VIII.] ARRIVAL AT UST KAMSGHATKA. 181 



able day. We had not dug the trenches round our camp un- 

 necessarily ; the rain was coming down in torrents with a bitter 

 wind, and we deferred our start till nearly noon. After four 

 hours' paddling, the river, wdiich here averages from twelve to 

 fourteen hundred yards in breadth, widens still further opposite 

 to the entrance of the arm leading to the Nerpitchi Lake, and 

 sweeps round sharply to the south. Just beyond lies the village 

 of Ust Kamschatka, in the dreariest situation it is possible to 

 conceive; and here, cold and tired, we pulled up at 5 p.m. and 

 established ourselves in a comfortable little hut belonging to Mr. 

 Phillippeus, the fur-trader. Our journey w^as practically at an end, 

 for we were but four miles distant from the bar at the mouth of 

 the river. 



A small look-out tower is built a little to the south of the 

 village, and we at once ascended it to see if there were any signs 

 of the Marcheso.. iSTothing was to be seen at first, but before long 

 we made her out approaching from the south ; and thus, after an 

 absence of a month, we had hit off the time of meeting with an 

 exactness as curious as it was fortunate. We were anxious to get 

 off without delay, and the captain of the Nemo, with whom we 

 had made acquaintance, offered to take us. We were soon afloat 

 in his whaler, which was manned by a Japanese crew, and with 

 the oars double-banked, we got over the water at a pace that was 

 somewhat different to that to which we had been accustomed on 

 the rafts. As we neared the river's mouth the thunder of the 

 surf was not reassuring, and we landed to reconnoitre on the left 

 bank, where the river, making a sharp turn before debouching into 

 the sea, runs close to and parallel with the beach. Our men, who 

 had preceded us with the baggage, had made a large fire of drift- 

 wood, of which we were glad enough to take advantage, for our 

 teeth were chattering with the cold, and the rain had recommenced. 

 But what we could see of the bar through the darkness was not 

 such as to induce us willingly to attempt it, and we at once 

 decided to return. 



