112 FARTHEST NORTH 



it — abaft the beam; then, too, the mainland on the south 

 side of the strait. More and more of it comes in sight — 

 it increases rapidly. All low and level land, no heights, 

 no variety, no apparent opening for the strait ahead. 

 Thence it stretches away to the north and south in a soft 

 low curve. This is the threshold of Asia's boundless 

 plains, so different from all we have been used to. 



We now glided into the strait, with its low rocky 

 shores on either side. The strata of the rocks lie end- 

 ways, and are crumpled and broken, but on the surface 

 everything is level and smooth. No one who travels 

 over the flat green plains and tundras would have any 

 idea of the mysteries and upheavals that lie hidden 

 beneath the sward. Here once upon a time were 

 mountains and valleys, now all worn away and washed 

 out. 



We looked out for Khabarova. On the north side of 

 the sound there was a mark ; a shipwrecked sloop lay 

 on the shore ; it was a Norwegian sealer. The wreck of 

 a smaller vessel lay by its side. On the south side was 

 a fiag-staff, and on it a red flag ; Khabarova must then 

 lie behind it. At last one or two buildings or shanties 

 appeared behind a promontory, and soon the whole place 

 lay exposed to view, consisting of tents and a few houses. 

 On a little jutting-out point close by us was a large red 

 building, with white door-frames, of a very homelike 

 appearance. It was indeed a Norwegian warehouse 

 which Sibiriakoff had imported from Finmarken. But 



