874 THE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA. [hap. 



present we gave him a woollen shirt and some parcels of tobacco. 

 Menka said that he should travel in a few days to Markova, a 

 place inhabited by Russians on the river Anadyr, in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the old Anadyrsk. Although I had not yet given 

 up hope of getting free before winter, I wished to endeavour 

 to utilize this opportunity of sending home accounts of the 

 Vega's position, the state of matters on board, &c. An open 

 letter was therefore written in Russian, and addressed to his 

 Excellency the Governor-General at Irkutsk, with the request 

 that he would communicate its contents to his Majesty, King 

 Oscar. This was placed, along with several private sealed 

 letters between a couple of pieces of board, and handed over to 

 Menka with a request to give them to the Russian authorities 

 at Markova. At first it appeared as if Menka understood the 

 letter as some sort of further credentials for himself. For when 

 he landed he assembled, in the presence of some of us, a circle 

 of Chukches round himself, placed himself with dignity in their 

 midst, opened out the paper, but so that he had it upside down, 

 and read from it long sentences in Chukch to an attentive 

 audience, astonished at his learning. Next forenoon we had 

 another visit of the great and learned chief. New presents 

 were exchanged, and he was entertained after our best ability. 

 Finally he danced to the chamber-organ, both alone and 

 together with some of his hosts, to the great entertainment of 

 the Europeans and Asiatics present. 



As the state of the ice was still unaltered, I did not neglect 

 the opportunity that now offered of making acquaintance with 

 the interior of the country. With pleasure, accordingly, I gave 

 Lieutenants Nordquist and Hovgaard permission to pay a visit 

 to Menka' s encampment. They started on the morning of the 

 8th October. 'Lieut. Nordquist has given me the following 

 account of their excursion : — 



" On Tuesday, the 8th October, at 10 o'clock A.M. Lieut. 

 Hovgaard r- and I travelled from Pitlekaj in dog-sledges into 

 the interior in a S.S.E. direction. Hovgaard and I had 

 each a Chukch as driver. Menka had with him a servant, who 

 almost all the time ran before as guide. My comrade's sledge, 

 which was heaviest, was drawn by ten dogs, mine by eight, and 

 Menka' s, which was the smallest and in which he sat alone, by 

 five. In general the Chukches appear to reckon four or five 

 dogs sufficient for a sledge with one person. 



" The tundra, with marshes and streams scattered over it, 

 was during the first part of our way only gently undulating, 

 but the farther we went into the interior of the country the 

 more uneven it became, and when, at 8 o'clock next morning, 

 we reached the goal of our journey — Menka's brother's camp — 



