NATIVE HUNTERS' REPORT 



57 



the size of a big sheep, which they called iinan. We 

 thought, according to their description, that it must be 

 a kind of serow, as its horns, they said, were not very 

 long. Musk-deer are also common. We promised 

 on parting to return in August, and employ them tor 

 the expedition ; unfortunately the Boxer War, which 

 broke out soon afterwards, altered our plans, the coun- 

 try being scoured by stray bands of Chinese brigands, 

 whose presence involved danger even to the most 

 peaceful of foreigners. On the following day, June 

 12, at two p.m., we were in sight of Khabarovsk, 

 the chief town of the Amur district. The river is 

 over three-quarters of a mile broad at its junction 

 with the Ussuri. The town is situated on a hill over- 

 looking the river, and the statue of Count Mouravieff, 



THE AMUR KIVEK 



