226 A SUMMER ON THE YENESEI 



breathless walk, as much the result of laughter as 

 exhaustion. Nicolai, running on ahead, had floundered 

 through the marsh, and had given hot chase to a family 

 party of geese. The young birds, although they were 

 not yet able to fly, were strong pedestrians, and they 

 were adepts at dodging. Each time that their pursuer 

 clutched at one, the gosling doubled under his arm 

 like a football player and sprinted away in the opposite 

 direction. Ouss, who thoroughly entered into the game, 

 fastened into the pinion of an elderly gander, who was 

 running with outspread wings before his progeny. The 

 bird immediately sprang into the air, and sent the dog 

 sprawling, with a mouthful of feathers, while the 

 fluttering and cackling redoubled. In the end Nicolai 

 and Ouss between them caught two birds. The rest 

 beat them altogether, and reached the water. Here, 

 however, they had to reckon with Vassilli, who had 

 launched the canoe, and now pursued them with his 

 fowling-piece, which made almost as much noise and 

 smoke as a 45-cm. siege gun. It seemed cruel thus to 

 shoot the birds in the nesting season, but it was 

 necessary to take fresh meat back to Golchika, and 

 the surviving goslings were old enough to look 

 after themselves. All the geese that I saw at this 

 place belonged to the white-fronted species {A7iser 

 alhifrons). Between them, the Dolgans captured 

 enough birds to load a sledge, but they professed to be 

 disappointed with their bag, and said that if it had not 

 been a late season the adult geese would already have 

 been in moult, and unable to fly at all. As it was, only 

 the goslings were taken ; the old birds flew to and fro 



