A SUMMER ON THE YENESEI 63 



to fall out of a tree, but it was certainly a wonder that 

 he did not upset us all into the river. Then he shouted 

 for a barrel to be brought, and when it came, he insisted 

 that it should be placed in the stern, and that he and 

 I should sit upon it back to back. It was flattering 

 to me, no doubt, but I should have liked to have had 

 more than a small fifth of the diameter of the barrel for 

 a seat, especially as the boat was bobbing about in a 

 disconcerting manner ! 



The distance between the steamer and the island 

 was not more than a verst, but it took us nearly an hour 

 and a half to cover it. A long tongue of current swept 

 out of the Golchika River into the Yenesei. Lumps of 

 ice and pieces of driftwood were floating about in it, and 

 the water was very choppy. At any time it would have 

 been difficult to cross it. In our case it was impossible, 

 because Prokopchuk was much too drunk to steer straight, 

 and consequently we meandered aimlessly about the 

 river. A big raw-boned woman in a sad-coloured shawl 

 crouched on the bottom of the boat and shouted exhor- 

 tations and reproaches. We supposed that she must be 

 one of the two wives. Of the two men at the oars, one 

 was an ordinary little Siberiak in a shuha, but the other, 

 whom I took for a servant, was of a diff'erent type. His 

 size would have made him remarkable anywhere : here, 

 among the little spindle-shanked natives, and stunted 

 fisher-folk, he seemed gigantic, for he was not only tall, 

 but also finely proportioned. He wore no cap, and his 

 thick, curly hair, which was blown out round his head 

 like a halo, seemed to add to his height. He did most 

 of the work of pulling the clumsy boat along ; but he 



