THE GOOSING 245 



Ni-arr-way would come up and stand proudly over it 

 with his tail moving slowly, and very stiff, as big dogs 

 are to a puppy. Then the little fox would lie over 

 on its back and mew in a deprecatory way. Besides 

 this it made two other sounds — a little snarling grunt for 

 human beings, and the regular night-cry of the fox, not 

 unlike the noise of a bantam who has just laid an egg. 



July 21 st. — I have not properly described the ' yier- 

 serk.' It really consists of nothing better than some 

 coloured cotton stuffs, obtained from the Russians in 

 exchange for skins, and stretched over a frame of 

 roueh sticks. The wretched contrivance is far from 

 waterproof. And as we had rain nearly all night, my 

 poor friends were by the morning in a most deplorable 

 plight. As for myself, I was comparatively comfortable 

 under my boat, and during the night made more than 

 one little journey round, listening to the cries of the 

 foxes, and gathering mosses and plants. Finally, as 

 the rain came on in torrents at about half-past eight, 

 I turned in and went to sleep. About mid -day the 

 rain lessened a bit, though the wind blew very strongly 

 from the north-east. Then some of the men crept 

 round a little, looking very miserable. It was useless, 

 said Uano, to go to the goose -catching, for the boats 

 could do no good with the wind from that quarter ; and 

 that there it might remain for several days. I knew 

 from experience that this was true. 



