C^chi'One's Journey to the fr 



baWy to tliL'ir late want of pciU;stn;m 

 exirci.^e. 'J'lu; ^l^^lo^^ iii;f day wo 

 crossed i)uiiiero4i8 elcvati'il lukos, ami 

 then over mouiitaijis and a well-wooded 

 couiitij. On our way we I'c-ll in with a. 

 <:aravan of eleven nai ti.s IVoni t!ie town 

 Cliutolii liound loT^gil, We continued 

 until wo readied an elevated de.sei t of 

 ten miles Ion;;, vvliicli we crossed in a 

 nonlinual :^lorin of wind and snow, 

 callc-*! in lliis eonnlry/xir^a; vvc halted 

 in a inis('r:ibie place, having coinu 

 ^bout tliirty miles. I can liardly 

 inia;;ine lio>v (lie poor d(i;;s found llieir 

 yvay, or liow liiey managed to dra;; us 

 alonj;. Tlieie uio times when llicso 

 pursi^as aie so liemendous that moun- 

 tains of snow aie levelled, immense 

 ^alle^s filled, wiiirlj>ools forujed of 

 xnow, not only siojipin;; the further 

 |.)ro;;rexs of llie Iravellor, but absolutely 

 Imryiu;; liim and Jiis dn^s; nothin<;' can 

 exceed the devastation, or be compared 

 to ii, but the eJIeels of the wind oil 

 sandy deserts or mount. i ins. I have 

 known instances of people detained lor 

 twenty or thirty days in this trenii ndous 

 |tass, and it is seldom thul it is cro.^sed 

 without a gale. And yet all this dif- 

 ijcully and danger itii>;ht be obviated 

 Kiittply by tiie eriotion of crosses or 

 nmunis, as in the northern paits of 

 Siberia, «heie I ha\e se-^n, in tin; 

 distance <d' tliirty or hirly miles, a small 

 inuunil of earth, with a white and black 

 cbeqnered cross placed ul every one 

 liiliidred and lilty yards. 



'i'he ni;;ht was exceedin<i,iy cold, and 

 tlie snow and wind prevented oin- even 

 Oiijyjin^ the luxury of a cup ol' tea, lor 

 no tire could be li>;hted. Crossiii};; a 

 second toumlra, desert, of seven miles 

 wide, with intinite labour to the dogs 

 :i!i well as ourselves, we entered upon 

 a most It :i;;nilieent country. Lofty, 

 htrai;;ht, and slont tirs linc<l tlu; ri;;ht 

 of the valley, while the dwarfish larch, 

 aiid alder, mixed with birch, stood upon 

 the left in ail their bandied and crooked 

 slia|ies. 'i'he conliast was extremely 

 |ilcasin^ as we glided alon;; (l^; niilky 

 vulleys at a rapid rate. Innnedialely 

 iijjon clearing the desert the snow and 

 wind ceased, and we bailed tiie return 

 of fine cold weather. Mot Ion;; after 

 wc overtoijk a caravan of narles in 

 ;creat distress, hu\in;; been detained 

 ten days m the monntains by the 

 v\'ealher. 'i'he dogs bad been wilhout 

 food I'or three days, and vvt^ie evidently 

 in the laKl Mta;;e. In the early part of 

 the evcnirg we reached the Yehjl ka 

 river, whiili nnih.'s nut fur hence v\ith 



ozen Sea and Kamtchulku. 



(Ji?9 



the Kamtrhulka, runnin;; in a pic- 

 turesque manner linough the couutiy. 

 At seven we reached the ostro;; tit' 

 Yclofka, fortunate in lia\iti;^ crossed 

 the mountains so safely. 



K.VirrCH VTKA. 



The principal riches of Kanitchatka 

 may be said to consist in the animals 

 of the chase, of which there are so pio- 

 di;iious a number, that there are ni»t 

 snili(!ient inhabitants to take tlieiu.- 

 'i'he most valuable are foxes of various 

 colours, a lew sea and more river ottei>, 

 with an immense number of sables. 

 Bears, wohes, rein-deer, and moun- 

 tain-sheep, and sontetimesa tew Ijnxcs, 

 are also to be found. 'I'he number of 

 skins annually exptirted and consumed 

 in the peniiisula is about thirty thousand, 

 of which sables and foxes hjrni the 

 principal part. 'I'iie sables are consi- 

 dered at once the warmest and tin; 

 coarses' known; the foxes, liov\cver, 

 especially the liery red, are of the iinest 

 .species. Next to these furs, the dofts 

 of Kaintchatka may be considered a;} 

 forming a };reat pait <if their riches, 

 'i'hese faithini and useful auinnds uiu 

 employed to transport lish, supply lh«i 

 house with water, the cattle with hay, — . 

 in short, to do all the woik that horses 

 perionn in England. They are fed us 

 ciicumstanees may <lictate, bein;; 

 always left to siiilt for themselves from 

 June to October. They are of a comso 

 appearance, in siiape resemhlin;; a 

 Common house-d'><j;, but endued with 

 ;;rcat sa;;acity, and it is lo be rejjrelleii 

 that they aie not lelicved a little by thj 

 iinpurlation of horses. 



Tlie whole Kamtchatdale po|mlalioil 

 does not excicd, male and female, two 

 thousand seven hundred and sixty, 

 wiiile their decs amount to (wo 

 thousand two huiKiied and ei;;ht. Tiie 

 number of ilnssians is one ihuusand 

 two hunilred and sixi}. The inha- 

 bitants iioith of T>;iil and Nishncy 

 Kamtehatks, are four hundred and 

 ninety-eiirht, while in the Koriak 

 villa;;es there are one hundred souls; 

 niakin;; a pojinlation of four thousand 

 live bundled and se\etity-lour, men, 

 women, and children, Kussi:ms, Kamt- 

 chaldaies, and Koriaks. Whether tin; 

 oriL;iual pojiulation has not de<;ieasod 

 in ii surprLsin;; decree is a (pie.sticm I 

 shall not answer, farther than b) lemiud- 

 itii; my readeisthat at the discovery of 

 Kamtclialka, we are told in the Russian 

 history, that no less than one hundred 

 and sixteen villa;;es were on the banks 

 of the ri\er i'.unilchiilka. The smali- 



po.'.. 



