THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



much weakened by the action of the waves. Fortunately my guide 

 happened to upset his sledge at the same moment when I broke 

 through. Thus it was that he saw my situation, and extricated me 

 with his staff. 



Toward the end of the month I arrived at Korsakovsk, making 

 the last hundred versts (sixty-seven miles) on horseback. Originally 

 I intended to return from this point along the west coast of the island ; 

 but this proved to be impossible, since there is no means of communi- 

 cation in winter. For this reason I had to return northward the 

 same way that I came, and had to travel as rapidly as possible in 

 order to reach Nikolayevsk in time, for by the end of March it be- 

 comes impossible to cross the ice between the island and the main- 

 land. Therefore I returned with all possible speed; working and 

 collecting, however, whenever opportunity offered. 



On March 2 1 Dr. Laufer crossed to the mainland in order to 

 take up his studies of the Gold, a Tungus tribe. He reached 

 Khabarovsk on March 25. Since a considerable number of Gold 

 are located at that point he settled there and carried on his 

 investigations among the natives. By the end of May, naviga- 

 tion on the Amur being reopened, he started on a boat journey 

 down the river, visiting villages of the Gold, and farther down 

 those of the Gilyak. After reaching Nikolayevsk, he paid a visit 

 to the Gold tribes on the Amgun River; and finally rettirned to 

 Vladivostok. On October ig, 1899, Dr. Laufer started home, 

 and after spending some time in Japan, reached New York early 

 in 1900. Mr. Fowke had left Vladivostok a little earlier, and 

 reached New York in the fall of 1899. 



The plans for the work in the arctic part of Siberia were 

 elaborated with the assistance of the Imperial Academy of Sci- 

 ences of St. Petersburg. Professor \V. Radloff, director of the 

 Ethnographical Museum and a member of the Academy, sug- 

 gested that the work be intrusted to Messrs. Waldemar Jochelson 

 and Waldemar Bogoras, who had for several years carried on 

 important studies in Siberia under the auspices of the Imperial 

 Geographical Society. In the summer of 1898 Professor Boas 

 visited Europe, and, after consultation with Professor Radloff, 

 had a number of conferences with Mr. Jochelson, in wliicli the 



98 



