132 Mr. S. A. Buturlin on the 



consists of a liberal admixture of lakes, lagoons, chaunels, 

 rivulets (" viska "), swamps, moors, and damp ground of 

 every description, with dry places only at intervals. The 

 southern part of this delta, some one-third — or even less — 

 of the whole, is covered by forests ; the other parts stretch 

 beyond the northern limit of the forests, but are for the 

 most part covered by extremely dense and well-grown bushes 

 of Alnus incana (ordinarily 5 to 10 feet high, but occasion- 

 ally reaching a height of 15 feet with a thickness of from 

 5 to 6 inches) and by various species of Salix. The traveller 

 must go some twenty kilometres from the main channels of 

 the great river, and then perhaps two or three kilometres 

 from the rivulet or " viska " along which he is advancing, 

 to find a little piece of true " tundra/' such as I have seen 

 on Kolguev Island, with lichens covering the ground, tiny 

 bushes of Betula nana and different Salices studded over the 

 drier spots, and mosses and Carices clothing the damp 

 portions. 



As to climatic conditions, I crossed and re-crossed the 

 delta by means of dogs during the first half of May, when it 

 was the depth of winter from an European point of view ; 

 heavy snowstorms then occurred daily and lasted all day 

 long, while the thermometer stood at 20° Celsius below the 

 freezing-point in the daytime and 30° in the night. Towards 

 the middle of May the weather became somewhat better, 

 and the snow melted at midday (freezing again, of course, in 

 the shade) , so that on the southern slopes and sandy islands 

 the soil made its appearance. At this time the first 

 specimens of Geese [Anser serrirostris, A. gambeli, and 

 in smaller numbers A. rhodorhynchus) and even Swans 

 (Cygnus beivicki) made their appearance, migrating down 

 the river; while about May the 20th small parties of them 

 passed. Linota exilipes, Plectrophenax nivalis, Corvus orien- 

 talis, the White-tailed Eagle, and Lagopus albus (partly 

 wintering in the district) had of course long been present. 

 Then migration stopped, and snowstorms began again until 

 May the 27th. That day was fine with only some 3°-6° Cels. 

 of frost, so that the snow melted in the hot sun, and on this 



