A SUMMER ON THE YENESEI 3 



never can tell what you might find there, said the wise 

 men. Wherein doubtless lies much of the romance 

 of the region. Therefore I considered myself very 

 fortunate, when, in the spring of 1914, an opportunity 

 of visiting the country unexpectedly presented itself. 

 Miss Czaplicka, the well-known Polish anthropologist 

 of Oxford University, was about to travel down the 

 river from Krasnoyarsk to Golchika in order to study 

 the native tribes that live along the banks, and I 

 gladly accepted the offer to join her expedition. 



There were four of us who travelled east together. 

 Tireless energy and a most winning address, even apart 

 from her intellectual gifts and knowledge of the world, 

 marked Miss Czaplicka's striking personality. Then 

 there was Miss Dora Curtis, an artist. A better 

 comrade for such a journey it would be impossible to 

 find. Always in good spirits, and keen for either work 

 or play, always the very soul of good nature and 

 kindness, she was the life of the party, and later on 

 contributed much to its material as well as to its 

 mental well-being, as one who has had the good fortune 

 to taste her cookery can testify. The third of my 

 travelling companions was an American gentleman, 

 Mr. H. U. Hall, who was interested in the aborigines of 

 Siberia. 



Miss Curtis, Mr. Hall and I left London on 28th 

 May — a still spring day with a promise of rain — and 

 travelling by Flushing and Berlin, we reached Warsaw 

 forty-eight hours later. Here we spent a few hours in 

 seeing the sights of the ancient city. Fine as they 

 were, we should have looked upon them with tenfold 



