244 THE JEANNETTE ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



by making signs, and resting the head upon the hand 

 and snoring. They understood us, and took us around tha 

 point where we had hauled our boats upon the sand beach, 

 and then climbed a hill which was from sixty to seventy feet 

 high. This was at the mouth of a small branch of the Lena, 

 and we have since learned this to be on Cape Borchaya, said 

 to be about eighty-five miles northwest of Cape Bykoffsky. 

 There we found four houses and several storehouses, all 

 deserted but one, which was in very good condition. There 

 was a graveyard near by, with many crosses. We all lodged 

 in the one house. 



The natives were very kind to us ; they hauled their nets 

 and brought us fish, parts of which they roasted before the 

 fire, giving us the most delicate morsels. Some of the fish 

 we boiled, and altogether we had a very enjoyable meal. 

 Then I noticed that Caranie (one of the natives) had gone 

 away, leaving only the youth, whom we called Tomat, and 

 the invalid, whom we called Theodore. From Caranie's 

 absence I argued that there must be other natives near by, 

 and that Caranie had gone to inform them of our presence. 



Next morning, while the men were loading the boat, I 

 took the compass and got some bearings of the sun for local 

 time, direction, of the wind, and general lay of the land. 

 Previous to this I had interviewed Tomat, who drew a 

 diagram on the sand showing the course of the river, and 

 that the distance to Bulun was seven sleeps, which he 

 indicated by snoring deeply when he pointed to each stop- 

 ping-place. He appeared perfectly willing to go with us as 

 pilot to Bulun. 



On my return, Melville asked me to hurry up, as he 

 wanted to get off. I was surprised, and asked where the 

 other native was. Melville replied that he had left, having 

 refused to go with us. I then asked him to wait a few 

 minutes while I ran back to the house in order to try and 

 induce them to come. Returning, I found the youth Tomat 

 on the housetop looking very sad and bewildered. When I 

 asked him to accompany us he replied, mournfully, ' Sok ! 



