60 PINE FORESTS ON CENTRAL KAMTSCHATKA RIVER. 



three species of Roses, the already mentioned Lonicera, and an allied species with 

 scarlet inedible fruits ; also a species of Sorbus, and perhaps a few shrubby willows. 

 All these, intermingled, cover the level ground near the river with brushwood, about 

 a yard high, not very thick and therefore easily penetrated. Below it grow a 

 number of little plants bearing edible berries, such as Vaccinium Myrtillus, V. 

 uliginosum, V. Oxy coccus, V. Vitis idcea, Rubus arcticus, R. Chamcemorus, 

 Empetrum nigrum, &c, not to mention those the fruits of which are unfit for 

 food. Among the edible ones those of Rubus arcticus (" Knashniza ") are the 

 best flavoured and most esteemed ; the next best is the oblong dark-blue fruit of 

 the often mentioned Lonicera, which in fact equals that of superior cherries, and 

 is very useful on account of its abundance. It is generally eaten with milk, and, 

 mixed with Sarannah, made into different dishes. The whole of our illustration 

 represents a "jar," or steep bank, very common in these districts of the Kamts- 

 chatka River. Curiously enough, nothing like it is seen on the Bolschaja, Beka, and 

 Awatscha, but the Great Siberian rivers exhibit the same feature. Is it perhaps 

 the northern direction of the Kamtschatka to which this correspondence is due ? 

 In that instance it would be a wise provision of nature that just those rivers 

 destined to supply the northern forestless coasts with driftwood should collect 

 those supplies by constantly changing their course. In the central districts of the 

 Kamtschatka River, characterised by their conifers, the loose clay or sand of the 

 bank, against which the current is forced, is very often so much undermined by the 

 water that it falls down from time to time, by which such walls as here represented 

 are formed, though they are generally much higher, the present being only a low 

 "jar" The falling of the forests is such a frequent occurrence that, in travelling 

 on these rivers, one hears nearly every night the noise caused by it. The amount 

 of drift wood which this river carries is therefore considerable ; even in the upper 

 districts where there are numerous deep places, great masses are often piled up. 

 What fine opportunity for the discovery of remnants of antediluvian animals 

 must these continuous walls offer ? Indeed, I heard of the discovery of very large 

 bones made a short time ago in the Schapina district, and in such a "jar ; " but I 

 could learn no particulars. 



