70 A SUMMER ON THE YENESEI 



Protyvik had kept late hours. When at length the older 

 members of the family had gone to bed, the little 

 Protyviks had awakened up, and played hide-and-seek 

 about the room, until, in despair, Mr. Hall had risen and 

 left the house. 



After breakfast I went out to explore the island. 

 All that I previously knew of Golchika was from the 

 little vignette in Seebohm's book, and it was very 

 interesting to try and trace the resemblance ; but it 

 was not until I had been for some time in the place 

 that I found the point from which this picture had 

 evidently been made. 



The island of Golchika, which is really the delta of 

 the Golchika River, is a flat swamp about a verst in 

 diameter. It stands upon natural piles, for, since 

 countless ages, the Yenesei has carried down timber 

 from the forests and stranded them on the mud. 

 Then the Golchika has in its turn brought down soil 

 from the tundra and buried the tree-trunks ; and so, 

 built alternately of layers of wood and layers of earth, 

 an island has gradually been formed. On one side 

 flows the Yenesei, and the other two sides are bounded 

 by the two mouths of the Golchika. At this time the 

 place was all under snow. Deep drifts, besmirched 

 with refuse and trampled upon by the pack of dogs, 

 lay waist deep round the house, and the surrounding 

 marshes were still white, spangled only here and there 

 by icy pools. It was impossible to walk a yard without 

 plunging almost over one's boots in the half-melted 

 sludge. The AntonofFs' house stood about a hundred 

 yards back from the river-bank. A path led from the 



