THE LENA DELTA. 763 



me no anxiety, however, for enough wood remained on 

 our (the south) side to answer all our demands. 



At 11.20 I halted and ordered dinner, which we were 

 d long time in getting, owing to wet matches, damp 

 wood, strong wind puffs, etc. To reach the smooth 

 river ice we had to leave the swamp and drop waist 

 deep in snow. A fox-trap was close by with a fox's 

 head in it, but the body had been eaten or cut off close 

 to the neck. Our plan of using one ration of tea for 

 all three meals has received occasional shocks ; as for 

 instance, to-day a small can of salt had been, I find, 

 carried in the tea-kettle for want of a better place, and 

 Lee has capsized it among the tea-leaves. 



At one went ahead again, and at 3.30 came to a bend 

 in the river making south, and to our surprise two huts, 

 one seemingly new. In view of the action I am about 

 to take, I decided to remain here, and we entered in and 

 took possession. Distance made good six miles, this 

 one hundred and first day since we lost our ship. Is 

 this Tscholbogoje ? is now an important question, for if 

 this pair of huts make a settlement, our chances of 

 keeping on successfully are very slim indeed. Accord- 

 ing to my account we are now thii^-five miles away 

 from the next station ! ! and eighty-seven miles from a 

 probable settlement. We have two days' rations after 

 to-morrow morning's breakfast, and we have three lame 

 men who cannot make more than five or six miles a 

 day ; of course I cannot leave them, and they certainly 

 cannot keep up with the pace necessary to take. 



When I saw these two huts — one evidently new, and 

 both habitable and intended for a prolonged residence — 

 I concluded that this was a suitable place to halt the? 

 main body, and send on a couple of good walkers to 

 make a forced march to get relief. The two I selected 



