OUR WINTER QUARTERS 295 



Kureika, at the entrance of a small gully, into which 

 it was the captain's intention to take his ship as soon 

 as the water rose high enough to admit of his doing 

 so, and where he hoped to w r ait in safety the passing 

 away of the ice. On one side of the ship was the steep 

 bank of the river, about a hundred feet in height, covered 

 with snow, except here and there, where it was too 



DOLGAX BELT AND TRAPPINGS 



perpendicular for the snow to lie. On the top of the 

 bank was the house of a Russian peasant-merchant, 

 with stores and farm- buildings adjacent, and a bath- 

 house occupied by an old man who earned a living by 

 making casks. One of the rooms in the house was 

 occupied by the crew of the Thames during the winter. 

 As we stood at the door of this house on the brow of 

 the hill, we looked down on to the "crow's-nest" of 

 the Thames. To the left the Kureika, a mile wide, 

 stretched away some four or five miles, until a sudden 

 bend concealed it from view, whilst to the right the 



