I 93-] Allen, Mammals from Northeast Siberia. Ill 



strong winds blow almost continually from the northeast and 

 the southwest and pile the snow in huge drifts wherever there 

 is any obstruction. Further inland, away from the seacoast, 

 the winds are not so frequent and the winter weather is 

 pleasanter. There is much overcast and foggy weather, yet 

 the annual precipitation probably does not exceed eighteen 

 or twenty inches, which is quite equally distributed through- 

 out the year, July and August being the dry est months. The 

 temperature at Gichiga ranges from 80 F. to 40 F. or more, 

 the warmest weather occurring in August and the coldest in 

 January. As soon as winter sets in the people tie up their 

 dogs, repair their sledges, and make everything ready for the 

 long cold season, which is really their most active one, and 

 from this time on until the snow disappears in the latter part 

 of May, they travel almost continually, going in all directions, 

 visiting the Tungus and Koryak lagers and Russian settle- 

 ments, engaging in trade for themselves or the merchants. 

 The abundance of fish enables every man to keep from ten to 

 sixty dogs. Ten to sixteen constitute a team, although twelve 

 is the usual number. They are hitched in pairs to a long line 

 attached to the sledge, and are trained to drive by word. All 

 of the native Russians are very expert in handling these teams 

 and are the most accomplished travellers on the road that I 

 have ever met in the ' high north. ' A good team, with a moder- 

 ate load, will cover from six to ten miles per hour and is cap- 

 able of travelling continuously, when necessary, forty-eight 

 hours without food. Satisfactory travelling in the north is 

 limited to the winter months, as the country in the summer, 

 owing to the vast extent of boggy tundra and numerous lakes 

 and rivers, is almost impassable for horses. Mr. Jochelson was 

 seventeen days in September in going with horses from 

 Gichiga to Parane, and later I made the same trip with dogs 

 in thirty hours of continuous travel. 



From the time the migratory birds left in the fall until 

 their return there was comparatively little to be accom- 

 plished, especially in such a long-settled, thoroughly travelled, 

 and barren country as that section of Siberia, where there are 

 no large wild mammals and few active small ones, and only a 



