222 



THE POLAR WORLD. 



covering of the travellers' tent, so that they had much to suffer during a violent 

 snow-storm, which raged from May 27 to 30. Thus after another long delay 

 and an irreparable loss of time, considering the extreme shortness of the sum- 

 mer, Middendorff was not able to start from the Nowaia before May 31, The 

 softening of the snow rendered the advance of the sledges extremely difficult, 

 so that it was not before June 14 that he reached the Taimur at a considerable 

 distance above the point where the river discharges its waters into the lake. 

 Encamping on a steep declivity of its bank, Middendorff now set about build- 

 ing his boat. On June 30 the ice on the river began to break up, and on July 

 5 the navigation of the stream was free. By the light of the midnight sun the 

 boat was launched, and christened " The Tundra," to commemorate the diffi- 

 culties of its construction in the deserts of 74° lat. Constant north winds 

 retarded the voyage down the river and over the lake, beyond which the Taimur, 

 traversing a hilly country, is inclosed within steep and picturesque rocks. The 

 increasing rapidity of the stream now favored the travellers, and the storms 

 w^ere less troublesome between the mighty rock-walls ; but unfortunately Mid- 

 dendorff, instead of being able, as he had expected, to fill his nets with fish as 

 he advanced, and to establish depots for his return journey, found himself 

 obliged to consume the provisions he had taken wdth him in the boat. On Au- 

 gust 6 the first night-frost took place, and from that time was regularly repeat- 

 ed. Yet in spite of these warnings, Middendorff continued his journey down 

 the river, and reached the sea on August 24, in 76° X. lat. But now it w^as 

 high time to return. 



" The fear of leaving my undertaking half unfinished," says Middendorff, 

 " had hitherto encouraged me to persevere. The great distance from any hu- 

 man habitation, the rapid stream, against which we had now to contend, and the 

 advanced season, with its approaching dark nights and frosts, made our return 

 an imperative necessity, and I could have but little reliance on our remaining 

 strength. The insufficient food and the fatigues of our journey, often prolong- 

 ed to extreme exhaustion, had reduced our vigor, and we all began to feel the 

 effects of our frequent wading through cold water, when, as often happened, 

 our boat had grounded upon a shallow, or when the flat mud-banks of the riv- 

 er gave us no other alternative for reaching the dry land. It was now also the 

 second month since we had not slept under a tent, having all the time passed 

 the nights behind a screen erected on the oars of the boat, as a shelter against 

 the wind. Provided Avith a good load of drift-wood, collected on the shore of 

 the Polar Ocean, we began our return voyage on August 26. The borders of 

 the river were already incrusted with ice. Wading became extremely irksome, 

 the river having meanwhile fallen above six feet, and the shallows frequently 

 forcing us tO step into the water and pull the boat along. 



" Fortunately the wind remained favorable, and thus by rowing to the utmost 

 of our strength, and with the assistance of the broad sails of our ' Tundra,' we 

 surmounted two rapids which, encased between abrupt rocks, seemed to defy 

 our utmost efforts. 



"On the 31st, a malicious gust of wind, bursting out of a narrow gorge, 

 threw our boat against the rocks and broke the rudder. The frost and wet, 



