ON THE BORDERS OF CIVILIZATION. 439 



the morning I had to remove from my face a perfect mould 

 or mask of frozen snow, half an inch thick, and my nose, 

 cheeks, chin, and forehead were badly frozen. My com- 

 panions fared no better. Three of Wile-d6te's dogs perished 

 during the storm, and I found, upon looking at my watch 

 after entering the house, that we had been more than seven 

 hours upon the road. The other sled got in toward night, 

 but the three that halted on the beach did not overtake us 

 until the second day after we left Diardlowran. At this 

 village we found four Russians from Nishni Kolymsk, who 

 were much interested in the recital of our adventures during 

 the morning. 



The next morning we again set out upon our journey, 

 three of the Russians accompanying us. Wanker put me 

 on the sled of one of these people, and right glad was I of 

 the change, for now I felt sure that I would reach my desti- 

 nation. This man looked honest and intelligent, though he 

 could not read, and said so. That night we halted at a 

 deserted hut half filled with snow, but it was a sufficient 

 .shelter from a poorga that was raging at the time, and ever 

 so much better than sleeping out of doors. Indeed, it was 

 cheerful and cosey, with a fire blazing in the middle of the 

 hut and a little of the smoke escaping through a hole in the 

 roof, but most of it pervading the apartment. The tea-kettle 

 hung over the flame and a large pot of reindeer meat was 

 cooking on one side of the fire, while we ate frozen fish, 

 which my new driver pulled from among the rafters. While 

 we waited for the tea my new Russian friends sang a pretty 

 little chorus, and I slept, dreaming of home, and feeling 

 more at home than I had for weeks. I had at last reached 

 the borders of civilization and had no longer to crawl at 

 night into the huts of the savages ; and yet I could not forget 

 how often I had been so glad to crawl into those same dirty 

 hovels to escape from storms and hunger. 



The next day we reached quite a large deserted village, 

 and Wanker here told me that the next day we would reach 

 his house, and that there we would have to wait for Constau- 



