166 A SUMMER ON THE YENESEI 



them, on the opposite mainland, the chooms of the 

 native settlement, which stuck up like a row of tiny 

 pyramids. And if this was not far enough, you might 

 climb on to the roof and look beyond the island and 

 beyond the cJiooms, right away to where of an even- 

 ing the sun went down to the wide horizon of the 

 Yenesei. 



Our hut stood close to the water's edge. Like all the 

 balagans of the country, it was built of driftwood with 

 a turfed roof, and as the chinks were all stopped with 

 moss, it was as warm and cosy as only a wooden house 

 can be. There were two rooms in the hut, each with a 

 door which opened on to the river bank. The right- 

 hand one, which was taken by Miss Czaplicka, Miss 

 Curtis, and myself, was a little the larger of the two. 

 The smaller room belonged to Mr. Hall and Vassilli. 



The wooden settles of the bathhouse had been left 

 in place, and when sheepskins and sleeping-bags were 

 spread upon them, they made luxurious bedsteads. 

 Each room had a stove. The Russian stove is a 

 notable institution — an iron box on four short legs. 

 It becomes hot in five minutes, and in half an hour 

 the room is warm. We used to do most of our cook- 

 ing over these stoves — such at least as could not be 

 done outside over an open fire. Our balagan was a 

 sumptuous one, in that each room had a good window. 

 Along our sill Miss Curtis insisted upon arranging a 

 box of matches, a bottle of Worcester sauce, and a 

 piece of soap, because she said that it made the place 

 look like a shop. That it certainly did, and confirmed 

 the people of Golchika in their belief that, in spite of 



