As this question can be answered with the greatest ease and certainty by investigations in the Polar regions, I shall here, for the guidance of future travellers, enumerate some discoveries of a like nature which have been made by me, or at my instance.

1. In the beginning of December, 1871, there happened at Stockholm an exceedingly heavy fall of snow, perhaps the heaviest which has taken place in the memory of man. Several persons perished in the snow in the immediate neighbourhood of Stockholm. During the last days of the snowfall I had about a cubic metre of snow collected and melted in a vessel. It left a residue of black powder, which contained grains of metallic iron that were attracted by the magnet.

2. In the middle of March, 1872, a similar investigation was made by my brother, KARL NORDENSKIOeLD, in a remote forest settlement, Evois, in Finland. Here, too, was obtained, on the melting of the snow, a small residuum, consisting of a black powder containing metallic iron.



3. On the 8th August and 2nd September of the same year, I examined, north of Spitzbergen, in 80 deg. N.L., and 13 deg. to 15 deg. E.L., the layer of snow that there covered the ice. The nature of this layer is shown by the accompanying woodcut, in which 1, is new-fallen snow; 2, a layer of hardened old snow, eight mm. in thickness; 3, a layer of snow conglomerated to a crystalline granular mass; and 4, common granular hardened snow. Layer 3 was full of small black grains, among which were found numerous metallic particles that were attracted by the magnet, and were found to contain iron, cobalt, and possibly nickel also.

4. On the melting of 500 gram. hail, which fell in Stockholm in the autumn of 1873, similar metallic particles containing cobalt (nickel) were obtained, which, in this case, might possibly have come from the neighbouring roofs, because the hail was collected in a yard surrounded by houses roofed with sheet-iron painted red. The black colour of the metallic particles enclosed in the hail, their position in the hail, and finally, the cobalt they contained, however, indicate in this case too, a quite different origin.

5. In a dust (kryokonite), collected on the inland ice of Greenland in the month of July, 1870, there were also found mixed with it grains of metallic iron, containing cobalt. The main mass consisted of a crystalline, double-refracting silicate, drenched through with an ill-smelling organic substance. The dust was found in large quantities at the bottom of innumerable small holes in the surface of the inland ice. This dust could scarcely be of volcanic origin, because by its crystalline structure it differs completely from the glass-dust that is commonly thrown out of volcanoes, and is often carried by the wind to very remote regions, as also from the dust which, on the 30th March, 1875, fell at many places in the middle of Scandinavia, and which was proved to have been thrown out by volcanoes on Iceland. For, while kryokonite consists of small angular double-refracting crystal-fragments without any mixture of particles of glass, the volcanic Haga-dust[191] consists almost wholly of small microscopic glass bubbles that have no action on the polarisation-planes of the light that passes through them.

Similar investigations have since been made, among others, by M. TISSANDIER in Paris, and during NARES' English Polar Expedition.

It may appear to many that it is below the dignity of science to concern one's self with so trifling an affair as the fall of a small quantity of dust. But this is by no means the case. For I estimate the quantity of the dust that was found on the ice north of Spitzbergen at from 0.1 to 1 milligram per square metre, and probably the whole fall of dust for the year far exceeded the latter figure. But a milligram on every square metre of the surface of the earth amounts for the whole globe to five hundred million kilograms (say half a million tons)! Such a mass collected year by year during the geological ages, of a duration probably incomprehensible by us, forms too important a factor to be neglected, when the fundamental facts of the geological history of our planet are enumerated. A continuation of these investigations will perhaps show, that our globe has increased gradually from a small beginning to the dimensions it now possesses; that a considerable quantity of the constituents of our sedimentary strata, especially of those that have been deposited in the open sea far from land, are of cosmic origin; and will throw an unexpected light on the origin of the fire-hearths of the volcanoes, and afford a simple explanation of the remarkable resemblance which unmistakably exists between plutonic rocks and meteoric stones.[192]

On the 14th August, when the fog had lightened a little, we got up steam, but were soon compelled to anchor again in a bay running into Taimur Island from the north side of Taimur Sound, which I named Actinia Bay, from the large number of actinia which the dredge brought up there. It is, besides, not the only place in the Kara Sea which might be named from the evertebrate life prevailing there, so unexpectedly abundant.



Unfavourable weather detained us in Actinia Bay, which is a good and well-protected haven, till the 18th August, during which time excursions were made in various directions, among others farther into Taimur Sound, where a variable strong current was found to prevail. The Sound is too shallow to be passed through by large vessels. The rocks round Taimur Sound consist of gneiss strata, which form low ridges that have been so shattered by the frost that they have been converted into immense lichen-clad stone mounds. Between these stretch extensive valleys and plains, now free of snow, if we except a snow-drift remaining here and there in the hollows. The plains were all covered with a very green continuous vegetation, which however on a closer examination was found to be not a true turf, but a mixture of grasses, allied plants, and a large number of different kinds of mosses and lichens. Actual flowers were found here only sparingly.[193] In this respect the coast tundra shows a remarkable difference from the coast lands on Vaygats Island and Novaya Zemlya. On the other hand, the abundance of luxuriant lichens and mosses was striking. The mosses along the beach and the borders of the snow-drifts remaining here and there bore fruit in abundance. Animal life on land was scanty; some few reindeer were seen, a mountain fox was killed, and a lemming caught.



Only the following birds were seen: owls (Strix nyctea) rather numerous, of which one was killed; a species of falcon, which was hunted unsuccessfully; snow buntings, breeding very generally in the stone mounds; a covey of snow ptarmigan, of which some young birds were shot; six species of waders, the most common birds of the region, of which a large number were shot; two kinds of gulls (Larus glaucus and tridactylus); Lestris parasitica and Buffonii, the latter the more common of the two; Anser bernicla, very common; and finally the long-tailed duck (Harelda glacialis) in great flocks swimming in the Sound. Bird life, viewed as a whole, was still scanty here, in comparison with that which we were accustomed to see in the northern regions west of Novaya Zemlya.

In the sea the higher animal life was somewhat more abundant. A walrus had been seen during the passage from the Yenisej, and on the ice drifting about in the Sound a number of seals, both Phoca barbata and Phoca hispida, were observed. This gave rise to the supposition that at the sea-bottom animal life was richer, which was also confirmed by the dredging yield. Nowhere was seen on our arrival any trace of man, but a cairn now indicates the place, off which the Vega and the Lena were anchored.

In this sea never before visited by any vessel, however, we were nearly coming in contact with a countryman. For while we lay at anchor in Taimur Sound, Captain Edward Johannesen came into the neighbourhood of the same place with his sailing vessel Nordland from Tromsoe. He had left Norway on the 22nd May 1878, had come to Gooseland in Novaya Zemlya on the 6th June, and had reached the northernmost point of that island on the 22nd July. Here loud thunder was heard on the 26th July. On the 10th August he steered eastwards from Novaya Zemlya across the Kara Sea between 76 deg. and 77 deg. N.L. in open water. On the 16th he had the Taimur country in sight. Here he turned, and steered first to the west, then to the north. In 77 deg. 31' N.L. and 86 deg. E.L. from Greenwich he discovered and circumnavigated a new island, which was named "Ensamheten" (Solitude). The island was free of snow, but not overgrown with grass. The animals that were seen were some bears and bearded seals, terns, fulmars, ivory gulls, flocks of black guillemots, and a "bird with a rounded tail and long bill," probably some wader. On the north-east side of the island a strong northerly current prevailed. The remote position and desolate appearance of the island gave occasion to the name proposed by Johannesen. Hence Johannesen sailed with a great bend to the north, which brought him to 78 deg. N.L., back to the northern extremity of Novaya Zemlya, and thence on the 12th September to Norway. During the return voyage across the Kara Sea also scarcely any ice was met with.[194]

An exceedingly persistent fog prevailed during the whole of the time we remained here, but at last on the 18th it lightened a little. We immediately weighed anchor and steamed along the western shore of Taimur Island. It is surrounded by a large number of islands that are not given on the map, and possibly Taimur Island itself is divided by sounds into several parts. During our voyage, however, the fog that was still very close hindered us from mapping, otherwise than in a very loose way, the islands, large and small, between and past which the Vega searched for a passage. So much we could in any case see, that the northern extremity of Taimur Island does not run so far north as the common maps show.

Ice we met with only in small quantity, and what we saw was very rotten fjord or river ice. I scarcely believe that in the course of the day we met with a single piece of ice large enough to flense a seal upon. We had as yet seen no true old drift-ice such as is to be met with north of Spitzbergen. In respect to the nature of the ice, there is a complete dissimilarity between the Kara Sea and the sea north and east of Spitzbergen. Another striking difference is the scarcity of warm-blooded animals which prevails in this region, hitherto exempted from all hunting. In the course of the day we had not seen a single bird—something which never before happened to me during a summer journey in the Arctic regions—and scarcely any seals.

On the 19th August we continued to sail and steam along the coast, mostly in a very close fog, which only at intervals dispersed so much that the lie of the coast could be made out. In order that they might not be separated, both vessels had often to signal to each other with the steam-whistle. The sea was bright as a mirror. Drift-ice was seen now and then, but only in small quantity and very rotten; but in the course of the day we steamed past an extensive unbroken ice-field, fast to the land, which occupied a bay on the west side of the Chelyuskin peninsula. The ice, of which it consisted, appeared in the mist immensely rough and high, although in fact it was nearly as rotten as that of which the narrow belts of ice were formed which we now and then met with out at sea.

The fog prevented all view far across the ice, and I already feared that the northernmost promontory of Asia would be so surrounded with ice that we could not land upon it. But soon a dark, ice-free cape peeped out of the mist in the north-east. A bay open to the north here cuts into the land, and in this bay both the vessels anchored on the 19th August at 6 o'clock p.m.

We had now reached a great goal, which for centuries had been the object of unsuccessful struggles. For the first time a vessel lay at anchor off the northernmost cape of the old world. No wonder then that the occurrence was celebrated by a display of flags and the firing of salutes, and, when we returned from our excursion on land, by festivities on board, by wine and toasts.



As on our arrival at the Yenisej, we were received here too by a large Polar bear, who, even before the vessel anchored, was seen to go backwards and forwards on the beach, now and then turning his glance and his nose uneasily out to sea in order to investigate what remarkable guests had now for the first time come to his kingdom. A boat was put off to kill him. Brusewitz was the chosen shot; but on this occasion the bear took care not to form any closer acquaintance with our guns. The firing of the salute put him so thoroughly to flight, that he did not, as bears are wont, return the following day.



The north point of Asia forms a low promontory, which a bay divides into two, the eastern arm projecting a little farther to the north than the western. A ridge of hills with gently sloping sides runs into the land from the eastern point, and appears within sight of the western to reach a height of 300 metres. Like the plains lying below, the summits of this range were nearly free of snow. Only on the hill-sides or in deep furrows excavated by the streams of melted snow, and in dales in the plains, were large white snow-fields to be seen. A low ice-foot still remained at most places along the shore. But no glacier rolled its bluish-white ice-masses down the mountain sides, and no inland lakes, no perpendicular cliffs, no high mountain summits, gave any natural beauty to the landscape, which was the most monotonous and the most desolate I have seen in the High North.

As on the island off which we lay at anchor on the 11th August, the ground was everywhere burst asunder into more or less regular six-sided figures, the interior of which was usually bare of vegetation, while stunted flowering-plants, lichens and mosses, rose out of the cracks. At some few places, however, the ground was covered with a carpet of mosses, lichens, grasses and allied plants, resembling that which I previously found at Actinia Bay. Yet the flowering-plants were less numerous here, and the mosses more stunted and bearing fruit less abundantly. The lichen flora was also, according to Dr. Almquist's examination, monotonous, though very luxuriant. The plants were most abundant on the farthest extremity of the Cape. It almost appeared as if many of the plants of the Taimur country had attempted to migrate hence farther to the north, but meeting the sea, had stood still, unable to go farther and unwilling to turn. For here Dr. Kjellman found on a very limited area nearly all the plants of the region. The species which were distinctive of the vegetation here were the following: Saxifraga oppositifolia L., Papaver nudicaule L., Draba alpina L., Cerastium alpinum L., Stellaria Edwardsii R. BR., Alsine macrocarpa FENZL., Aira coespitosa L., Catabrosa algida (SOL.) FR., and Alopecurus alpinus SM. The following plants occurred less frequently: Eritrichium villosum BUNGE, Saxifraga nivalis L., S cernua L., S. rivularis L., S. stellaris L., S. caspitesa L., S. flagellaris WILLD., S. serpyllifolia PURSH., Cardamine bellidifolia L., Cochlearia fenestrata R. BR., Oxyria digyna (L.) HILL., Salix polaris WG, Poa flexuosa WG., and Lucula hyperborea R. BR. There were thus found in all only twenty-three species of inconsiderable flowering-plants, among them eight species belonging to the Saxifrage family, a sulphur-yellow poppy, commonly cultivated in our gardens, and the exceedingly beautiful, forget-me-not-like Eritrichium. That the vegetation here on the northernmost point of Asia has to contend with a severe climate is shown, among other things, as Dr. Kjellman has pointed out, by most of the flowering-plants there having a special tendency to form exceedingly compact half-globular tufts.



The only insects which occurred here in any large number were podurae, but some flies were also seen, and even a beetle, the before-mentioned Staphylinid. Of birds, there were seen a large number of sandpipers, an exceedingly numerous flock of barnacle geese—evidently migrating to more southerly regions, perhaps from some Polar land lying to the north of Cape Chelyuskin—a loom, some kittiwakes and ivory gulls, and remains of owls. Mammalia were represented by the bear already mentioned, and by the reindeer and the lemming, whose traces and dung were seen on the plains. In the sea, a walrus, several rough seals (Phoca hispida), and two shoals of white whales were seen.

All rivers were now dried up, but wide, shallow river-beds indicated that during the snow-melting season there was an abundant flow of water. The rush of snow rivulets and the cry of birds then certainly cause an interruption in the desolation and silence which were now spread over the clay beds of the plains, nearly bare of all vegetation. Probably, however, a little farther into the country, in some valley protected from the winds of the Polar Sea, we might find quite different natural conditions, a more abundant animal life, and a vegetable world, in summer, as rich in flowers as that which we meet with in the valleys of Ice Fjord or the "Nameless Bay" (Besimannaja Bay). We saw no trace of man here. The accounts, which were current as early as the sixteenth century, relating to the nature of the north point of Asia, however, make it probable that the Siberian nomads at one time drove their reindeer herds up hither. It is even not impossible that Russian hunters from Chatanga may have prosecuted the chase here, and that Chelyuskin actually was here, of which we have evidence in the very correct way in which the Cape, that now rightly bears his name, is laid down on the Russian maps.[195]

The rocks consist of a clay-slate, with crystals resembling chiastolite and crystals of sulphide of iron interspersed. At the Cape itself the clay-slate is crossed by a thick vein of pure white quartz. Here, according to an old custom of Polar travellers, a stately cairn was erected.



In order to get a good astronomical determination of the position of this important point I remained there until the 20th August at noon. The Lena was ordered to steam out to dredge during this time. Eight minutes north of the bay, where we lay at anchor, heavy and very close ice was met with. There the depth of the sea increased rapidly. Animal life at the sea-bottom was very abundant, among other things in large asterids and ophiurids.

According to the plan of the voyage I now wished to steam from this point right eastwards towards the New Siberian Islands, in order to see if we should fall in with land on the way. On the 20th and 21st we went forward in this direction among scattered drift-ice, which was heavier and less broken up than that which we had met with on the other side of Taimur Land, but without meeting with any serious obstacles. We fell in also with some very large ice-floes, but not with any icebergs. We were besides again attended by so close a mist that we could only see ice-fields and pieces of ice in the immediate neighbourhood of the vessel. Besides species of Lestris and kittiwakes we now also saw looms, birds that are almost wanting in the Kara Sea. Johannesen was of opinion that the presence of these birds showed that the sea is not completely frozen over in winter, because it is not probable that the loom in autumn and spring would fly across the frozen Kara Sea to seek in this distant region their food and their breeding-haunts.

The night before the 22nd we steamed through pretty close ice. The whole day so thick a fog still prevailed that we could not see the extent of the ice-fields in the neighbourhood of the vessel. Towards noon we were, therefore, compelled to take a more southerly course. When we found that we could not advance in this direction, we lay-to at a large ice-floe, waiting for clear weather, until in the afternoon the fog again lightened somewhat, so that we could continue our voyage. But it was not long before the fog again became so thick that, as the sailors say, you could cut it with a knife. There was now evidently a risk that the Vega, while thus continuing to "box the compass" in the ice-labyrinth, in which we had entangled ourselves, would meet with the same fate that befell the Tegetthoff. In order to avoid this, it became necessary to abandon our attempt to sail from Cape Chelyuskin straight to the New Siberian Islands, and to endeavour to reach as soon as possible the open water at the coast.

When it cleared on the morning of the 23rd, we therefore began again to steam forward among the fields of drift-ice, but now not with the intention of advancing in a given direction, but only of getting to open water. The ice-fields we now met with were very much broken up, which was an indication that we could not be very far from the edge of the pack. But notwithstanding this, all our attempts to find penetrable ice in an easterly, westerly, or southerly direction were unsuccessful. We had thus to search in a northerly direction for the opening by which we had sailed in. This was so much the more unpleasant as the wind had changed to a pretty fresh N.W. breeze, on which account, with the Vega's weak steam-power, we could make way only slowly. It was not until 6.30 p.m. that we at last came to the sack-formed opening in the ice through which we had sailed in at noon of the previous day.

One can scarcely, without having experienced it, form any idea of the optical illusions, which are produced by mist, in regions where the size of the objects which are visible through the fog is not known beforehand, and thus does not give the spectator an idea of the distance. Our estimate of distance and size in such cases depend wholly on accident. The obscure contours of the fog-concealed objects themselves, besides, are often by the ignorance of the spectator converted into whimsical fantastic forms. During a boat journey in Hinloopen Strait I once intended to row among drift-ice to an island at a distance of some few kilometres. When the boat started the air was clear, but while we were employed, as best we could, in shooting sea-fowl for dinner, all was wrapt in a thick mist, and that so unexpectedly, that we had not time to take the bearings of the island. This led to a not altogether pleasant row by guess among the pieces of ice that were drifting about in rapid motion in the sound. All exerted themselves as much as possible to get sight of the island, whose beach would afford us a safe resting-place. While thus occupied, a dark border was seen through the mist at the horizon. It was taken for the island which we were bound for, and it was not at first considered remarkable that the dark border rose rapidly, for we thought that the mist was dispersing and in consequence of that more of the land was visible. Soon two white snow-fields, that we had not observed before, were seen on both sides of the land, and immediately after this was changed to a sea-monster, resembling a walrus-head, as large as a mountain. This got life and motion, and finally sank all at once to the head of a common walrus, which lay on a piece of ice in the neighbourhood of the boat; the white tusks formed the snow-fields and the dark-brown round head the mountain. Scarce was this illusion gone when one of the men cried out "Land right a head—high land!" We now all saw before us a high Alpine region, with mountain peaks and glaciers, but this too sank a moment afterwards all at once to a common ice-border, blackened with earth. In the spring of 1873 Palander and I with nine men made a sledge journey round North-east Land. In the course of this journey a great many bears were seen and killed. When a bear was seen while we were dragging our sledges forward, the train commonly stood still, and, not to frighten the bear, all the men concealed themselves behind the sledges, with the exception of the marksman, who, squatting down in some convenient place, waited till his prey should come sufficiently within range to be killed with certainty. It happened once during foggy weather on the ice at Wahlenberg Bay that the bear that was expected and had been clearly seen by all of us, instead of approaching with his usual supple zigzag movements, and with his ordinary attempts to nose himself to a sure insight into the fitness of the foreigners for food, just as the marksman took aim, spread out gigantic wings and flew away in the form of a small ivory gull. Another time during the same sledge journey we heard from the tent in which we rested the cook, who was employed outside, cry out: "A bear! a great bear! No! a reindeer, a very little reindeer!" The same instant a well-directed shot was fired, and the bear-reindeer was found to be a very small fox, which thus paid with its life for the honour of having for some moments played the part of a big animal. From these accounts it may be seen how difficult navigation among drift-ice must be in unknown waters.

On the two occasions on which the vessel was anchored to ice-floes the trawl-net was used, and the hempen tangles. The net was drawn forward slowly with the ice which was drifting to the north-west before a fresh S.E. breeze which was blowing at the time. The yield of the trawling was extraordinarily abundant; large asterids, crinoids, sponges, holothuria, a gigantic sea-spider (Pycnogonid), masses of worms, crustacea, &c. It was the most abundant yield that the trawl-net at any one time brought up during the whole of our voyage round the coast of Asia, and this from the sea off the northern extremity of that continent.



Among the forms collected here we may specially refer to the large sea-spider, of which a drawing is given (p. 349); and three specimens of small stalked crinoids. The depth varied between 60 and 100 metres. The temperature of the water was at the surface +0 deg. to—0.6 deg.; at the bottom—1.4 deg. to 1.6 deg.; its salinity was considerable, both at the bottom, where it was very nearly equal to that of the other great oceans, and at the surface, where it was indeed about a fifth-part less, but yet much greater than that of the surface-water in the Kara Sea.

It is singular that a temperature under the freezing-point of pure water should be advantageous for the development of an animal life so extremely rich as that which is found here, and that this animal life should not suffer any harm from the complete darkness, which during the greater portion of the year prevails at the bottom of the ice-covered sea.

When we got out of the ice we steamed towards the land, which was sighted on the 23rd at 8.45 p.m. The land was low and free from snow; the depth of the sea at a distance of ten kilometres from the coast varied between thirteen and fifteen metres. The coast here stretched from north to south. We followed it at a distance of seven to ten kilometres. A north-westerly breeze here carried the vessel, without the help of steam, rapidly forward over a completely smooth sea.

On the 24th August we still sailed along the land towards the south. The depth of the sea now increased to thirty-three metres at a distance of ten kilometres from land. The land rose gradually, and some distance from the coast beautiful mountain chains were seen, which, judging by the eye, rose to a height of from 600 to 900 metres. They were, like the plains along the coast, quite free from snow. Only in the clefts of the mountains there remained some few collections of snow or ice, which at two places appeared to form true glaciers, which however terminated at a considerable height above the sea. The snow-free slopes between the foot of the mountain and the shore bank, thirty to sixty metres high, formed an even plain, covered by a brownish-green turf, probably of the same nature as that we saw on Taimur Island.

During the forenoon we had splendid clear weather, and often we could see from the vessel no trace of ice. We saw a large number of walruses, and to judge by the fire which this sight kindled in the eyes of our hunters, it will not be long till the Norwegian hunting voyages are extended to the sea north and east of the north point of Asia. We saw besides a large number of looms and black guillemots, the former accompanied by young of the year, as large as rotges. About noon we sighted "land ahead to larboard." It was evidently Preobraschenie Island. I determined to land on it for a few hours to carry on researches in natural history, and to fix the position of the place by astronomical observations, if the weather should permit. The distance of this high-lying island was however greater than we expected. So that it was not until six o'clock in the evening that we could anchor off its south-west side, near the almost perpendicular face of cliffs abounding in sea-fowl.

During the last two days we had been sailing over a region, which on recent maps is marked as land. This shows that a considerable change must be made on the map of North Siberia, and I shall therefore quote here the observations on which the determination of our course is grounded.

Latitude. Longitude Cape Chelyuskin[196]................. 77 deg. 36.8' 103 deg. 17.2' On board the Vega[197] at noon of the 21st Aug. 77 deg. 25' 109 deg. 12' ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, 22nd Aug. 76 deg. 33' 116 deg. 9' ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, 23rd Aug. 76 deg. 48' 115 deg. 0' ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, 24th Aug. 73 deg. 0' 113 deg. 33'

At the last mentioned point we had laud to starboard of us at an estimated distance of 4'. Preobraschenie Island lay S. 21 deg. W. 17.5' off. It is on the ground of these data and of the courses recorded in the log, that the track of the Vega has been laid down on the map, and no doubt can arise that the position of the east coast of Taimur peninsula, as indicated by us, is in the main correct.

Preobraschenie Island forms a pretty even grassy plain, lying from thirty to sixty metres above the sea-level, which in the north-west terminates towards the sea with an almost perpendicular rocky wall, but to the south-east sinks gradually down to two sand-banks which run far out to sea. At the time of our visit the island was free of snow and covered with a carpet of mosses mixed with grass, which was exceedingly abundant, especially on the south-west slopes of the island, protected as they were from the north winds. Here we encountered anew the Arctic animal world in all its profusion. The ledges of the perpendicular shore-cliffs of the island formed the breeding-place of numberless looms and kittiwakes, to which a few black guillemots attached themselves. Along the farthest margin of the beach waders ran busily backwards and forwards in order to collect their food. At the summits of the cliffs a flock of glaucous gulls were breeding, and on the slopes of the low land the white mountain owl was seen lying in wait for its prey, quiet and motionless for hours, but as usual it was wary and shy, so that it was only with difficulty that the hunter could get within range of it. At some places there extended between the foot of the "loomery" and the sea a stone-bestrewn beach, which at high water was mostly covered by the sea, and at low water was full of shallow salt-water pools. Here had settled two Polar bears that were soon killed, one by Lieutenant Brusewitz, the other by Captain Johannesen. The bears had evidently been on the hunt for looms, which along with their young, large as rotges and already able to swim, were swimming in the pools of water at the foot of the "loomery," and above all perhaps they were lying in wait for birds which by some accident happened to fall down from the breeding-place. In the sea no small number of seals were seen, and but a few hours before our arrival at the island we had sailed past herds of walrus.



Vegetation was much more luxuriant and richer in species than at Cape Chelyuskin, and naturally bore a more southern stamp, not only in consequence of the more southerly position of the island, but also on account of its shores being washed by the water of the Chatanga river, which is warm during summer.[198]

Unfortunately, on account of the advanced season of the year I could only allow the Vega to remain a few hours off this interesting island, and at 10.30 p.m. accordingly the anchor was weighed and our voyage along the coast resumed.

On the 25th, 26th and 27th August we had for the most part calm, fine weather, and the sea was completely free of ice. The temperature of the water again rose to +5.8 deg., and its salinity diminished considerably. But the depth now decreased so much, that, for instance, on the night before the 26th we had great difficulty in getting past some shoals lying west of the delta of the Lena, off the mouth of the Olonek.

It had originally been my intention to let the Vega separate from the Lena at some anchorage in one of the mouth-arms of the Lena river. But on account of the shallowness of the water, the favourable wind and the ice-free sea, that now lay before us to the eastward, I determined to part from the Lena in the open sea off Tumat Island. This parting took place on the night between the 27th and 28th August, after Captain Johannesen had been signalled to come on board the Vega, to receive orders, passport,[199] and letters for home. As a parting salute to our trusty little attendant during our voyage round the north point of Asia some rockets were fired, on which we steamed or sailed on, each to his destination.

During our passage from Norway to the Lena we had been much troubled with fog, but it was only when we left the navigable water along the coast to the east of Cape Chelyuskin that we fell in with ice in such quantity that it was an obstacle to our voyage. If the coast had been followed the whole time, if the weather had been clear and the navigable water sufficiently surveyed, so that it had been possible to keep the course of the vessel near the land, the voyage of the Vega to the mouth of the Lena would never have been obstructed by ice, and I am convinced that this will happen year after year during the close of August, at least between the Yenisej and the Lena. For I believe that the place where ice-obstacles will perhaps be met with most frequently will not be the north point of Asia, but the region east of the entrance to the Kara Sea.

[Footnote 189: Namely, according to Dr. Kjellman's determination, the following:

Saxifraga oppositifolia L. Saxifraga rivularis L. Saxifraga caespitosa L. Cardamine bellidifolia L. Cochlearia fenestrata R. BR. Ranunculus hyperboreus ROTTB. Stellaria Edwardsii R. BR. Cerastium alpinum L. Alsine macrocarpa FENZL. Sagina nivalis FR. Salix polaris WG. Glyceria vilfoidea (ANDS.) TH. FR. Catabrosa algida (SOL.) FR. Aira caespitosa L. Juncus biglumis L. ]

[Footnote 190: I can remember only one other instance of finding self-dead vertebrate animals, viz. when in 1873, as has already been stated (p. 110), I found a large number of dead rotges on the ice at the mouth of Hinloopen Strait. ]

[Footnote 191: I use this name because the ash-rain of March 1875 was first observed at Haga palace near Stockholm, and thus at the outer limit of the known area of distribution of the dust. It was first through the request which in consequence of this observation was published in the newspapers, that communications regarding singular observations in other quarters should be sent to the Swedish Academy of Sciences, that it became known that a similar rain had about the same time taken place over a very large part of middle Sweden and Norway. The dust however did not fall evenly, but distributed in spots, and at several different times. The distance from Stockholm of the volcanoes, where the outbreak took place, is nearly 2000 kilometres. ]

[Footnote 192: Namely, by showing that the principal material of the plutonic and volcanic rocks is of cosmic origin, and that the phenomena of heat, which occur in these layers, depend on chemical changes to which the cosmic sediment, after being covered by thick terrestrial formations, is subjected. ]

[Footnote 193: Dr. Kjellman has given the following list of the flowering plants collected by him in this region:—

Cineraria frigida RICHARDS. Potentilla emarginata PURSH. Saxifraga stellaris L. f. comosa. Saxifraga nivalis L. Saxifraga cernua L. Saxifraga rivularis L. Chrysosplenium alternifolium L. Cardamine bellidifolia L. Draba corymbosa R. BR. Papaver nudicaule L. Ranunculus pygmaeus WG. Ranunculus hyperboreus ROTTB. Ranunculus sulphureus SOL. Stellaria Edwardsii R. BR. Cerastium alpinum L. Alsine macrocarpa FENZL. Salix polaris WG. Poa arctica R. BR. Arctophila peudulina (LAEST.) ANDS. Catabrosa algida (Sol.) FR. Colpodium latifolium R. BR. Dupontia Fisheri R. BR. Pleuropogon Sabini R. BR. Aira caespitosa L. Hierochloa pauciflora R. BR. Calamagrostis lapponica (WG.) HN. Alopecurus alpinus SM. Eriophorum angustifolium ROTH. Eriophorum Scheuchzeri HOPPE. Carex aquatilis WG. Carex rigida GOOD. Juncus biglumis L. Luzula hyperborea R. BR. Luzula arctica BL. ]

[Footnote 194: H. Mohn. Die Insel Einsamkeit, &c., with a map (Petermann's Mittheilungen, 1879, p. 57). ]

[Footnote 195: This has been doubted by Russian geographers. Von Baer for instance says:—

"Daruber ist gar kein Zweifel, dass dieses Vorgebirge nie umsegelt ist, und dass es auf einem Irrthum beruhte, wenn Laptew auf einer Seefahrt die Bucht, in welche der Taimur sich muendet, erreicht zu haben glaubte. Seine eigenen spaeteren Fahrten erwiesen diesen Irrthum. Die Vergleichung der Berichte und Verhaeltnisse laesst mich aber auch glauben, dass selbst zu Lande man das Ende dieses Vorgebirges nie erreicht habe; sondern Tscheljuskin, um dieser, man kann wohl sagen, graesslichen Versuche endlich ueberhoben zu seyr, sich zu der ungegruendeten Behauptung entschloss, er habe das Ende gesehen, und sich ueberzeugt, Sibirien sei nach Norden ueberall vom Meere umgraenzt," [statement by von Baer in Neueste Nachrichten ueber die noerdlichste Gegend von Siberien; von Baer and von Helmersen, Beitraege zur Kenntniss des Russischen Reiches. IV. St. Petersburg, 1841, p. 275]. In the following page in the same paper von Baer indeed says that he will not lay any special weight on Strahlenberg's statement that Siberia and Novaya Zemlya hang together, but he appears to believe that they are connected by a bridge of perpetual ice. ]

[Footnote 196: According to an observation with an artificial horizon on land. ]

[Footnote 197: According to an observation on board. The observations for longitude that were made some hours before or after noon, are reduced to noon. ]

[Footnote 198: The following 65 species were collected here by Dr. Kjellman.—Saussurea alpina DC. Gymnandra Stelleri CHAM. &c. SCHLECHT. Pedicularis hirsuta L. Eritrichium villosum BUNGE. Myosotis silvatica HOFFM. Phaca frigida L. Dryas octopetala L. Sieversia glacialis R. BR. Potentilla emarginata PURSH. Saxifraga oppositifolia L. Saxifraga bronchialis L. Saxifraga flagellaris WILLD. Saxifraga Hirculus L. Saxifraga serpyllifolia PURSH. Saxifraga stellaris L.f. comosa. Saxifraga nivalis L. Saxifraga hieraciifolia WALDST. &c. KIT. Saxifraga punctata L. Saxifraga cernua L. Saxifraga rivularis L. Saxifraga caespitosa L. Chrysosplenium alternifolium L. Eutrema Edwardsii R. BR. Parrya macrocarpa R. BR. Cardamine bellidifolia L. Cochlearia fenestrata R. BR. Draba alpina L. Papaver nudicaule L. Ranunculus pygmaeus WG. Ranunculus hyperboreus ROTTB. Ranunculus nivalis L. Ranunculus sulphurous SOL. Caltha palustris L. Wahlbergella apetala (L.) FR. Stellaria humifusa ROTTB. Stellaria Edwardsii R. BR. Cerastium alpinum L. Alsine macrocarpa FENZL. Alsine rubella WG. Sagina nivalis FR. Oxyria digyna (L.) HILL. Polygonum viviparum L. Salix arctica PALL. Salix reticulata L. Salix polaris WG. Poa arctica R. BR. Poa pratensis L. Glyceria angustata R. BR. Glyceria vilfoidea (ANDS.) TH. FR. Arctophila pendulina (LAEST.) AND. Catabrosa algida (SOL.) FR. Colpodium latifolium R. BR. Dupontia Fisheri R. BR. Aira caespitosa L. Hierochloa pauciflora R. BR. Alopecurus alpinus SM. Eriophorum angustifolium ROTH. Eriophorum russeolum FR. Eriophorum Scheuchzeri HOPPE. Carex ursina DESV. Carex aquatilis WG. Juncus biglumis L. Luzula hyperborea R. BR. Luzula arctica BL. Lloydia serotina (L.) REICHENB. ]

[Footnote 199: Before our departure, I had through the Swedish Foreign Office obtained from the Russian Government letters patent in which the Russian authorities with whom we might come in contact were instructed to give us all the assistance that circumstances might call for. ]



CHAPTER VIII.

The voyage of the Fraser and the Express up the Yenisej and their return to Norway—Contract for the piloting of the Lena up the Lena river—The voyage of the Lena through the delta and up the river to Yakutsk—The natural state of Siberia in general—The river territories—The fitness of the land for cultivation and the necessity for improved communications—The great rivers, the future commercial highways of Siberia—Voyage up the Yenisej in 1875—Sibiriakoff's Island—The tundra—The primeval Siberian forest—The inhabitants of Western Siberia: the Russians, the Exiles, the "Asiatics"—Ways of travelling on the Yenisej: dog-boats, floating trading stores propelled by steam—New prospects for Siberia.

I have mentioned in the Introduction that the Vega during the first part of the voyage was accompanied by three other vessels, which together with the principal vessel of the Expedition stood at my disposal and under my orders, and I have stated in passing that their voyages too deserve a place in the history of navigation. Now, when we were parted from the vessel which had accompanied the Vega farthest in her route eastwards, it may be the proper place to give a brief account of the close of the voyages of the Fraser, the Express, and the Lena and give reasons for what I have said of the importance of these voyages.



On the 9th August at 10 a.m., after Mr. Serebrenikoff had gone on board the Express to take command, as Sibiriakoff's commissioner, of the two vessels bound for the Yenisej, the Fraser, with the Express in tow, started from Port Dickson for the river. The voyage passed without other adventures than that in consequence of unacquaintance with the navigable waters the vessel sometimes gently grounded. On the 11th August Korepovskoj was reached, the same place where I laid up in 1876 the goods which I had brought with me in the Ymer. Here my old friend from my voyages of 1875 and 1876, the Cossack Feodor, was taken on board. He however proved now as unskilful a pilot as before. Notwithstanding his experience in 1876, when, he several times ran the Ymer aground, he had not yet got a clear idea of the difference between the build of an ocean vessel and of the common flat-bottomed Yenisej lighters, and his conception of the responsibility of a pilot was expressed by his seeking, when he was allowed to take his own course, to forget in the arms of sleep all dangers and difficulties. Mr. Serebrenikoff and the captains of the vessels were therefore themselves compelled by means of frequent soundings, which were commonly made from a steam launch in advance, to endeavour to find out the proper course. The navigable water between the level islands covered with bushy thickets and rich grassy meadows was often very narrow, but appears to have been pretty deep, as, even when the vessels went forward without the guidance of a skilful pilot, there was a depth of from 5 to 30 metres; and after a fisher, who knew the river better than Feodor, had been taken on board, it was found possible to go at full speed between the more southerly of the Briochov Islands[200] in a depth of 30 to 50 metres. On 14th August the vessels reached Tolstojnos, where a very well preserved simovie is situated about 70 deg. 10' N.L., 370 kilometres south of Port Dickson. On the 15th August they anchored in a good haven at Saostrovskoj, a simovie lying 100 kilometres farther up the river at the limit of trees, where the goods were to be discharged and another cargo taken on board. After a jetty had been constructed on the 16th, the landing of the goods began on the 17th, and was finished on the 20th. The Fraser went still farther up the river to Dudino, in order to load various goods laid up there—tallow, wheat, rye, and oats. On the 2nd September the steamer returned to Saostrovskoj, where in the meantime the Express had taken on board her cargo.

Dudino is a church village, situated at the point where the river Dudinka flows into the Yenisej. Here live two priests, a smotritel (a police official), a couple of exiles, some Russian workmen, and a number of natives, as well as the owner of the place, the influential merchant SOTNIKOFF. This active and able man is in an economical point of view ruler over the whole of the surrounding region, all whose inhabitants are in one way or other dependent upon him. He exchanges grain, brandy, sugar, tea, iron goods, powder and lead, cloth and leather, for furs, fish, mammoth-ivory, &c.; and these goods are sent by steamer to Yenisejsk to be forwarded from thence to China, Moscow, St. Petersburg, &c. Among other things he is also the owner of very thick coal-seams in the Noril Mountains lying about 60 kilometres from Dudino. This simple and unostentatious man has been very obliging to all the scientific men who have visited the region. His dwelling, situated in the neighbourhood of the limit of trees, is probably the stateliest palace of the Siberian tundra, admired by natives from far and near. It is built of large logs, consists of two stories, has a roof painted green, many windows with decorated frames painted white and blue; the rooms are warm, provided with carpets of furs, pot-flowers in the windows, numerous sacred pictures, photographs, and copper engravings.

On the 7th September all was ready for departure. The Fraser and Express weighed anchor to commence the return voyage down the river. At Tolstojnos two days after they met the steamer Moskwa[201] of Bremen, Captain Dallmann, having on board the crew of the Norwegian steamer Zaritza, Captain Brun, which had stranded at the mouth of the Yenisej and been abandoned by the crew. In the case of this stranding, however, the damage done had not been greater than that, when the Fraser fell in with the stranded Zaritza, it could be pumped dry, taken off the shoal, and, the engine having first been put in order, carried back to Norway. On the 19th September all the three vessels arrived at Matotschkin Sound, where they lay some days in Beluga Bay in order to take in water and trim the cargo and coal; after which on the 22nd of the same month they sailed through the sound to the west, and on the 26th anchored at Hammerfest in good condition and with full cargoes.[202] The goods, which now for the first time were carried from the Yenisej to Europe, consisted of about 600 tons—tallow, wheat, rye and oats. The goods imported into Siberia consisted mainly of 16 tons nails, 8 tons horseshoes, 4 tons horsenails, 16-1/2 tons bar iron, 33 tons tobacco, 60 tons salt, 24 casks petroleum, an iron lighter in pieces with the necessary adjuncts of anchors, &c.[203]

Before I begin to give an account of the voyage of the Lena I must briefly mention the steps which Mr. Sibiriakoff took for her safety during her voyage from the mouth of the river, where she was to part from the Vega, to her proper destination, the town of Yakutsk. It is naturally very difficult for a vessel to seek her way without a pilot through an extensive delta completely unknown in a hydrographic respect, and crossed by a large number of deeper or shallower river arms. Mr. Sibiriakoff had therefore arranged that a river pilot should meet the Lena at the north point of the delta, and had through Mr. Kolesoff negotiated with him the following contract, which I reproduce here in full, because it gives in several respects a very graphic picture of various social relations in these remote regions. The copy of the contract which has been communicated to me when translated runs thus:—

At Yakutsk, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight on the 18th February, I, the undersigned Yakut AFONASII FEODOROFF WINOKUROFF, have concluded the following contract with IVAN PLATONOWITSCH KOLESOFF, merchant of the second guild in the town of Yakutsk.

1. I, Winokuroff bind myself as pilot to carry the vessel of Professor Nordenskioeld's expedition up the river Lena from the village Tas-Ary, which lies about 150 versts below the village Bulun. From Tumat Island, which is situated in the northeastern part of the Lena delta, I bind myself for the piloting of the same vessel to procure at my own cost among the inhabitants of the place a pilot who knows well the deepest channel of the Lena river as far as the village Tas-Ary. This pilot the chief of the expedition shall discharge at the village Tas-Ary.

2. As I am not master of the Russian language I bind myself to bring along with me a Yakut interpreter, who knows the Russian language and is able to write. In May of this year, I, Winokuroff, with the interpreter shall travel from the town of Yakutsk down the Lena river to Tumat Island and there along with the interpreter wait for the expedition.

3. During the passage down the river I am bound to hire among the inhabitants of the regions a competent guide, who shall accompany us in my own boats to the island by the deepest channel in the Lena delta. During the passage from the village Tas-Ary I shall take soundings and record the depth of the fairway.

4. Between the village Bulun and Tumat Island, I bind myself to seek for two places for the wintering of the vessel, which are quite suitable for the purpose, and protected from ice. I shall further lay before the commander of the expedition a journal containing everything which I can find that it would be advantageous to know for the safety of navigation and for the wintering of the vessels, also accounts of the places which are dangerous or unsuitable for navigation.

5. On my arrival at Tumat Island I shall make it my first duty to find a deep and convenient haven for the seagoing vessels on the western side of the island. For this purpose I bind myself to have with me two boats, which, if necessary, shall be given over to the expedition. At the haven when found I bind myself to erect on some eminence near the shore of the island, which can be seen from Cape Olonek, a signal tower of driftwood or earth, like a Cossack mound, not lower than seven feet. On this foundation I shall raise a pyramidal frame of three or more thick logs, on the top of which I shall fix a flagstaff with a pulley block for the flag. The flag is to be flown at least 42 feet from the ground. I shall guard the landmark thus erected until the river freezes. For this purpose Herr Kolesoff has provided me with a ready-made flag, a pulley block and a line. And when the nights become dark I shall light two or three large fires or hang up lanterns on the landmark itself, so that these fires or lanterns may be seen from the sea.

6. From the village Tas-Ary I shall carry the vessel of the expedition to the town of Yakutsk, inasmuch as I shall show the proper fairway on the Lena river. The interpreter shall be at my side during the whole journey.

7. During the whole time from the day when I start from Yakutsk, up to the close of my time of service in Nordenskioeld's expedition we, I, Winokuroff, and my interpreter, must be always sober (never intoxicated), behave faithfully and courteously, and punctually comply with the captain's orders.

8. For all these obligations Herr Kolesoff has to pay me 900 roubles.

9. After the arrival of the expedition at Yakutsk I will not be allowed to leave the ship without the permission of the chief, but shall still remain on board. If the captain finds it necessary that I accompany him back to the mouth of the Lena, I shall conform to his wish in consideration of an extra fee of 300 roubles. During this latter passage I am not bound to have with me any interpreter.

10. If the arrival of the expedition at Tumat Island is delayed by any circumstance to the month of November, I have the right to betake myself along with my interpreter to Yakutsk and here to produce to Herr Kolesoff an official certificate given by Commandant Baschleff or any other local official that I had erected a landmark on Tumat Island and remained there until the river was frozen over, and that I did not leave until the expedition was no longer to be expected. Then Herr Kolesoff on the ground of this contract must settle with me by paying me the whole sum of 900 roubles, together with 200 roubles for my return journey.

11. If the vessel of the expedition arrive at Tumat Island so late that the voyage becomes impossible, we, I and my interpreter, shall winter with the expedition until the river becomes open in 1879. And in this case we, I and my interpreter, shall live at our own expense, and serve the expedition as belonging to its crew. After the commencement of navigation in 1879 I shall conduct the vessel from the wintering station to the town of Yakutsk. On this account I have to receive, besides the 900 roubles coming to me, 800 roubles more. If during this voyage too it should be necessary to accompany the vessels from Yakutsk back to the mouth of the Lena, I shall do that, and receive on that account 300 roubles. But if the vessels winter at Yakutsk, I shall be free during winter, and only during next year's voyage, if so required, accompany them to the mouth of the Lena. In that case I have to receive 300 roubles.

12. Of this sum agreed upon Herr Kolesoff shall pay me in advance on the conclusion of this contract 300 roubles, in the month of May at my departure 150 roubles, and at the village Bulun 250 roubles, for my payment to my companions and pilot and other expenses. The balance shall be paid to me after my return to Yakutsk.

13. In the month of May, at the time for starting, if I be prevented by illness from betaking myself to Tumat Island, I shall repay to Herr Kolesoff the sum paid to me at the conclusion of this contract, with the exception of the money I have paid to the interpreter as pocket-money and for the boats. Should I not be able to repay the sum, I, Winokuroff, shall work out the amount not repaid at Herr Sibiriakoff's gold mines.

14. All this are we, the two contracting parties, bound to observe in full and without infringement.

A note to the copy further informs us that to this contract the Yakut Afonasii Feodoroff Winokuroff had, in place of his signature, attached his own seal, which the Yakut Alexii Zassimoff Mironoff had engraved, and that the conditions had been approved by the merchant Ivan Kolesoff, and the whole registered at the police-office of the Yakutsk circle.

The contract had been entered into with the friendly co-operation of the Governor and Bishop of Yakutsk, who were much interested in the proposed voyage. The latter knew the coast of the Polar Sea from his own experience. But notwithstanding all this, the affair was attended with no better success than that the pilot celebrated the receipt of the large sum of money by getting thoroughly intoxicated, and while in that state he broke one of the bones of the fore-arm. He was thus unable ever to reach the appointed rendezvous, and Johannesen was allowed to manage by his own hand, as best he could, his little steamer.



After the Lena had parted with the Vega during the night between the 27th and 28th August, she steamed towards land, and came the same day to the northernmost cape of the Lena delta, situated in 73 deg. 47' N.L.[204] It was here that the pilot's landmark was to have been erected, but there was no pilot here, and no flagstaff was visible. In order to fall in with this landmark Johannesen sailed forty kilometres westward along the shore, but as his search in this direction was not attended with success, he turned back to the first-mentioned place and landed there. On the shore stood a very old hut, already completely filled with earth. It probably dated from some of the expeditions which visited the region in the beginning of the century. Wild reindeer were seen in large numbers. As according to the contract which has been quoted the landmark was to be visible from Cape Olonek, Johannesen steamed once more to the west, running as close to the land as possible. But as the water here became shallower and shallower without any signal-tower being visible, Johannesen had to find his way himself through the delta; and for this purpose he determined to search for the easternmost arm of the river, which, on the maps, is drawn as being very broad, and also appears to have been made use of by the vessels of "the great northern expeditions."[205]



Forty kilometres east of the northern extremity of the Lena delta Johannesen encountered three sandbanks, which he sailed round. After passing these the water became deeper, so that he could advance at a distance of five kilometres from land. On the 1st September Johannesen anchored in a bay on the mainland in the neighbourhood of the Bychov mouth, whence on the 3rd September, at 2.30 a.m., he continued his course up the river, but by 10 o'clock the Lena was aground. The water was falling, and did not begin to rise until an hour after midnight. It was not, therefore, until 8 a.m. the following day that the Lena was got off, and that with great difficulty. The sailing through the delta was rendered difficult by the maps, which were made 140 years ago, being now useless. For the delta has undergone great alterations since then. Where at that time there were sandbanks, there are now large islands, overgrown with wood and grass. At other places again whole islands have been washed away by the river.

While the vessel was aground nine Tunguses came on board. They rowed in small boats, which were made of a single tree stem, hollowed out, and could just carry a man each. Johannesen endeavoured in vain to induce some of the Tunguses to pilot the steamer; he did not succeed in explaining his wish to them, notwithstanding all the attempts of the Russian interpreter, a proof of the slight contact these Tunguses had had with the rulers of Siberia, and also of the difficulty and unwillingness with which the savage learns the language of the civilised nations.

It was not until the 7th September that the delta was finally passed, and the Lena steamed in the river proper, where the fairway became considerably better. Johannesen says in his account of the voyage that it is improbable that any of the western arms of the Lena are of importance, partly because the mass of water which flows in an easterly direction is very considerable in comparison with the whole quantity of water in the river, partly because the western and northern arms which Johannesen visited contained only salt water, while the water in the eastern arm was completely free from any salt taste. On the 8th, early in the morning, the first fixed dwelling-place on the Lena, Tas-Ary, was reached. Here the voyagers landed to get information about the fairway, but could not enter into communication with the natives, because they were Tunguses. In the afternoon of the same day they came to another river village, Bulun. Impatient to proceed, and supposing that it too was inhabited wholly by "Asiatics,"[206] Johannesen intended to pass it without stopping. But when the inhabitants saw the steamer they welcomed it with a salute from all the guns that could be got hold of in haste.[207] The Lena then anchored. Two Crown officials and a priest came on board, and the latter performed a thanksgiving service.

Even at that remote spot on the border of the tundra the Asiatic comprehended very well the importance of vessels from the great oceans being able to reach the large rivers of Siberia. I too had a proof of this in the year 1875. While still rowing up the river in my own Nordland boat with two scientific men and three hunters, before we got up with the steamer Alexander we landed, among others, at a place where a number of Dolgans were collected. When they understood clearly that we had come to them, not as brandy-sellers or fish-buyers from the south, but from the north, from the ocean, they went into complete ecstasies. We were exposed to unpleasant embraces from our skin-clad admirers, and finally one of us had the misfortune to get a bath in the river in the course of an attempt which the Dolgans in their excitement made to carry him almost with violence to the boat, which was lying in the shallow water some distance from the shore. At Dudino, also, the priests living there held a thanksgiving service for our happy arrival thither. Two of them said mass, while the clerk, clad in a sheepskin caftan reaching to his feet, zealously and devoutly swung an immense censer. The odour from it was at first not particularly pleasant, but it soon became so strong and disagreeable that I, who had my place in front of the audience, was like to choke, though the ceremony was performed in the open air. Soon the clerk was completely concealed in a dense cloud of smoke, and it was now observed that his skin cloak had been set fire to at the same time as the incense. The service, however, was not interrupted by this incident, but the fire was merely extinguished by a bucket of water being thrown, to the amusement of all, over the clerk.

At nine in the morning the Lena continued her voyage up the river with the priest and the Crown officials on board, but they had soon to be landed, because in their joy they had become dead drunk. On the 13th September Schigansk was reached, and samples of the coal found there were taken on board, but these proved unserviceable,[208] and on the 21st September the Lena reached Yakutsk. The first vessel which, coming from the ocean, reached the heart of Siberia was received with great goodwill and hospitality, both by the authorities and the common people. But when Johannesen did not find here Sibiriakoff's representative, Kolesoff, he continued his voyage up the river, until, on the 8th October, he came to the village Njaskaja, 220 versts from Vitim, in about 60 deg. N.L. Here he turned back to Yakutsk and laid up the steamer in winter quarters a little to the south of that town.



Both the Fraser and Express and the Lena had thus fully answered the purposes intended before the departure of the expedition, and their voyages will always form an important link in the chain of the attempts through which navigation in the Siberian Polar Sea has been opened.

In order to give an idea of the influence which this sea-route may have on the commerce of the world, and the new source of fortune and prosperity which thereby maybe rendered accessible to millions, I shall in a few words give an account of the nature of the territory which by means of this sea-communication will be brought into contact with the old civilised countries of Europe.



If we take Siberia in its widest sense, that is to say, if we include under that name not only Siberia proper, but also the parts of High Asia which lie round the sources of the great Siberian rivers, this land may very well be compared in extent, climate, fertility, and the possibility of supporting a dense population, with America north of 40 deg. N.L. Like America, Siberia is occupied in the north by woodless plains. South of this region, where only the hunter, the fisher, and the reindeer nomad can find a scanty livelihood, there lies a widely extended forest territory, difficult of cultivation, and in its natural conditions, perhaps, somewhat resembling Sweden and Finland north of 60 deg. or 61 deg. N.L. South of this wooded belt, again, we have, both in Siberia and America, immeasurable stretches of an exceedingly fertile soil, of whose power to repay the toil of the cultivator the grain exports during recent years from the frontier lands between the United States and Canada have afforded so striking evidence. There is, however, this dissimilarity between Siberia and America, that while the products of the soil in America may be carried easily and cheaply to the harbours of the Atlantic and the Pacific, the best part of Siberia, that which lies round the upper part of the courses of the Irtisch-Ob and the Yenisej, is shut out from the great oceans of the world by immense tracts lying in front of it, and the great rivers which in Siberia cross the country and appear to be intended by nature to form not only the arteries for its inner life, but also channels of communication with the rest of the world, all flow towards the north and fall into a sea which, down to the most recent times, has been considered completely inaccessible.



Of these rivers the double river, Ob-Irtisch, with its numerous affluents, occupies an area of more than 60,000 geographical square miles, the Yenisej-Angara, not quite 50,000, and the Lena, somewhat over 40,000.[209] As the map of the river system of Siberia, which accompanies this work, shows, but a small part of these enormous territories lies north of the Arctic Circle, and only very inconsiderable portions of it are occupied by woodless tundra, which is explained by the fact that the greater part of the coast-land bordering on the Arctic Ocean is drained by small rivers of its own, and therefore cannot be considered to belong to the river territories now in question. If we draw the northern boundary of the land that may be cultivated with advantage at 60 deg. N.L., there remains a cultivable area of 90,000 geographical square miles. Perhaps a third part of this is occupied by rocky country which is wooded, and probably capable of being cultivated only with considerable difficulty, but the rest consists for the most part of easily cultivated grassy plains, with little wood, and covered with the most luxuriant vegetation. The soil, in many places resembling the black earth or tscherno-sem of Russia, recompenses with abundant harvests even the slightest labour of cultivation. Notwithstanding this, these regions now support only an exceedingly sparse population, but many, many millions may without difficulty find their subsistence there when once cultivation has developed the rich natural resources of the country.

It is a circumstance specially fortunate for the future development of Siberia that its three great rivers are already navigable for the greater part of their course. The Ob is navigable from Biisk (52-1/2 deg. N.L.), and the Irtisch at least from Semipalitinsk (50 deg. 18' N.L.). The Yenesej, again, which, after leaving the region of its sources in China, crosses with its two main arms the whole of Siberia from north to south, from the forty-sixth to the seventy-third degree of latitude, and thus traverses a territory which corresponds in length to the distance between Venice and the North Cape, or between the mouth of the Mississippi and the north part of Lake Winnipeg, and is already navigable by nature from the sea to Yenisejsk. To this town goods are already transported down both the main arms from Minusinsk and the region of Lake Baikal. It is said that the Angara might be made quite navigable during its whole course at an expenditure trifling in comparison with the advantages that would thus be gained, as well as its continuation, the Selenga, in its lower part between the Chinese frontier and Lake Baikal. In this way a river route would be opened for the conveyance of the products of North China and South Siberia to a sea which an ordinary steamer would cross in five or six days to the White Sea or the North Cape. A similar communication with the Atlantic may be opened on the double river Ob-Irtisch with Western Siberia and High Asia as far as to Chinese Dsungaria, where the Irtisch begins its course as a small river, the Black Irtisch, which falls into Lake Saisan, and rises south of the Altai Mountains in the neighbourhood of the Selenga, the source-river of the Yenisej. At several places the river territories of the Ob and the Yenesej nearly reach hands to one another through affluents, which rise so close to each other that the two river systems might easily be connected by canals. This is also the case with the affluents of the Yenesej and the Lena, which at many places almost meet, and the Lena itself is, according to Latkin's statement, navigable from the village of Kotschuga to the sea. We see from this how extraordinarily advantageous is the natural system of interior communication which Siberia possesses, and at the same time that a communication by sea between this country and the rest of the world is possible only by the Arctic Ocean. It is on this that the enormous importance of the navigation of the Siberian Polar Sea depends. If this can be brought about, Siberia, with an inconsiderable expenditure in making canals, will not only become one of the most fortunate countries of the globe in respect of the possibility of the cheap transport of goods, but the old proposal of a north-eastern commercial route to China may even become a reality. If, on the other hand, navigation on the Polar Sea be not brought about, Siberia will still long remain what it is at present—a land rich in raw materials, but poor in all that is required for the convenience and comfort with which the civilised man in our days can with difficulty dispense.

Many perhaps believe that the present want of commercial communication may be removed by a railway running across Russia and Southern Siberia. But this is by no means the case. On the contrary, communication by sea is an indispensable condition of such a railway being profitable. For it can never come in question to carry on a railway the products of the forest or the field over the stretch of three to five thousand kilometres which separates the fertile river territory of the Ob-Irtisch from the nearest European port. Even if we suppose that the railway freight, inclusive of all costs, could be reduced to a farthing the kilometre-ton, it would in any case rise, from the grain regions of Siberia to a harbour on the Baltic, to from 4l. to nearly 7l. per ton. So high a freight, with the costs of loading in addition, none of the common products of agriculture or forestry can stand, as may easily be seen if we compare this amount with the prices current in the markets of the world for wheat, rye, oats, barley, timber, &c. But if the Siberian countryman cannot sell his raw products, the land will continue to be as thinly peopled as it is at present, nor can the sparse population which will be found there procure themselves means to purchase such products of the industry of the present day as are able to bear long railway carriage. In the absence of contemporaneous sea-communication the railway will therefore be without traffic, the land such as it is at present, and the unprosperous condition of the European population undiminished.

In order to give the reader an idea of the present natural conditions, and the present communication on a Siberian river, I shall, before returning to the sketch of the voyage of the Vega, give some extracts from notes made during my journey up the Yenesej in 1875, reminding the reader, however, that the natural conditions of the Ob-Irtisch and the Lena differ considerably from those of the Yenisej, the Ob-Irtisch flowing through lower, more fertile, and more thickly peopled regions, the Lena again through a wilder, more beautiful, but less cultivated country.

When one travels up the river from Port Dickson, the broad sound between Sibiriakoff's Island and the mainland is first passed, but the island is so low that it is not visible from the eastern bank of the river and which is usually followed in sailing up or down the river. The mainland, on the other hand, is at first high-lying, and in sailing along the coast it is possible to distinguish various spurs of the range of hills, estimated to be from 150 to 200 metres high, in the interior. These are free of snow in summer. A little south of Port Dickson they run to the river bank, where they form a low rock and rocky island projecting into the river, named after some otherwise unknown Siberian Polar trapper, Yefremov Kamen.

Sibiriakoff's Island has never, so far as we know, been visited by man, not even during the time when numerous simovies were found at the mouth of the Yenesej. For no indication of this island is found in the older maps of Siberia, although these, as appears from the fac-simile reproduced at page 192, give the names of a number of simovies at the mouth of the Yenisej, now abandoned. Nor is it mentioned in the accounts of the voyages of the great northern expeditions. The western strand of the island, the only one I have seen, completely bore the stamp of the tundra described below. Several reindeer were seen pasturing on the low grassy eminences of the island, giving promise of abundant sport to the hunter who first lands there.

Still at Yefremov Kamen we saw in 1875 three Polar bears who appeared to pasture in all peacefulness among the rocks, and did not allow themselves to be disturbed by the enormous log-fire of driftwood we lighted on the strand to make our coffee. Here were found for the last time during our journey up the river actual marine animals: Appendicularia, Olio, medusae, large beroids, &c. Large bushy plants were still completely wanting, but the vegetable world already began to assume a stamp differing from the Arctic Ocean flora proper. A short distance south of Yefremov Kamen begins the veritable tundra, a woodless plain, interrupted by no mountain heights, with small lakes scattered over it, and narrow valleys crossing it, which often make an excursion on the apparently level plain exceedingly tiresome.



As is the case with all the other Siberian rivers running from south to north,[210] the western strand of the Yenisej, wherever it is formed of loose, earthy layers, is also quite low and often marshy, while on the other hand the eastern strand consists of a steep bank, ten to twenty metres high, which north of the limit of trees is distributed in a very remarkable way into pyramidal pointed mounds. Numerous shells of crustacea found here, belonging to species which still live in the Polar Sea, show that at least the upper earthy layer of the tundra was deposited in a sea resembling that which now washes the north coast of Siberia.[211]

The tundra itself is in summer completely free of snow, but at a limited depth from the surface the ground is continually frozen. At some places the earthy strata alternate with strata of pure, clear ice. It is in these frozen strata that complete carcases of elephants and rhinoceroses have been found, which have been protected from putrefaction for hundreds of thousands of years. Such finds, however, are uncommon, but on the other hand single bones from this primeval animal world occur in rich, abundance, and along with them masses of old driftwood, originating from the Mammoth period, known by the Russian natives of Siberia under the distinctive name of "Noah's wood." Besides there are to be seen in the most recent layer of the Yenesej tundra, considerably north of the present limit of actual trees, large tree-stems with their roots fast in the soil, which show that the limit of trees in the Yenesej region, even during our geological period, went further north than now, perhaps as far as, in consequence of favourable local circumstances, it now goes on the Lena.



On the slopes of the steep tundra bank and in several of the tundra valleys there is an exceedingly rich vegetation, which already, only 100 kilometres south of Yefremov Kamen, forms actual thickets of flowering plants, while the tundra itself is overgrown with an exceedingly scanty carpet, consisting more of mosses than of grasses. Salices of little height go as far north as Port Dickson (73 deg. 30' N.L.), the dwarf birch (Betula nana, L.) is met with, though only as a bush creeping along the ground, at Cape Schaitanskoj (72 deg. 8' N.L.); and here in 1875, on the ice-mixed soil of the tundra, we gathered ripe cloudberries. Very luxuriant alders (Alnaster fruticosus, LEDEB.) occur already at Mesenkin (71 deg. 28' N.L.), and the Briochov Islands (70 deg. to 71 deg. N.L.), are in several places covered with rich and luxuriant thickets of bushes. But the limit of trees proper is considered to begin first at the great bend which the river makes in 69 deg. 40' N.L., a little north of Dudino. Here the hills are covered with a sort of wood consisting of half-withered, grey, moss-grown larches (Larix sibirica), which seldom reach a height of more than seven to ten metres, and which much less deserve the name of trees than the luxuriant alder bushes which grow nearly 2 deg. farther north. But some few miles south of this place, and still far north of the Arctic Circle, the pine forest becomes tall. Here begins a veritable forest, the greatest the earth has to show, extending with little interruption from the Ural to the neighbourhood of the Sea of Ochotsk, and from the fifty-eighth or fifty-ninth degree of latitude to far north of the Arctic Circle, that is to say, about one thousand kilometres from north to south, and perhaps four times as much from east to west. It is a primeval forest of enormous extent, nearly untouched by the axe of the cultivator, but at many places devastated by extensive forest fires.

On the high eastern bank of the Yenisej the forest begins immediately at the river bank. It consists principally of pines: the cembra pine (Pinus Cembra, L.), valued for its seeds, enormous larches, the nearly awl-formed Siberian pine (Pinus sibirica, LEDEB.), the fir (Pinus obovata, TURCZ.), and scattered trees of the common pine (Pinus sylvestris, L.). Most of these already north of the Arctic Circle reach a colossal size, but in such a case are often here, far from all forestry, grey and half-dried up with age. Between the trees the ground is so covered with fallen branches and stems, only some of which are fresh, the others converted into a mass of wood-mould held together only by the bark, that there one willingly avoids going forward on an unbroken path. If that must be done, the progress made is small, and there is constant danger of breaking one's bones in the labyrinth of stems. Nearly everywhere the fallen stems are covered, often concealed, by an exceedingly luxuriant bed of mosses, while on the other hand tree-lichens, probably in consequence of the dry inland climate of Siberia, occur sparingly. The pines, therefore, want the shaggy covering common in Sweden, and the bark of the birches which are seen here and there among the pines is distinguished by an uncommon blinding whiteness.

The western bank of the Yenesej consists, like the innumerable islands of the river, for the most part of lowlying and marshy stretches of land, which at the season of the spring floods are overflowed by the river and abundantly manured with its mud. In this way there is formed here a fertile tract of meadow covered partly with a grassy turf untouched by the scythe, partly with a very peculiar bush vegetation, rising to a height of eight metres, among which there are to be found a number of families of plants well known by us in Sweden, as Impatiens, Urtica, Sonchus, Heracleum, &c., but in gigantic forms unknown at home. Often a dense thicket of a willow (Salix vitellenia, L.), whose straight, branchless stems resemble at a distance the bamboo woods of the south, alternates with level, grassy carpets of a lively green and small streams in such a way as gives the whole the appearance of the most smiling park carefully kept free of fallen branches and dry grass. It is the river water which in spring has played the gardener's part in these parks, seldom trodden by the foot of man and endlessly rich in the most splendid greenery. Near the river there are also to be found carpets of a uniform green, consisting of a short kind of Equisetum, unmixed with any other plants, which forms a "gazon," to which no nobleman's country seat can show a match. The drawback is, that a stay in these regions during summer is nearly rendered impossible by the enormous number of mosquitoes with which the air is infested.

A table drawn up by Dr. Arnell, to be found in Redogoerelse foer de svenska expeditionerna till mynningen of Jenisej ar 1876,[212] shows the distribution of the most important varieties of trees. From it we see that on the Yenesej the birch (Betula odorata, BECHST.), the fir (Pinus obovata, TURCZ.), the larch (Pinus larix, L.), and the juniper (Juniperus communis, L.), go to 69 deg. 35' N.L. (that is to say to the latitude of Tromsoe); the sallow (Salix caprea, L.) to 68 deg. 55'; the bird's cherry (Prunus padus, L.), and the Siberian pine (Pinus sibirica, LEDEB.), to 66 deg. 30'; the aspen (Populus tremula, L.) to 65 deg. 55' (the latitude of Haparanda); the pine (Pinus sylvatica, L.) to 65 deg. 50', &c.

In the middle of the forest belt the wood appears to cover the whole land without interruption, there being, unless exceptionally, no open places. But towards the north the forest passes into the treeless tundra through bare spots occurring here and there, which gradually increase, until trees grow only in valleys and sheltered places, and finally disappear completely. Similar is the passage of the forest to treeless regions (steppes), which at first are here and there bestrewed with more or less detached groups of broad-leaved trees, until they wholly disappear, and the land forms an endless plain, out of whose fertile soil the warm summer sun calls forth a great variety of luxuriant vegetable forms, whose many-hued flowers, often large and splendid, clothe the fields with the richest splendour of colour. Here is the true homeland of many of the show-plants in the flower-gardens of Europe, as, for instance, the peony, the Siberian robinia, the blue iris, &c.

If the Siberian wooded belt forms the most extensive forest in the world, this flower-steppe forms the world's greatest cultivable field, in all probability unequalled in extent and fertility. Without manure and with an exceedingly small amount of labour expended on cultivation, man will year by year draw forth from its black soil the most abundant harvests. For the present, however, this land, with its splendid capabilities for cultivation, has an exceedingly scanty population; and this holds good in a yet higher degree of the forest belt, which is less susceptible of cultivation. At a considerable distance from the rivers it is for the most part an unknown land, where the European seldom or never sets his foot, and where only the native nomad or hunter wanders about. These forests, however, are by no means so rich in game as might be expected, perhaps because the mosquitoes in summer are unendurable by warm-blooded animals.

The main population in the forest belt consists of native nomad or hunting tribes, of which Samoyeds, Ostyaks, Tunguses, and Yakuts are the most numerous. Only along the rivers do we find Russian villages and peasant settlements, placed there for trading with the natives, for fishing, and at some places for washing gold. Not till we come to the middle of the country is the Russian population more numerous, here it spreads out in a broad belt over the whole of the immense expanse between the Ural and the Angara.



In the farthest north the Russian dwelling-places consist of single cabins built of logs or planks from broken-up lighters,[213] and having flat, turf-covered roofs. Such carvings and ornaments as are commonly found on the houses of the well-to-do Russian peasant, and whose artistic outlines indicate that the inhabitants have had time to think of something else than the satisfaction of the wants of the moment, are here completely wanting; but further south the villages are larger, and the houses finer, with raised roofs and high gables richly ornamented with wood-carvings. A church, painted in bright colours, generally shows that one of the inhabitants of the village has become rich enough to be at the expense of this ornament to his native place. The whole indicates a degree of prosperity, and the interiors of the houses, if we except the cockroaches, which swarm everywhere, are very clean. The walls are ornamented with numerous, if not very artistic, photographs and lithographs. Sacred pictures, richly ornamented, are placed in a corner, and before them hang several small oil-lamps, or small wax-lights, which are lighted on festive occasions. The sleeping place is formed of a bedstead near the roof, so large that it occupies a half or a third of the room, and at such a height from the floor that one can stand upright under it. There a tropical heat commonly prevails, the occupant of the bed accordingly enjoying an almost constant sweat-bath, which does not prevent him from going out immediately into the open air at a temperature at which mercury freezes. Food is cooked in large baking ovens, which are fired daily for that purpose, and at the same time heat the cabin. Fresh bread is baked every day, and even for the poor a large tea-urn (samovar) is an almost indispensable household article. The foreigner is certain to receive a hearty and friendly welcome when he crosses the threshold, and if he stays a short time in the cabin he will generally, whatever time of the day it be, find himself drinking a glass of tea with his host. The dress everywhere closely resembles the Russian: for the rich, wide velvet trousers stuck into the boots, a shirt showily embroidered with silver thread, and a large caftan often lined with fur; for the poor, if not too ragged, the same cut, but the cloth inferior, dirty, and torn. During winter, however, for going out of doors, the Samoyed pesk is said to be common to high and low, Russian and native, settled and nomad.

In my journey up the Yenesej in 1875 I met with only a few persons in these regions who had been exiled thither for political reasons, but on the other hand very many exiled criminals of the deepest dye—murderers, thieves, forgers, incendiaries, &c. Among them were also some few Fins and even a Swede, or at least one who, according to his own statement in broken Swedish, had formerly served in the King's Guard at Stockholm. Security of person and property was in any case complete, and it was remarkable that there did not appear to be any proper distinction of caste between the Russian-Siberian natives and those who had been exiled for crime. There appeared even to be little interest in ascertaining the crime—or, as the customary phrase appears to be here, the "misfortune"—which caused the exile. On making inquiry on this point I commonly got the answer, susceptible of many interpretations, "for bad behaviour." We found a peculiar sort of criminal colony at Selivaninskoj, a very large village situated on the eastern bank of the Yenesej in about the latitude of Aavasaksa. My journal of the expedition of 1875 contains the following notes of my visit to this colony.

The orthodox Russian church, as is well known, is tolerant towards the professors of foreign religions—Lutherans, Catholics, Jews, Mohammedans, Buddhists, Shamans, &c.; but, on the other hand, in complete correspondence with what took place in former times within the Protestant world, persecutes sectaries within its own pale, with temporal punishments here upon earth and with threatenings of eternal in another world. Especially in former times a great many sectaries have been sent to Siberia, and therefore there are sometimes to be found there peculiar colonies enjoying great prosperity, exclusively inhabited by the members of a certain sect. Such is the Skopt colony at Selivaninskoj, in connection with which, however, it may be remarked that the nature of the religious delusion in this case accounts for the severity of the law or the authorities. For, on the ground of a text in the Gospel of Matthew interpreted in a very peculiar way, all Skoptzi subject themselves to a mutilation, in consequence of which the sect can only exist by new proselytes; and remarkably enough, these madmen, notwithstanding all persecution, or perhaps just on that account, actually still gain followers. A large number of the Skoptzi were Fins from Ingermanland, with whom I could converse without difficulty. They had, through industry and perseverance, succeeded in creating for themselves a certain prosperity, were hospitable and friendly, and bore their hard fate with resignation. They would not themselves kill any warm-blooded animal, for it was "a sin to kill what God had created;" which did not hinder them from catching and eating fish, and from selling to us, who in any case were lost beings, a fine fat ox, on condition that our own people should slaughter it. Their abstinence from some kinds of animal food had besides the good result of inducing them to devote themselves to the cultivation of the soil. Round about their cabins accordingly there were patches of land growing potatoes, turnips, and cabbage, which at least that year yielded an abundant crop, though lying under the Arctic circle. Farther south such plots increase in size, and yield rich crops, at least, of a very large potato. There is no proper cultivation of grain till we come to Sykobatka, situated in 60 deg. N.L., but in a future, when forests and mosses are diminished, a profitable agriculture will be carried on far to the northward.



Along with the dwellings of the Russians, the tents of the natives, or, as the Russians call them, "the Asiatics," are often to be met with. They have the same shape as the Lapp "kota." The Samoyed tent is commonly covered with reindeer skins, the Ostyak tent with birch bark. In the neighbourhood of the tent there are always large numbers of dogs, which during winter are employed for general carrying purposes, and in summer for towing boats up the river—a means of water transport which greatly astonished the Norwegian sailors with whom I travelled up the river in 1875. To see people travelling in a boat drawn by dogs appeared to them more remarkable than the Kremlin of Moscow, or the bells of Kiev. For such a journey a sufficient number of dogs are harnessed to a long line, one end of which is fastened to the stem of the boat. The dogs then go along the level bank, where they make actual footpaths. The boat being of light draught is kept afloat at a sufficient distance from land partly by means of the rudder which is managed by a person sitting in the stern of the boat, and partly by poling from the fore. Small boats are often hollowed out of a single tree-stem, and may notwithstanding, thanks to the size which some of the pines attain in those regions, be very roomy, and of a very beautiful shape. The dogs strongly resemble the Eskimo dogs in Greenland, which are also used as draught animals.



Most of the natives who have come into close contact with the Russians are said to profess the Christian religion. That many heathen customs, however, still adhere to them is shown, among other things, by the following incident: At a simovie where we landed for some hours on the 16th Sept. we found, as is common, a burying-place in the forest near the dwelling houses. The corpses were placed in large coffins above ground, at which almost always a cross was erected. In one of the crosses a sacred picture was inserted, which must be considered a further proof that a Christian rested in the coffin. Notwithstanding this, we found some clothes, which had belonged to the departed, hanging on a bush beside the grave, together with a bundle containing food, principally dried fish. At the graves of the richer natives the survivors are even said to place along with food some rouble notes, in order that the departed may not be altogether without ready money on his entrance into the other world.



Right opposite the village Nasimovskoj is a gold-digger's deserted "residence," named Yermakova after the first conqueror of Siberia. The building owed its origin to the discovery of sand-beds rich in gold, occupying a pretty extensive area east of the Yenisej, which for a time had the repute of being the richest gold territory in the world. Here in a short time enormous fortunes were made; and accounts of the hundreds of poods which one or another yearly reaped from the sand-beds, and the fast reckless life led by those to whom fortune dealt out the great prizes in the gold-digging lottery, still form a favourite topic of conversation in the region. A rise in the value of labour and a diminished production of the noble metal have, however, since led to the abandonment of a large number of the diggings that formerly were most productive; others now scarcely pay the expense of the working. Many of the gold-diggers who were formerly rich, in the attempt to win more have been impoverished, and have disappeared; others who have succeeded in retaining their "pood of gold"—that is the mint unit which the gold-diggers prefer to use in their conversation—have removed to Omsk, Krasnojarsk, Moscow, Petersburg, Paris, &c. The gold-diggers' residences stand, therefore, now deserted, and form on the eastern bank of the river a row of half-decayed wooden ruins surrounded by young trees, after which in no long time only the tradition of the former period of prosperity will be found remaining. In one respect indeed the gold-diggers have exerted a powerful influence on the future of the country. For it was through them that the first pioneers were scattered in the wilderness, the first seed sown of the cultivation of the region.