The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-03-19

but from there to Buun usually with REIN
deer. The Tunguse are very careful never to
bring the deer and dogs in the same neigh
borhood, as the result IS usually the killing
of the deer. When dog team espies the
reindeer, away it goes and unless the leader
happens to be an eXcellently smart animal,
there isl restraining the dogs. All hands
then pitch into the dogs with clubs and
sticks, but the gentle reindeer shows very
little fight, and before the natives can ef1ec-
tually interfere there are usually two or
three deer killed. Reindeer are always
hitched two to sled The sled is much
smaller than the dog-sled ami carries one
man only. The driver leads with his sled
and other sleds follow in train, the deer
being hitched with halters to the sled proceed
ing The harness consists OF long leather
strap with Il loop at either end. The strap
goes around the brow piece of the sled and
the loops over the shoulder or between the
forelegs of the deer. By this
arrangement both deer are com
PEELED to pull alike, otherwise
the weak or lazy one is drawn
back against the sled. After remaining
twelve hours at Bulun, Harder, the Cossack,
and myself started homeward bound for
Yakoutsk by way of Verchoijausk. The
distance from Bulun to Yakoutsk by sledge
travel is about !, 200 miles. On the road one &C.
casionally meets with an inhabited jourba OF
the Yakonti. but in the eight-and-a-half days
tTdNet 10 NefCnOlJauSh we SlOppeu III only
one such, the other stopping places, about
twenty-five or thirty miles apart, being rather
comfortable huts called favarniaS or cooking
houses. The weather was very cold, but I'M
fortunately we were unable to record the
temperature, as we had only one thermom-
eter left and that was a mercurial-of course
the mercury froze, and after that we could
only judge of the temperature by the record
made in Verchoijausk. In Verchoijausk we
met Manson, one of our seamen, and Ane-
gum, the st. MichaeIs native, who had been
left behind by Hunt on account of the ill
ness of Aneguin We were Hospitality en-
tanned by the ispravnIck, tie commandant of
Cossack, and the physician of the town, an
eXiled Socialist / met several Socialists, and
one who could speak English. Most of them
spoke German also. They struck me as being
an exceedingly vain and crazy set, ex-
tremely youthful, filled with sense of
their own importance and posing as martyrs.
| am fully convinced that the government of
Russia could save a great deal of trouble and
expense and besides have 4 more effectual
and curative punishment if it resorted to the
same means OF punishment that is usually
inflicted upon the youth at home with the
stick, switch or slipper. / asked one why, if
he were not satisfied with the Russian gov
ernment he did not leave the country. His
reply was: IF every one left who was dis
satisfied the country would contain nothing
said he: II have no moral right to leave
Russia" But said l: "When upon your re-
turn you will be in danger of being sent out
here again will you still remain?' "Oh, no;
then would go to the United States"
They believe in neither God, marriage or
the institution of property. They wish to
destroy everything and build up anew.
Stealing lying, ETC., being considered wrong,
they say is simply an idea. The town con
tans q church, barracks for CossackS, houses
of ispravnick, commandant, doctor hos
pital, and forty mud huts or jourbas of
Takook In summer it Is practically cut off
from communication with lrkoutsk. Last
summer the ispravnick sent Il communication
to Bulun, and it was seventy-ive days in
reaching Its destination. In winter the
journey can be made when the
roads are good in five days with
reindeer. This shows that travel in
summer over the water is next to i'm
possible The road from Verchoijausk to
Irkoutsk is through mountains and very
rough Near the Aldan one passes the
water shed, the Jana to the south and the
Altlan to the north. In going over the divide
and down the steep mountain side the deer
are hitched behind the sledges and held back
as the sledges are slowly let down. Travellers
are obliged to walk or slide down. The snow
was packed hard and l slid down. At the
bottom saw huge lot of immense stones
in my path, but l was unable to stop, and
coming down with fearful speed | struck
upon the rocks and was whirled through the
air three or four times. | thought my skull
was fractured, but fortunately, upon ex-
animation at favarnia twelve miles distant
where Harder plastered my head, we dis
covered that the head was hard enough
to withstand the blow and that a deep
scalp wound was the only damage WISH
BILE. We travelled very slowly, owing
to the rough roads over stones and
powders. the Aldan we travelled one
stage with oxen and the rest of the way over
good roads and through weli-settled coun-
try with horses to Takoutsk. Hunt and party
were still here lin Takoutsk), The governor
had given them rooms in large house for all
of us, wood and CosSack attendant. Our
rent and fires cost the immense sum of forty
cents day. We take our meals in small
hotel-that is. we paw for them there, but
owing to the hospitality of the good people
of Takoutsk we seldom find it necessary to
call for anything but the breakfast General
Tchernaieff, the governor, having expected
us up the river in the fall and thinking that
we probably had been frozen in, had sent out
five different ex petitions and messengers with
food for us.
The good mans joy at seeing us safe and
sound cannot be described He has us to
dine with him daily and is constantly on the
alert to see that nothing we can possibly
need shall be wanting.
THE LIMIT OF CIVILIZATION.
So after an absence of over five months,
we are again in Takoutsk, which may be
called the jumpingoff place of civilization
in Northern Siberia. The journey from Bulun
occupied about twenty days, and now that
it is passed, it does not seem very arduous
one to make. 1t makes very little difference
whether the Thermometer stands 90 degrees
or 40 degrees so long as there is no wind.
But let even the slightest breeze be felt at a
low temperature and the cold to an ex-
posed part of the body is unbearable. AT the
low temperature-40 or 45 degree is al
ways still and calm. This is fortunate and
have frequently remarked that when the
wind began at a low temperature the Their
mometer instantly went up ten or twelve de-