1 66 TRAVELS OF A NATURALIST 



birds. He told us that on the Urus Keaka we can 

 catch twenty in a day if we take one of these as a 

 decoy bird. 

 We worked at home all day, skinning, labelling, etc. 



July 10. 



On Wednesday, the 10th of July, we also worked at 

 home, finishing the Crane we began yesterday, and 

 skeletonising another which has come in. We also 

 packed traps for our trip to Cholmogory, where we 

 intend to stay a week or ten days to work the neigh- 

 bouring country. Mr. Hollo has kindly given us letters 

 to Cholmogory and to its Governor, from whom we hope 

 to receive a paper to the same effect as that we have 

 from the Governor here, which will ensure assistance 

 from the peasants. We propose to start early to-morrow 

 morning in our own boat, instead of taking the river 

 steamboat, should the wind be fair. 



July 11. 



On Thursday, the llth of July, we left a little after 

 twelve midnight, and got aboard the steamboat at 

 1 a.m. There was a marriage party aboard. Our boat 

 was towed behind, our men steering and sleeping time 

 about. We were told we should reach Cholmogory 

 in three or four hours, but it was half-past nine when we 

 got off the steamboat into our own boat and proceeded in 

 her up a side branch of the Dvina. We were much 

 delayed by our men not knowing the channels, and con- 

 sequently being much bothered with sand-bars, and 

 having to be constantly poling or wading and pushing. 



On the way we twice saw Cranes, first two and then 

 five, firing at them with bullets without success, as the 

 range was rather long for smooth-bores. 



It was half-past eight at night when we arrived at 



