ARRIVAL OF THE "TRIAD" 209 



legs about in peace. On the way we saw sand-martins, 

 hooded crows, arctic terns, common gulls, ringed plover, 

 and Temminck's stints. We got young in down of the 

 ringed plover and arctic tern, and shot a long-tailed duck 

 with her brood of ducklings. At Kuya we saw both the 

 common and the tree sparrow. 



The morning had been intensely hot ; in the after- 

 noon the wind rose, veered round to the north, and the 

 night was stormy and cold. The next day the chill 

 continued, and for the time being the plague of mos- 

 quitoes was stayed. It was a pleasant surprise, on 

 reaching Alexievka, to find an English schooner, the 

 Triad, Captain Taylor, anchored in the river. She had 

 come over from Iceland, whither she had carried coal, and 

 was now chartered for larch to Cronstadt. We at once 

 secured berths in her. She intended to sail in ten days, 

 hoping to make Elsinore in a month. 



The cold weather continued the next day. We spent 

 two hours at Wassilkova, but saw little of interest. The 

 red-throated pipits were in full moult, but we brought 

 home some of their young, also those of the yellow- 

 headed wagtail and dunlins, and a pintail duck and its 

 half-grown ducklings. The next day my companion 

 secured another specimen of our new pipit, for which we 

 had been looking in the neighbourhood. The day was 

 memorable for having brought successfully to a conclusion 

 our negotiations with Captain Arendt, the manager of 

 the company. A watch, a revolver, a musical box, and a 

 ten-pound note had brought him round, and on the 

 morrow the steamer was to be placed at our disposal. 

 We were in high spirits, shouting, " Hurrah ! for Dvoinik 

 and the Little Stint ! " The next morning we were fairly 

 off by 10 A.M. It was damp and chilly, with a light 

 breeze from the north-west. As we neared the bar, we 



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