P ETCH OR A 463 



I forgot to mention that I saw two more vessels loom- 

 ing high in air off Stanavoialachta or Boluanski Noss 

 on the day we got the first supposed Grey Phalaropes, 

 so there will now probably be four ships lying opposite 

 Alexievska. 



Our bread is reduced to one half loaf, and we have been 

 on rations of half a loaf among three for some days. 

 Our tea may hold out for a week, our sugar is done, 

 our cooking butter may be made to last two days, 

 our salt meat is done, and we have now to depend 

 entirely upon our guns for food. 



Our men are equally badly (indeed worse) off, for they 

 have been improvident, and instead of reserving bread 

 have always filled their bellies. 



Now Bolshai Feeder's face is less merry and his voice 

 is sad, and as he crosses himself he says half seriously 

 half jokingly, ' Hospodee di moi Jchlaib ' (' Oh God, give 

 me bread '). Therefore the Geese's movements are doubly 

 interesting to us, both as naturalists and as human 

 beings. 



Seebohm found the old grave of a Samoyede or a 

 Samoyede's child, and brought back some bones and 

 pieces of pottery from the inside of the wooden box 

 which contained apparently a child's skull, and rib bones 

 of a dog. According to the account we have received of 

 the burial, this might be the grave of a child of un- 

 christianised parents, and there is no appearance round 

 it, according to Seebohm's account, of a cross, or remains 

 of a cross. 



But it is also possible that the true grave is underneath, 

 and that the box laid on the top contains only his favourite 

 dog, drinking vessels, etc., and that the piece of a skull we 

 have is not human at all. 



If possible, we must pay another visit to this grave, 

 but we hope now for the arrival of the steamer daily. 



