182 
IN FORBIDDEN SEAS 
loading and discharging of vessels, which, of course, 
happens but seldom. When at this the men earn 
from one and a half to one and three-quarter roubles 
a day. There is a police-station in the town, but 
the natives do not trouble it much—although, from 
what I saw, it appears to be rather advantageous 
than otherwise to be 4 run in 5 and undergo a term 
of imprisonment here, the prisoner being allowed 
to go at large and attend to his business or work 
during the day, merely having to sleep at the prison, 
for which inconvenience he gets paid sixteen kopecks 
per day to find himself in food. One man was 
being 4 punished ’ by a term of this kind of imprison¬ 
ment for a little trouble with a Russian sailor, whom 
he had cut in the neck. During my sojourn here I 
made the acquaintance of Dr. Dybowsky, a gentle¬ 
man who had spent many years in these parts. 
The doctor had worked hard in the interests of 
science, making collections of the beasts, birds, 
insects, plants, minerals, fossils, etc., of Kamchatka, 
obtaining also many things from Manchuria, 
Saghalin, the Commander Islands, and other places, 
and discovering a number of birds and plants not 
hitherto known to naturalists. The doctor’s atten¬ 
tion was also given to various native languages and 
dialects, of several of which he compiled vocabularies. 
Unfortunately, he lost a valuable lot of specimens 
by shipwreck when on their way to Europe. 
44 Subsequently Dr. Dybowsky was offered a pro¬ 
fessorship at home, and left Petropaulsky by the 
Vladivostok in company with the retiring Governor. 
On the occasion of their departure a ball was given 
at the police-station (that being the most suitable 
place), to which all the village was invited. Every- 
