CHAPTER XLII. 



RETURN TO KUREIKA. 



Ornithological Spoils — My Three Companions — The Native Tribes — 

 Birds on a Little Island — Dolgan Names for Various Articles of Clothing 

 — An Island Rich in Birds — The Siberian Pipit — Temminck's Stint — 

 The Arctic Accentor — My Doubts cleared concerning the Thrush seen at 

 Brekoffsky — " Die Wilden " — Evil Influences — Need of a Hero in Siberia 

 — The Two Curses of Russia — Baptized Natives retaining their Charms 

 and Idols — The Strange Hours we kept — Marriage Ceremonies — Funeral 

 Ceremonies — Diseases — Birds seen on approaching Dudinka — Vershinsky 

 — Golden Plover frequenting the Summit of Larch-trees — Gulls — Mos- 

 quitoes — The Thames — An Impenetrable Island — Kureika in its Summer 

 Aspect. 



There is a great deal of truth in the old proverb that 

 "it is an ill wind that blows nobody any good." If my 

 visit to the tundra had not been delayed by the blunders 

 or the misfortunes of Captain Wiggins, I might still have 

 missed my birds. As it was, I brought home eggs 

 of three species of willow-warbler which were almost 



