38 UST-ZYLMA 



to a gallery, which is carried round the house. Upon 

 this porch, staircase, and gallery a good deal of skill in 

 wood-carving is often expended. The winter is long, 

 and the length of time during which the cattle are stall- 

 fed so great, and the amount of land available for cultiva- 

 tion so small, that there is always a large surplus of 

 manure, which, as I have already stated, the peasants do 

 not think worth the cost of preservation. The cattle are 

 fed principally upon hay, which is cut upon the low lands 

 on the other side of the Petchora. These lands are 

 flooded every spring, and any manure placed upon them 

 would speedily be washed off: nor is it needed, as the 

 river itself is the great fertiliser in these low-lying 

 districts, exactly as the Nile is in Egypt. Of course, to 

 accumulate so much manure in the streets, the traffic 

 must be large. Long strings of sledges were often to be 

 seen drawing hay, pine logs for buildings, and smaller 

 timber for firewood. In the summer nearly every 

 peasant turns fisherman, and catches salmon and other 

 fish in the Petchora with a seine net. Neither farming 

 nor fishing seems to be very profitable. It is very easy 

 to get a living, but there is no market for surplus produce. 

 Beef fetches only i ^d. per Ib. retail. Most articles that are 

 worth the cartage, such as furs, feathers, down, frozen 

 meat, tar, and so forth, go to Pinega fair, and some are 

 even sent as far as Nishni Novgorod ; but the cost of 

 transit absorbs the profit. Now and then you meet with 

 a merchant who has accumulated a handsome fortune ; 

 but the peasants are on the whole poor, and will doubtless 

 remain so until railway communication with Moscow is 

 opened, or steamers run regularly from the mouth of the 

 Petchora, both of which projects seem at present to be 

 hopelessly improbable. The population of Ust-Zylma 

 probably does not exceed 1500 or 2000, increased in 



