4rG 'Sir. H. F. Witlicihy on Birds 



walls of this wonderful nionastery Imiulrcds of lleiriug-Ciulls 

 are wont to breed. The birds are so tame that any of them 

 will feed from the hand, and their nests are built on the paths 

 and in the courtyards of the monastery itself. On the date 

 of our visit the majority of the birds iiad young ones, and it 

 was most interesting to Match the old birds feeding them, 

 quite unconcerned by the innumerable pilgrims, many of 

 whom had to step aside to avoid treading on the young birds 

 and being pecked by the adults. On July 3rd we arrived at 

 Kovda, where we very luckily picked up an inter|)reter to 

 accompany us on our journey overland. Before leaving 

 England we had supposed that we should find such a man in 

 .\rchangel, but a most diligent search proved fruitless, every 

 likely n)an being engaged in some way with the number of 

 ships which had just broken through the ice in the White 

 Sea. 



The following day (July 4th) we arrived at the little village 

 of Kandalax, at the head of the Gulf of that name in the 

 north-western corner of the White Sea. Here, with the aid 

 of passes Irom the Governor of Archangel (which, by the way, 

 are absolutely necessary for any traveller in these parts), we 

 were able to engage carriers to accompany us through the 

 country to Kola. 



Although more than once they struck and refused to pro- 

 ceed, these carriers on the whole behaved very well. They 

 were, however, mo?t ignorant and careless, and we were never 

 able to trust them to do the simplest duties in camp without 

 keeping them under observation. For instance, at one 

 camping-place one of the men complained of a " very sick 

 stonuuh.^' We discovered that they had been drawing all 

 the water from a small stagnant backwater of the lake where 

 the Lapps threw all their refuse. We duly impressed them 

 with the evils that would attend drinking such water, and 

 for two days they rowed over a mile into the middle of the 

 lake to get water for any purpose whatever. But at the 

 next camping-place they drew the water from the most 

 convenioit spot, which was of course also used as a deposit 

 for refuse. 



