434 RETURN TO KUREIKA 



would be the Arctic accentor. Like the Lapland bunting 

 on the Dovrefield, when it gets out of its Arctic latitude 

 it has to ascend a mountain in order to find a climate 

 cold enough to suit its constitution. Yet it is essentially 

 a bird of the plains, the willow swamps are its natural 

 habitat, and there the female lays her blue eggs and 

 rears her young only a few feet above the level of the 

 sea. 



Turning into bed at four o'clock in the morning I 

 slept until noon. When I awoke a steady rain was 

 falling, which continued till night. Meanwhile a boat 

 arrived from Brekoffsky, bringing me the thrush I had 

 failed to secure at that place ; Schwanenberg's mate had 

 sent it. It, too, turned out to be a redwing. I now 

 considered this matter settled, and all the doubtful points 

 cleared up. 



We got under way at 4 p.m., and steamed steadily up 

 the river. The rain cleared off about midnight, but the 

 sky was still cloudy, and we had no sunshine. Boiling, 

 Uleman, and I spent the night chatting about "die 

 Wilden," as Uleman called the Mongolian races there. 

 He had had a rare opportunity of observing them, having 

 been there five-and-twenty years, and having lived eight 

 of these years amongst them on the tundra, as Sotnikoff's 

 aorent. He had seen more of the Doloans than of the 

 other races. When he first went there, he told us, all 

 the native tribes were virtuous, honest, and truthful, and 

 they still live very peaceably amongst themselves, and 

 quarrel rarely. The selfishness of civilisation is unknown ; 

 thus, when one buys or begs a bottle of vodka he shares 

 it with his companions, the oldest man or woman being 

 always served first ; even the children get their share. 

 Amongst themselves the rights of property are still 

 strictly observed. In the tundra, or on the banks of the 



