SARYTSCHEW’S TRAVELS. 
2S 
have hitherto been very unsuccessful. They even sent an order 
to the town of Schigansk, for search to be made after the body 
of this Agraphenna, that it might be consumed; but this was 
equally inefficacious in its influence on the superstitious multi¬ 
tude. Their Jakutish schamans spare no pains to preserve the 
credit of the witch, declaring that they could never venture to lay 
any spirit without first offering a sacrifice to her ; for were she 
in the slightest degree to be neglected, she would make her 
appearance among them and exercise her vengeance. 
In January the cold rose to 43 degrees, and was so severe as to 
impede respiration. The very vapour from the breath was con¬ 
verted into icicles, which, from continual attrition, Were incessantly 
crackling. The power of the sun was then too feeble to commu¬ 
nicate any warmth to the atmosphere, making its appearance only 
for a short time at noon, on the summit of the horizon, and 
sending forth its rays in an oblique direction. It is worthy of ob¬ 
servation at the same time, that the most perfect calm attends an 
extreme state of cold, which subsides instantly on the least motion 
of the wind. The thermometer, with quicksilver, was now 
rendered perfectly useless, the purest kind of quicksilver being 
frozen by a cold of 33 degrees; we were therefore obliged to 
content ourselves with spirits in its stead. 
Whilst the weather permitted it, we had made some sporting 
excursions into the woods in pursuit of partridges and woodcocks, 
but now it was scarcely possible to pass from one dwelling to 
another. Our provisions, therefore, began to fall short, the 
season for fish being over, which had constituted our principal 
subsistence. Had we in this moment of plenty adopted a system 
of precaution and economy, we need not have aggravated the 
sufferings from cold by those of hunger. We had then thrown 
away the head of aneelpout, which we now gladly scratched up 
from the snow, and eat with avidity. In addition to this, the scurvy, 
the common attendant on want, began to make its appearance. 
During the month of November we had nearly finished one 
of our vessels, which was 45 feet in length, and received the 
name of Pallas. In the month of April we renewed our labours 
with a second, which was only 28 feet long, and named Jas- 
sachna. The ignorance of our carpenter, combined with the 
total inexperience of all the rest in every thing relative to the 
building of a vessel, naturally retarded our progress in this bu¬ 
siness ; nor would it, perhaps, have ever been brought to bear, 
if the more intelligent of the party had not exercised their in¬ 
genuity in contrivance. The tar not being of a proper consist¬ 
ency which was procured at Jakutsk, we were obliged to mix 
