74 



LIFE IN UST-ZYLMA 



reason of the thaws, the poor animals had to work double 

 time. A quantity of last year's fodder still lay on the 

 flat land on the other side of the Petchora, which, if left, 

 would inevitably be swept away when the frozen river 

 broke up ; the cattle had to be taken across the ice and 

 housed in a place of safety, there to wait until the floods 

 subsided on these flat stretches and the new rich pasture 

 had begun to spring up. The women and children had 

 also to be transported across, to look after the cattle ; 

 whilst the men went down the river to fish, leaving Ust- 

 Zylma as deserted for three months as a winter village in 

 the Parnassus. 



OLD RUSSIAN SILVER CROSS 



