Farewell to Norway. 119 



increasing on the way. For the present I should just 

 have to trust to the four " whole " clogs and " Kvik," the 

 hitch 1 had brought with me from home. 



O 



Next day, August ist, there was a great religious 

 festival in Khabarova, that of St. Elias. Samoyedes 

 from far and near had come in with their reindeer teams 

 to celebrate the day by going to church and then getting 

 roarino- drunk. We were in need of men in the mornino- 



o o 



to help with filling the boiler with fresh water and the 

 tank with drinking-water, but on account of this festival 

 it was difficult to get hold of any at all. At last, by dint 

 of promising sufficient reward, Trontheim succeeded in 

 collecting some poor fellows who had not money enough 

 to drink themselves as drunk as the day required of 

 them. I was on shore in the morning, partly to arrange 

 about the provision of water, partly to collect fossils, in 

 which the rock here abounds, especially one rock below 

 Sibiriakoff's warehouse. I also took a w r alk up the hill 

 to the west, to Trontheim's flagstaff, and looked out to 

 sea in that direction after the Urania. But there was 

 nothing to be seen except an unbroken sea-line. Loaded 

 with my find I returned to Khabarova, where I, of 

 course, took advantage of the opportunity to see some- 

 thing of the festival. 



From early morning the women had been dressed in 

 their finest clothes brilliant colours, skirts with many 

 tucks, and great coloured bows at the end of plaits of 

 hair which hung far clown their backs. Before service, 



