ARCHANGEL 133 



made they would be forwarded, if all were found correct. 

 On further inquiries we were unable to obtain permission 

 from the Russian Legation in London to take more than 

 one gun each, and when we arrived at Archangel we 

 found we had not only to pay 18 roubles (2 10s.) for our 

 guns and ammunition, charged by weight, but that they 

 were detained a whole fortnight at the Custom House. 



We learnt that cartridges could be procured at St. Peters- 

 bourg, but not so good as English ones. We were advised 

 to take in as much good powder and caps as we could, as 

 German stuff is bad and made to sell ; we were also to 

 take dust shot. Each person is allowed to take in 1 Ib. 

 of powder. Mr. Rennie, of Dundee, told us that Russian 

 powder is not bad now. (It is as big as marbles at 

 least, any we saw was so.) English powder, and English 

 caps, may at times be bought at Solombola, but one can- 

 not trust to being able to obtain them. Piottuch bought 

 us 1 Ib., and then could get no more. 



Shot of all the useful sizes can be procured, even dust 

 shot. It is not so good as English, but answers every 

 purpose perfectly well, and most of our small birds were 

 shot with Russian small shot with our stick-guns. One 

 peasant made his own shot by pouring the lead from the 

 branch of a high tree into water beneath. 



What we took with us was 250 c.f. cartridges (No. 7 

 and 4 shot, and 25 with ball), 750 caps suitable for stick- 

 gun or loading cartridges, 6 Ibs. dust shot, 1 Ib. of Schultz 

 powder, and 1 Ib. of black powder. We found it nearly 

 sufficient, except that we could have done with more 

 No. 7 and less No. 4 shot. 



As to the physical and climatological conditions of the 

 Archangel district, we were assured that the weather is 

 generally excellent at the season at which we proposed to 

 go, cruising about the delta of the Dvina, in gipsy fashion, 

 being both easy and very pleasant and enjoyable. And 



