334 ICE-BOUND ON KOLGUEV 
skins for tea, snuff, stuffs, and the girdles, or rather 
garters, called ‘“ poi-ess,” made of woven crimson wool.’ 
August 30th.—Yesterday’s gale raged all night, and 
the rain fell in torrents. It really beat us. The whole 
tent was flooded. It is useless to dig a trench round 
these Whymper tents, because the rain comes clean 
through the canvas of the walls. So we moved up into 
the empty isba, which belonged to Alexis, Alexander’s 
cousin. Here I spent three or four hours in plugging 
up the cracks, and greased a bit of paper, with which | 
covered up the open window hole. I did not seem to feel 
the wet and cold, but Hyland complained always, feeling 
pains in all his joints, and was either in bed or shiver- 
ing over the fire outside the huts, and I feared for him 
rheumatic fever. However, we got reindeer skins and 
made ourselves pretty comfortable in a dry corner. 
They were shooting young bucks all day, and were 
very anxious that I should help, but after shooting three 
I had had enough. It was poor work. They shot 
seventy-five to-day, and the bellowing of the cows was 
most distressing. The women slipped off the skins and 
cut up the beasts ready for packing with remarkable 
rapidity. 
August 31st.—Again we had rain and a gale. I was 
out very early, long before any one else was moving. 
Marrk drove all the herd back to the Pugrinoy last 
