334 ICE-BOUND ON KOLGUEV 



skins for tea, snuff, stuffs, and the girdles, or rather 

 garters, called "poi-ess," made of woven crimson wool.' 



August $oth. — Yesterday's gale raged all night, and 

 the rain fell in torrents. It really beat us. The whole 

 tent was flooded. It is useless to dig a trench round 

 these Whymper tents, because the rain comes clean 

 through the canvas of the walls. So we moved up into 

 the empty isba, which belonged to Alexis, Alexander's 

 cousin. Here I spent three or four hours in plugging 

 up the cracks, and greased a bit of paper, with which I 

 covered up the open window hole. I did not seem to feel 

 the wet and cold, but Hyland complained always, feeling- 

 pains in all his joints, and was either in bed or shiver- 

 ing over the fire outside the huts, and I feared for him 

 rheumatic fever. However, we got reindeer skins and 

 made ourselves pretty comfortable in a dry corner. 



They were shooting young bucks all day, and were 

 very anxious that I should help, but after shooting three 

 I had had enough. It was poor work. They shot 

 seventy-five to-day, and the bellowing of the cows was 

 most distressing. The women slipped off the skins and 

 cut up the beasts ready for packing with remarkable 

 rapidity. 



August 31st. — Again we had rain and a gale. I was 

 out very early, long before any one else was moving. 

 Marrk drove all the herd back to the Pugrinoy last 



