178 A SUMMER ON THE YENESEI 



half a dozen of the brutes straddled their bloodthirsty 

 probosces into his neck. It is only fair, however, to say 

 that it was an unusually cold season, and this may 

 have accounted for the moderation of their attacks. 



A good deal of misconception prevails in England 

 about the climate of Siberia, and if I had been guided 

 by my friends, I should have gone out equipped as for 

 arctic exploration. Of course, in winter the cold is 

 severe, and in June and September it is often very 

 chilly, but during July and August the weather is 

 generally fair, and although never so warm as, for 

 example, a Scottish summer, yet there is plenty of 

 sunshine. A northerly or easterly wind is generally 

 cold, but in winter the Golchikans say that the southerly 

 gales are the most severe. All the inhabitants had 

 something to say of the j^ourga. Sylkin, in particular, 

 was full of tales of this terrible blizzard of the tundra. 

 One night he and another man were returning from 

 Veronsova, a fishing station some four or five versts 

 south of Golchika. On the way they were overtaken 

 by the storm, and utterly lost their bearings. After 

 wandering about the tundra for some time, Sylkin 

 stumbled into a Samoyede cemetery, and realised that 

 instead of reaching Golchika, they were now about 

 three versts higher up the river. He scraped a hole 

 in the snow, and shouted to his companion to do 

 likewise. The storm lasted until the following day, 

 and when Sylkin rose from his lair, he found himself 

 alone. The other had not heard the call, and had 

 wandered on into the blizzard alone. His body was 

 never found. Michael Petrovitch had a yet more 



