56 Dr. O. Finsch's Ornithological Letters. 



between Tjumen aud Tomsk^ aud are very comfortable ; but, 

 alas ! tbe luxury of tliis excellent vessel availed us only for a 

 short time. 



We went down the river Ob (1300 versts), to the village 

 of Samarowa_, a short distance up the river Irtisch, not far 

 from the junction of this river with the Ob. Here we had 

 to leave the steamer ; and by the liberality of Mr. Semzoff, a 

 chief merchant of Samarowa^ we were furnished with two 

 "lotkas," free of cost, for our voyage down the river. A 

 " lotka ^^ is a boat about 40 feet in length, covered for its 

 greater part with a deck, and is propelled by rowing or 

 towing. During our voyage in the steamer we had few op- 

 portunities for making ornithological observations. The wea- 

 ther was not favourable and the river overflooded, so that it 

 often resembled a great lake, bordered with woods of fir trees, 

 and intermixed with numerous islets, covered chiefly with 

 willows. Waterfowl were seen in great numbers, but so far 

 off that we could not make out the species. Larus marinus 

 and Ste7'na hirundo were plentiful. Sometimes Ave observed 

 Haliaetus albicilla (once I got a fledgling) ; but the most com- 

 mon bird was Cotyle riparia. Every time we passed high 

 sandbanks we found large breeding colonies, the inhabitants 

 of which were busy flying in and out of nest-holes. The situ- 

 ation of the holes varies as the height of the bank ; some- 

 times they ai'e very high, at other times so low that one can 

 easily touch the nests ; but nevertheless it is very difiicult 

 to catch the bird by hand. 



We left Samarowa in the early morning of the 6th of July, 

 reaching the town of Berezotf on the 9th, and Obdorsk, the 

 ultima TJmle of civilization, on the 13th, the whole distance 

 being reckoned at little more than 1000 versts. There are 

 more than forty stations to be called at by rowing people, most 

 of them only Ostiakian yurt-placcs for fishing, which is the 

 chief and only business along the river Ob. The scenery on 

 the river is nearly the same throughout the whole of its 

 length. On the right hand the banks are high, often per- 

 pendicular, formed by sand, aud covered Avith magnificent 

 woods of larch and birch trees. The left bank is low, and 



