BIRDS OF RUSSIAN LAPLAND 117 



buildings. Ekaterina was then constituted the seat of government 

 for the whole of the Murman coast in place of Kola ; but the latter 

 still remains practically the commercial capital, and will probably- 

 long continue so, being centrally situated in relation to the winter 

 settlements of the inhabitants in this district. At present Kola 

 is also the centre of a valuable summer fishing for salmon m the 

 Tuloma and Kola rivers ; but as the Norwegian custom of fixing 

 kilenoter or bag-nets is being introduced into this and other fjords on 

 the Russian coast, the river-fishing will suffer, as in Norway. 



Leaving Ekaterina at two o'clock, we steamed up the Kola fjord, 

 30 miles in length, and anchored two miles below the town opposite 

 to a large sawmill ; the water is too shallow to admit large steamers 

 above that point, although small ones penetrate some miles higher up 

 the Tuloma river. The sawmill had been erected a few years ago in 

 the hope that a good supply of timber would be obtained for it from 

 the Tuloma and Kola valleys ; and, as we afterwards saw, was well 

 equipped with modern machinery, and arranged to handle the timber 

 as economically as possible during its conversion from trees into deals 

 and boards. But we learnt from the present manager, who was on 

 board, that it had not proved a commercial success ; and a Russian 

 bank had been obliged to take it over in payment of a large over- 

 draft. The bank was now anxious to sell, and was prepared to accept 

 JC2S00, a sum certainly much below the original cost. The chief 

 reason for this failure was that good trees, large enough to cut, were 

 too few and too widely scattered. The trees are cut during the 

 winter months and dragged over the snow by ponies to the nearest 

 river or lake in connection with the mill, where they remain until the 

 spring thaw takes them down. As the cutting and transport to the 

 mill form a large part of the cost of the timber, it will be readily seen 

 that unfavourable conditions in this department prevent a mill from 

 competing successfully in foreign markets. 



On our arrival we were met by Mr. Skjoerseth, a young Norwegian 

 merchant, with two boats to convey us and our numerous belongings 



