348 



ICE-BOUND ON KOLGUEV 



September *]th. — 'NE. Blew hard till mid-day, when 

 abated, and evening was calm. With the exception of a 

 slight abatement on Monday last we have had ten days 



of gale — not wind, but 

 gale. This has been a 

 woful day of Samoyed 

 drunkenness. It is a 

 point of honour with them 

 to drink fair. And as old 

 Yelisei was unable to 

 move from his position 

 face downwards on the 

 ground, the women turned 

 him over and poured vod- 

 ki down his throat. There 

 were, of course, comical 

 interludes, e.g., an old 

 woman crawling inch by 

 inch up the steep plank to Alexis' karbass. Sketched 

 chapel and our ombara, but the wind was biting. The 

 stielka grass is only now coming well into flower.' 



September St/i. — ' W. Quiet in a.m., rain and wind 

 p.m. Alexander's karbass has swung on to the mud ; 

 there was no water at high tide, so another good day 

 has been lost. It is very trying to see all this favourable 

 wind going by. 



' Alexis' men killed a hundred young deer to-day, 



DRESS OF THE RUSSIAN TRADERS 



