174 



THE POLAR WORLD. 



absurd fanatics fancied themselves better than the rest of mankind, because they 

 made the sign of the cross with the thumb and the two last fingers, and stood 

 for hours together before an image in stupid contemplation. Our homeless 

 traveller soon became the object of their persecutions ; they called him " wiz- 

 ard," " a poisoner of rivers and wells," and insulted him during his walks. At 

 length they even attempted to take his life, so that he thought best to retreat 

 to Ishemsk, on the Ishma, a hundred versts farther to the south. But, unfor- 

 tunately, his bad reputation had preceded him, and although the Isprawnik 

 (or parish official) and his wife warmly took his part, the people continued to 

 regard him with suspicion. 



Towards the end of June Castren ascended the Petschora and its chief trib- 

 utary, the Uusa, as far as the village of Kolwa, where he spent; the remainder of 

 the summer, deeply buried as usual in Samoiede studies. Beyond Kolwa, which 

 he left on September 16 for Obdorsk, there is not a single settlement along the 

 L^usa and its tributaries. 



As he ascended the river, the meadows on its low banks appeared colored 

 with the gray tints of autumn. Sometimes a wild animal started from its lair, 

 but no vestige of man was to be seen. Countless flocks of wild ducks and 

 j^eese passed over the traveller's head, on their way southward. 



After many a tedious delay, caused by storms and contrary winds, Castren 

 reached (on September 27) a Avretched hut, about forty versts from the Ural, 

 whore he was obliged to wait a whole month, with fourteen other persons, 

 until the snow-track over the mountains became practicable for sledges. 



The total want of every comfort, the bad company, the perpetual rain, and 

 the dreary aspect of the country, made his prolonged stay in this miserable ten- 

 ement almost unbearable. At length, on October 25, he was able to depart, and 

 •on November 3 he saw the Ural Mountains raising their snow-capped summits 

 to the skies. " The weather is mild," said his Samoiede driver, " and thou art 

 fortunate, but the Ural can be very different." He then described the dreadful 

 storms that rage over the boundary-chain which separates Europe from Asia, 

 and how they precipitate stones and rocks from the mountain-tops. 



This time the dreaded pass was crossed in safety, and on November 9, 1843, 

 Castren arrived at Obdorsk, on the Obi, exhausted in strength and shattered in 

 health, but yet delighted to find himself in Asia, the land of his early dreams. 

 Obdorsk — the most northerly colony in Western Siberia, and, as may easily 

 be imagined, utterly deficient in all that can be interesting to an ordinary 

 traveller — was as much as a university to the zealous student, for several 

 thousands of Samo'iedes and Ostiaks congregate to its fair from hundreds of 

 versts around. 



'No better place could possibly be found for the prosecution of his research- 

 es; but the deplorable condition of his health did not allow him to remain as 

 long as he would have desired at this fountain-head of knowledge. He was thus 

 obliged to leave for Tobolsk, and to return in March, 1844, by the shortest road 

 to Finland. 



In the following summer (1845) we again find him on the banks of the 

 Irtysch and the Obi, plunged in Ostiak studies with renewed energy and enthu- 



