Among the Ainos. 



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which it is generally known is " Saghaleen," derived from " Sagariin," 

 one of the names of the Amur River. 



The general features of the island are very similar to those of the 

 opposite coast of Manchuria. Primary formations compose hills and 

 rocks of varying heights, and wild tracks of country covered with high 

 rank grass, scrub and masses of fine trees. The most conspicuous 

 trees are conifers, pines, yews and junipers. A dogwood is common, 

 and I observe a beech, an oak, and a species of Euonymus. The aster 

 and pink, a small gentian, the flower-of-yarrow and St. John's wort, a 

 species of Ribes, and the pretty white-flowered grass of Parnassus, are 

 among the common plants. A dark Marchantia covers the ground in 

 damp places ; a Lycopodium is conspicuous in similar localities, and 

 of ferns I gather a species of Pteris and a Polystichium. 



As we land in a shallow bight of the splendid Bay we observe the 

 duck family in full feather. The pretty golden-eye is swimming and 

 diving near the shore, or indulging in little playful flights on and off 

 the land ; flying wildly and uttering loud cries are the elegant long- 

 tailed ducks ; the whistling widgeons pass by in twos and threes ; and, 

 conspicuous in the bustling noisy crowd, are the beautiful shieldrake 

 and the solitary shoveller. These, with the mallards and the teal, make 

 the shallow waters of the little sandy bays vocal with their quackings 

 and screamings, and highly amusing with their loves and quarrels, 

 their flutterings, alarms and greedy gobblings. The little guillemot 

 turns gaily about in the water, and the long necks and pointed heads 

 of the divers are seen at intervals above the surface. 



At the water's edge the golden plovers and the sandpipers come 

 trooping along the mud-flats, while the shrill whistle of the oyster- 

 catcher and the cry of the curlew are heard in the distance. Half 

 buried in the shingly beach is the huge bkull of some hapless whale, 

 stranded in the shallows after having sought shelter in the Bay, and 

 just before we land a black bear is seen trotting along the beach. 

 Before he has climbed the red cliff behind him he is saluted with a 

 rifle ball, which causes him to turn his head and cast an angry glance 

 upon the intruders of his solitude. We find the sea-weed scratched 

 up by Bruin, who has been down foraging for shell-fish, dead crabs 

 and mollusks being numerous on the strand after the recent gale. 



The captain and myself land and discover the abodes of the Ainos 

 in precisely the same manner as did M. de Langle and his companions 

 in the time of La Perouse. " They saw a litter of blind puppies, the 

 mother of which barking in the w r oods led them to suppose that the 

 owners were not far off." A half-scared woman, seeing us approach, 



