the river had considerably abated during the night. While they were
loading our baggage a number of horsemen arrived, who had in like
manner been detained on the opposite side; they crossed without any
risk, and inspired us with the fullest confidence.
They were bankrupt merchants going to try their fortune, as factors
of a man of property, whose speculation had obtained the concurrence
of the court, and all the succours that he wanted. Its object was
the fur trade, particularly that of sables, caught by the Koriacs
and Tchouktchis. These factors were to separate at the mouth of the
Pengina, and advance considerably into the country. They were allowed
four or five years for their undertaking, and their intention was not
only to collect furs from every quarter in the way of purchase, but to
hunt themselves the animals that furnished them. Apprehensive of no
other obstacles but what might be occasioned by the natives, they were
provided with ammunition and arms to repel their insults.
In quitting us they turned an eye of pity on our poor beasts, while
we on the contrary observed with envy the strength and good condition
of theirs. Coming from the environs of Yakoutsk, where there is no
scarcity of winter provisions, these horses were a perfect contrast
with ours, which appeared still more wretched from the comparison.
When we had passed the river, I asked my guides if I might hope that it
was the last we should cross. They replied in the negative, informing
me that we should meet with three others in the course of the day. From
their description I judged that they must be new branches of the Ourak.
Be this as it may, my fears increased every time, and the idea that the
horse might fall with my box, made me shudder.
Upon coming out of a thick wood, I found myself on the bank of a
real torrent, the stream was so rapid, and the breadth of the river
scarcely less than two hundred yards; at a little distance it poured
itself into the Ourak. In the mean time we conceived it to be fordable,
and with this confidence I spurred my horse to make him descend. In
the middle of the river I felt his legs tremble. I encouraged him;
he proceeded, and the water now reached no farther than my knee.
Emboldened by this circumstance, I placed myself firm in my seat,
having been thrown something off my center by a sort of dizziness
which the continual view of the current perpetually excited. Already
I approached the opposite bank, the climbing of which required new
efforts. To ascend it, it was necessary to surmount a ridge of ice
which still remained attached to it. The declivity was steep, but it
would have been in vain to have fought for a better landing-place.
My resolution was soon taken, and I directed the animal towards the
perilous ascent; already he had gained a position for his fore feet,
and he rested them as well as he could to bring forward his hind ones.
He lost his footing, and fell backward into the water; the horse and
the rider floated in different parts of the stream. The water was deep,
and the cumberousness of my dress restrained my efforts. Both the
animal and myself were carried along by the violence of the current,
and I insensibly grew weaker. I was approaching the place where the
two rivers joined, when on a sudden I heard a voice saying, “Catch at
the bridle of your horse, or it is over with you!” The sound, the idea
of the danger re-animated me; I struck forward with all my strength,
stretched out my hand, and seized the rein. Providence was undoubtedly
watchful for my preservation, for at the same moment my horse took
footing and breath; an instant later, and we had been lost. I slided my
hand to the upper end of the bridle, and then threw my arms strongly
round the neck of the animal. Thus I remained suspended as it were
between life and death, not daring to move a finger, and calling aloud
for succour. My faithful Golikoff had in vain endeavoured to follow me
in my misfortune; the vigour of his horse did not correspond to the
zeal of the rider; anxious and impatient, it was he that had given me
the salutary and terrible advice of grasping at my horse; and no sooner
did he perceive its happy effects, than he hastened on his part to
climb the shore. To land, to run towards me, to lay hold of my horse
and drag him out of the water, and to restore me to life, was all the
affair of five minutes.
My first care, having leaped on the neck of my deliverer, was to tear
off the port-folio which was fastened to my girdle. In spite of the
oil case in which it was enveloped the water had penetrated into it,
and I trembled for the fate of two important packets which count de la
Perouse had particularly recommended to my care. I had the pleasure to
find that they were but little injured.
My box I had left on the other side; my uneasiness respecting it was
soon dispelled by the arrival of M. Allegretti and my other companions,
who placed it in my hands. They were still pale and dismayed at the
accident I had encountered, and considered it as a miracle that I had
been able to save myself. I had seen death too near me, not to be of
the same opinion.
We again mounted our horses, but I confess that my blood froze in my
veins, when we approached a river; I took care in future to send one of
my guides before, and was not free from apprehension till he made me a
signal from the opposite bank.
During this day, as well as in every preceding one since our departure
from Okotsk, we constantly travelled through forests, or along the
banks of rivers. In the woods the trees[67] that line the roads are
small, but so bushy and so beset with briars, that my Yakouts were
frequently obliged to clear the way with their hatchets[68], which
still slackened our pace, though we never went at a greater rate than a
walk.
I arrived in tolerable time at Oratskoï-plodbisché. This was the first
habitation I had seen since the yourt belonging to the watermen, and I
spent there the rest of the day. The river Ourak flows at the foot of
this hamlet; the number of inhabitants amounts only to five soldiers,
each of whom has an isba. They are appointed to guard a magazine for
the reception of effects belonging to the crown, sent from Okotsk or
Yakoutsk. Upon occasion they convey the merchandize as far as the mouth
of the Ourak; but this river is so obstructed, sometimes with flats and
sometimes with cataracts, and the embarkations at the same time are so
weak, that the navigation is equally painful and dangerous.
The next morning, which was the 13, I crossed this river in a boat;
it takes its rise at no great distance, from an immense lake where we
halted in the evening. The lake is situated upon an eminence, is about
seven wersts in circumference, and is said to abound with fish.
I cannot pass over in silence a scene that took place this day
among my Yakouts, respecting a horse that it was necessary to leave
in the road. They had stopped, and were holding a consultation round
the animal. Impatient at seeing no end to their discussion, I was
about to witness my discontent, when they forestalled me, intreating
my indulgence for the delay they occasioned me. Accountable for the
horses committed to their care, it is customary, when they lose any of
them either by accident or from excess of fatigue, to cut off the tail
and the ears, which they are obliged to produce to the proprietor to
exculpate themselves, or pay the value of the animals. The dispute at
present was, whether they should put an end to the poor dying beast.
This required some time, which I was not in a humour to sacrifice to
them, and I replied therefore somewhat angrily, that there was a more
simple, more expeditious, and less cruel way of effecting this end. I
promised them a certificate, that should attest the loss and supply the
place of the usual proofs, by taking the blame of their failure in this
respect upon myself. They acquiesced without hesitation in my proposal,
and this deference was no small proof, I was told, of their respect.
From the hope of travelling quicker, I committed our baggage to
the care of old Nedarezoff, and went on before with M. Allegretti,
Golikoff, and a Yakout. A pond presented itself, the depth of which
might be about a foot. I rode into it with M. Allegretti, and Golikoff
followed holding my box on his saddle. He had scarcely advanced ten
steps when the horse stumbled and threw him off sideways; but more
intent upon his deposit than his own preservation, he fell upon the
box, having taken care not to relinquish his hold. I immediately
alighted to assist him; but having fallen in the mire, he had sustained
no injury. His greatest trouble proceeded from my box being wet, but I
consoled him by shewing him that the water had not touched the inside.
Our horses were so fatigued, that we were obliged to alight and lead
them by the bridle, while the Yakout whipped them severely behind. We
travelled in this manner the whole day, resting every half hour, where
the new grass[69] began to appear, in order to recover in some measure
our poor beasts.
About three o’clock in the afternoon we arrived at the cross of
Yudoma[70]. On an eminence, secure from the overflowings of this river,
which extends its impetuous waves to a great distance, are a number of
magazines guarded by four soldiers, and which serve them as an asylum
when their common habitations by the side of the Yudoma are flooded:
these soldiers practice also the business of watermen, and are at the
service of travellers.
Upon seeing my passport they submitted themselves entirely to my
disposal. Unfortunately all their boats were in a condition the most
wretched that can be imagined, and we had neither materials nor workmen
to refit them. Those who had been sent from Okotsk were not likely to
arrive soon, and I was impatient to embark[71] in order to sail down
the rivers Yudoma, Maya, and Aldann. Among these soldiers, one only
had ever made this voyage, and nine years having since elapsed, he had
totally forgotten the course. I was advised not to try him, unless all
the others refused.
My only resource therefore was Nedarezoff, who had attended me in order
to serve as pilot; but what a pilot! He had once, twelve years ago,
been upon this river, and all he remembered was, that he was three
years in going from Yakoutsk to Okotsk. He conducted at that time a
considerable convoy of timber, anchors, cordage, and other materials
for fitting out an armament.
Of the four boats that were on the strand, I chose the best and the
narrowest, which was twelve feet long by six wide[72]. On examining
it, I found that it must be caulked, tarred, and have an additional
plank at the head to enable it to resist the force of the waves. With
two boards, and some nails from an old boat, one of the soldiers, who
understood a little the trade of a carpenter, effected the latter part
of the business, but we wanted every material for the other repairs.
We ransacked the magazines to no purpose, and during the whole night I
ceased not to puzzle my brain in order to invent some expedient.
At break of day, as I was going to visit the workmen, I trod on an
old and large cord that lay on the bank. Elate with my good fortune,
I carried it to my soldiers; instantly it was cut to pieces, and
unravelled; we had thus a supply of tow, and the three most important
leaks were stopped. The difficulty was to fasten and keep in the tow;
my workmen proposed to me to cover the chinks with laths, but we had no
nails of any sort. Necessity is the mother of invention. With a wimble,
which was the only tool we had, we made holes round the leaky places;
some small cord, which I found in my baggage, being passed through
them, and the holes afterwards filled up with pegs, the laths were so
firmly fastened as to prevent the water from penetrating the boat. At
three o’clock in the afternoon our repairs were completed, the helm
fixed, and the oars adjusted; and I ordered my people to be ready by
the next morning.
When we were just on the point of setting off, a caravan of Yakoutsk
merchants appeared; they were going to Okotsk, and I entreated M.
Allegretti to embrace the opportunity of accompanying them. Our
separation took place at nine o’clock. On leaving him, all the services
he had rendered me, and the proofs of attachment he had evinced,
presented themselves to my view, and made an impression on my heart.
I engaged two of the soldiers to row me, one of whom was the man that
had before made this voyage; Nedarezoff was at the helm; and Golikoff
and I were to relieve him when he should be tired. The rapidity of
the current carried us on with such violence, that we could easily
dispense with the oars. At the rate we sailed my soldiers had no doubt
that we should reach the famous cataract before night, which was more
than eighty wersts from the place of our departure. Their conversation
turned solely upon the dangers we should have to encounter. Though
I was already prepossessed with the idea of their inexperience, by
continually hearing these discourses, dictated by fear, I began at last
to be alarmed myself, and resolved to act with all possible prudence,
that I might have no reason to reproach myself. I frequently went on
shore, and walked along the river to see how far the navigation was
safe. Towards the evening a west north-west wind, brought on rain.
Rather than run any risk in such bad weather I halted, and ordered my
tent to be pitched over the boat.
The next day, after four hours navigation, interrupted by frequent
landings to observe the approach of the cataract, we at last perceived
it. Accompanied by my two pilots, I went to examine the spot. At a
short distance from it I saw a little stony island, which is only
perceptible when the waters begin to fall. My soldiers advised me to
pass, if the waters were sufficiently high, by the way of a canal which
we should find at the right; though the descent was very rapid, they
assured me that it was nothing in comparison with that of the cataract.
This advice engrossed my whole attention, and having convinced myself
of its utility, I returned to the boat, resolved to put it in practice.
I encouraged my people in the best manner I could, and then took the
helm. Nedarezoff sat by me, and Golikoff assisted one of the rowers,
for we had only two oars. We proceeded in this manner till we reached
the conflux of the two streams, one of which led to the canal, and
the other lost itself in the cataract. The impetuosity of the latter
would have drawn us into the abyss, but for the skill and strength of
my rowers. The instant the signal is given, their nervous arms are
stretched to strike the oar, and to struggle against the waves; the
waters rage and foam, and the violent shocks they give to our boat, my
unceasing exhortations, and more than all the fear of being destroyed,
redouble the ardour of my soldiers. We are at length extricated from
the treacherous current, and enter into the canal. How smooth did its
waters appear after this terrifying passage! To give my people rest, I
abandoned myself to the gentle declivity of the stream: the helm was
sufficient to direct the boat.
When we were at the foot of the cataract, curiosity led me to turn my
head. I trembled at its dreadful aspect, and thanked heaven for having
afforded me a different way. Nine boats out of ten that should attempt
this passage, would infallibly be wrecked:--the reader shall judge.
What must be the fate of so small and feeble a float, if, in defiance
of danger, it should be permitted to follow the course of the torrent?
In its precipitate descent, I see it the sport of the waves that roll
one upon another, and fall with a deafening noise from a height of
twenty feet upon three enormous rocks concealed by the foam, and over
which it must necessarily pass. Without a miracle, how should it avoid
sinking, or escape the being dashed to pieces? Meanwhile, when the
water is so low as to render the canal not navigable, there is no other
way left. My guides informed me that the boats were always unladed
before the risk was attempted, and that this was all the precaution
that was taken, and all the skill that could be displayed by the
pilots. These cataracts are called _porog_.
We had still a difficult pass to make, that terrified my people; it
is called _Podporojenei_, or the ebb of the cataract, which is about
the distance of a werst from it. They were still talking of it when
we arrived, and I had scarcely time to explain to them the manœuvre
which I thought it necessary to practice. Our object was to choose the
deepest side; the blackness of the water seemed to point it out, and
I steered towards it. The multiplicity and bulk of the waves tossed
us about with more violence than if we had been in the open sea. All
at once our boat was pitched upon a rock that was on a level with the
water, and which none of us had perceived. We were thrown down by the
force of the shock; my companions imagined themselves to be lost, and
had not the courage to raise themselves; it was in vain I called upon
them to row on; they paid no attention to my cries. I caught hold of
the helm, and perceiving that the boat had sustained no injury, I
animated their drooping spirits, and prevailed on them to take their
stations. We owed our safety to the moss with which the rock was
covered; the boat touched it in its passage, and glided along without
suffering any damage.
To avoid this accident, it is necessary to pass exactly in the middle
of the stream, and to pay no attention to the waves which rise, and
seem to break against the rocks. The passage is about three hundred
yards. At the bottom of this podporojenei, another river empties
itself; the clearness of its water, and the smoothness of its current
by the side of the agitation and turmoil of the Yudoma, form so
striking a contrast, that the eye for a long time distinguishes the one
from the other.
At the left of this last is another arm equally formidable, and which
is called _Tschortofskoï-protok_, or devil’s arm. It pours itself into
the Yudoma about thirty wersts from where this river joins the Maya.
It is known by the number of rocks and dead trees that obstruct its
entrance; if you are not careful to steer constantly to the right, you
are drawn in by a very rapid current, and your ruin is inevitable.
I hoped to kill a bear that was prowling on the bank; I loaded my gun
with deer-shot, and fired at it, but in spite of its wound it fled to
the woods, and I lost sight of it. The next moment a beautiful rein
deer started fifteen paces before me, but my gun not being charged, it
escaped. I saw also a number of argalis, swans, geese, and a fox, but I
could reach none of them.
This day I perceived, for the first time since my departure from
Yudomskoi-krest, a forest of pine trees. To make up for it, I had not
been able to count the numerous woods of firs that presented themselves
to my view, both on the right and left, and it is this tree[73] that
furnishes the masts and other timber used in all the dock yards on this
coast.
I felt myself indisposed by the attack of a fever, but I paid no great
attention to it; I merely laid myself down in the boat, and observed
no other regimen than that of drinking cold water. We no longer halted
during the night, as our navigation was become perfectly easy.
Notwithstanding the assertions I had heard, I could not easily believe
that the Ourak was more rapid than the Yudoma. We sailed on the latter
ten, twelve, and frequently fifteen wersts an hour. Its most regular
direction appeared to be west, and it forms at its mouth a great number
of small islands.
I entered the Maya on the 22, at two o’clock in the morning, and
proceeded in a direction nearly north, but inclining now and then to
the east. The banks of this river are less steep, less dreary than
those of the preceding, though at intervals there are mountains and
even rocks. The difference of the current was still more perceptible,
as we only sailed four wersts an hour.
About noon we met nine boats loaded with a variety of military stores
for M. Billings’ expedition. They were drawn by men, and were going
up the rivers that we had descended. I was not able to approach them,
but I knew that they were bound for Okotsk, under the command of M.
Behring, son of the navigator, to whom Russia owes such interesting
discoveries on the north-west coast of America. He expected, I was
told, to be six weeks in performing what had cost us only four days.
The gnats became troublesome to us to a degree that was almost
insupportable. We had no other way of keeping them off than by the
smoke of rotten wood, with which we were obliged to make an incessant
fire in the night as well as in the day.
In the afternoon of the 23, I quitted the river Maya for another,
larger and more rapid, called the Aldann[74]; but I merely crossed it,
in order to gain a habitation on the other side, opposite to the mouth
of the Maya[75].
I found there some marines belonging to M. Billings’s expedition,
who advised me to embrace the opportunity of a number of horses of
burthen, lately arrived, and that would on their return convey me as
far as _Amgui_. According to my itinerary, I was to go by water to
_Belskaïa-pereprava_, which is in the usual course from Okotsk to
Yakoutsk, but in going by way of Amgui I should considerably shorten
it. This certainty, and the happy chance that provided me with horses,
induced me to alter my previous plan.
I paid my guides[76], and as their orders were to leave the boat at
Belskaïa-pereprava, which was a hundred and fifty wersts farther, they
continued their course on the Aldann. They were not a werst from me,
when I repented the having dismissed them. The Yakouts, to whom the
horses belonged, and who were apprehensive of fatiguing them too much,
heard with regret that I intended to make use of them. Not daring
openly to refuse me, they endeavoured to escape by stealth: they were
pursued, and by dint of promises brought back. To make sure of them we
were obliged to shut them all up in one isba, from which they were not
permitted to come out till they had consented to conduct me to Amgui;
the precaution had in the mean time been taken of selecting ten of the
best horses for my use.
After a good night’s rest, which effectually recovered me from my
slight indisposition, I gaily mounted my horse, accompanied by the
Yakouts, who had been lectured by Golikoff, and were become more
docile. I was astonished at their good humour, which made them sing the
whole way.
Their music is by no means agreeable, and consists of a monotonous and
continual shake in the throat. They are however great improvvisatori.
Their words cost them no labour or efforts of genius, and the subject
is derived from whatever passes before them, or occurs to their mind.
If a bird flies by their side, they will make a song of it that shall
last for an hour. Not that their imagination accumulates ideas; the
song, on the contrary, is nothing more than an endless repetition of
the words, _Lo! the bird in his flight!_
For the space of a hundred wersts we travelled across a moving swamp,
in which our horses sunk so deep that we were obliged to alight in
order to assist in extricating them; the rest of the way was not so
bad. In the midst of a large wood, I saw upon the border of a lake
two fishermen employed in making their winter provisions. Their whole
habitation was merely a roof made of the bark of trees; when the summer
is at an end, they seek among their relations a less exposed and warmer
retreat.
The 25, we had a great deal of rain, particularly while I halted,
which was from four o’clock in the afternoon till eight in the evening.
My Yakouts, to defend themselves from it, placed upon their shoulders
a bears’ skin in the manner of a cape. The tail of a horse, fixed in
the large handle of a whip, served to keep off the flies. We were so
harassed by them, that I hesitated not in having recourse to this
species of fly flap.