San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-07-26

winch he nad almost as much at ieart as
success in bringing back the fugitive exiles
to YakoutSk.
Whoever could have seen him, wrapped
up IN his skin garments, his head covered
with a fur hood descending to the base OF
his neck, a Ratchet and an auger stuck in
his leather belt, a keg under his arm and q
gun on his shoulder, and, besides, finding
the means to drag after him a saw, a sack
OF biscuit and packages of cartridges, would
certainly have taken him for an Arctic Rob.
inson Crusoe.
One evening, the Yakoute guides arrived,
making a great noise with their thirty-two
dogs and awakening the echoes, Of the Polar
e Yermac was overioyed he could re-
turn to his plan of escape, and, this time,
under much better conditions, thanks tc
4egor's absence. Only one thing clouded
his elation and that was his inability to
take back the fugitives with him. But he
knew their route; from Yakoutsk, by en-
ploying the government couriers, it was pos.
sible to spread the alarm over the entire
coast of the Pacific Ocean bordering upon
the Gulf of Anadyr. In the spring, Yegor
and his companions would reach this locality
only to be captured. .
TIL guides, to whom Yeimac. related in
his own fashion the abduction of Nadege
and little Ladislas, and the departure of
Yegor Semenoff and M. Lafleur in search Of
them, thought that their employers would
never find their way back to the hut, or
that, finding themselves brought by their
pursuit nearer the Pacific than the Arctic
Ocean, they would not retrace their steps
They seemed, therefore, to consent easily
enough to what the chief of police desired
They, however, demanded three or foul
days to reach a final decision; this time, be-
sides, was necessary to rest the dogs.
Yermac, on the point of realizing his hopes.
resolved to utilize these few days. He
brought away from the whaler, with the aic
of a marta drawn by several dogs, which
were replaced by others on completing each
trip, everything that had a commercial value
if taken to Mini olimsk, especially the
powder, the harpoons, and the arms. AT
forwards, he caused to be buried near the
spot where his son reposed the bones gath.
cred up here and there on the deck and il
the between-decks of the vessel, thus carry.
ing out Yegor's pious intentions.
CHAPTER. ANON THE TCH.
oUKTCHIs.
Three hundred and fifty miles to the east
of the Bay of Tchaounsk is situated the Bay
of koliOutchine, where the Vega wintered
from the 9th of September, 1878, until the
18th of July of the following year.
Everybody now knows the surprising his
tory of the expedition commanded by Nor
denskiold, the result Of which was the
revelation of the existence of a north-eas'
passage. 1t is certainly the greatest geo.
graphical achievement since the discovery
Of America.
1t is known by ali now the Swedish saw
ant, after several voyages of exploration to
the north of Russia and Siberia, succeeded
in reaching Behring's Strait and the great
ocean, thus demonstrating the truth of .
very ingenious hypothesis, namely: that
along the coast of Siberia was a navigable
channel, caused by the abundant warm wat
ers discharged during the summer by the
vast Asiatic rivers.
Nordenskiold, while wintering ten months
m the Bay of Kolioutchine, lived among the
~Tchouktchis, a people very little known
now, long feared by the other Siberian tribes
with whom they came in contact, and whose
reputation for ~ferocity has, no doubt, been
greatly exaggerated.
The illustrious Swedish traveller was not
the first to penetrate into the Tchouktchi
peninsula. In 1923, Lieutenant Wrangel, OF
the Russian navy, since admiral, went as
far as the Island of Kolioutchine, and ever
before the Russian navigator, the celebrated
Cook had, in ITS, discovered North Caps
(Nordenskiold's Cape Irkaipi) and the
Island of Kolioutchine which he named
Burney's Island. In 1871, Captain Billings.
after having disembarked on the shore OF
the Bay of Saint Laurent in the Sea of Ok
hotsk, went by land to the Bay of Koliout
chine and then to Cape Chelagsk.
1t was from the accounts of Wrangel and
his lieutenants Matiouchkine and Kozmine.
as well as from what he knew of the expe.
ditions of Billings and some others less
known, such as the merchant Chalaouroff,
of Yakoutsk. and Captain Saritchoff, that
Yegor had fixed upon his route. He was not
ignorant of the fact that the Tchouktchis
were a people TO be feared and TO be looked
out for, but never had the terrible possibil.
ity of an abduction with armed hand OF
Davidoff's daughter entered among his ap.
prehensiOns.
The unfortunate Nadege, confined in the
double tent of the chief of a tribe establish.
ed to the south of the Bay of Kolioutchine.
now no longer hoped for deliverance if it
were not effected by the intelligence and
courage of her adopted brother.
Ladislas, without being forced to do so,
had followed her, hoping to be able to pro-
tect and be useful to her. The young girls
ahductors~ nlmhered seven. Among them
was the old Tchouktchi who had asked
l---.L-l.A--E l..-lA.ua hAfaAA- L