206 
A VOYAGE TO 
1779. all into confufion. It was at laft agreed, that we fhould re- 
main, where we were, till day-light; and accordingly we 
came to anchor in the fnow (for I cannot better exprefs the 
manner in which the fledges were fecured), and wrapping 
ourlelves up in our furs, waited patiently for the morn- 
Sunday 9 . ing. About three o’clock we were called on to let out, our 
guides being apprehenfive, that if we waited longer, we 
might be flopped by the thaw, and neither be able to 
proceed, nor to return. After encountering many diffi¬ 
culties, which were principally occafloned by the bad con¬ 
dition of the road, at two in the afternoon we got fafe to 
an ojirog , called Natcheekin, fltnated on the fide of a fmall 
ftream, which falls into the Bolchoireka, a little way below 
the town. The diftance between Karatchin and Natcheekin 
is thirty-eight werfts (or twenty-five miles) ; and, had the 
hard froft continued, we fhould not, by their account, have 
been more than four hours in performing it; but the fnow 
was fo foft, that the dogs, almoft at every ftep, funk up to 
their bellies; and I was indeed much furprized at their be¬ 
ing at all able to overcome the difficulties of fo fatiguing a 
journey. 
Natcheekin is a very inconfiderable oftrog , having only 
one log-houfe, the refidence of the Toidfi ; five balagans , 
and one jourt . We were received here with the fame for¬ 
malities, and in the fame hospitable manner, as at Karatchin ; 
and in the afternoon we went to vifit a remarkable hot- 
fpring, which is near this village. We faw, at fome diftance, 
the fleam rifing from it, as from a boiling caldron; and as 
we approached, perceived the air had a ftrong fulphureous 
fmell. The main fpriiig forms a bafon of about three feet 
in diameter; befides which, there are a number of leffer 
fprings, of the fame degree of heat, in the adjacent ground; 
fo 
