316 JOHN LEDYARD. 



in the most inclement season of the year. Saya 

 he: 



"The commandant assured me that he had orders 

 from the governor-general to render me all possible 

 kindness and service; 'but, sir,' continued he, 'the 

 first service I am bound to render you is, to beseech 

 you not to attempt to reach Ochotsk this winter.' He 

 spoke to me in French. I almost rudely insisted 

 on being permitted to depart immediately, and ex- 

 pressed surprise that a Yakuti Indian and a Tartar 

 horse should be thought incapable of following a 

 man born and educated in the latitude of forty. 

 He declared, upon his honor, that the journey was 

 impracticable. The contest lasted two or three 

 days, in which interval, being still fixed in my 

 opinion, I was preparing for the journey. The 

 commandant at length waited on me, and brought 

 with him a trader, a very good, respectable-looking 

 man of about fifty, as a witness to the truth and 

 propriety of his advice to me. This trader, for ten 

 or twelve years, had passed and repassed often from 

 Yakutsk to Ochotsk. I was obliged, however severely 

 I might lament the misfortune, to yield to two such 

 advocates for my happiness. The trader held out 

 to me all the horrors of the winter, and the severity 

 of the journey at the best season; and the com- 

 mandant, the goodness of his house and the society 



