466 TRAVELS OF A NATURALIST 



Bolshai Feodor whines out, ' Parahot neat marskeerum, 

 Feodor, Gavriel propal, neat schaffum ' (' Steamer not 

 arriving, Feodor and Gavriel will die, nothing to eat '). 



I quite lose temper with the lazy, good-for-nothing 

 fellow, and say, ' Da, Feodor propal, neat drogoi choloveJc 

 propal; neat rowbottom, neat scliaffum, Feodor' ('Yes, 

 Feodor may die, but none of the other men will die ; 

 unless Feodor works he cannot eat'), and turned angrily 

 away. 



He scarcely does a hand's turn, and as it afterwards 

 turned out Piottuch had asked him to go on the search 

 for the Geese, and he had refused. He had eaten enough, 

 too, for any three men ; and he and Gavriel loaf about 

 and don't do half their share of work, but whine and say, 

 ' Hospodee, Hospodee di khlaib ' ; but do nothing to help 

 themselves or their masters or their fellow- workers. We 

 had an opportunity of showing our disapprobation later. 



Piottuch and the other men came in triumphantly 

 bearing on their shoulders eleven old geese and four 

 goslings, and we lost no opportunity of praising them 

 and showing oar disgust at the others' selfishness, 

 greediness, and laziness. 



July 29. 



It was 4 a.m. on Thursday, the 29th of July, when 

 Piottuch and the men returned. After a persevering 

 search they had met with a party of about fifty geese and 

 secured altogether seventeen, old and young. Only one 

 of the old birds was able to fly, but they had a long and 

 tiring chase. Piottuch said that if Bolshai Feodor or 

 another man had accompanied them, they might have 

 secured more than double the quantity. 



Seebohm and I judged it better in the morning upon 

 which we all started, that we should take different direc- 

 tions, thus increasing our chances of getting food, and we 

 believe it was the wisest plan, all things considered ; 



