248 TRAVELS OF A NATURALIST 



Keen frost set in after the thaw, which, in ordinary 

 circumstances, would have faciHtated our travel. But 

 owing to the deep rut in the centre of the road, and the 

 outriggers of our sledge being set rather lower than usual, 

 one of our ranners was up on the sledgeway and one 

 down in the rut, and consequently the outrigger on the 

 low side ' scrunched ' through the hard snow and greatly 

 retarded the speed of the horses — acting, in fact, as a sort 

 of drag or brake. 



Aiwil 8. 



On Thursday, the 8th of April, we got over our next 

 stage more quickly, as the winter road lay for the most 

 part over the River Pihega. 



Near to Kousonemskaia we saw Tree Sparrows engaged 

 in building" their nests in the chinks of the houses. Here 

 also we saw the Common Sparrow, this being the only 

 village we have seen it in since leaving Vologda Govern- 

 ment. (In Archangel I have omitted to mention that we 

 observed a few specimens only of the Tree Sparrow.) 



On the last stage before reaching Pifiega we shot a 

 Great Spotted Woodpecker, and tried in vain to get at two 

 Siberian Jays. We found it, however, absolutely imprac- 

 ticable to attempt any work in the woods without snow- 

 shoes, and soon gave up attempting it. 



At Pinega, which we reached at 2 p.m., we saw twenty 

 Samoyede sledges and about eighty Reindeer (at four deer 

 to each sledge). They were from Kahin. We left our 

 letter for the Ispravnik of Piiiega, as he may possibly be 

 useful to us on our return journey. 



Our route to Kuloiskaia, a 34 versts' stage, lay princi- 

 pally along the Kuloi River from near its source, on 

 the right bank, amidst beautiful scenery. A low range 

 of what Seebohm recognised as Oolite skirts the river- 

 side, and is covered with weird forest of lichen-covered 

 larches and pines and spruce. The tall larches were most 



