VIII.] THE GREAT VOLCANOES. 165 



a march of two or three days' duration, and the traveller, strikmg 

 the upper waters of the Tigil, reaches his destination hy canoe. 



At or about Kristovsky the Kanischatka, whose du-ection, 

 roughly speaking, has been due north, bends suddenly to the east, 

 and circles round the base of the stupendous volcanoes that guard 

 its mouth. The aspect of the peaks alters considerably. Were 

 not such a thing almost impossible, one would say that the scenery 

 had increased in its sublime magnificence. Uskovska, Kojerevska, 

 and Kluchi alone are visible, and of the two latter it is hard to say 

 which is the finer. Kluchi is, and had been from every point 

 from which we had hitherto beheld it, a cone of absolutely perfect 

 shape, and Kojerevska is but little less regular in its outline. 

 Now, as we advanced, the base of the latter was hidden in dense 

 cloud, but its summit — a peak of extreme sharpness — stood out bare 

 against the sky, the northern face a vertical wall of black rock on 

 which no snow could rest. The river here is much increased in 

 size, and is from three to four hundred yards broad. The depth is 

 very uncertain, varying from a mere shallow intersected w4th 

 deeper channels to twenty feet or more. 



A few versts above the village of Kluchi four canoes pushed 

 out from the banks and joined our party. Fully one-half of their 

 occupants were women, who seemed to use the paddle with as 

 great dexterity as the men. The boats were laden almost to the 

 gunw^ale with the Kisuchi salmon, almost all of which were in 

 good condition, though some had the peculiar rounded snout 

 developed to a most extraordinary extent. One of the women — a 

 most repulsive-looking creature — was dressed in man's clothes, but 

 another had distinct pretensions to good looks, and ranging her 

 canoe alongside, was soon deep in a flirtation with Afanasi, of whose 

 reputation as a lady-killer we had all heard. The sun was setting 

 as we rounded a corner, and came in sight of the village, its smoke 

 hanging as a blue haze in the still evening air. To our left the 

 Harchinska Mountains, furrowed with deep gorges, looked almost 

 black against the amlier skv. The huge cone of Kluchi caught the 



