THE GENEROUS EXILE. 275 



told him to come over to us in three days to consult with 

 Mr. Melville. He came, and Mr. Melville decided that Kus- 

 mah should go without me. He went to Bulun, and on his 

 way back he met, at Kumak Surka, the two sailors from the 

 captain's party, and brought us the first intelligence of 

 them. Before his first visit the natives gave us scarcely 

 enough food, being only eight fish per day and some decayed 

 geese. He gave us salt, flour, tobacco in small quantities, 

 and also bought a deer, which he gave me on my first visit 

 to carry back to the men. He threatened the natives, and 

 made them bring us more fish than we could eat. He lived 

 only ten versts from us, and said that Nicolai Diakonoff 

 should have informed him of our presence, and he could 

 have taken us to Bulun before the river froze over. Kusmah 

 Ercmoi'f acted boldly and well. He is more or less depend- 

 ent on the natives, but was not afraid to threaten them, by 

 which he made; tlu-m give us enough food. 



Third I will call attention to the prompt and intelligent 

 action of the Commandant, Gregory Mikatcreff Baishoff, at 

 Bulun. He sent word by Kusmah that he would come to us 

 on a certain day. Pie arrived at the fixed time and with an 

 ample supply of provisions. He brought with him a long 

 document that had been addressed by the two sailors of the 

 captain's party to the American Minister at St. Petersburg. 

 The two sailors could not make themselves understood, so 

 the commandant brought the paper to us. I immediately 

 despatched it by courier to Mr. Melville, who was then on 

 his way to Bulun. He going by the dog road had missed 

 seeing the commandant, who came by the deer road. The 

 latter had the foresight to send by the same courier a written 

 order to his subordinate to equip Mr. Melville, and also ap- 

 pointed Kumak Surka as a rendezvous. 



At all subsequent times the commandant of Bulun pro- 

 vided for us in a very practical and efficient manner, and I 

 do not hesitate to say that he is the most intelligent and 

 best balanced man that I met north of Yakutsk. His posi- 

 tion being a very subordinate one, it required great force of 



