282 SIBERIA IN EUROPE. chap. xxi. 



twin cape, and was an hour pulling half a verst against the 

 heavy gale. I then skirted the margin of a long narrow 

 inlet, exactly like the dried-up bed of a river, that runs some 

 miles into the tundra, bending round almost behind the 

 inland sea. I had not gone more than a mile when I heard 

 the cackle of geese ; a bend of the river's bed gave me an 

 opportunity of stalking them, and when I came within sight 

 I beheld an extraordinary and interesting sfene. One hun- 

 dred, at least, old geese, and quite as many young ones, 

 perhaps even twice or thrice that number, were marching 

 like a regiment of soldiers. The vanguard, consisting of 

 old birds, was halfway across the stream ; the rear, composed 

 principally of goslings, was running down the steep bank 

 towards the water's edge as fast as their young legs could 

 carry them. Both banks of the river, where the geese had 

 doubtless been feeding, were strewn with feathers, and in five 

 minutes I picked up a handful of quills. The flock was 

 evidently migrating to the interior of the tundra, moulting 

 as it went along. 



On the top of the high embankment, bordering the river, 

 I came upon a wooden monument, about a foot in height 

 and width, and from two to three feet in length. The wood 

 was entirely rotten, and I easily broke or tore the lid that 

 still covered it open. Inside I found bones like those of a 

 dog, a broken vessel of glazed earthenware, the rusty remains 

 of an iron vase, and an abundance of mould. Outside were 

 fragments of bleached bone, like the remains of an infant's 

 skull. This was doubtless a Samoyede's tomb ; but we could 

 not determine if it was that of an infant, whose remains 



