22 SLEDGING TO UST-ZYLMA 



of the snow, we might have accomplished the journey 

 in much shorter time. As it was, we took three days 

 and three nights to reach Mezen. We stopped one 

 day and two nights in this, the frontier town of Siberia in 

 Europe ; and the remainder of the journey occupied five 

 days and four nights. A fortnight later the snow became 

 impassable, the winter road was broken up, the horses at 

 the stations in the uninhabited portions of the country, a 

 distance of 250 versts, were sent home, and for two 

 months the valley of the Petchora was as effectually cut 

 off from all communication with civilised Europe as if it 

 had been in the moon. The last 150 miles had become a 

 series of uninhabited, impassable swamps, across which no 

 letter, nor messenger, nor telegram, ever came. The 

 postal service was suspended until the floods in the river 

 caused by the sudden melting of the snow had sufficiently 

 subsided to make it possible to row against stream. 

 The summer route from Mezen to Ust-Zylma is up the 

 Mezen River to its junction with the Peza, up that river 

 to its source, across the watershed, a porterage of sixteen 

 versts, by horses, to the source of the Zylma, and then 

 down that river to the Petchora. 



We left Archangel on a Tuesday evening, in two 

 sledges or pavoskas ; Har vie- Brown and I, with part of 

 the luggage in one, drawn by three horses, and Piottuch 

 with the remainder of the luggage in the other, drawn 

 by two horses. That night and the whole of the follow- 

 ing day were warm, the thermometer standing at 44 in 

 the shade. In the sun it once went up to 70. The 

 wind was south-west, and in our inexperience we began 

 to fear that summer would be upon us before we reached 

 the Petchora. Our progress was slow, and at this time, 

 including stoppages, we did not average much more than 

 seven miles an hour. On Wednesday night we had a 



