CHAP. x. DUCK SHOOTING. 105 



there were many ugly-looking places in the ice which had to 

 be avoided. On arriving we dismissed our yemschiks, who 

 returned to Ust-Zylma with orders to come with five sledges 

 to fetch our whole party back on the following day at noon. 



The shooting-ground was a flat piece of country, lying 

 betweeen the Petchora and the Zylma. It bore traces of its 

 annual submersion for a week or two under the waters of 

 the great river when it breaks up. The larger part was 

 covered with a forest of birch, willow, and alder ; many of 

 the trees were dead, no doubt all life drowned out of them ; 

 and, all around, driftwood was scattered or accumulated in 

 piles. 



It was heavy work walking in these woods, or rather 

 wading through the water and snow in them. Every now 

 and then we came to a lake or an open swamp, or found our- 

 selves on the banks of a " kooria " or creek where the snow 

 had melted, and the walking was easier. Few or no trees 

 grew by the side of these koorias ; the banks of the Zylma 

 also were bare ; the forests near the Petchora being shaved 

 off by the ice that sometimes mows down the stoutest trees 

 as a man mows grass with a scythe. On the low ground 

 between the Zylma and the forest land, pollard willows grew, 

 many of which were knocked down by the floating blocks 

 of ice. 



It would be impossible to estimate the number of ducks 

 we saw. They seemed to fly over us by hundreds and 

 thousands. Small and large flocks continually passed us on 

 the wing. In the evening the shores of the Zylma and a 

 piece of open water opposite were almost black with them ; 



