between the habitations of the wandering, and the underground dwellings
of the fixed Koriacs. Not knowing how to distinguish the different
lodgings of these people, the Russians have given the name of yourt
to all of them, without troubling themselves with the primitive
signification of the word, which means a subterraneous apartment. The
yourts in question are, properly speaking, mere tents in the form of
huts placed on the surface of the ground. No other care is taken as to
the foundations, than that of drawing the boundary, and removing the
snow that may be within the line. Round the circumference, a number of
poles are erected at equal distances, which uniting at the top, serve
as supports to each other. This rustic timber work has a wretched
covering, of tanned deer skins, extended from the base[40] to within a
foot or two of the summit, which is left open for the admission of air,
and as a passage for the smoke. A considerable inconvenience results
from this circumstance, as there is nothing to protect the centre of
the habitation from the rain and the snow; in the mean time it is on
this very spot they make their fire, and cook their victuals. The
family, and the servants, who have the care of the flocks, sleep under
_pologs_, which are a kind of huts, or low tents ranged in distinct
apartments round the wall of the yourt, and resembling the square tents
of the Tchouktchis.
The unsettled state of these wandering people led them to invent
this species of habitation. The conveyance of their whole house being
equally easy and commodious, they feel the less reluctance to changing
their quarters. Upon the first necessity or inconvenience, they take up
their tents, fasten the poles lengthwise to the sledges, and stow the
coverings with their baggage. A new spot is fixed upon, and deserted
again almost immediately, and thus they remove from one place to
another every moment. Their sledges are of course always kept loaded
by the side of their habitations, and the provision and other articles
taken out in proportion as they want them.
On my arrival I found twelve sledges prepared for me. The first care
of Simeon Oumiavin was to assure me, that he would himself be my
guide, and would conduct me, if it were necessary, as far as Yamsk.
I manifested a becoming sense of this obliging offer, and at eight
o’clock in the morning of 10 April, we took our flight, and at noon had
reached the Tavatoma, being a space of twenty-five wersts.
Desirous of seeing a hot spring which Oumiavin pointed out to me
in the neighbourhood, I put on my rackets to cross on foot a small
wood, by the side of which it forms a stream three fathom wide, which
pours itself into the Tavatoma. I left my people therefore at an
elbow, formed by the river at this place, and it was agreed that they
should proceed over a high mountain that was at the right, and take
the opportunity while they waited for me, of feeding the deer, and
preparing our dinner. Accompanied only by M. Kisselioff, I travelled
two wersts to reach the spring.
It is said to be composed of a number of others issuing from a
mountain at the left of the river, and which unite in their descent. A
thick smoke rises in clouds above these waters, but it has no offensive
smell. The heat is extreme, and the bubbling continual. Their taste is
sharp and disagreeable, which seems to imply that the waters contain
sulphurous and saline particles; by analising them, they would probably
also be found to have iron and copper. It is certain that the stones
we picked up along the stream had all a volcanic quality, but the most
singular circumstance was the effect the water produced upon us. I
merely, in a slight manner, washed my mouth with it, and M. Kisselioff
his face; he had the skin of his face taken off, and I had my tongue
and palate flayed, and for a long time was unable to eat any thing hot
or high seasoned.
Having satisfied my curiosity, we prepared to join our company. To
effect this, we imagined that we were to pass a mountain opposite to
that from which the hot spring issued. Our rackets made us retreat
instead of advancing, and we were obliged to take them off, and ascend
by the help of our hands and feet. About three fourths of the way,
overcome with fatigue, and apprehensive that we had mistaken the road,
I intreated my companion, who was more accustomed to this mode of
climbing upon the snow, to endeavour to gain the summit, from whence
I hoped he would be able to discover our equipage. He succeeded, and
after waiting an hour and half in anxiety, I saw the good Koriac
coming with a sledge to my assistance. We had in reality taken the
wrong direction, he informed me, and Kisselioff had been ten times on
the point of perishing before he found our camp. Upon my arrival we
proceeded immediately on our journey, and did not halt till it was
late, and we were twenty-five wersts from the hot springs of Tavatoma.
We had determined the 11, to push for the chain of mountains called
_Villeguinskoi-khrebeut_, but it was not practicable. At the close of
day we could but just perceive them; we advanced however till we came
near enough to be sure of reaching them early in the morning.
They appeared to be close to us, when we were still at the distance
of eight wersts. Having passed this place, we had to cross a small
river that winds at the bottom of these mountains, when we came to
that of Villegui, which is the loftiest, and gives its name to the
rest. At first sight it appeared to be inaccessible. A narrow passage
presented itself, and, confiding in my princely conductor, we entered
it. Four hours scarcely sufficed to bring us to the peak. Conceive
of an enormous mass, at least two hundred yards high, and nearly
perpendicular, with rocks and stones projecting in various places, and
cleared by the hurricanes from the snow. The little that remained made
the footing so slippery that our deer fell down every moment. In spite
of our exertions to support the sledges, the steepness of the declivity
made them recoil, and we were under the continual apprehension of
their falling upon us, which would infallibly have happened if we had
slipped. Frequently in laying hold of a rock that seemed to adhere to
the mass, it gave way, and I lost my equilibrium. But for Oumiavin
and my soldiers, who were by my side, and gave me timely assistance,
I should infalliably have precipitated to the bottom. Arrived at the
summit, I became giddy upon looking down the precipice I had climbed,
and my heart shuddered at the danger I had escaped.
I was far from thinking myself safe, as I had to descend. My obliging
Koriac, to give me confidence, minutely explained the method I was to
take, and his instruction freed me from all fear of accidents; but I
was still uneasy, having left a part of my baggage at the foot of the
mountain. Who, thought I to myself, will have the courage to go for it?
The intrepid Oumiavin undertook the office, attended by some of his
people.
I was tormented by a burning thirst. The top of the mountain was
covered with snow, but how were we to dissolve it, as there was not
a shrub to be seen? The hope of finding some at the bottom made me
resolve not to wait for my guide, but to avail myself of his lessons,
and descend. We began by unharnessing our deer, and fastening them
to the back part of our sledges, in each of which two men placed
themselves. We then slid down in the manner of the inhabitants of
Petersburg, who, during the carnival, thus amuse themselves upon the
mountains of ice which they form on the Neva. With the aid of our
sticks we guided and kept back our vehicles, and in less than ten
minutes we were safe. I had the good fortune to perceive some small
cedars, and a fire having been kindled, I allayed my thirst. It was
now two o’clock, and at seven we were all assembled; Oumiavin met with
no accident, but he was so fatigued that it was nine before we could
proceed.
The next day’s journey was less painful to us than to our deer. The
snow was more than three feet deep, and so little firm that they sunk
to their necks. Many of them refused to draw, and it was necessary
to leave them behind us. Such is the inconvenience attending these
animals, when one wishes to make a long journey with only short
intervals of rest; as soon as they are tired, we must abandon them or
stop; it is no longer possible make them move.
I had hoped to reach Toumané in the morning of 14, and we were within
ten wersts of it, when a violent gale of wind, accompanied with snow,
almost blinded us. It obliged us to relax our speed, and we did not
enter the village till four o’clock in the afternoon.
It is situated south-west of Ingiga, at the distance of four hundred
and forty wersts, in a little wood through which the river Toumané
flows. Three yourts, an equal number of wooden magazines, and a dozen
balagans make up the whole ostrog, the population of which amounts to
twenty families. Though the river abounds with fish[41], I saw the
inhabitants, either from indolence, or a vitious taste, feed upon the
bark of the birch tree steeped in the oil of the whale.
The bad weather continued during the 15 and 16; but it would have been
impossible to have proceeded if we had been ever so desirous, as our
deer were incapable of drawing us any farther. Oumiavin dared not avow
it, but his melancholy appearance told me what he would willingly have
concealed. Upon my mentioning it to him, he began to make apologies, as
if I had a right to complain, because he found it impossible to conduct
me, as he had intended, as far as Yamsk. I had much difficulty to make
him understand that I was fully satisfied of his good will, and owed
him my thanks for all his civilities; it was necessary to assume an
air of displeasure before he would accept some presents that I thought
myself bound to add to my post expences.
By his advice, I intreated the inhabitants to supply me with what dogs
they had, but with all their efforts they could only procure me a very
small number, and there was no other way of making up what I wanted,
than that of harnessing young dogs, and even females that were ready to
whelp. The generosity of these people was carried so far as to offer me
a part of their dried fish, of which they had no abundance.
The 17 the wind abated, but the sky was covered with black, and
very ill boding clouds. In the mean time having taken leave of
Simeon Oumiavin, and my Toumané hosts, I departed at one o’clock
in the afternoon with my escort, and all my baggage, in five open
sledges. Each team consisted of eight or ten dogs. I had taken a man
extraordinary to serve me as charioteer, having no longer either
strength or courage to undertake the office: this fatiguing exercise
had wholly overcome me.
We soon came to the sea, upon which we travelled in order to avoid
seven mountains, which rendered the common route extremely difficult.
We had scarcely advanced fifteen wersts, partly upon the ice, and
partly upon the coast, when fortunately for us, we were obliged to
return, as the snow began to fall, and the wind to blow with an
impetuosity that drove our dogs back, and made our sledges totter. My
guides delayed not to inform me of the danger; and from the fear of
misleading us, they proposed that we should take shelter in a deserted
yourt that was at no great distance, and the situation of which they
were perfectly acquainted with.
It is upon a small river called _Yovanna_, twenty wersts from Toumané.
When we came up to it we were covered with snow, and almost frozen. We
were all eager to descend that we might be screened from the tempest,
but we found its entrance stopped up with snow four feet deep. Having
hastily arranged our sledges, we took our rackets, for want of shovels,
and began to open a passage. This work occupied us an hour. We were
still in want of a ladder; the most hardy ventured to leap down, and
the rest followed them. We fell upon the carcasses of sea wolves
entirely frozen, and some of them half devoured, doubtless by ravenous
beasts, who, in the depth of winter, had made this subterraneous
habitation their den. A leathern seine in one corner of the yourt, was
the only indication that it had been visited by human beings. It is
to be presumed that the neighbouring Koriacs had made use of it as a
reservoir. The walls were surrounded with icicles, which fell down in
chrystallizations; and in truth, I can only compare this dwelling to
a large ice house. Its form was square, and its dimensions about five
feet deep by ten large.
While we were employed in placing the sea wolves out of the way,
that we might have more room to lie down, my conductors fastened our
dogs[42], and gave them their allowance of food; at the same time a
fire was kindled, and having warmed ourselves and eaten our supper,
I extended myself upon the leathern net we had found in the yourt. A
sea wolf under my head served me as a pillow. My companions imitated
my example; and, excepting the disadvantage of having too confined a
space, we passed a very good night. We ceded an entire corner to the
Koriacs of my suite, who huddled together, and were unable to stretch
themselves at their length; but they made no complaint, and appeared
not to be conscious of any inconvenience. I saw them squat down, like
apes, their head muffled up in their parque, and their elbows resting
upon their knees; and in this posture they slept as soundly as if
wholly at their ease.
The next day the wind changed, but its violence did not abate, and it
was the more troublesome to us, as it drove the smoke into the yourt to
such a degree that we were suffocated and blinded, and were obliged not
to light our fire except at our meals.
I was desirous of remedying this inconvenience by some external
contrivances; but I had no sooner placed my foot out of the yourt than
I was almost blown down. M. Kisselioff, who accompanied me, had his cap
carried away, and was willing to pursue it with some of our conductors;
but it was to no purpose; at the distance of fifteen paces he entirely
lost sight of our retreat, and was only able to find his way back by
the cries we made in answer to his.
We at last succeeded in placing a fence sufficiently high to secure
a free passage to the smoke. From this moment we continued our fire,
without intermission, night or day; but in spite of this care, we
were all chilled. The dampness became equally insupportable with the
cold. The fire gradually melted the ice that surrounded us and we had
a thousand dribblings over our heads, and a stream of water under our
feet. To increase our difficulties, the sea wolves began to thaw,
and diffuse a noxious odour. That which exhaled from our bodies[43]
was more than sufficient to make our asylum a true sink. As it was
impossible to purify the air, we endeavoured at least to get rid of our
neighbours, the sea wolves; and my guides were the first to propose
that our dogs should be fed with them while we continued in this
frightful situation. I consented the more readily, as the scantiness
of our dried fish obliged me to consult œconomy. In thus appropriating
to myself what chance threw in our way, I doubtless did an injury to
some unfortunate inhabitants of this quarter; but when reduced to
extremities, selfishness is sometimes pardonable.
Impatient to pursue our journey, I sent my Koriacs to observe the
weather. In two minutes I saw them descend perfectly covered with snow,
and so chilled, that they could not open their mouths. Their report
corresponded with their sad appearance; but of all their exclamations,
I was most struck with the account they gave me, that the rocks, which
were a few paces from our yourt, and very perceptible the preceding
evening, were now wholly invisible.
The 20, the weather becoming calmer, and the snow having almost
subsided, I ordered preparations to be made for our departure. Our
dogs were therefore harnessed, and we had hoisted ourselves out of the
yourt, when a terrible gust of wind deranged all our measures. The
snow came on as thick as ever, and we were obliged to retreat with
precipitation, happy that we were within reach of shelter. Almost
instantly I found myself ill. I know not whether it were occasioned by
passing suddenly from cold to heat, or by the putrid air I breathed
in plunging myself into this sink, or the vexation I felt at so
many obstacles; but I continued nearly a quarter of an hour without
sensation. The zeal of my soldiers manifested itself on this occasion;
in order to restore me, one deluged me with water, while the other
chafed my temples so roughly with snow, that he rubbed off, I believe,
the skin.
My reflections, after this swoon, were as melancholy as my situation.
I considered my plan as wholly defeated by these impediments and
delays, and was apprehensive of not arriving at Okotsk till the rivers
were broken up. In the mean time this was indispensible, if I intended
to make use of the mode of sledge travelling, to reach the place called
the Cross of Yudoma, or _Yudomskoi-krest_. Hence I had designed to
proceed to Yakotsk by a circuitous passage down the rivers Yudoma,
Maya, and Aldann[44], by which means I found that I should escape the
inconveniencies of the thaw, which renders the road impracticable even
to horses. But according to the calculation I had made, the hindrance
of a single day might occasion me a delay of more than two months. It
is necessary to have been in my place, to judge how very discouraging
was my prospect; the dangers that beset me appeared in my eyes to be
less terrible.
At length, the 21, it was possible to proceed. The sky was still
covered with clouds, and the snow fell heavily, but the wind had
ceased, and we resolved to set off in spite of our apprehension of
another hurricane, which would exceedingly have distressed us, as we
had no hope of refuge till we came to Yamsk. We directed our course
towards the sea, upon which we constantly travelled at the distance of
two wersts from the shore; but in the evening we thought it prudent to
approach nearer, in order to halt. The ice was perfectly smooth, and
our little camp was easily erected.
The next morning we rose tolerably early, and in order to avoid the
curvatures of the shore, we made for the main ocean. We had observed
some bays the preceding evening, but they were less extensive than one
which we crossed in the afternoon of this day. Unfortunately, when we
were opposite to it, a gust of wind prevented us from examining it.
I understood, from my guides, that it was called from the river Iret,
which falls into it, that it is almost entirely closed, and is dry in
summer, when the sea is low. In spring it abounds with water fowl. The
inhabitants of Yamsk and its environs catch them with nets, and hunt
them with sticks in the moulting season. The shallowness of the bay,
which is in all places fordable, is favourable to the diversion of
these sportsmen.
Upon the approach of night we came on shore, and halted till the
morning in a wood of firs, upon the banks of the river Iret.
The 23 furnished nothing remarkable. The wind assailed us with
considerable violence in the middle of a plain, the extent of which was
twenty five wersts. I had again recourse to my compass, and we had not
proceeded fifteen wersts, when the sky suddenly cleared up. We met a
sergeant with dispatches from Okotsk; and a little farther, about three
wersts from its mouth, the river Yamsk presented itself. We pursued its
course, and passed at the right an habitation of fishermen, resorted
to only in summer. Six wersts farther we came to the ostrog of Yamsk,
which is more than a hundred and fifty from Toumané. My biscuits were
nearly consumed, and I was constrained not only to sleep there, but to
remain a considerable part of the next day, to supply myself with a
fresh stock of provisions.
The serjeant who commanded the garrison, which was composed of twenty
men, received me with civility. Upon the recommendation of the governor
of Ingiga, he assiduously provided every thing of which I stood in
need, and gave me the necessary information.
The ostrog, or fort of Yamsk, is upon the border of the river, ten
wersts from its mouth, where it forms a bay that seems to promise
excellent anchorage; but a variety of capes advancing a considerable
way, and a great number of shoals with which the entrance is as it were
blocked up, render it the more dangerous, as the passage is narrow, and
obliges the ships frequently to beat about, or lie to for a favourable
wind, in order to pass over them, for it is almost impossible to
succeed with a side wind. From this account it is evident, that if the
place were more considerable and more frequented, shipwrecks would be
more common[45].
There are at Yamsk only twenty five houses, built of wood; a part of
which, where the church[46] is situated, is surrounded with a square
enclosure of pallisades, like that of Ingiga, but not so high or so
thick. The inhabitants amount to twenty families, whose mode of life is
similar to that of the Russians.
They have a method of making salt, that was new to me. The wood which
the sea throws now and then upon the shore, is collected with the
greatest care. When it is dry, they burn it; the ashes are afterwards
boiled, and the sediment which it leaves is a very white salt.
Two days previous to my arrival at Yamsk, a troop of wandering
Toungouses had left this settlement. To console me under the
disappointment of having missed them, I was favoured with a sight of
the full dress, both of the men and women. They wear no chemises, but a
kind of stomacher fastened behind, and which descends to the knees like
an apron. It is embroidered with the hair of rein deer, and ornamented
with glass beads of various colours, to which are added at the bottom
plates of iron and copper, and a considerable number of small bells.
Under this apron they wear a sort of breeches, or pantaloon, made of
skin, and their legs are covered with long boots, which have the hair
on the outside, and are embroidered. A long waistcoat covers their
shoulders, to the extremities of the sleeves of which gloves are
fastened, with an opening under the wrist for the sake of pulling them
off more conveniently. This waistcoat, close at the breast, and fitted
to the shape, terminates near the middle of the thigh, and is also
ornamented with embroidery and beads. From the small of the back hangs
a tail, two feet long, but not very large. It is made of the hair of
sea wolves, died of different colours. The head dress is a small round
cap, which widens a little on each side to cover the ears. The whole
attire is made of the skin of young deer, and trimmed with sables,
otters, or other furs of equal value.
The garb of the women is nearly the same, except that it has no tail or
gloves, and that there is a small opening in the crown of their caps of
about two inches in diameter, which is doubtless made for the purpose
of passing the hair through.
Such is the mode of these people. In winter they wear thick fur
clothing; but they are careful, for fear of injuring it, to change
their dress the moment they enter their yourts, and to put on their
worst garments; and upon the most trivial occasions they strip
themselves entirely naked.
We felt this day the force of the sun, which announced an approaching
thaw. Of consequence I furnished myself with plates of whale-bone to
be fastened under the skates of my sledges, in case of necessity; and
by the advice of the people of the country, founded on the experience
of travellers in this season of the year, I resolved to travel in the
night, and to rest in the day, when the sun had most power. I came out
of Yamsk at eleven o’clock in the evening, our caravan consisting of
nine large sledges, or _nartas_[47].
At break of day we found ourselves at the foot of a mountain, fifty
wersts from Yamsk. The Koriacs have given it the name of _Babouschka_,
or _grandmother_. The summit, they say, is the tomb of an old
sorceress, equally renowned and formidable. My guides maintained that
it was the loftiest mountain in this part of the world; but their
superstitious fears seem to have magnified it, as, in my opinion,
that of Villegui is much steeper, at least I found more difficulty in
ascending it. Arrived at the top of the Babouschka, they placed iron
cramps under their feet, in the form of small tripods, and fastened,
transversely under the sledges, tolerably large sticks, in order to
impede the velocity in descending. No farther care was necessary than
that of guiding them with the _oschtol_, or stick pointed with iron,
and we came to the bottom without any accident. The inhabitants of the
country however consider this descent as dangerous, particularly when
the inequalities are filled up with snow, which in that case become so
many concealed and inevitable gulphs, and, I am inclined to believe,
frequently prove fatal to travellers.