356 FULL SUMMER AT LAST 



the right one on the morrow. My game bag was full, 

 and if the worst came to the worst I could do as I had 

 seen the Ostiaks do. Fortunately, however, I discovered 

 that in my haste to explore new ground I had. neglected 

 to take out of my bag a pot of Liebig's extract of meat, 

 with which I had provided myself before crossing the 

 river. Sitting down on a fallen tree-trunk, I dined as 

 best I could on my solitary dish. I then walked for an 

 hour along one bank of the sheet of water without any 

 sign of its coming to an end. I doubled back, and had 

 reached the place whence I started, when I debated the 

 advisability of having a night's rest on the ground. 

 Visions of hungry bears just awakened from their winter's 

 sleep floated before my imagination, and I decided that I 

 was not tired enough to go to bed, so started to explore 

 the creek in the opposite direction. Presently I fell in 

 with an owl and chased it for some time. Other interest- 

 ing birds then claimed my attention, until in the excite- 

 ment of the chase I almost forgot that I was lost. I had 

 wandered away from the creek, and seeing a slight 

 elevation comparatively bare of trees I made for it, 

 intending to get my bearings again from the compass. 

 On reaching the place, however, I was surprised and 

 delighted to find the river within sight. Arriving at the 

 bank I could just discern the mouth of the Kureika on 

 the opposite shore, and by midnight I reached the 

 village, and was rowed across to our quarters loaded 

 with spoil, dead tired, and a little unnerved with my 

 adventure in the forest. When it was all over, I found 

 that I had been more frightened than I suspected at the 

 time. How I got right at last still remains a mystery 

 to me. 



Migration was still going on. As we crossed the 

 river in the small hours of the morning, flocks of ducks 



