NINDEMANN AND NOROS. 819 



At noon when they stopped to rest the deer, the man 

 with whom Nindemann had talked led him to a point 

 from which they could descry a prominent landmark in 

 the Lena Delta, which he and Noros had had in sight 

 a long while on their march. The man asked by signs 

 if that was w T here they had left their people. Ninde- 

 mann explained as well as he could that Captain De 

 Long and his party were fifteen or twenty miles prob- 

 ably to the northward of the point. He watched the 

 man anxiously to see what he would do, but he only 

 shook his head as if sorry, and went back with Ninde- 

 mann to the sleighs. They kept on their journey to 

 the south, camping again at night. 



Another day was spent in the same way. Occasion- 

 ally when climbing a hillside, all the people would get 

 out to lighten the load, but Nindemann and Noros were 

 still so weak that they lagged far behind the rest, who 

 were obliged to wait for them. About five o'clock they 

 came to a collection of huts, the Ku Mark Surka, which 

 had been the point which Captain De Long had hoped 

 they would make in three or four days. Here were a 

 number of natives looking out for the return of the 

 party, and the two sailors were the object of great curi- 

 osity. The people crowded about them, talked to them, 

 talked about them, and Nindemann in vain tried to make 

 himself understood. The huts were full of people feast- 

 ing, and it was soon difficult to get their attention. 



" On the morning of the 25th," says Nindemann, 

 " after breakfast, I started again talking to the people 

 through signs and pantomime ; it seemed as if one of 

 them had got some idea of where we came from, or 

 what we wanted, and he talked to one of the boys, and 

 the boy went out, and after awhile came back with a 

 model of a Yakutsk boat, and then they all got round 



