BIRDS OF RUSSIAN LAPLAND 127 



cerned. A Wood-Sandpiper — the first seen this year — and a pair of 

 Redshanks were feeding close to us while we had lunch ; and a Ringed 

 Plover settled on the ice to rest, evidently rather exhausted, and 

 probably just arrived on migration. We secured a handsome Ruff 

 dressed in black and burnt-sienna colours, and his stomach full of 

 small insects. A Hen-Harrier Circus cyaneus was hunting near us for 

 a short time, but did not come within range, and we never saw this 

 species again in the country. Meadow-Pipits were now common every- 

 where ; and we found another Redwing's nest to-day in a juniper bush, 

 with three eggs. 



May 2yth was a day of worries and bothers without end, for we 

 were at last to make a start for the interior. The route we proposed 

 to take is I believe the only one in Russian Lapland over which it is 

 possible to travel during the summer months, except that up the river 

 Tuloma. In winter when the country is covered with snow, and the 

 White Sea frozen, it becomes an important highway between the Kola 

 district and Kandalax, Archangel, and the south. A regular postal 

 service is then maintained by means of reindeer sledges, and the 

 inhabitants of the interior transport their yearly supply of flour, sugar, 

 and other necessaries from the coast to their homes. Goods can then 

 be sent from Kola to Pulozero, a distance of 69 versts, at a cost of 

 15 copecks per pood (equal to 36.4 lbs.), an indication of the ease 

 with which reindeer can draw considerable loads at that time of the 

 year. This winter road cannot be depended upon beyond the middle 

 of April, as the snow then becomes too soft to travel over in early 

 seasons. But in summer all this is changed, the only " road " between 

 the various lakes and rivers consists of a footpath or track over which 

 everything must be carried on men's backs ; and as the new lines of 

 mail-steamers afford an easier and quicker means of transport to the 

 south, the inland route is now rarely used. The Government still 

 maintain a service of transport for the use of their officials and other 

 privileged individuals. The 233 versts from Kola to Kandalax are 

 divided into seven stations, which are each let by contract every year 



