254 



THE POLAR WORLD. 



CHURCH AT PETBOPAVLOSK. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



KAMCHATKA. 



Climate. Fertilit}'. Luxuriant Vegetation. Fish. Sea-birds. Kamchatkan Bird-catchers. The Bay 

 of Avatscha. Petropaylosk. The Kamchatkans. Their physical and moral Qualities. The Fri- 

 tillaria Sarrana. The Muchamor. Bears. Dogs. 



r I ^HE peninsula of Kamchatka, though numbering no more than 6000 or 7000 

 -*- inhabitants, on a surface equalling Great Britain in extent, has so many 

 natural resources that it could easily maintain a far greater number. The cli- 

 mate is much more temperate and uniform than that of the interior of Siberia, 

 being neither so excessively cold in winter, nor so intensely hot in summer ; 

 and though the late and early night-frosts, with the frequent fogs and rains, 

 prevent the cultivation of corn, the humid air produces a very luxuriant herba- 

 ceous vegetation. Not only along the banks of the rivers and lakes, but in the 

 forest glades, the grass grows to a height of more than twelve feet, and many 

 of the Composite and TJmbelliferaB attain a size so colossal that the Heradlum 

 dulce and the Senecio canndbifolius not seldom overtop the rider on horseback. 

 The pasture-grounds are so excellent that the grass can generally be cut thrice 

 during the short summer, and thus a comparatively small extent of land affords 

 the winter supply for all the cattle of a hamlet. Though the cold winds pre- 

 vent the growth of trees along the coast, the more inland mountain slopes and 

 valleys are clothed with woods richly stocked with sables and squirrels. 



