We're trying to find the village, devil take it; we've been +travelling all night and can't find anything!" + +Upon this Dodd burst into a loud laugh, and as the mysterious sledges +drew nearer we recognised in their drivers three of our own men who +had separated from us soon after dark, and who were now trying to +reach Penzhina by going down the river toward the Okhotsk Sea. We +could hardly convince them that the village did not lie in that +direction. They finally turned back with us, however, and some time +after midnight we drove into Penzhina, roused the sleeping inhabitants +with a series of unearthly yells, startled fifty or sixty dogs into a +howling protest against such untimely disturbance, and threw the whole +settlement into a general uproar. + +In ten minutes we were seated on bearskins before a warm fire in +a cozy Russian house, drinking cup after cup of fragrant tea, and +talking over our night's adventures. + +[Illustration: Ladle made of Caribou antler] + +[Illustration: Woman's knife for cutting meat] + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + + +PENZHINA--POSTS FOR ELEVATED ROAD--FIFTY-THREE BELOW ZERO--TALKED +OUT--ASTRONOMICAL LECTURES--EATING PLANETS--THE HOUSE OF A PRIEST + +The village of Penzhina is a little collection of log houses, +flat-topped _yurts_, and four-legged _balagans,_ situated on the north +bank of the river which bears its name, about half-way between the +Okhotsk Sea and Anadyrsk. It is inhabited principally by _meshchans_ +(mesh-chans'), or free Russian peasants, but contains also in its +scanty population a few "Chuances" or aboriginal Siberian natives, who +were subjugated by the Russian Cossacks in the eighteenth century, +and who now speak the language of their conquerors and gain a scanty +subsistence by fishing and trading in furs. The town is sheltered on +the north by a very steep bluff about a hundred feet in height, which, +like all hills in the vicinity of Russian settlements, bears upon +its summit a Greek cross with three arms. The river opposite the +settlement is about a hundred yards in width, and its banks are +heavily timbered with birch, larch, poplar, willow, and aspen. Owing +to warm springs in its bed, it never entirely freezes over at this +point, and in a temperature of 40 deg. below zero gives off dense clouds +of steam which hide the village from sight as effectually as a London +fog. + +We remained at Penzhina three days, gathering information about the +surrounding country and engaging men to cut poles for our line. We +found the people to be cheerful, good-natured, and hospitable, and +disposed to do all in their power to further our plans; but of course +they had never heard of a telegraph, and could not imagine what we +were going to do with the poles which we were so anxious to have cut. +Some said that we intended to build a wooden road from Gizhiga to +Anadyrsk, so that it would be possible to travel back and forth in the +summer; others contended with some show of probability that two men, +even if they _were_ Americans, could not construct a wooden road, six +hundred versts long, and that our real object was to build some +sort of a huge house. When questioned as to the use of this immense +edifice, however, the advocates of the house theory were covered with +confusion, and could only insist upon the physical impossibility of +a road, and call upon their opponents to accept the house or suggest +something better. We succeeded in engaging sixteen able-bodied men, +however, to cut poles for a reasonable compensation, gave them the +required dimensions--twenty-one feet long and five inches in diameter +at the top--and instructed them to cut as many as possible, and pile +them up along the banks of the river. + +I may as well mention here, that when I returned from Anadyrsk in +March I went to look at the poles, 500 in number, which the Penzhina +men had cut. I found, to my great astonishment, that there was hardly +one of them less than twelve inches in diameter at the top, and that +the majority were so heavy and unwieldy that a dozen men could not +move them. I told the natives that they would not do, and asked why +they had not cut smaller ones, as I had directed. They replied that +they supposed I wanted to build some kind of a road on the tops of +these poles, and they knew that poles only five inches in diameter +would not be strong enough to hold it up! They had accordingly cut +trees large enough to be used as pillars for a state-house. They still +lie there, buried in arctic snows; and I have no doubt that many years +hence, when Macaulay's New Zealander shall have finished sketching the +ruins of St. Paul's and shall have gone to Siberia to complete his +education, he will be entertained by his native drivers with stories +of how two crazy Americans once tried to build an elevated railroad +from the Okhotsk Sea to Bering Strait. I only hope that the New +Zealander will write a book, and confer upon the two crazy Americans +the honour and the immortality which their labours deserved, but which +the elevated railroad failed to give. + +We left Penzhina on the 31st day of December for Anadyrsk. After +travelling all day, as usual, over a barren steppe, we camped for +the night near the foot of a white isolated peak called Nalgim, in a +temperature of 53 deg. below zero. It was New Year's Eve; and as I sat by +the fire in my heaviest furs, covered from head to foot with frost, +I thought of the great change which a single year had made in my +surroundings. New Year's Eve, 1864, I had spent in Central America, +riding on a mule from Lake Nicaragua to the Pacific coast, through a +magnificent tropical forest. New Year's Eve, 1865, found me squatting +on a great snowy plain near the Arctic Circle, trying, in a +temperature of 53 deg. below zero, to eat up my soup before it froze +solidly to the plate. Hardly could there have been a greater contrast. + +Our camp near Mount Nalgim abounded in trailing-pine and we made a +fire which sent up a column of ruddy flame ten feet in height; but it +did not seem to have much influence upon the atmosphere. Our eyelids +froze together while we were drinking tea; our soup, taken hot from +the kettle, froze in our tin plates before we could possibly finish +eating it; and the breasts of our fur coats were covered with a white +rime, while we sat only a few feet from a huge blazing camp-fire. Tin +plates, knives, and spoons burned the bare hand when touched, almost +exactly as if they were red-hot; and water, spilled on a little piece +of board only fourteen inches from the fire, froze solid in less than +two minutes. The warm bodies of our dogs gave off clouds of steam; and +even the bare hand, wiped perfectly dry, exhaled a thin vapour +when exposed to the air. We had never before experienced so low a +temperature; but we suffered very little except from cold feet, and +Dodd declared that with a good fire and plenty of fat food he would +not be afraid to try fifteen degrees lower. The greatest cause of +suffering in Siberia is wind. Twenty degrees below zero, with a fresh +breeze, is very trying; and a gale of wind, with a temperature +of -40 deg., is almost unendurable. Intense cold of itself is not +particularly dangerous to life. A man who will eat a hearty supper of +dried fish and tallow, dress himself in a Siberian costume, and crawl +into a heavy fur bag, may spend a night out-doors in a temperature of +-70 deg. without any serious danger; but if he is tired out, with long +travel, if his clothes are wet with perspiration, or if he has not +enough to eat, he may freeze to death with the thermometer at zero. +The most important rules for an arctic traveller are: to eat plenty of +fat food; to avoid over-exertion and night journeys; and never to +get into a profuse perspiration by violent exercise for the sake of +temporary warmth. I have seen Wandering Chukchis in a region destitute +of wood and in a dangerous temperature, travel all day with aching +feet rather than exhaust their strength by trying to warm them in +running. They would never exercise except when it was absolutely +necessary to keep from freezing. As a natural consequence, they were +almost as fresh at night as they had been in the morning, and if they +failed to find wood for a fire, or were compelled by some unforeseen +exigency to travel throughout the twenty-four hours, they had +the strength to do it. An inexperienced traveller under the same +circumstances, would have exhausted all his energy during the day in +trying to keep perfectly warm; and at night, wet with perspiration and +tired out by too much violent exercise, he would almost inevitably +have frozen to death. + +For two hours after supper, Dodd and I sat by the fire, trying +experiments to see what the intense cold would do. About eight o'clock +the heavens became suddenly overcast with clouds, and in less than an +hour the thermometer had risen nearly thirty degrees. Congratulating +ourselves upon this fortunate change in the weather, we crawled into +our fur bags and slept away as much as we could of the long arctic +night. + +Our life for the next few days was the same monotonous routine of +riding, camping, and sleeping with which we were already so familiar. +The country over which we passed was generally bleak, desolate, and +uninteresting; the weather was cold enough for discomfort, but not +enough so to make outdoor life dangerous or exciting; the days were +only two or three hours in length and the nights were interminable. +Going into camp early in the afternoon, when the sun disappeared, we +had before us about twenty hours of darkness, in which we must either +amuse ourselves in some way, or sleep. Twenty hours' sleep for any one +but a Rip Van Winkle was rather an over-dose, and during at least half +that time we could think of nothing better to do than sit around the +camp-fire on bearskins and talk. Ever since leaving Petropavlovsk, +talking had been our chief amusement; and although it had answered +very well for the first hundred nights or so, it was now becoming a +little monotonous and our mental resources were running decidedly low. +We could not think of a single subject about which we knew anything +that had not been talked over, criticised, and discussed to the very +bone. We had related to each other in detail the whole history of our +respective lives, together with the lives of all our ancestors as far +back as we knew anything about them. We had discussed in full every +known problem of Love, War, Science, Politics, and Religion, including +a great many that we knew nothing whatever about, and had finally been +reduced to such topics of conversation as the size of the army with +which Xerxes invaded Greece and the probable extent of the Noachian +deluge. As there was no possibility of arriving at any mutually +satisfactory conclusion with regard to either of these important +questions, the debate had been prolonged for twenty or thirty +consecutive nights and the questions finally left open for future +consideration. In cases of desperate emergency, when all other topics +of conversation failed, we knew that we could return to Xerxes and the +Flood; but these subjects had been dropped by the tacit consent of +both parties soon after leaving Gizhiga, and were held in reserve as a +"dernier ressort" for stormy nights in Korak _yurts_. One night as we +were encamped on a great steppe north of Shestakova, the happy idea +occurred to me that I might pass away these long evenings out of +doors, by delivering a course of lectures to my native drivers upon +the wonders of modern science. It would amuse me and at the same time +instruct them--or at least I hoped it would, and I proceeded at +once to put the plan into execution. I turned my attention first to +astronomy. Camping out on the open steppe, with no roof above except +the starry sky, I had every facility for the illustration of my +subject, and night after night as we travelled northward I might have +been seen in the centre of a group of eager natives, whose swarthy +faces were lighted up by the red blaze of the camp-fire, and who +listened with childish curiosity while I explained the phenomena of +the seasons, the revolution of the planets around the sun, and the +causes of a lunar eclipse. I was compelled, like John Phoenix, to +manufacture my own orrery, and I did it with a lump of frozen, tallow +to represent the earth, a chunk of black bread for the moon, and small +pieces of dried meat for the lesser planets. The resemblance to the +heavenly bodies was not, I must confess, very striking; but by making +believe pretty hard we managed to get along. A spectator would have +been amused could he have seen with what grave solemnity I circulated +the bread and tallow in their respective orbits, and have heard the +long-drawn exclamations of astonishment from the natives as I brought +the bread into eclipse behind the lump of tallow. My first lecture +would have been a grand success if my native audience had only been +able to understand the representative and symbolical character of +the bread and tallow. The great trouble was that their imaginative +faculties were weak. They could not be made to see that bread stood +for the moon and tallow-for the earth, but persisted in regarding them +as so many terrestrial products having an intrinsic value of their +own. They accordingly melted up the earth to drink, devoured the +moon whole, and wanted another lecture immediately. I endeavoured +to explain to them that these lectures were intended to be +_as_tronomical, not _gas_tronomical, and that eating and drinking +up the heavenly bodies in this reckless way was very improper. +Astronomical science I assured them did not recognise any such +eclipses as those produced by swallowing the planets, and however +satisfactory such a course might be to them, it was very demoralising +to my orrery. Remonstrances had very little effect, and I was +compelled to provide a new sun, moon, and earth for every, lecture. It +soon became evident to me that these astronomical feasts were becoming +altogether too popular, for my audience thought nothing of eating up +a whole solar system every night, and planetary material was becoming +scarce. I was finally compelled, therefore, to use stones and +snowballs to represent celestial bodies, instead of bread and tallow, +and from that time the interest in astronomical phenomena gradually +abated and the popularity of my lectures steadily declined until I was +left without a single hearer. + +The short winter day of three hours had long since closed and the +night was far advanced when after twenty-three days of rough travel +we drew near our final destination--the _ultima Thule_ of Russian +civilisation. I was lying on my sledge nearly buried in heavy furs and +half asleep, when the distant barking of dogs announced our approach +to the village of Anadyrsk. I made a hurried attempt to change my +thick fur _torbassa_ and overstockings for American boots, but was +surprised in the very act by the drawing up of my sledge before the +house of the Russian priest, where we intended to stop until we could +make arrangements for a house of our own. + +A crowd of curious spectators had gathered about the door to see the +wonderful Amerikanse about whom they had heard, and prominent in the +centre of the fur-clad group stood the priest, with long flowing hair +and beard, dressed in a voluminous black robe, and holding above his +head a long tallow candle which flared wildly in the cold night air. +As soon as I could disencumber my feet of my overstockings I alighted +from my sledge, amid profound bows and "zdrastvuitias" from the crowd, +and received a hearty welcome from the patriarchal priest. Three weeks +roughing it in the wilderness had not, I fancy, improved my personal +appearance, and my costume would have excited a sensation anywhere +except in Siberia. My face, which was not over clean, was darkened by +three weeks' growth of beard; my hair was in confusion and hung in +long ragged locks over my forehead, and the fringe of shaggy black +bearskin around my face gave me a peculiarly wild and savage +expression of countenance. The American boots which I had hastily +drawn on as we entered the village were all that indicated any +previous acquaintance with civilisation. Replying to the respectful +salutations of the Chuances, Yukagirs, and Russian Cossacks who in +yellow fur hoods and potted deerskin coats crowded about the door, I +followed the priest into the house. It was the second dwelling worthy +the name of house which I had entered in twenty-two days, and after +the smoky Korak _yurts_ of Kuil, Mikina, and Shestakova, it seemed +to me to be a perfect palace. The floor was carpeted with soft, dark +deerskins in which one's feet sank deeply at every step; a blazing +fire burned in a neat fireplace in one corner, and flooded the room +with cheerful light; the tables were covered with bright American +table-cloths; a tiny gilt taper was lighted before a massive gilt +shrine opposite the door; the windows were of glass instead of the +slabs of ice and the smoky fish bladders to which I had become +accustomed; a few illustrated newspapers lay on a stand in one corner, +and everything in the house was arranged with a taste and a view +to comfort which were as welcome to a tired traveller as they were +unexpected in this land of desolate steppes and uncivilised people. +Dodd, who was driving his own sledge, had not yet arrived; but from +the door we could hear a voice in the adjoining forest singing "Won't +I be glad when I get out of the wilderness, out o' the wilderness, out +o' the wilderness," the musician being entirely unconscious that he +was near the village, or that his melodiously expressed desire to "get +out o' the wilderness" was overheard by any one else. My Russian +was not extensive or accurate enough to enable me to converse very +satisfactorily with the priest, and I was heartily glad when Dodd +_got_ out of the wilderness, and appeared to relieve my embarrassment. +He didn't look much better than I did; that was one comfort. I drew +mental comparisons as soon as he entered the room and convinced myself +that one looked as much like a Korak as the other, and that neither +could claim precedence in point of civilisation on account of superior +elegance of dress. We shook hands with the priest's wife--a pale +slender lady with light hair and dark eyes,--made the acquaintance of +two or three pretty little children, who fled from us in affright as +soon as they were released, and finally seated ourselves at the table +to drink tea. + +Our host's cordial manner soon put us at our ease, and in ten minutes +Dodd was rattling off fluently a highly coloured account of our +adventures and sufferings, laughing, joking, and drinking vodka with +the priest, as unceremoniously as if he had known him for ten years +instead of as many minutes. That was a peculiar gift of Dodd's, which +I often used to envy. In five minutes, with the assistance of a little +vodka, he would break down the ceremonious reserve of the severest +old patriarch in the whole Greek Church, and completely carry him by +storm; while I could only sit by and smile feebly, without being able +to say a word. Great is "the gift o' gab." + +After an excellent supper of _shchi_ (shchee) or cabbage-soup, fried +cutlets, white bread and butter, we spread our bearskins down on the +floor, undressed ourselves for the second time in three weeks, +and went to bed. The sensation of sleeping without furs, and with +uncovered heads, was so strange, that for a long time we lay awake, +watching the red flickering firelight on the wall, and enjoying +the delicious warmth of soft, fleecy blankets, and the luxury of +unconfined limbs and bare feet. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + + +ANADYRSK--AN ARCTIC OUTPOST--SEVERE CLIMATE CHRISTMAS SERVICES AND +CAROLS--A SIBERIAN BALL--MUSIC AND REFRESHMENTS--EXCITED DANCING +HOLIDAY AMUSEMENTS + +The four little Russian and native villages, just south of the Arctic +Circle, which are collectively known as Anadyrsk, form the last link +in the great chain of settlements which extends in one almost unbroken +line from the Ural Mountains to Bering Strait. Owing to their +peculiarly isolated situation, and the difficulties and hardships of +travel during the only season in which they are accessible, they had +never, previous to our arrival, been visited by any foreigner, with +the single exception of a Swedish officer in the Russian service, +who led an exploring party from Anadyrsk toward Bering Strait in the +winter of 1859-60. Cut off, during half the year, from all the rest of +the world, and visited only at long intervals by a few half-civilised +traders, this little quadruple village was almost as independent and +self-sustained as if it were situated on an island in the midst of the +Arctic Ocean. Even its existence, to those who had no dealings with +it, was a matter of question. It was founded early in the eighteenth +century, by a band of roving, adventurous Cossacks, who, having +conquered nearly all the rest of Siberia, pushed through the mountains +from Kolyma to the Anadyr, drove out the Chukchis, who resisted their +advance, and established a military post on the river, a few versts +above the site of the present settlement. A desultory warfare then +began between the Chukchis and the Russian invaders, which lasted, +with varying success, for many years. During a considerable part of +the time Anadyrsk was garrisoned by a force of six hundred men and +a battery of artillery; but after the discovery and settlement of +Kamchatka it sank into comparative unimportance, the troops were +mostly withdrawn, and it was finally captured by the Chukchis and +burned. During the war which resulted in the destruction of Anadyrsk, +two native tribes, Chuances and Yukagirs, who had taken sides with the +Russians, were almost annihilated by the Chukchis, and were never able +afterward to regain their distinct tribal individuality. The few +who were left lost all their reindeer and camp-equipage, and were +compelled to settle down with their Russian allies and gain a +livelihood by hunting and fishing. They have gradually adopted Russian +customs and lost all their distinctive traits of character; and in a +few years not a single living soul will speak the languages of those +once powerful tribes. By the Russians, Chuances, and Yukagirs, +Anadyrsk was finally rebuilt, and became in time a trading-post of +considerable importance. Tobacco, which had been introduced by the +Russians, soon acquired great popularity with the Chukchis; and +for the sake of obtaining this highly prized luxury they ceased +hostilities, and began making yearly visits to Anadyrsk for the +purpose of trade. They never entirely lost, however, a certain feeling +of enmity toward the Russians who had invaded their territory, and for +many years would have no dealings with them except at the end of a +spear. They would hang a bundle of furs or a choice walrus tooth upon +the sharp polished blade of a long Chukchi lance, and if a Russian +trader chose to take it off and suspend in its place a fair equivalent +in the shape of tobacco, well and good; if not, there was no trade. +This plan guaranteed absolute security against fraud, for there was +not a Russian in all Siberia who dared to cheat one of these fierce +savages, with the blade of a long lance ten inches from his breast +bone. Honesty was emphatically the best policy, and the moral suasion +of a Chukchi spear developed the most disinterested benevolence in the +breast of the man who stood at the sharp end. The trade which was thus +established still continues to be a source of considerable profit to +the inhabitants of Anadyrsk, and to the Russian merchants who come +there every year from Gizhiga. + +[Illustration: CHUKCHIS ASSEMBLING AT ANADYRSK FOR THE WINTER FAIR] + +The four small villages which compose the settlement, and which are +distinctively known as "Pokorukof," "Osolkin," "Markova," and "The +Crepast," have altogether a population of perhaps two hundred souls. +The central village, called Markova, is the residence of the priest +and boasts a small rudely built church, but in winter it is a dreary +place. Its small log houses have no windows other than thick slabs of +ice cut from the river; many of them are sunken in the ground for the +sake of greater warmth, and all are more or less buried in snow. A +dense forest of larch, poplar, and aspen surrounds the town, so that +the traveller coming from Gizhiga sometimes has to hunt for it a whole +day, and if he be not familiar with the net-work of channels into +which the Anadyr River is here divided, he may not find it at all. +The inhabitants of all four settlements divide their time in summer +between fishing, and hunting the wild reindeer which make annual +migrations across the river in immense herds. In winter they are +generally absent with their sledges, visiting and trading with bands +of Wandering Chukchis, going with merchandise to the great annual +fair at Kolyma, and hiring their services to the Russian traders from +Gizhiga. The Anadyr River, in the vicinity of the village and for a +distance of seventy-five miles above, is densely wooded with trees +from eighteen to twenty-four inches in diameter, although the latitude +of the upper portion of it is 66 deg. N. The climate is very severe; +meteorological observations which we made at Markova in February, +1867, showed that on sixteen days in that month the thermometer went +to -40 deg., on eight days it went below -50 deg., five days below -60 deg., and +once to -68 deg.. This was the lowest temperature we ever experienced +in Siberia. The changes from intense cold to comparative warmth are +sometimes very rapid. On February 18th, at 9 A.M., the thermometer +stood at -52 deg., but in twenty-seven hours it had risen seventy-three +degrees and stood at +21 deg.. On the 21st it marked +3 deg. and on the 22d +-49 deg., an equally rapid change in the other direction. Notwithstanding +the climate, however, Anadyrsk is as pleasant a place to live as are +nine tenths of the Russian settlements in north-eastern Siberia, and +we enjoyed the novelty of our life there in the winter of 1866 as much +as we had enjoyed any part of our previous Siberian experience. + +The day which succeeded our arrival we spent in resting and making +ourselves as presentable as possible with the limited resources +afforded by our sealskin trunks. + +Thursday, January 6th, N.S. was the Russian Christmas, and we all rose +about four hours before daylight to attend an early service in the +church. Everybody in the house was up; a fire burned brightly in the +fireplace; gilded tapers were lighted before all the holy pictures and +shrines in our room, and the air was fragrant with incense. Out of +doors there was not yet a sign of daybreak. The Pleiades were low down +in the west, the great constellation of Orion had begun to sink, and a +faint aurora was streaming up over the tree-tops north of the village. +From every chimney rose a column of smoke and sparks, which showed +that the inhabitants were all astir. We walked over to the little log +church as quickly as possible, but the service had already commenced +when we entered and silently took our places in the crowd of bowing +worshippers. The sides of the room were lined with pictures of +patriarchs and Russian saints, before which were burning long wax +candles wound spirally with strips of gilded paper. Clouds of blue +fragrant incense rolled up toward the roof from swinging censers, +and the deep intonation of the gorgeously attired priest contrasted +strangely with the high soprano chanting of the choir. The service of +the Greek Church is more impressive, if possible, than that of the +Romish; but as it is conducted in the old Slavonic language, it is +almost wholly unintelligible. The priest is occupied, most of the +time, in gabbling rapid prayers which nobody can understand; swinging +a censer, bowing, crossing himself, and kissing a huge Bible, which +I should think would weigh thirty pounds. The administration of the +sacrament and the ceremonies attending the transubstantiation of the +bread and wine are made very effective. The most beautiful feature in +the whole service of the Greco-Russian Church is the music. No one can +listen to it without emotion, even in a little log chapel far away in +the interior of Siberia. Rude as it may be in execution, it breathes +the very spirit of devotion; and I have often stood through a long +service of two or three hours, for the sake of hearing a few chanted +psalms and prayers. Even the tedious, rapid, and mixed-up jabbering +of the priest is relieved at short intervals by the varied and +beautifully modulated "Gospodi pameelui" [God, have mercy!] and "Padai +Gospodin" [Grant, O Lord!] of the choir. The congregation stands +throughout even the longest service, and seems to be wholly absorbed +in devotion. All cross themselves and bow incessantly in response to +the words of the priest, and not unfrequently prostrate themselves +entirely, and reverently press their foreheads and lips to the floor. +To a spectator this seems very curious. One moment he is surrounded +by a crowd of fur-clad natives and Cossacks, who seem to be listening +quietly to the service; then suddenly the whole congregation goes down +upon the floor, like a platoon of infantry under the fire of a masked +battery, and he is left standing alone in the midst of nearly a +hundred prostrate forms. At the conclusion of the Christmas morning +service the choir burst forth into a jubilant hymn, to express the +joy of the angels over the Saviour's birth; and amid the discordant +jangling of a chime of bells, which hung in a little log tower at the +door, Dodd and I made our way out of the church, and returned to the +house to drink tea. I had just finished my last cup and lighted a +cigarette, when the door suddenly opened, and half a dozen men, with +grave, impassive countenances, marched in in single file, stopped a +few paces from the holy pictures in the corner, crossed themselves +devoutly in unison, and began to sing a simple but sweet Russian +melody, beginning with the words, "Christ is born." Not expecting to +hear Christmas carols in a little Siberian settlement on the Arctic +Circle, I was taken completely by surprise, and could only stare in +amazement--first at Dodd, to see what he thought about it, and then at +the singers. The latter, in their musical ecstasy, seemed entirely to +ignore our presence, and not until they had finished did they turn to +us, shake hands, and wish us a merry Christmas. Dodd gave each of them +a few kopecks, and with repeated wishes of merry Christmas, long life, +and much happiness to our "High Excellencies," the men withdrew to +visit in turn the other houses of the village. One band of singers +came after another, until at daylight all the younger portion of the +population had visited our house, and received our kopecks. Some of +the smaller boys, more intent upon the acquisition of coppers than +they were upon the solemnity of the ceremony, rather marred its effect +by closing up their hymn with "Christ is born, gim'me some money!" +but most of them behaved with the utmost propriety, and left us +greatly pleased with a custom so beautiful and appropriate. At sunrise +all the tapers were extinguished, the people donned their gayest +apparel, and the whole village gave itself up to the unrestrained +enjoyment of a grand holiday. Bells jangled incessantly from the +church tower; dog-sledges, loaded with girls, went dashing about the +streets, capsising into snow-drifts and rushing furiously down hills +amid shouts of laughter; women in gay flowery calico dresses, with +their hair tied up in crimson silk handkerchiefs, walked from house to +house, paying visits of congratulation and talking over the arrival of +the distinguished American officers; crowds of men played football +on the snow, and the whole settlement presented an animated, lively +appearance. + +On the evening of the third day after Christmas, the priest gave in +our honour a grand Siberian ball, to which all the inhabitants of +the four villages were invited, and for which the most elaborate +preparations were made. A ball at the house of a priest on Sunday +night struck me as implying a good deal of inconsistency and I +hesitated about sanctioning so plain a violation of the fourth +commandment. Dodd, however, proved to me in the most conclusive manner +that, owing to difference in time, it was Saturday in America and not +Sunday at all; that our friends at that very moment were engaged in +business or pleasure and that our happening to be on the other side +of the world was no reason why we should not do what our antipodal +friends were doing at exactly the same time. I was conscious that +this reasoning was sophistical, but Dodd mixed me up so with his +"longitude," "Greenwich time," "Bowditch's _Navigator_," "Russian +Sundays" and "American Sundays," that I was hopelessly bewildered, and +could not have told for my life whether it was today in America or +yesterday, or when a Siberian Sunday did begin. I finally concluded +that as the Russians kept Saturday night, and began another week at +sunset on the Sabbath, a dance would perhaps be sufficiently innocent +for that evening. According to Siberian ideas of propriety it was just +the thing. + +A partition was removed in our house, the floor made bare, the room +brilliantly illuminated with candles stuck against the wall with +melted grease, benches placed around three sides of the house for the +ladies, and about five o'clock the pleasure-seekers began to assemble. +Rather an early hour perhaps for a ball, but it seemed a very long +time after dark. The crowd which soon gathered numbered about forty, +the men being all dressed in heavy fur _kukhlankas,_ fur trousers, +and fur boots, and the ladies in thin white muslin and flowery calico +prints. The costumes of the respective sexes did not seem to harmonise +very well, one being light and airy enough for an African summer, +while the other seemed suitable for an arctic expedition in search of +Sir John Franklin. However, the general effect was very picturesque. +The orchestra which was to furnish the music consisted of two rudely +made violins, two _ballalaikas_ (bal-la-lai'-kahs) or triangular +native guitars with two strings each, and a huge comb prepared with +a piece of paper in a manner familiar to all boys. Feeling a little +curiosity to see how an affair of this kind would be managed upon +Siberian principles of etiquette, I sat quietly in a sheltered corner +and watched the proceedings. The ladies, as fast as they arrived, +seated themselves in a solemn row along a wooden bench at one end +of the room, and the men stood up in a dense throng at the other. +Everybody was preternaturally sober. No one smiled, no one said +anything; and the silence was unbroken save by an occasional rasping +sound from an asthmatic fiddle in the orchestra, or a melancholy toot, +toot, as one of the musicians tuned his comb. If this was to be the +nature of the entertainment, I could not see any impropriety in having +it on Sunday. It was as mournfully suggestive as a funeral. Little did +I know, however, the capabilities of excitement which were concealed +under the sober exteriors of those natives. In a few moments a little +stir around the door announced refreshments, and a young Chuancee +brought round and handed to me a huge wooden bowl, holding about four +quarts of raw frozen cranberries. I thought it could not be possible +that I was expected to eat four quarts of frozen cranberries! but +I took a spoonful or two, and looked to Dodd for instructions. He +motioned to me to pass them along, and as they tasted like acidulated +hailstones, and gave me a toothache, I was very glad to do so. + +The next course consisted of another wooden bowl, filled with what +seemed to be white pine shavings, and I looked at it in perfect +astonishment. Frozen cranberries and pine shavings were the most +extraordinary refreshments that I had ever seen--even in Siberia; but +I prided myself upon my ability to eat almost anything, and if the +natives could stand cranberries and shavings I knew I could. What +seemed to be white pine shavings I found upon trial to be thin +shavings of raw frozen fish--a great delicacy among the Siberians, and +one with which, under the name of "struganini" (stroo-gan-nee'-nee), +I afterward became very familiar. I succeeded in disposing of these +fish-shavings without any more serious result than an aggravation of +my toothache. They were followed by white bread and butter, cranberry +tarts, and cups of boiling hot tea, with which the supper finally +ended. We were then supposed to be prepared for the labours of the +evening; and after a good deal of preliminary scraping and tuning the +orchestra struck up a lively Russian dance called "kapalooshka." The +heads and right legs of the musicians all beat time emphatically to +the music, the man with the comb blew himself red in the face, and the +whole assembly began to sing. In a moment one of the men, clad in a +spotted deerskin coat and buckskin trousers, sprang into the centre +of the room and bowed low to a lady who sat upon one end of a long +crowded bench. The lady rose with a graceful courtesy and they began +a sort of half dance half pantomime about the room, advancing and +retiring in perfect time to the music, crossing over and whirling +swiftly around, the man apparently making love to the lady, and the +lady repulsing all his advances, turning away and hiding her face +with her handkerchief. After a few moments of this dumb show the lady +retired and another took her place; the music doubled its energy +and rapidity, the dancers began the execution of a tremendous +"break-down," and shrill exciting cries of "Heekh! Heekh! Heekh! +Vallai-i-i! Ne fstavai-i-i!" resounded from all parts of the room, +together with terrific tootings from the comb and the beating of half +a hundred feet on the bare planks. My blood began to dance in my veins +with the contagious excitement. Suddenly the man dropped down upon his +stomach on the floor at the feet of his partner, and began jumping +around like a huge broken-legged grasshopper upon his elbows and the +ends of his toes! This extraordinary feat brought down the house in +the wildest enthusiasm, and the uproar of shouting and singing drowned +all the instruments except the comb, which still droned away like a +Scottish bagpipe in its last agonies! Such singing, such dancing, +and such excitement, I had never before witnessed. It swept away my +self-possession like the blast of a trumpet sounding a charge. At +last, the man, after dancing successively with all the ladies in +the room, stopped apparently exhausted--and I have no doubt that he +was--and with the perspiration rolling in streams down his face, went +in search of some frozen cranberries to refresh himself after his +violent exertion. To this dance, which is called the "Russki" +(roo'-ski), succeeded another known as the "Cossack waltz," in which +Dodd to my great astonishment promptly joined. I knew I could dance +anything he could; so, inviting a lady in red and blue calico to +participate, I took my place on the floor. The excitement was +perfectly indescribable, when the two Americans began revolving +swiftly around the room; the musicians became almost frantic in their +endeavours to play faster, the man with the comb blew himself into +a fit of coughing and had to sit down, and a regular tramp, tramp, +tramp, from fifty or sixty feet, marked time to the music, together +with encouraging shouts of "Vallai! Amerikansi! Heekh! Heekh! Heekh!" +and the tumultuous singing of the whole crazy multitude. The pitch of +excitement to which these natives work themselves up in the course +of these dances is almost incredible, and it has a wonderfully +inspiriting effect even upon a foreigner. Had I not been temporarily +insane with unnatural enthusiasm, I should never have made myself +ridiculous by attempting to dance that Cossack waltz. It is regarded +as a great breach of etiquette in Siberia, after once getting upon +the floor, to sit down until you have danced, or at least offered +to dance, with all the ladies in the room; and if they are at all +numerous, it is a very fatiguing sort of amusement. By the time +Dodd and I finished we were ready to rush out-doors, sit down on a +snow-bank, and eat frozen fish and cranberry hailstones by the quart. +Our whole physical system seemed melting with fervent heat. + +As an illustration of the esteem with which Americans are regarded in +that benighted settlement of Anadyrsk, I will just mention that in the +course of my Cossack waltz I stepped accidentally with my heavy boot +upon the foot of a Russian peasant. I noticed that his face wore for +a moment an expression of intense pain, and as soon as the dance +was over, I went to him, with Dodd as interpreter, to apologise. He +interrupted me with a profusion of bows, protested that it didn't hurt +him _at all_, and declared, with an emphasis which testified to his +sincerity, that he regarded it as an honour to have his toe stepped on +by an American! I had never before realised what a proud and enviable +distinction I enjoyed in being a native of our highly favoured +country! I could stalk abroad into foreign lands with a reckless +disregard for everybody's toes, and the full assurance that the more +toes I stepped on the more honour I would confer upon benighted +foreigners, and the more credit I would reflect upon my own benevolent +disposition! This was clearly the place for unappreciated Americans to +come to; and if any young man finds that his merits are not properly +recognised at home, I advise him in all seriousness to go to Siberia, +where the natives will regard it as an honour to have him step on +their toes. + +Dances interspersed with curious native games and frequent +refreshments of frozen cranberries prolonged the entertainment until +two o'clock, when it finally broke up, having lasted nine hours. I +have described somewhat in detail this dancing party because it is +the principal amusement of the semi-civilised inhabitants of all the +Russian settlements in Siberia, and shows better than anything else +the careless, happy disposition of the people. + +Throughout the holidays the whole population did nothing but pay +visits, give tea parties, and amuse themselves with dancing, +sleigh-riding, and playing ball. Every evening between Christmas and +New Year, bands of masqueraders dressed in fantastic costumes went +around with music to all the houses in the village and treated the +inmates to songs and dances. The inhabitants of these little +Russian settlements in north-eastern Siberia are the most careless, +warmhearted, hospitable people in the world, and their social life, +rude as it is, partakes of all these characteristics. There is no +ceremony or affectation, no "putting on of style" by any particular +class. All mingle unreservedly together and treat each other with the +most affectionate cordiality, the men often kissing one another when +they meet and part, as if they were brothers. Their isolation from all +the rest of the world seems to have bound them together with ties of +mutual sympathy and dependence, and banished all feelings of envy, +jealousy, and petty selfishness. During our stay with the priest we +were treated with the most thoughtful consideration and kindness, and +his small store of luxuries, such as flour, sugar, and butter, was +spent lavishly in providing for our table. As long as it lasted he was +glad to share it with us, and never hinted at compensation or seemed +to think that he was doing any more than hospitality required. + +[Illustration: ANADYRSK IN WINTER] + +With the first ten days of our stay at Anadyrsk are connected some of +the pleasantest recollections of our Siberian life. + +[Illustration: Woman's Mittens of Elk skin] + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + + +NEWS FROM THE ANADYR PARTY--PLAN FOR ITS RELIEF--THE STORY OF A +STOVE-PIPE--START FOR THE SEACOAST + +Immediately after our arrival at Anadyrsk we I had made inquiries as +to the party of Americans who were said to be living somewhere near +the mouth of the Anadyr River; but we were not able to get any +information in addition to that we already possessed. Wandering +Chukchis had brought the news to the settlement that a small band of +white men had been landed on the coast south of Bering Strait late in +the fall, from a "fire-ship" or steamer; that they had dug a sort of +cellar in the ground, covered it over with bushes and boards, and gone +into winter quarters. Who they were, what they had come for, and how +long they intended to stay, were questions which now agitated the +whole Chukchi nation, but which no one could answer. Their little +subterranean hut had been entirely buried, the natives said, by the +drifting snows of winter, and nothing but a curious iron tube out of +which came smoke and sparks showed where the white men lived. This +curious iron tube which so puzzled the Chukchis we at once supposed to +be a stove-pipe, and it furnished the strongest possible confirmation +of the truth of the story. No Siberian native could ever have invented +the idea of a stove-pipe--somebody must have seen one; and this fact +alone convinced us beyond a doubt that there were Americans living +somewhere on the coast of Bering Sea--probably an exploring party +landed by Colonel Bulkley to cooperate with us. + +The instructions which the Major gave me when we left Gizhiga did not +provide for any such contingency as the landing of this party near +Bering Strait, because at that time we had abandoned all hope of such +cooperation and expected to explore the country by our own unaided +exertions. The engineer-in-chief had promised faithfully, when we +sailed from San Francisco, that, if he should leave a party of men at +the mouth of the Anadyr River at all, he would leave them there early +in the season with a large whale-boat, so that they could ascend the +river to a settlement before the opening of winter. When we met the +Anadyrsk people, therefore, at Gizhiga, late in November, and learned +that nothing had been heard of any such party, we of course concluded +that for some reason the plan which Colonel Bulkley proposed had been +given up. No one dreamed that he would leave a mere handful of men +in the desolate region south of Bering Strait at the beginning of an +arctic winter, without any means whatever of transportation, without +any shelter, surrounded by fierce tribes of lawless natives, and +distant more than two hundred miles from the nearest civilised human +being. What was such an unfortunate party to do? They could only live +there in inactivity until they starved, were murdered, or were brought +away by an expedition sent to their rescue from the interior. Such was +the situation when Dodd and I arrived at Anadyrsk. Our orders were to +leave the Anadyr River unexplored until another season; but we knew +that as soon as the Major should receive the letters which had passed +through our hands at Shestakova he would learn that a party had been +landed south of Bering Strait, and would send us orders by special +courier to go in search of it and bring it to Anadyrsk, where it would +be of some use. We therefore determined to anticipate these orders and +hunt up that American stove-pipe upon our own responsibility. + +Our situation, however, was a very peculiar one. We had no means of +finding out where we were ourselves, or where the American party was. +We had not been furnished with instruments for making astronomical +observations, could not determine with any kind of accuracy our +latitude and longitude, and did not know whether we were two hundred +miles from the Pacific coast or five hundred. According to the report +of Lieutenant Phillippeus, who had partially explored the Anadyr +River, it was about a thousand versts from the settlement to Anadyr +Bay, while according to the dead reckoning which we had kept from +Gizhiga it could not be over four hundred. The real distance was to us +a question of vital importance, because we should be obliged to carry +dog-food for the whole trip, and if it was anything like a thousand +versts we should in all probability lose our dogs by starvation before +we could possibly get back. Besides this, when we finally reached +Anadyr Bay, if we ever did, we should have no means of finding out +where the Americans were; and unless we happened to meet a band of +Chukchis who had seen them, we might wander over those desolate plains +for a month without coming across the stove-pipe, which was the only +external sign of their subterranean habitation. It would be far worse +than the proverbial search for a needle in a haystack. + +When we made known to the people of Anadyrsk our intention of going to +the Pacific coast, and called for volunteers to make up a party, +we met with the most discouraging opposition. The natives declared +unanimously that such a journey was impossible, that it had never been +accomplished, that the lower Anadyr was swept by terrible storms and +perfectly destitute of wood, that the cold there was always intense, +and that we should inevitably starve to death, freeze to death, +or lose all our dogs. They quoted the experience of Lieutenant +Phillippeus, who had narrowly escaped starvation in the same region in +1860, and said that while he started in the spring we proposed to +go in midwinter, when the cold was most intense and the storms most +severe. Such an adventure they declared was almost certain to end in +disaster. Our Cossack Gregorie, a brave and trustworthy old man, had +been Lieutenant Phillippeus's guide and Chukchi interpreter in 1860, +had been down the river about a hundred and fifty miles in winter, +and knew something about it. We accordingly dismissed the natives and +talked the matter over with him. He said that as far as he had ever +gone towards Anadyr Bay there was trailing-pine enough along the banks +of the river to supply us with firewood, and that the country was no +worse than much of that over which we had already travelled between +Gizhiga and Anadyrsk. He said that he was entirely willing to +undertake the trip, and would go with his own team of dogs wherever we +would lead the way. The priest also, who had been down the river in +summer, believed the journey to be practicable, and said he would +go himself if he could do any good. Upon the strength of this +encouragement we gave the natives our final decision, showed them +the letter which we brought from the Russian governor at Gizhiga +authorising us to demand men and sledges for all kinds of service, and +told them that if they still refused to go we would send a special +messenger to Gizhiga and report their disobedience. This threat +and the example of our Cossack Gregorie, who was known to be an +experienced guide from the Okhotsk Sea to the Arctic Ocean, finally +had the desired effect. Eleven men agreed to go, and we began at once +to collect dog-food and provisions for an early start. We had as yet +only the vaguest, most indefinite information with regard to the +situation of the American party, and we determined to wait a few days +until a Cossack named Kozhevin (ko-zhay'-vin), who had gone to visit a +band of Wandering Chukchis, should return. The priest was sure that +he would bring later and more trustworthy intelligence, because the +wandering natives throughout the whole country knew of the arrival +of the mysterious white men, and would probably tell Kozhevin +approximately where they were. In the meantime we made some additions +to our heavy suits of furs, prepared masks of squirrelskin to be worn +over the face in extremely low temperatures, and set all the women in +the village at work upon a large fur tent. + +On Saturday, Jan. 20th, N.S., Kozhevin returned from his visit to the +Chukchis north of Anadyrsk, bringing as we expected later and fuller +particulars with regard to the party of exiled Americans south +of Bering Strait. It consisted, according to the best Chukchi +intelligence, of only five men, and was located on or near the Anadyr +River, about one day's journey above its mouth. These five men were +living, as we had previously been told, in a little subterranean +house rudely constructed of bushes and boards, and entirely buried in +drifted snow. They were said to be well supplied with provisions, +and had a great many barrels, which the Chukchis supposed to contain +vodka, but which we presumed to be barrels of salt-beef. They made a +fire, the natives said, in the most wonderful manner by burning "black +stones in an iron box," while all the smoke came out mysteriously +through a crooked iron tube which turned around when the wind blew! +In this vivid but comical description we of course recognised a coal +stove and a pipe with a rotary funnel. They had also, Kozhevin was +told, an enormous tame black bear, which they allowed to run loose +around the house, and which chased away the Chukchis in a most +energetic manner. When I heard this I could no longer restrain a +hurrah of exultation. The party was made up of our old San Francisco +comrades, and the tame black bear was Robinson's Newfoundland dog! I +had petted him a hundred times in America and had his picture among my +photographs. He was the dog of the expedition. There could no longer +be any doubt whatever that the party thus living under the snow on the +great steppes south of Bering Strait was the long talked of Anadyr +River exploring party, under the command of Lieutenant Macrae; and our +hearts beat fast with excitement as we thought of the surprise which +we should give our old friends and comrades by coming upon them +suddenly in that desolate, Godforsaken region, almost two thousand +miles away from the point where they supposed we had landed. Such a +meeting would repay us tenfold for all the hardships of our Siberian +life. + +Everything, by this time, was ready for a start. Our sledges were +loaded five feet high with provisions and dog-food for thirty days; +our fur tent was completed and packed away, to be used if necessary +in intensely cold weather; bags, overstockings, masks, thick +sleeping-coats, snow-shovels, axes, rifles, and long Siberian +snow-shoes were distributed around among the different sledges, and +everything which Gregorie, Dodd, and I could think of was done to +insure the success of the expedition. + +On Monday morning, Jan. 22d, the whole party assembled in front of +the priest's house. For the sake of economising transportation, and +sharing the fortunes of our men, whatever they might be, Dodd and I +abandoned our _pavoskas_, and drove our own loaded sledges. We did not +mean to have the natives say that we compelled them to go and then +avoided our share of work and hardships. The entire population of the +village, men, women, and children, turned out to see us off, and +the street before the priest's house was blocked up with a crowd +of dark-faced men in spotted fur coats, scarlet sashes, and +fierce-looking foxskin hoods, anxious-faced women running to and fro +and bidding their husbands and brothers good-bye, eleven long, narrow +sledges piled high with dried fish and covered with yellow buckskin +and lashings of sealskin thongs, and finally a hundred and twenty-five +shaggy wolfish dogs, who drowned every other sound with their combined +howls of fierce impatience. + +Our drivers went into the priest's house, and crossed themselves and +prayed before the picture of the Saviour, as is their custom +when starting on a long journey; Dodd and I bade good-bye to the +kind-hearted priest, and received the cordial "s' Bokhem" (go with +God), which is the Russian farewell; and then springing upon our +sledges, and releasing our frantic dogs, we went flying out of the +village in a cloud of snow which glittered like powdered jewel-dust in +the red sunshine. + +Beyond the two or three hundred miles of snowy desert which lay before +us we could see, in imagination, a shadowy stove-pipe rising out of a +bank of snow--the "San greal" of which we, as arctic knights-errant, +were in search. + +[Illustration: Ceremonial Masks of Wood] + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + + +A SLEDGE JOURNEY EASTWARD--REACHING TIDE-WATER--A NIGHT SEARCH FOR +A STOVE-PIPE--FINDING COMRADES--A VOICE FROM A STOVE--STORY OF THE +ANADYR PARTY + +I will not detain the reader long with the first part of our journey +from Anadyrsk to the Pacific Coast, as it did not differ much from +our previous Siberian experience. Riding all day over the ice of the +river, or across barren steppes, and camping out at night on the snow, +in all kinds of weather, made up our life; and its dreary monotony was +relieved only by anticipations of a joyful meeting with our exiled +friends and the exciting consciousness that we were penetrating a +country never before visited by civilised man. Day by day the fringe +of alder bushes along the river bank grew lower and more scanty, and +the great steppes that bordered the river became whiter and more +barren as the river widened toward the sea. Finally we left behind us +the last vestige of vegetation, and began the tenth day of our journey +along a river which had increased to a mile in width, and amidst +plains perfectly destitute of all life, which stretched away in one +unbroken white expanse until they blended with the distant sky. It +was not without uneasiness that I thought of the possibility of being +overtaken by a ten days' storm in such a region as this. We had made, +as nearly as we could estimate, since leaving Anadyrsk, about two +hundred versts; but whether we were anywhere near the seacoast or not +we had no means of knowing. The weather for nearly a week had been +generally clear, and not very cold; but on the night of February 1st +the thermometer sank to -35 deg., and we could find only just enough small +green bushes to boil our teakettle. We dug everywhere in the snow +in search of wood, but found nothing except moss, and a few small +cranberry bushes which would not burn. Tired with the long day's +travel, and the fruitless diggings for wood, Dodd and I returned to +camp, and threw ourselves down upon our bearskins to drink tea. Hardly +had Dodd put his cup to his lips when I noticed that a curious, +puzzled expression came over his face, as if he found something +singular and unusual in the taste of the tea. I was just about to +ask him what was the matter, when he cried in a joyful and surprised +voice, "Tide-water! The tea is salt!" Thinking that perhaps a little +salt might have been dropped accidentally into the tea, I sent the men +down to the river for some fresh ice, which we carefully melted. It +was unquestionably salt. We had reached the tide-water of the Pacific, +and the ocean itself could not be far distant. One more day must +certainly bring us to the house of the American party, or to the mouth +of the river. From all appearances we should find no more wood; and +anxious to make the most of the clear weather, we slept only about six +hours, and started on at midnight by the light of a brilliant moon. + +[Illustration: A MAN OF THE YUKAGIRS] + +On the eleventh day after our departure from Anadyrsk, toward the +close of the long twilight which succeeds an arctic day, our little +train of eleven sledges drew near the place where, from Chukchi +accounts, we expected to find the long-exiled party of Americans. The +night was clear, still, and intensely cold, the thermometer at sunset +marking forty-four degrees below zero, and sinking rapidly to -50 deg. +as the rosy flush in the west grew fainter and fainter, and darkness +settled down upon the vast steppe. Many times before, in Siberia and +Kamchatka, I had seen nature in her sterner moods and winter garb; +but never before had the elements of cold, barrenness, and desolation +seemed to combine into a picture so dreary as the one which was +presented to us that night near Bering Strait. Far as eye could pierce +the gathering gloom in every direction lay the barren steppe like a +boundless ocean of snow, blown into long wave-like ridges by previous +storms. There was not a tree, nor a bush, nor any sign of animal or +vegetable life, to show that we were not travelling on a frozen ocean. +All was silence and desolation. The country seemed abandoned by God +and man to the Arctic Spirit, whose trembling banners of auroral +light flared out fitfully in the north in token of his conquest and +dominion. About eight o'clock the full moon rose huge and red in the +east, casting a lurid glare over the vast field of snow; but, as if it +too were under the control of the Arctic Spirit, it was nothing more +than the mockery of a moon, and was constantly assuming the most +fantastic and varied shapes. Now it extended itself laterally into a +long ellipse, then gathered itself up into the semblance of a huge red +urn, lengthened out to a long perpendicular bar with rounded ends, +and finally became triangular. It can hardly be imagined what added +wildness and strangeness this blood-red distorted moon gave to a scene +already wild and strange. We seemed to have entered upon some frozen +abandoned world, where all the ordinary laws and phenomena of Nature +were suspended, where animal and vegetable life were extinct, and from +which even the favour of the Creator had been withdrawn. The intense +cold, the solitude, the oppressive silence, and the red, gloomy +moonlight, like the glare of a distant but mighty conflagration, all +united to excite in the mind feelings of awe, which were perhaps +intensified by the consciousness that never before had any human +being, save a few Wandering Chukchis, ventured in winter upon these +domains of the Frost King. There was none of the singing, joking, +and hallooing, with which our drivers were wont to enliven a night +journey. Stolid and unimpressible though they might be, there was +something in the scene which even _they_ felt and were silent. Hour +after hour wore slowly away until midnight. We had passed by more than +twenty miles the point on the river where the party of Americans was +supposed to be; but no sign had been found of the subterranean house +or its projecting stove-pipe, and the great steppe still stretched +away before us, white, ghastly, and illimitable as ever. For nearly +twenty-four hours we had travelled without a single stop, night or +day, except one at sunrise to rest our tired dogs; and the intense +cold, fatigue, anxiety, and lack of warm food, began at last to tell +upon our silent but suffering men. We realised for the first time the +hazardous nature of the adventure in which we were engaged, and the +almost absolute hopelessness of the search which we were making for +the lost American party. We had not one chance in a hundred of finding +at midnight on that vast waste of snow a little buried hut, whose +location we did not know within fifty miles, and of whose very +existence we were by no means certain. Who could tell whether the +Americans had not abandoned their subterranean house two months +before, and removed with some friendly natives to a more comfortable +and sheltered situation? We had heard nothing from them later than +December 1st, and it was now February. They might in that time have +gone a hundred miles down the coast looking for a settlement, or have +wandered far back into the interior with a band of Reindeer Chukchis. +It was not probable that they would have spent four months in that +dreary, desolate region without making an effort to escape. Even if +they were still in their old camp, however, how were we to find them? +We might have passed their little underground hut unobserved hours +before, and might be now going farther and farther away from it, from +wood, and from shelter. It had seemed a very easy thing before we left +Anadyrsk, to simply go down the river until we came to a house on the +bank, or saw a stove-pipe sticking out of a snow-drift; but now, two +hundred and fifty or three hundred miles from the settlement, in a +temperature of 50 deg. below zero, when our lives perhaps depended upon +finding that little buried hut, we realised how wild had been our +anticipations, and how faint were our prospects of success. The +nearest wood was more than fifty miles behind us, and in our chilled +and exhausted condition we dared not camp without a fire. We must go +either forward or back--find the hut within four hours, or abandon the +search and return as rapidly as possible to the nearest wood. Our dogs +were beginning already to show unmistakable signs of exhaustion, and +their feet, lacerated by ice which had formed between the toes, were +now spotting the snow with blood at every step. Unwilling to give up +the search while there remained any hope, we still went on to the +eastward, along the edges of high bare bluffs skirting the river, +separating our sledges as widely as possible, and extending our line +so as to cover a greater extent of ground. A full moon now high in the +heavens, lighted up the vast lonely plain on the north side of the +river as brilliantly as day; but its whiteness was unbroken by any +dark object, save here and there little hillocks of moss or swampy +grass from which the snow had been swept by furious winds. + +We were all suffering severely from cold, and our fur hoods and the +breasts of our fur coats were masses of white frost which had +been formed by our breaths. I had put on two heavy reindeerskin +_kukhlankas_ weighing in the aggregate about thirty pounds, belted +them tightly about the waist with a sash, drawn their thick hoods up +over my head and covered my face with a squirrelskin mask; but in +spite of all I could only keep from freezing by running beside +my sledge. Dodd said nothing, but was evidently disheartened and +half-frozen, while the natives sat silently upon their sledges as if +they expected nothing and hoped for nothing. Only Gregorie and an old +Chukchi whom we had brought with us as a guide showed any energy or +seemed to have any confidence in the ultimate discovery of the party. +They went on in advance, digging everywhere in the snow for wood, +examining carefully the banks of the river, and making occasional +detours into the snowy plain to the northward. At last Dodd, without +saying anything to me, gave his spiked stick to one of the natives, +drew his head and arms into the body of his fur coat, and lay down +upon his sledge to sleep, regardless of my remonstrances, and paying +no attention whatever to my questions. He was evidently becoming +stupefied by the deadly chill, which struck through the heaviest +furs, and which was constantly making insidious advances from the +extremities to the seat of life. He probably would not live through +the night unless he could be roused, and might not live two hours. +Discouraged by his apparently hopeless condition, and exhausted by +the constant struggle to keep warm, I finally lost all hope and +reluctantly decided to abandon the search and camp. By stopping where +we were, breaking up one of our sledges for firewood, and boiling a +little tea, I thought that Dodd might be revived; but to go on to the +eastward seemed to be needlessly risking the lives of all without any +apparent prospect of discovering the party or of finding wood. I had +just given the order to the natives nearest me to camp, when I thought +I heard a faint halloo in the distance. All the blood in my veins +suddenly rushed with a great throb to the heart as I threw back my fur +hood and listened. Again, a faint, long-drawn cry came back through +the still atmosphere from the sledges in advance. My dogs pricked up +their ears at the startling sound and dashed eagerly forward, and in a +moment I came upon several of our leading drivers gathered in a little +group around what seemed to be an old overturned whale-boat, which lay +half buried in snow by the river's bank. The footprint in the sand was +not more suggestive to Robinson Crusoe than was this weather-beaten, +abandoned whale-boat to us, for it showed that somewhere in the +vicinity were shelter and life. One of the men a few moments before +had driven over some dark, hard object in the snow, which he at first +supposed to be a log of driftwood; but upon stopping to examine it, he +found it to be an American whale-boat. If ever we thanked God from the +bottom of our hearts, it was then. Brushing away with my mitten the +long fringes of frost which hung to my eyelashes, I looked eagerly +around for a house, but Gregorie had been quicker than I, and a joyful +shout from a point a little farther down the river announced another +discovery. I left my dogs to go where they chose, threw away my spiked +stick, and started at a run in the direction of the sound. In a moment +I saw Gregorie and the old Chukchi standing beside a low mound of +snow, about a hundred yards back from the river-bank, examining some +dark object which projected from its smooth white surface. It was the +long talked-of, long-looked-for stove-pipe! The Anadyr River party was +found. + +The unexpected discovery, at midnight, of this party of countrymen, +when we had just given up all hope of shelter, and almost of life, +was a God-send to our disheartened spirits, and I hardly knew in my +excitement what I did. I remember now walking hastily back and forth +in front of the snow-drift, repeating softly to myself at every step, +"Thank God!" "Thank God!" but at the time I was not conscious of +anything except the great fact that we had found that party. Dodd, who +had been roused from his half-frozen lethargy by the strong excitement +of the discovery, now suggested that we try to find the entrance to +the house and get in as quickly, as possible, as he was nearly dead +from cold and exhaustion. There was no sound of life in the lonely +snow-drift before us, and the inmates, if it had any, were evidently +asleep. Seeing no sign anywhere of a door, I walked up on the drift, +and shouted down through the stove-pipe in tremendous tones, "Halloo +the house!" A startled voice from under my feet demanded "Who's +there?" + +"Come out and see! Where's the door?" + +My voice seemed to the astounded Americans inside to come out of +the stove--a phenomenon which was utterly unparalleled in all their +previous experience; but they reasoned very correctly that any stove +which could ask in good English for the door in the middle of the +night had an indubitable right to be answered; and they replied in +a hesitating and half-frightened tone that the door was "on the +south-east corner." This left us about as wise as before. In the first +place we did not know which way south-east was, and in the second +a snow-drift could not properly be described as having a corner. I +started around the stove-pipe, however, in a circle, with the hope of +finding some sort of an entrance. The inmates had dug a deep ditch or +trench about thirty feet in length for a doorway, and had covered it +over with sticks and reindeerskins to keep out the drifting snow. +Stepping incautiously upon this frail roof I fell through just as one +of the startled men was coming out in his shirt and drawers, holding a +candle above his head, and peering through the darkness of the tunnel +to see who would enter. The sudden descent through the roof of such an +apparition as I knew myself to be, was not calculated to restore the +steadiness of startled nerves. I had on two heavy _kukhlankas_ which +swelled out my figure to gigantic proportions; two thick reindeerskin +hoods with long frosty fringes of black bearskin were pulled up over +my head, a squirrelskin mask frozen into a sheet of ice concealed my +face, and nothing but the eyes peering out through tangled masses of +frosty hair showed that the furs contained a human being. The man took +two or three frightened steps backward and nearly dropped his candle. +I came in such a "questionable shape" that he might well demand +"whether my intents were wicked or charitable!" As I recognised his +face, however, and addressed him again in English, he stopped; and +tearing off my mask and fur hoods I spoke my name. Never was +there such rejoicing as that which then took place in that little +underground cellar, as I recognised in the exiled party two of my old +comrades and friends, to whom eight months before I had bid good-bye, +as the _Olga_ sailed out of the Golden Gate of San Francisco. I little +thought when I shook hands with Harder and Robinson then, that I +should next meet them at midnight, in a little snow-covered cellar, on +the great lonely steppes of the lower Anadyr. As soon as we had taken +off our heavy furs and seated ourselves beside a warm fire, we began +to feel the sudden reaction which necessarily followed twenty-four +hours of such exposure, suffering, and anxiety. Our overstrained +nerves gave way all at once, and in ten minutes I could hardly raise a +cup of coffee to my lips. Ashamed of such womanish weakness, I tried +to conceal it from the Americans, and I presume they do not know to +this day that Dodd and I nearly fainted several times within the first +twenty minutes, from the suddenness of the change from 50 deg. below zero +to 70 deg. above, and the nervous exhaustion produced by anxiety and lack +of sleep. We felt an irresistible craving for some powerful stimulant +and called for brandy, but there was no liquor of any kind to be had. +This weakness, however, soon passed away, and we proceeded to relate +to one another our respective histories and adventures, while our +drivers huddled together in a mass at one end of the little hut and +refreshed themselves with hot tea. + +The party of Americans which we had thus found buried in the snow, +more than three hundred versts from Anadyrsk, had been landed there by +one of the Company's vessels, some time in September. Their intention +had been to ascend the river in a whale-boat until they should reach +some settlement, and then try to open communication with us; but +winter set in so suddenly, and the river froze over so unexpectedly, +that this plan could not be carried out. Having no means of +transportation but their boat, they could do nothing more than build +themselves a house, and go into winter quarters, with the faint hope +that, some time before spring, Major Abaza would send a party of men +to their relief. They had built a sort of burrow underground, with +bushes, driftwood, and a few boards which had been left by the vessel, +and there they had been living by lamp-light for five months, without +ever seeing the face of a civilised human being. The Wandering +Chukchis had soon found out their situation and frequently visited +them on reindeer-sledges, and brought them fresh meat, and blubber +which they used for lamp-oil; but these natives, on account of a +superstition which I have previously mentioned, refused to sell +them any living reindeer, so that all their efforts to procure +transportation were unavailing. The party originally consisted of +five men--Macrae, Arnold, Robinson, Harder, and Smith; but Macrae +and Arnold, about three weeks previous to our arrival, had organised +themselves into a "forlorn hope," and had gone away with a large band +of Wandering Chukchis in search, of some Russian settlement. Since +that time nothing had been heard from them, and Robinson, Harder, and +Smith had been living alone. + +Such was the situation when we found the party. Of course, there was +nothing to be done but carry these three men and all their stores back +to Anadyrsk, where we should probably find Macrae and Arnold awaiting +our arrival. The Chukchis came to Anadyrsk, I knew, every winter, for +the purpose of trade, and would probably bring the two Americans with +them. + +After three days spent in resting, refitting, and packing up, we +started back with the rescued party, and on February 6th we returned +in safety to Anadyrsk. + +[Illustration: Stone Hatchet for cutting edible grass] + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + + +CLASSIFICATION OF NATIVES--INDIAN TYPE, MONGOLIAN TYPE, AND TURKISH +TYPE--EASTERN VIEW OF WESTERN ARTS AND FASHIONS--AN AMERICAN SAINT + +All the inhabitants of the settlement were in the streets to meet us +when we returned; but we were disappointed not to see among them the +faces of Macrae and Arnold. Many bands of Chukchis from the lower +Anadyr had arrived at the village, but nothing had been heard of the +missing men. Forty-five days had now elapsed since they left their +camp on the river, and, unless they had died or been murdered, they +ought long since to have arrived. I should have sent a party in search +of them, but I had not the slightest clue to the direction in which +they had gone, or the intentions of the party that had carried them +away; and to look for a band of Wandering Chukchis on those great +steppes was as hopeless as to look for a missing vessel in the middle +of the Pacific Ocean, and far more dangerous. We could only wait, +therefore, and hope for the best. We spent the first week after our +return in resting, writing up our journals, and preparing a report of +our explorations, to be forwarded by special courier to the Major. +During this time great numbers of wild, wandering natives--Chukchis, +Lamutkis (la-moot'-kees) and a few Koraks--came into the settlement +to exchange their furs and walrus teeth for tobacco, and gave us an +excellent opportunity of studying their various characteristics and +modes of life. The Wandering Chukchis, who visited us in the greatest +numbers, were evidently the most powerful tribe in north-eastern +Siberia, and impressed us very favourably with their general +appearance and behaviour. Except for their dress, they could hardly +have been distinguished from North American Indians--many of them +being as tall, athletic, and vigorous specimens of savage manhood as +I had ever seen. They did not differ in any essential particular from +the Wandering Koraks, whose customs, religion, and mode of life I have +already described. + +[Illustration: A MAN OF THE WANDERING CHUKCHIS] + +The Lamutkis, however, were an entirely different race, and resembled +the Chukchis only in their nomadic habits. All the natives in +north-eastern Siberia, except the Kamchadals, Chuances, and Yukagirs, +who are partially Russianised, may be referred to one or another of +three great classes. The first of these, which may be called the North +American Indian class, comprises the wandering and settled Chukchis +and Koraks, and covers that part of Siberia lying between the 160th +meridian of east longitude and Bering Strait. It is the only class +which has ever made a successful stand against Russian invasion, and +embraces without doubt the bravest, most independent savages in all +Siberia. I do not think that this class numbers all together more than +six or eight thousand souls, although the estimates of the Russians +are much larger. + +The second class comprises all the natives in eastern Siberia who +are evidently and unmistakably of Mongolian origin, including the +Tunguses, the Lamutkis, the Manchus, and the Gilyaks of the Amur +River. It covers a greater extent of ground probably than both of the +other classes together, its representatives being found as far west as +the Yenesei, and as far east as Anadyrsk, in 169 deg. E. long. The only +branches of this class that I have ever seen are the Lamutkis and the +Tunguses. They are almost exactly alike, both being very slenderly +built men, with straight black hair, dark olive complexions, no +beards, and more or less oblique eyes. They do not resemble a Chukchi +or a Korak any more than a Chinaman resembles a Comanche or a Sioux. +Their dress is very peculiar. It consists of a fur hood, tight fur +trousers, short deerskin boots, a Masonic apron, made of soft flexible +buckskin and elaborately ornamented with beads and pieces of metal, +and a singular-looking frock-coat cut in very civilised style out of +deerskin, and ornamented with long strings of coloured reindeer +hair made into chenille. You can never see one without having the +impression that he is dressed in some kind of a regalia or uniform. +The men and women resemble each other very much in dress and +appearance, and by a stranger cannot be distinguished apart. Like the +Chukchis and Koraks, they are reindeer nomads, but differ somewhat +from the former in their mode of life. Their tents are smaller and +differently constructed and instead of dragging their tent-poles from +place to place as the Chukchis do, they leave them standing; when they +break camp, and either cut new ones or avail themselves of frames left +standing by other bands. Tent-poles in this way serve as landmarks, +and a day's, journey is from one collection of frames to another. Few +of the Tunguses or Lamutkis own many deer. Two or three hundred are +considered to be a large herd, and a man who owns more than that is +regarded as a sort of millionaire. Such herds as are found among the +Koraks in northern Kamchatka, numbering from five to ten thousand, are +never to be seen west of Gizhiga. The Tunguses, however, use their few +deer to better advantage and in a greater variety of ways than do +the Koraks. The latter seldom ride their deer or train them to carry +packs, while the Tunguses do both. The Tunguses are of a mild, amiable +disposition, easily governed and easily influenced, and seem to have +made their way over so large an extent of country more through the +sufferance of other tribes than through any aggressive power or +disposition of their own. Their original religion was Shamanism, +but they now profess almost universally the Greco-Russian faith and +receive Christian names. They acknowledge also their subjection to +the authority of the Tsar, and pay a regular annual tribute in furs. +Nearly all the Siberian squirrelskins which reach the European market +are bought by Russian traders from Wandering Tunguses around the +Okhotsk Sea. When I left the settlement of Okhotsk, in the fall of +1867, there were more than seventy thousand squirrelskins there in the +hands of one Russian merchant, and this was only a small part of the +whole number caught by the Tunguses during that summer. The Lamutkis, +who are first cousins to the Tunguses, are fewer in number, but live +in precisely the same way. I never met more than three or four +bands during two years of almost constant travel in all parts of +north-eastern Siberia. + +The third great class of natives is the Turkish. It comprises only the +Yakuts (yah-koots') who are settled chiefly along the Lena River from +its head-waters to the Arctic Ocean. Their origin is unknown, but +their language is said to resemble the Turkish or modern Osmanli so +closely that a Constantinopolitan of the lower class could converse +fairly well with a Yakut from the Lena. I regret that I was not enough +interested in comparative philology while in Siberia to compile +a vocabulary and grammar of the Yakut language. I had excellent +opportunities for doing so, but was not aware at that time of its +close resemblance to the Turkish, and looked upon it only as +an unintelligible jargon which proved nothing but the active +participation of the Yakuts in the construction of the Tower of Babel. +The bulk of this tribe is settled immediately around the Asiatic pole +of cold, and they can unquestionably endure a lower temperature with +less suffering than any other natives in Siberia. They are called by +the Russian explorer Wrangell, "iron men," and well do they deserve +the appellation. The thermometer at Yakutsk, where several thousands +of them are settled, _averages_ during the three winter months +thirty-seven degrees below zero; but this intense cold does not seem +to occasion them the slightest inconvenience. I have seen them in a +temperature of -40 deg., clad only in a shirt and one sheepskin coat, +standing quietly in the street, talking and laughing as if it were a +pleasant summer's day and they were enjoying the balmy air! They are +the most thrifty, industrious natives in all northern Asia. It is a +proverbial saying in Siberia, that if you take a Yakut, strip him +naked, and set him down in the middle of a great desolate steppe, and +then return to that spot at the expiration of a year, you will find +him living in a large, comfortable house, surrounded by barns and +haystacks, owning herds of horses and cattle, and enjoying himself +like a patriarch. They have all been more or less civilised by Russian +intercourse, and have adopted Russian manners and the religion of the +Greek Church. Those settled along the Lena cultivate rye and hay, keep +herds of Siberian horses and cattle, and live principally upon coarse +black-bread, milk, butter, and horse-flesh. They are notorious +gluttons. All are very skilful in the use of the "topor" or short +Russian axe, and with that instrument alone will go into a primeval +forest, cut down trees, hew out timber and planks, and put up a +comfortable house, complete even to panelled doors and window-sashes. +They are the only natives in all north-eastern Siberia who can do and +are willing to do hard continuous work. + +[Illustration: TUNGUSE MAN AND WOMAN IN BEST SUMMER DRESS] + +These three great classes, viz., American Indian natives, Mongolian +natives, and Turko-Yakut natives, comprise all the aboriginal +inhabitants of north-eastern Siberia except the Kamchadals, the +Chuances, and the Yukagirs. [Footnote: There are a few Eskimo-like +natives living in permanent habitations near Bering Strait, but we did +not see them.] These last have been so modified by Russian influence, +that it is hard to tell to which class they are most nearly allied, +and the ethnologist will shortly be relieved from all further +consideration of the problem by their inevitable extinction. The +Chuances and Yukagirs have already become mere fragments of tribes, +and their languages will perish with the present generation. + +The natives of whom we saw most at Anadyrsk were, as I have already +said, the Chukchis. They frequently called upon us in large parties, +and afforded us a great deal of amusement by their naive and childlike +comments upon Americans, American instruments, and the curious +American things generally which we produced for their inspection. I +shall never forget the utter astonishment with which a band of them +once looked through my field-glass. I had been trying it one clear +cold day out-of-doors, and quite a crowd of Chukchis and Yukagirs had +gathered around me to see what I was doing. Observing their curiosity, +I gave the glass to one of them and told him to look through it at +another native who happened to be standing out on the plain, at +a distance of perhaps a hundred yards. The expression of blank, +half-incredulous surprise which gradually came over his features as +he saw that native brought up, apparently within a few feet, was +irresistibly comical. He did not dream for a moment that it was a +mere optical illusion; he supposed that the wonderful instrument had +actually transported the man physically from a distance of a hundred +yards up to the place where he stood, and as he held the glass to his +eyes with one hand, he stretched out the other to try to catch hold of +him. Finding to his great astonishment that he could not, he removed +the glass, and saw the man standing quietly as before, a hundred yards +away. The idea then seemed to occur to him that if he could only +get this mysterious instrument to his eyes quickly enough, he would +surprise the man in the very act of coming up--catch him perhaps about +half-way--and find out how it was done. He accordingly raised the +glass toward his face very slowly (watching the man meanwhile +intently, to see that he took no unfair advantage and did not start +too soon) until it was within an inch of his eyes, and then looked +through it suddenly. But it was of no use. The man was right beside +him again, but how he came there he didn't know. Perhaps he could +catch him if he made a sudden dash, and he tried it. This, however, +was no more successful than his previous experiments, and the other +natives looked at him in perfect amazement, wondering what he was +trying to do with all these singular motions. He endeavoured to +explain to them in great excitement that the man had been brought up +apparently within arm's length, and yet he could not touch him. His +comrades of course denied indignantly that the man had moved at all, +and they engaged in a furious dispute as to whether this innocent and +unconscious man had been anywhere near them or not. The native who +maintained the affirmative appealed to me; but, convulsed with +laughter, I could make no reply, and he started off at a run, to see +the man and find out whether he had been brought up or not, and how it +felt to be transported over a hundred yards of space in an instant of +time! We who are familiar with these discoveries of science can hardly +realise how they appear to a wholly uneducated savage; but if a +superior race of beings should come from the planet Mars and show us +a mysterious instrument which enabled a man to be in two different +places at the same time, we should understand the sensations of a +Chukchi in looking through a field-glass. + +Soon after this I happened to be encamped one night on a great plain +near Anadyrsk, with a party of these same natives; and having received +a note from Dodd by a special messenger, I was engaged in reading it +by the camp-fire. At several humorous passages I burst into a loud +laugh; whereupon the natives nudged one another with their elbows and +pointed significantly at me, as much as to say, "Just look at the +crazy American! What's the matter with him now?" Finally one of them, +an old grey-haired man, asked me what I was laughing at. "Why," said +I, "I am laughing at this," and pointed to the piece of paper. The old +man thought about it for a moment, compared notes with the others, and +they all thought about it; but no one seemed to succeed in getting +any light as to the cause of my incomprehensible laughter. In a few +moments the old man picked up a half-burned stick which was lying by +the fire and said: "Now suppose I should look at this stick for a +minute and then laugh; what would you think?" "Why," said I candidly, +"I should think you were a fool." "Well," he rejoined with grave +satisfaction, "that's just exactly what I think of you!" He seemed to +be very much pleased to find that our several opinions of such insane +conduct so exactly coincided. Looking at a stick and laughing, and +looking at a piece of paper and laughing, seemed to him equally +absurd. The languages of the Chukchis and Koraks have never-been +reduced to writing; nor, so far as I know, do either of those tribes +ever attempt to express ideas by signs or pictures. Written thought is +to many of them an impossible conception. It can be imagined, perhaps, +with what wonder and baffled curiosity they pore over the illustrated +newspapers which are occasionally given to them by the sailors of +whaling vessels which visit the coast. Some of the pictures they +recognise as representations of things with which they are acquainted; +but by far the greater number are as incomprehensible as the +hieroglyphics of the Aztecs. I remember that a Korak once brought to +me an old tattered fashion-plate from _Frank Leslie's Illustrated +Newspaper_ containing three or four full-length figures of imaginary +ladies, in the widest expansion of crinoline which fashion at that +time prescribed. The poor Korak said he had often wondered what those +curious objects could be; and now, as I was an American, perhaps I +could tell him. He evidently had not the most remote suspicion that +they were intended to represent human beings. I told him that those +curious objects, as he called them, were American women. He burst out +into a "tyee-e-e-e!" of amazement, and asked with a wondering look, +"Are _all_ the women in your country as big as that at the bottom?" It +was a severe reflection upon our ladies' dress, and I did not venture +to tell him that the bigness was artificial, but merely replied sadly +that they were. He looked curiously down at my feet and then at the +picture, and then again at my feet, as if he were trying to trace some +resemblance between the American man and the American woman; but he +failed to do it, and wisely concluded that they must be of widely +different species. + +[Illustration: A TUNGUSE SUMMER TENT] + +The pictures from these papers are sometimes put to curious uses. In +the hut of a Christianised but ignorant native near Anadyrsk, I once +saw an engraved portrait, cut from _Harper's Weekly_, of Major General +Dix, framed, hung up in a corner of the room and worshipped as a +Russian saint! A gilded candle was burning before his smoky features, +and every night and morning a dozen natives crossed themselves and +said their prayers to a major-general in the United States Army! It +is the only instance, I believe, on record, where a major-general has +been raised to the dignity of a saint without even being dead. +St. George of England, we are told, was originally a corrupt army +contractor of Cappadocia, but he was not canonised until long +after his death, when the memory of his contracts was no more. For +Major-General Dix was reserved the peculiar privilege of being at the +same time United States Minister in Paris and a saint in Siberia! + +[Illustration: Woman's fur lined Hood] + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + + +AN ARCTIC AURORA--ORDERS FROM THE MAJOR--ADVENTURES OF MACRAE AND +ARNOLD WITH THE CHUKCHIS--RETURN TO GIZHIGA--REVIEW OF WINTER'S WORK + +Among the few pleasures which reward the traveller for the hardships +and dangers of life in the Far North, there are none which are +brighter or longer remembered than the magnificent auroral displays +which occasionally illumine the darkness of the long polar night, and +light up with a celestial glory the whole blue vault of heaven. No +other natural phenomenon is so grand, so mysterious, so terrible in +its unearthly splendour as this. The veil which conceals from mortal +eyes the glory of the eternal throne seems drawn aside, and the awed +beholder is lifted out of the atmosphere of his daily life into the +immediate presence of God. + +On the 20th of February, while we were all yet living together at +Anadyrsk, there occurred one of the grandest displays of the arctic +aurora which had been observed there for more than fifty years, and +which exhibited such unusual and extraordinary brilliancy as to +astonish and frighten even the natives. It was a cold, dark, but clear +winter's night, and the sky in the earlier part of the evening showed +no signs of the magnificent illumination which was already being +prepared. A few streamers wavered now and then in the north, and a +faint radiance like that of the rising moon shone above the dark +belt of shrubbery which bordered the river; but these were common +occurrences, and excited no notice or remark. Late in the evening, +just as we were preparing to go to bed, Dodd happened to go outside +for a moment to look after his dogs; but no sooner had he reached the +outer door of the entry than he came rushing back, his face ablaze +with excitement, shouting: "Kennan! Robinson! Come out, quick!" With +a vague impression that the village must be on fire, I sprang up, and +without stopping to put on my furs, fan hastily out, followed closely +by Robinson, Harder, and Smith. As we emerged into the open air there +burst suddenly upon our startled eyes the grandest exhibition of vivid +dazzling light and colour of which the mind can conceive. The whole +universe seemed to be on fire. A broad arch of brilliant prismatic +colours spanned the heavens from east to west like a gigantic rainbow, +with a long fringe of crimson and yellow streamers stretching up +from its convex edge to the very zenith. At intervals of one or two +seconds, wide, luminous bands, parallel with the arch, rose suddenly +out of the northern horizon and swept with a swift, steady majesty +across the whole heavens, like long breakers of phosphorescent light +rolling in from some limitless ocean of space. + +Every portion of the vast arch was momentarily wavering, trembling, +and changing colour, and the brilliant streamers which fringed its +edge swept back and forth in great curves, like the fiery sword of the +angel at the gate of Eden. In a moment the great auroral rainbow, with +all its wavering streamers, began to move slowly up toward the zenith, +and a second arch of equal brilliancy formed directly under it, +shooting up a long serried row of slender, coloured lances toward the +North Star, like a battalion of the celestial host presenting arms to +its commanding angel. Every instant the display increased in unearthly +grandeur. The luminous bands revolved swiftly, like the spokes of a +great wheel of light, across the heavens; the streamers hurried back +and forth with swift, tremulous motion from the ends of the arches to +the centre; and now and then a great wave of crimson would surge up +from the north and fairly deluge the whole sky with colour, tingeing +the white snowy earth far and wide with its rosy reflection. But as +the words of the prophecy, "And the heavens shall be turned to blood," +formed themselves upon my lips, the crimson suddenly vanished, and +a lightning flash of vivid orange startled us with its wide, +all-pervading glare, which extended even to the southern horizon, as +if the whole volume of the atmosphere had suddenly taken fire. I even +held my breath a moment, as I listened for the tremendous crash of +thunder which it seemed to me must follow this sudden burst of vivid +light; but in heaven or earth there was not a sound to break the +stillness of midnight save the hastily muttered prayers of the +frightened native at my side, as he crossed himself and kneeled down +before the visible majesty of God. I could not imagine any possible +addition which even Almighty power could make to the grandeur of the +aurora as it now appeared. The rapid alternations of crimson, blue, +green, and yellow in the sky were reflected so vividly from the white +surface of the snow, that the whole world seemed now steeped in blood, +and then quivering in an atmosphere of pale, ghastly green, through +which shone the unspeakable glories of the two mighty crimson and +yellow arches. But the end was not yet. As we watched with upturned +faces the swift ebb and flow of these great celestial tides of +coloured light, the last seal of the glorious revelation was suddenly +broken, and both arches were simultaneously shivered into a thousand +parallel perpendicular bars, every one of which displayed in regular +order, from top to bottom, the primary colours of the solar spectrum. +From horizon to horizon there now stretched two vast curving bridges +of coloured bars, across which we almost expected to see, passing and +repassing, the bright inhabitants of another world. Amid cries of +astonishment and exclamations of "God have mercy!" from the startled +natives, these innumerable bars began to move back and forth, with a +swift dancing motion, along the whole extent of both arches, passing +one another from side to side with such bewildering rapidity that +the eye was lost in the attempt to follow them. The whole concave of +heaven seemed transformed into one great revolving kaleidoscope of +shattered rainbows. Never had I even dreamed of such an aurora as +_this_, and I am not ashamed to confess that its magnificence for a +moment overawed and almost frightened me. The whole sky, from zenith +to horizon, was "one molten mantling sea of colour and fire;--crimson +and purple, and scarlet and green, and colours for which there are no +words in language and no ideas in the mind--things which can only be +conceived while they are visible." The "signs and portents" in the +heavens were grand enough to herald the destruction of a world; +flashes of rich quivering colour, covering half the sky for an instant +and then vanishing like summer lightning; brilliant green streamers +shooting swiftly but silently up across the zenith; thousands of +variegated bars sweeping past one another in two magnificent arches, +and great luminous waves rolling in from the inter-planetary spaces +and breaking in long lines of radiant glory upon the shallow +atmosphere of a darkened world. + +With the separation of the two arches into bars the aurora reached its +utmost magnificence, and from that time its supernatural beauty slowly +but steadily faded. The first arch broke up, and soon after it the +second; the flashes of colour appeared less and less frequently; the +luminous bands ceased to revolve across the zenith; and in an hour +nothing remained in the dark starry heavens to remind us of the +aurora, except a few faint Magellan clouds of luminous vapour. + +The month of February wore slowly away, and March found us still +living in Anadyrsk, without any news from the Major, or from the +missing men, Arnold and Macrae. Fifty-seven days had now elapsed since +they left their camp on the lower Anadyr, and we began to fear that +they would never again be seen. Whether they had starved, or frozen +to death on some great desolate plain south of Bering Strait, or been +murdered by the Chukchis, we could not conjecture, but their long +absence was a proof that they had met with some misfortune. + +I was not at all satisfied with the route over which we had passed +from Shestakova to Anadyrsk, on account of its barrenness, and the +impossibility of transporting heavy telegraph poles over its great +snowy steppes from the few wooded rivers by which it was traversed. I +accordingly started from Anadyrsk with five dog-sledges on March 4th, +to try to find a better route between the Anadyr and the head-waters +of the Penzhina River. Three days after our departure we met, on the +road to Penzhina, a special messenger from Gizhiga, bringing a letter +from the Major dated Okhotsk, January 19th. Enclosed were letters from +Colonel Bulkley, announcing the landing of the Anadyr River party +under Lieutenant Macrae, and a map showing the location of their camp. +The Major wrote as follows: "In case--what God forbid--Macrae and +party have not arrived at Anadyrsk, you will immediately, upon the +receipt of this letter, do your utmost to deliver them from their +too long winter quarters at the mouth of the Anadyr, where they were +landed in September. I was told that Macrae would be landed _only in +case of perfect certainty_ to reach Anadyrsk in boats, and I confess I +don't like such surprises as Colonel Bulkley has made me now. For the +present our duty consists in doing our utmost to extricate them from +where they are, and you must get every dog-sledge you can, stuff them +with dog-food and provisions, and go at once in search of Macrae's +camp." These directions I had already anticipated and carried out, and +Macrae's party, or at least all I could find of it, was now living +in Anadyrsk. When the Major wrote this letter, however, he did not +suppose that Dodd and I would hear of the landing of the party through +the Wandering Chukchis, or that we would think of going in search of +them without orders. He knew that he had told us particularly not to +attempt to explore the Anadyr River until another season, and did not +expect that we would go beyond the last settlement. I wrote a hasty +note to Dodd upon the icy runner of my overturned sledge--freezing two +fingers in the operation--and sent the courier on to Anadyrsk with the +letters. The mail also included letters to me from Captain Scammon, +commander of the Company's fleet, and one from my friend W.H. Dall, +who had returned with the vessels to San Francisco, and had written me +while stopping a few days at Petropavlovsk. He begged me, by all the +sacred interests of Science, not to let a single bug or living thing +of any kind escape my vigilant eye; but, as I read his letter that +night by the camp-fire, I thought with a smile that snowy Siberian +steppes and temperatures of 30 deg. and 40 deg. below zero were not very +favourable to the growth and dispersion of bugs, nor to efforts for +their capture and preservation. + +I will not go into a detailed account of the explorations which +Lieutenant Robinson and I made in search of a more practicable route +for our line between the Penzhina River and Anadyrsk. We found that +the river system of the Anadyrsk was divided from that of the Penzhina +only by a low mountain ridge, which could be easily passed, and that, +by following up certain tributaries of the latter, crossing the +watershed, and descending one of the branches of the Anadyr, we should +have almost unbroken water communication between the Okhotsk Sea and +Bering Strait. Along these rivers timber was generally abundant, and +where there was none, poles could be distributed easily in rafts. The +route thus indicated was everything which could be desired; and, much +gratified by the results of our labours, we returned on March 13th to +Anadyrsk. + +We were overjoyed to learn from the first man who met us after we +entered the settlement that Macrae and Arnold had arrived, and in five +minutes we were shaking them by the hand, congratulating them, upon +their safe arrival, and overwhelming them with questions as to their +travels and adventures, and the reasons of their long absence. + +For sixty-four days they had been living with the Wandering Chukchis, +and making their way slowly and by a circuitous route towards +Anadyrsk. They had generally been well treated, but the band with +which they travelled had been in no hurry to reach the settlement, and +had been carrying them at the rate of ten or twelve miles a day all +over the great desolate steppes which lie south of the Anadyr River. +They had experienced great hardships; had lived upon reindeer's +entrails and tallow for weeks at a time; had been alive almost +constantly with vermin; had spent the greater part of two long months +in smoky Chukchi _pologs_, and had despaired, sometimes, of ever +reaching a Russian settlement or seeing again a civilised human being; +but hope and courage had sustained them through it all, and they had +finally arrived at Anadyrsk safe and well. The sum-total of their +baggage when they drove into the settlement was a quart bottle +of whisky wrapped up in an American flag! As soon as we were all +together, we raised the flag on a pole over our little log house, +made a whisky punch out of the liquor which had traversed half +north-eastern Siberia, and drank it in honour of the men who had lived +sixty-four days with the Wandering Chukchis, and carried the stars and +stripes through the wildest, least known region on the face of the +globe. + +Having now accomplished all that could be done in the way of +exploration, we began making preparations for a return to Gizhiga. The +Major had directed me to meet him there with Macrae, Arnold, Robinson, +and Dodd, as soon as the first of April, and the month of March was +now rapidly drawing to a close. + +[Illustration: A CHUKCHI RUG OF REINDEER SKIN] + +On the 20th we packed up our stores, and bidding good-bye to the +kind-hearted, hospitable people of Anadyrsk, we set out with a long +train of sledges for the coast of the Okhotsk Sea. + +Our journey was monotonous and uneventful, and on the second of April, +late at night, we left behind us the white desolate steppe of the +Paren, and drew near the little flat-topped _yurt_ on the Malmofka, +which was only twenty-five versts from Gizhiga. Here we met fresh men, +dogs, and sledges, sent out to meet us by the Major, and, abandoning +our loaded sledges and tired dogs, we took seats upon the light +_narts_ of the Gizhiga Cossacks, and dashed away by the light of a +brilliant aurora toward the settlement. + +About one o'clock we heard the distant barking of dogs, and in a few +moments we rushed furiously into the silent village, and stopped +before the house of the Russian merchant Vorrebeof (vor'-re-be-off') +where we had lived the previous fall, and where we expected to find +the Major. I sprang from my sledge, and groping my way through the +entry into a warm dark room I shouted "Fstavaitia!" to arouse the +sleeping inmates. Suddenly some one rose up from the floor at my feet, +and, grasping me by the arm, exclaimed in a strangely familiar voice, +"Kennan, is that you?" Startled and bewildered with half-incredulous +recognition, I could only reply, "Bush, is that you?" and, when a +sleepy boy came in with a light, he was astonished to find a man +dressed in heavy frosty furs embracing another who was clad only in a +linen shirt and drawers. + +There was a joyful time in that log house when the Major, Bush, +Macrae, Arnold, Robinson, Dodd, and I gathered around a steaming +samovar or tea-urn which stood on a pine table in the centre of the +room, and discussed the adventures, haps, and mishaps of our first +arctic winter. Some of us had come from the extremity of Kamchatka, +some from the frontier of China, and some from Bering Strait, and we +all met that night in Gizhiga, and congratulated ourselves and one +another upon the successful exploration of the whole route of the +proposed Russian-American telegraph line from Anadyr Bay to the Amur +River. The different members of the party there assembled had, in +seven months, travelled in the aggregate almost ten thousand miles. + +The results of our winter's work were briefly as follows: Bush and +Mahood, after leaving the Major and me at Petropavlovsk, had gone on +to the Russian settlement of Nikolaievsk, at the mouth of the Amur +River, and had entered promptly upon the exploration of the west coast +of the Okhotsk Sea. They had travelled with the Wandering Tunguses +through the densely timbered region between Nikolaievsk and Aian, +ridden on the backs of reindeer over the rugged mountains of the +Stanavoi range south of Okhotsk, and had finally met the Major at the +latter place on the 22d. of February. The Major, alone, had explored +the whole north coast of the Okhotsk Sea and had made a visit to the +Russian city of Yakutsk, six hundred versts west of Okhotsk, in quest +of labourers and horses. He had ascertained the possibility of hiring +a thousand Yakut labourers in the settlements along the Lena River, at +the rate of sixty dollars a year for each man, and of purchasing +there as many Siberian horses as we should require at very reasonable +prices. He had located a route for the line from Gizhiga to Okhotsk, +and had superintended generally the whole work of exploration. Macrae +and Arnold had explored nearly all the region lying south of the +Anadyr and along the lower Myan, and had gained much valuable +information concerning the little-known tribe of Wandering Chukchis. +Dodd, Robinson, and I had explored two routes from Gizhiga to +Anadyrsk, and had found a chain of wooded rivers connecting the +Okhotsk Sea with the Pacific Ocean near Bering Strait. The natives we +had everywhere found to be peaceable and well disposed, and many of +them along the route of the line were already engaged in cutting +poles. The country, although by no means favourable to the +construction of a telegraph line, presented no obstacles which energy +and perseverance could not overcome; and, as we reviewed our winter's +work, we felt satisfied that the enterprise in which we were engaged, +if not altogether an easy one, held out at least a fair prospect of +success. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + + +LAST WORK OF THE WINTER--BIRDS AND FLOWERS OF SPRING CONTINUOUS +DAYLIGHT--SOCIAL LIFE IN GIZHIGA--A CURIOUS SICKNESS--SUMMER DAYS AND +NIGHTS--NEWS FROM AMERICA + +The months of April and May, owing to the great length of the days +and the comparative mildness of the weather, are the most favourable +months in north-eastern Siberia for outdoor work and travel; and as +the Company's vessels could not be expected to arrive at Gizhiga +before the early part of June, Major Abaza determined to make the +most of the intervening time. As soon as he had recovered a little, +therefore, from the fatigue of his journey, he started with Bush, +Macrae, and the Russian governor, for Anadyrsk, intending to +engage there fifty or sixty native labourers and begin at once the +construction of station-houses and the cutting and distribution of +poles along the Anadyr River. My own efforts to that end, owing to the +laziness of the Anadyrsk people, had been unsuccessful; but it +was hoped that through the influence and cooperation of the civil +authority something might perhaps be done. + +Major Abaza returned by the very last winter road in May. His +expedition had been entirely successful; Mr. Bush had been put in +command of the Northern District from Penzhina to Bering Strait, and +he, together with Macrae, Harder, and Smith, had been left at Anadyrsk +for the summer. As soon as the Anadyr River should open, this party +was directed to descend it in canoes to its mouth, and there await +the arrival of one of the Company's vessels from San Francisco, with +reinforcements and supplies. In the meantime fifty native labourers +from Anadyrsk, Osolkin, and Pokorukof, had been hired and placed at +their disposal, and it was hoped that by the time the ice should be +out of the river they would have six or eight station-houses prepared, +and several thousand poles cut, ready for distribution in rafts +between the settlements of Anadyrsk and the Pacific coast. Having thus +accomplished all that it was possible to accomplish with the limited +means and force at his disposal, Major Abaza returned to Gizhiga, +to await the arrival of the promised vessels from America with men, +material, and supplies, for the prosecution of the work. + +The season for dog-sledge travel was now over; and as the country +afforded no other means of interior transportation, we could not +expect to do any more work, or have any further communication with +our outlying parties at Anadyrsk and Okhotsk until the arrival of +our vessels. We therefore rented for ourselves a little log house +overlooking the valley, of the Gizhiga River, furnished it as +comfortably as possible with a few plain wooden chairs and tables, +hung up our maps and charts on the rough log-walls, displayed our +small library of two books--Shakespeare and the New Testament--as +advantageously as possible in one corner, and prepared for at least a +month of luxurious idleness. + +It was now June. The snow was rapidly disappearing under the influence +of the warm long-continued sunshine; the ice in the river showed +unmistakable signs of breaking up; patches of bare ground appeared +here and there along the sunny hillsides, and everything foretold the +speedy approach of the short but hot arctic summer. Winter in most +parts of north-eastern Siberia begins to break up in May, and summer +advances with rapid strides upon its retreating footsteps, covering +instantly with grass and flowers the ground that it reclaims from +the melting snow-drifts of winter. Hardly is the snow off the ground +before the delicate wax-like petals of the blueberry and star-flower, +and the great snowy clusters of labrador tea begin to whiten the mossy +plains; the birches, willows, and alders burst suddenly into leaf, the +river banks grow green with a soft carpet of grass, and the warm still +air is filled all day with the trumpet-like cries of wild swans and +geese, as they come in great triangular flocks from the sea and +pass high overhead toward the far North. In three weeks after the +disappearance of the last snow all Nature has put on the garments of +midsummer and rejoices in almost perpetual sunshine. There is no long +wet, lingering spring, no gradual unfolding of buds and leaves one by +one as with us. The vegetation, which has been held in icy fetters +for eight long months, bursts suddenly its bonds, and with one great +irresistible sweep takes the world by storm. There is no longer any +night; one day blends almost imperceptibly into another, with only a +short interval of twilight, which has all the coolness and repose of +night without its darkness. You may sit by your open window and read +until twelve o'clock, inhaling the fragrance of flowers which is +brought to you on the cool night wind, listening to the murmur and +plash of the river in the valley below, and tracing the progress of +the hidden sun by the flood of rosy light which streams up in the +North from behind the purple mountains. It is broad daylight, and yet +all Nature is asleep, and a strange mysterious stillness, like that +of a solar eclipse, pervades heaven and earth. You can even hear the +faint roar of the surf on the rocky coast ten miles away. Now and then +a song-sparrow hidden in the alder thicket by the river bank dreams +that it is morning and breaks out into a quick unconscious trill of +melody; but as he wakes he stops himself suddenly and utters a few +"peeps" of perplexity, as if not quite sure whether it be morning, or +only last evening, and whether he ought to sing or go to sleep again. +He finally seems to decide upon the latter course, and all becomes +silent once more save the murmur of the river over its rocky bed and +the faint roar of the distant sea. Soon after one o'clock a glittering +segment of the sun appears between the cloud-like peaks of the distant +mountains, a sudden flash of golden light illumines the green dewy +landscape, the little sparrow in the alder thicket triumphantly takes +up again his unfinished song, the ducks, geese, and aquatic birds +renew their harsh discordant cries from the marshy flats along the +river, and all animated nature wakes suddenly to a consciousness of +daylight as if it were a new thing. There has been no night--but it is +another day. + +The traveller who has never before experienced an arctic summer, and +who has been accustomed to think of Siberia as a land of eternal snow +and ice, cannot help being astonished at the sudden and wonderful +development of animal and vegetable life throughout that country in +the month of June, and the rapidity of the transition from winter to +summer in the course of a few short weeks. In the early part of June +it is frequently possible to travel in the vicinity of Gizhiga upon +dog-sledges, while by the last of the same month the trees are all in +full leaf, primroses, cowslips, buttercups, valerian, cinquefoil, and +labrador tea, blossom everywhere upon the higher plains and river +banks, and the thermometer at noon frequently reaches 70 deg. Fahr. in the +shade. There is no spring, in the usual acceptation of the word, at +all. The disappearance of snow and the appearance of vegetation are +almost simultaneous; and although the _tundras_ or moss steppes, +continue for some time to hold water like a saturated sponge, they +are covered with flowers and blossoming blueberry bushes, and show no +traces of the long, cold winter which has so recently ended. In less +than a month after the disappearance of snow in 1860, I collected +from one high plain about five acres in extent, near the mouth of the +Gizhiga River, more than sixty species of flowers. Animal life of all +kinds is equally prompt in making its appearance. Long before the ice +is out of the gulfs and bays along the coast, migratory birds begin to +come in from the sea in immense numbers. Innumerable species of +ducks, geese, and swans--many of them unknown to the American +ornithologist--swarm about every little pool of water in the valleys +and upon the lower plains; gulls, fish-hawks, and eagles, keep up a +continual screaming about the mouths of the numerous rivers; and the +rocky precipitous coast of the sea is literally alive with countless +millions of red-beaked puffin or sea-parrots, which build their nests +in the crevices and upon the ledges of the most inaccessible cliffs, +and at the report of a pistol fly in clouds which fairly darken the +air. Besides these predatory and aquatic birds, there are many others +which are not so gregarious in their habits, and which, consequently, +attract less notice. Among these are the common barn and chimney +swallows, crows, ravens, magpies, thrushes, plover, ptarmigan, and +a kind of grouse known to the Russians as "teteref." Only one +singing-bird, as far as I know, is to be found in the country, and +that is a species of small ground-sparrow which frequents the drier +and more grassy plains in the vicinity of the Russian settlements. + +The village of Gizhiga, where we had temporarily established our +headquarters, was a small settlement of perhaps fifty or sixty plain +log houses, situated upon the left bank of the Gizhiga River, eight or +ten miles from the gulf. It was at that time one of the most important +and flourishing settlements upon the coast of the Okhotsk Sea, and +controlled all the trade of north-eastern Siberia as far north at the +Anadyr and as far west as the village of Okhotsk. It was the residence +of a local governor, the headquarters of four or five Russian +merchants, and was visited annually by a government supply steamer, +and several trading vessels belonging to wealthy American houses. +Its population consisted principally of Siberian Cossacks and the +descendants of compulsory emigrants from Russia proper, who had +received their freedom as compensation for forcible expatriation. +Like all other _settled_ inhabitants of Siberia and Kamchatka, they +depended for their subsistence principally upon fish; but as the +country abounded in game, and the climate and soil in the valley of +the Gizhiga River permitted the cultivation of the hardier kinds of +garden vegetables, their condition was undoubtedly much better than +it would have been in Russia proper. They were perfectly free, could +dispose of their time and services as they chose, and by hiring +themselves and their dog-sledges to Russian traders in the winter, +they earned money enough to keep themselves supplied with the simpler +luxuries, such as tea, sugar, and tobacco, throughout the year. Like +all the inhabitants of Siberia, and indeed like all Russians, they +were extremely hospitable, good-natured, and obliging, and they +contributed not a little to our comfort and amusement during the long +months which we were obliged to spend in their far-away isolated +settlement. + +The presence of Americans in a village so little frequented by +strangers as Gizhiga had a very enlivening influence upon society, +and as soon as the inhabitants ascertained by experiment that these +distinguished sojourners did not consider it beneath their dignity to +associate with the _prostoi narod_, or common people, they overwhelmed +us with invitations to tea-parties and evening dances. Anxious to see +more of the life of the people, and glad to do anything which would +diversify our monotonous existence, we made it a point to accept every +such invitation which we received, and many were the dances which +Arnold and I attended during the absence of the Major and the Russian +governor at Anadyrsk. We had no occasion to ask our Cossack Yagor when +there was to be another dance. The question was rather, "Where is the +dance to be tonight?" because we knew to a certainty that there would +be one somewhere, and wished only to know whether the house in which +it was to be held had a ceiling high enough to insure the safety of +our heads. It would seem like a preposterous idea to invite people to +dance the Russian jig in a room which was too low to permit a man of +average stature to stand upright; but it did not seem at all so to +these enthusiastic pleasure-seekers in Gizhiga, and night after night +they would go hopping around a seven-by-nine room to the music of a +crazy fiddle and a two-stringed guitar, stepping on one another's toes +and bumping their heads against the ceiling with the most cheerful +equanimity imaginable. At these dancing parties the Americans always +received a hearty welcome, and were fed with berries, black-bread, and +tea, until they could eat and dance no more. Occasionally, however, +Siberian hospitality took a form which, to say the least, was not +altogether pleasant. For instance, Dodd and I were invited one evening +to some kind of an entertainment at the house of one of the Cossacks, +and, as was customary in such cases, our host set before us a plain +lunch of black-bread, salt, raw frozen fish, and a small pepper-sauce +bottle about half full of some liquid which he declared to be vodka. +Knowing that there was no liquor in the settlement except what we +had, Dodd inquired where he had obtained it. He replied with evident +embarrassment that it was some which he had bought from a trading +vessel the previous fall, and which he had reserved for cases +of emergency! I didn't believe that there was a Cossack in all +north-eastern Siberia who was capable of _reserving_ a bottle of +liquor for any such length of time, and in view of his evident +uneasiness we thought best to decline to partake of the liquid +refreshments and to ask no further questions. It might be vodka, but +it was not free from suspicion. Upon our return home I called our boy +and inquired if he knew anything about the Cossack's liquor--how he +obtained it, and where it came from at that season of the year, when +none of the Russian merchants had any for sale. The boy hesitated a +moment, but upon being questioned closely he explained the mystery. It +appeared that the liquor was ours. Whenever any of the inhabitants of +the village came to call upon us, as they frequently did, especially +upon holidays, it was customary to give each one of them a drink. +Taking advantage of this custom, our friend the Cossack used to +provide himself with a small bottle, hang it about his neck with a +string, conceal it under his fur coat, and present himself at our +house every now and then for the ostensible purpose of congratulating +us upon some Russian holiday. Of course we were expected to reward +this disinterested sociability with a drink. The Cossack would swallow +all he could of the fiery stuff, and then holding as much as possible +in his mouth he would make a terrible grimace, cover his face with one +hand as if the liquor were very strong, and start hurriedly for the +kitchen to get some water. As soon as he was secure from observation +he would take out his bottle, deposit in it the last mouthful of +liquor which he had _not_ swallowed, and return in a few-moments to +thank us for our hospitality--and our vodka. This manoeuvre he had +been practising at our expense for an unknown length of time, and had +finally accumulated nearly a pint. He then had the unblushing audacity +to set this half-swallowed vodka before us in an old pepper-sauce +bottle, and pretend that it was some that he had reserved since +the previous fall for cases of emergency! Could human impudence go +farther? + +I will relate one other incident which took place during the first +month of our residence at Gizhiga, and which illustrates another phase +of the popular character, viz. extreme superstition. As I was sitting +in the house one morning, drinking tea, I was interrupted by the +sudden entrance of a Russian Cossack named Kolmagorof. He seemed to +be unusually sober and anxious about something, and as soon as he had +bowed and bade me good-morning, he turned to our Cossack, Viushin, +and began in a low voice to relate to him something which had just +occurred, and which seemed to be of great interest to them both. Owing +to my imperfect knowledge of the language, and the low tone in which +the conversation was carried on, I failed to catch its purport; but +it closed with an earnest request from Kolmagorof that Viushin should +give him some article of clothing, which I understood to be a scarf or +tippet. Viushin immediately went to a little closet in one corner of +the room, where he was in the habit of storing his personal effects, +dragged out a large sealskin bag, and began searching in it for the +desired article. After pulling out three or four pair of fur boots, +a lump of tallow, some dogskin stockings, a hatchet, and a bundle of +squirrelskins, he finally produced and held up in triumph one-half +of an old, dirty, moth-eaten woollen tippet, and handing it to +Kolmagorof, he resumed his search for the missing piece. This also he +presently found, in a worse state of preservation, if possible, than +the other. They looked as if they had been discovered in the bag of +some poor rag-picker who had fished them up out of a gutter in the +Five Points. Kolmagorof tied the two pieces together, wrapped them up +carefully in an old newspaper, thanked Viushin for his trouble, and, +with an air of great relief, bowed again to me and went out. Wondering +what use he could make of such a worn, dirty, tattered article of +clothing as that which he had received, I applied to Viushin for a +solution of the mystery. + +"What did he want that tippet for?" I inquired; "it isn't good for +anything." + +"I know," replied Viushin, "it is a miserable old thing; but there is +no other in the village, and his daughter has got the 'Anadyrski bol'" +(Anadyrsk sickness). + +"Anadyrski bol!" I repeated in astonishment, never having heard of the +disease in question; "what has the 'Anadyrski bol' got to do with an +old tippet?" + +"Why, you see, his daughter has asked for a tippet, and as she has +the Anadyrsk sickness, they must get one for her. It don't make any +difference about its being old." + +This struck me as being a very singular explanation of a very curious +performance, and I proceeded to question Viushin more closely as to +the nature of this strange disease, and the manner in which an old +moth-eaten tippet could afford relief. The information which I +gathered was briefly as follows: The "Anadyrski bol," so called from +its having originated at Anadyrsk, was a peculiar form of disease, +resembling very much the modern spiritual "trance," which had long +prevailed in north-eastern Siberia, and which defied all ordinary +remedies and all usual methods of treatment. The persons attacked by +it, who were generally women, became unconscious of all surrounding +things, acquired suddenly an ability to speak languages which they +had never heard, particularly the Yakut language, and were gifted +temporarily with a sort of second sight or clairvoyance which enabled +them to describe accurately objects that they could not see and never +had seen. While in this state they would frequently ask for some +particular thing, whose appearance and exact location they would +describe, and unless it were brought to them they would apparently go +into convulsions, sing in the Yakut language, utter strange cries, +and behave generally as if they were insane. Nothing could quiet +them until the article for which they had asked was produced. Thus +Kolmagorof's daughter had imperatively demanded a woollen tippet, +and as the poor Cossack had nothing of the sort in the house, he +had started out through the village to find one. This was all the +information that Viushin could give me. He had never seen one of these +possessed persons himself, and had only heard of the disease from +others; but he said that Paderin, the chief of the Gizhiga Cossacks, +could undoubtedly tell me all about it, as his daughter had been +similarly afflicted. Surprised to find among the ignorant peasantry of +north-eastern Siberia a disease whose symptoms resembled so closely +the phenomena of modern spiritualism, I determined to investigate +the subject as far as possible, and as soon as the Major came in, +I persuaded him to send for Paderin. The chief of the Cossacks--a +simple, honest old fellow, whom it was impossible to suspect of +intentional deception--confirmed all that Viushin had told me, and +gave us many additional particulars. He said that he had frequently +heard his daughter talk the Yakut language while in one of these +trances, and had even known her to relate events which were occurring +at a distance of several hundred miles. The Major inquired how he knew +that it was the Yakut language which his daughter spoke. He said he +did not know certainly that it was; but it was not Russian, nor Korak, +nor any other native language with which he was familiar, and it +sounded very much like Yakut. I inquired what was done in case the +sick person demanded some article which it was impossible to obtain. +Paderin replied that he had never heard of such an instance; if the +article asked for were an uncommon one, the girl always stated where +it was to be found--frequently describing with the greatest minuteness +things which, so far as he knew, she had never seen. On one occasion, +he said his daughter asked for a particular spotted dog which he was +accustomed to drive in his team. The dog was brought into the room, +and the girl at once became quiet; but from that time the dog itself +became so wild and restless as to be almost unmanageable, and he was +finally obliged to kill him. "And do you believe in all this stuff?" +broke in the Major impatiently, as Paderin hesitated for a moment. + +"I believe in God and in our Saviour Jesus Christ," replied the +Cossack, as he crossed himself devoutly. + +"That's all right, and so you ought," rejoined the Major; "but that +has nothing whatever to do with the 'Anadyrski bol.' Do you really +believe that these women talk in the Yakut language, which they have +never heard, and describe things which they have never seen?" + +[Illustration: TUNGUSES ON REINDEER-BACK MOVING THEIR ENCAMPMENT +Photograph in The American Museum of Natural History] + +Paderin shrugged his shoulders expressively and said that he believed +what he saw. He then proceeded to relate to us further and still more +incredible particulars as to the symptoms of the disease, and the +mysterious powers which it developed in the persons attacked, +illustrating his statements by reference to the case of his own +daughter. He was evidently a firm believer in the reality of the +sickness, but would not say to what agency he ascribed the phenomena +of second sight and the ability to speak strange languages, which were +its most remarkable symptoms. + +During the day we happened to call upon the ispravnik or Russian +governor, and in course of conversation mentioned the "Anadyrski bol," +and related some of the stories which we had heard from Paderin. The +ispravnik--skeptical upon all subjects, and especially upon this--said +that he had often heard of the disease, and that his wife was a +firm believer in it, but that in his opinion it was a humbug, which +deserved no other treatment than severe corporal punishment. The +Russian peasantry, he said, were very superstitious and would believe +almost anything, and the "Anadyrski bol" was partly a delusion and +partly an imposition practised by the women upon their male relatives +to further some selfish purpose. A woman who wanted a new bonnet, and +who could not obtain it by the ordinary method of teasing, found it +very convenient as a _dernier ressort_ to fall into a trance state and +demand a bonnet as a physiological necessity. If the husband still +remained obdurate, a few well-executed convulsions and a song or two +in the so-called Yakut language were generally sufficient to bring him +to terms. He then related an instance of a Russian merchant whose wife +was attacked by the "Anadyrski bol," and who actually made a winter +journey from Gizhiga to Yamsk--a distance of 300 versts--to procure a +silk dress for which she had asked and which could not be elsewhere +obtained! Of course the women do not always ask for articles which +they might be supposed to want in a state of health. If they did, it +would soon arouse the suspicions of their deluded husbands, fathers, +and brothers, and lead to inconvenient inquiries, if not to still more +unpleasant experiment, upon the character of the mysterious disease. +To avoid this, and to blind the men to the real nature of the +deception, the women frequently ask for dogs, sledges, axes, and other +similar articles of which they can make no possible use, and thus +persuade their credulous male relatives that their demands are +governed only by diseased caprice and have in view no definite object. +Such was the rationalistic explanation which the ispravnik gave of the +curious delusion known as the "Anadyrski bol"; and although it argued +more subtlety on the part of the women and more credulity on the part +of the men than I had supposed either sex to be capable of, I could +not but admit that the explanation was a plausible one, and accounted +satisfactorily for most of the phenomena. + +In view of this remarkable piece of feminine strategy, our +strong-minded women in America must admit that their Siberian sisters +show greater ingenuity in obtaining their rights and throwing dust in +the eyes of their lords and masters than has yet been exhibited by all +the Women's Rights Associations in Christendom. To invent an imaginary +disease with such peculiar symptoms, cause it to prevail as an +epidemic throughout a whole country, and use it as a lever to open +the masculine pocketbooks and supply feminine wants, is the greatest +triumph which woman's craft has ever achieved over man's stupidity. + +The effect of the ispravnik's revelation upon Dodd was very singular. +He declared that he felt the premonitory symptoms of the "Anadyrski +bol" coming on, and was sure that he was destined to be a victim to +the insidious disease. He therefore requested the Major not to be +surprised if he should come home some day and find him in strong +convulsions, singing "Yankee Doodle" in the Yakut language, and +demanding his back pay! The Major assured him that, in a case of such +desperate emergency, he should be compelled to apply the ispravnik's +remedy, viz., twenty lashes on the bare back, and advised him to +postpone his convulsions until the exchequer of the Siberian Division +should be in a condition to meet his demands. + +Our life at Gizhiga during the early part of June was a very decided +improvement upon the experience of the previous six months. The +weather was generally warm and pleasant, the hills and valleys were +green with luxuriant vegetation, daylight had become perpetual, and we +had nothing to do but ramble about the country in pursuit of game, row +down to the mouth of the river occasionally to look for vessels, and +plan all sorts of amusements to pass away the time. + +The nights were the most glorious parts of the days, but the perpetual +light seemed even more strange to us at first than the almost +perpetual darkness of winter. We could never decide to our own +satisfaction when one day ended and another began, or when it was +time to go to bed. It seemed ridiculous to make any preparations for +retiring before the sun had set; and yet, if we did not, it was sure +to rise again before we could possibly get to sleep, and then it +seemed just as preposterous to lie in bed as it did in the first +place. We finally compromised the matter by putting tight wooden +shutters over all our windows, and then, by lighting candles inside, +succeeded in persuading our unbelieving senses that it was night, +although the sun outside was shining with noonday brilliancy. When we +awoke, however, another difficulty presented itself. Did we go to bed +today? or was it yesterday? And what time is it now? Today, yesterday, +and to-morrow were all mixed up, and we found it almost impossible to +distinguish one from the other. I caught myself repeatedly making two +entries in my journal in the course of twenty-four hours, with the +mistaken impression that two days had passed. + +As soon as the ice was fairly out of Gizhiginsk Gulf, so that vessels +might be expected to enter, Major Abaza caused a number of Cossacks to +be stationed at the mouth of the river, with orders to watch night and +day for sails and warn us at once if any appeared. + +On the 18th of June the trading brig _Hallie Jackson_, belonging to +W.H. Bordman, of Boston, entered the gulf, and, as soon as the tide +permitted, ran into the mouth of the river to discharge her cargo. +This vessel brought us the first news from the great outside world +which we had received in more than eleven months, and her arrival was +hailed with the greatest enthusiasm by both Russians and Americans. +Half the population of the village came hurrying down to the mouth of +the river as soon as it became known that a ship had arrived and the +landing-place for several days was a scene of unwonted activity and +excitement. The _Jackson_ could give us no information with regard +to the vessels of our Company, except that when she sailed from San +Francisco in March they were being rapidly loaded and fitted for +sea. She brought, however, all the stores which we had left at +Petropavlovsk the previous fall, as well as a large cargo of tea, +sugar, tobacco, and sundries for the Siberian trade. + +We had found by our winter's experience that money could not be used +to advantage in payment for native labour, except in the settlements +of Okhotsk, Gizhiga, and Anadyrsk; and that tea, sugar, and tobacco +were in every way preferable, on account of the universal consumption +of those articles throughout the country and the high price which they +commanded during the winter months. A labourer or teamster, who would +demand _twenty_ roubles _in money_ for a month's work, was entirely +satisfied if we gave him eight pounds of tea and ten pounds of sugar +in its stead; and as the latter cost us only _ten_ roubles, we made +a saving of one-half in all our expenditures. In view of this fact, +Major Abaza determined to use as little money as possible, and pay for +labour in merchandise at current rates. He accordingly purchased from +the _Jackson_ 10,000 lbs. of tea and 15,000 or 20,000 lbs. of white +loaf-sugar, which he stored away in the government magazines, to be +used during the coming winter instead of money. + +The _Jackson_ discharged all the cargo that she intended to leave at +Gizhiga, and as soon as the tide was sufficiently high to enable +her to cross the bar at the mouth of the river, she sailed for +Petropavlovsk and left us again alone. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + + +DULL LIFE--ARCTIC MOSQUITOES--WAITING FOR SUPPLIES--SHIPS +SIGNALLED--BARK "CLARA BELL"--RUSSIAN CORVETTE "VARAG" + +After the departure of the _Jackson_, we began to look forward +with eager anticipation to the arrival of our own vessels and the +termination of our long imprisonment at Gizhiga. Eight months of +nomadic camp life had given us a taste for adventure and excitement +which nothing but constant travel could gratify, and as soon as the +first novelty of idleness wore off we began to tire of our compulsory +inactivity, and became impatient for work. We had exhausted all the +amusements of Gizhiga, read all the newspapers which had been brought +by the _Jackson_, discussed their contents to the minutest details, +explored every foot of ground in the vicinity of the settlement, and +tried everything which our ingenuity could devise to pass away +the time, but all to no avail. The days seemed interminable, the +long-expected ships did not come, and the mosquitoes and gnats made +our life a burden. About the tenth of July, the mosquito--that curse +of the northern summer--rises out of the damp moss of the lower +plains, and winds his shrill horn to apprise all animated nature of +his triumphant resurrection and his willingness to furnish musical +entertainment to man and beast upon extremely reasonable terms. In +three or four days, if the weather be still and warm, the whole +atmosphere will be literally filled with clouds of mosquitoes and from +that time until the 10th of August they persecute every living thing +with a bloodthirsty eagerness which knows no rest and feels no pity. +Escape is impossible and defence useless; they follow their unhappy +victims everywhere, and their untiring perseverance overcomes every +obstacle which human ingenuity can throw in their way. Smoke of +any ordinary density they treat with contemptuous indifference; +mosquito-bars they either evade or carry by assault, and only by +burying himself alive can man hope to finally escape their relentless +persecution. In vain we wore gauze veils over our heads and concealed +ourselves under calico _pologs_. The multitude of our tiny assailants +was so great that some of them sooner or later were sure to find an +unguarded opening, and just when we thought ourselves most secure we +were suddenly surprised and driven out of our shelter by a fresh and +unexpected attack. Mosquitoes, I know, do not enter into the popular +conception of Siberia; but never in any tropical country have I seen +them in such immense numbers as in north-eastern Siberia during the +month of July. They make the great moss tundras in some places utterly +uninhabitable, and force even the reindeer to seek the shelter and the +cooler atmosphere of the mountains. In the Russian settlements they +torment dogs and cattle until the latter run furiously about in a +perfect frenzy of pain, and fight desperately for a place to stand in +the smoke of a fire. As far north as the settlement of Kolyma, on the +coast of the Arctic Ocean, the natives are compelled, in still, warm +weather, to surround their houses with a circle of smudges, to protect +themselves and their domestic animals from the ceaseless persecution +of mosquitoes. + +Early in July all the inhabitants of Gizhiga, with the exception of +the governor and a few Russian merchants, closed their winter-houses, +and removed to their "letovies" or summer fishing-stations along the +banks of the river, to await the arrival of the salmon. Finding the +deserted village rather dull, Dodd, Robinson, Arnold, and I removed +to the mouth of the river, and took up our quarters once more in the +empty government storehouse which we had occupied during the stay of +the _Hallie Jackson_. + +I shall not dwell long upon the monotonous discomfort of the life +which we led for the next month. It may all be comprised in four +words--inactivity, disappointment, mosquitoes, and misery. Looking for +vessels was our only duty, fighting mosquitoes our only diversion; and +as the former never appeared and the latter never disappeared, both +occupations were equally unprofitable and unsatisfactory. Twenty times +a day we put on our gauze veils, tied our clothing down at the wrists +and ankles, and climbed laboriously to the summit of a high bluff to +look for vessels; but twenty times a day we returned disappointed to +our bare, cheerless rooms, and vented our indignation indiscriminately +upon the country, the Company, the ships, and the mosquitoes. We could +not help feeling as if we had dropped out of the great current of +human affairs, as if our places in the distant busy world had been +filled and our very existence forgotten. + +The chief engineer of our enterprise had promised faithfully that +ships with men, material, and supplies for the immediate prosecution +of the work, should be at Gizhiga and at the mouth of the Anadyr River +as early in the season as ice would permit them to enter; but it was +now August, and they had not yet made their appearance. Whether they +had been lost, or whether the whole enterprise had been abandoned, +we could only conjecture; but as week after week passed away without +bringing any news, we gradually lost all hope and began to discuss the +advisability of sending some one to the Siberian capital to inform the +Company by telegraph of our situation. + +It is but justice to Major Abaza to say that during all these long +weary months of waiting he never entirely gave up to discouragement, +or allowed himself to doubt the perseverance of the Company in the +work which it had undertaken. The ships might have been belated or +have met with some misfortune, but he did not think it possible that +the work had been abandoned, and he continued throughout the summer to +make such preparations as he could for another winter's campaign. + +Early in August, Dodd and I, tired of looking for vessels which never +came, and which we firmly believed never would come, returned on foot +to the settlement, leaving Arnold and Robinson to maintain the watch +at the mouth of the river. + +Late in the afternoon of the 14th, while I was busily engaged in +drawing maps to illustrate the explorations of the previous winter, +our Cossack servant came rushing furiously into the house, breathless +with haste and excitement, crying out: "Pooshka! soodna!"--"A cannon! +a ship!" Knowing that three cannon-shots were the signals which Arnold +and Robinson had been directed to make in case a vessel was seen +entering the gulf, we ran hurriedly out of doors and listened eagerly +for a second report. We had not long to wait. Another faint, dull +explosion was heard in the direction of the lighthouse, followed at an +interval of a moment by a third, leaving no room for a doubt that the +long-expected ships had arrived. Amid great excitement a canoe was +hastily prepared and launched, and taking our seats upon bearskins +in the bottom, we ordered our Cossack rowers to push off. At every +_letoie_ or fishing-station which we passed in our rapid descent of +the river, we were hailed with shouts of: "Soodnat soodna"--"Aship! +aship!" and at the last one--Volinkina (vo-lin'-kin-ah)--where we +stopped for a moment to rest our men, we were told that the vessel was +now in plain sight from the hills, and that she had anchored near an +island known as the Matuga (mat'-oo-gah), about twelve miles distant +from the mouth of the river. Assured that it was no false alarm, we +pushed on with redoubled speed, and in fifteen minutes more landed at +the head of the gulf. Arnold and Robinson, with the Russian pilot, +Kerrillof, had already gone off to the vessel in the government +whale-boat, so that there remained nothing for us to do but climb to +the summit of lighthouse bluff and watch impatiently for their return. + +It was late in the afternoon when the signal of a vessel in sight had +been given, and by the time we reached the mouth of the river, it was +nearly sunset. The ship, which was a good-sized bark, lay quietly at +anchor near the middle of the gulf, about twelve miles distant, with +a small American flag flying at her peak. We could see the government +whale-boat towing astern, and knew that Arnold and Robinson must be +on board; but the ship's boats still hung at the davits, and no +preparations were apparently being made to come ashore. The Russian +governor had made us promise, when we left the settlement, that if the +reported vessel turned out a reality and not a delusion, we would +fire three more guns. Frequent disappointment had taught him the +fallibility of human testimony touching the arrival of ships at that +particular port, and he did not propose to make a journey to the +lighthouse in a leaky canoe, unless further intelligence should fully +justify it. As there could no longer be any doubt about the fact, we +loaded up the old rusty cannon once more, stuffed it full of wet grass +to strengthen its voice, and gave the desired signals, which echoed in +successive crashes from every rocky promontory along the coast, and +died away to a faint mutter far out at sea. + +In the course of an hour the governor made his appearance, and as it +was beginning to grow dark, we all climbed once more to the summit of +the bluff to take a last look at the ship before she should be hidden +from sight. There was no appearance of activity on board, and the +lateness of the hour made it improbable that Arnold and Robinson would +return before morning. We went back therefore to the empty government +house, or "kazarm," and spent half the night in fruitless conjectures +as to the cause of the vessel's late arrival and the nature of the +news which she would bring. + +With the earliest morning twilight, Dodd and I clambered again to the +crest of the bluff, to assure ourselves by actual observation that +the ship had not vanished like the _Flying Dutchman_ under cover of +darkness, and left us to mourn another disappointment. There was +little ground for fear. Not only was the bark still in the position +which she had previously occupied, but there had been another arrival +during the night. A large three-masted steamer, of apparently 2000 +tons, was lying in the offing, and three small boats could be seen a +few miles distant pulling swiftly toward the mouth of the river. +Great was the excitement which this discovery produced. Dodd rushed +furiously down the hill to the _kazarm_, shouting to the Major that +there was a steamer in the gulf, and that boats were within five miles +of the lighthouse. In a few moments we were all gathered in a group on +the highest point of the bluff, speculating upon the character of the +mysterious steamer which had thus taken us by surprise, and watching +the approach of the boats. The largest of these was now within three +miles, and our glasses enabled us to distinguish in the long, regular +sweep of its oars, the practised stroke of a man-of-war's crew, and in +its stem-sheets the peculiar shoulder-straps of Russian officers. The +steamer was evidently a large war-ship, but what had, brought her to +that remote, unfrequented part of the world we could not conjecture. + +In half an hour more, two of the boats were abreast of lighthouse +bluff, and we descended to the landing-place to meet them in a state +of excitement not easily imagined. Fourteen months had elapsed since +we had heard from home, and the prospect of receiving letters and +of getting once more to work was a sufficient excuse for unusual +excitement. The smallest boat was the first to reach the shore, and as +it grated on the sandy beach an officer in blue naval uniform sprang +out and introduced himself as Captain Sutton, of the Russian-American +Telegraph Company's bark _Clara Bell_, two months from San Francisco, +with men and material for the construction of the line. "Where have +you been all summer?" demanded the Major as he shook hands with the +captain; "we have been looking for you ever since June, and had about +come to the conclusion that the work was abandoned." Captain Sutton +replied that all of the Company's vessels had been late in leaving +San Francisco, and that he had also been detained some time in +Petropavlovsk by circumstances explained in his letters. "What steamer +is that lying at anchor beyond the _Clara Bell_?" inquired the Major. +"That is the Russian corvette _Varag_, from Japan."--"But what is she +doing up here?" "Why," said the captain with a quizzical smile, "you +ought to know, sir; I understand that she reports to you for orders. I +believe she has been detailed by the Russian Government to assist in +the construction of the line; at least that was what I was told when +we met her at Petropavlovsk. She has a Russian Commissioner on board, +and a correspondent of the _New York Herald_." This was unexpected +news. We had heard that the Navy Departments of Russia and the United +States had been instructed to send ships to Bering Sea to assist the +Company in making soundings and laying down the cable between the +American and Siberian coasts, but we had never expected to see either +of these vessels at Gizhiga. The simultaneous arrival of a loaded +bark, a steam corvette, a Russian Commissioner, and a correspondent +of the _New York Herald_ certainly looked like business, and we +congratulated ourselves and each other upon the improving prospects of +the Siberian Division. + +The corvette's boat by this time had reached the shore, and after +making the acquaintance of Mr. Anossof, Colonel Knox, the _Herald_ +correspondent, and half a dozen Russian officers who spoke English +with the greatest fluency, we proceeded to open and read our +long-delayed mail. + +The news, as far as it related to the affairs of the Company and the +prospects of the enterprise, was very satisfactory. Colonel Bulkley, +the engineer-in-chief, had touched at Petropavlovsk on his way north, +and had written us from there, by the _Varag_ and the _Clara Bell_, +full particulars as to his movements and dispositions. Three +vessels--the _Clara Bell, Palmetto_, and _Onward_--had been sent from +San Francisco to Gizhiga with a force of about sixty men, and large +assorted cargoes to the value of sixty thousand dollars. One of these, +the _Clara Bell_, loaded with brackets and insulators, had already +arrived; and the other two, with commissary stores, wire, instruments, +and men, were _en route_. A fourth vessel with thirty officers and +workmen, a small river-steamer, and a full supply of tools and +provisions, had also been sent to the mouth of the Anadyr River, where +it would be received by Lieutenant Bush. The corvette _Varag_ had been +detailed by the Russian Navy Department to assist in laying the cable +across Bering Strait; but as the cable, which was ordered in England, +had not arrived, there was nothing in particular for the _Varag_ to +do, and Colonel Bulkley had sent her with the Russian Commissioner to +Gizhiga. Owing to her great draught of water--twenty-two feet--she +could not safely come within less than fifteen or twenty miles of the +Okhotsk Sea coast, and could not, of course, give us much assistance; +but her very presence, with a special Russian Commissioner on board, +invested our enterprise with a sort of governmental authority and +sanction, which enabled us to deal more successfully with the local +authorities and people than would otherwise have been possible. + +It had been Major Abaza's intention, as soon as one of the Company's +vessels should arrive, to go to the Russian city and province of +Yakutsk, on the Lena River, engage there five or six hundred native +labourers, purchase three hundred horses, and make arrangements for +their distribution along the whole route of the line. The peculiar +state of affairs, however, at the time the _Varag_ and the _Clara +Bell_ reached Gizhiga, made it almost impossible for him to leave. +Two vessels--the _Onward_ and the _Palmetto_--were yet to arrive with +large and valuable cargoes, whose distribution along the coast of the +Okhotsk Sea he wished to superintend in person. He decided, therefore, +to postpone his trip to Yakutsk until later in the fall, and to do +what he could in the meantime with the two vessels already at his +disposal. The _Clara Bell_, in addition to her cargo of brackets and +insulators, brought a foreman and three or four men as passengers, +and these Major Abaza determined to send under command of Lieutenant +Arnold to Yamsk, with orders to hire as many native labourers as +possible and begin at once the work of cutting poles and preparing +station-houses. The _Varag_ he proposed to send with stores and +despatches to Mahood, who had been living alone at Okhotsk almost five +months without news, money, or provisions, and who it was presumed +must be nearly discouraged. + +On the day previous to the _Varag's_ departure, we were all invited by +her social and warm-hearted officers to a last complimentary dinner; +and although we had not been and should not be able with our scanty +means to reciprocate such attentions, we felt no hesitation in +accepting the invitation and tasting once more the pleasures of +civilised life. Nearly all the officers of the _Varag_, some thirty in +number, spoke English; the ship itself was luxuriously fitted up; a +fine military band welcomed us with "Hail, Columbia!" when we came +on board, and played selections from _Martha, Traviata_, and _Der +Freischuetz_ while we dined, and all things contributed to make our +visit to the _Varag_ a bright spot in our Siberian experience. + +On the following morning at ten o'clock, we returned to the _Clara +Bell_ in one of the latter's small-boats, and the corvette steamed +slowly out to sea, her officers waving their hats from the +quarter-deck in mute farewell, and her band playing the Pirate's +Chorus--"Ever be happy and blest as thou art"--as if in mockery of our +lonely, cheerless exile! It was a gloomy party of men which returned +that afternoon to a supper of reindeer-meat and cabbage in the bare +deserted rooms of the government storehouse at Gizhiga! We realised +then, if never before, the difference between _life_ in "God's +country" and _existence_ in north-eastern Asia. + +As soon as possible after the departure of the _Varag_, the _Clara +Bell_ was brought into the mouth of the river, her cargo of brackets +and insulators discharged, Lieutenant Arnold and party sent on board, +and with the next high tide, August 26th, she sailed for Yamsk and +San Francisco, leaving no one at Gizhiga but the original Kamchatkan +party, Dodd, the Major, and myself. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + + +ARRIVAL OF BARK "PALMETTO"--DRIVEN ASHORE BY GALE--DISCHARGING +CARGO UNDER DIFFICULTIES--NEGRO CREW MUTINIES--LONELY TRIP TO +ANADYRSK--STUPID KORAKS--EXPLOSIVE PROVISIONS + +The brief excitement produced by the arrival of the _Varag_ and the +_Clara Bell_ was succeeded by another long, dreary month of waiting, +during which we lived as before in lonely discomfort at the mouth of +the Gizhiga River. Week after week passed away without bringing any +tidings from the missing ships, and at last the brief northern summer +closed, snow appeared upon the mountains, and heavy long-continued +storms announced the speedy approach of another winter. More than +three months had elapsed since the supposed departure of the _Onward_ +and _Palmetto_ from San Francisco, and we could account for their +non-appearance only by the supposition that they had either been +disabled or lost at sea. On the 18th of September, Major Abaza +determined to send a messenger to the Siberian capital, to telegraph +the Company for instructions. Left as we were at the beginning of a +second winter without men, tools, or materials of any kind, except +50,000 insulators and brackets, we could do nothing toward the +construction of the line, and our only resource was to make our +unpleasant situation known to the Company. On the 19th, however, +before this resolution could be carried into effect, the long-expected +bark _Palmetto_ arrived, followed closely by the Russian +supply-steamer _Saghalin_, from Nikolaievsk. The latter, being +independent of wind and drawing very little water, had no difficulty +in crossing the bar and gaining the shelter of the river; but the +_Palmetto_ was compelled to anchor outside and await a higher tide. +The weather, which for several days had been cold and threatening, +grew momentarily worse, and on the 22d the wind was blowing a +close-reefed-topsail gale from the south-east, and rolling a +tremendous sea into the unprotected gulf. We felt the most serious +apprehensions for the safety of the unfortunate bark; but as the water +would not permit her to cross the bar at the mouth of the river, +nothing could be done until another high tide. On the 23d, it became +evident that the _Palmetto_--upon which now rested all our hopes--must +inevitably go ashore. She had broken her heaviest anchor, and was +drifting slowly but surely against the rocky, precipitous coast on the +eastern side of the river, where nothing could prevent her from being +dashed to pieces. As there was now no other alternative, Captain +Arthur slipped his cable, got his ship under way, and stood directly +in for the mouth of the river. He could no longer avoid going ashore +somewhere, and it was better to strike on a yielding bar of sand than +to drift helplessly against a black perpendicular wall of rock, where +destruction would be certain. The bark came gallantly in until she +was only half a mile distant from the lighthouse, and then grounded +heavily in about seven feet of water. As soon as she struck she began +pounding with tremendous violence against the bottom while the seas +broke in great white clouds of spray entirely over her quarter-deck. +It did not seem probable, that she would live through the night. As +the tide rose, however, she drove farther and farther in toward the +mouth of the river until, at full flood, she was only a quarter of +a mile distant. Being a very strongly built ship, she suffered less +damage than we had supposed, and, as the tide ran out, she lay high +and dry on the bar, with no more serious injury than the loss of her +false keel and a few sections of her copper sheathing. + +As she was lying on her beam-ends, with her deck careened at an angle +of forty-five degrees, it was impossible to hoist anything out of her +hold, but we made preparations at once to discharge her cargo in boats +as soon as another tide should raise her into an upright position. +We felt little hope of being able to save the ship, but it was +all-important that her cargo should be discharged before she should go +to pieces. Captain Tobezin, of the Russian steamer _Saghalin_, offered +us the use of all his boats and the assistance of his crew, and on the +following day we began work with six or seven boats, a large lighter, +and about fifty men. The sea still continued to run very high; the +bark recommenced her pounding against the bottom; the lighter swamped +and sank with a full load about a hundred yards from shore, and a +miscellaneous assortment of boxes, crates, and flour-barrels went +swimming up the river with the tide. Notwithstanding all these +misfortunes, we kept perseveringly at work with the boats as long as +there was water enough around the bark to float them, and by the time +the tide ran out we could congratulate ourselves upon having saved +provisions enough to insure us against starvation, even though the +ship should go to pieces that night. On the 25th, the wind abated +somewhat in violence, the sea went down, and as the bark did not seem +to be seriously injured we began to entertain some hope of saving both +ship and cargo. From the 25th until the 29th of September, all the +boats of the _Saghalin_ and of the _Palmetto_, with the crews of both +vessels, were constantly engaged in transporting stores from the bark +to the shore, and on the 30th at least half of the _Palmetto's_ cargo +was safely discharged. So far as we could judge, there would be +nothing to prevent her from going to sea with the first high tide +in October. A careful examination proved that she had sustained no +greater injury than the loss of her false keel, and this, in the +opinion of the _Saghalin's_ officers, would not make her any the +less seaworthy, or interfere to any extent with her sailing. A new +difficulty, however, presented itself. The crew of the _Palmetto were_ +all negroes; and as soon as they learned that Major Abaza intended to +send the bark to San Francisco that fall, they promptly refused to go, +declaring that the vessel was unseaworthy, and that they preferred +to spend the winter in Siberia rather than risk a voyage in her to +America. Major Abaza immediately called a commission of the officers +of the _Saghalin_, and requested them to make another examination +of the bark and give him their opinion in writing as to her +seaworthiness. The examination was made, and the opinion given that +she was entirely fit for a voyage to Petropavlovsk, Kamchatka, and +probably to San Francisco. This decision was read to the negroes, +but they still persisted in their refusal. After warning them of the +consequences of mutiny, the Major ordered their ringleader to be put +in irons, and he was conveyed on board the _Saghalin_ and imprisoned +in the "black hole"; but his comrades still held out. It was of vital +importance that the _Palmetto_ should go to sea with the first high +tide, because the season was already far advanced, and she must +inevitably be wrecked by ice if she remained in the river later than +the middle of October. + +Besides this, Major Abaza would be compelled to leave for Yakutsk on +the steamer _Saghalin_, and the latter was now ready to go to sea. On +the afternoon of the 1st, just as the _Saghalin_ was getting up steam +to start, the negroes sent word to the Major that if he would release +the man whom he had caused to be put in irons, they would do their +best to finish unloading the _Palmetto_ and to get her back to San +Francisco. The man was promptly released, and two hours afterwards +Major Abaza sailed on the _Saghalin_ for Okhotsk, leaving us to do the +best we could with our half-wrecked stranded ship and her mutinous +crew. + +The cargo of the bark was still only half discharged, and we +continued for the next five days to unload in boats, but it was hard, +discouraging work, as there were only six hours in the twenty-four +during which boats could reach the ship, and those six hours were from +eleven o'clock P.M. to five in the morning. At all other times the +ship lay on her beam-ends, and the water around her was too shallow to +float even a plank. To add, if possible, to our difficulties and to +our anxiety, the weather became suddenly colder, the thermometer fell +to zero, masses of floating ice came in with every tide and tore off +great sheets of the vessel's copper as they drifted past, and the +river soon became so choked up with icy fragments that we were obliged +to haul the boats back and forth with ropes. In spite of weather, +water, and ice, however, the vessel's cargo was slowly but steadily +discharged, and by the 10th of October nothing remained on board +except a few hogsheads of flour, some salt-beef and pork which we +did not want, and seventy-five or a hundred tons of coal. These we +determined to let her carry back to San Francisco as ballast. The +tides were now getting successively higher and higher every day, and +on the 11th the _Palmetto_ floated for the first time in almost three +weeks. As soon as her keel cleared the bar she was swung around into +the channel, head to sea, and moored with light kedge-anchors, ready +for a start on the following day. Since the intensely cold weather of +the previous week, her crew of negroes had expressed no further +desire to spend a winter in Siberia, and, unless the wind should veer +suddenly to the southward, we could see nothing to prevent her from +getting safely out of the river. The wind for once proved favourable, +and at 2 P.M. on the 12th of October the _Palmetto_ shook out her +long-furled courses and topsails, cut the cables of her kedge-anchors, +and with a light breeze from the north-east, moved slowly out into the +gulf. Never was music more sweet to my ears than the hearty "Yo heave +ho!" of her negro crew as they sheeted home the topgallant sails +outside the bar! The bark was safely at sea. She was not a day too +soon in making her escape. In less than a week after her departure, +the river and the upper part of the gulf were so packed with ice that +it would have been impossible for her to move or to avoid total wreck. + +The prospects of the enterprise at the opening of the second winter +were more favourable than they had been at any time since its +inception. The Company's vessels, it is true, had been very late in +their arrival, and one of them, the _Onward_, had not come at all; +but the _Palmetto_ had brought twelve or fourteen more men and a full +supply of tools and provisions, Major Abaza had gone to Yakutsk to +hire six or eight hundred native labourers and purchase three hundred +horses, and we hoped that the first of February would find the work +progressing rapidly along the whole extent of the line. + +As soon as possible after the departure of the _Palmetto_, I sent +Lieutenant Sandford and the twelve men whom she had brought into the +woods on the Gizhiga River above the settlement, supplied them with +axes, snow-shoes, dog-sledges, and provisions, and set them at work +cutting poles and building houses, to be distributed across the +steppes between Gizhiga and Penzhinsk Gulf. I also sent a small party +of natives under Mr. Wheeler to Yamsk, with five or six sledge-loads +of axes and provisions for Lieutenant Arnold, and despatches to be +forwarded to Major Abaza. For the present, nothing more could be done +on the coast of the Okhotsk Sea, and I prepared to start once more +for the north. We had heard nothing whatever from Lieutenant Bush +and party since the first of the previous May, and we were of course +anxious to know what success he had met with in cutting and rafting +poles down the Anadyr River, and what were his prospects and plans for +the winter. The late arrival of the _Palmetto_ at Gizhiga had led us +to fear that the vessel destined for the Anadyr might also have +been detained and have placed Lieutenant Bush and party in a very +unpleasant if not dangerous situation. Major Abaza had directed me, +therefore, when he sailed for Okhotsk, to go by the first winter road +to Anadyrsk and ascertain whether the Company's vessels had been at +the mouth of the river, and whether Bush needed any assistance. As +there was no longer anything to detain me at Gizhiga, I packed up my +camp-equipage and extra fur clothes, loaded five sledges with tea, +sugar, tobacco, and provisions, and on November 2d started with six +Cossacks for my last journey to the Arctic Circle. + +In all my Siberian experience I can recall no expedition which was so +lonely and dismal as this. For the sake of saving transportation, I +had decided not to take any of my American comrades with me; but by +many a silent camp-fire did I regret my self-denying economy, and +long for the hearty laugh and good-humoured raillery of my "fidus +Achates"--Dodd. During twenty-five days I did not meet a civilised +being or speak a word of my native language, and at the end of that +time I should have been glad to talk to an intelligent American dog. +"Aloneness," says Beecher, "is to social life what rests are to +music"; but a journey made up entirely of "aloneness" is no more +entertaining than a piece of music made up entirely of rests--only a +vivid imagination can make anything out of either. + +[Illustration: A YURT OF THE SETTLED KORAKS IN MIDWINTER] + +At Kuil, on the coast of Penzhinsk Gulf, I was compelled to leave +my good-humoured Cossacks and take for drivers half a dozen stupid, +sullen, shaven-headed Koraks, and from that time I was more lonesome +than ever. I had been able to talk a little with the Cossacks, and +had managed to pass away the long winter evenings by the camp-fire in +questioning them about their peculiar beliefs and superstitions, and +listening to their characteristic stories of Siberian life; but now, +as I could not speak the Korak language, I was absolutely without any +resource for amusement. + +My new drivers were the ugliest, most villainous-looking Koraks that +it would have been possible to select in all the Penzhinsk Gulf +settlements, and their obstinacy and sullen stupidity kept me in +a chronic state of ill-humour from the time we left Kuil until we +reached Penzhina. Only by threatening them periodically with a +revolver could I make them go at all. The art of camping out +comfortably in bad weather they knew nothing whatever about, and in +vain did I try to teach them. In spite of all my instructions and +illustrations, they would persist night after night in digging a deep +narrow hole in the snow for a fire, and squatting around the top of it +like frogs around the edge of a well, while I made a camp for myself. +Of the art of cooking they were equally ignorant, and the mystery of +canned provisions they could never fathom. Why the contents of one can +should be boiled, while the contents of another precisely similar +can should be fried--why one turned into soup and another into a +cake--were questions which they gravely discussed night after +night, but about which they could never agree. Astounding were the +experiments which they occasionally tried upon the contents of these +incomprehensible tin boxes. Tomatoes they brought to me fried into +cakes with butter, peaches they mixed with canned beef and boiled for +soup, green corn they sweetened, and desiccated vegetables they broke +into lumps with stones. Never by any accident did they hit upon +the right combination, unless I stood over them constantly and +superintended personally the preparation of my own supper. Ignorant as +they were, however, of the nature of these strange American eatables, +they always manifested a great curiosity to taste them, and their +experiments in this way were sometimes very amusing. One evening, soon +after we left Shestakova, they happened to see me eating a pickled +cucumber, and as this was something which had never come within the +range of their limited gastronomical experience, they asked me for +a piece to taste. Knowing well what the result would be, I gave the +whole cucumber to the dirtiest, worst-looking vagabond in the party, +and motioned to him to take a good bite. As he put it to his lips his +comrades watched him with breathless curiosity to see how he liked it. +For a moment his face wore an expression of blended surprise, wonder, +and disgust, which was irresistibly ludicrous, and he seemed disposed +to spit the disagreeable morsel out; but with a strong effort he +controlled himself, forced his features into a ghastly imitation +of satisfaction, smacked his lips, declared it was "akhmel +nemelkhin"--very good,--and handed the pickle to his next neighbour. +The latter was equally astonished and disgusted with its unexpected +sourness, but, rather than admit his disappointment and be laughed at +by the others, he also pretended that it was delicious, and passed it +along. Six men in succession went through with this transparent farce +with the greatest solemnity; but when they had all tasted it, and all +been victimised, they burst out into a simultaneous "ty-e-e-e" of +astonishment, and gave free expression to their long-suppressed +emotions of disgust. The vehement spitting, coughing, and washing out +of mouths with snow, which succeeded this outburst, proved that the +taste for pickles is an acquired one, and that man in his aboriginal +state does not possess it. What particularly amused me, however, was +the way in which they imposed on one another. Each individual Korak, +as soon as he found that he had been victimised, saw at once the +necessity of getting even by victimising the next man, and not one of +them would admit that there was anything bad about the pickle until +they had all tasted it. "Misery loves company," and human nature is +the same all the world over. Dissatisfied as they were with the result +of this experiment, they were not at all daunted, but still continued +to ask me for samples of every tin can I opened. Just before we +reached Penzhina, however, a catastrophe occurred which relieved +me from their importunity, and inspired them with a superstitious +reverence for tin cans which no subsequent familiarity could ever +overcome. We were accustomed, when we came into camp at night, to set +our cans into a bed of hot ashes and embers to thaw out, and I had +cautioned my drivers repeatedly not to do this until after the cans +had been opened. I could not of course explain to them that the +accumulation of steam would cause the cans to burst; but I did tell +them that it would be "atkin"--bad--if they did not make a hole in the +cover before putting the can on the fire. One evening, however, they +forgot or neglected to take this precaution, and while they were all +squatting in a circle around the fire, absorbed in meditation, one of +the cans suddenly blew up with a tremendous explosion, set free an +immense cloud of steam, and scattered fragments of boiling hot mutton +in every direction. Had a volcano opened suddenly under the camp-fire, +the Koraks could not have been more dismayed. They had not time to get +up and run away, so they rolled over backward with their heels in the +air, shouted "Kammuk!"--"The Devil!"--and gave themselves up for lost. +My hearty laughter finally reassured them, and made them a little +ashamed of their momentary panic; but from that time forward they +handled tin cans as if they were loaded percussion shells, and could +never again be induced to taste a morsel of their contents. + +Our progress toward Anadyrsk after we left the coast of the Okhotsk +Sea was very slow, on account both of the shortness of the days, and +the depth and softness of the freshly fallen snow. Frequently, for ten +or fifteen miles at a stretch, we were compelled to break a road on +snow-shoes for our heavily loaded sledges, and even then our tired +dogs could hardly struggle through the soft powdery drifts. The +weather, too, was so intensely cold that my mercurial thermometer, +which indicated only -23 deg., was almost useless. For several days the +mercury never rose out of the bulb, and I could only estimate the +temperature by the rapidity with which my supper froze after being +taken from the fire. More than once soup turned from a liquid to a +solid in my hands, and green corn froze to my tin plate before I could +finish eating it. + +On the fourteenth day after leaving Gizhiga we reached the native +settlement of Penzhina, two hundred versts from Anadyrsk. Ours was +the first arrival at that place since the previous May, and the whole +population of the village--men, women, children, and dogs--turned out +_en masse_ to meet us, with the most joyful demonstrations. Six months +had elapsed since they last saw a strange face or heard from the +outside world, and they proceeded to fire a salute from half a dozen +rusty old muskets, as a faint expression of their delight. + +I had confidently expected when I left Gizhiga that I should meet +somewhere on the road a courier with news and despatches from Bush; +and I was very much disappointed and a little alarmed when I reached +Penzhina to find that no one had arrived at that place from Anadyrsk, +and that nothing had been heard from our party since the previous +spring. I felt a presentiment that something was wrong, because Bush +had been expressly directed to send a courier to Gizhiga by the first +winter road, and it was now late in November. + +On the following day my worst anticipations were realised. Late in the +evening, as I was sitting in the house of one of the Russian peasants +drinking tea, the cry was raised that "Anadyrski yaydoot"--"Some one +is coming from Anadyrsk"; and running hastily out of the house I met +the long-haired Anadyrsk priest just as he stepped from his sledge in +front of the door. My first question of course was, "Where's Bush?" +But my heart sank as the priest replied: "Bokh yevo znaiet"--"God +only knows." "But where did you see him last?--Where did he spend the +summer?" I inquired. "I saw him last at the mouth of the Anadyr River, +in July," said the priest, "and since that time nothing has been heard +from him." A few more questions brought out the whole dismal story. +Bush, Macrae, Harder, and Smith had gone down the Anadyr River in June +with a large raft of station-houses, intended for erection along its +banks. After putting up these houses at necessary points, they had +gone on in canoes to Anadyr Bay, to await the arrival of the Company's +vessels from San Francisco. Here the priest had joined them and had +lived with them several weeks; but late in July their scanty supply +of provisions had given out, the expected ships had not come, and the +priest returned to the settlement, leaving the unfortunate Americans +in a half-starving condition at the mouth of the river. Since that +time nothing had been heard from them, and, as the priest mournfully +said, "God only knew" where they were and what had happened to them. +This was bad news, but it was not the worst. In consequence of the +entire failure of the salmon fisheries of the Anadyr River that +season, a terrible famine had broken out at Anadyrsk, part of the +inhabitants and nearly all the dogs had died of starvation, and the +village was almost deserted. Everybody who had dogs enough to draw a +sledge had gone in search of the Wandering Chukchis, with whom they +could live until another summer; and the few people who were left in +the settlement were eating their boots and scraps of reindeerskin to +keep themselves alive. Early in October a party of natives had gone in +search of Bush and his comrades on dog-sledges, but more than a month +had now elapsed since their departure and they had not yet returned. +In all probability they had starved to death on the great desolate +plains of the lower Anadyr, as they had been compelled to start with +only ten days' provisions, and it was doubtful whether they would meet +Wandering Chukchis who could supply them with more. + +Such was the first news which I heard from the Northern District--a +famine at Anadyrsk, Bush and party absent since July, and eight +natives and dog-sledges missing since the middle of October. I did +not see how the state of affairs could be any worse, and I spent a +sleepless night in thinking over the situation and trying to decide +upon some plan of operations. Much as I dreaded another journey to the +mouth of the Anadyr in midwinter, I saw no way of avoiding it. The +fact that nothing had been heard from Bush in four months proved that +he had met with some misfortune, and it was clearly my duty to go to +Anadyr Bay in search of him if there was a possibility of doing so. On +the following morning, therefore, I began buying a supply of dog-food, +and before night I had collected 2000 dried fish and a quantity of +seals' blubber, which I felt sure would last five dog teams at least +forty days. I then sent for the chief of a band of Wandering Koraks +who happened to be encamped near Penzhina, and prevailed upon him to +drive his herd of reindeer to Anadyrsk, and kill enough to supply the +starving inhabitants with food until they could get other help. I also +sent two natives back to Gizhiga on dog-sledges, with a letter to the +Russian governor, apprising him of the famine, and another to Dodd, +directing him to load all the dog-sledges he could get with provisions +and send them at once to Penzhina, where I would make arrangements for +their transportation to the famine-stricken settlement. + +I started myself for Anadyrsk on November 20th with five of the best +men and an equal number of the best dog-teams in Penzhina. These men +and dogs I intended to take with me to the mouth of the Anadyr River +if I heard nothing from Bush before I reached Anadyrsk. + +[Illustration: Box for holding cups and teapot] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + + +A MEETING IN THE NIGHT--HARDSHIPS OF BUSH'S PARTY--SIBERIAN +FAMINES--FISH SAVINGS BANKS--WORK IN THE NORTHERN DISTRICT--STARVING +POLE CUTTERS--A JOURNEY TO YAMSK + +Availing ourselves of the road which had been broken by the sledges +of the priest, we made more rapid progress toward Anadyrsk than I had +anticipated, and on November 22d we camped at the foot of a range of +low mountains known as the "Russki Krebet," only thirty versts south +of the settlement. With the hope of reaching our destination before +the next morning, we had intended to travel all night; but a storm +sprang up most inopportunely just before dark and prevented us from +getting over the pass. About midnight the wind abated a little, the +moon came out occasionally through rifts in the clouds, and, fearing +that we should have no better opportunity, we roused up our tired dogs +and began the ascent of the mountain. It was a wild, lonely scene. +The snow was drifting in dense clouds down the pass, half hiding from +sight the bare white peaks on either side, and blotting out all the +landscape behind us as we ascended. Now and then the misty moonbeams +would struggle faintly through the clouds of flying snow and light up +for a moment the great barren slope of the mountain above our heads; +then they would be suddenly smothered in dark vapour, the wind would +come roaring down the ravine again, and everything would vanish in +clouds and darkness. Blinded and panting for breath, we finally gained +the summit, and as we stopped for a moment to rest our tired dogs, we +were suddenly startled by the sight of a long line of dark objects +passing swiftly across the bare mountain-top only a few yards away and +plunging down into the ravine out of which we had just come. I caught +only a glimpse of them, but they seemed to be dog-sledges, and with a +great shout we started in pursuit. Dog-sledges they were, and as we +drew nearer I recognised among them the old sealskin covered _pavoska_ +which I had left at Anadyrsk the previous winter, and which I knew +must be occupied by an American. With heart beating fast from +excitement I sprang from my sledge, ran up to the _pavoska_, and +demanded in English, "Who is it?" It was too dark to recognise faces, +but I knew well the voice that answered "Bush!" and never was that +voice more welcome. For more than three weeks I had not seen a +countryman nor spoken a word of English; I was lonely and disheartened +by constantly accumulating misfortunes, when suddenly at midnight on +a desolate mountain-top, in a storm, I met an old friend and comrade +whom I had almost given up as dead. It was a joyful meeting. The +natives who had gone to Anadyr Bay in search of Bush and his party had +returned in safety, bringing Bush with them, and he was on his way to +Gizhiga to carry the news of the famine and get provisions and help. +He had been stopped by the storm as we had, and when it abated a +little at midnight we had both started from opposite sides to cross +the mountain, and had thus met upon the summit. + +We went back together to my deserted camp on the south side of the +mountain, blew up the embers of my still smouldering fire, spread down +our bearskins, and sat there talking until we were as white as polar +bears with the drifting snow, and day began to break in the East. + +Bush brought more bad news. They had gone down to the mouth of the +Anadyr, as the priest had already informed me, in the early part of +June, and had waited there for the Company's vessels almost four +months. Their provisions had finally given out, and they had been +compelled to subsist upon the few fish that they were able to catch +from day to day, and go hungry when they could catch none. For salt +they scraped the staves of an old pork-barrel which had been left at +Macrae's camp the previous winter, and for coffee they drank burned +rice water. At last, however, salt and rice both failed, and they were +reduced to an unvarying and often scanty diet of boiled fish, without +coffee, bread, or salt. Living in the midst of a great moss swamp +fifty miles from the nearest tree, dressing in skins for the want of +anything else, suffering frequently from hunger, tormented constantly +by mosquitoes, from which they had no protection, and looking day +after day and week after week for vessels which never came, their +situation was certainly miserable. The Company's bark _Golden Gate_ +had finally arrived in October, bringing twenty-five men and a small +steamer; but winter had already set in, and five days afterwards, +before they could finish discharging the vessel's cargo, she was +wrecked by ice. Her crew and nearly all her stores were saved, but by +this misfortune the number of the party was increased from twenty-five +to forty-seven, without any corresponding increase in the quantity of +provisions for their subsistence. Fortunately, however, there were +bands of Wandering Chukchis within reach, and from them Bush succeeded +in buying a considerable number of reindeer, which he caused to be +frozen and stored away for future use. After the freezing over of the +Anadyr River, Bush was left, as Macrae had been the previous winter, +without any means of getting up to the settlement, a distance of 250 +miles; but he had foreseen this difficulty, and had left orders at +Anadyrsk that if he failed to return in canoes before the river +closed, dog-sledges should be sent to his assistance. Notwithstanding +the famine the dog-sledges were sent, and Bush, with two men, had +returned on them to Anadyrsk. Finding that settlement famine-stricken +and deserted, he had started without a moment's delay for Gizhiga, his +exhausted and starving dogs dying along the road. + +The situation of affairs, then, when I met Bush on the summit of the +Russki Krebet, was briefly as follows: + +Forty-four men were living at the mouth of the Anadyr River, 250 miles +from the nearest settlement, without provisions enough to last them +through the winter, and without any means whatever of getting away. +The village of Anadyrsk was deserted, and with the exception of a few +teams at Penzhina, there were no available dogs in all the Northern +District, from the Okhotsk Sea to Bering Strait. Under such +circumstances, what could be done? Bush and I discussed the question +all night beside our lonely camp-fire under the Russki Krebet, but +could come to no decision, and after sleeping three or four hours +we started for Anadyrsk. Late in the afternoon we drove into the +settlement--but it could be called a settlement no longer. The two +upper villages--"Osolkin" and "Pokorukof," which on the previous +winter had presented so thriving an appearance, were now left without +a single inhabitant, and Markova itself was occupied only by a few +starving families whose dogs had all died, and who were therefore +unable to get away. No chorus of howls announced our arrival; no +people came out to meet us; the windows of the houses were closed with +wooden shutters, and half buried in drifts; the snow was unbroken by +paths, and the whole village was silent and desolate. It looked as if +one-half of the inhabitants had died and the other half had gone +to the funeral! We stopped at a small log-house where Bush had +established his headquarters, and spent the remainder of the day in +talking over our respective experiences. + +The unpleasant situation in which we found ourselves placed was due +almost entirely to the famine at Anadyrsk. The late arrival and +consequent wreck of the _Golden Gate_ was of course a great +misfortune; but it would not have been irretrievable had not the +famine deprived us of all means of transportation. The inhabitants of +Anadyrsk, as well as of all the other Russian settlements in Siberia, +are dependent for their very existence upon the fish which enter the +rivers every summer to spawn, and are caught by thousands as they make +their way up-stream toward the shallow water of the tributary brooks +in the interior of the country. As long as these migrations of +the fish are regular the natives have no difficulty in providing +themselves with an abundance of food; but once in every three or four +years, for some unexplained reason, the fish fail to come, and the +following winter brings precisely such a famine as the one which I +have described at Anadyrsk, only frequently much worse. In 1860 +more than a hundred and fifty natives died of starvation in four +settlements on the coast of Penzhinsk Gulf, and the peninsula of +Kamchatka has been swept by famines again and again since the Russian +conquest, until its population has been reduced more than one-half. +Were it not for the Wandering Koraks, who come to the relief of the +starving people with their immense herds of reindeer, I firmly believe +that the _settled_ population of Siberia, including the Russians, +Chuances, Yukagirs, and Kamchadals, would become extinct in less than +fifty years. The great distance of the settlements one from another, +and the absence of any means of intercommunication in summer, make +each village entirely dependent upon its own resources, and prevent +any mutual support and assistance, until it is too late to be of any +avail. The first victims of such famines are always the dogs; and the +people being thus deprived of their only means of transportation, +cannot get away from the famine-stricken settlement, and after eating +their boots, sealskin thongs, and scraps of untanned leather, they +finally die of pure starvation. For this, however, their own careless +improvidence is primarily responsible. They might catch and dry fish +enough in one year to last them three; but instead of doing this, they +provide barely food enough to last them through one winter, and +take the chances of starvation on the next. No experience, however +severe--no suffering, however great, teaches them prudence. A man who +has barely escaped starvation one winter, will run precisely the same +risk on the next, rather than take a little extra trouble and catch a +few more fish. Even when they see that a famine is inevitable, they +take no measures to mitigate its severity or to obtain relief, until +they find themselves absolutely without a morsel to put in their +mouths. + +[Illustration: AN ARCTIC FUNERAL] + +A native of Anadyrsk once happened to tell me, in the course of +conversation, that he had only five days' dog-food left. "But," said +I, "what do you intend to do at the end of those five days?"--"Bokh +yevo znaiet"--God only knows!--was the characteristic response, +and the native turned carelessly away as if it were a matter of no +consequence whatever. If God only knew, he seemed to think that it +made very little difference whether anybody else knew or not. After he +had fed his dogs the last dried fish in his storehouse, it would be +time enough to look about for more; but until then he did not propose +to borrow any unnecessary trouble. This well known recklessness and +improvidence of the natives finally led the Russian Government to +establish at several of the north-eastern Siberian settlements a +peculiar institution which may be called a Fish Savings Bank, or +Starvation Insurance Office. It was organised at first by the gradual +purchase from the natives of about a hundred thousand dried fish, or +_yukala_, which constituted the capital stock of the bank. Every male +inhabitant of the settlement was then obliged by law to pay into this +bank annually one-tenth of all the fish he caught, and no excuse was +admitted for a failure. The surplus fund thus created was added every +year to the capital, so that as long as the fish continued to come +regularly, the resources of the bank were constantly accumulating. +When, however, the fish for any reason failed and a famine +was threatened, every depositor--or, more strictly speaking, +tax-payer--was allowed to borrow from the bank enough fish to supply +his immediate wants, upon condition of returning the same on the +following summer, together with the regular annual payment of ten per +cent. It is evident that an institution once thoroughly established +upon such a basis, and managed upon such principles, could never fail, +but would constantly increase its capital of dried fish until the +settlement would be perfectly secure against even the possibility +of famine. At Kolyma, a Russian post on the Arctic Ocean, where the +experiment was first tried, it proved a complete success. The bank +sustained the inhabitants of the village through severe famines during +two consecutive winters, and its capital in 1867 amounted to 300,000 +dried fish, and was accumulating at the rate of 20,000 a year. +Anadyrsk, not being a Russian military post, had no bank of this kind; +but had our work been continued another year, we intended to petition +the Government for the organisation of such institutions at all the +settlements, Russian and native, along the whole route of our line. + +In the meantime, however, the famine was irremediable, and on December +1, 1867, poor Bush found himself in a deserted settlement 600 versts +from Gizhiga without money, without provisions, and without means of +transportation--but with a helpless party of forty-four men, at the +mouth of the Anadyr River, dependent upon him for support. Building a +telegraph line under such circumstances was out of the question. All +that he could hope to do would be to keep his parties supplied with +provisions until the arrival of horses and men from Yakutsk should +enable him to resume work. + +On November 29th, finding that I could be of no further assistance at +Anadyrsk, and that I was only helping to eat up more rapidly Bush's +scanty supply of provisions, I started with two Penzhina sledges for +Gizhiga. As I did not again visit the Northern District, and shall +have no further occasion to refer to it, I will relate briefly here +the little which I afterward learned by letter with regard to the +misfortunes and unhappy experiences of the Company's employes in that +region. The sledges that I had ordered from Gizhiga reached Penzhina +late in December, with about 3000 pounds of beans, rice, hard-bread, +and assorted stores. As soon as possible after their arrival Bush sent +half a dozen sledges and a small quantity of provisions to the party +at the mouth of the Anadyr River and in February they returned, +bringing six men. Determined to accomplish something, however +little, Bush sent these six men to a point on the Myan River, about +seventy-five versts from Anadyrsk, and set them at work on snow-shoes +cutting poles along the route of the line. Later in the winter another +expedition was sent to Anadyr Bay, and on the 4th of March it also +returned, bringing Lieutenant Macrae and seven more men. This party +experienced terrible weather on its way from the mouth of the river +to Anadyrsk, and one of its members--a man named Robinson--died in +a storm about 150 versts east of the settlement. His body was left +unburied in one of the houses which Bush had erected the previous +summer and his comrades pushed on. As soon as they reached Anadyrsk +they were sent to the Myan, and by the middle of March the two parties +together had cut and distributed along the banks of that river about +3000 poles. In April, however, their provisions began again to run +short, they were gradually reduced to the verge of starvation, +and Bush started a second time for Gizhiga with a few miserable +half-starved and exhausted dog-teams, to get more provisions. During +his absence the unfortunate parties on the Myan were left to take +care of themselves, and after consuming their last morsel of food and +eating up three horses which had previously been sent to them from +Anadyrsk, they organised themselves into a forlorn hope, and started +on snow-shoes for the settlement. It was a terrible walk for +half-starving men; and although they reached their destination in +safety, they were entirely exhausted, and when they approached the +village could hardly go a hundred yards at a time without falling. +At Anadyrsk they succeeded in obtaining a small quantity of +reindeer-meat, upon which they lived until the return of Lieutenant +Bush from Gizhiga with provisions, some time in May. Thus ended the +second winter's work in the Northern District. As far as practical +results were concerned, it was an almost complete failure; but it +developed in our officers and men a courage, a perseverance, and a +patient endurance of hardships which deserved, and which under more +favourable auspices would have achieved, the most brilliant success. +In the month of February, while Mr. Norton and his men were at work +on the Myan River, the thermometer indicated more than forty degrees +below zero during sixteen days out of twenty-one, sank five times to +-60 deg. and once to -68 deg., or one hundred degrees below the freezing point +of water. Cutting poles on snow-shoes, in a temperature ranging +from 40 deg. to 60 deg. below zero is, in itself, no slight trial of men's +hardihood; but when to this are added the sufferings of hunger and the +peril of utter starvation in a perfect wilderness, it passes human +endurance, and the only wonder is that Norton and Macrae could +accomplish as much as they did. + +Returning from Anadyrsk, I reached Gizhiga on the 15th of December, +after a hard and lonely journey of sixteen days. A special courier +had just arrived there from Yakutsk, bringing letters and orders from +Major Abaza. + +He had succeeded, with the sanction and cooperation of the governor of +that province, in hiring for a period of three years a force of eight +hundred Yakut labourers, at a fixed rate of sixty rubles, or about +forty dollars a year for each man. He had also purchased three hundred +Yakut horses and pack-saddles, and an immense quantity of material +and provisions of various kinds for the equipment and subsistence of +horses and workmen. A portion of these men were already on their way +to Okhotsk, and the whole force would be sent thither in successive +detachments as rapidly as possible, and distributed from there along +the whole route of the line. It would be necessary, of course, to +put this large force of native labourers under skilled American +superintendence; and as we had not foremen enough in all our parties +to oversee more than five or six gangs of men, Major Abaza determined +to send a courier to Petropavlovsk for the officers who had sailed +from San Francisco in the bark _Onward_, and who he presumed had been +landed by that vessel in Kamchatka. He directed me, therefore, to make +arrangements for the transportation of these men from Petropavlovsk to +Gizhiga; to prepare immediately for the reception of fifty or sixty +Yakut labourers; to send six hundred army rations to Yamsk for the +subsistence of our American party there, and three thousand pounds of +rye flour for a party of Yakuts who would reach there in February. +To fill all these requisitions I had at my disposal about fifteen +dog-sledges, and even these had gone with provisions to Penzhina for +the relief of Lieutenant Bush. With the assistance of the Russian +governor I succeeded in getting two Cossacks to go to Petropavlovsk +after the Americans who were presumed to have been left there by the +_Onward_, and half a dozen Koraks to carry provisions to Yamsk, while +Lieutenant Arnold himself sent sledges for the six hundred rations. I +thus retained my own fifteen sledges to supply Lieutenant Sandford +and party, who were now cutting poles on the Tilghai River, north of +Penzhinsk Gulf. One day late in December, while Dodd and I were out +on the river above the settlement training a team of dogs, word was +brought to us that an American had arrived from Kamchatka, bringing +news from the long-missing bark _Onward_ and the party of men whom +she landed at Petropavlovsk. Hurrying back to the village with all +possible speed, we found Mr. Lewis, the American in question, seated +comfortably in our house drinking tea. This enterprising young +man--who, by the way, was a telegraph operator, wholly unaccustomed +to rough life--without being able to speak a word of Russian, had +traversed alone, in mid-winter, the whole wilderness of Kamchatka from +Petropavlovsk to Gizhiga. He had been forty-two days on the road, and +had travelled on dog-sledges nearly twelve hundred miles, with no +companions except a few natives and a Cossack from Tigil. He seemed +disposed to look upon this achievement very modestly, but in some +respects it was one of the most remarkable journeys ever made by one +of the Company's employes. + +The _Onward_, as we had supposed, being unable to reach Gizhiga, on +account of the lateness of the season, had discharged her cargo and +landed most of her passengers at Petropavlovsk; and Mr. Lewis had been +sent by the chief of the party to report their situation to Major +Abaza, and find out what they should do. + +After the arrival of Mr. Lewis nothing of special importance occurred +until March. Arnold at Yamsk, Sandford on the Tilghai, and Bush at +Anadyrsk, were trying, with the few men they had, to accomplish some +work; but, owing to deep snow-storms, intensely cold weather, and a +general lack everywhere of provisions and dogs, their efforts were +mostly fruitless. In January I made an excursion with twelve or +fifteen sledges to Sandford's camp on the Tilghai, and attempted to +move his party to another point thirty or forty versts nearer Gizhiga; +but in a severe storm on the Kuil steppe we were broken up, dispersed, +and all lost separately, and after wandering around four or five +days in clouds of drifting snow which hid even our dogs from sight, +Sandford with a portion of his party returned to the Tilghai, and I +with the remainder to Gizhiga. + +Late in February the Cossack Kolmagorof arrived from Petropavlovsk, +Kamchatka, bringing three of the men who had been landed there by the +_Onward_. + +In March I received by a special courier from Yakutsk another letter +and more orders from Major Abaza. The eight hundred labourers whom he +had engaged were being rapidly sent forward to Okhotsk, and more than +a hundred and fifty were already at work at that place and at Yamsk. +The equipment and transportation of the remainder still required his +personal supervision, and it would be impossible, he wrote, for him to +return that winter to Gizhiga. He could come however, as far as +the settlement of Yamsk, three hundred versts west of Gizhiga, and +requested me to meet him at that place within twelve days after the +receipt of his letter. I started at once with one American companion +named Leet, taking twelve days' dog-food and provisions. + +The country between Gizhiga and Yamsk was entirely different in +character from anything which I had previously seen in Siberia. There +were no such great desolate plains as those between Gizhiga and +Anadyrsk and in the northern part of Kamchatka. On the contrary, the +whole coast of the Okhotsk Sea, for nearly six hundred miles west +of Gizhiga, was one wilderness of rugged, broken, almost impassable +mountains, intersected by deep valleys and ravines, and heavily +timbered with dense pine and larch forests. The Stanavoi range of +mountains, which sweeps up around the Okhotsk Sea from the Chinese +frontier, keeps everywhere near the coast line, and sends down between +its lateral spurs hundreds of small rivers and streams which run +through deep wooded valleys to the sea. The road, or rather the +travelled route from Gizhiga to Yamsk, crosses all these streams and +lateral spurs at right angles, keeping about midway between the great +mountain range and the sea. Most of the dividing ridges between these +streams are nothing but high, bare watersheds, which can be easily +crossed; but at one point, about a hundred and fifty versts west of +Gizhiga, the central range sends out to the seacoast, a great spur of +mountains 2500 or 3000 feet in height, which completely blocks up the +road. Along the bases of these mountains runs a deep, gloomy valley +known as the Viliga, whose upper end pierces the central Stanavoi +range and affords an outlet to the winds pent up between the steppes +and the sea. In winter when the open water of the Okhotsk Sea is +warmer than the frozen plains north of the mountains, the air over the +former rises, and a colder atmosphere rushes through the valley of the +Viliga to take its place. In summer, while the water of the sea is +still chilled with masses of unmelted ice, the great steppes behind +the mountains are covered with vegetation and warm with almost +perpetual sunshine, and the direction of the wind is consequently +reversed. This valley of the Viliga, therefore, may be regarded as +a great natural breathing-hole, through which the interior steppes +respire once a year. At no other point does the Stanavoi range afford +an opening through which the air can pass back and forth between the +steppes and the sea, and as a natural consequence this ravine is swept +by one almost uninterrupted storm. While the weather everywhere else +is calm and still, the wind blows through the Viliga in a perfect +hurricane, tearing up great clouds of snow from the mountain sides and +carrying them far out to sea. For this reason it is dreaded by all +natives who are compelled to pass that way, and is famous throughout +north-eastern Siberia as "the stormy gorge of the Viliga!" + +On the fifth day after leaving Gizhiga, our small party, increased +by a Russian postilion and three or four sledges carrying the annual +Kamchatkan mail, drew near the foot of the dreaded Viliga Mountains. +Owing to deep snow our progress had not been so rapid as we had +anticipated, and we were only able to reach on the fifth night a small +_yurt_ built to shelter travellers, near the mouth of a river called +the Topolofka, thirty versts from the Viliga. Here we camped, drank +tea, and stretched ourselves out on the rough plank floor to sleep, +knowing that a hard day's work awaited us on the morrow. + +[Illustration: Head covering used in stalking seals] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + + +YURT ON THE TOPOLOFKA--THE VALLEY OF TEMPESTS--RIVER OF THE +LOST--STORM BOUND--ESCAPE BY THE ICE-FOOT--A SLEEPLESS NIGHT--LEET +REPORTED DEAD--YAMSK AT LAST + +"Kennan! Oh, Kennan! Turn out! It's day light!" A sleepy grunt and a +still more drowsy "Is it?" from the pile of furs lying on the rough +plank floor betrayed no very lively interest on the part of the +prostrate figure in the fact announced, while the heavy, long-drawn +breathing which soon succeeded this momentary interruption proved that +more active measures must be taken to recall him from the land of +dreams. "I say! Kennan! Wake up! Breakfast has been ready this +half-hour." The magic word "breakfast" appealed to a stronger feeling +than drowsiness, and, thrusting my head out from beneath its covering +of furs, I took a sleepy, blinking view of the situation, endeavouring +in a feeble sort of way to recollect where I was and how I came there. +A bright crackling fire of resinous pine boughs was burning on the +square log altar in the centre of the hut, radiating a fierce heat to +its remotest corner, and causing the perspiration to stand in great +beads on its mouldy logs and rough board ceiling. The smoke rose +lazily through the square hole in the roof toward the white, +solemn-looking stars, which winked soberly at us between the dark +overhanging branches of the larches. Mr. Leet, who acted as the Soyer +of our campaign, was standing over me with a slice of bacon impaled +on a bowie-knife in one hand, and a poker in the other--both of which +insignia of office he was brandishing furiously, with the intention +of waking me up more effectually. His frantic gesticulations had the +desired result. With a vague impression that I had been shipwrecked on +the Cannibal Islands and was about to be sacrificed to the tutelary +deities, I sprang up and rubbed my eyes until I gathered together my +scattered senses. Mr. Leet was in high glee. Our travelling companion, +the postilion, had manifested for several days an inclination to shirk +work and allow us to do all the road-breaking, while he followed +comfortably in our tracks, and by this strategic manoeuvre had +incurred Mr. Leet's most implacable hatred. The latter, therefore, had +waked the unfortunate man up before he had been asleep five hours, and +had deluded him into the belief that the aurora borealis was the first +flush of daylight. He had accordingly started off at midnight and was +laboriously breaking a road up the steep mountain side through three +feet of soft snow, relying upon Mr. Leet's promise that we would be +along before sunrise. At five o'clock, when I got up, the voices of +the postilion's men could still be heard shouting to their exhausted +dogs near the summit of the mountain. We all breakfasted as slowly as +possible, in order to give them plenty of time to break a road for us, +and did not finally start until after six o'clock. + +It was a beautifully clear, still morning when we crossed the mountain +above the _yurt_, and wound around through bare open valleys, among +high hills, toward the seacoast. The sun had risen over the eastern +hill-tops, and the snow glittered as if strewn with diamonds, while +the distant peaks of the Viliga, appeared-- + + "Bathed in the tenderest purple of distance + Tinted and shadowed by pencils of air"-- + +as calm and bright in their snowy majesty as if the suspicion of +a storm had never attached to their smooth white slopes and sharp +pinnacles. The air, although intensely cold, was clear and bracing; +and as our dogs bounded at a gallop over the hard, broken road, the +exhilarating motion caused the very blood in our veins + + "--to dance + Blithe as the sparkling wine of France." + +About noon we came out of the mountains upon the sea beach and +overtook the postilion, who had stopped to rest his tired dogs. Our +own being fresh, we again took the lead, and drew rapidly near to the +valley of the Viliga. + +I was just mentally congratulating myself upon our good fortune in +having clear weather to pass this dreaded point, when my attention was +attracted by a curious white cloud or mist, extending from the mouth +of the Viliga ravine far out over the black open water of the Okhotsk +Sea. Wondering what it could be, I pointed it out to our guide, and +inquired if it were fog. His face clouded up with anxiety as he +glanced at it, and replied laconically, "Viliga dooreet," or "The +mountains are fooling." This oracular response did not enlighten me +very much, and I demanded an explanation. I was then told, to my +astonishment and dismay, that the curious white mist which I had taken +to be fog was a dense driving cloud of snow, hurled out of the mouth +of the ravine by a storm, which had apparently just begun in the upper +gorges of the Stanavoi range. It would be impossible, our guide said, +to cross the valley, and dangerous to attempt it until the wind should +subside. I could not see either the impossibility or the danger, and +as there was another _yurt_ or shelter-house on the other side of the +ravine, I determined to go on and make the attempt at least to cross. +Where we were the weather was perfectly calm and still; a candle +would have burned in the open air without flickering; and I could +not realise the tremendous force of the hurricane which, only a mile +ahead, was vomiting snow out of the mouth of that ravine and carrying +it four miles to sea. Seeing that Leet and I were determined to cross +the valley, our guide shrugged his shoulders expressively, as much as +to say, "You will soon regret your haste," and we went on. + +As we gradually approached the white curtain of mist, we began to feel +sharp intermittent puffs of wind and little whirlwinds of snow, which +increased constantly in strength and frequency as we drew nearer and +nearer to the mouth of the ravine. Our guide once more remonstrated +with us upon the folly of going deliberately into such a storm as this +evidently would be; but Leet laughed him to scorn, declaring in broken +Russian that he had seen storms in the Sierra Nevadas to which this +was not a circumstance--"Bolshoi storms, you bet!" But in five minutes +more Mr. Leet himself was ready to admit that this storm on the Viliga +would not compare unfavourably with anything of the kind that he had +ever seen in California. As we rounded the end of a protecting bluff +on the edge of the ravine, the gale burst upon us in all its fury, +blinding and suffocating us with dense clouds of driving snow, which +blotted out instantly the sun and the clear blue sky, and fairly +darkened the whole earth. The wind roared as it sometimes does through +the cordage of a ship at sea. There was something almost supernatural +in the suddenness of the change from bright sunshine and calm still +air to this howling, blinding tempest, and I began to feel doubtful +myself as to the practicability of crossing the valley. Our guide +turned with a despairing look to me, as if reproaching me with my +obstinacy in coming into the storm against his advice, and then urged +on with shouts and blows his cowering dogs. The sockets of the poor +brutes' eyes were completely plastered up with snow, and out of many +of them were oozing drops of blood; but blind as they were they still +struggled on, uttering at intervals short mournful cries, which +alarmed me more than the roaring of the storm. In a moment we were at +the bottom of the ravine; and before we could check the impetus of our +descent we were out on the smooth glare ice of the "Propashchina," or +"River of the Lost," and sweeping rapidly down toward the open water +of the Okhotsk Sea, only a hundred yards below. All our efforts to +stop our sledges were at first unavailing against the force of the +wind, and I began to understand the nature of the danger to which our +guide had alluded. Unless we could stop our sledges before we should +reach the mouth of the river we must inevitably be blown off the ice +into three or four fathoms of water. Precisely such a disaster had +given the river its ominous name, Leet and the Cossack Paderin, who +were alone upon their respective sledges, and who did not get so far +from the shore in the first place, finally succeeded with the aid of +their spiked sticks in getting back; but the old guide and I were +together upon one sledge, and our voluminous fur clothes caught so +much wind that our spiked sticks would not stop or hold us, and +our dogs could not keep their feet. Believing that the sledge must +inevitably be blown into the sea if we both clung to it, I finally +relinquished my hold and tried to stop myself by sitting down, and +then by lying down flat upon my face on the ice; but all was of no +avail; my slippery furs took no hold of the smooth, treacherous +surface, and I drifted away even faster than before. I had already +torn off my mittens, and as I slid at last over a rough place in +the ice I succeeded in getting my finger-nails into the little +corrugations of the surface and in stopping my perilous drift; but I +hardly dared breathe lest I should lose my hold. Seeing my situation, +Leet slid to me the sharp iron-spiked _oerstel_, which is used to +check the speed of a sledge in descending hills, and by digging this +into the ice at short intervals I crept back to shore, only a short +distance above the open water at the mouth of the river, into which my +mittens had already gone. Our guide was still sliding slowly and at +intervals down stream, but Paderin went to his assistance with another +_oerstel_, and together they brought his sledge once more to land. I +would have been quite satisfied now to turn back and get out of the +storm; but our guide's blood was up, and cross the valley he would if +we lost all our sledges in the sea. He had warned us of the danger and +we had insisted upon coming on; we must now take the consequences. +As it was evidently impossible to cross the river at this point, we +struggled up its left bank in the teeth of the storm almost half a +mile, until we reached a bend which put land between us and the open +water. Here we made a second attempt, and were successful. Crossing a +low ridge on the west side of the "Propashchina," we reached another +small stream known as the Viliga, at the foot of the Viliga Mountains. +Along this there extended a narrow strip of dense timber, and in this +timber, somewhere, stood the _yurt_ of which we were in search. Our +guide seemed to find the road by a sort of instinct, for the drifting +clouds of snow hid even our-leading dogs from sight, and all that we +could see of the country was the ground on which we stood. About an +hour before dark, tired and chilled to the bone, we drew up before +a little log hut in the woods, which our guide said was the Viliga +_yurt_. The last travellers who had occupied it had left the chimney +hole open, and it was nearly filled with snow, but we cleared it out +as well as we could, built a fire on the ground in the centre, and, +regardless of the smoke, crouched around it to drink tea. We had seen +nothing of the postilion since noon, and hardly thought it possible +that he could reach the _yurt_; but just as it began to grow dark we +heard the howling of his dogs in the woods, and in a few moments he +made his appearance. Our party now numbered nine men--two Americans, +three Russians, and four Koraks--and a wild-looking crowd it was, as +it squatted around the fire in that low smoke-blackened hut, drinking +tea and listening to the howling wind. As there was not room enough +for all to sleep inside the _yurt_, the Koraks camped out-doors on the +snow, and before morning were half buried in a drift. + +[Illustration: THE YURT IN THE "STORMY GORGE OF THE VILIGA" From a +painting by George A. Frost] + +All night the wind roared a deep, hoarse bass through the forest which +sheltered the _yurt_, and at daylight on the following morning there +was no abatement of the storm. We knew that it might blow without +intermission in that ravine for two weeks, and we had only four days' +dog-food and provisions left. Something must be done. The Viliga +Mountains which blocked up the road to Yamsk were cut by three gaps +or passes, all of which opened into the valley, and in clear weather +could be easily found and crossed. In such a storm, however, as the +one which had overtaken us, a hundred passes would be of no avail, +because the drifting snow hid everything from sight at a distance of +thirty feet, and we were as likely to go up the side of a peak as up +the right pass, even if we could make our dogs face the storm at all, +which was doubtful. After breakfast we held a council of war for the +purpose of determining what it would be best to do. Our guide thought +that our best course would be to go down the Viliga River to the +coast, and make our way westward, if possible, along what he called +the "pripaika"--a narrow strip of sea ice generally found at the +water's edge under the cliffs of a precipitous coast line. He could +not promise us that this route would be practicable, but he had heard +that there was a beach for at least a part of the distance between the +Viliga and Yamsk, and he thought that we might make our way along this +beach and the _pripaika_, or ice-foot, to a ravine, twenty-five or +thirty miles farther west, which would lead us up on the tundra beyond +the mountains. We could at least try this shelf of ice under the +cliffs, and if we should find it impassable we could return, while if +we went into the mountains in such a blizzard we might never get back. +The plan suggested by the guide seemed to me a bold and attractive one +and I decided to adopt it. Making our way down the river, in clouds of +flying snow, we soon reached the coast, and started westward, along a +narrow strip of ice-encumbered beach, between the open water of the +sea and a long line of black perpendicular cliffs, one hundred and +fifty to three hundred feet in height. We were making very fair +progress when we found ourselves suddenly confronted by an entirely +unexpected and apparently insurmountable obstacle. The beach, as far +as we could see to the westward, was completely filled up from the +water's edge to a height of seventy-five or a hundred feet by enormous +drifts of snow, which had been gradually accumulating there throughout +the winter, and which now masked the whole face of the precipice, and +left no room for passage between it and the sea. These snow-drifts, +by frequent alternations of warm and cold weather, had been rendered +almost as hard and slippery as ice, and as they sloped upward toward +the tops of the cliffs at an angle of seventy-five or eighty degrees, +it was impossible to stand upon them without first cutting places for +the feet with an axe. Along the face of this smooth, snowy escarpment, +which rose directly out of two or three fathoms of water, lay our only +route to Yamsk. The prospect of getting over it without meeting with +some disaster seemed very faint, for the slightest caving away of +the snow would tumble us all into the open sea; but as there was no +alternative, we fastened our dogs to cakes of ice, distributed our +axes and hatchets, threw off our heavy fur coats, and began cutting +out a road. + +We worked hard all day, and by six o'clock in the evening had cut a +deep trench three feet in width along the face of the escarpment to a +point about a mile and a quarter west of the mouth of the Viliga. Here +we were again stopped, however, by a difficulty infinitely worse than +any that we had surmounted. The beach, which had previously extended +in one unbroken line along the foot of the cliffs, here suddenly +disappeared, and the mass of snow over which we had been cutting a +road came to an abrupt termination. Unsupported from beneath, the +whole escarpment had caved away into the sea, leaving a gap of open +water about thirty-five feet in width, out of which rose the black +perpendicular wall of the coast. There was no possibility of getting +across without the assistance of a pontoon bridge. Tired and +disheartened, we were compelled to camp on the slope of the escarpment +for the night, with no prospect of being able to do anything in the +morning except return with all possible speed to the Viliga, and +abandon the idea of reaching Yamsk altogether. + +A wilder, more dangerous location for a camp than that which we +occupied could hardly be found in Siberia, and I watched with the +greatest uneasiness the signs of the weather as it began to grow dark. +The huge sloping snow-drift upon which we stood rose directly out of +the water, and, so far as we knew, it might have no other foundation +than a narrow strip of ice. If so, the faintest breeze from any +direction except north would roll in waves high enough to undermine +and break up the whole escarpment, and either precipitate us with +an avalanche of snow into the open sea, or leave us clinging like +barnacles to the bare face of the precipice, seventy-five feet above +it. Neither alternative was pleasant to contemplate, and I determined, +if possible, to find a place of greater security. Leet, with his usual +recklessness, dug himself out what he called a "bedroom" in the snow +about fifty feet above the water, and promised me "a good night's +sleep" if I would accept his hospitality and share his cave; but under +the circumstances I thought best to decline. His "bedroom," bed, and +bedding might all tumble into the sea before morning, and his "good +night's sleep" be indefinitely prolonged. Going back a short distance +in the direction of the Viliga, I finally discovered a place where a +small stream had once fallen over the summit of the cliff, and had +worn out a steep narrow channel in its face. In the rocky, uneven bed +of this little ravine the natives and I stretched ourselves out for +the night, our bodies inclined at an angle of forty-five degrees--our +heads, of course, up-hill. + +If the reader can imagine himself camping out on the steep sloping +roof of a great cathedral, with a precipice a hundred feet high over +his head and three or four fathoms of open water at his feet, he will +be able, perhaps, to form some idea of the way in which we spent that +dismal night. + +With the first streak of dawn we were up. While we were gloomily +making preparations to return to the Viliga, one of the Koraks who +had gone to take a last look at the gap of open water came hurriedly +climbing back, shouting joyfully, "Mozhno perryekat, mozhno +perryekat!"--"It is possible to cross." The tide, which had risen +during the night, had brought in two or three large cakes of broken +ice, and had jammed them into the gap in such a manner as to make a +rude bridge. Fearing, however, that it would not support a very heavy +weight, we unloaded all our sledges, carried the loads, sledges, and +dogs across separately, loaded up again on the other side, and +went on. The worst of our difficulties was past. We still had some +road-cutting to do through occasional snow-drifts; but as we went +farther and farther to the westward the beach became wider and higher, +the ice disappeared, and by night we were thirty versts nearer to our +destination. The sea on one side, and the cliffs on the other, still +hemmed us in; but on the following day we succeeded in making our +escape through the valley of the Kananaga River. + +The twelfth day of our journey found us on a great steppe called the +Malkachan, only thirty miles from Yamsk; and although our dog-food and +provisions were both exhausted, we hoped to reach the settlement +late in the night. Darkness came on, however, with another blinding +snow-storm, in which we again lost our way; and, fearing that we might +drive over the edges of the precipices into the sea by which the +steppe was bounded on the east, we were finally compelled to stop. We +could find no wood for a fire; but even had we succeeded in making a +fire, it would have been instantly smothered by the clouds of snow +which the furious wind drove across the plain. Spreading down our +canvas tent upon the ground, and capsizing a heavy dog-sledge upon one +edge of it to hold it fast, we crawled under it to get away from the +suffocating snow. Lying there upon our faces, with the canvas flapping +furiously against our backs, we scraped our bread-bag for the last few +frozen crumbs which remained, and ate a few scraps of raw meat which +Mr. Leet found on one of the sledges. In the course of fifteen or +twenty minutes we noticed that the flappings of the canvas were +getting shorter and shorter, and that it seemed to be tightening +across our bodies, and upon making an effort to get out we found that +we were fastened down. The snow had drifted in such masses upon the +edges of the tent and had packed there with such solidity that it +could not be moved, and after trying once or twice to break out we +concluded to lie still and make the best of our situation. As long as +the snow did not bury us entirely, we were better off under the tent +than anywhere else, because we were protected from the wind. In half +an hour the drift had increased to such an extent that we could no +longer turn over, and our supply of air was almost entirely cut off. +We must either get out or be suffocated. I had drawn my sheath-knife +fifteen minutes before in expectation of such a crisis, and as it was +already becoming difficult to breathe, I cut a long slit in the canvas +above my head and we crawled out. In an instant eyes and nostrils were +completely plastered up with snow, and we gasped for breath as if the +stream of a fire-engine had been turned suddenly in our faces. Drawing +our heads and arms into the bodies of our _kukhlankas_, we squatted +down upon the snow to wait for daylight. In a moment I heard Mr. Leet +shouting down into the neck-hole of my fur coat, "What would our +mothers say if they could see us now?" I wanted to ask him how this +would compare with a gale in his boasted Sierra Nevadas, but he was +gone before I could get my head out, and I heard nothing more from him +that night. He went away somewhere in the darkness and squatted down +alone upon the snow, to suffer cold, hunger and anxiety until +morning. For more than ten hours we sat in this way on that desolate +storm-swept plain, without fire, food, or sleep, becoming more and +more chilled and exhausted, until it seemed as if daylight would never +come. + +Morning dawned at last through gray drifting clouds of snow, and, +getting up with stiffened limbs, we made feeble attempts to dig out +our buried sledges. But for the unwearied efforts of Mr. Leet we +should hardly have succeeded, as my hands and arms were so benumbed +with cold that I could not hold an axe or a shovel, and our drivers, +frightened and discouraged, seemed unable to do anything. By Mr. +Leet's individual exertions the sledges were dug out and we started. +His brief spasm of energy was the last effort of a strong will to +uphold a sinking and exhausted body, and in half an hour he requested +to be tied on his sledge. We lashed him on from head to foot with +sealskin thongs, covered him up with bearskins, and drove on. In about +an hour his driver, Padarin, came back to me with a frightened look in +his face, and said that Mr. Leet was dead; that he had shaken him and +called him several times, but could get no reply. Alarmed and shocked, +I sprang from my sledge and ran up to the place where he lay, shouted +to him, shook him by the shoulder, and tried to uncover his head, +which he had drawn down into the body of his fur coat. In a moment, to +my great relief, I heard his voice, saying that he was all right and +could hold out, if necessary, until night; that he had not answered +Padarin because it was too much trouble, but that I need not be +alarmed about his safety; and then I thought he added something about +"worse storms in the Sierra Nevadas," which convinced me that he +was far from being used up yet. As long as he could insist upon the +superiority of Californian storms, there was certainly hope. + +Early in the afternoon we reached the Yamsk River and, after wandering +about for an hour or two in the timber, came upon one of Lieutenant +Arnold's Yakut working-parties and were conducted to their camp, only +a few miles from the settlement. Here we obtained some rye bread and +hot tea, warmed our benumbed limbs, and partially cleared the snow out +of our clothing. When I saw Mr. Leet undressed I wondered that he had +not died. While squatting out on the ground during the storm of the +previous night, snow in great quantities had blown in at his neck, +had partially melted with the warmth of his body, and had then frozen +again in a mass of ice along his whole spine, and in that condition he +had lived to be driven twenty versts. Nothing but a strong will and +the most intense vitality enabled him to hold out during these last +six dismal hours. When we had warmed, rested, and dried ourselves at +the camp-fire of the Yakuts, we resumed our journey, and late in the +afternoon we drove into the settlement of Yamsk, after thirteen +days of harder experience than usually falls to the lot of Siberian +travellers, Mr. Leet so soon recovered his strength and spirits that +three days afterwards he started for Okhotsk, where the Major wished +him to take charge of a gang of Yakut labourers. The last words that I +remember to have ever heard him speak were those which he shouted to +me in the storm and darkness of that gloomy night on the Malkachan +steppe: "What would our mothers say if they could see us now?" The +poor fellow was afterwards driven insane by excitements and hardships +such as these which I have described, and probably to some extent +by this very expedition, and finally committed suicide by shooting +himself at one of the lonely Siberian settlements on the coast of the +Okhotsk Sea. + +I have described somewhat in detail this trip to Yamsk because it +illustrates the darkest side of Siberian life and travel. It is not +often that one meets with such an experience, or suffers so many +hardships in any one journey; but in a country so wild and sparsely +populated as Siberia, winter travel is necessarily attended with more +or less suffering and privation. + +[Illustration: Iron Skin Scraper] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + + +BRIGHT ANTICIPATIONS--A WHALE-SHIP SIGNALLED--THE BARK SEA +BREEZE--NEWS FROM THE ATLANTIC CABLE--REPORTED ABANDONMENT OF THE +OVERLAND LINE + +When, in the latter part of March, Major Abaza returned to Yakutsk to +complete the organisation and equipment of our Yakut labourers, and I +to Gizhiga to await once more the arrival of vessels from America, the +future of the Russian-American Telegraph Company looked much brighter. +We had explored and located the whole route of the line, from the Amur +River to Bering Sea; we had half a dozen working-parties in the field, +and expected to reinforce them soon with six or eight hundred hardy +native labourers from Yakutsk; we had cut and prepared fifteen or +twenty thousand telegraph poles, and were bringing six hundred +Siberian ponies from Yakutsk to distribute them; we had all the wire +and insulators for the Asiatic Division on the ground, as well as an +abundant supply of tools and provisions; and we felt more than hopeful +that we should be able to put our part of the overland line to +St. Petersburg in working order before the beginning of 1870. So +confident, indeed, were some of our men, that, in the pole-cutting +camps, they were singing in chorus every night, to the air of a well +known war-song. + + "In eighteen hundred and sixty-eight + Hurrah! Hurrah! + In eighteen hundred and sixty-eight + Hurrah! Hurrah! + In eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, + The cable will be in a miserable state, + And we'll all feel gay + When they use it to fish for whales. + + "In eighteen hundred and sixty-nine + Hurrah! Hurrah! + In eighteen hundred and sixty-nine + Hurrah! Hurrah! + In eighteen hundred and sixty-nine + We're going to finish this overland line; + And we'll all feel gay + When it brings us good news from home." + +But it was fated that our next news from home should not be brought by +the overland line, and should not be of such a nature as to make any +of us "feel gay." + +On the evening of May 31, 1867, as I sat trying to draw a +topographical map in the little one-story log house which served as +the headquarters of the Asiatic Division, I was interrupted by the +sudden and hasty entrance of my friend and comrade Mr. Lewis, who +rushed into the room crying excitedly: "O Mr. Kennan! Did you hear +the cannon?" I had not heard it, but I understood instantly the +significance of the inquiry. A cannon-shot meant that there was a ship +in sight from the beacon-tower at the mouth of the river. We were +accustomed, every spring, to get our earliest news from the civilised +world through American whaling vessels, which resort at that season of +the year to the Okhotsk Sea. About the middle of May, therefore, we +generally sent a couple of Cossacks to the harbour at the mouth of +the river, with instructions to keep a sharp lookout from the log +beacon-tower on the bluff, and fire three cannon-shots the moment they +should see a whaler or other vessel cruising in the Gulf. + +In less than ten minutes, the news that there was a vessel in sight +from the beacon-tower had reached every house in the village, and a +little group of Cossacks gathered at the landing-place, where a boat +was being prepared to take Lewis, Robinson, and me to the sea-coast. +Half an hour later we were gliding swiftly down the river in one of +the light skiffs known in that part of Siberia as "lodkas." We had a +faint hope that the ship which had been signalled would prove to +be one of our own vessels; but even if she should turn out to be a +whaler, she would at least bring us late news from the outside world, +and we felt a burning curiosity to know what had been the result of +the second attempt to lay the Atlantic cable. Had our competitors +beaten us, or was there still a fighting chance that we might beat +them? + +We reached the mouth of the river late in the evening, and were met at +the landing by one of the Cossacks from the beacon-tower. + +"What ship is it?" I inquired. + +"We don't know," he replied. "We saw dark smoke, like the smoke of a +steamer, off Matuga Island just before we fired the cannon, but in a +little while it blew away and we have seen nothing since." + +"If it's a whaler trying out oil," said Robinson, "we'll find her +there in the morning." + +Leaving the Cossack to take our baggage out of the _lodka_, we all +climbed up to the beacon-tower, with the hope that, as it was still +fairly light, we might be able to see with a glass the vessel that had +made the smoke; but from the high black cliffs of Matuga Island on one +side of the Gulf, to the steep slope of Cape Catherine on the other, +there was nothing to break the horizon line except here and there a +field of drifting ice. Returning to the Cossack barrack, we spread +our bearskins and blankets down on the rough plank floor and went +disconsolate to bed. + +Early the next morning, I was awakened by one of the Cossacks with +the welcome news that there was a large square-rigged vessel in the +offing, five or six miles beyond Matuga Island. I climbed hastily up +the bluff, and had no difficulty in making out with a glass the masts +and sails of a good-sized bark, evidently a whaler, which, although +hull down, was apparently cruising back and forth with a light +southerly breeze across the Gulf. + +We ate breakfast hastily, put on our fur _kukhlankas_ and caps, and +started in a whale-boat under oars for the ship, which was distant +about fifteen miles. Although the wind was light and the sea +comparatively smooth, it was a hard, tedious pull; and we did not get +alongside until after ten o'clock. Pacing the quarter-deck, as we +climbed on board was a good-looking, ruddy-faced, gray-haired man whom +I took to be the captain. He evidently thought, from our outer fur +dress, that we were only a party of natives come off to trade; and he +paid no attention whatever to us until I walked aft and said: "Are you +the captain of this bark?" + +At the first word of English, he stopped as if transfixed, stared at +me for a moment in silence, and then exclaimed in a tone of profound +astonishment: "Well! I'll be dod-gasted! Has the universal Yankee got +up here?" + +"Yes, Captain," I replied, "he is not only here, but he has been here +for two years or more. What bark is this?" + +"The _Sea Breeze_, of New Bedford, Massachusetts," he replied, "and I +am Captain Hamilton. But what are you doing up in this God-forsaken +country? Have you been shipwrecked?" + +"No," I said, "we're up here trying to build a telegraph line." + +"A telegraph line!" he shouted. "Well, if that ain't the craziest +thing I ever heard of! Who's going to telegraph from here?" + +I explained to him that we were trying to establish telegraphic +communication between America and Europe by way of Alaska, Bering +Strait, and Siberia, and asked him if he had never heard of the +Russian-American Telegraph Company. + +"Never," he replied. "I didn't know there was such a company; but I've +been out two years on a cruise, and I haven't kept up very well with +the news." + +"How about the Atlantic cable?" I inquired. "Do you know anything +about that?" + +"Oh, yes," he replied cheerfully, as if he were giving me the best +news in the world, "the cable is laid all right." + +"Does it work?" I asked, with a sinking heart. + +"Works like a snatch-tackle," he responded heartily. "The 'Frisco +papers are publishing every morning the London news of the day before. +I've got a lot of 'em on board that I'll give you. Perhaps you'll find +something in them about your Company." + +I think the captain must have noticed, from the sudden change in the +expression of our faces, that his news about the Atlantic cable was +a staggering blow to us, for he immediately dropped the subject and +suggested the expediency of going below. + +We all went down into the cosy, well-furnished cabin, where +refreshments were set before us by the steward, and where we talked +for an hour about the news of the world, from whaling in the South +Pacific to dog-driving in Arctic Asia, and from Weston's walk across +the North American continent to Karakozef's attempt to assassinate the +Tsar. But it was, on our side at least, a perfunctory conversation. +The news of the complete success of the Atlantic cable was as +unexpected as it was disheartening, and it filled our minds to the +exclusion of everything else. The world would have no use for an +overland telegraph-line through Alaska and Siberia if it already +possessed a working cable between London and New York. + +We left the hospitable cabin of the _Sea Breeze_ about noon, and +prepared to return to Gizhiga. Captain Hamilton, with warm-hearted +generosity, not only gave us all the newspapers and magazines he had +on board, but literally filled our boat with potatoes, pumpkins, +bananas, oranges, and yams, which he had brought up from the Sandwich +Islands. I think he saw that we were feeling somewhat disheartened, +and wanted to cheer us up in the only way he could--by giving us some +of the luxuries of civilised life. We had not seen a potato, nor +tasted any other fresh vegetable or fruit, in nearly two years. + +We left the ship reluctantly, at last, giving three cheers and a +"tiger" for Captain Hamilton and the _Sea Breeze_, as we went over the +side. + +When we had pulled three or four miles away from the bark, Lewis +suggested that instead of returning at once to the mouth of the river +we should go ashore at the nearest point on the coast, and look +over the newspapers while the Cossacks made a fire and roasted some +potatoes. This seemed to us all a good plan, and half an hour later we +were sitting around a fire of driftwood on the beach, each of us with +a newspaper in one hand and a banana or an orange in the other, and +all feeding mind and body simultaneously. The papers were of various +dates from September, 1866, to March, 1867, and were so mixed up that +it was impossible to follow the course of events chronologically or +consecutively. We were not long, however, in ascertaining not only +that the new Atlantic cable had been successfully laid, but that the +broken and abandoned cable of 1865 had been picked up in mid-ocean, +repaired, and put in perfect working order. I think this discouraged +us more than anything else. If cables could be found in the middle of +the Atlantic, picked up in ten or twelve thousand feet of water, and +repaired on the deck of a steamer, the ultimate success of submarine +telegraphy was assured, and we might as well pack up our trunks and go +home. But there was worse news to come. A few minutes later, Lewis, +who was reading an old copy of the San Francisco _Bulletin_, struck +his knee violently with his clenched fist and exclaimed; + +"Boys! The jig is up! Listen to this! + + "'Special Dispatch to the _Bulletin_ + + "'New York, October 15. + + "'In consequence of the success of the Atlantic + cable, all work on the Russian-American telegraph + line has been stopped and the enterprise has been + abandoned.'" + +"Well!" said Robinson, after a moment of thoughtful silence, "that +seems to settle it. The cable has knocked us out." + +Late in the afternoon, we pulled back, with heavy hearts, to the +beacon-tower at the mouth of the river, and on the following day +returned to Gizhiga, to await the arrival of a vessel from San +Francisco with an official notification of the abandonment of the +enterprise. + +[Illustration: Women's Knives used in making clothing] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + + +OFFICIAL CONFIRMATION OF THE BAD NEWS--THE ENTERPRISE ABANDONED--A +VOYAGE TO OKHOTSK--THE AURORA OF THE SEA + +On the 15th of July, the Company's bark _Onward_ (which should have +been named _Backward_) arrived at Gizhiga with orders to sell all of +our stores that were salable; use the proceeds in the payment of our +debts; discharge our native labourers; gather up our men, and return +to the United States. The Atlantic cable had proved to be a complete +success, and our Company, after sinking about $3,000,000 in the +attempt to build an overland line from America to Europe, had finally +decided to put up with its loss and abandon the undertaking. Letters +from the directors to Major Abaza, stated that they would be willing +to go on with the work, in spite of the success of the Atlantic cable, +if the Russian Government would agree to complete the line on the +Siberian side of Bering Strait; but they did not think they should be +required, under the circumstances, to do all the work on the American +side and half of that on the Russian. + +Major Abaza, hoping that he could prevail upon the Russian Minister of +Ways and Communications to take the Asiatic Division off the hands of +the American Company, and thus prevent the complete abandonment of +the enterprise, decided at once to go to St. Petersburg overland. He +therefore sailed in the _Onward_ with me for Okhotsk, intending to +disembark there, start for Yakutsk on horseback, and send me back in +the ship to pick up our working parties along the coast. + +The last of July found us becalmed, about fifty miles off the harbour +and river of Okhotsk. I had been playing chess all the evening in the +cabin, and it was almost eleven o'clock when the second mate called to +me down the companionway to come on deck. Wondering if we had taken a +favourable slant of wind, I went up. + +It was one of those warm, still, almost tropical nights, so rarely +seen on northern waters, when a profound calm reigns in the moonless +heavens, and the hush of absolute repose rests upon the tired, +storm-vexed sea. There was not the faintest breath of air to stir even +the reef-points of the motionless sails, or roughen the dark, polished +mirror of water around the ship. A soft, almost imperceptible haze +concealed the line of the far horizon, and blended sky and water into +one great hollow sphere of twinkling stars. Earth and sea seemed to +have passed away, and our motionless ship floated, spell-bound, in +vacancy--the only earthly object in an encircling universe of stars +and planets. The great luminous band of the Milky Way seemed to sweep +around beneath us in a complete circle of white, misty light, and far +down under our keel gleamed the three bright stars in the belt of +Orion. Only when a fish sprang with a little splash out of one of +these submarine constellations and shattered it into trembling +fragments of broken light could we realise that it was nothing but a +mirrored reflection of the heavens above. + +Absorbed in the beauty of the scene, I had forgotten to ask the mate +why he had called me on deck, and started with surprise as he touched +me on the shoulder and said: "Curious thing, ain't it?" + +"Yes," I replied, supposing that he referred to the reflection of the +heavens in the water, "it's the most wonderful night I ever saw at +sea. I can hardly make myself believe that we _are_ at sea--the ship +seems to be hanging in space with a great universe of stars above and +below." + +"What do you suppose makes it?" he inquired. + +"Makes what--the reflection?" + +"No, that light. Don't you see it?" + +Following the direction of his outstretched arm, I noticed, for the +first time, a bank of pale, diffused radiance, five or six degrees in +height, stretching along the northern horizon from about N.N.W. to +E.N.E. and resembling very closely the radiance of a faint aurora. The +horizon line could not be distinguished; but the luminous appearance +seemed to rise in the haze that hid it from sight. + +"Have you ever seen anything like it before?" I inquired. + +"Never," the mate replied; "but it looks like the northern lights on +the water." + +Wondering what could be the nature of this mysterious light, I climbed +into the shrouds, in order to get a better view. As I watched it, it +suddenly began to lengthen out at both ends, like a rapidly spreading +fire, and drew a long curtain of luminous mist around the whole +northern horizon. Another similar light then appeared in the +south-east, and although it was not yet connected with the first, it +also seemed to be extending itself laterally, and in a moment the two +luminous curtains united, forming a great semicircular band of pale, +bluish-white radiance around the heavens, like a celestial equator +belting a vast universe of stars. I could form, as yet, no conjecture +as to the cause or nature of this strange phenomenon which looked and +behaved like an aurora, but which seemed to rise out of the water. +After watching it five or ten minutes, I went below to call the +captain. + +Hardly had I reached the foot of the companionway when the mate +shouted again; "O Kennan! Come on deck quick!" and rushing hastily +up I saw for the first time, in all its glorious splendour, the +phosphorescence of the sea. With almost incredible swiftness, a mantle +of bluish-white fire had covered nearly all the dark water north of +us, and its clearly defined edge wavered and trembled for an instant, +like the arch of an aurora, within half a mile of the ship. Another +lightning-like flash brought it all around us, and we floated, +literally, in a sea of liquid radiance. Not a single square foot of +dark water could be seen, in any direction, from the maintop, and all +the rigging of the ship, to the royal yards, was lighted up with a +faint, unearthly, blue glare. The ocean looked like a vast plain of +snow, illuminated by blue fire and overhung by heavens of almost inky +blackness. The Milky Way disappeared completely in the blaze of light +from the sea, and stars of the first magnitude twinkled dimly, as if +half hidden by fog. + +Only a moment before, the dark, still water had reflected vividly a +whole hemisphere of spangled constellations, and the outlines of the +ship's spars were projected as dusky shadows against the Milky Way. +Now, the sea was ablaze with opaline light, and the yards and sails +were painted in faint tints of blue on a background of ebony. The +metamorphosis was sudden and wonderful beyond description! The polar +aurora seemed to have left its home in the higher regions of the +atmosphere and descended in a sheet of vivid electrical fire upon the +ocean. As we stood, silent with amazement, upon the quarter-deck, this +sheet of bluish flame suddenly vanished, over at least ten square +miles of water, causing, by its almost instantaneous disappearance, a +sensation of total blindness, and leaving the sea, for a moment, an +abyss of blackness. As the pupils of our eyes, however, gradually +dilated, we saw, as before, the dark shining mirror of water around +the ship, while far away on the horizon rose the faint luminous +appearance which had first attracted our attention, and which +was evidently due to the lighting up of the haze by areas of +phosphorescent water below the horizon line. + +In a moment the mate shouted excitedly: "Here it comes again!" and +again the great tide of fire came sweeping up around the vessel, and +we floated in a sea of radiance that extended in every direction +beyond the limits of vision. + +As soon as I had recovered a little from the bewildered amazement into +which I was thrown by the first phosphorescent flash, I observed, as +closely and carefully as possible, the nature and conditions of the +extraordinary phenomenon. In the first place, I satisfied myself +beyond question, that the radiance was phosphorescent and not +electrical, although it simulated the light of the aurora in the +rapidity of its movements of translation from one area to another. +When it flashed around the ship the second time, I got down close to +the luminous surface and discovered that what seemed, from the deck, +to be a mantle of bluish fire was, in reality, a layer of water +closely packed with fine bright spangles. It looked like water in +which luminous sand was constantly being stirred or churned up. The +points of light were so numerous that, at a distance of ten or twelve +feet, the eye failed to notice that there was any dark water in +the interspaces, and received merely an impression of diffused and +unbroken radiance. + +In the second place, I became convinced that the myriads of +microscopic organisms which pervaded the water did not light up +their tiny lamps in response to a mechanical shock, such as would be +produced by agitation of the medium in which they floated. There was +no breeze, at any time, nor was there the faintest indication of +a ripple on the glassy surface of the sea. Between the flashes of +phosphorescence, the polished mirror of dark water was not blurred by +so much as a breath. The sudden lighting up of myriads of infusorial +lamps over vast areas of unruffled water was not due, therefore, to +mechanical agitation, and must have had some other and more subtle +cause. What the nature was of the impulse that stimulated whole square +miles of floating protoplasm into luminous activity so suddenly as +to produce the visual impression of an electric flash, I could not +conjecture. The officers of the U. S. revenue cutter _McCulloch_ +observed and recorded in Bering Sea, in August, 1898, a display of +phosphorescence which was almost as remarkable as the one I am trying +to describe [Footnote: _N.Y. Sun_, Nov. 11 1899.]; but in that case +the sea was rough; there were no sudden flashes of appearance and +disappearance; and the excitation of the light-bearing organisms may +have been due--and probably was due--to mechanical shock. + +In the third place, I observed that in the intervals between the +flashes, when the water was dark, all objects immersed in that water +were luminous. The ship's copper was so bright that I could count +every tack and seam; the rudder was lighted to its lowest pintle; and +medusae, or jelly-fish, drifting past, with slow pulsations, at a +depth of ten or twelve feet, looked like submerged moons. It thus +appeared that protozoa floating freely in the water lighted their +lamps only in response to excitation, of some sort, which affected, +almost instantaneously, areas many square miles in extent; while those +that were attached to, or in contact with, solid matter kept their +lamps lighted all the time. + +During one of the periods of illumination, which lasted several +minutes, I hauled up a bucketful of the phosphorescent liquid and took +it into the cabin. Nothing whatever could be seen in it by artificial +light, but when the light had been removed, the inside of the bucket +glowed, although the water itself remained dark. + +The sea in the vicinity of the ship became phosphorescent three or +four times; the sheet of fire in every case, sweeping down upon us +from the north at a rate of speed that seemed to be about equal to the +speed of sound-waves in air. The duration of the phosphorescence, at +each separate appearance, was from a minute and a half to three or +four minutes, and it vanished every time with a flash-like movement of +translation to another and remoter area. The whole display, so far as +we were concerned, was over in about twenty minutes; but long after +the sheet of phosphorescence disappeared from the neighbourhood of the +ship, we could see it lighting up the overhanging haze as it moved +swiftly from place to place beyond the horizon line. At one time, +there were three or four such areas of bright water north of us, but +as they were below the curve of the earth's convexity we could not +see them, and traced them only by the shifting belts or patches of +irradiated mist. + +[Illustration: Reindeer Bridle Snow Shovel] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + + +CLOSING UP THE BUSINESS--A BARGAIN SALE--TELEGRAPH TEACUPS +REDUCED--CHEAP SHOVELS FOR GRAVE DIGGING--WIRE FISH NETS AT A +SACRIFICE--OUR NARROWEST ESCAPE--BLOWN OUT TO SEA--SAVED BY THE +"_Onward_" + +We reached Okhotsk about the 1st of August, and after seeing the Major +off for St. Petersburg, I sailed again in the _Onward_ and spent +most of the next month in cruising along the coast, picking up our +scattered working-parties, and getting on board such stores and +material as happened to be accessible and were worth saving. + +Early in September, I returned to Gizhiga and proceeded to close +up the business and make preparations for final departure. Our +instructions from the Company were to sell all of our stores that were +salable and use the proceeds in the payment of our debts. I have no +doubt that this seemed to our worthy directors a perfectly feasible +scheme, and one likely to bring in a considerable amount of ready +money; but, unfortunately, their acquaintance with our environment +was very limited, and their plan, from our point of view, was open to +several objections. In the first place, although we had at Gizhiga +fifteen or twenty thousand dollars' worth of unused material, most of +it was of such a nature as to be absolutely unsalable in that country. +In the second place, the villages of Okhotsk, Yamsk, and Gizhiga, +taken together, did not have more than five hundred inhabitants, and +it was doubtful whether the whole five hundred could make up a purse +of as many rubles, even to ensure their eternal salvation. Assuming, +therefore, that the natives wanted our crowbars, telegraph poles, +and pickaxes they had little or no money with which to pay for them. +However orders were orders; and as soon as practicable we opened, in +front of our principal storehouse, a sort of international bazaar, +and proceeded to dispose of our superfluous goods upon the best terms +possible. We put the price of telegraph wire down until that luxury +was within the reach of the poorest Korak family. We glutted the +market with pickaxes and long-handled shovels, which we assured the +natives would be useful in burying their dead, and threw in a lot of +frozen cucumber pickles and other anti-scorbutics which we warranted +to fortify the health of the living. We sold glass insulators by the +hundred as patent American teacups, and brackets by the thousand +as prepared American kindling-wood. We offered soap and candles as +premiums to anybody who would buy our salt pork and dried apples, and +taught the natives how to make cooling drinks and hot biscuits, +in order to create a demand for our redundant lime-juice and +baking-powder. We directed all our energies to the creation of +artificial wants in that previously happy and contented community, and +flooded the whole adjacent country with articles that were of no more +use to the poor natives than ice-boats and mouse-traps would be to the +Tuaregs of the Saharan desert. In short, we dispensed the blessings of +civilisation with a free hand. But the result was not as satisfactory +as our directors doubtless expected it to be. The market at last +refused to absorb any more brackets and pickaxes; telegraph wire did +not make as good fish-nets and dog-harnesses as some of our salesmen +confidently predicted that it would; and lime-juice and water, as +a beverage, even when drunk out of pressed-crystal insulators, +beautifully tinted with green, did not seem to commend itself to +the aboriginal mind. So we finally had to shut up our store. We +had gathered in--if I remember rightly--about three hundred rubles +($150.), which, with the money that Major Abaza had left us, amounted +to something like five hundred. I did not use this cash, however, in +the payment of the Company's debts. I expected to have to return to +the United States through Siberia, and I did not propose to put myself +in such a position that I should be compelled to defray my travelling +expenses by peddling lime-juice, cucumber pickles, telegraph wire, +dried apples, glass insulators, and baking-powder along the road. I +therefore persuaded the Company's creditors, who, fortunately, were +not very numerous, to take tea and sugar in satisfaction of their +claims, so that I might save all the cash I had for the overland trip +from Okhotsk to St. Petersburg. + +Our business in Gizhiga was finally adjusted and settled; our +working-parties were all called in; and we were just about to sail in +the bark _Onward_ for Okhotsk, when we were suddenly confronted by +the deadliest peril that we had encountered in more than two years of +arctic experience. Every explorer who goes into a wild, unknown part +of the world to make scientific researches, to find a new route for +commerce, or to gratify an innate love of adventure, has, now and +then, an escape from a violent death which is so extraordinary that he +classifies it under the head of "narrow." The peril that he incurs may +be momentary in duration, or it may be prolonged for hours, or even +days; but in any case, while it lasts it is imminent and deadly. It is +something more than ordinary danger--it is peril in which the chances +of death are a hundred and of life only one. Such peril advances, as +a rule, with terrifying swiftness and suddenness; and if one be +unaccustomed to danger, he is liable to be beaten down and overwhelmed +by the quick and unexpected shock of the catastrophe. He has no time +to rally his nervous forces, or to think how he will deal with the +emergency. The crisis comes like an instantaneous "Vision of Sudden +Death," which paralyses all his faculties before he has a chance to +exercise them. Swift danger of this kind tests to the utmost a man's +inherited or acquired capacity for instinctive and purely automatic +action; but as it generally passes before it has been fairly +comprehended, it is not so trying, I think, to the nerves and to +the character as the danger that is prolonged to the point of full +realisation, and that cannot then be averted or lessened by any +possible action. It is only when a man has time to understand and +appreciate the impending catastrophe, and can do absolutely nothing to +avert it, that he fully realises the possibility of death. Action of +any kind is tonic, and when a man can fight danger with his muscles or +his brain, he is roused and excited by the struggle; but when he can +do nothing except wait, watch the suspended sword of Damocles, and +wonder how soon the stroke will come, he must have strong nerves long +to endure the strain. + +Just before we sailed from Gizhiga in the _Onward_, eight of us had +an escape from death in which the peril came with great swiftness and +suddenness, and was prolonged almost to the extreme limit of nervous +endurance. On account of the lateness of the season and the rocky, +precipitous, and extremely dangerous character of the coast in the +vicinity of Gizhiga, the captain of the bark had not deemed it prudent +to run into the mouth of the Gizhiga River at the point of the long +A-shaped gulf, but had anchored on a shoal off the eastern coast, at a +distance from the beacon-tower of nearly twenty miles. From our point +of view on land, the vessel was entirely out of sight; but I knew +where she lay, and did not anticipate any difficulty in getting on +board as soon as I should finish my work ashore. + +I intended to go off to the ship with the last of Sandford's party on +the morning of September 11th, but I was detained unexpectedly by the +presentation of a number of native claims and other unforeseen matters +of business, and when I had finally settled and closed up everything +it was four o'clock in the afternoon. In the high latitude of +north-eastern Siberia a September night shuts in early, and I felt +some hesitation about setting out at such an hour, in an open boat, +for a vessel lying twenty miles at sea; but I knew that the captain +of the _Onward_ was very nervous and anxious to get away from that +dangerous locality; the wind, which was blowing a fresh breeze off +shore, would soon take us down the coast to the vessel's anchorage; +and after a moment of indecision I gave the order to start. There were +eight men of us, including Sandford, Bowsher, Heck, and four others +whose names I cannot now recall. + +Our boat was an open sloop-rigged sail-boat, about twenty-five feet in +length, which we had bought from a Russian merchant named Phillipeus. +I had not before that time paid much attention to her, but so far as I +knew she was safe and seaworthy. There was some question, however, as +to whether she carried ballast enough for her sail-area, and at the +last moment, to make sure of being on the safe side, I had two of +Sandford's men roll down and put on board two barrels of sugar from +the Company's storehouse. I then bade good-bye to Dodd and Frost, the +comrades who had shared with me so many hardships and perils, took a +seat in the stern-sheets of the little sloop, and we were off. + +It was a dark, gloomy, autumnal evening, and the stiff north-easterly +breeze which came to us in freshening gusts over the snow-whitened +crest of the Stanavoi range had a keen edge, suggestive of approaching +winter. The sea, however, was comparatively smooth, and until we got +well out into the gulf the idea of possible danger never so much +as suggested itself to me. But as we left the shelter of the high, +iron-bound coast the wind seemed to increase in strength, the sea +began to rise, and the sullen, darkening sky, as the gloom of night +gathered about us, gave warning of heavy weather. It would have been +prudent, while it was still light, to heave the sloop to and take +a reef, if not a double reef, in the mainsail; but Heck, who was +managing the boat, did not seem to think this necessary, and in +another hour, when the necessity of reefing had become apparent to +everybody, the sea was so high and dangerous that we did not dare to +come about for fear of capsizing, or shipping more green water than we +could readily dispose of. So we staggered on before the rising gale, +trusting to luck, and hoping every moment that we should catch sight +of the _Onward's_ lights. + +It has always seemed to me that the most dangerous point of sailing +in a small open boat in a high combing sea is running dead before +the wind. When you are sailing close-hauled, you can luff up into a +squall, if necessary, or meet a steep, dangerous sea bow on; but when +you are scudding you are almost helpless. You can neither luff, nor +spill the wind out of the sail by slackening off the sheet, nor put +your boat in a position to take a heavy sea safely. The end of your +long boom is liable to trip as you roll and wallow through the waves, +and every time you rise on the crest of a big comber your rudder comes +out of water, and your bow swings around until there is imminent +danger of an accidental jibe. + +Heck, who managed our sloop, was a fairly good sailor, but as the wind +increased, the darkness thickened, and the sea grew higher and higher, +it became evident to me that nothing but unusually good luck would +enable us to reach the ship in safety. We were not shipping any water, +except now and then a bucketful of foam and spray blown from the crest +of a wave; but the boat was yawing in a very dangerous way as she +mounted the high, white-capped rollers, and I was afraid that sooner +or later she would swing around so far that even with the most skilful +steering a jibe would be inevitable. + +It was very dark; I had lost sight of the land; and I don't know +exactly in what part of the gulf we were when the dreaded catastrophe +came. The sloop rose on the back of an exceptionally high, combing +sea, hung poised for an instant on its crest, and then, with a wide +yaw to starboard which the rudder was powerless to check, swooped down +sidewise into the hollow, rolling heavily to port and pointing her +boom high up into the gale. When I saw the dark outline of the leech +of the mainsail waver for an instant, flap once or twice, and then +suddenly collapse, I knew what was coming, and shouting at the top of +my voice, "Look out Heck! She'll jibe!" I instinctively threw myself +into the bottom of the boat to escape the boom. With a quick, sudden +rush, ending in a great crash, the long heavy spar swept across the +boat from starboard to port, knocking Bowsher overboard and carrying +away the mast. The sloop swung around into the trough of the sea, in a +tangle of sails, sheets, halyards, and standing rigging; and the next +great comber came plump into her, filling her almost to the gunwales +with a white smother of foam. I thought for a moment that she had +swamped and was sinking; but as I rose to a crouching posture and +rubbed the saltwater out of my eyes, I saw that she was less than half +full, and that if we did not ship another sea too soon, prompt and +energetic bailing might yet keep her afloat. + +"Bail her out, boys! For your lives! With your hats!" I shouted: and +began scooping out the water with my fur hood. + +Eight men bailing for life, even with hats and caps, can throw a great +deal of water out of a boat in a very short time; and within five or +ten minutes the first imminent danger of sinking was over. Bowsher, +who was a good swimmer and had not been seriously hurt by the boom, +climbed back into the boat; we cut away the standing rigging, freed +the sloop from the tangle of cordage, and got the water-soaked +mainsail on board; and then, tying a corner of this sail to the stump +of the mast, we spread it as well as we could, so that it would catch +a little wind and give the boat steerage-way. Under the influence of +this scrap of canvas the sloop swung slowly around, across the seas; +the water ceased to come into her; and wringing out our wet caps and +clothing, we began to breathe more freely. + +When the first excitement of the crisis had passed and I recovered +my self-possession, I tried to estimate, as coolly as possible, our +prospects and our chances. The situation seemed to me almost hopeless. +We were in a dismasted boat, without oars, without a compass, without +a morsel of food or a mouthful of water, and we were being blown out +to sea in a heavy north-easterly gale. It was so dark that we could +not see the land on either side of the constantly widening gulf; there +was no sign of the _Onward_; and in all probability there was not +another vessel in any part of the Okhotsk Sea. The nearest land was +eight or ten miles distant; we were drifting farther and farther away +from it; and in our disabled and helpless condition there was not the +remotest chance of our reaching it. In all probability our sloop would +not live through the night in such a gale; and even should she remain +afloat until morning, we should then be far out at sea, with nothing +to eat or drink, and with no prospect of being picked up. If the wind +should hold in the direction in which it was blowing, it would carry +us past the _Onward_ at a distance of at least three miles; we had no +lantern with which to attract the attention of the ship's watch, even +should we happen to drift past her within sight; the captain did not +know that we were coming off to the bark that night, and would not +think of looking out for us; and so far as I could discover, there was +not a ray of hope for us in any direction. + +How long we drifted out in black darkness, and in that tumbling, +threatening, foam-crested sea, I do not know. It seemed to me many +hours. I had a letter in my pocket which I had written the day before +to my mother, and which I had intended to send down to San Francisco +with the bark. In it I assured her that she need not feel any further +anxiety about my safety, because the Russian-American telegraph line +had been abandoned. I was to be landed by the _Onward_ at Okhotsk; I +was coming home by way of St. Petersburg over a good post-road; and +I should not be exposed to any more dangers. As I sat there in the +dismasted sloop, shivering with cold and drifting out to sea before a +howling arctic gale, I remembered this letter, and wondered what my +poor mother would think if she could read its contents and at the same +time see in a mental vision the situation of the writer. + +So far as I can remember, there was very little talking among the men +during these long, dark hours of suspense. None of us, I think, had +any hope; it was hard to make one's voice heard above the roaring of +the wind; and we all sat or cowered in the bottom of the boat, waiting +for an end which could not be very far away. Now and then a heavy sea +would break over us, and we would all begin bailing again with our +hats; but aside from this there was nothing to be done. It did not +seem to me probable that the half-wrecked sloop would live more than +three or four hours. The gale was constantly rising, and every few +minutes we were lashed with stinging whips of icy spray, as a fierce +squall struck the water to windward, scooped off the crests of the +waves, and swept them horizontally in dense white clouds across the +boat. + +It must have been about nine o'clock when somebody in the bow shouted +excitedly, "I see a light!" + +"Where away?" I cried, half rising from the bottom of the boat in the +stern-sheets. + +"Three or four points off the port bow," the voice replied. + +"Are you sure?" I demanded. + +"I'm not quite sure, but I saw the twinkle of something away over +on the Matuga Island side. It's gone now," the voice added, after a +moment's pause; "but I saw something." + +We all looked eagerly and anxiously in the direction indicated; but +strain our vision as we might, we could not see the faintest gleam or +twinkle in the impenetrable darkness to leeward. If there was a light +visible, in that or in any other direction, it could only be the +anchor-light of the _Onward_, because both coasts of the gulf were +uninhabited; but it seemed to me probable that the man had been +deceived by a sparkle of phosphorescence or the gleam of a white +foam-crest. + +For fully five minutes no one spoke, but all stared into the thick +gloom ahead. Then, suddenly, the same voice cried aloud in a tone +of still greater excitement, assurance, and certainty, "There it is +again! I knew I saw it! It's a ship's light!" + +In another moment I caught sight of it myself--a faint, distant, +intermittent twinkle on the horizon nearly dead ahead. + +"It's the anchor-light of the _Onward_!" I shouted in fierce +excitement. "Spread the corner of the mainsail a little more if you +can, boys, so as to give her better steerage-way. We've got to make +that ship! Hold her steady on the light, Heck, even if you have to put +her in the trough of the sea. We might as well founder as drift past!" + +The men forward caught up the loose edges of the mainsail and extended +it as widely as possible to the gale, clinging to the thwarts and the +stump of the mast to avoid being jerked overboard by the bellying +canvas. Heck brought the sloop's head around so that the light was +under our bow, and on we staggered through the dark, storm-lashed +turmoil of waters, shipping a sea now and then, but half sailing, half +drifting toward the anchored bark. The wind came in such fierce +gusts and squalls that one could hardly say from what quarter it was +blowing; but, as nearly as I could judge in the thick darkness, it had +shifted three or four points to the westward. If such were the case, +we had a fair chance of making the ship, which lay nearer the eastern +than the western coast of the gulf. + +"Don't let her head fall off any, Heck," I cried. "Jam her over to the +eastward as much as you can, even if the sea comes into her. We can +keep her clear with our hats. If we drift past we're gone!" + +As we approached the bark the light grew rapidly brighter: but I did +not realise how near we were until the lantern, which was hanging in +the ship's fore-rigging, swung for an instant behind the jib-stay, and +the vessel's illuminated cordage suddenly came out in delicate tracery +against the black sky, less than a hundred yards away. + +"There she is!" shouted Sandford. "We're close on her!" + +The bark was pitching furiously to her anchors, and as we drifted +rapidly down upon her we could hear the hoarse roar of the gale +through her rigging, and see a pale gleam of foam as the sea broke in +sheets of spray against her bluff bows. + +"Shall I try to round to abreast of her?" cried Heck to me, "or shall +I go bang down on her?" + +"Don't take any chances," I shouted. "Better strike her, and go to +pieces alongside, than miss her and drift past. Make ready now to hail +her--all together--one,--two,--three! Bark aho-o-y! Stand by to throw +us a line!" + +But no sound came from the huge black shadow under the pitching +lantern save the deep bass roar of the storm through the cordage. + +We gave one more fierce, inarticulate cry as the dark outline of the +bark rose on a sea high above our heads; and then, with a staggering +shock and a great crash, the boat struck the ship's bow. + +What happened in the next minute I hardly know. I have a confused +recollection of being thrown violently across a thwart in a white +smother of foam; of struggling to my feet and clutching frantically at +a wet, black wall, and of hearing some one shout in a wild, despairing +voice: "Watch ahoy! We're sinking! For God's sake throw us a +line!"--but that is all. + +The water-logged sloop seesawed up and down past the bark's side, one +moment rising on a huge comber until I could almost grasp the rail, +and the next sinking into a deep hollow between the surges, far below +the line of the copper sheathing. We tore the ends of our finger-nails +off against the ship's side in trying to stop the boat's drift, and +shouted despairingly again and again for help and a line; but our +voices were drowned in the roar of the gale, there was no response, +and the next sea carried us under the bark's counter. I made one last +clutch at the smooth, wet planks; and then, as we drifted astern past +the ship, I abandoned hope. + +The sloop was sinking rapidly,--I was already standing up to my knees +in water,--and in thirty seconds more we should be out of sight of the +bark, in the dark, tumbling sea to leeward, with no more chance of +rescue than if we were drowning in mid-Atlantic. Suddenly a dark +figure in the boat beside me,--I learned afterward that it was +Bowsher,--tore off his coat and waistcoat and made a bold leap into +the sea to windward. He knew that it was certain death to drift out of +sight of the bark in that sinking sloop, and he hoped to be able to +swim alongside until he should be picked up. I myself had not thought +of this before, but I saw instantly that it offered a forlorn hope of +escape, and I was just poised in the act of following his example when +on the quarter-deck of the bark, already twenty feet away, a white +ghost-like figure appeared with uplifted arm, and a hoarse voice +shouted, "Stand by to catch a line!" + +It was the _Onward's_ second mate. He had heard our cries in his +state-room as we drifted under the ship's counter, and had instantly +sprung from his berth and rushed on deck in his night-shirt. + +By the dim light of the binnacle I could just see the coil of rope +unwind as it left his hand; but I could not see where it fell; I knew +that there would be no time for another throw; and it seemed to me +that my heart did not beat again until I heard from the bow of the +sloop a cheery shout of "All right! I've got the line! Slack off till +I make it fast!" + +In thirty seconds more we were safe. The second mate roused the watch, +who had apparently taken refuge in the forecastle from the storm; the +sloop was hauled up under the bark's stern; a second line was thrown +to Bowsher, and one by one we were hoisted, in a sort of improvised +breeches-buoy, to the _Onward's_ quarterdeck. As I came aboard, +coatless, hatless, and shivering from cold and excitement, the captain +stared at me in amazement for a moment, and then exclaimed: "Good God! +Mr. Kennan, is that you? What possessed you to come off to the ship +such a night as this?" + +"Well, Captain," I replied, trying to force a smile, "it didn't blow +in this way when we started; and we had an accident--carried our mast +away." + +"But," he remonstrated, "it has been blowing great guns ever since +dark. We've got two anchors down, and we've been dragging them both. I +finally had them buoyed, and told the mate that if they dragged again +we'd slip the cables and run out to sea. You might not have found us +here at all, and then where would you have been?" + +"Probably at the bottom of the gulf," I replied. "I haven't expected +anything else for the last three hours." + +The ill-fated sloop from which we made this narrow escape was so +crushed in her collision with the bark that the sea battered her to +pieces in the course of the night, and when I went on deck the next +morning, a few ribs and shattered planks, floating awash at the end of +the line astern, were all of her that remained. + +[Illustration: War and Hunting Knives. +Snowbeaters used for beating snow from the clothing.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + + +START FOR ST. PETERSBURG ROUTE TO YAKUTSK--A TUNGUSE ENCAMPMENT-- +CROSSING THE STANAVOI MOUNTAINS--SEVERE COLD--FIRE-LIGHTED SMOKE +PILLARS--ARRIVAL IN YAKUTSK + +When we reached Okhotsk, about the middle of September, I found a +letter from Major Abaza, brought by special courier from Yakutsk, +directing me to come to St. Petersburg by the first winter road. The +_Onward_ sailed for San Francisco at once, carrying back to home and +civilisation all of our employees except four, viz., Price, Schwartz, +Malchanski, and myself. Price intended to accompany me to St. +Petersburg, while Schwartz and Malchanski, who were Russians, decided +to go with us as far as Irkutsk, the east-Siberian capital. + +Snow fell in sufficient quantities to make good sledging about the 8th +of October; but the rivers did not freeze over so that they could be +crossed until two weeks later. On the 21st of the month, Schwartz and +Malchanski started with three or four light dog-sledges to break a +road through the deep, freshly fallen snow, in the direction of the +Stanavoi Mountains, and on the 24th Price and I followed with the +heavier baggage and provisions. The whole population of the village +turned out to see us off. The long-haired priest, with his cassock +flapping about his legs in the keen wind of a wintry morning, stood +bareheaded in the street and gave us his farewell blessing; the +women, whose hearts we had made glad with American baking-powder and +telegraph teacups, waved bright-coloured handkerchiefs to us from +their open doors; cries of "Good-bye!" "God grant you a fortunate +journey!" came to us from the group of fur-clad men who surrounded our +sledges; and the air trembled with the incessant howls of a hundred +wolfish dogs, as they strained impatiently against their broad +sealskin collars. + +"Ai! Maxim!" shouted the ispravnik to our leading driver, "are you all +ready?" + +"All ready," was the reply. + +"Well, then, go, with God!" and, amid a chorus of good wishes and +good-byes from the crowd, the spiked sticks which held our sledges +were removed; the howls instantly ceased as the dogs sprang eagerly +into their collars, and the group of fur-clad men, the green, bulbous +church domes, and the grey, unpainted log houses of the dreariest +village in all Siberia vanished behind us forever in a cloud of +powdery snow. + +The so-called "post-road" from Kamchatka to St. Petersburg, which +skirts the Okhotsk Sea for more than a thousand miles, passes through +the village of Okhotsk, and then, turning away from the coast, ascends +one of the small rivers that rise in the Stanavoi Mountains; crosses +that range at a height of four or five thousand feet; and finally +descends into the great valley of the Lena. It must not be supposed, +however, that this "post-road" resembles anything that we know by that +name. The word "road," in north-eastern Siberia, is only a verbal +symbol standing for an abstraction. The thing symbolised has no more +real, tangible existence than a meridian of longitude. It is simply +lineal extension in a certain direction. The country back of Okhotsk, +for a distance of six hundred miles, is an unbroken wilderness of +mountains and evergreen forests, sparsely inhabited by Wandering +Tunguses, with here and there a few hardy Yakut squirrel hunters. +Through this wilderness there is not even a trail, and the so-called +"road" is only a certain route which is taken by the government +postilion who carries the yearly mail to and from Kamchatka. The +traveller who starts from the Okhotsk Sea with the intention of going +across Asia by way of Yakutsk and Irkutsk must make up his mind to be +independent of roads;--at least for the first fifteen hundred miles. +The mountain passes, the great rivers, and the post-stations, will +determine his general course; but the wilderness through which he +must make his way has never been subdued by the axe and spade of +civilisation. It is now, as it always has been, a wild, primeval land +of snowy mountains, desolate steppes, and shaggy pine forests, through +which the great arctic rivers and their tributaries have marked out +the only lines of intercommunication. + +The worst and most difficult part of the post-route between Okhotsk +and Yakutsk, viz., the mountainous part, is maintained by a half-wild +tribe of arctic nomads known to the Russians as Tunguses. Living +originally, as they did, in skin tents, moving constantly from place +to place, and earning a scanty subsistence by breeding reindeer, they +were easily persuaded by the Russian Government to encamp permanently +along the route, and furnish reindeer and sledges for the +transportation of couriers and the imperial mails, together with +such travellers as should be provided with government orders, or +"podorozhnayas." In return for this service they were exempted from +the annual tax levied by Russia upon her other Siberian subjects; were +supplied with a certain yearly allowance of tea and tobacco; and were +authorised to collect from the travellers whom they carried a fare to +be computed at the rate of about two and a half cents per mile for +every reindeer furnished. Between Okhotsk and Yakutsk, along the line +of this post-route, there are seven or eight Tunguse encampments, +which vary a little in location, from season to season, with the +shifting areas of available pasturage, but which are kept as nearly +as possible equidistant from one another in a direct line across the +Stanavoi range. + +We hoped to make the first post-station on the third day after our +departure; but the soft freshly fallen snow so retarded our progress +that it was nearly dark on the fourth day before we caught sight of +the little group of Tunguse tents where we were to exchange our dogs +for reindeer. If there be, in "all the white world," as the Russians +say, anything more hopelessly dreary than one of the Tunguse mountain +settlements in winter, I have never seen it. Away up above the +forests, on some elevated plateau, or desolate, storm-swept height, +where nothing but berry bushes and arctic moss will grow, stand the +four or five small, grey reindeerskin tents which make up the nomad +encampment. There are no trees or shrubs around them to shut out a +part of the sky, limit the horizon, or afford the least semblance of +shelter to the lonely settlement, and there is no wall or palisade to +fence in and domesticate for finite purposes a little corner of the +infinite. The grey tents seem to stand alone in the great universe of +God, with never-ending space and unbounded desolation stretching away +from their very doors. Take your stand near such an encampment and +look at it more closely. The surface of the snowy plain around you, +as far as you can see, has been trampled and torn up by reindeer in +search of moss. Here and there between the tents stand the large +sledges upon which the Tunguses load their camp-equipage when they +move, and in front is a long, low wall, made of symmetrically piled +reindeer packs and saddles. A few driving deer wander around, with +their noses to the ground, looking for something that they never +seem to find; evil-looking ravens--the scavengers of Tunguse +encampments--flap heavily past with hoarse croaks to a patch of +blood-stained snow where a reindeer has recently been slaughtered; +and in the foreground, two or three grey, wolfish dogs with cruel, +light-coloured eyes, are gnawing at a half-stripped reindeer's head. +The thermometer stands at forty-five degrees below zero, Fahrenheit, +and the breasts of deer, ravens, and dogs are white with frost. The +thin smoke from the conical fur tents rises perpendicularly to a great +height in the clear, still air; the ghostly mountain peaks in +the distance look like white silhouettes on a background of dark +steel-blue; and the desolate snow-covered landscape is faintly tinged +with a yellow glare by the low-hanging wintry sun. Every detail of the +scene is strange, wild, arctic,--even to the fur-clad, frost-whitened +men who come riding up to the tents astride the shoulders of panting +reindeer and salute you with a drawling "Zdar-o-o-va!" as they put one +end of their balancing poles to the ground and spring from their flat, +stirrupless saddles. You can hardly realise that you are in the same +active, bustling, money-getting world in which you remember once to +have lived. The cold, still atmosphere, the white, barren mountains, +and the great lonely wilderness around you are all full of cheerless, +depressing suggestions, and have a strange unearthliness which you +cannot reconcile or connect with any part of your pre-Siberian life. + +At the first Tunguse encampment we took a rest of twenty-four hours, +and then, exchanging our dogs for reindeer, we bade good-bye to our +Okhotsk drivers and, under the guidance of half a dozen bronze-faced +Tunguses in spotted reindeerskin coats, pushed westward, through +snow-choked mountain ravines, toward the river Aldan. Our progress, +for the first two weeks, was slow and fatiguing and attended with +difficulties and hardships of almost every possible kind. The Tunguse +encampments were sometimes three or four days' journey apart; the +cold, as we ascended the Stanavoi range, steadily increased in +intensity until it became so severe as to endanger life, and day +after day we plodded wearily on snowshoes ahead of our heavily +loaded sledges, breaking a road in three feet of soft snow for our +struggling, frost-whitened deer. We made, on an average, about thirty +miles a day; but our deer often came in at night completely exhausted, +and the sharp ivory goads of our Tunguse drivers were red with frozen +blood. Sometimes we bivouacked at night in a wild mountain gorge +and lighted up the snow-laden forest with the red glare of a mighty +camp-fire; sometimes we shovelled the drifted snow out of one of the +empty _yurts_, or earth-covered cabins, built by the government along +the route to shelter its postilions, and took refuge therein from +a howling blizzard. Hardened as we were by two previous winters of +arctic travel, and accustomed as we were to all the vicissitudes of +northern life, the crossing of the Stanavoi range tried our powers of +endurance to the uttermost. For four successive days, near the summit +of the pass on the western slope, mercury froze at noon. [Footnote: +We had only a mercurial thermometer, so that we did not know how much +below -39 deg. the temperature was.] The faintest breath of air seared the +face like a hot iron; beards became tangled masses of frosty wire; +eyelids grew heavy with long snowy fringes which half obscured the +sight; and only the most vigorous exercise would force the blood back +into the benumbed extremities from which it was constantly being +driven by the iron grasp of the cold. Schwartz, the oldest member of +our party, was brought into a Tunguse encampment one night in a state +of unconsciousness that would soon have ended in death, and even our +hardy native drivers came in with badly frozen hands and faces. The +temperature alone would have been sufficient evidence, if evidence +were needed, that we were entering the coldest region on the +globe--the Siberian province of Yakutsk. [Footnote: In some parts of +this province the freezing point of mercury, or about forty degrees +below zero Fahrenheit, is the average temperature of the three winter +months, and eighty-five degrees below zero have sometimes been +observed.] + +In a monotonous routine of walking on snowshoes, riding on +reindeer-sledges, camping in the open, or sleeping in smoky Tunguse +tents, day after day and week after week passed, until at last we +approached the valley of the Aldan--one of the eastern tributaries of +that great arctic river the Lena. Climbing the last outlying ridge of +the Stanavoi range, one dark, moonless evening in November, we found +ourselves at the head of a wild ravine leading downward into an +extensive open plain. Away below and in front, outlined against the +intense blackness of the hills beyond the valley, rose four or five +columns of luminous mist, like pillars of fire in the wilderness of +the Exodus. + +"What are those?" I inquired of my Tunguse driver. + +"Yakut," was the brief reply. + +They were columns of smoke, sixty or seventy feet in height, over the +chimneys of Yakut farmhouses; and they stood so vertically in the +cold, motionless air of the arctic night that they were lighted up, to +their very summits, by the hearth-fires underneath. As I stood looking +at them, there came faintly to my ears the far-away lowing of cattle. +"Thank God!" I said to Malchanski, who at that moment rode up, "we are +getting, at last, where they live in houses and keep cows!" No one can +fully understand the pleasure that these columns of fire-lighted smoke +gave us until he has ridden on dog- or reindeer-sledges, or walked on +snowshoes, for twenty interminable days, through an arctic wilderness. +It seemed to me a year since our departure from Okhotsk; for weeks we +had not taken off our heavy armour of furs; mirrors, beds and clean +linen were traditions of the remote past; and American civilisation, +as we looked back at it across twenty-seven months of barbarism, faded +into the unreal imagery of a dream. But the pillars of fire-lighted +smoke and the lowing of domestic cattle were a promise of better +things. + +In less than two hours, we were sitting before the glowing fireplace +of a comfortable Yakut house, with a soft carpet under our feet; +real crockery cups of fragrant Kiakhta tea on a table beside us, and +pictures on the wall over our heads. The house, it is true, had slabs +of ice for windows; the carpet was made of deerskins; and the pictures +were only woodcuts from _Harper's Weekly_ and _Frank Leslie's_; but to +us, fresh from the smoky tents of the Tunguses, windows, carpets, and +pictures, of any kind, were things to be wondered at and admired. + +Between the Yakut settlements on the Aldan and the town of Yakutsk, +there was a good post-road--really a road; so, harnessing shaggy white +Yakut ponies to our Okhotsk dog-sledges, we drove swiftly westward, to +the unfamiliar music of Russian sleigh-bells, changing horses at every +post-station and riding from fifteen to eighteen hours out of the +twenty-four. + +On the 16th of November, after twenty-three days of continuous travel, +we reached Yakutsk; and there, in the house of a wealthy Russian +merchant who threw his doors open to us with warm-hearted hospitality, +we washed from our bodies the smoke and grime of Tunguse tents and +_yurts_; put on clean, fresh clothes; ate a well cooked and daintily +served supper; drank five tumblers of fragrant overland tea; smoked +two Manila cheroots; and finally went to bed, excited but happy, in +beds that were provided with hair mattresses, fleecy Russian blankets, +and linen sheets. The sensation of lying without furs and between +sheets in a civilised bed was so novel and extraordinary that I lay +awake for an hour, trying experiments with that wonderful mattress and +luxuriously exploring, with bare feet, the smooth cool expanses of +linen sheeting. + +[Illustration: Travelling Bag made of Reindeer skin] + + + + +CHAPTER XL + + +THE GREATEST HORSE-EXPRESS SERVICE IN THE WORLD--EQUIPMENT FOR +THE ROAD--A SIBERIAN "SEND-OFF"--POST TRAVEL ON THE ICE--BROKEN +SLEEP--DRIVING INTO AN AIR-HOLE--REPAIRING DAMAGES--FIRST SIGHT OF +IRKUTSK + +We remained in Yakutsk only four days--just long enough to make the +necessary preparations for a continuous sleigh-ride of five thousand +one hundred and fourteen miles to the nearest railway in European +Russia. The Imperial Russian Post, by which we purposed to travel from +Yakutsk to Nizhni Novgorod, was, at that time, the longest and best +organised horse-express service in the world. It employed 3000 or 4000 +drivers, with twice as many _telegas, tarantases_ and sleighs, and +kept in readiness for instant use more than 10,000 horses, distributed +among 350 post-stations, along a route that covered a distance as +great as that between New York City and the Sandwich Islands. If one +had the requisite physical endurance, and could travel night and +day without stop, it was possible, with a courier's "podorozhnaya" +(po-do-rozh'-na-yah), or road-ticket, to go from Yakutsk to Nizhni +Novgorod, a distance of 5114 miles, in twenty-five days, or only +eleven days more than the time occupied by a railway train in covering +about the same distance. Before the establishment of telegraphic +communication between China and Russia, imperial couriers, carrying +important despatches from Peking, often made the distance between +Irkutsk and St. Petersburg--3618 miles--in sixteen days, with two +hundred and twelve changes of horses and drivers. In order to +accomplish this feat they had to eat, drink, and sleep in their +sleighs and make an average speed-rate of ten miles an hour for nearly +four hundred consecutive hours. We did not expect, of course, to +travel with such rapidity as this; but we intended to ride night and +day, and hoped to reach St. Petersburg before the end of the year. +With the aid and advice of Baron Maidel, a Russian scientist who had +just come over the route that we purposed to follow, Price and I +bought a large open _pavoska_ or Siberian travelling sleigh, which +looked like a huge, burlap-covered baby-carriage on runners; had it +brought into the courtyard of our house, and proceeded to fit it up +for six weeks' occupancy as a bedchamber and sitting-room. First of +all, we repacked our luggage in soft, flat, leather pouches, and +stowed it away in the bottom of the deep and capacious vehicle as a +foundation for our bed. We then covered these flat pouches with a +two-foot layer of fragrant hay, to lessen the shock of jolting on a +rough road; spread over the hay a big wolfskin sleeping-sack, about +seven feet in length and wide enough to hold our two bodies; covered +that with two pairs of blankets; and finally lined the whole back part +of the sleigh with large, soft, swan's-down pillows. At the foot of +the sleeping-sack, under the driver's seat, we stowed away a bag of +dried rye-bread, another bag filled with cakes of frozen soup, two or +three pounds of tea, a conical loaf of white sugar, half a dozen dried +and smoked salmon, and a padded box containing teapot, tea-cannister, +sugar-jar, spoons, knives and forks, and two glass tumblers. Schwartz; +and Malchanski bought another _pavoska_ and fitted it up in similar +fashion, and on the 19th of November we obtained from the Bureau +of Posts two _podorozhnayas_, or, as Price called them, "ukases," +directing every post-station master between Yakutsk and Irkutsk to +furnish us, "by order of his Imperial Majesty Alexander Nikolaivitch, +Autocrat of All the Russias," etc., etc., six horses and two drivers +to carry us on our way. + +In every part of the world except Siberia it is customary to start on +a long journey in the morning. In Siberia, however, the proper time is +late in the evening, when all your friends can conveniently assemble +to "provozhat," or, in colloquial English, give you a send-off. +Judging from our experience in Yakutsk, the Siberian custom has the +support of sound reason, inasmuch as the amount of drinking involved +in the riotous ceremony of "provozhanie" unfits a man for any place +except bed, and any occupation more strenuous than slumber. A man +could never see his friend off in the morning and then go back to his +business. He would see double, if not quadruple, and would hardly be +able to speak his native language without a foreign accent. When +the horses came from the post-station for us, at ten o'clock on the +evening of November 20th, we had had one dinner and two or three +incidental lunches; had "sampled" every kind of beverage that our host +had in the house, from vodka and cherry cordial to "John Collins" and +champagne; had sung all the songs we knew, from "John Brown's Body" +in English to "Nastoichka travnaya" in Russian; and Schwartz and +Malchanski were ready, apparently, to make a night of it, send the +horses back to the station, and have another _provozhanie_ the next +day. Price and I, however, insisted that the Czar's ukase to the +station-masters was good only for that evening; that if we didn't +take the horses immediately we should have to pay demurrage; that the +curfew bell had rung; that the town gates would close at ten thirty +sharp; and that if we didn't get under way at once, we should probably +be arrested for riotous disturbance of the peace! + +We put on our _kukhlankas_ and fur hoods at last; shook hands once +more all around; and finally got out into the street;--Malchanski +dragging Schwartz off to his sleigh singing the chorus of a Russian +drinking song that ended in "Ras-to-chee'-tel-no! Vos-khe-tee'-tel-no! +Oo-dee-vee'-tel-no!" We then drank a farewell stirrup cup, which our +bareheaded host brought out to us after we had taken our seats, and +were just about to start, when Baron Maidel shouted to me, with an +air of serious concern, "Have you got a club--for the drivers and +station-masters?" + +"No," I replied, "I don't need a club; I can talk to them in the most +persuasive Russian you ever heard." + +"Akh! Neilza!" ("Impossible") he exclaimed. "It is impossible to go +so! You must have a club! Wait a minute!" and he rushed back into +the house to get me a bludgeon from his private armory. My driver, +meanwhile, who evidently disapproved, on personal grounds, of this +suggestion, laid his whip across his horses' backs with a cry of "Noo, +rebatta!" ("Now then, boys") and we dashed away from the house, just +as the Baron reappeared on the steps brandishing a formidable cudgel +and shouting: "Pastoy! Neilza!" ("Stop, it's impossible.") "You can't +go without a club!" When we turned a neighbouring corner and lost +sight of the house, our host was waving a bottle in one hand and a +lighted candle in the other; Baron Maidel was still gesticulating on +the steps, shouting: "Neilza! Hold on! Club! For your drivers! It's +impossible to go so!" and the little group of "provozhatters" on the +sidewalk were laughing, cheering, and shouting "Good-bye! Good luck! +With God!" + +We dashed away at a gallop through the snow-drifted streets, past +earth-banked _yurts_ whose windows of ice were irradiated with a warm +glow by the open fires within; past columns of luminous smoke rising +from the wide chimneys of Yakut houses; past a red stuccoed church +upon whose green, balloon-shaped domes golden stars glittered in the +frosty moonlight; past a lonely graveyard on the outskirts of the +city; and finally down a gentle decline to the snow-covered river, +which had a width of nearly four miles and which stretched away to the +westward like a frozen lake surrounded by dark wooded hills. Up this +great river--the Lena--we were to travel on the ice for a distance of +nearly a thousand miles, following a sinuous, never-ending line of +small evergreen trees, which had been cut in the neighbouring forests +and set up at short intervals in the snow, to guide the drivers in +storms and to mark out a line of safety around air-holes and between +areas of thin ice or stretches of open water. I fell asleep, shortly +after leaving Yakutsk, but was awakened, two or three hours later, +at the first post-station, by the voice of our driver shouting: "Ai! +Boys! Out with the horses--lively!" Two of us then had to alight from +our sleighs, go into the post-station, show our _podorozhnayas_ to the +station-master, and superintend the harnessing of two fresh teams. +Getting back into my fur bag, I lay awake for the next three hours, +listening to the jangle of a big bell on the wooden arch over the +thill-horse's back, and watching, through frosty eyelashes, the dark +outlines of the high wooded shores as they seemed to drift swiftly +past us to the eastward. + +The severest hardship of post travel in eastern Siberia in winter is +not the cold, but the breaking up of all one's habits of sleep. In the +first stages of our journey, when the nights were clear and the river +ice was smooth and safe, we made the distances between stations in +from two to three hours; and at the end of every such period we were +awakened, and had to get out of our warm fur bags into a temperature +that was almost always below zero and sometimes forty or fifty degrees +below. When we got back into our vehicles and resumed our journey, +we were usually cold, and just as we would get warm enough to go to +sleep, we would reach another station and again have to turn out. +Sleeping in short snatches, between shivers, to the accompaniment of +a jangling dinner-bell and a driver's shouts, and getting out into +an arctic temperature every two or three hours, night and day, for a +whole week, reduces one to a very fagged and jaded condition. At the +end of the first four days, it seemed to me that I should certainly +have to stop somewhere for an unbroken night's rest; but man is an +animal that gets accustomed to things, and in the course of a week I +became so used to the wild cries of the driver and the jangle of the +thill-horse's bell that they no longer disturbed me, and I gradually +acquired the habit of sleeping, in brief cat-naps, at all hours of the +day and night. As we ascended the river, the moon rose later and +later and the nights were often so dark that our drivers had great +difficulty in following the line of evergreen trees that marked the +road. Finally, about five hundred miles from Yakutsk, a particularly +reckless or self-confident driver got off the road, went ahead at a +venture instead of stopping to look for the evergreen trees, and just +after midnight drove us into an air-hole, about a quarter of a mile +from shore, where the water was thirty feet deep. Price and I were +fast asleep, and were awakened by the crashing of ice, the snorting of +the terrified horses, and the rush of water into the sleigh. I cannot +remember how we got out of our fur bags and gained the solid ice. I +was so bewildered by sleep and so completely taken by surprise that I +must have acted upon blind impulse, without any clear consciousness of +what I was doing. From subsequent examination of the air-hole and the +sleigh, I concluded that we must have jumped from the widely extended +outriggers, which were intended to guard against an accidental +capsize, which had a span of ten or twelve feet, and which rested +on the broken ice around the margin of the hole in such a way as to +prevent the sleigh from becoming completely submerged. But be that as +it may, we all got out on the solid ice in some way, and the first +thing I remember is standing on the edge of the hole, staring at the +swimming, snorting horses, the outlines of whose heads and necks +I could just make out, and wondering whether this were not a +particularly vivid and terrifying nightmare. For an instant, I could +not be absolutely sure that I was awake. In a moment, the other +sleigh, which was only a short distance behind, loomed up through the +darkness and its driver shouted to our man, "What's the matter?" + +"Oootonoole!" ("We got drowned") was the reply. "Get out your ropes, +quick, while I run to the shore for some driftwood. The horses +will freeze and sink in a few minutes. Akh! My God! My God! What a +punishment!" and, tearing off his outer fur coat, he started at a run +for the shore. I did not know what he expected to do with driftwood, +but he seemed to have a clear vital idea of some sort, so Price and +I rushed away after him. "We must get a tree, or a small log," he +explained breathlessly as we overtook him, "so I can crawl out on it +and cut the horses loose. But God knows," he added, "whether they'll +hold out till we get back. The water is killing cold." After a few +minutes on the snowy beach, we found a long, slender tree-trunk that +our driver said would do, and began to drag it across the ice. Our +breath, by this time, was coming in short, panting gasps, and when +Schwartz, Malchanski, and the other driver, who ran to our assistance, +took hold of the heavy log, we were on the verge of physical collapse. +When we got back to the air-hole, the horses were still swimming +feebly, but they were fast becoming chilled and exhausted, and it +seemed doubtful whether we should save them. We pushed the log out +over the broken edge of the ice, and five of us held it while our +driver, with a knife between his teeth and a rope about his shoulders, +crawled out on it, cut loose one of the outside horses and fastened +the line around its neck. He then crept back, and we all hauled on the +line until we dragged the poor beast out by the head. It was very much +exhausted and badly scraped by the sharp edge of the ice, but it had +strength enough to scramble to its feet. We then cut loose and hauled +out in the same way the outside horse on the other side. This one was +nearly dead and made no attempt to get up until it had been cruelly +flogged, but it struggled to its feet at last. Cutting loose the +thill-horse was more difficult, as its body was completely submerged +and it was hard to get at the rawhide fastening that held the collar, +the wooden arch, and the thills together, but our plucky driver +succeeded at last, and we dragged the half-frozen animal out. Rescue +came for him, however, too late. He could not rise to his feet and +died, a few moments afterward, from exhaustion and cold. Fastening +ropes to the half-submerged sleigh and harnessing to it the horses of +the other team, we finally pulled that up on the ice. Leaving it there +for the present, we made traverses back and forth across the river +until we found the line of evergreen trees, and then started for the +nearest post-station--Price and I riding with Malchanski and Schwartz +while our driver followed with the two rescued horses. When we reached +the post-station, which was about seven miles away, it was between +three and four o'clock in the morning; and, after rousing the +station-master and sending a driver with a team of fresh horses after +the abandoned sleigh, we drank two or three tumblerfuls of hot tea, +brought in blankets and pillows from the sleigh of Schwartz and +Malchanski, and went to bed on the floor. As a result of this +misadventure, our homeward progress was stopped, and we had to stay at +the village of Krestofskaya two days, while we repaired damages. Our +sleigh, when it came in that morning, was a mass of ice; our fur bag, +blankets, pillows, and spare clothing were water-soaked and frozen +solid; and the contents of our leather pouches were almost ruined. +By distributing our things among half a dozen houses we succeeded in +getting them thawed out and dried in time to make another start at the +end of the second day; but after that time I did not allow myself to +fall asleep at night. We had escaped once, but we might not be so +fortunate again, and I decided to watch the line of evergreen bushes +myself. When we lost the road in the darkness afterward, as we +frequently did, I made the driver stop and searched the river myself +on foot until I found it. The danger that I feared was not so much +getting drowned as getting wet. In temperatures that were almost +continuously below zero, and often twenty or thirty degrees below, a +man in water-soaked clothing would freeze to death in a very short +time, and there were so many air-holes and areas of thin ice that +watchfulness was a matter of vital necessity. + +Day after day and night after night we rode swiftly westward, up a +river that was always more than a mile in width and often two or +three; past straggling villages of unpainted log houses clinging +to the steep sides of the mountainous shores; through splendid +precipitous gorges, like those above the Iron Gate of the Danube; +along stretches of flat pasture land where shaggy, white Yakut +ponies were pawing up the snow to get at the withered grass; through +good-sized towns like Kirinsk and Vitimsk, where we began to see +signs of occidental civilisation; and finally, past a stern-wheel, +Ohio-River steamboat, of primitive type, tied up and frozen in near +the head of navigation at Verkholensk. "Just look at that steamer!" +cried Price, with an unwonted glow of enthusiasm in his boyish face. +"Doesn't that look like home?" At Verkholensk we abandoned the Lena, +which we had followed up almost to its source, and, leaving the ice +for the first time in two weeks, we started across country in a line +nearly parallel with the western coast of Lake Baikal. We had been +forty-one days on the road from Okhotsk; had covered a distance of +about 2300 miles, and were within a day's ride of Irkutsk. + +One bright sunshiny morning in early December, from the crest of +a high hill on the Verkholensk road, we got our first view of the +east-Siberian capital--a long compact mass of wooden houses with +painted window-shutters; white-walled buildings with roofs of metallic +green; and picturesque Russo-Byzantine churches whose snowy towers +were crowned with inverted balloons of gold or covered with domes of +ultramarine blue spangled with golden stars. Long lines of loaded +sledges from the Mongolian frontier could be seen entering the city +from the south; the streets were full of people; flags were flying +here and there over the roofs of government buildings; and from the +barracks down the river came faintly the music of a regimental band. +Our driver stopped his horses, took off his hat, and turning to us, +with the air of one who owns what he points out, said, proudly, +"Irkutsk!" If he expected us to be impressed--as he evidently did--he +was not disappointed; because Irkutsk, at that time and from that +point of view, was a very striking and beautiful city. We, moreover, +had just come from the desolate moss tundras and wild, lonely forests +of arctic Asia and were in a state of mind to be impressed by anything +that had architectural beauty, or indicated culture, luxury, and +wealth. We had seen nothing that even remotely suggested a city in two +years and a half; and we felt almost as if we were Gothic barbarians +gazing at Rome. It did not even strike us as particularly funny when +our Buriat driver informed us seriously that Irkutsk was so great a +place that its houses had to be numbered in order to enable their +owners to find them! To us, fresh from Gizhiga, Penzhina, and Okhotsk, +a city with numbered houses was really too remarkable and impressive +a thing to be treated with levity, and we therefore received the +information with proper awe and in silence. We could share the native +feeling, even if numbered houses had once been known to us. + +Twenty minutes later, we dashed into the city at a gallop, as if we +were imperial couriers with war news; rushed at break-neck speed past +markets, bazaars, telegraph poles, street lamps, big shops with gilded +sign-boards, polished droshkies drawn by high-stepping Orloff horses, +officers in uniform, grey-coated policemen with sabres, and pretty +women hooded in white Caucasian _bashliks_; and finally drew up with a +flourish in front of a comfortable-looking stuccoed hotel--the first +one we had seen in more than twenty-nine months. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI + + +A PLUNGE INTO CIVILISATION--THE NOBLES' BALL--SHOCKING LANGUAGE-- +SHAKESPEARE'S ENGLISH--THE GREAT SIBERIAN ROAD--PASSING TEA +CARAVANS--RAPID TRAVEL--FIFTY-SEVEN HUNDRED MILES IN ELEVEN +WEEKS--ARRIVAL IN ST. PETERSBURG + +At Irkutsk, we plunged suddenly from a semi-barbaric environment into +an environment of high civilisation and culture; and our attempts to +adjust ourselves to the new and unfamiliar conditions were attended, +at first, with not a little embarrassment and discomfort. As we were +among the first Americans who had been seen in that Far Eastern +capital, and were officers, moreover, of a company with which the +Russian Government itself had been in partnership, we were not only +treated with distinguished consideration, but were welcomed everywhere +with warm-hearted kindness and hospitality; and we found it necessary +at once to exchange calls with high officials; accept invitations to +dinner; share the box of the Governor-General's chief of staff at the +theatre, and go to the weekly ball of the "noble-born" in the hall +of the "Blagorodnaya Sobrania," (Assembly of Nobles). The first +difficulty that we encountered, of course, was the lack of suitable +clothing. After two and a half years of campaigning in an arctic +wilderness, we had no raiment left that was fit to wear in such a city +as Irkutsk, and--worse than that--we had little money with which to +purchase a new supply. The two hundred and fifty dollars with which +we left Okhotsk had gradually dribbled away in the defrayment of +necessary expenses along the road, and we had barely enough left to +pay for a week's stay at the hotel. In this emergency we fell back +upon our telegraph-company uniforms. They had been soaked in the Lena, +frozen into masses of ice, and stretched all out of shape in the +process of wringing and drying at Krestofskaya; but we got an Irkutsk +tailor to press them and polish up the tarnished gilt buttons, and +after spending most of the money we had left in the purchase of new +fur overcoats to replace the dirty, travel-worn _kukhlankas_ in which +we had arrived, we got ourselves up in presentable form to call on the +Governor-General. + +The severest ordeal through which we had to pass, however, was the +dance at the hall of the Blagorodnaya Sobrania to which we were +escorted by General Kukel (koo'-kel), the Governor-General's chief of +staff. The spacious and brilliantly lighted apartment, draped with +flags and decorated with evergreens; the polished dancing-floor; +the crash and blare of the music furnished by a military band; the +beautiful women in rich evening toilettes; and the throng of handsome +young officers in showy and diversified uniforms, simply overwhelmed +us with feelings of mingled excitement and embarrassment. I felt, +myself, like a uniformed Eskimo at a Charity Ball, and should have +been glad to skulk in a corner behind the band! All I wanted was an +opportunity to watch, unobserved, the brilliant picture of colour and +motion, and to feel the thrill of the music as the band swept, with +wonderful dash, swing, and precision, through the measures of a +spirited Polish mazurka. General Kukel, however, had other views +for us, and not only took us about the hall, introducing us to more +beautiful women than we had seen, we thought, in the whole course of +our previous existence, but said to every lady, as he presented us: +"Mr. Kennan and Mr. Price, you know, speak Russian perfectly." Price, +with discretion beyond his years, promptly disclaimed the imputed +accomplishment; but I was rash enough to admit that I did have some +knowledge of the language in question, and was forthwith drawn into a +stream of rapid Russian talk by a young woman with sympathetic face +and sparkling eyes, who encouraged me to describe dog-sledge travel +in north-eastern Asia and the vicissitudes of tent life with the +Wandering Koraks. On this conversational ground I felt perfectly at +home; and I was succeeding, as I thought, admirably, when the girl +suddenly blushed, looked a trifle shocked, and then bit her lip in +a manifest effort to restrain a smile of amusement not warranted by +anything in the life that I was trying to describe. She was soon +afterward carried away by a young Cossack officer who asked her to +dance, and I was promptly engaged in conversation by another lady, who +also wanted "to hear an American talk Russian." My self-confidence had +been a little shaken by the blush and the amused smile of my previous +auditor, but I rallied my intellectual forces, took a firm grip of my +Russian vocabulary, and, as Price would say, "sailed in." But I soon +struck another snag. This young woman, too, began to show symptoms +of shock, which, in her case, took the form of amazement. I was +absolutely sure that there was nothing in the subject-matter of my +remarks to bring a blush to the cheek of innocence, or give a shock to +the virgin mind of feminine youth, and yet it was perfectly evident +that there was something wrong. As soon as I could make my escape, +I went to General Kukel and said: "Will you please tell me, Your +Excellency, what's the matter with my Russian?" + +"What makes you think there's anything the matter with it?" he replied +evasively, but with a twinkle of amusement in his eyes. + +"It doesn't seem to go very well," I said, "in conversation with +women. They appear to understand it all right, but it gives them a +shock. Is my pronunciation so horribly bad?" + +"You speak Russian," he said, "with quite extraordinary fluency, +and with a-a-really interesting and engaging accent; but--excuse +me please--shall I be entirely frank? You see you have learned the +language, under many disadvantages, among the Koraks, Cossacks, and +Chukchis of Kamchatka and the Okhotsk Sea coast, and--quite innocently +and naturally of course--you have picked up a few words and +expressions that are not--well, not--" + +"Not used in polite society," I suggested. + +"Hardly so much as that," he replied deprecatingly. "They're a little +queer, that 's all--quaint--bizarre--but it's nothing! nothing at all! +All you need is a little study of good models--books, you know--and a +few months of city life." + +"That settles it!" I said. "I talk no more Russian to ladies in +Irkutsk." + +When, upon my arrival in St. Petersburg, I had an opportunity to study +the language in books, and to hear it spoken by educated people, I +found that the Russian I had picked up by Kamchatkan camp-fires and +in Cossack _izbas_ on the coast of the Okhotsk Sea resembled, in many +respects, the English that a Russian would acquire in a Colorado +mining camp, or among the cowboys in Montana. It was fluent, but, as +General Kukel said, "quaint--bizarre," and, at times, exceedingly +profane. + +I was not the only person in Irkutsk, however, whose vocabulary was +peculiar and whose diction was "quaint" and "bizarre." A day or two +after the ball of the Blagorodnaya Sobrania we received a call from a +young Russian telegraph operator who had heard of our arrival and who +wished to pay his respects to us as brother telegraphers from America. +I greeted him cordially in Russian; but he began, at once, to speak +English, and said that he would prefer to speak that language, for +the sake of practice. His pronunciation, although queer, was fairly +intelligible, and I had little difficulty in understanding him; but +his talk had a strange, mediaeval flavour, due, apparently, to the use +of obsolete idioms and words. In the course of half an hour, I +became satisfied that he was talking the English of the fifteenth +century--the English of Shakespeare, Beaumont, and Fletcher--but how +he had learned such English, in the nineteenth century and in the +capital of eastern Siberia, I could not imagine. I finally asked him +how he had managed to get such command of the language in a city +where, so far as I knew, there was no English teacher. He replied that +the Russian Government required of its telegraph operators a knowledge +of Russian and French, and then added two hundred and fifty rubles +a year to their salaries for every additional language that they +learned. He wanted the two hundred and fifty rubles, so he began the +study of English with a small English-French dictionary and an old +copy of Shakespeare. He got some help in acquiring the pronunciation +from educated Polish exiles, and from foreigners whom he occasionally +met, but, in the main, he had learned the language alone, and by +committing to memory dialogues from Shakespeare's plays. I described +to him my recent experience with Russian, and told him that his method +was, unquestionably, better than mine. He had learned English from the +greatest master of the language that ever lived; while I had picked +up my Russian from Cossack dog-drivers and illiterate Kamchadals. He +could talk to young women in the eloquent and impassioned words of +Romeo, while my language was fit for backwoodsmen only. + +At the end of our first week in Irkutsk, we were ready to resume our +journey; but we had no money with which to pay our hotel bill, still +less our travelling expenses. I had telegraphed to Major Abaza +repeatedly for funds, but had received no reply, and I was finally +compelled to go, in humiliation of spirit, to Governor General +Shelashnikoff, and borrow five hundred rubles. + +On the 13th of December, we were again posting furiously along the +Great Siberian Road, past caravans, of tea from Hankow; detachments +of Cossacks convoying gold from the placers of the Lena; parties of +hard-labour convicts on their way to the mines of the trans-Baikal; +and hundreds of sleighs loaded with the products or manufactures of +Russia, Siberia, and the Far East. + +For the first thousand miles, our progress was retarded and our rest +greatly broken--particularly at night--by tea caravans. With the +establishment of the winter road, in November, hundreds of low, +one-horse sledges, loaded with hide-bound boxes of tea that had come +across the desert of Gobi from Peking, left Irkutsk, every day, for +Nizhni Novgorod. They moved in solid caravans, a quarter of a mile to +a mile in length, and in every such caravan there were from fifty to +two hundred sledges. As the tea-horses went at a slow, plodding +walk, their drivers were required, by law, to turn out for private +travellers and give the latter the road; but they seldom did anything +of the kind. There were only twelve or fifteen of them to a caravan +of a hundred sledges; and as they usually curled up on their loads at +night and went fast asleep, it was practically impossible to arouse +them and get the caravan out of the middle of the road. In order to +pass, therefore, we ourselves had to turn out and drive three quarters +of a mile, or possibly a mile, through the deep soft snow on one side +of the beaten track. This so exasperated our driver that he would +give every horse and every sleeping teamster in the whole caravan +a slashing cut with his long rawhide whip, shouting, in almost +untranslatable Russian, "Wake up!" (Whack.) "Get a move on you!" +(Whack.) "What are you doing in the middle of the road there?" +(Whack.) "Akh! You ungodly Tartar pagans!" (Whack.) "GO TO SLEEP IN +THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, WILL YOU?" (Whack, whack.) Meanwhile, the +strongly braced outrigger of our _pavoska_, on the caravan side, would +strike every one of the tea-sledges, as we passed, and the long series +of violent shocks, combined with the rolling and pitching of our +vehicle, as it wallowed through the deep snow, would be enough to +awaken a man from anything except the last sleep of death. Usually, we +were aroused by our driver's preliminary shouts when we first came in +sight of a caravan; but sometimes we were in such a stupor of sleep +that we did not awake until the outrigger collided with the first load +of tea and brought us suddenly to consciousness with a half-dazed +impression that we had been struck by lightning, or hit by a falling +tree. If we had had to undergo this experience only once or twice +in the course of the night, it would not have been so bad; but we +sometimes passed half a dozen caravans between sunset and dawn; threw +every one of them into disorder and confusion with outrigger and whip; +and left behind us a wake of Russian and Tartar profanity almost +fiery enough to be luminous in the dark. Shortly after leaving Tomsk, +however, we passed the vanguard of these tea caravans and saw them no +more. + +The road in western Siberia was hard and smooth, and the horses were +so good that we made very rapid progress with comparatively little +discomfort. We stopped only twice a day for meals, and every night +found us 175 or 200 miles nearer our destination than we had been the +night before. We succeeded in getting across the Urals before the end +of the year, and on the 7th of January, after twenty-five days of +almost incessant night-and-day travel, we drew up before a hotel in +the city of Nizhni Novgorod, which, at that time, was the eastern +terminus of the Russian railway system. We sold our sleigh, fur bag, +pillows, tea-equipment, and the provisions we had left, for what +they would bring--a beggarly sum; took a train the same day for St. +Petersburg; and reached the Russian capital on the 9th of January, +eleven weeks from the Okhotsk Sea by way of Yakutsk, Irkutsk, Tomsk, +Tiumen, Ekaterineburg, and Nizhni Novgorod. In the eleven weeks we +had changed dogs, reindeer, or horses more than two hundred and sixty +times and had made a distance of five thousand seven hundred and +fourteen miles, nearly all of it in a single sleigh. + +[Illustration: Wooden Cup] + + + + +INDEX + + + A + + Abaza, Major S., appointed superintendent of Siberian division; + forms plan of operations; + starts northward from Petropavlovsk; + scares up a bear; + falls ill at Lesnoi; + leaves Gizhiga for Okhotsk; + orders from; + returns to Gizhiga; + makes trip to Anadyrsk; + sails for Okhotsk; + visits Yakutsk; + comes to Yamsk; + returns to Yakutsk; + starts for St. Petersburg; + letter from. + Agaricus muscarius, Korak intoxicant. + Air-hole, driving into + Aklan, river + Aldan, river + Amur, river + Anadyr, river; + work on. + Anadyr River party; + finding of; + experience of; + orders concerning. + Anadyrsk, village; + arrival at; + priest's house in; + history and description of; + climate of; + ball at; + character of inhabitants; + famine at. + Anadyrsk sickness + Animals, of Kamchatka + Anossof, Russian commissioner + Arnold, member of Anadyr River party + Astronomical lectures + Atlantic cable, failure of first; + final success of. + Aurora borealis; + remarkable display of. + Aurora of the sea + Avacha, bay + Avacha, river + Avacha, village + Avacha, volcano + + + B + + "Baideras," Korak skin boats + "Balagans," fish storehouses + Ball, at Anadyrsk; + at Irkutsk. + "Ballalaikas," Siberian guitars + "Barabans," Korak drums + Baths, "black," Kamchatkan steam baths + Bear hunts + Bears + Bering, monument to, in Petropavlovsk + Berries + Bickmore, A.S., reference to Korak marriage ceremony + Birds + Bivouacs, Kamchatkan + Blueberries + Bollman, merchant in Petropavlovsk + Bordman, W.H. + Bowsher, member of Sandford's party + Bragan, Nicolai, guide + Bragans, Kamchatkan traders + British Columbia + British Government, concessions from + Bulkley, Colonel Charles S. + Bush, Richard J., becomes member of Siberian party; + sails for Amur River; + meeting with, at Gizhiga; + put in command of Northern District; + bad news from; + night meeting with; + experience in summer of 1866 + Buttercups + + + C + + Cable, Atlantic, failure of first; + final success of + Camp, a winter + Camps + Canoe travel + Canticle, a driver's + Christmas, in a storm; + in Anadyrsk + Christmas carols + Chuances + Chukchis + Church, Greek, architecture and color; + services + Cinquefoil + _Clara Bell_, bark + Climate + Clover + Cold, Asiatic pole of; + phenomena of; + on Myan River; + lowest temperature observed; + in Stanavoi mountains + Collins, P. McD., suggests overland telegraph to Europe + Congress, of U. S., promises assistance + Cossack waltz + Cossacks + Cows + Cowslips + Crimean war, connection of Petropavlovsk with + Crinoline, Korak comment on + Crows + + + D + + Dall, W. H. + Dances, Siberian + Distance, Korak ideas of + Divide, Kamchatkan, crossing of + Dix, Major General, worshipped as a saint + Dodd, James, engaged as member of party in Petropavlovsk; + goes to Tigil; + left in Gizhiga + Dogs, ancestry: + endurance; + food; + sledges; + loads; + driving of; + first experiment in driving; + howling of, in chorus; + rest; + cutting of feet by ice + "Dole," arctic desert + Dranka, village + Dress; + of Kamchadals; + of Wandering Koraks; + of Zamutkis and Tunguses + Drunkenness, from poisonous toadstool + Ducks + + + E + + Eagles + English, Shakespearian, in Irkutsk + Equipment, in San Francisco; + in Petropavlovsk; + in Lesnoi; + in Gizhiga; + in Anadyrsk; + in Yakutsk + Escape, narrowest + Eskimo-like natives + Ethnology, of Siberian natives + Evil spirits, propitiation of + Exploration, plans for + + + F + + Famines + Fashion-plate, Korak comment on + Field glass, Chukchi experiments with + Fish-hawks + Fish savings banks + Flowers, in Gizhiga; + in Petropavlovsk; + in Kamchatka + Fluger, German merchant in Petropavlovsk + Fly agaric, as intoxicant + Food, of Kamchadals + Fort St. Michael + _Frank Leslie's_, fashion-plate from; + pictures from + Frazer River + Fritillaria; + bulbs eaten + Fronefield, American in Petropavlovsk + Frost, George A. + Fruits, of Kamchatka + Fur trade, of Kamchatka + + + G + + Gale, in North Pacific + Geese + Genal, valley + Genal, village + Gilyaks + Gizhiga, village; + arrival at; + first days in; + departure from; + return to, from Anadyrsk; + spring in; + climate of; + dancing parties in + _Golden Gate_, bark, wreck of + Goldsmith, Oliver, reference to Korak intoxicant + Grouse "teteer" + Gulls + + + H + + _Hallie Jackson_, brig + Hamilton, captain of whaling bark _Sea Breeze_ + Harchina, village + Harder, member of Anadyr River party + _Harper's Weekly_, pictures from + Heck, member of Sandford's party + _Herald, N.Y._, correspondent of + Horseback travel + Horse-express, Siberian + Houses, Kamchadal + Hunter, American in Petropavlovsk + + + I + + _Illustrated London News_, as wall paper + Imperator and operator + Indian type, of Siberian native + Intoxicant, Korak + Irkutsk, city + "Ispravnik," local governor of Petropavlovsk; + of Gizhiga; + of Okhotsk + + + J + + Jelly-fish; + luminous + "Jerusalem," village + + K + + Kamchadals, character; + food; + language; + music; + numbers; + physique; + religion; + sable trapping; + summer settlements; + transportation + Kamchatka, animals; + berries; + birds; + climate; + first impressions; + first view of coast; + flowers; + fruits; + government; + mail; + population; + scenery; + topography; + transportation; + volcanoes + Kamchatka River; + raft, life on; + valley of + Kamchatkan Divide, crossing of + Kamchatkan lily + Kamchatkan mountains + Kamenoi + Kazarefski, village + "Kazarm," a Russian barrack + "Kedrovnik," see "Pine" + Kennicott, leader of Alaskan exploring party + Kirinsk, town on Lena River + Kluchei, village + Kluchefskoi volcano + Knox, Colonel T. W., correspondent of _N.Y. Herald_ + Kolyma, mosquitoes in + Korak, village + Koraks, Settled, appearance; + experiments with American food; + in Kamenoi; + stupidity and ugliness; + yurts + Koraks, Wandering, arrival at first encampment; + appearance; + character; + comment on dress of American woman; + food; + geographical range; + intoxicant; + language; + marriage ceremony; + monotonous life; + old and sick killed; + pologs; + reindeer; + relation to Chukchis; + relieve starving Anadyrsk people; + religion; + social organisation; + superstitions; + tents + Koratskoi, volcano + Krestofskaya, village + Kristi, village + Kuil, village of Settled Koraks + Kukel, General + "Kukhlanka" fur overshirt + + + L + + Labrador tea + Lamutkis + Land, longing for + Language, "American"; + Russian difficulty of learning; + grammar of; + specimen; + experience with, in Irkutsk + La Perouse, monument to, in Petropavlovsk + Lecky, W.H., reference to religion of terror + Lectures, astronomical + Leet, American brought by bark _Onward_; + suicide of + Lesnoi, village + Letovies, summer settlements + Lewis, Richard, telegraph operator brought by bark _Onward_ + Lily, Kamchatkan + "Lodkas," Siberian skiffs + + + M + + Macrae, leader of Anadyr River party + Macrae and Arnold, go with Chukchis; + no news from; + arrive in Anadyrsk; + experience with Chukchis; + first winter's work + Magpies + Mahood, Captain James A. + Mahood and Bush + Maidel, Baron + Malchanski + Malqua, village + Manchus + "Manyalla," Korak bread + Marriage ceremonies, Russian + Korak + Matches, Koraks see for first time + Matuga, island + Maximof, Kamchatkan driver + Medusae; + luminous + Mikina, village + Milkova, village + Mirages + Mongolian type of natives + "Moroshkas," berries + Mosquitoes + Moss steppe + Mountains, Kamchatkan + "Muk-a-moor," Korak intoxicant + Music, American, in Kamchatka; + of Kamchadals; + of Greek Church; + on corvette _Varag_ + Myan, river + + + N + + Nalgim, mountain + "Nart," Siberian dog-sledge + _New York Herald_, correspondent of + Nights, in summer + Nikolaievsk, town + Nizhni Novgorod + Northern District, famine in; + work in + Norton, forearm of pole-cutting party + Norton, sound + + + O + + "Oerstel," a spiked stick + Okhotsk Sea; + coast of; + temperatures of; + phosphorescence of + Okuta, village + _Olga_, brig, passage engaged on; + inspection of; + sails from San Francisco; + life on; + sails for Amur River + _Onward_, bark + Operator and imperator + + + P + + _Palmetto_, bark + Paren, river + "Pavoskas," travelling sleighs or sledges + Penzhina, river + Penzhina, village + Penzhinsk Gulf + Petropavlovsk + Phillippeus, trip down the Anadyr; + boat of + Phosphorescence, of the sea + Pierce, American in Petropavlovsk + Pine, trailing or "Kedrovnik" + Plans, at Gizhiga + Plover + "Podorozhnaya," order for post-horses + "Pologs," skin bedrooms + Pope, leader of Alaskan party + Porte Crayon, sketches of, in Kamchatka + Post-road to Irkutsk + Povorotnoi, cape + Price, telegraph operator, brought by _Onward_ + Primroses + "Pripaika," ice-foot + Propashchina, River of the Lost + "Protoks," arms of stream + Ptarmigan + Puffin + "Purgas," blizzards + Pushchin, village + + + R + + Raft, Kamchatkan + Raft travel + Raselskoi, volcano + Ravens + Reception, Kamchatkan + Reindeer + catching; + driving; + food; + guarding; + habits; + of Koraks; + of Tunguses; + stampede; + superstition + about sale of; + uses + Reindeer Koraks, see "Koraks, + Wandering" + Reindeer-sledge travel + Religion, of Kamchadals; + of Wandering Koraks + Reveries, seasick + River of the Lost + Roads + Robinson, member of Anadyr + River party + Roses, wild + Route of line + Routes from Kluchei + Russell and Co. + Russian-American Telegraph Co. + organisation of + failure of + Russian Government + Russian language + + + S + + Sables, trapping; + trade in skins + _Saghalin_, Russian supply steamer + St. Petersburg + Sale, a bargain + Salmon, catching and curing; + failure of; + frozen; + dependence of Siberians upon + Samanka Mountains + Samanka River + Sandford, Lieut., foreman of + pole-cutting party + "Sastrugi," permanent drifts + of snow + Scammon, Captain, commander + of Company's fleet + Scenery of Kamchatka + Scenery, Siberian, in winter + Schwartz + _Sea Breeze_, whaling bark + Sea life + "Selanka," Kamchatkan soup + Send-off, a Siberian + Shamanism + "Shchi," cabbage soup + Shelashnikoff, Governor-General + Sherom, village + Shestakova, village + Sidanka, village + Smith, member of Anadyr River + party + Sparrow song + Spring, in Gizhiga + Squirrel skins + Stanavoi Mountains + Star-flower + "Starosta," head man of village + Steeplechase, to Sidanka + Stock, of Western Union Extension + Co. + Storm in Northern Pacific; + on the Viliga River; + on the Malkachan steppe; + in Gizhiginsk Gulf + Stovepipe, search for; + finding of + "Struganini," frozen fish + Sugar, used instead of money + Sulkavoi, captain of port of Petropavlovsk + Sutton, captain of bark _Clara Bell_ + Suveilich, volcano + Swallows + Swans + Sword-bearer + + + T + + "Taiyon," Korak chief + "Tarantas," Siberian travelling carriage + Tea, used instead of money + "Tea caravans," + Telega, four-wheeled Siberian wagon + Tents, of Koraks, life in + "Teteer," Russian grouse + Thrushes + Tide, a race with + Tigil, village + Time, expedients to pass away + Tobacco, used instead of money + Tobezin, captain of steamer, _Saghalin_ + Topolofka, river + "Topor," Russian axe + "Torbasses," fur boots + Trances, in Anadyrsk sickness + Trailing-pine. See "Pine" + Transportation, means of, in Kamchatka + Tundras, mossy plains + Tunguses; + encampments + Turkish type of natives + + + U + + Ural Mountains + Usinova, brook + + + V + + Valerian + _Varag_, Russian corvette + Verkholensk, town on Lena River + Victoria + Viliga, stormy gorge of; + mountains + Villages, Kamchatkan, descriptions + Villuchinski, volcano + Vitimsk, town on Lena River + Volcanoes of Kamchatka + Vorrebeoffs, Kamchatkan traders, + + + W + + Wages, paid Yakut laborers + Wedding, in Petropavlovsk; + in Korak tent + Western Union Extension Co. + Western Union Telegraph Co. + Wheeler, sent to Yamsk + Whymper, book of + Wild-rose petals, as food + Women, American, Korak comment on dress of + Work accomplished up to March 1886 + Writing, Korak and Chukchi, ignorance of + + + Y + + Yakuts + Yakutsk; + winter temperatures + Yamsk, village; + trip to, in March + "Yassak," a tax on furs + Yolofka, pass + Yolofka, river, canoe travel on + Yolofka, village + "Yukola," dried fish + "Yurts," Asiatic habitations; + of settled Koraks, + + + Z + + "Zimovie," winter settlement + Zinovief, Gregorie, Cossack guide + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Tent Life in Siberia, by George Kennan + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TENT LIFE IN SIBERIA *** + +***** This file should be named 12328.txt or 12328.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/3/2/12328/ + +Produced by Josephine Paolucci and the Online Distributed Proofreading +Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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