SARYTSCHEW’S TRAVELS. 
IS 
from the contest, and descending in haste, was closely pursued 
by the two hawks until he had alighted. 
The roads to Jakutsk being impassable on our arrival at Sredne- 
Kolymsk, we were obliged to wait for the frost, which sets 
in in September. On the 18th the Kolyma was covered with 
ice, and the inhabitants were engaged in their usual occupation 
of catching fish at the different openings they had made. 
CHAP. VI. 
JOURNEY FROM SR EDNE-KO LYMSK TO JAKUTSK.-A 
MAMMOTH’S BONE FOUND ON THE SHORE OF THE 
FROZEN OCEAN.-LUDICROUS INCIDENT WITH THE 
DOCTOR.-ARRIVAL AT JAKUTSK, AND DEPARTURE 
FROM THENCE FOR THE MAIA-—BREAKING UP OF 
THE ICE IN THE RIVER ALDAN.— FLOATING ISLAND 
AND EXTRAORDINARY FLOOD.-RETURN TO JAKUTSK. 
O N the 24th a part of the expedition was dispatched under 
the direction of Mr. Bakow, the master, whom I followed on 
horseback four days after, in company with the doctor, first 
surgeon, and mechanic. For the first 90 versts to Alaseisk^ on 
the river Aleseja, we had to pass through woody marshy coun¬ 
tries, and a number of lakes, three of which w ere not less than 
twenty versts in extent. 
Alaseisk consists of a chapel and two isbens, inhabited by a 
merchant and a citizen, with their families. The neatness of 
their little dwellings, and the hospitable reception we experienced 
from them both, w ere matter of surprise and gratification for 
us. We had not been prepared for meeting happiness, content, 
and good humour in this rugged and barren clime. But nature has 
amply supplied their want of corn, by fish, game, and cattle. 
The lakes abound with geese, ducks, and other species of wild 
fowl in summer, and in winter their habitations are encompassed 
by immense flocks of woodcocks. The fish of this part are 
reckoned of superior quality, and the tchiyens from the lake, 
ure sent to all fortresses on the Kolyma, on account of their 
quality for keeping. 
The river Alaseja flows Very close by this hamlet, and falls 
immediately into the Frozen Ocean. The inhabitants informed 
us, that about a hundred versts distance from hence, the river 
had washed against its sandy bank the skeleton of a great ani¬ 
mal, of which only one half was visible. It was apparently 
about the height of an elephant, in an upright direction, and 
ifi an entire state, still retaining its skin, and in some places, its 
hair. Mr. Merk had a strong desire to see this creature, but 
