A SUMMER ON THE YENESEI 235 



The people of Swerifskye said that it was only 

 eleven versts to Och Marino, but from the time that it 

 took us to cover the distance, and the measurements of 

 the map, it seemed a good deal more like twenty. 

 Neither the natives nor the Siberiaks have any idea of 

 distance. If they tell you that it is ten versts to a 

 given point, it may just as well be five or fifteen. They 

 are as vague about distance as they are about time, 

 neither of which are of any account in their immense 

 country. Several times we had to wait for Hachenkoff, 

 who was in a sad state of collapse. He plodded along 

 before us, with Nill, who guarded him like a detective, 

 striding behind. 



When we were half-way to our destination, we met 

 a search-party that had come out to look for our 

 prisoner. Such a pitiful search-party, trudging wearily 

 over the sand ! It was the poor young woman from 

 Och Marino with her baby. For two weeks she had 

 waited, hoping each day that the man would return 

 to her, and at last, in despair, she had started out by 

 herself to walk over to Swerifskye and drag him away 

 from his boon companions. Her only friend was a little 

 Yurak girl, who helped her to carry the baby. When 

 Hachenkoff saw the two forlorn little figures hastening 

 over the waste to meet us, he had the grace to hang his 

 head, while the poor girl burst into hysterical tears of 

 anger and relief. We left Madame Antonoff to make 

 peace as well as she could, and walked on towards the 

 house. When we had visited it before, the surrounding 

 swamps had been impassable with snow, but now the 

 grass grew green and luxuriantly round the pools, and 



