378 THE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA. [chap. 



the only food they got was the frozen excrements of the fox and 

 other animals, which they themselves snapped up in passing. 

 Yet even on the last day no diminution in their power of 

 draught was observable." 



Nordquist brought with him, among other things, two rein- 

 deer, bought for a rouble and a half each. They were still 

 very serviceable, though badly slaughtered. But the reindeer 

 we purchased farther on in the winter were so poor that no one 

 on board could persuade himself to eat them. 



On the I8th October, by which time we believed that Menka 

 would be already at Markova we were again visited by him and 

 his son-in-law. He said he had no akmiviil (fire-water) to keep 

 holiday with, and now came to us to exchange three slaughtered 

 reindeer for it. Our miscalculation with respect to the letters, 

 which we hoped were long ago on their way to their destination, 

 and my dislike to the mode of payment in question — I offered 

 him, without success, half-imperials and metal rouble pieces 

 instead of brandy — made his reception on this occasion less 

 hearty, and he therefore left us soon. It was not until the 

 9th February, 1879, that we again got news from Menka by one 

 of the Chukches, who had attended him the time before. The 

 Chukch said that in ten days he had traversed the way between 

 the Vega's winter haven and Markova, which would run to 

 about ninety kilometres a day. According to his statement 

 Menka had travelled with the letters to Yakutsk. The statement 

 seemed very suspicious, and appeared afterwards to have 

 been partly fabricated, or perhaps to have been misunderstood 

 by us. But after our return to the world of newspapers we 

 found that Menka had actually executed his commission. He, 

 however, did not reach Anadyrsk until the ^^^^fp^t^^^- Thence 

 the packet was sent to Irkutsk, arriving there on the l^nrr^rn- The 

 news reached Sweden by telegraph six days after, on the 16th 

 May, just at a time when concern for the fate of the Vega was 

 beginning to be very great, and the question of relief expeditions 

 was seriously entertained.^ 



In order to relieve the apprehensions of our friends at home, 

 it was, however, exceedingly important to give them some 

 accounts of the position of the Vega during winter, and I 

 therefore offered all the purchasing power which the treasures 

 of guns, powder, ball, food, fine shirts, and even spirits, collected 

 on board, could exert, in order to induce some natives to convey 

 Lieutenants Nordquist and Bove to Markova or Nischni 

 Kolymsk. The negotiations seemed at first to go on very well, 



^ Tlie King of Sweden lias since ordered a gold medal to be given to 

 Wassili Menka in recognition of the fidelity witli whicli lie executed the 

 commission of carrying our letters to a Kussian post station. 



