CHAP. X.]

GULF OF ANADYR.

115

the remaining parts of his body; and thus the sand increased to his belly, so that after his decease they were obliged to scrape him out of the ground in order to inter him in a proper manner."

Their vessel, lying unguarded, was wrecked in a storm, and the larger part of their provisions lost. They subsisted for a long time on dead whales that had been driven ashore. At last, in the spring, they came to the conclusion to try and break up the wreck and construct a smaller vessel from its remains, which was done, and they left the island. At last, to their great joy, they reached the coast of Kamchatka. The previous autumn Tschirikoff, the companion of Bering, had arrived at Petropaulovski, with the loss of twenty-one men by scurvy, and the Professor de la Croyère, who had lingered to the end of the voyage, died before they could get him ashore.*

Late in the evening of the 13th Aug. we reached the Gulf of Anadyr (pronounced Anarder, and not "Annie, dear," as some of our men persisted in calling it), and anchored till daylight next morning. The land round it was low, and, in spite of the heat of the weather, a good deal of ice and snow remained packed on the beach. We steamed slowly up the gulf, and very soon some Tchuktchi natives came off, and convinced us that they were men and brethren by asking for "lum" (rum) and "tabak." On approaching the entrance to Anadyr Bay there is a very curious island, to which we gave the name

* In the above narrative I have followed Müller exclusively. A second, and not very different account was given to the world in the journal of Heller, which is to be found, translated in an abbreviated form, in the fourth edition of Coxe's 'Russian Discoveries.'

of "Sarcophagus," from a supposed resemblance. The entrance to the bay is about a mile and a half wide at the narrowest point.

We came to anchor off a Tchuktchi village similar to that in Plover Bay before described. On shore large herds of domesticated reindeer were peacefully grazing. It need not be stated that we immediately bargained for some. These constitute the wealth of the "wandering Tchuktchis;" some of them own many thousands, and employ their poorer countrymen in herding them. They wander from place to place with their deer, and may be regarded as Arctic patriarchs.

CHAP. XI.]

BOAT EXPEDITION TO THE ANADYR.

117

CHAPTER XI.

THE ANADYR RIVER AND PLOVER BAY, EASTERN SIBERIA.

Tchuktchi with letter of recommendation - Boat expedition to the river Our explorers-Their experiences - The Anadyr River - Tchuktchi thieves - Plover Bay - Naukum again - - Advertising in Bering Straits - Telegraph station erected - Foraging with a vengeance - Whaling Norton Sound - Alaska - Death of Major Kennicott.

ONE of the Tchuktchis, immediately on our arrival, hastened on board with a letter. It was from Mr. MacCrea, the officer in charge of the explorations at the Anadyr, and stated that a bigger liar never walked the earth" than the gentleman who delivered the epistle, and cautioned us against him. He bore the euphonious title of "O-cock-cray."

66

On the 15th a boat expedition to the mouth of the Anadyr River was organised, and I obtained permission to accompany it. The second mate of the steamer, Mr. Laborne, and myself, with three sailors, formed the party. We had nothing to guide us but a sketch chart, constructed the preceding year by two of our captains, and there is little reliable information on any part of the country. On the eastern side of the bay, Mount Dionysius, a mountain of no great height, is the only landmark of the district. We steered due west from it. The weather was foggy and showery, but a favouring breeze helped us on, and we proceeded steadily for several hours, when we noticed an opening in the land, a little to the south of west, and immediately put our boat's head for it.

Soon we found the bay getting very shoal, so much so that in sailing we left a "tail" of discoloured water behind us, from constantly touching bottom on sand-bars. Sometimes we stuck, and had to lower the sail, and get out in the water to help our boat off. We then had to tack and keep off, and by this we lost much time. In the evening we had to give up for the time being, and ran in to a spit of land to the south of the opening. It was raining hard, and we found it rather difficult to raise a fire from the scanty underbrush and driftwood. We at length succeeded, and the sailors rigged up a shelter tent from the oars, mast, and sail. But for the rain the musquitoes would have been out in full force, for even as it was they gave us very decided intimations of their existence.

Inside the spit there appeared to be a second bay, and from the number of "snags" and small trees stuck on the sand-bars, it was evident that a river entered there. Early the next morning we again started. Laborne's recollections of a trip the preceding year made him decide, as it proved rightly, that the Anadyr must be farther to the west. About 9 A.M. we found the right opening, and a little later reached Camp MacCrea," at the mouth of the river.

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The journey had been undertaken in order to leave a notice for the explorers there, but we did not expect to meet any of them, so that on entering their log house we were much surprised to find four of our old friends. They had been subsisting for about two months on an exclusive diet of salmon, which fish is abundant in the river. They had almost given up expecting to see any of the expedition; we, on the other hand, believed them to be at the Ochotsk Sea. Three of these gentlemen, MacCrea, Harder, and Smith, belonged

CHAP. XI.]

EXPERIENCES OF OUR EXPLORERS.

119

to this section, but my astonishment was great to find with them Mr. Bush, who had made the entire journey from the Amoor River to the mouth of the Anadyr the preceding winter. His trip of at least 2500 miles, deserves to rank as the most remarkable of the many undertaken by members of our expedition. Nearly the first thing our friends asked was, "Have you brought any grub?" and we soon satisfied them on the point by fetching up a supply of bread, tea, and salt meat from the boat, and spreading an extempore lunch. They had got heartily sick of "toujours" salmon, and infinitely preferred salt pork!

As we all very naturally wished to reach the steamer before night, we stopped but an hour or so and then started back, leaving Harder, by his own agreement to keep camp. We rowed the entire distance, thirty miles, while it rained incessantly; but we made the time pass very quickly in a most animated and disjointed conversation. Our friends had been absent a year from civilization, and we were curious in regard to their travels, and, as each asked for what came uppermost, our spasmodic discussion would have puzzled a stranger. Now it was dog-sleighing, or reindeer riding; now the policy of the President, or the last opera; now the latest events in California, or those of the Anadyr. Tchuktchi, Lamutki, or Koriak lore was mixed with inquiries for absent friends, and nitro-glycerine explosions with Anadyr scandal.

The Anadyr River, as we learnt from these gentlemen, is subject to violent freshets in the spring; it then rises fifteen to twenty feet above its usual level, flooding the country in all directions. It is navigable for 300 miles, and has no rapids of importance in that distance. A considerable amount of light timber was found on its banks. Our explorers had