THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



After the necessary preparations liad been completed, I started 

 with Mrs. Jochelson on August 15 from Kushka, on our journey 

 across the Stanovoi Mountains to the Kolyma. I had hired twenty 

 saddle- and pack-horses from the Yakut, and was accompanied by 

 four Yakut packers, one Tungus guide, one Tungus interpreter and 

 one Yukaghir chief. 



Our journey from Kuslika, at the mouth of the Gishiga River, to 

 Verkhne-Kolymsk, on the Yassachna River, a tributary of the Kolyma, 

 took fiftj'-six days — from August 15 until October 9, 1901. We were 

 the first whites to cross the Stanovoi Mountains at this point. In 

 winter, nomadic Tungus visit this country, but in summer it is de- 

 serted by all human beings. This journey was the most difficult one 

 that it was ever my fate to undertake. Bogs, mountain torrents, 

 rocky passes and thick forests combined to hinder our progress. 

 Part of our provisions consisted of bread and dried fish. A heavy rain 

 which fell during the first few days of our journey soaked the loads of 

 the pack-horses and caused the provisions to rot. Therefore we had 

 to cut down our rations from the very beginning. After crossing the 

 passes of the Stanovoi Mountains, we reached the upper course of the 

 Korkodon River. By this time our horses were exhausted, and it was 

 necessary to take a long rest. Meanwhile the cold was increasing day 

 by day, and haste was necessary if we were to reach Verkhne-Ko- 

 lymsk before the closing of the river. Therefore I left three Yakut 

 with the horses and the goods, and prepared to descend the river on 

 a raft with the rest of my party, hoping thus to reach a camp of the 

 Yukaghir which is located on the course of the Korkodon. 



It took us one day to build a strong raft, and then we began the 

 descent of the river, made dangerous by numerous rapids and short 

 bends, by the rocky banks and by jams of driftwood. Our guides 

 had intimated that we could make the descent in two days, but in- 

 stead we spent nine days on the raft. It was my desire to leave ample 

 provisions with the three Yakut who staid with the horses, and for 

 this reason I had reduced our own allowance to the very lowest limit. 

 Thus it happened that three days' rations had to last us through the 

 nine days which we spent on the raft. For the last six days we had 

 to be satisfied with forty-five pounds of flour, or an allowance of two 

 cups a day for every person and a little tea without sugar. 



We spent four days among the Yukaghir of the Korkodon, and 

 after finishing our work and purchasing a supply of fish, we continued 

 our journey to Verkhne-Kolymsk in a boat down the Korkodon and 



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