TO THE HOLY HILLS 321 



strong. He had a great deal of the oracle about him 

 because he had been to St. Petersburg. 



Alexander received us in his hut, where he fed us on 

 raw salmon, raw flounder (which they had taken with their 

 nets from the creek), some milk and vodki ; and after- 

 wards with flounder cooked, cooked reindeer, rum and tea. 



We stayed long with him, and he told us many things. 

 He said that he feared his cousin Alexis was lost in 

 the ice, for he had left the Petchora in the beginning of 

 June, and had not been heard of since. 



August 2\st to 2/\.th. — Well, all these days passed 

 without any event of moment. On the first we picked a 

 tin-full of cloudberries, not ripe, but nearly so. The 

 next day Mekolka came down, and brought with him my 

 little sleigh and a complete set of miniature harness. On 

 the following day the blue fox came back for another 

 look at the geese, and finding the spot occupied sheered 

 off, and came cantering jauntily past me within ten yards. 



Aug. 2^th. — On this day it was arranged that I should 



go and visit the high mountains. Alexander, besides 



having a part share in Uano's deer, had a herd of some 



two hundred or so away in the hills near the rising of 



the Gobista river. These deer were under the charge 



of a second Marrk (not our old goosing friend) whom 



we had not yet seen. And in the course of the afternoon 



he turned up with reindeer — with two teams. 



Hyland, who was ill with a chill, was not able to get 



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