34 SLEDGING TO UST-ZYLMA 



score. I shot one by accident as it was feeding under a 

 larch-tree in company with a Siberian jay, a couple of 

 bullfinches, half a dozen other snow-buntings, and a few 

 redpolls. Harvie- Brown shot another as it sat perched 

 upon the branch of a larch, in order to be able to produce 

 the skin of a bird shot perching, as the fact that they do 

 ever perch in trees has been disputed. We had abundant 

 opportunity of seeing these birds in trees. We saw as 

 many as three or four in one tree at the same time, and 

 frequently observed them fly from one tree to another. 

 We saw plenty of the Northern bullfinches {^Pyr7'hula 

 rtibicilla, Pallas) and shot five males in brilliant plumage. 

 They were all in pairs. We fancied that the call-note of 

 these bullfinches differed from that of our bird. Speaking 

 from memory, it seemed to us to be louder and harsher, 

 by no means so plaintive, and not badly represented by 

 the word " kak." 



After leaving Umskia we looked anxiously out for the 

 first glimpses of the distant Petchora, and it was not long 

 before we crossed a low range of hills, from the ridge of 

 which we had a view of the mighty river. As we sledged 

 down the Zylma, and finally reached its junction with the 

 Petchora, the vastness of this river impressed us beyond 

 all our expectations. We were 300 miles from its mouth, 

 and to our left the huge flood stretched away in a broad 

 white stream as far as the eye could reach, and fifteen 

 times as wide as the Thames at Hammersmith Bridge, 

 On the opposite bank, a mile and a half off, we could 

 discern the churches and houses of Ust-Zylma, round 

 which the river swept to our right. Piottuch had arrived 

 at the town some hours before us, and we found comfort- 

 able apartments in the house of a Russian peasant of the 

 name of Boulegan, where we were visited by M. Znaminski, 

 the Preestaff of Ust-Zylma, and drank a toast {the success 



