222 KAMSCHATKA. [chap. 



over those of the French and English, he utterly declined ! ^ Later 

 in the day the monument was unveiled ; the crews of the Russian 

 vessels being drawn up in line, and the royal salute fired. The 

 affair was wound up by a dejeuner given on board the Vestnik, and 

 some hard drinking by the Petropaulskians, which resulted in the 

 death of a Cossack next day. 



Nowhere has one a better opportunity of watching the haljits 

 of pet animals than on board ship, and on the Marchcsa, where they 

 were permitted to roam at large, causing occasionally no small 

 amount of astonishment and alarm to our visitors, they were 

 seldom out of our sight for long. On our return from New Guinea 

 the yacht was little more than a floating menagerie, — a happy 

 family of cassowaries, wild pigs, kangaroos, and a host of other 

 creatures ; but northern regions are not very productive of pets, and 

 our chief favourites at this period of the cruise were only three 

 in number, — the fur seal ; Misky, a large, but not fully adult bear 

 presented to us by the Paissian officers ; and a charming little 

 Sinhalese mongoose. The fur seal, known to the sailors as Tommy, 

 flopped about the deck with the ungainly semi-paralysed gait 

 peculiar to his species, choking and spluttering with mingled fear 

 and rage when any one approached him. Every day we lay in 

 harbour a long line was fastened to his hind flipper, to the end of 

 which a life-belt was attached, and thus buoyed he was put 

 overboard to swim about or go ashore as he pleased. His manner 

 of feeding was curious, any fish he was provided with not being 

 snapped up immediately, but played with and mouthed all over 

 for a quarter of an hour or more, when it suddenly disappeared as 

 if by magic. Poor Tommy was in a very feeble state of health 

 when he came into our possession, and his death, which took place 

 just before we left Kamschatka, was not unexpected. Though dead, 

 he yet lives — in spirit. 



^ I should mention that the Russian officers were much annoyed at this act of 

 discourtesy, and came on board to apologise for their countryman, whom they 

 described as being " only an ignorant peasant. " 



