A SUMMER ON THE YENESEl 49 



good situation, and had an unwonted look of comfort 

 and neatness. A couple of cows and a horse grazed 

 near, and it had some attempt at a garden beside it. 

 On inquiry we heard that this house belonged to a 

 widow woman who had set up a small store there, and 

 conducted her business with such prudence and economy 

 that she outstripped all the masculine traders of the 

 district. Judging from what we saw on the Yenesei, 

 the women of Siberia are fully a match for the men in 

 the field of commerce. One of the passengers on the 

 Oryol — a certain Madame Nerotova — was the manager 

 for a large merchant in Dudinka. She was an intelligent- 

 looking, dark-eyed woman of middle age, and as her 

 employer could neither write nor read, she had control 

 of all his business, and many thousands of roubles 

 passed through her hands annually. Whenever the 

 steamer stopped at a fishing station, she went ashore 

 to look after the interest of her firm ; and for the credit 

 of our sex we were glad to see that her fishing tenants, 

 both native and Siberian, were on the whole happier 

 and more prosperous looking than their neighbours. 



We reached Dudinka on 21st June. Although it is 

 only half the size of Monastir, this town is of some 

 importance on the Yenesei, for it is the focus of all the 

 trade and traffic of the tundra from as far east as the 

 Khatanga and Anabara Rivers. Twice a year, in spring 

 and autumn, the natives come with their reindeer to buy 

 and sell, and the merchants of Dudinka are reputed to 

 be the wealthiest in the whole country. Here we left 

 the forest behind, and the only trees were a few meagre 

 larches, not more than ten feet high. Dudinka itself 



