TRANSACT IONS OF THE SECTIONS. 147 



prince, Iwan Teisciu. The reindeer herd of the prince had been reduced from 

 7000 in number to 700 through the rinderpest, which had caused great havoc 

 amongst these valuable animals. Continuing their voyage the}' reached Kiochat, 

 an important fishing-station ; here were seen block-houses, huts built of twigs 

 and turf, pointed tents or wigwams, called Jmns, constructed of birch-bark, nets 

 spread out to dry, fishing-tackle in great variety, and the varied people engaged 

 in the fishery — Russians, Siranes, Ostiaks, Samoiedes, with their women, children, 

 and dogs, — forming a scene of great animation in the midst of these northern 

 solitudes. The boldness of the sea-gulls amused them greatly, flying about in 

 numbers, and with hoarse screechings trying to rob the fishermen of their booty 

 out of their very nets. From Kiochat they crossed the great Obi, and entered upon 

 the tranquil waters of the small Obi, which at that season formed a perfect 

 labyrinth of channels swollen by inundation, which rendered it difficult to map 

 its course. The channels are bordered on both sides by tall willows. Here, as 

 everywhere on their river voyage, the gnats proved a terrible annoyance, owing to 

 their immense numbers and blood-thirstiness. Fishing-stations were met with on 

 the lesser Obi at tolerably regular intervals of about ten miles. On the 18th of 

 July they arrived at a station near the western mouth of the Chuya, but were 

 unable to obtain any information as to the course of the river from the natives 

 residing there. 



They continued their journey down the Obi until they reached, at Yanburri, the 

 eastern mouth of the Chuya. Yanburri is the last fishing-station on the Obi. All 

 these stations are tenanted only in the summer months, from June to the middle 

 of September. None of them are permanent, and the names marked as such on 

 maps are only misleading. Ascending the Chuya they found the banks presenting 

 the character of tundras. At a native village on the river they procured two 

 guides, one an Ostiak, the other a Samoiede, and proceeded onward to the Sort- 

 johan-jokort, or bifurcation, where they arrived on the 20th. After four days' 

 further travelling they reached Junshi, a settlement of the Ostiaks, from the head- 

 man of which, who had lived here for four years, they obtained some valuable 

 information regarding the stream. He told them the waters would soon begin 

 to subside, and that their vessel would be unable to proceed on account of the 

 shallows and sandbanks. They had not yet reached the northern limit of the 

 growth of trees ; on the contrary, the larch still flourished, and the low flat districts 

 were covered in places with an impenetrable growth of willows and alders. The 

 river itself is excessively tortuous, the bends being very numerous and so abrupt 

 that at the end of a day's journey they were not out of sight of their starting- 

 place of the morning. On the 25th the country became more hilly and the river 

 narrower and shallower, and on the following day they reached the limits of navi- 

 gation. The further journey was continued by land towards the Podarata. Trees 

 were now no longer met with, and a desolate tundra was entered upon, the sur- 

 e of which was covered with moss and the small dwarf birch. On the 80th 

 they reached the camp of an Ostiak chief, whose reindeer herd had been reduced 

 from 2000 head to 500 by the terrible rinderpest, which threatens to destroy the 

 whole of the reindeer in Northern Siberia and thus deprive the inhabitants of almost 

 their only means of subsistence. The party saw on the day of their arrival eighty 

 fine animal animals lying dead near the native huts, and thirty more died before the 

 next morning. The chief ceded nine reindeer and three sledges to enable the party 

 to continue their journey over the monotonous tundra, which was here and there 

 varied with pools and bogs, forcing them to make long detours. Animal life was 

 not very varied, the lemming, gulls of two species, the golden plover, and the ptar- 

 migan being the chief species met with. On the 2nd they sighted the waters of 

 Kara Bay, and in the evening arrived on the banks of the Podarata, which flows into 

 the bay. It had been hoped that this river woidd prove navigable for a considerable 

 distance, so that a portage of moderate length to the Chuya might only be required 

 in the expected trade-route across the isthmus ; but it was found to be too shallow 

 a stream for such a purpose. All their effurts to reach the seashore proved 

 ineffectual. From a look-out on an eminence they saw before them a vast swampy 

 plain, reaching to the sea, intersected by rivulets and bounded on the west by the 

 mountains of Sadapai. Only to the east it appeared practicable to reach the bay 



