£, Q me ( 





w 



2i6 A SHOOTING TRIP TO KAMCHATKA 



Moreover, at noon, the heat wa^ intense, and mos- 

 quitoes had by this time found us out, and swarmed 

 to attack our gauze nets. Being out of meat, I crept 

 back towards the youngster which 1 had despised, 

 rolling him over a rock to the bottom of the ravine, 

 where Silly was despatched to cut him up. We 

 discovered nothing else in the afternoon — not even 

 a bear — and striking one of the gullies, started home 

 thoroughly disheartened by continued failure. The 

 irdened snow of the morning had melted fast during 



with ■ 



the rc.-^ui 



^ d the streaii 



) l^>.., 1 J V <A I 



at six p.m., and decided to abandon the l........ ^..^i. . 



I hoped to retrieve my luck in the Natchiki district, 

 or make a desperate attempt along the sea-coast, and 

 a general start was agreed upon. That evening, 

 when visiting the kitchen, I found Vasska busy 

 gathering, in a dirty bit of paper, what appeared to 

 be a black powder of some kind. On my inquirx" 

 as to what it was, he explained to 

 dialect, that this was a precious medici; 

 made himself of the dried hea; ; (hese 



he had roasted and ground ' h he 



said was a sure remedy again- 'lisease; 



