i>LAIN OF SNOW. 
31 
On flie oth of February, 1 stopped at the last Jakutish dwel¬ 
ling-place ; it was the jurt of an invalid Kosak, who filled the 
office of clerk to the knUsk of that district, and at the same time 
provided the couriers and post-horses. The road further on 
leads through an uninhabited country of 400 versts. Although 
the horses appointed for us were very good, yet the Jakuts beg¬ 
ged me to wait some days, that they might rest from the labours 
of the field before they entered on so long and arduous a jour¬ 
ney. 1 yielded to their request, and they kept the creatures tied 
up for four days, allowing them but a very small portion of hay 
only once in twenty-four hours. On the 11th, we pursued our 
rout through woody and marshy plains, where no sort of track was 
visible, nor any guide for the traveller but what the Jakuts had 
made for themselves. We passed over an immense tract of 
country, that presented nothing worthy of observation, until we 
came betwixt chains of lofty mountains, and followed the course 
of a river for many miles, either travelling along its woody banks, 
or crossing its ice and its islands. This single variation was suc¬ 
ceeded by an endless plain, covered with snow so excessively 
deep, that our horses could not drag themselves onward with¬ 
out the utmost difficulty. The Jakuts call this tract the 
Smooth, and are very anxious to hasten through it as quickly as 
possible, for fear of being surprized by bad weather; in 
which case the whole caravan might be buried in the snow : 
frequent instances of which w r ere related to me by the guides. 
We were, however, fortunate enough to pass the perilous spot 
in safety, and arrived at the south of the river Amog-umog- 
gaga ; which, after journeying 35 versts farther, brought us to 
the river Kuinkui, whose banks are covered with warm springs. 
Here we found a single Jakutish jurt, the dwelling of a poor 
peasant, who had no cattle, and lived only on the fish and par* 
tridges that are very plentiful in those parts. 
My guides telling me the next morning we had only to travel 
ten dinschtschen # , or about 70 versts to the next place on the 
Omekon. It was now my turn to be anxious to hasten onwards, 
that 1 might reach the spot that day, and sleep once more in a 
warm jurt, after having spent eleven uneasy nights in the open 
woods and the bitter cold. I must acknowledge that this mode 
of travelling had become almost insupportable to me. Having 
been the whole day on horseback, and the whole night in the 
* A dinschtscha comprehends as much country as the wandering hordes 
can traverse with all their effects in a day. A great dinschtscha contains 
about ten, and a small one about seven versts. The word appears to 
be of Russian extraction : denn, in Russian, signifies a day, and has in the 
plural din. We find also in the Russian dictionary of the Academy, 
poldnischtscha, to imply half a da} 7 .— Tr. 
