476 
Mr. H. F. Witherby on Birds 
walls of this wonderful monastery hundreds of Herring-Gulls 
are wont to breed. The birds are so tame that any of them 
will feed from the hand, and their nests are built on the paths 
and in the courtyards of the monastery itself. On the date 
of our visit the majority of the birds had young ones, and it 
was most interesting to watch the old birds feeding them, 
quite unconcerned by the innumerable pilgrims, many of 
whom had to step aside to avoid treading on the young birds 
and being pecked by the adults. On July 3rd we arrived at 
Kovda, where we very luckily picked up an interpreter to 
accompany us on our journey overland. Before leaving 
England we had supposed that we should find such a man in 
Archangel, but a most diligent search proved fruitless, every 
likely man being engaged in some way with the number of 
ships which had just broken through the ice in the White 
Sea. 
The following day (July 4th) we arrived at the little village 
of Kandalax, at the head of the Gulf of that name in the 
north-western corner of the White Sea. Here, with the aid 
of passes from the Governor of Archangel (which, by the way, 
are absolutely necessary for any traveller in these parts), we 
were able to engage carriers to accompany us through the 
country to Kola. 
Although more than once they struck and refused to pro¬ 
ceed, these carriers on the wdiole behaved very well. They 
were, however, most ignorant and careless, and we w r ere never 
able to trust them to do the simplest duties in camp without 
keeping them under observation. For instance, at one 
camping-place one of the men complained of a very sick 
stomach.” We discovered that they had been drawing all 
the water from a small stagnant backwater of the lake where 
the Lapps threw all their refuse. We duly impressed them 
with the evils that would attend drinking such water, and 
for two days they rowed over a mile into the middle of the 
lake to get water for any purpose whatever. But at the 
next camping-place they drew the w r ater from the most 
convenient spot, which was of course also used as a deposit 
for refuse. 
