326 
A VOYAGE TO BPITZBERGEN. 
tlie Kussian and Esquimaux sledge journeys performed 
by these sagacious friends of man; and we spoke to the 
Professor of 600 miles' journey out and the 600 miles 
home again before he could accomplish the intended 
journey; we spoke of the Esquimaux driving six dogs 
thirty miles a-day with a party of eight in a sledge, 
and of a smaller number doing their sixty miles; we 
talked of the story of a Cossack, Alexander Markoff, 
who was sent from Yaktush to explore the frozen 
ocean in the summer of the year 1714, by order of tho 
Kussian Government, but the sea was so crowded with 
ice he was unable to make any progress. In this 
dilemma he formed the design of travelling in sledges 
during the winter or spring of the year over the 
ice, which then might fairly be expected to be firm 
and compact. Accordingly he formed a party for the 
purpose, preparing several of the country sledges, 
drawn by dogs, and, accompanied by eight persons, 
he set out on the 16th of March from the mouth of 
the Lena, lat. 70° 30', long. 138°. He proceeded for 
seven days northward as fast as his dogs could draw, 
which, under favourable circumstances, is eighty or a 
hundred versts each day (a verst is about 3500 Eng¬ 
lish feet), therefore the average is ninety versts per 
day, equal to sixty-two miles, amounting to 434 miles 
in seven days. Markoff continued his journey until 
