VIII.] 



A YENISEI STEAMER. 



299 



river. The prohibition of taking away the attention of the 

 steersman from his work by conversation was thus not in force 

 hereabouts. A man stood constantly in the fore, uninterruptedly 

 testing the depth with a long pole. For in order to avoid 

 the strong current of the main stream the course was always 

 shaped as near the shore as possible, often so near that one 

 could almost jump ashore, antl my own Nordland boat, which 

 was towed by the side of the steamer, was occasionally drawn 

 over land. It will be seen from this of how light draught the 

 steamer was. 



CHL'KCH VILLAGE ON A SIBERIAN RIVER. 



(After a Photograph.) 



Siberia, especially the river territory of the Yenisej and the 

 Lena, possesses rich coal seams, which probably extend under 

 considerable portions of the Siberian plain, but are yet unworked 

 and have attracted little attention. The river steamers accord- 

 ingly are fired, not with coal, but with wood, of which, if I 

 remember right, 180 fathoms went to the voyage of the steamer 

 Alexander up the river. As the vessel could carry only a small 

 portion of this quantity of wood at one time, frequent halts were 

 necessary, not only for trading with the natives, but also for 

 taking fuel on board. In addition to this, the weak engine, 



