THE HUTS OF BULCOUR. 456 



they found there. It was poor food, but gave them some 

 strength. They supposed they had arrived at Kumak 

 Surka. 



On the 14th they again started out, but the wind blew 

 hard and they did not make much progress that day. At 

 night they found shelter in a curious opening in the bank, 

 two feet and a half broad, six feet high, and about fifteen 

 yards in extent. It was, in fact, a kind of cave funnel, the 

 other opening being on the top of the bank. 



Next day, the 16th, they had breakfast of willow tea and 

 portions of sealskin pantaloons, and then started out again. 

 They crossed numerous sand banks and small streams 

 frozen over, and toward evening struck the Lena proper, 

 close to the high mountains on the western bank. That 

 day, thinking they might find game on the other shore, thej 

 crossed over to the mountainous eastern bank of the Lena, 

 where they spent a most wretched night in a ravine in a 

 mountain side. They then crossed over to the western 

 shore of the Lena again. They began to congratulate them- 

 selves that the streams were at last all frozen over and 

 wading was now unnecessary. That night they had to 

 camp under the shelter of a high bank, but, failing to find 

 wood, they had neither supper nor shelter, and spent another 

 wretched night. 



Next morning, the 19th, they started out again after a 

 meal of willow tea and sealskin, going south along the Lena. 

 They made nearly no progress at all, and every five minutes 

 had to lie down to rest on the ice. Toward night Noros 

 was walking on the edge of the river about half a mile ahead 

 of Nindermann, and on turning a point of land he saw a 

 square hut perched in a gully between two high mountains 

 on the west bank of the river; on going toward it he saw 

 two other huts tent-like structures of wood and plastered 

 outside with mud. These were the huts of Bulcour. 



After staying at Bulcour two or three days, living on 

 some blue moulded fish which they found there, they decided 

 to start again on the next day, 22d ; but on that morning, 



