CHAPTER VIII. 
The voyage of the Fraser and the Express up the Yenisej and their return 
to Norway—Contract for the piloting of the Lena up the Lena river— 
The voyage of the Lena through the delta and up the river to Yakutsk 
—The natural state of Siberia in general—The river territories—The 
fitness of the land for cultivation and the necessity for improved com¬ 
munications—The great rivers, the future commercial highways of 
Siberia—Voyage up the Yenisej in 1875—SibiriakofCs Island—The 
tundra —The primeval Siberian forest—The inhabitants of Western 
Siberia : the Eussians, the Exiles, the “Asiatics”—Ways of travelling 
on the Yenisej : dog-boats, floating trading stores propelled by steam 
—New prospects for Siberia. 
I HAVE mentioned in the Introduction that the Vega during 
the first part of the voyage was accompanied by three other 
vessels, which together with the principal vessel of the Expedi¬ 
tion stood at my disposal and under my orders, and I have stated 
in passing that their voyages too deserve a place in the history 
of navigation. RTow, when we were parted from the vessel 
which had accompanied the Vega farthest in her route eastwards, 
it may be the proper place to give a brief account of the close 
of the voyages of the Fraser, the Express, and the Lena, and 
give reasons for what I have said of the importance of these 
voyages. ‘ 
On the 9th August at 10 a. m., after Mr. Serebrenikoff had 
gone on board the Express to take command, as Sibiriakoff’s 
commissioner, of the two vessels bound for the 'Yenisej, the 
Fraser, with the Express in tow, started from Port Dickson for 
the river. The voyage passed without other adventures than 
