vii.] QUARRELS WITH THE NATIVES. 151 



expected to find here, is not situated on the Kamschatka, but upon 

 a tributary stream which joins the main river some forty versts 

 lower down. There is a short cut overland, however, and we 

 settled to camp and despatch Jacof Ivanovitch to the village at 

 daybreak on the following morning for a fresh relay of men. 

 Close to the camp we shot a large blue hare, the pats of which 

 were very much developed, and clothed with the thickest fur. 

 This, curiously enough, w^as the only one we met with during the 

 whole journey. The sunset was strikingly beautiful. The eastern 

 sky was a deep purple, and the snowy peaks so bright a rose-colour, 

 that no painter would have dared to transfer them to canvas. But 

 the appearance of the weather was unmistakeable, and we set to 

 work at once to dig deep trenches round the tents in anticipation 

 of the coming rain. 



The morning broke as we had foreseen. The wind had shifted 

 to the south, and the rain descended with a steadiness that boded 

 a long continuance. The dull leaden sky reminded us of our 

 native land, and the heavy mist seemed to render even the inside 

 of the tents almost as wet and chilly as the sopping grass without. 

 The natives had retired to their tent, and Verglaski alone, slow and 

 imperturbable as ever, seemed unaffected by the weather. Jacof 

 had started early for Tolbatchik, and there was nothing to be done 

 until his return. We went in search of birds, either for preserva- 

 tion or the pot, but hardly a living creature was to be seen, and a 

 hobby, an owl {Surnia ulula), and a small thrush {T. fuscatus, Gm.) 

 were the only specimens we obtained. The afternoon, however, 

 was relieved from dulness by our natives, though in a manner that 

 was anything but agTeeable, for we found ourselves involved in a 

 renewal of the endless wranglings and discussions of which we had 

 already had more than enough. The Mashura men applied for 

 their money, stating that they wanted to return. Four of them 

 had gone back at Tschappina, but the other four had come on with 

 us, and to these we tendered a sum exactly proportionate to that 

 they had already received for the first part of their journey. This, 



