232 A SHOOTING TRIP TO KAMCHATKA 



broad, flows out of it ; this is a valuable tributary of 

 the Paratunka,* for in summer it swarms with salmon, 

 which come up to spawn in the lake, and feed a 

 whole settlement through which we passed a few miles 

 beyond, witnessing" on our way an uncommonly large 

 run of krasuaia fish. 



On reaching the banks of the Paratunka, about 

 thirty yards wide at that place, with a fast current 

 and a channel ten feet deep, we found a primitive- 

 looking raft, which was punted across by our guide, 

 the weight of our baggage and swiftness of the stream 

 almost swamping us in the middle. The ponies were 

 pushed into the river and swam obediently to the 

 other side, where they were reloaded. Heavy clouds 

 had by this time gathered overhead, and the first 

 drops of a steady downpour, which was to last two 

 long clays without intermission, greeted us as we 

 crossed the small level tundra in sight of the village 

 of Kluchi. Torrents of rain had already wetted us 

 to the skin before we entered Nikolai's country house, 

 at one p.m., after a short march of twelve versts. 

 Kluchi is a small settlement, inhabited by a few 



* Dr. Guillemard, by mistake, calls that river the " Paraminka" : the 

 reason of this is evident. He had probably seen the name written down 

 in Russian, and the i/iy in the middle of the word corresponds to the 

 English //<■. 



