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of many years, and by actually travelling through most parts of it. The whole time that the expedition remained in the province under his command, his watchful care and assistance were of essential service in supplying its wants, in a country so deficient in resources, and doubtless contributed essentially to the success of the enterprise.

Jakuzk has all the character of the cold and gloomy north. It is situated on a barren flat, near the river. The streets are wide, but the houses and cottages have a mean aspect, and are surrounded by tall wooden fences. Among so many dry boards there is not a green tree or bush to be seen: nothing to tell of summer except the absence of snow, and this may be considered, perhaps, rather a disadvantage in point of appearance.

The town has 4000 inhabitants. It consists of about 500 houses, five churches (three built of stone and two of wood), and a convent. A stone building for commercial purposes has recently been erected. The only relic of antiquity is an old wooden fortress or ostrog, with its ruined tower, which was built in 1647 by the conquerors of Siberia, the Cossacks. The inhabitants look with no little satisfaction on this monument of the exploits of their ancestors, and are, in general, proud and fond of their native city, whatever strangers may think of it. The town has undergone great improvements in the last thirty years. The Jakutian jurti, which Captain Billings saw here in 1793, have been replaced by substantial dwellings; the windows of ice or of talc have given way to glass in the better class of houses, and the more wealthy inhabitants begin to have higher rooms, larger windows, double doors, &c. These are signs of increasing prosperity, under the

* This officer was sent by the Russian government with two small vessels, in 1787, to explore the coast of Siberia, and to attempt a passage to the Pacific through Behring's Straits.--Am. Ed.

wise and fostering care of the excellent governor of the province.

Jakuzk is the centre of the interior trade of Siberia. All the most costly furs, as well as the more common kinds, walrus teeth, and mammoth bones, those curious remains of an earlier world, are brought here for sale or barter during the ten weeks of summer, from Anabor and Behring's Straits, from the coasts of the Polar Sea, from the mountains near Olekma, from the Aldan and from Udsk, and even from Ochozk and Kamtschatka. It is not easy to imagine the mountain-like piles of furs of all kinds, the value of which often exceeds two and a half millions of roubles.*

As soon as the Lena is clear of ice, the merchants begin to arrive from Irkuzk, bringing with them for barter corn, meal, the pungent Circassian tobacco, tea, sugar, brandy and rum, Chinese cotton and silk stuffs, yarn, cloth of an inferior quality, hardware, glass, &c.

At the annual fair of Jakuzk one sees none of the popular amusements common at fairs in Europe: there is not even the appearance of animation and bustle which might naturally be expected. The goods are not openly exposed for sale, and most of the purchases are effected in the houses or enclosures of the citizens. The strangers generally seek to

*The sorting of the sables is a business requiring very great experience and skill. They are classed according to the fulness and length of the fur; its colour, not only at the tip, but also near the root; and the thickness of the skin. All these qualities must be combined in a high degree of perfection in order to form a good assortment. It is often necessary to examine more than a thousand skins to select a sufficient number for one good tippet. The tails, paws, and light-coloured parts of the skins are sewed together and sold separately.*

* The smallest clippings or pieces of the fur are thus preserved, and it is not extravagant to say, that several thousand of these small patches may be counted in a single robe; that is, a piece of fur sufficiently large to line an outside winter garment.-Am. Ed.

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conceal from each other the particulars of their dealings, which are almost exclusively with the inhabitants, they scarcely ever having any transactions with one another. Almost all the Russian settlers in Jakuzk employ their little capital in purchasing, in small parcels from the Jakuti during the winter, a collection of furs, on which they realize a good profit at the fair. The Russians live entirely by trade, having abandoned all sorts of handicraft to the aboriginal Jakuti, among whom there are now excellent carpenters, cabinet-makers, carvers in wood, and even painters. The pictures of saints, and the carving and interior fittings in the new church at Jakuzk, are all by Jakuti, and are neatly executed.

The inhabitants are far from being in an advanced state of intellectual cultivation; books are extremely rare, and education is but little thought of, the children usually passing the first years of their infancy with a Jakuti nurse, from whom they learn so much of her native language that I often found the conversation of persons in the best society very difficult to understand. As the children grow up, they learn a little reading and writing from the priests. After this they are gradually initiated into the mysteries of the Siberian fur-trade, or obtain places under government. Their hospitality is proverbial; but as there are usually but few strangers, they can, for the most part, only exercise it towards each other. They pass much of their superabundant leisure in somewhat noisy assemblages, where eating and drinking play a most important part. After dinner, which is a very substantial meal, and at which naliwki (a kind of liqueur made of brandy, berries, and sugar) is not spared, the elderly gentlemen pass the remainder of the day with cards and punch, the ladies gather round the tea-table, and the young people dance to the sound of a kind of harp with metal strings, which is the only instrument they possess. I have heard some of the old people

lament that the love of play, dress, and expense have increased so much of late that many families have been completely ruined by it. My stay, however, was not sufficiently long to enable me to judge how much of this complaint was to be ascribed to the disposition so natural to the aged, to regard the time of their youth as the good old time, and the present age as greatly degenerated from it.

By the aid of M. Minizkoj's exertions we were enabled to resume our journey before the close of the summer. Early in August Lieutenant Anjou descended the Lena with his division of the expedition; about the same time I sent M. Matiuschkin forward to Nishne Kolymsk to prepare for our reception; and, as soon as the morasses and rivers were frozen, the stores for our use were despatched under the charge of M. Kosmin. My own departure for Kolymsk took place on the 12th of September.

CHAPTER II.

Departure for Nishne Kolymsk.-Pack-horses.-First Bivouac. -The Jakuti.-Jakutian Settlement.-Mioro.-Jurti, Clothing, Customs, Songs, Food, Villages, National Characteristics.-The River Aldan.-The River Tukulan.-Forest Bivouac.-Werchow Mountains.-Wandering Tungusi.-Baralow and Tabolog Stations.-Saschsiwersk.-Inhabitants of the District.-The River Alaseja.-The Sardach Station.Sredne Kolymsk.-Winter Travelling Costume.-The Omolon River. Dogs and Sledges.-Arrival at Nishne Kolymsk.

REGULAR travelling ends at Jakuzk, as from thence to Kolymsk, and generally throughout Northern Siberia, there are no beaten roads. The utmost that can be looked for are foot or horse tracks leading through morasses and tangled forests, and over rocks

DEPARTURE FOR NISHNE KOLYMSK.

33

and mountains. Travellers proceed on horseback through the hilly country, and on reaching the plains use sledges drawn either by reindeer or dogs.

On what is called the Jakuzk road, which crosses from the right bank of the Lena to the Aldan, there are post-stations for changing horses at a distance of from fifteen to forty wersts. In summer travelling is almost exclusively by water. I began my journey by crossing in a boat to the opposite side of the river, where we expected to find horses waiting for us. My companions were a sailor who had come with me from St. Petersburgh, and a retired sergeant from Jakuzk, who had been with M. Hedenström to the shores of the Polar Sea, and whose experience and ability were subsequently of great service to the expedition: he was also my interpreter. We had ordered thirteen horses, three for ourselves, and the remainder for our provisions, instruments, winter-clothing, and other necessaries.

When we landed at the post-station neither men nor horses were to be seen: this was a bad begin. ning, but the sergeant said it was a common occurrence, and that the Jakuti had probably taken their horses to a valley three wersts off, where there was better pasture. We sent the boatmen to look for them, and meanwhile lighted a good fire on the beach, and prepared some soup to fortify ourselves for the journey. The weather was raw and cold, and the country showed every symptom of approaching winter.

In three hours the men and horses arrived, and we commenced loading them: each horse carries about 51 pood (220 Russian pounds), 24 pood on each side, and half a pood on the back.* The animals are then fastened together in a string, the bridle of each being tied to the tail of the next. Our string of ten horses was managed by only two postillions,

A pood is 40 Russian lbs., or 36 lbs. avoirdupois.—Am. Ed.

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