280 SIBERIA 



been undertaken by any one in the winter. All his 

 friends were bitterly opposed to his going, prophesy- 

 ing all kinds of dreadful calamities, such as being 

 frozen to death or devoured by wolves or bears. 

 They were quite sure they would never see him back 

 again. In addition there was the danger to be antici- 

 pated from the mountains which he intended to climb 

 with me. It is not surprising, therefore, that when we 

 arrived at Bysk, it took all my powers of persuasion 

 to get him to continue the journey with me. His 

 friends were still busily engaged in trying to con- 

 vince him that the journey if continued would mean 

 certain death, and in addition the journey up to 

 Bysk had really been a very trying one, what with the 

 intense cold and the wolves . He had no mountaineer- 

 ing ambition to propel him onwards as I had. I 

 can only account for his exceptional courage by the 

 fact that he is a true-born Englishman and that his 

 father is an honorary member of the British Geo- 

 graphical Society, which compliment was conferred 

 upon him for his plucky expedition with Captain 

 Wigans. In this expedition, Mr. Cattley's father was 

 on board the ship which was instrumental in re- 

 opening the passage of the Kara Sea in 1874. That 

 the re-opening of this passage was a very important 

 event, will be seen when it is remembered, that 

 although opened in the first instance in the seven- 

 teenth century, it remained closed for 200 years after 

 that time until the iWigans expedition accomplished 

 its mission and proved that it was possible for a 

 steamer to go from London to the heart of Siberia. 

 Owing to the short winter, however, the passage was 

 closed again in 1890, so far at least as steamboat 

 communication is concerned. This came about 

 through one of the steamships getting jammed in the 

 ice, compelling the others to return. From a com- 

 mercial standpoint this passage is of the utmost im- 



